Before heading off on my adventure, I wanted to gather some useful data on the performance of the PMDG B1900D. Despite having flown it for years, and far more than any other aircraft, I didn't have any figures to go by for fuel planning.
I departed Dar Es Salaam (HTDA) for a short flight to Dodoma (HTDO). Dodoma has been the capital of Tanzania since 1973, but many of the government offices remain in Dar which is the largest city, and commercial capital, of Tanzania.
Using a payload of 100kgs as the default allows more range, and accounts for any equipment to be taken along by the two pilots. The Zero Fuel Weight (ZFW) for the trips would therefore be 5057kg / 11125lbs. This allows take-off and landing with full fuel if necessary and eliminates the need to worry about particularly limiting airfields, especially since the trip will take in some of the highest airports in the world, and some of the shortest runways for this type of aircraft.
The Beech fuel gauges feature a yellow shaded background area which I am using as the reserve fuel allowance. It adds up to 400kg / 880lbs which is a lot for a small aircraft, but given some of the remote airports I am planning to visit, and the unpredictability of the weather, I felt it would be a sensible figure to ensure a safe landing somewhere if a diversion was needed.
From take-off to top of climb, the B1900D burnt 180kg of fuel, and thereafter 410kg per hour in the cruise. Using these figures and the flightplanning tool in ActiveSky I am able to calculate a sensible fuel figure for each leg. For example:
HTDA - HTDO (51 minutes, FL250)
Min landing fuel (reserves): 400kg
Climb fuel: 180kg
Cruise fuel: 349kg
Total fuel: 929kg
Even though the trip fuel should normally include take-off and climb fuel, calculating it separately adds an extra comfort zone to the fuel calculations in case of a change in wind etc.
Using the above figures for the return trip worked very well so I decided it would be good enough to use for the world tour.
I am using the callsign "Fly World" followed by the leg number. This helps keep track of the number of legs I have flown.
I thought the aircraft would need some additional painting for the world tour so the first part of the trip took it to Lanseria in South Africa, where it was originally painted for Safari Plus. And so the journey began!
Friday, 19 November 2010
The beginning
I have been a big fan of Microsoft Flight Simulator for many years now and have enjoyed flying all kinds of aircraft to all the different destinations the sim has to offer. Over the years, Microsoft have developed it into a very comprehensive, accurate, sim and I decided to do it justice by seeing if I could fly around the world!
My first attempt used a Shorts 360 in Flight Simulator 98. Since the sim didn't have the wide variety of airports available to use that it does now, I had to bend the rules slightly! I used unlimited fuel for the longer legs, and left the sim running overnight to complete the flights that had to cover hundreds of miles between airports. But I finished, eventually, and have since lost all record of it the achievement!
So I decided to have another go - this time in FS 2004 (FS9). Since it was released, I have accumulated a large amount of additional scenery - freeware and payware - and have used many freeware aircraft over the years. Many were very good models but somehow they lacked the extra features that kept me interested in flying them. I invested in the 737NG package from PMDG and was delighted with the overall package, the number of liveries available, and the chance to use a true-to-life FMC. I was impressed with PMDGs product and looked to buy another. I noticed the Beech 1900D in their "express" range and went for that. Again, I wasn't let down. It is versatile, easy to fly, looks great, and was amazing value for money. It is as comfortable on long sectors as it is on shorter ones. I had found my aircraft for the next round the world adventure.
I decided to set off from Sydney, Australia, as I had not done much flying in the southern hemisphere and gave me the chance to explore Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, all the way up to Japan and Siberia in detail. I had downloaded the fictional Aussie Air freeware livery (available from Avsim) and set off! I didn't plan far ahead, but knew I wanted to set off in an easterly direction to take advantage of the prevailing winds. I was inspired by some of the other round the world adventures I had discovered online.
My first attempt used a Shorts 360 in Flight Simulator 98. Since the sim didn't have the wide variety of airports available to use that it does now, I had to bend the rules slightly! I used unlimited fuel for the longer legs, and left the sim running overnight to complete the flights that had to cover hundreds of miles between airports. But I finished, eventually, and have since lost all record of it the achievement!
So I decided to have another go - this time in FS 2004 (FS9). Since it was released, I have accumulated a large amount of additional scenery - freeware and payware - and have used many freeware aircraft over the years. Many were very good models but somehow they lacked the extra features that kept me interested in flying them. I invested in the 737NG package from PMDG and was delighted with the overall package, the number of liveries available, and the chance to use a true-to-life FMC. I was impressed with PMDGs product and looked to buy another. I noticed the Beech 1900D in their "express" range and went for that. Again, I wasn't let down. It is versatile, easy to fly, looks great, and was amazing value for money. It is as comfortable on long sectors as it is on shorter ones. I had found my aircraft for the next round the world adventure.
