I read somewhere that because Russian airspace is closed to most airlines flights from Tokyo to London Heathrow now route over Alaska, Greenland and Iceland before entering UK airspace off Scotland.

So today I decided to give it a go. 7,082nm took 13h 52m in the PMDG 777-200. x4 acceleration where possible helped bring actual time down to just under five hours.

The advantage flying this direction is you depart at 07:45 local and land around 14:30 the same day having crossed the IDL west to east.

It’s very satisfying when everything goes according to plan. Not a single blip from P3D v5.3HF2 either. 

I just took that route last week, coming back from Tokyo to Helsinki in real life.

One correction though: you land the same day, not the next day as you wrote. It's when you go toward Japan that you land the next day.

EDIT: also, Alaska is not the only possible route, since planes can also chose the southern route passing under Russia. It all depends on the high altitude winds. Last year, my flight between Helsinki and Tokyo took the north pole route both on going and return, but this year, the going was southern route and the return was north pole 🙂

 

Edited October 22, 2025Oct 22 by Daube

49 minutes ago, Daube said:

One correction though: you land the same day, not the next day as you wrote. It's when you go toward Japan that you land the next day.

I should have remembered that because as a kid I sailed back to England from Australia and Monday was followed by Monday as we crossed the IDL. 😁

49 minutes ago, Daube said:

planes can also chose the southern route passing under Russia. It all depends on the high altitude winds.

I’ll have a look at that routing. Is it shorter than the Alaska one? Did you sleep most of the way?

That sounds like an interesting flight Ray. I know you use RC4 for atc. If so did it function well under time compress? Over the years I’ve often wondered what air traffic procedures are like flying in Russian or Chinese airspace.

I think the longest flight I did was Brasilia to Beijing back in FS9 with PSS777. And after that I swapped to Feelthere and fly to Chengdu, Then switch to another small jet and fly somewhere, total 33 hours without exit the simulator.

Back when CTD was not a thing to worry about... 

6 hours ago, Patco Lch said:

That sounds like an interesting flight Ray. I know you use RC4 for atc. If so did it function well under time compress? Over the years I’ve often wondered what air traffic procedures are like flying in Russian or Chinese airspace.

It was fine Vic. I wasn’t in either of those countries airspace. That’s why the route was much longer. The upside is you arrive on the same day as you leave due to crossing the IDL west to east.

10 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I’ll have a look at that routing. Is it shorter than the Alaska one? Did you sleep most of the way?

I haven't really measured the distance, but i believe it's a bit longer. With such distances, the flight time is greatly influenced by high altitude winds anyways, so the flight time depends on how lucky you are on that day 😄

The north pole route sounds like the most interesting one, but truth is you fly over a infinite sea of clouds which lets you see nothing below. Not ice, no water, just clouds. A bit boring, to be honest. And yes, finally a big part of the flight, which lasts between 14 and 15 hours, was spend sleeping or watching movies...

@Daube, the advantage of flying west to east is the likelihood of a tail wind which could reduce flight time considerably. So flying south of Russia would have two disadvantages - head winds and longer route.

By the time I arrived over Alaska it was night and remained so until over Greenland. Even if it was cloud-free there’s nothing to see.

I flew Johannesburg to Heathrow back in 2008. The 747 took 55 seconds to get airborne. 14,500ft runway at 5,000ft up. 😳

9 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I flew Johannesburg to Heathrow back in 2008. The 747 took 55 seconds to get airborne. 14,500ft runway at 5,000ft up. 😳

Last time I flew to Sydney from JHB was in the 747 and it rattled and shook so much on take-off ( also extremely long), I thought it was falling to pieces. As I am still here, it obviously didn't.

On 10/22/2025 at 8:23 AM, Ray Proudfoot said:

x4 acceleration where possible helped bring actual time down to just under five hours.

It’s very satisfying when everything goes according to plan. Not a single blip from P3D v5.3HF2 either. 

I hear the other sims frequently CTD on final after a long haul in a complex airliner at accelerated time. 
(Not sure myself as I fly everything as a short haul regional 🤣)

Always a fun exercise to pick a simulation flight based on IRL circumstances or locations in the news 🤙

glad it turned out well for you and that you’re enjoying the 777!

I don’t accelerate until cruise and as soon as RC wants me down it’s back to normal speed.

Having a stable sim is worth ten in the bush! 😁

Sounds like fun, Ray, but don't you have to sit at the computer the whole time to attend to RC4's instructions?   Those controllers can get a bit testy when you don't answer their calls promptly 🙂

That's why I only use RC4 for shorter flights.   The longest one I ever did was VHHH to KJFK.   I think it was using the PMDG 777X and I had to go light on the cargo load 🙂

2 minutes ago, SnoBrit said:

Sounds like fun, Ray, but don't you have to sit at the computer the whole time to attend to RC4's instructions?   Those controllers can get a bit testy when you don't answer their calls promptly 🙂

Don’t you use Otto? Your handy co-pilot who handles comms for you?

Even doing that RC can miss a waypoint especially with x4 engaged. If it happens to be talking to another aircraft it stops monitoring your next waypoint.  It will then instruct you to do a one eighty to get credit.

The solution is to use 9 then request Direct to your next waypoint in the CDU.

I monitor the  DU for when step climbs are needed. Drop the sim down to x1 for those of course.

I generally fly with my VA and they do not allow time acceleration. If I did a 13 hour flight, it would be just that: 13 hours.

On a long flight, I usually get up to cruise level and go do something else, only coming back to check occasionally that everything is proceeding OK. RC is set to pause at 200nm out. Then I attend to the landing.

Edited October 27, 2025Oct 27 by IanHarrison

Ian, that’s why I’m not interested in VA. Fine for some though.