Viking Odyssey

[okami]

Hi all,

On looking through stacks of vintage timetables, I found one particular journey from 1955 which, to todays standards, was epic, especially considering the relatively short distance that was covered by it. This amazing aerial voyage took nearly two days to complete, and brought you from...

... the provincial Swedish town of Kiruna to the Norwegian provincial town of Vadsø, some 246 miles apart. In fact, in the best-case scenario, the journey between the two cities lasted half an hour more than that from Stockholm, Sweden to Santiago, Chili (8833 miles).

However... Back in 1955, there was no direct scheduled flight between Lulea and Vadsø. In fact, travelling between the two cities was an incredible enterprise, very much comparable to the Stockholm-Santiago journey, which saw one travel almost the entire length of Norway, and cover a considerable part of Sweden as well.

The entire journey is flown with SAS. Here, in short, is the epic journey:

The first two parts of the journey are with a Saab Scandia. SAS used this type mainly for intra-Scandinavian flights until 1957, although some did venture as far as Düsseldorf and London.

Airline: Scandinavian Airlines System
Schedule: April 1955
Flight: Scandinavian 153
Equipment: SAAB 90 Scandia
Frequency: Daily
Departs: Kiruna (ESNQ - Sweden)
Departure:1525 local time (1600 UTC)
Arrives: Stockholm/Bromma (ESSB - Sweden)
Arrival: 1940 local time (1840 UTC)
Stops: 1 stop:
- Lulea/Kallax AB (ESPA - Sweden) arrival 1635 local, departure 1700 local



Airline: Scandinavian Airlines System
Schedule: April 1955
Flight: Scandinavian 483
Equipment: SAAB 90 Scandia
Frequency: Daily
Departs: Stockholm/Bromma (ESSB - Sweden)
Departure:2020 local time (1850 UTC)
Arrives: Oslo/Fornebu (ENFB - Norway)
Arrival: 2205 local time (1400 UTC)
Stops: Non-stop

The arrival in Oslo marks the end of the journey's first day. The next morning, we continue our journey per DC-4 to Bodø.



Airline: Scandinavian Airlines System
Schedule: April 1955
Flight: Scandinavian 302
Equipment: Douglas DC-4 Skymaster
Frequency: Daily
Departs: Oslo/Fornebu (ENFB - Norway)
Departure:0915 local time (0815 UTC)
Arrives: Bodø (ENBO - Norway)
Arrival: 1310 local time (1210 UTC)
Stops: 1 stop:
- Trondheim/Værnes (ENVA) arrival 1055 local, departure 1125 local

Once in Bodø, we reach the end of SAS' landbased route. Back in 1955, there were no airports north of Trondheim; instead, seaplanes were used to service the numerous coastal cities and villages of Finnmark. The first part of our route, from Bodø to Tromsø, was still exploited by SAS itself, although one year later they would hand all of their seaplane routes to Norwegian domestic airline Widerøe. Probably the most surprising fact is the equipment which SAS still used at this point in time:



Airline: Scandinavian Airlines System
Schedule: April 1955
Flight: Scandinavian 322
Equipment: Junkers Ju 52/3mW
Frequency: Daily
Departs: Bodø Seaport (n/a - Norway)
Departure:1420 local time (1320 UTC)
Arrives: Tromsø Seaport (n/a - Norway)
Arrival: 1705 local time (1605 UTC)
Stops: 1 stop:
- Harstad Seaport (n/a - Norway) arrival 1540 local, departure 1600 local

SAS would only retire its last two Junkers 52s one year later, in 1956. This one, LN-KAG, was withdrawn and scrapped, while the other Ju 52, LN-KAF, was used for another year by Widerøe until the arrival of additional Otters. Subsequently, SAS offered LN-KAF to a local museum - only to discover their hangar was slightly too small to house the aircraft. Instead, it was converted to a landplane and sold on... and is still flying nowadays as Lufthansa's D-CDLH/D-AQUI.

Our arrival in Tromsø marks the end of our journey's second day. The next morning, we depart Tromsø for the final part of our journey, still flying "Scandinavian" but now with their subsidiary, Widerøe.



Airline: Widerøe's Flyveselskap AS
Schedule: April 1955
Flight: Scandinavian 352
Equipment: de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter/Noorduyn Norseman
Frequency: Daily except Sundays.
Departs: Tromsø Seaport (n/a - Norway)
Departure:0900 local time (0800 UTC)
Arrives: Vadsø Seaport (n/a - Norway)
Arrival: 1435 local time (1335 UTC)
Stops: 3 stops:
- Alta Seaport (n/a - Norway) arrival 1015 local, departure 1030 local
- Hammerfest Seaport (n/a - Norway) arrival 1100 local, departure 1145 local
- Kirkenes Seaport (n/a - Norway) arrival 1400 local, departure 1415 local.

