Ferrying a Plane from USA to Sydney - Any tips?!
 

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 :eek:

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

A friend of mine did it in reverse once. I think from memory he said you will need to pay cash ($US) for fuel and landing charges in some places. Good luck.

Just make sure u bring a good pair of goggles. makes all the difference when the saltwater is stinging your eyes.

Best of luck, will be a great experience

oh yeh and dont fly through any bangers

You can get avgas at Magenta which is only a short hop from Tontouta.

Yea I'd head to Magenta for gas (after clearing customs at Tontouta?), it's basically right in Noumea which is not be a bad place to spend a couple of nights before the final leg.

Don't forget to obtain overflight/landing approvals from the various countries before you set off.

I recall that the payment for fuel in Christmas has to be in cash and AUD but that was some time ago so it may have changed but worth checking.

I would be inclined to use Monterey and Hilo for the first leg as it shaves about 30 min flight time off the first sector which you will appreciate on the day. There is a hotel at MRY adjacent to the tarmac which enables an easy departure. Like Kona, Hilo also has an ILS but the hotels are a little closer.

Enjoy the experience and please tell us how it went.

Belong to the 20% -------------- Can I come along ???

Good Luck and happy flying

Don't forget to check the weather for Norfolk Island in case you get temporarily unsure of your position and have to ditch there...:ok:

Had 5 friends (?) do several ferries some years back.
4 ended up in the water, 2 never found.
I believe that one of the lucky ones was kicking sharks away for a time.
The one who made it across without problems was in jets.
Current cost to container a plane over?
USD $3600 plus a $1000 to secure the aircraft.
Mmmmm.......what would I do, and why would I know the cost of shipping?

If the prices above are correct, as much as I love flying, I would be ripping the wings off it and putting it in a container.

Being about 1275 miles from the nearest land in a single engined aeroplane is really not the best idea.

If you choose to do it however, I wish you the best of luck. It will be the best adventure of your life.

Cheers

Do it! Don't crate it. I am jealous!!

P.S. I shall despair, if anyone asks who gentleman in the photo is. :uhoh:

Two vital safety videos for you to watch first:
AMELIA and
THE RESCUE OF FLIGHT 771 (Scott Bakula).

P.S. take a clean hanky, and some flippers. (when a shark is circling:eek:, you only have to swim 1kt faster than your buddy:E)

You'll need a fair bit if cash for bribe money for airport "officials.". This still goes onthese days believe it or not.

"Checkboard P.S. I shall despair, if anyone asks who gentleman in the photo is. "

OK, I give up, who is it???

Personally I wouldn't fly SE anywhere like that but each to their own. The older you get the smarter you get. Still having said that aviation is all about risks, calculated risks & as that saying goes..........chance favours the prepared mind.............

As 'XXX' said & some others I think said take plenty of $US green backs, a lot of the Pacific Is. are broke & bribery is rife.
Obviously you will be taking all the survival gear you can muster inc Sat Ph. You can call yr lawyers with one of these great devices & set up a live one on one arrangement for a new will whilst yr treading water with the sharks wondering whether to eat you raw or wait a while 'till you soften up..............oh no that's crocs like that I think:-)

Anyway great luck to you & yr friend, life without risk is not life at all:ok:


Wmk2:-)

p.s..............Norfolk Is is a "safe" place for a ditching I hear, high probability of survival & there's already a new aviation museum there you could add to if you needed to park yr new shinny plane off airport, trouble is it's hundreds of feet below the water!!!!!:}

Charles Kingsford Smith

james ozzie in Brisbane on an aviation themed website on the Dunnunda forum on a thread about flying the Pacific - really needs to ask? :ugh:

Sh!t - time to retire that username, and get yourself another, me thinks. :bored:

And if you ditch off Norfolk a journalist will write a lovely article about how sexy you are..... :ok:

http://www.pprune.org/dg-p-reporting...-reporter.html

You're braver than I am. I've done it once but wouldn't even think about it in a single anything. I can also vouch for Hilo being a great spot. Awesome place to spend a night. Would like to go back for longer.

Best of luck.

Hope for the best but consider/prepare for the worst:

Get a Quality life vest I use switlik HV35 with pockets for survival gear\have you done 20:11 with time ex jackets at the local pool? you will be amazed how crap the cheapies are.

