Around the world in 175 days.

[blanston12]

Very entertaining. Please keep going. Hope weather improves.

Thanks Hobby, I will try to do so.

[blanston12]

May 17, 1924: The pilots awoke at 4:30 am and prepared for takeoff. It was an ideal spring morning, there plan was to fly west toward the Kamchatka peninsula then south along the coast, 585 miles to Paramushiru. The weather started off ideal, but occasional fog and snow squals built up and they had to fly lower and lower until they were just skimming the water. Eventually they were flying through fog and heavy snow which became heavy rain and high winds by the time they approached Paramushiru.

The American Destroyers John D. Ford and Pope had been waiting for the flyers in for some time. They expected them two weeks after they left Seattle, it was now almost 6 weeks. The Japanese were not very cooperative, not allowing the americans to go ashore or take photographs. In addition to requiring a Japanese officer to remain on board, they were escorted by Japanese warships at all time. The destroyers had been taking turns waiting at waiting at Paramushiru, returning to Hakodate to refuel and supply. They battled fog, show, icy winds and rip times that kept the ship the ships swaying continuously like a pendulum. At one point in a storm Pope had collieded with the Japanese destroyer Tokitsukaze but fortunalty there was not serious damage. On a gray afternoon May 17, Ford was in Kashiwabara bay with the Japanese destroyer Tokitsukaze and Amatsukaze when the three aircraft arrived, they circled the ships several times before landing. They had difficulty mooring to the buoys Ford had placed because of the strong currents, riptides and fierce winds. Cold and wet they were welcomed aboard the Destroyer by Lt Commander Frost its Captain, representatives from the Japanese Navy and Army. They soon received Congratulatory messages from General Patrick, Secretary of War Meeks and the General Ugaki, the Japanese Minister of War. They were the first aviators to fly across the Pacific ocean.

July 16, 2017: Now that we have reached Asia and the aircraft have reached the late 30’s I am going to start using aircraft for than one leg at a time rather than changing every time. So we will be using Milton Schup’s Beach D18S again. There is no airport at Paramushiru in either FSX, P3D or real life as far as I can tell, so I will create another simple seaplane port using Airport Design Editor. The island of Paramushiru was taken over by the Soviet Union after World War 2, now part of Russia and is called Petropavlovsk.

It was raining when we departed Komandorski with a 2000 foot ceiling. We climbed up to 8000 feet to get above the clouds and it was an easy cruise, over the Kamchatka peninsula and into the bay where the Coast guard cutter was waiting for me. Here are a few pictures from the flight.


Ready for takeoff.


Up above the clouds.


Glamour Shots.


Lots of clouds.


Hey, thats Asia!


That bay between the two islands is our destination.


There is the cutter!


Landed.

Sorry the descriptions have gotten a bit long but there was a lot happening back then and I want to make sure I told there story. They should get shorter again.

[blanston12]

May 19, 1924: In there narrow bunks the flyers did not get much sleep that night as 45 mph winds rocked USS Ford roughly side to side that night, the same winds kept them from refueling and servicing there aircraft the next day. They did get badly needed haircuts and were treated to dinner with ‘strong libations’ on one of the Japanese destroyers. The following morning they were off at 7:30 am for the 595 mile flight to Hitokappu bay on Yetorofu Island. This proved to be one of the coldest days flying since they left Seattle, Wade recalled often having to “stamp his feet just to see if they were still with us”.. They started in biting wind and fog, plunged in and out of snow squalls as they passed over one Japanese island after another. After more than seven hours of flying the arrived at Hitokappu bay where the destroyers Tokitsukaze and USS Pope were waiting to great them.

July 19, 2017: For the next flight we will be using the Consolidated PBY Catalina. The legionary Cat was one of the most widely used seaplanes and amphibians of world war 2, It first flew in 1935 and over 3300 were built and was used by every branch of the US Armed forces and at least 27 other nations in many different roles until 1980. Many are still in service with civilian operators. The model I am using today was created by Aerosoft and is very nice. The USN 5A I am using today came equipped with a Sperry autopilot that is much more realistic than I am used to and took some practice before I was ready to use it on a real flight. I found the rudder control on it a bit useless, instead just using the bank control to turn with and control direction.

