Pete McKay

I started my first VA in November 1997, an original concept thing called Air Fresno. It lasted off and on for 17 years before I just gave up trying to stay up with technology and 'real world' airlines. I stopped flying altogether in 2016 after abandoning an around the world in flight in a GA aircraft. After going back and looking at all of the stuff VA's are doing now I don't think I could even be a pilot for a small technical VA. I applaud you guys for going the distance though, VA's have come such a long way.

February 10, 2013 - After a day and a half off the flu caught up with me (for real). I was supposed to make two flghts today, Port Moresby to Mackay and then onto Sydney. With a low grade temperature and anything I ate making an expidited exit it was doubtful I'd make it to the plane, much less the 713 nm to my first destination. I would be flying this day with the company of another King Air, a new 350, all the way to Mackay (thank you AI gnenerator). Much of the flight would be over water, and flown at FL240. We ran the weather and saw a large storm develoiping northeast of Cairns, we'd be heading past at about 9:00 AM as it gained strength. We'd also have the help of a tailwind, so at 8:00 AM I fired engines and taxied out of Port Moresby in the hoped of reaching Mackay in 3 hours. I climbed out 8 minutes behind the other King Air, 35 minutes later we overtook them with the help of that 280+ knot headwind 6 miles to the west and led them the rest of the way into Mackay. The clouds picked up near Cairns, developing into a full fledged thunderstorm below me. 2 hours and 30 minutes later I began my approach into Mackay and through the clouds that had developed there, it was just under 8 miles visibility and hazy on the final, I shut down the engines 8 minutes before the second King Air landed, just as the rain began. I was towed to the fuel station, exited the plane and promptly dry heaved for 3 minutes. My ground crew mamanger immediately grounded me with a 102 degree flu (again, really) and pushed the plane into the hanger. It would be a few days before I would be resuming my trip around the world. At least I knew I'd have decent food here in Australia.

There's going to be a couple day delay on resuming the trip, real wolrd events are sort of taking presidence right now.

LOL, I am sooo tempted at this point. I am guilt of canceling my IFR and going to take an hour nap on a a couple of the flights. I have a set of wireless headphones I will wear and sometimes I'm in another part of the house when I get handed off. It's a mad dash to the keyboard to respond and then back to doing whatever.

Generally speaking I have done anything I can to make this trip more realistic. One of the things I have been using has been the real weather as provided by the default FS9 programming. I always verify that weather by looking at the real weather in the area. Today's flight failed that test. The FS9 real WX said that D'jayapura was clear and sunny, same with Port Moresby, but the internet showed me something completely different. The satellite showed essentially the whole of Papau New Guinea socked in and rain falling at my departure location. Port Moresby was clear, and would remain so for the next few hours, so I dialed in a cold front with rain and started my flight. ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Day 7 (February 7, 2013) - Today would be an easy day although the rain in D'jayapura was concerning. The call was for clearing but a direct flight would put me in sour weather most of the trip. I filed a flight plan that would first take me south towards Merauke, then I would turn east to Port Moresby. It would add 100 nm. to my trip but since this was the only flight for the day I decided the extra time was worth it. The plan worked out fine, about 20 minutes out the clouds below broke and it was partly cloudy the rest of the way into Moresby. I landed in beautiful clear weather after a 3 hour flight. I would have the next day off, a whole Friday to relax, swim and enjoy being a tourist for a change. This leg of the trip put me over the 10,000 nm distance for the trip, and I had flown a total of 45.1 hours the last 7 days. Saturday I would be Australia bound, and into friendly and familiar skies.

Day 6 (February 6, 2013) I was looking forward to getting out of Manila, most of the night was spent coughing and gagging in the stale air that seemed to settle in the airport area. My 7:00 AM departure time was welcomed, so much so that I cut breakfast short in order to get aboard the aircraft and breathe its Hepa filtered air. I climbed out of a hazy northern Philippine sky heading for FL240, today I would cover the length of the islands with an expected arrival in Davao 2 hours later. About 40 minutes into the trip the air below me filled with storm clouds, the islands of Panay and Cebu were enjoying a mid-morning thunderstorm. Up here some 10,000’ above the clouds I flew on in nearly still air, drinking my diet Coke and munching a bag of nacho Cheese Doritos in a 68 degree cabin. I started my approach into Davao’s beautiful clear skies, touching down just after 9:00 AM local time. I taxied in and refueled and was struck by how friendly everyone was, they asked curious questions about my trip, and showed great interest in the aircraft. I was given a small package of aluminum foil wrapped Lumpias, a sort of cabbage filled egg roll popular with the locals. It was a shame to leave such hospitality but at 11:00 AM I once again taxied out, heading to cross the Equator and a restful evening in D’jayapura. This leg would be over 1,300 nm, just over 5 hours and I would maintain FL240 for the duration. At 1:48 PM local time, 5:58 Zulu I crossed the Equator into the southern hemisphere just north of the island of Waigoo, some 45 nm north of Sorong Mainland International Airport (WAOA). My journey into the southeast hemisphere achieved one of the goals of this trip (three down, one to go), the other being spending one night on each continent, including Antarctica (Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Martin, George Island, Antarctica (SCRM) would be reached from Puerto Williams, Magallanes, Chile (SCGZ)). Just 2 hours and 15 minutes later I arrived at D’jayapura, I had been on duty 9 hours and 16 minutes. Port Moresby lay 573 nm away, I could do it in 2 ½ hours without complications, arriving before my 12 hour on duty time lapsed, but with only a 15 minute margin of error. A go-around would put me in violation; a 50 knot headwind would put me over time as well. If I made the flight I’d have 2 days off instead of one and a half, two days sounded a lot better than a day and a half. But in the time it took me to consider all my options that 15 minute margin evaporated, I resigned myself to making a flight tomorrow and just enjoy the afternoon tomorrow and the next day off in Port Moresby.

