Why not plan to route via the Faroes? The waterfall approach to Vagar is well worth the bit of a challenge - it's a published approach. See the Danish AIP for details. There's a stroll from the airport down to the harbour past houses with grass growing on the roofs - very picturesque and different from anything in the UK.. We did it from Stornoway in a Cherokee 180. We could have kept going to Keflavik, but although it was August, we'd have been stuck there for 2 weeks as the weather closed in.
We had VHF only comms. We went at FL60 and lost Scottish Information after about an hour. I don't think there's Radar coverage more than 30 mins away from land. We got Reykjavik after about another hour, but there were plenty of airliners we could have got a relay through if we'd needed to. Monitor 121.5. There was a very powerful NDB on an island to the south of Vagar, 10kw from memory, so if you've got an ADF, that's a good backup to the GPS. We carried 3 GPS. Vagar itself was only Air/Ground, no Radar cover when we went. They seem to have upgraded to 'Information', but still no ATC. Makes no practical difference.
The biggest problem is the weather. The freezing level is a consideration, even in the Summer. We were able to remain outside cloud when above the freezing level, so no problem with a PA28. If you have TKS, so much the better. We had to wait for 4 days on Lewis for good enough weather in an August. Even then, the waterfall approach had cloud covering the tops of the valley, like flying into a tunnel.
We wore immersion suits and life jackets at all times, with the raft on the back seat. We practiced getting out with the raft in all the kit, but I've been advised that unless you actually practice it in the sea, it probably isn't going to work. BRS will make sure the aircraft is upright hitting the water, at least. There's video somewhere of a SR20 ditching using BRS, but I think that was in warm water. There's an air-sea rescue service based at Vagar.
The planning is at least half the fun. Well-planned, the flight itself should be routine.
TOO
Last edited by TheOddOne; 10th Feb 2019 at 05:55.