Panama Air Rally 2013: Colon to Rio Hato

Today we will do the 9th leg of the Virtual Pilot Association’s Panama Air Rally 2013 leg #10.
Our flight plan has as departure airport the city of Colón and as arrival the Rio Hato airport. Upon departure we will do a 7nm DME arc procedure during climb prior to heading to the coast. The plan was filed as YFR, that is starting IFR at Colón with a cruise altitude of 4,000 feet (westward) and then at DAMAX we change to VFR rules at 2,500 feet. I will be using FSX as usual and remember, whatever is described here is not meant for real life navigation!

The Aircraft
As I have done in most of this tour, I will be “flying” the very nice Piper Seneca II (PA34-200T). It is an excellent product by Carenado I will review on this blog later on.
We will be cruising at about 120 knots at 4,000 feet with this beautiful twin propeller aircraft. The flight plan estimates a fuel usage of about 12 gallons but I will load it with 50 gallons.
Yet again this flight has been tailored to practice some IFR procedures, while the a/c has a Garmin GPS I will be “flying” it by instruments.

Departure – Colon airport
We will depart from the Enrique Jimenez airport (ICAO: MPEJ) in the city of Colón, province of Colón - Panama Vibes in Panama. The scenery is an alpha version of Lord of Wings Flight Simulation’s MPEJ crudely based on the original airport. In real life it is being fully renovated with a new terminal building and runway suitable for a 767 aircraft.


After going through all the Piper Seneca pre-take off checklists we taxied to runway 36 with lateral winds. Take off took place at around 12:24 local time (UTC-5).

From the picture on the left you can see the Seneca II climbing while beginning to intercept France Field (FNC 109.00 MHz) outbound R-126 for 7 nm. After take off checklist was completed and began adjusting the aircraft for cruise, this required tuning the mixture and setting the propeller RPM according to the checklist.

NAV1 tuned to FNC active and TBG (110.00 MHz) standby, NAV2 with TBG active. The heading bug was set to runway heading (360 degrees) and OBS1 to 126 degrees so that we could easily start intercepting R-126.

Cruise

The screenshot on the right shows the aircraft as I was doing the 7 nm DME arc around the FNC VOR/DME. The arc started at outbound R-126 and ended at R-191. For this I monitored the DME to maintain the 7 nm as much as my dexterities allowed and periodically adjusted the OBS1 at intervals of 10 degrees starting at 126 in order to do the DME arc. At the end of the arc we would be again above the Gatun lake.


Now as we completed the DME arc at 12:50 we have our instruments set to start heading out on FNC R-191 towards MULPO intersection. MULPO is 15.7 nm outbound FNC.

Have got to love this Piper Seneca for IFR, it’s just a pity the large engine cowls obstruct much of the side views.
Reached MULPO at 12:56 local time. In this leg I set OBS2 to Taboga R-259 since I had tuned TBG VOR/DME on NAV2.

Well our next leg on the same course is NEMER intersection 27nm outbound FNC R-191 but it is also intersected by TBG T-259. That means that when I saw the CDI of VOR2 aligning, I was reaching NEMER. I should have been some 32nm from Taboga but I was slightly off course to the west.


Skies are clear and there is no turbulence, what a beautiful day though for simulation purposes a bit of thunderstorms would have been nice. Now we are heading 153 without any VOR to help us to/from. The only help here is that I had the ADF tuned to TBG (311.00 KHz).

Well actually we were now heading towards DAMAX intersection above the Chame gulf near Punta Chame. In preparation for the turn I set OBS1 to 236 degrees as NAV1 was already with TBG active.

And the moment came, at 13:14 reached DAMAX intersection which is 15 nm outbound TBG, it marks the beginning of Victor airway V19 (FSX). At this point I turned right heading 236 (already in OBS1) and descended to 2,500 feet because my flight plan was filed as switching to VFR at this waypoint. [Editor's Note] It is actually recommended (see comments) to climb to at least 4,500 feet due to the proximity of two high hills/mountains. FSX default mesh is very poor at depicting Panama's elevation profile and even though I use an improved mesh (freeware), it seems to lack some. The actual leg from DAMAX flies above Chame Hill which Google Earth reports with around 1,600 feet.

