Flying the Northern Ferry route

[aeromed202]

Having virtually flown all the legs of the Southern ferry route during WWII from Florida to South America, Africa then England, I'm researching to do the Northern route this time. So far I'm looking for any sceneries that will enhance the experience. If anyone has a line on accounts of the journey I'd appreciate anything you might have. Still a lot of reading to do but looks like it went from Bangor ME to Goose Bay, to Greenland, to Iceland then on to Prestwick England. Like before it will be in a Marauder.

[Motormouse]

Having virtually flown all the legs of the Southern ferry route during WWII from Florida to South America, Africa then England, I'm researching to do the Northern route this time. So far I'm looking for any sceneries that will enhance the experience. If anyone has a line on accounts of the journey I'd appreciate anything you might have. Still a lot of reading to do but looks like it went from Bangor ME to Goose Bay, to Greenland, to Iceland then on to Prestwick England. Like before it will be in a Marauder.

At risk of upsetting a few Scots with the last part of the post.... Prestwick is in Scotland.

Ttfn

Pete

[Rich]

Pete, I said nothing for fear of upsetting the colonials who think England is close enough.

Wales are a gathering of large sea creatures ???

[Naismith]

At risk of upsetting a few Scots with the last part of the post.... Prestwick is in Scotland.

Ttfn

Pete

I nearly gagged on that one....

[Rallymodeller]

Goose Bay or Gander depending, and one of a couple of airfields in Greenland (called various Bluie West and Bluie East numbers), one of which later became Sandestrom. If you need more reading, it's the same route the RCAF used taking jets across. (Nimble Bat was one of the CF-100 transfer operations).

[Motormouse]

Pete, I said nothing for fear of upsetting the colonials who think England is close enough.

Wales are a gathering of large sea creatures ???

Lechyd dda!

For scenery, check out the freeware scenery site of R Osterloo.

Ttfn

Pete

[aeromed202]

Man I can't believe I messed up that one, and with a Scottish mom too. She'd just laugh. I was typing as I was reading and must have copied it over although I think my brain was thinking the generic UK. Thanks for the scenery tip.

[Motormouse]

Man I can't believe I messed up that one, and with a Scottish mom too. She'd just laugh. I was typing as I was reading and must have copied it over although I think my brain was thinking the generic UK. Thanks for the scenery tip.

Just yanking your chain!
With a little bit of searching you should come up with scenery for most of the route and alternates.
Add the cal-classics radio navigation ships as well for a more difficult flight.

Ttfn

Pete

[ian elliot]

I dont like to blow my own trumpt, but you may want to have a look at my scenery for RAF Burtonwood, many transatlantic flights ended here as well as Prestwick esp if in theater mods were needed, its model'd for the 1950's but there was'nt much differance other than extendid runways.
Another scenery i use is Keflavik Naval Air Station by John Stinstrom, its set in modern times im afraid and has F-15 and P-3 ai, but still looks good and you can always delete the ai.
cheers ian

[srgalahad]

Having virtually flown all the legs of the Southern ferry route during WWII from Florida to South America, Africa then England, I'm researching to do the Northern route this time. So far I'm looking for any sceneries that will enhance the experience. If anyone has a line on accounts of the journey I'd appreciate anything you might have. Still a lot of reading to do but looks like it went from Bangor ME to Goose Bay, to Greenland, to Iceland then on to Prestwick England. Like before it will be in a Marauder.

Perhaps the best source of information comes from one who was there... From the bio of Don McVicar:

Born June 21, 1915 on a farm near Oxbow, Sask. Brought up in Edmonton and educated at St.John's College School in Winnipeg and the University of Alberta. Earned Private Pilot's flying License in 1936 with the Edmonton and Northern Alberta Flying Club. First job as VE4PH was as radio operator with the McInnis Fish Co., in the bush giving weather reports for Grant McConachie's fish flights. Then as radio man with Mackenzie Air Service in Edmonton, and finally as a DOT radio range operator at Cranbrook, B.C. 1940 earned Air Traffic Controller's Licence No#9 and was Officer in Charge of Winnipeg Control Tower. 1941 joined No.2 Air Observer's School in Edmonton as staff pilot and from there moved up to the Royal Air Force Ferry Command as Captain-Navigator. In 1942 was awarded King's Commendation for Arctic flying as described in books titled FERRY COMMAND and FERRY COMMAND PILOT. Next book SOUTH ATLANTIC SAFARI describes delivery of first Martin B-26 'Widow Maker' light bomber over the South and North Atlantic. In 1943 became flight instructor and flying boat pilot. Carried out first ever Polar Europe-Western Canada flights over the "Crimson Route." In 1944 became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "Valuable Services in the Air" as described in NORTH ATLANTIC CAT, published in 1983.
http://www.donmcvicar.com/index.html
http://www.donmcvicar.com/books.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Don-McVicar/e/...022&sr=1-2-ent

