Flight to England

Michael said:
Ok, Its a deal. If shes gotta hate someone it might as well be me. Great idea to start planning now. let me know what you come up with, and I'll just follow along :)
This could be big. How many planes do you think we could get to convoy across the pond?
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Well first I'll have to order some maps and check airports, distances, etc. When I did my planning for Newfoundland I had several criteria:

1. Plan a route, no matter how "out of my way" to ensure when crossing water I stayed within gliding distance of land.
2. As airports, and even houses, can often be 100 nm apart in the north, plan a fuel stop every 2 hrs so I always had 1 1/2 hours reserve (one of my planned stops was fogged in and I had to go on to the next airport)(another thing I learned was to call ahead for availability of 100LL - one of my stops had discontinued 100LL two months earlier and the CFS had not been updated and there was no NOTAM)
3. Learn everything I could about foreign airspace rules, e.g. north shore of the St. Lawrence has a corridor with no radar coverage with special self announce frequencies and reporting points.
4. File all my registrations with NavCanada in order to be able to file flight plans via computer and learn the International Flight Plan Format. (note in all the airports I landed at except one, NavCanada had a kiosk with a computer linked directly to them)
5. Be up to date on NDB approaches which are still widely used in Canada. A lot of the northern airports have no precision approaches.

Hmmm, planning this would be fun! Problem is that neither the AOPA software nor Golden Eagle go that far. Need maps!

If you have to go outside of gliding distance of land, the water up there is COLD! You'll need more than a life vest. Raft and cold water immersion suit would be a must. I wonder if you can rent these somewhere?

I don't know how many would like to do it. It would be a MAJOR undertaking and expensive (besides 100lbs of maps/books/etc. think of the avgas prices in Ireland/England - was almost $5/gallon in Newfoundland last year). I think to do it you would want to be IR and current.
 
There's an outfit in Maine that sets folks up for the transatlantic trip. They have STCs for ferry tanks, HF radios, etc. along with info on making the crossing.

Prior to my purchase, the plane I now own made the trip over and back. The 337s and other documents are in the files somewhere....
 
bstratt said:
Well first I'll have to order some maps and check airports, distances, etc. When I did my planning for Newfoundland I had several criteria:

1. Plan a route, no matter how "out of my way" to ensure when crossing water I stayed within gliding distance of land.
2. As airports, and even houses, can often be 100 nm apart in the north, plan a fuel stop every 2 hrs so I always had 1 1/2 hours reserve (one of my planned stops was fogged in and I had to go on to the next airport)(another thing I learned was to call ahead for availability of 100LL - one of my stops had discontinued 100LL two months earlier and the CFS had not been updated and there was no NOTAM)
3. Learn everything I could about foreign airspace rules, e.g. north shore of the St. Lawrence has a corridor with no radar coverage with special self announce frequencies and reporting points.
4. File all my registrations with NavCanada in order to be able to file flight plans via computer and learn the International Flight Plan Format. (note in all the airports I landed at except one, NavCanada had a kiosk with a computer linked directly to them)
5. Be up to date on NDB approaches which are still widely used in Canada. A lot of the northern airports have no precision approaches.

Hmmm, planning this would be fun! Problem is that neither the AOPA software nor Golden Eagle go that far. Need maps!

If you have to go outside of gliding distance of land, the water up there is COLD! You'll need more than a life vest. Raft and cold water immersion suit would be a must. I wonder if you can rent these somewhere?

I don't know how many would like to do it. It would be a MAJOR undertaking and expensive (besides 100lbs of maps/books/etc. think of the avgas prices in Ireland/England - was almost $5/gallon in Newfoundland last year). I think to do it you would want to be IR and current.
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Sounds like a go to me.
In case of water landing, we can always club baby seals and rip their fur off to use as water suits. I hear there are lots of them up that way.
It really wont take long to plan it all out, the trick is to use current charts. if you start planning now, who knows what can change.
 
Michael said:
In case of water landing, we can always club baby seals and rip their fur off to use as water suits. I hear there are lots of them up that way.
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Don't get me started on this! As a Newfoundlander I have now stopped listening to Paul McCartney!:D

While some things will change, distances, airports, customs regs, etc. rarely do. I'd at least want to look at distances and routes and stops to see if it was within my personal limits before I seriously started planning!
 
wsuffa said:
There's an outfit in Maine that sets folks up for the transatlantic trip. They have STCs for ferry tanks, HF radios, etc. along with info on making the crossing.

Prior to my purchase, the plane I now own made the trip over and back. The 337s and other documents are in the files somewhere....
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Do you know who they are Bill? While Maine would be a long way out of my way they may be able to provide some info.
 
bstratt said:
Do you know who they are Bill? While Maine would be a long way out of my way they may be able to provide some info.
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I'll look it up and let you know.
 
really there isn't many (any?) piston twins that could finish the trip after one quit, so i wouldn't even consider that, just hauling an extra engine along for the trip, twice as likely to have an engine failure, etc. Just tank the cabin, take off, point east, land :) ive often thought it would be fun. have to stick to some good cross country soaring this summer for my excitement though.
 
Michael said:
BTW...my Girlfriend is much hotter! :yes:
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You mean the one with the air valve in her foot?











:D
 
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Michael said:
SO I have been wanting to do this since forever. A trip in the mooney to England. Next spring I am going to take the time off. Who wants to go with :)

:yes:
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Michael, Do you need someone with a camera? Just kidding I wouldn't be able to go. Bob:goofy:
 
Anthony said:
You mean the one with the air valve in her foot?


:D
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Is THAT where it is. I always thought it was in her... (never mind) :D
 
Anthony said:
You mean the one with the air valve in her foot?











:D
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Dang it, Anthony. I had just taken a sip of coffee when I read that. And I had just cleaned my keyboard.
 
you guys crack me up. I'll be thinking of you while having tea with the queen. Barry, thanks for that link. very helpful. good reading too.
 
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