RTW Retro Flight #37 Stanleyville to Leopoldville . . . . . . . 1960

Sabena flight 238 is a leased Lockheed L-1049H Super Connie in a 1950s paint flying from Stanleyville Congo’s Simisimi Airport (now Kisingani, Democratic Republic of the Congo) to Leopoldville, Congo (now Kinshasa, DRC), (FZIA - FZAA). There are 2,000 gallons of fuel on board and the flight time is about 2 hours and 50 minutes. We are expecting fair weather with scattered high cloud cover for most of the flight. We will be cruising at an altitude of 18,000 feet.

Thanks to:

Aircraft: Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation in a 1950s Sabena livery. Original aircraft by Manfred Jahn and team, Sabena textures by Gary Harper.

Propliner AI & Traffic: CalClassic & FS Aviator - Tom Gibson, Mike Stevens, Jason Krogmann, Manuel Jagmann, Bill Towers, Nikko Yaginuma, Richard Wright, Frederick Coleman, Dave Jones, Paul Haak, Marty Lochmiller, Ake Lindberg, Harland Sandberg, Richard Wright and Gary Harper. www.calclassic.com

Scenery: FS2004 Standard, and:

- Stanleyville Simisimi and Leopoldville Airports from the 1960 Retro Africa Scenery Package by Wolfgang Gersch, Harry Biard, Jaap de Baare, Mike Stevens, Tom Gibson, Nikko Yaginuma and Johan Dees. Available at www.calclassic.com

- Rwy12 and EZ scenery libraries.

- FS2004 Classic Scenery Libraries V3 by Wolfgang Gersch.

- REX FS9 enhancements for sky, cloud, weather, water/waves, runway, taxiway textures, sun and lighting.

- Flight One Ground Environment Pro II.

- HDE 2.0 grass texture enhancement by Pablo Diaz.

Click to enlarge . . .

Loading passengers at Stanleyville’s Simisimi airport gate 3.

Buttoned up and starting engines.

A DC-6 on the takeoff roll while we wait for our turn at Rwy. 28.

We are up and retracting the gear.

Crossing the Congo River and turning toward our course for Leopoldville.

Climbing through seven thousand feet.

With the Lomami River behind us and having shifted the blowers to high, we pass through sixteen thousand feet.

Cruising 450 miles out of Stanleyville near the Batwa region where various Pygmy Tribes inhabit the rain forest below.

Near Bokoro, Congo with the Fimi River below, we are about 270 miles from Leopoldville.

A look out over the starboard wing.

More in the reply . . . . . . . . .

Click to enlarge . . .

We are now about 220 miles from Leopoldville over Bandundu Province, Congo.

Passing the Small City of Bandundu, Congo on the Kwango River.

Beginning our descent and turning toward Leopoldville Airport.

Passing through eight thousand feet about twenty miles from the airport.

Nine miles from Leopoldville we deploy initial flaps.

Gear down at about 2,500 feet; we will be crossing the Congo River shortly.

With the river behind us we are on final for Rwy. 24.

Touchdown.

Turning off the runway.

Heading toward the terminal and parking at Leopoldville Airport.

Parked on the ramp, engines shut down and passengers disembarked. Thanks for flying Sabena.

Beautiful plane, great scenery, wonderful story! Thanx for the post :)

Cruising 450 miles out of Stanleyville near the Batwa region where various Pygmy Tribes inhabit the rain forest below.

Makes me wonder how nervous the pilots are about the pygmies and a possible Cargo Cult going on...

Bet they watch the instruments very carefully for any sign at all of a problem!

Pat☺

Nice job. Africa is appropriate right now for me, since TCM is showing African movies on Friday night, and I've just watched Out of Africa from my DVR. That included flying over some beautiful parts of Africa. No, they didn't fly in Sabena Super Connies though. :)

Thanks,