The final Chapter

It is now time to finish this blog.

Ray Clamback & Lyn Gray at Redondo Beach - not a good one Lyn - sorry.

When I decided to buy a Saratoga in USA, nothing was further from my mind than the thought of flying across the Pacific. To the contrary, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever do such a thing. I had never given much thought to who brought planes across the Pacific, how many came across, how many didn't make it, how many did and who it was that flew across in them.


It wasn't until David Ind told me that he had flown back with his Saratoga two years earlier, that the thought occurred to me and was rejected even quicker. However, given the delays due to the winds, I had time to contemplate the possibility which then took me on a journey where I looked at what the real risks were, and if in the event that we finished up in the Pacific, what were the chances of survival. After doing all of that and reading the reports of Ray Clamback's two swims, the chances of survival looked pretty good. Overcoming the fear is really about overcoming your mindset rather than the real prospect of a ditching followed by drowning or being taken by a shark.

Dan McGowan at Torrance

Having come close to deciding to do the trip, I bought a download of a Saratoga II TC for use with Microsoft Simulator and 'took off' from Torrance, flew to Santa Maria and then took off from Santa Maria and flew for 1 1/2 hours out over the Pacific toward Hilo, Hawaii. Whilst not real, it had a mentally calming effect on me and I thought that this wouldn't be all that dangerous.



The preparations with Ray, Lyn & Dan in Torrance were confidence building as they went about checking everything, getting all the safety gear together, making sure everything worked, and where the life rafts, ELB's, strobe lights, rations etc would be placed for quick access and exit.

When it came time to give the Saratoga full throttle for take off at Santa Maria, all doubts, fears and nervousness had gone, and as we climbed out, it was just like any other flight.



Would I do it again? Probably not!

Jose Gamero awaiting his fate at Torrance
 
If I bought another aircraft I would probably fly out with it. Having done it once was exciting and an adventure that few undertake, but at this time there doesn't seem to be any point in doing it again.


Going to faraway places and even utterly remote locations has it's exciting moments, but it is not glamorous. There is little (virtually no) time for sightseeing or exploring and most of the photographs were grabbed opportunistically in the few spare seconds or minutes available between fueling and packing and traveling to and from 'hotels' or Customs offices and for a lot of the time it was hot, humid and uncomfortable.

It was a good experience and one I can look back on as some sort of achievement.

Megs in the President's chair - AOPA, Frederick, Maryland
 
Ray said to me on a number of occasions "You will be in a very select group of owners who have ever done this trip. I could probably count them on one hand". I now know of two other members of the Australian Piper Society who flew their newly purchased Piper Saratogas to Australia - David Ind, who has been mentioned several times in these posts and Pat Evans from Queensland. Lyn told me that she flew out with Pat a couple of years ago. Ray qualified his comments later, by saying that there might be more than a handful but it wouldn't reach 20. I suppose that is quite amazing given that there are 12,000 - 13,000 aircraft currently on the Australian Register and a very large percentage of those would have been flown here.

When you consider that over 2700 people have climbed Mt Everest and it has been climbed more than 4700 times, even if 20 owners flew the Pacific, we do form a reasonably select group.


Tom Courtney at Du Page airport Chicago - 2008
 
Maybe I could try to claim a world record for the Guinness Book of Records as being the only 70 year old, balding, fair haired, Australian owner who was flown his own 2000 model turbo charged Saratoga across the Pacific, leaving from Santa Maria at dawn on a Wednesday morning in February, accompanied by a Bonanza and a Mooney in a race against five FA 18 Super Hornets, arriving at the Gold Coast and completing the flight at Moorabbin. This is a feat, meeting all of those criteria, which will never be repeated!

It is easy to set records if you manipulate the parameters to suit.

I recount Ray's conversation with me, telling how he kept list in his office of people who wanted to do the flight across the Pacific with him. If the timing and logistics of the flight suited both, he would take another pilot as safety back up. At one time he had over 20 people on the list who wanted to do the trip across. Then he ditched in the Pacific and spent 9 hours swimming in a life jacket. When he got home and went to the office, the number had shrunk dramatically to just 2.

