1CGS LukeFF Posted May 9, 2023 1CGS Posted May 9, 2023 How do you guys manage flying with frequencies on NAV2? From what I understand, the KAP 140 can only read a signal from the NAV1 source.
ZachariasX Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 10 hours ago, BOO said: Is that the smoke trail from @ZachariasX's C152 behind you? Nah, that was from starting the engine. 3 hours ago, LukeFF said: How do you guys manage flying with frequencies on NAV2? From what I understand, the KAP 140 can only read a signal from the NAV1 source. I think some planes have a specific toggle for that, but usually the AP seems only linked to NAV1. I usually take NAV1 for AP and NAV2 to play around with frequencies and see what beacons I receive. If I find a better one, I port that over to NAV1. Sometimes, the NAV1 has a better gauge. 1 1 1
Hoots Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 45 minutes ago, ZachariasX said: Nah, that was from starting the engine. I think some planes have a specific toggle for that, but usually the AP seems only linked to NAV1. I usually take NAV1 for AP and NAV2 to play around with frequencies and see what beacons I receive. If I find a better one, I port that over to NAV1. Sometimes, the NAV1 has a better gauge. What Boo does, nav2 I use to cross check positions and stuff like that. Nav1 for autopilot. 1 1
BOO Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 (edited) Day 25. Gibraltar – Mohammed V Airport, Casablanca, Morocco. 212Nm, Real Time, Live Weather, Live Traffic Play it Sam It’s another perfect sunny day as we stagger to the Beaver after a heavy night. I’ve set up the FSLTL with the additional help of some game parked aircraft to help the GA compliment and the view is a nice busy one. Whilst FSTLT takes care of the civvy stuff, NickB’s RAF Gibraltar free add-on scenery adds life to the South side of the airport. After watching a little of the life (and a couple of never landing 737s) we’re off to another continent. I push the aircraft hard to get a decent screenshot and what, at first, appears to be me zooming into the heavens is, in fact, a Beaver on the verge of departing controlled flight. Setting the heading bug for the rough direction of Tangiers, we pass down the middle of the Straits of Gibraltar, Europe to our right, Africa our left. It’s easy to see how this became a U-boat’s crew’s nightmare 80 years ago. Tangiers. Or “Tangers” as the ATC insists on calling it. The sim’s lighting is not as kind to this region’s cities as in more temperate areas, They look more artificial and whilst perfectly serviceable, nowhere as near as convincing as some in the UK for instance. What is a bit of “sim first” moment for me is the activity on the ground as I pass over the airport thanks to FSLTL. It really adds life into the sim. We track south, down the coast, and I lazily let the AP and heading bug do the work…. …whilst I take in the views. Rabat is a further example of the awkward implementation of cities in the sim with the high-rise buildings standing out like blocks of obsidian at medium distances due to the overly strong and deep shadows. This is a study of nothing much as we flew over a low cloud bank, but it’s a nice shot of the Beaver in flight. We switch to Mommamed V Airport’s approach (Mohammed Vee according to ATC) a while before we reach Casablanca and can hear traffic being directed to Runway 17L. And there’s a lot of traffic. And it sounds big. I request runway 17R to keep away from those cattle trucks and am granted this without argument. Approaching the airport, takes us over Casablanca itself. A place that I’ve always wanted to visit and the only B&W movie I can watch over and again (and still cheer at the end). Lined up on approach to 17R, I idly watch the aircraft shadow on the ground to my 11 o’clock whilst pondering why there are cranes masquerading as pylons when it strikes me that that it isn’t my shadow. It’s the loud jet noise that finally wakes me from my stupor. Almost instantaneously, ATC passes a message to another aircraft to land 17L and watch for the De Havilland landing 17R. Nice! a little late perhaps given he’s now a mile ahead of me but nice. Soon I’m given the same message in reverse “ya don’t say” I think to myself. The Beaver takes the crosswind in its stride. I’m directed to taxi across 17L to parking. I can see a 737 lining up on 17L and wonder how smart the ATC is. Smart enough. It stops me, then starts me after the 737 is gone. I’m getting to like not being the last man on earth. On reaching the parking areas I’m dumbstruck at how many liveried aircraft there are. They are everywhere but my PC copes with it all without missing a beat. Another tick for FSLTL but im not sure if there really should be that many given the limits I set. After a little trip around to look at all the pretty planes, we park up with the big boys. It’s impressive. The airport feels alive. Not having to handmake the contrive, as you would in DCS for instance, adds to the immersion. And the FSLTL models do their job well. They probably won’t stand up to scrutiny if you pressed your nose up to them but, from the intended distance they look like an Airbus, or Boeing or whatever that is (Civvy buses—yawn). As I finish securing the tethers, I catch Ralf patting the nose of the Beaver. ““Ralf, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Ralf stares blankly at me. NB – after shutting down, I re-linked the sim to Little Nav Map (its off because I’m a real man and don’t need no stinkin pink line ?…in fact I only left the gauges in the dash to stop drafts…) and took this image. There are 34 aircraft at the airport. About 1/3 are static, the rest in some stage of activity. And the sim didn’t miss a beat. Colour me impressed. Edited May 9, 2023 by BOO 3 1
AEthelraedUnraed Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 (edited) For my first multiple-leg MSFS trip I’ve chosen a late-1930s/early-1940s scenario using the Inibuilds Grumman Goose. GPS navigation and advanced autopilots just don’t cut it for me; I find it immensely boring to enter a flight path into the computer, flip the switch and sit back. This means that I also won’t have to bother with all that cumbersome ATC. My flight will cross the South American continent from Arica, Chile to Belém, Brazil, a distance of 3000km as the crow flies (and some 3500 as the Goose does) through four different countries and some wildly different landscapes. I only use visual navigation, with just a couple of period maps to help me. I try to fly from small airfields wherever possible as I think big airports don’t quite match the 30s theme. The fact that I’ll use the Goose means that I’ll be able to land on the many rivers and lakes I’m going to see, and that’ll be my primary means of landing. I use live weather, but if needed I'll adjust the time to ensure I fly in daylight. Lastly, I fly on full difficulty and the RandFailuresFS2020 application gives me a small chance for each component to fail. Of course, the period maps I found are entirely unsuited for the purpose. They’re heavily outdated (some from the late 19th century), of variable quality and don’t nicely match up. There’s also a couple of hundred kilometres between the Bolivian jungle and Guajará-Mirim for which I couldn’t find a map at all and am forced to use the small-scale map above. In other words, sounds like good fun! First leg: Arica (Chile) to Copacabana (Bolivia) The sun is already descending fast as I take off from the small airstrip where my Goose was parked. The Pacific stretches unendingly into the horizon, and my Goose feels well at home here. I almost feel sorry for her as we’re headed for the arid inland today. With one last flyby of the beautiful cliffs, I head east where in the distance I can already make out the valley that we’re going to follow. It’s the biggest one out there and it isn’t particularly hard to find. Down below, where the steep slopes give some cover from the cold and dry wind and a small stream provides the necessary water, there’s some small scale farming but otherwise it’s arid canyons as far as the eye can see. I’m at full climbing power but the hills around me rise faster. From here on, it’s an almost non-stop climb until I reach the plateau near the tripoint between Bolivia, Chile and Peru. She’s struggling to gain altitude fast enough and I’m beginning to wonder if I should attempt a 180 degree turn inside the narrow canyons to spend some time on climbing. I take another look at my map and decide to push on. The plateau is just up ahead and I should be able to make it. I can see the terrain slowly getting less mountainous and sure enough, after following another bend of the ever-winding canyon some relatively flat terrain pops up. It’s not a moment too soon as my engines have been running hotter than I’m comfortable with, and I ease up the throttle. After a couple of minutes, I turn north-west and follow a river that should lead me directly to Lake Titicaca. I keep flying for miles and miles. Surely we should be near the lake by now, but still all I can see are arid hills. I conclude I must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere and decide to fly east – we’ve certainly not crossed the high peaks of the Andes yet and as Titicaca is right on the western edge of those, the lake can only be east of us. The light is fading fast now and I’m getting anxious. I haven’t spotted any of the landmarks I should have with my easterly course, and I admit to myself I’m now truly lost. In this mountainous terrain there’s few places I can safely land and my only option is to fly on and hope for the best. Finally the sun sinks under the horizon and within minutes a complete darkness descends on the earth. Then the first stroke of luck I’ve had in the past hour – in the distance, I can just make out the lights of what must be a huge city. This can only be La Paz, capital of Bolivia. Relieved, I head slightly north of the city where sure enough I find the huge lake and the Copacabana peninsula which is my destination for the day. In complete darkness, I elect not to attempt a water landing but land at the Copacabana airstrip itself. With a couple of large hills in the way, my intended approach would be a challenging one during daylight and after one failed attempt I decide to instead do a tailwind landing coming from the lake. It's a bumpy landing and not one I’m proud of, but at least I’m still alive. In my tent, I try to figure out what went wrong. After retracing the route I marked on my maps, I find that the line doesn’t match up between the two maps I’ve had to use. I come to the chilling conclusion that I plotted my course wrongly and as a result turned northwest towards Lake Titicaca one canyon too early. A big mistake, and one that could’ve cost me my life. Still, I’m not convinced this is the whole story – after turning east, I should’ve spotted the right canyon - and Lake Titicaca - pretty soon. There’s little I can investigate at this very moment though and I rest my head onto my pillow. Before long I’m fast asleep. Tomorrow there’s another long day ahead. Next leg: Copacabana (Bolivia) to Rurrenabaque (Bolivia). Edited May 10, 2023 by AEthelraedUnraed 4 1
ZachariasX Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 25 minutes ago, AEthelraedUnraed said: In my tent, I try to figure out what went wrong. Taking off in the evening under such circumstances is rather on the manly side of things. Almost bacheloresque. But a great plan! Keep it coming! Btw., could you take off again from lake Titicaca? 1 1
BOO Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 @AEthelraedUnraed please may I ask how you are capturing and sizing your images? The concise layout of the post is excellent and far better than my rambling scrolls. 1
BOO Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 (edited) Darm it @ZachariasX . You didnt have to agree my posts ramble! ? Edited May 9, 2023 by BOO 1
AEthelraedUnraed Posted May 9, 2023 Posted May 9, 2023 2 hours ago, ZachariasX said: Taking off in the evening under such circumstances is rather on the manly side of things. Almost bacheloresque. Often "manly", "exciting" and "stupid" are just three sides of the same coin I would've waited until the next day if my real life were at stake, but as it's just my virtual one I just went for it as it makes for good fun. I figured I would just be able to make it in daylight, and if it weren't for my navigating problems, I would have. 2 hours ago, ZachariasX said: Btw., could you take off again from lake Titicaca? I don't think you can select a non-airport location for takeoff? Otherwise, please let me know how you can. Anyhow, I'm a bit behind with writing up these reports so I'm actually well past the Andes already . I took off from the same airfield as I landed, as you'll be able to read in my next report, whenever I find the time to write it. There's some positively gorgeous screenshots coming up! 1 hour ago, BOO said: @AEthelraedUnraed please may I ask how you are capturing and sizing your images? The concise layout of the post is excellent and far better than my rambling scrolls. If you double-click the image, a screen will pop up where you can select a custom size. I think I put it at 300px for my post above? Then just drag them side by side, select them and click the button for centered text alignment. 2 1
ZachariasX Posted May 10, 2023 Posted May 10, 2023 14 hours ago, BOO said: I ask how you are capturing and sizing your images? It‘s… I want to know that as well.
AEthelraedUnraed Posted May 10, 2023 Posted May 10, 2023 (edited) I continue my flight across the South American continent. This is going to be a long post, but please bear with me as the landscape is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen and I didn't want to discard even more screenshots. The next parts are going to be much shorter, I promise. Previous leg: Arica (Chile) to Copacabana (Bolivia) Leg 2: Copacabana (Bolivia) to Rurrenabaque (Bolivia) After a cold night, my alarm clock wakes me half an hour before sunrise. I gobble up a loaf of bread as I hastily do the pre-flight walkaround of my Goose. I’ve planned a little detour and I need to get there soon as when I take off the first rays of the sun already light up the higher clouds. The weather is much less good than I hoped for and at times I struggle to see anything inside the thick fog that covers Lake Titicaca. Undeterred, I follow the coast north and hope for the best. Just north of the Copacabana peninsula is the aptly named Isla del Sol – the Island of the Sun. It is here that the Incas of old believed that the sun god Inti sent his son Manco Cápac to earth. I’ve timed my departure well and just as I fly over the small island, I see the sun rise above the horizon. It's a beautiful sight and in this mythical landscape evokes images of the hero-god emerging from the cave with his sun-staff. The captivating view is surely a sign of blessing from the sun god. At least I hope so as I could do with a bit of sun to drive away the clouds. I’ve got some of the world’s highest mountains ahead of me and if the weather remains like this, I’m not sure if it’s wise to continue. I keep heading east for now; there’s still time to decide. It appears the sun god indeed favours us as suddenly within the time span of a few minutes much of the fog clears up. The thicker clouds remain but those are far apart and I feel confident I can make it across the mountains. From the easternmost corner of the lake, I set an easterly course for a large valley that I should be able to follow. In the distance the arid hills of the Altiplano plateau already make way for the snow-covered peaks of the Andes, but whereas yesterday the Goose was struggling to keep up with the rising terrain, today I’ve got plenty of time to climb. Overheating engines are much less of a problem too – some slight icing already covers the windows, but besides the pitot and carburettor heat there’s little I can do. The cold does penetrate the cockpit and even though I've tightly wrapped a scarf around my neck and am wearing a fur-lined leather aviators jacket, I shiver in my seat. Then in the distance the next change of landscape suddenly looms through the clouds. Before I know it, the white Andes makes way for lush green jungle-covered mountains without much in the way of a transition. As there’s a high layer of clouds that prevents me from seeing much of the terrain, I follow the valley down in its descent which will eventually lead from over 6000m to almost sea level. I keep a careful eye on my airspeed and engine temperature, but everything stays within limits for now. On my right a curious rock formation juts out of the mountains. I fly a quick circle to take a closer look as well as lose some altitude, then continue my descent into the valley that is now touched by a light fog which gives it a decidedly mysterious atmosphere. This is truly an ancient and lost world, and if it weren’t for my scientific education, I would’ve considered it possible some long-forgotten creatures from a time well past still roamed here like in Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous book. This time I don’t feel anxious about flying too low into the canyons. All rivers and streams here end up in the Amazon, and the laws of physics dictate that therefore all valleys need to follow a continuous and gradual descent as well. As long as I keep enough altitude to compensate for nasty downdrafts, I should be alright. For now, I intend to keep following the gorgeous…. gorges, and turn northwest. After a short while the stream, which has by now merged with a few others, should turn northeast straight towards my destination. Below, small villages straddle the river as the first signs of habitation I’ve seen for a while. It takes much longer than expected for the river's eastward bend to appear and I’m flying in a much too westerly direction. I conclude that when the stream merged with a larger one some time ago, I must have followed the wrong arm and am now flying upstream. I decide against back-tracking – if I couldn’t see the difference between upstream and downstream then, what’s to say I would now? Instead, I climb to gain a good overview of the area and set a course for where I think my destination is located. I fly straight through some large cloud formations, but luckily visibility is decent again on the other side. Then far away on my right my destination unmistakably pops up. Rurrenabaque is located next to a narrow gap in the mountain ridge that forms the border between the rocky foothills of the Andes and the flat Amazon basin. Even from a distance the city’s function as a gateway to the Bolivian Andes is apparent as it is here that some smaller streams merge together before they flow north onto the lowlands. From up here, it’s a mystical sight and the area looks almost as if some giants built a wall around their kingdom with Rurrenabaque as the heavily fortified entry point into their lands. I turn south and shortly later overfly the town, then start following the Rio Beni for a couple of minutes before I realise I’m actually supposed to land and refuel here. Oops! I turn around, descend quickly and land my Goose in the river that from now on will remain wide enough to support water landings. I moor the plane next to a large fisherman’s hut where a number of families have gathered to stare at my flying machine, and in broken Spanish and with the use of many hand signs I ask where I can buy some fuel. Next leg: Rurrenabaque (Bolivia) to Guajará-Mirim (Brazil). Edited May 10, 2023 by AEthelraedUnraed 5
JimTM Posted May 10, 2023 Posted May 10, 2023 (edited) 21 hours ago, AEthelraedUnraed said: ... I don't think you can select a non-airport location for takeoff? Otherwise, please let me know how you can. ... There is no direct way that I know of, but you can use the slew controls (Camera > Slew Mode) as follows to lower the plane onto the water where you want: 1. Start active pause. 2. Use control "Toggle slew mode" to start slew mode. 3. Use control "Slew Translate Down (Fast)" until you are just above the surface. 4. Use control "Slew Translate Down (Slow)" until you are on the surface. I'll assume this is necessary to avoid a crash if you use the "fast" slew. 5. Use control "Toggle slew mode" to stop slew mode. 6. End active pause and slow to a stop from the resulting landing. Edited May 10, 2023 by JimTM 1
AEthelraedUnraed Posted May 10, 2023 Posted May 10, 2023 (edited) I know my last post was only a couple of hours ago, but as I've more-or-less caught up with my writing, I thought I'd already post the next leg as I likely won't be able to do so for the upcoming days. For those just tuning in, I'm doing a west to east flight across the South-American continent, with late 1930s conditions. You can read about my previous legs here: Arica (Chile) to Copacabana (Bolivia), Copacabana (Bolivia) to Rurrenabaque (Bolivia). Leg 3: Rurrenabaque (Bolivia) to Guajará-Mirim (Brazil) The abuse over the past days has taken its toll on my engines, and I find myself doing maintenance and some minor repair work for the better part of the day. It is already four in the afternoon when I start the engines and take off on the first leg through the virginal lowlands of South America. The sun is already well underway on its daily journey – I must make haste, or I’ll find myself caught in the darkness once again. It doesn’t help that today’s flight will take me through a relatively unpopulated area and there are pretty much no airfields between Rurrenabaque and my destination of Guejará-Mirim – at least none I’d be able to find with my lack of maps of the area. About a third of the journey will be off the large-scale maps and I’ll be bound to use a generic one of South America instead. If I run out of fuel or get an emergency, I’m in serious trouble trying to find my way back to civilisation. To make matters even worse, the weather worries me as the clouds are slowly closing up and I can only hope visibility remains good. I find some comfort knowing that with the Rio Beni river underneath, I’ll at least have some place to land and spend the night if it turns for the worse, and I apply power and take off. After about 15 minutes of flight, the weather clears up and turns into pretty ideal flying weather. Underneath me the Rio Beni stretches for miles in a never-ending pattern of bends and old cut-off river arms. Encouraged by the good visibility I decide to fly a bit more easterly course in an effort to shave a few miles off my journey, taking care to keep the river within visual range. The landscape on the south-eastern side of the river becomes a bit more cultivated, and although I’m not exactly sure I’m looking at grazing areas or old-fashioned woodcutting, it’s certainly man-made. I’m stuck halfway between on one side a relief that I’d be able to find help if I need to make an emergency landing, and on the other side a sadness that even this faraway corner of the earth needs to be despoiled by “civilisation.” I fly on for another hour or so until I notice the Rio Beni coming closer fast, even though I still fly the same course. I must have reached the big bend of the river and follow it east. With the course change comes a sudden deterioration of the weather as a heavy downpour lies right in my path. I elect to avoid flying into the ominous-looking clouds and instead head almost directly east. Even if the Rio Beni is hidden in the rain, the Rio Mamoré where my destination is located is an even wider river, if my maps are to be trusted, and should be hard to miss. I keep a steady course but the occasional glimpses I catch of the Rio Beni don’t quite match up – the river should be much further away now. In an effort to match my course I fly a heading of 130, even 150 degrees. This can’t be right, and comparing the main compass with the magnetic one in the centre of the panel shows more than 40 degrees difference. I triple-check my direction using my watch, pointing the small hand towards the sun, which confirms my suspicion that the main compass is off. Even with gyro drift, this is a much larger difference than it should be when 15 minutes ago it still pointed in the right general direction. I wonder if this is what happened when I got lost over the Peruvian highlands during the first leg of my journey. Anyhow, it’s too late to do anything about that now. I look for a way to fix the compass’s heading but finding none I make a mental note that the instrument is not to be trusted and fly on. Sure enough, the moment the weather clears up enough for me to follow the Rio Beni on visuals alone, I find that both instruments suddenly match up again. I must be really close to my destination now according to my calculations, and less than five minutes later a large river indeed pops up. There’s little doubt that this is the Rio Mamoré and I turn south, where some traces of habitation start to pop up. Only a couple of minutes later I spot the large town that must be my destination of Guajará-Mirim. It’s not a moment too soon as the light is now fading fast. I do two quick passes to determine the wind direction, then land underneath a beautiful orange sunset. (To be continued. The next two legs will be shorter and combined into a single post as I flew them in one go, but that doesn't mean they're not filled with action. In fact, you're going to read about an actual crash! Please like this post, follow me, subscribe or join my OnlyFans to get the latest updates!) Edited May 10, 2023 by AEthelraedUnraed 4 1
Mtnbiker1998 Posted May 11, 2023 Posted May 11, 2023 I've been holding off on flying in South America until we get a proper world update for it (The places I have visited have been pretty underwhelming) But man you're really tempting me! Especially in that pretty old Goose, I love that thing. I don't have too many adventures to share myself lately, I've been trying to solve a crashing issue in the Vision Jet. The FlightFX support discord was... not the most welcoming place (They seem to get very upset when you propose that something in their jet might be broken, seems an odd attitude to have for a support team, but oh well) I did eventually get it sorted out. Spent a lot of time flying her around to make sure the game was stable, and got a few good pics from some shakedown flights up California: 3 1
BOO Posted May 11, 2023 Posted May 11, 2023 (edited) Day 26. Mohammed V Airport, Casablanca, Morocco – Tindouf, Algeria. 344 Nm, Real Time, Live Weather, Live Traffic. Pt1 Range Against The Machine The Tiger Mod for the Beaver, which primarily aligns the engine with the R/W POHs has the unfortunate effect of giving the Beaver the range of a 747. So sadly, it must go. This means more stops, better planning, and lots of nervously watching the plummeting fuel gauges. The range of the Beaver is, once again, shorter that Danny DeVito in a hole. Also gone is the “emergency GPS” tablet which some crazy ripped out of the cockpit and smashed on the tarmac whilst yelling something about real men at Ralf. On the plus side, we have paying passengers. A Cruise Ship tribute act who missed their connection. (In reality, I want to see what difference loading makes to how the Beaver behaves). As we warm up the engine awaiting our “cargo” Ralf looks at the map “Its big, isn’t it?” “What” “Africa” He’s not wrong. When planning this leg, I was about to add a further section when I thought to check the distance already in there. What I thought would be 250 or 300Nm turned out to be over a 1000. The vast size of the continent, and many of its countries, can easily deceive one’s sense of scale. Today’s “leg” is somewhat toned down from the original. At a touch over 340 Nm, it a two section affair into Algeria (probably impossible in real life due to the political climate that exists between the two nations) and I’m expecting a dull flight. We watch our passengers arrive “Take it very seriously, don’t they?” observes Ralf. “Is the guy in front a Bee-Gee?” Out first surprise is that we are directed to Runway 17R, this despite a 14Kt tailwind in that direction. The airport is busy once again and, on our taxi, we are stopped and started by ATC as other aircraft take off and land. All very immersive. Take off is….interesting. The Beaver swings like a pendulum the moment the tailwheel lifts and our passengers scream, two in a very close harmony, before I correct the swing and lift. I’m not sure if real airports now disregard the wind but it seems very odd to that we are taking off with it at our backs. Setting a southerly course, the green of the lands around Casablanca soon turn into the reds and yellows I more expected from Africa. I’m pleasantly surprised. This might not be such a dull trip after all. Just outside the military town of Ben Guerir is a huge earthworks. It looks for all the world like a massive military enterprise but is, according to Ralf and his google-foo, a Phosphate mine. Its very well rendered in the sim, as it all the landscape in this part of the world. There are more crop irrigation circles too, these are rapidly becoming a personal favourite of mine. Just north of Marrakesh is what I suspect will become the Milton Keynes of Morocco. Marrakesh prompts to drummer to begin tunelessly singing. Ralf is quickly on it “You’re paying us to fly you. We are not paying you to sing”. There’s an uncomfortable silence before another of the group exclaims “Look at the hills!”. “The Hills” are, in fact part of the Atlas ranges. There are surprisingly green and beautiful but require us to climb from 5 to 10,000 ft to keep a safety margin. The fully laden Beaver heaves itself upwards. The vertical speed is adjusted from an optimistic 500fpm to a more sedate 300fpm in order to keep going forward with sufficient speed to avoid the kazoo of death sounding. But by golly is the scenery spectacular! After passing over the first line of hills and mountains, we pass further, smaller ranges. Each are distinctly different and each beautifully portrayed in the sim. It’s an awe-inspiring place to visit. The Atlas ranges form the Northern boundary to the Western Sahara and soon, everything starts to look a lot more “deserty”. Here huge plateaus loom above water courses and the hills and valleys are more arid and other worldly. Edited May 11, 2023 by BOO 3
BOO Posted May 11, 2023 Posted May 11, 2023 (edited) Day 26. Mohammed V Airport, Casablanca, Morocco – Tindouf, Algeria. 344 Nm, Real Time, Live Weather, Live Traffic. Pt2 As expected, the fuel we set off with is not going to see us comfortably to our destination but, clever me, I have planned the route to take in the airfield at Tata, just to the east of our track. We refuel. Our passengers get out to stretch their legs, except for “Paul” who burns his feet on the tarmac and jumps straight back into the Beaver, whimpering. “Where are your shoes?” asks Ralf. “I don’t have shoes, Im circa 1969 Paul” he snivels “64 Paul has them but I didn’t bring that outfit as it didn’t suit the vibe”. “Vibe” Ralf quietly muses on the word. Back in the air, I take the beaver back to the route and set a 182 degree course. The VOR from Marrakesh has faded and the one at Tindouf is still out of range. I’m easy about it. We are not so far out of range that a small correction won’t set right once the Morse starts. A word on setting the radios to hear the morse. I didn’t do this early on and often wandered miles off course when the signal dropped. Now it’s an integral part of my start up routine. The scenery again changes and amazes, huge sandstone crests are pushed up out of the desert in endlessly changing fashion. It’s an incredible flight. We soon reach the Moroccan/Algerian border. It couldn’t be more apparent, sitting on a seemingly never-ending plateau face, the starkly differing landscapes representing well the two, opposing nations. If this were not enough however, the “Berm”, a man made and mined double sand wall, running almost the full length of the boarder is also present (its more present in Google images). Just past the border is this. Wow! Now the desert takes over. The land becomes calm and, to a foreigner, featureless save for indistinct watercourses. By now the VOR at Tindouf has sprung into life and I contact the airfield to announce my intention to land. I’m given 26R as the runway and a range of 40Nm to the airport. Its an ILS runway. Easy days. I fine tune the OBS to 182 degrees and switch to AP NAV. The beaver swings gently and slightly to Port to centre the needle on the chosen radial. After setting the heading bug to match the course, I take off 10 degree and switch the AP to heading mode so as to swing us east of the airport for finals and set the OBS to align with the runway’s 258 degree path. For miles there is no movement in the vertical needle but soon I can pick out a large water feature in the desert that I anticipate will be our turning point. As we reach it, the needle on the VOR begins to centre, I switch the AP to Nav mode, and the Beaver gently turns westward. Our inbound route takes us over Laayoun Refugee Camp. One of five abutting refugee districts that are home to perhaps a 100,000 displaced Sahrawi people from the disputed Western Sahara region and the centre of their government in exile, the Frente Polisario. As we pass over the camps, I switch to the ILS frequency and watch the horizontal needle drop to the centre before switching to approach mode. At the same ATC gives us permission to land. I thank the heavens for America for without it, there would be no ATC controllers anywhere it appears (though I worry about how the two of them cope with the workload). Landing is fuss free and the “bounce” is made entirely for the purpose of capturing an action screenshot. I’m learning that the Beaver hates crosswinds, so it was some relief to see the windsocks pointing directly towards me. We taxi to parking and tell our passengers to enjoy Tindouf for the evening. Tomorrow, we’ll deposit them in Mauritania. Ill be glad, not only are the fake scouse accents and the ego of chartered flight beginning to grate but, with no passengers, I can max the fuel and get….oooo…an extra 5 or 6 miles out of her. The game crashes as I shut off the mixture. Timely. Once again MSFS and the world has turned what, on paper, seemed to be a dull and uninteresting journey into a fascinating and educational experience. This knocks bombing stuff into a cocked hat. Edited May 11, 2023 by BOO 2
ZachariasX Posted May 11, 2023 Posted May 11, 2023 3 hours ago, BOO said: Also gone is the “emergency GPS” tablet which some crazy ripped out of the cockpit and smashed on the tarmac whilst yelling something about real men at Ralf. 3
1CGS LukeFF Posted May 11, 2023 1CGS Posted May 11, 2023 6 hours ago, BOO said: Out first surprise is that we are directed to Runway 17R, this despite a 14Kt tailwind in that direction. Yes, it's one of the many issues with the ATC AI. Supposedly fixes are "in progress" but who knows how long that will take. 1 1
1CGS LukeFF Posted May 11, 2023 1CGS Posted May 11, 2023 7 hours ago, BOO said: The scenery again changes and amazes, huge sandstone crests are pushed up out of the desert in endlessly changing fashion. It’s an incredible flight. We soon reach the Moroccan/Algerian border. It couldn’t be more apparent, sitting on a seemingly never-ending plateau face, the starkly differing landscapes representing well the two, opposing nations. If this were not enough however, the “Berm”, a man made and mined double sand wall, running almost the full length of the boarder is also present (its more present in Google images). I'd forgotten about the political issues in this part of the world, so I loaded up Navigraph Charts to see what the airspace looks like in this region. Wow! ? Definitely not an easy place to get around if you're flying inland from the coast. But yes, good job describing the area in which you're flying. Hopefully those wannabe rockers appreciate it as well. ? 1
BOO Posted May 11, 2023 Posted May 11, 2023 1 hour ago, LukeFF said: I'd forgotten about the political issues in this part of the world, so I loaded up Navigraph Charts to see what the airspace looks like in this region. Wow! ? Definitely not an easy place to get around if you're flying inland from the coast. But yes, good job describing the area in which you're flying. Hopefully those wannabe rockers appreciate it as well. ? i considered the real world complexities of flying a world trip at the start. after about an hour of looking I realied that the real world is just too complicated a place. I think thats the beauty of MSFS, as they say "you can go anywhere". My little journey has changed its aims several times since starting out. Its now pretty much fly and see what you find. I enjoy the landscapes over "features" and can while away hours looking up stuff. . Im still in two minds as to whether this tuns into a visit every country tour of not but I think that last leg has pushed me more towards that. Ultimately MSFS is giving me what I neded as opposed to what i thought i wanted right now. Those early high minded notions of study level flights have given way to just enjoying flight (Im a nervious flyer in real life) and taking in the views ? 1 3
Mtnbiker1998 Posted May 12, 2023 Posted May 12, 2023 3 hours ago, BOO said: Ultimately MSFS is giving me what I neded as opposed to what i thought i wanted right now. Those early high minded notions of study level flights have given way to just enjoying flight (Im a nervious flyer in real life) and taking in the views ? Couldn't have said it better myself. I expected I'd get bored pretty fast without having any guns or missiles to shoot, and yet here I am 3 months later having put in 160 hours already, and doing almost all of my flight simming in MSFS during that time. Just picking a plane that looks cool, poking around the cockpit until it starts, and going for a sightseeing trip is so fun and relaxing. With the whole world available to me, I expect I'll be putting many more hours into it. For Todays adventure I went exploring around Chernobyl in my Wilga. Such a fun little plane with TONS of details added by Gotfriends. Taking off From a small little field UKIK, I flew North across the Countryside and found my destination pretty easily. The Autogen was not very kind to Chernobyl itself, I was hoping there'd at least be something there for the Sarcophagus but I guess a big mound in the terrain counts for something... still, pretty interesting. Lots of power lines and poles thanks to one of my addons, though the name escapes me right now. Pripyat on the other hand managed a rather convincing overgrown ghost town look, quite eerie if I'm being honest. I don't know a ton about the history other than what can be gleaned from the HBO series, but still a very interesting place to visit in VR. Considering my Wilga 80X is fitted with a beefy engine and even beefier tires, I wanted to land on one of the streets but a low approach and some tall trees ended my journey a little prematurely. Guess I'll have to switch over to playing STALKER to continue this particular pilot's adventure... 3
1CGS LukeFF Posted May 12, 2023 1CGS Posted May 12, 2023 4 hours ago, BOO said: i considered the real world complexities of flying a world trip at the start. after about an hour of looking I realied that the real world is just too complicated a place. I think thats the beauty of MSFS, as they say "you can go anywhere". My little journey has changed its aims several times since starting out. Its now pretty much fly and see what you find. I enjoy the landscapes over "features" and can while away hours looking up stuff. . Im still in two minds as to whether this tuns into a visit every country tour of not but I think that last leg has pushed me more towards that. Ultimately MSFS is giving me what I neded as opposed to what i thought i wanted right now. Those early high minded notions of study level flights have given way to just enjoying flight (Im a nervious flyer in real life) and taking in the views ? Yes, and that's the beauty of MSFS - the ability to go anywhere and do anything you want. ?? I guess I'm just one of those that gets as much satisfaction from planning out a flight as I do actually flying it. ? 1
BOO Posted May 12, 2023 Posted May 12, 2023 5 hours ago, Mtnbiker1998 said: Pripyat on the other hand managed a rather convincing overgrown ghost town look,l Hmmm. Must have photogrammetry ? 1
BOO Posted May 12, 2023 Posted May 12, 2023 (edited) 16 hours ago, LukeFF said: Yes, and that's the beauty of MSFS - the ability to go anywhere and do anything you want. ?? I guess I'm just one of those that gets as much satisfaction from planning out a flight as I do actually flying it. ? Flying to the rules is definately a goal but I think Im not smart enough right now. I hope as my journey pregreses Ill learn to read the charts and procedure property but for now its all very "Cor" and "lookadat!" Edited May 12, 2023 by BOO 1
1CGS LukeFF Posted May 12, 2023 1CGS Posted May 12, 2023 31 minutes ago, BOO said: Flying to the rules is definately a goal but I think Im not smart enough right now. I hope as my journey pregreses Ill learn to read the charts and procedure property but for now its all very "Cor" and "lookadat!" Oh, believe me, when I first started out back in December I was very, very much confused by what all of these different charts and airspaces mean. I'm still learning but I've picked up a lot in that relatively short time. Navigraph in particular has been very helpful in getting me familiarized with what goes into good flight planning. No new flight yet to report on, but this is my flight plan for when I pick it up this evening: Fongnian, Taiwan (RCFN) to Naha, on the island of Okinawa (ROAH). Japan, baby! ? It's a fairly straightforward flight of 419 miles over mostly open water: 3
JimTM Posted May 13, 2023 Posted May 13, 2023 (edited) 8 hours ago, BOO said: Flying to the rules is definately a goal but I think Im not smart enough right now. I hope as my journey pregreses Ill learn to read the charts and procedure property but for now its all very "Cor" and "lookadat!" Here are a few YouTube Channels I find valuable for learning: FlightInsight (my favorite - very detailed and well presented, especially the IFR playlist) thecorporatepilotdad Kip on the Ground Edited May 13, 2023 by JimTM 1
1CGS LukeFF Posted May 13, 2023 1CGS Posted May 13, 2023 1 hour ago, JimTM said: Here are a few YouTube Channels I find valuable for learning: FlightInsight (my favorite - very detailed and well presented, especially the IFR playlist) thecorporatepilotdad Kip on the Ground Yes, all three of those are great - especially Flight Insight. I like the way his videos are all very concise yet also highly informative. 2
BOO Posted May 13, 2023 Posted May 13, 2023 Thank you @JimTM I’d found Kip when I was learning the G1000. I’ll look up the others.
1CGS LukeFF Posted May 13, 2023 1CGS Posted May 13, 2023 And, we made it: Fengnin (RCFN) to Roah (ROAH). Realtime weather, traffic, and time of day: A warm but not too hot afternoon on the ramp at RCFN. The preflight inspection didn't reveal anything out of order, so after startup and receiving our takeoff clearance, we were on our way: Other than open water, the thing we saw the most on this leg was a thick layer of clouds just below our cruising altitude. Upon reaching Miyakojima island, we "caught up" with a couple of 737s that were also on their way to Naha, but of course before long they were well ahead of us: Before long, we were in sight of Okinawa, approaching runway 36R (despite the wind coming from behind us. Thanks, ATC AI! ?). Other than that and the radio voices conking out en route, it was an uneventful landing at ROAH, whose scenery I upgraded with freeware from flightsim.to. Looks really good! With it getting late in the afternoon, we wasted no time after landing and parking getting a taxi into town. Hopefully, the Marines aren't crowding out all the good restaurants at this time of day. ? 6
Lusekofte Posted May 13, 2023 Posted May 13, 2023 6 minutes ago, Bremspropeller said: Anybody tried out the Transall yet? Yes but short. I really likes it. Systems seems realistic yet easy to comprehend. Very stable and easy to land. But that is realistic. It is my going around the world first choice. When I get out of here and home 1
ZachariasX Posted May 13, 2023 Posted May 13, 2023 Second leg of my Rally: Latina (LIRL) to Tripoli International (HLLT), 533 nm. Again MSFS decided to be difficult on me (again) to make it past pressing "FLY". It seems it is related to the rolling cache feature. Resetting/deleting sometimes cures the issue. But man, this sim still needs some work... The Cessna is still in good shape and I just fill her fuel tanks to the max. Takeoff 13:05 UTC. It is rather windy with a lot of crosswinds from the south. She almost wants to takeoff in the headwinds on the taxiway. But other then that, weather is fine. I dial in on the beacon on Ponza, a small island south of Rome, not far out in the sea. From then on direction south across Sicily, Lampedusa to Tripolis. A careful look back before I fly far out over the sea. But all seems well this time. Ponza, my first waypoint. As I cannot dial in on any beacon from Sicily, I use a "from" radial and set the AP to follow that one to Punta Raisi (LICJ) until I can pick up one of these beacons. Punta Raisi (LICJ), the white line on the coast. I am making good progress, certainly 100+ knots given the time I had for this leg. That I don't have a distance marker for the VOR is... uncomfortable. There is nothing like the sight of land for any traveller at sea. I tune in on Lampedusas VOR. Lampedusa. Impressive cliffs on the north side. Looks like a huge aircrtaft carrier. I again use a radial from here to direct me to Tripolis. I continue making good progress. And there is the north African coast. I tune in to the VOR of HLLT and follow the radial. To save time I almost split-S to runway 36. I did have considerable tailwind. Second leg complete. This felt easy. Plenty of fuel left. Shutdown 18:26 UTC. Flight time 5 h 21 min. Leg 1: 4h 18 min, 427 nm Leg 2: 5 h 21 min, 556 nm. I'm getting better. Ha! Flying in the desert is easy. What can go wrong? Always nice weather! Engine is still 96% "good". A good 104 knots average. Not bad. To be continued. 4
DD_Arthur Posted May 13, 2023 Posted May 13, 2023 3 hours ago, Lusekofte said: When I get out of here and home Bergen.... 5
AEthelraedUnraed Posted May 13, 2023 Posted May 13, 2023 (edited) I continue my west to east flight across the South-American continent, with late 1930s conditions. You can read about my previous legs here: Arica (Chile) to Copacabana (Bolivia), Copacabana (Bolivia) to Rurrenabaque (Bolivia), Rurrenabaque (Bolivia) to Guajará-Mirim (Brazil). As from now on I’ll be flying in Brazil and cooking happens to be a hobby of mine, I thought I’d make some Brazilian food. I chose “Moqueca”, a coconut-based fish stew. It’s a dish native to the coastal regions slightly more to the south than I’ll be flying, but I thought cooking it with river fish would make for a proper Amazon river-style stew. I kept the shrimp though. I like shrimp. Leg 4 – Guajará-Mirim (Brazil) to Humaitá (Brazil) After spending the night at a local inn – the hostess’ delicious fish stew provided a welcome change from the tinned food I’ve had the past two days – I return to my aircraft to find it surrounded by a crowd of villagers and I spend most of the early morning selling short flights to the bravest among them, in exchange for some fuel. When the sun has risen high into the air, I decide I cannot postpone my journey much longer and head north. I backtrack the final part of my previous flight until I come to the place where the Rio Beni (or Madre De Dios as it’s called at this point) and Rio Mamoré merge into the Rio Madeira. I keep following the river north as the landscape slowly changes from rainforest to a patchwork of farmland. More and more streams are flowing into the river and we’re slowly getting into Big River territory as the Rio Madeira gets wider and wider and some large lakes start to show up. I pass the large city of Porto Velho but my fuel situation doesn’t require me to land here and I fly on. There’s some localised rain showers up ahead and I carefully navigate my Goose around them while keeping the river within visual range. The clouds do force me down however and without a good overview of the entire river, navigation is getting significantly harder. I follow the meandering Rio Madeira for a while until on the left a medium-sized city pops up that I correctly guess to be my destination of Humaitá. Once again, I land to refuel. Leg 5 – Humaitá (Brazil) to Novo Aripuanã (Brazil) I decide not to push my luck with the deteriorating weather and spend the rest of the day exploring the small town. From the ground, the river looks much wider and even though we’re still a long way from the Amazon, it’s an impressive sight. The Rio Madeira is the main means of transportation here as well as a major food source and small boats keep sailing to and from the town. I have another fish stew at a small hotel and decide to have an early night. Waiting a day turns out to be a good decision. When I wake well-rested the following morning, the weather has cleared up and I take off into a bright blue sky. Visibility is excellent and I have no trouble at all following my 1937 map. This is Indian territory, and I look at the many exotic tribe names that are marked straddling the river. “Morocujus”, “Mundurucus”, “Parintintins”, “Genipapas”, “Muras” ... It is unclear to me how friendly these various peoples are, and I make well sure to stay near the river where there are still some clear signs of civilisation and I’m more likely to survive if I have to make an emergency landing. The landscape below shows some strange patterns where the rainforest turns into narrow stretches of marshland and I’m not entirely sure whether this is man-made or some strange natural phenomenon. Some of the lines are unnaturally straight, but then again they show no signs of human activity and are located mainly in large bends of the river which make them seem like previous iterations of the water’s meandering course. Two large islands appear exactly where they are marked on my map and without any difficulty I find my destination where I decide to land on the small airstrip – it would be a waste to not make use of the excellent weather to fly straight on and refuelling should be quicker and easier on the airfield than moored on the river bank. It turns out to be an unlucky decision. The perfect weather has perhaps made me careless and as I cross the runway threshold, I find myself dangerously underspeed and my left wing already starts to drop. Applying some power and slightly easing the stick saves me from a true stall and although it’s a slightly rough landing, I hit the ground relatively horizontally and at an acceptable descent rate. My last-minute actions haven’t prepared me for what’s next though, and I’m caught entirely off-guard as the moment my wheels hit the ground, my nose tilts forward and I can already feel the bow scrape against the sand. It takes a quick reaction and some hard pulling on the stick to prevent my Goose from flipping over entirely, and once the plane has recovered somewhat and the scraping has stopped, I realise to my horror that the aircraft has veered dangerously to the right and I’m now headed straight for the jungle. This brings me to a difficult dilemma: my first instinct is to slam on the left brake, but the plane still has a considerable tendency to flip forward, and I don't want to exacerbate that by using my wheel brakes. For a moment I contemplate slamming my right throttle fully forward but I desperately need both hands to pull on the stick and I let go of the idea.* I apply full left rudder and as the narrow jungle strip leaves me little choice, carefully apply as much left brakes as I can without flipping my Goose over. She doesn’t respond as well as she ought to and even though the nose slowly starts to turn towards the left again, I cannot prevent my right wing clipping a tree just before coming to a full stop. What’s most important though is that I’m alive, and looking at my wing, the damage isn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. A full inspection reveals the reason for my crash: my right wheel brakes have completely locked up.** Some repair work is needed, but it thankfully doesn’t take too long and I even have time left for one more flight before the sun sets. (To be continued.) * In reality, as I have a single-throttle setup, I'd need my mouse for that and I didn't have the time to grab it then move the mouse pointer to the right throttle. ** I later found out that when adjusting some of my control bindings earlier during the flight, the axis for my right brake had somehow reversed. I cannot remember changing any of my rudder controls? Definitely not on purpose at least. Anyhow, this resulted in my right wheel fully braking whenever I *didn’t* push the pedal down. MSFS counted it as a crash but as I hit the tree at a really slow speed and the cause for the crash was computer related, I decided to go ahead and count my plane as mostly undamaged. Edited May 13, 2023 by AEthelraedUnraed 5
ZachariasX Posted May 13, 2023 Posted May 13, 2023 Next leg, Tripoli International (HLLT), Lybia to Tiska (DAAJ), Algeria. This leg is about the same length as the previous one, 539 nm (vs 533 nm the last one). This is gonna be dull. I had plenty fuel left last time. As I get back to the airport, I notice something different from yesterday. Wind. Lots of. Enough wind to crank the propeller during gusts! And... wind from the south! Oh windy, how does that look? Wind gusts up to 48 knots at ground level!!!! This can't be! But it is enough to let the Cessna up like the kite on a cable. I'll be flying backwards! At FL100 things only look marginally better. But be it. If I was to fly anywhere direction south it will be at that altitude. After filling her up and again with 70 kg of survival gear, I take off. In about 20 meters, I am off the ground. It is incredibly gusty, and the AP is regularly kicked out when I try using it higher up. I am climbing almost stationary. The C152 does not like to to to FL100, but I reach that altitude with Tripolis still in sight (just next to me starboard tire). How the landscape changes colors is still impressive, even without texture glitches. It changes from light brown to reddish brown to dark brown where the mountain ridges are. Still, I am moving slow. This is gonna be interesting. South of Tripolis, I am crossing some mountain range with th edesert extending behind. I'm still flying at turtle speed. I must make some 100 kt TAS, but groundspeed can't be more than 80 kt. At least there are still roads below me. But my confidence is vanishing at rapid pace. My first waypoint... Mizda (IZD). The last outpost of something resembling civilisation. I am riding this radial toward DAAJ, with the hope I will pick up anotherone along the way. I have absolutely no optical references and the bumpy ride f*cks up my gyro compass. Hence, flying by heading bug is a windy path. Still, the geography doesn't fail to entertain. What kind of cliff is that rock formation? The one with a busy intersection bolted to it. There might be no roads in the Sahara, but there sure are people driving around. Hamada Nc-5 (HLHM). I check my fuel status and it is NOT looking good. In order to make it, I must make at least 100 kn ground speed, but checking the clock tells me I still must be doing about 80. I have about two viable alternates on the way: In Aménas (DAUZ) in Algeria and Ghat (HLGT) on the southernmost tip of Lybia. The latter being about directly on track. I must make it to Ghat. Aménas is about as far, but much more off where I want to go. But in order to play safe and take the alternate Aménas, I would have to change course now. Nah, I'll be fine. I press on. One of those few roads connecting the towns in the Sahara. Easy to locate myself on the map now. That is the road that leads to Ghadames (HLTD), should I follow it to my starboard side. That would be 120 nm to go. Now THAT'S an intersectionI The road network in the Sahara never seizes to amaze. But I realize now that it is utterly impossible making it to Tiska (DAAJ) and that the alternate is not only inevitable, but also stretching the limit of what I can do. I still have tons of headwind. Over a sea of sand.. and this is turning into the flight of the Phoenix. As I play around with the mixture, I remember the Ballad of John Maynard. I definitely have more than twenty minutes to Buffalo, but at least my ship is not on fire. But if it goes silent on me, then the difference will be academic. I woke up this morning with a lot of confidence. That is definitely gone. Fuel status... going into the red. And what freaks me out, I just can't tune into my alternates VOR. No GPS, where am I? I am fighting the heading bug and gyro drift, as there is nothing I can do than press on where the whisky compass leads me. Then.. suddenly ahead of me, a black mountain range appears. as I get closer, I can pick up the beacon. Still feels like crossing into Mordor. The fuel gauge is now in the red and I don't see any airport, even though I can talk with the tower now. Finally. The engine might cut out at any time. I keep as much altitude as possible. I still have headwind and want to be able to glide in if it cuts. Made it!!! I shut down the engine and go and ask for fuel. Turns out I have 3.2 liters of fuel left in each tank. In level flight, the last 2.8 litres can't be used. This means I landed with less than one liter of usable fuel... The flight lasted from 7:56 UTC to 13:51 UTC, 485 nm. 5h 56 min, doing a mere 80 kt. on average. At the 6 hour mark, I would have been a glider. Oh well, I put in another 25 liters for the remaining 63 nm and take off right away. I decide to do the remaing flight at 5'000 ft., where the C152 is comfortable and efficient. But this was again where this sim never ceases to amaze. En route, the ground was rising about as fast as I could climb! This is interessting... I kept pressing on and... What a sight! In there... somewhere in that whiteout is my destination. Impossible to find it if it wasn't for its VOR. (Here's where the sim crashed my rig so hard, I had to hard reset and restart the flight from about here. Thank you state saving...) The ILS proved to be no luxury at all. I could have Stuka'd on the runway, but for a decent pattern, the airport remained completely invisible. So much for "easy flying in the desert"! The beauty of this scenery is in the absence of visibility... But that was another 45 min of flight, making this "easy leg" 6h 41 min. Leg 1: 4h 18 min, 427 nm Leg 2: 5 h 21 min, 556 nm Leg 3: 6h 41 min, 550 nm. That was something... 5
1CGS LukeFF Posted May 13, 2023 1CGS Posted May 13, 2023 2 hours ago, ZachariasX said: No GPS, where am I? I am fighting the heading bug and gyro drift, as there is nothing I can do than press on where the whisky compass leads me. Oh, now you want a GPS. ? 2
ZachariasX Posted May 13, 2023 Posted May 13, 2023 1 hour ago, LukeFF said: Oh, now you want a GPS. ? Moments of weakness, I admit. But I made do without. 1
1CGS LukeFF Posted May 14, 2023 1CGS Posted May 14, 2023 Roah (ROAH) to Tanegashima (RJFG). Distance flown: 346 NM. Real-time weather, time of day, and traffic. Island hopping! A really cloudy but not as warm day today as we set off once again in the afternoon. Plus, it was a very busy day at ROAH - lots of planes taxiing by us as we started up, and there was traffic waiting behind us as we waited for an Airbus to land: Circling the airport after takeoff we set course to the north, towards clouds that looked none too friendly: The detailing of Okinawa looks pretty good, I must say: Soon we picked up the string of islands that make up the Amami archipelago: As we approached our last turn point before RJFG, an ominous-looking cloud formation loomed up ahead. We made our turn just before reaching it, so for the most part, it passed by harmlessly to our right: Over our destination the weather was clear, but here, as it was throughout the flight, we had to contend with a nasty 25-knot crosswind from the west. Coming in for final approach on the ILS, the wind wasn't too bad - until I disengaged the autopilot, which then made things..interesting before finally putting the plane down. We came in a little high but not too bad - I didn't want to take any chances with the trees beyond the end of the runway, and the approach lights were showing 1 white and 3 red. RJFG is a small airport, so taxiing to the parking area was a cinch. No custom scenery for this airport, though, so it looks pretty unspectacular: 4
1CGS LukeFF Posted May 16, 2023 1CGS Posted May 16, 2023 A2A Comanche getting closer: https://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=74087&start=210 1
Hoots Posted May 16, 2023 Posted May 16, 2023 4 hours ago, LukeFF said: A2A Comanche getting closer: https://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=74087&start=210 Once this is out my poor 310 can have a well deserved rest.
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