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Leg 17 - Indira Gandhi Intl (VIDP) - Tribhuvan Intl (VNKT)


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An early morning train to Dublin is neveer very good for your health. At least it is getting brighter in the mornings (until they put the clocks forward!)

 

16760286860_96b5f86c6f_b.jpg22005 at Portlaoise, 25/3/15 by hurricanemk1c, on Flickr

 

Whilst quietly dozing away in the rear coach, a text message arrives:

 

"Hey Kieran, the baton is in the trunk. Cheers, Brian"

 

Oh bugger. Forgot about that. Now, how to get to Indira Handhi International Airport in the next 48 hours, and what aircraft can I fly? Sleep was quickly forgotten as the Irish Rail Wi-Fi got a hammering, along with some maps I had put in my bag the night before. It was decided to go via London with Aer Lingus then British Airways. Nothing but the best for Mutley's Hangar Crews!

 

Various phone calls were made during the stopover at Heathrow. This mainly related to aircraft choice, with the flight plan already approved. On mention of a classic jet, the Indian I was talking to suddenly came out with 'We have something along those lines. It will be sorted'. And hung up. Bewildered, I just headed off for the gate and some welcome sleep.

 

Dawn the next day.

 

Having found the trunk (it would have been helpful to say which trunk Brian - there were 100 or so elephants I saw across the three terminals!) it was off to see what my Indian friends had found for me

 

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Quite a beast. The Trident 3. the world's only 5 engined 3 engined commercial airliner (three Rolls Royce Speys, a Rolls Royce RB162 booster engine and the APU). I hope these Indians realise how noisy the Spey's are.

 

Well they gave us immediate take-off clearance, so I think they have an idea.....

 

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Just to add a little zest to the take-off, the booster engine was used. Dehli was assaulted by the raw power of Rolls Royce

 

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Gear up. I think we are going to be charged for excess noise............

 

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Climbing away

 

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The distinctive Trident yoke, complete with Autoland, not that it is going to be used

 

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Scheduled turn to the north

 

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The most modern feature is the hand-held GPS mounted onto the Moving Map display

 

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Nearly there

 

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Now, my co-pilot and flight engineer had cleared this little exercise with ATC but had said nothing to me. About 50 miles away from the airport, I called out to descend. The co-pilot (a check captain on the Trident) called for emergency descent due to cabin pressure rising. Spoilers out and a 10,000ft / min descent was started

 

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OK - that was enough. The ground was rising up rather rapidly!

 

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Turning to finals with the gear coming down

 

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Nice and slow over the threshold

 

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Touchdown. With no reversers it's down to the brakes

 

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And stopped on the runway

 

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And finally parked up next to the recent short-haul commercial airliner - the Airbus A319

 

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Mikael - see you in a few days!

 

Add-ons used:

David Maltby de Havilland Trident 3B

World of AI traffic

Default scenery and weather

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Who else could get a railway carriage into their ATWC Leg? And then surprise us with a 5 engined passenger aircraft? Got to hand it to you, Chuck, you certainly pick 'em... :thum:

Thanks for the ride - see you in Colombia!

Cheers - Dai. :old-git:

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Bravo Chuck, a great set of shots and commentary too, thanks for getting the baton to VNKT safely  :thum:

 

Love the Trident, I remember seeing loads of them at Heathrow when going spotting from the top of the Queens Building as it was then, happy days!

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Well done, Chuck! Congratulations on a smooth flight, the sign of a true professional.

 

As the old RAF saying puts it -- Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance.    ;)

 

(I didn't write that: it had been going for a very long time before I joined).

 

Cheers,

 

bruce

a.k.a. brian747

 

 

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