Oz And Beyond!

[Willy]

We left Amberly (YAMB) and headed south to Port McQuarrie. I just cruised along at about 275GS and took in what scenery I could through the clouds. Nice flight and for me good to be out of those kerosine burners.

[AussieMan]

We left Amberly (YAMB) and headed south to Port McQuarrie. I just cruised along at about 275GS and took in what scenery I could through the clouds. Nice flight and for me good to be out of those kerosine burners.

Sorry Willy but there is only one 'r' in Port Macquarie. Unfortunately in a couple of years YPMQ will exist only in FS9 or FSX. Most regional airports in Australia are owned and maintained by the local council and like its sister airport Kempsy (YKMP) big bad rich developers are putting pressure on the councils to close and sell the airports so they can develop them for housing.

When Bankstown (YSBK) was privatised several years ago the owners closed one runway and part of the airport and turned it over to developers. The same thing happened to Evans Head (YEVD) and it now only has one runway with a retirement village built on part of the airport.

[MM]

A delightful find behind an old hangar at RAAF Amberley. Rick Piper's true classic.

[Moses03]

On down the coast to Sydney. Ah the big city!

http://i48.tinypic.com/k0t3ia.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/m9yphw.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/bgyb02.jpg

[MM]

Down the east coast and then Flight 19 doing the Sydney Harbour Tour.

[Willy]

Nice flight along the coast to Sydney and we decided to buzz the opera house and fly under the bridge. I did pretty good until I came to the bridge and then somehow ended up swimming. Good thing they've got good aircraft dryers here...

Pics got scrambled up again.

[Taco]

:running: Holy smoke, been pedaling as fast as I can, but, I think, I may have finally caught up with Flight 19.

[Willy]

There I was, climbing out after takeoff and my ISP decided to pack it in. Couldn't catch back up with the guys until they were landing at Snowy Mountain.

[PRB]

It was a dark and stormy... afternoon Down Under. Being surrounded by the solid structure of the Mighty Beechcraft Grizzley (with the 75mm can opener out front) made me feel invincible though, so I wasn't too sceered.

[Willy]

With all that ordinance under the wings, I wouldn't have been skeered either!

[Willy]

We left Cooma-Snowy Mountain and headed on to Flinders Island near Tasmania. Nothing like low vis and 20 kt winds on the ground with the airport next to some hills to get your attention and keep things interesting. Unfortunately, I only thought I had the camera turned on and only got the one pic.

[Taco]

:icon34: Heavy clouds, strong winds and some fog! Of course, a pilot who can't see much pass the nose of this A/C. But anyway after dropping down below 1500' I finally came upon the gravel runway. A twenty knot cross wind sure didn't help matters out any! Well, we all made it down without tearing up the planes, and as was mentioned after landing, It sure made you pucker up, but in essence a fun flight.

:ichile:

[salt_air]

You guys must be havin' a great time with this .... it's even relaxing just to look at and read.

Happy Trails All!

[Willy]

Nice flying tour over Tasmania. After we got to Hobart, I decide to go back to burning a little kerosine...

[MM]

Low flight over the hills of Tasmania with Moses, Willy and Taco. We lost Taco to netstorms, but otherwise had an enjoyable jaunt gazing at the rugged plateau, hills, and lakes that characterize this state. (Rick Piper's Gloster Meteor is a wonderfully crafted classic.)

[Moses03]

Cool flight over the Bass Strait from Hobart to Melbourne. Not a swept wing in sight. Delicious!

[Willy]

Nice flight in the early jets to Melbourne. I thought I had Snapper working for a camera again, but it errored out on me after the first pic.

[PRB]

Fun filled flight north to the "main land"!

[Willy]

Rough night tonight on the server with lots of connection issues. I got booted during the post flight debrief, but others kept getting booted all during the flight and hard a hard time reconnecting. Still, we made it into Adelaide.

The last pic is some of the members of the "Class of 1944".

[Willy]

Nice flight to Ceduna (YCDU). Although my throttle stuck on approach and I had a devil of a time getting slowed down below 190kts. All and all a great flight.

[Willy]

Working a deal at the Ceduna Swap-N-Shop on a Teutonic BMW powered aircraft.

[Willy]

Well the deal fell through on the He 162, but while I was there, this Me 262A came in on a trade and I snatched it up. For a first flight in it, we went to Forrest (YFRT) and it was interesting to say the least. It's a nice hand flyer which is a good thing as I never could get the autopilot to work. I'll be working on that while we're here at Forrest. One of our themes on this journey is straight winged jets of the 40s, but as the Me 262 is a member of the "Class of 1944" it got a pass.

[Moses03]

And on into YESP Esperance. A RAAF Starfighter was there to greet us.

http://i50.tinypic.com/9tjpd3.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/30m732x.jpg

[Willy]

Good flight into Esperance although I only got one pic at the start back in Forrest.

[Willy]

We flew on into Perth. Sure is a big airport here. Even a Republic jet would have enough runway.

[Taco]

:wavey: Fairly nice flight from YESP to YPPH with the exception of a little unstable air. Kind of rock and roll time for us in the F-89. Nearing Perth, and during our descent the weather was clear, and the next thing it started to show a little fog or overcast. Landed in a little light rain, but by the time we got to parking it was raining hard and the vis was 1/8 of a mile. Heck, keep forgetting it's winter down here! Note pictures.

Taco :ichile:

[KellyB]

These shots are fun to follow. I'm particularly impressed with your trading planes.

Whose f-89 is that you're flying?

[Taco]

Hi KellyB,


The F-89 is from Virtavia/alphasim. It's payware.

jim

[KellyB]

Ok, thanks. My birthday is coming up........

[PRB]

Fun filled flight to Perth. As you can see, the weather turned a bit stinko just before landing, which is normal for us! I like this Martin version of the Canbera.

[Willy]

The original plan called for us to stop at Geraldton after leaving Perth, but we decided to fly on up to Shark Bay. We did buzz the field at Geraldton however. It was a pretty good flight although I did land a bit hard at Shark Bay and ended up bouncing down the runway like a rabid kangaroo. Fortunately the damage to the mains was fixed easy enough.

[Taco]

:salute: Howdy,

Well shucks, my part of the flight started out just great, and then, had a weather change and fable netstorms knocked me off the web and locked up me bloody computer.

The flight up to Shark Bay was just fine, with the exception of the above, learned a lot of information about Shark Bay from M which was very interesting to say the least. One neat thing about Flight 19 we always seem to learn something new about the places we fly!

[Willy]

We left Shark Bay heading on up the coast to Learmouth. I set it up as an dawn flight. Had a good time and made a lot better landing than the one yesterday.

Got one pretty good shot of the VC.

[Willy]

Nice flight to YPPD. There was a little bit of a crosswind there and I had to crab the 262 in. Brought it in at an angle to the runway as I couldn't seem to get properly lined up and just as I got over the runway at couple of feet, I kicked in some rudder to straighten it out with the runway and set it down on the mains. Just luck really as I was expecting the wheels to fold up under me. Sometimes, a blind hog does find an acorn.

