Islander notes
Join Date: Aug 2000
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Ah....Yes the BN2A (Come to think of it, has anyone noticed a difference to the B!
). Come and fly one in Northern Botswana they said, sh!t they could have told me it gets up to 52 degrees!!!
Hell will be a doddle after this, I'll take my ski gear I think!
). Come and fly one in Northern Botswana they said, sh!t they could have told me it gets up to 52 degrees!!! Hell will be a doddle after this, I'll take my ski gear I think!
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: new zealand
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Always used to get a chuckle out of the pax during the safety brief:
"Please ensure your seatbelt is firmly fastened for takeoff and the landing at Suchandsuch and if you decide to get up and walk around the cabin during the flight, please remember to refasten it on returning to your seat."
MAPt
"Please ensure your seatbelt is firmly fastened for takeoff and the landing at Suchandsuch and if you decide to get up and walk around the cabin during the flight, please remember to refasten it on returning to your seat."
MAPt
Join Date: Oct 2002
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They are great out of short strips but 9 passengers in 300 m?!?!?! I don't know what you put in your tanks but it ain't avgas. I haven't done a P-Chart in a while but I'm pretty sure you'd need a bit more than that at close to a full load....mind you it is hot where I am so maybe you could get that in the cold, but I'd be supprised.
I'd also like to see a 300m strip.....surely that would be as useful as a hole in the head.
I'd also like to see a 300m strip.....surely that would be as useful as a hole in the head.
....yeah they're good, and doing that's a good way to make yourself famous on the evening news.
I go into a 380m strip several times per week. Our limit in nil wind/15deg C or lower is 4 males or 5 females (using our UK CAA approved standard pax. weights 90M/72F/15kg baggage allowance). Standard fuel load is 180 kg. Of course a headwind has a significant benefit on the load limit.
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BN-2 with 300hp donks requires 460m nil wind ISA +20 at sea level.
Mabuiag is exactly 400m, but that doesn't stop the local operators putting Shrikes and Navajos in there. The Shrike that I used to fly - the p charts didn't go below 600m.
Mabuiag is exactly 400m, but that doesn't stop the local operators putting Shrikes and Navajos in there. The Shrike that I used to fly - the p charts didn't go below 600m.
I thought Mabuiag is now around 440 meters? It was always around 415 meters, but I thought it had been extended to the west with land fill? Mabuiag can get interesting when the two wind socks point at each other!
A certain Cairns based Navajo regularly landed there. With passengers!
Many airstrips in PNG are under 400 meters - with high denity altitude. However, most had GATO* assistance to get airborne!
*GATO = Gravity Assisted Take Off - on stips up to 14% slope!!!
The days of the Bongo van are probably numbered in Australia, but they will always have a place in PNG aviation. We had 23
Islanders (give or take a few broken aircraft) in the Talair fleet twenty years ago.
A certain Cairns based Navajo regularly landed there. With passengers!
Many airstrips in PNG are under 400 meters - with high denity altitude. However, most had GATO* assistance to get airborne!
*GATO = Gravity Assisted Take Off - on stips up to 14% slope!!!
The days of the Bongo van are probably numbered in Australia, but they will always have a place in PNG aviation. We had 23
Islanders (give or take a few broken aircraft) in the Talair fleet twenty years ago.
Grandpa Aerotart
Used to go in and out of all sorts of < 400m strips, fully loaded, in PNG in those 23 Bongos mentioned above.
Garasa. 380 odd/flat/rough/chockers
Remember the old girl will fly at 40kts...ya jus' gotta WANT to bad enough
I vaguely remember looking at P charts in PNG. Once for each endorsement....lessee Bn2, 402, 404, twotter, bandit.
5 TIMES in 7000hrs/20000+ odd sectors!!!
Remember the P charts are heavily factored and give distance to clear a 50' obstacle....never passed an upwind threshold over 3 feet meself..let alone the places like Satwag where you fell off the end
Always laughed at the 'P Charts' in the Talair Bn2 Ops manual...TOWs less than empty weight at a whole raft of steep, one way strips.
Suspect the manufacturers never dreamt of slopes up to 20%...as Torres says GATO.
Chuckles.
Torres what was the name of that strip way north of Kavieng where we used to go in the 402s? 600m, flat, chockers.
Garasa. 380 odd/flat/rough/chockers
Remember the old girl will fly at 40kts...ya jus' gotta WANT to bad enough
I vaguely remember looking at P charts in PNG. Once for each endorsement....lessee Bn2, 402, 404, twotter, bandit.
5 TIMES in 7000hrs/20000+ odd sectors!!!
Remember the P charts are heavily factored and give distance to clear a 50' obstacle....never passed an upwind threshold over 3 feet meself..let alone the places like Satwag where you fell off the end
Always laughed at the 'P Charts' in the Talair Bn2 Ops manual...TOWs less than empty weight at a whole raft of steep, one way strips.
Suspect the manufacturers never dreamt of slopes up to 20%...as Torres says GATO.
Chuckles.
Torres what was the name of that strip way north of Kavieng where we used to go in the 402s? 600m, flat, chockers.
Last edited by Chimbu chuckles; 30th Oct 2003 at 11:03.
