salt_air taking the Puss Moth back home ... "Down Under"

[salt_air]

I will be using a couple of sources that I ran across during the research I did on Jimmy and his plane .... direct quotes as well as borrowed staments as info on the pilot will be sourced from the South Australian Aviation Museum (SAAM) and Ed Coates mostly for info regarding the plane.



First Day:

21 yr old Charles James "Jimmy" Melrose was the last to leave from Mildenhall AB on October 24, 1934 at 0645.

He was entered in what the SAAM referred to as the handicap section flying number 16 ... the silver with black trim de Havilland DH 80A Puss Moth he had named "My Hildegarde" after his mother.

Jimmy had recently arrived at Croydon (0700 on 28 September) after having flown the plane from his home in Adelaide in a mere 8 days and 9 hours .... now for the return home .... back "Down Under".

Jimmy flew to Rome (via Marseille) where he spent the first night.

If real life will allow I will try to do the same 2 legs today with the first one beginning shortly ....



First Leg:

In the DH 80A ... Starting the race from Mildenhall AB (EGUN) flying to Marseille (LFML)

[robert41]

Best of luck Austin.

[salt_air]

Best of luck Austin.

Thanks buddy!

[salt_air]

Safe landing at Jask.

Watch cutting corners on these coastal routes .... at lower altitudes ... almost busted it up twice.

Lost the great tailwind I have been enjoying for a few minutes to a cross wind.

Marked difference in GS and fuel burn .... Note to self .... fill up at each fueling.


Flight Time: 03:49:37
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00







FlightLog_20-45-09.TXT

[salt_air]

Back in the air ... headed to Jask.

Coastline cruise .... daylight this time.

[salt_air]

Safe landing at Rambang .... water route plenty of high terrain, but none in the way.

Flight Time: 04:58:58
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00










FlightLog_20-45-02.TXT

[Dil52]

Nice job Austin!
I hope you can keep that wind on your six!

[salt_air]

Nice job Austin!
I hope you can keep that wind on your six!

Thanks mate!



Now out of here to Kupang for dinner and a nap.


Hmmm "He then left Singapore at 1:00am on 27th October to Rambang via Batavia where he again landed in the early afternoon before departing at midnight to Koepang then on to Darwin where he landed at dusk on 28th October to a very relieved welcome."


I don't really need to leave that time of day becuase I have no intent to make Darwin until tomorrow.

But, reckon I'll keep it real and true to the account ... so midnight it will be ....

It's clear right now .... should be able to make out terrain and coastlines .... and the sky is full of stars ... should be good.

[srgalahad]

Safe landing at Rambang .... water route plenty of high terrain, but none in the way.

Austin, if you'd gone DIRECT from Singapore to Rambang there is NO terrain - just water, water everywhere... those short hops can always find you terrain to bump into

[salt_air]

Austin, if you'd gone DIRECT from Singapore to Rambang there is NO terrain - just water, water everywhere... those short hops can always find you terrain to bump into

Yes indeed Rob .... and Granite is unforgiving.

[salt_air]

Could be better .... could be worse .... off to the finish line at Essendon.

What a ride this has been!

[Dil52]

Fantastic airmanship mate......and a hero's welcome to you!

There's a limo waiting at the AP with a cooler full!

[salt_air]

Landed .... no worries ... at Marseille ... whew!





FlightLog_13-47-16.TXT




Flight Time: 05:14:00
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00



Mostly uneventful except for the lightning, thunder and rain that began just as I was clearing the shoulder of the Alps ... half an hour or so before the Mediterranean finally came into view.

3 or 4 breaks in was was absolute soup .... near zero visibility ... and surprising headwinds as high as 20kts +.

That is pretty stiff considering the Puss Moth's CA is only 3000' .... and so much for scenery.

Played it safe (terrain) and took the plane to 7000' a couple of times, but suffered a little in GS.

Didn't remember the wind drift factor being as high during testing and practice .... something to account for in planning.





