R4D/DC3

[Guest SPOFF]

Went flying this afternoon out west. (USA) The FSGenesis site mentioned FS9 has some default mesh at 76m at Mt. Rainier in Washington State. I wanted to see what 76m looked like. I took the Navy R4D. I have a Seattle Sectional so this makes it much more real. I flew out of "Bowers Airport" which is about 52 NM East of the mountain. The course to the mountain (14,400') was 235 Magnetic. Probably about a half hour flight time. Out to the mountain and around it..and then look for a place to land. "Ranger Creek" is about 14 NM North East. One runway..2900 feet long at an elevation of 2650'. This airport is in a DEEP twisting valley formed by a river..surounded by HIGH mountains at over 6,000 feet.. Only ONE way in and out. Great sport. Reminds me of some of the stuff Ernest Gann ("Fate Is The Hunter") did in the early days of flying. A Real Pilot with over 18,000 hours who also knew how to write. SPOFF

[jimcarrel 688]

Spoff, you're right, very interesting. I left Bowers, circled from the South side of Ranier. Hit a heading of about 30 deg. from the North side, sinking,, sinking. Came over the right rise looked to my right and there it was. I still had another 2800 foot drop and I didn't look to be about 2 miles awayI was doing about 250 knots at the time (driving a spit)(too close to bed to lumber in a c47) I had to cut South up a ravine and circle back, managed to hit South end of runway at about 120 knots indicated and stopped 2/3 down runway. Thanks for the heads up. I enjoyed it greatly.And to all a good nite!JimC.

[Guest SPOFF]

JimC: Don't know where you are located or whether you have access to Sectionals for various areas of America. I went to see the "Hoover Dam" in FS9. It's there. It's on the Las Vegas Sectional. Not a challenging landing ...in fact no landing; but interesting to see how MS did it. Hoover Dam was probably THE Most significant (Public Works) engineering achievment in the early 20th Century. Approach from down river...in the canyon..Colorado River.. with a slow..but with some extra power.. plane. Start from "Boulder City" Airport. Elev 2201. Take off and fly about 10 miles on a course of about 040 magnetic. A recent discovery on one of these forums has been ttp://skyvector.com/ This site has sectionals. The problem I find is that looking at them..Zoom in.. Zoom out...is like looking through a toilet paper tube. I had no luck printing out the area I was interested in. I have Dial Up. I think with a fast connection it would be MUCH better. SPOFFEDIT: While your out there, fly west maybe 15-20 miles out of Boulder Airport and see Las Vegas. It's good at night. MS has made an extra effort in this area.

[jimcarrel 688]

I'll try the hoover dam trip Spoff, check out vegas too. Ever heard of a screen capture? (inside hint).JimC.

[jimcarrel 688]

Never flew over Hoover Dam in the sim. Wasn't too bad,'twas my first time to vegas (in the sim) too. MS gave a little more than I expected. Even the fountain effects in front of the (Grand?)Hotel.JimC.