The Official 4th Annual Mudspike Christmas Flight - 2018 Edition

Sixth entry for the Christmas Challenge.

Well… it’s more like Entry 6.A. A for Aborted.

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Click to reveal AAR

So here I am in San Diego, prepping my 737-200. This is old hardware, especially with that Carousal IV-A, but if I survived a trip in the 727 I think I can survive a trip in the old 737.

It was roughly 6:50 AM.

Passengers come aboard the United Airlines 737-200 developped by FlyJSim.

Ground power kicks in. Time to get to work.

I plug in my CIVA coordinates (which takes bloody forever) to Mexico.

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I fire up the APU, then the engines as the pushback cart places me on the taxiway.

Good morning Mister Sun!

Lining up on Runway 9.

Throttling up to takeoff power

Picking up airspeed

V1, Rotate!

Pff, why would someone want to retire that plane? I still see Air Inuit 732s takeoff from CYUL all the time. Look at that gorgeous, noisy-as-hell beast!

“This plane is the BEST!” (actual quote from me, a few seconds after takeoff)

“Yep, totally worth it!” (another actual quote from me)

Now, this is the part where I go “what could possibly go wrong?”

THIS! FIRE!!!


Pulling the fire handle

Turning handle. Extinguishing agent is going through engine 2. As the agent kills the fire, I shut down engine 2 and start wondering what to do.

As I settle the aircraft in a straight-and-level attitude, Now that the fire is extinguished, I go through my options.

  1. Attempt to restart engine 2, which may very well be busted with all the extinguishing agent.
  2. If engine restart is possible, I “could” try to get to my destination. However, the engine fire probably burned through most of my right tank fuel. That sounds like a horrible, horrible idea.
  3. Regardless of whether or not I can restart the engine, I’ve got to save the aircraft first. With that rationale, the safest way to go is turning back and landing to KSAN with one engine.
  4. Keeping that in mind, I’ll have to touchdown as slowly as possible since using thrust reversers is out of the question (assymmetric thrust on landing? No thank you.) I’ll have to use manual braking and spoilers to slow me down as much as possible.

Approaching Miramar

Boy are these windows dirty. I’m starting to think this engine failure might be sabotage by one of the mechanics!

I hold 1500 ft AGL and 160 kts to enter the pattern on crosswind to land on Runway 9.

The landing isn’t pretty: I miss the treshold and land long…

I’m risking it: I fear more engine 1 dying on my go around than running out of runway length.

I got lucky: I had just enough room to not crash past the runway. Looks like I get to live another day.

Sadly going back to the Maintenance Hangar

“Dear passengers, this is your Captain speaking. I want to congratulate you on surviving your first 737-200 engine failure. I’ll go punch the Mechanic in the face shortly, and we’ll be back on our way to Mexico. We will now shut down the engines when we reach the ramp, where a company bus will bring you back to the Terminal.”

Like NEW?

This IS suspicious.

So… we’ll try it again next time once the engine has been overhauled…

12 Likes

It’s cold, it’s windy and it’s getting dark. None of the variables are really in my favor, except for maybe the temperature. But that’s fine with me, one more leg after this and then it’s the big one. I plan to do both.

The landing is a bit squeamish, again the winds are not favorable. I meet the 2 Bonanzas and it’s exciting knowing that in a few short hours it’ll be over to PASY and from there we head on into Russia.

Cue next morning, 2 Bonanza’s and a TBM900 sit cold on the ramp awaiting a fillup and a pilot. We depart westbound for PASY. The TBM900 has no trouble at all making this trip, one V35 opts for a short hop to PADK and the other will set off later in the day. I wait for the Bonanza to backtrack down the runway and depart, shortly thereafter follow suit. I quickly pass him in the climb (see lights in front of my right wingtip) and reach cruise.

PASY is far calmer with the weather, relatively speaking.

A quick capture of the ILS and it’s onto the runway and into the ramp to prep for the big leg.
I happened to park beside a KC-10, 1 of 2 on the field at the time.

Several hours later, the plane is refuelled and ready to move. The flight plan is set, DCT LUMES DCT UHPP.
I delayed the departure as 2 SIGMET’s regarding turbulence and icing were in effect. I planned to arrive just after they had expired, hoping that maybe it would clear up.

