defaid

Who'd have thought? There's also an aurora australis, found somewhere in the Southern Ocean while testing the C-130's range.

When did I last post? June? While I'm writing this, I'm a passenger in my own plane while the AP ferries me the last few miles through the early morning back to Brazil so that I can collect the SF.260. The plan had been simply to skip the return flight and claim a commercial seat in a jet but it seemed right to bring the C-130 back with me. I love flying it but as a runaround it's somewhat lacking. It's much more fun on long routes or as a cargo carrier for Air Hauler. The Ernest Gann excursion is done. His trip was made in a specific C-87 which he described as "the original caldron in which all of the sinister essences common to the type were brewed." Serious oil leak. Disintegrated starter. Broken prop governor. Incompetent co-pilot. Jammed nose gear. Dead direction finder. Unpredictable control response. Limited flap travel. Broken cabin door. Scratched windshields. Inexplicable vibration... And on his return journey, unwittingly overladen, coming within a gnat's crotchet of destroying the Taj Mahal. Now I can finish off South America and explore the Caribbean. Natal to Chabua was a long trip, even in the context of a persistent round the world mission. The whole excursion, 16 500 miles. Salalah morning. Get up there. A deviation to visit an ocean of sand: the Rub al Khali. What seems like an eternity ago, the relative cool of Salalah and a bone-dry Rub al Khali (living up to its name as the Empty Quarter) finally gave way to Karachi's sauna. Karachi. Golden light like the brazier in a sauna. "Temperature 31°C, dew-point 7°C, visibility 8000 m" was forecast for the following day's flight across India to Gaya. The temperature was correct but, given the fog that persisted for well over 200 miles, I guessed the dewpoint also to be around 31°C. Looked more like 8000 inches to me. No sightseeing. No sightseeing en route to Gaya. 10 miles to Gaya - an interesting approach. Took off in mist... landed in twilight fog with no navaids... actually found the runway and managed to stop on it despite landing long to the tune of 3/4 the length. I reached the ground at just above stall speed with no cargo and minimal fuel. Full reverse & full brakes had me stopped within about 6 inches. It was ok: stopways are for stopping on aren't they? I mean, it's in the name. The next five days' metars had visibility <2500 m everywhere in Assam. I picked a random date from the spring and loaded that one. Visibility 1800... It would have been ok as there's ILS at VEMN but I wanted a look at Assam as I flew up the Brahmaputra so I gave up and made my own static theme, reserving the right to modify it en route. The Brahmaputra, lifeblood of the finest leaves known to man. I dumped EKG's Chabua in favour of the neighbouring Dibrugarh (VEMN) five miles from the river and five miles from Chabua proper, as Chabua is an Indian Air Force base (and there's more traffic in Dibrugarh). Seven mile final to Dibrugarh. Chabua AB on the right. VEMN Dibrugarh. I spent a day just being there: it would have been a crime to rush through what's arguably the cradle of civilisation. The following morning, after a final pot, I bade farewell to Assam for the Himalaya, the Middle-East, the Caspian, Turkey, the Med, North Africa and the Atlantic. Farewell to Assam. 8000 miles and more, well over the normal range. Good thing there's all that space in the back for the extra plumbing. For all the hazards that ferry flights present, once darkness arrived I had no problem in falling asleep while the plane took care of itself. Tibetan waters. Yarlung Tsangpo - the Brahmaputra by another name. Nanga Parbat. Somewhere just behind it is a place called the Fairy Meadow. Exploration of the Himalaya is scheduled for when the proper RtW flight reaches that region, possibly next year, possibly in 2054 but I was pleased to find clear weather for so many miles of rubber-necking. The vast expanse of Tibet, the headwaters of the Brahmaputra and a close fly-by of Nanga Parbat were highlights. And finally getting back to Belém, whence the RtW can start again. This, and a pot of tea, is all I ask. From Wikipedia, the appropriately named Brahmaputra_River_Homeward_bound.jpg

Hi. I've finally got around to trying FSRealWX Lite and I have to say I like it. My thanks to those who suggested I try it. I haven't yet played with it enough to see what it does about winds aloft, or to learn more than the very basic default-setting control of fs weather but there are several buttons and options whose purpose I don't understand. Does anyone here have a copy of the help file or a working link to it? What advantage does v3 have over lite? D

If it works for you then I trust it. Still not going to use it though because even now after all this time I have a Win 98 mindset: down at least to some level it's only getting done if I do it. Anything not explicitly requested is not happening.

Racey! Almost completely unlike Google's first hit:

With the festive season approaching, all I can say is "Don't drink and drive..."

Probably just... if it's hard work then cut back on it, as much as you need to. And don't stress over 'winning', whether that means coming first or getting the best screenies, or whatever. I found the weather, hand flying and terrain were all a breeze (the navigation wasn't my problem) but it was the effort that went into the planning and the reports that took the toll, hence my promise of shorter posts. I was scribbling notes while at work for Heaven's sake... Also, while I wouldn't want to fly with AP slaved to GPS, I suspect I'll be installing a Garmin and following the magenta line next time. Seriously though, cut back hard on what wears you down is probably fundamental to having a good time. With new experience, what would everyone else change in the way you approach another challenge?

