DreamFleet Flies The Legend

By Louis J. Betti

The most I would be climbing in the 707 that day, the climb up the steps. The entrance door to the sim is on the right side.

ith engines running, my first challenge was taxiing. I pushed the throttles forward, and forward, and forward.

"You need more power, Lou", Tom commented.

"I have enough power, Tom!" I checked the parking brake; it was off.

"Oops, I forgot to turn on the motion!" Klaus called out.

Taxiing took a bit getting used to, and I think I made Tom slightly "car" sick, but I got the hang of it, generally stayed on the centerline, and lined up properly on the runway. As expected, the toe brakes are far less effective than they are in FS2000. Flaps had been set to the first notch, 14 degrees.

The moment of truth, and one I had waited all my life for, had arrived. With Marcel in the FE seat, positioned between Tom and I, I advanced the throttles until they were straight up, and Marcel took over to set takeoff power.

As per Klaus' instructions, I steered using the nose wheel tiller. V1 was at 121 knots, VR was 126, and "Ooomph!" I pulled back on the yoke, for a 15 degree nose up climb. V2, at some 140 knots passed quickly. We were airborne, and I called for the gear. Tom raised it, and if I recall correctly, we would need to have the flaps retracted by about 190 knots or so.

Actually, I never said "Ooomph" when pulling back on the yoke, as I knew what to expect.

With controls that are not boosted, except for the rudder, the 707 has heavy control forces, whether going slow or fast. In time, you get used to it, however, the only yokes for FS that I have found that

Where's the boomer's station?" Tom is quickly reminded of the fact that this is a 707, not a KC-135! Note the large instructor's station in the background.
even comes close to simulating this (and even then they are a bit lighter) are the yokes made by Precision Flight Controls, PFC. The reality was, the control forces on the 707 seemed only slightly heavier than I experienced while flying a more modern jet airliner at United last year, and those were not much heavier than some light aircraft I have flown!

Tom had the NAV radios set, and I dialed in the course on the PDI (HSI). We leveled off at 5,000', and proceeded on our flight plan, which would have us intercept the localizer at Cologne.

The ILS approaches into Cologne were pretty routine, manually flown affairs. Tom called off the radio altitude (we had one of those too!), and dropped the flaps and gear on cue. Over the threshold, retard the throttles, I began the flare at about 30', and planted her on the runway. No "hanging bogies" to smooth things out either.

Grab the spoiler lever, and throw it back, then grab for the reverse levers, and pull them back against the interlock, and maintain pressure until you feel the interlock release, and pull them back the rest of the way to get into reverse. Once again, it was quickly proven just how over-effective FS2000's spoilers and reversers are!

Don't forget to get on the toe brakes and the nose tiller! Like the spoilers and reversers, the toe brakes are far less effective than those in FS.

We got her slowed down, and turned off the runway. Then, with a push of a button we were airborne, ready to intercept the LOC.

After several approaches I had Klaus add in cross wind and, finally, had him "sock" in the field.

Marcel took this shot from his vantage point in the FE's seat, and we're getting ready to fly. Judging by the active DME 1, Tom has already dialed in the frequency on NAV 1. Note the twin INS units, and not an FMC in sight!
"Let's do one to minimums", was my request.

That was the last approach I flew, and sadly, I was behind on it, and found myself to the left of the LOC as we broke out, at around 250'.

I could hear a bit of concern in Tom's voice: "Forget it, go around!"

In a real aircraft I would have, but instead I simply relied on my real flying experience, and the knowledge that I could not kill anyone in this sim. I muscled the big bird over, lined her up and straightened her out, just was we crossed the threshold, and greased her on.

"Great!" exclaimed Klaus.

Of course, as I banked to line up, I probably had only 10-20' feet of clearance between my left wing tip and the ground!

A glance at my watch, and I realized we would soon have to stop in order to make the photographs we needed. Even though I was paying for the whole session, I could not experience this alone, and offered the left seat to Tom, Marcel, and Hans, who each flew one approach, and I dare say that each flew it quite well! It was Marcel's first time ever piloting such a simulator, and he did a fine job. Hans, on the other hand, has many hours flying these simulators, and Tom had flown the real thing!

So, what was it like to fly a 707? Aside from the gratification of finally doing it, and living to tell about it, two hours is not enough time to truly become familiar with any aircraft, when it comes to flying characteristics--never mind the systems. While modern jet airliners can be flown by one pilot, with two only being required for redundancy, safety, etc., the 707 is truly a 3-person aircraft. For

Satisfaction: I think my smile says it all, and if you think I worked up a sweat flying the 707, I did not. That came from photographing it afterwards!
us to simulate one for FS, for one person to fly, should prove quite a challenge.

Ultimately, I enjoyed flying the 707 immensely, and I am certain that the next simulator I fly will be of a similar, "vintage" type, perhaps a 737-200, 727, or DC-8.

That following Saturday evening, Hans rented some time in Lufthansa's A321 simulator, and he and Marcel did some circuits and ILS approaches with it at Frankfurt-Main. The A321 is worlds apart from the 707.

When I was offered the chance to fly it, I politely declined.

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass, Hans. You and Marcel flew it for DreamFleet, and I don't want to spoil my 707 memories!"

When I asked Hans what it was like to fly the A321 compared to the 707, one word said it all:

"Easy!"

On Sunday, Tom and I departed Germany for England, and as Hans drove us from the hotel parking lot, which was across the street from Rein-Main Air Force Base, we heard a familiar sound.

Indeed, we heard her before we saw her. Our heads turned, and there she was in all her glory, and with the older turbo fan engines too. Even the ugly, gray paint could not destroy the beauty of that KC-135, as she came in for landing at Rein-Main. After landing, and over a mile away from us, we could easily hear the roar of her reverse thrust in Hans' well-insulated car.

If I did not know better, I would have thought that Tom must have pulled some strings with an old Air Force buddy to provide us with a treat like that!

Lufthansa's reception building. This was on Sunday night, and Hans and Marcel can be seen just to the right of the doors, waiting for their instructor for the A321 simulator.
Ultimately, should the time and money ever present itself to fly one of these simulators, my humble suggestion for those of you who are not real pilots, or those who are inactive pilots, like myself, is to go for an older bird, one without all the automation. Or, if you must fly a newer one, one with all the "bells and whistles", ask the instructor to turn off as much as possible, and fly the plane yourself, do not allow it to fly you. Only then can you get a true feel for what it is like to fly a jet airliner. Let the experienced airline pilots use the automation, as they are often required to, and already know how to fly the plane manually.

Now, if I could just find a Lockheed Constellation simulator!

I found an interesting web page that provides additional information on Lufthansa's 707 simulator, and contains photographs of it, and other folks enjoying what we did.

http://home1.t-online.de/home/ppautomobile/707sim.htm

Specifications for the 707 simulator can be found here:

http://www.lft-online.com/sim/b1.htm

Lufthansa's ProFlight (training division) web site is located here:

http://www.pro-flight.de/

Information on the 707, from Boeing, can be found here:

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/707family/

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