MaxSez: One thing I alway read on the Forum is a Trip Report Narrative! The Pilot or Controller who can express his joy of Flight operations always get my BZ. So have at it folks tell us a tail…Your adventures make my day. Particularly now that I’m bunkered down. Have at it;
July 2015… Library Extract; Flight Log revisited:
MaxSez: Flew the Dirt Fields up in Northwest Washington State (Seattle) early yesterday at BMNT. The Caravan & I love “Bush” flying.
The area I chose was IMC, (check the METARS always) ILS Cat-1 in some spots. Short Fields & Finals. The ability to reverse the prop in this fine machine on recovery saved the day up on and near the Horse Farm. No ATC working the Region at the time so I missed out on a SeaTac go with services. In the Evening with the Sun Setting in West again in my Caravan (Quality007) it was an Antilles run, (I visited these island back in the day, Spectacular and friendly if you got a lot of tourist money). A numbers builder flight, long legs, Direct, Grand Case via Grande Ance with a recovery at the Jewel, 260 smiles. No ATC out of Sint Maarten going South but Antigua was operating the Tower, Reqested a “Transition” at 20 miles out, Cleared at FL-045 (The ATC gets it). Did the reciprocal off Grande Ance and backtracked. As I motored North I noted a 747 (Pilot: Commaro) dogging my track. Watch him in the radar as he dumped it to make a gun run on me, I was odviosly in his bore sight. I sucked him down and he obliged. Knew if I got low and slow he’d lose it if he continued his hi speed plunging run on me. i got down to FL-002, watched him track lock on me. I switched cameras to plane form and watched him loose it. Here he came, 300+kt in a steep dive in a 747, what a sight. This big lumbering ox got bigger and bigger. Commaro must of realized he was out of the envelope and attempted to pull up at about FL-020. His stall warning must have broke his ear drums. The next thing I saw was a 747 spiraling down tail first, Splash. I forgot to work the camera, a classic photo which would have hit the lead page! Back up to altitude motoring North I watched Commaro reconstitute as a fighter on Ance, here he came same old maneuver he quit, when I went low, lesson learned, he went up to the Jewel, from the plot it looked like he did low level high energy runs over the runway at the Jewel which was crowded with Trash Haulers, Tower & Approah were open for biz. I’m sure the Tower guy has a Camarro story or two. Still going North a Transition at FL-045 from Antigua Tower with a Hand off, (Thank You Antigua Tower, he/she knows “Transition” is not a dirty word). Contacted The Jewels Approch at 30 miles, Handed Off smartly, Tower Came up, with a “Continue in Bound”. I flew a Pattern Approach for 10 for a 3 mi Short Final after a right brake. Tower cleared me with out a prompt. Happy Landing. Warm Regards to the ATC’ s this day, you got it goin!
Mad Max Sends (Remember Aviators “Talk with their Hands” and use a lot of Jargon. Can’t follow the theme here, Google it and remember PAPI is not your GranDad, LOL)