Highlights of 27 days flying across Sweden

In this blogpost I’m going to give a short summary of the most memorable moments during my 4-weeks flying trip in Sweden together with Flemming. Around 4,000 km on wings, 2,000 km driving; 40-50 places visited, 17 of them – airfields we landed at; many new friends and stunning nature. We didn’t make any specific plans, but had a goal: to reach Lapland, cross Arctic Circle, and fly over Kebnekaise, the highest mountain in Sweden. The whole flying trip looked like follows:

The weather was quite unstable in the beginning of July; Flemming and I were happy when we finally found a window on an very early morning to leave Denmark. Here we are on our first stay-over in Köping, after zigzagging our way through shower rains between Linköpinng and Örebro:

We were often photographed at different airfields: Aeroprakt is an uncommon ultralight type in Sweden. People were amazed that two Danish pilots went on a 4-weeks vacation in Sweden: we earned respect in those corona pandemic times! Many countries advised not to travel to Sweden (because Swedish COVID-19 strategy was different), some countries even sent people into quarantine if they entered the border from Sweden. Flemming and I had of course assessed the risks, and concluded it was safe to fly in Sweden.

Our strategy was to make it to Piteå in 3 days, and then wait for a suitable weather to continue to Kiruna:

All the time we had to plan our flying according to the weather. The yellow areas on the screenshot below were  thunderstorms:

On our 3rd day, flying from Mellansel to Piteå with a stopover in Umeå, we were advised not fly that day due to a very large area of heavy thunderstorms and turbulence. But after analysing the weather, we agreed we could do it. Early departure from Mellansel, then wait in Umeå and do live monitoring of the weather. We left Umeå in-between the shower rains, after the thunderstorms passed by.

Flying by the coastline was another strategy we used to avoid turbulence. It was also the most spectacular route:

In Piteå flying club, they flew sea planes during summer time. It must be such a great fun! Piteå river was just beside the airport:

We stayed in Piteå for 5 days, waiting for the weather in Kiruna, our next destination, to improve. And while waiting, we rented a car, and immersed ourselves into cultural heritage of Lapland. One of the places we liked so much for its authenticity was the village of Öjebyn, a church town from the 15th century:

We tried pitepalt – traditional Swedish dish that is said to have its origin from Öjebyn:

And we had a trip to Haparanda – the easternmost town of Sweden on the border with Finland. We visited Luleå, explored the old church town of Gammelstad, spent some time on Seskarö island, learned about a unique fishing method at Kukkola rapids, saw the most beautiful church in Övertorneå, and crossed the Arctic Circle. The whole trip was around 550 km:

Kukkolaforsen (or Kukkola rapids in English) was dramatic:

There was an old fishing village at Kukkolaforsen, with many museums open:

Though it was raining, we spent some time there, because it was a very interesting place.

The church in Övertorneå was incredibly beautiful and special. The original church was washed down by a flood, and this newer one was built in the 17th century, higher up on the hill to protect it from any future disasters. It was the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen in Sweden:

By the time we got back to Piteå, the weather improved, also in Kiruna, and we headed for our dream. Storforsen, Sweden’s biggest waterfall, from air:

Crossing the Arctic Circle, this time by air:

The challenge with Kiruna wasn’t only weather. The airport is only opened a couple of hours a day, closed on Sundays. Swedavia, that manages this municipal airport, didn’t want to give us PPR for takeoff and landing outside opening hours. So we had to tailor our flights carefully.

We took the first opportunity to go on our dream flight over Kebnekaise, and needless to say, it exceeded our expectations:

It was first time flying over mountains for both of us. We had consulted other pilots from the area, and it was especially Thomas from Kiruna flying club, an experienced Arctic and bush pilot, who helped us. Besides analysing the weather, Thomas had called his friends in the mountains, and he did a briefing for us, with proposed flying route. We felt ready, and were very excited. During our flight, we communicated with several helicopters in the area. They advised us about severe turbulence and high winds in several areas, and we stayed clear of those. It was so turbulent, we couldn’t take a selfie! But we came back with more than a thousand pictures with stunning views of the massifs and valleys:

We also flew over the Kiruna Iron Ore mine, one of the largest in the world:

In the evening, we celebrated with a nice dinner in Kiruna’s best restaurant:

Before flying to Sweden, I had a look at possible destinations to visit there, and saw a town on the border with Norway, called Riksgränsen. I thought it was a funny name (can literally be translated as “The Kingdom’s border”), and thought it would be interesting to visit it. At that time, it seemed to be so distant, we even didn’t dream of going there. And now, we were on our way to Riksgränsen!