In the next couple of months, Lyn and her husband are moving from suburban Sydney to a small farm at Cowra. She is looking for a Piper Warrior or Cherokee and intends to continue instructing around Cowra, Orange, Bathurst area.

Megs (Megan Jackson) doing what she loves most

For those who may buy an aircraft overseas and import it into Australia, whether you fly back with it or not, the process is really very simple. There are matters which you will need to attend to personally. The problem  I encountered was lack of knowledge of the requirements until it became necessary to provide a form or obtain the authority or get the approval etc. The AOPA US Members Only web site was most helpful, with an article on the procedures for exporting an aircraft from the USA.

The most stupid aspect is that surrounding the importation of refrigerant gas into Australia. The Permit requirements are stupid enough on their own. Although I had several weeks to organise a $300 permit, which would have taken about 2 weeks to get, I didn't find out about it until too late in the process and we were never sure whether or not we would be taking off in the next couple of days, so I couldn't afford the 2 week wait. That will eventually cost about $700 and we didn't have the air conditioning available at those hot, humid airports.

If you intend to personally buy an aircraft overseas, then:

1. Get a quote for the ferry flight
2. Appoint an Agent in USA to handle the local issues.
   
   
   
   • Prepare a Contract or Bill of Sale (you can do this yourself - 2 pages).
   • Arrange an escrow agent who checks ownership, liens etc and arranges the exchange of funds and registration. Again, you could do this yourself via the FAA register.
   • De-register the aircraft with FAA if flying out on Australia Register. You can do this yourself.
   • Arrange and oversee a maintenance to meet FAA Export Certificate of Airworthiness requirements - virtually an annual maintenance, but it is not an airworthiness certificate.
   • Obtain and charge you for hangar facilities.
   • Remove and certify compliance if you are stupid enough to take the refrigerant out of the unit.
3. Appoint a US Customs Agent to handle the export documentation
4. Appoint an Australian Customs Agent to handle the importation documentation, GST and other charges.
5. Get a permit to import the Refrigerant gas into Australia.
6. Obtain an Australian Certificate of Registration andCertificate of Appointment of Registered Operator.
7. Appoint your LAME organisation to carry out checks and upgrades to meet CASA requirements for a Certificate of Airworthiness - virtually an annual maintenance plus any ADs required.
8. See you Bank Manager or Finance Company to see if you can afford it.
9. Check with your wife or partner to obtain final approval.
10. Get a better job or rob a bank so you can pay for it.

If you wish to fly the aircraft yourself, the rules are:

1. With a US pilot certificate, you can fly a US registered aircraft
2. To fly an aircraft with foreign registry in a foreign country, you must have a pilot certificate (licence) issued by the same country in which the aircraft is registered or obtain a validated foreign pilot certificate for that country. Eg to fly a VH registered aircraft in foreign countries ie US or New Caledonia you must have a pilot certificate issued by that country.

Megs and me at Bar Harbour, Maine - 2008
 
In my case, I could fly the Saratoga VH-HKZ in foreign countries because I have an Australian License. I could have also flown the Saratoga as N6PL because I have a US license issued by the FAA.


Thanks to Ray, Lyn & Dan for their friendship and their good company and a special thought for 18 year old Jose Gamero who at a moment's notice, jumped into the pilot's seat as the official ferry pilot and who has almost certainly become the youngest ferry pilot to cross the Pacific.

Click on images to enlarge

Contact me at:
courtney@datafast.net.au
tel: 61 3 5156 0412
mob: 61 412 389 294
http://courtneyeastgippsland.com

Chapter 50 - Summary & The End - coming up

I have uploaded Chapter 49 A which is a a photo gallery.

When I receive more photos from Lyn, Dan & Jose I will load them as Chapter 49 B, C etc

I will then (or maybe before) end this blog with a final summary.



Angus Haygarth and me (left) on the Australian Piper Society trip to the Cape and Thursday Island July/August 2009 with our (Megs and my)Turbo Arrow III  VH-HKZ which will be on the market later in the year.

Absolutely nothing to do with flying or with the Saratoga. 
Eating raw salted fish in Amsterdam - and survived!


Hope you enjoyed some of it or learned something from it or if you did neither, I hope you used it to relieve you of a few hours of boredom when you had nothing to do but spend a few boring hours reading it.

