Around the world in 175 days.

[blanston12]

Cruising the Persian Gulf.


The fog has lifted.



Cruisin...



Coming into Bushire.



Landed.


Thanks for reading
ATB.

[blanston12]

July 8, 1924: After 90 minutes of working the sandwiches had not arrived so the fliers and departed for Baghdad Mesopotamia. There route took them over a vast desert to Basra, they followed the Euphrates river to the city of Hilla where they then took a compass course to the RAF field in Baghdad. They were surprised by the large croud of British civilians and military personnel who greeted them. They were immediantly given sandwiches as they tended there craft. Later they were taken to the RAF officers club for dinner. They were so tired when they finally got to there rooms that Arnold wrote “I remember getting to bed but don’t remember lying down”.


September 10, 2017: For the next leg we will be using the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. The Helldiver's introduction was plagued by problems that delayed its introduction, poor handling characteristics even caused the plane to be rejected by the Royal Navy, but the problems were eventually ironed out and had a good record for the last two years of the war with over 7000 being built. The last retired from service in 1958. Its reputation was not enhanced by the fact that it was the last dedicated dive bomber when improvements in level bombing and rockets was eliminating the need for the type. The aircraft I am using is made by Aeroplane heaven and is nice.


The weather for the next leg was not bad, no wind or clouds, 5.0 mile visibility and a temperature of 31C/88F. We took off and headed north along the coast of the Persian Gulf until we found the mouth of the Euphrates river. I followed it until I finally lost the main channel of the river and then made a compass heading for Baghdad International airport. The 427 nmi flight had taken 2.1 hours.
Here are a few pics.



Ready to go.



Heading out over the Persian Gulf.



Out over the sea.



Mesopotamia.

[blanston12]

A Mes-o-Potamia!



Trying to follow the Euphrates river.



I feel like I should be flying an A-10.



Baghdad!



Landed.


Thanks for reading!
ATB.

[blanston12]

July 9, 1924: The Flyers were used to getting up before day break but this day the slept in till after 7am and were not in the air until after 11am for there flight to Aleppo Syria, escorted for the first hour and a half by British Fighters. There route followed the Euphrates river and more monotonous desert They landed at the French Airfield northwest of the city and were greeted by laughing French pilots who insisted on toasting them with a special Champaign they had been saving for the occasion. After servicing there aircraft they were taken into town and to a reception and dinner that lasted until 2am.


September 13, 2017: For the next leg I will be using the Vought F4U Corsair. The Corsair first few in 1940 and was the first US Fighter to fly faster than 400 mph but it did not enter combat until 1943. Over 12,500 were built before the final delivery in 1953, the longest production run of any piston engine fighter in US history. I am using the ‘Birdcage’ model by JustFlight, which is quite nice. My flight to Aleppo was uneventful. Weather was good, clear with 5 knot winds and a temperature of 23C/73F. We cruised at 4000 feet, mostly following the Euphrates river, the Corsair made short work of the 388 mile flight cruising at over 290 knots and landing at the Aleppo International Airport after 1.4 hours of flying. I am happy that the civil war that has engulfed Syria does not invade the virtual space I fly in because I know the people of Aleppo have suffered quite a bit and as far as I can tell there airport is still closed because of the fighting.


Here are my pics;



Climbing out of Baghdad.



Heading out over the desart.



Not much out there.



Selfie!

[blanston12]

Heading into Syria.


No eclipses here.



Following the river.



Over Syria.



Landed.


Thanks for reading.
ATB

[blanston12]

July 10 1924: Despite the dinner than ended at 2am the night before the flyers were up at 6am and in the air by 9am for Constantinople (now Istanbul). Ahead were the 10,000 foot Taurus mountains that they planes could not fly over, so flying single file at 4000 feet they followed the Berlin-Baghdad railroad that cut through the valley, often uncomfortably close to the to the Mountain walls. Here they experienced the first real cold air since they left the Kurile islands. At 2:30 pm they landed at San Stefano aerodrome in Constantinople. To greet them was Admiral Bristol the American ambassador and few other American and Turkish officials but not the large crowds that would have been there had the cables Smith sent from Baghdad and Aleppo arrived, the telegraph system in this part of the world had not caught up to the technology of the day. After servicing there aircraft they went into the city but there were no dinners or receptions to attend since nobody really knew when they were coming. That evening they had dinner at the hotel and went to a Cabaret.


