The Official 4th Annual Mudspike Christmas Flight - 2018 Edition

[BeachAV8R]

LEG 1 - Cessna 152 - Gastonia, NC (KAKH) - Mountain Air, NC (2NCO)
LEG 2 - Cessna 172 - Mountain Air, NC (2NC0) - Andrews-Murphy, NC (KRHP)
LEG 3 - Cessna 182 - Andrews-Murphy, NC (KRHP) - Tyndall AFB, FL (KPAM)
LEG 4 - T-34 Mentor - Tyndall AFB, FL (KPAM) - New Orleans, LA (KNEW)
LEG 5 - PA-28 Warrior - New Orleans, LA (KNEW) - Beaumont, TX (KBPT)
LEG 6 - PA-32 Lance - Beaumont, TX (KBPT) - Temple, TX (KTPL)
LEG 7 - Cessna 172RG - Temple, TX (KTPL) - Midland, TX (KMAF)
Intermission - Sub Orbital Flight
LEG 8 - A-36 Bonanza - Midland, TX (KMAF) - Albuquerque, NM (KABQ)
LEG 9 - Cessna 404 - Albuquerque, NM (KABQ) - Montrose, CO (KMTJ)
LEG 10 - Grumman AA-5B Tiger - Montrose, CO (KMTJ) - Salt Lake City, UT (KSLC)
LEG 11 - BE-58 Baron - Salt Lake City, UT (KSLC) - Johnson Creek, Idaho (3U2)
LEG 12 - Navion 205 - Johnson Creek, Idaho (3U2) - Mile Hi, Idaho (I97D)
LEG 13 - J-3 Cub - Mile Hi, Idaho (I97D) - Krassel, ID (24K)
LEG 14 - Mooney M20C - Krassel, ID (24K) - Enterprise, OR (8S4)
LEG 15 - Piper PA-44-180 Seminole - Enterprise, OR (8S4) - Hanel Field, OR (0OR9)
LEG 16 - BAC Jet Provost - Hanel Field, OR - S50 Auburn, WA
LEG 17 - Cessna 206 - Auburn, WA (S50) - Mears Field, WA (3W5)
LEG 18 - Beechcraft C-23 Sundowner - Mears Field, WA (3W5) - Squamish, Canada (CYSE)
LEG 19 - Citation II - Squamish, Canada (CYSE) - Chilko Lake (CAG3)
LEG 20 - Citation CJ - Chilko Lake (CAG3) - Ketchikan, AK (PAKT)

Hired at TPT on May 14th, 1997 I’d find myself on the way to the quintessential corporate destination of Teterboro, NJ the next day on May 15th in the CitationJet, and then on to Palwaukee, IL, the Teterboro of the Midwest. Talk about full immersion. I probably would have been most useful as a wheel chock or gust lock on those trips.

On May 21, I was introduced to TPT’s third type of jet, the Citation V N920PM. That would make essentially three different airplane types within seven days (with more to come!). My head was spinning. The Citation V shared a lot of commonality with the Citation II, but it did have a 3-tube EFIS and an FMS. The II had a panel mounted Trimble 2000.

For our leg today, we will be once again using the Carenado Citation II to emulate the V with a slightly different paint scheme…

Our route will take us out of Ketchikan and up the coast Alaska to the nifty and always fun Valdez, Alaska (PAVD)…

The RealityXP GTN 750 is probably the coolest piece of avionics I’ve seen in a flight sim add-on…

Coming out of the lower ramp we have to zig zag our way up the switchbacks to get to the main runway…

Off we go…!

Pretty good weather in Ketchikan…

The Carenado Citation has probably become my favorite airplane to fly in X-Plane. Despite its systems being wrong in some areas, it does provide a good Citation experience. And I do love the pop-up 2D panels, the pop-up flight director and autopilot panels, and the GTN integration (though it is not fully integrated in that you have to use the pop-up window to manipulate it).

