ATWC037 Cook Island (NCRG) to Port Stanley (EGYP)

[CSoul 182]

My first ATWC flight, and I'm going to keep it simple. I've provided a Youtube link to some theme music, for a bit of atmosphere -

Since the flight is primarily over water, and for interest's sake, I've split the leg into four smaller legs, each flown with a different aircraft.

Flightplan:

Leg 1 - Rarotonga (NCRG) to Tahiti (NTAA), 615.8nm in the default 737-800

Leg 2 - Tahiti (NTAA) to Mendoza (SAME), 4382.6nm in the JF/CLS A340-300

Leg 3 - Mendoza (SAME) to Punta Arenas (SCCI), 1214.1nm in the CalClassics DC-6

Leg 4 - Punta Arenas (SCCI) to Mount Pleasant (EGYP), 458.3nm in the Tim Conrad PC-6C

Okay! Off we go! This is an early morning departure for a short hop to Tahiti's Faaa airport. The weather is cloudy but nothing exciting, and we're cleared to back-taxi. That fancy paint-job has been turning a few heads, I can tell you, as has my co-pilot, a lovely young lass by the name of Sara.

Climbing out, and we (me, my co-pilot Sara, and the folks in the back) bid Rarotonga a fond farewell.

And it turns out that it really is really cloudy, and it stays like this all the way to Faaa. The pax are a little disappointed. Granted, there's nothing but water out here, but they'd hoped to snap a pic of the odd whale or cruise liner. Nevertheless, they'll be more than compensated once we get to Tahiti.

On final, and the autopilot is handling all the flying for me. I keep an eye on the weather, 'cause it's rainy and the autopilot does not like crosswinds. Sara is nervous. One time the autopilot came in too far to the right, I took over, and it really, really didn't turn out well. Sara still gets nauseous just thinking about it.

Here's where our theme music adds a great deal; the approach always looks real dramatic from a view such as this.

Sure enough, that crosswind I was talking about kicks in with about 2 miles to go, pushing the 737 to the left. That means some quick work to get autothrottle and autopilot disengaged. Sara's knuckles are white, probably because this is the first time I've landed the 737 in a crosswind.

Kicking out the crab and I get her straightened out for touchdown. The landing is smooth and the pax give me the odd appreciative murmur (so maybe it wasn't that smooth). Sara is amazed; no one got their fillings shaken loose.

Back-taxiing along the runway and it's my turn to be nervous. Default ATC once dropped a 747 on me while back-taxiing at this very airport.

Leg one completed! And what's this? Do they really expect us to jump?

After helping everybody out we take a taxi to the world famous Teahupo'o reef-break, and it is an absolutely monster day. Teahupo'o averages around 7 to 10 feet, but this looks like a 20ft day. That's Sara on the left. I'm not in the pic. I wiped out on the wave before this one.

Back to the serious business of flying and a more familiar aircraft for me, the Airbus A340-300.

Sara handles the takeoff, easing the big, fully-loaded A340 into the air.

This is a late afternoon departure, and the plan is to fly through the night and land at Mendoza the following day. Sara, in a moment of nostalgia, plays "I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again" on the intercom. There wasn't a dry eye in the cabin. We all wave goodbye to Tahiti, and Teahupo'o, and hope we'll all be back soon.

Sunset. A beautiful sight. It's also a little frightening. We're at least two hours flying from anywhere, and going down here will be...unpleasant. How many sharks are there in this part of the Pacific?

But there's nothing to fear. The A340 is purring like a kitten and everything looks good.

Still a long way to go, as you can see. You can just make out South America on the right. Interestingly, this flight will be less than 12 hours, yet we'll see a sunset and sunrise, even though we're flying in the Southern Hemisphere in spring. The reason? We're flying with the rotation of the Earth (west to east) rather than against it. Sara told me all that. Genius, that girl.

We get a moon-set as well.

And sure enough, roughly eight hours in and we see the sun rising in the East.

Here's a shot from the in-flight brochure.

There's the Chilean coast, and we're almost home. We'll be flying over the Andes and then descending quickly into Mendoza, which is just on the other side of the mountains.

Turning onto final, and you can see Mendoza to the right, just above the aircraft's nose.

A lucky plane-spotter snapped this shot of us on final.

Sara is calling out the numbers. The approach is quite shallow, and she's getting nervous again. There are no crosswinds at all, but the approach is interesting enough to get the blood pumping. High ground to the left and at the end of the runway, with the approach done over gently sloping ground, it's easy to get confused and come in too high.

