The Ongoing Trials of the Impoverished Commercial Pilot.

[Tinkicker]

So.  I have one Comanche getting repaired in Iceland and a sweet ride in a Beechcraft Turbine Duke in Florida that fell through due to maintenance problems.

 

Money must be made and impoverished CPL/IMC holders must eat like the rest and to achieve that coveted Airline Transport Pilot Licence, I also need 1500 very expensive hours in my logbook.  I ask Pete if there is anything else in the pipeline.

 

"Nope, not at the minute, but Multiflight, being a Lycoming aero engine and Cessna agent, ship urgent parts around Europe in the company Comanche 250.  It is often quicker and cheaper for the customer to have them delivered this way, instead of utilising a specialist courier and of course, aircraft parts being so exorbitantly expensive, paying the exorbitant shipping insurance to cover them in transit.

 

With Multiflight doing the delivery, the parts are their liability until the customer signs for them.  It appears that this enterprise is proving rather popular.

 

To keep customer costs down as far as possible, it is a proposition to build hours only.  No wages paid, but free aircraft time logged and all hotel expenses paid via a company credit card.  

 

The previous pilot has gained his 1500hrs and left for pastures new.  

I already told the Multiflight Chief Pilot about you and he would like a word.  Interested" ?

 

So here I am.  Every hour flown is £150 saved. 

[Tinkicker]

 

 

All flights conducted in real time and real time weather.  Thank goodness that all the gamey " aids" that appear on the pics are disabled in VR.  I have to use flatscreen mode to capture the screenshot.

 

The phone rings at 11am. It is the chief pilot at multiflight. 

Righto, we need to get some aircraft parts to Basque Air Services in Bilbao pronto.  You up for it?  Aircraft is fuelled and prepped, parts are loaded aboard.  Weight and balance calcs done and you are good to go.

A look at the dispatch note shows I am carrying 4x Lycoming chrome cylinders, 4x pistons, 4 rods, plus bearings and a few gaskets.  Weight 100kg loaded into the baggage compartment.  OK with that.

 

So I rock up and am ready to set sail by 1pm.  Weather forecast over UK good.  Weather over Northern France forecast good. Weather in northern Spain changeable. Not good.  It will be dark by then.

 

I take off into a lovely blue sky, hardly a cloud to be seen and smooth air.  My own well maintained personal company aircraft and a company credit card in my pocket.  Fantastic.

Around the wash area in southern lincolnshire and norfolk, a bit of sea mist is blowing inland, but a climb to 6000ft takes me comfortably over it.  No problem.

It is soon passed.  Do I descend to 3000ft again to get a nice view of the passing countryside or stay up here?  I look to the instrument and gps readouts.

Seems I have picked up a useful 10 knot tailwind.  My job is to deliver aircraft parts ASAP and save as much fuel as I can,  not sightsee.  I already spent fuel climbing up here.  I elect to stay where I am.

 

Southend and the Thames Estuary just disappering under the nose, Kent ahead.  Lovely weather.

 

We cross the English Channel to Calais and set course south west, heading for Bordeux on the west coast, thence south for Biaritz and west again for Bilbao.

 

Lovely evening over France.  Ahead, just out of picture shot is the large looping river at Rouen.  I know that river well from my IL2 Cliffs of Dover days.  I used to bomb the luftwaffe airfield there in a vastly underpowered Blenheim bomber.  As soon as it was seen that I damaged the airfield, everyone flying german fighters knew I was there and turned up like sharks sniffing out blood.  Rarely did I survive.

 

A more peaceful evening around Rouen.  Very cold out there though, not much above freezing.

 

We continue on.  Aircraft is running sweetly and the air is smooth.  This is the life.

By the time we reach Le Mans, the sun is about to set.  Very beautiful, but patches of mist and ground fog are starting to put in an appearance.

 

Three quarters of an hour later, the sun is below the horizon but nothing to be unsettled about.  We start to get into a bit of choppy air, but nothing alarming.

I switch the fuel selector from tip tanks to mains.

The first bit of disquiet I feel is as we are in the Loire Valley / Tours area.  I can see a line of squalls building up ahead.  Want to stay out of those, so start steering around them.  This is going to cost time and fuel, but no choice.

The squall line keeps building and it is clear I can no longer go around them...

 

Avoiding the squalls.