Quality life raft, there are lots of crap ones out there that won't stay up the right way in any real waves, you will be horrified by the cost and weight of the good ones.

locate raft so as to readily accessible when needed but not an danger during ditching/impact

Survival gear, water, space blanket, sun hat (dayglo Orange with chinstrap), sun screen, whistle, heliograph, 406 epirb with GPS, HH VHF, strobe light in pockets of jacket, - there are flares and stuff in the raft if its TSO'd

Wear a helmet

know escape procedure, have an 'exit strategy'

Survival rates are very high for ditching if you are prepared, very bad otherwise, blue water ferry the lowest.

Take low GI snack food - dried fruit, nuts, some types of 'muesliu' bars that aren't just full fo 6 types of suger are best, cheese and bikkies, avoid lollies/high sugar snacks. red bull (small can) works as a cup of coffee from time too often, every 3- 4 hrs or so if you want. it makes you pee.

Relief bags (expect the worst) and 1/2 a roll of poo-vouchers, plastic baggies. - watch what you eat prior to departure, easier in the US than asia of course

Walkman

Blue tack

establish a routine - do regular checks, rotate an hour of music with an hour of reading, have small sips of water evry hour and a small snack.

keep an eye and ear on the Big Picture - Nav/GPS/sun/waves/wind clouds/radio and met reps

scrounge the best maps and charts that you can, jepp will do a trip kit for you - for a small fee of course.

A couple of novels - if you are not a big reader and like books with lots of big, bright colourful pictures, disregard all of the above and take a fishing rod and a folding chair


Shipping is much cheaper and safer and the insurance is less. spend your money on petrol when it gets here.

WM2 - getting older does not make anyone smarter neccessarily, it can make you more set in your ways of course. Growing older is mandatory, growing up is optional. how come you are so keen on twins? they're only about 40% less likely to crash than a single, but you are more likely to die if they do, Howard Hughes (the Other howard hughes) had a better idea eight engines mate, that's GOT to the best for overwater, and it was briefly.

I can't help but think that the chap in the photo probably isn't a great advertisement for long over-water flights in single engined aircraft ie.there's a Lockheed Altair on the bottom of the Bay of Bengal somewhere as I recall. Multi-engine seemed to work a little more successfully for him however!

Gee Harley D, from what you have written one could be mistaken for thinking that you do this all time time, almost for a living :ok:

For those reading, take note, this Pruner has done this more times than most will in their lifetime!

And take a G296 and make sure its charged up...... never know when theplanes nav system goes on the blink or electrics fail in some way!:ok:

Garmin.....Don't Leave Home Without One! :ok:

If you can believe what is stated here I think I would be putting my new plane in a box also.
Diamond Star DA-40-180 Review

How about getting a car upholsterer or similar to knock up a vinyl "sleeve" for the raft, with Velcro arms so that it can be fastened "papoose style" to the back of one of the seats (the one nearest the door). The sleeve would be fixed, but the raft would just slide out of the top when you grab it - that way it is both secure, and easily accessible.

Of course the ditching case that I failed to mention is the nighttime case where the plane end up upside down and you have to wait while the cabin fills with water until you can open the doors.

You may want to consider taking some 'spare air'

Then if you get out you can look forward to attempting to climb aboard your raft, assuming that it got out and you are holding the lanyard, oops i forgot, turn it up the right way first. This should be easy job in 3 meter waves with a 5 metre swell at night, wearing a life jacket. did i mention to not wear lace up shoes/boots they are so much harder to take off , runners would be ok i suppose. expect to be tipped out of the raft once or twice during the night.

Have you ever been in a 'dunker', or seen a dunker even? then imagine that at night but without the guys with the scuba tanks just outside, in a cold cold ocean a long way from mum and the kids, mind you that just made me think of my ex and I would rather be bobbing in a cold, cold ocean than in the same house as her!!

After a few days (this is unlikely cos if you got out OK you will be picked up relatively quickly) you start to wonder which part of your mate to eat first, sushi style. Did you remeber to include wasabi in the survival kit?

Have fun either way, but given the option.....ship by container, swim in your back yard pool and eat fillet steak.

