Personal best, distance and/or endurance flights

[B2N2]

OK, new thread, what are your most memorable achievements in aviation as far as endurance and or distance?
No commercial flights obviously, no just you or you as PIC.
My longest glider flight was in K-8b somewhere early 90-ies, 7hours 12 minutes, covered the shocking distance of about 60 miles.
Last Saturday beat that long standing record, 7hrs 48 minutes airborne time exactly 8 hrs Hobbs time 1180 NM from Marshfield MA (30NM SE of Boston) non-stop to Naples, Florida in a DA 42
For the accountants among us, I used 69 gallons of Jet A.:ok:
For now it's still here:
FlightAware > N629SA (http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N629SA)
I'll post some pictures later, amazing flight.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Toronto to Calgary single pilot IFR. 13.8 hrs airtime :ouch:

[Pilot DAR]

Several of my long distance flights were super highlights:

Rotterdam to Maseru Lesotho in a Twin Otter - 44 hours, with the Rotterdam to Rhodes leg being 13 hours, without leaving the seat.

MD500 helicopter from Wasilla, Alaska, to Vancouver, 19.5 hours of the most magnificent northern scenery I could imagine,

Transatlantic in a Cessna 303, Toronto to Goodwood, UK, 17 hours.

DA-42 L360 from the Diamond factory in London, Ontario, to Texas - 10 hours (did not buy any jet fuel - unfortunately!)

C182 Bend Oregon, to home in central Ontario, via Vancouver Island (to visit a PPRuNer), 22 hours

And, my wife and I, and two folding bikes in my C 150, Central Ontario, to the Bahamas and back. About 30 hours round trip.

[B2N2]

Great stuff, can we just limit it to the non-stop legs?
Was that non-stop in the Avgas DA-42?It carries what, 96 gallons?

[IO540]

My longest distance covered was the outbound on this (http://www.peter2000.co.uk/aviation/sardinia/index.html) trip, 950nm or so. 6hrs 10mins. The longest in duration was the return flight which was shorter but was 6hrs 50mins. That flight duration was matched on the outbound flight here (http://www.peter2000.co.uk/aviation/granada/index.html).

In Europe, especially in southern Europe, the limiting factor is more often the availability of alternates which have avgas, rather than some precise calculation using the aircraft range, the flight to the alternate, and legal reserves. In Europe, I regard the FAA 45 mins IFR reserve as much too thin - even if you have an accurate fuel totaliser which the vast majority of pilots don't have.

The TB20 will do about 1300nm to zero fuel, ISA, MTOW, still air.

[AfricanEagle]

On a trip to Nordkapp, longest leg was Tanneheim EDMT to Aarhus EKAH in a C172N, 5hrs 40mins, navigation by map and compass, no gps on board.

[Pilot DAR]

Ah, non stop only! Sorry. I'll stick with my 13 hour leg in the Twin Otter then!

The DA-42 L360 shines in every way other than endurance! No change in fuel quantity, but quite a change in consumption!

Though it had nothing whatever to do with me, a friend flew a tanked C 206 from Bermuda to Africa solo non stop. I think it was about 24 hours flying.

[Katamarino]

A mere 5.8 hours here - Maule MXT-7-160 from Scalea, Italy, to Sitia, Crete. It could not be flown without constant rudder input, and it was mostly over the sea, in severe haze, with a broken Artificial Horizon - so, it was quite long enough!

katamarino.co.uk - Adventure Flying Resources (http://www.katamarino.co.uk/sudan2011.php)

[Jetblu]

Durban (Louis Botha) - Windhoek 5h 10m Beech58

[TractorBoy]

God almighty. I hope none of you ate curry the night before ! I thought 2 hours was bad enough for a single leg.

[IO540]

It would be if you like curry ;)

[periksmoen]

Hmmm... Where to start?

