Flight in the Cockpit 18: CAC 757
By FlightSim.Com Staff (13 April 2000)
ecently I did a how-to? article about flying your FS2000 or FLY! airliner to the top of the world at LaPaz Bolivia (over 13,000 feet MSL). Now, you can see for yourself, the real thing, in Just Planes videos Flight In the Cockpit: 18 - Challenge Air Cargo 757.
The video is a behind the scenes routine flight that Challenge flies from Miami on a five hour trip to LaPaz, Bolivia. During the enroute phase, the captain explains all the systems, glass cockpit operations and flight routing. This is in great detail, and excellent quality video. By the time they reach LaPaz, it is in the afternoon, and many towering cumulous and thunderheads are popping up over the mountains. They really don't show too many of them, but there is a dramatic scene when turning at FL230 on the decent, they plow right into a big wet cumulous. The brief view of the cloud is great, and when inside, the camera shakes in the turbulence of this great cloud. LaPaz is so high, that they must depressurize the cabin before descending below 18,000 feet, so that after landing, they can open the doors! This requires oxygen to be worn and used on the descent. In fact, FAA regulations state that the crew must be on Oxygen full time, when operating an aircraft above 14,000 feet. Landing at over 13,000 feet, the crew uses oxygen all the way onto the tarmac.
There are some brief glimpses forward out the window, of the towering terrain around. Not as much as I'd like to see however. The audio for the landing into LaPaz is only the sound of two pilots breathing into the oxygen masks. It sounds quite "spooky" and after a while the sound of this breathing made me fidgety. I would have rather just heard the ambient cabin sounds, the oxygen sounds detracted from the excitement of the landing.
After landing, the flight crew does the walk around and prepares for the continuation to Quito for another high altitude mountainous arrival. Again, the taxi, takeoff and climb was a bit annoying, due to only hearing breathing. Maybe that's the only way it could have been done. In any event, the lllllooooonnnnnnnggggggg takeoff roll at LaPaz was great to see, as even the mighty 757 is a bit tired at this great altitude. Older jetliners could not even do this departure!
The landing at Quito was excellent. Very beautiful scenery all around. I was not expecting that. I liked this part the best. Both landing and takeoff were filmed well, and the sounds of both were captured as well. From there they go on to Cali where the sun is going down now, and from there, continue on to Miami for a spectacular night arrival on 9. The clarity of the night flight into Miami is great. I recommend watching it in a dark room at night!
The CAC 757 video gets a 86 out of 100. Be sure to visit the Challenge Air 757 Video Page.
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| NOTE: For this test I used an okay 19" TV, and a semi-good VCR. |