How about a simple Challenge Flight for us Niners?

[ScottishMike]

Engines droned on, we were the chase plane that had no chance of keeping up.

“Flat as a pancake without syrup.”

“Yep” she replied, without looking up from the notes she was studying.

“What are you looking at?” I asked.

“Looking at the figures from the past two legs. See if there is anything we can do to gain speed.”

“Get rid of Chalky? When did he decide he wouldn't use full power?”

“Leave him alone and don't call him that, he's only just found his mojo.”

“He's lucky he found it before I did, otherwise I would have shoved it so far up..”“Shut it! and don't be so childish” “...It would tickle his tonsils”

“Chalky, you've got me at it now, I mean John, has posted the best times so far.”

“Only because he has a good plane and Taof, what's his name, the Welsh sounding name, has been magnanimous and adjusted his times. That Sea Fury is clearly the fastest of the bunch.”

“Where did you get the Spitfire?”

“Provided by Golden Age Aviation Supplies. There's even a simulation model of it available: spitclip14_fs9.zip. Can you believe grown men sit in front of a screen pretending to fly it?”

“Not every one is as privileged as you playing with the real thing.” She replied.

“Or you, having the chance to work on it and get paid for it.” I quipped back.

SILENCE

I concentrated on the controls, not much to do, truth be told, autopilot set 8000' heading 075 degrees. It was my turn as pilot in command.

“Mississippi ahead.” I broke the silence.

 

We sat together in the bar. So final figures:

 

Time KHLC to KFSW 1 hr. 08 minutes

Distance 399 n.m. Average speed 353 kts

Start fuel 70% finish fuel 24%

 

We had almost finished our beers. I looked at Chalky then Suzanne then back at Chalky

“You are telling me you decided only to use full power some of the time? On full power with the tail wind you were clipping along at 400+ kts then adjusted back to cruise around 370 kts.?”

“Yes and proud of it.” he smiled at me.

“I'm going to bed. Remind me tomorrow before you depart to explain the concept of racing to you.”

[jgf]

1 hour ago, JSMR said:

...After my last leg for this race I want to try it non stop. ...

Also want to see if the cfg will allow me to push the engine to 67 mp so I can try the 5 min war emergency limit. ...

 

I've mentioned putting the 300gal drop tanks on the P-38 and trying the flight non-stop;  they were primarily ferry tanks and at "economical cruise" supposedly gave a range of around 3000 miles.  But how long will they last when pushing the turbos to their limit?  And lugging an extra 600gal of fuel to 23k ft is going to take a while.

 

The P-38 also has a WEP switch, though I've never used it (thus it isn't on my new panel);  I think the gauge simulates an mp boost.  The feature is also on a P-47 I have (which mentions a 900 second limit on its use). 

[ViperPilot2]

Gentlemen...

 

If you would, please check the Tally Sheet on Pg. 8 and let me know if everything looks 'proper'. I'm Editing that Post to store the Times there so I can keep track of them.

 

Thanks! 

[JSMR]

17 minutes ago, ViperPilot2 said:

Gentlemen...

 

If you would, please check the Tally Sheet on Pg. 8 and let me know if everything looks 'proper'. I'm Editing that Post to store the Times there so I can keep track of them.

 

Thanks! 

Looks good!

[JSMR]

[JSMR]

My last flight! I did manage to land about halfway down. About.  
And stopped before the end. 

[taoftedal]

1 hour ago, ViperPilot2 said:

Gentlemen...

 

If you would, please check the Tally Sheet on Pg. 8 and let me know if everything looks 'proper'. I'm Editing that Post to store the Times there so I can keep track of them.

 

Thanks! 

 

... 

[ViperPilot2]

Final Competition Leg complete!

Aircraft: F-5E Photo Lightning (Copley P-38J)

Takeoff from KFSW: 0715 CDT

Wheels Stop @ KCLE: 0937 EDT

Elapsed Time: 1:22

Distance: 432 nm

Altitude: 15,500' (FL150)

Power Settings:

 

Climb to Altitude: 42# MP/2900 RPM

Cruise: 43# MP/2900 RPM

 

Fuel Remaining: 34%

 

Time for a stick to your Ribs Midwest Breakfast... Southside Diner, here I come! 

