Flight 16 Pensacola KPNS to Iles-de-la-Madeleine CYGR
I walked out to the Maddie jet at about 1.30 AM this morning and it was as dark as the inside of a witches hat . After my walk around the aircraft everything appeared to be in order so with no more ado contacted the tower for a departure from gate 1 and then taxied out to the runway in use
The take-off was normal and we were cleared to climb to initially 9000 feet and then 19500 feet by ATC .
As the sky was clear and the forecast reasonable I decided to fly VFR with High altitude GPS waypoints and switched over from IFR shortly after take-off and when we were on course . I then requested an altitude increase to 29500 feet where the weather was clear and calm .During the flight there were 22 waypoint changes of course many of these occurred around New York State, which appeared from the radio calls , to be a very busy area for lighter aircraft such as Cessna’s .I was pleased to be at an high altitude instead of dodging around these aircraft in the dark . Near the St Lawrence sea-way I descended to 9500 feet and begun to run into turbulence and lightning storms and as I had been flying at about 300 knots I reduced this speed to the regulation 250 knots below 10000 feet , this lessened the turbulence a little but the aircraft was still yawing even with the yaw detector switched on .Dawn was breaking here at this time and it was possible to see some of the countryside through the thickening cloudbanks .
As the weather appeared to be worsening I decider to go to IFR conditions and fly an ILS landing when the ATC gave me approach instructions . Previously when I had checked on the available runways and navigational aids I had seen Runway 8 was the longest at 4380 meters with the ILS frequency of 109.90 so I tuned the radio expecting to be using that runway for landing .ATC continued to give me course corrections to get me to the runway but when they gave me runway information no ILS info was included but as it happened visibility was good enough to see the runway PAPI lights from some miles away .
As I was doing a long approach it became apparent that because I was having difficulty staying on the approach that a very strong cross wind was blowing from the South . In hindsight I should have done a missed approach and selected runway 16 possibly which would have given me more of an head wind to land in . As it was I landed on the runway but as the speed dropped the wind caused the aircraft to veer to the right and onto the grass . As I taxied to the terminal building I noticed that the airfield windsock was stretched out horizontally .
There had been no problems with the Maddie jet and at the shutdown the flight recorder indicated that there had been 2.9 hours night flying and 1.5 hours of daylight. Boldpilot.
Well there you go old mate .What's the score 2 to1 with having to be like a mad scientist to get Ttools to work . I made sure today that the scenery files were correctly installed and did the flight again .The flight was no different except that the lightning was a little more sever as was the turbulence towards the end of the flight . BP
Ps .I'm not saying that Mel's a mad scientist ,am I.!
All I can say is I missed everything that happened as the flights progressed over at Farmy's site.
I think I will just say that in my case it was a spectacular roll out and take off from CYVR to the point of impact... I'll leave it at that for now...
After having a good breakfast in my Hotel, I grabbed my kit and jumped into a taxi for the Airport.... Submitted my flight plans, only to be told my Maddie was not where I parked it, instead I was informed I had to proceed to Gate 1. I thought this was a little strange..... Mmmmm, not had this problem before, why should they have to move it.
I managed to grab a lift from a guy driving a baggage truck who was heading that way, we seem to be heading to the other side of the of the Airport......... What I saw next, was simply amazing........ there were three Maddie Honda's parked side-by-side, I had heard rumors they were trying out a new aircraft, but had no idea it was complete.... The paintjob was something else........ it had the trademark of the old guy that painted the Maddie Beech, this one was somthing else, for an old geezer, he sure knows his job....
There was a rep waiting for me, to run through basics, and a pretty good looking female she was too.... I joked with her, "It's a shame your not coming with me", I said in my usual chat-up line tone..... "I am", she replied......... well, you could have knocked me down with a feather, someone to chat to on the journey, and pretty sexy with it....
The other two Honda's must be for Bruce and Art, ... wonder if they already know.....
I spent about an hour with the little minx, getting to know the aircraft, looks pretty simple to me, everything where you would expect it, Wheels on the outside, Light Switches on the inside......... Yep, that'll do me...
We were given our taxi clearance and proceeded to runway 35 as requested,........ God this baby smells so new, and my co-pilot smelled pretty nice too...........
