Well finally after weeks of planning and reading and downloads etc its time to set off.

I had planned to do this trip without the use of GPS but after reading at work the Min equipment list requirements for Oceanic flight and the Regs etc, I have relented and will use it to comply with the Required Navigation Performance requirements. ( there is also a sh*t load of water to cross and not a lot of navaids on the route I am following.A lot is also planned using expired Jeppesen charts I have gotten from work.

I am flying the Dreamfleet Baron for the entire trip as this is my favourite aircraft and my home cockpit is based on it. I do not have an oxygen setup so will be staying 10000ft or below. For loading purposes I am 1 POB and have allowed about 100 pounds baggage to cover the required liferaft and all the maps and charts and customs forms, bottled water, cut lunches along the way etc.

Most Kiwis when they do the big OE head for Europe and route via OZ or up to the USA. Just to be different I am going by the lesser travelled route and will Island hop across the Pacific to South America then across the Atlantic from Brazil to Africa via the Air base on Ascension Island in mid Atlantic.( a route used by many hundreds of flights during WW2.) From there its across central Africa to Nairobi Kenya ( where my wife comes from) and up to Aden in the gulf and Oman or Muscat to visit some Controller friends working up there, before crossing India and down to Phuket and along Indonesia and across Australia to home. Easy when you type it fast!

After much trial and error ( mostly error ) I have decided FS9 is it for this trip with FSX for a few local sight seeing stop overs etc. Also I WILL be using some of the time acceleration on the long legs as I can only get about an hour to an hour and a half on the computer at a time for family reasons! No 9.5 hour marathons allowed. ( says she who must be obeyed! )

So ...

the chosen day arrived and after a big send off from family and friends, the flight plan was submitted, customs cleared,( the shots that nearly blew my arm up to twice its normal size had subsided) the aircraft fueled and preflighted.

No problems with the start and engine runup, its off on the taxi - today its 05R at NZAA so a good taxy to warm up the engines- shutdown , back inside ( last trip to the Loo and by the way love here are the car keys and where are my @#$% sunglasses?!!)

Finally at the hold and ... " behind the B744 on final line up and wait behind"



Its a Tiree1 departure to the north but once airborne and with control on 124.3 it was " N-DF identified cancel SID and cleared left direct SELKA climb 10thousand"

A few seconds later and the 3 737's at the hold were whistling past the tail and I watched as Air Pacific turned over the top of me and made me check the ASI to make sure I was still moving!

After a cruise climb to 10,000ft non standard it was time to set up the engines for best fuel consumption and after some fiddling I eventually got set up at about 9.7GPH per engine leaned out and a ground speed such that I will be just over 6 hours for this leg!

The weather leaving Auckland was pretty good but there was a front to the north across my track but should top out about 10,000ft - using activesky and real weather for this trip as well. Sure enough by the time I got just north of SELKA this is what I got ...



and so it remained till passing REPOL at S25 00.0 when it finally cleared up a bit.

After checking in with Nandi radio on HF I had a sore butt and a couple of Awkwardly filled plastic bags, it was a relief to finally sight land ahead ...



calling Fua' Amotu tower I was cleared to land



After the usual customs and meet and greet it was time to secure the aircraft for the night and head off to the hotel for a few cold "debriefs".



That night in the hotel bar I ran into some Kiwis up here on a charter and they had just had some work done and invited me up on the air test tomorrow. Too good a chance to miss so at the appointed time I fronted up and off we went.







we were up for about an hour which seemed a long time just to test a repaired magneto but who am I to complain! this put me behind a bit timewise so I will head off on the next leg tomorrow.

A nice start! Have you ever posted pics of your cockpit? If not, it'd be interesting to see it. On long over water trips GPS is essential, not necessarily for the navigation (how good is your dead reckoning?), but for the hourly position reports -- generally given by relay through a passing heavy, which is why you shouldn't stray too far from airways -- you need lat & long.

The other tip of course is to take a good supply of bottled drinking water and several empties for "filling later", and then don't confuse the two! Oh, and don't forget the sunscreen and a hat: Light aircraft windows offer NO UV protection!

I do miss the DF Baron in FSX <sigh>, not least for it's longer legs. The SF260 will just about make 4.5 hours leaned for best range (I found this out the hard way as you'll discover on my next trip report!)

my nav is pretty well okay thanks to my instructors on my RNZAF wings course but on these long overwater flights there is "being clever" and "being TOO clever" so GPS it is

the baron cockpit photos are in the "screenshots" page 3. They were posted a while back and I will change them tonight to jpegs to reduce the size. I really need to get stuck in again and do some more but it's the usual time/money factor.

