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Around the world in 175 days.


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I have recently been inspired by a virtual around the world by Peter McLeland that he had been posting on the CBFS forum. I began to think about doing something similar, but did not want to just copy what he was doing. My research on alternatives and came across the story of the very first flight around the world. In March/April of 1924 a team from the United States Army Air Service, started there attempt to be the first to fly around the world. The aircraft they used was the 'Douglas World Cruiser', a modification of the Douglas DT-2, an early 1920's torpedo bomber being built at the time for the US Navy. It was a two seat, open cockpit bi-plane powered by a 400hp surplus Liberty engine that on average had to be replaced every 60 hours of flight time. It could be easily converted from wheels to floats and was modified to carry 644 gallons (2,438 liters) of fuel (up from 115 gallons).

 

They started there adventure in Santa Monica California, the site of the Douglas Aircraft factory and flew to Seattle where the trip was to officially began. They made 74 stops, travelled 26,345 Statute miles (22,893 nm) and took 175 days, passing through Alaska, Japan, China, French Indochina (now Vietnam), India, Persia, Turkey, Austria, France, Britain, Iceland, Greenland and Canada (and several other countries along the way) before returning back to the United States. Along the way they lost two aircraft, one crashed in Alaska, one force landed in the North Atlantic and sank but all the crews survived.

 

Most of my information on the trip came from the book “Around the world in 175 days” by Carroll V. Glines and will liberally quote from this book while writing my descriptions.

 

In planning this first thing I discovered was I could not find a Douglas World Cruiser that was really up to the standard I wanted to use. I found one that was a FS2002/2004 model that looked pretty primitive in FSX/P3D and whose panel was way to modern, the original aircraft only had four gauges in the cockpit. Besides I don't think I would have the patience to fly this single slow aircraft for the entire trip, so instead I will make the trip around the world also a trip through the history of aviation, starting with something early from the Wright Brothers and ending with something very modern. Trying to make sure that whatever aircraft I use was still in production after all the previous aircraft were introduced. This will give me an excuse to dig into my large collection of aircraft I have amassed.

 

I will try to fly the original route as close as possible. Many of the early legs will be broken up into multiple shorter since many of the early aircraft I will be using are not as capable as the DWC. When possible I will try to fly at 1x speed with real world weather. Most of the flights will be flown using P3D v3.4 but some may be flown in FSX or X-Plane depending on what works best for the aircraft/location. I worked out a plan that involves 85 stops covering 25,875 statute miles/22485 nm, we will see how many days it takes me.

 

I do reserve the right to patch in the hand held GPS/Radio on aircraft not equipped, and to install a period appropriate autopilot on aircraft that are not equipped but could plausibly have been so.

 

The entire trip will be recorded using the FSAirlines.net flight tracking client. I will be using the new aircraft rental feature, currently in beta test on our site.

 

Having said all that, the adventure begins.....

 

Note, I always intended to post these here but when I got started somehow forgot. Rather than posting all at once I will post one leg every day or two until I am caught up with my current progress. If you have seen these before I apologize.

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March 17, 1924. The four pilots had assembled at the Douglas Factory at the airport in Santa Monica California. Over the previous few months they had completed there training, each pilot had selected a mechanic to fly with them and done a test flight from Santa Monica to ¬San Diego and back. Major Frederick Martin had selected Sergeant Alva Harvey to be his mechanic and co-pilot. Lt Lowell H. Smith had selected Lt. Leslie P. Arnold, Lt. Leigh P. Wade had selected Sergeant Henry H. Ogden, and Lt. Erik Nelson had selected Lt. Jack Harding. Lt. Nelson had experienced engine problems on his test flight to San Diego and decided to have the engine on his aircraft replaced. The other three crews loaded up there aircraft and started flying for Sacramento California, Lt Nelson would catch up with them later.

 

May 25, 2017. For this first leg I was using the Wright Model B, created by First Class Simulations. Of all the aircraft I plan to use, this one scares me the most. The Model B was the first mass produced aircraft by the Wright Brothers, and when you read about the number of pilots killed flying it, in the few years it was actually used you get the feeling its a death trap. You are literally sitting in a seat attached to the leading edge of the wing with very little frame around you. The window of speeds between stalling and over speed is pretty small and the aircraft is very underpowered. I had too increase the propeller efficiency from .6 to .75 just to give enough power to get off the ground and stay airborne. This morning the weather was perfect for flying, clear, winds 3-4kn, perfect for flying an aircraft that cruises at 45mph. I did not think this aircraft would get over the Tehachapi mountains north of Los Angeles so I decided to fly up the California coast instead. So today my destination is the city of Santa Barbara, 73 nm away. The flight was thankfully uneventful, and I arrived at the Santa Barbara Municipal airport 1.4 hours later. Here are a few pics from the flight.

 

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Ready for takeoff.

 

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Climbing out of Santa Monica, the trip is finally started!

 

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Flying over Santa Monica heading for the coast

 

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Heading up the coast.

 

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The harbor in Ventura California.

 

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My destination, the Santa Barbara Airport.

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March 17, 1924. “The three planes departed Santa Monica as scheduled but ran into low clouds over the Tehachapi Mountains so they had to zigzag through the passes”. Lt. Smith with his accurate knowledge of these mountains was assigned to lead the way.

