Where did you fly today ?

Took off from Watsonville in the G36 bound for Monterey to try again to pull off an ILS approach to RWY10 with the fancy, new Working Title G1000 NXi -- unfortunately still a fool's errand. You cannot change the PFD from GPS to LOC without the autopilot taking you wildly off course, because the LOC needle will come up 90 degrees off the runway heading and the AP will follow it. This is what happened to me today. I quickly switched back to GPS, but by then the damage was done, and I had to disengage the autopilot and hand-fly the G36 to the runway. After landing, I decided to take off on a quick flight to the little airport in Carmel Valley. It turns out the folks at Asobo don't know where Carmel Valley is. There's a cheater's marker for the airport, but it's in the Santa Lucia Mountains, not down in the valley, and in the valley where a nice asphalt airstrip ought to be, there's a dirt strip called a "vintage" airport. I didn't try to land there. Instead, I flew north then turned west toward Marina to try for a landing at the little airstrip there (KOAR). Between my airspeed and glide angle, I was doing really well on final and mentally patting myself on the back until this happened ...

 

Gee, I was so sure I'd lowered the landing gear.

 

Unlike when you totally crack up a plane in MSFS, my monitor did not go black. Instead, I wound up looking at a stopped prop. The external view revealed that I'd munched the left wing flap. Ah well, any landing you can walk away from ...

Thought I’d fly the WT CJ4 from KPHF to KISP (Newport News, Va > Islip, NY) to see if I could land in Henri. ILS Runway 24, had the approach lights in sight at 300’. Disengaged AP at 200’ and things went to hell in a handbasket from there. Lost visual and crashed on the airport. My dog Rose (Dog is My Copilot :D) and I walked away with nary a scratch.

@Aptosflier and @jf1450 - :p :D Thanks for your posts above, guys - I wish we had a Like button on these forums!

Took off from RWY 29 at this airport for a brief bit of sightseeing today, and here's what I saw from the cockpit of the G36...

This...

 

And this...

 

It's off the more commonly beaten sim flight paths. Nevertheless, coincidentally or not, I saw a few other curious simmers in the vicinity today.

 

Look it up. (Or just click on the images.)

I tried this trip yesterday, somehow flew past the airport, and landed on a dirt airstrip; it had one of those MSFS markers and I headed toward it thinking: Well, this is the boonies, after all. I went back today to do it right. Turned out that OAMS, AKA Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport, doesn't have one of those signposts in the sky -- but there is a more distant one; just to make things extra confusing -- and it's hard to distinguish the runway from the monochromatic Afghan landscape. I had to sight it the way an actual pilot would, which was good practice after all. There's an ILS runway at Mazar, but I couldn't find a procedure for it, so I filed an RNAV flight plan. I canceled IFR soon after departing Kabul. ATC's flight-level directions made no sense. Screenshots from my most excellent adventure follow.

 

Climbing out of Kabul, headed for 20,400 ft. in the Daher TBM

 

Will I make it?

 

Close one!

 

Snow in August

 

Mountains, mountains, mountains

 

Poppy fields?

 

Descending from 20,400 ft. to 11,000 ft.

 

Down to 3,000 and getting close. There's gotta be an airport around here somewhere...

 

Whew! Made it.

HI, So i race nitro rc cars, around the world and there is one of the best rc tracks located in a valley in switzerland So today i flew throu the mountains of the swiss alps in vr mode and all i can say is omg!!! it was breath taking. And whats more incredible is i found the track that i race on and its exactly the way it is i was so blown away it brought a tear to my eye!!!!

I been flying mfs since it was on a floppy disk and every new mfs never disappoints you!!!!

Flew in the Beech Baron from Watsonville to San Luis Obispo (SLO for short) on a course that took me down the Salinas Valley to the vicinity of Paso Robles and then across the coastal range to the coast (duh!), then offshore of the beach towns adjacent to U.S. 101 just south of SLO, before turning back for a semi-botched instrument landing on RWY 11 at KSBP to the northeast. More on that in a moment, but first some scenery. There's lots of lovely terrain to enjoy along the route, but this screenshot today of Moro Rock (lower right) and Moro Bay, which I visited briefly during a drive up the coast in 1972, is my favorite:

 

 

