BEARCAT
I think a co-pilot would have objected to cigarettes being stubbed out on him although I did give up that habit about 10 years ago. Any way 25 gallons of gas is a better co-pilot.
Another point about ferrying the pond in the 70's. No GPS and no long range NAV aids. In the early 70's there were some weather ships in Atlantic with an NDB but they never really knew where the were because they relied on astro and it could be weeks between star fixes. When the weather ships were abandoned it was pure DR for 14 hours without an autopilot. With careful planning I was never more than 30 nm off course when the shannon VOR came in. I wonder how many of the dangerous flight pilots would fly without their GPS's. Also a twin engined flight was never classed as a "ferry" it was just a flight.
Yes s/e across water does carry an element of risk but analysis of the accidents reveals that most are not caused by engine failure but pilot stupidity. (running out of fuel (or oil), getting iced up, micky mouse ferry fuel tanks etc) The one thing one has to have is time and being able to wait a couple of days for the right conditions is essential for a safe(r) operation.
Unless the attlantic freezes over or single engined aircraft are banned the lure of the waves and a single lycoming will always be there.