Around the world in 175 days.

[blanston12]

September 18, 1924: After the luncheon in St Joseph, the flyers were back in the air for Hatbox field in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where they were welcomed by a large number of planes and chartered passenger busses that had converged on the small town to welcome them. At the evenings banquet they were given gold medallions for there “Intrepid flying skills”.

October 18, 1924: For the next leg I will be using the Handley Page Jetstream 200. The Jetstream is a two engine turboprop small airliner that first flew in 1967. About 67 were built by Handley Page and Scottish Aviation before the design was acquired by British Aerospace who developed it into the Jetstream 31 and 41. The model I am using is an almost finished beta by Rick Piper, and despite the fact that he did not finish the pilot seats is a great model and nice to fly.

Biggest dilemma for this flight was the destination airport to use, originally they used Hatbox field, but Hatbox closed in 2000 and even though it still exists in P3D its runways are pretty small, so following the rule of what airport would I use today I will use Davis field which is the current airport for Muskogee. They weather was good for flying, clear and calm with a temperature of 10C/50F. The flight was uneventful except that ActiveSky started giving strange error messages and I had to shut it down, switching instead to the 'fair' weather scheme. The 248nm flight took 1.1 hours.


Ready to go.


Get the selfie out of the way.


Out over the plains.


Glamour Shots.


Everything looks normal.


Fair weather.


Flying over Davis Field.


Landed,

Thanks for reading.
ATB.

[blanston12]

September 19, 1924: They awoke to rain storm with heavy wind that blew in the windows of there hotel, the airfield looked like it had been turned into a lake but despite that they were in the air by late morning bound for Love Field in Dallas, Texas, where they were met by another large crowd, all wanting to shake the hand and talk to the airmen. That evening there was another banquet where they were given more unexpected gifts from the citizens of Dallas.

October 21, 2017: For the next leg I will be using the 747-200. First flying in 1969, The 747 was the first wide body jet and it held the record for passenger capacity record for 37 years. With its distinctive hump upper deck one of the most recognizable aircraft. Boeing predicted that supersonic aircraft would soon make it obsolete and predicted it would sell only 400 but it exceeded all expectations and so far over 1500 have been built and more are still on order. The model I am using is by CLS/JustFlight and is one of my favorites but wish they would upgrade it to P3D V4 soon.

The weather for the flight was cloudy, 14 knot winds with overcast at 6500 feet and a temperature of 23C/73F. I ended up climbing up to 12000 feet to stay above the clouds. Love Field Airport in Dallas had an even lower cloud level, since I did not want to take any chances with such a large aircraft I did something I have not done on this trip so far, I contacted air traffic control and requested an ILS approach into Love Field. I made a safe landing after flying the 184 nm in 50 minutes.

I know did more pics than normal but I could not help myself, here they are:


Ready for takeoff.


Just enough runway.


Climbing out of Muskogee.


Selfie!


Geting above the clouds.


Cruising.


Lots of clouds.


Glamour Shots.


On Final into Love Field.


Landed.

Thanks for reading
ATB

[blanston12]

September 20, 1924: They left Dallas with enough fuel to fly 645 miles to El Paso, Texas but oil pump problems on Boston II forced them to land a Sweetwater, Texas. Although there landing was unexpected the personnel at the airport rustled up a picnic lunch for them.

October 21, 2017: For the next leg I will be using the SOCATA TB-10 Tobago. The Socata TB is a series of single engine aircraft by French aircraft company SOCATA. Widely used training and touring aircraft and are often used for instrument training. They are defined by their superior fit and finish and interior size at the expense of performance. About 2150 were built between 1975 and 2007. The model I am using is by JustFlight is nice. Weather for takeoff was ok, 10 knot winds with a few clouds at 6000 feet and a temperature of 28C/82F. They flight to Sweetwater was uneventful, flying at 4000 feet at a fairly leisurely pace, the 184 nm flight took 1.7 hours.

Here are the pics;


Ready to go.


Climbing out of Dallas.


Heading west.


Starting to rain.


Greener than I expected.


Glamour shots!


Destination in sight!


Secured.

Thanks for reading
ATB.

[blanston12]

September 20, 1924: After only an hour they were able to repair the fuel pump on Boston II and add some fuel and oil to the tanks and they were off for El Paso, Texas. As the came in to park the crowd that was there to welcome them surged through the police line and surrounded them and prevented the flyers from servicing there aircraft. That evening there was another banquet where they were given more gifts of local significance.

