The 2024 Australia Rally...

[ViperPilot2]

33 minutes ago, jgf said:

 

Good clarification.  Thanks.

 

No worries. The Issues came hot and heavy this morning, and it threw me for a loop is all.

 

Whatever the case, we have been able to work things out before, and I'm confident we can once again. 

[jgf]

FWIW, in my long range flights (such as getting the Beech from Ohio to Australia) I've found Destination Finder a most useful utility.  Input the departure point, a range and direction,

 

and it gives you a list of possible landing sites

 

My next stop is KAL, never heard of Kaltag so off to read some more.

 

Everything is read from your installed scenery, so when first installed it takes a few minutes to scan and build its database.

[ViperPilot2]

8 minutes ago, jgf said:

FWIW, in my long range flights (such as getting the Beech from Ohio to Australia) I've found Destination Finder a most useful utility.  Input the departure point, a range and direction,

 

and it gives you a list of possible landing sites

 

My next stop is KAL, never heard of Kaltag so off to read some more.

 

Everything is read from your installed scenery, so when first installed it takes a few minutes to scan and build its database.

 

Sounds like it would be a nice complement to Plan-G, which is what I use to make my actual In Sim Flight Plan (.pln) for Nine. I use SkyVector strictly as a Reference, knowing full well not to click on the "Send" Icon!

 

Did you get that here in the File Library? Sounds very useful! 

[TomPenDragon]

The Daily Update

(cue The Cult’s, “She Sells Sanctuary…)

 

Elias Pacheco: “A brief Daily Update for 07 January. Here is today’s Spotters’ Guide:

 

 

“I will see you tomorrow. Ta ta for now...”

 

[Airbasil_1]

2 hours ago, TomPenDragon said:

The Daily Update

(cue The Cult’s, “She Sells Sanctuary…)

 

Elias Pacheco: “A brief Daily Update for 07 January. Here is today’s Spotters’ Guide:

“I will see you tomorrow. Ta ta for now...”

 

For Your Information: 

Sim Version: Microsoft Flight Simulator FS2004
Entrant: Airbasil_1
Team Name: Air Service Liège (ASL) / Ambulance Flight
Pilots / Crew: Captain Airbasil, Captain Kozhani and 2 Emergency Doctors
Cabin: 5+2 (as Passanger Version), 2 Emergency Doctors with 3 beds for Patients (when converted to Ambulance Jet).
Passangers: Repatriation Patients
Sponsors: None Chartered by: Chacapoya's 2024 Great Australian AIr Gaggle
Year: Built in 1996 Delievered to ASL: Dec. 29th 2005 Status: Active
Manufactor: Cessna / Textron Aviation
Model Nr.: MSN 525-0172 Registration: OO-CEJ Callsign: Jet Belgium
Model Name: Cessna 525 Citation CJ1+
Mods: Equiped with 2 Williams International FJ144-1A Engines (2x 1965 lbs of Thrust)
Service Ceiling: 41'000ft / 12'497m Max. Range: 2408 Km
Timing Mode: Free Flight / on Demand / Stand by / Race Support 
Intended Route: 1976 Australia Air Race / Based in Perth YPPH/PER

[ViperPilot2]

1 hour ago, Airbasil_1 said:

For Your Information: 

Sim Version: Microsoft Flight Simulator FS2004
Entrant: Airbasil_1
Team Name: Air Service Liège (ASL) / Ambulance Flight
Pilots / Crew: Captain Airbasil, Captain Kozhani and 2 Emergency Doctors
Cabin: 5+2 (as Passanger Version), 2 Emergency Doctors with 3 beds for Patients (when converted to Ambulance Jet).
Passangers: Repatriation Patients
Sponsors: None Chartered by: Chacapoya's 2024 Great Australian AIr Gaggle
Year: Built in 1996 Delievered to ASL: Dec. 29th 2005 Status: Active
Manufactor: Cessna / Textron Aviation
Model Nr.: MSN 525-0172 Registration: OO-CEJ Callsign: Jet Belgium
Model Name: Cessna 525 Citation CJ1+
Mods: Equiped with 2 Williams International FJ144-1A Engines (2x 1965 lbs of Thrust)
Service Ceiling: 41'000ft / 12'497m Max. Range: 2408 Km
Timing Mode: Free Flight / on Demand / Stand by / Race Support 
Intended Route: 1976 Australia Air Race / Based in Perth YPPH/PER

 

Basil,

 

To your knowledge has anyone made a PC-24 for FlightSim yet? That would be a perfect MedJet for Down Under, given the RFDS uses it... 

