Sort of Stranded

But at least I'm dry. Actually, both of us are dry. Me and the Aero Commander 500S. Today's leg, from Wake Island to Midway Island, kind of fell victim to a lack of attention which almost resulted in a virtual swim. Autopilots are wonderful things, but the pilot still needs to pay attention to the flight plan. Fuel ran short as a result and I wound up calculating that I'd be 60 nautical miles short of my destination when the engines sucked fumes. Even a long, slow power-reduced glide didn't help all that much.

So, just on sunset, I put the aircraft down on Green Island, with about six minutes of fuel left. It's a tiny spec in the middle of nowhere, but it does have a navigation facility and a crushed coral strip. You can ever see it in exquisite detail on Google Earth. KMZ file here.

The entire Midway group belongs to the US Department of Fish & Wildlife, and up until March this year, had been closed to aerial traffic since 2004. There's an inhabited facility on Midway itself where avgas is undoubtedly available. I suppose the necessary fuel could be shipped to Green Island by boat. A short hop to Midway itself, top up the tanks and then onto Hawaii where the plane will need to undergo the modifications to the passenger cabin to accommodate a long range ferry tank which will get me to the US mainland.

It's good to live an alternate existence. I wonder what a trip like this would cost me in the real world?