Red's Adventures - NAL - DC-6B - North America

RedGreen

RedGreen

Charter Member
Less than an hour to go now. Midnight has almost arrived. The plan is to head for New York, and then continue on to Washington National. Soon, we'll be doing our final inspections with the aid of several floodlights we've rigged around the plane, then it will be up to the cockpit and the Adventure begins. The whole crew from the youngest stewardess to yours truly is anxious for the waiting to end and the work to begin.

Further down the line, it looks like the Western entry is getting ready too. We're pretty sure they have those CB-17 engine modifications on their plane. We're very curious to see how our CB-16s fare against them.
 
It's Midnight.

Engines are being fired up. National Airlines Flight 583 will be departing Montreal for New York shortly.

TOW: 88,645 Pounds
Payload: 13,600 Pounds
 
Arrived safely at New York. Winds were from the north, which provided a half-decent tailwind, but any time I gained from that was quickly erased by having to approach from the south due to those winds. Was somewhat high on my approach on Runway 4, but the landing was acceptable. Was happy to see a large crowd of National employees at our New York terminal celebrating as I came in.

http://www.fsrtwrace.com/track/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=VEleUjycWSOzFx9W7oePRHXyJBg
 
As much as the bosses would love to do our Airline's famed New York-to-Miami run, the rules necessitate a stop at Washington National. So that will be our next destination. Stopped just long enough to get a little more fuel and allow passengers and cargo to get on and off. Now preparing to depart for the New York-to-Washington leg.

TOW: 89,560 Pounds
Payload: 16,000 Pounds
 
A fine way to cap off the night. Got a nice view of Manhatten Island on the way out, and then got to fly up the Potomac River for an approach to Runway 1 at Washington National. Makes me proud to bring in a plane adorned in the Stars and Stripes at our Nation's Capital. Landing was perfect, passengers could hardly tell we had touched down.

So we're done flying for tonight. We've got a long night ahead of us tomorrow, so I'm going to skip the night life and head straight for the hotel.

http://www.fsrtwrace.com/track/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=KaHKrGVydmPZXduzTIru7nOl3k
 
Nice approach into DCA last night. I watched you on Google Earth before I went to bed.

Congrats on being the first to arrive at my hometown airport (KDCA).:ernae:

Jeff (KDCA)
 
jt_dub said:
Nice approach into DCA last night. I watched you on Google Earth before I went to bed.

Congrats on being the first to arrive at my hometown airport (KDCA).:ernae:

Jeff (KDCA)
Click to expand...

Thanks man. I've been to D.C. twice now (flew into Washington National on my first trip) and have enjoyed both of those vacations greatly. What makes a trip to D.C. great is that all one needs to pay for is transportation, lodging, and food. Practically all the memorials and museums are free to enter.
 
It's time for our first long haul flight of the race, and we're heading "Home" to Miami. The NAL folks are primed to give us a big reception and party on our arrival, so best not to keep them waiting.

TOW: 95,923 Pounds
Payload: 12,000 Pounds
 
What can I say? It's great to be back at our Home Airport. Palm Beach and Miami both absolutely sparkle during the night-time hours. Brought a little too much fuel and had to dump about 900 pounds over the Atlantic Had some more poor luck as 9L was the active runway, which added time to our flight. Then I was a little high on approach and had a bit of a bounce on landing. But seeing all the National Airlines employees waving and applauding as I taxied the DC-6B to our terminal made it all worthwhile.

We'll have a day or two off as we're wined, speeched, and honored by the local dignitaries. With all of our night flights out of the way, it gives us a great chance to get back to a "daylight" schedule.

http://www.fsrtwrace.com/track/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=c11fqRvhJMOl3RJGNSy11qvDM8
 
The time has finally come to leave Miami. While we hate to leave our home base, we can't really complain about where we're heading. You didn't really think we'd pass up the opportunity to do our famed Miami-to-Havana route, did you?

National Flight 583 will be departing shortly.

TOW: 89,480 Pounds
Payload: 17,400 Pounds
 
Had a good stayover in Havana. I thankfully was able to avoid that big Jose guy. Wonder if he's still sore about me making a move on his girl?

Anyway, onwards to Kingston.

TOW: 90,560 Pounds
Payload: 17,000 Pounds
 
Glad we got out of Havana when we did. (And no, I don't mean Jose found out I was back in town.) Our weatherman warned us that foul weather was moving in, and there was thunder on our taxi to the active. But that wasn't nearly as bad as the flash of lightning that lit up the cockpit just as I was rotating the plane.

