rwhsim Heads off to London in the Little Beech

[rwhsim]

One heck of a party going on for weeks at Flemington Racecourse, commemorating the events of 1934. An Australian Oktober-November Fest of note. Got a bit drunk there last night, and dreamed later that I had flown a DC3 London to Melbourne in 1934! So was late getting to the field to do last check on my ride to London.

Courtesy of my bosses I can use the company King Air C90B, ZS-GEO. She has finished doing her contract survey tasks in Australia, and has to be ferried back to the RSA, which has to be via Saudi Arabia anyhow, so what is a few extra thousand nuatical miles! Have had some hassles getting clearance to overfly certain countries with the equipment we have on board. Still waiting for the Saudi's and the Egyptians to give the OK, but I believe they are tempted with the possibilities of archeological and water resource discoveries our thermal cameras should be able to assist with - provide it does not rain of course!

Just doing some final avionics testing, and we should be off today. Will be a push to make it in ten days!

15526

[rwhsim]

After some real-life delays, finally getting going.

Taking Off YMEN for YBCV

[rwhsim]

Heavy crosswinds at planned altitude (15000ft) little bit better at 9000ft, only bumpy!

1559815599


http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=xllxxgEFoklC78rnWH4BFIeFDac

Flight Time: 03:06:56
Routine Ground Time: 00:00:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Refueling, a bite to eat and then off to Mt Isa.

[rwhsim]

Off again YBCV - YBMA

[rwhsim]

Good smooth and fast leg - slight tailwinds.

15608
15609

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=SSv2C1FByELVRDcBwGmXDketfhU

Flight Time: 02:15:30
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Going to stop over here and get a bit of sleep.

[rwhsim]

Departing YBMA for YPDN

[rwhsim]

1563915640


http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=ngTai5B9oVgr2MH2F9N6QRZ2K8

Flight Time: 02:59:31
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

May the winds remain as they are for the Timor crossing.

[rwhsim]

Taking off YPDN for WAAA

[rwhsim]

Well fair winds persisted, and made reasonable speed. Thunderstorms greeted my arrival, and after clearing the mountains and descending rapidly, still arrived too high, and had to circle back to land. Must be the most unstable approach I have ever made, with a final dive to the runway with a 90 degree turn to land. Landing was OK I thought, but I got a telephone call from the tower, so may be a bit delayed for the next leg, if they even let me continue!

1565515656

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=Xt0DgSINhcya11fYRcYZrYEzaUE

Flight Time: 03:30:46
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Going to refuel and press on to make use of these good winds - if not detained by the aviation authorities for reckless flying!

[rwhsim]

Going to try to make WSSL; range challenged so may have to divert halfway to WIOO; hopefully I will get enough of a push up at 16000 to make it - will be close!

Taking Off WAAA - WSSL (or WIOO)

[rwhsim]

Made it to Selatar: Good tailwinds but had to resist pushing hard, and keep fuel flow down. Heavy thunderstorms over southern Borneo with some nasty turbulence.

1567815679

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=zFSKsUQgnCNqVqImMUzNVdcgfGw

Flight Time: 04:18:36
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Spending the night at Raffles and press on in the morning

[rwhsim]

Well this should be an interesting leg. Massive thunderstorm cells predicted most of the route, but have some tailwinds, so lets see if we can manage the turbulence.

Taking off in the rain WSSL for VOPB

[rwhsim]

As predicted, very turbulent, rain and thunderstorms pretty much all the way till near the Andaman Islands. Good wind though, but I am afraid they may be the last for a while on this trip.

1571915720

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=8cu5FU7mV9jDyj1nVTJi3dRIu0

Flight Time: 03:47:58
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

[rwhsim]

Well afraid I cannot go direct to Allahabad, would be just out of range with headwinds over mainland India. Going to have to stop at the East coast airport of Bhubaneshwar (VEBS easier). That means with the slight tailwind I have over the Bay of Bengal I can push those turbines to the max, and hopefully make up for the stop time.