 

Into the fray we are thrown.  A frenzy of wing rocking turbulence ensues.  The autopilot is buzzing its annoyance constantly, signifying it will disconnect at any time.  We endure this for 30 mins or so, then it calms a little.  The lashing rain stops, but I am still in the murk.  The ground below is only visible for a few minutes at a time and it is dark.  I have also picked up a 30kt headwind.

It is still pretty choppy.  I pass over Bordeaux and change course for Biaritz.  The weather has cleared a little and smoothed out a lot.

 

Weather clears a little as we leave Bordeaux behind. 

 

As I approach Biaritz, it becomes clear I have a hard decision to make.  The weather ahead is not forecast to clear, the entire area is under low cloud.  Bilbao is sat in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains.  I cannot approach it over land without flying over high terrain.  Do I try to stay over land and try to keep in visual contact with the ground?  Striking an unseen object such as a wind turbine on top of a hill, or unseen rising ground is not appealing.  Going to a safe altitude at night means I may start to pick up airframe ice that I cannot see, so that is out also.

 

Do I cut the corner off the Bay of Biscay and approach Bilbao from the seaward side.  50 miles across the inhospitable biscay, in winter, at night, in a single engined piston aircraft, with a busted engine means almost certain death.

I look at the engine instruments carefully.  Everything is normal.

Decision made, I go over water.

 

I watched those engine gauges intently all the way across.  Had a couple of near heart attacks when the manifold pressure started dropping due to carb icing, and the resultant misfiring and vibration as carb heat was applied and the engine ingested the water.  All normal of course.  Over land, in daytime, not a pulse raiser.  Over water, at night, a quite different animal.

 

Finally made it to very wet and windy Bilbao.  Handed the parts over to the stores manager at Basque Aero Services and made my way to my hotel bar.  Phoned the Chief pilot and told him the tale and he said "the best medicine for a flight like that is a beer or two.  Make the credit card work hard.

I may have another little diversion in the morning, instead of coming straight home".

 

A wet and windy Bilbao. 

 

Route.  Time logged 5hrs 53 mins.

 

Edited January 5 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

The phone is ringing and I open a bleary eye.  Where the hell am I?

Ah I am in my hotel room near Bilbao Airport.  It is Saturday morning and I have an aircraft to fly home...

 

Hello.  "Hi, its Mike at Multiflight, just firming up what you were told last night".

 

Mike?  Ah the stores manager.

 

"Uhuh"?  "Sorry to do this to you but I screwed up yesterday and booked some small parts out of stores, without updating the Cessna stock allocation system.  Totally forgot.  Cessna central got an order for some fasteners, saw we were closest agent showing stock and booked them out for shipping to a FBO in Scotland.  I have not got the minimum stock level Cessna requires, cannot send some of the parts,  and if Central find out, they may conduct an audit".

 

"I checked with Cessna France at Reims and they have the parts in stock.  Will you get me out of the crap and pick them up on your way home"?

 

OK.

"Cheers mate.  Only thing is the parts will not be ready for pickup till 17:00" .  I will stay until you arrive back here.

 

Crap.  It means a late start and a night flight at the end.  Worse, there is snow in the UK forecast for this evening.  What am I to do, wait around the hotel till it is time to set out, or get to Reims hours early and kick my heels there?

 

An unseasonably warm, 18C, sunny day outside.  I will have a walk in the sun and set out later.  Give last nights weather more time to move away..

Edited January 5 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

Time to leave sunny Bilbao behind.

13:00hrs, tanks filled to the brim and time to go. I have a final look at the city basking in the sun before departing to the east.
By the bridge in front of the wing is the Gugenheim Museum. I know that area of Bilbao very well, having had relatives living in the triangle shaped apartment building across the road from it. Visited a few times.

 

Turned to the east, ignoring the Garmin 530 direct plot that would take me 100 miles over the bay of biscay. I want to remain close to land. A few clouds appeared here and there, but no biggie. Then in the distance, once again I saw a line of solid cloud in the Biaritz area. Looking North east over Biscay showed high scattered cloud.
OK, Cut the corner once again. About 50 miles over open water. Hate it, but the best of a bad hand of cards. I turned north east and over open water.
Time to climb up towards the cloud base, I wanted to be on someones radar and in radio line of sight the entire time. The cloud base was at 7500ft and on I went, watching and fretting over the gauges the entire time.
Then cloud appeared in front… Pull the throttle back to 15" manifold, switch alt hold off and settle into a 500ft/ min descent. Throttle advanced to 20" and halt the descent at 6000ft.
5 mins later, cloud appeared in front… Here we go.
Down to 4000ft. Crossing the coast at the mouth of the river close to Bordeux, I am in the clag yet again.
Down to 3000 ft. No land below.
2500ft, no land below.
2000ft. No land below and I am at my personal " in the clag over flat ground" hard deck. Not going any lower. I will go over. Up we go, seeking the top of the cloud. 12,000ft and no sign of the tops, the Comanche has just about given all she has and I will not go higher without oxygen. I do not feel euphoric, so I am not hypoxic.
Then I glance out over the left wing.

