What's the longest distance you've flown?

[BlenderPilot]

What's the most distance you've flown from your home base?

I just got a phone call from my boss this afternoon telling me that next wednsday me and a friend will ferry two 206L4's from Mexico City, Mexico to Bogota, Colombia, the trip is aproximately 2000 NM, and this is the longest trip I've flown yet. I'm looking forward to it, even if it means that the line in my butt will be completely erased in 5 days!

mexico, guatemala, hounduras, nicaragua, costa rica, panama, colombia, Looooots of paperwork!

[SASless]

Deadhorse, Alaska to Layfayette, Louisana in a 500D......almost got to do a Adana, Turkey to Lagos, Nigeria trip....would have been about 6,500 miles.

[nonradio]

Torrance, CA, to Naples, FL - back in the early nineties, happy days...
Took 3 and a half days flat! :)

[Brother]

Lagos to London in an S76A

Melbourne to Darwin in a 206B

Brother

[Dick Mitten]

3.5hrs across the tundra, in an R22 with a net load of crap underneath. Fortunately had a jerry-can of fuel... :D

[greenarrow]

London to Moscow In a Gazelle, via Antwerp, Hamburg, Copenahgen, Linkoping,Stockholm,Helsinki , (2 days)St Petersburg and Kalina.(1 week) Red tape in Russia

Istanbul to Norwich in a 206L3 via Thessolonika, Corfu, Brindisi, Pescara, Bologna, Nice, St Enntein, Calais and Southend (2 days)

Both great trips in various weather patterns! along with plenty of trips of upto 1500miles away from the UK.

Why does the 206 give you Rhino. (Rhino sore arse)

:cool:

[Q max]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[B Sousa]

Longest one I ever did was at Night flying a Cobra. Length of time was between when the 10% light came on and I landed.
On a more serious note, I just had the fun of Ferrying a B206L from Tucson, AZ to St Thomas, VI.

[donut king]

Burma to Brunei....

In an SK76A with the aux tank. Several stops in between. Great experience and lots of people to meet and places to enjoy.

D.K

[RobboRider]

5,300 kms Cairns to Adelaide and return via Bendigo, Victoria and east coast Australia (would have been more but the weather got bad and I got a commercial flight home.
Co-pilot in an R44 2001

3400 kms Anti clockwise round Queensland, Australia
Solo in R22 April 2002

Both part of "Secret Men's Business" tours

have a look at http://secretmensbusiness.homestead.com for the evidence :D

[misterbonkers]

he he!

i'm planning on flying west virginia to los angeles with a good friend of mine next summer in a Bell 47!!!!

Never been to the states before so should be fun, if not a rather long trip!

[Capn Notarious]

But how many have had the wisdom , to put a camera in the left hand seat.
Perhaps, the Pprune captains should start a new forum: photos/ taken from my flying machine.

[BlenderPilot]

Capt Notarius

I usually take tons of pictures, actually I just recently traded my old digital, for a brand new Sony Cybershot 707 which takes great pictures!

Visit my Helicopters and Heliports page, but I have got another 8000 pictures taken from my helicopter, ranging from afica to central and south america, and I would love to share them! That idea sounds great!

http://homepage.mac.com/helipilot/helicopterpictures/PhotoAlbum15.html

[Straight Up]

Done 920 NM ish in one hit, 8hr 15 min (Includes 30 min hover and no refuel).

As the FTE I got the uncomfortable jump seat (a lovely 2 bits of flat metal at 90 degrees, only the cushion we took with us for comfort). Luckily there were 2 of us to swap around for a spell on the almost comfortable seat in the back.

[Heliport]

You're welcome to post interesting pictures on Rotorheads.
You need to put them on a website first, and then insert a link to the website in your post.

Heliport

[Ed Thrust III]

Elstree to oil platform in the Caspian sea, 40 NM east of Baku.

[moku]

Longest non-stop in a C172 was Ogden, Utah to San Jose, CA with long rang tanks.
Longest Non Stop was Hayward, CA to Omaha, Nebraska. Longest trip San Jose, CA to Miami and back

[Lu Zuckerman]

I flew as a flight mechanic in an HTL-1 (early Bell 47) from Miami, Florida to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York. When we got there we found that we had the wrong swash plate and the engine basket was cracked. The owners of the helo (Miami Coast Guard Air Station) neglected to tell us when we took possession of the helicopter.


:eek:

[MBJ]

Nairobi, Kenya to Nuuk in in West Greenland, pausing only in UK for an arse transplant. Actually, since it was in a AS350 it was reasonably comfortable. Surprising amount of water though - the globe is truly only 25% land! Wouldn't do it without a GPS:cool:

[Ed Thrust III]

MBJ, Always suprised that when having the transplant you didn't order a smaller model.

Regards Ed

[Flying Lawyer]

Rotary:
Nothing special - yet! But if anyone as a spare left seat on a long trip, let me know. :)

Fixed-wing:
Thruxton - Glasgow - Reykjavik - Narssarssuaq - Goose Bay - Quebec - Syracuse - Indiannapolis - Mena, Arkansas delivering a Siai Marchetti SF.260. Then (after a change of aircraft to a C172) on to Dallas to catch a flight home.

[chuckolamofola]

When I was about 10, I flew from the top of my garage, but unfortunately it ended in a hard landing:( :D :(

But it must have been a good landing because I walked away!

In an airplane, C172RG, Lake Charles, La to Elmira, NY and back.

In a helicopter, (S76) Lake Charles to Portland, Ore. as a mech. in the left seat. One of the best trips of my life.