Taking off VOPB - VEBS

[rwhsim]

1572415725

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=ZYhcuk3n7qEdhcrSR2TFPza2Vk

Flight Time: 02:54:14
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Back in the smog/fog/dust

[rwhsim]

Departing VEBS for VIAL (NOT Z13T!)

[rwhsim]

Landed at VIAL. Looks like my run of good winds is over! Hard to get any speed out of this one in a 8-10kt headwind.

1575415755

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=EfUHReAAmiXAuzHWbQvUprznn0

Flight Time: 01:53:50
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

[rwhsim]

Taking off VIAL for OPKC

[rwhsim]

Had to fly low to get any chance against the winds. In permafig all the way. Oh the wonders of modern avionics - TAWS to check clearance of the mountains as they loomed up out of the mist. ILS into OPKC saved the day, as runway was only Vis from about 600 feet up, close to MAP. And landed with 15mins fuel left, so any go around was going to be fun.

1576515766

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=ixDYTB7USYKogE8Ro2B2cKgfm0M

Flight Time: 03:46:25
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Although I do not feel very safe here at this airport, will have to wait out these winds a bit before attempting to cross the gulf.

[rwhsim]

After a night here, spent at the hotel seriously reviewing weather, and changing flight plans to make the best of a rather bad wind situation, decided to head to the airport early, get the bird out of the secure hanger we found, and head off before dawn. Weatherman says winds are going to get much worse in the next 12 - 24 hours!

Taking off OPKC for OMAD, on a slightly more southern route over Muscat. At least no Iranian fighters should pull up alongside.

[rwhsim]

Well I guess the more southerly route did help; managed to get up to 229Kts GS on a long stretch which would have been impossible further north. Only problem passing over MUSCAT I got the shivers - ICAO code OOMS, is not something a simmer wants to see spelled out. But VAS was happy at over 1.8GB. Having watched the Abu Dhabi GP this last weekend, I am also sure that OMAD looks a lot more "upmarket executive" than this default depiction in P3D!

1581115812

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=uQohEpS3lLE7iIFCUjdO9252xoo

Flight Time: 03:18:11
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Have to stop here for a day, take in some shopping and see how the very wealthy live.

[rwhsim]

Cannot wait around anymore. Westerly to northwesterly winds are persisting - nothing to be done about that except select the most favorable flight level.

Taking Off OMAD-OEHL

[rwhsim]

Safely down at Hail. No hail but dang these winds!

1588015881

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=UHTOGS9oA8QLCErRGJuWbNZQg

Flight Time: 03:26:27
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Off to the MET office to see what can be done about the next leg to Alexandria and forecast for beyond

[rwhsim]

Not hanging around any longer in this oasis surrounded by a sea of sand. Met office also reports winds en-route to HEAX are likely to get stronger form the WNW. So off to the historical city of Alexandria.

Taking off OEHL for HEAX

[rwhsim]

Enjoyed that leg; some more scenery to look at once getting to the Sinai Area. Israeli jets left us alone as we skimmed just clear of their airspace. Scared up many camel caravans over Saudi Arabia as we zipped just overhead to dodge strong headwinds above.

1589315894

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=Xrp8mVmxOvuMhaTDVaVKS1CmnaE

Flight Time: 03:06:04
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

[rwhsim]

Best split I can make of the 2 legs remaining. Winds on this leg again not great, Low pressure system seems stuck over Spain, so no help there! Hope I make it on fuel!

Taking off HEAX for LDDU

[rwhsim]

Low on fuel had to land at LATI. Crashed into a mountain while handling bad weather, poorly planned approach, in the dark. Plane destroyed and with a crash like that no survivors I am afraid.

Real world commitments mean I probably cannot finish the race by 2morrows deadline. Had to do this leg now. Will finish as I can, when I am able just for the sake of it, but basically am out of the running on the official table.

Dang!

