salt_air's ... Southbound Stroll to Cape Town ... "Old School"

[salt_air]

Appears my "crew" ... basically a local gal the needs a lift to Southern Coast of France ... Marseilles Provence to be exact ... has misdirected the fuelers at Hammerfest.

"Fill 'er up" is something you would say if you were driving ... not in this bird ... that's enough fuel to make it to Africa.



After the fuel situation is sorted out and I suppose a double check of provisions, spare parts, and what limited amount of ordinance I could round up ... I'll get under way.

Not full of fuel, but enough to log in a full day of pilotage if conditions will allow.

Plan for the first leg is a bit ambitious ... we will try to make Frankfurt, Germany ... of course there are 2 alternative airports in that plan ... as well as a list of the Prepared Airports "duck" tapped to the knee ... just in case.



Very happy and excited to begin this journey ... special Thanks to the Committee ... and wishing Best of Luck to all participants!

[robert41]

Good luck Salt and everyone.

[salt_air]

FlightLog_16-42-24.TXT http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...eWEqGxlpNLGdr8




The crew and I beat a dandy path out of Hammerfest, Norway at dawn to a rainy early afternoon arrival in Frankfurt, Germany.

At a butt flattening 1308 NM the Vega never even sputtered ... bounced and shook once in a while, but trucked right along steady as a clock.

A fairly long ride at close to 8 and 3/4 hours ... a lot of the planes I had considered wouldn't have been able to make the trip due to range limitations.

The fuel capacity is an even 3900 lbs ... only used a shade over half that amount today ... don't believe I could sit long enough to run a full tank fuel until empty in one flight.



Not sure about the winds once we got out of range of the forecasts from Hammerfest ... forgot my copy of the "Scandinavian Languages for Dummies" so what few broadcasts were audible I couldn't make out.

Had to keep between 5 and 10 degree WCA so it was hitting the plane on the starboard side and the airspeed was a little disappointing, so I'm guessing a quartering headwind in the 20 -30 kt range ... all day.

A pretty good assortment of cloud coverage from nearly clear to broken 5/8 ... cold, but no ice ... good visibility except for brief moments during climb and descent ... and no precip until about 30 NM out on descent to land.



You plan and plan and plan, but always miss something ... this time I didn't consider that this really nice population of NBDs's along the way was an illusion of comfort as the vast majority only had a 22 NM range.

If you had nothing else to do you could continuously switch ADF frequencies first one then the other like Tarzan swinging from one vine to another ... even then it would get tiresome.

Fortunately I had scribbled down 3 timed waypoints to be used as positions for sextant readings ... came in handy as I was not reading the Driftmeter correctly or staying on top of WCA's in general .. probably a little of both.

First sextant reading was very good, but the next two set up course changes beyond what I had calculated for wind and Great Circle.

A very handy shot was near the end of the flight ... quite anxious to land at Frankfurt ... I entered the coordinates for an assumed position at the airport itself ... knew it would be off, but that difference would equal my distance out.

If you are going to use the old school instruments alone, then plan on staying busy ... staying on top of any timed events and using each instrument as back up and verification to the other ... a balance and check thing.

Pfsst! ...These next three "hands on" flights should get a lot more interesting than originally planned ... especially trying to hold below 12000' on that jaunt to Bolzano, Italy ... wheeew ... won't need any no-doz on that flight bubba.




In the corridor we flew today ...with the exception of all of the amazing coastlines from Sweden across Denmark to Germany ... there really isn't that much in the order of landmarks for VFR flying.

A high point in the ol' pucker factor for this flight and I hope for the rest of the journey (yeah right!) was when my second monitor froze or locked up or some sort of demonic crap out as I was crossing into Denmark.

First time it's ever happened ..that's where all of my maps and charts reside during all flights so I can run FS full screen .. to put icing on the cake a nice blanket of ground cover had me wondering if I was in fact headed to Denmark.

