Join In! Great Australian Air Rally - GAAR 2014 - Team Mutley: Call For Pilots!

[brett 2,314]

Thanks guys.

 

The lizard, he was my dinner. There is a real lack of diners around here. How was it, it was lizard lick'in good.(tastes like chicken)

 

Here was my flight plan,

 

Taking off from Wilcannia, 

 

Settling in to a slow steady cruise, a tailwind helping me along. I just need to remember that it will be a headwind after seeing Cameron's Corner and backtracking  to my destination,

 

Many dry lakebeds along my route,

 

Making my waypoint turn at Cameron Corner. Now which local time was I supposed to set my watch to,

 

 

Another 28 minutes to go,

 

Well I'm not sure where it is but I could have sworn I took an approach shot but cannot find it, we will have to settle for me parked at Tibooburra,

 

and my time,

 

It was my first time in three time zones at one time so I would like to thank Andrew for the experience.

 

See you soon Dai.

 

 

 

[allardjd 1,853]

How was it, it was lizard lick'in good.(tastes like chicken)

Crocodile Dundee said, "You can live on it, but it tastes like s**t."

Jhn

[brett 2,314]

Haha, I brought salt and pepper with me.

[ddavid 149]

Thanks for the screen shots, Brett - very informative: dry lake beds, indeed! Plus that shot of Cameron Corner's Welcome to South Australia - good catch. Did you have the under-carriage up or down?!?

I'll be along, later - keep me a couple of cool XXXX's handy...

Cheers - Dai.

[mutley 4,497]

Great work you guys! 

I am spending a few days on the beach enjoying watching your adventures until it comes back to me to bring it home 

 

Cheers... Joe

[Quickmarch 488]

Hey guys,

 

I've got a problem: Leg 9 is likely to be impossible for me to fly.

 

I've got a business trip coming up that was originally planned for early March but has been moved up to 22nd April to 1st March. Yeah, I know! I'm retired, right?

 

I thought I'd get the flight in and put the report in an attachment to Dai, however, Murphy was at work - full time. I flew the route last night then got a major shocker when the DC3 crashed on short final on the approach to RWY 21 at YPMQ. It was way up in the air but below the GS as I tend to drag the DC-3 in under power because it's such a bear to slow down. The only thing I can think of is that the stock scenery must have trees (real tall ones) just inside the airport fence line. I'm using the new stuff that I downloaded - ORBX and OZx and there's no obstructions in their scenery.

 

I can duplicate it by loading the FSUIPC saved flight. Unfortunately, reloading resets the timer so the flight can't be completed the easy way. It will have to be flown over from the beginning.

 

Here's the sequence: 

 

#1 Immediately after the load, I paused. Yes, I'm a little low, but that's what Gooney Birds are good at. View from the cockpit.

 

#2 A few seconds later, outside view. Notice that Linda is still hitting the bottle hard in the aft cabin. We're approaching the fence at about 200AGL and 75Kt. Yep! Right on the edge. Throttles coming up for the flare.

 

And here it is: Scene of the Crash. I may be accused of dragging this beast around close to the ground, but I'm not touching it by any stretch. I must be about 100AGL at this point. Maybe I clipped the roof of that Holden (not likely, because I can do this every time I try it and the car isn't always there). The solution is to approach 100 - 200 ft higher. The problem with the higher approach is a much longer ground run. That is why I think it's a leftover tree from the stock scenery.

 

This puts a very large stick in the spokes because I'm up against the wall time wise on the trip. I didn't think I was leaving that until the last minute - then they moved the goalposts.

 

EDIT: Oops, I forgot: Leg 7 is in the can and ready for posting. I will do so on Wednesday (or as soon as Leg 6 is posted).

[ddavid 149]

2 options, John:

1. Make your best estimate for Leg 9 Flight Time, or

2. Leave the time to me as I'm flying all the GAAR Legs in the DC-3 anyway.

No worries either way...

Cheers - Dai.

