The BARON 58 World Tour

The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:03 pm Post subject: The BARON 58 World Tour

Having got my new PC, with the Flight Sim experience absolutely transformed, I decided to set off on a long tour, to check out some of the Scenery around the Flight Sim world... I don't yet have any Add-on Scenery but if you're fortunate anough to be able to have the Graphics Sliders set high, you'd be amazed at how good some of the default scenery is.

I set some rules for this journey:-

- I would start at home (Newcastle, UK, EGNT).
- I would broadly speaking, circumnavigate the globe.
- All VFR Flight only.
- I would see all continents.
- I would refuel accurately and not cheat on fuelling.
- Mixture of ILS (A/P), ILS (Manual) and non-ILS approaches.
- The whole journey will be in 'Normal' (full) Simulation Rate.

As I am completing the journey in the Baron 58, this means fairly regular stops, due to the 142 Gallon fuel tank max.

I started by flying North-Easterly towards Norway (didn't set up any Nav at this stage although I did complete a Flight Plan for Oslo)... 2hrs 40 mins later I was given permission to land by Oslo Tower and refuelled. After giving the engines a rest I roared into life and set off for a strange place called Umea in Northern Sweden - great scenery! while en route ATC advised me that a plane was close by and asked me to confirm a visual sighting of it - never had this before in FS, so cool....

Anyway, I just completed the 3rd leg and I'm currently in Khirkov in the Ukraine.

I estimate my journey will take around a month to complete... I was just wondering if anyone else had completed any world tours and had any tips on how to make it as enjoyable as possible.

I think it's only really worth doing this if you are lucky enough to be able to run with HIGH graphics settings like I am, otherwise the Scenery would be too repetitive. It's also far more realistic having a lot of TRAFFIC set up (I have 80% set up in the SETTINGS page). Also, I bet it's great having a full library of Scenery Add-ons!

Well hope maybe this inspires some of you to commit to a big journey! And those of you that already have, let us know how it went.
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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

Arkydave · Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 1:36 pm Post subject:

David, you may be interested in looking at http://www.ivao.org/flightops where you'll see info on their World Tour 2004. Additionally, if you click the World Tour button on the left side, it'll list WT 2003 and WT 2004. If you select 2003, it shows several world tours, including one specificly for VFR. Check 'em out.
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I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my father did, not screaming and terrified like his passengers.

RadarMan · Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2004 4:20 pm Post subject:

I hope you set the auto-log so you can have a record of it to look back on.
Happy flying and don't forget to change the oil!

Radar

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Fire_Emblem_Master · Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2004 4:17 am Post subject:

I flew a Curtiss Jenny across USA once, ran out of fuel, and had to land IN the grand canyon. Luckily, i had 5 gallons in the front seat as ballast!

To get out again, (mind you, i was on a cliff) I simply (haha) taxied to the end of the cliff thing, and dropped off at full throttle, and held back on the stick and prayed.

it worked...

The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2004 9:30 am Post subject:

Great replies guys.....

ArkyDave, thanks for that link - checking it out on lunch today (at work).

RadarMan, Nope, didn't set the AutoLog, so I am recording everything on paper! (caveman), but it's kind of fun doing that,, recording countries, Airports, Codes, Fuel and of course dates n' times. How do you switch the Autolog on ? I know you were probably joking about the oil but are there really any maintenance options that I ain't aware of in FS9 ?

F_E_M - You are crazy man !! so funny to hear you managed to land IN the Grand Canyon.... you've set the pace for others to follow now, I'm gonna have to try and land a Bell Jetranger on top of the Eiffel Tower some time !

Well, the Baron 58 World Tour is currently in "Makhachkala" in Dagestan, South-West Russia ..... it's rough down here and the Chechen rebels have seized most of the fuel.. But I have some Marlboro so no doubt I'll soon be taking off in the blessed Baron, with at least enough Fuel to get the Grassy steppes of Kazakhstan !!

Ok, better give my imagination a break now...
_________________
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

Arkydave · Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2004 1:49 pm Post subject:

RadarMan · Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2004 3:30 pm Post subject:

Here's how to set the auto-log.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;280390

Yes I was kidding about the oil but if you want reality you would have to factor maintenance and down time in, it could delay your flight just as real world weather can.