Click on images to enlarge

 

Chapter 49 A - Gallery of photos

Lyn and Dan said I have to put some photos of me on the site. They said that there is no visual evidence that I even flew across the Pacific with them. Barry Matulick said "Now I should know how the Apollo II astronauts would have felt".

Lyn Gray on a previous ferry flight looking out for oncoming aircraft





A suitably worried me, talking to Tom McCrea on the Satellite phone from Christmas Island when we had grease on on windscreen.









Dan McGowan sharing a tail with me at Santa Maria

Something technically wrong with the way the photos and text are jumping about, but you get the picture.

A

An American version of a burn out on the way back from the Mojave Desert




 


 Zamperini airport - Torrance

They gave me the short, narrow runway for landing on my first flight in the Saratoga






Zamperini airport - Torrance
Another view




Park your cars wherever you like. This in the country under attack from terrorists.

In Australia, John Howard sucked the ignorant into believing we needed saving from imminent attack and spent millions $ needlessly, 'saving us'.

The success of his strategy is confirmed by no terrorist attacks involving light aircraft since that time. 

I don't see Kevin Rudd as having sufficient brains to change it and cut back on the wasteful spending.

In the Melbourne Botanical Gardens we laid elephant repellant pellets and they have been an outstanding success, because since we did that, no one has been trampled to death by an elephant within 50 miles of Melbourne. 


Santa Maria airport















Hilo airport - Hawaii



















Tafuna airport - Pago Pago

Mojave graveyard

Inside a C-130 Hercules, 20 years on.















And more still

And more yet again













And even more
Not from a Mad Max movie

And more yet
Maybe from a Mad Max movie
















Pretending I know how to do a Weight and Balance calculation before departure from Zamperini Field, Torrance.
















Looks like a handy device for moving the heavier aircraft, now that I am getting older. Have ordered one. 28v rechargeable battery powered tow bar.

Click on images to enlarge

Chapter 48 - Certificate of Airworthiness

Although Saratoga VH-EXS had to have an annual maintenance service and checked to ensure that all ADs had been complied with prior to being given an Export Certificate of Airworthiness by the FAA, the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority requires a further annual maintenance service, checking that all ADs (including any peculiar to Australia) have been completed before they will issue a Certificate of Airworthiness to allow the aircraft to be flown in Australia.

Since the annual in the USA the Saratoga has logged 51.3 hours Flight Time and 54.5 hours Hobbs. As most of us do, I have great faith in my particular maintenance organisation, which is Blue Demon Aviation at Moorabbin and I am more than happy for them to go over the aircraft from nose to tail before I am let loose with it.

There are a few minor problems which surfaced on the flight, being HSI out by 25-30 degrees, MAP, rpm & mixture control levers being unusually tight, elevator trim needle dis-engaged from the wheel mechanism and grease from the hub of one of the propellor blades.

The twin Garmin 430s have had WAAS upgrades and a new Jeppesen subscription is required. The Garmin GMX 200 shows the terrain and the Australian airspace but requires a Jeppesen subscription to have Departure, Approaches and Instrument procedures overlaid on the moving map.

For anyone who is insane enough to labour over figures, the following is the data from the flight:

Leg 1 - Torrance, California to Santa Maria, California
Leg 2 - Santa Maria, California to Hilo, Hawaii
Leg 3 - Hilo, Hawaii to Christmas Island, Kiribati
Leg 4 - Christmas Island, Kiribati to Pago Pago, American Samoa
Leg 5 - Pago Pago, American Samoa to Tontuota, Noumea
Leg 6 - Tontouta, Noumea to Gold Coast, Australia, via Magenta, Noumea
Leg 7 - Gold Coast, Australia to Bankstown, Australia
Leg 8 - Bankstown, Australia to Moorabbin, Australia

Maximum Ground Speeds below mean nothing as they were probably on descent to the airports.