Chuck

[Captain Lai Hai]

Hong Kong- Toronto
Cathay Pacific CX828
Business Class so there!

[MBJ]

Thank you Ed Thrust 111 - I know where you live - you WILL be punished!:D

[peter manktelow]

Exmouth , Western Australia to Shannon , Eire 1980 in an S61 with Dave Whyte. 11 days and 105 flight hours.

[XV666]

Peter wins :D :D

Still in sunny China, Pete? You forgot to mention your trusty engineer, asleep in the back when he wasn't pumping fuel ;)

And the wine bars in Kinsale..........

[RoamingCyclic]

Adelaide - South Australia to Songkhla -Thailand - S76

Karratha - Western Australia to Manila -Philippines - S76

Manila -Philippines to Songkhla -Thailand - S76

Manila -Philippines to Jakarta- Indonesia - S76

All Great Trips!:cool:

[donut king]

Obviously a couple of fellow, past/ present Okanagan errr....CHC colleagues!!!

Huh!!!

D.K

[Web-Footed Flyer]

:D :D :D

Best trip ever !!!

July 03 93, left Montreal and came back early august after
63 hrs of flying to Blanc Sablon Quebec, stoping occasinnally
fishing the lakes and rivers. Fabulous trip we were two C-180
on floats each with a partner.

Heli was YVR to Whisller for a day of skiing in a A350.

;) ;) ;)

[jayteeto]

I've flown most of the trip mentioned in thread 1, Belize to Columbia. Met some interesting guns and their owners. Use cigarettes as bribes and don't flash the dollars, especially in Nicaragua. Fuel quality can be poor!!

[FlyAny]

Colorado Springs, Co. to Heidelberg, Ge.

[Nomads]

From Marseille (france)- Zwolle (holland)

Zwolle (holland) - Poniatowa ( eastern Poland)

in a EC 120 b
;)

[jlaherty]

German I know once flew from Benalla to Tenterfield (1032 klm) in a ASW 20 - that's a glider!

Only landed 'cos he was thirsty!

The retrieve took four days!:D

[XV666]

Not the longest distance, but the longest overall ache: Hiller 12E, gaggle of four, from Culdrose to Nuremberg (sp?) and return. Took a day each way to get from Culdrose to Manston :eek: And of course, rubber boats had to be worn for the Channel crossing, which took up 90% of all available baggage space for the rest of the trip :rolleyes:

4 days each way, IIRC, and numerous stops to recover. Memorable was the flight of F-104G's that cruised by under us, fortunately we were at a nose bleeding 500 feet..........

[Bertie Thruster]

Not the longest for the helo (collapse to hosp--- 8 miles /4 minutes) but the patient went from Heaven (flat line) to Earth (he walked out a week later)

Just one is worth it all!

[Lu Zuckerman]

On a DC-8- 63 Combi from Dallas-Ft Worth to Tehran, Iran via Bangor, Maine and Frankfurt, Germany.

:cool:

[peter manktelow]

well first my humble apologies to "Heli"....hello Ken...yes , still in China (sunny Hainan Island at the moment). Heli was indeed on board and have fond memories of him supplying numerous coffees to we drivers up front. ..to keep us awake. Hell , it was a long trip.....what an adventure.

HOWEVER...I dont think it is a record....I have heard that there may have been a longer ferry by another 61 possibly Court ???

Just to add to the story....in 1991 , Blaine Foreman , myself and Mike Senuik/Bob ? ferried another 61 from Vancouver to Bombay.

Now it will never happen but if I cud ferry another 61 from Singapore to Vancouver (EAST thru Russia....it has been done twice by Rod Legassick) then I will have circumnavigated the world in a 61.....dreaming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tail Bloater]

490 nm on one tank of fuel = A119 Koala.
Athens to Amsterdam with only two refuel stops. Not a record I know but that's what we did one day this year

[stormcloud]

Certainly not a record but an S61 from Aberdeen to Andoya and back via Tondheim and several other stops as a civvy supporting the Navy. The distance was extended as usual because they told us where they thought they were and then we had to find the b*ggers!
Having had the plank transplant, just did a butt numbing 2 crew 9:45 from Manilla to Dubai.
Mind you, on the 61 it was Bill and Ben (Pete Garland and Ray Smith) keeping the tea and bikkies going. Not as pretty as the present cabin crew but the jokes were good!:D
Happy landings!

[offshoreigor]

Here Goes!

Luxembourgh-Colmar-Bern-Milan-Brindisi-Athens-Izmir-Ankara-Trabzon-TBlisi-Baku. 7 Days and lots of fun. Between FL100-120. In an S76A++.

20.5 hours flight time. Loved it.

Cheers, :eek: OffshoreIgor :eek:

[tropicopter]

Had a few fun ones over the years, but tended to get arrested on quite a few in the old days! We also used to run out of maps when bad weather forced us way off route (only a DG and a map in those days) so continued on road maps purchased at local bookshops until we got back close to the planned route.
Amongst the more amusing were:
Venice - Malta. Wessex
Aberdeen - Portugal. 58T
London - Beirut. 58T
London - Teheran. Bell 212. A good one as it was during the winter so ended up routing Vichy-Marseilles-Cannes-Nice (fog!)- Genoa-Rome-Naples-Brindisi-Corfu-Athens-Sofia-Istanbul-Ankara-Elazig-Tabriz-Teheran.
London - Lagos. Wessex via the Sahara desert route when Algeria was safe to fly over.
London - Cairo. Bell 212
Holland - Lagos via the West coast route. Dauphin.
Sweden - Lagos. S76
Hope to have another nice one coming up in a few weeks, but still waiting to hear about it.
Jolly days
:D

[Rotor-runner]

Aberdeen, Scotland to Port Harcourt, Nigeria in an S 76. Good fun, pleasant company en route, shame it had to end there.

