Ice Fishermen and Snowmobiler's .....

[Flying Trucker]

Goodly morning all...

Old girl is at church getting saved again and I am having some fun with FSX...

Ice Fishermen and Snowmobiler's beware....Dastardly Doug is out flying about looking to buzz ice huts, ice fishermen, snowmobiler's and anything else he can fine....     

Oh Microsoft...where are the winter ice huts and snowmobiles?
Did you put them all in your Microsoft "Flight"?

FSX and Windows 7
Location:  Cottage country just north of Toronto, Ontario,
               Canada
Aircraft:    DeHavilland DH80 "Puss Moth"
                Fun aircraft to fly and it uses a Strut Flap.  The
                aircraft strut turns, a different idea and
                technique.
Season:    Winter....early January and most rivers, streams
               and large lakes in this area this year are still
               perhaps unsafe to walk or land on.

Out looking for frozen lakes and ponds with ice huts and snowmobiler's on them...


HMMM...got the whole pond to myself...


Not sure about these Strut Flaps...


Off to look elsewhere for something to buzz...


Maybe I will have to settle for a truck, bus or car...drats...



Comments and advice most welcome...

[FoxThree]

There all great, but #1 really stands out too for me.

[Daube]

Same here, the first one is really great, good job Doug !

You're learning fast, that's cool. Here are some more advises:

- shot 2: the plane is not so visible. It would have been a good idea to wait just a second or two more before taking the shot, so that the frozen lake/river would become the background of the plane. That would make it stand out... wait, I'm not sure it's the correct English expression. I wanted to say: "it would create a contrast that would make the plane immediately noticed, emphasized".

- shot 4: here as well, the position of the plane is not chosen so well. More than half ot the shot is occupied by the white repetitive ice texture, which is not so nice. You should have occupied this empty space with the aircraft, using an angle of view similar to the first shot (but not identical). In this way, the plane would mask a good part of the ice, and you would keep the forest and the horizon in the top left part.

[Flying Trucker]

Thanks for the comment FoxThree...much appreciated...

[Flying Trucker]

Good morning Stephane...

I love it when you reply, it is always great advice and much appreciated...

Think I am going to owe you a bottle of wine and some cheese...

Okay got a couple of questions:

Shot two (2)

In shot two (2) I was trying to show the vastness of the pond and my approach to the pond.

I think you are right though...the aircraft should have been the center piece of the shot.

Doing what you said would have done that and I think still emphasized the size of the pond if like you said I would have only have waited until I passed the shoreline...

Lakes in Canada are larger than most European Countries and I have landed on ponds you could land a Boeing 707 on... ...that is how large they are...

Shot four (4)

Now that was my hardest shot...keeping in mind Stephane I was still flying the simulator.

I was trying to show the angle of bank of the aircraft on departure which I kind of got I think and my area of exit from the pond.

[Daube]

You're welcome Doug, it's great fun to discuss about this kind of things

For the shot #2, an alternative could have been to place the aircraft in the top part of the shot, so that the plane would have only the sky as background. This would have let the bottom part of the shot free to show the pond.

However, the danger with that choice is that the plane would have been too close to the side of the picture, which is not always good. But I guess that by adjusting the view direction, you could get the same visibility of the pond while making the sky take a bit bigger part of the picture, leading to more space to place the aircraft.

Tricky, isn't it ?

[Flying Trucker]

Thanks Stephane...

[krigl]

Looks like a bunch of fun in very pretty scenery

[Flying Trucker]

Thanks Krigl...it is a lot of fun flying off skis...

[Bud Greene]

Love the shots, Trucker!
You need to be careful buzzing those trees though or you'll end up pulling a 'Sonny Bono' (watch out for that tree!! )

[Flying Trucker]

Thanks Bud...much appreciated...

[krigl]

Thanks Krigl...it is a lot of fun flying off skis...

Heh... I remember landing the aerosoft Twin Otter on skiis on an airport runway somewhere in, I think, Alaska. I switched to the Ken Borek paintjob that comes with it shortly after takeoff for screenshooting purposes but somehow it didn't connect in my head that this version was on skis despite shooting it from all angles during the flight. On landing the plane just kept sliding down the runway and the brakes wouldn't work. Most confusing. The only thing that stopped us was the volcano or mountain handily placed not far beyond the runway end - we slid a little way up the slope and then back down again backwards.

[Flying Trucker]

Interesting Krigl...

Never got to fly the Twin Otter in real life other than putting a few hours in the right seat with a friend.

Aircraft like the DeHavilland DHC-3 single engine Otter and the Douglas DC3 which I put a fair amount of time in fitted out with skis/wheels had several ski settings.

It depended on the surface one was landing on which setting one used like:
-Full ski
-3/4 ski
-1/2 ski...etc

With full ski there was no braking.

During a first approach into a remote lake we used full
ski and power as it was a touch and go.

That way on the second fly-by we could see what the surface was like.

If it was dark where the skis ran usually meant water and perhaps not a good idea to land.

I have seen where an aircraft has gone through the ice after being on the lake parked for about a hour...there are guide lines on how far aircraft should be parked from each other while on the ice also.

There are several great courses on operating aircraft off lakes and waterways during the different seasons and well worth paying to take.

I have also heard and seen where a company has set up a cache for a client during the winter on what they thought was an island or land only to fine the equipment and goods at the bottom of the lake come summer...

I also know a company that lost two  large helicopters in one year parking them on rail road tracks in a remote area only to by totalled and damaging the trains.

The civilian crews could not get back to the helicopters in time to move them.

There is a lot more to flying than what most folks realise...

[krigl]

Both interesting and hilarious, Doug

I envy you your experience Walking on an icy lake is already a strange enough feeling for me without landing a plane on it.

The image of trains blasting through parked helicopters is a great one (not so funny for the train drivers though) but the best is the thought of some grizzled bush pilot coming out of the general store or greasy spoon cafe and seeing his plane slowly disappearing beneath the ice. The sadly incurable star wars nerd in me instantly makes me think 'That guy needs Yoda'.

[Flying Trucker]

Hi krigl...

I think they were Sikorsky S61s...large expensive piece of kit also.

Helicopters would use railroad tracks lots of times as that was the only clearing available to put the thing down in to load and unload.
Rail Road Time Tables were often obtained but no permission to land on rail road tracks was ever given that I know of.
That would have caused a nightmare...

The last Consolidated Canso/Catalina/PBY5A I saw lost was when the crew allowed summer students to load the aircraft with full 45 gallon drums while on the water.

The aircrew entered the hatch without checking the load, the load shifted on climb out over the lake resulting in total loss of crew and aircraft.

I found bashing about the sky on scheduled flights, being a glorified bus driver, trying not to spill the coffee/tea boring as all get out.
Did enjoy my last decade as a training captain and check pilot.
Always looked forward to my time off to get back into the bush on a DeHavilland DHC-3 radial engine Otter, Cessna 180/185, 337, Consolidated Canso/PBY5A, Douglas DC3 or the Beech 18.

The extra cash was a plus but a careful balance between flying and family had to be monitored as marriage is 50/50 and children do need both parents.

Walking on an icy lake is nothing compared to flying off/on or walking on a small iceberg and waiting for the college boys to do their environmental thing...
My biggest concern was the engine would start and not cool down too quickly.

Should have stayed in the air force I guess, but the old girl always tells everyone my big mouth got me in too much trouble with politicians...