Route 66 Air Rally

[ViperPilot2]

1 hour ago, jgf said:

 

Early models had a weakness in the tail assembly.  As long as flown "by the book" it was fine, but the Bonanza was something of a hot rod in its day and many pilots pushed it a bit too far.  Once.  The issue was corrected and most older planes were retrofitted. 

 

Holly's death was caused by an inexperienced pilot taking off in bad weather.

 

"Get There-itis". No one is immune.

[taoftedal]

1 hour ago, Sirrus said:

I sink into a chair and wonder what have I got myself into.

 

Yup ... you're in trouble Sirrus.  

[PhrogPhlyer]

3 hours ago, Sirrus said:

a set of new stickers from my new sponsors

Oh Oh Oh Oh!!!

New stickers!!!

[PhrogPhlyer]

8 hours ago, jgf said:

Used the schedule you posted for me, except flew at 5500ft instead of 8000;  VOR to VOR.

OK found it.

Good to see the V-tail in the sky.

[PhrogPhlyer]

Day 6 standings, based upon reported flight times/variances per route leg.

Seven birds on the boards.

Updated as information gets posted. Should I miss anyone's posting of times, just give me a shout, and I'll correct this immediately'ish.

[Melo965]

13 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

15 hours ago, jgf said:

I like the left side of the runway also (must be a British thing).

And to think i was taught left was the side/hand or the devil. Hmmm... 

 

Really?!  Ok, I will try harder to hit the centerline on the next leg.

 

Will be back in the air tomorrow for leg 2.  Spent the last two days helping a friend to get his FSX up and running relatively smoothly now that he has a new SSD drive.

 

It is a good thing that I did not hop right in for leg 2 this morning.  After reinstalling FSX Acceleration myself in the process of helping my friend, my joystick calibration was way off and the Spitfire trim and balance was wonky too.  

[PhrogPhlyer]

10 hours ago, meloscanlon said:

Spent the last two days helping a friend to get his FSX up and running relatively smoothly now that he has a new SSD drive.

Glad you're back and found hope your joystick issue gets resolved.

I run FSX Accel from a SSHD and it really runs smoothly.

It's not to late for your friend to become a late rally entry, hint hint.

[PhrogPhlyer]

3 hours ago, Sirrus said:

up and away into a beautiful sunrise.

 

This is what flying is all about, great pic.

[Melo965]

3 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

It's not to late for your friend to become a late rally entry, hint hint.

 

I sent him an invitation email.  I will let you know.

 

And yes, my joystick and trim are working fine again.  Will for sure do a Leg or maybe 2 today.

 

[ScottishMike]

Sunday afternoon to ourselves. Suzanne pointed to the Cherokee, parked and locked on the apron.

“I wonder what your Vampires will be up to this Sunday afternoon?”

She smiled: “Must be resting up in boxes of Transylvanian soil during the daylight hours.”.

“Let's have a good lunch, then I'd like to have a look around Tulsa.” I suggested.

“Mind if I tag along?” she asked.

“Course not, your company is always welcome.”

We took a taxi into town. Over lunch we decided to cover two legs the next day. Leave around 9:00 am overfly Cordell and head for Amarillo.

“I wonder how they are getting their Transylvanian coffins along? Not much room in the back of the Cherokee.” She laughed.

“Maybe they are in league with Sirrus, plenty of room in the back of the Dove.” I suggested.

“Better tip JSMR off, get his Nun bodygurd to search the back of the De Havilland.” She added.

Afternoon in Tulsa, one of the best I had had in a long time. We joked and laughed past sunset and into the evening.

[taoftedal]

4 hours ago, Sirrus said:

 ... up and away into a beautiful sunrise.

 

Yes ... great screen shot Sirrus.  That one is a keeper!  (speaking of screen shots ... where is Airbasil_1)?

[Bossspecops]

8 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Glad you're back and found hope your joystick issue gets resolved.

I run FSX Accel from a SSHD and it really runs smoothly.

It's not to late for your friend to become a late rally entry, hint hint.

