Alex Geoff, the ORBX Block Island (KBID) virtual airport designer, asked flight simulator enthousiasts to try to operate the biggest aircraft possible on that airport ‘s 2502 ft runway.
Naturally, we are talking about a virtual flight. You must then forgive the landing of an aircraft which, in real life, would destroy the runway. You also have to disregard the fact that numerous trees would have to be chopped if the aircraft would elect to use the taxiway. I was almost forgetting the pilots and airport manager that would have to be fired following the authorized manoeuver.
The context of the flight having been presented, here is the data that will allow flight simulator enthousiasts to replicate the circuit around the Block Island airport with a Virtavia C-17A.
Contrary to the Cessna type aircrafts normally evolving around the airport, the total weight of the canadian military C-17A used for the flight was 405,000 pounds. The fuel was adjusted to 50% in all four tanks. Both pilots agreed to skip lunch in order to avoid adding any extra weight to the beast…
Flaps were adjusted to 2/3. I backed the aircraft to the beginning of the runway, applied the brakes, applied full throttle, waited for maximum regime, released the brakes and used ground effect to lift the aircraft before it was too late. The take-off was done on runway 10 with a 12 kts and 70 degree crosswind.
Then, four right turns were made : 190°, 280°, 010° and 100°. During the flight, the aircraft’s altitude never went above 2000 feet.
Wheels and flaps were brought down in base so that I did not have to make serious adjustments on final.
The speed eventually went down to 128 kts and, while the aircraft was still about two feet in the air, I used the airbrakes. The thrust reversers were fully activated two feet before touch-down (continued pressure on F2) since they take time to rev up. That is not necessarily the proper way to do it and you can wait one more second, until the wheels touch the runway, to use the reversers. The main gear touched at the very beginning of the runway and maximum breaking was then applied.
It was possible to exit on the taxiway without having to back-track on the runway. The environment always coming second, some trees were cut so that there were no contacts with the aircraft.
If you decide to try it out, think of saving the flight when you are on final, in case you are not satisfied with your performance during the landing (scrapped aircraft, destroyed houses and vehicles in the neighborhood, burned forest at the end of runway 10, collateral victims, etc.).
Good luck!
For other challenging virtual flights, head towards the flight simulation section of the present web site.
For more articles on flight simulation on my web site, click on the following link : Flight simulation
Ken Hall and Tim Harris have created a new virtual scenery for flight simulation enthousiasts. It is called “Tapini” and sold by ORBX. Their penultimate creation, AYPY Jackson’s International, allowed the virtual pilot to fly in very demanding virtual airports along the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea. “Tapini” represents a whole new challenge and I have included several screen captures to show you how the different runways look in this new virtual scenery.
“Tapini”, still in Papua New Guinea, allows the virtual pilot to test his skills on seven new runways located in difficult areas of the Owen Stanley Range. Those airports also constitute a serious test for any aircraft, like in the picture above where damages to the right engine were sustained at Yongai.
To improve the virtual clouds while flying between the different airports, I used either REX or FSGRW weather engines. The cloud textures and weather effects were improved by one or many of the following products: Cumulus X, PrecipitFX, REX Texture Direct and REX Soft Clouds.
As variety is more fun, and also due to the different challenges created by those runways, the following virtual aircrafts were used: Carenado C-185F, Lionheart Creations PA-18, Virtavia DHC-4, Aerosoft DHC-6 Twin Otter and Milton Shupe DHC-7.
The “Tapini” scenery gives the pilot a choice between the seven following runways:
ASB (Asimba)
A tricky, very short runway near a river.
This is a very interesting runway, best done with a STOL aircraft like the Caribou DHC-4. The inhabitants might have to help you clear out some branches along the runway, considering the size of the aircraft. The runway slopes down on take-off, which helps to build up speed.
FNE (Fane)
A one-way, really challenging 12 degree sloped runway, with unpredictable winds.
The runway sits on top of a hill. It is an amazing experience to land there. No wonder there are a lot of people watching the arrivals and departures.
If you slow down too quickly with an aircraft as big as the DHC-7 on that sloped runway, the twelve degree angle prevents you from moving forward. You must let the aircraft come down the runway very slowly, using the power to control the descent and the rudder to stay aligned on the runway, then apply take-off power for a few seconds to build just enough momentum to get above the hill.
To turn the aircraft around, it’s a combination of power and reverse thrust until you clear all the obstacles (any humans venturing behind the aircraft will also be cleared during the operation…).
