Hello and thank you for stopping by. For several years I have wanted to produce more cinematic flight sim productions. However, the amount of time required hasn’t always been something I’ve had a lot of. But times are different now. Of course I love flying and this video was a lot of fun to put together. There will be more soon….
Welcome Aboard to American Airlines flight 777 with non-stop service between Phoenix Sky Harbor International
Airport and Las Vegas McCarran International Airport. Your captain for this flight is JT. Please sit back,
relax and enjoy the flight.
Addons used:
Aircraft:
PMDG Boeing 737-800 (NGXu)
American Airlines Livery
Simulator:
Lockheed Martin Prepar3D v5
Scenery:
(1) ORBX FTX GLOBAL
(2) ORBX OpenLC North America
(3) Flightbeam Studios KPHX
(4) FlyTampa KLAS
(5) FSDreamTeam GSX Lvl 2
Camera Effect:
Chaseplane
Weather:
ActiveSky
I hope you enjoy watching my videos. If you do, please hit that “Like” button! Also, if you are new to the channel, please SUBSCRIBE. It really does help!
Please visit my blog site https://grizzlybearsims.com You’ll find my complete mod list and various articles and reviews on many of the simulation based games I enjoy playing.
Thank you for watching!
J
MUSIC CREDITS
________________
Inflight Music
Dreaming in 432Hz by Unicorn Heads (YouTube Music Library)
A part of me is celebrating the fact we’ve just completed the first 10 legs of the 46 leg journey, but the other part of me realizes we still have 36 legs to go. I began this journey on 2 June, the first post hit the interwebz on 6 June and I’m actually writing this blog post on Monday, 9 July. Yes, I’ve been busy flying the segments….but pacing myself on writing/releasing the articles as I like to be somewhat consistent and this helps me ensure I can keep at the very least two blog updates each week documenting the journey. As we’ve just completed our 10th leg (that’s somewhat of a milestone) let’s review some of our statistics of the journey so far.
Miles Flown – We’ve logged 8,667 miles of the over 36,000 miles it will take to complete our around the world trip.
Hours Flown – Just prior to starting the 11th leg, we’ve logged just over 25 hours of flying time. Flying time is calculated from the time the parking brakes are released and the aircraft is pushed back from the gate of the departure airport to the time of landing, taxi and parking brakes applied at the destination airport.
Fuel burn – We’ve burned a whopping 138,460 pounds of fuel. As a point of reference, a Boeing 747-400 flying between Denver and London will consume approx. 198,000 pounds of fuel.
In the real world, my wife and I are just returning home from spending a week in the mountains (11th wedding anniversary and US Independence Day holiday). Between all the work stresses of the past few weeks…this was a much needed break. I’m home the week of 9 July (the week I’m writing this) and head back to California next week. But enough of all that…let’s get on with this story.
Our updated map showing our progress thus far.
History of City
Johannesburg or Joburg for short, is the largest and most populous city in South Africa and ranks in the top 50 for largest urban areas in the world. The city was established in 1886 following the discovery of gold.
History of Country
South Africa, known officially as the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa and includes over 1,700 miles of coastline stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans. South Africa is the largest country in southern Africa and the 25th largest country in the world by land area. The population of South Africa is estimated to be near 56 million and is the world’s 24th most populous nation.
History of Airport
O.R. Tambo International Airport (FAOR) is a major international airport in Kempton Park located very near Johannesburg. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and international travel to/from South Africa and is Africa’s busiest airport with a capacity to handle up to 28 million passengers annually. The airport handles non-stop flights to all continents except Antarctica. It serves as the hub of South Africa’s largest international airline and domestic carrier, South African Airways.
History of Airline
Comair Limited is an airline based in South Africa that operates scheduled services on domestic routes as a British Airways franchisee. Founded in 1943, Comair serves 11 destinations throughout the region and has a current fleet consisting of seven Boeing 737-400 and nine 737-800 aircraft.
With exception to the first two legs of this long journey, we’ve been basically hopping from one island to another as we’ve made our way across the Indian Ocean. Our travelers have seen some pretty incredible sights along the way, but I overheard one traveler speaking to another, and he said “once you’ve seen one island…you’ve seen them all”. This perhaps is a very valid point and perhaps it’s a sentiment shared by most as there seems to be a level of excitement building to finally begin the African segment of this tour. Over the next few weeks (including today), our travelers will complete six stops within the African Continent as we make our way north along the western edge.
Our passengers have arrived, all gear has been safely loaded/stowed on board our Comair Boeing 737-800 and we’re taxing out to the active runway for an on-time departure.
