Team United - Golden Age - Boeing 247D

[RedGreen]

After many commitments, withdrawls, and other assorted mayhem, the Team United Roster seems to have finally settled itself down (more or less).

Pilots
1) RedGreen
2) DHC_120
3) salt_air

The race is finally here, and Team United is ready to depart in the "City of Oakland" Boeing 247D for Melbourne. The first stop: Paris (LFPB). A nice short leg to get the next few crazy weeks started.

[RedGreen]

Hard to believe that the English Channel was considered such a great barrier in Bleriot's day. Even in the leisurely pace of the 247D, one is liable to miss it entirely if they happen to be too engrossed in a book.

Having flown this exact leg beforehand, navigation was simplicity itself. Was a little high on approach, and had a one-bouncer on landing, but overall it was good leg to kick off our effort.

http://www.fsrtwrace.com/track/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=oCCJ4xmWBPR0KOS2Ql2lFxNigY0

[RedGreen]

After a night of wine, women, and song...(I never realized that Austin was such a great Tenor!)...Team United is heading out again, with Team Captain Red Green at the controls again. This time we're heading down to Marseilles (LFML), a journey of about 350 miles from Paris.

Onward, and (hopefully) upward!

[salt_air]

[QUOTE=RedGreen;274190]...(I never realized that Austin was such a great Tenor!)... [QUOTE]

Ah yes......and quite the dancer too! :wiggle:

But there are a lot of miles yet to fly....have a good flight my friend.

[RedGreen]

Pilots heading to Marseilles today, take heed. Mother Nature has quite a ride in store for you. Light rain pelted the plane upon takeoff from Paris, and a demon-like headwind seemed bent on preventing my arrival. It rose from 20 knots, to 30, to 40 knots! I started becoming concerned about my fuel mileage and ducked from 9000 feet to 5000 feet in hopes of finding friendlier skies. The wind gods laughed at my pathetic attempt. Headwinds at 5000 feet were 38 knots! I became so concerned about fuel that I began plotting out airports to divert to in case of a crisis.

This all turned out to be much ado about nothing, as I arrived at Marseilles with 15% fuel left. That didn't mean Nature was going to cut me any slack on getting back to Earth. The landing involved about three miles of visibility, heavy rainfall pelting the windscreen, and a 17 knot headwind. Thankfully, made the landing safe and sound.

Lesson (re)learned, check those weather reports before departing in unbridled optimism!

http://www.fsrtwrace.com/track/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=s8eDYeJDFYlj8g6sNPlI0uATBY

[salt_air]

Good one here mate!

Your unbridled optimism is probably what got you through....:running:

Good Night Red

[RedGreen]

Team United is getting ready to depart Marseilles. No Grand Tour (or Gran Turismo, if you prefer,) of Europe would complete without a stop at Rome, so LIRA will be our next destination.

[RedGreen]

Well, the winds played havoc with me today. Had a couple of different sessions where the winds kept violently changing every 5 seconds for at least a full minute. Put me in "Overspeed" territory on the 247D, but thankfully came away with a clean Duenna.

It was soupy in the 9000 foot range leaving the French Coast, but it had cleared up brilliantly by the time we reached Corsica. A nice early morning flight for today.

http://www.fsrtwrace.com/track/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=RCq5Km5xkgjQFeI6WUUJWmJSTMA

[salt_air]

Hang in there Red,,,,,cavalry is on the way.

Charles got his compooter back together and I finished up last night in the Vega.

:wiggle:

[DHC120]

Ready to depart LIRA Rome for LIBR Brindisi
in the Boeing 247D.
Racing for Team United.

[salt_air]

Good Luck Ol' Buddy......

Have a good flight and a good time!

[Use the edit function on your first post to change Athens to Rome]


:ernae:

[RedGreen]

Yippee! Someone else flying for a change! :bump:

Best of luck, Charles! :wiggle:

[Dangerousdave26]

I don't know Red

I think its time to send out the Search and Rescue Party.

[salt_air]

I don't know Red

I think its time to send out the Search and Rescue Party.

Yep 300 NM in 3 hrs is officially missing........:isadizzy:

[DHC120]

I finally landed at LIBR Brindisi, Italy...
Take-off from LIRA/Roma was beautiful blue skies, a puffy cloud here and there.. Climbed and maintained heading, trying to "learn" how to calculate speed/distance in my "spare time"..
During climb-out, I hit "Overspeed" for two seconds.. clearly my fault as I should have throttle back BEFORE I leveled off.. Duenna is rather picky!
Later, during "Cruise Mode".. I had tuned to two NDB, would watch the needles until they passed the 3/9 o'clock position on the RMI, and try to calculate time to LIBR.. or the BOD point (The B-247D doesn't like sudden decents!).. During this time, I was showing 150Kts IAS.. I took a "pause for the cause" and when I came back the Duenna was showing anadditional 28.6 seconds of Overspeed.. My IAS was STILL 150Kts!! Twenty-five minutes later, same drill.. I was showing 150Kts IAS, 171Kts Ground Speed, altitude 4550 and I got 7.4 MORE seconds of Overspeed.. Honest, Officer.. I was NOT speeding!!
Upon approaching Brindisi Airport, the weather was socked-in.. white ground, white sky!! I'm following my heading as the BRD NDB is at the opposite end of the airport on approach.. My "Ten Finger Calculator" said I ought to be "close" to LIBR and way off to my left, I spot a set of PAPI lights. Too far over to my left to be MY airport, so I followed the NDB heading..... until I was out over the water and the RMI needle was pointing back to where I was.. I could have use the SAR folks cause I was lost! I knew I was in Bribdisi, I flew over (and sighted) the NDB three times, but never saw that airport, or any PAPI lights for nearly forty-five minutes (and Salt-Air wonders why I fly with full fuel tanks!)
Finally put the B-247D down in THE ugliest, crabbing sideways landing you'll ever see.. But I got a Green Duenna!!

[Dangerousdave26]

But I got a Green Duenna!!

:applause:

And thats all that matters

Good Show

Congratulations

[salt_air]

:applause:

And thats all that matters

Good Show

Congratulations

Dave hit the nail on the head Charles......Good Job!


:ernae:

[DHC120]

Guys;
Thanks for the support.. It is appreciated.. Thinking I might just go ahead and go on to LGAT, Athens. Gonna ponder it for a short..

[salt_air]

Waitin on Charles......you and Red work on it.

I'll catch up tomorrow............:bump:

[MM]

Excellent piloting to get down in the whiteout. Nicely done.

[RedGreen]

Well, Charles hasn't posted about going to LGAT yet...

And since I got back from working on a Sunday, I have an extra hour to work with thanks to Daylight Savings Time....

You thinking what I'm thinking?:wiggle:

If it involves taking a 247D from LIBR to LGAT, you're on the right track!

[RedGreen]

It was still foggy at Brindisi when I departed, but flight was very enjoyable with a short jaunt over the sea and over the mountains of Greece. Approach was on the sloppy side. I was way to the right of the airport when I got sight of it, and gave it a couple of good bounces on the landing.

But now Team United has made it to Athens! Break out the togas!! :ernae:

http://www.fsrtwrace.com/track/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=T4wOfd6PVyFn0uZFol5FqcZ41RU

[salt_air]

Go Team!....:applause:

[DHC120]

Ready to depart LGAT Athens for ORBS Baghdad.
Racing for Team United in the Boeing 247D "City of Oakland".
Is there an “Iron Butt” Award for seven hour long
Flights?

[DHC120]

Landed safely at ORBS Baghdad!!

Took off 0630 local time (Athens).. Red must have slept-in 'cause he and all those almost-toga wearing female "mechanics" he had working? on his plane never showed up to see me off..
Flight was basically unevenful (aka LONG!) except for some 7000' tall mountains where the map said they were 5000' instead (and I'm cruising at 5000' in thick clouds.
At one point, I was at 8500' and decided to get under the thick clouds.. Was down around 3000-3500 "hunting" for clean air.. Instruments said I had a 30Kt tail-wind but I was being slapped around more than a drunk sailor at a church social. Finally went back to 8500'.
The "last NDB's in the known world" were in Cypress, I think (Banias & Latakia).. From there is was compass heading only to Baghdad. Salt-Air fitted my plane with a Wind-Drift/Compass/Heading Bug/Beer Dispenser gizmo that I can only say is worth it's weight in gold.. The "first" NDB to pick-up in Iraq is ten miles north of Runway 15R and has a whopping range of 22nm.. I got a 22nm wide "bullseye" to hit from 400nm out... And I did!! I had the timer going and had roughly computed how long it "should" be to pick-up the NDB.. I was sweating it until that RMI needle swung from it's 3 o'clock position to "Twelve O'Clock High!". I had already dropped altitude from the 8500' down to 4000', but I had to dump another 2500' in a hurry without incurring the wrath of the "Overspeed Cops"..
I landed long (and a little fast), let it roll on out, bleeding speed before I even thought about tapping the brakes.. Damn sure didn't want to "nose over" after a six+ hour flight!!
Bottom Line: Green Duenna!!!

