I haven't been logging many of my test flights since my fleet expansion, but this one was interesting enough to log.
My first problem with this Cessna 172 was that I couldn't get the radios to work properly, and as it was nighttime, I couldn't find a switch to turn on the panel lights. Apparently Carenado designed this aircraft for FSX and then just hastily ported a version to FS9 as an afterthought, and some of the avionics don't work. I spent more than an hour working on the aircraft to get the avionics working. Finally I was ready to try a flight, although one set of radios still doesn't work quite right (the tuning knobs tune the active frequency rather than the standby frequency).
I started out in the evening from Vance Brand airport (KLMO), destined for Brush Municipal (7V5). This was to be a nighttime VFR flight via pilotage. I plotted a simple direct route beneath the Denver Class B on my TAC and sectional. I figured on a heading of 075 for 73 nm. The only real issue was dealing with wind drift.
The aircraft has an annoying tendency to gradually roll to the left, like so many small aircraft, and there's no autopilot on this airplane, so I had to regularly press a bit on the yoke or hold it to keep the aircraft on course. If I looked away at charts for more than a moment, I found myself in a shallow turn to the left. That was annoying but there isn't any way around it. I climbed to 7500 feet (the floor of the Class B went no lower than 8000 along my route), and managed to level off, although I had some trouble maintaining my altitude precisely. There was quite a bit of turbulence and I was regularly blown up, down, and sideways, although it wasn't as bad as some test flights I had done the day before in Arizona in one of my Cessna 152s.
After flying for some time through mostly darkness (there were buildings and things on the ground but nothing immediately recognizable), I started to have doubts about my real track over the ground. The aircraft has no DME, so I couldn't use that to find my position. I finally just plotted the radials from Mile High and Akron that intersected above my destination, set the two VORs appropriately, and tried to fly towards the needles, still maintaining mostly a heading of 075.
I was still not very comfortable after more minutes of flying, so I looked all around outside the aircraft for a body of water. There were several, including one that appeared to be right below me. That matched the Bijou 2 Reservoir on the TAC, and the other two bodies of water (Empire Reservoir and Jackson Reservoir) were in the right places. This put me only a few miles north of my planned track. I could also see the lights of an Interstate up ahead, and its path matched that of Interstate 76. The charts said that this Interstate would pass just north of my destination, and so I just followed the highway.
According to these charts, the Interstate would turn north as it passed the airport. I found the northerly turn, but not the airfield. The airfield is poorly lit. I decided to just head in the direction I expected the airport to be and wait. Sure enough, after a few minutes, I spotted a dark gray strip on the terrain, and as I got closer I knew that this had to be the airport.
Winds were really gusty on the way down. I landed a lot faster than I normally would just in case. The wind calmed just above the surface, though, so I was able to make a smooth landing.
It was an interesting trip.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Echo Bay - Kingman in steps / Cessna 152 (N703YL) / VFR
Testing out one of my new Cessna 152s, I did a lot of little flights. I started out at Echo Bay on Lake Mead. Then, in small hops, I went to Temple Bar, Las Vegas, Jean, Searchlight, Sun Valley, Needles, Lake Havasu, and Kingman, over the course of two days. The main thing I learned was that the Cessna 152 is by far the most Spartan and most anemic aircraft type in my fleet.
I'm quite large and that doesn't help. Larger aircraft don't care much, but a Cessna 152 does. At first I had a hard time getting the published rate of climb out of the aircraft, but then I realized that I was instinctively flying faster than I should for this aircraft, and when I reduced the speed to a slowpoke 65 KIAS or so, I was able to achieve about 700 fpm. At 80 KIAS, I could barely get 500 fpm. On other aircraft, though, these speeds are uncomfortably close to the minimums, so I had a naturally tendency to try to keep my speed up. Over the course of these flights I learned to fly slower (heck, I didn't have much choice in a 152).
I also tended to think of 120 KIAS as the cruising speed of this aircraft for some reason, when in fact it's the maximum. Cruising speed turns out to be more like 80-90 KIAS. Once I understood this, things went better. But this is a really, really slow airplane. I kept my hops short because it took forever to get anywhere.
At least the aircraft is easy to fly. Landing speeds are so slow that you can almost hop out of the aircraft and walk beside it as it touches down. Short runways are not an issue. However, with the extreme heat in the areas where I was flying (105-110° F), density altitude was a factor.
