[COMPLETE] Deliver Brand New C172 JT-A from USA to Norway

Inspired by actual events. OSM Aviation Academy orders two brand new C172 JT-A Skyhawks (turbo diesel engine) from the Cessna factory in Independence, KS USA and sends four pilots to ferry them over 4,000 nm to the small town of Arendal on the eastern end of Norway.

We’ll fly over six countries and fourteen airports. And they’ll even be a little twist towards the end!

This thread will be updated with travel logs and flight plans as we retrace their steps.

Pre-requisites: You’ll need TommyMxr’s excellent Cessna 172 JT-A Mod and for maximum realism, Working Title’s G1000 NXi available on the Marketplace in-sim.

Pilot’s Notes

Caution on loading the plans into MS Flight Planner - because they’re exported from Little Nav Map as Direct IFR plans, the planner insists on selecting a SID and a STAR as well as an Approach in advance. Unfortunately, if you override any of those (say you select Direct), the waypoints get changed/shuffled. Easiest workaround is to load the plan in LNM and either hand re-create it in MS Flight Planner or load in-cockpit on the Garmin (which is why NXi is a pre-requisite).

Most plans are at 9,000 MEA. You’ll need to adjust accordingly. Some legs will require going higher - probably around 17,000 which is the practical max altitude for the turbo-diesel. The fuel capacity was not reduced to the usable 45 gals. on the JT-A, but it facilitates making the extended range of the turbo-diesel version possible in-sim; plan on operating at 70 percent torque power which should give you just around 112 KTAS for most cruise operations. You’ll be pushing the limits of long endurance for single engine - or your personal best sitting in a virtual cockpit seat.

Leg 1: Independence Municipal Airport, (Independence KS USA) to Des Moines International Airport (Des Moines IA USA).

Leg 2: Des Moines International Airport (Des Moines IA USA) to Sault Ste Marie, Canada.

Leg 3: Sault Ste Marie, Canada to La Grande Riviere, Canada.

Leg 4: La Grand Riviere, Canada to Kuujjuaq, Canada.

Leg 5: Kuujjuaq, Canada to Iqaluit, Canada.

Leg 6: Iqualuit, Canada to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.

Leg 7: Kangerlussuaq, Greenland to Kulusuk, Greenland.

Leg 8: Kulusuk, Greenland to Reykjavik, Iceland.

PLOT TWIST

At the time, OSM’s next planned leg of Reykjavik to Vagar (Faroes) was stymied by the mercurial North Atlantic weather. Instead, they had to find a jump-off point from eastern Iceland to push past Faroes and arrive at Sumbergh in the Shetlands instead. Initially they planned on departing Iceland from a southeastern airport called Hornafjordur, but then discovered it’s not an International airport, and therefore invalid for country entry/departure. Another airport further north up the coast called Egilsstadir fit the bill, but that was two hops more than planned.

Much like the “Choose Your Own Adventure” novelletes I grew up on - the reader also has a choice now - you can follow the next five hops (9A to 9E - Reykjavik to Arendal) and simulate exactly what the ferry team experienced. The links below point directly to the PLN files (no travel log). Be aware that Egilsstadir to Sumbergh is a very challenging leg - you will be in the seat for a long time.

OR

You can assume the weather cooperated and take on their original flight plan of Iceland to Faroes to Norway (10-12). I’ll be performing the latter, but feel free to choose which plan to fly.

Actual Flight Plan (PLN files only):

Leg 9A: Reykjavik, Iceland to Hornafjordur, Iceland
Delivery_09A_IFR Reykjavik (BIRK) to Hornafjordur (BIHN).pln (2.2 KB)

Leg 9B: Hornafjordur, Iceland to Egilsstadir, Iceland (International POE/POD)
Delivery_09B_IFR Hornafjordur (BIHN) to Egilsstadir (BIEG).pln (1.5 KB)

Leg 9C: Egillstadir, Iceland to Sumbergh, UK
Delivery_09C_IFR Egilsstadir (BIEG) to Sumburgh (EGPB).pln (2.8 KB)

Leg 9D: Sumbergh, UK to Kjevik, Norway
Delivery_09D_IFR Sumburgh (EGPB) to Kjevik (ENCN).pln (2.8 KB)

Leg 9E: Kjevik, Norway to Gullknapp, Norway
Delivery_09E_VFR Kjevik (ENCN) to Gullknapp (ENGK).pln (1.5 KB)

Optimal Flight Plan (travel logs):

Leg 10: Reykjavik, Iceland to Vagar, Denmark.

