The BARON 58 World Tour

The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2004 11:22 am Post subject:

... Yeah, I nearly always go for a drive, once I've landed in a new city... the ones with proper roads are the best..... the other day I flew to Dublin, then DROVE the van up to Belfast !!! and flew home from there!

I resumsed the BARON 58 world tour lasy night - I'm still in Australia (that's right, I've flown from Newcastle EGNT - Australia in a Baron!! but with 26 stops on the way).

I flew through a rare Australian rain storm last night - was really throwing the Baron around. Flying back towards the East Coast (Maryborough), so that I can soon start the REAL CHALLENGE - crossing the Pacific in the Baron (via the south pacific islands)
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Dell P4 3.0Ghz, 2048Mb RAM, ATI X800 256/256Mb Grfx, 17" TFT, 15" TFT (Instruments), ATI Omega Drivers

The GPS Kid is currently flying, exclusively:-

Level D 767-300ER

.... for First Choice, BA, and Delta

The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2004 11:23 am Post subject:

Hey, that post made me a CHIEF CAPTAIN ! Do I get a raise ?
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Dell P4 3.0Ghz, 2048Mb RAM, ATI X800 256/256Mb Grfx, 17" TFT, 15" TFT (Instruments), ATI Omega Drivers

The GPS Kid is currently flying, exclusively:-

Level D 767-300ER

.... for First Choice, BA, and Delta

RadarMan · Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:33 pm Post subject:

The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:18 pm Post subject:

The (Virtual Beers) are on me !

RM I think there should be a new Category to reflect you number of Postings: "Director of Flight".

All those in favour of nominating RadarMan for promotion from Chief Captain to Director of Flight, speak now or forever hold your peace !
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Dell P4 3.0Ghz, 2048Mb RAM, ATI X800 256/256Mb Grfx, 17" TFT, 15" TFT (Instruments), ATI Omega Drivers

The GPS Kid is currently flying, exclusively:-

Level D 767-300ER

.... for First Choice, BA, and Delta

KurtPStevens · Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:46 pm Post subject:

I second that motion...what the heck. Wink

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Kurt
Maintain Thy Airspeed, Lest the Earth Should Rise Up and Smite Thee. Amen

Fire_Emblem_Master · Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:57 pm Post subject:

I go for "Director of Tail Dragger Flight" myself. Sounds like him more.

Riclo · Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2004 10:42 am Post subject:

I like "General Aviation Director" kind of has a Leader quality to it. Ric
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The meaning of Life: Live it, Enjoy It!

The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 1:23 pm Post subject:

Well I managed to clock up some more flight time in the Baron on Friday evening.... The Tour that has taken me from North-East England to the South Pacific, via Scandinavia, Russia, Middle East, Asia, and Australia.

There have been some fun moments (discovering some great FS scenery along the way, and "driving" around some of the stop-off points, in my FS Mercedes Van), and also it's been a learning experiance with Flight Simulator.... (Running out of fuel at 3000 feet in Cambodia and performing an engine off landing and surviving - with "Crash Detect" set ON !

Anyhoo.... The last leg of the tour that I flew on Friday was from New Caledonia, over to Fiji.... The flight took 2.5 hours (I do all simming in real time, never cheat with the Sim Rate), and I completed a windy but successful Visual Landing.

While flying over to Fiji I was considering whether I should take a left Heading and aim towards Hawaii, and the US... or whether I should continue with a heading of 90 degrees, that will currently see me eventually reach SOUTH AMERICA.

The deciding factor is that, within FS, I have never flown to or seen any South American scenery or Airports yet, so decided to stay down South and head to Chile.

From Chile I aim to navigate through the Andes and fly over the Amazon into Brazil... It will be interesting to see how the Amazon has been represented within FS.... I'm hoping that the density of the land below will be recreated with some really tall trees and greenery... I expect some of the take-offs from this area could be challenging !

I'll eventually get over to Rio de Janeiro, where I plan to cross the South Atlantic over to Africa..... A tour of North West Africa should bring me up into Europe (after 4 months away!).... I aim to enter Europe again via Gibralter.... a). because it's the south eastern mouth of Europe... and b). because it's a British territory so I'm afraid theres some national pride there too !

Anyway, I'm weeks away from that - my immediate challenge is trying to find a path of islands within the South Pacific that will lead me from Fiji over to South America..... The Baron has a modest Fuel Tank so the route needs to be planned around an Endurance rate of around 3.5 hours flying maximum.

One definate plan is to land on "Christmas Island"..... I don't believe it has an Airport, or any NAVAIDS so finding it will be a real challenge, and landing will require a nice long straight area of Beach !
_________________
Dell P4 3.0Ghz, 2048Mb RAM, ATI X800 256/256Mb Grfx, 17" TFT, 15" TFT (Instruments), ATI Omega Drivers

The GPS Kid is currently flying, exclusively:-

Level D 767-300ER

.... for First Choice, BA, and Delta

ARD-DC · Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 1:42 pm Post subject:

looks like you have a way to go still Wink

Very curious to hear how you will cross the big pacific Wink

Sounds like some very precise planning is required...good luck !

