Hawaii to SoCal...the long way

FSE and PE make for a powerful combination
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snglecoil
Posts: 62
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 6:15 am
Location: Charlotte, NC

Hawaii to SoCal...the long way

Post by snglecoil »

Super excited. I found and purchased a trubine Duke on FSE at a relative bargain. The downside is that it was located in Hawaii. (Oh to have these "problems" in real life) Anyway, I want to bring it back to SoCal for PE coverage, obviously. Unfortunately, heading east from HI was not happening unless the Duke comes with optional floats and extra fuel durms. I contemplated shipping the plane, but where's the fun in that. So west I went. Thankfully, Midway was in range, then on to Wake Island, Enewetak, Pohnpei, and next stop is Guam.

From Guam comes decision time. Do I continue around the world the long way...or perhaps continue the "Ring of Fire" tour, heading back home via Japan and the Aleutians? Missing PE, so I'm thinking the latter is looking very good right now. So just out of fun curiosity, what would YOU do?
Chris
PE Call signs: N714VA or N619CT
Keith Smith
Posts: 9939
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2010 8:38 pm
Location: Pompton Plains, NJ
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Re: Hawaii to SoCal...the long way

Post by Keith Smith »

Find another Duke nearby, compare the price, then fly a bunch of jobs in FSE to make up the difference. You can make profit $8k/hour without trying hard, and even more if necessary. Even if the nearby Duke costs $100k more, you're going to spend a lot less time building up the funds to buy the local one than you will ferrying the other one.

So, it really comes down to whether you want to ferry a plane around the world in the sim by yourself for the next xx hours :) If you're learning something from it, awesome...but if you're just doing time compression and direct GPS on really long legs, then is it really that much fun? It all depends on what you're getting from it and what floats your boat.
snglecoil
Posts: 62
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 6:15 am
Location: Charlotte, NC

Re: Hawaii to SoCal...the long way

Post by snglecoil »

Thanks for the input, Keith. Turbine Dukes for sale are very scarce these days. In fact, There's only one for sale at this moment, and it is $1,000,000. I've been waiting to catch one (at a reasonable price) for a while. So I've already snagged it and started the journey. And you right on the money, so far all legs have been direct GPS with time compression enroute. Not really learning much from an aviation standpoint. From a geography and history standpoint, however, it has been a very enjoyable few days. As I plan routes looking for places to land, I can't help but do a little research on the places I find. I think I've made up my mind to head north back through Alaska. At least there I can conduct realistic flights. Just thought thought it would be fun to get other's takes on it!

As an aside, I really don't get the draw of these real-time simulated long haul flights I see on Twitch...but to each his or her own. :)
Chris
PE Call signs: N714VA or N619CT
ridikamus
Posts: 139
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 7:37 pm

Re: Hawaii to SoCal...the long way

Post by ridikamus »

I contemplated buying that B60T at one point myself, but when I put together a route on Skyvector I decided I didn't want to put the time or v$ into the ferry. In case it's helpful, here's the list of stops I had mapped out. I make no warranty about the availability of fuel, the friendliness of the natives, or whether the hops even actually work. Congrats on an excellent airplane!
Skyvector
V-3 CAT-11 I-11
snglecoil
Posts: 62
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 6:15 am
Location: Charlotte, NC

Re: Hawaii to SoCal...the long way

Post by snglecoil »

I finally made it back to the PE coverage area last night. Here's the full route if anyone is interested Skyvector. All in all, It was an interesting experience, but not one that I have any desire recreating anytime soon. I picked up FSE jobs where I could along the way and made about 60k v$s.

Not much practical training value until I hit Alaska. From Anchorage on, I flew the vast majority of the legs without time compression. And despite a severe case of virtual "get-there-itis", I forced myself to pick up FSE jobs and fly a variety of approaches. Found some great flights with some interesting challenges. I got to fly a couple of NDB approaches. One of my favorite legs was a short one from from Medford, OR to Redding, CA in solid IFR. Both the departure from KMFR and the approach to KRDD had DME arcs, the approach being a short DME arc to LOC BC. The VOR-A approach into Roseburg, OR (KRBG) was another thrilling IFR approach to circling minimums. Those types of challenges really made the trip a lot of fun. But, thankfully, I'm now on the ground at SFO and will be carrying my next 4 pax to LAX under the watch of the terrific PE controllers!
Chris
PE Call signs: N714VA or N619CT
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