KBOS to EGLL

BIG, double-deck, four-engine, medium to long range, high altitude, high speed, commercial transport airplane
alan CXA651
Senior Master Sergeant
Posts: 2438
Joined: 15 Mar 2016, 08:23

KBOS to EGLL

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi.
This is by far my most ambitious flight to date , from KBOS to EGLL at 29000ft , max fuel , max pax loads , presently at 29000ft somewhere over canada , but range stated by navigator , that we have , is insufficiant to get to EGLL , yet max range of real B377, says it should be able to do this range , will re assess nearer to BIKF keflavik , as its looking like a diversion at this time.
regards alan. 8)
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Jacques
Senior Master Sergeant
Posts: 2376
Joined: 26 Jun 2011, 17:54
Location: West Coast, USA

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by Jacques »

Hi Alan,

No worries about the other post regarding "Sanka". Sometimes I still struggle with some of the crew comments!

Regarding range... are you fine tuning your mixture or just leaving it in one of the detents (auto rich, auto lean)? Best lean power is somewhere around .074 and best lean economy is somewhere around .0625. These figures populate as you mouse over the mixture lever.

Don't go too lean too fast as that can have an adverse effect on engine condition. You can use the flight information on the shift+5 window to adjust your mixture to your desired range, or endurance. I usually tune for best lean power and move it a bit leaner as the flight continues and the aircraft becomes lighter.

alan CXA651
Senior Master Sergeant
Posts: 2438
Joined: 15 Mar 2016, 08:23

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi Jacques.
I saw the lines between the cutoff/auto lean settings , i started to move slowly just one eng mix lever , but it was not moveing towards the cutoff position , so i stopped , and moved it back to the auto lean , as i thought it was going to move suddenly into cutoff position , which would not be good.
My controls are setup in FSUIPC , for the most part , and a few in the A2A configurator.
And yes i did see and reply to your answer , for my qustion , thanks.
regards alan. 8)
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Jacques
Senior Master Sergeant
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Joined: 26 Jun 2011, 17:54
Location: West Coast, USA

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by Jacques »

If you mouse over the mixture levers a pop-up will appear giving you the decimal mixture.

Does your FSUIPC setting not allow for fine movements of the mixture levers? I think you will find by positioning between those two settings ( post above ) you might be able to make Heathrow non-stop!

alan CXA651
Senior Master Sergeant
Posts: 2438
Joined: 15 Mar 2016, 08:23

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi Jacques .
After you mentioned they could move , i tried again on one eng to begin with , yes they did move but i had to be careful , but it might be too little too late , but might still need a divert , due to oil.
regards alan. 8)
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alan CXA651
Senior Master Sergeant
Posts: 2438
Joined: 15 Mar 2016, 08:23

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi.
This is very odd , i did the route in skyvector , then did a plan in FSX , modified them till they where the same waypoints in both fsx/skyvector, to keep tabs on progress i have been deleting the skyvector sections that have been done , now i am going between BGKK/KFV according to skyvector this leg should be 381NM , but the B377 map is showing over 900NM for same leg , go figure.
regards alan. 8)
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alan CXA651
Senior Master Sergeant
Posts: 2438
Joined: 15 Mar 2016, 08:23

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi.
Yet another annomally between skyvector/B377 map this time between BGKK/KFV skyvector says 384NM/map says 1000NM , not much different , huh.
WHO is filling the earth with helium then.
Not only is this the longest flight i have done sofar , both in time/distance , it is now going to be my first night landing , either at my destination or at a diversion airport .
regards alan. 8)
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alan CXA651
Senior Master Sergeant
Posts: 2438
Joined: 15 Mar 2016, 08:23

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi.
Well i did not think i was going to make it , but did , dispite ASN doing its worst , headwinds/crosswinds most of the way , occasional tailwind , always seemed to conjure up turbulance , without warning , and once on slow decent over scotland , while the pax where having dinner i had to put seatbelt signs on , then to cap it all , at EGLL i get a 50deg crosswind at 10 knots , haveing to fight the aircraft , crabbing it in , and kicking of the crab , just before touchdown , needless to say , the landing was safe , but not smoothe , the trip took 12.6 hrs.
At one point i thought i was going to have to divert for fuel/oil , so i was monitoring these like a hawk , against miles covered and miles to do.
3 Engines are still in excellent shape , Eng number 3 is in good shape , due to a difficult start at KBOS , where it was excellent prior to start.
Engs 1/2 22.4 hrs /engs 3/4 22.5hrs aircraft has 32.9hrs cost per mile $0.74.
I was surprised not to get slated for the turbulance during trip , even though seat belt signs did go on , every time i considdered it could be dangerous .
regards alan. 8)
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Mickel
Staff Sergeant
Posts: 389
Joined: 11 Oct 2014, 15:45
Location: Adelaide

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by Mickel »

Well done. Quite the haul.
Cub, Cherokee, Comanche, Civvie 'stang, P-40, B-377 COTS, Spitfire, Connie, T-6, C-172, C-182, D-III, Anson, F4U

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Piper_EEWL
Chief Master Sergeant
Posts: 4544
Joined: 26 Nov 2014, 14:14
Location: Germany

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by Piper_EEWL »

Wow nice long haul! How many nautical miles did you cover?

