Microsoft Flight Sim 2020

[DBFlyguy]

The MSFS team continues to impress! Goes to show what having good leadership and a solid dev team can do.  It's crazy how much they've accomplished in such a short amount of time!

[[F.Circus]MoerasGrizzly]

22 hours ago, DBFlyguy said:

The MSFS team continues to impress! Goes to show what having good leadership and a solid dev team can do.  It's crazy how much they've accomplished in such a short amount of time!

 

Don't forget the boatloads of money and being one of Microsoft's prestige projects :-P

Still, it's good to see them doing well. The MSFS series never really turned a profit but it was always a showcase of "look at what we can do". I'm glad the series returned and is getting continued support.

[ZachariasX]

1 hour ago, [F.Circus]MoerasGrizzly said:

The MSFS series never really turned a profit

Where did you get that from? I thought they must have made a ton of sales...

[Gambit21]

On 7/1/2021 at 6:35 AM, DBFlyguy said:

The MSFS team continues to impress! Goes to show what having good leadership and a solid dev team can do.  It's crazy how much they've accomplished in such a short amount of time!

 

It's what happens when devs concentrate on the right things...I'll definitely be getting this at some point.

[Feathered_IV]

2 hours ago, [F.Circus]MoerasGrizzly said:

The MSFS series never really turned a profit but it was always a showcase of "look at what we can do".

 

46 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

Where did you get that from? I thought they must have made a ton of sales...

According to an article in PC Pilot magazine, FS2020 sold more than one million copies in the first month. 

[[F.Circus]MoerasGrizzly]

1 hour ago, ZachariasX said:

Where did you get that from? I thought they must have made a ton of sales...

 

It's what I remember from ACES studio closing and the franchise being cancelled after FSX.

[ZachariasX]

5 minutes ago, [F.Circus]MoerasGrizzly said:

 

It's what I remember from ACES studio closing and the franchise being cancelled after FSX.

Actually FSX sold indeed a lot. But then they were compelled to make Flight, and for good reason everybody hated that. Then ACES got closed down.

[[F.Circus]MoerasGrizzly]

3 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

Actually FSX sold indeed a lot. But then they were compelled to make Flight, and for good reason everybody hated that. Then ACES got closed down.

Aces was shutdown back in 2009, Flight was released in 2012.

[ZachariasX]

40 minutes ago, [F.Circus]MoerasGrizzly said:

Aces was shutdown back in 2009, Flight was released in 2012.

You are right, indeed! They made more than a milion sales with FSX, then screwed it all with by getting rid of the knowledge required for a sim. In the end, nothing can save us from bad management decisions.

[DBFlyguy]

2 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

 

According to an article in PC Pilot magazine, FS2020 sold more than one million copies in the first month. 

Not surprised at all, just wait until it drops on Xbox.  Evidently it's been a huge hit for flight sim hardware sales too. 

Edited July 2, 2021 by DBFlyguy

[[F.Circus]MoerasGrizzly]

2 hours ago, DBFlyguy said:

Not surprised at all, just wait until it drops on Xbox.  Evidently it's been a huge hit for flight sim hardware sales too. 

That turned out to be massive pain for me when the X52 had worn out and there was nothing to replace it in stock xD
Good for them though! Way to make the genre much more popular.

[CUJO_1970]

This is already one of the greatest pieces of software I’ve ever purchased.

[Guest deleted@83466]

Does the DC-6 have a good virtual flight engineer?

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, SeaSerpent said:

Does the DC-6 have a good virtual flight engineer?

 

From the videos I have watched, yes. You might want to watch the two videos Froogle has released about it:

 

 

[ZachariasX]

The PMDG flight engineer is very good and super userful, especially for starters. As all the planes systems are simulated, he helps a lot if you just want to take the aircraft for a spin. You can do everything yourself, but this includes a lot of clicking in the cockpit at times.

 

The AFE is made in a slightly different and with a slightly different purpose than A2A Simulation made them for their propliners.

 

PMDG gives us a flight engineer that, if tasked to do so, will perform all the steps the procedure assigns to the FE. Each part of the flight, from preflight to shutdown can be selected and the AFE will become active doing just that. This includes that he manages throttles as well and he will not give them to you unless you „turn him off“. You select the AFE, then you are commited to the respective part of the flight as long as he is on.

 

This in contrast to A2A‘s AFE that makes sure that all the buttons in the aircraft are always toggeled such that the aircraft is in order, depending on what you are doing. You still have control of the engines and you can command the AFE to hold specific MAP.

