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Harry Woodrow


harrry

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Well the young ladies at the Santa Monica factory of Douglas Aircraft Company are just putting in the final rivets and checking the standard factory fitted extended range tanks (I prchased all 9 of them though I do not think I will need them.  The aircraft is strictly a non smoking zone though as a C-47 there is no lack of ventilation.  ( In New Guinea I once flew in one with a group of contract labour who got cold and did not want to bother the pilot so just were buildig a fire, just stopped them in time).  Will have to pack my winter woolies for this trip I guess.

I will be flying the wonderful freeware FSX/FSX-SE/P3D DOUGLAS C-47R SKYTRAIN V3.14 BETA version in P3D4.  Not that Aeorosoft does not have wonderful planes but this is the best tool for the job in my opinion.

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Coffee will be specially brought from 20 miles from where I live ChiangRai. 

Nice high grown, well 6000 ft coffee specially roasted.

Cannot live without it, get a kilo deliverred every ten days or so.

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My Planned first route....

https://skyvector.com/api/navlog?31154

EGLC LFAC  LFPB  LIMF  LIBR  LGAV   HEPS

Thats far enough to plan at my age...I take each day as it comes.

Short stops will be made....for technical and for fitting the story in the book.....though I have been warned  that the toilet facilities at some locations will not suit Mr Fogg.

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Hello Harry,

 

Funny but we are going to fly exactly the same route :

 

-EGMC1930
-N0310F250 DET DCT LYD M189 HAWKE UL612 RESMI UM728 KOLON UM623 VAREK
-LFKJ0222

 

The only difference would be my speed and FL, slightly faster and higher.

 

Good luck,

 

JP

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My plane for the most of the journey is the C47 half adapted to the DC3.  QANTAS used these and as it is the worlds oldest airline a natural choice for the livery. As the oldest airline in the world it was a pioneer in service and quality and pionered many routes (Though held back by Government agreements between the Australian Government and the British Government restricting aircraft types and areas of the world it could operate.

I am sure Mr Fogg will be impresseed with the choice and the level of comfort and service that the wonderful DC3. provides.

Of course the ghosts of our intrepid adventurers Mr Philias Fogg  and his servant Jean Passepartou will be coming on this voyage of adventure.

The final contracts for our flight crew have not yet been signed however they  will represent the pinacle of Aviation.

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Flight Number WW7883
Date Tuesday, 3 October 2017
Depart EGLC - London City Airport
Arrive EGMD - Lydd Airport
Aircraft WW-DC30
Flight Time 00:40:12
Distance 47 NM
Landing Rate 127 fpm
   
Status Approved

 A leisurely breakfast and a good sleep for an early start..  Noise curfews would soon eat into my charter rates so leaving early was my best bet.

Mr Fogg was most impressed to see the Huge complex for the Channel Tunnel.  He thought that would be much better than the wind and steam powered crossing to Boulogn that he endured in the book.

My new crews living up to expectations and I will reveal more about them soon.  The Douglas factory has made some sugestions which I have adopted and I am sure the journey will be improved by it.

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Flight Number WW7936
Date Tuesday, 3 October 2017
Depart EGMD - Lydd Airport
Arrive LFAT - Le Touquet-C+¦te d'Opale Airport
Aircraft WW-DC30

 

The aircraft so far is functioning perfectly  and our shourt flights have served to familiarise both our Co-pilot and our "Flight Attendendant" withh flying the plane.

Time for some introductions.

You have alerady met Mr Philias Fogg  and his servant Jean Passepartou.

We can add to that our Copilot, The ghost of Sir Hudson Fysh KBE DFC .

More about that later but time for the next leg.

 

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Flight Number WW7938
Date Tuesday, 3 October 2017
Depart LFAT - Le Touquet-C+¦te d'Opale Airport
Arrive LFPN - Toussus-le-Noble Airport
Aircraft WW-DC30
Flight Time 01:49:12

 

A roundabout way to come in from the south of Paris with nice views of the city..

Time for le  déjeuner if we can find some good food in Paris. Not long to eat it though as we do have to keep moving....the train left here at 7.30 am.

Our flight attendant is another Australian of note who has some exceptional skills that should come in very  useful on this long adventure,  The spirit of Nancy-Bird Walton, AO, OBE, DStJ.  We will discover more about her later but lunch waits.

