**The OFFICIAL All Sims Air Tour Thread**

[lucb]

Leg17 HEHY->KFFC Peachtree City Falcon
When we arrived at the airport, we checked the weather forecast. It was -2°C at ground level, with cloud cover at around 4,000 feet. Not very encouraging.
Immediately after take-off, the pitot tube froze and Amy started complaining about the pitot heater, which never worked properly. Apart from that, it was a smooth flight with plains stretching as far as the eye could see.


We made a low pass over KFFC before continuing on to the next leg.

Leg18 KFFC -> KGMU Greenville Dowtown
Our GPS indicates a ground speed of 168 knots. We therefore have a good tailwind and quickly fly over Athens Airport.


And soon the Richard B.Russel lake and the frontier between Georgia and South Carolina. Unfortunately, turbulence set in and clouds forced us to descend to 2,500 feet, where our fuel consumption increased significantly.



To make matters worse, snow began to fall as we approached. The landing went smoothly, which was fortunate because we only had 8.57 litres left in our tanks.


Total Flying time: 2h30.

 

[Melo965]

Leg 23: First Flight Airport (KFFA) to Richmond International (KRIC)

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


Ready to start the engine. 91% fuel on board for this leg. Only one other smal plane here on the ramp.


Lined up for takeoff on runway 03. After the shortest taxi of all on this Air Tour.


Climbing out and on the way to Virginia.


Flying over Kill Devil Hills.


Half way there on a great day to be flying.


Williamsburg is there across the James River. My youngest brother lives there. After I get to Richmond, will be renting a car and go visit my brother for a few days. I should be back in the air on the Air Tour by this weekend.


Airport in sight ahead. Snapped this picture just as the terrain below was switching from snow covered to green fields.

Wind direction dictated a landing on runway 20.


Downwind for runway 20.

Just as I made the turn from downwind to base the simulator crashed to desktop. First time that has happened. My Little NavMap saved my flight track and I knew my altitude so I was able to reposition the Mew Gull precisely to continue the flight.


Successful short final for runway 20 this time. An almost centerline landing followed.

Taxi to the ramp went well, but the Simulator froze again, but without shutting down this time.


Parked near the airliners. 83% fuel on board. I was able to get this picture even with the Simulator frozen.

There will be a full reboot of the PC before the next flight. Next stop is Frederick Municipal (KFDK).

 

[bosspecops]

Nice work surviving the CTD Melo, that's always a pain, and far too frequent for my tastes too.

And you've caught me up again, although I should be leaving Richmond this evening flying something a bit larger than the Bugatti! But just as weird...............

 

[jgf]

For this leg of the tour I chose a simple plane, the Travelair 4000, a classic biplane of the era, many are still flying today. Mine has been updated with GPS, AP, and fully IFR compatible (sadly the pilot isn't), I'll use GPS as a chart and ADF. Early morning departure from KFFC (that airport should belong to Col Sanders)






My passenger seems to have lost face.




Passing Hartsfield, sun is up


KWDR in the distance; Barrow County Airport, aka Northeast Georgia Regional Airport (and previously Winder-Barrow Airport) is home to Dragonfly Aviation (I wasn't familiar with them either) and a medical company of the Georgia National Guard. Cruising along at 2100rpm, a leisurely 100kt at 3500ft.

 

[jgf]

Passing over 19A, Jackson County Airport (little data about it online; it has fuel, limited repair facilities, and no tower)

The real 19A


About halfway along, temperature suddenly plummets from 20 to 0, just cruising along; if the real planes are like this rendition, no wonder they remain so popular


3GE3, Broad River Airpark, Lavonia, Georgia; opened in 2006 as "a retreat for aviation enthusiasts around North East Georgia".

It's placement is quite correct-


Tooling along




Turning east to get a good approach to KGMU

 

[jgf]

Just cruising til the ADF points north


SC32, Sky Valley Airpark, Pelzer SC. Little data about it othe than privately owned, and for $35 you can get a water bottle with the Sky Valley sectional map on it.


ADF says it's time


That runway ahead? No, that's KGYH


Greenville Army Air Base opened in 1942, renamed Donaldson Air Force Base (after Col. John Donaldson, a WWI ace) in 1952, and closed in 1962. Reopened in 1964 by the city as Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park, or locally as just Donaldson Field. I'm just passing through.


