The Mighty Howard

We got tired of waiting on the weather and decided to get on out of the jungle, so we filled up with gas and headed to the Colombian coast at Barranquilla. Longish flight, but we'll leave South America behind us from here and continue north. But we're going to rest here for a bit before we do anything.

(Middle, enjoy your flight!)
 
I've been a flying fool this evening, but I sure got a lot of territory covered.

First, we loaded up at Barranquilla and headed north to Kingston Jamaica. Refueled there and took off again for Grand Cayman Island. We were going to spend the night there, but Mr Smith said he knew some people in Havana, so after another refueling, we took off again...
 
I flew pretty hard and made good time to Havana. Mr Smith and Miss Jones went off to meet a couple of brothers named Fidel and Raul while me and Gus stayed with the plane to get it ready for tomorrow's flight....
 
Left Havana for New Orleans. Nice couple of hour long flight. I usually don't check on what the AI is up to as it sometimes will cause a crash to desktop for me, but I got bored and took a chance. Kind of glad I did. First I spotted Merc Air's old U-boat commander ally, Gunther. I guess he decided to head for a warmer climate than the English Channel this time of year. Either that or some Cuban official made him a better offer.

Next, I spotted one of the intrepid Merc Air flight crews at work flying out of Cuba towards the States. I'll bet they're hauling aid supplies (cigars and rum) along with having liberated some oppressed Cuban dancing girls.

Finally, we parked at Moisant Intl airport (KMSY) in front of this big Russian airliner. The Communists are probably out investigating the capitalistic decadence in the French Quarter. Hope they have a good time.

Pics got scrambled again. The first one should have been the last....

Continued....
 
Every one else went down to the Quarter to check out the Russians, but I've got fly us out of so I went and took in a movie. Looks like it's Sci Fi Friday at the local drive in.

pics are scrambled again
 
Channel Fever!

I was going to wait until tomorrow to finish this but I got what we in the Navy used to call "channel fever". So,... We loaded up and headed north.

First stop was Hawkins Field in Jackson Mississippi. Gus was wanting to go visit some relatives so I let him off there.

Next it was Memphis where Mr Smith and Miss Jones got out. We exchanged business cards and I hope they have a nice time on Beale Street and at Graceland...

continued

Pics scrambled again first should have been the last.
 
Down to just me, I headed NE to Gibson Co airport, my home field where I started this trip weeks ago. Short flight of about 15mins and they even held up a Beech 18 so I could land. Then it was back to my usual parking spot.

It's been a great flight, but I'm happy that it's over.

and as usual.. the pics are in reverse order
 
Excellent documentary of the flight Willy ... there were lots of familiar places seen. When doing these long treks, I find the Howard 500 to be a noble ride; she's fast, comfortable, capable, with lots to look at. Now is the time to have those R-2800's looked after. :applause: Thanks for sharing the fun.
 
R-2800's are noisy and belch fire and smoke, some of us really enjoy engines that are noisy and belch fire and smoke. :wiggle:
 
stansdds said:
How many hours did you log during this adventure?
Click to expand...

I don't know for sure. FS data has 81 hours on the Howard in all paints and I didn't fly it very much before the trip. I'd say at least 75 and probably closer to 80. One of the reasons I flew the Howard was that I had very little time in it and wanted to get to know it better.
 
I've been reading this from the beginning. Thanks for inviting us all along, Willy. It's a great way to work the flightsim.
 
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