Flying today British Eagle DC-6

Thank you very much for replying and impressions on flying the 6. Are the ailerons heavy ? and do you get a marked nose down attitude lowering flap ? Sounds a real clean machine trying to reduce speed !
I understand the Heathrow visit was denied a landing slot. Lets hope for better days in 2009. How are you guys staying current after she goes in for maintenance later this month ?

Hi T-21, we have been busy during the last days with RedBulls-DC6, did some flights during the final days of Tempelhof/Berlin (the closure: a real shame and a wrong decision by wrong people) and some flights from Germany across the channel into Liverpool – however, back to our base, here some impressions about flying a DC6: the controls? even they are not hydraulically boosted (just by spring-tabs), they are not much heavier than on modern aircraft; and as the controls are absolutely direct working (no electronics) the a/c is also more direct on it`s controls! you just have to get used to some changes in pitch and trim, whenever you get gear or flaps down (no auto-trim), but with some experience it’s no problem, even on a “sharp” ILS-approaches! The right powersetting is the most critical (and unusual) thing, getting used to… Even you normally have a flight engineer onboard, who sets the power, it`s not permissible to reduce the power under a certain limit, so, on some approaches you have to think well ahead (and it takes at least 10 to 15 miles to bring the speed back from normal descent (about 230-270 knots) to the gear/flaps speed (170 knots); – no airbrakes!!!….-
Hope, that helps…. Sloper

Sloper,Thanks for the input can you give viewers a picture on flying the Dc-6 ? are the controls heavy ? Many thanks

Really sharp! Thought, my english sounded better 😉 however, austrian was allright – and the Eagle Crew ready for rock`n roll again! The two Sixes (RedBull and Eagle) 2gether??? – Very soon, from the 28th to the 30st October in Berlin, however the event is a sad one – the final days of Berlin Tempelhof….:mad:

Does anyone know if the DC-6 is doing or going to do revenue flights? Similar to what the DC-3’s did?

As the current flight deck crew are rubbish at German accents, I think this posting on THE SIX website might be a hint 😀

INNSBRUCK AIRPORT

Recalling a frequent destination from her Eagle years, G-APSA will once again be visiting the thrilling mountain destination of Innsbruck. G-APSA was a regular visitor in the 1960s, operating some of the earliest inclusive tours to the mountains. The DC6 team hopes to rekindle past friendships whilst demonstrating to a younger generation what it meant to travel by air in a gentler time.

The Innsbruck Airport Open Day takes place on 26 October with an expected audience of over 25,000 visitors from the vibrant local community. This year the event is supported by local TV station ORF Tirol, national media organisations and local businesses.

G-APSA then goes on the finale event at Tempelhof on October 30, so could have something to do with that too? 😉

Thanks T-21, that sounds about right. It would be good to see them both together at a display next year.

Red Bull operate a DC-6 out of Salzburg perhaps one of the crew being checked ?

I was crossing the ILS just after but unfortunately didn’t see it. (Perhaps that should be fortunately) The pilot in charge sounded as though he might have been German/Austrian. Doing a type rating perhaps?