There is a not so friendly man with a rifle watching the airport’s operations. Even the United Nations staff do not stay longer than necessary…
KGH (Yongai)
A very bumpy one-way sloped runway. A real bush aircraft is needed here!
Even with a real bush aircraft, there is a possibility that one of the aircraft’s propellers hits the ground while taxiing on the runway. There are so many deep holes that are hard to see, I can only wish the best of lucks to everyone trying out this airport!
Keep a close watch on the area near the little house at the end of the runway. The DHC-6 was really shaken while turning around for take-off. One of the propellers hit the ground but no problems were detected…until the aircraft was airborne. The fire alarm then went off, just as the aircraft was passing the runway threshold, seconds before flying over a cliff.
So much for the planned trip… and it was out of the question to return to Yongai on one engine. I had to pull the handle to stop the fire, feather the prop, cut the fuel where it was not needed anymore then head to the Kokoda airport as it was a sure alternative, having a long runway and an elevation that did not require the use of extra power.
KSP (Kosipe)
A relatively short runway that requires good calculations from the pilot, since it is located high in the mountains.
The Cessna C-185F is a very well suited aircraft for that runway. Make sure not to be too heavy on the brakes, as new C-185 propellers are hard to find in Kosipe. You can land in both directions. Ensure that the mixture is set properly as the airport is above 6300 feet.
ONB (Ononge)
A curved and very bumpy runway! For those who like low flying. Make sure you choose the good aircraft here; there is not much manoeuvering area once on the ground.
Ononge looks really scary when you show up on final for the first time. You wonder if the little trail that you see can really be a runway. For that kind of situation, the little Piper Pacer is an excellent aircraft, approaching slowly and braking on a dime. The runway is curved in the middle so you will need a bit of right rudder to keep the aircraft aligned with the runway.
I guess all those people with their cargo are waiting for a bigger airplane than mine…
TAP (Tapini)
A challenging one-way sloped runway nestled in a tight valley. You can even use an ILS to arrive there!
This is a superbly designed area and airport. I visited it with the DHC-4 Caribou but any other big STOL aircraft would have fitted there. There is enough room to manoeuver. It is not too bumpy. There is an interesting slope: it starts downward and ends upward: this helps to slow down the aircraft after landing.
WTP (Woitape)
Looks like a no brainer, but there is no margin of error on this one-way slightly sloped runway. Very precise calculations and settings are required if you want to land there with something else than a small aircraft.
I found the runway to be very slippery with the De Havilland DHC-7. I must say that there was a good crosswind, as I was flying with real life weather and winds. The DHC-7 behaves like a big boat while decelerating on such a runway.
The Woitape scenery is gorgeous. It is nice to have all those well designed virtual aircrafts, people and animals on site as this makes the scenery so much more realistic.
I love this new Orbx product. When you fly in such a realistic scenery, the brain does not make much difference between what is real and what is virtual. It really works! And if you use real life weather downloaded from the internet, it’s even better.
I tried the seven airports included in the “Tapini” virtual scenery and they are quite demanding. Yongai was the most challenging airport of them all. I had to do two missed approaches there since I ended up too high on the approach. I eventually got it right, like in real life!
I used the Microsoft flight simulator X (FSX) for all the virtual flights, but other platforms would have worked as well (Dovetail Games FSX Steam edition (FSX: SE) and all versions of P3D). The following products were also installed on my flight simulator: FTX Global, FTX Global Vector and Holgermesh, as well as Pilot’s FS Global 2010.
It is a totally immersive virtual experience and you have to forget everything else when undertaking those challenging virtual flights… if you want to make it “virtually” alive!
For more articles on flight simulation on my web site, click on the following link : Flight simulation
If you feel like attempting a virtual landing on an ice runway, an opportunity is offered by ORBX through their Homer (PAHO), Alaska virtual airport. For the flight, I used the FSX platform but it could have been also done under P3D.
The ice runway is just a short distance away from the regular Homer asphalted runway. The DC-3 is an excellent aircraft for the task since its approach speed is very low and it is one of the few virtual aircrafts equipped with skis.
If you want to try that flight, make sure to adjust the flight simulator configuration settings so that the Homer ice runway option is activated, otherwise you’ll end up under water…
In order to add a bit of challenge as well as winter realism, you can add a bit of crosswinds or some snow using the standard « heavy snow » option in FSX. The program PrecipitFX helps a lot if you are looking for a better definition of precipitations, be it snow or rain. For this flight, the Cumulus X program was also activated.
