Around the World From NZ to NZ.

[victor_alpha_charlie]

Oh no! You're making me want to
A) Buy FSX (especially with my specs similar to yours)
B) Do a RTW trip!

Dangerous thinking..

[kiwibarguy]

You won't regret it mate. Last year it was slim pickings when it came to freeware but now the ball is finally rolling and there is alot more on offer.

If you do a world tour you want to avoid single props. I learnt the hard way.

I thought a tour from Alaska down to the Falklands would be awesome or to follow the path from 80 days around the world.

So go and buy a copy of fsx , install sp2 and you will soon be saying YES! YES! YES! just like creator2003, ay mate!

[G-HEVN]

QUOTE (kiwibarguy @ Feb 12 2008, 03:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you do a world tour you want to avoid single props. I learnt the hard way.

Or find a fast one...

[kiwibarguy]

QUOTE (G-HEVN @ Feb 18 2008, 08:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or find a fast one...

Yes very true! There are many single props out there that can kick it alot faster than the 172. I found a great Hawker Hurricane, i may fly in that next. It has a great sound to it.

[victor_alpha_charlie]

QUOTE (kiwibarguy @ Feb 18 2008, 08:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes very true! There are many single props out there that can kick it alot faster than the 172. I found a great Hawker Hurricane, i may fly in that next. It has a great sound to it.

I've got a Pilatus Calendar on my wall and a PC-12 has been staring at me all month- I'm thinking that or a Piaggio Avanti. I may even go a bit higher/faster in a Fokker 70 (at say 15,000 feet- you still see enough of the scenery). I'll be sticking with FS9 Though.

[kiwibarguy]

Jefman to Babullah

Jefman (SOQ) Indonesia > Babullah (TTE)

General path flown on this leg

Hawker Hurricane

I did a check on the serial number and came up with a little info on this plane. It served as a trainer at Gosport Navy Airstation which is located on the Southern Coast of England in February 1940. It served with the 800 Squadron NAF/FAA. Serial number M (3144)

Taxiing out to another fine day. Yep, that's right, no rain. The first thing i noticed about this plane to my delight was the sound of this beauty. Put on those headphones and listen to her, one of the best sound samples i've heard for any plane flown. It's got real heart to it, you can hear the potential power in her even before you have taken off. I absolutely love the sound of Merlin XX engines.

Clearance given and she is shouting at me 'Let me go!'

Awesome take-off, the Merlin was just roaring and popping, LOVE IT! The wheels folded in like they should, great start!

There are thousands of islands in Indonesia. Here i am passing Fam, Groot Fam and working my way up to Pulau Gab. It has a great virtual cockpit with a working oxygen system, automatic boost control, a 2 speed super charger, Mk.11 reflector gunsight, animated sun screen, reflective glass and more.

I was very impressed with this package. The vc has a lovely feel to it. The reflective glass also adds to the authenticity.

3000ft enroute to Pulau Gebe in the distance.

I blame the boredom of ocean for this. I decided to see what she was made of, she then proceeded to tell me to sit down and shut up.

Next thing i'd like to blame is 'Pacifc Fighters', coming in for the attack!

That white belly gives real meaning to the name Death roll!

Pulau Gebe is known in Indonesia for it's launch site for satelites, but i didn't see it though.

Ternate is an island and town in the maluku Islands. ternate is dominated by the volcanic Mout Gamalama. It erupts regularly. The largest recent eruption was in September 1980 when 30,000 of the islands 56,000 were forced to flee to nearby Tidore.

1720 drawing of Ternate by unknown, presumably Dutch, artist. Inset shows a Portuguese/Spanish-built fort on the island.

458km later and here i am.

It has been a pleasure to fly and will definitely be taking her up again soon.

I found this Sea Hurricane package on www.simviation. Look under FSX Vintage, it's 48.8MB. It even comes with a landable aircraft carrier but i'm not sure exactly where it is supposed to be. Note the animated canopy in the picture comes back.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the seatbelt sign is off. See you next time!

31/03/08 - As i said before, i have taken her up quite a few times since this flight! I totally reccomend all sim fans to get this! You will not be dissapointed!