[PRB]

Nothing like 7000 foot hills to wake you up when motoring along at 5000 feet! Gotta get me one of those drift meter/beer dispensers...

[salt_air]

Well Ol' Buddy,

You got your payback for the first trip. Excellent stats for this trip,,,,the "Ol' Motorcycle Racer" came out for this leg.

Ya hung in there and smashed all of the previous Avg/GS's at 168.5. That's the fastest trip yet and the bonus is it was also the longest.

Very impressive Charles,,,,, Well Done!.....:ernae:

Go Team!!

[RedGreen]

Couldn't have done it better myself, Charles! Well done. :wavey:

[MM]

Great stuff, that!:icon29:

[EdGeneer]

Good Job Charles!!!

Thats alotta flying... :)

[DHC120]

Good Job Charles!!!

Thats alotta flying... :)

Ed G;
It's all your "fault"!!:jump: After we did the "Falls to Falls Maple Run", you "got me hooked" on Radio Range navigation (NDB's are sorta like RR but without the fancy tower arrays and the left/right tones).
When the MacRobetson was announced, I was going to run solo and had planned to do the distance in eight "legs".. that is, until I did a couple of practice legs.. My Dad was an Army Air Corps/Air Force pilot during WWII & Korea:kilroy:, he ferried B-29's to Guam.. I don't care what auto-pilot you have, those were loooong flights!! But he was in his mid-twenties.. and I'm not!
I'm glad I did this leg.. really glad it turned out so well (after my first flight/fiassco, I was really worried I'd end up over Saudi Arabia, out of gas and no place to land. I was sweating bullets, tho.. Still haven't got this figuring "speed/distance/time" thing "down", yet (Yes, Salt, I've been trying to study the E6B stuff.. I never was any good in "foreign languages" in school!:isadizzy:).. The up-side is, using a hand-made chart, I can figure a "rough time" to cover a certain distance.. my times are a bit longer, so I come in "under time".. I believe my computations, tho based on IAS tend to work on actual Ground Speed..
Thanks to all for the kind words about my flight.. To be honest, it was totally "Beginner's Luck":blind:.. Skill had nothing to do with it..

[salt_air]

Next time I see you on a long flight,,,,,and,,,,on TS, I'll get on and fly along with ya. You can take your feet down from the proped up position and we can do some E6-B navigatin'.

Radio Navigation has evolved over the years and will continue to do so, but the ol' E6-B has been around in pretty much the same configuration since it's onset and is still a mainstay in pilots flightbags as well as required for even the lowest level of any licensing.

[teson1]

Charles,
excellent flying there! :applause:
Hitting a radio beacon from 400 nm out is neat. Makes my hands sweaty just thinking about that.

Go, team, go!

[DHC120]

Next time I see you on a long flight,,,,,and,,,,on TS, I'll get on and fly along with ya. You can take your feet down from the proped up position and we can do some E6-B navigatin'.

Radio Navigation has evolved over the years and will continue to do so, but the ol' E6-B has been around in pretty much the same configuration since it's onset and is still a mainstay in pilots flightbags as well as required for even the lowest level of any licensing.

Salt;
Yeah, I figured, on that long stretch from that last NDB to Baghdad, I'd have time to see if you were on TS.. I did a quick "run out to the mailbox" and back and a couple of other "must do" chores, and the next thing I know, my AFD Radio came alive & the RFI Needle swung to "12 o'clock" (actually, it swung to 2 o'clock, I had to "turn into" the NDB).. I had "just enough" time to lose some altitude and airspeed (although not enough.. was still at 100Kts when the wheels touched down)..
I really thought I would be "kicked back", feet-up, beer in hand:guinness: (you know, Red's "Flight Position"), but such was not the case..
I do wish I could find my Dad's E6B (I have not seen it in decades) and a smaller "Whiz-Wheel" he had.. Using them in these, or any, flights, would be "Way Cool"..
I was thinking ORBS-VIAG.. an estimated twelve hour, 2005nm flight:sleep:.. Then I woke-up, screaming!:pop4:

[DHC120]

Charles,
excellent flying there! :applause:
Hitting a radio beacon from 400 nm out is neat. Makes my hands sweaty just thinking about that.

Go, team, go!

Thanks.. It gives me the shakes to think about it now.. Like I said, pure beginner's luck.. I shot an arrow thru a keyhole.. I don't think I'll be trying anything like that, again..
I'm looking at the next possible leg.. It has one area that has about 375nm of "dead air".. I'm thinking "zig-zagging" to different NDB's instead of trying a "straight shot".. Maybe going to Karachi (OPKC) instead..
I don't think I can capture that lightening bolt in a bottle a second time..

[DHC120]

Ready to depart ORBS Baghdad for VIAL Allahabad.
Racing for Team United in the Boeing 247D.
Wake me up in ten-twelve hours :sleep:

[RedGreen]

Charles....I hope this reaches you in time, but you can't go straight from Baghdad to Allahabad!

From the Rules:

Additional stops required. Until reaching Darwin, pilots must make at least one landing at an intermediate airport between each pair of compulsory checkpoints. This interme-diate airport must be located at least 200 nm from the compulsory airports. The Darwin-Charleville (YPDN-YBCV) and Charleville-Melbourne (YBCV-YMEN) segments may be flown in one flight.

You need to stop at one of the following airports.


Bushehr, Persia. [OIBB]

Jask, Persia. [OIZJ]

Gwadar, Sultanate of Oman (now Pakistan) [OPGD]

Karachi, India (Britain) (now Pakistan). Jinnah Intl [OPKC]

Jodhpur, India (Britain). [VIJO]

Agra, India (Britain). [VIAG]


Sorry if we didn't make this clear beforehand.

[DHC120]

Abort Leg due to no control over my plane.. I'm holding a heading of 094, plane swings to 060.. I want to climb, it noses down.. Probably the settings got "lost" again..

Red;
Thanks for the info (had I not had to abort, I would not have seen your post).. I guess I misunderstood about the 200mile limit (now I remember reading about the intermediate stop.. forgot, I guess!).. I was simply going to fly from one "Compulsory Checkpoint" to another.. Best laid plans.. Maybe my plane was telling me something..
Back to the drawing board..
Do I need to post the Aborted Duenna?

[DHC120]

Ready to try this flight again...
Departing ORBS Baghdad for VIAG Agra, India
Racing for Team United in the Boeing 247D.

[MM]

Charles,

We can't tell from your post just what happened over Iraq. It sounds as though there were some sort of controller issue...or something else. Unless we hear otherwise, we'll put it down as a "computer glitch," note the event, and then ignore it for Race scoring.

[EdGeneer]

Ed G;
It's all your "fault"!!:jump: After we did the "Falls to Falls Maple Run", you "got me hooked" on Radio Range navigation (NDB's are sorta like RR but without the fancy tower arrays and the left/right tones).

Austin is the one that got me hooked on radio range flying and so much that i bought a jeppesen e6b for the race... love it, that thing does everything...

