A Spanish Adventure - Around the world in Microsoft FS2020

[ChuckD]

Welcome back and thanks for joining me. 

 

Our last leg saw us landing in stiff winds at Beira, Mozambique (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beira,_Mozambique) on what was to be our last continental stop before winging our way over the Mozambique Channel to visit the island of Madagascar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar).

 

Today's leg would be about a 4 hour, 537 mile hop over the channel in a flight from Beira to Toliara, a small uncontrolled field on the western coast of Madagascar.

 

 

Toliara has no weather reporting station, so planning for the winds had to be based on weather reports for Tolagnaro... a mere 203 nautical miles away... on the opposite side of the island.  This would prove to be important later.

 

True to its coastal form, winds were strong at Beira for our departure.  At least they were again straight down runway 12.  Unlike our arrival, they weren't overly gusty, so the takeoff and climb out were fairly routine.

 

 

Note the two closed intersecting runways.

 

We slipped out over the coast and climbed to our cruise altitude of 9,500 in clear blue skies.

 

 

 

 

 

Setting the Beech 18 for cruise configuration involves a few steps. 

 

(here the pilot's yoke is removed for better visibility)

 

- [Red boxes] Adjust the throttle levers (1) until the manifold pressure gauge (2) reads 25" of manifold absolute pressure (MAP).  Throttles, as can be expected, regulate engine power output.

 

- [Dark blue boxes] Adjust the propeller levers (3) until the RPMs (4) come down to 1800 RPM.  This changes the pitch of the propeller blades, allowing them to take a larger "bite" out of the air.  This is akin to shifting up in a manual transmission vehicle or a bicycle.

 

- [Green boxes] Adjust the mixture levers (5) until the Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT) gauges (6) reach their peak temperature.  This ensures that you're getting the most complete combustion of the fuel/air mixture in the cylinders.  Too lean a mixture (a low ratio of fuel to air) and the cylinders will burn hotter and potentially damage the engine.  Too rich a mixture (a high ratio of fuel to air) and the spark plugs will foul with lead and fail to fire properly.  As you climb from sea level to cruise in this aircraft, you must constantly adjust the mixture leaner and leaner to account for the thinner air at altitude.  The opposite is true on descent.

 

- [Yellow boxes] Adjust the oil shutter levers (7) to maintain oil temperatures (8) in the green arc.  This is modeled a little poorly in the game.  As I understand it, the oil shutter system allows you to bypass the oil coolers and is typically used just after start up to help warm the engine oil more quickly.  Once warm, you typically open the shutters again so that the oil flows through the coolers.  For whatever reason, in the game, you keep the shutters on/open on the ground and off/closed in the air.  I doubt the R-985s in the game really give a damn about the oil temp being slightly out of the green arc, but I prefer things to be green whenever possible. 

 

- [Magenta boxes] Turn both fuel selector valves (9) to the rear/aux tanks and adjust the fuel gauge selector switch (10) to display fuel for one of the two rear tanks.  This ensures that you're burning fuel from the auxiliary tanks before pulling from the mains.  At cruise power settings, the aux tanks provide about 1hr 45 mins of flight time.  I use a timer on my phone to keep track of when I need to reselect the mains.

 

- [Teal boxes] Close the cowl flaps (11) and monitor the behavior of the cylinder head temperature gauge (12) to ensure that the cylinder heads in the engines stay in the green temperature range.  Cowl flaps sit at the trailing edge of the engine cowls and regulate the amount of cooling air that passes through the cowl and the cooling fins on the cylinder heads.  Given that radial engines are air-cooled, this is a very important control.  Open cowl flaps allow more cooling air through, but create more drag as they stick out into the slipstream.  Closed cowl flaps are the reverse.  Similar to the oil shutters, this isn't modeled all that accurately in the game.  Real Beech 18s have 3 cowl flap settings - open, closed, and trail, which is kind of a halfway point.  Generally, you leave them open on the ground, kick them to trail on takeoff and climb, then close them when established in cruise.  In the game, you get open and closed, so there's not much adjusting to be done. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we descended towards Madagascar, the wind began to pick up.

 

 

 

And we were met with a conundrum.  As it turns out, the wind reports from the station 200nm away were completely inaccurate for my destination field (shockedpikachu.jpg).  The wind report from the GTN750 - and verified by a look at the field's windsock - showed about an 18knt direct crosswind (arrow) to the main asphalt runway (box).

 

 

 

But then, I saw this...

 

 

 

... what I can only surmise is/was an old dirt strip that happened to be perfectly parallel to the wind.  Jackpot.

 

Down we came, and I entered the pattern to the dirt strip.

 

 

 

GUMPS check and the first notch of flaps on downwind...

 

 

 

2nd notch of flaps on base leg...

 

 

Turning final... last notch of flaps out.

 

 

 

 

Lined up on final, the wind was strong, but not gusty, so the ride down was reasonably smooth.

 

 

 

Trimmed for 80kts on short final, we were committed to the landing.

 

 

 

No happy chirp from the wheels kissing asphalt, just the crunch of gravel under our tires.

 

 

 

Shooting for a 3-point landing to get the tailwheel down as quickly as possible, we touched down just above stall speed.

 

 

 

 

 

Oddly enough, it was probably one of my best landings yet.  Go figure... 10,000' of asphalt and I bounce and wobble down the runway.  1500' of single track and I'm in like Flynn.  :/

 

Ah well, I takes what I can gets.  We taxied to the pumps and shut down with the setting sun.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for following along!  Next up, island adventures in the Indian Ocean.

