MONDAY MAIL RUN #13: Salt Lake City to Elko (PRESIDENT'S ORDERS!)

[Storm]

We're fast forwarding to 1934. President Roosevelt has suspended airmail contracts and ordered the US Army Air Corps to deliver the mail. The Boeing P-12 fighters they used at first couldn't really do the job, each able to carry only 50 pounds of mail from Salt Lake City. Douglas O-38 and Douglas O-25C observation biplanes, borrowed from the National Guard, were scarcely better at 160 pounds.

Luckily, the army has an order in with de Havilland in the UK for their new Dragon Rapide biplane, which can carry 1,500 pounds of mail at a time. We have the first models from the production line, and Lieutenant Colonel Henry H. Arnold has ordered us to use them right away.

Week 13: Salt Lake City, UT to Elko, NV via Wendover, UT. (Note the original flights did not normally stop at Wendover; that is just for our convenience.) Depart: KSLC (Salt Lake City International). Original 1920s airmail departure airport, then called Woodward Field. Fast cruise at 5,000 feet, 2,350 RPM (Rapide), about 130 mph. Intermediate stop: KENV (Wendover). Fast cruise at 6,500 - 7,500 feet, 2,350 RPM (Rapide), 120 - 125 mph. Arrive: KEKO (Elko Regional). Original 1920s airmail destination. Aircraft: de Havilland DH89A Dragon Rapides and Boeing Monomails only (your choice which). Both aircraft are my OneDrive, in the Vintage hangar. Remove all the passengers from the Rapide before flight. (Set their weights to zero). Flight plan: Following Interstate I-80. Maps and more details here.

[Storm]

It's 1934. While we're flying over the Bonneville Salt Flats at just 130 mph, Sir Malcolm Campbell will be preparing to break the world land speed record there at over 300 mph in his car Bluebird. And he'll achieve that the following year. This painting by Scottish artist Jack Vettriano shows the car in preparation...



(In 2007, the original painting of Vettriano's "Bluebird at Bonneville" was sold at auction in London for more than $1,200,000.)

You can even buy a poster of this from Amazon by clicking here, and msFlights will get a small kickback!

Or you can go to the msFlights store at Amazon by clicking here:
Or go to the msFlight.net Store on this website, here.

[Coast]

Back in 2007 I attended the EAA AirVenture Air Show, and shot a couple pictures of an aircraft that looks like the one in you put in the event thread. To me it looks like the same aircraft.





-Coast

[Storm]

Yes this seems like another Airco DH-4, but the plane in your photograph is actually an Atlantic DH-4M2A, built in conjunction with Fokker, and owned by the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum in Saint Louis. DH-4s abound in old photos as they were used extensively for US airmail after the Jenny was mothballed.

There were many DH-4 variants, and the speed of fastest ones was midway between the Ford Trimotor and the Monomail. I would like to have used them for the Monday Mail Run: I did find one, for which I eventually sorted out almost every problem, including a transparent fuselage, but got stuck when the engine wouldn't restart after being turned off.

[Storm]

Our progress so far.

[Storm]

Detailed flight plan and maps, if you need them (though we will just be following the road).

[Waterman981]

Enjoy the open airspace. In a few years if you go far to the north or to the south and you'll end up in restricted airspace, and be shot down by the Army Air Force...

Of course KENV doesn't exist in 1934 either, so I guess you are ok all around.

One thing of note for KENV is it was the training base for the Enola Gay and Bockscar, the two B-29's that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan at the end of WWII.

[Storm]

Yes indeed to all of that. Of course the airmail flights went direct between SLC and Elko, though I guess if pilots needed a bathroom break they just landed on the salt flats at Bonneville (avoiding the high speed cars ). The stop at Wendover is just for our non-professional convenience, and it's exactly halfway with nothing else suited.

And, as you've noticed, it's good for stories, as anyone visting Wendover's nice historic website will see. I normally mention relevant historic local trivia as we go along. However, perhaps you'd like to join us on Monday and fill that role, at least for Wendover; there are certainly main interesting stories about the place.

[Waterman981]

I'll see what I can do... I generally am not free to get on until about 10 PM ET after I put my boy to bed. I won't be able to fly along as all my controls are packed up, but if I make it in early enough I may be able to talk with you all.

[Storm]

PILOTS NOTES - DRAGON RAPIDE

• REAL LIFE AIRPLANE
• FSX AIRPLANE (supplied in Storm's Vintage Hangar)
• HOW TO FLY THE RAPIDE/DOMINIE
• DIAGRAMS and SCREENSHOTS

REAL LIFE AIRPLANE

Variants
Dragon Rapide: civilian version, pronounced "ra-PEED".
Dominie: military version, pronounced "DOM-in-ee".
Floats version also available.