[Bronx]

Los Angeles to New York City, about 2150 nm in a B212.

[Winnie]

Longest yet (by me that is) was from Gander (CYQX) Newfoundland, to Stephenville (CYJT) also in Newfoundland. For a total of 5 hours, with two short fuel stops in Deer Lake (CYDF). total time was 5 hours and 15 minutes, and somebody else mentioned erasing the crack, and I can attest to the thrutfulness of this, particularily in the Schweizer 300CB

But I know there are other great ones!

[ATN]

Hi, all,

From Port Gentil, Gabon, to Paris on a 365 N2, then 6 weeks later from Paris to Tehran with the same acft.

ATN

[Randy_g]

A participant of the annual "Great Canadian Helicopter Race", Vancouver to Sudbury, Dryden, Winnipeg, Thompson, Prince Albert, Buffalo Narrows, Edmonton, etc. Oh me butt aches just thinking about the number of times I've crossed this country !!! :ugh::oh:

Cheers

[Dynamic Component]

4 days in R44, 20hrs later:}

[Steve76]

Alice to Darwin in a beat up mustering R22. 1 day, 11hrs with only 2 jerry's for company.
Got it up to 9500 ft before I ran out out collective and throttle....
Its a long way off the planet in a Robbie with no doors :\

[Canadian Rotorhead]

I am in the process this week of planning the ferry trip for a SK61 from Caracas, Venezuela to Vancouver, Canada. I leave home in a few days with my co-pilot for a great trip. I'll post some photos when we get back to Canada.

CDN RH:D



Steve76

Got it up to 9500 ft before I ran out out collective and throttle.... ...in a Robbie with no doors

Oh man, and they think Canadians are crazy:ooh: :D :ooh:

[SASless]

Canadian....where is the dividing line between crazy and just plain nuts?

[Canadian Rotorhead]

It's a very fine line indeed.:ok:

[spinningwings]

Errrrr ....back in 1982 ....Cranfield UK to Coffs Harbour NSW Australia in a very, very noisy Cessna 337 ...... and yes I do still feel the pain! ;)

[I. M. Esperto]

LAX to LHR, quite a few times, in the B-747.

[Autorotate]

Last year got to fly with 5 x EC120s, 1 x EC130, 1 x AS350B3 and a BA from Johannesburg, Sth Africa to Nairobbery, Kenya for the World Rally Championship.

It was a two day trip over 1700 miles. Great scenery through Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and then into Kenya.

:E

[I. M. Esperto]

I'd like to add an amusing story to the LAX-LHR flight. One day I was paired with an old character of a captain, Arleigh Nixon. This guy was one of a kind. Sometimes irritating, sometimes amusing, but always good for a laugh.

I had an old squadron buddy, Ted Rayl, working ATC out of Palmdale. Cleared out of 18,000, we always get a call to switch to the sector Ted was in as a controller.

I spoke with Ted the previous night, gave him our EDT and flight #, and arranged a deal with him.

(Arleigh was always betting, usually a setup where the odds favored himself. By this leg of the trip, he was into my pocket for $50.)

Passing 18,000 I was switched to center, and when I checked in, I recognised Ted's voice. I said to Arleigh, "Let's request direct PP to LHR." He replied "Sheeeit Ed, have you gone mad? Those sumbitches wouldn't do that!".

I said "Arleigh, you're into me for $50. What say double or nothing?"

He shouted "You're on sucker, go ahead and reguest it!" He was salvitating.

I requested PP to LHR, and Ted came over loud and clear "Roger TWA, cleared PP LHR direct."

You should have seen Arleigh. He almost went into shock.

[CyclicRick]

I did Rekyavik to Frankfurt in a 350 which was nice, got up to 174kts groundspeed inbound to Aberdeen. Via the Faroe Islands.

Skopje in a 350 (Macedonia just as they were bombing Kosovo! Very helpful RAF air defence co-ordination chap let me through the net) to Münster in Germany straight through Transylvania without being bitten!

Münster to Alexandria in a 206B 1999NM according to my GPS via Italy, Greece and Cyprus. Don't trust the wind forecasts!

Spain, Portugal and the South of France nearly every year with 205's

Lost my side window ( Bell 205) due to vibration cracks over the Alps in 11500ft wearing just a t-shirt on the way to San Remo. Got a new one made up and I wore a jacket on the way back and the damn thing blew out again! They were long and cold flights.

[RW-1]

Short but nice, Ft. Lauderdale to Key West. (R-44, talking heli time here, I've gone farther in planks)

I hope to expand my boundries on that quite soon :)

[Rotor Driver]

From Corvallis, Oregon to Alert, Canada (82 degrees North). As far as I know, Alert is the northernmost continuosly occupied place on earth. I do know that it is pretty isolated, but the Canadian Forces that are stationed there are pretty good guys. I still have no idea how they run a military in two languages!! LOL

2500 NM in 3 days in a 214ST.

[NickLappos]

RW-1,
I fully understand your quandry! Once In south Florida, why leave?

[FlyAny]

Colorado Springs, Co. to Heidelberg, Ge.

