MONDAY MAIL RUN #2: Philadelphia to New York

[Storm]

This is the second leg of our re-enactment of the first scheduled U.S. Air Mail service, that began on May 15, 1918, between Washington DC and New York. The first leg was described here. If you didn't get a chance to attend last week's flight, please read that thread first!

This week we'll be starting where we finished last week, at the intermediate stop that route made at Bustleton Field, Philadelphia. It's a much shorter flight than last week, so there will be no intermediate stop. However, when we get to our destination on Long Island, and after we've taken a break, we can go for a well-earned sightseeing tour around Manhattan!

Once again, we'll all be flying the Curtiss Jenny, as that's what was flown 96 years ago. However, next week when we leave New York on the first leg of our coast-to-coast transcontinental airmail route, we'll leave the Jenny behind and fly in something a little faster. (More details to come.)

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Week 2: Philadelphia to New York.

Depart: KPNE (Northeast Philadelphia). Closest airport to original departure from Bustleton Field.
Arrive: KLGA (La Guardia). Nearby airport to original arrival at Belmont Park racetrack (which we'll overfly prior to landing at KLGA).

Aircraft: Curtiss Jenny only.
The Jenny will fly, straight and level at sea-level, at only 67 knots max. It has:

No flaps. No brakes. No tailwheel. No lights. No ASI. No VSI. No turn coordinator.
No radio navigation. No GPS.

Available from the Vintage Hangar of Storm's Skydrive here with 12 liveries.

Scenery: default is good.
Scenery Complexity (Options > Settings > Display > Scenery): Do not set to "Very Sparse", or you will not see some waypoints. "Dense" or higher is recommended, to see waypoints at greater distances. Set as high as possible while maintaining reasonable frame rates. If your frame rate is a problem, reduce Autogen Density first, rather than Scenery Complexity, to boost frame rates.

VFR route: There is no GPS compatible flight plan available. We are not using GPSs!

• We will be steering using our compass, allowing for wind drift.
• We will be watching for landmarks to appear at certain times (so bring a clock or watch).
• We will also be following roads, railroads and rivers if appropriate.

You can download the following flight plan here.



You can download the following map here.

[Storm]

Reminder: tonight 9pm ET. Bring your Jenny! (Flight plan above.)
Important question. Please read and discuss during the flight...

After this week, we'll start celebrating the start of the Transcontinental Air Mail service, between New York and San Francisco, that began on September 8, 1920. My intention is to use pre-1932 civilian aircraft that can maintain around 100 knots (or more). There's a whole bunch of suitable airplanes on my Skydrive, including the Junkers F.13, the American licensed version of which - the JL-6 - was the plane that first landed at San Franscisco when the service was inaugurated.

Here's what we could do.

• EITHER (A): We all download and fly the same aircraft type each week. I'll post the type well in advance to allow for download and familiarization. It's possible we'll already have flown the type. It's also possible that I'll post a choice of type, taken from ones we've already downloaded.
• OR (B): We all fly what we want to, provided it's a pre-1932 civilian aircraft that can maintain around 100 knots.

The advantages of (A) are that:

• Everyone will be able to see each other's airplane, and there'll be no substitutions of inappropriate types.
• Everyone will automatically keep together as a group, as we'll all be flying similar speeds.
• I'll be able to specify the most appropriate speed aircraft choices for the flight as the legs are of different lengths. (The legs range from between 87 nmi for the evening, where we could return to the Jenny, to over 230 nmi, where a much faster WACO would be most appropriate.)

The disadvantages of (A) are that:

• You may sometimes end up flying aircraft that are not your personal favorite, perhaps more than once.
• It may feel a little dictatorial, though obviously that's not my intention.

We've already done (A) on week #1. Personally I think it was an outstanding success!

So please consider the above, and let's discuss it during tonight's flight. See you there!

EDIT AFTER THE FLIGHT:
AS A RESULT OF OUR DISCUSSIONS WHILE WE ALL FLYING, WE'VE DECIDED TO GO WITH OPTION (A).
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR INPUT!

[Lazerbolt]

Jenny pics!









Thanks for a great flight! Looking forward to next time.

[Storm]

Coast landing at LaGuardia...


4d orbiting the Chrysler building...

[Coast]

More shots to come.