Hi!
As the title says, I'll combine the three best things in aviation: Long haul, Soviet planes and supersonic travel. To make it even more realistic, I flew from Moscow to Havana (and to subtract from the realism, I flew a plane painted in Qantas colours with in-flight refuelling
)
Anyway, here is my report, with images and everything!
8:30: On the gate in Moscow, the doors have just closed and the engines are starting. You can see the nose and the canards deployed. The plane is heavily loaded with fuel for the almost 6000 mile flight.
Waiting for departure at runway 25L. Aeroflot is now flying with those modern European cans, my plane is better.
Full throttle with afterburners. The plane accelerated past 200 knots at the end of the runway - reached 100 in no time. Imagine the G's!
The beauty of this plane! Climbing to cruise level, fl400. It was meant to be fl550, but problems with the autopilot made me fly lower.
Sun is going down. Currently at Mach 2.05
And further down. Who would have thought to see the sunset just a couple of hours after sunrise?
Second sunrise today. I am flying above the Gulf of Mexico (between, descending towards Havana.
Yup, that's Cuba! I am lining up for rwy 6
What a beautiful aircraft, toogether with a Caribbean sunrise. Approaching Havana, but still at high speed - the canards are still retracted.
Lowering the nose while passing a Cuban Air Force base.
Almost there, almost there!
Touchdown!
Arrived at gate at 6:30 local time, after a flight time of around five hours.
I hope you enjoyed my sparse flight log. You are welcome to ask questions or comments.
Where should I go next? What Soviet plane to use?