As for the ILS approach at KSBP, I've been learning to cajole instrument landings out of Working Title's G1000 NXi, which does not yet transition seamlessly from NAV to APR the way the stock G1000 did/does. Working Title is working to solve this. But for the meantime, as I've learned over at Flightsimulation.com, there is a workaround for this problem. After you've "filed" your flight plan and before you take off:

 

1. Go to the PFD, switch the CDI from GPS to LOC, then

a. use the course knob to set the LOC needle to the final approach heading for your destination

b. use the heading knob to set the heading bug to the LOC needle heading (IMPORTANT)

2. Switch the CDI to GPS again

3. Tune NAV1 to the destination ILS frequency and make it active

4. Go to the MFD to review the flight plan

5. Go to PROC in the MFD to select and load your chosen ILS approach

6 Take off and then turn on autopilot, etc.

 

When you reach the first intersection/fix for your destination runway (presumably at the minimum prescribed altitude)

 

1. Switch the CDI from GPS to LOC.

(Provided you aligned the heading bug with the LOC heading before takeoff, you'll stay on course for the runway. Otherwise, the AP will take you in an unforeseen direction. This, I've learned through trial and and much error.)

2. When you get to the final approach fix, which is what I think they call the intersection where you actually intersect with the glideslope (marked with the maltese cross on the approach plate), hit APR as in the past, and the autopilot should follow it.

 

This worked for me on a test flight from KWVI to ILS RWY 10R at KMRY that immediately preceded my flight KSBP. But it didn't quite work when I flew there. The Baron lost the runway centerline and the glideslope when I hit APR on final for RWY 11, even though the LOC and the heading bug were set at 110 degrees. I had to disengage the autopilot, line up the Baron again and then, as I'd lost valuable time was now coming in too high and too fast, had to resort to "mushing" the plane to quickly dump enough airspeed and altitude to land it. But I made the runway in good form, actually.

 

My guess is that I somehow activated the approach too soon. And this could have had something to do with the fact that the intersections in the final approach procedure in the G1000 NXi didn't exactly correspond with the final approach intersections on the approach plate for RWY 11. The critical intersection, DOBRA, was missing; there was some otherwise-named intersection where it should've been. So I wasn't sure when to activate the approach. I probably should've forgotten about the plate, which was up to date according to Flightgo.com, and paid more attention to the G1000 NXi's PFD. I'll have to go back and try it again, when I have 45 minutes to spare.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Aptosflier

I need to revise and extend what I said earlier about how to do a final approach when using the G1000 NXi. As it stands with the NXi now, as I've learned from experience (and as it will continue until Working Title irons this out), switching the CDI from GPS to LOC disables the autopilot's NAV function. So when you switch back to the LOC on final, you'll also need to press NAV again. Otherwise, odds are you'll soon be off course.

I thought I would fly someplace a bit more...dynamic, now that adults are in the room. So I simulated flying for a freight company called, CI_SIS. First, there was a lot of small loads to be retrieved from out of the way places needing a bush plane.

 

Take off on last trip from Taulquan to Kindabad unimproved strip to pick up 280 pounds of Benjamins.

 

 

 

The airport at Kindabad is unimproved.

 

 

 

Proceed to Kunduz where supposed to RV with Pilatus to transfer cargo.

 

Pilatus is a no show so have to go to Bagram in the Cub. Greed gets the better and fuel is reduced for cargo. Half way there, fuel runs out and I dead stick to a friendly town with a supply agreement.

 

 

While there was talk of beheading, they seemed friendly. Five pounds of Benjamin's later, I get 20 gallons to make it over the pass. Talk about inflation! That is coming off the Big Guy's cut!

 

Finally! Over the pass and into Bagram with 1.5 gallons of usable fuel left. Now with all the small loads consolidated, we can fly out to Islamabad with permission of ISI.

 

 

Yes, its an A320. There was a lot of loads to consolidate!

 

 

Never flew the A320 and cant work the Nav electronics so I fly by hand to Islamabad. Had to do a go around without plates when I reached 500 feet as I could not see the runway. Clouds opened up with the help of this majik bar above. The second attempt landing is horrible and the A&P's will be cussing me although it didn't register as a crash but hey, its a rental! All 10 passengers are told to declare any cash in excess of 1 billion each.

I thought I would fly someplace a bit more...dynamic, now that adults are in the room.

What adults?

What adults?

 

I thought that was obvious. The adults are the company that sells A&P services. Say your 152, CF36 needs its 100 hour oil change. Not hard: warm the engine, pull the plug, swap the filter, install plug, add oil, fire up and check pressure, top off. Now if this sequence is off, say the plug isn’t installed until after the new oil is poured, that is a problem!

