Oxford2Oxford

[G-HEVN]

Mods: I'm using "based on New Zealand" in the Hollywood sense here, as in an actor can still be billed as "starring" even if he's only in one scene right at the end. So here's the first part of a long journey that ends up in New Zealand (remember, starring role!). If you'd rather I didn't, I won't continue it.

May contain nuts.

And anyway, most of the place names are the same...

Having spent some time just mucking about tweaking FSX, I thought it was about time to try some serious flying. I tend to like taking long 'tours' that either replicate real world journeys, or get me halway across the globe. So why should this be any different?

Some of you might be aware of a young couple that drove a 1954 Morris Oxford from Oxford (UK) to Oxford (NZ) in aid of charity a couple of years ago ( http://www.oxford2oxford.co.uk/ ). Well, since Oxford is only 20 miles up the road (and also my closest civil airport), what better plan? The original route is detailed here: http://www.oxford2oxford.co.uk/OverviewPage.htm

Now, I'm strictly a GA pilot, so this may take a while! So, on to leg 1. Already we have to deviate from the original route! The car went to Paris, but Paris is surrounded by an impenetrable block of Class A, and us little pilotes are distinctly not welcome. So we have to go around. We'll make it a comparatively short trip, essentially to hop over the Channel into continental Europe, and to clear customs. Thanks to the Schengen Agreement, we won't have to do this again until Africa.


I've left this as a thumbnail, since it's rather large (what point has a map if you shrink it and can't read it?) The routing is EGTK - BNN - LAM - DVR - LFQQ. This takes us around the North Side of Heathrow, through the corridor that runs under the London TMA (Class A from 2500ft upwards) between Heathrow and Luton/Stansted. Once out, we can climb in preparation for the Channel crossing. Once in France, we must make sure to stay outside the ZITs (Zones Interdit) - the red circles - since they have a tendency to place a pair of F15s on one's tail!

I shall be looking out for interesting scenery on the way, or trying out existing FS9 stuff and seeing how well it copes with FSX. Most everyone who flies VFR in the UK uses the Visual Flight photo scenery and UK2000 airports. The UK2000 airports scenery is actually getting quite old, and much of it doesn't hold up too well in FSX. This picture is typical - bits of buildings are missing, stuff disappears when you change viewpoint, there are no taxiways and the apron turns to grass under your wheels.




A left turn after departing runway 19 takes us over Oxford city. Much of the university is seen here modelled. Very Harry Potter! (Christ Church college's dining hall [bottom right] is used for the, er, dining hall!)


Approaching the London TMA, and the weather starts to close in, forcing us down to 1800ft. The photo FS9 scenery holds up quite well - better than in FS9 in fact, since there are virtually no blurries.


Away from London and into Kent. The town above my cockpit is Whitstable (I was best man at a wedding there just before Christmas!). Off shore to my left (not visible) is a giant wind turbine farm, and also the wreck of a WWII Liberty ship SS Richard Montgomery. It contains enough unexploded ordnance to throw debris 3km into the air and cause a major tsunami!


Overhead Canterbury, and the FSX developers have thoughtfully included Canterbury Cathedral. Unfortunately it's in the wrong place, and vacing almost backwards...


Approaching Dover, to our right. Already, the French coast is visible.


Coasting out at Dover, with the famous White Cliffs beneath us.


And so into France. This is default scenery, just to the South of Calais. What is it with Microsoft and this strange fascination with brown? We're at FL55, and the 16 FPS we had over the photo scenery is down to 8-9, and things are starting to get juddery.


Approaching downwind for Lille runway 26, and things have become a joke. The scenery is completely blurred and won't snap into focus, the sim is reporting 6 fps, but the screen will only update rougly once every 6 seconds. We've turned into a slideshow!


This is freeware scenery for Lille. It claims on the website not to be compatible with FSX, and I believe them! All the problems associated with UK2000 and bits missing, plus all the buildings skip and jump about so you don't actually know where anything is - first the terminal is to your right, then its ahead, now its behind, now to the right again... I suspect this might be the cause of the sim virtually grinding to a halt. Think I'll take it out before next time!

[Charl]

Unusual in many ways Tim!
An Italian aircraft in US markings?
And a car-based/shipping route? are you going to follow the sealanes too?

The trip I am waiting for, and have never had courage to do, is Jean Batten's 1936 London - Auckland record-breaking flight in Percival Vega Gull G-ADPR
I also have never found a proper log of her flight which doesn't help a simmer with aspirations!

