hurricanemk1c 195 Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 There I was, standing at a wet railway station taking photos. Progressively, I'm getting soaked to the skin. Normally, something interesting at least comes through. Whilst waiting for the now late running 1320 Cork - Heuston to pass, I glance at my e-mails. Two immediately popped out at me - one was from an aviation group, who were organising a trip to St. Marteen to take photos. At least it'd be warmer and drier, I thought. The second one interested me more. It was from a VC-10 Flyers Group, wanting me to come to Dublin for a talk as soon as possible. So I decided to get the next train up. Luckily for me, these two beauties came along: 2804+2803 arrive at Portlaoise, 18/10/13 by hurricanemk1c, on Flickr Needless to say, a fun trip was had bombing up the main line at 75! Anyway, five days later I've found myself waking up to the hum of a pair of CF6-80E1A4's. We were nearing the island. However, the pilots seemed to want their arrival known. A go-around was followed by this landing A quick photo out the window And we arrived at TNCM While in the arrivals hall, however, somebody asked for me. I had no idea who it was, but they handed me something very familiar. The baton! Attached was a note which read: Dear Lucky Pilot, Please deliver this baton to E.T. Joshua Airport (TVSV), but ensure that the aircraft exceeds 170,000lbs MTOW. Regards, ATWC 5 Team So that was the meaning behind the e-mails and the meeting! The VC-10 club wanted some flights to exotic locations, and mentioned there. I had a quick scout around the airport and found what I was half-expecting. There was indeed a Super VC-10, but it wasn't an RAF one. Instead, it was beautifully restored to BA colours. A quick look in the cockpit, however, showed that if the RAF ever modified it by putting in more modern instruments, they were taken out again. All that remained was the dual INS and a hand-held GPS. Bemused, I dug out my INS manuals and started planning. As an insurance, I plotted the route VOR-to-VOR and also programmed it into the GPS. The route I was able to get to the beach and take some photos, then wished I was back in wet Portlaoise. Too warm for me! Nice and early the next morning, I arrived back at the airfield with my crew. From nowhere, the airport appeared to get BA steps to the aircraft: Progresssively, the INS was programmed Engine start and push back past another British product 'Flaps set for take-off' called my first officer Neil Cleared onto the active and ready to send some people into the sea The peace of the morning is shattered by the roar of four Rolls-Royce Conway Rco.43 Mk.550 turbofans Heavily loaded and out-of-practise, the VC-10 took a little bit of persuasion to get into the air Barely clearing the hill Heading out the wrong way, just to gain some height Climbing out, autopilot engaged. It was at this point that I realised that something was wrong with the INS. It wasn't linking into the autopilot. A quick check revealed why - finger error. Started at 1 instead of 0, so the set-up wasn't aligned properly! The morning sun reflects on the long career of the VC-10 Nice trails A booked turn as we follow VOR's The classic lines of the VC-10 Destination in sight as we descend from about FL320 We were cleared to land quickly enough Getting into a better position for landing. I can hear my flight engineer fiddling with his pen, clearly nervous about my approach. So what I did a few tight turns? 'Three Greens' as we turn into the runway Getting there I suddenly realised why this leg had a restriction. The runway looked very short from up there. Anyway, it was a hard touchdown! Full brakes But we stopped in plenty of time. I could hear the sound of relief from the back Taxiing in amongst the small planes STOP!!!! Engines are shut down again, and the airport can still find these stairs for us! And so ends this leg for the trusty baton. If anyone needs me, just have a look in the airport hotel for someone reading a book called 'Ruin From the Air - Enola Gay' Kieran Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Godden 945 Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 Kieran, A lovely mix of your two passions, trains and planes, into this adventure. The VC10, too, a relatively rare bird in flight simming, but born somewhat, out of the ashes of the doomed V-1000 project. Great story and screen shots, mate. Cheers Andrew Link to post Share on other sites
hifly 925 Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 Nice pix and adventure Kieran and excellent choice of an elegant plane. Link to post Share on other sites
jaydor 345 Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 A very enjoyable trip and a bit of magic thrown in with the stairs.. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 Great story, Kieran. I don't recall an ATWC leg beginning with a train ride, but if anyone was going to do it, it was going to be you. John Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,316 Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 Sweet looking train, a classic plane and a solid PIREP. It wouldn't hurt for any of us newbies to take note of the perfect flow of words and images in this enjoyable read. Thanks for the ride along Chuck. Hopefully get to see you along our way across the globe(maybe somewhere cooler). Link to post Share on other sites
DaveLeafNiles 0 Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 Enjoyed reading the PIREP and seeing the train pic as well (I don't do much railfanning but I do use Trainsimulator 2014-- the old Railworks sim-- a lot as I love UK rail. Fav diesel to run is the Deltic Class 55). Thanks for the multi-modal story! Kind regards, Dave Link to post Share on other sites
hurricanemk1c 195 Posted October 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 Ah the Deltic - good to see someone else who likes them! Link to post Share on other sites
rob16584 42 Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 Good pirep Kieran. Nice to see an old bird getting an outing Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 Super PIREP chuck, A great choice of aircraft, I hope you get out of there OK. We're up to the credit limit on the credit card so don't prang it! Cheers... Joe Link to post Share on other sites
ddavid 149 Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 Colourful in both image and language - your brush with the Blarney Stone paid off, eh, Chuck? Mind you, I'm glad I wasn't in the rear for that take-off - reminds me of the KC135's clawing their way out of Fairford! Thanks for sharing - great PIREP. Cheers - Dai. Link to post Share on other sites
stu7708 244 Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Great PIREP Kieran! But as Dai said, I'm glad I didn't have to experience that take-off from the cabin, or the cockpit for that matter... I would have been biting my nails so much I'd have started chewing my fingers Link to post Share on other sites
UKJim 502 Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Great story and read while I am sat here at work - nice choice of plane and that landing had to be spot on else you would end in the hill Good stuff! Link to post Share on other sites
Kasper 14 Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 A classic tale Kieran. Great job shoehorning her in there! Great shots of a classic. Now if you hear the rattle of 4 Double Cyclones (easy to hear from the airport hotel) can you please take the Baton with you when you come to take a look? Link to post Share on other sites
rosariomanzo 545 Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Nice story and choice of Aircraft, well done! Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,013 Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Classic Kieran. Classic PIREP. Cheers Kieran, an entertaining read and nice shots. I wonder how much they got the BA steps for? Link to post Share on other sites
hurricanemk1c 195 Posted October 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2013 @Kapser - will do Thanks for the comments folks! Link to post Share on other sites
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