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

robert41 said:
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.
Click to expand...


Good info Robert .... I'll do all my testing in the Vega run.

Time is short ... should be under way (equipped) by this Monday ... ready for some L-O-N-G legs back down here.

Hope I can gauge or scale somewhat during the initial reception and before I can actually see the station.

Made a slight :biggrin-new: ... adjustment to the Vega's ADF receiver .... will discuss later.



Cheers,
 
Kupang - Darwin

Off to Darwin .... the Puss Moth will then be back on home turf.


Early AM departure .... clear, stars for a while then some good ol' DR and some luck .... better than Jimmy had I hope.

Will have to separate my flights from now on from the nonsense that plagued Jimmy the rest of the way in to Melbourne ... routing should be close to the same unless I can see a break due to better winds .... we'll see.

From the SAAM website:

"His last sector over the Timor Sea was close-run as he missed his Australian landfall by some 75
miles to the south west, turned south west instead of north east and ended up 175 miles from
Darwin before he realised his mistake and followed the cost up to Darwin, where he landed with
empty tanks four hours overdue. His onward flights from Darwin to Melbourne were fraught with
drama. He left in the early hours of Monday morning 29th October to Newcastle Waters but was
delayed there due to strong headwinds before departing again at midnight, landing, lost, at a
farmhouse where he asked for directions to Cloncurry. He was soon back on track, spent two hours
in Cloncurry but had to land again to ask directions to Charleville where he finally landed to a huge
welcome at 4:00pm. He left Charleville the next day, 31st October, at 1:30am to Narromine but got
off course again (due to what was later found to be an out of alignment compass) and landed at a
farmhouse at Forbes to arrange fuel at Cootamundra instead. That was his last stop before finally
flying between the race terminus pylons at Flemington at 9:00am then landing at nearby Laverton."



I'd have to guess the lad was getting fatigued by this point .... a near 10K NM race around Australia .... then another 10K up to London .... now this far along in yet another 10 K coming back ... wow.



Taking off shortly ...
 
Darwin .... we are back Down Under!

Down safe at the Fourth Compulsory Control Stop (YPDN)

Water water everywhere .... whew!


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Under corrected for a shot of some winds that snuck in on me out of the south ... hung out for a bit too.

No big probs with the 75NM NDB at Darwin and clear skies the whole way.



Flight Time: 03:50:00
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00



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Darwin - Tennant Creek

Tennant Creek this morning then Cloncurry after some lunch.



Uh ... "He left in the early hours of Monday morning 29th October to Newcastle Waters but was delayed there due to strong headwinds before departing again at midnight, landing, lost, at a farmhouse where he asked for directions to Cloncurry." .... NOT!



First things first .... taking off shortly for Tennant Creek.
 
Whoa .... way off!

Down safe at Tennat Creek, but misnavigated (add to dictionary) way off to the north ... again.

Flight path looks like Zoro was here.

Miserable flight .... dark then one mile visibility all the way here.

No landmarks, nothing to see just the endless Leopard skin rug that scrolls under the plane for hours.

No sextant (clouds) ... put the driftmeter away wrong when I last used it ... have to reset it's window priority ... obviously not that great with the E6B and then if this isn't enough whining (BTW it is) I had the ADF receiver set to the wrong NDB.

After finding the mistake I had to turn back 40 degrees to the south.

Yet another close call to a missed airport and a stop for directions ... starting to feel like Jimmy just a bit.




Right! .... water in the face and over to Starbucks for a large somethin' or other, then back up and over to Cloncurry.


Whew! :dizzy:



Flight Time: 04:47:33
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00



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Cloncurry .... after a restart and one of my favorite beverages ... to go.


As I walk away shaking my head, I hear a voice just beyond the 1 NM visibility .... hands cupped to his mouth and hollering loudly .... "Rookieee!!!" ....

That's great .... no autograph for you. :a1310:
 
Cloncurry it is .... all safe and sound.

Visibility stunk for the first 2 hours or so ... then cleared off nicely.

A better job of navigating on this one .... made easy by straight on tailwinds most of the way keeping correction angles slight.

Nice fat 75NM NDB at the airport was like icing on the cake.


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Flight Time: 03:06:18
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00


Was going to Charleville today, but think I'll chill out for a bit and just get up early tomorrow and hopefully finish.


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Headwinds .... not working out at all in the Puss Moth ... will have to find some long range weather reports.

At least 30 minutes added to this trip.

:frown-new:
 
Charleville!!

Safe and sound ... finally .... at the Fifth Compulsory Control Stop (YBCV)

Took enough reserve fuel for over an hour just in case and used right much of it fighting the winds.

Thank goodness once again for the 75 NM NDBs.

Struggle would be the word for this one.

Wanted to finish today, but anymore flights will have to be reviewed and math run against weather findings.

What should have been a little more than four hours turned out ...


Flight Time: 04:37:27
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00


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Charleville - Narromine

Winds not favorable, but should improve.

Won't see the tailwinds I have enjoyed for the vast majority of this trek from Mildenhall.

Oh well ... bitter with the sweet .... get it and grin.



Taking off for Narromine



"He left Charleville the next day, 31st October, at 1:30am to Narromine but got off course again (due to what was later found to be an out of alignment compass) and landed at a farmhouse at Forbes to arrange fuel at Cootamundra instead."


Not today ....
 
Narromine - Melbourne

Could be better .... could be worse .... off to the finish line at Essendon.

What a ride this has been!
 
Fantastic airmanship mate......and a hero's welcome to you! :very_drunk:

There's a limo waiting at the AP with a cooler full! :guinness:
 
Arrived safely at Melbourne .... the Puss Moth is home!

Down safe at Essendon .... last Compulsory Check point and the Finish.

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Flight Time: 03:14:39
Routine Ground Time: 0:45:00
Special Ground Time: 0:00:00
Penalty Time: 0:00:00



Caught a slight break on the winds on the second half of the flight.

The visibility poor after take off and again for the last 30 or 40 minutes of the flight it went down to only 1 NM or so.


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3000' is pushing it across some of the terrain to the North and East of the city ... exciting when you can't see.


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What a great event .... thanks a bunch ... to Miss Nellie and the gang at 119!



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