Needless to say, a disconcerting way to start the trip. Thankfully, the weather at Kingston couldn't be more different. Bright sunshine made this a easy approach over the brilliantly blue waters before Runway 12. Hopefully NAL will consider making a route to this place, even if we don't win the prize. I could get used to flying to this place. :wiggle:

Landing Weight: 85,965 Pounds
Fuel Burn: 4,531 Pounds
Flight Time: 2:00:48

http://www.fsrtwrace.com/track/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=wf6KeNGCmPoA5DrqNyZCabFPVO4
 
National Flight 583 is preparing for departure from Kingston to San Juan. We can't let our rivals at Eastern hog all the beer in Puerto Rico! :mixedsmi:

TOW: 90,522 Pounds
Payload: 14,000 Pounds

We can't help but be a little amazed at how every other airline is "packing 'em in like cattle." I sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come in the airline industry! :kilroy:
 
Things were a tad foggy on departure from Kingston, but nothing we couldn't handle with ease. We're definitely glad we weren't heading for Port-Au-Prince or Santo Domingo, there were thunderstorms spotted on both ends of the Island. Conditions in San Juan were as good as could be asked for, however. Plenty of visibility, and while the winds were at 12 knots, they were coming right on our nose down runway 9. Landed with plenty of room to spare, even if we hadn't used reverse pitch on our props.

Land Weight: 84,270 Pounds
Fuel Burn: 6,193 Pounds
Flight Time: 2:39:20

http://www.fsrtwrace.com/track/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=SBHRDklo6RhSQtEGl3Olekb45w
 
RedGreen said:
National Flight 583 is preparing for departure from Kingston to San Juan. We can't let our rivals at Eastern hog all the beer in Puerto Rico! :mixedsmi:
Click to expand...


"Plenty-O-Beer".....a little joint uptown, really lives up to it's name.

Found it after the Pilot's Lounge closed up on me and I had enjoyed the beer Willy left me earlier.

I've noticed that some folks say beers as plural for beer. Beer is like deer, there's no "s" tacked on the backdside of the word like cars. If you've had A beer, then that's one, but if you've had beer, then that Could be a dozen,,,,or so.

I'll toss 'um back with the best, but never would I be able to hog ALL the beer in Puerto Rico.

After breakfast I'll be travelin' on. Lookin' at this advertisement for Curacaos Is. Then again there's an old girlfriend in Trinidad I haven't seen in eight years since passing through on the way home from the great Pan Am Race of '41.

Who knows???, maybe things can wait a little longer till this event is over. Wouldn't want to have to rush that reunion....:jump: .....yeah, that's right.

If we don't cross paths anymore, then I'll see ya in Buenos Aires in a few days.

Fare well Amigo!
 
Indeed Austin, it appears we are heading our seperate ways. Next stop is Trinidad, so we won't be meeting up again until Buenos Aires. Best of luck in your voyages.

(Define "Irony": Eastern Airlines is using the Western route down South America. What's next? Western Airlines using the Eastern route? Thank goodness my company wasn't named for a compass direction.) :bump:

TOW: 90,060 Pounds
Payload: 16,500 Pounds
 
There was some concern about the length of the runway at San Juan, so we took an extra stage of flap on takeoff just to be on the safe side. The plane lifted off with no issues and a decent amount of runway to spare, but our concerns were soon diverted to the tall building just to the right of the end of runway 10. Seriously, why the heck would you put that there???

And don't even get me started about Trinidad. Not a single NDB on the whole Island. And of course, this flight was the flight when my approach was into very limited visibility. Came down left of the runway and gave my passengers a stomach churning bounce as well. And to think it could have been avoided. But no, apparently the government of this Island is too cheap to put up a single NDB. You'd think they were colonized by the Dutch or something!*

Landing Weight: 84,408 Pounds
Fuel Burn: 5,614 Pounds
Flight Time: 2:27:17

http://www.fsrtwrace.com/track/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=yXd6UxBkC2TL7U6aAZD5SFuQ

*The preceeding statement in no way reflects the opinions or attitudes of National Airlines towards the Dutch or people of any other nationality. We at National value our multi-cultural customer base, and do not seek to alienate the Dutch or anyone else from our airline. Capt. Green has been kindly asked to be more considerate to all peoples of different backgrounds.
 
Trinidad doesn't have near the night life that the other Caribbean Islands do. Spending two nights there might have been boring, but for the sweet lady I came across on my first night there. She told me that her "big, strong man" was supposed to come and visit soon, but he still hadn't shown up. Then she got this wild look her in eye and started saying, "Come a little bit closer, I'm all alone and the night is so long...."

But I'm getting off topic.

Today, National Airlines will touch mainland South American soil for the first time as we head to Zandery. For what it's worth, this will also be our first landing that doesn't fulfill a commercial center requirement.

TOW: 90,334 Pounds
Payload: 18,000 Pounds
 
I'll be the first to admit that conditions weren't the best for this flight. Visibility was low on takeoff. Practically the whole flight over the ocean was dogged with 20 knot headwinds, with a thunderstorm brewing underneath. Visibility was low on landing as well, but thankfully this airport did have an NBD, making the process much easier. They must have blown most of their budget on the NBD though, as the taxiways were so scarce that we had to taxi over the grass for most of the way. Accomodations weren't much to write home about either. It's no Miami, that's for certain.

Land Weight: 85,090 Pounds
Fuel Burn: 5,193 Pounds
Flight Time: 2:18:16

http://www.fsrtwrace.com/track/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=ijyGlyp0sV3lMDgLOj5pBrV4Ho
 
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