With no time to waste, we’re off and away.
Taking one last look of the island before making our turn to join the departure.
OK…I lied. Really…just one more “last” look at the island across the wing of the B738.
Our “livery” shot. Other than the fact that British Airways no longer operates the Boeing 737 (in any variant), the only differing markings I can spot is the Comair United logo on the front of the aircraft.
Just off the starboard side, the coastline of Africa.
Over land once again. Just a few more miles until we reach top of descent.
Another wing view as the clouds begin to develop.
Airport just ahead as we take the visual approach for runway 21L.
One last wing view of the Joburg area.
Short final for runway 21L.
After what seemed like a really long taxi (after all, this is the largest airport we’ve visited in a long time), we’re parked up at the gate and the Comair ground crew are doing a great job getting our aircraft unloaded.
After clearing customs, our travelers and crew will board a bus for the quick ride to the hotel and then dinner. We’ll explore the Johannesburg area for the next few days before departing to Cape Town where they’ll spend several more days exploring that area as well.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.3
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG 737-800 (Comair Airlines livery)
Orbx Global Texture
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
I hope everyone’s enjoying the blog postings, the tour and the variety of aircraft/liveries I’m presenting. Up to this point it’s been a fun tour for me as I’ve learned a lot about the areas we’ve visited in my research for the story line. Time to get busy planning the next leg of the tour. Thanks again for reading.
After a four day business trip and visit from my parents, it’s great to get back into the sim and resume our WorldFlight tour around the world. I had to spend just a bit of time reading the past trip reports to bring myself up to speed on where we left off and what leg was next up.
The magenta dots are slowly but surely starting to take numbers on our world map. But we still have a lot of ground (and water) to cover before this tour is complete. So let’s stop talking, and start flying.
An updated version of our tour map showing the five previous stops.
History of City
Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city in Sri Lanka. Known for its natural harbor, Indian, Greek, Persian, Roman, Arab and Chinese traders have been visiting this area for over 2000 years. The metro area of Colombo has a population of over 5.6 million with 752,993 in the city proper.
History of Country
The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years and possibly even as far back as 500,000 years. Today the island is home to many cultures, languages and ethnicities. The majority of the population is from the Sinhalese ethnicity, while a large minority of Tamils have also played an influential role in the island’s history.
History of Airport
The Bandaranaike International Airport (also known as Colombo International Airport) is the main international airport serving Sri Lanka. It is named after former Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike and is located 20 miles from the commercial capital of Colombo. The airport began as a Royal Air Force airfield in 1944. Today the airport is more than capable of handling the world’s largest passenger jets including the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380.
History of Airline
Garuda Indonesia is the national airline of Indonesia. Named after the holy bird Garuda of Hinduism from the national emblem of Indonesia, the airline is headquartered in Jakarta which we visited a few legs ago. The airline was founded in 1947 as KLM Interinsulair and commenced operations as Garuda Indonesian Airways in 1949. They have a fleet size of 142 aircraft consisting of 73 Boeing 737-800, 10 Boeing 777-300ER and 13 Airbus A330 to name just a few.
We begin our flight today in the late afternoon. We’ll be serving light snacks and should reach Sri Lanka in the early evening with enough time for our travelers to have a nice dinner before heading to their hotel. We wasted no time in getting boarded and all loaded up for the flight. As the WITT airport is rather basic, I thought I would just cut to the chase and get us airborne.
Hopefully you’re not getting bored with the 737. The fact of the matter is the Boeing 737 is a workhorse aircraft for so many airlines around the world, that it shouldn’t be uncommon for it to get a lot of rotations on our tour. Until the Aerosoft Airbus A319, A320 and A321 releases for Prepar3D v4, the B737 is our best option for short field operations.
Climbing out of WITT for FL340
Spiral contrails from our Boeing 738 with the crescent moon visible.
Another well done livery scheme
Our Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-800 fully configured for landing at VCBI
Another fairly basic default airport.
Down on the ground just before the afternoon thunderstorm rolls in. We’re fortunate to have the ground power and most importantly the ground AC unit. It’ll be another hot and sticky visit.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.2
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG 737-800 (Tiger Airways livery)
Orbx Global Texture
Orbx Australia
Orbx Cairns Airport
Orbx Broome Airport
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
As always, I truly appreciate you reading this trip report. I hope you are enjoying the tour and learning a little something along the way. I know I have.
Hello and thank you for stopping by. For several years I have wanted to produce more cinematic flight sim productions. However, the amount of time required hasn’t always been something I’ve had a lot of. But times are different now. Of course I love flying and this video was a lot of fun to put together. There will be more soon….