[ScottishMike]

I was up early, on the phone, not that Spanner Eyes or Chalkie would appreciate my work.

“Hi, Smolinski?”

“Yeah thats me.”

“You'r chief Air Traffic Controller at Hopkins?”

“Yeah, waddayahwant? I'm a busy man.”

“Hey, they call you Spinner don't they? Spinner Smolenski. Has a nice ring to it.” I had done my homework.

“I take it no one explained about the air race?”

“What air race?”

“It's a re-creation of one of the early American air races.”

“So ?”

“The finish line of the race is right at your airport: Hopkins”

“Nobody told me.”

“Yeah, I realize that and I'm terribly sorry.” Sometimes a Scottish-English accent carries more gravitas.

“Spinner, you're treasurer of the C.A.C. aren't you?” It's amazing how much personal information people put on social media.

“Yeah, what are you after?” he sounded a little suspicious now, that was good, it meant I had his attention.

“By way of sorry we are prepared to make a donation to the CAC” (Cleveland Airtraffic Controllers benevolent fund)

“So was that crazy B29 part of your race?”

“Sure was Spinner. Beautiful aircraft don't you agree?” get him on our side. Despite what most pilots thought of air traffic controllers most had an interest in aviation. I hoped Smolensky wasn't the exception that proved the rule.

“Just about to press the send button on my report to the FAA. Crazy guy landed head on to other traffic.”

“That'll be Dangerous Dave. Dangerous by name, Dangerous by nature but one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet. An incredible restoration. Spinner, can you imagine the dedication it takes to keep such a plane airworthy?”

“That explains the other crazies coming in here like bats outa hell. I thought it was just a bad week.”

“Spinner why don't you join us for the finish party. Have a look at the planes up close.” I hoped I wouldn't regret the invitation. I had found out about his nickname from a local aviation page on Facebook. Apparently Spinner had spun more pilots' careers into the rubbish bin than any controller west of Niagara Falls.

“It would be great to see you, someone might even take you up for a spin.” that was an easy one, the Spit only had the one seat.

“Oh and one more thing you could do to help us, would it be possible to reserve runway 60C for competitors?.”

“Not officially, but hey I like the sound of your party, tell your guys to use the word RACE when they radio in for clearance and we'll direct them to runway 60C.”

“Hey, Smolenski you'r one of the good guys. Oh, you might forget to press send. See you at the party! And I am really sorry the organisers forgot to contact you before hand, these races can take some organising.

Really nice speaking to you Spinner.” I hung up, washed my face and went down to see how Chalky and Spanner were getting on.

[taoftedal]

10 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

 

Final Competition Leg complete!

Aircraft: F-5E Photo Lightning (Copley P-38J)

Takeoff from KFSW: 0715 CDT

Wheels Stop @ KCLE: 0937 EDT

Elapsed Time: 1:22

 

 

Welcome to Cleveland VP2!  Well done ... breakfast is on me. 

[ViperPilot2]

4 hours ago, ScottishMike said:

I was up early, on the phone, not that Spanner Eyes or Chalkie would appreciate my work.

“Hi, Smolinski?”

“Yeah thats me.”

“You'r chief Air Traffic Controller at Hopkins?”

“Yeah, waddayahwant? I'm a busy man.”

“Hey, they call you Spinner don't they? Spinner Smolenski. Has a nice ring to it.” I had done my homework.

“I take it no one explained about the air race?”

“What air race?”

“It's a re-creation of one of the early American air races.”

“So ?”

“The finish line of the race is right at your airport: Hopkins”

“Nobody told me.”

“Yeah, I realize that and I'm terribly sorry.” Sometimes a Scottish-English accent carries more gravitas.

“Spinner, you're treasurer of the C.A.C. aren't you?” It's amazing how much personal information people put on social media.

“Yeah, what are you after?” he sounded a little suspicious now, that was good, it meant I had his attention.

“By way of sorry we are prepared to make a donation to the CAC” (Cleveland Airtraffic Controllers benevolent fund)

“So was that crazy B29 part of your race?”

“Sure was Spinner. Beautiful aircraft don't you agree?” get him on our side. Despite what most pilots thought of air traffic controllers most had an interest in aviation. I hoped Smolensky wasn't the exception that proved the rule.