[RobboRider]

Cairns (Australia) -Torres Straits - Mt. Isa - Alice Springs - Longreach - Cairns - 3000 naut. miles in an R22 over 9 days

This years "Secret Men's Business" trip with an R22, R44 and five fixed wings.
The pics are slowly being added to the website if you want a look.

http://secretmensbusiness.homestead.com

[N409BH]

I've done several long distance helicopter ferry flights:

Lafayette, LA to Ecuador (Bell 205)
Lafayette, LA to Bolivia (Bell 206)
Lafayette, LA to Alaska and back (three times)
Phoenix, AZ to Barrow, AK (Bell 212)
Bridgeport, CT to Houston, TX (SK-76)
Houston, TX to Long Beach, CA and back (SK-76)
Houston, TX to Phoenix and back (A-109 and SK-76)
Houston, TX to New York to St. Louis to Houston (SK-76)
Phoenix, AZ to Dallas to New York (SA-365N)
Dallas, TX to Phoenix, AZ (BH-212 and AS-355)

[Labpilot]

Vergiate, Italy (Outside Milano) to Gander, Newfoundland

Nearly 5000nm in an EH101 that still had that new car smell.

Highlights:
The helo route through London along the Thames. (I'm a country mouse;))
An iceberg sticking 360' out of the ocean.
A polar bear hunting seals along an fissure in the ice.

Lotsa pics if anyone's interested.

[John Eacott]

Pics would be great, if you need them hosted, e mail me :ok:

[bloodycrow]

As flight manager with all Russian speaking crew, ferried Mi-26 from Phnom Pehn, Cambodia to Ukhta (just short of artic circle) in Russia

Trip took 9 days via Thailand, Burma, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia
Cannot recall actual distance

Highlight (debatable)
Arrested under gunpoint in Zahedan, Iran upon landing due to mix up in clearance # issued by Tehran. Told to turn back due to invalid #, declared state as fuel critical, landed, arrested, passports confiscated, interrogated, allowed one phone call to office in Singapore, kept in windowless hotel under armed guard, released 24 hrs later (happy campers), paid for fuel (about 8000USD), next stop was in Ashkabat (Turkmenstan) 2 in the morning during a severe snow storm.

Managed to do most of the flying from Turkmenstan..up until then very busy with comms

Entire trip cost 51,000USD and was paid for in cash, got some great pics unfortunately back in oz.

[qnc3guy]

YVR YMX DUB DEL DAR TSV HNL YVR ... 8 days A310-300 Transglobal both hemispheres. Positioned 42 Irish Peace Keepers (Is this an oxi-moron?) from Dub to Townsville Austrailia for the East Temor problem back in 1999.

Great trip.

[Sir George Cayley]

I'm researching an early ferry flight from Gt Yarmouth, England to Australia in 1969 by a Bristow Wessex.

Do any of you august contributors have a steer on where to find out the details?

Thanks in anticipation.

Sir George Cayley

[B Sousa]

Last week. Ft Worth Texas to St Thomas, USVI. Via Florida, Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Dominican Rebublic.
B407 with Air Conditioner...Yahoooooo. Longest was the same route from California.
Did a helicopter ferry from Nairobi to Johannesburg once, dont know how far that is..

[Thomas coupling]

186 miles over the sea at night to a coning tower which would surface for a 15 minute window only, off the eastern seaboard of Newfoundland.

[Aser]

What's the longest distance you've flown?

And the shortest? :}

[BlenderPilot]

Probably next week I will be flying a 407 from Seattle to Mexico City, about 2,000 NM, the only thing I don't like it that I will be flying alone and it will be boring at times. I Promise to take pictures!

[lionco]

Flew a Mil Mi8-MTV (Mi17) from Cape Town, South Africa to Khartoum, Sudan. via Uppington (SA), Gabarone (Botswana), Bulawayo (Zim), Ndola (Zambia), Mbeya, Tabora, Mwanza (Tanzinia), Entebe (Uganda), Juba, Rumbek, El Obeid, Khartoum (Sudan). Took us 5 days. Some great scenery. The usual negotiations to continue without a few days in some cell, $$$$$, and of course avoid being shot down by waring factions through DRC and along the Ugandan/Sudan border. :uhoh: One of those trips that is a lot more fun after the fact.:O
lionco

[R405]

Four Robbies straight across Australia for some fishing!

http://rotorheads.com.au/kimberley05/map_there_small.jpg

http://rotorheads.com.au/kimberley05/day3/welcome_small.jpg

Awesome trip! Looking forward to the next one!

Trip reports on http://rotorheads.com.au

[212man]

Took at 76 A++ single pilot from Redhill to Lagos, which was great fun:

Redhill-Gatwick (customs)-La Rochelle-Bilbao (night stop)-Porto-Faro (night stop)-Cassablanca-Agadir-Las Palmas (night stop)-Al Daklah-Nouackchott (night stop)-Kiffa-Bamako (night stop)-Bouake-Accra (3 night stop)-Cotonou-Port Harcourt-Lagos (end, about 4200nm)

Don't ask about the reason for 3 nights in Accra or the route to Lagos via Port Harcourt!

Took 3 EC-155s from Marseille to Lagos same basic route once in Morroco.

It seemed that ferry flights were like buses; you wait for ages for one, then they all come at once (all 4 trips in 15 months)!

[RobboRider]

Just recently did about 1000 miles from Newcastle (Aus) to Townsville coastal in about 11 1/2 hours. Sunup to sundown including fuel and toilet stops.

