PPL - Around the World

[J.A.F.O.]

Hypothetical question coming up.

As I understand the privileges of the PPL I can take my poo-coloured wallet and G reg aircraft anywhere I please as long as I abide by both what the CAA would like and the wishes of the locals.

So, if I wanted to follow Mr Fossett and take my aeroplane around the world, could I do it with a plain vanilla PPL?

I'm not planning to any time soon and I'm not asking whether the likely outcome would be a memorial service or a medal and I realise my club 150 would probably need to be able to fly whilst still attached to the bowser but, if I had the aircraft to do it and a complete absence of sense would my plain vanilla PPL allow me to?

[gcolyer]

Dunno for sure is my answer.

Although my thoughts are like yours. Poo coloured wallet, G reg aircraft, stick to JAA/CAA rules and do what the local authority says=Fly anywhere.

I would recommend going around Iran right now.

When you loose your mind let me know and i will go with you. I could at least try to steer the fuel bowser that your 150 will be dragging :=

[IO540]

It would be interesting to hear from somebody who has actually done this sort of trip. However, reading about some of their exploits in the mags suggests that

The actual flying is the easy bit; anybody could do it and you can fly around the world with the autopilot engaged. A TB20 could fly around the world in 20-30 6-hour legs, all just sitting there with the AP engaged, tracking the GPS track. With a ferry tank, one could do a lot better. Obviously you need to understand weather a lot better than the average new PPL, but it's no rocket science.

The real problems are logistical. You need overflight permits, and need avgas shipped to various places in advance. Being able to burn avtur makes this part a lot easier.

If done properly and to any kind of schedule (i.e. unless done in say a microlight and with unlimited time) the project is going to be very expensive. Egypt has been reported as costing $hundreds per landing, and the well known heli pilot who flew a turbine heli around the world reported spending US$60,000 (IIRC) just paying his way through Russia. Both he and Polly Vacher did their trips (or most of them, anyway) IFR, and had an IR. She has a JAA IR (G-reg) and he has an FAA CPL/IR (N-reg).

There are various weird issues like needing an interpreter in Russia if flying VFR.

As with the UK, having to be VFR is severely limiting, so an IR and a suitably equipped plane is desirable but probably (if you are a retired person with plenty of time and good funds) not essential. OK, nobody can tell if you are in cloud when en route but if you arrive at the destination above a thick layer you can't possibly pretend to be "VFR"...

Unless you have loooooads of time, you will need somebody back home to run the operation, get permits ahead, book the next hotel while you are on your way, pay for this and that, get the weather, and you need good comms - satellite phones are a must and they will cost money too. In Europe, you could do a lot of it with a GPRS enabled laptop but I don't think this will work very far outside, so other forms of internet access will be needed to get weather etc - or have somebody back home running it and you then phone them up on the sat phone.

One obvious gotcha is if you are on a G-reg and need 50hr checks; you will need to find a JAR145 maintenance company to do them, and jolly good luck with that :O So, a G-reg on a Private CofA regime, or an N-reg, is a must. Even then, you will end up breaking loads of (irrelevant) rules on the pilot maintenance front (like a pilot not being allowed to do any wirelocking)

At the other end of the scale, I once met a bloke who did about half of such a trip in some microlight. Spent about 6 months on that, living rough in a tent next to the plane and flying the next leg (which, in a microlight, isn't going to be all that far) when the sun came out. I wonder what he smelled like...

Just a few random thoughts from me.... I've been to the further bits of Europe and have no desire to fly SEP beyond that, due to the avgas problems and the sheer boredom of flying such a distance and then having to fly all the way back..

[J.A.F.O.]

Brilliant, keep the ideas coming.

So far all I need is:

An aeroplane with a diesel engine on a Private CofA
Loads of cash
A flexible approach to rules
A learn Russian While You Drive/Fly Tape
The best part of a year off work
An engineer (or gcolyer) driving a bowser two stops ahead
An IR
Influential friends in Russia and Egypt

Well, I've got a flexible approach to rules, so that's a start; who knows, perhaps one day ;)

[gcolyer]

Unless the bowser flys i will be flying the plane with you!!

I am not sure about the diesel engine, i don't think they have been in aviation service long enough to fly in all those cold climates. I don't want my fuel turning to jelly.

The next question is:

Do we

A) Get a nice new plane with all the mod cons
b) Go balls to the wall and get an old shed with minimum IR equipment

I would go with option B somthing like an old supercub with tundra tyres, that way you can land on sixpence if you need to.

[Sultan Ismail]

Flying around the world is really a journey without end, rather set yourself a target in some far off land and make that the journey of a lifetime.

From your location in Blighty a reasonable destination would be Sydney Australia, you won't have to fly over Russia and you may be able to find a way round Egypt.

I am not familiar with GA in the Middle East but it does exist in India and in all countries to the East e.g. Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and of course Oz.

As mentioned by IO540 logistics is the key, Avgas can be made available wherever you need it and flight clearances just require a bit of patience.

Our club in Kuala Lumpur has brought in 2 Cessna 172 from the East Coast of Australia, no big deal, about 4,000nms across the island of Oz, crossing the Timur Sea to Indonesia, stopping off in Bali for some R&R and then via Java and Sumatra into Malaysia.