 

 

 

[Dpgsbody55]

13 hours ago, ChuckD said:

 

I still haven't tried out the Beaver yet.  I've been flying the Arrow III and the DC-3 quite a bit though.  The Arrow is just the bee's knees.  I'm still kinda middling on the DC-3 though.  Its autopilot is disastrously bad.  Maybe I just don't understand it enough yet, but any time I engage it, it kicks me into about a 1500fpm descent which is... problematic to say the least.  It's fast for sure, but it still feels incomplete.  I'm glad I've got the Beech for my round the world flying.  

 

I haven't yet tried the DC-3, and I believe that the developers are going to be releasing updates to the plane which should improve it.  I don't think the Sperry auto pilot supported descent rates of 1500fpm as this was considered bad practice with radial engines of that time due to shock cooling of the cylinder heads.  Manifold pressure was only allowed to be reduced by 3 inches at a time, wait for temps to stabilise, then reduce another 3 inches etc., and keep the rpm under the map figure.  IE, 25in MAP, 2100 RPM so that the prop never drives the engine.  The only allowed exception was on final approach when full fine pitch is engaged.

 

I like the Arrow III too.  It's one of the best addons yet.  The Milviz Cessna 310 is also very good, as is the AT Simulations Piaggio (Focke Wulf) P-149.  I've flown that one a lot and it's great - no auto pilot!!  But I'm still waiting for something from A2A simulations.  The whisper is that their Comanche is about to enter beta testing.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

PS. Keep the updates coming.  I'm enjoying the story a lot.

 

 

[ChuckD]

22 hours ago, Dpgsbody55 said:

 

I haven't yet tried the DC-3, and I believe that the developers are going to be releasing updates to the plane which should improve it.  I don't think the Sperry auto pilot supported descent rates of 1500fpm as this was considered bad practice with radial engines of that time due to shock cooling of the cylinder heads.  Manifold pressure was only allowed to be reduced by 3 inches at a time, wait for temps to stabilise, then reduce another 3 inches etc., and keep the rpm under the map figure.  IE, 25in MAP, 2100 RPM so that the prop never drives the engine.  The only allowed exception was on final approach when full fine pitch is engaged.

 

I like the Arrow III too.  It's one of the best addons yet.  The Milviz Cessna 310 is also very good, as is the AT Simulations Piaggio (Focke Wulf) P-149.  I've flown that one a lot and it's great - no auto pilot!!  But I'm still waiting for something from A2A simulations.  The whisper is that their Comanche is about to enter beta testing.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

PS. Keep the updates coming.  I'm enjoying the story a lot.

 

 

 

Thanks, Michael.  I'm glad you're enjoying the story.    I'm having more fun than I thought I would exploring the world this way.  Sure, I could fire up Google Earth and essentially do the same thing in a fraction of the time and effort, but this has proved pretty engaging and enjoyable.

 

I agree that the DC-3 still needs a little more time in the oven and will benefit from a few more updates to get it up to snuff.  I'd say the 1500fpm descent happens ~70% of the time I engage the autopilot in alt hold mode.  I still haven't figured out what causes it and it does it regardless of whether I use the classic or modern instrument sets.  So, hopefully it'll get squared away in another update.  I feel like engine modeling, at least in GA aircraft, isn't really this game's strongest suit.  I'm pretty sure I could run the Beech 18 wide open in perpetuity without any ill effects, but as I said, I like to keep things in the green.

 

I did try the float Beaver tonight at your suggestion.  I was going nuts with the damn rattling in the cockpit for about an hour until I found some obscure reddit post that pointed out the need to tighten down the oil filler cap to get it to stop.  What a godsend.  So, my first (post-oil-filler-cap-rattle) impression of the Beaver is that it climbs like a rocket.  The fact that it uses the same engine as the Beech means I'm pretty familiar with its power settings, so that's a plus.  I think when I get the urge to do some bush flying, it's going to be my go-to.

 

I also picked up the L-4 Grasshopper from the marketplace the other day.  It's okay, but I can't really recommend it.  It flies nicely enough, but it doesn't slow down and has no flaps, so landings are an unexpectedly fast affair.  

[Dpgsbody55]

1 hour ago, ChuckD said:

 

Thanks, Michael.  I'm glad you're enjoying the story.    I'm having more fun than I thought I would exploring the world this way.  Sure, I could fire up Google Earth and essentially do the same thing in a fraction of the time and effort, but this has proved pretty engaging and enjoyable.

 

I agree that the DC-3 still needs a little more time in the oven and will benefit from a few more updates to get it up to snuff.  I'd say the 1500fpm descent happens ~70% of the time I engage the autopilot in alt hold mode.  I still haven't figured out what causes it and it does it regardless of whether I use the classic or modern instrument sets.  So, hopefully it'll get squared away in another update.  I feel like engine modeling, at least in GA aircraft, isn't really this game's strongest suit.  I'm pretty sure I could run the Beech 18 wide open in perpetuity without any ill effects, but as I said, I like to keep things in the green.

 

I did try the float Beaver tonight at your suggestion.  I was going nuts with the damn rattling in the cockpit for about an hour until I found some obscure reddit post that pointed out the need to tighten down the oil filler cap to get it to stop.  What a godsend.  So, my first (post-oil-filler-cap-rattle) impression of the Beaver is that it climbs like a rocket.  The fact that it uses the same engine as the Beech means I'm pretty familiar with its power settings, so that's a plus.  I think when I get the urge to do some bush flying, it's going to be my go-to.

 

I also picked up the L-4 Grasshopper from the marketplace the other day.  It's okay, but I can't really recommend it.  It flies nicely enough, but it doesn't slow down and has no flaps, so landings are an unexpectedly fast affair.  

