flying in Iceland

Ozone

Ozone

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Ozone
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has anyone here done GA flying in Iceland? Seems like it would be a really cool experience, but i am certain it's heavily weather dependent. Is renting an option?
 
On one of my trips back from England, I was going to route thru Iceland (no penalty on Icelandair!) and spend a couple days. There's 3 airports, scenic air tours and there's a number of flying clubs. Unfortunately, due to my schedule, couldn't make it happen so I never got a chance to contact any of the flying clubs.

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Consider flying anyhwere you travel to! To rent you certainly would have to take a Check Ride, so that's no different that booking a flight with a CFI, so just do that. So give a call to any Flight Schools you find and tell them your experience and you just want to book a plane and CFI to go on a flight. If they can fit you into the schedule, it should be as simple as booking a Discovery Flight, but you'll be doing all the flying.

Down side is that if you want to take someone with you, they'll have to go into the back seat.
 
Yes, my wife is half Icelandic and I have been to Iceland at least 25 times to visit my mother-in-law and her large extended family, most recently a couple of weeks ago for the holidays. I have successfully rented C172's and Diamond DA40 NG's at least a half dozen of those trips. It is a really cool country to fly, and they have always taken my US credentials. Mainland Europe would require a lot of extra effort to get EASA certified, especially if you want to fly IFR. But as you said, very weather dependent. Conditions can change quickly unless there is a large high pressure system over the north Atlantic (by far the best time to fly). All of my flights and rentals have been from flight schools based at BIRK, the Reykjavik city airport. I made arrangements to fly with a safety pilot in a DA42 last August but weather conditions did not cooperate. Over the years, I have flown the Golden Circle, out over central Iceland and Hekkla volcano, plus up over the northwest fjords (by far the best flight) and Snaefellsness peninsula.
You definitely need a check ride and it's good to download and study the Iceland AIP from the web. They have some funky VFR procedures where you must fly specific departure and arrival routes and waypoints in their Class D, somewhat similar to very simple DPs and STARs in the US.
A couple of years ago I got to fly over the active Reykjanes Peninsula volcano near the international airport BIKF. A link to my Youtube (sorry for poor quality, alot of it is shot handheld by my copilot as I did not bring all my good cameras from the states). Let me know if you want more specifics on flying there.

Iceland Volcano Video
 
The easiest way to fly in most places is to just sign up for a lesson and do it dual. The only foreign country I've gotten to fly myself in is Australia, but I've gotten to fly dual in several countries.
 
This is very helpful information and I appreciate it.
 
David Loftus said:
Yes, my wife is half Icelandic and I have been to Iceland at least 25 times to visit my mother-in-law and her large extended family, most recently a couple of weeks ago for the holidays. I have successfully rented C172's and Diamond DA40 NG's at least a half dozen of those trips. It is a really cool country to fly, and they have always taken my US credentials. Mainland Europe would require a lot of extra effort to get EASA certified, especially if you want to fly IFR. But as you said, very weather dependent. Conditions can change quickly unless there is a large high pressure system over the north Atlantic (by far the best time to fly). All of my flights and rentals have been from flight schools based at BIRK, the Reykjavik city airport. I made arrangements to fly with a safety pilot in a DA42 last August but weather conditions did not cooperate. Over the years, I have flown the Golden Circle, out over central Iceland and Hekkla volcano, plus up over the northwest fjords (by far the best flight) and Snaefellsness peninsula.
You definitely need a check ride and it's good to download and study the Iceland AIP from the web. They have some funky VFR procedures where you must fly specific departure and arrival routes and waypoints in their Class D, somewhat similar to very simple DPs and STARs in the US.
A couple of years ago I got to fly over the active Reykjanes Peninsula volcano near the international airport BIKF. A link to my Youtube (sorry for poor quality, alot of it is shot handheld by my copilot as I did not bring all my good cameras from the states). Let me know if you want more specifics on flying there.

Iceland Volcano Video
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Do you have recommendations on where to stay/what to see ? We are considering 2 week trip and my wife is keen to not have to do a lot of planning. I’ve been told there are tour companies but I’m not sure which one(s) are worth contacting. Any info you might have would be appreciated
 
I took a Falcon 20 to Europe and back in the late 80's and stopped in Reykjavik both ways for fuel and something to eat. On the way east we were only there for a few hours. Going west we started the day in Nice then Sardinia then Geneva then London and ended the day in Reykjavik. We stayed at the airport hotel and ate dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, I believe it is no longer open. I remember the sun did not set until around 10pm. The wife was with me, and we have always said we would like to go back for vacation during a summer.

Have fun.
 
Ozone said:
Do you have recommendations on where to stay/what to see ? We are considering 2 week trip and my wife is keen to not have to do a lot of planning. I’ve been told there are tour companies but I’m not sure which one(s) are worth contacting. Any info you might have would be appreciated
Click to expand...
A two week trip is plenty. You have time to do the full ring road if you choose. My favorites are southern coast with Vik etc. plus Snaefellness Peninsula on the west side. Plenty of online itineraries can give you lists of best waterfalls and other sights. One I don’t recommend is Blue Lagoon, far overrated tourist trap that is just runoff from the nearby thermoelectric plant. In Reykjavík, I recommend Hotel Borg. charming 4 star right in the heart of the city. You can catch day trips from there and Akeureri up north. But best experience is to rent a 4wd and drive yourself. Just be careful on sights off the main roads up in the northeast. Not a lot of civilization up there to dig you out if you get stuck. If I did it today, I would recommend taking a Starlink Mini along. Have fun, it’s a beautiful trip.
 
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