Derek McAllan Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 G'day all, Back again with another set of pics for your perusal. It's been great to be able to get a bit of FSX airtime in over the past couple of weeks, virtual flying sure beats the pants of the real flying I'm doing a lot of lately (ie - QANTAS, window seat row 11 ) Last night's flight was a most enjoyable one. I've been trying to get around some of the ORBX airports I snagged during the May sale, and it's been a whole lot of fun. This time I set up a plan in PlanG to fly an IFR flight at 8500' from Coffs Harbour out to Tamworth, but I was determined not to use the GPS as I'm trying to focus on proper use of the other instruments. So, I added a couple of intermediate VOR's to make the route a bit more interesting and set up to fly solely using VOR navigation until obtaining vectors to Tamworth ILS30 from ATC. For this flight I chose a plane I haven't really flown a whole lot of lately: the IRIS Diamond DA-42, TDi variant. Maybe an odd choice given my goal of not using GPS navigation given it's Garmin G1000 instruments, but I love the design of this aircraft - such unique and amazingly sleek lines and quite a nice flight model to boot. It was a late summer's afternoon flight, preflight around 15:30 for a 16:00 departure. Weather was warm, gusty and variable, and I went with the "Building Storms" theme again for some nice big Cu's and CuNim's with some associated turbulence. Hope you enjoy the flight! PS. I hope you don't mind the number of pics, 15 in this case. I'm taking so many screenies when flying these days, it's becoming hard to filter them out. I'll typically shoot about 30 frames during a decent flight, but usually only use 1/3 to 1/2 of them. I do downsize them to make for quicker loading though!! Preflighting the DA-42 at Coffs Harbour. I'm thoroughly impressed with this airport, such a lovely spot. Twin Diesels humming (well... roaring really ) along nicely, clearance given to the holding point for runway 21. The airport's really busy this afternoon and I've got a bit of a wait. A fair bit of traffic arriving and departing and several planes doing circuits. Here's the first of several landings I had to watch... a C172 doing touch-and-go's ...and another one. Baron arriving. After watching four planes land and another two takeoff ahead of me in the lineup it's finally my turn. Listen to those Diesels roar! Gear up, flaps up, climbing out past about 2500' and lining up on my first VOR track Settled into a steady climb on track, looking back at Coffs. This plane looks so awesome with it's extra long, high aspect ratio wings and big winglets. Leaving the rural land behind and entering the mountains, near top of climb and throttling back for a 120kt cruise About halfway in to the flight, the sun's starting to get low now. Looks like it's going to be getting dark at about arrival time. Another magic evening to be flying. Getting cloudier as I get near Armidale Catching the last rays of the sun as the landscape descends into darkness below Sunset as I prepare to make my turn to intercept the localiser. Eight miles out, lined up on approach. Flaps down a notch, gear down, slowing to 90kts AP off and hand flying final Parking up at the Tamworth terminal. Thanks for coming along for the ride, I hope it was enjoyable! Cheers, Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dontay Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Fab set of shots here Derek! I always enjoy your screenies and narration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajc Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 That was an amazing set of shots! Very shots too. AJC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 What a grand set of shots there indeed Derek. cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan2 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Yep, enjoyed the flight and the pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lovell Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Magnificant shots... really like your colours and realistic haze.. all great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manta Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Cracking shots mate! I'm also very fond of the plane! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockliffe Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Hey Derek, you always put so much effort into your screenies and narration, it really pays off. Thanks for taking me on your tour, very enjoyable. Cheers matey... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanTenner Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Great shots How is that aircraft on performance? Right now I am a bit unsure if to buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amentiba Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Very nice shots ! The last Diamond has made a flight on Bourget Paris Air Show ! Was great on TV and i will see it in live in less than 24 hous !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek McAllan Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 Thanks folks, more to come later. It's perfect FSX weather here in Perth right now, ie - cold, raining and blowing a gale. No gardening fro me today Magnificant shots... really like your colours and realistic haze.. all great! Thanks John, the haze is just from the FSX theme, plus I limit the low level visibility in REX. Hey Derek, you always put so much effort into your screenies and narration, it really pays off. Thanks for taking me on your tour, very enjoyable. Cheers matey... Cheers Howard, my aim is for anyone reading to enjoy and if desired replicate my flights... glad you appreciate!! Great shots How is that aircraft on performance? Right now I am a bit unsure if to buy it. The IRIS DA-42 is great on performance, even considering it is running the G1000. I love flying IRIS planes as they are almost all excellent performers, I regularly fly the DA-40 and the Pilatus PC-9 but I picked up their entire collection during a sale a few months back. Cheers, Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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