October 21, 2017: For the next leg I will be using the Beech King Air 350. Originally known as the Super King Air, the Super King Air family first flew in 1972 and is still in production, the longest production run of any civilian turboprop aircraft in its class. By 2015 over 3700 have been built. The model I am using is the default model that comes with P3D and is basically the same one as has been part of MSFS for quite some time, and is showing its age, but I flew this quite a bit back in the day and always liked it. The flight to El Paso was uneventful, Heavy rain and lightning over Sweetwater delayed departure for a while but was soon in the air after is passed. Flying at around 8000 feet and landed at Biggs Army Air Field in El Paso, Texas. The 303nm flight took 1.4 hours. Sorry I forgot to record the weather.

Here are the pics:


Ready for takeoff.


Climbing out of Sweetwater.


Lots of flat out here.


Glamour Shots.


Hills as we get closer to El Paso.


Cruisin.


Suns getting lower, hope we get there soon.


Landed.

Thanks for reading
ATB.

[blanston12]

October 22, 2017: For the next leg I will be using the General Dynamics F-16. The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine fighter aircraft by General Dynamics for the USAF. Over 4,500 aircraft have been built since 1976. The Fighting Falcon's key features include a frameless bubble canopy, side-mounted control stick, a seat reclined 30 degrees to reduce the effect of g-forces, and the first use of a relaxed static stability/fly-by-wire flight control system. The F-16 has also used by the air forces of 25 other nations. As of 2015, it is the most numerous airplane in military service. The Model I am using is the one that comes as a default aircraft in P3D V4 and is nice.

The flight was uneventful, clear skies with 8 knot winds and a temperature of 17C/63F. Keeping at 8000 feet and 50% power I think this is the fastest leg yet, cruising at 625 knots, I did not want to go faster as I was worried about using up all the fuel before reaching Tucson 230 nm away. As it is, the flight only took 29 minutes including taxi time.

Here are the pics:


Ready to go.


Glamour shots.


Cruising


Along the mountians.


Along the mountians.


Selfie.


On final.


Landed.

Thanks for reading.
ATB.

[Paul K]

Excellent stuff, Joe. You can't be far off finishing now, eh ?

[blanston12]

Excellent stuff, Joe. You can't be far off finishing now, eh ?

Thanks Paul!

Just two more legs and I am back at my starting point but since there 'Official' starting point was Seattle that is where I will stop, so 6 legs and finished!

[blanston12]

September 22, 1924: They left Tucson and flew west over the Crater and Growler mountains bound for San Diego, California. Before the flight started the flyers had taken test flights from the Douglas Factory in Santa Monica to San Diego and back so the citizens of San Diego considered there city as the starting point for the world flight. The city had been preparing for weeks for there arrival and promoted it as the biggest celebration in city history. Although the flight officially started in Seattle the flyers knew this also and were all lost in thought as they got closer to the coast. They were a hundred miles out when the first Air Service planes intercepted them, eventually there were 25 planes as they approached there destination, Rockwell field on Coronado Island. Smith wanted all three planes to touch down at the same time so they got into a line abreast formation and all there wheels touched down at the same instant. They were an hour and a half ahead of schedule so there were only a few people on the field when they landed but it included Lt Smiths Parents and Harding’s Mother. That afternoon they were taken to a reception at Balboa park where 35,000 people where there, there largest reception yet. In his comments Smith said, “We all got a big thrill this morning when we flew over the mountains and side by side, came down and crossed a line that we had crossed before on this flight”. That evening they were taken to rooms in the Hotel Del Coronado where a party was held for Smith by his old friends and the others went to a dance. That evening mechanics of the Air Service installed new engines in the planes.

October 22, 2017: In honor of all be brave fire fighters who are working so hard and bravely in my home state of California, I will be using Milton Shupe’s Grumman S-2T Civilian Turbo Tracker in CalFire livery. The S-2 started as a carrier based ASW aircraft in 1952 with 1200 being built, the USN retired there last one in 1972 but some are still being used by navys and air forces around the world. Starting around 1970 CalFire started using converted S-2A air tankers. In 1996 CalFire started replacing the S-2A’s with S-2E/G models that had been fully reconditioned and upgraded with turboprop engines. all were delivered by 2005 and currently 22 are in service. I also figured I needed to make a grand return to California so I got a pair of escorts to round out the flight. I really like the model Milton's team has produced, its not P3D V4 compatible but its on the top of my wishlist for them to upgrade.