I've had about a dozen flights in the 20 hour range, but I think my longest was this one at 21.6 hours from start-up to shutdown, including 20:55 actual time in the air.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6053/6329093843_e2f602c115_b.jpg

The longest distance I've flown non-stop was 2650nm from Massachusetts to Shannon, Ireland. As a testament to the Mooney's fuel efficiency, I took on 0 gallons of fuel in Shannon (they don't carry avgas anymore) and flew another 1000nm+ to Vienna on the same fuel I took on in Mass. 3700nm on a tank of gas ain't too bad.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6228/6329923830_40f10fb13c_b.jpg

Other notables include this one at 2450nm non-stop,

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6234/6329173045_0f1cef05cd_b.jpg

which made for a very long week because it was only four days after this one:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6107/6329923886_50b9782134_b.jpg

One of the most memorable has to be a 17-hour flight in a Twin Otter from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands due to the fact the I had no autopilot, no heat, a GPS failure, and was surrounded by 1400 gallons of JetA.

Finally, one of the longest point A to point B flights (though there were stops en route) was this one at 12,410nm which required nearly 100 hours of total flying time

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6115/6329128527_f76a758aba_b.jpg

[Human Factor]

I managed ninety minutes in the Yak52 without backache once. :}

[B2N2]

Periksmoen....; Mastuh, we are not worthy...

http://j-walkblog.com/images/dogprayer.jpg

[Big Pistons Forever]

Hmmm... Where to start?

I've had about a dozen flights in the 20 hour range, but I think my longest was this one at 21.6 hours from start-up to shutdown, including 20:55 actual time in the air.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6053/6329093843_e2f602c115_b.jpg



My 13.8 hours in one day was at least broken up with 2 quick fuel stops, but 21 hours in the saddle :ouch:.......my bum gets sore just thinking about it.

[Ultra long hauler]

My longest non-stop flight you ask?

75nM…..Guayaquil to a beach town called puerto Rico, in another provence.
That still took me 1,5 hour in an UL, Rotax 80HP--> headwind!

Come on guys, gotta start somewhere.

Once my new beast is up and running I might be looking at 4-5 hour non-stop jaunts though. Hence my username……..


Cheers,

###Ultra Long Hauler###

[Unusual Attitude]

Over 4 hours in a Tipsy Nipper once flying from Yeovilton to Perth....at 6'3" thats not a nice experience! Certainly something I'll never forget! :}

[nick ritter]

thanks katamarino and 10540 for posting your trip reports above - provide great inspiration as do many of the longer trips mentioned above, many thanks, nick

[chrisN]

My longest duration, about 10 hours 45 minutes, is pitifully short compared with 21 hours etc, but it was in a Ka6E glider with a tiny cockpit having no room to change position. I had a very good cushion arrangement and felt quite fresh when I landed.

Skip the rest if bored of details of other people’s flying.

Chris N.

-----------------
A Glider Flight in Competition Enterprise

July 1987, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire. The seventh and last day of the competition, every day of which we had flown one or another sort of tasks. Today’s event was not untypical of Competition Enterprise, involving pilot selection of turnpoints from a number of alternatives, the aim this time being to fly round the largest triangle within the pilot’s and glider’s abilities.

I took off in my somewhat old-fashioned Schleicher Ka6E around 11.00, and took the tow to 3,300 feet, hoping to contact mountain wave. I found some and gained a bit of height near the gliding site, up to about 5,000 feet. It looked as though conditions were good to the North West. My plan at that stage was to climb as high as I could over the Grampians and then head North to a bridge over the River Spey near the coast. I made modest progress to Tomintoul. There I encountered a problem. For a safe margin to glide over the mountains, I needed height which I could only gain in wave. I found that I could climb in the wave to about the top of the nearest clouds, but not high enough to be sure of flying safely over the tops and in clear air over to the next wave bar, which looked as though it would have taken me straight to the Spey bridge. Worse still, I kept losing the wave and descending below cloudbase where the wave no longer worked. I looked at the fields round Tomintoul and concluded that I could land relatively safely if I had to, but focused mainly on thermalling back up into the wave – not an easy transition, but possible with persistence. I spent over an hour in that area, going through the same cycle several times until I finally gained enough height to dash over the nearest cloud to the one beyond. From there to the Spey bridge was an easy run, mainly at about 5-6,000 feet. I had lost so much time, however, that I could not expect a very good result for the day compared with others who had chosen that route and reached there well before me.

