October and November 2010

Tuesday, September 28th: The phone in my Milan hotel room was ringing!
Painfully I forced myself out of my deep sleep and into semi-consciousness. It was after midnight local time .... "Flounder here" I mumbled.
"Hey Boss! Alejandro. Our next FOTM will be Solar Air Cargo flights in Venezuela, I hope you can make it. Adios!"
With that the line went dead. Why is it we LOOK at a phone when it disconnects?

Sunday, October 3rd: It was about three hours or so before dawn as I climbed into the First Officer's seat of the old DC-10 Cargo plane at Milan's Malpensa airport. So far things seems pretty quiet but I could tell that the morning rush was going to be ramping up soon. I spent at least 30 minutes running pre-flight and systems checks, going back outside for a full walk-around and programming the old-style INS/FMC for the trans-Atlantic flight to Valencia. Eventually my Captain for the flight (some Dutch guy named Geert) arrived and asked what our status was. I briefed him on our load and fuel and systems and route and ...... he seemed rather bored with the whole process. When I was finished he took a sip from his coffee and said, "That's all fine, you'll be flying this leg anyway." I supposed it was now just a couple hours before dawn and we called ATC and ground clearence, we were pushed back and I started the three engines. We then taxied out to the active and departed to the south. When cleared by ATC I turned right and proceded to climb on up to our initial altitude of 13,000. Momentarily we were cleared on up to 28,000 feet and set sights on Gibralter. I asked Geert about his flying and simming history and found out that he was a big fan of flying 737s and was quite the procedural guru - yet the actual in-the-air time really wasn't the fun part for him. Seemed odd for a pilot to not like the flying part ..... I expected dawn to come an hour or two into our long trans-Atlantic leg but all I could see was darkness. Just before leaving European ATC we were cleared to climb on up to our final cruise altitude of 36,000 feet. A couple hours later, as we approached our first Caribbean waypoint I could see some lightening of the eastern sky. I never actually saw the sun until we were descending through 10,000 feet over Caracas!
We came in over Lake Valencia, setting up for landing onto runway 28. What is it with every sim version putting Valencia airport in a hole? I hate that! Luckily I knew about this before-hand (good thing our procedural Captain wasn't at the controls!) and I stayed high-and-slow in order to clear the trees. Then, demonstrating much skill, I used the throttles to descend smoothly onto the runway centerline - just a bit of power added under 100 feet AGL to push us forward and grease the landing! We parked up just before 7 AM local time at the west end of the airport.

Having dispensed with the DC-10 and our Dutch Captain I made my way over to the Solar Air Cargo hangar and saw that they were closed Sundays. I hailed a cab and headed into town.
The next morning, Monday the 4th I made my way back out to Solar Air and met our host ..... Tony Radmilovich?
"Sorry Dude, Alejandro is out of town this month so you'll have to answer to me. Beer?"
Okay, 1: I thought Alejandro was hosting us this month.
And 2: Isn't early in the day for a beer?
Tony laughed, "Things are different down here Flounder. You'll get used to it."
Tony brought me over to the counter and laid out a large paper map of the area. "Currently you are here" he said, pointing to Valencia. "There is a guy HERE" (he pointed to ... Isle de Coche) "with some frozen shrimp. You'll need to get the shrimp to Maracaibo before they thaw or die!" With that he handed me the keys and said, "It's a old red and white twin down at the end."

A bit confused I made my way back out into the stiffling, wet heat that is Venezuela and turned the corner at the end of the Hangar. "Really?" There at the end was an old Rogue Air CV-580. I tried the key in the door and it opened. "Man, how long has it been since this thing flew?" I wondered. After two walk-arounds and some cockpit tinkering I got it started and managed to taxi out to runway 10 for departure out over the largest fresh-water lake in Venezuela.As I flew along toward Caracas I wondered how this Shrimp Larvae would smell. "Luckily it's frozen!" I thought back to the last FOTM I had submitted for Alejandro, "The Meat Haulers of La Paz" back in July 2009. "Not too far off" I thought, hauling meat around South America - again! I followed the coastline eastward, finally arriving at Coche Island I found SVIE and landed, then taxied over to the cargo ramp. As the Frozen Shrimp Larvae were being loaded I hunted around and found some lunch, then started talking with one of the locals who querried about topping off with gas at SVMG. "News to me" I said, "I think I should be fine." The man shook his head, mumbled something about "loco" and wandered off. Back into the old Convair I taxied out to the active runway and lined up. Then I reveresed the prop pitch and backed the main wheels just off the runway. I locked up the brakes and gradually applied full throttle. There was plenty of room! This time I flew along the coastline westbound all the way to Maracaibo - it's about 90 minutes in the CV580. After dropping off the still mostly frozen cargo I returned to Valencia.As I strolled confidently back into the Solar Air Cargo office I fully expected Tony to offer me another beer. There, sitting behind the desk was a guy that was even older than Mr. Radmilovich!

"You look for Tony?" He asked.
I nodded.
"He left. You'll call me Mario."
The man stood and held out his hand. "Tony said you'd be back after lunch." Mario motioned me over to the counter and paper map again. "We've just loaded a bunch of goat meat that needs to be hauled HERE."
The man pointed to another island, north off the coast. "You'll have a heavy load so will need something a bit bigger than Tony's old Convair."
With that he handed me the keys and said, "It's the only one out there in Solar Cargo Livery." After a brief nature break I made my way back outside and down the flightline to an old Curtis C-46 Commando. Saw lots of these photos in that La Paz FOTM!
The flight north to the Netherlands Antilles was quick and easy, took about 60 minutes.


The crew had the meat quickly unloaded and half of the area was filled back up with my "delivery" but the paperwork was pretty vague as to what I was to be hauling for this leg back to Valencia.

Alejandro met me on the ramp, as excited as a 3-year old on Christmas! "Are you having fun? Did the flights go well? How do you like the aircraft we have for you? Aren't you interested in flying for us some more things in the coming days?"
So many questions, I was speechless and, frankly, a bit hungry.
After a nice dinner in town Alejandro put me up in a hotel close to the airport and promised me an early start in the morning. The next thing I knew it was morning. Breakfast sat neatly on my little table and warm sunlight streamed in through open doors and windows. It was warm and outside I could hear the bustling sounds of the city. "What was in that drink?" Oddly, I felt great! I looked at my watch and saw that it was already 9 AM and I frantically stuffed breakfast down my throat and took a shower. Grabbing and gulping more food I raced to the lobby and hailed a cab back to Valencia airport. Bursting through the doors at Solar Air Cargo ...... Tim silently looked up from his desk. Then dryly asked, "Is there a problem?"
I hurridly explained that Alejandro said he'd meet me early and here it was 10 AM and I was likely too late. Tim laughed. "For Alejandro 'early' means afternoon, like 1 o'clock. But since you are here I have a flight for you if you'd like." Before I really could wrap my head around what was going on I found myself at the controls of a Handley-Page Herald heading just down the road a bit to SVSO in Santo Domingo - in back was a load of roudy college kids. Oiy!

Back at Valencia before 14:00 Alejandro met me again with a big grin. "If you thought THAT was fun, just wait" he said. "I have for you one of my favorite aircraft of all time, painted as she was at first in Venezuela." Then it was that AIr and I climbed up into the FSX version of YV-500C a nearly 70-year old DC-3 that we first met for the FOTM in January 2006. Alejandro was so excited it was all I could do to get the thing flight-ready what with all his handling and tinkering with all of the knobs and switches everywhere - It's amazing he didn't short-circuit the whole plane! Anyway, we departed Valencia in the old Dakota and headed for Bogata, Colombia.

After spending the night and next morning with our Flightsim Friend Luis, I entered the cockpit of the Flight Club's "new" Boeing 707 and headed all the way south - almost as far as South America will take you: Punta Arenas, Chile.

As I taxied to parking I was shocked to see how many other aircraft FSX was showing! Upon my arrival I was met by an airport security officer who said, "You must be here for the special operation. Right this way."