Nothing but ocean below, of course that’s actually blocked by the nice layer of cloud beneath me. Overhead several UPS cargo flights pass by, as well an Air Canada flight on it’s way to Tokyo. Much like the TBM makes the V35’s look like they’re standing still, same applies to the 787 and the 767 to the TBM.

2 uneventful hours later and it’s time to descend. Pull up the charts, prep the AI systems and brief the approach. The weather wasn’t terrible, winds were variable and it was snowing and raining at the same time. Interesting mix to say the least, but also something to keep an eye on.

Passing the 11,000ft mark and the precip began to hit. Nothing major as far as turbulence or icing fortunately, it seems to have cleared up somewhat since I saw the SIGMETs earlier. (You can see the boots in action on the inner leading edge)

Following the approach procedure it’s a right turn and down from 4070ft to 2100. From there we will capture the glideslope and ride that into the field.

Fortunately, despite clouds being scattered around the 500ft mark, it ended up being relatively ok for visibility. I had the airport in sight off and on but maintained the ILS down. About 1200ft I broke out and was able to complete the landing visually. While the weather could be better, so far it’s provided a nice little challenge. I had the TBM looked over and so far everything seems to be in good order, despite several rough landings.

@Chuck_Owl Agreed, seeing Canadian North 732 depart out of CYEG is probably the best thing. Loud but glorious aircraft for sure. Good to see you got the plane down safely, that thing is a handful with 2 engines, let alone one!

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I fully agree! The Ju-52, in many aspects a very similar aircraft, uses about 0.9 gal per statute. And yes, today speed and reliability of course are also a very important factors…

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When I saw Avro Lancaster on the briefing sheet, an eyebrow raised, surely not THE Avro Lancaster? That looks like a heck of a plane, I may have to pick it up.

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Hampton to Pago Pago Leg 2 Continued - Keflavik to Trondheim, Vaernes: After a couple of days enjoying the Icelandic scenery (OK, we met up and went pub hopping with a couple of turboprop drivers for some airline called Mudspirit? Mudsplice?), it was time to finish leg 2.

I used the same flight plan as before and recalculated the fuel requirements using fuel planner.

FlightPlan

FP


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Takeoff from runway 29, with the tower and old USN P-3 hangar in the background.

Positive rate - Gear coming up - This jet loves to fly!

With detailed scenery you can get a good visual cross-reference as you pass over NAV Fixes

Getting close to the ING VORDME - the last navigation point for 560 Nm.
Good to see that the INS agrees closely with the plane’s VOR…when you add a couple miles for slant range to 35,000.

Close Up

The turn…next landfall will should be Norway…it’s a long North-South country…I shouldn’t miss it.

These legs were over water…I did’t bother with screen shots. The CVR was running so if you want to hear the conversation between myself and copilot (one of my cats)…

CVR Trtanscript

FO “Meow”
CAPT “Good kitty”

FO “Meow…Meow”
CAPT “Good kitty”

FO “Meow”
CAPT “Good kitty”

FO “Meow…Meow”
CAPT “Good kitty”

My copilot sights the coast first. As I pass the next waypoint, I use the Doppler system to count down the miles for TOD…it worked well and meant that I didn’t have to add another waypoint to the CIVA.

After so much time over the water, I want to do a check against landmarks to see if or how far the INS has drifted. Checking for a prominent local landmark…OK, there is off to the left… looks good, I am close to the plotted course.

I took off just after dawn, but with the short days this far north, the sun appears to have passed zenith already. (Plus I was heading east.)

Trondheim in sight to the right. My flight plan calls for passing the city and then I had planned to use a published approach…but it is too nice a day for that. I disconnect autopilot and hand fly a circling descent. There is an SAS jet on final so I do my circling northwest of the active, RWY 09.

As I dirty up I add a new item to my instrument scan–al lesson learned from @Chuck_Owl , check flaps agreement.
Flaps_Check Flaps_Check

As I turn onto final after the SAS jet I’m still a bit high…so I take it down a bit more “enthusiastically” than normal.

I’ve descended enough (actually a bit too much) and am fighting a bit of a crosswind…and I’m faster than Vref…still, it’s a long runway…

…and I use most of it on roll out. Hey, it they didn’t want you to use the whole runway they wouldn’t have paved the whole runway.

Stopped at Gate 37 and properly parked.

Disembarking the passengers and thinking about the next flight.

Right now I have a plan for ENVA to LDDU, Dubrovnik, Croatia. Why? Why not? Actually the reason is that I’ve got ORBX scenery for LDDU and I find it a challenging airport.