Leg 11: Vagar, Denmark to Flesland, Norway.

Leg 12: Flesland, Norway to Gullknapp, Norway.

If you read this all the way to the end and flew this mission, I hope you enjoyed it!

6 Likes

Leg 1: Independence Municipal Airport, (Independence KS USA) to Des Moines International Airport (Des Moines IA USA)

Delivery_01_IFR Independence Mun (KIDP) to Des Moines Intl (KDSM).pln (3.5 KB)

Departing the Cessna Delivery Center Independence KS - always nice to have a new aircraft!

Kansas is picturesque, but very flat - not much elevation on our route to Iowa.

We pass Overland, the built-up suburb on the outskirts of Kansas City - Arrowhead Stadium is just below the nose.

One of the relatively short hops we’ll have on this journey - 282 nm, about 2.5 hours - with a safe arrival on Runway 5.

Next stop - Canada!

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Leg 2: Des Moines International Airport (Des Moines IA USA) to Sault Ste Marie, Canada.

Delivery_02_IFR Des Moines Intl (KDSM) to Sault Ste Marie (CYAM).pln (3.5 KB)

Night departure out of KDSM.

Little vignettes of night life - summer baseball fields all lit up:

Not much to see on a mostly Westerly North routing; the city of Waterloo out of the PIC window:

Too dark to see the real deal, but Synthetic Vision shows we’re about to cross the Mighty Mississippi River separating Iowa and Wisconsin:

Approaching CYAM from the Southeast - pilots need to be careful, there’s two airports named Sault Ste Marie, one on each side of the border bisected by the St. Mary’s River (US airport KANJ off at 2:00):

Safe arrival at RWY 30 after 492nm and 4 hrs ENR- off to the hotel to get some rest for tomorrow’s leg - we’re headed Due North!

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Safe journey !

Leg 3: Sault Ste Marie, Canada to La Grande Riviere, Canada

Delivery_03_IFR Sault Ste Marie (CYAM) to La Grande Riviere (CYGL).pln (2.8 KB)

Dawn patrol launch out of Sault Ste Marie - we’re headed to the Great White North!

The breaking dawn colors are amazing.

As the sun rises, we get a better view of St. Mary’s River that separates Michigan USA (left) from Ontario Canada (right):

Headed North - not much to see past our Departure field - miles and miles of beautiful vast wilderness - next civilization stop is approximately 315nm away:

The oddly named Moose Factory - there’s a lot of history down there - it’s a Native Canadian populated town but was also the first English speaking settlement on St. James Bay:

Crossing St. James Bay - following it North leads you to the enormous Hudson Bay and the beginnings of Arctic territory - but we’re angling east to get back overland:

On approach to La Grande Riviere which services the town of Radisson - the raison d’etre for miles around is the massive Hydroelectric dams which provide power to Quebec province:

Safe arrival at RWY 31, we traveled 495 nm or so for 4 hours:

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Leg 4: La Grand Riviere, Canada to Kuujjuaq, Canada

Delivery_04_IFR La Grande Riviere (CYGL) to Kuujjuaq (CYVP).pln (2.2 KB)

Tiny Kuujjuaq on the mouth of the Koksoak River is both an Administrative hub and Capital of the Kativik Regional District in Quebec, as well as a vital ferry airport for planes transiting between the US and Europe via Canda and the Greenland-Iceland-UK route. It’s literally one of the last stops in North America before the massive Greenland continental shelf. About 452 nm and four hours on this leg.

Departing La Grande Riviere - definite IFR, all the clear weather from Kansas has disappeared.

Beautiful vast emptiness as we head slowly up to cruise altitude. Even with a responsive turbo-diesel, it’s a slow climb.

Cloudbase break out around 8,000 - lower the nose, pick up some speed and get on the power curve for fuel consumption - we’re helped along by a rough tailwind gusting to 40 knots or so:

Checkpoint Lake Wiyashakimi - we’re about 200 nm or so from Kuujjuaq:

Descending into the soup for a northwest curve around to Runway 25:

We pass over the north end of Kuujjuaq headed for the threshold:

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Leg 5: Kuujjuaq, Canada to Iqaluit, Canada

Delivery_05_IFR Kuujjuaq (CYVP) to Iqaluit (CYFB).pln (2.5 KB)

We get a taste of the strong and dangerous North Atlantic and Arctic Weather to come on the next few legs. Things started well enough departing Kuujjuaq, but the last hundred miles or so to isolated Iqaluit way up in the NorthWest Territories, things went downhill fast. 375 nm, 2h 45m.

