FLY TO BOSTON – Page 2 – FLY TO BOSTON

3 Days until departure – It`s all about the weather

by Markus 17. September 202317. September 2023Comments are Disabled

Our departure is getting closer and hence we are getting a bit of a more reliable picture on the weather forecast. Weather conditions are the most relevant factor next to the planes specifications and equipment and the pilots skills. If a flight is safe and doable depends on the weather, the airplane instrumentation and de-icing capabilities and the destination airport equipment. Some airports are equiped with instrument landing systems which allow approaches also with low visibilty. Others are not and hence certain minimums (e.g. cloud ceiling) must be fulfilled in order to make a save approach.

Besides the visibility, winds and icing are other factors to be considered before making a decision on if and where to fly. Strong winds not only have an impact on the flight duration (which can vary significantly and with that also the maximum distance we can fly) but also are a key factor defining if a safe landing is possible or not, as planes do have limits for cross-wind (wind from the side) landings.

Dense fog but also strong gusts, low clouds and icing can become show-stoppers (or crash reasons) and hence reliable forecast are important. Thats especially the case when flying to remote areas like Greenland with very limited airport density (hence less alternates).

While we are enjoying an exceptionally long and warm late-summer here in Europe, the weather on our route differs quite a bit. At the moment it looks as follows:

Prestwick (Schotland) reports heavy rain, clouds and a maximum of 12C on the ground for our arrival.

Reykjavik (Iceland) predicts pretty decent weather (unusual for the season) with light rain, some clouds and temperatures between 2 and 12C on the ground.

So far so good. Things start to become more interesting in Greenland: The airport weather report for today looks as follows:

TAF: BGGH 162021Z 1621/1701 17008KT 9999 FEW006 SCT025 TEMPO 1621/1624 0800 SHSN BKN005 SCT025TCU

The so called TAF (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast) is a weather report issued by the airport on a regular basis. Above reads as follws:

BGGH = Airport Code (Nuuk, Greenland)

162021Z = The date and time the report has been issued

1621/1701 = The report is valid from the 16th 21:00 (time) until the 17th 01:00 (United Time)

17008KT = Wind with 8kts from the South (170 degrees at 08 KT)

9999 = Current view is 10km or more (horizontal)

FEW006 = Few clouds at 600ft (which is rather low)

SCT025 = Scattered sky at 2500ft

So far thats the actual weather – which is totally flyable. Now comes the forecast:

TEMPO 1621/1624 = Temporary between on the 16th (date) between 21:00 UTC and 24:00 UTC

And here it gets interesting:

0800 = Vertical view 800m (not a lot anymore)

SHSN = Showers of Snow

BKN005 = Broken Clouds (some open areas) in 500ft (very low)

SCT025TCU = Scattered Clouds in 2500ft with towering cumulus (high reaching clouds)

This weather in combination with a pretty challenging terrain and the lack of alternate airports closeby would already make this a very difficult decision. Luckily we are still a fews days away from Greenland and things might clear up until then.

4 Days until Departure – What to pack for an Atlantic Crossing

by Markus 15. September 2023Comments are Disabled

Packing for an Atlantic Crossing in a private, single engine plane slightly differs from packing for a trip in a comfy seat in a wide body arliner. Not only do we have to bring our food and drinks – there is also no toilet on board and besides our personal belongings we also need to prepare for all kind of scenarios. Some of them are not very tempting: Like an emergency landing somewhere in the outback – or in the cold Atlantic Ocean.

So what does one pack for such a trip?

First of all we need all kind of cloths. While we will take off in late summer 20C (80F) weather in Germany, it might already get pretty cold in Schotland (our first stop) and not only cold but also rainy and windy in Iceland. Greenland in September gets as cold as -7C during night and a max of 0C during the day – hence gloves, caps, warm cloths are a good idea.
Talking snow and ice: They dont go well with planes and like the airliners we need to de-ice the plane if required. So we will bring ice scratchers but also de-icing liquid and a spray-pump as well as additives for the fuel which builds crystals under a certain temperature.
For the case of an emergency we will have survival suites, a self-inflating raft, emergency position beacons and other emergency equipment which we will hopefully not use.
Flying privately also requires quite some paperwork (licenses for pilots and planes, medicals, permits, visas, passports) and navigation equipment like navigation charts, navigation software on ipads, flight planning software and so on
And last but not least: We will spend quite some time in the air, hence we will bring some food, drinks, music and portal “toilets” – which we usually dont use but better be safe

Our flight planning is progressing and the long term weather forecasts look promising for our planned route (Schottland, Iceland, Greenland (Nuuk), Goose Bay, USA). We did already book the accomodation and rental car for our first stopover in Iceland and also the famouse Blue Lagoon is booked. We are now organizing logistics like flight plans, parking for the plane and are familiarizing us with the route and arrival / departure procedurs along the route.

