Thought I'd join the FSX fun with FsPax.

I set up a 50 flight with no crash victory conditions scenario, during which the object will be to do re-live some significant milestones and routes in aviation history. You know, nostalgia avenue stuff...

First task: Eastern Airlines. Why? WWI ace, early motor sport car racer, and self made mechanical engineer Eddie Rickenbacker, one of my "most noted and admired" personalities in aviation since as far back as I remember, was it's manager after creating it by the amalgamation of two separate, smaller airlines bought by General Motors. And they operated the DC-3, which I have for FSX.



I chose the Chicago - Indianapolis leg for starters, with the Cyclone powered Eastern livery Just Flight DC-3, to enable me to continue a few more of the 50 flight goal down to Pensacola. Probably won't be posting all of those, though.

Regarding that Just Flight DC-3 model, I found a small problem with it that required some "modding" in the config file. I had previously noticed that no matter what fuel cock settings I used, I was unable to access fuel in center tank 2. I commented it out, and doubled the capacity in center tank 1. Now all fuel is accessible, but you have to consider the quantity as x2 in tank 3 on the gauge. OK, not all that realistic, but an acceptable compromise.

So, the route. No cheating, NDB to NDB with whatever weather the live config tool threw at me. KMDW to KIND, as close to historically accurate as possible...



Once in cruise at 7,500 ft, it was bumpy all the way. I got an unexpected visit from the "hostess" stating that the flight was boring and we had to find something else to do. So I sent her off to serve drinks...



The in game ATC cleared me for RWY 23R with a cross wind component that was a bit "hefty" for a taildragger. RWY 32 would have been much more appropriate, but there is no way to request a different runway that I know of with the game ATC. So I gave it a go.



Full left rudder on the roll out was only just capable of preventing a severe weathercock (as expected). I went to use what I thought I had mapped as the left brake button on the joystick, to help maintain direction, but it turned out to be the parking brake. I released it again quickly enough to avert disaster, but it the action had already earned me penalty points, damage to the aircraft, and a sock on the jaw from Mr. Rickenbacker himself.



LOL!

Flight ID: PAE411
Flight Type: Normal
Pilot: Cygon Parrot
Company: Parrot Alliance Enterprises
Aircraft: Douglas DC3C
Flight Date: May 13 2016
Departure: 12h03 (17h04 GMT)
Arrival: 13h03 (18h04 GMT)
From: KMDW - Chicago Midway Intl - United States
To: KIND - Indianapolis Intl - United States
Planned flight time: 01h15 (real flight time 01h03)
Nbr of Passengers: 21

Report:

Flight Distance: 139 Nm Landing Speed: 72.95 kt
Time Airborne: 00h53:21 Landing Touchdown: -210.00 ft/m (nice)
Flight Time (block): 01h03:40 Landing Pitch: 7.28°
Time On Ground: 00h12:12 Landing Weight: 23942 lbs
Average Speed: 157.49 kt Total Fuel Used: 653 lbs
Climb Time: 00h06:14 Climb Fuel Used: 142 lbs
Cruise Time: 00h40:11 Cruise Fuel Used: 477 lbs
Average Cruise Speed: 200.32 kt (M0.31) Cruise fuel/hour: 712 lbs (calc)
Descent Time: 00h06:56 Descent Fuel Used: 33 lbs


Passenger Opinion: Exceptional flight (100%)
-Are relieved to have landed safely after the extreme weather they experienced during landing.
-Were in a better mood because they had food.

Financial Report:

Ticket Income: +$1,634 (139 Nm)
Cargo Income: +$354 (1003 lbs)
Services Income: +$58 (1 sandwich, 0 hot food, 1 drink service rounds)
Services Cost: -$63 (70% quality)
Fuel Cost: -$555 (653 lbs 100LL)
Airport Taxes: -$29 (Small Aircraft)
Insurance Costs: -$85 (4.32% rate)
Total Real Income: $1,314
Total Income: $65,700 (real x50)
Fleet Bonus: $33,011 (1 aircraft)
Total Sim Income: $98,711 (total income+fleet bonus)

Company Reputation:

Considering that the flight was perfect the ticket price low, the service price normal and the service quality nice, passengers on this flight think that your company's reputation should be 100%
Your company reputation is now: 71.07% (+2.89 increase)


Overall Flight Result: Perfect

Pilot Bonus points: 330 points
You made a very nice landing. (+50)
Perfect Flight, no problems, and very satisfied passengers. (+150)
You landed at the scheduled airport. (+30)
Extreme weather conditions during approach, but a safe landing with satisfied passengers. (+100)

Pilot's Penalty points: -364 points
Parking brakes should only be used when that aircraft has stopped, you used it at speed of 52 kt your aircraft was damaged. (-364)

On VATSIM? or Offline?

Lovely pics.
I've been on a DC-3 a looooooonng time ago. 1992-ish in Kenya, Africa. It's how we got from one camp site to the next. Not sure what they use now. Probably still DC-3's.

I'm always making the ladies in the back serve drinks and food. Get the PAX drunk .

LOL! Yeah, it looks like I mixed up the sims for a transient moment there. I was trying to do one of those handbrake-drift turns that Nick was attempting to teach me on Assetto Corsa.

Offline, I checked vPilot at the time I did this but there were no controllers in that particular area.

Probably. They are eternal, one way or another. The Colombian police use the BT-67, and almost yearly I see a couple Canadian reg BT-67's stopping off in Guayaquil on their way to some periodic expedition to Antarctica, I think. I'll have to look into what that's all about, sounds like an interesting FSX stint! Never had the experience of flying on one, myself. Oldest thing I ever flew in was a FAE DC-6 when I was about eight or nine.

Kenya in 1992? That's interesting. How so?

Not to mention that it keeps them occupied. Pity there's not an option to get them to go read their CCOM, if they feel at a loose end. LOL!

My grandparents took our family on a safari in Kenya.
We had to get 15 vaccinations if I remember correctly. My arm was unmovable for a few days after all the shots.

