Editor’s notes: I have reworked most of these texts either for length or for clarity. Also, please note that this task was begun in early 2003 so sims, pilots and e-mails may have changed over the past 2-3 years.
This FOTM poses a question of each of you: What is your favorite airliner? This can be a classic liner from years past, a favorite paint scheme or something that you see overhead each day but the question remains, if you could fly ANYTHING on this FOTM, what would it be?
Our destination this month is Egypt. Where, exactly, is up to you: Some choose Cairo; some choose a Mediterranean port; others head for the Red Sea; others still head for more remote destinations, it’s your call. You can leave from any airport in the world this month so long as you arrive in Egypt by the time you are done. (Those flying between FOTM features will then be heading out next month from various locations around Egypt.)
To help us with this task, I’ve asked some of my flightsimming buddies to lend a hand, and their reports follow: --------------------------------------------------------
First up, we’ll hear from Ali Mujtaba in Pakistan:
Pakistan International Airlines used to operate the Karachi-Cairo route en-route London with the classic 707-320 series in the 70s. Then the route was switched to the 747 and the A300 and eventually cancellation of the route a couple of years back due to low demand. I chose the Ready For Pushback 747 classic addon for FS2002 by V-MAX systems specifically painted in PIA livery by me for this flight plan. (Isn’t it great to have guys paint a plane just for one of our flights?)
Ground Check (Exterior Walk Around ) After reaching the Quaid-e-Azam Airport and going through the weather report and log-book we (read me! ) were transported by the staff vehicle to our PIA aircraft- The B747-200 Reg- AP-AYW. We conducted a Ground Check of this huge monster. After making clear that everything was ok and in place, we finally boarded the aircraft and entered our office - the flight deck.
Pre-Flight Checklists and Engine Start-up After making ourselves comfortable in our respective seats, a pre-flight check was conducted which included INTERIOR SAFETY CHECK, ESTABLISHING ELECTRICAL POWER ( APU, OXYGEN PRESSURE, GALLEY POWER, STANDBY POWER ETC.).
After establishing APU and electrical power, a green light was given for the passengers to board the aircraft. During this time we focused our attention on PNEUMATICS AND AIR CONDITIONING, OVERHEAD PANEL, CENTER INSTRUMENT PANELS, CENTER PANEL AND PEDESTAL, F/E MID AND LOWER PANELS, F/O RADIO CHECKS and Flight Planning. After confirming that all passengers were on board, and the baggage had been loaded, all pax and cargo doors were closed.
Take-off & Cruise After making sure everything was cleared the F/O obtained ATC clearance for pushback. After being pushed back we conducted the engine start sequence and obtained taxi clearance to Runway 25L [ Pic Ali-01 ]. During taxi the F/O went through the PRE-FLIGHT check list and set the flaps to 15. We were given Clearance for take-off after holding short of the runway [ Pic Ali-02 ]. After taking off we banked over the Arabian Sea towards Iran. After going through the checklists again we were finally given clearance to climb to our cruising altitude of FL360. [ Pic Ali-03 ]
Cruising at 36,000 feet. During Cruise the F/O took command of the aircraft and I made a short walk in the pax cabin to stretch my legs (a favourite PIA 747 pilot pastime!). Captaining such a huge plane with 400 plus passengers is like being a mayor of a small town.
Descent, Approach and Taxi to gates After crossing Iran and the port city of Bandar Abbas, we crossed over to Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea and finally into Egypt. We started our descent and during this time the passengers had the time to freshen themselves up and fill out landing cards and stuff while we were busy going through the checklists again. After a 4:50 minutes flight on the classic 747, crossing the four Middle Eastern countries [ Pic Ali-04 ], we finally touched down at Cairo [ Pic Ali-05 ] the land of the Pharoahs’ and a land blessed with rich history and culture. We hope to see all you fellow simmers in the skies again. [ Pic Ali-06 ]
Till then Adios and Salam- Au- Alaikum! http://www.flightsimpakistan.com/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here we have another suggestion from Jan K. Carlson in Minnesota:
I’m not sure why Ron has asked me to fly any favorite airliner into Egypt but he suggested flying somewhere others might not choose. I remembered Rik Vyverman did a flight from the Eastern coast, along the sea, into Belgium recently…and everyone knows about Cairo. I went on-line to find an Egypt map and after some searching I decided to fly to Aswan in the south near Lake Nasser.
Next up I had to choose a plane – something that Flounder would approve of. Looking back into the depths of http://www.toomuchfs.com/ (I know he hangs out there a lot) I found a reference to the Qatar A330. Would that be his favorite? I hoped so. I loaded up the big airbus two hours after dawn (it was 07:00) and set in a route from Abu Dhabi, over Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait City then west along the Iraq/Saudi boarder to Amman. Then I turned the route south along the Jordan River towards Al Aqabah, over the Red Sea briefly and into Aswan. Total flight plan miles were 1642 according to the default FS2002 Flight Planner – yes, I still use this older version and probably will for ever (I’m not a hardcore simmer like the rest of you). In fact, why DID he ask me to do this???
