VFR Flying In Hawaii - The PC Aviator Network

VFR Flying In Hawaii
BY ROB SCOTT
F
light Simulator X has delivered us some major
enhancements over previous versions of the
series, but the best improvement, by a long
way, is the jaw-dropping scenery which we are now
able to experience on our desktops. High-resolution,
photo-real scenery allows us to fly over our own
houses, places of work and cities and view them as we
would in a real aircraft. VFR flying has become much
more enjoyable, and one area I am enjoying flying
around at the moment (courtesy of some stunning
VFR Scenery) is the Hawaiian Islands.
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This article will take you on a flight from Hana in
Maui to Dillingham in Oahu in the Cessna 182RG.
The flight will take under 90 minutes and you will
encounter some challenging weather, a stunning
sunrise and jaw dropping scenery along the way. I
hope you enjoy it.
To get the best out of this flight I have included
the weather I used along with the Real Environment
Extreme 2.0 textures; if you do not own a copy of
REX you are missing out! It might take a while to
find the sweet spot with your texture set, but the
results are well worth it.
CPM. V14I5
7/19/2010 2:53:33 PM
ADD-ONS USED IN THIS FLIGHT OR
AVAILABLE FOR THIS FLIGHT
1. VFR Maui X Photoreal Scenery (for FSX) – By Tyler Newport
(Payware)
2. MegaSceneryX Hawaii, Honolulu and the Island of Oahu (for
FSX) – By MegaScenery Team (Payware)
3. MegaCity Hawaii, Honoloulu and the Island of Oahu (for
FS2004) – By MegaScenery Team (Payware)
4. Carenado Cessna 182 RG (for FSX) – By Carenado (Payware)
5. Real Environment Xtreme Version 2.0 (for FSX) – By REX
Team (Payware)
All titles are available for purchase from PC Aviator stores –
• PC Aviator USA – www.pcaviator.com/store
• PC Aviator Australia – www.pcaviator.com.au/store
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Hawaii’s climate is probably one of the most diverse on the planet.
It boasts one of the wettest locations on earth and one of the driest
and sunniest regions within just a few miles of each other and there
are even places where you can snow ski! The temperatures remain
roughly the same all year round because the landscape is surrounded
by a huge warm ocean. Winds passing over the ocean have plenty
of time to warm up or cool down before reaching the islands, which
keeps the temperature constant. The trade winds which flow over and
around the islands can become gusty, strong and unpredictable as they
pick up speed when passing through valleys or over the mountains.
They can easily catch out the unwary pilot.
CLOUD THEME
• Cumulus set 3 - HD Enabled
• Cirrus set 19
TROPICAL WATER
• Hawaii 2
WAVE ANIMATION
• Heaven
SUN/LIGHTING
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sun Texture - Brilliance
Flare - Sheen
Lightning - Forked
Landing Lights - Neutral
Aircraft Strobe - Real
Runway Lights - Prominent Glow
For the runways, taxiways and airport environment, use your own
personal choice. I recommend saving this theme so that you can use it
again in the future.
THE FLIGHT
Load up FSX and place yourself at Parking 1 – GA Small at
PHHN, Hana in the Cessna 182RG. If you do not have this aircraft,
the default Mooney is a suitable alternative, but the fuel figures will
not be the same.
Fortunately for today’s flight the winds are a little calmer than
normal, but to give you a bit more of a challenge we will be flying
quite close to the terrain where the winds will keep you on your toes.
Before departing, please use the information below to set up your
weather and environment textures, if applicable. I’ll meet you on the
ramp at Hana when you are ready.
NOTE: You can of course recreate this flight in Flight Simulator
2004 as well, and there is some scenery available to do this.
WEATHER SET-UP
CLOUDS
Cirrus:
Cumulus:
Stratus:
3500-5500
5500-7500
7500-9500
Broken 5/8
Broken 5/8
Broken 5/8
Light Turbulence
Light Turbulence
No Turbulence
WIND
• 8 knots from 006 degrees
• Gusts to 8 knots
• Light Turbulence
TEMPERATURE, DEWPOINT & VISITBILITY
• Temperature: 88 Degrees F
• Dewpoint: 76 Degrees F
• Visibility: 20 Miles
REAL ENVIRONMENT EXTREME 2.0 TEXTURES
SKY THEME
• Sunrise - Red Varanasi
• Daytime - Hawaiian Tropics
• Sunset - Slick
THE ROUTE
Before we depart let’s work out the route. We are going to depart
from Hana and fly along the southern coast of Maui, following it
around back to the north. Between Oahu and Maui are the islands of
Lanai and Molokai, if we fly straight between the two of them we will
be heading straight towards Oahu. With the haze from the sunrise and
only 20 miles visibility, we can expect to see Oahu on the horizon just
before we leave Molokai. When we reach the shores of Oahu we will
follow the coastline clockwise around the island flying over Diamond
Head and the busy airport of Honolulu. As we progress around Oahu
and leave the bustling urban area of Honolulu the scenery will turn to
deep greens and jagged cliffs. This will be our indication to descend
to 1,500 feet for landing. After rounding the headland of the Kaena
Point State Park we will be lined up to make a landing at Dillingham.