So many endemic diseases? Makes me wonder if I'm under-vaccinated with just a yellow fever and AH1N1 (sounds like an attack helo variant) flu-shot where I am and where I go, lol! But no one says anything or makes any recommendations except for those two, so... meh.

I wasn't going to post the next flight in the Eastern Airlines legs (KIND - KSDF), but I'm curious about something that happened and wondered if anyone knew why this happened. First the debrief, though...

Departure from Indianapolis, real weather - real time. Belting it down...



Broke cloud tops just before reaching my cruising altitude (7,000 ft). Combination of VOR, NDB and deduced reckoning navigation. Brought me nicely to intercept ILS for 17L at KSDF, straight in approach. Broke out of cloud base 1500 ft AGL, plenty of room! Landed without a hitch.



The problem starts here. Look at my flight details. It says the passengers were annoyed that they never made their destination (Indianapolis), when the flight clearly states the destination was Louisville, where I arrived spot on time. Don't understand what I did wrong there. Funny time to be wanting a jolly, on a rainy night! LOL!

Passengers...

And the emergency; I didn't have one. Or is it saying I should have had one if I was going to excuse landing at the "wrong" destination?

Anyway, no point crying over milk that is spilled. Onward P.A.E! LOL!


Flight ID: PAE362
Flight Type: Normal
Pilot: Cygon Parrot
Company: Parrot Alliance Enterprises
Aircraft: Douglas DC3C
Flight Date: May 17 2016
Departure: 00h24 (05h24 GMT)
Arrival: 02h10 (06h10 GMT)
From: KIND - Indianapolis Intl - United States
To: KSDF - Louisville Intl-Standifor - United States
Planned flight time: 00h44 (real flight time 00h45)
Nbr of Passengers: 16

Report:

Flight Distance: 96 Nm Landing Speed: 70.95 kt
Time Airborne: 00h42: 36 Landing Touchdown: -158.46 ft/m (nice)
Flight Time (block): 00h45:29 Landing Pitch: 7.17°
Time On Ground: 00h09:44 Landing Weight: 23745 lbs
Average Speed: 135.95 kt Total Fuel Used: 521 lbs
Climb Time: 00h05:45 Climb Fuel Used: 126 lbs
Cruise Time: 00h28:36 Cruise Fuel Used: 347 lbs
Average Cruise Speed: 174.58 kt (M0.27) Cruise fuel/hour: 728 lbs (calc)
Descent Time: 00h08:15 Descent Fuel Used: 47 lbs


Passenger Opinion: Good flight (82%)
-Are angry because they didn't reach their planned destination.
-Are relieved to have landed safely after the extreme weather they experienced during landing.
-Were in a better mood because they had food.
-Were pleased by the music on ground. A very nice addition to their flying experience.

Financial Report:

Ticket Income: +$1,144 (96 Nm)
Cargo Income: +$122 (502 lbs)
Services Income: +$59 (1 sandwich, 0 hot food, 1 drink service rounds)
Services Cost: -$48 (70% quality)
Fuel Cost: -$445 (521 lbs 100LL)
Airport Taxes: -$12 (Small Aircraft)
Insurance Costs: -$80 (6.32% rate)
Total Real Income: $740
Total Income: $37,000 (real x50)
Fleet Bonus: $0 (1 aircraft ,no flights today)
Total Sim Income: $37,000 (total income+fleet bonus)

Company Reputation:

Considering that the flight was good the ticket price normal, the service price good and the service quality nice, passengers on this flight think that your company's reputation should be 82%
Your company reputation is now: 72.07% (+0.99 increase)

Overall Flight Result: Very poor

Pilot Bonus points: 50 points
You made a very nice landing. (+50)

Pilot's Penalty points: -350 points
You didn't land at the scheduled airport KIND and you didn't declare an emergency. (-350)

Said you made the destination KIND-Indy...

Hmm. Must have done one or the other, then. So this...


...is where you really arrive, independent of where you set the destination. OK, understood. Many thanks, guys!

PS: It says "Normal", so it's what Wizard said.

Interesting, I looked at that right after I posted. Not sure what's going on. Try another flight, see if the same thing happens. If so, uninstall and reinstall FSPax. I've never seen this before.

But I think you are right; I must have put Indianapolis in as the destination. In any case, I have the Nashville leg coming up next time I have a session. I'll try it out then.

Yeah, it was OK this time. No doubt about it; I put the wrong destination in last time, !

Louisville to Nashville, real weather.





QNH rose from 30.03" Hg to 30.08" Hg during the route, right across a high pressure system. Didn't expect so much turbulence and cloudy cruddy stuff with that, but then weather's a fickle thing...



Bad Moon Rising...



RESULTS;

Flight ID: PAE902
Flight Type: Normal
Pilot: Cygon Parrot
Company: Parrot Alliance Enterprises
Aircraft: Douglas DC3C
Flight Date: May 21 2016
Departure: 20h36 (00h36 GMT)
Arrival: 20h31 (01h32 GMT)
From: KSDF - Louisville Intl-Standifor - United States
To: KBNA - Nashville Intl - United States
Planned flight time: 00h49 (real flight time 00h55)
Nbr of Passengers: 16

Report:

Flight Distance: 131 Nm Landing Speed: 74.95 kt
Time Airborne: 00h45:45 Landing Touchdown: -62.3 ft/m (kiss)
Flight Time (block): 00h55:55 Landing Pitch: 7.56°
Time On Ground: 00h11:42 Landing Weight: 24292 lbs
Average Speed: 172.82 kt Total Fuel Used: 624 lbs
Climb Time: 00h05:52 Climb Fuel Used: 129 lbs
Cruise Time: 00h34:35 Cruise Fuel Used: 464 lbs
Average Cruise Speed: 202.13 kt (M0.31) Cruise fuel/hour: 805 lbs (calc)
Descent Time: 00h05:18 Descent Fuel Used: 30 lbs


Passenger Opinion: Exceptional flight (100%)
-Are relieved to have landed safely after the extreme weather they experienced during landing.
-Were pleased by the music on ground. A very nice addition to their flying experience.

