Over the Pole - Sheila Scott's Flight

I have settled on recreating Sheila Scotts equator to equator flight of 1971 in a Piper Aztec, and my planning is almost finished. Sheila flew very long legs, always in excess of 10 hours, but I am going to stick with 2-3 hours so that I can fly every day after work - that's about 300 nm in my Aztec. Of course I will follow her course as closely as I can, but will have to make additional stops.

 

Sheila flew: Nairobi, Kartoum, Benghazi, Malta, London, Bodo Norway, Andoya Norway, Nord Greenland, over the Pole (slowed by low cloud, headwind and an unretracting nosewheel that almost killed her) to Barrow, Fairbanks, Anchorage, San Francisco, Honolulu to Canton Island just the other side of the Pacific equator. After that she flew back to London via Australia breaking additional speed records. She was forced to stop due to very bad weather at times, particulary just before the dangerous polar crossing, and at London where she found her flat had been burgled while she had been in the air.

 

Now my route is established (with extra stops in between) I intend to quickly check each runway out with the trike to ensure there are no trees on runways or horrible scenery or elevation issues, all of which would ruin a great flight.

The trickiest part will of course be the polar crossing, FSX struggles with this region, since like any 3D net, the flat map sections of the FSX world meet up and bunch together at the poles, causing strange optical effects. I have slewed there to to 90 degrees north to see what I should exoect, and it looks OK, not realistic, but ok.

 

I assume navigation will be my biggest problem. Sheila had to use dead reckoning, and sighted intermittently with an sun compass, yet managed to pass directly over the pole (NASA scientists were tracking her by satellite). Like her I don't think my compass will work at that latitude, instead I have tracked a course using GPS just for this leg, to take me over the pole, after which I will leave the magenta line behind and head for the Canadian coastline. All of my other navigation will be by VOR, NDB and by VFR map reading and dead reckoning. It is true to 1971 and is a much more exciting and 'active' way to navigate than slaving the autopilot to the GPS for hours.

 

On fuel and loading, whilst only flying for 2-3 hours at a stretch, I feel that I would be missing out on the Sheila Scott experience if I did NOT dangerously overload my Aztec, her extra fuel tanks took the place of the passenger seating. I will start my flights with maximum fuel and loading to simulate the difficulties she sometimes had in gaining height, particularly from airfields like Benghazi (where she almost ran into hills, and where, at the airfield that night she was assaulted and almost raped by locals- though she passes it over breezily in her account).

 

The weirdest leg so far is the polar leg, with a straight line distance between Spitsbergen and Barrow, but look what PlanG has to do to try and deal with my impossible flight!!!

 

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8:00 am Nairobi, the equator to equator flight, flying over the North Pole, began.

 

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At Jomo Kenyatta airport the rain came down in a tropical thunderstorm, but within 30 minutes I had flown up and out of it to 10,000’ (local elevation is 5,500’). I flew the leg to Soroti in Uganda using dead reckoning rather than VORs, just to keep my skills up. The highlight was a fast pass over Lake Nakuru, to see several large flocks of flamingos (courtesy of Aerosoft’s African Adventures).

 

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I’m still unsure whether to use VOR navigation or dead reckoning, but in the spirit of 1971 I guess VORs should be used, with dead reckoning to check my track.

 

That was an easy flight once I had cleared the thunderstorm. Sheila Scott says very little about her flight to Khartoum and Benghazi, but on the outbound trip TO Nairobi before the flight, she had to divert around restricted airspace to Idi Amin’s Uganda, not a safe place to turn up to uninvited. Like Sheila, I am sure a friendly British ATCO will have quietly ushered me to a quiet part of the airport so as not to attract attention.

 

Tomorrow a short hop to Juba.

Very interesting flight!

Most just go 'round parallel to the equator, or up and down across it. This is unique and a very interesting way to go.

Looks like a great start so far! I will follow along to see how you do :)

Pat☺

Tricky flying! Soroti in Uganda was under a thunderstorm today, but my motto, just like Sheila Scott's is to go for it! I was forced to fly around 500' QFE under the steel grey clouds, rain and lightning, trying to reach Juba in South Sudan.

