SFO to LAX and SAN and back

[Hans_Petter 1]

A couple of days ago I flew from SFO to LAX in a Baron. I guess that flight took a couple of hours. The next day I flew from LAX to SAN.Since the original flight started in the SanFran region I got the SanFran map as the flights loaded. OK, I'm in the outer terrain but the sim still seems to be in SanFran mode? I decided to check this out. Tonight I flew direct from SAN to SFO. I chose the Beechjet to save time and went high to gain true speed. Since I've been unable to find true speed in FU3 I just assume that the sim takes this into account. Can anybody confirm this? I cruised at 40,000 ft doing 210 kias. This ought to translate to about 450 ktas. It took me about an hour to reach the SanFran region.And, here's a point -- I spotted the light green hue of SanFran from far away, meaning that the region was already loaded. Hence, there was no "Do you want to load the SanFran region?" since it was loaded already. My point is, since I started out from SanFran originally the sim was still in SanFran mode -- a flight out of San Diego starting from the Seattle /OT region would have caused the "Do you want to load?" prompt before I could view SanFran.The FU3 world looks blocky at 40,000 ft. The horizon comes in haphazard segments and I assume that this is because FU3 uses a flat map. In other words, the tiles aren't draping a round world and when you're high enough this really shows. Still, once you get below 20,000 ft everything looks great.Screenshots:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/96466.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/96467.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/96468.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/96469.jpgHans Petter

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Nice shots! Your air speed is on the RH display (above the waypoint information as TAS, and your ground speed towards a designated VOR/DME can be found by clicking on the DME readout (in knots).I haven't flown high wide and handsome like that for ages. But I remember flying into San Fran a few times in the Lear45 in FU3 - it was a great feeling of accomplishment.Stuffed up the landings though.RobD.

[Hans_Petter 1]

Rob wrote: Your air speed is on the RH display (above the waypoint information as TAS, and your ground speed towards a designated VOR/DME can be found by clicking on the DME readout (in knots).I found it! TAS 426. I would expect to find ktas and ground speed somewhere on the GPS display. For those who may not see the point:An aircraft flies faster the higher it cruises. While the airspeed stays the same (or even drops a bit) the true speed increases with altitude.Why?The airspeed indicator is really a ram pressure indicator. When the air gets thinner it takes a higher speed to create the same ram pressure. Since the aircraft is surfing on air it takes about the same amount of energy to overcome a given ram pressure, irrespective of air density and true speed. This means that an aircraft gains more speed way up in thin air. It flies at a modest INDICATED speed and handles according to that same indicated speed but the real speed is much higher. Jets are particularly suited for high flight levels since the engines don't lose much power with altitude. Thus, a high flight level is the best way to go fast without straining the fuselage / using more fuel.You will easily double the true speed :-)Hans Petter

[Guest glidernut]

So not only dus FU3 retane the last airport but the last mode as well, Well spoted.I set off from settle to sanfran in the stemme folowing the cost line,but I only a short way bifor giving up and finishing the trip in the zor mode.Cum to think of it, Iv never dun it properly.glidernut

[Guest R_Driscoll]

I forgot that for the Beechjet, there is both a TAS and a GS (ground speed) indicator. But for most other planes, if you have a DME, you can click on the distance readout and it measures the component of speed in the straightline between you and the DME.Glidernut, you would have to be a nut to try flying a glider from Seattle to San Fran. You need to move up a class or two, pull the old 747 out of the back of your garage, dust it off, bit of sewing machine oil on the landing gear, flaps, slats and rear vision mirror, hook it to the back of your favourite car, tow it down to your local airstrip, pack your munchies and your old high school map of the world and take off! There's a few airstrips along the way if you need a refreshing cuppa, and before you know it, you'll be rolling into the Bay with the fog.And if you don't know how to fly a 747 (good grief - who in the world doesn't know how to fly a 747?) I'll let you in on Boeing's little secrets - fly it like the Stemme (although a longer runway is a good idea) and if the stall warning sounds, trim down, if the overspeed warning sounds, trim up (that's what Boeing tells its test pilots). Just don't try switching off the motor, retracting the prop and gliding.All the best, and may your pitot tubes never block.RobD.