I decided to set off from Sydney, Australia, as I had not done much flying in the southern hemisphere and gave me the chance to explore Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, all the way up to Japan and Siberia in detail. I had downloaded the fictional Aussie Air freeware livery (available from Avsim) and set off! I didn't plan far ahead, but knew I wanted to set off in an easterly direction to take advantage of the prevailing winds. I was inspired by some of the other round the world adventures I had discovered online.
41857 Nautical Miles!!
Thanks to the addition of more scenery to my FS Scenery Library, I decided to try again. This blog charts my progress. I hope you enjoy reading about it and that it'll inspire you to try something similar one day.
The new adventure...
Since the last round the world adventure, I have ventured into the world of aircraft painting. I'm not very creative so it has taken some practice, but I eventually decided to try a repaint of the PMDG B1900D. I settled on a repaint in the colours of a new operator in Tanzania called "Safari Plus". The airline is owned by the Kempinski luxury hotel group and transports tourists between Dar Es Salaam airport to the various safari resorts around the country. I think the repaint looked really smart so I decided to try my new found paint skills out using photos gathered from the internet, mostly from this excellent blog. It is worth stating that I am using this aircraft repaint purely for entertainment purposes, there is absolutely no affiliation whatsoever between me and either the Kempinski group or Safari Plus. It's a fictional tale, in a fictional world!
So I had my aircraft, and now needed a route! Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania seemed a logical place to start my adventure, and thanks to the Africa 1960 scenery recently made available online, many more airports in Africa were available to use. Since facilities at many remote African airports are basic, the scenery was more than enough to give a sense of realism to some of the smaller airports. I edited out most of the major international airports to maintain a sense of realism.
So I was to explore Africa - something I didn't do a great deal of last time. I also avoided much of South America and Russia so I will be including a number of destinations there. Much of Europe was still left to see, especially Scandinavia. In the previous world tour, I had crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Recife, Brazil, to Monrovia, Liberia, via Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic. The Pacific crossing was via the Bering Strait. I wanted to do it differently this time but couldn't plan enough suitable airports to cross the Pacific further south, so the Bering crossing will be flown again but the Atlantic crossing will be via Iceland and Greenland for a change.
Other changes for this tour include flying mostly in an east to west direction. This has the slight disadvantage of more headwinds, but it will allow for more stops, and more daylight flying. The decision to start in southern Africa has the additional benefit of being able to fly in the African summer to begin with, then the European summer for the Atlantic crossing as it'll probably take many months in real time to fit in the flights.
All the flights will be flown in real-time and with real weather from ActiveSky for maximum realism. I also invested in the Reality XP Jetline 2 gauges for the PMDG B1900D having read excellent reviews.
So I had my aircraft, and now needed a route! Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania seemed a logical place to start my adventure, and thanks to the Africa 1960 scenery recently made available online, many more airports in Africa were available to use. Since facilities at many remote African airports are basic, the scenery was more than enough to give a sense of realism to some of the smaller airports. I edited out most of the major international airports to maintain a sense of realism.
So I was to explore Africa - something I didn't do a great deal of last time. I also avoided much of South America and Russia so I will be including a number of destinations there. Much of Europe was still left to see, especially Scandinavia. In the previous world tour, I had crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Recife, Brazil, to Monrovia, Liberia, via Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic. The Pacific crossing was via the Bering Strait. I wanted to do it differently this time but couldn't plan enough suitable airports to cross the Pacific further south, so the Bering crossing will be flown again but the Atlantic crossing will be via Iceland and Greenland for a change.
Other changes for this tour include flying mostly in an east to west direction. This has the slight disadvantage of more headwinds, but it will allow for more stops, and more daylight flying. The decision to start in southern Africa has the additional benefit of being able to fly in the African summer to begin with, then the European summer for the Atlantic crossing as it'll probably take many months in real time to fit in the flights.
All the flights will be flown in real-time and with real weather from ActiveSky for maximum realism. I also invested in the Reality XP Jetline 2 gauges for the PMDG B1900D having read excellent reviews.
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Introduction
Thanks for visiting the blog! I'll be updating you with how I am getting on with my round the world tour in MSFS 2004. It starts tomorrow!
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