Post by flaminghotsauce on Jun 14, 2009 15:31:41 GMT -5
In the latest Flying magazine, there's a blurb in the Airways section about the Citation XLS now being able to fly into and out of Qamdo Bangda in Tibet. This runway is 14,219 above sea level!
Also mentioned in the article is SLLP, La Paz in Bolivia as being the highest airport in common use, at 13,313.
Heh. Bring on the Cessna 172 to test out that service ceiling!
I went to SLLP and real weather brought me a 14 knot headwind. It took a couple attempts to start the engine, blindly adjusting the mix until I got it started and run up a bit. The runway is over 13,000' long so I figured this would be easy, right?
Attempt number one: My instinct, which is apparently wrong, is to put in a notch of flaps to help add lift to get the airplane off the ground. This is wrong. I never got over 60 knots and was very gentle with the yoke trying to get it up into the air. I got into ground effect, but that was all it would do. I was trying to gently do a turn, and stalled and crashed.
Attempt number two: Leave the stupid flaps alone. I made 70 knots at 2200 RPM max. I managed to fly off the runway, and enjoyed the gentle falling slope of the land off the departure end. I was able to climb no farther than 13,600' as I went around the pattern. Uh oh. Will I be above the runway when I get back to the approach? It didn't look like it! AND there was a building about 13,450' ASL in the way of the approach end of the runway, so I carefully flew around it, and made my way back to the runway. I let the wind slide me to the left side of the pavement as I was landing. About that time, a Bombardier CRJ blasted by me on the right! Wow! Then it stopped really fast and my rollout had to go into the grass to keep from hitting it.
SLLP requires a back-taxi back to the ramp and the CRJ turned around and I did to to follow it. As it parked on the ramp, I was facing it, and shut my engine down to listen outside the aircraft to the CRJ engines spool down. A ground vehicle slammed right into me! Funny stuff! I could hear it coming, but I'd shut down and couldn't move out of it's way.
THAT is what I get for flying around an airport without talking to the tower!
I didn't see the Qamdo Banda airport listed in the Simulator. I'm in FSX. I'm going to look in FS9 to see if it's there.
Also mentioned in the article is SLLP, La Paz in Bolivia as being the highest airport in common use, at 13,313.
Heh. Bring on the Cessna 172 to test out that service ceiling!
I went to SLLP and real weather brought me a 14 knot headwind. It took a couple attempts to start the engine, blindly adjusting the mix until I got it started and run up a bit. The runway is over 13,000' long so I figured this would be easy, right?
Attempt number one: My instinct, which is apparently wrong, is to put in a notch of flaps to help add lift to get the airplane off the ground. This is wrong. I never got over 60 knots and was very gentle with the yoke trying to get it up into the air. I got into ground effect, but that was all it would do. I was trying to gently do a turn, and stalled and crashed.
Attempt number two: Leave the stupid flaps alone. I made 70 knots at 2200 RPM max. I managed to fly off the runway, and enjoyed the gentle falling slope of the land off the departure end. I was able to climb no farther than 13,600' as I went around the pattern. Uh oh. Will I be above the runway when I get back to the approach? It didn't look like it! AND there was a building about 13,450' ASL in the way of the approach end of the runway, so I carefully flew around it, and made my way back to the runway. I let the wind slide me to the left side of the pavement as I was landing. About that time, a Bombardier CRJ blasted by me on the right! Wow! Then it stopped really fast and my rollout had to go into the grass to keep from hitting it.
SLLP requires a back-taxi back to the ramp and the CRJ turned around and I did to to follow it. As it parked on the ramp, I was facing it, and shut my engine down to listen outside the aircraft to the CRJ engines spool down. A ground vehicle slammed right into me! Funny stuff! I could hear it coming, but I'd shut down and couldn't move out of it's way.
THAT is what I get for flying around an airport without talking to the tower!
I didn't see the Qamdo Banda airport listed in the Simulator. I'm in FSX. I'm going to look in FS9 to see if it's there.