Suddenly I noticed we had a passenger, an oriental lady, complete in kimono, said hello to her, as best I could, but she obviously didnt speak a word of english......... Ah well........
We took off from Pensacola while it was still pretty dark, climbed to 20,000ft, and headed to Iles-de-la-Madeleine , nice touch... as the name suddenly twigged in my head.
The Honda was handling extreemly well, such an easy bird to fly, I was chatting away with Keiko, Oh, by the way, thats her name... (making progress)... when the dawn started to break on the horizon, so far the weather has been kind to us, few turbulence here and there, but nothing really drastic.... knowing my luck, that could change any time.
We are around 300nm from CYGR, and everythings going smoothly.......
Arrived at Iles-de-la-Madeleine at around 16:50, pretty remote island, and not much about, Unloaded the luggage, and Keiko escorted our passenger into the terminal, they do have some accomodation here, not much, but it's better than I have had in the past.
Weather was pretty good on the way in, although I did experience some pretty heavy turbulance, decended down to 3,000ft on the run in that made it a bit calmer, touchdown was a bit hairy, very short runway, and it took all the brake, and reverse thrust I could muster, but the Honda made it ok.
Mel.
Runway 8 dead ahead CYGR.jpg
Description:
Jesus.... Thats not much bigger than a cricket pitch
I had just hit the sack in my room at the "Pensacola Grande", Crowne Plaza Hotel when my cell phone began intoning a special piece of music that I had programmed in to let me know when I've received automated special text based instructions from Maddie-Central.
"Uh oh! I wonder what's going on?" I rolled over and grabbed the phone from the nightstand and scrolled the message.
"...Report to KPNS parking ramp 7, ASAP! Prepare for immediate takeoff to CYGR / Maddie Honda Jet...."
"Argh! RD, you gotta be kiddin' me!" I muttered to no'one in particular. I had gotten no sleep whatsoever this night and now I'm supposed to fly the Maddie Jet to CYGR! Where the heck is CYGR, anyhow? I turned on the bedside lamp and rolled out of the hay. I crossed to the little bar in my room and flipped open my laptop.
Quebec! Iles-De-La- Madeleine! What the heck? Is this some kind of joke or trick that RD is playing? My curiosity aroused, I quickly Googled "CYGR" and sure enough, there was the satellite image of the Iles-De-La-Madeleine airport! Hey, that's pretty cool! Only RD would come up with a location like this! Well, as excited as I was about the prospect of finally getting my grubby hands on the little Maddie Honda (Muahahaha!), I wished that I might have been given a little heads up, so that I could have been more rested! I next went to the Maddie Web Page and downloaded the flight parameters, called the front desk to ask arrange a taxi ride to the airport then headed for the shower. After a refreshing shower, I yanked out my razor and hacked away at the four day old beard growth I had allowed myself during my stay here in Pensacola, Florida. I donned my dun color coveralls, adjusted my "Find Madeleine McCann" baseball cap. Three ink pens, pocketed, notepad pocketed, Rayban aviator sunglasses, clean and pocketed. Pack of smokes and lighter, pocketed. I double checked the room for anything forgotten and headed downstairs to check out.
Forty five minutes later, the taxi dropped me off at the Flight Service Center at Pensacola Regional Airport. I passed through U.S. Customs and headed for the Flight Operations desk to see if there were any messages for me from Maddie Central. There were none, which surprised me a bit. But not for long, when from out of the blue, a sharply uniformed, unquestionably fetching young woman approached me just as I was about to depart for transport out to parking ramp 7.
"Captain Jaeger1952?" she inquired.
"Yes, I'm Captain Jaeger1952," I replied. "And you are...?"
"My name is Captain Sarah Michaels." The young woman said and extended her hand with a brilliant smile.
"Pleased to make your aquaintance, Captain Michaels," I replied and switched my flight satchel to my left hand in order to shake her hand.
"Please just call me Sarah," she offered.
"Alright....Sarah, then won't you please just call me "Jaeg-"; everyone else does!"
