Majuro - Guam 27.05.2010
A little maintenance day under the (heavy) sun of Majuro, we have worked and laugh a lot especially when the oil canister escaped my hand to spray its content, helped by 20 kts of wind, just about everywhere on WYB except in the oil tank ! Later Francisco has tested the capacity of his auxiliary fuel tank by generously having it overfilled inside the plane, mechanics and us !
Our 3 sectors of 15 hours are behind us and with them the maximum overload takeoff and that’s very good news ! Those takeoffs in heavy overload are really the critical part of the flight and leaves very little margin in normal conditions, if you add night, wind, temperatures and humidity one must be very concentrated and precise : Flaps 0, all check completed, line up, use every metre, wind check, 4‘000 RPM on the brakes, release, max RPM check, accelerating, 110 km/h slow rotation, aircraft takes off, 1‘000 metres of runway, wing level, slip ball centered, acceleration in ground effect, 150 km/h, back pressure, climbing, 600 meters of runway, keep the axis, 150 km/h, 200 ft/min, no more runway, carry on, obstacle in sight, 10 degrees left, clear, 500 feet, breathing…
Later we had to find our way around a quite active cloud mass but once cleared, the Pacific Ocean renow with its reputation and the calm is back :-)
"Adventure is worthwhile in itself." Amelia Earhart
Yannick
