Bhutan's Big Gun

[pinlifter 502]

FDX1010(VVNB-VQPR) has the Panda on a freight haul to Paro Airport out of Hanoi.  With VQPR's airport elevation and runway length I limited my cargo load to about 103,000lbs.  I thought Aivlasoft EFB was going to be of help as finding Paro can be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but I was distracted too much by the TERRAIN TERRAIN, PULL UP warnings B)

 

Once clear of the 12,000ft tops, I followed the river valley to runway 33 with full flaps and gear down well in advance for the steep descent.  Although I haven't landed in Toncontin (MHTG) in a couple months, Paro has it beat.  I wonder if the runway 15 approach could be any more fun :smile:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Steve Dra 7,588]

Great shots Chris!

I've done some cargo hauling over the holidays and will post some pics soon.  Hope we get a 744F to move freight with this year.  :wink:

[pinlifter 502]

Great shots Chris!

I've done some cargo hauling over the holidays and will post some pics soon.  Hope we get a 744F to move freight with this year.  :wink:

 

Thanks Steve!  Boy I sure could have used you as the FO on the FedEx flight.  Not often you get a pucker factor going in flightsim, but I had one this time

 

I've already asked Santa for a 747v2 for Christmas...hope he "delivers" :smile:

[HLJames 2,568]

Love that livery and airport detail....great sky theme!

 

HLJAMES

[vc10man 732]

I'm amazed you managed to pull it off, specially with that Big Bird, Chris. Hats off to you.

 

You are right, Toncontin is a doddle compared to that. I reckon that airport and Lukla are where pilots earn their corn. And you are spot-on when saying it is like trying to find a needle in the haystack. The trick is finding that valley that those peaks do so well to hide.

[Phantom88 3,287]

W O W!!!!! Chris these are Spectacular  

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Super Chris - that repaint looks familiar  :wink:

[A320FAN 370]

Excellent shots!

[pinlifter 502]

Many thanks fellas!

 

 

I'm amazed you managed to pull it off, specially with that Big Bird, Chris. Hats off to you.

 

You are right, Toncontin is a doddle compared to that. I reckon that airport and Lukla are where pilots earn their corn. And you are spot-on when saying it is like trying to find a needle in the haystack. The trick is finding that valley that those peaks do so well to hide.

 

Who would think Rick that flying a plane in FSX would make one a little nervous lol.  Well this one did.  I had taken a few flights at Paro using the trike and default Cessna, mostly just putzin' around, but decided it was time to take the "big gun" in there.  Here's a quickie map showing runways 15/33 using Google Earth. 

 

 

Coming in from the southeast, I knocked autopilot and autothrottle off about 15 miles out and was paying close attention to the Nav Display with terrain on that was about 98% red.  I usually keep autothrottle on until I'm near the FAF, but Paro doesn't have any navigational aids other than a VOR/DME located a few miles away so it was all up to me.  VREF was 134 as I was light on weight, so I kept her about 150-155 until I could make out the airport.   There's a road on Google Earth that leads up to Paro.  Maybe when ORBX comes out with OpenLC Asia it will be visible, so I used the small river that ventures up to the airport to guide me in (and yes I wondered if I was ever going to get there lol).  I studied Google Earth long and hard beforehand to help out (how many pilots can do that during their flight B))

 

Maybe someone else can chime in, but the runway 15 approach looks even more dangerous.  I can only say this by looking at Google Earth, but runway 33 was a doozy for sure!!

[flyultimate 13]

Hello, Chris,

 

These are some great shots. Great variation and scenery.

 

Gotta love the rinky-dink haulers!

 

Cheers

[vc10man 732]

Hi Chris, so that was the trick, Google Earth. I never thought about that one cos like you using the Aivla EFB it was a job trying to get that gap between those high guardians,and like you I did it with a default C172.

 

Nevertheless, for you to have done it with that Big Bird was remarkable. Good to see the cargo commissions rolling in! Happy freight-dogging.

[777 340]

Fabulous pics, love the scenery around the airport, well thought out flight

[JAT 185]

Great shots.

 

nebojsa

[HaraldG 559]

Chris, this is a really exciting flight.

I once made a Rwy 15 approach with a B727. As far as I remember (and I don't know if this has any similarity to r/w procedures) I flew towards the Paro VOR, then parallel to Rwy 33, then I made a narrow turn to the right, descended steep into the valley (found the correct valley), and then somehow the runway appeared just in front of my plane. What a great destination.

[pinlifter 502]

then I made a narrow turn to the right, descended steep into the valley (found the correct valley), and then somehow the runway appeared just in front of my plane. What a great destination.

I was wondering when the airport was going to appear myself.  I probably looked like Ted Striker in the Airplane movie B)

 

Fabulous pics, love the scenery around the airport, well thought out flight

When I see you in a PIA bird at Paro Imran, I'm buying the beers