RR

[check]

Back in '88 ferried an AS365N from Maastricht to Port Harcourt.
Route was Maastricht Marseilles (Fuel) Algiers (nightstop). Algiers El Golea (fuel) Tamanrasset (nightstop). Tamanrasset Agades Kano Port Harcourt. A total flight time of 22 hours 55 mins. Two pilots, one engineer, one SA330 ferry tank in the back and the standard ferry tank in the baggage bay meant oodles of fuel. Basic aircraft fit i.e. no GPS etc made for an interesting navigation exercise over the desert, but it worked as all three crew are still flying/mending.
Others flew SA330's from France to Indonesia, 212 to Australia, 330's and 365N's to India and back again.
Happy days

[vertalop]

Delivery of new AS332L2 Super Puma from Marseille to Kuala Lumpur. Three aircraft June-October 2005. 6665nm each one, eight days flying.

This pic is the actual track downloaded from the GPS into Google Earth. Should anyone be interested PM me for the actual Google Earth placeholder so that you can zoom in and see where we went in detail.

http://www.eurocoptermalaysia.com/download/F-WWOJ%20Ferry%20Flight.jpg

[cl12pv2s]

Not rotorcraft (and not me either) but just for interest...

Boeing 777 departed Hong Kong last week to go to London..eastwards!

“We plan to smash the current record,” said Captain Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann, one of the four pilots of the 777-200LR Worldliner, one of Boeing’s newest planes.

The flight was expected to take about 23 hours and cover more than 12,586 miles, a Boeing statement said.


Link to News Article (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9978479/)

[212man]

6665 nm in 8 days; that's either very keen or you couldn't find anywhere decent to stay (or go AOG!)

No doubt the ECF support was first rate!!!

[skyline15]

S61N Aberdeen to Male(Maldives)......and back 12months later.
A colleague was asked to plan Tokyo-Aberdeen a few years ago.... yep you guessed- it was canx and the machine airfreighted instead.

[Bitmonx]

Los Angeles - Anchorage - Los Angeles in 1999/2000 in an R44.

What a great, great time I had........

[soggyboxers]

No really long ones like some of the contributors here, though always enjoyed ferry flights - even those where I got arrested, aircraft impounded, ran out of money etc.
The shortest was an S58ET from Aberdeen to Portugal. I've done many others. Bell 212s UK to Egypt and UK to Teheran, but I love taking helicopters to Africa the best. I've been across the Sahara and down the west coast and I love the west coast routes best. It's always great going through the mountains in Morocco and then either the long sea crossing to the Canaries, or nowadays the route through Western Sahara is also open. It always amazes me seeing where the Sahara meets the Atlantic and sand just becomes sea in an abrupt vertical stop, with the wind whipping the sand from the top. I love then encountering the lushness of the forests and swamps as one arrives in Senegal and the vastness of Mali with that maazing lake with the vertical sided islands in it. The people of Burkina Fasso always make it worth while stopping there, and I'd love to revisit on holiday one day. It's also great if the weather's good, after hundreds of miles of mangrove swamps in the Niger Delta, to suddenly see the bulk of Mont Cameroun on one side and Malabo on the other. I hope I'll have the opportunity to do some more, though as I get older it will probanly be more difficult, b ut I'd dearly love to have the opportunity to finish off the west coast with a ferry from Nigeria to South Africa

[Tynecastle]

See a couple of posts from the Okanagan boys, Peter M probably had the longest one [ flying hours anyway ] but there are lots of other ferry flights out there from Vancouver to Inda,and Thailand, some going the Greenland, Iceland, UK route, and the latter ones through Russia, must be some interesting stories amongst them, lets hear them.

[free wheeling]

Did a medivac a few years ago. Was just over 1300nm, departed base at 1700hrs back the next day at 1600hrs.

Single pilot and the A/P went U/S en route.

[vertalop]

Mr 212

I said 8 days flying, not 8 days total time!

We did have a couple of days off along the way ;) The Hyatt in Muscat would have been perfect but for the fact that ramadan restricted our beer consumption to between 6pm and midnight!!

Probably just as well, on reflection.

[212man]

Vertalop,
glad to hear it; my confidence is restored :ok:

[tripletach]

Sydney to New York via London in an S76A in 1994.

[SASless]

Twenty minute flight in a Chinook on June 14,1970,from Vietnam to Cambodia and return.....sat in a hydraulic fed cockpit fire for what seemed a lifetime...then did a GCA to a SpecForces base. Maintain a special feeling for BurgerKing burgers till this day as a result.:uhoh:

[MD900 Explorer]

Personally, this isnt so far. Only Shoreham - Pamplona and back, for the Running of the bulls festival, back in 2003

On behalf of a good mate Decimal who can't post at the mo (Connection problems). He and a friend flew an R-22 (Beta) from Carp Airport (Just outside Ottawa) to the Florida Keys, down the eastern seaboard. Then flew back via the Heli Expo in Dallas to Ottawa. Took him 5 weeks. This was by the way in the middle of winter. I believe the temp range was -30 to +30

Regards

MD :ok:

[helidriver]

Aldergrove, Northern Ireland to Rouen, France for the World Helicopter Championships. Stopped in Blackpool, Gloucester, Middle Wallop and Lydd for fuel. Flew the Journey back in formation with the team manaager and a colleague, probabaly the longest formation I have flown and lead!

[Perro Rojo]

Longest ferry flight for me; a Super Puma from Trelew, Argentina (43S) to St John's, Nfld, Canada (47N). 65 hours flying time.

