Page 7 - Volume 20 No. 6

Haul
by Todd Hotes
“ Pilatus N47NG, Goose Bay. Ready to copy your oceanic
clearance?”
Even in today’s technological world, aviation continues to evoke many virtues of the past: Exploration, adventure, forging new roads (or, in our case, “holes in the sky”) and a myriad of other feelings, memories, sights, and sounds. One such privilege of flight wraps all of these virtues into one: international flying. There are endless joys to flying internationally: The delicious food and drink; the mixture of cultures; beautiful topographic changes; the excitement and challenge of different weather patterns, languages, rules, and tribal knowledge of foreign land. However,
JUNE 2016
Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Well, as magnificently and romantic as international flying can be, it can be just as daunting and ruthless: Due diligence in preparation is essential.
Follow along, as I take you on a Pilatus PC-12NG journey from Oxford, Connecticut to beautiful Iceland. I’ll begin by walking you through my processes and procedures, then conclude by narrating my journey. I should note, however, that this is just my way of operating and is by no means an end-all-be-all. Our operations manual fulfills our objectives, but everyone’s operation is different and so, too, will be
procedures.
Study, Plan, Study!
There are many ways to tackle an international flight. Luckily, in today’s day and age there are endless resources at one’s fingertips to review, plan, engage, and facilitate the mission. I started my journey
by Googling the most widely-visited destination in Iceland, after I was given word that we’d be traveling there. Up popped Reykjavik – a beautiful seaside city on the island’s western coast. I was more familiar with Keflavik, as this is the larger international airport and one of the ETOPS alternates for oceanic crossings. However, Reykjavik is the most popular destination for smaller business/corporate aircraft, and thus it was the choice. Destination chosen, it was now time for route planning, familiarization, and all the considerations of taking a single-engine, albeit turbine- engine, airplane over a large body of cold water.
Our PC-12 does not have HF or the performance and range to join the track system, so the planned route was taking us up over northern Maine, above New Brunswick, over the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and descending into Goose Bay (CYYR) for our first and only fuel stop. I should also note that our passengers wanted to travel overnight, so we departed Connecticut at 2300
TWIN & TURBINE • 5