Financial Report:

Ticket Income: +$1,562 (131 Nm)
Cargo Income: +$498 (1499 lbs)
Services Income: +$33 (0 sandwich, 0 hot food, 1 drink service rounds)
Services Cost: -$27 (70% quality)
Fuel Cost: -$530 (624 lbs 100LL)
Airport Taxes: -$35 (Small Aircraft)
Insurance Costs: -$128 (6.22% rate)
Total Real Income: $1,373
Total Income: $68,650 (real x50)
Fleet Bonus: $34,493 (1 aircraft)
Total Sim Income: $103,143 (total income+fleet bonus)

Company Reputation:

Considering that the flight was perfect the ticket price normal, the service price good and the service quality nice, passengers on this flight think that your company's reputation should be 100%
Your company reputation is now: 74.61% (+2.54 increase)


Overall Flight Result: Perfect

Pilot Bonus points: 330 points
You made a very smooth landing. (+50)
Perfect Flight, no problems, and very satisfied passengers. (+150)
You landed at the scheduled airport. (+30)
Extreme weather conditions during approach, but a safe landing with satisfied passengers. (+100)


So yeah, to sum it all up, it was not FsPax fault last time. Didn't expect it was...

Always eventful, this sim.

I went to do the next leg last night KBNA - KMSL. After loading the passengers, I initiated the procedure of starting of the engines. Halfway through the No.1 start up, the sim suddenly presented me with an outside view of my DC-3 with what looked like a green Oshkosh Striker fire truck bumped into it. Along the top, a message "OBJECT COLLISION".

What??!! Oh no!

I figured this meant the end of my fifty flight without crashes campaign. But to my relief, FsPax does not seem to count animated ground objects coming into contact with you (least by their own motivation) as a "crash", which is a good thing. LOL! The campaign is still intact and I only had a $214 USD repair bill on the maintenance tab.

So I went and played a bit on the 2.0 server instead.

Everyone must know (except me) that it might be a good idea to disable the airport ground traffic if you're going to do full taxi from ramp to RWY threshold. They do not respect regulations and don't give way to aircraft.

Been a while since I touched this, so I'll report this flight here. Went all "geeky" this time, LOL!

Downloaded the DC-3 / C-47 Flight Manual from Avialogs. Mainly interested in the Normal and Emergency checklists, and the Performance data. Also, as I am now continuing my Eastern flights in an area for which I have some proper charts, I dragged out my old ARC-1 Flight Computer (which I have not used for years, now), and plotted and planned the route as should be. Real weather, of course, but as the route was short and the winds aloft negligible, I did not bother with the drift calculation.

None the less, planning pays. Take a look at the result in planned time versus real time. Also, I pulled all the stops (mixture leaning, prop pitch, 75% cruise climb, ectetera) for saving fuel and thus saved 70 lbs of AVGAS on enroute fuel vs. planned enroute fuel.

So, finished that KBNA-KMSL leg, at last. Fun flight, by the book! There will be something completely different, next time...









Flight ID: PAE445
Flight Type: Normal
Pilot: Cygon Parrot
Company: Parrot Alliance Enterprises
Aircraft: Douglas DC3C
Flight Date: June 11 2016
Departure: 00h55 (05h55 GMT)
Arrival: 01h42 (06h42 GMT)
From: KBNA - Nashville Intl - United States
To: KMSL - Northwest Alabama Regl - United States
Planned flight time: 00h55 (real flight time 00h54)
Nbr of Passengers: 23

Report:

Flight Distance: 95 Nm Landing Speed: 70.95 kt
Time Airborne: 00h41:49 Landing Touchdown: -149.2 ft/m (kiss)
Flight Time (block): 00h54:38 Landing Pitch: 9.92°
Time On Ground: 00h16:45 Landing Weight: 25624 lbs
Average Speed: 136.66 kt Total Fuel Used: 524 lbs


Passenger Opinion: Exceptional flight (100%)
-Are pleased to have landed right on schedule.
-Are relieved to have landed safely after the extreme weather they experienced during landing.
-Were in a better mood because they had food.

Financial Report:

Ticket Income: +$1,177 (95 Nm)
Cargo Income: +$360 (1499 lbs)
Services Income: +$80 (1 sandwich, 0 hot food, 1 drink service rounds)
Services Cost: -$61 (55% quality)
Fuel Cost: -$485 (524 lbs 100LL)
Airport Taxes: -$27 (Small Aircraft)
Insurance Costs: -$94 (6.12% rate)
Total Real Income: $950
Total Income: $47,500 (real x50)
Fleet Bonus: $23,866 (1 aircraft)
Total Sim Income: $71,366 (total income+fleet bonus)

Company Reputation:

Considering that the flight was perfect the ticket price low, the service price good and the service quality good, passengers on this flight think that your company's reputation should be 100%
Your company reputation is now: 76.92% (+2.31 increase)


Overall Flight Result: Perfect

Pilot Bonus points: 430 points
You made a very smooth landing. (+50)
Perfect Flight, no problems, and very satisfied passengers. (+150)
You landed at the scheduled airport. (+30)
Precise arrival time at destination.(00h00:22 difference) (+100)
Extreme weather conditions during approach, but a safe landing with satisfied passengers. (+100)

Ever had one of those "Airplane!" moments?



The Just Flight DC-6 cockpit beats it...



A classic aircraft I have actually had an IRL flight on, many years ago, though it was Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) and not Pan Am. I have another interesting historical flight lined up for this one, and it is already "bought" for my FsPax airline.

Left this alone for a while. Some time ago, back in June (it seems), I migrated all my Steam products to a second SSD. Most things went across without a hitch, except FSX. Once I (finally) met with success, I found that I had lost my FS-Passengers career, and had to start all over again. I set up the same conditions (50 flight-no crashes mode) and company, and started again with all the DC-3 Eastern Airlines flights I had already done. I am all caught up now, and got to the destination I desired, KMIA, Florida.



