A Virtual Around the World trip in "Little Bird" (1976 Lear 35A) using FSX:SE Flight Simulator.
*** A continuing story about Scott and Linda flying Little Bird around the planet finding places and adventures they'd like to experience.
This trip is about the journey, not so much the destination but the location of the destination.
We (Linda and I ...weight and balances, past blogs, yada, yada) departed KPWT on the first leg of our flight to CYLT, Nunavut, Canada (520 nm South of the true North Pole).
CYLT has a gravel runway that's 5500' X 150'. It's a military base so, no problem with runway maintenance. CYLT is reporting 04 C with winds 100 @ 4 kts at this writing ...bring a coat.
We are flying Flightsimware's Lear 35.
We departed KPWT for the 571 mile leg. The first stop on our trip, Prince Rupert, Canada. CYPR.
The flight took 1:16 at 450 kts. We burned 185 gals of fuel (about 1240 lbs.) @
$5.49 per gal average for Jet A in North America
$1,015 tfp.
The weather for the flight was clear with moderate chop at FL28
Dropping through the clouds on final approach into CYPR
A 6000' X 200' paved runway is a treat on this adventure. It's also a good place to practice "whoa'n up" Little Bird quickly
Parked, topped off and ready for tomorrows leg to Dawson City, Yukon.
In a word, home. Back in November of 2015 I started this
adventure. Basically I was bored with routine and longed for new.
After flying
countless hours of single and multi reciprocal engine aircraft, rotor wing,
floats and amphibians I decided my artistic expression of landing skills could
use a challenge …speed. Meeting this challenge offered me a world of choices ...pun intended.
The choices I made, the lessons that were learned can all be found
between the lines of this trip journal starting with ‘Welcome Aboard’. There
have been many.
Using Dovetail Games version of Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X
was our main choice. It showed us wonderful simulations of the places we
visited …as wonderful as a 32 bite Windows XP program can offer. It was all the
inspiration we needed to find pictures, people, art and links related to those places
so that we may enjoy the real world images of the simulated places we’d traveled to.
(KABQ)
From Slidell (KASD) we flew to Albuquerque NM (KABQ). Our 1993 Gates
Learjet really loves fuel. So do all real life hot rods. We have a bg (baby
girl) that lives just outside Albuquerque. It’s a natural place for us to stop
and “top off”.
KVGT Final
KVGT in North Las Vegas is such a short hop from Albuquerque
that Little Birds engines barely got warmed up but its home to another bg and
gbg’s (grand baby girls).
KVGT taxi to parking
Flying from KVGT to KPWT is once again …routine.
Simulation or not it was gratifying to see Mt. Rainer as we entered SEA
airspace.
It’s also gratifying to know this has been entertaining for
more than just Linda and I. We thank those of you who’ve joined us on this
adventure. If you’re a sim pilot …fly some of the routes, they’re spectacular. Thanks
DTG (Dovetail Games) …your stuff performed flawlessly.
After 5 months of being on this around the world adventure we’ve adopted the focusing
abilities of a horse close to its barn …we’re headed home as quickly as we can
regardless of the opportunities before (below) us.
Our trip home started at a little beach airfield in Valenca
Brazil (SNVB). We made a short hop north into Salvador (SBSV) for fuel. Once we topped
off our Little Bird we pointed her north towards Macapa (SBMQ) at the mouth of the
Amazon River.
At SBMQ we squeezed in every drop of fuel we could for our
flight across South America, Macapa to Caracas Venezuela (SVMI). What we thought was a close flight in fuel/time
proved to be only a preview of the hours and weather conditions before us.
From Venezuela we returned to our comfort zone …flying over
water.
It just makes sense as this rock we’ve just flown around only has 29% of
its surface above water.
We flew north over the line diving Haiti and the
Dominican Republic into Grand Turk International (MBGT) at Cockburn Town.
We had to
stop for rest …and a Margarita at Jimmy’s place.
It’s a virtual trip, however, on our flight north from Grand
Turk to Nassau (MYNN) we were handed off to Miami Control. After all the real time
hours of flying this adventure the sense of accomplishment at that moment, by returning
back home to US airspace, was very real.
