Around the World in a CRJ-900! Leg 24!

Sydney > Auckland!

We spent most of the day trying to get a temporary ETOPS waiver from the FAA in order for us to fly the next six legs across the Pacific Ocean...the first guy we talked to actually laughed at us. So did the second, third, and eighth...so we're just going to do it, without the waiver and without filing flight plans...we're probably going to pull an Amelia Earhart, but oh well!

The departure from Sydney was beautiful! I'm really surprised there are not more screenshots from Sydney! It's at least as detailed and beautiful as Las Vegas or New York. It's also more dense...I thought the weather slowed my computer down yesterday, but today it was really lagging as well, until we hit Brisbane Center, then it cleared up all the way to Auckland.

Coming into Auckland...we had a familiar problem...the flaps wouldn't go down...inspection afterwards showed that the Indian guy in Bahgdogra didn't really know what he was doing. We called up CheekyTrolly and he recommended an FBO that recommended an avionics technician, and he repaired the wires right this time. We also finally got around to an oil change with some Mobil Jet II. The inside of the oil tank looked pretty nasty, I guess we shoulda changed it earlier!

Here is a super-blurry 737, we raced to the runway...I won!

What the heck is that thing? Oh yeah, the only reason I won the race is because I turned a taxiway early whereas the 737 decided to go to the threshold!

Leaving that cool Control Tower Behind

Opera House

Sydney

Sydney Harbor

CrashGordon is talking about new pilot textures for his pilots...I may have to do the same thing!

What a crazy coincidence that I end up here, exactly the day that Cheeky posted pictures of his real life flight on this very approach for this very runway!

I'm not sure about Auckland Departure's ATC abilities, they swung me out over the Pacific, I'm pretty sure I could see Argentina from the point they told me to turn back West!

Hey! Look who it is! He beat me after all! I think that's Cheeky in the Baron!

Either this tower isn't actually here...or Cheeky's pictures are wrong.

I've been looking for a taxiway configuration like this forever...for some reason I think this is exceptionally cool!

Neither me nor the Pacifica 737 actually got gates...I'm not sure that this airport was completed in FS9...ATC said for both of us. "Taxi to Gate.......via..........." I, being a human being, chose an empty spot...the 737 pilot, being an AI, shut down on the taxiway!

Hey look! It's our friends from Manilla!


All in all, it was a pretty good flight...I just wish my Auckland pictures were as detailed as Cheeky's from earlier! Oh well, at least my pilot is better looking.

Last edited by NoWorries on Sat Jul 22, 2006 8:11 am, edited 2 times in total

Very nice shots and very detailed report.

nice pics, wish i could be bothered to do something like that!

Nice report - keep it up

Here is a math equation:

2248 - Distance from Auckland to Tahiti
2103 - Maximum range of a CRJ-900
____
145 - Distance I wouldn't have made it by...

After a rainy departure from Auckland, I was well aware that my version of the CRJ-900 (They make an Extended Range Version) had a 1 in 10 chance of reaching Tahiti, and only if we got a good tailwind and were very gentle with the throttles.

We got a top-off from Cheeky's friends at the End-of-Runway(EOR) before take-off just to be absolutely sure, and then took the entire length of the runway to take off using 92% N1...a normal take-off gets up to about 102% and a short-field take-off is 110%.

I knew there was a tailwind up there, I've been riding it all the way from Connellan...and I was happy to see that we found it again...for about half the flight...it stopped just before Rarotonga...which was our main divert airfield. Me, being the dumbest guy I know...decided that we should try to make Tahiti anyways, in hopes that the wind would kick back up. I also knew there was a grass field and a coral field between Rarotonga and Tahiti, so it wasn't an all-or-nothin' venture.

Just after we passed Mauke, the grass field, a final fuel calculation sealed it...if we did make Tahiti, we would have ONE shot at the landing, a missed approach or go around would be deadly...if any sort of head wind picked up, it could kill us, so we turned back towards Enau, the coral field, on the Cook island of Atiu, 102 miles to the East.

I didn't know how a coral field would hold a CRJ-900, but I was pretty sure it'd do better than a grass field.

The girls didn't mind the divert, they just wanted beaches, and Atiu has some very pretty beaches.

Auckland rain

Our tail-wind wasn't exactly directly behind us

Banking to final at Enau

The beaches

Coral Runways aren't the greatest...

I half expected natives to come running out of the trees in an effort to kill the giant ying-yang bird that had come to steal their women and kill their sons! Fortunately, they didn't.


What did happen was the airport was largely deserted, and hey...what-dya know, no fuel...an old man with no teeth sauntered over to the plane. I was extremely greatful that he spoke english.

He explained that there was jet-fuel at Mauke, and loaned me his phone...they're bringing us 6,200 lbs of fuel by boat...just enough to get to Tahiti.

Meanwhile everyone has run down to the beach!

Last edited by NoWorries on Sat Jul 22, 2006 11:01 pm, edited 2 times in total

Your stories and screenshots are more than entertaining, thanks.

We forgot to include the fuel required for a short-field take-off when we ordered those 6,200 lbs of fuel!

Here is the report I got when I landed:

I guess FS pax doesn't recognize Coral runways as sufficient for CRJ-900's!

I was sweating watching that fuel guage.....I told ATC, "We've got one shot at this, I'm not going around, get everyone else out of my way!!!!!"

Fortunately I was the one to shut down the engines at the gate, and they didn't DIE of fuel starvation. That shortfield take-off uses a LOT of fuel! I should have easily had 1,200 lbs of fuel left, enough for roughly 40 minutes of flight!

The now infamous coral runway:

The peaks of Tahiti

I commissioned a sailboat to take pictures of our landing from out on the ocean, he did a pretty good job overall:

Sailboat shot again:

My planes little(older) sister:


Now for the interesting part...where are we going tomorrow?

Not far to go now!