27.06.2004

PIREP links to: Flight No. 941

Flying the early hours in Africa suits my temperment very well. I still haven't quite adjusted to the heat here so the coolness of early dawn and the wonderful colour of the morning skies are welcomed by your Old Troll.

I have been testing out a sweetheart of an acquisition, a Fairchild C-123B Provider — soon to be refitted as a "K" type which includes the addition of a pair of turbojet engines. I must admit that it has been fun getting behind the controls of a big twin engine transport again. It's been more than a year since I brought Norwegian Woods across the Atlantic, the transition from the Red Lake bushplanes to the Provider has been relatively painless — don't be asking Old Salty to opine on the subject. My biggest hurdle was getting used to flying longer setup and descent runs — she doesn't slow down as promptly as my Beaver. Once I've got all my documentation together, I'll apply for proper dESPair registration and she'll take up residence on St. Tim's.

Okay, back to the business of replenishing the fuel barrels at Honey Pots 1 & 2. Old Salty and I loaded on 48, 45 gal. drums of AV go-juice under the cover of darkness. The less people saw the better. My friend Didas Mbando has been invaluable in handling the bureaucratic red-tape and sweet talking the right people. He has made it possible for me to fly without worry because he has secured all the right papers to allow for me to fly at any altitude throughout the Sudan without fear. They think I am making flight tests and that I am considering setting up a, shall we say, less than efficient as applies to paperwork, air cargo business that could be useful to those in places of power.

I also have a passenger whose company has agreed to pay $10,000 USD for every flight she accompanies me on — they seem to think that I'll be going places that might make for some good press — don't know what Cpt. Byrd's filled their heads with but as long as they put cash on the table, you're not likely to see this lad turn it down. As far as the local authorities are concerned, she's doing a story on the C-123.

The weather was fine, high broken clouds and light winds. We used 36 and took off into a slight cross wind, climbed to 1500' agl and settled on a 256° course. It was smooth flying all the way to Honey Pot 1 but the real fun began when we set up for landing. After a couple of inspection passes which gave me no visual clues other than a couple of daft individuals standing by their cars and waving I decided on my path but I came in too slow and needed to throttle up to avoid stalling so we aborted and went round for another go.

I did like the Navy pilots and arrived — there was no grace in this landing. I came in just above stall speed under full flaps and when I was over the LZ I hit reverse throttle while still airborn. So in a cloud of dust and with a hearty "Hi ho Silver" we came to a stop. Have I mentioned that I don't handle heat well? I was so blinking hot when I'd off loaded the 6,480 lbs. of fuel (24 drums) that I'd have flown the rest of the mission in my birthday suit if it hadn't been for the female passenger — to her credit, she pitched in once she'd taken what pictures she needed. I didn't want her taking shots of our fuel dump but she promised to keep the lens below the horizon and keep her framing tight.

The flight to Poo Bear's second stash was much the same as the first but I was beginning to get the hang of getting down and stopped quickly. I did a demo landing for my guest's article (see pictures below) and then we headed straight home to Gambella. About half way between HP1 and Gambella we experienced a system failure when the rudder locked full left but we crabbed our way to Gambella an managed a center line landing — Old Salty was un impressed and kept muttering something about damn bush pilots shouldn't be allowed to fly such beautiful aircraft — I think he was just grumpy from the heat and lack of suitable refreshments.

Final run up at Gambella rwy 36 —— rotation 95 knots

A nice easy climb at 800 fps ——trimmed and on 256° alt. 1500'

Honey Pot 1 — no help here —— HP2 - course 180ish°

Good approach attitude ———— a little high

Now get the nose down… ——— full auto brakes and full reverse

Ready for the trip back to Gambella

Click snaps for larger images

Respectfully,

Cpt. Troll