GETTING CLOSE
Thailand, Early September 2011
Big day at the airport yesterday. Started both engines for the first time since installation. A few oil leaks from left prop and right…
Some welcome commentary and details of flight from Thailand are now on QFM’s web site:
Catalina updates
ARRIVAL at LONGREACH
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photo, Nicholas Vincent
Almost two years and the best part one million dollars after departing Spain, EAX finds itself in the backblocks of outback Australia, a destiny she would have mixed feelings about, and little wonder she was a reluctant participant in the relocation.
It’s been an amazing journey fraught with frustration for all those involved. There were moments, I’m sure, when she was lucky a lighted match wasn’t thrown into her as the costs of a potential Black Cat spiraled into a financial black hole.
So what now?
First up, it is believed the borrowed engine will be returned to DC3, VH-AES, then she’ll be sitting on the deck until a replacement can be procured. Long term is open, but it is hoped to eventually add blisters, nose turret, and be relaunched as a Qantas Double Sunrise Cat.
Double Sunrise Cat
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Qantas Double Sunrise Ops:
In 1943 Qantas, the British Air Ministry and BOAC (Imperial Airways) agreed to a daring plan to re-establish the Australia-England air link that had been cut by advancing Japanese forces.
The plan called for regular flights between Perth, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
The single Indian Ocean hop of 5,652km would be the longest non-stop regular passenger flight ever attempted in the world. Celestial navigation had to be used to maintain radio silence over waters patrolled by enemy aircraft. Travelling at about 200km/h, would take an average of 28 hours to complete the journey, but up to 32 hours when winds were unfavourable. On many occasions with the autopilot u/s, fatigue was a problem, as in the air the controls are heavy and large inputs are required. That is to say, “she flies like a boat.” The story goes that all crew members and passengers were expected to take their turn at the controls. The weight of fuel limited the Catalina's load to only three pax and 69kg of diplomatic mail. The Cat was so heavy with fuel on take-off that the failure of an engine in the first 10 hours of flight would have made a ditching inevitable. This never happened.