How about a simple Challenge Flight for us Niners?

[JSMR]

Completed!!! 

 

FSW-CLE

Start : 1500 (local) 

End : 1718

Height : 26000-31000 (Started at 26000 almost using up max rating. 2 mins before it ended climbed to 31000ft)

Take off & climb : 61 / 3000  *15 mins limit

Crz : 46 / 2700  (Max Continuous) 

Climb speed : 165 mph 
Start fuel : 120 gallons  

Finish fuel : 2.18  
Total time : 1:18 (to stop) 


Cant say I had the best plan. The 2nd leg worked out teh same at slightly longer. I tried different descent profiles each time. Climb speeds. Heights. Fuel loads. The best I could do!

Some screenies to come. 

[taoftedal]

Well done JSMR!  Welcome to Cleveland ... dinner is on VP2.  

[Dangerousdave26]

I also had to convert the images before I could post them. I used Gimp with the Bimp plug in. It can batch convert and rename the files in a snap.

 

I spent a lot of time on the runway prepping the flight and waiting for a little more daylight. Pretty much displeasing the AI aircraft making them wait so long they disappeared.

 

 

Weather wasn't real bad but there was a low level fog.

 

 

 

That probably worked out in my favor as it kept some of the AI traffic on the ground.

 

 

It wasn't long before I was climbing above the clouds.

 

 

 

Although some of the clouds masked the tops of the mountains. We still climbed over it with ease.

 

 

 

More to come tomorrow. I ran out of time today.

 

 

[ViperPilot2]

1 hour ago, taoftedal said:

Well done JSMR!  Welcome to Cleveland ... dinner is on VP2.  

 

Welcome to Cleveland, JSMR! Meet you at the Southside Diner! 

 

Now let's see where defaid comes in, and then we can all gather round and compare Notes before we scatter to the four Winds...

[JSMR]

1 hour ago, taoftedal said:

Well done JSMR!  Welcome to Cleveland ... dinner is on VP2.  

Thanks!! 
 

Thanks VP2 for organising it. A fun event. I think I got a 3rd? Either way, win or lose, as long as you have fun.

[ViperPilot2]

13 hours ago, JSMR said:

Thanks!! 
 

Thanks VP2 for organising it. A fun event. I think I got a 3rd? Either way, win or lose, as long as you have fun.

I'm very glad you had fun! I want to thank everyone who participated; you folks are what made it very enjoyable.

 

I would like to hear your feedback about any improvements for next time... and there will be a 'next time', if you so desire.

[defaid]

I've thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of these last few weeks. The structure has pleased me very much: the absence of regulation of things like weather, and just flying in our own time and in our own way has been ideal, especially for those of us who don't always have the liberty. 

 

I particularly liked the invitations at other forums.

 

Concerning the next one, I'm probabl... ah, just read the report a little way below.

[defaid]

À propos of nothing much.

 

I neglected to mention in the last report that Toto was Frank Kingston-Smith's creation, from an incident in his book,'Week-end Pilot'.

 

I'm still feeling a need to excuse my late arrival at KCLE so here's a NOAA archive synoptic chart for 5th of September, 2011, my chosen weather. The day and month are just after the 1948 race (two overnighters in this recreation) and the year is the one for which I have a complete set of offline metars.

 

I was amused a few days ago on reading of a 54 kt tailwind: it would have added 70 kt to our ground speed. In hindsight though, I'm also disappointed that our winds weren't quite as shown on the chart. My metar archive doesn't describe winds aloft and I foolishly expected surface winds at 14000 feet. I wonder what No.81 had in 1948.

 

I think New Orleans was suffering tropical storm Lee in September 2011, which bent the outflow from those cloudless high pressure systems between Texas & Lake Superior directly into our faces pretty much from Hill City onwards. The cloud that led me to reminiscing (in my final report below) must have been associated with that low pressure frontal wave over the corner of West Virginia & Pennsylvania. It was wonderful fun - not only photogenic (and my favourite place to be) but also very turbulent - and kept me fully occupied for a good half-hour. A last kick of turbulence very near the threshold of runway 10 gave me the strongest impression of windshear, an unexpected and unwelcome excitement.

 

D

 

http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/dailywxmap/index_20110905.html

 

[jgf]

Nice flight and a nice thread.  Laid back, no stress, interesting assortment of aircraft.  Thanks for hosting it.  We should do more.

[defaid]

Leg 4 -- KFSW to KCLE

 

Finish fuelling    1948-09-05T 15:01:00Z

Track dist           431 nm

Throttle up        15:04:00Z

P. Brake set       16:28:ssZ

Nav's est time   1h 21m 28s

Flight time        1h 21m

Race time        1h 24s

Start fuel           71.5 % capacity

End fuel             8.4 % capacity

 

TAS                   335 to 341 kt

Av. speed          308 kt

 

*     *     *

 

An espresso at the terminal cafe and a maintenance break, and it's back to work.

