Crossing The Atlantic In a Single-Engine

Airplane
The village of Kulusuk in southeastern Greenland. Photo b !.P. "eld
While some pilots may consider a one-hour flight to their
favorite "$100 hamburger" spot to be a long cross-country
excursion in a single, piston-engined aircraft, AAS member
!ean-"ierre #!$"$% &eld has spent considerably longer periods of
time flying over the open ocean, several hours from the nearest
landing strip$
'n a (arch ) presentation to AAS members and guests, &eld
detailed the logistical re*uirements of mounting such a +ourney
in a single-engine aircraft, ranging from trip planning, fuel
re*uirements, and security considerations$
"ilots flying from ,orth America have t-o options for crossing
the Atlantic, a northern route through .reenland and 'celand,
or a southern route$ "/sing 0uebec 1ity as your starting point,
from there you can go straight up to '*aluit, or you may fly to
St$ !ohn or .oose 2ay," &eld said$ "3ou then have the option
to continue onto .reenland, or do-n to-ards the A4ores$"
Transatlantic pilot
and AAS# $e$ber
!.P. "eld
urther stops along the northern route are
'celand, the aroe 'slands, and on to
5ngland$ 'n his four trips across the
Atlantic, &eld has ta6en the southern route
once, arriving to 5urope via rance$
"'f you fly over the Atlantic, you must never
be on a schedule, because the -eather -ill
dictate -hether you go or don7t go,"he said$ "8ne time ' sat for
a -ee6 in .oose 2ay, -aiting for the right time$ 5ven though
lots of other pilots -ere going, ' had my parameters for the
-eather ' -anted$ 3ou don7t leave until you have them$"
&eld fle- his trips in a (ooney (90 e*uipped -ith an '8-:;0
engine upgrade, and a WAAS-enabled ."S legal for
transatlantic flights$ "3ou also need a second ."S -ith
independent antenna, or you need an A< =automatic direction
finder>," he added$ "?hin6ing about it, ta6ing a second ."S is
the -rong approach, because if someone shuts off the ."S
system, you7d be in doo-doo$"
2y comparison, an A< - -hich relies on @& radio
fre*uencies - allo-s you to, "tune into a long-range
transmitters throughout .reenland, and give you enough
navigational possibilities to ta6e you to your destination," he
added$
Additional re*uired e*uipment includes an immersion suit #"if
you have to go into the drin6, you can at least survive for a fe-
minutes,"% a life raft, and a ."S-enabled emergency locator
transmitter #5A?%$ &eld also recommends a satellite phone,
because "if you7re bored, you can call home -ith it$"
Santa #e Air Center %&ner Ac'uired b
(and$ark #)% Chain
According to an April 9: press release, fixed-base operator
Boss Aviation C o-ner of 90 28s across the -estern
continental /nited States and &a-aii, including the Santa e
Air 1enter C -ill soon be ac*uired by Aandmar6 Aviation,
pending approval from authorities$ ?erms -ere not disclosed,
and it is not yet 6no-n -hat impact the reported sale may carry
to Santa e airport users$ Aandmar6 is one of the -orld7s
largest 28 chains, and the Boss ac*uisition -ould bring the
company7s total to D; locations -orld-ide, including ;0 in the
/$S$ ?he deal is expected to close later this year$
Upcoming Events
T)* + SA Airport (anager rancey !esson -ill provide
AAS members and attendees -ith an update on airport issues
follo-ing a future ES6y1hatF brea6fast$
AI,P%,T A*-IS%,. )%A,* + (eets first ?hursday of
every month at GH00 pm, all airport sta6eholders -elcome to
attend and observe
E-E,. SAT/,*A. + !oin our Wee6ly ES6y1hatF brea6fast,
I-11H:0 am at the Airport .rilleJ
A #,EE Publication of the Aviation Association of Santa #e 000 -ol. 1 Edition 1 000 2a-!une 1345
A /"-63 )lack "a&k helicopter flo&n b the SA#-based 7e& 2e8ico Ar$ 7ational
Guard unit lands to assist rescue personnel during a si$ulated e$ergenc e8ercise. Photo
b Caroln Cook
Planning for the 9orst "elps Assure )est
%utco$e in E$ergenc
Saturday, April 9;th -as a busy day at the Santa e (unicipal
