MISSING LINK! or the GREAT 49, 50! (Alaska to Hawaii in 2.5 hours)

[Storm]

Alaska and Hawaii are missing from both Storm's Great 48! and Razor's Flights around the United States in military fighters. We are joining forces for a Holiday Special to put that right, flying between the capitals of the 49^th and 50^th states in a single 2½ hour session.

Won't it be a very boring flight? No, this is a social event. After we get into the cruise, we'll be watching an in-flight movie together! Those of you who came on Lazerbolt's trans-Atlantic flight from South America to Africa - a 5 hour marathon - will remember this can work very well.

Juneau, Alaska to Honolulu, Hawaii PAJN>PHNL CRUISE 1,000+ kts ground speed I will be flying at between Mach 1.85 and 2.0 at between 45,000 and 50,000 ft. MINIMUM RANGE AND ENDURANCE REQUIRED 2,500 nmi, 2.5 hours + contingency. AIRCRAFT Any capable of traveling 2500 nmi in 2.5 hours non-stop + contingency. I will be flying Concorde. Other aircraft that are suitable and realistic include the F-111 and the XB-70. The Convair F-106A Delta Dart works in FSX, but shouldn't realistically. However... This is a social event, so realism is not essential and fictional vehicles are OK. Please post other options that you have tested and know will work! THERE ARE NO DEFAULT AIRCRAFT SUITABLE! Please do not bring Boeing 747s etc. They are not fast enough! Please do not bring Learjets, F/A-18s etc. They are neither fast enough nor have the range. CLASSIC or STEAM? This will be a Classic FSX event and we'll use our traditional server. This will not be using the Steam edition of FSX, nor a Steam enabled server. WEATHER Real-world weather preferred and will determine active runways. Looking at clouds from 45,000 ft is more interesting than ocean! (See pic below.) FSrealWX lite is freeware available in our TeamSpeak file browser. Why not try it? Active Sky Next is payware, but currently on sale 20% off. I will be using Active Sky Next to give real world weather. SCENERY Default OK. No special scenery required. IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT Lazerbolt has researched a suitable in-flight movie for us all to watch together during cruise!

Destination approach aids:

[Coast]

I too will also be flying the Concorde. If it's good enough for Storm, it's more than good enough for me.

-Coast

[Karl]

No clue here. The only thing I have that could keep up would be a F14 but it wouldn't have the range at that speed. Any source for decent freeware aircraft that would fit the bill? I want to see a movie [as long as I don't have to dangle from any gondolas].

[Storm]

No clue here. The only thing I have that could keep up would be a F14 but it wouldn't have the range at that speed. Any source for decent freeware aircraft that would fit the bill? I want to see a movie [as long as I don't have to dangle from any gondolas].

I originally chose the Convair F-106A Delta Dart (available here at the bottom of the page). I tried it, and in fact test flew the whole flight from Alaska to Hawaii with it, cruising with 67% throttle at M1.9, 45,000ft, and landing with 10-15% spare fuel. BUT, although it's a good looking airplane, and it seems up to the task, 4d comments that (a) its flight dynamics are poorly represented, and (b) it shouldn't really have that range and endurance at that speed.

HOWEVER, I am not insisting on realistic performance nor even on real aircraft! Apart from the challenge of finding a suitable craft, this is intended to be mainly a social event. Therefore, if you're prepared to turn a blind eye to 4d's reservations, you're very welcome to fly the Dart. If you do, I'd recommend installing the patch you can download from the Repair Shop on my OneDrive that provides Range and Endurance gauges for it and also includes a short "How to fly" manual. In addition, 4d has been working on improved flight dynamics for it, but I don't know whether (a) that will screw the optimistic range performance, or (b) be ready in time.

I switched to Concorde as it has many personal memories, flying low and loud over my house twice a day for 12 years. Our group flight is precisely the kind of journey the real-life Concorde was designed to make, and it will do so easily in FSX. There seem to be many downloads available for Concorde, both payware and freeware, though I'm not going to recommend any one over another. The screenshot at the end of the opening post is my test flying it over the Pacific.

Someone else tried the EF-111 (I think that was a payware version) and reported that it would successfully make the journey in the required time. And there are probably several other suitable vehicles. However, I'm no expert on military aircraft and I'm hoping for others to suggest alternatives.

And I'm sure that Lazerbolt will be able to point you to a number of suitable Star Wars aircraft.

[Karl]

And I'm sure that Lazerbolt will be able to point you to a number of suitable Star Wars aircraft.

Thanks Storm.

Scotty, one to beam up, then all ahead full impulse.

[Coast]

Here are some possibilities for this group flight taken from a list of the 50 fastest aircraft.

Just make sure it has the range to fly all the way from Alaska to Hawaii! Some of the aircraft listed below don't!