                                 Leg 1      Leg 2      Leg 3      Leg 4   
Ave Speed                149.20    146.56   147.13    162.09 
Max. Grd Speed        180.46    163.49   176.73    179.99 
Trip Time                  00:53      13:54     07:33      07:48   
Trip Distance NM       130.6     2028.7   1113.4    1265.7   
Est.fuel @ 17.8 gph     15.7       247.4     134.4      138.8    


                                    Leg 5      Leg 6      Leg 7      Leg 8
Ave Speed                   152.57    154.68    136.84   153.54 
Max. Grd Speed           185.10    183.65    167.11   174.65
Trip Time                     09:04      05:20      02:45     02:44
Trip Distance NM         1377.5      824.0      377.1     418.6
Est.fuel @ 17.8 gph       161.4        94.9        49.0      49.0


I have been using the turbo Continental engine for around 19 years. I needed information on Lycoming engines and found a publication called the Lycoming Flyer on the web. I have used this 71 page publication as my basis for power settings in conjunction with the Piper Saratoga POH. For a Lycoming Turbo Charged engine, the recommendations I settled on were those recommended by Lycoming for maximum engine life. Whilst operating at 75% power, peak Turbine Inlet Temperature and at Cylinder Head Temperatures of 435 degrees F is approved, tucked away in little paragraphs within the publication are the following recommendations:

• Conservative climb power of 2400 RPM, 35" Hg manifold pressure is recommended for all cruise flight.
• Conservative cruise power settings of 2200 RPM and 31"Hg manifold pressure is recommended for increased engine service life.
• For cruise, a maximum of 1,450 degrees F exhaust gas temperature and maximum cylinder head temperature of 420 degrees F is recommended.
• The preceding conditions correspond to a power setting of about 63% ISA.
• For maximum service life, maitain Engine power setting of 65% or less; Cylinder head temperatures of 400 degrees F or below; Oil temperature 165 - 220 degrees F; Turbine Inlet Temperature 100 degrees F on rich side of maximum allowable. (TIT will be around 100 degrees F higher than EGT)

It also states that using individual cylinder EGT for leaning is not recommended. This renders our EDM 700 as somewhat less important than it might at first appear.

For mine, reaching maximum TBO by travelling a few knots slower and using a bit more fuel, is the most efficient and cost effective way to fly.

Knowing three owners who, in the last two years, have had an engine rebuild on a Lycoming engine at about 1/2 engine life due to rusting of the camshaft, it might pay users of Lycoming engines to read pages 55 & 65 of the Lycoming Flyer. Basically it states that to avoid this problem you must fly the aircraft more than twice per month and get the oil temperature above 165 degrees and change the oil every 4 months. This puts a totally new perspective on finding a 'bargain' 30 year old aircraft which only has a few hours on the engine. Probably indicates that when buying a second hand aircraft more emphasis should be placed on the regularity of hours flown as shown in the Maintenance Release.

Whilst a lot of the above applies to Turbo Charged Lycoming engines, the Lycoming Flyer covers both Turbo Charged and Normally Aspirated engines. Download it from the web.

Some may have noticed that the RAAF has purchased new Super Hornet F/A 18F aircraft. These were at Lemoore NAS where the Australian pilots trained. This was just 100 statute miles N/E of Santa Maria. They were to fly to Amberley, just west of the Gold Coast. We challenged them to a race across the Pacific. Route taken was to be determined by each party. The winning team would be the one which took the least time to cross from USA to Australia. They chose to fly almost the same route as we did - Lemoore, Hawaii, Pago Pago, Auckland, Amberley.

We took off on 17th March, they took off 19th March.
We arrived 23rd March, they arrived 26th March.

Clearly, we won by about 24 hours.

Admittedly they had about 120 NM further to fly but they had the advantage of in-flight re-fueling and one less stop than us.

It just goes to prove that even though Ray is 72 years old and I am 70 years old, we still have more stamina and guile than these younger men of the RAAF.

Another example of the tortoise and the hare.

Tom Courtney (left) Ray Clamback (right)

Click on images to enlarge

Chapter 47 - Tontouta, Noumea to Gold Coast via Magenta, then Bankstown & Moorabbin

Depart 23/3/2010 - Arrive 23/3/2010

Interesting morning.

