Goose Bay to Reykjavik via Narsarsuaq
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26 June 2007



Pilot Section

General
 
In anticipation of the forecast weather window we were up early and ready for the Woodward Aviation bus at 0700. When we got to Woodward and checked how the weather had developed overnight, it was clear the high pressure was still developing over Greenland but slower than expected yesterday. Narsarsuaq was forecast overcast, but VMC (Visual Meterological Conditions) and generally improving. Nuuk was forecast IMC (Instrument Meterological Conditions) for most of the day.
 
I should explain that although Andre’s Bonanza and my SR22 are both fitted and capable of Instrument Flight, and we are flying IFR (Instrument Flight Rules), on the Atlantic Crossing we will not start out on any leg unless the forecast at the other end is for VMC weather at the time of our arrival and a good period either side. The Nuuk or Narsarsuaq routing decision was therefore made for us by the weather report! We would route via Narsarsuaq and (subject to continued favourable weather forecast at Narsarsuaq) would try to continue on to Reykjavik today, which currently is reporting excellent clear weather.
 
We are now under a bit of time pressure – it is going to be a very long day if we are to do the 674 miles to Narsarsuaq, refuel and then fly the 667 miles to Reykjavik today! We quickly prepare and get into our survival suits that we will wear for the three long over water legs. We are ready for departure by 0915.
 
N238JG climbed up over Goose to our cruising altitude of 11,000ft, unfortunately again climbing through a thin layer of stratus around 6,000ft which blocked our view of the ground and prevented us seeing anything until we reach the Newfoundland coast where it cleared and were able to see the flat calm blue Atlantic Ocean – filled with Icebergs! Today the water off North East Newfoundland was at least 50% covered with floating pack ice and we were to see larger icebergs as we approached the coast of Greenland.
 

Approximately one hour before us a little Piper Cherokee (N4714L) had departed Goose fitted with a huge delivery tank. He had no instrument flight capability and no autopilot system, and was navigating by a portable GPS (the same type as the 3rd backup GPS navigation system in N238JG!). His speed is around 90Kts, almost half the speed of my Cirrus and Andre’s Bonanza, and he is planning to fly all the way to Reykjavik non-stop!! As we fly out over the ocean we start catching N4714L and hear him calling his position reports to Gander Radio, but at his altitude of around 5,000ft he is unable to get through, so Andre and myself assist by relaying messages for him.
 
I do not intend to be critical of the decisions of the pilot of N4717L. When crossing the North Atlantic in a light aircraft every pilot must make their own decisions on what level of safety versus risk they personally wish to take. My approach (and Andre’s) including our employment of Ed with his huge Atlantic crossing experience, and our 2 well equipped aircraft, were probably at the more cautious end of the scale. However, N4717L was certainly at the extreme other end, even deciding to pass by the opportunity to rest and re-fuel in Greenland – apparently to save buying high cost fuel in Greenland!! Anyhow, his eyes were open and he had made his plans knowing the conditions / elements he and his aircraft had to face. When we are flying there is very much a team feeling with all the aircraft in communication doing their best to help each other with information on weather, cloud, freezing levels, winds at different altitudes, and relaying position reports.
 
As we progressed out over the Ocean we had hoped that Andre’s HF radio would assist us in relaying position reports, but although it was working he was unable to get any useful communication through it. I remembered what Andrew Miedecke had told me about the HF Radio fitted for his delivery flight which rarely worked but caused interference and problems with his glass cockpit equipment, which led directly to my own decision to fit a Satellite phone instead of an HF. As it turned out, the Sat phone in N238JG was (and is) nice to have, but not essential. Where we were out of VHF range of Gander Radio, Sondestrom Radio or (later) Iceland Radio we were always able to contact a friendly airliner passing overhead and they obligingly relayed the message for us. (Thankyou Air Canada 873 and BA Speedbird 67).
 