To make a decently sized triangle I headed towards Banchory in the Dee valley, turning another point just outside the controlled airspace surrounding Aberdeen Airport. I had permission from their air traffic control to enter their airspace if I needed to. In the event, I climbed well there, and had adequate height to return to Aboyne. A modest task achieved, after a bit of a struggle.

Returning to Aboyne with a few thousand feet in hand, I was surprised to hear some of those with a better start going further west, where it looked to me as though there was almost complete cloud cover over the Grampian and Cairngorm mountains. The wave was working well, however, and I thought it would be interesting to explore it along the Dee valley even if I could not improve on the size of a valid triangle, so off I went, above the clouds. At first there were plenty of gaps where the ground was visible, and navigation from my chart was easy. As I moved further west, the clouds increased, the holes got smaller, and near Braemar the ground was rarely visible. Until then, I had been able to work between 5,000 and 8,000 feet, above cloud.

I reached a point where the next step required flying into the westerly wind, round the side of particularly large wave cloud, and then hoping to find lift again on its western side. All week I had been working out safe exit routes from the mountains in the event of the next hoped-for area of rising air not working. This time, the escape route would be to go south, towards Blairgowrie, gliding down over gradually lower mountains; and then turn left, eastwards, for Kirriemuir and land out somewhere in the flat fields of that valley.

The big cloud did not work. Worse, there were almost no holes at all, and navigation was now a potential problem. Without lift, I was descending into the clouds at about 5,000 feet and the mountains there go up to about 3,500 feet – higher still in the Cairngorms to the west - so it was time for the escape route. I flew southwards with my cloud-flying instrument - the turn and slip - now switched on. In cloud but with occasional gaps, I was able to see the ground often enough to confirm that it was dropping away faster than I was losing height. My flight might be about to come to an end, with an ignominious and inconvenient outlanding, but it would be safe, and a reasonable achievement for the day in a wooden glider. I came below cloudbase and now had the ground in sight continuously.

A little north of Blairgowrie there was sunlight streaming though a large hole in the clouds now above me, shining onto a substantial mountain. I was approaching its western flank, which faced into wind, and it occurred to me that I might prolongue the flight a little at least, if it worked as a ridge, with the wind blowing up it and hence creating lift. If that didn’t work, it was back to the plan to turn left when past it and head for the flat lands.

It was the strongest ridge lift I have ever encountered – off the scale of my 10-knot (one thousand feet per minute) vario, the instrument which shows the glider’s rate of climb. The lift went right on through the hole in the clouds, past the mountain tops. As I put on my oxygen mask at 8,000 feet the wave lift still went up. At 13,000 feet the lift eased off, and through a further hole to the west I could see Loch Tay – another of our choice of turnpoints. Some quick calculations showed that even with no more lift, I could glide over to Loch Tay, turn back for Aboyne, and return there all above the clouds with the height I now had.

Loch Tay looked magnificent, as I photographed it to prove I had reached there. I would now be able to claim a larger triangle – 266 kilometres upon returning to the start point, when later measured, though I had actually flown much further with my diversions. Turning back for Aboyne, now down to 12,000 feet, I looked down again at the hill that saved me, where the ridge lift had combined with wave to yield that spectacular climb. The wave was also the cause of the hole upwind of the mountain which made such a climb safe as well as exhilarating.