Rockwell field was transferred to the Navy in 1939 and is now part of North Island NAS. The weather was ideal, Clear with 4 knot winds and a temperature of 31C/88F. My flight was uneventful, at 8000 feet we cruised over the desert, crossing over the Mexican border for a while and coming into San Diego. There were a few clouds around the coast but the air field on Coronado Island was clear. After I landed I discovered I forgot to start the FSA client to record the flight and had to redo it (this time at x16 instead of x1). The 323 nm flight took 1.4 hours.

Note: While the flyers may have made it around the world at this point, I have not. But like them, my mission does not end until I reach Seattle again.

Here are the pics:


Ready to go.


Heading out of Tuscon.


Out over the desert.


Salton Sea in the distance.


Mexico in the distance.


Flying in formation over the Imperial Valley.


San Diego ahead.


All Landed.

Thanks for reading.
ATB.

[blanston12]

September 23 1924: In the early afternoon they left for Clover Field in Santa Monica, home of the Douglas factor and the second city to claim to be the starting point for the flight. The scene in Santa Monica was in San Diego but an estimated 200,000 people were crowding the airport to get a glimpse of the famous flyers. An grandstand had been setup and the planes taxied to the area marked for parking where a large line of guards were waiting, Smith described the scene.

“As we crawled out of our cockpits, the crowd went wild. With a roar they knocked down the fence. They knocked down the police. They knocked down the solders. They knocked us down. They tried to pull our ships apart for souvenirs but somehow we fought them off”.

No work could be done that night because of the harassing crowd so they were motored into Hollywood to stay at the Christie Hotel.

October 23, 2017: For the next leg I will be using the Tecnam P92 Eaglet. While the design dates back to 1960 the Eaglet was introduced by Tecnam in Naples Italy in 2008 to comply with the new FAA Light Sport Aircraft rules. The model I am using is by Ants Aircraft is very nice to fly. I wanted to use an LSA aircraft some place on this trip and the short hop between San Diego and Santa Monica seamed the logical spot. Weather was again nice, clear with 6 knot winds and a temperature of 32C/89F. I flew at about 1800 to 2000 feet following the coast, landing in Santa Monica after an uneventful flight, flying the 101nm in 1.1 hours.


Ready to go.


Climbing out of Coronado Island.


Leaving San Diego Behind.


Back up the California Coast.


Good to be back.


Flying over Newport Beach Harbor.


I probably should not fly over LAX like this.


Landed in Santa Monica, and no crowds to greet me!

While I have no returned to my starting point, the like the flyers back in 1924, my mission does not end until I reach Seattle.

Thanks for reading.
ATB.

[blanston12]

September 25, 1924: Next stop was Crissy Field in San Francisco, along the route Boston II had a generator failure and had to land a fair ground a few miles south of the city. The other two planes circled and continued on after Wade and Ogdon signaled they were solving the problem. They landed at Crissy field at 3:10pm to a much more subdued reception than in Santa Monica, hundreds of solders guarded the parking ramp from the large but well behaved crowd. Meanwhile, a young truck driver asked Wade if he needed assistance, they agreed to exchange batteries when they discovered that the truck used a similar one. The driver refused payment so Wade invited him to meet them in there hotel that evening, they were then able to continue to Crissy Field to join the others.

October 25, 2017: For the next leg I will be using the Learjet 45. The Learjet 45 is a mid sized business jet made by the Learjet division of Bombardier, and the first all new design since the original Learjet. Introduced in 1998, about 642 ov all versions were built before production switched to the upgraded model 75 in 2012. The model I am using is the default one that comes with FSX, despite its age, is nice to fly and does not look that bad, inside or out, as long as you don’t look around the corners too much, and it works well in P3D v4.

The biggest decision on this leg was what airport to fly into, Crissy field closed log ago and there are no other airstrips within the city limits of San Francisco. I considered Alameda NAS and Oakland International but decided on San Francisco International, just south of the city. Weather was Clear but a bit hazy, 3 knot winds and a temperature of 28C/82F. I headed north out of Santa Monica headed north west over the coastal mountains at 12,000 feet. At about 100nm out I contacted ATC and requested an ILS approach into SFO. The landing was a bit rough but I ended up landing safely, the 289mn flight took 1.1 hours.

I actually live and work in the San Francisco Bay area so its always fun to come home.

Here are the pics:


Ready for takeoff.


Flying over the Tehachapi Mountains.


Past the mountians and into the central valley.


Monterey Bay.


San Francisco Bay ahead.


Coming in over San Francisco Bay. I have a view of that mountian in the distance right outside by back window. If you look closely you might even see my house.


On final into SFO.


Landed.

Thanks for reading.
ATB.