As far as planes go, the 707 has been fun and now that I think I’ve got the fuel dialed in (use Fuel Planner and add a 2 thousand pounds) I feel more comfortable. Still, with only one INS system…not as comfortable for long over water flights. The next leg is mostly Europe. So if I fly by the INS and keep up with the legs on the Doppler system as back up…plus there will be enough VORs and ADF for crosschecking…I will be just fine. I

Still… JustFlight’s L1011 professional has triple CIVA so that may be an idea. Or I may switch to a glass-cockpit jet.

Regardless, if I stay with long range jets I only have 4, maybe 5 legs left. That will put me into Pago Pago way before Christmas…and then what?

These are the weighty questions I will be wrestling with over the next few days. :thinking:

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Second sixth entry for the Christmas Challenge.

After our engine failure at KSAN during our first attempt, time to try it again. I’ll keep a closer look to the engines this time.

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Click to reveal AAR

Doing the CIVA tango… again. (sigh)

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This time, I’m taking a rental.

Checking that the CIVA coordinates are entered properly and that the distances match.

Mexico Airport is pretty high… more than 7000 ft!

Taxiing… again…

According to the takeoff card, I need to make sure I don’t exceed 2.15 EPR during takeoff. I’ll try to aim towards 1.9-2.0-ish.

I pick up some speed, then I rotate about 10 kts after V2.

So far so good… no engine fire this time.

Heading towards IPL (Imperial)

I’ve always loved the bare metal look of old classic jets.

So far so good

Turning into MXL (Mexicali)

Time to cross the US-Mexico border.

Contrails

Progress

Gulf of California in the distance

Now comes the looong cruise to AMUDI, PPE (Penasco) and ZCL (Zacateras).

It’s going to be a long way to Queretaro (QET), where Bombardier Aerospace has a plant to work on the Challenger, Q400 and Global parts. A friend of mine I studied with in university actually ended up working there. With the newest layoffs announced last week, I have a sobering thought… “How many will still be working there a year from now?”

Isla de San Jorge in the distance

Now, here comes the super-boring part. Ugh.750 nm to go until ZCL.

El Alamo mountains

Still going…

The western Sierra Madre

What a breathtaking view!


Over the Área Natural Protegida Sierra de Álamos

We’re more than halfway through our fuel with 225 nm to go until reaching ZCL.

Lake Santiaguillo, near the Aeropuerto Internacional de Torreon

Finally reaching Queretaro. 95 nm until Mexico. Starting my descent.

Huapango Lake

50 miles out of Mexico, the ATIS tells me that there is yet another change of plan. Instead of landing at runway 05L, I’ll have to take 05R. The landing card tells me I’ll have to land with flaps 30 with a touchdown speed of VREF + 5 (130 kts).

There are a number of beautiful national parks on the descent path. Cumbres del Ajusco National Park, Parque Nacional Nevado de Toluca and Reserva de la Biósfera Santuario Mariposa Monarca, which is a natural reserve for Monarch butterflies.

Almost there!

On approach

Disconnecting autopilot

(Drumroll)

Coming in a little high, but power and speed are good.

Touchdown

Thrust reversers for good measure

Vacating runway

That went pretty well all things considered!

APU ON, shutting down engines.

Everyone out. It’s getting hot in here.



5 Likes

Ha! Glad to see someone learned from my mistakes :slight_smile:

In your next AAR, could you further explain things about the operation of the aircraft? Small things like engine start-up, fuel balancing, approach flap scheduling… that sort of technical stuff. I’d find it really interesting.

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From the Island of Okinawa one of the last bastions of Imperial resistance in WW2, to Taipei Taiwan one of the few nations that has directly stood up to the Red Dragon of China since its founding.

route

The trip from Kadena to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei isn’t terribly long, 362 NM. I had contemplated island hopping a bit to get to Taiwan, but the terrain and flight wouldn’t be terribly interesting. So with that in mind, it was time to kick the tires and light the fires. Or rather follow through the 60 page expanded checklist to bring this beast to life.