 

May 26, 2017. The aircraft I decided to use is the Morane-Saulnier H, a french sport monoplane that was produced from 1913 up until the beginning of World War 1, and in the war saw limited service as a reconnaissance aircraft. It was widely copied in Germany and was the basis for the Pfalz E.I-E.VI and the Fokker 'Eindecker' monoplane fighters, with more powerful engines and a synchronized machine gun.

 

The aircraft model I am using today was created by Jean-Michel Castagne, which is greats. Another great flying day in Santa Barbara California, clear, few clouds, winds steady at 7kn. I need to fly down the coast a short distance before turning inland to get over the mountains that are north the city, after that it was an easy flight, I picked up the freeway that runs trough this area and followed it to my destination, the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, 63 nm away, which I arrived at after 1.1 hours of flying. Here are a few pics from the flight.

 

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Ready for takeoff.

 

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Climbing out of Santa Barbara, need get some altitude to get over the hill.

 

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Over the hill, Santa Maria is just on the Horizon

 

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Pismo Beach and my destination of San Louis Obispo are now in sight.

 

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On Final.

 

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Parked at the airport, Hey there are people here to greet me!

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March 17, 1924. The three aircraft piloted by Major Martin, Lt Smith and Lt Wade are on there way to Sacramento.

 

May 27, 2017. San Luis Obispo, California. For the next leg I decided to fly the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny. The Jenny first flew in 1915 and many thousands were produced during WW1. After they war surplus Jenny's flooded market and did much to fuel the barnstorming ear and the growth aviation in early 1920's. The model I am using was the one originally in FS2004 and was upgraded to FSX by David Grindele. When I first tried it in P3D it had a hard time getting enough speed to take off so I converted the rear skid to a steerable tail wheel, and gave it brakes while I was at it, and then it worked like a champ. Weather today in SLO was mostly clear, good flying weather except for a 17 kn head wind. My destination for today was the Monterey Regional Airport, 100 nm up the coast. Now flying an aircraft that has a cruise speed 52 kn and an endurance of 2 hours (range = 104 nm), I worried that I may not make it in this aircraft, but I read that some Jenny's were modified to increase there fuel capacity from 21 gallons to 31 gallons, I figured I could make that field modification and hope that would be enough, but I did not have to worry, I think the fuel consumption in the old FS9 model was too low to start with and neither David nor myself had noticed or updated it so I got there with plenty of fuel. I did have P3D crash on me when I was 25nm out so I had to restart and I used x16 to get myself back to where I was. I arrived at KMRY after 1.7 hours of flying. Here are a few pics from the flight.

 

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Ready for takeoff.

 

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Climbing out of San Luis Obispo

 

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Morro Bay Harbor with Morro Rock at its mouth.

 

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Heading up the California coast.

 

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Hearst Castle

 

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The city of Monterey with the airport in sight!

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March 17, 1924. The three aircraft piloted by Major Martin, Lt Smith and Lt Wade are on there way to Sacramento.

 

May 27, 2017. Took a bit of a rest in Monterey, then pulled out the Albatros D.III for the next leg of the trip. The D.III first flew in 1916 and was one of the leading fighters the during the period of German aerial dominance known as "Bloody April" 1917. The model I am using for this leg is the A2A Simulations 'Aircraft Factory' model, which is very nice. Compared to the previous aircraft I have used on this trip, the extra power in the Albatros will be very useful getting over the Santa Cruz mountains that are between me and my destination, the Oakland International Airport, 70.5 nm away. The weather was again excellent for flying, 12 kn winds with scattered clouds. Here are a few pics from the flight.

 

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Ready for takeoff.

 

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Climbing out of Monterey

 

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Up the coast toward Santa Cruz

 

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Cruising along.

 

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On final into Oakland.

 

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Landed. I would have taxied to parking but since the AC has no brakes and just a skid in back, I will stop here.

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March 17, 1924. The three planes arrived at Mather Field, Sacramento California after 4.5 hours of flying and were greeted by the Mayor and a crowd of several hundred, after servicing there aircraft they were taken into town to a dinner in here honor given by the Chamber of Commerce.

 

March 29, 2017. I was busy yesterday and could not fly, this morning I get the Avro 504K ready for the next leg. The Avro 504 first flew in 1913 and almost 9000 were built before the last variant was produced in 1932. The K model was built staring in 1917 and was widely used as a trainer and even a fighter for Home Defense squadrons. Many hundreds were sold for civilian use after the war. I will be using the 504K from the A2A Aircraft Factory.

 

Weather today is wet and foggy, 700 foot ceiling and 10-15kn winds, the control tower denied by VFR take off request so I will have to go without permission. I had originally picked Oakland as a destination because from here I could do a tourist flight over the city of San Francisco before heading to Sacramento, at first I though it would be too foggy but I see the clouds over the city are not so bad. After taking a few selfies by the tourist spots I headed up the bay, staying over the water since the tops of the hills were mostly in clouds, it did not clear up till I was through the bay and over the Sacramento Delta, then it was a short flight to Sacramento Mather Airport, formerly Mather Air Force Base, formerly Mather Field. As the crow flies Mather is 58 nm from Oakland Airport but my round about route took me 1.2 hours. My scenic route took 6.1 hours of flying compared to the 4.5 in the original flight but since I broke it up into 5 parts I am now four days behind. Here are a few pics from my flight.

 

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Ready for takeoff.