 

I'm in two minds this afternoon. Should we do the speed thing again, knowing that the winds and our maximum TAS are unlikely to move us up the board, or should we throw pride to the dogs and have fun for the last leg?

 

The poor kite's been horribly abused over the last few days. Heart of steel perhaps, but wings of wood so with the high airspeed and the possible rattle in No.2 in mind, I'm particularly punctilious in a walk around while d j gets the latest weather for the remaining leg.

 

Metars report lighter winds and mostly from the north so improving but Cleveland's forecast for the next few hours is overcast at 3000 feet with broken cloud below. It'll be fun.

 

Wheels up from Fort Madison.

 

A touch of nose down.

 

A solitary railway bridge over the Illinois at Chillicothe draws my eye but I've unconsciously made my decision and it disappears having received no more than a glance.

 

Too little, too late.

 

Since arriving on this side of the Divide, the wind has been largely in our face. A stretch of lumpy air between Pontiac and Kankakee heralds a change of winds back to the contrary quarter and as we reach Fort Wayne, the metar promises a novelty: we finally find some cloud. The turbulence thickens and clots, becoming BKN040 with some embedded TCU. A Florida afternoon but nowhere near as warm. From 4000 feet it rises way above us and the turbulence returns in earnest. I wonder if we've been skirting some huge low pressure system lurking somewhere to the south, possibly over the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Sun's always shining on the sky fields.

 

As we pass Auburn -- DeKalb now --  wondering if that B-17 from Lyon Air Museum might still be there, nav spots what must be the world's biggest outdoor pool. Either that or some twisted Kansan soul has stolen a part of Indiana. We cross from Indiana to our destination just as we receive Defiance's weather. We must have passed a weak front: the cloud deck - and the air - is much smoother ahead. 

 

World's biggest lido.

 

Sometimes I feel we should be able to enjoy our childhood daydreams without resorting to these mechanical aids but today it's enough just to be up here sailing over sunlit skyfields. We shoot out over the cliff edge and the world below us turns green, dropping instantly by two miles. The transition is so surreally sudden that I'm tempted to look back and see if I can spot Aslan...

 

Every day's a blue-sky day.

 

Over Elyria, the wind is up to 047@26, enough to bring our ground speed down to a sluggish 322 kt and the overcast returns. With nine miles to go, some holes appear beneath us and I feel my shoulders relax. Callsign code words have their own magic and d j makes a request. The AI gets a reprieve.

 

Not until five does she let me down. It was her turn to be frustrated. The flight of 430 miles had eighteen weather stations. While I've been dreaming, she's been busy-- too busy to fix the area around the airfield in her mind. Still, she spots Bradley Woods Reservation near the I-480 and the field is dead ahead. She suggests that if we're not intent on an evening in New York, now might be a good moment at which to think of configuring to land.

 

Down the hole - Bradley Woods and the I-480.

 

The request bears fruit. "Mosquito delta kilo two niner six winds zero five zero at ten. Cleared to land runway one zero." The GA fuel pump is our end point and we're landing long. If there are AI, we-ell, coming or going they'll be off their runway where it crosses ours and our gun will remain silent.

 

Our only weapon, the FSUIPC nose cannon.

 

Parked and overcast.

 

We park up and shut down. The apron's deserted. We're well past fashionably late and the party must be in full swing by now. While nav tidies up I sit and stare at the instruments, my thoughts the colour of the sky. I'm not yet ready to celebrate another end.

 

She wriggles out of the back and pokes my ribs. "Chin up, old man." She's getting the hang of the lingo. "In a few days you'll be off to Assam for that C-130. I'm the one who'll have to return to the real world."

 

"Don't suppose you fancy going home via Goose Bay?"

 

"Do you still keep that little AOP-9 up there?"

 

I smile.

 

So does she.

 

[taoftedal]

                                                            

48 minutes ago, defaid said:

 

I've thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of these last few weeks. The structure has pleased me very much: the absence of regulation of things like weather, and just flying in our own time and in our own way has been ideal, especially for those of us who don't always have the liberty. 

 

 

I think defaid pretty well sums it up for me too.  Thanks for putting it all together and keeping us organized VP2!  Some very special screen shots to boot!  You've got my nomination for the Roscoe Turner Award ... do I hear a second?

 

                                                           

[JSMR]

Here here

[JSMR]

Blast off! Pics from final Leg. 

 

[ViperPilot2]

Again, a hearty Thanks to everyone who participated! The Final Tally has been compiled and rests on Page 8...

 

ScottishMike takes the Trophy!

 

I have an Idea for the next 'Challenge', but I think a break for a Week or two would be in order to R & R, so to speak.

 

Here are a couple of Hints in the meantime:

 

-- Single Point to Point (much shorter)

-- About an Hour Total Flight Time

-- Has Elements from a recent blockbuster Aviation themed Film

 

More to Come soon... 

[JSMR]

11 minutes ago, ViperPilot2 said:

 

 

ScottishMike takes the Trophy!

 

I

 

Woohoo!. We have a winner! Congratulations. 