As we approached the coast of Greenland there was considerably more cloud build-up than we had expected from the forecast, and a freezing level around 4,000ft which presented risk of icing. Narsarsuaq has no radar or Instrument Approach, and effectively a pilot has to look after his own descent and navigation up the twisting fjord to Narsarsuaq airfield. We broke out of the cloud at around 3,000ft into light rain and temperatures fortunately just above zero. Although with the Garmin GPS Systems, Avidyne avionics and STec autopilot we were never in any doubt about our position, this was one of the times I was most pleased to have Ed sitting beside me confidently pointing out all the features and landmarks as we flew up the fjord, descending below the level of the mountains as we got closer to Narsarsuaq. Many pilots before us have got disorientated and perished on this phase of the approach to Greenland.
 

Andre was behind us in his Bonanza and we passed back information on the conditions and route as we flew up the fjord to help him in his descent, and at 1426 (Local time), after just over 4 hours flying time from Goose, we were on the ground taxiing to the small terminal building. Again the time pressure was on. We would lose another 2 hours with time zone changes on our way to Reykjavik, and the flight would take us at least a further 4 hours. As it turned out, Narsarsuaq is remarkably efficient. The fuel was with us in a matter of minutes and we got a friendly reception and asistance filing flight plans at the tower.
 
After a quick walk to stretch our legs, coffee break and visit to the little airport shop to buy my children some Greenland souvenirs, we were ready to go before 1600 Local. Once again, N238JG went first, ahead of Andre and his Bonanza. The sky was now relatively clear over Narsarsuaq and we circled over the airport to gain sufficient height to clear the mountains before heading East.
 
The scenery over Greenland was absolutely as spectacular as I had imagined it would be. Initially we flew over the glacier which flows down directly behind Narsarsuaq airfield but as we travelled East that Glacier merges with the amorphous mass of the Greenland Icecap. Flying at a height of 11,000ft the icecap is only a couple of thousand feet below you in the middle of Greenland, and it is easy to imagine you are flying over smooth white clouds if it were not for the occasional mountain peak sticking up black through the ice cap.
 


All too soon we were again heading out over the Atlantic Ocean to the East of Greenland, with our latitude getting gradually further North towards Reykjavik. An hour or so out from the Greenland coast the clouds completely disappeared into the most beautiful clear blue sky.
 
With about 300 miles still to run before Iceland, at a reporting point called “Embla” I switched frequency to Reykjavik Control – and lo and behold, there was N4717L!! He was also at Embla but 6,000ft below us trying to call Reykjavik, and again unable to get through due to his lower altitude. He had overtaken us while we were on the ground having our break in Narsarsuaq, and here we were again overtaking him! We had a chat on the radio for a while during which he said that his backside was sore, but otherwise he was OK. I made my position report to Reykjavik and then relayed the report for N4717L, but quite quickly we were past him and preparing for our approach to Reykjavik.
 
We were so far North now that even though the local time was late evening it was still broad daylight and we could clearly see the mountain peaks of central Iceland more than 100 miles out. There was also a strong wind picking up from the North. On the beam it didn’t affect our ground speed significantly but made for a very turbulent approach to Reykjavik where the reported wind speed was 20Kts gusting 30Kts – fortunately directly down runway 01. On the approach we flew over Keflavik International Airport and then turned North for a Visual approach to 01 at Reykjavik.
 
Tired after the very long day we climbed out of the aircraft in broad daylight at 2245! Andre was a couple of minutes behind us. An hour later, after we had completed customs formailities found a Hotel, made a few phone calls to let everyone know we had arrived safely, and were having a coffee waiting for a taxi to take us to the Hotel…… The pilot of Cherokee N4717L staggered through the door!! He was clearly very tired and happy to be on the ground again – and we were also extremely happy to see that he had made it! Quite an amazing flight!!
 