In 1954, Widerøe started flying the northern routes into Finnmark under a contract it had signed with SAS. In view of this, they ordered the new DHC-3 Otter, which they jointly operated with their older Noorduyn Norseman aircraft. These operations would last into 1960, when the first land airports were finally built in Finnmark, and Widerøe retired their Norseman seaplanes.

So, 47 hours and 10 minutes after leaving in Kiruna, we finally arrive in Vadsø. It's taken a journey of 1692 miles to cover the 246 miles distance between the two points, with no less than 10 stops, 5 changes of planes, and 4 different types used to get to the destination. Amazing, isn't it? ;D

[Tom/CalClassic]

Wow, nice.

I think I would have driven a car...

[okami]

Apr 14, 2010 17:01:57 GMT -5 Tom/CalClassic said:

Wow, nice.

I think I would have driven a car...

Well, even with today's roads, you'd still have to count for an 11 hour 40 minutes drive. Back in 1963, you would have to count in another 6 hours at least to factor in the road conditions, plus that you would also have to cross two national borders, which brought along additional delays while customs cleared you.

Things got better over the next couple of years, though: in 1959, the very same journey would 'only' have taken you 29 hours and 40 minutes by air - compared to 40 hours and 15 minutes on the Stockholm - Santiago route.

The route woule have been Kiruna - Lulea - Stockholm per Scandinavian 107 (CV-440), changing over at Stockholm to Scandinavian 483 (CV-440) to Oslo, where you would have to spend the night. The next morning, you would take Scandinavian 302 (DC-6) via Trondheim and Bodø to Bardufoss, which was the northernmost airport at the time. There you would have to change again, this time to Scandinavian 356, a Widerøe Otter to Tromsø. And there you would have to switch flights one last time, to Scandinavian 352, another Widerøe Otter. This would take you from Tromsø via Hammerfest and Kirkenes to Vadsø. Starting out at almost the exact same moment as four years before, any day but Saturday at 1530 local, you would arrive in Vadsø at 2110 the next day (except on Sundays when the Tromsø - Vadsø sector wasn't flown, that is).

Another four years later, the flight would be even more drastically shortened - at least, if you chose to leave for the airport on Fridays or Sundays, just after midnight. That way, you would fly out of Kiruna direct to Bardufoss (Scandinavian 441/CV-440), departing at 0110 and arriving at 0300 local times, taking into account a timezone difference of an hour between Sweden and Norway, and out of Bardufoss you would then take Scandinavian 356 (CV-440) via Alta and Banak to Kirkenes, across the water from Vadsø. That way, the 47 hour 10 minute odyssey of 1955 had shrunk to a mere 4 1/2 hour doddle in 1963.

However, on any other day, it could still be quite a journey...

Comparisons in short:
1955
- Kiruna - Vadsø: 47 hours, 10 minutes per Saab 90, DC-4, Ju 52 & Otter
- Stockholm - Santiago: 46 hours, 20 minutes per DC-6

1959
- Kiruna - Vadsø: 29 hours, 40 minutes per CV-440, DC-6 and Otter
- Stockholm - Santiago: 40 hours, 15 minutes per DC-7C

1963
- Kiruna - Vadsø:
-- Best case scenario: 4 hours, 30 minutes per CV-440 on Fridays and Sundays;
-- Second best scenario: 23 hours, 40 minutes per CV-440, DC-7C and CV-440 again on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays;
-- Worst case scenario: 25 hours, 10 minutes per CV-440, Caravelle, DC-7C and CV-440 again on Mondays and Wednesdays...
- Stockholm - Santiago: 28 hours, 55 minutes per DC-8

[Tom/CalClassic]

I guess you just can't get there from here...

[johnl]

If money was no object and you were in a hurry, you could have chartered a DC-3 from Fred Olsen Air Transport.

[okami]

Apr 30, 2010 6:47:56 GMT -5 johnl said:

If money was no object and you were in a hurry, you could have chartered a DC-3 from Fred Olsen Air Transport.

Unless you were planning on parachuting in, not before 1963: that's when the Kirkeness airport was first opened, hence the seaplane flights before that date! ;D

Vadsø was to follow suit even later: its airport was only opened in 1974...