I was quickly escorted into a basement area and given an orange arm band. I tried to ask one of the attendants what was going on but he only stated, "you'll be briefed shortly." I heard others asking too. Armbands on, we were directed down a corridor and into a briefing room. There must have been nearly a hundred other sim pilots and a few important-looking people in suits milling about.

Finally a man in a suit stepped to the lecturn and the room grew quiet. "Gentlemen," he began, "we have been called here to support a critical rescue mission. Two Brazilian Researchers have been lost in the Antarctic and our job is to find them. We will all be divided up and sent out to search. Are there any questions?"

A hand was shyly raised from the middle of the croud. "Sir!" the leader acknowledged, "Question?"

"Yes, umm, excuse me for asking this but ... my aircraft only carries 4 people and I know a large commercial liner can carry like 200. How many is two brazilian? Isn't that more people than live in India?"

The laughter was deafening and then, again, silence.

"Sir" the leader calmly spoke, "we are searching for two men. Two individual men. Doesn't matter where they are from, just two of them."

"Okay ... it's just when you said 'two brazilian' I thought that sounded like a lot!"

There were skattered snickers about the room before the leader continued.

"You will all be flown down to Palmer Station tonight. It's going to be a long night so I suggest that you sleep when you can. There will be futher briefing once you arrive in Palmer."

With that he stepped off the platform and through a locked door. We were all, frankly, a bit confused but filed back out the doors, down the corridor, up a very long stairway (some of these simmers are just in tragic physical health, stopping, caughing, wheezing their way along). But for a few stragglers we all made it up to the tarmarc where, we were directed out to a couple of EMB-190s for the 700-mile flight down to Palmer Station. I grabbed a window seat and quickly started my efforts to sleep. Upon our arrival to Palmer we were quickly taken indoors (very dark and very cold here!) We were quickly divided according to the color armband we had been given previously and when I followed the group over to the matching table I was handed a blank envelope. I opened it and took out a single sheet of paper. My instructions were to fly from Palmer Station (an American base at 64.8S - 64.0W) to Marambio (64.1S - 56.4W), the nearest point to Comandante Ferraz (62.1S - 58.7W).

"You shall land in Marambio, an Argentinian base." Expect flight time approximately 45 minutes.

In the bottom of the envelope were keys, to what I did not know ...

Next we were directed to move on to the next station and I fell in line and followed the crowd down a narrow hallway and through a rest room for a nature break. We came in one door, made our pit-stop and exited out the other door and continued down the hallway to a medical clinic where we were given a cursory once-over before being moved on, down a longer hallway to a coat closet where we were given a parka, boots and snow pants. Next we shuffled (like sheep to the slaughter) through a mess hall where we were handed food and a small bag of provisions. On the one hand it seemed like we were moving right along from one area to the next but SO VERY SLOWLY. The process was taking hours! Finally the hallway we were directed down let to a doorway to outside! It was still cold and dark - the fog was beginning to freeze and we were all putting down our kit-bags and getting on our snow gear.

The overhead speakers continually announced, "Please board the bus that matches the number on your key." It said this in about five languages, repeating over and over:

"Please board the bus that matches the number on your key."

"Abordar por favor el camión que empareja el número en su llave".

"Besteigen Sie bitte den Bus, der der Zahl auf Ihrer Taste anpasst."

"لطفا این شورا که اتوبوس را در مسابقات به عدد 2."

“请登上匹配你的钥匙上的数字的公共汽车。”

"Пожалуйста сядьте на автобус, который соответствует числу на вашем ключе."

"Please board the bus that matches the number on your key."

Finally the bus arrived with numbers 9-19. I boarded, still a bit confused. We drove through the darkness of pre-dawn, through a security gate and onward. Finally we stopped near a DC-3. "Number nine" the driver called out.

Next was an old Antonov. "Number ten".

Each of us began peering ahead to see what our plane might be but it was still dark and foggy. Next was a C-130. "Number eleven".

Next was a PAX-750XL. "Number twelve" the driver called.

Next was me ..... a Twin Otter. "Number thirteen".

I disembarked and made my way over to the Otter which I could just make out in the dim light - it looked tropical?

I got it started and checked and warmed up. I got the coordinates for Comandante Ferraz (62.1S - 58.7W) and Marambio (64.1S - 56.4W) dailed into the GPS and sipped some hot tea. It seemed like several minutes that we sat there idling. Finally, through the fog, I could see other aircraft starting to taxiing about. At first I wasn't sure what to do but soon I could make out the dim figure of a man in an orange snowsuit, followed by two utility vehicles, who was making his way down the line. I watched the DC-3 pull out, followed by the others. Finally I was directed to follow the others on the taxiway. We taxied through the cold out to the runway and one after the other we were finally airborne!

Climbing above the fog bank I kept an eye out for other traffic in the growing light of pre-dawn, then I turned to the northeast and headed the less than 100 miles towards Comandante Ferraz. I stayed above the fog and low clouds but things started to deteriorate. Found myself getting lower and slower. Slower .... lower ... watching for terrain on the GPS! Finally, as I approached the bay near Comandante Ferraz I saw the rescue sight and was relieved to see that other pilots had arrived and were beginning the rescue operation.

I circled the bay a couple of times trying to survey the area, then I simply continued over the hills to Marambio Base where I landed without difficulty or concern.

Alejandro: Thank you for hosting some real world, Solar Cargo flights - it was a good time.

Joao: Thank you for taking us to someplace new - it was an education that I didn't expect.

September 2010 : It's an Apron not a Runway

Okay, so let me be clear about this: Brad wants us to break the rules? Take-off and land not always on the runways ... fly little GA planes into huge busy airports etc. I can do that - a little mix of reality and simming fun this month. Well, first off, I wasn't about to fly the 797 15 minutes to Palm Springs and flying that into LAX just seemed too ... easy. So I figured I'd break some rules elsewhere first. I took off from Victorville and turned south, landing the giagantic wing in San Diego (pict1)(they said the airport was rated for any aircraft). Well, the approach was typical for KSAN and the runway felt a bit short but we made the last turn-off at 15 knots so there were no worries. (pict2) Right there on the apron I changed into one of the default Piper Cherokees and took off again, no runway! I turned right 180* (pict3) then turned left 180* and if you really want to get into trouble, land your little private plane on the USS Ronald Reagan which sits right there on active duty in San Diego harbor!


I turned around on the bow and before they could catch me I took off again, right off the fantail! With the stall horn blaring I dipped the left wing and landed on the apron at North Island Naval Air Station. Brad, I would expect that those two stunts right there would have me locked away for a long time. Are you happy? I switched into the Flight Club's BAE Jetstream-31 and took off again from the apron at NAS and headed north along the coastline to LAX. (pict5) Even though traffic was departing to the west, I approached from the west and flew right down between the AI aircraft and landed eastbound on that giant parking apron which FSX has placed on the west end of KLAX. (pict6) From that parking apron I loaded up the new-for-FSX Flight Club 757-200 and taxied over to a taxiway and took off (just clearing an AI A321). (pict7) From Los Angeles it was a "normal" cross-country flight in the 757 to Chicago where I landed with ATC on a runway at Midway. (pict8) The only questionable thing here was that Midway usually doesn't take 757s.