September 14, 2017: For the next flight I will be using the Lockheed L-049 Constellation. The Connie came out of a reqirement from TWA for an aircraft that could fly 3500 miles with 40 passengers. It used four R-3350 engines had a pressurized hull and wings similar to that used on the P-38. The aircraft first flew in 1943 and by then all civilian orders were taken over by the military. Designated the C-69 it was used as a high-speed, long-distance troop transport. Production was slow because the B-29 program had priority for the engines and by the end of the war only 22 had been built. Eventually 856 of all models were built by the time production ended in 1958. It set the standard for speed and luxury until replaced by Jet aircraft. A Connie still holds the record for a flight between New York and Washington, a record that will probably not be broken because it was done before the FAA speed limit below 10000 feet was imposed. The version I am using is made by JustFlight and is included as a default aircraft within P3D. As much as I would love to keep flying WW2 aircraft for the rest of the flight, history moves on and I figure this aircraft will be a good transition between that era and the post war aircraft I will be flying next.


The weather for the flight from Aleppo to Istanbul was good, Clear with no wind and a temperature of 23.4C/74F. Being able to cruise higher than the Douglas World Cruiser I flew at around 10000 feet over the mountains on a direct course for Ataturk International Airport. Landing safely the 489nm flight had taken just 2 hours.


Here are a few pics.



Getting ready to takeoff.



Climbing out of Aleppo



Heading out of Syria.



Flying over Turkey.

[blanston12]

On to Turkey.


The Taurus mountians.



Cruisin.



Our destination is in site.



Secured.


Thanks for reading,
ATB.

[blanston12]

July 12, 1924: They had hoped to get off early the next day but the Turks had requested that members of there air force be allowed to inspect there aircraft, given how reluctant the Turkish government had been to allow them to land Smith agreed and they spent much of the day sightseeing and visiting the Ambassador and pilots of the Turkish air force. They were up before dawn the next day and were off by 7:45am for Bucharest Romania and the start of the fifth division of there trip. They flew over battlefields of the great war where the trenches, ruined towns and destroyed bridges were still visible. They landed at the Franco-Romanian aerodrome around noon, strangely there was no official party to greet them. That evening they were given an impromptu dinner from members of the foreign colony, while there chief of the Romanian Air Service rushed in and apologized on behalf of the government for not welcoming then they arrived.


September 16, 2017: For the next leg I will be flying the Douglas A-1 Skyraider. Designed as a carrier based dive/torpedo bomber during World War 2, it did not enter service until late 1946. Able to carry more payload than a B-17, the A-1 was considered on of the best attack and close air support aircraft ever built. Over 3180 were built before production ended in 1957 and it was used in both the Korean and Vietnam War. The last was retired in 1985. The model I am using today was produced by Tim “Piglet” Conrad (Tim we miss you) and is excellent. My flight to Bucharest was uneventful, weather was good, 12 knot winds with a few clouds at 3000 feet and a temperature of 26C. I did a little sightseeing over Istanbul before heading up Bosphorus strait and along the coast of the Black sea, crossing over Bulgaria and into Romania and landed at Băneasa International Airport, the former Franco-Romanian aerodrome, the oldest continuously operating airport in Eastern Europe. The 243 nm flight had take 1 hour.


Here are a few snapshots.



Ready to go.



Sightseeing over Istanbul.



Time to get going.



Along the Black sea.

[blanston12]

Speaking of Piglet...


Over Bulgaria.



Glamour Shots.



Over the Danube River.



And landed.

Thanks for reading
ATB.

[Portia911]

Bravo, Joe. Still loving this thread - and your great choice of 'steeds' to carry you around the world.

[blanston12]

July 13, 1924: They left Bucharest at dawn and headed west to the Danube River, through the Transylvanian Alps to Belgrade Yugoslavia. The weather had been remarkably good and the aircraft well so with plenty of fuel remaining they flew over the airport where the diplomatic officials were waiting and continued to Budapest Hungary (Smith later sent an apology). They landed at Maryasfold aerodrome after nearly 7 hours of flying where a small crowd was waiting to greet them, there had been a large crowd but a rumor went around saying the flyers were not coming. But they were welcomed by the diplomats who were there, a few speeches were given and they were invited to a nearby hanger where lunch was provided.