 

This means, with the A2A AFE, you can goof around as you like while the AFE is managing oil and engine temps. The help turns the plane in something like an elaborate GA plane. Not with PMDG, where the AFE is rather sent on a specific mission than merely looking after the aircraft.

 

The AFE does its job very well in the DC-6, but you‘ll end up using it less than in the A2A birds.

[DBFlyguy]

 

One tiny step closer to "combat" in MSFS ?

[Tektolnes]

19 hours ago, SeaSerpent said:

Does the DC-6 have a good virtual flight engineer?

 

Yes though honestly there's no reason to use him if you're familiar with flying WWII planes in general. It's probably more realistic to use him but I prefer to keep myself a bit busier and do everything myself. The workload isn't excessive by any means and the DC-6 does everything slowly so there's plenty of time to get stuff done without getting behind the airplane. 

[DD_Arthur]

1 hour ago, Tektolnes said:

 

Yes though honestly there's no reason to use him if you're familiar with flying WWII planes in general. It's probably more realistic to use him but I prefer to keep myself a bit busier and do everything myself. The workload isn't excessive by any means and the DC-6 does everything slowly so there's plenty of time to get stuff done without getting behind the airplane. 

 

Agree completely.  

I’ve had a good look at the tablet, thought “that’s cool” but haven’t actually felt the need to  use it yet.

I haven’t found the cockpit intimidating; quite the reverse.

 

Put me in the Airbus or the Dream Liner and I’m lost....

[Feathered_IV]

Finally caved in and bought the Spitfire IX from FlyingIron.  I'm thinking some flights around Malta could be well overdue.

 

[Guest deleted@83466]

3 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

Agree completely.  

I’ve had a good look at the tablet, thought “that’s cool” but haven’t actually felt the need to  use it yet.

I haven’t found the cockpit intimidating; quite the reverse.

 

Put me in the Airbus or the Dream Liner and I’m lost....

I flew in FS2004 and FSX for a long time, including the A2A B-17 and B377.  I really enjoyed having the virtual engineer “watch” things and keeping an eye on temps, adjusting the cowl flaps, managing the intercoolers, pressurization, all that jazz, but not at the expense of also learning how to do it myself. I didn’t know about any of that stuff, until I started doing the study-sim level planes.  But then I got tired of the civilian sims, offline, and started doing online air combat, starting with Rise of Flight.  I’m tempted by MSFS, but I’m finding it hard to get back into that kind of flying…but it sure looks damned good!

I’m guessing I’d need a total system upgrade to do MSFS, much more for a PMDG plane.  Have an i7-6700, and SLI video config.  Upgrade, if I want to have good image quality and FPS?

Edited July 4, 2021 by SeaSerpent

[ZachariasX]

5 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

Agree completely.  

I’ve had a good look at the tablet, thought “that’s cool” but haven’t actually felt the need to  use it yet.

I haven’t found the cockpit intimidating; quite the reverse.

 

Put me in the Airbus or the Dream Liner and I’m lost....

 

In the end, it just saves time. In real life, you‘d never walk up to a DC-6 that sits there cold and dark and do everything yourself. As pilot, you basically receive an aircraft that is ready to start engines after you made the inspection of the aircraft. The AFE gives you several elegant ways of having that.

 

I agree, the DC-6 is, deep down, a simple creature. It is simpler than the B377, more like the Connie with its simple two speed superchargers.

 

I find it also forgiving, as doing things wrong regarding creature comfort are inconsequencial. You can forget to set cabin pressure and climb to 24k ft., no problem. The simulated passenger happiness in the „Captain of the Ship“ series asks more of you then.

 

What I do not really appreciate in PMDG‘s DC-6 is that they do not let yo sit in the flight engineers position. You have to move over there or assign snapviews.

 

Also there are also (probably) some MSFS things making themselves noted. The gyro pilot in the DC-6 has no drift at all, it just follows the magnetic course (it was very obvious when flying ove the north pole), same as in the Cessna GA plane. There, the gyro compass has tons of drift, to the degree of making it a very deceptive thing. But the autopilot stays on course, always, following magnetic heading. In the A2A Connie, adjusting the Sperrys course director is a frequent task, while you can let the DC-6 fly on autopilot for hours unattended. The Connie wouldn‘t like that.

 

I am certain that both the DC-6 and MSFS will outgrow such issues. I still can‘t wait having A2A‘s fleet on MSFS. It is not just the looks, I get twice the FPS over P3Dv4. It really hurts going back.

