Just landed my first complete free flight

[RudeandRude]

I've been practicing and taking the lessons for about 2-3 weeks now.  I've been holding off on a free flight but something told me tonight was the night.

I picked a short trip from Stewart Intl (KSFW) to Westchester Airport (KHPN).  Its about a 42 mile flight in the Cessna Skyhawk, with some of the way parallel to the Hudson River.

After a little confusion with taxi-ing (I didnt know they automatically start you on the correct runway), I took off heading east.  Now I have no flight charts for this area, so I had to guesstimate the proper heading to get to the 116.60 Carmel VOR.   Then I turned on my GPS to see if it looked like I was heading the right way.  I guessed 120 degrees and it was about right.  

Once I passed the VOR, I had to guess again what the proper heading was.  I was a little further off this time, but after checking the GPS I was able to find my way.  

18 minutes later I spot the airport thanks to directions from the ATC tower.  Ok, so I had to ask 3 times but hey I found it.  

At this point I'm trying to line up with the runway as the wind wants me to go left but I want to go right.  I fight it and am able to line it up.  For a couple of seconds, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but the plane leveled out and I went in for a smooth landing.  :D

I've done a few missions before, but nothing where I really had to take off, navigate on my own and land on my own.  This was pretty f'n exciting.  

I do have a question though.  Given that I don't have any flight charts, how can I know the proper heading to intercept the VOR as well as the proper headings for landing approach?  Without the charts am I left to just guess everything?

Also, at the end of a free flight, do I have to just end flight in order to get back to the main menu?  I thought once I landed it would just end the flight automatically.

I'm friggin pumped now, I'll never be able to sleep.  Thanks to everyone here over the past few weeks that has helped me with all my newbie questions.  I'm still a newbie, but a slightly experienced newbie.

[TSC.]

Hi RudeandRude,

Congrats on your first cross country, feels great doesn't it when it all comes together, your navigation has worked & to top it off you've nailed the landing aswell.

There are a few ways you can find out the course to the VOR, you can use free charts from somewhere like http://skyvector.com/, or (in FS9 at least) you can enter your waypoints & destination into the Flight Planner & this will then present you with the correct headings to each waypoint in the Navigation Log (I assume the same is correct for FSX).

There is also a fantastic tutorial here for radio navigation, it's handy even after you've got the basics sorted: http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/vor-nav.htm

To find out the headings for landing & approach I find it easiest to use the map provided in FS9/FSX, click on the airport & a box will pop up presenting all sorts of information, runway headings, ILS, field elevation, radio frequencies - everything you need is there.

It might be worth having a quick look in Brett's lessons down in the Flight School: http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... ard=school - one of them deals with winds & how they will affect your heading flown to reach a VOR.

As with all flights, spend 10 minutes planning your flight before taking off, I usually have all of my headings, waypoints, field elevations & nav frequencies etc written down in front of me before I take off - you'll be suprised at how much it helps.

All the best,

TSC.

[J.]

if you create a VOR flight plan, it will load your headings, distances, fuel consumptions into your kneeboard, very useful

[Brett_Henderson]

Excellent ! It's quite an accomplishment, and quite realistic, too (it'll be more satisfying when you leave the GPS off)...

As with all flights, spend 10 minutes planning your flight before taking off, I usually have all of my headings, waypoints, field elevations & nav frequencies etc written down in front of me before I take off - you'll be suprised at how much it helps.

That's the truth  :)  And half the fun of simming realistically.

Rather than blather on, I'll second TSC's advice, and suggest you take the time to go through my 7-step, sim flight training (Flight School section of the forums)..

Let me know when you're ready for a checkride  8-)

[Xyn_Air]

Quite simply - Congrats!!!

Now the really addicting fun begins!



Darrin

[ozzy72]

Well you've just discovered something more addictive that crack cocaine... welcome to the rest of your e-life

[Keep It Simple]

KSFW is

[RudeandRude]

thanks for all the advice.  I was so busy and nervous in my first flight that I forgot to check my kneeboard.  

I'll have to do another flight tonight.  Maybe I'll try one of the Albany landings that were suggested.

[RudeandRude]

Excellent ! It's quite an accomplishment, and quite realistic, too (it'll be more satisfying when you leave the GPS off)...

As with all flights, spend 10 minutes planning your flight before taking off, I usually have all of my headings, waypoints, field elevations & nav frequencies etc written down in front of me before I take off - you'll be suprised at how much it helps.

That's the truth

[Brett_Henderson]

Please.. don't hesitate to ask questions

[TSC.]

I was holding off on the flight school stuff until I had a better handle on terminology, but I think it's a good time to wander in there and start some of your training.

Have a look here Rude: http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/index.htm It's one of the best sites going for learning terminology & the basics of how things work & why.

Cheers,

TSC.

[RudeandRude]

Can these charts be purchased online?  

I checked out the Skyvector.com site and its pretty damn cool.  It's just a little overwhelming.  So much information on a chart and I can only understand half of it.  

I'd like to try out flying from Stewart Airport (SWF) and finding a local landmark around here like the Tappan Zee Bridge and then landing at Westchester (HPN)

In case anybody wants to see what I'm talking about...the Tappan Zee bridge is the Hudson River crossing between Nyack and Tarrytown (GPS 41.07/-73.882).  It should be easy to find once you locate SWF.  Just go south and then slightly east until you see the Hudson River.

What would be the proper way to plan this flight?  Would i still head to the Carmel VOR and then estimate the heading out to the Tappan Zee Bridge?  (Looks like it would be about 240), and then just guess the heading again to HPN?

[TSC.]

What would be the proper way to plan this flight?

Without looking at a chart of the area, would it not be possible to fly to the Carmel VOR then head for the river, following the river until you find the bridge? Nothing like a bit of good old fashioned VFR navigation (Or IFR - I Follow Rivers), sometimes it's the only way to find these places.

Finding a destination by VFR & following your progress on a chart can be more rewarding than using any nav-aids. It's suprising what you can learn about an area after you've flown it using only a chart as your guide. Quite often I'll have to locate a single hut in Alaska, & the only way to do it (After leaving the nearest airport) is by flying VFR & following a chart - it can be very rewarding. Have a butchers HERE to see how I like to navigate, it's a shameless plug, but I think you might enjoy VFR.

Cheers,

TSC.

[RudeandRude]

What would be the proper way to plan this flight?

Without looking at a chart of the area, would it not be possible to fly to the Carmel VOR then head for the river, following the river until you find the bridge? Nothing like a bit of good old fashioned VFR navigation (Or IFR - I Follow Rivers), sometimes it's the only way to find these places.

Finding a destination by VFR & following your progress on a chart can be more rewarding than using any nav-aids. It's suprising what you can learn about an area after you've flown it using only a chart as your guide. Quite often I'll have to locate a single hut in Alaska, & the only way to do it (After leaving the nearest airport) is by flying VFR & following a chart - it can be very rewarding. Have a butchers HERE to see how I like to navigate, it's a shameless plug, but I think you might enjoy VFR.

Cheers,

TSC.

That was kind of my thought.  Getting from SWF to the VOR is easy enough and then the VOR to the bridge should be fairly easy.  I just don't know how to get from the bridge to HPN since there really are no aids other than asking the airport for directions.

Can anyone guess what the proper heading would be from the bridge to HPN from looking at the chart?

[Brett_Henderson]

This is a VERY interesting flight. Loads of potential navigation learning