[Taco]

:kilroy: Hey there!

Very neat flight with the exception of a netstorm that hit me on final! I really thought that we made a wrong turn somewhere along the junket, to me it looked like we were in Kansas, the landscape is flatter than a pancake! Oh well, it won't be long and I will be complanining about something else, maybe the jungle! It may look like we maybe needing a tanker soon.

:ichile:

[MM]

A couple of shots leaving RAAF Learmonth and then approaching hazy Port Hedland International. En route, we passed over Dampier--of "Red Dog" fame.

[Willy]

Only got one pic and that was the approach into Broome. Broome is fairly deserted in FS9. But for our next leg, there's sure going to be a lot of water.....

[Taco]

:icon_eek: Hey fellows!

Look what I found up around 32,000 ft. We were doing a test flight with the Scorpion, and low and behold here this big bugger shows up. The pilots were pretty friendly, but I couldn't talk them into sticking around for a few hours to do some refueling practice with Flight 19! I guess they were off to an undisclosed destination. You know, that secert Air Force type poop.


Taco and Dudley

[Willy]

We put Oz behind us and headed northish to Waingapu Indonesia. A longish overwater flight, but a good test of our aircraft's range. Great flight all the way around.

[Taco]

:wiggle: Howdy all,

A very nice flight from the land of OZ to original spear chucking country. Evidently, these folk play a game on horses where they throw real sharp spears at each other! Something to do with a ritual thats been going on for many a year. Do I want to get involved, Huh! I maybe crazy, but I ain't stupid!

Taco:ichile: with green chili!

[Willy]

Nice flight to Bali from Waingapu. Even if I did manage to go poof when I disengaged the brain and engaged the autopilot while inverted.

[Moses03]

Finally got some revenge on that pesky Luftwaffe driver!

http://i50.tinypic.com/dgtp2b.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/2nght0m.jpg

[Taco]

Just a few snaps from last nights flight.

[Willy]

We had a nice flight to Semarang flying low over the volcanos. Good thing MM mentioned that we shouldn't fly into the plumes. That could have voided our warranties.

The more I fly this Me 262 from Flight Replicas, the more I like it.

[Willy]

We bypassed Jakarta going to the Strait of Sundra to overfly Krakatoa. While there's a small group of islands there, the small middle one is all that's left of the original Krakatoa that blew up in 1883.

Got in some more inverted time.

[Willy]

Had to send the 262 back to Messerschmitt for some warranty work and for a new set of engines from Junkers.

70977

I got this loaner from the Luftwaffe until it gets back.

[Willy]

We flew over a bunch more volcanos that fortunately weren't angry.

71006

I had to slow down a long ways out because the 162 doesn't have much in the way of stuff to slow it down until you get below 200kts..

71007

But we safely made it into WIMG

71008

[Peacemaker]

A couple of shots from WIMG.

71040
71041

[Willy]

Cleaned the 162 up a bit.

71042

On approach into Penang

71043

On final, going between the trees

71044

Parked on the Penang ramp

71045

Gear down indicator :d

71046

[Willy]

What a mess tonight. Taco, Falcon409 and I took off for VTSE. Not long into the flight netstorms took out T so Falcon and I went on into Thailand. First of the 162 doesn't want to slow down for much of anything. I made a couple attempts at short final and kept being about 50kts faster than I needed to be to land. So I kept pulling up and going around. The last one, I didn't throttle up as much as I had been and while I was looking for the rwy to line up again, the 162 fell out of the sky. Nothing that a little Elmer's wood glue and duct tape cant fix though....

[Willy]

Got the Me 262 back from the warranty work at the dealer.

71129

[Willy]

Sure was great to back in the 262 for the flight to Rangoon. Although I did land with 7% fuel left. Barely enough to do a go around if necessary, maybe if I didn't get too happy with the throttles. Anyway, it was a great flight.

(pics are in reverse order)

[Willy]

Great flight from Rangoon to Mandalay and had a lot of fun. Although I did set it down pretty hard on the runway at Mandalay and folded up the right main gear. Nothing a little duct tape and bubble gum can't fix though. Thought I had a pic of the "bonfire" on the runway where I set it down, but must have missed it somehow.

[PRB]

Willy's wasn't the only mishap on this flight. Mine started on the take off roll at Yangon, where some genius put a building right on the runway. I guess they painted it red and white so knucklehead pilots would see it... One might be tempted to inquire what I was doing taking off from the right side of the runway, but I can explain that too. You see, we were doing one of our usual “modified section” takeoffs, and I had the right side. And since the Canberra's engines take about 45 minutes to spin up to 100% when you advance the throttles, I was staring at the engine gauges as I started my take off run, instead of looking out the window. So you see how accidents are a “chain of events”, none of which were my fault, of course.

[Taco]

:isadizzy:Hey PRB, hehe, me, I was looking out the window instead of watching my airspeed, and guess what, there are a few less trees and buildings on the the approach to VYCZ. Dumb me I stalled the bloody thing. (My Bad) A few pictures before my screw up.

Taco with :ichile: chili

[Moses03]

Heading towards the hump...

[Willy]

Another fun and interesting flight. Just after takeoff, I almost had a mid air with the Meteor. Fortunately I saw him in just enough time to miss him. After that it was just the usual fun and games all the way to Chabua India where we're due to change over to prop engined transport and fly some cargo east.

Almost forgot. Just as I started up the saved flight from yesterday this Avro York ran over me on the tarmac...

[Willy]

We've got a new gig. A quick cargo hauling job from Chabua over some lil ol' hills to Kunming China. I won this R5C Commando in a card game with some Marines and it should work out fine for this job. Getting ready to start loading it up.

[Willy]

We had a great flight over the "hills" on into China. These C-46s are a hoot to fly. On to Kunming next!

[PRB]

We had a most enjoyable flight from Chabua to Xichang, in the Yalong Valley. Between those two places were some rather tallish hills of the eastern Himalayas. 15000 feet was sort of more or less good to clear them, as it turned out, but I was at 18,500 most of the way. As we cleared the last ridge line before descending into the Yalong valley, we were only about 30 miles from the airport. Some opted to swing east to allow for a less stressful descent and approach to the airport. I decided on a "combat tactical landing. That's what I called it anyway, because it sounds cool. It was a pretty steep descent. I did make the landing, but it was less than pretty. My speed was good, and steady, until the final few minutes, when it was clear that I would land really long. Steepening the descent brought my speed up a bit too much, but all ended well.

[Willy]

We took off for Kunming to finish the Hump flight. I got most of the way there, then something took me out. Fortunately, I didn't have to walk far.

We're getting ready to head a bit south for some "bidness" with an independent contractor. Got my "light twin" ready to go.

Pics are backwards, again...