[G-HEVN]

Nice plane. Nice pics.

I presume your luggage went air freight - let us know if it ever arrives!

[kiwibarguy]

Babullah to Manado

Will place map in tonight

FSX Default Douglas DC-3 - New Zealand Warbirds D-Day - By Jon Murchison

Although i have never met this gentleman, i have nothing but absolute praise for this skin. I love the D-Day stripes, which were painted on all aircraft on that historic day.

Even though we all know and have this skin, i wanted to fly it today as it is one of my personal favourites.

So we say goodbye Babullah as we head over the waters to the island of Sulawesi. The population of Sulawesi is around 2 million and Manado itself with just over 400,000 people.

There is ALOT of water between these 2 islands.

Even when you 10,000 ft up and you can see the island in the distance, you are half an hour later saying 'am i getting any closer?'

Flying over Manado, the biggest city yet on the journey. Ecotourism is the biggest attraction in Manado.

Manado was heavily bombed during WW2 by the allies.

It will also stage the World Ocean Conference in 2009.

So anyway im cleared for finals when this dash comes from out of nowhere asking for clearance. He sneeks in front and and i'm left saying 'The little !@#$%^&*(!'

With that also in mind there is a hill that slopes all the way down to the runway. Tocontin flashback!

Go around!!! I'll give you go around!! muzzin fruttin grumble muttin

While the cheeky little so and so chocks up, i'm left with my fuel burning away at his expense!

Coming for finals, for a second time. Must calm down, breathing now... in and out, o.k now counting to 10

Well here i am in Manado, time for a drink.

Ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated until the plane comes to a complete stop. Now if you look out the right window you can see our pilot running over to that Dash, must be going to say hello.

Note: yes i am stupid and have 2 sets of numbers on the back of my plane.

[NZCoffee]

I really enjoyed reading over your trip. Good luck with the rest of it!

[kiwibarguy]

Manado to Jalaluddin

P3 - Orion

First i would like to thank towerguy for inspiring myself to get back in the cockpit to continue on. I have had quite a good holiday here in Manado but now it is time to move on. I will be flying the Orion today to Gorontalo, but wait, what is this watery stuff falling from the sky, behold the liquid of life beknownst as RAIN!.... about time.

As i taxi out to the runway i am excited to be on the road again. Goodbye Manado, maybe see you again someday. We will be travelling about 270km down the Western Coast of the Celebes Sea then fly inland to the other side to the Gulf of Tomini.

Flaps down for this one, as the hill rises at the end quite quickly. Zoooooooom.

Flying down the coast i maintained a good height of around 6000 to pass over the clouds that were forming. The rain had stopped soon after taking off with the ocassional thunder to be heard.

Enjoying the flight.

Coming into Gorontalo i descended below the clouds to get a view of the city.

Checking out the sights.The lowland forests on the island are, unfortunately, almost gone. Because of the relative geological youth of the island and its dramatic and sharp topography, the lowland areas are naturally limited in their extent.

Celebes is well known for growing corn and other grains.

The record time aloft for a P-3 is a 21.5 hour flight undertaken by the Royal New Zealand Air Force's No. 5 Squadron in 1972.

Err Err ! Touchdown! Well that was fun. I look forward to flying something a little smaller next time. Seat belt sign is off, have a nice day.

[Daniel]

More Nice shots mate
Thanks for posting. I quite seeing some bigger aircraft on your adventures

[kiwibarguy]

Jalaluddin to Babung

Cessna 172 Skyhawk

The weather is scattered clouds with a possibility of light rain as i head south today to Babung. The total distance is around 165km so i thought i would take the Cessna out for a slow crossing.

I decided to fly low and check out the scenery.

The Cessna 172 is the most successful mass produced light aircraft in history.

The first flight of the prototype was in November 1955. The 172 became an overnight sales success and over 1400 were built in 1956, its first full year of production.

Read the story below on one of the greatest stories about a Skyhawk

This story was taken from Wikipedia.

