|
Flight
of the Month – October
Century
of Flight Tour
Only
4 classic planes ? Are you kidding me ? When you combine the lists of
classic real planes with the list of superb sim models the choice gets
even harder. Still, it has to be done, so here are my choices. In
roughly chronological order:
Piper
J-3 Cub
Hawker
Hurricane
De
Havilland DHC-2 Beaver
Piper
PA-28 Archer
Leg
1
Montreal
to Nantucket Memorial (KACK)
DHC-2
Beaver Amphibian (Bush Flying Unlimited)
Where
better to start than in the country of origin of the Beaver, Canada. The
prototype Beaver first flew on August 16 1947 with Wing Commander Russ
Bannock at the helm. This was the landplane version, although from the
start it had been designed as a floatplane. And in these guises, along
with others on skis, the Beaver has been serving the military and
civilian bush flyers ever since. Ever since Fred Banting released his
version for FS2000 I have loved to fly this plane. It is very stable,
has a superb STOL performance, and between the floatplane and landplane
versions it allows me to fly literally anywhere in the world. I
currently have at least a couple of dozen versions sitting on my hard
disk in various liveries, and, if I just want to get out and fly for the
odd half hour, the Beaver is probably what I’ll do it in ! (If anyone
wants to find out more about the Beaver, I can recommend “The Immortal
Beaver” by Sean Rossiter, Midland Publishing Ltd., 1996, available at
Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1857800591/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/026-7416261-2296466)
But
back to the Tour. Starting on the St. Lawrence River just outside
Montreal, the plan was to head south across the border, cross Vermont,
New Hampshire and Massachusetts and end up off the coast at Nantucket.
All fine “bush country” ideally suited to be flown by the Beaver. (Pics.
1-2) Taking off from the river, I passed by Montreal on my right (Pic.
3) then adjusted my heading to intercept the Saint Jean VOR (YJN,
115.80) climbing to a cruising altitude of 6000ft. (Pic.
4) However, due to grey stormy cloud I leveled off at 4,500ft and
settled into a cruise at about 120 mph. Crossing the national border at
Alburg, I headed south over Lake Champlain (Pic.
5) towards the Burlington VOR (BTV, 117.50) Ahead lay the Green
Mountains. Over Burlington I adjusted my course to about 150* to
intercept the Lebanon VOR (LEB, 113.70) in New Hampshire. Soon I was
over the mountains – the weather had turned nasty, and I found that I
was flying under some stormy clouds and through some rain, (Pic.
6) but fortunately this didn’t last very long. Eventually I
crossed the Connecticut River marking the boundary between Vermont and
New Hampshire, and I switched frequencies to pick up the Concord VOR
(CON, 112.90) on the same heading, which happens to follow Interstate
I89 between Lebanon and Concord fairly closely. (Pic.
7) This was the area I’d driven through, in the opposite
direction, back in 1990 towards the end of my tour of New England.
At
Concord the heading was changed again to intercept the Manchester VOR (MHT,
114.40) As I approached the city the ground below became steadily more
urban, with roads and buildings becoming more common. Passing Manchester
Airport (KMHT) on my right I continued on to the VOR then tuned to
receive the Boston VOR (BOS, 112.70) Not long after the weather
deteriorated, the light mist turning more towards fog, and I was glad
that I could fly IFR ! This lasted till Lawrence, where I found hazy
blue skies again. (Pic. 8) Approaching
Logan International (KBOS) the fog descended once more, so that it was
only when I was 3.5 miles DME from BOS that the airport appeared along
with the city to my right (Pics. 9-10)
and following the 154* radial from BOS I continued south-east over
Boston harbour and followed the coastline beyond. Approaching Marshfield
(3B2) the fog finally lifted, soon to be replaced with medium cloud.
Leaving
the land behind, my route took me out into Cape Cod Bay (Pic.