We had been asked to be at the airport to clear Immigration at 4:00 am. I was up at 2:20 am and knocked on the other doors at 3:30, but the owner of the resort had also organised early morning wake up calls. We didn't arrive at the airport until about 4:20 am, much to the displeasure of the officials. Immigration took until about 5:00 am and we were then escorted to our arircraft. Our Gendarme and the lady official from the Commerce Department also accompanied us. As we checked the aircraft and prepared to climb aboard, we were told we couldn't depart as the Military Airbus A340 was about to land. After it landed, we were allowed to get aboard the aircraft and start up. The A340 remained on the taxiway waiting for us to vacate the parking area and depart for Magenta. We left behind some unhappy officials with them blaming us and us blaming them.

Cleared for take off at dawn. The Saratoga first followed by the Mooney and the Bonanza. Only 15 minutes along the coast to Magenta. The sun was just coming up.

Magenta is a small field which appears to be a very active GA airport. Lots of interest shown by the pilots in us and the three aircraft. We refueled and prepared for the last shorter flight across the water to Gold Coast.

Earlier, Lyn had mentioned that the Magenta runway was relatively short and that there was a hill at one end with houses on it. I didn't fully absorb the message she had given me.

On take off the unimaginable happened. The Saratoga took off to the left again, and I had the Hilo take off all over again. Quickly getting back to the centreline of the runway, I concentrated on the take off, but soon after we left the ground, Lyn told me to turn because the hill was coming up. She then took the control and put the Saratoga into a steep climbing turn. "Another thirty seconds and we would have worried some of people in the houses" she said as she handed back the control. On arrival in Bankstown, Jose told me how he had been surprised at the angle of bank that Ray put the Bonanza into. I don't suppose it was all that steep, but with the fuel load, Jose and I were in unnknown territory and taking a very conservative approach.

Clouds built as we approached the Gold Coast and we did a bit of ducking and weaving. Due to an incorrect lat and long input into the GPS for Gold Coast airport we weaved a bit more than we ducked, and went from being the lead aircraft to being last. I take no responsibility for this one.

At Gold Coast, the aircraft were refueled. AQIS did us over - I think taking more time than those at Noumea. The Mooney was stripped of tanks, radios etc and after clearing Customs and Immigration, Dan took off for Dalby to deliver the aircraft.

The Saratoga and the Bonanza took off for Bankstown initially at 6500' but later to 10000' when advised that Williamtown was active to that height. We skirted some  reasonably large threatening clouds just before Barrington Tops, where we were able to test the stormscope which showed a line of lightning exactly where the clouds were darkest and where we would have expected lightning to be.

We had a welcome on arrival into Bankstown like Sir Charles Kingsford Smith would have had. One major difference was that we had about 6 people - he probably had more. The owner of the Bonanza was like a proud new father and took Jose to his home for the few days before his flight home.

24/3/2010

The next day, Lyn and I flew to Moorabbin. As on our check flight and on our flight from Torrance to Santa Maria, the Saratoga carried less that 1/2 tanks of fuel and very little luggage. I didn't notice a great difference in take off other than we left the ground at 80 knots in lieu of 90 knots, but when 30% overweight we were still able to climb at 105 knots and 500'/minute plus. On the trip to Moorabbin, I experienced a few moments where my local knowledge gave me the edge over Lyn, as we flew down the Kilmore Gap and into Moorabbin, pointing out the Academy GAAP entry point on the way. It was my first use of the radio on the whole trip (other than on the chat channel) and I immediately started "Moorabbin Tower Arrow ...... er, sorry ...... Saratoga Echo X-Ray Sierra ..........."

Click on images to enlarge

Chapter 46 - Tontouta, Noumea

Depart Pago Pago 21/3/2010  - Arrive Tontouta, Noumea 22/3/2010

The course  from Pago Pago to Tontouta was via Nadi, Fiji. This gave us the opportunity to see some of the many Pacific Islands. On previous legs all we saw between destinations was blue water below, blue skies above and occasional fluffy white clouds. Hilo to Christmas we had 0.9 hour IFR, Christmas to Pago Pago we had 0.4 hour IFR and on this leg we were to get 0.6 hour IFR. Flying at 6000' to 8000' we were above the clouds.

Since leaving Hilo, we had no mobile phone access, but there was a public phone at Sadie Thompsons. As we approached Fiji, Ray came on the 123.45 talk channel and said that we should be able to get a mobile phone connection over Nadi. Megs hadn't heard from me for a few days so she received a text message ' At 7000' overhead Nadi expect arrive Noumea in 4 hours 15 min.' The reply was 'I was worried. Now I can get some sleep'.