[Monostripezebra]

I gotta say.. I love the Caudron 430.

 

For the price, the looks and flightmodel are about the absolute best in that price category, so far. Simple plane, simple fun.

 

 

 

Has anyone experience with those guys other product? This zodiac-trike hanglider thing? Is that any good?

 

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by Monostripezebra

[Blooddawn1942]

3 hours ago, Monostripezebra said:

I gotta say.. I love the Caudron 430.

 

For the price, the looks and flightmodel are about the absolute best in that price category, so far. Simple plane, simple fun.

 

 

 

Has anyone experience with those guys other product? This zodiac-trike hanglider thing? Is that any good?

 

 

That's indeed a fun little plane. Only annoying thing is that the cockpit so claustrophobic, that in VR You are stuck in the canopy frames which is quite an immersion braker. 

[DD_Arthur]

20 hours ago, SeaSerpent said:

I’m guessing I’d need a total system upgrade to do MSFS, much more for a PMDG plane.  Have an i7-6700, and SLI video config.  Upgrade, if I want to have good image quality and FPS?

 

The outskirts of 'Frisco on an i73930k @4.4ghz with an RTX2070, a mixed bag of DDR3 and 1080p.

 

 

 

[Feathered_IV]

My goodness this sim does bad weather incredibly well.  I just had the pants scared off me trying to find my way from Clark field to Lingayen in low cloud and rain squalls.  

[DD_Arthur]

 

 

[Lusekofte]

I am out of time. I am simply heartbroken not having time to learn the DC6

[Dakpilot]

2 hours ago, LuseKofte said:

I am out of time. I am simply heartbroken not having time to learn the DC6

 

Nah... Only take 15 mins

 

Then you can haul meat from Cochabambo to La Paz.. Daring flights into dirt strips in Sudan with medical supplies, parts for mines in Papua New Guinea, bumble around the Arctic,  fly spare parts for the Red Cross in the Congo, Aid flights into Ethiopia... The list is endless all with crappy strips and bad weather 

 

?

 

Cheers, Dakpilot 

[danielprates]

8 minutes ago, Dakpilot said:

 

Nah... Only take 15 mins

 

Then you can haul meat from Cochabambo to La Paz.. Daring flights into dirt strips in Sudan with medical supplies, parts for mines in Papua New Guinea, bumble around the Arctic,  fly spare parts for the Red Cross in the Congo, Aid flights into Ethiopia... The list is endless all with crappy strips and bad weather 

 

?

 

Cheers, Dakpilot 

 

Or you can pretend it is the late 40s and you are ferrying Harry Truman all around on a state-of-the-art plane. That's why I wish there was a vintage-only cockpit without the more modern gear. You can use ADF on the few still remaining localizers. The A2A Connie for FSX really shines on that role.

[DD_Arthur]

10 hours ago, LuseKofte said:

I am out of time. I am simply heartbroken not having time to learn the DC6

 

Winter in Vanna Luse? 

Plenty of time to relax and fly a DC6 whilst it’s minus 20 outside ?

[Blooddawn1942]

I'm well underway on the France Bushflight and there are some insane grass strips on the slopes of the Pyrenees which make that thing in Nepal look like a learning ground for beginners. ?

[Lusekofte]

3 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

Winter in Vanna Luse? 

Plenty of time to relax and fly a DC6 whilst it’s minus 20 outside ?

You are right. Vanna brings less work and rougher weather. And that old house got fiber connection 

[AndyJWest]

I finished my meandering round-the-world trip yesterday. ? Well over 45,000 nm flown since the end of August last year. A few screenshots from the last week:

 

Leaving an implausibly-cold Iceland. MSFS seems to have taken its name a little too literally.

 

The Faroes. I'd originally intended to land there, and would have got in ok, but the weather forecast for the next few days wasn't looking good so I flew on.

 

The Orkneys are a lot less rugged than the Faroes.

 

The next day, over the Scottish mainland, I'm finding myself hemmed in by the weather. The top of the Cairngorms were cloud-covered, so I took the one route southish that avoided high ground - down the Great Glen. Loch Ness in the foreground.

 

Ben Nevis. The cloud is lifting a little, and it is brighter out over the sea, but I'm almost done for the day.

 

The next day, I find myself having to head south-westwards again to avoid the clouds, before I can turn south. 

