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Post by Dan on Feb 25, 2007 23:19:02 GMT -5
Perfect timing!! I was just about to crank up the flight sim and start on the next leg . . . and that's good news!!!! At least now I can let go and get a cup of coffee!!! Thanks Bruce! Dan …it’s great being a kid again – without the glue!
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Post by Dan on Feb 26, 2007 18:13:36 GMT -5
. . . ran out of gas at A Coruna (LECO). And, they don't have the good stuff (high octane) . . . hell Dan
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Post by bhk on Feb 26, 2007 20:58:31 GMT -5
. . . ran out of gas at A Coruna (LECO)..... Heavens! You must've been pushing it along, Dan! Bruce
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Post by Dan on Feb 27, 2007 4:38:26 GMT -5
Your right Bruce, probably to much - running about 171 knots. Looked up the cruise speed for the Sunderland, after you mentioned that - seems she's comfortable at about 160-165 knots. So, that was a bit to fast. I messed around with the pitch and the mixture last night as well and probably didn't have it correct either. Without any gauges it's hard to tell. I reset them again tonight to where the engines sound about right - at least to me anyway and it seems to be doing better. Of course, put in a couple of course corrections (fell asleep) and that probable burned another 10-15% or so. Refueled a couple of hours ago and well on my way again. Absoutely beautiful moon rise off the port side . . . ;D Dan …it’s great being a kid again – without the glue! ;D
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Post by Dan on Mar 1, 2007 6:09:17 GMT -5
Just left Sicily ;D Notes: - Flew through the Gibraltar straits as the sun was coming up. Fantastic views - even had early morning fog as noted in Harry Levy's notes. - Buzzed a couple of ships - irritated one captain - buzzed him again! - Didn't have an engine problem, but stayed in port the 13 days anyway - had a great time! - Left early morning 0730 on 16th - FS clock not working right - Flew over North Africa - running low on fuel again (5%)- maybe fuel leak - Had to land at Carthage, Bay of Tunis - Not sure if friend or foe?! But, very historical city - Refueled (50%), picked up 2 loaves of bread, jar of peanut butter, and 2 packs of round steak (Bologna) - Headed for Sicily - found it - nice countryside just as Harry said - Buzzed more ships - got reprimanded - Stayed overnight - had a great time!! ;D - Airborne at 0755 - buzzed the ships again on the way out (what were they going to do - call us back . . .) - Circled the town twice - had to say goodbye to the girls! - On our way to Kasfereet, Egypt - Sleeping soundly - On autopilot Dan …it’s great being a kid again – without the glue! ;D
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Post by bhk on Mar 1, 2007 6:25:28 GMT -5
LOL!! ;D reads like a virtual Cooks Tour, Dan! What do you mean by "without any gauges"?? How come your Sunderland doesn't have a panel Bruce
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Post by leylandspurr on Mar 1, 2007 14:28:03 GMT -5
Dan,
I've noticed that you are having problems with fuel tankage in the Sunderland and have to admit that this area was one of the various modifications I had to make to enable her to fly as AI traffic (most of the mods concerned making a more favourable power to weight ratio). Apart from lightening the plane, I reduced the fuel tankage (fuel is heavy!) and obviously went too far in relation to the range required for the longer stages of this flight.
There are several options open to you:
You can add Stuart's 'normal' Sunderland to the sim as a flyable aircraft (keeping the modified one as AI), but this will mean that you must make a couple of renaming changes to the standard machine before adding it to the aircraft folder - if you want to pursue this, let me know (send me a PM) and I will send you some specific details or replacement files.
You can experiment with the modified one by increasing the tankage in the aircraft.cfg file but be careful, if you go too far the AI flights will disappear as soon as they become active (Microsoft AI just 'gives up and goes home' if you ask it to do something it knows it can't) and if you are on the borderline of going too far, they will take off (just) then stall and crash - it's a fine line.
Alternatively, you could carry on living with the current situation, or, just do what I do (which is why I didn't notice) by checking 'unlimited fuel' in the sim settings (sorry, not pc I know).
Let me know what you decide and how you get on, we're enjoying reading your reports!
