Diary
28th August, 1998
Epilogue
Now that the dust has settled, we thought we would give you some of our impressions and thoughts on our journey.
Many people have sent us emails expressing interest in doing a similar trip themselves, so we thought we would summarise some of the things we would have done differently, and other things which we did which made our trip much easier.
Regarding the aircraft equipment, an autopilot would probably be the top priority, followed by a stormscope. A panel-mounted HF radio would make things much more manageable than the portable unit we borrowed. Space is certainly at a premium in the cockpit, and anything that can be stowed out of the way helps. Obviously pressurisation would have been a great help, as over 10 1/2 hours wearing an oxygen mask is not terribly comfortable, and it also makes communication difficult.
We were very happy with the fuel bladder we installed to give us the extra range. The bladder capacity was 460 litres (122 USG) and the wings carried 450 litres (118 USG), giving us nearly 13 hours of fuel. We cannot over-emphasise the importance of having plenty of fuel reserves at foreign destinations, and in unpredictable weather conditions. Even though the size of the tank made life uncomfortable in the cockpit for the first 2 or 3 hours, it was certainly worth it at the other end. We aimed at arriving everywhere with about 2 hours of fuel remaining, and we achieved this even on our longest sectors.
Now some performance details. We generally cruised between 19,000 ft and 25,000 ft, at between 58% and 65 % power. This gave us a True Airspeed of 260 - 270 kt at our heavy takeoff weights and with the added drag of the HF aerial. The fuel flow varied between 68 (18 USG) and 78 litres (20 USG) per hour. On the last sector to Brisbane, fuel was not critical so we cruised at 75% power which gave us a TAS of 310kt at 27,000 ft, with a fuel flow of 88 litres (23 USG) per hour.
We had 2 custom-made survival jackets which were very comfortable to wear, and had all the survival equipment built in, which meant we didn't have all this stuff floating around loose in the cockpit.
In the panel, we had 2 VHF's, VOR/ILS, International DME, and 2 GPS's. We also had a portable GPS in case of an electrical failure. All 3 GPS's were useful. Obviously we were very glad to have a standby electrical Artificial Horizon, as we would have been stuck in India for sometime following our vac. pump failure.
On the paperwork side, it would have been extremely difficult to coordinate all the overflight and landing clearances ourselves. We must thank Bob Bailey of Qantas for his excellent support in organising all the clearances for us.
One of the things we didn't really plan for was the horrendous price of fuel around the world. The cheapest fuel we got was right here in Australia. We would suggest anyone planning a trip overseas should investigate the availability and cost of fuel before departure.
Our friend Gerhard Paasch, of Germany, who had a stand in conjunction with Oregon Aero, suggested we try there noise reduction kit for our David Clarke headsets. Not only did they reduce the noise level in the cockpit, but they were much more comfortable to wear with sunglasses.
One of the most enjoyable parts of our trip was being able to meet up with friends and people with similar interests in the aviation industry around the world. We have great memories of our stay in the USA, Switzerland, and Italy because of the hospitality and friendship that was extended to us particularly in these countries. It certainly was much nicer than staying in another hotel room!!!
We expect many of the 10 provisional world records we have set to remain for some time, because of the extreme distances we flew. In hindsight, shorter flights with more stops would have been more comfortable, however this would have incurred more paperwork and more landing charges, etc.
We would like to thank the following people particularly for their assistance to us on our trip:
Lance Neibauer, Kim & Steve Lorentzen, and all the staff at Lancair; Capt. Ray Heiniger, Bob Bailey, Glenn Elms, and the rest of the team at Qantas; Thrane & Thrane; Damion Coyne; Hannes Luthy; Marcel & Sylvia Spiess; Dr. Flavio & Magda Saccomanno & Valentino Poli; Bob Veale; the staff of Tadgells Aviation Services; and all the many people who took the time to send us encouraging emails along the way. Thanks!!