5 Days until Departure – The right plane for the job

by Markus 14. September 2023Comments are Disabled

If you plan to cross the Atlantic ocean, you better choose a proper plane if you want to make it safely from one end to the other. The route spans across hundreds of kilometers of ice cold water, icebergs, rocky terrain over Greenland and in general not especially plenty of opportunities to go down if necessary. So what you want is something a) reliable (aka not a single piston engine) and b) fast and c) well equipped with modern avionics.

We are privileged to be flying the best performing and best equipped single engine plane out there: The Socata TBM 850 manufactured by Daher (France). The wild lady is fitted with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-66D engine, rated at 850 hp in flight (700 hp at take-off), accelerating up to 320knots (600km/h) up to FL 310 (31,000ft, 9.5km) with a range of roughly 3000km. It allows us to cross the Atlantic in less than 12 hours with 4 stops.

The TBM also offers enough space and comfort with its large and pressurized cabin (means we dont need to wear ogygen masks) and seats for six. It also offers enough space for our equipment which is required if crossing the open sea (survival suit, raft, de-icing equipment).

Chances are high to face some rough weather on the way. Especially icing can become a significant danger to planes (also airliners btw). The TBM has anti-icing equipment which allows us to fly in certain icing conditions – which might be helpful as we are crossing Iceland, Greenland and the very North of Canada.

6 days until departure – trip planning

by Markus 13. September 202313. September 2023Comments are Disabled

Flying over the northern Atlantic and especially Greenland in fall can be tricky. Fast changes in weather, strong winds, low clouds, snow and ice and the lack of landing fields makes planning far in advance difficult. If conditions permit, we plan to depart from Stuttgart (EDDS) and fly during the first leg to Prestwick (Scotland) for a fuel stop. Our next leg will take us straight from Scotland to Iceland (Reykjavik) where will plan to stay for a day and explore the country.

The next leg will be the most challenging one from Iceland to Greenland’s west coast. This routing leads across the open sea and the ice fields and mountains of Greenland. There are almost no alternate airports on the route and the weather in Greenland is to a certain extend unpredictable at this time of the year. Pilots must wait for the first weather reports from Greenland before allowed to depart Iceland – if conditions allow. A scenario to be avoided is starting the trip and facing below minimums weather conditions in Greenland as fuel will not allow a return and as mentioned alternate landing fields are rare and usually also facing difficult conditions.

Our current plan is to land in Nuuk – the capital of Greenland at its western coast and stay there for two nights and explore the surroundings. From Nuuk the journey will take us further west towards the Canadian coast, with another fuel stop at Goose Bay – an airport in the middle of nowhere with not much around. From there we will continue down the Atlantic Coast towards the United States and finally into the Boston area.
The trip should take us around 5 days if everything goes as planned. We are now setting up logistics for the first legs including accommodation and transportation in the first destinations while continuing the flight planning, getting the plane ready and setting up the pack lists.

Preliminary trip plan:

TUE 19.09.	EDDS – EGPK (Prestwick)
TUE 19.09.	EGPK – BIRK (Reykjawick)
WED 20.09.	Iceland (ground day)
THU 21.09.	BIRK – BGGH (Nuuk)
FRI 22.09.	Greenland (ground day)
SAT 23.09.	BGGH (Nuuk) – CYYR (Goose Bay)
SAT 23.09.	CYYR (Goose Bay) – KGON (Groton)
SUN 24.09.	KGON (Groton) – BOSTON (tbd)
MON 25.09.	Boston / BUFFER

by Markus 7. August 202326. September 2023Comments are Disabled

The route:

Follow on Instagram

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

by Markus 1. August 202313. September 2023Comments are Disabled

The wait is over! In 2018 we flew across the Atlantic Ocean from Stuttgart to Oshkosh. It’s time to start the prop again and resume the adventure. Departing from Germany we’ll be flying across the open sea to Boston. We’ll be stopping in Scotland, Iceland, Greenland and Canada.
The adventure will continue on Sep 19, 2023.