Grosvenor House

[MM]

The management here at Grosvenor House has opened up a free bar for London-Melbourne pilots. This might be a good place to tell your tall tales...er... stories about your adventures on the way. Colorful description and vivid screenshots will be much appreciated.

"Drinks are on the house."

 

[jt_dub]

MacRobertson in Reverse - Kickoff Day in Melbourne

Today was the day that the flag dropped on the MacRobertson 80th aniversary event. What a day! Confused about the start time I pulled myself together an hour earlier than I needed to for the kickoff, but there was a good crowd already gathered on the SOH teamspeak. Nick was to fly our King Air on the first leg out of Melbourne to Charleville. Ron Attwood was flying the Lancair IVP. I decided to join them on Ron's multiplayer server flying escort in the Cessna Citation Mustang.

Everything seemed to be going well as Modern Era pilots setup in Melbourne, and the Golden Age pilots setup in Mildenhall. Ron and Nick setup on opposite headings on the same runway and Ron started his takeoff roll first heading towards the highly detailed office towers and extremely dense autogen buildings depicted in the Orbx Australia region. Nick started his takeoff roll once Ron was airborne. Less than 20 seconds later a very LOUD explitive got the attention of everyone on teamspeak, followed by more choice expressions of frustration and a not a little bit of anger. Those present were informed that Ron had gotten an OOM and his FSX had shutdown. The veterans on the channel tried to console Ron and explained that this kind of thing has happened to everyone, but Ron was having none of it. After a few minutes and encouragement Ron agreed to restart the leg with settings pulled back to normal to prevent another OOM. Once underway Ron was thrown into the deep end of engine management and had lots of fun with engine leaning, icing, carb heat, turbine overheating. Once Ron was underway I tried to catch up with Nick but could not overtake him before he got to Charleville. Once I arrived I got out of the Cessna Mustang and took command of N406KA. I waited and watched Ron bring home his first event leg. Well done Ron.

My own leg began without a hitch as I took off and climbed quickly to my cruise altitude of 17,500. Once at cruise I joined the general banter on teamspeak and settled in for the four plus hours to Darwin. I had been underway for about and hour and 30 minutes and decided it was time to grab a screenshot.

Shortly after this I was switching between the forums/teamspeak/Duenna and FSX when I experienced the dreaded "cream screen" and hourglass in FSX with "(not responding)" showing in the window header bar. I waited 15 seconds hoping it would go live but it stayed in a paused state. I notified folks on teamspeak and consulted the rules to see what it would cost me in penalty if the leg failed. I was informed that I would have to go back and refly the leg. This I did not want to do. As this discussion proceeded on teamspeak I started shuting down every non-FSX essential applications that was running. After about 5 minutes FSX responded with a splash screen saying that I had been disconnected from Ron's multiplayer server and did I want to continue flying offline. You bet I did. I answered YES and FSX resumed, then I hit the re-connect button on the Duenna and it started running again. Whew!!! About 3 hours later and easy approach and landing at Darwin. Ahh, it is great to be back at it.

 

[Willy]

Yep! It's a Gee Bee!!

 

[Dangerousdave26]

That's not going to Buff out!

 

[AussieMan]

Yep! It's a Gee Bee!!

View attachment 13812

A true Panther. Flames and all .

 

[spokes2112]

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Re: MacRobertson race Report.-Stop
To 119 Piccadilly.-Stop
Mike leaving Athens.-Stop
Film stock to arrive by courier.-Stop
Publish immediately.-Stop

 

[spokes2112]

Arrived at Jask, Iran after a somewhat uneventful flight. Needed to climb up to 11,900 and go off course to avoid (blindly) the Zagros mountain range. When in view took 2 or 3 different valleys to get through it. Most of the time it was an overcast haze.

At the Jask refueling depot & Royal Aero club's flight office.. Is that Ms. Nellie's sister in the background? Hubba Hubba.

