Freebird Aviation

Though the challenges were many, I am grateful for finally getting Freebird back to the US! It was an incredible journey getting her from the Norwegian Arctic, back to the US, then all the way up to Alaska! Looking forward to another year of new and exciting adventures!

ForeFlight Recap View an interactive map of my flying adventures from last year with ForeFlight Recap 2025

Leg 9: KWWD - KCPC; Cape May, New Jersey to Whiteville, North Carolina. 338nm, 4.1hrs.
Leg 10: KCPC - X23; Whiteville, North Carolina to Umatilla, Florida. 354.2nm, 3.9hrs.

Lots of cool sights flying down along the eastern seaboard! It was a neat adventure, but very stressful. I’m glad it’s done!

Leg 8 of 10: KPWM KWWD; Portland, Maine to Cape May, New Jersey. 347.8nm, 4.0hrs.

Cool sights of the Jersey shore and Atlantic City. Headwinds kept us pretty slow.

Leg 6: CYYR - CYQM; Goose Bay, Newfoundland/Labrador to Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. 463.5nm, 4.1hrs.
Leg 7: CYQM - KPWM; Moncton, Canada over the US border to Portland, Maine. 281.9n, 3.2hrs.

We cleared customs and processed the aircraft import with CBP at Portland, Maine. Super friendly, straightforward, and quick process. We worked with TVPX for our customs agent and they were an absolute pleasure to work with! Wanted to spend a little more time enjoying the coast of Maine, but we didn’t have time, unfortunately!

Leg 5 of 10: Narsarsuaq, Greenland to Goose Bay, Canada. BGBW - CYYR, 676.2nm, 5.4hrs. Last leg over the ocean, last leg wearing our Gumby survival suits! We made it over the North Atlantic Ocean!!!

Leg 4 of 10: Reykjavík, Iceland to Narsarsuaq, Greenland.

BIRK - BGBW, 668.4nm, 5.6hrs. This was absolutely the scariest and most nerve wrecking leg of the whole trip. The desolation and remoteness of Narsarsuaq is unimaginable. I’ve flown around some pretty remote regions of Alaska - Prudhoe Bay, Utqiagvik (Barrow), Nome, down the Aleutian Chain - but this was magnitudes different and is hard to describe in words. The runway is listed on the top most dangerous runways to land in the world. The weather was also something to contend with - it was whipping wind, cold, and extremely turbulent….agghhh 😓 😨 😱 😳!!

Leg 3 of 10: Keflavík, Iceland to Reykjavík, Iceland

BIKF BIRK, 19nm. Short little hop from one little airport to another within Iceland for fuel. Landing was unfortunately much more eventful than any pilot would have wanted, but we were eventually able to carry on! 😓

Leg 2 of 10: Vágar, Faroe Islands to Keflavík, Iceland.

EKVG BIKF, 421nm, 3.8hrs.

The famous floating lake, Sørvágsvatn, known as the “lake above the ocean,” in the Faroe Islands. It’s somewhat of an optical illusion that makes the lake appear to hang over the ocean due to the step cliffs and the lake’s elevation. It’s right next to the airport and pilots call it “the waterfall departure.”

Leg 1 of 10: Bodo, Norway to Vagar, Faroe Islands.

ENBO EKVG, 4/20, 635nm, 5.6hrs

The journey to bring N61599 started in Bodø Norway, a small Norwegian Arctic town.

Bodø is located at the end of a peninsula projecting into the Norwegian Sea, at the entrance to Salt Fjord. Bodø was founded by Trondheim merchants and chartered in 1816 as a commercial-fishing centre specializing in cod drying. In World War II much of the town was destroyed by German air and ground action, but it has been completely rebuilt and enlarged. Reconstruction included a large airport and the extension of the North Norway Railway to Bodø from Lønsdal to the southeast. Places of interest include the 13th-century Bodin Church and the Bodø Cathedral (Lutheran), a modern edifice (consecrated 1956). About 20 miles from the town, at the southern side of Salt Fjord, is the narrow marine channel known as Saltstraumen, famous for its strong tidal current and its whirlpools, which rival those of the Maelstrom, to the northwest. Bodø’s far northern site enables the midnight sun to be seen for about a month (early June–early July).