Page 8 - Volume 20 No. 6

local time in order to allow them to sleep enroute. Since overnight flying wasn’t part of our typical operation, it required me and the other pilot to adjust our body clocks physiologically a few days before the flight. Chocolate espresso beans and coffee also helped! Moreover, the logic of the late-night departure was to put us in a position to coast out over the ocean after sunrise. I did not want to cross the Atlantic in darkness, as that adds the obvious element of reduced visual acuity and, psychologically, a bit of
6 • TWIN & TURBINE
pessimism. The sunrise, as in the old days, I’m sure, lends itself to hope and prosperity.
From CYYR we would launch over Lake Melville, coasting out to our first fix, HOIST. Unlike the airlines that pick up their oceanic clearance enroute, we could receive the oceanic clearance on the ground at Goose Bay, as part of the normal clearance procedure. This made the process very easy. Overflying HOIST, now talking with Gander Oceanic (Gander FIR), we proceed to N58W50, then fly direct
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to N60W43 (OZN- tip of Greenland), crossing into the Sondrestrom FIR, henceforth to N61W40, direct to N63W30, EMBLA, and finally into BIRK. Needless to say, the route of flight was taking us over a bit of water, and given our engine situation (only one, but a good one! A very good one...nice engine, good engine...) we needed to mitigate as much risk as possible.
Some of the ways we accomplished this was as follows: (1) Daylight operation over the open water; (2) Survival suits, life raft, and jackets- the water, even in summer, is only a few degrees above freezing; (3) a route with as much access to land as possible; 4) VHF; (5) timing the flight so as to have other aircraft around us; (6) a solid and well- rehearsed ditching plan, should the need present itself, and lastly, (7) realization. You can take the risk (some of it) out of the ocean, but you can’t take the ocean out of the risk. There are just some elements to flying that you have to be mentally prepared for and this was one of them. Again, good engine...nice engine...
In addition to the route planning considerations, there are also the communication and operational aspects: ICAO procedural compliance, country regulatory requirements, airway/space rules, oceanic crossing etiquette and communication, and security precautions, just to name a few. All of these can be found in the many online and offline resources, including the FAA’s North Atlantic Resource guide, each specific country’s AIP (Airman Information Publication), Jeppesen publications, handling companies (which I’ll cover later) and additional sources of info. It’s imperative to study all of the material ahead of time, so as to overturn as many stones as practical before you go. You’ll have enough pitfalls to deal with as they’re thrown at you, so it’s in the best interest of everyone aboard (and most professional) to have all the ducks in a row.
JUNE 2016