Ocean adventures with a DA42

[wolfvoador]

There are many motivations to fly, from my contacts with fellow pilots, some want fly to prove that they can do it, some want to fly every weekend to their favourite mountain, beach or lake spot, some love aerobatics, some the sightseeing around their area, but I was always attracted to flying as a means of getting me and my wife and family to new places, experience different cultures, different food, and even different voices, languages and characters of ATC controllers.
After having flown rented single-engine planes for over 30 years, and becoming ready to realize my dreams, choice of the airplane: for long distances over water or hostile terrain such as the Greenland icecap, or the Amazon rainforest, I feel more comfortable with 2 engines humming, even if this entails a little inefficiency in the total performance / weight equation. Better than a turboprop (I looked at at the Beech 36T, and even the Pilatus), or a parachute as plan B. Small jets have limited ranges, and are not extendable through extra tanks. The DA42NG was a bit on the small side of the comparative set, but impressed by its performance and the use of easily available JetA, and the possibility to fit an extra tank. We flew long parts of our travels with 4 POB, and everybody enjoyed it and wants to do it again. Just have to a) fuel only the main tanks b) not fly longer than 2 ½ hours, and c) restrict everybody on baggage (we enjoyed AirBnBs, with washers and Dryers).
Now, to enjoy travel with your airplane, planning is more than half the fun. I go in every detail of routes, airports, alternates, entry requirements, and follow the weather along my planned routes for weeks before I go. How would I react if I had to fly from X to Z today? For example, on the key leg from Cape Verde to Brazil, 1450nm, flying through the infamous “hurricane kitchen” where most North Atlantic tropical storms originate, I found one day is normally reasonable to fly, and another would be dangerous. On the day before my trip, the zone was full of thunderstorms, but the next day, there was again a 4-600 nm window, which let me make a smooth flight over the ocean. Planning is also sights, for this I use Google Earth. When we flew through the Norwegian Fjords, or across the Austrian Alps, I “had seen it before”, and also knew terrain elevations, and how airports look when you approach them visually. Next part of planning is where to stay, and there I have an iron rule: never make a reservation before you arrive! I don’t want to be pressured to arrive. And we never had to sleep on the sidewalk. When we arrived in Santorini, Greece, I sat my family in a Taverna, and walked the town for half an hour, to find the most lovely boutique resort overlooking the famous bay and volcano. Some studying of Tripadvisor knowing the recommended places ahead of time of time helps. Ah, and the last, but not least important part of planning is to load the right music on my iPad or phone, so it is ready to be played over the plane’s audio system. Neither pilot nor passengers can hide their emotion when flying the Hudson corridor at eyesight of the Manhattan skyscrapers with Frankie singing New York in the stereo headsets, or listen to Alexis Zorbas when cruising over the Greek Islands. Plus, about 50 National Anthems, for the ceremonial crossing of FIR boundaries. Actually, I also use a small FM radio which plugs into the audio system, and try to tune into local stations, a nice distraction on a longer flight. If over water, I call ships on a handheld marine radio, channel 16, and try to get their coordinates, distance and bearings, in case I have to use it once for an emergency.
So, with all this, where are the challenges? For me, the biggest problem is bureaucracy, and the intricacies of local ATC. In Morocco, the Airport Operations Manager wanted to impound the airplane, because I could not produce an original Insurance Certificate. Some time back, in Colombia, the Customs officer told me, my airplane was now “property of the Republic of Colombia”, due to a missing entry custom form. While I normally hate to use expensive handlers, in some countries this is advisable, and others, like Greece, mandatory. While I prepare well, the bureaucracy has always surprises for you. And authorities will always show you page 537 of their AIP, or some legal text to prove they are right. For flight planning in Europe and Africa, I used Rocketroute, for the first time, and was very happy.
Trips we have undertaken? 5 times to Brazil, from our base in Nassau, there is a variety of routes, via the Caribbean (our favourite: Dominica) and the Guyanas (Paramaribo), and once to Europe and NW Africa. From here to Europe, you can fly all the way never exceeding 2 ½ hour legs, via NE Quebec, Nunavut, Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. We were amazed by the beauty of Baffin Island, and Greenland, particularly Ilulissat, the largest “iceberg factory” in the world. Iceland is unique, as are the Faroe Islands, rarely visited. Since my hometown Vienna is also close to the hometown of Diamond, we left the plane there for a scheduled 100hr service, and Diamond opened their doors to visit their factory, as well as the Austro Engine facility, a feast for any Diamond owner or pilot! On the way back, the highlights were Croatia, Greece, Southern Italy, Morocco and the discovery of Cape Verde, those small barren islands with beautiful beaches, amazing variety and rhythm in music, and wonderful people. From there the 9:15 hours flight back to the Western hemisphere, Natal, Brazil. For this flight, my wife who loves and lives our flights had to sit in an airliner, I needed every spare lb for fuel, and the space on the right seat for the HF radio, and the portable oxygen tank.
From all those trips, we remember fondly every flight, every approach, every stop. It makes you feel so special to arrive on your own, your planning and your aircraft, unlike any other visitor, and the freedom to depart at your will. Our next plan? Around the world end of 2017!
Also, if interested, some short videos of takeoffs and landings at some of the places we flew, check out my Instagram wreic4 and on my youtube

[Colin]

That is amazing stuff, Wolfgang. Wonderful trips. And the range ring only *just* making it to land makes me SO nervous.

[wolfvoador]

Thanks! Actually, I added only the fuel after transferring from Turtlepak to main tank. At that point, I had still 25g in Turtlepak, not considered yet in G1000 fuel calc

[dgger]

Awesome Trip!

I am curious: Did you ever plan a long leg riding a tailwind with a power setting of less than 50% in order to increase range? I have seen a power setting of 42% being used for a non-stop crossing of the Atlantic (http://avstop.com/news/da42_trans_atlantic.htm), but I have not seen power settings published by Diamond.

[dafzero]

Great post and great adventures Wolfgang. Sammie and I were in Vienna last year and also went down to visit the Diamond factory. They were the most gracious hosts; took us for a tour of the factory and then a whiz around the area in a DA42NG. Talk about generating lust for their product! I've had a lot of experience in the yacht racing world and it was very comforting to see that the composite layup methods are done exactly right. Very impressive.
Keep us posted on your circumnavigation next year. I sailed around the world in the '80s on a 10 meter yacht (think sextant) so I can confirm that the world is round.

[wolfvoador]

Thanks Peter and David for your encouraging comments. Peter, first, I started with a 65% setting with light headwinds into the ocean crossing, the forecast called for tailwinds at higher altitudes 4-500 nm into the trip, climbed to FL 180, and got 10-12kt tailwind there. Later the tailwinds settled also to lower altitudes, so did the second half without O2, at FL 100 and 120, with some tailwinds, and increased setting to 75, and finally even 80% as I saw I would make it easily, and wanted to avoid night flying. And David, congrats for doing the around-the-world in the water, without GPS!!