September 16, 2017: The aircraft I will use next is the Antonov An-2, aka "Annushka". The AN-2 is a Soviet built single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft that first flew in 1946. Its remarkable durability, high lifting power, and ability to take off and land from poor runways have given it a long service life. Produced up to 2001 and remains in service operators around the world, over 18000 were built. The model I am using today I was made by SibWings and is very nice but it its not P3Dv4 compatible. Weather started off good, clear with 6 knot winds and a temperature of 22C. I flew west till I intercepted the Danube and followed it through the mountains, then north to Budapest where the weather had turned to thunder storms, but I landed safely at Tököl Airport after 4.1 hours of flying.


Here are the images:



Ready to go.



Climbing out of Bucharest.



Glamour Shots.



Following the Danube.

[blanston12]

I'm getting Hungary.


Into Hungary.



Good weather still.



Desination in site.



Landed.

[blanston12]

July 13, 1924: After lunch they were back in there planes and on their way to Vienna Austria, arriving two hours later and were greeted by a huge crowd, which was mostly made up of American Tourists, all of which seemed to have new Kodak cameras and wanting to get pictures of the flyers and there craft. It took until almost dusk to finish working on there planes, camera’s snapping the whole time, they were then taking on a quick tour of the city and then to the luxurious Imperial Hotel, which they were told had once been the home of the prince of Wittenberg until he had lost it in a game of cards.


September 16, 2017: For the next leg I will be using the de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk. Designed by de Havilland Canada in 1946 to replace the Tiger Moth. It was used as a basic trainer by the RAF and RCAF and many others, the last was retired in 1996, over 1200 were made and many are still used by civilian operators. The aircraft I used was made by JustFlight and is nice. By the time I finished my real world tasks the weather had cleared and was now just broken clouds at 5000 feet with 5 knot winds and a temperature of 16.1C. The flight to Vienna was very easy even thought he clouds get a bit thicker and I had to stay below 2000 feet to keep the ground in site. The 108 mile flight to the Vienna International Airport took 52 minutes.


Here are the images:



Ready to go again.



Climbing out of Budapest.



Glamour shots!



Selfie!

[blanston12]

Chipmunk Fun!


Fall colours already.



Lots of fall colors.



Our destination.



Secured.


Thanks for reading,
ATB

[blanston12]

June 14, 1924: The rooms of the Imperial hotel had 20 foot ceilings and beds so soft when you were in then you sank out of sight. For breakfast they were served bowls of raspberries and cream so delicious Arnold said “it was almost worth flying around the world to eat them”. Despite the luxuries they all wanted the holiday in Paris Smith promised them if they could get there ahead of schedule, so before 7am they left the Ancient city of Vienna for Strasbourg France. It was raining heavily when they left, which kept them low over the Danube river as they followed it into Germany, They emerged into bright sunshine as the crossed over the Black Forest and landed in Strasbourg after 6 hours of flying, where despite the festivities planed for them, they hurriedly had lunch and got there planes ready for there next leg.


September 19, 2017: For the next leg I will be using the Cessna 195. The 195 was one of Cessna’s first post war aircraft, there last with a radial engine and there first one that was all aluminum. Because of the big radial engine it was larger than other Cessna models and more expensive to buy and operate so was marketed as more of a Business aircraft. First flying in 1945, about 1180 were built before production ended in 1954. The model I am using today was made by FlySimWare and is nice.


Weather for the flight from Vienna started off good, 11 knot winds with a few clouds at 1300 feet and a temperature of 12C/53F, quite a change from the 31C/88F five days ago. It was a bit cloudy so stayed between 2000-3000 feet while I found the Danube and followed it west to hear the city of Linz and then west into Germany. Ran into a fierce thunder storm over Munich but soon emerged from that as I approached the Black Forest, we crossed over the river Rhine and descended into Strasbourg, the 358nm flight had taken 2.4 hours.


Here are the pics:



Ready to go.



Staying low, where is that river.



Following the Danube.



Lightning is very close.

[blanston12]

Invading France!


Clear weather again.



Over the Rhine river and into France!



Our destination.



Secured.


Thanks for reading
ATB.