She was some lady alright:
England - New Zealand. World record for any type. 14,224 miles in 11 days 45 minutes total elapsed time, including 21/2 days in Sydney.
Also first direct flight from England to Auckland. Also world record for fastest flight between Australia and New Zealand (101/2 hours). Established on same flight: England - Australia solo record, 10,500 miles in 5 days 21 hours total elapsed time.
More at http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/ ... n_bio.html

[ZK-Brock]

We're at FL55

In the UK is the transition layer very low, or are you pulling my leg?

[ardypilot]

This will be an interesting one to watch, I love a good tour, and I am sure many other NZFFer's will- please continue to write up a full report.

I have that JustFlight / Getmapping photoreal for FS2004, and it works a treat (with 20 or 30 nm visibilty mind). I also have the Flying Club Shoreham (my old local airport when living in the UK) addon which fits on top perfectly, and lets me create real world flights I did over my house in G-BRNE, included on the CD-ROM

Also, that brown continental Europe texture set really bothered me in FS9, I see they still have it in X- another reason not to purchase it!

[G-HEVN]

It varies between 3000 ft and 6000 ft. Mostly 3000 ft though. Same for much of Europe I believe. FL55 is a common altitude for flying to France from the UK (actually more like FL54, since the Class A TMA extends out into the Channel at FL55+ on the UK side of the FIR boundary), and FL45 for the return trip.

[G-HEVN]

Leg 2: Lille Lesquin LFQQ to Carcassonne Salvaza LFMK

This leg will take us right the way through France, to the foothills of the Pyranees. Carcassonne is a fabulous medieval walled city built high on a hilltop. Its citadel was the inspiration for the design of Disney's theme parks and the castle in Sleeping Beauty. It's thought to be the oldest walled city in Europe and is a UNESCO World Heritige site. In FS, however, you'll just have to imagine what it looks like!



Staying clear of Paris airspace, we can practice our RNAV, hopping from VOR to VOR, routing CTL, TRO, TIS and MEN.


After last time, I've switched back to the default scenery for the departure, to see what difference it makes. Well, in terms of performance - frame rates and judders - it makes no difference at all. Conclusion: the scenery wasn't causing the performance hit.


Climbing out. The clouds are FSX default, with real weather.


I love the detailing on this new model!


Cruising at FL65 for a 3 hour flight. Good job modern headsets come with Ipod sockets!


A couple of hours in, something bizarre happened. I'd been cruising quite happily at 24-square, leaned to peak EGT, when the manifild pressure started to drop. I noticed the change in engine pitch when it reached 20", and thought "oh!", and increased the throttle to full. That just resulted in the loss of another inch. Automatic reaction: fuel pump on, autopilot off, and check the dials and switches. Electrics are fine, fuel is still flowing at 15gph, but the temps are down - in line with the loss of power. There's no OAT gauge in the SF260, but this baby is injected, so can't suffer from carb icing, however we can select alternate air... nothing. The MP is still going down, and so are we. It's now below 10" and we're approaching 5000ft. Trouble is,we're now over the Massif Central, and that doesn't give us much change from 5000ft. I'm starting to think we can only make the best of a bad job, when the MP starts to rise again. Gradually apply throttle, and the power comes right back up. Oh good! Climb back up to 65, and after a few minutes cruise, the MP starts to drop again. Same thing. It's behaving like it has engine icing and we should apply carb heat,l but there's no carb! Maybe it's an FSX bug?


That might be an excuse to stay low, and hug this valley. Oh, look, what's that up ahead?


Tum tum te tum <whistles innocently>


Well, you just have to, don't you!


The Millau viaduct is the world's tallest vehicular road bridge. It's nice that they've put it into FS, but they could have made an effort to make it look right! http://www.tacuroctr.com/images/Blog/Millau_Viaduct.jpg At least there's moving road traffic going over the bridge. There is a pretty good freeware version of the bridge for FS9.


Final for Carcassonne. Another bare airport in a barren desert. At times like this I can't help thinking FSX takes away more than it gives.

[G-HEVN]

Leg 3: Carcassonne Salvaza LFMK to Malaga LEMG

What better after a large, loong French lunch than to spend the rest of the afternoon belting down the Iberian Peninsula at 9500 ft? LECD - LESU - MLA - CLS - YES - MGA. The first two waypoints are airfields high up in the Pyrenees (after the second glass of merlot, it seemed a much better idea to go over rather than around...)


Ready to go... "CLEAR PROP!"


Climbing out


The valley is not so distinct as it appears on the map, and it's deceptively steep! Thankfully the '260 is not lacking in the 'fpm' department.


Even so, the valley sides climb faster than we do!


The peaks near the top are covered in cloud. We're already over 8000ft high! You can see our first waypoint just visible above the placard next to the gear knob.


