Hot Air

The ramblings of an avgeek

Go North young men! - Iceland, November 1990

In November 1990 Ian, my partner of just 14 months, and I were supposed to be spending a few days sailing on a felucca down the Nile. It would be stretching the bounds of credulity to say that several world leaders stepped in and stopped us from doing so but it equated to the same thing. We had booked our Egyptian trip, to include a visit to Saint Catherine’s monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai and then our aforementioned traditional wooden sailing boat (for those who didn’t know).

We had booked the trip early in the year, and just a few months into our relationship! In August, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and triggered what came to be known as the First Gulf War. With half the world’s politicians threatening military action, a posse of our mothers put their collective stockinged feet down and told us that we were not going anywhere near the Middle East and that we had to cancel the trip. Not wanting to recreate our own Death on the Nile we acquiesced and our lovely travel agent Ricky at ManAround agreed. The question then was where do we go at short notice that is safe and out of harm’s way. The answer was obvious – Iceland, but in November?

Cynics among my loyal readership may question whether this really was an obvious alternative. We were however committed but, in all honesty, had not perhaps thought it through. In November Iceland had about six or seven hours of daylight and it was cold – not just cold, mind-numbingly cold. Comparing conditions to our well-documented trip to Alaska in 2015 (check out Baked Alaska? Hardly in Hot 'Air'chive), it was positively balmy but our benchmarks were set so much lower 25 years earlier. There was however one positive – the Icelandic government had finally legalised the sale of beer on 1st March 1989.

Over the course of seven days I was to make a total of 11 flights (Ian, as we shall see, missed out on three). The trip began at the now long-demolished Heathrow Terminal One and we checked in for one of the very few non-British Airways flights to operate from the creakingly old facility. We boarded Icelandair Boeing 737-400 TF-FIB operating FI451. The aircraft, named ‘Eydis’ had only been delivered to the national airline a few months earlier and took us to Keflavik International Airport in just over two hours 40 minutes. The country’s principal gateway was built by the US Air Force, opened in 1942 and is located some 50km southwest of the capital. As an aside, our 737 ended its flying career in October 2008 by being damaged beyond repair while flying for AdamAir in Indonesia after skidding off the runway on landing at Batam – Batu Besar.

When it came to the choice of hotel in Reykjavik, there was only one possible option for the self-respecting avgeek and his oh so understanding sidekick. The Hotel Loftleidir (Loftleiðir) located next to the downtown, largely domestic, Reykjavik Airport (RKV), had been built in 1964 by Icelandair to cater for the large increase in transatlantic passengers opting for an Icelandic stopover, an option it had begun to offer the previous year. Now renamed the Berjaya Reykjavik Natura, it remains one of the country’s largest hotels with some 220 rooms. What struck us most on first entering this hotel was not only the overwhelming high temperature but also the even more overwhelming smell of sulphur. The hotel’s heating system and hot water was all geothermal and it was quite a novel experience to take a shower and replace the smell of shower gel with the unmistakeable whiff of bad eggs.

Our room had a great view of the airport’s ramp and we were soon to discover the importance of Iceland, and Reykjavik in particular, as a staging point for aircraft heading across the Atlantic but without the range, or indeed inclination, to make the crossing in one hop. Late on our first night we heard the unmistakeable sound of two Twin Wasp radial engines which literally shook our insulating window frames. The sound belonged to a venerable DHC-4 Caribou wearing a crudely stencilled American registration and the remnants of its paint scheme worn during its service with the Spanish Air Force. It was heading to the US on delivery to a new owner.

A couple of days later saw a rather more modern aircraft landing at RKV on delivery to the USA. British Aerospace ATP, N855AW of Air Wisconsin staged through wearing its new American registration and the full colours of United Express for whom it was to offer commuter services under franchise to the US major carrier.

Our first day was spent, like many of our fellow travellers on a booked guided trip to three of the country’s biggest tourist attractions. Iceland’s most famous waterfalls at Gulfoss, the site of the ancient Icelandic parliament at Thingvellir (Þingvellir), and of course the hot spring at Geysir in the Haudatalur Valley. The latter is of course cue for the obvious lines about two gay men looking for Icelandic geezers - geysers ed…!

