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Leg 52: Panama MPTO - Quito SEQU


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You guessed it.... and the someone is me!

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Hola everyone, Jose está en la casa!

I have filed my flight plan and will be making the flight a little later on so shots will follow tomorrow.

Cheers

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The good news is we have just landed safely in Quito SEQU, Dave and Sharon were taking good care of the baton (and other cargo).

We are now all heading to down town Quito for a lads night out.

So whilst we are partying have a look at these shots.

Here we are at Panama in our Rockwell Aero Commander 560 checking out the flight plan in FS Nav. Sounds posh doesn't it? Wait until the next shot!

Having agreed our way points we are just performing our start up checks. Sharon is in the back herding on two goats we promised to take for a local farmer down in Ecuador. Apparently they are a pedigree breeding pair? (Just so long as they don't start on our flight!)

After the goats came the chickens and 3 crates of Tequila with the worms in side, yuk!

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Ok, so the aircraft looks a bit of a state, but wouldn't you if you were 50 years old and kept in a farm shed in Ecuador?

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Taxiing past the tourists in their comfortable air conditioned chariots!

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Tocumen is a busy airport, both runways were running full pelt even at lunch time. I like this shot, it almost looks like a personalised reg!

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Lined up, its sounds like every rivet is rattling, there's bleeting and clucking coming from the the back of the cabin and that's just Sharon!

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I'm not proud, it wasn't a pretty take off but you get distracted by the noise (and the smell!)

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As you can see by the runway we were off quite early, the shortest take off distance for the '560 is 950ft but we fully loaded so it was a bit more.

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A bit of light reading for the flight.

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Here we are in a nice gradual climb. We are not taking a direct route across the water, we will turn inland and go down the coast.

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We are over the bay, shortly to cross the land again.

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See! My copilot Dave thinks I make it up as I go along.

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Now were heading down the Pacific coastal lowlands of Columbia.

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No points for guess the airport!

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After droning on in a straight line for a couple of hours the sun is sitting heavy in the sky.

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We can see the moon in the ascent off the port wing.

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I love this time of day, just enough light to see..

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..with the moon and stars starting to take over the illumination.

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Oh dear, Sharon gazing into the sunset has been taken over by emotion has started to sing "I'm in the mood for love" having looked around I can see an empty bottle of Tequila and the worm stuck between the gap in her front teeth. Not a pretty site. She's not been the same since she arrived from Florida. What went on there John?

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This shot heralded our return to the Southern Hemisphere. I remember passing the equator in our pacific leg, it's getting to be a habit!

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We are passing some of the outlying conurbations of Quito.

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Now we're being vectored in by Quito radar

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Downwind, our landing checks are complete.

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We are turning on to short final just because we can.

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Juussst going to get on the glide slope, it's nearly over and I will be happy to get this crate down

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Ah the numbers that DC-10 is taking an age to vacate and I'm not sure we've got enough for a go around.

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Phew, it's ok Dave stop weeping!

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Is this were the big boys hang out!?

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Welcome to Quito, here endeth the first flight of the South American Samba!

And the bad news?

There's no-one to hand the baton over too cry-1.gif

Hope you enjoyed the flight, I may be here for a while waiting for the next pilot :mrhappy:

Cheers

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Mut, that was great! I don't know where you got the AC or the idea, but I enjoyed every word and shot. A worthy kick-off for the new segment and you can enjoy the night life until the next victim arrives. Be careful, though. You know how that stuff affects you at that high altitude.

Wasn't Dave looking for how to do dirt on a repaint a while back? Not sure who did that one, but you should hook him up. He's obviously an expert.

I see the same Air Canada 65th anniversary livery at Tocumen that was there when I landed. They must be a regular there.

Great post...

John

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Brilliant shots Joe! As always the story to go with them was entertaining too - I love flying the old beaten up ACs! John, the aircraft is from here, and there are plenty of repaints for her on Avsim. Looks like the sort of plane you might enjoy - it's great for Cargo Pilot, I've used it!

I'm not proud, it wasn't a pretty take off but you get distracted by the noise (and the smell!)
Yeah, Sharon can be like that sometimes. Don't blame you. :mrhappy:

Dave

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