“Just about to press the send button on my report to the FAA. Crazy guy landed head on to other traffic.”

“That'll be Dangerous Dave. Dangerous by name, Dangerous by nature but one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet. An incredible restoration. Spinner, can you imagine the dedication it takes to keep such a plane airworthy?”

“That explains the other crazies coming in here like bats outa hell. I thought it was just a bad week.”

“Spinner why don't you join us for the finish party. Have a look at the planes up close.” I hoped I wouldn't regret the invitation. I had found out about his nickname from a local aviation page on Facebook. Apparently Spinner had spun more pilots' careers into the rubbish bin than any controller west of Niagara Falls.

“It would be great to see you, someone might even take you up for a spin.” that was an easy one, the Spit only had the one seat.

“Oh and one more thing you could do to help us, would it be possible to reserve runway 60C for competitors?.”

“Not officially, but hey I like the sound of your party, tell your guys to use the word RACE when they radio in for clearance and we'll direct them to runway 60C.”

“Hey, Smolenski you'r one of the good guys. Oh, you might forget to press send. See you at the party! And I am really sorry the organisers forgot to contact you before hand, these races can take some organising.

Really nice speaking to you Spinner.” I hung up, washed my face and went down to see how Chalky and Spanner were getting on.

 

Yeah, me ripping across the Bravo Airspace at 2,500 AGL and 300 KIAS to the IAF didn't help the situation... 

[ViperPilot2]

3 hours ago, taoftedal said:

 

Welcome to Cleveland VP2!  Well done ... breakfast is on me. 

 

Southside Diner, for a "Jake Holman" Breakfast! You're On! 

[ScottishMike]

Suzanne was fuelling up, John studying his maps.

“Suzanne you're good at contacting everyone, can you send them all a message that we have permission to use runway 060C at Hopkins. Use the word RACE with their call sign and they should be cleared for a straight in to 060C.

John follow ATC instructions, you can't afford another run in with them after your LAX visit.

And don't get confused; there is a Rwy 060R, the main and longest, parallel to it and shorter is Rwy 060C and although it is designated C for centre there is no 060 left. To keep it simple two 060 runways, land on the shortest.

Weather is OK, best altitudes are 18,100' 266 degrees at 27 kts Air temp -26c

or 23,300' 244 degrees at 42 kts Air temp -36c

It's cold up there so watch out for ice.

Take it as fast as your mojo allows” I winked at Suzanne.

“Well, good luck Kiddo, last leg. Don't spare the horses.”

 

Nice take-off and climb out (full power and 3000'/min climb)

John had remember to lean as he climbed.

The wind is all over the place now 327 at 66 kts. Kept getting blown off course.

Half way:

Into Ohio and wind is now 299 at 15 kts

 

 

dropped to 18,300' hoping to find better winds. None found, climbed back up to 23,000'

Started descent for Hopkins, ominous cloud cover.

 

Hopkins in sight, I'm too high and too fast. Banged full flaps and wheels down to help slow down. If that was not enough I have a cross to tail wind of 22 kts

 

 

A mess of a landing, thought it better to run onto the grass than fight it and overturn on the tarmac. had to re-start the engine, forgot to rich the mixture on descent and it stopped as I landed.

Wheels down time:

Time for leg 4: 1 hour 16 minutes.

[defaid]

Sim start date 1948-09-05T13:24:00Z
Leg 3               KHLC to KFSW
Track dist         398 nm
Throttle up      1327Z
Wheels up       1329Z
Touchdown      1443Z
P. Brake set      1445Z
Comp time       1h 18 m

 

TAS 339 kt
Average speed 312 kt

 

Winds varied -- through the wrong quadrant -- from 001° to 150° and from 6 to 17 kt. Far from ideal. No cloud since Colorado.

 

*   *   *

 

Hill City finds us almost delirious at having things around us after all those vacuous miles. We end the evening, appropriately, at Average Joe's, before overnighting at the Peasant Inn. I apologise: it must be this blue-grey uniform. I meant of course the Pheasant.

 

Overnight... some more magic had happened.

 

The morning after the night before. UT USA. I'd been meaning to buy this for some time.
Still a nightmare to navigate though.

