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In keeping with a theme of amazing approaches, check out the latest we dug up. This one is to a small airport in the remote western fjords region in Iceland, in a Fokker 50 turboprop operated by Air Iceland.
This airport, Isafjordur in Iceland, (IFJ) is not for the faint of heart. You land on a runway that is positioned on one side of a fjord, which commands a u-turn that essentially wraps up the base leg and final leg in one turn.  There is no time to fly base – it’s downwind direct to final!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv_c6vA8DXE
The airport serves the largest town in the Westfjords region of Iceland. It is only 8 feet (2 meters) above sea level and runways 08/26 are 4500′ long (1500 meters). There are definitely no right turns after departure from 08, and no left turns from 26.  An expedited left turn is required right after departure from 08.   Looks like an airport you wouldn’t want to go into on a day of low visibility, which probably happens often in this area considering it’s in the steep fjords right next to the ocean.

A Fokker 50 turboprop operated by Air Iceland.

A Fokker 50 turboprop operated by Air Iceland.

The aircraft in this video is a Fokker 50 turboprop, the model came into service in 1985 and is currently out of production.  Iceland Air has six of these airplanes in service.
 
 
 
 
 
 
See another amazing approach from Milford Sound, New Zealand and an instrument approach to Queensland, also New Zealand.  It seems like airports in the fjords make for the best approach videos.

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Alicja Gados

I was born in Europe (Poland) and moved to Calgary as a young kid and grew up in Canada. I began graduate school in Edmonton, Alberta where I also began ground school and my private pilot’s license training at Edmonton city centre, the now closed, Blatchford field, CYXD (most operators have moved a short way west to Villeneuve). I moved to the rocky mountains, I transferred flight schools to very busy, and windy Springbank airport – CYBW near Calgary. This move was overwhelming, at best. This is a blog about my experience learning to fly, acquiring more flight experience and ratings but also about general aviation topics, news and gear reviews. I’ve discovered that flying takes a lot of studying, work and dedication, but is very rewarding! I started flying just out of graduate school, so I have struggled with paying for my lessons, and as a result, I have to take many breaks, which means that getting licensed has taken many more hours than normal. I am a commercial and multi IFR rated licensed pilot. I completed my PPL and CPL in Calgary-Springbank and multi IFR (group one) ratings in Abbotsford, BC at Chinook Helicopters. If you are learning to fly, interested in learning to fly or just interested in aviation, please join us. I trained as an economist before becoming a pilot and switching to aviation full time. I enjoy climbing, mountaineering, hiking, camping and backcountry skiing. It’s a great time to be in aviation. The industry is growing.

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