Good thing I'm flying manually, stupid ILS want's to land in the grass by the runway


Apparently I'm not welcome here, instead of taxi to parking all I get are taxi to takeoff instructions


Shutdown


No parking? Well I'll just sit it right here in front of you.


176 miles in 1hr 24min, a very pleasant flight; release a balloon in celebration

 

[jgf]

FWIW, NC8708 "Magic One" is real, a Travelair 4000 built in 1929 and still flying today

 

[ScottishMike1]

Once again I covet the panel. Love the GPS in it's wooden frame!

 

[jgf]

Thanks. That's the default panel (1024x768) reworked to 1920x1080, with some added detail and texturing. Great model, especially considering it's 20 years old; though no idea who to credit for it, no docs in the folder, but I suspect it is one of Lyons' creations. GPS is one of those rare Atwater Kent units, no idea how they got all those vacuum tubes in that little case.

 

[bosspecops]

Yeah, the inside of the cockpit view does look very like the Lyons' work. There's a certain 'something' about the way they did things that sets them apart from other builders.

 

[MAD1]

Gaggle Sitrep. Where's everyone? Last update was Fri Jan 9, so a month to catch up. Route maps 1, 2. (Dates are approximate, either the flight date or report date or close to. Leg number is now within the airport list.)
KYIP1>KBTL2>KSBN3>KCGX)>KIGQ4>KMWC5>KAUW6>KANE7>KMCW8>KDSM9>KMKC10>KAAO11>KTUL12>KFTW13>KDTN14>KLIT15>
KMEM16>KEKY17>KFFC18>KGMU19>KINT20>W0321>KMQI22>KFFA23>KRIC24>KFDK25>KAGC26>KGDK(I19)27>KYIP
Thu Dec 4 scotsman KYIP>KBTL
Thu Dec 4 tao KYIP>KBTL>KSBN>KIGQ>KMWC>KAUW>KANE
Thu Dec 4 lucb KYIP>KBTL>KSBN
Fri Dec 5 SH427 KYIP>KBTL>KSBN>KIGQ>KMWC>KAUW
Sun Dec 7 Tako_Kichi KYIP>KBTL>KSBN>KIGQ>KMWC
Mon Dec 8 Tako_Kichi KMWC>KAUW>KANE
Tue Dec 9 tao KANE>KMCW>KDSM>KMKC>KAAO>KTUL
Tue Dec 9 K5083 KYIP>KBTL
Wed Dec 10 K5083 KBTL>KSBN>KIGQ
Thu Dec 10 PhrogPhyler KYIP>KBTL
Thu Dec 11 lucb KSBN>KIGQ>KMWC
Thu Dec 11 Tako_Kichi KANE>KMCW>KDSM>KMKC
Thu Dec 11 PhrogPhyler KBTL>KSBN
Fri Dec 12 Tako_Kichi KMKC>KAAO>KTUL
Fri Dec 12 bosspecops KYIP>KBTL
Fri Dec 12 srgalahad KTUL>KFTW
Fri Dec 12 K5083 KIGQ>KMWC>KAUW
Sat Dec 13 Tako_Kichi KTUL>KFTW
Sat Dec 13 falcon409 KYIP>KBTL>KSBN
Sat Dec 13 (& Sun Dec 14) PhrogPhyler KSBN>KIGQ>KMWC
Sat Dec 13 Melo965 KYIP>KBTL
Sat Dec 13 K5083 KAUW>KANE
Sat Dec 13 Tako_Kichi KFTW>KDTN>KLIT>KMEM
Sun Dec 14 falcon409 KSBN>KIGQ>KMWC
Sun Dec 14 Meo965 KBTL>KSBN>(KCGX)
Sun Dec 14 K5083 KANE>KMCW>KDSM>KMKC
Mon Dec 15 falcon409 KMWC>KAUW>KANE
Mon Dec 15 K5083 KAAO>KTUL
Mon Dec 15 Tako_Kichi KMEM>KEKY>KFFC
Mon Dec 15 PhrogPhlyer KMWC>KAUW
Mon Dec 15 K5083 KTUL>KFTW
Mon Dec 15 falcon409 KANE>KMCW>KDSM
Mon Dec 15 bosspecops KBTL>KSBN
Tue Dec 16 tao KTUL>KFTW>KDTN>KLIT
Tue Dec 16 Melo965 KCGX>KIGQ>KMWC
Tue Dec 16 bosspecops KSBN>KIGQ>KMWC
Tue Dec 16 lucb KMWC>KAUW>KANE
Tue Dec 16 K5083 KFTW>KDTN
Wed Dec 17 Tako_Kichi KFFC>KGMU
Wed Dec 17 Melo965 KCGX>KIGQ>KMWC
Thu Dec 18 Tako Kichi KGMU>KINT>W03>KMQI>KFFA>KRIC
Thu Dec 18 Melo965 KMWC>KAUW
Thu Dec 18 K5083 KDTN>KLIT
Sat Dec 20 bosspecops KMWC>KAUW>KANE
Sat Dec 20 K5083 KLIT>KMEM>KEKY
Sun Dec 21 bosspecops KANE>before KMCW
Sun Dec 21 Tako_Kichi KRIC>KFDK
Sun Dec 21 K5083 KEKY>KFFC
Mon Dec 22 bosspecops before KMCW>KMCW
Tue Dec 23 bosspecops KMCW>KDSM
Wed Dec 24 lucb KANE>KMCW>KDSM
Thu Dec 25 Tako_Kichi KFDK>KAGC
Thu Dec 25 Tako_Kichi KAGC>KGDK(I19) (flown Wed Dec 24)
Fri Dec 26 jgf KYIP>KBTL>KSBN
Fri Dec 26 (flight date) Tako_Kichi KGDK(I19)>KYIP. Entire route completed! Congrats!
Sun Dec 28 MAD1 KYIP>KBTL
Mon Dec 29 bosspecops KDSM>KMKC
Thu Jan 1 tao KLIT>KMEM>KEKY>KFFC>KGMU>KINT
Thu Jan 1 Melo965 KAUW6>KANE
Fri Jan 2 falcon409 KDSM9>KMKC10>KAAO11>KTUL12>KFTW
Fri Jan 2 jgf KSBN3>(KCGX)>KIGQ4>KMWC
Fri Jan 2 Melo965 KANE7>KMCW
Sat Jan 3 bosspecops KMKC10>KAAO
Sat Jan 3 falcon409 KFTW13>KDTN
Sun Jan 4 falcon409 KDTN14>KLIT15>KMEM
Sun Jan 4 bosspecops KAAO11>KTUL
Sun Jan 4 Melo965 KMCW8>KDSM
Mon Jan 5 falcon409 KMEM16>KEKY
Tue Jan 6 falcon409 KEKY17>KFFC
Tue Jan 6 bosspecops KTUL12>KFTW13>KDTN14>KLIT
Tue Jan 6 jgf KMWC5>KAUW
Tue Jan 6 lucb KDSM9>KMKC10>KAAO
Wed Jan 7 ScottishMike1 KYIP1>KBTL
Wed Jan 7 falcon409 KFFC18>KGMU19>KINT
Thu Jan 8 falcon409 KINT20>W0321>KMQI22>KFFA
Thu Jan 8 K5083 KFFC18>KGMU19>KINT
Thu Jan 8 ScottishMike1 KBTL2>KSBN3>(KCGX)
Fri Jan 9 bosspecops KLIT15>KMEM
Fri Jan 9 Melo965 KDSM9>KMKC
Fri Jan 9 falcon409 KFFA23>KRIC24>KFDK
Fri Jan 9 jgf KAUW6>KANE7>KMCW
Fri Jan 9 lucb KAAO11>KTUL12>KFTW
Sat Jan 10 Melo965 KMKC10>KEMP
Sat Jan 10 falcon409 KFDK25>KAGC26>I19(KGDK)
Sat Jan 10 (Fri Jan 9) ScottishMike1 (KCGX)>KMWC
Sat Jan 10 falcon409 I19(KGDK)27>KYIP. Completed, congrats.
Sun Jan 11 Melo965 KEMP10>KAAO
Sun Jan 11 (Sat Jan 10) ScottishMike1 KMWC5>KAUW6>KANE
Sun Jan 11 K5083 KINT20>... >KRIC
Sun Jan 11 bosspecops KMEM16>KEKY
Mon Jan 12 K5083 KRIC21>KFDK22>KAGC
Mon Jan 12 (Sun Jan 11) ScottishMike1 KANE7>KMCW8>KDSM9>KMKC
Tue Jan 13 tao KINT20>W0321>KMQI22>KFFA23>KRIC24>KFDK
Tue Jan 13 bosspecops KEKY17>KFFC
Tue Jan 13 Melo965 KAAO11>KTUL
Tue Jan 13 jgf KMCW8>KDSM9>KMKC
Wed Jan 14 (Tue Jan 13) ScottishMike1 KMKC10>KAAO
Wed Jan 14 Melo965 KTUL12>KFTW
Thu Jan 15 (Tue Jan 13, report filed Wed 14 Jan) ScottishMike1 KAAO11>KTUL12>KFTW13>KDTN
Thu Jan 15 (Wed Jan 14) bosspecops KFFC18>KGMU
Thu Jan 15 Melo965 KFTW13>KDTN
Thu Jan 15 jgf KMKC10>KAAO
Thu Jan 15 (Wed Jan 14, report filed Thu Jan 15) ScottishMike1 KDTN14>KLIT
Fri Jan 16 jgf KAAO11>KTUL
Sat Jan 17 (Thu Jan 15, report filed Fri Jan 16) ScottishMike1 KLIT15>KMEM
Sat Jan 17 Melo965 KDTN14>KLIT
Sun Jan 18 bosspecops KGME19>KINT
Sun Jan 18 ScottishMike1 KMEM16>KEKY17>KFFC18>KGMU
Mon Jan 19 jgf KTUL12>KFTW (KDFW?)
Wed Jan 21 ScottishMike1 KGMU19>KINT
Wed Jan 21 bosspecops KINT20>W0321>KMQI
Wed Jan 21 ScottishMike1 (KGMU19??)>KINT20>W03
Thu Jan 22 lucb KFTW13>KDTN14>KLIT15>KMEM16>KEKY
Thu Jan 22 ScottishMike1 W0321>KMQI
Fri Jan 23 Mel965 KLIT15>KMEM16>KEKY
Fri Jan 23 jgf KFTW13>KDTN
Sat Jan 24 Melo965 17: KEKY17>KFFC
Sat Jan 24 jgf KDTN14>KLIT
Fri Jan 25 (reported Jan 24) ScottishMike1 KMQI22>KFFA23>KRIC
Fri Jan 25 bosspecops KMQI22>KFFA
Fri Jan 25 jgf KLIT15>KMEM
Sat Jan 26 Melo965 KFFC18>KGMU
Sat Jan 26 (Jan25) ScottishMike1 KRIC24>KFDK
Sun Jan 27 tao KFDK25>KAGC26>KGDK(I19)27>KYIP. Complete, congrats!
Sun Jan 27 (Jan 26) SottishMike1 KFDK25>KAGC
Sun Jan 27 Melo965 KGMU19>KINT
Mon Jan 28 Melo965 KINT20>W03
Mon Jan 28 MAD1 KMQI>KFFA
Mon Jan 28 jgf KMEM16>KEKY (twice?)
Tue Jan 29 (reported Jan 28) SottishMike1 KAGC26>I19
Wed Jan 30 (Jan 29) SottishMike1 I19[27]>(KTTF)>KYIP. Completed, congrats!
Wed Jan 30 Melo965 W03[21]>KMQI
Thu Jan 31 Melo965 KMQI22>KFFA23>KMQI
Thu Jan 31 bosspecops KFFA23>KRIC
Mon Feb 2 Melo965 KMQI22>KFFA
Wed Feb 4 jgf KEKY17>KFFC
Wed Feb 4 lucb KEHY17>KFFC18>KGMU
Thu Feb 5 Melo965 KFFA23>KRIC
Fri Feb 6 jgf KFFC18>KGMU
We can see that during Jan the gaggle bunched up somewhat, they were in some airports at the same time, hopefully some of them were able to meet up for a chat over a drink (just like Melo and I did at Kittyhawk). Four pilots have completed the entire circuit so far. (I don't think many of us before this thing started, realised at how big a show it would be.)