1591715918

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=XitfGWo2l2YlxjLISMx8fbhA

[rwhsim]

Just going to do a couple of short legs for the sake of finishing. No more racing the clock required.

Taking Off HEAX for LGAV

[spokes2112]

Bummer! Best of luck to you on the rest of the legs.. You ARE in the running for a top 3 in the H-Capped, hopefully you can do it.

[rwhsim]

1592115922

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=uc33gDG0anphcWM8SiNO3WXVR0

Flight Time: 02:30:36
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 01:00:00 Crash and restart Flight at HEAX

Thanks Roman, gonna keep going. Was such a stupid mistake I made, basically over-reliance on OTTO. I should have kicked that AP off and pulled her up at soon as I saw the TAWS warning; trying to get AP to do it took seconds too long. Also looking at this leg to LGAV, time not too bad despite the winds, so I was trying to get too clever trying two long legs in this weather; the C90b cannot do it. Three short, fast legs would have done it. Guys are flying so well in this race there are just minutes separating the top rankings, and one mistake like this costs!

[rwhsim]

Taking off LGAV for LIPQ

[rwhsim]

Wall to wall clouds tops at around 10000 ft pretty much all the way from Athens.

1593115932

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=Md4nKiCHE1P513yTfhfe3jZys

Flight Time: 03:09:37
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

[rwhsim]

Well this is it I guess. Weather still being most unkind to racers toady, just have to make the best of it!

Taking-off LIPQ for EGUN

[Spookster67]

Well this is it I guess. Weather still being most unkind to racers toady, just have to make the best of it!

Taking-off LIPQ for EGUN

Good luck on your last leg! It's a beautiful day in Northern England, but it looks like Southern England is fogged in this morning.

[rwhsim]

And just to complete the whole racing story, a real permafigging morning welcome it was. ILS approach in an was only at the 500ft callout that the RW lights became visible, thank goodness dead-ahead ( sometimes default stuff in FSX /P3D can give one a nasty surprise here!). Glad to be in, and made good time (13mins ahead of plan) on this last leg.

1600616005

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=xf5qXMKkfay5JfNUjWfsc2Sqhic

Flight Time: 02:55:20
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

16007

Know it a dark pick but that's how it was! Touchdown at EGUN

[Spookster67]

Well done on a great run. :encouragement:

[spokes2112]

You made it! Congratulations! :applause:

[jt_dub]

Congrats to another "Beech" boy.

[robert41]

Congrats on finishing.

[rwhsim]

Thank you everyone! Once again a big thank you to Miss Nellie and the race administration!

That was an altogether different experience to the run to Melbourne, with new lessons learned (planning and weather related). The Little Beech did her best (her pilot let her down, and if planes could take revenge, I am sure he would get a swipe across the ear from a wing-tip on the next pre-flight inspection!). Besides the crash spoiling a "clean sheet" , I think at times I made some errors in hunting winds at lower altitudes; better to face stronger headwinds at higher altitudes, in less dense air? Only really helps if one can get tailwinds at lower altitudes.

The ship will have to have its engines serviced after running so many hours at Max cruise power (torques 3010-3015, rpm 1900).

Not too far behind the Beech Boyz in the 200! Now just waiting for Big Brother Beech 350 to teach the King Air family a real lesson!

The race "bug" has bitten. Next I guess will be RTW 2015 in Feb sometime?

[Spookster67]

Now just waiting for Big Brother Beech 350 to teach the King Air family a real lesson!

Airbourne now, so won't be too long...


The race "bug" has bitten. Next I guess will be RTW 2015 in Feb sometime?

It usually starts the weekend after St Valentines day. So my (unofficial) guess is that it would be Saturday 21 February, onwards. It typically lasts 3-5 days. Lots of fun!!

[manfredc3]

Congrats making it in to Mildenhall, even if it's with the standby bird.

FYI, the passengers on your crash flight were found by some tribe and their magical medicine man managed to keep them alive. They are slowly recovering from their injuries. That information came from locals that somehow managed to get in contact with the tribe.