I have a huge respect for the guys that do this on a regular basis.. I've made a dozen or so crossings via the northern route, all but two were in winter...but always at least in a turboprop... even then I've come close to not having the luxury of being around to fill in my log-book at the end of the day... On the one time I contracted to deliver a piston single (december... a home built) from France to the Mississippi the engine began destroying itself at night 50 miles out from Wick... turned out the engine had been constructed from bits of different engines... I made it... many of these poor guys don't... and it's not as though the money is great either...