 

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Maybe the clouds over SF are not so bad after all.

 

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Flying over the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

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Flying under the Golden Gate Bridge

 

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Alcatraz

 

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Finally out of the clouds!

 

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My destination is in sight!

 

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Parked at Mathers.

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March 18, 1924. They had originally planned to fly from Sacramento to Portland Oregon but in the morning there were very strong head winds so Major Martin decided that they would instead try to reach Eugene Oregon. After an hours flying they were only 40 miles from Sacramento...

 

March 29, 2017. Getting ready fly this next leg I got ready the Nieuport 24. The Niewport was a French built biplane fighter (actually a sesquiplane if you want to be technical). While its performance was not really much better than the aircraft it was supposed to replace, But it was still built in large numbers and used by French, British, Russian and American Units as either a fighter and trainer. Today I will be using the model by FlySimWare. Its a pretty good aircraft, flies well but has a nasty twist on takeoff. And its one of the few good French aircraft in my collection (I already used the other).

 

The Nieuport will not make it to Eugene so instead my destination is Redding in Northern California, 126 nm away. Flying conditions today are good, clear with 10nm winds. Flight was fine but when i landed I learned I did not start the FSA client to record it, so I had to do it again (with acceleration to make up time). Flight time 1.2 hours. Here are some pics from the flight.

 

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Ready for takeoff.

 

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Climbing out of Mather field.

 

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California's central valley can be a pretty boring place at times.

 

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It does have a some interesting features though.

 

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Redding airport, terrain around here is a bit more interesting as we are getting closer to the mountains.

 

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Parked at the Redding Municipal Airport.

 

That's all for now, thanks for reading.

Happy Flying.

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March 18, 1924: As they flew on the winds gradually decreased. Lt Wade was forced to land near Cottonwood California because a radiator leak. Major Martin decided not to land to prevent any damage to the other to planes and proceeded with Lt Smith to Eugene, they arrived after more than six hours, Lt Wade arrived three hours later. Again they were met by the city leaders and a large crowd, and were again the guests of honor at a dinner by the Chamber of Commerce.

 

June 1, 2017. Today I prepared the Junkers F.13 for flight. The F.13 first flew at the end of WW1 and was introduced in 1920, it was the world's first all-metal transport aircraft and was very advanced for its day. Well over 300 were built and production continued until 1932. The model I am using was made by Craig Richardson and is available on the classicwings.net website.

 

The flight started out as a pretty easy flight, light winds and clear skies for my next flight to Eugene Oregon, 221 nm away. I just had to get enough altitude to get over the mountains to the north. Things were going well when flying through the mountains in southern Oregon and also some puffy clouds near the top of the ridge, not wanting to loose altitude i decided to go over it, only to discover that it was not just a small cloud, it was the edge of a very large stretch of overcast. Once I knew I was past the ridge I decided it was not a good idea to be above the clouds in a VFR aircraft, so I tried to drop down in a hole in a cloud that was not really a hole, finally came out of the could at about 3000 feet only to see a 4000 foot ridge in front of me, up over the ridge, back into the clouds. Fortunately I brought a pocket GPS and when it looked like I was over a valley again I dropped down to get under the clouds and made my way the remainder of the trip at about 2000 feet until I reached Eugene, after 2.4 hours of flying. Here are a few pics from the trip.

 

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Climbing out of Redding California

 

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Heading on over the Mountains

 

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Mount Shasta from the cockpit, cold!

 

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Flying past Mount Shasta

 

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Southern Oregon.

 

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Finally under those clouds. Sorry I did not take more pics while i was in the clouds, but I was a bit preoccupied not crashing into a mountain.

 

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Finally the clouds are breaking up.

 

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Eugene Airport, my destination.

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March 19, 1924: The three planes left Eugene next morning for Vancouver Washington, on the way they were intercepted by five JN-4s from the Vancouver Barracks Aerodrome. When they arrived they were greeted by a large crowd from the cities of Portland and Vancouver. They motored into Portland for a luncheon with the city leaders. They had intended to fly to Seattle that afternoon but shortly after departing the ceiling dropped to 500 feet and Major Martin decided they should return to Vancouver. That evening, Lt Nelson arrived in Eugene, flying directly from Santa Monica after 9 hours 45 minutes of flying.

 

June 10, 2017. The aircraft for the next leg is the Fokker F.VIIa, by Jens B. Kristensen. The Fokker was the aircraft of choice for many early airlines, both in Europe and the Americas and it dominated the American market in the late 1920s.

 

My Progress has been delayed by the fact that I just received a new computer to use for flight sim and I need to transfer over and re-install enough software so I could get flying again. Today flying conditions are good, 7 kn winds, ceiling 2000-4000 feet with clear terrain between me and my destination of Pearson Field, Vancouver Washington, 93 nm away.

 

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Ready for takeoff

 

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Climbing out of Eugene Oregon.

 

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Central Oregon.

 

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Clouds getting thicker.

 

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Make sure you avoid the radio antennas.

 

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My destination, I'm flying over KPDX but my destination is just beyond the river.

 

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Arrived at Pearson Field.

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March 20, 1924: The morning the three aircraft left Vancouver for Sand Point Field in Seattle (now the site of Magnuson Park), arriving by Noon. Lt Nelson arrived from Eugene two hours later. Once again they were meet by Local Dignitaries and were motored into town for a Luncheon. The flyers would then spend the next three weeks getting the aircraft ready for the trip including swapping the wheels for floats, protecting all metal surface with either varnish or oil and getting there supplies in order.

