2011 Around-The-World Race SOH Watering Hole

[Moses03]

Use this thread to post your PIREPS, screenies and other tales from the battlefield. That way we can keep the race threads as clean as possible.

[Moses03]

#1 On short final into Princess Juliana Intl with 500lbs of 8-track tapes during the kickoff event.

#2 PRB bringing the 737 home during our trek across Northern Brazil.

#3 Wingman for Flork in the V9 Do 335. 30kts faster without the heavy wing cannons!

#4 Climbing into the dark African night with PRB on my wing. Tako_Kichi and JohnC just having crossed the Atlantic safely in a pair of Convair 990A's.

[Dangerousdave26]

Picture 1 PRB and Myself getting ready for the Jet leg.

Picture 2 is of a derelict 747 that I found off the runway while scouting SBFN.

[crashaz]

Had a GPS guage die after I took off as wingman for DD.... FKKD - DNKN

Had to find my way to the destination... the middle of Africa... with no airports around and in the dark.

After landing I posted and then turned night to day to get a better picture of how close it really was.... spent the first 20 minutes fumbling around in the dark trying to get the gauge to work.... and almost forgot the most important gauge.

[PRB]

Here's some kodaks of the flight smilo and I made from VOPB to WMKP. Got a shot of the next baton flight taking off too.

[Dangerousdave26]

From an earlier flight

Mopar coming into France...

Funny I thought they told him to never come back.

A very nice First Avanti flight

and the rest of my trips were at night and low vis. Of course that does not lead to very good screen shots.

[smilo]

yes, it wouldn't be a completed night flight
without the obligatory smilo sunrise shots.
i especially like the one with the sun
burning a hole in the side of my plane.

Attachment 31799Attachment 31798

[smilo]

okay, there's more,
while waiting at WMKJ with PRB,
i took this one of Moses3 coming in.
that's PRB behind me.
it's the typical sim quirk...
i don't have the Do335
or the Howard in my aircraft folder,
so the sim shows what i am flying.
it's still a nice shot, though.

Attachment 31810

-------------------------

so... i'm about 35 miles out of WIKD,
descending through the soup.
at about 4000 feet,
i notice that my stick is not working.
SWEET!!!
i unplug it and replug it...no go.
fortunately, i use a separate stick
for throttle, flaps and gear.

to make a long story longer,
i was able to safely bring her in,
nearly blind in the soup,
with AP heading and altitude adjusted mouse.

whew, that was close.
'twas a lot of work for a wingman.

did i mention, i was sweating bullets
in a non-military aircraft?

[PRB]

Team Flight kodaks, WW-I string bags.

[smilo]

here are a few shots i found;

the first is taco, waiting to fly my wing
on the PTKK-PGSN leg.
there's a whole other story about that leg
that i'll wait for another post to tell you.

next is a shot of PRB and Mister Shupe
arriving at UHSS from RJSS in tigercats.
you've got to love the F7F.

finally, a dusk shot of the B-47E approaching UHPP
with a volcano in the background.

[Tako_Kichi]

Here's a few Kodaks from the bush country team flight in Manitoba, Canada.

Looks like the guys without skis sank into the snow drift.

[Willy]

Free drinks in the Cantina on Hey Moe's tab!

[Moparmike]

Ahhh...finally got power back on and sorted through the pix.

#1 is the Jug flying top cover for Fliger's Tigercat. Yes, he's down there on the deck somewhere in that shot.

#2 is the Howard crossing the Med into France. Like Dave, I'm surprised that they let me back into French airspace. I guess the local gendarmerie was busy...

[Moparmike]

#3 & 4 have an interesting story...
Taco and Smilo bringing the baton into Saipan. PRB and myself taking it onto Iwo Jima.

3a: Watching Taco bring the baton into Saipan. One tiggerkitty crossing the threshold.
3b: Just short of touchdown. PRB and myself awaiting the hand-off.
3c: PRB flying the best looking P-51H I've ever seen!

[Moparmike]

And my apologies to Smilo for posting these... :d

4a: Zoom lens shot of Smilo about 6m out.
4b: Diving for the runway...
4c: WTH!!!! I think we all know what happens next.......
4d: No, I won't post a picture of the carnage.

And yes...that's one purty Tigercat that Smilo is flyin...ermmm...crashin too.
(I didn't have the texture)

[Moparmike]

Only had one picture from the WWI Team flight turn out...
I was wingman so I figured maybe it's be a better idea to concentrate on flying. Well, I did get a couple rolls in.

5: A candy-cane squadron mate at nine-o'clock low.

[Moparmike]

Lastly...The bonus jet flight from KORD.

I'm still scratching my head on how two 747s that took off within two mins of each other, on the same course, with the same winds, getting the same ground speed, could get 300nm apart.

