salt_air - Golden Age - Lockheed Vega 5B

[salt_air]

The Epic Journey begins...salt_air's "Down Under Dash"...mercy on us all!




Leaving RAF Mildenhall, England headed to Vienna, Austria (EGUN-LOWW)


Good Luck All!

[salt_air]

Some genius hit the sync time key on the duenna.......

Glad I wasn't flyng over the desert,,,,,wheeeew it's dark!!

Oh well,, screenies won't be that good for this leg.

[salt_air]

Safe landing at LOWW

Lost vis completely right up until changing to the Steinhoff NDB,,,,pretty much on final at that point.

Leg 1 is complete.

[salt_air]

Departing Vienna,,,,,heading towards Bucharest.

LOWW-LRBS Lockheed Vega

[salt_air]

Down safe and sound at LRBS

Uneventful, long range NDB's the whole way, good weather, two mile long runway to hit in daylight.......I'm gettin' spoiled sure enough.

Parking the plane for the night I think,,,,need to and an E6-B to the panel.


Cheers,

[MM]

Attractive aircraft and splendid "live action" screenshots.

[salt_air]

Attractive aircraft and splendid "live action" screenshots.

Thank You Sir!

[salt_air]

Dawn launch across the Black Sea and all of Turkey into Syria.

Lockheed Vega LOWW-OSAP

Let's say for somethin' and giggles 4 hours and 25 min.......(maybe less)


:mixedsmi:

[salt_air]

Down safe and sound in Syria......don't sound right does it?

The Vega is certainly slow, but it's just as certainly steady.

Heck I bet this plane could take a fair amount of ordinace and still manage to fly, I don't want out find out though.

Two sets of mountains to watch out for. Range in Turkey was over 10000' and had to hand fly some of it.

Another set of "humps" around 3000' along the coast of Syria, just after crossing the Mediterranean as I turned toward Aleppo Int'l (OSAP).

Nice weather, nice day, nice flight,,,,,Melbourne or bust!

[salt_air]

Out of Aleppo early today, heading for Baghdad. Maybe a two hop day,,,,we'll see.

Short on NAV-AIDS across Iraq, as a matter of fact I'll just be using one at each airport.....

Well the locals have BS'sed their way through ALL of history, maybe I can BS my way through here......

In the Lockheed Vega 5B OSAP-ORBS

[salt_air]

Safe landing in Baghdad...

Finally got the fuel load closer to what it needs to be....almost too close. 1% left on approach....that's a lot of fuel in a Vega though innit?....let's see....wow! 24lbs....not so much eh? Gotta watch that!

Otherwise uneventful and pleasant trip. Virtual skies were virtually empty and the weather was nice. A slight headwind, not so good for economy and speed, but great for not having much windrift.

Welp, headed over to see about some fuel for this next leg,,,maybe the longest I have "planned". Then I'll see about some grub for the crew and we may just takeoff again in a little while......bound for Iran (Persia).

Some period shots of the city courtesy of wikipedia and a couple of my own camera shots. It appears the US was trying to get a hold of the restaurant industry even 75 years ago...and they should have spent a little more time teaching folks how to spell.

[salt_air]

Whew!!...long day here...let's get it!

Out of Iraq to my one stop (hopefully) in Persia, then on to India to see about some of those REAL good cigs, drinks, and whirlin'-twirlin' dancin' gals,,,,,yeee-haw!! May have to stay there for a spell....

Lockheed Vega ORBS-OIZJ

I-raqon, I'll be goin now...hehehe :mixedsmi: ....right after a quick restart.

[salt_air]

Safe and sound in the sand.....nothing but sand either.....wait a minute! Where am I gonna stay and eat?.....:isadizzy:

Break out the stinkin' tents, can food and water bottles,,,,not what I was promised when I left Baghdad!

Great wx all the way and very little wind, down to 0 at altitude in some spots. Lucky to be able to hug the coast through the dry spots on the ADF receiver.

India next.......

[salt_air]

Well enough of these hot beers and cold sandwiches,,,pronounced "sandywitches" and for good reason. Off to some sort of civilization,,,not sure what sort just yet.

Leaving Jask, Persia (Iran) in the Lockheed Vega, headed for Karachi, India(Pakistan).....maybe points beyond?

OIZJ-OPKC

[Moses03]

Looking good Austin. Really like the 'ol default Vega.

Moses

[salt_air]

Down safe in Karachi,,,,smooth runnin'. One of the easiest flights, just hug the coast for around two and a half hours or so and tune in Cape Monze for correction of course then there's a 75NM NDB at the far end of RWY 7R,,,,,good thing cause the vis went away (of course) on approach.


Resupply the aircraft and crew then off to Allayabbadabbado tomorrow.

[salt_air]

Someone forgot to pack the "Wheatys'", so we'll give one of the local delights a try for breakfast Naan bread and mutton.

Now I'll still have at least a chance of feeling like a champion......for a few minutes anyway.

Off to Allahabad, India checkpoint #2 (OPKC-VIAL) in the Lockheed Vega.

See you later or Phir Milaiyin ge! !پھر ملینگے

[salt_air]

Down safe at VIAL...2nd required stop complete. Winds switched from every direction for just about the whole flight. Speeds were 10 - 15 kts. Again like last flight vis was zero all the way to the ground. Wind disappeared on approach, making things a little easier, still used up a good protion of the runway to get stopped.

Thinking about a major plan switch for the rest of the trip to Melbourne.

[salt_air]

Gonna stretch the legs just a wee bit and cut acroos the Bay of Bengal to Burma instead of going to Calcutta like originally planned.

Clear weather with a slight tailwind.....better go now before Mother nature has a change of mind. Minimal NAV-AIDS and may loose sight of the coast.

On my way to Rangoon..... heading hold oiled up and fingers crossed.

Lockheed Vega VIAL-VYYY

Gonna guess 5:50:00 - 6:00:00 hrs and 1400 lbs of fuel.......

Just for the fun of it......and yes, we are having fun!

[MaddogK]

Ya read my mind, but I planned on a fuel stop.

Good luck, I'll be watchin ya.

[salt_air]

Looking good Austin. Really like the 'ol default Vega.

Moses

Always wanted to do something besides RTW in the Vega.

Appreciate how you and Mike and others get around to all of us at some point with a pat on the back...

Really is good of ya, thanks!

[RFields]

Since the only Vega in the original race cracked up at Aleppo - great to see you proving the old bird could go the distance.

[Bry Rosier]

Watch out for the storms when you hit Burma , Salt . My steed tried real hard to buck me out of my seat I have a nice local ice cold ale waiting at the airfield bar , it may be raining but the "umbrellas" here are rather nice

[salt_air]

Since the only Vega in the original race cracked up at Aleppo - great to see you proving the old bird could go the distance.

Thanks Reggie!

Drew my butt up in a knot during the slight overun at Jask, but I've been real lucky the rest of the time. Only hope it holds out.

Good luck on your way ol' friend!

[salt_air]

Watch out for the storms when you hit Burma , Salt . My steed tried real hard to buck me out of my seat I have a nice local ice cold ale waiting at the airfield bar , it may be raining but the "umbrellas" here are rather nice

Awful good of ya Bry!,,

I'll be taken you up on that one.....:ernae:

Best Regards,