Successfully through the mountains, and the sun is getting lower. An interesting discovery at this point: Autogen on 'sparse': 6-8 fps. Autogen 'off': 27 fps!




The sun sinks below the hills. Good job our night rating is current!


First glimps of the lights of Malaga, The airport is at the far side of the city


Cleared to land, runway 14, winds 150 at 6 knots

[ZK-Brock]

Even more cool shots HEVN. For the first shot you say "CLEAR PROP!" before you start the engine. DO you do this in real life? It's never been taught at my Aeroclub.

[G-HEVN]

Certainly do. Standard practice, in the UK at any rate.

[G-HEVN]

Leg 4: Malaga LEMG to Casablanca Anfa GMMC

Behind the scenes in every expedition there are teams of mechanics, backup support vehicles and whatnot. So while the support team flies the 260, I'm going to cadge a ride in the back seat of Rick Piper's spanking new Chipmunk...



It's rather a long taxi to the 14 threshold from the GA parking area (at the far end of the airport), and we had to watch our Ts & Ps. But what a joy to take to the skies with the canopy still open - reminds me of those open cockpit biplanes!


Tracking west along the parched Spanish Mediterranean coast


Gibraltar: The end of Europe


Wings over the Rock. Wonder if FS has any apes down there...


Crossing the straits at 1500ft to remain VFR. Africa ahead!


Tracking the Mediterranean coast to Tetouan


Crossing the Er Rif mountains: The view fvrom the back.


Looking suspiciously green...


The Chipmunk doesn't have quite the legs of the SF-260, and we have to put in to Sidi Slimane (GMSL) for fuel. We have just 10 litres in the tanks when we arrive!


The outskirts of Casablanca are heavily farmed. What with the pit stop, and the slower plane, our crew have long since disappeared int town. I just hope they haven't drunk Rick's Bar dry...

[ZK-Brock]

Awesome shots again HEVN. I enevr knew that there was a chippieavailable for FSX though, can you point me to it?

[G-HEVN]

It's still in beta, but bloody good for all that. The download is for both FS9 and FSX. It's at the Classic British Flightsim forum You'll need to register, since the new releases topic is 'members only'.

[Alex]

Wow, great shots, somehow I've missed this thread completely for a while, I'll definately have to follow it.

Alex

[Matlo]

An interesting discovery at this point: Autogen on 'sparse': 6-8 fps. Autogen 'off': 27 fps!

As well as having a great thread and screenshots to follow, you have helped me imensely ! On my system FSX ran quite poorly (P4 2.4, 1.5 gig RAM and 6600GT vid card). I had autogen on sparse and all the other sliders down and still was getting very mediocre performance. I turned off autogen and can have most of the other sliders turned up now including 100% traffic !!
Yes, it's a shame I have no autogen, but I can live with that and still be able to fly in FSX!
Thank you...

[ardypilot]

Now those screenies are a big improvement HEVN!

The alpine snow region and the southern Europe/ northern Africa landclass is absoultly stunning- most realistic sim screenies I have ever seen

As for the Chipmunk- that used to be my favourite plane (in FS9 a while ago), the Tiger Mother mono wing upgrade! It looks even better in X, with the new camera angles you can see parts of the model not available in 9- good on ya

[G-HEVN]

That new tail view particularly, is really excellent for taxying, when you can't see over the nose from the cockpit!

I turned the autogen back up passing Gib - the plane was nicely trimmed out and in the cruise, so I figured what the heck. Took me down to about 4fps with stuff maxed out! Just remember to turn it off in your approach checks: Brakes, Undercarriage, Mixture, Fuel, Carb heat, Instruments, Hatches, Harnesses, Autogen..

[G-HEVN]

Leg 5: Marrakech for lunch, Fes for dinner!

GMMC - CBA - MAK - GMMX
GMMX - FES - GMFF



They're very friendly people, the Moroccans, but things don't happen quickly. For this trip, not only did we have to file a flight plan, but we also had to fill in a long immigration form and have it verified by the chief immigration officer - and this for an internal flight! Finally we managed to get away and head inland.


Once away from the coast, the green cultivated land rapidly gave way to featureless desert.


The road to Marrakech, the Atlas mountains in tghe background. Passing Air France and Alitalia airliners kindly relayed our messages to ATC while we were out of range.


Approaching the circuit for Marrakech, and we hear an Easyjet flight being cleared to backtrack. You can directly check out what he's doing from the FSX view menu. Nice!


By the time we're cleared in, the Easyjet is long gone. Hopefully there's a taxi waiting - the restaurant is booked for 12, and it's already quarter to! Oh no, those interminable forms...!


