Bluegrass Airlines
June 2003 Newsletter
On a Saturday
morning a few weeks back I carried out my usual routine of having a look at the
Bluegrass web site to catch up with events. Whilst looking at the panel that
was created for the Boeing 247 several thoughts came to mind, one being, this
looks a nice user friendly panel, the other whilst looking at the panels
windscreen was that this looks exactly as looking ahead in a B17. It would be
nice to marry this panel with an aircraft and have a famous "Warbird"
bomber to fly the skies.
Next was an internet search to
find the aircraft, at Avsim an FS2000 model
was found sleeping in the corner, a B17F.
The download was carried out and B17 along with B247 panel
put into the FS2002 aircraft folder.
Let me say at this stage that I
like to fly my FS aircraft as close as possible to the book numbers, in this
case I had no book. My thinking told me she possibly should fly like something
between a DC3 and a DC4. Also I know nothing of modifying config files and all
the other little technical bits that go into making an FS aircraft package. One
thing I do know is that I was running a bit short on the "GO" levers
and gauges. On the plus side I did have one full set of flight instrument, a
nice big lever to make the landing gear move up or down, some basic NAV stuff
and an R/T so that all could hear my screams if things went wrong. With some
button pushing on my joystick the flaps moved and the trim worked, heaps more
stuff than the Wright brothers had on their first attempt at flight. So lets
give it a go and see what happens.
I chose Sydney Australia
International Airport, YSSY, for the test flight with its 12,000ft runway 16R
with the hope of at least getting around the circuit and making a landing back
on 16R.
All air traffic was cleared of the
area for this "Evil Knievel" stunt and it was out to the waiting
aircraft. A quick look around the ship on the spot plane view showed everything
on the outside to be in the position where Boeing had originally put it. Put
some fuel into the tanks but keep her light, then into the front office for me.
Battery switch to On and some Nav
lights to warn anyone on the outside to watch out as this machine may burst
into life at any minute. Much pulling and pushing on the GO levers and the
computer keyboard and my speaker system told me that I had four engines
running, how many were actually developing some sort of power I will never
know.
Next was throw in some T/O flap,
nose UP trim and lets see if this bird will taxi. It did, and with much
differential breaking, engine juggling and a lot of wishful thinking we waddled
out in the general direction of the 16R threshold. I did not worry about the
normal pre-take-off run up for this flight as my main aim was just to see if
this bird will fly, so it was line up in a similar direction to the runway
centre line and brakes ON.
The RPMs were brought up on the
engines, brakes released and we crept into a slight forward motion. Someone
mentioned to me at a later date that a "T" model Ford was behind me
tooting and wanting to pass. At 6,000ft down the runway the pointer on the speedo
was just approaching the part where it had the 60 printed and there was a
slight motion from the back of the airplane that the tail might actually be
lifting. With some pushing on the yoke we became level and running on the
mains, great, I think, with less ground drag we may pick up some speed at a
more reasonable pace. Nooooo, that was not to be, we still could not catch the
"T" model that had passed us earlier. At this point also the aircraft
was starting to get the wanders. Something unknown on the left of the airport
must have been attracting it. I threw in one big bootful of opposite rudder
which did little to make the aircraft want to track in a similar direction to
that of the runway. Next option was keep the rudder over and perform a tap
dance of differential braking, it worked, we were again heading in the same
direction as the black bit in front of us.
At a bit over 10,000 ft down the
black tar the speedo had magically crept its way to the 120 mark. Some back
pressure on the yoke and a milli-second later "Gear Up", to reduce
drag to a minimum and YES, we were flying. The VSI told me we were going in the
UP direction of about 150 fpm so there was no possibilty of any turn at this
stage, just keep her going straight ahead. Finally reaching around the 1,000ft
AGL mark some fiddling with the throttles, props and mixture was carried out
remembering I had two levers for each and four engines but I did manage to
arrive at some sort of happiness with the engines.
My thoughts were retract the flaps at the 140 speed mark and
level out at 1500ft which was accomplished, still at this stage heading out
across the wide blue Pacific in a straight ahead atitude.
The auto pilot was engaged for altitude hold at 1500 and we
started a slow turn to the north. At this stage the airplane must have decided
to wake its self up from its long sleep, giving some indication of performance
and leaping itself into one of the most stable platforms I have ever flown on
FS. I even had time to look out the cockpit side widows for a magical view
across the big wing and back toward the coastline.
We headed north to just past
Sydney Harbor with the auto-pilot holding altitude and me doing the steering.
Turning westward for our base leg back to 16R, retarding the throttles and with
a good visual reference to the airport the gear was dropped to slow her down
just before turning a 6 mile final. She handled perfectly through out this
procedure, mixtures and props positioned and flaps lowered we made a full
visual landing right onto the touchdown area, then some light braking to bring
her back to taxi speed. Turning off the runway she even appeared to want to
co-operate with the taxi back to the gate.
The two most impressionable
results from this exercise were the great views from the front office along
with the stability of this aircraft once in flight.
