Posted on 10/09/2011 12:52:02 AM PDT by Borough Park
A 65-year-old man flying from California to Hawaii was forced to ditch his plane in the Pacific Ocean on Friday night 13 miles off the coast of Hilo after running out of gas, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The man was flying for delivery a Cessna 310 twin-engine aircraft from Monterey, California, to Hilo when he radioed federal aviation authorities that he was 500 miles out and low on fuel, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Angela Henderson, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard.
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Hilo is about 2,300 miles west of Monterey, where the pilot's flight began.
According to the aviation site Airliners.net, Cessna 310 aircraft have a range between 760 to 1955 miles, depending on various factors including cruising altitude, weight, amount of reserve fuel and the specific model.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.cnn.com ...
>>> Hilo is about 2,300 miles west of Monterey, where the pilot’s flight began. According to the aviation site Airliners.net, Cessna 310 aircraft have a range between 760 to 1955 miles,
So are they saying he glided 332 miles before ditching?
Thinking back, I believe this was the plot for an episode of Magnum.
“Magnum! There is an aer-o-plane in Mr. Masters’ tidal pool - and it’s all your fault!”
The guy was flying west against the jetstream, so the published capability would be even less.
Since it was a delivery, they usually put extra fuel on-board for trips like this.
It sounds as if they miscalculated the headwind.
Math is just to darned hard for some people.
Since it was a delivery, they usually put extra fuel on-board for trips like this.
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For ferry/delivery flights they normally strip out the cabin interior and turn the plane into a flying gas can ... and ship the interior components seperately for re-installation. To get as far as he did he must have had aux fuel...
I agree , either the headwinds were miscalculated or the fuel burn was higher than expected...
Worked on a C-310, years ago, that was going to HI. They had removed the rear 4 seats and installed a cradle that held 2 55 gallon drums on bottom, a 30 gallon drum on top. The pilot also had several 5 gallon cans on the co-pilot floor so he could add that if needed. This almost doubled the original fuel capacity. Common method of getting planes to HI.
As others have pointed out, it is usual to add auxiliary fuel tanks for flights like this, putting the range well above the published maximum. Permission is required from the FAA for this since it also puts the gross weight above the rated maximum. The FAA evaluates the proposed modification and either issues or denies a waiver on that basis. Most light planes will lift a very substantial overload since rated maximum gross weight is based on what is safe for routine, day-to-day operation and not the maximum that could be handled on a one time basis.
If he was above 10,000 he would have been bucking headwinds. Below 3/5,000 he could have been going with the wind. Did he fly “great circle” north or south of the straight line?
I guess the big question is, was the pilot employed by the owner or seller/dealer?
“Most light planes will lift a very substantial overload since rated maximum gross weight is based on what is safe for routine, day-to-day operation and not the maximum that could be handled on a one time basis.”
A fact that has gotten many a pilot in deep doo doo ‘roundabout’ the first turn...
“Thinking back, I believe this was the plot for an episode of Magnum.”
Yes it was. You are correct.
The bad guys on the west coast loaded the plane with drugs and overloaded it with weights so the plane would run out of fuel before reaching Hawaii. The bad guys would then dive for the drugs in the wreckage.
But instead, the plane went down in Robin Masters’ tidal pool.
MY objection is that he was 65 years old! People shouldn’t be allowed out of the house at that age!
Not to worry...Obamacare will take good care of you
Would have been better to pull the wings outboard of the engines, cocooned it in plastic and shipped it by freighter.
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