11) and at about 39 miles DME from BOS I adjusted my heading
slightly to 170* aiming to over fly Cape Cod at Barnstable Muni (KHYA)
Once again the fog descended, so this time so did I, to 2,000ft,
however, even as I crossed the coast the fog was still with me. My
present course actually took me to the east of KHYA, so I banked right
and set the ADF to pick up the Nantucket transmitter (AC, 248.0) To my
left a storm was brewing ! I prepared for landing. Setting the ILS for
Runway 24 (109.10) I set the VOR1 to the approach heading of 241* If the
fog didn’t lift I’d be forced to either do a full instrumental
approach or abort to a water landing ! Good job I was flying an amphib !
By
now the clouds ahead looked very stormy, so I disconnected the autopilot
and eased the plane lower, keeping an eye on the ILS guide bars on the
VOR. Leveling off at about 1,000 ft, I banked right at the appropriate
moment to intercept the ILS. Still no visible sign of the runway !
Crossing the coast the cloud was pretty much at sea level (Pic.
12) At last the runway appeared below me but I was high ! Down
with the gear and flaps for landing, I “rapidly descended” in an
attempt to land (Pic. 13)
Made
it ! With full flaps the Beaver has excellent STOL capabilities,
especially with the added drag of the floats, and at about 70 mph I made
a remarkably soft landing on the runway. Turning right at the first
opportunity, I taxied over (Pic. 14) to
park up by the control tower, next to my next mount of choice.
Leg
2
Nantucket
to Baltimore-Washington-International (KBWI)
Hawker
Hurricane (Douglas Bader)
Mention
the Battle of Britain, and one automatically thinks of the Supermarine
Spitfire. Fast and maneuverable, it rightly deserves its place in
history as one of the greatest aircraft ever designed. However in actual
fact the Hawker Hurricane outnumbered the Spitfire by around 3-1 in the
summer of 1940 and it is fair to say that it was Sir Sydney Camm’s
Hurricane rather than Reginald Mitchell’s Spitfire that won the Battle
of Britain. (http://www.compass.dircon.co.uk/Hurricane.htm)
For this leg of the flight
I would be using one of the payware Aeroplane
Heaven’s Hurricane Mk.1 in the colours
of another Battle of Britain legend, Douglas Bader. (http://www.aeroplaneheaven.com/main_frame3.html)
After
taking off from Runway 24, I headed along the coast on a bearing of
290*, leveling off at about 6,000 ft. (Pic. 15)
This would have to be a VFR flight as the only navigation instrument the
Hurricane was equipped with was a compass ! Leaving Martha’s Vineyard
behind and below me, I climbed to 8,000 ft to get above the clouds. As I
continued, I passed the Newport peninsular to my right and, when I could
see the mainland ahead, I dropped down to around 2,000 ft and followed
the coastline south-west. (Pics. 16-17)
With
Rhode Island and Connecticut off to my right, I kept to my present
heading of about 260* with the aim of intercepting Long Island. This I
did, crossing over Orient Point on the northern “prong” of the
island. This I then followed, eventually passing over the Calverton
Navel Weapons Industrial Reserve (CTO) where I hit some cloud, and
dropped to 1,000 ft to maintain visibility. As I approached Republic
Airport (KFRG) I could start to see the city ahead of me. By now there
was a big bank of cloud above, so by the time I approached John F.
Kennedy International (KJFK) I was only at 750 ft and needed to keep a
constant eye on my attitude so as to stay level and avoid flying into
the ground ! Over flying the airport I “buzzed” the Control Tower (Pic.
18) then banked right to fly towards the city, heading for the
Two Towers. Until their replacement is built they will remain in my
version of reality as a reminder of that terrible day in September that
I saw happen live on TV, and as a tribute to the members of the New York
Fire Department who lost their lives trying to save others. Flying past
the Towers, (Pic. 19) I banked left and
flew down the river, passing the Statue of Liberty at 500 ft., (Pic.
20) and flying between the towers of the Verazano Narrows Bridge
before continuing down the coast of Staten Island and into New Jersey.