Now, I bid the DC-3 a fond farewell, and step back just a little further in time for the next segment of my FSX flight adventures with FsPax. BTW, I doubt this is going to be the last time I fly Eastern routes, as there is P3D on the horizon and a 737-800 add on to get, when shared cockpit comes out for it. This is exactly the same type the new, born again Eastern operates at present.



But that's all to come, so back to FSX, and first, the story so far with the new career, in just two quick screen shots...





Plus a sneak preview of what is to come, floating around at Miami. 10 forum bucks for the first to state what this is and another 10 if you can guess where I'm headed as the final destination with it, LOL! Shouldn't be too hard...

You're ten bucks richer on the site!

Last month I had the PanAm experience (or what's left of a once great airline as a flight academy in Miami), including staying at the Intercontinental Hotel. Here's some shots...







Along with one of the the associated *cough* "simpits"...



...and the station which Tracer in a good THE mood would totally love. It is from here that you set the failures crews under recurrent training are going to get. You can make it easy, or you can make it into more of a "fright stimulator" than a flight simulator for them! Like the idea?



So, where am I going? Historic destination, so I won't cheat and say it isn't if it is. Clue, it also has to do with another airline that Trippe formed a joint venture with. One shot at it!

Continuing my Classic flight ordeal on FSX: The PanAm flying boat Clipper routes!

Add ons I had to obtain...

FSX Pan American Sikorsky S42

FSX Caribbean Seaplane Tours Florida Scenery

FSX Caribbean Seaplane Tours Scenery Pack

They were all freebies. I couldn't find any payware add ons for the specifics of what I had in mind. That said, however, they were very good freebies. The S-42 is a surprisingly good model, with a very passable VC, a nice interior, and sets a reasonably convincing old fashioned atmosphere as the creator spent some time ensuring that the instruments were as "Early Golden Age of Aviation" style as possible. I was pleased. The scenery was also pretty good, even though I did have to resort to using ADE to actually create the sea plane bases as ports for departure and arrival, so they could be selected on the start up screen.

The flights were to be...

Leg 1: Miami, Florida to Antilla, Cuba

Leg 2: Antilla to Kingston, Jamaica

Leg 3: Kingston to Panama City, Panama

Checking out the scenery just after installing it with a quick off the record Meteor recon around the northern Caribbean.



Setting off from Miami to Antilla, Cuba...





...getting some bad weather (this proved to be a common factor during all three flights)...



...and arriving for my first flying boat landing in the Stygian gloom at Antilla. Landing on an unlit bay was harrowing, and I was worried about trashing my 50 flight career goal at this point...



Here's the log...

<div class="spoilwrapper" style="margin:5px 0;font-weight:normal;padding:4px 10px;background-color:#fff;border:1px solid #dbdbdb;border-radius:4px;color:#333333;"><div class="spoiltitle" style="margin:0;padding:0;width:100%;"><span class="spoilbtn" style="margin:2px 5px;text-transform:uppercase;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;display:block;cursor:pointer;color:#333;" data-show="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}" data-hide="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_HIDE}">{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}</span></div><div class="spoilcontent" style="color:#333333;display:none;padding:5px;border-top:1px solid #ccc;">Flight ID: PAE724
Flight Type: Normal
Pilot: Cygon Parrot
Company: Parrot Alliance Enterprises
Aircraft: Sikorsky S-42 NC-822M
Flight Date: October 21 2016
Departure: 18h20 (22h20 GMT)
Arrival: 20h22 (01h22 GMT)
From: X44 - Miami - United States
To: MUAN
Planned flight time: 02h34 (real flight time 03h01)
Nbr of Passengers: 27

Report:

Flight Distance: 383 Nm Landing Speed: 63.96 kt
Time Airborne: 02h48:42 Landing Touchdown: -144.6 ft/m (kiss)
Flight Time (block): 03h01:58 Landing Pitch: 3.67°
Time On Ground: 00h13:29 Landing Weight: 34777 lbs
Average Speed: 136.50 kt Total Fuel Used: 2364 lbs
Climb Time: 00h12:48 Climb Fuel Used: 223 lbs
Cruise Time: 02h24:13 Cruise Fuel Used: 2046 lbs
Average Cruise Speed: 154.48 kt (M0.23) Cruise fuel/hour: 851 lbs (calc)
Descent Time: 00h11:41 Descent Fuel Used: 95 lbs


Passenger Opinion: Very good flight, professionally done (90%)
-Are angry because they arrived too late.
-Were in a better mood because they had food.
-Were pleased by the music on ground. A very nice addition to their flying experience.

Financial Report:

Ticket Income: +$13,443 (383 Nm)
Cargo Income: +$3,586 (3703 lbs)
Services Income: +$700 (1 sandwich, 1 hot food, 3 drink service rounds)
Services Cost: -$509 (41% quality)
Fuel Cost: -$1,675 (2364 lbs 100LL)
Airport Taxes: -$33 (Small Aircraft)
Insurance Costs: -$1,222 (7.18% rate)
Total Real Income: $14,290
Total Income: $714,500 (real x50)
Fleet Bonus: $488,611 (4 aircraft)
Total Sim Income: $1,203,111 (total income+fleet bonus)

Company Reputation:

Considering that the flight was very good the ticket price good, the service price normal and the service quality good, passengers on this flight think that your company's reputation should be 90%
Your company reputation is now: 88.14% (+0.19 increase)


Overall Flight Result: Good

Pilot Bonus points: 80 points
You made a very smooth landing. (+50)
You landed at the scheduled airport. (+30)

Pilot's Penalty points: -200 points
You arrived too late at your destination.(-00h26:59 difference). (-200)</div></div>

Yeah, yeah, LOL! Points deducted for being late. FsPax simulates intense, time conscious, 21st Century Jet-Set, frequent flyer program, critical rascals, not the flying novelty conscious, glad-to-have-made-it to the intended destination air travelers of the '30s. OK, I did goof a bit. As I didn't have any data on the aircraft on the first flight, I found the cruising speed to be 10 knots slower than I had planned for, plus there was a significant wind that slowly eroded the ETA throughout the flight. As I wasn't using any modern navigation aids whatsoever, I didn't actually realize I was getting that far behind schedule until I was 14 minutes late reaching the northern Cuban coast, nearly an hour and a quarter after take off, with another hour and a half to go.

