Around the World in Style

The "Queen of the Skies"
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ratty
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Around the World in Style

Post by ratty »

It's time for another big adventure. This time: around the world at the Equator (or as close as possible). Clearly, only one bird is appropriate for the task, so I picked up a Grubich Aerospace Corporation reconditioned Millionaire's Connie, invited thirty close friends along, and set out from Quito, Ecuador yesterday at dawn.

I didn't bother to run any numbers - how much can thirty people weigh? - so the load, plus full tanks, plus the 8,000 foot airport altitude made the take off interesting. I held her down for the whole 13,000 feet of runway, but even so we were barely doing 110 as we lifted off. Gear up, a couple of shallow turns to avoid buildings/trees, raise the flaps after gaining a few hundred feet, then we were into a gentle climb to the north to get high enough to clear the mountains before turning east.

Then it was on to Natal. Some time during cruise the entire flight crew fell asleep for several hours; when we woke up we were 160nm short of our destination, and only 20 miles off track. Flew the 2,615 miles in 10h 14m. Light headwinds all the way. Got my first look at the Amazon Basin, but otherwise an uneventful trip.

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ratty
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Re: Around the World in Style

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Climbed into the sunrise on the way to Sao Tome.
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Flew for 8.5 hours with no beacons, out of sight of land. It's hard to miss Africa, right? Dodged a few thunderstorms on the way.
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Picked up Sao Tome VOR 188 miles out. 40nm off course after 2,370 nm of flight - due mainly to a two-degree "gut instinct" course change that I didn't need to make.
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ratty
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Re: Around the World in Style

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Third Leg

Terrific trip across Africa. I decided to try for the Seychelles, 3,000 miles away on the other side of the continent. We took off from Sao Tome at dawn and headed east. Soon, Africa emerged from the mist.
http://imgbox.com/S9TLKDjL

I took the opportunity to test something I was taught a long time ago. Range is range - regardless of the altitude at which you fly (more or less). The major variable is the speed at which you fly: we fly long distance at high altitudes because we can cover the same distance faster.
Since the first 1200 miles of Africa eastbound from Sao Tome is flat, once we crossed the coast I flew at 3,000 feet the whole way, to see what sort of range performance I could get - and to give everyone a better view. Six-and-a-half hours into the flight we had travelled 1,110 nm; remaining range - 2,493 nm. Groundspeed was way down around 155 knots.
http://imgbox.com/4O4pLMDv

Beyond the Congo River the terrain begins to rise, so we climbed gently and levelled at 18,000 for what seemed the best winds. We passed Lake Victoria and later, at sunset, Mount Kilimanjaro.
http://imgbox.com/tJ1C0SzW

Landed at Seychelles International after 14 hours and 17 minutes of flight. 2,946 miles at an average groundspeed of 206 knots.
Last edited by ratty on 14 Sep 2017, 16:01, edited 4 times in total.
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ratty
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Re: Around the World in Style

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Fourth Leg

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Uneventful flight from the Seychelles to Singapore. Cruised at 10,000 feet cruise for best winds.

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2,925 nm in 12h 26m. Average speed 235 knots. At 11,027 nautical miles, we're now just over half-way round.
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ratty
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Re: Around the World in Style

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Fifth Leg
Left Singapore before dawn. I've gotten used to going for distance, but on this hop I wanted to try sightseeing instead, flying down the Indonesian island chain at a couple of thousand feet.
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Climbed to 8,000 for the later part of the trip.
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Landed at Nadzab (AYNZ) after dark. Covered 2,614 in 12h 19m. Av speed 212 knots
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ratty
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Re: Around the World in Style

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Sixth Leg

On to Funafuti, a thin sweep of land around a large lagoon in the middle of the South Pacific.
http://imgbox.com/k5PF64u7

Fortunately, Funafuti is equipped with both an NDB and DME, so it was easy enough to find - once the stations came into range. Essentially, on these long-distance, no-GPS flights, I'm assuming I can control the drift enough so that I'll pass close enough to my destination to receive whatever homing signal(s) they transmit. (Is there a fixed range for a given beacon type; I've never checked.) So far I've been lucky, but with a sizeable landmass to run into if I miss.