As were approached Tontouta the clouds built up over the island and out came the approach charts. The MSA is 5800' due to a range of mountains running up the middle of the island. This meant overflying and flying the approach from the west or finding holes in the clouds for a VFR approach.

As we got closer, Lyn radioed to the others that she was heading for 'the saddle' to the left. She thought that the clouds were high enough to leave a hole under the cloud between two mountain peaks. She directed me to head left. As we approached she said that there was a hole and we headed for it. Dan asked were we heading for the left saddle or the right saddle and Lyn said left. We went below the cloud and between the mountains with Lyn telling me to stay visual when I let the aircraft nose come up a bit. Dan followed and Ray said he couldn't see it so he went over the top. It only took 20 - 30 seconds and we were away from the cloud, flying down the valley between the two peaks and over the western shore, making a right downwind for runway 08.

On the way in, Lyn was doing the radio work with the tower and with the other two aircraft. All the way across, we flew as a flight of three using the call sign of the Bonanza which was N64719. All communications covered the three aircraft and the HF comms were shared by Lyn & Dan.

Saratoga first closely followed by the Mooney. At all other airports the controllers let us land as a group, but not the French. The Saratoga was on the runway and almost out of sight, when they told Dan to go around.

On the ground we were directed to taxi to a specific location, with a 'cast of thousand' approaching. Then we were directed to stop and shut down. We were subsequently advised we couldn't stop there as we were not on the yellow taxi lines and would have to move across onto a yellow line, as there was a big aircraft coming in the next day.

There is no Avgas at the Tontouta International airport so one of our 'choices' was to pass incoming Customs at Tontouta, fly the 15 minutes to Magenta for fuel, stay the night and have Customs come to Magenta for our departure. "C'est non possible'". We were ordered to fly there now, refuel and fly back in the morning for departure. "Not possible" as we cannot fill with fuel and then land with that fuel as we would be overweight. The other choice which was finally agreed after a lot of discussions, lots of "Nons'" and "Impossibles" was for us to stay at Tontouta, get Customs departure at Tontouta in the morning, fly to Magenta, refuel and fly out from there.

The Gendarme then advised that we had to be gone before the Military Airbus A340 arrived. That meant we had to be gone before 5:00am.

Couldn't get rooms at the nearest hotel so we were off for a 20 minute ride into the country to a resort complete with golf course and all the trimmings. With the 5 of us arriving it made a total of 7 guests for the night, but it was a nice place.

PS. Bit late and I had planned to get it on the blog before we left USA. There is a site http://flightaware.com
where you can enter the Bonanza Tail No - N64719 - in the box on the left hand side, then highlight the particular flight you want to look at in the Activity Log  and then click on the (Track Log) beside Status and see the actual time, height, speed etc for the all flights of this (our) aircraft and any US registered aircraft within the USA airspace coverage.

Click on image to enlarge

Chapter 45 - Pago Pago

Depart Christmas Island 21/3/2010 - Arrive Pago Pago  20/3/2010

The flight from Christmas Island to Pago Pago was uneventful. Good weather and favourable winds.

However, one important event occurs which captures the imagination and also tests the talents of would be photographers in this age of GPS. The challenge is to photograph the exact moment of crossing the equator. This made all the more difficult with digital cameras that have a focussing delay period. My attempt was about 37 metres too early or 00.02' before crossing. Check my calculation and advise if incorrect.

Organisation isn't easy with the dates changing backward and forward. The refuelers wouldn't refuel us because they had expected us the day before, and they were doing a stocktake of the fuel. It was suggested to them that they refuel us and add the quantity we use into the stocktake. That was too difficult and we were told to be back at the airport early the next morning. This would mean departing the hotel at 5:45 am.

Ray & Dan completed the arrival details with the authorities while we prepared the aircraft for an early refuelling. As at Christmas Island, showering wasn't of much use because within 1/2 hour our shirts would be soaked and faces dripping with perspiration.

As David Ind had warned me - "it is not glamorous", and he was right. Not much time for sightseeing, photo taking or anything other than fueling, heading for the hotel, showering, eating, going to bed, getting up and taking off.

