stu7708 244 Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 What had I gotten myself into?? A 2000 nm flight over the Pacific, and no clue on how to fly it! My preference of low and slow GA would surely not be an option, it'd take me weeks to get to my destination, if the fuel load would even get me far enough... To make it worse I got a call from J G as I was waiting for Kieran to arrive at the Marchall Islands. His contacts had kept an eye on our progress, and there were reports of Putinfeld activity at Pohnpei just after Kieran took off, so I was in a hurry to get out of Bucholz once the Baton got here. And something fast for the flight was essential if I where to get our persuers of our back. It was time to call in some favors, and despite Kierans selection of the Catalina for his flight my guess was I didn't have much time to get things organized. There was really only one option for me. I had to cash in some favors from my good friend "Al". He had connections in the aviation world I could only dream of. I managed to get hold of him, still with Sharon in Biratnagar setting up his Everest Experience retreat. He told me to hang tight and he'd get back to me. He might have some contacts he could pry a solution out of. Just as I got wind of Kierans imminent arrival he got back to me. "Go see the head honcho of the US army on the island, and tell him I sent you" he told me. "Just know that this is going to cost me a lot. Col. Sanchez wanted a free trip for him and one of his Navy buddies to Everest and two weeks of All Inclusive relaxation in Biratnagar for them and their wifes in exchange for his help!" I headed out to the airfield and Col. Sanchez invited me in to his office without much delay. He seemed very excited about the situation (I guess he really wanted to go to Everest) and filled me in on the details. The US Navy were doing some training out of Bucholz at the moment, and through his contacts Col. Sanchez had managed to "procure" a plane for me on condition that a Navy pilot could tag along and keep an eye on the plane. And as an extra service they would also provide me with transportation from Pago Pago to the US mainland when we arrived. My Co-pilot for the flight was heading home for his wedding, so I had been allowed to tag along as. I guess my trip to Kidwell had been mentioned by Al, and this was part of the package. "Don't worry about those Putinfeld guys either, if they try to get close to the airfield we have the hardware to take care of them!" he said with a smirk on his face. "But enough chit chatting, let's get you in to the briefing room for all the details on the flight." As I left Col. Sanchez and was escorted down to the area where the Navy guys had set up camp I saw Kieran coming in for his approach. I'd have to catch up with him after my breifing. "Ok sir, listen close or you might end up in the wet stuff! I expect you to follow the plan to the numbers or you'll get your ass whopped when you get to Pago Pago", the navy captain said as I entered the briefing room. "We don't normally let the general public fly our planes, but I'm under a direct order so I guess there isn't much of an option. Since there is no way I'm letting you do this flight with any danger of ending up doing it in the dark you will depart with Lt. Codpiece, don't you dare laugh, bright and early tomorrow morning. The flight plan is just shy of 2000 nm, and even in a T-45C it's going to take you somewhere in the region of 4 hours to get there. After departure you will climb straight up to FL330 and remain there to your destination. The only accepted reason for leaving your cruise altitude is if you need to refuel en route. Speaking of fuel. You will be pushing the boundaries on the range for your bird, but our calculations show that you should be able to get to Pago Pago without stopping unless the winds changed drastically. Lt. Codpiece will be monitoring the situation and if he says you need to refuel his decision is final! There will be refueling stations available at Marshall Island International on Majuro, Bonriki International on Tarawa Island and at Funafuti International although I wouldn't recommend the last option. Once passed Finafuti you are more or less committed to go to your destination, although the other islands in Samoa have airfields that can be used in a pinch." This all came out as rapidly as machine gun fire, and I frantically tried to scrape all of it down on paper. After repeating what I had noted down I got what might be considered and approving nod from the captain at the front of the room. "Good" was all he said before dismissing me. Outside I was greeted by Lt. Codpiece, or "Hawkeye" as he was usually called, who escorted me to meet Kieran to obtain the baton. Kieran than made a hasty departure in order to get