A CAP Maule in France!

[Pylon]

You thought you've seen everything, right?

http://www.aizair.fr/?p=3

I occasionally read up on French websites and blogs (reminiscing about the days when I lived in Paris) and saw this gem linked somewhere - the paint scheme immediately caught my eye.  It's a Civil Air Patrol Maule, for sure - but the "F" number looked a bit out of place.  Reading the blog, I was surprised:  This guy living in France bought the Maule from CAP's surplus auctions and had it flown by an instructor pilot (who was from Texas apparently) to France across the Atlantic and got it certified to fly there. 

Why the Maule?  Well, the guy actually explains pretty well in a subsequent blog post - he's going to be using it for commercial purposes, and likes the large windows down to the floor and the skyroof for aerial photography, the good STOL capabilities and cites the "vortex generators" on the wings, etc.  He notes that he may be using the winch hook to tow banners and sailplanes.

Just seems pretty neat to see a CAP plane with the recognizable paint scheme (though none of the CAP emblems) being used in France by another aviation enthusiast (who interestingly hasn't been flying long and is apparently a Dentist during the day).  Just my neat find for the day. 

[Eclipse]

[CadetProgramGuy]

Loose translation on the website:

Arrived on September 19th, 2007 by air escorting since States Unis, MAULE MT7-235 précédement used by civilian Air Patrol must have waited until February 29th, 2008 (and his pilot also) to acquire one let through authorizing it to fly. Her commercial working can consequently begin.



ALSO -

I can't tell if it is glare or if is the CAP emblem on the bottom of the wing.....

[notaNCO forever]

Looks like it's just the glare to me.

[IceNine]

It must be a glare, I can make out portions of the tail number and chances of the emblem reflecting that well are pretty slim.

[arajca]

It's probably a combination of glare and uneven paint oxidation. The sticker would protect the paint beneath in from oxidizing, leaving an impression.

[PHall]

It's probably a combination of glare and uneven paint oxidation. The sticker would protect the paint beneath in from oxidizing, leaving an impression.

Did they use decals on the Maules?  When our 206 got it's new paint job they painted on the CAP insignia and lettering.

[arajca]

I thought they used decals, but I could be wrong. Won't be the first time. Or the last.

[jimmydeanno]

Loose translation on the website:

Arrived on September 19th, 2007 by air escorting since States Unis, MAULE MT7-235 précédement used by civilian Air Patrol must have waited until February 29th, 2008 (and his pilot also) to acquire one let through authorizing it to fly. Her commercial working can consequently begin.

Better translation:

Arrived on September 19, 2007 by air convoy from the United States. MAULE MT7-235 was previously used by the Civil Air Patrol.  [The airplane] Must have patience until February 29, 2008 (and its pilot too) when it receives the license authorizing it to fly. Its commercial use can start then.

[SAR-EMT1]

How much avgas does it take to fly the pond?

(And how long at the Maule cruising speed?)

I hope that thing had autopilot... I'd have fallen asleep otherwise.

[CadetProgramGuy]

How much avgas does it take to fly the pond?

(And how long at the Maule cruising speed?)

I hope that thing had autopilot... I'd have fallen asleep otherwise.

Taken from Maule's website:

Maule MT-7: 41 gal capacity (tank config B)
Cruise at top of green arc 147mph.
Fuel Burn: 14 gal / hr.
Lets also assume an additional fuel tank of 60 gal.
Trans atlantic flight New York to london: 3783mi

Ok that translates to:  25.7 hrs of flying using 359.8 gal of fuel

Bear with my approximations ok fellas?

[Pylon]

Bear with my approximations ok fellas?

The blog states there were a few stop-overs... the Maule wasn't exactly making a direct, non-stop New York to London hop here.  Heh.

The Maule also has 15 gal Aux tanks (I think they were 15 gal, IIRC) in each wing.  You can pump fuel from them into the main tanks by activating via switch in the cockpit... the rate of fuel transfer is faster than the plane burns it at cruising, but still quite slow.

From: http://www.aizair.fr/?p=9

« C'est un instructeur texan qui lui a fait traverser l'Atlantique », raconte le Sarthois avec espièglerie. « 42 heures de vol, avec des escales au Canada, en Islande et au Danemark. » Les 800 kg - à vide - du petit Maule sont finalement arrivés à bon port. C'était en mai 2007.

In other words:  42 hours in flight, making stops in Canada, Iceland, and in Denmark before arriving in France.

[CadetProgramGuy]

For my calculations I used -

New York to Goose bay, Canada
Goose bay to Greenland
Greenland to Iceland
Iceland to scotland
scotland to london

[SarDragon]

Well, given the stops called out in the narrative, we have:
NY to Goose Bay or St Johns or Gander - 1200 mi
Newfoundland to Iceland - 1700 miles
Iceland to Denmark - 1100 miles
Denmark to Paris - 600 miles

All measurements point-to-point on Google Earth, rounded up to nearest hundred.

[a2capt]

These ferry flights tend to be that they take out the interior seating except for the pilot seat and a fuel tank is installed within. Some of them surround the pilot to where you can't even see out one side as well as the back. The aircraft usually departs over gross - the pilot is wearing a survival suit similar to NASA standards mainly for having to ditch in the ocean.

When they fly single engines to Hawaii from the west coast they usually depart from Oakland as it's a nice GA friendly class C airport and it's closer than anything else on the west coast, to Honolulu.

Here's one such story, though the opposite direction, bringing it from down under to Santa Barbara. The arrival at SBA is a hoot.

http://www.swaviator.com/html/ISSUEND02/California111202.html

Another one, too:

http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/pilot-talk/x-country-log/great-sandy-australia.html

For the Atlantic to Europe, the Azores is a usual waypoint.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/06/13/cessna-landing.html

These kind of operations can add $10K-15K and more to the cost of the airplane.

http://www.ferryflight.info/international.htm