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Wednesday, May 7, 2003, 09:39 UTC (9:39 pm local) Report from Goose Bay, Labrador, by Karl Hipp
Yesterday, May 6th, we went on an eight hour bus tour of a small part of Iceland. John and I found much of the countryside to resemble Wyoming--wide open, with no trees except those that have been planted. We saw a picturesque waterfall, some geysers, and a volcanic crater.
One of the most interesting features we saw was the rift between the North American and European geological plates. There is a face of rocks on either side where the earth is "pushing apart." New material is being formed from below and pushing up in the center. This new real estate being created is, of course, taking millions of years
The cuisine last night in downtown Reykjavik was typical Icelandic. We had Puffin as an appetizer and whale for the main course. The Puffin is a small bird, considered endangered by the radical tree huggers. And, of course, the whale meat comes from local whale ponds, similar to catfish ponds found in Texas. We asked our waitress if there was a possibility we were eating Keiko, the whale from Free Willy, that was released near Iceland. She said killer whales are illegal to hunt, so it was unlikely Willy was on our plate.
Puffin meat is a dark meat that is smoked. It is sliced thin, and tastes closer to beef than any other birds we have eaten. Since the whale is a mammal of the sea, the meat is unlike anything else. It is as tasty as the best choice steak, with absolutely no bones, fat, or marbling. The texture of the meat is a lot closer to beef than it is to fish.
Dinner, without drinks, was $80 apiece. Beer is about $8 a glass, but a glass is a generous half liter. Things are more "expensive" than usual. It was explained to us that a year ago the exchange rate was 115 Kroners to a US dollar. Now the rate is 75 Kroners per US dollar. The $8 beer a year ago would have been about $5.50. This morning, we received excellent service from Sveinn Bjornsson, the owner of Flight Services, Ltd. Weather maps and terminal weather printouts were provided, and he also filed our flight plan for both route segments. A Bonanza had come in the night before, and we met the owner, who is a Frenchman moving back to Paris from New York. He had along as his co-pilot, Margaret Dudertwaltz, who is an accomplished North Atlantic ferry pilot. Sveinn said she had recently completed her 500th crossing. Margaret commented on my "poopy suit" as I was donning it. She refers to this type of suit as "a full body condom." Sveinn remarked that the suit I have, as uncomfortable as it is, will keep you alive in the water. The type of suit John has is an oil rig workers suit. Sveinn, and Andrew at Far North in Scotland, both agree this type of suit will not help keep you alive for any significant time in the North Atlantic.
… hotel and control tower in the background
We are now en route to Narsarsuaq, Greenland, and John is flying. We are presently at 14,000 feet in and out of clouds with an outside air temperature of minus 20 C, doing 160 knots groundspeed. Winds are predicted to be light and variable from Reykjavik, Iceland to Narsarsuaq. The plan is to land there for fuel and continue today to Goose Bay, Labrador. The winds along that route are predicted to be from the north at 40 knots, but the weather is better so we may go lower. We will get a weather update after landing in Greenland.
Now airborne again, I am flying. It is actually easier to use the laptop computer on the pilot's side since there is no moving map on the yoke. John is on the satellite phone talking to Mike Narkin, who is a recently transplanted ICS member from the SW tribe to John's tribe in the northwest. The new outlook for winds aloft is not as bad as earlier. We are level at 8,000 feet, in and out of stratus clouds, and averaging 150 knots ground speed. John has to hang up the sat phone now, as it is 1600 Zulu and Gander wants a position report on the hour. The HF radio is hopeless. The frequencies are so crowded you spend all your time just trying to communicate. The sat phone makes it much easier. We used it on the previous leg to call Dave Buttle and got him out of his hotel bed in Houston at 5:30 am. We thought, that since he had left London for business in Houston rather than stay and have dinner with us as we were passing through Britain, it was the least we could do to repay his "lack of hospitality"' (sorry, David!). I'm continuing to write, off and on, as I have time, what with position reports, monitoring fuel, etc. We have been running lean of peak most of the time, for several reasons. Fuel cost is one. Another is range. Weight is also a factor. If you need less fuel to get from A to B, that means less weight. We have made 17 takeoffs since leaving Colorado. None have been at less than my certificated gross weight of 3,800 pounds. In fact, our lightest takeoff has been about 4,400 pounds. Most have been 4,500, with the heaviest takeoff at over 5,000 pounds. Careful attention has been paid to the center of gravity. Optimum is 89.5" and we have been within a half inch. The nose baggage compartment in 56Y helps simplify the balancing act. The 200 hp turbonormalized Lycomings make climbing easy. We went out of Reykjavik with 200 gallons of fuel this morning—at a gross weight of about 4,700 pounds. John was initially climbing at 110 mph IAS at 1,000 feet per minute. After the initial climb to clear terrain he made the turn to our first fix and lowered the nose to 140 mph IAS. At this airspeed, we climb at 400 to 500 feet per minute and I set up cruise/climb settings; 2400 RPM, 24" MP, and fuel flow at 10 gph per side. At altitude, we burn from 8 to 9 gallons a side depending on winds.
My landing at Goose Bay was crappy (not my last, probably). The controller was repeating every 3 seconds, it seemed, "The cable is up!" He was making such a big deal of it we quit taking photos. The "cable" is an arresting cable about 1,000 feet from the threshold. It is suspended about 2 inches off the runway. If you did land short it would just give you a jolt as you roll over it. Woodward Aviation was right on the job. A girl was at the door immediately, asking what we needed. We loaded 120 gallons on board and got a weather briefing for tomorrow. It looks VFR for the route we want to fly: Goose Bay (CYYR), with a stop for gas at Moosonee (CYMO) at the base of Hudson Bay, and on to Duluth, Minnesota (KDLH), for customs clearance and re-entry into the U.S. We have reservations for dinner tonight at the German Club--on the base at Goose Bay. It's a private club for members and guests only, but I spoke with the manager and assured him I am 90 percent German heritage and that John is a good guy; we just flew the North Atlantic and want to celebrate in his club. We are going to dinner. |
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