 

At the airfield, defaid junior found a dog. I wandered over to the terminal for a quick hello-goodbye leaving her and new friend on the apron.

 

When I came out there was a family of four children and their parents watching the airfield return from lunch and waiting to see something take off, which everyone seems to like to do. As I approached, whistling, the dog popped up in the cockpit, looking for the source of the noise, and the woman grabbed the man's arm in alarm.

 

"Goddlemighty," I heard her say, "look at the face on that pilot."

 

Then, after a frozen silence of three or four seconds, the man breathed, "Let's go home."

 

Definitely time to leave.

 

Toto stayed behind.

 

Batteries on and I found that some enterprising airside lackey had completely filled our tanks. We really didn't need the extra weight so we taxied so a safe spot to offload. The airport tried to charge us for removing their own fuel. We threatened to sue them for loss of earnings caused by the delay. $25 000 pressed heavily on the ops manager's mind and he caved in.

 

Triggered?

 

We seem tacitly to have agreed that we'll run the last two legs into one, just breezing through Fort Madison to take onboard a little more petrol.

 

On the second leg, we'd had some good practice at the forthcoming -- at least from around Pueblo onwards. Even though the prospect of all those flat agricultural miles is still uncomfortable, d j reminds me of Oakley and something in me unwinds. A little. It's the kind of flying I dislike: the absolute requirement of attending to the minutest details of basically doing nothing. I'm lazy and much prefer some ground to follow and stuff to explore.

 

I'd honestly prefer to do it in IMC, or even at night, Pacific island notwithstanding. Even an unreliable forecast would liven things up a little though Lord knows, those unexpected headwinds did sap my enthusiasm. This must be how it is for those poor chaps painting lines on all those flat, endlessly straight and perpendicular roads down there: not so much as a change of direction when the rain comes at you sideways.

 

Waconda Lake slips by to starboard, the last point of interest for ever.

 

An eternity later "Blow this -- we're heading back to the ground for a while. The Missouri can't be far ahead. Let's see if we can find a bridge."

 

"Hey - 1812 may be fresh in your memory but we're in a race, you silly old fool, not a war." She's tired of my griping.

 

"But after those winds between Cortez and Hill City, I doubt we'll even beat Jesse Stallings in No. 81, never mind winning."

 

More professional than me, and probably considerably more mature than this old fool will ever aspire to be, she refuses. Calculations for the change of altitude would have given her something to think about, occupying a small percentage of her ability for a few minutes, but she's right. Press on.

 

The office, and the Missouri a stone's throw north of Rulo.

 

A tad of nose down, throttles full forward and I'm thinking "A bridge! Just a couple of factories? Is that too much to ask?". I'll bet my nav's thinking something completely different.

 

It's a land of endless fields with 90° roads dotted with little reservoirs that must, given the nature of the terrain, be all of three inches deep. Details occupy my mind. How level is the horizon? Why are there flies up here? Is that a new rattle I hear in the starboard engine? What's that smell? Hydraulic? Electrical? Imagination?

 

We fly into Kirksville's weather and finally there's a change beneath us. Mind-numbing repetition grudgingly admits a little scattered woodland and a few more houses. That something so trivial should elicit such joy!

 

There's been nothing really by which to judge our progress. We've overflown small strips and airfields and ponds but they're so numerous that I can't tell which is which. In any case, I don't need them -- my navigator's never been anything but infallible and faith in her is unshakeable.

 

Somewhere that she tells me is a little south of Unionville Muni, a shining line turns blue just below the horizon ahead. The Mississippi. With thirty miles to go we get Fairfield's weather and she tells me to expect a right turn before descent to fly along the river before turning onto final.

 

The blue line. The Mississippi and Fort Madison.

 

Directly over Farmington and the Des Moines river, "Fly heading 095". Moments later, "Let's get down there."

 

There were no bridges.

 

[taoftedal]

Your narrative reminded me of another story where the Mossie takes center stage … Frederick Forsyth's ‘The Shepherd’ is a great tribute to the machine and those that flew her … ‘The year is 1957. An RAF pilot is heading home from Germany for Christmas. Fog sets in and all radio communication is lost.’