 

[PRB]

It was an interesting first leg from Mildenhall to Marseille. The weather was beautiful across the English Channel, and navigation was easy on account
of so many ADF stations across France. However, as we approached the “Central Massif” of mountains that lie along southern France, the weather turned
a bit stinko, with heavy rain and pretty much no visibility. Just as I was approaching the mountains? What, surprised? Me? No. We busted out of the
rain storm in due course, but as we approached the coast, there were big thunderstorms to drive through. The approach went fine, although this plane
seems to have “issues” with directional control authority at low speed. That's how I'm going to explain the fact that I landed in the grass next to
the giant Space Shuttle sized runway at Marseille... Sounds better than “I missed the runway”…

Here's a video of the "landing". Maybe there was a gust of wind at the last moment.

 

[PRB]

Oh, and I have photographic evidence of space aliens. Check out this UFO over Central France I spotted. What could it be?

 

[robert41]

Long flight to Baghdad.
Only a couple of screw ups. First, setting the wrong heading from Mildenhall. A bit south of course, but still picked up the first ndb on the Dutch coast. The second was setting a second ndb, in Eastern Europe, picking this up right away, and not realizing at first that it should be some 3-400nm later on my course. Fortunate that this other ndb was near my course, so no loss.
The weather was pretty good until I got out over the Black Sea. Then came some thunderstorms. Not too bad at first. Winds picked up to 25kts, stayed in one direction, no turbulence, no rain, no visibility. Then into Turkey, the winds started shifting around. Having to throttle back many times to keep from overspeeding.
Finally clearing getting into Syria. And the long haul down to Baghdad. Very few ndb's, but easy to follow the rivers and lakes.


Sunrise over Eastern Europe.


Iraq desert.

 

[robert41]

Made it to Allahabad. Pretty good flight till getting into the storms in India. Some 4 or 5 hours of them. Winds were pretty good for the most part. One big wind shift near the end almost took the wings off. I throttled back for the last 200 miles or so.

 

[Willy]

And another outstanding Gee Bee landing....

 

[spokes2112]

Dee dat dat dee dee dat dat dat dee dee dee dat dat dee dee dee ......... ( Incoming radio message,, HA!)

Report from Spartan NC12RS out in the field.

Thunderstorms from Greece to Baghdad - landed safely.

Taking off from Baghdad to Jask in the morning after a restful sleep. Very barren out here. It's good to see some oasis' & an airport every once in awhile. Crossing over the Meimond / Firuzebad areas & over the top of Ahwaz AB. The only chance of survival if needed to depart from flight is meeting up with nomads.







The arrival to Jask had no real problems except for a pretty big "bouncy-bounce" on landing. (Filled the drawers) After a good nights rest continued on to Allahabad. Here leaving in the early morning.



A very nice setup at Allahabad, too bad it was a quick stop. Couldn't take advantage of the hospitality for too long.



How did Ms. Nellie's sister get here so quick? Last seen her in Jask. That chaperone of hers looks like a pretty stern fella.



Getting her all fired up for the run to Yangon. This engine is going to need a replacement or heavy maintenance. Puking, belching & popping while blowing out a couple of quarts of oil. Not looking good.



After departing the Kolkata beacon the next thing will be the Sunderbans. A nice change of view. From muddy rivers to the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal. Had light to moderate rain the whole way coming from the "puffies", generated by the unbearable heat and humidity.



Got down safely at Mingeladon.. Barely. Again... (Whew!!) These JVH airports are nearly invisible at night with only the aerodrome boundary being lit. Finding the runway is a whole different story. The difference in runway color to the surrounding grass is nearly indistinguishable. Had the 'drome in sight but couldn't get a handle on the overall shape. At around 500 feet needed to do a hard right turn followed by a gentle left onto the runway. The haze in the area did not help one bit. Touched down 1/2 down the strip, smoothly, but still in a state of cardiac arrest.



After another good nights rest (albeit short) took off very early in the morning for somewhere in Singapore. The haze has lifted and the field is easier to see. Wish it was like this just a few hours earlier.



[END OF TRANSMISSION]

 

[Willy]

Had a nice take off at dawn from Brindisi.



Great flight over Greece until I got called away from my comp about 10 mins out. I was handflying it at the time, so I pointed it in a safe direction, set altitude hold and adjusted the throttle. Got the honey do out of the way and came back to find the engine running rough, cutting out and smoking.