[Quickmarch 488]

Thanks Dai,

 

If you don't mind, please log your time.

 

I was so upset, I didn't write down the time of the crash. FSX reverts to a screen that is the third shot (above), taking you out of the cockpit. When you reload from FSUIPC the timer is reset.

 

I will remark, however, that it was going to be close. The new timer in the cockpit helps to keep you focused.

 

PS: If you're using ORBX-OZx don't sneak below the GS at YPMQ.

[ddavid 149]

No problem, John - I'll post my Leg 9 Flight Time as per Team-Mutley - I do that for my other team flights.

On the crash front, I take it you had Crash Detection ON? Well, you know I fly helicopters a lot and I NEVER set Crash Detection ON because, as John Allard will confirm, scenery objects in FSX have an envelope (for crash detection) that is considerably longer/taller/wider than the object itself. So, if you're flying up to a hangar, or similar, you're very likely to 'hit' it in terms of your aircraft's envelope (set by parameters in the original mdl) as it impinges on the scenery object's envelope. The latter can sometimes be seen if the scenery object is selected by the Object Placement Tool (OPT) or by, say, InstantScenery. Both these programs display a green box surrounding the scenery object, so you can see the extent of the envelope.

Sometimes it's better to be unaware of FSX's limitations, eh?!?

Cheers - Dai.

[Quickmarch 488]

Thanks Dai,

 

You're right - Crash Detection is "ON". I was trying for as realistic a sim as I could get. I had no idea that you could hit things that you can't see.  

 

"OFF" now.

 

 

[allardjd 1,853]

Dia is right. I think, but can't confirm, that custom (non-stock FSX) objects are contained within a bounding rectangle oriented N/S/E/W. If the object itself is at a different orientation, the bounding rectangle must be larger to contain it. It appears that a collision with the bounding rectangle with crash detection on is interpreted as a collision, even though you may not be in contact with the visible object.

I can see it most clearly in ADE, where stock buildings show up as light blue rectangles at whatever angle they lie at. Custom objects show as yellow rectangles and are always oriented along the cardinal compass points. These are always rectangular but the actual visible manifestation of the object in FSX can be set obliquely and is typically smaller than the yellow rectangle shown in ADE.

Not sure if your crash was a result of an invisible object or if it's just some kind of other scenery glitch, possibly related to terrain mesh and surface elevation from add-on scenery, but the effect Dia refers to is real.

Though I don't like doing unrealistic things in FS, I do fly with crash detection off because of all that. It will be interesting to see how much of this carries forward into P3D.

John

[Quickmarch 488]

I think I've still got the FSUIPC saved file for that flight. I turned off crash detection and I'll re-fly the approach tonight at (just) below the GS and see what happens.

 

Bback

[Quickmarch 488]

OK, Dai & JA are correct (as usual).

 

Flown with "Crash Detection" OFF, I was able to run the mains over the roofs of the cars on the road without "hitting" anything. I was just worried that a big truck might come along and swat me out of the sky. Four solid reds on the VASI all the way  to the runway.

 

Here's the screenshot. Notice that the gophers (do they have gophers in Oz?) are all 'heads down'.

 

 

 

 

I'm ready to post LEG 7, Dai. I gather from the sched on the GAAR site that I have to post before the Feb 17 (UTC) deadline.

[brett 2,314]

Looks like your mowing the lawn March.

[ddavid 149]

GAAR Leg 6 looked easy enough:

 

Depart RWY 15, Tibooburra (YTIB)
Navigate to Waypoint 1 – intersection of 343 deg OB bearing from BKE NDB and 282 deg OB radial from WLG VOR.
Navigate to Bourke (YBKE).

