salt_air taking the Puss Moth back home ... "Down Under"
- Thread starter salt_air
- Start date
salt_air
Charter Member
Rangoon - Alor Setar
Wish I had thought to copy young Jimmy's efforts earlier in the process of elimination as far as which aircraft to use.
Thinking back I remember passing over the Puss Moth saying "Whew! ... ain't no way I'm flying that sled".
Only after deciding to use an aircraft that was actually in the 1934 race ... while researching the planes and pilots ... did I get intrigued with Jimmy Melrose's story albeit brief.
That had me "Shoehorning" (ahead of a perfectly good previous entry in the Lockheed Vega "Puck") these flights in at almost the last minute .... pestering the committee late in the pre- event stage with requests for changes or allowances that would only apply to me in the event and hastily putting together an outline for the trip.
Two things have come out of trying to match up the real life accounts with the sim flights and this "Beast's" (Me) competitive nature.
One ... Jimmy's plane had a much longer range than the one I have configured ... a much lower handicap figure would have been invoked for sure if that had been matched up.
I have had to stop at the airports to fuel ... He stopped to take care of "business" ... resupply cockpit items like beverage, smokes (if he even smoked?) and I'm sure it was an ego boost for all of the participants to have the crowds, however small, cheer them on and not always to fuel as do.
This was not a private event .... World news, front page, followed directly and in person by every country it encountered and even in the ones outside of the arena like the USA.
Two ... with the flight time accounts the plane was not flown flat out, but at the high end of cruise settings.
SIDE NOTE
=== If there ever was an event that lent itself to the use of our friend teson1's (Gunter Haas) great Real Engine setup, then this is it ... Maybe next time? ===
Right ...
So far planning has been cut and dried with the aircraft's range and the allowed airports.
Also coupled has been the account of Jimmy's routing which was exactly the same as what that process produced drawing flights between allowed points.
However for this leg, a little extra planning .... trying to stay true to his flights during the race as accounted for in the small piece I'm using from the SAAM's website ... there's a small deviation and it appears that I will have to compromise one of the stops that he made enroute to Melbourne.
Says here:
"Melrose left Allahabad at 4:00am on 25th October to Calcutta then on to Rangoon, where he arrived at 3:00pm. He was on his way again at 1:45am next morning to Victoria Point then Singapore where he arrived at 1:40pm."
Victoria Point is not in our sim world as such, but during the British rule of Burma (1824 - 1948) was located at or near Kawthoung which is in our sim world.
Simple planning would have me draw a line between Rangoon and the next checkpoint (Singapore) then include enough legal airports to allow for fueling ... normally Rangoon, Bangkok, Alor Setar, then Seletar (Singapore).
That flight would be drawn away from and come no where near Victoria Point (Kawthoung).
So in an effort to keep true to the account of Jimmy's effort ...
Not going to be taking a "hit" for stopping and fueling at an unofficial airport and I have to be getting close to wearing out my welcome at 119 ... too late for any blanket changes to event routing ruleage like that anyway.
Compromise would be ... I have had pretty good luck so far with winds (hope I don't curse myself here) and fuel burn.
If I take the "normally" plan listed above and with fingers crossed delete the stop at Bangkok I get a line that runs close enough to Kawthoung that it can be used as a waypoint ... No stop there, just a flyover ... true enough I suppose.
No time penalty suffered ... bonus of using the 113NM NDB there (KT 290.0) and excellent visual reference of the airport at the end of a peninsula as well as the rest of the geography of that port area.
Risky bidnez Bubba .... pushing the plane's range to it's limit with no way out after the halfway mark (Bangkok still in reach).
Headed to Alor Setar ... Giddyup!
Wish I had thought to copy young Jimmy's efforts earlier in the process of elimination as far as which aircraft to use.
Thinking back I remember passing over the Puss Moth saying "Whew! ... ain't no way I'm flying that sled".
Only after deciding to use an aircraft that was actually in the 1934 race ... while researching the planes and pilots ... did I get intrigued with Jimmy Melrose's story albeit brief.
That had me "Shoehorning" (ahead of a perfectly good previous entry in the Lockheed Vega "Puck") these flights in at almost the last minute .... pestering the committee late in the pre- event stage with requests for changes or allowances that would only apply to me in the event and hastily putting together an outline for the trip.
Two things have come out of trying to match up the real life accounts with the sim flights and this "Beast's" (Me) competitive nature.
One ... Jimmy's plane had a much longer range than the one I have configured ... a much lower handicap figure would have been invoked for sure if that had been matched up.