Rime ice building on the wing leading edges and the side window has frozen over. I cannot stay up here, I need to find warm air fast.

 

Down we go again and the ice melts at 8000ft. I level off at 2500ft and sit in cloud and rain for another hour or so. Just great. I need to pay close attention to carb heat. Seems every 10 mins does the trick.

Approaching Orleans, we finally break out of the cloud and rain and have 10 plus miles visibility. Praise the lord.

 

Onwards and upwards. It is 17:10 local time and growing dark when we finally see the lights of Reims in the distance.  Still a long way to fly to get home.

 

Thankfully, the wind is only 30 degrees off runway heading, unlike last time I called here where I encountered a 25kt crosswind and had a far less “busy” landing this time around. Landing time 17:35.
As I pulled over on the apron, a van sped over before I even had chance to shut down the engine, the cabin door opened, a box of parts was planted on the passenger seat, a clipboard with dispatch note and pen proffered and then the man with his van drove off. Presumably, it being a Saturday night, for a delayed evening of drinking wine and eating fine french cooking.

 

Box delivered, dispatch note signed. The stores manager spins his wheels as he takes off for home. I look at the fuel gauges, I’m fat, no need to visit the pumps.

 

I take off and set course for home. I look up the latest forecast for the south of england. The METAR for Lydd aerodrome is showing 1C and cloud at 5000ft. Excellent, the expected snow has not turned up.  Feeling good.

Crossed the coast east of Dover, crossed Kent in good visibility and then in front, the Thames Estuary.An almost reciprical course to the journey down.

 

Thames Estuary. The lights of Southend in front and the lights of London, lighting up the sky far to the west.

 

Crossed through Suffolk, Norfolk and into South Lincolnshire.

Ah crap. Around me were the forecast snow showers with only 60 miles left to run. What a way to spend Saturday evening.
20 minutes out, I dialled in Leeds Bradford ATIS. Nothing, not a peep. 15 minutes out, I called up the METAR for Leeds Bradford. Timestamp, just five minutes ago, low cloud, snow and 300ft visibility.
This is not good. I press on, hoping the snow shower will have moved away.

 

Five minutes to go, I start to be able to break out the runway lights at Leeds Bradford out of the surfounding street lighting. The snow shower has moved away. Visibility at least five miles. I will take it.

 

 

I slow down to 80 knots, wheels down and locked, flaps fully out, trim set to my preferred landing configuration and enter a 500ft/ min descent to the runway keeping the PAPIs honest.

Once again, the wind was kind, not the usually horrendous 30 knot crosswinds that in conjuction with the hugely undulating runway, usually makes landing at Leeds " interesting".

Home. Time to give the box of parts to the hugely relieved stores manager at multiflight and join the missus downstairs for a well needed beer.
Time logged, 5hrs, 46 mins despite diverting a fair old way and landing at Reims I knocked a few minutes off the journey time.

That 30 knot headwind and the rain squalls I encountered on the way down really killed me for time.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5 by Tinkicker

[Simon Davey]

Excellent reading, as always. And those pictures, love the screenshots, they're all so different in detail, from the lighting in the cockpit to details such as the raindrops on the side window.

Thanks for taking the time to share.

[Tinkicker]

What you probably missed is the in the final pic.  Real time weather means exactly that.  I mentioned getting the latest METAR for leeds bradford?

 

METAR stands for Meteorological Aerodrome Report.

 

I got the actual real life metar up for leeds bradford airport, just issued 5 mins before, 10 mins before landing and it said snow at present.... 15 minutes later, the snow shower had moved away and I landed.

 

Look at the wings of the parked aircraft and the surface of the apron... A light dusting of snow.

 

 

Thats how the sim does real time weather, it gets the most up to date metars from the aerodromes you are due to be flying close to and puts the appropriate weather into the sim.