 

June 10, 2017: This afternoon I got ready the de Havilland DH.60 Moth by Golden Age Simulations, which I like a lot. The DH.60 was a two seat training and touring aircraft built from 1925 in many different versions until 1932 when it was replaced by the DH.82 Tiger Moth. “By 1929 it was estimated that of every 100 aeroplanes in Britain, 85 were Moths of one type or another”.

 

My 114nm flight to Seattles Renton Municipal Airport was pretty smooth, most interesting thing was this was the first real flight I did on the new computer using P3D V4, with autogen turned up to the max and the screen at 3840x2160 I was still getting 60 fps, hopefully you will see a difference in the screen shots.

 

So far I have had 12.1 hours of flight time compared to 13.5 by the flyers, and they arrived in Seattle after 4 days while I took 16, but I won’t have to take 3 weeks getting my aircraft ready for the next leg.

 

Here are the pics:

 

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Ready for takeoff

 

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Last look at Oregon for a while

 

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Central Washington

 

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Mount St Helens, hiding in the clouds.

 

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I can't tell you how many times I flew under this Bridge in FS2004.

 

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SeaTac Airport with Seattle in the distance.

 

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My destination, Renton Municipal Airport.

 

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Aircraft Secured, time for dinner!

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April 6, 1924: The preparations had been made and the flyers were ready to start their flight. The route had been organized into seven divisions for planning purposes and the first division was from Seattle to Attu in the Aleutian islands. The pilots had been instructed to name there planes after American cities on the four points of the compass, Major Martin named his plane ‘Seattle’, Lt. Smith named his plane ‘Chicago’, Lt Wade named his ‘Boston’ and Lt Nelson chose ‘New Orleans’. Sgt. Turner became ill just before departure and felt to weak to continue so Lt Smith chose alternate pilot Lt Leslie Arnold to be his co-pilot/mechanic. They wanted to depart on April 4th but bad weather reports caused them to cancel. On April 5th Major Martin tried to take off but his propeller broke with a loud crack and repairs took till the next day. Finally on the 6th, in front large crowds, the four planes taxied out and one by one took off. The planes were at maximum weight and Boston could not get airborne. Lt Wade taxied back to the dock, where they made some adjustments and unloaded some gear including their rifle, a small anchor and some extra clothing. An hour behind the others they took off and were on there way to Prince Rupert Canada, 650 miles away.

 

June 11, 2017: The flyers took about 8 hours to fly from Seattle to Prince Rupert, not having that much time today I decided to break the trip into three smaller legs. Since they had switched there planes from wheels to floats, I will use float planes on these first legs. The aircraft I have chosen is the Ryan B-5 Brougham by Golden Age Simulations. The Brougham was a very popular small airliner that was used in Alaska but also China and Central America. The model is very good, flying it is easy but side visibility is a bit restricted, but thats the way it was built. My destination for today is Comox, British Columbia, on the eastern coast of Victoria Island, 170 nm away. Flying conditions are again good, scattered clouds and 5-6 kn. winds, the flight was uneventful and I arrived after 1.7 hours of flying. Here are a few pictures from the flight:

 

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Ready for takeoff.

 

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Climbing out of Renton Municipal Airport.

 

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Flying over Downtown Seattle

 

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View along the way.

 

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Another along the way.

 

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Yet another along the way.

 

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The destination is in site.

 

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Landing at Comox

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April 6, 1924: Lt Wade few solo to Prince Rupert through thick fog an dead calm. “I flew right down on the water so glassy that I was constantly fearful of slapping the surface.” Wade said. “I used the tree line on my left as a guide and followed it for a long way. In skimming over Johnstone Strait, we almost collided with ships twice”....

 

June 15, 2017: Today I got ready the Monocoupe 90, a two seat cabin monoplane, which first flew in 1927. Various versions were in production until the late 1940's, and over 300 were built. The version I am using today was made by Golden Age Simulations and is very good, the package includes the Monocoupe 90, 110 and 125 and has both wheeled and float versions.

 

I readied for flight the float plane version of of the 90 in a nice blue color. I had tried this flight two days before but the sim crashed so to make up time I did resort to some time acceleration. My plan today is to fly to Bella Bella, British Columbia, 191 nm away. Weather today is a bit more challenging than the previous flights, conditions in Comox were 14kn winds with cloud level at between 800-3000 feet. I headed north west following the Discovery Passage to the Johnstone strait, keeping between 1000-1500 feet to stay below the clouds, in the Johnstone strait the clouds got heavier and in I dropped to 800 ft and spent some time flying through rain. Once I reached the pacific things cleared up a bit, however once I reached the Burke Channel the clouds closed in again and I had to drop to about 500 feet to stay in clear air. I found the passage on the south side of Denny Island and followed it around to Bella Bella. The Monocoupe came in a bit fast and it took a few attempts to get the landing right. One problem with sea plane airports is its a bit harder to identify them, there are two of in this little bay and I ended up stopping next to the wrong one, but they are all pretty close together and as far as the FSAirlines client was concerned it was close enough and the flight got recorded. Flight time 1.9 hours. Here are a few screen shots from the flight:

 

 

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Ready to depart.

