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Planey parked at St John's<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Loading Planey<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Refueling at St John's<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Fueling the ferry tank<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nI packed all our luggage away and secured it under the cargo net, loosening the net a little to allow for the upcoming expansion of the ferry tank as we filled it. We taxied down the hangar row to the immobile fuel truck at the other end of the apron and topped off the wing tanks, followed by another 90 gallons into the ferry tank. Although some fuel was available at our planned stop in the Azores, it was standard petrol and not AVGAS, so I wanted to minimise the amount that I’d need to take on. The way the winds were looking, fuel would not be a concern; the tailwinds were forecast to be so strong that I had actually pushed our departure back by 30 minutes to allow us to take off in brighter light.<\/p>\n\n\n
Ready to go<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Ready to leave St John's<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Flight plan entered<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWe called for engine start and flight plan activation, and after a short wait our clearance came through. Departure was from runway 28R, the same one we’d arrived at the day before, and left to depart off the downwind leg. Tower cleared us straight up to our filed cruising altitude of 7,000ft, and direct to our first lat\/long waypoint of 47N, 50W before handing us off to Gander Center. Our ground speed had already exceeded 160 knots, and the tailwind was only forecast to increase across the majority of the route. Already the fuel projections showed that we could complete the 1,250nm flight to Terceira without even needing to use the ferry tank.<\/p>\n\n\n
Takeoff from St John's<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Departing St John's<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Departing St John's<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>St John's harbour<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nGander Center passed us off to Gander Radio on the VHF; Gander Radio are the controllers for the oceanic airspace. They passed us all the satellite phone numbers which we’d need (I had already noted these down from the Canada and Portugal AIPs, but it was good to confirm) and told us to report to them again at 46N, 46W. We settled down into the cruise, listening to airline traffic on the radio. One airline with the particularly cool callsign of “Longship” passed way overhead at 39,000 feet.<\/p>\n\n\n
46N, 46W came along very quickly with the groundspeeds that we were seeing. The satellite phone ended up working great, to my relief, although you had to balance it just right on the glareshield to allow it proper satellite signal through the windshield. Without the Bluetooth it would have been impossible! We checked in with Gander by phone and were told that the next contact would be New York – we would just clip their airspace on our way through.<\/p>\n\n\n
Atlantic views<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Icing on the wing strut, over the Atlantic<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The Atlantic Ocean<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe time passed quickly, with just a single cargo ship down below breaking the horizon-to-horizon ocean view. The tailwind increased to over 60 knots, giving groundspeeds of almost 190 knots. This is almost unheard of and was extremely welcome! <\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>We checked in with New York who hadn’t been expecting us – apparently Gander hadn’t passed our details, and they soon told us to call Santa Maria. We fitted in one call on the sat phone to them, before we managed to establish VHF communication more than 300 miles out from our destination airport of Lajes on Terceira. This is impossibly far for VHF of course, and we were not speaking directly to Lajes, but to a Santa Maria receiver on the much closer island of Flores. They gave us a new squawk code and we flew on towards Terceira.<\/p>\n\n\n
Low clouds over the Atlantic<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The first of the Azores islands in sight<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nIt was mostly cloudy below but as we drew closer we did catch glimpses of other islands in the Azores chain including a most impressive volcanic peak. In time, Santa Maria passed us over to Lajes approach, who directed us to a right downwind for landing. Unfortunately the cloud ceiling was at 1,800ft, and Lajes were not allowed to vector us any lower than 3,000ft, so instead of a visual approach we joined the ILS, number two behind an incoming airliner; this was Ryanair flight 6066 arriving from Lisbon. We broke out of the clouds a few miles behind them and touched down on the enormous runway 33. More than 3,000 meters (almost 11,000ft) in length, this runway had been a designated abort destination for the Space Shuttle. It was also the runway which Air Transat flight 236<\/strong><\/a> had glided in for landing on after running out of fuel mid-Atlantic.<\/p>\n\n\n It was immediately obvious where we should head. As we departed the runway a “follow-me” car pulled ahead of us, but even without this the knot of people in high-vis vests gathered around a hangar signed “Aeroclub” made it very clear where we’d be parking. As we approached one gentleman stepped out from the rest and marshalled us in to park in the center of the small apron. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We shut down and were warmly welcomed to the island of Terceira by Decio, board member of the flying club and one of only two private aircraft owners in the Azores! He and the other club members assisted us with pushing the aircraft into the hangar, before we rode in the van of the handling company over to the main terminal and sped through customs and immigration.<\/p>\n\n\n Decio dropped us at the hotel with the promise to pick us up shortly after we’d had a chance to change out of our survival gear and freshen up. He was back outside right on time, accompanied by his lovely wife, and drove us up to an overlook where the entire town of Praia da Vit\u00f3ria could be viewed, including the picturesque harbour.<\/p>\n\n\n After a while spent viewing the town and its harbour, as well as spotting some traffic on the approach to Lajes, we piled back into Decio’s car. He drove us around the south of the island to Porto Judeo and a small restaurant overlooking the Ilheus das Cabras, the Isles of Goats, two rocky islets inhabited solely by their eponymous animals. Along the way we came across a traditional street bullfight and paused to watch; apparently these happen on an almost daily basis around the island, where a public street is blocked off for the event.<\/p>\n\n\n After an excellent dinner of local cheeses and seafood Decio drove us back to our hotel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The next morning Decio collected us from the hotel again for a day of exploring the island. He had very kindly taken a day off from work so that he could play tour guide. We started off with a drive up to one of the highest points on the island, the ridge which could be seen off to our left as we landed the previous evening. Peppered with wind turbines, these heights provided the perfect vantage point for views over both the airport and the town of Praia da Vitoria, as well as in the opposite direction towards the Isles of Goats and the island’s volcanic west end.<\/p>\n\n\n We made our way gradually down the other side of the hill, pausing to allow a parade of cattle to pass us in the other direction as it moved from one field to another. A little further down we came across a farmer who had just finished milking some of his flock. He invited us through the gate to check out the equipment, and for Juvy to touch her first cow!<\/p>\n\n\n We paused at an overlook, facing the Islas das Cambras that we’d seen the previous night, before continuing along the coast towards the largest town on the island. This is Angra de Heroismo, established in the late 1400s, and with a modern-day population of about 35,000 people. For several years, from 1580 until 1583, the town was the seat of the resistance government of Portugal which had been driven there after the Spanish invasion of mainland Portugal. <\/p>\n\n\n We started our visit at the overlook on Monte Brasil, a 500ft (170m) volcanic summit overlooking the town. This gave beautiful views across the Fortress of St John, constructed in the 1590s by the Spanish who had by that time taken control of Terceira. The Portuguese retook control of the fortress in 1642 after an eleven-month siege, and have held it ever since. <\/p>\n\n\nTraffic displayed on the Aera 660<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Approaching Lajes<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Arriving at the aeroclub<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>In the flying club hangar<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Our hosts at the aeroclub<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Lajes airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nPraia da Vitoria<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Miradouro do Facho<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The harbour at Praia da Vitoria<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nBull fight on Terceira<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Sunset on Terceira<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The Isles of Goats<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nDinner on Terceira<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dinner on Terceira<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nLooking over Lajes airport<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Looking southwest<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>A farm on Terceira<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Decio explaining a local plant<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Wind turbine and cows<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>A new friend<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nA bull-fighting practice ring<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The Cow Parade<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Stone walls on Terceira<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Fields on Terceira<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nA friendly farmer<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Houses overlooking Islas das Cambras<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Houses overlooking Islas das Cambras<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Islas das Cambras<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/div>A local cat<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Monte Brasil Caldera<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Angra de Heroismo<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Angra de Heroismo<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
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