45 Hilo - San Diego

26. April 2007

It was to be 2 more nights in Hilo though, and even then, in the morning of the 26th of April, the weather forecast did not look good, with an average wind factor on +7 (7 kts head wind predicted for the route Santa Barbara to Honolulu). But at about 10 in the morning, the forecast gave winds, that added up to a neutral effect for me, and I decided to get going.

I walked to the airport, and arranged to get fuel, file a flight plan and an inspection by the agriculture inspector.

Getting room for 8 jerry cans holding 5 gallons (18,5 l) and 6 gallons of fuel each, is not easy. They have got to be accessible in the air, and I also needed to have the weight forward, to avoid getting the point of gravity too far aft in the plane.

I placed 3 (6 gallon) cans in front of the front seat, 2x5 gallon cans on the front seat, and one 6 gallon can behind the pilot seat. One can was placed on top of the ferry tank and 2 cans just behind it, so  I could reach them.

I departed Hilo heavy loaded at 2200z, or midday local time, for a slow climb to 11.000 feet. Just after takeoff I was given a direct routing to the waypoint Fites, the start of the long route R578 to the USA mainland. First the winds were light from the South, but after about 9 hours of flight a had a headwind of 12 knots. An hour later, the wind came in from the North, but about 3 hours out from San Diego, I had a headwind of up to 32 knots.

The weather was very nice the whole way, and I was above the occasional clouds.

After about 6 hours of flying, I began to transfer fuel from the jerry cans to the ferry tank. I have an electrical fuel pump, that is connected up with a piece of hose, so I can transfer fuel from the cans. It worked well, though it took a while. As I emptied a can, I pushed  it to the rear off the plane.

After 17,5 hours of flying time I landed the next morning in Gillespie airport in San Diego. I had about 30 gallons of fuel left by that time.