 

I'm the 'friend' that Melo mentioned. 

 

Returning to flight simming after a 10 yr break or so isn't the easiest of tasks, and flying FSX too when I was a died-in-the-wool FS9 flyer before. I'm waiting for the FSX Acceleration update, without which my nav software won't run, but I may give the Rally a go when that arrives, hopefully tomorrow. Much thanks to my good friend Melo for helping me out, I'd have given up if it wasn't for his help. 

 

I'm loving reading the flight reports so far. 

 

Regards

Kit Spackman

aka Bosspecops

[Melo965]

5 hours ago, meloscanlon said:

I sent him an invitation email.  I will let you know.

 

My friend appreciated the invite, but he is still sorting out his flight simulator equipment and programs.  Thanks for the offer!

[Melo965]

16 minutes ago, Sirrus said:

After several cups of coffee and a stack of pancakes with maple syrup, I walk back out to the Dove and start her up. I taxi out to the runway and take off. All seems well so far.

 

That sure is a beautiful aircraft!

 

[Melo965]

5 hours ago, ScottishMike said:

“I wonder what your Vampires will be up to this Sunday afternoon?”

 

Every time you mention them, I think you are talking about de Havilland Vampires.

 

[taoftedal]

 

Yes indeed!

[TomPenDragon]

06 November. Claremore – F36.               2:25 plan v. 2:25 act.

                         F36 – Tradewinds.            1:45 plan v. 1:44 act. V01.

                         Tradewinds – Moriarity   2:33 plan v. 2:33 act.

 

Tom was up early – before 5:00. He showered and dressed and was thinking about taking a walk around Tulsa, either to think or to avoid thinking altogether, he wasn’t sure which. That ended when he opened the door to his hotel room, only to hear the latch of the adjoining room’s door click open. He stepped out into the hallway at the same time as did Rey.

 

“Morning,” he said and waved to the young man. “Couldn’t sleep?”

 

“I slept like a baby,” Rey smiled.

 

“What, you mean nodded off for five minutes and then cried for four hours?” Tom smirked.

 

“No, not at all,” Rey said. “I think it was the best sleep I’ve had in years. What about you?”

 

“Quite well,” Tom said, flexing his hands.

 

“How are your fingers this morning?”

 

“Kind of stiff. Nothing to complain about.”

 

“Yet you just did. With the quantity of capsaicin in those wings yesterday, I’m surprised. What has you up so early?”

 

“Woke up, felt refreshed and ready to go, didn’t feel like laying in bed pressing the TV remote for a couple of hours. You?”

 

“I simply could not sleep anymore. What are you planning to do?”

 

“I was thinking of checking out the city until you woke up and then heading to Cordell. Maybe even do more than one leg today. You?”

 

“My stomach is hurtin’ for certain. I need to get some breakfast to settle it.”

 

“Mind some company?”

 

One of the hotel’s restaurants opened at 5:00 for early birds. Rey and Tom were their first customers of the day. Their server was astonishingly chipper for this time of the morning. She gave them both tall glasses of orange juice, on the house to apologize for their having to wait for the coffee to finish brewing. She also placed a platter of breakfast breads in the center of the table – just-out-of-the-oven hot and steaming. The two men devoured them, to the delight of their server who, although she slotted in age-wise between the two, looked as pleased as a mom watching her two finicky children discovering something that they like.

 

As soon as the coffee was ready, she brought two full cups for the guys, scurried back to the double commercial drip coffee maker by the door to the kitchen and filled a serving carafe to the brim, and placed it in the center of the table. The two looked at each other to ask, “Does she know us?” She drawled on about their Mexican Breakfast Special – “And as you’re Mexican, sir,” she said, looking at Rey, “I can ask the kitchen to make it extra spicy for you.”

 

Both men chuckled at the irony, as they always did when the subject came up. Rey, who looked classically Afro-Latino, was actually born in the U.S., in a border station. Tom, who if he looked anything looked Irish, was born in Oaxaca, supposedly to a missionary couple but, as he often mused, more likely started with, “A priest and a nun walk into a motel room…” He was the only one of the pair who had a Mexican birth certificate.