I couldn't help wondering what this was all about and gave Captain Sarah a quizzical look. Captain Sarah coughed into her upraised hand and excused herself. "I've been assigned to your flight to CYGR.," she announced.
"What?" I exclaimed. "You're kidding! Please forgive me, but I don't understand....!"
"Apparently you haven't been informed that I've been added to your bill of lading....how odd!' She announced with a frown.
I took a step backward and changed my bad to my right hand and said, "Not an hour ago, I was was in my bed at the Crowne Plaza when I received a text message on my cellphone from Maddie HQ to get down here as soon as possible and prepare for a flight to CYGR aboard the Maddie Honda Jet! That's all I know!"
"Will this be your first flight in the Honda?" asked Captain Sarah.
"Yes, it will," I replied.
"Then that explains my assignment," said Captain Sarah with a sigh of relief. Captain Sarah might have been somewhat relieved, but I couldn't have been more confused and I was more than a little anxious to be let in on the joke.
Captain Sarah looked down at her watch then suggested that since we had plenty of time before the scheduled departure that we might take breakfast together in the dining area, where she would be happy to explain the particulars of her assignment to my flight.
Over a breakfast of two eggs over easy affixed atop a pile of biscuits and gravy, Captain Sarah dabbed at the fruit plate she had ordered and said, "Firstly, I am employed by the Honda Corporation as a specialist in this particular model aircraft. Because you've never flown the Honda Jet before today, my job is to simply introduce you to the finer points of the Honda Jet. Please understand that I am not here to oversee your flight assignment in any way, but only to bring you up to speed with the proper operation and limitations of the Honda Jet, and nothing more."
Now it was my turn to sigh in relief. Actually, I should have known better than to think that I would be allowed to go yanking the Maddie Honda willy-nilly about the skies without some sort of proper introduction to the aircraft. I thought it was a grand idea and I highly commend the Honda Company for its unparalleled and distinctive measures of personal service.
"Actually Sarah, I'm relieved to know that you'll be accompanying me," I admittted. "As anxious as I have been to take up the Honda for the first time since Team SurClaro decided to introduce the jet for our Search For Madeleine McCann Project, I don't mind telling you that I've got a serious case of the butterflies the likes of which I haven't had in a long, long time!"
Captain Sarah laughed and dabbed up a fresh slice of tangerine from her fruit plate. I watched her delicate hand raise the fork to her mouth, and saw her lips part to accept the succulent piece and I couldn't help but shudder when she closed her lips around the tip of the fork and withdrew it, and never once taking her eyes from mine.
Brrrrrrrr!
Captain Sarah laughed and set her fork down beside her plate. She took up a napkin and dabbed at the corners of her mouth and said, "Now enough of your staring!"
"I'm sorry," I replied with a sheepish grin and looked around the table top for a spoon with which to resocket my eyeballs!
Captain Sarah's expression suddenly turned serious. "There is something you need to know....about this flight."
"And what is that?" I asked, matching her expression.
"There is a passenger on the manifest. An asian woman."
"Huh?"
"Yes," replied Captain Sarah. Her expression remained serious. She paused a moment then tried to explain everything she knew. "She is a woman in her mid thirties, or so I've been told. Her name is unimportant. I have been told that we must deliver her to Iles-De-La-Madeleine, and that we are not to speak to her under any circumstances...."
RD! What the hell is this! I thought to myself. First, I find out only moments before my flight that I am to be accompanied by an expert Honda Jet pilot---which I was never told about---and now I've discovered that I'm manifested to haul some myserious asian woman to Iles-De-La-Madeleine in Quebec, and that I am not supposed to utter a single word to her? Who the hell is she, some kind of secret agent?
I don't like secrets! And I have a particular aversion to flying Secret Agents around the globe!
Captain Sarah looked down at her watch, gulped down the last of her apple juice, wiped her mouth again and gasped, "Oh my! We've got to get going! We've only forty minutes before we're due to taxi! C'mon hurry up with that artery clogging breakfast!
I shoveled several forkfulls of biscuit and gravy into my mouth and chewed with a vengeance like a man taking his last meal before the gallows pole. Captain Sarah was on her feet with her flight bag already shouldered as I sat hurriedly looking around for the reciept. "Don't worry Jaeg- it's already covered, courtesy of the Honda Corporation! Let's get going!"
