Across the Americas in a C182
 

Dear All,

David Hempleman-Adams will try to cross the Americas, from Cape Columbia (Northern tip of Canada) to Cape Horn, in a Cessna 182. Yes! A single-engine piston!
Knowing that some of the challenges they will face (David will be flying with Canadian co-pilot Lorne White) are the crossing of the Bay of Hudson, the 570 NM over the ocean between the Dominican Rep and Caracas, the Amazon, the extreme weather and the odds.

You can get a taste of it on www.canadianspotlight.com or http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/w...re/3768757.stm

Certainly sounds exciting and it would be great fun. But they're not really doing anything cutting edge, are they?

570 miles over open water single-engine is definitely an eye-opener, but nothing new. Ferry/delivery pilots do it all the time. How do you suppose the SE aircraft in Hawaii get there?

Good luck to them, though, and I'm certain they will have a grand time!

We look forward to the tales from when you did it Chuck. :rolleyes:

I agree that it is silly hyperbole for the BBC to describe him as an "explorer"; but that aside, it should be an interesting flight, and certainly more adventurous than any of my own flying.

As long as they don't do anything stupid, I'd say more power to them ... we need good publicity that shows small aircraft in a positive light.:ok:

I don\'t know for sure, but from the two websites linked above, it appears (?) that White is much more experienced than Hempleman-Adams and that the latter is really the co-pilot.

MLS-12D :confused:

This is no walk in the park, but an "explorer"?, Scott and Amundsen must be turning in their graves.

For real balls you would have to say that these South Africans have achieved a lot more, flying from Johannesburg to Oshkosh via Africa, Europe, Greenland and return via the Azores. A squadron of them led by a homebuilt.

I cannot see what the BBC's "explorer" is trying to achieve other than an ego trip.

Closer to (my) home the local club instructor flew our latest Cessna 172 from Brisbane to Kuala Lumpur. The route was via Darwin and across the sea to Kupang in Indonesia and a long flight up the Indonesian archipelago, mostly over jungle.

However let the "explorer" enjoy his flight and his pilot enjoy the flying, really envy them the opportunity to do it.

Ego Trip
 

This thread says that Hempleman has 45 hrs TT and White has 1600+ ... yeah, Hempleman is the PIC, yes he is!:p

If he has 45 hours then he's not going to be flying the instrument legs is he? Or is he planning it all VFR?

I don't think its the longest single engine flight, I think there has been more than one round-the-world flight in a single.

I've flown across the states and back so that must be around 8000 miles, and also from San Diego to Vancouver and back.

That was all in a single. I did 200 hours in one month doing it.

Perhaps I should reinvent myself - "Airbus Girl, the Explorer!"

Ignoring the sarcasm in a previous post, I wonder why they would want to fly that route in a single engine aircraft?

Having flown eight years in the high Arctic and God only knows how many hours in South America around both sides, I have learned to respect the weather and the vastness of the areas they are going to fly over.

So using the bottom line which is risk assesment would I do it in a single engine aircraft ?

No.

Chuck E.

I don't really know ... but cost could be a factor (C182 + fuel is a lot less than a B58P + fuel). Also, if they used a twin Hempleman would obviously have to obtain a multi rating if he wants to pretend to be the PIC.

MLS-12D,

David obtained his licence at NAC several years ago. His instructor was Lorne. Over the years, the two have become good friends. Lorne has been helping David with his other projects.

This flight is something David has wanted to do for a long time. Lorne is going along as a friend an SIC. David is more than capable of doing this trip on his own.

Happy flying,

Capt Richard J. Gentil, Pres.
Naples Air Center, Inc.

P.S. Do not believe everything you read in the press. They never let the "truth" get in the way of a good story. (David has flown more than double the hours listed in the article at my school alone.) ;)