The Walgett VOR WLG has no DME - and, as the NDB TIB only has a range of around 30 nm, the major section of the first flight leg would need to be by dead reckoning. So, we'll aim at finding the Kichimiloo Claypan lake, grab the 282 outward bearing from VOR WLG, turn towards Wilgett and locate the waypoint at the intersection with NDB BKE's 343 outward bearing. Here's the flight plan (Thanks Tim!):

It's raining (WTF - this is Australia, isn't it?!?) as we leave Tibooburra:

Cruise established on the 75 outward bearing from the NDB TIB:

Mmmmm... That's the NDB TIB out of range:

Aaaah! that's Kichimiloo Claypan to port - better turn northwards:

Now then - that's the VOR WLG and the NDB BKE in range - let's find the intersection:

Here it is!

Turning towards Bourke at the intersection:

That's Bourke ahead:

Over YBKE at 3000 feet:

Turning on to Final:

Almost down on the numbers:

And the Flight Time was 121.75 min - Dang, a little slow, must have been the dead reckoning that threw me!

Mind you, in these rallies I NEVER EVER look at the Target Time before the flight - that would take too much of the excitement away, wouldn't it? And now that young Andrew has given up setting blind legs, where the Target Time is not published, it's even more difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff!

So, Off You Go, John - and Good Luck with Leg 7.

Cheers - Dai.

[brett 2,314]

Thanks Dai, good run.

 

You don't look at the time? How do you figure out the flight time then. Even when Andrew would put in a blind time, I guesstimated a time based on my test flight, wind, distance, circuit and so on. Without a schedule to keep I wouldn't know how to match the rally time requirement.  

[Quickmarch 488]

Thanks Dai, for better or worse, here it is:

 

Once again, Team Mutley is called on to perform the impossible: Fly from Out Back O' Bourke to a place nearer the coast. This, however, is not to be done in a straight line. TM is charged with the responsibility of verifying the presence of several airfields that are (sort of) on the route.

 

The Flight Plan: This is not split up into legs due to the fact that the area of Australia that we will be flying over is flatter 'n P on a plate. The flight will be conducted close to mother earth and winds should be the same throughout the trip.

 

Next up is a consideration for fuel. Calculated to cover the distance plus a 45 minute reserve.

 

Checklists complete, course set, T/O normal. Here's a shot of LIG "wheels in the wells" and outbound from Back 'O Bourke.

 

YBRW - Runway in sight. Thus proving the existence of one of the suspect airports. We'll be overflying this one and heading NE for YGDA.

 

Overflying YBRW and turning to course for YGDA

 

YGDA - Runway in sight. Yep, sure looks like it's there. 

 

Despite a 9KT, 60 degree crosswind, I decide to have a go at the runway to verify it is really there. First we overfly the airport and turn to downwind.

 

Short final. I'm low and slow and drifting SW at an alarming rate.

 

Touchdown - a tad to the right of the (non-existent) centreline. Now let's get out of Dodge. 

 

Inbound to YLRD we pass over a strange ground cover - saltflats? I know it isn't snow because we're at 3500 ASL in Australia where snow isn't seen very often.

 

YLRD Runway in sight. We'll overfly this one after that hairy crosswind T&G at YGDA.

 

Here's the time and turn to NE heading for YMGI.

 

There's YMGI, on time and on target (hidden behind the port windshield post)

 

Overflying YMGI at pattern altitude. We're going to shoot a T&G here as well. 

 

Now, given a choice of a 50 degree crosswind to a 1700ft turf runway or a 60 degree crosswind to a 4600ft asphalt runway, I chiken out and go for the asphalt. Turn to downwind RWY 12.

 

Here's the T&G at YMGI. I've overcorrected on final and now I'm to the right of centerline. If all works as planned (and if you believe that, I want you to meet my friend JA who will gladly show you some real estate in Florida) the last landing for leg 7 should be right up the middle.

 

Sucking the wheels into the nacelles, I'm off for the final destinaation in the Leg 7 tour of the outback

 

I'm way ahead of schedule! Here's YMOR in sight with 8 minutes left on the clock before the 136.29 target landing slot. I've been dragging the tail all the way from YMGI at around 100Kt. Check out the airspeed. Going to have to extend this pattern way out.