Radar

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The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2004 10:57 am Post subject:

Here's a quick update on the BARON 58 WORLD TOUR.....

Well firstly I've been to Norway (I'm talking in the real world) on a mini-cruise but what a treat - as the ship was leaving Bergen Harbour, I heard an almighty roar and looked over the edge to see a Cessna Amphibian, screaming through the harbour and climbing... it turned 45 degrees and flew right over the ship - COOL ! What struck me was how low the climb angle was on the real plane (and how loud the engine was)... for a moment I thought it was gonna hit the boat I was on!

Anyway, the BARON world tour is a FS learning experience for me - and on this chapter, I've learned that you can't just go anywhere, in any plane... I left Makhachkala (Russia) and flew over to Mashhad in Iran, no problems, but from there I wanted to get into the mountains so I headed for Afghanistan with a view to re-fuelling and heading over the Chinese border, into Tibet.... However, I didn't consider the altitudes required to fly in such mountainous areas and I found the Baron was unwilling to get to it's Service Ceiling of 20,600..... at 16,000 it decided it didn't want to go higher and I found myself having to travserse the mountains to avoid crashing....

Eventually an emergency landing needed to be made - at a tiny grass airfield in Feyzabad, Afghanistan....

The locals looked after me here ( Very Happy

) but it was clear that the Baron was out of it's depth up here..... even flying at 12,000 above sea level, I was JUST managing to miss mountains!

So my only real option for continuing the world tour was to charter the larger King Air 350 to get me out of the mountains.... So I switched planes and headed due south, out of the mountains, to Lahore, Pakistan... Thte King Air was a different story all together, It comfortably got up to 23,500 where I was out of trouble... and 2 hrs 20 mins later, I was touching down on one of the ILS Runways at Lahore (a surprisingly big airport).....

My King Air has been returned to the Lease company's branch in Lahore so I am now without a plane, in Southern Pakistan!

But hopefully, I'll soon be back in the Baron (or back in SOMEONES baron!), and Airbourne.....

So the moral of the story is one of PLANNING - if you want to fly to the moon, don't set off in a Cessna 152....

I could certainly have gotten around the world in the BARON but I should have planned for Altitude issues... (my only real consideration has been FUEL endurance)...

Tune in same time next week for the next Chapter !
_________________
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

Bruiser · Guest

The-GPS-Kid,

It sounds like you've run into some of the same problems I've had on my longer trips. When you're trying to cover a lot of ground, there's nothing like being able to fly high and fast.

I started off on one of the historical flights in FS09, the race from London to Melbourne. Started off in the de Havilland Comet, but eventually got burned out on sitting and flying the darned thing all day (and the fact that I couldn't taxi that silly thing to save my life-- it would always spin around and turn turtle). So about a thousand miles into the trip, I went to a Baron. When I had trouble clearing some of the mountains, I went to the King Air 350.

By the time I got to India, I thought, "Well, I really should visit Mount Everest while I'm here," so it was time to whip out the platinum Visa and take the Lear Jet (29,000 ft is easy in a jet). The Lear took me all the way to Melbourne.

Now I'm on a grand tour of Africa. Started in in Alexandria with the King Air, but man, that is a big continent. Had to pick up another Lear Jet. I'm on a little island at the north end of Madagascar, at the moment.

Ed

The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2004 1:38 pm Post subject:

Sounds Great Ed !

Well the BARON 58 WORLD TOUR has been through DELHI since the last insallment (from Lahore, Pakistan) and this morning, I flew to KATHMANDU INTL, Nepal..... If you're luck enough to have a decent performing PC, I'd really recommend a fligt to Kathmandu. You have to Approach the Airport at 9,500 feet, just to be clear of the mountains but then you spot the Airport in a valley and need to descend pretty quickly !!

(I think this required rate of descent is why there is no ILS on any of the Airports Runways here)....

A great landing is possible though if you approach slowly enough - this was probably my best (completely manual) landing so far with FS9... and the scenery down on the ground at this Airport is superb (again, if you have the graphics settings HIGH).....

There are a couple of 737s parked up at the gate next to my BARON, I really wouldn't like to be on one of those, knowing that their is no ILS to help the Pilot in !!