 

The weather closes in again, and by the time I get to Blackpool, I'm peering through the murk at 1500 ft or so. Fortunately, the locals have provided a convenient landmark for the lost.

 

Final leg. The weather was still grim over Blackpool, with low overcast. I took a quick loop around the Tower to get a better look, and then set off south. 

 

I'd convinced myself that the overcast didn't go very high, so kept my eye open for a hole up though it. Unfortunately, I found one. I climbed up through it, circling steeply to stay out of the cloud. It went up a lot higher than I anticipated, and before long I'd lost sight of my way back down. And as I got higher it got colder. I could see blue sky overhead, so convinced myself I'd be safe enough if I managed to avoid icing up - it was well below freezing. And that is how I ended up at 12,000 ft, at -8° C, over a solid bank of cloud. Not really a good idea in an XCub.

 

As I anticipated, the cloud was thinning out as I headed south, so I found my way back down again unscathed. Should have known better though.

 

Almost home, I divert a little to take a look at Windsor Castle.

 

Back at Fairoaks, where I started all those months ago.

 

 

[Dakpilot]

Fairoaks is where I had my first flight experience as a toddler in a (casa) Ju-52, laid on by junior school 

 

?

 

Cheers, Dakpilot 

[Feathered_IV]

Having a hard time with the FlyingIron Spit IX at anything above 12000 feet.  I’ve switched the fuel pressure pump on beneath the trim wheel and kept my rpm and boost below 2650/+7 but the engine dies on me after just a few minutes at altitude.  Does anyone know what I’m doing wrong here?  The temps seem okay too but the engine sounds a bit out of sorts right from the get go.  

[Blooddawn1942]

Did You pressurised the fuel tanks? It's the lever at 2 o'clock low. 

Edited July 6, 2021 by Blooddawn1942

[DD_Arthur]

2 hours ago, Feathered_IV said:

Having a hard time with the FlyingIron Spit IX at anything above 12000 feet.  I’ve switched the fuel pressure pump on beneath the trim wheel and kept my rpm and boost below 2650/+7 but the engine dies on me after just a few minutes at altitude.  Does anyone know what I’m doing wrong here?  The temps seem okay too but the engine sounds a bit out of sorts right from the get go.  

 

Not sure, I can get mine up high no problem but continuous + 7 boost sounds a bit high.

Sight-seeing cruise for me is 2650rpm @ zero boost which equals an indicated 220 to 240mph. I have supercharger control on auto.

[ZachariasX]

2 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

I finished my meandering round-the-world trip yesterday. ?

Congrats! In an XCub, doing that is quiet something.

 

I did some more flying with the DC-6. This leg took me from Anchorage to Los Angeles.

 

This is the one that reminded me that straight out departure from Anchorage runway 7 R requires a swift turn upon takeoff to be safe and found a friend upon arrival.

 

Playing with "Live" settings and with Central European Time gets produces a special schedule on the other side of the world. But be it. Night or not, the DC-6 can be relied upon. If it fails on you, it wasn't the weather or time of day. The problem always sits at the yoke.

 

As I took off intp a pitch dark night as suggested by the ATC using 7R for straight out, I figured I can plan my route on the way as there is nothing to see for another couple of hours. Boy was I wrong as they scratched me off the hillsides of Far North Bicentennial Park just to the east of the airport. Note to self: don't Alt-Tab before real altitude is reached. But I brought plenty of glue and only carried cargo, no passengers. Collecting the remains before the FAA arrives was a trick they taught me in Africa. (If you can't remove everything or if it "happens" on the airport itself, then as bare minimum you bring color to overpaint the registration.) It0s never the firgefighters that arrive first on the scene, its the jeep bringing the paint.

 

At least, I got myself a new paint as well on the repaired plane. Again, I took off in a pitch black sky. But when climbing, especially that far north, soon there is some light.

 

The idea was to basically follow the coast down to Vancouver and then proceed to Pacific Northwest. About 3.30 am, sun starts to rise while I reach cruise altitude.

 

I am always amazed by the lightning effects in this sim. You are just cruising along, trying to dial in some beacons... and... at 3.45 am...

 

Oh my. Sun is coming up for me. I can see that the weather is nicer over the continent. It is difficult receiving beacons, so I opt for the nicer weather and set my course more inland over the rockies. I figure at FL200 I'll be safe. Even during an extended lunchbreak.

 

The engines are healthy and despite me pushing them with a T/O weight of 100'000 lbs, they run smooth. Trying to get the best mileage from them is a challenge. Just a slight deviation can cause excessive torque or less power. It all comes down to "follow the manual!". That works best.