Great trip. Lots of great sight seeing and interesting problems enroute. Everyone is used to fast and large movers ferrying around the world but not helicopters. Lots of extortion enroute, inflated fuel prices and airport fees, etc.

[Vertical T/O]

Riverside California to Galway Ireland in a Bell 222. Nearly 6000nm in Feb 2005.

[Darren999]

Only a short one compared to make posts on here.But I loved it!!
Completed 2 trips Lake Charles LA to Anchorage AK
Took 4 days- AS350 Great fun :ok:

[Perro Rojo]

Longest single leg on a ferry flight was with a Super Puma from Porto Velho to Foz do Iguacu, Brazil. 756 nm.

Sorry, error. It was Porto Velho to Corumba, same distance. Foz do Iguacu was the next leg.

[SBoyer]

Fort Worth to Caracas in a 222,
Paris to Cairo and return in a 412SAR,
Quito to SaoPaulo by way of Santiago Chile in a 206L-1,
Singapore to Dhaka in a 206L-4,
Singapore to Manila in a 430 and a 222U (2 different trips),
and a ton of shorter ones

That's enough, I'm tired just remembering them

[TangoMikeYankee]

Salinas, CA to Nome, Alaska in a R44. (1st)- 5 days flying
Durban, South Africa to Nampula, Mozanbique in a SA330 (Puma)(2nd) 2 days

[clear to land]

Longest 'day trip' was Townsville-Georgetown-Burketown-Boroloola-Tindal In a Kiowa (10hrs stick and 3 drum refuels).
A couple of round Aus and PNG also, courtesy of the taxpayer. Great fun.
Now in a Boeing, the distances seem rather surreal- but the bum and lower back are A LOT happier!:)

[Evil Twin]

Someone asked for shortest trips.

I crewed on frost protection one night and spent 6½ hours over one kiwi fruit plantation. Never moved more than a few hundred yards.

Cheers
ET

[Denny]

Davao to Palau Island B412

[bh214st]

Point Barrow Alaska to Dallas Ft Worth via Los Angeles (4300 miles)

Dallas Fort Worth to Martinque (2500 miles)

[psyan]

From Kuantan 300 NM due East. Miles not as many as some but trust me here......that was the longest flight I ever did!!!!!

[funfinn2000]

I had to ferry a 22 from Portland Oregon to West Palm Beach, I had my good freind help me fly the thing back. Took 6 days and 46 hours. 2 Irish lads on mission to get back on St Paddys day. I-5 South to I-10 east-ish

[vaqueroaero]

Took 6 days and 46 hours.
So you could say that it took 7 days and 22 hours, or a week and 22 hours!:ok:

[funfinn2000]

It was an R22 and it took 6 days and 46 hrs flight time, great flight but tricky at high DA in Texas and New Mexico.

[Venator]

I once ferried an AS350 from Mackay in QLD through outback Australia to Adelaide SA and back again in a B3 via Gladstone, took just over ten hours flying each way, not much to look at except red dirt, the odd track, maybe a homested, oh and more red dirt. Still a good trip and nav was a challenge ( I did'nt feel comfortable sitting like a numpty and relying solely on the GPS)

[bellboy]

Bangladesh-Scotland
Dacca-Calcutta-Bupeneshwar-Nagpur-Ahmadebad-Karrachi-Pasni-Muscat-Dubai-Dharan-Rhiyad-Medina-Luxor-Alexandria-Heraklion-Corfu-Ancona Falconara-Nice-Lyon-North Denes- Aberdeen.
Great took about six months at 100Kts:ok::)

[Head Turner]

My longest journey started on the afternoon in early April 1966 in a Hiller 12B at Middle Wallop as a fledgling Army pilot. The journey has taken me to much of Europe with the AAC, corporate flying, instructing and police and power line work. This has been done at night, in blisteringly hot sunshine, bloody freezing artic conditions, the usual rain, cloud and wind and some bumpy turbulence. Worst place I remember was Sennybridge ranges. I have covered most of Europe, dawdling in places like Northern Ireland and Germany. On the way I have met some awful people who I have pittied and forgotten. However, there are, thank goodness the vast majority of people associated with helicopters, the engineers and the ground support people who I shall sorely miss when finally touching down in an EC135 in Cumbria on 28th June 2007. This mamoth flight has taken me just a few hours short of 15,000. This is my longest journey. Full of memories and well recorded in several log books, photographs and retained memos.
Thanks to you all.

[Tango and Cash]

Head Turner, great post. Congrats on a great career and best wishes on whatever is next. It's all one long flight, with the occasional ground stops in between.

[Efirmovich]

Good Luck with the future HT.... if I have 10% of your flying experience's I will be content !

E. :D

[Head Turner]

Thanks Tango and Cash and Efirmovich for your kind words. I have now completed my final flight and believe it or not, the weather was wonderfully awful, blowing a gale, low cloud and drizzle.
Bye to you all,
regards
Head Turner

[pinho_fap]

600 NM non stop, all over water, between LPPS and LPLA (from Porto Santo, close to Madeira Island, to Lajes AB, Azores), in a EH101 Merlin. All on autopilot :)

[fijdor]

Actually not a very long flight as such compared to others but it was the longest flight with a sling load (longline) in my career 620 miles. There was 4 of them and all by hand no AP. One per day, 310 to go, 310 back.