So after spending a couple of days here in Nepal, I'll be heading towards the jungles of Burma / Myanmar, before heading down through the Indonesian islands and on towards Papua New Guinea and Australia...

So far I've travelled from Newcastle, UK just over 2 weeks ago - I've gotten quite far in the trusty Baron (although one leg from Afghanistan to Lahore was completed in a King Air 350).... and all in 'Real Time' !

Check out Kathmandu though - it's worth a go!
_________________
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 Aug 18, 2004 3:55 pm Post subject: DelMundo

Best of luck to you Sir! I tried the “world tour” idea about 6 months ago. No cheating, no time compression, etc. I made it from Salinas, CA, USA around the globe to a field in China(ZUUU I think) in a Shorts 360. The plane is still on the ground in China however as I could not find a path across the pacific, given the 360s range.

Now I am gonna have to hit http://www.ivao.org/flightops and see what they have for a route.

The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2004 4:22 pm Post subject:

Wow - you got pretty far Kurt... !!

I know what you mean about the Fuel range - I have this concern coming up when I get to the Pacific but I'm determined to find a way !

Well..... I left Kathmandu this morning, VFR, and headed off south-west at 220 degrees..... I later filed a flight plan for YANGON (Rangoon), in Myanmar (country formerly known as BURMA)....

The scenery passing through the watery marshlands of Bangladesh was fantastic... I recently installed a Terrain add-on and it has made an amazing difference to VFR flying.... I don't know if it was active in this part of the world or not but the topography around here is superb - lots of hills and valleys....

I checked my GPS and when I saw an estmaited journey time of almost 5 hours, it was clear that the BARON was not going to have enough fuel on board to get all the way from Kathmandu, to Rangoon ..... so I found a fab little town called "Sittwe" in North-West Myanmar.... the Airport had no NAV aids at all (no ILS or NDB) so it came as a surprise on Approach when I discovered that the Airport was no grass field - it was quite substancial....(ATC etc) some of these Airports in Asia are a real graphics treat (with HIGH graphics settings)... this one was no exception and the scenery of the 'Town' itself starts immediately next to the Airport...

So I've parked the BARON up here for the day.... tonight, I'll complete the remaining 2 hour leg over to Rangoon.

Then I'll be headed across to the Indonesian islands, heading East... Ultimately, I'm headed for Papua New Guinea then Australia.

Reaching Australia will be some achievement - all the way from North-East England to Oz in a little Baron !! (Apart from one short leg in the King Air).....

But from Oz, how on earth will I get across the Pacific?... answers on a post card !
_________________
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 · Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2004 7:48 pm Post subject:

I've been flying my own world tour since October, and I'm now almost 3/4 done with it Smile

... It takes a LOT of time to get around the globe. I've used DC-3 all the time, which just barely took me over the Himalayas and the Andes. The next big challenge is to cross the Atlantic! I totally agree that Kathmandu is a place worth a visit.

Good luck with your world tour!

My online flight log can be found at http://www.iki.fi/kesaniemi/fs2004/.

Ari

The-GPS-Kid · Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:47 pm Post subject:

You're a brave man Ari, undertaking a World Tour in a DC-3.... !!

10 Months is a superb commitment to the simulation and obviously you must be sticking to the rules !

When you're looking at crossing the Atlantic you may be able to consider Greenland for refuelling the DC-3, then Svalbarrd (if there's a FS Airport there!)....

Well done though, bet it's been real fun.
_________________
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 · Guest

The question came up as to how to cross the Pacific with the limited range of a light twin-- my answer was to go around it.

I started in Hong Kong, and flew north and east along the Pacific coast of Asia. I refueled in Taiwan, in Japan, and on the Kamchatka Peninsula (Velizova was the airport, I believe).

Then I turned east and followed the Aleutian Islands chain, refueling once or twice before I reached Anchorage, Alaska. Then I turned south, refueling in Juneau, Alaska, Victoria, BC, and of course stopping in Bremerton for old time's sake.

By the way, have any of you ever seen the Aurora Borealis when flying around Alaska at night? Very pretty.

From Bremerton, I followed the Pacific coast south, and finally went all the way to Tierra del Fuego at the south end of Chile.

All this was in the King Air 350, but I must confess to running at 16X simulation rate on some legs. I just don't have that much time!

Ed

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