KMCC to KXMR

[alan CXA651]

Hi.
Today i have just done a flt plan , for the guppy , i dont know if i have the exact route the guppy would fly , with the saturn 5 parts , FSX on a direct route between these two airports says i need an alt of 17000ft , this is impossible with the pregnant guppy , max alt of 10000ft , direction of flight means i will have to be at 9000ft max , so i have had to plan to thread my way through the mountains , max mountian hight that i can fly over will be 7000ft , to give me a min safe clearance , this means the route is longer than the supposed max fuel load can take me , so looking like a diversion for fuel along the way , this is going to be interseting , as to weather i have got the right route for missing the mountains , else this flight could come to an abrupt end , i have ASN giveing real weather.
LOADOUT:-
payload 25000lbs
fuel load:-
5416/5928/7260/5928/5416 lbs 656 lbs over MTOW
reason for over loading aircraft like this , is in the hope that after eng start and warm up , and taxi to active , that i will be at max MTOW of 147000 lbs
intended route :-
SAC
LIN
CZQ
EHF
WIJYI
PMD
PSP
BLH
VICKO
GBN
TFD
SSO
CUS
ELP
HUP
AGAZY
FST
JCT
CWK
TNV
ZMSKL diverted to KIAH for fuel/oil overnight stop
DAS
LCH
LFT
RQR
SLIDD
GPT
SJI
CEW
MAI
SZW
CTY
OCF
ORL
TICCO

Regards alan.

[n421nj]

Depending on weather you could go vfr for a portion which would put you at 9500ft. Its not much but the 500ft could make a difference

[alan CXA651]

Hi Andrew.
reason its a IFR , means it dont matter if overcast , VFR you have to be clear of or below cloud , so that is no garantee for clearance of mountains.
So far i have made one slight deviation from plan due mountains higher than 10000ft , and that was on the leg between PMD/PSP had to skirt right near L12 airport, then once clear of that mountain , i had to turn left near KBNG airport to head for PSP.
Hopefully that should be the last of the higher mountains , but ASN is not being kind to me , sofar had nothing but headwinds of varying strengths , and i have had turbulance of anything from light chop to heavy turbulance , which is playing havok , with my speed and fuel consumption.
regards alan.

[alan CXA651]

Hi.
Looking more like a diversion for fuel/oil , the headwinds are killing the performance , just gone past JCT (VOR) , according to navigators reports , we have 4hr26min of flt time , need to be on the ground , about 45 min before this time , so keeping an eye open for a large airport , that is on our route , for an overnight stopover.
regards alan.

[alan CXA651]

Hi.
I decided to divert from ZMSKL waypoint and changed route from TNV (VOR) to KIAH.
TNV
ZMSKL diverted to KIAH for fuel/oil overnight stop
DAS

Tomorrow the flight will resume from KIAH to DAS (VOR) then as original flight plan , i had strong headwinds all day , and some severe turbulance during the flight , distance covered sofar is 1387nm , had it not been for the high winds , i might have been able to get within 300nm of destination before i needed fuel , after shut down , the aircraft state is:-
oil = 36.8/12.1/12.2/12.0/12.9
ADI = 84%/84%
fuel = 2192/1935/0/1929/2252
engines
1 = 18.8 hrs excellent
2 = 22.0 hrs good
3 = 18.2 hrs excellent
4 = 22.0 hrs good
airframe 23.5 hrs

Flight took 8.5 hrs from startup to shutdown.

Aircraft at KMCC started T/O run at 13 lbs over the MTOW of 147000 lbs , at lift off she would have been just under the MTOW
Regards alan.

[alan CXA651]

Hi.
Lined up at KIAH runway 8R , waiting for fuel burn , to bring MTOW to about 13 lbs over weight before i start T/O hdg to DAS (VOR) to continue my trip to cape canaveral with the 3rd stage of saturn 5 delivery , day two of trip due to high headwinds yesterday i had to divert to KIAH for fuel/oil stayed overnight.
regards alan.

[alan CXA651]

Hi.
Land at KXMR , not my best , in fact i can honestly say its my worst landing , anyhow the 3rd stage of the saturn 5 delivered , aircraft stats below:-
Engines
1 excellent 23.5 hrs
2 good 26.7 hrs
3 excellent 23.0 hrs
4 good 26.8 hrs
fuel at start
5416/5928/7260/5928/5416 lbs 656 lbs over MTOW
fuel at T/O just 13 lbs over MTOW
fuel at shutdown
5144/2651/1060/2635/5150 lbs
oil at shut down
56/14.3/13.1/14.3/13.9 gal /40.4 gal used
ADI 81%/80%
25000 lbs of cargo delivered
airframe 28.3 hrs
regards alan.