One of the oldest pilots in Iceland Hallgrímur Jónsson turns 80 years today, on 7.February. He continues to work as a pilot and is not going to give up on flying. “Yes, I still work as a pilot, flying on Beechcraft King Air. Even though I consider quitting later this year. But even after I will continue to fly as a private pilot. I am part owner of two planes – J-3 Piper Cub and PA-18 Super Cub. I also hope to come back to flights on DC-3 TF-NPK”, Hallgrímur Jónsson told Flugblogg on the day of his 80s anniversary.
DC-3 with registration TF-NPK is the only aircraft of this type in Iceland, operated by the aeroclub “DC3 Þristavinir”. The plane is grounded for 2,5 years already due to technical issues, exacerbated by the COVID-19 situation. For Hallgrímur this is a very special plane, which was assembled just about one year before his birthday in 1942. It was exactly this plane, from which Hallgrímur’s career as a commercial pilot started. They flew for years together before an era of jet planes started, and Hallgrímur was transferred to other types of aircraft. They met again in 21st century and since then flew together. Learn their story from previous Flugblogg’s publication “One story for two: the pilot and the airplane”.
What makes a person fly for such a long period? Hallgrímur Jónsson has his own answer: “My first flight as a flight student was in September 1960. Why do I fly since then? Flying is my passion. I refer to “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” book, written by American barnstormer pilot [a type of stunt pilot, who perform tricks for entetainment] Richard Bach. It is said in the book “He wanted to fly. To learn to fly”. So, I wanted to do the same as Jonathan Seagull, I always wanted to fly”.
