Route 66 Air Rally

[PhrogPhlyer]

1 hour ago, TomPenDragon said:

But seriously, my vote is you're welcome to take another crack at the first leg, if you'd like, and congrats on the cockpit!

Thanks Tom for brining this to the forefront.

Yes, Aly, since you jumped in late, bit of a rush to get going, AND you didn't fully charge your GoPro, you may redo your first leg and count that as your time. Besides, we all really want to see an uninterrupted YouTube of your first leg. This has been offered to others, and you are more than welcomed to take advantage of a leg one redo.

[Melo965]

38 minutes ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

you are more than welcomed to take advantage of a leg one redo.

 

Totally agree.

 

[Bossspecops]

They gave me a second chance after a total screw-up of my first leg, and I was 14 mins late! I've got no probs with you having another go too.

 

Just keep an eye out for a lumbering Lysander that could be just ahead of you. 

[AlyMac]

6 hours ago, TomPenDragon said:

 

Normally, I'd say that some of us here have taken our first run at Zelmer as practice, since 5K1's so hard to find and we're getting used to the scoring system, etc., so if you'd like to head back to Lansing and try to improve your variance, feel free.

 

However, I just finished watching your cockpit video, and I'm waaaaaay too envious to say anything at this point.

 

(But seriously, my vote is you're welcome to take another crack at the first leg, if you'd like, and congrats on the cockpit!)

Cheers Captain Tom,

There I was just about to start leg 2 as well ! It'll have to wait until I get a charger - I lost the bloody thing !

[PhrogPhlyer]

18 minutes ago, AlyMac said:

It'll have to wait until I get a charger - I lost the bloody thing !

Life's too complex,

I thought that's why we escape to our sims.

[JSMR]

On 11/18/2023 at 5:20 PM, AlyMac said:

Good old Charles Wood has completed her first sector

KIGQ - 5KI

ground speed down to 130 kts - real wx headwind

Fuel on T/o 1,600 lbs

Fuel on arr 739 lbs

85 mins flight time (no GPS used - just Skyvector sectional, took me a little while to find the strip !).

Start and take-off

https://youtu.be/AaUtAcICXPw

Then the battery conked out on my new GoPro

 

 

 

Holy moly. I want one!!! 
Good stuff!

[ScottishMike]

We sat on the beach watching Santa Monica pier bathed in orange as the sun dropped behind the hills.

“Still planing to leave tomorrow?” I asked casually.

“Actually I spoke to my boss last night and he has agreed an extra week of leave. It's coming out of my summer hols. ”

Suzanne had been showing me photos on her phone; aircraft she had researched when choosing the plane for this challenge.

“It's interesting to see what others have chosen. One of the reasons for staying on is to see them all come in and talk to them about their choices.” She added.

“Particularly the crew of a certain Cherokee? Sun's going down now, they might appear. They finished days ago.”

“This is the aircraft I almost chose” She changed the subject :

“JGF had made an excellent choice.”

I was puzzled: “Why the Airdale then?”

The Bonanza, although a couple of years younger than JGF's still had the older panel.”:

I did consider a more modern Bonanza, plenty available, but decided they were too modern for the spirit of the challenge:

 

“Quite a few twins would have been suitable and fun. Then I remembered you don't have a twin rating.

JMSR chose one of your favourites, the Beech 180, this was available for hire, but in Scotland:

Taoftedal's choice also a good one. This would have bettered it, but for your rating, it was available and at a pretty good price too:

 

Failing that, one of these would have done the job, the Comanche 400, except they are rearer than hen's teeth:

Only one available for hire and it was in Florida and they wanted stupid money:

Other twins that would have been fun: An Apache twin. This one was very original so avionics pretty basic:

One I would have loved, bach to Beech, the twin Bonanza”:

She scrolled past a photo quickly

“What was that you just flicked past?” I asked

“Unsuitable.” the terse reply.

“Let's have a look.” I asked.

“If you must.” She scrolled back:

“No way would I be seen flying with that art work. Objectifying women sexually.

And anyway both Twin Bonanzas were in France.”

It looked good to me. But I didn't say so out loud.

“Guess I'm going to have to get my twin rating for our next adventure.”

We wandered back to our hotel amongst the busy Santa Monica beech lovers

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

2 hours ago, Sirrus said:

"Well," she gestures at the Falcon 7X out on the ramp...

"...I'm going home, would you like a lift?". I nod, and she puts her hand on top of mine, and softly says "C'mon Dad, lets go home"

Great ending to memorable journey.

[taoftedal]

2 hours ago, ScottishMike said:

“It's interesting to see what others have chosen. One of the reasons for staying on is to see them all come in and talk to them about their choices.”