By the way I didn't mention it in the main post above but the first leg was from NZAA to NFTF Fua'Amotu in Tonga 1079nm and took 6.2 hrs.

Last week I did about 3 hours in the Baron purely experimenting with fuel flow figures at different altitudes and throttle settings. As I'm staying below 10,000ft it makes the fuel planning critical and I managed to work out that my max leg can be about 10hrs! with careful leaning. As one of the critical legs coming up is about 9hrs this will get interesting weather wise ( hoping for a good tailwind!).

Great "feel" TG
Something I can't quite connect: the Baron has a ceiling of around 20,000ft yet you choose to fly 10,000 (no oxygen.)
Is there a pressurised version of the plane, or what do you do when wanting to fly higher?

There is -- the 58P. We have one here at Enstone in the UK. Bloody great pressure seals on the doors & no double door at the back!

Other Barons need portable oxygen & the occupants to wear canulas or face masks.

Either way, you need to make sure there's oxygen in the tanks

Yay, another tour with a strange route to follow along.

Sounds good so far Towerguy, I look forward to tracking your progress

Leg 2 NFTF (Fua' Amotu, Tonga) to NIUE 322nm

Just a short leg today,set out about mid morning after a leisurely breakfast by the pool.
Filed IFR through to Niue at 9000ft - I could have made it direct to Rarotonga but decided just to take a look seems as I was up this way - so off it was to Niue.

Weather was fine with a high overcast with a bit of lower cloud forecast along route but the possibility of low cloud at Niue itself. After getting the route clearance from the tower it was airborne and off to the northeast along the coast.




Once in the cruise I found myself sitting between 2 layers



so a pretty boring leg - just a couple of reports via HF to Nandi radio before it was top of descent and in contact for joining with Niue tower. I did have a shot of arrival at Niue but the lame brain photographer forgot to paste the thing before turning off and going to bed!

Anyway it was pretty much a 5 min formality getting through the customs checks etc before heading for the hotel and the beach for a quick dip before dinner. Tomorrow I have ordered weather and notams in the hope of getting across to Rarotonga.

(Can't resist a bit of a quick skite here - my middle son Peter has been competing in the Auckland athletics champs over the last 2 days and came way with a Silver in the mens U16 highjump and took Gold in the U16 110m hurdles. He only turned 15 in Nov! and has qualified for the Auckland team competing in Inglewood in March! Well done Son. - proud parents - ya just can't help yourself sometimes!)

Looking good, and congrats for Number Two Son

If Jon doesn't come up with a baron paint, you're welcome to this one:



Can easily change the colours or sticker it up should you wish.

Cool! I love it - thanks

yes I think I may be in the paint shop at Raro when I get there!

b*gger! It means I will have to spend a few extra days lounging by the pool!
hopefully I will be able to copy this across to FSX as well so I can mix and match the 2 sims.

cheers!

Nice work so far TG...

Matlo

http://www.arnot.flyer.co.uk/dl/DFB58_RXP_ZK-TGY.zip

I'll leave it there for a few days.

thanks - picking it up right now.

Looks like a good tour Towerguy. Does the default ATC actually direct you to contact HF frequencies like Nandi Radio? That'd be most cool...(I've never done any inter-continental trips before offline)

no - the MS ATC borders between cr*p and total bulls*t so I just simulate it for myself using the charts and what I can find out myself.

Yeah, that's what I expected. Out of interest what exactly does MS ATC hand you off to over the ocean?

today they gave me Nandi center on vhf out of Niue and midway to rarotonga they gave me to Auckland center on vhf!?? I don't think so!

Heheh, I bet they still sounded crystal clear though

Leg 3 Niue to Rarotonga NCRG
584nm ETE 3 1/2 hrs approx

After checking the weather and notams this morning I have planned at 9000ft due to better winds ( NW at about 24kts).
While submitting the plan and sharing coffee with the controller I was approached by a Doctor who has been over here helping with a patient. Along with his nurse he has to get back to Raro to catch a connecting flight but cannot get a local connection till tomorrow which is too late - can I take them?
After checking fuel loads and how many bags they had for weight I told him " yeah no problem, just finishing the coffee and a last stop and we will be off - you do realise it will be nearly 4 hours and no bathroom?"

