Red's Cape-to-Cape Snowbird Adventure

**RedGreen** · April 20th, 2012, 22:18

Going into a gravel strip with only an NDB for navigational aid. Old Man IFR has an uncanny ability to reveal himself at the worst times. The clear weather I had experienced early in the flight soured quickly as I approached Lisola. The haze caused me not to spot the airport until less than five miles away from it, and then I was far left of where I needed to be. It took quite a bit of fancy maneuvering to get the Turbo Commander where it needed to be to land safely. And as I was coming down, I heard the dreaded "Stall!" alarm going off. I instinctively applied throttle, only to feel the landing gear touch down. As the airplane started trying to climb back in the air I had to quickly idle the throttles to get the plane back down on the ground.

This one definitely goes in the file of "Memorable Flying Adventures"!

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

**RedGreen** · April 22nd, 2012, 19:19

More evidence that the race organizers may be a little sadistic?

I now get to fly more than 500 miles....away from the northward direction where my ultimate destination lies. Further, I have to eschew two major airports at the destination of my next leg and land at one with a much shorter runway and little in the way of useful navaids (an NDB a full mile to the left of the runway heading. Yep, I'm heading for Kinshasha.

Leastways after this leg I finally get some indepence to my routing. But I also have some number crunching to do in order to figure out what my precision time should be.

But first things first....

**RedGreen** · April 22nd, 2012, 21:31

After miles and miles of smooth sailing, Mother Nature decided it was time to remind me of the calamity she can cause. I was cruising along with a decent quartering tailwind with everything seeming hunky-dory. Then about 140 miles from FZAB I ran smack into a thunderstorm that had the Rockwell bucking like a bronco and its airspeed gauge and altimeter wildly fluctuating. Had to slow down to prevent any chance of an overspeed while I rode the storm out. I was more than a little thankful when I finally broke out of the storm cell and found Kinshasha just to the south of the thunder and lightning.

I wasn't nearly as thankful to find another moron had put a building right on the glide path to the runway. Is it a pastime in this part of the world to see how close you can put a building in front of runway until someone crashes into it?

Anyway, I'm happy that I made it safe through south-central Africa. Now I need to break out the slide rule and start making calculations for my precision time...

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...PiVrlZtVp9sKLA

**RedGreen** · April 23rd, 2012, 21:42

After much number crunching, pondering, and instrospection, I have finally settled on a precision time of 32 Hours, 30 Minutes, 0 Seconds.

Will I even come close to this number? No clue whatsoever....

**RedGreen** · April 24th, 2012, 21:11

Turning northward, the next destination is Libreville, Gabon. Airport Idenitifier: FOOL. An appropriate term for someone about to fly to a place where thunderstorms are in the forecast? You be the judge....

***Willy*** · April 24th, 2012, 22:09

Red, I just flew into there tonight going the other direction. Expect thunderstorms at FOOL and on up the coast.

**RedGreen** · April 24th, 2012, 23:06

Flying into a thunderstorm is never a fun experience, especially so if you're heading into a place you've never been before. Thunder was booming all around and flashes of lightning lit up the cockpit on the descent. Visibility was quite poor on the approach, and for what seemed an eternity I couldn't find the airport. I scanned back and forth among the buildings at Libreville, saying to myself, "I don't get it...it should be right there!"

It was only when I was about to make my base turn that the airport revealed itself between the bottom of the bluff that the town stood upon and the ocean. It would be quite easy to see from the east, but from the west the bluff conceals it until you're almost perpendicular with the airport heading. (Suppose that's why it's called FOOL?) Anyhow, we were very gratified to get the wheels on the ground, having successfully ridden out the storm.

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...0O3hrlQGrWDrdM

**RedGreen** · April 26th, 2012, 19:18

Next up, a flight over the Atlantic to the town of Cotonou, Benin (DBBB). Thankfully the weather looks a lot better for this leg than it did the last one.

**RedGreen** · April 26th, 2012, 21:28

A pretty smooth ride over the Atlantic on this one, without much in the way of drama. The visibility at Cotonou wasn't ideal, but more than acceptable. Landed just past the numbers with plenty of runway to spare.

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...qYvPWeFsy18Qrk

**salt_air** · April 28th, 2012, 07:12

Some great flying Red!

I really like these screen shots ... The Aero Commander is growing on me.

Easy to see why you would have chosen it.

**RedGreen** · April 29th, 2012, 19:09

Thanks Austin! I had the privilege to watch Bob Hoover perform in his Commander when I was young. The things he could do with that plane were simply incredible!

I'm now continuing on to the next checkpoint at Niamey, Niger. Lucky me, Cumulonimbus clouds have been observed in the area....

***Moses03*** · April 29th, 2012, 20:31

Originally Posted by RedGreen

I had the privilege to watch Bob Hoover perform in his Commander when I was young. The things he could do with that plane were simply incredible!

Me too RG. I saw him at an airshow back in 1976. Amazing stuff.

Nice run so far-

**RedGreen** · April 29th, 2012, 20:57

Those big scary clouds turned out to be a whole lotta nuthin'. Conditions were ideal at Niamey. A very routine and unremarkable flight.

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...Lm1kFgdiSC1S1I

**RedGreen** · April 30th, 2012, 20:59

I'm now starting the "desert voyage" portion of my journey. Next stop Tessalt, Mali (GATS). And yes, I've checked the map multiple terms ensuring this is east of Timbuktu. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've seen a weather report of "widespread dust" at a destination airport!

**RedGreen** · April 30th, 2012, 22:41

Well, it appears no paint got sandblasted off my plane. Wasn't in a good position on my approach and was high and fast and over the numbers by the time I finally got the plane aligned with the runway. Big ugly bounce on landing, and I'm certainly glad I got the plane stopped when I did. Probably less than a thousand feet to spare by my guesstimate.

Although if I had gone off, I highly doubt I would have run into anything. Nothing to really crash into in this place....

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...czUeU0aFIdXTCs