It took a looong time to get from Echo Bay to Kingman, but I finally made it. There's only one VOR, no DME, one comm and one nav radio, etc., so things are really primitive. This aircraft seems destined for short daylight VFR hops; I'd be very nervous trying to fly cross-country at night, or in anything other than clear weather. I can see why it is used so much for training.
After landing in Kingman I had temporarily exhausted the novelty of “roughing it,” so I stepped up to a better-performing aircraft for the next few flights.
I'm quite large and that doesn't help. Larger aircraft don't care much, but a Cessna 152 does. At first I had a hard time getting the published rate of climb out of the aircraft, but then I realized that I was instinctively flying faster than I should for this aircraft, and when I reduced the speed to a slowpoke 65 KIAS or so, I was able to achieve about 700 fpm. At 80 KIAS, I could barely get 500 fpm. On other aircraft, though, these speeds are uncomfortably close to the minimums, so I had a naturally tendency to try to keep my speed up. Over the course of these flights I learned to fly slower (heck, I didn't have much choice in a 152).
I also tended to think of 120 KIAS as the cruising speed of this aircraft for some reason, when in fact it's the maximum. Cruising speed turns out to be more like 80-90 KIAS. Once I understood this, things went better. But this is a really, really slow airplane. I kept my hops short because it took forever to get anywhere.
At least the aircraft is easy to fly. Landing speeds are so slow that you can almost hop out of the aircraft and walk beside it as it touches down. Short runways are not an issue. However, with the extreme heat in the areas where I was flying (105-110° F), density altitude was a factor.
It took a looong time to get from Echo Bay to Kingman, but I finally made it. There's only one VOR, no DME, one comm and one nav radio, etc., so things are really primitive. This aircraft seems destined for short daylight VFR hops; I'd be very nervous trying to fly cross-country at night, or in anything other than clear weather. I can see why it is used so much for training.
After landing in Kingman I had temporarily exhausted the novelty of “roughing it,” so I stepped up to a better-performing aircraft for the next few flights.
My expanding fleet
Over the past few days I've been checking out some new additions to my vast fleet of aircraft. I now have 35 airplanes in the fleet, scattered at various airports throughout the United States (mostly in the Great American Southwest). They range from very large aircraft to very small aircraft.
At the large, “big iron” end, I have two 747-4AA aircraft. There really isn't any domestic 747 service in the U.S. today, with the airlines' bizarre business models, so I usually fly these as my own private aircraft. Flying a 747 is like being on an ocean cruise. It's very relaxed and there's a lot of automation.
I have two Boeing 767-3AAR aircraft, which I sometimes fly on long- or short-haul routes, occasionally mirroring real flights, but often just on my own. The 767 is also a very nice aircraft to fly, although the avionics on the 300 aren't as fancy as those on the 747-400.
I also have two 737-8AA aircraft. These I fly most often to mirror real-world flights, mostly Southwest Airlines flights, because they have frequent flights all over the U.S. to choose from.
The 747s and 737s are PMDG models; the 767 is a Level-D model.
At the other end of the spectrum, I have a variety of small general-aviation aircraft. The smallest are new acquisitions, three Cessna 152 aircraft. I have five Cessna 172s, and seven Cessna 182s. All of these are Carenado models except for two of the 172s, which are Flight1 (and kind of hokey, so I don't use them any more). I also have three new Piper Dakotas from Dreamfleet, which join my six Beechcraft Baron 58s and five Beechcraft Bonanza A36s from the same development house; they are all beautiful aircraft.
Finally, to fill in the middle range of bizjets, I've acquired three Cessna Citation X twinjets. The learning curve is steep on these, and Eaglesoft, which developed the models, is still working on the FMS, so they aren't quite ready for production service yet, although I've been practicing with them without using the FMS lately.
So that's nine different types of aircraft overall, enough to keep me pretty busy. The check-out flights I've been doing lately are not “official,” so I haven't been logging them, but I'll start logging some “real” flights soon enough.
It's quite a challenge to try to remain current on all these aircraft. The bigger they are, the more systems they have to memorize. There's not much to worry about on a Cessna 152, but the jets are a handful, and right now it looks like the Citation is the most complicated of the bunch, surprisingly.
The variety spices up flying. One day I'm dozing off on the heavily automated flight deck of a Jumbo Jet, the next day I'm struggling to climb out of an airport in a Cessna 152 that doesn't even have a full IFR suite, and I'm wondering just exactly who managed to get the prototype 152s to their published service ceiling of 14,000+ feet when I have trouble getting 500 fpm at sea level.
