The COMET 1, and a rare opportunity to take a break from my HJG activity, recently provided an opportunity for me to do this .... and in doing so also fulfill a particular FS exercise I'd been wanting to undertake for a very long time prior, but, simply hadn't had time to perform .... this being to "fly the historic BOAC route from London/UK to Johannesburg/South Africa" .... following the airlines imperial route of the early 1950's as briefly flown by its COMET 1 aircraft .... and to do so in real time also
The routing I selected .... commenced with a London/Heathrow to Frankfurt/Main sector, then Frankfurt to Rome/Ciampino (old Rome Italy), followed by Rome to Athens/Ellinikon (old Athens Greece), Athens to Cairo/Farouk (Egypt), Cairo to Khartoum (Sudan), Khartoum to Entebbe (Uganda), Entebbe to Nairobi (Kenya), Nairobi to Livingstone (Zambia), and finally Livingstone to Johannesburg/Jan Smuts (South Africa). A total of 8 sectors .... flown at the rate of "1 sector per day" over as many days .... and covering part of western Europe, the Mediterranean, the horn of Africa and eastern side of the African continent (once a region under British political/economic influence) .... all the way down to Johannesburg .... whilst also taking in some of the historic/cultural and geographic wonders of the world along this route and which "ARE" represented in FS by default or available as add-on scenery enhancements.
The Approximate London, Frankfurt, Rome, Athens, Cairo, Khartoum, Entebbe, Nairobi, Livingstone, Johannesburg Route Operated By BOAC DH COMET 1 Aircraft During The Early/Mid 1950's:
Fuel requirements were planned/calculated in accordance with the observed FS fuel burn rates compiled/recompiled into this COMET 1 simulation (since myself and another HJG colleague have have recently performed a wee bit of FDE surgery and which we believe has improved things a little) .... for each flight sector .... and which resulted in loadings well below COMET 1's maximum fuel capacity whilst otherwise simulating a full payload.
For this exercise I also decided to use Tom GIBSON's classic 1950's/1960's era airport scenery (some very nice works of art by Wolfgang GERSCH, Mike STEVENS, and associates which are available from this/Tom's website .... and which I can highly recommend) .... to add a bit of "period ambiance" to each stopover.
To try'n further enhance this feeling of "period ambiance" I also decided to create bit of B&W imagery at each of the 8 stopovers .... of a type that's not intended to resemble good FS imagery, but rather, that which a non-aviation minded tourist embarking on such a long holiday adventure might casually photograph as a personal momento of places visited and scenes observed "whilst killing time at airports" prior to each flight departure .... and which are then additionally supported by the usual obligatory colour imagery showing-off the COMET 1 in action within this add-on FS scenery along each sector of the route flown.
So here we go with this review of my recent BOAC London/Johannesburg circa 1952/1953 routing .... via Frankfurt, Rome, Athens, Cairo, Khartoum, Entebbe, Nairobi, and Livingston .... and flying the classic/pioneering DH 106 COMET 1 jetliner ....
FIRST SECTOR (Day 1) - London/Frankfurt
Pre Departure PAX photo at London:
Departure From London:
This route followed a roughly east-south-easterly track from the London/Midhurst VOR .... across both the English Channel and Belgum .... and on into Germany.
Arrival At Frankfurt/Main:
SECOND SECTOR (Day 2) - Frankfurt/Rome
Pre Departure PAX photo at Frankfurt/Main:
Departure From Frankfurt:
This route followed a south-south-easterly VOR to VOR track from Frankfurt .... trending across western Germany and both Austrian and Swiss borders .... and on into northern Italy.
Arrival At Rome/Ciampino:
THIRD SECTOR (Day 3) - Rome/Athens
Pre Departure PAX photo at Rome:
Departure From Rome:
This route followed a south-south-easterly VOR to VOR track from Rome .... down the west coast of the boot of Italy then trending east-south-easterly out over Ioanian Sea .... toward the Gulf Of Corinth .... and on into Athens.
Arrival At Athens/Ellinikon:
FOURTH SECTOR (Day 4) - Athens/Cairo
Pre Departure PAX photo at Athens/Ellinikon:
Departure From Athens:
This route followed a southerly VOR to VOR track from Athens down to Crete .... then trending south-south-easterly across the Mediterranean Sea and towards Egypt .... to pick up the VOR for Cairo International Airport less than 200 miles DME prior to arrival.
Arrival At Cairo/Farouk:
FIFTH SECTOR (Day 5) - Cairo/Khartoum
Pre Departure PAX photo at Cairo:
Departure From Cairo:
Cairo is where my JEPPESEN E/R charts terminate .... forcing me to then have to resort to a flat world map of the African continent, and use a protractor, ruler, and a pair of dividers in order to determine my route south for the remainder of this trip .... toward Johannesburg .... and to also use "dead reckoning" (distance covered on the basis of airspeed, direction, elapsed time, and estimated drift) after having first previously GOOGLE searched for the necessary/primary VOR and NDB frequencies along each sector so as to aid further relatively accurate navigation south. FS has a built-in GPS .... I know .... but .... using it (to me) is insultingly easy and simply "not challenging enough" (for me) .... essentially robbing one of a the fun (I feel) as well as a sense of accomplishment upon the completion of such an exercise as this .... not to mention also the very real prospect of becoming lost also in the event of inadvertent miscalculations during ones navigation planning, but, which fortunately did not come to pass in my particular case .... as the remainder of this report will indicate
The route from Cairo to Khartoum utilized a VOR track almost due South for the first less than 200 miles after departure .... basically following the the Nile Valley into Sudan .... to lock onto the VOR within 200 DME prior to arrival at Khartoum International Airport.
