I have finally taken the plunge and bought a Diamond DA40-180 in the USA & will be ferrying it back to Sydney with a ferry pilot. 80% of people think I am mad and should crate & ship it back. The other 20% want to come
My ferry pilot has done a few Atlantic crossings but never done the Pacific. He is a very experienced pilot & a friend, hence why I have chosen to fly with him, rather than a professional company. He has over 700hrs on type and every FAA qualification under the sun, but no CASA qualifications or an ASIC card. I have both FAA & CASA PPL and an ASIC card. Ferry insurance has been arranged.
The aircraft is being brought across on its US reg, and then re-registered with CASA. It runs on Avgas. The plane is being 'tanked' as we speak by a company in Tracy, CA. It was bought in Florida, so we have a good idea of its performance when it was flown to California.
Our planned route is looking like this:
Santa Maria (KSMX)
Kuno (PHKO)
Christmas Island (PLCH)
Pago Pago (NTSU)
Nadi (NFFN)
La Tontouta (NWWW)
Brisbane (YBBN)
As, La Tontouta doesn’t have AVGAS, we may skip it & fly to YBBN direct from Nadi, or tank fuel from Nadi. Fuel has been organized on Christmas Island as I know this can be problematic.
Looking for any tips & suggestions, customs experiences, things to avoid, good places to stay etc. I have spoken to a few professional companies and they have given me some very good (& free) advice, but obviously as I am doing it myself I don’t want to annoy them too much, hence this post.
I have searched & the last post of something similar was nearly 3yrs ago, so looking for some more current info. I appreciate that this venture is more risky than shipping it, but was part of the appeal of buying in the USA. I am treating this as a once in a lifetime experience.
Any info welcome
Many thanks