It was around 300 km return trip, and besides Riksgränsen, we visited other places on the way, had a swim in a mountain lake with snow in the background, and appreciated the raw beauty of Abisko national park:

One place, that made a strong impression, was The Navvy Road, and Rallarkyrkogården – The Navvy graveyard on top of a mountain:

In the years 1898 – 1902, when the Ore Line – a railway between Kiruna and Riksgränsen – was built, about 50 people were buried there. Most of them died in a typhus epidemic in 1901, otherwise of extremely primitive living conditions that led to Illnesses, accidents at work, and suicide. Today there are around 170 graves, 70 of them children. We learned about the sad history of this place from the information boards which also had pictures from that time.

After Kiruna, we visited Älvsbyn, where we flew gliders together with Peter, a Danish flight instructor who lives there:

Peter also took us on a day trip to Storforsen we saw from air on our way to Kiruna:

Gargnäs is worth mentioning – it is a village in the middle of a lake, and it has an airfield. It was difficult to land there: the airfield would disappear from the sight at (normal) lower altitude. If you approach it at higher altitude – you would risk ending up in the water. Then the sun going down in Lapland in the north, not in the west – and we were landing in the north direction! Gargnäs was a real nature paradise where we were completely cut off mobile network wise from the rest of the world:

We constantly had to adjust our plans according to the weather and fuel availability. The last week of our tour Flemming and I wanted to spend in one or another relaxing place. A low pressure weather system from Scotland was going to hit southern Sweden with strong winds and rain, and luckily for us, the island of Gotland wasn’t going to be affected much. The island is quite big, it has stunning nature and remarkable medieval history; it was a perfect place to go. Before heading for Gotland, we had a chance to visit Norrköping:

And to spend a day in Stegeborg, a small village with marina, medieval castle ruins, and a good restaurant,  located on an island in a narrow sound at the bay of Slätbaken:

On Gotland, we wanted to visit Bunge Air Base, because we hadn’t been there yet. When Flemming found out, it was possible to stay there in the hangar, we were a bit sceptical. We imagined two bank beds by a thin wall, cold concrete floor, no windows. But we said “yes, please” – we were going to arrive late, didn’t have any car, and so on.

Bunge Air Base from air:

Its 6 runways:

There were flowers on entering the taxiway! Inger Martinsson, the owner of the place, welcomed us. When she opened the hangar, we couldn’t believe our eyes. We knew, there was a small aviation museum on the site, and again we had imagined a couple of Safir and a glider. What we saw was far beyond our imagination: Draken, Tunnan, Viggen, Lansen – just to name a few! And Inger kindly offered a parking place in the hangar, by the side of all those famous aircraft!

We also got a suite in the hangar: a three-room fully furnished apartment! And a car! I promise you, it was difficult to mentally come down and go to sleep…

We spent 4 full days on Gotland: explored the island of Fårö, visited eastern and southern coasts of Gotland, spent a day in Visby. The nature of Gotland is so special, and the cultural heritage is so interesting – one can never get bored there. On one of the remote beaches of Fårö:

It was with mixed feelings we returned back to Denmark: familiar landscapes, but we would rather fly and see something new… North coast of Zealand:

My Aeroprakt showed to be a reliable aircraft. Never had we any challenges with it. But we had big problems with connecting to the internet, and it was crucial to monitor the weather and get lots of supporting information. Flemming and I had two Danish telecommunications companies in use: TDC and “3”. In Lapland, TDC sometimes had a very weak signal when we were close to bigger cities, but “3” was completely useless. And both companies promise seamless roaming etc. to their customers!

Flemming was an excellent co-pilot: he was always well-prepared. We had briefings and de-briefings, especially before and after challenging flights. We functioned good together in the cockpit, and had confidence in each other’s skills.

The airfields we visited were: Eksjö, Köping, Mohed, Mellansel, Umeå, Piteå, Gällivare, Kiruna, Älvsbyn, Gargnäs, Siljansnäs, Sollefteå, Norrköping, Stegeborg, Bunge, Sandvik, Hässleholm.

I’m in general often in Sweden on flying, driving, and hiking trips, but this time it was truly special – 4 weeks across whole country gave me a chance to see and experience so much of it. Language was sometimes a barrier, and therefore I decided to learn Swedish. I’ve enrolled in a Swedish evening class at Studieskolen in Copenhagen, and next half a year I’m going to study. My goal is to speak fluent Swedish, so that the time spent together with my Swedish friends can be even more valuable.

In the end, I want to thank all those people we met on our way who helped us without expecting anything in return. Often, it was with a very short notice. Pilots from the clubs we visited left their jobs for a couple of hours or sent someone to help us with refuelling, they drove us for sightseeing, helped to find a place to stay, to get food, called other clubs, etc. We made so many new friends, and hope they will come to Denmark one day so that we can pay back:

Many thanks to all who contributed to this trip!