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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

**The OFFICIAL All Sims Air Tour Thread**

bosspecops said:
That's a NICE looking aeroplane, your Stinson. Which model is it please?

I built a small rubber powered flying scale model of one of them about 75 yrs ago now, and it flew superbly! :)
Click to expand...
It's the Piper Stinson108-3. Native FSX but I use it in P3D. I have been updating the VC portion with better resolution textures which are about complete. I can send you the complete package in a few days if you'd like.
 
The plan had been for Suzanne to fly the Falcon today. We had decided on a touch and go at South Bend (KSBN) then landing at Meigs for old times sake.

I was up at 9 am, powering up, to not run the battery down, and working on the radio problem. I tuned in the Kellogg (KBTL) tower frequency but Willow Run (KYIP) replied, same result when I tried the Kellogg ground frequency (121.70).
Kellogg testing.jpg
Leg2 radio.jpg

In any case the weather had thrown an even bigger spanner into the works: overcast 200’, and writ large on the panel so as not to be missed:

A/C TO BE FLOWN VMC ONLY

Kellogg weather.jpg

What to do? The three of us gathered in the cafeteria. The reality was it would be stupid to take anything up in the overcast unless equipped with auto land and an airport with ILS. Not many 1930s craft equipped with autoland.
Only one course of action really; wait for the weather to clear.
Time to sample the delights of Battle Creek and if brave venture into Kalamazoo.
 
Returned a few days ago from a holiday in France. While there I visited some old favorite museums for the first time in many years, which will inspire my mounts for the next two legs.

The Musee de l'Air et Espace has on display the incomplete airframe of the Caudron C.714R, which was being built for a world speed record attempt prior to the outbreak of war. The airframe was hidden from the Nazis in the basement of a Renault dealer on the Champs-Elysees during the war, and thus survived to be preserved.

IMG_0979a.JPG

I had not fired up the Caudron in MSFS for a while. It got me from Atlanta to Greenville, with one fuel stop. I am not done with Caudrons yet. I think the Restauravia C.450/460 for P3D is beckoning to me for one of my next few legs.

stage19.jpg

Also on display at the MdlAeE was the famous Breguet XIX "Point d'Interrogation" which, after its epic westward Atlantic crossing, did a tour of the US not unlike the one we are doing.

IMG_0990a.JPG

Scrub's rendition for FSX was my choice for the next leg to Winston-Salem.

stage20.jpg
 
(KBTL) Battle Creek to (KSBN) South Bend

Thursday 8th. January (FS9 /2004)

It was unanimous, we would change aircraft, the Miles was likeable but slow and restricted to Visual Flight Rules only.
The forecast for the day was OK, a bit cold, misty and some strong westerly head winds but 22 Km visibility was manageable.
We loaded the Gull. We were going from a Falcon to a Gull. It sounded a backward step but the Percival D3 Gull Six had a more powerful engine and that would translate to a faster cruising speed.
Percival 1.jpg
Percival 2.jpg

Suzanne studied the met report:
Weather.jpg



“Everything safely stowed?” The pilot in command asked, although it sounded more like a demand.
“Yes” I replied “Your 15 Kg make-up bag is safely strapped to the rear bulkhead”.
She ignored my comment.
I had heard it rumoured she had a miniature weather altering gizmo powered by a Dilithium crystal hidden amongst the make-up.
We went through the powering up procedures.
The plan was to do a touch and go at South Bend (KSBN) then head for the old Meigs, still alive in our world.

I was having similar problems with the modern radio on this craft as on the Miles so we had phoned in advance warning ATC in South Bend we intended to do a touch and go on Rwy 27L. And Meigs that we would be doing a full stop landing on the most appropriate heading on arrival.