[Willy]

We put Kunming behind us and headed south to Dien Bien VietNam. Nice flight over some pretty rough country. Due to rain and low visibility, the approach into VVDB was rather interesting, but nothing unfortunate happened. I think this is the first plank runway I've ran into in FS.

[Willy]

We left VietNam for now and headed on down into Laos. Nice flight with a couple of flyovers on the way. The first one I kind of committed myself into doing a touch n go and the darn runway was in the bottom of a pit. I almost wasn't able to climb my way back out of it. The next one, I just did a somewhat lowish pass over the airport.

To be contd...

[Willy]

Contd..

From there it was on to VLVT. It was actually looking good on approach until I got to final and the fog came in with a vengance. I got to looking around after we'd parked and I remembered this one as I'd stopped here once before on an around the world flight in the Howard 500. Any way, I got some more shots of the airport, the people and the local traffic. I did notice a Boeing 307 Stratoliner in the back of the last shot that I'm thinking about seeing what kind of deal I can make on. This part of the world was the last area where Stratoliners were operated in the 1960s and 70s (although there's rumors of one being spotted in the mid 80s)

[Willy]

Operating on the theory that bigger is better and size does matter, I traded up to a Boeing.

[Taco]

Howdy All,:salute:

Darn Willy, I was thinking about going smaller hehe! This was a very nice flight and fun one. But, need to pickup some more cargo here for shipment to any where. The coins in my war chest is getting real low, and fuel prices are increasing all over the bloodly place. Maybe Willy is right, bigger is better!

[Taco]

:ichile::wavey: Just a few more snaps, Hehe I just had to put in the Western's DC-6B for old times sakes.


Taco with green chili

[MM]

In Vientiane, I met a hardened older gentleman who needed a new pilot. Apparently the last fellow caught a lethal dose of lead poisoning. (How do you get lead poisoning in Laos?)

The company, registered in Taipei but with some sort of American connection, wishes me to pilot the aircraft through parts of Southeast Asia. It seems that they are exploring new routes. Odd, though. The list of destinations seems somewhat mysterious.

[Moses03]

Typical steamy day on the road to Bangkok.

http://i47.tinypic.com/2vbu7o7.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/29z8vhd.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/2aj7sdl.jpg

[Willy]

Nice flight to Bangkok, although I had my time set to dusk. Which was okay, as I'm working on a scheme for doing instrument landings without ILS and VTBD was perfect for the first test (The big Boeing isn't equipped for ILS). It's not perfect, but based on tonights flight, it's doable. Now to wait for the next Flt 19 weather to crop up on approach.

[Willy]

Nice flight from Bangkok to Phenom Penn, Cambodia. Still working on my non-ILS instrument approaches and this one wasn't that pretty, but that's part of the learning curve I guess. Only had one NDB to work with and I overshot my pre-selected turning point on the Mekong river which got me off course. It sure looked different on the map beforehand.

[Willy]

We had a great flight to Saigon. The weather wasn't the best, but we still had fun.

71724

[Willy]

We left Saigon and headed up the Mekong river to Pakse Laos. We're crossing so many borders, I'd be surprised if Interpol wasn't looking at us for smuggling. Not that we'd do such a thing of course.

[Moses03]

More from along the Mekong...

http://i48.tinypic.com/345h1co.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/2qwpqat.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/116nrma.jpg

[Willy]

Picked up this old DC-7 freighter. It looks a little rough, but flies good. Just the thing for smuggl... er.... the import/export trade. Anyway, we left Laos and headed back to VietNam, DaNang this time. It got a little dark on me enroute (again). Anyway, as always, a good time was had by all.

[Taco]

Like Willy did a little horse swaping with a airline company from the USA. Anyway, we ended up with a DC-6A cargo plane. Looks pretty good, but she does have a lot of hours on her. Low engine hours though which helps. The flight between VLPS and YYDN was uneventful pertaining to the aircraft, flew great! Hehe, we did some minor alterations in the cargo area where the average custom agent wouldn't be looking for any contraband items. Darn, Dudley is clever! hehe.

Taco, with green :ichile:

[Moses03]

The O-2 was needed in DaNang so I left it there. Hitched a ride with a RAF crew doing some SAR off the coast of China. We stopped on the northern tip of Hainan Island. Into Hong Kong next.

http://i49.tinypic.com/64m93k.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/nv61k9.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/ipsbbd.jpg

[Willy]

I got hung up with Customs who were insisting on a thorough inspection of the DC-7 and finally got out of there today to catch up with the others at Meilan (wasn't that a Disney cartoon?). Nice flight and I was able to stretch the -7's legs a bit. Now, where did the guys get off to?

[Willy]

Got to feeling a bit Lockheedish and found a deal on a L749 with a new paintjob so I switched aircraft to the Connie. Guess I must have remembered more about flying one than I thought I did as I didn't have any engines quit on me on the way to Hong Kong Kai Tak. Of course, once you get to Kai Tak it's in the pilot's union rules book that you must take the Runway 13 approach through town. And I do mean through. Any lower and you'd be having to stop at the red lights.

Anyway it was a fun flight and we're getting a rather eclectic collection of aircraft here... Avro, Boeing, Curtiss, Douglas and Lockheed.

[Willy]

While taxiing to the active, I got sidetracked looking at billboards :d. Anyway, we left Hong Kong for Xiamen (ZSAM). Nice leisurely flight over mainland China.

[Peacemaker]

Following your progress from afar! Was wondering how long untill the connie makes an appearance. My last RL hop was a 15hr in a a340-211:isadizzy:. Hopefully I can rejoin late this month. All the best, PM.

[Taco]

Howdy,:salute:


Just a few snaps from our flight VHHX to ZSAM.

[Willy]

It was just Taco and me tonight, but we decided that we'd had enough of reading about Chairman Mao and decided to head on to Tapei Taiwan. Nice flight although I almost got in trouble on short final.

[MM]

Always nice to get some home cooking at Taipei.

[Moses03]

The RAF along with their Avro headed south. Now it's a 900 page manual and a taste of kerosine.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2585c94.jpg

[Willy]

Made a deal on this military surplus C-121F Constellation. It'll be in the shop getting a good mechanical going over for a bit though.

[MM]

The Civil Air Transport authorities are getting impatient. And there seems to be a job flying for a non-scheduled cargo line--nice looking classic from Antonov.

[Willy]

We left Taiwan and headed on out to Okinawa. Nice flight while trying to sort out new aircraft.

[Taco]

:wavey: Wow! Needed to do a quick change over from the DC-6A to a turbo prop! I sure was unprepared for this, but anyway Dudley up to his normal self found us a job flying this Canadair C-44 or something like that.. Now as I understand the situation we will be flying north, with some cargo for different cities, and then load up and head for China, I believe this maybe supplies for earthquake relief in northern China, but who knows, gee, I am just a driver! One thing, I sure hope that the Chinese Airforce is aware of our coming, those fighter jocks like to play tag with foreign heavy aircraft. But olde Dudley P. says: "Not to worry!" easy for him to say!