The PMDG BAe Jetstream 4100 is the newest edition to my virtual fleet (this whole Xmas flight thing has not been kind to my wallet!) after someone mentioned it in another thread. She’s a short to mid range feeder turboprop, using a pair of Garrett (well now days HoneyWell) TPE331 fixed shaft turboprops. She can carry 29 passengers roughly 700 NM, and do so at a reasonable 230-260 knots IAS. Real world, they are apparently a bit cramped, and quite loud to ride in, and a “sweet” aircraft to fly. In FSX:SE, this being a PMDG bird, it’s very high fidelity, and apparently has a bit of a reputation online for torching engines.

So with that in mind, I read the tutorial carefully a few times and the relevant sections of the manual. A full startup from C&D does take a bit, mainly checking various warnings, and going through a 2 person flow, with 1 person. Engine start is anti-climatic, so long as you verify the props aren’t feathered, and soon enough we have two humming (and noisy) engines. With a total weight of just shy of 23,000 lbs we’re leaving almost fully loaded. The weather is cool and we’re almost at sea level, so the air is plenty dense.

So with enough runway to launch an SR-71, and the throttles almost alway the forward (we torqued out with another ~20 degrees C of EGT to work with) off we went. IIRC correctly, you’d probably have been able to see the house I grew up in at Kadena in this shot real world.

Banking onto track, we transition to climb power. Throttle back a bit to lower the EGT, condition levers back to 98% RPM, and if you did it right your right at max continuous EGT. She climbs out quite nicely at 170 knots IAS giving you approximately 2000 FPM initially. As an side, the JS4100 features a FMS that’s actually rather user friendly (as much as they get). Once you get that programed you can set the AP to follow the LNAV all the way down the glideslope almost.

Soon enough we reach cruise altitude of FL160, which was nice and clear. We brought the RPM to 96% for cruise and had a nice steady 233 knots IAS with the head wind.

Racing the moon.

With really not much in the way of interest happening, we eventually sight Taiwan. The FMS doesn’t do the VNav for you, but it gives it all to you on a silver platter. Simply dial in the VS as indicated, and you’re good. Now one thing about the JS4100 is that it doesn’t really like to slow down when descending. As discussed in my previous post about the F-27 fixed shaft turboprops always put out 20-30% thrust even at idle. So the idea is to “slow down, then go down.” We pull the power levels back to idle and once we hit 170 knots, start our descent.

On approach, flaps 9 (the first notch), and we’re probably already riding the ILS beam in.

Still on approach, definitely on the ILS, gear and flaps 15. She is incredibly docile following the ILS in.

And down, you can see flaps 25 hanging there, but the top of wing spoilers have lain back down at this point. One thing to be careful of on landing, when you drop the power into reverse, keep an eye on the gauges so you don’t overtemp or over torque the engines in reverse. The JS4100 is definitely not a STOL super star like the Dash 7, but that’s not a surprise.

Overall I found the JS4100 a joy to fly. It really is fun to hand fly a lot of the flight. Later testing, involving single engine operation, and even an unfeathered dead engine, she still does well being hand flown. Single engine operation with a feathered prop really doesn’t cause many handling issues at all (well expect when you go to reverse out of habit on landing).

It was a toss up between the JS4100 and the Majestic Dash 8. The JS4100 really is fun to fly, and with it’s smaller size and shorter legs, better fits what I find interesting. Now if I can just get it to work with Air Hauler 2 I’ll be all set.

7 Likes

As do I. However, the CS 707 is unfortunately not very detailed in that regard. I’ve been a bit disappointed with it. Which is another reason I’m thinking of going with another aircraft.

If I stay with the 707 I’ll try to use the real manual more…even if it really does not impact the sim…and add more of that to the AARs.

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Leg 04 Ft. Collins to Salt Lake (KFNL-KSLC)

I feel utterly shameful posting my pitiful leg report. While it’s not exactly hookers and Dom back there, the ease at which I am knocking out legs undermines the great effort that you folks are making, climbing out on a wing to fill oil reservoirs, knocking ice off of the stringers, and navigating by the stars. Well, I’ll will beg forgiveness and humbly submit some modern biz jet porn.

Departing WX was light blowing snow 500 broken, 3000 overcast, 9 knt right quartering crosswind.

Today’s flight plan, a modest proposal.

Let’s roll.

In at 3k…

Out at 16k. We climb to FL340 making 4000+ fpm at 190 IAS.

Much of the way our TAS is 400+ kts and about the same GS.

Before long we are at TOD and nose down. Screaming along we pass some beautiful vistas in Western Col.

I bet that Park City is about ready for some fluffy white stuff. Looking pretty dry over here.

