Swissmooney

Swissmooney is now in USA Hello Mooniacs This is just a little report on our flight to and in the USA, a thank you for the infos we received from this group! After a very long period of preparation we finally startet our big adventure on July 1st with a flight from St Gallen LSZR direct to Wick (EGPC) in northern scotland in marginal weather with a passing front some turbs and a bit of icing, the remaining flight at FL180 was then easy and the wx in Wick unusually nice!! after a good nights sleep we donned our immersion suits and the individual life rafts it was off to Reykjavik, about 670 NM and just short of 4 hrs. Wx enroute at FL180 was clear with an undercast at approx 10'000 and we flew a ILS approach with fex @ 600 br 1200 br 2' oc 3'500 with light rain. We enjoyed Iceland for 3 days and were very impressed with the diverse landscape and scenery, just unbelievable!! On 6th July we planned the flight via Kulusuk BGKK to Sondrestrom...the wx was dicey so we fueld DGL to the rim with 104 gal which brought our TO- weight 10% over max, but DGL lifted off @70 kts without any problems and we climbed @ TAS of 115 Kts and 700 ft just incredible...so we headed for FL180 where we had a TAS of 175 kts @ approx 70% pwr the winds were from the right with a headeind component of 5-10 kts, so approaching Kulusuk and checking the wx which was marginal VFR, we decided to skip BGKK und flew over the icecap dct to BGSF, in the descent we got some minor icing @FL100 but were able to make a visual approach!! Due to the clouds we couldn't get many pix but the flight was quite impressive with many pix in our heads! After enjoying the incredible nightlife (3 bars) and a personal wx briefing we had to decide to fly our planned route to Frobisher or plan an alternate....there was a front moving up to CYFB but the route dct to Goose Bay CYYR was much better with no front, just clouds up to FL200 we decided to give it a try, so we loaded DGL again to the rim and took off with no problem....a visual climb to 5000 ft and then intermittent in clouds up to FL180 with just a trace of rime ice. After leaving iceland control approx 150 NM out we had no radio contact for approx 2 hrs, did one position report via a relay with an airliner...the few glimpses of the atlantic we had showed a not very i viting environment and we were very happy that DGL works like a swiss clock. The wx in GooseBay was forecast to be IFR and MVFR, but on arrival we had to fly the ILS down close to minimas @approx 400 ft, it took us 6'23" to fly the last part of the atlantic xing and we were very happy despite the rain and low clouds. The next morning we climbed thru the same murks, had some little icing but were out of the clouds @FL180 after 1 hr and almost in severe clear to Quebec. after 3 days in a beautiful resort and enjoying old Quebec it was off to USA!! We planned to enter in KANJ Sault Ste Marie and checked everything at CBP manual, did the eAPIS and made an appointment for 1300LT at KANJ which was confirmed. The flight was uneventful but the rest.....we landed 5' early (after 3'50") in KANJ, taxied to a remote spot and expected the CBP officers. At 1300 I called and they were surprised that we were at KANJ and could not find our eAPIS (it was confirmed the evening before), so we got to hear what we did wrong,y and should have flown to a international airport....so finally they said they will come from the bridge and we have to wait at the airplane...it took approx 30' and then we were interrogated and got a very uneasy feeling. Then we moved to the FBO and one officer was searching our plane and baggage. After long tel discussions with the office it was decided that we had to go the the bridge with the official office for immigration...so we had to sit in the back of the patrol car!!! Like a prison, hot, stuffy...it took the officers 10 min to check in to get approval to drive the 2 Min to the office!! There we were processed in a friendly and efficient way and it cost only 12 $ incl even the taxi ride back in the prison car to the airport!! So finally we have arrived in the good ole USA!! And now I am writing this on our dct flight from KANJ to Rapid City KRAP approx 870 NM, got the IFR clearance from center immediately after TO and about 30 mins into the flight we got KRAP dct!!! Just incredible and unheard in Europe, that is why we consider the flying environment in the USA as pure heaven (not even talking about the fuel prices, which are higher then we were used but still about half of the prices at home) So we will spend some days in the badlands and on sunday we will fly to West Yellowstone airport and we stay in the area for 5 days, on the 20th we fly to MOAB UT After that we are heading direction Longview TX to get a nice treatment for DGL by Don Maxwell! sorry it got rather long now.... Happy landings Heinz @ Edith Just some add infos concerning safety - immersion suits - ISPLR Individual single place life raft - life raft - satphone with GPS and emergency function - 2 PLBs - SPOT with GPS and emergeny function flying stuff - 2 ipads - 2 iphones Wing X pro Foreflight Jepp FD

