Amateur Radio Newsline headlines for Ham Nation. June 7, 2017.

He is not shown on flightradar24.com for some reason..

 

Good eyes! Be aware its a turbocharged engine. The Mooney forum discussions indicate many prefer running up around 2600 RPM, especially at higher FL's (he is at 24.4 now), to help maintain low enough inter-cooler temperature. More strokes, more mass air flow.

Brian has stated on FaceBook that engine monitoring and constant tweaking for optimum power / efficiency / safety take up the bulk of his work load and time during cruise. Along with ATC updates, it limits his OTA time and energy for hams. Self-spotting be damned, it's truly the "Single Op, Non-Assisted" category in this contest

 

Probably out of range of radar now. He's in dark territory. The reason why HF comms for ATC (and/or SAT data) is so important.

 

Whew! There's a new ping on the Live Tracking Map now, 16:48Z, still FL 24+, on course, more or less. Slight deviation to north from direct Dakar. Wonder if he is dodging thunderstorms.

I have heard some ALE and SSB action on 14.346 MHz but its been too weak to make out the conversation. I heard somebody calling WB6RQN, but not sure if contact was made with him or somebody else.

 

Eeew. The Africa Satellite WX map isn't all that pretty in the area Brian is entering right now. There is quite a line of nasty looking tropical build-ups for him to cross through,

https://weather.com/maps/satellite/europe-africaweathermap

Hope that Stormscope is functioning well.

 

Here's the GPS tracking site: http://projectameliaearhart.org/tracker/map.php

 

DOH! there's another ping! Right on sked, 10 minutes later. And he is back on a more direct course to Dakar! Hoo ahh!

 

Bonnie/KQ6XA is the only operator that has spotted Brian on DXSummit.fi today.

 

Copied on Canary Islands web receiver.

 

Just over 8 hours down, should be about 4 hours/600 miles to go...

 

Brian's HF position report in mid-Atlantic talking to Dakar Air Traffic Control station, as copied on 13357.0 kHz by Cedric F4GFZ:
http://projectameliaearhart.org/wp/..._Dakar_received_in_France_by_Cedric_F4GFZ.mp3

 

Did he say ETA is 2020z ?

 

I think he was giving an ETA to a specific Aero waypoint.

 

It could have been for Dakar if he's been cruising @ 175 mph...

What was his anticipated total flight time for the 1,840 miles from Natal to Dakar ?

 

ETA at Dakar 09 June 2017 at 22:00 UTC