Edited January 6 by Tinkicker

[Simon Davey]

14 minutes ago, Tinkicker said:

Thats how the sim does real time weather, it gets the most up to date metars from the aerodromes you are due to be flying close to and puts the appropriate weather into the sim.

 

I see what you mean, that's seriously impressive!!

There was I thinking that my farm sim was good just for streaming realtime radio 

[RideWithStyles]

It’s immensely impressive, and accurate then? 

defo puts a shame to racing games,

where they can’t even get a track profile, undulations and what not correct all the while it on the fricking ground!
Let alone being able to rent the circuit, see on endless camaras, racers & testers opinions etc to get get it right.

its definitely seems good to my non flying eyes.

[Tinkicker]

Sometimes it has a glitch when something changes rapidly.  Its to do with the weather reporting system at airports.  Usually metars are changed every 30 mins or so, unless something changes rapidly that can affect flight safety.

 

So you could be flying towards an airport that have a metar reporting overcast and rain 30 mins ago then a new report is issued saying the clouds have cleared and it is sunny.  Sometimes you can be flying in cloudy weather and suddenly it changes to blue sky and sunshine.  I only had that happen a couple of times and usually when that happens, live weather drops offline.

 

Usually the sim knows how fast the winds are at various altitudes, how high the clouds are ect and computes it accordingly.

 

I have not logged onto DCS since November when this sim dropped.  Dunno why, but it is extremely appealing to know you are flying through real weather and over real buildings below.

The scenery below is about 12 months out of date though.  We still have a partially filled in fishpond in the back garden.  It was filled in and gravelled over last March.

[Tinkicker]

Wick Airport.  EGPC.

 

Here I am in the Fedex dispatchers office at Leeds Cargo Terminal.  

Initially due to fly to Wick at the top of Scotland, the metar says current weather looks good.  Bright and cold. No cloud. However the forecast for 10:00 to 15:00 is predicting freezing fog blowing in from the Moray Firth blanketing the entire area.

I cannot go there in a airplane not equipped for ice.

 

So I offloaded the parts and popped round to the cargo terminal in the van.  They are a Fedex problem now.  I go to the pilots briefing room to chat to the pilots of a 737/800 freighter that just came in from Oostend and is due to pick up cargo here and fly to Aberdeen.  Thence my parts will go by road to Wick.

 

The pilots are reporting the weather is clear over much of northern europe at present and winds fairly light.  And here I am, grounded because of predicted freezing fog at my destination.

 

At least while running errands for multiflight with two feet on the ground, I get paid.  I suppose it is a sweet deal, set up by the now good mate Mike, the Multiflight stores manager. It gives me a reason to stay around and puts food on the table.

As soon as the aircraft engine fires up, the pay stops and the free aircraft time starts as before.

 

I wander into the  chief pilots office to have a moan about the lost flight.  He reminds me if a well known axiom in pilot circles.  " it is better to be down here, wishing you were up there, than be up there, wishing you were down here".

Never mind, something might turn up.

 

I walk around to the maintenance hanger, arrange to have the Comanche brought in and break out the polish, rags and oil can.  Keep me busy for a few hours.  No better way to find minor defects in an aircraft than giving it a good wash, polish and lube job.

 

Looking good.  Wax doing waxy things.  All the hinges doing hingey things and the windows sparkly bright.

Edited January 10 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

Shiny shiny aircraft looking pleased with itself.  I am mooching around the stores, idly pushing a broom and talking to one of Mikes assistants when the PC pings..

 

Hmm.  Parts order.  Ignition harness for a lycoming O360.  8 plugs. Two standard cylinder kits. Four engine mountings. A set of valves and valve springs. A set of cam followers and camshaft. An alternator and starter motor. Several hoses. A vacuum pump and a  left bank exhaust manifold.

 

Of course we have it all in stock, the system is too good to not know that.  Other required parts that are not in stock will be ordered automatically from  elsewhere.

 

He glances at me.  Express delivery required.  Destination... Prague.  

 

While he speaks to Mike about the order and delivery, I sidle over to a PC terminal and idly look at the weather for Vaclav..

It all depends on the value of the parts and the cost of express shipping and insurance..... I am in the lap of the money saving gods.  

 

Ping.  Another order.  Cancel two standard cylinders and valves.  Bugger. Thats that then.