Passing
Marlboro Airport (2N8) I continued on my heading of 260* aiming to over
fly McGuire Air Force Base (KWRI) which I did at a little under 1,000
ft. Banking I headed for my next waypoint, Philadelphia International. (KPHL)
Picking up the Van Sciver Lake to my right I followed the Delaware River
and soon Philadelphia came in sight. Dropping to sea level, I flew under
one of the bridges and over a tanker unloading its cargo. (Pic.
21) Passing between two more bridges over the Delaware, I arrived
over KPHL. (Pic. 22) Following the river
for a bit, I left it to my left as I flew over New Castle County Airport
(KILG) then continued on 250* to pick up the head of the Chesapeake Bay
and followed the coast, keeping the Bay to my right. With a continuing
bank of cloud above me I had to keep to around 700 ft. with little
margin of error. When the cloud lifted, I slowly climbed to about 1,800
ft. and soon passed over a long bridge (the William Preston Lane Jr.
Memorial Bridge) crossing the bay, at which point I banked right and
headed for a landing at KWBI. My map indicated that the Governor Richie
Highway would lead straight towards the airport so I picked it up and
followed it on a heading of about 340* The airport in sight to my left,
I dropped the gear and flaps (the Hurricane only has two flap settings,
up and down !) aligned myself with Runway 33R and landed (Pic.
23) then taxied over to the hangars to my right and parked up
next to aircraft No. 3, which I had on loan from my friend Lou Betti !
Leg
3
Baltimore-Washington-International
to Chesapeake Regional Airport (KCPK)
Piper
PA-28-181 Archer II
The
most modern of my selected four planes, the Piper Archer is from a long
line of General Aviation planes from Piper, and traces its roots back to
the original Piper Cherokee of 1961. The sim plane is based on N8439T,
the actual 1982 Archer II owned by Nels Anderson owner and webmaster of
flightsim.com and is one of the jewels produced by the great partnership
between DreamFleet 2000 and Flight1. As with the Beaver, I have dozens
of different liveries to suit all occasions, and today I would be flying
one of my favourites,
N1744L. (Pic. 24)
Picking
up my newly-refuelled N1744L, I taxied out to Runway 15L, set my NAV1 to
the Nottingham VOR (OTT, 113.70) and took off. When the instrument
became active I adjusted my heading and set the Nav Hold on the
autopilot whilst climbing to around 3,000 ft. (Pic.
25) Over OTT I changed my heading to 180* and headed south
towards the military complex at Annapolis, passing some cooling towers
and masts to my left.
By
now I had tuned my VOR2 to detect the Patuxent VOR (PXT, 117.60) so that
when the needle centered I’d be at the COLIN intersection (Pic.
26) Crossing the Potomac, I made landfall again in Virginia. As
the VOR1 needle centered, I adjusted my heading to 192* and reset the
VOR1 for the Harcum VOR. (HCM, 108.80) Below was a pleasant mix of
forest and farmland with the odd flashing beacon marking the towers I
needed to avoid. With a grey bank of cloud ahead I descended to 3,500
ft. to avoid the worst of it and crossed the Rappahancock River.
My
next waypoint after HCM would be Norfolk (ORF, 116.90) so I tuned the
VOR2 to this frequency. However, with no apparent signal as yet, I
climbed slowly until the instrument became active. Light cloud at 3,000
ft. reduced visibility to a haze. Over Harcum I adjusted course and set
VOR1 to pick up ORF. This course ran parallel to the coast, and I headed
for Norfolk at about 3,500 ft. As I flew over historic Williamsburg I
could make out a bridge below me. (Pic. 27)
By now I was beginning to lose the light, but fortunately my destination
wasn’t far away, so I should be down before dusk. Without a
nigh-flying endorsement on my license I’d be required to be on the
ground within one hour of nightfall. On this peninsular there was a high
density of airports, and I passed first Newport News/Williamsburg
International (KPHF) to my right then flew over Langley Air Force Base (KLFI)
where I could see some F-16s on standby ready to defend the Capitol. (Pic.