I snatched opened my wallet and fetched a crisp new ten dollar bill and placed it under the corner of my plate to compensate our waitress, much to Captain Sarah's consternation. "You're going to make our wait person wealthy indeed, because she's already been over-compensated, and you're going to make us late with your dallying!"
I shouldered my own flight bag and together we dashed out of the dining room like two outlaws on the lam and made for the automated doors just beyond. We piled into a waiting shuttle bus and while Captain Sarah paused to speak with the driver, I flung our bags into the overhead bin and collapsed into a seat at the rear of the little shuttle bus. The bus began moving immediately, it's overhead rotating safety beacon flashing about casting it's brilliant, arching beam of yellow light into the darkness all around.
A few minutes later, the bus pulled up to a stop just beside the beautifully repainted Maddie Honda Jet! The bus' safety beacon painting her darkened fuselage in swaths of rotating yellow light. I took down our baggage from the overhead and Captain Sarah and I exited the bus with a thank you to the driver. "Hold up a moment and let me give this fellow a little something!" I called out to Sarah. But she came to my side and stilled my hand. "Don't worry Jaeg- it's already been taken care of!"
"Oh!" I exclaimed. The driver cast me a sidelong glance and closed the door with a slam, then put pedal to the metal and raced off into the darkness.
Captain Sarah dashed aft to open the air stair, while I stood dumbstruck and gaping at the gorgeous aircraft parked there before me. I set down our flight bags and approached the Maddie Honda with my hand outstretched. Somewhere aft, I heard the pop and hiss of the air stair opening and whisking down. I slid my hand along her wingtip, caressing it lovingly, then moved toward the portside fuselage, never letting go my caress. "Hello, you little beauty!" I whispered.
"Jaeg! Haul ass!" cried Captain Sarah from somewhere aft. Paying her no mind, I walked around the Maddie Honda and took in her every detail forward and aft, port and starboard, wingtip to wingtip. I crouched low and inspected her landing package like a hungry prospector inspecting his mail order bride for the first time! Suddenly, the cockpit lights came alive and Captain Sarah pounded her hand against the plexiglas, shouting a stream of profanities at me. I looked up at her with a wide grin on my face and waved. She shook her fists at me and then bent her gaze on the instrument panel.
I walked back around to the port side and gathered up our flight bags, climbed the air stair and carried them aboard. The overhead cabin lights came on and there sat the aforementioned asian woman. She had been looking down at some kind of fold up laptop computer when the lights came on. She quietly folded up the strange object on her lap and looked up at me with a blank expression on her face. I had wanted to explore these new surroundings, but felt completely unseated by the presence of this strange figure seated before me.
"Jaeg- I really hate to interrupt, but we really must get on the ball here!" Captain Sarah called out from the cockpit.
With great relief, I tore my eyes from our mysterious passenger and stepped forward and ducked into the cockpit where I paused for just a moment to look at the layout. Captain Sarah brushed the hair from her eyes, donned her headset and began tuning the Nav and Comm radio equipment with a practised expertise that amazed! Grasping the overhead handhold, I stepped over the center console and lowered myself for the first time into the pilots seat. I carefully buckled my flight harness and adjusted it to my liking, while Captain Sarah made initial contact with Pensacola Ground Handling. While she spoke, she pointed out with her left hand the engine start procedure for me.
The engines ignited and whined and I monitored the temp and pressure gauges with drooling enthusiasm!
Sarah suddenly gasped and removed her headset and began climbing out of her seat.
"Where are you going?" I asked her.
"To close the airstair door, oh great Obi Wan!"
"Oops, sorry!" I said.
As she made her way aft, I heard her laugh under her breath. A moment later, she rejoined me in the cockpit and harnessed herself into the number two seat half an arms length from my right shoulder. Her close proximity to me in the cockpit, and the delicate perfume she wore had me practically reeling with intoxication!
"Okay Obi Wan, are you ready to go 'brakes off?"
