Another Challenge

While my almost daily occupation of late seems to be creation of online flight events for Seagulls Incorported, I still very much enjoy my own flights. I often use the separate Career Mode addon called OnAir Company which does add much more depth and immersion to flight simulation, but every now & then I have a hankering for a little more. I'm not a VatSim enthusiast mainly due to the lack of online controllers in the Oceania region when I want to fly. Whilst I have taught myself to fly the big passenger jets and really enjoy that challenge (we fly the big jets weekly on Thursday evenings) my real pleasure comes from flying the smaller General Aviation & Executive aircraft.

I've flown "Round-The-World" many times, limited usually by the performance of the particular aircraft I've chosen to use, but I've never circumnavigated the globe staying south of the equator, or done it by using only radio navigation. We've often discussed (Seagulls Inc, that is) just how screwed global air travel would be if the various satellite constellations orbiting the planet were taken down by solar eruptions, or worse, deliberately caused electro-magnetic pulse. I think we all know what the latter would be the result of.

VHF omnidirectional range

A very high frequency omnidirectional range station (VOR) is a type of short-range VHF radio navigation system for aircraft, enabling aircraft with a VOR receiver to determine the azimuth, referenced to magnetic north, between the aircraft to/from fixed VOR ground radio beacons. VOR and the first DME(1950) system to provide the slant range distance, were developed in the United States as part of a U.S. civil/military program for Aeronautical Navigation Aids in 1945. Deployment of VOR and DME(1950) began in 1949 by the U.S. CAA. ICAO standardized VOR and DME(1950) in 1950 in ICAO Annex, Edition 1. Frequencies for the use of VOR are standardized in the very high frequency (VHF) band between 108.00 and 117.95 MHz. To improve azimuth accuracy of VOR even under difficult siting conditions, Doppler VOR (DVOR) was developed in the 1960s. VOR is according to ICAO rules a primary means navigation system for commercial and general aviation, (D)VOR are gradually decommissioned and replaced by DME-DME RNAV 7.2.3 and satellite based navigation systems such as GPS in the early 21st century. In 2000 there were about 3,000 VOR stations operating around the world, including 1,033 in the US, but by 2013 the number in the US had been reduced to 967. The United States is decommissioning approximately half of its VOR stations and other legacy navigation aids as part of a move to performance-based navigation, while still retaining a "Minimum Operational Network" of VOR stations as a backup to GPS. In 2015, the UK planned to reduce the number of stations from 44 to 19 by 2020.

My new challenge, starting today, is going to be a circumnavigation of the globe, going east, staying south of the equator and using only radio navigation aids. No GPS, no cheating by using connected 'moving map' software. My chosen aircraft for this challenge will be the Pilatus PC-12 , a turbine powered propellor-driven aircraft which, on paper at least, has the range to cross the Pacific Ocean in carefully managed legs. By using a combination of Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range and Non-Directional Beacons together with the aircraft's Automatic Direction Finder radios , plus Air Traffic Control vectoring where available, and some careful forward planning it should be possible to complete the challenge without getting lost. Hopefully.

Pilatus PC-12 Special Mission – Versatile Aircraft for Special…

The PC-12 Special Mission is ideal for surveillance, air rescue, and special missions. Benefit from low operating costs and high flexibility.

Leg #1 departs Archerfield Airport (YBAF) which is a tad more than 15kms to where I currently reside. The destination is Tontouta Airport, Noumea, New Caledonia. According to the plan, that a 3 hour flight in the PC-12, using maybe 40% of the aircraft's usable fuel capacity. I should have VOR signal from the Brisbane beacon to 180 nautical miles and should pick up the Noumea VOR at 200nm. This leaves approximately 390nm between beacons where the aircraft will be on 'Heading' mode. No doubt there will be some magnetic drift over that distance but not enough to stop the aircraft detecting the Noumea beacon as we approach. I hope to use the simulator's Air Traffic Control to vector me onto the landing approach but given that part of the simulator is problematic at best, we'll just have to wing that part.

I plan to monitor the costs of the flight, primarily fuel via a spreadsheet. Jet A1 fuel is EUR0.57/litre at Archerfield, which if converted to the US$ equivalent per pound of jet fuel is US$1.01 or A$1.51 @ an exchange rate of US$0.668=A$1. The spreadsheet currently uses US$ so the cost of Block Fuel (the calculated fuel burn of the PC-12 @ 27,000’ YBAF to NWWW plus reserves is 1,471 pounds) equates to US$1,486 in round figures. The legs for the entire challenge will be calculated via SimBrief using the same aircraft parameters for each leg. The resulting Flightplan will also give me the information required to fly the leg should there be any navigational instrument failure.

To further add to the immersion of flying in the simulator, I will be utilising OnAir Company as I ‘own’ a Pilatus PC-12 in that platform that I intend to use for the trip. Doing this will enable me to carry passengers, or freight, be “paid” for the trip, thereby off-setting the fuel costs and even maintenance if the aircraft is determined by the career mode add-on to require maintenance. Complex setup? Of course, that’s what the word ‘immersion’ means when used in conjunction with what far too many gamers consider to be just another game. To me, it’s a simulator, not a game.