VP2 will be sending the 25,000 USD shortly. 

[jgf]

Check your addition, lol.

 

On a different matter, I rolled out this old warhorse to see what she could do on the first leg.  Didn't have a timer but log showed 1.4hr for 623mi.;  cruised at 25k ft, 244kt, 368kt gs;  near end, with most fuel gone, was showing 246kt, 373kt gs.  Had 28% fuel left.

 

[ViperPilot2]

4 hours ago, jgf said:

Check your addition, lol.

 

On a different matter, I rolled out this old warhorse to see what she could do on the first leg.  Didn't have a timer but log showed 1.4hr for 623mi.;  cruised at 25k ft, 244kt, 368kt gs;  near end, with most fuel gone, was showing 246kt, 373kt gs.  Had 28% fuel left.

 

 

Wait... was there something off? 

[PhrogPhlyer]

I want to congratulate each and every one of you for the biggest accomplishment of all - keeping flight simming FUN!.

Although I am an X'er, I hope you will allow me to participate in your next challenge.

This is too much fun to stand on the ramp and watch others take to the skies.

Following all your adventures, and a couple missteps along the way, has been a bit of pure aviation bliss.

Well done, Bravo Zulu.

[ViperPilot2]

16 minutes ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

I want to congratulate each and every one of you for the biggest accomplishment of all - keeping flight simming FUN!.

Although I am an X'er, I hope you will allow me to participate in your next challenge.

This is too much fun to stand on the ramp and watch others take to the skies.

Following all your adventures, and a couple missteps along the way, has been a bit of pure aviation bliss.

Well done, Bravo Zulu.

 

You are more than welcome to join us if you so desire! Stay tuned here... Oh, and tell your Sim buddies, too! 

[jgf]

2 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

I hope you will allow me to participate in your next challenge

 

Absolutely!   "The more the merrier." 

 

I look forward to the next flight, whatever it is (and defending my position in last place).

[defaid]

6 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

I want to congratulate each and every one of you for the biggest accomplishment of all - keeping flight simming FUN!.

Although I am an X'er, I hope you will allow me to participate in your next challenge.

This is too much fun to stand on the ramp and watch others take to the skies.

Following all your adventures, and a couple missteps along the way, has been a bit of pure aviation bliss.

Well done, Bravo Zulu.

 

I'd love to see you in the next one. I see no reason why this shouldn't be a cross-platform thing. You surely still have FS9 though, don't you?

[PhrogPhlyer]

3 hours ago, defaid said:

You surely still have FS9 though, don't you?

Yes, but not the HD space to load both.

The Century of Flight metal can packaging was a real eye catcher when it was on the shelves.

 

[defaid]

13 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

 

Wait... was there something off? 

 

Five point five five hours, should be five hours thirty-three for JGF. That drops me another place. Why am I drawing attention to it?

 

Still, my warmest congratulations to Suzanne, John and Mike for that lightning-fast dash.

[Airbasil_1]

On 9/9/2023 at 7:07 AM, ViperPilot2 said:

Re-creation of the Bendix Trophy race

 

The Rules would be simple:

- From Santa Monica Airport (KSMO) to Cleveland Hopkins Airport (KCLE) 

- For the purposes of the 'challenge' and to make it somewhat realistic, 

- Fly a predetermined Route with mandatory Fuel stops,

- Pick any WWII Propeller driven Warbird, even a Prototype (e.g. Martin Baker MB.5). Freeware or Payware (if you have it).
- Fly it as it comes ('out of the box'; no modifying FDE's).

For the moment: No Jets. Not yet.
 

The fastest time wins, and in an attempt to make this fair, EVERYTHING'S on the Honor System.

All right then: 
I'm in as one of the last dudes here as well.. 

How about that: 6 different Legs 
(SMO - LAS - ABQ - DEN - MCI - ORD - CLE)
Aircraft chosen: Republic X-47J of the 84th Fighter Squadron

Yes I know, the Scenery (specially Las Vegas) is not really reflecting the Era after WWII  as my Sim fitts the current Era of Flight.. anyhow: if that was the goal to achieve, then I appologise for not matching it,
However, I tried to let it look "as real as it get's" in my Simulator. Hope you enjoy the following pictures. 
 

First Leg done: SMO - LAS
(For better Quality please click on the Images)













More Pictures of the following legs upcoming soon... stay tuned! 

[jgf]

58 minutes ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

The Century of Flight metal can packaging

 

Wow, haven't seen that in ages. 

My first copy was in the plain cardboard box, purchased used from Electronics Boutique or Software Etc. (remember them?) at a local mall (remember malls?) in late '03;  have a backup copy, just discs in jewel cases with a rubber band around them, from a yard sale a few years ago (think $20 for the first, $5 for the second;  not a bad investment at all).

 

I miss such packaging, along with comprehensive printed manuals, maps, etc.;  I still have a hardbound book that came with an fps game, a novelization of the plot.  One reason I hate "digital distribution".