I can’t recall offhand what the climb profile of the II is, so I just backed off the V/Ultra profile slightly and used 250 knots until Mach .58 and held that on the way up. The V/Ultra is 250 to .62.

The modeling on the Carenado II is really nice…

Hitting the first fix and heading up the coast…

Still pretty happy with the Global Ortho…

While on the way I check the Valdez weather and determine they are doing the LDA/DME to 11 and plug that in the GTN (again, an amazing box)…

The coastal plains jack up to some impressive mountains in very short order…

Approaching Johnstone Point, the VOR that provides the feeder to the LDA…

Valdez it tucked back inland in a deep fjord…

On the 35 mile transition to the LDA…

Check the altitudes on the plate and double check them…

Intercepting the LDA out over Valdez Arm…

You’ll notice there is a slight difference between the localizer course and the localizer on the GTN - I noticed the GTN has slightly different waypoints than the X-Plane database, so the charted procedure has obviously changed…

On the LDA and making the stepdown fixes…you become aware of the masses of mountains lurking on each side, definitely a spooky feeling (it is in real life too as you can imagine)…

The airport comes out of the haze and we get good visual at about nine miles out…

It is readily apparent why the missed approach point on the approach is so far out (about 5 miles) and so high (4,339’ AGL) - you need to start high to make sure you can outclimb the terrain if your missed approach turn isn’t tight enough…

On with the reversers and speedbrakes…

I think we are in VALDEZ…whew…

Love the cockpit modeling in the Carenado Citation…

Get the fishing gear out and prepare the plane for the overnight…

The real life Citation V is a really nice airplane. Simple systems, easy to fly, forgiving, and great short field performance at the expense of a low top end speed of Mach .755. It is just the right range for this guy (about three hours of flying you should be looking for a spot to land) and it has been superbly reliable. The Citation V and Ultra I ended up flying at my current job is also modded with a clamshell door which makes loading patients a breeze. The V/Ultra is getting a bit old now, parts aren’t as easy to find, and the ones that are have been remanufactured a few times. I’ve been flying the type for twenty-two years now and I love the plane.

[Hangar200]

Yes, it is a thing. (The next bit is about my “commercial enterprise”…if you can call 2 people and a cat an enterprise; standard Mudspike cautionary advisories germane)

A simNovel is a novel where you read a chapter or two and then “fly” a chapter (in this case, in FSX) as one of the protagonists. My first simNovel was “Pilate’s Ghost”, a description of which can be found here.

BeachAV8R’s Mudspike review can be found here.

Two more are in the works. Well, one has turned more into a documentary…a simDocmentary? …need to work on that.

[Hangar200]

Great AAR! I have both airports from ORBX plus the Pacific Fjords and Southern Alaska scenery areas. I’ve always meant to fly this route…I think I have a Citation somewhere in my virtual hangar.

BTW, I really like the mix of personal history with sim soliloquy…you have a real talent for that kind of writing.

[Hangar200]

Once I finish up what is currently in the pipeline, I’ll circle around and see what needs to be changed to make it P3D compatible. Also, if X-Plane has a decent “mission” system, I may look at starting a new series for X-Plane.

Edit: Almost forgot…I’m also in the early stages of a DCS-based simNovel. It will probably take place in the Caucuses…or the Persian Gulf…or Las Vegas…I think.

Seriously, I’m “exploring” a present day Caucuses plot with flash backs to the 1950s Soviet Union.

[BeachAV8R]

@Sine_Nomine

Military Geographic Institute here in Ecuador got one of that exact type with cameras installed and map-archived the whole country in some high resolution detail.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if we were using that same imagery for building Ortho4XP tiles?

[Chuck_Owl]

Eighteenth entry for the Christmas Challenge.

Click to reveal AAR

This time, we’re going old school with the Lockheed L-049 Constellation by A2A Simulations. The Connie is a pure masterpiece of a plane.

Cracking open the windows to get some fresh air

Using the Flight Planner to set up my navigation plan. We’ll use VORs exclusively for a VFR flight.

