Red Green's Adventures with Miss Virginia

Seven flights to go and only ten days left in May. As the old Jerry Reed song goes: I got a long way to go, and a short time to get there. Onward from AYGN to Port Moresby, AYPY. A quick wave to the limey in the Mustang who came in earlier today, and I'm off.
 
Off to Nadzab (AYNZ) in the north. Wonder if those mountains are going to come into play on this flight?
 
The answer to my query is a rather blunt, "You better believe it, blockhead!" I had no idea how rugged the terrain is on Papua New Guniea. It reminded me a lot of my travels in the Andes. Made for a very scenic flight (including spotting one airport I was glad I didn't have to go into!) However, the terrain also made for a troublesome descent. I was still 10,000 feet in the air with less than 20 miles to go. Had to make a steep approach and a hard left turn to line up with runway 27. I then proceeded to pull off one of the ugliest landings I've ever made. Brought it down on the right tire, bounced back in the air, then brought it back down on the left tire. Thank goodness Lockheed makes these Lightnings as rugged as what they do!

Total Flight Time: 5 Hours, 39 Minutes, 48 Seconds

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?flight=BS83q0vKWVr2QpgvDFF6gPw8RaQ
 
RedGreen said:
The answer to my query is a rather blunt, "You better believe it, blockhead!" I had no idea how rugged the terrain is on Papua New Guniea. It reminded me a lot of my travels in the Andes. Made for a very scenic flight (including spotting one airport I was glad I didn't have to go into!) However, the terrain also made for a troublesome descent. I was still 10,000 feet in the air with less than 20 miles to go. Had to make a steep approach and a hard left turn to line up with runway 27. I then proceeded to pull off one of the ugliest landings I've ever made. Brought it down on the right tire, bounced back in the air, then brought it back down on the left tire. Thank goodness Lockheed makes these Lightnings as rugged as what they do!
Click to expand...

The stories of the planes and crews of the 5th AF taking off from Port Moresby to hit Lae and Rabaul, flying over the Owen Stanley range, sound a lot like the stories of the C-46 crews flying "The Hump" in China. High rugged mountains and terrible weather! It would be cool if FS tried better to reproduce the weather I've read about over the tops of these and other mountian ranges :)
 
Making a run along the north coast of the island today, from Papua New Guinea into Indonesia at Sentani (WAJJ).
 
Well, this is an interesting little airport to get into. It's tucked snugly in a mountain valley, with a ridgeline on one side and a mesa with a lake on top of it guarding runway 30, which was my intended runway. I like a good challenge, though. As soon as I was clear of the lake, I eased Miss Virginia into a power-off dive, made quick work of the remaining 1000 feet or so of altitude between us and the runway, and then leveled off just above it. Miss Virginia touched down with the grace of a ballerina.

Total Flight Time: 7 Hours, 17 Minutes, 4 Seconds

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?flight=3RSQ1O9dfYM5pZYGPiwuzSO1xc
 
Another routine flight in the books. The only hiccup was that the Duenna didn't track me online for some reason, so I'll have to validate this flight the old fashioned way.

The ground crew told me it was a good thing I didn't arrive a few minutes earlier. A big flight of Avengers were taking off, and I probably would have ended up in a holding pattern.

Total Flight Time: 8 Hours, 10 Minutes, 23 Seconds
 
Time for the final long, stretch to Bangoy (RPMD). Our fuel calculations showed that this would be at the edge of the P-38G's range with the 150 Gal. combat tanks. So we've broken out our secret weapon, the 300 Gallon ferry tanks. Onward to the end!
 
Mission Accomplished! The online tracker didn't track again for whatever reason, but I was blessed with a pleasent 20 knot tailwind almost the whole way over the vast ocean. Visibility was low at my destination, but finding the airport was easy enough. Miss Virginia has finished her tour of the South Pacific! Thanks to PRB for organizing a very fun race!

Total Flight Time: 10 Hours, 28 Minutes, 1 Second
 
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