If I had not properly corrected for being off (to the west) a good bit on the last sextant reading, then it's conceivable for me to have been over the North Sea ... way off track.

I had already made a couple of arbitrary corrections earlier against Driftmeter readings in favor of visual and was really starting to wonder ... no relief in site as a computer restart was impossible ... wonder if this monitor will go out?

One thing I picked up on in the 2009 L-M was to make a hand written note of all of the longer ranged NDB's along the intended flight path ... not until the Hamburg NDB came into range did I know I wasn't lost or headed to the UK.

I'm talking about a two hour scare period with blood pressure levels up akin to those forced on you very often in the RTW enviornment ... also not in the planning.



The prudent pilot would have found Hamburg, Germany on the "Safe List" and landed in order to wipe his brow while the computer was restarting ... then set up for take off again ... no longer lost and ample fuel I just pushed on.

Yessir .... Frankfurt, Germany was quite a sight for sore eyes ... even in the rain.

After a nice break from today's fun, I'll crack my knuckles and set out for Interlaken, Switzerland and maybe points beyond ... weather will be key.

Already interesting and challenging .... this will be one of the best events ever ... certainly a tabbed page in the memory book.









Cheers,

[salt_air]

Good luck Salt and everyone.

Thanks ol' Buddy!!


Right back at cha ...

[Moses03]

Impressive Austin. Good luck over the Alps.

[MM]

Riveting narrative. Great to see things are working out in very different ways for our very different aircraft. And nothing like a couple of hours wondering if you're lost ... or not. The latter seems the better outcome.

[Willy]

Good show Austin! A bit longer flight than I'd have dared try.

[Dil52]

Yes, nice flight Austin,

I wish I had the same LA to NY fuel tanks, with a range of 2500 miles, that Frank Hawks had in the Gamma 2A "Sky Chief".
As it is, I only have 170 gallons, which is only good for "just short of 694nm."

I like that aircraft except for the cockpit which is set in the wings with no side view. I like to see the RW when flying on base leg.
Obviouly fuel management is not an issue.....only your time!

Keep up with the great flights and stories.

[salt_air]

Thanks Guys! ... appreciate the encouraging and kind words ... what a Great Event!



A bit longer approach is definitely required Fred ... EDDF has an NDB at each end of the runways 25R - 7L.

With dual ADF/RMI set up to have one pointing at a target on the base leg and the other pointed at the far end NDB had the needle moving to show when to turn final ... it was a cake walk.

Won't have that luxury ... sure enough ... on many more turns to final ... we having fun yet?



Still haven't decided whether to go left or right out of Marseille, but this leg was the only real shot at the range advantage ... a few more running down the coast, but not so much across the sand.

Not sure what the economy was as the winds weren't that great ... may have just prolonged the agony in that respect ... but oh what fun.

Good Luck Fred ... hollar if you need any help.




Time now for a pre-flight check .....

[salt_air]

"Hand Flown" ... 15 min bonus.

Made it to the first Compulsory Check Point at LSMI ... what a fine welcome from the locals here!

Looks like a buffet style luncheon has been laid out ... I have know idea what any of it is, but the "crew" seems to be pleased, so I'll just fetch whatever she comes back with ... to start anyway.



Once again a closer look is needed at flight planning ... for me at least ... there are some nuances present when on alert and under duenna pressure that don't show up in original surveys of routing(s).

Same issue on this flight with there being a lot of NDB's on the map, but just not where I needed them.

The track out of Frankfurt was very nice with an NDB lined up with the runway (25R) and just the right distance to hang on to while getting the plane situated with proper climb rate.

Mean while the second ADF tuned to the NDB at Mannheim letting on to the turn south ... just about along a straight line to Interlaken ... let go of one and grab the other ... here we go again.



Established and trimmed out (close) at 6000' I tuned Speyer NDB and turned right to it.

A little off path to port, but after learning I was "heavy handed " with WCA's and the wind was from the west, I figured it would give me a better place to start ... a handicap for my handicap if you will.



