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James50

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So, after a week exploring Tokyo and revising hard on the B767, I've just completed a familiarisation flight back down to Fukuoka, which is where we flew up from last weekend in the Dash on the final leg of this stage.

Moved the 767 over from the international terminal at Haneda to gate 11 on domestic terminal 1 for my internal flight.

 

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With the wind 337@15, take offs on 34L. SEKID2 SID to SEKID / Y20 / KIRIN / STAR / RJFF.

Pushing back

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Holding at 34L, International terminal is to the left of the runway, with Domestic Terminals 1 and 2 and the tower to the right.

 

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Good conditions at FL340, but with a stonking 125kt headwind!

 

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The 767 does feel a bit 'low tech' after the Q400 but just about getting the hang of it.

ILS approach to rwy 34 at Fukuoka; winds 347@16. Flew the flight under FSX ATC - hence the somewhat torturous approach to Fukuoka.

Also got down very close to the mountains to the SE of the airport which was a bit of a bother.

Parked up at gate 58 on the west apron.

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Will fly back to Tokyo in the next couple of days, then prep for flight over to San Francisco.

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Returned to Haneda earlier today from Fukuoka, ready for the trans-Pacific leg over to San Francisco.

Same good conditions as the flight out and wind at FL350 was consistent, so massive benefit from a 125kt tailwind.

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Routing for 34L ILS approach came in over XAC VOR and turned to UTIBO.

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Arriving just before midday local time - still a bit of haze about

 

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Coming across Tokyo Bay, the southern end of the Bay Aqualine (Tunnel) can be seen to the right of the image with the Tower of the Wind visible in the distance ahead.

 

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Final approach

 

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And touch down

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Hopefully done enough for the real thing!

 

 

 

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All set for the trans-Pacific leg - here's the route on SkyVector

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4600 nm. SYE3 SID / SYE / Y11 / JD / DAIGO / Y889 / OATIS / OTR3 / PUTER / POXED / AGEDI / R591 / AKISU / ASPIN / SYA / R591 / AMOND / A342 / CRYPT / DCT COORDS / VESPA / REDWD / AMAKR / BDEGA2 STAR.

International Date Line would be crossed between AMOND and DRAPP on A342. CRYPT is the halfway point.

Since I was flying a United plane, the plan was to 'shadow' their flight UA876, departing Haneda at 4.25pm (local) and arriving San Francisco 8.40am (local), a flight time of 9hrs 15mins.

Flight operated by a B787 Dreamliner.

We pushed back at 4.22pm local and with winds 40@9kts, took off from rwy 34L at 4.35pm.

 

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Taxiing out from the International Terminal with Domestic Terminal 1 and the tower on the other side of the runway.

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This was going to be a long, boring flight, having reached cruise altitude of FL390, with the only excitement coming with crossing the international date line. I think in all my FlightSim past I've only done that once before when undertaking a RTW in my Noble Air days in the late 90s or early 00s.

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I think both images will zoom to show 179deg 59'  The IRU display is in the top LH corner of 767 overhead.

The PlanG map bizarrely would be a good advert for the flat earth society presenting a convincing argument for falling over the edge!

Just prior to the dateline we overflew SYA VOR which is at Eareckson air base on Shemya Island. Part of the Aleutian Islands, south west of Alaska.

The base still operates as a strategic radar station and an aircraft refuelling stop. The runway runs east/west, is 10,000ft long with ILS on rwy 28.

Curiously, the halfway point and most northerly at CRYPT intersection is only 55deg N. Aberdeen in Scotland is 57deg N. Just felt like we should be further north.

Next treat was sunrise,

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followed by US landfall over Mendocino County, 150 miles north of San Francisco.

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And then the Golden Gate bridge appeared through the early morning clouds

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Routing then went inland to east before turning onto final for rwy 28R.

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Landed at 8.45am local and was on gate G92 (the allocated gate for the United flight) on the International terminal at 8.55am.

Flight time was 9hrs 10mins, a credible 5mins inside the scheduled flight time, so I felt quite chuffed about that.

More so, because a review online showed the actual flight left Haneda an hour late, but caught up 30 mins arriving 9.10am.