Loading up cargo and passengers. I am actually being told by one of the stewardesses that an important Executive is on-board. Better make it a smooth flight!

Setting fuel by using a pop-up state panel (LSHIFT+4) and verifying fuel from the Flight Engineer panel

• Setting up the Aircraft Master (Battery) Switch - ON

• Upper & Lower Cowling Flaps – OPEN
• Oil Cooler Switches – AUTO
• Hold Propeller Governor Switches to INCREASE until the governor limit lights illuminate

You can click and drag the gang plates to do all flaps at the same time

Our engine start sequence will be 3, then 4, then 2, then 1. To start the engines, we will set the Fuel Shutoff Valve lever to ON (Open), then crack open our throttle about one inch (10 %).

Confirm that you have a fuel pressure of about 15-19 psi (in the green)

Set Master Ignition switch ON. Leave Magneto Switch OFF for now.

Set and hold (click & drag) No. 3 Engine Inertial Starter switch ON for about 15-20 seconds. This procedure looks awfully familiar if you’ve ever flown the DCS FW190 Dora. Since our engine is cold, we will then prime the engine for 2-5 seconds (don’t prime a warm engine) (click and drag switch UP).

Once the starter is cranked up and the fuel lines are primed, we then hold (click & drag) the No. 3 Direct Starter switch ON (UP) and wait for 3-4 blade turns.

Once the 3-4 blade turns are done, set the No. 3 Engine Magneto switch to BOTH (scroll mousewheel).

Engine comes alive! Oil pressure is rising.

Once the engine starts and you confirmed that the oil pressure was rising, set Mixture Lever to AUTO RICH or your engine will start shutting down. Prime as required if needed. Don’t forget to set the switch to OFF or you’ll flood the engine. Since we had a good engine start, I set the Primer switch OFF. I throttle slightly up to ensure the engine RPM keeps increasing to about 1000 RPM.

The manual states that we will not want the idle engine RPM to anything more than 1000 RPM while we let the oil inlet temperature warm up. When warming the engine, you are looking for at least 40*C on the OIL INLET temperature prior to applying power (above 1200 RPM).

We now repeat the procedure for the remaining engines. I had some trouble with engine 4… I had to try to start it 2 times before it finally caught on. This is to be expected with a cold engine.

Once all engines are started, set all generator switches ON.

Confirm that the suction gauge displays at least 4 inches of Hg.

Set Elevator, Aileron and Rudder Booster levers ON. The hydraulic pump lights will probably be illuminated since our throttle setting is too low to engage the engine-driven hydraulic pumps.

Confirm that hydraulic pressure is around 1700 psi

I close the doors and windows, then start the pushback after disengaging the parking brake lever (FWD = OFF).

I set 5 degrees of trim nose up for the elevator tab, then do my engine run-up and check if the CHT (Cylinder Head Temperature) is within range (between 180 and 232 deg C) at start of takeoff run, which should be done at 2800 RPM and 46 in of Hg manifold pressure.

Starting Taxi

Ready for takeoff.

Time to set up my barometric altimeter and check my flap settings (set to flaps 1) and VOR frequencies. We will set the first VOR to RY (freq 112.50) for a course of 027. Don’t forget to set the Radio Power switch (Avionics Master) ON, which is hidden behind the radio-navigator seat.

We will now hold brakes, throttle up to 40 in of manifold pressure, release brakes then throttle up to 46 in of MP and reach 2800 RPM. Then, we will raise the nose gear at approx. 80 mph and wait for the aircraft to lift off by itself. We get the “Rotate” call from the co-pilot at 100 mph.

Gear up, flaps up

Setting climb thrust. Adjust throttles to 32 in Hg of manifold pressure, then click and drag the Propeller RPM adjustment switch to manually control the Engine RPM to approx. 2300 RPM. . Power settings tab is available by pressing LSHIFT+2.

Good-bye, Queenstown!

Now, time to set the Sperry autopilot. There is no “altitude hold” on the Connie, but there is a Heading Select mode. To set a heading, set air aircraft trim so that the aircraft flies “hands off”, then turn the AP Heading knob to desired course (we’ll take 027).

