You could do it in a small aircraft, but you’d have to take an incredibly circuitous route over Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, stopping off for fuel along the way in each place and hoping you have enough to make each way point.

Also, your typical passenger jet trundles across the Atlantic at about Mach .85, or about 575mph through the air. A single engine something or other will do about a fifth of that, if you’re lucky, and it’ll do it in the turbulent lower levels.

Biz jet much faster but imagine cost absolutely horrendous for Atlantic crossing, as although above the track system may still need to enter it in an emergency, so you’d have to pay navigation charges too.

I’ve often thought about this, and while I really do not have the skills necessary to learn to fly anything more sophisticated than a kite, it’s nice to dream, and I dream of owning and flying something like this, a Grumman G-21 Goose…

CountZero reminds me of Tails Of The Golden Monkey 🙂

Always dream if I had the money and the skill i’d buy an Icon A5 and fly it everywhere.

These guys got to Australia in a little Cessna:

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/three-in-a-plane-on-an-incredible-journey-for-charity-1-2467661

Think you would need something bigger for the Atlantic or Pacific though…

£1.25mil for a spitfire is nothing compared to the running costs, were you to actually fly it.

I think you might be two decimal points out there..!

Nope, read the article, not just the link…

Executive jets? Pah! Luxury yachts? Sneer. The latest must-have toy for the super-rich is a good-as-new and authentic Spitfire – and it is yours for a cool £1.25m.

They are jolly nice to fly though 😉

If I were to buy myself my own plane my next act would be to buy a massive conveyor belt JUST TO PROVE YOU (AND PHYSICS) ALL WRONG!

Whats the deal with permissions to land helicopters then?  I mean – you obviously can’t just plonk it down wherever you like, but if you need to use a designated landing area, you lose a lot of the advantage (I imagine!)

I’d guess you can plonk it down anywhere safe if you have the landowners permission, or if you own the land.

Obv, you would need to pay attention to pylons and the like, or proximity to airports etc, but in many respects just like a car, there are rules and procedures to follow, bit you are free to operate within those quite freely.

I’d guess you can plonk it down anywhere safe if you have the landowners permission, or if you own the land.

But the landowner does not own the air above it. And as a ppl holder you have no rights to fly low level (apart from take off and landing) so the might permission you need is that of air traffic control to enter the skies and then the permission of all the various airfield controllers for everything you cross. I guess that is more of a hassle here than in some far flung place with minimal air traffic.

Anyone else see that program on Channel 4 last night with the ex Royal Marine in a Piper Cub touring Britain?

That looked like fun.

Can’t imagine flying long distance over water in a single engine prop though

As Felix Dennis said “If it flies, floats or fornicates, rent it – It’s cheaper in the long run.”

And as a ppl holder you have no rights to fly low level (apart from take off and landing) so the might permission you need is that of air traffic control to enter the skies and then the permission of all the various airfield controllers for everything you cross.

Much of the UK airspace outside of the SE is uncontrolled up to a reasonable altitude.  Uncontrolled = no need to talk to anyone.

Controlled airspace appears around airfields, the extent and base broadly depends on the size of the airfield. e.g Bristol has controlled airspace down to ground level 5nm from the field and then various stubs for take off/landing further out, down to e.g. 1500ft.

If you avoid these, no need to talk to anyone.  If you want to fly higher or in a straighter line, then ATC would normally provide permission.

It is of course much more complex than the summary above – depending on the class of airspace, whether mil or not, whether you are flying visual or instrument rules.

I guess that is more of a hassle here than in some far flung place with minimal air traffic.

The flying bit is not, but the UK has plenty of controlled airspace to deal with and the CAA has a habit of gold plating regs.  For hassles free, the USA is the place to go.

Can’t imagine flying long distance over water in a single engine prop though

Sure I read in one of Andy McNab’s books that he knew someone who bought a single engine plane, took the seats out and plumbed in the biggest fuel bladder he could, grabbed a dinghy on case the big fan on the front stopped going round and flew the Atlantic. Can’t remember if that was a novel or a biog, though.

Also sure I’ve Googled ‘single engine over water’ or similar before now (just planning for when the numbers come good :D), and there was no clear consensus whether it made little difference or made you a moron. Without knowing much about it, I wouldn’t want to transit anything much bigger than, say, Windermere in a single – multi just seems to make sense for that kind of gig.

I’d be totally up for learning to fly when the numbers come good – not transatlantic, that seems way too big a roll of the dice, but just to be able to get to the airport and go

i can fly, gliders, some helicopter flying, light aircraft and have (had – expired) night / instrument ratings. we have a saying ‘time to spare? Go by air!’ you’d be amazed quite how much phaffing there is with a plane of any description. You think you tinker with bikes? You’re not even close!

Can’t imagine flying long distance over water in a single engine prop though

Parked up at Blackbushe Airport is a Cessna 182 Skylane single engined float plane, I would guess that flying long distances over water might be a little less risky, although open ocean might be an issue…

It would be an airship.

I’d make money by hovering over the beaches of package holidaymakers on their second day.

£50 to sit in my shade with their sunburn. 🙂

Another plane I’d love to own and fly, and a more practical plane as well, is a Feisler Storch, an amazingly advanced design, with STOL capability and a very low stall speed. It would be very easy to practically drop onto a smooth beach and take off again,

Could a private individual buy and run a plane big enough to fly transatlantic, say? Would you get permission to land and so on, or would you need to set yourself up as an airline and be regulated etc?

Yes, but they are quite expensive, so that really limits who can do it,

I’d guess you can plonk it down anywhere safe if you have the landowners permission, or if you own the land.