Aircraft preflighted and fuel load adjusted it was a thorough briefing about ditching procedures etc and all aboard.

runway 28 in use so a climbing right turn over the island to set heading into a thickish haze.



With it being a relatively shorter leg today I just did a normal climb to height and set up the mixtures for the cruise. Mixture leaned back to 23% today giving a F/Flow of 9.4gph and GPS advising with the winds I am making 184kts GS.

the Doc sat up front with me and was quite interesting to talk to as he did some flying himself. His nurse though seemed a little bit nervous.When I asked why she said " theres just so much water!"



After passing rep pt ORAGI at W165 00.00 the wind has changed and GS has dropped back to 171 and there seems to be more of the predicted lower cloud building up, hopefully not enough to need the ILS at Raro.



As hoped it never amounted to much and after nearly 3 and a half hours we were finally on approach to Rarotonga International.



The speed and splendour of the tropical sunset is really apparent in these next shots. As we landed and taxied in to the GA parking area the sun was already going down.



we only just had enough time and light to tie the aircraft down and unload the bags



this is probably the last look at "Delta Foxtrot" as it will go into the local paint shop. My NZ registration is through and while it gets the paint job I will go and drop the good Doctor and Co. at the terminal and meet my wife off the Air New Zealand flight due in later this evening and tomorrow we will transfer up to Aitutaki for a weeks holiday while the paint drys - God I love the Virtual Lottery Commission!

Totals 1985nm and about 13 hrs

Great screenies this leg TG!

What scenery are you using for the Cook Islands, it looks like the RBE topo crossed with VOZ North...?

Another nice set, TG. Especially like the last two.

Trolly: You can still listen via the web... http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/

scenery is bog standard FS9 with activesky6.5 and some afcads and airfields from the Avsim library. I,m just searching and loading prior to each leg! Some legs I will intersperse some FSX as well just to spice up the story.
oh yes there is the VOZ north as well for the trees etc.

as for the ADF - yes when we were doing the night flying training in the CT4 at Wigram we used to tune it in at night and go cruisin to the tunes!

Leg 4 Rarotonga ( NCRG ) to Tahiti ( NTAA ) 616nm

After some RnR with Julie at Aitutake it was back to Rarotonga on the E110 shuttle with Air Rarotonga. She has decided to accompany me on the next leg across to Tahiti and spend 3 days there before catching the Air Tahiti nui flight back to Auckland.
There on the ramp sat my shiny newly painted and registered ZK-TGY. What a beaut!



After propping the doors open to help cool off the interior it was off to the tower to get weather and notams.
The weather for departure is fine, winds L/V vis 30km with just a a few clouds about 2300ft but the temp and dewpoint are already 27/25! The destination weather is okay-ish! winds L/V vis 9999 but a bit of cloud expected with sct 2000ft sct 5000ft but a tempo of 280/20g35 3000 SHRA FEW013CB.The typical afternoon thunderstorms. Upper winds enroute are forecast westerly 255 at 23kts giving a planned G/S of 193kts and ETE of 3hr 18min. I have planned Bora Bora as an alternate - if we are going to get stuck then why not choose one of the most beautiful places on the planet to do it!

With Julies bags and my gear and the two of us that amounts to approx 550lbs payload - within limits. Fuel required is 121 gal. and allows for the trip plus 45min res plus 1 hour holding and then on to Bora Bora. I have topped the tanks up to 148 gallons anyway just to be on the safe side.This puts us at 5421lbs gross at Startup - again within limits.

With flight plan submitted, checked and accepted,Last stops made,It's time to be off!
Not much traffic so it was straight out to the holding point for runnups then backtrack and line up rwy08, takeoff clearance was received on the backtrack so it's turn and burn.



Settling into the climb I noticed straight away that something was not adding up! The forecast westerlies are actually easterly! I'm not sure if Activesky didn't load correctly or MS FS9 weather is mucking around!?? Oh well thats the way with the weather. Levelling at 7000ft and setting up for the cruise I have settled for "23squared" to try to offset the wind and after leaning have figures of 12Gal per hour per engine. An IAS of 165 and TAS of 187 gives revised G/S of 170. With 540nm still to go that works out at 3hrs 11mins at 24GPH or 75.3 gal. Still a margin of 66.8 gal or about 3 hours worth - still plenty.


