EastWest Airlines (VA) Australia Forum

Scanno · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 11:17 am Post subject:

Full ATC coverage for the next leg, Dave Palmer, myself and possibly Rob Hooley and maybe some local guys may turn out again.
Terry

DP · First Officer Joined: 17 Mar 2007 Posts: 47

Captains
Another leg on this epic flight is behind us, Bangkok-Saigon. Active Sky provided plenty of cloud & storms for me enroute. We somehow ended up with two starting gates, some departed Bangkok International and others from the newer Suvarnabhumi International (That's a big word, I hope the spelling is correct). I departed from the older field in an effort to reproduce the original flight's movements. Again to maintain authenticity (another big one) I navigated using vor's only on this leg. ATC was out in force tonight with Terry & David from our "neck of the woods" plus one of the local controllers whos name I missed. Some of us had a hold over Phnom Penn vor to provide some separation. One pilot had more crashes (computer that is) than a demolition derby. As usual the Dash 8 did the job perfectly.

Next week's leg will be interesting for me and anyone who is navigating the old way with vor's & ndb's because there's a stretch over the water with no nav aid coverage. I haven't had a good look at the map so I'm assuming there's no alternative route. it would be easy to use the fmc but in the spirit of the event I'm going to track outbound from the last vor until it ends then go off the compass & keep an eye on the clock until the next vor or ndb. How far off course can I get in about 45 minutes!! Smile

Until next week
Dave

GM_EWA · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 12:01 pm Post subject: Clarification

stevejames · First Officer Joined: 18 Mar 2007 Posts: 33

another interesting leg of the tour. This time saw some extreme weather condtions Very Happy

Here's my report
http://virtualvfr.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1181354141/0#0

Steve

DP · First Officer Joined: 17 Mar 2007 Posts: 47

Captains
I doubt that I'll be flying tonight's leg (15th June) so I'll do it tomorrow instead. I realise that the flight does not depend on my presence but for those contemplating flying tomorrow you might want to know if you will have company.

Scanno · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:59 pm Post subject:

ATC will be open, not sure who will be there but I certainly can cover the whole flight.
I posted on the South East Asia forum at VATSIM so some local guys may turn out.
Terry Scanlan

GM_EWA · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 1:22 am Post subject:

Speaking of extreme weather conditions, arrival at Labuan tonight was just as challenging with thunderstorms and heavy rain in the Terminal Area. After only one approach to runway 14 I diverted to Brunei where the weather was much better.

Interesting that there is apparently an ILS on runway 14 (111.10) which I didn't receive and so opted for an abbreviated VOR approach which resulted in the diversion. The ILS must be new because my airports information source shows only an NDB and VOR/DME there. It certainly made for an interesting end to the flight, anyway.

Thanks to Terry, Dick and Rob for providing ATC all the way.
_________________
Andrew Watson
Liaison
The EastWest VA Group
EWA2/EWF2/VHABW

GM_EWA · Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:02 pm Post subject: Screenshots - VVTS-WBKL

Just a couple I grabbed on Friday night's flight.

Departing VVTS

Enroute VVTS to WBKL
_________________
Andrew Watson
Liaison
The EastWest VA Group
EWA2/EWF2/VHABW

stevejames · First Officer Joined: 18 Mar 2007 Posts: 33

nice pics there Andrew.
Here's my pics and report from Saturdays flight
http://virtualvfr.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1182047898/0#0

Steve

DP · First Officer Joined: 17 Mar 2007 Posts: 47

Captains
Saturday afternoon 16th June saw another lot of us "groupies" flying Saigon (Tansonnhat) to Labuan. As usual I plotted my course via vor's which in this case were few, in fact not including the departure & arrival airports I only had one which was on the coast of Vietnam. That gave me about 180nm on it's outbound radial with a similar distance with no nav aid. The wind was about 20 kts and from a favourable direction so drift wasn't a problem. In fact I was only about one degree off my plotted track when I picked up the Labuan vor. Just how well FS9 emulates drift I do not know. That might be something to fiddle with & test later. I only had broken cloud while over the water but nearing Labuan the cloud closed in with the now familiar storms. This has been the pattern for me in the Asian region using AS6 with a Vatsim feed. Landing on Labuan rwy 32 we only had the vor approaches. For me I didn't get out of IMC until just under 2000' on final. It was good fun not having an ILS with IMC. Labuan has a shortish rwy and even though I'd read my chart I was suprised at it's lack of length. Until next week.
Dave

GM_EWA · Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:59 pm Post subject: Departure Labuan

This journey is certainly proving to be a voyage of discovery in many ways. Of course, arriving at Labuan last week in darkness and stormy weather prevented me from seeing any of the airport environs. Tonight, departing Labuan for Zamboanga close to dusk, I grabbed the screenshot below. I wonder just how many Flight Simulator users explore the depth of virtual flying opportunity to the extent this Event has encouraged? How do we get the message across encouraging others to experience this kind of visual splendour?

I'm really looking forward to doing this leg again tomorrow in the Dash8!

_________________
Andrew Watson
Liaison
The EastWest VA Group
EWA2/EWF2/VHABW

DP · First Officer Joined: 17 Mar 2007 Posts: 47

Captains
It was a quiet Saturday flight today 23 June. Just VH-IAM & myself. We flew Labaun-Zamboanga (that's a mouthfull isn't it!). EWA2 loaded up but was beaten by computer gremlins (better luck next time Andrew). The flight was uneventful. I haven't got any scenery for Zamboanga so the MS default was a bit mundane but on the other end of the next leg I'll be enjoying some good scenery. Until next time
Dave

stevejames · First Officer Joined: 18 Mar 2007 Posts: 33

sounds like it was a great flight ... sorry I couldn't make it this week

next time Very Happy

Steve

tom · Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2007 8:32 pm Post subject:

Yes it was an enjoyable flight - I too had a case of the gremlins - got all set up but FSInn wouldn't connect Mad

Flew it offline concurrently with you guys - not the same, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Cheers, Tom.

ewa086 · Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 2:35 pm Post subject:

Capt's

Sorry for my absent over the last three or four weeks, RL have put a spanner in the works me lately. I have enjoyed everyones report and screen shots - hope shortly to be able to join you guys again.
_________________
Safe flying
Carl J
EWA086