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Jean Passepartout Appreciation Society


Eric Lavorel

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Hello Heinz, Hello Erich, and many thanks for your comments !! :)

 

The journey to San Francisco started yesterday for me, but not as I planned. See the message below for the details and some pictures of the first leg !

 

To Erich, I use, as much as I can, SkyMaxxPro (v 4.6), associated with Real Weather Connector, all from X-Aviation as you surely know. It can be a real fps eater and I watch after this carefully. You can see them in the upper left corner in my pictures. In my opinion, fps drop when clouds get numerous and/or thicker, I even had to disable the plugin and use X-Plane standard clouds instead. But I think that fps drop also over mountainous area, especially when flying at high altitudes as I do. Moreover, it seems to me that, the higher the mountains, the higher the fps drop ! To stick back to your question, Erich, I don't remember a specific fps drop when reaching Haneda but checking on the pictures, I had 34fps during descent, 24fps when established on ILS and 29 fps on the ground, so yes, there was a slight drop but within usual fluctuations. I begin to worry when they come less than 20 and less than 15 makes me disable SkyMaxx.

 

The A 350 is a wonderful plane to fly, FF did a really fine job on this model !! Of course, it can be improved (eg, including SIDs and STARs directly) but still, it is clearly my favorite in this class or airliners !! ... and I love those curved winglets !!!

 

I wish nice flights to both of you, although we will come to winter ! ;)

See you very soon !!

Eric

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Wednesday, Nov. 15th : First leg of our journey to San Francisco ! A 1h 45m flight from Tokyo Haneda (RJTT) to Khomutovo Sakhalinsk (UHSS) in Russia. Many, many clouds during all the flight, not very much to see below, but nothing unusual when flying north in November, isn't it ? Minus 6°C on arrival, winter is not coming, it's already here !!!

Some change of plans for the Pacific crossing : as there are no direct upper routes to reach our first scheduled airport in Alaska (that was Adak - PADK), we will change our journey as follows : RJTT - UHSS - UHPP (as scheduled) then we will continue with a direct flight to Anchorage (PANC), then Vancouver (CYVR) and San Francisco (KSFO). UHPP-PANC will be 1741 NM long, let's hope we have strong pushing winds like between Shanghai and Tokyo !!

 

OK, now some pictures of yesterday's flight, starting with the plane at the gate in RJTT before departure.

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After push-back, here we are, ready for taxi to runway 34L.

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Heading north after take-off, we fly over Tokyo, climbing in the clouds. Yes, I know, we are not supposed to chat on the UNICOM but it was just wishing good flight to another guy, flying to Manila. Lucky you, man ! You will surely have better weather on arrival than us !!!

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Above the clouds, as on arrival in Tokyo, here is the Fuji-Yama !

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A glimpse of Wakkanai, Japan's most northern city ! Goodbye, Land of the Rising Sun !!

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Sakhalin island is not far at all from Japan and shortly after that, we begin our descent through the clouds.

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Some turbulence during descent, even towering cumulus !!

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Calm wind in UHSS, so we could descent directly to intercept the ILS of runway 01 (Arrival PERUB 2A).

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And finally, welcome to Russia !!

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Today, Nov. 20th, next leg of our Pacific crossing : Khomutovo (UHSS) to Petropavlovsk (UHPP) in Kamchatka. 1h45m flight over the sea at FL 400 (a taste of what will come next !), very nice weather, even if it becomes colder and colder !! We had to wait some days before taking off because, as some of you may know, Petropavlovsk is also a military airbase for Russian Air Force and they had scheduled some training and maneuvers during the week-end. So, even if Russians love the "Fransouskis", they were not too happy to have a big airliner in the middle of this. We too were not eager to find ourselves near what would be a hornets' nest so an agreement was rapidly found and we enjoyed Russian hospitality instead with great pleasure !

 

So, here we are, loading the plane at UHSS.

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A view of Khomutovo, while our plane is taxiing to rwy 01.

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Airborne !...

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... and climbing through the clouds to our cruise flight level.

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At FL400 over the sea...

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Then, we begin our descent in sight of Kamchatka's coastline

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Approach over the mountains.

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Before landing...

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On final rwy 34 at UHPP. No ILS available, but, fortunately, the weather was very nice !

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Landed ! Flaps up and ground spoilers disarmed.

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And, finally, taxi to terminal at UHPP. Let's hurry a bit so we don't keep the other plane waiting !

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Hello Heinz, and hello everyone !