One of the few islands we pass over on the way this leg.

After passing rep pt KRILL ( s20 16.1 w157 00.0 ) the winds backed more northerly increasing our G/S to 180 which is a welcome change. Still... magazines out and 331nm of water to MAITO and another 120 after that till land. Thank goodness we had the sunscreen and some newspaper to jam over the canopy - its hot work!



About 50nm out we are handed from Tahiti control on HF to Tahiti App on 118.1 who start giving vectors for the ILS. As MSFS don't seem to know much about TOD's and descent profiles for unpressurised acft, I promptly cancelled IFR and went for flight following and switched to tower closer in for a VFR join. After landing ( one of my better ones thank goodness ) it was onto the ramp and in to customs.


Julie will be having 3 days here while I double check arrangements for the next 4 legs. You think theres been a lot of water so far, you ain't seen nothin' yet! Theres still 4 legs and about 4500nm to Sth America - including 2 legs of 1400nm and 1600nm! It's critical that prearranged fuel/oil drops at Isla de Pascua (Easter Is.) and Robinson Crusoe (SCIR) have been completed.

Anyway it's time for BAR, BATH and BED.

Wonderful story to follow and fantastic sreenies to go along with it. Look forward to the next batch!!!

Damn fine lines you've got there sir! (BTW, was I right in guessing ZK planes don't have an underwing reg?)

Any chance of a map sometime?

Towerguy is pleased as punch with the new paintjob can someone tell me how to port this paint into FSX and then I can mix and match. I have tried but as a painter I'm a complete newbie.

cheers

I had a go at transferring it to the default Baron, but I seem to have completely screwed it in the process: All the textures are just showing the fallback white, & I'm &%^%ed if I can see why!

First off, I saved it in the new DDS format, but that came out completely transparent and made the sim grind to a halt. Then I tried an FS9-style DXT3, but that just displayed the fallback white. Worse: All the other paints started displaying fallback white - even after uninstalling the new paint!

Completely confused!

Finally found my old copy of Encarta Atlas so here is the map of the first 4 legs



cheers

<Little does he know, he's actually helping plan my route 'back'. Bwahahahaha!>

Sorry, overslept this am, and downed too much coffee!

http://www.arnot.flyer.co.uk/dl/ZKTGY-FSX.zip

The paint in my tour is basically the same, but with the colours reversed. I'm not entirely happy with the fin, so consider it a work in progress. You'll need to install it by hand, as there's only the modified texture and thumbnail in the zip. Copy one of the existing texture folders (such as Texture.1), and change its extension to tgy. Then copy the downloaded files into it, overwriting the existing ones.

Finally, edit the aircraft.cfg file. Find the entry for [fltsim.1], copy the entire block and paste it back just before the [general] section. Change the number in the section header to be the next in sequence, and change the title, texture, atc_id and ui_variation fields to suit. Note that the title field must be unique, or FS will complain.

NB. Don't use the blank texture (just "Textue") as your base for the paint, since that seems to generally cause havoc. Been there; done that!

Leg 5 Tahiti ( NTAA ) to Totegegie Island (NTGJ) 926nm 5.2 hrs

Julie has enjoyed the last 3 days here but I have spent most of it with the cellphone glued to my ear, trying to arrange long range met forecasts for the area east of here and checking that fuel has been delivered etc. I shouldn't go short of oil before reaching Santiago, I asked for "some" and they apparently shipped "a drum (44gl)"
out to Robinson Crusoe. Oh well better that than the other way around!

After putting Julie on the flight back to Auckland it was all go for the next leg. I decided to beat the heat and make an early start but so did the weather. I got half the walk round done dry and then sat for 10mins under the wing while it bucketed down. I even considered going back to bed! The "possible" thunderstorms had eventuated and there was lightning flashing all around the Airport from a huge CB over the nearby hill.



These are forecast along most of todays route so I will be doing a bit of dodging and weaving. After loading up activesky and checking winds I have decided on 5000ft for the cruise giving the best tailwinds/ Fuel tradeoff and will take about 5 hours.

Aircraft weight is right on max today as I am carrying all the fuel I can as well as extra oil supplies and water etc. and a small mountain of magazines for the long overwater legs.( Mp3 player and PSP loaded!)

Runups completed it was a standard backtrack and departure off rwy04. I continued runway centerline for an extra mile or so to clear the buildups and then it was right onto track.



