I don't know why Hans and Joao do this, I've never asked them to but each time before they fly they let me know that the FOTM is done and posted and ready to go. So it was that the call came on my Flight Club Phone that Hans' November FOTM was posted (with screenshots) and ready to go. I've long-since given up asking about DETAILS but I do like to know which direction to head. Hans suggested that I head to Amsterdam.
Really? Western Europe from the middle of the South Pacific? That's 163* of Longitude! Frankly I wasn't looking too farward to another long, multi-leg commute in the EMB-190 - maybe I could just hop a DC-10 for this one flight? No, I've made the committment to do this and if Hans has us in Europe already there will be no commute in December because I've already picked out a flight there. So, this was one last hop across the planet in the Embraer (next year I'll commute in something a little bigger). Anyway, having come from the Mediterranean last month I figured I could just fly the same commute backwards.
THE COMMUTE:
Wasn't I shocked to arrive to the airport late on the 31st only to discover that the recommended shorter route was EAST?! Across North America and the Atlantic? Wow, the Pacific really is bigger than any of us can imagine!
So departed before dawn on Thursday November 1st flying the PLR.org livery up to Kiribati. I had never, ever been here before but add this place to the real-world Bucket List; it looks very intriguing!
Later on the first I flew a Hawaiian Airlines livery EMB-195 up to Hilo, HI.
Friday the 2nd I set out on a long leg across open water to Santa Ana, CA (John Wayne Airport). I was having continuous vibration problems in the #2 engine and 450 miles out I had to disassociate my throttles and pull #2 back to 35%. I then returned to Hilo. For final approach I set #2 at idle and used #1 as my primary speed control throttle; we landed safely using autobrakes but no reverse thrust. This is the first time all year I've had engine problems! After repairs I completed the flight, arriving at sunset.
Taking Saturday off, I departed for Chicago/Midway and then St. John's, NF on Sunday the 4th.
Across the pond via Azore's on Monday the 5th arriving into Amsterdam Monday night.
THE FOTM:
From Schiphol I took a Dash-8 up to Borkum (pict12) and then used my Mooney Acclaim Type-S Turbo for the FOTM legs.
From Sylt-Westerland I took the Dash-8 again to Frankfurt/Hahn where I will start my December Feature Flight.
Hans, I had never heard of this place before! Great VFR tour - thank you so much for sharing your wealth of information with us. This was a fantastic 119th flight; I think it's awesome that we are still coming up with such fantastic and NEW features! Great Job!
