Flying from North America to Hawaii

"COLIN LAMB" wrote

If you were a really good helicopter pilot and planned well, you might be
able to follow one of the shipping lanes with a diesen powered helicopter
and bargain diesel from the ships crew - if you can find a ship spaced
ever few hundred miles.

You would need to find a large enough ship to land on, but small enough to
be burning a diesel that you could burn. That would make things even more
challenging.

Most of the large ships burn "bunker oil" even though they have what are
called diesel powered. For those who do not oil, bunker oil is only one
step above crude oil, and has to be heated to be burned in those huge ship
engines.
--
Jim in NC

Come to Alaska first. Then head south from Cold Bay, Ak airport, stop at
Midway Island, Then proceed to Kawai' airport on the northernmost of the
major Hawaiian islands, and never require a leg more than 1300 miles.

A partially completed "Adventurer" 4 place amphibian sits in my driveway
awaiting such a trip. But I intend to go direct. That makes a single 2200
statute mile leg. I will have 30 Gallons of fuel in each wing, and 60 more
in fuselage tanks. Add an aux tank of around 50 gallons makes a total of 170
gallons of fuel. At 7 gph, and 120 mph I should make it with 41 gallons to
spare. I have mathcad files exploring every variation of this since the
speed and consumption are guesses...

170 gallons of fuel weighs 1020 lb. My 250 and 50 lb of assortes gear makes
1320 lb. That's still 13 lb short of the Adventerer's gross.

If I don't make it, who cares...I'll just land and siphon fuel from the
nearest boat;^}- or maybe raise a sail for the last bit...

Now let's hear from the flame artists, telling me why it's impossible.

COLIN LAMB wrote:
snip

In the Dole California-to-Hawaii air race, at least one airplane was denied
entry into the race by the FAA because the calculated fuel (using the
pilot's numbers) was only sufficient to get a bit more than half way across.
The pilot said he was expecting tail winds to make up the difference.

Not any stranger than I guy I knew 20 years ago who wanted to make a
Long EZ, add external tanks and JATO for a flight from Hawaii to CONUS.

I wonder if he's ever going to try it.

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

("Orval Fairbairn" wrote)
The mainland/Hawaii leg is the longest overwater leg on the planet.
There are NO intervening islands (perhaps an aircraft carrier or two --
just try taking off if you land on one).


Just try NOT taking off if they press the launch button!


Montblack

("Ron Webb" wrote)
If I don't make it, who cares...I'll just land and siphon fuel from the
nearest boat;^}- or maybe raise a sail for the last bit...

Now let's hear from the flame artists, telling me why it's impossible.


Not impossible, but siphoning fuel without good ground might be a problem.
"YMMV"


Montblack

"Montblack" wrote

Just try NOT taking off if they press the launch button!

Not hard at all........

Just sit back and watch your nosewheel get launched! ggg
--
Jim in NC

Actually, from some recent blurbs I've read, filling a small gas can with
poor ground can lead to BAD results. Always set the container on the ground
surface rather than, say, on a tailgate. Supposedly this cuts down on static
spark possibilities. I can't speak as to the truth here, but am uninclined
to experiment.

Harold
KD5SAK



"Montblack" wrote in message
...
("Ron Webb" wrote)
If I don't make it, who cares...I'll just land and siphon fuel from the
nearest boat;^}- or maybe raise a sail for the last bit...

Now let's hear from the flame artists, telling me why it's impossible.


Not impossible, but siphoning fuel without good ground might be a problem.
"YMMV"


Montblack

"Mike Gaskins" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Mar 18, 10:25 am, (Robert Bonomi)
wrote:
Have you looked at a map?

Does it occur to you that just "an island" is *NOT* sufficient?
That you need 'services' -- like being able to buy fuel -- as well?

Do you think any such island would be big enough to have a post office?
Are there any such places listed in the USPS zip-code directory?
What _other_country_ might such an island be a part of?

Do you have the right kind of comm radios?
Do you have _enough_engines_? Can you 'glide' 1500+ miles after a
failure?
Is your plane certified for ETOPS? Are _you_ multi-engine rated?

Do you have a co-pilot? Have you computed *how*many*hours* you'll be in
the air without a break?

are you *REALLY* that stupid?

Not need to resort to flaming. I assumed when he mentioned "islands"
in between that he would have been naturally referring to islands with
sufficient facilities to handle his hypothetical trip.

IF it is even a hypothetical trip. He might be trying to call BS on a
friend's story, or might just be curious. Nothing about his post led
me to believe that he was straping himself in getting ready to head to
Hawaii but just checking with us one last time. Cut the man some
slack .

Mike Gaskins


Well, there is the Adak - Midway - Honolulu route. I think the longest
leg, Adak/Midway is about 1400nm.

See Dave Lear's ancient article "The Colonel goes to Hawaii"

Al G

"Ron Webb" wrote:
Come to Alaska first. Then head south from Cold Bay, Ak airport, stop
at Midway Island, Then proceed to Kawai' airport on the northernmost
of the major Hawaiian islands, and never require a leg more than 1300
miles.

I used Google Earth's measuring tool to get an estimate of the distance
from Cold Bay, Ak to Midway Atoll and it measured the distance at about
2000 sm, or ~1700 nm. Just curious, but what charts or tools did you use to
establish the 1300 miles estimate?

"Al G" wrote:
Well, there is the Adak - Midway - Honolulu route. I think the
longest leg, Adak/Midway is about 1400nm.

It may be showing incorrect results, but the Google Earth product's
measuring tool shows the distance from Adak, Ak to Midway Atoll at about
1800 nm.

The only other route (not all the intermediate steps worked out!) seems to
be:

Aleution island chain - Yokohama, Japan - due south to Saipan via another
chain of islands - Palikir Island via some other possible smaller island
stops - Wake Island - Midway Atoll.

The Wake/Midway leg appears to be about 1200 sm or ~1040 nm.