Short Hop Sight Seeing in Heavy Metal Jets

[FleaJump 7]

Hello and good day, Captains,

 

For those of you who are short on time, but yet like the idea of making complete flights whenever you can, so as to maximize landings and takeoffs in as short a time frame as possible WITHOUT simply resorting to flying saved and retrieved portions of complete flights, I’d like to share my passion for very short circular flight paths that take you right back to the runway from which you departed.

 

If you own FSDT’s superb Honolulu Airport, and Megascenery Hawaii, this little sight-seeing flight is well worth a try, for the sheer beauty of the landscape that will unfold below your jet as you make this hop.  I constructed the flight path starting off on Honolulu International Airport Runway 8R, with the FMS flight path created with a series of place-bearing-distance waypoints that are all referenced to the HNL VOR that is located alongside Runway 8R.  Don’t forget to set your MCP flight altitude target to 3,400 feet AGL, to keep your GWPS warnings from going off as you ascend towards the mountain range that cradles the city of Honolulu, to make your smooth circular flight.  

 

 My bird of choice is of course the venerable Level D 767-300ER for this short hop, but just about any of the payware addon aircraft from the PMDG Boeing, Feelthere Embraer or Aerosoft Airbus hangars should permit the programming of these PBD waypoints in the FMS/FMGS, so that you can engage autopilot soon after takeoff, and settle back to enjoy the scenery for the 5 minutes it will take to get you lined up for final approach on the same runway from which you departed.       

 

Without further ado, then, here is the sequence of waypoints, starting off at departure from runway 8R, Honolulu International Airport, and landing on the same runway five minutes later :

 HNL080/5, HNL070/7, HNL060/8, HNL050/7, HNL040/6, HNL030/7, HNL020/6, HNL001/5, HNL300/7, HNL290/7, HNL280/7, HNL270/6, HNL265/5, HNL260/4.   By that last waypoint you will be on short finals to Honolulu International Airport Runway 8R, poised to disengage the autopilot and hand-fly down to the threshold, to grease that landing alongside the restless waves of the Pacific Ocean.

 

This very brief sightseeing flight on the Hawaiian Big Island will, IF you own the two scenery products mentioned above, enable you to take in spectacular views of Sand Island and Honolulu Harbor on departure climb-out, followed by the majestic Waianae Mountains, on the other side of which you will catch a glimpse of Kanahoe Airport, as you swoop back in circular counter-clockwise fashion over Waipahu, Kapolie, and finally Ewa Beach, inbound for your destination and start point of Runway 8R.

 

If this small flight was worth the while for you, and you might consider flying more such small hops during which you can enjoy your addon scenery products, I have created similar circle-and-land flight FMS paths, all with VOR-based PBD waypoint sequences, at KSFO, KLGA, KJFK, KLAS, KORD, KATL, and EHAM airports, among others, and I would be glad to share any of those FMS waypoint listings that may be of interest to those who own the relevant scenery products, and  feel inclined to try something other than uneventful 8-hour cruises.

 

 

Well that’ll be enough rambling from me for now.  Try this short flight and give me a holler if it works and you enjoyed the results.  

[Appliance 51]

FleaJump, (what a great handle,) many thanks for your contribution. 

[FleaJump 7]

Thanks for the response, Appliance.  I have another offering here, centered around Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, with takeoff from runway 36C.

 

The ground scenery in Holland is truly unique, what with the way such an intricate network of canals crisscrosses the cities and emerald quilt-work countryside, and one of the best ways to appreciate that feat of civil engineering is to check it out from the air, or from the virtual skies, as described below. 

 

With your heavy metal jet rearing to go at the threshold of Schiphol Airport (EHAM) Runway 36C, the following waypoints entered into your FMS/MCDU will produce a visually appealing race-track oval flight path that will take you into a climbing hard right turn out over the Amsterdam suburbs of Zwanenburg, Westpoort, Amstelveen, Uithorn and finally Aalsmeer as you roll into the concluding right turn that will set you up for finals and landing into the Runway 36C, where your short journey commenced 5 minutes earlier.