On December 4, 1958 Robert Timm and John Cook took off from McCarran Airfield, Las Vegas, NV in N9172B. Sixty four days, 22 hours, 19 minutes and 5 seconds later, they landed back at McCarran Airfield on February 4, 1959. The flight was part of a fund raising effort for the Damon Runyan Cancer Fund. Food and water were transferred by matching speeds with a chase car on a straight stretch of road in the desert, and hoisting the supplies aboard with a rope and bucket. Fuel was taken on by hoisting a hose from a fuel truck up to the aeroplane, filling an auxiliary belly tank installed for the flight, pumping that fuel into the aeroplane's regular tanks, and then filling the belly tank again. The drivers steered while a second person matched speeds with the aeroplane with his foot on the vehicle's accelerator pedal.
Engine oil was added by means of a tube from the cabin that was fitted to pass through the firewall. Only the pilot's seat was installed. The remaining space was used for a pad on which the relief pilot slept. The right cabin door was replaced with an easy-opening, accordion-type door to allow supplies and fuel to be hoisted aboard. Early in the flight, the engine driven electric generator failed. A Champion wind driven generator (turned by a small propeller) was hoisted aboard, taped to the wing support strut, plugged into the cigarette lighter socket -- and served as the aeroplane's source of electricity for the rest of the flight. The pilots decided to end the marathon-flight because, with nearly 1500 hours continuous running during the record-setting flight plus several hundred hours already on the engine beforehand (considerably in excess of its normal overhaul interval), the engine's power output had deteriorated to the point that they were barely able to climb away after refueling. The aircraft is on display in the passenger terminal at McCarran International Airport. Photos and details of the record flight can be seen in a small museum on the upper level of the baggage claim area.

Crazy!

My flight seems rather short in comparison

The Gulf of Tomini (Indonesian: Teluk Tomini) is a gulf near the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia.
It is bounded on its north and west sides by the Minahassa Peninsula and on the south side by the East Peninsula, Sulawesi.
To the east it is open to the Pacific Ocean.

It started to thunder all around with bolts of lightning coming down on the eastern horizon so at this point i tried to get above the clouds. The skyhawks are not known for a fast rate of climb so i just tried to avoid what clouds i could.

I finally reached the other side of Sulawesi (Celebes) and started to descend.

This low cloud hung around the coast and as i came closer it took a bit of low flying to find for the runway.

Well looks like i'll be paying my landing fee at the honesty box.

Babung Airfield at the top left.

I enjoy surfing in the summer and couldn't help notice the sets coming in calling me.

Sure enough the wind died and she touched down like a well made paper plane.

Thank you ladies and gentleman, time for a swim. bye.

Thanks Daniel! I will continue to search for new fsx freeware planes that become available. I choose the plane based on the distance as i want to do this real time but if you have any suggestions for any planes let me know.

Thanks for the support!

The journey so far!

[Naki]

Hey I expected you to keep flying for 64 days non stop! - interesting storey though - and nice pics! Must resurrect my little journey.

[kiwibarguy]

Thanks Naki, good to hear from you ! Yes, i have followed your journey and enjoyed every posting, would love to continue reading about your journey.

[LMerraine]

Awesome work, and great bits of extra information! I haven't posted much if at all in here, but wanted to say I'm enjoing your journey.

[kiwibarguy]

Thanks for that LMerraine!

[kiwibarguy]

Babung to Kasiguncu

On the thin red line

Today i thought i would follow the Equator for this trip since i am here. Black dot marks the spot.

Nord N 262A

Here is our registered plane OY-BCO at Leeds/Bradford, Yeadon in the U.k in June 1974.

The Aérospatiale N 262 was a French twin-prop high-wing airliner built first by Nord Aviation (merged into Aérospatiale in 1970). I thought Mickey Mouse when i first saw the paint job.

So this little beauty can be found here [url=http://byteforge.com/addons/addon_history.htm#Nord_262A-21_Cimber_Air_Frégate]http://byteforge.com/addons/addon_history....ber_Air_Frégate[/url] .It is 46.1 MB and has 3 models, virtual cockpit, 2-d and custom sounds. In fact the custom sound is awesome!

So of we go, good weather and light winds make for a powerful take off and easy climb. I quite like the scenery around here, quite nice indeed.