I transferred back into another Piper Cherokee and took off from a taxiway, flying THROUGH THE BUILDINGS of downtown Chicago (pict10)out to Meigs' Field where I landed on and took off from the taxiway not the runway. (pict11) (Really, you think this is fun? That's just strange ....) Okay, back through the buildings and out to O'Hare where you'd never see a little Piper landing! (pict12) Another new introduction for FSX, the Flight Club DC-8 flew us from O'Hare to La Guardia where I landed on a runway. (pict13) (pict14) (pict15)

From the runway I loaded up a Bell helicopter and flew a short distance to a highway where I landed between the traffic lanes. (pict16) Then I flew into downtown Manhattan (pict17) where I landed through the roof of the MetLife building and eventually found one that would hold me. (pict18) (pict19) Then I continued south to the Statue of Liberty where I got to see my first AI wildlife (birds) as I landed on the grass at the foot of the famous statue. (pict20)

From Teeterboro I flew the Flight Club's 707 down to Miami where my nine-year old co-pilot took over in a Cessna Caravan Amphibian, dodging a couple 747s before barely clearing the buildings! (pict21) YIKES! We flew over to the Miami harbor and landed along-side a cruise ship. (pict22) (pict23) (pict24) From Miami I took-off in a new United/CO 787 and headed for London. (pict25)

Two-thirds of the way across the Atlantic we took deliver of the new Flight Club 787 so, miraculously we were able to switch planes in mid-flight for our landing into London. Passing low (and I'm hoping illegally) (pict26)over the city and the river Themes we flow over some famous landmarks before dodging some buildings (pict27)and setting the wide-body down smoothly at London City airport. (pict28) (pict29)

Our last leg was in the Cessna 182 where we flew between some other buildings, (pict30) passed low over (and under) a couple of bridges (pict31) (pict32) before landing and parking up at Heathrow. (pict33) (pict34)

From there I was off to Milan for a future FOTM circa 2012. (pict35)

I gotta say, not worrying about runways or being lined up on anything sure makes things easier - not sure if that's a good thing or not but thanks for the fun!

August 2010 - Pine Springs Ranch

Pine Springs Ranch is a real place but not one that is in FS. This may be the FIRST EVER flight of the month to a place that is not in flightsim!

Back during the late 1950's and early 1960's, my Father was the Youth Program Director for the Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. At that time the church organization rented a large auditorium and surrounding camp for a few weeks each summer, but the leadership felt that they needed their own camp. So my Father was tasked with searching for, finding, purchasing and developing a church-owned youth camp. For several years this occupied huge chunks of his time and effort, "Blood, Sweat and Tears" he used to call it. During the first couple summers of the 1960's, Pine Springs Ranch came to be. My Father, the practical farm boy that he was, built many of the first cabins by hand. He helped lay the foundation for the cafeteria that still stands today. He dug out the lake on a D-5 Caterpiller Bulldozer. He built a nature concervatory and mini-museum at the camp and was the camp's director until the mid 1960's. Because of this "family history", Pine Springs Ranch is very much a part of my family heritage and it is the place we will visit this month. (pict1)

Pine Springs Ranch does not have an airport. No, not even a dirt strip out in the trees - therefore we have not made one for FS, although both Peter and Tony have offered. NO AIRPORTS AT P.S.R.! The winding mountain-pass road into the camp is not acceptable even for a Piper Cub. (pict2) If you want to fly to Pine Springs Ranch, you have to take a helicopter! (I suppose an ultralight would work but not for this months' job) Now, please understand, I don't do helos - I've tried but believe me, it just never works. The very best I've ever been able to do a slow rolling take-off or landing but vertical? Hovering? NEVER! Well kids ... if I can learn, so must you! (I guess you could slew a helicopter into position but really, that would be cheating wouldn't it?) If you'll look at the real-world photo of the camp (pict3)you'll see the ball field near the lodge and if nothing else, you'll need to try and put something down right in there, between all the trees.

I guess you all can write up the story however you like but the scenario you must complete this month goes as follows: One August morning you receive a call that there is a medical emergency at Pine Springs Ranch and TWO VICTIMS must be immediately Medi-Vac'd to Loma Linda University Medical Center! (pict4) This presents the next problem: Loma Linda University Medical Center is also not in FS. (Ooooh, the plot thickens) Looks like the Piper Cub and ultralight are out, you can't land an amphibian at the Medical Center and besides, the 10-15 minute delay in getting the victims down to Lake Hemet would cost their lives. You, oh flight sim pilot, are just going to have to make it work! (Remember how we learned to land on an Aircraft Carrier for one of Peter's FOTMs years ago? Now stop complaining and get to work!)

You can depart immediately from either Hemet/Ryan Airport (KHMT) (pict5) or Palm Springs but use the maps (red lines and circle) to get to Pine Springs Ranch. (pict6) (pict7) (Roughly at N33* 38.80 -- W116* 36.28) Land ... Pick up your two victims and any caregivers needed ... make your way down the mountain (northwest) (pict8) to LLUMC (Where I took my professional training). (pict9) (Roughly at N34* 0.63 -- W117* 11.95) (pict10)

You'll notice the red and blue lines on photo 7 above. A couple of years ago there was this article http://www.flightsim.com/main/feature/e13.htm on flightsim.com and the route I flew for that piece is shown in blue. The reason I mention that here is because when you fly down the hill I want to be sure you follow the 10 freeway not the 60! (Look again at photo 8 too, the little ridgeline needs to be on your left side)

Loma Linda University and the Medical Center is about 2 km SOUTH of the 10 freeway and as I mentioned, it is not shown in FS. (pict11) I have seen, on more than one occassion, where as many as THREE CH-47 Chinooks can land on the grass between the Medical Center and the Cadaver Lab - so if you don't find an acceptable building in your sim, land between a couple of the buildings! (pict12)

So there it is. You have your assignment so head out, take some videos and by all means, SAVE THE VICTIMS!

By the way, here is the proof that I did not use the SLEW mode to complete this FOTM! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-Izvrgvl9k

A very special THANKS to Peter for taking these additional photos in FSX. (pict13) (pict14) (pict15) This will help to give you an overview to the Pine Springs Ranch area - so you don't have to go JUST by the GPS coordinates but can actually go LOOK for the ranch.

EXTRA CREDIT: (pict16) For those for whom two legs just isn't enough ... from Loma Linda you can fly almost due north up into the mountains to perform another Life Flight evacuation from Lake Arrowhead where a boat and a waterskier have collided severing the skiers' leg! Hurry, he's loosing blood quickly.

July 2010 - The Baltic

The last weekend in June I had no idea what Geert had in store for us but, knowing that I like to commute between FOTMs (and knowing that I have a hard time waiting for anything) Geert kindly invited me to make my way to Amsterdam.

I left Mangalore right after breakfast and flew a little 6-seat Piper up to Mumbai, (pict1) spending the entire flight trying to figure out the new Garmin-1000 glass cockpit - I didn't have much luck.

I arrived and got parked with just enough time to run through the terminal and customs checks and aboard an Air India DC-10. (Geert also likes these aircraft). (pict2) We departed from runway 9 and climbed through 5,000 feet before making a big, sweeping left turn (pict3)and turning on the autoflight which tracked our route up the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf to Kuwait. We took a left at Kuwait and flew the Saudi/Iraq boarder to Gaza before turning slightly north and tracking over western Turkey and then Central Europe. (pict4) We arrived safely into Schiphol as the sun was getting low over the North Atlantic. (pict5) (pict6)

The next day (July 1st) I learned of our assignment: Short-haul commercial flights up and around the Baltic. "Short-Haul Commercial" EXCELLENT!

It took me a couple of days to get all of the aircraft researved for this feature but by Sunday July 4th I was ready to roll. I had several legs worked out, each in a different aircraft. The plan was to fly to each city and spend a full 24-hours there before moving on to the next city. Here's how it worked out:

Sunday July 4th
From: Amsterdam (pict7) Heading 069* x 510 miles
To: G'dansk (pict8)
B-732 (pict9)

Monday July 5th
From: G'dansk Heading 081* x 235 miles
To: Vilnius (pict10)
Do-328jet (pict11)

Tuesday July 6th
From: Vilnius (pict12) Heading 335* x 142 miles (pict13)
To: Riga (pict14)
F-100
It was so beautiful here by the river I stayed over a couple of extra days.