Taco

[Willy]

We left Okinawa for Tanegashima (RJFG) in Japan. Overflew the Japanese space port on our way to approach the airfield. Sure was glad they weren't launching a rocket, that could have ruined someone's day.

Pics are in reverse order

[Taco]

Hey There! :USA-flag:

Hot dog, a very nice flight tonight. Took off a little on the heavy side, boy, sure susprised by part of our cargo, we had aboard some of sticks for corndogs, wow, there were sure heavy! When we got to RJFG, ain't going to try to spell it's name, found out that these folks don't need or want corndog sticks! Now Dudley P. in his ultimate wisdom suggested that we sell them as chopsticks, hehe, and most the bloody things sold out, and unsold ones went as fire wood since most of the trees on this here island are protected by the goverment. Ah....so.

[Willy]

We put Japan behind us and headed on over to Pusan S. Korea. Nice flight although the fog was a bit tough on approach.

[Willy]

We left Pusan and headed on to Seoul. Nice flight although short final got a bit exciting when we had a bit of a traffic jam coming over the fence and on the active runway. I managed to slide in behind the Antonov and then over to the right to keep from running over him on touch down. Such is the life of a freight dog...

Pics are reversed again....

[Peacemaker]

mmm turboprops, If only we had one of these in FS.
72667
72668

[salt_air]

mmm turboprops, If only we had one of these in FS.
72667
72668


Seek and ye shall find .... : http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/content.php?106-Search-Results&cm=LISTFILES

[Moses03]

China Syndrome...

http://i47.tinypic.com/35bi1p5.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/6ggc2b.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/20rk2rk.jpg

[Willy]

We started our visit to China with a flyby of Pyongyang North Korea. One of us got into a little trouble there, but nothing that a set of wide open throttles couldn't fix (darn, this Connie is fast). Anyway we all ended up at ZYTL in China safely.

[Moses03]

Blasted camera! :icon_lol:

[Willy]

We heading on into Bejing. Nice flight and I'm going to have to do a little sightseeing in town.

[Taco]

Hi There!:ipepsi2:


Well, finally caught up with Flight 19. We needed, but didn't want to, to stay over at Naha, Okinawa for some major repairs on the CL-44. Boy, you would be susprised on what you can buy on the Black market. Hehe found the parts we needed, so our down time was a lot less than expected! Caught up with the group at Dalian ZYTL before the takeoff for Beijing ZBAA. Now the problem on this flight was watching out for some chinese jet jockey who likes to play tag with foreign heavies. But alas, all was cool no problems. Now to unload most of the cargo aboard, and look for additional stuff to transport into the darkest depths of this ancient land. Now the real test for a saleperson is to try to sell the remaining chopsticks we have on board to these Chinese folks! I see more fire wood if they don't sell, now Dudley tells me these chopsticks are made of plastic!


Taco:ichile:

[MM]

Started from Beijing's Capital Airport with a Canadair CL-44 (Taco), an old An-12 freighter (MM), the sleek Tu-114 (Moses) and a wonderful L-188 Electra (falcon). We flew to Qingdao -- home to the world-famous Tsingtao brewery and the PLA's northern fleet. This is a combination of beer and sailors, an explosive mix in some places. Will have to ask around about that...

We completed the flight in parts. Netstorms claimed, on and off, MM and Moses and Taco. Only falcon did the whole route so he earns the stripes. We'll count it in the books.

[KellyB]

We heading on into Bejing. Nice flight and I'm going to have to do a little sightseeing in town.

Has the Eastern bird collapsed its gear? (see photo 2 all lined up on runway in the 9/16 00:18 post)

[Willy]

Has the Eastern bird collapsed its gear? (see photo 2 all lined up on runway in the 9/16 00:18 post)

In order for everyone to see what everyone else is flying online, we send out "AI" versions of aircraft that we're flying. Falcon is flying a payware FSX L188 Electra. In order for us FS9 guys to see an Eastern Electra, we rigged up an older freeware FS9 version with the proper title to match what Falcon is flying so that we could see it too. Sometimes, there's contact point issues with them and it could even be a difference in Falcon's mesh and mine.. Sometimes stuff just happens. You kind of get used to it as sometimes even if you have the other guys actual aircraft, your computer doesn't quite pick up on what their computer is putting out.

[KellyB]

Thanks, Willy. I'm certainly familiar with "stuff just happens" scenarios.
And I don't even try online flying.

I just wondered if it was a problem with the cfg file for the plane.

[Willy]

Nice flight tonight. We were supposed to go to ZH11, but apparently there's a few miles difference in that airport between FS9 and FSX so we hopped on over to the main airport at ZHCC. Just added a bit more flying is all and that's always a good thing.

[Willy]

Got a DeHavilland loaner while the Turbo Connie is undergoing some maintenance. Nice flight although a good bit slower than what we've been going. Coming into ZLXY, the weather was looking good until we got to short final and the fog rolled in. For some odd reason, I've gotten used to that...

[Moses03]

Some pics from our flight the other day before my confutor imploded. Note the anhedral wings of the Tu-114.

[Willy]

Well, that was a wild flight. Took some tourists for a trip down the Yellow River Gorge. I had to turn the stereo up to drown out all the screaming. You'd have thought I was killing 'em or something. Anyway, it was a lot of fun for me to fit that Constellation down there and keep it off of the walls. Especially in the fog that came and went.

Fred did turn a bit green in a couple of spots there :d.

[Willy]

We flew on in to Shanghai.

The weather was a bit sucky (technical meteorlogical term)...
73215

I had to stop at the main terminal to kick the passengers out.
73216

Then on over to the cargo area to park (can't let a capitalist dog park just anywhere)
73217

We're meeting our "bidness" contact here about a cargo to be picked up somewhere and delivered elsewhere.. He's supposed to have all the details....

[Willy]

We finally got our "arrangements" set up and flew on down to a PLA air base in Funzhou (ZS12). Nice flight and fun to fit the Constellation down into the hills to get lined up for final. Anyway, it's time to load up some cargo for a senior PLA officer. I had a heck of a time backing the Connie into that revetment.

Pics are scrambled up again.

[Taco]

:salute: A few snaps from last nights flight.

[Willy]

We got loaded up with the General's cargo and flew it down to an airport across the bay from Hong Kong. Nice flight and a great time.

Pics are in reverse order

[Taco]

Well shucks, here we are again with a few photos of last nights flight. Holy smoke, we are a lot slower than our counterparts of Flight 19, but olde Dudley and I just sail along drinking coffee, of course Dudley P. is sipping some local tea. Did you know that it is almost, if not, impossible to get a decent peanut butter and jelly sandwhick here in this part of China! Here we are sailing along singing, "Wish we were in Dixie" hehe.

Taco and Mr. Dudley P.

[Moses03]

Off to ZGZL Liangjiang.

[Willy]

We headed back into the mountains to Kunming (ZPPP). Great flight although I was a bit worried about it getting dark on me.

