Would you fly a single-engine airplane across the Atlantic???

[Metro752]

I bet TDTurbo has flown his 182 over

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

Turbine, probably....with a survival suit on the entire time over water, North atlantic waters are Cold! Very Cold!

Piston??? Probably in my younger days, before I ceased being bullet proof and such. Not now with family and kids.

Does it make me a wuss? Well maybe, I still ride very fast on dirt bikes and love big jumps, but I make sure the medical insurance is paid up. I bought a bigger boat primarly so I had two engines when I was 50 and 60 miles out at sea hunting that whopper Tuna. If I do not want to be 50 miles out with one piston motor, in something that will not sink just because the engine quit, I sure do not want to be 600 miles out in a single engine Mooney or similar!!!

The North Atlantic looks mighty unforgiving looking down from the cockpit of a 747.........I will stick with my current mode of transport across the pond!

Guess I am just turning into a big wimp in my mid thirties!!

 

[Ralgha]

Because I've had an alternator/total electrical failure on an XC flight before. Over the ocean, at night, 1200nm from my alternate, with no real navigation on board (ok, presumably I have a handheld GPS for this trip) doesn't sound worth whatever I'm being paid to make this flight.

So have I, I'd probably make the crossing anyway.

 

[AdlerDriver]

Turbine, probably....with a survival suit on the entire time over water, North atlantic waters are Cold! Very Cold!........

Hitting the water after an ejection, the general gouge when I was doing it was the survival suit might buy you an extra 15 minutes. Maybe civilians have better suits - you know the rep of government issued stuff. If you could get in and stay in your raft, you might have a chance. If the water was rough, most guys figured they'd be better off just unzipping the suit so they could go quickly. It was going to take a while for some helo out of Kef to get there and find you (maybe).

 

[KeroseneSnorter]

Hitting the water after an ejection, the general gouge when I was doing it was the survival suit might buy you an extra 15 minutes. Maybe civilians have better suits - you know the rep of government issued stuff. If you could get in and stay in your raft, you might have a chance. If the water was rough, most guys figured they'd be better off just unzipping the suit so they could go quickly. It was going to take a while for some helo out of Kef to get there and find you (maybe).

Yeah not much chance long term without a raft. I had a boat engine quit about 25 miles out before, even in radio range of the Coast Guard and warm water the thought of being out there without power was not a good one. Got it running with the tools and spare parts that I carry aboard, however I decided that day to work out the finances to get something with twins hanging on the transom. Costs me more in gas on a yearly basis, but I can fish now without getting a bad feeling everytime the engine loads up a little and coughs.

Gotta respect the ocean, it plays by it's own rules.

 

[KigAir]

Because I've had an alternator/total electrical failure on an XC flight before.

Oh my, how did you ever find your way home?

 

[johnpeace]

Oh my, how did you ever find your way home?

It was no big deal...I wasn't in the middle of a 2000nm leg over the featureless ocean.

It did give me some insight into the kind of crap that can happen in little airplanes though, and was the first thing I thought of when considering the question of would I fly a single across an ocean.

At this point in my experience continuum...not a chance.

 

[onthebeach]

An important safety factor

Besides having a dry suit on (uncomfortable, but necessary) AND easy, dependable access to a raft, a very important factor is whether or not the gear retracts. A successful ditching in a fixed gear airplane is unlikely, no matter how favorable the sea conditions.

 

[KigAir]

It was no big deal...I wasn't in the middle of a 2000nm leg over the featureless ocean.

Gee, how did the pilots of the early trans-atlantic flights ever make it across the pond without GPS.....

 

[siucavflight]

It was no big deal...I wasn't in the middle of a 2000nm leg over the featureless ocean.

It did give me some insight into the kind of crap that can happen in little airplanes though, and was the first thing I thought of when considering the question of would I fly a single across an ocean.

At this point in my experience continuum...not a chance.

I think he was being sarcastic.