MAD1

G'day all. Was hoping to take my little Cessna 182 for a circuit, but alas computer gone haywire. So am logging here the flight I did in Dec 2023 and which I used to inaugurate my own thread 'FS2002 Mazda'. I notice that in a few shots by the guys, there's a Cessna parked. I'll purloin that as mine. So I'm there, at Meigs.

Bosss, commiserations. The 'ol gal just didn't have it in her to get home! Oh well, thank God for friends in high places! I take it that air temp for the engines was the problem, far too cold, or is it the fuel, or the fuel pump, or a combination of all of that, simply too cold overall, is that correct?

Wow, so much 'bedtime reading' here since I last looked a few days ago, including a novel. Will read all posts in detail over the next few days. Bosss, funny about that, the excitement of starting an adventure seems always more engaging than finishing one, and yes, no aircraft in the sky for you makes for a duller long haul home.

Speaking of Duxford: https://www.daftlogic.com/information-locations-of-concorde-planes.htm There were 20 Concordes built. Number 101, G-AXDN, is at the Imperial War Museum. https://www.heritageconcorde.com/duxford Did I mention previously that I saw a Concorde at the Farnborough Air Show, must have been 1980 or 81, it did a low flypast (don't think it did a touch and go, but might have).

https://www.daftlogic.com/information-locations-of-concorde-planes.htm There were 20 Concordes built. Number 101, G-AXDN, is at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, England, UK. https://www.heritageconcorde.com/duxford

https://simviation.com//lair/Concorde Flying Notes.htm "FS2000 Concorde copied from FS2000 Help" "Takeoff: 9,000 ft (2,743 m) Landing: 9,000 ft (2,743 m)". That's the nominal default stats, perhaps for a fully fueled and full passenger load. Now, Brisbane International is 9,000 ft. So probably that will be the home base. It also has all the facilities needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_Airport https://skyvector.com/airport/YBBN/Brisbane-Airport rwy 01/19 11,680 ft so all good.

Bosss, might have to commission you as a consultant on my Concorde journey. (I pay in Chachapoya dollars!)

In my little Cessna, in the sim, have flown under Sydney Harbour Bridge a few times. Easy. Now, could I get under the Gateway Bridge, Brisbane (that's the bridge over the Brisbane River you see on approach from the south into runway 01. Could I do it in the Concorde? Probably not, but in sim-world, now that'd be a feat. It is a lovely pair of bridges. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Leo_Hielscher_Bridges "the bridge owes its distinctive shape to air traffic requirements restricting its height to under 80 metres (260 ft) above sea level (all features of the bridge including light poles) coupled with shipping needs requiring a navigational clearance of 55 metres (180 ft).". I've stood a few times on the bridge, which provides a great view of the airport, river, CBD, and watched flights on descent into 01, one of the best places to be a plane spotter. (I lived in Brisbane for some years.)

Starting my Concorde learning journey.

Starting my learning journey about the Concorde. Research, first thoughts: what is the minimum runway distance for takeoff and landing? Can I use a local airport as its home base, runway is 6,000 feet? Well, one plane did it's last flight into a UK airport, 6,000 ft, but once down could it ever take off from there again? (It went to a museum there, so never intended to take off again.). A quick search for info sites: https://www.daftlogic.com/information-locations-of-concorde-planes.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=concorde+takeoff+distance&title=Special%3ASearch&ns0=1 https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/topic/241165-concorde-landing-help https://wiki.flightgear.org/images/cache/e/ed/Concorde.html https://www.aerofly.com/aircraft-tutorials/concorde-flight-tutorial https://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-46510.html https://simviation.com//lair/Concorde Flying Notes.htm Much bedside reading here.

Melo. Re your trip into Tain Airfield, you say "They were glad to see me again and invited me for a delicious dinner and a comfortable billet overnight." You didn't say anything about phone calls that I presume went around the area, including to the airports, from the authorities re "... an unknown aircraft was observed to make unauthorised passes under bridges, we have some of it on the radar history (before it dropped below radar) but locals observed it, some were enjoying the spectacle, others were aghast, and one RAF commander was livid. Does anyone at your airport know anything about this, who it was, we'd be very interested to speak to the pilot"!

Bosss, think you've struck gold at Kadena. Milk it for all it's worth, stay until the Base Commander invites you over for drinks at sunset and he says something like "So, I suppose you're keen to move on and finally get home, when did you think you might depart, perhaps tomorrow"? You should then take that hint!

Lovely long posts from you guys flying back home from Oz, or for Sirrus, flying in Europe. Haven't had a chance to read all of it in detail. Bosss, I know of the Moulton foldup, well, the alluminium one that came out in early 80s. I was a young fella living in London then. I considered buying one but instead bought a US Dahon, still got it. Haven't been on it for a few years, but any day now ...! I bought it in London in 1988, rode it in London, took it on the aircraft to Israel (it is suitcase size), rode around the Sea of Galilee and in the Negev Desert. Ah the memories, have forgotten half of what I did and knew! Mine's blue and does have the 3 speed Sturmy-Archer gears. A great little bike.

