Lancair Legacy Transatlantic flight #1

[RockOla]

I recently decided to plan a Transatlantic flight between France and Alaska, on a simple Lancair Legacy. This is the story of my first flight from Valence (Rone valley, France) to Stornoway (Scotland)

I will take off with a calculated reserve of almost 10 Gal at destination, which represents almost 250nm of margin in economic cruising speed. The expected flight time is close to 4 hours, and the fuel consumption is relatively high throughout the flight, due to a highly negative wind component along the route (30-40 kts)

Note 2 particularly long legs: TLA => ERSON above Glasgow (66 nm) and most importantly NEVIS => STN just before the approach, 105 nm including a good part above the North Sea. TLA and NEVIS will therefore be important points for fuel surveys to ensure that they are in line with the flight plan.

On the oxygen front, I should activate the system over FL120. Considering the rate of ascent and descent of the Legacy, I won't have fun deducting time spent without oxygen. I will simply consider the oxygen tank will be enough for the ETE. According to the information I have, the tank allows us to hold 5 hours at FL150 but not more than 2.7 hours at FL200. Finally the most important data to monitor will not be FOB, but OOB (oxygen on board).

At departure from LFLU the weather conditions are quite bad: heavy, cold rain, low ceiling, coverage 8/8. On the other hand the 25 kts of wind from front will help me to climb fast. 

As announced we enter the clouds at 4500-5000 ft, it shakes quite a bit but with this rate of climb, we should break through pretty quickly.

Indeed, after barely a minute of rock' n roll, it's calm and tranquility. 9000 ft, we only have 5 minutes left to reach FL180. I cross ROMAM, end of our SID, with 64.20 Gal of fuel where I expected 64.17.

Cruising at FL180 I suddenly hear a "imminent end of life" breathing noise (RealAir has really implemented the sound). Ooops, what if I turn on the oxygen? At least I've saved a few precious minutes of oxygen that may be useful in a few hours...

The rest of the flight goes without a hitch, over a cloud blanket that seems so comfortable that I'm fighting against falling asleep. The only falls I encounter are severe FPS falls above the Paris area, and above London. I'm reading timings and fuel every 3-4 wpts. At RIBEL, at 2/3 of the flight, I read 24.80 Gal in the tanks, where my estimate was 24.73 Gal. On the chronometer side we are also in surgical precision, with 168 minutes of flight time, barely 1 minute behind the planned passage time. A flight without surprises, I'd almost be disappointed.

Fortunately arrived at TLA, 200 nm from the destination, my radar shows me that things will get worse at 80nm. Scanning down quickly, I realize that there's no point in anticipating the descent, it's dirty down to the ground. However, on the horizontal plane at my cruising altitude, there will be less than 10 nm of sport. So I opt for the offensive solution: straight into the sh***  (it's also my motto in life), at a 250 kts ground speed it should be less than 3 minutes of high speed washing cycle. 

As I get closer, what I took for 2-3 minutes of fun seems to be getting stronger. It's finally 10 good minutes of intense turbulences and fuselage creaking noise. It shakes so hard I cannot read the fuel gauge when passing NEVIS.

I come out exhausted but happy, with probably a little vomit stuck in the hair but ... The GTN which announces me a vertical speed required of 4800 ft/min to reach STN at 2000 ft. Spoilers out, gas to zero, time to dive. By maintaining a VS of 4000 ft/mn and slowing down, I reach 2,000 feet just before STN. 

The approach is relatively simple,yet non precision. A good old NDB. No vertical guidance, ILS or GPS. We pass STN, then EGPO, which is also our IAF. 10nm from EGPO, we reach our virtual FAF start the descent. With a solid 25 kts wind blowing from the front, slightly straight 15°.

At the time of debriefing, I am quite happy with the way the flight went. For this kind of flight, planning, timing and fuel records are essential. 10 minutes and just over a gallon difference from the calculations. It's almost perfect, and explained by the approach circuit that took us 30 nm beyond the initial flight plan.

[pedrotrindade]

Well done, thanks for sharing.

[HLJames]

Fabulous flight plan....love the realistic weather...the Duke also has random engine failures so turn that off!

HLJAMES

[RockOla]

Thank you !

I'll take a look at the random failures... if things go wrong, I'll hold you responsible.