"The Fightingest Flying Fortress in the World"

[Great Ozzie]

Thanks "all you guys". Again thanks for the race and the chance to become a sharper pilot... "Iron sharpening iron..." :salute:

Charles, you still placed first "date" wise, blazing a trail so we can share all the B-17G Accusim glory. :salute:

Fifteen and a half hours???? I was running "8" on the MP Dial, 42" (sometimes 43") Manifold Pressure with an Indicated Air Speed of over 200Kts, easy, and it took me twenty+ hours..
You did some Serious B-17 Driving.. Way To Go!!! (even tho you bumped me to "second place" in the B-17 "class" )

I was trying to figure out why the discrepancy. I see that part of it due to your route was a bit longer (450nm). I guess it's true about Texans liking everything big. Big routes, big MAPs, big Airspeeds. Would be nice to toast your run with a couple Lone Star longnecks.

Fwiw, on the approx. 200nm legs I flew between 21,000 & 24,000ft. For all legs, I had "the Dial" set for 6.0. Take-off at Max MP (approx 41" ?) and 2500rpm, then once gear and flaps up and autopilot pitched to approx. 150 mph, pulled MAP back to 38". Level off 500' or so above alt, "dive" to cruise altitude then set 35" / 2300rpm. I did bump up to 36" when flying the last long leg to Bangoy at 30,000.

Since most NDBs were "H" Class, the needle comes alive at 75nm. Made knowing when to descend, and what descent rate to use easy-peasy to work out. Occasionally I might get distracted and not notice I was not maintaining the fpm I needed (the Sperry autopilot sets to pitch, you know). So I did arrive a smidge high a couple times (particularly the last leg into Bangoy) but the Fort will drop like a rock once all dirtied up so it will forgive a slight bit of inattention in that area.

Only "real" exception (no NDB) was going into Cape Gloucester... from AYKV (Kavieng) dead reckoning lets you know when you are coming up on WITU which give you both a pilotage course and descent checkpoint. Fortunately no solid undercast that day (probably 8/10ths coverage) so the Witu Horseshoe fairly easy to pick out.

I thought maybe I would be booted for using ASE but rules say "real world weather"... which I for one am very grateful for. I was like the dcc... did not want boring wx. Using only MS Weather has the hopes of setting it "the same" for everyone, but never works out that way... what you get for FS9 & FSX can certainly differ significantly at the exact same time and position. To me... follow the "rule" i.e. use the real world you prefer to use, be consistent with that, and whatever you get is what you get.

One thing obviously RW Weather isn't, is static. So I never fuss over this or that or who gets what, as IRL weather is constantly changing... one moment you could be flying into a thunderstorm and if you would just wait a few minutes somewhere you could be flying precisely the same route in severe clear.

Mike, the LIFE Magazine with Suzy-Q's story came today (that is one big magazine dimension-wise). Saw the mention of the "Butchers" at Rabaul who (among other "atrocities") killed a dozen Geisha girls. Surreal to hold a tiny piece of history in my hands. Pretty amazing to see how some of the places we "have been" recently painted on the side of Suzy-Q... places like Port Moresby, Lea, Milne Bay and Rabaul.

Cheers everyone. :ernae:

-Rob

[DHC120]

Thanks "all you guys". Again thanks for the race and the chance to become a sharper pilot... "Iron sharpening iron..." :salute:

Charles, you still placed first "date" wise, blazing a trail so we can share all the B-17G Accusim glory. :salute:



I was trying to figure out why the discrepancy. I see that part of it due to your route was a bit longer (450nm). I guess it's true about Texans liking everything big. Big routes, big MAPs, big Airspeeds. Would be nice to toast your run with a couple Lone Star longnecks.

-Rob

Rob;
I appreciate that you believe me to be a trail blazer.. Thanks..
On the discrepancy (in mileage) between our two flights.. Simple explanation is I flew the "legs" as they were posted in the original rules/info page.. I noticed, on about my fifth or sixth flight, that I was passing near (or over) towns/airfields that I had or would be landing at. It was then (too late) that I realized that had I "Planned The Flight", I could have cut-off miles (and hours) from the total..
However, that does not explain how you flew at 20,000+ feet, I kept my flights to the minimum altitude needed to cross whatever terrain I was flying over (lower altitude=denser air=more drag??). My power settings were, as previously noted, maxed-out most of the time.. I climbed-out slow (0ne or Two FPM) to get speed up quickly, once up to speed (200kts), I tried to maintain it as best as possible.. On descent into an airfield, I used -1500fpm to get my airspeed to as close to max as possible (Bumping the barber pole), to try to gain time.. I'd throttle back to approach speed (147mph) as quickly as gravity and inertia would allow, throw-out all the anchors (flaps & gear), dive to the runway then flair to scrub-off as much speed as possible. (there was only one landing where I did not tear-up a gear & tire.. I landed "hot") All this in an effort to keep my "Average Speed" up.. yet my average air speed was way slower than yours.. Go figure!
That said.. You, Sir! Are the Top B-17 Pilot in this event and are deserving of more than just a "couple" of Lone Star Long Necks..
To the Victor!! :ernae::ernae::ernae::ernae: