Flying around the world

[Brad27612]

Hey guys
im gunna start a around the world trip, im chosing an aircraft, i am hoping to do it in the Default dc-3 but the problem is i dont have a flight plan to go off, is there one to download somewhere, or anyone can tell me where i can go to..

[JRoc]

One of the default historical flights (Wiley/Post)  is a round-the-world trip in a Vega.  The flight plan isn't super solid, it's really just a list of the towns they landed in.  I've done it twice already in a Vega and DC-3, and planning a 3rd go in a whirlybird.

My best advise is to base it off that plan, as it follows the great circle route, and there's plenty of nearby towns to gas up along the way.

That said, I recall that someone here took an 'unconventional' route by going from the west coast in N. America and following south to near Cape Horn, Chile and then island hopping to Australia and so forth.

[Mistral]

Or you could use my approach, fly for about an hour a day in the right general direction, then find an airport to land. And after about a month you find yourself back where you started, with a little help from the GPS.
Yes, i know it is stupid and unrealistic, but it added a bit of mystery to the tour

[TacitBlue]

The way I do really long trips is to plan out 4 or 5 stops in one flight plan, then at the last stop, plan out 4 or 5 more ect... eventually you plan your way around the world (or North America in my case), and it gives you a chance to change your mind about where exactly you are going next. I prefere to keep each leg at about 30 minutes.

[Mistral]

I agree TacitBlue, 30(to 60) minute legs is the way to go, any longer and it starts to get boring.

[|| Andy ||]

Im gonne try and do it all in one go, this week lol..  :( :-/

[Rocket_Bird]

Hey there, im not sure the range on the DC-3, but when I did the world tour in the default King Air 350 (changed to a King Air 200 shortly after  ;D), I went from western canada all the way across the east, visited some US cities, then back up to newfoundland... then to greenland, iceland, and onto europe.  From europe, I visited around and explored.  Eventually I continued east, and north to russia.  And from the farthest north of the continent, I was able to cross onto alaska, and eventually make my way south back home.  

The hardest part of the trip is crossing the oceans, the rest of the flight plan is up to you.  Depends where you want to go

[MattNW]

Or you could use my approach, fly for about an hour a day in the right general direction, then find an airport to land. And after about a month you find yourself back where you started, with a little help from the GPS.
Yes, i know it is stupid and unrealistic, but it added a bit of mystery to the tour

That's my favorite way to do it too. Just head either East or West. Doesn't matter which way because you keep going you'll eventually end up back where you started. (World's round you know).

[TacitBlue]

I've been wondering if a southern route was possible, I think I'll try it now that I know.

[Nav]

I've done a fair few round-world trips - in everything from a 747 down through a P51 Mustang to the default Cessna. IMO it's the best fun on FS.

Brad, you can get round in the DC3, but there are some challenges. You only have a rudimentary autopilot, with no GPS Hold or ILS Hold. The maximum range is only about 2,000 miles (and even that depends on getting the revs and mixture right); a problem if you're facing the huge distances in the Pacific.

The DC3 being unpressurised, if you want to be realistic you'll have to stay down at 12,000 feet (which makes for problems getting through the Rockies). In point of fact I don't know whether the default DC3 will climb much higher than that anyway.

As far as route planning is concerned, best to look at an atlas or map of the world and break the trip down into 'legs' of 2,000 miles or less. Use the 'Go to airport' feature to check out your destination airports. Use the flight planner to check distances etc. before you take off.

It's vital to plan the whole flight ahead of time - for example, the leg from Honolulu to San Francisco is 2,100 miles, with no alternates; no use finding that out AFTER you've made all the effort to get to Hawaii, unless you're confident that you can nurse the DC3 that far by leaning the mixture etc.

My favourite route for short-range aeroplanes, starting from home (Melbourne), is north to Brisbane and Port Moresby; on to Chuuk in the Marianas; then via Johnston Atoll to Hawaii, north to Adak in the Aleutians, then to Anchorage and down to Vancouver. After that, across the USA any route you please to New York, via Gander and Keflavik to Heathrow, down through Italy and the Gulf to Karachi, then Calcutta (Kolkota nowadays), Singapore, Darwin, and home.

TacitBlue, the Southern Hemisphere is possible - but you MUST have a range of better than 2,000 miles. Legs in the South Pacific are 'endless' - not so bad getting from Australia to Pago Pago (American Samoa) but then

[mc602]

Hello,

take a look here : http://www.dc3airways.com/charter.html

among others,you will find "Around the world in eighty days",flight plans for the DC3.

I am right in the middle of it and having a great time.


Happy flying
MC

[MattNW]

[quote]I've done a fair few round-world trips - in everything from a 747 down through a P51 Mustang to the default Cessna. IMO it's the best fun on FS.

Brad, you can get round in the DC3, but there are some challenges. You only have a rudimentary autopilot, with no GPS Hold or ILS Hold. The maximum range is only about 2,000 miles (and even that depends on getting the revs and mixture right); a problem if you're facing the huge distances in the Pacific.

The DC3 being unpressurised, if you want to be realistic you'll have to stay down at 12,000 feet (which makes for problems getting through the Rockies). In point of fact I don't know whether the default DC3 will climb much higher than that anyway.

As far as route planning is concerned, best to look at an atlas or map of the world and break the trip down into 'legs' of 2,000 miles or less. Use the 'Go to airport' feature to check out your destination airports. Use the flight planner to check distances etc. before you take off.

It's vital to plan the whole flight ahead of time - for example, the leg from Honolulu to San Francisco is 2,100 miles, with no alternates; no use finding that out AFTER you've made all the effort to get to Hawaii, unless you're confident that you can nurse the DC3 that far by leaning the mixture etc.

My favourite route for short-range aeroplanes, starting from home (Melbourne), is north to Brisbane and Port Moresby; on to Chuuk in the Marianas; then via Johnston Atoll to Hawaii, north to Adak in the Aleutians, then to Anchorage and down to Vancouver. After that, across the USA any route you please to New York, via Gander and Keflavik to Heathrow, down through Italy and the Gulf to Karachi, then Calcutta (Kolkota nowadays), Singapore, Darwin, and home.

TacitBlue, the Southern Hemisphere is possible - but you MUST have a range of better than 2,000 miles. Legs in the South Pacific are 'endless' - not so bad getting from Australia to Pago Pago (American Samoa) but then

[ctjoyce]

My personal choice of aircraft would be the Eaglesoft Citation X. Cruse on up to 51,000AGL and at 270KTS not too many things are going to challenge it. and at that Altitude fuel burn is at a minimum, so your range will be massive.

[packercolinl]

Of course you can always add an extra tank for those 'just not enough fuel' sectors

This IS an acceptable solution in real aircraft ferry flights so I can't see why it shouldn't apply in FS

Cheers
Colin

[phantom1]

I'm currently doing an around the world trip in the cessna 172. I've installed ferry tanks giving it a total of 95 gallons. That puts it near maximum take-off weight, but gives me a total of around 6 hours flying time. I started out from Liverpool, up throuch Iceland, Greenland ,then down to Canada. I'm just about to land at Sydney in 30 minutes. All flying is real time, and each leg ends with a landing, and refuel, ready for the next leg. The whole trip will be done in 80 days.

Alan