Page 16 - April 23

One: The History of the Route
If you take a King Air from North America to Europe, you’ll either go the “north route” or the “south route.” Either way, you are stopping at airports hewn out of the rough and icy ground to create a way for our war machine to get to Europe to stop Hitler and his plans to rule the world during World War II. We bought those airports with the lives of many early aviation pioneers who figured out how to make it happen. We sent over 10,000 airplanes to Europe over the North Atlantic, many of which did not make it. If you want to learn some great history, look up “Bluie West One,” “Black Watch Regiment” and “Battle of the Atlantic.” When you fly the NAT, you can feel the history come alive.
I just finished flying a King Air 300 from Germany to Missouri and had all sorts of trouble while flying that route. There were fuel indication issues, airline flight cancellations, ground transportation challenges, swiftly changing weather, long hours at the flight levels, and body changes to the circadian rhythms. I actually called one of my trusted friends and asked if I should stop flying the long-distance ferry flights. They are so hard in so many respects, and I could fly domestically and have a wonderful career.
None of them are easy. The NAT throws something different at you every time. Now that I’ve slept since that
conversation, I can’t
believe what I was
thinking. The phone
rang, and the request
was to go to Sweden
and pick up another
King Air destined for the U.S. Do you think I took the flight? Of course! The NAT is in my blood, and I can’t fathom a time when I’d seriously give up the chance to take the trip.
Will you see me in a King Air flying from Iceland to Greenland again? You bet! The North Atlantic is the epitome of living for a pilot, especially a King Air pilot. When are you going to take your King Air on a NAT trip? It could be a trip of a lifetime. KA
Joe Casey is the owner of Casey Aviation, Inc. based at KJSO in eastern Texas, which manages four King Air aircraft and provides flight training in many models of airplanes. He has 16,800 hours of total flight time, over 4,000 of which are in King Air airframes. He is a certified ATP-ME Commercial Pilot with ASEL/ASES, Rotorcraft-Helicopter/ Instrument and Glider ratings. Casey is also a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) with BE-300 type rating issuing authority up to the ATP level, and also holds CFI, CFII, MEI, CFI-H, CFI-IH, CFI-G certificates. He has flown over 75 North Atlantic crossings in King Air aircraft.
The author during a stop at Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
A directional sign at Sondrestrom, Greenland airport.
14 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
APRIL 2023