Sun, 08 Dec 2002 23:47:17 - Minus 40 degrees Celsius.....

…… is the forecast for tonight and tomorrow.  It was well on its way down there when I worked on the plane (in an UNheated hangar as it turned out) with the mechanic and we did find the causes of the heater problem.

The pressure switch (only three years old!) gave up. But also - when all was accessible - I found that the sound of the blower motor was not too healthy and some ducting was a little shabby, so those problems will be corrected Monday and the bird should be ready to go Tuesday. If weather permits!

So we hang out in Goose Bay, enjoy the weather and good local Caribou Steaks and cold beer. (I switched to beer because the red wine is too d... cold!)

Wed, 11 Dec 2002 11:06:40 - Moving?

Do not take it for granted until your hear more, - weather is always unpredictable and more so up at these latitudes.

But here at 6:30 local the plan still is to be airborne at 10:00 local and to land in Bangor, Maine four hours later at 13:00 local.

It is terrible hot down there, - they have about minus 2 degrees Celsius! Must get my bikini out of the flight bag on the way down!

Wed, 11 Dec 2002 21:42:05 - N4297A has moved......

...and is now in Bangor, ME after a wonderful flight at 500' over the forests, rivers and plains of the Canadian Wilderness!

But it did take an effort to get going.  It still had minus 28 in the morning in Goose and the hoses of the engine-heating unit at the FBO were just too king-size to get into the new sleek LoPresti intakes.

I opened the cowl flaps and got them fixated so the air was now blowing backwards and upwards through the system.  Which is actually a much better idea: To blow warm air downwards is difficult anyway! And now the sump and the oil, which is really what I want to heat the most, gets the full heat.

The problem was only that the FBO's hose connections from the big main hose to the divider to the two engines was about two inches open and 75% of the heat was blowing out trying to heat up north Canada instead of our airplane!

The crew of the cart had long since left the arena while I was under the aircraft and once their end was all hooked up (north Canada was still not warm enough for them to be outside) but I found a couple of straps and couplings and got the leak almost tight.

After a good half hour I could again get the impulse coupling to click when I turned the prop on the right engine, but the left one needed another 15 minutes before the magnetos were working again.

Then I got the engines going and the heater turned on. After about 15 minutes the Garmin GPS screen even came back to life and all instruments were in the green after about 20 minutes.

Shut down, a quick trip to the restrooms (also to warm up) and back out for take-off.

It was severe VMC all the way, - a fantastic flight. VFR flight plan, nobody you need to talk to unless you need them etc.

I suppose a good Texas Steak will replace the Caribou tonight. Weather for the flight onwards to Frederick, MD is still not quite guaranteed, - but the end is in sight!

Thu, 12 Dec 2002 12:57:24

There is a snowstorm between us and Frederick, Maryland, our next planned stop.  And it is going to snow heavily here in a few hours (It is 7:45 in the morning).

I have asked to have the plane in a hangar before the snow starts. I hate shoveling snow! They first said they don't have room, but they promised to try.  With a little bit of luck two FedEx Cessna Caravans are not able to return this morning after their night deliveries, then there is room for us.

Friday might look good, - but as you know by now, time will show.

But we had a fine evening (see below for details) and as we knew already last night there is no flying the next day, a good bottle of Australian Shiraz.

The restaurant in this hotel, is not the reason to go here, - the only reason is that it is on the airport!

I finally looked forward to a good American Steak.

"They" were not good, - I sent it back three times then gave it up doing with the Crab Cakes I had for a starter!

I have no idea what the cook was up to! I ordered it rare and specifically said "cold inside" - and the first one came with the comment from the cook that she would do me another one because it might be slightly more than rare.

It was totally well done and looked like a shoe sole!

Next one came and the waiter waited while I cut it, - only to see that it was medium to well done.  

The third one came - another waitress, the first one did not dare to come back – and watched me cut a steak that turned out to be medium!

The waiter's comment only was: We will take it off your bill even if you eat it!

If it wasn't for the fact that Goose was closed in behind us I was almost ready to get back in the Comanche and fly the 4 hours to get a Caribou steak! Rare!

We wait and see this morning how bad the weather gets, and if not too bad probably go downtown Bangor to see what it looks like.

Hoping for favorable winds Friday.

Fri, 13 Dec 2002 23:12:37 - VFR Bangor to Frederick......

We flew at 6500' We had clear skies forecast (and actual) all the way down past Boston and New York until 1:30 before FDK.  Although with some patches of fog on the ground below in the valleys and later low stratus below.  The last 1:30 we had a layer of sc below, I guess the base at 500', tops 2500'. And A layer of high clouds with base probably at 8000' above.

We had plus 6 degrees Celsius and FDK kept being reported plus degrees Celsius with rain.

The front was moving towards FDK from SW and we were flying SW with severe VMC behind us all the way back to Bangor.  And fuel to go there!

I figured the inversion would disappear in the frontal zone where there was already being freezing rain reported.  But it was a matter of who got to FDK first, - the front or we.

As it turned out, we got there first, made an ILS, hitting the clouds tops descending through 3000', temperature slowly going down from +6C to +2C as we descended.  We broke out slightly above minimums according to Gigi, but I tried to be disciplined and not look up until at minimum so as to be mentally prepared and able to execute the missed approach if necessary.  This by the way would automatically have taken us back in the direction of the higher temps we just came from.

We hope for the last leg tomorrow.

Mon, 16 Dec 2002 00:34:43 - End of Journey...

.... N4297A landed at Lantana, Florida at 15:00 local time today, Sunday after a fine flight from Frederick, Maryland.

Thanks for your interest!

The N4297A Crossing Crew

Holger and Gigi

Holger, a graduate of the NB-Business Academy in Denmark, started to fly in 1959 during his apprenticeship at the London Commodities Exchange.  He holds a Commercial Pilot License with the following ratings: SEL, MEL, Instrument, CFII. He is also a licensed A&P. Holger and Gigi have owned their PA-39 N4297A  since 1994.  They now have their domicile in Belize, Central America, where they keep a Maule for some bush flying.  They commute often by Twin Comanche between Belize and the USA. For 17 years Holger served as Vice President of the International AOPA, an organization that represents more than 450,000 owners and pilots in 56 countries.