A fortnight ago, I wrote a little about my hobby of flightsimming. I was actually writing about my current escapade in fantasy land, whereby I'm flying a Rockwell Aero Commander 500S, or as it's marketed, a Shrike Commander, to a place I'd give anything to call my very own, away from the hassles of the everyday.
My AC500S, which I've 'repainted' and registered VH-NDC, is currently at Amata Kabua International Airport - a rather grandiose title - on Majuro Atoll. The capital of the Marshall Islands group. If indeed the collection of far flung coral atolls has a capital.
My AC500S, which I've 'repainted' and registered VH-NDC, is currently at Amata Kabua International Airport - a rather grandiose title - on Majuro Atoll. The capital of the Marshall Islands group. If indeed the collection of far flung coral atolls has a capital.
Majuro International a la FS2004
It's taken me two weeks to get this far, flying only on weekends, you understand. The Commander has an economical cruise speed of 185 knots at 12,000 feet, which means the various legs of around 400 to 600 nautical miles take around 2 to 3 hours. Trouble is, I'd planned to use Johnson Atoll as a waypoint, but I've recently discovered that Johnson Atoll is closed now to all air traffic. It was an emergency alternate for major airlines crossing the Pacific, but no longer. The island has been abandoned by the US military and has reverted to ownership of the US Fish and Wildlife Service ans a wildlife refuge. Rather incongruous when one considers what the atoll has been used for in the past.
This means, of course, that I have to re-plan my route. Seems that I now have to divert to Wake Island and then to Midway Island and then on to Kauai Island, Hawaii. All legs are within the aircraft's range, albeit extreme range, but it's a hell of a work around. Had I realised sooner, I'd have modified the model to install a ferry tank in place of the passenger cabin, however, in the spirit of realism, that's not the kind of work I could reasonably expect to have done in the Marshall Islands. Hawaii, yes, but Majuro Atoll.....??
I'd planned to modify the model once I'd reached Hawaii anyway. There's no way the aircraft could make the leg from Hawaii to San Francisco without a ferry tank.
This means, of course, that I have to re-plan my route. Seems that I now have to divert to Wake Island and then to Midway Island and then on to Kauai Island, Hawaii. All legs are within the aircraft's range, albeit extreme range, but it's a hell of a work around. Had I realised sooner, I'd have modified the model to install a ferry tank in place of the passenger cabin, however, in the spirit of realism, that's not the kind of work I could reasonably expect to have done in the Marshall Islands. Hawaii, yes, but Majuro Atoll.....??
I'd planned to modify the model once I'd reached Hawaii anyway. There's no way the aircraft could make the leg from Hawaii to San Francisco without a ferry tank.
Parked for the week. Long weekend coming up
There's nothing wrong with a little fantasy and imagination, I believe, and while I'm a mature adult, I've always harboured a secret desire to fly. I guess flightsimming on the computer is as close as I'll get this time around, so why not do it as real as possible, I say. More on the trip as it unfolds.