Anyway, all is well that ends well. Onto the next leg. Kingston, Jamaica!

There's the flying boat base I made in ADE for Antilla. It'll do, lol!



Leaving Cuba, south bound...



And at Kingston, arriving in a dreadful storm...



Tracer and Nick joined me in vPilot for the conclusion of this particular flight to watch my triumphant arrival. It was a laugh! Here's the log...

<div class="spoilwrapper" style="margin:5px 0;font-weight:normal;padding:4px 10px;background-color:#fff;border:1px solid #dbdbdb;border-radius:4px;color:#333333;"><div class="spoiltitle" style="margin:0;padding:0;width:100%;"><span class="spoilbtn" style="margin:2px 5px;text-transform:uppercase;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;display:block;cursor:pointer;color:#333;" data-show="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}" data-hide="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_HIDE}">{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}</span></div><div class="spoilcontent" style="color:#333333;display:none;padding:5px;border-top:1px solid #ccc;">Flight ID: PAE415
Flight Type: Normal
Pilot: Cygon Parrot
Company: Parrot Alliance Enterprises
Aircraft: Sikorsky S-42 NC-822M
Flight Date: October 22 2016
Departure: 16h28 (21h28 GMT)
Arrival: 18h12 (23h12 GMT)
From: MUAN
To: MKPR
Planned flight time: 01h34 (real flight time 01h44)
Nbr of Passengers: 31

Report:

Flight Distance: 183 Nm Landing Speed: 69.95 kt
Time Airborne: 01h31:17 Landing Touchdown: -173.85 ft/m (nice)
Flight Time (block): 01h44:01 Landing Pitch: 0.73°
Time On Ground: 00h14:15 Landing Weight: 36129 lbs
Average Speed: 120.78 kt Total Fuel Used: 1204 lbs
Climb Time: 00h13:31 Climb Fuel Used: 226 lbs
Cruise Time: 01h13:20 Cruise Fuel Used: 957 lbs
Average Cruise Speed: 141.64 kt (M0.21) Cruise fuel/hour: 783 lbs (calc)
Descent Time: 00h04:26 Descent Fuel Used: 20 lbs


Passenger Opinion: Exceptional flight (100%)
-Were in a better mood because they had food.
-Were pleased by the music on ground. A very nice addition to their flying experience.

Financial Report:

Ticket Income: +$6,545 (183 Nm)
Cargo Income: +$3,521 (7599 lbs)
Services Income: +$148 (1 sandwich, 0 hot food, 1 drink service rounds)
Services Cost: -$216 (80% quality)
Fuel Cost: -$929 (1204 lbs 100LL)
Airport Taxes: -$43 (Small Aircraft)
Insurance Costs: -$712 (7.08% rate)
Total Real Income: $8,314
Total Income: $415,700 (real x50)
Fleet Bonus: $380,837 (4 aircraft)
Total Sim Income: $796,537 (total income+fleet bonus)

Company Reputation:

Considering that the flight was perfect the ticket price good, the service price normal and the service quality perfect, passengers on this flight think that your company's reputation should be 100%
Your company reputation is now: 89.21% (+1.08 increase)


Overall Flight Result: Perfect

Pilot Bonus points: 230 points
You made a very nice landing. (+50)
Perfect Flight, no problems, and very satisfied passengers. (+150)
You landed at the scheduled airport. (+30)</div></div>

So, last leg to Panama. This was an insanely long flight across a lot of water, with most of it out of range of any NDB, and therefore a long period of uncertainty of position. I was very careful with my planning before the flight. It paid off, in the end...

Starting up at Kingston...



And reaching the coast of Panama. I was amazed, actually. After three and a half hours of flying without a single nav-aid or reference, I was right where I was supposed to be. Apparently, I did the wind drift calculation properly, lol!

See the small cove and the large bay to the east in this shot?



See it here, to the right of the pencil line? How about that!



Unfortunately, it was a very long flight and I had things to do at home, so I resorted to using time acceleration during parts of the crossing to shorten the four hour ETE to two and a half hours of real time. This cost me some FsPax points. No matter, though.

Here's the log...

<div class="spoilwrapper" style="margin:5px 0;font-weight:normal;padding:4px 10px;background-color:#fff;border:1px solid #dbdbdb;border-radius:4px;color:#333333;"><div class="spoiltitle" style="margin:0;padding:0;width:100%;"><span class="spoilbtn" style="margin:2px 5px;text-transform:uppercase;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;display:block;cursor:pointer;color:#333;" data-show="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}" data-hide="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_HIDE}">{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}</span></div><div class="spoilcontent" style="color:#333333;display:none;padding:5px;border-top:1px solid #ccc;">Flight ID: PAE957
Flight Type: Normal
Pilot: Cygon Parrot
Company: Parrot Alliance Enterprises
Aircraft: Sikorsky S-42 NC-822M
Flight Date: October 23 2016
Departure: 12h45 (17h45 GMT)
Arrival: 16h50 (21h50 GMT)
From: MKPR
To: MPSP
Planned flight time: 04h20 (real flight time 04h04)
Nbr of Passengers: 31

Report:

Flight Distance: 563 Nm Landing Speed: 74.95 kt
Time Airborne: 03h58:56 Landing Touchdown: -85.4 ft/m (kiss)
Flight Time (block): 04h04:54 Landing Pitch: -0.80°
Time On Ground: 00h08:07 Landing Weight: 32363 lbs
Average Speed: 141.38 kt Total Fuel Used: 3090 lbs
Climb Time: 00h06:19 Climb Fuel Used: 118 lbs
Cruise Time: 03h36:36 Cruise Fuel Used: 2822 lbs
Average Cruise Speed: 147.44 kt (M0.22) Cruise fuel/hour: 781 lbs (calc)
Descent Time: 00h16:01 Descent Fuel Used: 148 lbs


Passenger Opinion: Exceptional flight (100%)
-Are relieved to have landed safely after the extreme weather they experienced during landing.
-Were in a better mood because they had food.
-Were pleased by the music on ground. A very nice addition to their flying experience.

