Flying Boat Flightplans

[Bob BGAN005]

I have down loaded the Short S23 flying boat by Jens B. Kristensen.
I am using it in my Golden Wings setup. He included an flight from Sidney to Brisbane with the aircraft. He took a direct route overland for this flight instead of following the coast around.

My question is would this be a true flight. My thinking is that with the flying boat that all flights in the real world would have been over or near water in case of problems.
I did try turning off the engines at the farthest point from water and tried to make it to the water but of course I did not. Crash time!

What are the thoughts on this?

Bob BGAN005

PS: For anyone who like using fling boats etc., the Golden Wings overlay is better to use. It has more marked landing areas etc..

[Tom Goodrick]

First, just because you are overwater in a flying boat does not mean you can land safely anytime you need to. There are a few sea conditions that prevent this. Darkness is one. That is done in emergencies only. I have a friend who lost a finger and a pefectly good PBY trying to do that to service an injured sailor at sea at night.

You can set up flight plans anyway you want to. There were many flights over land by flying boats as from the Great lakes to the East and West coast or from the Gulf of Mexico to the West Coast. These were generally four-engine flying boats like the Short where flight can be maintained indefinitely with one engine out and a safe emergency landing is possible with two out.

There are normally intercections marked near the offshore landing areas to serve as end points for a flight plan though near-by land airports can also serve. I don't know if your special Golden Wings seaports show on the planning maps. You can also choose waypoints that are offshore or are near the shore if you want to keep your route offshore as much as possible.

To edit waypoints into a flight plan, just pick the endpoints and make the plan. Then look at the plan and change the zoom as needed as you search along the route for waypoints that are suitable. When you find a suitable waypoint, just grab a point on the route with your mouse and drag it to the waypoint. All marked intersections or other waypoints can be located by radio navigation in FS if you do not want to "pervert" your flight with GPS. (Of course VOR intersections only became available in the 1950's and anyone flying a "restored" flying boat today would be very foolish not to install a GPS.)

I fly the Boeing 314 around a fair amount but I use GPS without qualms. Every "old" airplane I've seen at "warbird" airshows has a Garmin on its panel. A similar time-discontinuity occurs every time I borrow my son's car for a ride on the highway. I use his XM satellite radio to listen to 1940's music.