View Full Version : Epic delivery flight VPFMC BN2P Islander
exlatccatsa
2nd Dec 2020, 20:32
VPFMC BN2P new FIGAS Islander from Lee on Solent, UK to the Falklands.
Pricked my interest when I heard the distinctive sound of a piston Islander flying overhead Aberdeen on the 18th November to land at Wick and then Reykjavik then next stop as far as I could tell was Goose bay 11.5 hrs later!!
Thats some flight in an Islander!. I wonder how much reserve was left and where the alternate was?
Now heading South just crossed the equator through Equador. At this rate Stanley in about a week.
Coochycool
2nd Dec 2020, 23:22
Happy to be corrected but I thought their max duration was circa 6 hours?
So presumably add a tech stop in Greenland?
Had a few trips with FIGAS when down south, nice operation.
treadigraph
3rd Dec 2020, 05:36
If the standard endurance is 6hrs, then ferry tanks will extend that considerably.
I have my dad's logbook - in '71 he acted as second pilot/spare hand (no twin rating) on a Queen Air ferry from Nairobi to Europe (Germany I think) and later, for the return trip to Kenya, on a Desert Locust Control Islander from Bembridge. Lot easier than trans Atlantic - or Pacific, assuming there were no wars at the time! Wish I'd known about it before I inherited his logbook...
exlatccatsa
3rd Dec 2020, 06:56
Happy to be corrected but I thought their max duration was circa 6 hours?
So presumably add a tech stop in Greenland?
Had a few trips with FIGAS when down south, nice operation.
Thats why I said as far as I could tell.
I know how notorously bad FR24 is at tracking some aircraft. But when the track re appeared from the BIRK Greenland crossing,(17th late afternoon UTC for anyone with a FR24 subscription) it was to the East of BGBW and continued past for a good distance at 95kts!
Looking at the great circle distance and time ideally it should take 9 1/2 hours so I guess a 1 1/2 hour fuel stop would also have been possible. He spent a good day or two on the ground at Goose. Taking the tanks out?
The following trips have all been about/under the 6 hour mark. I stand corrected yesterday SJO -GYE 6:41
I'm sure the pilot will have a story to tell.
dixi188
3rd Dec 2020, 06:57
Used to tank up aircraft for ferry flights in the 1980s.
IIRC the BN2 Islander could have 4 x 45 gallon/205 Ltr drums in the cabin giving it a duration of 10 to 12 hours. Used to put 6 drums in the Trislander.
Did a Twin Otter with 10 drums to go to New Zealand. It's first sector was Bournemouth to Cairo, about 14 hours.
We even got 3 drums in an Aztec. and 4 in a Navajo.
Newforest2
3rd Dec 2020, 07:16
buzz.de/general-aviation/zwei-neue-britten-norman-islander-fuer-die-falkland-inseln/
Falkland Islands Government Services.
N707ZS
3rd Dec 2020, 07:23
During my time at Bristol a Kenting Islander was dragged out of a hedge, made fit for flight and then a number of 50 gallon drums and a hand pump were placed in the cabin. Then declared good to go.
IIRC the BN2 Islander could have 4 x 45 gallon/205 Ltr drums in the cabin giving it a duration of 10 to 12 hours.
That is exactly what this one has - 4 drums plumbed into the system. It did San Jose (Costa Rica) to Guayaquil yesterday, not away from Guayaquil yet today.
The registration is out of sequence. VP-FBS would be the next one sequentially, but this one has been registered VP-FMC in honour of Falkland Islands governor Sir Miles Clifford, who was influential in setting up the Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS) in 1948.
The route is pretty similar to what we used to do when the British Antarctic Survey Twin Otters were maintained in the UK - I did that flight a number of times. (I also used to fly for FIGAS).
BAS Twin Otter VP-FAZ was also in San Jose a couple of days ago, on its ferry South from the maintenance base in Canada to Rothera - it did the Southern Winter in Stanley, after getting caught up in Covid lockdowns at the end of last season, and in the end they kept it in Stanley, along with pilot and mechanic, as winter medevac cover for the base.
JENKINS
3rd Dec 2020, 14:51
10 hours 35 my longest, Calcutta to Penang. On the day of an Atlantic crossing, Iceland to Canada would have been possible, lovely tailwind, but I went into Narsaauaq just to put it 'up my sleeve.' This proved useful in later Bizjet days. The drums in the fuselage would start to cough at 4 hours, helped keep one awake. Requests for the other seat always turned down, seat much more useful for picnic from hotel. Long before SatNav days!
I remember the big-engined Land Rover at Stanley which might evoke a memory for a previous correspondent.
exlatccatsa
3rd Dec 2020, 17:19
That is exactly what this one has - 4 drums plumbed into the system. It did San Jose (Costa Rica) to Guayaquil yesterday, not away from Guayaquil yet today.
The registration is out of sequence. VP-FBS would be the next one sequentially, but this one has been registered VP-FMC in honour of Falkland Islands governor Sir Miles Clifford, who was influential in setting up the Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS) in 1948.
The route is pretty similar to what we used to do when the British Antarctic Survey Twin Otters were maintained in the UK - I did that flight a number of times. (I also used to fly for FIGAS).
BAS Twin Otter VP-FAZ was also in San Jose a couple of days ago, on its ferry South from the maintenance base in Canada to Rothera - it did the Southern Winter in Stanley, after getting caught up in Covid lockdowns at the end of last season, and in the end they kept it in Stanley, along with pilot and mechanic, as winter medevac cover for the base.
So can you answer the question Ant? Did he stop in Greenland or was is a non stop to Goose from Reykjavik?
So can you answer the question Ant? Did he stop in Greenland or was is a non stop to Goose from Reykjavik? and what's his ETA in Stanley?
It definitely landed at Narsarsuaq on the way across to Goose. Then went via Montreal and somewhere else on the way to Ft Lauderdale.
Not too sure when it will get to Stanley. Will be a welcome addition to the fleet when it gets here. The oldest one still flying here is about 35 years old, but they are extremely well looked after, and they have all recently been re-fitted with Garmin flat-screen displays. Still the ideal aircraft for the job.
draglift
3rd Dec 2020, 21:58
Thinking of long distance ferry flights in a Britten Norman Islander. Back in 1983 I was flying a BN2A for a safari company based in Northern Botswana. The registration was A2-AEA and the serial number was 849. I thought flying it down to Gaberone for servicing was a long flight. I see it turned up in Ecuador and is presently in the Galapagos Islands registered HC-CGI. That plane must have had some pretty epic ferrying too!
JENKINS
4th Dec 2020, 09:02
Backing up a previous comment, FIGAS Islanders the best I ever flew, and the care of the machines superb.
VP-FMC landed at Stanley airport at 17:30Z today. A good turn out of people to watch it coming in, but sadly due to CoViD quarantine regulations, the pilot was unable to meet anyone except the person taking him to his accommodation.