 

Mike grins. Substitute four complete chrome cylinders, pistons, rings and full fitting kit.  Guess no one in Europe had the other two required cylinders.  Either a stock level error or they were found to be not the right ones.

 

At £2.5k per cylinder kit... It is looking good.

Edited January 10 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

Its time to go.  Destination Prague.  

 

The customer has requested that I swing by Hannover to pick the rest of his parts up on the way.  No probs. Only about 50 miles out of my way.

The weather forecast looks good with favourable winds. 

Quick chat with the chief pilot who looked at the satelite met photo and noted what looked to be scattered snow clouds over Germany.

His opinion was that as a commercial pilot, I was expected to push what is possible more than the private general aviation pilot, but never in snow.

If the snow became more than a series of isolated showers, I was to turn around and find a diversion airfield to land at immediately.  Urgent parts or not.

 

Time to go with wheels up at 10:35.

 

Lovely weather as we cruise serenely down through lincolnshire and heading for Norfolk.  Just the usual clouds around the wash area.

 

And we are crossing the MATZ of RAF Waddington, on the southern outskirts of Lincoln.  Decent weather, just high level cloud.  Cold mind you.

 

We carry on down through Norfolk, and into Suffolk.  Ground fog and mist is building slowly, probably sea frets from the wash and the north sea.

And we transit Mildenhall's airspace.  Getting very misty down there.

 

 

I call up the current Metar for Mildenhall.  Yup.  Mist.

 

 

Continue towards the south coast, again crossing the Thames estuary at Southend, before crossing over Canterbury and Dover, heading out over the Channel.

 

Coasting out at Dover.  Wish the blurry pics were the same as I see.  I think it is the screen resolution when the screenshot is taken.. 1080p in my case.  So relatively low resolution and everything looking flat.  My headset has over twice that resolution per eye.  And of course, full depth perception.

 

 

Headed across the water towards the french coast, the snow clouds started to appear.  Just my luck, everyone else gets clear skies.  As soon as I appear...

Can I work my way around them?  I will give it a go, but from previous experience, snow buildup on the airframe will force the Comanche down in less than 15 minutes.  I better be very cautious.

 

Wind less than 4 kts.  Channel is like a mill pond.

 

So we cross the channel, arriving over the Wissant Peninsular and turn east for Hanover, hugging the french coast for much of the way.  The clouds continue to build, but no snow.  It is downright depressing, grey murk.  At least I can see the ground though.

 

A depressing view of the Dunkirk beaches.

 

 

Onwards into Belgium, flying over Bruges (took a screenshot of its distinctive cathedral, but it vanished into thin air), then just south of Antwerp and crossed into the Netherlands, flying south of Rotterdam and Amsterdam before crossing into Germany.

 

More snow showers across Germany, but managed to avoid them, although the fields and hedges looked to be full of patches of blown snow.  Not good.

I was in and out of cloud all the way to Hanover.

Once at Hanover, the rain started and it was starting to get very dark.  Should I continue or stay the night in Hanover?

 

Hanover at 11 oclock low.  Rain clouds on my approach path.  Hope it is not freezing rain.

 

 

Safely on the ground.  Parts have been loaded.  What to do?  Should I stay or should I go?  Temps are dropping, it is getting dark and those rain showers could turn to snow.

 

 

Well I suppose I am the aviation equivalent of white van man.  People expect me to be stupid.  So with no encouragement required, I elect to continue.

 

It was a bit hairy at times.  Often flying in low cloud and once in the Czech Republic, rising ground forced me up to 3000ft, where I heard the autopilot peep.  It was asking for up trim, but why?

A glance at the airspeed indicator showed what was once 160mph is now 150mph.  I have not moved the throttle...

It beeped again.  150mph is now 145mph, so I increase the throttle.

I have brought a torch this time and shine it over the left wing.. ICE.  Ye gads, I gotta get out of this pretty fast.  I turn around and find lower ground.  At 2500ft, the ice starts to melt, so I know that is the icing altitude in this mist.

 

I call up a topographical map of the area and find the high ground I flew over and note that to the north east at about 50 miles, is a gap in the mountains, so I head there and manage to get through.  Prague should be 70 miles to the south.

 

Made it. Parts have been delivered and it is time for a beer.

 

On The GA Parking Ramp at Prague International Airport.  Time logged: 5hrs, 28 mins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 10 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

Just been down to the aircraft.  Had to borrow a broom to sweep a half inch of snow off the wings and tail.  Probably have to do it again when and if I return.

