Page 28 - Volume 13 Number 8

Ask the Expert Ferrying BB-294 to
Malaysia – Part II
by Tom Clements
The delay caused by the need to build new ferry tanks – to replace the ones that had been crushed when subjected to the 6 psi differential pressure when tested with the original venting system – put the delivery of the Super King Air 200 to its buyer in Malaysia behind schedule. Sabah, the Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, had bought the airplane to be used by its chief minister and his staff to both travel to various cities within Borneo, as well as make the occasional trip across the south China Sea to the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and to Singapore, the bustling city­state at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula. Both of these
destinations were about 900 nm west of Sabah’s capital, Kota Kinabalu.
California had been experiencing draught conditions for much of 1977, but as 1978 dawned the rains finally began. Boy, did they begin! The weather pattern suddenly shifted and allowed the wet storms in the Pacific to reach the California coast at last. It was great for the empty lakes and thirsty fields, but bad for our desire to get the 200 safely across the ocean to its new home. The experienced ferry pilot, Nick – not his real name but the one I use here – and I had calculated that we could safely handle an average headwind component on our flight to Hawaii of 30 knots. Now, however, the winds were averaging 50 knots and more! Each day we would check with Oakland Flight Service Station (remember when we actually spoke to briefers?) and receive the depressing news that the winds were still too strong. A week went by, then another. We were not able to take on any further assignments since we had to be ready to depart immediately when the winds finally abated.
After what seemed like an eternity, the briefer indicated that if we departed the next morning the winds would meet our “less than 30 knots average headwind” requirement. Hurray! We rechecked all of our supplies, filed the flight plan – FL280 was our requested altitude – and arranged to have the standard and ferry tanks all filled to capacity early the next morning. We aimed for a 6 a.m. takeoff with a planned en route time of 10 hours.
How would we navigate to Honolulu? This 1977 King Air left the factory with a brand­new, long­range navigation system installed in the pedestal ... an early VLF (Very Low Frequency) system that used the Navy’s submarine communication radio waves for aerial navigation. Ever heard of such a thing? It was not IFR­certified – nor would it ever be – had no database and was very prone to losing the signals whenever the plane flew in precipitation. Yet, by typing in the Lat/ Long coordinates of Honolulu and being able to see the desired track and distance while on the ramp at Oakland ... wow! Will wonders never cease! For “legal” purposes, we were flying based on NDB signals for as long as we could, both outbound from California and
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26 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
AUGUST 2019