At the large, “big iron” end, I have two 747-4AA aircraft. There really isn't any domestic 747 service in the U.S. today, with the airlines' bizarre business models, so I usually fly these as my own private aircraft. Flying a 747 is like being on an ocean cruise. It's very relaxed and there's a lot of automation.
I have two Boeing 767-3AAR aircraft, which I sometimes fly on long- or short-haul routes, occasionally mirroring real flights, but often just on my own. The 767 is also a very nice aircraft to fly, although the avionics on the 300 aren't as fancy as those on the 747-400.
I also have two 737-8AA aircraft. These I fly most often to mirror real-world flights, mostly Southwest Airlines flights, because they have frequent flights all over the U.S. to choose from.
The 747s and 737s are PMDG models; the 767 is a Level-D model.
At the other end of the spectrum, I have a variety of small general-aviation aircraft. The smallest are new acquisitions, three Cessna 152 aircraft. I have five Cessna 172s, and seven Cessna 182s. All of these are Carenado models except for two of the 172s, which are Flight1 (and kind of hokey, so I don't use them any more). I also have three new Piper Dakotas from Dreamfleet, which join my six Beechcraft Baron 58s and five Beechcraft Bonanza A36s from the same development house; they are all beautiful aircraft.
Finally, to fill in the middle range of bizjets, I've acquired three Cessna Citation X twinjets. The learning curve is steep on these, and Eaglesoft, which developed the models, is still working on the FMS, so they aren't quite ready for production service yet, although I've been practicing with them without using the FMS lately.
So that's nine different types of aircraft overall, enough to keep me pretty busy. The check-out flights I've been doing lately are not “official,” so I haven't been logging them, but I'll start logging some “real” flights soon enough.
It's quite a challenge to try to remain current on all these aircraft. The bigger they are, the more systems they have to memorize. There's not much to worry about on a Cessna 152, but the jets are a handful, and right now it looks like the Citation is the most complicated of the bunch, surprisingly.
The variety spices up flying. One day I'm dozing off on the heavily automated flight deck of a Jumbo Jet, the next day I'm struggling to climb out of an airport in a Cessna 152 that doesn't even have a full IFR suite, and I'm wondering just exactly who managed to get the prototype 152s to their published service ceiling of 14,000+ feet when I have trouble getting 500 fpm at sea level.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Phoenix - San Diego / Boeing 737-800 (SWA2302) / IFR
I mirrored Flight 2302 from KPHX to KSAN on this flight, and arrived at the same time as the real flight, departing and arriving at the same gates as well.
All went smoothly, except that I forgot to engage the autothrottle for take-off. I looked at the switch but forgot to actually flip it. On the take-off roll, I set 70% N1 manually, then pressed the TOGA switch to let autothrottle take over. I saw TOGA on the PFD and it seemed vaguely not right, but I didn't think it through. It was only after I heard an overspeed annunciation and saw that I was at 315 KIAS below 10,000 feet that I realized that the A/T was not engaged. I engaged it and slowed down, but it was a minute or two before I could get the FMC back on the climb profile.
Also, while entering my route, I added and removed things one too many times, I guess, and all the waypoints I needed for the approach and arrival were not there, so I added them by hand on the way in.
The landing was very smooth, albeit not perfectly centered (I hand flew the approach because the LOC 27 approach has no glide slope). The very annoying flicker of the airport surfaces marred my arrival. It's very frustrating and I wish someone knew exactly how to fix it (it's not always like that).
I parked at the gate slightly before the real-world flight. However, I had left on time, whereas the real flight was a bit late getting started.
All went smoothly, except that I forgot to engage the autothrottle for take-off. I looked at the switch but forgot to actually flip it. On the take-off roll, I set 70% N1 manually, then pressed the TOGA switch to let autothrottle take over. I saw TOGA on the PFD and it seemed vaguely not right, but I didn't think it through. It was only after I heard an overspeed annunciation and saw that I was at 315 KIAS below 10,000 feet that I realized that the A/T was not engaged. I engaged it and slowed down, but it was a minute or two before I could get the FMC back on the climb profile.
Also, while entering my route, I added and removed things one too many times, I guess, and all the waypoints I needed for the approach and arrival were not there, so I added them by hand on the way in.
The landing was very smooth, albeit not perfectly centered (I hand flew the approach because the LOC 27 approach has no glide slope). The very annoying flicker of the airport surfaces marred my arrival. It's very frustrating and I wish someone knew exactly how to fix it (it's not always like that).