 

It could still be fixed at this stage but the service company makes a lot of money off the old plane so they send in another A&P dressed as a thug to pour some sand into the oil while the first A&P is out to lunch. Don’t worry says the company, insurance will fix it! The ad agencies and the consumer affairs agencies are all owned by the A&P Service Company, so of course they say their services are the best!

 

Now your old airplane that was about to be sold after service gets a new engine and they convince you to keep it. Well since you’re going to keep it you need some updated avionics! Oh, and better tires. Better pull the spars and replace them since they they be getting fatigued. Now you have more into your old 152 than a new Pilatus. Which is why I am having to run simulated cargo runs to obscure, unimproved airstrips in the desert to pull out 10 -15 million in cash per run!

I've lately been learning about the characteristics of the Beech King Air 350i. I initially flew it (I love the way we all say "flew" as if we really had) from KSNS (Salinas) to KSBP (San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport. I had switched to it from the Beech Baron, and taken off under the mistaken impression that like the Baron, the King Air's brain was the G1000 NXi. So I was pleasantly surprised to see the CDI switch automatically from GPS to LOC when I reached the initial approach fix (IAF) for KSBP's ILS runway 11. (Before taking off in the King Air, I had set the LOC and the heading bug to the runway's heading. And I'd thought that when I reached the IAF, I would have to manually switch the CDI to LOC and quickly press NAV to keep the King Air on course -- the current workaround to coax an ILS approach out of the G1000 NXi until Working Title updates it.)

 

I should've known I was flying a plane with the G3000, because its avionics had G3000 touch screens. For folks here who haven't "gotten into" the King Air yet, the various touch-screen menus are to be found in the PFD. (Maybe they are also accessible in the King Air's MFD, but I haven't found them there yet.) Accessing the FPL and APR menus is not as easy in the King Air's G3000 as it is in the Daher TBM's, which has a separate screen dedicated to them. I discovered that I had to "split" the PFD screen to bring up an inset map screen, and then click on choices at the bottom of that screen to get to an actual touch screen that looks like the one in the TBM with the FPLN, APR, and other menus. It's complicated.

 

Anyway, my thoughts about the King Air: It's a beast, and more challenging to fly (for me right now anyway) than the Daher TBM. For starters, it takes off at about 110 KIAS (stall speed is 107 KIAS), and eats up a lot of KWVI's 4,501 ft. RWY 20 at full power before it reaches rotation speed. And just as it takes its time getting off the ground, the King Air takes its own sweet time slowing down. I discovered that the hard way after a couple of missed approaches at Monterey. I didn't bother going around; I escaped those flights and restarted at KWVI each time. (The nice thing about this trial-and-error learning mode in MSFS is that you never actually pay for your errors.)

 

On the very short flight from KWVI across Monterey Bay to KMRY I learned that I had to hold the airspeed within flap range -- the white part of the altimeter strip -- so I could put in flaps early on final -- or better at Monterey, when turning onto final -- if I was to have any chance of slowing the King Air to its landing speed, which absent documentation, I figured at about 110 KIAS, similar to takeoff. Whatever, it worked, and I managed a couple of decent landings there.

 

Here I am on final for RWY 10 at KMRY; APR activated, and on the glideslope

I flew the G36 with the G1000 NXi out of Santa Maria for an ILS approach and landing on RWY 11 at KSBP. Then I flew the G36 back to KSMX to try my hand at an RNAV/VNAV/LPV approach to RWY 12 there. The ILS approach at San Luis Obispo Rgnl. Airport came off without a hitch. My efforts to "shoot" a VNAV landing at Santa Maria was another story. It's a longish story -- with lots of pretty pictures -- about my latest attempt to scale the G1000 NXi learning curve. Rather than reinvent that wheel here, I'll refer you to my write-up over at the official Flight Simulator forum. It's a great site to visit if you're even only vaguely technically minded.

Flew the G36 from Watsonville to Monterey in my continuing efforts to master ILS and RNAV/VNAV approaches with the G1000 NXi, with some success with the former and no luck with the latter.

