Am not sure if we have a ferry pilot on the forum, but as I mentioned in terbang’s thread am researching bringing a vintage aircraft (Cessna 195) over to Europe. These aircraft, known as El Toro in South America, are not petite and while technically they are able to fit in a 40 foot container, it is not straightforward. As crossing the North Atlantic in a 69 year old aircraft was not at the top of my to do lists, am still investigating the container route. Apparently do not ship via Miami is one piece of advice.
In addition to survival gear am interested in understanding what is the minimum avionics fit that Canada requires for the Northern VFR route. It used to be dual ADF, or ADF/Loran. A Sony MF radio with manual loop used to be approved for a second ADF I believe. Am hoping that an IFR GPS will suffice.
There are several 195s for sale in Europe at the moment, but asking price seems to be a 50% plus over good examples in the US.
I believe across the northern route ie Iqualuit – Sondrestrom all you need is short range Nav so a single long range nav GPS would be fine.
If I may jump into this discussion, I’m planning to go the other direction in July.
My currently planned route is:
?? – Germany
EGPC – Wick
BIRK – Reykjavik
BGKK – Kulusuk
BGSF – Kangar
CYFB – Iqaluit
CYYR – Goose Bay
?? – USA
My questions are many and varied:
1. Is anyone here interested in making the trip? It will be tricky, as I will be stopping in Greenland (Kulusuk) to perform some research on a glacier there as part of my job (which will mean a 10 day pause in Greenland)
2. Any advice on equipment, planning and other preparations?
3. Equipment needed: Life Raft, Dry Suit (survival suit), Personal Beacon… and others?
4. Any other tips or wisdom or insight are incredibly welcome. Airport logistics, “don’t go” etc are absolutely welcome and will be weighed with full value.
Thanks!
Check out this blog here. It nicely portrays how rewarding, but also how cumbersome and stressful crossing the North Atlantic in an SEP can be.
AF wrote:
3. Equipment needed: Life Raft, Dry Suit (survival suit), Personal Beacon… and others?
You can rent most of what you need from Far North Aviation in Wick. A PLB is is something you would have to buy yourself.
What type of aircraft? Kulusuk is very scenic. Other than being rock solid on weather before you depart for Greenland, make sure you aren’t planning on flying in or out of their airports on their closed days (Sundays and public holidays). It is very expensive if you do.
You can download the Iceland AIP app from the app store which is helpful with their plates and routing requirements etc.
Have you checked this document local copy? It has a wealth of information.
Can you do the crossing VFR without a special authorization?
There is some useful information on North Atlantic operations in the Canada AIM, which you can download in pdf format here
This has some references to the Canadian Aviation Regulations, which can be checked online here.
or the pdf downloaded.
The AIM Section 11 has the North Atlantic operations info including pilot (instrument rating), equipment (IFR+), and fuel requirements. A lot of the info is for GA aircraft flying the upper flight levels (MNPS, RVSM) which can be ignored, but you’ll need to wade through to sort out the stuff relevant to a Cessna 195. Not that bad though.
Airspace >= FL55 is class A (below is class G). So if you really need and want to try this VFR, then it would need to be down low. I, personally, would not be comfortable with that.
Wow, thank you @boscomantico @JasonC and @chflyer !
Great info!
The n138cr.ch site is fantastic and chalk full of information.
AF – All those places on your list are fine logistically and well used to our types of aircraft in transit.
A good read about wartime in that part of Eastern Greenland is Mitchell Zuckoff’s ‘Frozen in Time’. I’d also be interested to hear how the clean-up of Bluie East 2 is going, just North of Kulusuk.
You can rent adequate rafts and immersion suits from Far North and drop them off at Goose Bay. I have my own dry suit, a Mustang MSF300 with very good hypothermia protection. It would also serve as a sleeping bag as part of your survival equipment. It’s possible if you do have to put down that you would be out of range of helicopter recovery, so you need to be prepared for an overnight bivouac.Egillstadir and Akureyri are alternatives in Iceland that avoid the compulsory handling of Reykjavik and Keflavik.
Avgas should be available at all those stops, but it would be wise to check the current status as deliveries are typically once a year after the sea ice has broken up, which can be quite late on Greenland and Baffin Island
Mark_1 wrote:
Avgas should be available at all those stops, but it would be wise to check the current status as deliveries are typically once a year after the sea ice has broken up, which can be quite late on Greenland and Baffin Island
A good point. A couple of years ago Iqualuit ran out of avgas.