I must have mixed up my odds and evens; I flew at FL390, but noted that the real flight flew at FL380, with other flights at FL400 coming east across the Pacific.

 

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I think the Princess leaves the group in San Francisco.

I need to go and find the United Express Dash that will take us across to New York.

Nine days rest before we set off again.

 

 

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It did strike me yesterday that it was quite tight getting onto gate G92 when I arrived as KSFO. I went for that as the real world gate for United UA876.

Forgot to allow for the Dreamliner being a fair bit smaller than B767. Unsurprisingly, designated GATE SMALL in FSX! Oops!

 

 

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Eventually found my United Express Dash for the legs across the USA parked out by the perimeter fence on what the chart designates at Plot 42, at the end of GA Area by the threshold of 10L.

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While United Express was a Dash operator in 2014(?) when Majestic released the aircraft, it seems they disposed of them in 2015/16 (a fair few coming to Flybe in the UK) and replaced them with Embraer RJs. I will determine a United Express gate on the terminal for when we go in just over a week.

 

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Planning underway for the next stage across the US to New York.

I've opted to fly to Newark, New Jersey (KEWR) which is part of the Port Authority.

Taking four legs and going via Provo Muni (KPVU), Kearney Regional (KEAR), Chicago/Gary International (KGYY), 2233nm.

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Having checked the book synopsis, it also appears that the princess stays with us back to the UK.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So here we are, after 10 days on the town in San Francisco, time to join our new United Dash and cross the USA. As noted in the previous post, the Princess stays with us all the way back to the UK.

Flew the first leg to Provo Muni (KPVU) in Utah yesterday, Dec 5th and that's now 2 months since we started from Biggin Hill on Oct 2nd.  I had move the Dash over from its parking on the far side to Terminal 3 Gate F85, which is regularly used by United.

 

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A bright clear morning, 13 degrees, winds 130@12, designated rwy 10R with a FOGG2 SID to MOGEE. Then Q124 / BVL / J154 / TCH  / direct to ILS 13 at KPVU.

Pushed back at 1015 local (1815Z), with a short taxi to 10R, took off at 1022. Climbing, turned NE across the Bay and over Oakland.

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Forecast looked like we would enjoy clear conditions the whole way. Here we are approaching Lake Tahoe.

 

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On the other side of the lake we passed over Reno-Tahoe.

 

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Getting snowy down below.

Uneventful to the Utah state line where the time zone changed approaching Bonneville VOR and the salt flats.

 

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It suddenly felt like we were back over the desert in the middle east. Then we got to the Great Salt Lake,

 

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Followed by a 90 degree turn over Salt Lake City

 

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before heading along the valley for final approach into Provo Muni which is alongside Provo Bay on Utah Lake.

 

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Provo is 4500ft above sea level and the temperature on arrival was -1C. Arrived 1316 local time (2016Z) giving a flight time of 1hr 54 mins.

Landing wasn't one of my best. It's been over 3 weeks since my last flight in a Dash when we flew up to Tokyo from Fukuoka. Seems like an age ago.

Provo is home to Brigham Young University and we are recommended to drive then follow the trail up Y Mountain, 8500ft high with commanding views across the city and lake.

We'll spend a day in Provo before heading on to Kearney Regional in Nebraska.

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Happy landings folks.

 

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Stunning view from Y Mountain. Provo Muni airport is in the middle distance on the shore of Lake Utah (photo by Raul Castillo)

 

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Onward, ever onward. After a rest day on Wednesday, Thursday saw us progress to Kearney Regional in Nebraska. A partly cloudy but bright morning with the mercury stood at -3C! Winds 150 @ 5kt, rwy 13 departure, PROVO4 SID to FFU VOR / J116 / FQF / J44 / MCK / KEAR ILS 13.

 

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Scenery around Provo is stunning, climbing out over Lake Utah.

 

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Schoolboy error setting altitudes caused a bit of a stir when the ground proximity warning went off! Heigh ho!

 

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Routing took us over the Falcon FQF VOR at Denver, the Mile High airport at 5300ft.

 

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Despite leaving the Rockies behind and Kearney is at a more modest 2000ft it's still cold; -3C when we arrived at 1345 local (1945Z) after crossing another time zone after Denver.