With everything ready I set in some default weather: Light wind from 330; Visibility 30 miles below 5,000 feet. The flight loaded me to runway 31 and I departed right away. [ Pic Jan-01 ] As soon as I could, I engaged the autopilot for GPS tracking and set my cruise altitude for just 15,000 feet. The autopilot followed the route I had entered and I simply clicked off screenshots along the way. [Pic Jan-02 - Jan-03 - Jan-04 - Jan-05 ]
Finally, after following this flight most of the day, I was ready to head into Awsan. [ Pic Jan-06 ] (Now I know why I don’t do simming more!) Since it’s been awhile since I’ve flown in FS I pulled up Ron’s ILS tutorial and tried to follow his directions. I flew over the VOR at 5,000 feet. Since the runway heading is 349 I took a heading of 180 (I was almost flying that already) and flew 20 miles past the airport. Then I turned back to the runway heading, dropped to 2,500 feet and started looking for the ILS. As I read and re-read the directions I couldn’t figure out why the ILS wasn’t coming alive – then I remembered to switch the NAV / GPS back to NAV setting!! ILS is 109.50, VOR is 112.30.
Finally I saw the H.S.I. start closing in and I tried to set the autopilot to follow the pink line and arrow. Truth be known, I’ve tried this technique before and failed miserably – today was no exception as I landed too hard and registered a crash [ Pic Jan-07 ]. I hope you have enjoyed my pictures of this flight. I will be curious to see what others come up with this month.
Compusa51679@telia.net Editor’s note: I meant you should fly YOUR favorite plane Jan, not mine – but thanks for the thought, I do love that plane!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jahmir from Cyprus: My thanks to Ron for inviting me to fly my favorite plane. It is brave for me to write first PIREP. Today I fly in Cyprus Air from my city Nicosea to El Arish resort in Egypt. [ Pic Jahm-01 ] I give you two easy links in English:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El-Arish
http://www.touregypt.net/arishtop.htm
Many flights in Europe use Airbus A320, I love her. It is a short flight in the dawn. [ Pic Jahm-02 ] Today I fly to Beirut before down the sea to my arrival. I see clear sky but turbulent winds for my cruise at only 27,000 feet. [ Pic Jahm-03 ] I hope you like my photos. I am land on runway 16 for a straight approach. [ Pic Jahm-04 ] The winds are from 100° to make hard work then I am parking by Cessna. [ Pic Jahm-05 ] I wonder where is all my AI? Maybe I am early in the day?
Thank you, Ajahmir@mail.yahoo.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, a European flight from Rik Vyverman in Belgium: Regular visitors to this website will recall that one of the founding members of this group was Rik Vyverman of Belgium. Rik is a real world pilot & when he was offered a job with Thomas Cook Airlines in Belgium, he had to resign from http://www.toomuchfs.com/ to concentrate on his real-world flying career. (What’s up with that?)
We have been in regular contact with Wolfboy and he recently completed his conversion to the Airbus A320. So he has offered a Flight of the Month for all you would be jet jockeys to see how you compare to the real thing! This is a long flight that approaches the endurance limit of the A320 in a maximum payload configuration. It will take approx. 5 hours to complete, and you'll be quite heavy. (Really? The A320 can go that far? WOW! I had no idea, although I guess they DO use the A320 for flights across the contiguous United States which is about 5+ hours) The challenge will be to fly the route as prescribed with YOU deciding how much fuel to take on the flight so that you arrive at Brussels with 2000 to 2200kg (4380 to 4850lbs) of fuel remaining in your tanks!!
The Plane I naturally suggest you fly with a Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium A320 livery. There are several air files available from Flightsim.com. Testing by Peter Stark suggests that the Airbus320-200-CFM-56-5B4.air file (pra32092.zip) is quite realistic in performance terms. At this point I should also note that Peter Stark wrote most of this text for a December 2004 Guest submission on Rik’s behalf. We are re-flying it now as only two pilots made the original flight in 2004. [ Pic Rik-01 ]
The Route You'll be flying from Hurghada (Egypt) to Brussels (Belgium). The flight plan will take you on the following route: [ Pic Rik-02 ]
HEGN RWY34 - direct SHM - A411 - CVO - A1 - SOKAL - UL607 - TANSA -
UN138 - KRK - UL995 - BRD - UL612 - UVOKA - UL612 - CHI - UZ906 - BZO -
UL12 - KPT - UL608 - RIDSU - T881 - ROLIS - T880 - LENDO - UT880 -
BATTY - BATTY1A - EBBR RWY25L.
([ Pic Rik-03 ] Note: The route is a close approximation of the actual route due to some waypoint limitations in FS2002/FS9. If you use an FMC with an up-to-date AIROC, you can fly the exact route.)
Total Distance: 2073nm Alternate to EBBR: EBOS, 87nm Cruise Speed: 450kts TAS or MACH 0.78
Weather: Use Real Weather or the following:
HEGN/HRG/HURGHADA: Wind 350°/26 knots, ceiling & visibility OK, Temp 36°C, QNH 1003.
EBBR/BRU/BRUSSELS: Wind 010°/3 knots, 4000m visibility, 18°C, QNH 1007.
The weather in Hurghada is quite warm, but fortunately the runway is about 4km long so you shouldn't have too much trouble. You can normally expect an average headwind component of 16 knots for this journey. Limitations: At UVOKA, you can climb to FL380. At RASOK you should descend to FL240.
Weights Zero Fuel Weight: 58070 kg (128,033 lbs) Payload: 14050 kg (30.975 lbs) Max. Takeoff Weight: 77000 kg (169,750 lbs) Max. Fuel: 19050 kg (42,000 lbs)
The Fuel!! You will need to allow for the following:
Entire trip HEGN-EBBR [ Pic Rik-04 ]
5% of the trip fuel for contingency reasons
Fuel to get to your alternate (EBOS) if required
Fuel to hold overhead of the alternate for 30 minutes
Some Hints!
Add 200kg (440 lbs) fuel for your taxi.
The A320 consumes appx. 40kg (88lbs) fuel per minute in cruise.
Good Luck!!
