The Next Challenge...

[Melo965]

1 hour ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

For the FSX'rs, here is YCAG Caiguna Aerdrome.

 

Wow that was quick, thanks a lot!

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

Just now, Melo965 said:

Wow that was quick, thanks a lot!

Just needed the right motivation, and this group seems to bring that to me.

[jgf]

25 minutes ago, ViperPilot2 said:

you're looking for STOL

 

I'm considering the Do-27 for the Australian flight;  the old Digital Aviation release is a great plane (after releasing it for FSX they lowered the price for the FS9 version to about $20).

[Buck Turgidson]

On 12/11/2023 at 4:24 PM, TomPenDragon said:

Intriguing!  I'd be tempted to run this one in a sailboat, in Virtual Sailor NG, for something completely (Pythonesquely) different.  Some sort of Caribbean Challenge is worth developing, IMHO.

Sailing will have different variables in this area and most boats will have their own characteristics which is not as simple as a plane.  Depth is the primary concern as it varies from awash to 10k feet.  Currents can be interesting as well in the straights and near the Exumas or anywhere that deep water hits shallow.

 

You definitely need charts to monitor "terrain" under your keel here and may have to modify your plans to suit rather than a straight DR as you would do from SoCal ports to Catalina.

[ViperPilot2]

2 hours ago, jgf said:

 

I'm considering the Do-27 for the Australian flight;  the old Digital Aviation release is a great plane (after releasing it for FSX they lowered the price for the FS9 version to about $20).

 

The Airbasil Mini got me drooling for some speed, so I was thinking about either the Rutan Boomerang or the Mooney 20J as a tribute to Robin Miller Dicks, "The Sugarbird Lady". She flew a 20C for the RFDS before her untimely death at age 35. Her airplane is displayed at Jandakot Airport.

 

However, looking at all of the airplanes that competed and if those Assembled lean more towards low and slow, then either the 182 or the Beaver for its STOL capabilities.

 

By the by... I compiled a Flight plan using Plan-G using defaid's Plot as the Template and converted it to FS9 .pln Format. It hasn't been flown yet, but everything matches up...

 

1976 Australia Air Race.pln.zip

 

And in the interest of friendly interaction, if you feel comfortable let's go forward on a first name basis; I'm Alan. 

[Airbasil_1]

44 minutes ago, ViperPilot2 said:

The Airbasil Mini got me drooling for some speed, so I was thinking about either the Rutan Boomerang or the Mooney 20J as a tribute to Robin Miller Dicks, "The Sugarbird Lady". She flew a 20C for the RFDS before her untimely death at age 35. Her airplane is displayed at Jandakot Airport. However, looking at all of the airplanes that competed and if those Assembled lean more towards low and slow, then either the 182 or the Beaver for its STOL capabilities.

I think the perfect aircraft in that case (for the upcoming Ralley) would be either the Carenado King Air C-90, the Grand Caravan, the Bonanza or the Lionheart Epic LT. Or even the Flight1 PC-12.

[ViperPilot2]

25 minutes ago, Airbasil_1 said:

I think the perfect aircraft in that case (for the upcoming Ralley) would be either the Carenado King Air C-90, the Grand Caravan, the Bonanza or the Lionheart Epic LT. Or even the Flight1 PC-12.

Got the AFG King Air 300 and another Freeware -200 in RFDS livery, Brian Gladden's PC-12, the Carenado 'Van and the Bo. I have the Epic LT also, but it's trapped on a dead HD. 

 

Your Mini Challenge is a fun little exercise; I'm gonna try it again with a Jet to see if I can successfully land on 08. I have to say it's sparked my interest (and confidence) in flying Tubers! The Tips from jgf helped too, but those damned YouTube videos of all the luxury Flights don't help either! 

[Airbasil_1]

7 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

Your Mini Challenge is a fun little exercise; I'm gonna try it again with a Jet to see if I can successfully land on 08. I have to say it's sparked my interest (and confidence) in flying Tubers! 

indeed it is real fun to fly to Toronto City Center... specially in the early morning or during nightfall it looks fantastic there... love to approach during these times... Glad, you like it too... 
Btw. you may try it with the Libardo Guzman Lockheed L-188 Electra from Gander, New Foundland to Toronto City Center. That would be lots of fun.  

[Bossspecops]

I've got the Twin Pioneer now, thanks for the help from you guys here.  

 

There's zillions of re-paints for it, but I may resurrect one I did for my old VA, Albion Air Cargo, back in the 90s-00s with an FS9 version.

 

Now to check that stall speed................  

[Sirrus]

8 hours ago, Airbasil_1 said:

I think the perfect aircraft in that case (for the upcoming Ralley) would be either the Carenado King Air C-90, the Grand Caravan, the Bonanza or the Lionheart Epic LT. Or even the Flight1 PC-12.

 

I'm busy evaluating a whole range of twins and singles, but one of my friends suggested this...

