Spookster67
SOH-CM-2013

Thanks guys, but watch out for teson1 (Gunter, also flying the SIAI Marchetti) who is about 20 minutes quicker than me after just 8 legs. At that rate he's going to record something under 12 hours! :icon_eek:

Well, that was a lot of fun! Having arrived late, and set off before properly reading the rules, I've had a great trip. Flown the Marchetti further than I've ever flown her before, and she's been great. It was also fun to fly into some places I've been in real life, but never in FSX. Thanks very much to the organising team on this event! :applause: Now, must get some more pictures posted...

Thanks Mike!

Down safe at San Carlos, to complete the Western Roundup. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=7TleUGcrWZcdf9oZxSbl6oYr5I Flight: 35:05 Fuel: 70.6 lbs

Last hop, leg 17, departing now. Back to the West Coast.

Down safe at Mariposa. Managed to follow the road through the mountains to the Tioga Pass, so I was above the soft ceiling at about 10,400 maximum, for about 3 minutes. Then connected up with the top end of the Yosemite Valley, for a really brief but scenic flight down it. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=RQOH1JQQpBCtKmJzqMir8Libk Flight: 19:12 Fuel: 31.3 lbs

Leg 16. This is going to be an interesting departure, trying to get up to 10,000 (or perhaps even higher) to find a way through the mountains all within 5 minutes of taking off.... Departing now.

Down safe at Lee Vining. Headwinds nearly all the way. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=cZxMArKhgX3bsVC2ykNfGG9dT8 Flight: 47:17 Fuel: 85.3 lbs

Leg 15, departing now.

Wow, that's a long and steep climb out of Vegas for a little airplane! Down safe at Death Valley. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=YKDUWsSWAxC54NcHwDr7ID9F50 Flight: 29:12 Fuel: 53.0 lbs

Time for some more flying; perhaps all the remaining legs... Departing leg 14.

Down safely at KLAS, after a slight detour to over-fly the Hoover Dam. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=FTtpnnMBlp35DSQHEcbMmlRQ Flight: 49:02 Fuel: 89.3 lbs

Leg 13, to Vegas. Departing now.

Duenna refuelling error report - attempt at an explanation: On my leg 12 from KPGA to KGCN, duenna reported errors associated with inflight refuelling about 2 minutes before I landed at KGCN. I had loaded 50 lbs of fuel, and on the flight I used 48.3 lbs (yes, I should have loaded more!!). However, I didn't actually run out of fuel before landing, and in fact the aircraft engine idled for about another 5 minutes on the ground before it did finally cut out. I couldn't work out why Duenna recorded the error, so I flew a test flight, in the same Marchetti. I loaded just 6 lbs of fuel, took off from KGCN and climbed to about 10,000, and just circled waiting for the engine to cut. Before the engine cut, I got the same refuelling errors from Duenna. So it seems Duenna records an inflight refuelling error, even though I wasn't refuelling, just before I actually ran out of fuel. I landed it dead stick, here's the duenna record from that test. To see whether this was something strange with the Marchetti, I repeated the test in a C172. Same 6 lbs of fuel, took off and climbed from KGCN, and started circling waiting for the engine to cut. Exactly the same Duenna errors recorded, before the engine cut (about 2 minutes this time). Again, landed dead stick, here's the duenna record. So, what to do...

Down safe at Grand Canyon, after some fairly exciting flying along some of the canyons. I probably upset my passenger - he was looking a bit ill by the end. The roll and 72 seconds of inverted flight probably weren't appreciated!! I also upset Duenna. It thinks I refuelled about 2 minutes before I landed. Hmm. Further investigation of the text file is required. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?flight=eVeYQXzU6OEAE6BK2CscawmU76c Flight: 25:07 Fuel: 48.3 lbs

Departing leg 12, to Grand Canyon. For fun, I think we'll fly this one in the canyon, since the Marchetti is quite aerobatic. Hope the passenger doesn't mind...

Down safe at Page. Always nice to fly into somewhere you've actually been in real-life. :icon_lol: http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=A6YiWFsyEvRLdDj20CKcMrfpcRw Flight: 44:01 Fuel: 80.9 lbs

Another quick refuel, and off again on leg 11, to Page.