HD

Try Jeppesen Flight Planning in the US. They take care of all clearances, weather briefs etc etc. A little costly, but you'll have the peace of mind that all is done legit and all boxes ticked........and bring plenty of US bucks for the bribes along the way :rolleyes:

I was about to comment that a DA40 ferry across the pacific is not really sane until a mate just pointed out he knows of some ultralights that do the LHI-NF crosssing to NZ...

Have Fun - Good Luck.

There have been a number of recent flights to NZ in "ultralight" aircraft that come to my mind without research.

Notable inclusions are:

- Ben Buckley in a 2-stroke 582 Lightwing
- J230 Jab delivery to NZ (on the Jab webpage)
- Pipstrel Sinus 912 delivery
- J230 and J120 Jabirus ferry flight for new school (on the Jab webpage)
- Pioneer 200 / 300 flown almost anually from NZ to Aus to visit Natfly

All via NF and LH except for the 2-stroke with Ben Buckley driving, that went direct non-stop.

Are you planning on Avgas at Christmas? From memory it did not used to be available.

I used to fly the DC8 into Xmas. Runway is good and the highest terrain are the coconut trees so even if weather is bad you should get in. Having said that I never had a wx problem.

I don't think you will need to pay bribes on your planned route but be prepared to pay over the top for landing, etc (same thing really except you will get a receipt).

Good luck

If you plan on coming thru Honiara at all, you can't always get Avgas there. They run out sometimes - with only one Islander using it on a regular basis, if there is unexpected extra usage, the logistics of ordering in in by ship means there can be a months wait sometimes.. Best to check with South Pacific Oil and Solair in advance a couple of times..

(I see it is not on the planned route however, just apply the same checking to other remote stops)

Make sure you thoroughly check that the ferry tanks switch in and feed properly before setting out. Not nice to have problems with them mid-ocean, - an old instructor of mine T.R. from Melbourne for groundcourses finally got his second Robertson Stol 185 O.K. All he got of the first one were photos to show the class of it sinking, taken from the freighter it had to ditch beside halfway from the mainland to Hawaii.

Made It
 

many thanks for all the advice & helpful tips.

The ferry all went fine, and was a huge amount of fun. I personally learned alot about the aircraft, wx & customs, although my impersonation of a kangaroo when landing at Brisbane international was abit embarrassing :bored:

Photos on website below:

www.diamondaviation.com.au

Again, thanks for all help & tips

Congrats and nice website buddy. Was on basically the exact same route as your flight about a week after you in a C182T. You're correct when saying the first leg to Hawaii is definitely the longest! All the best.:ok:

great photos, and i HATE to be picky...... but..... air pacific do not have A330's. think it was a 767.

Fuel and Endurance
 

How much fuel did you carry? Standard + extra fuel???

I was looking at ferrying a VANS RV6 from the US or maybe a Rutan, but thought that they would not be able to carry the fuel and have sufficient reserves - even with aux tanks inside the cabin.

Who approves the over MTOW and how much can you get?

Fuel
 

for the Santa Barabara to Hilo leg, we had 50gals in the wings, RHS seat was replaced witha 38g tank, the rear seats were replaced with 61 & 42 gal tank respectively, so total of 191gals. Landed in Hilo with full wing tanks....FAA have to sign off the change so you get a speciual flight permit. First time a DA40 had done this with NoCal FAA, so took a while for them to issue the SFP. According to the tanking company, possible to get a 30% over MTOW, subject to CofG, and aircraft type. Think we were 24% ow from memory...

:ok: Do it mate. You'll have a great trip. Check Christmas island for fuel payment B4 you go. You'll probably never get to do it again. is the ferry pilot GM ? if so...... you're in very safe hands!!

Daviojk,

Congratulations, a good job well done.
Cheers,

Tootle pip!!

saw your post too late,

did that route almost but differed slightly,

KTOA - LAX - SAN MARCUS - KSMX
KSMX - PHTO
PHTO - PLCH
PLCH - NSTU
NSTU - NWWM
NWWM - YBCG
YBCG - YSBK
YSBK - YMIA
YMIA - YWHA - YCDU
YCDU - YCAG
YCAG - YPJT

big trip, i remember xmass island, avgas was $6 a litre. how much did u get it for?? sounds like you did fine :-) I loved doing it but i did min with no autopilot :eek:
65hrs in 8 days.....