Bo to Hawaii

Oh, the magic of great-circle routing. It's shorter from Kodiak, Alaska to HNL than LAX to HNL. Some way to set up a vacation, huh?

Looks like his speeds have been in the 135 knot range; so figure leaned out to, what, 10GPH? Assume (for fun) 80 gallons in the wings, 40 in tip-tanks, he'd need another 60-80 gallons in ferry tanks for reasonably comfortable reserves.

Sounds cool to me, but I sure would want to have taken good care of her...
 
Cool flight! It would be interesting to have more details about the trip.
:blueplane: :blueplane: :blueplane:
ApacheBob
 
When Pat and Chuck flew the Bo around the world they had to put in a hose and a syringe pump to add a quart of oil every few hours. Imaginr the peace of mind that brought.
 
that would bring more piece of mind than having the engine run out of oil!
 
From one of the guys on the Beechlist:
I'm sitting in HNL right now and thought that I'd see if Flight Watch had any info on 411EG. They spoke with Center and told me that he is on the ground in HNL. This was at 2124Z that I spoke with the Feds. He didn't tell me when he landed.


Best,

Dave
 
A Navy buddy of mine (now retired) was XO at Barking Sands PMRF on Kauai. He flew a C-12 (Navy King Air) to LA via the Aleutians without any modifications. When I asked him why, he said "I always wanted to do that...and it was cheaper than crating the plane."


SCCutler said:
Oh, the magic of great-circle routing. It's shorter from Kodiak, Alaska to HNL than LAX to HNL. Some way to set up a vacation, huh?

...
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smigaldi said:
That means nothing to me. Why do we care about this particular flight.
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I doen't know the man and have never flown a Bo but this is interesting to me because of he has accomplished something I'd like to do. Reread Steve's post to discern the A to your Q. Flight is about discovery. Discovery of yourself is as much a thing as anything else. Besides, what a great thing to say you've done when sitting at the hanger.
 
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SCCutler said:
Oh, the magic of great-circle routing. It's shorter from Kodiak, Alaska to HNL than LAX to HNL. Some way to set up a vacation, huh?

Looks like his speeds have been in the 135 knot range; so figure leaned out to, what, 10GPH? Assume (for fun) 80 gallons in the wings, 40 in tip-tanks, he'd need another 60-80 gallons in ferry tanks for reasonably comfortable reserves.

Sounds cool to me, but I sure would want to have taken good care of her...
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It can't be too awful much shorter going that way but combined with the flightseeing up to Kodiak, I'd see it as a preferred overall route.
 
Sometimes the flight tracker does not show all the controlled segments of the flight. It is still an awesome website.:)
ApacheBob
 
Of the friends I know that have flown around the word, this is the longest over water segment. Still quite the adventure in my eyes in a single; no matter how well cared for.

Best,

Dave
 
Wow, what a trip! Glad they made it safe. And it will make for some good hangar talk!

terry
 
Hell yeah. How long was the over-water portion of the flight?
 
SkyHog said:
Hell yeah. How long was the over-water portion of the flight?
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Roughly 2200 nm from LA to Honolulu. At 135 Kt that would be more than 16 hours.
 
Michael said:
I doen't know the man and have never flown a Bo but this is interesting to me because of he has accomplished something I'd like to do. Reread Steve's post to discern the A to your Q. Flight is about discovery. Discovery of yourself is as much a thing as anything else. Besides, what a great thing to say you've done when sitting at the hanger.
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All I see is a thread that says "Check out Flight Aware: N411EG."

I guess I won't be allowed in on the secret. From flight aware I see a guy who has been flying around Alaska and is now in Hawaii.
 
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I'm with you Scott. Numerous flights by pilots we dont know go to Honolulu every day.
 
N2212R said:
I'm with you Scott. Numerous flights by pilots we dont know go to Honolulu every day.
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Way to rain on the parade guys. We could talk about the MAG group some more?

I thought it was an interesting flight in that there was basically nothing besides water between airports. Not just a little bit of water either.
 
C'mon, Ed, lets us saddle-up ol 12Romeo, and fly to PHNL. You up for it?
 
From one of the guys on the Beechlist that flew props to Hawaii:


Isn't it funny how no one talks of PNRs anymore?

Only us senior citizens remember the days when doing that longest of all flights in props, when certain failures during the mid-portion of the flight would leave you unable to reach land in either direction? (Runaway prop being one)

(PNR = "Point of no Return")


Best,

Dave
 
AirBaker said:
I thought it was an interesting flight in that there was basically nothing besides water between airports. Not just a little bit of water either.
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Yeah, met too. I think its a great accomplishment in a GA single.
 
SCCutler said:
C'mon, Ed, lets us saddle-up ol 12Romeo, and fly to PHNL. You up for it?
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Hmmm. Shortest route has me 1994 miles over water.