 

 

Oh yes ... that Twin Comanche is one sexy bird.  Perhaps a little over the top for Suzanne though?  I mean ... it doesn't even need nose art!  Maybe a Baron instead?

[taoftedal]

On 11/20/2023 at 4:57 AM, Sirrus said:

"I'm going home, would you like a lift?". I nod, and she puts her hand on top of mine, and softly says "C'mon Dad, let's go home."

 

Thank you Sirrus for a wonderful adventure.  Thought they just might turn the Dove over to you ... it must have been tough to say goodbye.  A beautiful machine.  Thanks again for bringing her to the rally.  As for going home, do you think you could get a ride back for the banquet and award ceremony?  I'm sure the committee (PP and our sponsor's) are planning something.

[PhrogPhlyer]

2 hours ago, ScottishMike said:

“Guess I'm going to have to get my twin rating for our next adventure.”

Sounds like an excellent idea. Might I suggest you also consider a rotary wing rating? 

Depending on the next challenge routing, I'm considering possibly flying LTA.

[Rupert]

2 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Sounds like an excellent idea. Might I suggest you also consider a rotary wing rating? 

Depending on the next challenge routing, I'm considering possibly flying LTA.

Now you're talking!

 

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

2 hours ago, Sirrus said:

All of my scenery was downloaded from various sites around the internet. I don't buy scenery, aircraft, or vehicles

Nicely done. I am the same way.

[PhrogPhlyer]

I'm Going to attempt three legs today, around 5 1/2 hours, this will put the new lambs wool seat cushion to good use.

Sikorsky never designed an internal extended-range fuel tank, so I just strapped a 55 gal drum on the floor behind me. It has a hand wobble-pump.

I then ran a hose to a modified fuel filler cap so I can transfer fuel from the drum to the tank.

At 20gph, I should land with well over an hour of fuel in reserve, or so my wiz-wheel tells me.

I request T/O from the ramp to not waste fuel with a long taxi, get cleared, and at 0800 local, I'm off!

 

Since I have a healthy fuel reserve, I choose 110 kts as my cruising speed. I'll adjust if needed  as I get further along, based on actual winds aloft and ground speed.

I see Tulsa in front of me. So far, so good.

 

Will Rogers, OK City to my left. I'm look for Wiley Post, but its hidden in the suburban sprawl. He was one of my absolute aviation heroes.

 

Turning over Cordell Muni, I jot down the time. Guck glance at my kneeboard, 2 minutes late. Fuel burn seems good so will try a little bit more speed on watch clock closer on the next leg. Just under 2 hours down, about 3 1/2 to go.

 

Right on the money, passing McLean/Gray County. Let's keep this going.

 

I've been so busy I didn't realize that I had just passed Amarillo Intl. darn, I must have talked to approach without even realizing it, not good. Quite a gymnastic event in here, holding the cyclic between my knees as I twist around to operate the wobble-pump. This is absolutely a safe procedure, or at least that's what I'll tell the FAA if questioned.

 

There it is, Tradewind. Jot the time, turn onto next course. Looking at the kneeboard again, nice, only 1 minute behind on that leg. Let's see if we can nail down the last leg. Just around 2 hours left. Looks like a nice place, I'll have to return and visit.

 

Tucamcari with Lake Concas visible behind it. 87miles, 54 mins. Last hour to go.

 

Moriarity NM, desert sun, lightly blowing sand, no other aircraft. Going to be a loooong dark night. My bottom doesn't even hurt, well, probably because its num.

As I touch down, I punch the timer for the last time today. Compare to my planning sheet. Right on the time! V0

At this point I can absolutely say, I wish I had found this aircraft before I tried the Jetranger, Huey, or Bell-47. I didn't even use the add-on trim today.

I'd recommend the S-51 to anyone wanting to learn to fly rotary-wing in FS9/FSX, it is stable, has a good feel of mass, and does not have any bad habits.

Now, how do you find hotel around here, or at least a cold beer.

 

GCM-F36: V2

F36-KTDW: V1

KTDW-0E0: V0

[AlyMac]

10 hours ago, ScottishMike said:

We sat on the beach watching Santa Monica pier bathed in orange as the sun dropped behind the hills.

“Still planing to leave tomorrow?” I asked casually.

“Actually I spoke to my boss last night and he has agreed an extra week of leave. It's coming out of my summer hols. ”

Suzanne had been showing me photos on her phone; aircraft she had researched when choosing the plane for this challenge.

“It's interesting to see what others have chosen. One of the reasons for staying on is to see them all come in and talk to them about their choices.” She added.

“Particularly the crew of a certain Cherokee? Sun's going down now, they might appear. They finished days ago.”