Departing Kuujjuaq and the climbout to cruise - the cloudbase is around 8,000 again:

We’re following the coastline of Quebec Province - to starboard is the Hudson Strait and Nunavut Territory:

We’re dodging weather cells, but as we close to destination, we’re completely socked in:

Visibility starts to clear as we descend, but we don’t get a good visual on terrain until about 1200’ feet:

Set up for an RNAV approach into RWY16 - at about 200’ above minimums we catch sight of the runway threshold lights:

Slick runway and the marshallers are soaked waiting for me to navigate the unfamiliar taxiway layout, but log another safe arrival:

6 Likes

Great idea for this flight - if you want one other stop on your ferry flight before crossing Davis Strait, there is a place on the Baffin coast missing from MSFS but I recreated it :slight_smile:

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Leg 6: Iqualuit, Canada to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland

Delivery_06_IFR Iqaluit (CYFB) to Kangerlussuaq (BGSF).pln (3.1 KB)

We’re definitely in the Great White North - the weather and terrain is challenging. At one point in the flight, we were getting pushed back by winds aloft that we were barely making forward speed. 490 nm, just about 4 hours with some weather deviations and tough quartering headwinds.

Departing Iqualuit - we pass a bunch of jets on the ramp also making the transit - they’ll have an easier time than us, that’s for certain!

Immediately in the soup - we slowly make our way up to 12,000 - even with a powerful TD engine up front:

Gorgeous but desolate views - if it’s not rocky tundra beneath, it’s the cold waters of the Arctic:

After several (thankfully uneventful) hours - we make landfall in Greenland! Surprise - it’s not Green. :slight_smile:

Racing the late setting sun, we begin our descent back through the clouds (slowly! - safe clearance in parts of the terrain range from 9,500 to 4,600 AGL) and head up the fjord leading to BGSF:

Kangerlussuaq only has an NDB and a single Localizer, aligned with the fjord - we take the beam ride down safely before darkness sets in:

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Leg 7: Kangerlussuaq, Greenland to Kulusuk, Greenland.

Delivery_07_IFR Kangerlussuaq (BGSF) to Kulusuk (BGKK).pln (2.5 KB)

This leg stretched on for a while and gave a really good glimpse of the raw landscape that is mostly hidden under constant cloudbanks by higher-transit journeys. We took a wide deviation Northeast to avoid a massive storm that blanketed most of the plotted route. 350 nm for about 3 hours or so.

Departing the beautiful fjord that encompasses Kangerlussuaq:

Very quickly the mixed greens of the tundra give way to the enormous and unending ice sheet that is Greenland - the elevation rises quickly until MEA is around 10,000 AGL:

And of course, the weather - a massive brooding front (can’t tell how deep as no weather radar is aboard) spans most of the route visually - we’re forced to take a deviation Northeast and go around the worst of the cells hoping the relative wind doesn’t shift and forces them into our alternate plan:

Just as we break out into clear skies, we’ve reached TOD and begin our letdown to the approach fix - it’s foggy and low viz conditions - carefully we have to assess the descent as the mountain range is present at 10,000’ nearly all the way to the coastline where it spills into a glacier field:

Kulusuk is a small rough strip on an island, surrounded by rocky ridges - the wind dictates an RNAV-A approach, and we dog-leg past some of these obstacles before making a hard turn to 290 and line up with the runway:

Barely time to stabilize and get down to the threshold - at least it was clear conditions directly around the field, I couldn’t imagine trying to do this in bad weather or at night:

5 Likes

I’ve got to tell you, seeing all those inside-the-airplane pictures is very refreshing and adds to realism. Nicely done. Thanks.

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Leg 8: Kulusuk, Greenland to Reykjavik, Iceland

Delivery_08_IFR Kulusuk (BGKK) to Reykjavik (BIRK).pln (2.5 KB)

A long hop over the Davis Strait to the capital of Iceland - we’re getting closer to home! Just about 400NM and 4 hours enroute.