[Moses03]

Ventured along to the rugged high altitude of Diqing ZPDQ. Noted that the Antonov driver was keeping a tight schedule!

http://i45.tinypic.com/11s1sti.jpg

[Taco]

Howdy, just a few snaps of the L-188 Western's Electra.

[Willy]

Still flying around in the mountains. Here's some pics of tonights flight.

[Peacemaker]

L-100 was too slow to keep up with the pack, luckily I found a bunk in the back of the herc to take a snooze. Will have to trade it in on somthing faster. CTD on final but overall was another good hop.

73693736947369673697

[Taco]

A few more photos of last nights flight.

[Willy]

After a couple of days layover we headed back east to ZUBD. Nice flight over some very rugged terrain. That 21kt crosswind on landing didn't help much though as I had to land kind of sideways which threw the ILS all off.

Anyway there's some talk about earthquakes and pandas here. I'm not sure if the earthquakes cause pandas or pandas cause earthquakes. My Chinese isn't very good. All I do know is that if there's earthquakes here, then I'm glad I put new shocks on the plane....

[Willy]

Here's the pics from the last couple of legs. I forgot to post last night.

Looks like we're heading out of China

[KellyB]

Here's the pics from the last couple of legs. I forgot to post last night.

Looks like we're heading out of China

What are the red cross hairs above the dash in the cockpit photo?
A flight director of some sort?

Thanks.

[Willy]

You got me... I have no idea. The panel came with the Turbo Connie. I've just learned to ignore them.

[KellyB]

How odd. Where did you acquire the turbo connie?

[Willy]

Manfred Jahn did it a few years back. No VC though.

[Willy]

We put China behind us and landed in Mongolia's capital. Nice flight and I think we're going to take a day off here and enjoy the BBQ.

I did find this little Russian number at Ghengis Khan's Used Camel and Aircraft Sales. Looks like just the thing to fly to Russia in.

[Moses03]

Wonderful mad dash over Lake Baikal to UIII Irkutsk. Was a busy morning over at Ghengis Khan's Used Camel and Aircraft Sales.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2nhhidf.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/xbdz52.jpg

[MM]

Tagging along with Moses and Taco...Red Stars over Siberia.

Nice to see Taco's Douglas Boston to join my Bell Cobra as lend lease aircraft...along with Petlyakov's great Pe-2 flown by Moses. Some shots of the aircraft, Lake Baikal, and the turn into finals at Irkutsk. (Lake Baikal has 20 percent of the world's unfrozen fresh water! Thirsty?)

[Willy]

Finally caught up with the guys at UIII. I was having difficulties yesterday with a rather stormy Mongolian customs agent who seemed to think the Polikarpov was some kind of national treasure. Anyway we were soon off to UIBB (don't ask me the names of these places, I can't pronounce them let alone spell them). This I-16 is a tricky devil to fly but with a little practice I've come to really like it. Although with this open cockpit in Siberia I'm hoping the heater works. Anyways, it was a nice flight although traffic got a bit congested on landing.

[MM]

A few more shots from Irkutsk on Lake Baikal to Bratsk which lies deep in the Siberian forest on the Angara River. The Bratsk hydroelectric dam has allowed this remote Siberian city to grow and become a major producer of aluminum and chemicals. Unhappily, the resultant pollution has made the city one of the thirty "dirtiest" in the world. Wikipedia: "The extent of mercury pollution in the ground around the nearby Usolye chemical plant is equal to half the total global production of mercury in 1992."

Don't drink the water. Drink the vodka...without ice.

[Willy]

We headed on west into a thunderstorm that turned into a snowstorm on our way to UNKL. With this open cockpit, I got to looking for a snow shovel. Anyway it was a nice flight with a full crew.

(pics are reversed)

[PRB]

A fun filled flight to Bratsk. Found a Pe-2 with only 30,000 hrs on it. Engines needed some work, but as you can see, the dive brakes work just fine!

[Taco]

:USA-flag: Howdy folks,

Just a few photos from last nights flight.

[Willy]

We headed on to UNNT. Nice flight although the headwind was getting a bit tedious and I had a couple of self inflicted CTDs before I figured out what was causing them. Let's not mention a crash on take off that left me skidding along on my side and another one while slowing down after landing. All in all, an "interesting" flight.

[MM]

Some Kodaks of the turbulent weather on the way from Krasnoyarsk to Novosibirsk. Bell surely made a beautiful ship--you could fall in love with a wicked girl like this and then have to pay the price...

[Willy]

We flew on to Omsk? (UNOO). Most of the flight was through blizzards, but it cleared up before we got there. Great flight with no netstorms or other unfortunate incidents.

[Moses03]

Onward easterly to Tsentralny (UNOO). We seemed to outpace the winter weather this time.

http://i45.tinypic.com/11lh3km.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/2kg4lc.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/2upsgv7.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/29yobvk.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/23jmi68.jpg

[Willy]

We took off at 0430 for a predawn flight to USTR. Nice low level flight in the darkness. But there sure was a lot of traffic on the roads at that time of morning.

Anyway, I'm about tired of freezing in this open cockpit. I'm heading over to the pilot's lounge and see if anybody has anything for trade.

[Taco]

:salute:Howdy all,

Not a bad flight from UNOO to USTR, but we did run into some rough air and fig. For some unknown reason, since flying in Russia, the weather on approach and landing has been just great. Unlike the normal bad weather that Flight 19 usally gets as we prepare for landing. Just a few photos of our early morning flight.

[Willy]

Interesting thing happened in the Pilot's Lounge at USTR. Ran into this Russian Navy Lieutenant who said he wanted to be a fighter pilot and was stuck down on the Black Sea in a bomber and there I was looking to get out of that Polikarpov. Didn't take long over a bottle or two of vodka, and I had him winging on west to the front in the I-16 and I had the papers on a Douglas A-20 Boston with a Navy paint job. Shucks, I like bombers better anyway.

We took off for Yekatrinburg (USSS) in a snowstorm complete with lightning. Almost a thunderblizzard. Good flight if a bit bouncy with high headwinds. Good thing I wasn't in that Polikarpov :d.

[Moses03]

Ever-changing weather on the way to USSS. Noted a P-39D parked on the ramp as we rolled in...

http://i50.tinypic.com/i1mzaf.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/1o99op.jpg

[Taco]

:wavey:Hey, goodmorning folks,

Well, another early morning takeoff, by the way has any of you tried to drink this stuff the locals call coffee? I do believe that after everyone has their morning, for the lack of a better word "coffee" it is taken out and used to patch the cracks in the runways and ramp area or used for tractor fuel!

While doing the pre-flight check on the A-20 at USTR, we seen this here Russian Naval pilot doing a fast walk over to Willy's plane with a smile on his face and singing a Russian tune. Now what the heck is Willy up to this time. After landing at USPP Dudley and I went into this here pub and there was Moses over in a corner table in deep discussion with some shady looking characters. "You know Dudley, I think there is going to be some major changes here with our flights."

