In the early 2000s, a guy from Germany, Ingo Brigmann, flew to all these places up north ( Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Inuvik, Barrow, etc.) in a highly modified Super Club (although not to all these places in one go, plus his aircraft was based in Fairbanks). I still have all his DVDs.
So funny Philipp, I have also all DVD from him, he was a dentist in Berlin Lichterfelde and treated the family from my brother in law. The world is really small š
Such an amazing story! I canāt wait to read the next episodes!
Thank you @Dan for posting about your totally amazing adventure.
Your photos are out of this world. Well, the places you went to are out of this world
A superbly executed and wonderfully photographed trip. I am pretty well lost for words.
I hope this motivates at least some people to want to get into flying and see the possibilities. If not halfway around the world then at least see what GA can bring in terms of flying around Europe (which is why I learnt to fly originally).
And of course you are doing this without a ālogistics teamā to support you, and a āsocial media teamā to promote it all over the place for the benefit of your sponsors
@Peter, appreciate, thanks!
LeSving wrote:
I wonder, how is your aircraft equipped, instruments, fuel etc?
Instruments:
- Dual battery back-up G5s
- GNX375 (navigator with certified RNAV+ADSB in/out)
- AV-20 (ADI back-up to the G5sā¦) with battery back-up
- Right iPad running SkyDemon for general route planning and recording
- Left iPad running the excellent and free FltPlan Go with either the approach plates or the appropriate Canadian or US sectional
- iPhone with both SkyDemon & FltPlan Go as back-up, but mainly used to send DEP & ARR messages to my Watchdog and my wife
- Powerflarm AT-1 with ATD57 display
- CO2 detector
Flight/Cabin equipment:
- Small fire extinguisher
- 2L O2 system (O2D2 MH) with cannula
- Little John relief facility
Fuel capacity:
- Original (slightly extendedā¦) wing tanks, 2x 70 liters
- Aux fuel tank (Turtle) on PAX seat, 25 USG (90 liters), Teed into right wing tank. Normal ops: fly on right tank until half empty, switch engine supply to left tank, open aux tank valve, switch elec transfer pump ON, watch the right fuel gage, approaching full reverse operation. Repeat until emptyā¦
Running LOP gives about 8:20 endurance at the speeds used during the trip (150 KTAS), or 10:30 at eco speeds (130 KTAS).
Emergency gear:
- Will be detailed at the end of the threadā¦
Day 8
BGJN Ilulissat ā CYFB Iqaluit
Part 3/3 of the westbound NAT crossing. The weather looks ādoableā. The last formalities are done at the airport. One of them is to phone Canadian CBP to confirm my arrival time.
Once airborne, one last long look at The Iceberg Factory
In order to make the shortest overwater crossing, I initially follow the coast southbound, and just before reaching the coastal settlement of Sisimiut change to a westerly heading. The cloud base is getting lower, and I now climb, making my way thru some different layers, with periods of reduced visibility. The freezing levels are again quite low, and a little bit of rime ice is forming, nothing serious. Finally the clouds above dissipate, and I continue on top.
Mid-channel
Total flight time of the leg is 3:50, and after about 2 hours Iām over the Canadian coast. Not really visible as Iām still above a closed cloud cover, but some peaks are poking thru.
I fly a short dogleg in the slim hope of spotting POI Thor The Vertical Drop, but nope, another day maybe.
Approaching Iqualuit the weather clears, and the coast becomes visible. Almost as wondrous as Greenland.
In addition to my right hand iPad running SkyDemon, Iām now using my left iPad to run the excellent free app FltPlan Go, displaying airport info, procedures, and sectionals for Canada and the US. When landing at Ilulissat 2 days ago, I made a mental note to change the units on my displays from hpa to inches of mercury. Guess what, it will now be done after my landing at Iqualuit
The weather is now nice and clear, and I turn right base to finals with a nice view on the city of Iqaluit on my right
After landing I proceed to the main apron where the Canadian CBP officer duly inspects my passport, my ArriveCAN and CanPass, and welcomes me to Canada.
Short taxi to the fuel pump, again thanks to Ibrahim for the āleftoversā, and the very friendly service.
I decide to āhandleā myself, which complicates things a little bit. The airport is kinda middle size, but since it has a few schedule flights, likes to play ābig airportā, which means that to get in and out without handling one has to learn his way aroundā¦
YLL has been put to bed
Iām interested in your camera setup. Do you have an externally mounted camera? The framing looks too good to be blind shooting, but the clarity looks too good to be taken from inside.
The OAT is again surprisingly hot, 26Ā°Cā¦ and the streets not being paved, every vehicle leaves swirls of dust in its trail, and Iām happy to reach the hotel.
Kinda like that tag
Another very attractive school
dutch_flyer wrote:
Iām interested in your camera setup. Do you have an externally mounted camera?
All the stills have been taken with my iPhone 12 Mini. To prevent the usual nasty reflections and improve image quality, it was fitted with a lens hood of this type: iPhone Lens Hood
The rest is practice and care whilst shooting, as having the hood against the canopy plexiglass and the natural horizon as close as possible to the reference line on the screen (switched on in the preferences). And clean glass
I also taped almost all my take-offs and landings, and some interesting inflight stuff, with 3 movie cameras:
- insta360 installed atop the vertical tail in the fibreglass fairing
- Drift Ghost 4K on a fairing in the tie-down thread of the left wing
- insta360, in 180Ā° forward view, wired to the audio, behind my right shoulder
The results are tons of vids, which I will try to edit and maybe publish some of it next winterā¦
Day 9
CYFB Iqaluit ā CYRT Rankin Inlet ā CYZF Yellwoknife
During the whole trip, I aimed for an early take-off. And from now on all the airports visited will have a 24h operation. I want to take advantage of the usually quieter weather of mornings, and the advantages of early arrivals at destinationā¦ one of the usual subject on these kind of trips being finding a hotel. Flying a āVFRā SEP according a loose and unreliable schedule makes reservations ahead difficult. Most of the places I visited are popular, and doing the tour during high season and in post-Covid euphoria increased the problem of finding suitable accommodation for the nite.
I had planned on flying North of the Hudson bay, and, as already mentioned elsewhere in this thread, fuel availability is a problem in the North. Rankin Inlet was the only stop enroute showing fuel, but hotel reservation a week ahead proved impossible.
Due to this, today was to take the most flying of the tour, the first leg with 4:30h and the second 4:51h of flight time. Yes, I do love to fly
Getting to the aircraft just past the wee hours proved slightly challenging, but I managed an early take-off in the end.
After departure
Weather was good, and the views once moreā¦ imposing. Yes, I can confirm it: the Hudson Bay is huge! Still partly packed with ice, luckily still very unpopulated
Following the northern coast was fascinating, islands, bays, acres of tundra, frozen land and sea, the winter just having let loose for a couple of months.
And about to turn finals for Rankin Inlet