Longest flight?

[yoni63]

Topcat gave me the parameters to derate my take off.

You have to use full thrust takeoff/climb to win this kind of competition. Reduced thrust takeoffs and climbs are actually increase the overall climb burn. I also suggest using a CI of 160 and a cruise alt of no more than 1000ft of fmc computed econ alt.

Yaaa, and Allen just loves those max N1 settings don't ya Allen

[Erica Benedikty]

Well I'm off to the races. I just departed. I can't believe I'm getting up at 4 am on my vacation to do this!!!! The weather was a little rough on departure, bumpy ride up to cruise of fl330. Alright, time for another cup of tea.







I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

If you want to follow along, I'm trying to blog it.
http://kittiekatsflying.blogspot.com/
or
http://www.vataware.com/flight.cfm?id=1930792

[cyoo eddie]

This sounds like a lot of fun, but it is not a trip I will attempt, as I have a difficult time with fs not taking a nose dive on a 2 hour flight, let alone 14+ hour one
Good luck to all of you.

ed

[nwadc10]

This sounds like a lot of fun, but it is not a trip I will attempt, as I have a difficult time with fs not taking a nose dive on a 2 hour flight, let alone 14+ hour one
Good luck to all of you.

ed

I'll jump in here quick...Ed, next time FS crashes on you (not pilot induced) check your event viewer. I wrote about how to access it here: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3350

Sometimes the event viewer will tell you exactly what file is throwing the error and if it happens to be Weather.dll like it was for me it will be an easy fix and FS will be stable once again.

[nwadc10]

Good luck Erica! I hope to start on my flight tomorrow, possibly tonight. I'm just recovering from a complete HD format and had to re-purchase FS9 because the original disc #4 was too damage to install and now I'm waiting for PMDG to send me a new download link for the 744 base pack after purchasing their lovely Extended Download Service.

[Erica Benedikty]

11.5 hours to go and I'm really tired. I only had 4 hours of sleep last night. For those trying out the new SB4, becareful, it disconnected my autothrottle and I ended up overspeeding a bit, I though I lost 3000lbs of fuel there. grrrrr.

The winds are not good right now, but they are starting to shift back to behind me, so I should pick up some more fuel soon.

[yoni63]

What flight are you flying? I only set one up for Luc, though I don't suppose it matters really.

[Erica Benedikty]

Oh, I think I read it wrong, I though I file the flight after I fly it and say in the remarks what it was. opps. I hope this still counts.

[yoni63]

I'm sure you'll be fine for this long flight contest. No biggie.

[Erica Benedikty]

I'm sure you'll be fine for this long flight contest. No biggie.

Thank you, Wow that was a hard flight to do. I think I pushed the limits of the pmdg744 to the max. I ended up landing way way low on fuel, so if it doesn't count, that's fine. I was going to divert to my alt and land with more fuel, but I figured I made it this far, I want to see if I could make it all the way. I did at least have enough fuel to start the apu and taxi to the ramp after landing. I think I might have had a better chance but I ended up with a head wind for a lot of the flight. Not stronge but enough to use up that fuel.

Thanks you Thomas who was on the ground to greet me (I think I was talking to Thomas, sorry a little tired). This landing was very challenging, for some reason the plane was not handling well. It was being tossed around like a cessna! My landing ref speed was 127 flaps 30, I think I was just too light or something. It was very strange how it handled, I had to fight it all the way to the rwy. It just would not decend, it felt like it was floating.
===== General =====
FS Version: FS2004 (FS9)
GCP Version: v2.2.5
Pilot Name: Erica Benedikty
Pilot No: 1903

====== Flight Data ======
FS Date: 2008/08/25
Aircraft Title: Atlas Air N409 - 747-400F GE CF6 Engines
Flight No: GTI
YSSY - KILN
Aircraft Type: 744F
Tail No: N409MC
Cargo: 49860
Departure: YSSY at 09:08z
Weight at Takeoff: 773532 (350868 Kg)
Takeoff Weather:
Visibility: 31
Wind: 37 at 8 kts
Temperature: 13C

Alternates-
Takeoff:
Enroute:
Destination:

Destination: KILN at 02:23z
Weight on Landing: 418998 (190054 Kg)
Landing Weather:
Visibility: 55
Wind: 0 at 9 kts
Temperature: 20C

====== Fuel Summary ======
Out: 361146 (163813 Kg)
Off: 359131 (162899 Kg)
On: 4612 (2092 Kg)
In: 4083 (1852 Kg)
Taxi Out: 2015 (914 Kg)
Burn: 354519 (160807 Kg)
Taxi In: 529 (240 Kg)
Total Fuel: 357063 (161961 Kg)

======= Time Summary (Zulu) =======
Out: 09:08
Off: 09:34
On: 02:20
In: 02:23
Total Time: 17:15

====== Misc. Data ======
Max Sim Rate: 1
Touchdown Rate: -342
Distance: 8176
Stall Warning Activated: No
Overspeed Warning Activated: Yes

Comments:
No Comments Submitted.