 

Quote: "I feel like engine modeling, at least in GA aircraft, isn't really this game's strongest suit.  I'm pretty sure I could run the Beech 18 wide open in perpetuity without any ill effects, but as I said, I like to keep things in the green."

 

Two things stand out for me here.  Firstly, I think realism isn't MSFS's strongest suit, though OOB it's better than any previous MS offering.  I'd agree you could run the Beech, or any other MSFS addon to this point, at all the red lines.  This brings me to the second thing in that I mentally see you flying about with cylinder heads blowing in very short order.  I still have FS9 on my system and occassionally run the CalClassics Connie or DC-6 for fun.  These both come with a realism module that ensures engine failures after a few minutes of running at full power.  Great fun, but short flights.  In reality when flying big radials, you'd reduce to METO power above 500ft AGL (maximum except take off), accelerate to climb speed, then reduce power to maintain that.  I don't know if you're familiar with this, but there's a propliner tutorial on the Calclassics site if you're interested in some further reading on this.  I like realism in my flight sim, or it's just a boring game.  This is why I like the products from A2A simulations.  Their P-47 for FSX behaved very similarly.  Also, I love the pops and bangs you get when you turn their Spitfire MkI on it's back, then the recovery as you right it and the engine suddenly gets petrol again.  Can't with for that in MSFS.

 

I haven't tried the L-4, though I do have a couple of biplanes in my sim.  No flaps either, so final approach needs that bit more planning.  A2A also do a Piper Cub for FSX/P3D which has the same "plan ahead" feature.  Unless you like touching down long after the piano keys... 

 

Happy simming.

Cheers,

Michael

[ChuckD]

Interesting.  That's SOP for me though.  Pretty much as soon as I have a stable positive rate of climb, I pull up the gear and reduce power then accelerate to climb speed of around 105-110kts.  Those are based on settings published in a C-45H POH that's dated July 1953 as published here: https://www.avialogs.com/aircraft-b/beechcraft/item/55359-an-01-90cdc-1-flight-handbook-c-45h-aircraft before it recently got locked behind a paywall.  I've found a few other fragmentary POHs, but the problem is that pretty much every iteration that I've been able to find has vastly different information on prescribed engine management procedures.  

 

I'll be the first to admit that I've only got about .5hrs in a real Beech 18 and thus didn't dive into engine management in any depth, but I do have quite a bit of time in high performance complex aircraft, so managing props and power settings are pretty familiar to me.

 

 

[Mark_C]

Thanks for these posts, ChuckD.  Most interesting to watch you "fly," and the lesson on instrumentation shows how complex it all is, and how you really have to be alert at all times.

 

I'm sorry to read MSFS isn't very realistic, as I would have thought buyers would want as close to real an experience as possible - an affordable flight-simulator.

 

 

[ChuckD]

On 11/22/2022 at 10:07 AM, Mark_C said:

Thanks for these posts, ChuckD.  Most interesting to watch you "fly," and the lesson on instrumentation shows how complex it all is, and how you really have to be alert at all times.

 

I'm sorry to read MSFS isn't very realistic, as I would have thought buyers would want as close to real an experience as possible - an affordable flight-simulator.

 

 

It's something of a trade-off really.  The general consensus is that FS2020 is much very accessible and has phenomenal visuals, but it does sacrifice some realism even at its highest settings. X-Plane 12 and Prepar3D apparently take it the opposite direction - hyper realism for the loss of graphical fidelity.  

 

I'm all for the realism, but I do like eye candy too.  So when the visuals are vastly different and the realism is slightly different, it pushed me towards FS2020.

 

If I get back into actual flying and truly want to *practice,* I will probably invest in one of the other sims.

[ChuckD]

Welcome back and thanks for joining me. 

 

When last we left off, we had just landed in Toliara, a small town on the southwest coast of the island of Madagascar.  Due to strong crosswinds, I'd been forced to land on a small dirt strip instead of the main asphalt runway, but had, surprisingly, made a really nice landing. 

 

In my general plan to see most of Africa, I wanted to make sure that I hit up some of the smaller island countries off the eastern coast.  So the idea for the next couple legs was to first head northeast to traverse the backbone Madagascar, then swing out east to hit Reunion and Mauritius, before turning back towards the continent with an overnight stop in Comoros.  This would be multiple legs over the course of several days.

 

A map to help visualize:

 

Note that FMMT was just a waypoint, not an actual landing.  We were wheels down at the rest of the locations shown though.

 

We have been more or less blessed with good weather throughout most of these flights and these last few legs have been no exception.  The only real challenge I've been handed is the screwy winds. 

 

 

Here the GTN750 shows the winds rifling along perfectly perpendicular to the asphalt runway at 17kts.  I do love the Beech 18, but with her relatively small vertical tail surfaces, directional control in the yaw axis is not her strongest suit.  As I've mentioned before, the maximum demonstrated crosswind for the Beech 18 is 11kts, so, a takeoff in the 17kt crosswind was out. 

 

To the dirt strip we go. 

 

Given the long length of this flight, we were fully topped off with 900 extra pounds of fuel, including 600lbs in the fore tank and 300 in the aft.

 

 

 

 

 

Knowing we were going to be heavy, I opted for a short field takeoff procedure.  In the Beech 18, this involves taking off with one notch of flaps (vs. no flaps for normal takeoffs) and a full power climb until obstacles are cleared (vs pulling power slightly immediately after takeoff).  Once the obstacles are cleared, accelerate to 90kts, then retract the flaps, reduce power to climb settings, and continue the climb as normal.

 

 

Sweetpea II performed wonderfully and we were quickly off the deck, climbing away to the north.

