A challenge if you will.

[srgalahad]

44 minutes in the Restauravia Mystere IVA with one little glitch as the tanks ran dry but the ESSO at Quesnel had a long hose Topped up and got back to speed (500kts-ish) (might have been a bit light at departure).

As with PRB, my river is dry so navigation is tough but the highway helps for most of it. (Dang M$ - it IS a significant river for most of it's length).

Staying low is no problem as long as you can handle 5.5g turns and pray a lot. Plan-G helps as it shows good terrain in spite of minor lag in the turns.

The Columbia River should be a snap... have done it in the Sec8 Sabre and the USN uses the upper reaches around the Grand Coulee dam in R/L for low level practice ( except when they encounter ag-planes ) Be a test of the fuel supply if you start at the true headwaters at Invermere and go north first. Most of it from Revelstoke south is pretty wide.

Now, why note set it up with a bit more detail and maybe we can run it as an online event this spring or summer.

(project for you Paul?)

 

[padburgess]

Hi srgalahad

Sounds like a good run. Not sure how you mean to set up with more detail. Haven't done any online stuff so not sure what to do here.

I've just spent an hour trying different planes myself. Results below. No piccies as too embarrassing.
Hawker Hunter - chews gas like you would not believe. would probably needed two refuels to get there but moot question as hill got in way.
F11 Tiger - More gas friendly than Hunter but still a handful and also has affinity for trees and green clouds.
The lowly Me262 - surprisingly easy to fly in the valley bottom without too many overshoots. Set it at 80% throttle (about 450knots) and just have fun. Lack of speed brakes makes it a bit harder but you don't have a lot of speed to bleed off so not too bad. Was doing surprisingly well at about half way when I got a little too enthusiastic on an inside turn and ran the canopy into a hill. Would also have needed a refuel though so would not have constituted a pass. Although I suppose a proper pit stop wouldn't break my original criteria. I may have to modify this one to include a radalt and speed brakes (simulated).

At flyinggoldfish - You are correct. That Vulcan looks damn nice. The view in these close quarters must have been bloody restrictive though.

I don't know about you all but I'm finding this to be a hell of a lot of fun and very addictive.

Cheers to you all
Paul

 

[Chris Sykes]

I bet a F-111 would do it, got the power, speed brake and fuel range...

 

[flyinggoldfish]

Heh, yeah even if she could handle the turns the daft lack of windscreen would have made it damn near impossible! Was a (literal!) flight of fancy....

Will be persevering with the Bucc, she's well up to the task, it me that needs work! Possibly I should also see someone about my irrational desire to put my Bucc under every bridge I come across...

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk

 

[jmbiii]

I must improve my reading comprehension and clean the spots off of my monitor. A very quick read through of the first post and dirty monitor put a decimal point between 35 and 0. Without further ado, I was off to Abbotsford and hopped into my trusty Seabird thinking 35 knots is a piece of cake. Shoot, I was hitting 120 to 140 on the deck. Great fun up the river past Hope. Under a few bridges and power lines. Pulled up and stopped at Lyton Airport for lunch. Went back and read all the way through the posts. 350 knots ! ?
Oh well, once I get back to civilization and find a faster ride I try it again.
Here's some shots of the flight. FWIW . . . . . . .

 

[PRB]

That's pretty funny, jmbii...

Padburgess, what Rob (srgalahad) was refering to, and one of the tools we use when we hold our racing events is the “FS-Duenna”, which records your flight data and saves it in the form of an image, text file, and link to the server when the data on your flight is stored. With this you could track the time of each flight and make it a more competitive event. It tracks your MSL altitude, but not AGL, so you would have to make the altitude “ceiling” an MSL one, which offers it's own challenges. What it's no so good at is tracking your precise course in detail, so “corner cutting” might be hard to detect. It also only measures “direct distance” or “point to point”, and not the total miles covered, which, if it did, would be a good way to detect corner cutting.