JD

[Canuck Guy]

A little over 11,000 Km. It took 14 days, stopping in 13 countries over 3 continents.... one hell of a good time :ok:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs330.snc3/29097_432172811010_598086010_5924566_2273388_n.jpg

[topendtorque]

I once ferried an AS350 from Mackay in QLD through outback Australia to Adelaide SA and back again in a B3 via Gladstone, took just over ten hours flying each way, not much to look at except red dirt, the odd track, maybe a homested, oh and more red dirt. Still a good trip and nav was a challenge ( I did'nt feel comfortable sitting like a numpty and relying solely on the GPS)


Possibly not the smartest thing to admit to here-abouts, over country that most would regard as very easy to map read. Like there's one little creek that goes pretty much all the way.

[Ainippe]

I was engineer on a ferry flight from Redhill to Singapore at a time when we where moving aircraft out there. Also doing the same flights were Wolfgang Swann and Geoff Dentith.

Interesting if not an arse numbing two weeks (due to an AOG) and about 76 flying hours. Average leg was 5 hours with the ferry tanks - most unusual bit ...

Pasni in Pakistan - Fly once round the town for fuel or twice round the town if you required customs as well. All the fuel came in flimsies! Made the refuelling a long exercise.

Spent xmas day in Damascus and new years eve in Calcutta.

Worst moment following the road between Kasuma and Badana in Saudia Arabia - waking up and realising both the pilot and I had been asleep for 5 minutes - good old 212 still just chugging along at 90 knots at 3000' still following the road !!

[Foggy Bottom]

Have no idea of the distance flown, but I took off at approximately 0215 in 1967 (I believe it was in March) and except for refueling I did not get out of the aircraft untlil midnight of that same day. I went through 3 co-pilots and probably fired about 500 rockets and who knows how many 7.62's. Everytime we hit the rearm point someone was waiting with coffee/sodas and sandwiches.

[hoveratsix]

EC225 from Aberdeen via Scatsta - Vagar - Reykjavik - Kulusuk - Kangerlussuaq - Qikiqtarjuaq - Iqaluit - Kuujjuaq - Wabush - Halifax - Bangor - Bridgeport - Norfolk News - Charleston - W Palm Beach - Nassau - Turks and Caicos - Tortola, BVI - Tobago - Georgetown - Cayenne - Macapa - Sao Luis - Fortaleza - Natal - Salvador - Porto Seguro - Cabo Frio. Around about 9500nm! (17600km or 10935 statute miles). 18 days total, 14 flying days, 1 lost to weather in Reykjavik, 1 off in Halifax and 2 off in Tobago (FTL!!) :cool:

[RVDT]

A bit over 1900nm -

Madang - Goroka - Daru - Horn Island - Coen - Cairns - Townsville - Emerald - Roma - Tamworth - Bankstown.

Not that far, but pretty good going in Bell 206 single pilot and all done in daylight over 2 days! Pre GPS as well with a wet compass only!

I think the only options fitted to the aircraft were a cargo hook, high gear, VHF and HF.

YBCS got a little concerned that our TXPDR wasn't working. Went through all the rigmarole of recycling and blah blah, by then we were on the ground. They told us to get it fixed before departing. It didn't work the next day when we left either and by the time we gave up going through the recycle etc blah blah we had left the control zone with the instruction to get it fixed.

I suppose you would have to fit one first to fix it! :O

[Foggy Bottom]

is this Doug doing the Barrow to Dallas run?

[Spunk]

In my early times I was working as a pipeline jockey on an R44. I was paid a low basic salary plus a bonus for every flight hour. Instead of getting the job done in 4 days (average required flight time for that specific pipeline was 25 hours) I decided that it can be done in only 3 days.
Somewhere around 20:00 pm and some fuel stops later we (the observer and I) called it the day after realising that we had left the pipeline track for approx. 5 minutes without realising it and without knowing where we were. Upon landing at the nearest airfield we had a total of roughly 11 hours of flight time. Can't say how many miles we covered that day but that is the most flight time in a row I have ever flown in a single day.
As mentioned earlier: I was young and in need of that money ;-):=

[taxying]

Three S76C+ in formation from Brunei to Brazil via Anchorage and Miami...beat that !!!



ok...they were dismantled in the back of a 747F so I guess that doesn't count.

:ok:

[Canadian Rotorhead]

In 2003, I was given the task of bringing an S61 back to Vancouver, BC, Canada from Maturin, Venezuela. Daily routing as follows…

Maturin, VZ – Caracus, Venezuela– St Georges, Grenada.

St. Georges – St. John’s VC Bird, Antigua – San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan - Provodenciales, Turks and Caicos – Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau – West Palm Beach, Florida – Tallahassee, FL

Tallahassee, FL - Madison, Mississippi – Dallas (Addison Field) Texas

Dallas, TX – Roswell, New Mexico – Gallup NM – Grand Canyon South Airport, AZ

Grand Canyon, AZ – Tonopah, NV – Reno, NV

Reno, NV – Eugene Oregon – Vancouver, BC

5245 NM, 47.7 hours flight time and nine days travel


Last October we picked up a S92 in Iqaluit and with the help of 55kt tailwinds made it back to St. John’s NL in 7.7 hours with only one stop in Goose Bay, just over 1100 NM.

[unstable load]

Canadian,
I was supposed to do the same trip on the next contract in Maturin, but we only got as far as Hammond, Louisiana. Lovely trip it was, water like glass most of the way.

Personally, I have done Cape Town-Abidjan and back, CPT-Malabo, CPT-LAD-CPT, CPT-Maputo-CPT mostly in the 61 but some 76 too. It gets a bit long when you are sat in the back, though. I have respect for the pilots who do it for a living.

