Cub
World Tour Update: 09/26/09
Flight Miles - 4139
Flight Hours - 90:11
Average Ground Speed - 45.9
Current Location - Blonduos(BIBL), Iceland
Engine Overhauls - 3
Engine Failures - 2
While making
the easy flights from our first Greenland stop at BGSS down
the coast towards Nuuk (BGGH), I started having some second thoughts about keeping Heidi along for
the next part of
the journey. By some quick calculations,
the long hauls
around the southern tip of Greenland and then over to Iceland were going to be dangerously close.
So contingency plan "B" went into action.
When we landed at Nuuk, I purchased Heidi a seat on Greenland Air's run over to Copenhagen. They were nice enough to agree to drop her off in Iceland so that I could pick her back up when I finally got there.
The puppy stayed with me so I'd have a little bit of company for
the flight
around the tip.
With Heidi's 123 pounds out of
the front seat I grabbed a couple of plastic 5 gallon gas cans at
the local hardware store and strapped those into
the front seat. since this Cub's in pretty much original condition and doesn't have an aux tank upstairs, this seemed like
the next best choice. Also, since I've already broken just about every FAA rule I can imagine pertaining to flying a Cub, whats' a couple of cans of gas in
the front seat going to hurt.
Good timing on all of this in flight re-thinking of safety.
While making
the decent into Narsarsuaq (BGBW), at
the southern tip of Greenland, I experienced
the second engine failure of
the tour. Fortunantly I was still able to make
the airport. I'm not exactly sure what led up to this one, other than
the extended operations in very cold weather. It may have also been
the way I was nose diving from altitude to make
the landing. Although I had
the carb heat on and I was watching not to over speed
the prop, I was purposely decending like a rock to make
the landing. Rapid cooling damage, hmmmm?
So after an engine rebuild in Nararsuaq, I headed up
the east coast to
the Greenland departure point at Kulusuk (BGKK). Most of this flight leg was up and over
the Greenland icecap and then a good haul across
the water to BGKK. With
the upper winds not working really in our favor,
the Cubs's normal fuel obviously didn't look like it was going to hold out for
the water crossing. So in
the pitch dark, I put
the aircraft down on a barren beach along
the fjord just NE of Saqdliaruseg. This was
the first use of
the two handy 5 gallon cans strapped in
the front seat. After topping off
the tank, we stayed low at 2000' for
the trip into BGKK.
I think this may have been
the first time I've seen
the FSX icebergs. There weren't any big ones but they stood out clearly in
the dark scattered about
the ocean.
For
the trip over to Iceland, I decided to pull another safety stop and top off
the tank just in case
the upper level winds weren't working. About 25 miles east of BGKK was a small island that looked to be pretty flat. I hugged
the water after leaving BGKK heading for
the spot. By
the time I made
the island
the Cub had used about 9% of
the onboard fuel, but we were 25 miles closer to Iceland.
So for
the second time I used
the extra fuel in
the cans up front to top off
the tank after landing on this small deserted sland.
For
the night crossing over to Iceland and after trimming
the Cub out at 11,200' with a 24kt tail wind, I pretty much snoozed most of
the flight.
The tailwinds were perfect and everytime I jotted down a time & distance calculation it was looking close but good
the whole way.
About mid crossing:
Then at sunrise, about 80 miles out from Iceland,
the tail wind picked it up a notch to 4o kts. As it turned out, by
the time I crossed
the coast, still at altitude, I had on board
the same amount of fuel I topped off with on that little island. It looks as if
the Cub would have made
the crossing without that extra stop.
Finally sighting land.
The sillohette of Iceland against
the sunrise.
Sorry, not too many scenery shots of life over Greenland. It's been dark pretty much
the whole time.
BTW, Once I finally landed at Patrekfjordur (BIPA), Iceland, Heidi was there waiting. I just can't figure out who she missed most, me or
the puppy. She had however,already been into
the airport gift shop and picked up
the Iceland flag tourist decal, which looks good added to our growing little collection.
FAC