Similarly trips from here through Thailand to Myanmar have been undertaken.

You could start by contacting Flying Clubs in the countries you plan to fly through, nothing like local knowledge to help you on your way.

My 2 dollars worth :D

[J.A.F.O.]

I'm enjoying sharing this daydream.

gcolyer - How about we find a compromise and do the trip in a Husky - anyone got a spare (and a million dollars)?

[david viewing]

Various blogs say that an IR is required for the Northern Route via Canada.

Is this absolutely the case, or can VFR (however foolish) be permitted?

[IO540]

As the audience at the CAA "safety" seminar will quickly tell you, "you can go anywhere VFR, young man"

:O

(and it's true, technically speaking)

I just wouldn't want to be sitting at 5000ft, somewhere just below Class A, collecting ice, with several hundred nm of +2C water in all directions, when I could be sitting at 12000ft, in sunshine.

[Ultranomad]

By the way, for foreign aircraft to fly in Russia, an interpreter is not officially required (although the ATCs in remote areas are unlikely to speak English), but you have to have a Russian navigator onboard (from Aeroflot or two other officially appointed airlines, don't remember which ones) unless you are flying international routes only.

[FullyFlapped]

I'm planning to do this next year, subject to being able to get everything together in time, otherwise it will be the year after. And when I say planning, boy do I MEAN planning ! IO540's got it about right, overflight permissions, fuel availability, fitting a G-reg plane with ferry tanks, accomodation, maintenance etc etc etc - when you get into it, it's all a little overwhelming ... mind you this is all going to be a doddle compared to breaking the total cost to Mrs. FF !!

As to being able to do it VFR on a plain PPL, well, that might be right technically, but I'd be interested to hear of an insurance company that will insure you across the pond without an IR, and that's just for starters ...

FF :ok:

[IO540]

I wonder to what degree insurance is mandatory, once past the EU borders.

Perhaps, those old pilots who "flew a Tiger Moth at 600ft to Mongolia" (as repeated in the airport bar) did it in a different era...

I'd also carry a bootload of spares. A vac pump, spark plugs, a full toolkit, the full service manual (the ATP CD)...

An EPIRB with a built-in GPS is essential - in much of the world there is no S&R and you will rely on commercial shipping being sent the message with the coordinates.

That's an amazing project FF, if you are serious! What plane?

[Ultranomad]

Oh yeah, by the way, don't count on availability of avgas! For example, in Russia you will not find 100LL anywhere except a few major cities. Everywhere else it's either 91 octane high-lead (if you are lucky), or mogas of unknown quality. On the other hand, Jet A (called TS-1 in Russia) and diesel are easy to come by.

[FullyFlapped]

That's an amazing project FF, if you are serious! What plane?
Very serious, it's long been an ambition for all sorts of reasons. It'll also hopefully raise a fair amount for charity.

The plane is a turbocharged and de-iced Centurion, chosen because of it's speed, load-carrying ability and the fact that there's an STC for just about everything you can think of ... and the view's better under a high wing, and if there was ever an occasion for wanting a good view .... !

FF :ok:

[NearlyStol]

See ;
http://www.chasingthemorningsun.com/home_page.htm
Deserves full marks for this achievement.

[FullyFlapped]

He sure does !

For anyone who is interested in this subject, the website to go look at is www.earthrounders.com ... lots of excellent links and info on there.

FF :ok:

[MyData]

Wow! Some of that is incredible flying. 15hrs over the Pacific to Hilo, then another 14hrs to Calif. In a single engined prop!!! Staggering.

[ChrisVJ]

Recent trip blog somewhere from a chap from California in an RV. Sundry adventures and mostly not theflying.

Not to mention the Flying Vetinerian? ( Lost his site, where is he now? Last heard he bent it against a small truck in Japan?)

[RatherBeFlying]

http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/Regserv/Affairs/cars/PART6/602.htm#602_39
602.39 No pilot-in-command of a single-engined aircraft, or of a multi-engined aircraft that would be unable to maintain flight in the event of the failure of any engine, shall commence a flight that will leave Canadian Domestic Airspace and enter airspace over the high seas unless
(a) the pilot-in-command holds a pilot licence endorsed with an instrument rating;
(b) the aircraft is equipped with
(i) the equipment referred to in section 605.18,
(ii) a high frequency radio capable of transmitting and receiving on a minimum of two appropriate international air-ground general purpose frequencies, and
(iii) hypothermia protection for each person on board; and
(c) the aircraft carries sufficient fuel to meet the requirements of section 602.88 and, in addition, carries contingency fuel equal to at least 10 per cent of the fuel required pursuant to section 602.88 to complete the flight to the aerodrome of destination.Perhaps Iceland and Greenland may not require the IR if you go eastbound, but quite honestly, you really should have one. Me, I would seriously consider a Cheetah or Tiger -- they float:ok:

[J.A.F.O.]

FF

Blimey, there's me daydreaming and you doing it - all the best of luck. Wow.

RBF

The Canadians don't ask much, do they? Probably all a fantastically good idea, though.

Still, if you went INTO Canada from Greenland and then left North America via Alaska you might get away with being incredibly stupid.

Looking at the links I think once FF has done it there's only about seven people who've never tried, one being me.