 

EHAM RWY 36C,  SPL004/3,  SPL025/5,  SPL050/6,  SPL070/6, SPL150/9, SPL160/9, SPL170/9, SPL191/5

 

Since the Netherlands is essentially flat with no terrain conflicts around the airport and city, you can set a very low “cruise” altitude in the MCP/FCU of between 2000 to 3000 feet AGL, whereby you will likely intercept the glide slope into EHAM Runway 36C close enough to require only minor corrections after you disengage the autopilot.

 

The addon ground scenery that I use to make this area a bit closer to real world is the slightly outdated VFR Netherlands for FS9, and newer Mega Airport Schiphol Airport from Aerosoft, both of which combine to enhance the realism of this short minimalist flight.

 

I do realize that in the law-books of  hard core flight sim purists out there, this creation of totally unrealistic flight paths right in the middle of Europe’s busiest airspace is nothing short of sacrilege that would merit a sentence of public flogging in a just world, BUT, to those who are prepared to suspend disbelief for a very short and scenic interlude, this oval flight path offers valuable practice in FMC programming, takeoffs, flap schedules, and of course that all important final approach and landing.

[FleaJump 7]

Starting out from Manchester Ringway Airport Runway 23R, and using UK2000's excellent scenery for that airport, which seamlessly merges with VFR Generation X scenery for Northern England, a visually appealing counter-clockwise race-track flight over the English countryside, that returns to the departure runway, is defined by the way-point sequence below, plugged into the old FMC/MCDU.

 

EGCC Runway 23R, MCT238/3,  MCT238/5,  MCT225/7, MCT217/7,  MCT200/6,  MCT180/5,  MCT140/5,  MCT110/6,  MCT080/7,  MCT065/6,  MCT 056/6,  MCT056/1.  

 

This blink-and-you-missed-it flight takes your heavy metal bird out over the Manchester area towns of Mobberly, Alderly Edge, Wilmslow, Handforth, and Cheadle Hulme, as you execute the final southwest heading left turn that will line you up right on short finals 7 miles out,and inbound to where the trip began - EGCC Runway 23R.

 

To set up for autolands or wild weather ILS landing, the ILS frequency and bearing of Manchester Airport Runway 23R are 109.5MHZ and 236 degrees respectively.

 

Give it a try and let me know if your aircraft behave as flawlessly as the Level D 767, on this neighborhood aerial tour.  These mini flights are my primary activity when I indulge in flight sim sessions, since they can be completed from takeoff to landing rollout, in a very short time, comparatively speaking.

 

Regards from Tony 

[neumanix 113]

FleaJump, (what a great handle,) many thanks for your contribution. 

In swedish "FleaJump" would be "LoppHopp" 

[FleaJump 7]

I can see a similarity between the English and the Swedish languages at least in this translation you have given here, Neumanix.   Continuing my role as self-appointed Google Earth aerial tour guide, this next string of waypoints is from the City of Angels in Southern California, and it commences on Runway 25R of KLAX, Los Angeles International Airport, making a pucker-worthy turn to the right over the Docweiler Beach State Park shoreline, and looking down out the right window at the neat rows of yachts moored in Marina Del Rey, 

 

The flight path crosses the white-water of the Pacific shoreline again a couple of miles further north, at Santa Monica, taking a north easterly track out over Rancho Park Golf Course, between Beverly Hills to the north and Culver City to the south, tracing an arc over downtown Los Angeles' northern reaches, before swinging back south over East Los Angeles, Southgate, Westmont, and finally Inglewood as you line up for final approach into KLAX Runway 25R, thankful that you are flying the virtual skies, and are therefore unconcerned about the weekend's celebratory gunfire rising off the mean streets of Inglewood and Compton not far below your descending bird, as you take out more flaps and drop the gear in preparation for a smooth touchdown.

