Wow, ol’ Stan (and his team members) are amazing once they sober up! Those machines are awesome too.
I’m glad to know they were able to get unstuck and motor on to their destination.
1 Like
Off we go from a rainy and windswept Roatan, Honduras to Bucaramanga, Columbia (SKBG). The 980nm leg will take us the Caribbean Sea with a change of course at San Andres, before crossing the coast of Columbia.
The flags are whipped straight by the winds in Roatan…
Taxiing out for the departure and making the turn in the turning bay…
Fully loaded with fuel and cargo…the Q400 does take a good bit of runway to get airborne…
Climbing up to our cruise altitude of FL250…
Crossing the coast of Columbia a couple of hours later…
We are arriving in late afternoon with scattered cloud layers all the way down to the tops of the hills…I’m hoping we arrive before full on night due to the sketchy terrain around the airfield…
The sky starts turning a beautiful amber as the sun streaks through holes in the broken layer above. SkyMaxx Pro does a really good job of working with the clouds and lighting it creates…and XP11 lighting and haze is just phenomenal…
Not much sunlight left now. I spot some holes in the layer below and decide to dip below and go for the visual approach instead of the longer instrument approach. It is a bit risky since I’m not very familiar with the area, but I do stay VFR throughout the descent through the hole…
The hole drops us just northeast of the field and I can see the runway carved into the top of the ridge that overlooks the city of Bucaramanga in the valley to the east. This visual approach was just spectacular given the conditions - probably one of the prettiest I’ve ever flown in a sim. My only regret was that I didn’t fly it in VR - so I might have to try it again…
The last of the sunlight reflecting off the west facing side of the aircraft…the reflections in XP11 are so cool…
Circling east of the field, over the town is fantastic. The clouds are hugging the ridges and the airport is very close to being in cloud…just a gorgeous and moody looking environment…
With the airport off our right side on the right downwind - I give the approach over to the First Officer to fly since he has a better view of the airport and can better judge where to start the base leg…
Looking south while on the downwind…
Turning base toward the plateau airport…very much like Sedona, Arizona…
Fully dirty with gear and full flaps…
A bit high…but coming down nicely and plenty of runway for the Q400…
Pulling the levers to idle and then into reverse as the spoilers auto-deploy…
Off the runway we head for the ramp area on the east side of the field - it sits on the edge of a huge cliff and gives a stunning view out over the valley floor below… Exceptional airport scenery by juank380…
Shutdown after 3+05 of flying and burning 4,800 lbs. of fuel…
They need to build a bar and restaurant right off the edge of this ramp…
We’ll continue south in the morning…time for some sleep!
4 Likes
Great report… And yes, sad about that C46 (edit - and the victims, of course…) - this looks to be it perhaps:
2 Likes
Wonderful reports again today, hopefully all of us can make it before christmas!
Looking up scenery for my final leg and well… No google but thanks anyway.
3 Likes
Looks like Cape Horn is living up to its reputation…
Live: earth :: a global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions
2 Likes
What is the Sun for 300 Alec?
1 Like
it truly catches the meaning of life doesn’t it
Which one…? 
I can go either way… 
1 Like
Not that I can recall. I have had a few incidents of the autopilot disengaging, but I assumed that I bumped the yoke. Yup, I think Hershey’s is the best.
Damn that looks gorgeous!
Hi!
I’m a long time lurker both here and over at the other place. Reading this madness has inspired me and I have to have a go and see if I can make it.
After years of IL2, CoD and DCS, I’ve recently moved to flying FSX & P3D for something a little different. Not having much time limits what I can do, so I usually fly from my local airport in the UK to the coast (Blackbushe - EGLK to Bournemouth - EGHH) about 70 miles. I’ve never flown anything larger than the twin engine aircraft that come as default in P3D and always VFR, so this is going to be a learning experience.
The route
Aircraft wise, I need something with a bit of speed but slow enough and easy enough to learn that I don’t get overwhelmed. I quite like the look of the A400 and doing a search and having a read of the review on here, I’ve gone for RLaborie’s addon.
