Auger 22 Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 And now for something completely different. Sorry, couldn't help myself. This leg couldn't be more different from the last unless it were flown in a hang glider. It's quite the short hop through some mountainous terrain. I recently got a new toy, the A2A Piper Cub with Accu-Sim, making it pretty much mandatory to fly it for this leg. While I'm certain that anyone reading this is familiar with the Cub, just to recap: 65 HP engine 12 gallons of gas no electrics no mixture control This was going to be purely VFR with a couple of challenges. Starting at McClellan at 76 feet ASL, the path goes through mountains topping out at over 12,000 feet. The service ceiling on the Cub is 11,500. Going over the top would be an iffy proposition. The first challenge was to find a passage through the mountains that wouldn't bump into the service ceiling. US Highway 50 once ran from the Atlantic coast in Maryland to San Francisco. Today it ends in Sacramento, but it works quite well for a little redneck IFR (I Follow Roads) to get through the mountains. The plan was to follow U.S. 50 and the American River Canyon to just south of Tahoe, then keep heading east to the Luther Pass. After the pass, fly east to U.S. 395, fly a little more RIFR, then turn south and follow the mountains on the right down to Sweetwater. The next challenge was the weather. The METARs along the way were showing scattered clouds starting at 2200 thickening to broken at 5500. That would be a problem. I planned to launch anyway as there were a few fields along the way where I could lay over until things cleared a bit. Grabbing my flight bag and the baton (not much trouble to get into in Sacramento), I headed out to the field. The preflight check was text book. The magneto switch could be in a better location. Mags set to both and time to hand prop. Heading out to runway 16. The clouds don't look too bad. These are some wide taxiways. Were I in a mischevious mood I could take off from here. OK, this doesn't look so good. Way more dark gray than blue. Definitely not looking good. Cameron and Placerville are up ahead just in case this gets worse. Folsom Lake. More nasty clouds. I should probably get higher, but scud running is the plan for now. U.S. 50. Better than a radial for getting up the valley. I Follow Rivers works too. The weather is cooperating. That's Lake Tahoe in the distance. Almost to Luther Pass. Through the pass and heading for the next nav point. There's U.S. 395. There's Desert Creek airport. Time to turn southish. Lots of rocks, but still pretty country. I know there is an airport up ahead somewhere. Ah, there it is right where the road bends to the left. Time to setup for landing. Gas: Yup. Gear: down and welded. Mixture: Yup. Prop pitch: Yup. Starting the turn to base. Not a lot here. Leave it to the Marine Corps to have a base in the middle of nowhere with nothing much on it. Not much to do to shut her down. Flip the magneto switch to Off. John, whatever you're flying for the next leg, this dirt field is a whopping 3700 feet. Give a shout out on 122.75 when you get close. I may be sleeping, or up in Carson City. There is NOTHING out here. Add-ons for this flight A2A Wings of Silver Piper J-3 Cub with Accu-Sim REX 4 Texture Direct plus SoftClouds REX Essential Plus Overdrive for real world weather FTX Global Base FTX Global Vector FTX Trees HD FreeMeshX Global - North America 1 Link to post Share on other sites
hurricanemk1c 195 Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 Nice leg there Pete! Link to post Share on other sites
stu7708 244 Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 Great job Pete.. Love the look of that Piper Cub.. and considering the quality of other A2A stuff I've got it's definitely on my to get list! Link to post Share on other sites
Bruce (a.k.a. brian747) 142 Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 Nice one, Pete — well flown! A study in contrasts indeed: I especially enjoyed your pre-landing checklist: > Gas: Yup. > Gear: down, and welded. > Mixture: Yup. > Prop pitch: Yup. Love it! And sincere congratulations on finding that, er, strip (?) in the middle of nowhere. <gulp> Oh, and could you please let me know when you've finished with the 'cub, incidentally — my lawn mower could do with a new engine. (Sorry, couldn't resist it...). Cheers, bruce a.k.a. brian747 Link to post Share on other sites
J G 927 Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 Great PIREP Pete. A friend and I will be with you in a few minutes...... Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,487 Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 A very enjoyable PIREP Pete. You seem to have the sim set up just right, those shots are fantastic Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,285 Posted September 18, 2015 Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 Brave man taking the Cub through the mountain pass in anything but clear weather. Enjoyed the PIREP and will have to duplicate your flight using the J3 as well, it's a simple yet exciting aircraft and A2A did it right. Link to post Share on other sites
hlminx 301 Posted September 19, 2015 Report Share Posted September 19, 2015 Nice one Pete Great pics..looks like your set up is sweet Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted September 19, 2015 Report Share Posted September 19, 2015 Nice trip. Plenty of time to sight see in that bird. Link to post Share on other sites
Auger 22 Posted September 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2015 Thanks everyone. For those of you who haven't flown the Cub, it truly is a joy to fly. Talk about stress free flying. Nothing happens too fast with the Cub. No radios, switches, or knobs that you have to worry over. There is nothing in the cockpit except controls essential to flight. It's also very stable in all axes. Most aircraft without an autopilot tend to drive me crazy with roll and pitch constantly needing attention. Maybe it's the lack of a VSI, but I could point the gas gauge at an object on the ground, rest the second set of bolts on the horizon, and she flies true. Not much at all to do except look outside and enjoy the view. One thing that was bugging me was no slip indicator. You just can't feel a slip with a sim. Then I found the tidbit in the manual about using the whisky compass. If you keep it level with the dash you are in a coordinated turn. Problem solved. And Brian, we can just do an engine block swap. I'm sure I can refurb your mower engine and drop it into the Cub. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Bruce (a.k.a. brian747) 142 Posted September 21, 2015 Report Share Posted September 21, 2015 Sounds like a plan. Pete! Seriously, though, I'm interested in the Cub (I haven't been 'back to basics' in a while). Once I can get the builders out of the house and redecorate to get everything back to normal and put the garden to bed for the winter then it'll probably be almost Christmas, so..... Cheers, B. Link to post Share on other sites
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