Suzie taxied out to Rwy 13 and as we had no radio comms we used the Mk1 human eyeball to check all was clear. As with most tail draggers taxiing was hampered by poor visibility and this Proctor had a castering not steering tail wheel so a judicious combination of rudder, speed and differential breaking were required to keep on track. Suzie did a good job of it:
3 rwy 13 line up.jpg

The tail lifted with ease, visibility then good:
Tail up.jpg

In the cruise at 2200 RPM at 3000’ we managed 102 Kts ground speed with a 32 Kts head wind. The air speed was 150 m.p.h.:
Mist and wind.jpg

We descended to 2000’ approaching South Bend. We had planned on doing the touch and go on rwy 27L the longest runway, but 27R was illuminated and 27L not.
What to do? Land on the runway we had told ATC we would be using or use 27R clearly the rwy in use. I cursed the useless radio. Must fix it properly at Meigs.

Suzie decided it was safer to use the runway in use 27R.
27R or 27L.jpg

The flaps on the Percival slowed the craft nicely, we descende at 65 Kts bounced off the tarmac, applied full power and climbed away.
touch go.jpg
 
Leg 15
=====

I managed to get clear of all that claggy stuff en route to Memphis KMEM today, which was pleasant and gave me positive indications for heading further eastward. I found another singleton of an aircraft type, the Vega Model2 Starliner. NOT the gorgeous L-1649 Super Duper Constellation that Lockheed built post war, this was a much smaller aeroplane with 2 crew and 5 pax maximum. Bizarrely it had two engines but only one airscrew. Yes, really.....

Here she is sitting on the ramp at Little Rock, no doubt muttering to the 737 alongside 'So? I've got two engines as well as you!' I opened all the doors, and as you can see the engine's are all right there. Apparently it could fly with only one of them running, and I tried it, but the panel won't play and still insisted they were both running when one patently wasn't, as she slows markedly in that mode.

Leg 15-a.jpg

Having started (both....) engines I Shift-P1'd back off the ramp and headed for the northbound runway as there was zero wind in any direction, and KLIT doesn't have an eastbound runway. My increase in FS traffic was brought home as I taxied onto the runway, having been cleared by ATC, as suddenly a Dash 8 zoomed overhead climbing away with it's gear going backup! He must have been on approach, but a) ATC didn't seem to know, and b) I couldn't see him on FST either! That's him ringed over the far end of the runway.

Leg 15-b.jpg

Taking off was a simple matter of dropping the flaps a tad (actually they went all the way down with one button press, so I pulled them back up a bit...) opening the taps, and easing some nose up trim in as she speeded up, simple. The flight model of the Starliner doesn't really stack up with the RW numbers as she seems lacking in power, isn't as fast as she should be and won't climb at anywhere near the book rate. She also has an alarming tendency to bury her nose in the tarmac with only a touch on the brakes! So far I haven't dinged the prop tips though. The 3D panel looks good, but is way too dark to use for real, even with the panel lights on, but as you'll see later, the 2D panel is fine.

Leg 15-c.jpg

Climbing up to my standard 5000 ft cruise altitude went OK, but slowly, and I cleared the clag after a few miles and stayed on top for most of the flight. What a funny looking fat thing the Starliner is though, eh?

Leg 15-d.jpg

Navigation was fine with the included radio aids, and I was pretty well on track when I cleared the clag just south of Forest City a few miles west of Memphis. Note the A320 coming in astern of me, she went on ahead and went into KMEM way ahead of me.

Leg 15-e.jpg

Soon the mighty Mississippi came into view, and it never ceases to amaze me how such a long river is so HUGE this far inland! I live right alongside the largest River in the UK, the Severn, and it's almost a mile wide here but we're only 10 miles from its mouth! Memphis is 450 river miles from the ocean! :oops:

Leg 15-f.jpg

I loped around to the north for the 18 R runway and was trailing a C208 Grand Caravan all the way in. There he is just ahead of me here, and that's the 2D panel, very clear, isn't it?

Leg 15-g.jpg

Landing, with full flap this time, was nice and smooth, but was quite fast as the Starliner doesn't seem to slow down too well, even on a closed throttle, full flap and with he the gear down too. I could have done with a drag chute!

