UK WORLDFLIGHT 2011

The Final Flight and Cake Cutting

To end a Perfect WorldFlight Speedbird 744 was part of the Final Stunt that all the Official teams do on their return to Sydney ... this year we flew low and fast over Sydney Airport turn left into the Harbour , fly under the Harbour Bridge and perform 2 Barell rolls followed by a touch and go and final landing .... all this takes a lot of co-ordinating with Air Traffic control having to pick off the Official teams for the arrival and also stopping landings and takeoffs at Sydney as we fly by.

Here is a Video of the Highlights of the Last Flight, Bridge Run and Cake Cutting

After 1 week of continuing flying covering 45 flights and 43,000 miles Speedbird 744 was finally shut down on the same stand she started from and was given a weeks rest before flying customers again in her normal day job :)

The crew gathered for the "cutting of John's 10th Anniversary Cake" ... it seemed such a great shame to cut it as it was awesome ! and it looked a bit forlorn like it had been sent to the Scrap Heap .... but he he , it tasted delicious , the remaining crew gathered in front of an "All Pink" flight board with all flights crossed off signifying our success !

The Cutting of the Cake ... Looks like its at the Scrap Yard ! :(

The Flight board after the last flight, all flights crossed off in Pink

A perfect WorldFlight, all flights completed and no big crashes ! :)

The last crew on site (Left to Right)

(Back) John Davis (Me) Andrew "Granville" "Elvis" Harrison

(Middle) Dominic Mahon

(Front) Malcolm Wood and Andy Keeney

We have just a little more money to come in but so far we raised £1,750 for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance which is based here in Coventry. We would just like to thank all of you who donated and encourage you spare a few coins if you have not already done so as it is still not too late !
http://www.justgiving.com/teams/ukworldflight

After the Crew left I read all the wonderful comments they wrote on the Flight board as is now becoming a custom .... Thanks Guys , it was a pleasure flying with you .... roll on next year !!!

"The Wonder of You"

The Crew of Speedbird 744 just love to make Funny Videos, the ideas normally come in a flash in the wee small hours, and we are surprisingly quick at making them, as we approached the end of WorldFlight we decided to make one about Elvis flying into Memphis, we found the song, changed the words, downloaded a Karaoke version, practised, sang the song, filmed edited and completed it it 2 hours ! Staring the Long Suffering Andrew "Granville" Harrison as Elvis and sung by John Davis we think it's a masterpiece :) I just want to thank Andrew for being a great Sport ! ....You can find the Video at the base of this Post We hope you like it :) if you want to sing along here are the words ....

When no one else can understand me,

And everything I do is wrong

But When I push the Bloody Buttons

I hear the Wailers like a song ...

And it plunges down,

Toward the ground

Till Andy pulls me through

That’s the wonder,

The wonder of you.

Every time I do a Takeoff

The Plane is always on the Stall

But when I pull back on the column

The Stick Shaker starts to roar ...

And it plunges down,

Toward the ground

Till Malcolm pulls me through

That’s the wonder,

The wonder of you.

And it plunges down,

Toward the ground

Till Big John pulls me through

That’s the wonder,

The wonder of you.

Granville tries on the Wig and Glasses to get into character

The Elvis Suit was borrowed from my brother at VERY short notice ! ... Thanks Martin !

John sorts out the headset to sing the sing at Full Blast at 4 am !!!!

Granville all dressed and ready to go ...

Newcomer Dom looks on and wonders what he has got himself into joining our Crew !

Uh - Hu ... Elvis is in the Simulator !

Granville along with three crew members sing the song to the music

played on a mobile phone to try and get the lip-syncing right ... hmmm didn't work well LOL

John Edits the Video for Final release ! ... its still before 6 am !

Granville playing the guitar along with other crew members acting as backing singers

in what we liked to call the "Whoo Whoo" filming !

AND HERE IS THE FINISHED PRODUCT ..... ENJOY !

A Fighter Escort from Shadow's 1 and 3 !!!