I can see your love for the Baron now.....while I was completing the last leg of my little tour, from North - Norway back to Amsterdam, my flightpath took me over the Norwegian coastline, and I thought I'd take advantage of the opportunity and have a closer look at what's said to be the most beautiful part of Scandinavia.
I landed at a little airport and took a little tour in a Baron.....and boy it was magnificent. There's definately something very relaxing about VFR flying...just do whatever you feel like without ATC jumping you for deviating off course Very Happy

Beautiful scenery there....I'm glad I didnt pass over it at FL330 Smile

The Baron was the perfect plane for it...quiet, allows for both slow-flight and nice cruise speeds, enough power to do some steep mountain-climbs...
Definately will do this more often Smile

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The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:29 pm Post subject:

Glad you enjoyed it ARD.

I do love the Baron, but after this tour ends it'll be replaced..... I have the "Flight One Cessna Golden Eagle 421c" add-on from Just Flight, and it's a VERY similar plane to the Baron.... same seating layout, similar handling and power.... As an add-on though it has more realistic systems and functions.

I'm sticking with the Baron for this tour (as it's been good to me) but when I touch down back in Newcastle, it'll be retired as there aren't many hours left on the Engine or Airframe ( Laughing

).

The Cessna 421c is shiny and new and will be the focus for any future tours, along with the new Flight One Piper Archer that I've just got - which is also excellent.
_________________
Dell P4 3.0Ghz, 2048Mb RAM, ATI X800 256/256Mb Grfx, 17" TFT, 15" TFT (Instruments), ATI Omega Drivers

The GPS Kid is currently flying, exclusively:-

Level D 767-300ER

.... for First Choice, BA, and Delta

Elkinallen · First Officer Joined: Sep 24, 2004 Posts: 446

Congrats GPS on your eligibility,, for,,, promotion? I think you should be promoted to- Emperic Universal Order Over Group Force Administrator of,, bottle washing! HA! HA! HA! HA H a h ha ...

Seriously, I am interisted in this world tour. I am mapping it out. I want to fly the Tri Motor though. I have just equiped it with a limited autopilot and VOR/ADF (Old style).

Wink

Guest · Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 12:11 am Post subject:

Guest Ed · Guest

So, The-GPS-Kid, are you home yet? Did you complete the tour? That is truly an epic trip, worthy of special mention in the Flight Simmer's Hall of Fame (okay, it's a virtual Hall of Fame).

Do you have any final stats? Total miles flown? Number of days to complete the trip?

Enquiring minds want to know!

Ed

The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 10:04 am Post subject:

Hi Ed,

Your timing is perfect - The Baron 58 World Tour finished last evening!

In typical reserved North-East English style, the pilots opted against a huge celebration, although a small number of photographers and journalists were invited along to EGNT to mark the occasion.

Not many stats as the trip lasted so long, it passed through 3 different FS re-installs which reset all of the flight time recording stuff that was on the go. However I can say :-

- The tour was approximately 16,000 - 20,000 miles in distance including some drastic detours (to avoid mountains), and a couple of Oceans that wouldn't shorten for me.

- The entire distance was flown in a the default BARON 58, except for one leg of approximately 400 miles (near Kathmandu) that was flown in a borrowed King Air 350.

- The tour visited: UK, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar/Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Uncharted Pacific Islands, Christmas Island, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuala, Trinidad & Tobego, Bonaire, St Maartin, Antigua, Jamaica, Cuba, USA, Canada, Greenland and Iceland ......

..... in no particular order!

- The tour lasted approximately 5-6 months.

Great fun but glad its over.... flying VFR is liberating but boring on very long stretches with little scenery.

At a certain point you realise you've come too far to turn back or give up.

Next I'm going try the excellent amphibian idea, from the most northerley point in the UK to the most southerly. I've decided to do it in the fantastic DC-3 add-on from maam.org as it comes with a fab Amphibian version.

Will wait until the CH Yoke that I've just ordered arrives before starting that ! (I was jealous at FEM's superb Throttle unit, so had a word with Santa).

Good luck to all other tourers out there !

Merry Christmas n' a Happy New Year y'all !
_________________
Dell P4 3.0Ghz, 2048Mb RAM, ATI X800 256/256Mb Grfx, 17" TFT, 15" TFT (Instruments), ATI Omega Drivers

The GPS Kid is currently flying, exclusively:-

Level D 767-300ER

.... for First Choice, BA, and Delta

Guest Ed · Guest

The-GPS-Kid,

Congrats on a successful trip. Quite a voyage.

Do you have a picture of that amphibious DC-3 that you can post? I poked around maam.org for a while and couldn't find it.

I must say, that sounds like an ungainly thing. An airliner on floats--that's got to take a fair stretch of water to get airborne! Have you flown it yet?

Ed

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