FSX-SE Around the World plane selection

[thammond 0]

Hi all,

I'm back into flight siming after a long time away.  So i want to do something I always thought about but never did, an around the world flight.

For some background.  I have used a lot of previous versions of MSFS from Flight Simulator II for the commodore 64 to FS9 (including a lot of add-ons over the years).  I did not go to FSX mainly due to my computer hardware limitations.  So I finally decided to put my 10+ year old Win XP computer to rest and built a new one with WIN 10.  As I have been reinstalling software on the new build I came across a good deal on FSX Steam so went ahead and bought it.  Even though my build is a budget gaming computer by today's standards, it seems powerful enough to run FSX Steam well enough from some initial trials with it.

Now I'm trying to start planning my around the world flight and the 1st decisions are what plane to use and what flight sim version to use.  My goals of the around the world flight are to see/experience as much of the world and sights (man made and natural) that flight siming has to offer. Based on wanting to see the sights, a "low and slow" prop plane seems to be the best choice.  I would also prefer to make the hop from Hawaii to California so range will be a factor.  Two planes that I'm contemplating right now are the Electra and DC-3 (both have ferry versions available for longer hops), mainly because I like that era of flight and it would add some additional level of piloting skills over planes using modern GPS/auto pilot.   I'm contemplating using FSX Steam because of the better graphics over FS9.

The problem I'm finding is that it appears that all the "best" Electra (there is a customized freeware version I found) and DC-3 (MAAM) add ons out there are made for FS9 and all the FSX versions I found all seem to be lacking to some degree compared to the FS9 versions.  What I prefer in a plane add on is to have all the plane systems as completely and accurately modeled as possible more so than VC/exterior eye candy.  Looking like I will either need to compromise on the plane, if I go with FSX or the graphics if I go with FS9.

Unless someone has a different plane option for FSX that I'm not thinking about or aware of.

[Holdit 551]

If you're interested in the DC-3, you might like this:

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php/101539-Douglas_C-47_V3-12_Beta-zip

I'm not sure if it has the legs for the Hawaii-California leg, though.

My own preference would probably be the Aerosoft Twin Otter Extended, which has very detailed systems, but unfortunately even shorter legs...

Have you considered going via the Aleutians?

 

 

[charliearon 3,017]

Around the world flight...I got the perfect plane for you!   Just pack a lunch, a couple of

thermos bottles of coffee, and a couple of empty plastic gallon jugs (for obvious reasons).

No need to land and guaranteed plenty of range.  Another suggestion, since you mentioned an

Electra, I have a Volpar that I fly, but maybe not quite the needed range.  I'll do a 2nd post!

[charliearon 3,017]

I'll do a search to see if I can find any specs on the range of this aircraft.  Beech 18 Volpar.

Performance

Maximum speed: 225 mph (195 knots, 360 km/h)

Range: 1,200 mi (1,000 NM, 1,900 km) at 160 mph (260 km/h)

Service ceiling: 26,000 ft (7,930 m)

Rate of climb: 1,850 ft/min (9.4 m/s)

[Chock 17,769]

B-17 Flying Fortress might be a good choice if you want to do it in an 30s era prop plane (either the A2A B-17G or Aeroplane Heaven B-17F payware ones are good choices, both offer excellent realism, lovely virtual cockpits and nice visuals).

http://www.aeroplaneheaven.com/product_b17.php

http://www.a2asimulations.com/store/wop2_b17/

The Fortress will give you 190 knots cruise, 35,000 foot ceiling and a 2,000 mile range and can operate from relatively small airfields if you stand on the brakes, rev the engines and then release the brakes. It has an autopilot, but can be easily hand flown long distances, I've flown the A2A one across the Atlantic online in FSX in formation all the way with a friend. I've hand flown the Aeroplane Heaven version from Manchester to Bilbao too, which is I guess maybe 600 miles or so, so I know that one is easy to keep straight and level without an autopilot as well.

Might want to consider the Basler BT-67, freeware and payware ones are available, i.e. a DC-3 but thanks to the upgraded turboprop engines, with a 25,000 ft service ceiling and a 210 knot cruise speed, so you'd get it done a bit quicker. Range might be an issue (2,500 miles as standard), but you could modify the .cfg file to give it ferry tanks.

http://secure.simmarket.com/dirk-stuck-design-basler-bt-67.phtml

A high ceiling will allow you to take advantage of favourable tailwinds, which up high could be as much as a couple of hundred mph. So your range will be increased considerably by that ability, as will your groundspeed.

Other good old prop choices might include the DC-4, DC-6 and Constellation, all of which are available in several variants from numerous developers for FSX.

