Bruce (a.k.a. brian747) 142 Posted October 27, 2015 Report Share Posted October 27, 2015 Yup, it's that time of year again, when simmers undertake many flights to circumnavigate the globe in support of their local charities. In my case, I'll be supporting the Simfest group, who operate two home-built simulators here in the south-east of England: a 747 simulator which is a few miles away from me, and a 737 simulator in "North London". To quote their "Who are we?" page — "We're a collection of friends who raise money for charity by building and flying full sized cockpit flight simulators. We arrange and partake in various events throughout the year which challenge the crew and broadcast the video live of the results for you to watch. We donate our time and simulators for free and don't ask for any payment or subscription to watch our feed but rather ask that if you enjoy what you see that you donate to our charity of the year. We have raised over £27,000 for various charities including the London Air Ambulance, RNLI, Dreamflight, Cancer Research UK, Grace For Gulu and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Last year we raised £4,573 for the Thames Valley And Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust. This year we will be raising money for The Cure Parkinson’s Trust." So it's a great cause, and these guys take their flying very seriously, not least now they have been joined by Peter ("Britjet"), who is a recently-retired BA 747-400 Training Captain (and a fellow PSX enthusiast — flying an approach into Heathrow under his highly-critical eye in his own home cockpit was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my simming life!). Peter has already published his Route Guidance document for the first 25 legs of the flight, with more to come. It's a great read, with an experienced pilot's insights into the places along the route (Appendix 2 also discusses how to fly into the old Kai Tak, advice which is hard to find from someone who has done it many times in real life), and it's downloadable from the Simfest site which is here: http://www.simfest.co.uk/blog/ The live feed is (or will be, once the flights begin) here: http://www.twitch.tv/simfestuk To quote the Simfest web site again (still on the topic of Peter's document): "Britjet has spent hundreds of hours flying and re-flying each leg to make the guide as comprehensive as possible and therefore we ask you to consider donating to our charity of the year in way of recognition of your enjoyment reading and using his guide. Be sure to mention it's for his RGM in the message box as I am sure this will drive him to complete the last 20 legs ASAP." I highly recommend it, as both informative and entertaining reading. Furthermore, as a bonus for PSX flyers, bundled with Peter's document you will also find all the PSX Situation files to be able to fly alongside the Simfest team during the event. (I only met one other PSX flyer at our stand at Cosford, but you never know, there may be others lurking...). So do join in, and please support your World Flight team's chosen charity. The schedule for SimfestUK's first five days is as follows: Sat 31st October 2015 SYDNEY 2300-0105 YSSY YPAD ADELAIDE Sun 1st November 2105 0155-0505 YPAD YPPH PERTH 0555-0755 YPPH YPLM LEARMONTH 0845-1145 YPLM WIII JAKARTA 1235-1440 WIII WMKK KUALA LUMPUR 1530-1740 WMKK VTBS BANGKOK 1830-2215 VTBS VHHH (or VHHX) HONG KONG 2345-0155 VHHH (or VHHX) ZSPD SHANGHAI Mon 2nd November 2015 0245-0455 ZSPD ZLLL LANZHOU 0545-1005 ZLLL UTTT TASHKENT 1055-1345 UTTT UWWW SAMARA 1435-1615 UWWW UUDD MOSCOW DOMDEDOVO 1705-1830 UUDD ULLI ST PETERSBURG 1920-2120 ULLI ENGM OSLO 2210-0005 ENGM EDDP LEIPZIG Tuesday 3rd November 2015 0055-0255 EDDP LFPG PARIS CHARLES DE GAULLE 0425-0545 LFPG EGLL LONDON HEATHROW 0635-0845 EGLL LEMD MADRID BARAJAS 0935-1145 LEMD DTTA TUNIS 1235-1440 DTTA LGAV ATHENS 1530-1735 LGAV OLBA BEIRUT 1825-2040 OLBA OTHH DOHA 2340-0215 OTHH OYAA ADEN Wednesday 4th November 2015 0305-0555 OYAA HKJK NAIROBI 0645-1045 HKJK FNLU LUANDA 1135-1555 FNLU FHAW ASCENSION 1645-2130 FHAW SBGL RIO DE JANEIRO 2220-0240 SBGL SPQU AREQUIPA Have a great World Flight, everyone, whichever team you support! Cheers, bruce a.k.a. brian747 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Bruce (a.k.a. brian747) 142 Posted October 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2015 Just two days to go.... B. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Bruce (a.k.a. brian747) 142 Posted October 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 The Simfest UK World Flight starts at 2300Z (tonight, Saturday) and arrives back at their starting point 1030Z next Saturday. Breaking news: Britjet has completed his comprehensive Route Guidance Manual which is now available to download (from the same URL as given above). "The manual gives you information and tips for each of the 45 legs in a humorous yet in-depth manner. The guide is 62 pages long, over 66,000 words and has taken Peter well in excess of 500 hours to create, so you can have the benefit of the experience and knowledge of a real world Training Captain." In other words, if you're into Airliners then you'd be crazy not to want to read it (and the manual also contains the schedule of all the Simfest flights, too). Those flights will all be streamed at http://www.twitch.tv/simfestuk as previously mentioned. As an example of Britjet's subtle (?) BA Captain's humour, I leave you with an extract from the manual — Appendix 5. Appendix 5 USA Operations (To all former colonials - please bear in mind that this is a slightly “tongue in cheek” guide by a Limey!). To fly successfully IFR in the USA – observe the following:- 1) Talk fast on the R/T and do what you are told. If you can, try and sound really “laid back” at the same time. Stuff like “We’ll mosey on down to two-three-zero” is really cool. 2) QNH is called “altimeter”. 3) Transition Altitude is 18,000ft everywhere. 4) It is normal practice on Clearance to just read back only Transponder code unless you have a question. If there is a specific change to your flight plan then you read it all back. 5) Don’t expect a controller to use 1 word when 10 will do – it’s a legal requirement.. 6) Most US SIDS, if not RNAV, start off with “fly runway heading”, or similar. In this case just take-off in TOGA and engage the appropriate HDG SEL at 400ft. 7) Departure frequency can sometimes be a bit of a mystery and this will not be helped when the Tower controller tells you to “Call Departures”. Do some homework or ask. 8) By all means brief thoroughly beforehand at major airports for the most likely runway that is into wind, of a reasonable length, and has the shortest taxi distance to your gate. You won’t get it. 9) If you accept a “visual approach” this means that ATC are no longer responsible for separation from aircraft ahead of you. 10) Information about the latest ball game score is a really good idea. Particularly in the 4th quarter… 11) Expect a clearance to land even though the approach ahead of you looks like something out of Star Wars. 12) You can be “cleared” for a STAR or be told to “descend via”. The former means horizontal track only, while the latter means that you can descend to all the levels and altitudes without further clearance. 13) Be sure to tell everyone what your “ride” is like. 14) Descent clearances expect idle thrust. 15) “Pilot Discretion” means you can decide when you want to descend eg “ Descend FL240, Pilot discretion”. 16) Below 10,000ft you MUST observe the 250kt speed limit. 17) A direct routing will be followed by the statement “Rest of route unchanged”. That means that the rest of the route is unchanged. 18) “Cleared as requested” or “ I have your request” are common phrases. 19) “Taxi to gate” is a favourite. Good luck with that. Enjoy World Flight! Cheers, bruce a.k.a. brian747 1 Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,488 Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 Thanks Brian, I am sure I will be able to drop by at sometime, not keen on Twitch as it usually gets full of trolls, let's hope that doesn't happen. Link to post Share on other sites
Bruce (a.k.a. brian747) 142 Posted October 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 No probs so far, anyway. Personally, I just get rid of the comments panel to make more room for the flight displays, cockpit interior, throttles, ND, and so on. Peter (Britjet) has just poked his head round the cockpit door to say goodnight, since he's flying tomorrow. Cheers, B. Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,291 Posted November 1, 2015 Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 Their doing planning right now, I'll check back in a bit. Link to post Share on other sites
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