Welshpool to Bathurst by February? I'd better get going, especially if, as d j won't be around for much of that, I take her namesake.

I have a strong empathy with this. The Bendix left me feeling just the same -- remarkably tired. Still, having skipped a couple of months I feel about ready for another now. Possibly with shorter reports though...

Well, it wasn't the best experience. This is why I mistrust automated installers. I installed to a dummy folder on a different hard drive and still found that the VOZ installer screwed things up, replacing High Def Environment textures and doing something very odd to haze & visibility. Even the splashscreen... This is just arrogant. Clearly some of what's done, either by their installer, or possibly by the switcher, very definitely does follow the FS9 registry path, meaning that dummy folder installation will not keep you out of the kaka. Making a full backup prior to installation will; I'm glad I took that precaution. After reinstating the backup, I just have to choose what to copy over manually from the dummy folder. Probably only LC & LWM, airports & photoreal though if I can summon the patience for the trial & error, I may make a set of duplicate texture folders specifically for VOZ. VOZ. Green North Atlantic sea I could tolerate even around New Guinea but what's with the hilltop haze? HDE v.2 How I prefer it, though the water does look a bit artificial.

Hi. I've just downloaded VOZ v1.8 from the library, with a view to installing it for a potential upcoming challenge. It has one of those things I dislike: an installer. Worse, something called the VOZ Switcher. So, before I mess up my FS9 installation and give this thing access to my registry and permission to move & change files... ... can I install to a dummy folder, dismiss the Switcher and then just manually choose the files I need for the area of Australia I'll be visiting? D

Maybe one of them... just for a chance at trying EZ Scenery pilot controlled lights. @jgf, I'll have a go at any one that doesn't appeal to you.

I have my Cherokee ready. It's an approach I like -- a bit like the original Peking to Paris: "There were no rules in the race, except that the first car to Paris would win the prize of a magnum of Mumm champagne."

Here are four missing locations. Frederick Hill has me completely stumped though -- no sign of Frederick Hill, Vic or NSW. Hyden: Nullarbor: Tintinara: Apollo Bay:

Mention in the first post that the flight is scenic and anecdotal, and that you won't be publishing a leaderboard. If the next flight is as popular as the last two, we'll probably all start by casually comparing our times but by page 10 of the thread we'll all have forgotten who did what and will relax into just flying for pleasure. I say 'we' and, if it happens over Christmas, I probably will join in. If you decide on the AOPA Australia race I definitely will: I've barely visited Australia in the 14 years since I bought FS9. My daughter should be free again by then too, at least for some of the legs, which makes my end of things a lot more fun. Route 66 seems to have been going very well as a semi-planned regularity, which goes a long way to ironing out differences between planes without the need for contentious handicaps and allows everyone to choose their own style of flying without penalty. D

Was that proof something like this one? Take... a = b So... a2 = ab a2 - b2 = ab - b2 (a + b)(a - b) = b(a - b) a + b = b 2a = a 1 = 2

Just dropped in to say hello, and to read the last page. 26 pages is as daunting a prospect as planning & flying the entire route solo (daughter's still not free). I'll have to sit down sometime with a tall glass and catch up. Phrog, if your hands were occupied with cyclic & collective and your feet with the pedals, what were you using to operate that wobble pump? Melo, tell me you didn't enjoy hand flying that weather.

Don't know if you've found it yet but probably this: I didn't think it was available in FS9 and clearly wasn't fully implemented. The aircraft container sdk documentation says only: D

Now there's an interesting suggestion. SimMarket shows v3.0 as being suitable for FS9. Flying online is not a fundamental problem except for a slow connection. Rather, it's that my malware protection seem to ignore me when I set exclusions; it hammers load times and digs well into framerate too. If v3.0 will allow me to download a complete weather file and then maintain FS9's weather for me once I've returned to offline (and disabled Nanny) then that will work perfectly well. I don't think fairness is really a problem: we've all elected to fly on our own terms. My concern was that a 20 kt headwind would become cleared weather and then a 50 kt tail wind and then a 95 kt tailwind and then some enterprising individual, with no interest but in winning, would create their own weather with a 200 kt tailwind. I could see that spiral never ending. I appreciate JGF's suggestion too but I'm not keen on creating weather for a race - I don't think anyone knows himself so well as to be sure he's not tweaking things a little. Tom, from your reply, it's obvious that I've done you a disservice and I am truly sorry. D

Hi. For the next challenge, so that I don't have to deal with perpetual headwinds while everyone else is blessed, can someone explain to me how I can (legitimately, in the race context) obtain better weather. NOAA provide free text metars that my engine can use, but not historical, and obviously no winds aloft. Having offline weather only, I can't easily use current weather with winds aloft but I just checked SkyVector & backdated it to Friday, to see if I could use something from there. I found completely different winds at fl350 to those posted just above. What am I failing to grasp about SkyVector's planning chart? D

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.

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?

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.

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

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.