US use
Cargo, airmail and military only.
Not authorized for civil passenger use, despite two engines, as only one pilot.

US survivors (2014)
N2290B, N8053, N89DH, N683DH, N1934D.

FSX AIRPLANE (supplied in Storm's Vintage Hangar)

Variants
Wheels: 15 liveries, all British registration.
Floats: 1 livery, Canadian registration.

Tail number
Change as normal.
* Free Flight: Details button in Select Aircraft menu.
* Multiplayer: Current Aircraft/Details or ATC Name buttons.
Visible with Shift+2 ASI and Shift+1 panel.

Visibility
Very good when taxiing and on approach, as compared to the Monomail.
Central window strut avoidable with TrackIR (or add rudder momentarily).

Engine noise
The Gypsy Six engines are quite loud but they do sound authentic.
(Much louder than the quiet Monomail, as it has two very close engines.)
You may need to adjust your volume.

Gear, props and flaps
Gear is fixed.
Props are fixed.
Flaps are up/down only. 90 mph limiting speed. (White arc Shift+2 ASI).

Hide Yoke
Click on upper left knob in Virtual Cockpit.

Display magnetic compass or GPS
Click on upper left switch in Virtual Cockpit.

ASI
There is a wrap-around ASI on the dash (mph only).
The Shift+2 ASI may be more useful (mph primary) and can be left on-screen.

Autopilot/autothrottle
Herbert Pralle type.
Separate activation of autothrottle and autopilot.
NAV/GPS switch on Comms radio box (pilot's left).
Autopilot is rapid and accurate. Counter any slip with rudder.
Autothrottle is gentle and accurate. Units are mph.

Turn and slip gauge
Reid and Sigrist type, very popular on British airplanes of the era.
Add rudder, paying attention to top needle (in pilot's sight line).

Popups
Shift+1: 2D cockpit (minus autopilot)
Shift+2: Colored ASI and tailnumber (semi-transparent so can be left on screen), see below.
Shift+3: GPS (Garmin 500 with radar capability).
Shift+4: Not used.
Shift+5: Switch panel.
Shift+6: Comms radio (minus NAV/GPS switch) and transponder.
Shift+7: Throttle/mixture/carb heat.
Shift+8: Magnetic compass.
Shift+9: FSX icons.

HOW TO FLY THE RAPIDE/DOMINIE

Loading
Remove passengers by setting their ALL their weights to zero.
Removing passengers allows extra airmail and faster cruise speed.
With no passengers and full fuel, up to 1,500 lbs of cargo/airmail can be carried.

Taxiing
Very easy with good visibility.
Maneuvers well just with the rudder/tailwheel.
Differential braking is available.

Takeoff
Flaps up. Full throttle. Rotate at green up arrow (Shift+2 ASI, see below).

Climb
Best climb is at the green double arrow (Shift+2 ASI, see below).

Cruise
Keep in green arc (Shift+2 ASI, see below).
Normal/economy: 1900 RPM.
Fast: 2350 RPM.
RPM gauges are like electrical meters, bottom right of dash.
Watch Ts and Ps (Temperatures and Pressures).
Keep in balance by checking turn and slip.

Descent
Best glide is at the green double arrow (Shift+2 ASI, see below).

Approach
Refer to Shift+2 ASI, see below.
Slow to white arc.
Flaps down and counter the substantial increased drag with extra throttle.
Initial approach no higher than dotted blue line, no slower than solid blue line.
Final approach at solid blue line.

Landing
Both flying-on and 3-point landings work well.
("Flying-on" lands main gear first, and lands tail wheel separately afterward.)
ABS is not fitted as standard and is off by default. There is no indication whether it's on or off.
If you do choose to use key mapped ABS, be careful of nose-over at end of landing roll.

DIAGRAMS and SCREENSHOTS

• Forward cockpit main panel
• Forward cockpit main panel with yoke hidden and GPS installed
• ASI popup (Shift+2)
• Left cockpit
• Right cockpit

Click on the pictures for full-size (where available)

[Storm]

Reminder! Bring your Rapides or Monomails to KSLC at 9pm ET. Pilot's notes for the Rapide are in the post preceding this one. (I'll be flying the Rapide.) We're flying to Elko via Wendover and the Bonneville Salt Flats, two famous places.

As well as being on the Transcontinental Airmail Route, Elko was the destination of the first commercial route in 1926. But the President Roosevelt changed all that in 1934. Find out why and how on the flight tonight!

[4d]

=)

[Prdude62]

Here Are My Pictures Of The Mailrun .http://imgbox.com/g/xr5p4oLP2l

[Kenos1223]

[Coast]

Just a couple of screenshots from last night's Monday Mail run in the Dragon Rapide.










Bonus material: Dragon Rapide photographed at an airshow in 2010



-Coast