A few miles past DAMAX we overflew the Chame airport, this time with an update from Lord of Wings Flight Simulation as well.
Chame airport is located in the province of Panama - Panama Vibes, the 2nd province we overfly in this flight. The stock airport in FSX is very disappointing, this update makes it a bit more like the real thing but not quite because the Panamanian police does not allow to take pictures of the airport buildings even though the law says that such prohibitions should not take place unless there is a law that says that, but well, that is Panama.


After DAMAX we continue tracking TBG outbound R-237 towards UKATI intersection, again we reach UKATI by tracking the TBG radial and monitoring the DME.
Also remember, UKATI intersection is just off the side of the Rio Hato airport, our destination.

Approach

All right then! the weather is good and visibility is excellent. There are no navigation aids at Rio Hato (MPRH) in the province of Cocle - Panama Vibes, Panama. We overflew the airport in a crosswind leg and the screenshot shows the Piper on the downwind leg with the Rio Hato airport. Yet again a better rendition in Panama Lite X based on the airport’s glory times by Lord of Wings Flight Simulation. Here you can also appreciate the rocky island just off Rio Hato which serves as a good reference point for our visual approach.

Currently this airport is also undergoing a complete renovation. It will finally have a passenger terminal building, a runway as long as the original for international flights and the Panamerican Highway will go underneath in a tunnel rather than crossing the runway right through its midpoint. It is not known (everything is secret in Panama) whether there will be navigation aids added to this airport.
After the downwind leg I set the heading bug to 90 degrees for the base leg and turned in that direction keeping an eye on the altitude and the visual references. The approach checklist was completed and as I turned into the final leg the aircraft was in landing configuration.

The virtual aircraft was landed safely on Rio Hato’s runway 36 and proceeded to the apron and then close the flight plan. This was flown online on the IVAO network but unfortunately (and almost as usual) there was no live virtual ATC coverage anywhere in this airspace. I guess next time I will just use the FSX crippled ATC.
After the a/c was on blocks the shutdown checklist was completed, the Carenado checklists have a few omissions. The a/c was again in its cold & dark configuration ready for the next flight. We used up 11 gallons of fuel against the estimated 12 gallons.

You can also watch the video of the approach to Rio Hato (base leg onwards) on You Tube.

If you are a flight simulation enthusiast using FS9, FSX, Flight Gear or X-Plane and you like to “fly” in Panamanian virtual airspace, we invite you to join our (closed) group on Facebook called “Aviacion Virtual en Panama”. But do remember that conversations are on topic only! Add-on scenery (in progress) by Lord of Wings Flight Simulation’s Panama Lite X.

Air Rally: Bocas del Toro to Colon on Piper Seneca II

Woohoo!!! had a little free time to do another virtual flight. This time the next leg (#9) of the Panama Air Rally 2013 as I promised. Naturally I will use FSX, still wonder why there are people still sticking to FS9 as if it was the last thing on earth! they don’t know what they are missing!

Yet again we will board our beloved twin motor Piper Seneca II (Carenado) loaded with 50 gallons of fuel of which according to the FSX flight plan we are expected to use 24.2 gallons.

The realtime weather wasn’t very challenging (clear skies) so I opted to use Heavy Thunderstorms instead. To make it more interesting the departure was 05:35 local time (UTC-5) from Bocas del Toro (MPBO) which is pretty dark. It is important to watch the instruments to fly the departure and not lose orientation, don’t want to ditch into the water.

I filed a YFR flight plan (starts IFR, terminates VFR) though the idea is to rely on instruments. Cruise altitude was 5,000 feet and the destination would be the Enrique Jimenez international airport in Colon city, Panama.

