Troll Air Round The World: 1+2+3+4+1000+ZOOOOM

[Calle_Hedberg]

Hi,

For anybody interested in a more in-depth discussion about ocean ditching & survival (very heated discussion - the author's style reminds me of a few avcommers I could mention! ), see http://www.equipped.com/aopa-ditch-rebut.htm

Regards
calle

[Calle_Hedberg]

Hi,

Well, after a refreshing (but cold) holiday with family and friends in Norway, it's back to the long walk to departure. The CAA paper-work last week finally seemed to come together, but OOPS the stuff I got had some ambiguous text and some stuff were missing: 1 step forward and half a step back...

BUT today was a gorgeous day for flying in the Cape, so I decided to test some stuff: How does the magneto & Electronic Ignition combo work at altitude? Bottom line: Reasonably good, but the optimal flight levels remain FL100-150.

Low level was a little bit bumpy, but I climbed through the D69 (Stellenbosch Flying Area) to around 7500ft and then got permission from CT Info and later CT Area West to do a staged climb to FL175. As can be seen from the attached panel shot, the Density Altitude was just over 20,000ft at FL175 (it was hot - ISA +25). 20,000ft is actually the official ceiling for the Ravin 500 with the standard 260hp naturally aspirated IO-540 that I have.

My climb rate during the last 1,000ft was around 150ft/min (fpm), so that fits pretty well considering that I was well under MAUW (one crew and half tanks). The magneto + ElectroAir combination thus seem reasonably good, even if I'm still sniffing around trying to find some further tweaks to get a little bit more out of it. Otherwise, note the rpm (2670, nearly max) and the manifold pressure (14.9" only).

Most of the info can be read of out the panel picture: 114KIAS, 156KTAS, 150KT GS (i.e. a small headwind component), 52% power, and fuel flow of 9.69USG/hr. Note that the pic is from right after levelling off, so I'm still Rich-Of-Peak. After leaning to Lean-Of-Peak a bit later, I had an estimated range after compensating for headwind of approximately 1,450nm. With just over half tanks - 85USG out of 160USG (81 USG usable), it was a bit better than I had expected, since it might indicate that my current max range with full tanks is at least 2,800nm.

A few of you might remember the max range flight that Tom G and I did last year, where we proved a no-wind range of 2,600nm. If the use of the ElectroAir Electronic Ignition System instead of the right-side mag has improved that to at least 2,800nm, I'm happy Further testing is required to be sure of that though, since my take-off weight today was a lot less than what it will be during the RTW.

Regards
Calle

[Calle_Hedberg]

Hi (again),

I tested two other things during the flight today - sat/cell comms and the new pulse-oxygen system:

Trying out the Iridium Sat phone did not work out - I heard bugger all in my Nanocomm headset. I know the phone itself works fine, and I could see it dialing and connecting - but nada sound. Faulty plug on the handset? Some volume setting turned down? Typically enough, the Iridium handset manual was lying at the back of the aircraft so I performed an Excruciatus curse on myself and moved on. Made a call using my cell-phone later when I was lower, though - then I could hear the other end clearly and they could not hear me... Guess I will have to do some testing on the ground first...

The oxygen box performed brilliantly, though. I installed a Mountain High oxygen system in the aircraft when it was built, but wasn't sure how useful/necessary it would be so I opted for the cheap continuous flow cannulas. The system has worked well, but I found the continuous flow method wasted a LOT of oxygen and it's an absolute PAIN to find somebody willing/able to refill the cylinder in SA. So I decided to add the portable pulse demand box (see http://www.mhoxygen.com/portable-pulse-demand/o2d2 for some pictures).

It worked flawlessly! I set it to start delivering squirts of oxygen from 10,000ft, and monitored my blood oxygen saturation using one of those small oximeters you put on a finger. Everytime I started breathing in I could hear a small "whosh" and see the green light blinking... Blood oxygen saturation stayed between 90-97% through out, and I could see that I had used a lot less oxygen than I would have previously.

Isn't it absolutely wonderful when something works perfectly RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX?

Best regards
Calle

[mikev]

Calle,

Best of luck, wishing I could share some of the adventure, but alas.

I really think the reason for not getting much feedback from the AVCOM experts are simply that your lists are comprehensive enough, and what some may see as an ommission or unnecesary, you may just have a different approach or solution to the problem.

If I may render an opinion, the testing phase that you are now performing should include fully packed flights.

Preferrably inside the closed hangar, because onlookers are going to suspect you of losing your mind, at least a few practice runs at getting out in a hurry with relevant survival gear.

Different scenarios springs to mind, open water, but also dessert and jungle. All calling for different priorities in what is grabbed and what is left.

Regards

Mike (PTAR 93 standing on the ground wishing I was participating)

[Viking]

Calle, I am seriously evious of you! I wish it was me preparing for the journey!
Who knows, maybe someday in the future....
I am not am expert re. big aviation journeys, but I do consider myself an expert on one-up expeditions.
I have travelled through Africa for a bit more than 6 years, and have done desert crossings, all alone.
I am glad to see you are testing all your equipment BEFORE you undertake the trip.
It is very important to know how your stuff works, and I hope you practise the drill, so that when you need to use the equipment, you would be able to do it with your eyes closed.
Try to read up on survivor's stories, not just books on survival, because most of the people who write these books are trained on survival, but never actually had to use their skills for real.
Remember, a map and compass are still the most relaible nav aids...
My gps went down is the desert, but I used my map and compass as primary tools. I only used the gps as a tool to confirm my position, and one fine day, the dam thing could not initialize and I kept using the map and compass to get to my destination.