I blame Austin :) hahahahaha:isadizzy:

:icon29:

[DHC120]

The ORBS-VIAG flight was the flight from hell.. The map I used (FS Nav) shows hills/mountains to 10,000 in areas along the route.. the reality is, these "10,000'" foot mountains are over 13,000' tall AND often shrouded in thick clouds!.
Also, due to my own inexperience, this flight did not start-off well.. in fact, I "started" the flight three times.. all with the Duenna OFF! Wouldn't have been so bad if I noticed it on take-off, or shortly there after.. No, I had to fly for thirty minutes to an hour before I noticed this rather important fact!
I finally took off, at leasty a hour later than planned, with the Duenna on and headed to a correct airport..
I was at "The Point of No Return", a bit over nine hundred nautical miles into the nearly 1800nm flight, when I realized I was not going to make the primary airport (VIAG) before dark.. At a Town/Air Port/NDB called Quetta, I opted to divert Jodhpur (VIJO), a prepared refueling station.. it was some two hunded NM closer than VIAG. This decision was made at 1540 hrs, local (India) time. The sun was setting and by 1620 hrs, I was in total "black-out" conditions.
I got on TeamSpeak and saw "Danderous Dave" and "SrGalahad" (Rob), explained my problem (of being unable to find the airport in the dark) and was assisted with "GCA" like instructions.. The airport was so difficult to see that I was halfway down the runway, at about 1000'AMSL (400' AGL) before I recognized the runway lights.. I made two "Go Arounds", trying to get "lined up" with the very faint lights. When I made the commitment to land, I was "wide left" of the runway and my left wing caught a light standard, resulting in my crashing ON the airfield..
At that point, I was so exhausted, mentally and physically.. I thanked Rob & Dave for their help, shut-down the flight sim and fell asleep in my recliner.. (that's why I am so late in posting this)..
Herewith are the Duenna Files.
I do not know what the protocol is.. Rob (or Dave) thought the options were to Refly the route or "take the flight" but with a one hour penalty for crashing (first crash, second crashes rate a three hour penalty).
Given the length of the flight, I opt for the penalty.
Please advise if this is acceptable or not.

[DHC120]

Charles,

We can't tell from your post just what happened over Iraq. It sounds as though there were some sort of controller issue...or something else. Unless we hear otherwise, we'll put it down as a "computer glitch," note the event, and then ignore it for Race scoring.

MM;
I wrote a reply, but I guess I didn't send it properly..
I began a flight from ORBS Baghdad to VIAL Allahabad. The Duenna was running. I was able to take off and made a ninety degree turn, but after that, I could not control nor maintain the direction of the aircraft. I thought I hit "Abort" on the Duenna, but I did not.. I simply "Xed" out FS9. When I came back to the forum to post about my incident, I read and heeded Red-Green's warning and, after correcting the "Sensitivities" settings in FS9, I selected the proper "Destination" airport of Agra (VIAG), India. I have posted a report and the Duenna files for that flight.
I can, if requested, post the Duenna for the "discontinued" flight. Please advise.

[MM]

Charles,


No need to post anything more on the aborted flight.
Dave and Rob are correct about the leg to Jodhpur (VIJO). You can either re-fly the leg with a one hour crash penalty or accept a "crash-on-landing" that completes your leg at VIJO with a one hour crash penalty. (The one hour penalty is associated with the team's first crash.) Clearly, given the dramatic events, the best option is to accept the crash-on-landing option.
Great description of a challenging and exciting leg. Your writing has captured the spirit of the London-Melbourne event. Kudos.

[DHC120]

Charles,


Great description of a challenging and exciting leg. Your writing has captured the spirit of the London-Melbourne event. Kudos.


Mike;
I can honestly say: My writing is a LOT better than my flying:icon_lol:
Thanks.
Charles.

[salt_air]

Okay,,,,,,time for a little "Geritol" over here it seems.......


Let's take "Big Bird" over to Allahabad and see how how well the repairs were done.....:running:

salt_air flying for Team United in the 247D VIJO-VIAL to pick up the second Checkpoint enroute to Melbourne.

Tally Ho!

Note: Had to restart flight due to having the wrong aircraft,,,,,Hey!,,,it's dark out here...

[srgalahad]

Okay,,,,,,time for a little "Geritol" over here it seems.......

Note: Had to restart flight due to having the wrong aircraft,,,,,Hey!,,,it's dark out here...

Hmmmm... man comes home from party a bit under the influence, quietly climbs the stairs, tiptoes into the bedroom, undresses and slips gently into bed... jumps up, screaming: "Who are you and what did you do with my wife??!!!!" :isadizzy:

"Geritol, you say?? Just blow steadily into this tube, sir, and keep blowing until I tell you to stop."

Rob

[salt_air]

Team United is sitting in Allahabad (VIAL) safe and sound. Local time 07:33.......:applause:

Pitch dark as I left Jodhpur AB,,,,watched a nice sunrise as the cloud cover broke then the sim paused to load scenery and it was dark again,,,Time Zone ?

Flew the rest of the trip between 7500' and 9500' to maximize a light tailwind (less than 10kts) for the majority of the trip.

Gambled and won on taking an approach for RWY 12 as the winds at my back died out altogether at around 2000'.

Nice big fat building right in approach path, but with the clouds clearing during descent (7500') no trouble did I see. Gonna start changing thinking about touchdown from hitting the numbers dead center to having to make a second flare 100' or so after the numbers. These geezer birds have very low stall speeds and a mile of runway is plenty to set down a third of the way up or so and get stopped. That should take the MSFS trees and buildings at the threshold of the runway phenomenon out of play.

Caught a second or so of overspeed as this plane is very sensitive to 160 kts indicated,,,,,that's it or you're in trouble. No "Barber's Pole" on the airspeed gauge, but overspeed warnings during duenna recorded flights tend to ingrain certain conditions in your mind.

Next...........

[DHC120]

Salt-Air;
Sounds like the "Shade-Trees at Jodhpur patched up the 247D okay.. I was a bit concerned when I saw the tools they were going to use to repair the left wing.. A carpenters hammer, a "Stilston" wrench and a ten pound sledge..
The only "upside" to my crash was the wing tanks had two or three gallons of fuel in each.. Had the wing tanks been more full, I might have been a "fireball", instead. (that would have lit-up that airport!!)
Glad you had a good flight..
Charles.

[salt_air]

Thanks Buddy-Ro,

It's amazing just how far a hand full of "Jackson's" will go in a third world environment....:icon_lol: I had no trouble at all gettin' that crowd in gear.....

Anyway the ol' Gal is ready to rock whenever you or Red are ready to go.

This is the second required checkpoint. Singapore is next, we can either take a long hump to say Alor Setar (WMKA) and then to Singapore (WSSL), or take a short flight now, say out to the coast to Kolkata (VECC) or chop it up more half and half like down to Rangoon (VYYY) or Bangkok (VTDB).

The straighter the better at this point. Avoid Calcutta, it's to far off line. Most of the long flights at this point will be over water no need to shy away.

I'll check back tomorrow after you guys have a chance to fly some.

Good Luck!

[RedGreen]

My current leg count stands at four, while Charles has two, and Austin only has one. I'm going to hold off flying legs until the tally is a little more balanced.

Best of luck, gentlemen! :ernae:

By the way, don't forget the significant contribution that my Duct Tape made to the 247D's repairs. :D

[DHC120]

Or, we can look at "Miles Flown".. (as shown by the Duenna)..
Red-Green-- 1223.8nm. Four Legs Flown.
DHC120----- 2840.2nm. Three Legs Flown. (One crash:isadizzy:)
Salt-Air----- 472.1nm. One Leg Flown. (not counting the Vega:jump:).

At any rate, Team United has flown 4536.1nm. Salt said the race was about 10,000nm.. so we are almost at half-way.

[DHC120]

This is the second required checkpoint. Singapore is next, we can either take a long hump to say Alor Setar (WMKA) and then to Singapore (WSSL), or take a short flight now, say out to the coast to Kolkata (VECC) or chop it up more half and half like down to Rangoon (VYYY) or Bangkok (VTDB).

The straighter the better at this point. Avoid Calcutta, it's to far off line. Most of the long flights at this point will be over water no need to shy away.

I'll check back tomorrow after you guys have a chance to fly some.

Good Luck!

Salt;
I opt for less legs that are longer.. just not as long as I attempted on my ill-fated OTBS-VIAG/divert to VIJO flight (1954nm).
What about VIAL-VYYY/Rangoon (962nm) then a VYYY-WSSL/Singapore leg (1132nm). That will put a stop at an Intermediate (two star) airport while hitting a "Compulsory Checkpoint Control Stop" in two legs. And, by my Rand/McNally world map, it's "almost" a straight line towards Darwin. Thoughts?
I won't be able to fly, again, 'til near mid-week.
Salt, you want to take the VIAL-VYYY leg? And I'll take the longer VYYY-WSSL leg and, with luck, maybe I can bust another "speed run" and get my "penalty hour" back :running:..

[salt_air]

A shorty over to Kolkata to set up a nice long ride into checkpoint Charlie.

salt_air Team United 247D VIAL-VECC

I'll run this in all daylight since no one else is flying today....

[salt_air]

Safe and green at VECC

Nice tailwind component for the majority of the trip made for GS's at 185 kts. maximum....sweet!

Then of course for the last half hour of the flight, the good ol' Jepp weather takes over the show, reverses the wind component and eliminates any visibilty until descending below 2000'....Yeah!