Down safe at Canyonlands (Moab), though the 16 knot crosswind made the final approach more "interesting". Nice to get down below 6,000 feet again - the Marchetti engine sounds better when it's got more air to breath. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=RgdSu5XYtL7TW5vKar84peKxN8M Flight: 43:14 Fuel: 76.3 lbs

A quick refuel, and off again. Departing leg 10, to Canyonlands.

Down safe at 36U. Another tree top flying leg, but thankfully the cloud base was above most of them. Bit of rain on approach to Heber city, but otherwise a good flight. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=vzQe7o3V14lANNbPYP4m6r5RFRA Flight: 1:02:11 Fuel: 107.6 lbs

Departing leg 9.

Duly noted :redf:. And thanks, Ms Murhpy! :salute:

Safely down at Jackson Hole. There really wasn't much space between the tree tops and the 10,000 soft ceiling for a lot of the way :icon_eek: http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=p3GDub6rIN4ev6AA7iXeyVB7DU Flight: 44:35 Fuel: 75.3 lbs

Departing leg 8.

Down safe at Yellowstone. Involved a bit of treetop flying, and a bit of weaving around some hills, to try to stay below about 8,000. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=Uch8cN2UMyN9XTDubE1xB67QLw Flight: 1:02:32 Fuel: 113.2 lbs

Departing on leg 7.

So having turned up late for this event, I decided (after having flown a few legs) that I'd better actually read the rules properly, to make sure I'm doing things right! Turns out I'm not - I should be posting departure and arrival of each leg. Oops!! I can fix that from now on. Another reason to read the rules properly was because I just set off on leg 7, but then immediately got distracted and delayed dealing with the real life stuff, resulting in a "controlled flight into terrain". Turns out 6,100' on the autopilot altitude setting wasn't high enough for the mountains just outside Kalispell. Oops again!! So in summary, this post is both a "departed on leg 7" and a "bailing-out due to interruption" post. I've used up my free bail-out. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=mFcsvYwSHlK0VdUmhlN5zioqOY It's too late tonight to start the flight again, so I'll leave it till tomorrow or Thursday.

Leg 6. A very quick re-fuel, and it's off again, with the intention of catching some more tailwinds up near 10,000. Edit: Reasonable tailwinds, but not as good as the previous leg. Just a nice day for flying. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=8OIiq2dz53KxF73xOvK09yKv9lk Flight: 39:01 Fuel: 68.0lbs

Leg 5. I'm hoping for a nice tailwind on this leg, so I'll be going up higher, and looking for better fuel efficiency too. We'll see... Edit: Yes, that worked out nicely. The 4 knot tailwind at 4000 was blowing at 13 knots up at 7000 and as much as 19 knots just under the soft ceiling of 10,000. Saved a bit of fuel there, I reckon. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=GqmIcHy94tERhTlYALcSqVljeyU Flight: 36:42 Fuel: 65.4lbs

Leg 4. The weather has improved, but the winds are still a bit mixed, some behind, some ahead. No trees to worry about at KEAT. :icon_lol: http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=DWGZURtSCoQ4s8atqGRNjWENc Flight: 38:52 Fuel: 72.7lbs

Leg 3. Lots of low cloud so this was mostly IFR at 4,000 and 5,000. Thankfully I found a hold in the clouds for approach to 4S2. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=18gIPJqvax1xBc8qVagZQJU Flight: 40:23 Fuel: 82.4lbs

Thanks a lot Paul.

Leg 2. Not much rain, but plenty of wind in the mountains, mostly right on the nose. Up to 6,800' to wind a way through the forested peaks. Didn't see Mount Olympus, as the cloud base was only just above me. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=K3EZOcsr5ndUTkfFiwdfiMx0A Flight time: 38:12 Fuel: 75.5lbs

Leg 1. A bit of rain on the way, but a nice tailwind as well at 4,000'. I've got a completely fresh install of FSX on a new PC, and so far very few add-ons re-installed. There are lots of trees close to the field at KORS, and without the "lumberjack" add-on installed, they're quite close to the runway. That made for an interesting high approach and full use of the runway. http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=bntQe06nNRPTn6ScoGngLovXo Flight time: 23:08 Fuel: 46.4lbs

Oops, I turned up late. Never mind, I'll get started quickly, and it'll be a good test for my new FSX rig. SIAI Marchetti SF260 by Real Air Sims, Silver Class Low Course, FSX, FSX default weather.