Flying in brilliant sunshine over the clouds and mountains once more, by dead reckoning and checking occasionally with landmarks visible through more distant holes in the cloud layer, I heard a friend in a two-seat glider talking on our radio channel. He had not been far from Aboyne all day, but was having a wonderful flight with a friend. He confirmed what I expected, that the gliding site had clear air above so that I could let down without risk when I reached home.

I landed shortly before 10 p.m., the sun low in the sky, my flight having been for 10 hours 45 minutes. The others had long since landed, except for my two-seater friend who seemed intent on soaring the local wave until after sunset. The Competition last-night-party was in full swing, and the scorer was out on the runway to meet me and find what I had done – he needed it to work out and announce the results of the day and the whole week of competition.

As it happened, with handicapping reflecting my low-performance glider, I was the day winner and second for the week. Satisfying though that was, my elation was enhanced by the thoughts of where I had been, and what I had seen and done. I had used thermal, wave, and ridge lift, and transitioned between them; experienced the low of nearly landing out and the high of that wonderful climb that got me round and home; seen spectacular cloudscapes, green mountain sides, grey granite peaks, and blue waters; navigated over, through and around clouds; and completed the longest flight of my life.

A day to cherish.

[IO540]

It does amaze me how long gliders can stay up, in the UK, which doesn't have an awful lot of mountains :)

I remember flying over Albania (basically, Croatia to Crete) and at one spot, FL170 or so, holding altitude on autopilot, our IAS went up from ~ 100kt to about 140kt. The nose came down, obviously. Clearly there was a massive updraught there. It lasted about 10 mins. It was totally smooth. It was there a few days later on the same route. The mountains were about 8000-10000ft high.

If you were there with a glider you could have just sat there for ages, soaring to some silly height, maybe FL300 plus.

[Pace]

Periksmoen

Those are pretty impressive flights. My longest flight was as Captain on a Ferry Citation S2 Florida to South Africa ( Durban) Via the usual Goose bay, iceland, Uk, Spain and down through Africa to Durban.

Total flight time 35 HRS but in a Jet at 39K so probably cheating over some of you bumble bee guys.

Pace

[BackPacker]

My most memorable "long" flight wasn't that long after all, but might just qualify for this thread. Another glider story.

I had enrolled once again in a weeks gliding course at the club near Zwolle. After a check flight on monday I was let solo again and was having the time of my life in the single-seater Junior. Conditions were reasonable so several flights of half an hour (the maximum agreed upon time) were doable.

Wednesday was drawing to a close. The sun was setting, the last cables were rolled out from the winch, all flights were returning after 6 minutes with a report of "no lift" and my supervising instructor annouced that he wanted to do one more flight with me, to keep an eye on my progress. On the last cable of the day.

So we launch in the K-21, start circling around for lift and find none, as expected. At 230m we return to the circuit and just before entering downwind there's a tiny, tiny blip from the vario. It can't have been more than 0.5 m/s, probably even less than that. The type of thermal caused by a cow farting. But hey, we're not descending, we're alone out here, so why not give it a try. So I carefully bank into a turn and manage to hold on to that bit of lift. For well over half an hour. Eventually reaching 750m.

In the meantime we are watching the activity on the ground. All the aircraft are being pushed back to the base, washed and put in the hangar. The winch is being brought in and so forth, until the field is completely empty. In fact, we can spot our collegues already having an early beer.

All of a sudden the instructor speaks up. "Listen, it's 18:20 now, dinner is in ten minutes time and you know what's going to happen if we're late." So we get rid of the first 300 meters by doing loops, wingovers and all sorts of other things that are great energy wasters. By now we're on a very long final, well above the normal glidepath, so I push in full right rudder and sideslip the aircraft the last 400 meters down, making S-turns as we go because even with full sideslip we're going to end up too far. And I'll be damned if I'm going to need the air brakes this time. That's just too easy.