At this point I was about 20nm out but still had some decent altitude, so I decided to go for LGTT. Nursed it to the airfield and set up for final. On short final the engine gave up and died. At this point I couldn't maintain enough speed for a decent landing and no choice but to land it anyway. I touched down about 15kts slower than I should have and the rodeo commenced. BIG bounces, once, twice, and and the third one I saw that I was what looked to be about 75ft above the runway and approaching stall speed. This can't be good. And it wasn't..

The Spartan is starting to look real good.....

 

[JimmyRFR]

Had a nice take off at dawn from Brindisi.

At this point I was about 20nm out but still had some decent altitude, so I decided to go for LGTT. Nursed it to the airfield and set up for final. On short final the engine gave up and died. At this point I couldn't maintain enough speed for a decent landing and no choice but to land it anyway. I touched down about 15kts slower than I should have and the rodeo commenced. BIG bounces, once, twice, and and the third one I saw that I was what looked to be about 75ft above the runway and approaching stall speed. This can't be good. And it wasn't..

The Spartan is starting to look real good.....

But the stories coming out of that Gee Bee are extremely entertaining! Even as a fellow competitor, I'm pulling for you to win. I'll hopefully be landing at LGTT tonight, your drinks are on me!

 

[jt_dub]

Pushed N406KA to Singapore, Clouds and haze on descent, and then a wind shift required a last minute runway change.

 

[spokes2112]

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Station Rambang to Grosvenor. Incoming message.

Leg 6 - NC12RS Spartan Report, Yangon - Seletar

Ahh daylight.. Oh how I wish you would come. Hoping for good weather along the way.


Negative. The solar heating produced clouds and plenty of turbulence resulting in sickness. (Could be that Vindaloo from Allahabad,, yep.. & coffee) Cannot show the instrument panel until cleaned.



Arriving in Seletar. Lo and behold, haze. I know where the aerodrome is, (just to the south of the harbor) just cannot see it.



Much better now, time to hang out the legs & flaps. Going in.



It nice when the crew is there, all set, and waiting for your arrival.



Cannot get it done without the crew.. A member of the Royal Aero Club ready for official scoring and post leg inspections is standing by. NO WAY! how did she get here so fast! ( Background )




Leg 7 - NC12RS Spartan Report, Seletar - Rambang

The last bit of land before making the arduous trek over the vast expanse of water. Just a sliver of the moon showing.



Ahh Land! What a sight! Off the port side is Pulau Bawean "Island of Women", would definitely stop there if there was trouble. In this case no. Just slightly east of course. Will chance it and wait for the next radio beacon.



More land! Land is good! Pulau Madura ahead. Would like to stop and see some karapan saki but there are other pressing issues at hand.



Oh Bali how I wait for thee. Crossing over Gunung (Mt.) Batur, a volcanic caldera, & Lake Batur. It is unbelievable that I seen 4 villages inside the active caldera! In the background is Gunung Agung the highest point on the island of Bali. It is still an active volcano.



Almost there! (Paradise) On descent to Rambang Lombok took a photograph of the volcanic cone Gunung Baru a portion of Mount Rinjani. Just west of the cone (inside) is Lake Segara Anak.



PARADISE! Rambang!



. -. -.. / --- ..-. / - .-. .- -. ... -- .. ... ... .. -.

End of transmission

 

[Willy]

But the stories coming out of that Gee Bee are extremely entertaining! Even as a fellow competitor, I'm pulling for you to win. I'll hopefully be landing at LGTT tonight, your drinks are on me!

Thanks! The challenge of flying the Gee Bee with it's engine destruction modules and "odd" take off and landing quirks keep things "interesting" in a long event like this. Although it has nice flight handling and is pretty speedy for a 1931 aircraft, you never know when it's going to bite.

 

[PRB]

Here's a video of my landing at Tatoi AB (LGTT ) outside Athens. The weather was beautiful. I think I'm getting better at landing this plane. Maybe. Well, maybe not, as you will see. Everything looks perfect, until the wheels kiss the runway. I think the tires are made out of that flubber material... This thing bounces more than Willy's Platinum Deluxe Merc-Air Esso AVGAS credit card.

 

[Willy]

Paul, looked like one of the best Gee Bee landings I've seen!