SOURCE: http://www.globalaircraft.org/top50.htm


# Plane Top Speed Max. Altitude
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. X-43 (Unmanned) Mach 9.8 110,000 feet NOT USABLE FOR GROUP FLIGHT
2. X-15 Mach 6.72 354,200 feet fastest manned aircraft in the world.
3. SR-71 Blackbird (YF-12) Mach 3.2+ 85,000+ feet fastest airplane in the world.
4. MiG-25R Foxbat-B Mach 3.2 123,524 feet
4. X-2 Mach 3.2 126,200 feet
5. XB-70 Valkyrie Mach 3.1 77,350 feet
6. MiG-31 Foxhound Mach 2.83 67,600 feet
7. MiG-25 Foxbat (Ye-155) Mach 2.8 118,900 feet
8. F-15 Eagle Mach 2.5 60,000 feet
8. F-111 Aardvark Mach 2.5 60,000+ feet
9. X-1 Mach 2.435 90,440 feet
10. Su-24 Fencer Mach 2.4 57,400 feet
11. Tu-144 Charger Mach 2.35 59,055 feet
11. MiG-23 Flogger Mach 2.35 60,700 feet
11. Su-27 Flanker Mach 2.35 59,055 feet
12. F-14A Tomcat Mach 2.34 58,000+ feet
13. F-106 Delta Dart Mach 2.31 57,000 feet
14. IAI Kfir Mach 2.3 75,000 feet
14. English Electric Lightning Mach 2.3 60,000 feet
14. MiG-29 Fulcrum Mach 2.3 59,060 feet
14. F-107 Ultra Sabre Mach 2.3 48,000 feet
15. Tornado ADV Mach 2.2 69,997 feet
15. F-4 Phantom Mach 2.2 62,250 feet
15. Mirage 2000 Mach 2.2 59,055 feet
15. F-104 Starfighter Mach 2.2 58,000 feet (120,800 feet NF-104A)
15. B-58 Hustler Mach 2.2 64,800 feet
16. F-105 Thunderchief Mach 2.1 52,000 feet
16. A-5 Vigilante Mach 2.1 52,100 feet
17. Su-22 Mach 2.09 59,055 feet
18. Tu-160 Blackjack Mach 2.05 49,200 feet
18. MiG-21 Fishbed Mach 2.05 50,000 feet
18. Concorde Mach 2.05 60,000 feet
19. D558-2 Skyrocket Mach 2.005 83,235 feet
20. YF-23 Black Widow II Mach 2 (AB) 65,000 feet
20. F-20 Tigershark Mach 2+ 55,000 feet
20. YF-17 Cobra Mach 2+ 50,000 feet
21. Saab JAS 39 Gripen Mach 2 50,000 feet
21. F-16 Fighting Falcon Mach 2 50,000+ feet
21. Saab 37 Viggen Mach 2 60,039 feet
21. Saab 35 Draken Mach 2 65,600 feet

-Coast

[4d]

There are very few supersonic aircraft for fsx that don't fly weird in some way. Their flight models are difficult to get right. Most are a compromise between going to fast on the deck, and not fast enough at altitude. This is due to a bug in FS. Some larger supersonic aircraft like the SR-71, XB-70, Concorde, and Tu-160 have speed limits around 450kcas, so the performance at low altitude can sort of be ignored, allowing the performance at cruise can be perfected. This kind of aircraft can be flown quite realistically (and are great for this flight), but tend to climb too quickly and feel like they are always 'trying' to overspeed.

I've been dealing with this bug by changing the maximum engine RPMs at low and high altitude. It's not perfect, but it helps a lot.

RJR's Dart is quite a nice aircraft, but it suffers from the same bug. It also lacks a working afterburner, which gives it the range capability for this flight. I've uploaded my first attempt at an F-106 patch for those interested, but it'll only do 800nm at the designated speed.

I tested the Virtavia Tu-160 and XB-70, and can report that both have the performance and range in fsx. The Tu-160 is currently my #1 pick for this flight. The XB-70 floods a bit at times, up to 500.

There's a free XB-70 at simviation that works, but it does fly a bit weird (80 knot stall). It comes with a 250 page dash 1 manual.

Here's a link to a free Concorde that works. It's a pretty easy plane to fly, nice autopilot. It doesn't need need a full fuel load - emptying the rear tank and 50% from the wings helps get the CoG in range for takeoff.

The free Alpha SR-71 can be made to work, but it doesn't like flying at only mach 2. I've had some issues with the SR-71 causing a game crash when others join/substitute in it, but that may just be the specific version I use. I've uploaded it along with a flood fix in case anyone wants to try their luck with it.

[Storm]

Wonderful stuff 4d! Thank you so much for all your hard work. I recommend downloading 4d's upgrades for both the Dart AND the An-12 :eagerness: even though the An-12 is not suitable for tonight's flight and the upgrade renders the Dart unsuitable!

[Storm]

Reminder: Join us on our Classic server in your long-range supersonic aircraft for a 9pm eastern departure from PAJN this evening. Our in-flight movie, once we're at cruise altitude, will last 2 hours (we'll have a 5 minute intermission midway) and should end just in time for our descent into Hawaii.

• I'm anticipating calm to light variable winds at Juneau. Therefore we'll probably depart Rwy 26, which has easier terrain clearance, lining up one aircraft at a time to use full runway length (4900 ft).
• Honolulu forecasts a light northeasterly, so I will route: PAJN > ZIGIE > BOOKE > GIDME > PERLY > PHNL, landing ILS/DME Rwy 04R.
• I'll be cruising at Mach 1.85 at FL500.

See you there!

[Prdude62]

Here are my pictures of the awesome flight.http://imgbox.com/g/FZ7e9EPsH6

[Storm]

Please click on the pics for full-size/clarity.

[Lazerbolt]

A few snaps of tonights Great Pacific crossing!

[Coast]

Finally posted some group flight pictures. Only a few, but there's only one PR!

-Coast

[yohiyoyo]

I've got a little collection as well:
http://imgur.com/a/4WUr9

[Storm]

Superb pics guys! Thank you. More thanks is due to:

• Razor, for giving up his Monday slot;
• Lazerbolt for the in-flight movie;
• Coast for his scholarship;
• 4d for his outstanding research and development skills;
• All the pilots who attended who made this a singularly successful and enjoyable event.

Thank you all! And now, on with the flight planning for 2015...