Taco, with green :ichile:

[Willy]

We headed farther west to Perm (USPP). Nice flight and had a tag along in another P-39. Lend Lease is getting mighty popular over Russia.

Pics are a bit scrambled up...

[Taco]

:wiggle:Yep, we had some changes Moz flying a P-39. The two A-20s had some real fire power flying escort, three P-39s loaded for bear. Had some weather issue, but all in all a nice flight. Hehe, and we got a nice cup of coffee after landing at USPP, so things are looking up! Note the photo with the white arrow, that's Willy down there notice how his A-20 in Russian Naval colors blend into the ground cover.

[Willy]

Another early morning flight, this time through a large thunderstorm. My tail gunner Fred said he was feeling drunk from all the bouncing, but that might have just been the vodka talking. We lost MM in the storm early on. Hope he shows up ok. Anyway, it was a fun flight.

[Willy]

Only one pic tonight. Nice flight with much better weather to UWWW. We must be getting closer to civilization... the airports are getting closer together.

74754

[Moses03]

On the road to UWWW.

http://i47.tinypic.com/ayoto4.jpg

[Willy]

Nice flight down what I think is the Volga River to UWSS.
74792
74793
74794
With that big H on the ground behind us, this must be the hotel parking...
74795

[Willy]

We were joined by Falcon who was also in a Boston and decided to fly down the river low level to Volgagrad. Nice flight although part of it was low vis in the rain.

[Willy]

We made it on into URMO. Nice flight even if it was a bit bouncy.

[Taco]

:wavey:Hi There!

Well, it has been awhile since we posted anything. Nice flight between URWA to URMO the air got a little rough for awhile, but not a bad as it was a few days ago. Our radio chatter is getting strange! Talking about popcorn which started the chatter ending up with Mayo. Boy, I sure wish MM would get his puter inorder and return to Flight 19 where we would get some learnen! All that food talk makes me wanting to eat more than I should. hehe

[Willy]

We flew across the mountains and ended on the Black Sea coast at URSS. Nice flight even if we did have to dodge some granite.

[Willy]

We flew on down the coast to URKA. The weather was kind of sucky to start out, but it soon cleared and we had a great flight.

[Willy]

We headed to UKFF via Yalta. Nice flight although my time setting had me at dusk. I think we have a plan for after Moscow....

[Willy]

No pics as it was dark, but we flew a night flight to UKHH. We'll be to Moscow pretty soon, then an aircraft change and off for warmer climes.

[Taco]

:wiggle: Just a few photos from the flight between UKFF and UKHH, before it got to dark inorder to take any pictures. Leaving UKFF we had fog up to 15,000+ ft, but after a few miles the weather cleared up, but again it got dark, so we missed seeing a lot of the country side. Fuel up, grab a nap, and some chow, and again off and running to UUOO and then Moscow (UUWW)

[Willy]

Took off just before noon and headed on to UUOO. Started out as real nice weather, but then the fog found us. Still, not a bad flight.

The US Naval Attache has our next rides waiting on us in Moscow...

[Willy]

We made our last leg in the A-20s to Moscow. A nice flight considering the weather was pretty rough. Not sure if I'll get my rental deposit back or not though. Darn Fred had to fire up a big cigar back there and I'm not sure the smell will ever come out of it.

We did pick up our Turkeys for the flight to the southwest though...

[Willy]

We made our flight in the Turkeys to UUBP. Nice flight but Russia sure has gotten foggy. I tested out the torpedo launching on the way. Scratch one pine tree!

[Willy]

We headed on down to Kiev. Nice flight and I tested the guns this time. Great to have Moses back with us.

pics got a bit scrambled.

[Taco]

:kilroy: Just a few photos from last nights flight. Oops, got carried away with the flying and conversation forgot to take any more during the flight. Senior Moments. hehe

Taco

[Willy]

Got a deal for a SBD that had wandered off. To my way of thinking, this is more like it. Anyway, it was a nice flight to Odessa on the Black Sea. Even if it was getting dark on me..

[Taco]

Odesa huh! Sure seem like we might have made a wrong turn somewhere along the line. I know we are in the Ukraine, but this sure looks like we are leaving Kansas and heading into Texas. The lay of the land is flater than a pancake! Do get kind of worried about this, after all we are Flight 19! All in all a very nice flight.

[Willy]

We flew on to Bucharest. Nice flight in the SBD. Good thing we weren't in any particular hurry...

[Moses03]

More snaps from the leg to LRBS. Someone has to haul the BBQ accessories...

http://i48.tinypic.com/24xjixh.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/2055lxc.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/24v8zyf.jpg

[Willy]

We took off from Bucharest and headed on to Istanbul. Nice flight in decent weather although Falcon had engine trouble and couldn't finish the trip.

Had to take the last pic for Moses...

[KellyB]

Hi Willy:

I just noticed something:
In the ground photos, the upper info shows the altitude as 169 ft, while the yellow, lower right shows 444 ft.

I assume the red info is native FS; what's the yellow and why is it different???

so many questions, I know....:kilroy:

[Taco]

:wavey:Hey There!

After some problems with the TBF I got starter for LRBS (Bucharest) in order to catch up with Flight 19. Took many pictures of this flight and the flight from last night to LTBA (Istanbul) so, needless to say, the pictures are not in any kind of order.

[Taco]

:wavey:Hey There Again!


Some more pictures for the last two flights. Again, no order.

[Willy]

The red is FS (and I think actual altitude). The yellow comes from the Snapper screenshot program which gives the aircraft's location and altitude. I'm thinking that it reads off of the altimeter which I probably hadn't reset due to a change in atmospheric pressure enroute. Sloppy pilotage I know, but if I can see the ground, I don't pay much attention to the instruments on approach and landing. Unless I'm in a dive, then I keep one eye on the altimeter like a hawk so that I don't go splat.

[Willy]

Darn camera was out of film. Anyway, we flew on to LGLM on the island Limnos. I was looking at the local swap n shop and they've got an ex-RAF Marauder there that has possibilities.....

[Willy]

Got a great deal on a slightly used ex RAF Marauder. Had to replace the engines and tires, but it's all good now.

We took off from Limnos and headed on to Athens. I went a little south and came up on carrier with it's battleship escort. Great flight with plenty of company.

[Taco]

:wavey:Hi all,

A few snaps from last night flight from LGLM to LGAT. Now we are off to the Pub for a nice cup of coffee and a peanut butter sandwhich.

[Taco]

:icon_lol: Hi again,

Heres how it went. Old Dudley and I were setting in the pub enjoying our coffee and peanut butter sandwich when these fellows in nice clean suits asked us if we were part of that flight of planes that landing sometime ago, figuring we were in a pile of you know what if there were any kind of problems here, but to our relief they make a proposition. It seems they have this here areoplane that needs to be delivered up north, and there isn't any pilots who will fly this beastie to Rome, this here He 177 has earned the unwelcome nickname of the "Flaming Coffin". Well, make a long story short, we made arrangments to take the He-177 on a test flight. Besides, hehe, the money is just great for a couple of hours work. Pictures of test flight over the city of Athens.

