IFFR Scandinavia Stavanger Meeting – August 2022
On the first weekend of August IFFR Scandinavia was hosting their meeting in Stavanger, which is the Oil & Gas capital of Norway. The 4-day meeting started on Thursday with a warm welcome at the Stavanger aeroclub with a traditional lunch between airplanes.
Our section was numerous present, some members flew in with their own plane while others flew in commercially (unfortunately upon arrival some bags were missing !).
I was a very proud president because we had the biggest delegation attending this meeting which had 60+ participants.
After the welcome we went to Stavanger, the fourth biggest city in Norway and the capital of the oil business in Norway. After the check-in in the waterfront Victoria hotel, we had some time off to go explore the town and do some shopping, …
On Thursday evening, we had a dinner at our lovely hotel situated in the center of town and the Scandinavian section was generous with presents, everybody received a new cap and IFFR pin 😊.
After dinner, most of us ended up in the bar to have some drinks on friendship …
Friday morning, we took a short walk to the Oil&Gas museum for a extended visit to this very interesting museum on the past, present and future of the very important business that is exploid in the Northsea by the Norvegian governement.
After this visit we got the opportunity to stroll around town.
In the afternoon we gathered in the harbour across the hotel to board a private cruise boat for an unforgettable mini-cruise on the Lysefjord and saw nice scenery, waterfalls and we also came by the Preikestolen rock. This is the place where Tom Cruise has recorded one of his mission impossible movies …
In the evening our boat made a stop at a place called Helleren, with a lovely restaurant in the fjord and we had a great BBQ …. After the BBQ it was about time to board again and the captain took us back to Stavanger on an evening ride.
When we came back to the hotel some were hitting the bar while others went to dream about a very enjoyable day …
Saturday morning, we took a bus ride to the Sola Historic Aircraft museum. It has an impressive sight, with a very large collection of airplanes on display. Eye-catchers on display are a DC-6, a Messerschmitt Bf109 and many other civilian & military airplanes and helicopters. In the afternoon we went to Sola beach for a typical Norwegian lunch at the beachhotel.
After the lunch we had a stroll on the beach before heading back to the hotel.
Saturday afternoon, the Scandinavian section held their AGM in our hotel while others went back to town to do some more shopping (with special thanks to Maurice and his team to take the breakable items home 😊).
In the evening we had the traditional Gala-dinner and after this very lovely dinner, it was about time to pack our bags and take all the memories back home.
Sunday morning we said goodbye and headed back home. I finalized this lovely weekend by ending up in the cockpit of a Brussels Airlines A320.
Special thanks goes to Toleff & Svend of the Scandinavian section for organizing this meeting.
Kris