Airport, -ith GG volunteers acting as passengers in+ured in a
simulated airliner crash as part of the ?riennial ull-Scale
5mergency 5xercise coordinated by SA officials and a broad
array of city agencies as -ell as police, fire department and rescue
personnel, and others from surrounding counties$
@olunteers of all ages, including AAS members, -ere made up
-ith very realistic simulated -ounds and lay on the ground to the
side of run-ay 90, -ith aluminum -rec6age, luggage, and other
debris from the crash scattered over a -ide area$ ?he mass
casualty emergency scenario -as based on an unsuccessful missed
approach to Bun-ay 9 by a K0-passenger regional +et$
ollo-ing morning briefing, these "victims" -ere assisted by
Santa e "olice and ire <epartment personnel along -ith
members of the 5l <orado ire <istrict$ ?he ,e- (exico Army
,ational .uard also participated, -ith t-o /&-;0 2lac6 &a-6
support helicopters transporting the most serious in+uries to
1hristus St$ @incent7s &ospital by air$ 8ther actors -ere
transported to the hospital by ambulance and buses provided by
Santa e ?rails$
8ther actors played concerned family members, adding to the
realism$
Airport officials noted the triennial exercises provide a test of
responsiveness to a catastrophic event, allo-ing all responders an
opportunity to -or6 together -hile experiencing conditions
similar to the tense, often chaotic environment of an actual
accident scenario$
@olunteers -ere encouraged to act in much the same manner as
actual accident victims, including displaying severe confusion and
disorientation, calling for immediate attention to their in+uries, and
pressuring rescue personnel to loo6 for missing passengers and for
information about -hat happened$
5fforts focused on directing the appropriate resources to those
-ith the most serious in+uries, -hile corralling those -ith minor or
non-life threatening in+uries in safe areas -here they could be
calmed and treated as necessary$ All of the actors, improvising for
hours, made this as realistic as possible$
A Sergeant &ith the 7e& 2e8ico A7G helps assess the condition of a volunteer. Photo b
)rad C. !ones
8verall planning and coordination -as done by the Santa e
(unicipal Airport staff$ Among other supporters -ere personnel
from the commercial air carriers that serve SA #American 5agle
and /nited 5xpress% along -ith the Santa e Air 1enter$
(any other groups also supported the exercise and a complete list
is available from the airport office$ ?he Santa e Airport .rill also
provided a s-ell brea6fast and lunch for the participants$
*************************************************************
Around the Airfield
After the -inter suspension, -or6 is scheduled to resume on the
A5< edge lighting for run-ay 9L90 and the extension of taxi-ay
oxtrot$
"lanning continues for the temporary terminal expansion modules,
-ith funding approved, but not yet part of a bond issue$
*************************************************************
Member Classifieds
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M( -eather, Avidyne (< -L5(AM N 1(AM, S-?ec KKM$ April 901G annual
-Lfresh parachute repac6J AocationH OSA$ $1KG,I00$
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4:;4 Piper Turbo Saratoga - :KK0 ??A, K9K S(8&$ ; leather seats$ <ual
.armin G:0W, .(M-900 (<, Sandel ::0) 5&S', eng$ mon$, full co-pilot instru$,
B(', dual transponders, 1entury '' AL"$ 1K0 6ts$ At 19,000$7 AocationH O(,$
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Words to Fly By
<The ulti$ate responsibilit of the pilot is to fulfill the drea$s
of the countless $illions of earthbound ancestors &ho could
onl stare sk&ard= and &ish.<
- Unknon
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
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encouraging and supporting aviation in Santa Fe, New e!ico" #ur
organization serves as an informal liaison between local pilots, the non-
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