Around the world in 175 days.

[blanston12]

Flying to Eugene, continued.


Southern Oregon.



Finally under those clouds. Sorry I did not take more pics while i was in the clouds, but I was a bit preoccupied not crashing into a mountain.



Finally the clouds are breaking up.



Eugene Airport, my destination.

[blanston12]

March 19, 1924: The three planes left Eugene next morning for Vancouver Washington, on the way they were intercepted by five JN-4s from the Vancouver Barracks Aerodrome. When they arrived they were greeted by a large crowd from the cities of Portland and Vancouver. They motored into Portland for a luncheon with the city leaders. They had intended to fly to Seattle that afternoon but shortly after departing the ceiling dropped to 500 feet and Major Martin decided they should return to Vancouver. That evening, Lt Nelson arrived in Eugene, flying directly from Santa Monica after 9 hours 45 minutes of flying.


June 10, 2017. The aircraft for the next leg is the Fokker F.VIIa, by Jens B. Kristensen. The Fokker was the aircraft of choice for many early airlines, both in Europe and the Americas and it dominated the American market in the late 1920s.


My Progress has been delayed by the fact that I just received a new computer to use for flight sim and I need to transfer over and re-install enough software so I could get flying again. Today flying conditions are good, 7 kn winds, ceiling 2000-4000 feet with clear terrain between me and my destination of Pearson Field, Vancouver Washington, 93 nm away.



Ready for takeoff



Climbing out of Eugene Oregon.



Central Oregon.

[blanston12]

Continuing to Vancouver Washington.


Clouds getting thicker.



Make sure you avoid the radio antennas.



My destination, I'm flying over KPDX but my destination is just beyond the river.



Arrived at Pearson Field.

[blanston12]

March 20, 1924: The morning the three aircraft left Vancouver for Sand Point Field in Seattle (now the site of Magnuson Park), arriving by Noon. Lt Nelson arrived from Eugene two hours later. Once again they were meet by Local Dignitaries and were motored into town for a Luncheon. The flyers would then spend the next three weeks getting the aircraft ready for the trip including swapping the wheels for floats, protecting all metal surface with either varnish or oil and getting there supplies in order.


June 10, 2017: This afternoon I got ready the de Havilland DH.60 Moth by Golden Age Simulations, which I like a lot. The DH.60 was a two seat training and touring aircraft built from 1925 in many different versions until 1932 when it was replaced by the DH.82 Tiger Moth. “By 1929 it was estimated that of every 100 aeroplanes in Britain, 85 were Moths of one type or another”.


My 114nm flight to Seattles Renton Municipal Airport was pretty smooth, most interesting thing was this was the first real flight I did on the new computer using P3D V4, with autogen turned up to the max and the screen at 3840x2160 I was still getting 60 fps, hopefully you will see a difference in the screen shots.


So far I have had 12.1 hours of flight time compared to 13.5 by the flyers, and they arrived in Seattle after 4 days while I took 16, but I won’t have to take 3 weeks getting my aircraft ready for the next leg.


Here are the pics:



Ready for takeoff



Last look at Oregon for a while



Central Washington



Mount St Helens, hiding in the clouds.

[blanston12]

Flying into Seattle.


I can't tell you how many times I flew under this bridge in FS2004.



SeaTac Airport with Seattle in the distance.



My destination, Renton Municipal Airport.



Aircraft Secured, time for dinner!

[blanston12]

April 6, 1924: The preparations had been made and the flyers were ready to start their flight. The route had been organized into seven divisions for planning purposes and the first division was from Seattle to Attu in the Aleutian islands. The pilots had been instructed to name there planes after American cities on the four points of the compass, Major Martin named his plane ‘Seattle’, Lt. Smith named his plane ‘Chicago’, Lt Wade named his ‘Boston’ and Lt Nelson chose ‘New Orleans’. Sgt. Turner became ill just before departure and felt to weak to continue so Lt Smith chose alternate pilot Lt Leslie Arnold to be his co-pilot/mechanic. They wanted to depart on April 4th but bad weather reports caused them to cancel. On April 5th Major Martin tried to take off but his propeller broke with a loud crack and repairs took till the next day. Finally on the 6th, in front large crowds, the four planes taxied out and one by one took off. The planes were at maximum weight and Boston could not get airborne. Lt Wade taxied back to the dock, where they made some adjustments and unloaded some gear including their rifle, a small anchor and some extra clothing. An hour behind the others they took off and were on there way to Prince Rupert Canada, 650 miles away.


