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Post by Capt Zlogg on Jan 15, 2010 12:15:03 GMT -5
........ I'm glad my Avatar has returned...... was it starring in a movie cheers Capt. Zlogg vp KGB Air Droppers (cows, elephants & rhinos)
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Post by pterodactyl (George) on Jan 15, 2010 22:18:43 GMT -5
Andrew; It's good to see your mug again. That blank stare before was most unsettling. I am now committed to flying the Lanc for the Rally. I've dropped in and out of each runway as a test with my weight load on board and it is going to be FUN. Good luck to all.
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Post by Tom Goodrick on Jan 15, 2010 23:15:42 GMT -5
I just registered (I think) three aircraft: Fairchild C-123 Aero Commander 560 Piper Comanche 250 [Edit:] The Roster now shows these entries as #59, #61 and #62. I usually have a lot of time on my hands so ther is a fair shot I'll finish each of them. Weight is indeed a big deal with larger aircraft on short fields (and I do mean fields). My C-123 weighs in at just under 60,000 lbs normally. But that includes 3 pallets of fine wines and good liquor plus a few freeze-dried turkey dinners from a US Army Food Research Lab I know of. But if things get tough at a short runway, I can leave the turkeys behind! I have flown all of these in previous GAARs so I know their capabilities. I have flown the AC560 through all GAAR 2010 legs with a sample of Aussie RW and spot checked the others. They will work. Of course the bit about getting close to the specified time will be interesting but probably manageable. For those needing refreshments, just look for the big fat C-123 in pretty BlueGrass paint. The wine will be refridgerated slightly.
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bgas004
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Post by bgas004 on Jan 16, 2010 12:07:04 GMT -5
Yea, I like the C-123 Tom, flew in one of those while in Nam. . .got me in and out safely (w/Jato assist of course, lol).
I posted a reminder about the GAAR over on the Sim-outhouse Forums, just to give everyone a heads-up. Lookin forward to the event. . .always a lot of fun!
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Post by rattler1 on Jan 16, 2010 19:04:12 GMT -5
Tom, I love your comment "But if things get tough ... I can leave the turkeys behind!" How many situations in life that could be applied to! Our senior hostie once had a sign on her wall that read "It's hard to soar with the eagles when you work with the turkeys". She was ordered to remove it as it was "disrespectful to the flight deck". Sad old world.
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Post by pterodactyl (George) on Jan 17, 2010 0:55:04 GMT -5
I diecided that since I was not able to bring my armament with me on this trip for the Lanc I had to load it up with something so it would fly straight. Since it is used to carrying several 1000 pounds of bombs, I have brought along several 100 bottles of the finest Tennessee "George Dickel" 12 year old Bourbon and 1500 pounds of "Manitoba Smokie Dogs" As the rally progresses I will drop several bottles of Bourbon and Smokies off at each stop for the locals to partake of real fine eats and sippin whiskey. Got to teach the folks down under how the other part of the world parties. Don't worry there will be some left for the annual virtual barbie at the end of the rally. ;D ;D ;D
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Post by rattler1 on Jan 17, 2010 17:18:25 GMT -5
Here's a little scenario for anyone with half an hour to spare. I'm bringing the Dove down from UK and flying to Bima in Indonesia. (WRRB in my version of FS9, but Wikapedia has it as WABD.) Being a bit careless with my flight planning I suddenly realised that it would be dark by the time I got there. Bima has no ATC, no published charts that I could find, is surrounded by high ground and HAS NO RUNWAY LIGHTS. The choice was divert, reset the time (cheating) or try an unorthodox and illegal approach (hey, that's what FltSim's for). There's an inlet from the sea and the runway is only a few yards inland. Luckily I've fitted a radio altimeter, it eases the stress on the adrenal cortex. Descend to 150' agl, set the autopilot to alt hold (barometric) and using the GPS creep up the inlet from seaward. Gear and 20 flap, 95 knots, watching the villages pass by ABOVE. At about 1.5 miles make a turn of 70 degrees or so to line up on 13. The landing lights on the Dove aren't brilliant, but I saw the runway as I came over the threshold. Autopilot out, full flap, close throttles, down. One of the most satisfying approaches I've done, which is why I share it with you. Should you give it a try, the chap in the red-roofed house about 1/4 mile left of the threshold sells a nice line in clean underwear.
