Originally Posted by
Newforest
so why would it have been crossing the Atlantic?
Because it was there.
And because the owner wanted the engine blue-printed by a specialist engine-builder in Arkansas. As Cowboy-76 says, "aeroplanes should be flown, not taken apart and put in boxes" and an excuse to fly the Atlantic was irresistable. He asked me to do the flight with him and I jumped at the offer.
Well spotted. It's a Siai Marchetti SF260 - and it flies as well as it looks. 160 kts cruise at our 8000 feet (about 10,500 feet over the ice-cap) and +6g/-3g envelope for aerobatics - although not with ferry-tanks installed! It's certified 4 seats, but the max load on the rear seat/baggage area makes it more of a 2+2 'coupe'.
There aren't many SF260s in the UK (2-3 maybe) and that led to an interesting exchange with a BA 747 mid-Atlantic. We didn't have HF so relayed reporting points/obtained destination weather via passing airliners. With limited range, there's a crucial 'point of no return' between Iceland and Greenland.
ie If the wx isn't good enough to land at Narsarsuaq (a sea-level airfield deep into a fjord and surrounded by 9-10,000 feet mountains) you have to turn back to Iceland while you still have enough fuel to get back. Imagine our surprise when, while one of the 747 pilots was speaking to Narsarsuaq for us, the other said
"G-MACH, you're a very long way from Thruxton for a little aeroplane." The a/c was based at Thruxton at the time, and he flew GA from there. Small world!
turniphead
"gh @ os??" Yes. But if you know GH, please resist the temptation to tell him about this thread. He's forgotten I've still got his copy of 'Ocean Flying'.
Tudor