 

It has the range - it could even carry it's own fuel bowser - and doesn't mind a little harsh treatment. The RAF used to put these down on a very wet sandy beach, so...

[PhrogPhlyer]

I've created an FSX flight plan for your use.

If you see anything that needs correcting, let me know and I'll update the file.

VFR AU Air Rally.zip

[PhrogPhlyer]

56 minutes ago, Sirrus said:

It has the range - it could even carry it's own fuel bowser - and doesn't mind a little harsh treatment. The RAF used to put these down on a very wet sandy beach, so...

Great choice, And think of how much beer and wild nuns can fit inside!

[Bossspecops]

1 hour ago, Sirrus said:

It has the range - it could even carry it's own fuel bowser - and doesn't mind a little harsh treatment. The RAF used to put these down on a very wet sandy beach, so...

 

I watched one do that at Pendine once, AWE inspiring, both the landing and the take-off. 

[TomPenDragon]

Bosss wanted to see something British...  Basil likes early morning flights into Toronto...  PenDragon and Crew are happy to oblige!

 

Jessica and I figured we'd spend the holidays in New York for a change.  Rey Harrison was still there, but Cynthia Frees had gone back to Gallup a week ago.  Yesterday morning, while we were deciding what to take from Cuernavaca to NYC, Jessica said that a Trident B-ABJ was the way to go - she had read the thread about the AirBasil Mini-Challenge the day before and thought it sounded like fun.  I had been debating between a Mooney Porsche and a Lancair Audi, but either would have taken over thrice as long as the jet and neither had a galley or a bedroom.

 

We flew the HS-121 to KLGA yesterday afternoon and went into town so that Jessica could finally meet Rey face to face, after four years of hearing me talk about him.  Over the course of a long evening, the subject of the Mini-Challenge came up, and Rey said that he was also keen to run it.  His grueling work schedule over the past year had interrupted his flight training, which had meant that he was not quite rated on the Citation and had required an instructor in the right seat for the trip to Gallup and back.

 

 

We took the train to LaGuardia and the tunnel from the main terminal to I Group's facilities at the old flying boat dock.

 

 

Rey was unfamiliar with the Trident, and had assumed that it was not much larger than a Citation.  He wasn't expecting it to be airliner-sized.

 

Jessica, who had taught me how to fly the HS-121, led us through the pre-flight.  When we boarded, she plopped Rey down in the left seat and took the right.  I put on the coffee, and cut and cream-cheesed bagels (how are we not going to have bagels our first morning back in New York?).

 

 

Jess kept the flight plan simple: KLGA - HNK - BUF - TZ (NDB) - CYTZ, which totaled just over 310 miles.  The 25% left in the tanks from yesterday would be more than enough to get us there.  Billy Bishop was showing an ILS for Runway 8, but was reporting winds from 290 at 17, gusting to 22 - unless they shifted rather dramatically, it'd be a back course approach to 26.  Visibility was showing as 9 miles under clear skies, so holding a well set-up glideslope visually shouldn't be a problem.

 

 

Taxiing the Trident was a little more challenging than the Citation, Rey found.  Having the nosewheel a couple of feet to the left of centerline was a little disconcerting at first, but soon became a non-factor.  The active was 4, which made for a short, but intricate, lope to the runway.

 

 

The pre-dawn glow lit the skies above the American Airlines hangars and the Whitestone Bridge as we sat at the hold line.  I strapped myself into the flight engineer's chair and quipped that people who fly in and out of LaGuardia should be called, "waiters," instead of, "pilots."

 

 

Jessica explained to Rey that take-off in the Trident was a little simpler than in the Citation: Line up, make sure flaps and trim are set correctly, make very sure Top Temp Protection was set on, and then run the thrust levers all the way forward, trusting that Top Temp would protect the engines.  Water injection was available if he needed more power, but with one-quarter fuel and only 3 people aboard, it wasn't necessary this morning.

 

 

 

The Trident is a large, heavy hunk of metal, and starts accelerating slowly.  Once in the air and clean-configured, as light as we were and on a cold December morning, she was a rocket ship.  Rey struggled to hold her below 250 knots.

 

 

We passed 10,000' before we passed KHPN.  Rey brought the nose down a little and brought the airspeed up to 330 knots.

 

 

 

Since it was going to be such a short flight, we leveled off at 26,000'.  Keeping the airspeed at 330 gave us 0.75 on the machmeter.  Another 10,000' up, and she could easily run with a Citation X at mach 0.88.

 

 

 

 

Shortly before Buffalo, Rey pulled the thrust back to idle and we began our descent.  26 was still the active, so we turned to the east and let the 121 settle.  She seemed disappointed at such a short hop and didn't want to come out of the air.

 

 

 

Rey found her even more mild-mannered on approach than the Citation.  Jess smiled broadly.

 

 

 

 

Rey had no problem greasing the Trident onto the numbers.  Getting the big bird slowed down made him a little nervous, but he still made the second turnoff.

