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

[salt_air]

Flew this one at 12000' due to known terrain and patchy visibility ... looks like we had a slight bump 37' over due to barometric pressure variance I'm sure.

Had to keep an eye on that and the terrain playing peek-a-boo possibly between a couple of clouds.

Occasional rumbles of thunder, but no rain.




Next Checkpoint is at Johannesburg in the Union of South Africa ... but I need to make an intermediate stop somewhere ....





FlightLog_15-24-13.TXT http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...G9ppFC8EkJ7eGs

[Willy]

Flying at night now? In the mountains? You da man!

I did a pre-dawn start from DAUA to DATM. But there wasn't any terrain issues either.

[salt_air]

Flying at night now? In the mountains? You da man!

I did a pre-dawn start from DAUA to DATM. But there wasn't any terrain issues either.

Ha ha ... yeah, the crazy man ...

I am havin' a ball....




Think I'll stroll down to Mbeya Tanganyika for the night .... get plenty of rest ... gunna be a bigg'un tomorrow.



All checked out at HKNW ... enroute to HTMB

Weather is much improved .. fingers crossed .... on the way.

[salt_air]

Pitfalls galore on this leg.

Wide open early ... had beautiful weather all day ... wind was in my face, but straight at it .... almost no WCA required.

A 113 NM NBD at each end of the flight ... right at the airports .... that accounts for around half of the mileage.

Tons of landmarks ... rivers ... lakes ... and there are a few NDB's off to either side but in range and handy to jog you back to the middle.

Another thing they will do for ya is indicate on the RMI you are passing by as the needle(s) move top to bottom of the gauge.


What's not charted are the many "lumps" in the terrain that are not charted well at all.

If you are in an aircraft that does it's best CA at a lower altitude like the Vega's 8000" sweet spot then you will have to be ready to hand fly at times.

Either that or you'll have to climb .... I hit 11500' for a good while ... those "lumps" are poised to hit you right in the chin.

They sit well masked into the landclass and you really can't see them until you are almost in the middle of them.

Of course there was one good sized hill .... right in the way ... put another cute half moon in the flight path.


Could see what looked like Mt. Killimanjaro off in the distance east ... a nice cruise ... tempted to leave for a while and come back ... you best not.

A nice cruise, but you'll have to stay alert if you normally cruise below 10000' ... even that won't allow you not pay attention.

The airport at Mbeya sits right behind one of these lumps ... and of course the runway is about perpendicular to course so there will be som fancy lining up for either runway,



Nap time ... back in for maybe a big day tomorrow






FlightLog_21-01-48.TXT http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...yJB9aMvkD07YtY

[salt_air]

The last CheckPoint lies at close to 1100 NM's due south.

Planning to make the leap after a quick breakfast.

A River to use as a lateral reference early on that should carry through the first hour ... should pass under the plane back and forth .... side to side.

Looks like a few sextant shots after that and then a long section ... nearly to the end ... that is flanked with 75 and 113 NM NDB's both sides ... nice!

Several rivers and a lake that will cross the flight's path and a handful of airports ... either side ... that should be in view for reference.

Map shows low terrain ... < 5000' ... for nearly the whole flight ... should get higher close to Johannesburg, SA (FAGM).

To be on the safe side, I have to multiply terrain figures as shown by 2 it seems ... still not worried.




Lunch there ... then I'll have a look at the last leg into Cape Horn.




What a terrific journey .... so much new landscape ... a playground not yet fully explored and there's plenty left to see in the future.

That's how I measure a perfect event ... toss in several scare periods for seasoning and all in an era that I enjoy the most ... Wow!




Fuel and go ....

[Dil52]

Keep up the good work buddy.
I'm only roughly about 6000nm behind you. Should be enough time for the to get cold.

Dil52

[salt_air]

Keep up the good work buddy.
I'm only roughly about 6000nm behind you. Should be enough time for the to get cold.

Dil52

Appreciate the flowers ol' pal!

