Can I fly to Europe on a private plane? Specifically, a single or twin engine Cessna/Piper-type plane? Do any of these aircraft have the range necessary to make it from airport-to-airport on the way across?
If so, what considerations are involved in this? Refueling points? Customs checks, etc?
If Lindbergh could do it I guess you’ve got a good chance.
Shouldn’t think you’ll need to re-fuel but customs/immigration will still have to be dealt with
I assume by private plane you mean an private individual owned aircraft, because the planes owned by airlines are certainly private in some sense of that word. The answer to your question is “maybe”, depending of what kind of airplane you are envisioning, if you are willing to make stops, and if you’re willing to put on additional gas tanks.
If you allow private jets then Cessna Citation X can cover New York to London without refueling
Small single engine props usually top out under 1000 nautical miles maximum range stock. In this case, your flight to Europe better include a hop through Canada, Greenland and/or Iceland. If you are willing to throw on some additional after-market tanks, then as long as you don’t die of Atlantic boredom you can get pretty far:
People do it in single-engine GA aircraft. People fly Cessnas to Hawaii from time to time as well. It seems that every couple of years I read a pilot report in a magazine about the newest Pilatus being ferried to North America.
I know a guy who has done this several times, ferrying aircraft from the US to Europe. I gather the practical minimum range is around 500 miles, something many small aircraft can handle. Stops in places such as Narsarsuaq, Greenland tend to get expensive (fuel, accommodations, etc.) so longer range makes the trip both faster and cheaper.
Weather tends to be a significant issue (it’s not often CAVU* in the North Atlantic). There’s a lot of paperwork relating to air traffic control and customs. But this sort of flying is done routinely, and for the most part safely.
These guys even make a business out of transatlantic ferry flights.
The usual route for a light plane (long-range fuel tanks and survival equipment strongly recommended) involves Goose Bay, Labrador; Narsarssuaq or Sondrestromfjord, Greenland; Keflavik, Iceland; and Scotland (take your pick). This guy did it in a Cessna 172, then on to Saudi Arabia.
Like others have said, the U.S. leads the world in manufacturing many types of light aircraft. There are professionals that fly those planes for customers to all kinds of exotic places using whatever bumps on the map it takes to get there. You can fly a small plane from the Eastern U.S. to Australia if you have the gut and experience to pull it off. I have studied this problem on maps many times and Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands are you friends when it comes to making a trip in a limited range small aircraft on your own tro Europe but anyone is free to do it as long as they have a private pilot’s license, the knowledge, and the cash to do it.