Avsim PIREPS Thread #1

[Highmike 68]

I'm still getting used to the P51H, she's got some acceleration and I nearly blew the take off. A fairly uneventful flight HEAX - OERR. At 25000 ft there was a nice tailwind which allowed speeds of up to 470 knot GS at less than 80" manifold pressure. The P51H panel is a pleasure to look at overnight, this shot taken somewhere over the east Mediteranean.Mike.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166883.jpg

[Guest 2002cbr600f4i]

So I'm set up to be wing for Jeff. He gets the baton and he's off in a flash in his Avanti. I post my wingman update, start the duenna and slam the throttles. Forgot how crazy the P51H is with take off and I'm all over the place... Couldn't keep it on the runway to save my life... I finally just give up and slam the throttle and take off from the dirt... Oh well!Jeff has about a 4nm head start on me and is a good 3K ft higher already. I engage my AP and set it for 29000ft with a 3000ft/min climb rate. I pass Jeff around 17k ft and keep climbing. The merlin engine is screaming as I keep on going to 29K. As I get up through 20K I start getting an AMAZING tail wind. As I level out at 29000 I see a tail wind of 84+ kts!!!! My Ground Speed blasts up over 500 and stabilizes around 506kts. I've NEVER had the pony going this fast before. Jeff keeps climbing behind me and gets up to 39K where he's getting a tail wind up over 100kts.Ok, we start hauling the mail out over Iraq, spotting a gorgeous sunrise just before reaching the northern edge of Kuwait. As we get closer to the destination airport in Iran, I split slightly south, Jeff goes slightly north as we'll need to loop around to land into the wind. At 29nm away, I disengage the AP, throttle back, and nose down into a dive, leveling out at around 8k ft, slap down the flaps and turn for the runway. Grr, why the heck won't the gear come down?!?! OH, I'm going to fast. ####, can't get her to slow down..... I start banking back and forth to bleed some speed... Ah, there they come down and lock... I line up and come right on in with only a single small bounce.Jeff needs to circle around a bit to bleed off more speed, but lands a few minutes later with a beautiful 3 point landing.Here's a few pics...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166893.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166894.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166895.jpg

[cbtaylor 15]

This was my first time carrying the baton as prime, but no pressure! ;) It certainly helped to have the extra support on teamspeak.So there I sat at OISS, patiently waiting for Mike and Jeff.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166898.jpgUneventful take-off, but enroute was amazing. 90+ kts tailwind at 29,000 feet = groundspeed in excess of 550 kts! Yikes! :DThe approach was tense due to minimal visibility. I couldn't tell if the fog was outside the canopy, or inside due to nervous, heavy breathing. Sorry I don't have a picture - couldn't get the lens cap off while juggling a stick and rudder trying to line up the runway. The landing wasn't pretty, but I'm pretty sure I kept at least one wheel on the runway at all times. (LOL) Thanks go out to my pedals and differential braking. Still shaking, so apologies if I can't seem to put much more into this. Plus, it's 12:58AM here on the East Coast. Brain has turned to mush.CB

[buzzbee 52]

Exciting leg. Take off, climb, and Cruise uneventful in the Avanti. Nice push along, ground speeds exceeding 500kts. Forced to retard the throttles a few times to avoid overspeed as I got bumped around. Totally overshot the descent and as I was spiraling down I got lost in the overcast. With the help of my teammates I was able to capture the ILS and Glideslope after meandering around for a few minutes. It was intense. Finally at about 1/2 mile I got sight of the runway and managed to plant the Avanti pretty hard. This was one of those truley memorable flight sim moments. After finally getting my approach sorted out, I could just imagine smashing the Avanti to bits.This is great!

[Guest SoarPics]

PIREP - VAUD to VEBS711 miles... my kind of flight. All went well until wingman Lucas fell victim to a computer crash halfway thru the leg. I pressed on in my Pony and flew the ILS 14 into VEBS. No problems with the flight. Had nice tailwinds to start, and they decreased slightly by the end of the flight.