Charts! we have got to have charts. Got them for both Bocas del Toro and Enrique Jimenez. Unfortunately one dates back to 1998 and the other 2006 but anyway this is only simulation. I would prefer to have current charts but sadly –and unlike the civil aviation authorities of other countries- the Panamanian Civil Aviation Authority does not make these publicly available (shame!) so you have to buy them even if you are just a flight simmer! I am used to having current charts but what can I say, it is the third world!.

Departure

We will depart from the Bocas del Toro Intl. airport (ICAO: MPBO) in Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro Panama. The airport scenery is that made by Rhett Browning (wherever you are man, you dropped off the face of earth) for FSX back in 2008. One problem though… back then the airport did not have airport lights,! Since a couple of years ago the real airport does have runway edge lights. Luckily I am a relatively experienced FSX scenery designer so I amended the scenery (found here at the “Aviacion Virtual en Panama” Facebook group) to include runway edge lights. I also attempted to add lights to the terminal building but that didn’t work.

If you would like to know something about the beautiful and lively Bocas del Toro visit the Bocas page at Panama Vibes.

Motors started! all systems checked. METAR indicated winds 327 degrees at 18-28 knots, woohoo! this calls for taking off from runway 26. Cross wind component is 15-25 knots. Looked at my charts and I will be doing the GEMER ONE departure. Please keep in mind this chart dates back to 1998 so not to be used for real aviation (I am not a pilot either!) you have been warned.

Radios… NAV1 set to BDT active (114.90) and FNC standby (109.00), NAV2 set active to FNC. OBS1 to 272 degrees and heading bug to 115 degrees.

Took off from runway 26 following heading 272 at 05:40 local time with 50 gals. Gears up, trimmed aircraft for a steady climb. The Piper can climb at a maximum of 1400 ft/sec but I trimmed lower. Upon reaching 1280 feet over the water I initiated a standard turn to intercept BDT R-115. Now inbound to Bocas del Toro VOR/DME to be crossed at or above 3,000 feet. As you can see in the screenshot it is pretty dark out there (and peaceful), I didn’t have coffee though to accompany the virtual experience.

As I saw the VOR indicator switch from TO to FROM I turned to follow BDT outbound R-102 which was now on my OBS1. Now we continue on this radial straight to GEMER intersection 25.3nm east of BDT. In the meantime I enjoyed the beautiful views of the faint lights in the horizon while surrounded by darkness while settling comfortably at 5,000 feet, altitude hold engaged, cowl flaps are closed, mixture leaned properly for this altitude and throttle set for 2,500 RPM.

Cruise

Continuing on airway G440 I passed GEMER intersection and then (see photo) 18nm further the “Escudo de Veraguas” Island was on my right at 06:10 local time with the beautiful caribbean coast of Panama at the distance. This part mostly inhabitated. On this 48.3 nm leg to PUDOS intersection on the same airway.

Sad news is I confirmed –given I regularly do IFR procedures on this simulated aircraft- that the Carenado Piper Seneca II has some VOR alignment issues but given the age of the product I doubt they will fix it (Note: The developers of the Aerosoft Twin Otter did resolve this issue when I ran into the same problem with their a/c- I normally not use the GPS anymore unless lost but  I use it to check the simulated a/c. As you can see in this screenshot, I was flying right on the radial (outbound BDT) and yet you can see the CDI shows as if I was some 5nm off course (south of the radial).

Passed PUDOS and took a shorter route now, rather than following to KIKES on G440 which would take us farther, I turned left heading 091 direct to MULPO intersection (no airway). This leg was 68 nm and no radial to follow, hum, tough… So how on earth do I know when I reach MULPO?

Remember I set NAV2 active frequency to FNC (France Field VOR/DME)? in addition to that en route I set the OBS2 to 014 degrees. MULPO happens to be an intersection in airway V3 that goes straight to FNC, the Enrique Jimenez airport’s VOR/DME. and MULPO is some 15 nm from FNC. So by having 014 (our initial inbound course to MPEJ) and NAV2 the CDI of VOR2 would indicate when –while on the leg from PUDOS to MULPO- I was intersecting the inbound radial. Now luckily winds were not strong.