I eventually stop the sideslip about 5 meters above the ground and let the aircraft simply float to about halfway down the field, where the turnoff for the hangar is. Airbrakes, wheel brakes, we get out, push the aircraft the last 100 meters into the hangar, and make it on time for dinner with seconds to spare.

I had to look it up in my logbook and the duration of the flight was "only" 55 minutes or so, but in conditions like that, that's like an eternity.

[AdamFrisch]

It takes a while to get to know the gauges and fuel idiosyncrasies of a new aircraft. When I got my old crate, I was nervous to fly more than 3hrs even though she has 5-7hrs endurance, depending on altitude and power setting. The gauges are not very accurate, but turned out to at least be consistent.

Flew back from Chicago to LA again a few weeks ago and had a couple of 4hr legs, which now feels rather comfortable. Last leg into LA was the most uncomfortable, not because of fuel, but because the sun had set and I still had a good hour over some very high mountains to do. Scares the crap out of me flying over pitch black mountains at night. When I finally saw the lights of Palm Springs spread out in front of me, it was like I'd been born again.

Won't be doing much night mountain flying in the future, I think. Not worth the stress. Unless it's perhaps a completely clear moonlit night. Maybe then.

[B2N2]

Finally some pictures as promised:

The departure airport

http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv189/Rocketman79/8d319ee9.jpg

JFK straight ahead:

http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv189/Rocketman79/f999037b.jpg

http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv189/Rocketman79/9cec1745.jpg

Skyline of New York with the Statue of Liberty on the far left

http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv189/Rocketman79/b9b35be7.jpg

Just added KAPF to see if we could make it:
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv189/Rocketman79/522b7fc8.jpg
That was prior to any reroutings that actually made it longer.
Halfway point:

http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv189/Rocketman79/f5bd10ec.jpg
After that 4 hrs of this:
http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv189/Rocketman79/5c5b0f90.jpg

Final result:

http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv189/Rocketman79/87aed787.jpg

[AdamFrisch]

What you flying B2N2? Looks like some twin. Britten Norman?

[B2N2]

DA42 Twin Star w/ 1.7 L Thielert engines which are still my favorite.

[FullWings]

Longest glider flight distance: 680nm / 1259Km, duration (another flight): 11h12m
Longest power flight distance: 8001nm / 14818Km, duration: 17h45m

[On Glide]

Aboyne to Lasham, June 25th 2004 - 11hrs 2min airbourne, 665km straight line distance (to set the current UK Goal Distance record), in a Nimbus 3dt glider with Gordon Macdonald. We took off at 03:53 local and landed at 14:55 at Lasham - we still felt pretty good when we landed. A really amazing flight.

Still can't work out how to post images but there's a map of the route here:

Goalrecordtrace_r.jpg picture by hantsav8or - Photobucket (http://s1085.photobucket.com/albums/j439/hantsav8or/?action=view&current=Goalrecordtrace_r.jpg)

And a picture of Edinburgh, taken from 'out to sea' over the Firth of Forth at 7:45am here:

Goalrecordtrace_r.jpg picture by hantsav8or - Photobucket (http://s1085.photobucket.com/albums/j439/hantsav8or/?action=view&current=Goalrecordtrace_r.jpg#!oZZ4QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs 1085.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fj439%2Fhantsav8or%2F%3Factio n%3Dview%26current%3DHpim0497r.jpg)


2004 was a pretty good year, as the month before I had my longest ever flight at 11hrs 30min, again in the Nimbus, on a 804km flight out of Lasham (it was an uncompleted 850km task).

OG

[B4aeros]

PS - Mods, how can I post images? I've read the guidance notes on the PPRuNe site, but I can't get it to work and my posting rules say that I may not post attachments - any ideas? Store your pictures somewhere that is publically accessible, eg Photobucket, Picasa, Dropbox etc & then paste the url in the "insert image" dialogue.

