Willy's How much abuse can a Beech 18 take in the Andes?

[Great Ozzie]

Oops... was wondering if anyone would notice that....

There was a Howard 500 taking up homesteading on the runway, so I took the taxiway.

Hey nothing wrong with that!

Seriously tho...

I think it was during the summer I was working on my private pilot license... was headed from KLAF to (I think it was) KBMI - Bloomington/Normal, IL.

At any rate, I somehow got the word (thru ATIS or Unicom... man can't remember all those years ago) that "they" were using the Runway for Drag races... and landing / departing aircraft should use the taxiway.

Well... you have no idea what an uptight, rigid student I was... and how this threw me for the proverbial loop. I can't land on some bloody taxiway! "'You' can't do that! No way!!!"

So I circled near the Airport and headed back to Lafayette.

It was a long time before I learned this was sometimes necessary... runway is closed for repairs "and so" you use the taxiway... no biggy. Kind of fun tho to do something different.

[Willy]

Time to move on...

Taking off SLLP -> SLCB
MTOW: 8750 lbs
TOW: 8585 lbs
Fuel: 710.62 lbs
Cargo: 2000lbs
Crew: 348 lbs

[Willy]

Well, that was interesting. Thought I was going to have to bust the ceiling to clear a ridge for a bit there, but I managed to find a relatively low pass to fly through.


Flight time: 00:48:30
Total Flight time: 16:29:51
Landing weight: 8398.8
Fuel used: 182.7
Total Fuel used: 4239.8 lbs
Cargo delivered this flight: 2000 lbs
Total Cargo delivered: 40,000 lbs
Maintenance Points: 0
Total Airports: 20

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...w1VRcHVK3KQWQc

The kodaks loaded in reverse order...

[Moses03]

Nice job in finding a pass to slip though Willy.

The kodaks loaded in reverse order...

I discovered a while back that after you upload the screenies, you can drag and drop in the order you want. Try that.

[Willy]

Thanks Moses, I'll give it a whirl.

Last night on the flight from La Paz to Cochabamba, I was thinking it sounded familiar. I looked in Ernest Gann's "Fate is the Hunter" and in it he describes the same flight in a new Lockheed Lodestar although apparently he was flying a little bit higher than I did. He goes on to tell of an abandoned Junkers Ju 86 at Cochabamba that he'd been asked to check out the possibility of flying it back to the states and decided not to press his luck.

[Willy]

Some missionaries are needing their annual supplies delivered.

Taking off SLCB -> SLSU
MTOW: 8750 lbs
TOW: 8585 lbs
Fuel: 710.62 lbs
Cargo: 2000lbs
Crew: 348 lbs

[Moses03]

He goes on to tell of an abandoned Junkers Ju 86 at Cochabamba that he'd been asked to check out the possibility of flying it back to the states and decided not to press his luck.

Here is one of the four LAB Ju 86Z-7's parked at Cochabamba. Date unknown. Could very well be the one Gann spotted. (I think the engine covers were missing by then).

[Willy]

Thanks for the pic Moses. The Junkers was long gone by the time I landed there .

Got the sacred texts safely to Sucre. Typical Flight 19 weather with thick fog all the way so there wasn't much sense in taking many pics. Picked the wrong runway end to land on and had to deal with mountainsides on the approach which made the landing interesting. Bounced the heck out of the D18 when the wheels touched the runway, but Virtual Beechcraft makes them tough so nothing major was broken.

Got a car at the airport car rental agency so me and Fred can go into town and check out the local cantina situation....


Flight time: 00:36:24
Total Flight time: 17:06:15
Landing weight: 8417.8
Fuel used: 166.3
Total Fuel used: 4396.8 lbs
Cargo delivered this flight: 2000 lbs
Total Cargo delivered: 42,000 lbs
Maintenance Points: 0
Total Airports: 21

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...XoyBwinv3kR0ec

[Willy]

Taking off SLSU -> SLPO
MTOW: 8750 lbs
TOW: 8585 lbs
Fuel: 710.62 lbs
Cargo: 2000lbs
Crew: 348 lbs

[Willy]

Shortish flight that I spent most of trying to climb higher.

Flight time: 00:24:16
Total Flight time: 17:30:31
Landing weight: 8481.2
Fuel used: 99.8
Total Fuel used: 4496.9 lbs
Cargo delivered this flight: 2000 lbs
Total Cargo delivered: 44,000 lbs
Maintenance Points: 0
Total Airports: 22

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...5vVtYs7Ts6sijE

[Willy]

Taking off SLPO -> SCKP
MTOW: 8750 lbs
TOW: 8479 lbs
Fuel: 604.32 lbs
Cargo: 2000lbs
Crew: 348 lbs

[Willy]

Had a CTD while setting up the flight. Restarting from scratch.

Taking off SLPO -> SCKP
MTOW: 8750 lbs
TOW: 8585 lbs
Fuel: 710.62 lbs
Cargo: 2000lbs
Crew: 348 lbs

[Willy]

Sure was an interesting flight right after take off. I was needing to climb to clear the terrain, but I couldn't seem to get over 80kias for anything. Only thing I could do was keep slight climb on while struggling to gain speed. I eventually got some ground clearance and was able to level off and gain speed.

Then when I was getting close to where I figured the airport should be, all I could see was a cloud on the ground. Turned out that was where the airport was. (see pic)

Two more airports to go...


Flight time: 01:20:26
Total Flight time: 18:50:57
Landing weight: 8271.5
Fuel used: 306.9
Total Fuel used: 4803.5 lbs
Cargo delivered this flight: 2000 lbs
Total Cargo delivered: 46,000 lbs
Maintenance Points: 0
Total Airports: 23

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...Nr7fbtECsoBN6w

[robert41]

Good flight Willy. I thought it was one of the harder ones. Long run across that dry lake with no landmarks and NDB's.

[Willy]

Thanks, I studied the heck out of the default FS map when I set the flight up to figure out my way into those mountains and to the airport. It was pretty much holding my course across the dry lakebed and hoping that I was entering the right pass. Luckily I did.