For our second full day adventure, we had decided to head north to the country’s second city, Akureyri (AEY). Icelandair Fokker F27-200 TF-FLN took us across the country in 45 minutes. Our flight was early in the morning and we had booked a return which would give us about eight hours to wander. Getting off the aircraft and walking out of the terminal soon changed our minds. It was freezing with a biting wind and, in 1990, there was comparatively little to see and do in Akureyri, and even less open in November. We headed back inside the terminal and chanced upon something which would fill a few hours.

There is only one small part of Iceland located inside the Arctic Circle. That place is the equally small island of Grimsey located a short 20 minute flight to the end of the fjord and then turn to one o’clock. Northern Airlines or the more exotic Flugfelag Nordurlands operated a scheduled flight to Grimsey (GRY) and we booked a return which would give us about 30 minutes to explore. Our Piper Navajo Chieftain TF-JMG had just we two passengers on the outbound flight. Having spotted seals in the fjord as we taxied out, the pilot did a long slow pass around the island to give these two lucky tourists additional value for their Krone.

Grimsey’s airport was a lava rock gravel strip with a tiny ‘terminal’ and a way post showing the distance to Reykjavik, Copenhagen, London and New York. We took the obligatory photos and then clambered back on board our Navajo to be joined by a rather bemused islander as we headed back to Akureyri to catch another Icelandair Fokker.

The following morning, Ian caught a resigned glimpse into his future as I suggested a walk around the airport fence to see what was on the ground. Of course, he agreed – how could he not. The morning was productive as I was able to shoot small aircraft operating for Eagle Air, Ernir Air and the real prize - an original HP Jetstream – TF-ODM of Odin Air. Perhaps a little tired of aircraft and keen to head off to sample some now legalised local beer, Ian suggested I might like to undertake a local flight. Hence, I found myself one of a handful of passengers flying with Eagle Air (Arnarflug) on their Dornier Do228-201 TF-VLI. The aircraft served with the airline for just 21 months and subsequently found work in Portugal, Argentina and Kenya, where it is believed to remain active.

The Dornier took us to two remote gravel airfields – Holt/Flateyri (FLI) and Bildudalur (BIU). The two settlements are just 38km or 11 Dornier minutes apart. The longest of our sectors was 42 minutes from RKV to the former and it gave me a really good insight into the lifeline that small carriers provide to Iceland’s wilder and more remote areas. Needless to say, the friendly local passengers were bemused and indeed amused to think that a tourist would want to visit their little bit of wilderness just for the fun of it!

Our final Icelandic adventure saw us boarding yet another Icelandair Fokker (TF-FLS), this time for a 20 minute flight to Vestmannaeyar Airport (VEY) to the southwest of the capital. The airport is situated on Heimaey, the only inhabited member of the volcanic Westman Islands. The island is dominated by two volcanoes and the main settlement still showed the devastation caused by a major eruption in 1973. We took a guided tour of the island in a pink Trabant – of course we did - and managed to avoid eating puffin in one of Heimaey’s few cafes.

Our return to RKV, on Fokker TF-FLM, presented me with one final opportunity to get a tick in my logbook. Despite RKV and monitoring seemingly every movement at RKV, there remained one example of the five-strong F27 fleet which had eluded me. After enquiries, the lovely but equally bemused desk staff allowed me to pop my head into the Icelandair hangar to see TF-FLO which had been undergoing maintenance since our arrival. Mission accomplished.

Iceland in 1990 was still relatively undiscovered by mass tourism and the host of low-cost airlines. We were very fortunate, early in our relationship, to visit somewhere out of the ordinary which was to set the pattern for so many trips, most with a decided avgeek slant, which have followed over the years. We were also lucky to experience flights on aircraft now sadly but a memory.

Naturally, my portfolio contains a number of shots from the trip to Iceland trip in November 1990. Please contact me HERE for further details.

To read more of my musings click HERE