Sunday Sept 29th, 2019
Leg 1
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Last year, I was still not allowed to fly because I was under investigation due to the events of 2017.
This year, I am finally ready for some difficult terrain STOL flying after a very rigorous training programme. Thanks to a voucher from Santa, I got to fly with the German Marineflieger in Innsbruck, doing that tight LOC/DME approach and with the Dutch Coast Guard and US Navy, re-enacting the times when The Netherlands flew S-2 Trackers from their own carrier.
A 3-wire is when you stop with your tail above the third wire, right?
I saw the red-nosed reindeer again last week and was promised a new mission and a fitting aircraft.
Those elves somehow perfectly recreated the trashy tail art I painted on my previously entrusted aircraft in Southeast Asia. And I cannot fathom where they got a vintage Do 228-100 from.
For the first part of the journey, I am taking tourists to see the Faeroer Islands.
Today is a rainy day with lots of wind. Luckily, at our destination (EKVG, Vagar, Faeroer Islands), the weather is not as bad as it can get over there: a meagre 16 knots of oceanic wind and 8°C. Most importantly, the wind direction means we can do the LOC/DME approach to runway 13. Fun fun fun!
I leave Schiphol via BERGI, then proceed to ASKAM at FL150 (the maximum this aircraft is allowed to fly, as there is no pressurization system). We are taking 14 hikers with us for a total weight of ~1400 kg.
“I would like to invite our adventurous passengers to take a last look at the Dutch dunes, where you can take wonderful short winter walks without extreme cold and winds.”
Over the North Sea, we first have clouds below us,then below and above, then just above and finally only below us again. I am no meteorologist, but I think we may have passed a front there.
I did spot a rare occurrence today: a part of Scotland not covered by cloud. It was a part of the Orkney Islands.
It was around this point I noticed that the 760nm range with with 1400 kg load was not as tight on the fuel as I thought it was: I had been a factor 2 off in my in-flight estimations, since I forgot we have 2 fuel tanks. Thus I went full power for customer satisfaction, with no regard for the environment. Like an Italian cab driver. Except with a few mm more clearance between me and other traffic.
Continuing on, I verified that the winds at our destination were still good for the LOC/DME to RWY13, and let the X530 calculate my top of descent.
The autopilot had held well, as there was not a lot of turbulence.
I decided to let the AP do the final turn to the LOC, to then take control during the turn. However, the bank limit was still engaged so I ended up overshooting and having to correct. The training in Innsbruck with the Germans paid off, as I was quickly established on localizer and ‘glideslope’.
Initially I considered those hikers crazy, wanting to go to such a cold and wet place. I thought of my hiking holidays to Scotland and Sweden, where I had been lucky with the weather. Better not to push my luck by taking a multiple days hike here. Besides, I had a mission from Santa. Still, with 1400kg of luggage, I did bring along those extra 15kg of my own backpack. If nothing else, the pack would be a welcome addition in case of an emergency over Greenland.
When we emerged from the low rainy clouds, I immediately longed to be between and on top of those mountains, walking for days with just a backpack with everything I need.
Needless to say, the runway was a bit on the long side for my Dornier. We parked between the big aircraft and I decided to take a close look at my flying schedule to see how much time I could spend here.
P.S. I downloaded the Ortho for Vagar, but forgot to link to them in my Custom scenery folder, so this is still stock X-Plane 11 terrain you see around Vagar. Airport is stock too, the aircraft is by Carenado. The skin is a Mudspike Christmas variant of the Dutch Coast Guard (Kustwacht) livery that I made last time I participated in the Christmas Flight.
EDIT: the Dutch scenery is the stock Aerosoft Schiphol, terrain is Orthophotos, with HDMesh v4 used for overlays