Straight line between the two airports (direct) found no NDB's on course at all the rest of the way in, signals could only be used to monitor any gross miscalculations right to left of course.

Then at about the halfway point you loose reference to port .... however there are some nice visual references .... cities and lakes ... but they were far enough apart to test your nerves.



One landmark that would be directly under a correctly negotiated course heading was at Triengen, but it was pretty close to Interlaken (35NM) and it would be a scramble if I was way off ... glad I wasn't.

The coordinates for the airport would have served well as a sort of DME after passing to monitor the remaining distance, but Lord have mercy I was way too busy with ridge running (ducking) and haze.



Approaching the "hills" that surround Interlaken I had to choose a gorge (right or left) to enter into the maze, hope it was the right one ... then guess at which intersecting gorge would take me to the airport.

Kinda fun ... ...but the haze got really thick ... consequence was a turn too soon ... caught a parallel pass that runs just north of were I wanted to be ... only a quick climb to peak over the top of the ridge verified it.

Relieved to have located the airport, but now way high and past it .... also had enough wind from the west to make a downwind landing risky.

Now I find another advantage of the Vega ... low speed maneuverability ... good deal because now it was necessary to cut the throttle and make two U-turns and descend while wedged between to ridges ... yowsa!




I may take it on the chin for the rest of my Alpine Fun by following rivers instead of a more desired straight line across the tops ... especially with vis low and a "hand held" 12000' ceiling ... more planning then off to Bolzano.





FlightLog_11-57-01.TXT http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...Vbvq9gwPW5ZBwg





No bloomin' screenshots .... not turned on ... new entry on the preflight checklist needed.

[salt_air]

Headed out to Bolzano to pick up the Bonus(s) ... Hand Fly ... Under 12000' ... plus the leg itself.


Horrible visibility ....


LSMI - LIPB

[Moses03]

At least Bolzano has that high powered beacon to draw you in.

[salt_air]

Well ... almost, still need to "Hand Wrestle" the Vega out of here ... probably Marseille.


The vis cleared up nicely after take off ... seems like it was around 5 - 6 thousand feet.

Nice winds at my back the whole way had me set up a little shallower climb.

It was a hidden bonus ... as I had more time to survey the skyline in the direction I intended to go, I saw a gap that I had missed during a couple of practice runs.

I remember looking for one ... didn't see it ... and wound up skimming the mountain tops with an occasional jog left or right to stay under the mark.

Today's find allowed a comfortable cruise in the 10's of thousands of feet barely slipping over 11 thousand for a few minutes.

Some ground haze at Bolzano made it hard to see the airport and the approach from the North forced a near dead stick dive on a really short final.

Just a little nose up pitch on these birds with no flaps ... with their huge wings they slow right down nicely ... did have to use up all of the airports property to get stopped.





Oh Boy! ... let's see if I read the rules right for a bonus tally for this flight.

Alpine Bonus for the flight from Interlaken ...... 2 hours

Hand Fly Bonus .........................................1/4 hour

Interlaken to Bolzano under 12000' .............. 1/4 hour

If I read it right .... total for this flight of ..... 2 1/2 hours



Previously earned .................................... 1/4 hour

Sub total for the event or the so far total ... 2 3/4 hours




Not sure if I'll make Marseille today, but when I do I be rolling out all the charts one more time to have a look.

Left side or right side hmmm ... Supposed to loose the crew at Marseille, but she's been pretty handy with navigational chores .... and my French is Greek to most people.

If I decide not to tote the mail .... wonder if she'll stay on to Cape Horn??






FlightLog_15-37-41.TXT http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...Fgf1XUeOFaGJHs











Yes indeed Moses .... would have been a lot more difficult to keep oriented towrds destination with out it being right at the airport too!

[robert41]

Great run Salt.

[salt_air]

Great run Salt.

Thanks again sir!