 

I flew in a Twin Otter over the Masai Mara a couple of years ago, and the FTX Global captures East Africa superbly, lone Acacia, or groves dotted around. After an hour things went wrong. I have Real Engine 1.4 installed that produces failures for flaps, gear, CHT, oil temp, over revving and manifold pressure if you fly 'beyond the limits'. I heard an engine cough and die just east of Gulu (HUGU), then checked CHT, over temperature! I opened the cowl flaps, cut my speed, feathered the prop than waited until it cooled to restart. This was successful ... I looked at OAT and flying at 3-400' it was 28 degrees. No wonder the engine struggled!

 

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The storm was clearing, and I was looking for the White Nile to follow it to Juba 100 nm distant, I was able to climb a couple of thousand feet, caught the VOR set my heading bug to match but soon had to drop down to 200' when I hit more storm clouds. I lost the VOR too but was able to follow my heading bug instead. Lucky :) Of course I forgot to enrich the mixture as I descended and so RealEngine 1.4 made them rev and splutter too. Gulp. What a fool ...

 

I hit the White Nile, the VOR came alive and I sailed easily into Juba. Sheila says nothing about her visit to Juba. Juba is a tough place, plenty of old planes like DC3s and aircraft wrecked, shot up or in storage. There are military vehicles around too. Can't wait to leave tomorrow.

 

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Paul,

 

Looking forward to reading about your Adventure! To be honest, I would go ahead and fly the Route however you see fit; use DR when you want to, or the VOR's when it's time for a change. I think either way, you'll do just fine!

 

Alan :pilot:

I'm enjoying your narative and screen shots, Paul, quite an undertaking. Based upon what you've experienced, and hopefully learned, so far, you should do just fine, but only if you pay attention to details. Good luck with future legs, We'll be watching!!!

I'm enjoying your narative and screen shots, Paul, quite an undertaking. Based upon what you've experienced, and hopefully learned, so far, you should do just fine, but only if you pay attention to details. Good luck with future legs, We'll be watching!!!

 

Thanks Klee and Alan. When I flew Amy Johnson's 1930 flight to Australia using dead reckoning I got lost ALOT over Europe before I (had) to learn about wind drift, timed legs and waypoints!

Today I flew north to Malakal in South Sudan, but rather than track due north along an outbound radial for 280miles I opted to follow the White Nile northwards for a more interesting flight, and I picked up Malakal's low level VOR at only 50 nm out. The thunderstorms have abated and I could fly around scattered cloud at 9-10,000' no problem. At 38 degrees on the ground, it was still 18 degrees up at FL100!

 

Two shots of the White Nile, one exterior, the other from my (home pilot) view sat at my Aztec twin cockpit I built 18 months ago!

 

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My plan is to mirror Sheila Scott's flight, but with extra legs, getting to Khartoum, flying the Nile to Cairo, out across the desert to Benghazi then Malta and onto London, Norway and then the POle. After Barrow I can relax and enjoy all that Orbx scenery down to San Francisco.

Paul, Impressive Aztec cockpit!

It took a couple of 2-and-a-half hour flights to get to Abu Simbel. Again I decided to hand fly, following the River Nile northwards rather than just flying straight, and level, with the autopilot. I like to use the AP only when I need to grab a drink, when I returned five minutes later, halfway to Khartoum, I found the sun was already on the horizon and a towering cliff of thunder clouds blocked my path ahead. It looked like I would have to drop down to a few hundred feet again, until I spotted a chink opening up and dashed through the lightning storm to the other side. It was here I found that Microsoft had left out a stretch of the Nile, although the landclass along its banks persisted and was easy to follow. The view was lovely, the russet orange sunset clung on to the edge of a dark blue sky and painted the lightning-licked clouds with purple.

 

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I touched down at Khartoum without any incident. Lots of record breaking flyers pulled in here on their way to Capetown, including Sheila Scott and Amy Johnson. There were a couple of Antonov An12 ‘Cubs’ on the apron as I taxied past (Ultimate Traffic 2). In the morning, with the OAT at 42 degrees C , I again followed the Nile northwards from Khartoum all the way to Lake Nasser and Abu Simbel, where an Egyptair Embraer was waiting at the threshold for a flight to Cairo.