Financial Report:

Ticket Income: +$20,054 (563 Nm)
Cargo Income: +$3,776 (2658 lbs)
Services Income: +$712 (0 sandwich, 2 hot food, 2 drink service rounds)
Services Cost: -$954 (80% quality)
Fuel Cost: -$2,290 (3090 lbs 100LL)
Airport Taxes: -$35 (Small Aircraft)
Insurance Costs: -$1,663 (6.98% rate)
Total Real Income: $19,600
Total Income: $980,000 (real x50)
Fleet Bonus: $893,354 (4 aircraft)
Total Sim Income: $1,873,354 (total income+fleet bonus)

Company Reputation:

Considering that the flight was perfect the ticket price good, the service price normal and the service quality perfect, passengers on this flight think that your company's reputation should be 100%
Your company reputation is now: 90.19% (+0.98 increase)


Overall Flight Result: Perfect

Pilot Bonus points: 231 points (-30% because you used time acceleration)
You made a very smooth landing. (+50)
Perfect Flight, no problems, and very satisfied passengers. (+150)
You landed at the scheduled airport. (+30)
Extreme weather conditions during approach, but a safe landing with satisfied passengers. (+100)</div></div>

And here's the flight map so far...



And a video of the arrival at Panama . I like the way the step skipping across waves on a choppy surface is simulated on the landing, it is a nice detail!

These were really fun flights. So, now it is good bye to the old Sikorsky Clipper and onto the next adventure in another classic aircraft and airline. They are probably going to get progressively more dangerous, as of now, if Active Next Sky has anything to do with it. LOL!

Introduction to a humongous post, with apologies to all!

So, continuing the study of airlines of the old age of pioneers, I take another brief step backwards in time. The previous aircraft, the S-42 flying boat, was a modern, luxurious work of supreme engineering, fitted with the state of the art equipment. Its heyday was in the mid ‘30s, developed specifically for what was by that time a well established PanAm. However, things were not always so secure, neither operationally or commercially. Let’s go back in time another decade…

It will come as a bit of a surprise to most that the potential of an expanding airline was recognized earlier – in the Americas, at any rate – on the southern continent, quite some time before it was realized on the northern continent. This is a fact; I am not holding a brief for backward old South America just on the grounds that I live there. They were ahead of the game, and PanAm was born from the fear of a particular South American air carrier, of which there will be more, later. For the moment, though, they will remain the “bad guys” of this story.

Recognizing the airline “threat” from South America, and this region being one of the target markets of Juan Trippe since the inception of PanAm, he set about accomplishing his ambition of establishing routes on the southern continent. Foremost in the considerations was the “protection” of the US interests in the then still new Panama Canal Zone, what was fast becoming a financial and economic boom town in the wake of the revolution that separated Nueva Granada (now Panama) from Colombia. Now, Juan Trippe was never the equal in flamboyance of his later counterpart, Howard Hughes, but he was certainly vastly Hughes’ superior when it came to the risky game of give and take in negotiations.

There was a huge obstacle in Trippe’s way, regarding his desire to encroach upon the transportation of passengers, freight, and mail via air in South America. This was the W.R. Grace Shipping Company, which was an originally Irish founded company in Peru, and that practically held a market monopoly on transportation down the west coast of the continent, albeit with ships. To cut a long story short, Trippe managed to negotiate with them, prevail against their reluctance, and finally bring to fruition the sharing of transportation rights with this already established company.

The result was Panagra. This was short for Pan American Grace Airways, to credit the agreement between the companies. It was practically a first of its kind, and allowed PanAm to transport passengers to the Canal Zone, and from there, in a fleet of mixed aircraft operated by Panagra, fly routes across all of South America.

One of their staple aircraft was the new Ford Trimotor, which has quite a story itself. For an aircraft produced as an experiment by the Ford Motor Company, and of which just less than 200 were built, its effect on propelling the hap hazard business of air travel into a commercially viable proposition was profound and out of all proportion. It is truly an aircraft that deserves recognition for its place in aviation history, which is why I chose it for the next series of flights.

Here are the Panagra routes I focused on…



Here is the donation-ware model of the Ford Trimotor that I found. It is a great exterior and interior model. There are a couple of faults with the engine controls (ie; there appears to be crossed magneto and mixture controls for engines 1 and 3). However, it is manageable and flies very nicely, with the expected low performance. Capable of carrying a maximum of 15 passengers, I had to customize an FsPax model to realistically reflect the aircraft’s load. Here’s a video of a real, preserved Trimotor in action…

<a href="" class="bbvideo" data-bbvideo="560,315" target="_blank">

And I found the Panagra skin for it here .

Now. With no more history waffle, on to the flights. Having no radio navigation aids or autopilot, the flights were going to be as basic pilotage as they get. My VFR map of the Panama / Northern Colombia area was put to good use. I also simulated the lack of good, modern weather forecasting by setting up Active Sky Next real weather, but omitting reading the briefing (except to peek at the destination QNH, as the correct setting for this used to be obtained, if at all, by a telegraph message before the flight, back then). And off I went, with almost no performance information on the aircraft. This would cause some first flight blues moments, which reflected on the score.