Good luck and have fun!

[Calle_Hedberg]

I really think the reason for not getting much feedback from the AVCOM experts are simply that your lists are comprehensive enough, and what some may see as an omission or unnecessary, you may just have a different approach or solution to the problem.

If I may render an opinion, the testing phase that you are now performing should include fully packed flights.

Preferrably inside the closed hangar, because onlookers are going to suspect you of losing your mind, at least a few practice runs at getting out in a hurry with relevant survival gear.

Different scenarios springs to mind, open water, but also dessert and jungle. All calling for different priorities in what is grabbed and what is left.

Mike,

My reason for creating this thread was fourfold:

Firstly, to get feedback - that might seem not so successful from the posts, but I've also had a number of private messages. Nobody has so far identified any MAJOR omissions, but that might come later. No critical feedback is no stamp of approval or guarantee that all is in order, but it's at least an indication that I'm on the right track.

Secondly, to discipline myself to write everything up (after testing and reading as much as I can).

Thirdly, to share what I'm doing with a broader audience, some whom might find it useful for their own flying (I have certainly learnt a lot from reading stuff from other long-distance and/or RTW pilots)

And finally, simply because many pilots and aviation enthusiast enjoy reading about it - preparation, testing, planning, and then the trip itself. I'm no different - the mag articles I find most enjoyable are almost without fail about flight to exotic locations (long distance "safaris", ferry flights, and so on).

Yes, I'm now almost sure that I will do at least one long distance flight fully packed (including ferry tank) before setting out, but CAA is the stumbling block - there's ambiguous text related to IMC on my ATF, still no certificate for GNSS flying, and the overweight exemption is outstanding. I thought all of it would finally be sorted out last week, but alas...

Maybe I should drop in at that Swartkop International grass-strip of yours for some evacuation drills - I'm sure your kids would enjoy standing ready with some large buckets with icy water as I scramble out of the cockpit

Regards
calle

[mikev]

Maybe I should drop in at that Swartkop International grass-strip of yours for some evacuation drills - I'm sure your kids would enjoy standing ready with some large buckets with icy water as I scramble out of the cockpit

Now that is an excellent idea!!

The drop in, not necesarily the bucket brigade!!

The braai is lit!

[abezzi]

" I heard bugger all in my Nanocomm headset."
Calle did you buy the headset here in SA?

[Calle_Hedberg]

" I heard bugger all in my Nanocomm headset."
Calle did you buy the headset here in SA?

Hi,

Yes, from EarAfrica (info at earafrica dot co dot za) - guy named Sean.

Just note that I don't think the reason for me not hearing anything from the satphone is related to the headset, since I did hear the cell-call later (well, I heard the other end but he could not hear me clearly - could be that the mike on the cellphone is not disengaged when I talk through the mike so that too much cockpit noise is coming through). I will have to do some further tests.

Regards
calle

[Calle_Hedberg]

Hi,

OK, it's been three weeks with a lot of work (the paying kind), but Tom and I will take off tomorrow morning at max all up overweight for a 13-16 hour test flight criss-crossing South Africa. We've got around 215USG on board, but I would prefer to reduce that to under 100USG before landing again. So around 14 hours at an average of 9USG should do the trick. LOP all the way after climbing through 3000ft!!!

Anybody can follow the flight via the web doing the following:
1.
Open http:\\Track.indigosat.co.za in your browser
2.
Log in name: follow@trollair.co.za
Password: indigosat

There's already a short flight there from this afternoon, but we expect to take off around 6am tomorrow for the long test flight.

If anybody has time to play around with the web interface a bit DURING the flight (checking altitude, speed, average speed and so forth), then please give me some feedback on how it worked.

Best regards
Calle

[hatman]

Every time I see this heading I think of you are flying to Troll in Antartica!!!!

[plettpc]

Still no data for this morning

[Calle_Hedberg]

Still no data for this morning

Could not take off!! We had packed up, done the run-up and everything, weather looked great - then called ground for taxi and they say the low cloud and dense fog was rolling in and that the CTR had gone IMC! I called flight info and changed our flight plan to IF, but two-three minutes later we had cloud/fog almost on the deck and 1000m visibility (1500m is minimum for IF departure in a single-engine aircraft). The met office said the expected the fog to last at least for 2-3 hours, so we called it off and will try again tomorrow morning.

C'est la vie!

Regards
calle

[Calle_Hedberg]

Every time I see this heading I think of you are flying to Troll in Antartica!!!!

Would have been nice! But Antarctica is very difficult for small aircraft (ref Max Conrad's attempts 40-50 years ago) - especially from Cape Town. Cape Town to Troll weather/research station is not so bad - about 2,350 nm - but then you have to get back. And the weather is tricky...

Regards
calle

[Calle_Hedberg]

Hi,

another day with so-so weather - pouring at 4.30am, but now better even if still IMC. Overall rather messy, though, with isolated embedded CBs and turbulence - so we've decided to move it again to either Sat or (more likely) Sunday.

Regards
Calle