Then, set AP Elevator, Aileron & Rudder Servo levers to ON (AFT). You can control the aircraft pitch remotely with the AP elevator pitch wheel.

Kawarau River

Double Cone Mountain

The Flight Attendant complains that the cabin is a bit cold. Warming it up. I love this “Captain of the Ship” concept.

About to climb Mount Pisa in IFR conditions… that does not look safe at all!

That wasn’t so bad!

The other side of the mountain

So far so good! Getting a bit of fog in the windshield but the windshield heater takes care of it easily. Flight is a bit windy but the Sperry holds up nicely.

Climbing to cruising altitude

The bare metal skin on old aircraft… wow!

67 nautical miles to RY VOR

Lake Wanaka and Mount Aspiring National Park in the distance

Setting my power to cruise (29 in Hg, 2200 RPM) once reaching 10500 ft.

Aoraki Mountains and Mount Cook in the distance

Rear view

Rakaia River and Mount Hutt

Approaching Dillon Cone

Some clouds on the way

Over Mount Manakau

The cabin looks pretty comfy overall

More cruising at 180 kts

Crossing from South Island to North Island

Approaching Wellington

Tuning in the ATIS

We drop the landing gear below 146 kts. We then deploy flaps to 40 %. We can then deploy full flaps once approach is set correctly, then touchdown at 100 mph. We hold the nose slightly up until slowing down to 70 mph. Simple as that.

Circling down NZWN

On Final

Landing wasn’t pretty but we made it. I bounced a bit when I over-flared. I exited the wrong side of the runway, so I had to make a small detour through the refueling area.

Taxiing back to the parking area

Aaand we’re here

The Terminal

Unloading my passengers.

Let’s see if I took care of my engines

Looks like the Company Exec didn’t like that bouncy-bounce I did during landing. Awch. I guess I’m gonna have to step it up next time!

Well, what can I say… we’ve finally reached Wellington and the L-049 Constellation is close to being one of my favourite aircraft to fly.

It’s easy to see why this aircraft was so loved by its pilots. It’s temperamental but it has gentle flight characteristics and isn’t too complex to operate. If you watch your engines once in a while, you’ll be fine. The Flight Engineer can also do this for you, but I preferred to do it myself to keep things challenging.

A2A’s Connie is incredibly well simulated, tremendously immersive and it’s complex enough to force you to learn about the plane and about flying old school slant-alpha flight plans. It definitely deserves a proper “Chuck’s Guide” treatment eventually.

[jenrick]

You’re killing me Chuck! I’ve been on the fence about getting the A2A Connie since its release. I was thinking about getting the Avro Lancaster after you’re earlier leg, and now this. If it’s not too off topic for this topic, do you have a preference (in a non-combat flight sim, they’re both big 4 engine aircraft)? I know the A2A model features the captain of the ship, and apparently quite a bit of extra systems modeling, does the Lancaster have anything like that?

[Chuck_Owl]

Sadly, as much as I love the Lancaster infinitely more as an aircraft to the Connie, A2A’s version of the Connie is much better than Aeroplane Heaven’s Lanc’. More system depth, better immersion… it’s just a better product as a whole.

Don’t get me wrong, I like both products a lot. But if I were you I’d get the Connie. You’ll get much more bang for your buck.

[chipwich]

@Sine_Nomine

two is company,

But what tight company. When I would take my dad flying in a 152, we definitely were over max weight limitation for pilot and passenger of 420 ibs It didn’t seem to bother him. One warm day in Georgia lifting off from Stone Mountain airport (now closed) with 1700 ft of useful, as we passed low over pine trees departing, he looked at me and said, “This thing doesn’t exactly leap off of the ground does it?”

[Chuck_Owl]

Nineteenth and penultimate entry for the Christmas Challenge.

Click to reveal AAR

This time, we’re taking the Douglas DC-6B made by PMDG.

