Careful chaps - a Round The World can take over your life - seriously.

My last sojourn was in a DA-42 TwinStar (Alabeo) - took me two months over a Winter.

Here's an excerpt from the Log. . . (looks like the Honk Kong across the Pacific to LA - the bit heading in to Anchorage - with 100 + Kts tail winds will never leave my mind)

Good fun. Do it in something not too fast - so you see everything.

 

Found this lovely little video when researching the VL-3: 

 

2 minutes ago, Chock said:

FSW Cessna C441 Conquest II: 

Can be flown solo, has turboprop speed (340mph) and reliability (Garrett TPE331s), yet stalls at a comfortable 75 knots with full flaps, so can get into small strips. 2,500 mile range, 2,500 fpm climb rate, 35,000 foot service ceiling, 4,500 lb useful load for additional tank installation.

Accept no substitute.

 

Sounds great, gonna research that one 🙂 

I am planning flights around the United States and Canada, starting from my hometown airport and hitting the coast. I plan to land at interesting airports that have tourist attractions or interesting venues I would like to see IRL.

As for aircraft it will be a cessna to start. For you perhaps the Grand Caravan? 

Also, are GA aircraft allowed to land at large or international airports?

5 minutes ago, Lotharen said:

I am planning flights around the United States and Canada, starting from my hometown airport and hitting the coast. I plan to land at interesting airports that have tourist attractions or interesting venues I would like to see IRL.

As for aircraft it will be a cessna to start. For you perhaps the Grand Caravan? 

Also, are GA aircraft allowed to land at large or international airports?

Sounds good, Lotharen 🙂 Yeah, the Grand Caravan looks pretty good at the moment, but I haven't decided anything yet. While GA aircraft often risk getting turned down when asking to land at major international airports, from my understanding they will try to do their best to accommodate you if you call them ahead of time and ask them at what time is the best for them (less busy). I'm not a pilot, I just parrot what I see on youtube 😄

3 minutes ago, Lotharen said:

Also, are GA aircraft allowed to land at large or international airports?

Often they are allowed, but the controllers won't be too happy with you, and radio communication will be murder when doing it solo. Landing fees are high as well, so in RL you don't see too many GA doing this.

4 minutes ago, orchestra_nl said:

Often they are allowed, but the controllers won't be too happy with you, and radio communication will be murder when doing it solo. Landing fees are high as well, so in RL you don't see too many GA doing this.

This is true re; landing fees. 

Given the choice of Heathrow or the field - I'd probably take the field. £2700/ Hr (and that's without Ground Services and way off down in T4 somewhere near the reservoirs) just doesn't do it for me.

Edited August 8, 20205 yr by Will Fly For Cheese

Well thank god this is a simulator 😉 I don't think they have implemented cocky Heathrow ATC in MSFS yet... 

 

Well, one of the youngest pilots ever to fly around the world used a Cirrus SR22 on his voyage, so maybe that's some inspiration:

https://australianaviation.com.au/2018/07/australian-teen-flies-his-cirrus-around-the-world-solo/

41 minutes ago, Lotharen said:

Also, are GA aircraft allowed to land at large or international airports?

As others have noted, you might be allowed to land, but whether you will be welcomed, or even happy with how you get treated is another matter. Nevertheless, you would not be turned away if there was no option for you to land elsewhere.

Not that much of the following matters in a flight sim, but if you are trying to be 'realistic' then there is also the fact that landing fees, as well as ramp-usage fees (if you parked overnight) can be massively expensive, even just using a fixed electrical power connection for an hour would cost nearly £100 quid at most big UK airports and there is also the customs infrastructure to consider; smaller airports which are expecting GA aeroplanes (and welcome them) have a customs system which is geared to that and a large GA ramp suited to it as well.

Then there's fuel too. You might be surprised to learn that big international airports don't necessarily have all kinds of aviation fuel on tap, and if they do, it'll be in a tiny bit of the airfield. Most airliners get fueled on stand via a truck which pumps that fuel from underground storage tanks miles away, so there aren't that many actual 'tanker' vehicles at big airports, they're mostly pumping vehicles with no large fuel carrying capability of their own. So if you land in  something which uses a different grade or type of fuel - mogas, or stuff specific to a chopper or whatever - it can sometimes be a bit of a faff to find your fuel and also to upload it too, since the connectors on the big fuel trucks are not the little nozzles you find at most GA airfields.

Again that doesn't matter in a sim, but if you wanna be realistic, you should consider the infrastructure. This is why many 'solo' round the world trips are actually nothing of the sort - there'll frequently be a support team/person ahead to make sure all that stuff goes smoothly, handle PR etc, since many such flights are sponsored.

And on the subject of that, why not see about a sponsor for your virtual attempt. That'd be kind of fun and you could either youtube it or facebook it and give the money to a charity appeal or something. It doesn't have to be a massive amount, that sort of thing is good PR for companies and can get a charity a welcome boost, and if you're gonna be doing the flight anyway, might as well try and help people whilst you're at it.

I'm halfway through a world tour in XP using the hotstart TBM 900. A fabulous mixture of STOL capability and speed. Visibility is actually good, I find, if I sit up a little, and forward a little (so that I have a left/right 90' view ahead of the wing).

One aircraft I can't see myself flying much is the Diamond DA62 - that incredibly thick arching pillar seems to make visibility letter-box like. And (I might be alone in this) - I think it looks slightly ridiculous - like a duck. Whereas the TBM is notably elegant. I suspect in real life these visibility issues matter less as one can shift quickly and look around - and thus VR may mitigate this somewhat.

Interesting video about landing a Cessna at O'Hare in the middle of the night:

 

yeah, that's a good one, @Der Zeitgeist

44 minutes ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

Interesting video about landing a Cessna at O'Hare in the middle of the night:

That video illustrates perfectly what is involved to land a ga at a major airport. You can save a lot of sweat, stress and money just to land at a smaller airfield nearby. Off course in the sim there is no risk so we can just do it for the fun of it. I wonder how the experience in MSFS will compare to this video.

Bonanza > All. Easy choice 😉

21 minutes ago, CaptainNick said:

Bonanza > All. Easy choice 😉

Not for doctors it ain't. 🤣