Getting more comfortable by the day in my MetroAir skin and thought I’d add some shots of my last trip to Flagstaff.
Had to wait for this fellow to go by before we crossed 26R to take 26L for departure.
I like the “ONTARIO” in this shot.
Somewhere along the PRADO7 SID.
On downwind at Flagstaff. The mountains caught my eye.
MetroAir, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004/FSX/Acceleration, Virtual Airlines
I’ve continued rerouting and flying the Mohawk runs after trimming the fleet back from five aircraft to just one. I developed a matrix system for routing that will automatically select a destination based upon current location and which day of the week it is. It’s working much better than before since even though I had five airplanes I wasn’t able to fly on certain days of the week because I didn’t have an airplane in the right place. After going 700k in the red in the company’s virtual bank account I decided to reorganize to the current scheme. So far so good.
I’ve also added some new links on the Mohawk page which show some information about the airline. The developer at VA Financials continues to provide his subscribers with fun and useful tools like this.
Finally, some recent shots of Mohawk in action:
Moving to “position and hold” on runway 4R at Chicago-Midway (KMDW). Can you guess who uses MDW as a major hub?
Lined up on 4R waiting for takeoff clearance. Chicago skyline in the background.
Climbing out and turning on course for Minneapolis (KMSP). Chicago skyline in background.
Landed at KMSP and turned around to head back to KMDW. Northwest has their major hub at KMSP. Here we are tucking gear and getting ready to scoot.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004/FSX/Acceleration, Virtual Airlines
My 360 is in the hospital (some repair shop in Texas) being fixed by Microsoft for free. It got the “Red Ring of Death” after two years of hard service. Real life business is slowing down with the end of the summer and shoulder seasons and without the 360 I’ve been doing some flight simming again and running some Mohawk routes of the late 60’s/early 70’s. I decided to scrap the “Mohawk Tour” and just build different routes to fly where I want to fly with the only stipulation being it has to be to a destination that was really served by Mohawk.
The BAC 1-11 model by David Maltby is really complex and really fun to fly so that is an easy choice to use. However, I can’t find a good model of the FH227 and even if I could I don’t think I’d want to use it. So I’m going to fudge a little and if I do some short hops in a turbo prop I’m going to substitute in one of my all time favorite freeware aircraft, Rick Piper’s Hawker Siddeley 748.
I also found a way to add some financial data which can be viewed through a link at the bottom of the Mohawk page.
My friend Jason recently purchased FSX and we have been having some fun flying together (sharing a plane) in multiplayer mode. I haven’t been flight simming much lately (for various reasons) and Jason’s recent entrance into the hobby has renewed my interest again. I picked up the Mohawk Tour again and have been getting some of those flights while learning the nuances of the 1-11. She’s a great plane, but a handful and does not like any inattentiveness, especially on final approach. As long as I pay attention to her we do fine. I’m going to try talking Jason into downloading David Maltby’s excellent freeware and see if we can share the plane in FSX. There will certainly be plenty for both of us to do. Heck, maybe I can get him to join Mohawk VA and fly for me on VA Financials (hint hint).
Here are some recent screens of Mohawk activity.
At the gate at Buffalo-Niagara International (KBUF). Scenery is Mach 1 Design Group KBUF.
Banking left somewhere over upstate New York.
Banking right somewhere over a metropolitan area, probably NJ/NY.
On glideslope into Newark International (KEWR).
Spoilers deployed and reverse thrusters engaged after touchdown at Newark International (KEWR).
The touchdown at Newark International (KEWR). Cool bridge and some large port cranes in the background.
Pushback from A1 at Greater Rochester International (KROC). I love Mach 1 sceneries because of the little details like freeway overpass signs.
Engine start (close up) at Greater Rochester International (KROC).
Engine start at Greater Rochester International (KROC).
Nine thousand feet over Boston, being vectored in by approach control. Downtown is in the distance with Boston-Logan International (KBOS) beyond that. Fenway Park is just off the tail and below the skyscrapers. Terrain is Ultimate Terrain US with FS Genesis for the mesh.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004/FSX/Acceleration, Virtual Airlines
Besides flying for Venture Hawaii and AeroTexas I also fly for my own one man VA, Mohawk Airlines. Mohawk is a defunct airline that was based out of Ithaca and later Utica, New York. The airline began as Robinson Airlines, bought and changed to Mohawk in 1952. Labor difficulties helped force it near bankruptcy and it was purchased/merged with Allegheny in 1972. Allegheny later became part of legacy carrier US Airways.
