Rob O. Cape to Cape in the DH.88

[Great Ozzie]

Ay yi yi...

Estimating just a half hour from "the river" and I get a fatal error. Not used to seeing these.

Oh well... try again tomorrow.

[Great Ozzie]

Departure: DAOR Bechar to DRRN Diori Hamani

4+ hrs of just E6B'ing...

Update:

4hrs & 20mins and "the river" is in sight. Seems I am a smidge East of where I was shooting for (the big bend that turns south). Was aiming for Bourem (GABR) which appears 10+ nm to the West of me. Ok tho as the current heading should put me very close to overflying Gao (GAGO - "last" visual checkpoint before the big city of Niamey).

[Great Ozzie]

Arrival: DRRN Diori Hamani

phew! btw. 8kt x-wind... a touch of upwind engine kept the nose straight (relatively :P) for the rollout.

Tracking-URL: http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...w1u7Sqyrw13AmY

[MM]

Great flying, Rob. The Niger has been a pleasant sight for all of us.

[Great Ozzie]

Thanks Mike. Yes sir, was a pleasant site indeed... kind of like the Mississippi of the Sahara.

I take it no NDB usage until within a 100nm of the coast (i.e. no using the NDB at Kainji). Not a big problem as "The Gulf of Guinea" provides a 'when to turn East' checkpoint. ;-)

Departure: DRRN Diori Hamani to FKKD Douala

Edit:

Nutty Comet... 10kt x-wind and the plane wants to show me how easy it is to ground loop... just about had the right engine pulled back to idle to keep things straight (until after rotating ).

dang... between the clouds... and being half mesmerized watching "Alice in Wonderland" (Disney Channel) I nearly missed my checkpoint... the airport at Ajaokuta.

[Great Ozzie]

Arrival: FKKD Douala

Tracking-URL: http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...SgyBgSemQDDQuY

[Great Ozzie]

Departure: FKKD Douala to FZAB N'dolo

"Nice" thunderstorm as we head off...

[Great Ozzie]

Arrival: FZAB N'dolo

What a horrid leg... thunderstorms from departure to landing. Visibility was ok as was surface winds (calm) at FZAB... but the Wx... bleeh!

Tracking-URL: http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...KnvFNiSjzF1ojI

[Great Ozzie]

Departure: FZAB N'dolo to FZGA Lisala

20 Minutes after departing FZAB at 5000'MSL... not a bad day for pilotage... and improving by the mile...

[jt_dub]

Moving out smartly Rob! That is a very surreal landscape at N'dolo.

[Great Ozzie]

"Arrival": FZGA Lisala

Snapped the tail-skid (the Comet then does this thing where the tail "sinks" beneath the ground, continues into the vertical then a nice explosion).

Crash Landing: 1 hour penalty

Tracking-URL: http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...wUPb0aKxhz5V84

[Great Ozzie]

Departure: FZGA Lisala to FZIA Simisimi

Moving out smartly Rob! That is a very surreal landscape at N'dolo.

Thanks Jeff... until that last landing. A couple of landing quirks with that Comet... the tailskid being one of them (dang... just dang btw).

[MM]

Gosh...

It's a real FS challenge to properly fly and land the Comet. That snapping skid is another tale of woe. I can recall that when we first started flying the Comet seriously...that we couldn't believe what was going on. Every move is a test on one's sensitivity and skills. So my hat's off to the professional Cometeer.

The awful thing is that the "safe" way to end a Comet flight is via belly landing--wheels up and sparks flying.

[Great Ozzie]

Thanks Mike... appreciate your words.

Sometimes I can get slow enough on touchdown (carrying a bit of power) that precludes? that "tail hop". I'm still working on refining the technique (obviously :P).

This time I was getting more hop than I cared for, and raised the flaps in an effort to plant the tail... t'was the wrong move.

The awful thing is that the "safe" way to end a Comet flight is via belly landing--wheels up and sparks flying.

Bry and I spent some time in the pattern once doing this very thing... gear up landing... then lower the gear and restart the engines to do another circuit.

[Great Ozzie]

Arrival: FZIA Simisimi

But... no Duenna... "can't blah blah blah with the server".
This is what happens when you don't check to see if Duenna is running on the server.