"Yeah, I guess so," I replied. And I jer my thumb back toward the passenger cabin and shot Captain Sarah a look of complete befuddlement. Captain Sarah shook her head and dragged a finger across her throat as a warning to me. She turned her attention back to the instrument panel. "Okay, I've got us plugged in for a VFR flight to CYGR," she tapped her pink colored index fingernail onto the GPS screen and the Nav Radio settings. We're cleared for taxi out to Runway Three-Five, for departure to the north with Information 'Lima'. You got that so far?"
"I'm all over it, honey!" I said and grasped the flight yoke like the steering wheel of a 1970 Hemi Cuda! I tested the control surfaces, taking careful note of each response feedback. I activated the Pitot, entered a cruising altitude of 29,000 feet at 1800 feet per minute rate of climb. All the while, Captain Sarah watched my every move with a practiced eye. I set our climb out rate of speed at 250 knots of IAS.
"Okay," said Captain Sarah. "Let's roll."
I disengaged the parking brake and felt Captain's Sarah's hand brush against mine as she grasped the throttle controls and powered up for taxi. I reached overhead and snapped on the (non existant) taxi lights as the Maddie Honda's engines spun up with a delightful, sing-songy voice characteristic only to herself. We slowly taxied out toward Runway Three Five in the early morning darkness.
As we approached the apron, I set the flaps to full, while Sarah practiced engine runups and showed me what results to be mindful of. "Your'e going to find that this aircraft loves to fly. It's very responsive to even the smallest control surface inputs."
"Oh baby!" I thought to myself. "I wouldn't doubt it for a minute!"
In no time at all we had reached the holding position at Runway Three Five. Captain Sarah expertly reviewed all instruments, pointing out each one with her delicate finger for me to follow. I read back the readings and everything looked wonderfully okay!
Captain Sarah contacted the Pensacola Trower and requested take off clearance at Runway Three Five, for north departure.
"Okay Obi Wan! You've got the aircraft!"
I grasped the throttles and powered up slightly while the little Maddie Honda began slowly rolling out onto the runway surface. I asked Captain Sarah to give me full flaps. As we turned and centered slowly on the runway, I flipped on the landing lights, let go the toe brakes and pushed both throttles forward. The little Maddie Jet rolled out, quickly gathered speed and lifted off the ground with the delicacy and speed of a Hummingbird!
"Yahooie Oh Boy!" I yelled out in pure excitement as the Maddie Honda leaped into the air. "Gear up," announced Captain Sarah, levering the control. "Flaps two," I called out. Then "Flaps one, please." Then "Flaps Zero".
The Maddie Honda soared upward, seeking the starlit skies overhead. Captain Sarah pointed out our course on the face of the GPS screen. I answered by twisting the yoke and felt the Maddie Jet respond to my suface control input. In less than a half minute, we had met our plotted flight path and settled back in our seats, silently monitoring the instruments. I looked over my right shoulder and gazed at our silent passenger, seated just behind the tinted plexiglas cockpit bulkhead.
My attention was diverted by a stiff jab in the ribs.
"Nicely done, Obi Wan!" Captain Sarah announced as we passed through ten thousand feet. She reached out and snapped off the landing lights.
"Thank you, Princess Leia!" I replied. Captain Sarah turned against her restraints to face me with a hand up, indicating a "high five". I laughed and slapped the palm of my hand against hers!
Please stay tuned to this channel for the final chapter of Flight 16!
Jaeg-
NOTE: Photos should be viewed in reverse order. Sorry about that!
Location: COMFORTABLY NUMB, in U.S.A. *** KOFF ***
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Ummm guys.....pssst....over here......
Sarah works for us, SurClaro. Notice the SurClaro wings on her blouse??? Me and GS sent her to the Honda plant for 6 months, to learn more than the people that built it. And just to make sure she learned all there was, I personally drilled her for hours.
The asian chicky is the daughter of the owner of Honda. That's why you are supposed to ignore her.
Location: COMFORTABLY NUMB, in U.S.A. *** KOFF ***
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Hey Clay, are you flying the flights anymore??? Just wondering.
Otherwise, I apologize that the last flight went bust on the scenery side. Didn't think it would have been that hard or complicated to do, or the mishaps of textures.
Otherwise, I have something really good for you to try, and sink your teeth into. Vince has Flight 17.
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