 

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Up the Discovery Passage

 

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Down the Johnstone strait

 

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Still flying down the Johnstone strait

 

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Over the Pacific

 

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Getting Closer

 

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Up the Burke Channel

 

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Arrived.

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April 6, 1924: Major Martin initially though a photo graphic airplane was Lt Wade in Boston so the first three aircraft headed for Prince Rupert, only later did he discover his mistake. After flying though haze so thick they had to drop to 100 feet to pick their way around the numerous small. After passing the Johnstone strait they emerged from the fog just in time to avoid a Steamer looming just ahead. Back into fog and over increasingly heavy seas. They arrived at the entrance to Prince Rupert Harbor and encountered a heavy snow storm. As Martin was about to land he could see he had too much momentum to stop before hitting the beach but not enough power to go around so he cut power and pulled up to make a stalled landing, he avoided the beach but landed with enough force to damage the left wing struts and some of the wires. The other pilots landed safely, Lt Wade in Boston landed an hour after the others. Lt Arnold wrote in his diary, “125 miles of fog, 275 in rain and snow, hell of a day”. Seattle was hauled into the Prince Rupert Dry Dock for repairs.

 

June 17, 2017: Today I prepared the Waco UBF-2 for flight. The Waco F-Series first flew in 1930 and was a very popular sport and training aircraft. Many of this classic aircraft are still flying and versions the aircraft are still being built. The model I am using was made by Golden Age simulations and it is very nice to fly. I think it’s the fourth Golden Age aircraft I have used so far.

 

The weather was calm but hazy, visibility between 5 and 8 miles. I was always worried that the fog would roll in so I stayed low at around 1000ft but full fog never arrived. I few along the west coast of Princess Royal and Pitt island before arriving at Prince Rupert Harbor. The 155 nm flight from Bella Bella took 1.5 hours.

 

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Ready for flight.

 

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Hazy conditions.

 

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Princess Royal Island.

 

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Along the way.

 

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Flying between McCauley and Pitt Islands.

 

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The town of Prince Rupert.

 

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Nice view of the cruise ship.

 

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Safe landing.

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April 10, 1924: It took about 3 days to complete the repairs to the damaged Seattle. It was raining on the morning of the 10th but reports from along there route were encouraging so Major Martin decided they would attempt the 282 mile flight to Sitka Alaska. That moring for the first time all four planes took off together, an hour later they passed Ketchikan at low altitude in light rain. Passing the Clarence strait about 60 miles from Sitka they encountered thick haze and had to fly low over 30 foot swells with only 100 yard visibility. As they approached the there destination, Wade recalled “The harbor sight was exhilarating, mirror like water, tiny city, snow capped peaks, and a sky full of soaring seagulls”.

 

June 19, 2017: Today from Prince Rupert I prepared the Fairey Swordfish for the flight. The Fairey Swordfish was a British torpedo bomber that first flew in 1934 and is probably the closest aircraft to the Douglas World Cruiser I am likely to use, unless of course someone decides to make a P3D/FSX compatible version of the DWC (please?). Despite being considered obsolete at the start of the WW2, it was still in service when the war ended. Produced until 1944, it sank more ships than any other allied aircraft and survived past several aircraft designed to replace it. The model I am using today is made by 'Flying Stations' and is quite nice.

 

It was cloudy in Prince Rupert so as I left I stayed low as I headed North west over the channel. After about an hour of flying the cloud lifted and I climbed to 6000 ft so I could head directly over the mountains rather than weaving my way through the many channels. Once I had flown over the lower peninsula of Baranof island I descended to 1500 feet and followed the along the coast to Sitka Alaska and landed after 2.3 hours of flying.

 

Here are a few pics from the flight.

 

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Prince Rupert, BC. Ready to go

 

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Climbing out of Prince Rupert, BC.

 

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Turning toward Ketchikan Alaska

 

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Flying over Ketchikan Alaska

 

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Ah! Good flying weather.

 

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Flying along the coast of Baranof Island.

 

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Coming into Sitka Alaska.

 

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Landed Safe!

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Stupendous!!!! What wonderful shots backed by research!!

 

You've set a very high bar for all of us to try to measure up to!! Thanks so much!!!!

 

Michael

Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow.
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A truly splendid piece of effort, and its excellence shows all over. Hats off. Like Michael remarked, you've set a new standard. On a similar note, I've always been fascinated by the MacRobertson Air Race and want to refly it, as well as retrace the route of the movie Easy Riders! Thank you for sharing, and best wishes.

 

Khalid

 

NB - a tad off topic, anyone seen this? http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40515754

Asus P8Z77-V Premium Mobo w\32GB MSATA Caching SSD On-Board | i7-3770K CPU | 16GB DDR3 1600 | FSX Gold on 1TB boot SSD | P3Dv4 on 512MB SSD | 1TB+2TB WD HDDs | 2 Asus GTX660 2GB Ti Cu cards w\SLI | Win7 Pro 64 | REX Full Catalogue | ORBX FTX Full Catalogue | Saitek Flight Control Pro w\Dual Throttle Quadrants+Pedals | 24"+2x19" HP Monitors | 1000W PSU

 

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

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Stupendous!!!! What wonderful shots backed by research!!

 

You've set a very high bar for all of us to try to measure up to!! Thanks so much!!!!