[Willy]

Well, everyone else was switching to Axis aircraft, so I figured I'd join in with a work in progress CFS conversion that I've been fiddling with.

Anyway, we left Athens and headed on up to Corfu. Nice flight even if I was having to hand fly it the whole way. Interesting assortment of aircraft in that last shot.

[Peacemaker]

76122

Just one shot of the captured Fort.

[Taco]

Here we are moving right along and no engine fires as yet, but this bugger does like to drink fuell:running:

[falcon409]

Great pics guys. . .here are my two contributions:

[Willy]

We headed across the Adriatic to Bari Italy. Nice flight although the weather got a bit at odds with us. I'm starting to like this ol' Junkers....

[falcon409]

lol, Hey Willy, I see my tails, lol:icon_lol:

[Moses03]

Onward to Rome...

http://i46.tinypic.com/oscso9.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/mbjyp4.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/2n1al4w.jpg

[Willy]

We had a pretty good flight to Rome although the weather there was getting kind of bad. But I did manage to swing out over the city to set up for final approach and got a few sightseeing pics.

[Willy]

After everyone got settled in, I did a short recon flight off the coast and found some US Navy ships out there. If they're heading for Rome, the beer prices in town are about to double....

[falcon409]

Excellent pics Willy. . .here's my contribution:

[MM]

Some more from our Roman Holiday.
The Regia Aeronautica over the Capital: Over the wheat fields of Southern Italy; Crossing the rugged Apennines; Circling over the great city with the Apennines in the background; the old shopping mall and sports complex (Forum and Colosseum); Tri-motor out of the wet mist covering the southern part of the city.

[Willy]

We took off from Rome and followed the Italian west coast down by Naples & Mt Vesuvius, over to the Isle of Capri and then on into Salerno. Kind of a shortish flight, but we took the long way around while we were at it. Great flight and this ol' Junkers just seems to be getting better and better.

[falcon409]

Some pics from FSX:

[MM]

A few more Kodaks. Nice leg with one-engined, twin-engined, tri-motor, and four-engined aircraft. Lots of sights: Vesuvius, the yachts of Capri, the stunning Amalfi Coast, and Salerno!

[falcon409]

Some shots from the flight to Sigonella. Willy, since I don't have the same aircraft as you (using Ito's version), I pick a different livery each flight, lol.

[Willy]

We left Salerno and headed on south to NAS Sigonella. Nice flight although it was getting sunset on me.

[Willy]

Found this parked behind me after everyone left...

76353

[falcon409]

Found this parked behind me after everyone left...

76353
What the heck is it Willy? lol. . . .by the way, great shot of the sunset on final in your series of screens.

[Willy]

Thanks! It's a Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant cargo plane. Probably got into my install via Lionheart's Operation Valkyrie. I was just surprised to see it at Sigonella.

[falcon409]

Thanks! It's a Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant cargo plane. Probably got into my install via Lionheart's Operation Valkyrie. I was just surprised to see it at Sigonella.
ahh, ok. . .definitely a "Giant".:salute:

[Taco]

:wavey:Hello,

A very enjoyable flight from LIRI to LICZ, and the weather cooperated, no engine fires, and those mountains that can blow their tops were all asleep! All in all a great day!

[Willy]

Had another great flight down to Malta!

[falcon409]

Didn't get many tonight. . .my contributions (I let the flight go into evening hours by mistake, oh well):

[Willy]

We headed on south to Wheelus AB on the mainland. Nice flight with some added history of the base.

[falcon409]

Great fun flying back into Wheelus AFB (now Mitiga_HLLM), in my newly renovated Vickers Mk.I. Most of the flight was through a cloudless sky until reaching about 20nm from the Libyan coast. After that, as the screens depict, I hit a pretty solid wall of haze right down to landing.

[Willy]

Back out over the water to some small flat island. Nice flight with decent weather.

[falcon409]

Better late than never. Lampedusa is very flat. . .yep, sure is. Great flight though and we've definitely seen our share of water. Taco had a smoking problem with the Beaufighter, probably an oddity of FSX effects files as he wasn't aware of it when I mentioned it. It was easy to spot him during the flight though, lol.

[Taco]

:wavey:Hi there!

Well, it seems the USAF wanted my He-177 for some sort of test, shucks, they didn't tell me anything, but they did say they were going to confiscate the bugger so accept the idea! So, if they put it that way we just smiled! (#%^%$#@) hehe. Shucks, we have a new task now finding a new ride.

[Willy]

Short but fun flight to Tunis, Tunisia. Back on the mainland.

76565

[falcon409]

My contributions:

[Willy]

Figured all these bombers floating around here need a "little friend".

[Willy]

I'm sure liking this Spitfire. But I'm not overly enthused with the electrical system on it. Darn nav lights wouldn't work. I think the Prince of Darkness is at work again.

http://www.mez.co.uk/lucas.html

[Taco]

:jump:Well, here we are flying across North Africa, just bouncing along. It seen we can find some of the darnest weather on most of our junkets. If you all want some rain, thunderstorms etc. just invite Flight 19 to fly around your country, we promise wild weather. Well, maybe not.

[MM]

When the Germans overran the Netherlands in 1940, they captured a number of the innovative Fokker G.1s. They used the aircraft as trainers. In 1941, one test pilot, with a Fokker engineer, escaped over the Channel to Britain. History records the aircraft as having been stored at the Miles aircraft factory during the duration. Little known is its history flying to Tunisia and joining up with a brave band of aerial brigands…


Thanks to Michel Migaud and Huub Vink for their rendering of this interesting aircraft.

[Taco]

Here are a few pictures of a short hop over to DAOI in a Hawker Hurricane.

[Willy]

Well after a few server snafus we managed to get up a flight to DAOI. We had a pretty nice time, but it could have been better with the rest of the crowd there.

[falcon409]

Here's a few more:

[Willy]

We headed on west to Melilla Spain on the coast of Morocco. Nice flight and I've decided that there's not much point in flying a Spitfire if all you're going to do is straight and level...

[falcon409]

lol, figures I would end up in the grass, lol...darned FSX, lol....here are mine:

[Willy]

Nice flight from Melilla to Gibraltar. We lost Moses enroute to some kind of trouble, hope he found somewhere to land ok.

I spotted this carrier group near Gibraltar, so I did a quick trade for something with a tailhook....

[Willy]

Took off in the Seafire and headed back out into the straits. Got into the pattern and set 'er down on deck easy as pie. Time for a visit in the Chief's Mess....

[falcon409]

Here's a few more:

[Willy]

Had a really good flight from Gibraltar to Alicante. Darn that Mosquito, Corsair and P-38 are fast....

