What's your favorite historic flight?

[sir_knight57]

I just finished the DC3 1948 Alaskan Aluetian 3 day adventure.  It is amazing how lonely, and yet exhilarating, flying in and over volcanic island desolation and sometimes bad weather can be.

The DC3 is a wonderful aircraft for this adventure.  Mr. Reeve certainly was a daring soul to take on such and make a business out of it.  This historic flight made me more aware of many things; most importantly how to land/take-off the DC3 in/on short runways; as well as taxiing  :P

[wji]

Flying the flights of the world's greatest Pioneer Pilots . . . . . . Noel Wien and Carl Benjamin Eielson.

Ben Eielson received (1928} the same President's Award for Aviation that was given to Charles Lindbergh in 1927 for his historic Trans-Atlantic solo flight -- Ben must have been doing something right :-)

P.S. Wien Alaska Airlines was the forerunner of today's Alaska Airlines (Noel's son, Richard, lives in Fairbanks and remained on ASA's Board until retiring three years ago)

Search google for more info

[Calb]

My first solo at CYYC in 1967.

Cal (CYXX)

[Nav]

Heck of a coincidence, sir-knight67 - 'Reeve Aleutian Airlines' is one of my favourites too, and I just finished re-flying it yesterday!

I like it for the challenge, and also because, once you get used to it, the Dakota has to be about the best-modelled aeroplane on FS9; perfectly stable and dependable and 'beautiful' to look at (to me, anyway!).

Beautifully judged 'scenario', isn't it? Not too bad at first, but every flight the mountains get a little higher, the weather gets a little worse, and the runways get a little shorter.

Took this on final approach at Dutch Harbor, the first of the short icy ones....

[Staiduk]

Agreed, agreed, agreed, agreed!

The Dakota is IMO the best stock plane in the game - best VC too.
(Though I could make a strong argument for the Comet as well - I like challenging airplanes)

And IMO there's no better place to fly the 3 than the rough, remote wilderness of the North. That Aleutian Run is tons o'fun; especially if you, like me, disable the GPS in the panel file. Want a real challenge? Try that!

[Nav]

Agree in my turn about the DH88 Comet, as you'll know, Staiduk! My other favourite 'Historical Flight' is the London/Melbourne Race.

That is so long that I HAD to use accelerated time. I know a lot of people consider that 'cheating', but my defence is that since the DH88 doesn't have an autopilot, I had to learn to fly manually at up to 16X speed (i.e. an airspeed of about 3,200 knots), which takes some doing!

Must admit that I used the GPS in Alaska - but only as a 'map', given that the DC3 doesn't have 'GPS Hold' or anything. My only complaint about the DC3 model is that the figures on the radio-compass dial are almost impossible to read, so you can't get bearings from NDBs etc.

As a matter of interest, how did you find places like Atka (which has no VOR and no beacons) without using the GPS?

In real life the only way you could find it would be by flying a careful compass course from a known landmark. My 'finest hour' was probably helping a mate to find a club airfield in North-East England that way, one murky evening.

We used Durham Cathedral as a starting-point; something piquant about using an 11th.-Century building to get a fix on both your position and your height! For a while, after that, it was generally agreed that while my flying would never be more than 'fair to middling', I was everyone's navigator of choice......  

[sir_knight57]

I tried to make my 1948 Aluetian Airway flight as authentic as possible, so I did not use the GPS - at all.  Instead, I had an atlas, charts and instincts to get me through.  At times [day two and three] I flew low to the water and coastline and trusted my instruments.  

If the itenary said fly north of the islands at a heading of 280; i did  :P  I worried alot during those two days whether or not I was going to see my next waypoint as I looked out my viewing windows and saw only muck for weather, water a few feet below and struggling to find smooth air.  

Next, I'm going to try that Melbourne race at 16x  :o.  Surely, we can get more input than we have here concerning what historical flight(s) we have found interesting enough to share with our fellow sim pilots, haven't we?    

[ozzy72]

Agree, sir_knight57, the more feedback the better.

The other 'historical flight' that I'd like to try is the Lindbergh one; but the FS9 'Spirit of St. Louis' defeats me, I simply cannot fly it.

About the DH88 Comet, some suggestions. She's very temperamental at first, practise before you set off, especially landings and taxiing. Secondly, read all the info., especially about the Ratier airscrews and the fuel tanks. Thirdly, one thing that isn't in the guff; before takeoff, call up the sub-panel and check the trim. For some reason the default is full nosedown, and she probably won't take off at all unless you adjust it!

Enjoy the flight and good luck! I ended up liking the DH88 so much that I took it on round the world. Maybe got my best screenshot yet on final approach to National Airport in Washington DC; what a lovely panel the DH88 has!



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[sir_knight57]

Thank you NAV for that beautiful screenshot from the DH88.  Also, for the information that we should read up on concerning flying that bird  :)

A couple of months ago I purchased FSNavigator and I love that program as it seems to be the complete accessory that a pilot could want in a co-pilot.  Talk with you soon  :P

[Staiduk]

Agreed on the Comet as well - another beautiful bird.
Challenging too - I like challenging airplanes.
(Actually; very easy to fly; just murder to taxi and get off the ground. )

Sir Knight has it right: chart navigation the whole way - a major sweat now and then; but my abortive pole-pole flight a couple of years back was good practice. For the most part I followed coastlines even if it took me somewhat out of my way. Actually; Atka wasn't too hard at all (had to look up which one that was again) since it's all by its lonesome on a long, narrow island. Just a looooooooooooong flight.
The REAL problem with northern flight is the unreliability of the compass. Visual navigation therefore becomes critical - there were a few times I had to abort and wait for the sky to clear well enough to fly. The DC-3 is though by far the best plane to take on this particular journey - stable, reliable and blessed with a long range. Pretty good visibility too.

