Just a short hop from Woomera (YPWR) to Adelaide - YPAD (not to confuse with iPad ;-) brought me back to the coastline. No big incidents, only that bot (Server Flight scheduler) messed up a little with the flight plan and allocated -16mins instead of 65mins. So I decided shorthand to fly a regular job, which I succeeded as mentioned w/o any special issues (and still resulted 100pt).
Excited to soon quickly leave Australia towards New Zealand (see planned route or map on top right of the blog). Still not sure how I will make the long leg, but I will be a very nice side visit to that fantastic country.
Looking forward to the next few hops,
Phil_Tailor
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Florida Sky Meeting
If you come from my last blog you already know that I'm gonna write something about constellation. This time it is not about a star constellation but about the famous constellation L-749 (which was the first aircraft in the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line able to cross the Atlantic Ocean non-stop*). As with the last experiment on Hawaii together with mv47 we decided on another attempt for squadron flight. So he changed to the L-749 and started a regular flight in Miami (KMIA) with heading north following the mainland. When he was around West Palm beach I started my intercept flight with a faster Boeing 737 - with the nice Swiss painting. Looking at the map I decided that Fort Pierce - Saint Lucie County Intl. airport suited the best and took off. Right after taking off I had mv47's L-749 on my screen which made it even easier to follow and change to the same course. Of great help was the live map on fsxtools.de even though the altitude and speed values were not fully correct.
Finally after some minutes, right above KMCO I finally had the same altitude, speed and heading on my instruments and could slowly approach mv47. Everything was done by Autopilot and quite stable, but still it is not an easy thing. By doing that you learn very much about the dimensions in the air and the ratio between the three mentioned parameters.
The best thing to do is to lock 2 out of 3 parameters on autopilot and change the third variable manually. Still then it keeps being a very complex job. Especially the fact that pressing "v" for a screenshot causes a 1/10's of a second simulation stop which causes the plane that is being chased to jump a few feet away.
However, here's the results of a very interesting experiment that we will for sure repeat soon:
* source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_L-749_Constellation
Finally after some minutes, right above KMCO I finally had the same altitude, speed and heading on my instruments and could slowly approach mv47. Everything was done by Autopilot and quite stable, but still it is not an easy thing. By doing that you learn very much about the dimensions in the air and the ratio between the three mentioned parameters.
The best thing to do is to lock 2 out of 3 parameters on autopilot and change the third variable manually. Still then it keeps being a very complex job. Especially the fact that pressing "v" for a screenshot causes a 1/10's of a second simulation stop which causes the plane that is being chased to jump a few feet away.
However, here's the results of a very interesting experiment that we will for sure repeat soon:
* source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_L-749_Constellation
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| View from a passenger seat - breathtaking! |
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| Distance 0.1nm = 150m, vertical distance - almost same! |
Weekend at Ayers Rock - rocks!
After shortly deciding to detour my trip over Australia I first touched ground at Ayers Rock (YAYE). Absolutely nice scenery, even though it was dark and night again - the Ayers Rock shone through the windows of the aircraft. Especially the location of the airport is cool, it is just few miles away from that stunning mountain. ATC also did a pretty job, by guiding my approach right around that famous rock. Very nice!
Next day on the way out I left Ayers Rock towards the south of Australia. The second leg lead almost to the coast to Woomera (YPWR). Flight was nice, you could almost see the star constellation through the night (speaking of constellation - read my next blog ;-).
Greetings from Woomera,
PT
Next day on the way out I left Ayers Rock towards the south of Australia. The second leg lead almost to the coast to Woomera (YPWR). Flight was nice, you could almost see the star constellation through the night (speaking of constellation - read my next blog ;-).
Greetings from Woomera,
PT
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| Turning final - in front of Ayers Rock |
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| Short before landing, YAYE is really close! |
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Rerouting over Australia
Today time was right to fly two legs in a row. Generally this is very good in multiplayer mode since the second leg in a row multiplies the points you get on the HHG server. This time it should be a little different.
First leg from Argyle (YARG) to Curtin (YCIN) was good, even though somehow I was very fast and had to fly a holding abuout 60nm out of the airport. Finally I landed on time, unfortunately again in the middle of the dark.
When I wanted to continue to Port Hedland (YPPD) bot allocated 999mins for that 277nm leg which was of course out of any reason (I guess it's a bot bug). However, shortly I decided to reroute to another FlyGermany-Lufthansa destination, so I chose on short notice Telfer (YTEF). Quickly entered the new values into GPS and AP everything went well.
