Why I FLy the DC-3

[Alfred Jones 899576]

Hello Gentlemen,

If you see a callsign of GB882 it will be a DC3, with a senior citizens flying it, me. Been flying Flightsims since 1983, and now using the FSX. My favorite has always been the DC3, reason why? You have to fly the darn thing. It will not fly itself, not like most of the Vatsim flyers who use the PMDG's, Captain Sims, IFLY, LevelD's and others which most have the FMC and GPS functions.

I prefer old school, the steam gauges, charts, Jeppesen Slide Flight Computer (that metal doohickie). I have removed the GPS from the panel file. So I'm totally reliable on the VOR's and NDB, I do have Autopilot but it's only good for maintaining altitude and headings, any change any headings or altitude has to be made by the pilot. I use a clock-timer to remind me of changes in headings or altitude.

Also I only load as much fuel as needed plus any extra for alternate airports. For instance if I was to make a flight from KCLT to KCHS, more than likely I would have a tail wind according to altitude. I factor in all that a real pilot of a DC3 would do to calculate the winds, fuel needed, loading and flight planning of charts.

This might be boring to some, but to program a FMC to fly an aircraft once you are airborne and it's flying itself all the way to arrival airport, and also land it automatically, then the computer has done all the flying, not the pilot.

So threfore I fly so that my bottom end is in the pilot seat at all times, and the pilot makes all the adjustments as a real DC-3 pilot would do. But you fly what you want and have fun at it....

 

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

good to see ya still hangin around here old man

[Ira Robinson]

Sounds great! I love the challenge and I try to do the same with an old DH-5. Of course I still miss most of the VOR's by more than a few miles but I keep trying! That's one of the great things about this hobby of ours; everyone gets to play in a time and a place of their own making.

 

Isn't it great!!

[Jim Hurst 1353723]

Nice. That said, you needn't fly *only* the DC3 that way. In my current project (as virtual charter pilot for our local NHL team), I'm regularly flying the default B737 similarly.

 

I have three reasons for that:

 

1> Default (mostly) scenery -- so, navaids, RNAV intersections, and in several cases, even airports are missing or aren't up-to-date (though I do typically install scenery for some of the larger NHL cities (ie. BOS) if / when an ARTCC has gone to the effort to create & provide it.)

 

2> None of the default FSX aircraft have a working FMC (that I'm aware of), so I hand-fly the various SIDs, STARs and IAPs myself.

 

3> Like you, it's me flying the airplane, and not a "flight computer". I enjoy being a stick and rudder sort of PiC. My routes are explicitly filed "No RNAV". Using SkyVector, I still use fairly standard ILS routing with VORs, Jet Airways, and where available, non-RNAV arrival and departure procedures, but I'm the one flying each leg. Autopilot for me, like you, is simply for maintaining altitude and heading once properly established on course during each leg of the flight.

 

So, even though there's more than 30 years between the first flight of your aircraft and mine (1935 / 1967), we can both still enjoy the experience of "flying" our pixelated marvels in much the same way.

 

 

Cheers,

Jim

[Lindsey Wiebe 1101951]

I'm far from retiring but I also enjoy stick and rudder flying. I'll pull the duke out to shoot approaches or even the B1900 without using the obscure FMC carenado put in... I've flown real B1900s and NEVER seen an FMC, heck 90% didn't even have autopilots!

 

The hard part now is if you are flying into a major airport, a lot of times there aren't ANY non RNAV STAR or SID's listed! That's frustrating as I know they exist.

[Markus Schober 1328585]

Great to hear from you guys. I knew there must be fellow pilots like you out there, but it seems so rare we encounter each other in the virtual skies.

 

Sitting at the computer and watching an FMC doing its magic tricks always reminded me of Ephraim Kishon's story where he, back then, got told by his friend about the invention of chess computers. He replied "That's awesome! Then I will buy two, so they can play against each other, and I have time to go to the cinema."

 

As for you, hand-flying and non-RNAV IFR is the way to go for me, too. VFR flight is great, but additionally, I wanted to be able to take part in city link events or fly legs of up to 1000 miles if necessary, in a plane that is fast enough to make the trip enjoyable. After a long search for a suitable general aviation aircraft, I found a Cessna Chancellor - a pressurized and turbocharged plane that travels almost as high as the jets and reaches a decent speed, while still certified for one-pilot operations.

 

Clear skies!

[Alfred Jones 899576]

good to see ya still hangin around here old man

 

Hey Ernesto how is it going? Nice to see that you are still browsing and responding on the Net.

Still call me Oldtoot, and GB882 stands for Gooney Bird 882.

[Jim Hurst 1353723]

The hard part now is if you are flying into a major airport, a lot of times there aren't ANY non RNAV STAR or SID's listed! That's frustrating as I know they exist.

Hi Lindsey,

 

For the vast majority of USA airports, I've found that Airnav.com will usually have a pretty complete list of SIDs, STARs, and IAPs that nearly always includes some non-RNAV procedures as well. The dTPP application also has them if you want to download those to your local PC. Certainly BOS, LAX, PHX, LGA, and nearly all of the other US-NHL cities have at least one non-RNAV SID & STAR you can use, and often, several. As an example, my planned flight tonight from Phoenix to Los Angeles will file / fly the fully non-RNAV route: BXK4.PKE TNP.SEAVU2

 

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the Canadian airports - FltPlan.com seems to mostly show RNAV procedures (excepting a couple generic DPs), so for those airports, I just terminate my route at the nearest VOR (like YUL, for Montreal, or YOW for Ottawa), and expect vectors if it's being actively staffed / controlled. Otherwise, I just use a radial from there myself to intercept the appropriate ILS in the absence of a controller.

 

 

Regards,

Jim