Today we are back in PNG, in Rabaul on the most eastern tip of an island called East New Britain. Our plane is the latest MSFS offering, the huge and very well executed Latécoère 631. For €10 it’s an absolute steal.

This is what Wikipedia has to say about the aircraft: The Latécoère 631 was a six-engine flying boat built by the French manufacturer Latécoère in the 1940s. It was created as a result of a 1936 French government tender that called for a 40-passenger flying boat. It was intended for routes between the mother country and its colonies. The range was to be 6,000 kilometers, and the average speed was required to be 300 kilometers per hour. One prototype, now designed for up to 70 passengers, was built during the Second World War, and ten aircraft were built after the end of WWII. Due to several crashes and competition from land-based aircraft, service ended after only a few years. When it appeared, the Latécoère 631 was the largest flying boat in the world

 

A small tugboat pulls us out of the lagoon before we start the engines

 

 

Pretty impressive how the engines fire up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the cabin is shown completely

 

 

Behind the white door is the galley

 

 

East New Britain is home to several volcanoes that are still active today. We are flying past one of them, the 2,334m high Ulawun. It is the highest mountain of the island

 

 

Madang is directly behind us. The many small offshore islands make it difficult for our behemoth to find a suitable landing strip on the water. Best I land parallel to the tanker down there

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for viewing

Great shots Bernd and what an amazing time in aviation this was.  I would have loved to fly and sleep on one of these planes.  They look so comfortable and accommodating.  It would be nice if we still had planes like this.

What an amazing excursion! I never knew this plane existed. Impressed by its size, but even more so by the detailed interior shots, Thanks for posting this, Bernd.

Wish Pilots listened and did the B314 like this.  Totally missed opportunity.

Edited June 23, 20232 yr by Dillon

Wonderful shots Bernd, looks like this is the Monster Bird of the Waterplanes..

cheers 😉

Edited June 23, 20232 yr by pmplayer

Stunning shots Bernd! 😉 

Thank you all for your kind comments, my friends !!

4 hours ago, Jack_Sawyer said:

I would have loved to fly and sleep on one of these planes.  They look so comfortable and accommodating.  It would be nice if we still had planes like this.

And I would join you in a heart beat 🙂

2 hours ago, Dillon said:

Wish Pilots listened and did the B314 like this.  Totally missed opportunity.

I fully agree with you, Dillon

1 hour ago, pmplayer said:

...looks like this is the Monster Bird of the Waterplanes..

cheers 😉

Sure does, buddy 🙂🙂

Beautiful stuff Bernd. I'd never heard of this beast and it's a bit of a big-nosed bustard, but I'm rather taken with it. As you say, at that price why would you not buy it. Beatifully done, and I see some interesting flights with it in my future.

And like @Dillon said, it really shows up the Clipper. Much as I like that aircraft, the reasons for not doing the interior to this sort of standard always did sound a bit flimsy. Even if precise details weren't available, something much closer to this could have been done from imagination/creativity (and don't get me started on their ridiculous stories about the update process needing to reboot the PC - I've stopped doing updates for that thing now)

Fantastic pictures, Bernd...immensely interesting too...!

Liked those comfy Cabin shots...wouldn't mind occupying one of the window seats, occasionally glancing at those huge (Wright) Radial Engines spinning on... (while perusing the AVSIM Screenshots Forum) ...🙂...

Wow wow wow! 👏

This an awesome Historical Aircraft and a great addition to the fleet. One question...How do you switch from main tanks to Aux. Tanks during a flight? I could not find out in the manual.

Thanks again, my friends for your comments!

17 hours ago, andy1252 said:

And like @Dillon said, it really shows up the Clipper. Much as I like that aircraft, the reasons for not doing the interior to this sort of standard always did sound a bit flimsy.

Exactly, Andy. I remember, when they announced that they will bring the plane also to MSFS, some here suggested to include a full spec interior. I even sent them quite a few pictures and design drawings. 

13 hours ago, Bugeater64 said:

How do you switch from main tanks to Aux. Tanks during a flight? I could not find out in the manual.

I couldn't find it either, so I switched, before I started the flight, the simulator to constant fuel supply. I know, it's cheating, oh well...🙂🙂 

Cool plane, story - and shots, Bernd. I thought your final parking was a mistake, but is seems it fits perfectly.

Many thanks Gerold, the final parking location is part of the plane's package. as is the buoy you can see in the first picture and the tug boat 🙂