The short flight proved to be an interesting experience, since the runway was narrow and there were some crosswinds. I thought that it would be very slippery but it was not the case. Maybe one day Orbx, in association with the FSX Steam (Dovetail Games) professionals, will work at modifying the flight simulation platform and add a CRFI (JBI) index of .40 or less to increase the difficulty in slowing down and controlling the virtual aircraft?
As this flight is not a super though exercise, I have placed it in the “standard virtual flights”, in the flight simulation section of my website. For more of those flights, click on the following link: Other standard virtual flights
Have fun trying this one! Later on, I’ll present another ice runway located on Antarctica, which virtual scenery was made by Aerosoft. Even the C-17 Globemaster III is approved there…
For more articles on flight simulation on my web site, click on the following link : Flight simulation
Well, let’s start with a real life video showing that there is no margin for error when landing in St.Barths :
In that video, you can clearly see that the speed on the approach seemed excessive and the aircraft floated precious seconds over the runway. Very soon, there wasn’t enough runway left to stop the aircraft safely. So the trick is to use a reasonable approach speed and be ready to do a missed approach if the wheels do not touch early on the runway.
An approach with a virtual aircraft of your choice can be done in St.Barths (TFFJ) since FlyTampa St Maarten scenery includes that airport. I tried a circuit with the Aerosoft Twin Otter, under FSX, and it went very well, since this aircraft can fly at a very low speed and can break on a dime. It might have been a different story with the same aircraft that pilot was flying in the video…
For your information, the St.Barths 10-28 runway is 2133 ft long. For the landing, the winds where blowing from 031/10G20, which provides for a good crosswind. The biggest aircraft to have landed in St Barthélémy is a Canadian built de Havilland DHC-7.
Good luck and have fun trying out that virtual flight!
One nice challenging virtual flight in FSX is to operate from the Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, the shortest commercial runway in the world.
The runway is 1299 ft long (396m) and 60 ft (18m) above sea level. The IATA code is SAB, and the ICAO code TNCS.
The ideal virtual aircraft for that runway is the Twin Otter (DHC-6) or the Britten Islander (BN-2). If you want something bigger, the De Havilland DHC-7 is going to be your perfect choice. Forget about jet aircrafts, the runway is too short.
To add to the pleasure, use runway 30 and add a strong crosswind component, with gusts. In the screen captures below, I set the winds to 030 degrees at 10G20. For the flight, I also used Cumulus X and PrecipitFX to improve the visual effects.
For an even more realistic experience, I suggest you get the FlyTampa St.Maarten scenery, which will offer you three airports, which are all very well designed and present real challenging approaches : the Juancho E. Yrausquin airport, on Saba Island,the spectacular St.Barths airport and the Princess Juliana international airport in St.Maarten.
In the « challenging virtual flights » section of my website, I have already included an approach to Princess Juliana airport in St.Maarten, with the MD-11. The approach to St.Barths (TFFJ) will soon be included.
You will enjoy every minute trying to make perfect landings at those three airports. For other challenging virtual flights, visit the flight simulation page of my website.
Have fun!
For more articles on flight simulation on my web site, click on the following link : Flight simulation
If you are looking for a challenging virtual flight, why don’t you try the route Syangboche –Lukla with the Aerosoft Twin Otter? It is a very short flight, few minutes only, where the aircraft will be constantly descending until its destination.
The approach in Lukla can be tricky due to a 12 degree sloping runway. You have a feeling of coming in too quickly, but you must resist the temptation to reduce speed since, at this altitude, the stalling speed increases with all aircrafts.
Runway 06 is used for landing, and 24 is for departures. There is no possibility of a missed approach. You either succeed or you crash since there is a high rock wall at the end of runway 06.
So the flight is made from Syangboche (OACI code:VNSB, altitude : 3748m and a 400m runway) towards Lukla (OACI code:VNLK, altitude 2860m and a 460m runway).
The scenery and objects around Syangboche are a creation of ORBX. Once you get closer to Lukla, you will notice a change in the scenery details, since you are entering the Aerosoft Lukla scenery (you have to buy this additional scenery to make the flight more realistic).
The integration of the two scenery styles is very well achieved.
This flight will require all your attention. Good luck! For other challenging virtual flights, visit my website.
For more articles on flight simulation on my web site, click on the following link : Flight simulation
Here is a slightly modified screen capture showing a CP Air B-737 in a virtual flight towards the Juneau runway in Alaska. The Boeing is a creation of the Captain Sim company and the scenery is the result of the hard work of the ORBX pros.The meteorological system is a combination of three elements: Cumulus X, the “Heavy snowstorm” selection in FSX and the improvements to snow appearance obtained through PrecipitFX.