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Post by Tom Goodrick on Jan 18, 2010 15:49:49 GMT -5
On a serious note, watch your FTime gauge closely as you get close to touchdown. When the airspeed drops to 30 knots, pause the flight and write down your flight time. On two occaisions recently, one today while flying the GAAR leg 4, I have lost the time during the landing. It has something to do with a slow landing in gusty conditions. The if airspeed jumps back over 30 knots, the gauge zeros itself because it thinks you are starting another flight. In several years of flying with the gauge I have only seen it do that a few times.
Indeed, a few minutes ago, I took a hit on the time because I didn't want to redo the flight. As I touched down in poor vis with a gusty headwind at YHOT, I saw 45.24 on the gauge but then something happened as I lowered the nose and I saw zero on the timer gauge. I was trying for 45.66 and probably would have been very close had I paused after rolling below 30 knots. It's an error of less than 1% so no big deal. But be careful.
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Post by rattler1 on Jan 18, 2010 16:19:28 GMT -5
Tom, reference your earlier comment about fuel availability, there is a very useful site called worldaerodata.com It seems that fuel can be uplifted at all points except Phillip Island, Mallacoota and Jervis Bay, although several of them require prior notice.
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Post by Tom Goodrick on Jan 18, 2010 20:25:08 GMT -5
Thanks for the link. I'll make it a favorite. I like to know that sort of thing when I fly international flights. I have that info for any US airport.
But in this GAAR, getting fuel is not a problem. I thought we would fly continuously through the legs, landing and then taking off for the next leg (when we had time in the real world). But we cannot do that in this GAAR. We must start each leg by loading in a situation for that leg, swapping the Cessna for the plane we are flying. The aircraft we load comes with whatever fuel we normally keep in the tanks before a flight. That way we get fresh weather for each leg. To handle the fuel situation in a realistic way, we would have to keep changing the fuel saved with to reflect the fuel used on the last leg done. This is a bit much.
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Post by rattler1 on Jan 19, 2010 17:14:10 GMT -5
Well, the Dove is now in Oz, taking a break in Darwin. I compared last year's ferry in the Valetta and was surprised. I thought this time it would be a greater distance, being limited for range, but it was in fact 600nm shorter. I guess following the old RAF route wasn't the most direct. The telling bit though is that last year it was a leisurely 7 legs in 14 days, totalling 40 hours, this time it was a hard 17 legs in 10 days, totalling 55 hours. The old girl is going into the paint shop for a couple of days, of which more later, while we take a well-earned few days off to sample the delights of Darwin.
Oh, and Capt Zlogg. No need for the "Bears in the Air" this year to protect the Motherland. This bird hasn't the range to make the crossing via the Aleutians, so I won't be going anywhere near your airspace. I'm going back on a variant of the way I came out.
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Post by Tom Goodrick on Jan 19, 2010 17:23:52 GMT -5
Well, I have done the C-123 through the first 6 legs. I have not done much VFR flying although the landings have all been visual - so far. Mostly it's IFR in IMC over the tall rocks. It is fun
My plan is to do the C-123 and the AC 560 before Feb and then do the Comanche on schedule. That way I fly each plane continuously end to end of the GAAR.
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bgas004
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Post by bgas004 on Jan 21, 2010 1:16:02 GMT -5
This has nothing to do with the GAAR, but I figured someone in here will know the answer.
Right now, when I enter the forum and a particular thread, the posts are shown in the opposite order from the way I would assume it should be. . .most recent first and the oldest at the end. But I see it just the opposite, the oldest post is first and I have to page back to the last page to see the most recent post. . .how do I change the way it's displayed?
Thanks
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Post by Les Smith on Jan 21, 2010 1:53:21 GMT -5
Left-click on the header "Last Post" and the sort order will change. Click until the "Last Post" items are at the top of the list.
Les
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Post by Capt Zlogg on Jan 21, 2010 11:15:26 GMT -5
Oh, and Capt Zlogg. No need for the "Bears in the Air" this year to protect the Motherland. This bird hasn't the range to make the crossing via the Aleutians, so I won't be going anywhere near your airspace. I'm going back on a variant of the way I came out. Comrade Rat, beware of animal droppings anywhere/anytime one month after the GAAR finishes. We will test various long range options to expand our market. cheers Capt. Zlogg vp KGB Air Droppers (cows, elephants & rhinos) leader Russian Olympic snowball team
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