A Retro Base for 727s

[nigelb]

Ian

Thanks so much for the HU on that Bermuda scenery. I installed it and was impressed that the installer backs up your default Bermuda .bgl files. Then I decided to try something different so I downloaded the Bermuda Tallship from http://www.fs-shipyards.org/ and took a leisurly 25kt cruise around Bermuda, inspecting the scenery as I went. I then sailed into Hamilton harbour. The detail is amazing - there is a trash barge docked in the harbour and there were flocks of seagulls hovering over it! There are AI ferries, cruise ships and the trash barge makes three trips a week. Great scenery, well documented - congrats to all involved!


Nigel²

[forthbridge]

Well, the weather's no good for revenue flights around the island just now - poor visibility!

Strangely, real weather was giving a wind of 9kts at 175degrees just now - yet it requires very careful rudder input to stay on the centreline - let off and you end up off the runway quicker than tongue can tell - which is strange since at other airports, a similar wind does not seem as vicious! Time to look at some settings.... :roll:

[speedbird591]

Hi Nigel. What a brilliant idea - it's like having a virtual holiday. Fly to an exotic island, park your private aircraft, hire a tall ship and go cruising! There are some great ships on that site, thank you very much for that, I'll have to have a go myself. BTW, if you zoom in close on that cruise liner in Hamilton, some of the people on the deck are animated. There's a woman with a dog and its tail is wagging! I think these developers have a sense of fun.

That scenery was purely a serendipitous find. I was simply searching for an undeveloped airport at which I'd seen plenty of 727s in their day. Then I remembered BDA and did a search to see if there was any scenery and there we go.

Well, while you guys are off cruising and sightseeing, I have a lot of work to do. I've got to turn the clock back a few years at that airport, starting with a search for an alternate airport for the WoAI traffic to use :roll: If anybody's interested, I'll open a post in the Developer's Corner and you can see what I'm doing as I go along and offers of advice or different ways of doing it could make it a team effort!

Ian

[speedbird591]

- which is strange since at other airports, a similar wind does not seem as vicious!

Jim - don't forget where you are! There are plenty of stories of aircraft and ships going missing without trace in the Bermuda Triangle .....

[forthbridge]

- which is strange since at other airports, a similar wind does not seem as vicious!

Jim - don't forget where you are! There are plenty of stories of aircraft and ships going missing without trace in the Bermuda Triangle .....

Right enough......!!!

[speedbird591]

For those of you who have time to go sightseeing in Bermuda, here are a few of last years holiday snaps - see if you can find the virtual places they were taken from








Ian ;-)

[DispatchDragon]

Ian

Bermuda looks luverly -- another fairly unchanged island airport from the 70s-80s would be St Thomas - also presents a little challenge
for the 727

Leif

[Garry Russell]

very nice Ian

And yep....I spotted the 777 in the top pic

Garry

[forthbridge]

:o

I had enough of a job getting down, far less sighteeeing

Just turning onto the approach at 13 miles out:


Not too badly lined up -


And suddenly at 6 miles - Ian initaiates the fog machine....



Unfortunately, the magnetic fields are wreaking havoc with the equipment - or Ive missed the intercept.....


Nothing for it but to go around - I've left the wheels down as I fly downwind....


and back onto short finals...once again overcooked, but I'm taking her in manually...



a bootfull of rudder here - that wind really grabs below about 400 feet....



not exactly the centreline, but smooth enough.....



and as I hit the brakes, it's a relief to be down.... now where's that pub Ian mentioned??

[speedbird591]

Well done, Jim. The beers are on me

Crosswinds were always the most fearsome element in landing there. It's why B707s weren't scheduled. Being so far from the nearest land there's nothing to break up those big Atlantic weather fronts! There was a lot of pressure to land 'close to limits' because the nearest alternate is about an hour and a half away! The VC10 was pretty good in crosswinds but only just had enough fuel from London for one attempt before diverting to JFK.

Ian