Boeing 737-700 Archives - Planes, Trains and Automobiles (and Farming Too!)

WorldFlight 2018 GBS Tour – Leg 9

July 11, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments

Moving right along with our WorldFlight 2018 tour, as mentioned in the leg 8 update, our wealthy (and very lucky) tourists were only able to spend a few hours exploring the island of Diego Garcia. The tour was conducted by US DOD (Dept. of Defense) officials and unfortunately no photographs were permitted during the tour. But once again we were provided photos of our aircraft for the purpose of this update. But as you can see from the updated tour map below, we are just a few hops away from reaching the shores of the African Continent and I believe we’re making great progress. I would just like to remind all of my readers why I’m doing this tour. If you refer back to the article I wrote back in early June, I explained who was behind the WorldFlight organization and the purpose of that annual event. It truly is a great cause and the event is fun to watch. Stay tuned for future news and updates regarding the event for 2018 which is scheduled to take place in November.

Also, just to note. Between leg #8 and this leg #9, an update to Prepar3D v4 was released. I’m now running Prepar3d v4.3. The upgrade was very smooth and the benefits are slightly better performance. If you haven’t updated your P3D to v4.3 and would like to do so, I wrote a step-by-step guide which should help you complete the update with as little headaches as possible.

History of City

Plaine Magnien is a village in southeast Mauritius located in the Grand Port District. According to the 2011 census, the population is just under 10,500. The village is the location of the only airport on the island.

History of Country

Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean located approx. 1,200 miles off the southeast coast of Africa. Formerly founded by the Dutch in 1638, then the French maintained a colony between 1715 – 1810, Mauritius became a British colonial possession in 1810 and remained so until 1968. Mauritius is a major tourist destination and ranks 3^rd in the region and 56^th in the world. The tropical climate, clear warm sea waters, beaches flora and fauna make it a favorite destination for some. And if you’ve ever heard of the Dodo bird, this now extinct bird called Mauritius home until the last one was killed in 1681.

History of Airport

Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, FIMP is the main international airport in Mauritius. The airport is located 26 nm from the capital city of Port Louis. The airport has direct flights to several destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and is home to the country’s national airline Air Mauritius. The airport has one runway (14/32) measuring 11,056 ft in length and the airport terminal can handle aircraft as large as the Airbus A380.

History of Airline

Air Mauritius is the flag carrier airline of Mauritius. The airline is the 4^th largest carrier in Sub-Saharan Africa and has an important standing in the European, African and Indian Ocean regional markets.

Flight Briefing

SEY1066
FJDG – FIMP
Planned Fuel – 24,800 lbs
Planned Altitude – 38,000
Distance – 1162nm
Flight Time – 2hrs, 50mins
Route: NKW R329 DUDIP GBY1

Flight Journal

What a wonderful and very lucky experience our travelers had on the island of Diego Garcia. While this entire trip could be summed up as “Once in a Lifetime”, the opportunity to visit a place almost a secure as Area 51 can only be described as “Once in a Lifetime”. We only had a few hours to visit and as previously stated, we were under the watchful eye of the US DOD the entire time. Our JANET airlines B737-600 departed out of FJDG shortly after we arrived headed to points unknown. Fortunately all our bags and other supplies were loaded onto another Boeing 737-700 which was an older, retired Air Seychelles aircraft which had arrived a few days ago under “mysterious” circumstances. I asked one of our handlers what happened to the passengers and crew, he politely said…”DON’T ASK”! So I just zipped my lips and went on about my business.

Once all our passengers were safely on board the Air Seychelles B737, we were immediately given our clearance and instructed to depart without haste. I really don’t think this means we out stayed our welcome, just perhaps we had too many eyes which could witness something they didn’t want us to witness.

A very quick taxi to runway 13 (how fitting) and it was time to kick the tires and light the fires once again and get this bird in the air.

The runway on the island of Diego Garcia as we climb out.

Our departure couldn’t have come at a better time as weather was starting to move in.

Clouds have somewhat been a theme for this adventure. But then again we are in the tropical regions of the world.

Nice views

The Air Seychelles Boeing 737-700 (retired).

We’ve managed to leave the clouds behind (for now)

As I said, for now. LOL The clouds have returned just in time for our arrival into Mauritius.

Speed brakes deployed to help slow our descent.

You may have noted the lack of winglets on this aircraft. Nice views as we get closer to our destination.

A few afternoon storms are expected and we’ve asked ATC to vector us around a few strong cells. But we’re still on-time for our arrival.

Looks to be a thriving place down there.

On final approach.

It’s been a bit of a long day for everyone. We’ll be glad to spend a few days exploring this area.

Our Boeing 737 parked up. Not sure what this old girl has in store for her.