Tnx VP2 and jgf. Yes, have experienced that frustration in previous years, and need to remind myself to regularly 'Save the Flight' manually, as a sequence 1, 2, 3 etc. manually (until I get those gadgets set up for autosave), that indeed would be a bummer, especially for flights approaching an hour plus. Will be awhile before I have RW time to go play with it all. Little steps ...!

TPD. 'Fly with Eli 04 March, 2024. Anchorage - Red Lake - Lock Haven.' Finally got a chance to read your post. Nice pics and story. I also started high school in 1968. (Those towns - Red Lake, Lock Haven, never heard of them, of course, just like the smaller places in Oz for you foreigners, just looked them up in Google Maps, now the route makes sense.) Bosss. Also a nice story of your trip Sydney to Alice.

Thanks guys for the long-flight info. I now have the info and confidence to start into that world myself.

Yes jgf and Melo, that does help heaps.

Melo, thanks for the nice report, great pics. Question (I've asked this before of you guys): I've never done a long flight of hours (nor logged a flight plan in the sim), but wish to soonish. How did you do that one, do you take off and get to cruise in sim real time (t speed), then set autopilot to fly the logged route and switch the sim to faster (2t, 3t, or higher etc.), then leave the sim and go about your RW life, knowing to come back occassionally to check that all is OK (plane hasn't drifted off course etc.), and/or come back to the sim close to descent time, switch back to t time, then manually descend and land? So, perhaps you went e.g. 2t, and each sim hour you came back and checked and took the screenshot, coming back at RW 30 minutes later would be sim 1h (given its running at 2t) etc. So a 6 hr flight, at say 6t, is done in 1 hour, and each flight hour will be in RW time at 10 min, 20 min, 30 min etc. Is that how you do it? Maybe there is some article in this flightsim.com site about that Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) but I'm not aware of any, if so, can you guys point me to it/them, or on another sim site. We long-haul sim newbies need guidance re all this.

Wow Bosss, sounds like you might be our Chief Pilot. Now, choosing Kai Tak for the Concorde, really, in RW I presume it never flew into there and couldn't. Ah yes, the many videos are by Mike Bannister I think, that name is familiar.

Melo. Apologies, I got the wrong pilot. But anybody with a Canberra is a champ in my books. By the way, as I mentioned, as an early birthday present to myself (May), I came across a brand-spanking used Concorde in good condition in a hanger in an obscure airport. Apparently a very, very, very rich guy bought one when they were being phased out. I talked to him, he said he'd be happy to loan it, long term, to Club Chachapoya, in fact, he'd love to see it flying again. He'll cover all the costs. Could be an ambassador for world peace liaison, fly the Club members anywhere in the world they want to go, FAST! Was going to keep my cards close to my chest, but hey, I can't help it. So, the Concorde will be signed 'Club Chachapoya Charters'. Anyone interested in taking her up for a spin? I can't per se, a bridge too far to go from my trusty Cessna 182RG to that, but, I will be onboard as an 'international ambassador', I bags the jump seat in the cockpit! Is any Club member Concorde qualified, or within reach of that? If so, you could be Chief Pilot. I'll put myself into training, quasi-properly, so once I study the manual (have watched many RW YouTube videos, one favourite, is a RW British captain saying how they were being escorted by the UK primary air defence fighters, fastest available at Mach 1.n, and he radio'd to them something like "Thanks fellas for the escort, but we have places to go", lit the afterburners (preheats) and the video out of the Concorde window showed the Concorde just smoothly leaving them behind at Mach 2, they were at max throttle at their 1.n, wonderful!), will be able to take her out for taxi runs, that's all initially, but later this year will be able to be First Officer I think. It could become the Club taxi. "Where do you want to go in the world"? "Oh, let's fly down to Rio for the day". "OK, pick you up at 8, don't be late"!

Bosss. Yep, that's the Outback from the air, or from a car driving across it. But it does have it's vastness and desert stark beauty as an allure, but very lonely if something goes wrong!

Rupert. And if it's a Boeing "Max" anything, don't get in it. (quick $ over Quality Assurance, guess which one has won?)

TPD re "Fly with Eli". Thanks for the wonderful, technical post, most of which went over my head, but I got the gist, very educational about engine stuff. Cold up there too at 25K, -49C! Amazed that you guys are happy to fly a single engine GA aircraft over those (what seems to me) very long distances, and over open ocean to boot. I'm learning heaps just by watching what you guys do.

ScottishMike. I think re your sim scenery for Gladstone, the smokestack is the Gladstone Alumina Refinery, which is east of the airport, which aligns with your scenery screenshots. Gladstone is one of our few (compared to the UK, USA etc.) major industrial precincts. It's a major coal loading port for QLD coal (exported worldwide including to Japan, perhaps China). I have extended family living there, have visited as a tourist the alumina plan and been on a tour, very interesting.

Wow TPD, now that is a route and a stamina based jaunt. Good luck. (Love the Canberra phase.)