Originally designed to replace the Douglas DC-3/C-47 Skytrain, it first flew on 20 May 1959.

Eventually, wholly state-owned Nord Aviation (later renamed Aérospatiale) took over the further development of the aircraft. The new changes that Nord brought to the aircraft were a rounded, pressurized cabin and the new name Nord 262. The new cabin design enabled the aircraft to carry between 24-26 passengers.

It is a lovely day for flying! I kept low and just watched everything go by!

The 2-D AI traffic radar was quite good but i didn'y really feel that close towards the V.C. It didn't seem completed, a lot of rough edges. That is not to say that these gentlemen have not done a good job.

OY-BCO is now flying for Aerolineas in Honduras and is now known as HR-ARP. Don't you love it when you trace a plane back to find out that she is still making the runs! You go girl! She has been flying since the 30th March 1967. 41 years old!

I had that urge, like we all do! 'I reckon i can make it over that ridge!'. Now i had taken off with a full load of gas,so the climb was not going to be easy.

As i got closer i started to have hesitations about making it.

Climb, Climb!! we're not gonna make it!, we are, we're not!! turn turn turn! you can make it!

It was like trying to fly a plane made from bricks covered with lead!

I gave a big hearty American 'Wooo!' like they always do in the action movies! I could almost hear Han Solo saying "You're all clear kid!"

It was a risky short cut but a worthy one. I enjoyed the view at the top and could start to descend for the airport.

Descending into the town of Puna, i head closer to Kasiguncu Airport.

One final close look at her underside.

Question: 'Why the bad landing' you say.

Answer: Maybe because there were two large trees directly in front of the runway.

.

Seatbelt signs are off, have a nice day!

[Ian Warren]

Mickey Mouse paint , , Barguy man ! Good choice of plane .. Nord/Potez to Breguet,s , the forgotten types , be interesting to follow through and find out other exotic types we havnt seen yet

[kiwibarguy]

Thanks Ian, i like alot of the french designed planes that came out of the 60's. I want to get my hands on a Breguet Atlantique if possible. Thanks for the reply!

[kiwibarguy]

Kasiguncu to Mutiara

Beechcraft Model 18

The Beech 18 is the most modified U.S.-certified aircraft design. This model had been seen in military service under a number of different versions including the more famous C-45 Expeditor, AT-7 Navigator, AT-Kansan, UC-45J Navigator and the SNB-1 Kansan. Whew , what a list!

I leave Kasiguncu Airport at around 11am in not the nicest of conditions. We will be heading north-west today on the second shortest flight on my journey.

I steadily climb to get above the clouds. The aircraft's uses have included aerial spraying, sterile bug release, fish seeding, dry ice cloud seeding, aerial firefighting, airborne mail pick up and drop, ambulance service, numerous movie productions, skydiving, freight, gun- and drug-smuggling, engine test bed, skywriting and banner towing. Yep, she surely has been around....old slapper

More than 9,000 of 32 variants were built.

Woo hoo, i finally get above the clouds and what a view i see!

Mountains covered in cream, this is becoming some heavy trip, i think i need to come down!

Here is a great one. This plane and its variations were in production from 1937 to 1970!

I am about ready to descend down into the city of Palu, enroute for Mutiara Airport.

The city sits on the mouth of Palu River, at the head of a long, narrow bay. Because of its sheltered position between mountain ridges, the climate is unusually dry......apart from today.

But even though it is raining the wind isn't playing up today so all is not that bad. Palu had an earthquake on the 24th of January, Panic ensued as most people sought refuge in the highlands for fear of a repeat disaster like the tsunami as occurred in Aceh. The earthquake killed one person, injured four others, and destroyed 177 buildings. The population of Palu is around 240,000.

Talking with the control tower i set up for my base leg turn.

I look forward to leaving the city on a nicer day.

I had no gps so i was a little bit off on the approach.

What a beautiful little flyer. This freeware is available at most sites. The light weight transport carrier's answer to the heavy DC-3. Definitely a must know piece of avaition.

The seatbelt sign is off, have a nice day!