hurricanemk1c 195 Posted November 11, 2017 Report Share Posted November 11, 2017 As some of you may recall, in my last ATWC leg I ended up with a rather expensive piece of equipment - namely a KC-97, bought for around $1 million. Not a bad price considering what is was, but not required all the same! It's taken me a few weeks of flying around Asia, tempting various clients and prospective purchasers, but eventually two days ago I managed to get rid of the aircraft - for $1.2 million. So a slight profit, although very minor once fuel and landing costs were taken into account! So, with only a day to get from deepest China to Indonesia, a few favours had to be called in, with people John-G would know well. I arrived at the airport with minutes to spare before the pre-arranged time. No other aircraft was around. That's suspicious. I was told something very unusual was to take me to Selaparang. Suddenly, a bag was placed over my head. I would have been worried by the nice British accent of the bloke placing it over my head. It sounded familiar too.... I was bundled up the stairs of the above aircraft and a sharp left turn at the top. At this point the bag was removed and 'all' was revealed. It turns out that a RAF Sentinel R1 was on excercise in the area and dropped in. I wasn't allowed to look in the cabin to see what strange things were around, but it was transport! No sooner had I strapped in that we were off. And in true tatical style - maximum rate climb! You wouldn't get that in the normal Bombardier CRJ-900! Leaving Tunggul behind In terms of how the aircraft handled, the extra lumps and bumps didn't make that much difference to a normal CRJ - just that you could throw it around a bit more Rapidly we approached our cruising altitude of 32000ft - what had been determined as 'safe' around these parts. Not sure I was too happy with how 'safe' was said.... Plodding along at FL320 A nice part of the world - if you like islands! Crossing between two of the many islands in this 500nm trip Of course the other claim to fame that Indonesia has is volcanos. Lots of them As we approached Selaparang, I was getting increasingly concerned that we weren't loosing any altitude. The miles clicked off - 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15. At that point, my co-pilot said, "I suppose we better go down" And down we went. I made it an average of about 9700ft / min turning descent This would of course make mass media say "plane dives out of control", but of course it was under perfect control - because it wasn't me! As we bottomed out, the words "You have control" we uttered by my perfectly presented co-pilot. Better not make a mess of this Well, not a complete mess but my now means the best landing ever! I just avoided the grass! This time they allowed to me exit a bit more normally, minus bag. But with a massive heavy curtain between the door area and the cabin, preventing any kind of spying. My guide did tell me what they were there for, and it is related to us - but I dare not say. I still have to get a ride to Mau Hau. And it's just come onto the ramp..... Aircraft used: IRIS Sentinel R1 (Easter Egg 2013) 1 Link to post Share on other sites
rosariomanzo 545 Posted November 11, 2017 Report Share Posted November 11, 2017 Nice one! My stomach is a bit off after that descent. Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,487 Posted November 11, 2017 Report Share Posted November 11, 2017 Great choice of aircraft Chuck and thanks for a great PIREP Looks like we will be meeting up at Mau Hau, I've secured an aircraft for my flight, they are just putting it back together after a hard landing here, so be careful of any debris left on the runway. Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted November 11, 2017 Report Share Posted November 11, 2017 Nice PIREP. You and John G. do seem to get a lot of interesting rides made available to you...lucky birds with friends in low places. Link to post Share on other sites
OzWookiee 151 Posted November 11, 2017 Report Share Posted November 11, 2017 Nice work. What is the Sentinel R1 base plane? Looks very much like a Gulfstream IV. Link to post Share on other sites
hurricanemk1c 195 Posted November 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2017 Thanks for the comments! It's based off the Bombardier CRJ-900 1 Link to post Share on other sites
hlminx 301 Posted November 12, 2017 Report Share Posted November 12, 2017 Love it.. some serious sick bag moments there on approach (can it still be called that????) Great PIREP Chuck, and nice choice of the Sentinel. Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted November 12, 2017 Report Share Posted November 12, 2017 Just now, hlminx said: Love it.. some serious sick bag moments there on approach (can it still be called that????) Great PIREP Chuck, and nice choice of the Sentinel. Gosh I hope so...I do Airhauler dive approaches steeper than that ...and not always in the helldiver... Link to post Share on other sites
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