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Article from THE AEROSTAR LOG Spring 1998
AEROSTAR AROUND THE WORLD
by Claude Meunier
Haven't we all, one day, wanted to face a great challenge ? For a mountaineer it would be a difficult climb and
ultimately an attempt like Mount Everest and for a navigator it would be to go further and further until one
would want to sail the ultimate course: around the World, whether it is in a sailing boat or an aeroplane.
I had been dreaming of flying around the World for a long time and I had been flying further and further waiting for the right time. Based in Western Australia, I flew in those parts of the World from Singapore to Tahiti. In 1995, as a "dress rehearsal", I flew to Hong Kong. I did fit the Aerostar with 2 ferry tanks, getting an idea on how the aircraft would fly heavy on long legs.
Preparations took almost a full year: gathering information, maps, charts, clearances, survival gear, etc. I organised all my clearances for the crossing of the Pacific Ocean, knowing the area but I used the services of Overflight International from the UK, an expert on the Middle East. The big obstacle in such a flight is the crossing of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and California, a leg of some 2100 nautical miles.
I had to build 4 ferry tanks bringing the total fuel on board to 420 USG. I had to have the tanks approved and also have an over weight dispensation. I also had to work out the best power settings for range with all that fuel on board. These settings would be different from beginning to end as the aircraft would get lighter as the fuel was burned. The results from those tests were:
I left Northam, my base in Western Australia, on May 15th. I stopped at Ceduna and Brisbane in Australia, Noumea in New Caledonia, Nadi in Fiji and Pago Pago in American Samoa. There I had the pleasure to meet Joyce and John Proctor , also flying around the world in their Gruman Albatross. So far, I was in known territory, having been there many times. Then Christmas Island in Kiribati.
There the left electric pump died. Nothing I could do here. I flew to Hilo on the East coast of Hawaii, the "Big Island". It is the closest airport to California. I had to wait there for seven long days for the right weather and winds. I ordered an electric pump from Aero Specialties in Van Nuys and fitted it. Finally the weather returned to normal and the winds were in the right direction.
I took off at 4 am to avoid early morning and late after noon fog in Santa Barbara. I had been worried by that long leg. but it turned out to be one the easiest leg of the whole trip. I reported every hour to Oakland and I had a radio amateur in new Caledonia calling me every 30 minutes. I had decided on a point of non return of 4 hours, that is, if after 4 hours I had not covered one third of the distance and if I did not have two third of fuel remaining, I would have turned back. Every 30 minutes I compared the distance and the fuel remaining with pre-calculated figures and I could see the margins increasing right from the beginning. I made that leg a speed record attempt. The record has been since recognised by the FAI at 360 km/h, just a shade under 200 knots.
In Van Nuys, I had the pleasure of meeting Rick Ray and Roger Oeland. Rick owns an Aerostar and is planning a round the World trip and Roger has a maintenance shop specialising in Aerostars. I had been corresponding with Rick for a while and I hoped he would go before me so I could use his experience. Roger organised a barbecue in his hangar for me with other Aerostar owners. That was great. After an oil and filter change, Rick helped me to file for Boeing Field in Seattle. From there to Vancouver.
There the right starter motor had to be changed. A phone call to Al Hoover at Aerostar Corp. and I had a brand new starter motor the next morning. On departure from Vancouver I had the fire alarm on the right engine, after checking, it was not a fire but a turbo gasket. I had to turn back. After changing the gasket I flew to Thunder Bay and then to Saint Hubert near Montreal. I spent a few days there with radio amateur friends.
Then to Goose Bay where I spent a pleasant evening with Canadair pilots . They were on they way back from Europe where they had demonstrated one of their fire fighting flying boat. They gave me good advice on Narsasuack, their last airport and my next.
Approach at Narsasuack is known to be difficult, the airport is in a deep fjord surrounded by high terrain. I did descend following the race track of the NDB and became visual at 4000 feet. I planned to spent the night there but I got a rather cold reception. I was told the airport is closed the next day, a Sunday, and that anyway, the weather will be bad
As it was not too late in the afternoon and as the days are very long being so close of the Artic Circle, I flew to Reykjavik in Iceland where I landed in a rain shower at the minima. I had crossed several time zones in one day and was very tired.
