Leg 9: Polokwane (FAPP) - Plantyre (FWCL) - 1/3

[rosariomanzo 545]

Ok, back to serious stuff!

My navigator has setup an approximate map of the flight. The aircraft we are going to use is not made for long legs, so we will have to make an intermediate stop in Chinoio (FQCH), close to Mozambique national boundary. More, in the first part of the flight we will be able to use some VORs and NDBs. The second part will be based on just two radioaids instead, one over each airport, so we will have to keep an eye to our chronograph and one to our heading, expecially when we will be in the "blind" zone, out of both radios range.

The GPS will help us, but we oldfellas are not so acquainted with technology!

Ok, here's the map...

...and here we go!

The colors of the Albatross really match the ones of the baton, don't they?

While preparing the aircraft for the trip, let's send the flightplan:

Radios are set for the first part:

And now we are ready to go.

"Tower, ready to start up engines, Alpha Tango Whiskey zero wun eight"

"ATW018, tower, startup is approved, report when ready to taxi"

Beacon light on, turbine starter on, I love the rising noise of the fans:

Clear to the left, let's start taxiing to the active runway, as instructed by ATC:

"ATW018, tower, cleared to lineup and takeoff, wind is calm, have a nice flight!"

"Line up and takeoff, thank you, ATW018!"

And up we go:

Reaching our cruise altitude at FL170, let's check the instruments and set cruise power:

Seems quite the right day for a smooth ride:

The view from the instructor seat is magnificent today:

Let's set the radios for another segment, not an easy task as we are flying manually, but the aircraft is well trimmed (look at the blue light on the center pedestal) and we can relax a little now and then for a "hand off" flight:

(upset instructor) "Mr. Manzo, what about giving some heat to this canopy?"

Cruising and defrosting :smile: :

We are almost there. The mountains ahead are the physical boundary between Zimbabwe and Mozambique. We will soon start a careful descent to stay at a safe altitude and clear the peaks.

Here we have reduced power and set a comfortable rate of descent:

The world is a wonderful place to live in:

The mountains below us are almost cleared. Let's listen to the ATIS. It seems we do not have wind information. No problem, we will perform a low pass over the field and take a look at the windsock and then choose the right runway to land:

The highest mountains are now cleared, so we can increase our rate of descent:

In a few minutes we are over the runway, perform the low pass, then enter a right traffic pattern. Here we are, turning for the right base leg:

Short final:

We have to park on grass after a bumpy taxiing. Well, not so bad. Let's call for someone to fill her up. We will takeoff again in a few minutes.

See you soon! :smile:

[allardjd 1,853]

That's a very nice paint job on tha L-39 - it's a good looking bird.

John

[rob16584 42]

Nice looking aircraft. There are some great colours in your shots Ros. Well done

[mutley 4,498]

Bravo Rosario

Great colour scheme and my favourite watch brand too!

I love the start, you don't get much better than Bogart & Bergman.

A very enjoyable flight, great commentary and shots, I hope your instructor thawed out ok :smile:

Ciao

Joe

[stu7708 244]

Great job Rosario..

Love the feel and color of these shots...

The 4th from the end looks is my favourite...

[hurricanemk1c 195]

Great!