Long flights

[LHookins]

I like to start a flight at an airport, then fly to another and save the game, and later start from that save and fly to another airport. Sometimes these trips can get pretty long.

I have uploaded maps of two of my flights. The first duplicates the flight described in Stephen Coonts' book "The Cannibal Queen". It is two circles around the Unites States with landings in all 48 states in a Stearman. I have actually completed this flight twice.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1629174691

The second is one that I just completed, a flight in a de Havilland Beaver starting in Barbados, doing an Atlantic crossing (in an aircraft with a range of about 450 nautical miles) then to Turkey and back across the Atlantic via northern Greenland. From there to Point Barrow, Alaska and down to Kodiak, Alaska. This joined a second flight from Kodiak to Barbados, completing a world flight. There were no airports close enough together to do a flight through Russia and crossing the Pacific to the Aleutian Islands. This was about 25,500 nautical miles total, equivalent to an around the world flight.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1629170371

I have another flight in progress in a DC-3 that started in Dutch Harbor and is currently in Calcutta. I will be completing an around the world flight in that one.

Anyone else have any good long fights?

Hook

[3 Wire]

Good lord Hook, you must hold some kind of Guiness book of world records entry for longest flights in FSX SE... lol

But hey, as long as you are having a good time doing this there is no "wrong way" to enjoy your flight simming experience....

[LHookins]

I've actually seen much longer ones. Someone flew the entire coast of North and South America. :)

The Cannibal Queen flight was an actual flight that Coonts did. Can't say that's unrealistic. :D

Hook

[TextRich]

I applaud your enthusiam for those long flights Hook. I never use time acceleration myself. The more I feel like a real pilot, the more fun I have.

[LHookins]

Agreed, Bullpup.

Those maps represent many flights over many months, not more than one or two per day.

I never use time acceleration. I have used it exactly twice since I started FSX. Once to spent 2.5 hours on the ground to see how long it would take a major ice accumulation to dissipate, and once in FSEconomy when I wanted to ferry my Goose from Alaska to Texas.

I also don't use autopilot. I used to use it exclusively but turned it off long ago. The last thing I was using it for was altitude hold and I've gotten pretty good at that since turning if off.

I did use autopilot some years ago when flying the A2A Stratocruiser, for example an 8 hour flight between San Francisco and Honolulu, but I haven't turned it on in years.

I figure any minute I am on autopilot is a minute I'm not learning and practicing flying, and I'm still learning after many years. I'd use it more in real life, same as I used cruise control in my car. :)

Hook

[LHookins]

Forgot to mention: I don't use the GPS except for situational awareness as a moving map with the scale set to 10 nm. I had to use it to fly across north Greenland due to the distortion of the map above 70 degrees north latitude and did a direct-to to Alert airport. Needless to say I don't file flight plans. :)

My navigation is by VFR. Dead reckoning, VOR, NDB and occasionally following roads. All flights are planned on the Skyvector.com website.

Real world weather exclusively but once in a while I'll use historical weather when it is too bad to fly. Generally I'll only refuel at an airport with a gas pump.

Hook

[TextRich]

Do/did you fly in real life, Hook? I forgot if you did - you sound like you like to practice for real-world flying. I only used time acceleration to skip 10-15 minutes of straight and level cruise in the FSX flying lessons/checkrides.

[LHookins]

I took lessons around 1971. Flew a few times recently. Not a real pilot, can't fly now due to doctor's orders.

I just like to make my flying as real as I can. Mostly.

Hook

[TextRich]

Originally posted by LHookins:

I took lessons around 1971. Flew a few times recently. Not a real pilot, can't fly now due to doctor's orders.

I just like to make my flying as real as I can. Mostly.

Right I remember now - it was a birthday present, wasn't it? Enjoy your future sim flights - "As Real As It Gets!"

[LHookins]

it was a birthday present, wasn't it?

Yes! First one was, others weren't. Thanks for reminding me. :)

Hook

[LHookins]

I am trying right now to imagine how "as real as it gets" correlates with flying across the north coast of Greenland in the middle of Winter. :D No one in his right mind would make that flight.

The funny thing is, it may have already been done. People do odd things to get in the record books.

I just wanted to get the plane back across the Atlantic and this sounded like an interesting adventure. We can do things like this in a flight sim.

I have another flight in the A2A Cherokee that started near Panama and flew to the Galapagos, then to Ecuador and Quito, then up the Amazon to the mouth. My last flight was the first of 3 four hour legs on the way to Trinidad. Three hours flying at 1000 feet under mild thunderstorms before breaking out into clear weather. Welcome to the Intertropical Front.

Galapagos: 800 miles in a light plane, not something I'd ever want to try in real life, but I wanted to see if I could do it. Quito: I was a bit worried about getting over 13000 feet through a pass without oxygen because I don't know if A2A models hypoxia in that plane. :) The Amazon River: PLEASE don't let me have an engine failure.

Flying the Amazon is more realistic than it sounds at first reading. I simulated picking up an online friend and her father who had done a boat trip up the Amazon and taking them back to civilization. The last we had heard from her was that she was going to do the trip. She had some health problems at the time and this sounded suspiciously like a last request. Call it an Angel flight, pun not intentional.