I still keep looking over my shoulder thinking that big shiny plane will come whooshing by ...

Ya know it was John Northrop and Gerald Vultee that conjured up this Vega before they broke off into their own "thing".



Have fun on your run ... after Leopoldville you'll be running the same track as me ... use the notes I've left behind for everyone.



BTW: Currently taking applications for a possible team effort in the Ford Trimotor after I get done with this shot.

Taking what I have learned from this run to make panel improvements in the Ford ... should be ready very early next week.





Cheers,

[salt_air]

Good to go .... checking in at Johannesburg, SA (FAGM) ... last Compulsory Checkpoint.



Lovely trip ... thunder boomers on departure along with a cloud build up made me think of the worst ... but everything cleared off as quick almost as it started to build.

Glorious sunny day ... WCA very minor ... hardly detectible with the Drift Meter ... lower KIAS in part due to flying above CA and we must have had a headwind ... unbelievably straight on the nose.

Found enough of the outcroppings that blended in with the ground textures that I took it up to 10500' just to be safe ... near the end of the trip before I was comfortable descending to 8000' (normal cruise).



A real nice ride with the great weather ... I just let up a little on trying to stay so stinkin' tight to course ... let the plane drift a little ... only corrected when I had a good bearing to station on an NDB that was close to course.

Missed a planned star shot (of two) but got the other one and was real close just a small correction .... picked up and NDB a few minutes later to fine tune that correction.

There's no drama to report ... just keep it above 10000' if you intend on not being present .... say to eat or grab a shower and shave ... or if you have poor visibility.



680 NM to go .... I'm sure I'll run it straight in ... but when?

First the Vega needs to get a bath ... all shined up a even smellin' good for the buyer at Cape Town.

Then I'll get myself and the crew all fancied up ... maybe this guy will need another plane moved soon ... who knows? ... could be more adventure right around the corner.

Let's see ... I think it was WD - 40 that gets the goo off that duck tape leaves behind inniit?





FlightLog_13-35-35.TXT http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...KIqtRdTS8CNT30

[robert41]

Looking good Salt, almost there.

[salt_air]

A good morning for me and the crew ... we're cashing in with the delivery of the Vega to a private collector.

The aircraft has been polished ... engines serviced and fresh tires .... looks like new.

Just enough fuel to make it with a small reserve ... don't want to run out, but I'm not much behind the idea of giving away any fuel either.



Receiving party was contacted last night by wire and will be expecting us at exactly 03:30:00 after take off .... should be shortly ... still have to finish arrangements with the bank there.

The Gal (crew) and I have made good enough time to fit into the less then 60 total hours of flight time requirement with plenty to spare ... now we can go collect the bounty for all the work.



It's been a while since I had ventured into such an excursion ... didn't realize how much I missed battling the elements and unknown ... some cases uncharted landscape of our fine planet.

To be sure this has jogged my interest ... no immediate plans it this writing, but there will be more flights like this in the future ... maybe the Gal will stay on? ...



Last minute checks before takeoff are underway .....

[salt_air]

The pleasure and fun shouldn't need a lot of explaining ... none at all really.

Where the profit comes in is not just the nice Booty captured for delivering the Vega in one piece ... on time.

It comes form all that I have gained in the form of the ability to apply a much richer understanding of the navigational skills I have sought after for quite a while now ... and the build will continue.

This event has allowed the "bringing together" of a lot of recently gained knowledge (for me) and provided a place to utilize it ... find out what works and how to best use it ... put it to work ... benefit from it.

By not skimming or trying to get around all that was required to navigate through this ... but by totally embracing the task and finding not just one, but the best solution or method with what you are allowed to use.

This is and has been an excellent classroom and proving ground all in one ... you are missing the boat if you don't walk away with at least a little of that after a 10000 NM journey where you have been held to it by rules.

Folks that's how we learn this stuff ... put that with areas of the world that you aren't all that familiar with .. other than a passing through in an RTW like a Bat out of Hell ... many new places on this route.




