RTW Retro Flight #106 Vienna to Rome . . . . . 1959

Swissair flight 976 is a Douglas DC-6B on a flight from Vienna to Rome (LOWW - LIRA). We have 3,000 gallons of fuel on board for the 415 nm flight. We have good weather with moderate cloud cover for the entire flight. We cannot overfly Yugoslavia, so our course takes us from Vienna to Verona then to Rome. We will be cruising at an altitude of 14,000 feet.

 

Thanks to:

Aircraft: Douglas DC-6B. The model and original textures are by Greg Pepper and Tom Gibson, FD by FSAviator. The 1958 Swissair paint is by Frank Gonzalez

Propliner AI & Traffic: CalClassic & FS Aviator - Tom Gibson, Mike Stevens, Jason Krogmann, Manuel Jagmann, Bill Towers, Nikko Yaginuma, Richard Wright, Frederick Coleman, Dave Jones, Paul Haak, Marty Lochmiller, Ake Lindberg, Harland Sandberg, Richard Wright and Gary Harper. At www.calclassic.com

Scenery and Add-ons: MS FS2004 v9.1, MS Windows 7 Pro. and:

- Vienna Schwechat airport is from the 1961 Central Europe scenery package by Wolfgang Gersch, Harry Biard, Michael Schneider, Jaap de Baare, Nikko Yaginuma, Tom Gibson, Bernard Leuenberger and Mike Stevens. At www.calclassic.com

- Rome Ciampino airport is by Wolfgang Gersch. At www.calclassic.com

- Swissair timetable 18 July – 31 October, 1959 from the collection of Diederik R. Vels Heijn at www.timetableimages.com

- Rwy12 and EZ Static Object and Scenery Libraries at www.flightsim.com.

- FS2004 Classic Scenery Libraries v4a by Wolfgang Gersch at www.flightsim.com

- REX FS9 w/Overdrive & SP5.

- Flight One Ground Environment Pro II

- FS Genesis UT Europe.

 

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1. Swissair Timetable 18 July – 31 October, 1959.

 

2. Loading passengers, confirming flight plan and completing cockpit checks.

 

3. Taxiing to runway 29 for departure.

 

4. Lift off and gear coming up.

 

5. Turning on course for Verona.

 

6. Climbing through 4,500 feet we see the Central Eastern Alps off to the right.

 

7. Passing 8,000 feet near Berndorf.

 

8. Cruising at 14,000 feet near the town of Trofaiach.

 

9. Out to our left we see the Aichfeld basin near the town of Zeltweg.

 

10. We are still in Austria passing over the valley near the city of Spittal an der Drau.

 

11. Now over Italy about 6 nm north of Bassano del Grappa we see the Venetian Prealps and the Brenta River below our right wing.

 

12. Just north of Verona with the Adige River below we begin our turn toward Rome.

 

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

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13. About 70 nm from Verona we are now over the Apennine Mountains near Bologna.

 

14. Now over Tuscany near the town of Stia.

 

15. We are about 80 nm from Rome with Lake Trasimeno below.

 

16. We have begun our initial descent and are passing Lake Bracciano.

 

17. At 7,000 feet we see the winding Tiber River below.

 

18. A look out to the left we see the Apennine Mountains.

 

19. As we continue to descend we turn to intercept runway 15 at Rome Ciampino.

 

20. Now at 2,500 feet with gear down and flaps 40.

 

21. We are lined up on short final.

 

22. Touchdown.

 

23. Turning off the runway and getting parking info from ground control.

 

24. Parked, systems powered down and passengers disembarked. Thanks for flying Swissair.

Larry - Very nice looking DC-6 and nice scenery to go with the presentation!

 

Thanks for sharing! Rick :cool:

First-rate set of retro shots Larry! :)

Hi!

 

Some great shots and fine landscape below -- and well documented!

Rick, Adam and Gérard your comments are appreciated. :cool:

I love your Swiss DC-6:cool::cool::cool: There's a lot to see again in tihs retro flight Larry, thanks very much! :)

Thanks Jan. Glad you liked it. :)

I would have waved to you as you flew past Genova, but I was only a month old at the time. :p

Lovely pics of a very important time in history. (I've been hanging around Jan too much, Oy!) -- Bob

Hanging around with Jan is very good for your development as you know. I always share knowledge and wisdom.:rolleyes:

Thanks Bob. Had I known you were a month-old child living in Genova I would have changed course to fly over your house and dropped a supply of pacifiers. :)

Thanks for the flight! The added descriptions along the route make this seem less like a simulator and more like the real thing. I can just imagine sitting in the cockpit on the flight. :cool::pilot:

Thanks and welcome back David. I like to know about the areas I fly over, so I do a lot of research. :)

Thanks and welcome back David. I like to know about the areas I fly over, so I do a lot of research. :)

 

You are welcome Larry. Yes, the research is well done. It's good to be back!

Fantastic series of shots.

Love it.

Glad you liked it Blair. :)

I don't know how this thread slipped through my attention. Absolutely beautiful Larry. Well done. I also love the era brochure. So articulate.

 

Best wishes.

 

Khalid

Thanks Khalid, it's easy to miss the old FS9 posts, but I like the age of propliners. That era is when people were more relaxed and polite when flying. We had more leg room, the stewardesses smiled and were happy and everyone appreciated their efforts to serve us and we thanked them. Flights took a little longer, but we cared more about getting to our destination feeling refreshed and whole than anything else.