VFR "Coastal Series"

[sonjamichelle]

As promised I created a Crew Pass for a General Aviation class flight. The goal is to fly low and slow and to get out of the "stratosphere" and explore the wonderful scenery, architecture and "oddities" found in the new MSFS2020.

These won't be just random flights. I will have flown the flight myself at least once to see if it "worthy" of being made into Crew Pass.

Of course these flights are catered to the new MSFS2020 and I do realize that some pilots have made the switch. That's ok, The other simulators do have add-ons that can make this flight possible. Now I can't attest to the visual "wonder" of any of the older sims and add-ons. But we don't want to leave anyone behind.

If any of you have seen some great VFR routes, scenery, wonders, etc; drop me a PM and I'll check it out.

[sonjamichelle]

Just finished one from Naples, Italy to Palermo, Sicily. Should be a fun to add to the series.

You can preview the flight on my Twitch

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1575972840

Or on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/UjiDFE3xXeQ

Be advised, it is a long flight down the coast, about 4 hours.

[sonjamichelle]

Second in the Coastal Series added.

Take off from LIRN-Naples Intl - Naples, Italy in your Cessna 182 Skylane, be sure to top off your fuel, you want to have at LEAST 3/4 tanks in order to have plenty fuel for the flight and any little side jaunts if you find anything particularly interesting.

Along the coast of Sicily you'll see some amazing engineering in the main Highway that cuts through the mountains.

Fly low and slow along the Italian Coast from Naples to Palermo. The goal is to explore the beautiful scenery made possible in the new MSFS2020 Online Mapping data.

Be sure to get a good fly by of the The Statue of Christ the Redeemer of Maratea on the top of the Mountain St. Biagio. Be advised this is a long flight, have plenty of fuel!

I've timed the departure so that you should get a breath taking sunset approach into LICG-Pantelleria, Italy

[sonjamichelle]

Third in the Coastal Series, we're flying the Barbary Coast (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Coast)

Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers (DAAG)

to

Tunis–Carthage Airport, Tunis (DTTA).

The North African coast, you would think it would be all desert and flat. It is surprisingly green, fertile and quite a bit of interesting terrain.

As usual, you can preview the flight on my Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1576799616

or

On YouTube: https://youtu.be/ETm2hwq7ACc

Unfortunately, I experienced an engine failure on final approach and crashed short of the runway.

[AS 2 Tom Little]

Unfortunately, I experienced an engine failure on final approach and crashed short of the runway.

Oh no!! Thank you for offering these flights Sonja!

[sonjamichelle]

I've never flown the Beech G36 so I wasn't familiar with it. Looking at the footage later I believe, even though it said I had 50% fuel, I actually ran one wing tank out and never touched the other. With the Cessnas and a couple others I was used to switching tanks to keep weight and balance use all my fuel. I didn't think about that with the Beech, and I'm rusty as hell too.

The 4th flight in the series is a two-parter and is definitely an exercise in planning and fuel management. I flew the first half the other day, planned out the second half and will probably fly that this weekend.

[sonjamichelle]

Sorry for the double post, but speaking of the 4th flight. I have it starting at Port Aranasas, Texas. In MSFS the code is KRAS, in the AirSource DB it is 2R8. I don't know how you handle airport codes, I did fly the flight in MyAAS, with 2R8 in the app and KRAS in MSFS. The flight recorded and PIREPed properly.

When I do the Crew Pass I'll mention the discrepancy, unless you change it in the DB. As it stands now, shouldn't be an issues as the flight was properly PIREPed like I mentioned. I do know that with the "Classic" flights a lot of old codes still exist for those flights.

[sonjamichelle]

I'll be finishing the second leg of Coastal Flight #4 and posting it soon.

I got a little busy around the house and working on my servers. Aaaaaand I was waiting for my new "toy" to arrive.

[AS 2 Tom Little]

I'll be finishing the second leg of Coastal Flight #4 and posting it soon.

I got a little busy around the house and working on my servers. Aaaaaand I was waiting for my new "toy" to arrive.

Ohh very cool! Worth the wait!!

[sonjamichelle]

I haven't forgotten the series.

I have been dealing with some serious electrical problems in the new house. All the outlets are new, but none of the wiring is three-conductor romex. IT is the original two-wire, so EVERYTHING but the kitchen and appliances are grounded. All my battery backups report a wiring fault. DUH! It has been a LONG fight with the leasing company to try and get it fixed. About 80% of the house is all on ONE single 20amp breaker. Not good when you have a few computers, tv's, printers, 3d printers, etc etc etc.

Once I can safely run my PC during the day without having to walk outside and trip the breaker every 20 minutes I'll get the rest of the flights up and work on the next series. I'm thinking of an island hopping theme for the next series. The Aleutians, Hawaii, South Pacific, Bahamas, etc.

[AS 2 Tom Little]

Oh Wow! That sucks - hope you can get that fixed up soon could be fire hazard too? "Everything is grounded except kitchen and appliances"? That seems backwards

[sonjamichelle]

Trust me, being a retired Firefighter I know about the fire hazard.

SUPPOSEDLY someone will be out here tomorrow/today to fix it.

I picked up a quick tester from Amazon, only the kitchen, bathrooms and master bedroom have proper grounded circuits. Apparently when they had the walls open during the remodel the inspector could see the new wiring. The rest of the house they just put new 3 prong outlets, hiding the out of date existing 2 conductor wiring. At leas tits copper and not aluminum. They have to install GFCI outlets in place to mitigate the issue.

Fortunately I have battery backups on 95 percent of all my computers, servers, printers and electronics. Cleans the incoming electrical signal, provides surge protection, grounding (a bit) and of course backup power. But even losing one of those can get expensive!

On top of all that the gas company turned off our gas Thursday. We had a leak in the backyard line. "Plumber" came out the next afternoon, dug a hole and split like a fart in the wind. I went out there to see how things were going and all I found was a hole and a rusty pipe. No explanations, solutions or anything! So yeah, no hot water either. My cold shower days were over more than 30 years ago when I left the Army.

[sonjamichelle]

Just an update on what is happening.

I had to get Code Enforcement involved, they came out and inspected. Let me know that according to their records and what they were seeing in the panel, walls and attic there was work done that has no associated permit. Soooo, they issued a Notice of Violation and the landlord has until Wednesday to pull a permit to repair/replace do what is necessary to satisfy Code Enforcement.

Hopefully by the end of the week all is good. I tried firing up my PC and letting my RTX3090 go to town and the breaker popped TWICE. So, still grounded for a while more.

But you can be darn sure, when I'm in the air again I WILL put up some really interesting flights for y'all!

[AS 2 Tom Little]

Oh wow what a fiasco! Hopefully that is all sorted for you soon so you can resume normality!

[sonjamichelle]

We just got the call this evening from Code Enforcement that permits were granted and work should begin within the week. So, hopefully in about two, I can begin printing, painting, flying and streaming again!