I have had to stop at the airports to fuel ... He stopped to take care of "business" ... resupply cockpit items like beverage, smokes (if he even smoked?) and I'm sure it was an ego boost for all of the participants to have the crowds, however small, cheer them on and not always to fuel as do.
This was not a private event .... World news, front page, followed directly and in person by every country it encountered and even in the ones outside of the arena like the USA.
Two ... with the flight time accounts the plane was not flown flat out, but at the high end of cruise settings.
SIDE NOTE
=== If there ever was an event that lent itself to the use of our friend teson1's (Gunter Haas) great Real Engine setup, then this is it ... Maybe next time? ===
Right ...
So far planning has been cut and dried with the aircraft's range and the allowed airports.
Also coupled has been the account of Jimmy's routing which was exactly the same as what that process produced drawing flights between allowed points.
However for this leg, a little extra planning .... trying to stay true to his flights during the race as accounted for in the small piece I'm using from the SAAM's website ... there's a small deviation and it appears that I will have to compromise one of the stops that he made enroute to Melbourne.
Says here:
"Melrose left Allahabad at 4:00am on 25th October to Calcutta then on to Rangoon, where he arrived at 3:00pm. He was on his way again at 1:45am next morning to Victoria Point then Singapore where he arrived at 1:40pm."
Victoria Point is not in our sim world as such, but during the British rule of Burma (1824 - 1948) was located at or near Kawthoung which is in our sim world.
Simple planning would have me draw a line between Rangoon and the next checkpoint (Singapore) then include enough legal airports to allow for fueling ... normally Rangoon, Bangkok, Alor Setar, then Seletar (Singapore).
That flight would be drawn away from and come no where near Victoria Point (Kawthoung).
So in an effort to keep true to the account of Jimmy's effort ...
Not going to be taking a "hit" for stopping and fueling at an unofficial airport and I have to be getting close to wearing out my welcome at 119 ... too late for any blanket changes to event routing ruleage like that anyway.
Compromise would be ... I have had pretty good luck so far with winds (hope I don't curse myself here) and fuel burn.
If I take the "normally" plan listed above and with fingers crossed delete the stop at Bangkok I get a line that runs close enough to Kawthoung that it can be used as a waypoint ... No stop there, just a flyover ... true enough I suppose.
No time penalty suffered ... bonus of using the 113NM NDB there (KT 290.0) and excellent visual reference of the airport at the end of a peninsula as well as the rest of the geography of that port area.
Risky bidnez Bubba .... pushing the plane's range to it's limit with no way out after the halfway mark (Bangkok still in reach).
Headed to Alor Setar ... Giddyup!
salt_air
Charter Member
salt_air
Charter Member
Safe and sound at Alor Setar .... whew!
A tad less than a gallon of fuel left in each tank .... no probs.
A nasty quartering headwind all the way .... had to throttle back a tick make the distance.
One word .... Luck.
Flight Time: 06:49:17
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00
View attachment FlightLog_17-01-19.TXT
A tad less than a gallon of fuel left in each tank .... no probs.
A nasty quartering headwind all the way .... had to throttle back a tick make the distance.
One word .... Luck.
Flight Time: 06:49:17
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00
View attachment FlightLog_17-01-19.TXT
salt_air
Charter Member
Singapore!
Down safe at the Third Compulsory Control Stop.
Started out on an easy peasy NDB run and immediately had to deal with mountains that came right out to the coast and 1 NM visibility so I just turned out off the coast and traced it all the way to the airport (WSSL).
Textbook VFR using the NDB's as mile markers instead of waypoints ... keep right and keep movin' Buster.
Flight Time: 03:33:17
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00
View attachment FlightLog_21-16-46.TXT
Down safe at the Third Compulsory Control Stop.
Started out on an easy peasy NDB run and immediately had to deal with mountains that came right out to the coast and 1 NM visibility so I just turned out off the coast and traced it all the way to the airport (WSSL).
Textbook VFR using the NDB's as mile markers instead of waypoints ... keep right and keep movin' Buster.
Flight Time: 03:33:17
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00
View attachment FlightLog_21-16-46.TXT
salt_air
Charter Member
Singapore - Batavia
"He then left Singapore at 1:00am on 27th October to Rambang via Batavia where he again landed in the early afternoon ... "
Time is getting short .... need to get down to Batavia.
Let's see ... the Equator is around here somewhere .... makes a difference when fetching data for the sextant.