 

 

 

 

The first phase of our cruise flight took us northeast over the spine of Madagascar's central ridges.  A dusty, red clay coastal plain soon gave way to rolling hills, then mountainous ridges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the east side of the mountains, the terrain rapidly turned green.  You can definitely tell where the rainy areas are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We dodged a few thunderheads as we neared the coast...

 

 

 

...but in all, the weather was very cooperative over Madagascar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon we were cruising in glassy air over the ocean on our way to Reunion island.

 

 

 

Over the ocean, I transferred fuel from the aux tanks to the main front and rear tanks to top them off.  This is something of a creative license, but it is plausible.  Most Beech 18s originally came with fuel tanks in the nose compartment, but that's not modeled in the game.  So, to simulate that, and to allow me to have longer legs required for over water flights, I add weight to the forward and aft baggage compartments when preparing the weight and balance for the flight.  Once the main fuel tanks are down 900lbs of fuel, I use the weight and balance menu to remove the fore and aft baggage and refill the fuel tanks.  Again, it's not quite how things would work in the real aircraft, but it's close enough for what we're doing here.

 

 

 

A low hanging cloud deck surrounded Reunion island, so we ducked below it to maintain VFR. 

 

 

 

 

Tower cleared us to land on runway 14 and we began our final approach.  The runway configuration here is weird.  Runways 14 and 12 intersect in their first couple hundred feet, so from a distance it's hard to tell which is which.  Owing to that, I opted to follow the ILS approach for 14.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final configuration checks done, winds calm and down the runway... here we go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a quick top off (and a reboot since my PC was, for some reason, on the struggle bus at that moment), we departed late in the day for Mauritius.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun was low in the sky as we neared out destination.  With terrain in the area, some light clouds, and light fading, I opted to do the RNAV (GPS) approach to runway 14. Best to follow procedures than risk finding an unexpected hill blocking the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Touchdown and rollout were clean as the winds were mercifully cooperative.

 

 

 

 

 

A few days later, it was time to begin our trek back towards the continent.  We'd first pass over Madagascar's northern tip again, then overnight on the island of Comoros before making continental landfall in eastern Zambia.

 

We took off from Mauritius early, into the rising sun, following an Standard Instrument Departure (SID) procedure to keep us well clear of any terrain. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We cruised over the ocean on smooth air.

 

 

 

As we neared Madagascar, I discovered something ... interesting... about FS2020.  It appears that when you cross the border of a time zone, the game doesn't just set the time on the clock - it sets time in the world.  So, all of a sudden, what had been late afternoon became near dusk in an instant.  I'm not sure the logic there, but that's apparently how the game handles time changes.  The end result of that peculiarity being that, in this 7.1hr flight, I got to see sunrise, sunset, and full on darkness.  Neat, I guess.

 

At least it made for some pretty visuals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we reached Comoros, it was extremely dark.  With no horizon and few stars, it's no wonder why a lot of people have crashed due to becoming disoriented at night.  I was very glad I had a good autopilot and instrument flying skills.  It would have been very easy to lose situational awareness and succumb to vertigo otherwise.

 

This is all I could see of the island as we made our approach.

 

 

Given the visual conditions, and the knowledge that there was a gigantic mountain looming out there in the darkness, I opted to fly the ILS approach.

 

 

See that big red blob?  Avoid.

 

Following the prescribed approach, the runway soon came into view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even with Sweetpea's powerful twin landing lights burning, the darkness was still all consuming.  Depth perception for the final flare to touchdown was extremely challenging, but ultimately the landing wasn't too bad.  A little bounce, then a recovery to a 3-point attitude and we were soon rolling to the parking area.

 

 

 

 

7.1hrs in the cockpit made for a long day.

 

A few days later, it was time to leave and head back to the continent, but there was a bit of a wrinkle in the plan.  I'd tried to leave a couple times, but the winds would just not cooperate.  A gusty, 15kt crosswind seemed to plague this place, so I had two options: use the game's weather controls to kill the wind (lame), or try something new. 

 

I found a USAF Beech 18 (technically a C-45H) flight manual from the 1950s that talked about procedures for high crosswinds.  Basically, you advance the throttle of the upwind engine more than that of the downwind engine to help compensate for yaw.  In this case, the wind was coming from my left.  This would hit the tail and fuselage, pushing them to my right and thus - like a weather vane - yawing the nose to left.  By bringing up power on the left engine higher than that of the right, I would induce a natural tendency for the nose to swing right, thus helping to counteract the wind-induced yaw.  I was hoping that between differential power and the yaw authority of the rudders, I'd be able to maintain directional control.  Fortunately, the runway at Comoros was large, both long and wide, giving me plenty of room to maneuver and to recover if things went south.

 

We taxied out and lined up.

 

 

 

I went through the procedures in my head a couple times, then slowly increased power with the brakes locked.  With the left engine at full power and the right slightly lower, I released the brakes.  At 40kts, the tail came off the ground and this is usually where things go hinky in this airplane.  A slight yaw to the left, but quick rudder compensation brought it center again.

 

 

And we were off!  All things considered, it really wasn't a bad takeoff.  Wild.

 

 

 

Once airborne, I quickly set standard climb power configurations and we made our climb over the ocean.

 

 

 

The air grew bumpy as we crossed the continental coast and made our way towards Zambia on the inner plains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the most part, the weather cooperated outside of the turbulence.

 

 

 

And we were soon lining up over the Mfuwe International in Zambia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite a sloppy approach (I couldn't seem to manage my speed well.  Maybe I had turkey on the brain...) the final flare and touchdown were smooth.

 

 

We taxied to the edge of the tarmac and shut down for the day.  222.0 hours in the Beech as of now. 

