|
Post by dhulick on Aug 11, 2013 16:07:48 GMT -5
On Dec 1, 1941, the Pan Am flight 831,the "Pacific Clipper" departed San Francisco bound for Auckland, via San Pedro, Honolulu, Canton Island, and Noumea. All conditions were normal until just a few hours out of Auckland, when the crew received a coded message informing them of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and directing them to continue to their destination to "Await further orders". On December 15th, the clipper departed Auckland, bound for LaGuardia Airport. In the next 3 weeks, they flew 31,500 miles in 209 hours and made 18 stops, on 5 continents, under the flags of 12 different nations. They also made the longest non stop flight in Pan Am history, 3583 miles from Leopoldville to Natal.
Join me, or follow along, as I recreate this record breaking flight.
|
|
Bob BGAN005
Member
4 motors are better then 2
Posts: 52
|
Post by Bob BGAN005 on Aug 12, 2013 10:30:42 GMT -5
I am about to land at San Padro. Lots of low clouds with real weather. There is a 1941 Pan Am timetable on the time table website. It has Flt 831 data. www.timetableimages.com/I love to fly these real flights. May take me a month or more to get it finished. I have other flights going also. Bob
|
|
|
Post by dhulick on Aug 12, 2013 19:28:36 GMT -5
I'm sitting in Canton lagoon as I write...I flew the first three legs to make sure everything was working.
|
|
|
Post by dhulick on Aug 12, 2013 19:36:08 GMT -5
Leg One, San Francisco to San Pedro. Treasure Island to Monterey NDB to Hunter Ligget NDB to San Pedro. Departed at 1200, arrived in San Pedro at 1450. The Mike Stone B314 seems a bit over-powered. Jane's from 1945 gives a cruise speed of 165 at 11,000. I got a lot closer to 200. Oh well, just have to watch the power.
|
|
|
Post by dhulick on Aug 12, 2013 19:44:26 GMT -5
Leg Two, San Pedro to Honolulu. Departed San Pedro at 1600L, direct to Koko Head then on to Honolulu. Weather was great (I'm using real weather), no clouds to speak of, cruised at 7500, 140 KIAS. Did a series of star shots, generally two stars each shot. I tried to find one that was close to my line of flight, and one that was 90* off. That gives a better fix than just one star. Did pretty good, the furthest off I ever was, was 10 miles North, but 60 miles further West. Must have picked up a tail wind. Koko Head NDB popped up 30 minutes sooner than assumed, 2* off the Port bow. Not bad after almost 16 hours over open ocean. Set down at Honolulu Marine Terminal at 0715L, 45 minutes ahead of schedule.
|
|
|
Post by dhulick on Aug 12, 2013 19:52:25 GMT -5
Leg Three, Honolulu to Canton Island. Departed Honolulu at 0650 L, 50 minutes late. I wanted to wait for daylight... Pretty straight flight, cruised at 165 KIAS, 8500 ft. Scattered Cumulus from 5000 to 15000, typical for this time of year. Crossed the Equator 00* 00' Lat, 170*12' Long, at 1430L/0130Z. Picked up Canton NDB at about 112 miles, just a touch to port. On the water at 1645L.
|
|
|
Post by davidrevans on Aug 13, 2013 8:34:51 GMT -5
enjoyed your screen shots , using the sextant is really adding to the adventure and the time period . going to be a great flight
|
|
Bob BGAN005
Member
4 motors are better then 2
Posts: 52
|
Post by Bob BGAN005 on Aug 13, 2013 8:46:48 GMT -5
I flew the Treasure Island to San Pedro without any major problems. I took off from San Pedro at 16:00 hrs. local and went to 8000 ft for cruise. I cruised at 135 KIAS to Honolulu but arrived at at 04:30 local. This was 4 hours ahead of the schedule. This means a landing was made in the dark which is not right for the era or the aircraft. I will re-fly at a slower speed to see if the timing is better ( at 16x time).
I also am using the Mike Stone version with the kmm panel. I found it has the wrong fuel load. It has 5400 gals. of fuel. The original 314 had 4252 gals of fuel. I made that adjustment.
I have not learned to use the sextant but I have and old gage called a fakeadf gage which was set up for these flights. It points to the destination like a standard adf.
Bob
|
|
Bob BGAN005
Member
4 motors are better then 2
Posts: 52
|
Post by Bob BGAN005 on Aug 14, 2013 14:19:27 GMT -5
I remembered and confirmed that an old BGA Feature of the Month was a similar series of flights but to the Philippians. I think Bill Von Sennet found that the flights from the US to Hawaii were too fast in the Boeing 314 at normal settings. It has to be slowed down or the takeoff time changed. I am flying this again at about 124 KIAS to see if I can arrive in the daylight. It does not help that this was flown in Dec. My first flight I landed in the dark but it was no fun!
