FSX-MS Most boring Long Haul in FSX?

[speedbird034 14]

Do you mean to tell me that you guys actually go to bed when you fly?

 

If I fly long haul, I'm in the cockpit for the whole trip...as a virtual airline captain, we have means to assure that you don't go to sleep. So does VATSIM. If you fly a long haul flight with VATSIM, you had better be prepared for that pop up text from one of the moderators/controllers asking if you are actually there and flying. If not, you are disconnected. Not pretty.

 

So, yes, I prep and do the flying..10-12 hours worth. Yes I'm also gearing up for the 777; but will be flying that bird the entire way...not just the takeoff and landing.

Cheers to all,

 

Dave Lamb

FAA Licensed Aircraft Dispatcher

Captain, British Airways Virtual

[dm123 19]

Not sure if its my most boring, but recently I flew EGLL to OMDB in the A2A 377. I used real conditions for everything, so it was all night flying and mostly overcast. After 10 hours of night and overcast, I was starting to lose my mind...

[ron6468 1]

I once knew a bunch of model train enthusiasts that refused to play with their trains while the local railroad was on strike. If I then was to hear about anyone sitting in front of their sim at 40k ft for hours on end because that's what real pilots do ....... well, let's just say it's time to get a life - with all respect of course.

If I do one of these flights I get to altitude and then go do something useful, returning in time to begin the decent. If i fly Vatsim, its not a trip that will keep me sitting there for more than 3 hours and even that's pretty rare. The wife already wonders about this hobby and my devotion to it.

Just as an aside, while I have a capable system, it doesn't like when I increase the sim rate more than 2x over a long period of time. I begin to lose graphics.

[tf51d 284]

Do you mean to tell me that you guys actually go to bed when you fly?

 

If I fly long haul, I'm in the cockpit for the whole trip...as a virtual airline captain, we have means to assure that you don't go to sleep. So does VATSIM. If you fly a long haul flight with VATSIM, you had better be prepared for that pop up text from one of the moderators/controllers asking if you are actually there and flying. If not, you are disconnected. Not pretty.

 

So, yes, I prep and do the flying..10-12 hours worth. Yes I'm also gearing up for the 777; but will be flying that bird the entire way...not just the takeoff and landing.

Cheers to all,

 

Dave Lamb

FAA Licensed Aircraft Dispatcher

Captain, British Airways Virtual

 

Then you are not simulating the real world, as on long haul flights, there are relieve pilots on board, so the crew can get rest for part of the flight.

 

Per FAA rules

 

For international flights that require more than 12 hours of flight time, air carriers must establish rest periods and provide adequate sleeping facilities outside of the cockpit for in-flight rest.

 

Also

 

The maximum amount of time pilots can be scheduled to fly is limited to eight or nine hours, and pilots would get a minimum of 10 hours to rest between duty periods.

[aalawand 3]

Dubai (DXB/OMDB) to Dallas (DFW/KDFW)

 

14 hours 30 minutes of clouds

[A320FAN 370]

From London To Sydney Via Singapore.

[F747fly 4]

The longest flight: Singapore to New Ark, NY (18,5 hours) you might fly over the northpole and a bit of Canada, there is nothing to see there and most of the flight you're fliying over the pacific-ocean....

[Noble. 142]

Then you are not simulating the real world, as on long haul flights, there are relieve pilots on board, so the crew can get rest for part of the flight.

 

Per FAA rules

 

For international flights that require more than 12 hours of flight time, air carriers must establish rest periods and provide adequate sleeping facilities outside of the cockpit for in-flight rest.

 

Also

 

The maximum amount of time pilots can be scheduled to fly is limited to eight or nine hours, and pilots would get a minimum of 10 hours to rest between duty periods.

 

I'm sure he doesn't mean he's staring at the instruments for the entire 12 hours (I hope). But going to sleep in the cruise is obviously not going to work if you're flying on VATSIM, but it doesn't mean you have to simulate just sitting in the flight-deck for 12 hours. I usually plan and start a long-haul (on VATSIM), get work done during the cruise (at my desk) while checking in on the flight every 30 minutes or so and keeping Squawkbox/FSInn open (or listening out for any ATC/SUP calls).

[FLEX1978 373]

 

Yes but real pilots already know the plane inside out:)

 

If only that was true I know F/O's that teach captains new tricks, also know captains that get out the QRH and quiz the F/O in cruise. If you ever get to point that you feel you don't have anything new to learn then you have no business being in the pointy end of any aircraft

 

I haven't had the time to do a long haul in years although I will admit I did enjoy it, online only so I can at least talk to real people.

 

Have promised myself when the 777 get's released I will try and do at least one long haul a month, order a pizza and watch a movie on the laptop while I take a break for a few hours enroute, the rest of the time you should find more than enough to keep you busy if you follow real world procedures.

 

Anyway as mentioned above, use it a chance to test the system logic or study that FCOM,FCTM,QRH. That way instead of posting tech questions on here you can help others on the forum.

[speedbird034 14]

Then you are not simulating the real world, as on long haul flights, there are relieve pilots on board, so the crew can get rest for part of the flight.