 

Turn to downwind for RWY 05 - That's my ace in the hole! Finally I get a runway that is almost aligned with the wind. Trouble is; this runway is only 977 X 18 so it's going to be like threading a needle while tickling the stall.

 

Final - low and real slow, everything hanging out in the breeze.

 

Here it is: Flight time 136.06 - 13 seconds early. Blew it! Another six seconds on the downwind would have aced it. Ah well, we're down and safe - and look at all the left over runway!

 

Here we are parked up and heading for the pub!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[allardjd 1,853]

Good one, sir. That business of dragging it in low and slow with lots of power works well but sure does eat into the safety margins. Flight instructors go all white-knuckled when you try that with one aboard. It's even worse with an FAA examiner in the right seat, I'll bet.

John

[brett 2,314]

Well done John, tight time.

 

Glad you didn't run into any obstacles this time.

[Quickmarch 488]

Fortunately there were three things working in my favour:

 

1. The FAA (CAD in my case) was safely back in NA

2. Ditto for the Flight Instructor

3. I hadn't run into any non-existent obstacles at this point.

[brett 2,314]

Plus;

 

4. What happens in Australia stays in Australia.

[allardjd 1,853]

Not really germane to the topic of the thread, but to correct something I said in a post earlier in this thread, I've noted that not all the bounding rectangles for non-stock FSX library objects are oriented N/S. In an airport I'm looking at tonight with three of them, two are in fact oriented with the cardinal compass points but one, the fire station, is set obliquely.

Non-stock may be a misnomer here - these are stock FSX airports, but the objects I refer to are referred to as "Library Objects" and seem to be given special treatment in FSX. Mostly they are for things like navaid structures, and non-rectangular, i.e. irregularly shaped, buildings. For some reason the fire stations, even though they are library objects, seem to be getting a slightly different treatment.

Even after all these years, it seems there is a lot more about FSX that we don't know than what we do know, or so it sometimes seems.

John

[brett 2,314]

Flight Leg 8 – 1400 hrs, 09 Feb 14

Moree (YMOR) to Ballina (YBNA)

 

Sad day today, it's my last flight flying for Team Mutley  although I will continue on to the end for the big party at Wallongong.

 

Flight plan is submitted,

 

All setup and ready to go,

 

And were off from Moree and into the air,

 

 

 It's a way bit cooler and a lot greener than the interior sections,

 

A section of the Eastern Highlands, also known as the Great Dividing Range looms into view,

 

Happy to see some lakes that actually have water in them for a change, this is Glenlyon Lake,

 

High up in the mountains surrounded by thousands of square miles of state forests,

 

Love flying the DC-3,

 

Some flatter valleys serve up some nice farmland,

 

The coast is ahead and it is a beautiful site, the Gold Coast with Bilinga and Palm Beach to the port side,

 

First waypoint is near Twin Heads and the Gold Coast Airport, 

 

Duranbah Beach with the Tweed River running in on it's south side,

 

Leaving my first waypoint on a heading of 217deg I head to Mount Warning seen here in the distance,

 

Making my turn at waypoint 2, Mount warning receives the first mornings sun rays being the highest point on the east coast,

 

Wasn't long before reaching waypoint 3, Byron Bay and Cape Byron State Park at it's tip. This is the most easterly point on the Australian mainland and I make my turn to my final destination. You can just make out the Cape Byron Lighthouse,

 

Joining the downwind leg at Ballina,

 

A shaky off center landing. Hope no one is looking but you know everyone saw it,

 

I pull onto the taxiway and check the time,

 

Parked up and awaiting March to take over the reins,

 

Can't wait to see what the town has to offer,

 

Time was 123.75 not my best time so far but I'll take it.

 

Thanks for having me along guys, I had a great time.

 

 

[brett 2,314]

In case your interested here are the real Mount Warning first 

 

 

and then Byron Bay/Cape Byron

[ddavid 149]

Thanks, Brett. Flight Time 123.75 sent to Andrew.

And, in John's absence, I guess I'm up next?

Cheers - Dai.