Nice view of downtown Salt Lake.

Turning downwind for 34L, the Great Salt Lake spreads out to the horizon.

The pattern is empty, so we request a change to 34R.

Did I mention that the baby Embraer is such a joy to fly.

Thank you for your service Utah ANG.

I throw a long salute to the home team hanger. May you live long and prosper.

Time to go find the crew car and get to the Marriott. To this point we’ve followed the same route as last year. Going to switch it up a bit over the next few legs. Will probably skip Jackson Hole and check out some place new in Idaho.

9 Likes

That Phenom looks mouth-wateringly good! We lack high-fidelity Embraers so badly in this sim.

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Nice report! I just missed a screenshot from the cockpit!

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Doh, good point. Don’t worry the JS4100 will definitely be back. I’m actually having a lot of fun hopping all over S. America with the free OrbX landclass update right now, it really is a hoot to fly.

I’m currently grounded for the next two weeks or so, my flying PC is in storage, so it’s very enjoyable reading everyone’s reports and progress.

The CFO is not pleased and reminds flight ops, “We are not a charity” :grin:

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Yes. That is one really nice thing about most of the X-Plane scenery…the topography and lakes and rivers do tend to make pilotage a skill worth keeping alive…!

Haha…until you hit something like that! I wonder if sometimes dry lakes show up in the X-Plane data as real lakes…

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Whilst exploring Vaernes (ENVA) I wandered over to the military side of the airfield, showed the gate guard my USN ID card and they let me in. Then they asked if I wanted to fly this baby on my next couple of legs.

Captain Sim C-130 sold through Just Flight. This started out as a FS2004 aircraft. CS redid the entire thing for FSX. It has been a favorite of mine for a while–nice VC, handles like one feels it should, and pretty good short field capabilities…which will be important as my next destination is Helgoland-Dune (EDXH).

I may get back to the TWA 707 for a few of the longer flights where a higher cruising speed will be needed.

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I heard that the Captain Sim C-130 actually comes with P3D V4.3 for free. How is it?

I’m a big fan of the C-130 myself… I always wanted one in DCS. Maybe I could also give this a try during my Christmas Flight.

I don’t have P3D so I don’t know about that.

Evidently there are 3 x CS C-130s floating about. There is Legendary C-130 (FS2004) and C-130 X-perience, and this one…and of course non are comparable with each other. :roll_eyes:

From a quick look online, the CS C-130 X-perience is probably as close as it gets to this model…plus it seems to include a few more liveries. (Evidently Just Flight no longer offers this C-130)

I like it because it is fairly systems intense without getting overly complex. For example: When going through the start up procedures, there is a switch that that lets external or Battery DC power go “backwards” to power the DC busses needed to start up. A little detail to be sure but it gives the aircraft that little bit more of emersion.

Handling is very nice. It is a heavy aircraft so doesn’t turn on a dime. However, I have taken an RAF version on the UK’s Mach Loop…you just need to think a few seconds before the aircraft…great fun down low with good scenery.

Which is why I decided to “change horses”. The next couple of legs will be over Europe, with ORBX’s Europe LC and specifically both North and South Germany. So a flight at 35,000 seemed a bit of a waste. :slightly_smiling_face:

Hampton to Pago Pago Leg 2 Continued - Trondheim, Vaernes to Helgoland-Dune:

Previously on Hangar200’s Xmas Flight:

As far as planes go, the 707 has been fun…still…

Whilst exploring Vaernes (ENVA) I wandered over to the military side of the airfield, showed the gate guard my USN ID card and they let me in. Then they asked if I wanted to fly this baby on my next couple of legs.

Just climbing back onto the flight deck of CS’s C-130 was like meeting an old friend. I took a quick survey of the 2D pop-up panels and went over the start up checklist. Rather than fly a FamFlight around the field I decided to just go for it.

Since I would be flying over Scandinavia (with ORBX Norway Scenery) and eventually into Germany (with N and S Germany scenery) I decided to keep it fairly low–8500 ft MSL over the Norwegian mountains, dropping down to 5500 ft over the North Sea and eventually lower as I approached Helgoland-Dune (EDXH).

Why Helgoland?