Join Date: Apr 2002
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Pinky, I also had the BN2A up to 17000 feet coming back to Kiunga from Kobuckma (Irian Jaya) had to cross the range around midday...not a good time to do that.
Not many aircraft that will take off with one pair of main wheels so blocked up with earth that they sledged the whole take off.
Still enjoyed those 3 years and 1800 hrs.
Anakid
Not many aircraft that will take off with one pair of main wheels so blocked up with earth that they sledged the whole take off.
Still enjoyed those 3 years and 1800 hrs.
Anakid
Chuckles...........might you be thinking of Eloaua?
We used to take 402's there and I cannot recall ever departing with an empty seat (or locker). Full-flap takeoffs were the only way.............
We used to take 402's there and I cannot recall ever departing with an empty seat (or locker). Full-flap takeoffs were the only way.............
Grandpa Aerotart
Dat's da ples
Particularly entertaining after rain when it got mighty slippery. Remember that lovely algae that grew on coastal strips? My technique there, in the 402, was to begin the takeoff roll with full power and 1st stage flap, with the nose wheel off and 'light' on the mains slap down the rest of the flap. The 402 pops into the air and after a very brief pause whip the gear up and accelerate towards all those speeds wot hav colours on
If an engine even farted you were in the water off the end.
Ahh the good old days
Chuckles
Particularly entertaining after rain when it got mighty slippery. Remember that lovely algae that grew on coastal strips? My technique there, in the 402, was to begin the takeoff roll with full power and 1st stage flap, with the nose wheel off and 'light' on the mains slap down the rest of the flap. The 402 pops into the air and after a very brief pause whip the gear up and accelerate towards all those speeds wot hav colours on
If an engine even farted you were in the water off the end.
Ahh the good old days
Chuckles
Chimbu and Chimbu. Have you ever wondered how mentally demented and vindictive an engineer must be to invent something like the Bongo Van? It certainly was the Pom's revenge on the Colonies!
Anakid, FL170 in a Bongo at midday, 6 degrees south of the Equator? You lucky lad - must have been a brand new 300HP and definately not made on a Friday before a long weekend!
Anakid, FL170 in a Bongo at midday, 6 degrees south of the Equator? You lucky lad - must have been a brand new 300HP and definately not made on a Friday before a long weekend!
Man Bilong Balus long PNG
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Looking forward to returning to Japan soon but in the meantime continuing the never ending search for a bad bottle of Red!
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Oh I dunno Torres, The time I had Simbu's Bongo SAC (ex DZ DNV I think) up at 17,000 would have been around 1300LMT and it was only a 260hp.
Remember I was IMC and there's a fair bit of rising air inside a good Cu!
Chuckles; Have you got any idea on what the altitude record for Bongos in PNG was?
You only live twice. Once when
you're born. Once when
you've looked death in the face.
Remember I was IMC and there's a fair bit of rising air inside a good Cu!
Chuckles; Have you got any idea on what the altitude record for Bongos in PNG was?
You only live twice. Once when
you're born. Once when
you've looked death in the face.
Grandpa Aerotart
Hmm...my personal bests were;
C185 - 14
C206T - 24
BN2 - 16+
c402 - mmmm not saying ut it was way up there
DHC6 - 25
DHC7 - 23 Notice the inconsistency?
A mate claims to 18.5 in a BN but deliberately flew into a CB to do it
I accidently flew into a CB one night in a BE65 near Lake Trist at 14100 and got spat out over 20... Not sure I'd do it deliberately
Speaking of 402s and innappropriate uses...remember crawling into Gonali (little east of Jac Bay) in a Twotter in something less than VMC when I heard one of our other pilots inbound to Gasmata in a 402 "Anybody else stupid enough to be near Gasmata this is..." Ahh South Coast New Britain wet seasons...good character building stuff
Torres I think, having owned a Pommy car for some years now (but for about 2 more weeks
) that the Bongo was actually a (comparitive) Pommy triumph. It did what it was (not) designed to do really well...mated with a similar undercarriage to a Partenavia it would have been a really good aircraft...a really loud aircraft, my hearing on the left side is permenently damaged despite wearing DCs every minute I flew one,...But you know that 
Chuckles.
C185 - 14
C206T - 24
BN2 - 16+
c402 - mmmm not saying ut it was way up there
DHC6 - 25
DHC7 - 23 Notice the inconsistency?
A mate claims to 18.5 in a BN but deliberately flew into a CB to do it
I accidently flew into a CB one night in a BE65 near Lake Trist at 14100 and got spat out over 20...
Not sure I'd do it deliberatelySpeaking of 402s and innappropriate uses...remember crawling into Gonali (little east of Jac Bay) in a Twotter in something less than VMC
when I heard one of our other pilots inbound to Gasmata in a 402 "Anybody else stupid enough to be near Gasmata this is..." Ahh South Coast New Britain wet seasons...good character building stuff Torres I think, having owned a Pommy car for some years now (but for about 2 more weeks
) that the Bongo was actually a (comparitive) Pommy triumph. It did what it was (not) designed to do really well...mated with a similar undercarriage to a Partenavia it would have been a really good aircraft...a really loud aircraft, my hearing on the left side is permenently damaged despite wearing DCs every minute I flew one,...But you know that Chuckles.
Last edited by Chimbu chuckles; 31st Oct 2003 at 14:52.