 

 

 

Thanks for following along!  Next up, something a little special on the plains of Africa. 

 

 

 

[themongoose]

Oh I’m really loving this. Great pics and it’s interesting to hear how you have learned some new tricks thru the simulator and forcing yourself to make it as real as possible…sans the probably poor overnight stays and worry about clean water on a few of those island stays!

[ChuckD]

3 hours ago, themongoose said:

Oh I’m really loving this. Great pics and it’s interesting to hear how you have learned some new tricks thru the simulator and forcing yourself to make it as real as possible…sans the probably poor overnight stays and worry about clean water on a few of those island stays!

 

Ha!  Yes, to say nothing of customs hassles, aircraft breakdowns, political unrest, vandals stealing airplane parts, finding places to stay, finding fuel, finding oil, finding maintenance services, etc. 

 

The logistics of doing this in the game are a lot more fun that doing it in real life.  

 

edit: Oh yeah, and costs.  Conservatively, I've probably burned $100k in fuel alone.  

Edited November 25, 2022 by ChuckD

[ChuckD]

Welcome back and thanks for joining me. 

 

Route?

Check.  A 4-hr flight direct from Mfuwe to Kilimanjaro.

 

 

Weather?

Check.  Clear blue with a million miles visibility.

 

Fuel?

Check.  Full tanks, so ~7hrs endurance.

 

Weight and balance?

Check.  Fuel, family, Fatpuppy, luggage, and 250lbs of spare parts and materials.  No fuel in the ferry tanks.

 

Time?

Check.  4hrs will put us there well past sunset.

 

Destination airport?

Check.  Large, towered, international airport with a ~12,000' runway, instrument procedures, and glidepath lighting.

 

 

We're good to go!

 

Right?

 

In mid afternoon, we fired up at Mfuwe, Zambia, excited to know that we'd soon be seeing the world famous landmark that is Mt. Kilimanjaro.  As the props turned over, I glanced at the Hobbs meter in the aircraft and reflected on the 222+hrs in the Beech 18, most of which is on this trip.  Crazy how much time has gone by.

 

 

Our route today would take us north northeast from Zambia to Tanzania and the international airport at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro itself.  A check of the terrain profile showed that a 9,500' cruising altitude would get us over the highest peak by about 1,000', but I figured we'd keep the GTN750 in terrain mode just to be safe. 

 

During our stay, we'd learned that the Luangwa River, just north of Mfuwe, is home to many herds of hippos.  So, we figured that we'd give it our best to do a little wildlife spotting from the air before climbing out on our en route course.

 

The winds were cooperative, so taxi and take off were uneventful. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slowly advancing the throttles forward to the stops then releasing the brakes, we roared down the runway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climbing to 1,000' above ground level (AGL), we soon reached the Luangwa River and turned east to begin searching for hippos.  At first, we didn't have much luck, so we turned back and trekked further west. 

 

Ah ha!

 

 

 

A herd of them trundling along the river bank.  We made a few low passes for photo ops.  Finding these guys was challenging as the game doesn't draw them in until you're right on top of them at very low altitude.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With our photos done, we engaged the autopilot and began climbing to our cruise altitude.  The African plains spread out below us in every direction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our path took us over the northern end of Lake Malawi, an enormous freshwater lake near the middle of the continent. 

 

 

 

 

 

Just to the northeast of the lake's northern reaches rose the highest elevation we were to face on this trip.  Craggy, peaked plateaus loomed ahead of us. 

 

 

 

Checking the terrain display, it sure looked like we would clear all the nearby peaks by at least 500' and by over 1500' for anything in our direct path. 

 

 

 

As we crossed the first row of ridges, I began to doubt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the last spine of ridges in this chain of mountains looming ahead, I decided that discretion is the better part of valor and pushed the throttles forward into a climb, leveling off again at 11,500.  To hell with what the GPS said... the Mk I eyeball says we were going to get too close to terrain for comfort, so up we go.

 

 

 

There.   That's better.

 

 

We droned on into the evening, the sun setting at our backs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The setting sun cast long shadows in the cockpit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon, we were enveloped by the night.

 

 

 

As we neared Kilimanjaro International, I began the preparation for approach and landing.  Given the low light, I again opted to fly the ILS approach after being cleared to land on runway 09.  Winds were strong at 20kts, but were straight down the runway, and best of all, steady - not gusting.  So, unlike some of our other approaches, we were not being tossed around the sky by a strong wind.

 

We began our descent to the approach altitude and intercepted the glideslope and localizer.  Out ahead, the runway approach lights gleamed brightly in the darkness.

 

 

 

Or did they?

 

Something was wrong.

 

<facepalm>

 

The taxiway was lit.  The approach lights were lit.  The visual approach slope indicator lights (VASI) were lit.

 

The runway, however, was a dark black hole in the night.

 

 

Stupid me for overlooking the fact that the airport information report lacked the term "lighted" like in this example:

 

 

Cool.  What do?

 

A quick check of the other two airports in the area showed that they were unlit too, so they were out.  The nearest airport with a lit runway was at least an hour's flight away which would put us down to lower fuel and fewer options than I'd like if something went wrong there.  I was already established on the glideslope, speed and decent rate were perfectly smooth, winds were favorable... I could tell where the runway was, I just couldn't see the outline of it.

 

Okay, we'll give it a shot.  Worst case, if I don't like something on short final, I'll go around and can make an approach on the lit taxiway.  There's no regulation saying you're required to land on a runway, so worst case, it would be my backup plan.

 

Down we came, speed pegged at 80kts, eyes glued to the VASI lights to the left of the runway.  VASIs are pretty straight forward.  Two white and two red lights indicate you're on the optimal glidepath.  Three or four white lights indicate you're above, three or four red indicate you're below.  As the saying goes, "four white, you'll be flying all night.  Four red, you're dead."