[falcon409]

I've gotta get the P-38 loaded for tomorrows flight, but for this leg, PM was a "Mossie", lol.

[MM]

We lost Willy to thunderstorms ... in Tennessee! Moving on, we left Alicante on the Mediterranean coast and pushed up onto the Spanish plain to Madrid. (No "rain in Spain..." today.)

We landed at LECU Cuatro Vientos which was one of the earliest operational airfields in Spain when it was built in 1911. (The first aircraft were two French Henri Farman biplanes, with a 70 HP Gnome engine, and a Maurice Farman, also a biplane, with an 80 HP Renault engine.) On the field was built the first Spanish control tower (1914) and an Aerodynamics Laboratory wind tunnel (1926). Cuatro Vientos served as one of Madrid's main airports and as an airbase for Republican operations during the Civil War. The modern airport hosts mainly GA aircraft. On the north side is a substantial air museum.

It was impressive to see Taco and falcon in those big naval aircraft, the Firebrand and Hog.

[Willy]

Nice flight from Madrid to Porto Portugal. Although things did get a little congested on landing....

[falcon409]

. . . .and a few more:

[Taco]

:wiggle:Hello there!

Just a few snaps from last nights flight. For some reason I had clear weather for the whole flight and other members of flight 19 ran into a heavy fog bank.

[Taco]

Back again, three more of last nights flight.

[Willy]

Took off at about 8am and headed on to LEAS in Spain. Kind of late in the morning to be so dark....

[falcon409]

Some shots from tonight's flight:

[Taco]

:running:Here we go again, off and running! A very nice flight from from Porto (EPPR) to Asturias (LEAS). Got a little crowded upon landing, and I was a little high, so I went around, boy! Did this beastie give me fits on approach, but we got the bugger under control and make a safe landing. This plane can be a pistol at times.

[falcon409]

Great shots Taco. I really like that airplane of yours and it's one AlphaSim airplane that actually has a pretty nice VC too.:salute:

[Willy]

We flew east along the northern Spanish coast to LEBB, but first we went to Guernica where I circled above where the town should be.

Anyway, it was great flight...

[falcon409]

Yep, great flight indeed, and here are some more pics:

[Willy]

We flew on up to La Rochelle France. Great flight even if I did have a somewhat minor dive compression incident. A Seafire doesn't make a good dive bomber. Just wanted to get that out into the open.

Got one pic after I picked the seaweed out of the carb....

[falcon409]

lol, One pic is good Willy. . .what's that saying, "Any landing you can walk. . . . . . . . .yada, yada, yada", lol. . .after all, you did make it to the ramp.:wavey:

[Taco]

Just a couple of snaps of last night flight, hehe really forgot to take pictures after hearing about Willy's swan dive into the drink!

A couple of pictures of the FSDZign 049 connie that will be flying in the Holkham Dash.

[Willy]

We headed on up north to the Brest area. Nice flight although there was a thunderstorm when we got there... (at least I stayed out of the salt water this time)

[Moses03]

Caught up in time to fly up the French coast to Brest. The Dornier is really growing on me.

http://i46.tinypic.com/no94es.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/2ajrtcp.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/21447wy.jpg

[falcon409]

No particular order.

[Taco]

:running: A very nice flight from LFBH to LFRB. Dropped down to the deck to help herd the local cows, and look for the submarines pens along the coast. Needless to say, herding the cow didn't turn out so well, them cows couldn't keep up with the Fireband. Didn't see any milk maid either, but started to get a little concern about the idea that I might run into a German 88 gun crew. lol. A few photos of the flight, in what order your guess is as good as mine.

[Peacemaker]

77315
Burmese spitfire?

77316

[Willy]

Left Brest and headed across the Channel to Southampton. Nice flight although it was pretty bouncy in the Seafire. At least until after I landed. Ended up groundlooping it and was lucky to get out of there with just a singed eyebrow. But it looks like Supermarine will have a job, putting it back together. So, I hopped on British Rail and headed east.....

[Willy]

Got off the train at Merc Air Internationl HQ in Rochford and picked up a Twin Beech that was just laying around and flew it back to Southampton. This should work for MM's scheme. But first I've got to finish navalizing it.

[Taco]

:wavey:As usual we had a very nice flight from LFRB to EGHI, Well, finally reach a country where I can understand the language I think, well lets put it this way it does sound familiar but this here country boy still has problems understanding whats being said. :ques: Heck, anyway here are some photos of the last nights flight, hehe roger olde Boy!

[Willy]

We took off from Southampton and headed across England to Coltishall with a sightseeing detour over London. Nice flight and as I was turning to final at Coltishall, I spotted a Chain Home radar on the coast.

[Taco]

Hey folks,:applause:


We flew from EGHI to EGYC at low levels, again me,trying to herd the local milk cow, to no avail, going to have to give up trying to be a cowboy while trying to fly.. Did a low level pass over Heathrow airport, and for some reason the control tower got a little upset about this, don't know why! Anyway, they questioned me on where I got the Firebrand, well, here is what I told them. I was strolling around a certain airport and came upon this here airplane parked way in the back of some hanger with the keys left in it, and in the dust on the area below the cockpit was written “FLY ME.” So that's what I am doing. Boy, they really got upset when I started singing “the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming” he he, Mr. Cohen would have been proud! Shucks, the Brits don't seem to have a since of humor, and heck, they even drive on the wrong side of the roads!

Taco, getting out of Dodge in a big hurry! lol

[Willy]

Heard a rumor that the local constabulary had taken an interest in us, so we decided it best to put a little distance between us and merry olde England. A quick flight to the east put us over Holland and of course we had to do a little sightseeing while we were over Rotterdam. Eindhoven AB looked like a friendly enough place so we landed there to wait on our pathfinder for the upcoming mission.....

[falcon409]

Great shots of Rotterdam and the dock areas Willy!!

[Willy]

Ya know, I bet them guys in that tower were getting tired of low flying aircraft :icon_lol:

[Taco]

:applause:Whew! As we were turning onto the runway noticed a group of the local police entering the airport area with lights a blinking! Heard the order "rolling" so pedal to the metal, balls to the wall, and we were out of here! This time on my low level run near Rotterdam I made a point to stay away from the airport and the control tower! I sure don't needed any more problems with the pooooolice!

[Willy]

Well, we flew the Dambusters mission. Lots of fast low level flying and things got so twisty over one lake that I was starting to think we were in a dogfight. It's not everyday you see a Grizzly chase a Mosquito....

[MM]

We had a chance to fly on the deck over The Netherlands and the Ruhr before turning over the Moehnesee to "attack" the famous Moehne Dam. As in the Dambusters' Operation Chastise. We proceeded through the Hessian valleys to do the same honors for the Eder Dam. Finally, a Physics Conference at Goettingen University.
Flying these on-the-deck routes, RAF pilots found low level navigation a challenge. We also replicated that part of the experience. :isadizzy:

[falcon409]

Nice shots Willy & Mike. . . . .