At Kunduz, one of our out stations, it was +39 today. Just a little bit ridiculous for those who aren't used to such temperatures. So much so that the APU and Air Cycle Machines in the airplane can barely keep up. We depart, and the "Duct Temperature" is still in the low 30's
Man, I hope this new airplane can keep up... Only time will tell... It's only going to get hotter. The incredible thing is we're at over a Mile of Altitude. 5880 ft in Kabul. Oddly enough, we're actually forecasting hotter temperatures than Jalalabad which is a full 4000 ft LOWER!
Tomorrow we have a 5 hour hold in a destination that will be +46!!! UGH That APU doesn't have a hope in those temperatures. Window shades will NEED to go in to try to keep the sun out as much as we can.
It was a few days of Large Aircraft hanging around and flying around. Here's a couple of shots of a C-17 Globemaster III Departing Kabul.
There's no better way to describe these next photos... Let's call them, "In the Belly of The Beast!"
These are the pictures from the flight deck of an Antonov AN-12. Talk about a step back in time, and a STEP UP!
The cockpit has a giant well in the middle going to a glass nose where the navigator sits. Because of this, there is no center pedistal. The power levers for the engines are on the outside, and each pilot has his own.
This is us standing on the floor in the cockpit. We are leaning on the BOTTOMS of the seats, just to give you an idea of how high you have to climb. The seat bottom through the middle is the navigators "greenhouse"
Flight Engineers Station
Crew Rest Area Behind The Flight Deck
The Cargo Hold
Yep. It's a BIGGUN! AN-12BP
The AN-12BP was the first model equipped with a fully independent self-contained navigation system.
This particular example was built in 1965.
And a Photo from Today!
Bagram Air Force Base - Near Kabul
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