 

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With a massive 80+ kts headwind most of the way at FL250, flight time was 2hrs 21mins for the 615 nm.

 

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Kearney is a small city of 33,000 people, strategically located on the east-west I-80 and alongside the Platte River.

 

 

 

 

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Friday was a rest day exploring Kearney. Cold again on Saturday morning, 0 degrees, part cloud and winds 310 @ 11kts. Kearney airport is only a Mon - Fri, 8am - 5pm operation, so my planned departure on a Saturday had meant a bit of negotiation and explaining why we were passing through with only 3 passengers. Planned to push back at 0930 local (1530Z). Runway 31 departure, with flaps 10. Direct to LNK, direct to CVA for MOTIF5 STAR into Chicago/Gary Int'l (KGYY). Forecast for clearing snow at Gary. It really has turned wintry. Uneventful take off at 0935, swinging round to the east to join the track to LNK VOR at Lincoln. Winds aloft at FL250 had gone round a bit since Thursday and were more across rather than directly ahead, but had increased to 100kts. Uneventful flight, with stepped descent to 13000 at DIPSY, 6000 at MINOK and 2400 at Chicago Heights CGT. Snow had stopped, but remained cloudy and cold with ice warnings all the way down. Winds 300 @15kts. Directed to rwy 30 ILS approach. Outbound from WATSU, procedural turn, then inbound for final approach.

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Lake Michigan looking grey and uninviting off to the right. Chicago O'Hare is a 50 mile hop to the north.

 

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Bit of a bumpy landing again. Taxiways and runways were clear, but snow was all too apparent on the grassed areas.

 

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Landed at 1138 local time (1738Z) giving a flight time of 2hrs 3mins. Time to explore downtown Chicago this afternoon and tomorrow morning before the final US leg to Newark.

Essential to go and check out the former Chicago Meigs field, the default start airport for MSFS for many years before it was controversially closed with the runway dug up overnight in March 2003.

It now appears to be called Northerly Island, a 91 acre peninsula with skyline views, with hiking, fishing and playing plus a fieldhouse and live music acts.

 

 

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Hello James,

 

You are doing quite well as I got stuck with the flu and I'll have to hurry up to finish the tour especially that I changed a bit what was initially planned and want to go through CORK (EICK) before reaching LONDON as I spent a good bit of time there when flying in the 70s and 80s.

 

Your idea to cross the Pacific with a 767 was a good choice as I had to struggle with windy and icy conditions most of that journey. But i want to do it like in RL: only qualified on one certain type of plane and the Q400 is so special that I do not want to fly anything else.

 

Also you have to be retired to do that I do as it takes hours planning, getting all the charts and related informations to be as near as possible of the RW.

 

See you somewhere,

 

JP

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Saturday pm - so here we are on the car park on Chicago's Northerly Island where the apron at Merrill C Meigs Field (KCGX) used to be.

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Stadium on the left, the downtown skyline and the marina. View to the planetarium at the northern end now obscured by the buildings that have sprung up.

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But the tower is still there! (pictures from Google Streetmap) Or at least was in 2015!

Development still looks to be a work in progress. There is some parkland, but still more to do.

Apparently it was called Northerly Island when it was first created as an artificial peninsula in 1920.

The airport opened in 1948 named after the publisher of the Chicago Herald & Examiner and by 1955 was the busiest single runway airport in the US.

Mayor Daley sent the diggers in under cover of darkness on March 30th 2003 to gouge deep 'X's along the runway to show its closure, leaving 16 aircraft stranded.

They eventually departed, taking off from the parallel taxiway.

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Meigs remained in MSFS up to the 2004 incarnation.

Interesting to have come here.

Does anyone know why Microsoft picked this airport out of all the possible airports in the US?

 

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Sunday, final leg of the trans-USA stage, going from Chicago/Gary to Newark Liberty Int'l, NJ (KEWR). Arriving at the airport at 7am local (1300Z) it was grey, cloudy and cold (-4C) with the winds 210@10.