[JLMG]

Goose Bay - Bishop Falls - Passadena NL - Blanc Sablon QC - Havre St-Pierre - Sept Iles - Quebec city - Montreal. (1870nm) about 5 days, lots of bad weather but nice landscapes, specially in NL, downside....did it in a 206LR.....

[helirider]

Paris to Port-Gentil, S76
Buenos Aires to Ushuaia S365C2
Ouagadougou to Lisbon, S365N
Abidjan to Paris, S76

[crs1]

The last 14 minutes of a flight from Bautina to Atyrau in a Bell 212, with the low fuel warning light on !

[birrddog]

FALA FBFT FBKE FLLI FYKM FLMG return with some side trips between FYKM and FLMG (FLMG approx, was at a fishing camp another 45min north). Took our driver 3 days to take our boat and fuel ahead of us FYKM to FLMG!

Total trip ~2000nm over 7 days, 22hrs flying (B407)
Longest day FBKE to FALA via customs FBKT, Pilansburg, lunch at The Lost City then FALA then FAJS for the trip home.

No jet could match this trip, though it would be cheaper!!

[FlyHiGuy]

Well - seems like this thread's official question is being answered in variety of ways. For me, its nice to take long cross-country with lots of scenery and lots of fuel stops. Let's face it, helicopters are not exactly known for their fuel efficiency ! But when it comes to being a fuel hog, not many aircraft (1) exceed the H-53E series. With 3 T64GE-416 engines slurping about 5000 pph in normal "economic" cruise, it should be easy to feel guilty for not using a Prius . . . but instead its orgasmic ! Anyway - getting back to the question - and answer; it was a normal flight for us to fly 53Es non-stop from the NATO/Naval Air Base in Singonella Sicily to Tel Aviv non-stop and I just used an iPad app to calculate the great circle distance which showed it as 1,035 nm. We used to go to Rota (Cadiz), Spain also on the Atlantic side direct from "Sig" but that is shown to be a bit less at 1.018 nm. Usually 2 air-refueling plugs with a C-130 would do it. I'm pretty sure that others have flown further but this was a typical milk-run route that we ran regularly. Would be curious to hear what others have done elsewhere. I would guess that the USAF's older twin-engined versioned 53J or the ANG's H-60H's would probably fly longer or further missions for their rescue or satellite retrieval flights. But one of the early transatlantic flights with HH-3s and/or 53s in the 60's and 70's probably win hands down...Would love to hear !

[212man]

Run that by me again - you fly from Sicily to Cadiz, then to Tel Aviv? How does that work?

[mdwatkins]

New Iberia to Nome AK in a 206 solo

[Spunk]

Jealous I am, I have to google half of those places you guys have been to :{

[bellfest]

The longest distance I have flown???... 5 miles. The last 5 miles to the Queensland coast with fading light, torrential rain and a low fuel light!

[Dick Smith]

In an S76 from my front lawn here at Terrey Hills in Sydney, Australia back to my front lawn via London, New York ,Nome. Tokyo, and Hong Kong.

[212man]

Dick, I don't think it's fair you commenting on this thread! Nobody has flown as far as you :ok:

[Dick Smith]

OK I withdraw the above!

[Ascend Charlie]

And Dick, not fair to mention solo around the world in the B206, or the runs to the North Pole, or going round the world north to south - it tends to make us mortals feel inferior!:eek:

[Senior Pilot]

OK I withdraw the above!

Dick,

There are many of us who would rather hear more of your adventures!

I have one of your coffee table books, and am envious of your trips: please find the time to regale us with the more aviation related aspects of your flights :ok:

[212man]

I hope myremark was taken in jest - it was certainly meant that way, along with implicit admiration!

[Drooping Turns]

August 1998.
Portland, Oregon to 500 nautical miles out over the Pacific to meet a Korean freighter with a critically ill seaman. Hoisted 3 PJ's down. Loitered for a couple of hours while the PJs worked their majic and then back to Portland. Many refuelings and a frontal penetration that day. 60G Pavehawk with the able assistance of a Herc tanker. My record for hours in a Mustang survival suit as well.

DT

[turboeddie]

MobileMe Gallery (http://gallery.mac.com/edarcy#gallery)

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/9787/img1016u.jpg

[arismount]

Do you remember flying your 206 to Knoxville, Tennessee, USA for the 1982 World's Fair? You landed at KDKX and my boss who ran the local area Bell Service Center met you there. I was flying charter in Bell 206's for him at the time and spoke with you briefly. I have a photo of myself putting a blade tiedown on your aircraft while waiting for the fuel service truck. Happy days.

[Dick Smith]

i sure do. That was the first day of my solo world flight.
Wow, was i inexperienced. Thanks for the help.

There is an article covering some of my adventures in the August 2011 issue of HELINEWS ASIA PACIFIC.

[Darren999]

Well looking at some of the above, mines not that long but great fun
..
I did the same trip Canadian Rotorhead did:
San Juan to Fort Lauderdale bit, same route, then Up to KLNS PA in a 206!

I ferried an AStar from Lake Charles to Anchorage.
Both awesome trips, and numb bum after the 1st one.:)

[Dan Reno]

HMH-463 flew a couple CH-53s from Marble Mountain VN to Kuala Lumpar and back without in-flight refueling probes, just internal tanks.

[CharlesEC130]

Redhill, England to Auckland, New Zealand in an EC130. The back seats were out and replaced with a fuel tank. Total capacity 1250 litres. It's a big planet :)