 

Finally frustrated with the NXi, I switched to the Daher TBM and the G3000, flying again from KWVI to KMRY to do an ILS approach there. To get the G3000 to pull off an ILS approach, I did my flight planning and approach selection in the Daher instead of the World Map. The first flight to Monterey in the TBM did not go as planned. I needed to descend from 2,600 ft., at the initial approach fix at ZEBED, to 1,700 ft. at the final approach fix, MINCK, to capture the glideslope. I set the sim autopilot by turning a real knob on my Logitech multipanel. Usually, I have no problem with this, but for reasons beyond me I could not adjust the multipanel ALT setting properly. I paused the flight to mouse-turn the ALT knob in the sim. I set the altitude to 1,700 ft., or so I thought. So I was very surprised when the Daher reached 1,700 ft. and kept going -- down. The plane was closing in on tree-top level when I disengaged the autopilot, retracted the landing gear, gave the engine full throttle, and pulled up, avoiding a sim-evening-news crackup. I landed safely after that. After I landed, I took a closer look at the altitude setting on the PFD. I looked very closely. I'd inadvertently set the altitude to -1,700 ft. No wonder the autopilot continued the TBM's descent below 1,700; it was just following orders.

 

After a subsequent successful ILS approach to RWY 10R at KMRY that ended in a smooth landing, I decided to continue on to Salinas. I went to the G3000's MFD, deleted the previous KWVI/KMRY flight plan, and set up a new flight plan from KMRY to KSNS, with an ILS approach to RWY 31 there. (Though I couldn't find intervening waypoints, selecting ILS RWY 31 was good enough to get the G3000 to come up with a reasonable flight plan.)

 

I took off from RWY 28L at KMRY and climbed out over the Monterey Peninsula and the Monterey Bay, bound for 5,500 ft., turned back toward Salinas, engaged the autopilot, and settled in to enjoy the view when, CTD! (This was the second of two CTDs today; the first one -- and the first CTD in weeks -- occurred when I was trying to load MSFS. The sim crashed at the first or second opening screen.) After shutting down and restarting my PC, calibrating TrackIR, launching Steam, starting the Logitech plugin (the Logitech multipanel worked flawlessly this time), and starting MSFS, I went back to KMRY to try the Salinas leg again. The flight went well until I missed the final approach fix -- I only had to shed 500 ft. of 5,500, but I still managed to overshoot the glideslope. So I went a long way around and landed. At least I'm getting pretty good at salvaging landings when I mess up the avionics and instrument approaches.

 

Monterey Peninsula ahead in the G36, sunlight glinting off the water below.

How many lines of code went into this effect? You gotta hand it to the Asobo folks.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Aptosflier

Take off from South LaFourche (Galliano) and fly south toward Golden Meadow. From there we go to Port LaFourche. This is a staging base for most of the oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. The eye of Hurricane Ida came right over this port at landfall. We then head east to Cheniere Caminada. This is the site destroyed in 1893 by a hurricane with winds about 25 mph less than Ida (Top winds with that storm were estimated at 130mph, they measured 148 in Grand isle, east of the eye wall, before the anemometer broke in Ida.). Then back to South LaFourche airport. The 1893 storm had a 16 ft. storm surge, this storm had over 18 ft. The land at Cheniere Caminada is only a few feet above sea level, so the storm surge inundated all of this community. The 1893 storm killed more than 600 people here, and over 2,000 people in total. Fortunately this was largely evacuated by the time Ida hit. Close to 75% of the imported oil for North America comes through an offshore anchorage 18 miles south of Port LaFourche, known as the LOOP facility. It took a direct hit from the storm.

I flew the Daher TBM Sacramento Executive to South Lake Tahoe, approaching RWY 18 at KTVL on VNAV, the only way. Pictures below:

 

Snow in the mountains, of which there's actually none right now; but no smoke, of which there actually (and sadly) is...

 

 

Decided to do some more pure flying today and took the DA40 for a sightseeing trip to Yosemite National Park. I flew into Yosemite Valley (which no RL pilot would do. ... I hope), climbed out, and crossed the Sierra to Mammoth Lakes. The truth is I didn't have flying to Mammoth in mind when I started, but once I got to Yosemite, I didn't want to turn back. So I opened the drop-down map to find the nearest airport and -- the DA40 lacking Garmin avionics -- followed its magenta course line. I could write several hundred more words about this jaunt, but these pictures are worth so much more...

 

Climbing out of Mariposa

 

Follow the Merced River

 

Into Yosemite Valley

 

El Capitan, where are the rock climbers?

 

Half Dome, something's missing!

 

It's levitating!

