Post by Travis on Dec 10, 2012 11:37:46 GMT -5
I set out yesterday to make a test flight to check several things. I'll spoil things up front by noting that it was a very good flight - eventful, but good. 
First, I wanted to test an external weather engine's ability to both present upper level winds that were semi-close to the pre-flight predicted winds plus its ability to replicate really poor LIFR conditions. Also I wanted to test the FSCaptain 1.4.3 abilities to monitor the ignition state and the window heat control systems. Finally I wanted to make this flight in Asia to test a new (to me) scenery texture upgrade. Alas, testing LIFR and scenery textures together wasn't an ideal test of the textures... but a good test given the conditions.
I scanned METARs to find a really lousy approach anywhere in Asia and for the time given, UAAA stood out as a pretty lousy landing option - freezing fog and smoke with RVRs of 50 meters. (Attached is a screenshot showing the METAR in the FCDU versus my EFB decoded METAR so you can get an idea of the poor visibility and the less-than-secure-footing surface conditions. Below that is the first glimpse of the landing runway at 85AGL.)
I didn't want to spend a lot of time in air, so I found a reasonable nearby field (UAFM) which allowed me a less-than-straight-in route so I could also test FSCaptain 1.4.3's upgraded "Planned vs Direct ETA timings."
To make my approach, I wanted a reliable autoland-capable aircraft that would have a good 1.4.3-enhanced interface. No surprise that my new go-to wonder - the QW Avro - stood out. I used the FSCaptain Administrator (equipped with a new color icon for a nice change ) to plan out my dispatch and my weather-engine-du-jour supplied me with a favorable upper-winds report. Armed with that, I finished filling out my dispatch forms and was given clearance to take out Castle Air and Cargo Flight 4961.
I loaded and completed pushback, then went through a simulated de-icing procedure that my enhanced dispatch had allotted me time for (this isn't yet part of FSCaptain... I'm still working out procedural items). After a then-routine takeoff and departure (which would not have been possible if the de-icing procedures had not been followed, hint hint), I settled into a routine cruise, while Heidi handed out snackies to the passengers. Checking my timings for the Planned route against a Direct one, I found all Direct timings to be much less than the planned times.
Starting descent, my enhanced ATC advised me of an approach hold into UAAA (it was expected... that zero ceiling, freezing fog, and 50 meter visibility would naturally keep the local tower busy), so I ordered a second round of snacks for the PAX. Just to keep them happy, you know. By this point, my Planned route was little different than a Direct route - a check of the timings showed reasonable numbers. Great....
After 10 minutes of circling over Lake Balkhash ("noted for its baleful influence on local agriculture" according to the tourist guide), we were given clearance to land on 23R - a CAT II capable ILS. Joy! I set the Avro's steep approach configuration, and my FO helped me set the Avro's radios, and correct approach speeds. We notified the pax that we would be landing soon, the ILS' ident began playing through the speakers as we captured the signal. A quick look at an external view to find any holes in the fogbank was unsuccessful - the only thing visible were the landing lights - and popping back into the cockpit... cut-to-black.
No - not the flight. A display driver malfunction. ARRGH. A quick shutdown of FSX followed by a PC reboot and a reload of the latest Autosave put us back in the air. Syncing the weather engine and checking the panels and controls... I opened the FCDU and RESTORED the FSCaptain flight. Success. The pax notification was logged, so I unpaused the flight and proceeded to capture the localizer and then the glideslope. No more view changing from here on in....
As we approached the outer marker, I had my FO notify the crew that we were cleared to land, we set the gear down, and started looking for visual landing guidance:
We called for a follow-me to take us to our ramp... dadgumit, but the fog's so thick it was tough to see the truck once it took off. We were well glad that we had updated ground charts and that there wasn't a lot of traffic on the tarmac.
A claimed score of 102 made the flight worthwhile. A followup de-briefing that cross checked the winds against original estimates were very good. Now it was only for a one hour flight, and certainly a cross-continental jaunt will likely show deviations... but overall I think 1.4.3 is off to a great start!