The furthest I've gone so far is 2300nm. I don't really dare to push it when over water and without places to divert to. Currently I'm on my way to Brisbane from Honolulu with a fueling stop on the Marshall Islands.
B377&COTS, J3 Cub, B-17G, Spitfire, P-40, P-51D, C172, C182, Pa28, Pa24, T-6 Texan, L-049&COTS, Bonanza V35B

Barth56
Airman First Class
Posts: 58
Joined: 12 Mar 2016, 17:24
Location: Germany/France

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by Barth56 »

Congratulation for your long haul!
That is always a good feeling accomplishing this.
How was your fuel planning..?

alan CXA651
Senior Master Sergeant
Posts: 2438
Joined: 15 Mar 2016, 08:23

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi.
First i looked up the real b377 max range , then drew up the route from KBOS to EGLL , as in them days manchester was still a grass strip , the rout i chose was slightly less than the possible max range , so i knew it would need proper management , else i would not make it , then i filled all the tanks to max , so no real fuel planning needed , once cab was warmed up , i went for the max pax load preset button , if i remember correctly the max taxi load for this aircraft is 148000 , i was not far short of this max load ,the preload gave provisions / cargo / and 71 pax , had to put the carb heats on while taxiing at KBOS as outside temp was -2 , and weather was calm , so elected the longest runway , that was pointing more or less in my direction of travel , which was 4R, as the climb was going to be long and slow , due to weight and cold temps outside , took just over 1 hr to get to 29000ft , at the weight of aircraft , i was not far of coffin ally at cruise alt.
Only thing that made me jump on takeoff , as i was retracting gear , and pitching for speed , was co pilot saying we shouldnt be pushing the engines so hard, i had manifold set for 51 , but a quick glance down , showed them near max , the engineer had switch something on or off on is panel , that screwed with the manifold i had set for climb , needless to say i was quick to bring them back where they should have been.
I will bring up my fsx flight plan , and post it here if anyone wishes to try it , but it is over 3000nm , i think max strat range is 3650nm.
regards alan. 8)

EDIT:- max range of a real b377 is = 3650nm my route from KBOS to EGLL is = 3376nm
KBOS to EGLL route was

ENE (vor)
FRIAR (waypoint)
PQI (vor)
ZZV (ndb)
UAC (ndb)
UM (ndb)
YDP (ndb)
GH (ndb)
DA (ndb)
KEF (vor)
ING (vor)
MY (ndb)
GONUT (waypoint)
BAMRA (waypoint)
VADNO (waypoint)
FINDO (waypoint)
TLA (vor)
DCS (vor)
WAL (vor)
HON (vor)
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Barth56
Airman First Class
Posts: 58
Joined: 12 Mar 2016, 17:24
Location: Germany/France

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by Barth56 »

Interesting! Perhaps the engineer switched the turbos on or the carb heat off, which gives more power to the engines... Did you planned your cruise alt according to the wind's force and direction aloft? Or why FL290?
Thanks for all these details

Barth

alan CXA651
Senior Master Sergeant
Posts: 2438
Joined: 15 Mar 2016, 08:23

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi.
When i made the flight plan in fsx that is the alt it came up with , and weight of aircraft , ment it would most likely be the max possible , and direction of flight ment it had to be odd thousands of feet , because i used ASN as my weather engine , once the plan is in , i can then tune radios to 2205 for enroute briefing , i did this while the pax and cargo was loaded , and it also seemed from this to be the best alt on the day.
Has for carb heats , i turned them off just prior to takeoff run , i dont know what the engineer turned on or off while on climbout , as i was to busy getting gear up and pitching for speed , so flaps could be raised as quickly as possible , but i could hear him switching systems on / off , but it does make you jump , when you get a call from copilot about not pushing engines , which i never do , but its not the first time or the last time that this can happen , just as long as i react quickly and correctly , to this type of call is the main thing.
regards alan. 8)
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TreeTops
Master Sergeant
Posts: 1086
Joined: 07 Apr 2010, 06:13

Re: KBOS to EGLL

Post by TreeTops »

It would have been the FE bringing in the turbos. I don't use the FE myself so I can't be absolutely certain. However if you read the pressurisation manual you will find the turbos are required from 1000 ft AGL for pressurisation of the cabin. This would have caused the increase in MPI. Something to be aware of and ready for on takeoff.
Cheers
Trev

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