Thursday July 8th
From: Riga (pict15) Heading 003* x 153 miles (pict16)
To: Tallinn (pict17)
EMB-170 (pict18)

Friday July 9th
From: Tallinn (pict19) Heading 072* x 170 miles
To: St. Peters' (pict20)
An-148 (pict21)
I don't fly on Saturday so I spent the weekend here in this amazing city. (pict22)

Monday July 12th
From: St. Peters' Heading 274* x 165 miles
To: Helsinki
SUD Caravelle (pict23)
As has happened way too often with FSX, my older aircraft's tires don't appear. Guess the Caravelle is another one heading to Mojave! So, I flew the leg in a brand new FSX plane, the EMB-190. (pict24) (pict25) (pict26)

Tuesday July 13th
From: Helsinki Heading 254* x 215 miles (pict27)
To Stockholm (pict28)
B-735 (pict29)

Thursday July 15th
From Stockhold Heading 186* and then 252* x 352 miles total (pict30)
To: Copenhagen (pict31)
A-318 (pict32)

Monday July 19th
From: Copenhagen (pict33) (pict34) West-Southwest
to San Bernardino, California (pict35) (pict36)
B-789 (pict37) (pict38)

June 2010 - Don't Sink...Don't Sink...Pull Up!

On Monday May 31st I finished up my duties in northern Costa Rica and made my way back to the Capital to await Tony's instructions. My first reactions were a bit angry, "How does he expect me to fly from South America to Europe to Nepal AND complete these short runway challenges?" But as I read, and reread the instructions and poured over his staged screenshots that really failed to capture the enormity of what he was asking my mood mellowed. I had the waitress bring me another serving of the grilled veggie-K-bob things with the rice and some kind of Central American Teriaki. I sat under the umbrella in my shorts and the tan "Crock-Hunter shirt" from Bill and as the warm tropical rain fell I formulated my plan for the month.

Tuesday June 1st, I departed MROC in a Pan Am 767 with 40% fuel and headed to Merida, Venezuela. (pict1) From the information and photos it looked alot like Medelin, Colombia where I flew into in my October 2007 PIREP. I skirtted along the northern coast of Panama and corssed northern Colombia before heading into ... I guess it's the northern Andes Mountains. The 767 was considerably lighter as I crested the mountains at 16,000 feet and stared my low-level drive down the valley. (Good thing that Chris had us practice in that fighter jet a couple of months ago!) As I tried to stay low I dropped in the flaps and eventually the gears came down which was the cockpit's signal to start warning me with, "Whoop Whoop! Don't Sink" callouts. (pict2) The GPS said I was less than 20 miles out and ahead I could see ... valley fog! "Don't Sink" I rounded the bend, took a last look at the GPS and then dropped to the mini-panel. "Don't Sink, Pull Up!" Airspeed 140 knots, full flaps, gear down, autobrake to max (I've seen the photos of what happens when you land with the parking brake set - I didn't want to do that!) "Whoop Whoop, Terrain!" Ahead I could just make out the ghosty outline of a tall building and remembered my approach into Medelin ... so headed slightly left toward that building and almost immediately I saw the runway lights ahead. (pict3) "Don't Sink ... Don't Sink ... Pull Up!" The landing was shockingly smooth, autobraking on this beast isn't like the 737!

(pict4) Full reverse and we pulled up nicely at the end of the runway. (pict5) No worries!
The only way to get a 767 around here is to use a tug so they drove one out, hooked me up, and pushed me back just over one mile to the very, teatery edge of the pavement. (pict6) I set flaps for take-off, turned autobraking off (There's no RTO here) and set the parking brake. Then I slowly advanced my throttles until the brakes would no longer contain the power! I released the brakes and we were off. I advanced the throttles to 99% and a mile later we were airborne and pulling up the gear. (pict7) 250 knots comes up fast when you are so low on gas!

My next landing was at St Maarten, the famous Princess Julianna airport but ATC was insistent that I land on 27. I've never done that before! Sheesh that's tight. (pict8) I was going to go missed until I saw my fuel gauges all on zero and somehow I slammed the 767 down with about 4,000 of runway left. (pict9) Another full-stop landing and we taxied to parking, shutting down with 186 pounds of gas in each wing! This bird will need a schedule C after that tour!

Next up was St Bart's and Tony said, "They've made a mess of it." So I climbed into a near-by Cessna Caravan and went to check it out. While there is no mountain in the way of runway 10 there is a large building and the other end doesn't have a bay it has trees. Looks good to me! Back to Prinecess Julianna and into a 738NG. 25% gas loaded and we were off. (pict10) Left turn and set-up for approach to St. Bart's runway 10. Full flaps, autobrake to max, spoilers armed ... how close to that building can I "Don't Sink" get? (pict11)

Well, pretty darn close! (pict12) (pict13) I had to use the toe brakes once under 50 knots but we stopped up rather easily. (pict14) Once again we called the tug to come out and turn us around, then I departed back over the building. (pict15) Now I made a right pattern and flew downwind to runway 28 (just to prove to Tony that I could land either way without the add-on scenery!) (pict16) You know the story from here: "Don't Sink" Flaps, Gears, Brakes, Stick Shacker ... we had it all. "Whoop Whoop, Terrain. Pull Up!" Over the trees and down to the runway (pict17) "Whoop Whoop, Sink Rate." "Sink Rate, Pull Up!" Over the last ...
Now really folks! One little palm branch out there on the wing? Maybe some leading edge or slats damage but a crash? C'mon! (pict18)
Back to 28 ... over the building ... right pattern ... over the hill ... "Whoop Whoop Terrain" ... "Whoop Whoop Sink Rate" ... over the blasted palm tree ... slam down on the runway ... Umph! ... Reverse ... into the grass ... lock the brakes ... (pict19) (pict20)

There it is folks, you can't land a 737 on 28 at St. Bart's in default FSX scenery. Can't be done on the pavement. (pict21) Tug comes out ... turns me around ... full throttle ... into the trees. Second attempt = trees. Benjamin tried = trees. Benjamin tried again and drug the tail all the way into the trees. Benjamin tried a third time and stalled. So, you CAN NOT land a 737 on 28 and you CAN NOT take a 737 off from 10. That's it, can't do it! (pict22) (pict23)

737NG back to Princess Julianna. Next stop is SABA and again, no add-ons. I figure if this guy can do it in FS2004 ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KuE5x7JQQc so I flew there and FSX has surrounded the runway with trees! Back to St. Maarten. Now look, even Google earth shows no trees and a clean, straight-in approach like the 2004 video! (pict24) Into the Grand Caravan. With a tricky little knife-edge through the trees I got that one down and I managed to take off again but I'm not sure how! (pict25) (pict26)

Back to St. Maarten to call it a day and hunt down that recommended mesh texture. with textures located and downloaded and installed I stepping back outside the next morning to find St Maarten was ... GONE! "This sucks!" So I went into the Addon-Scenery folder and deleted all files associated with St Maarten. That restored the default look. Then I climbed aboard an LIAT Dash-8 Q100 and headed over the St Bart's. Again I found that the new mesh had wiped everything recognizable off the island and added a runway with a building in the middle of a broad open field. So back into the Addon Scenery folder and deleting another six files I had St. Bart's back to it's default tricky approach over the building into runway 10 - which I did successfully in the Dash-8 as well.

Departing from St. Bart's runway 28 I next headed over the SABA and found that the island and runway looked about the same but the add-on had added some buildings and cut down a couple of trees on my approach path. I know, Tony said not to do this in FSX but I had come this far ... So with gear and flaps down I headed over the rocks and made a slight left-hand turn, cutting the throttles and letting the plane fall down the hillside with, "SINK RATE" and "PULL UP" ringing in my ears. I was tempted to just land on the downslope and drive onto the airport but keeping it real, I kept the wheels just feet off the grass until I could squeeze between the remaining trees and touch the wheels down. This model of Dash-8 is really twitchy and even if I could hold the pitch steady the downhill run had my speed up around 110 knots which was far to fast to land and stop so as the mains touched I slammed the throttles in and pushed the flaps levers to full-up and successfully did a touch-and-go. Then I flew back to St. Maarten.
Later in the day I had secured an EMB-120 and took that over the SABA. Same approach, running downhill between the trees. "SINK RATE" "SINK RATE" (pict27) I flared at 90 knots, (pict28) wheels down at 80 and stopped just in time with full reverse and heavy braking!