June 11, 2017: The flyers took about 8 hours to fly from Seattle to Prince Rupert, not having that much time today I decided to break the trip into three smaller legs. Since they had switched there planes from wheels to floats, I will use float planes on these first legs. The aircraft I have chosen is the Ryan B-5 Brougham by Golden Age Simulations. The Brougham was a very popular small airliner that was used in Alaska but also China and Central America. The model is very good, flying it is easy but side visibility is a bit restricted, but thats the way it was built. My destination for today is Comox, British Columbia, on the eastern coast of Victoria Island, 170 nm away. Flying conditions are again good, scattered clouds and 5-6 kn. winds, the flight was uneventful and I arrived after 1.7 hours of flying. Here are a few pictures from the flight:



Ready for takeoff.



Climbing out of Renton Municipal Airport.



Flying over Downtown Seattle



View along the way.

[blanston12]

Flying to Comox BC, continued.



Another along the way.



Yet another along the way.



The destination is in site.



Landing at Comox


PS. Sorry for waiting so long to post this, its been a busy week.

[blanston12]

April 6, 1924: Lt Wade few solo to Prince Rupert through thick fog an dead calm. “I flew right down on the water so glassy that I was constantly fearful of slapping the surface.” Wade said. “I used the tree line on my left as a guide and followed it for a long way. In skimming over Johnstone Strait, we almost collided with ships twice”....


June 15, 2017: Today I got ready the Monocoupe 90, a two seat cabin monoplane, which first flew in 1927. Various versions were in production until the late 1940's, and over 300 were built. The version I am using today was made by Golden Age Simulations and is very good, the package includes the Monocoupe 90, 110 and 125 and has both wheeled and float versions.


I readied for flight the float plane version of of the 90 in a nice blue color. I had tried this flight two days before but the sim crashed so to make up time I did resort to some time acceleration. My plan today is to fly to Bella Bella, British Columbia, 191 nm away. Weather today is a bit more challenging than the previous flights, conditions in Comox were 14kn winds with cloud level at between 800-3000 feet. I headed north west following the Discovery Passage to the Johnstone strait, keeping between 1000-1500 feet to stay below the clouds, in the Johnstone strait the clouds got heavier and in I dropped to 800 ft and spent some time flying through rain. Once I reached the pacific things cleared up a bit, however once I reached the Burke Channel the clouds closed in again and I had to drop to about 500 feet to stay in clear air. I found the passage on the south side of Denny Island and followed it around to Bella Bella. The Monocoupe came in a bit fast and it took a few attempts to get the landing right. One problem with sea plane airports is its a bit harder to identify them, there are two of in this little bay and I ended up stopping next to the wrong one, but they are all pretty close together and as far as the FSAirlines client was concerned it was close enough and the flight got recorded. Flight time 1.9 hours. Here are a few screen shots from the flight:





Ready to depart.



Up the Discovery Passage



Down the Johnstone strait



Still flying down the Johnstone strait

[blanston12]

On the way to Bella Bella, continued.


Over the Pacific



Getting Closer



Up the Burke Channel



Arrived.

[Portia911]

Bravo, Joe.
Loving your aircraft choice. I've been flying the Brougham and the Monocoupe float versions recently - around Prince of Wales Island.
Best wishes for your next leg!

[blanston12]

Bravo, Joe.
Loving your aircraft choice. I've been flying the Brougham and the Monocoupe float versions recently - around Prince of Wales Island.
Best wishes for your next leg!

Thanks Portia, your encouragement means a lot!

[blanston12]

April 6, 1924: Major Martin initially though a photo graphic airplane was Lt Wade in Boston so the first three aircraft headed for Prince Rupert, only later did he discover his mistake. After flying though haze so thick they had to drop to 100 feet to pick their way around the numerous small. After passing the Johnstone strait they emerged from the fog just in time to avoid a Steamer looming just ahead. Back into fog and over increasingly heavy seas. They arrived at the entrance to Prince Rupert Harbor and encountered a heavy snow storm. As Martin was about to land he could see he had too much momentum to stop before hitting the beach but not enough power to go around so he cut power and pulled up to make a stalled landing, he avoided the beach but landed with enough force to damage the left wing struts and some of the wires. The other pilots landed safely, Lt Wade in Boston landed an hour after the others. Lt Arnold wrote in his diary, “125 miles of fog, 275 in rain and snow, hell of a day”. Seattle was hauled into the Prince Rupert Dry Dock for repairs.