I decided on 19L, longer of the two and it had NDB's at each end of the final approach path. Came in very handy as the vis stayed poor (less than a mile) all the way to the ground.

Dual ADF's once again saved the day, one to keep a base heading with and one to tell me when to turn to final. Exciting because I hadn't flown into VECC ahead of time and had to also watch for buildings and trees. Whew!

This will qualify as the team's required intermediate stop between checkpoints 2 and 3 and allow a flight straight to into Singapore....

Which way to the fuel stand?...:wiggle:

[salt_air]

salt_air 247D VECC-WSSL.......

[salt_air]

Team United has a green duenna at WSSL,,,,checkpoint 3 complete! :wavey:

A demanding excursion across The Bay of Bengal and the Southern tip of Thailand into Malaysia.

No where near as much free time as I thought I would have. Never really found a sweet spot for winds. Tried as low as 1500' AGL nearly on the deck, but when the threat of clouds came up as well as known terrain issues I decided to climb back up and settled on 11500'. After a long day of switching between chasing of winds between 3500' and 7500' and manging to add up over 16 seconds of Overspeed, I took the lesser of two evils and opted to fly over any terrain with a slight tailwind instead of getting greedy and using up all the free time in overspeed or misjudging distances around terrain with poor vis.

At 11500' the 247D doesn't breathe very well and that kept manifold pressure down (bad news) as well as fuel comsumption (good news). I could have gotten by with a lot less fuel. Still had almost a ton when I landed.

Done for today, I'll check the weather when I get up in the morning.

Whew!,,,long day!

[salt_air]

Let's set a course for Kupang on Timor enroute to Port Darwin.

"The Land Down Under" should be insight from there...:bump:

salt_air Team United 247D WSSL-WRKK

[MM]

Some great legs by Team United!

[salt_air]

Green duenna at Kupang (WRKK)., Team United is in Timor and in one piece!:applause:

Another long leg and that much closer to Australia. Wind games all the way. Took the high road again as there was too much at stake constantly chasing light winds in of and on poor vis and some of these islands down through here have some atrocious mountains right in your path,,,,you know like the clear day that has one cloud right at the end of the runway...:icon_lol:

I'm done for a while. Headed over to run in DC3 Airways World Rally 2009.

http://dc3airways.com/special_events/wr_2009/welcome.htm

Worth giving a look, open to all and very well laid out. It's more of a rally in the true sense than a race of any kind. Lots-o-fun!

Red, Charles, if you blokes are still messin' when I'm done over there, then I'll jump back in and fly some mo'.

Happy Trails!....:guinness:

[EdGeneer]

You're putting some miles down, there, Austin!!!

:running:

[DHC120]

Ready to depart WRKK Kupang, Timor for YPDN Port Darwin
Racing for Team United in the Boeing 247D,
With E6B and Instructions in hand!
Charles (DHC120)

[DHC120]

Landed safely at YPDN Port Darwin.
Departed WRKK at 0554 Local Time. Conditions: Clear. Wind 189@2.
Gently climbed out of the bowl that surrounds the airport until I reached 2500'ASL and got out over the ocean. Slowly climbed to 8000'ASL, encountered 20Kt headwinds beginning about 3500'. After reaching 8000', I decided to drop back down to 3500' and smooth air. Was running 150 to 153Kts Indicated (171-181Kts GS).
An hour into the flight, Hdg 103 degrees , 155Kts IAS (183GS) at 3300' and a nice 20Kt tailwind.
At 0702 Local, I noticed heavy cloud-to-cloud lightening, turned Hdg 060 for about a minute to go around the thunderstorm. Back on heading 103, encountered whipping winds. Dropped to 3300' to get under the clouds. Winds started slapping me around and threw plane into Overspeed. IAS was 143Kts (136Kts GS).
0725 I was at 2960'ASL with thick clouds above and thick clouds below.. Both were "Strato-Rumbulus" ;-}
0735 I encountered turbulence and wind shear.. VSI was going +/- 500FPM.
Climbed to 6500'ASL and found smoother air.. it just wasn't real smooth. Speed down to 136IAS/134GS at full throttle..
At 7000'ASL the turbulence was gone. Winds 099@21. Speed 145IAS/143GS.
Ran into near zero visibility 7000'-7300', decided to drop back down to 3500'. Found open skies. Hdg 105, winds 095@20. Speed 154Kts IAS/GS.
0819 Picked-up NDB "DN" Darwin. (approx 75nm out).
Continued decent to 3500'.
0822 Accquired NDB "BGT" (approx 22nm out). My track was "dead-on".
0840 Sighted Airport.
0847. Wheels Stop.
445.1nm in 2hrs 55min 48sec and a Green Duenna!!
Charles (DHC120)

[Bry Rosier]

SOUND LIKE A nice flight Charles. Congratulation Guys on reaching Australia :applause::ernae:

[salt_air]

SOUND LIKE A nice flight Charles. Congratulation Guys on reaching Australia :applause::ernae:

Thanks Bry,,,,good of ya to stop by and give us a wave!

Best of luck with the SR22!! Keepin' an eye peeled on ya

Beer's on us when you get to Melbourne...:guinness:

[salt_air]

Landed safely at YPDN Port Darwin.
445.1nm in 2hrs 55min 48sec and a Green Duenna!!
Charles (DHC120)


Nice One here mate,,,,way to go!

Felt good dinnit?....:icon_lol:

Cheers,

[DHC120]

SOUND LIKE A nice flight Charles. Congratulation Guys on reaching Australia :applause::ernae:
Bry;
Thank You for the kind words.. Flight wasn't so nice, but the landing was a perfect "three pointer".. No doubt the best landing I've ever made.. no smoke came off the wheels. At first, I wasn't sure I had it on the runway ;-} Good to be "Down Under", finally..

[DHC120]

Nice One here mate,,,,way to go!

Felt good dinnit?....:icon_lol:

Cheers,

Salt;
Yup! I didn't smack into a light pole :isadizzy:..
Going to try to get in another flight in the morning.. see how it goes:sleep:.

[RedGreen]

Great job Austin and Charles! It's clear I made the right choice when I put together this team effort! :applause:

[salt_air]

We have 2 more checkpoints with 1 as the finish in Melbourne (YMEN).

Attaching txt file with Stats to Date for Team United. Most of it may help with a guess at flight time for the precision leg into YMEN. Some of it is just for curiosity. No fancy Excel Spreadsheets, just open with notebook and maximize or it won't read right.

Individual stats are only for the purpose of that pilot to figure his avg time for an "educated" guess as to what the time from Charleville (YBCV) to Melbourne (YMEN) might be.

Wind has been the biggest factor of the race for everyone, so be governed accordingly. That with the susceptibility for the 247D to overspeed make it prudent to NOT figure on being able to speed up the flight if it looks like you're running behind. Add some "cushion" to your figures that don't exceed the 5% tolerance allowed by the rules. Preset a couple (at least) of time checks along the way to monitor your progress. This is a precision leg and accuracy is more important than speed this late in the race.

There are no bad terrain issues except for certain runways at YMEN being hampered by buildings. Red will remember going in during the last RTW I'm sure. I would shoot a couple of approaches and even take a screenie or two to have hanging up in the cockpit just in case the vis goes to zero when you arrive. The runways aren't all that long, but long enough for a close to stall speed final and holding out for a last flare until after you can see the numbers at the end of the runway. You'll need to use the best one for winds, but also make the choice as per time left on the clock if you can.

There have been no flights flown, so far, the length of the flight straight from Charleville (YBCV) to Melbourne (YMEN). We need to divide or multiply the stats from shorter or longer flights. Not very accurate. May be best to bust up the flight to Charleville (YBCV) out of Darwin (YPDN) even though it's longer overall, just to get some better stats for this. We can also bust up the flight from Charleville (YBCV) to Melbourne (YMEN) and make use of some existing stats, whatever.

Not gonna win any Speed Races and the penalty will keep us out of the Handicap Race, no worries,,,but we can absolutely "nail" the Precision Leg.

Bust up the YPDN-YBCV leg for matters of record or bust up the leg from YBCV to YMEN to use what figures we have already OR,,,take the figures at hand a go with a "gut" guess that isn't too ambitious.

Wow that sure was alot of writing, I may need to think about decafe..:icon_lol:

We could be done in 2 legs or as many as 4.

What do you guys think?