I taxied over to the buildings and shut down, then I ordered a cool drink and sat down with some locals who were talking about some jerk that tried bringing a Dash-8 in earlier in the day! (pict29) Finally I left and flew the EMB-120 back to St. Maarten's and jumped into an A380 (this was for Bill's benefit). (pict30) (pict31)

I took the A380, overnight, to Zurich. I started out at FL290, climbed up to FL330 and finally up to FL370 just before dawn. (pict32) Our route took us over the whole and France and then we landed up on runway 14. (pict33) The landing was long but so smooth that the spoilers didn't auto-deploy! (pict34) I pulled into a gate just next to a departing 744 and then headed off for some breakfast. (pict35)

Later in the morning I climbed into the TooMuchFS Express CRJ-200 and headed for Courchevel, France, about 140 miles away. (pict36) Our route took us directly over Sion, another challenging location from a past FOTM. (pict37) Finally I crested the last hill and disconnected Otto. I pulled the throttles back and started dropping in flaps and gear as the speed came down. (pict38) Finally I was ready to head in but even with the add-on there are some trees in the way! The first pass was high and I gotta tell you, going missed here ain't the best thing to do. The second approach was much better, "TERRAIN, PULL UP!". With the stall horn screaming I skimmed the treetops ... HUGE flare and set her down just in time to launch off the ski jump at the end.

(pict39) I slammed the throttles forward and plastered the belly of the CRJ into the hillside about 200 feet up from the runway's end.

Next I turned crash-detection OFF and flew the approach again, this time flying THROUGH the trees on finals, landing on the very end of the runway and stopping up on top. (pict40) So Tony, the only way to land a CRJ in Courchevel in FSX is to fly through the trees with crash detector off. Take-off was similar - through the trees. So I turned crash back on and flew the approach and landing again with the Dash-8 making it both in and out with no problems. (pict41) (pict42) (pict43) (pict44) Well, sweaty palms and too many "PULL UP!" warnings but we all survived and I flew the Dash-8 back to Zurich were I grabbed some dinner before departing in a Singapore Airlines A350. (pict45) By the way, why does Tony's FOTM tell us to land Courchevel in a CRJ yet he shows landing in a Dash-8? (pict46)

I flew the A350 on another overnighter landing in Kathmandu before dawn the next day. (pict47) (pict48) Later that day, when the wind died down, we had perfect weather for flying. Tony had said to land a CRJ in Lukla but then I got an e-mail that said only a Twin Otter had worked so far. Well, I loaded up an ATR-42 and headed the rather short climb up to Lukla (NE of Kathmandu). (pict49) Certainly the trip up into the Himalayas as scenic and my first pass took me beyond the airport to look at the approach into runway 24. (pict50) I'm thinking this is NOT the way to go. (pict51) Flying back out to where I had more room I turned around and tried two approaches into runway 06 but found each time that the angle and the trees just weren't going to work out. Yes, my approaches had all the "Terrain, Pull Up" warnings but no "Sink Rate" cautions this time! Finally I decided that I could land on a heading of 07 even though the runway was running 06. (pict52) (See Drawing) (pict53) That worked just fine and I successfully got the ATR-42 in and out from 07/25. (pict54) (pict55)

I flew part of the way back to Kathmandu before switching to a Dash-8 and successfully completing another circuit in and out of Lukla. (pict56) (pict57) Finally, turning around in the same spot (about 25 miles from Lukla) I switched to an EMB-120 and made the best/easiest-yet cycle through this high-altitude challenge. (pict58) Then I flew the EMB back to Kathmandu (pict59) and after dinner climbed into a Boeing 787 for the flight down to Mangalore, India. (pict60) (pict61) Though the airport has had some 737s overrun the runway I was able to get the 787 down and stopped without concern. (pict62)

Tony, I should have known you'd pull something like this out of your hat. Thanks so much for helping to tune-up my landing skills. You'll see me next month starting out from Mangalore. (pict63)

May 2010 - Haiti Relief

Here's how April went down: The FOTM in the Mirage (and subsequent deleting of that aircraft from my hangar) took one day. I spent the next week flying the Lear35 into and out-of some of the smaller Swiss airports. It was pretty fun I guess. I spent the next week relaxing along the shores of Lake Geneva.

While in Europe I was introduced to the An-148, a regional jet from the Russian builder. So I took that on an introductory flight from Zurich to Tivat Montenegro. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmRs7fcK1NE

Now we come to May and another rescue/aide mission (some of my favorite simming scenarios) - this time in the Caribbean. May also brought the first PC upgrade to our house in about five years and with that I dusted off my FSX and tried to get that flying.

Needless to say, more advanced sims require more advanced tweaking so after a day of tinkering I loaded up a 727 (special livery for Tony) and departed for a short flight over to Milan.

So far I'm still not happy with the framerates or the lack of scenery - if I'm going to pull to sliders back to a point where Milan looks like five tall buildings in a field of grey stones I'd rather use FS2004! (pict2) (pict3) Now, I will concede that the ground and trees and buildings and road traffic all look better (pict4)- but this is a FLIGHT sim and I must have aircraft that look and function well! As I taxied to the gate I enjoyed the catering and bagage trucks driving around but considering my framerates I won't be seeing those again. (pict5)

During my time in Milan several donors from across the EU sent supplies and volunteers for the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti and they were loaded into an old L-1011. Meanwhile I continued to tweak computer and sim settings and hunted around for an FSX panel that wouldn't make me load each gauge one at a time when I selected the aircraft. Finally I just loaded up the default 737 panel, the default A321 sound and set off. (pict6) We departed in real-weather to the north and 12 miles out from the DME turned to pick up our GPS routing. (pict7) (pict8) Over the French alps and climbing I was getting framerates in the teens.

Military flights were going via Guantanamo Bay. Civilian flights were going direct to Port au Prince. My plan was to fly into San Juan, Puerto Rico and from there I'd shuttle workers and/or supplies in smaller aircraft over to Haiti. I climbed up to 38,000 feet before crossing over the northwest tip of Spain and I held that altitude (cruising north of Azores) until 150 miles out from San Juan. Cruise with real-weather and winds aloft had me at 23 fps. (Overall I was about 50% less than FS2004 on the old PC - I'll be anxious to see FS2004 on the new PC!)

Real weather in Puerto Rico showed afternoon showers (what a surprise) and I hurridly set up the ILS while dodging rain cells through the last 25 miles. (pict9) Just like in Milan, I found that I had a hard time seeing out in FSX. Either I'm slower or I'm lower or the eyepoint is somehow different in FSX. (pict10) (pict11) Regardless, the landing was smooth and the water effects off the wheels was briefly entertaining (I wish there was a water-spray effect for the engine reversers!) (pict12) I parked up and shut down in a centrally located area ready to start delivering the aide. (pict13)

It was now May 10th and I had only just arrived in the area of the FOTM. I slept that first night on one of the medical cots in the L-1011. The next morning we loaded up a KingAir350 with medical supplies, water and a couple of relief workers and departed about 11:00 AM.

I set in a direct route from San Juan to Port-au-Prince figuring as I got closer I could divert north or south to the area in need. Our first delivery was to Jacmel on the southern coast. An hour later we were over the city and looking for the damp, grass runway. (pict16) We worked in Jacmel until dusk leaving the aide workers in their tent for pick-up on another day. (pict17) I then flew solo back to San Juan arriving well after dark. (pict18) It was quite bumpy and real-weather had some thunder and lightning along my route. Framerates happily in the 20's.
By May 13th I was ready for another flight, this one in a real-live aide-delivering Mission plane! I departed in the PAC-750XL on that Thursday morning, heading to Les Cayes Airport. (Google Maps shows the nearest village is called "Mercy") It was a generally smooth flight and a great landing! Again, we spent the day working in the area before I flew a solo back to San Juan.

Next up, on May 18th, was a C-119 Boxcar. I flew from San Juan to Jeremie, spent the day unloading supplies and providing some medical care and flew back to Puerto Rico that evening.