Another leaden sky day in the Arctic, and passing over the iceberg fields east of Kulusuk:

Solid overcast at 7,000’ as we angle east; peeking out of the cloudbase though are the treacherous mountains of Greenland which extend almost all the way to the coast:

The weather is favorable for a change as the barometer rises and we get some glimpses of clear sky, but still a solid cloudbase beneath us:

The solid clag eases up just above pattern altitude as we catch sight of Reykjavik:

A rare visual approach (on this trip anyway) to RWY31 - but the setting sun glare is tough:

Always a beautiful sight - VASI reads a good slope - and another safe arrival.

Be sure to read the top-post on this forum for the Plot Twist!

6 Likes

Leg 10: Reykjavik, Iceland to Vagar, Denmark

Weather and winds looked favorable to continue the pre-planned leg from Iceland to the Faroes, so off we go.

A rare SID is plotted - we angle south then east over the SID19 EL2, with a last glimpse of picturesque Reykjavik and Kollafjordur:

Low cloudbase starting around 3,000 but we break out into into a clear layer up past our cruise altitude of 9,000:

A quartering tailwind helps us along as we outpace the weather eventually into clear upper skies about 100NM off the coast:

The persistent clouds thin out over a painfully blue and bright North Atlantic, as we make landfall at Faroes:

Why the G1000 NXi matters - being able to perform even simple transition and approaches like this that perfectly match the published plates - the stock G1000 can’t even think about this:

Northwesterly wind dictates a long approach and turn over the east to ILS30 - the broken clouds right at 4,000 (MEA on the South side of the islands ranges from 3-4,000) reinforces a precision approach despite the nice weather:

We catch glimpses of the rocky islets in and out of the cloudbase on final approach - staying at the prescribed altitude fix until we pick up the glideslope is crucial to safety:

We pass over the colorful fishing village of Midvagur, right below the approach lane:

The rapidly rising slopes of Vagur Island surrounding the airfield are challenging in bad weather or low-visibility landings. Disconnect at MDA and log another safe arrival. Whew!

4 Likes

Leg 11: Vagar, Denmark to Flesland, Norway

We’re finally in the home stretch - two more legs to Arendal - 397 NM, just a little over 3 hours thanks to good weather.

Delivery_11_IFR Vagar (EKVG) to Flesland (ENBR).pln (3.1 KB)

Departing Vagar - the surrounding terrain channels you back over the village and into the fjord where you have some clearance:

Scattered clouds at around 6,000’ but this is a good weather day for up North - we catch glimpses of cruise ships in the fjords:

The islands fade into the mists (literally) as we head east to the Norwegian coast:

It doesn’t seem too long before we’re handed over to Bodo Control - and landfall sighted - Norway ahead!

Turning south to pick up the approach to ILS17 - we pass over the bridges connecting the towns of Torangsvag and Storebo:

Lining up for RWY17 as we fly up past Lysefjorden and Korse Fort:

Log another safe arrival - whew:

5 Likes

welldone !!! great trip, nicely illustrated.

Leg 12: Flesland, Norway to Gullknapp, Norway

Delivery_12_IFR Flesland (ENBR) to Gullknapp (ENGK).pln (3.7 KB)

The last ride - we’ve covered over 4,000 NM and 177 to go before we deliver these planes to their new home. A little over 2 hours since we had to depart via SID from Bergen.

Departing Bergen on the TUXI3C SID:

We pass over the small town of Hjellestad south of Bergen:

There’s plenty of ferry traffic plying the routes between the islands and fjords:

Beautiful view of the fjords framed in the back by the inland mountain ranges:

A massive windfarm on Stord:

Turning east at TUXIL near Haugensund:

Low lying clouds in the fjords near Stavanger:

Intercepting the IAF near Senumstad - we can see the Skagerrak Straits from here:

Arendal/Gullknapp (ENGK) is an unlit strip; we’re looking real hard to get a visual in the fading light:

Visual landmark - the town of Blakstad spanning both sides of the Nidelva River near ENGK:

Hazard on the RWY05 approach - high tension wire towers - we disconnect AP to handfly and drop down immediately after:

No marshaller or greeting party, but OSM has a new C172 safely on the ramp. What a trip!

4 Likes

Great trip planning and journaling, I enjoyed following along. Congrats on completing your Trans Atlantic crossing!

1 Like

Cool trip!