The Official 4th Annual Mudspike Christmas Flight - 2018 Edition

Geez… You guys really know how to get a guy interested in civil flight sims again by choosing a destination I have actually flown into… Well, off to see how feasible it is to get FSX SE and my Captain Sim C-130, 707, and 727 add ons up and running… I’m not holding my breath though :rofl:

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I have been thinking of a way to introduce some navigation error when simulating Oceanic crossings in old school aircraft (ie pre INS and GPS). X-Plane gives you a Lat/Long readout but it is very precise, which is not what I’m looking for. The perfect solution would be to use celestial navigation coupled with dead reckoning. So, I’m thinking a good compromise will be to add error to the charts by plotting by hand on somewhat wide scale maps… I came up with the following by grabbing maps from the JeppFD app, and then annotating the lines of Latitude and Longitude.

My plan is to plot my position on these charts with my Apple Pencil, which should introduce plenty of ‘fudge factor’ when it comes to making course corrections. If I decide to route via PLCH, the legs will be shorter, but PLCH is not a very big island to find in a massive ocean.

Another thing I am considering is to only allow myself a position fix (aka looking at X-Plane’s Lat/Long readout) if the sky above me is clear enough to see either the Sun or the stars. I will be using FSGRW, which evidently gives a pretty decent representation of weather over the oceans. Routine fixes will be taken (weather permitting) at planned ETE’s over each 5º line of Longitude on the San Francisco to Honolulu leg, and each 5º line of Latitude on the Honolulu to Pago Pago (or PLCH)…

I think I’m almost ready to start out on the trip now.

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@smokinhole Based on previous years’ expeditions you will find your post at the beginning of a very long thread, so your updates will likely get missed.

True. I just wanted to keep it all together. I was thinking that with each significant update I’d post a link:

But now that I think about it, if everyone did that, it would make for a really ugly thread. And it was maybe a little self-indulgent. So thank you @HavlokUK, I have decided to not reinvent the wheel.

Yeah, it would be cool if we could have like sub-threads or something for individual flights…but I’ve found it is fun to sort of keep up with everyone as they make their little hops and jumps.

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Day 1, 09/18/2018: K1N7 (Blairstown, NJ) - CYYB (North Bay, Ontario) - CYYU (Kapuskasking, Ontario) - CYPL (Pickle Lake, Ontario)

South central Canada is not the most interesting terrain to fly over. Flat and lots of lakes. But even up here there are surprises. I landed at Pickle Lake (CYPL) at night and was surprised to find a hangar. I figured all the 3D airports would be down south. Just goes to show that X-Plane always manages to surprise. The Coke machine in the hangar was a nice touch.

Total = 7.2 Hours / Trip Total = 7.2 Hours

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And we are on our waaaay…!!

I probably won’t start until late October maybe…

Day 2, 09/25/2018: CYPL - CYTH (Thompson, Manitoba)

Day flight, poor weather, 4 knot headwind. At 378 nm, this was about as long a flight as the Bell can manage. Surprising how well the HD terrain matches the map. Rivers and lakes are dead on. 128 pounds to spare. Another 3d airport.

Total = 3.2 Hours / Trip Total = 10.5 Hours

This is the SkyVector plan. I haven’t changed the destination to Pago Pago yet. No hurry. It’ll be at least 2 months before it matters. :slight_smile:

Previous Leg:

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What if we could filter a thread by poster? Then if you wanted you could just filter for smokinhole and see all of his posts without all the other clutter. Just a thought …

If you change your mind then be radical - try square ones :grin:

Edit: Thought I’d leave this link

I understood that reference…

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I like your ideas of posting current/total flight time, as well as linking the previous leg SH. Wondering if you’ll win the iron butt award.

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Day 3, 10/02/2018 CYTH (Thompson)- CYSF (Stoney Rapids, Saskatchewan)

Day flight, nice weather. Actually weather began to get a little grey about an hour in. 5000 overcast and maybe 5 miles visibility. 1:30 in, got really bumpy. 2:15, clouds lowered, heavy snow. Stoney Rapids now reporting 1 mi vis. Looks like I’ll be shooting the RNAV 24 in a raging wind. This’ll teach me for not getting a proper briefing. That sure got ugly in a hurry. With the strong (and unnoticed) headwind during cruise, I landed with just 100 pounds.

Total Hours = 3.2 / Trip Total = 13.7

Next stop: Yellowknife. I’ll save the next update for when I finally reach Alaska.

Previous leg:

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Not sure if sarcasm… anyways for those not in the know, use the search box in the top right, check the “search this thread/topic” box and type @smokinhole and then you can enjoy the full story (along with his reactions to other people’s stories)

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But please…don’t actually do that.

Oh guys…I think it was a miscommunication here - both @smokinhole and @Sine_Nomine have spectacular contributions and I don’t want some crossed wires interfering with the enjoyment we all get from all of these reports.

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Sometimes being dense is an advantage. I have no idea what’s going on :slight_smile:

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oh, I understood that reference… again :stuck_out_tongue:

I know we know, but lets repeat it. This is not about SPECTACULAR, this is about participation and contribution. I am looking forward to all your contributions fellas :slight_smile:

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Ahh … what just happened? There was no reference intended. My apologies if I have offended anyone.

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Well, we will miss your updates but please do drop in once in awhile and let us know you are still afloat…!

To All - it was my hope by posting the destination early this year we could make it a little more relaxed affair without lots of time pressures. I might actually start sooner than later for the same reasons as everyone else…better not to get behind and feel any pressure.

Most importantly, everyone have fun!

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