Alphabet Challenge Leg 34 KL77 - KL88

36 leg Achievement
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Talan2000
Posts: 207
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 8:59 pm
Location: McKinney, Texas, USA, Earth

Alphabet Challenge Leg 34 KL77 - KL88

Post by Talan2000 »

Pilots,

Typing these up I feel as frantic to get done as I did flying these legs :)
http://peaware.pilotedge.net/flight.cfm?id=88661

Situation:
Hustling to avoid POTUS massive Valentine's Day 2015 TFR over Palm Springs, I decided to press on quickly to lovely New Cuyama. Let's listen to the tapes to hear how many different pronunciations that gets on the radio...No ODP but watch out for the mountains in your flight path. Climb quickly.

Lessons Learned: Read up on TFRs. They don't necessarily mean a brick wall keeping you out.

Welcome Home: Good old PMD. Feels so relaxing watching your DME count down...how many times have we flown along these ridgelines.
PMD Donut.JPG
PMD Donut.JPG (85.52 KiB) Viewed 3635 times
Sim Crash doesn't require Reflight: Ok, this is an older lesson learned where i did refly the leg, but this time, when my sim crashed (switching views NOT dual engine failure to dirt impact like you are thinking) I was able to reset the sim, relocate myself, and only lose about 10 minutes. I have a sneaking suspicion that there are some bugs in Carenado's V3 aircraft and XP10.32. Something to do with SASL. As after I reset the sim (without rebooting), I lost "most" of mousewheel interaction, some sounds,the ability to push "direct" button for HDG and CRS knobs on Autopilot...fun times but I managed. Anyway, main point is you can reconnect your flight without losing your progress in PE (within like 15 mins I believe). This is an awesome feature.
flyingdrill
Posts: 271
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2014 4:15 am

Re: Alphabet Challenge Leg 34 KL77 - KL88

Post by flyingdrill »

I went IFR in a C340, which I've hardly ever flown. The sim froze for quite a while, a little after Palm Springs. Then it disconnected from PE, just after the controller had called me to see if I was still there - obviously, the squawk must have dropped, or he noticed I wasn't moving. I waited patiently, and it all came back to life. I reconnected, and prayed that PEAware would keep the flight intact. Fortunately, it did.

The real weather at or around L88 was apparently a 3600' ceiling, but no cloud of any kind was seen as I was about 20 miles from the field (which was easier to see than I expected). I was given a visual approach (well, there's not much chance of anything else to a closed airport). Suddenly, a few miles out, X-Plane threw the clouds at me. I reported them, but I was able to get through them, and easily land. Of course (as the controller pointed out), when you are given a visual approach, you have to maintain VFR, etc., etc. Quite right. After an hour and a half, I wasn't going to abandon the flight - after all, I could have set my own weather, and flown the whole thing in clear weather. So, I apologised to the controller, who agreed that he's experienced exactly the same thing. In real life, I would have looked at the nearby METARS and TAFs, and may well have either not gone or filed an alternate. However, I want to complete the challenge, and I can always fly this again on another day, if I really feel like it...... Frankly, the whole flight would be an impossibility, because the airport is closed indefinitely, according to the current Airport Facility Directory. Yet, Skyvector says it's operational in its description - but their link to the A/FD takes us to the latest page, which says the airport is closed (also seen in my EFB!).

If anyone wishes to disqualify me from this flight, I will repeat it, but have a heart ;)

One to go.
Keith Smith
Posts: 9939
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2010 8:38 pm
Location: Pompton Plains, NJ
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Re: Alphabet Challenge Leg 34 KL77 - KL88

Post by Keith Smith »

I just called the good people at L88. They were closed for resurfacing, but they opened again as of last Monday. The remarks should be removed shortly from airnav, skyvector and Foreflight.
flyingdrill
Posts: 271
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2014 4:15 am

Re: Alphabet Challenge Leg 34 KL77 - KL88

Post by flyingdrill »

Oh, Keith. Are you going to give me a hard time? :D
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