Simon Brooke wrote:
> Dear All
>
> Not quite the usual report, but I had the enormous pleasure of flying on
> DC-7B N836D from Opa-Locka to Oshkosh on Sunday morning and, with the
> permission of the Moderators, I'd like to pass on all the information I have
> so that as many as possible can enjoy the experience of flying on this
> superb aircraft (and, by doing so, keep her in the air!).
>
> After many years "resting" at St. Paul, MN, the aircraft was ferried to
> Florida in late 2004. After nearly 6 years of work, she flew again on
> Independence Day, July 4 2010.
>
> Having already arranged a holiday to the US to have a week pottering around,
> then to "do" Oshkosh, I noticed a brief report on the EAA website and
> followed it through to discover that the Historic Flight Foundation, which
> operates the DC-7B, was planning to fly it from Opa-Locka to Oshkosh on
> Saturday 24 July and was selling seats on the flight.
>
>
> After 7 years of working with DC3s and DC6s at Air Atlantique, I am only too
> well aware of the trials and tribulations of operating round-engined
> aircraft so I booked a return flight with AA from Chicago to Miami (just in
> case!).
>
> The public front of the HFF is provided by Carol and Roger Jarman and their
> daughter Betsy. They run the model shop near Miami International and were
> overwhelmingly helpful in making sure that my trip went to plan.
>
> On arrival at my Hotel in Miami on Friday evening, I received a message from
> Carol that there was a 24-hour delay on the departure from OPF. No big deal
> - at least it wasn't a cancellation! So, at 05:30LT on Sunday morning,
> Carol kindly picked me up from the hotel and ran me out to OPF, picking up
> the catering en-route.
>
> At Opa-Locka, all was almost under control - shortly after we got there, two
> Avgas bowsers turned up to refuel the aircraft. As you can imagine,
> refuelling a DC-7 takes a wee bit longer than refuelling a Cessna 172!
> However everything finally came together, and we boarded the aircraft and
> found seats.
>
> Once the four R-3350s were running (start up accompanied by the traditional
> clouds of smoke), we taxied at 07:52 and, after power checks, lined up on
> Opa-Locka's runway 09L. At 08:05 we levitated (Douglas pistons don't take
> off, they levitate!). After a gentle climb-out over Miami Beach we turned
> to the north and continued the climb to our cruising altitude of 8,000 feet.
>
> Take-off was a relief as, thanks to FAA requirements, the original hat-racks
> have been removed; with the hat-racks went the air vents. Taxiing out at
> OPF was a rather hot and sweaty affair but, once airborne, the cabin settled
> down to a very comfortable temperature.
>
> The cabin interior is superb; thanks to the aircraft scrapping operations at
> OPF, the foundation has access to lots of bits from the DC-7's younger
> relatives so the seats (2+2) and the two lavatories were out of DC9s and
> MD80s. The two main doors even have inflatable evacuation slides!
>
> The service on board was great - there were three Cabin Attendants for the
> 30 passengers on this flight and the service would put many big-airline
> business classes to shame.
>
> It took a mere 5 hours 25 minutes to trundle up to Oshkosh, in a clear blue
> sky with a layer of puffy cumulus clouds below us to add a bit of interest
> to the views. Following our descent we carried out a fly-past at OSH before
> a right-hand visual circuit to a greaser on Oshkosh's runway 36L at 12:30
> central.
>
> The full details of the aircraft, including video of the first flight on
> July 4, can be found at:
>
http://www.n836d.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
>
> ....which also has details of future flying plans and links to the sales
> site for booking flights. The foundation is being careful about future plans
> as it's so early in the aircraft's new life, but I am assured that there
> will be more opportunities to fly on her in the future.
>
> Please feel free to forward this to any other mailing lists or people who
> might be interested.
>
> Cheers Simon
> ================================
> Simon Brooke, Jersey
>
simon.brooke1954@yahoo.co.uk
>
http://www.simon-brooke.co.uk/gallery" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
> ================================
>
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