If you squint you may see some of Paris .... I think?





Long flight ... like sitting in a closet.

[Dil52]

Nice job Austin!

Average GS 108.6 kts. Did you happen look down and see cars on the Autobahn passing you?

Fred

[salt_air]

Nice job Austin!

Average GS 108.6 kts. Did you happen look down and see cars on the Autobahn passing you?

Fred

Couldn't see anything for a lot of the trip .... not even enough to use the driftmeter.

Everytime the clouds broke I had to make some pretty heavy adjustments to heading .... fun, fun, fun.



Thanks!

[salt_air]

Taking off again ... stopping at Jodhpur on the way to the second Checkpoint at Allahabad.

[salt_air]

Safe landing at Sharea Faisal (OPSF) ... Karachi.

Horrible visibility nearly the entire flight ... finally got a break as I was approaching the Cape Monze (NDB) Peninsula and the clouds broke up.

What? ... yep cleared as I approached land not vice versa .... was so stunned and happy to be able to look around I lost bearing a bit and drifted way South, but still insight of land.

It was a blast of wind on a direction shift that cleared the clouds, but a pretty stiff 20+ kts cross to quartering headwind meant an 18 - 19 degree crab ... glad it wasn't at night.


Flight Time: 04:25:07
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00



FlightLog_19-50-12.TXT

[salt_air]

Headed to Karachi .... still have a long way to go to get to Melbourne.

[salt_air]

Planned originally to run this flight in succession with yesterdays jaunt, but real life smacked that down ... at least I was at an airport.


A few adjustments needed inside the cockpit.

Enough of the compass and watch and a driftmeter I can't use in the soup.

Had to stroll down to the local True_Value Aviation Warehouse and pick up a sextant and an ADF like the one I saw in a Vega before I left London.

Fished the E6B I brought along out of the bottom of my duffel bag too.

Right! ... Let's see how this goes.



Taking off from Marseille (LFML) and plotting a course for Rome (LIRU) to camp for the night.

Landed at nearly 1300 ... I'll take off 1330 ... or so.

[robert41]

Too bad about the weather. Flying this event with only a compass and watch would be quite an achievement.

[salt_air]

Too bad about the weather. Flying this event with only a compass and watch would be quite an achievement.

So far Robert that's been about it ... the Vega's ADF tuner I shoehorned in here is one of the better ones because of the wide range of frequencies, but that Bearing to Station gauge can be rendered useless with a sufficient crab angle to compensate for winds.

The plane needs to be pretty much aimed right at the signal to get any indication .... much past 10 degrees give or take either way and the needle just sits pegged to one side or the other.

Great moral boost to have the needle jump to life when the tuned station's signal range has been reached and you have movement of the needle ... especially if it centers or even close.

Visibility will be a key factor for me the rest of the way .... sextant across the larger barren stretches coming up ... may have to hug the coastline even if it's a bit off route.

[salt_air]

Oh Calcutta .... then maybe Rangoon.


Taking off shortly ... VIAL - VECC

[salt_air]

Off again .... to checkpoint Bravo at Allahabad.

Dusting off the sextant ... winding up the watch.

[salt_air]

Safe and sound at Jodhpur.


Flight Time: 02:50:21
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00



A miserable flight in the fog all the way.

Came very (too) close to missing the airport altogether .... actually flew by but caught it off the port side of the plane.





Would have had to stop for directions for sure ... No beacons and the apron blended in with the surrounding turf.




FlightLog_19-27-56.TXT

[salt_air]

If not on this endeavor, then certainly during what will need to be Gargantuan legs in the Vega's endeavor .... I'd like to figure out a way .... meter or measure ... somehow ... a period style NDB signal strength meter's readings into some discernible scale of distance.

A DME if you will .... as long as the increments aren't too coarse, it may be useful.

An E6B cypher of GS cranked into the mix should round things out.




Oh well .... justa thought .... may slide one in here after the Darwin leg.