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Leg 51 - SWBC Barcelos to SBMN - Ponta Pelada


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My tent was by now thuroghly soaked from the down pour that had been present for the duration of my stay. Luckily the temepratures had been far from cold, and the rain had kept the mosquitos from getting to friendly.
 
That flight school where I borrowed the Corvalis to get me here had turned up merely 4-5 hours after my arrival to reclaim their airplane, apperently they needed it for their business. The upside was that they had brought with them enough supplies for me to last the stay, and among the crates were a healthy supply of Cachaça, the local sugar cane based spirit..
 
Whilst trying to coordinate Section 6 through a not very fast internet connection I was now also faced with the challenge to find a ride out of this wet desolate slab of concrete runway located in the middle of nowhere.
 
After a few days of not to promising searching I managed to track down a company specialized in delivering used airplanes to new owners, and after a quick e-mail I got a very pleasing response. They had a Crew currently delivering a Beech Duke from Miami to Rio de Janeiro, with a planned stop in Manaus. If I wanted to they could stop in Barcelos to pick me up. I was even offered to fly the leg since one of the pilots had contracted some sort of Virus in a previous stop and was feeling a bit under the weather.  
 
After just a few hours wait I could hear the sound of a plane coming in to land. A sleek metal plane skidded to a halt in front of my tent and shut down the engines.
 
The pilot came out and helped me pack up my tent, while his crew mate remained in the plane, covered in blankets in one of the cabin seats. In what might be a world record in tent dis-assembly we had my stuff packed in the plane and were ready to get going, with me in the left seat.
01-Parkedinmurkyweather.jpg
 
Checklists done, engines running lets get out of here.
02-Enginesrunning.jpg
 
Taxiing on the grass, needed some extra power to keep her going.
03-Taxi.jpg
 
Lined up and ready to go.
04-Readytogo.jpg
 
Take-off power set, 80 knots, rotate!
05-Rotate.jpg
 
Making a hard right turn to 138 degrees to try and get in range of the MAN VOR that we will be tracking down to Manaus
06-Turninghardright.jpg
 
Over the Amazon again, starting at 3,000 feet to try and stay below the clouds
07-OvertheAmazonat3000feet.jpg
 
Well, that didn't work. We first try to climb above the murky weather but with no clear skies at 7,000 feet we decide to head down below the clouds again.
08-Searchingforclearskies.jpg
 
Breaking through the far end of the clouds at 5,000 feet and we level off.
09-Lightning.jpg
 
The VOR comes active and the auto pilot is switched over to NAV mode.
10-TrackingtheVOR.jpg
 
As we get further south we hit another bank of clouds. Oh well, we'll just stay at 5,000 and press on. At least the ATIS for our destination is reporting clear skies!
11-Moreclouds.jpg
 
Just as we pass over the Amazon river we once again break free of the clouds.
12-clearskiesaswecrosstheAmazon.jpg
 
Getting closer, the river barely visible in the right side of the shot is just on the outskirts of our destination.
13-Gettingcloser.jpg
 
Manaus in sight!
14-Manausinsight.jpg
 
Cleared for Visual Approach, Join left Base.. and no it's not the destination airport visible in the picture, that's the larger Eduardo Gomes Intl Airport (SBEG)
15-Clearedvisual.jpg
 
As we pass the extended centerline for runway 10 at SBEG we turn to our base leg and start extending our flaps.
16-TurningBase.jpg
 
Wow, that's a big bridge! Not sure we could manage to pass beneath it though.
17-ImpressiveBridge.jpg
 
Turning to finals over the Amazon, and now I have the runway in sight.
18-Turningfinals.jpg
 
A bit to the left, and a tad low, but I think this is as close to Established on Finals I'll get....
19-Established-ish.jpg
 
Didn't manage to get a shot of the landing, but we're down and have vacated the runway.
20-Clearoftherunway.jpg
 
Waiting for that Follow Me truck to guide us to our parking spot.
21-FollowmeTrucktoguideme.jpg
 
As I come to a stop the ground crew just gives me a strange look and shakes his head in disbelieve of my crappy parking skills.
22-Groundcrewnotimpressed.jpg
 
With me and the Baton in Manaus it's once again time to play the waiting game.. but at least this time I can get a proper roof over my head and a bed to sleep in!
23-Letsfindsomewheretobunk.jpg
 
Catch me in the Hotel bar to pick up the Baton Pete!
 
Addons Used.
Rex 4 Texture Direct
Rex Soft clouds
Weather provided by Active Sky Next.
FTX Global base package
FTX Global Vectors
FTX HD Trees
RealAir Duke v2
AI Traffic by Ultimate Traffic 2

 

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As I come to a stop the ground crew just gives me a strange look and shakes his head in disbelieve of my crappy parking skills.
22-Groundcrewnotimpressed.jpg
 

 

ohh..been there.. the short skirt helped a bit but those marshalls can be a bit particular...

Nice PIREP

:-)

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Thanks everyone.. slowly starting to wake up from the post christmas comatose state, so i might be able to catch up on the forum soon  ;)

 

ohh..been there.. the short skirt helped a bit but those marshalls can be a bit particular...

Nice PIREP

:-)

 

 

Steph, I seriously doubt the vision of me in a short skirt would have the same effect...... :wacko2:

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Thanks everyone.. slowly starting to wake up from the post christmas comatose state, so i might be able to catch up on the forum soon   ;)

 

ohh..been there.. the short skirt helped a bit but those marshalls can be a bit particular...

Nice PIREP

:-)

 

 

Steph, I seriously doubt the vision of me in a short skirt would have the same effect...... :wacko2:

 

It would probably have better effect, unless Steph prefers a HandsOn style service. Your personal space, on the other hand, would be guaranteed Stu. :P

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