 

Pretty sure it is available as a free download or you could just listen to the CBC radio play adaptation at https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-the-shepherd-edition-2017-1.4455219/fireside-al-maitland-reads-frederick-forsyth-s-the-shepherd-1.4458378.

 

Thanks defaid ... Waconda Lake 

 

Welcome to Cleveland John ... well done Team Scotland!

[ViperPilot2]

3 hours ago, taoftedal said:

Your narrative reminded me of another story where the Mossie takes center stage … Frederick Forsyth's ‘The Shepherd’ is a great tribute to the machine and those that flew her … ‘The year is 1957. An RAF pilot is heading home from Germany for Christmas. Fog sets in and all radio communication is lost.’

 

Pretty sure it is available as a free download or you could just listen to the CBC radio play adaptation at https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-the-shepherd-edition-2017-1.4455219/fireside-al-maitland-reads-frederick-forsyth-s-the-shepherd-1.4458378.

 

Thanks defaid ... Waconda Lake 

 

Welcome to Cleveland John ... well done Team Scotland!

 

Just downloaded the Audiobook. Sounds like a good listen! 

[ScottishMike]

“I'm tempted to drop in to Indianapolis. I've never been; there must be one or two good racing car museums.” I looked pleadingly at her, pretending the little boy wants cookie look.

“I'm Pilot in Command. NO! We are direct for Cleveland. Boys and their toys”. Suzanne had a much more pragmatic approach to all things mechanical.

The Queen rumbled on eastwards. I suspected it had purred once, but years with the Brazilian Army had taken their toll.

“It feels strange, rather like the last term of high school, looking forward to holidays but wondering where to go, old friends splitting up all going different ways.” Unusually emotional for Suzanne, but I felt it too. This adventure was coming to a close. Where to next?

“John did well...” She continued: “I was hoping he would find his bmp, surely someone must know what Scrub did with it.”.

 

“Will there be a party?” John asked. We sat together at a diner near Hopkins.

“Well, first let's notify Viper of the official timings:

 

Leg 4 KFSW to KCLE 432 n.m.

Wheels up 10:16:24 Local 15:16:24 GMT

Wheels down 16:32::53 Local 16:32:53 GMT

TOTAL time 1 hour 16 minutes 29 seconds

Average ground speed 342 kts

 

Now we can celebrate!”

Strangely it didn't feel like a celebration.

 

“Well let's just raise a glass to Viper for organising it, Taoftedal for the real victory, JSMR for probably the prettiest craft in the race, JGF for his P-38, and DangerousDave for being... well ..dangerous in his B-29. But can we wait for DEFAID and his navigator to celebrate the best storytelling? They should be here in 75 years.

“Cheers to them all!”

[defaid]

2 hours ago, ScottishMike said:

They should be here in 75 years.

 

I fear you may be underestimating. I've just checked the weather for the last leg and it doesn't look promising.

 

(I sprayed coffee out of my nose before I realised that you were actually referring to the date)

[taoftedal]

Thinking JMSR, JGF, and defaid will be in Cleveland soon … but I’ve got this weird feeling that we’re all going to be together on the apron, patting each other on the back, checking out the logs, kicking the tires, thinking the race is over … when out of the western sky we see the Tigercat dead stick it onto the runway after an exhausting non-stop cross county run, and walking away with the trophy.  Where is that Tigercat?

[jgf]

Finished.  Descent was too conservative this time so lost time flying the last 20 miles at 5200 ft.  Otherwise same conditions as previous, 50mp, 3000rpm, 23000ft, had 18% fuel left.  A 1:17 for the final 505mi.

 

Folks on that Embraer waiting somewhat patiently for me to get out of the way.

 

 

 

[ViperPilot2]

Welcome to Cleveland, jgf! 

[jgf]

Thanks!

Now for bath, brandy, and a big steak.

 

Still contemplating attempting a non-stop flight following the city-to-city path just to see if those ferry tanks will last the distance ("curiosity killed the cat").

[JSMR]

Am I last to fly the last leg? Soon!!! 

[ViperPilot2]

1 hour ago, JSMR said:

Am I last to fly the last leg? Soon!!! 

Whenever you have time. We'll be patiently waiting! 

[JSMR]

I’m in the air! 318nm to run. Making good time. Tried an unusual plan and will see if it works.
 

Will also see if I run out of fuel.