Setting up the cruise at this level I'm getting 11.2 GPH with an IAS of 164kts TAS of 181kt.

The first couple of legs take us south of Hao Atoll. This used to be the French military base that housed the support for the Mururoa nuclear testing program. It used to be a restricted area but the French closed it down in 2002 so it is my first divert if needed. The main industry there is Pearl cultivation. As the French also shut down
all the electical and desalination plants and the hospital, there is not a lot left! but there is still a good long runway that services all the outlying islands.

After 237nm we are coming up to our first waypoint just about right on time.



Gps cross checks with the NDB on this island (AA 332.5) always reassuring to get a backup position check. Next waypoint is the the strip at Tureia (NTGY) 442nm and 2 and a half hours away. I just hope this weather eases up. I have had scattered CB activity with flashes of lightning all around the whole way so far and some turbulence to go along with it.



eventually I had to climb up to nonstandard 10,000ft to get around most of them.
The winds up here are more northerly 340/10-12kts. With engines leaned to 9.8 GPH I now have a GS of 182kts.

Overhead Tureia it was a slight right turn onto our final run of 246nm to Totegegie Island. Just a few glimpses of the island throught the clouds.



Passing north of the Mururoa restricted area I was glad I gave it a wide berth as there seems to be some really heavy CB activity down that way! Huge vertical development!



The rest of the leg was uneventful but I have noticed that the phosphors on the instruments are glowing really well.

Totegegie only gets about 3 flights a month so you have to make a low pass to check the strip is clear before landing.



So after a quick trip around all the Islands it was down on the deck and after a good stretch and a comfort stop it was refuel and check over the Aircraft in readiness for the next leg.



That done, it was into the boat belonging to one of the group of locals that had arrived, and off for some local hospitality for the evening.

This is the area of this leg and the next along with map of both legs.

Wow - great shots & edits - I like how you got the hand in the panel shots and the rather explosive cloud shot!

That cloud isn't real, I hope.
Didn't these guys sign a treaty of sorts....
or was that the crowd that sank the boat in Auckland?
You sure you don't want a slightly stronger aeroplane for this cross-Pacific stuff?
Radiation-hardened F-22 springs to mind.
Quicker, too.

oh very nice trip indeed TGUY still lots more to cover, good luck on the longer crossings

I think you might want to get the compass re-swung before you go any further...

unfortunately yes that cloud IS real - its a downloaded shot from one of the early tests - just do a google search , you will be amazed/horrified at just how many have been lit off but at least it's still only 2 in anger!


as for the compass - its a special Mururoa racing compass - does 0 to 360 25 times a second!

Leg 6 Totegegie Island (NTGJ) to Isla de Pascua (Easter Island) (SCIP) 1407nm

After a great day of snorkeling in the morning and then resting up in the afternoon I made final preparations for one of the longer runs on this whole tour. The weather forecast was not that promising with overcast and showers predicted. I planned an early start because the time difference heading west to east meant it would be late afternoon by the time I got to Easter Island. Another wet preflight and it was start, backtrack and runups at the end waiting while it got a bit lighter.



A 5kt wind from the left was no worries and the Baron got airborne at all up weight with no problems. I had hardly got gear up and power adjusted for the climb and it was into the murk!


On the clocks and climbing on track for our first waypoint I got hold of Tahiti radio and picked up my IFR clearance for nonstandard 10,000ft. Eventually I climbed out of the cloud around 8000ft! and it was literally "out of the frying pan into the fire" flying straight into the rising sun.



even with my Randolph aviator sunglasses the sunstrike was incredible!



Time for the trusty Jeppesen chart sunshade!



Happily settled into the cruise I set up the engines at 21 square and leaned back for 9.8GPH. The winds were not as favourable as forcast and I was only getting a G/S of 166kts, this means a trip of nearly 9 hours. About halfway things improved when the winds died away and I got about 180 kts. For the next 8 1/2 hrs all I saw was the tops of clouds with the occasional glimpses of dark green water far below. The previous afternoon as part of the preparations I removed the copilots seat and stowed it securely in the last row. then I reconfigured the second row seats facing forward, this is an easy operation just taking time and a wrench (yeah right!). it means that with the autopilot on I can slide across then get into the second row to stretch and get (and get rid of) supplies.

After an uneventful change to Pascua radio it was more of the same until Top of Descent.