 

 

Flaps and gear down, landing lights burning, we groped further into the darkness.

 

 

 

 

 

This felt like the longest approach I've ever flown.  The runway threshold lights disappeared beneath the nose.  Though still shrouded in darkness, we were over the numbers.  Pull power.  This is it.

 

 

 

Out of the gloom in my peripheral vision, the white runway edge lines loomed in the glow of the landing lights.

 

 

 

Gentle back pressure... flare... keep the lines in sight... flare... hold it there and let the big bird settle.

 

*squawk*

 

 

 

 

 

We touched down just left of centerline and rolled to a stop.  I felt physically exhausted, but somehow elated at the same time.  We taxied to the *lighted* taxiway and parked at the *lighted* apron, shutting down for the night.

 

 

 

 

Would I have made the same decision in real life?  I'm not sure.  It's tough to say.  Fuel would have been a major concern had we tried to make for the nearest lighted field.  I had precision approach indicators and terrain avoidance functionality on the GPS.  Winds were very favorable too.  With the speed pegged right where it should be and the approach so smooth, things were working well.  If I'd been getting tossed around the sky or there'd been clouds or other weather, it would have been different. So, in light of the outcome, I suppose I may have tried it in real life. 

 

The real lesson here is to not assume that a large, towered, *international airport* is going to be lighted in the game.  From here out, I'll double check for the word "lighted" when flight planning.  I've run into unlighted fields in the past, but never at a large, international airport, so there were some false assumptions on my part and that's the lesson here.  I got lucky and as the saying goes, "it's better to be lucky than good," but I argue that with better planning and decision making, you can be both lucky *and* good.

 

Thanks for following along!

 

 

 

[ChuckD]

Welcome back and thanks for joining me. 

 

After the harrowing, zero-dark-thirty landing into the Kilimanjaro International airport (which, I'm told, is well-lit in reality...), it was time to get up and see Mt. Kilimanjaro (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kilimanjaro) in all its glory.  I was pretty excited about this leg, as I sort of assumed that a site like Kili would be well rendered in the game.  Turns out, for as pretty as this game is, it's impossible to have all areas of the world rendered with loving care, and consequently, Kili fell a bit short of hopes.  At least the flight would take terminus at Entebbe International (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entebbe_International_Airport), which is a unique airfield in the game.

 

The plan was to depart eastbound, loop around the eastern side of Kilimanjaro, then turn northwest, crossing the Serengeti and Lake Victoria before making landfall at Entebbe, Uganda.

 

 

 

All told, this would be relatively short hop over the Serengeti plains of northern Tanzania and would mark our fourth crossing of the equator.

 

Kilimanjaro itself is clearly visible from the ramp, as it towers over a largely flat plain.

 

 

Though the peaks were shrouded by clouds, it was still a very imposing sight. 

 

 

 

Thundering down the runway, we lifted off and began our loop around the behemoth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climbing to our cruise altitude of 11,500, the mountain still towered over us.  At 19,341 feet, it would be difficult to fly over it in the Beech.  I've had it up to 20,000' before, but it's a stretch for the old girl.  A friend of mine has summited Kili and while I appreciated the accomplishment in an academic sense, this helped give some perspective to the true effort that went into his feat.

 

 

 

 

 

I was hoping that the terrain in the area would be well-rendered, but as you can see, it was pretty generic and blotchy.  Unfortunately, much of the African continent seems to be hit or miss when it comes to terrain rendering.

 

 

 

 

 

Looping around the mountain, we turned northwest...

 

 

 

...and headed out over the Serengeti plain...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

... to Lake Victoria.

 

 

 

 

 

Entebbe approach began vectoring us for a visual approach into runway 17.  With steady winds out of the south, 17 was the best choice.

 

 

 

Entebbe proper is to the northeast of the international airport which is situated on a small peninsula jutting into Lake Victoria.  Here, Entebbe is to our left, while the airport is out of frame at our 9 o'clock.

 

 

 

The airport is located on that spot of land poking into the lake just above and forward of the left wingtip.

 

 

 

Entebbe is a surprisingly large metropolis with lots of suburban areas.

 

 

 

Turning to intercept the final approach course, the weather was pristine.

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, let's do this.  GUMPS!  Aviation is absolutely rife with acronyms for *everything* and the pre-landing mnemonic for making sure you don't end up skidding down the runway on your belly is one of millions.  Gas, Undercarriage, Mixture, Props, Seatbelts.

 

 

 

 

 

I had loaded the RNAV approach into the GPS just to have a point of reference, but the approach was flown visually.

 

 

 

On speed, on slope, on course, winds cooperating.

 

 

 

 

 

Flaps down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short final, here we go!

 

 

 

A gentle flare, and Sweetpea II's tires kissed the asphalt with a cheerful chirp. 

 

 

 

With the tailwheel slowly settling, we were officially on the ground for one of my better landings.  That's not to bragging, but celebrating my good luck.  :)

 

 

 

As I mentioned before, Entebbe is a hand-crafted airport in the game, so I tried to capture a number of photos as we taxied to parking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(in case you forgot where you were)

 

 

 

Parking on the bizjet ramp, we shut down and called it a day after just 2.7hrs in the cockpit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, it was a pretty uneventful flight with clear skies and relatively calm winds.  Kili was a bit of a letdown, but Entebbe turned out to be a pretty neat airport.

 

Thanks for following along.  Next up - a jaunt northeast to scare some more wildlife.

