Moving a C172 to Australia from California

"Montblack" wrote:
("Aaron Coolidge" wrote)
I worked with a guy who flew this route, round trip, twice, in a C172
with factory "long range tanks". It took a while!


Is California to Alaska, then over to Russia and down that edge of The
Rim an option? Is anybody using that route these days?

Think south! Here's a fun (i.e. not to be taken seriously) suggestion:

Head down through South America, to the southern tip of Argentina at
Ushuaia, hop from there to Antartica to:

Palmer Antarctic base (U.S.) on the Antarctic Peninsula,
San Martin base (Argentina) on the Antarctic Peninsula,
Belgrano III base (Argentina) on the Weddell Sea coast,
Amundsen-Scott base (U.S.) at the South Pole,
McMurdo base (U.S.) on the Ross Sea coast,
Dumont d'Urville base (France) on Antarctic Sea coast,
Macquarie Island (Australia) in the South Pacific,
Hobart in Tasmania,
Adelaide in Australia,
and finally to Perth.

Here's a map that shows those bases:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/islan...ctic_pol97.jpg

I have no idea what the actual lengths of any of the legs of that trip are
- just eye-balled it using the above map. You'd still probably need long
range tanks - and skis! :-)

"Jim Logajan" wrote in message
.. .
"Montblack" wrote:
("Aaron Coolidge" wrote)
I worked with a guy who flew this route, round trip, twice, in a C172
with factory "long range tanks". It took a while!


Is California to Alaska, then over to Russia and down that edge of The
Rim an option? Is anybody using that route these days?

Think south! Here's a fun (i.e. not to be taken seriously) suggestion:

Head down through South America, to the southern tip of Argentina at
Ushuaia, hop from there to Antartica to:

Palmer Antarctic base (U.S.) on the Antarctic Peninsula,
San Martin base (Argentina) on the Antarctic Peninsula,
Belgrano III base (Argentina) on the Weddell Sea coast,
Amundsen-Scott base (U.S.) at the South Pole,
McMurdo base (U.S.) on the Ross Sea coast,
Dumont d'Urville base (France) on Antarctic Sea coast,
Macquarie Island (Australia) in the South Pacific,
Hobart in Tasmania,
Adelaide in Australia,
and finally to Perth.

Here's a map that shows those bases:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/islan...ctic_pol97.jpg

I have no idea what the actual lengths of any of the legs of that trip are
- just eye-balled it using the above map. You'd still probably need long
range tanks - and skis! :-)

Probably be faster to go the other way around Antartica given the hurricane
force winds that commonly blow west to east...

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate.

"Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe" The Sea Hawk at wow way d0t com wrote:
Probably be faster to go the other way around Antartica given the
hurricane force winds that commonly blow west to east...

True - and there are more stations and bases along the coast in that
direction. I just discovered, though, that Macquarie Island has no airfield
(it's a World Heritage Site). So the flight from Dumont d'Urville station
to Hobart Tasmania is about 1450 nm. :-(

argon

In my opinion the used aircraft market in Aus is a joke. Bring your plane
with you.

I don't have personal experience in shipping aircraft from the US to Aus but
I know a few people who have. In most cases they have used your option 3 for
an aircraft that will fit into a shiping container. Ferrying is usually only
for larger aircraft although occaisionally people choose the ferry option
simply for the adventure. However I am told that the cost of ferrying is
about the same as crating.

For the very best info and experience on ferrying I'd suggest you look at
http://www.clahen.com.au/

You'll also find some intetesting stories about how Ray ditched into the
Pacific, twice!

Mal

"argon39" wrote in message
oups.com...
After 30 years of fun and excitement in the SF Bay area, I've taken a
new job in Perth, Western Australia. Now I need to decide what to do
about my iBugsmasher, a wonderful 1969 C172K that I have modified so
that it's just the way I want it:

C172K, 2050 hours on airframe
New Garmin IFR panel
100 hours on O-360 180 HP conversion
Hartzell constant speed prop
Horton STOL kit
Powerflow tuned exhaust

As I see it, there are three options.

[1] Sell the precious iBugsmasher and buy a new airplane in Australia.

[2] Ferry it. (The first 2100 NM leg to Hawaii is kinda long without an
autopilot!).

[3] Take the wings off, crate it up and ship it.

Pros and cons for each option:

[1] Easiest, but I have the a/c just as I want it except for paint and
interior (that was going to happen later). The Australian market is
much smaller and it would probably take some time to find the 'right'
airplane. And it's probably more expensive, but I really don't know
yet.

[2] While parts of the trans-Pac adventure would be worth writing
about, I'm not interested in tanking the a/c and flying it myself.
There might be a ferry company willing to do this, but the costs
involved will not be trivial. With an STC it might just be possible to
put a bladder in the a/c that could get it to Hawaii for the long leg.
But there is still a long way to go after that.

[3] This option seems the most sane, but there are major
disassembly/reassembly costs and after that there are additional costs
of inspection and certification by the Australian authorities.

I'd really appreciate hearing from folks who have some experience in
this area. Which of the options (or one I haven't thought of yet) are
reasonable and/or practical?

Thanks.

argon39

wow! talk about an interesting read (http://www.clahen.com.au/ ). i
just lost an hour somewhere out in the pacific. thanks for the link.

dan



k

Comments on shipping a plane in a container.

I was a principal in removing a plane from a container after it had been
shipped from England to the west coast of the US and re-assembling it.

Upon re-assembly, the plane looked real good. However within the next two
years so much corrosion developed that the plane was ultimately scrapped.

My theory is that the ship rode through rough weather and salt spray or
corrosive salt laden air wound up penetrating the container.

The owner assured me that the plane was NOT exposed to a salt atmosphere in
England.

Cheers:

Paul
N1431A

This time he was the one orbiting and giving advice while his assistant
went down...

http://www.avweb.com/newswire/12_24a.../192443-1.html

I'm sorry, but that's too interesting a life for me...

(still amazing)