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Simple as that! There are some waypoints along the way to add into
our flight plan so that we are able to monitor how we are progressing
during the flight:
Below are my workings for the flight, hopefully my skills will be
good enough to keep us close to the numbers.
PHHN, ELYSA, FUNKI, MKK, CKH, HNL, PHDH
Waypoint
ETA (mins)
Expected Fuel Burn (gallons)
ELYSA
FUNKI
MKK
CKH
HNL
PHDH
8
5
26
15
6
18
1.32
0.84
4.30
2.47
1.04
3.00
TOTAL
78
12.97
– approx 160 nm.
Our cruise altitude today will be 2,500 feet and we will aim to
depart at 05:30 local. I suggest setting the time you load up FS to be
05:15 to allow for your own pre-flight checks.
The aircraft for today’s flight is the excellent Cessna 182RG from
Carenado. This add-on comes with a very detailed operating manual
which will allow us to calculate our fuel requirements accurately for
this flight.
FUEL PLANNING
As this is a scenic flight and we aren’t in a hurry (are we in a
hurry?) I have elected to cruise with reduced power settings of 2,200
rpm and 20 inches of manifold pressure. This will give us a cruise
speed of 133 ktas burning approximately 10 gallons of fuel per
hour. The manual indicates that the climb to cruise should be done
at 95 ktas, 2,400 rpm and 23 inches manifold pressure. This should
take approximately 6 miles and 1 gallon of fuel; I also used these
calculations for my descent fuel.
LET’S GO!
You are now armed with all the information you need to be able to
complete this flight. It’s time to fire up the engine and taxi to the active.
Our flight is approximately 160nm. With climb and descent
planning already done we will need to work out our cruise fuel for
148 nm at 133 ktas. 148/133 is 1.11 hours you are thinking, easy.
But is it? Have you factored in the 8 kt headwind? This makes the
calculation 148/125 = 1.18 hours, only a small difference but it could
prove vital. So far our fuel calculation is:
Climb
Cruise
Descent
4 mins
71 mins
4 mins
1 gallon
11.80 gallons
1 gallon
EARLY MORNING START
The operating manual advises to load an extra 2 gallons of fuel to
take into account taxiing at both departure and destination airports.
We will need to load enough fuel to make our alternate airport,
which for this flight is Kaneohe Bay, PHNG. This is 25 nm from
Dillingham; flying at 95 ktas it should take 17 minutes to reach which
is 2.8 gallons for fuel. Last but not least we need to load 45 minutes
reserve fuel which equates to 7.50 gallons. Our final fuel load of flight
time works out as follows:
Taxi
Climb
Cruise
Descent
Alternate
45mins Reserve
4 mins
71 mins
4 mins
17 mins
45 mins
2 gallons
1 gallon
11.80 gallons
1 gallon
2.80 gallons
7.50 gallons
In total we will load 26 gallons of fuel and expect a flight time of
80 minutes if things go according to plan, but if they don’t we have
enough fuel for just under 2 and a half hours of flight time.
You’ve not forgotten our flight plan have you? Now that we have
made these calculations we can enter our expected fuel burn and ETA
for the waypoint to make sure that we are progressing as expected.
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TAXIING TO THE RUNWAY
There isn’t any ATC at Hana, so select your runway for departure
and announce it over Unicom. I chose Runway 26. Complete your
before-takeoff checks and when you are ready to go advance the
power smoothly and let the aircraft accelerate down the runway.
Given our gross weight (2,650 lbs) and today’s temperature (88 deg
F), we will be able to rotate at about 70 knots and use up just over 550
feet of runway; you’ll be in the air in no time.
After establishing a positive rate of climb, retract the gear and set
climb power (2,400 rpm and 23 inches of manifold pressure), establish
a climb of 700 feet per minute and 95 ktas, retracting the flaps as you
go. Don’t climb too quickly as this will use up valuable fuel and you
CPM. V14I5
7/19/2010 2:53:35 PM
never know when you may need it. Stick to the flight plan. Make a right
180 degree turn after clearing the runway to bring you back on course.
The first part is easy as long as you follow the coastline and keep away
from the mountain. The sun should just be beginning to pop over the
horizon; I hope you brought your camera for this sunrise.
KEEP CLOSE, JUST NOT TOO CLOSE
Not long into the cruise setting off so early doesn’t seem too bad
after all. As the sun rises above the horizon you will be treated to a
spectacular range of colours as Maui’s beauty becomes evident. The
photoreal scenery (also reviewed in this edition) combined with the
environment textures make FS an even more wonderful place to fly.
FIRST SIGNS OF THE SUNRISE
When you pass through 2,400 feet reduce rpm to 2,200, manifold
pressure to 20, close the cowl flaps, trim for level flight and lean the
fuel mixture as required.
If you are using an advanced weather program such as Active
Sky, this is where the fun starts. The light turbulence you opted for,
combined with the winds rolling over the mountains will make for a
great challenge. You won’t be able to take your hands away from the
controls for too long. Just keep calm and fly as planned following the
coastline and the winds will calm down once you clear the mountains.
