Melo965 Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 4 hours ago, alanpugh said: The island of Malta ahead Great flight! Are there still some Spitfires on duty there at Malta? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defaid Posted July 8 Author Share Posted July 8 @alanpugh The chart with your plan... nice one! Great shots of the pyramids too. @Melo965 Yes, that was Everest. Those mountains (see how much I miss until I concentrate...) were Kangchenjunga far left then, in the group of three: Makalu on the left, Lhotse & Everest centre and Cho Oyu the long one on the right. Judging by your track and where you crossed to the south of the mountains, I *think* that the big one at 32700 feet was Dhaulagiri. D 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanpugh Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 Well, we're off on the next leg HECA-OAZI in Afghanistan. My fuel calculations say we are -707 lbs so we will have to throttle back but I still plan to go. Out across the desert Interesting ground textures Northern Red sea and Suez Canal Mountains north of Tehran Total desolation 70 miles out, getting more verdant. Fuel is 10% Black rocks, fuel 8% should I divert or get a few more black rock photos for the folks back home 47 miles out, fuel 7% looks good (HA) Out of fuel, almost stalled, shouldn't have the flaps down. I can almost see the runway ahead. We have some altitude but the runway is at 1,000' We can see a clear spot on the airport property with no sand dunes That was a rookie move, not diverting when we had the chance and refusing to believe our fuel calculations. Won't do that again! They should make me push it to the tiedown but they came out with a golf cart and towed me in. I heard the Beech-18 autopilot has been repaired but I'll stick with the turboprop for this trip due to the considerable distance. Kathmandu next 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defaid Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 6 hours ago, alanpugh said: That was a rookie move, not diverting when we had the chance and refusing to believe our fuel calculations. Back-seat ferry tanks, plastic syphon tubing and lots of duct tape. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 If my old P-39 could make the trip (without drop tanks even), certainly that new-fangled flying machine can do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 6 hours ago, defaid said: Back-seat ferry tanks, plastic syphon tubing and lots of duct tape. With that type of fuel tank you best forget the Victory Cigar till you're through taxiing, shutdown, and standing or sitting well clear of the aircraft! 1 Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
defaid Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 Nah. We're indestructible ferry pirates. ... pilots. Yes, pilots. Indestructible ferry pilots. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanpugh Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 (edited) Boy, this is a long trip! I revised my next destination after fuel calculations showed another shortage, so instead of Kathmandu I decided on Ambala, India VIAM and loaded full fuel <G>. I must have overwritten my takeoff photo but here we are departing OAZI Passing over OAKN Kandahar with low-def scenery A big mining operation located SE of the OP15 airport SW of Lahore, India Starting to see the Himalayas on the left Back to civilisation, Ludhiana, India 40 miles out, turning final runway in sight, 15 miles Final 12L Ambala VIAM Parked with plenty of fuel left Now we can plan for Kathmandu, gateway to Mt. Everest and that little mountain runway at Lukla Edited July 16 by alanpugh duplicate photos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melo965 Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 On 7/8/2024 at 1:27 PM, defaid said: Yes, that was Everest. Those mountains (see how much I miss until I concentrate...) were Kangchenjunga far left then, in the group of three: Makalu on the left, Lhotse & Everest centre and Cho Oyu the long one on the right. Judging by your track and where you crossed to the south of the mountains, I *think* that the big one at 32700 feet was Dhaulagiri. Thanks for identifying them, cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melo965 Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 50 minutes ago, alanpugh said: Now we can plan for Kathmandu, gateway to Mt. Everest and that little mountain runway at Lukla Are you going to land at lukla? I forgot to check that out on the way west. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 54 minutes ago, alanpugh said: Boy, this is a long trip! A mere 7100 miles according to GPS. My route was somewhat longer as I zigzagged through the Himalayas rather than flying over them (and found FSNav estimation of peaks about 2k ft too low). At least your fuel was such you didn't need to stop at those tourist trap airports in the mountains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanpugh Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 15 hours ago, Melo965 said: Are you going to land at lukla? I forgot to check that out on the way west. Not with this overweight gashog but I guess the locals fly twin turboprops in there. Thats a good thought for a side trip and I could still work it in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanpugh Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 15 hours ago, jgf said: A mere 7100 miles according to GPS. My route was somewhat longer as I zigzagged through the Himalayas rather than flying over them (and found FSNav estimation of peaks about 2k ft too low). At least your fuel was such you didn't need to stop at those tourist trap airports in the mountains. While focusing on the destination, I passed many interesting places that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. So thanks to the master mind that dreamed up this time-consuming trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanpugh Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 Now we can plan the VIAM-VNKT let to Kathmandu. I have been here in the DC-3. The approach from the South is over three mountain ridges. Distance is only 592 nm but were loading 80% fuel. Taxiing Rwy 12 Off VIAM Turn on course Himalayas ahead Interesting river SE of VIAM Jalalabad, India and the Sutlej River (I think). Getting cloudy Holding 15,000 before turning left for approach over mountain ridges On the ILS 02 approach As we noticed the "NO GS" message on our Primary Flight Display we thought what a great time to gain more experience with the paper charts. Aviate, Navigate, Communication and allow some nail-biting time. We stayed higher than recommended and when we finally saw the runway we were 3,000 too high so a left 360 to lose altitude. Runway is visible behind the plane This made a diving approach necessary Reducing the rate of descent Parked at VNKT. Now I'll take Melo's challenge for a side trip to Lukla before pressing on to the final leg. Preliminary calculations show I may need another 2 legs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 Great shots alanpugh! Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanpugh Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 On 7/16/2024 at 11:13 AM, Rupert said: Great shots alanpugh! Thanks, Rupert. Although FS2020 has great scenery, I have been flying the sim from V3.0 on an atari and before that was exposed to V1 on an Apple. The 2D mountains were inspiring back then and I really felt I was flying. I committed to Flightsimworld when it came out and upgraded my system. When it tanked I turned to X-plane 11 and also flew FSX for a long time. Upgrading the system was a dream for a long time and I cherish all the progressive memories of flying between scenery discs, square clouds in v5.1 and "as real as it gets" panels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanpugh Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Now for the side-trip to Lukla from Katmandu. VNKT-VNLK. I generated a flight plan with Simbrief and it gave me 2 user waypoints in the form of Lat/Lon to line me up with the runway. No weather available at Lukla so I placed a call (positioned myself at Lukla) Weather looks ok Departing Kathmandu, our map screen shows a circling departure turn. The red warning light is for the parking brake "on". After our departure turn the GPS went out of NAV mode and we were heading for a hill. We took over manually and intercepted our course, still close to terrain Clouds starting to thin out, planning a descent to 9600 at VNPL airport waypoint I decided to start an early, slow descent to 13,000 10 miles from VNPL but holding at 14,200 Over VNPL and starting our 1500 fpm descent We had to hold altitude to pass over a ridge but we're back on descent Landing configuration, Lukla is up ahead on the right. Field elevation 9333 so I planned to descend to 9,600. Turning final for Rwy 06. Looks like we are a lot higher than 200' above the runway but it's short and on a slope so it may be an optical illusion. Short final (gulp). Need to slow down a little more. Safe landing, a little twitchy. I reversed thrust and came to a stop, starting rolling backward and had to give it full power to start the taxi. Now for some lunch before heading back. I'm going to skip the return trip photos and get on with the next leg VNKT-ZULS 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 What a wonderful series! Keep it up!! Michael Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanpugh Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 Now for our next-to-last leg, Kathmandu to Gonggar China. ZULS is near the forbidden city of Lhasa in Tibet, an interesting place to visit. My Journey to Lhasa: The Classic Story of the Only Western Woman Who Succeeded in Entering the Forbidden City by Alexandra David-Néel | Goodreads The departure route is a circle, to avoid terrain, same as the last flight. The GPS blinked off again and we were headed for some hills. I took over manually. Autopilot back on and direct to the next waypoint. Flying is not dangerous, it just looks dangerous to the casual onlooker. Getting above it Just enough openings in the clouds to be interesting This was a fairly short leg of 376 NM. Starting our descent out of FL290. It's more efficient at 290 but I like flying lower. We're levelling off at FL240 for now and starting to play "guess which valley". I think we're turning right at the next one. There's the valley ahead!! We passed over a sign of civilization in the sand. Turning into the valley. That's a military airfield below, not ZULS. Still not there. Holding at FL210 for terrain. Checking our approach chart for R-28, overfly the airport and do a turn back to the runway. The chart said R-28 but FS had R-27. Just over the next hill, kids (you know we're lying) See, there IS an airport up ahead. Field elevation is 11,709 so at 18,000 we're really not that high. Just don't take off your oxygen mask. We planned to overfly on the 90 deg heading and turn back for the ILS 28 (or 27) approach but the tower said 09 so we'll keep the airport on our left and consider this as our upwind leg. Turning downwind. On downwind, down to 13,000 I'll try for the second turnoff to the ramp Left base 09 Final (long and short) Yes! 2nd turnoff, thanks to thrust reverser I was wrong about this being the next-to-last leg. Just as in counting the valleys, there is another one, ZPPP Kunming. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanpugh Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 ZULS to ZPPP Kunming is 689 NM but we loaded full fuel. Slow climb from the 11,000' airport Farewell to Gonggar More barren landscape Getting into higher elevations and snow Brahamaputra River and sun's rays Cloud streets (left of the nose) China's vacationland Leaving the mountains behind, starting a 500 fpm descent 150 miles from ZPPP Kunming, ZPLJ Sanyi airport off left wing 60 miles out Into the clouds ILS all set for R-22 Breaking out Configured for landing Final approach We switched from FMS navigation to LOC1 for the ILS approach. Looks like we're established (as they say). There's 22L. Instruments are ok but it's nice to see it. Short final Parked at Kunming ZPPP There's only one more leg. I have meandered and had to deal with a lot of real-world stuff including work But we're seeing China and it's interesting. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanpugh Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 The last leg was also full of surprises, scenery, weather, but not fuel. Since tanking up on each flight we have eliminated that problem. ZPPP Kunming to ZGGG Guangzhou was 675 NM or 2:30 estimated. Ready for takeoff Circling back over the airport toward the 2nd waypoint Climbing to FL260 waypoint ATOLO, unknown city. Maybe if I drop down to 8,000 I can read the name on a street sign. Over LXI VOR (that's in ZP) nondescript but interesting rivers 150 miles out, ATIS says 6 mi visibility in heavy rain Clouds thickening, descending to 15,000 ZGWZ (or woohoo) airport 50 miles out, looking "good" if you like hard "I" or real IMC. We have passed over our last ridge, descending to 12,000 Landing lights & NAV lights on We're still in NAV mode using the FMS. Before our left turn for the approach we see the localizer 1 ready to be selected. Turn to final Again, no glideslope. I'm sure the real ZGGG has a glide slope. So we'll descend to 1,000 and start looking. We can see 02R or at least the approach lights Short final and parked at Guangzhou. That was exhausting but a really interesting trip! 9 legs with 8 fuel stops so I probably won't win any medals. I'm not counting the side-trip to Lukla. I went around Libya so that probably added unecessary mileage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taoftedal Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 4 hours ago, alanpugh said: ... and parked at Guangzhou. That was exhausting but a really interesting trip! Well done alanp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melo965 Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 10 hours ago, alanpugh said: Short final Great flights, good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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