Departures from Gary only look to be in an arc from SW to SE, I guess to avoid conflicts with O'Hare and Midway to the north. Given that the Dash is so very lightly loaded with just the 3 passengers and fuel for 2hr trip + reserve, the numbers confirmed I could take off on the short (3600 ft) rwy 20. I knew the short field operations of the Dash would come in handy! ELANR4 SID to ELANR. Direct to GIJ / J554 / CRL / J584 / FQM / PENNS2 STAR / KEWR ILS 22R.

Took off into the cloud at 0804 local (1404Z). Wind had come round more favourably as 50 kt tailwind. Given the cloud cover, there wasn't a great deal to see.

 

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Lake Erie is down there somewhere through the gaps in the clouds.

Descending to 6000ft, we suddenly appeared in the sunshine over the Broadway BWZ VOR on Schooleys Mt in New Jersey.

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And it remained clear all the way in.

Turning onto final here just south of Teterboro airport

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Final approach on 22R with the winds 260@12 and a temp of -1C.

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Allocated to gate 105 on terminal C

 

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Landed at 1602Z (1102 local) giving a flight time of 1hr 58mins. And that completes this stage of the RTW.

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I now need to work out if I have enough (real world) time to plan and execute the long way round in the Dash or whether to go for the one 767 'hop' across the Atlantic to Ireland.

Watch this space!

Happy landings,

James

 

 

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After a lot of planning and looking at real world time available, I have sadly come to the conclusion we will have to fly to Cork (Cobh) Ireland (Queenstown in the book) in a single hop, back in the United B767 again, if I'm going to be able to join people in Liverpool (where our intrepid travellers arrived from Dublin on the ferry) for the final leg to London on Dec 21st.

Here's the planned route:

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Shannon will be the alternate as getting into Cork is going to be tight, depending on the wind.

See y'all back in the UK
James

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Hello James,

Nice to see you are going to visit me at Cork Airport. I'll get you a Paddy at the bar where I have been a very good customer at a time that we could fly not too sober when taking off (that's finished now). By the way Cobh is quite few miles away and it was the place of departure for the immigrants and was the last call for the TITANIC. It has been called Queenstown for a while but nowadays it's known only as Cobh (meaning and pronounced Cove).

I already started leaving NY to GOOSE BAY. Have a nice flight with your 767.

Regards,

JP

 

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Hi JP, I arrived in Cork Wednesday am (13th) into the low cloud and drizzle, so typical of Ireland! Had a couple of holidays in Ireland a few years ago and stayed in Cork both occasions. Visited Cobh and the heritage centre there which was very interesting. Also visited the Jameson Whisky experience which was also very interesting!

Right, must write up my log

Good luck in the far north - happy landings

James

 

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Tues 12th, late. Time to go transatlantic in the same United B767-300ER that took me across the Pacific. We're parked at gate B68. Planned t/o is 2200hrs local (0300Z, 13/12). It's cold, just 2C and the winds are 310@16. Rwy 4L departure. With La Guardia and JFK to the immediate east and north-east, Newark departures are to the west and north and also have to avoid Teterboro to the north. Busy airspace. Newark2 SID routes to the west and the SAX VOR. Opted for FL390 and went VOR to VOR NE up the coast to Newfoundland Gander. BAF, ENE, YSJ, YYG, YGR, YJT and YQZ. From thence to KOBEV and an Atlantic crossing track.

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1365nm later I passed over MALOT and started the descent towards Cork. With the wind 230@11 ILS rwy 35 was selected, coming in via the KURUM1G STAR. Cork was always going to be a tight squeeze for the 767. But we are very lightly loaded with just the 3 passengers and a couple of stewardesses. I'd fuelled just for the flight and reserve to Shannon, 100 miles to the north. It also had to be rwy 35 as that has taxiway exit at the end. With no parallel taxiway, rwy 17 wasn't an option. First approach captured the localiser ok but I was too high and fast for the glideslope. First go-around of the trip. Conditions were also worsening slightly with the cloud and the rain.

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Second approach was more stable,

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Speed was slower, but still a little high, but committed to the landing.

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Max flaps, max brakes and spoilers deployed

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And came to a stop just by the exit. With a very short taxi to the cargo ramp.