It's now three hours later. Two of those were spent doing paperwork! Immigration forms in... Immigration forms out... Flight plan... But then the tower controller drove us out to the plane personally in his van! "I have to see you are gone, you crazy English!"


It started off as a simple route, but it crossed a number of danger areas, and the military proclaimed them active. Again and again the ATC controller reminded us "It is prohibited to enter the danger areas". Okay, we get the message!


Turning final for Fes


Cleared to land. Three greens.


Taking a moment to sit and contemplate before walking to the terminal and filling in yet another set of immigration papers...

[G-HEVN]

Leg 6: Fes GMMF to Algiers DAAG

Today we're heading back up to the Mediterranean coast, and heading into Algeria
Route: GMMF - OJD - ORA - MOS - DAAG


7am, and already the ramp is alive with activity! Fuel here is cheap (€1.49 per litre) but it has to be paid for in Dirhams, for which you must have a recipt. And of course the ATM didn't give a recipt! Fortunately, after a bit of haggling, they did accept Euros, so now we're good to go.


Lined up on the runway juust as the sun is rising. Notice how far off East it is. We're at 34 N, 7 W, and the time is 07:38 local for the navigators among you (or Towerguy! ) that wish to do the maths


As the sun rose, a layer of mist formed, covering the land in an eerie white blanket, the Middle Atlas mountains poking through.


As the sun rose higher, it gained in strength and burned off the mist, revealing a brown, desert landscape beneath.


Another triumph of modern VOR navigation!


Passing the coastal city of Oran


Patchy cloud over the tops of the hills, but we're able to weave around it and remain VFR.


Beginning our descent onto the coastal plain, with the Tell Atlas mountains to the South of us.


We're cleared for a downwind join to runway 27


Turning final. We're a bit low on the approach, but I've just thrown the photographer overboard, which should help! Must remember next time to ask if he has a parachute...

[G-HEVN]

Leg 7: Algiers Houari Boumediene DAAG to Tunis Carthage DTTA

I've started adding a few of my favourite FS9 planes into FSX, and also installed the release candidate of Markus Brunner's GA-Traffic. It was an absolutely brilliant program in FS9 for populating the world with light and other GA aircraft, and I have high hopes for the FSX version. Also the ability to exclude whole countries means it can coexist with other projects, such as GNZLAP.

Now, it's no coincidence that the first aircraft converted is Carenado's Piper PA28-236 Dakota. This was my first ever payware, and it's still one of my all time favourites (I've probably logged more sim time in this than any other aircraft). Basically, it's a Warrior on steroids! To install it into FSX, first run the installer and any updates, specifying FSX as your sim directory. Then run Carenado's FS9toFSX utility, which shuffles the files into the right places. When you first select the plane, you'll have to okay a bunch of dialogs as it loads up the gauges, but then its fine, other than a few quirks.

Enough of this wittering, and on with the pictures!


Algiers, exotic capital city of Algieria. Population roughly 2.1 million. So why am I the only plane on the ramp of this huge international airport? Their rather nice web site http://algiersairport.free.fr/ suggests it should be bustling. I guess this is the point where you need to become a serious AI tinkerer rather than simply installing packages. Oh well!


Of all the off ramps in all the airports in all the world, you have to turn onto mine! Here we are, the only two aircraft on the while airport and we have a traffic jam!!


I just liked the way the prop disc interacts with the sun's halo in this shot.


We're flying along at 2500ft, with scattered to broken cloud bases at 2600. Unfortunately the hill tops are also ate 2600, and rising...


Some issues I've noticed with this plane in FSX: The strobe lights flash waay fast, the panel switches won't operate from my GoFlight box, although they work fine if you click on them. However The batt/alt/avionics switches do work, but in the opposite sense! The screen 'jumps' and all the textures reload whenever you open a popup window, such ad the panel fuel gauges, GPS etc. And the DV window has a strange green fringe.


Okay, what happened to the nice fluffy scattered clouds then? This is looking more serious and appears to contain some cumulus granitus...


Consulting the map shows a nice wide valley beyond this saddle, and it's going our way. A nice no-brainer this!


Yup. Definitely not so nice as it was.


Ah, the coast. At least here I know I won't hit anything! I was starting to think I might have to re-file IFR!


And so our intrepid hero merrily disappears into the gathering gloom of increasing CB activity. Will he survive? Will he be tossed about like a pea in a washing machine? What about Tunis? They are reporting winds of 320/15G27! Who will clean up the mess in the cockpit? Tune in next time....

[JonARNZ]

I'm really enjoying this thread. You're doing the perfect thing to discover FSX, fly it. Its a great journey to date, look forward to more installments.