[DHC120]

Salt & Red;
My plan is to fly the YPDN-YTNK leg today (in a few minutes) and possibly try to squeeze in the YTNK-YBCV on Friday.
This would leave "open" a "single run" from Charlieville to Melborne (YBCV-YMEN) for our "Best" pilot (in other words, not me)..
Personally, I feel it would be better (time wise) to fly the YBCV-YMEN as a single leg.. You lose time & speed taking off and landing.
Or, am I misunderstanding and ALL pilots are required to fly the Precision Leg??

[srgalahad]

*I* think you've got the idea... now to make it work :icon_lol:

Remember that the Precision Event gets some pretty close scutiny from the Committee and the punters hanging around the bar in the Windsor. (someone was muttering about the need for post-competition drug tests:kilroy: ).

Fly well guys!

Edit: No Charles, a pliot/team only gets one try at the YBCV-YMEN leg so all the glory/blame falls on one pair of shoulders... anyone else is just a "passenger".

[DHC120]

Ready to depart Port Darwin (YPDN) for Tennant Creek (YTNK)
Racing for Team United in the Boeing 247D,

[DHC120]

YPDN-YTNK Is In The Books!!
Departed Port Darwin 0741hrs Local. WX called for Light Clouds, wind 000/00 and 10mi Vis. I turned to heading 152 degrees and began a slow (300FPM) climb to 8500'.
That lasted a whole four minutes when at 0753 I got into a low ceiling and heavy clouds. I leveled off at 2600'AMSL to stay under the clouds.
I adjusted my heading to 149 degrees to compensate for the 11Kt winds at 085.
I fought near zero viz and quartering headwinds the entire distance of the flight.
I did "hunt around" for better "air", climbing as high as 9100' and "mowing grass" on the deck (well, as low as I dared in the thick clouds)..
About two hours into the flight, at around 5890', the wind abruptly changed from a 22Kt full-on headwind to an "up-the-tailpipes" tailwind.. I firewalled the throttles and enjoyed the 142Kts IAS and 179Kt Ground Speed :applause:. I was still flying in the "soup", tho..
As all good things come to an end, so did my tailwind after only fourteen minutes. This is when I climbed to 9000' to "look for it" again.
I played with the E6B and it believed the airport should be close (I was 2hrs40min into a 472nm flight).. I had not heard an NDB since I "lost" Port Darwin's (DN), so I began a slow decent, taking great pains NOT to hit Overspead.. So much for plans.. My speed was 156Kts IAS/163GS, running into a 20Kt headwind then "BLAM".. Overspeed warning lights up.. I pull the throttles, kill the Sperry and pull up on the yoke. Got 39sec of Overspeed!!
I got the bird smoothed out and running a nice and I'll be dipped if the Overspeed Warning didn't light-up again!! This time I KNOW wasn't exceeding 160Kts IAS.. My "speedometer" was showing 153Kts IAS/148GS
Go figure)..
At 1023hrs I acquired the NDB "TNK" (about 75nm out from Tennant Creek), the ADF Needle swung to "Straight Ahead"..
Tennant Creek is not a "straight-in approach", so I knew I'd have to deviate from the 152 degree heading to fly west of the airport then "turn in" to pick-up Rwy 7 (070 degrees). Between a couple of sheets of paper, pen and the E6B, I "figured" when I would need to turn to Hdg 180 (about 40nm out), then watched the ADF Needle come abeam 90 degrees to my left. I then turned to Hdg 070.. I wasn't "dead nuts" on.. but I wasn't off so far that I couldn't find the airport.. In fact, for a near zero visibility flight (I say 2000' max!), I did okay.. I landed long.. and I mean looooong.. I ran out of runway! I was really worried that MSFS would have a ditch or something to tear-off my landing gear.. but it didn't! But I got a Green Duenna!!:jump::jump:

[RedGreen]

I'm going to have to work this weekend, so if you boys want to finish this thing up, go right ahead. Best of luck!

[Moses03]

Nice pilot reports there Charles.:applause:

[DHC120]

Nice pilot reports there Charles.:applause:

Thank You, Sir.. I figured, when you are sitting in one place for a couple of hours and have nothing better to do than stare at some gauges (until something goes wrong), why not take some notes and tell about the flight?
I realize that everyone is going the same thing, but not everyone is having the same issues, or lack of.. I got the idea to "write something" after Srgalahad (Rob) wrote an Accident Report about crash at VIAG Agra AB, India.

[DHC120]

I'm going to have to work this weekend, so if you boys want to finish this thing up, go right ahead. Best of luck!

Red;
I also have commitments this weekend.. I plan on flying into Charleville tomorrow (going to make a day of it).. But can't do anything else till next week.. unless Salt-Air does the final leg, which is okay by me..

[DHC120]

Red-Green & Salt-Air;
Got up this morning at 0655 (Texas Time) to get some coffee in me, set-up (my yoke, TQ's, etc.) and start the nearly 800nm leg from YTNK to YBCV. I found I had no internet connection at all.. Called the ISP (8-5 M-F & 8-12 on Sat) and waited for the Tech Dept to return my call.. knowing it could be days or weeks if it was a system-wide issue.
I anticipated "playing the game" of having to "go in (my computer) and check this & that" as well as doing several restarts, so I was reluctant to begin a 5+ hour flight, believing the ISP would call when I'm 3-4 hours into the flight.. so I waited..
Plus, I didn't know how the judges would look at posting the "About to depart", "Landed at" and the Duennas all at the same time..
As a result, I will not be able to fly the YTNK-YBCV Leg until Monday at the earliest and more likely on Wednesday.

[salt_air]

Sorry Team,

I got hit with the leftovers of hurricane Ida (that's short for hemorrhoid).

The usual crap 75mph gusts and 40-50mph sustained with a foot of rain. We call 'um Nor'easters. Get six or eight a year, but usually not this bad. Wet carpet, trees down, fences need fixin', crap everywhere, golf course still flooded.

Neighbors aggreed to meet Monday morning for a march on the insurance company, with torches pitch forks and maybe a ball bat or two..:173go1:


Anyway internet was out till today, just now getting back on!

I don't want to steal you guys thunder,,,,I've had a go already and there's no rush we have till the end of the month.

But there's nothing I'd like to do better than come into YMEN < 10 secs. from estimated time...:wiggle:

Charles, get us into Charleville (after all it's not Redville or saltville, eh?) and then if you guys want me to run it in, then I'll at least set it up so you can be there for the landing, Hamachi or whatever.

Cheers,

[DHC120]

Sorry Team,

I got hit with the leftovers of hurricane Ida (that's short for hemorrhoid).

The usual crap 75mph gusts and 40-50mph sustained with a foot of rain. We call 'um Nor'easters. Get six or eight a year, but usually not this bad. Wet carpet, trees down, fences need fixin', crap everywhere, golf course still flooded.

Neighbors aggreed to meet Monday morning for a march on the insurance company, with torches pitch forks and maybe a ball bat or two..:173go1:


Anyway internet was out till today, just now getting back on!

I don't want to steal you guys thunder,,,,I've had a go already and there's no rush we have till the end of the month.

But there's nothing I'd like to do better than come into YMEN < 10 secs. from estimated time...:wiggle:

Charles, get us into Charleville (after all it's not Redville or saltville, eh?) and then if you guys want me to run it in, then I'll at least set it up so you can be there for the landing, Hamachi or whatever.

Cheers,

Austin;
Sorry to hear about your property damage.. Been there (Texas Hail stones aren't gentle on roofs, windows and cars:isadizzy:).. Older sister lives outside of Boston, baby sister lives outside D.C (In Virginia), so they got/are getting Ida/Nor'Easter now.. Bummer for the Atlantic seaboard..
I'll take the Charleville flight, no problems.. Probably Tuesday or Wednesday.
Regardless of who handles the final leg, I'd like to see all three of "Team United's" pilots, in the air together, in "formation", to cross the finish line:jump: (via Hamachi).. Is that a possibility? (meaning, can Red be awake and fly during the daylight?:sleep:).
I figure we could fly the last forty minutes (less than 100nm) with the "Official Pilot" in the lead plane and, of course, landing first.. That would make for some interesting screenshots (or even some video)..
We'd have to do some "time/distance coordination" to figure out when and where we could meet-up:running:.. like spawning in/at/around NDB "ECH", Echuca.. Suppose to be YEHC Airport 17nm off the 174 degree heading track.. I couldn't spot it. YECH is about 90nm from YMEN, about 590nm into the flight. In my "test flights", I was about 2hrs 30min into the flight when I was approaching "EHC"..
Think this is a possibility? (Is "Drafting" allowed??) Would the "Rules" allow it? It's "Photo Op" only, Plane #1 would be on the Duenna, not #2 & #3.
One other thing, Austin.. not a priority, but I cannot get the Gadwin Printscreen to produce a screen shot.. I have it set to take shots by pushing "PrtScn" and it's suppose to Save them to a folder in My Documents. It worked once during a test, but never during a flight and nothing since.. Any simple suggestions? Like I said, not a priority.. If you are going to be involved with the insurance company on property damage, then don't even think about this.. Family First!!