I turned off on the 2nd exit and was right astern of the C208, so I followed him to parking as he seemed to know the way on this huge airport.

Leg 15-h.jpg

Having got there he pinched the only free space with easy access (Blooming turboprops, eh?) so I had to loop right around and ended up almost facing him, only to watch in amazement as the tanker and baggage trucks came out to service him, and totally ignored me!

Leg 15-i.jpg

So that was Leg 15 done and dusted, at an average speed of 138 kts. for the 120 nms. stage length, which was OK, but the Starliner is meant to cruise at 175 kts. The fuel burn was stupidly low however as she only used 26 galls for the flight, and that was with TWO engines running! As I said, there's something un-realistic about the numbers of this aircraft. Maybe I'll try and fix it, but there's so many other weird types to fly yet. :)
 
Last edited:
(KSBN) to Meigs
Thursday 8th. January (FS9/2004)

We pulled up and away from Rwy 27R South Bend on our new heading for Chicago:
Meigs set cours.jpg

The shore of Lake Michigan just about visible. The touch and go had showed Suzanne that at 2000’ the wind was an 180 degree southerly at only 4 knots. Had the radio been working we would have known that. We kept at 2000’ some 1500’ above the water surface with a ground (or in this case water) speed of 142Kts.
Heading lake.jpg

The Percival had no autopilot so attention had to be paid to the altimeter, the mist and lack of landmarks easily causing altitude dis-orientation.
But Suzanne kept us at a steady 2000’ and eventually Chicago appeared ghost like from the mist:
Chicago ahoy.jpg

With the 180 wind we would be using Rwy 180, we joined the circuit on a wide downwind leg, on base she lowered on to the first flap setting. Final was spectacular with the Chicago sky line as a backdrop:
Spectacular.jpg

A very gentle final followed at 65 Kts:
meigs ahead.jpg

The touch down was near perfect:
Gently.jpg

The taxi was probably the most difficult part of the journey., eventually we were directed to a parking spot:
Meigs parked.jpg
 
Leg 9: Des Moines International (KDSM) to Charles B. Wheeler Downtown airport (KMKC)

Flying the Percival Mew Gull in MSFS 2020. Using Active Sky FS for weather and Little Navmap for navigation. Using FSLTL for AI traffic.

01 ready to go.jpg
Ready to start the engine on the ramp at KDSM. 40% fuel on board. The ramp is nicely populated with aircraft now that I am using FSLTL. Looks like another good day to be flying.

02 takeoff on 23.jpg
Lined up for takeoff on runway 23.

03 climbing runway heading.jpg
Climbing out on runway heading and on the way.

04 FSLTL working.jpg
My LittleNavmap screen shows lots of aircraft in the area. I really like the FSLTL program so far.

05 south west creek.jpg
Flying over South West Creek. Near Osceola Iowa. The rest of the flight was uneventful.

06 camp branch.jpg
Getting close to Kansas City, Missouri. Flying over the Camp Branch of the Little Platte River. If that is a little river, wonder what a large one looks like.

07 airport Missouri river.jpg
The airport is up ahead. Nestled into a bend of the Missouri river. Wind direction indicates that I can do a straight in approach to runway 19.

08 short final for 19 a bit high.jpg
Short final for runway 19. I am still a bit high so chopped the throttle to loose enough altitude for touchdown. In my real world Cessna 172 flying it was often a bit harder to correctly judge the appropriate height above the runway on a straight in final with no PAPI available. Much easier to be at the right height when in the normal rectangular pattern.

09 touchdown on 19.jpg
Touchdown on runway 19. A bit long and right of centerline, but thankfully no drama on this final approach.

10 parked on ramp.jpg
Parked on the crowded ramp. Managed to squeeze in to the last available spot. Still have 30% fuel on board. The next flight is about the same distance as this last one, so I should make it to Wichita with about 20% fuel.
 
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