Here's the duenna data for my latest run, in the RAZBAM A-7E. I really blew this one. It seemed like my GPS was “freezing” up unless I constantly changed range scales. Good thing I had the APQ-126 radar fired up in the Corsair. And Plan-G...

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=rANwrsKx02ef4kUGQALMaEK6eo

 

[James1967A1]

I finally tried the A-10. Seems to work well, aside from my crash. I think I'll use this one for the trip. Handling is pretty good and visibility is not too bad. I have to remember to use Plan G. I keep turning into dead ends or having to pull up the FS map to see if I need to veer right or left. Really enjoying this challenge. And I'm enjoying all the other aircraft people are using. I think after the high speed challenge, I'd like to try it at a lower speed in a low speed aircraft.

Jim

 

[jmbiii]

Lower speed is fun, too! You can get right down on the water even in the narrow parts.

I had wanted to find a North American "Mach Loop". This appears to be it !

 

[James1967A1]

I'd like to try Rob Richardson's F-106A on the route. It would be plenty fast, but visibility might be a problem.

 

[ViperPilot2]

I tried out the Intruder, and the Block 60 Viper (no screenies... sorry), but keep having the same problems as Jim (james1967A1); I keep making wrong turns and end up off course! I can stay below the set ceiling and keep the speed up... I just have to get everything set up in the cockpit and on the Panel!

As an aside... this is just my personal opinion, but from the looks of it we have a pretty honest little gang here, having lots of fun. We're all competing against the course, picking our airplanes based on the mission and the terrain. In the event that everyone decides to take a run to see who's fastest, how about keeping the informal spirit going and work off the Honor System (it took me this long to complete the course, using this airplane...). Do we really need to use the Duenna for this? Maybe I'm just paranoid or something, but in my mind I see Duenna = RTWR Rules, which equals... White List. Invoke that, and there goes the spirit of the entire Thread, especially since we've been running all order of airplanes through the course.

I'm in the minority here. This is the FSX Forum after all, and I'm a Niner; I asked the OP if I could participate, just to have fun. You guys call the shots here, and will ultimately choose the best course of action about how to run a competition.

All I'm trying to do is make it through the course...

 

[WhiskeyEcho]

200knots @40-60 ft on the river, all the way, much more of a challenge.

 

[padburgess]

PRB thanks for the HU about what was meant by Rob with regard to Duenna. I think I will go with ViperPilot2 on this though. My original intention was to generate some interest and discussion around valley running within the community. I have no interest in seeing who can do this fastest or with the least amount of corner cutting or "proof" of success other than a few screen shots and a "I did it post". If someone didn't and just posted the comment then the only one they are fooling is themself. I find it challenging enough just as it is. Me and a chosen aircraft against a few arbitrary rules and the terrain of a chosen flight path. I don't mean to negate the wishes of those who desire a more competitive approach, but not for me thanks.
I welcome the fact that so many have tried this, even a niner and to see the diverse range of aircraft attempting this is awesome. I mean a Vulcan! I definitely want to see that one finish LOL.

I would love to see others post alternative routes with a different set of parameters. That posted by WhiskeyEcho is one I will try. Something a smaller piston engined warbird of GA could achieve.

I am still trying this first leg with different aircraft, my current attempts are with Flight Replicas 262. It's a lovely old bird with gentle flight characteristics, albeit a little under powered and slow on spool up. If you set her up with 80% RPM though and then just fly her she is sweet. Still haven't got there yet but I will.

I hope to start the next leg this weekend. Taking the TSR2 from Prince George to Revelstoke. Then I'll repeat it with the 262 and maybe Vertigo's F9F. I would love to do it in JF's Canberra, but I only have the free demo at present and the panel and nose fall off at 1000ft.

 

[PRB]

Understood. Not meaning to suggest anything different be done in this thread, only to explaining a bit what was meant, possibly, in an earlier post.

 

[padburgess]

Cheers PRB. I got your meaning and thank you for the clarification. I did not mean for you to interpret the rest of my reply as being about your response. I was just clarifying my position, if you will, so that everyone following this thread knew where I was coming from. I'm fairly new at this and have seen other threads, shall we say, deteriorate and I would hate for that to happen.