 

Both men ordered the pancakes.

 

While they were waiting, Rey said, “I saw you working on your EFB yesterday during the early afternoon game.”

 

“It was either that or watch the Patriots lose again,” Tom growled. “I did preliminary routings for the rest of the race. What we’re doing seems to be working.”

 

“Why do you think is that?” Rey asked as he snatched up the last of the biscuits.

 

“We’ve been taking pages from the endurance racing playbook,” Tom answered, washing the words down with a swig of some surprisingly good coffee for north of the border. “We’ve been taking each leg as its own race in and of itself, only focusing on the next stop and not on getting to Santa Monica – building the race one stint at a time. We’re flying VOR-to-VOR rather than Direct-To, which allows us to break the track up into sectors. We’re not flying all-out; we’re keeping a slower pace than the aircraft is capable of and trying to nail our sector times. Or stay a couple of minutes ahead of what our total leg time should be, so that we can back off a little when coming into the airport.

 

“But I think a lot of it has to do with Sierra Hotel. She’s just such a stable and predictable aircraft… And with 500 hours in her – you know, as soon as I’d done a couple of shakedown flights in her, her first cross-country was a circumnavigation – I know her like the back of my hand. And how much time do you have in Cherokees?”

 

“At least a hundred hours, Thomas. You insisted that I learn in Cherokees and Archers, rather than Cessnas or Cirrus.”

 

“Yeah, to me, Cessnas have always been simply too easy to fly. And I wanted you to be thoroughly grounded in analog instruments as you grew into your SR22. Sure, glass panels are a lot more reliable than steam gauges, but if your electrical system decides to pack it in in the soup at 12,500’, you’ve got to be able to still fly the plane.”

 

Tom switched to the seat next to Rey, and the two reviewed the flight plans. They agreed that today was going to be a serious flying day. They finished breakfast quickly, asked the server for a favor and the check, and by the time they had collected their bags and checked out, a car was waiting for them out front.

 

 

Tom revised the flight plan to F36 to consider the current weather and auto-filed it. The morning, at least, was going to be a slog against headwinds. Since the winds weren’t substantially stronger at 8500’ than they were at 4500’, the planner showed that they would shave a good ten minutes off of the run higher up.

 

 

It was Rey’s turn to get the thermos filled, while Tom helicoptered over the hangar staff as they rolled Sierra Hotel out onto the ramp. Rey joined him for the preflight. The two had decided that Tom would be flying at least the first stint; Rey would be handling the radios and navigation. Sierra Hotel’s engine roared to life at 7:40, firing instantly and smoothly the moment the starter engaged.

 

 

Winds were from 160^o at 10 knots – perfect for a flapless takeoff from 17. Tom did his run-up, cranked in some trim, and they were off. The Tulsa beacon was only 16 miles away from the airport and they were still climbing, but they passed it with 14 minutes showing on the flight time – exactly as planned. Even with full throttle, the stock engine struggled to maintain a 500’ per minute climb at 90 knots above 6500’, so Tom leveled off a little later than planned, but sustaining a groundspeed that put them over IRW 3 minutes ahead of schedule.

 

 

Just before reaching IRW, they passed the KOKC Retroport, under the right wing.

 

 

A little less than an hour later, F36 was off the other wing. They were still ahead of plan, so Tom throttled back and began an early, leisurely descent. He doubled back at BFV and entered the pattern from the southwest.

 

 

Tom set Sierra Hotel down at 2:25 flight time. Rey congratulated him for nailing the plan. They decided to make a game of it: the PIC would keep flying until he posted a variance; then, they would switch.

 

They stopped into the FBO to see about fuel, and Tom noticed an advertisement for a small digital trim indicator that boasted a two-hour installation time. He and Rey set up the plane differently, and both agreed that it was a good idea.