I don’t know what attracted me to Mohawk Airlines. I never flew on their aircraft, never knew anyone that did. I do like the geography of the area. I like their fleet and their Indian symbol on the tail. Whatever the reason I decided to gather information and resources and rebuild the airline to fly virtually. I’ve been able to find the aircraft they used and paints for the livery. I also found a retro AI flight plan that has all of their flights from 1971 for the One Eleven and the FH227A. So now I can fly around the virtual skies and listen to ATC talk to my virtual Mohawk brethren as we fly around New York and the Mohawk Valley.
I’ve started my Mohawk tour with aircraft N2111J, a BAC 1-11 200 that was on an eight leg route that ran weekly. Tonight was the first leg, Mohawk Airlines flight 511, departing Westchester, NY (KHPN) at 2:30 am local and arriving Rochester, NY (KROC) at 3:19 am local. I completed the flight in nice weather without incident. The next legs are Rochester – Buffalo – Syracuse – Boston Logan – Syracuse – Buffalo – Rochester – Westchester. After I finish this route I’ll hand it back to the AI and start another route in the aircraft that flew it. I hope to fly every leg of every route on that list, at least for the One Eleven. I’ll fly them in real time (no time compression) and real weather. I don’t know how far I’ll get, but it will probably take a year or more.
Here’s a shot approaching KROC as a fellow Mohawk pilot is outbound on departure. You can barely see him just left of center.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004/FSX/Acceleration, Virtual Airlines
After bumming around Hawaii and the South Pacific for about 58 hours since 04/07 with Venture Hawaii, I have decided to exercise my right to transfer and upgrade from the 748 into the BAC 1-11 400. The One Eleven is a sweet short range jet originally built in the 1960’s and FS9 has a fantastic freeware model by David Maltby.
I’d like to go to the Chicago hub and fly out of KORD with the insane traffic, but at the moment there aren’t any paints available for that section of the fleet. So instead I’ll bum around the last frontier for Venture Alaska until the livery in Chicago gets a paint job. I don’t mind Alaska. The terrain is gorgeous and the weather will be challenging, but I could do with more traffic sharing the skies. I think the Alaskan division has been a little neglected so it will be good to see those routes get some hours built up.
I caught a jumpseat to Fairbanks (PAFA) and immediately jumped into N324VH to pilot a late afternoon flight going to Anchorage (PANC). Weather at departure was miserable with 2 mile visibility in light snow, 300 foot overcast, and -14C temps; this was definitely not Hawaii.
After the imaginary deicing trucks finished spraying down the plane we taxied out to 19R for departure. In real life airliners only have so many minutes from the time the deicing trucks finish to start their takeoff roll. If they miss the window they have to go back and start all over.
Once I broke out of the clouds and was cruising on course things were pretty nice. Here, about 15 nautical miles north of Talkeetna we picked up some light chop that lasted for a few minutes.
Weather at Anchorage was a lot nicer than Fairbanks and I made a visual approach to 06L. The only gaff in the flight was that I was fifteen minutes late on arrival after being 10 minutes late on departure. I guess I should have put the pedal to the metal while cruising. Here’s the final approach courtesy of Blip.tv.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004/FSX/Acceleration, Virtual Airlines
I like the guys from Venture Hawaii. No stress. No hassle. Lot’s of planes and lots of different routes. A deep file library. A staff painter. Their motto is if it isn’t fun don’t do it and the same door that brought you in is the one that will lead you out. I flew with them a couple years ago for a few months and then got sidetracked with other things. Back in November I decided to knock on their door again and they welcomed me back no problem.
I try to get in one flight a month with Venture. I don’t want to fly so much of the same thing in the same airplanes that I get burned out. I like to mix it up. Once a month or so is about right. So tonight was the night. This was flight number five for Venture since my return. Nothing out of the ordinary except that the 18 knot headwind on final for 04L turned into an 18 knot tailwind on short final. Not sure if that was a sim error or an anomaly, but it sent me long. I was in the 748 so I had plenty of runway, but the 737 that was #2 had to go around, which is the first time I’ve seen that happen since I started using Radar Contact as my ATC instead of the default.
Oh well, sorry 737. That would have only cost a real airline several thousand dollars of fuel.