Hey you are just an incredible group...!!! many thanks for the wealth of information and we'll take the eastertime to sift thru all the proposals to finesse our plan... MANY MANY THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR ADVICE AND INFOS Hank: many thanks for your insights Parker woodruff and jetdriven and OR75 for the info concerning maintenance: I will check on the legal side! Mitch: for the advice re Kalispell (I visited it many moons ago and it is definitely on the wishlist again) and I lived in Tulsa 1980-1984 working for HILTI! Becca: for Sedona and DC Area and I sure do hope, that you enjoyed switzerland a bit?! Don Muncy: thank you very much for the offer concerning maintenance RVS...I will definitely consider it and will get in touch with you pm (during my stay in Tulsa I flew out of RVS with Arlan Nutt's FBO and Deanna Robertson and George Delap's Geronimo) Immelmann: for the Info concerning Yellowstone and Bryce...looking very much forward to! flyingwrench: for the confirmation of KANJ and the info CBP pisny78: thank you very much for your generous offer and I will contact you via pm DaV8or: yes Oshkosh is always on my mind....have seen it several times but never with own plane...but the itinerary is a bit off...however I will reconsider it...now that you mentionned it!! AmigOne: thanks for the generous offer and advice and I will certainly contact you by pm Thanks again for the input Kind regards, happy landigs and happy easter Heinz

Hi Mooniacs The plans for our trip to the USA are taking shape and I would like to ask for some advice, tipps, infos from this helpfull group concerning preferred airports and some additional infos which you think could help make this trip the adventure of a lifetime We have some specific questions concerning favorable airports at our various destinations like - Which is the best airport concerning o Services (avgas but also rental car etc) o Location in relation to our destination/tourist attraction - Any other recommendation „need to visit“ along our route - Any Mooney gatherings along the route?? - 100 hr maintenance in the Tulsa area: recommended shop?? Airplane: HB-DGL Mooney231 (see pix album) Crew: Edith, my wife is „Co-Pilot“ for the first part of the trip to NY….“multitasking-lady“…mainly responsible for „creature comfort“ and „moral support“!! PIC: european PPL/IR plus US-CPL/IR with BFR/IPC February 12 in KFXE electronic helpers: WingX & Fltplan.com /ipad Timing: departure will be July 1st till approx August 12th back in Europe Routing: Switzerland LSZR - Scotland / Wick / EGPC - Reykiavik Island: BIRK - Kulusuk Greenland: BGKK - Nuuk Greenland: BGGH - Frobisher Bay/Iqualit CDN /CYFB - Wabush CDN CYWK - Quebec CDN CYQB Entry USA approx July 13th @ Sault Ste Marie KCIU or KANJ (which one is preferable) or any other advice (eg custom! I know e-apis and decal!) Destinations/Targets in USA - Yellowstone: Cody KCOD or other recommendations - Bryce / Zion / Arches / Grand Canyon: Page KPGA?? Or….? - Tulsa KTUL (approx July 28th) (why Tulsa? Visiting old friends!): 100 hrs service! Maintenance shop?? - Washington DC: airport?? (access to downtown/mall etc!) - New York: Farmingdale KFRG or Teterboro KTEB?? Or…? - And4sure we will try to fly the Hudson incl the Lady! And from New York we’ll be flying back via the fast lane (approx Aug 6th) Goose Bay – Narssarsuaq – Reykiavik –Wick - home Total: 12‘000 NM roundtrip your help is greatly appreciated..... happy landings Heinz

Hi Geoff thank you very much for the info....but this would still be much cheaper than the offer I have! Would you please inform me about the source for a) the new coupler assembly of 1800-2500$ and the overhauled coupler assembly of approx 900$ kind regards Heinz

Hi there everybody I would like to ask the group for some information concerning a source for buying the following part: coupler assembly no 635796 Mooney 231 / Continental Turbo (this part is connecting the alternator to the engine!) I got a quote by a german company of approx 3'000$ and cannot believe it!! however knowing that airplane parts are priced somehow differently I would like to hear, if that quote is feasible!! I checked on the internet and have quotes requested from WBparts and parttarget! any Information will be appreciated!! Kind regards and happy landings (actually even the birds are walking due to heavy fog!) Heinz

Hi Gary thanks and compliments to your interior....that's what I've been looking for but is hard to find a shop with that prof touch! have fun Heinz

Hi Mooniacs thanks for the applause... no I am not military and no they retired the Hunter about 15 years ago however there are several of them flying (Swiss Airforce flies the F/A 18!) http://www.swisshunterteam.com/ however I had the chance to fly this amazingly beautiful bird (built 1953!! without any computer) with the ex-commander of a famous Hunter-wing and and having found an excellent bond decided to fly this formation (I will add some pix from the inside of the mooney to the gallery!). Of course I was full out and we did a slight descent, the pix was taken by a professional from the ground (probably a cannon of a lens!!) HB-DGL is a MK231 1985 with longrange tanks/ox/ and a new panel and we are planning to fly from switzerland to the USA via Greenland and of course looking forward meeting many mooniacs along the adventure I had the opportunity to fly HB-DGL from Vancouver to Switzerland in 2006 (within 5 days!! business was pressing!) so next time as a semi-retireree I will spend more time for sightseeing! Have fun Heinz