Running at 75% and 125kts I would be around 16 hours in the plane. That's 160 gallons. Throw in my 45 minute IFR reserve :rofl: and I would need just under 170 gallons. That puts me about 300 over gross on take off. (Me plus food, water, raft, etc) Now, can I fit 120 gallons in the cabin? That's about 16 cubic feet. No problem, that's a 31" cube. Yank the back seats, save some weight, vent through the tail cone, rig up the fuel valve to pull from the inside tank(s), get a waiver from the FAA, and I am in business.

Spike, now you've got me actually thinking about this!
 
As pointed out by another friend, dont forget to factor in any oil usage...
 
Ed:

If you go, I promise to make a post to check out Flight Aware with your tail number and with no explaination!

All the folks that make that flight are over gross; they get a waiver from FSDO for the flight. Of course, if you don't continue on, you'll have to come back the same way!!


Best,

Dave
 
AirBaker said:
As pointed out by another friend, dont forget to factor in any oil usage...
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As long as I have it at 6.5 qts when I leave I should be around 5 when I land. I have been pretty much 0.1qph on my usage since I've had it. Now, to build a tank and valve...
 
Ive heard that one way to mod out the cherokee for the long overwater trips is to get the 100 gallon tanks out of a cherokee 6 or seneca or something and put them in. i guess they fit. then you'll only need 20 or 40 gallons in the cabin. hell get a 337 for the wing tanks then you'll have hella range solo.
 
N2212R said:
Hmmm. Shortest route has me 1994 miles over water.

Running at 75% and 125kts I would be around 16 hours in the plane. That's 160 gallons. Throw in my 45 minute IFR reserve :rofl: and I would need just under 170 gallons. That puts me about 300 over gross on take off. (Me plus food, water, raft, etc) Now, can I fit 120 gallons in the cabin? That's about 16 cubic feet. No problem, that's a 31" cube. Yank the back seats, save some weight, vent through the tail cone, rig up the fuel valve to pull from the inside tank(s), get a waiver from the FAA, and I am in business.

Spike, now you've got me actually thinking about this!
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It's my understanding that one generally plans this at max range speed with planned changes for weight (max range speed decreases as you burn fuel), and you want to have something like 50% margins. I think you'd better re-compute.
 
N2212R said:
I'm with you Scott. Numerous flights by pilots we dont know go to Honolulu every day.
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Yes, but generally in much more capable aircraft.

I find it amusing that you're poo-pooing it, and talking about doing it in the same thread. Once you succeed :fcross:, I'll be sure to let everyone know it was no big deal, people do it every day... ;)
 
Perhaps Kent, but at least ya'll know me. Plus with Dave's link I thought we needed to start searching for an NTSB report with that tail number next. Bo to the bottom of the Pacific according to FlightAware. Background makes things a bit more interesting.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Yes, but generally in much more capable aircraft.

I find it amusing that you're poo-pooing it, and talking about doing it in the same thread. Once you succeed :fcross:, I'll be sure to let everyone know it was no big deal, people do it every day... ;)
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I am not poo-pooing it (that is the word of the day) I just don't understand what the fuss is about this particualr flight and I wanted to know more about it.
 
If you haven't seen her web site, Carol Ann Garratt has a nicely done journal on her solo journey around the world in her Mooney 201, including the leg to Hawaii.

http://www.kerrlake.com/mgarratt/INDEX.HTM

tankin.jpg

Ferry tanks :eek:

http://www.kerrlake.com/mgarratt/leg1a.htm speaks a little as to how she set up the tanks and managed the fuel.


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matt and I watched Carol give a presentation last spring about her flight and raising money for Lou Gehrig's Disease. We even got to join her for supper afterwards, it was very cool to talk with an earth rounder. she instructs a lot for her CAP group in florida and is an all around great gal!
 
Guess I'm lucky to be at a big airport here in the Dallas area.

Frank Haile is a few hangers down and has flown around the world three times in a Bonanza. Has some very interesting stories: broke down in Asia; was intercepted by the Indian Air Force over India, etc.

Bill Signs is my hangermate. He's flown to each continent in a C-210. Flew to the magnetic north pole this summer--I posted that. Has set several records in his plane. He's both an A&P and owner.


Couple other guys here at Addison have done some interesting things, but these guys are close friends and are very accessable. Just normal type folks that decided to go for it in their single engine plane!

Best,

Dave
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
everyone's doing it, even a C150 crossed the pond.....
this guy went the long-legged way:

http://www.cessna150-152.com/transatlantic.htm
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And his route from Canada to the Azores was only about 1350 miles. The best you can do getting to Hawaii from the mainland is 2000 miles. However if you wanted one of the shorter routes. Leave South America and head to Africa - less than 700 miles over water.
 
Missed a 1. less than 1700 mainland to mainland.
 
The secret is to leave South America, land in Antarctica, and then back up to Africa. I'm sure that's shorter. :D
 
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