 

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In the drizzle, the temp was 6C. Takeoff at 2200 local (0300Z) and finally landed at 0855 (Z and local), 5hrs 55mins flight time, benefitting massively from a tailwind up to 110kts at times.

 

 

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Final stage home.

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Our intrepid travellers disembarked the steamship Henrietta in Queenstown, now Cobh, which is about 15 miles from the city of Cork. They caught the train to Dublin, the ferry to Liverpool and finally the train to London. Time permitting, that's the route we want to follow, having been re-united with the Flybe Dash 8 here in Cork. 21500 miles flown so far; just 400 to go.

 

 

 

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Hello James,

You did well with the 767 when I was struggling with the Q400 in snow and icing. I was quite lucky in Narsarsuark as it was quite clear weather and still daytime with a quite tricky approach. I moved already to Iceland and next leg to Cork.

The Q400 is quite a complex aircraft, not logical compared to the ATR but when you get used to her she is very nice to fly and very well modelled by Majestic. In the sim I do not want to fly anything else so far.

See you,

JP

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Log for my flight on Mon 18th from Cork to Liverpool, via Dublin, following the historic route of our intrepid passengers. With real world time running out, as indeed it was in history, I negotiated a 'touch and go' at Dublin. I would approach and touch down, declare a go around, take off and continue, re-filing for Liverpool, as a sort of alternate.

Sunrise at Cork,

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Conditions deteriorated after this, with visibility down to <3mi and negligible wind. But still ok to get away.

TISMO1Q departure from rwy 17, direst to CML, direct to EIDW. Came through the cloud at 10,000ft, climbing to FL150.

Better conditions at Dublin, cloudy, but >10mi and again negligible wind.

Opted for rwy 10 approach via KENOL and BOKLI, executing touch and go as planned

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Liverpool flight plan was direct to LIFFY, UL975 to MALUD and TIPOD3A approach for rwy 09 ILS.

Cloudy at Liverpool with around 5mi visibility and still not much wind.

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Parked up on the apron at gate 2.

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Left Cork at 0927, arriving Liverpool at 1036 giving 1hr 9min flight time for the 262 miles. Second shortest leg of the whole trip.

 

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Final bit of planning now to complete the trip back to London Biggin Hill.

 

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Weds 20th Dec, last leg from Liverpool to London Biggin Hill, where it all started back on Oct 2nd.

Cloudy, mild morning at Liverpool. 8C, wind 0@0kts (!), visibility 10 miles.

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Rwy 09 departure, NANT2V SID to NANTI / L8 / HON / JACK1H STAR to JACKO. Turn and inbound for ILS approach to rwy 21 at Biggin.

Final takeoff at 0934.

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Followed by turn south east over the Mersey

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Climbed to FL200 above the cloud.

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Here we are over Birmingham, seen below through the cloud

 

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JACK1H STAR heads east toward Clacton, keeping well clear to the north of London, before turning and crossing the Thames, look, here's the Dartford Crossing

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before approaching Biggin from the NE.

Forecast for Biggin was fog, visibility 1mi and winds 260@6. Mucked up the approach; too high on the glideslope and some procedural problems with the autopilot.

Initiated a go-around, recovering the situation with the autopilot and resetting the HGS. Better approach, but still a bit of a hard landing.

Still, we're home, journey's end.

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Landed at 1041 giving a flight time of 1hr 7mins.

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262mi this leg, making the total flown since the start in October 22,010 mi.

 

 

 

 

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Time now to say goodbye to my intrepid passengers and for me to hop into a cab up to the West End,

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to the Waldorf Hilton in Aldwych,

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and claim my drink from JP, I think it was.

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Cheers,

 

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Well done James,

Just on time but you'll have to wait a bit longer for the drink as I am still in Cork and planning to move at 08.15 this morning.

Yesterday the Keflavik Cork was OK until the landing in Cork. Still the same since decades, bad weather and seeing the runway at the minima.

Anyway you gave me an idea and I'll go from Cork to Southend via Dublin and Liverpool but I will not touch and go on the way.

Still High pressure over all Western Europe and fog with low ceiling so I just hope to land safely in EGMC.

I let you know when I'll be at the Waldorf.

JP

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