Short final and we're a little fast, but nothing drastic. Sara disagrees, yelling at me to slow down. She still remembers that one time when I came in too fast and JUST managed to stop. Then, I had to be pushed all the way back down the runway; everybody, and I mean everybody, was taking pictures - and rolling around laughing.

But this time I'm spot on. Or not. I end up landing half-way down the runway. Thank goodness for reverse thrust and brakes.

The touchtown is feather-soft, though. Two in a row. :smile: That's a record for me.

Taxiing to the gate. Sara has finally stopped hyperventillating.

That's the close of leg 2 and two more to go.

Third leg and we're going old school.

Our plane-spotter snaps another pic.

It turns out that this leg is rather sedate. There's little to see, due to persistent cloud cover, and the flight is uneventful.

Sara will be handling this landing, and her form is perfect as we turn onto short final. The tower snapped this shot as a souvenir; this is our first ever landing at Punta Arenas.

We're a little high and fast, but nothing too dramatic. Maybe it's a family trait? Sara just happens to be my (virtual) sister.

Short final. Looking good, but...

Yep. It's a family trait. Too fast and she lands two-thirds of the way down the runway, but the DC-6 is a gentle beast and slows down easily. I snigger, just a little. she slaps me. Hard.

Parked at the gate, and where are my mobile stairs?

Final leg, and our mount is the trusty Pilatus PC-6. Sara is flying. She tied me up in the back and told me to keep quiet. She's rather fierce, so I didn't argue.

The STOL performance of the PC-6 is fantastic and we're airborne within what must be 100-150 meters.

Heading out over the Atlantic towards the Falklands, and like our departure from Tahiti, the sun is on its way down. The PC-6 isn't fast, so we can expect to reach the Falklands just as the sun is going down, even though it's only a distance 458nm.

The weather is fantastic, with just a few clouds about.

Sunset, and isn't that just the most beautiful shot you've ever seen?

There're the Falklands, with sun having set already but still providing some ambient light via the upper atmosphere.

Darkness falls, but the moon is out so visibility is good. You can just make out the Milky Way galaxy in the centre of the shot. Sara reminds me that when looking at the Milky Way we're looking at the spiral arms of the galaxy, and when looking at Sagittarius, we are looking at the galactic centre...and the supermassive black hole lurking within.

Finally, after 6670nm, there's Mount Pleasant.

Sara obviously remembers that high approach, 'cause she's coming in low this time.

Short final...

...and the touchdown is a perfect three-pointer. Sara has redeemed us both.

There an no taxiways so we can park anywhere. The tower looks really lonely out in the middle of the plain like that.

And that's the end of what should qualify as an epic leg. With a total flight time of 21.2 hours, a flight distance almost a quarter of the way around the world, two sunsets, one sunrise, and five airports, it's been epic enough for me. Sara sends her greetings to everyone in the Hangar, and maybe we'll see her again on future flights. I hope my rather rambling narrative and bad jokes were acceptable...hey, you're not asleep are you?

That's that. Thanks for viewing.

Over to you Kieran.

[Aidan 1]

Very Nice Leg! Seems to be some intresting legs happening!

[mutley 4,498]

Superb post Marcel just as we like them.

That has to be one on the most epic flights yet in the challenge, a good mix of heavy and light metal :smile:

Thanks for getting the baton safely to Port Stanley we better start planning the next sector!

Cheers,

joe

[ddavid 149]

Nice one, Marcel - great mix, as Joe said - and an excellent start to your ATWC! :smile:

Cheers - Dai.

[hurricanemk1c 195]

Nice shots!

Will meet you in the control tower - I think this place is gonna brighten up pretty soon....

[CSoul 182]

Thank you for the positive comments! I don't think my commentary worked very well, so next time I'll try something more interesting.

[stu7708 244]

Great shots from a super leg.. not the least bit envious, would have taken me for ever to complete that one.

As for the story and comments I had no issues with it.. good, entertaining and to the point..

[wisemanp 0]

Like a pro! What a great post for a first-time. Good commentary, varied aircraft, a nice touch with the music, and getting us to our destination on time! And a nice surfing pic as well!

[SEATAC 400]

Nice variety of aricraft. Very entertaining post!

[hurricanemk1c 195]

Never noticed this was your first time! Even more impressive!