himself to Pago Pago to once again pick up the baton. After a dinner of field rations he led me to my accommodations for the night. "Don't you go wandering of during the night. I'll pick you up here at 0400 tomorrow morning" he said before he closed the door. As it shut I could clearly hear the lock closing. I guess I wouldn't be allowed to explore the base on my own. Bright and early the next morning "Hawkeye" collected me from my room cell and after breakfast we donned our flight gear and headed out to our assigned plane. The flight plan was already programmed so after a quick walk around we got in to the cockpit and started our Goshawk up. In what felt like seconds the engines were turning and we were cleared to push. Heading for runway 24, thankfully the layout of the airport was easy enough. Take-off clearance came with in seconds of us arriving at the holding point, and we started our take off roll. Hawkeye handled the call-outs from his rear seat. "80 knots, V1, Rotate". After a long right turn we started to climb through the lower layers of cloud. Although I must admit I could feel some tension when seeing the tremendous rate the fuel gauge is dropping. The muck eased as we got higher, but even at FL330 some clouds are towering above us. Hawkeye is keeping one eye outside for bogies and one eye firmly on the fuel gauge. Me, at this point I'm just along for the ride letting the autopilot do it's job keeping us on the flight plan so I can avoid that Ass whopping. Both turbulence and Thunder even at this altitude today. As we push on Hawkeye tells me we're looking good on fuel for now. As I said, thunder and lightning is keeping us company on the flight. Passing Bonriki with about 600 nm flown. "No worries, keep pushing on" Hawkeye informs me. Next stop Funafuti. During the next 680 nm stretch over water I can hear Hawkeye discussing the fuel situation with our controllers somewhere out there in nowhere. "Ok mate, it looks like we'll get some tail wind on the leg down to Samoa so we should be arriving with about 200 lbs of fuel left in the tank if my calculations are correct. I say we go for it. Should the winds change and our fuel situation head south I've also been cleared to divert to Hihifo (NLWW) for a fuel stop." Who am I to argue with a seasoned US Navy veteran. So we blew passed Funafuti at cruise altitude and continued on towards Samoa. The promised tailwinds did turn out to be correct, but with the fuel gauge reading just under 10% left as we approach the top of descent I still start to wonder if we've made the right decision. More confident now, as we've reached the western most island of Samoa. After throttling back for the descent the fuel flow have decreased drastically. Continuing down as we pass Faleolo International (NSFA) As we get close to the start of our approach the fuel warning light comes up. Best not screw this landing up. On final with all the bits dangling. In the interest of fuel preservation I could have opted for a flaps up landing I guess, but I don't want to risk going around. Oh joy, a 15 knot crosswind to deal with as well! I let a sigh of relief pass my lips as we get close enough to the ground to feel confident of getting down. Turning off the runway at the first possible intersection, don't want to get stuck on the runway due to running out of fuel. Tower cleared me to "Taxi around until you find your mates, you'll know where to park once you see your connecting flight". Somehow I don't think these are the planes that will take us to the US mainland! Now, that looks more promising. But I wonder if there are any bunks in the P-8 so I can get some shut eye... Time to shut those engines down, and with 139 lbs of fuel to spare..... With everything shut down we crack the canopy open and let the heat in. Time to get out of here, but first I have to find Kieran to hand over the Baton. With the Baton handed over it's time to board my connecting flight into KNFL. How to get from there to Kidwell is another story. As I head up the stairs I can't help overhearing the ground staff arguing with the crew over what to do with the Goshawk, but that really isn't my problem. Thanks for watching, I'll be back!!! Addons used FTX Global FTX Global Vectors FTX Global NSTU Pago Pago REX4 Texture Direct REX Soft Clouds Active Sky Next T-45C Goshawk, Freeware by Dino Cattaneo and off-screen Aivlasoft EFB helped Hawkeye with fuel calculations and flight tracking/en route planning. Full flight plan, courtesy of RouteFinder, for those interested: PKWA DCT CURCH R584 MAJ R332 BO A578 FU A584 FA B577 ALOHI DCT NSTU Link to post Share on other sites
hurricanemk1c 195 Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Superb shots and story there Mikael! I'm just waiting on my aircraft to arrive - you won't be able to miss it! Link to post Share on other sites
Bruce (a.k.a. brian747) 142 Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Great stuff, Micke! (I liked your little Goshawk, too). Congratulations on the landing — I'm thinking that gusty15 kt crosswind sea breezes could constitute a challenge in that aircraft? Cheers, bruce a.k.a. brian747 Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Great PIREP. Love that plane...a great choice for a reliable ride. kudos on getting that range out of it! Link to post Share on other sites
stu7708 244 Posted September 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Thanks guys. @Kieran: I will miss it, that P-8 has already dropped me off at KNFL, so I'm now contemplating how to get to my next departure point... Might even have time for a stop in Las Vegas on my way @Bruce(Brian): Well, it's technically a Boeing at this point so it should be sort of up your alley The cross wind was a bit of a struggle I must admit, and with the fuel situation I didn't dare push the engine to hard to position my self as rapidly as I would have wanted Took me up until the moment I passed the fence around the airport to actually line up with the runway... @Matt: I'd say I was lucky, with a head wind on that last leg I would probably have ended up in the ocean... The plane is great to fly, but I feel that the sound from the engine is a bit weak.. the first time I tried it I didn't even realize I had managed to get it running since it was so silent... Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,284 Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 I think I would rather hitch a ride with Bruce/Brian for a ride over that much water but you did an outstanding job and reading the PRIEP it was rather exciting waiting for the engine to start sucking at an empty tank. Impressed they let you fly it without training wheels. Link to post Share on other sites
stu7708 244 Posted September 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Impressed they let you fly it without training wheels. Well, they did send Lt. Codpiece with me Link to post Share on other sites
J G 927 Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Great PIREP. Dino C's freeware aircraft are surely the best available. I am glad that the flight went well and that the Fuel situation was your only issue. Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,487 Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Great PIREP Micke with impressive commentary and screenshots too, it made the 2000 mile journey very enjoyable! Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 I think I would rather hitch a ride with Bruce/Brian for a ride over that much water but you did an outstanding job and reading the PRIEP it was rather exciting waiting for the engine to start sucking at an empty tank. Impressed they let you fly it without training wheels. Ahem...Coff, Coff...The "T"45 Goshawk is in fact... a Trainer... aircraft Brett. Hit G key, voila, Training wheels. Link to post Share on other sites
stu7708 244 Posted September 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 @Joe: Thanks boss.. I must admit that the flight was a tad tedious, so for once I actually used time acceleration for a flight @JG: I'm just as glad I didn't have any interference from other sources.. I guess the presence of US armed forces was a good way of keeping Putinfeld away @Matt: Good one mate... at the very least they could be called Trainer Wheels Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,284 Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 The only problem with time acceleration is that it can sometimes mess with the correct amount of fuel usage. Link to post Share on other sites
hlminx 301 Posted September 5, 2015 Report Share Posted September 5, 2015 Very enjoyable read Mikael. Glad that you made it in one piece, and without getting your feet wet! Link to post Share on other sites
stu7708 244 Posted September 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 @Brett: Indeed, thankfully the readout in the EFB seemed to take into account the use of time acceleration. When I set it to 4x the fuel flow started to creep up and stopped at a level roughly 4 times of what I had at normal speed. And the time remaining to empty tanks subsequently shrunk to a quarter of what it was previously.. The only thing to take into consideration was that the time remaining to my destination remained the same.. So I just had to make sure that my Time to Destination was less than 4 times as high as the time left to empty tanks... @Steph: Thanks, I was mighty pleased to keep my feet dry as well.. I had no longing what so ever to try and preform a "Sullenberger" in the middle of the Pacific Link to post Share on other sites
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