[Dpgsbody55]

Nice pics again.  You're inspiring me to go and take a look at east Africa.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[ChuckD]

Welcome back and thanks for joining me. 

 

Today, we leave Entebbe, Uganda and head northeast with a destination of Combolcha, Ethiopia.  Why northeast?  In looking at the in-game planning map, there are a few spots of wildlife and bespoke sights to see, so it seems like a good idea as any.  The plan from here will be to follow the coast of the Red Sea up to Cairo, then turn west to parallel the North African coast before crossing at Gibraltar to the Iberian peninsula.  It is in North Africa where we'll cross over our first major battle grounds of WWII where elements of the Commonwealth and US armies slugged it out with Erwin Rommel and his vaunted Afrika Korps.  Should be interesting to see up close some of the places I've read so much about.

 

Anyhoo, departure from Entebbe was uneventful with clear weather and light winds.  Weather has been extremely favorable this whole trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The urban area around the airport is extensive.

 

 

 

 

 

Entebbe itself is a huge, sprawling urban center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climbing to 11,500' - the sweet spot for the Beech 18's fuel consumption in the game - we winged our way northeast towards Combolcha.  Though bumpy, the air was remarkably clear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here and there, a few clouds dotted the sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The real show-stealer on this flight was the scenery.  As we neared Combolcha, flat plains gave way to a dramatic landscape of deep ravines, and craggy mountain peaks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Combolcha itself is located at the end of a long river valley cut between two mountain ranges.  In this photo, it's nestled at the foot of the mountains at about the 10 o'clock position.  The only real approach is to come up from the south as the approach to the northern runway would be... challenging owing to reasons that will be evident momentarily. 

 

 

 

We turned due east to get us over the valley and the start of our descent and approach. Fortunately, winds and weather were favorable and the mountains provided the only real concern.

 

 

 

Just over the valley, we banked hard left and began a somewhat rapid descent to get down to pattern altitude of about 7,000 feet.  I was wary of shock cooling the engines, so I kept the power up a bit and the cowl flaps closed.  In an air-cooled engine such as the R-985, a rapid reduction of power and an increase in airspeed (as often seen during a rapid descent) can overcool the engine and cause damage to, or in extreme cases, failure of the cylinder heads.  99.99% sure FS2020 doesn't model this, but I still try to keep the old girl within her normal operating parameters.

 

 

 

Combolcha is tucked away at the foot of that mountain.

 

 

 

 

 

GPS terrain mode was helpful here... but not all that reassuring.  As you can see, on the approach, the terrain to our left was already towering above us, while the terrain to our right has dotted with ragged peaks.  As we descended, we were well below most of the peaks to our right as well.

 

 

Hold on, here we go!

 

 

 

 

It quickly became apparent that going around would be problematic at best.  If it came to it and I had to go around, my plan was to make as hard a bank to the left as I could manage to clear that prominent hill there, then use the valley (out of frame to the left) to climb out and try again.  While the immediate terrain to the right looks a little more favorable for a go around, a solid wall of mountains stands just to the right of the picture. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost there, everything looking good.

 

 

Okay, let's stick this.

 

 

 

 

Touchdown!

 

 

Cleaning up the aircraft, we back-taxied briefly then parked at the ramp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, funny thing about that landing.  There are three main camera views in FS2020: Internal/cockpit, external, and "drone" mode.  Cockpit view is self explanatory.  External view is a view in which you can pan the camera around the aircraft, but the aircraft is more or less always the center of the frame.  Drone camera is essentially a free camera mode that allows you to position the camera any way you'd like without the game trying to focus it on the aircraft.

 

Because of the way I have (*had* as of just now) my controls set up - or it's the default, I'm not really sure - there is a quirk in this game where you can get stuck in a loop between the two external views without being able to return to the cockpit.  While trying to capture more dramatic shots as I'm landing and taking off, I've gotten fairly proficient at hitting the key for the external view, then hitting F12 to take a screen shot, then hitting the key for external view again to return to the cockpit.

 

Trouble arose on this landing when I accidentally hit the external view key, took a screenshot, then hit

the key for the drone mode.  Now I was stuck in an view loop on *very* short final.  That, in and of itself, would be a challenge as I'm not used to landing while viewing from outside the cockpit.  However, there's an even greater issue.  In drone mode, all flight controls are disabled.  Why?  ~*just Microsoft reasons*~  (read: I don't know.)

 

So, as I was about 10' off the ground, I got stuck in a view loop, unable to return quickly to the cockpit, and the external view (where the controls *are* responsive) was set to here:

 

^^^ That's the angle from which I landed my notoriously squirrely aircraft on a narrow, sloping mountain runway.  The shots above, from directly above and behind the aircraft while on short final were in drone mode and controls were *not* responsive.

 

There's a saying in aviation that seems somehow apropos for this occasion: "It's better to be lucky than good."

 

Sure, I could have paused, gotten the views sorted out and probably landed without complaint, but things were happening very quickly and I didn't think to hit the pause key.  Surprisingly, it wasn't a terrible landing.  I bounced once, then transitioned to a 3-point attitude and settled on the runway.  I've done worse (and better, too) from the cockpit view.

 

That said, I have now changed some of the key configs around to give me an option to "toggle cockpit view" which should take me directly back to the cockpit view whenever needed.  No more view loops.  Phew.

 

Thanks for following along.  Next up - wildlife harassment.  This time I mean it.

[ChuckD]

Welcome back and thanks for joining me. 