The weather today was better than I had seen in some time, 12 kn winds with scattered low clouds. Like many islands in this area, at the end of world war 2, Soviet forces took possession of Yetorofu Island and it is now controlled by the Russian Federation and is called Iturup island. The flight was uneventful and I landed at Iturup island after 4 hours of flying.

Here are a few pictures of the trip.


Getting ready to depart at Dawn.


Head into the wind before takeoff.


Heading out.


Glamour shots.


Small island along the way.


Cruising.


There the cutter marking our destination, get ready to land.


Landed.

[blanston12]

May 22, 1924: Smith had hoped depart early the next morning but here old enemy fog prevented that. They visited the local village and were invited on board one of the Japanese destroyers where invited to watch a Sumo match. Weather was again unfavorable the next day but by the 22nd they were able to depart. They had wished to depart at midnight but fog prevented them leaving till 5:30am, they encountered light fog as they flew along the mountainous islands, 495 miles to the Village of Minato on the north east corner of the Japanese main island of Hanshu where USS Ford waiting for them.

July 22, 2017: Again I am flying the Aerosoft PBY, this time flying Jacques Cousteau’s converted PBY-6A. Weather today was overcast with a 1200-2000 foot ceiling. Still trying to use VFR rules I stayed at around 1000 feet for most of the flight. The engines on the a bit more finicky than most sim aircraft and I was trying to be careful with them but for reasons I can’t explain the right engine kept shutting down on me and I probably restarted it a dozen times trying various combinations of the settings trying to keep them running, some worked better than others but I never found the right combination as it shut down again as I was on final. I flew to the airport at Omitato which is on the bay where they flyers landed. I should have landed in the bay as the airports 2000 foot runway was a bit short for what I needed and overran the end before coming to a stop. I landed after flying 361 nm in 2.8 hours.

Here are a few pics from the flight:


Ready for takeoff.


On our way.


Staying low.


Making our way around Hokkaido island.


Selfie!


Around the last ridge on Hokkaido, and the engines are running again!


Our destination is in sight!


Landed, just got to the place I wanted to park before both engines decided to quit on me.

[blanston12]

May 22, 1924: Although Lt Smith had wired ahead that he did not want any party arranged, A welcome arch and reception tents had been erected and large crowed lined the shore and warfs ands everal hundred school children waved american flags. As soon as they came to a halt a giant fireworks display lit up the sky. While a celebration was planned the flyers were behind schedule and Lt Nutt, the advance officer for the flight in this region went ashore to give there regrets while the flyers refueled there aircraft. By 1pm they were back in the air again. They plunged into fog and rain, but after two and a half hours the weather cleared and became ‘balmy’ according to Wade. They continued flying down the eastern short of Hanshu. At 5pm they turned inland and landed at Lake Kasumigaura, Home of the Japanese Navy Air Base, 50 miles north of Tokyo, They were met by thousands of spectators and news correspondents and photographers from all over the world. The Admiral in command welcomed them and assured them they would get all the assistance they would need. After their planes were made secure they were taken to the Naval Air Service Club where local officers hosted a dinner in their honor and were each shown to private rooms with there own orderlies, they also received there first mail since they left home.

July 22, 2017: For first few legs over Japan I wanted to use some Japanese planes, but there are only a few I could find that worked well in FSX (or later). The first one I found is the Nakajima B5N2 Kate. The B5N was the standard torpedo bomber if the Imperial Japanese navy for much of world war 2. It first flew in 1937 and over 1100 were built and was used throughout the war. The model was first made for CFS-2 by Thicko and converted to FSX by Erik Hertzberger. The exterior model is pretty good but the VC shows its age.

My flight to Hyakuri Airport started off in weather that was best unpleasant, Cloud level was at 1500 feet so I stayed below at about 800 feet and continued down the coast toward Tokyo, About half way down the coast the clouds lifted a bit and was able to climb to a safer altitude and made my way and landed safely after flying 306 nm in 2 hours.

Here are a few pics from the flight.


Ready to go.


On our way.


Staying low while flying up the coast.


Glamour shots.


Its clearing up.


Getting closer to civilization.


On final into our destination.


Landed.

By this point in the flight they had flown 5,657 miles and logged 76 hours in the air. At this point I have flown 5493 nm and logged 47 hours in the air and based on our start dates I am 8 days ahead of them.