After a rest day, I flew to Glasgow in Scotland. A friend from Belgium came to join me and we spent a marvellous week, touring part of Scotland. Then we flew to Ostend in Belgium. That was my first visit to Belgium. My friend wanted to see the Futuroscope, a permanent multimedia exhibition in Poitiers in France. When we flew there, I had a problem with the Traffic Controllers because my VHF radios did not have the 25 Khz channel separation required in France. So, to return to Belgium, we flew VFR and low, below any controlled airspace. But our VFR experience were at 100 knots with Australian WAC charts with a scale of 1/1000000 and now we were flying at close to 200 knots with French charts with a scale of 1/500000. That made it interesting !
Later my cousins found a radio shop that installed the 25 Khz channel separation kit. I spent a month flying between France and Belgium, visiting friends, family, churches, castles and museums. And as all good things come to an end, I had to continue the trip. As I had to fly across Egypt, I had decided to spent a few days there. When I invited my friend to come along, she only accepted if we were to spent a least a fortnight instead of the two days I had in mind. So we organised a custom made trip with a cruise on the Nile.
We left Ostend and had a short stop in Toussus-le-Noble just south of Paris to have the Aerostar washed and have an oil change and headed south along the Rhone valley. We had a problem to start the engines in Nice on the Mediterranean: someone had left the Master Switch on...Finally we landed for fuel (very dear) in Crete and then to Cairo.
Approach was difficult in a dusty haze with conflicting instructions. We spent a fantastic fortnight visiting the Pyramids, many temples and the Nile cruise was magnificent.
After all that good time, once again, I had to continue. My friend left for Belgium. I had the feeling the trip was over and all I had to do now was to go home. That was a false impression as I still had to fly one third of the way and that was not to be the easiest. Trouble started when I had to back track to Alexandria because Cairo had no more Avgas. Then on the way to there my VHF radios started to give me trouble. I could receive but could not transmit. So I crossed Saudi Arabia almost without being able to talk. In Bahrain, I had the radios inspected by a technician, but we found nothing wrong. They were working OK. But they started to play again on the way to Seeb in Oman. There, on take off, I blew another exhaust gasket with the fire alarm on, on the right side this time. The agent, Oman Air Services found for me an Indian expatriate mechanic to help me change the gasket.
Because of the repairs it was too late to depart so I stayed overnight but I had to have my clearance for India amended. My agent in Britain, Overflight International did that promptly. Then a long leg of 1500 nautical miles to Madras in India, after crossing the Subcontinent from West to East. I had been told of the Indian bureaucracy but what I had been told was far below reality. I had to spend 4 hours , going from office to office, filing forms after forms, almost endlessly. After landing at 4 PM, I finally went to bed at midnight to get up at 4 am to start again the office circuit. I still have a flight plan with nine signatures and stamps.
The last long leg took me to Penang in Malaysia. Difficult approach in a thunderstorm. Neither their Glide Slope nor Localiser were working. I had to make a VOR approach to the minima. I was drenched to the bone by the time I got to the terminal but formalities were done in 5 minutes. After a rest day there, a short leg to Seletar, one of Singapore GA airports. I had the radios inspected there. They work better after switching them in their racks. Then another short leg to Bali in Indonesia. My agent went to the Tower to greet me by radio. Then the last leg outside Australia to Port Hedland. There, for the first and only time during the trip my luggage and the aircraft were searched by the over zealous Custom Officers.
The last leg to my home base, Northam. I could not resist the temptation to make a very low and fast beat up over the Aero Club. My fellows members had decorated my hangar and had brought a lot of Champagne. It was great to be back home.
I have made a marvellous trip. It was not always easy, I had some mechanical problems: a starter motor, a fuel pump, blown turbo gaskets, I had my share of bad weather and I had to suffer with the Indian bureaucracy, but I am satisfied with the achievement and I am looking forward at welcoming Rick Ray when he comes.
Total flying time 131.52 hours.
Total distance 24,776 NM
Total number of landings: 36 (23 at unknown airports)
This text is reproduced with the permission of The Aerostar Log, the magazine of the Aerostar Owners Association. http://www.aerostar-owners.com
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I had been dreaming of flying around the World for a long time and I had been flying further and further waiting for the right time. Based in Western Australia, I flew in those parts of the World from Singapore to Tahiti. In 1995, as a "dress rehearsal", I flew to Hong Kong. I did fit the Aerostar with 2 ferry tanks, getting an idea on how the aircraft would fly heavy on long legs.