So here I am sat at a computer terminal in the pilots briefing room at Vaclav International Airport, Prague.

 

It is not looking good.  Light snow showers prevalent across northern Europe. Freezing fog patches prevalent across Europe and the UK.  Strong headwinds to contend with until I turn north at Calais.  Temp throughout below freezing at normal VFR flight altitudes.

 

I may be stuck here...

 

What do you think?

[Simon Davey]

I think you have good patience.

It's great for those of us that read these posts, because the weather plays such a big part of the flying, so it adds interest.

I'm too lazy to battle with the weather, and would just want to fly, so I'd be switching that real-time weather off and flying home.

 

This is great stuff though. I'll watch the rest of that incredible Red Tail story after dinner tonight, so far it's been quite emotional, and I've lost count of the out loud cries of "wow".

[Tinkicker]

Has to be said, I have a certain reputation for tenacity.  I will refuse to throw in the towel.  Comes from being in my occupation for over 40 years.  It is not a case of it cannot be done, or I can't do it;  it is a case of it HAS to be done.

 

Spoiler alert, I set off and decided to go over the tops whilst I was in a patch of clear air.  Cloud tops around 7000ft.  I am at 10,500ft.

The ground below seen through glory holes in the cloud has patches of snow pretty much everywhere, proving the forecast snow showers are very frequent.

 

It is pretty tedious, flying above the clouds, far better down low.  However if I were flying a real aircraft, up here is where I would be and up here I am.   Just as in real life, flying at this safe height, I have the aircraft on autopilot and am messing with my kindle. Nothing to run into right up here, just keep an eye on what is going on around me.

 

I have no cargo and am flying direct over Lille before heading for Dover.  No diversions this time, but I have an aircraft to return to Leeds.

 

Edit.

 

Occurs as I sit here messing with my kindle, VR headset perched on top of my head, earphones in, listening for engine stutters, that you never saw the rest of the cockpit as I see it when I look around.  You only see the windows and panel.  For all you know it could be just a instrument panel floating in space.

No words can describe the realism, I have tried, has have others.  You have to experience it for yourself.  I had my first headset on pre order for over six months before it came out, I read everything I could about VR.

When I first at in that Hog cockpit way back in 2015, I was completely unprepared for it.  Completely blown away.

 

In VR, this is what I am actually sat in:

 

Edited January 11 by Tinkicker

[Simon Davey]

Wow! That's really something, and I can appreciate that 2D can nowhere near demonstrate the realism of the VR.

It's actually a smaller cockpit than I thought it would be, maybe because the vast amount of instruments give the impression of something the width of an articulated lorry cab.

[Tinkicker]

I make the decision to return.  I spy a large break in the clouds to the west and if I can use it to climb above the clouds, marvelous.

So we take off, head that way and immediately start climbing.  It appears that the cloud tops are at around 7500ft, so I climb to 10,500ft.

 

We are now well above the snow and the outside temp gauge reads -18C.  Little chance of icing in these temperatures as the air is too dry.  402 miles to run on this leg and a little over 3hrs.

 

We continue on and it appears the decision to go over the top, even if very tedious was the correct one.  Patches of snow on the ground down below indicate very active snow showers.

 

Forty miles or so later, it appears that the cloud tops are approaching my level.  If they get up here, I have to go down.  Super cooled moisture droplets hitting an aircraft skin at -18C will freeze instantly.  I have to hope that they do not reach up for me.

 

It is now 17:00 local time (16:00 GMT), 200 miles further and the clouds are starting to dissipate.  I managed to avoid the tops of the highest building clouds.  I look at the ground below and the urge to descend is palpable.  It is so BORING flying up here with nothing to see.  I resist the urge, I am far safer where I am.

 

Below, there be dragons.

 

 

Onwards we plunge, another 100 miles and it seems the clouds are once again trying to reach up to me.  I cannot fly through moisture in these temps, so I climb to 12,000ft.  The highest I have ever been with no oxygen available.  I confess to feeling a little breathless.  The clouds seem to be very thin, once you get closer to them, you can almost see through them.  Very odd.  Below there is a solid layer of overcast, I could not go down if I wanted to.

 

We continue another 30 miles or so watching these ethereal clouds melt away, then it hit me.  The lack of oxygen must be dulling my brain.. I switch on the port landing light.  Oh crap, I am flying through them, I just cannot see them.  I need to get out of here right now.