It was IFR all the way down and then the ILS approach for rwy10. Checks done with 3 greens I Finally went visual about 1000ft in light rain it was a relief to see land again.

Taxying in I was directed to park on the ramp next to a tidy looking lear that probably did the trip in less than a 1/4 of the time it took me.





At shutdown I had a total of 34.4gals left, enough for about 1 3/4 hours flying. This would have left me swimming on my next leg I will have to wait for better winds for the next leg.

What a miserable day! Hopefully it will clear up later, I plan to take a few days here to rest and do some sight seeing.

I Have spent the last few days travelling around Easter Island checking out the Moai (Statues) and enjoying the hospitality of he Islanders. The unique history of this amazing place and how it relates to the populating of the south pacific is fascinating. Even if you are not travelling here, I would recommend the "Lonely Planet" guide to Chile and Easter Island as worthwhile reading.

Well, after a few days rest and playing the tourist it's time to continue the tour. The main purpose of the last few days has been waiting for weather conditions necessary for the next leg. At 1634nm, the next stretch is right out there at the extreme limit of the Barons range and extensive but careful planning has been necessary. To really give myself some sort of buffer I have had to wait for a Cold Front to pass over so I can "catch the coat tails" and ride the westerlies behind. After working out dozens of scenarios I have got a Point of no return (PNR) of 753nm with a 20kt tail component or 764 in nil wind. So I will be making the final call at the 750nm mark.

I submitted my plan last night and hit the sack early as its up at 2.30am. To ensure best performance and due to the time difference travelling west to east, I started well before first light.



There were some light showers around but nothing troublesome. A final walkround and recheck of all doors and caps etc and it was startup and taxi for a departure to the west. Airborne at 0407 local I climbed over the VOR and set heading. A gentle cruise climb to 10,000ft in the dark and set up the engine for the cruise, then its navigating checks and GPS setup and radio calls etc.



Needing a 10kt tailwind component it was good to find better than forecast winds and a G/S of 180kts.

Approaching GAMBA I was treated to a great sunrise.





Due to the better than forecast westerlies I reached the 750nm mark in 3hrs 34mins so the decision is GO!
Fuel at this stage is 64.5/64.5 and 9.5 GPH/engine with a GS of 187kts and the winds about 240 mag at 20kts.

The romance of long overwater flights eh? books, sudoku, eating, mp3 and (bad) singing.
+ 4hrs 23mins TACAS and ... more of the above
+ 5hrs 46mins CARPA and you guessed it.
Although I am in Pascua radio's area, I and most of the other overflights -Qantas, Lan Chile and Aerolineas Argentinas etc- all check in with Auckland radio.

I was just finishing lunch when a voice came booming in -
"Baron Zulu Kilo Tango Golf Yankee this is Navy18 on guard copy?"
WHOA! where did they come from?



Hi guys, nice morning - come here often?"
"No sir, Sir your present course will take you into a military restricted area,it is requested that you alter course 30 degrees to starboard to clear."
these guys gotta be joking " you're kidding me right?"
"No sir that is the request"
s**t "Listen mate! I'm planned down to the last drop of gas and am flying on a legally filed plan, so unless you boys know how to play texaco to a Beech Baron then I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline your 'request', but look on the bright side - you guys just became my number one fuel divert if needed."
let them think about that!
"aahhh.. Yessir we'll get back to you on that, standby"
yeah right like I'm going somewhere? well that must have got them talking back on board, anyway after about 10mins I got...
"Tango Golf Yankee you are cleared to continue on course, if you require any assistance just call on guard. good day." whereupon they executed a smart snap to the left and took off as if I was parked. Last time I saw them they were climbing away to the northeast like a pair of homesick angels. Lucky buggers!
well at least it passed a bit of time - another couple of hours to go. Boy I'm glad I wasn't in the back taking a dump - 500nm from the nearest bit of land and big brother is still watching!

Finally TOD rolled around and down I headed.



After 8 1/2 hours - Land! well pretty small but still.. Land! After announcing position and intentions it was an overhead rejoin just to check things out and into the left circuit for rwy32.



Man after all this and its a stiff crosswind onto a short strip - yay fun!



After 8hrs 54mins touchdown! albeit a bit of a carrier landing (3G) its good to feel terra firma again.
Shutting down at the pumps I had 15 gallons a side left or enough for about an hour and a half. I'm glad it was visual approaches.