[Airbasil_1]

12 minutes ago, ViperPilot2 said:

Basil,

 

To your knowledge has anyone made a PC-24 for FlightSim yet? That would be a perfect MedJet for Down Under, given the RFDS uses it... 

Unfortunately no! The only one which exists is the one by IRIS Simulation... but that one is for FSX / P3D only... and doesn't work in FS2004... 
I would love to have such though... or even a CJ4... which doesn't exist for FS2004 as well unfortunately... 

[ScottishMike]

More testing, flew to Caiguna to see Defaids work and further test fuel consumption at different cruising speeds and altitudes. This country is BIG, what looks like a hop on the map is a jump of 408 nm.

The Mooney can cruise fast ,170 Kts, but at the cost of reduced range, at that cruise I reckon it will have a range of only 550 to 600 nms.

At 8000' a good compromise is an 140Kt. cruise, giving a range of around 750 nm. So, for this rally 50% tanks should be reasonable including a safety margin.

I left Caiguna in good time but darkness fell before I got back to Perth.

Heading west back to Perth and into the sunset :

 

Perth by night:

[jgf]

4 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

Did you get that here in the File Library

 

Here or Avsim, it's been around a while.

 

Destination Finder for FSX, FS9 and FS2002
Version 2.0

Martin Gleeson
26 October 2008

[Melo965]

TPD - For your Spotters Guide:

Here is the original aircraft picture:

Hope to have an updated and repainted picture completed before race day.

 

Sim Version: Microsoft Flight Simulator X Acceleration
Entrant: Melo965
Team name: Warbird Pilots Association
Preferred entry number: 439
Sponsor: RAAF
Pilot: Melo
Crew: None
Passengers: None
Aircraft year: 1956
Manufacturer: de Havilland Canada
Model no: DHC1-B-2
Model name: Chipmunk
Aircraft type: 2 seat Trainer
Original Tail No: RCAF 18035
Original Civil Registration: C-FPOW
Repainted Tail No: A85-439 
Repainted Civil Registration: VH-FTS 
Mods: Replaced both wing fuel tanks with larger fuel tanks.

Repaint to authentic RAAF livery in progress.
Timing: Timed
Route: Combined

 

Now on the way from Midway to Darwin in the C-133B Cargomaster.

 

[Melo965]

9 hours ago, Bossspecops said:

I use FSTramp, I know how it works and can almost use it blindfold.

 

I use Little Navmap for navigation and Active Sky 2016 for Weather. (in FSX)  Also occasionally check SkyVector as well because high elevation spots show up more easily than in Little Navmap.

 

[Bossspecops]

I flew two sectors of my Ferry Flight out to Perth today, a very FS intense day for sure.

 

I did manage to miss the Quatari mountains, but only  by about 1000 ft (close counts, right?) and got down at Masirah with plenty of daylight left. Masriah happens to be the most easterly place I've ever been to for real, and it was weird flying into a virtual version of it, but the downloaded scenery was pretty much as it was, except the USN F-18s on the virtual ramp were P-3s and F-14s when I was there. 

 

 

On the long approach to Masirah.

 

 

 

Nice to know the military are keeping an eye out for us. 

 

Having refuelled, and taken a bite to eat, I took off eastward again on THE most boring leg of the whole trip, as the entire length of it was across the Indian Ocean, headed for GOA (VGOA). For reasons unknown I became aware that my fuel state was going critical about 200 miles out, and had to make some serious mixture and throttle adjustments to ensure I didn't have to make a gliding water landing!