 

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Well I do not know that those French people know how quickly Australians eat lunch.  What would be 10 minutes at home was an hour and a half in Paris and we got less food in that time too.  Anyway, off to Turin,  I know Italians knpw food.

 

As I told you my Copilot is Hudson Fysh who was the founder of QANTAS.  A real pilot who earned his wings in the bush and was a World War one pilot,. I am sad to say  he is credited with shooting down 5 Aircraft.  We may find those skills useful at some stage of this adventure.  He was going to compete in and early England to Australia air race however his sponser pulled out at the last minute so you can see he is not a stay at home type.  In building Quantas he had to constanty fight boh his owd government and the British and American ones in order to get a share of the routes.  A good negotiator who may get us out of trouble at some point if we get into it,  Whats more he is a great pilot and a font of good stories.  Definitely a good choice to share the cockpit with.

 

 

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Decided to stop off in Geneva for a few minutes,  the lake there with its fountain reminds me of a substitute for Canberra,  Nic e weather but this bird is not known for its high altitude perormance.

 

Flight Number WW7997
Date Tuesday, 3 October 2017
Depart LFPN - Toussus-le-Noble Airport
Arrive LSGG - Geneva Cointrin International Airport
Aircraft WW-DC30
Flight Time 01:59:24
Distance 221 NM

 

Out flight attendant (we call her that because the law says we must have one) is a lot more than a flight attendendant. Nancy-Bird Walton, AO, OBE, DStJ.

When NancyBird was 18 she leant to fly with Sir Charles Kingsford Smith.  She then flew commercially in her own plane,She was instumental in setting up and flying for the The Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme to provide aerial ambulance services in 1935 and ran and operated this.   Later worked for a while with KLM and then ttrained pilots for the Australian Air Force.  She founded the Australian Women Pilots Association and later continud flying.

 

I am sire we can use her skills as a pilot on our long legs and hopefully will not need her health care skills on the trip. Fortunately it turns out she is a great cook so we expect good things  from the full galley that our fries in San Diago insalled in the plane along with the 4 sleeper berths. (The DC3 was originally designed as a transcontinental sleeper plane and was used as such in both the US and later by Quantas and then TAA and Ansett in Australia after QANTAS's domestic bussiness was given to TAA when itt became an international only airline.

We only had four berths installed becacuse they also installed a set of extended range tanks so we should be set for all eventualities.

 

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Well e made it to Turin.  Next time I think I will take a train, at least it can go under the mountain and not over it.  We got some great views and barely avoided ending up with the climbers who died on Mount Blanc but we are here now and that is all that matters.

Flight Number WW7826
DateTuesday 3  October 2017
Depart LSGG - Geneva Cointrin International Airport
Arrive LIMF - Turin Airport
Aircraft WW-DC30
Flight Time 01:54:00
Distance 90 NM
Landing Rate -242 fpm

 

 

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What.a night that was.  

Pork Cuttlets and Golden Rissoto....

not to mention the Grappa.

 

 

It was the whiskey that I am sure Hudson put in the coffees that did it.  You just cannot trust spirits with spirits.

 

Off to Brindisi today at 6 am.  I am recovering in one of the beds while Hudson and Nancy-Bird fly.  After all she did not have to cook dinner last night so she has to earn her keep.  Problem is the spiritted  conversation coming from the Flight Deck.  Havent they heard of a sterile cockpit.

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brindisi_stazione_ferr_1870.jpg

is where our real life adventurers are terminating soon.  I think we will be a few hours ahead of them so we can wave them goodbye as they board the P and O vessel 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:P_%26_O_steamer_in_Venice_circa_1870,_in_album_owned_by_W.F._de_Salis,_a_director_of_the_company.jpg

is probably what they are leaving on at 5pm.....will they make it?

 

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Flight Number WW7817
Date Wednesday, 4 October 2017
Depart LIMF - Turin Airport
Arrive LIBR - Brindisi ÔÇô Salento Airport
Aircraft WW-DC30
Flight Time 04:31:12
Distance 528 NM
Landing Rate

-190 fpm

 

 

 

 

Well my nice high grown ChiangRai coffee has a Vienna roast and I think I need something a bit stronger today, off for a quick coffee then thee three of us crew will give the aircraft a good once over while we have a couple of hours to wait.  Mr Fogg has decided to sit in the shade under the wings in his deck chair while Passepartou inspects the town.  He has strict instructions to return by 4.30 local time.