Now to find someone to unlock these pumps and then somewhere to get a feed - thats after I get my legs moving again.

Awesome stuff, and really interesting encounters as well.

Alex

Man, I like your story.
Hey TG, between shuffling jumbos down the lanes, have you ever thought about scripting something aeronautical?
I hear Peter Jackson is a plane nutter...

yeah a couple of times I thought about it but I usually wake up or sober up _ once I even did both! really scared myself.

now I am working on the storyline for further out and trying to source resources like charts and maps, and fitting in heaps of reading about places actually on my route that may be useful. It actually takes up quite a lot of time but it's fun and I'm starting to learn heaps especially about just how much I really do NOT know.
hopefully more in a couple of days.

cheers

Juat had my first good look threw here,very impresive, great story twrguy!

Those sreenshots are wounderful, your envirmoent and textures and stuff look really great. So does of the airport scenery, can you post a list of the addons you use in these pictures?

James

Leg 8 SCIR (Robinson Crusoe) to SCEL (Santiago) 460nm

If you like to get away from things and have a quiet relaxing holiday then this place is a must! A total population of just 500 situated 460nm out into the South Pacific, Isla Juan Fernandez or "Robinson Crusoe" is a relatively little known tourist destination that richly rewards those that make the discovery and the effort to get there.
Arriving as I did by air, I was able to catch a lift to the ferry by 4wd, and what a ride! nearly vertical in places. The ferry,little more than a fishing boat, dropped myself and another 2 couples that had just flown in from Santiago at the pier in the small settlement of San Juan Bautista.
We all checked into the "Hosteria Villa Green" situated on the small central 'plaza' and then wandered along the foreshore for dinner at the La Bahia restaurant.
The next few days were spent doing the tourist thing swimming, seal watching and tramping to the top of the hill - the 'Mirador de Selkirk', it takes most of the day and goes up to nearly 3000ft. This is the Island that Alexander Selkirk of Robinson Crusoe fame was marooned on in 1704 for 4 1/2 yrs - althought I believe the book changes the location to the Caribbean.
As much as I enjoyed my stay here, it was time to move on again.
"Golf Yankee" was fuelled, a long and laborious undertaking done by handpump from 40 gallon drums. Oil checked and topped, weather checked and plan faxed through, I was off!
I have had to carry reduced fuel this leg as the accelerate-stop distance for this weight is 2200ft and the strip is only 2822ft long - not a lot extra but it's only a short leg so no worries.



Weather predicted Southerly to South easterly along the way with scattered to overcast middle layers and so it proved to be.



I was in and out of it all the way.



At least reading up on the ILS at Santiago helped pass the time. That and the 'unusual' vectoring I started to receive half way to the coast. About 30 miles off the coast things thinned out some and I was able to get a sight of land at last - real land!



Santiago Approach provided vectors for the 17L ILS but due to the surrounding terrain I had to maintain 8600ft till right base and then a sharp descent down to 5000ft until established on the localiser!



Fortunately I had already started slowing well before TOD in order to slow the engine cooling , but I still had pretty steep rates of descent to try to catch up with the glideslope. Eventually visual I asked for and received clearance for an orbit to get down.



Taxiing in I could see that this is definitely home to Lan Chile.



Once safely closed up for the night security gave me a lift over to customs where I picked up my 90 day 'Tourist card' and stamp.


The imposing Andes in the background.

Then it was join the crowds out front for a mini bus to San Pablo and change to the Metro ( very modern clean and efficient, and cheap!) into the city. I am booked at the 'Hotel Galerias' right in the center of town so its lunch, pool and then out and about to see the sights.

Trip so far : 5894nm 37.0hrs

Wow, another continent already!

That really is rather green, is that accurate or just the VOZ North landclass still?

It should be just FS9 as I unvozed before my last flight. I will double check at next startup. The area around Santiago in central Chile is the most fertile area and is extensive farmland so that would tend to tie in. I have also loaded in the new mesh for South America - it is about 20m resolution - and it is loaded through for FS9 and FSX.

Mmmm map, map, he hasn't loaded the map!
How's he know where to fly then?

EDIT: Bet it's just a straight line going off to the right

here you go this is just for you Charl


Leg 8 Juan Fernandez to Santiago

cheers

Wow, I love these screenshots, the visuals are amazing. I also really like the frame you have put around them, great job!!