andyjohnston Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 Another day, another dollar flying these big birds I've made a name for myself in. It all started one spring morning in San Francisco. I go to the airport early, as had been planned, and there was a B-17 sitting on one of the aprons. It wouldn't take long to get it down to LA, I'd get there in plenty of time to do some sightseeing and pilot a flight out. I'd seen this particular aircraft before. Someone told me the paint scheme was supposed to be like stars and stripes. To me it looked like it was wearing pajamas. The engine startup went perfectly, talk about lulling me into a false sense of security. I taxied down to the end of the runway, so far no issues. I advanced the throttles and made some slight adjustments using the rudder to keep aligned with the runway. The plane lifted off as smooth as can be. It was shortly after though, that it happened. A bang so loud that it could be heard over the roaring engines. The kind of sound you never want to hear coming from an aircraft you are at the controls of, or riding in as a passenger. With that, the plane started to roll to the right. I turned the yoke a bit to compensate...no response. I turned it hard all the way to the left, but nothing happened. Spent way too much time using these sims... FS 5.1, FS-98, FS-2000, FS-2002, FS-2004, FSX, Flight, FSW, P3Dv3, P3Dv4, MSFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVIDSTRAKA Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 Awesome, now we have a “cliff hanger†post!:cool: Senior Rookie Bragware: FSX Gold - Acceleration | HP Omen Obelisk Desktop | Intel Core i7 3.2 Ghz |16GB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 | 1TB HD | 256 GB SSD (Gaming Computer) REX Worldwide Airports HD AS16 + ASCA ORBX Global BASE ORBX Freeware Airports ORBX HD Trees [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 Quite the scary set of pajamas!! We're all waiting (for the other shoe to drop!!") ;) Michael Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyjohnston Posted April 10, 2020 Author Share Posted April 10, 2020 I pulled back on the yoke and the nose raised, at least I had some control. I pushed the left rudder pedal, and the plane slowly rolled back upright. So much for going to LA. As I cruised over the city, I decided that there was only one way to fix this situation, and that was to get the B-17 up the coast to the Boeing factory. The plane had been outfitted with a crude autopilot, and I climbed to just under 8000 feet and switched the altitude hold on. That took some of the pressure off as I followed the coast to the north. But the distance I had planned was a lot less than the amount I was going to have to go. How far could I go? Spent way too much time using these sims... FS 5.1, FS-98, FS-2000, FS-2002, FS-2004, FSX, Flight, FSW, P3Dv3, P3Dv4, MSFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 Yes Frisco to Seattle with flight control trouble is a bit of a trip!! :eek::eek: And if someone in ATC saw that pajama bottom paint job they'd probably not take you seriously anyway!! Michael Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyjohnston Posted April 10, 2020 Author Share Posted April 10, 2020 Somehow I managed to coax the plane all the way to Portland. With a little working the controls, I was able to sort of line with the runway Although the landing wasn't completely smooth, and the right tire touched before the left. Any landing you can walk away from, right? I've still got a bit to go, I'm hoping for the best! Spent way too much time using these sims... FS 5.1, FS-98, FS-2000, FS-2002, FS-2004, FSX, Flight, FSW, P3Dv3, P3Dv4, MSFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peer01 Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 Great adventure, and I like your plane! :cool::cool::cool: [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyjohnston Posted April 10, 2020 Author Share Posted April 10, 2020 Getting airborne again out of Portland was surprisingly easy, it just took a little pressure on the pedals to keep the plane from drifting off the runway. I turned north and flew to 5000 feet before switching the autopilot on. Nope, that's not going to work. It didn't take long for me to learn that I was going to have to turn it off and climb some more to avoid the terrain. I got a little lost headed for Seattle, I'd forgotten the frequency and had actually been following the Vancouver VOR for a little while before realizing I was going to the wrong place. Wait...no...I meant to follow it to give myself a challenge. Yeah, that's it. Anyhow, after a while I got headed in the right direction, and managed a landing. A very rough landing where it was so lopsided I'm surprised I didn't end up ripping the left wing off. But I made it. I taxied over and parked, heaving a sigh of relief. As I relaxed, I pulled out my phone and checked my e-mail. Mostly it was spam, I don't know how they got my address. But one item wasn't, in fact it was encrypted as secret... Spent way too much time using these sims... FS 5.1, FS-98, FS-2000, FS-2002, FS-2004, FSX, Flight, FSW, P3Dv3, P3Dv4, MSFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVIDSTRAKA Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Always remember, pilots never get lost. They only become temporarily disoriented :D Senior Rookie Bragware: FSX Gold - Acceleration | HP Omen Obelisk Desktop | Intel Core i7 3.2 Ghz |16GB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 | 1TB HD | 256 GB SSD (Gaming Computer) REX Worldwide Airports HD AS16 + ASCA ORBX Global BASE ORBX Freeware Airports ORBX HD Trees [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Always remember, pilots never get lost. They only become temporarily disoriented :D For Gods sake I've truly been there and done that!!!!!! I mean, how many laps do you have to take around a local water tower and reading it's name before you realize the name on the water tower has nothing to do with any name on a map anywhere!!! Michael Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVIDSTRAKA Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 For Gods sake I've truly been there and done that!!!!!! I mean, how many laps do you have to take around a local water tower and reading it's name before you realize the name on the water tower has nothing to do with any name on a map anywhere!!! Michael And there you go! ;) Senior Rookie Bragware: FSX Gold - Acceleration | HP Omen Obelisk Desktop | Intel Core i7 3.2 Ghz |16GB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 | 1TB HD | 256 GB SSD (Gaming Computer) REX Worldwide Airports HD AS16 + ASCA ORBX Global BASE ORBX Freeware Airports ORBX HD Trees [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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