Or use urlgoeshere tags.











http://dl.dropbox.com/u/925530/ad.jpg

[B2N2]

Longest glider flight distance: 680nm / 1259Km, duration (another flight): 11h12m
Longest power flight distance: 8001nm / 14818Km, duration: 17h45m

We would like to know make and model please :ok:

[pitofrost]

My last flight was Cranfield to Sywell, must have been over 15 miles by the route I took.

I know, I know, I may write a book about it...

[thing]

Did 5.40 in a K8 on my silver duration. It was a red hot summer's day so I took off wearing shorts and a polo shirt. Spent most of the flight at around 7-8k and came down like a block of ice. Lesson learned.

Longest trip P1 in powered so far is 2 hrs and that was long enough, I just can't imagine what 20 hrs in a light a/c must be like. I do the Brisbane run every year and 13.5 to Singapore in the comfort of a passenger jet is brain aching enough.

Incidentally, I'm just doing my IMC rating and did a PAR approach today in real IMC, was totally blown away to see the runway lights appear at 600 ft on the nose. Good innit.

[B2N2]

Nobody else?
I guess they got scared off by the 22 hr flights....:O
C'mon people, your personal best is your personal best, nothing to be ashamed about.

[thing]

Backpacker

Strange how some of the most memorable glider flights aren't the long distance award or competition flights. The two that stick out in my mind are scratching around in a K18 one October, not getting above 1200' for the entire flight but hanging onto every shred I could find, I even got something out of a garden bonfire I spotted. I think it was about 50 minutes but one of the most rewarding flights I've ever had.

The other was taking a 5,000' tow in a K21 (I'd won some tow time in a lottery as I remember) one gin clear summer evening. The air was like glass and you know how the 21 runs on rails anyway. I just stuck 60 kts on and floated down, not a breath of anything in the air. It was one of those times that you weren't flying a glider, you were the glider. Absolute magic, a flight I'll never forget.

[FullWings]

Longest glider flight distance: 680nm / 1259Km, duration (another flight): 11h12m
Longest power flight distance: 8001nm / 14818Km, duration: 17h45m
We would like to know make and model please
Glider: EB28 in Spain
Power: A non-stop ferry of an empty B777-200ER from Singapore to London via Nairobi as Indian airspace was unavailable at short notice. :rolleyes:

[vihai]

My personal best is a 500 km declared theme (for the FAI diamond) in the alps in 7 hours with a DG-300 in a very very special day (5 m/s thermals to 4000 m) :)

[Poeli]

Only 2 hours in a K8 glider... Take off and landing on the same airfield:p

[1.3VStall]

My longest is 6 hours and 51 minutes in an old wooden Dart 17R glider, during which I flew 323 Km. (Didn't half need a p**s when I landed!):)

[longer ron]

Gliding always had potential exitement not far away ;)

My Siver 5 hours was 5hrs and two minutes off the winch...I really thought I was going to fail at the last minute in a dying day ;)

=========================================================

Below was (I think) my lowest ever get away during a x country,I really didnt want to land out as it was a (cough) restricted area :cool:

http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv316/volvosmoker/libelle8086.jpg

==========================================================

My first ever long x country was Old Sarum - Halfpenny green - Old Sarum and I declared a diamond goal,the outward leg was a piece of wee wee (nice saw tooth on the barograph) but the return was a nightmare and I was really just trying to shorten the retrieve - I never thought I would get home.
I eventually got enough height to cross the cotswolds (into sun - bad viz) and popped out into the clear with a choice of only 2 clouds between me and Home,I scratched around Pewsey with another glider under the chosen cloud trying to find the lift and as soon as I saw him turning - I shot across to join (we were getting pretty low) - it turned into quite a good thermal and I took it for every foot (''i am not going to fail now'' going through my mind)...when I set course for Old Sarum I was ridiculously high and flew home at VNE :) ...beating up the caravan and then a chandelle into the pattern :)

6 hrs 30 mins of hard work LOL