 

[bosspecops]

I finally managed to get away from Richmond (I'll be moving house in 2 weeks and life is chaotic just now....) and on to KFDK Frederick, but I certainly didn't fly anything 'conventional'.....

My choice was the designed but never built Driessen D-III, a three engined long range Dutch airliner designed for KLM in the late 30s but which sadly never got built due to WWII getting in the way. Here it is at Richmond being pushed back by the ever eager little tractors there. As you can see, it looks like nothing else, except maybe the Northrop 'Wings' of a few years later.



It's quite nicely done, except that I can't get that all-over-blue front door to be repainted with the correct KLM stripes.

The Dr III's 2D panel is very nice and works well, apart from being all in metric, and the altimeter winds ANTI-clockwise? No idea why.



The 3D panel is also in pretty good shape, but that can't be said of the co-pilot they assigned to me for this flight, he looks decidedly out of sorts!



The Dr III flies quite nicely, lifting off at around 85 kts and climbing nicely at 1500 ft/min. I set up a 5000 ft cruise at around 40 ins of boost, which gave me a cruise speed of around 145 kts. The route was pretty plain with almost no major landmarks, so I plotted in a short diversion to the east to cover a MAJOR landmark in the area, Washington DC. Here I'm just turning to follow the mighty Potomac toward the nation's capital.



And here it is! Being a Brit I don't recognise too many of the landmarks visible, but the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport KDCA, stands out well, and I guess that's the White House over there on the right.



Checking my position, over the west bank of the River, I figured I couldn't be too far from the Pentagon, so I took a look around and found I was right on TOP of it! I hope they didn't mind a Brit flying a never-built Dutch tri-motor right o'head!



Frederick was a short distance away to the north west and I managed to find that OK, despite a lack of radio aids in the area, and I wasn't too far off a good approach path when I turned in to the 30 runway there. Just for a nice change there were NO trees or buildings right on the runway centre-line, result!



The Dr III seemed to prefer a low, flat approach as anything near a normal descent resulted in a hefty nose-down pitching that wasn't very comfortable at all. The low and slow approach worked well however, and I got her down right on the numbers for a change.



The ground handling could have been better as I needed to slow waaaay down to get her to turn at all, but eventually I got parked up on the ramp, next a more modern version of the same sort of machine, albeit with a tail and only two engines. You can see the Dr III was quite modern for it's time, with forward air stairs built into its door, and it had a tail door/stairs as well, like a Trident, 727, DC9 etc. but you can't see that in this pic.



The flight took just under an hour, giving me a flight speed of 139 kts, but the fuel burn was impossible to reckon. For some reason the fuel tankage was ridiculously low for a 'long range' aeroplane, being only some 142 galls! Accordingly she was out of fuel before I reached DC! Having seen the tankage earlier I was expecting some crazily economical fuel burn rate, but not so. I wonder if some designers ever actually flight test their stuff for more than a few mins!

 

[jgf]

KGMU to W03 shows 220 miles nominal distance, definitely need something fast here. Strolling through the hangar for something appropriate I spy another period Lockheed, the classic Vega ...fast, reliable, and easy to fly (I find the default aircraft aren't as bad as many claim, often flying the C172, DC3, and Baron). The FS Vega is modeled as a long distance flyer, virtually a flying gas tank; I took on merely 20% fuel ...and only used a third of that. The livery depicts Lituanica II in which "Lithuanian pilot Feliksas Vaitkus became the sixth pilot who made a successful transatlantic flight with single engine single seat airplane". His planned route was New York - Newfoundland - Liverpool - Kaunas, but he had to stop in Ireland due to using too much fuel fighting bad weather along the way. His Vega was modified with new equipment such as a variable-pitch propeller to improve engine performance and a radio compass. Lituanica II was test-flown extensively to ensure its success. He carried "five ham and egg sandwiches, a quart of coffee and lemonade, fruit, plus two gallons of water. One thousand letters were onboard too to be delivered to Lithuania"; the latter being the first airmail delivery from North America to Europe. During WWII Vaitkus was a test pilot for Boeing.

Chilly morning at KGMU


Climbing out over KGSP


About 20 miles from Charlotte, cruising 140kt at 4500ft, when ...


OAT shows -22C


Another ten miles and it clears up, though there was constant distant thunder and high altitude lightning the rest of the trip, passing KCLT, Charlotte Douglas International


3NC3, Tucker Field, a private (apparently family owned) airstrip in Locust NC; must have passed a dozen such airfields along the way, all named for the person/family who own them.


Caught the last second of a lightning bolt above me


KJNX, Johnston Regional, Smithfield NC, opened in 1978.

On final, with a wretched crosswind


263 miles in 1hr 36min

 

[Melo965]

Leg 24: Richmond International (KRIC) to Frederick Municipal (KFDK) Part 1

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

I had a very nice visit with my brother in Williamsburg. My aircraft underwent her 100 hour maintenance inspection while I was away visiting. The mechanic informed me that the Percival Mew Gull is in top form and ready to fly with no issues.