June 17, 2017: Today I prepared the Waco UBF-2 for flight. The Waco F-Series first flew in 1930 and was a very popular sport and training aircraft. Many of this classic aircraft are still flying and versions the aircraft are still being built. The model I am using was made by Golden Age simulations and it is very nice to fly. I think it’s the fourth Golden Age aircraft I have used so far.


The weather was calm but hazy, visibility between 5 and 8 miles. I was always worried that the fog would roll in so I stayed low at around 1000ft but full fog never arrived. I few along the west coast of Princess Royal and Pitt island before arriving at Prince Rupert Harbor. The 155 nm flight from Bella Bella took 1.5 hours.



Ready for flight.



Hazy conditions.



Princess Royal Island.



Along the way.

[blanston12]

Continuing to Prince Rupert, British Columbia.


Flying between McCauley and Pitt Islands.



The town of Prince Rupert.



Nice view of the cruise ship.



Safe landing.

[blanston12]

April 10, 1924: It took about 3 days to complete the repairs to the damaged Seattle. It was raining on the morning of the 10th but reports from along there route were encouraging so Major Martin decided they would attempt the 282 mile flight to Sitka Alaska. That moring for the first time all four planes took off together, an hour later they passed Ketchikan at low altitude in light rain. Passing the Clarence strait about 60 miles from Sitka they encountered thick haze and had to fly low over 30 foot swells with only 100 yard visibility. As they approached the there destination, Wade recalled “The harbor sight was exhilarating, mirror like water, tiny city, snow capped peaks, and a sky full of soaring seagulls”.


June 19, 2017: Today from Prince Rupert I prepared the Fairey Swordfish for the flight. The Fairey Swordfish was a British torpedo bomber that first flew in 1934 and is probably the closest aircraft to the Douglas World Cruiser I am likely to use, unless of course someone decides to make a P3D/FSX compatible version of the DWC (please?). Despite being considered obsolete at the start of the WW2, it was still in service when the war ended. Produced until 1944, it sank more ships than any other allied aircraft and survived past several aircraft designed to replace it. The model I am using today is made by 'Flying Stations' and is quite nice.


It was cloudy in Prince Rupert so as I left I stayed low as I headed North west over the channel. After about an hour of flying the cloud lifted and I climbed to 6000 ft so I could head directly over the mountains rather than weaving my way through the many channels. Once I had flown over the lower peninsula of Baranof island I descended to 1500 feet and followed the along the coast to Sitka Alaska and landed after 2.3 hours of flying.


Here are a few pics from the flight.



Prince Rupert, BC. Ready to go



Climbing out of Prince Rupert, BC.



Turning toward Ketchikan Alaska



Flying over Ketchikan Alaska

[blanston12]

Continuing to Sitka....


Ah! Good flying weather.



Flying along the coast of Baranof Island.



Coming into Sitka Alaska.



Landed Safe!

[blanston12]

April 13, 1924: They could not leave on the 11th because of heavy rain. It rained, hailed and snowed on the 12th. The flyer were kept busy keeping trying to protect there aircraft that kept loosing there anchors, but on the 13th it was clear and calm so they took on extra fuel so they could reach 625 miles to Steward in case the weather was clear at their initial destination of Cordova. With Lt Wade in the lead they took off, the good weather did not last long and they flew in violent snow storms. Wade flew at 100 feet over the shore line with the others in formation behind as they tried to avoid the mountains that would loom up in their way…


June 24, 2017: Today I will by flying the de Havilland DH.82 Tiger moth. The tiger moth first flew in 1932 and was an evolution of the earlier DH.60 Moth. It was used as the primary trainer for the RAF and many other Air forces until the late 50’s and is still operated by many private individuals and flying clubs. Well over 8000 were built. Today I will be using the model built by Ant’s Airplanes and I like this model enough that it is setup as the default aircraft when I load flight sim.


There are many more capable aircraft from the early 30’s I could have used but I did not want to pass up the TM, but it does not have the range to make Steward so instead the destination will be Yakutat Alaska, 201 nm away. Conditions at Sitka were good for flying, light winds and about a 8k ceiling and started off happily around 4000 ft but soon had to drop to 1000 ft as the clouds got heavier and it started to rain. Lots of cool glaciers to see as we headed along the coast. The weather lighted up as we got close to Yakutat and the flight took 2.3 hours later. Here are a few pics from the flight.



Ready for takeoff.



On our way, good flying weather near Sitka.



Weather is closing in, our first Glacier along the way.



More glaciers.