 

Last week, we'd bumped our way into Combolcha (sometimes spelled Kombolcha), Ethiopia, coming down over some fantastically beautiful scenery and setting us up for this week's flight over some interesting terrain, fauna, and sites.  Recall that Combolcha's airport is nestled in the northern end of a canyon with steep mountains towering on three sides.  So, our route would first, necessarily, take us south, giving us room to climb out of the mountain valley before turning northwest towards our first point of interest.  From there, we'd turn north-northwest to hopefully see some more animals, then another unique building.  After that though, I decided on something of a detour to visit the Islamic holy city of Mecca.  As it turns out, there are a number of unique buildings there and it will help me check some of the western Middle East countries off my list so that I don't have to hit them on the way back.  All that said, I will be the first to admit that I have very little in-depth knowledge of the Islamic faith, so if any of you out there do and want to chime in with information, please feel free to share!

 

 

 

Once again, the weather was in our favor with crystal clear skies.  Winds were relatively light, but gusty and, of course, a perfect crosswind.  Sweetpea II fired up quickly and we taxied to the runway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As mentioned above, you really only have one departure option from Combolcha - south.  As I lined up for takeoff, the wind was from the left and gusting from 7-15 knots according to the GPS.  Unlike the unorthodox takeoff out of Comoros - where the crosswind was steady - these gusty winds meant I would not be able to effectively use differential power to compensate for the Beech 18's relatively low crosswind tolerance.  I waited for the wind to abate a bit then applied full power and started down the runway.  Just as we hit 40kts, a wind gust pushed the tail hard, yawing the nose left.  Kicking hard right rudder wasn't enough to compensate and with the edge of the runway looming, I chopped power to abort the takeoff and tapped the right brake to keep us on asphalt.  Crap.  I decided I'd give it one more try, so I back taxied and lined up again.  This time, I pushed the throttles forward during a wind gust, reasoning that the wind might then die down during the takeoff roll. We thundered down the runway and at 40 knots the tail lifted off the runway.  Miraculously, the wind held off and we shot straight as an arrow into the afternoon sky.  (Naturally, I forgot to get any pictures of this as I was so focused on trying not to bend the airplane.)

 

We climbed with mountains rising all around us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reaching 10,000 ft, we banked left to make a ~270 degree turn towards our course.  A turn to the right, while closer to our on course heading, would have seen us pile drive into a mountain, so a climbing left turn seemed more prudent.  Note the big red blotch behind us.

 

 

 

 

In short order, we crossed back over Combolcha's airport and rejoined our track.

 

 

The nearby city of Dessie is nestled into the cradle of a mountain plateau.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued northwest, having to detour slightly for a large, bulky peak ahead.  Even at 11,500 feet, the terrain was still a factor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first point of interest on this trip was a herd of giraffes that were rumored to be in the area.  I had intended to do a low and slow flyby once I found them, but as we neared the area, it became clear they were at the bottom of a deep river valley.  And, while I wanted to see them, I decided to use some gamey tools at my disposal to check them out.  I didn't want to risk descending into a valley that I may not be able to climb out of.

 

 

You can juuuust barely make out the white vertical POI marker below and to the left of the left wingtip.  There was no way I was diving into that valley just to grab a picture or two.  Instead, I let the drone camera do the work. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turning slightly right, we continued north in search of an elephant herd that was marked on the planning map.  En route, the terrain was again beautiful. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the elephants were a no-show.  Not sure what happened, but they were nowhere to be found, so we continued north over more dramatic scenery. 

 

 

 

 

The next stop was a unique building - the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in the town of Axum, Ethiopia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Our_Lady_Mary_of_Zion) - which is said to be the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant.  It also happens to the be the site of a mass killing by Eritrean militants in 2020.  Ugh.  In any case, it's a beautiful and architecturally interesting church tucked away in the middle of Ethiopia.  Again, I make no claims to be an expert on this site, so please chime in if you have any additional information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there, we turned northeast and began the long, slow trek over the Red Sea towards Mecca.  A few puffy clouds lazily floated over the coastal areas.

 

 

 

Sweetpea II is feet wet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After quite some time, the western shores of Saudi Arabia slid over the horizon.

 

 

 

And Sweetpea II is feet dry.

 

 

The coast was, incidentally, the top of our descent, so we throttled back slightly and began the ride down.

 

 

 

 

Mecca is a large city with a expansive urban areas which are punctuated by high hills and craggy mountains.  The Abraj Al Bait towers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraj_Al_Bait) which are situated directly next to the Great Mosque (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masjid_al-Haram) are immediately visible on the skyline.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dropping to 1500 ft above ground, we circled the location to take some photos.

 

 

 

 

It's odd... for the devs to spend time crafting a custom building only to leave the immediate area around it untouched seems like a missed opportunity.  In the above photo, the buildings between the Mosque and the highway are flat satellite images, as is the area to the left of the 3D Mosque itself.  What a weird design choice.

 

 

 

 

 

We flew around Mecca for a bit longer then headed towards the uncontrolled field just east of the city proper - appropriately called "Mecca East."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a mountain looming near the traffic pattern, we had to cut in close to the field for the downwind leg, so it wasn't my best approach ever.

 

 

 

 

 

Getting ready to turn base:

 

 

 

Too high on final, time to slip the aircraft.  Slipping basically means to cross the controls (e.g. left rudder and right aileron) to expose the side of the airframe to the wind and act as something of an aerodynamic brake.  It helps you reduce altitude while not drastically increasing speed as you would in a coordinated dive.

 

 

That's better.

 

 

 

Short final...

 

 

... and touchdown.

 

 

 

 

We taxied to the pumps and pulled the mixtures to bring the R-985s to a much-deserved rest.

 

 

 

 

 

4.8 hours in the air, bringing our total flight time on this journey to 216.7 real-time hours. 

 

Thanks for following along.  Next up, adventures of the geometric kind.