OK, we all know the theme song and opening scene to the old TV show of the same name and so I just had to do it....
Did you know I have been pulling my hair out with HAL_I7? He will run smooth for a few days and then all of a sudden I will get constant BSOD for no apparent reason. Even after setting him back to to default values (after I had him running well at 4.0Ghz) the X58 chip set turns out is really finicky. The memory controller is now on the CPU that has made it a world of fun getting HAL_I7 to run stable.
Anyway, long story short I spent most of the past week tweaking ram timings and voltages instead of sim flying. But I *think* I found a sweet spot and HAL_I7 is running like a champ again.
So with limited time I put my money where my mouth is and did a short hop general aviation flight in the Carenado Bonanza F33A from Stark's Twin Oaks airport (7S3) in Oregon, to Walter Sutton's private air strip (WA79) in Washington state just across the Columbia River Gorge.
The two airports are only 40nm apart but the weather in the area made it fun and challenging. Wind was from the north at 10kts, gusting to 20kts with clouds 5'000 broken and light rain showers in the area at 12C.
Taking off from runway 20 at Stark's I turned north west and then tuned the Newburg VOR and tracked the 340 radial for 35 DME keeping me well clear of the KPDX airspace. Once at 35 DME I turned to a heading of 070 and headed just north of Woodland State airport (W27). Just after Woodland, on the southern shores of lake Merwin, high on the ridge, is Walters Private Strip......
Runway 20 7S3
Walter's is as basic as it gets. Being just a mowed field in the middle of a farm. I have done this flight many times in the sim and always have the same issue, finding Walter's in the middle of all the other farms. I know it is 40 DME on the 010 radial for Newburg and in line with the little hill named "Tum-Tum". But with the rain and me getting knocked around pretty good it was hard to hold my heading, watch the ridges (MSA is 4'900FT) and look for Walter's place down below. I always find it hard to spot......
Walter's Private Strip off my left wing
After finding Walter's I had to circle around the airport about three times to shed some speed and get lined up (the F33A is a racy bugger). Setting up for an approach here is tough as the field is in a bowl of sorts with trees at the west end and a small ridge at the east end. I ended up making a curved approach and salvaged a pretty good landing really for the poor approach.
Best I could do.....
I would end up cleaning the long grass off the Bonanza at the end of the day as I had a tough time keeping her on the small center line of the narrow area that is mowed for the runway. Notice no runways numbers? The are simply called "east" and "west"......
Walter shot this one, scary huh?
In reality I find this airport much easier to cope with in the 172 or even more suited for the Piper Cub. The F33A is a little too sleek for my skills here. It was not a flight to be proud of for me. Not to mention it would be wiser to fly here on a nicer day as far as the weather goes.....
Time to clean the grass off of her......
40 minutes on the log.....I'm hankering for an airline flight, maybe next weekend.....
7 comments:
Al
I love Starks and Walters place. Will be stopping by Starks on my way back to Colorado in a few days.
Love the photos man.
Jerry
Skillful flying, I must say...
It looks like a handful to land it on that short runway in those conditions.
Hmm, I would have gone with the 172 too...
The scenery is stunning, btw.
It's holidays here all week so time for an airline trip at my end too.
The ORBX team has made FSX really come to life. The are also very friendly guys and the best part is they are also simmers.
@ Jerry: I was reading that on your blog (you heading to Stark's) say hello to them for me! Looking forward to the flight details and images...
@ Onur: Cannnot wait to see you in the air again Onur. Heading to Berlin still?
Yup, Berlin it is.
I have the plans for the Air Baltic EVRA - EDDT and back sitting around for a while, it would be a shame to waste them.
First the new Medal of Honor and then COD Black Ops coming out right after has really put a pause on my flying.
Yep, Made it to Stark's today. It's raining! Will stick around Stark's until Friday then begin heading towards Colorado.
Told the kind folks at Stark's you said hello. They said you are welcome to return anytime. I think Walter Sutton would like you to return in the spring to do a little grass cutting. :-)
Pretty cool, Al; Orbx looks amazing. I gave up real-world GA flying last year, but shots like that are almost as good.
Thanks for the comment Pitts! I have to agree, FTX/ORBX have made me actually like FSX.....
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