 

Okay, gotta climb outa here now!

 

This is close! Am I gonna make it?

 

Whew! Owens Valley ahead.

 

Mammoth Ski Resort and Mammoth Lakes

 

to be continued ...

Edited September 5, 2021 by Aptosflier

to be continued ...

 

Trying to line up for final at Mammoth Lakes. It wasn't pretty, but I got down with no damage to the airplane.

I enjoyed the scenery along this route so much yesterday, I decided to do it again -- in the Beech G36 instead of the DA40 -- and without a detour into Yosemite Valley. I flew the RNAV course to RWY 27 at KMMH (Mammoth Lakes). Perhaps because of this airport's location -- just guessing -- the RNAV/LNAV guidance to the runway was seriously off. If I hadn't disengaged it early to straighten things out, the AP would've followed the CDI on a heading to the foothills northwest of the runway threshold. I did get things straight with the runway and landed in very good form -- for me.

 

I was flying IFR, and the AI ATC really irritated me, telling me repeatedly to expedite my climb to 11,000 ft., even though I was at 11,000 ft. This continued even after I increased my flight level to 11,300 ft. when it started to look like I wouldn't clear the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains at 11,000. As it was, 11,300 was barely enough. I was getting "five hundred" warnings at that altitude as I crossed the last of the Sierra mountains. After that, there was no further guidance from ATC, despite the fact that I had to descend, successively, to 9,100 ft. and then 8,400 ft. per the approach plate.

 

Yesterday I flew the DA 40 around Yosemite's Half Dome. Here's another view from the south, off the G36's left wing. It still looks like it's levitating.

 

Cutting it close.

Albuquerque to Santa Fe in the G36, nothing unusual to report. Took off from RWY 3 at KABQ and landed at KSAF, ILS RWY 2. I saw a lot of New Mexico in my other life, when I was still skiing. Santa Fe is a great town with lots of good dining and culture -- lots of artists there. It's also the state capital. Up a winding highway no more than an hour or less (I forget) out of town, there's a nifty ski area where the views of the valley below are spectacular.

 

Clearing the Sandia Mountains after takeoff from KABQ

 

It's the land of enchantment ... New Mexico

Because of it's high elevation, Santa Fe is also a cool respite in August. When it is 110 in Wichita Falls and Western Oklahoma, Santa Fe would typically be 80. You would be amazed how refreshing that 30 degree difference makes after sweltering for months! If you go the other direction, you will get up into the Los Alamos Complex, a high tech nuclear research community in the mountains northwest of Santa Fe.

Klagenfurt LOWK Austria to Stuttgart EDDS Germany. We fly over the Alps and descend over Reutlingen, Germany., home to the once popular Dacora-Kamerawerk. My first camera purchase was a Dacora.

Santa Fe, to Taos, to Angel Fire in the G36; and Taos to Angel Fire in the "Kestrel," RNAV landings all, and more unassisted landing practice, always useful.

 

En route to Taos from Santa Fe, I saw the Rio Grande gorge

 

Taos Regional. I have the runway in sight

 

After landing at Taos, I returned to the World Map to switch planes for some sightseeing. I wanted to find the Taos Ski area, where I skied a couple of times in the mid-'80s and early '90s. I "jumped into" a sport plane I'd never tried before, called a Kestrel, because I liked the big windscreen. I didn't realize it was a tail dragger until I was in the cockpit, but I took off anyway, heading for what looked like the Taos Valley.

 

Taos Ski area (I think), needs more snow

 

I continued over the mountains in the Kestrel to an airfield at Angel Fire, where I made a really sloppy landing. The Kestrel doesn't have flaps; I couldn't shed enough speed even with the throttle all the way out. I got down but I was all over the runway and the dirt around it. So I decided to fly from Taos to Angel Fire again, this time in the G36, with an actual flight plan.

 

I went the long way around

 

Almost on final to Angel Fire in the G36. There is definitely a runway ahead ...

Edited September 9, 2021 by Aptosflier

I flew the C172 from KSNA to KVNY via SFRA LAX

I tried to do that within the confines of MSFS ATC but not sure how well I did.

Santa Fe, to Taos, to Angel Fire in the G36; and Taos to Angel Fire in the "Kestrel," RNAV landings all, and more unassisted landing practice, always useful.

I didn't fly a "Kestrel", the other plane -- a tail dragger -- was the EXTRA 330 LT.