Leyland
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Post by Dan on Mar 1, 2007 15:53:13 GMT -5
What do you mean by "without any gauges"?? How come your Sunderland doesn't have a panel Bruce Bruce, I do have the panel - what I meant to say is there are no Engine RPM or Manifold Pressure gauges in that panel - making it difficult to fine tune the fuel mixture and prop pitch and thus conserve fuel burn. That being said, I'm going to PM Leyland and and see if I can get one of his solutions. That should help. Thanks! Dan, There are several options open to you: You can add Stuart's 'normal' Sunderland to the sim as a flyable aircraft (keeping the modified one as AI), but this will mean that you must make a couple of renaming changes to the standard machine before adding it to the aircraft folder - if you want to pursue this, let me know (send me a PM) and I will send you some specific details or replacement files. Let me know what you decide and how you get on, we're enjoying reading your reports! Leyland Leyland, I think I'd like to try the first option and load Stuart's 'normal' Sunderland and see how that works. I will PM you now. Thanks for the reply. I'm having a lot of fun with this! ;D Dan …it’s great being a kid again – without the glue! ;D
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Post by Dan on Mar 4, 2007 6:33:29 GMT -5
Swimming in the Nile ;D Log Notes: - Woke up halfway across the Mediterranean from Sicily - Crew refreshed - beautiful weather - Daringly got down to '50 off the deck @ 165 knots - Tried to skim waves, flight engineer got nervous - went back up to 150' - Tail gunner wanted to troll for fish - didn't work - Running low on fuel again - crewmen smells gas, but he eats raw fish, so not sure what gas he was smelling - Cut across direct to Kasfereet - landed 22 minutes off schedule with less then 1% in tanks - Finally learned to park this great beast - Spent the night - not much to do - no girls - did not swim - salty as Harry noted - Changed planes - actually 'just happened' to get in wrong one No tower to check tail numbers - New plane has leather seats, AM radio, coffee percolator, ice chest w/cokes, and door on privy - Wish it had a microwave - Took off early morning on time - flew directly west - Found Pyramids - tail gunner loaded Kodak wrong - went around again - woke up Ramsis - he wasn't happy - Followed Nile awhile - then desert, desert, desert, desert - Fuel burn excellent on new plane - right on money - running 20.3 RPMs - Getting hot, hot, hot, hot - Harry was right - nothing but desolation - Found Nile again at Abu Simbel - water looks cool oh so cool - Landed - front mooring/turret deck makes great diving platform - Crew having good time ;D Dan …it’s great being a kid again – without the glue! ;D
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Post by leylandspurr on Mar 4, 2007 9:51:46 GMT -5
Hi Dan, Glad to hear the fuel thing is OK. This screenshot has nothing to do with Harry's flight other than the location, your mention of the endless desert gave me the excuse I needed to upload it, because I love the colours! I was flying part of the route in a 'Bombay' and reached Khartoum just at dusk. At this point the plane is directly over the point where the Blue and White Nile meet.
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Post by bhk on Mar 4, 2007 14:57:22 GMT -5
Gorgeous shot, Leyland. The water reflection looks photographic. Dan, it's becoming obvious that you and your crew are not taking this war seriously! ;D Bruce
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Post by Dan on Mar 4, 2007 18:10:15 GMT -5
Beautiful shot, Leyland!! GW3 sure does provide some great atmospherics for sunset, sunrise, and night flying - didn't realize how much until this adventure. The last couple of legs on this mission have been during the daylight hours - so I think I'm going to plan ahead and adjust the times to get a couple more early morning and late evening flight times in before it ends to enjoy the ambiance of those hours, as you just posted. Bruce, LOL - your right! Oh, the joys of 20' something! Youth has a way of getting through the world's crisis' - even war - with enthusiasm for fun and good times! ;D How I wish I could be go back to those days with what I know now, but then - I wouldn't be 20' something! Dan …it’s great being a kid again – without the glue! ;D
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Post by Dan on Mar 8, 2007 5:45:51 GMT -5
Watching Flamingos! Log Notes: - After 2-3 hour swim, we lifted off mid-afternoon - Khartoum Bound - More desert and more desert, but cooler - Tuned engines just right - harmonic hum of big radials - pure music (RPM 2.345/MP 6.8) - Landed at Khartoum - 36% fuel left - love this new plane - Busy place - Observe parked C-46 (w/o floats) walking on water w/full landing gear extended - Locals say it is a "miracle" - Air Force says its levitation - Refueled and got out of there @ 1630 Local - rumored original plane due in - we like the new one - Long take off run - heavy heavy - must be hot air temp - Watched the sun set - then switched FS9 to daylight (nice feature of new plane) - Desert finally turning to mountains and rain forest - altitude to 8200' - Lots of turbulence - Landed early afternoon at Kisumu - big big lake. - Harry was right - Flamingos everywhere (must be where they come from for urban front yards) - Bought patio lounge chairs and placed on top of wings - Drinking Harry's drink - ice water laced with lime juice (added a little gin!!) - Watching Flamingo air show - Life is good ;D ;D Dan …it’s great being a kid again – without the glue! ;D
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Post by Slide on Mar 8, 2007 8:14:59 GMT -5
Hi Dan, many thanks for your delicious Log Notes - that was a superb read! LOL, oh yes, life is great!
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Post by bhk on Mar 8, 2007 14:54:54 GMT -5
LOL!! ;D Well, as it's the last months of the war, I guess you're allowed to relax a little, but deckchairs & Gin Slings on the wing at sunset is going a bit too far! ;D
Bruce
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