Following departure from Cairo a quick detour was made in order to view the ancient pyramids of Egypt on the Gizeh Plateau at Necrapolis.
The oldest of these 3 pyramids is believed to have been constructed during the 27th century BC. Each is assumed to have taken some 200 years to construct.
Arrival At Khartoum:
SIXTH SECTOR (Day 6) - Khartoum/Entebbe
Pre Departure PAX photo at Khartoum:
Departure From Khartoum:
Again .... this route followed a VOR track continuing almost due south after departure from Khartoum and for the first less than 200 miles DME .... skirting the remainder Nile Valley over southern Sudan .... and on into Uganda .... to pick up the VOR at Entebbe International Airport (on the northern shores of Lake Victoria) within 200 miles DME prior to arrival.
Arrival At Entebbe:
Between 1971 and 1979 Uganda fell victim to the murderous regime of its then political leader Idi AMIN "Da Da" (it's estimated up to 500,000 people disappeared without trace under AMIN's violent and tyrannical dictatorship). I'm not sure, but, I believe the terminal building evident within these next images is the one (the old airport terminal by the 1970's) where Jewish hostages were held following the Black September hijacking of AIR FRANCE flight 139 on June 27th 1976 (operated by A300B F-BVOG), and prior to the Israeli "Operation Thunderbolt" assault on this terminal, on July 4th 1976, and which resulted their release .... albeit with a few fatalities among the hostages.
The "IDI AMIN" song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFeJJAQPiK4
AMIN's only known reaction to this particular song is reputed to have been .... "DA PEOPLE HOO WOTE AND POBLISHED DAT SONG DAY ALL SHUD BE SHOT FOR DOING DAT" .... or words to similar effect
SEVENTH SECTOR (Day 7) - Entebbe/Nairobi
Pre Departure PAX photo at Entebbe:
Departure From Entebbe:
This was the shortest sector of the entire route to Johannesburg .... only some 300 miles or so .... and following a south-easterly VOR track from Entebbe across northern Lake Victoria .... and on into Kenya.
Following departure from Entebbe the enormity of Lake Victoria was evident throughout the first portion of this particular easterly route.
Lake Victoria is not only the worlds largest tropical lake, but also, the largest lake on the African continent too .... with a surface area of some 27,000 square miles and maximum depths ranging from 150 FT to 300 FT. It is also the worlds 2nd largest fresh water lake .... after North America's Lake Superior.
Arrival At Nairobi/Kenya:
SEVENTH SECTOR (Day 7) - Nairob/Livingstoni
Pre Departure PAX photo at Nairobi:
Departure From Nairobi:
This was the longest sector over the entire route .... a distance of just under 1,500 miles .... following a south-south-westerly VOR to VOR track across Tanzania and the southern tip of Zaire .... and on into Zambia. It was also quite a rough/turbulent ride for most of the flight down given the weather scenarios I'd created, but, which is probably "to be expected" whilst overflying this particular tropical geographic region.
Negotiatimg tropical weather build-ups to the north east and during a staged descent prior to arrival at Livingston:
Arrival at Livingston:
EIGHTH SECTOR (Day
- Livingstone/Johannesburg Pre Departure PAX photo at Livingston:
Departure From Livingston:
This final and south-south-easterly sector to Johannesburg was another relatively short route of around 500 miles .... or so .... trending across the borders of both Zimbabwe and Botswana before entering the Republic of South Africa .... to pick up the Johannesburg VOR within 200 miles DME prior to arrival at Jan Smuts International Airport. It was also a great deal smoother/less turbulent than the previous days routing
Following departure a quick detour was made to view the Victoria Falls, on the Zambesi River, a very short distance to the south of Livingstone International Airport.
The Victoria Falls straddle the borders of both Zambia and Zimbabwe and are "the largest in the world" .... some 5,500 FT in width and 300 FT in height. The spray from these falls provides 24 hour rainfall to the surrounding lush jungle vegetation and it is one of few places in the world where a "moonbow" (nocturnal rainbow) phenomenon may be observed at night and during certain meteorological conditions ....
Arrival At Johannesburg:
Post Arrival PAX photo at Johannesburg
AVERAGE DH 106 COMET 1 PERFORMANCE EN ROUTE (using modified FDE)
ATITITUDE = 31,000
IAS = 275
MACH = 0.73
GS = 429
TAS = 451 (275 X 1.64 = 451)
ENGINE RPM = 9,550
ENGINE EGT = 453
ENGINE F/F = 1340 LBS per HR (X4 = 5360 LBS per HR )
AI PITCH = + 0.5* (degrees)
This was an appreciably long exercise (some 18 hours total flying time .... and all undertaken in real time too .... although dispersed over several consecutive days), but, one that was (I feel) as educational as it was also enjoyable to fly, so, I encourage anyone (whom wishes to) to consider undertaking exercises such as this .... maybe using Tom's propliners
A couple of things become very clear (to me) over such a long staging virtual route re-enactment like this .... (1) an appreciation of the shear immensity of the African continent .... and (2) although I don't know how BOAC rostered its COMET crews to fly this particular route (whether or not those crews completed a full tour of duty along the entire route and back to the UK, or if some crews might have been based at various destinations/stations along this route), so, assuming the former, it was likely a "very long tour of duty" and during which these crews were obviously away from home for considerable lengths of time.
Mark C
AKL/NZ
The only thing lacking was a British Pathe newsreel announcer. 
Thanks for posting your journey in the lovely Comet. 