For another glimpse, go here: http://www.donnamcvicarkazo.com/
and click on the drawing of the Hudson to go to the aviation gallery
(this is the website of Don McVicar's daughter, Donna)

[arl]

I dug this old feature out of the Bluegrass annals. It was written by Bill Odell who in his time had been a DC-3 pilot with the USAAF and commercial airlines.

[Willy]

Presque Isle, Maine was a stopping point early on in the war.

In Greenland, BGBW (I'm not going to try to spell the name) was known as Bluie West One during the war. There's a good description of flying into there in a DC-3 by Ernie Gann in "Fate is the Hunter".

[rich12545]

For scenery

Flight Ontario has Goose Bay - Free
Toni Agramont has done Greenland and Iceland - Free
Scotflight (payware) for Scotland plus a free landclass of N Scotland available.

All the free stuff is at Flightsim and/or Avsim.

[lemonadedrinker]

hi,

Also check out DC3 airways site then 'flights---Routes-----WW2 and there are some ferry flights and flight plans and maybe links to sceneries as well. Glenn Duncan has made a beautiful C-87 which flew some of those routes (FS9).
Type bill odell flightsim alaska and that brought up his work on the DEWLine route, but the link to timberwolfaviation is dead and that was where the sceneries were. Maybe DEWLine would find scenery at flightsim or AVsim perhaps.
All the best in your searches,

Andy.

Just had a look at flightsim, typed dewline and got a few files up!

[srgalahad]

Here are the Team SOH 2012 briefing notes for lovely Narsarsuaq (aka Bluie West One)

At the end of that first summer of 1941, civilians in the employ of McKinley Dredging Co. arrived to finish the runway at Bluie West One. It would be 5,000 feet long and 145 feet wide, with a base of pea-sized gravel and a surface of pierced-steel planking--perhaps the first use of PSP by the U.S. military. The compass direction is pretty much west to east: 07 and 25. However, the magnetic deviation in south Greenland is 30 degrees, so the direction actually runs from southwest to northeast. At the southwest or fjord end, the altitude is 12 feet above sea level; it rises 100 feet in about half a mile, then levels off as it nears the glacier.
"If you haven't landed at BW-1," writes army pilot George James of his ferry flight in a twin-engined B-26, "you have missed one of life's biggest thrills. We were briefed for hours with talks, movies taken from the nose of an airplane, and a topographical model. The reason for what might seem like overkill is that BW-1 is 52 miles up a fjord with walls several thousand feet high, numerous dead-end offshoots, no room to turn around, and usually an overcast below the tops of the walls. You had to get it right the first time."

General Spaatz:
Overall, navigation was so tough that he thought it might be a good idea to paint the rocks along the fjords leading up to the Greenland airfields.
Misadventure took care of that problem with respect to BW-1. On July 6, the supply ship Montrose hit a cliff while steaming up Eriksfjord. Sixteen nautical miles southwest of the airfield, its rusting hull became a checkpoint for pilots hoping to reach Bluie West One.
http://www.warbirdforum.com/bluie1.htm

Attachment 58491
http://www.398th.org/Images/Images_G...BluieWest.html
http://www.398th.org/History/Veteran...BluieWest.html

You do NOT want to end up like this:http://www.398th.org/Images/Images_A...441229_HT.html

Notes:
1) The above photo was taken from just about the same spot where an un-named SOH pilot buried a P-38 a few years ago. It's about 2 miles from the threshold, but, as you can see, at much higher elevation.
2) Yes, in good weather, with modern aircraft an approach can be made (VFR) down the glacier (and it is a slope all the way to the runway) AND a departure (light) can go uphill to the east in FS.
3) the weather at the open end of the fjord can be lovely VFR, but the further inland you go, usually the worse it gets. It's not uncommon, even in FS, to not see the runway until you turn final below the cliff (which is 'easier' in the sim than r/l)