 

It took me a while to line up these waypoints to shape the flight path just right, so I hope I have earned a free beer from at least one of y'all out there, when next my ramblings take me to your neck of the woods.

 

Here then are the Place Bearing Distance PBD waypoints that trace the path I have described above, referenced to the LAX VOR located in line with runways 25L and 25R  :  (KLAX) Rwy 25R,  LAX263/3 LAX270/7,  LAX280/6, LAX300/7,  LAX330/7,  LAX360/8,  LAX020/9,  LAX030/10,  LAX040/10,  LAX050/10,  LAX060/9,  LAX065/8,  LAX068/7,  LAX070/3  

 

I almost forgot to mention that Megascenery Southern California and FSDT's superb Los Angeles International Airport impart a good measure of realism to the proceedings, and both of those products are great additions to a discerning flight sim enthusiasts scenery collection, for sure, 

 

Blue skies and happy landings all, and of course to everyone stateside, Happy Thanksgiving Turkey Day .

[TornadoA319 0]

A massive thanks for these FleaJump, an amazing contribution, I will be using these routes for sure!

[FleaJump 7]

I appreciate the kind words, TornadoA319.  It is good to see that there are a few others in the flight sim community that enjoy the simplicity and sense of completion to be found in taking very short flights.

 

I'll post a few more as time goes on, and as before they will be centered around airports for which addon  ground scenery is available, to make the experience that little bit more true to life.

 

Regards from Tony

[FleaJump 7]

The tropical island of Saint Martin lies a few hundred miles due north of the South American continent, and about 200 miles due east of the island of Puerto Rico, right about where the waters of the Atlantic merge with those of the Caribbean sea.   St. Maarten is one of the only land masses on the planet whose ownership and administration are jointly shared between two nations – France and the Netherlands, who refer to their portion of the unique island as Saint Maarten.

 

One would imagine that the pristine beauty of Saint Martin Island also hides an important strategic military significance of the tiny island’s runway, which can accommodate landings by all but the largest of passenger airliners.

 

Princess Juliana Airport is a very special place for aviation buffs as well, because it is one of the very few locations in existence where landing jets shriek and thunder inbound a mere 50 feet over the heads of holiday makers and plane-spotters walking the white sands of Maho Beach, the site of another unique “sport” engaged in by the crazy few. 

 

That beach-front sport, called “riding the fence”, requires participants to cling tenaciously to the chain-link fence that separates the beach from the threshold of Runway 9 of Princess Juliana Airport, for the purpose of experiencing the hurricane-force exhaust-blast that erupts from the business end of jet engines fire-walled into full takeoff thrust by departing airliner pilots. .

 

Anyway, cutting to the chase, the following sequence of Place Bearing Distance way-points, starting off at Princess Juliana Airport Runway 09, when plugged into the FMS/MCDU of your heavy-metal jet, will generate on your EHSI screen an oval flight pattern that departs over the scenic Simpson Bay, as it rolls the bird left in ascent over the hillside hamlets of Cole Bay, Columbier and Rambaud, then clearing the coastline slightly north of the circular-shaped sailboat rental jetty of Marigot, before soaring out over the Caribbean sea en-route to the turnaround point 7 miles out, where the flight path curves smoothly to the left to intersect the glide slope of the departure runway.

 

The FMS/MCDU waypoint sequence is as follows, and is referenced to the VOR identified as “PJM”, which is located in alignment with TNCM Runway 09 :  RW09,  PJM090/2, PJM085/3,  PJM 070/4, PJM060/4,  PJM040/4,  PJM010/4,  PJM330/5,  PJM310/7,  PJM300/8,  PJM290/8,  PJM287/7,  PJM280/6,  PJM275/5, PJM275/1.

 

By the time your plane banks left one final time to line up with TNCM Runway 9, at about 6 miles out over the blue waters, you will, at a nominal altitude of 2000 feet AGL, intercept the glide slope spot on, with an equal count of the red and white PAPI lights illuminated to confirm perfection in your approach and short finals.