A further question for you though. You mention "Plan G" in your thread. What is this? I do most of my flying without add-on aids and it can be challenging at times. I haven't even got used to using a GPS yet. Probably why I like low level flying, you can see the rivers, rail-lines, roads etc. To find my way I usually have either a supplementary window open on my second monitor set to map view, or use Google Maps in the same way. Kind of clunky but it does work after a fashion.

 

[WhiskeyEcho]

Plan-G @ TASoftware.com, excellent planning and moving map, very helpful at 50ft.

P.S. FREE

 

[Essex]

I would love to do it in JF's Canberra, but I only have the free demo at present and the panel and nose fall off at 1000ft.

"F-111 Aardvark demo
This demo allows you to try the F-111 Aardvark in Flight Simulator X or Prepar3D, up to a height of 1000ft above the ground (AGL), at which point the demo model turns invisible."

I don't know if the other demos are AGL and I haven't tried it myself, but it would be good to have some FDE tweaks to differentiate the F111A demo from the F111C demo, both should manage the course anyhow.

 

[HarleyDude]

I tried in an Alpha F-111 and spun in after a compressor stall in a tight turn. Tried a F-16 viper, F-86 Sabre (section 8), a North American Bronco ( just to see if it could be done), a T-38 Talon, and a F-20 Tigershark. I can make it about 2/3 of the way up the course and loose it on the tight turns. A great course and I would like to see others posted. Maybe for old and slow A/C. I enjoy all the posts and look forward for more in the future. In the mean time its back to the old drawing board and try again. As for whether or not to use recorded flight data. I think keeping it on the honor system and friendly would work best. The challenge is against the course not each other. And for those who make it congratulations WELL DONE as for the rest of us I'll see you on the flight line.

 

[padburgess]

Well, I've given the jets a bit of a rest. I was getting tired of trying to fly through hills although the 262 is still a goer as my faults there seem to be hitting trees and water not hills. I was starting to think the first run was a fluke with the poor showing I've been getting.

Thought I would give WhiskeyEcho's idea a go. Even slower and if possible lower. Did a few trials with some piston engined warbirds, Do335, P51, Mosquito and finally A2A's Me109Emil. Settled on the Emil. Very challenging but lots of fun. No GPS moving map or whatever, just follow the river. I consider myself privileged as I have Orbyx's PNW scenery and the river goes all the way. In fact this scenery is simply stunning.

Did fall for flying goldfish's bridge fetish though. Left a few out and didn't try any of the doubles. Got the rest though. Had to cheat a little and do a sneaky "in flight" refuel. I'm going to claim it was to allow for a drop tank or two.


This run was done at about 230-250knots and much lower than the previous one.

 

[Deacon211]

Thanks for that challenge...it was a great amount of fun!

I thought at first to try to get the A2A P-51D up on the route by running her flat out.



But that wasn't going to work even if I didn't overheat.

Next I tried the A-4...



But the turn performance was just killing me and I ended up with a very bizarre locked in stall that pancaked me into a hillside.

Oh, well. Third time's a charm!












What a beautiful route and surprisingly real looking with all the trees covering the ground textures. I will admit to taking a wrong turn and having to skim over a bit of headland to get back in the valley, but otherwise I think I managed to stay in the groove the entire way.

I may do it with the Mustang just for fun...

Deacon

 

[ThePlasticMax]

What it's no so good at is tracking your precise course in detail, so “corner cutting” might be hard to detect. It also only measures “direct distance” or “point to point”, and not the total miles covered, which, if it did, would be a good way to detect corner cutting.

It actually appears to track it and record it just fine, it just doesn't present that data to you unless you click on the 'Get Full..' links, from which I can see, for example, that you blew the altitude and veered west at Fountain Indian Reserve, rather than staying in the valley.

(Sorry about not quoting properly, but 'reply with quote' doesn't seem to work for me)