 

My left fuel tanks are draining faster than my right tanks, and I don’t know why. That could get me into trouble on a longer leg …. Mmmm.

Good trip, Paul, handy piece of luck wit the thunder boomers!

Way to thread the needle in order to escape the storm, Paul!

 

Sometimes you have to get low, especially when flying IFR (I Follow Roads... or in this case, Rivers)!

 

Alan :pilot:

Alan, I heard that 'I follow roads' as IFR and never really understood it, but it means flying low under the weather, does it?

Paul,

 

You are correct; flying under the weather, and following any Landmark available. Roads, rivers, telephone poles, railroad tracks (the 'iron' compass), etc...

 

Alan :pilot:

You could go over or around, but then if you get above it, you could have a difficult time getting back down through the junk to find your road or river; happened to me once, forced me down through a "hole" in the overcast, had to land at a private field. The owners were not to pleased, but those are the breaks!

Klee, is that a RL flying incident you are talking about? It must get pretty desperate when the clouds close in for real.

 

Flying the length of Egypt was easy. Blue skies, no weather, no traffic, great visibility and a long river to follow as a landmark. I flew the length of Lake Nasser to over-fly Aswan.

 

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The Russian or High Dam is in the foreground and the British or Low Dam is in the background. Luxor was quiet, although my let fuel tanks were still draining faster than my right tanks, and I don’t want to rely on the crossfeed should my left tank dry up completely. I will look into it at Cairo. Sheila Scott was plagued by electrical problems on multiple instruments on an earlier round the world flight (the Air Race), and on the Polar flight her autopilot failed before the arctic leg leaving her to fly the Aztec manually for 17 hours!

 

Closing in on Cairo the wind picked up a little from the west and visibility began to shrink dramatically, I guess this was ASN replicating dust and sand. At one point viz was down to around 5 miles, but soon lifted again as I swung out wide over Sakkara and its pyramids. In the foreground the Step Pyramid – the world’s oldest stone large stone structure, and behind in the Bent Pyramid of Snefru and (I think) the Red Pyramid. These are all FSX default, and the pyramids at Dashur further south are also included in FSX!

 

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Touch down at Cairo was slightly ahead of sunset. I think my fuel problem might be down to the fuel selector I have in my home cockpit, it is a left tank/right tank selector used when I fly the A2A Cherokee and Skylane. Alabeo told me in an email that their tank selectors for the Aztec don’t respond to external FSUPC-style inputs but I’m wondering if they do. When I twist the lever I hear a ‘glug’ sound, but the VC fuel controls don’t move. And I’m sure I heard that ‘glug’ sound during a flight and I hadn’t touched the controls …. So, before the flight from Cairo to Benghazi, I will create an FSUIPC profile for the Cherokee and not have the selectors working on any aircraft by default. That should sort it :)

 

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Interesting trip, Paul, hope you get your fuel tank selector situation sorted out; if that thingy is FUBAR, could mean big problems down the road!

 

Yes, that was a real flying incident. I was a young, student pilot with about 30-35 hours (just enough so I thought I knew it all). I knew when I climbed up over the top that I was probably making a mistake, but logic told me that it was a broken-overcast situation and that there would be holes to drop through. Well after about 20 minutes up there, I looked down and there were no holes. I had no choice but to stay up there until I fouund one. I took the first I found, but had no idea where I was coming through the bottom. I was just awful lucky that there was a private strip right there berlow me; I opted for it, set it down, and through lots of heated conversation with the field's owner, waited for the situation to change.

 

Can't wait to hear your next saga; good luck with the trip.

My flight across the Libyan border to the small concrete airfield at Misheifa had its ups and downs! The wind was strong and southerly to begin with, blowing dust in to reduce visibility across Cairo airport significantly.

 

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I abandoned a photo trip over the Giza pyramids and struck out for a VOR beacon on the coast, since pure dead reckoning across 300 nm of desert with a strong sidewind would have meant me missing the airfield – guaranteed. Passing the VOR sometime later, I flew the out ound radial that would take me to Misheifa. But the coast line didn’t look right or at least my angle to it, as it receded in the distance.

 

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I rechecked my flight plan, I had dialled in the wrong radial, and was aiming for a completely different airfield. Change of radial, new course and after avoiding a bird strike (set Thermal Updrafts to natural to see eagles and vultures in the thermals) landed at Mishefa. Ultimate Traffic happily put a few planes in here, including a DC-3, very appropriate!