Here's a couple of pics, it was stange to watch the sun rise in front of me and then set behind me. It was dark out when I took off and dark when I landed.








http://www.vataware.com/flight.cfm?id=1930792
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Flight Status: Arrived
Operator:
Atlas Air
More flights by this operator :: More flights under this callsign
Pilot: Erica Benedikty CYSN (919617)
Aircraft: BOEING 747-400 INTL WINGLETS
(H/B744/Q)
Origin: YSSY Kingsford Smith Intl
Australia
Destination: KILN Airborne
United States
More flights between these airports
Route: +KAMPI1 WOL MARLN ABARB NATLI A579 NN B581 WOOBY 0100S16500W 0500N16000W 1000N15600W 1500N15000W 2300N14000W 2900N13000W ELKEY C1318 LAX HEC J64 TBC RSK J110 ALS J102 SLN J24 STL J134 JUDDI J29 KURTZ
Remarks: SEL / RSHK Lady Pilot / Charts / ASv6 / PMDG / Globecargova.org / Call sign Giant"kittiekatsflying.blogspot.com / Long haul challenge / step cli / V /
Altitude:
(Current/Filed) 33,000ft
Speed:
(Current/Filed) 512kts
Departed: 25-Aug-08 09:34 AM
Arrived: 26-Aug-08 02:20 AM
Distance/Time
Traveled: 9415nm/16:46
Distance/Time
To Go: Arrived

[Maxthrust]

9415nm WOW..

Congrats Erica!

Could somebody set me up for the competition please? Thank you.

[Jason Rivard UPS003]

I just wanted to chime in and say congrats to Erica for this flight. I did give her an hour or so in crew rest this afternoon...didn't have to do a whole lot except step to FL390 for her.

At T/D she got the "whoop whoop whoop" and a "low fuel" warning on the eicas. She had to transfer fuel out of tank 2 into the other tanks, as she had quite an imbalance. The engines didn't like that though, even with the over-rides and the crossfeeds open, she still flamed out engines 1, 3, and 4 briefly.

Also, like she said, on final, the bird was behaving like she was fighting a HUGE shifting crosswind...even though they were relatively calm. I've never seen the PMDG act like that, but I've also never seen a VREF of about 130 knots in that bird either! She planted her down, albeit a little rough, and prayed she had enough fuel to kick the engines into reverse and get the plane slowed on the runway.

If this flight doesn't count, at least I can vouch for her when I say she truly tested the range of this bird! She's off to bed, and she'd better leave that sim open for me tomorrow!!!! I want to try out our new video card at least once! LOL

[nwadc10]

Nice job! However, there seems to be a discrepency in the distance. That 9415 seems to be in statute miles rather than nautical miles. Straight line, GCP reported 8176 which concurs with the Landings.com database (which notes 9400 statute miles as the straight line distance). Also, the average ground speed to cover that distance would be 562 kts whereas a distance of 8176 would require a ground speed of just 521 kts which seems to be closer looking at the vataware readings. My hunch is that the vataware page has the wrong units on the distance. What was your flight plan distance? I think that will be the best way to determine the distance.

Still, impressive nonetheless. I would have fell asleep long before reaching the destination You definately won for physical endurance

I've been working on my flight plan and the best I can do is about 7200nm with all the legal fuel requirements. I've been working a few hours on it now and I haven't got the city pair figured out yet. The departure is pretty much set but now working on the best re-release airport/destination/alternate combo. Once I finally get it straightened out and in cruise I'll post all of my flight planning details...until then it shall remain secret

[chevol]

Congratulations! more than 8,000NM is really an achievement, well done!

Cheers
Luc

[Erica Benedikty]

Well I've had some sleep now, Jason you can use the computer today! I'm not sure why vataware is showing such a long distance, but my flight plan was 8308nm. The only thing that saved me was being able to taxi to rwy16 for departure instead of rwy34 which was the active. If I had to taxi to rwy34 I think I would have run out of fuel on landing.