 

As I cross into the Pacific Northwest, navigation becomes trivial. You have four prominent, different looking mountains that almost always can be seen. I am just over North Bend. I-90 can be seen in the lower left corner. What am I saying North Bend, Twin Peaks!

 

This is the moment where I stop looking up beacons and use Mk.I eyeball for navigation. From Mt.Rainier down to Mount St. Helens...

 

..to Crater Lake...

 

...using the beacon of crater lake-Klamath Regional Airport (KLMT). I should do more flying here as well. How scenic! From there, I set a compass bearing again that should bring me to the SF Bay Area. That happens to be outwardly trivial. Just look out for Mount Shasta. It sticks out of the scenery so prominently.

 

Too bad it has texture errors. One should check mountains that are as prominent as this one. The Bay Area is very cloudy and I opt going south for LAX. Now is the question... from where to approach LAX? I am way too far to tune in on LAX, but I am really running low on fuel now. I don't want to risk any unnecessary flight time. When I took off, wind came from the sea. So maybe a westward approach? At least I can receive VOR's from a distance to set me in on direct approach to RWY 24L.

 

Man... I can't see much in that soup. And no ILS. This means... Yes, after contacting LAX, they confirm I came in from the wrong sinde and this ILS is not active. I retract the flaps to 5° and maintain level flight. It's funny in the DC-6. Set engine power to 26 inches, 100 BMP (torque), and then you do the rest with the flaps. But the airport is hidden in a cloud. It is actually not bad weather, there's just this grey bag where the airport is.

 

Oh well. This crate goes like a train. There is little you can do for last minute corrections. But I hope that the beacon is precise and that my hand flying gets me where I want to be. Woha.. almost! The clouds are down almost to 200 ft and I see the runway in the very last moment!

 

That was a close shave... a bit too low and a bit too far to the right. The image was captured when the runway came in sight. But it worked. And as I taxi to the gate, what a surprise!

 

How neat! Somebody is just getting ready in the DC-6A, HB-IBB. HB-IBB and HB-IBO together again!

 

Like back in the days in ZRH, 1958. (From private collection.) The DC-6B registered as HB-IBO is the leftmost plane.

 

Next will be Panama. That's the plan.

[Dakpilot]

14 hours ago, ZachariasX said:

It all comes down to "follow the manual!". That works best.

 

Nah, just slam the throttles to the firewall (all fighter pilot memoirs mention this, so it must be standard procedure) and leave them there for 7.5 hrs at WEP. I read a single page of a test which shows that this is guaranteed. 

 

R2800's don't need babying they have a reputation for being bullet proof, they don't need no stinking manual

 

(attempt at humour) 

 

V nice pics

 

Cheers, Dakpilot 

[ZachariasX]

2 hours ago, Dakpilot said:

Nah, just slam the throttles to the firewall (all fighter pilot memoirs mention this, so it must be standard procedure) and leave them there for 7.5 hrs at WEP. I read a single page of a test which shows that this is guaranteed. 

You know, the funny thing is I actually belive that 7.5 hours on a test bench is *in principle possible*. I am discovering however (again) that I am perfectly able to kill the engines at much lower ratings. I am still  working on the "getting there".

 

Hence, this is the one where I demonstrate that an engine that actuall can pull 60 inches can get rekt by the issue at the yoke way before having the throttle firewalled by means of doing as they do on DED servers.

 

To proceed to South America, I choose Panama as next destination. Some 2'800 nm, meaning you just fill AVGAS in every sealed box you can find and you have everything you need plus reserve to comensate for any inadequacy that one might be bringing along to the flightdeck.

 

Flying in Central America hasn't been an issue at all, like flying in New Guinea minus problems. Also they say weather is nice in Mexico. I checked all the western movies and while there are some of that genre that feature bad weather, as long as nobody gets lost and Mexcio is involved, it is always nice, clear weather. Having considered weather forecast as well as fuel requirements for flight planning, I am basically good to go.

 

I did some more and shorter flights from LAX just to get the plane a bit better under control. I want to make it do automated ILS approaches with the Sperry, but the margin of correction by side of the automatation is VERY limited (when using old and manly stack). You really have to bring her in all trimmed out in decent configuration to let her fly herself happily to the runway threshold. The time difference between LAX and ZRH puts me usually up at night with little to distract me from the gauges. The gyro pilot is rather obstinate. If it becomes unhappy, it just disengages. Quietly. PMDG did the sensible thing of adding the option making it honk once it quits on you, Garmin style. But if it quits on you, it always takes a bit to trim the aircraft back into a stable approach configuration and you cannot just put it back on, you need to decouple the clutch first, set it to gyro, then engage it again, couple the clutch to connect it, and if all went well, you can set it back to follow the beacon on approach.