I’ve just added a new VFR flight in the “flight simulation” section, under “standard virtual flights”. An Alabeo WACO takes off from Cushman Meadows, heads south-east towards the Skokomish Reservation, then flies over the Bremerton airport to the north-east and ends up landing at the Bear Gulch aerodrome, just in time for a BBQ. This was done using FSX. The first part of the cross country is for a starting virtual pilot but the last part requires a bit more experience.
It is a more demanding experience than what is normally found in the “standard flights” section, since it involves a final landing at Bear Gulch. The runway at that airport is only 1411 ft long, and quite narrow. So you have to plan your approach carefully. A little wooden bridge is part of the runway! Since the flight is done in nice VFR conditions and does not involve engine failures or using a really fast aircraft arriving on a short runway, I decided that the “standard virtual flights” section was more appropriate. Still, it is not an easy approach.
Cushman Meadows (KCMW) and the Bear Gulch (WA38) runways do not exist in real life but am I ever glad Bill Womack took the time to create them. His site can be found under Iblueyonder. The screen captures show both airports and the PNW region sold by ORBX. If you want nice shadows on the ground while not using P3D, just get CumulusX and set the season to summer, with scattered clouds in mid afternoon.
Some guests have already arrived in Bear Gulch. You will see the smoke rising from the BBQ being prepared while you are on short final. The guests will certainly be taking pictures of your approach, as you are flying a vintage aircraft. So, if there was ever a time to do things correctly, now it is!
For more articles on flight simulation on my web site, click on the following link : Flight simulation
In the « flight simulation » section, under « challenging virtual flights », you will soon find screen captures representing the DG-808S glider built by DG Flugzeugbau. The flight departed from the Parry Sound airport (CNK4) in Ontario. The scenery has been created by Vlad Maly, from ORBX.
The command CTRL+SHFT+Y will allow an aircraft to appear and a cable to be installed between the aircraft and the glider. It is more demanding to do gliding operations in the Parry Sound region because if the pilot gets far enough from the airport, he leaves behing many options to help him land easily in case of difficulties. There are not many fields or roads. There are mostly lakes and forests. The view is interesting, but you fly with the feeling that there is really no plan B. If the glider must go down, chances are it will find itself either in water or on the top of trees.
The DG-808S can reach a speed up to 146 kT and has a gliding ratio of 5o :1. It is a high performance glider. It can carry up to 343 pounds of water to be used as ballast. In real life, the pilot uses the necessary amount of water according to the prevailing weather conditions. If there are weak thermals, the glider will easily operate without water. If there are strong thermals, it carries the maximum amount of water in its wings to add sufficient weight.
The flight was made using CumulusX and FSX. On final for runway 35, you will have the opportunity to fly at low altitude over Robert’s Lake and admire all the small details created to make the scenery more realistic.
For more articles on flight simulation on my web site, click on the following link : Flight simulation
In the “flight simulation” section, under “challenging virtual flights”, I have added screen captures (also visible here for now) that show a flight that can be quite demanding and which consists of doing a VFR ride with an helicopter between two helipads situated high in the Alps. The flight is made using FSX. In real weather conditions, the winds can really complicate things when you are on short final for your destination.
For this exercice, the ALABEO R66 has been chosen. You could add another degree of difficulty by using a DODOSIM helicopter. The helipads are made by LLH Créations. The virtual flight that you can see in the screen captures set above shows a takeoff from the Refuge du Requin sur la Mer de glace (DZRR), which is at an altitude of 2510 meters, towards the Refuge de l’Argentière (DZRA), located at 2778 meters MSL. Two other mountain chalets could have been chosen: Chamonix (DZ des Bois , DZDB), at 1075 meters, and Promontoire (DZPR), near the Alpe d’Huez mountain airfield and Grenoble airport, at 3055 mètres in the mountains.
Before doing a flight, you can select one of the following three options: winter, summer and photographic scenery. The documents provided help you out with the best settings as to the autogen, the complexity, the resolution, etc.
I am convinced that you will enjoy the experience. By using real weather, each flight becomes an adventure. With moderate winds, on an approach to the Refuge de l’Argentière, you will realize that there is not much margin of manoeuver!
Have a good flight!
For more articles on flight simulation on my web site, click on the following link : Flight simulation