Claude Meunier & VH-XRD
VH-XRD at NORTHAM
Preparations took almost a full year: gathering information, maps, charts, clearances, survival gear, etc. I organised all my clearances for the crossing of the Pacific Ocean, knowing the area but I used the services of Overflight International from the UK, an expert on the Middle East. The big obstacle in such a flight is the crossing of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and California, a leg of some 2100 nautical miles.
I had to build 4 ferry tanks bringing the total fuel on board to 420 USG. I had to have the tanks approved and also have an over weight dispensation. I also had to work out the best power settings for range with all that fuel on board. These settings would be different from beginning to end as the aircraft would get lighter as the fuel was burned. The results from those tests were:
- 30 inches, 2300 RPM, and 22 USG at the start with the aircraft heavy.
- 28 inches, 2200 RPM, and 20 USG at mid-course, therefore at mid-weight.
- 26 inches, 2100 RPM, and 18 USG at the end of the flight with a lighter aircraft.
Will it fit ??
I left Northam, my base in Western Australia, on May 15th. I stopped at Ceduna and Brisbane in Australia, Noumea in New Caledonia, Nadi in Fiji and Pago Pago in American Samoa. There I had the pleasure to meet Joyce and John Proctor , also flying around the world in their Gruman Albatross. So far, I was in known territory, having been there many times. Then Christmas Island in Kiribati.
Refuelling from drums at Christmas Island
There the left electric pump died. Nothing I could do here. I flew to Hilo on the East coast of Hawaii, the "Big Island". It is the closest airport to California. I had to wait there for seven long days for the right weather and winds. I ordered an electric pump from Aero Specialties in Van Nuys and fitted it. Finally the weather returned to normal and the winds were in the right direction.
I took off at 4 am to avoid early morning and late after noon fog in Santa Barbara. I had been worried by that long leg. but it turned out to be one the easiest leg of the whole trip. I reported every hour to Oakland and I had a radio amateur in new Caledonia calling me every 30 minutes. I had decided on a point of non return of 4 hours, that is, if after 4 hours I had not covered one third of the distance and if I did not have two third of fuel remaining, I would have turned back. Every 30 minutes I compared the distance and the fuel remaining with pre-calculated figures and I could see the margins increasing right from the beginning. I made that leg a speed record attempt. The record has been since recognised by the FAI at 360 km/h, just a shade under 200 knots.
In Van Nuys, I had the pleasure of meeting Rick Ray and Roger Oeland. Rick owns an Aerostar and is planning a round the World trip and Roger has a maintenance shop specialising in Aerostars. I had been corresponding with Rick for a while and I hoped he would go before me so I could use his experience. Roger organised a barbecue in his hangar for me with other Aerostar owners. That was great. After an oil and filter change, Rick helped me to file for Boeing Field in Seattle. From there to Vancouver.
There the right starter motor had to be changed. A phone call to Al Hoover at Aerostar Corp. and I had a brand new starter motor the next morning. On departure from Vancouver I had the fire alarm on the right engine, after checking, it was not a fire but a turbo gasket. I had to turn back. After changing the gasket I flew to Thunder Bay and then to Saint Hubert near Montreal. I spent a few days there with radio amateur friends.
Final Approach, Boeing Field Seattle
Then to Goose Bay where I spent a pleasant evening with Canadair pilots . They were on they way back from Europe where they had demonstrated one of their fire fighting flying boat. They gave me good advice on Narsasuack, their last airport and my next.
Approach to Narsasuack Greenland
Approach at Narsasuack is known to be difficult, the airport is in a deep fjord surrounded by high terrain. I did descend following the race track of the NDB and became visual at 4000 feet. I planned to spent the night there but I got a rather cold reception. I was told the airport is closed the next day, a Sunday, and that anyway, the weather will be bad
As it was not too late in the afternoon and as the days are very long being so close of the Artic Circle, I flew to Reykjavik in Iceland where I landed in a rain shower at the minima. I had crossed several time zones in one day and was very tired.