Setting up fuel and payload

Hopping on the Cloudmaster

There is so much stuff on the overhead panel compared to the Connie. However, there is no flight engineer station for this aircraft.

By default, the Gust Lock is set, which blocks all control surfaces from moving.

Gust Lock removed and parking brake set

BATT. & GND. PWR. Switch - ON
Three Inverter Switches - ON
Generator Switches - ON
Fuel Booster Pump Switches - OFF

Set Engine Instruments Switch to NORMAL or you may have some instruments unpowered like the Flaps Position Lever

Cowl Flaps Selector Switches - OPEN

• Open throttle about 1 inch forward
• Set Fuel Tank Selector levers - MAIN (FWD)
• Set Propeller Pitch lever - Forward (Fully Fine)

We will start the engines in the following order: 3, then 4, then 2, then 1.

• First, set fuel booster pump to LOW.
• Then, set Engine Start Selector switch to No. 3 Engine.
• Hold the Engine Starter Switch to begin engine cranking.

After three blade revolution counts (the co-pilot will count them for you), set and hold the Engine Primer switch.

After twelve blade revolution counts, set and hold the Engine Boost switch.

Just after the engine boost switch has been set, turn the No. 3 Engine Ignition (Magneto) Switch to BOTH.

Once the engine is starting to “catch”, set the fuel mixture lever to AUTO RICH.

Success!

Adjust throttle to 800 to 1000 engine RPM, watching for engine and cabin supercharger oil pressure rise. If pressure does not show within 30 seconds after starting, stop engine and investigate.

Then, set Fuel booster pump - OFF. Then, repeat to start remaining engines.

Set Cabin Pressure (we intend to fly at about 15000 ft).

Set cowling flaps to 4 deg

Set flaps to 20 degrees

We need to make sure we disconnect the GPU cart. Here we see that we still have Ground Power ON

I disconnect ground power by setting the GROUND POWER / PLANE BATTERY switch to PLANE BATTERY.

I do my engine run-up, then release the parking brake and start taxiing. Steering is done with the steering wheel.

Rolling back the runway to line up on 34.

Lined up

Before Takeoff, we’ll set up our radios and our navigation VOR frequencies. Normally, we’d use the same old school NAV radios like the ones we used on the Connie. However, in this version of the PMDG DC-6 they are not functional.

We’ll set up our Bendix-King radios instead. We set up the first VOR: Wellington (WN). We will follow a heading of 344 from WN to WU (Wanganui) by tracking WN frequency first (112.30), then the WU frequency 116.00). This leg should be approx. 83.2 nm.

Frequency table for our VORs

We first set up our desired frequency with the NAV frequency tuning knob, which will set the frequency to the Standby freq. We then press the NAV TFR (Transfer) button to set our desired freq as our active nav frequency.

Final result (WN is our active freq, WU is our standby freq)

I set the DME power switch to N1 to select VOR 1 and set a Course of 344 on the Garmin VOR indicator…

We’re now more or less ready for our takeoff roll! I didn’t mention a ton of stuff but maybe the rest will come in a guide at some point. For this takeoff, I won’t use the AFE (Automated Flight Engineer). I’ll hold brakes, set my propeller pitch to full fine (d’uh!) and then set my throttle to 30 in Hg of manifold pressure. I will wait for the engines to stabilize.

Set full power (about 55 in Hg manifold pressure), then release brakes. Rotate at 100+ mph.

Gear up (then to Neutral), flaps up.

Climbing

Setting climb power: 48 inches Hg manifold pressure, 2600 RPM. We’ll set our climb speed to 150 mph. Cowl flaps are set to 10 deg for Climb.

DME receiver seems to be working

Here’s a little overview of the Sperry A-12 autopilot

To engage the autopilot:

1. Make sure the aircraft is properly trimmed so you can let go of the yoke
2. Set Gyropilot switch ON (UP) to arm this mode. This acts as a HEADING HOLD function.
3. Set the Autopilot Master Lever ON (UP).
4. Set autopilot mode to Gyropilot. This will engage the Heading Hold mode.
5. Steer the aircraft using the TURN knob.
6. Control aircraft pitch (if desired) using the Autopilot Pitch wheels.
7. Once you have reached your cruising altitude and are flying level (watch your climb rate indicator), set Altitude Hold switch ON (UP) to engage the Altitude Hold mode if desired.