 

Fly Tampa’s scenery for the Saint Martin Island is a mesmerizing masterwork of sublime beauty, rendered in exacting detail that encompasses not just the airport proper, but the vast majority of all the buildings located on that picture-postcard holiday destination island.  This scenery is a must-have product, if there ever was one. 

 

The FSX version of this scenery depicts even greater detail than the already impressive FS9 version, and by way of example to illustrate that unerring eye for minutiae, the people walking and jogging along the beach in front of Runway 9’s threshold are by a wide margin the most natural appearing human forms EVER incorporated into ANY flight sim scenery product, since the dawn of time.   Fly Tampa have really outdone themselves and really raised the bar with their Saint Martin ground scenery gem, and I recommend this product wholeheartedly to anyone still undecided about acquiring a copy. 

[FleaJump 7]

Here is a nice flight path for anyone with a few spare minutes to engage in a spot of touch-and-go landing practice out of San Francisco International Airport (KSFO) Runway 28L. The waypoints of this smooth left-turning oval track swoop your trusty aluminium steed around and back over picturesque portions of Northern California’s storied coastline, to intercept the glide-slope of the departure runway (28L), 6 miles out over the San Francisco Bay, about half a mile due northwest of  Dolphin and Shearwater Isles. 

 

The ILS heading and frequency of KSFO Runway 28L are 282 degrees and 111.7MHz respectively, if the notion ever takes you to fly this route at night and with local weather set for epic storms livened up by treacherous rapidly-shifting cross-winds, in order to hone essential hand-flown ILS landing skills.  

 

Departing from KSFO Runway 28L, here are the FMS/MCDU waypoints for this counter-clockwise race-track pattern that sets you up for finals into the departure runway after a short but visually impressive flight, enhanced by Megascenery Northern California ground scenery for the Bay Area, along with Fly Tampa’s KSFO airport scenery of similar vintage.   RW28L,  SFO283/3,  SFO270/6,  SFO250/7,  SFO230/7, SFO210/7,  SFO180/7,  SFO160/8,  SFO140/10,  SFO120/10,  SFO109/8,  SFO103/6,  SFO103/1.

 

This brief aerial jaunt will send your jet clawing into postcard-blue skies above California Interstate 101 Coastal Highway, as it skirts the San Francisco Bay on its northbound track just beyond the end of the departure runway.  Your climbing left turn will trace the path of Interstate 380 westbound, continuing out over the rising green hills of Sweeney Ridge, on towards the Pacific Ocean coastline near San Pedro Rock.  

 

Rolling left to hug the coastline on the southbound leg of the tour at just 4,500 feet above the coastal towns of Moss Beach, El Granada and Half Moon Bay, a penultimate left bank over the forested mountain range overflies the Crystal Springs Reservoir, followed by San Mateo, and Foster City located on the banks of the San Francisco Bay, guiding your bird inexorably towards the pivot point where the final left turn due northwest will place your jet back on the glide slide of KSFO RW28L, for another precise, passenger applause-inspiring touchdown right on the piano keys.

 

Regards from Tony

[FleaJump 7]

No collection of short flights would be complete without a jog around The Big Apple’s Manhattan Island, following the course of the majestic the Hudson River, where Captain “Sully” Sullenberger performed the impossible a couple of years back, by landing his bird-strike crippled A320 Airbus on the freezing river waters just off the tip of Manhattan, before calmly scouring the flooding passenger cabin until every last passenger was safe and out on the wing, where help swiftly arrived in the form of a flotilla of barges and ferries that saved all souls aboard the sinking Airbus.