My choice of Helgoland may puzzle some. Two reasons: 1) ver short runways 2) Awesome Aerosoft scenery. The trip would be all VOR-toVOR (with and ADF thrown in for good measure). I would use other NAVAIDs as well as landmarks to cross-reference m position as we went along. That meant I’d need some decent aero charts. Fortunately I have a few FSWidgets apps on my iPad. The Europe TPC or ONC work well enough although they don’t cover north of 60ºN…no worries, I couldn’t go wrong by just heading south.

The “Hercy-bird” is not overly complicated to get started–GTC (Gas Turbine Compressor…in other words an APU) for power and starting air, Fuel pumps on, Condition levers to Flight and smack the Start button…actually there are some electrical busses you need to power up and the hydraulics need to be off line, to include Non Skid…and there a couple of other systems set to the correct state…actually it is a bit complicated. But after a few missteps I had everything up and running.

CS’s C-130 comes with a small app called ACE (Aircraft Configuration Editor) that lets you put on liveries and, more important, set the fuel and cargo load, telling you when you are over Max weight. It also lets you set your callsign (keep that in mind). When I used ACE to set up the plane I made sure I was below Max weight but was still carrying a lot of fuel. “But what about landing on that shore EDXH runway?” This C-130 comes with a fuel dump system. My plan was to fly to the last waypoint before EDXH and then dump down to a light weight (4500 lbs) that would give me 2-3 looks at the runway and enough for a 45 Nm divert (to an 8,000 ft runway with ILS).

The previous day, I had changed the aircraft’s callsign in FSX from “Husky” to “Norsman” which I thought sounded better. But when setting it up in ACE I saw the Husky callsign would replace Norsman and decided not to mess with it.

With the plane all set, I called for taxi to the active and was given directions for RWY 09. I noticed that they used the Norsman callsign. “That’s strange”, I thought but ignored it.

New Hangar200 rule:

Whenever you think, “That’s strange”, stop and check everything…it goes along with “You shouldn’t do that” from Leg 2)

The taxi was uneventful…


…definitely want to keep to the center line here…

…getting to the end and slowing so I don’t end up “in the drink”.

I taxied to 09, received TO clearance and pulled out onto the runway. The check list calls for standing on the brakes and moving to full power (throttles to the stops), watch the engine gages for everything to smooth out and then release the brakes. I did so.

My TO speed from the chart was 120 kts. From 0 to 60 kts the procedure s to keep the yoke slightly down to allow for NWS; above 60 kts, yoke to neutral until Vr, then a light back pressure to achieve an initial 10º nose up. (You can easily over rotate and drag the tail).

At 120 knots I did as proscribed…nothing…130 knots…nothing…”Hmmm…this TO run sure is taking a long time”…140 kts…ehhh…145-ish knots the nose came reluctantly up…I barely got airborne with the 27 end coming on fast…something was definitely amiss.

When at the correct weight with correct flaps settings, a C-130 can make combat takeoffs, something like 30ºnose up and awesome FPM (the VSI goes to 5k FPM). Today was evidently not one of those days. I was flying and had managed not to hit the trees beyond the end of the runway, however I was headed into a valley–terrain to both sides and a mountain straight ahead. Time to do some of that pilot stuff Mav.

The first waypoint the VNA VORDME was behind and to my right (SW of me). I had planned a right climbing turn. However the terrain to the north was lower, so I started a left climbing turn as I cleaned up the aircraft. That meant I’d be heading back “over” the flight path into the active, not always a good idea.


Sure enough, an SAS flight is on final…“Norsman 953 has the traffic.”

To go behind the SAS plane I had to extend a bit which put me off course for my first waypoint. I got near enough to it and since I was receiving my second WP’s VOR signal, so as soon as I crossed the initial fix, I turned on the planned course.

AP on (you also have to turn on the 3 servo motors…just like real thing) and engaged, set Track and initially left it in HDG since it matched pretty well. I climbed at about 1500 FPM and was at 8500 ft in no time. Soon enough the mountains were in view.


The view out a C-130’s flight deck windows is excellent.

The Situation: (No not the guy fro the Jersey Shore reality show) I must be heavy…why? Taking a look at my fuel gauges, every tank was full! So the ACE save hadn’t changed anything and FSX had used the default load–100% fuel. 135,000 lbs is about max TO weight (145,000 max overload…think combat)…a little rough mental mat told me I was probably in the 145,000 pls category, depending on my cargo weight…I had a situation on my hands.

No problem, that’s why they invented the fuel dump! I set up to dump fuel from the external and auxiliary tanks.