 

Per FAA rules

 

For international flights that require more than 12 hours of flight time, air carriers must establish rest periods and provide adequate sleeping facilities outside of the cockpit for in-flight rest.

 

Also

 

The maximum amount of time pilots can be scheduled to fly is limited to eight or nine hours, and pilots would get a minimum of 10 hours to rest between duty periods.

 

Well, if you are going to quote FARs, please let's quote FARs:

FAR121.481 Flight Time Limitations: One or two pilot crews

(a) A ...holder....may schedule a crew of one or two pilots for eight hours or less during any 24 consecutive hours without a rest period.

(B) If...holder conducting flag (international) operations schedules a pilot to fly more than eight hours during any 24 consecutive hours, it shall give him an intervening rest period, at or before the end of eight hours of eight scheduled hours of flight duty. This rest period must be at least twice the number of hours flown since the preceding rest period, but not less than eight hours. The certificate holder shall relieve that pilot of all duty with it during that rest period.

©(d)(e) and (f) are not pertinent to this discussion.

FAR121.483 Flight Time Limitations - Two pilots and one additional flight crew member.

(a) No certificate holder conducting flag operations may schedule a pilot to fly .... more than 12 hours during any 24 consecutive hours.

(B) and © not applicable for this discussion

FAR121.485 Flight Time Limitations - Three or more pilots and an additional flight crew member

(a) Each certificate holder conducting flag operations shall schedule its flight hours to provide adequate rest periods on the ground for each pilot....It shall also provide adequate sleeping quarters on the airplane whenever a pilot is scheduled to fly more than 12 hours during any 24 consecutive hours.

 

Now to get into the meat of the matter

FAR121.505, 507 and 509 set the maximum number of flight hours:

Two pilot crews (505) - 8 hours in 24 consecutive hours/max duty day 16 hours in 24 hours.

Three pilot crews (507) - 8 hours in 24 consecutive hours /max duty day 18 hours in 24 hours

Four pilot crews (509) - 8 hours in 24 consecutive hours/max duty day 20 hours in 24 hours.

 

FAR121.513 defines what constitutes overseas and international operations for the purposes of the duty hour limits.

 

SO: If we are going to operate real world, we would need at least three pilots to fly anything over eight hours. Not terribly practical in the sim world.

 

Most of us generally fly long haul alone, so yes, for the most part, we are at the controls all of the flight. Now, as a practical matter, on long haul on VATSIM, we don't have continuous ATC coverage, so there are periods in which we can step away from the computer. However, at British Airways Virtual, there is a requirement that a position report be filed once every hour (regardless of the length of the flight). If we don't, we dont get credited with the flight hours. So to get rest, yes there are ways to manage this, but the reality is that I am in eyesight of the computer for 12 hours at a go.

 

Not terribly different than working as a dispatcher..I'm at the computer 10 hours except for the occasional bathroom break to grab a bite to eat...but not generally longer than five minutes.

 

So are we following the regs? NO. Of course, this isn't real world...but as close as we can get --- in a practical sense --- .

 

Good on you for bringing up the regs...I needed the refresh.

 

Cheers,

Dave Lamb

[pow0011 8]

Done this in FSX and real life nearly a month ago. LAX-MEL close to 16 hours in the T7.

 

It comes down to the love of the bigger aircraft for me, resulting in the long flights which I do enjoy.

[B747tebs 80]

i once did KJFK to EGsomething (it was some event and it was not to london). It was so extremely boring, that i fell asleep at about half the distance. I took quite some fuel with me because i only had like 20 minutes to prepare (it was a boring evening and i didnt know what to do so i took a look at the event page and here we go). The next morning, about 4 hours after the event was over, i woke up and checked the ND, i was somewhere over greenland doing circles. Dont remember the details, it was a long time ago.

[ron6468 1]

One thing I find sometimes inaccurate is fuel burn regardless of the aircraft. I tried replicating a real,flight I did with a friend in a Cessna Skylane Turbo for 4 hours straight (shoulder to shoulder and cramped!) but when I tried it in a Carenado version the fuel ran out long before even with correct engine settings and similar weather/ winds

I also did a 15 hr B777 flight in real life that used a lot more fuel in the FSX version and also ran short.

I would be interested if others have experience similar fuel experiences (understanding diffferences in wind, etc).

[Noble. 142]

One thing I find sometimes inaccurate is fuel burn regardless of the aircraft. I tried replicating a real,flight I did with a friend in a Cessna Skylane Turbo for 4 hours straight (shoulder to shoulder and cramped!) but when I tried it in a Carenado version the fuel ran out long before even with correct engine settings and similar weather/ winds

I also did a 15 hr B777 flight in real life that used a lot more fuel in the FSX version and also ran short.

I would be interested if others have experience similar fuel experiences (understanding diffferences in wind, etc).

 

It largely depends on who makes the aircraft for FS. The PMDG MD-11 and NGX (although I've not thoroughly checked the latter) have very realistic fuel burn. You can compare the fuel burn on the MD-11 to the real-world data from the manuals and it's pretty bang on in FS.

[Racn 0]

Holy crappers some of you folks do long flights,gees. I make my flight plans for 20 to 40 minutes between landings, thats long enough for this chair flyer.