 

Departing from LaGuardia Airport Runway 22, whose ILS heading and frequency are 225 degrees and 119.5Mhz respectively, the following PBD waypoints will climb your bird out over the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn, swooping in a graceful right roll out over Governor’s Island and Ellis Island where Lady Liberty stands resolute as you skirt the tip of Manhattan now visible outside the right window, to make your way along the course of the Hudson River in a north easterly track over Jersey City, Hoboken, Union City, North Bergen and Cliffside Park, before swinging to the right eastbound over Fort Lee by the George Washington Bridge, over-flying The Bronx, where you will intercept the ILS localizer and glide-slope signals that will home you in on your point of departure, LaGuardia Runway 22, to the immediate right of which lies the infamous Rikers Island prison, hunkering ominously mid-river just to the right of the runway.

PBD waypoints departing LaGuardia KLGA Runway 22, and referenced to the LGA VOR located in alignment with Rw22 KLGA.

 

LGA225/7,  LGA230/9,  LGA240/10,  LGA250/10,  LGA260/9,  LGA270/8,  LGA300/6,  LGA330/6,  LGA350/7,  LGA010/9,  LGA020/10,  LGA025/10,  LGA030/10,  LGA035/9,  LGA040/8,  LGA044/5,  LGA044/1

 

Aerosoft Manhattan's ground scenery of the metropolis, in conjunction with Megascenery New York, add up to transform this flight from the mundane to the marvelous, and both of these products are well worth their purchase prices, for sure.

 

I hope this brief Captain Sully commemorative flight meets with your approval, and, whenever you fly the skies both virtual and real, may you NEVER encounter any flocks of geese aloft.

[FleaJump 7]

I just spotted 3 typos and a couple of deletions I forgot to make in my rambling account above, but I'll go ahead and blame my self-diagnosed dyslexia for that. 

[FleaJump 7]

The ground scenery available for the English countryside, courtesy of UK VFR Photographic Scenery Generation X southern edition, in conjunction with UK2000’s stunningly detailed Heathrow Airport scenery, add up to making the London area one of my favorite landscapes to traverse at a leisurely 3,500 feet AGL, the optimum altitude from which to view these scenery products.  Heathrow Runway 09L, is assigned ILS frequency is 110.3Mhz, and localizer compass course of 92 degrees, if auto-lands and hand flown ILS landings are on your agenda for this flight.

 

Without further ado, the following PBD waypoints, referenced to the VOR named LON that is located in line with Heathrow EGLL Runway 09L, will describe an approximately oval path that departs westbound over Hounslow, Brentford, and Chiswick, before making a gentle right turn due south directly over the London Wetland Center at Barnes, followed shortly after by a second right roll in the skies over Putney and Wimbledon Common, then swooping eastbound over Mitcham, Weybridge, Chertsey, and Egham, where the last couple of right banks reverse course to line up the flight path inbound for the Heathrow  departure Runway 09L, descending over the Old Windsor countryside, then the distinctive Wraysbury Reservoirs, just 2 miles west of the RW09L threshold.

 

So, taking off due east from Heathrow EGLL Runway 09L, the waypoint sequence is as follows:

RW09L,  LON100/8,  LON110/11,  LON120/12,  LON130/13,  LON140/13,  LON150/12,  LON200/11,  LON220/12,  LON230/12,  LON240/12,  LON250/11,  LON260/10,  LON268/8,  LON255/1

 

This flight lasts about ten minutes at 200 knots, which by my attention-deficit standards is a “long haul” flight, but I intentionally made the loop wider to cover more distance for this cruise, so as to overfly more of the London area and the surrounding countryside, simply because the addon scenery for this area just keeps getting better with each new release.  Here’s hoping that the really good scenery developers out there don’t ultimately stop making products for FS9, because there are still a fair number of die-hard FS9 dinosaurs like myself who will remain loyal scenery purchasers  for as long as there are new offerings to buy.

[FleaJump 7]

To wrap up my presentation of ridiculously short flights for FS9 heavy metal jet jockeys, I decided to experiment with the autoland system of this magnificent bird, the Level D 767, to determine the absolute tightest turn that could be made into short finals, after which the autoland would still retain the ability to function normally without getting disoriented.

