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Post by Adrian Wainer on Aug 23, 2008 7:38:21 GMT -5
Hi, it is your first day on the job with Panagra, and boy is it going to be tough. You are a qualified Captain with 500 hours on the Ford Tri-motor, so flying the ship should be no problem, the weather conditions are forecast as good, though over the Andes anything can happen. Unfortunately, the Captain who was to fly the ship fell off his horse whilst trying to showoff his horse riding skills at a local hacienda and can't fly, your co-pilot is new to the route like yourself. Panagra has told you this flight must go, as there is a millionaire on it, who will put money in to a rival airline called Faucett, if he gets delayed and misses an important contract he wants to sign when he gets to Chile.
You can find background information about this flight in your flight briefing [ see Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 "select a flight" ] , you will note that leaving the city of Mendoza in Argentina and passing La Puntilla airfield at 16NM you then have to follow the railway till the Uspallata pass at 92NM .
The dispatcher has told you he can't sign you off to take the flight unless you get to know the railway, he has told you there is a bookshop in town that has some literature on the railway, it is called Google, so off you go and find out about the railway and let the dispatcher know you have done your research about the railway [ by posting links to references about the railway in this thread ], or else he will not let you fly!
Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer
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Post by Tom/CalClassic on Aug 23, 2008 9:46:45 GMT -5
Nice!
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Post by chris_c on Aug 23, 2008 10:31:03 GMT -5
Shot in dark... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transandine_RailwayI have done Buenos Aires - Santiago in a Lancastrian and that was an 'interesting' trip using real weather. Must see if this railway exists in FSGW3. Chris Edit: GW3 does seem to have a railway heading west out of Mendoza! Had to do a box search to find it and then followed it out into the mountains being carefull to keep it on my left and check to ensure that my heading made sense. And then I flew straight into rising terrain, validating FSAviator's Vintage Tutorial about maintaining situational awareness regarding height!  |
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Post by johnl on Aug 24, 2008 10:20:25 GMT -5
Try "The Railway Conquest of the World" Chapter XXII - From Buenos Aires to Valperaiso Overland. www.abcd-classics.com/talbotfaa/railwayconquest/railway_conquest-270.html. In the higher stretches of this route, the "keeping the linear feature to port" rule of navigation become a bit difficult, as if you fly along the middle of the valley, with the railway on your left, the road (possibly being followed by someone coming in the other direction) may be halfway up a cliff on your right.... Also, please don't follow the railway too closely as the tunnels are NOT wide enough for Trimotors! |
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Post by Adrian Wainer on Aug 24, 2008 11:33:23 GMT -5
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Post by johnl on Aug 24, 2008 16:35:17 GMT -5
When BOAC's Argonauts replaced BSAA's Lancastrians on this route, Boa Constrictor management took the Andean passes very seriously. Pilots were instructed to climb to maximum height (about 24000') and send an "attack" signal before atttempting the crossing. They were also not allowed to fly in cloud during the crossing - at least one Argonaut turned back and overnighted at Mendoza.
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Post by Adrian Wainer on Aug 24, 2008 19:01:13 GMT -5
Hi John, presumably the argonaut flight originated at Heathrow and terminated at Santiago Chile, with Mendoza being an un-scheduled stop in the event of un-favourable conditions for the mountain crossing, if I have got that right.....what were the intermediate stops?
Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer
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Post by johnl on Aug 25, 2008 4:39:37 GMT -5
(Source - "From Flying Boats to Flying Jets" by Eric (Timber) Woods- ISBN 1 85310 837 5)
July 1952
Heathrow
Madrid
Lisbon
(sometimes an additional fuel stop was made at Casablanca)
Dakar
(hand over aircraft to waiting crew and enjoy a 2 day stopover, buy quality liqueurs at bargain prices).
Recife (crossing the thunderstorms of the Inter-Tropical Front which intersect the direct route at a rather shallow angle (dogleg to spend the minimum time in the turbulence); the only radio navaids for this leg were the NDB at Dakar, and a lower-powered NDB at Recife; night flight with hourly sextant observations; first light about 2/3 of the way across for a possible sighting of St Paul's Rocks)
Rio de Janeiro (after a quick refuel and takeoff before the surface temperatures got uncomfortable; if Rio was fogged in divert to Sao Paulo; handover the aircraft, and enjoy another 2-day stopover, remembering to get a hotel waiter to exchange the liqueurs from Dakar for expensive perfumes for home)
Montevideo (quick stop)
Buenos Aires (refuel)
Santiago (Captains had a choice of 3 passes across the Andes, imaginatively named "Northern" "Central" "Southern". The Central was the Uspallata Pass, but I haven't positively identified the other two. The crossing was always made in daylight. If you had to stop short at Mendoza, one of the met men there in '52 had served at RAF Hemswell during WW2)
One additional navaid on the way back - the coastal lights at Bathurst could be seen long before Dakar was reached.
JohnL
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Post by johnl on Aug 25, 2008 5:06:43 GMT -5
Think I've got a BOAC 1953 timetable somewhere at home (I remember writing some AI from it - "Strats, Argos, Comets, Connies, and Yorks- oh my")
Will try to find it and post the times.
JohnL
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Post by Adrian Wainer on Aug 25, 2008 5:36:36 GMT -5
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