Reykjavik Airport
After a rest day, I flew to Glasgow in Scotland. A friend from Belgium came to join me and we spent a marvellous week, touring part of Scotland. Then we flew to Ostend in Belgium. That was my first visit to Belgium. My friend wanted to see the Futuroscope, a permanent multimedia exhibition in Poitiers in France. When we flew there, I had a problem with the Traffic Controllers because my VHF radios did not have the 25 Khz channel separation required in France. So, to return to Belgium, we flew VFR and low, below any controlled airspace. But our VFR experience were at 100 knots with Australian WAC charts with a scale of 1/1000000 and now we were flying at close to 200 knots with French charts with a scale of 1/500000. That made it interesting !
Later my cousins found a radio shop that installed the 25 Khz channel separation kit. I spent a month flying between France and Belgium, visiting friends, family, churches, castles and museums. And as all good things come to an end, I had to continue the trip. As I had to fly across Egypt, I had decided to spent a few days there. When I invited my friend to come along, she only accepted if we were to spent a least a fortnight instead of the two days I had in mind. So we organised a custom made trip with a cruise on the Nile.
Approach at Cairo in the dust
We left Ostend and had a short stop in Toussus-le-Noble just south of Paris to have the Aerostar washed and have an oil change and headed south along the Rhone valley. We had a problem to start the engines in Nice on the Mediterranean: someone had left the Master Switch on...Finally we landed for fuel (very dear) in Crete and then to Cairo.
Approach was difficult in a dusty haze with conflicting instructions. We spent a fantastic fortnight visiting the Pyramids, many temples and the Nile cruise was magnificent.
After all that good time, once again, I had to continue. My friend left for Belgium. I had the feeling the trip was over and all I had to do now was to go home. That was a false impression as I still had to fly one third of the way and that was not to be the easiest. Trouble started when I had to back track to Alexandria because Cairo had no more Avgas. Then on the way to there my VHF radios started to give me trouble. I could receive but could not transmit. So I crossed Saudi Arabia almost without being able to talk. In Bahrain, I had the radios inspected by a technician, but we found nothing wrong. They were working OK. But they started to play again on the way to Seeb in Oman. There, on take off, I blew another exhaust gasket with the fire alarm on, on the right side this time. The agent, Oman Air Services found for me an Indian expatriate mechanic to help me change the gasket.
Because of the repairs it was too late to depart so I stayed overnight but I had to have my clearance for India amended. My agent in Britain, Overflight International did that promptly. Then a long leg of 1500 nautical miles to Madras in India, after crossing the Subcontinent from West to East. I had been told of the Indian bureaucracy but what I had been told was far below reality. I had to spend 4 hours , going from office to office, filing forms after forms, almost endlessly. After landing at 4 PM, I finally went to bed at midnight to get up at 4 am to start again the office circuit. I still have a flight plan with nine signatures and stamps.
The last long leg took me to Penang in Malaysia. Difficult approach in a thunderstorm. Neither their Glide Slope nor Localiser were working. I had to make a VOR approach to the minima. I was drenched to the bone by the time I got to the terminal but formalities were done in 5 minutes. After a rest day there, a short leg to Seletar, one of Singapore GA airports. I had the radios inspected there. They work better after switching them in their racks. Then another short leg to Bali in Indonesia. My agent went to the Tower to greet me by radio. Then the last leg outside Australia to Port Hedland. There, for the first and only time during the trip my luggage and the aircraft were searched by the over zealous Custom Officers.
The last leg to my home base, Northam. I could not resist the temptation to make a very low and fast beat up over the Aero Club. My fellows members had decorated my hangar and had brought a lot of Champagne. It was great to be back home.
I have made a marvellous trip. It was not always easy, I had some mechanical problems: a starter motor, a fuel pump, blown turbo gaskets, I had my share of bad weather and I had to suffer with the Indian bureaucracy, but I am satisfied with the achievement and I am looking forward at welcoming Rick Ray when he comes.
Total flying time 131.52 hours.
Total distance 24,776 NM
Total number of landings: 36 (23 at unknown airports)
This text is reproduced with the permission of The Aerostar Log, the magazine of the Aerostar Owners Association. http://www.aerostar-owners.com
Last update: May 27, 2021
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