# Flying to Europe **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 17, 2007, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-to-europe/408350 "2007-06-17T09:56:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-to-europe/408350/1 "2007-06-17T09:56:19Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-to-europe/408350/2 "2007-06-17T10:56:52Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-to-europe/408350/3 "2007-06-17T11:16:59Z")
[QUOTE=CynicalGabe] 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? [/QUOTE] 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](http://citationx.cessna.com/) 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: > [@](#): > > Perhaps the most impressive display of the Comanche’s performance and economy was the record-breaking long distance flight of Max Conrad in a Comanche 250 in June 1959. Having removed the interior seats and replaced them with fuel tanks, Conrad flew non-stop from Casablanca, Morocco to Los Angeles, a distance of 7,668 statute miles (12,340 km). When the aircraft took off from Casablanca, it was loaded 2,000 pounds (910 kg) over its production gross weight limit, demonstrating the ruggedness of the airframe design. [(from here)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_PA-24_Comanche) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-to-europe/408350/4 "2007-06-17T14:09:24Z")
[Flying to Europe](http://xpda.com/flyingtoeurope/) > [@](#): > > We think of flying to Europe as a trip over the water, but that’s not very accurate. My last trip from Claremore, Oklahoma to Paris was 4,515 miles. The longest distance over water was 467 miles, 10% of the trip, and the total distance over water (excluding spans less than 50 miles) was 1,470 miles, only 1/3 of the trip. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-to-europe/408350/5 "2007-06-17T23:50:19Z")
[QUOTE=CynicalGabe] … 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? [/QUOTE] 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. - CAVU = ceiling and visibility unlimited ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-to-europe/408350/6 "2007-06-18T01:13:42Z")
[These guys](http://www.scottishfbo.com/ferry.htm) 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](http://www.alexisparkinn.com/nwpilot's_tranatlantic_flight.htm) did it in a Cessna 172, then on to Saudi Arabia. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-to-europe/408350/7 "2007-06-18T01:21:58Z")
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.