Yes, Alastair, I know how to read directions. I know that you asked us to fly DC-3's (or similar) this month. So by the 23rd I had a default FSX DC-3 all loaded with supplies and ready to go for the final legs. (pict26) (pict27) I flew from Puerto Rico to northern Haiti. (pict28) That evening I flew to Port au Prince.

From the Haitian Capital I made the short hop over the Gitmo (pict31)and then I was off to Costa Rica for a future FOTM. Alastair, thank you very much for the opportunity to fly some relief aide to those in need - it was a great intro to my new sim!

April 2010 - High Speed through the Alps

This month we have a new FOTM author taking us to ... well, lets just say that I find many things oddly framiliar:

I left off last month in Queenstown, NZ. Bill took us there in June 2003. From Queenstown I flew a private Lear 35 up to Auckland. (Tony had us flying Lear 35s back in May 2005!)

From Auckland I loaded up a Tanaka SST in Air New Zealand livery (I flew one of those after the April 2006 FOTM) and headed northwest to the other side of the planet.

From Zurich I flew a PAC-750XL (I have not featured one of those before) down to Geneva.

From Geneva, as instructed. I loaded up a Mirage III fighter and headed east over the region where Rik had us fly back in May 2003 - that's like ... seven years ago! As instructed I was staying low.
As we head east from Switzerland, over France ... I mean Switzerland ... I mean Italy ... errrr, still Switzerland ... I landed in Lugano where Hans took us in April 2007.
After taking several minutes to walk around, admire again the beauty of this place and breath in some of the bright, fresh air, I climbed back up into the Fighter Jet and headed north, over the Alps, across the whole of Switzerland

to the start of Hans' April 2007 FOTM, the Bodensee. Without landing I made a sharp turn to the southeast and headed for the destination of our December 2005 FOTM, Innsbruck, Austria.
I landed in Innsbruck and headed into town for some lunch.

From Innsbruck I headed back across Switzerland, southwest this time, made a touch-and-go through Lucerne, flew over Bern, near Fribourg (someone visiting our website back in 2004 or so suggested that we fly around Fribourg - I wonder if that guy is still reading our PIREPs??) Finally landing up in Payerne, as instructed.

Great Fun! I found the Mirage Roll-rate to be outstanding but the elevators and graphics left too much to be desired - I no longer have a Mirage in the Hangar!

Chris, thank you so much for hosting us this month. Good Luck in your next phase of life - may blessings come to you and yours. Now if you'll excuse me ... I'm off to get some fresh bread and cheese and head down to Lake Geneva for some dinner.

pretendpilot@yahoo.com
P.S. I started the month in a Lear 35 and I ended the month doing MediVac Flights in a Lear 35.

March 2010 - A New Simulation

Editor's Note: This month it was suggested that we download a free flight simulator (demo version) to try our hand at flying without Microsoft.

WHAT?

Hans wants us to download, and install and figure out an entirely new sim? Is he insane?

Actually, I kind of like the idea. It's a great plan and makes for a fun FOTM challenge.

But here's the problem: It was just after my son's birthday in Mid February ... we were putting photos onto the computer and got the notice, "YOUR COMPUTER HAS NO MORE MEMORY - FULL, DONE, FINISHED. YOU MUST UNINSTALL FLIGHTSIM IF YOU WANT YOUR FAMILY TO CONTINUE TO LET YOU LIVE IN THE HOUSE."

Okay it wasn't quite that bad but I had to uninstall about 50% of the Hangar (It's okay, some of the planes I had never installed or even flown.) Then I moved the entire hangar and paint shop to a removable disc. Also, we put all 4,000 of my son's photos onto a removable disc as well. This cleared up some of the memory, allowing "Carlos" to live on for the time being. "What on earth kind of .... 'stuff' has taken up 80 Gigs over the last 6 years?" I spent the next month running C-Cleaners and Uninstallers and Defrags to get us back up to a whopping 37% free space. No wonder my sim had been a bit jerky lately! Also, I was concerned about keeping the sim and movie-making features working well because I am actually teaching some classes next summer/fall and will need those to be working for that.

Really, all of this is a big, fat excuse - although you really will have to believe that I am truely, in some part, interested in Hans' proposal.

Anyway ........ I left off in San Diego last month, just in time to travel there in the real world.

While I was trekking back and forth to my classes it occurred to me that what we really needed was a San Diego Flight of the Month Feature. Well, I'm not sure when that might happen but why not tour the area this month? Besides, if Bill follows Hans' instructions and puts a new sim onto his PC and flies it, I will print out this report and EAT IT!!!!

On the east end of San Diego's airport property there is a giant gate in the fence where Coast Guard aircraft can taxi across the highway over to the Coast Guard Headquarters there - This is where my FOTM starts.

#1 This is our starting position for this FOTM, at the Coast Guard Station, San Diego. My aircraft will be the Red Baron Fokker Tri-wing.

#2 Just off the end of the runway, 200 feet south of the approach lights is the little Motel where I stayed.

#3 Harbor Drive skirts right along the Marina and San Diego's excellent Maritime Museum. This is also an area where large cruise ships dock (just like in the sim).

#4 About 4 kms south of the airport, just around the corner is Embarcadero Park - in real life it's beautiful! (not like the sim)

#5 A little further on is the Convention Center. That's where I was in February.

#6 Within easy sight of the Convention Center is the famous - arching, Coronado Bridge. Ummmmm? It's right there .... near-by ..... apparently NOT in the default scenery even which desities maxed out.

#7 On south a bit more and the map shows the "Coronado Amphibious Base" so we check that out too.

#8 The Sea N Air Golf Course, near the Hotel Coronado.

#9 The North Island NAS.

#10 Point Loma and Fort Rosecrans.

#11 Shoreline Park.

#12 Back to San Diego's airport.

More info on the airport in this article: http://www.flightsim.com/main/feature/sandiego.htm

After spending some extra time here in sunny San Diego I was ready to move on. I flew a World War 2 Corsair up past Riverside and my old stomping grounds, then west to Camarillo where I stayed overnight. The next day I flew down to LAX and then took a great old classic, the "Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays" L-1011 to Honolulu, Hawaii and set about spending the rest of the month learning how to fly the new 747-8i. You can watch videos of that week here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnU3bimctVs

Somehow or other I ended up in New Zealand where it was very windy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc8B2wPXqIo

So where ever we are going next month I'll be setting out from here.

pretendpilot@yahoo.com

February 2010 - San Francisco

There I was in southern Chile, when the invite came to see a city that is quite hilly.
So I flew a plane I should fly more, (pict2) over to Brazil's eastern shore. (pict3)

From there I flew all night on a Luxury Liner, (pict4)

to a city by a bay that couldn't be finer. (pict5)

Now you're probably wondering what I'm up to,

Rhymes all month? Would I do that to you?

Actually I thought I might, rhyme this and rhyme that,

or just link to a video to show where I'm at.

But alas, the computer was fighting a video to shoot,

so maybe with my rhymes will score some loot.

San Francisco, the city by the bay

where I had a good time flying for at least a day! (pict6)

I flew a plane that's as big as any Bill has seen, (pict7)

'til I ran outta gas, a disaster that could have been. (pict8)

From there I hopped into something old and "sporty"

for some exciting looks at bridges and a fort-y. (pict10) (pict11)

From Alcatraz to the Golden Gate (pict12)

I had to land on the carrier before it got late. (pict13) (pict14)

From the carrier I rode in a plane that's faster, (pict15)

we played chase and showed those AI flights who was Master.
Lastly I flew over one of our past featured flights, (pict17)

down to a city where I've spent a few nights. (pict18)

Thanks Bill, for your scenic F-O-T-M,

odd that we hadn't flown here before then. (pict19)

Maybe in another decade or two,

we'll come down under to visit you!

Meanwhile give our greetings to your family there,

and I'll do the same to everyone here - including the hare.