First flight Panama City (Balboa, now Howard AFB) to Turbo, Colombia (now Gonzalo Mejía airport). Here are the results and some screenies…

<div class="spoilwrapper" style="margin:5px 0;font-weight:normal;padding:4px 10px;background-color:#fff;border:1px solid #dbdbdb;border-radius:4px;color:#333333;"><div class="spoiltitle" style="margin:0;padding:0;width:100%;"><span class="spoilbtn" style="margin:2px 5px;text-transform:uppercase;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;display:block;cursor:pointer;color:#333;" data-show="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}" data-hide="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_HIDE}">{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}</span></div><div class="spoilcontent" style="color:#333333;display:none;padding:5px;border-top:1px solid #ccc;">Flight ID: PAE887
Flight Type: Normal
Pilot: Cygon Parrot
Company: Parrot Alliance Enterprises
Aircraft: CR-1 Software.Ltd "Panagra"
Flight Date: October 28 2016
Departure: 13h07 (18h08 GMT)
Arrival: 15h00 (20h01 GMT)
From: MPHO - Howard AFB - Panama
To: SKTU - Gonzalo Mejia - Colombia
Planned flight time: 01h49 (real flight time 01h53)
Nbr of Passengers: 13

Report:

Flight Distance: 176 Nm Landing Speed: 58.96 kt
Time Airborne: 01h50:57 Landing Touchdown: -223.08 ft/m (nice)
Flight Time (block): 01h53:04 Landing Pitch: 5.10°
Time On Ground: 00h03:04 Landing Weight: 9259 lbs
Average Speed: 95.42 kt Total Fuel Used: 681 lbs
Climb Time: 00h12:11 Climb Fuel Used: 87 lbs
Cruise Time: 01h34:50 Cruise Fuel Used: 580 lbs
Average Cruise Speed: 105.27 kt (M0.16) Cruise fuel/hour: 367 lbs (calc)
Descent Time: 00h03:56 Descent Fuel Used: 14 lbs


Passenger Opinion: Exceptional flight (100%)
-Are pleased to have landed right on schedule.
-Are relieved to have landed safely after the extreme weather they experienced during landing.
-Were irritated by the excess G-forces. (+1.98 0.09).

Financial Report:

Ticket Income: +$2,550 (176 Nm)
Cargo Income: +$128 (286 lbs)
Services Income: +$0 (0 sandwich, 0 hot food, 0 drink service rounds)
Services Cost: -$0 (79% quality)
Fuel Cost: -$535 (681 lbs 100LL)
Airport Taxes: -$13 (Small Aircraft)
Insurance Costs: -$184 (6.88% rate)
Total Real Income: $1,946
Total Income: $97,300 (real x50)
Fleet Bonus: $0 (2 aircraft ,no flights today)
Total Sim Income: $97,300 (total income+fleet bonus)

Company Reputation:

Considering that the flight was perfect, the tickets price low, passengers on this flight think that your company's reputation should be 100%
Your company reputation is now: 91.09% (+0.89 increase)


Overall Flight Result: Very poor

Pilot Bonus points: 430 points
You made a very nice landing. (+50)
Perfect Flight, no problems, and very satisfied passengers. (+150)
You landed at the scheduled airport. (+30)
Precise arrival time at destination.(-00h03:05 difference) (+100)
Extreme weather conditions during approach, but a safe landing with satisfied passengers. (+100)

Pilot's Penalty points: -900 points
Flight regulations require that you have sufficient fuel reserves upon landing (45 mn); you only had reserves for 00h24 of flight. (-300)
Exceeding maximum speed of this aircraft is very dangerous. (-600)</div></div>

The Panama Canal...


Abeam Isla Contadora and San Miguel Island...


Trying to avoid bad weather and still keep track of where I was. The turbulence became severe over the Darien Mountains of Panama, and accounted for the high G loads the passengers experienced, as well as the brief foray beyond maximum design speed in a strong updraft!


Not to mention the nightmare of any visual pilot; scud running with solid centered clouds!


Airfield in sight, mercy!


Next, Turbo to Cartagena…
<div class="spoilwrapper" style="margin:5px 0;font-weight:normal;padding:4px 10px;background-color:#fff;border:1px solid #dbdbdb;border-radius:4px;color:#333333;"><div class="spoiltitle" style="margin:0;padding:0;width:100%;"><span class="spoilbtn" style="margin:2px 5px;text-transform:uppercase;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;display:block;cursor:pointer;color:#333;" data-show="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}" data-hide="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_HIDE}">{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}</span></div><div class="spoilcontent" style="color:#333333;display:none;padding:5px;border-top:1px solid #ccc;">Flight ID: PAE369
Flight Type: Normal
Pilot: Cygon Parrot
Company: Parrot Alliance Enterprises
Aircraft: CR-1 Software.Ltd "Panagra"
Flight Date: October 29 2016
Departure: 11h32 (16h32 GMT)
Arrival: 13h18 (18h19 GMT)
From: SKTU - Gonzalo Mejia - Colombia
To: SKCG - Rafael Nunez - Colombia
Planned flight time: 01h44 (real flight time 01h46)
Nbr of Passengers: 11

Report:

Flight Distance: 160 Nm Landing Speed: 66.95 kt
Time Airborne: 01h43:36 Landing Touchdown: -96.2 ft/m (kiss)
Flight Time (block): 01h46:40 Landing Pitch: 4.40°
Time On Ground: 00h05:44 Landing Weight: 9294 lbs
Average Speed: 93.00 kt Total Fuel Used: 613 lbs
Climb Time: 00h13:55 Climb Fuel Used: 96 lbs
Cruise Time: 01h25:45 Cruise Fuel Used: 502 lbs
Average Cruise Speed: 101.91 kt (M0.15) Cruise fuel/hour: 351 lbs (calc)
Descent Time: 00h03:56 Descent Fuel Used: 14 lbs


Passenger Opinion: Exceptional flight (100%)
-Are pleased to have landed right on schedule.
-Are relieved to have landed safely after the extreme weather they experienced during landing.
-Were irritated by the excess G-forces. (+2.00 0.07).

