It was time for another big adventure. I've been around the world a couple of times, the first time non-stop in the Global Voyager, the second in the A2A Cherokee 180. Although both met the FAI requirements for a "circumnavigation" neither came close to traveling the true circumferential distance. This time I determined to go around at the Equator (or as close as possible) in an airplane that could handle the long overwater flights. Clearly, only one bird was appropriate for the task, so I picked up an A2A Lockheed Constellation as refurbished by Grubich Aerospace, invited thirty close friends along for the ride, and set out from Quito, Ecuador at dawn.

First Leg - Quito to Natal

Like most of my adventures this one was largely (entirely?) spontaneous and unplanned. 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 a little anxiety-inducing. She trundled down almost the whole 13,000 feet of runway before taking flight, and even then we were barely doing 110 as we crossed the far end. But after gear up, a couple of shallow turns to avoid buildings/trees, and raising the flaps after gaining a few hundred feet 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. We cruised at 24,000 feet, at 29 inches and 2,200 RPM, a basic cruise setting for this plane.

The South American continent at this latitude is pretty flat: hour after hour of almost unbroken green. Some time during cruise the entire flight crew fell asleep for several hours; when we woke up we were within range of the beacon; just 160 nm short of our destination and, miraculously, only 20 miles off track. We landed soon after dusk, at 8:15 pm local.

With light headwinds all the way we covered the 2,615 nautical miles in 10 hours 14 minutes, and had 24% fuel remaining at shutdown. I got my first look at the Amazon Basin, but otherwise it was an uneventful trip.

Second Leg - Natal to Sao Tome

The first long overwater leg. I'm still learning about long-range flying in this plane, but using the last flight as a guide, it looks as though the bird will go around 3,300 miles with ease. Sao Tome, an island off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea was only 2,500 miles away.

This hop would go for almost 10 hours with no beacons, out of sight of land, but it's hard to miss Africa, right? We cruised with the same settings as before, dodged a few thunderstorms along the way, and picked up Sao Tome VOR from 188 miles out. For several hours, the undercast had precluded use of the drift sight, and we turned out to be 40 nm off course after 2,370 nm of flight - due mainly to a two-degree "gut instinct" course change I made that I didn't need to make.

9 hours 29 minutes. 2,545 miles. 268 knots.

Third Leg - Sao Tome to the Seychelles

Terrific trip across Africa. I decided to try for the Seychelles, 3,000 miles away, beyond the other side of the continent. We took off from Sao Tome at dawn and headed east and soon Africa emerged from the mist.

I took the opportunity to test something I was told a long time ago. Range is range - regardless of the altitude at which you fly (more or less). The trade off is the speed at which you travel: we fly at high altitudes in part because we can cover the same distance faster. Since the first 1200 miles of Africa eastbound from Sao Tome is flat, 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. I kept the airspeed way down, around 155 knots. Six-and-a-half hours into the flight we had travelled 1,110 nm; remaining range - 2,493 nm.

Beyond the Congo River the terrain begins to rise, so we climbed gently and leveled at 18,000 for what seemed the best winds. We landed at Seychelles International after 14 hours and 17 minutes of flight; 2,946 miles at an average groundspeed of 206 knots.

Fourth Leg - Seychelles to Singapore

Uneventful flight from the Seychelles to Singapore. We cruised at 10,000 feet for the best winds (headwinds again) and went 2,925 nm in 12 hours 26 minutes. Average speed 235 knots. At 11,027 nautical miles, we're now just over half-way round.

Fifth Leg - Singpore to Nadzab

Left Singapore before dawn. I thought about going for distance and trying for the Solomons, but decided to do some sightseeing instead, flying down the Indonesian island chain at a couple of thousand feet.

We climbed to 8,000 for the later part of the trip over the mountainous eastern end of the main island, and slipped down between the hills to land at Nadzab after dark. Covered 2,614 miles in 12 hours 19 minutes. Another slow average speed of 212 knots.

Sixth Leg - Nadzab to Funafuti

On to Funafuti, a thin sweep of land around a large lagoon in the middle of the South Pacific. 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 well enough 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 done OK, but mostly with a sizeable landmass to run into in case I miss. Funafuti is all by itself in the middle of the ocean; the closest land, another island, is over 200 miles to the south.

It was another easy flight into steady headwinds over broken cloud. We arrived at dusk, which was fortunate as the field is unlighted.

1,937 nm. 9 hours. 215 knots.

Seventh Leg - Funafuti to Nuka Hiva

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 three thousand, 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 back 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.

2,409 miles in 9 hours 47 minutes. Average speed 246 knots.

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 a lot with the throttles and propeller pitch control. I remembered reading about the WWII Army Air Force operating at low RPM at times to extend their range and 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 continued 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.

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 Jose de Sucre y Alcala, fourth president of Peru and second president of Bolivia).

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

3 hours 5 minutes. 670 miles. 217 knots.

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 to fly.

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.