Once reaching cruising altitude, I set my power to 33 inches of Hg (manifold pressure) and 2300 RPM. I then set my cowl flaps to 0 deg.

The Whanganui National Park

Cruising

Mount Ngauruhoe

More Cruising

Mount Ruapehu

That DC-6 is really a treat to fly

Approaching Auckland

We will land with 50 deg flaps and touchdown smoothly at 90 mph. Cowling flaps are set to 4 deg to allow a go around if we need to throttle up and abort our landing.

The airport

On final. A bit of crosswind

The landing is smooth as butter. My wheels barely graze the ground.

Vacating the runway

Welcome to Auckland!

Engines off, passengers and cargo unloading… I can almost smell Pago Pago now.

[Hangar200]

@Chuck_Owl

However, in this version of the PMDG DC-6 they are not functional.

OK…by version, do you mean the PMDG DC-6 or a specific airframe / cockpit version of the DC-6?

The reason I ask…after your A2A Connie leg I was sure I was going to get that aircraft…but now seeing the PMDG DC-6 leg… …I like period radios…

(In fact I removed and got a refund for JF’s C-46 Comando because, in a patch, they replaced the original period radios with radios that had LEDs–not invented until the 1960s.)

[Chuck_Owl]

The PMDG has the DC6A and DC6B versions available but the old radio sets are not clickable on either of them. They are clickable on the Connie though.You can either equip the Bendix kit or a GNS430 (the crappy P3D default one) or the payware one by Flight1. Basically their rationale was that no one flies with the old radio sets anymore, which I find disappointing. IMHO it’s just a poor excuse since A2A did it and they did it well.

[Hangar200]

Agree. Disappointing…so now my question is the A2A Connie or Stratocruiser…decisions, decisions.

[schurem]

definately connie. It so much better looking.

[jenrick]

Thanks Chuck, also good timing on the DC-6 leg, I was looking at that one too.

[bberendts]

I’m boring and got there in 3 flights from KCVG (to KLAX, to PHNL, and to NSTU), but graduate school took precedent. Passed classes and made it before Christmas!! Happy Holidays!

[BeachAV8R]

Nice…! Hey…we all get there one way or another!

[BeachAV8R]

Nice AAR. I think one of my buddies from Aeroworx that developed the King Air 200 long ago was working on the PMDG DC-6…what a great aircraft. I have the X-Plane 10 version but haven’t looked at it in a loooong time…

[BeachAV8R]

