CSoul 182 Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Considering the peril faced by my fellow pilots, I'm thinking it's wise to use something military, fast and armed to the teeth. That, and I spread a rumour that any attempt to mess with the baton would result in a missile up the wazoo. One smart-arse started prattling about air-to-air missiles and such. I reminded him that, listen mate, a heat ignature is a heat signiture and failing that - the mirage has guns. That settled the argument. I collected the Baton from a relieved looking Rem and headed over to the Mirage 2000, not quite able to resist a certain prickling sensation between my shoulder blades. After all, no missiles will be going up anyone's wazoo if I'm not there to fire them. Time to step smartly. It was at that moment that a certain International Woman of Mystery phoned and asked what I was flying for this leg. It turned out that she was attending a fly-in/airshow in Malta and thought (rightly) that a Mirage 2000 would go down very well as part of the static display. There was also a little something else going on which she thought I might like. I asked, curious. All I got in return, though, was a laugh and a wait-and-see. With that the phone went dead. Time to go, then. With a last, furtive look around, I climb in and get ready to go. The flight plan to Malta is simple: take off, do a 180, and fly on a heading of 274 until the blue stuff turns to green stuff. Aloft and turning, showing the armament that at least one person on Crete is glad to see the back of. Here's hoping they don't have SAMs. Weather is calm for the most part, with a few scattered clouds and some light turbulence. Ah, and there's the green stuff. On final. Nice and easy. Until I'm side-swiped by a nasty crosswind/headwind/whirlwind that makes a bit of a mess of my approach. Luckily the Mirage stays more composed than me. A smoky landing but I'll take it. With the baton safely delivered to Malta I settle into a hotel for the night, wondering what the next day has in store. It turns out to be this! That 'little something' Sharon had in mind - for that is who the mystery caller was - ends up being a race. And we would be using four of these aircraft. The course is simple. Take off from a standing start, then into a quick right-left kink down to a sharp left at turn 1. From there, a fast left-hander in the form of turn 2 leading into another sharp left at turn 3. From there, floor it up the harbour, then into a left-right kink to line up with the runway. Cross the threshold, then pull up into a half cuban eight at turn 4, and then back down the runway to turn 5. Sharp turn to the right at turn 5, and then another final, sharp right at turn 6 to line up on the finish straight. First across the threshold wins. The pilots would be: Me, Ham-fisted crazy South African, in the Focke-Wulf FW190. Sharon, International Woman of Mystery, in the P-51D Mustang. Some chap in a white suit and racing helmet in the Spitfire Mk XIV. A tough-looking gent named Killroy in the Vaught F4U Corsair. Engines running and taxiing to the start-line. I'm quietly confident about my chances: the FW190 is fast, agile and light. So it should be quick off the line and in the turns, and have the grunt on the straights. Sharon, however, has, like last time, probably picked the winner. Lined-up and ready. Three red lights. Two red lights. One red and...... Go! Go! Go! And the Corsair immediately takes the lead. Into turn 1 and the Corsair is well out in front. Followed closely by the FW190 in 2nd and the Mustang in 3rd. Falling behind already is the Spitfire. Turn 2 and the Mustang powers past to take 2nd. Turn 3 and the Corsair is still well out in front. At this stage it seems that it's a race between the P-51 and the FW190 for second. Lining up with the runway and the Mustang is pulling out a bit of a lead on the FW190. The Spitfire is just barely visible in the distance. Pulling up into Turn 4. Corsair still in the lead but the Mustang and Focke-Wulf are both gaining. Turn 5 and the Corsair is starting to feel the pressure. And it's not only the Corsair: the Mustang now has the FW190 breathing down its neck. Killroy groans as he spots Sharon powering past.... Followed a second or two later by me. The Mustang has it in the bag and powers towards the finish line. The FW190 lines up and begins to pull away from the Corsair. We have winner! Sharon and the P-51 cross in 1st, followed by me and the FW190 in 2nd, and Killroy and the Corsair in 3rd. The Spitfire comes in last. But it was not that far behind, being about a quarter of the way down the runway by the time Sharon crossed the line. That concludes the race. The man in the white suit stalks off to find a Veyron. Killroy looks dejected. Sharon takes the applause of the crowd. And I'm just happy I didn't crash...but 2nd is not bad. Still, it was a close-run thing, all four aircraft and pilots seperated by no more than few seconds, with a particularly fierce contest between the Mustang and the FW190. Someone corrals man-in-white and we're hustled off to the podium. All four pilots receive race ribbons. Sharon hoists the trophy to the roar of the crowd...and promptly drowns in media asking for interviews. I slip smartly away and head for the restaurant, intent on dinner...and nursing a slightly bruised ego. Mikael walks in to collect the baton and I wish him well. And that's it from me. Incidentally, on the first run I did, the FW190 did win, mostly because I didn't pull tightly enough in the Mustang. I tried the ME109 but it was slower than the Spitfire. I would have used the Bearcat and did, the Bear placing 3rd (it was unable to turn as tightly as the others), but for some reason its prop doesn't spin when using FSrecorder, so I had to leave it out. Safe travels Mikael. Link to post Share on other sites
hifly 925 Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Stirring stuff CS, that race had me in suspense. The Mirage is cool too. Link to post Share on other sites
stu7708 244 Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Great leg Marcellus! You do have a knack for running air-races, but I can't help but wonder if Sharon really played fair. She was in an awful hurry to get out of Valletta when she found me and my plane... the fact that it was a slow single engine prop plane didn't please her at all!! Link to post Share on other sites
CSoul 182 Posted July 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Thank you for the kind feedback. As for Sharon - and you did not hear this from me - she did rig the first one (Actually I rigged it for a photo-finish ). But there's always another race... Link to post Share on other sites
stu7708 244 Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Didn't hear a thing from you Marcellus... Promise Link to post Share on other sites
J G 927 Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 From my leg...."I don't think I have the chops to continue this story!" Well, probably wisely, you didn't continue my story line. But as for chops, well what an exciting leg! Great PIREP and a fantastic race! Well done mate, nice one! Link to post Share on other sites
CSoul 182 Posted July 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Thanks John. Apologies for not continuing your story line. I looked at it and thought; "Yeah, can't quite match that." So I stuck to what I know. Still, on the next section we are going to Switzerland and that's Bourne territory, so maybe I can come up with something there. Glad you liked the race, though. Link to post Share on other sites
hurricanemk1c 195 Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Superb leg Marcellus - love your air races! Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,487 Posted July 3, 2014 Report Share Posted July 3, 2014 Great PIREP Marcellus, the prize money for second place will help to pay the fuel bills Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,284 Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 A very exciting PIREP indeed, had me right to the end. Are you sure Sharon caught all those turns legally? Link to post Share on other sites
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