 

I see a small break in the overcast below, prop to full fine, throttle back and hold a spiraling descent through the break.  I nearly oversped her a couple of times, but managed to get below and find myself at the gates of hell.

Freezing fog and snow showers in every direction.  It is clear that I cannot stay down here either.

 

First things first, get the torch and check the wings for ice, something I now need to do every five minutes.  Talk of messing with kindles is long forgotten.

 

Thankfully, I escaped any serious icing.

 

So, I do a spiraling climb back up the break in the cloud to where I just left. keeping airspeed at 105mph for the max angle of climb.  She was hanging from her prop.  At 12,000ft it was obvious I was still in the moisture layer like before, so grasp the bull by the horns and take her as high as she will go.  I have no cargo and burned off half the fuel, so she is fairly light.  I really do not want this, lacking Oxygen, but what a choice to make... Breathless or dead in a fiery crash.

Up I went and took her to 15,500 ft. 

To my surprise the breathlessness left me.  I felt very well, in fact somewhat invigorated.  Good old Comanche, she is like a warm, snug cocoon, she will never let me down and never hurt me.  What a wonderful machine.  I see the moonlight on the wings and feel the need to sing loudly...

Wheeeennn the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore.

When the world seems to shine like you had too much wine that's amore...  Bells go ding dingaling ling a ling...

 

I look to the instruments, oh what fun, some of the writing on the altimeter has turned upside down as the gauge turned.  What fun.  I find that very funny and turn my eyes to the airspeed indicator. 

Wind meter more like. it should be at 160 and its at 140.  What a swizz.  perhaps it may need feeding with a 10p coin to get it going again.  I need 160.

Look to the old manifold pressure.  Yup, thats right, it has given me manifold pressures over the years.  Jeeze I crack myself up.

 

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, thats amore..

 

Crossing out over the channel.  Going "feet wet" I pull my feet up, do not want wet socks. I laugh like a loon at the joke.  I should be on telly.  Never mind, old Comanche is like a doting parent, she will keep me warm and safe.  Can she swim?  If not, I will tow her to the beach.  Loyal, loving, beautiful machine she is. 

The engine gives a cough, and a backfire. what is she up to now? I grumble.  does she not like my jokes?  I look to the instruments and they look back at me inscrutably.  Tell me what is wrong you miserable sods.  They keep their opinion to themselves.  all I can see is a lot of round dials with various numbers and pointers.

I see a chrome knob, ah carb heat.  Perhaps she is cold up here?  She needs to eat more carbs.  what a great joke, again i cannot stop laughing.  I should be on TV earning millions, not sat here. I pull the knob and the engine splutters a little more then clears up.

 

The south coast as viewed from the french coast at 15,500ft.

 

 

What is wrong with the instruments?   it hits me like a sledgehammer.  I am Hypoxic.  I need to descend.  I do not want to, it is nice and snug and cosy here.  I have to keep repeating to myself, I AM HYPOXIC.  I AM ABOUT TO KILL MYSELF IF I DO NOT GO LOWER.

 

After that realisation, I knocked off altitude hold, pulled back the throttle to 15" manifold pressure and let her go lower by herself, my hands well away from the controls.  Once at 10,000ft I was able to take stock.

 

Hypoxia is a killer.  Makes you feel nice and warm and safe right until you fly into a mountain.

 

Back at Leeds Bradford.  Time logged, 5hrs, 16 mins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tinkicker]

I hope you are enjoying these little flights.  In actual fact, in real life, I was refused life insurance because I was training to be a pilot in a light aircraft.

 

Flying light aircraft is regarded as dangerous. To conduct these flights in winter is extremely dangerous.  Hell I would not insure me.

To  conduct these flights in winter, across large distances and open water is almost completely suicidal.

However, I ride motorcycles as do you, so you will probably recognise the mindset.  Lets push it a bit further and see where it takes us.

 

I do not try to show you how to fly a light aircraft, that is no diferent to starting up and driving a honda civic.  What I am trying to teach is airmanship.

The thing that makes or breaks a pilot. Always be five steps ahead of what us about to happen.

Edited January 12 by Tinkicker

[Simon Davey]

I imagine the boredom of flying above the clouds is similar to spending hours riding solo on a bike on the motorway (riding with friends is different). 

 

Whilst hypoxia is so dangerous, your account is pretty amusing and entertaining, but I found myself telling you to lose altitude. 