Ready to start the engine. 83% fuel on board for this leg. Parked right in front of a big jet. I used full left rudder and was able to turn around without hitting anything. This Mew Gull turns left easily, but turning right on the ground just does not work very well. I would have hit some equipment for sure if turning right.

Wind direction indicated a takeoff on runway 02. As I started to taxi, got in line behind a big Jet Blue airliner.


Second in line for takeoff. Third in line to use the runway as that business jet is just landing first. Richmond International is a very busy place.


Lined up for takeoff on runway 02. The red arrow is pointing to the Jet Blue aircraft that took off ahead of me. I waited long enough so there would not be any wake turbulence and then started my takeoff roll. I did not wait too long as the overhead view in my Little NavMap showed that there was another airliner holding short just behind me waiting to also takeoff.


Climbing out and on the way to Frederick Municipal. Note the red arrow pointing to the fourth jet and fifth aircraft to use the runway in this short space of time. They just finished landing and are headed to the gate.

I decided to take a page from Kit's flight plan and am also detouring eastward toward Washington D.C. Maybe not as interesting and exotic an aircraft as the KLM Driessen D-III, but the Mew Gull will also be flying over the US Capital.


More than half way to D.C.


Over the Potomac river on the left, and Lanseair Farms airport (MD97) on the right.


Washington D.C. is ahead but my graphics card can't quite keep up apparently. The whole D.C. area appears bright white at this distance. This is the first time seeing something like this in MSFS 2020.


Washington D.C. appears normal again as I got closer.


See the US Capital building on the right.


Flying over my favorite building in Washington D.C. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The National Gallery of Art is also across the street.

I approached from the rear of the Air and Space Museum. Decided it was not wise to come around and make another low altitude pass on the front side of the building. Got down below 400 feet once, it would not be smart to try it twice and have someone report my tail number.

Continued in Part 2

 

[Melo965]

Leg 24: Richmond International (KRIC) to Frederick Municipal (KFDK) Part 2


Climbing back to altitude (2000 feet) and on the way to Frederick Municipal.


The airport is barely visible ahead.


There was sparse snow cover below very briefly.


The airport is clearly in sight ahead now.


On Downwind for runway 23.


Base leg for 23. There are a number of small hills around the airport so I kept a careful eye out to not get too low on approach.


Short final for runway 23.


Over the Numbers for 23.

Had an uneventful landing. A bit long but there was plenty of runway still ahead when I turned off to taxi to the ramp.


Parked at Frederick Municipal on the General Aviation ramp with lots of company. 75% fuel on board at shutdown.

My next destination is Allegheny County airport (KAGC) in Pittsburgh PA. I am really looking forward to getting there as KAGC was the first place that I took flight lessons. Also most of my family lives in the Pittsburgh area.

 

[tao]

Got down below 400 feet once, it would not be smart to try it twice and have someone report my tail number.

Melo ... flying a Mew Gull no need to worry about your tail number ...

 

[bosspecops]

The DC area scenery in FSFS is obviously a step up from FSX Melo. Your pics are a whole order better than what I saw from the Dr III. I agree with you about traffic at Richmond, it was even busy in FSX as well.

I left Frederick just before you arrived actually, you may have seen my rather large shadow disappearing in the distance on your approach. You'll see what I mean when I post my PIREP later this evening.

 

[bosspecops]

As it's very pic heavy I'll do this PIREP in two parts, as a few others have done on the Tour.

And here we go for Part One of Leg 25, KFDK Frederick to KAGC Pittsburgh, 143 mile leg which makes it a bit longer than usual. Until this leg I didn't realise that we could fly any types in our hangars, and I'd limited myself to 1930s period designs, most of them weird, and quite a number of them being French! But I've decided that the last three legs of the Tour will be flown by three of my favourite aircraft types, one of them even being a jet!

However for a kick-off I'm going to fly one of favourite aeroplanes, and one I've spent a number of hours aboard in the RW too. Back in the 50s I was a Cadet in my school CCF at the same time as Dad was in the RAF, based at RAF Abingdon and Benson, and the main aircraft type flown at Abingdon then was the Blackburn Beverley, a seriously large aeroplane for its time and the precursor of the C-130 Hercules in the heavy transport world. You can see the way the shape of such types evolved looking at a Bev and then a Herk.

