Spookster67 - Golden Age - Mew Gull E2H, G-AEXF

Martin,

Had you not have crashed your handicap at YPDN would have been -1:15:35.. Tough break.. Looks like Vicious might take it.. :(
 
What a bummer! I thought for sure you were going to take the top spot, although I'm not sure you're out of it yet. If you wait for ideal wind conditions you might be able to catch me over the last few legs, or at least get within 5 minutes, which would be a huge achievment with a 1 hour penalty.

Good Luck!
 
Thanks guys. I was hoping to be an hour under handicap at Darwin, but those great tail winds through Malaysia and Indonesia got me an extra 15 minutes. As Eamonn says, it would have been 1:15 under, but now its just 15 minutes. I now need an average of about 212 knots for the remaining legs, to match Vicious. Through Europe I was only managing 206, but the last legs averaged 216. So it's not quite all over...

I have a dilemma now though. I was hoping to have a spare 5 minutes for a nice careful circuit of Essenden airfield, and then a crack at the precision landing. Now it looks like I'll be flying straight in with the throttle wide open until short finals...! What fun this is. :icon_lol:
 
Glad to hear you're not giving up on taking the lead. When I was looking at your times yesterday, before the Darwin incident, I was amazed to see that you might beat me by about an hour. So now that you've got the hour penalty, it should be fun to see if you can still catch me. I can't wait to find out. :jump:
 
OK, the wheel gear is fixed, and G-AEXF is ready to continue. I thought long and hard about whether an intermediate stop at YCCY would be better, allowing for lower fuel loads, but in the end I've decided to get right across to Charleville in one hop. It's just within range (I think!).

So, YPDN - YBCV, in around 5:45.
 
Down safely at YBCV, Charleville. I arrived slightly ahead of schedule, and there's not much at Charleville to see on approach, so I was taken by surprise when the runway came into sight! Anyway, a few S-turns scrubbed off the speed, and I put the Mew Gull down safely, having used most of the runway.

A nice blue-sky day, not many headwinds, but nor many tailwinds either it seemed. There really isn't much to look at in the middle of Australia - just miles and miles of desert and bushland.

4 gallons of fuel left in the tank - plenty! :icon_lol:

Flight time: 5:38:04
Cumulative: 45:34:36
 
So what's the magic time you need to catch my time on your last leg? It's looks like you gave yourself a bit of a cushion on the previous leg with your 214+ average GS.

Good Luck!
 
Vicious said:
So what's the magic time you need to catch my time on your last leg? It's looks like you gave yourself a bit of a cushion on the previous leg with your 214+ average GS.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I still need all the luck I can get...

If my spreadsheet is right, I reckon 3:17:02 on my final leg to Melbourne would have us tied in the handicap race. That's still around 208 knots average, which won't be possible if I hit headwinds.

Essendon airport always seems to have fairly strong winds, so I'll need to make sure I get the right runway and don't try to force it down again. I certainly can't afford another crash landing!!
 
Well for what it's worth, my money is on you at the moment. If your graph is correct you've made up the difference in one leg. Must be that high octane gas you've been using. :mixedsmi:

I'll be praying for headwinds.
 
Time for the final leg. The weather over Melbourne seems reasonable, though there's a low pressure and strong southerly winds. Hope they don't extend too far north.

With only 60 gallons of fuel on board I reckon 210 knots average is possible, as long as the winds work out ok. If there are headwinds I'll be staying very low.

YBCV - YMEN. :wavey:

Time estimate for the precision flight is 3:15:00.
 
G-AEXF arrived in Melbourne

Well that worked out nicely, no significant winds enroute, reasonable weather on arrival (plenty of cloud but no rain), and a nice steady 10 knot southerly wind to land into. :jump:

Flight time: 3:15:01 :icon_lol:
Cumulative: 48:49:37

That was a lot of fun - thanks to everyone involved in organising it!! :applause:

Now, where's this bar...
 
Vicious said:
Looking at your latest tracking data, It looks like I'm in trouble. :applause:
Click to expand...
Well, I reckon I'll wait until the "official officials" work this out, but I may have just squeezed in with the handicap time. Thanks for your support, Tom, and great race yourself!
 
Well, truly excellent Martin. Congratulations.

Now, how about buying a round of drinks? :icon29:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top