salt_air taking the Puss Moth back home ... "Down Under"

[salt_air]

salt_air taking the Puss Moth back home ... "Down Under"

I will be using a couple of sources that I ran across during the research I did on Jimmy and his plane .... direct quotes as well as borrowed staments as info on the pilot will be sourced from the South Australian Aviation Museum (SAAM) and Ed Coates mostly for info regarding the plane.



First Day:

21 yr old Charles James "Jimmy" Melrose was the last to leave from Mildenhall AB on October 24, 1934 at 0645.

He was entered in what the SAAM referred to as the handicap section flying number 16 ... the silver with black trim de Havilland DH 80A Puss Moth he had named "My Hildegarde" after his mother.

Jimmy had recently arrived at Croydon (0700 on 28 September) after having flown the plane from his home in Adelaide in a mere 8 days and 9 hours .... now for the return home .... back "Down Under".

Jimmy flew to Rome (via Marseille) where he spent the first night.

If real life will allow I will try to do the same 2 legs today with the first one beginning shortly ....



First Leg:

In the DH 80A ... Starting the race from Mildenhall AB (EGUN) flying to Marseille (LFML)

 

[robert41]

Best of luck Austin.

 

[salt_air]

Best of luck Austin.

Thanks buddy!

 

[salt_air]

Mildenhall - Marseille

Landed .... no worries ... at Marseille ... whew!





View attachment FlightLog_13-47-16.TXT




Flight Time: 05:14:00
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00



Mostly uneventful except for the lightning, thunder and rain that began just as I was clearing the shoulder of the Alps ... half an hour or so before the Mediterranean finally came into view.

3 or 4 breaks in was was absolute soup .... near zero visibility ... and surprising headwinds as high as 20kts +.

That is pretty stiff considering the Puss Moth's CA is only 3000' .... and so much for scenery.

Played it safe (terrain) and took the plane to 7000' a couple of times, but suffered a little in GS.

Didn't remember the wind drift factor being as high during testing and practice .... something to account for in planning.





If you squint you may see some of Paris .... I think?





Long flight ... like sitting in a closet.

 

[Dil52]

Nice job Austin!

Average GS 108.6 kts. Did you happen look down and see cars on the Autobahn passing you?

Fred

 

[salt_air]

Nice job Austin!

Average GS 108.6 kts. Did you happen look down and see cars on the Autobahn passing you?

Fred

Couldn't see anything for a lot of the trip .... not even enough to use the driftmeter.

Everytime the clouds broke I had to make some pretty heavy adjustments to heading .... fun, fun, fun.



Thanks!

 

[salt_air]

Marseille - Rome

Planned originally to run this flight in succession with yesterdays jaunt, but real life smacked that down ... at least I was at an airport.


A few adjustments needed inside the cockpit.

Enough of the compass and watch and a driftmeter I can't use in the soup.

Had to stroll down to the local True_Value Aviation Warehouse and pick up a sextant and an ADF like the one I saw in a Vega before I left London.

Fished the E6B I brought along out of the bottom of my duffel bag too.

Right! ... Let's see how this goes.



Taking off from Marseille (LFML) and plotting a course for Rome (LIRU) to camp for the night.

Landed at nearly 1300 ... I'll take off 1330 ... or so.

 

[robert41]

Too bad about the weather. Flying this event with only a compass and watch would be quite an achievement.

 

[salt_air]

Down safe at Urbe (LIRU) .... not the best landing, but all in one piece.




Flight Time: 02:57:30
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00








View attachment FlightLog_19-48-37.TXT





At 3000' even the hills are in the way .... had to go around Corsica quite a bit to the North, but better to be safe.

Visibility drops just when you need it so I went around some other potential terrain trouble .... not exactly a straight flight path at all.

The smaller islands could hurt you too if you weren't paying attention.



Rome for the night ....

 

[salt_air]

Too bad about the weather. Flying this event with only a compass and watch would be quite an achievement.

So far Robert that's been about it ... the Vega's ADF tuner I shoehorned in here is one of the better ones because of the wide range of frequencies, but that Bearing to Station gauge can be rendered useless with a sufficient crab angle to compensate for winds.

The plane needs to be pretty much aimed right at the signal to get any indication .... much past 10 degrees give or take either way and the needle just sits pegged to one side or the other.

Great moral boost to have the needle jump to life when the tuned station's signal range has been reached and you have movement of the needle ... especially if it centers or even close.

Visibility will be a key factor for me the rest of the way .... sextant across the larger barren stretches coming up ... may have to hug the coastline even if it's a bit off route.

 

[salt_air]

Rome - Athens

Overcast with some thunder in the distance. ..

After spending the night in Rome Jimmy took off the next day at 0900 headed to Athens via Janina.

Not exactly sure where Janina is (was) .... oh well ... this may need to be coastal run anyway due to visibility issues.




Taking off from Urbe (LIRU) headed to Tatoi AB (LGTT)

 

[salt_air]

Right! ....

A little side note here ... to self ... reminders welcomed.

Next time I'm in one of the many True_Value Aviation Warehouses ... worldwide ... I should pick up a large spray bottle of "Clouds Away".



Thanks!

 

[JimmyRFR]

"Clouds Away"

Well, that sounds like a miraculous product! If I could find space to wedge a case of it in here, I would!

 

[salt_air]

"Clouds Away"

Well, that sounds like a miraculous product! If I could find space to wedge a case of it in here, I would!

