Sumburgh – Vágar

It’s time to top up the oil and that’s about all I can do in the current poor weather. I’m not going anywhere today with this visibility.

– that’s exactly what would happen if I were to actually fly. However, I can adjust the weather in the simulator from the real one (the in-game data is downloaded from METAR) and now is a good time to do it.

I’m flying from the Scottish island of Shetland to the Faroe Islands, which are an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark. This is the first major crossing of the high seas, about 350 km distance. I leave the island, and at 10,000 feet comes the second major problem I’ve faced in my seven flights so far. The engine cuts out and I start to descend. I immediately look for the nearest airport or possible landing site, I am not far from the island and one of its airports. At the same time, I’m trying to find out the cause of the engine shutdown. The carb heater is running, there will be no problem here. I follow the emergency checklist for loss of power, and while turning the mags off and on, the engine starts up again (after landing, I learn that the mags should be switched in flight as a precautionary measure from time to time). Danger averted. On re-climbing, I make sure the engine is running fine. The rest of the flight goes according to plan and I land at Vagar airport in the dazzling light of the setting sun.

• Distance: 426 km
• Total distance: 2998.3 km
• Flight time: 1 hour 37 minutes
• Total flight time: 11 hours 14 minutes