California pilot ditches at sea

[Major Lord]

Man, what are the odds that this guy survives to the age of 65? He ran out of gas 500 miles short of Hawaii.

http://www.aol.com/2011/10/08/plane-ditches-in-ocean-of_0_n_1001595.html?1318103818

Major Lord

[a2capt]

Actually, the gas ran out about 11 miles out. He radioed mayday at 500 miles out.

The airplane is registered to a ferry service, the NTSB report will have better details. But at least they can't argue about if it was really lost or not. The Coast Guard has it on video. ..

[EMT-83]

As Maxwell Smart would say, "Missed it by that much."

[coudano]

any idea what the type was?
what sort of single prop has a 2500+ miles range?

[davidsinn]

any idea what the type was?
what sort of single prop has a 2500+ miles range?

The Coast Guard had sent a plane to rendezvous with Mellor's two-engine Cessna

Is this /. now? Doesn't anyone RTFA?

[a2capt]

any idea what the type was?
what sort of single prop has a 2500+ miles range?

... see the other answer, but also ...  a single being ferried with a permit to depart over gross, with a STC'ed oversized, cabin-installed fuel tank designed for that airframe. From the West Coast, to Hawaii, they'll usually launch out of Oakland, as it's closer to Oahu than the rest of whats here. It's possible that 310 had the same kind of setup in it. As it was registered to a ferry company, too. Which a lot of times also act as brokers, thus they take ownership of aircraft in the interim too. FWIW, the range on a C310 is about 1000km, so this one surely had the same setup in it.

You are surrounded by avgas, with nothing but water under you, and typically are wearing a suit and have an inflatable raft onboard, and thats about it. You, gas, rations, an exposure suit, and flares. The interior of the aircraft is usually stripped to install the tank, and those items are shipped by common carrier to the destination and then re-assembled.

Transiting the Pacific is usually done this way, and if it's going to AU, Japan, or ...  it's refueled at HNL and departs again after a long potty break.


For the Atlantic, into Europe they'll transit either the Lindbergh way, or from Newfoundland  via either the Azores, or Greenland -> Iceland -> (IE/UK/FR/SP/etc), and if going to somewhere in Africa, usually the same North Atlantic route and then into Africa from the north.

A bit more rare would be launching from Puerto Rico, if southern/central Africa is the destination.

Of course, the alternate method is to containerize it. But it's not uncommon to just modify it and fly it.

[coudano]

any idea what the type was?
what sort of single prop has a 2500+ miles range?

The Coast Guard had sent a plane to rendezvous with Mellor's two-engine Cessna

Is this /. now? Doesn't anyone RTFA?

I read the article but it was a skimming,
i was guessing from the video, didnt look like a twin to me
but oh well

[davidsinn]

any idea what the type was?
what sort of single prop has a 2500+ miles range?

The Coast Guard had sent a plane to rendezvous with Mellor's two-engine Cessna

Is this /. now? Doesn't anyone RTFA?

I read the article but it was a skimming,
i was guessing from the video, didnt look like a twin to me
but oh well

It was just odd that there were two mistakes in the same thread about the same article that would not have been made by a closer read of it.

[SarDragon]

During WWII, one of the routes for getting bombers to England was:
Florida -> Puerto Rico -> Georgetown, British Guiana -> Belem, Brazil -> Natal, Brazil -> Dakar, Senegal -> Marrakech, Morrocco -> England

Jimmy Stewart took a bunch of B-24s on that route.

[DC]

During WWII, one of the routes for getting bombers to England was:
Florida -> Puerto Rico -> Georgetown, British Guiana -> Belem, Brazil -> Natal, Brazil -> Dakar, Senegal -> Marrakech, Morrocco -> England

Jimmy Stewart took a bunch of B-24s on that route.

That's a hell of a circular route. What was wrong with going the much shorter G-I-UK route?

[Thrashed]

any idea what the type was?
what sort of single prop has a 2500+ miles range?

I saw a guy leave San Jose, CA for Hawaii, then Japan in a little Mooney. No thanks. I've done CA to HI in a 767 and that's just fine with me.

[SarDragon]

During WWII, one of the routes for getting bombers to England was:
Florida -> Puerto Rico -> Georgetown, British Guiana -> Belem, Brazil -> Natal, Brazil -> Dakar, Senegal -> Marrakech, Morrocco -> England

Jimmy Stewart took a bunch of B-24s on that route.

That's a hell of a circular route. What was wrong with going the much shorter G-I-UK route?

The southern route was warmer and friendlier in case of a ditched A/C.

[bosshawk]

Good point, Dave: ever seen Greenland and Iceland in winter?  Not my choice.

[Spaceman3750]

During WWII, one of the routes for getting bombers to England was:
Florida -> Puerto Rico -> Georgetown, British Guiana -> Belem, Brazil -> Natal, Brazil -> Dakar, Senegal -> Marrakech, Morrocco -> England

Jimmy Stewart took a bunch of B-24s on that route.

That's a hell of a circular route. What was wrong with going the much shorter G-I-UK route?

The southern route was warmer and friendlier in case of a ditched A/C.

Ditching onto a beach in Brazil sounds like my kind of crash landing .

[Huey Driver]

During WWII, one of the routes for getting bombers to England was:
Florida -> Puerto Rico -> Georgetown, British Guiana -> Belem, Brazil -> Natal, Brazil -> Dakar, Senegal -> Marrakech, Morrocco -> England

Jimmy Stewart took a bunch of B-24s on that route.

That's a hell of a circular route. What was wrong with going the much shorter G-I-UK route?

The southern route was warmer and friendlier in case of a ditched A/C.

Ditching onto a beach in Brazil sounds like my kind of crash landing .

+1

[Cliff_Chambliss]

What kind of single engine (light twin) has a 2500 mile range?  How about:

FAI certified world records Max Conrad set nine official aviation world records (as recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale or FAI, the aviation world record adjudicating body).

Date Aircraft FAI Class Record Event Record
1 May 1952             PA-20-135 Pacer         C-1b Distance 3,962.744 km (2,462.335 mi)  Los Angeles CA - New York NY
4 June 1959            PA-24-250 Comanche  C-1d Distance 12,341.26 km (7,668.50 mi) Casablanca - Trinidad - El Paso - Los Angeles
26 November 1959 PA-24-180 Comanche  C-1c Distance 11,211.83 km (6,966.71 mi) Casablanca - El Paso TX
4 July 1960              PA-24-180 Comanche C-1c Distance over closed course 11,138.72 km (6,921.28 mi)} Minneapolis MN -
                                                                   Chicago IL - Des Moines IA
8 March 1961           PA-23 Aztec                C-1 Speed around the world, westbound 198.27 km/h (123.20 mph)
8 March 1961           PA-23 Aztec                C-1d Speed around the world, westbound 198.27 km/h (123.20 mph)
26 December 1964  PA-30 Twin Comanche C-1e Distance 12,678.83 km (7,878.26 mi) Cape Town - St Petersburg FL
4 February 1968      PA-23 Aztec                 C-1d Distance over closed course 6,357.48 km (3,950.35 mi) Chicago - Milwaukee
7 September 1968   PA-23 Aztec                 C-1e Distance over closed course 8,549.2 km (5,312.2 mi)