[Willy]

Quick and easy way to join up in multiplayer. use cntrl shft t to "target" the player you want to join up on. His name will appear in the upper left corner of your screen. Then when you're ready to join up, hit cntrl shft f to "form up". This will put you right on his six. This only works if your target is in the air. If he's on the ground, be ready to crash.

Hope this helps.

[salt_air]

Sounds like you've got the Print Screen key assigned to something else in the Sim or you need to change the format of what's being saved.

There will be a bunch of us on later today (1530 your time). Probably be on for a couple fo hours or so. Come early or late, we can work out screen shots in just a few minutes.

If not I'll look for you next week,,,,,easy fix.

[DHC120]

Quick and easy way to join up in multiplayer. use cntrl shft t to "target" the player you want to join up on. His name will appear in the upper left corner of your screen. Then when you're ready to join up, hit cntrl shft f to "form up". This will put you right on his six. This only works if your target is in the air. If he's on the ground, be ready to crash.

Hope this helps.

Willy;
Thanks.. That's an interesting set of commands.. I would have never thought something like that was even available.
Appreciate the info.

[DHC120]

Ready to depart Tennant Creek (YTNK) for Charleville (YBCV).
Racing for Team United in the Boeing 247D,

[DHC120]

Duenna Blew Me Out Of The Sky!
So much for YTNK-YBCV today.............................................
A few minutes before I "crashed", I was cruising comfortably at 153Kts IAS/170Kts GS. Level Alt 3500'AMSL and a LR Quartering Tailwind at 350/9.
I was playing with the E6B, figuring out "time" when I would pass the NDB "WDH" that I had picked-up a few minutes before, as well as "Time" to YBCV.. Then the Sim stopped cold!
Duenna says my IAS was 176.4KTS.. That must have been one helluva tailwind that came up in a hurry!!
Can't trust these rookie co-pilots for nuthin' !!

[DHC120]

Rules state that "Rather than restarting mid-air incident flights (Overstress qualifies), pilots may optionally choose to place their aircraft at a nearby airfield along the flightpath no nearer to the destination.
I wish to exercise that option (penalties noted) and will restart at YWDH, Windorah airport (this is where FS9 "put me" on the restart, I trust this is acceptable).

[srgalahad]

Matter is "under review".
In the meantime this plot from FSNav may give you further information. "X" marks the pile of debris...

Please stand by...:kilroy:

[DHC120]

Matter is "under review".
In the meantime this plot from FSNav may give you further information. "X" marks the pile of debris...

Please stand by...:kilroy:

MY "Estimations" were that I was closer to YWHD than that.. So much for "Ded Reckoning" and E6B Plotting. Of course, I will accept the decision of the judges. There is a twenty peso "gratuity" for each judge in your "efforts" in determining the location of the restart:engel016:

[srgalahad]

MY "Estimations" were that I was closer to YWHD than that.. So much for "Ded Reckoning" and E6B Plotting. Of course, I will accept the decision of the judges. There is a twenty peso "gratuity" for each judge in your "efforts" in determining the location of the restart:engel016:

In that case I'll do more work.. I leave for Mexico about the same time as the official close of this event and I need to supplement my Dos Equis fund. (one bottle costs about 9.8 pesos in the grocery store.):icon29:

[srgalahad]

Charles, the official options...

(1) "Mid-air incidents such as overstressing the airframe or running out of fuel require that the flight be started again. Post the Duenna and return to the departure airport. The failed flight time does not count on the logbook but the crash does."

net result: 3 hrs (2nd crash) plus new flight time--- approx 5:00 = close to 8 hrs

(2) "Rather than restarting mid-air incident flights, pilots may optionally choose to place their aircraft at a nearby airfield along the flightpath no nearer to the destination. This is treated as a "crash on landing". This special option costs an additional penalty in addition to the penalty associated with the crash. The penalty is (2) hours for Golden Age pilots—which gets added to the crash penalty itself plus the Flight Time for the failed flight."

Therefore, it would be flighttime (3:17:52) to the event + 3 hours (2nd crash) + 2 hours plus the remaining time to YBCV (1+50?). Total= 10.25 hrs. approx.

YWDH is further along the route to YBCV (about 44nm) so it does not meet the rule. Possible options, should you choose to use the second option are YWTN (approx 296 nm to YBCV) or YBOU (406nm to YBCV), YBIE (391nm). See graphic above for reference.

It's your call.

Rob

[salt_air]

Charles,

We'll need to re fly from Tennant Creek (YTNK). State in the post that the leg is being re flown due to a crash on the previous attempt.

There will be No E6-B's allowed in the cockpit for this flight.

Eat and go to the bathroom before you take off,,,,,ewww, yuk,,,,make sure you do that in the right order,,,,whew!...:icon_lol:.

Then put an extra "twenty" in Rob's envelop,,,,just write travel expenses on the outside.

No worries Charles!....:running:



Rob,

Thanks a bunch for all the time and effort you put in to get this sorted out. Please pass the team's gratitude on to everyone else that got envolved as well.

You know,,,,you might want to think about buying dos equis on draft.

Right!,,, in one of those 32oz, inch thick beer mugs that's so cold your hand sticks to the handle when you grab it up to take a swig. [Grinning now,,,showing the pearly whites and nodding my head up and down.]




:icon29:

[DHC120]

Charles, the official options...

(1) "Mid-air incidents such as overstressing the airframe or running out of fuel require that the flight be started again. Post the Duenna and return to the departure airport. The failed flight time does not count on the logbook but the crash does."

net result: 3 hrs (2nd crash) plus new flight time--- approx 5:00 = close to 8 hrs

(2) "Rather than restarting mid-air incident flights, pilots may optionally choose to place their aircraft at a nearby airfield along the flightpath no nearer to the destination. This is treated as a "crash on landing". This special option costs an additional penalty in addition to the penalty associated with the crash. The penalty is (2) hours for Golden Age pilots—which gets added to the crash penalty itself plus the Flight Time for the failed flight."

Therefore, it would be flighttime (3:17:52) to the event + 3 hours (2nd crash) + 2 hours plus the remaining time to YBCV (1+50?). Total= 10.25 hrs. approx.

YWDH is further along the route to YBCV (about 44nm) so it does not meet the rule. Possible options, should you choose to use the second option are YWTN (approx 296 nm to YBCV) or YBOU (406nm to YBCV), YBIE (391nm). See graphic above for reference.

It's your call.

Rob

Rob;
I appreciate all your efforts in sorting out my options on this flight, not to mention hiring the survey crew to locate, much less haul off the wreckage (can I have new engines Installed? After the first "incident", they just don't have any pep.. I think Salt-Air has been whizzing in the fuel tanks instead of the Relief Tube!).
After careful review of the re-flight+ penalties, etc., calming down (a few shots of Crown Royal) and heeding Salt-Air's suggestion, I will refly the YTNK-YBCV leg.. without the E6B in the cockpit (but there are no NDB's, Salt!!).
Let me know the name of the "location" (House of Blue Lights?) in Mexico and I will set-up an unlimited tab for all the Dos Equis (and any "extras") you consume (I'll pay for it with my Nigerian Inheritance fund that is being shipped as we speak)
Again, thanks for everything.
:icon29::icon29::icon29::icon29::icon29::icon29::i con29::icon29::icon29::icon29:

[DHC120]

Charles,

We'll need to re fly from Tennant Creek (YTNK). State in the post that the leg is being re flown due to a crash on the previous attempt.

There will be No E6-B's allowed in the cockpit for this flight.

Eat and go to the bathroom before you take off,,,,,ewww, yuk,,,,make sure you do that in the right order,,,,whew!...:icon_lol:.

Then put an extra "twenty" in Rob's envelop,,,,just write travel expenses on the outside.