 

So, why spiral in descent and climb, is it to reduce any sudden effects of the change in temperature?

 

How high can the small prop engines operate before there's not enough air?

 

[Tinkicker]

I was spiralling to stay inside the break in the solid cloud layer.

1. To maintain a visual reference to ground and stars.

2. To stay out of moisture laden cloud.

 

As far as piston prop planes go, max ceiling is a function of engine power to weight and drag.  Engine power is a function of how much air it can get to flow into its cylinders.

In reality, it is not the weight that is a factor, it is drag.  All weight does is increase drag by necessarily increasing the angle of attack required of the wing to produce more lift to counter it.  The weight induces the drag.

 

The higher you go, the less efficient the engine becomes, until it is not producing enough power to climb any higher. Earlier flights had me topping out at 11,000 ft or so, because I had a lot of fuel and cargo onboard.  Yesterday, I burned off half my fuel and was not carrying cargo, so I could climb faster and higher.  Even so, the throttle was wide open and manifold pressure had dropped to a reading less than I normally used to descend in the cruise and still maintain 160mph.

 

I do not physically push and pull on the control yoke to climb and descend, I merely add or subtract power.  If the aircraft has been trimmed to fly straight and level at a certain speed, adding more power will make it try to go slightly faster and climb, subtracting it will make it want to slow down slightly and descend.  You have probably heard me mention pulling back the power to so many inches of manifold pressure?

 

Trimmed straight and level at 160mph say, is a perfect balance between thrust, lift, weight and drag.  Add or subtract energy in the equation and something has to change. The trimmed speed is fixed, so any excess energy input is used in climbing at 160 mph, not increasing speed.

Same as descent.  Trimmed speed is fixed. The aircraft wants to maintain 160 mph.  Pull back the throttle and you subtract energy from the equation. To maintain the trimmed airspeed, the aircraft has to find the energy you subtracted.  Only place it can find it is by using the potential energy of its weight.  The nose drops, the angle of attack and hence drag/ lift reduces and it maintains 160 mph with less engine power required.  Only thing changed is the decreasing potential energy stored as weight and altitude.  Of course, weight in the short term is also fixed. So all that is left to draw energy from is altitude.  The aircraft descends.

 

To fly at 80mph, you need 1/4 of the horsepower that you need to fly 160mph.

 

Turbo piston planes can fly higher than naturally aspirated ones, because they can force more into their cylinders at altitude.

Edited January 12 by Tinkicker

[Simon Davey]

That's great,thanks. 

For what it's worth, I did understand your reply. Helped by knowing how a wing actually works regarding positive and negative pressure. I used to fly, (and still have) model glow helicopters, it's fascinating how the blades/wings work. 

 

[Tinkicker]

Thought to set the sim to summer and have a carefree fly around Yorkshire, no navigation, just local knowledge and point the nose to go as an antidote to the stress ridden flights this weekend.

 

Unfortunately, I think the world and his dog are on the sim today, the streaming quality is absolutely shocking.  It looks shocking even in the headset.

 

I only got one touristy type pic and yes it is shocking.  No or few 3D buildings and those that are there, pop up right in front of the nose.  The servers are being overwhelmed.

 

I may try a bit later.

 

The village that this impoverished aviator calls home.

 

Edited January 12 by Tinkicker

[Tinkicker]

It suddenly got better and I grabbed a couple of screenshots on my way home.

 

Original streaming quality

 

 

 

Bit of an improvement - York Racecourse.

 

Coming in to land at a for once warm, sunny and calm Leeds Bradford.  To get your screenshot I had to land it flatscreen mode.  It was not my best landing.  I logged four landings in one and have an appointment with a Chiropractor in the morning.

 

The stuff I have to do to get you screenshots..

 

 

Parked in the posh seats for once.

Edited January 12 by Tinkicker

[Simon Davey]

That really is very good detail.

 

And I thought my tractor was bouncy (no suspension)

[Tinkicker]

Downloaded a new scenery file with better landmarks.  Had a quick fly around..

 

Where am I number 1: The skinny mast is the default MS2024 one and does not exist in real life.

 

 

Where am I number 2:  Sim was slow to stream here, and has only partly streamed the new scenery.  The  brown wooden roller coaster closest, is how the entire park looked in default guise.  I kept the pic as a good before and after shot in one.

 

 

 

Edited January 17 by Tinkicker