Pretty much. A friend had a little two seater Bell somethingorother (lost his licence now due to eyesight, but still perfectly legal to drive, DVLA are a bit less strict…) Anyway, used to just turn up and land in parent’s field, just needed clearence from local ATC to pass through to get there. Lincolnshire, so watch out for fast stuff from Conningsby, Cottesmore, Cranwell, Waddington, Scampton, etc, etc. Another friend has a microlight in a barn on a nearby farm. Been up with him in it once, cleared by Cranwell to take off, just radio in and ask really. Looked clear from the ground but was quite hazy once we were up, visibilty a bit rubbish and there was some sort of event on at Cranwell about five miles away, lots of bigger and faster stuff everywhere, we could hear the radio chat but not see anything so we wimped out and went home.

Always amazed how much is up there. Can see loads more when flyng in small aircraft, sky looks clear from the ground, get up to a decent height and it’s full of microlights, gliders, hot air balloons, helicopters, loads going on.

Ed Force One(s) aren’t owned by Maiden, but leased. The 757s were from Astraeus (IIRC, Bruce was flying for them at the time) and the 747 from Air Atlanta Icelandic.

https://www.aircharter.co.uk/about-us/news-features/blog/backstage-on-ed-force-one

Too expensive even for the Mighty Maiden then? Google reconds a 757 is $70million-ish, depending on spec,

@IronMaiden beats @kanyewest on this one. @brucedickinson_ even flies the plane which is pretty cool!#Music #Life pic.twitter.com/A5JBWq6dhu

— Will Janssen (@RealWillJanssen) July 3, 2015

One read of this thread and suddenly ads for private jet hire pop up on my FB feed…

I’m just surprised no-one has mentioned conveyor belts yet.

It would be an airship.

If I were rich enough then yes.  Take a few days to cross the Atlantic, but I’d get to hang out in my own mobile apartment in the meantime, with a great view.

Since teen2 has just passed his EASA PPL(A), I’ve been looking at aeroplanes in a lot more detail. Thank goodness he didn’t want to fly helicopters!!! 1M gets you a small turbine Robinson R66. Just. I’d have a Turbine single engines Piper M600 please.  Or more sensible, a technam dual for slow fuel burn and two engine. Nothing under 0.25M. Would still need  stopover to refuel. Pilatus PC12 would get you across with one stop, it’s basically a private jet for those without the jet money  – it’s a turboprop

He’s looking for a job to keep up his hours before commercial training next year. Makes a Crack habit look cheap!

My boss has got his own Lear jet, if you won the £100m then it’s probably realistic owning one.

From memory i think it costs him about £500k per annum for the fixed running costs of the plane (hangarage, full time pilot, scheduled maintenance etc) and about £1700 per hour when In the air.

Purchase cost was about $6m I think. It was used but not very old.

He’s been round the world in it with his family. It’s not transatlantic so they had to stop once or twice on the way to America but it’s easy enough to do when the pilot takes care of it all.

It’s a lovely way to travel and takes hours off any plane journey because you turn up and go, there’s no waiting at all.

As someone said earlier, he also hires it out like Alan sugar does to pay for some of the costs.

Flying is pretty boring really

Possibly isn’t the leisure activity for you then. But then all you seem to be suggesting it is, is a way of getting from one airport to another, as an alternative to taking the car. Yawnsville!

OTOH

Plenty of pilots out there who love it. Plenty of flying challenges to aspire to / contests to do / types to learn / etc.

If euromillions came in for me I’d be straight at a PPL / CPL, enough to ferry the family and friends around, two in the hangar, maybe a Kodiak or something else with a few seats and rough field operation, and a Pitts or Skybolt, something fun with two places. Man can dream!

edit: that Goose would be awesome, wheels on a canoe hull!

Kodiak

3500lb load capacity, STOL, small turboprop up front…

What tundra tyres for my Kodiak?

What tundra tyres for my Kodiak?

Makes a fat bike look its been on a crash diet. Very low pressure too. Don’t ask how much they cost

If you’re going to do it, do it right. John Travoltas house:

https://www.aviationcv.com/aviation-blog/2016/john-travoltas-house

That’s a de Haviland Tiger Moth.  Pilot in rear seat, gunner in front.  From an age when synchronising the machine gun with the propellers hadn’t been worked out so the gun was mounted on the top wing and the gunner stood up to operate it.  Possibly the most exciting thing I’ve ever done was looping the loop in one of those.  The pilot flew it to Australia, so round the world would be possible

I came accross this youtube channel a couple of months ago, its in the USA

but it shows that flying is definitely not boring  if you want to have fun

Its very american but really fantastic stuff

Trent Palmer

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4SXMZsFPZMFN5-3UuF-k6w

That’s a de Haviland Tiger Moth.  Pilot in rear seat, gunner in front.

Someone’s been telling you stories. It’s not a fighter and I’ve never heard of anyone trying to mount a gun on one, it’s probably not possible without some serious beefing up. Also it first flew in the 30s, they’d sorted out synchronising guns with the prop early in WW1.

ok, someone told me porkies, but the looping part was still fun

None of the De Havilland Moth biplanes (Puss, Gypsy and Tiger) were designed to have an operating machine gun fitted, they were mostly used for training military and civilian pilots. Lots of Tiger Moths still flying, all over eighty years old now, IIRC.

The Flynano looks more fun

https://vimeo.com/239799552

The Flynano looks more fun

….until you point to something in front of you.

Wouldn’t be any confusion over if you got a bird strike either. On account of you wearing it…

Changed my mind. These are going for a bargain price, just need a time machine,

https://youtu.be/BlgG_YVuSBI

Look carefully for the bonus plane on the wharf.