More on the C130 Fuel System:

EDIT: I finally found the fuel management section in the manual and discovered that my memory was off some - the corrected version follows:

The C-130 uses a fuel manifold system where any pump/tank can pressurize the manifold. Likewise, any tank can be shut off from the system. The fuel system s all in the wings. There is a valve (crossed separation valve) between the left and right sides/wings of the system. So there are multiple ways to set up the fueling system. Obviously, being a military aircraft, this is so you can rout fuel around battle damage.

Takeoff: Each engine pump on / engine tanks closed from the manifold / cross feed separation valve closed.

Cruise: it depends: For shorter flights, External tanks connected and pumps on; Aux tanks disconnect, pump off; Engine tanks connected and initially pumps off (allows for faster drain of the external tanks but need to watch external tanks level and turn engine tank pumps when external tanks get below 1,000 lbs); cross feed separation valve closed. This will empty the external tanks sooner so they will be empty on landing (desired). When externals are empty: external pumps off / manifold valve closed; Auk tanks pump on / manifold valves open. For Longer flights, reverse the process. The Aux tanks only have one pump (the externals have 2) so if you lose an Aux pump you still have external fuel.

Fuel balancing is pretty strait forward using the cross feed separation valve. You basically use the pumps (on/off) and manifold valves to move fuel around. As far as I can tell, the fuel doesn’t fill another tank, but engine(s) tank connected to the manifold / pump off, will draw fuel from the manifold vice the engine tank. So yo watch levels in whatever tanks that are feeding the manifold - when it/they match the light side, light side pumps back on, cross feed separation valve closed. When engine tanks are at 6000 lbs, (Aux and externals empty) then all engine tanks manifold valves are closed.

Landing: Same as takeoff unless AUX are dry. If so they will be disconnected and pumps off.

For a fuel dump, the way it is supposed to work is that you pressurize the system, open the dump valves for the tanks to be dumped, then open the overboard valves.

I clicked the dump overboard valves on and…WTF…all the tanks’ dump valves went to open…OK, I can deal with this, except it nothing seems to be dumping…scanning the gauges…double take on Tank 1, it is going below 4000 lbs in a hurry. :open_mouth:


(This is a “sim-ism” - to get the fuel manifold to work, they had to add some virtual tanks. I remembering this working fine in FS2004 but evidently something ”broke” when updated to FSX).

OK, technically I could dump down to an acceptable level, but the aircraft would be way out of L-R balance. I needed to stop to rectify things. Fortunately Oslo- Gardermoen (ENGM) was not too far off my track so I turned towards Oslo in the vicinity of Drammen…cool bridges.


I might as well do some sightseeing along the way. Downtown Oslo with the Royal Palace. My wife went to kindergarten on the palace grounds…“Hey honey! I can see your house from here!”

During the way I lowered my altitude and throttled up–might as burn up as much as I can.

Both 1L (12K ft) and 1R (10K ft) were active. I knew there was a military terminal/parking area…I seem to recall it was off the western side of 1R so I requested that runway. If I was still overweight for landing, I doubted !R’s 2,000 extra ft would be all that help.
I made a norm landing…


…and was directed to parking (which I ignored) and taxied to where I thought the military apron was…only to discover I was mistaken…

… but there was a big SAS maintenance facility where I could park…maybe those guys could help me out.

Parking brake ON; GTC ON; power to the AC bus, Engine Generators OFF, Condition lever to Feather…and open the big Cargo deck does just for fun; a smattering of other housekeeping switch throws…just about to finish…


GTC off…, and finally Battery Off.

As I did my post flight walk around I noticed that the Fuel Dump had really messed up the L-R balance…it had pulled a bit to the right on landing.

Conclusions:
I logged a 2.6 hr flight and was busy pretty much all of the time…although I don’t endorse forgetting to check fuel level before takeoff as a valid reason to keep one busy during a flight. My Aerosoft Mega Airport scenery for ENGM had not been high enough in the scenery stack…but the ORBX is pretty good.

Time for an FSX restart, put Aerosoft’s ENGM to the top of the scenery stack (and make sure EDXH is up there too), figure out where the Mil Parking is (oh look, by the eastern end of 1R…@#$%!), reset the aircraft (virtually towed), and reset the fuel…then I should be ready to go.

Stay Tuned…

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Been eyeing that scenery for a year now…mmm…

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