I make no apologies for going on and on here about the Bev, I really did love the rumbling old beasties, and it's so sad there's only one left anywhere.

I've climbed up those steps into the forward door of a Bev so many times.................



The Bev had huge sideways opening cargo doors underneath its boom at the rear, and if the cargo had to be air dropped they just didn't fit the doors at all, leaving a huge 10 ft square hole in the back of the aeroplane! I've spent more than an hour or two looking out of that hole. The boom above the doors could house 30+ paratroopers who could drop out through a hatch in the boom floor just in front of the tailplane, and watching that happening from the cargo hold was really something!



The FSX model has been wonderfully carried out, and really can taxi backwards, just like the real Bevs could, with a bit of swift button pressing, so my usual 'Shift-P' procedure wasn't actually needed to back away from the Frederick ramp. The 3D panel is wonderfully 'RAF-like' of the period, it's black EVERYwhere with just the instruments standing out from the gloom, but they're very good and accurate too. There's no 2D panel at all, but with a trick 'Shift-4' press the cockpit view comes up with a mini-menu to help with all sorts of useful info.



Fitted with four 2850 bhp Bristol Centaurus engines, the Bev didn't lack in power and with those massive wings it carried enough fuel (over six THOUSAND gallons! ) to shift its cargo over 3000 nms., albeit slowly as its cruising speed was only around 175 kts. As my flight had zero cargo load, and no pax at all, the take-off was surprisingly brisk, and I was soon off and away to the northwest.



I'd set my flight plan at a cruise altitude of 5000 ft, and 175 kts of course, but planned in a low 'fly-by' over my old friend Nick Breary's house. Nick worked with me at British Rail in the 70s and later moved to live and work in the USA. I was able to visit him and his family on one of my numerous trips there in the 80s-00s and I think I found his place in the rather basic FSX scenery for Hagerstown MD. Dropping down to 500 ft agl over the city I spotted a Shopping Mall that I'd been to when I was there, but they seem to have left all the buildings off surrounding the parking lot!



Just a mile or so away I passed pretty well right over Nick's place, and I hope he appreciated the low pass.



All that low flying came back at me as Hagerstown sits right on the edge of a hefty range of hills and I had to give the engines full throttle to ensure I cleared them!



So that'll do for Part One, Part Two follows directly, but slowly as I'm flying a Beverley!

 

[bosspecops]

Part Two of Leg 25 for me, somewhere over MD or PA at around 5000 ft. and yet again I'm over the Potomac River, but here it's a bit narrower than it is around the DC area! That airfield on the River's bank is actually called Potomac too, coded W35.



Further on I passed over Cumberland Regional KCBE, an impressive looking field almost totally surrounded by the Potomac River yet again!



Just to remind how impressive the Bev is, even though only its mother would call it 'pretty', here's a great view of her. The model is of XB287, coded T, from No. 47 Squadron RAF, and I flew in her twice in my time. I can almost HEAR that pic.



Clearing the rising hills in the area I passed over Seven Springs 75P, which seems to be right in the middle of a forest and on top of a hill. Not the best place for an airfield I'd have thought.....



Before long I was descending toward Pittsburgh, one SERIOUSLY large city right on the Monongahela River, and using the Bev's massive flaps to my advantage to slow down, I was soon in sight of the Tower at KAGC.



In the RW Bev's liked to land nose-wheel first, like a few other aircraft of the period, including the Stratocruiser (KC-97 in the USAF) The Constellation and the most nose-wheeling of them all, the Breguet Deux Ponts! It's a little un-nerving as the FSX model tries to do the same thing, and I guess it's a matter of the wing's rigging angle compared to the fuselage datum. I made quite a nice, dead-on approach and was soon in sight of the threshold.



By a pure fluke I managed another landing on the numbers and soon came to a rapid halt using the Bev's reverse thrust system.



For such a large aircraft the Bev's ground handling is pretty good, and the FSX model's brakes squeal just like the real thing too, magic stuff!

Actually finding a spot large enough to park in was a bit of a problem, but I managed it eventually, and I was able to shut down nicely after a very good and nostalgic flight.



The flight took 51 mins, giving me an average speed of 168 kts, but I used 784 galls of fuel, giving a burn rate 5.5 gall/mile! I still had over 5800 galls left in the tanks though.

And thanks for bearing with me on this flight down Memory Lane.