User manual

Antarctica Vol. 1 - British Rothera and Beyond
Aerosoft GmbH 2021
28 29
English
First, a couple of words about the fuel capacity of the Twin-Otter
aeroplane:
The ferry tanks hold 1576 lb of fuel in each tank, which gives the
aeroplanes an extra 6 hours of endurance. This is in addition to the
standard tanks which are located in the lower fuselage under the
cabin floor. The capacity of the two tanks are 1235 lbs in the forward
tank and 1341 lbs in the rear tank.
The wing tip tanks hold a further 300lbs in each side, which adds
another hour onto the endurance. (Note the Twin-Otter uses 600 lbs
fuel per hour which makes the arithmetic easy. This is 10lbs per
minute of flying, so all the pilot has to do is multiply the flight time in
minutes by 10 and you have the required fuel for the flight).
Thus, we have a total fuel capacity of 6334 lbs or 10 and a half hours
of flight before the engines will stop.
When you are flight planning, don‘t forget to add in a contingency, as
well as fuel for diversion and for taxying on the ground too.
The flight plans are submitted at the flight briefing office on the
morning of departure, but international clearances are usually
arranged a few weeks in advance. A commercial company is used to
obtain the “Overflight“ clearance numbers to satisfy the various
countries regulatory authorities and the aircraft insurance certificates
must also be in order to comply with this.
A few notes on Customs and Immigration are perhaps worthy of
discussion. When planning to fly from one country to another, pilots
cannot just decide to fly to wherever it suits them best. Each country
has a „Port of Entry“ or several „Ports of Entry“ which are recognised
first landing destinations. This is where the customs formalities are
completed and customs inspectors may inspect the contents of the
aircraft to ensure that only recognised goods are being carried
through the country. Consequently, if the weather deteriorates at the
„Port of Entry“, then a diversion must be nominated which is also a
„Port of entry”, or if this is not possible then the customs authorities
must be notified so that special arrangements can be made. To do
otherwise may incur a hefty fine and legal proceedings!
The first leg from „Springbank, Calgary“ to Casper in Wyoming is
flown just as winter is beginning in the Northern Hemisphere, so
there is an incentive to depart soon before the snow fall begins. The
aeroplane is heavily laden and the aeroplane is very slow to climb,
especially when departing Springbank, which is already 3937 feet
above sea level.
On a clear day the view is enjoyable, flying over the forests of Canada
- watch out for the view of the Rocky Mountains to the west and
then over the canyons and badlands into the US Border, passing some
Native American Indian Reservations and down into Casper itself.
Watch out for the site of the Little Bighorn Battlefield on your left as
you pass Billings and head towards Sheridan.
Casper is situated at the base of an escarpment and there are always
some interesting business jets here as well as executive military
turboprops. There are also some Cessna Caravans based here which
fly the mail for Fed-Ex. The airfield itself goes back to 1942 and was a
large training airfield for WW2 bomber crews including B-17 flying
fortresses, B-24‘s and B-29‘s. Many of the original war-time hangers
and buildings still survive to this day.
The second day consists of two flights - Casper down into Liberal,
Kansas for a refuelling stop. This is to comply with US regulations
which do not permit any fuel to be carried in the ferry tanks. There is
an aircraft museum here and several cold war jets are parked at the
end of the parking ramp. You can take a closer look at these whilst
you refuel.
After a quick pit-stop, the journey continues from Casper down to
Hobby Airport-one of the airports in Houston, Texas. Of note are the
many oil wells and „nodding donkeys“ to be seen through the state.
The night is spent here and the aircraft are parked up at the Atlantic
Aviation executive terminal on the north-eastern side of the airfield.
Departure in the morning will be early for the long leg over the Gulf
of Mexico down to Cozumel, Mexico.
Day Three begins with a climb out amidst the busy early morning
commercial jet departures from Hobby, Houston. Several oil platforms
are seen on the initial climb out to cruising height over the sea.
Much of the flight is over featureless ocean but usually in sunshine.