The ground handler at Luton airport informed us that they can not make arrangement to get fuel for our aircraft. We took a 10 minute short flight to Southend airport for refueling.    

We departed Southend airport for our next flight to LeBourget air port in France .

Our next flight was to Cuatro Vientos airport in Madrid , but due to bad weather, we had to divert to Zaragoza (LEZG).

 

At Zaragoza a very friendly guy, how was also a pilot, took a special interest in our around the world trip. He offered to give us a ride from the airport and fine us a hotel.

Last segment of our cross Atlantic was the most eventful. We departed Reykjavik, Iceland, for Dublin, Ireland . Weather was good with few clouds at 3500 and icing level at 6000 feet. We climbed to flight level 110, which was over the top of the clouds.

Two hours in to our flight over the Atlantic we run in to light clouds.  Outside temperature was -8 degrees and we started to get a little ice on our wings. We immediately requested higher flight level of 170 and started to climb before they cleared us. Temperature was -16 degrees at FL170 and we were not building ice, but to get a little more buffering we requested FL190. 

With less than 10 knots of head wind, we had plenty of fuel to make it to London without stopping at Dublin , which was a fuel stop. We requested direct to London for Luton airport. We were cleared to our requested destination. Once over Scotland, We knew we made it over North Atlantic and it was a moment of rejoice.

An hour before landing at Luton, the Control Center informed us that there are no ground handlers available and we can’t go to Luton . We requested to land at Birmingham airport that is about 200 miles north of London to call and make other arrangements. After landing and clearing immigration, we were able to get a ground handler at Stansted airport.

We departed Birmingham for Stansted. As we were approaching Stansted, It was getting late at night and the famous London fog was causing low visibility and overcast. The ceiling was 300 feet and getting lower. Stansted Approach asked for our conformation, “N266DC the ceiling is now approaching 200 feet, would you like to proceed on ILS”. We accepted the approach and descended on the ILS to 200 feet above the ground, and we were still in the clouds. At that point we realized that is as low as we want to get. We pulled up and executed a missed approach. At that point the controller suggested for us to go to Luton that has a higher ceiling of about 400 feet, and getting lower, or divert to Southend with 1100 feed ceiling. We accepted Southend. On the way to Southend, Radar Controller said “ N266DC you are now leaving my radar area, radar service is terminated, resume on navigation on your Owen”. The feeling of being in the clouds and the Controller is telling you that you are on your own is indescribable. We are thinking,” can they do this?” We immediately requested to divert to Luton since it was in his radar area. After all Luton was the air port that we wanted to go to start with.

At Luton , we had to try the approach twice. We made one missed approach and landed the second approach, coming out of the clouds at about 175 feet above ground and finally got our feed on the ground. 

We checked the aircraft this morning to find the source of the oil. The small amount of oil we had on the belly of the plane yesterday was from the starter and a loss bolt. It was an easy fix and we departed Nasarsauq about 5 pm for the second leg of our cross Atlantic flight.

We landed at Reykjavik, Iceland at 11:30 pm. It was a smooth ride, but we had to clime to 13000 feed to avoid building ice. We had to do an instrument approach landing at Reykjavik due to low ceiling. We brook out of the clouds at 700 feed and landed without the any problem.

It is 12:00 o’clock at night and it is still light outside. In Iceland , even after sun goes down at 10 pm, it remains light all night.  It appears that the sun never leave Iceland .                       

We made our first leg across the North Atlantic from Goose Bay to Narsarsuaq. Climbing to 11000 feet and leaving the land behind you for icy water of North Atlantic was a bit nerve wreaking, but the flight was smooth.

We were unable to establish radio communication with Gander control, using our HF radio; however, at 11000 feet we were able to make contact them with our VHF radio.

Approaching Greenland and seeing icebergs and towering rocky coast of Greenland is breath taking. It is truly a nature masterpiece  

It was the most difficult landing. Due to high mountains around the airport, we had to descent from 10000 to 900 feet in 5 mile final approach and land. Runway starts perpendicular to edge of the water and we had to duck a few icebergs on final approach, before landing. You can see the runway in the picture below. This picture was taken on our final approach.

After landing and parking, we notice a little engine oil on the belly of the plane.  We cleaned up the oil and tried to find the source, but it was hard to find where it was coming from. We will check it again tomorrow. We may be delayed a few days.

This time of the year, sun will set about 9:30 and rise aging at about 3:00 am in Greenland . This is a difficult concept to get use to.

We departed LaGuardia Airport at 10:20 am for our next stop to Newfoundland . After 20 minutes of weave our way through a few active cells on the west side of Boston , we made to the clear blue sky. We had a very smooth ride and arrived in icy Goose Bay at 4:30 pm.

There is not much to see in Goose Bay , but it is a good fuel stop.

Donaldson Center

We arrived  at Donaldson Center Airport at 8:15 am to load the aircraft for 10 am departure.

It was really nice to be greeted by friends and family and many others who learned about this adventure through the local newspaper.

Every one wished us a safe trip. It was an emotional morning that I will treasure forever. They released balloons as we taxied to the end of the runway.  

Philadelphia

Our first leg from Greenville to Philadelphia was about three hours. We were greeted by a small group of people who were extremely nice. They offered to take us to the Liberty Bell and bring us back to the airport.   

The owner of the restaurant was from Nepal . After learning about our trip, and specially Nepal being one of our stops, he asked to take a picture with us to post in his restaurant.

He also gave us his brother’s home phone number in Nepal, and insisted for us to stay at his brother’s home once we get to Katmandu at Nepal .

 After visiting the Liberty Bell we departed Philadelphia at about 7 pm for LaGuardia New Your. This was a 25 minute flight.

As we flow over the Statue of Liberty, we requested to circle the Lady Liberty for a second viewing and the ATC  granted our request while flying IFR in the busiest corridor in US.

The personnel at the NY airport showed much interest in our trip, signed our book, and very kindly offered to give us a ride to a hotel for our overnight stay.  

  

            Departure date Saturday June 2nd 2007 at 10:00 am
      
Our first stop will be at Northeast Philadelphia airport (Atlantic Aviation terminal) on June 2nd at 1pm.  We will be visiting the Liberty Bell, as the symbolic gesture for the start of our flight.