March 20, 20215 yr A recent 4-Part (10-leg) post of an interesting Alaskan trip by a member, here, brought my mind (back) to Alaska, for this post of mine. If you're not a local to the state or this region (neither am I), imagine this...Alaska is the largest state by area in the U.S. and (geographically) is not bordered by any other U.S. state. Nearly 50% of its land is (still) uninhabited, to this modern day...so, even now, if one is adventurous enough (and bit of a daredevil), it's possible to set foot on some areas of Alaska, where no human has ever treaded before...(though, one might need that (MSFS) XCub, to do so...🙂...) Valdez, Alaska, is never too far from my mind, because I recall, well, the details, from the news etc., of the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, in the Prince William Sound Sound, Alaska, (we'll pass close by its vicinity in this (virtual) 777F flight). On March 24, 1989, in the middle of the night, at four minutes after midnight, the Exxon oil tanker, bound for Long Beach, California, with 53 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil on-board, struck Bligh Island Reef, and ran aground, near Prince William Sound Sound. The Sound's difficult and remote location (you may examine the maps on-line, if you wish), made the recovery exercise an extreme challenge. A trivia: in the Wiki, I noted today, that Exxon Valdez had featured in the 1995 film "Waterworld", as the flagship of the movie's villain. I was thus reminded of this tanker and my own seeing of that film "25" years ago (hard to believe a quarter century has passed already...🙂...), but, I still recall glimpses of the Kevin Costner's character (Mariner) and, especially the child Enola, actually, more than the villain, "Deacon", a role which was played by Dennis Hopper, (you may also recall him from the thriller drama “Speed"...)... Anyway, back to my post...I fly here the (CS) 777F model. I'd flown the 777 Pax in recent past, but have not flown the 777 Freighter in years. I'm fond of the 777 (most of my oceanic (RW) travels were in the 777), and I love freighters too, whether it's the small (bygone) B727-100/B737-200, or the massive (and modern) B747-8. Having already had the base (CF) 777 model in my (virtual) hangar, I installed, today, the 777F variant (first time), just for this post, and have flown it, here, (FMS guided - see screenshots) between PANC (Anchorage) and Valdez Pioneer (PAVD), which is actually a very short distance (I didn't know this) of just over 100 miles (as the crows flies, of course). Here, however, yours truly, has taken the liberty of (virtual) Captain's privilege, and has concocted a zig-zag route, see ND shots, for a bit of sightseeing (and excitement) over some of the coldest, harshest, but, breathtakingly beautiful terrain in Alaska, passing under my plane, between these two locations, (where snowy peaks, glaciers, and lakes abound - see screenshots). BTW, the (roundabout) road-trip between these two cities spans ~300 miles, 3 times the direct distance, and takes about 6 hours, bypassing, the terrain, we'll effortlessly overfly, here, from the comfortable cockpit of our (virtual) 777...🙂... My CS 777F performed well, for me, in terms of LNAV/VNAV guidance etc.. I kept the cruise level low, to altitude 15,000 feet, and the green (T/C) and (T/D) marks appeared, correctly, on my route, as expected, (see ND shots). Also, the "RESET MCP ALTITUDE" and "DRAG REQUIRED" FMC messages, duly, appeared, as (thankful) reminders for this "non-pilot" simmer, and, I obediently, then, set the lower altitude on MCP and dragged the Speed Brake down, to comply with and remove these messages. Please note, too, in the (final) screenshots, as we make our way through the congested channels and islands of Prince William Sound, towards Rwy 06 (PAVD), we are passing by in close proximity of Bligh Reef (on our LHS), the site of the (infamous) Exxon Valdez Oil Spill... Hope you enjoy this account and the set of images, below, of the impressive 777 Freighter, in the esteemed color of the cargo giant, FedEx. Thanks for your interest, and comments...!! [CS(777F), Orbx(AK/PAVD), REX] Edited March 20, 20215 yr by P_7878
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.