I parked at the gate slightly before the real-world flight. However, I had left on time, whereas the real flight was a bit late getting started.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Aspen - San Diego / Beechcraft Baron 58 (N2751W) / VFR
This was one of the longest flights I've undertaken in a long time; I'm not sure if it actually set a record.
I flew (with my virtual friends and passengers again) from Aspen all the way to San Diego, a trip of about four hours. The first part out of Aspen was at 14500, and as I cleared the mountains we descended, although I stayed at 12500 for most of the trip, until some clouds threatened around Twentynine Palms and I descended to get clear of them.
This being a very long flight, I just put everything into the GPS and let the autopilot fly most of the way. It was mainly VOR to VOR, but there was a long stretch to Tuba City during which I just let the GPS do its thing, without double-checking the VORs. The excellent VMC meant that there was little risk of a problem, and there are tiny airports all along the way, even through most of the desert—and we were high enough to glide to one of them if a problem arose.
There were no problems, in any case, and the weather cleared as we got past Thermal, at which point I began my descent. I went direct from Julian to VYDDA and made a very smooth, straight-in approach with an extremely gentle landing on runway 27 at KSAN. I parked at Jimsair and we all got out and raced for the restrooms. It was still vastly shorter than it would have been in a car, which would have taken around 17 hours of driving (not including breaks), and at least 50% greater distance.
I still had 1/3 of my fuel left at KSAN, and I had only filled the main tanks (not the tip tanks). That's about six miles per gallon, which doesn't sound very economical until you consider that we were also getting to our destination at least four times faster than we would have in a car. Total trip length on the flight plan was 666.6 nautical miles (oo-wee-oo!).
I flew (with my virtual friends and passengers again) from Aspen all the way to San Diego, a trip of about four hours. The first part out of Aspen was at 14500, and as I cleared the mountains we descended, although I stayed at 12500 for most of the trip, until some clouds threatened around Twentynine Palms and I descended to get clear of them.
This being a very long flight, I just put everything into the GPS and let the autopilot fly most of the way. It was mainly VOR to VOR, but there was a long stretch to Tuba City during which I just let the GPS do its thing, without double-checking the VORs. The excellent VMC meant that there was little risk of a problem, and there are tiny airports all along the way, even through most of the desert—and we were high enough to glide to one of them if a problem arose.
There were no problems, in any case, and the weather cleared as we got past Thermal, at which point I began my descent. I went direct from Julian to VYDDA and made a very smooth, straight-in approach with an extremely gentle landing on runway 27 at KSAN. I parked at Jimsair and we all got out and raced for the restrooms. It was still vastly shorter than it would have been in a car, which would have taken around 17 hours of driving (not including breaks), and at least 50% greater distance.
I still had 1/3 of my fuel left at KSAN, and I had only filled the main tanks (not the tip tanks). That's about six miles per gallon, which doesn't sound very economical until you consider that we were also getting to our destination at least four times faster than we would have in a car. Total trip length on the flight plan was 666.6 nautical miles (oo-wee-oo!).
Greeley County - Aspen / Beechcraft Baron 58 (N2751W) / VFR
With two virtual friends eager to visit Aspen, I set out from Greeley in excellent weather. I skirted the Class B to the west at 8500, then gradually climbed to a dizzying 14500 to get over the mountains, with my passengers and myself dutifully huffing oxygen along the way. The weather was very clear and the scenery was very impressive. Although I monitored ATC I didn't really need to talk to them until we neared Aspen. I've been to Aspen before and we were in excellent VMC, so I called in a short distance east of Red Table and was quickly directed towards the airport, which I could easily see as I passed the mountaintop on which the Red Table VOR is located. I was promptly cleared to land and landed with no problem at all, having done this approach (in good weather) many times.
My passengers were happy despite the awkwardness of having to use supplemental oxygen. Oxygen isn't legally required for passengers below 15000 but I strongly recommended it anyway.
My passengers were happy despite the awkwardness of having to use supplemental oxygen. Oxygen isn't legally required for passengers below 15000 but I strongly recommended it anyway.
Denver - Vance Brand - Greeley County / Beechcraft Baron 58 (N2751W) / VFR
Having my Baron parked at Denver International, I decided to explore a bit around the region. I first flew out to Vance Brand (KLMO) northwest of Denver, and then, some time later, on to Greeley County. Both of these were very short flights, so not much to say about them. The weather was nice and the flights went well.