[blanston12]

July 14, 1924: Although elaborate arrangements had been made to entertain them, they stayed in Strasbourg only long enough to refuel the aircraft and get a quick lunch before being back in the air bound for Paris. A hundred miles from Paris a flight of planes from the French joined them to escort them to the city. Fifty miles out they could see the Eiffel Tower and the great buildings of the city, as they got nearer they could see thousands of people in the streets celebrating Bastille day, with there French escorts in tow they flew past the Eiffel tower, made a circle around the Arc de Triomphe to pay tribute to the French tomb of the French Unknown Soldier and proceed to Le Bourget Airport where more than five thousand Parisians were crowding the airport. They landed and were quickly mobbed by the throng while diplomats and French officials tried to shake there hands, it took an hour before they could get there aircraft into the hanger to do there post flight servicing. After they were taken to there hotels they accepted an invitation to the famous “Folies Bergere”, as the lights went down for the show they promptly fell asleep.


September 19, 2017: The North American F-86 Sabre, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept wing fighter that could counter the Soviet MiG-15 and was considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in the Korean war. Although it first flew in 1947 and was outdated by the end of the '50s, the Sabre proved versatile and adaptable. The last was retired by the Bolivian Air Force in 1994. Over 9800 were built in the US, Canada, Japan and Italy.


I tried to use the very nice Milviz model but it proved a bit beyond my skills. I started the flight but part way to Paris noticed the gauges had stopped, I fiddled with the power switches and got them back but then the engine was running at 100% and I could not get it to power back. Fiddling with the switches some more the engine stopped and I could not get it restarted, finally aborting before it crashed into a field. So instead I tried with the Virtavia model, which does not look as nice, especially the VC but it is much easier to fly. Started the flight with light rain, 7 knot winds, a few clouds at 700 feet, overcast at 6000 and a temperature of 10C/50F. I headed northwest toward Paris, at about 5000 feet to get over the first bank of hills and then dropped to about 2300 to stay below the clouds. It cleared up a bit as I approached Paris but I did not see the Eiffel tower as far away as Lt. Smith and the boys did . I finally spotted it and did a few passes by the tower and the Arc de Triomphe before landing at Le Bourget. The F-86 just ate up the 207nm flight in just 35 minutes, often cruising at over 540 knots.


Here are the pics:



Ready to go.



Climbing out of Strasbourg.



Try to stay between the clouds and the hills.



Its clear and I am good on fuel, drop the tanks.

[blanston12]

"We will always have Paris!"


There is the Eiffel Tower



Never sean so few cars around the Arc



Another pass by the tower.



Landed.


Thanks for reading
ATB.

[blanston12]

July 16, 1924: While in Paris the flyers “met more generals, ambassadors, cabinet ministers and celebrities that we had encountered in the rest of our lives”. They had lunch with General John J. Pershing, american commander during the great war, accompanied the President of France to the Olympic games, who offered to bestow on them the French Legion of Honor but they had to decline as they were forbidden from accepting foreign decorations without the consent of congress. So without having any real time off, by 11am the morning of the 16th they were in the air bound for London. As they flew two airliners joined them, followed by a French fighters, all flying in a loose formation toward the England. They climbed above the clouds to 7000 feet. Through brakes in the clouds they could see the English channel below, the clouds thinned as they got closer to London and they landed at Croydon Airport. It took some time for the London bobbies to control the enthusiastic crowd, but once the welcomes were made and the planes serviced they were taken to the RAF club at Piccadilly, where they were given excellent quarters. Later that evening, at a dinner hosted by the top officials of the British Air Ministry, Lt. Wade fell asleep, snoring at the table sitting between a General and “Lord Somebody”.


September 19, 2017: For the next leg I am going to use the de Havilland Dove. The de Havilland DH.104 Dove was a British short-haul airliner as successor to the Dragon Rapide biplane. The Dove was a popular aircraft and is considered to be one of Britain's most successful postwar civil designs, in excess of 500 aircraft being manufactured between 1946 and 1967. It was also used by the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and a number of overseas military forces. The model was made by JustFlight.


The weather started off great, no winds or clouds, and a temperature of 6.1C/43F. I headed north at about 4000 feet but soon the clouds started to build as I approached the channel and I dropped to 1500 feet to keep the land/sea in view. After crossing over into England the clouds cleared and I had a nice flight into London. Since Croydon is long closed I landed in London City airport after a quick view of the sites over the center of the city. The 178 nm took 1.1 hours.


Here are a few pics:



Ready for takeoff.



