- Departing Spitsbergen
- Sunset
- Arriving in Reykjavík
- Leg 5 flight plan
Leg 5 (ENSB-BIKF) was a bit of an odyssey. First off, rather than going direct, the world tour's suggested flight plan (which I'm following) took me on a crazy detour to mainland Norway that made the total distance nearly 2,000 nm instead of about 1,100 "as the crow flies." So I was cruising at 180 kias instead of the usual 200 to save a bit of fuel (although the LFX can cruise at 220 kias, it gets more efficient the slower it goes; maximum range seems to be at 140 kias). Then I had an 87-knot headwind the whole way from Svalbard to Norway, so instead of 260 knots ground speed I was making more like 180. Then I hit a bird and lost the engine, had to make a forced landing (at night, naturally) in Bodø, Norway. Stayed on the ground for a bit to make repairs, then started again. Finally arrived in Iceland about 9 hours after starting out. Had plenty of fuel to spare, even with the extra landing, helped by a slight tailwind over the Atlantic. Anyway, next leg is Reykjavík to Toronto.
TH
EDIT: Oh, yeah, also had 27 knot winds gusting to 38 in Reykjavík, so the landing was a bit exiting.