It's The Longest Day

[J.A.F.O.]

Sunrise at my house today is 04:33 local, sunset is 21:19 local; with the extra half hours that is 17 hours and 46 mins of legal day.

So, what would you do if you could do anything (aviation related) with all that legal daylight.

[1946]

I am doing nout as it is the shortest day down here: 07:45 sunrise 16:30 sunset.

[Shunter]

Departing shortly for some CB-dodging on route down sarf, hopefully finishing the day with a few cold beverages in the Scillies :)

[BackPacker]

Well, if you have a plane with an endurance a little over six hours and fifteen minutes, you could go night flying without those pesky night take offs and landings.

[RudeNot2]

If I had the money and the weather was CAVOK etc and my flying was up to scratch I COULD complete my PPL in that time as well as the remaining 3 exams..... If only...:}

[J.A.F.O.]

Okay, I've got an NPPL and am therefore limited to UK, Day VFR; here's what I'd do (and if anyone's got a Cub they want to lend me then let me know):

Preposition the day before at St Mary's on the Scilly Isles and then fly as low as possible with the door open to Unst via:

The Lizard, Bodmin, Thruxton, Conington, Beccles, Sibson, Blackpool, Carlisle, Islay, Benbecula, Inverness, Wick and Fair Isle.

Doing it that way I can take off at 0346 and don't need to land at Unst until 2221, giving me over eighteen and a half hours to do it; time enough (maybe) for fuel stops, breakfast at Conington, lunch at Blackpool, a ride on the donkeys and a nap on the sand dunes, stop off for a bottle of malt at Islay and a late dinner (with my malt whisky) as the sun goes down over Unst.

I'd see a fair amount of the UK (sorry Wales, I was in a hurry) what a way to use an NPPL on the longest day.

Then, of course, next year I could do it again but go via Wales and then cross the country to take the East coast northwards.

I'm sat here at my computer, pretending to work and looking out at the blue skies and slight breeze damning the fact that I have to work for a living.

Work is the scourge of the flying classes (sorry, Oscar).

[stray10level]

J.A.F.O
Not being pedantic but if you start in lands end and finish in Unst the times would be: S/R. 04.14 S/S 21.41 UTC. That would be 17hrs 27mins! I have made the same mistake myself flying from Biggin to Leeds!:sad: As for the longest day, i think i would like to get the Six and take a couple of seats out, replace then with big ferry tanks and have a go at a transatlantic in a single record!

[gcolyer]

stray10level

Want to go halves in that?? I would love to take the 6 I fly transatlantic.

Is yours the PA32 300?

[stray10level]

Well its not mine personally, its Pete Maynards, but i fly it as often as the finances allow:ok: I hear it could possibly be available for sale however!

[high-hopes]

What would you do in Reykjavik today then ?

Sunrise: 2:58am
Sunset: 12:00am


If you're trying to do your night rating in Iceland, you're buggered this time of the year !

[gcolyer]

I will sleep whilst it is dark:bored: not that it matters as I have my "Night Qualification"...it's not a rating.

[J.A.F.O.]

stray10 level

Indeed you are correct with the sunrise and sunset times but is "Day" not legally half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset? Thereby buying me my free hour for donkey rides and malt whisky?

It doesn't matter how much daylight you have in Reykjavik, there's still nothing to do.

[stray10level]

J.A.F.O you are correct about the S/S + 30 rule, i didnt include that. But what i was mainly pointing out was the extra 41 mins of daylight due to the difference in ss sr times due to location. Totally agree on ending the day with a good meal and a Malt Whiskey, have you tried Glencoe Cask Strength? 56% proof i think, must be taken in moderation especially if you are flying home in the morning!

[H Ferguson]

is Unst still open ? ,i taught that it was disused, wasn't Unst a military airfield ?

[J.A.F.O.]

If I'd flown for 18 hours to get there, it'd be open.

Back to the Icelandic topic; the first time that I visited Keflavik the crew chief welcomed me with "Welcome to Keflavik, there's a woman behind every tree, there are no feckin' trees, though."

I was young and shallow, perhaps I did not appreciate all of its other attractions.

[neilmac]

This morning I was disturb by some C152 wanting to cross my Class D airspace, en route Avebury Stone circles, forgetting what day it was after a long night I said, why?
"I just like looking at weird hippies dancing naked"
Which was even funnier when he couldnt get VMC and had to bin it!!
Was it really worth getting up that early?

NM

[Chilli Monster]

Doing it that way I can take off at 0346 and don't need to land at Unst until 2221

You probably wouldn't have to land until later. Yes, you do get a sunset, but the sun doesn't get that far below the horizon before it rises again. If you go into the ANO it states that night time, for the purposes of obtaining a rating, is from the point the sun gets so many degrees ( I forget the number) below the horizon. Having played Golf on Unst at midnight on the longest day (yes, Britains most northerly golf course - in fact, Britains most northerly everything!) it's still extremely light.

is Unst still open ? ,i taught that it was disused, wasn't Unst a military airfield ?

I believe it is now disused, but was never a military airfield. It was opened in 1976 or 77 for the oil industry, but also provided a link via Loganair down to Lerwick (Tingwall) by Islander, from where you used to get on a Twin Otter and carry on down to Edinburgh. The military presence was 3 miles north of the airport, at the Saxa Vord air defence radar site.

Knowing you could get home that way kept me sane (and relatively sober) for the 18 months I worked up there!

[BeechNut]

Well, if you have a plane with an endurance a little over six hours and fifteen minutes, you could go night flying without those pesky night take offs and landings.

Actually, at least in Canada, legal daylight starts 1/2 hour before sunrise, to 1/2 hour after sunset.

So that gives an extra hour, meaning you only need 5 hours and 15 minutes endurance. Well my Beech Sundowner is good for about 6 hours at reasonably normal cruise settings; so that means I could do it and still have 15 minutes more than legal daytime VFR reserves.

Except that it would be a moot point for me as I am night rated and rather enjoy the night takeoffs and landings :)

[M609]

Ahhh..

Sunrise 00:07 on the 15th of May.........Sunset 22:00 on the 24th of july.

No use for the night rating now, but rather essenital in a few months..... (That, a s*** load of thermal clothing, and a HUUUGE engine heater for the Cessna....... :\ )