 

Michael

 

A truly splendid piece of effort, and its excellence shows all over. Hats off. Like Michael remarked, you've set a new standard. On a similar note, I've always been fascinated by the MacRobertson Air Race and want to refly it, as well as retrace the route of the movie Easy Riders! Thank you for sharing, and best wishes.

 

Khalid

 

NB - a tad off topic, anyone seen this? http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40515754

 

Love the rich variety of aircraft you're flying.

Enjoying the trip!

Cheers!

 

Thanks for all the encouragement! I was beginning to think nobody here was interested in this as up until now there had been no comments.

 

The MacRobertson Air Race is something that has always interested me too, that would be a very cool thing to reproduce.

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April 13, 1924: They could not leave on the 11th because of heavy rain. It rained, hailed and snowed on the 12th, they flyer were kept busy keeping trying to protect there aircraft that kept loosing there anchors, but on the 13th it was clear and calm so they took on extra fuel so they could reach 625 miles to Seward in case the weather was clear at their initial destination of Cordova. With Lt Wade in the lead they took off, the good weather did not last long and they flew in violent snowstorms. Wade flew at 100 feet over the shore line with the others in formation behind as they tried to avoid the mountains that would loom up in their way…

 

June 24, 2017: Today I will by flying the de Havilland DH.82 Tiger moth. The tiger moth first flew in 1932 and was an evolution of the earlier DH.60 Moth. It was used as the primary trainer for the RAF and many other Air forces until the late 50’s and is still operated by many private individuals and flying clubs. Well over 8000 were built. Today I will be using the model built by Ant’s Airplanes and I like this model enough that it is setup as the default aircraft when I load flight sim.

 

There are many more capable aircraft from the early 30’s I could have used but I did not want to pass up the TM, but it does not have the range to make Seward so instead the destination will be Yakutat Alaska, 201 nm away. Conditions at Sitka were good for flying, light winds and about a 8k ceiling and started off happily around 4000 ft but soon had to drop to 1000 ft as the clouds got heavier and it started to rain. Lots of cool glaciers to see as we headed along the coast. The weather lighted up as we got close to Yakutat and the flight took 2.3 hours later. Here are a few pics from the flight.

 

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Ready for takeoff.

 

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On our way, good flying weather near Sitka.

 

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Weather is closing in, our first Glacier along the way.

 

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More glaciers.

 

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Weather is clearing up.

 

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Scenery along the way.

 

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On approach to Yakutat.

 

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Secured.

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April 13, 1924: The planes continued on 10 feet above the breakers, "The beach was covered in snow and the air around us was filled with it", Nelson Wrote. Arnold wrote in his diary "I hope we never have to fly through such thick weather again". The weather broke into clear skies and unlimited visibility as they approached Cordova, so instead of landing there they continued on to Seward. Major Martin late sent a letter of apology to the Mayor of Cordova when he learned they had prepared a reception and dinner in their honor.

 

June 25, 2017: Today I planned to use the De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide. The DH.89 first flew in 1934 and went on to become perhaps the most successful British built short-haul commercial passenger aircraft of the 1930s. The model I will be using today id by Dave Garwood and the CBFS design team and is excellent.

 

Flying weather today was excellent, Clear, scattered clouds, easy flying until I got close to Montague island when the clouds started to thicken up. Knowing the island was in front of me I decided to go over the small cloud in front of me but then saw that the clouds extended for quite some distance beyond i headed for the nearest hole in the clouds to head back to low level., I had to drop to 600 feet to get below the clouds. The clouds broke about 15 minute later and I could climb back to 1500 ft and cruised along the coast until i reached the mouth of Resurrection Bay, then up the bay and a landed at Seward. I traveled the 297 nm from Yakutat to Seward in 3.1 hours.

 

Here are the pics:

 

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Where did these guys come from, well there the passangers, looks like they are headed to a Grunge concert or something, hope they enjoy the flight.

 

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Climbing out over Yakutat Bay.

 

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Glamour shots.

 

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Clounds starting to close in.

 

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Trying to get under them.

 

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Clear skies again.

 

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Resurrection Bay

 

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The town of Seward Alaska.

 

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Secure at Seward.

 

Yes, I know that's nine, I have tried to stay to eight but its such a pretty plane, sorry.

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April 15, 1924: By 11 am they were ready for the 425 mile flight to Chignik. Only Major Martin in Seattle had difficulty taking off and had to take three attempts to get in the air. For the next four hours, the flight was uneventful and enjoyable but stiff head winds slowed them down. Harding recalled “The clear deep blue water below, clear skies above, and snow covered peaks and glaciers on our right were beyond description in beauty and splendor” . The other crews noticed that Seattle had dropped down to lower altitude and was staying near the rear of the formation. All but Martin decided to go over a mountain while he tried to go around it. When they reached Cape Igvak Seattle could not be seen in the thick haze, but with the strong head winds they did not have the fuel to go back and search for them. After 6 hours 38 minutes of flying they landed in Anchorage Bay at Chignik they immediately rushed ashore to radio that there leader was missing and believed down on Portage Bay. The Navy immediately ordered the destroyers Corey and Hull to the area.