Financial Report:

Ticket Income: +$2,291 (160 Nm)
Cargo Income: +$64 (158 lbs)
Services Income: +$0 (0 sandwich, 0 hot food, 0 drink service rounds)
Services Cost: -$0 (79% quality)
Fuel Cost: -$449 (613 lbs 100LL)
Airport Taxes: -$13 (Small Aircraft)
Insurance Costs: -$159 (6.78% rate)
Total Real Income: $1,734
Total Income: $86,700 (real x50)
Fleet Bonus: $164,869 (2 aircraft)
Total Sim Income: $251,569 (total income+fleet bonus)

Company Reputation:

Considering that the flight was perfect, the tickets price good, passengers on this flight think that your company's reputation should be 100%
Your company reputation is now: 91.90% (+0.81 increase)


Overall Flight Result: Perfect

Pilot Bonus points: 430 points
You made a very smooth landing. (+50)
Perfect Flight, no problems, and very satisfied passengers. (+150)
You landed at the scheduled airport. (+30)
Precise arrival time at destination.(-00h01:41 difference) (+100)
Extreme weather conditions during approach, but a safe landing with satisfied passengers. (+100)</div></div>

More bad weather, more excess G loads in turbulence, however this time being more careful not to exceed design speed.


And finally, Cartagena to Barranquilla (Ernesto Cortissoz airport – remember the name, it will come up again).

<div class="spoilwrapper" style="margin:5px 0;font-weight:normal;padding:4px 10px;background-color:#fff;border:1px solid #dbdbdb;border-radius:4px;color:#333333;"><div class="spoiltitle" style="margin:0;padding:0;width:100%;"><span class="spoilbtn" style="margin:2px 5px;text-transform:uppercase;font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;display:block;cursor:pointer;color:#333;" data-show="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}" data-hide="{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_HIDE}">{L_ABBC3_SPOILER_SHOW}</span></div><div class="spoilcontent" style="color:#333333;display:none;padding:5px;border-top:1px solid #ccc;">Flight ID: PAE376
Flight Type: Normal
Pilot: Cygon Parrot
Company: Parrot Alliance Enterprises
Aircraft: CR-1 Software.Ltd "Panagra"
Flight Date: October 29 2016
Departure: 17h00 (22h01 GMT)
Arrival: 18h45 (22h46 GMT)
From: SKCG - Rafael Nunez - Colombia
To: SKBQ - Ernesto Cortissoz - Colombia
Planned flight time: 00h39 (real flight time 00h45)
Nbr of Passengers: 13

Report:

Flight Distance: 50 Nm Landing Speed: 64.96 kt
Time Airborne: 00h37:54 Landing Touchdown: -53.8 ft/m (kiss)
Flight Time (block): 00h45:41 Landing Pitch: 7.20°
Time On Ground: 00h08:18 Landing Weight: 9581 lbs
Average Speed: 80.54 kt Total Fuel Used: 226 lbs


Passenger Opinion: Exceptional flight (100%)
-Are relieved to have landed safely after the extreme weather they experienced during landing.
-Were irritated by the excess G-forces. (+1.97 0.01).

Financial Report:

Ticket Income: +$735 (50 Nm)
Cargo Income: +$18 (143 lbs)
Services Income: +$0 (0 sandwich, 0 hot food, 0 drink service rounds)
Services Cost: -$0 (79% quality)
Fuel Cost: -$176 (226 lbs 100LL)
Airport Taxes: -$9 (Small Aircraft)
Insurance Costs: -$50 (6.68% rate)
Total Real Income: $518
Total Income: $25,900 (real x50)
Fleet Bonus: $51,841 (2 aircraft)
Total Sim Income: $77,741 (total income+fleet bonus)

Company Reputation:

Considering that the flight was perfect, the tickets price low, passengers on this flight think that your company's reputation should be 100%
Your company reputation is now: 92.63% (+0.74 increase)


Overall Flight Result: Perfect

Pilot Bonus points: 330 points
You made a very smooth landing. (+50)
Perfect Flight, no problems, and very satisfied passengers. (+150)
You landed at the scheduled airport. (+30)
Extreme weather conditions during approach, but a safe landing with satisfied passengers. (+100)</div></div>



Epilogue to this humungous post, lol!

This has been a long post because it is an area of aviation history that is of huge interest to me, and I enjoy sharing it. Sorry about that. If you got this far, I’ll post a link to some absolutely enchanting old pictures I located on line, taken by Gustavo Vidal, who was basically the CEO of Panagra. They are all worth a brief browse, but I’ll highlight a few of them.

Pic 25 . Old fashioned airline security, with a Trimotor in the hangar.

Pic 35 . The VIP lounge, lol!

Pic 44 . Arturo Merino Benitez (second from right). Founder of the Chilean Air Force and LAN airlines.

Pic 46 . Guayaquil airport. Wow, how that has changed!

Pic 57 . Refueling a Trimotor. They must have had many fuel contamination issues, lol!

Pic 59 . Igor Sikorsky, the man credited with the invention of the practical helicopter, here quite a while before that momentous occasion, when he was still designing flying boats and sea planes for PanAm.

Pic 66 . The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII who abdicated the British throne on the Simpson issue), here on a tour of South America, flying with Panagra.

Pic 68 . Ecuadorian president Velasco Ibarra, a fervent supporter of aviation and the man who uttered the following rather astonishing quotation “Aviation is the most sublime of the human species. It is man in search of adventure, the being that disconnects from the vulgarity of earth to commune with the purity of the sky, who then descends to purify earth, after communion with infinity”. He probably wouldn’t get away with it now, with all that PC and stuff, lol!

Pic 94 . Live cargo loading procedure!

Pic 98 . The aircraft on the right is a C-46 that I actually remember personally! It was sitting in disuse at the southern end of old Quito airport when I first came to Ecuador in 1974. It sat there, slowly deteriorating, until it was finally dismantled and scrapped around about 1981. Fascinating!