 

This is it ! Today, nov. 22th, 1700Z, we landed in Anchorage (PANC) after a 3h 30m flight, coming from Petropavlovsk (UHPP). That was a rather long one, mainly over the sea as one can expect... This is the leg where we gain one day !! :D

Weather rather cloudy, but very strong turbulences at arrival !! However, we managed to land smoothly, with a nice round of applause from the passengers, who were not so reassured a few minutes ago... Quite understandable, I must say, because it was no easy final approach and the Go Around was very close !! Okay, we'll stay there a few days and next step will be Vancouver !

 

All set ! Ready for taxi !

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We'll wait first for a landing plane.

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And then, here we go !

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A last view of Kamchatka and we say good bye to Russia, caviar and vodka on ice... 

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Time to rest with a nice meal and good entertaining program, while the A 350 flies at FL400 over the sea.

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And then, we get our first glimpse of Alaska !

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Descent over the mountains...

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And a left turn to reach Anchorage in a beautiful sunset light.

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En route to intercept ILS of runway 07R at 3000 ft.

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A Ground Controller was on line at PANC. I guess he was not very interested in us, as we were just instructed to park right ahead of us. Too bad for the smaller aircrafts on each side !! :cussing_s:Of course, these are part of my scenery and the ATC could not see them obviously !!! But I couldn't resist to park here !

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Definitely too cold in Anchorage : -17°C, mind you !!! And we are not in Winter yet !!! So, today, Nov. 23rd, bye bye (icy) Alaska, hello (rainy) British Columbia !! Let's have a look at its gorgeous landscapes and the famous city of Vancouver !!

High altitude flight (FL410) as usual, and a bit less than 3 hours from Anchorage (PANC) to Vancouver (CYVR). Mostly above the clouds again and above the sea for the most part of the flight. Heavy rain on arrival, first time I use the wipers on this plane !! Now, we have plenty time to reach San Francisco, the temperature is around +10°C, how about spending some days in this beautiful place ?

 

Ted Steven Anchorage Intl Airport (PANC)

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Finishing push-back, then we will taxi to runway 07L.

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Good bye, Alaska ! 

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At FL410, above a sea of clouds...

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Sometimes, a hole, so we can see the Pacific Ocean :lol:

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And again the sea of clouds !

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Eventually, we begin our descent, reaching Canadian coastline.

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British Columbia typical landscape near the ocean : mountains climbing from the sea !

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Don't descent too fast !!

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Last turn over the sea valley leading to Vancouver. Now we can descent to 3000ft safely to intercept the ILS of runway 08L.

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Can't see a thing with this rain !! What about using the wipers ? ;)

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And welcome to Vancouver !!

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Wednesday, Nov. 29th, our last leg from Vancouver (CYVR) to San Francisco (KSFO). After a wonderful stay in Vancouver, we now look forward to an equally nice stay in San Francisco, where we expect to stay for a week !

Today will be an early morning flight of 1h 50m, at FL410 as usual. The occasion to see a nice sun rise over California ! Let me show you :

 

Early morning boarding in Vancouver :

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Taxi to runway 08R :

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And here we go again ! Lining up on the runway before take-off.

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Good bye Vancouver and thanks for such a pleasant stay !!

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Always a nice picture with the landing lights on in the clouds !!

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A350 at the gates of dawn...;)

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Sun rise over California (or maybe Washington State, I'm not so sure...)

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Just enough time to serve breakfast (with "croissants", of course !) and we begin our descent.

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We fly over San Francisco and do a U turn to intercept our ILS of runway 28R.

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We leave the airport to the left and descend 4000 ft.

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Final approach in the haze, not uncommon in San Francisco...

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After landing, we will cross the parallel runway...

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And, finally, reach our gate !

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"If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair..." Maybe some of you remember the name of Scott McKenzie, I guess this was his only hit in the charts, that must be in 1967 !! Anyway, here's his song, dedicated to all the nice and gentle people doing the 80 days RTW !! 

 

 

 

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Salut Eric

Still running behind you in the background... impressed by your continuous effort to relate your flying experience. Thanks again  and keep going. 

My Katana is currently within Kamchatka but in VFR and I confirm that the weather is quite tough sometimes with strong surface winds and snow/rain...

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Hi Bruno and Bon Courage to cross the Pacific !! I know that your Katana is a nice and reliable plane but, as you said, the weather in North Pacific may be quite adverse at this time of the year. That's why we were very happy to leave Anchorage so soon and head South for better weather conditions !!

 

Many thanks for your kind comment and hope I see you soon !!

Eric

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Late, late, late, we are late !! Too much good time in San Francisco and there we are, running after time !! So, direct flight to Chicago, no time to stop at Omaha as we scheduled before. Of course, you all know Robert Johnson and his "Sweet Home Chicago", but, if you listen carefully to his lyrics, he sings : "Goin' to California, sweet home, Chicago !". Sorry to disappoint you, dear Robert, but Chicago is 4 hours flight away from California with a modern airliner !!! A few days in Chicago and we'll be just in time for arriving in New-York !!