No worries Charles!....:running:


Salt-Air;
Yes Sir! No E6B in the Cockpit (weren't you the one who suggested using the long flight time to learn how to use the E6B? And I'm getting the hang of it, too:sleep:
I will refly the YTNK-YBCV tomorrow..
After the Overstress killed the sim (and knowing I wasn't even close to the 160Kt max limit), I was some upset.. Up until that moment, I was making good time, other than near zero viz, I had tailwinds at least half the time and no headwinds.. It would have been a good flight... might have even knocked-off a chunk of minutes from my first crash penalty.. Oh well.. No use crying over spilled Fosters.. I know the Aussies don't :icon_lol:

[salt_air]

Salt-Air;
Yes Sir! No E6B in the Cockpit (weren't you the one who suggested using the long flight time to learn how to use the E6B? And I'm getting the hang of it, too:sleep:
I will refly the YTNK-YBCV tomorrow..
After the Overstress killed the sim (and knowing I wasn't even close to the 160Kt max limit), I was some upset.. Up until that moment, I was making good time, other than near zero viz, I had tailwinds at least half the time and no headwinds.. It would have been a good flight... might have even knocked-off a chunk of minutes from my first crash penalty.. Oh well.. No use crying over spilled Fosters.. I know the Aussies don't :icon_lol:


Yeah, that would be me, the intent was to make use of the time to get some hands on experience with the "fine" calculator.....ya still have to get the plane to destination in one piece :isadizzy:.

Take a look at the flight log and notice that the aircraft spent over a full minute in overspeed. No need to discount that as the reason for the crash.

It's not the tailwind you have to watch out for,,,,,it's when the tailwind you're riding shifts around to the front of the plane and makes the IAS spike up over the 160 mark.

It will register overspeed for a long enough time to crash the plane long before it has enough effect to slow it down.

By your account the winds you were flying at a comfortable 153kts wuth the winds at 9kts.....picture comes into view......if the direction of the wind takes a shift to the face, then 9 + 153 = 162 or overspeed. A minute can get away from you if your reading or making a trip to the head or on the phone or what have ya. That has happened the best of us.

The team's avg GS is below 160kts,,,Try to get yourself in a postion where your airspeed and the wind speed (regardless of direction) combined is less than 160, but the GS is over 160 or better.

As I've said before, only the working man gets dirty, guys that never do anything never get into trouble, but that's no fun and the lesson learned (how to get out of work) is worthless. :jump:

Everyone of us are having fun and learning. What some folks are learning isn't as obvious as others....:icon_lol:. Just keep making good use of the experience and take notes.

You're a great competitor and a great pilot, there are some things about the simulator that are bustin' your butt. This is a perfect opportunity to learn these things. You've made a lot of friends and fans here with your spirit and attitude. One more time, dust yourself off and scrape the crap off your boots.

After you get the 247D down to Charleville and you've caught your breath, I'd like to get together for the last leg and be your co-pliot into Melbourne. Both of us on TS with you flying the team entry into YMEN and across the finish line and me navigating.

What do you say?

[DHC120]

Yeah, that would be me, the intent was to make use of the time to get some hands on experience with the "fine" calculator.....ya still have to get the plane to destination in one piece :isadizzy:.

Roger That!!

Take a look at the flight log and notice that the aircraft spent over a full minute in overspeed. No need to discount that as the reason for the crash.

I'm not saying that "Overspeed" was only a "couple of seconds", it could have been a couple of minutes as I had my head down, E6B in one hand, pen & paper in the other, figuring something like "I'm X from this NDB, Y to that NDB, Z gap between them, how long til LOS, how long till I pick-up the next NDB", etc. At one point, as I passed the NDB "BOU", I used the E6B to figure time till Loss of Signal.. The E6B figured LOS at 10:40:30AM and the NDB went null at exactly 10:39:30AM.. My airspeed increased a couple of knots (I used 150Kts as my speed, was traveling at 153..) So, I was "on a roll" to try to "nail" a time/distance figure.. Side-tracked!

It's not the tailwind you have to watch out for,,,,,it's when the tailwind you're riding shifts around to the front of the plane and makes the IAS spike up over the 160 mark.

It will register overspeed for a long enough time to crash the plane long before it has enough effect to slow it down.

By your account the winds you were flying at a comfortable 153kts wuth the winds at 9kts.....picture comes into view......if the direction of the wind takes a shift to the face, then 9 + 153 = 162 or overspeed. A minute can get away from you if your reading or making a trip to the head or on the phone or what have ya. That has happened the best of us.

I've read that before but have yet to experience it.. but then, when I'm watching the gauges, I keep "adjusting" for the wind drift and am probably adjusting the throttles, as well (some things are just "reactions")..

The team's avg GS is below 160kts,,,Try to get yourself in a postion where your airspeed and the wind speed (regardless of direction) combined is less than 160, but the GS is over 160 or better.

I've found a "Sweet Spot" a few times, where IAS is 148 and GS is humping along in the high 170's.. I love it! Unfortunately, those times are short lived (why is it headwinds last a LOT longer than tailwinds?)

As I've said before, only the working man gets dirty, guys that never do anything never get into trouble, but that's no fun and the lesson learned (how to get out of work) is worthless. :jump:

Everyone of us are having fun and learning. What some folks are learning isn't as obvious as others....:icon_lol:. Just keep making good use of the experience and take notes.

You're a great competitor and a great pilot, there are some things about the simulator that are bustin' your butt. This is a perfect opportunity to learn these things. You've made a lot of friends and fans here with your spirit and attitude. One more time, dust yourself off and scrape the crap off your boots.

That's why I wear boots.. keeps the crap from getting on my socks:icon_lol:

After you get the 247D down to Charleville and you've caught your breath, I'd like to get together for the last leg and be your co-pliot into Melbourne. Both of us on TS with you flying the team entry into YMEN and across the finish line and me navigating.

What do you say?

Let me think on the last paragraph.. As it stands right now, after I touch down in Charleville, I'd fly the last thirty minutes or so of the YBCV-YMEN leg, "en masse", across the finish line (as a photo op only).. but I'm ready to pull the B-247D into a hanger and park it "for a while"..
Well, Off to that Wild Blue Yonder...

[DHC120]

Ready to depart Tennant Creek (YTNK) for Charleville (YBCV) again….
Racing for Team United in the Boeing 247D.

[srgalahad]

No 32 oz mug for me.. they don't handle well while reposed in a hammock.. better this one with a length of hose... and the beach-buggy wheel kit...

http://www.polarbeersystems.com/Tecate.jpg

[DHC120]

YTNK-YBCV, she is done!
Set-up and ready to fly around 0825 local (Tennant Creek) time. Set my AFD Radios (I don't know why, can't pick-up the first NDB until you are 300nm into the flight). WX Report was "Clear. Wind 045 @ 09. Visibility 10miles..
Tuned my Heading to 115 degrees and started rolling at 0835.
At 0840, I was at 3000', Hdg 115 running 136Kts IAS & 140Kts GS with the winds out of 117 at 12Kts. I can live with a RF quartering breeze.
Three minutes later (0843) I was at 4000' and the clouds started building (so much for "Clear"). by 0850 I was at 5600' with a full on tailwind.. All Right!
A couple minutes later, the winds shifted and thus began the flight.
Interesting thing.. I set my "Plane Time" to be "Local" time for the area I'm flying (this way I can kinda keep track of sundown).. at 0903 the clock in the cockpit "jumped" to 1003.. It's done this on every Australian flight I've flown.. Do the folks in Oz have Daylight Wasting Time like we in the US do?
Other than flying for the better part of five+ hours in a cloud, the flight was uneventful (Read: NO Overspeed!! Zero, Nada, Zilch!!!). Personally, I think Salt-Air and/or Red-Green put "Restrictor Plates" under the carbs.. Coundn't get that bird to fly much faster than 150Kts unless I nosed it down.. The headwinds most of the way probably didn't help, either..
At about the halfway point (Boulia), I opted for a new tack (not a "last minute decision", I plotted all this out last night so I'd know where to go, how far, when to turn, what heading, etc. AND printed a few maps!) Instead of flying "straight" towards YBCV, I shot a heading of 100 degrees and aimed for Isisford AP.. Crossing directly over that airport, I turned to Heading 135 Degrees and that took me "straight-in" to Rwy 12 at YBCV.
I was getting worried as I was inside thirty miles and all I could see was brown in any direction.. Finally, about 10nm out I picked up the PAPI Lights (I wish FS9 would generate airports as well as it does fog, haze, thick clouds, etc.!).. I had already descended to 3500' and was loafing along at 130Kts (I'm tired of landing "too hot" then trying to "force" the plane down, only to stall and crash.. They need to teach this stuff somewhere:isadizzy:)
Wheels Stopped at 1433.. At first, the Duenna kept running.. I'm thinking "Oh Crap.. Something glitched".. But the Duenna Went Green, that's all I care about..
Officially, I've flown 4538nm in this event, this does not count the "practice flights", the "reflights", the flights where the other computer "crashed" two and a half hours into the flight.. I don't know how some of you folks can fly this event "Iron Butt Solo".. but my hat is off to you.. ALL of you.. Pilots, staff, support groups, the event hosts, SOH, the judges, Srgalahad Rob, and too many others to mention, Y'all have done a helluva job to put on this show!!
Anyway, I put what was left of the Boeing B-247D in a hanger at YBCV, I locked the doors and gave the key to some youngster (a twenty-something) who looked interested in flying.. I told him "Have Fun".. and I walked away..
It's been fun guys.. Maybe I'll recover in time for next years event...

