Amy Johnson - London to Australia Attempt

[Mithras 87]

I came across his name in the biography, but I can't remember the details...

I've got to take a break from my adventure for a week or so while I redesign my sim-pit.

[Mithras 87]

Oh dear, a bit of a disaster last night ... I've spent a week off building a home cockpit, and flew my next leg last night, from Hyderbad in Pakistan to the city of Barmer over the border in India. Maybe I've gotten complacent after such easy navigation along the Euphrates river and along the Iranian gulf coast, but I did not set my route to follow visual waypoints, but flew a route across the Thar Desert for 2 hours, hoping to find the hills rising up near Barmer. Unfortunately a strong 20 knot tail wind needed some compensation, and I massively over compensated ... With only 19% of my fuel left I realised the hills I was flying over were not the ones near Barmer.

 

So ... I hate to admit this, but I switched on the sat nav to see where I really was. Damn, I was 90 nm south east of my destination. I had passed the hills along while back and just kept on flying, oblivious... I landed at a nearby airfield, watching my fuel gauge carefully. I vowed not to cheat like that again, and put it down to my one and only 'get out of jail card'.

 

My next leg to Jhansi (one of Amy's landing points) has a route that hops from lake to airport to lake, and its constant references should help me check my position. In my defence, the Thar desert was open, bleak and featuresless, nevertheless I should have taken more care.

 

I will from now on! No more sat navs.

[Mithras 87]

Paul, I got my Amy biography out again, and it mentions Will Hay. He flew his own Gipsy Moth from Stag Lane, the aerodrome in London used by De Havilland at the time and where Amy learned to fly and passed her mechanics exams.

 

She became good friends with him, and he was the first famous person she had met. Amy visited him backstage at London's Victoria Palace and there was gossip about the two, despite or because of the 15 year gap between them. Of course Will was married, as well... Jack, who was teaching her mechanics, told her to end the affair/friendship and put a stop to the friendship. She certainly introduced Will to her father when he visited Stag Lane. The friendship fizzled out as she got more involved in her mechanical studies.

 

Will Hay is mentioned one more time; Amy was given a new Puss Moth, with modern enclosed cabin by De Havilland after returning from Australia. Will Hay also bought one.

[CrewF16 26]

Yeah, you really, really appreciate the magenta line...

Paul: I was looking at your pictures. Which cockpit is yours?

[bob44 1]

Navigating across a featureless desert or ocean can be challenging. I have used a combination of wind drift gauges, stop watches, and sextant with good success.   

[Mithras 87]

Hi Ron, this my new cockpit:

 

 

I'm no good at building stuff like this, it turned out far better than I had hoped!

Navigating across a featureless desert or ocean can be challenging. I have used a combination of wind drift gauges, stop watches, and sextant with good success.   

 

What are wind drift gauges? Is that one of those cardboard wind drift computers? Should I get one? I'm not sure my mental maths is up to dead reckoning using stop watches - but I think I should give it a try. 

[bob44 1]

Wind drift gauges are addon gauges, put into the aircrafts' panel. VC or as a 2d panel. There are several available. I like Glen Copeland's TWI gauge. These certainly help as it is difficult to figure the wind in the sim.

I like your cockpit. Very nice.

[CrewF16 26]

Hi Ron, this my new cockpit:

 

 

I'm no good at building stuff like this, it turned out far better than I had hoped!

 

What are wind drift gauges? Is that one of those cardboard wind drift computers? Should I get one? I'm not sure my mental maths is up to dead reckoning using stop watches - but I think I should give it a try. 

 Nice set up. Looks to me that you are very good. I don't think my wife would put up with the small fortune you have invested there.

[Mithras 87]

Really, there's only a bit of painted plywood, carefully shaped with a jigsaw!add some carefully folded cardboard covered in leatherette.

 

I've decided to embrace dead reckoning, India is a tough place to navigate. I long for a coastline! From Jhansi to Allahbad I kept time with a watch, snd checked the time of arrivals with my Plan G flightplan. Instead of 'just going fast' and 'flying at a high altitude whatever the windspeed' I flew at the 80 mph on my flightplan and flew at the altitude providing the lowest windspeed.

 

With so little windspeed I had little compensation to do and hit my more frequent waypoints on time almost to the minute. I did not get lost, and when I tested my navigation with occasional visits to the MAP, I found I was almost dead on every time. One of the problems I was having was doubting where I was, or when I should see a particular landmark. By having a specific time at which the landmark should appear, I now known when to start getting worried. Plus, I lnow exactly how many miles I have flown straight line, and work out my position from that. I need to become more scientific in my approach, or risk getting lost again and again ....

[Mithras 87]

A quarter past 5 in the morning, May 14 2014 (or is it 1930??).

 

 

An early morning flight following the River Ganges eastwards from Patna to Malda. Easier navigation following this great river, but I'm still keeping to the stopwatch t calculate my travel times and distances. Visibility is bad on this 2 hr 25 min flight, I'm flying at only 800' to keep the ground in sight. 

 

 

[bob44 1]

It is pretty cool and very rewarding when a pilot can successfully navigate to some place using simple tools (his/her brain) without a computer doing it all.  

[ViperPilot 81]

Paul, I think you are going to make it just fine. Amy, Jim, Jean and all the others would be proud of you.

 

[Mithras 87]

Ah thanks ViperPilot! It is incredibly rewarding to look over at the watch as it clicks over to the ETA, then look out the cockpit and see the city or river junction emerge right on time out of the mist. I learned a brand new skill on this journey that I'll certainly be using in my modern flights.

[Mithras 87]

 

After seven flights in thick mist, I've arrived at Chittagong in eastern Bangladesh. I've realised on the last flight just how different my digital map is from the one in FSX's memory. I got totally lost looking for islands in the lower Ganges and in the delta, but found my way nevertheless using some dead reckoning and some intuition. 

 

I'll post the two maps below. No wonder I thought I was lost almost immediately when I didn't spot a particular island... I wonder if the shape has changed over the past seven years? More likely my Remote Flight Map uses inaccurate Google Maps data, see how the Google Maps islands have no detail on their shoreline? 

 

[LHookins 3,102]

I suspect Amy had similar problems with some of her real world maps.  She's probably lucky if she HAD real world maps!

 

Hook