Slidell, LA
Our math calculations said we’d make it, fuel wise, from
Nassau (MYNN) to Slidell Louisiana (KASD). We took into account the winds aloft variables …a nasty
45MPH headwind @ FL28 that seemed to have fallen in love with the nose of our aircraft.
It rose in speed as our flight level increased but it stayed with its beloved …our
nose.
We landed in Slidell to our grandchildren, children and friends
with 100 gallons of Jet A on board, less than 10% …not cool or compliant.
Horse, Barn …bad choice.
We’re back …we celebrate with dear friends who are indeed …family.
Lena and Tim’s music is a great welcome home for us.
Next up, our adventure
continues home, but first …more grandbabies in Vegas Baby.
It’s all mathematics until the fuel gauge hits the “it just
got real” mark. That’s close to the empty line with a big blue Atlantic Ocean
below you.
It's when your brain says …(*expletive*) math, we’re running on
fumes, we’re not going to make it.
It sure feels good to hear ATC call your ID with
approach directions.
It’s your metaphoric Lighthouse on a Hill.
It was a routine flight from Ascension Islands Wideawake
Field (FHAW) to Dep. L.E. Magalhaes Intl (SBSV) in Salvador, Brazil. We topped
off Little Bird with 934 gal, 6260 pounds of fuel at Wideawake.
We then took
her up to FL39 and flew 1442 miles west in 3 ½ hours. We burned 470 gal of fuel in
route. That’s 3 MPG or 892 pounds of Jet fuel an hour. It’s all
mathematics until ATC directs you back out to sea to line up for an approach.
We landed with enough fuel to stay airborne for another 45 minutes.
Little Bird at beach airfield in Valenca (SNVB)
At SBSV we just topped off our wing tanks for a quick hop
south to Valenca (SNVB). The airfield is actually closer to the town of Gauibim
than it is Valenca. We didn’t care. We just wanted to be taken to the
Lighthouse on the Hill, Pousada Farol do Morrow. Our Brazilian sister
Monica says “…it’s the most relaxing place on earth”.
Monica describes living on Beach 1; …laying
and listening to the waves wash up on shore, a warm Brazilian sun and the smell
of freshly cut, freshly picked fruit enjoyed in a soft morning breeze.
URAM's (Uncle Rick, Aunt Monica) Tram
Our virtual trip here is made
more real by stories & images of our kids Uncle Rick (a tall, pale skinned, red
headed Irishman wearing a straw hat and sunglasses) riding the tram to the
beach to plant himself close to the nearest supplier of:
Caipirinha
(k-eye-per-reen-yah), it’s the name of an adult beverage: Cachaca (ka-sha-sah)
is the name of the liquor used in the drink. Cachaca is Brazilian
distilled liquor that starts from unadulterated sugarcane juice.
Okay,
we got to go, because in real life ...this is a place of family. It would be extremely hard
to leave …our adventure continues home.
The official government web site for Ascension Island, inside
the ‘Entry Permits’, section reads:
“Applications for Entry Permits
should be made well in advance, at least 14 days before your intended
travel, except in case of genuine emergency. Late applications, without
valid reason, may be refused."
Here’s my question; if you’ve just
flown out onto the middle of the Atlantic Ocean from Luanda, Angola using all
but 45 minutes of your fuel
…you're denied entry due to a late application
Does
your situation turn from a Fast tracked Landing Fee into a “genuine emergency”?
What's the cost for that?
Embraer Executive Jets Support
To pull off our adventure in real time, real world; you’d need a staff of talented people paving your airways before you.
Here's an example:
There’s an official instruction booklet,
yes booklet, for filling out an Ascension Island application for entry. Its 7pages of details. I'd rather read a flight manual and have the staff work on the tough stuff ...logistics.
It’s odd how this airstrip on the tip of an underwater volcano, a 35
square mile chunk of dirt above the Atlantic, has inspired the deep recollections of
Eliza Griswold. She wrote about them in the ‘Wideawake Field: Poems’.
“The collection arcs between internal and external worlds the disappointment
of returning, the guilt and thrill of departure, unexpected encounters in
blighted places and, with ruthless
observations etched in the sparest lines, the poems in Wideawake Field sharply
and movingly navigate the poles of home and away”.