Armed with your knowledge of Hawaii’s climate you expected this
didn’t you? On the Hawaii sectional (search for Matt Fox on AVSIM)
this area is marked as a gliding area, I guess we now know why.
SETTLING INTO THE CRUISE
OH MY!
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When a quarter of an hour has passed you should be approaching
your second waypoint, FUNKI. If you forgot to take down the flight
time and fuel burn at the first waypoint, now is a good time to play
catch up. Working out your en-route time is easy; look at the clock (I
trust you noted your departure time). Working out the fuel burn can
be a little harder, the easy way is to go into the fuel planner from the
FSX Menu bar and see how much is remaining. Not entirely realistic
but it will do for now. It took me 17 minutes to reach FUNKI and
I used 3 gallons of fuel. The timing is OK but the fuel burn is a bit
more than expected. Why? Because we used up some fuel during our
taxi to the runway. At this stage I’m not too concerned but if the fuel
burn is still higher than expected when we reach our next waypoint at
Molokai I might be a bit more worried.
After reaching FUNKI turn north west and fly towards Molokai. If
you keep Maui on your right and Lanai on your left you’ll be heading
in the right direction. The winds will still be a little bumpy along this
section as they swirl around the 3 islands. Once you leave Molokai
they will calm down a bit as you fly over open water to Oahu.
STUNNING LANDSCAPE
OAHU IN THE DISTANCE
My calculations estimated that I would reach Molokai 26 minutes
after FUNKI and burn a further 4.30 gallons of fuel. My actual
readings were 27 minutes and 4.40 gallons. I think I can forget my
earlier concerns about the fuel burn. That doesn’t mean you can get
lazy though. Make a note of the time and fuel readings and continue
towards Oahu, which should be looming on the horizon now. You
can’t miss it; it’s that big rocky thing in front of you.
IT WAS WELL WORTH THE EARLY DEPARTURE
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CPM. V14I5
7/19/2010 2:53:37 PM
You are now entering the most dangerous part of your cruise. You
are over open water in a single engine aircraft; if the engine fails you
will need to get out your swimming trunks and surfboard. Up until
now you have been quite close to an airstrip if anything had gone
wrong, let’s hope that the mechanics have been on top of their game
this week. This 30 mile segment should take 15 minutes. As long as
nothing goes wrong in the first few minutes we should be able to glide
down to the beach if we need to.
When you reach the land start to follow the coastline clockwise
around Oahu as you fly over Diamond Head and head for
downtown Honolulu.
DIAMOND HEAD
I didn’t experience any troubles with AI Traffic this early in the
morning. Depending upon your AI Traffic program you might have
to contend with some early morning departures, so be extra vigilant
when scanning the skies.
LEAVING HONOLULU BEHIND, TIME TO THINK ABOUT DESCENDING
DOWNTOWN HONOLULU
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In the pre-flight notes we mentioned that once Oahu changed to
the deep greens of the countryside we would start our descent down
to 1,500 feet. If you are following quite close to the mountains, fly
away from them slightly to prevent any chance of clipping a boulder
as you descend.
Upon reaching 1,500 feet tune into the Dillingham Unicom and
announce which runway you will be landing on; I chose Runway 8.
This should provide a challenge in itself, straightforward it is not!
Flying a straight in approach will have you flying perilously close to
the cliffs, one bad gust of wind and that’s it for today’s flight.
ALMOST THERE
Reduce power to idle 30 feet above the runway and aim for a
nice soft touchdown at 65-70 knots, apply the brakes gently and
taxi to parking.
BE WARY OF STRONG GUSTS OF WIND
PARKED UP, WHAT A FLIGHT
HOW DID YOU DO?
Time to check our earlier calculations, mine are below, how did
yours measure up?
Waypoint
ELYSA
FUNKI
MKK
CKH
HNL
PHDH
EN-ROUTE TIME
Expected Actual
FUEL BURN
Expected Actual
8
5
26
15
6
18
78
1.32
0.84
4.30
2.47
1.04
3.00
12.97
12
5
27
15
6
20
85
2.20
0.80
4.40
2.40
1.00
2.40
13.20
ONE LAST TURN
It would be sensible to fly the approach in a slight arc lining up
with the runway as late as possible. After making the final turn around
the headland drop the first notch of flaps to help slow the aircraft.
When you have the runway in sight announce you are on final, lower
the gear, continue lowering the flaps and adjusting power to maintain
a final approach speed of 75 knots.
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As you can see, it took me a little longer to get to Dillingham
which has yielded more fuel burn. But on the whole, I think that
the calculations were pretty accurate. While it may have taken a lot
longer to plan this flight than simply getting in and setting off with
100% fuel and full power all the way, this method is far more realistic
and MUCH more enjoyable. If you enjoyed the flight, why not try
change the weather settings and/or the aircraft and plan the flight
again to see if you can match your calculations? 4
CPM. V14I5
7/19/2010 2:53:40 PM