Pilot Section
 
Here are the details of today’s flight for other pilots and people interested in the details:
 
Departure Airport:        Goose Bay (CYYR)
Departue & Handling: At Goose, Woodward Aviation is 24 Hour Operation with great facilities geared up to supporting departing / arriving GA Trans-Atlantic flights.
At Narsarsuaq the facilities are more rudimentary, but efficient and friendly. Narsarsuaq give each visiting pilot a briefing pack which contains some very useful information, some of which I had not seen elsewhere – and I have listed a few key items below.
At Reykjavik arrival was smooth and clearance completed very quickly.   
Miscellaneous Fees:   
Narsarsuaq      Landing Fee:   N/A
Handling Fee: DKK500.00        (Approx US$95.00)
Departure Fee:            DKK50.00         (Approx US$9.50)         
Reykjavik         Landing Fee:   €20.00              (Approx US$26.00)
                        Parking Fee:    €10.00 / Night    (Approx US$13.00)
Handling Fee: €114.00 (Approx US$148.20)
Customs Fee:   €40.00              (Approx US$52.00)
Avgas Price:
            Narsarsuaq      C$1.67 / Litre    
Reykjavik         €1.20 / Litre
Detailed Route:            Pay attention to this bit if you are planning to fly this route!! I did not find this “standard” routing information in any standard Jeppesen publication. Ed advised me prior to filing flight plans (from his wealth of local knowledge), and the tower at Narsarsuaq has the routes marked on wall charts. These are the standard Goose / Narsarsuaq / Reykjavik routes:
CYYR – LOACH – 59N50W – SI – BGBW
BGBW – 62N40W – 63N30W – EMBLA – BIRK
The flight plan filed at Goose Bay and Narsarsuaq must include the Estimated Elapsed Time (EET) in Box 18 for each of the standard route waypoints.
Sat Phone Reporting: Another gem from Narsarsuaq tower – the telephone numbers for position reporting by Satellite Telephone (I haven’t found these numbers listed anywhere else):
                                    Sondrestrom Radio (South)         +881-621-414-121
                                    Sondrestrom (Backup)                +229-841-135
Gander Radio (For reports West of Greenland)
                                                +1-709-2564414
                                    Gander Radio (For reporting points between 62N and 63N)
                                                                                    +1-709-651-5328
                                    Iceland Radio                             +354-568-4600
En Route Altitude:        11,000ft
Flight Time:                 CYYR to BGBW            4 Hours 10 Minutes
BGBW to BIRK              4 Hours 40 Minutes
Arrival Airport:             Reykjavik (BIRK)
Arrival & Handling:     
Narsarsuaq      Narsarsuaq Airport
Økonomiafdelingen, Box 1036, Nuuk, Greenland
Tel:       +299-326005
Fax:      +299-321490
            Reykjavik         Flight Services Ltd
                                    Flugpjonustan ehf, 101 Reykjavik
                                    Tel:       +354-5521611
                                    Fax:      +354-5529221
                                    e-mail: birk@birk.is      



Kids Section

Did you Know : One of the main industries in Iceland is still fishing, which until quite recently used to be the biggest industry by far. 30 years ago Iceland and the United Kingdom almost went to war over fishing rights in the seas between UK and Iceland that were claimed by both countries. This period in the 1970s was known as “The Cod War”. Now however, the two countries are friends and allies.
 
Fun Fact: Iceland is one of the most energy effieicnt countries in the world because of their tapping of natural energy resources. In Iceland they make use of Geothermic power from Hot Geysers and volcanic heat close to the earth surface. They have also dammed many high mountain rivers and produce more electric power than the country of Iceland can consume.
 
Quiz:  
Answer to yesterday’s Quiz: Goose Bay is in Newfoundland, the Eastern tip of Canada closest to Greenland.
Today’s Quiz Question: Today we arrived in Iceland and this is the most Northerly point of our journey. – But there is no ice in the sea here, and it is warmer than Goose in Canada which are much further South!! What natural effect keeps the seas around Iceland warmer than the sea around Newfoundland and Southern Greenland?
(Answers on the next Daily Diary!)