 

Our plane at gate at San Francisco (KSFO)

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Taxiing out...

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And take-off before dawn. But there will be enough time for a good nap before breakfast !

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"Fly me to the moon..." 

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Sunrise over the Rockies

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Above the Great Salt Lake.

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And then the vast Midwest...

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Some trafic on arrival at Chicago, no ATC so we had to arrange our landings by ourselves, via UNICOM. So, no time for pictures before safely landed in KORD.

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Mon, Dec. 11th : OK, we catch up !! After a good week-end in Chicago, a 1h 35m flight brought us at last in New York, where we will spend about a week before our final Atlantic crossing to London. Finally, we decided to spend more time in the Big Apple and fly directly to London-Heathrow. After all, the A350 is a long haul liner, as we mentioned previously, and as this will be our last leg of this wonderful journey, we look forward to fully enjoy it !!

Some pictures, not very dramatic, I must admit, but, hey, it's Winter there also, with many clouds and rather low temperatures. Fortunately, there are many places in New York where you can escape the harsh conditions... if you have enough money, of course ! Welcome to the kingdom of Wall Street and the triumph of capitalism...!! :lolsign_s:

 

Before departure, at gate in Chicago O'Hare (KORD)

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Now, we taxi and line up to runway 23R.

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Leaving Chicago...

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As this is a rather short flight (642 NM), we cruise at FL350 above the NorthEast country.

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Beginning our descent to Newark Liberty (KEWR)

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Of course, through the clouds.

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Final approach at 7000 ft, as per our arrival schedule (Williamsport 3)

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And then descent to 3000 ft to intercept the ILS of runway 22R. Yes, it should have been 22L but there was no trafic in KEWR at this time so why not take the shortcuts ?

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Runway 22R vacated...

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And here we are at gate at Newark Liberty !

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  • 2 weeks later...

Tuesday, Dec. 19th : et voilà !! The last but certainly not the least of our trips around the world : a 6h 40 m flight from Newark (KEWR) to London-Heathrow (EGLL), 3100 nautical miles, mind you ! Starting in early morning, but take off at reduced power to avoid waking up the neighbors, then a rather comfortable flight at FL400 with a steady backwind of 50 kts or so, always helpful !! No ATC on line for this final trip, it would have been helpful, especially at the very end of the flight when approaching EGLL, where we had a nearmiss with a Concorde flying westward to JFK !!! But all's well that ends well, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED !!!! :cheers_s:

Here's our departure from Newark, taxiing out to runway 22R

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"Leaving New York is never easy, I saw the lights fading out...". This REM song seems well appropriate now !

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Of course, I could not resist taking a picture of the clouds illuminated by the landing lights after Take-off !

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After flying over the East coast of the US, then Canada and the Newfoundland province, this is now the time to cross the ocean ! This time, we choose the NAT Track R, published for this day (353rd day of the year). As some of you know already, routes over the Atlantic are different every day, depending on the weather and traffic considerations. Here, at the left of the picture, you can see the route that would probably have been assigned to us by the Oceanic ATC.

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Going East means meet the Sun !

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... and some beautiful lights with the clouds !

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Crossing the pond...

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And, after more than 5 hours of flight, first glimpses of Ireland coast through the clouds !

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We will actually begin our descent when still over Ireland because regulations say FL240 before reaching England's coast !

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And here we are, flying over England after 77 days !!

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Approaching London-Heathrow by the East, to intercept the ILS of runway 27L...

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And, after landing, taxiing to our gate.

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Parking brake set, engines shut down for the last time... Okay, now we can say the flight is over !!

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A last word, as a conclusion : Thanks very very much to you, people of Aerosoft, to suggest this so brilliant idea of a 80 day Round The World, following the path of Phileas Fogg !! Given the number of diaries, it was obviously a huge success ans I'm so glad for you of this !! 

For me, it has been a really great experience, flying in places I would not have had the idea to go at first and discovering how beautiful they are, even with only standard sceneries !! This time constraint was also a powerful push and I really appreciated this. Of course, it's easier with a fast, long-haul, airliner as the A 350, but I couldn't have done this trip with a GA or ancient aircraft, it would have been too much time spent on this and not much fun in the end. So I have the utmost respect for all those wonderful pilots who did the same trip, in the same time, with their small planes, just as the guys from the "Aeropostale" did in the 1930s, flying from Toulouse to South America and over the Andes !!! Surely, one of these pilots will receive my vote for their bravery !!

 

Again, I was very happy to participate to this event and I sincerely hope that there will be another one in the future !!

 

Greetings to all !!

Eric

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