From here I'm off to who-knows-where,

Hans knows, he's already been there!

I can tell you this, we'll see California again,

it'll be August if not before then. (pict20)

pretendpilot@yahoo.com

January 2010 - Southern Chile Rogaine

After meeting up with Tony and Bill in December (pict1), I shuttled Bill and family (pict2)up to Everett, WA and Boeing Field. (pict3) It was there, at Boeing Field that Peter said we should head to Santiago Chile, so we loaded up the Flight Club's 787 and headed south from Boeing Field. (pict4) (pict5) (pict6) After an over-nighter in Panama, we arrived into Santiago New Year's Day. (pict7) (pict8)

On Sunday January 3rd I picked up my aircraft of the month, an "Angel-44" in 2010 Rogaine livery and made the nearly 400-mile flight down to the area of our challenge. (pict9) (pict10) (pict11) Along the way to SAZY I looked for the areas indicated on the map but had no luck finding anything. Maybe he could have given us a GPS coordinate? (pict12)

SAZY = I found nothing. (pict13)
SAZS = I think I found a box. On the West end? (pict14)
Another spot on a vague map (pict15) = no luck there either.
SCLD = I took several laps around, just like I did in August but there was nothing. (pict16)
At this point I was questioning my sanity so hopped over to SCTE (El Tepual Base) to be sure I had everything installed properly. Yep, it was all there. (pict17) Okay, back to work ....
SAVB = Another four laps around and I found nothing. But, these airports do offer some good places to land! (pict18) At this point I was really feeling defeated, just wasn't getting "The Vibe", wasn't feeling motivated to go FIND anything - but, I was having great fun (and an education) flying through and over the high mountain peaks and landing at the various airports!
There were some steep climbs over the mountains into SAVD where I checked the river and roads quite thoroughly - again I found nothin'. (pict21) (pict22)
Next up was SAVE. (pict23) Wait, that's not even on the list. What happened? Oh well, at this point it was time for lunch so I landed, got some food and topped-off the fuel tanks. (pict24) I was ready to get back on track by 13:00.
Seven hours since departure and I was only going to claim 30 points so far...."Hey!" Look there off the end of the runway! (pict25)
My next airport was SCAP where ... lo-and-behold ... I FOUND ONE! There in the river SW of the airport. (pict26) And speaking of the airport ... a picnic table too! (pict27) Great!
Next up was SCPH (pict28) ... woah, cool bridge. (pict29) Hey! Another box! (pict30)
SCFT = Nothing, again. (pict31) (pict32) (pict33)
SCTN = While on finals I noticed the boats out in the bay and remembered that someone had found a box on a boat that was miles from water back in August. (pict34) A quick circle over the boats and sure-enough, another box was located.
Then, I really needed a rest room so I landed and found another picnic table in the hangar. COOL! (pict35)

Now, this is just my opinion but some of these airports provide for great scenery and are cool places to land. So next time, what I want to see, are little treasures (boxes or tables or blondes ...) around AT THE AIRPORTS. Not 2 miles away under some tree or back over the hill but put the things to find at the actual airports so that we'll have to actually land the plane and go check things out. That's what I want to see next time! Anyway, back on task here ... Setting out with 310 points - just 25% of my August score.
SCST =
SCAC =
SCPV =

To read my final score and see the photos - this time I'm going to make you go to the website and check out my Pilot's Report. It will be visible at: www.toomuchfs.com after 01-Feb-10.

December 2009 - Oregon Campers

Prior to December 1st Tony had sent out some photos of giant, radioactive Raccoons and in the corner I noted the GPS coordinates which appeared to be in the Pacific Northwest. "Great, Home for the Holidays!" So, before Thanksgiving I loaded up a 747-800 (longer fuselage, new wings, new engines (from the 787) and extended weight and range) and, leaving Helsinki before dawn, flew into Portland Oregon. Along with that flight I included this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYtlI8ctETw Not too bad considering how rarely I fly 747s.

Really though, I should fly them more! So I painted a new Flight Club 747, this time the 747-8. We rolled out the new plane with the following video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_VQIIeP7EY

Well, that landing wasn't much better but I wasn't about to give up! Finally on Thanksgiving Day I unveiled the NEW "Flounder One" and repeated the flight from Helsinki to Portland with a much better landing. Looks like the old MD-11 will get replaced! (pict1) (pict2) (pict3) (pict4) Now I was ready for the new FOTM.

Finally, Tony's instruction package arrived and as expected was chock full of interesting challenges! So, follow along closely.

THE ROUTE: *My first job was to find all the airports. (www.airnav.com worked for that) *My second job was to determine who was where and in what order I'd fly to get them. There will be no need to head to KTRR, I have my assignments already so I just needed to see who would be where. Here's what I came up with:
*Tony = At home at KTRR.
*Bill = Off in the forest NW of KTRR - may not hear from him before Spring!
*Me = Well, I'm doing this FOTM so obviously I'm not off camping somewhere.
*Tim = Haven't heard from him in some time, I think he's studying for school or something .... He'd be at 61S, still in contact with civilization, an internet cafe and a library.
*I'll bet Hans will be at 5S0 - he'll think that this is really remote.
*We'll meet Geert at 3S6 - a runway long enough to handle a nearly empty 737!
*Peter = He likes to "get away" so he'll be at Crater Lake (OR99)
*Alastair = He'll be at 5S2, not too high, not very remote, out of the city .... perfect for our Londoner - not too much of a system shocker!
*Alejandro = No doubt there, he'll be at Sunriver drooling over all the glass cockpits on the private aircraft coming in for the holidays.
*Brad is at OG21, one of the shortest strips you'll see this month! Brad will be nearly the last pick-up - I don't need him co-piloting all my other landings.
*Finally is Joao ... we're going to put him at OR29, he's not much for getting too far outside the box so we'll keep him close in to Bend and KTRR.
*So we have KPDX > 61S > 5S0 > 3S6 > OR99 > 45S > S21 > OG21 > OR29 > KTRR

AIRCRAFT: My second job was to find the plane to accomplish all this. Yes folks ... THE plane. No one has ever accused me of being smart and only rarely logical - besides, it's only a simulator, right? My goal was to make this in one trip. I already know you are wondering, aren't you? "What plane is going to get in and out of these remote places and still haul everything in one trip?" How about a CH-47 Chinook? Naw, I don't do helos but we have been talking about the BT-67 Basler around here. A turbopropped DC-3 with updated wings, cockpit and avionics - "Rugged like the DC-3 but with big ol' turboprops for extra power and faster cruise speeds." (pict5) Well, I took a DC-3 and tweaked the CFG to perform like it had turboprops (I've done this for a piece I'm working on for www.flightsim.com) and this will be PERFECT for this Flight of the Month. So, I load up the Basler of the month (World Tour 2009) and set-up from the cargo area at KPDX, Portland.

TIME, SEASON and WEATHER: I've chosen the shortest day of the year, Decmeber 21st as my flight day (even though in reality I'll be doing this throughout the month as time allows) leaving KPDX at dawn (about 7:40 AM). For weather, since I'll be flying on several different days, I've chosen a theme. I've downloaded several "weather packages" which have a variety of weather options to choose from - things like; "Summer in Dubai", "Hot Tropical Day", "Steamy Jungle Weather", "Severe and Damaging Winds", "Scud Runner", "Grey and Rainy" etc. For this month I've chose a theme called, "Building Winter Storms" so we'll see what all I run into.