We should have hired a crop duster to run ahead of us with a couple of tanks full, huh?

 

[salt_air]

Safe and sound at Tatoi AB here in Athens.

Several breaks (finally) in the cloud cover .... nice tailwinds all the way!





View attachment FlightLog_20-36-36.TXT


Flight Time: 05:02:39
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00

 

[salt_air]

Athens - Aleppo

Right ... so the account of Jimmy's trek that I decided to use as a guide for planning flights ...
View attachment SAAM-Profiles-JIMMY-MELROSE.pdf

... says he spent the first night in Rome ... then took off the next day for Athens via Janina ... wherever that is ... Albania?? ... where he landed for fuel.

Hmmm ... just then fueling from Mildenhall? ... Oh boy .... did I pick the wrong tank size?, oh well.

Here's the good part ... "He left the next morning, 22nd October at 4:00am and arrived in Baghdad by early afternoon." ... What?

Over a thousand nautical miles in a dead straight line ... Gotta love it.



With the tanks I have I'll try to make Aleppo .... hope for some of those good tailwinds or I'll have to lean back a bit on the throttles.

It will be another coastal jaunt unless the visibility is not only good, but stable enough to trust through the mountains ... pffftt, yeah, like that's gunna happen.

Taking off shortly.

 

[salt_air]

Down safe at Aleppo, but with some error ... overspeed for 0.00 secs?? ... right then.




View attachment FlightLog_13-41-45.TXT



Coastal route worked fine, but very nerve racking when approaching the west coast of Syria .... looking for the foot of a river between mountains that I intended to follow further inland.

Good visibility after a sudden drop while approaching the coastline .... finding the airport would have been quite dicey otherwise.



Terrain was a little intimidating at 3000', but even enough below that with no surprise outcroppings.




The NDB at the airport only has a 22NM range was 60 NM's or better away ... smoke signals would have been better ... at least during the day.





Flight Time: 05:35:17
Routine Ground Time: 0:459:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00




Some lunch, some fuel and a trip to the gunny, then back in the saddle to Baghdad.


=== Additional Note ===

Flight is under review at 119 Piccadilly .... may have to be reflown due to an unexplained error in the flight log concerning overspeed.

Overspeed in a Puss Moth .... just had to see that written down somewhere .... wonders never cease.

 

[salt_air]

Some lunch, some fuel and a trip to the gunny, then back in the saddle to Baghdad.

Actually going to park it for a bit ... this next leg sets up perfect for a sextant assisted attempt at a direct flight.

Compass stopwatch and e6b with checks and necessary jogs back to course as called for by timed sextant readings.

A few geographical land marks ... rivers and lakes .... also an airport or two right along the path.

So i have some numbers to run and notes to take down before takeoff.




Oh yeah and this ADF out of the Vega ... think I'll try to sell it on the street here .... saw a pile of wreckage just shy of the airport while I was on approach ... could be a Douglas of some description ... fingers crossed.

Besides the narrow forward "vision" with the Vega's ADF ... you can't track out from a station at all ... not a good thing.

 

[salt_air]

Aleppo - Baghdad

First off I'll tip my hat to the fine gents at 119 for all the work thus far on my effort(s) in the Puss Moth noted in both the NOTAMs and the Piccadilly threads.

This to save some room in those respective threads ... Thanks!

Now off to Baghdad (Rasheed) ...

A pilot could just take off and head 110 degrees ... pay attention to his environment, key in on a few landmarks along the way and probably wind up somewhere in Baghdad, but for the fun of it, let's see how straight a line we can draw in the duenna's jpg flight log ... actually, it will be a very subtle arc as the Great Cirlce was taken into consideration on the fixes for the sextant shots enroute.

Using the NDB at Deir-Zzor (DRZ 295.0) will also bend the path a bit about midway ... plan to overfly.

Bukoo VFR landmarks both sides and a flyover at Al Taji (OR0R)

Have to toss in a couple of timed star shots at the first and second hour marks after takeoff.

A huge lake to bisect about 75NM from Rasheed .... then cross the river and turn to runway heading 143 for long final through town.

Piece of cake.




Taking off shortly.

 

[Dil52]

First off I'll tip my hat to the fine gents at 119 for all the work thus far on my effort(s) in the Puss Moth noted in both the NOTAMs and the Piccadilly threads.

This to save some room in those respective threads ... Thanks!

Now off to Baghdad (Rasheed) ...

A pilot could just take off and head 110 degrees ... pay attention to his environment, key in on a few landmarks along the way and probably wind up somewhere in Baghdad, but for the fun of it, let's see how straight a line we can draw in the duenna's jpg flight log ... actually, it will be a very subtle arc as the Great Cirlce was taken into consideration on the fixes for the sextant shots enroute.

Using the NDB at Deir-Zzor (DRZ 295.0) will also bend the path a bit about midway ... plan to overfly.

Bukoo VFR landmarks both sides and a flyover at Al Taji (OR0R)

Have to toss in a couple of timed star shots at the first and second hour marks after takeoff.

A huge lake to bisect about 75NM from Rasheed .... then cross the river and turn to runway heading 143 for long final through town.

Piece of cake.




Taking off shortly.

Good luck, and you're in luck today! Don' forget to look up and behind you this morning. You'll be flying during, a somewhat rare occasion, when the sun and moon are both visible for a couple hours after sun rise.

Note that the phases of the moon are not exactly in sync, (with the real world) and rarely are; however the times it rises and sets is always accurate in all versions of MSFS.