28) Shortly after I passed yet another inlet next to this was an
industrial complex with cooling towers and chimneys producing smoke or
steam along with the Hampton Roads Bidge Tunnel leading to Norfolk
itself. (Pic. 29)
Over
flying Norfolk International (KORF) I banked right ready to intercept
the ILS from KCPK Runway 23. One I’d made visual contact of the
airport I disconnected the autopilot and dropped my flaps in stages as I
descended towards the airport, fighting the wind from my right and using
the VASI lights to the left of the runway to aid my vertical alignment. (Pic.
30) The lake also to the left of the runway was something to be
avoided ! After touch-down I turned off the runway and taxied to the GA
terminal (Pics. 31-2) where I would park
up and return the following morning to collect my final mount.
Leg
4
Chesapeake
Regional to First Flight Airport.
Piper
J-3C Cub
To
finish the trip there really was only one plane to take me to the place
where man-powered flight began – the fabulous Piper Cub. Used by
thousands of young pilots to gain their first wings and countless more
to just have a great seat-of-the-pants flying experience.
Conceived as a safe,
inexpensive two-place trainer, the Piper J-3 ‘Cub’ was introduced in
the late 1930’s and since that time it has proved be one of the most
successful and versatile aircraft,
enjoyed by all those who have had the opportunity of fly it. As
with the Ford Model T, the Piper J-3 'Cub' became a ‘standard’ in
Aviation against which many other aircraft were compared. It has been
produced in the thousands and was even made in a military version, the
L-4, which was used in WWII. For the era in which it was built, it
featured some advanced features for an airplane of its type,
refinements such as a tail wheel,
brakes, a simple
(but still effective..) starter shock chord made of rubber,
features that are absolutely normal today but which were
certainly not so in 1938, especially in a plane as light as the J-3 was… less than
300 kilograms..! During the forties, this plane was the most popular
light plane in the USA, representing more than two-thirds of all the
light planes built and close to one third of all the airplanes in
America. It’s low acquisition and maintenance cost contributed to
this popularity, as did it’s ability to land on beachheads, pastures,
ploughed fields and back roads, which allowed a degree of communication
amongst small villages, farms, ranches etc. that had never been possible
before.
(Some notes courtesy of FSD.) (http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/4515/cub.htm)
With
a couple of excellent examples to chose from I decided to go with the
“classic” 65hp J-3 Cub rather than the later 150hp Piper PA-18 Super
Cub, so settled down in the rear seat of Bill Lyons’ superb yellow Cub
Classic. (Pic. 33) Before I had even
started on the modest start-up procedure I heard a familiar voice, and
found Bill standing nearby. Bill had recently decided to “get back to
basics” so was trying to refresh his experience of flying manually,
without such aids as autopilot or FMC. I welcomed him aboard, started
the engine, taxied over to the grass alongside Runway 23 and took off. (Pic.
34) Banking left, we settled down on a course of 90* to take us
out to the coast, flying at a leisurely 80 mph. or so and climbing to
around 2,500 ft. Passing over Back Bay I banked right and followed the
outer coastline across the border and into North Carolina (Pics.
35-36)
Following
the coast, soon enough the airport came in sight. Throttling back, we
descended. (Pic. 37) Ahead I could see
the preserved sandy stretch where the Wright Brothers had first taken to
the air. Banking in a curve to the right I descended onto Runway 20 (Pic.
38) then headed left off the runway to trundle over to the very
spot where the first flight had taken place (Pics.
39-40) where I met up with the rest of the Gang, Alejandro, Hans,
Peter, Tony, Ron and Salina, who had arrived there before us.
Postscript
The Wright Flyer
Moving
the Cub out of the way, we all walked over to where the replica of the
Wright Flyer was sitting. We all changed into period costume then took
it in turns to attempt a flight (Pic. 41)
When it was my turn, to my surprise I was soon airborne and heading
towards town at about 80 ft.! Circling to my right, I headed back to the
field and, by gradually reducing the throttle, managed a gentle landing
not far from where I had taken off. (Pic. 42)
When all had tried their hand we decamped to the nearest Pizza Hut ™
to discuss our various ways off arriving at this common destination.
Alastair
Monk
November 2003
|
Click
on image for larger view
|
