A challenge
On Saturday August 30th 2014 the USA tour completed one of its most challenging legs: Firstly, the cruising distance is among longest (about 5600 nm), and secondly the time of fligth was chosen to be the infamous Red-Eye flight (departing from Kansas City at midnight local time, and arriving 12 and a half hours later to American Samoa minutes after sunrising at 06:30 AM Local Time).
If this leg was already by its own nature a challenge of the type that risks the USA tour succesful completion, Nature itself decided to pull the bar a little higher: Weather. The conditions for departure were rather unfriendly, we faced moderated headwinds to RWY 27 (KMCI), Rain and low visibilty. Furthermore Thunderstorms were occurring to the Vicinity Northeast moving East. Weather was variable, and new METARs were being release frequently. The conditions for arrival were match!. We faced 20 KTS crosswinds coming from 110, while Marginal VFR (MVFR) kept us landing on RWY 05, only ILS available long enough runway at our disposition. Visbility was ok, but we had rain and ceiling at 2000, with overcast as low as 4500. Let me put it this way, nothing but dark pitch night, and clouds, dense ones, was seen until we were very close to touchdown.
The flightgear Community
I am very happy and proud of seing the growth of the multiplayer community, with pilots that enjoy company flying, and really effort in excelsing with their pilot skills. And the type of pilots that do not back up to the challenges. Not long ago, the USA tour performed its first cross-pacific attempt to arrive the far east USA tour territories. The plan was to fly long range civilian aircrafts from Alburquerque, New Mexico to Hagatna in Guam. The route going as north as Anchorage, to then decoy south reaching Japan East Coast and finalizing with approaching Guam from the West. A route of 15 hours cruise (Details here). Those days very few pilots considered that a reasonable flight to attempt. And as a consequence I flew the route in company of 2 pilots to Anchorage, where a few friends performed some approaches and then saw me departing the lonely skies.
But past week, when the USA tour destinations made us face a new departing to the mid-pacific American Samoa, the community joined and stood up. 3 pilots completed the route head to toe: IHCOL flying the B-one lancer (B1B), and JWOCKY and Cain both piloting the 707TT (tanker), all departed KMCI and arrived American Samoa while flying for almost 13 hours, while being a red-eye flight on their own time zones as well. In addition, more pilots joined the cross pacific travesy from San Diego California (MD-GRK with an EC-137D AWACS plane), and from different Hawaiian Locations (PH-ONOX with a B1B and MD-GRK with an F14 again), and we formed an impressive Military comboy of up to 8 planes arriving American Samoa on the early morning of August the 30th. A very large companionship facing the difficulties of the route. Other pilots that were there included F-36 (who tried several planes but mostly flew a second B1B from Kansas City to some Arizona airport, and was there in American Samoa for receiving the comboy), Echo1 who showed up in a F15 while on arrival for the last 500 nm. Skyboat was present with us in the arrival and kept giving us kudos via mumble along the way. Finally MV-DP brought a receiving B2 Spirit to American Samoa while we were taking arriving shots!
Thanks everybody!!
Departure
Problems arose on departure. While both JWOCKY and F_36 planned to bring 747VIP and Tikibar's 747 AF-1 respectively, apparently some last minute changes in this plane, had concluded in chaos. The plane had some problem and seemed unable to gain speed or climb. For this reason, the 747 participation on the event was impossible, and these had been parked in Kansas City airport for mechanic revision!. In a last minute decision JWOCKY and F_36 jumped to their final craft of choice and departed KMCI, just on the time-mark. 747 is an impressive and beautiful model and I hope the issues that arouse can be fixed promptly. I was rather happy to see AF1 joining but oh well, it was not possible at the end.
GIREY
Arriving GIREY, COL had a complete computer overload, and a reboot was due. I had to respawn and take off from San Diego's KSAN and really crossed my fingers another FG crash was not scheduled from there on. As you probably know, there are not airports that can be used to restart in the long miles between KSAN and NSTU. Beside good long 9 hours of fligth due.
Air Refueling succesfully performed
Refuelable fighter F14 and bomber B1B piloted by MD-GRK and by PH-ONOX departing HAWAII joined the comboy, and succesfully air-refuelled their tanks to completion from JWOCKY's 707TT.
It was about 3 O'Clock local time, so the darkness was total.
Great Performance guys! It will be awesome to see some pics.
A group Seppuku
Arrival was extremely neat. 7 pilots arriving via SAPPIX DARMA JONAS. The plan was elaborated. Holding JONAS as charted, then one pilot at a time going DRAWN then ILS RWY 05. Skyboat collaborating the final arrival (Tower). Pilots descending very well and calm to their cleared holding altitude 5000-8000 feet (depending on landing order assigned). Weather, as stated before uncooperative. All pointing to an extremely beautiful arrival to a insanely challenge flight.
Suddenly, I found myself flying alone. To be exact, 3 pilots remained: Skyboat's Tower, MDGRK first arrival (F14) almost to intercept ILS, and me close inbound to JONAS. Where had everyone gone!? In a single event, all other pilot's FG crashed simultaneously!!! Some many with some error message coming from the farthest plane of their location, the F14. After flying for 12+ hours the pilots had to resign their well-earned chance of a succesful landing
Really some group Hara-Kiri had been elicited by a bug in the multiplayer daemon of Fligthgear!Expect USA Tour 26 announcement soon
USA Tour 26 will be the next installment. Expect announcement in the FG Multiplayer forum page