With the last drop of fuel I touched ground in Telfer. Seems to be right in the middle of nowhere, difficult to say, 'cause now that I fly more in the south and again westwards, the sunrise got delayed again...
However, everything well - still in Australia, enjoying the trip and looking forward to the next few destinations (e.g. Ayers Rock, Adelaide, New Zealand).
Over and out.
PT
First leg from Argyle (YARG) to Curtin (YCIN) was good, even though somehow I was very fast and had to fly a holding abuout 60nm out of the airport. Finally I landed on time, unfortunately again in the middle of the dark.
When I wanted to continue to Port Hedland (YPPD) bot allocated 999mins for that 277nm leg which was of course out of any reason (I guess it's a bot bug). However, shortly I decided to reroute to another FlyGermany-Lufthansa destination, so I chose on short notice Telfer (YTEF). Quickly entered the new values into GPS and AP everything went well.
With the last drop of fuel I touched ground in Telfer. Seems to be right in the middle of nowhere, difficult to say, 'cause now that I fly more in the south and again westwards, the sunrise got delayed again...
However, everything well - still in Australia, enjoying the trip and looking forward to the next few destinations (e.g. Ayers Rock, Adelaide, New Zealand).
Over and out.
PT
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| Approach in YTEF |
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| Tower View I |
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| Tower View II |
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| Tower View III |
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Argyle by night - Aloha Hunter
The first leg in Australia led from Darwin to Argyle (YARG). Unfortunately night was back again, so the beautiful scenery was again in the dark. However, the flight was nice and this time a little bit special.
For a very long time I haven't seen any other player online and nearby where I was. As you know I am still flying at HippyHappy Germany Multiplayer server in the name of FlyGermany-Lufthansa. Obviously the destinations I touched so far are not the most famous ones, so actually since about London City I haven't met anybody else on screen, other than in the chat or through ATC commands on radio. This time it was different. Myself and mv47 we organized for a meeting on the way from Darwin to Argyle. mv47 actually started from YARG and came in straight on the same track. Around Kununnurra we finally saw each other. While I was following may way on the VL, mv47 did a small teardrop maneuver and followed me on the approach to Argyle. Very nice to finally see anybody else out in the dark :-)
ATC catched me as usual around 55nm out of the destination and this time guided me to rwy 01. So I came across the airport and had to fly as well a little teardrop. With mv47 still behind me I managed to finally land on this small airport in the middle of the dark. After touch down and full stop I turned around to observe mv47's landing. Very interesting to see and quite exciting (see some screenshots below).
Aloha Honolulu
After that nice event we decided to fly together in Hawaii, but this time with a small fighter jet, our famous Hawker Hunter with the swiss army painting. That was a big jump - indeed. Not only geographically but the Microsoft team really did a wonderful job designing this small island in the pacific and of course daylight is definitely a relief after flying almost 11'000nm in the dark.
The experience was awesome. Although it is quite difficult with that plane to control the speed, first test was fantastic and we chased each other around Hawaii. Please also see some impressions in pictures below. We definitely plan to repeat this and continue improving our squadron flying skills.
And... - you may want to watch out while flying on HippyHappy Germany. You may have a wingman without knowing it :-)
Happy Landings and greetings from Honolulu / Argyle.
Phil_Tailor
For a very long time I haven't seen any other player online and nearby where I was. As you know I am still flying at HippyHappy Germany Multiplayer server in the name of FlyGermany-Lufthansa. Obviously the destinations I touched so far are not the most famous ones, so actually since about London City I haven't met anybody else on screen, other than in the chat or through ATC commands on radio. This time it was different. Myself and mv47 we organized for a meeting on the way from Darwin to Argyle. mv47 actually started from YARG and came in straight on the same track. Around Kununnurra we finally saw each other. While I was following may way on the VL, mv47 did a small teardrop maneuver and followed me on the approach to Argyle. Very nice to finally see anybody else out in the dark :-)
ATC catched me as usual around 55nm out of the destination and this time guided me to rwy 01. So I came across the airport and had to fly as well a little teardrop. With mv47 still behind me I managed to finally land on this small airport in the middle of the dark. After touch down and full stop I turned around to observe mv47's landing. Very interesting to see and quite exciting (see some screenshots below).
Aloha Honolulu
After that nice event we decided to fly together in Hawaii, but this time with a small fighter jet, our famous Hawker Hunter with the swiss army painting. That was a big jump - indeed. Not only geographically but the Microsoft team really did a wonderful job designing this small island in the pacific and of course daylight is definitely a relief after flying almost 11'000nm in the dark.