 

It was getting dusk by now but it wasn't a full night landing as I did at Akrotiri, but take note of the two AI IndiGo A320s heading along the taxiway.....

 

 

It's a LONG way down that runway to the parking, just past the tower, and the ATC there must have been asleep as they cleared one of the AI A320s to take-off right over me!!!! 

 

 

I had a 'free and frank exchange of views' with the Flight Operations Office after parking up for the night, as you can imagine................

 

Off to Sri Lanka tomorrow, or Ceylon to those 'of a certain age'. 

[MAD1]

Morning gents, it being 11:26 am Mon 8 Jan here in NSW. Some points:

1. Wow, what a great lot of good info since yesterday. It all really helps me understand this sim world. Glad you 'old boys' sought clarification on some things.

2. Seems we're all 'in the thick of it' planning and prep wise.

3. Question re those doing ferry flights to get to Perth e.g. Bossspecops, and practice e.g. ScottishMike Jandakot to Caiguna. How do you guys do it in your sim, you don't sit there for all that time e.g. hours, to do the flight do you? Do you turn autopilot on? Do you do time acceleration or make jumps forward in your flight plan? If the answer to latter is no, you run the sim in real time for the entire flight, again wow, that's dedication. I would have thought a long international flight would be so boring, hours, that nobody would bother doing that in the sim using real time.

4. To quote the two well-known international statements A "How hard can it be", B "What could possibly go wrong', plus my own C "Presumption isn't confirmation" which I often quote to myself and my work colleagues ('Somebody did check the oil didn't they'? 'Hey, the battery is flat, Bob was supposed to charge it', Bob: 'Huh, what, not me, that was supposed to be Bill wasn't it? I don't no 'nuthin about that!' etc. etc.). Re 'curt', don't worry bosses, you have to be curt and clear with your destructions (I met Curt Intone in a bar once, nice fella, Curt didn't say much but what he did say was very profound. I wouldn't try to borrow 5 bucks from him though!)

5. Finally, 'Houstin, we have a problem' in the MAD1 world. Of all the 26 strips in the entire adventure, all except 2 YKNG Katanning, YCAG Caiguna (presumably because they're so tiny and nondescript) are in my default FS2002 airport list. So in the in-built Flight Planner, I can't go there. So, my strategy:

5.1. Is there a simple, quick way I can add them into my airport list (remember, I didn't want to fiddle with config, wanted to do it all 'off the shelf' with the defaults). Am happy to do a little fiddle, would be handy for adding stuff in the future.

5.2. If 5.1 not available, then am happy to switch to Free Flight. Have enjoyed and learnt so much via this adventure so far, and my Adult self (who has let my Child self have a bit of a run around the playground for the last week) is advising that I was probably being too ambitious and niave, and now it's time for the Adult to step in and take control of MAD1 and go Free Flight. (And my Parent self is reminding me my wife is coming home Sat 13 after 3.5 months away overseas visiting family, and I might become afeared of retribution for not doing chores/projects and playing with FS instead (see statement B).

[jgf]

34 minutes ago, MAD1 said:

How do you guys do it in your sim, you don't sit there for all that time e.g. hours, to do the flight do you? Do you turn autopilot on? Do you do time acceleration or make jumps forward in your flight plan?

 

I take off and climb to cruise altitude manually, once trimmed out for cruise I hook the AP to the GPS and use 4X acceleration (with any more than 4X FS stops processing everything except your plane and the immediate surroundings, then takes several seconds, or more, to catch up when you return to 4X or less).  But I keep an eye on the proceedings while reading, watching TV, cooking, etc.;  especially in mountainous areas (the Beech cruises best at around 10k ft, so I often thread my way around mountains rather than fly over them), and I must monitor the fuel religiously, six tanks and you must balance the use or the blasted thing wants to fly in circles.

 

But when I start the Australia flight I will be flying by hand and only using GPS (and Terravue) for a moving map. 

 

37 minutes ago, MAD1 said:

Is there a simple, quick way I can add them into my airport list

 

If you don't want to add airports or navaids the simplest thing is to note the coordinates of those airports and do a flyover there.

