Hello folks.  As I had hinted in my last diary post, I embarked on the return trip back to Atlanta from Dubai, and I wanted to share the details with you.  20 images will not do an epic trip of this proportion justice, so I have split this diary into 2 parts!  I have noticed on the 777, err, AVSIM forums that Dubai is a very popular destination for the new PMDG 777, and the Delta route in particular has been mentioned quite a few times as a great super long haul route to put this new addon though the paces on.

Delta Flight 7 is a 15 hour 15 minute flight according to Delta's timetable.  The real flight and weather conditions my flight was based on was operated on Tuesday 9/10/13.  Flightaware record is found at http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL7/history/20130910/1825Z/OMDB/KATL   Active runway at OMDB was 30L, and the SID was the NADI2F departure.  Landing runway at KATL was expected to be 08L, with the DIRTY1 STAR.  Expected time of departure was 10:25PM Dubai time, and arrival is planned for 5:40AM local Atlanta time.  As before, this will be a fully loaded flight with all seats occupied and the LR's fuel tanks 81% full. With an average headwind of 27kts, I can expect a longer flight than the KATL-OMDB trip, which is a given as we are flying against the prevailing winds in the cruise flight levels.  As per usual on these long trips, a few step climbs will be in order, and the initial cruise altitude will be FL300, ending at FL380 somewhere over the coast of the United States.

 

After three days of proper rest and relaxation seeing the sights in Dubai, I received the paperwork from my dispatch planner.  This is obviously the copy of the PFPX OFP after the trip was completed, as I have filled out the required entries detailing my actual weights and flight times in zulu for post game analysis.

 

This is the filed route as seen on Google Earth, flown by the real DAL 7.   

 

It's an hour and a half before pushback, and I'm in the cockpit performing the preflight checks.  This is Gate F7 (or C13 IRL) at Terminal 1 at Dubai International Airport.  As you can see, it's 777 city here at OMDB!

 

View from my favorite position as a passenger, right behind the wing, during boarding.  Here at Terminal 1 we see a Tunis Air A319, Sri Lankan A330, and Air China A330 taxing in.

Time for pushback, about 6 minutes late due to a late loading passenger, at 10:31pm.  OMDB's tower is in focus.

 

Pushback tug in action, we get a look at the expansive tarmac.  Land is plentiful in Dubai, at least on this side of the city.

 

Positioned perfectly inline with the active taxiway Z, with parking brakes set and about to start engine 2.

Permission to taxi is granted, and I make my way down Taxiway Z for the LONG ride over to the start of runway 30L.  Little AI trivia, can guess which of the AI here is a UT2 model?  It's the Hainan Airways A330 because it's tail is lit.  All other AI parked here are FS9 models/paints used by UT2 that do not have the "always on" logo lights on the tails.  FSX has some strange peculiarities regarding the night textures on AI paints that are a big change from FS9, and for the worse if you ask me.   Don't get me started...

Passing one of the many A380s at OMDB terminal 1.  I just learned that all Emirates flights now operate at Terminal 3, the newest terminal just next door and the largest building in the world by floor space.  Time to adjust my AFCAD...

Major traffic as three international flights arrive.  A fellow American, a United 777-200, is followed by an Air India A321 and a Gulf Air A330, all arrivals on runway 30R.

I couldn't help myself from snapping a shot of the United 777.  I'm in love with the 777, what can I say?

Still taxing, and I enjoy the view of an Emirates A380 on finals.

 

Are we there yet?  According to instructions in the OMDB airport chart, taxi speeds are limited to 10kts on taxiway Z.  Real life taxi was 16 minutes so my "by the book" approach feels right, so I fight the urge to move things along faster.

After my long 18 minute taxi, I am asked to "line up and wait" on the 15,032ft runway.

It's 10:55PM, I flick on the landing lights, press the TO/GA button on the throttles, and away we go!

View from the tower, with another A380 on finals on the adjacent runway.

Climbout with a nice view of Terminal 3 and the futuristic looking control tower.

Here is the terminal I just departed from, and already the gate I vacated has been taken.  

Flaps start to retract as I pass the 800 ft acceleration height and I take in the view of the magnificent cityscape.  The tallest man made structure in the world, the 2,722ft Burj Khalifa is in direct sight.

Say goodbye to Dubai!

 

That is all for part 1 of my 2 part report.  In my next post, I will pick up the flight from the cruise onto the arrival at KATL.  
See you there.

Awesome.  I like how provided info of the flight.  Did you do the entire flight in real time?

Nope, I have heard of folks doing that, where they will look for a live flight on flightaware and try to mimic the flight live.  I only fly past flights at least a day old, because I like to see what the complete route flown was beforehand.  For these super long hauls, I can only tolerate flying in short bursts, like 5 hours maximum, since I'm not using the time compression feature.  So, I will save my flight one day, and resume the saved situation another day.   NGX flights were a different story, I often flew the route from point A to B in one session.  

 

Because of all the detailed planning I do, the research into the vectors flown, speeds and altitudes recorded on the flightaware graphs, even pulling up the LiveATC recording of the real flight if I'm unsure about the runways used, I have used up at least 2 hours even before I load up FSX!  LOL!   All my flights are carefully prepared and flown as real as possible, and it can be exhausting.  But I find it rewarding.   I do keep saved situations handy of my past flights as they are lining up on the runway or on the descent to practice takeoffs and landings, so those are the times when I can relax and just load up the sim and practice. 

I have decided to fly to somewhere in Asia next, as the only time I've been there in FSX was in January 2011, via United 747 from KORD to RJAA. 

KMSP to RJAA to WSSS looks doable.

 

Folks, don't forget to check out part 2 of this flight at

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/421629-delta-airlines-777-200lr-omdb-to-katl-part-2-warning-big-pictures/

The night lighting is truly excellent on the 777. Lovely DXB departure.