 

 

 

The job took closer to five, but they were taxiing to the active at 14:30. They were looking at an hour-and-three-quarters to KTDW, most of which was a very long run to PNH.

 

 

 

 

Tom arrived at the flight plan’s top-of-descent, 2.7 nautical miles from Panhandle, seven minutes early.

 

 

He had eaten one of those minutes by the time they passed PNH. Tom pointed out that Amarillo was also a Retroport, and as Rey stretched and craned over the back of his seat, he could even make out dark blotches on the ramp that marked the parking spots for big, old, radial-engined propliners. “A radial never drips oil,” he said, repeating the old saw, “it is merely marking its territory.”

 

 

Tom was still a couple of minutes early when he entered a broad pattern for 35. He went long on the downwind, flew a crisp but slow base, and by the time he was set up on final, he was only two minutes off their target. As Sierra Hotel settled toward the numbers, Rey saw his throttle hand inch forward for a moment before pulling the engine back to idle.

 

 

“You could have held her in the air for a few more seconds, landed midfield, and we would have been right on the mark,” Rey said as both looked at 1:44 on the flight timer. Tom taxied Sierra Hotel to a parking spot next a red Warrior.

 

“I thought about it,” Tom admitted.

 

“I saw you. Why didn’t you?” Rey asked rhetorically.

 

“’Spirit of the Race,’” both said in unison. It was a term that Tom had first heard from the broadcasters of Radio LeMans and had adapted to his business practices. It meant going all out to win, or at least finish even when you had no chance of winning. For Tom, even more than this, it meant winning fairly – coloring right up to the limits of the rules, but not outside the lines. It meant having a respect for your competitors, behaving honorably even when your competitors didn’t. Mostly, it meant being able to look at yourself in the mirror each night and knowing that each victory was earned, not stolen.

 

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Rey said softly.

 

“We’re in not that bad a position to win this thing,” Tom said. “What’d that be worth if we cheated?”

 

“Just a non-functional, gold-plated vacuum cleaner on the mantlepiece?” Rey mused.

 

“Which’d remind us of people whose trust we’ve betrayed, every time we looked at it,” Tom finished.

 

 

“Should we call it a day?” Tom asked as they walked to the FBO.

 

“I don’t know,” Rey said. “I’m still pretty fresh. I could fly another stint. Besides, you set a V01, so it’s my turn to fly, right?”

 

“Fair is fair,” Tom mock-shrugged.

 

 

 

Tom updated the plan with the afternoon’s weather and filed it while Rey fueled and pre-flighted Sierra Hotel. “It’s pretty much what we’ve been doing: Tucumcari to Anton Chico to Otto to land at Moriarity,” Tom explained to Rey when he boarded the aircraft. “The only thing is, Otto doesn’t have a DME, so we’ll be flying direct-to using Nav 2 but keeping Anton tuned on Nav 1 for distance and time. We’re looking at a 2:33 target.”

 

“Fine,” Rey said, studying the chart. You have us filed at 8500’. Is that going to clear that hill to the east of the airport?”

 

“Perfectly,” Tom said. “The flight path passes right over a peak marked at 7410’. Not even busting minimums. Oh, and don’t even think of a long descent if we arrive ahead of schedule – Moriarity’s at 6204’. The flight plan only contemplates two minutes to pattern altitude…”

 

“Which I cannot start in any case until I clear the hill,” Rey finished. “Got it.”

 

“Well, then, let’s go, Pancho!”

 

“Villa?”

 

“Barnes. And no flying through barns like she used to do on the stunt circuit.”

 

“Aye aye, Captain,” Rey snapped off a salute and fired up the 0-360.

 

 

 

 

 

They took the active as the clock turned 17:00. By 18:01, when they rounded TCC, it was almost completely dark. “We seem to do a lot of night flying,” Rey commented. “People are going to think that we’re vampires.”

 

 

The flight timer read 1:51 when they rounded ACH. “Four minutes fast,” Tom said, and tuned the radios as he had planned.