[jgf]

I said goodbye to Teslin and headed for Kaltag.

 

Even though only mid-afternoon the sky suddenly had an ominous cast

 

815 miles later I find the "town" of Kaltag, 158 people on the bank of the Yukon River, with an "airport" consisting of a 4000ft gravel runway, minimal parking, and a beacon light tower.  Landed with eight gallons of fuel remaining.

 

 

 

Looking NE, the airport is just offscreen to the right

 

not much to do, in fact much transportation is still by dogsled

 

Next stop Ugolny (UHMA), with real runways and terminals, only 600 miles away but the only thing in range.

[PhrogPhlyer]

1 hour ago, jgf said:

If you don't want to add airports or navaids the simplest thing is to note the coordinates of those airports and do a flyover there.

Or use the closest NAVAID (VOR/NDB).

[MAD1]

Tnx jgf re 'simplest thing is to note the coordinates of those airports and do a flyover', and PhrogPhlyer re 'Or use the closest NAVAID (VOR/NDB)'. Had been thinking of something like that. That'll work, I can get the lat long for YKNG Katanning, YCAG Caiguna, work out a heading, distance, direct from YPJT, fly there and tootle around to try and visually find the strip (my default has no wind, so no drift).

 

Will cobble some method together, and in Aussie slang 'have a go ya mug' (sometimes, especially in the old days, my father's generation moreso, heard at sports events, e.g. football - being Australian Rules (sometimes referred to by derogators as 'aerial ping pong'), or the even harder knockem-about stuff of Rugby Union, or the third variety of Rugby League. We generally refer to the foot-only football as 'soccer').

[ViperPilot2]

3 minutes ago, MAD1 said:

Tnx jgf re 'simplest thing is to note the coordinates of those airports and do a flyover', and PhrogPhlyer re 'Or use the closest NAVAID (VOR/NDB)'. Had been thinking of something like that. That'll work, I can get the lat long for YKNG Katanning, YCAG Caiguna, work out a heading, distance, direct from YPJT, fly there and tootle around to try and visually find the strip (my default has no wind, so no drift).

 

Will cobble some method together, and in Aussie slang 'have a go yer mug' (sometimes, especially in the old days, my father's generation moreso, heard at sports events, e.g. football - being Australian Rules (sometimes referred to by derogators as 'aerial ping pong'), or the even harder knockem-about stuff of Rugby Union, or the third variety of Rugby League).

 

MAD1 Here are the Lat/Long Coordinates for YKNG & YCAG:

 

Katanning (YKNG): S33°42.02' / E117°39.20' (Leg #1 YPJT - YKNG 139° 131 nm)

Caiguna (YCAG): S32°16.80' / E125°28.70' (Leg #3 YNSM - YCAG 092° 190 nm)

 

Sure hope you can figure out something that'll work; I'm sure you will. In any case, we're glad to have you aboard and will do all we can to help you out. If you decide to Free Flight it then so much the better; you can give us some welcome Commentary and insights about Life in WA. In essence, our Aussie 'expert'! Please continue with your running play by play about your learning experiences, too! 

 

I checked all of my Scenery sources and couldn't find anything. I run into this all the time... 

[MAD1]

Great, tnx VP2. Can you give me the 2 missing legs below please, heading and distance, then I think I've got all I need:

strip       hdg   dist

YPJT Jandigot > YKNG Katanning      139° 131 nm

YKNG Katanning > YNSM Norseman

YNSM Norseman > YCAG Caiguna     092° 190 nm

YCAG Caiguna > YFRT Forrest

From there on I'm OK via the built-in airports hence Direct GPS.

[ViperPilot2]

3 minutes ago, MAD1 said:

Great, tnx VP2. Can you give me the 2 missing legs below please, heading and distance, then I think I've got all I need:

strip       hdg   dist

YPJT Jandigot > YKNG Katanning      139° 131 nm

YKNG Katanning > YNSM Norseman

YNSM Norseman > YCAG Caiguna     092° 190 nm

YCAG Caiguna > YFRT Forrest

From there on I'm OK via the built-in airports hence Direct GPS.

