teson1 flying Cape to Cape in the Mew Gull

***teson1*** · April 16th, 2012, 14:38

Bee ? Mew ? Bee ? Mew ? ...

Selection of plane really was a hard choice.

After all the adventures we've been through together it almost feels like cheating on my dear (if sometimes temperamental) Bee.

But first thing I had to do when learning about the upcoming race to cape town was to get Alex Henshaw's "The flight of the Mew Gull" (and Victor Smith's Open cockpit over Africa).

DR'ing in 39 hours from London to Cape Town in one rush, and back, fastest ever, through day and night, thunderstorms, clouds, fatigue, horrific airstrips, over deserts and jungle.
What an amazing feat of skill and endurance!
Inspirational.

So I've finally settled on flying the Percival Mew gull by Oldliner52 (Michel Migaud).

And she's a beautiful girl as well. Now let's see how she flies.

Taking off from Hammerfest for Mo i Rana.

Don't wait for me with the party. I'm taking my time. I'll probably take a few months or more.

Btw, using ASV6.5 for weather.

***Willy*** · April 16th, 2012, 14:43

Originally Posted by teson1

After all the adventures we've been through together it almost feels like cheating on my dear (if sometimes temperamental) Bee.

Welcome to the fun Gunter!

I know that feeling. I started out flying another aircraft, but somehow not flying something like this in the Twin Beech just didn't seem right, so I restarted with it.

***teson1*** · April 16th, 2012, 17:20

The Mew handles well, and it was a beautiful flight through the fjell, with just a few clouds, but it seems I should have taken a few more lessons before jumping in.
The Mew Gull needs some repairs. Crash on landing (though it wasn't that bad...) .
Nevermind, I'll spend a few days here until replacement parts have been shipped in.

Penalties:
1st crash: 1 hour
Emergency airstrip: 3 hours

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...Bq9cE67qH3R8Nc

***teson1*** · April 16th, 2012, 17:27

Hi Willy,
glad to join SOH for another outstanding event !

***Dil52*** · April 17th, 2012, 12:20

Originally Posted by teson1

The Mew handles well, and it was a beautiful flight through the fjell, with just a few clouds, but it seems I should have taken a few more lessons before jumping in.
The Mew Gull needs some repairs. Crash on landing (though it wasn't that bad...) .
Nevermind, I'll spend a few days here until replacement parts have been shipped in.

Penalties:
1st crash: 1 hour
Emergency airstrip: 3 hours

Wow, I agree with Willy, it's nice to see you here at this Cape to Cape race Gunter!

I too had a simular circumstance with a new plane........well at least it was new to me.

The Gamma 2A is a handful as well, but after (hand) flying her for well over 2000 miles I've quite adapted to her iIdiosyncrasiess and now she's like flying the C172.

After recieveing some help from a couple of nice pilots here, is to pass on the same advice as they gave me.
That is, if you just declare a crash and go back to Hammerfest and restart, you'll only incur a 1 hour penalty, which is by the rules of course.
That way you don't need to declare your flying time plus the 4 hours of penalty.

I'm sitting on the beautiful Mediterranean on the north coast Africa getting ready to take on that continent's weather conditions and climate changes.

Good luck with the repairs on the Bee.

**salt_air** · April 17th, 2012, 19:08

Yeah ... can't have any extra long layovers in the "poly vue Frenchie" there guy ...

Double time (when you can) .... over 10000 NM the long way around.

Good to see another familiar "Old Schooler" ..... Good Luck Sir!

Nice plane!

***teson1*** · April 22nd, 2012, 14:31

Thanks for the good wishes ! I need all the luck I can get.

Talk about a crash. Just a few scratches, really.
Repairs just took an hour.

Fuel situation looks poor here though. None on the airport. Locals tell me there's some at the harbor, but I'll loose at least 3 hours refuelling here.

Now, instead of loosing still more time I'll try to push on to Trondheim with the remaining fuel on board.

I have a small problem though... this genius didn't have this idea before, so I've just come here with my emergency fuel. 12.5 gal remaining. No way will this last till Trondheim at full throttle.
It may work out if I throttle well back and lean out.
Otherwise I'll have to deviate to Namsos ENNM. Can't be much longer to find fuel there than here.

Another problem is that it looks like I'll have to fly through a cold front with pretty poor visibility that passed through here earlier. Trondheilm is still clear. Hope it holds till I arrive.

I better get going.

***teson1*** · April 22nd, 2012, 15:43

A black hole opened up on the computer screen... then silence...
My computer decided to shut down in mid-flight. Just turned itself off...

I was pretty well poised to make it to Trondheim.
Well, next time.

MM · April 22nd, 2012, 18:40

Gosh!

Well, better luck next time...we'll be pulling for you.

***teson1*** · April 23rd, 2012, 13:07

Giving it another go.

Leaving Mo i Rana for Trondheim.

***teson1*** · April 23rd, 2012, 15:42

Perfect weather with just a few clouds. Nice views of the mountains and fjords.

Didn't refuel at ENRA. Took off with the 12.5 gal that remained from the flight from Hammerfest (so I guess I don't incur the 3 hr emergency airstrip delay).
No problem to make the distance by leaning out and throttling slightly back.
Not even stressful by keeping track of fuel consumed vs distance flown on a fuel consumption chart.
Landed with 2 gal in the tank. Plenty!

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...BzM7qp50fef8UE