Taking the big hop

[Greg Roberts]

I was wondering if any of you have ever flown a skymaster, or any plane for that matter, across the northern route to the UK? It looks like the biggest hop is from Greenland to the UK at ~600 miles. I will be stepping up to a skymaster in the next year and I would love to take a month and fly to Europe. Opinions? Experience?

[Dale Campbell]

I purchased a 337 in Sweden a few years ago that made that trip.
You must be IFR certified, have special clearances to land at Goose Bay, and Greenland military airports to re-fuel. 100LL charges a few years ago was $6.50 per gal. Landing Permit $100 at each airport. We paid $500 for rental on special VHF radio installation with its own battery and very long wire anttena. Next airport was in Iceland also very expensive. Than to Shetland Island and down to UK. Total cost then was about $10,000 one way. Before trip, the plane was given a complete annual check. You will need to rent survival gear, which includes a life raft and gumby suite. The suite should be worn up to the waste, very uncomfortable, while over cold water. Total flying time from Sweden to NE Penna. took 25 hour flying time. The trip was the reverse order. Best time to go is mid June to first of Aug. when you have 20+ hours of daylight.

[kevin]

Although I have not yet made the trip, by far the best material I have ever seen on the subject is a DVD called Flying the North Atlantic Safely by Ed Carlson. It is available through Sportys.

A very distant second place source is a video tape called North Atlantic Crossing from www.flightfilms.com. This tape is amusing, and interesting, but has far less useful information that Ed Carlson's DVD.

Kevin

[WebMaster]

Brian Von Herzon presented on this exact topic at last years Nashville meeting, and will do so again this year. Brian regularly crosses, from USA to Europe, and back. My understanding of things is that he does it about 2X a year.

Come to the meeting at PWA, you'll learn a wealth of knowledge from him.

[Greg Roberts]

Thanks guys. Maybe by the time I am ready to go we can organize a month long vacation among a few of us. I am going to check out that video too. Thanks for the lead.

[Ed Coffman]

Two good books on the subject:

Long Distance Flying by Peter Garrison

and

Ocean Flying by Louise Sacchi

Good luck,

Ed
________
Iolite Vaporizer

[Frank Benvin]

Here is a good site to look at

http://www.equipped.org/home.htm

Equipped to survive. It has all kind of valuble information that could save your live.

Frank