Bob
|
|
|
Post by dhulick on Aug 14, 2013 22:44:48 GMT -5
Todays flight was a great example of the "Trials and Tribulations" involved with trying to recreate a flight like this. The timetable for Jul, 1941 does not mention Fiji at all. Everything I have read does. Allan Lowson's Feature of the Month for Sept 2007 uses a waypoint at Rotumwa, F.I. So, what to do? I went with the narrative, and flew to Fiji. Airborne at 1740Z (0640L),dropped the Canton NDB at 1835Z, approx. 158 miles. Ran into a bit of weather, rain and thunderbumpers at 1900Z, left them behind at 2100Z. Clear flying from there into Fiji. Picked up Labasa radio at 2134Z, crossed the International Date line at 2217Z, Lat S15* 55', Long W180* Approach to Suva Harbor was interesting...met clouds 30 miles out, ceiling of 1500 ft from there into Suva. Touch down at 2310Z/1010L. Bob, I flew the San Pedro - Honolulu leg at around 140KIAS, 7500 ft. The airplane is WAY fast compared to the prototype. I don't know enough about flight tuning...Anybody want to take a shot at this? There was a good tutorial/feature done in July 2003 by Kevin Johnson dealing with Open Ocean Celestial Nav.
|
|
Bob BGAN005
Member
4 motors are better then 2
Posts: 52
|
Post by Bob BGAN005 on Aug 15, 2013 9:50:06 GMT -5
I wonder if the Fiji stop was for smaller flying boats. I have the Pilots software 314 aircraft and scenery. It does not have a Pan Am facility at Fiji but has all the others in the July 1941 timetable. It looks like almost the 1/2 point from Canton I. to New Caledonia. I like the Pilots scenery but not too fond of the aircraft and its panel. I like the KMM panel better. The very short checklist from the Pilots 314 says to avoid setting the RPM between 1750 and 2050. I flew the San Pedro to Honolulu again at about >= 123 KIAS. I used 1700 rpm and adjusted the MP for the speed. It took me almost exactly 16 hours for the flight. If the T/O time was moved about 5:00 or 5:30, you will arrive about dawn in Honolulu. Yes I flew this one at X16 time. I am now on my way to Canton I. at normal settings(135 KIAS).
Bob
PS: I am flying in my Golden Wings setup.
|
|
Bob BGAN005
Member
4 motors are better then 2
Posts: 52
|
Post by Bob BGAN005 on Aug 15, 2013 10:11:38 GMT -5
Also I have been researching the aircraft used for these flights. I now believe that it was 602 aircraft which was a 314. The first 314A flew in early in 1941 but also the 3 British A/C were delivered in 1941. I think they may have taken priority over the USA aircraft. I do not believe the 314A would have been in scheduled service in Dec. 1941. I have seen where some have written that it was the 314A but I think the name changes to California and Pacific confuse things. This means the reduced fuel load of 4252 gals. The west bound phases of these flights will be flown without passengers and cargo so this will help the range problems.
Bob
|
|
|
Post by Allan_Lowson on Aug 15, 2013 13:37:21 GMT -5
Firstly I should point out that the credit for that feature should go to Bill von Sennet. Sorry Bill.
That's a mammoth trail awinding! I thought pottering across Canada by Tiger Moth was long enough.
Mike Stone was always infamous for not giving a hoot how (in)accurate his flight models were. I once pointed out politely that his Supermarine Walrus was some 20-30% faster than the real thing. Didn't even get a reply.
If you search for 314 on flightsim in the fs2004 section you will find an updated set of flight dynamics and other updates by Bob Chilico. No idea if they are any better but may be worth a try.
The timetable site seems to have a few new Panam schedules for the early years. May be time for a ramble round the Caribbean in a future feature.
|
|
Bob BGAN005
Member
4 motors are better then 2
Posts: 52
|
Post by Bob BGAN005 on Aug 15, 2013 15:40:36 GMT -5
I thought Bill did that feature. I flew it at the time and it was fun. What's wrong with plodding across Canada? ;D I flew across Canada in a Cessna T-50 Bobcat that was equipped with radio range and navigated with the RR. We duplicated the cross country that is done there every year ( I think). I think that one of the reasons Mike Stone is no longer making A/C is because too many wanted a perfect A/C and if it wasn't , they complained instead of doing something about it. I think he went for quantity instead of quality. His aircraft were good but maybe not perfect. A lot of his A/C have been updated which make them better. I looked at the Bob Chilico FDE and it looks like he made changes in the landing/ takeoff area but not much more. The fuel load is not enough, his engine setup is too much. It looks like the original FDE worked over a little. I use the panel and FDE downloaded from Cal Classic with Mike Stone's A/C. FSAviator has done the FDE and there are a lot of changes. The FDE is for the 314A but due to this research I found he put some info on how to change to the 314 in it. I have used FSAviator's FDE's before and they seem pretty good. I think a trip to the Carribean is in order! We will need the R&R after these flights! OR we could go to the Cayman Islands. I met a very beautiful woman from there once. Maybe I could find her again! Bob
|
|
Ed Burke
Member
Healthy living is fine, but it's having fun that keeps us going!
Posts: 433
|
Post by Ed Burke on Aug 15, 2013 17:40:01 GMT -5
I'll be joining in this 1941 jaunt soon. But I'm not going anywhere until I finish installing a decent panel into the 314. I've flown r/w sailplanes with better info than the Stone version has.
|
|