 

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A long day planned for today.  First a flight to Athens to check the plane is fine following the checks and adjustments made yesterday.  Hudson and Nancy bird spent three hours with cloths in their hands, oilcan poised and screwdriver and shifting spanner at the ready.  No heavy hammer though.  They both know that a well maintained aircraft is an aircraft that lasts and does not let you down.  I think Hudson really wanted Arther Baird there to really do the job. (he set up much of QANTAS's maintainance base,  The engine bays, wheel wells and hydraulic lines all gleam with not a leak to be seen.

First flight today was to Athens. 

Flight Number WWV127.png
WW7946 - Operated by Worldwide Virtual
Date Thursday, 5 October 2017
Depart LIBR - Brindisi ÔÇô Salento Airport
Arrive LGAV - Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport
Aircraft WW-DC30
Flight Time 03:12:00
Distance 323 NM
Landing Rate 9 fpm

 

Which went without a hitch,

The next one was planned to Adana however as NancyBird promissed to use our new full service galley to cook Roast Lamb we cut the flight short and diverted to Larnaca where enough lamb was bought to last a month....sadly it is all gone now....delicious.

 

Flight Number WW7930
Date Thursday, 5 October 2017
Depart LGAV - Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport
Arrive LTAV- Larnaca
Aircraft WW-DC30
Flight Time 02:40:12
Distance 543 NM
Landing Rate -144 fpm

 

about 45 minutes after leaving Brindisi we saw a ship wallowing along.  A low pass and we confirmed our suspicions, the Mongolia.

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This you tube video from the web may give an idea of what is in store if they take the northern route.   Stunning scenery but terrifying....and that was summer.

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Too busy flying to put much here.  Got to Port Said

 

light Number WW7880
Date Friday, 6 October 2017
Depart LCLK - Larnaca International Airport
Arrive HEPS - Port Said Airport
Aircraft WW-DC30
Flight Time 02:24:36
Distance 227 NM
Landing Rate -377 fpm

 

As usual the plane performed perfectly. My creww were in fine spirits, well that is what they are anyway and thought they would shorten the journey by breaking into a sing song festival.  One thing with Radios you can turn them off.  

 

The Canal had just opened a couple of years ago.  

Quote

On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas was officially opened in a lavish ceremony at Egypt’s Port Said. The canal took more than 15 years to plan and build, and its construction was repeatedly hindered by political disputes, labor shortages and even a deadly cholera outbreak. When finally completed, the 101-mile-long waterway permanently transformed international shipping by allowing vessels to skip the long and treacherous transit around the southern tip of Africa.


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 Not sure that the artist who painted this had been here.  A
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Quote

Be'old a crowd upon the beam,
 An' 'umped above the sea appears
Old Aden, like a barrick-stove
 That no one's lit for years an' years!
I passed by that when I began,
 An' I go 'ome the road I came,
A time-expired soldier-man
 With six years' service to 'is name.

Well in an hour I will be there after an uneventful trip starting just before dawn.  Only problem was the sun shining straight in my eyes,  I hope Aden is not as unpalatible place as Rudyard Kipling though it long ago.

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https://www.google.co.th/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjxz8nd-OXWAhXHr48KHZ85AP0QjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Falamree.net%2Falboum-aden-old_15.htm&psig=AOvVaw078L9qtnv1uv_3aJkV853O&ust=1507721007276949

Is the sight that our passengers Mr Fogg and Passportou saw when they arived here last time.  Not a very hospitible place and I have been warned about the food even now.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/yemen/safety-and-security gives the UK Governmens view of the safety in Yeman and the danger is emphasised by the recent witdrawal of US embassy staff.  

I have decided that our stay in Aden will be as brief as possible, we will refuel and consider if we can safely head to another destination.  If not we will sleep in the beds we have in the aircraft with a lookout kept at all times.

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Arrived.

My revised plan is to fly from here (OYAA) to OOSA VOAT VOCL VOGA VABB,

I already have planned the trip to VOAT though that was just going to be a  side trip from the Indian mainland.  Many years ago I went there as a passenger on the Indian Government Ship that delivered supplies to the Lakshadweep formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Aminidivi Islands.  Not a luxury trip, dormitary class, which just meant a big common room with matresses rather than the deck class, but as a foreigner I was able to pay a supplement to eat the same food as the ships officers did,   Not very well fed in my opinion.  A trip that stayed in my memories so when I heard about this trip I applied for and at last got the Lakshadweep Entry Permits for our party.

 

 

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