Light headwinds, broken cloud We arrived at dusk, which was fortunate as the field is unlighted, and landed uneventfully.
http://imgbox.com/tKA1tMqD

1,937 nm. 9 hours. 215 knots.
Last edited by ratty on 14 Sep 2017, 15:53, edited 1 time in total.
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ratty
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Re: Around the World in Style

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Seventh Leg

A bit of excitement shortly after takeoff. Our next destination, Nuka Hiva, was 2,410 miles away, and 500 miles from the nearest dry spot, so I left well before dawn to ensure arriving in good light. Five minutes into the flight, climbing through 3,000, I was informed we had a sick passenger.

There really was only one option: turn around and land. I was a little apprehensive at the thought of landing on that unlit runway at night, but at least I'd seen it in daylight so it wasn't completely new. The cloudbase wasn't really that low, and the visibility was better than marginal, so staying under the cloud and turning to a reciprocal course wasn't too hard.

It was DARK out there but I managed to spot the island and the strip sliding by to port. I went downwind a bit and then turned into a curving approach. As the runway came into view and I was considering gear and flaps and stuff, I was informed the passenger had recovered. We did a sort of missed approach buzz-job and climbed away into the cloud. Apart from discovering a new continent, the rest of the flight was uneventful.
http://imgbox.com/0KRLT34L
2,409 miles in 9 hours 47 minutes. Average speed 246 knots.
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ratty
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Re: Around the World in Style

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Eighth Leg – Nuka Hiva to the Galapagos

Close to the end of a near-perfect circumnavigation. Some trepidation over this one because from Nuka Hiva to the Galapagos is a shade over 3,000 nm - 3,064 to be exact - and there is nowhere else to land once past the point of no return.

We picked up a little icing early on but it was actually a very nice flight at 18,000 feet into light headwinds - until the pressurization failed. The cabin quickly went to 18 thou, so I quickly descended to 12,000, where we found a 24-knot headwind. We were 2,200 miles into the trip, with 800 to go.

I fiddled for a while with the throttles and propeller pitch control. There’s an argument that operating at low RPM can extend the range so I finally settled on 23” and 1,800 RPM. The winds were no better at lower altitudes, so we stayed at 12,000 and plodded on, fingers crossed.

We picked up the first beacon a long way out and I elected to bypass the closest field and fly on another 80 miles to the main airport with its longer runway. We landed with 141 gallons of fuel remaining, enough for 95 miles, or about 25 minutes flying time.

3,064 miles in 13 hours 20 minutes, for an average speed of 230 knots.
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ratty
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Re: Around the World in Style

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Final Leg - The Galapagos to Quito

It’s less than 700 miles to Quito so I got to take off AND land in daylight. We cruised at 10,000 with gentle winds. Climbed a little over the foothills of the Andes, and then swooped into Quito/Mariscal Sucre (after Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá, fourth president of Peru and second president of Bolivia).

http://imgbox.com/93kuDJfI

Landed gracefully, rolled to the ramp, shut her down.

http://imgbox.com/stWXj4pm

3 hours 5 minutes. 670 miles. 217 knots.

http://imgbox.com/qoYBTfJe

Conclusion

Trip stats: Total distance: 21,725 nautical miles. Total flight time: 93 hours 57 minutes. Average speed: 231 knots.

The A2A Connie is a total delight.

I may have gone round the wrong way. The prevailing winds, while generally light, were all out of the east. I don't know if this is typical for the equatorial region; perhaps a seasonal thing.

Reminder: A2A aircraft will throw things at you that you won’t get with stock FSX planes. If you're flying A2A planes it's a good idea to regularly review and practice your emergency procedures.
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Lewis - A2A
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Re: Around the World in Style

Post by Lewis - A2A »

Great trip, and great documentation of your adventures, glad you stuck at it and enjoyed your journey around the virtual globe, was fun following here on the forums too 8) 8)

thanks,
Lewis
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