Hmmm - now I want to make that flight again.

Cheers!

BTW: agreed on Lindbergh's flight as well; I'd love to try it but that horrible airplane is just too squirrely. I can fly it, take off and land but it's impossible to keep the thing going straight and quite frankly flying it is just no fun. No fun = no point.

Cheers!

[Hai Perso Coyone?]

My favorite "historical" flight: London Heathrow-Sydney Kingsford Smith Intl...Boeing 747-400 with a stopover at Dubai Intl...over 14.5 hours of real time flying...
Cheers,
Ashar

[ozzy72]

Great, Woozy King. There's a Boeing 787 you can download from here now that can do it in one hop. The real one won't be able to, but we're privileged in FS9!

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Search 'Boeing 7E7', and I recommend the American Airlines livery and Ken Mitchell's panel (from here):-

http://mitchspanelshop.fsgateway.com/

Staiduk, sir_knight, humbled to have had to use the FS9 map and GPS screen in Alaska. I don't have a good enough atlas! Also, I was really worried about flying over the Alaskan islands without knowing the height of the high ground. My only criticism of FS9, really, there doesn't seem to be a key to tell you what heights the greens and browns represent.

Sir_knight, about the DH88 (to save you time):-

1. Taxiing, use a burst of revs to get her moving, then cut the revs to 900 max. or she'll turn over! Use rudder-and-brakes to turn (make sure the tailskid lock is off), but you'll need opposite rudder-and-brakes to STOP her turning.

2. Lock the tailskid for takeoff or the torque will yank you right off the runway!

3. When cruising, don't try to trim her to hold exactly to a specific height. Rather, at roughly the right height, trim her straight and level at a given power setting and let her find her own final height and speed.

I'm sure that Staiduk will have found other 'wrinkles'!

[Hai Perso Coyone?]

Thanks for the plane...I did the hop in real time using the 777-200LR...got it done easily

[Staiduk]

I'm sure that Staiduk will have found other 'wrinkles'!

Actually; the taxi and takeoff are the worst of it - the main thing once you're in the air is to manage the d#^$$!! fuel system. For some reason; unless you set your fuel in any aircraft in FS9 (or at least so far as I've seen) the sim will draw from all tanks equally. You've got to set your fuel tanks manually before you takeoff; and this is critical in the DH-88. I personally set the aft tank to drain first; this seems to give me better stability when at high speeds - with the CG too far aft the plane will porpise a bit.
For takeoff; do what Nav says for taxiing and just keep doing it until she lifts off. Lock the skid, set half flaps then a brief burst of throttle and cut the revs way down. Let her accellerate slowly until she flies off the runway. Even still you're going to be wiggling all over the asphalt. It's a real nightmare if you - like me - stick to the VC; there's no forward visibility and you have to take your cues from the runway's edge.
Once in the air however; the plane is a dream to fly. Seriously heavy on the controls and fairly unstable but crisp and responsive. There's no other stock or addon plane that even comes close to being as fun to fly as the Comet. (If planes were bikes; the Comet would be a Ducati 900SS. Sleek; heavy as hell in the turns but utterly glorious.)
Landing it is actually pretty easy; but remember the pilot's mantra: Never stretch a glide. Never stretch a glide Never strech a glide. Bring her in flat and fast; fly her down, don't stall her onto the runway like you would with a GA airplane. ALWAYS bring her to a complete stop before trying to taxi - there's nothing worse than groundlooping to pieces just after a successful long-distance run.  ::) Trust me on this.

Nav: GET A BLOODY ATLAS, MAN!
I'm serious - you've no idea how much a good atlas adds to this sim!
Even better; if you can get a Rand McNally road atlas for North America. That's what I use; can't get aircharts for the regions I want without going up there. Road atlasses are good; since they give you a good representation of ground features; often provide landmark info and the road system in FS9 is often good enough to be a help - at least it is around S Ontario.

Cheers!

[Nav]

We'd better be careful, Staiduk, between the two of us we might frighten poor sir_knight (and others) off the Comet for life!

There's a simple answer to the fuel thing. If you call up the fuel panel you'll find that the default position of the crossfeed handle is 'off'. If you push it in the fuel operates in the usual FS way.

After you get used to it, though, it's good fun to isolate and empty each tank in turn - auxiliary first, front tank last, as the aeroplane is tail-heavy with a full load. For practice, sir_knight, go to the Aircraft/Fuel Menu and empty the auxiliary tank (the 20-gallon one) and put minimum fuel in the others.

Also, the DH88 probably has the best power/weight ratio in FS9, but it doesn't feel like it at first. The transition comes when you get over 150 knots - the Ratier airscrews automatically go to coarse pitch at that point, and 'Whoosh!', you have a racer on your hands.

Pay careful attention to the mixture too, it makes a big difference to performance as well as economy. Easy to adjust as the revs shoot up as you lean it off - just go on leaning it until they peak.

I think you're 'a better man than I am' as far as the VC is concerned, Staiduk. I tend to use the full panel more, I like to be able to see all the instruments without having to pan down all the time; and I just love the look of it too! - that 'fun factor'. Especially important on the London-Melbourne Race, when you're in cloud and on instruments more than half the way.