[blanston12]

June 1, 1924. The base at Lake Kasumigaura was a major supply point for the trip and the site where they planned to overhaul there aircraft and get them ready for flying in the tropics, Including replacing the engines and installing larger radiators. The Japanese had planned two weeks of events, but the Lt Smith, concerned that they were at least 30 days behind schedule asked for the celebrations to be compressed to 48 hours. A Japanese admiral hosted them to a traditional Japanese dinner, the flyers were very impressed by the geisha girls who served the meal. After ten days of mechanics and diplomacy they were ready to leave at 5:30 am on June 1 for Kushimoto, 305 miles away in ideal weather, As they passed Iro point they plunged into a severe rain storm that became a mild typhoon, that became more severe as they landed at Kushimoto, where USS Pope was waiting for them. A welcome party tried to come out to the ship to greet them but the weather was too rough and the flyers retired for the night on board the destroyer.

Still wanting to fly a Japanese aircraft over Japan I decided to fly the Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero. The A6M first flew in 1939 and at the time it was introduced it was considered the most capable carrier based fighter in the world with excellent maneuverability and long range, over 10,000 were built. The model I am using today was made by Aeroplane Heaven for JustFlight and I think it is the best FSX/P3D compatible Japanese aircraft model from that era available.

It was pretty overcast when I took off, I had to stay under 1500 feet for most of the flight to stay below the clouds. I decided to fly to Nanki-Shirahama airport which is the closest airport I could find to Kushimoto. I followed the coast for a while, climbed over one large peninsula, then weaved around the various islands as I headed toward my destination. Then at some point I zoomed out on the GPS to see how far I had to go and realized I had made a fairly serious navigational error. At some point in my planning process I had recorded the code for the destination airport at RJDB where I should have used RJBD and I was at this point about 140nm off course. I could continue on to Kanoya which is the destination for the next leg, which is almost as far as going back to Kushimoto but instead headed for the closest airport which was at Matsuyama. I had flown 405 nm in 2.6 hours, at least 100nm further than I planned.

Here are a few pics from the flight:


Ready for takeoff.


Yes, we are ready.


Fireworks over Tokyo. They must be celebrating our trip.


Mount Fuji showed itself.


Brief period of good weather.


Glamour Shots.


Just before I realised I was headed in the wrong direction.


Secure at Matsuyama

[hobby]

Transposing letters or numbers is easily done!

[blanston12]

June 2, 1924: By morning the storm had subsided and they went ashore to meet with the leaders of the town. They were presented with souvenirs and decorations “enough to start an Oriental museum” according to Arnold. Some of the decorations were only given to the pilots but Lt Smith asked that they be given to all six of them since “We were simply six American airmen flying around the world together” and the Japanese agreed. By noon they were off into a stiff head wind for the 360 mile flight to Kagoshima, the southern most city in Japan. Along the way they flew over may steamers, junks and fishing boats. They also flew over the destroyers Perry and Steward that were patrolling the route for them. While flying along the coast of Kyushu island Boston’s engine began overheating so Wade landed the plane in a well protected harbor, while the other two plane circled overhead Ogden filled the radiator with salt water and the three planes continued Kagoshima where the repair ship USS Black Hawk was waiting for them. A large crowd with at least 2000 school children were waiting for them on the beach, many waving home made flags, The flyers went ashore briefly where a few short speeches were made and souvenirs handed out.

July 29, 2017: For the next flight I will continue to use the JustFlight A6M2 Zero. Because of my navigational error on the previous flight I was now in Matsuyama instead of Kushimoto and only 175 nm from Kagoshima. Weather was better today, 12 kn winds with scattered clouds at 3000 feet. The flight was pretty easy, I flew down the east coast of Kyushu island at about 3000 feet. As I got closer to the haze started to build up. I turned inland near Miyazaki where there were some heavier patches of fog to fly over/through but as I got to Kagoshima the weather cleared up and I was able to make a safe landing at Kagoshima airport despite touching down a little short of the runway. In the fast A6M2 the flight time was only 57 minutes.

Here are a few pics from the flight.


Ready for takeoff.


Climbing out from Matsuyama airport.


Glamour shots.


Kyushu island


Getting hazy.


Kagoshima


On final, yes I am a little low.


Secured.

[Paul K]

That's a heck of a vintage aircraft collection you have, Joe.

[blanston12]

That's a heck of a vintage aircraft collection you have, Joe.

Thanks! Glad I found a way to make use of it