 

June 27, 2017: Today I will be flying the Douglas DC-2 for the 364nm flight from Seward to Chignik Alaska. Introduced in 1934 and built in response to a TWA specification for an all metal tri-motor, the Douglas response was more radical with twin engines, retractable landing gear and two 690 hp Wright radial engines driving variable-pitch propellers. Although overshadowed by its ubiquitous successor, it was the DC-2 that first showed that passenger air travel could be comfortable, safe and reliable. A KLM DC-2 even came in second in the MacRobertson Air Race between London and Melbourne while carrying mails, making scheduled passenger stops.

 

The model I am flying today is by UIVER Team and is quite nice. Its nice but touchy to fly, if you lower the gear when your flying to fast the hydraulics will fail and the engines cut out on me once as I probably over-revved the engine. But the flight was uneventful for me, even if it was quite rainy when I left Seward and the scenery along the way was quite dramatic. I arrived after 2.3 hours of flying. Here are a few pics from

 

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Ready as Seward, Active Sky said this was light rain.

 

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Back out Resurrection Bay.

 

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I did say there was 'light rain' didn't I.

 

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Glaciers.

 

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Not sure what this rock is but it is dramatic.

 

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After flying through some fog the weather finally cleared up.

 

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Approaching Chignik.

 

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Secured.

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April 15, 1924: After 4 hours of flying Sargent Harvey yelled to Major Martin that the oil pressure gauge had dropped to zero and they immediately looked for a place to land, spotting a sheltered cove in Portage bay. As soon as they had slowed sufficiently Harvey leaped onto the pontoon to check the engine and found a three inch hole in the crank case. Martin and Harvey slept in the cockpits of the airplane, so sure assistance would arrive soon they did want to swim ashore, and at 5am the next morning the destroyers Corey and Hull arrived after steaming 312 miles to reach them. They were towed 10 miles to the village of Kanatak to await fuel, oil and a new engine being brought to them by the Coast Guard Cutter Algonquin.

 

April 19, 1924: At the same time Algonquin was heading to the disabled Seattle, Martin ordered Smith to proceed with the other aircraft to Dutch Harbor, where they had better facilities for taking care of the planes. A stiff wind was blowing as they untied there aircraft, along there flight to UnAlaska they flew around, over, under and through snow squalls, experienced the fierce Williwaw winds, flew over rocky islands, volcanoes and looked up at ice-capped mountains. After flying 390 miles in 7 hours and 26 minutes they landed in Dutch Harbor where the Coast Guard cutter Haida was waiting for them.

 

July 8, 2017: Today I got ready to fly the Heinkel He-51. The He-51 was a German single seat biplane figher that first flew in 1935 that was used by both the Luftwaffe and Spanish served as a fighter, seaplane, ground attack and trainer until 1952. Over 700 were built. The aircraft I am using today was by Craig Richardson and will be using a civilian repaint by Bernhard Lechner. The aircraft is very nice but it does tend to nose over if you apply the brakes to hard.

 

I decided to break this leg into two parts in the interest storytelling and using a couple smaller aircraft before the long oversea routes. My destination for this flight is Cold Bay, 161 nm away. The weather in Chignik for the start of the flight was great, 5 kn winds and clear. I climbed up over the low mountains and headed down the Alaskan peninsula at about 4000 ft. The weather got cloudier and windier as we flew on, eventually having to drop down to 1500 ft to stay below the clouds. I also became quite concerned about my fuel usage, the aircraft is supposed to have a range of 300 nm but when I reach 50% fuel I estimate I will get to my destination with very little fuel to spare. As I reach Cold Bay the winds have climbed to 31 kn and I had difficulty getting the biplane to settle on the runway especially since I was being very careful with the brakes not wanting it to nose over. Fortunately, Cold Bay airport has a very long runway and was able to make a safe stop with only 5% fuel remaining. Here are a few screen shots from the flight.

 

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Ready for takeoff at Chignik.

 

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Heading out over the mountians.

 

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Beautiful flying weather, so far...

 

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Flying down the Alaskan Peninsula.

 

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But the good weather did not last.

 

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Flying low to stay under the clouds.

 

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Cold Bay airport in sight.

 

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Landed in Cold Bay.

 

Sorry it took so long from the last flight, I out of town for the Holiday weekend and could not get much flying in until the next weekend.

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April 23, 1924: On the 19th Algonquin arrived at Kanatak with the new engine for Seattle. In blowing snow they managed to install by the morning of the 22nd. On the morning of the 23rd the men of the village helped Martin and Harvey break up the ice that was forming around the floats and tow the Seattle from the pond they had been working, down the stream to the bay where it was now calm enough to take off. Visibility was too bad to fly a direct compass heading to Chignik and at one point the weather became so bad they landed in a protected cove until the weather cleared. After waiting an hour and a half the storm eased and they then few the remaining distance to Anchorage bay and the village of Chignik.

 

July 9, 2017: Today I got ready the Grumman Gulfhawk II ready for flight. The Gulfhawk was a custom civilian conversion of the F3F-1 fighter. The F3F was the US Navy’s last biplane fighter, with retractable landing gear, and enclosed cockpit and a 1,000 hp Wright Cyclone engine. It first flew in 1935, only 147 were built and it was retired from front line squadrons before world war 2 started but it eventually evolved into the much more successful F4F Wildcat. The model I’m using today was made for JustFlight by Airplane Heaven and is remarkably similar to the AH F3F-2. It’s nice to fly, lot of torque on takeoff but it takes off so fast it does not matter much.