A good bit of prep yet before I can take off .... probably a water route keeping coast(s) in sight using available NDB's as mile markers again.
"He then left Singapore at 1:00am on 27th October to Rambang via Batavia where he again landed in the early afternoon ... "
Time is getting short .... need to get down to Batavia.
Let's see ... the Equator is around here somewhere .... makes a difference when fetching data for the sextant.
A good bit of prep yet before I can take off .... probably a water route keeping coast(s) in sight using available NDB's as mile markers again.
salt_air
Charter Member
Safe landing at Batavia (Jakarta) WIIH
Dark for the first half, then a nice sunrise ... a quartering headwind all the way .... plenty of stars and NO terrain.
Will be soon though.
Flight Time: 04:39:19
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00
View attachment FlightLog_20-27-42.TXT
Dark for the first half, then a nice sunrise ... a quartering headwind all the way .... plenty of stars and NO terrain.
Will be soon though.
Flight Time: 04:39:19
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00
View attachment FlightLog_20-27-42.TXT
salt_air
Charter Member
Safe landing at Rambang .... water route plenty of high terrain, but none in the way.
Flight Time: 04:58:58
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00
View attachment FlightLog_20-45-02.TXT
Flight Time: 04:58:58
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00
View attachment FlightLog_20-45-02.TXT
srgalahad
Charter Member 2022
Austin, if you'd gone DIRECT from Singapore to Rambang there is NO terrain - just water, water everywhere... those short hops can always find you terrain to bump into
salt_air
Charter Member
Austin, if you'd gone DIRECT from Singapore to Rambang there is NO terrain - just water, water everywhere... those short hops can always find you terrain to bump into
Yes indeed Rob .... and Granite is unforgiving.
salt_air
Charter Member
Rambang - Kupang
Thanks mate!
Now out of here to Kupang for dinner and a nap.
Hmmm "He then left Singapore at 1:00am on 27th October to Rambang via Batavia where he again landed in the early afternoon before departing at midnight to Koepang then on to Darwin where he landed at dusk on 28th October to a very relieved welcome."
I don't really need to leave that time of day becuase I have no intent to make Darwin until tomorrow.
But, reckon I'll keep it real and true to the account ... so midnight it will be ....
It's clear right now .... should be able to make out terrain and coastlines .... and the sky is full of stars ... should be good.
Nice job Austin!
I hope you can keep that wind on your six!
Thanks mate!
Now out of here to Kupang for dinner and a nap.
Hmmm "He then left Singapore at 1:00am on 27th October to Rambang via Batavia where he again landed in the early afternoon before departing at midnight to Koepang then on to Darwin where he landed at dusk on 28th October to a very relieved welcome."
I don't really need to leave that time of day becuase I have no intent to make Darwin until tomorrow.
But, reckon I'll keep it real and true to the account ... so midnight it will be ....
It's clear right now .... should be able to make out terrain and coastlines .... and the sky is full of stars ... should be good.
salt_air
Charter Member
If not on this endeavor, then certainly during what will need to be Gargantuan legs in the Vega's endeavor .... I'd like to figure out a way .... meter or measure ... somehow ... a period style NDB signal strength meter's readings into some discernible scale of distance.
A DME if you will .... as long as the increments aren't too coarse, it may be useful.
An E6B cypher of GS cranked into the mix should round things out.
Oh well .... justa thought .... may slide one in here after the Darwin leg.
A DME if you will .... as long as the increments aren't too coarse, it may be useful.
An E6B cypher of GS cranked into the mix should round things out.
Oh well .... justa thought .... may slide one in here after the Darwin leg.
I believe I know what you're thinking about ..the RR radio equipment perhaps? No reason why the signal strength meter shouldn't work the same with NDBs, which use the same LFR AM signals. I used it for years with my ham radios. The technology was used by aviators dating back to 1929!
salt_air
Charter Member
Down safe at Kupang
Clear skies, good winds, and plenty dark.
Flight Time: 03:59:21
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00
View attachment FlightLog_21-05-23.TXT
Clear skies, good winds, and plenty dark.
Flight Time: 03:59:21
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00
View attachment FlightLog_21-05-23.TXT
I have figured out rough distance's to a ndb, with the signal meter that I am using. Came with the RDF gauge I got over at DC3 Airways.
When first picking up a ndb, the needle jumps to about the first notch. When it gets to a bit under the third or half notch, I am about 10nm away. Within site if there is something to see. At destination, when the needle gets to the second notch, I will start down. Usually a bit early, but better than overshooting the target.