 

What better location to try such a gamble than Sin City itself, where the fun never sets, and fortunes are made and lost, which is probably why Las Vegas is half-jokingly referred to by some as “Lost Wages”. 

 

This short circuit around the city and suburbs of ‘Vegas launches skyward off McCarran International Airport, Runway 01L, which runs pretty much parallel to the Vegas Strip, South Las Vegas Boulevard, making this flight one to behold at dusk when the strip lights the sky with that path of glittering diamonds in the desert. 

 

The short climb-out overlooks the world famous casinos and hotels, which are rendered with precision in all their splendor by Mega Scenery X Las Vegas, available in the below link, for those who use FSX as well as FS9.  This flight follows a perfect tear-drop pattern, landing not at the departure runway, but at Runway 25L of the same airport, where the ILS frequency and heading are 110.75MHz and 255 degrees respectively

 

    http://www.megascenery.com/MegaSceneryXLasVegas.htm

 

Fortunately for us FS9 dinosaurs who may miss out on the breathtaking FSX version of Megascenery Las Vegas, FSDT does offer exquisitely detailed ground scenery for Las Vegas Mccarran International Airport for FS9 and FSX.    

 

Departing from Las Vegas Mccarran Airport Runway 01L, the following PBD waypoints will inscribe that visually appealing teardrop shape, as your jet diverges from the departure runway center-line 8 miles out over North Las Vegas, to commence a gentle curving right roll that overflies the runways of Nellis Airforce base on the outskirts of town, and continuing on over the mountain foothills where a glimpse of Lake Las Vegas if offered, just before the suburb of Whitney passes beneath the flight path, as the flight intersects the north-east course of the Boulder Highway, prior to locking on the centerline of KLAS Runway 25L, lining up on your bird’s EHSI just six miles from the threshold, for that touch-down which amazingly can be performed in full auto-land mode, at least by the Level D 767.

 

 

Departing from KLAS Runway 01L whose elevation is 2067 feet, the waypoints for this scenic flight, whose altitude should be set about 4,500ft, allowing for a radio altimeter altitude of 2,500 feet all the way round, are referenced to the KLAS airport VOR called LAS, as follows, for a landing about 8 minutes later at Runway 25L of the same airport, where the ILS heading is 255 degrees, with a frequency 0f 110.75MHz.

 

RW01L,  LAS010/8, LAS015/9, LAS025/10,  LAS040/10,  LAS065/9,  LAS070/8,  LAS075/7,  LAS080/6,  LAS095/1

 

Well it ain’t over till the fat lady sings, and I guess she just did, since I have finally run out of airport and ground scenery with which to create further sight-seeing flights for heavy metal jet tours.  If any of you fliers of the virtual skies feel inclined to create similar short hops at other airports that I haven’t covered here, please feel free to post them, so I can add those to my collection.

 

Later days, fellas, and may all your flights be smooth and VISUAL.

[FleaJump 7]

I’ll make a small amendment to my tear-drop shaped flight path that circles out over Las Vegas from KLAS Runway 1, to KLAS Runway 25L.  For some reason the FMS of my Level D 767 rejects arrival runways entered in the “Legs” page, so I would use VOR waypoints all the way to the arrival threshold, omitting the arrival runway.

 

Anyway it turns out that the arrival runway 25L at KLAS is accepted by the FMS, so I decided to post a slightly modified waypoint sequence, in which the last three waypoints are changed to include the runway, so that those auto-landings can improve from hit and miss to repeatable with 100% precision.

 

Departs from KLAS RW 01, then the revised 10 minute flight is as follows LAS010/8,  LAS015/9,  LAS025/10,  LAS040/10,  LAS050/10,  LAS065/9,  LAS075/8,  LAS080/7,  RW25L   

 

 

KLAS RW 25L's  ILS heading is 255 degrees, with a frequency 0f 110.75MHz.