RTW Retro Flight #49 Kimberley to Francistown . . . . 1960

TREK Flight 033 is a Douglas DC-4 in a 1957 TREK Airlines livery flying from Kimberley, South Africa to Francistown, Protectorate of Bechuanaland (now Botswana), (FAKM to FBFT). There are 1,100 gallons of fuel on board for the five hundred fifty two mile flight. The total flight time is about 3 hours and 25 minutes. The weather for our early morning takeoff is for scattered thunderstorms with heavy cloud cover. We will be cruising at an altitude of 9,000 feet.

Thanks to:

Aircraft: Douglas DC-4 in a 1957 TREK Airlines livery. The aircraft model and original textures (V3) are by Jens B. Kristensen. The paint is by Andre Reimers.

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:

- Kimberley and Francistown Airports from the 1960 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 Static Object and 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 . . .

1. Passengers are loaded, our flight plan filed and engines started.

2. Taxiing out to Rwy. 2 for an early morning takeoff.

3. We are off and the gear is coming up.

4. Now on course for Kimberley climbing through 6,000 feet with the VAAL River below.

5. Climbing through 8,000 feet in between thunderstorms and heavy clouds.

6. Back in the soup at our cruising altitude of 9,000 feet near Christiana, SA.

7. The town of Schweizer-Reneke, SA is nearby, but we can’t see it for the clouds.

8. The small town of Zeerust is below. The region is known for cattle ranching, agriculture and some mining operations.

9. The City of Gaborone, Bechuanaland Protectorate is about 25 miles off our left wing. We are now about 260 miles from Francistown.

10. With the small town of Serule below we’re into the heavy weather again.

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

Click to enlarge . . .

11. Just under 40 miles from Francistown we adjust our heading and begin our descent.

12. We are descending through 6,500 feet and still in the rain.

13. Near Tonota 20 miles from Francistown we are at 4,900 feet and turn on course toward our assigned visual approach to Rwy. 34.

14. Gear down and flaps full about three miles out and I think we have the gravel runway in sight.

15. Having gone missed on our first landing attempt we are again on short final.

16. We’re coming in a little hot, but we’ll scrub some speed when we flatten out and flare for landing.

17. Less than a mile to touchdown on Rwy. 34.

18. Touchdown a fair distance down the runway. We are lucky it is 5,000 feet long.

19. Turning off the runway toward the terminal.

20. Looks like a couple of Wenela DC-4s are here ahead of us.

21. Parked, systems shut down and passengers disembarked. Thanks for flying TREK Airways.

Love such set of shots showing the entire flight and its description!

Congratulations!

What makes screenshots or screenshot flight report very successful is very accurate description of each of screenshots!!! Thanks for accurately describing each screenshot in most detailed manner!! Great flight report!

Regards,

Aharon

Very Nice pic's.

Dan