Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Phoenix - Las Vegas / Boeing 737-800 / IFR

I managed to exactly duplicate Southwest Flight 1383 today, from PHX to LAS. As usual, I was a bit ahead of the real flight, but we took off and landed within two or three minutes of each other.

The weather was clear and hot, as usual. I'm glad I don't have to endure those temperatures for real. As usual, I got to see Hoover Dam on the way into Las Vegas. They look so close together from the air, but they aren't nearly so close by car. Of course, mountains get in the way in a car.

Nothing unusual to report on this flight. I tweaked my speed continually in order to try to stay even with the real-world flight. The FMS performed well on the descent. Somehow I got a full fuel load before leaving Phoenix and ended up having to switch to the center tank to try and get it down a bit before landing. I'll have to check my preconfigured flight to make sure it doesn't have too much fuel on board; I scarcely need a full load of fuel for any of the places I fly to.