Long Haul in MSFS PMDG DC6

[psolk 3,040]

So up until this week most of my flights with MSFS have been 60 minutes or less.  I did one of a couple of hours in the 390 from NJ to Road America in Wisconsin.  This week I decided to let the DC-6 stretch her legs.  KSFO-PHOG, ~8 1/2 hours flight time.

Flight 1 I got all the way to Maui and it was 1 mile visibility.   My precious DC6 is still wedged into the side of the mountain. 

Flight 2 I forgot about that pesky fuel management.  Flamed out and spiraled into the sea.  They are still looking for my DC-6 somewhere in the Pacific 3/4 of the way to PHOG.

Flight 3 yesterday I made it!  Finally got fuel and performance numbers right, minimal AFE usage (more when real SOP would use the FE)  got the fuel transfer procedures right and 9 hours after leaving KSFO we touched down in PHOG.  

So for me at least this is optimistic that MSFS can indeed handle the long haul without issue which is not where my mindset placed it.  Just personally this leaves me very optimistic for the future of long haul in MSFS.  I can also say 9 hours of managing the DC6 was very rewarding.  For a brief moment over the Pacific I dropped back into the cabin and it really felt like we were heading to Hawaii for vacation 60 years ago.  Sat there staring out the window at the whitecaps below listening to those glorious engines and it really immersed me in the moment.  

That's all.  No complaints, comparisons etc just my own positive experience.  

 

[RobF2 150]

How dare you come here posting your upbeat positive experiences with MSFS!  🙂  🙂 

 

[GCBraun 2,392]

Did a couple of long-haul flights on the DC-6 (without the FE) and I agree that they can be quite rewarding from a simulation perspective (I thought that was not possible on MSFS?).

On the post-SU5 world, I only seem to have problems on longer flights using the FBW (2 tries and 2 CTD's).

[ryanbatc 12,856]

We need pics Paul!  Great story too.

[psolk 3,040]

7 minutes ago, ryanbatcund said:

We need pics Paul!  Great story too.

I'm still figuring that part out Ryan!!  

As my crew always says, "you just drive, leave the rest to us" LOL!!!    I wish I did have pics though, the lumbering climb leaving the California coast and cliffs then finally spotting that first spec of land and approaching the Maui coastline was pretty immersive to say the least! 

Edited August 26, 2021 by psolk

[kaosfere 3,115]

6 hours ago, psolk said:

KSFO-PHOG, ~8 1/2 hours flight time.

Did you do this using the GPS?    If so, your next step for even greater satisfaction is to do it the old school way, using the celestial navigation package on fs.to.  😁

(Disclaimer:  not the creator, but I did help him with compilation and packaging.)

[Mace 1,927]

23 minutes ago, kaosfere said:

Did you do this using the GPS?    If so, your next step for even greater satisfaction is to do it the old school way, using the celestial navigation package on fs.to.  😁

(Disclaimer:  not the creator, but I did help him with compilation and packaging.)

How about dead reckoning.

I once dead reckoned across the Atlantic in the sim.  Gander to Shannon was the intention. I ended up in Scotland, in a bog.  Just like John Alcock and Arthur Whitten-Brown in that Vickers Vimy all those years ago.  It was fun not knowing exactly where I was.

I also flew the DC-6 from Seattle to Anchorage, then from Anchorage to Tokyo.  This would have been like 2002 / CalClassics DC-6 era.

One flight I want to do, is use the Wing42 Boeing 247 and dead reckon and pilotage from Los Angeles to New York.  I don't know if that airplane will come equipped with an NDB or VOR (I doubt VOR but you never know) but I think I'll try to not use any radio navigation.

[kaosfere 3,115]

Just now, Mace said:

One flight I want to do, is use the Wing42 Boeing 247 and dead reckon and pilotage from Los Angeles to New York.

I've been looking forward to doing something very similar when it comes out.  🙂

[RichieFly 728]

7 hours ago, psolk said:

... Flamed out and spiraled into the sea...

This is my epitaph. I didn't say you could use it, but that's OK.

[chickster25 153]

Did you actually do the 9 hour flight in full with manual control or did you use any time acceleration or leave in auto pilot once at FL?

[Mike S KPDX 597]

Probably minimized potential CTD's due to literally no overflight scenery.  Either way, good job.

[psolk 3,040]

14 hours ago, chickster25 said:

Did you actually do the 9 hour flight in full with manual control or did you use any time acceleration or leave in auto pilot once at FL?

No time acceleration, yes to A/P at FL but I have two desks in my office, one is for my simulator so i can sit and watch it my entire work day for fuel management etc... 

Thanks everyone!  Turns out yesterday I moved even further across the Pacific, PHOG-PKMJ in the Marshall Islands. Another 9 hours done and my DC-6 is in for engine maintenance overnight topping off oil levels as I "really" should have checked those before I left PHOG... 

[psolk 3,040]

16 hours ago, kaosfere said:

Did you do this using the GPS?    If so, your next step for even greater satisfaction is to do it the old school way, using the celestial navigation package on fs.to.  😁

(Disclaimer:  not the creator, but I did help him with compilation and packaging.)

I did...  I cheated 🙂   But I will say just having to do your own descent calculations makes this very rewarding when you hear the gear up/down call to the AFE and you haven't had to touch the throttles for almost 100 miles.  Really good fun!

[rtodepart 761]

i had been doing long hauls  for a long time now enjoy it alot , dont own the DC6 yet , my last one was yesterday OMDB to KJFK default 787 i think i had 3 hours of sleep woke up just before it was time to start coming down . I try to plan long huals for when i actually have the time to monitor at least 70% of the flight .. now a days i used navigraph on my tablet to move around the house and monitor the flight from the tablet and every once in a while ill sneak in to my studio/office  take a quick look . 

Edited August 27, 2021 by rtodepart

[AnkH 2,266]

I would love to do such long haul flights, but as my simming sessions are limited to 2-3h, it is impossible for me... I am no big fan of time acceleration, and I guess MSFS is also not very happy with it, not even to speak about the addon plane. That is why I loved the QW 787 with its jump ahead feature, this was great as I could basically put whatever flight into my 2-3h window.