 

The leg to Benghazi was less eventful, except for severe turbulence at 10,000’ forcing me down to 9,000’. Fixed the fuel tank problem, not by unassigning my home cockpit fuel selector, but by bringing up the default 172 before loading the Aztec. The tanks are draining symmetrically now! Next leg … Over the water to Luqqa, Malta. Busy skies!

Sounds like you had your hands full for a few! Ended up OK, though, so that's a good thing. Can't wait until the next installment.

Paul,

 

Great narrative! I've done the same thing; punching the wrong #'s into the VOR1, then wondering to myself why I can't hear the danged Morse Code!

 

By the by... that's a fine looking airplane you're using, too!

 

Alan :pilot:

I think it happens in real life too, it was one of the factors thought to hsve led to JFK jnrs death, he was busy trying to work out why he wasn't picking up a signal from his destination airport, but he had mistuned.

Flying up through France and Britain has been relaxing, non-challenging flying. I took the time to try out a new navigation system for my cockpit setup, it is a mini-iPad pretending to be a Garmin GPS (with the Garmin logo as the screensaver/wallpaper!) the software I run is iNavigator. A cheap and fabulous little app. I don't intend to use it for the rest of this trip, NDBs and VORs are fine with me for now.

 

Leaving Orly, I flew over the centre of Paris to arrive at Heathrow amongst the big jets.

 

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After tracking up the East Coast of England and Scotland I flew out from Wick (the North Atlantic ferry pilot's usual haunt) and out above the overcast to Norway and Bergen. Luckily there were a few gaps in the cloud layer that opened up as I reached the coast and I made a spiral descent down from 13,000' to 4,000 ready for the approach to Bergen. It was a busy airport, with plenty of regional jets parked up, and I followed a 737 down onto the runway. After a couple of flights to Spitsbegren, I will be making 'the BIG ONE'.

 

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I find reading Scott's biography that I don't think I would have liked to meet her. I had the same feeling ready Amy Johnson's biography. Scott had a flighty youth, with lots of affairs and a failed marriage of convenience. She eventually got into heroine taking in the 1950s. She was and wanted to remain part of the 1950s jet-set. Flying seems to have replaced the drugs, and is probably typical of these long distance record breakers, she only felt happy and 'free' in the clouds, away from people and reality. But her new drug cost alot more than heroine, and so she battled with little enthusiasm to fund her flying, and was always (reputedly) ungrateful and difficult to work with, short, acerbic and a bit of a social steamroller. She upset a lot of people, and resentment built up against her especially amongst air racers. One of the ways she was to try and fund this Aztec flight was selling movie film of the polar crossing, but at London her dingy little flat had been burgled and the camera was stolen. It meant that after the equator-equator flight, she was heavily in debt and struggling to pay Piper for the Aztec.

Nice to have some easy flying before a particularly tricky segment comes up...

 

Of the long distance aviatrixes, I would have liked to have a chat with Jean Batten.

 

Keep on Truckin'!

 

Alan :pilot:

Tracking up Norway has been enjoyable, with very cloudy weather and rain squalls. At last I arrived at Tromso for the over-water flight to Svalbard island. I’m ready for the take-off here. The airports were busy with 737s and Dash 8s, I was quite surprised.

 

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The flight out saw patchy cumulus up to 12,000’ and I had to pick my way through carefully, but there was a lot of think cloud I had to pass through and power dropped repeatedly as ice built up in the carburettor. Engine heat sorted the problem out on these occasions, though at one point I left the cabin for a drink and put the Aztec on autopilot. When I returned the plane was on the edge of a stall, and I was able to add carb heat and restore control at the last minute. Sheila Scott never had that problem!! I was stunned to find icebergs in the Arctic Ocean as snow-covered Svalbard came into sight after several hours flight:

 

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The island was bleak and rugged, snow-covered in places, other areas were glacier smoothed mountains and dramatic valleys.

 

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The cloud came lower and I found myself zipping down stunning dry valleys as I approached my most northerly stop: Longyear.

 

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Next – the trip over the Pole to Alert in Canada!