 

While I am probably still good for neath death experiences to my flight engineer, not crashing and hitting the runway convinces me that I am good to go. I top off the fuel and water (ADI). Weather is as envisioned.

 

All seemed well and I went of for a climb in southeasterly direction, using skyvector for beacons and making sense of where I am.

 

Too bad, an hour into the flight I had the "frozen cockpit bug", where dials and gauges do not react anymore, including the levers. Even though they in principle can be adjusted and are functional, you cannot see their actual position. Bummer. Restart. After lunch. I try to be good, go though all the hoops of adding fuel and starting up, taxi to the runway as told by the tower and then this.

 

 

 

Those b*ggers still have set Jumbo for taking off through me. Oh well, I be quick, why do a proper runup when you kamikaze you before completing procedures? Off I go, levers to the wall. (7.5 hours they say!)

 

 

The climb is again a bit shallow for my taste, but at max. T/O weight I can't complain. Why it it that bloody LAX alwys has this bloody white bag of a cloud sitting on it? Mexcio, here I come. I do the climb without the AFE and plan for a cruise altitude FL220. As I flicked the first supercharger stages, I noticed that the spike in MAP is higher than 40 inches and I reduce throttles a bit more to flick the other thre switches and power up for climbing to 22k ft. Somehow, I get less climb than expected. It should do about 500 at altitude. Something is wrong. Oh, no... my No.2 engine...

 

How inconvenient. I have a 90'000 lbs of damaged aircraft limping on three engines. There is nothing I can do to make it happy except to throttle it up to make it pull as much MAP as the others. You know in the A-20 in BoX you put the supercharger gear on stage two and show those Messerschmitt what a climb is. Here I'm showing the FE what an idiot looks like. I can't maintain this altitude, I must descend.

 

Nice weather in Mexico. Ha ha. Skyvector tell me that some General's airport there. Ah, General Ignacio Pesqueira Garcia (MMHO). They don't even call it an airport, "General" is good enough. And it has a long and paved runway plus a VOR, all the things I like. I must land... I have about half the power left in No.2 engine. It turned out to be a different flight than envisioned. I decide against dumping fuel. I figure my bargaining position is pretty weak just showing up with a broken engine and I better hold on to what I have.

 

At least I receive the VOR in time and can set myself up for an approach. Clouds are bloody low as well and that friggin' VOR is placed rather far beside the runway. I exit the cloud base rather close to the runway and have to correct a lot. With a click I repair the engine (on the iPad) after turning off the engines. After that I restart the engines.

 

Finally, off to Panama! The fuel should be ok for that, despite a second climb. I have to take off in the fog again.

 

7.5 hours it is! Water on, levers to the wall! Sounds silly, but not doing so would have been outwardly catastrophic. As I depart, a seriously big moutain range apreas from the fog and I turn away with everything I have.

 

I am sorting myself out after that.. 40 inches MAP, 2400 rpm, 190 BMP. And then... something is wrong. Again. Oil! The temps are gone... one after the other. Not good. Not good. Thinking of... I have filled the fuel tanks.. but didn't think of the oil tanks! They must have been drained by now to a degree where the testing probes are not reaching the oil level anymore. The manual says this happens before there is nil oil in the system anymore, but it seems I put myself on a "Timer©" of onknown, but short duration. Where is the next airport?? Skyvector gives some options. I choose Torreon International (MMTC). I have been there after all in my last world trip. The airport is just next to the hillside straight ahead. About 35 nm miles away (as the VOR tells me), I'm trying to catch a good glide angle and power down unduly to slow for deploying flaps. At leat now things are easy just letting it glide in.

 

Now this is Mexico as I imagined it. Oil was down to a couple of drops, I would rally have been a glider had I chosen an airport farther away.

 

At least this time, I didn't break anything (yet). But Panama is farther away than I would have thought.

 

 

Maybe something on the fate of HB-IBO. Its cockpit is now a static prop at the Pacific Coast Air Museum, Santa Rosa, CA 95403.

https://pacificcoastairmuseum.org/aircraft/dc-6-cockpit/

 

The aircraft was in service until 1991...