Geert Rolf: The 737-200 is my favourite aircraft. I like it's shape very much. Memories go back to the early 70s. Once spotting planes on Schiphol, I saw a Lufthansa CityJet (737). They unfolded the frontdoor stairs unpatiently waiting for the gate to be connected. It must have been a model -100: very short, but full-width body (early 70s!). For obvious reasons it was nicknamed "fluf-fy" at Boeing: fat little ugly fellow.

I never digged into its fuel consumption and with the research program ahead I made a test flight from Amsterdam to Dublin. To avoid attention, I used the Ryanair livery.

It takes 2500 lbs from ground to FL370 and flying at .70 Mach burns 2200 lbs per hour. Amsterdam-Dublin (425nm) took 4993 lbs of fuel and 1:42 hours from gate to gate.

These figures will be the base for my fuel calculations for the African Tour.

Ron Blehm on his choice of historic jet: Job one was to find an airframe. Geert had dibs on the 732 so I was in the market for something close to those specs. (See table --->)

Finally I decided on the DC-9 in Aserca Airlines livery. While there are other DC-9s on the web I chose this one for my old friend Alejandro in Venezuela.

1. While airborne it is is not allowed to make contact with air tankers and refuel in air. This is strictly forbidden even for U.S. taxpayers.
2. As of December 2005, participants in Air Events, such as racing, are obliged to insure their aircraft, pax and payload properly for the event of disaster.
3. There is a penalty of $1,000,000 per dead animal on accidents with wildlife on or near the airfields. Penalties should be paid to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
4. Engine startup at 10 am local time at the airport of departure. Fly one leg per working day. Report the amount of fuel loaded.
5. Choose "Hot and Humid" weather theme.
6. Using the FlightPlans issued on this site.
7. Airspeed below FL100 is 250 KIAS max.
8. Reports with screenshots and/or movies to include time and fuel burn data.

My filed plan has me cruising at 35,000 feet and immediately upon reaching cruise I compare my fuel burn with my calculations. I had been figuring 4,300 pounds per hour and was showing an actual burn rate of around 5,500 pounds per hour, leaving me short. But, this 5,500 pounds included my time on the ground, my climb and my 10 miles of flying north before turning back to the VOR.

Addis, in central Ethiopia, sits at 7,626 feet ASL and with mid-day temps above 25*C this density altitude could be our first big challenge. I roughly follow the mighty Nile river south through the heart of Egypt crossing Luxor and Aswan along the way. Finally, with fuel in the tanks and 83 miles to go ATC directed me to prepare for approach from the east. After descending to 12,000 feet I turned downwind and a long base before setting up to hand-fly the ILS into runway 25R. VOR is 112.90 ILS is 110.30 @ 254* After a smooth landing, a bit long, ground directed me to Gate 6 where I shut down at 14:00:03. I still had 4,258+ pounds of fuel. Reworking the math now I calculated 5,094 pounds per hour through all stages of the flight. Also, this calculated down to 352 mph for the whole flight including taxi time. This would be the basis for my future calculations - but first, we shop for some family souvenirs.

I climbed out to FL370 in little over 20 minutes and burned the first 2800 lbs of fuel including the long taxi. We were cruising .73 Mach when we reached SEMRU waypoint.

Time to look around and relax. There were no other aircraft in the area and there was very little radio com on the way. The dessert seems endless. We had the Red Sea at the left hand and after Luxor and Aswan the surface changed. The green forests and the mountains of the African mainland appeared below us.

Between waypoints BD49 and BD we crossed Lake Tana in the middle of Ethiopia. More lakes to come on our tour to the Cape!

I had just calculated that we should descend 120nm from Bole Int. when the ATC came in on the radio to order our descent. We got a closer look of the beautiful African landscape when coming down.

We were assigned RW 25R and touched down after a smooth final approach. I flew the last 600 feet by hand. It was 13:27 when I parked near the Aserca DC-9 and powered down the engines. Time for a break. After finishing the post flight checklist we went to the shopping Mall of Addis Abeba to find our collegues of the DC-9 and join them for a drink.

