Aviation Question, hoping there are some oversea-experienced pilots here...

Enquiring Mind | 11/30/2001 | MississippiMan

[MississippiMan]

This is a vanity post. I'm still working on my novel and once again my research needs have led me back here to FR, where I am most often able to get my questions answered. I've posted this question in aviation forums but have gotten no replies so I thought I'd give it a shot here. I'm a private pilot myself, but not active and even when I was active it was usually in a Cessna 172 flying within a few hundred miles of home. One of the characters in my novel, however, is fortunate enough to own a private Gulfstream GV-SP corporate jet. At the moment (literarily speaking), this guy has his corporate pilot whisking him from Omaha, Nebraska to Moscow, Russia. I do my best to maintain an air of authenticity in my writing and since I know nothing about the logistics of such a flight, I'm hoping to find a pilot or pilots here who can fill me in with some details. What would be the likely route a pilot would take from Omaha to Moscow? Time of year is August. The GV-SP has a range of 6750 nautical miles @ .80 mach. Is the above route within that distance; i.e. can the flight be safely made without a refueling stop? Could one pilot realistically make the whole flight or would a co-pilot be required? Are there any other little nuances, things to look for, peculiarites or odd requirements, for that flight that I should know about? Anything at all that comes to mind would be great. Thanks much for your help. I realize it would be simple enough to download a trial version of some decent flight planning software and get the vanilla answers to the hard-fact questions, but if there are pilots here who could help me out with the nuances for the sake of authenticity I sure would be grateful. Thanks... MM

[PRND21]

I've been waiting for a thread like this to ask another question, if I may...

I recently saw a plane fly over my house that was small, white, had to tail fins with a prop/jet in between them.
I assume it was a jet, but it looked like a prop.
I am in the path of several airports, see planes constantly, and have never seen a plane that was similar.

Any ideas what it was?

[patton]

No, you can't. LOL.

[patton]

Mixmaster.

[fliberman]

Take it out of New York - Gander, New Foundland as a "coast-out." Eastbound routes are flown in the evening via daily issued parallel "tracks," predicated on the forecast winds. The northern tracks pass mostly just south of Greenland. Use "Inertial Reference" system for navigation, backed up by GPS. Position reporting is a fight on HF radio frequencies, due to frequency congestion. There would be about 8 over-water reports, then back into the "VOR" navigation, heading inbound into London, Paris, or wherever. ATC radar coverage is within about 150 miles of shore. Very rough seas below, with occasional icebergs, "calved" from the greenland glaciers.

[Travis McGee]

I had a bunch of boiled shrimp at relatives last week, no Old Bay seasoning. Like eating white worms, blech.

[PRND21]

Thanks for the reply, but I did a search and this was not it...

Much newer, sleeker, with two tail fins on top, side by side.

[Balata]

The political figure could even be Al Gore. Didn't he singlehandedly send a lot of money to Russia in a hush hush sort of way?

[Cultural Jihad]

What would be the likely route a pilot would take from Omaha to Moscow?

Directions from Omaha to Moscow in 4 hours, 50 minutes

[Travis McGee]

Bingo. Funny money laundering of World Bank funds through some "connected" banks in NYC also.

[Squantos]

Ahhhhhh Steamed Blue Crab ;o) ............ yer on dude !

Stay Safe !

[Balata]

LOL! Moscow Russia not Moscow Iowa.

[Balata]

Yea, and the main character was using some of this laundered money to front his corporation.

[Cultural Jihad]

I see this page has an airplane identifier on it:
http://www.sonnet.co.uk/rcollini/aero/airid.htm

And here:
http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~ito-nori/

And a host of aviation links:
http://www.uk-airshows.demon.co.uk/links.htm

[Aeronaut]

Find a globe and stretch a string city to city. Often it is quite surprising what the shortest route is. Example: Denver to Saigon the shortest route takes you over Nome, Alaska. I'm guessing you would have (nearly) a polar route going to Moscow.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

I don't believe we have ever met. I was in DC last December, but I didn't attention the Hide The Silverware Ball.

[MississippiMan]

The T-bird advance man put it into a dive, climbed straight out vertically until it stalled standing on its tail, then he killed the engine and he pulled out the key.

After we got back on the ground we would've had some serious words. At least words. YIKES.

MM

[MississippiMan]

Much newer, sleeker, with two tail fins on top, side by side.

Sounds like some sort of experimental kit plane to me. Funny looking contraption? Weird shape, kinda futuristic looking?

MM

[BluH2o]

... sailing is a lot cheaper, (180 gallons of diesel goes a LONG way at 5 knots!), not to mention the wind is free

Sailed to Europe from MA this past June on a 44' Cherubini. We had approximately 90 gallons of diesel aboard ... arrived Gibraltar (via Azores) with fuel to spare. We used the engine daily to recharge batteries, or, when the wind fell off, to boost our speed.

[Travis McGee]

You know it. My steel 48'er has a new Perkins M-80T Prima, that little sucker really goes and barely uses diesel.

[lavaroise]

You need to hop in to an aviation school that has Gulfstreams and ask them if you can consult their flight manual. Better yet, you can buy yourself the flight manual and calculate some of the routes. I believe you can also buy flight plans from Jeppesen. It might be pricey but it will be incredibly valuable info.