 

 

 

 

The tower expressed their displeasure at having to handle a larger-than-normal aircraft by parking us as far away from the terminal as they could.  And I do have to admit that she looks a little, um, "out of place" in between the Beechcrafts and Cessnas there.  But Jessica's happiest when she's teaching, and Rey had the time of his life flying, "big iron," and no amount of grousing by overly officious officials is going to dim that.  So, let's see what trouble we can get into in Toronto!

[Airbasil_1]

Yeah... love that one... great comments which fitted to all the pictures as well.. real fun to read the entire history about it all... 
Thanks a lot for taking your time and to create such a great little Episode. Love that you managed to bring down such a "heavy metal" into Billy Bishop. 

[ViperPilot2]

Tom you did a much better job landing on 26 than I did; I didn't realize until I was on Final that I didn't have Brakes Apply/Release mapped to a key or Joystick button so I had only the Parking Brake! Now Maintenance at Renton is ticked off 'cause I ruined both a set of Main Tires and Brakes!

 

Forgot to add a potential airplane to fly in the Rally; the Twin Otter.

 

Also, clarification as to the Rally/Race Format & Timing might be needed; it's my understanding that the OG Race was VFR only, and that the Competitors flew across a specific spot at a given Airport to stop the Clock. PP's Timing method works great, so we should stick with it... 

[Macroburst]

Great run Tom.

You don't have an extra bagel per chance?

[TomPenDragon]

Thanks, guys!  Most of the credit goes to Dave Maltby - I don't know how "realistic" the flight model for the HS-121 is, but few planes of any size fly as sweet.  My biggest challenge flying her is the HSI - I find myself constantly trying to roll her to put the blue part on top and the brown on the bottom.

 

And as luck has it, we've still got one bagel left - it's yours, Macroburst.  Enjoy!

[TomPenDragon]

1 hour ago, ViperPilot2 said:

PP's Timing method works great, so we should stick with it... 

I agree - it puts all the participants on a level playing field, despite the aircraft used.

[TomPenDragon]

12 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

I have to say it's sparked my interest (and confidence) in flying Tubers!

Mine, too!  Now, how do you keep the wings from blowing off the potato above 150 knots?

[ViperPilot2]

8 minutes ago, TomPenDragon said:

Mine, too!  Now, how do you keep the wings from blowing off the potato above 150 knots?

Duct Tape and Super Glue!

 

My big issue is starting the Descent at the right time to get to the proper Altitude. Way too high, way too close to the Airport. More SIDS/STARS/Approach Plate study is needed...

[Airbasil_1]

I did it once again...  this time from Baltimore, Washington to Toronto Billy Bishop, City Airport. 
Gotta admit, after i did it now with a few different aircraft of different weights I now manage to land pretty nicely... 

110 to 100 knots on Finals... Easily doable with the Electra... she's capable to fly very slow on Landing. 





Came to a full stop using three thirds of the runway... 



Taxing back to Parking.

 

Onblocks on Time... 

[jgf]

The entry list for the Australia event is so diverse, and almost all the aircraft are available for FS, it's a difficult choice;  I was surprised at how many Bonanzas participated.  That was my first choice, but even though I'd have used the Carenado V35b instead of the old A35 from the previous flight I decided it should be something different;  considering the Do-27, Cessna 310, or Beech Staggerwing.  The 310 is sleek and fast, too bad the interior isn't as attractive;  Staggerwing is powerful and stable, always fun to fly;  the Dornier is not sleek, fast, or powerful, it doesn't even have retractable gear, but it is modeled so nicely;  a true hand flyer which even I can fly from the VC alone, it has such nuances as the engine shudders slightly when you adjust the throttle, and it requires occasional maintenance (if you haven't damaged anything all it takes is a little oil).

 

As for Toronto, it's still "Dealer's Choice".  The Citation X will handle it easily  (though there will be another refresher flight so I can beat the AP with a large wrench), or I could try a 737 ...727 ...707 (doubt the latter would be happy with that runway, maybe I can install drag 'chutes);  or turboprops, I've flown the Twin Otter quite a bit (first plane I used for the US caps tour), but it may be a bit small and too easy, or a Dash-8 (PAD or Dreamwings, though will certainly need a refresher flight in either).

[jgf]

18 minutes ago, ViperPilot2 said:

Way too high, way too close

 

LOL, story of my life in FS. 

 

"I'm twenty miles out, there's plenty of time to get down there".

[Sirrus]

2 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

PP's Timing method works great, so we should stick with it...

It jars a little with real world timing where if you are ahead of your ETA, i.e. early, then your V would be negative; correspondingly if you were behind your ETA, then your V would be positive.  So it would allow some competitors to make up time and results would be much closer.

 

Real world races such as the MacRobertson Race, the Sydney -London record attempts, and the London - Cape Town record attempts all used such a system.

 

Obviously it would an adjudicator who knew (-1) + (+1) =0.

 

Just a suggestion.