Viper, I had a similar incident while clearing customs going to the UK a few years ago. It was after 9/11 and we were still allowed to take food on board with us, I got a Subway sandwich on board in my carry on. I never ate it in flight and when we arrived in London 9 hours later the smell was pretty strong (it was a hoagie). A customs dog picked up the smell, they opened my bag and immediately seized the sandwich thinking it was there to cover the scent of something else. They found nothing of course but never gave me back the sub. I can't imagine them eating it but having Scottish relatives I know some people will eat just about anything.

Day 5 (February 5, 2013) The 6th day of the trip would be the easiest, on paper anyways. Three short flights with "Two-Bravo-Charlie" that should easily be made in the 12 hours I would be allowed on duty, seeing Taiwan and Hong Kong before heading over the Manila for the night. Departing military aircraft work me up in Naha at 6:00AM, no snooze button for that and I would have to be in the air in an hour anyway. After a short breakfast and preflight I taxied out right at 7:00 AM. Altitude would only be 16,000’ for the first two legs, high winds aloft were the main reason but a concern about the aircraft pressurization system would have to wait until Hong Kong to sort out. The weather was hazy and muggy, rain was expected but I’d be long gone by then. The hop was otherwise uneventful, it was cloudy but not to the point an ILS approach was needed. As I taxied to parking I was met by three sharply dressed Taiwanese military officers, the “Customs Department Inspectors”. I had expected a cursory inspection of my documents and the aircraft, what resulted was a 2 hour and 15 minute hold where every panel that could be opened was, photographed and then allowed to be closed. A small piece of red tape was placed over the joint to make sure it wasn’t reopened. Everything on board was checked and my lunch was confiscated. I guess 3 pieces of fried chicken and some potato salad was contraband, they did give me back my 6 pack of Japanese diet Coke. By the time I rolled out of Taipei at 11:30 I was an hour and a half behind schedule for Hong Kong, and that would mean a later arrival into Manila. I again maintained the 16,000’ ceiling on the flight into Hong Kong, and after dodging heavies heading east bound I got a nice approach through the 5 mile overcast, shutting the engines down at exactly 1:00 PM. The cabin technician had just left for lunch, I paged him back and in fast order he found and fixed my problem. He had a good chuckle as I walked around the aircraft removing two dozen small pieces of red tape, he’d seen it before. He asked what I had for lunch, when I explained he said that some officer had a nice meal after I left, he’d seen that before as well. I taxied out at 2:30 PM and made for Manila 625 nm away. I know it would be just after dark before I arrived, I hoped it was going to be nice weather. I was able to make FL240 on the trip to Manila; it was smooth air with a moderate cross wind but no turbulence. Again the flight was uneventful and just as I started my approach the sun was low on the horizon. The lights of the most densely populated city in the world were spread out beneath me as far as I could see, even the harbor was filled with the lights of thousands of small boats. It was 88 degrees, hazy and there was a slight cross wind when I touched down on Runway 6 at 6:05PM, when I shut my engines down at 6:30 darkness had fallen. I logged out 11 hours and 30 minutes after logging in this morning; I had 30 minutes left before I would have been out of time. I hadn’t really thought about what I would have done had I run out in flight, it wasn’t an option I had explored. As I stood on the tarmac securing the aircraft I was breaking a sweat, it was funny, just 3 days earlier I was shivering while wearing a ski suit in a sub-zero sleeping bag in an office at Adak. Tomorrow I’d be crossing the Equator into the summer of the southern Hemisphere; freezing wouldn’t be so much of an issue.