“This is the aircraft I almost chose” She changed the subject :

“JGF had made an excellent choice.”

I was puzzled: “Why the Airdale then?”

The Bonanza, although a couple of years younger than JGF's still had the older panel.”:

I did consider a more modern Bonanza, plenty available, but decided they were too modern for the spirit of the challenge:

 

“Quite a few twins would have been suitable and fun. Then I remembered you don't have a twin rating.

JMSR chose one of your favourites, the Beech 180, this was available for hire, but in Scotland:

Taoftedal's choice also a good one. This would have bettered it, but for your rating, it was available and at a pretty good price too:

 

Failing that, one of these would have done the job, the Comanche 400, except they are rearer than hen's teeth:

Only one available for hire and it was in Florida and they wanted stupid money:

Other twins that would have been fun: An Apache twin. This one was very original so avionics pretty basic:

One I would have loved, bach to Beech, the twin Bonanza”:

She scrolled past a photo quickly

“What was that you just flicked past?” I asked

“Unsuitable.” the terse reply.

“Let's have a look.” I asked.

“If you must.” She scrolled back:

“No way would I be seen flying with that art work. Objectifying women sexually.

And anyway both Twin Bonanzas were in France.”

It looked good to me. But I didn't say so out loud.

“Guess I'm going to have to get my twin rating for our next adventure.”

We wandered back to our hotel amongst the busy Santa Monica beech lovers

 

Aye Mike - guid auld G-ASUG - what a bonnie lass she is. I did my Twin rating on an Apache - G-ASMY at Norfolk and Norwich Flying Club at RAF Swanton Morley. Poor old lady has been abandoned ay  Beccles and looks to be in a very sorry state. Still - my lottery ticket might come up and she'll fly again ! 

[Airbasil_1]

11 hours ago, ScottishMike said:

 

Is that the Eaglesoft Twin Comanche? 
That thingy looks really sweet... would love to get a flight on that... any hints where I can get it? 

[PhrogPhlyer]

Day 20 Standings.

I finally got into the air again.

A bit slow overall with the Rally for the weekend.

Now it's the work week, put that work aside and fly a leg or two!

[TomPenDragon]

14 hours ago, Airbasil_1 said:

Is that the Eaglesoft Twin Comanche? 
That thingy looks really sweet...

 

I have it; it is - the kind of plane that could turn even a dyed-in-the-wool airliner pilot into a General Aviation enthusiast (assuming GA Conversion Therapy isn't banned in your neck of the woods).

[Rupert]

1 hour ago, TomPenDragon said:

 

I have it; it is - the kind of plane that could turn even a dyed-in-the-wool airliner pilot into a General Aviation enthusiast (assuming GA Conversion Therapy isn't banned in your neck of the woods).

GREAT COMMENT!!

 

And as far as I can tell GA Conversion is alive and well in Ky.  I know several pilots for DHL and other airlines, as well as the Air National Guard,  who own or fly GA aircraft on their off-time. 

 

In fact a friend of mine, who recently retired from DHL often commuted from his farm in central Kentucky to work at CVG in his Piper.

[ScottishMike]

It is indeed the Eagle Soft twin Comanchie. A present to myself when my wife returned from a shopping trip with a handbag that cost almost as much as ten of Eagle Soft's creations.

I try to stick with freeware after several annoying experiences with protected  payware that did not work when moved from dead computers to new.

[Melo965]

Leg 5.  Cordell Municipal OK (F36) to Tradewind TX (KTDW)  140 miles.
Estimated time = 38 minutes.

 

Same setup as before, using FSX Acceleration, Active Sky 2016 for weather, and Little NavMap for navigation.  Flying with fuselage tanks full and leading edge tanks half full.  Will have no worries about fuel reserves this time.

 

I have had Active Sky for a while now, but am using it consistantly for the first time for this Rally.  I can read the METARs, but I really like how the weather is seamlessly integrated into FSX by Active Sky.  My last leg was flown at 6,500 ft most of the way.  After seeing the weather for this leg, my initial plan was to fly at 4,500 feet.  It did not work out that way as you will see.

 

Before the official Rally flight (with current weather enabled) I took off from Cordell Municipal and did a fast climb heading slightly west in the Spitfire just to check the cloud coverage.  Broke out in the clear above the solid clouds just over 10,000 ft.  Then I flew back and landed at F36 and added fuel to the levels stated above.

 

Pulled up the weather map today and this is how it looked.  There are clouds or precipitation forcast almost the whole way there.

 

Parked at Cordell Municipal just after engine start for another Air Rally leg.

 

Holding short at Runway 17 waiting for ATC clearance to take the runway.

