RETRO Misc. Flight #7 San Francisco to Avalon Bay, Catalina Island . . . . 1959

Trans Catalina flight 133 is a Grumman G-73 Mallard seaplane departing Pier 39 at San Francisco, California for Avalon Bay, Santa Catalina Island off the southern California coast. We will be cruising at 11,000 feet and the weather is fair with light cloud cover. We have 225 gallons of fuel for the 367 mile flight.

 

Thanks to:

Aircraft: Grumman G-73 Mallard in Trans Catalina livery by Milton Shupe, Nigel Richards, Rachael Whiteford, Rui Cristina, William Ellis, Roman Stoviak.

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:

- California 1959 by Mike Stevens and Tom Gibson.

- Rwy12 and EZ scenery libraries.

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

- GE II Pro ground environment.

- HDE 2.0 ground texture enhancements by Pablo Diaz.

 

Click to Enlarge

 

Passengers loaded, engines started, the flight plan approved and we have entered the water.

 

Taxiing out into San Francisco Bay for takeoff into a North by North West wind.

 

We are up and away.

 

Having gained sufficient altitude we begin a turn to 143 degrees toward Avalon Bay.

 

Now on course we are climbing through 2,500 feet over the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

The city of San Francisco and the San Mateo Bridge below us.

 

With San Jose below we are cruising at our assigned 11,000 feet.

 

Cruising about 40 miles south of San Jose.

 

Monterey Bay is off our right wing.

 

About 120 miles into our flight near Salinas. California.

 

Cruising over the Salinas Valley near Soledad, CA.

 

 

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

nice pics!!

Click to Enlarge

 

Near Paso Robles, CA with the Cholame Hills Mountain range in the distance.

 

A look at the cockpit from the passenger cabin.

 

San Louis Obispo, CA is about 35 miles off our right wing.

 

Cruising over the Los Padres National Forest that includes 1.75 million acres of beautiful scenery and recreation areas.

 

We are approaching the coast near Malibu, California about 65 miles from Catalina Island.

 

We begin our initial descent with Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 15 miles to the East.

 

At 1,500 feet we turn on final approach.

 

We are down to about 200 feet and lined up for landing at Avalon Bay.

 

Touchdown on the water.

 

Taxiing to the pier we see a couple of tourist ships.

 

Parked at the end of the pier with passengers disembarked. Thanks for flying Trans Catalina.

Perfect looking seaplane & scenery for the job Larry, I remember when living 26 miles off of the coast, I use to watch the seaplanes go to Catalina and back to Long Beach Harbor. That was a very sad day when they cease to exist. Kenny

larry, that is absolutely great! love all your retro posts, but this is maybe my favorite yet!

Thanks Darren, Kenny and Phil. Glad you liked it. :)

Absolutly fantastic shots Larry, the scenery and plane are the perfect match, great job as always!!! :)

A great flight Larry with super screenshots!!!!!!

Appreciate your comments Adam & John B. No way I can compete with Orbx scenery though. I have FSX but don't use it much because most of my retro scenery isn't compatible. :(

Outstanding retro flight once more Larry, the Mallard is a beauty and I really like the vintage scenery :cool::cool::cool:

Thank you Jan. :)

Loved the trip, Larry, nice of you to invite me along!

Thanks Klee, I enjoyed doing this one. :)

nice shots....

Glad you liked it David.