ACTIVE Heavy Metal Parking at NZQN?

[Hangar200]

In the latest edition of PC Pilot, the Challenging Airports feature is a flight from NZCH to NZQN using the VOR DME approach. (Pg 54) The article used FTX NZ South Island and NZQN airport scenery. I just had to try it out.

My first flight was with JustFlight's Constellation…about halfway through the flight I realized the aircraft didn't have DME …Oops…I figured out another approach and landed. I repeated the flight in a Just Flight DC-8 (DME equipped), flew the proper approach and landed.

For both flights, after exiting runway 5, the tower switched me to ground. However, ground would only give me "Takeoff options", no parking choices. I was definitely tuned to NZQN and not NZQN GA.

I realize that a "Connie" and a DC-8 may be a bit bigger than the norm for NZQN—the biggest act the manual mentions is a 737—however, both fit nicely at Gate 2.

Is it a size issue—no parking spot with a big enough radius for the wing span—or something else going ?

[Adam Banks]

I've often had this with inbuilt FSX ATC. It just sometimes appears to "lose the plot". When that happens, I totally de-tune all the COMMS frequencies, then re-tune them. Sometimes that works, sometimes not.

 

Does that PC Pilot article give a complete flight plan (including SIDS/STARS) that I could try? I'd be interested to see what it suggest for NZQN approaches.

 

Adam.

 

EDIT: Do you have any AI working at NZQN? Maybe all the "heavy" parking spots were used up <?>.

[Hangar200]

No SID from Christchurch.  The approach into Queenstown is is called the VOR DME B  Link

 

The idea is that you takeoff  form NZCH and fly the outbound 216º radial FROM the Christchurch VOR.  Alt is a modest 10,000 ft.  About at 92 DME is the halfway point, you tune up the Queenstown VOR (QN 113.6) adjust a bit and continue a 216º radial TO QN.  At about 14 Nm the fun starts.  You turn left to fly a 12NM radius arc from QN. over some rough terrain, descending to 8500 and then 7100.  When you hit the 260º TO QN you turn 260º inbound and start a step down over the terrain.  This should place you at about 4500-ish Ft over QN.  Defending on which runway (05 or 23) you fly a looping visual pattern the rest of the way (its on the approach plate) …dodging some mountains, etc.  The 260º leg goes pretty quickly - I slowed to about 180 its (in the DC- 8 with 15º Flaps - once I made the turn onto the visual for 05, I quickly dirtied up - gear 35º flaps as its about the only "straight" section - I don't like changing configurations in turns.  Vref was 130-ish.

 

ATC seemed fine until I landed checked in on the Base leg, as I rounded towards Final I got the landing clearance.  Maybe like PAKT (elevated Rwy) and EGPB ("real" not flat Rwy) they just cant park you because the spots are at a different elevation.  But the runway and taxiways seemed fine…flat…so…??   There were plenty of spots open and as you can see the DC-8 fit in one of them.

 

 

The great thing about this approach is that if you look at the area covered by ZNQN the "good parts" of the approach are all there - mostly the terrain to the west.  

 

I guess I really shouldn't be flying the big stuff in there…but it was so much fun!