[salt_air]

Fine Job Charles!,

I won't even try to quote any of this, but I'll speak to a couple of points.

All your hard work and embarrassment and most of all your ability to stick to it are greatly appreciated and shouldn't go without notice. Thanks for everything you've done towards the team's effort! I feel sure everyone will be glad to see you back at any future event.

Fantastic PIREPs too, by the way, a lot of detail and still able to manage some color here and there,,,,very good!

Yes, this is the best bunch online for this sort of event. Their hospitality, knowledge, work ethics, creativity, fun spirit, and their promotion of camaraderie across all websites is a solid contribution they continue to make to the community and it goes unmatched in my opinion.

Now on with the show.....talked to Red this weekend and now with your input here, I'll take the plane to Melbourne later this week. I'll be checking the weather for the best window and I'll send you and Red an email invite to be present for the landing. You'll get a time and date for the takeoff and for the landing as well, so you can make your plans.

Nice job ,,,,way to go!

Oh yeah,,,,could you get us one of those beer wagons srgalahad was describing? ...Just set in the back of the plane ,,,I'll handle the rest.:wiggle:

Cheers,

[DHC120]

Salt;
I don't believe I was embarrassed about any of my failures.. all of them can be attributed to a "Pilot Error" of some sort or another ("Barber Polling" the throttles, too low & slow on approach, too high and fast on an approach, "forcing" a landing that one knows he isn't going to make before he even tries.. It's all part of the game.. Fortunately, we can walk away from these landings/crashes, a "real pilot" would know better and would have never put his plane in a risky situation.
This race was, for me, a physically and mentally challenging (read Fatiguing) ordeal.. Like I mentioned once before, My Dad flew B-29's from Guam (Anderson AAF) to Tokyo and back.. non-stop (Show of Force Missions in '48-'49).. He was in his late twenties.. I'm not!
I hope folks enjoyed my "Leg Reports".. I tried to convey something interesting out of an otherwise boring several hours of flying (What is it they say?? Flying is hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror!), plus add a bit of humor where I could..
Let me know as soon as you can, when you think you'll fly the last leg.. I'll do my best to be there cheering you on.. If on Hamachi, I might fly the last thirty or so minutes with you, if you'd like the company..
Remember.. Blue Up, Green/Brown Down... :kilroy:

[salt_air]

Good Lord what a mess!

Let's get all the cobwebs cleaned out of the inside and a fresh wash job on the outside,,,,,time to finish up!

While you're at it fill up the oil and check the gas.

Gonna roll this thing out of Charley tomorrow sometime.

Headed straight for Melbourne me thinks......:running:

[salt_air]

salt_air for Team United in the Boeing 247D flying YBCV-YMEN.

This is the Prceision Flight leg and the estimated time for the flight is:

04:13:00

See if these clear skies in Melbourne will hold out! :mixedsmi:

[teson1]

Go, Austin, go!
:jump:

[Vicious]

Good Luck!

[salt_air]

Three quarters of the way with Narrandera NDB at my nine and just over three hours on the duenna.......oh boy, gonna be close. :wiggle:

[salt_air]

Down safe,,,,Team United is done!

Close, but no cigar.

Amazing to fight headwinds all the way down here and then fight tailwinds on the last flight. Who knew?

Weather had me worried for a little while, flying in the soup for almost three hours. Then it cleared off as promised for the rest of the way in.

Appreciate everyone's support and all the work that was done by the Committee and it subbed out help.

Great Event,,,,Thanks to All!!!.......:ernae:

[Willy]

Congratulations and well done! :ernae:

[srgalahad]

Well done guys. :jump:

[arrvoo]

Congratulations. Great team effort

[Bry Rosier]

Well done Guys :applause: :ernae:

[DHC120]

Salt;
Great Job!! Thanks for bringing B-247D "The City of Oakland" home.. beaten and battered tho she may be..
Sorry to have missed your arrival.
On the "Precision" part of the flight.. you "called" 4:13:00 and the Duenna shows 4:13:37 for Flight Time, 4:13:38 for Baton Time.. I don't care how you slice it, that's "dead on" in my book!! (I'd be doing good to "call" the day I'd land!) You deserve a BIG HAND for the Precision Flying leg!!

[MM]

Terrific job by all. Great team effort was a wonderful success. Congratulations!

[RedGreen]

Way to bring it home, Austin! :jump:

[Milton Shupe]

Congratulations guys ... :ernae: A long, hard flight. :applause:

[EdGeneer]

Excellent job Austin, and great job Team United....

Austin, You nailed that time estimate.... under a minute on a 4 hour flight is doing damn good....

Cold ones all around, for everyone....!!! :icon29:

[bpfowler]

more cheering and confetti!!! ..you should what it's like outside the bar?

[salt_air]

Appreciate everyone's support and all the work that was done by the Committee and it subbed out help.

Great Event,,,,Thanks to All!!!.......:ernae:

This should be a regular yearly event with the work and hosting either rotated or shared amongst the websites.

[EdGeneer]

Only if they want to relinquish it.... This is a fun event, and If they dont mind the work, I dont mind (in fact, quite enjoyed it) coming over to the SOH group of gents and sharing some air time for a fun event :)

Well Done Guys (SOH Crew), I had a blast... and you gents are a great group of guys... :mixedsmi:

[srgalahad]

Only if they want to relinquish it.... This is a fun event, and If they dont mind the work, I dont mind (in fact, quite enjoyed it) coming over to the SOH group of gents and sharing some air time for a fun event :)

Well Done Guys (SOH Crew), I had a blast... and you gents are a great group of guys... :mixedsmi:

Well, strictly speaking it's not a purely-SOH event to begin with. We host it because this is a place where irreverent and twisted minds gather and swap curious ideas. As long as Ickie doesn't cut our file space we are happy to have it here and it means less "traveling" for us :icon_lol:

As for the committee, it's not just the Outhouse... Reggie, MM and poor, drafted Eamonn are imports from "over there" -------------------------->

and some of us frequent other dens of FS iniquity now and then to keep tabs on the outside world.
It's not always easy to advertise and send out alerts about events so we depend on you for that.

BTW, I hope you realize that by participating you've all been drawn into the Outhouse anyway... :kilroy: so now you're part of "it".

Rob
(Unofficial Truly Evil Mind of the Committee)

[salt_air]

BTW, I hope you realize that by participating you've all been drawn into the Outhouse anyway... :kilroy: so now you're part of "it".

Rob
(Unofficial Truly Evil Mind of the Committee)


Home is where you hang your hat......always a pleasure to be in such "good" company Rob.:ernae:

[EdGeneer]

Well, you guys here make it very welcome for us 'team outsiders' to come in when the rtw is not competitively active, and participate as if we were almost family... So, It is very appreciated. You guys are top notch....

I greatly enjoyed participating, and will definitely do so again...


BTW, I hope you realize that by participating you've all been drawn into the Outhouse anyway... :kilroy: so now you're part of "it".

Rob
(Unofficial Truly Evil Mind of the Committee)

nothing wrong with that.... :icon29:

[DHC120]

Well, you guys here make it very welcome for us 'team outsiders' to come in when the rtw is not competitively active, and participate as if we were almost family... So, It is very appreciated. You guys are top notch....

I greatly enjoyed participating, and will definitely do so again...



nothing wrong with that.... :icon29:

Could not have said it better myself.
I believe I can say, We All had a great time!
A Big Round of Clap for the SOH Crowd.. errr Applause.

[donlimpio]

a little late, hope somebody's still around-congratulations in any case!

[mickj300]

Warm welcome to Aus for my Team Flightsim buddies!