Small Global trip Suggestions needed
 

Having now had a few beers and thinking on some crazy idea.
If you were going to plan a Global trip from Uk to new Zealand and then somehow island hop over to Chile over to Falkland island then up east coast of South America through USA/ canada and then along the top back to Uk

Plane will / Would be a single engine cruise approx 150 kts with 8 hour endurance

one other little thing VFR :O

What would be the best month to leave Uk due to adverse weather enroute.
From New Zealand would it be possible to Island hop or would it be better to go south to Antartica and refuel at the various bases then up to Argentina/ chile ?

How would you do it ?

Also please none of the wouldn't do it in a single engine etc just positive help

Cheers

Well that's the North Atlantic out for a start - Icelandic regulations require an aircraft flown in from an adjacent FIR to be flown by an IR holder.

Who do you propose will supply you with your fuel in Antarctica? Not that it matters as you wouldn't get there anyway - look at a map, then you realise that the distances south from Australia / New Zealand (or East From New Zealand) are vast. 8 hours at 150Kts is just going to find you a lot of ocean and not a lot else.

Beer ideas are always good - I had one with a mate, ended up doing Oshkosh from the UK and back in a single 9 months later. Going the other way - yes, you could do New Zealand (Gold Coast - Norfolk Island - Auckland would work) but once you're there you're in the wrong place for going anywhere else across the Pacific. And as for VFR, that just reduced your chances by 2/3rds I reckon.

Keep dreaming - dreams are good ;)

Depends how long you want to take.

If you've got a year then leave April/May, take your time heading east, after NZ head back to Pacific rim countries then cross Russia to Alaska, down west coast to Antarctica (arriving January), back up east coast then across to UK via Greenland, Iceland, Faroes. Back April/May.

I'm available for bag carrying.

I want to try your beer - it'll make my wife look for more acceptable.

she sure did :oh:

I would want it to only take 3months
Didn't Polly in pa28 do the Antarctica route so must be a way to get fuel

Are you sure ? I thought you could but may find it difficult to find insurance

Assuming you have made it to NZ via Oz-Lord Howe-Norfolk Island, take a deep breath and consider the following distances in nautical miles.

You mention Antartica; Christchurch to McMurdo is 2385, but, as has been mentioned, unless you have made private arrangements to have fuel shipped there you will be stranded.
McMurdo is not an international airport serving anyone who turns up.
Even if you have made your own fuel arrangements where are you going to from there ? the nearest airfield in Chile is probably about 4000mls away.

NZ to Chile island hopping.
Auckland to Fiji 1330.
From Fiji I havn't checked the various distances but I think,you will be able to island hop to Tahiti.
Tahiti to Easter Island 2644.
Easter Island to Santiago 2336


How is your 150kt cruise with an 8 hour endurance looking now ?

With 8 hr endurance it's virtually impossible. You could go up through Russia, the Aleutian islands and then into Alaska, but you'd need clearance from Russian authorities and it would be a hassle. But doable - it's been done.

If you go via Hawaii you have to go through Micronesia and probably Pago Pago. But at some point you will have to go from Hawaii to San Francisco in one hop and it's 1500nm without a single piece of land in between, so you'd need a ferry tank for that leg.

Antarctica has no GA airports or facilities as far as I know. You could perhaps get permission to land at one of the various scientific or military airstrips, but to get 100LL fuel there, you'd have to ship it in beforehand.

The Pacific is a pretty unfriendly stretch compared to the North Atlantic where the longest leg - if you really want it to be - can be as short as 300-400nm. But certainly people fly it all the time - every delivery of an old or new aircraft to Australia/NZ take this route.

Lets be positive i know very hard to do

ok New Zealand bit easiest thing would be to take wings of stick in container and ship to south America I know that bit

Fuel can be Mogas or 100LL

There must be more Islands around there with small airports ?

If I were to do such a trip I would either take a plane that can run on straight mogas (something with a Rotax 912 up front) or a plane that can run on straight car diesel & Jet-A (something with a Thielert or Austro). But not something that runs on 100LL avgas exclusively - sourcing fuel outside the Western world is simply too complicated and expensive.

More specifically, I'd take a DA-40 with the 155 Hp 2.0 Thielert and long-range tanks (~1000nm range). Or a 912 Europa with extra tanks, such as this one:

Europa N81EU

Thomas, by the way, did not cross the North Atlantic but did Azores to Newfoundland in one hop. I think it was a 13-hour stretch. If you're able to do it that way, you'll save yourself a lot of foul weather.

Of course there are a lot of people who have done round-the-world trips. This site offers a really good collection of them:

Earthrounders: round the world flights in light aircraft
That would be another consideration. Can the wings be taken off relatively easily, so that you can either store the plane in a little unused (cheap) corner of a hangar somewhere for an extended period (while you sort out personal issues at home for instance) or put it in a container for shipping? Over the course of a year, circumstances might change dramatically, causing a change in plans.

Oh well, never mind, I'm still available for bag carrying, though.

I believe that you would need to hit Antarctica around January to give you the best weather there but that doesn't give you the North Atlantic's finest within a three month slot.

I'd try to use Jet A1 if possible, it's just more available.

Still, if it was easy everyone would be doing it. :)

I put in a lot of time and effort planning an around the world flight in a C182; until the other pilot/aircraft owner decided to simply pull out.

The route was across the Pacific; Australia - Auckland (the NZ leg was one reason this person decided to pull out, apparently it was acceptable to visit friends of hers in various locations, but if we stopped to see my family for a few nights it would "destroy the rhythym of the trip" :rolleyes:) - Fiji - American Samoa - Kiribati - Hawaii - California. (I think that was it...)

The longest flight is Hawaii - California, and I think you're looking at 2000nm, not 1500.

AVGAS was available pretty much everywhere except Kiribati, where we'd have had to order some drums in.

We were planning to leave at the start of April (this year, in fact...) and take three months over it, heading east. That seemed to be best for weather.

When I do it, I'm going to do it in a C182 burning Jet-A :ok:

Good idea:ok:

However, in reference to the OP's idea of flying to Chile from NZ:

The last leg Easter Island - Santiago is 6 hours - in a 767 :E

I did say the plane can use Mogas 100%


What personal issues do I have at home ?

wings can come off in an hour no big thing

I hope none. But you would not be the first round-the-world aviator (or sailor) that had to return all of a sudden due to, for instance, a deceased family member, financial problems, personal sickness or injury or something else, and having to abandon the aircraft/vessel for a longer period of time somewhere.

The option of having the wings taken off so that it can be put in a container and, if necessary, shipped home or stored long-term will fit neatly in a plan-B scenario then.

150kts, 8 hrs endurance on Mogas is an impressive aircraft. RV?

jxc: You said "There must be more Islands around there with small airports".

It sounds as if you have not even looked at a map or an atlas.
Take yourself off to your local library who will have a world atlas, and look for these islands you seek.

Backpacker
 

The Thielert or Austro engine idea is a good one as Jet A1 is usualy avalble, Diesel fuel is something to be careful about as the spec for these engines is a bit tight with no bio-diesel being approved at the moment.

it's only this far {..................................} on the map - how hard can it be?

Where do you intend to find this small globe?

Talk to Polly Vacher she has done it.

I don't have a lot too add actually, just wanted to encourage you to try it and go for it.

And if your buddy would drop out (which is almost a certainty while planning long 2 pilot trips), let me know and I'll join you if it's in any way possible.