[blanston12]

Continuing to Yakutat...


Weather is clearing up.



Scenery along the way.



On approach to Yakutat.



Secured.

[blanston12]

April 13, 1924: The planes continued on 10 feet above the breakers, "The beach was covered in snow and the air around us was filled with it", Nelson Wrote. Arnold wrote in his diary "I hope we never have to fly through such thick weather again". The weather broke into clear skies and unlimited visibility as they approached Cordova, so instead of landing there they continued on to Seward. Major Martin late sent a letter of apology to the Mayor of Cordova when he learned they had prepared a reception and dinner in there honor.


June 25, 2017: Today I planned to use the De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide. The DH.89 first flew in 1934 and went on to become perhapse the most successful British built short-haul commercial passenger aircraft of the 1930s. The model I will be using today id by Dave Garwood and the CBFS design team and is excellent.


Flying weather today was excellent, Clear, scattered clouds, easy flying until I got close to Montague island when the clouds started to thicken up. Knowing the island was in front of me I decided to go over the small cloud in front of me but then saw that the clouds extended for quite some distance beyond i headed for the nearest hole in the clouds to head back to low level., I had to drop to 600 feet to get below the clouds. The clouds broke about 15 minute later and I could climb back to 1500 ft and cruised along the coast until i reached the mouth of Resurrection Bay, then up the bay and a landed at Steward. I travelled the 297 nm from Yakutat to Seward in 3.1 hours.


Here are the pics:



Where did these guys come from, well there the passangers, looks like they are headed to a Grunge concert or something, hope they enjoy the flight.



Climbing out over Yakutat Bay.



Glamour shots.



Clouds starting to close in.

[blanston12]

Rapide to Seward continued...


Trying to get under them.



Clear skys again.



Resurrection Bay



The town of Seward Alaska.

Thanks for viewing, feel free to comment if you like, dislike or have any questions about this series.

[Portia911]

Another great aircraft choice, Joe. That Rapide is a lovely add on. I flew the float variant for a while - mostly because it came in Queen Charlotte Airlines livery - very proximate, eh!

You could dip back into the GAS hangar soon and try their Stinson Junior - one of which comes in McGee Airways livery (a 1930s Anchorage-based forebear of Alaska Airlines).

Oh and I think your destination there is Seward, rather than Steward - but either way, keep on keeping on!

[ryapad]

Your getting close to my home! Just wondering, do you have a map of all of the places you have stopped buy? you can make one here if you want:
https://www.zeemaps.com/
It's free too!

Keep on flying, no matter how slow these old planes are!

[blanston12]

Another great aircraft choice, Joe. That Rapide is a lovely add on. I flew the float variant for a while - mostly because it came in Queen Charlotte Airlines livery - very proximate, eh!

You could dip back into the GAS hangar soon and try their Stinson Junior - one of which comes in McGee Airways livery (a 1930s Anchorage-based forebear of Alaska Airlines).

Oh and I think your destination there is Seward, rather than Steward - but either way, keep on keeping on!

Thanks for the comments. Portia! I will fix the Seward name issue (oops!). I had seriously considered the Stinson Junior when planning this flight, comparing it to what was in my mind a very similar Ryan B5, also by GAS. I finally ended up going with the Ryan mainly because I already had it and it was P3D compatible, but maybe if I can find the JR on sale somewhere I can fit it in.

[blanston12]

Your getting close to my home! Just wondering, do you have a map of all of the places you have stopped buy? you can make one here if you want:
https://www.zeemaps.com/
It's free too!

Keep on flying, no matter how slow these old planes are!

Thanks Ryan!, pretty cool site, I will definitely check that out and thanks for the encouragement.

[Portia911]

Thanks for the comments. Portia! I will fix the Seward name issue (oops!). I had seriously considered the Stinson Junior when planning this flight, comparing it to what was in my mind a very similar Ryan B5, also by GAS. I finally ended up going with the Ryan mainly because I already had it and it was P3D compatible, but maybe if I can find the JR on sale somewhere I can fit it in.

Sure, Joe - if it came down to choosing between the Brougham or the Stinson Jnr. I think you chose well!

[blanston12]

Your getting close to my home! Just wondering, do you have a map of all of the places you have stopped buy? you can make one here if you want:
https://www.zeemaps.com/
It's free too!

Keep on flying, no matter how slow these old planes are!

FSAirlines.net Just added a feature where you can export as a Google Earth KML file, information about the flights you have done on there site. They say its still beta but I used it to create this.