First, I wanted to test an external weather engine's ability to both present upper level winds that were semi-close to the pre-flight predicted winds plus its ability to replicate really poor LIFR conditions. Also I wanted to test the FSCaptain 1.4.3 abilities to monitor the ignition state and the window heat control systems. Finally I wanted to make this flight in Asia to test a new (to me) scenery texture upgrade. Alas, testing LIFR and scenery textures together wasn't an ideal test of the textures... but a good test given the conditions.
I scanned METARs to find a really lousy approach anywhere in Asia and for the time given, UAAA stood out as a pretty lousy landing option - freezing fog and smoke with RVRs of 50 meters. (Attached is a screenshot showing the METAR in the FCDU versus my EFB decoded METAR so you can get an idea of the poor visibility and the less-than-secure-footing surface conditions. Below that is the first glimpse of the landing runway at 85AGL.)
I didn't want to spend a lot of time in air, so I found a reasonable nearby field (UAFM) which allowed me a less-than-straight-in route so I could also test FSCaptain 1.4.3's upgraded "Planned vs Direct ETA timings."
To make my approach, I wanted a reliable autoland-capable aircraft that would have a good 1.4.3-enhanced interface. No surprise that my new go-to wonder - the QW Avro - stood out. I used the FSCaptain Administrator (equipped with a new color icon for a nice change
) to plan out my dispatch and my weather-engine-du-jour supplied me with a favorable upper-winds report. Armed with that, I finished filling out my dispatch forms and was given clearance to take out Castle Air and Cargo Flight 4961.I loaded and completed pushback, then went through a simulated de-icing procedure that my enhanced dispatch had allotted me time for (this isn't yet part of FSCaptain... I'm still working out procedural items). After a then-routine takeoff and departure (which would not have been possible if the de-icing procedures had not been followed, hint hint), I settled into a routine cruise, while Heidi handed out snackies to the passengers. Checking my timings for the Planned route against a Direct one, I found all Direct timings to be much less than the planned times.
Starting descent, my enhanced ATC advised me of an approach hold into UAAA (it was expected... that zero ceiling, freezing fog, and 50 meter visibility would naturally keep the local tower busy), so I ordered a second round of snacks for the PAX. Just to keep them happy, you know. By this point, my Planned route was little different than a Direct route - a check of the timings showed reasonable numbers. Great....
After 10 minutes of circling over Lake Balkhash ("noted for its baleful influence on local agriculture" according to the tourist guide), we were given clearance to land on 23R - a CAT II capable ILS. Joy! I set the Avro's steep approach configuration, and my FO helped me set the Avro's radios, and correct approach speeds. We notified the pax that we would be landing soon, the ILS' ident began playing through the speakers as we captured the signal. A quick look at an external view to find any holes in the fogbank was unsuccessful - the only thing visible were the landing lights - and popping back into the cockpit... cut-to-black.
No - not the flight. A display driver malfunction. ARRGH. A quick shutdown of FSX followed by a PC reboot and a reload of the latest Autosave put us back in the air. Syncing the weather engine and checking the panels and controls... I opened the FCDU and RESTORED the FSCaptain flight. Success. The pax notification was logged, so I unpaused the flight and proceeded to capture the localizer and then the glideslope. No more view changing from here on in....
As we approached the outer marker, I had my FO notify the crew that we were cleared to land, we set the gear down, and started looking for visual landing guidance:
- 200ft AGL... I got nothing. You?...
- 100, we're at Decision Height, isn't that something over there?...
- No? Whoops.
- 85ft - There's terra firma....
- 55ft - Ah those are runway markings, aren't they?
We called for a follow-me to take us to our ramp... dadgumit, but the fog's so thick it was tough to see the truck once it took off. We were well glad that we had updated ground charts and that there wasn't a lot of traffic on the tarmac.
A claimed score of 102 made the flight worthwhile. A followup de-briefing that cross checked the winds against original estimates were very good. Now it was only for a one hour flight, and certainly a cross-continental jaunt will likely show deviations... but overall I think 1.4.3 is off to a great start!
Attachments:
, i should check this part of the forum more often 
