Tampa Bay

Well the goal of doing 100 flight reports total for 2010 between Clear Left and Clear Right is going to fall short...

That being said Onur and I have had a blast sim flying and did not fall short by much. We are still at an average of close to one post a week each for the year.

 Not to mention, if you added the flights that did not go on the log and the ones that ended up in the trash heap due to a CTD that every simmer has to endure now and then we would have gone over that 100 barrier with ease. (Onur recently canned a BIFK-KBOS flight on short final with the dreaded CTD!! We all hate that!)

On with my flight details....

I continued on with the next leg of the flight that saw me hold up in NYC for a couple days after landing in that horrendous snow storm that plunked almost two feet of snow on the Big Apple.

American Airlines AAL1787 KJFK - KTPA (New York Kennedy to Tampa Bay) in the LVD 767-300ER. We were pretty lite with the fuel for the short route but chock full of passengers that were eager to get moving after spending the past couple days stranded in NYC.

At the gate KJFK

Weather at KJFK was much better this afternoon with wind 325/14kts and scattered clouds at 12'000ft and a mild +2C to help melt that heap of snow. This set up a KENNEDY.1 departure off runway 31L, turning left soon after lifting off to avoid flying over Manhattan. I was expecting a normal flight on the way down with some tough head winds and the busy traffic on the east coast as is typical.

Rocket ship! Lift off 31L KJFK

Riding down seen some strong head winds from the south west that varied between 75kts growing to 110kts as I flew further south. This really ate into my time en route and I ended up being behind by 15mins on arrival.

Look at those head winds

KTPA weather was looking good for flying but not good for shorts and tee shirts as would be the norm in Florida. It was a cool 13C with wind 240/05kts and clouds 25'000 scattered. Using the DADES1 arrival onto runway 18R. I had a BAW 777 landing on 18L as I was coming in but little time to look at him as I hand flew the approach from the IAF at 4000ft and greased the landing.

Final for 18L KTPA

This is the new FS9 version of FlyTampa Rebooted and I hate to say it but the FSX version is much more stunning compared to the FS9 version. They really toned down some features in the FS9 version. Both versions come packaged together so it is great to see Martin and George still supporting FS9. But after test flying around the FSX version I was shocked at how much was left out of the FS9 version. Still a great scenery mind you but once you have had a FlyTampa steak it is tough to go back and eat an egg sandwich.

At the gate KTPA

Wanted to note too that I'm in love with the new winglet version of the LVD 767. What a nice treat from the LVD gang, putting out this free addition to a plane I bought some five years ago.

I also think the LVD 767 is a great looking plane, a blast to fly, works flawlessly, has a full systems simulation and is easy on the frame rates to boot.

I was so impressed at the gift they gave us I picked up the FSX version for $15! Another great deal they give you for owning the FS9 version....(the FSX version also comes with the free winglet addon)

Nor'easter

I have had this route planned for a while, and little did I expect that when I flew it today I would be headed right into a classic nor'easter headed up the eastern seaboard. Not to mention it is also a weather bomb.

American Airlines AAL400 KDFW to KJFK (Dallas to New York) in the awesome LVD simulation 767-300ER with the recently released winglet version.

At the gate KDFW

Departure weather for the late morning flight was wind 010/03kts with clouds 2'800 few and 22'000 scattered. It was also a chilly 3C in Dallas today. Departure was off runway 36R using the TRISS.3 SID.

Rolling along on 36R KDFW

The route took me east over Atlanta and then north over Raleigh and Norfolk as I headed north up the coast. The center of the low was located just off shore near Raleigh. At some points during the cruise I seen top's as high as my flight level of 35'000ft as I neared Washington D.C.

Arrival weather was very poor for KJFK with wind 350/21kts gusting to 33kts with 1/4 mile visibility in moderate snow. To boot the ceiling was set at only 200ft scattered and 1'000 overcast at -3C, I used the CAMRN.4 arrival onto runway 31L

I flew the first approach until the 200ft minimums and didn't come close to seeing the runway so I executed a missed approach taking me to 3'000ft and vectors back to my IAF for try number two.

After reading about Onur's last flight into BIFK I brushed up on my missed approach and had a plan in action what I would do as the odds were pretty good that I was looking at a CATIII auto land. The problem being the cross winds were beyond auto land limits of 15kts (and anything below a CATI approach was limited to 15kts). But this being flight sim I took another stab at the landing and again I went missed at the 200ft call out.

Short final 31L KJFK

So I decided on an auto land on my third try (even though I suspect it would be against SOP for many airlines). As I flew over the threshold at a touch over 100ft I could see the runway and the wicked crab my 767 was in. I turned off the A/P at the ten foot call out and swung the nose around to the left with the rudder just before the touch down. Not a pretty landing but considering the weather I was pretty pleased at the 767's performance and my landing skills.

Taxi back to the gate was also an adventure as you can see....

Taxi to the gate KJFK

To check out a HD video of the landing click below


HD VIDEO HERE

Crappy weather at KJFK

3hrs 26min on the log and after an hour layover I hope to head south on my second leg of the day to some better weather in Tampa....

(EDIT: The KJFK-KTPA flight was cancelled due to weather. It was even worse as the day went on! Maybe tomorrow...)

Holiday Destination

With winter knocking on the door across the northern hemisphere nothing beats a flight to warmer weather. It also gave me an excuse to fly to Turkey and use the new LTAI scenery by Aerosoft.

Terrible weather at LOWW

Today's flight is Austrian 285 taking some holiday resort customers from LOWW (Vienna) to LTAI (Antalya) in the 737-700.

Weather at LOWW was winter in full swing with temperature -14C in light snow. Visibility was less than 2 miles with wind 070/02kts and clouds 200ft scattered. IFR weather for sure.....

Rolling along on runway 11 LOWW

Using the SASA1A departure off runway 11 we headed south east over Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria towards the south west coast of Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea. We had a nice 46kt tail wind most of the trip and a calm flight but once over Bulgaria we had some light turbulence all the way down towards Antalya.

Coming down over Antalya

Arrival weather for Antalya was a mild 18C with light winds from the north at 317/04kts, clouds 3'000ft scattered and 10'000ft broken. The published SID I used was BRONZ1D and as you turn for your downwind your at 11'000 or above to clear the mountains to the west of the airport.

But then your really high and hot trying to get down to 1'500ft for your IAF. I had to vector myself out over the Mediterranean south of the airport to bleed off some altitude and speed.

Final for 36C LTAI

I turned north and headed back to runway 36C at LTAI and made a nice landing. Not to mention the weather was thirty degrees warmer than when we left Vienna! Wish we were laying over so I could enjoy a couple Efes Pilsen's on a patio some place here.......maybe next time!

Quick turn around at LTAI

We are still pushing for 100 flights between us (Onur and I). I hope to do some more simming this week......if not for sure next weekend...