As we flew into Perth Captain Roddy Maddocks and FO Andrew "Granville" Harrison were joined by 2 online pilots (John Cronan and his friend) flying F18 Fighter Jets, they flew alongside and took photos which they sent to us .... unfortunately as they did not fly in front of our plane the crew did not actually see them outside of the windows :( ... Hopefully they will fly by next time. Many thanks for the Photos and the Support Guys !

Shadow 1 creeps up behind Speedbird 744 as seen from Shadow 3 off our right wing

The red lettering identifies the aircraft, we are BAW744

The View from Shadow 1

Speedbird 744 appears in the Gun sight .... Gulp !!!

Phheewww ! ... they realise we are Friendly !

Shadow 1 stands off our left wing

Our 747 looks beautiful in these Air to Air Shots doesn't she ?

Shadow 1 and Speedbird 744 seen from Shadow 3

Beautiful Picture ! .... Thanks Guys !

Shadow 1 moves above us for another view

Another great picture, Speedbird 744, Shadow 1 and the Moon seen from Shadow 3

Flightdeck Visitors

During the event we have a few Flightdeck visitors, they are usually amazed at the Accuracy of the Simulator and spend a long time watching, most wanting to stay on board for the landing ... they are amazed by the Weather, the Air Traffic control which they can hear in the headsets we let them wear. The crews love to have visitors as it lets them explain their hobby and show off the parts of the aircraft. As well as the Simulator we also show them around the flight planning and Flight Dispatch areas as well to give them an overall view of the event.

The Visitors love to have their photo taken sitting in the Captains seat which is allowed during the Cruise.

Our earliest visitor this year Was Phil who made a lot of the Lighted Panels in the Simulator,
I had a text at around Midnight asking if he could visit, I answered yes of course thinking he meant during the week and then I was astonished 2 hrs later when he texted to say he was 10 minutes away ... He had driven down from Preston Lancashire to Coventry (Around 2½hrs) stayed for 2hrs then drove home to go to work the next day !! ... such is the excitement of WorldFlight !! ... Thanks Phil :)

Malcolm's friend Angie listens to Air Traffic Control in the Captains Seat

Martin Katie and Jan watch our "Captain Raggaman" Video in the Dispatch area

Katie (8 years) enjoys her time in the Simulator and was particularly

taken with Sunrise on the way into Curtain (Australia)

Katie (Pictured above) was so impressed with the Simulator that she told her school friends all about it when asked "If anyone did anything exciting at the weekend" ... during her visit she was so taken with our Idntity cards that I decided to do one for her and make her an "Junior Pilot"
She was so pleased she sent us two Thank you letters, one to me and one to the crew ... awww that's so sweet thank you Katie ! xx

Dawn Departure

One of the nice things to witness is Dawn or Dusk in the Simulator , particularly a Dawn Departure when it starts at Night on the Stand and gradually gets light as you depart, here are some pictures of one such departure with Andy and Malcolm, I think its Prestwick (Scotland to Goteborg (Sweden) or as they swapped a few flights around to cover for tiredness it could also be Baranquilla (Columbia) to Aguadilla (Puerto Rico) ... You decide ! :)

Andy and Malc prepare for flight you can see dawn breaking in the sky ahead

Almost ready for departure

Malc reads the Checklist

Andy at Sunrise

Sunrise

Nearly Daylight again :)

Quetta Approach

The Approach into Quetta was particularly Interesting for Captain John Davis and FO Roddy Maddocks, being at Night with High Ground all around it had to be carefully done ... Not having a lot of sleep didn't help much with John being confused as to which runway we were using until fairly late into the approach ... Luckily he had briefed the right one !

John and Roddy Brief the Approach

An the descent the "Descent Arc" touches the Fix Circle to form a " Q" for Quetta :)

We go Thataway ! ... John gets confused !

Webcam Chat during the flight ... The Camera stopped working and left

Roddy's Friend "Ghostrider" Hanging !

Roddy reads the Checklist

Doing a routine Re-set of the Simulator after landing at Quetta

Crowded Flightdeck

It doesn't matter what time of the day or night it is, the Crew always love to be on the Flightdeck for Takeoff and Landing with Cameras Clicking and Video Cameras Rolling you can be sure if you mess it up it will be well documented ! The flightdeck will accommodate up to four people at a time here are some of the Crew enjoying the flying ...