Next was an email to my good FS
friend and our BGA guru, Capt. Bill Von Sennet telling him of my thoughts and
findings. Bill, Can we make this 247 panel into a B17 panel I asked. Leave it
with me Bill replied, in no time I was receiving emails with a new panel
layout, config updates along with all the other bits and pieces including
messages saying try this for altitude Rob, give me a speed reading for this
Rob, test fly this Rob.
Yes, Bill kept me very busy for
the next couple of weeks. Thanks to his outstanding efforts and dedication, BGA
and the Flightsim world now has one very nice B17 to fly.
In next months BGA news letter I
will report on the BGA B17 proving flight that I carried out from Sydney Int
Airport YSSY to Brisbane Intl Airport YBBN.
Happy flying in the B17.
Capt. Rob Finn
BGAD003
Check out the June Feature of the
Month
United Airlines
Boeing 247D from Newark, NJ to Oakland CA using the 1935 schedule.
Perry Hayward
bgan034 has repainted the 247D for Bluegrass.
You can download it from avsim.com complete with sound and panel.
Bill Odell has a
new feature: Flying the DEW Line
May Statistics:
Air Mail Div pilots
50.94 hours Visitors 112.92
hours
Alaska Div pilots
195.71 hours Visitors 104.71
hours
Aussie Div Pilots
358.22 hours Visitors 239.12
hours
Northern Div Pilots
109.76 hours Visitors 321.30 hours
Southern Div Pilots
447.96 hours Visitors 41.70 hours
Turbo Div Visitors 196.89 hours
Web-site Visitors
4906
Total hours flown by Bluegrass Pilots 1162.59
Northern Division
Report
02
June 2003
MEMORANDUM
From:
BGA Northern Division Director
To:
BGA Chief Executive Officer
Subj:
NORTHERN DIVISION STATUS REPORT - May 2003
1.
In accordance with operational requirements of Bluegrass Airlines Divisions,
the following is a summary of flight activity within the Northern Division
during the month of May 2003.
BGAN005
Bob Beckelhimer 69.50 hours
(career
total: 663.69 hours)
BGAN007
Brent
Perry
4.10 hours
(career
total: 356.00 hours)
BGAN033
Don
Hulick
17.85 hours
(career
total: 57.95 hours)
BGAN034
Perry Hayward 12.16 hours
(career
total: 23.66 hours)
BGAN035
Gene
Ward
6.50 hours
(career
total: 45.65 hours)
TOTAL TIME BY DIVISION
PILOTS IN MAY: 110.11
hours
VISITORS
BGAD001
Brian Wilson 40.78 hours
BGAD011
Ed Burke
43.62 hours
BGAD017
John Lawler 9.47 hours
BGAK014
Tony Brown 1.50
hours
BGAK028
Brent Brazeel 6.62 hours
BGAK029
Pat Daley
2.78 hours
BGAK030
Ron Jorgensen 30.30 hours
BGAK033
Tom Burrill 5.74 hours
BGAM007
Allan Lowson 9.53 hours
BGAS001
Bill Von Sennet 37.83 hours
BGAS004
Bill Odell 52.88 hours
BGAS006
Bill Agee 19.89
hours
BGAS031
Gary McCarty 60.36 hours
TOTAL TIME BY VISITING
PILOTS IN MAY: 321.30
hours
TOTAL TIME WITHIN
THE NORTHERN DIVISION: 431.41 hours
2.
Migratory birds had a "really" bad month dodging their metallic and
wooden wanna-be buddies in the not-so-friendly skies. Anybody pullin'
feathers out of the intakes??
R/Sr. Capt Bob Thompson
From the CEO
May was a busy month! I can’t imagine that we can stay this busy over the summer. Outdoor activities beckon, and the summer is
usually a slow period for flightsimming.
July 29th is the projected release date
for FS2004 “Century of Flight”. Hopefully fs2002 aircraft and scenery will be
upward compatible.
DC-3 Airways pilots were a major reason for the
success of “The Great Aussie Race”. This fall they will be sponsoring an
event. I would encourage Bluegrass
pilots to reciprocate and become participants.
More info when it becomes available.
The Boeing 307 from Vintage Aircraft works is
available at avsim.com, and a modified panel from our Notams page.
I may use the 307 for a feature this fall. It is historically significant as the first
pressurized airliner. TWA flew it on a
New York-Chicago-Kansas City-Albuquerque-Los Angeles route in 1940. The
pressurization was only 2.5lbs/per sq. inch which gave it a 8,000’ cabin at
14,700’. Still a major improvement so you don’t have to find your way
through the canyons of New Mexico and California. It didn’t last long, as with the entry of the United States into
World War II all of the advanced aircraft of 1941 were used as military
transports. After the war the 307 was stripped
of its pressurization and used by TWA on East Coast-Midwest Routes as it was
already outdated technology far surpassed by DC-6’s and B-377’s
Have a great summer!
Capt. Bill