JohnL

Alas and Alack! The flight has been completed, the screenies selected, and most of the PIREP drafted, but the ol' faithful laptop has chosen this moment to go into very-very-slow mode, the browsers aren't browsing. and I can't even read my email. As I'm going to be away for most of the next fortnight, I regret that the saga of how I got from Banjul to Libreville, via Dakar(!) in 2 odd-looking aeroplanes, is unlikely to see the light of day in the near future. Joe, I suggest you get someone else to refly it.

An old schoolfriend converted from Hunter F6s to Lightnings. He described takeoff as, "Like sticking a very large rocket up your backside and lighting the blue touchpaper."

Ring a ring o' Roses

OK, so you're reading it...... Perhaps I shouldn't have left the flight planning to the co-pilot, but checking back, his plan seems to have matched the official route. Pity he didn't check the Norwegian charts! There we were, trundling along at 7000', when a cliff-face appeared 3 miles ahead of us. Not sure that it was below our level, I decided to climb, and cleared it, just as a bigger one appeared behind it. At about 8500' we cleared this one by about 400', and carried on up to 9000' to make sure. A look at the chart confirmed that we were flying over the Jotunheims and THAT had been t

YAFSScreen to take the shots, IrfanView to edit them.

(Especially for those who like flying through cloud):- Norway has 291 mountain peaks that are more than 2000 metres (6562 ft) amsl. Two of them are over 8000 ft high. It is probably easier in this year's MEBAR to become geography than to make history.

No worries, we are already shipping spares (mostly for DC-3, but I've got some bits for the Monospar, and if anyone else needs anything that'll fit in, or underneath, a Dakota we'll happily carry it), tools, and maintenance crew from North Weald to all airfields involved in the Rally.

I don't know what FSX (etc) says about ENBL, but according to FS9 and ACUKWIK, Bringeland has JETAV, but not AVGAS. As ENFA Flatval can't supply fuel for the final leg, this suggests that whereas the paraffin burners only need to remember to fuel up at ENBL for two legs totalling 616nm (plus margins), piston-engined aircraft are going to fuel up at ENSO Storsstokken for 3 legs totalling 1001nm (plus margins). Some of us can fit ferry tanks, or even carry a few 55 usg drums and hand refuelling kits (maybe even the odd drum or two spare for selling to the less fortunate), but can we assume th

Oxygen system? - that thing's pressurised (ex-BOAC Canadair Argonaut - as flown in by HM Queen Elizabeth II for her return to England on her accession in 1952, although we haven't got the "club seating").

Missed the last one or two but am back with a DC-3 this time. Wonder how long the shortest runway is.....

The approach to this touch-and-go is full of opportunities for the unwary to become geography, especially if they haven't said their prayers while passing Lourdes. To make it slightly easier, there are visual approach maps for LFCB at https://fly.rocketroute.com/plates/adminview/LFCB_VAC.pdf?cmd=pdf&docid-400000000103645&icao=LFCB

To remove any last-minute temptation, have carefully chosen an aircraft with too large a wingspan to go through the arch while straight and level.

As the effective range of my aged Rapide is a bit marginal for legs 3 & 4, and definitely inadequate for leg 5, request permission to convert 3 T&Gs to TSs for refuelling. Alternatively, can plumb in a ferry tank, and my passengers can take turns with the wobble pump.

Knew I should have checked the NOTAMs before departure! Made the same discovery, and came up with same solution. Have now updated my FS9 scenery to incorporate the "new" REN VOR/DME (about 340metres bearing 290deg from the "old" RNS VOR.

Far be it from me to suggest that any MEBAR participant would break French air regulations, but seeing that this year's rally flies along the Champs Elysee, I remembered that the Arc de Triomphe stands at one end of it, and of the late Charles Godefroy's 1919 feat (the Nieuport 11 had a wingspan of 24' 8", while the archway is 47' 6" wide). http://fandavion.free.fr/godefroy.htm

Some of us would probably prefer not to have known what the target times were for any of the legs! Although the Monospar did a creditable time for leg 1, I now realise that it probably needs either more powerful engines or a tunnelling attachment.

Best of luck for next year. Nice seeing the Paschal Lamb - my dad volunteered for the Hampshires in WW2, but owing to a mix-up with his papers, served in North Africa and Italy with the "Mutton Lancers".

No worries, the Islander, together with a few cases of Laphroiag (including some Quarter Cask and Triple Wood which I can't get locally), has now made it to Baldoon, and I have a vantage point in the grandstand to watch the Avro Lincoln's arrival (should be interesting...). Have checked the tanks for leg 5 and I should have 45 minutes to spare.

Ah, serious Munro-bagging in broken cloud. Just what the doctor ordered!

....in the later stages of leg 3. Unfortunately, it was the one marked "Fuel Warning". I think we would have had enough for a go-around at Glenforsa, but I'm glad we didn't have to prove it.

??? Leg 5 Waypoint 10: N55* 25' 30.29" W5* 7' 06.11" ??? I make that a bit south of Arran, but suspect it should be somewhere about the SW end of the Great Glen, possibly N56* 49' 24" W5* 7' 06.11"?

Had to do a full reinstall of Dodos 7, consequently lost lots of stuff and have oodles of reinstalling ahead of me. Fortunately, the really important things, like FS9, were on a separate drive, so I'm back in the game, and G-AJCL has just landed in "the land of my fathers". Actually, it's the land of my father's mother, and G-AJCL, during it's Cambrian days, used to fly the Swansea-Southampton route, so we're both happy!

078 presents his complements to the field, but owing to his laptop having a severe case of the collywobbles, his participation in this year's event will probably be limited to standing in his garden watching you all depart from EGHI, and possibly watching the survivors on finals if rwy 02 is in use.

Gosh - that time of year ALREADY? What to fly? Portsmouth Aviation Aerocar Major III (enjoyed that last year)? Planet Satellite (had a fun time in the GAAR with that)? Optica? or can I find something even odder to fly? Swansea to Barton! Does this mean the joys of the wonderful Manchester LLR?

A Four Peaks Touch'n'Go Challenge? Fell-taxiing?