[HighBypass 2,339]

I did an around the world flight in FSX:SE, but it was mostly at 75000 feet in the XB-70 Valkyrie (by Virtavia), not exactly what you had in mind because she doesn't do low & slow :)

Have fun!!

[vp49p3 216]

I finished an around the world flight that began in January 2015 and ended in March 2017, with no "joy flights" in between. The legs were dictated by what scenery I wanted to fly to next, and the aircraft type for each trip was determined by the length of the flight and altitude required (e.g. Himalayas or lowlands).  I live in Florida, so I wanted to fly through lots of mountainous areas--such as the Himalayas and Rockies--instead of flat plains.  All of the sceneries used were ORBX, with the exception of Aerosoft's Antarctica.  Plan G was used for all flight planning and I'd also suggest an inexpensive globe to visualize the round the word aspect--I found it invaluable.

I started and ended in ORBX Milford Sound, NZ.  From NZ I went to Papua New Guinea and then northwest to the South China sea.  I crossed China, Russia, Europe, Norway, Iceland, and Greenland.  Then to Canada westward, and down the US West coast.  Through central America and southward along the West coast of South American, through Antarctica and then to Australia.  From Australia I then landed back in NZ where I started.

Along the way, I purchased aircraft that suited my flight plan needs, such as A2A's C172 for short hops, RealAir Duke Turbine for medium, and A2A's COTS B377 for long flights.  Sometimes the flights were 50 miles between cities in ORBX areas, and others long hauls in the B377.  I never had any real overall plan--just decided where to go next, with a general idea of what part of the world I wanted to eventually reach. 

As far as what simulator to use, I'd suggest FSX--because it has the most sceneries and aircraft available for wherever you want to fly. 

I wish you the best of luck on your journey--mine was an absolute gas and I'm very glad I did it.

 

[BEARlyThereCDN 46]

I'm doing a world tour visiting every country's capital city with my Flight1 Pilatus PC-12. I'm currently 22 legs in with over 41 hours of flight time and 8235nm behind me. At the rate I'm going, I'll be lucky if I'm done by the end of next year.

But for now, I'm having a lot of fun.

[thammond 0]

18 hours ago, Holdit said:

If you're interested in the DC-3, you might like this:

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php/101539-Douglas_C-47_V3-12_Beta-zip

I'm not sure if it has the legs for the Hawaii-California leg, though.

My own preference would probably be the Aerosoft Twin Otter Extended, which has very detailed systems, but unfortunately even shorter legs...

Have you considered going via the Aleutians?

 

 

Thanks for this info.  I was not aware of this model for the DC-3.  I will give it a try.

Tim

[MaDDogz 242]

BTW, V3.14 (VC night lighting) plus another fix, are availible in the library here.

 

https://library.avsim.net/search.php?CatID=root&SearchTerm=jahn&Sort=Added&ScanMode=0

[thammond 0]

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 1:42 PM, Chock said:

B-17 Flying Fortress might be a good choice if you want to do it in an 30s era prop plane (either the A2A B-17G or Aeroplane Heaven B-17F payware ones are good choices, both offer excellent realism, lovely virtual cockpits and nice visuals).

http://www.aeroplaneheaven.com/product_b17.php

http://www.a2asimulations.com/store/wop2_b17/

The Fortress will give you 190 knots cruise, 35,000 foot ceiling and a 2,000 mile range and can operate from relatively small airfields if you stand on the brakes, rev the engines and then release the brakes. It has an autopilot, but can be easily hand flown long distances, I've flown the A2A one across the Atlantic online in FSX in formation all the way with a friend. I've hand flown the Aeroplane Heaven version from Manchester to Bilbao too, which is I guess maybe 600 miles or so, so I know that one is easy to keep straight and level without an autopilot as well.

Might want to consider the Basler BT-67, freeware and payware ones are available, i.e. a DC-3 but thanks to the upgraded turboprop engines, with a 25,000 ft service ceiling and a 210 knot cruise speed, so you'd get it done a bit quicker. Range might be an issue (2,500 miles as standard), but you could modify the .cfg file to give it ferry tanks.

http://secure.simmarket.com/dirk-stuck-design-basler-bt-67.phtml

A high ceiling will allow you to take advantage of favourable tailwinds, which up high could be as much as a couple of hundred mph. So your range will be increased considerably by that ability, as will your groundspeed.

Other good old prop choices might include the DC-4, DC-6 and Constellation, all of which are available in several variants from numerous developers for FSX.

Didn't think about a B-17.  I'm considering it.

Do you know how accurately modeled (to the time period) the radios and auto pilots are on both of these?  From a quick review of the websites, the a2a appears to have a modern style radio and there is no mention from what I can tell about wither radio or auto pilot on the aeroplaneheaven model.