HERE GOES: With my winter clothes and a small survival pack stowed, my trusty co-pilot (pict6)

and I secure the door, start the motors and call for clearance. Initially ATC asks me to taxi all the way down to 27L but since I was already up by runway 3 and I assured them that I could be airborne and headed west well before reaching 27R they agreed. The tough thing about the BT-67 as I have it configured is keeping the throttles low enough - barely a push on the throttles and I'm moving enough to use the differential braking! (pict7) Positioning myself at the end of runway 3 I was cleared to depart immediately after an Alaska 737. I was airborne in about 1,000 feet and turned to chase him toward the BUXOM intersection before I turned south and headed down the Willamette Valley at my 4,000-foot cruise altitude. (pict8)

It took about 55% throttle to cruise at 250 knots! (pict9) Soon-enough I was setting up to land on runway 15 at 61S. (pict10) 90 knots ... use the throttle to control descent ... small adjustments only ... put her down on the numbers, (pict11) took a mid-field turn-off and taxied over to Tim who was standing outside in his Christmas-Red shirt. We kept the motors running, loaded Tim (and his twin?) and headed back to the north end of the field for departure. (pict12)

Next up was Hans, at 5S0 which was into the hills east of town. (pict13) With Tim (and his twin) strapped safely in the back (who brings school books on Christmas Vacation?) we headed to our next airstrip. (pict14)

No one doubted that Tony had picked a scenic area to fly in this month - I wondered if Hans was half as impressed as Tim was? I looked back to see both Tims plastered to the windows! (pict15) Soon enough I had the runway in sight and started slowing down, (pict16) dropping in the laundry and watching for obstructions ... LIKE THOSE WIRES!!! (pict17) The natural reaction to the wires is to pull up, which drops your speed! (pict18) With the stick-shaker going I plopped her down on the runway and ..... easily coasted to a stop near where Hans and Astrid were waiting. (pict19)

"This is so beautiful" Astrid commented as they settled in. Hans "shhhh"ed her and said something about having DC-3s in Germany too. "It's just an old plane." I knew in my heart that Hans admired this NEW "crate" but he didn't want Astrid to think that he had TooMuch@ involvement with this group. That was fine, I had a little something to show them!

With the new power on this thing, if you hold the brakes and firewall the throttles you'll tip right over onto your nose. So after everyone had introduced themselves and sat down I advanced the throttles gently until the tail started to come up, then I released the brakes and shoved the throttle the rest of the way forward. With the tail wheel firmly planted in the dirt we almost immediately were airborne, a "Three-Point Take-Off!" I then pulled us into a sharp left turn, to the awes and gasps from my three passengers (and a line of cursing from Johnny Lime). (pict20)
Our next pick-up point was Geert who was to be waiting at 3S6. (pict21) Another scenic leg passed quickly and soon we were ducking over the hills (pict22) and scooting down into the valley. (pict23) Just shy of the airstrip I turned right and flew downwind, then a quick 180* left turn and we were lined up. With the longer runway I knew I didn't have to be slow and this landing was oh so smooth! (pict24) We then had to back-taxi to meet Geert there by the Land Rover. (pict25)

With Geert on board we were ready for the next, longer leg, down to get Peter. I warned them that this was an airport that Tony had created just for this occassion and that I had never flown into it before. Tim and Astrid started asking for medications, Hans started praying and Geert asked if he might join me up front. With that ... we were off! (pict26)

Our route down to Crater Lake was the most scenic yet as we climbed over the southern Oregon Cascades. I had to climb up near 9,000 feet to have clearance and as we continued on we ran into some snow showers. (pict27) Soon enough we were over Crater Lake and I can safely say, without doubt, that everyone was Awe-Inspired! (pict28) Finding the little airstrip and campground on the south edge of the lake was no problem - getting in there was the problem!

My first reaction was to turn to the right. This gave me a better view of the lay-out from the left seat. Something about hugging the embankment and then a last-second turn to the runway reminded me of Funchal or Tivat only this was MUCH TIGHTER. I flew a practice approach for an eastbound landing but really ... it just didn't feel right. Continuing on off to the east side I thought this looked better. So I turned right and got my left wing nice and close to the trees. Full flaps, gear down-and-locked, curtains to the main cabin closed (too bad they didn't drown out the comments comming from Hans and Tim!) The first approach from this side was fast and still high and as I glided over the park at 100 feet I saw that the windsock was STRAIGHT OUT to the south, a blistering cross-wind!! As I made another wide circle out over the lake my cell phone started ringing. I answered, expecting it to be Tony wondering where I was .... (pict29) it was Peter. "What's wrong mite? Cain't make 'er? If you'll come in lower there'y'll have to mike a sharp turn ...." "Thanks" and I hung up!

This time I was closer to the trees, lower and much slower! (pict30)(This exact photo was actually from the first, too-high, missed approach) (pict31) As the terrain dropped away I pushed the yoke forward, hugging the treetops, then cut the throttles. As we silently glided in I saw that Tony had left two large trees right in the approach path, at that moment I remembered why I had chosen the Basler. "Rugged like the DC-3 ..." I aimed right between two stands of trees, right wing a bit low, just HANGING THERE ..... BAM! We hit the frozen ground just on the lake-side of the runway (I think my left wheels may have been on the gravel). Full reverse! Balancing on the main wheels ... BANG! The tail dropped and we were in! (pict32) At this point I noticed that the runway was about 3 feet above the ground. "Oh Well." I taxied over to Peter and shut down. (pict33)

Peter was loaded up with the others (Tim, Tim, Hans, Astrid and Geert. Six total) so I restarted the engines and ..... hmmmm, turned around, past the tent and spun my nose into the wind. I was now facing ACROSS the runway, toward the water. I eased the throttle forward until the plane was deafening ... and shaking ... and rattling. Then I released the brakes and eased back on the stick. We crossed the little parking area, crossed the runway, onto the grass and then .... we were airborne well before the water's edge!

Back on coarse now we cruised along happily into 5S2 (pict34) where Alastair was awaiting our arrival. I was getting this plane understood enough that I could land at about 80 knots (pict35) and get stopped by mid-field. (pict36) With number seven loaded up, I throttled up and was airborne again before runway's end. "Piece of Cake!" (pict37)

Next stop was an airport that I've been to, and simmed to before, S21 (pict38)where we expected to meet Alejandro. And ... HELLO! Mildred and her sister! (pict39) We were now ten on board.

We now headed quite a ways east to get Brad who was at OG21. We ran into some snow but generally, (pict40)weather was good. Set-up and approach were no problems and as we settled down I saw .................. HOLY COW! (pict41) My co-pilot started screaming and literally bouncing off the windows! I slammed the throttles forward as the wheels just skimmed the pavement and we were off again! "No Way We're Landing by that!"

It took the entire way to OR29 (Gopher Gulch) for the audience in back to calm down. (pict42) Plenty of room here and a really nice little farm where Joao and his son and his grandchild and her dog were all waiting for us. (pict43) Dog has to stay in back, away from the co-pilot! Now, we could head for Christmas, and it wasn't quite noon. (pict44)

From there was simply had to hop over the hills into KTRR. (pict45) (pict46) About this time my cell phone again began ringing. It was Brad. "What was that all about?" he asked.

"I don't know. What was THAT, giant, scary, raccoon thing all about?"

"It's fake" Brad answered. "They put that up here for a 'tourist attraction', there isn't any other reason for folks to visit here."

"Oh. Okay. Well ... I'll come back and get you later."

Anywaaaayyyyy ..... Heading into KTRR, "Lefty's Ranch" (pict47)

As I set-up for landing I was thinking about how I hadn't flown into here in a long time .... and looking ahead ...... I guess I hadn't flown into here in a REALLY LONG TIME. (trees covered the entire airport!) I called Peter up front. ??? (pict49) "That's certainly not how I left it Mate." Peter said. So I rang up Tony.

"Oh, yea, about that ..... " Tony explained that with his right arm no longer functional he hadn't been able to get the yard work done and so, "things have gotten a little out of control."

"A Little??"

With that change of plan we headed to Redmond (pict50) where the plan was for Tony to shuttle everyone over to his house in his SUV. (pict51)

By 12:30 PM we were landed, Tony was there in the car and everyone was loading up, ready for a holiday at Tony's house. I hope Kim is ready to cook dinner for everyone!

Thanks for an exciting and scenic FOTM. And, by the way, once you get her slowed down, this BT-67 Basler is GREAT!

pretendpilot@yahoo.com

P.S. And yes, I did go back and pick up Brad later that afternoon. (pict52)