My First RTW : Leg 4

Well, having paid some homage to the GA side of things I personally am ready for some more thrills now. I hop out of the Cheyenne and run to my next plane, the Boeing 727. Again it is United Airlines. Did I think that the "fun" was about to start? Having never flown the 727 or this panel I had to take a few minutes to find everything but soon enough I had a flight plan loaded in for Dallas, Texas and was pushing back.

After a bit of struggle I got the engines to fire and I turned toward the taxiway. I had barely begun my taxi out when thenumber two engine quit. I slowed to a stop and attempted restart. No joy. In the midst of trying to get number two to cooperate I lost number three. Just as suddenly number two started but I lost number one. I restarted three by the same technique I had used on two only to have number two die again! AARRRGGGGGHHH!

Well, I'm no ATP, we've determined that already! I also don't take a lot of time to run a "Cockpit Simulator" in that the few minutes I get per week to play I want to be in the air! Also, I have a long way to go so ... I get back on FlightSim.Com and quickly find a new,simpler 727-compatible panel. Now nearly two hours behind my planned schedule I am airborne out of Springs.


The climb rate is less than most others I have done but so long as I don't try for 1000 fpm she does fine. Up to cruising altitude I take the chance to look at the Dallas weather, and it's ugly. Thunderstorms are pounding the area and windshears are all around. Frankly, I don't feel confident in this plane nor with this panel to try that! At 5:30 PM I set up a big arcing hold somewhere up over the panhandles and decide to wait it out.

Finally at just before 7:00 PM Dallas time I am ready to take her in! As I drop down through varying layers of cloud, wind and rain I am buffeted all about. The lower I get the more severe the turbulence. My airspeed indicator is all over the place and that little turn indicator bubble is bouncing off the walls. I swear that I can hear virtual puking back there! There is no way that the autopilot is holding this thing so I disengage and try my best to keep something of a heading. Finally I ... intercept? the ILS at 13 miles. Well, I get sorta close to the ILS at 13 miles and "follow" it down. There is no backing off on the throttles at all or I get a stall horn. I click down a few flap notches and lower the gear at five miles. Just then I break out from the clouds and go visual. By now I am sweating bullets and am sure that I can hear those virtual passengers screaming! Boy, do I have a whole new respect for ATPs now! I slam the 727 down at just a hair over 200 knots and pop those spoilers. After pealing my hand from the stick and throttle controls I limp off the plane and search for a bed. That last leg should've been worth a full day's pay!