Wild Nordics

Adventures, Passions, and Surviving Finland

SEP Aircraft

The Classic Incumbent vs. A Modern Challenger – Which one would you buy?

By on 09/04/2023

I recently watched John Armstrong’s informative video (embedded below) comparing a Cessna 172 with a Diamond DA40 NG, and I wanted to share my own observations and thoughts on these two aircraft. I got my Private Pilot’s License (PPL) in Finland on the DA40 NG before transitioning to Cessna 172s. Almost all of my hours […]

Ultralight hours can now be used towards EASA PPL SEP Renewal

By on 23/09/2020

After years of lobbying by the aviation community, EASA in 2020 made a concession to allow Ultralight (and Sailplane) to be used towards PPL SEP (and LAPL license) renewals. This is great news for pilots who predominantly fly ultralights. As European pilots know, PPL SEP class renewal needs to be done every 2 years and […]

The Best 2 Seater Bush planes

By on 17/09/2020

If you like flying low and slow it doesn’t get much better than a bush plane. Short take-off and landing (STOL) performance opens up a lot of possibilities to visit back strips and experience places that are not always so accessible. Most of the 2 Seater Bush Plane options available are either Ultralights (if commercially […]

Certified vs. Experimental vs. Ultralight Aircraft – What’s the difference?

By on 08/09/2020

What type of certification an aircraft has matters – it determines how the aircraft must be maintained, where and how it can be flown, and how the hours flown in the aircraft can be logged. Finnish registrations: Left is Certified Aircraft (OH-_ _ _), Center is Experimental  (OH-X_ _), Right is an Ultralight OH-U_ _ […]

The Best 2 Seater Aircraft (SEP)

By on 19/06/2020

There are a lot of exciting and affordable 2-seater aircraft options out there.  These 2 seater aircraft are usually half the initial purchase price and hourly operating costs of their 4 seat counterparts. The aircraft we will look at here are either EASA certified or experimental aircraft. Why this matters is that the hours flown […]

The Best 4 Seater Aircraft (SEP)

By on 08/06/2020

The perfect aircraft for me would be one that cruises fast and lands slow, burns less than 30 liters an hour (diesel or 98), and is cheap to maintain. Being able to also land on short bush strips and take a family of 4 on adventures would be a definite plus. Unfortunately, you can’t always […]