905 miles at 350 mph rounds out to 2.6 hours
2.6 hours at 5,100 pounds per hour is 13,260 pounds
Adding 30 mins plus 5% of the total comes out to 16,120 pounds all told

Next day, with my 16,156 pounds of gas loaded, I fire up the engines and request pushback at 10:01 AM local time. I taxi back out to runway 25R where I am quickly cleared for take-off. I rotate off easily (picture 6) and once cleared to Center I turn left to pick up my route south. Considering the numbers from last time I set my cruise altitude for FL370 this time with a modest climb of 1,000 fpm - reaching cruise altitude at the LOV VOR. (picture 7) Speaking of routing, this time we fly jetway UA408 all the way to Kigali, Rwanda before turning briefly onto UB531 to Goma. I cross the Goma VOR at 21,000 feet and take a long, scenic downwind along the western shores of Lake Kivu before turning back onto the 360 radial inbound the Goma VOR (112.60). (picture 8) I shut down on the ramp across from the little terminal at 11:48 local time (picture 9) with the resulting numbers for the flight:

For the trip to Goma we loaded 18225 lbs of fuel. We powered up the engines at 10:00 sharp. Our assigned runway is 25R, but it beats me why the (MS) Tower directed us to the wrong end. We had to backtrack the runway. We reached FL370 by 10:24 with still 16NM to go to BENDO waypoint. Twelve minutes later we established the cruise speed of .73 Mach with 25 nm ahead to ETGOM waypoint. Fuel left in the tanks: 13814 lbs.

The hot and humid weather blocked a clear view of the ground surface every now and then. Fortunately we didn't miss the beautiful lakes on our way. I don't know if the naming is accurate, as I use old maps. We first passed Lake Rudolf, south-west of Addis Abeba and the very big lake is Victoria Lake, east of Goma. The approach to Goma unvealed Lake Kiwoe or Kivu.

Near NN waypoint the wingtanks got empty and only the centre tank was in operation. After passing ALTIN waypoint at 11:54 we were directed to lower altitute and different heading. Descent had started and we made a visual approach and a soft touch-down at Goma Int. Airport.

Burn Rate looks like we could come down a bit, we'll call it 5,200 pounds per hour GS looks like we could increase that a bit to 350 mph Time to destination = Call it 3.5 hours Total fuel needed = 18,200 pounds (watch this number carefully folks) Alternate is like, Port Elizabeth so I'm gonna load an extra hour of gas, rounded up to 23,200.

This time I take 500 pounds out of EACH wing because there are actually TWO wings.and I only need to loose about 1,000 pounds total. Then I fire up the engines at 09:59 and request taxi back out to runway 28. I hand flew the left turn over the falls expecting to pick up my route south from there but my first waypoint is the Livingstone VOR and once I select GPS-mode with AP NAV the plane turns back north to pick up the VOR - there goes my burn rate right out the door!

Finally through 15,000 feet I'm on route for South Africa. The flight itself was calm, smooth and quiet, little traffic down south here and 3 hours later I begin my descent without Fighter escort. As I'm coming in over Sommerset West I encounter my first traffic, a 777 on finals. ATC takes me on a long downwind out over Shark Bay before turning back for runway 1. I fly the ILS due to some low-lying haze but turn off Otto at about 6 miles DME hand-flying the landing.

Shut down at the gate is at 13:21 after 3.3 hours. This gives me 363 mph average speed. I have 5,812 pounds of gas left meaning that I burned 17,388. (see, loading 18,200 would have been perfect!)

Around 10:29 we reached FL370 and four minutes later we flew at .73 Mach. The lakes on the way were less impressive than the ones we've seen before. It appears we entered dryer parts of Africa.

Not far from ANVIS waypoint we got escorted by an old F4 Phantom. When you first notice a figher at your wing, you quickly check your transponder code and other possible reason why the Air Force has scrambled and hunted your airplane. Later we heard the F-4 came from Langebaanweg AB and the interception was intended as a welcome to the final leg in the race.

About 120 nm from Cape Town we were ordered to descent and we approached Cape Town airport over the water on final for Runway 1. After a 3 hours 19 minutes flight the Boeing gently touched down on the runway. Fuel left: 6014 lbs, so we burned: 18324 lbs. That's 5525 lbs/hr with average speed of 361 nm/hr.

Time for some sight seeing the cape, where centuries in the past Dutch tall ships made a break on their long journeys. The DC-9 has arrived as well and they did a faster final leg. The fuel burn of the DC-9 comes closer to that of the B732 when flying faster. No surprise as the engines are of similar type and power.