We had about 20 minute drive to our hotel, Sadie Thompsons, which was beside a Port with a couple of shops which included a MacDonalds.

Needing to do some washing, I asked 'Reggie' our more than effeminate employee (with flower neatly tucked behind his ear) where I could find a laundomat. Unable to find it, Reggie offered to 'look after me' and he did it for me - "as a favour". No favour for him in return other than a monetary tip.

Had the obligatory shower, went to the MacDonalds for a coffee and returned saturated with perspiration, off to dinner another shower and then to bed.

Click on images to enlarge

Chapter 44 - Christmas Island, International Date Line and more

Arrive 20/3/2010 - Depart 21/3/2010

Christmas Island is part of the Line Island Group which are part of the Republic of Kiribati. The Republic includes 32 atolls and one raised coral Island. The Republic of Kiribati covers approximately 3,500,000 sq kilometres in the Pacific Ocean. The present imaginary International Date Line, defined in 1995, takes an enormous step to the east to encompass the Line Islands and the easternmost of the group has been re-named Millenium Island as it was the first to greet the new Millenium.

All this is rather useless geography, except for those who live there and for those who struggle with what day it is and what time it is when following the course we took. For me, it was impossible trying to work out the day, date and time with the added complication of daylight saving thrown in. As a brief summary, we left Hilo and after a 7.8 hour flight, landed at Christmas Island almost a day later. We then headed west to Pago Pago where after an 8.2 hour flight, we landed a day earlier than we left. After a 9.6 hour flight from Pago Pago we landed at Noumea about a day later. Flying roughly south west we crossed the International Date Line three time.

Not a geography or history lesson but the Christmas Island people lead a subsistance life, with little to trade and little to trade with. Their island is the largest coral atoll in the world.  The airport is 5' above sea level. Its highest point is 42'. Christmas Island will be the first to go under IF the oceans rise. Its towns are named Paris, London & Poland. It was used by the Japanese and English for NASA space studies and was used for testing nuclear weapons in the 1950s & 1960s. People were not allowed to live permanently on the island until 1979. 4000 US soldiers died in one day taking nearby Tarawa Island from the Japanese, and given the isolation, one can but wonder why?

The bures in which we slept were about 10 metres from the edge of the ocean. They were left as part of the hotel complex built by the Japanese for the scientists. The resident's houses are largely built using materials such as timber, iron, plaster board scavenged from the abandoned buildings.

Fishing is apparently great, with fly fishing from the beach being a particular attraction. We dined with a sunburnt Canadian who appeared to be the only other hotel guest but he told us of another 4 fishermen who were also on the island.The hotel served an excellent meal which included baked whole fish, lobster with a number of side dishes followed by cake and ice cream.

The evening meals were enjoyable, because other than at Hilo, we did not have breakfast on any day and our lunch consisted of muesli bars or stewed fruit, chips or nuts with water or fruit juice and later in the flight the obligitory can of heart pounding Red Bull.

At Christmas Island, I started to realise the complexity and formalities involved in ferrying aircraft through different countries, each with its own immigration policies and procedures. There was also the Declarations which were required by the Countries with forms requiring details of whatever it is they needed to let us in and out. At some airports we were met with Customs, Immigration, our equivalent of AQIS and all of these organisations had to be advised in advance of the date and time of our arrival, sometimes with forms lodged prior to arrival.

In addition the fuel had to be pre-arranged and in the case of Christmas Island, the fuel was obtained primarily for and at the request of the ferry organisation. Whilst an individual could probably bring an aircraft from US to Australia, it would take months of preparation and organisation and would then probably be very difficult without the contacts and relationships developed over many years. In Ray Clamback's case, he has been ferrying aircraft for 40 years and has probably over 300 crossing. He says there are two Australian ferry pilots who have done more crossings than he has.

I also started to appreciate why the cost was what it is. A very rough guesstimate of the fuel costs for the Saratoga would be around $10,000 and on top there are landing and airport fees, accommodation, food, wages etc.

Having confirmed the specks on the windscreen were grease from the hub of the propellor we were ready to depart at sunrise.

Click on images to enlarge