|
|
Marv and Rob,
Another Lancair successfully crossed the Atlantic to its new (temporary)
home base in the UK. I thought you may enjoy a brief
summary of the trip (pictures to follow).
We departed Princeton, NJ after many late night sessions preparing for
the trip. Many thanks to Bill and Sue Harrelson, who made the trip last
year, for their invaluable assistance and Rick Argente, for his all of
his frequent ground support. My copilot for the trip was Pete
Zaccaginino, who flies a GIV for a large insurance company and is
President of Lancair's High Perfomance Training Program.
We departed Wednesday late morning, August 18th. The first stop was a
quick hop (96nm) to KFOK, Long Island NY to take care of some paperwork.
As usual, the "quick" stop was not so quick as we had to correct a
drifting in the heading of the newly installed GRT EFIS. It seemed the
constant RF emissions from talking on the radio to NY controllers
were interfering with the magnetometer (installed in
the tailcone). Some shielding and the problem was solved. However, it
was now too late to make customs at Sept Isles.
Not wanting to abort the trip so soon, and to beat some approaching
weather, we decided to push on to Montreal, which has 24hr customs. We
landed at Montreal (281nm) and were instructed to take the first left
and hold short at the taxiway. We turned and found ourselves directly
across the taxiway from an AF 747. Needless to say, we were not about
to turn our taxi lights off (as the 747 had done). Canada at last, and
Montreal at that!
We awoke Thursday to strong weather passing through. After lunch, we
plotted a course for Roberval, only 193nm away, because of the uncertain
weather further north. After landing in Roberval, the weather ahead
looked OK, but was questionable further out. So, another short leg
(316nm) to Wabush. During this leg, the newly installed TruTrak
Digiflight autopilot starts acting up and powers down. Oh well, only
3,000 miles to hand fly. The TruTrak had done a very good job of flying
the plane, even with its very high pitch sensitivity due to the loading.
The weather in Kuujjuaq (341nm), our last stop for the day wasn't great
with moderate rain, but the ceilings and visibility were forecasted to
be OK. During preflight, we spotted our first mechanical problem of the
trip. The right Matco brake had a noticeable leak. There were
absolutely no services at Wabush, but my large brake reservoir was fairly
full. We decided to make the 340nm hop to Kuujjuaq (our last leg for
the day), staying off the brake as much as possible. We only hoped that
there was someone with at least basic tools at Kuujjuaq. We landed at
Kuujjuaq in heavy rain, albeit with good visibility and ceilings. Late
night dining at the only restaurant open (a trailer) Pete and I
discovered Poutine.
The next morning we had our first big breaks of the trip. Last year, I
forgot to ship a small envelope from the hanger with my belongings to
London. So, I threw it in the back of the Lancair before we departed
Princeton. In that envelope were two brake pads and several o-rings for
the Matco brakes. And, Kuujjuaq also happened to have a thriving charter
airline and tour business, with many jacks and tools. Thanks to their
gracious loan of tools, safetywire, and fluid, we were on our way by noon.
On to Iqaluit (487nm), our jumping off point for the Atlantic. Here we
encountered the worse weather of the trip, with 700ft ceilings and heavy
rain. Luckily, a Dash 8 provided handy shelter from the rain as we
fueled up. Then off to the restaurant for the local surf and turf
(Caribou and Artic Char).
More good luck the next morning. While the Iqaluit weather was still
lousy, the weather for the critical Atlantic legs was looking much
better. About an hour out, we were mostly out of the clouds and were
treated to a beautiful ride to Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland (487nm) and
spectacular views of the western coast.
After a very quick turn (relatively speaking) we departed for the
critical Greenland crossing leg. There was barely a cloud in the sky
and Pete and I were treated to a marvelously beautiful ride across
Greenland. We had a stunning view of the eastern cost from 12,000 feet
(the minimum crossing altitude) on the way to Reykjavik (the longest leg of
the
trip at 730nm).
A dusk landing at Reykjavik and off to a REAL airport hotel. When we
asked where the "airport" hotel was, they pointed to it. The hotel was
literally behind the FBO, right across the parking lot. After a very
enjoyable evening in a quite unique city, we were exhausted on the night
before our final day (hopefully) of flying.
We awoke to sunny skies (a first since departing Princeton) and another
Don and Martha King sighting. We first bumped into them in Iqaluit on
their round the world flight. How fast is that Falcon 10 again?
We had another beautiful ride to Scotland on our longest overwater leg
(639nm, mostly overwater). Again we were treated to some fabulous
coastal views of both Iceland and Scotland.
After much help from Andrew at Wick (the hardest working man in general
aviation?) Pete and I simultaneously hopped in the heavily loaded
Lancair for our last leg. We were in a hurry to beat the 7pm closing at
North Weald, UK (welcome to the UK). Much to my surprise, down came the
tail. Luckily, there was no damage, except for the paint. Back in the
plane again and we should be in North Weald (420nm) with an hour to
spare.
Click. Nothing from the starter. Pete and I look at other and
instantly we both know the problem. Exactly the same thing happened to
us on our two-week around the US trip two years ago. The B&C starter
was suffering from a sticking solenoid, a condition that I had fixed after
the US trip and that had, up to that day, never resurfaced. A
quick de-cowling, some tapping on the solenoid, and the starting
is working. We cowl up, cross our fingers, and the engine starts.
We climb to 6,000' and set for max cruise: open the ram air, WOT
(25.4" MAP) and 2,500 rpm, we are showing 204-205kts TAS, surprising given
our weight. We touch down at North Weald at 6:50pm - 10 minutes to
spare, capping off a trip of a lifetime.
Total Distance: 3,840nm
Total Time (hobbs) 21.9hrs (3.5 IMC, 0.5 Night)
Avg Speed 175.3kts based on hobbs time (averaged over 200kts ground speed
for all but the UK leg).
Clark Baker
N250JF
LNC2 360
590hrs TT
PS, poutine is french fries, gravy, cheese (Spagetti meatsauce optional).
**********************************************************************
Confidentiality Notice: The information contained in this e-mail and
any attachments may be legally privileged and confidential. If you
are not an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail and any
attachments is strictly prohibited. If you received this e-mail in
error, please notify the sender and permanently delete the e-mail and
any attachments immediately. You should not retain, copy or use this
e-mail or any attachment for any purpose, nor disclose all or any part
of the contents to any other person.
Thank you.
We, and our related entities, reserve the
right to monitor all e-mail communications through our networks.
|
|