Simulator Specifics

Prepar3d v4.3
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG 737-700 Expansion (Air Seychelles livery)
Orbx Global Texture
VATSIM

Route Planning Tools

AivlaSoft PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps

Computer Hardware Specs

We’re due to stay here for a few days before departing to our next destination of Dzaoudzi, Mayotte, France.

Until next time…Happy Flying!

Jerry

WorldFlight 2018 GBS Tour – Leg 7

July 4, 2018 / admin / 2 Comments

As I had mentioned in the tour introduction posting I wrote before starting the 2018 version of the WorldFlight tour, I’ve circumnavigated around the world many times. I’ve done it in big and fast aircraft and I’ve done it in small and slow aircraft. I’ve done it with many legs (much like this tour) and I’ve done it in as few as 3-4 legs utilizing aircraft like the Boeing 747 and Boeing 777. Back in the FS9 days (when FS9 had the default Concorde) I went around the world (northern hemisphere) in 3-4 legs (can’t remember exactly) but did it at supersonic speed. That was cool. While the flights I conducted in only 3-4 legs were fun, I certainly learn a lot more when visiting more locations and especially taking the time to research some of the destinations.

In thinking back to some of my earlier “round the world” adventures, it got me thinking about just how much time it would take to go around the world if there was no need to stop to fuel (or mid-air refueling could be performed). So I asked Dr. Google and this is what I found out…

Cessna 172 – 132.7 hours.
Boeing 747-400 – 41.96 hours
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon – 18.9 hours
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird – 11.3 hours
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo – 10 hours
International Space Station – 2.27 hours

Interesting stuff and hopefully you also find these sort of facts interesting as well. Enough of this, let’s get on with the tour. As you can see from the updated tour map (below), the first six legs have primarily been making our way northwest. We’re now turning and headed southwest and will soon dip back below the equator.

History of City

Male is the capital and most populous city in the Republic of Maldives and has a population of approx.. 133,000 and an area of 2.2 sq. miles making it one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city is geographically located at the southern edge of North Male Atoll and consists of a central island, an airport island and two other islands under control by the Male City Council.

History of Country

The Maldives, officially known as the Republic of Maldives, is a South Asian sovereign state, located in the Indian Ocean and lies southwest of Sri Lanka and India. The Maldives is one of the worlds most geographically dispersed countries consisting of a chain of 26 atolls spanning approx. 115 sq. miles.

History of Airport

Velana International Airport, also known as Male International Airport is the main international airport in the Maldives. It is located on Hulhule Island in the North Male Atoll and nearby the capital city/island of Male. The airport first began operations in 1960 with the first runway being constructed of slotted steel sheets measuring a length of just 3,000 ft. As tourism increased in the early 70’s, the airport was further upgraded to handle the volume. Today, the main asphalt runway measures 10,499 feet and routinely handles aircraft up to the Boeing 777.

History of Airline

China Eastern Airlines is a major Chinese airline operating international, domestic and regional routes and is the second largest carrier by passenger numbers in China. The airline was established in 1988 and currently operates 496 aircraft. China Eastern typically operates a Boeing 737 between VCBI and VRMM.

Flight Briefing

CES1066
VCBI – VRMM
Planned Fuel – 13,500
Planned Altitude – 38,000
Distance – 420
Flight Time: 1hr, 35min
Route: BASU2D BASUR P570 TVM R457 MUGBA M3B

Flight Journal

The visit to Sri Lanka, while enjoyable….most days consisted of rain, more rain with short breaks from the rain where the sun would come out and the humidity would soar, then it would rain again. I believe our travelers are weary from the heat and humidity and ready for a break. But as I’ve shared with them, the next few legs will mostly be much of the same. Perhaps a brief break from the damp, sticky climate will come once we reach South Africa. But even that will only be brief.

For this leg of our journey, we will be flying a China Eastern Boeing 737-700. China Eastern operates flights between these two airports in the real world, so I felt it only right to do the same in our virtual tour. Our passengers have arrived for a very wet, late afternoon departure.

We can’t depart until all the luggage has been loaded and the ground crew is working extra hard on this wet day to ensure an on-time departure.

With the doors securely closed and locked, it’s time to pushback this Boeing 737-700 for the trip.

Position and Hold on runway 04. We’re ready to go…

Up and away.

We may eventually find some sunshine…somewhere.

Ahhhh, there we go. Clear skies and sunshine as we cruise at 38,000 feet.

As previously mentioned, our departure out of Sri Lanka was in the late afternoon and the sun is beginning to sink into the Indian Ocean.

A beautiful view as we descend into our destination.

The view from the flight deck.

One more wing view as the sun has just about disappeared.

We quite a strong cross-wind for our approach into Male.

On short final, we’ll be on the ground shortly.

On the ground at Male International Airport just before darkness sets in.

Simulator Specifics

Prepar3d v4.2
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG 737-700 (China Eastern livery)
Orbx Global Texture
VATSIM