Many of my flights will have some kind of back story like that but usually not as dramatic.

Another long flight duplicated the flight from New Jersey to California in the A2A Piper Cub from the book "Flight of Passage" by Rinker Buck. I even flew the Guadeloupe Pass between Guadeloupe and El Capitan as described in the book but couldn't have happened in real life no matter what the book says: five miles south and he'd have been out of the mountains.

I also did a flight I'd been reading about in Richard Bach's journal, now published as "Travels with Puff", about buying a Progressive Aerodyne Searey in Florida and flying it to Orcas Island. A wonderful little plane with about the same performance as the Cub. I had to guess at his exact route but I did hit all the landmarks he described.

I like doing bush flying in bush conditions. I also like reading books about it. Now, when I read about some pilot's experience, I know exactly what he is talking about because I've been in the same situation myself. This kind of thing really makes the books come alive.

The DC-3 I am flying on the around the world flight is currently painted in Breitling's colors. I won't be following their route, but I'll be flying their plane in a similar flight.

Hook

[LHookins]

These are short flights compared to my first. When I first got FSX I decided I'd collect all the badges for the various airports and visit all the high definition cities and airports in FSX plus a few special locations. I started at my home airport in Texas and flew to each of them starting from the last one. I used whatever aircraft were available in the sim and had the necessary range to get where I was going. For example, to get to Easter Island (most remote airport badge) I flew the Learjet, then explored the island in the Bell 206 helicopter.

The only break in the continuous flight was a flight in the 747 from London to Sydney duplicating the first long Qantas flight in a 747. It took me 17.5 hours (I saved the game halfway through the flight and took it up from there later) beating the Qantas time of about 21 hours. I had a major tailwind over China. I eventually linked the start of this fight with another I'd been flying.

I had to use the Lear to get to McMurdo Station (southmost airport badge), then flew the ski equipped Maule to South Pole Station and back. I needed an amphibious plane to land at the south magnetic pole and this is when I first flew the Goose. I fell in love with the Goose and I've probably got half my flight time in it. I was flying the Goose when I landed at the north geographic and magnetic poles. I flew over a lone tree near the north pole which probably marked the actual location of the pole. :)

I started off doing direct-to routes on the GPS, then flying VOR to VOR using the GPS and later the actual VOR signal, then NDBs when they were available and no more direct-to with the GPS. This was about the time I stopped using the autopilot and started avoiding restricted airspace. When I got the A2A Cub I started doing dead reckoning. When I was doing sailplane flying with CumulusX the "GPS" consisted of an arrowhead that pointed right or left to your programmed waypoint, which was all you needed in a plane that couldn't fly at a specified altitude or over a specified path because you needed to find thermals. The sailplane also gave me a quick course in flying needle-ball-and-airspeed (no artificial horizon in the plane) when I stayed too long in a thermal and found myself in a cloud.

Hook

[LHookins]

The Cherokee flight that went through the Galapagos is now in Trinidad. The flight plan is to fly up the island chain to the Virgin Islands, then Grand Turk, then a long flight (738 nautical miles) to Bermuda. I expect to have some very pleasant flights and I love the Caribbean.

Out of all the planes I've flown and loved in FSX, the Cherokee would probably be the one I'd be most likely to own myself. Four passengers plus baggage, economical (7 gallons per hour typical), lots of range with full fuel (50 gallons), about 110 knots in cruise. A bit roomier than the Cessna 172. Prettier, too, I think. :)

Available from A2A.

Hook

[LHookins]

This is the flight I'm making in the Manfred Jahn C-47/DC-3. It started in Dutch Harbor, the flights in Canada to Seattle to Arizona are flights made by Buffalo Airways. The Atlantic crossing via the Azores was also a Buffalo flight when they sold a couple of planes to Turkey.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1660245004

Hook

[LHookins]

I just finished the DC-3 around the world flight and landed back at Dutch Harbor. About 23,400 nautical miles, 155 hours.

Hook

[Nightmare1964]

Originally posted by LHookins:

I just finished the DC-3 around the world flight and landed back at Dutch Harbor. About 23,400 nautical miles, 155 hours.

Hook

Wow you made some good time, did you have a tail wind all the way? I calculated that you would've averaged 150 kts over the journey(23400÷155). The DC-3 is listed at having a cruising speed of 120 kts. Did you add a couple of bigger engines?

Here is an exercise for you Hook, how much would it have cost to do that trip? Look at the Maintenance manual for a DC-3 and see what intervals the aircraft needs to be serviced at, My little plane needs one at 25,50, 75 and 100 hours. AVGAS Fuel costs approximately AU$2.30/L

I did this exercise when I virtually flew around Australia many years ago in a Beech Bonanza. I used Google to see if a particular airport or airfield had fuel, and the cost, plus fork out for other costs such as accommodation for crew etc. I then recorded the costs, planned my leg and flew it real time, landing and saving. It was quite an immersive exercise.