 

YKNG Katanning > YNSM Norseman 069° 225 nm

YCAG Caiguna > YFRT Forrest 056° 160 nm

[ViperPilot2]

jgf Thanks for the 411 on Destination Finder! That will come in very handy!

 

[MAD1]

 

It's 7:30 pm here, 3:30 am Florida. Over a glass or 2 of red wine and snacks (one has to be civil) just watched the launch from Cape Canaveral of the Peregrin lander to the Moon. All commercial components: ULA's Vulcan booster and Peregrine 2nd stage. Astrobotics built the lander, a small company in Pittsburgh. Glad to see Pittsburgh leading USA technology again, being the former 'steel town' and having gone through the doldrums since the 1970s. Very inspiring all round. Mission so far is flawless. Looks like you US guys are now ready to start hauling cargo to the Moon!

 

Such inspiring stuff inspires me on further! Have a workaround to my little problem. Since last post, been in the sim, and the World > Map View allows me to move both aircraft and tower. Moving the tower to the missing strip's lat long, e.g. attached is YKNG Katanning, gives me a visual map to steer to, fly to the tower, and can land or overfly those coords. Plus, the tower view shows the aircraft landed at that place, so can get a screenshot proving I was there. I tested all that. Nothing visible in the scenary of course, and I also tested a takeoff from the bumpy ground to ensure I could get off, all good. That'll do for me. So happy days ... 'Onwards and upwards'!

[Bossspecops]

17 hours ago, MAD1 said:

Morning gents, it being 11:26 am Mon 8 Jan here in NSW. Some points:

 

3. Question re those doing ferry flights to get to Perth e.g. Bossspecops, and practice e.g. ScottishMike Jandakot to Caiguna. How do you guys do it in your sim, you don't sit there for all that time e.g. hours, to do the flight do you? Do you turn autopilot on? Do you do time acceleration or make jumps forward in your flight plan? If the answer to latter is no, you run the sim in real time for the entire flight, again wow, that's dedication. I would have thought a long international flight would be so boring, hours, that nobody would bother doing that in the sim using real time.

 

 

I start up, check all the switches are set right (Often they're not....) and taxi out, TRY and ensure there's no AI on approach, and take off. With the gear and flaps back in place I turn onto the correct heading while still at climb power, and hook the auto-pilot up to my FSTramp flight plan.

 

In theory that should keep her going nicely until the start of the descent, and much of the time I'm checking fuel burn and airspeed against predicted flight time to make sure I can make a good guess during the Rally itself. Currently, even after flying half way to Perth, I can't really say that plan is working too well. 

 

I seem to have a problem with mixture and prop settings not staying where I want them to and that screws up the timing, speed, and fuel burn, but I've got a few legs to go yet.

 

Currently en route to Colombo. 

[Airbasil_1]

Btw. does anyone of you still have the ORBX Tamworth Freeware Scenery for FS2004? 

If so, could someone please send me the scenery? 

Thanks in advance! 

[ScottishMike]

Hello MAD1, on long flights I tend to use increased Simulation rate.

Take off, approach and landing are always at normal Simulation Rate, once in a steady climb I go to 4x speed, and once stabilised in cruise sometimes go to 16x speed..

I find increased speed is best used with autopilot. Best never go to or more importantly come out of autopilot while in increased speed, always go to normal sim speed first.

Like JGF said I used to find that when coming out of increased speed the sim could take several minutes to re-adjust any active scenery. Since installing a scenery cfg editor (and only having required scenery active, not all my 1800 plus add-ons) this is not a problem, the blip only lasts a fraction of a second.

What is a nuisance is FS Global Real Weather as it stops the sim every few minutes to load local weather and that can take a minute or more so if on a long haul once at cruise switch weather off and once in the descent at 4x speed switch it back on.

However (apart from testing) on this rally I am going to try not using speed compression, GPS or autopilot. Only the map and dead reckoning, after all the longest leg is only 300 nms.

What could possibly go wrong?