LEG 1 - Cessna 152 - Gastonia, NC (KAKH) - Mountain Air, NC (2NCO)
LEG 2 - Cessna 172 - Mountain Air, NC (2NC0) - Andrews-Murphy, NC (KRHP)
LEG 3 - Cessna 182 - Andrews-Murphy, NC (KRHP) - Tyndall AFB, FL (KPAM)
LEG 4 - T-34 Mentor - Tyndall AFB, FL (KPAM) - New Orleans, LA (KNEW)
LEG 5 - PA-28 Warrior - New Orleans, LA (KNEW) - Beaumont, TX (KBPT)
LEG 6 - PA-32 Lance - Beaumont, TX (KBPT) - Temple, TX (KTPL)
LEG 7 - Cessna 172RG - Temple, TX (KTPL) - Midland, TX (KMAF)
Intermission - Sub Orbital Flight
LEG 8 - A-36 Bonanza - Midland, TX (KMAF) - Albuquerque, NM (KABQ)
LEG 9 - Cessna 404 - Albuquerque, NM (KABQ) - Montrose, CO (KMTJ)
LEG 10 - Grumman AA-5B Tiger - Montrose, CO (KMTJ) - Salt Lake City, UT (KSLC)
LEG 11 - BE-58 Baron - Salt Lake City, UT (KSLC) - Johnson Creek, Idaho (3U2)
LEG 12 - Navion 205 - Johnson Creek, Idaho (3U2) - Mile Hi, Idaho (I97D)
LEG 13 - J-3 Cub - Mile Hi, Idaho (I97D) - Krassel, ID (24K)
LEG 14 - Mooney M20C - Krassel, ID (24K) - Enterprise, OR (8S4)
LEG 15 - Piper PA-44-180 Seminole - Enterprise, OR (8S4) - Hanel Field, OR (0OR9)
LEG 16 - BAC Jet Provost - Hanel Field, OR - S50 Auburn, WA
LEG 17 - Cessna 206 - Auburn, WA (S50) - Mears Field, WA (3W5)
LEG 18 - Beechcraft C-23 Sundowner - Mears Field, WA (3W5) - Squamish, Canada (CYSE)
LEG 19 - Citation II - Squamish, Canada (CYSE) - Chilko Lake (CAG3)
LEG 20 - Citation CJ - Chilko Lake (CAG3) - Ketchikan, AK (PAKT)
LEG 21 - Citation V - Ketchikan, AK (PAKT) - Valdez, AK (PAVD)

Two weeks after getting hired at TPT Aviation, I was introduced to the fourth type of aircraft I’d regularly fly, the King Air B200, which was part of the fractional ownership brought in by Terminal Trucking out of Concord, NC. With only two weeks in three different types of jets, throwing a turboprop was just keeping in the theme of never even letting me get my feet under me. It was slower than the jets, yes, but I found it more challenging to come to grips with initially.

Our flight today will take us on our longest leg yet from Valdez, Alaska all the way out to Unalaska, AK - a distance of 782 nm…

The Carenado B200 is pretty nice. Again, quite a few systems inaccuracies, but it gives a good enough feel to be passable. And performance is pretty close…

Taxiing out of Valdez the snow is blowing on a blustery day…

Off we go on a three hour journey westbound…

See ya’ later Valdez…!

As usual, I love the Carenado flight director and autopilot pop-up. I’m also using default avionics with their dual GPS install. I think there might be a GTN 750 mod for it, but I haven’t searched far and wide for it…

World Ortho looking good enough. In some spots it has a MARPAT look with some blocky textures, but like I said…for not having to chase down ortho for the entire world, this is pretty OK…

Our B200 is not RVSM equipped, so we no longer fly over FL280. Not that we did that much, but we occasionally hopped up a bit higher on super-long legs…

That classic King Air shape. I always thought the pylons looked like hungry sharks out there pulling us along…

Broken clouds over most of the route…

Just a stunningly vast and barren landscape up here in Alaska…(Canadians are like “oh really?”)

Is that…Isla Nublar?

Making sure I don’t wander more than 50nm offshore since I don’t have a raft…

On the descent into Unalaska…

I load up the RNAV (GPS) B approach. Interestingly, there are some other approaches in my GPS database, but only two are listed in the Airnav page…

Following the waypoints in and following the simple vertical profile. Very high minimums for this approach…

The high minimums are for obvious reasons - Unalaska airport sits in a natural harbor. I finally spot the flashing of the airport beacon around the ridgeline…

A bit high for the approach, but there aren’t too many airplanes that can descend like a King Air…

Short final…not sure what the taxiway is doing there…must have been an earthquake while I was enroute…

On and in after about three hours in the air…

Took off with full mains and aux tanks (3,644 lbs.) and landed with 1,750 lbs. remaining. The B200 has a nice range and we didn’t even take it all the way up…!

Now we have some thinking to do. A serious hop from Unalaska, AK to Kauai is the next leg - a distance of 1,935nm. The Citation II and V have ranges that are very near that…very near. Any significant headwind would be a problem. The B200 King Air comes in at around 1600nm. Looks like it will be the Carenado Citation II, a hope, and a prayer…!

[BeachAV8R]

Hmmm…