 

My flight today from Cold Bay to Dutch harbor was uneventful, cloudy with a 3000 foot ceiling and 6 kn winds. This is probably the fastest aircraft I have flown so far and it made short work of the 155 nm flight. I landed after 51 minutes of flying.

 

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Ready for takeoff.

 

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Flying over the Alaska Peninsula, canopy open.

 

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Scenery here is not as dramatic as other parts of Alaska.

 

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At least now we can close the canopy when the weather gets bad.

 

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Weaving around the islands while staying below the clouds.

 

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Finally figured how to turn the navigation lights off.

 

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On approach into Dutch Harbor/Unalaska.

 

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Secured.

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May 3, 1924: Major Martin waited in Chignik until he finally received favorable weather reports from Dutch Harbor on April 30, when and Harvey finally departed, but they never arrived. A search was started using ships from the Navy and Coast guard, boats from local canneries and even dog teams from Chignik. On May 2 General Patrick, Chief of the Army Air Service designated Lt Smith leader and told them “Do not delay longer waiting for Major Martin” and “Proceed to Japan at earliest possible Moment”. On the morning of May 3, the crews got there aircraft ready for flight and proceeded to Nazan on Atka island, 365 miles away. Although they flew through rain and snow showers it proved to be an easy flight and they arrived after 4 hours 19 minutes of flying.

 

July 9, 2017: This afternoon I got ready the Spartan 7W Executive for flight. The Spartan first flew in 1936 and was designed as a fast comfortable aircraft for rich executes. Only 34 were built but had some notable owners including Howard Hughes, J. Paul Getty and King Ghazi of Iraq. The model I am flying today was made by Milton Shupe and was recently updated by him to be FSX Native. It’s a very nice aircraft to fly and I highly recommend it.

 

My flight from Unalaska to Atka was uneventful. Out over the mountains to the west of the town and out over the sea. I stayed mostly under the clouds sometimes staying as low as 800 feet to stay under the weather. Since the route is mostly over water at one point I climbed to 10,000 feet to try to get above the clouds for a while but did not stay up there for long. Approaching Atka, staying low to keep below the clouds, the town and airport are pretty small and I did not spot them until I was almost on top of the airport, I ended up coming in fairly fast and my landing was a bit rough but got on the grounds safe.

 

Here are a few pics of the flight.

 

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Ready for takeoff

 

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Over the mountains west of Dutch Harbor.

 

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Heading out from Amaknak Island

 

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Weather is getting pretty bad, better climb over it for a bit.

 

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Looks like its calmed down enough to head back down.

 

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Atka Island.

 

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I almost missed the airport.

 

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Landed!

 

As of this point I am caught up. New posts will have to wait until I complete more flights. Thanks for reading, feel free to comment and let me know if you have questions, enjoyed or dislike these posts.

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May 9, 1924. Wade asked an old trapper when the seasons changed, he replied “We have only two seasons here, winter and next winder”. Having no word on what happened to Martin and Harvey, the flyer waited in Atka for fuel and for weather to ease, by the 9th weather was better and they started for Attu at 9am. Winds from a williwaw hit just as they were taking off and almost caused Nelson to crash but they were soon all in the air. The 555 mile flight was long and cold with occasional snow squalls, the only life they saw along the way were birds and whales, They arrived in Attu after 7 hours 52 minutes of flying.

 

May 10, 1924 Martin and Harvey walked out of the wilderness near the Port Moller Cannery. On the 3rd they had been climbing in thick fog trying to get to Dutch Harbor. Martin was thinking he should turn back but though he saw water ahead so he pressed on, a moment later they crashed into a gentle slope on the side of a mountain and crunched to rest in the snow. They were unhurt but the plane was a total wreck. They knew they in trouble as the area they were in was mostly uninhabited and for food all they had were two sandwiches made for them by Mrs Osborne in Chignik and two thermos bottles of condensed food they had bought in Los Angeles. They wandered though the wilderness for several days until they found a campers cabin on the 7th that looked like it had been recently vacated. They rested there for three days, eating what food was in the cabin and then followed the beach until they saw the Cannery at Port Moller. Martin sent a cable to General Patrick that they were safe and they stayed there till the 14th when they were given transport on the company steamer back to Bellingham Washington.

 

July 13, 2017. Today we will be flying the Lockheed L-10 Electra. The Electra was a twin engine all metal airliner that first flew in 1934. It was built to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2. The Electra was the type of aircraft used by Amelia Earhart on her ill-fated flight around the world. The aircraft I will be using today was made by Just Flight and can now be found as a default aircraft in Prepar3D Version 4.

 

The weather for my flight was overcast with a 2000 foot ceiling and winds around 12 kn. I saw few of the scattered islands as I was heading in and out of the low clouds continually adjusting the Sperry autopilot to keep my altitude between the clouds and the sea but since there was not much to see I was mostly in the clouds over open ocean. Those Islands I did see were were not much to look at (I have now left the land of ORBX). I arrived at Attu after 2.8 hours of flying. Here are a few pics from the flight.

 

 

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Ready for takeoff.

 

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Heading out from Akta Island.

 

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Most of the time it looked like this.

 

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Flying in and out of clouds.

 

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Islands along the way, definatly not the land of ORBX.

 

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The occasinal clear weather, time for a glamour shot.

 

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Our destination.

 

wc.1.8.8.jpg

Secured.

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