stu7708 244 Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Late one night in Fayetteville the phone rang. On the other side was a very upset airport official from Fayetteville Regional Airport.. Offical: Where are you!! I want you down at the airport in 10 minutes. I have a strange blue thing here that you were supposed to pick up when it arrived.... Me: That strange blue thing is the famous ATWC Baton... Official: It can be the presidential seal for all I care, if you're not down here by the time I go home it's going into the garbage disposal!!! It's been waiting for ages, someone named Sharon even took the *bleeping* ting sightseeing so you could get here before she had to leave... But she has now left, and dumped this strange object in my lap... get moving... Me: Eh, OK, I'll get right on it. Official: And for your information, we have cancelled all jet traffic out of the airport for now. The residents around the airport has filed a complaint regarding the noise from the 767 that delivered this "Thing" here, so if your planning to fly it out of here it better be in a small GA aircraft!! Me: OK, I'm on my way down... So, the baton had finally arrived, a fair bit sooner than expected, and it was time to fly my last ATWC leg in this challange. But the limitaions to a GA aircraft did put a dent in my plans. I sure didn't feel like sitting in a small propeller plane all the way up to Newark. Some last minute changes to my plan needed to be made, but first lets get down to the airport and rescue the Baton... After a frantic car ride through Fayetteville I made it with 30 seconds to spare, and the very upset airport official gave me a snarl as he tossed the Baton to me. It sounded as if he muttered something along the line of "this will cost you, just wait 'til you get the next invoice for your parking spot". During the ride down I had also worked out a solution for the trip up to Newark. I had managed to lend a Beechcraft Bonanza V35B that I could fly over to Charlotte, and from there I would be hitching a ride in a UPS flight into Newark. The pilot is a close friend of mine, and had mentioned that I might get to fly it with him in the Co-pilot seat.. But first I had to get myself to Charlotte in time for departure. I found my Bonanza in the GA parking Starting her up was as easy as turning the ignition in my car, and soon I was taxiing along towards runway 22 Got a friendly "Position and Hold" from the tower. After a short wait I was cleared for takeoff Turning on course Had filed for a low cruise at 6000 feet, so it didn't take long to reach my assigned altitude. Cruising along, in good weather for once More cruising Following the flight plan with a left turn towards Charlotte Starting our descent Turning to intercept the ILS Gear coming down Almost there, with a US Airways holding short, a bit high on the approach, but this thing should stop on a dime once on the ground, so no worries On the ground again, with a puff of smoke from the rubber And taxiing along the runway Had to rush to get to my connection, so no time for a snapshot of my parking spot. Check back soon for the final leg. (Just skip past Joe's post and continue reading, had to post it right away) Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Superb start Micke and great commentary, how dare they mock the great baton A good -looking aircraft, I must try it one day. Love the puff of smoke, it looks far better than the default? Looking forward to part two Link to post Share on other sites
stu7708 244 Posted November 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Thanks Joe. And you won't have to wait long. In fact, it's right here. (Realized I wouldn't have time to post it tomorrow as I had planed) After a quick hop to Charlotte I had to find my way to the UPS flight. Lucky for me my friend had managed to have a follow me truck pick me up and drive to the Cargo Terminal. As we got close I saw a 767F getting it's belly stuffed with containers. The Co-pilot to be greated me with a smile as we pulled up, and informed me that I was cleared with management to pilot the 1 hour flight up Newark. We took our seats in the cockpit and started to run down the checklists. Took a bit longer than the Bonaza to start, but we were soon cleard to push and start. Left enginge running, and Right enginge spooling up. Just managed to avoid clipping the refueling station with my wing, good thing it was just a short taxi to runway 36L No position and hold this time, but I guess we should turn on to the runway before we start to speed up. V1...Rotate... and soon you will have postive rate too... Following the SID out, strange one, first a hard left, and then a 180 to the right! With a filed cruise level at FL330 the climb lasted a fair bit longer than in the Bonanza. Someone managed to get a wingview.. not sure how he did it considering there are no windows in the fuselage... Finally a cruise altitude, time to lean back and enjoy the flight.. The office As we progressed northeast the ground was starting to get a bit covered in a light haze, but the weather was still good. Some scattered clouds below too.. ATC started to clear us down well ahead of the FMC predicted ToD Some traffic in sight Should be alot more traffic according to the TCAS, but I guess ATC knows what they are doing.. the weather radar is also picking up some clouds/rain far of to the left, but we should make it to our destination before it starts to be a problem. And then for no apperent reason ATC asked us to do a 270 degree turn to the right, but who am I to question their judgment.... We were cleard to intercept the ILS, but I just couldn't convince the NAV radio to tune to the correct frequency! By the time I picked up on this we had gone past the intercept point, and had to adjust to the right. I guess we have to do this manually then... With the help of the charts and FMC we finally located the airport, in a position not to far from where I wanted to be. Some crosswind to master on the way down Almost there, my co-pilot gently asked me if I had considered flaring... not yet, we still have a few feet to go right... Safely down a tad to the left of the centerline Reverse thrust, spoilers deployed, but I don't think we'll make this exit. Good thing we have a few more to choose from. Parked up a the terminal, and the Baton is one step closer to home. Now all I have to do is figure out how's picking up the Baton. The departure board says it's Kieran, but there's a rumor that he has been replaced... Link to post Share on other sites
hurricanemk1c 195 Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Rumour is correct! Andrew is doing it.... Nice two-parter there Stu! Link to post Share on other sites
rob16584 42 Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Nice posts Stu, nice to see you mixing the aircraft up That SID sounds a bit like the one from EGCC, you make a right turn for about half a mile then hard left towards TNT VOR. Link to post Share on other sites
stu7708 244 Posted November 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Thanks guys. I figured out the problem with the SID by the way.. Since the release of FSX Charlotte (KCLT) have added one runway, so what was called Runway 36L in FSX was actually 36C in the Navigraph update I got for the CS 767, but since this was unknown to me at the time of the flight I natrually picked a SID for 36L... and 36L does look like it lines up well with the first fix in the SID I choose... Link to post Share on other sites
Aidan 1 Posted November 30, 2010 Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 Nice ATWC! On the wingview, the winglet looks a bit stuffed up o.o Link to post Share on other sites
SEATAC 400 Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 Great PIREP. Sorry for the trouble I caused by landing the 767 there. That airport manager sounds like he has anger issues anyway. Just let him wait until I takeoff in that bad boy. That'll wake up the neighbors. :001_th_smiles89: Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 Great work Micke Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now