 

Rey’s lead over the plan had grown to five minutes by the time they passed the hill. Tom was going to mention this, but Rey was looking at the M803, so he was aware. They were doing okay so far, so if Rey landed with a variance, it wasn’t that big a deal. Besides, who wanted a gold duster vac above his fireplace, anyway? He was looking forward to flying the plane tomorrow.

 

“Watch this,” Rey said as he leveled off at 7200’. Instead of the most obvious approach, a straight-in to 26, he turned to runway heading and settled into an upwind. “The rules say, ‘Any legal approach,’ do they not? Would a student be allowed a straight-in? No, we’re flying a pattern.”

 

Off the end of the runway, he snapped a crisp turn to crosswind, then a minute later, another to downwind. 90 degrees on the nose, thought Tom. Never even looked at the DG or the compass. In the dark, at an airport he doesn’t even know. The boy’s a pilot!

 

A pilot who’s flying exceptionally slow. Rey let the airspeed decay to 85 and pulled on a notch of flaps. Down to 75…

 

“Hey vampire,” Tom said, “we just got our doors blown off by the Flying Nun. And she’s got a wooden stake and a crucifix and looks rather peeved.”

 

“A student in a 152 would be doing about this speed on downwind,” Rey pointed out, “and there is no one else in the pattern.”

 

Another crisp split-180 put Rey on final. He brought on full flaps early, and Sierra Hotel’s airspeed dropped to a hair below 70.

 

 

The flight timer turned 2:33 just as one wheel touched the top of the 2 and the other made its mark on the 6. Rey turned to Tom and arched his eyebrows twice. Tom nodded in acknowledgment. There was nothing to say.

 

 

Rey taxied over to a spot beside a P-47 and shut Sierra Hotel down.

 

“Want to get a motel close to here, get an early start tomorrow, or should we head into Albuquerque?” Tom asked.

 

“Do you know, I’ve never been to Albuquerque,” Rey said.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

Day 7 standings, based upon reported flight times/variances per route leg.

Another great day, full of adventure and daring.

Updated as information gets posted. Should I miss anyone's posting of times, just give me a shout, and I'll correct this immediately'ish.

[Airbasil_1]

Count me out and off for this one! As I won't have the time to finish it… due to Real Life issues broken in, i just got to busy… So Flight Simming has to be layed down for a few month unfortunately, as i have to prioritize my real life for now and get things sorted first. 

[TomPenDragon]

8 hours ago, Airbasil_1 said:

Count me out and off for this one! As I won't have the time to finish it… due to Real Life issues broken in, i just got to busy… So Flight Simming has to be layed down for a few month unfortunately, as i have to prioritize my real life for now and get things sorted first. 

I just hope it's "good" busy and that everything goes your way.  We're going to miss you around here!

[PhrogPhlyer]

9 hours ago, Airbasil_1 said:

due to Real Life issues broken in

We all can appreciated this issue, as real life gets in the way so many times.

Looking forward to your participation in future community FlightSim events.

[PhrogPhlyer]

2 hours ago, Sirrus said:

time for KTDW to 0E0

I'll include on the update tonight. Thanks.

[taoftedal]

9 hours ago, Airbasil_1 said:

Count me out and off for this one! As I won't have the time to finish it… due to Real Life issues broken in, i just got to busy… So Flight Simming has to be layed down for a few month unfortunately, as i have to prioritize my real life for now and get things sorted first. 

 

So sorry to hear this ... life happens.  You'll be missed.  Take care.

[taoftedal]

39 minutes ago, Sirrus said:

 .... and I cross the Sandias at low level.

 

Very nice!  Coming into Albuquerque from the east through the range is pretty special.  (as long as you've done your homework).  Another nice screen shot Sirrus.

[taoftedal]

13 hours ago, TomPenDragon said:

"Do you know, I’ve never been to Albuquerque.”

 

Wow!  I'm impressed.  Keep it up and I'm assuming we'll just have to hand you the trophy in Gallup!  (... but watch out for that Spitfire behind you.  I believe they have machine guns).