Glamour Shots.



Clouds ahead.



Heading out over the channel.

[blanston12]

London Calling...


England!



London!



Sightseeing!



Landed.


Thanks for reading
ATB.

[blanston12]

July 17, 1924: The next morning they were back at the airport and in the air. They flew over the Tower of London, Parliament, Buckingham palace and other famous land marks before heading north toward Brough near Hull, 165 miles away. A number of small planes came up and few briefly in formation with them before waving and flying away. Finally they landed at the aerodrome of Blackburn Aeroplane company, where they would replace all the engines, convert them back into seaplanes and prepare there aircraft to cross the Atlantic, what was most certainly going to be the most dangerous part of the entire trip.


July 17, 2017: For the next leg I will be using the Gloster Meteor. The Meteor was the first British fighter jet and only Allied jet to see combat in World War 2. While not as fast or as aerodynamically advanced as the German Me-262, it had much more reliable engines and ended up having a fairly long career, over 3900 were built between 1943 and 1955. The model I am using today is and F8 and was made by JustFlight.


The weather for my next flight was good, 6 knot winds, clear below 20,000 feet, and a temperature of 16.0C/61F. Took off from London city and headed north at about 5000 feet. At times I went up to 7000 feet and descended down to 2500 feet to avoid the clouds, I finally landed at Carlisle Airport, the 231 mile flight took 35 minutes. Only after I was getting the information together to write this post did I realize I had mixed up the GPS code, going to EGNC rather than EGNB and was about 75 miles off course. Oops!



Ready for takeoff.



Heading north.



Interesting clouds.



Trying to keep the ground in view.

[blanston12]

Over the green fields of England!


Heading north.



Selfie!



Trying to find the airport.



Secured.


Thanks for reading,
ATB.

[BrittMac]

Nice reading, as always. Took me a minute to catch up!

[blanston12]

July 30, 1924: At Brough they would overhaul the aircraft to prepare then for the north atlantic. The cowlings, radiators and engines were all removed and replaced, all the metal parts of the planes were covered with rust-resistant oxide, all the fabric that was damaged by the hot and humid climates they had passed through was repaired and the wheels were replaced by floats. The flyers were invited to a formal banquet in London they night after they arrived but as Arnold wrote “we were about as well equipped with clothes as the head-hunters of Borneo”. Eventually Arnold was sent with a shopping list to London to get what they needed. The banquet was held at the Savoy hotel with many with many Lords, Earls and Dukes in attendance. Many speeches were given, Smith said in his that the flight was being made for personal glory but to further aviation progress. They were invited up to meet the Prince of Wales in his suite who said he was going to sail to New York in a few days and bet each of them five dollars he would beat them there. They waited until the 29th when they received word from the U.S. Navy that there ships were in position and the weather was favorable, so they were up at 4am on the 30th to launch there planes into the humber river and fuel up the planes. There was a low fog that hung over the area and they could not get away until 10am as they headed north to the Orkney Islands. They flew over Drunkensberry point and then Scapa Flow and landed near the Village of Kirkwall where the Cruiser U.S.S. Richmond was waiting in the harbor for them.


September 24, 2017: For the next leg we will be using de Havilland Heron. The de Havilland DH.114 Heron was a small propeller-driven British airliner that first flew on 10 May 1950. It was a development of the twin-engine de Havilland Dove, with a stretched fuselage and two more engines. It was designed as a rugged, conventional low-wing monoplane with tricycle undercarriage that could be used on regional and commuter routes. 150 were built, also exported to about 30 countries. They model I am using today is by Flight Replicas and is quite nice.


The weather was reasonable for the flight, we flew north at 3000 feet to stay under the clouds. Flying over the Scottish highlands, I flew past patches of fog, hoping a hill would not appear in front of me, they did appear through the clouds but fortunately stayed below me, heading out over the sea we arrived at Kirkwall, visibility dropped to about 5 miles but managed to find the airport and make a safe landing. Since I few from Carlisle instead of Brough the flight was a little shorter, the 242nm flight took 1.5 hours.
Here are the pics.



Ready for takeoff.



Climbing out of Carlisle.



Glamour shots.



Heading into Scotland.

[blanston12]

Flying (over) Scotsmen!


Taking a break in the cabin.



Out over the sea.



Our destination.



Secured.


Thanks for reading
ATB.