Round the World the Easy Way

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

So after seeing Willy's "Gone Walkabout" and Moses is on a "World Flight" I've decided to go ahead and start doing the main Flight Simulator thing I've never done - fly around the world - in one plane.

For me it's long been a problem trying to decide - what plane can I stand to fly that long - that far. I wanted reasonable speed, range, amphibious capability, pleasing aesthetics - both real world and in FS - and a realistic flight model. Also high wing STOL capability was highly desirable. Finally I wanted it to be a plane a real person might use for this purpose. The Beech D18, the DeHavilland TurboBeaver, the Cessna 185 and 206 and the Pilatus PC-6 and even the PC-12 - all favorites of mine and all failing at least one criteria were the main candidates.

However I believe I've finally settled on one that suits me on all counts and so I caught a red-eye from Nanaimo to Sandpoint, Idaho to take delivery at the factory. I'll give it a shakedown flight back to Nanaimo tomorrow and begin the journey.

-Ed-

[Willy]

Good luck Ed!

[cheezyflier]

very cool! i am about 1/2 way through mine, but i didn't do it all in one plane.
i switched between the 206 (most of the time) the aa-5b, the mooney, the 182, briefing time, and the dc-3. that's the order of how much i have used them so far with the 206 being used about 75% of the time so far. next i will do it all in one plane, but i will probably use the 182 or the mooney.

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

In Sandpoint I caught a taxi over to Murray Airport (ID36) a quiet little grass strip field not far from Quest Aircraft Company. There I took possession of a brand spankin new turbine powered Garmin G1000 flat panel equipped Kodiak. After some aircraft orientation it was off to Nanaimo (CYCD) in a shakedown flight where I'll have it fitted for amphibious floats and perform some other minor modifications before taking off to circumnavigate the earth. Only had a few anxious moments on descent and approach trying to figure out where "stuff" is in the G1000. :costumes:

Here is an introduction to the aircraft and some specs in the snap below.

[youtube]-Z7-v6lQj7Q[/youtube]

I expect that Lionheart will have the next version of the Kodiak out before I get very far into this trip. Looking forward to it as this version does have a few problems that I can live with till then.

-Ed-

Note in the snap leaving Murray you can see Idaho's bridge to nowhere in the background, Seems Sarah isn't the only one! :costumes:

[DauntlessDriver546]

Hey everyone!

I'm actually working on a National Speed record in my Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker in FS 2002. I've gone roughly two thirds of the way across the U.S. in a little over an hour and a half total flight time. I hope to make the rest of the hop today... I've had to stop for fuel twice...

Which begs the question... does setting a speed record mean you have to go all the way across without stopping? Or can you stop for gas along the way?

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Thanks for the encouragement!

The pic below is of the route. The "rules" I intend to follow are all on the pic except for one - no unrealistic flying and as for the real time thing I see no point in flying in the dark all the time on the opposite side of the world from me - a real pilot wouldn't. The route is only a very general strategy and will likely be deviated from a fair bit.

Only thing left to decide is East or West.

-Ed-

[Willy]

Ed, I went towards the East to take advantage of the prevailing winds.

Other than a short stint in a Spitfire over the Med, most of my flight has been in Milton's Beech D18. I left off in Alaska and need to see it on home but for the past few weeks, my flying time has been somewhat limited. Just call it taking a needed break while caribou hunting up there .

Thinking about making a flight in something a bit slower next time. I seem to have been collecting a flying circus's worth of Fokker D.VIIs. Might have to see what I can do with them. Scotland to Australia?

[cheezyflier]

here is the route i have been doing. next time i want to see more of russia and africa. if the kodiak is coming, i may reconsider the 182

[srgalahad]

Hey everyone!

I'm actually working on a National Speed record in my Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker in FS 2002. I've gone roughly two thirds of the way across the U.S. in a little over an hour and a half total flight time. I hope to make the rest of the hop today... I've had to stop for fuel twice...

Which begs the question... does setting a speed record mean you have to go all the way across without stopping? Or can you stop for gas along the way?

The official recorder is the National Aeronautics Assoc. (www.naa.aero). Unfortunately the full database and some functions require a membership to access. I don't have time to do all the digging but try a search - the most likely one is "transcontinental over a recognized course -
Bear in mind that supersonic flight over the continet would require special approval by the FAA and since the recored is held by a SR-71 they aren't likely to give permission for a Sukhoi . The SR-71 was non-stop, most other recent ones were AAR but there are some classes where it was just elapsed time -- counting ground time unless you are female --->
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transco...r_speed_record

but then again, you are attempting it in FS2002 so who knows...

The worldwide keeper of records is the Federation Aeronautique International http://www.fai.org

R

[srgalahad]

Hey Ed,
What Nanaimo scenery is that?

Rob

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Will get started tomorrow on the RTW trip.

Rob the Nanaimo scenery is at this site (under scenery near top right). The other sceneries are good too - I really like Duncan and Qualicum.

http://www.vanisleva.com/

It is a site I frequent as I live there.

-Ed-

[salt_air]

Hey Ed,

Looks like a well thought out adventure ahead. Don't let anybody change your name to AmbitiousEd.....:costumes:.

Enjoy yourself, I know you will!

Look forward to see how things are going.

All the best to you,

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Being the contrarian I am I figured to go west but then decided to be contrary to what I would ordinarily do and headed east. Besides that would give me time to get my Alaska sceneries in order. Anyway - so it begins...

I petted my wife and kissed the dog (she's a good dog! :costumes and patted the cats er I mean kids on the head and set off - I still hear my wife sayin "couldn't you just buy a sports car instead of this lunacy? - oh an is your life insurance paid up - it better be - or I'll blank you myself!" that last part was drowned out by the whine of the Pratt and Whitney turbine.

I set out on a short flight to a favorite destination - Chelan (S10) lookin forward to some good Okanogan wine with a friend. Along the way noticing all the purple clouds I couldn't help thinking of Zane Grey and his great book Riders of the Purple Sage. I wasn't fighting the Mormon church in 1871 like Jane Withersteen was but that Puff the magic dragon in the lower right of Pic 2 sure was lookin kind of threatenin :costumes: - and the clouds sure were purple.

-Ed-

An edit: Salt NO worries on that ambitious Ed part!

[MM]

Good luck. Should be great fun!

[Moses03]

Blue skies Ed!