[Radial9 69]

If you decide you wish to go with a DC3 I don't understand why you don't use the MAAM DC3 in FSX. There is a full download on the MAAM site and will work just fine.

You may wish to consider joining DC3 Airways, if for no other reason they have EXCELLENT fully laid out downloadable charter route pdf's for routes around the world. Airports, headings, navaids,  distances, all of it. I have done two of them. They are OLD SCHOOL for sure, but you really get to take your time and "see the scenery" as it were. No GPS allowed. FLY the airplane! Actually navigate. What a concept.

I'm getting back into flying afer a few years off. 64bit is just too tempting and retirement is just right around the corner. Building a full tilt boogie machine for P3Dv4. Only problem is no beloved DC3 to fly in that environment. At lease none that I can find. Not too sure I want to go the Steam route. Not really the platform I want to use. I may just have to take a chance and go P3Dv4 and hope someone takes the time to build a 64bit DC3 for it.

If you go FSX, you should have no problem with the MAAM DC3. Beautiful aircraft and a joy to fly. Also check out Norm Hancock's panels for the MAAM too. VERY well done.

Cheers,

[thammond 0]

1 hour ago, Radial9 said:

If you decide you wish to go with a DC3 I don't understand why you don't use the MAAM DC3 in FSX. There is a full download on the MAAM site and will work just fine.

You may wish to consider joining DC3 Airways, if for no other reason they have EXCELLENT fully laid out downloadable charter route pdf's for routes around the world. Airports, headings, navaids,  distances, all of it. I have done two of them. They are OLD SCHOOL for sure, but you really get to take your time and "see the scenery" as it were. No GPS allowed. FLY the airplane! Actually navigate. What a concept.

I'm getting back into flying afer a few years off. 64bit is just too tempting and retirement is just right around the corner. Building a full tilt boogie machine for P3Dv4. Only problem is no beloved DC3 to fly in that environment. At lease none that I can find. Not too sure I want to go the Steam route. Not really the platform I want to use. I may just have to take a chance and go P3Dv4 and hope someone takes the time to build a 64bit DC3 for it.

If you go FSX, you should have no problem with the MAAM DC3. Beautiful aircraft and a joy to fly. Also check out Norm Hancock's panels for the MAAM too. VERY well done.

Cheers,

Thanks for the info.  I've read a few posts that say the MAAM DC-3 port to FSX isn't fully compatible and some of the features do not work correctly in FSX.  Going with the MAAM DC-3 in FSX would be my 1st choice.  Maybe I will just get it and try it out.  I have joined DC-3 Airways.  Currently getting my warthog hotas configured for the DC-3 and learning to fly it by the numbers and then will fly the training flights to become a full member.

[scianoir 610]

12 hours ago, thammond said:

I've read a few posts that say the MAAM DC-3 port to FSX isn't fully compatible and some of the features do not work correctly in FSX.  Going with the MAAM DC-3 in FSX would be my 1st choice.  Maybe I will just get it and try it out. 

Yes the MAAM DC-3 does have a few minor problems in its FSX version, which is a pity as it is an excellent aircraft and I used it extensively in FS9, but I uninstalled it from FSX. However, as has already been mentioned here, there is an absolutely excellent alternative available in the form of the C-47 from Manfred Jahn and colleagues. This is beautifully modelled both internally and externally, has excellent systems replication and is a pleasure to fly in FSX, providing a thoroughly immersive experience. Although freeware, it is of payware quality and IMO as good as if not better than many payware piston engined aircraft - certainly worth a try if you haven't already downloaded it! The other ideal option if you want an aircraft of that era with the legs to reach Hawaii is the A2A Constellation, again beautifully modelled with excellent systems replication and with a slow enough cruising speed to enjoy the scenery. Although both the C-47 and Constellation offer the option of using modern autopilot functions in a pop up window (which though not completely realistic can be useful during long overwater segments) the real pleasure of flying these airliners is immersing yourself in the technology of the era and refreshing your navigation skills using just the VOR and ADF without the aid of a GPS.

Whatever you decide to use, enjoy your flight!

Bill

[charliearon 3,017]

2 hours ago, scianoir said:

 There is an absolutely excellent alternative available in the form of the C-47 from Manfred Jahn and colleagues. This is beautifully modelled both internally and externally, has excellent systems replication and is a pleasure to fly in FSX, providing a thoroughly immersive experience. Although freeware, it is of payware quality and IMO as good as if not better than many payware piston engine aircraft - certainly worth a try if you haven't already downloaded it!

Also fun to turn on the intercom and listen to some of the wild things said by the  copilot and especially the stewardess!