The experience was awesome. Although it is quite difficult with that plane to control the speed, first test was fantastic and we chased each other around Hawaii. Please also see some impressions in pictures below. We definitely plan to repeat this and continue improving our squadron flying skills.
And... - you may want to watch out while flying on HippyHappy Germany. You may have a wingman without knowing it :-)
Happy Landings and greetings from Honolulu / Argyle.
Phil_Tailor
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| Rencontre in Argyle Australia - Phil_Tailor and mv47 |
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| Aloha on Honolulu |
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| View from mv47's cockpit - thanks for the pics! |
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| Hawker Hunter on 26R - PHNL (Honolulu Intl.) |
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| Chasing around Hawaii |
Monday, March 12, 2012
Welcome to Australia
New day, new leg, new destination.... new continent! Finally I reached the third continend on my trip around the world. After Europe and Asia I'm thankful to Australia that it is going to host me and my wonderful DC-10 for some days, probably few weeks. First touch on the ground after leaving Asia in Timor Cakung (WPEC) was Darwin International (YPDN).
And as if by a miracle all the navaids are back! After so many landings w/o ILS or in some cases any Navaids (and in some heavy cases w/o light during night flight!) it is like coming home. Totally relaxed APP did almost everything and led Swissair DC-10 smoothly on the ground.
Furthermore it also seems that time of the "boring" night flights without any visibility to the nice sceneries are gone now. Even though it was not complete daylight, one could see where the sun will rise and with every minute into the day more and more details were coming out (see also my last post).
So again - I'm happy to be in terra australis and on the ground of the first host airport in Darwin.
Last but not least: I assume you know after which famous person the city was named - yes it's Charles Darwin, the father of evolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin). But did you know that he originally wanted to become a doctor (after his father), but as he couldn't stand the sight of blood he first became a pastor and then started to study naturalism? Interesting, isn't it? (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/educators/lessons/lesson2/act1.html)
Ya minyah*
*Good bye in Wiradjuri
And as if by a miracle all the navaids are back! After so many landings w/o ILS or in some cases any Navaids (and in some heavy cases w/o light during night flight!) it is like coming home. Totally relaxed APP did almost everything and led Swissair DC-10 smoothly on the ground.
Furthermore it also seems that time of the "boring" night flights without any visibility to the nice sceneries are gone now. Even though it was not complete daylight, one could see where the sun will rise and with every minute into the day more and more details were coming out (see also my last post).
So again - I'm happy to be in terra australis and on the ground of the first host airport in Darwin.
Last but not least: I assume you know after which famous person the city was named - yes it's Charles Darwin, the father of evolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin). But did you know that he originally wanted to become a doctor (after his father), but as he couldn't stand the sight of blood he first became a pastor and then started to study naturalism? Interesting, isn't it? (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/educators/lessons/lesson2/act1.html)
Ya minyah*
*Good bye in Wiradjuri
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Holidays on Bali
Before taking one week off for holidays the last leg started on Java - Jakarta (WIII) and ended on the nice holiday island in Bali (WADD). Nice trip, although I lost network connection and therefore could not finalize the VL. However, the landing on Bali island was wonderful.
After one week in the mountains (Switzerland, but Bali would for sure have been nice too ;-) two more legs took me more eastwards on the island of west and east timor (El Tari - WATT and Cakung/Baucau WPEC). Finally I reached a timezone where I'm able to fly again with better daylight. So the last landing was already 5am local time. Sun was not there yet but you could imagine where it will rise on the horizon. Navaids are definitely not Timor's or this region's speciality (VOR/NDB indicated in GPS but unfortunately no frequency found to tune in...). But still, as there are so many islands with almost unique shapes flying around and navigating by looking out of the windows works very good.
See you soon when touching ground in Australia,
Hau ba lai ("goodbye" in East timor)
After one week in the mountains (Switzerland, but Bali would for sure have been nice too ;-) two more legs took me more eastwards on the island of west and east timor (El Tari - WATT and Cakung/Baucau WPEC). Finally I reached a timezone where I'm able to fly again with better daylight. So the last landing was already 5am local time. Sun was not there yet but you could imagine where it will rise on the horizon. Navaids are definitely not Timor's or this region's speciality (VOR/NDB indicated in GPS but unfortunately no frequency found to tune in...). But still, as there are so many islands with almost unique shapes flying around and navigating by looking out of the windows works very good.
See you soon when touching ground in Australia,
Hau ba lai ("goodbye" in East timor)
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| Departure in Jakarta |
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| Bali at Night |
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| How it should be :) |
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| Flying to the moon (on the way from Bali to West Timor) |
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