Brandon, what little I've been looking at FSX since I got the new laptop capable of running it with frame rates faster than something akin to a slide show, I like it. I'm getting in the 20's to mid 30's with most scenery selected but with the drawn distances down to about 60 miles. I have noticed some issues especially with the dynamic traffic though, I was chasing big rigs in the motorized hang glider, trying to see if I could land on one (yeah, I'm like that) and noticed the traffic comes to a complete halt about every 5 seconds. I'm not sure if that's my refresh rate or what, maybe you can help shed some light on that for me here (if it doesn't violate someones rules). I think what the other FS9 fans have expressed is that we (collectively) have spent so much time and money on things for our FS9 that to consider doing the same for FSX would be reason for divorce or worse. I run a lot of extras and right now I have my FS9 settings turned to the max on everything, MIP's are about 4, and I'm getting 75-90 FPS even in high density areas WITH add-ons. Alan, yeah no lingering effects, but for some reason my coffee got hotter as I flew over. Not sure what to make of that. At Naha I was able to make late Chow Call at the air base, and left myself a note to take some anti-diarrhea pills before tomorrows flight.

Day 4 ( February 4, 2013) Sunrise in Nakashibetsu was cold but clear, it was 36 degrees by the time we got to the aircraft. There had been talk about damage in town from the 6.9 quake from Saturday but I saw little if anything out of the ordinary. At 9:00 AM local I took off and turned to the south for this long 1,430 nm flight over the Japanese homeland. Today I’d be going tip to tip, it was going to be a very long day. Just above FL180 I found that nasty headwind again, the time though it was blowing against me 90 degrees to my starboard and making for a very rough ride. I was still making 170 knots ground speed, so I stuck with my FL240 cruise altitude, if I had to divert for fuel I had plenty of choices between here and Kagoshima. A little over two hours into the flight I was over Fukushima, the turbulence evened out, and even though I still had that pesky wind I picked up to 230 knots ground speed. I was disappointed that clouds obscured the mountains west of Tokyo, Mount Fuji would have to be seen another day I guess. A little while further and the clouds broke over the Port of Nagoya, the snow on the ground was only patchy here, I could see the farm fields between all of the small towns along the eastern coast. As I passed east of Nagano the turbulence was back but not as severe as it was starting this leg, and as I began my approach into Kagoshima a light rain had begun the fall, the broken overcast was just clear enough that an ILS landing was not necessary. Once I got out of the plane I realized how bad the turbulence had been. I felt like I had been in a prize fight and lost. Both sides hurt from being hurled against the seat arm rests, and my neck had a case of minor whiplash. As the plane was refueled I got a quick 15 minute massage at the and grabbed an amazingly good American style hamburger at the Nanohana Sky Lounge on the second floor of the domestic terminal. Two hours after landing I was again starting up the turboprop, this time for a relatively short hop to Naha Air Base just 381 nm south. I lifted off at 4:30PM; I figured I’d get to Naha just after sunset. I spoke with my support team in Naha on the radio; I would be changing aircraft there. Zero-Sierra-Delta would be swapped out for an aircraft set up to fly in a warmer climate and would have onboard quarters for sleeping at planned destinations that would require a bit more security for the aircraft. It would also have a better set of navigation instruments that I would need for longer flights with fewer NAVAIDS. Much of my flying would be GPS until I got to Europe a few weeks from now. I was right, just as the sun sank in the Pacific I touched down at Naha in a light rain, it was almost 5:30 PM local, dinner with my crew was at 7. I had enough time to get a shower at the hanger and go check out the next King Air, N352BC or Two-Baker-Charlie as it would be known. I would have 2BC with me until I arrived in Singapore, where I would swap for another company supplied King Air. Tomorrow would be another long day with Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines on the visit list. It would be nightfall again before I found my way to bed in Manila.

Harald, I "own" a private BBJ I and a BBJ II: The BBJ I is based in Europe and the BBJ II is in Los Angeles. I painted both of them a few years ago for VA projects that never "took off". My "Daily Flyer" is a Socota TBM.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. Avoiding Namibia and especially Angola is a priority, I'm considering back-tracking to Pretoria and head north to Lubumbashi, Bujumbura and then it's the very long jump to Lagos. I originally had plans to have a stop in Israel, I think now that I'll avoid that part of the middle east completely and just head to Europe from Casablanca.

Alan, who knows what will happen. I do plan on doing an RTW in FSX this summer, depending on which was more entertaining I may be back. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to get from Capetown to Morocco without getting the plane shot up.

Something else I might need to clarify, I am flying this real time, real weather. When I say real weather, I make my flights generally in the day time Pacific US time, so that might make it nighttime in say, Japan, but I fly it in the daytime with the correct date and time of day dialed in. So the weather conditions may wind up being 12 hours off of what is really happening. Like this evening's flight, Nakashibetsu's weather was happening "now" (Saturday) but the time I dialed in was their local time for Sunday morning there. Confused? Simply, the current weather where the trip takes me will be real but it will only be current to my time zone, not the dialed in time in the area I'm flying in.

LOL, not going east guys, heading west... This is tentative at this point but this would essentially be the next two and a half to three weeks. I'm looking at this trip now taking about five weeks if..IF I fly every day. We shall see.