Ms. Griswold surly captured feelings we’ve
had on this virtual adventure and ones Linda and I have shared within our decades
of real life travels.
If you do stay
on the island be sure to visit Green Mountain National Park. It’s a lush green
world above the dry beaches of Georgetown
…that's what our staff would have said
…for
us, we just want a fast gas stop on the top of this volcano.
We started this Around the World adventure 4 months ago. We
left with the plan to …fly west until it leads us back home. We are closing in
on home.
The idea that humans evolved in southern Africa was popularized in
Charles Darwin’s 1871 book ‘The Descent of Man’.
It introduces the reasons Africa is
called the “Cradle of Humanity”. It's a topic that will continue to be argued but what cannot be argued,
Africa is where our Little Bird evolved.
Little Bird waiting in Livingston
Our OEM Lear45 has had various flight model modifications
from fellow sim pilots and Lear drivers. She is a pleasure to fly. Our new girl
is a Flysimware Lear35. She is a highly detailed model of a 1993 Gates Lear 35.
To say she’s a handful to fly is as much an understatement as saying I’m not
surprised that Linda asked how much more …stuff she could carry. Why wouldn’t
she, after all …
Luanda Shopping Mall
… We’re flying from Livingston (FLLI) to Quatro de Fevereiro International
Airport (FNLU), Luanda, Angola. Luanda is called the “Most Expensive City” on
the planet. Linda said “Oh boy, shopping”. I said, “No honey … import tariffs
imposed in March 2014 made Luanda expensive. Here’s an example, a half-liter
tub of vanilla ice-cream at the supermarket cost $31 USD. Let’s go find some
music to listen to instead”.
Wideawake Field
Our plan is to get out of town as soon as possible. We’ll put
as much Jet A into Little Bird as she’ll hold (934 gal, 6260 lbs.) then head 1000
miles west out onto the Atlantic Ocean. There's a tip of a giant underwater volcano
sticking out above the water out there, somewhere. It’s called Ascension Island. There’s a small
chunk of flat dirt on it called Wideawake Field (FHAW). The chart note
for FHAW is: “Caution, Livestock on field”.
We’re headed out of Africa into the big blue unknown on the
wings of a beautiful vintage bird.
Our virtual adventure began as a tool of discovery. Initially
it was designed to discover if I was as high maintenance as Linda proclaims me to be. I
think we’ve answered that question. What this has turned into is a discovery of the people, places and critters we share this rock with.
Victoria Falls
We were well aware at the beginning of this adventure that inside our flight simulator world
we would not be treated to the spectacular visuals available to us at the places we'd travel
to.
We've found our visual stimulations from sources outside of FSX SE.
Our flight down the Great Rift Valley inside the sim
was at times ...stunning.
M V Liemba ...inspiration for German Gunboat Luisa
We didn’t realize Africa’s Great Rift Valley is over 3,700
miles long. We also came to learn that our Goose’s namesake, The African Queen,
is a book penned in 1935. It takes place in the Great Rift Valley during WWI.
“The Lake” in the book must refer to Lake Tanganyika. In 1914, when the story takes place, the Germans put
a gunship, (named Luisa), on Lake Tanganyika. The lake and German gunboat frame the tale but “the
lake” is never mentioned by name.
We now know that this part of our adventure is like Australia,
it’s just too darn big to cover here. We’re going to have to come back and
spend time exploring all the small towns, people and adventures awaiting us in the
Great Rift Valley.
Fuel was our biggest issue on this flight. We could only
carry 83% of our fuel capacity to allow for …stuff. It provided us with a challenge in gph usage and available fuel stops listed inside the flight sim program.
We left Bujumbura (HBBA)
to follow the lake south. We then followed the rivers toward Lake Malawi flying
the canyons between the two at 500 AGL. Fun and stimulating in an African wind and rain storm.
At the south end of Lake Malawi we turned west toward Lake
Cahora Bassa.
FLHN
We then followed the river at her western most ends to
Victoria Falls where we turned north towards Livingston (FLHN) again flying the canyons leading into the falls at low levels ...it was just spectacular.
Goodbye to our African Queen
We’ll return the
African Queen here then be introduced to our new Little Bird
Parked, fueled, flight plan made & ready for tomorrows trip to Sachs Harbor.
