bernd1151 Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 The distance between both cities is 1055 km or 570 nm, but as I will fly along the Amazon river it will be some 20 percent more. I will refuel half way The plane is Milton Shupe’s superb Vultee XP 54 Swoose Goose (available from sim-outhouse). The original was a prototype fighter built for the USAAF in 1943. It came with a liquid-cooled Lycoming pusher engine in the aft part of the fuselage, but due to its lackluster performance it never reached production stage.Here she is in all her glory I head for the Amazon, let the adventure begin I never realized how huge the Amazon is The Vultee came with "ducted wing sections" that enabled installation of cooling radiators and intercoolers in the inverted gull wing There are luckily plenty of ships that keep me entertained on this long trip I pass Prainha Big islands and sandbanks form in the middle of the stream But also huge lakes are part of the Amazon. It almost looks like open water as you can hardly see any shoreline Now..which way do I have to turn, the are so many arms that I have difficulties to find my way. Ok, let’s get out the map. Where the heck are my glasses… Ok, I turn into this one Oh no, not another lake This is interesting, I have seen these old steamers in a recent documentary about living along the Amazon Great to see that Henrik Nielsen included them in his AI ship traffic! Passing Santarem. It seems I am still on the right track Lots of small islands come up and as a ship’s captain you can get easily lost between them Maybe Vector can have another look at these rather artificial looking shore lines again Finally I reach Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas in Northern Brazil The Vultee had another quite unique feature for its time: its pressurized cockpit required a complex entry/exit system, as the cabin roof could not be opened: a hatch opened electrically under the fuselage and the pilot’s seat was used as an elevator for cockpit access from the ground. The pilot lowered the seat electrically, sat in it, and raised it into the cockpit Thanks for viewing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-KDK Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Fantastic flight Bernd and a great narrative to go with it. A very unusual plane and just the one to be in if you do a wheels up landing and start to brew up. Some wonderful river scenery and those boats capped it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulb Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Excellent Bernd! . A great storyline and some super shots. Some nice encounters with boats! An amazing looking aircraft. The VC looks payware quality, although one should probably expect nothing less from Milton Shupe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sawyer Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 That was amazing Bernd. You're right, I never knew how wide the Amazon was either. Now I'll have to do that flight myself! And that plane, what a cool bird but I agree with Martyn, with egress only with the elevated seat if you land with gear up what then? But I love the idea of the seat elevator, very cool idea. Too bad they didn't produce them as they're very graceful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernd1151 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Share Posted September 11, 2017 4 hours ago, VH-KDK said: Fantastic flight Bernd and a great narrative to go with it. A very unusual plane and just the one to be in if you do a wheels up landing and start to brew up. Some wonderful river scenery and those boats capped it off. Thanks Martyn. I don't think we both ever want to do a wheels up landing in this one 4 hours ago, paulb said: Excellent Bernd! . A great storyline and some super shots. Some nice encounters with boats! An amazing looking aircraft. The VC looks payware quality, although one should probably expect nothing less from Milton Shupe. Great you liked them Paul. The VC is indeed payware quality 3 hours ago, Jack Sawyer said: That was amazing Bernd. You're right, I never knew how wide the Amazon was either. Now I'll have to do that flight myself! And that plane, what a cool bird but I agree with Martyn, with egress only with the elevated seat if you land with gear up what then? But I love the idea of the seat elevator, very cool idea. Too bad they didn't produce them as they're very graceful. Thanks a lot buddy, it's an unusual bird among the usual modern GA and I am happy that Milton Shupe did this for the community. He and his team are truly gifted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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