 

I taxied out to the runway and did not bother to backtrack to the numbers.  A ton of runway ahead of me for takeoff as far as this Spitfire is concerned.

 

A good picture of my office for the next hour or so.

 

Lined up on the runway and about to add throttle and get going.  Weather looks pretty ominous ahead.

 

Does not look any better from inside the cockpit.

 

On the way but only at just under 2,900 ft altitude.  Staying just under the cloud layer.

 

New Cordell is already fading away behind me under those clouds.

 

Down to 2,600 ft staying just under the cloud layer.  I am flying IFR (I Follow Roads).

 

This is getting worse.  Now at 2,300 ft.  Flying into IMC (Instrument Meterological Conditions)  In the real world I would have turned around by now, or more likely not flown at all today.

 

Still at 2,300 ft.  Definitely IMC ahead.  Looking more and more like a really bad idea.

 

Up over 2,700 ft, but just need to drop down AGAIN to get under the clouds.  Hand flying this bird every second on this leg.

 

Finally left that cloud bank behind and in the clear for now.  Can maybe relax a bit.

 

Not much to see here in the middle of Oklahoma.

 

Climbing through 3,300 ft.  About a minute before this picture was taken, I found myself in clouds again.  Started to let down slowly to get under the cloud layer AGAIN, but I was worried because I knew that the terrain was gradually increasing in altitude as I got closer to Tradewind.  Still letting down but could not see the ground yet.  Then decided it was too risky and initiated a climb out.  Just then (at about 1,950 ft) I got a glimpse of the ground about 50 feet below me.  If I had waited a few more seconds to climb out then my participation in this Air Rally would have abruptly ended.  I learned my lesson.  No more Scud Running!  You can understand why I did not snap a picture to share at that moment.

 

Here is the weather map with the cloud that tried to kill me.

 

Approaching the town of Shamrock on the left.

 

Back to IFR (I Follow Roads).  Can see the edge of McLean/Gary County airport on the right.  Approaching the town of McLean.

 

Passing Lake McClellan in the McClellan Creek National Grassland.

 

Can even see traffic on the highway below from 3,500 ft.  About two thirds of the way to Tradewind now.

Flying over the dirt strip at Eagles Aerodrome.  Can barely tell the difference between the airfield and the surrounding terrain.

 

Can't resist the opportunity to do a photo run over Rick Husband Amarillo International (KAMA).

 

Leaving Rick Husband Amarillo International behind.  (My brakes are not on even though it shows that in the lower left.  My MFG Crosswind rudder pedals display brakes or differential brakes in the lower left almost all the time.)   

 

Over Amarillo Texas.

Unlike for Maverick, the pattern was clear.  Called the Tower and got permission to do a low fast pass over Runway 17 at Tradewind.

 

Another view of my low pass.  Then I joined the Right Hand traffic pattern for Runway 17.  Runway 17 at Tradewind is a Right Pattern to avoid the ILS approach for Runway 04 at nearby Rick Husband Amarillo International.

 

My curved approach to final on Runway 17.

 

Touched down a bit left of the centerline again this time.  And right on time!

 

My leg 5 route.  Used 53.4 gallons of fuel this leg. 

 

Parked at Tradewind Texas.  Another Air Rally leg completed.  Time from engine start to engine shutdown = 58 minutes.

 

Leg 5.  Cordell Municipal OK (F36) to Tradewind TX (KTDW)  140 miles.
Estimated time = 38 minutes.  Actual time = 38 minutes.  V0
(Wheels up to wheels down)
 

[PhrogPhlyer]

5 minutes ago, meloscanlon said:

Touched down a bit left of the centerline again this time.  And right on time!

Who cares about the first sentence, when the second says it all.

[Airbasil_1]

9 hours ago, TomPenDragon said:

(assuming GA Conversion Therapy isn't banned in your neck of the woods).

 

To be honest, i do GA Hopping from time to time… almost monthly these days… as i've three weeks on duty and one week off duty…

 

it keeps staying a good method to stay updated on training whilst not flying the big ones… and i love to invest in it… 

[JSMR]

Next leg on its way. 

F36 - KTDW. 

Planned time : 1:02

[Buck Turgidson]

OK I may be DNF but will start out.  It has been interesting getting everything to "work"!

 

Here is my planned log.

 

 

Started out yesterday and the wx for the day was not good.  Still went through the start up and run up.  Pulled the plug and went back to the hanger.  Not a chance of a legal flight in that weather.

 

 

 

I quite like this aircraft even though there are a few things that don't work.  No autopilot will keep me honest and it is nice to be back on the needles again.  Finally got some kneeboards to work and did my first flight tonight.  Will update with pics and time tomorrow.