[StoneC0ld 5]

Group shot preparing for team flight from VTSPhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166912.jpg

[DarkCharizma 10]

Some more shots:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166926.jpgWaiting for the baton to arrivehttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166927.jpgDeparture at sunset

[arrvoo 6]

So the team decides its a good point to fly the notorius Comet leg. Although it's dark, the winds are light the airports in the area have nice long runways and there are 2 guys who can handle (or say they can handle in my case) this fickle bird. I've been testing the Comet quite a lot recently as i know its always a nasty leg so i was pretty confident.Enroute for me was fairly uneventful, i was trimmed beautifully and with light winds only small heading corrections were needed. I had a nice long approach and it then began to get a bit bumpy but everything was fine i touch down, and then the bounces begin. There musthave been about 7 bounces and i don't think i took a breath from start to finish. I just hung on and let it roll to a stop with very light brakes. Up pops a good Duenna and a big sigh of relief all round. Unfortunately my flight sim crashed when i disconneted from multiplayer so i wasn't able to get any screenshots. Considering the problem we've had in previous years with the Comet, this was extremely an satisfying leg, and i'm sure everyone's glad we've got it out of the way.

[MM 424]

Flew wing to Harvey. A night flight through the peninsula's legendary thunderstorms. Made for a busy time keeping the aircraft level and on course. (No need for panel lights--the outside "sparklers" were sufficient to see as though it were day.)On approach into Singapore, the city lights made for a more cheerful finish. Landing the Comet can be a challenge, and in the dark it was even more interesting. (Framerates ...grrr!) I managed to get down mostly on the runway. And then enjoyed Harvey's safe finish!Below are shots of the rain streaming over the Comet's canopy, and then an outside shot of the gorgeous aircraft--penetrating the dark skies.Mikehttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166948.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166949.jpg

[DarkCharizma 10]

I just finished my first lead flight this year. Flew the P-51D in the dark. There was a slight headwind, so it slowed me down a bit. Flight was pretty uneventful. On approach I was coming in a bit too fast, and while I was trying to get the speed down, I didn't look to much on the altimiter, and was down to 600 ft before I noticed. After that was sorted I landed, not the best landing I have ever made, but still OK ;)Klas

[arrvoo 6]

An unexpected leg for me this. I was set up as a wingman for Vince who found at the last minute that there was a problem with his aircraft. I quickly grabbed the baton and took off in my trusty Hornet.A 10kt headwind all the way but apart from that an uneventful flight. A few low clouds on landing but light winds proved no problem at all. I must say, of the two DeHavillands I've flown in the last 2 legs the Hornet is less wearimg on the nerves than the Comet.

[jt_williams 291]

http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166955.jpg

[jt_williams 291]

The race to Australia as seen from Google Earth.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/166960.jpg

[Bryan Rosier 31]

A nice handover from Basten . Left YBRM with Mike CBR600 on wing and set off towards Ayers Rock " Uluru to be politically correct :) " Annoying headwind all the way . Quiet all the way with the exception of a lovely sunrise ( forgot to turn on FSScreen ) only found out after leg :( . A nice gentle approach on finals but could not see runway just bright white approach lights and red teammates . Still could not see runway 2 miles out just white lights so no runway to guage landing . Came into view as I passed over the lights and then landed . Reports suggest approx 7 bounces , felt like at least 10 to me . First bounce at a nice 115kts each other at progressively slower airspeed . Thought it was going to stall on me but finally got down with a good Duenna . My worst ever Pony landing and not the best time to do it in front of an audience :( Still as they say any landing you walk away from is a good one .

[Guest 2002cbr600f4i]

Anxiously a group of us are waiting at YPAG for Buzzbee to arrive to hand off the Baton. We set up in a gaggle of DC3's preparing for our second Team Flight. As BuzzBee comes in and lands, we start lining up on the runway. http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/167009.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/167010.jpgSlowly we each start rolling out and taking off. It looks like the a group of C-47's heading out to drop paratroopers over Normandy! We all get off ok, and string out over a 15 mile line across the sky at various altitudes. The weather is clear and sunny, but some gusty winds really toss us around for a bit. http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/167011.jpgSlowly we make our way to YPAD where HighMike is waiting for us at the threshold. One by one we come in and land... Dan however miscalculates his fuel loading, and because he didn't control his fuel mixture ran short 4 miles from the runway and landed safely there.Team flight 2 in the books, Full bonus time! Woohoo!