First leg:
Blackbushe Airport (EGLK) to Nantes Atlantique
Its a filthy morning in the UK, lined up and ready to go on the active, I spend 20 minutes wondering why the engine ice buttons aren’t starting the engines. 
Eventually I get the engines started and I’m airborne into the murk. Very quickly I realise this is way faster than my Mooney Bravo and before I know it, I’m nearly at Heathrow.
ATC is trying to get my attention and wondering who the lunatic is, flying an A400 across controlled airspace. A hard turn south and I’m heading approximately the right way and begin following the IFR instructions. I’ll deal with the consequences when/if we get back.
Hopefully the weather will be better in France…
Keets.
7 Likes
Awesome - glad you stopped in, hope you like what you see, and I look forward to following along on your flight…
Whew! You are gonna have some miles to put under you…
* Everyone keep in mind - this should be a fun exercise - if you need to skip ahead or just fly segments…trust me…I totally understand…LOL…
That bird was on my short list of aircraft too - if only there was a good one for X-Plane. There is one…but it is a 2D panel and…well…it just doesn’t work. I love the HUD on the A400M…and it is such a good looking aircraft.
That made me laugh. The “starting engines” part of the manual is probably on page 2… 
Looking forward to following your progress!
2 Likes
Darn, I’m on my way back already!
I consider this a huge boost to the Antarctic scenery in X-Plane!
Consider donating to the maps2xplane crew for their efforts. I gave 15 Euros ($16.38) because I thoroughly enjoyed what was there when I arrived. The overlays are awesome (derived from Google Maps’ satellite images I think).
I’ve updated the X-Plane Antarctic Scenery locator map. Some of the add-on locations do not align with existing default X-Plane airports, so some neighborhood duplicity will be encountered.
Click once on the map to activate it, then grab-and-drag to scroll the view around.
4 Likes
Antarctic Stop 6: XB40 Trough Lake Camp
Took off from McMurdo’s Pegasus Field at 0600…
…and buzzed the nearby NZIR Ice Runway…
…and NZWD McMurdo Station…
So there are plenty of opportunities for inbound aircraft to settle down on around McMurdo with X-Plane default airports…
And with maps2xplane’s recent addition, there are more landing opportunities in this area for X-Plane’rs.
For most of our trek, the (real) weather far has been fantastically good…
Our next trick is to find some Kiwis camped at Trough Lake…
Cojo spots them first (just above the nose), and we make a climbing wide bank to clear the impending elevated terrain…
The lake is plenty big enough for our bird to land in/on/upon…
These guys act like they see a vintage flying boat delivering Christmas goodies all the time!
Delivery made, we struggled to get the fuel-laden 'tross back into the air…
Antarctic Stop 7: XB60 Lower Wright Glacier Hut
Once out of Trough Lake, we climbed hard to clear the terrain that lay directly between us and our next stop…
The scenery was breathtaking, a credit to the folks at maps2xplane (and Google Earth)…
Spotted the subject hut, and dropped a Mudspike package of pogey bait in their midst…
Antarctic Stop 8: AT18 Odell Glacier
Moving onward, we crawl up an unnamed glacier into higher country…
Meandering generally in a northwest direction, we home-in on our next target…
Another nondescript ice runway awaits…
We deliver our presents and move on while the weather remains reasonable.
Antarctic Stop 9: AT13 Mario Zucchelli Station
Our longest leg of the day goes very smoothly…
The station is easy to spot, but its two runways less so…
There’s the first, and shorter of the two. We’ll land on it to save on the distance required to transfer our goods.
Cojo assures me that the skiway is dead ahead…
Ah! There it is.
The Italians here are very happy to see us and our bundles…
2 Likes
Wasting away…
What to own when you’ve outgrown your Lake Renegade.
1 Like
The Hemisphere Dancer!
I almost painted the Albatross that way for this adventure, but then got the notion to do a reflective metal one.
The real Dancer is lounging in Orlando.
1 Like