Not quite two hours later as JohnC was landing in Palm Beach, I was still over Georgia.
Time's up...the baton is safely handed off...I've got fuel to burn...yup, time to see what she'll do! :d


747a: After a quick climb up to 50k', how about some aerobatics? Next, will it trim out inverted?
747b: 122nm out. Still straight n level...
747c: 74nm out. Working on my descent. Still straight n level...
747d: 45nm out. Just sight-seeing over the Florida coastline.

To be continued....

[smilo]

[QUOTE=Moparmike;554778]And my apologies to Smilo for posting these... :d
QUOTE]

Damn, Mike!!!
you are a cruel man.
just kidding.
i'm glad that someone took the shots,
saved and posted them. thanks.

you forgot to mention that i was flying the SOH F7F-3,
not the P-47M in the screenie.
you must not have had the F7F installed.
be that as it may, flying the SOH F7F
only added to the humiliation,
not to mention, the number of team members
sitting on the tarmac watching my performance.

so, my friend, PLEASE post the final picture.

[Moparmike]

Yeah...I didn't have the "grey" paint that you were sporting. Just have the two that came with the in-progress download. That's why Taco is seen in a kitty but not you.

The last pic was just a blank screen anyway... I snapped the shutter just as you got whisked away to a flight reset.

[Moparmike]

These last two shots of the 747 saga are just for Rob...

Never make a wise-aleck remark like "As long as the Duenna is green"...

747e: I got tired of holding that inverted descent and there was this really nice flat beach in front of me.
I think they used to race cars on it back in the 50s...

747f: Duenna screenshot after I touched down. I know there's a bit of overspeed on there, but I think 31min of inverted flight was long enough. :isadizzy:

[smilo]

oh well, so it goes.
the image of that beautiful bird,
nose planted in front of the runway and my Teammates,
is burned into my memory
for, probably, far too long.

let's just say,
it was my worst RTWR fear realized.

[Ferry_vO]

Was that the moment someone started shouting "$^!t, $^!t, $^!t, $^!t, $^!t, $^!t, $^!t !!!" over the teamspeak channel..?

Don't worry Smilo, we've all been there and know how it feels.. I once crashed a Hornet when trying to avoid a mountain (That race had a silly 6,500 ft. ceiling rule over Europe and I overstressed it when a mountain doomed up in thick fog..

Duenna screenshot after I touched down. I know there's a bit of overspeed on there, but I think 31min of inverted flight was long enough.

[smilo]

yup, that "someone" was me...
another fine example of self restraint
in the face of adversity.

the thing is, i had just been involved
in one of several discussions
regarding the need for the team to run clean.
we figured that, mistakes would really hurt us.
at this point in the race, we had only had one wing transfer.
i made it two and as it turned out, we had one more.
when mine happened, my teammates consoled me with
"it's okay, it's happened to us all",
which i greatly appreciated,
but i was still very upset with myself.

the hardest part was getting back on the horse.

when our first crash happened,
i kept my mouth shut,
because i really didn't know how the pilot felt,
even though i could hear it in his voice.
now, i am able to sincerely say,
i'm with you, i understand, it's okay.
onward and upward, my friend.

[smilo]

it's been a while and you would think i'd get over it.
well, apparently, not quite yet.
i keep playing it over and over
and think i need to finish the story.

can anyone say, obsessive?

the thing is, after crashing
and my "$^!t, $^!t, $^!t !!!" outburst,
(sorry, Ferry, I think it was only 3 "$^!t"s)
i made a comment about the "damn auto-pilot".
this comment bothers me most.
so much so, that i went back to the scene
and reran the approach and touchdown
5 times without incident...smooth as silk,
with AP engaged all the way to full stop.

so what happened?
simple answer,
PILOT ERROR
i did not trust the AP approach angle,
pulled back on the stick,
which in turn screwed up the trim.
when i released the stick pressure,
she nosed in.
SPALT...DANG
suffice to say, I succumbed to the pressure of the moment,
panicked and screwed the pooch.
worst of all, blamed my failings on the aircraft.
simple as that.

there you have it.
i feel better now that the record is straight.
hopefully, i will learn from my mistakes
and not be so quick to pass blame.
most importantly, i must learn to relax,
just like driving on ice and snow.

[PRB]

Ok smilo, now you're scaring me. No way I would let "otto" try to land the plane. I let him fly the plane going straight and level, and even let him take the ship within visual range of the airport, when the weather is bad. But I always watch him like a hawk, and I always have a sharp stick and a ball peen hammer at the ready, just in case, because I know otto hates me and will kill me if given half a chance!

As for crashing with the baton, one dark and stormy night over the North Atlantic, I had the baton in the DSB A-7E. I was making over 700 knots GS with a tail wind, flying right on the very edge of overspeed, feeling very proud of myself. Then the wind shifted and I got an overspeed. Stupid me, instead of simply and calmly popping the speed brake for a second, I freaked, took over control from otto, and attempted to kill speed by pulling up. In the process I over stressed the ship and that was that. Fortunately dcc had wing and completed the leg without doing anything stoopid like the erstwhile baton holder. That one upset me for a long time.