Speaking strictly as a participant ... if this is a pain then just walk away and go fly a Lear Jet back and forth from your home airport.

Doing not much more than flipping a few switches and spending most of your time just waiting to get where ever you were going.

Certainly not condemning that platform of simming ... whatever brings you joy ... but that is the heck and gone from what this event was and is all about.





I've got one more song to sing and I'll be done ... there's a pretty simple criteria for what makes events like these great ... both from the standpoint of being a participant and as a creator of my own and on a team.

First thing is you manufacture a theme ... not too involved, but not so moronic that it has no interest ... then you have what I'll call a draw or attraction for folks to want to participate.

That will require testing and research work on it's own to create the event, and require participants to do some research too ... an assignment if you will ... make you think ... best plane?... best route?

Secondly, you have to define the boundry ... requirements and rules to keep folks in line with your imagination and to a lesser degree theirs ... keeps all of us on the same page.


[Again as a participant .. not fussing at anybody, just a general observation .. that is what most of the who struck John questions are about .. just read and make some notes and go have fun .. not the time for input ... it's done.]


Third is to administer what you have set forth .. redefine a rule or sentence ... field questions ... levy penalty that's sometimes in a questionable or gray area (we always seem to find it) ... and then compute the results.

Sounds simple, but until you have seen these things through as an individual or group (sometimes harder) or had some involvement in it, you can't appreciate the effort ... I advise all to volunteer in this process.




Put all of that in a funnel and there's a recipe for a perfect event ... hit on or just touch all of those areas and folks will be excited to participate ... have fun in doing so ... and walk away with more than they brought.

All of this writing was not to say you guys ... The Committee ... have hit on a perfect 10 in my book ... all the writing was to describe what a perfect 10 would be .... Bang on the Nail fellas ... terrific job ... Bravo!

Thanks a lot for all it took and all that you still have ahead to do ... so blokes like me can have fun doing something we all love ... hard to believe this is free for all ... and better I know you guys are probably planning another one.

We need some virtual fireworks up in here!!







Guy standing over by the drink machine looking on ... rolls his eyes while leaning his head backwards ." whew ... man I'm glad that guy's finished talking"




Flight notes .... another glorious flight ... day light and pretty clear skies except for being robbed of some ocean views by a cloud build up roughly 100 NM's out of Cape Town .. still managed a few peek-a-boos.

As far off as my flight time guess was and as little WCA that was needed I'd say there was a headwind straight on the nose for the majority of the flight ... thankfully calm on approach ... was looking for worse on the coast.

The opposite of the early flights in Europe ... the NDB's down here ... this leg particular .. were long range 113 NM stations ... a luxury because the longer the range the less time you have to DR and the straighter your path.




Going to collect for services .. take some time off, definitely dine on something other than can food for a change and maybe check out Robben Island for some fishing and sailing ... then see where to next?

Wonder what all the work on a Ford Trimotor was all about in a hanger back there in Hammerfest, Norway? ... Reckon I'll spend some money on a classified ad : "Have Gal ... will Travel"




Good Luck to the rest of you ... hurry up every chance you get!
















FlightLog_13-30-41.TXT http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...YsfBnbFwg8qf0k

[Willy]

Congratulations Austin! There's a hotel there called the "Nellie" (coincedence?). Meet you in the bar in a few days.

[jt_dub]

Congrats on your arrival in Cape Town. Great flying and route finding. I enjoyed watching your arrival for a second time during this event



Good Luck on your Tri-motor run. I remember flying a relatively short leg in India during an RTWR a few years back and it seems like it took forever to go 150 miles. I'm not sure my backside could stand up to ~9000 miles.

[MM]

Great run, Austin. Even better stories.

It's always a great pleasure to follow your narrative and learn a lot about what we're all feeling but not really saying. Our unofficial poet laureate.

[PRB]

Bravo Zulu Austin! A great run in a classic winged machine!