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Gliding ops on a 12 degree sloped runway in PNG


Orbxtreme

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Well, that is it! The first glider just arrived at the Fane Parish airport in Papua New Guinea…


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Before it is officially offered as a tourist attraction for the region, some attempts at taking-off and landing must be done. The first trial attracts a few people!

 

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The descent along the twelve degree sloped runway is a bit rough for the glider’s low wings, as there are some bushes that will have to be trimmed!

 

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The weather is nice and very warm. The only potential problem is the mountain ahead.

 

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Finally, the pilot cuts the link. He is free to go!

 

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The glider flies silently over the lush area of Papua New Guinea.


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Using the rising warm air currents, the glider gains altitude.

 

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Why not a pass over Fane?

 

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Here is another isolated village alongside a mountain.

 

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A last steep turn in order to realign for the approach at Fane Parish.


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The airbrakes are out and the speed reasonable. The sloped runway is just ahead, on top of the mountain to the right.

 

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Keeping just enough altitude on the approach to be safe.

 

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Now that the landing is a sure thing, it is time to use the airbrakes again to slow down as much as possible.


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Keeping in mind that this mountain airfield as a good slope, it is better to have a bit of extra speed. Nobody likes to stall a few feet over a runway!

 

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What an experience it was! But I’ll need some help to pull the glider up the slope!

 

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The flight was great, the view was worth every penny, and I think that this could become a new touristic attraction for the region and the more wealthy visitors…


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Cheers!



 

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42 minutes ago, BradB said:

Terrific shots Francois !! .

 

Cheers

 

John

 

Thanks John, glad you liked!

 

37 minutes ago, Sniper31 said:

What a fun thread! Looks like some very gentle and serene gliding was had by you. Great narration and shots :) 

 

Thanks, yes it was serene, except for the take-off on the bumby runway. Ouch!

 

6 minutes ago, caleb1 said:

Great set of shots and well flown.  What glider is that if you don't mind me asking?

 

Thanks,

Caleb

Thanks Caleb, if I am not mistaken, I think it is the glider that comes with FSX. It seems to me that I've had it for decades! But if you are looking for interesting gliders, maybe this site would be useful to you:  http://www.virtualsoaring.org/flight/downloads/Index_aircraft_Wolfgang_fs8_fs9_fsX_part4.html

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Thanks Caleb, if I am not mistaken, I think it is the glider that comes with FSX. It seems to me that I've had it for decades! But if you are looking for interesting gliders, maybe this site would be useful to you:  http://www.virtualsoaring.org/flight/downloads/Index_aircraft_Wolfgang_fs8_fs9_fsX_part4.html


Thanks Orbxtreme. The one included in FSX isn't that bad. Thanks for the link, those seem interesting.
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1 hour ago, lifejogger said:

What a great flight!!!!!!!  I bet flying a glider is a lot of fun.  Super shots of it.

 

Thanks John, it's super easy. Choose a runway, pick a glider, than press crtl+shft+Y. An aircraft will appear in front of you, and your glider will start to be towed in a few seconds. You just follow the aircraft ahead of you and when you are ready to cut the link, you press shft+Y. Then you are on your own!

 

1 hour ago, VH-KDK said:

Something I have never tried but this looks very enjoyable.

A wonderful post with an interesting story line.:)

 

Glad you liked. Look at the quote I wrote to lifejogger and have a good flight!

 

30 minutes ago, TigerTigerM said:

Excellent set of shots from  an imaginative adventure.

TTM

 

Thanks, I appreciate!

 

21 minutes ago, Almedin said:

Awesome set of shots man! Thanks!

 

Cheers,

Almedin

 

Thanks Almedin! ^_^

 

16 minutes ago, Ken Hall said:

I must try this, fantastic set of shots and angles, commentary was excellent, thanks for such an inspiring post

 

Thanks Ken but watch out if you try this, we don't want to lose a developer of beautiful virtual sceneries...! ;)

 

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Just now, Orbxtreme said:

Thanks Jack, glad you liked. The lush area is not as green as what I see on your shots, but what can I do?!! :)

I think it all depends on what country and season you're flying in/on.  And with so many variables like PTA, REX, ENVTEX, and others I may have missed there could be an infinite amount of way to make Orbx land look good. :)

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Nice ones! How did you make that towing?
This was described in an earlier post in this topic:


Thanks John, it's super easy. Choose a runway, pick a glider, than press crtl+shft+Y. An aircraft will appear in front of you, and your glider will start to be towed in a few seconds. You just follow the aircraft ahead of you and when you are ready to cut the link, you press shft+Y. Then you are on your own!
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15 hours ago, olderndirt said:

Really well thought out shots - immersive for the viewer.  My beat up plastic is quivering in anticipation of that scenery being ported to XPlane.

 

That is funny, you too have a beat up plastic !

 

14 hours ago, adambar said:

Beautiful shots indeed, nice work Francois! :)

 

Thanks, glad you liked them!

 

12 hours ago, zazaboeing said:

Nice ones! How did you make that towing?

 

Thanks, I see that Caleb has already answered your request. The only thing is that I don't know if it works with anything else than FSX?

 

10 hours ago, paulb said:

First class Francois! :)

 

Thanks Paul, much appreciated!

 

3 hours ago, boetie said:

That's a first. So glad I looked!

Thanks for sharing Francois.

Cheers Graeme :)

Thanks Graeme, we never know what we're going to find on this forum!! ;)

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Thanks, I see that Caleb has already answered your request. The only thing is that I don't know if it works with anything else than FSX?


I just tried it in P3D v4.2 today (I copied the glider from FSX to P3D) and it worked fine. The only thing is I am not sure how to configure the weather so that thermals/ridge lift/wave lift actually have an effect on the aircraft. This is not only a P3D v4 thing, as I had this problem in FSX too, unless I was flying the "introduction to soaring" mission, which I assume would have had the weather pre configured. What I will probably do is start that mission in FSX-SE with the "allow changes in the selected mission" option enabled, then I will go to the weather page and see how things are configured, then I will apply those things in P3D v4 and see if it works.

Caleb
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2 hours ago, Stillwater said:

Fantastic experiment Francois. I always struggle to gain altitude in gliders, and in this region it should be even harder...

have a look at this page, if you like to glide:https://www.fsglider.de/p_g.htm

Thanks Gerold, I was surprised at how long I could stay at a specific altitude, without losing nor gaining altitude but I agree that gaining altitude in that region is not easy. I use Cumulus X most of the time when I take the glider. But on this flight, it was "off". As for your link, it is a very good one. Jetzt kann ich Deutsch lesen und Wolfgangs website ist für mich ein bisschen einfacher zu verstehen.

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16 hours ago, Orbxtreme said:

Jetzt kann ich Deutsch lesen und Wolfgangs website ist für mich ein bisschen einfacher zu verstehen.

Indeed not too easy for those not able to read German. And it is not just downloading and installing - sometimes you really have to read it...:ph34r:

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