By the way, at 06:30 local time my route changed from over the water (I can’t swim!) to inland at some 42nm inbound FNC.

Approach

Here comes my favourite part of every virtual flight (other than the takeoff) and that is the approach whether it is visual or instrumental. On MULPO our flight plan changed to VFR for the sake of the tour but I prefer the instruments. Reached MULPO at 06:48.

Anyway, we have the whole of Gatun lake underneath us with several islands as visual reference. Also, to our left at the distance we should see (VFR conditions) the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal and the Chagres river mouth on the Atlantic coast.

We are reaching the Enrique Jimenez airport (MPEJ) in the city of Colon, province of the same name in Panama. Its terminal VOR/DME is France Field (FNC 109.00). In real life this airport is being totally refurbished to make it suitable for international flights, in particular to be able to receive aircraft as big as the Boeing 757-200. It will have a runway 2,700 meters long with a new terminal building. Of course, the FSX scenery doesn’t reflect that and unfortunately information is hard to get in Panama. If you want to learn more about Colon visit Panama Vibes.

At about 27nm from FNC I initiated descent to 3500 feet, lowered RPM to 2400. At MULPO turn left heading 018 towards GATUN fix, 12 nm to go. Continued to GATUN fix which I had to reach at about 2100 feet. The screenshot on your left shows the moment the Piper was at MULPOS turning towards GATUN fix with Gatun lake all around us, the Piper is not very suitable for watching out the window.

At GATUN I had to adjust my OBS again to the actual runway heading. My virtual flight was terminating at MPEJ runway 36.

Arrival

Yeah! arrival, things are getting a bit stressy but I have no plans on failing this approach. Having passed GATUN fix then came MELIA the last fix at 1200 feet, in real life we should be able to see the Melia Rainforest Resort, would be nice to have in FSX.Maybe I should add a stock resort for the sake of visual references.

As you can see on the screenshot I had runway 36 in sight. The FNC VOR/DME is not aligned to the runway so we should do the approach taking that into consideration but at this moment it is a visual approach. This stock FSX airport does not have runway lights but I don’t need them now.

Finally landed safely at 06:50 with my lovely Piper Seneca II from Carenado, I was pretty much satisfied with the virtual flight. The tank had 32 gallons of fuel left, meaning I consumed 18 gallons instead of the estimated24.2! yeah! fuel economy, I am getting better at that.

Flew 161 nm from Bocas del Toro to Colon in this beautiful virtual bimotor plane, saved some fuel that I can use for next leg and filed my PIREP with Virtual Pilots. A total of 1:30 hours of flight, part of which under instrument conditions (total darkness), the kind of virtual flight I like. I love night approaches too, but not many airfields in Panama have night lights, even less in the FSX simulator.

WHAT NEXT?

For one thing I will continue flying my Carenado Piper Seneca II, if not then my Aerosoft Twin Otter. The Twotter is more suitable for visual approaches.

The stock MPEJ airport while okay is definitely not up to standards and certainly not up to date. As soon as I landed I took it upon myself to do some quick scenery to improve this issue. Will try to create it based on the little information that can be obtained about the new airport. At least the new runway length, add the runway lights, improve on the surrounding landclass, and why not add the Melia resort “look alike” to use a visual reference? When done I will post it at our “Aviacion Virtual en Panama” Facebook group.

So my dear readers, whether you are a lucky real life pilot or an enthusiastic (like me) flight simulation (and aviation) fanatic like me, keep flying, keep learning and keep sharing! If you are interested in the happenings of virtual aviation within the confines of Panamanian (virtual) airspace, visit our Facebook group. And I also encourage you to visit PanamaVibes.com main site or the Panama Vibes articles section to learn more about our tropical country.

Panama Air Rally: Leg 8 David to Bocas del Toro

Wow, it has been nearly a month since my last virtual flight which happened to be Leg #7 of the Virtual Pilots Association Panama Air Rally 2013. We will be loading realtime dynamic weather to fly online using FSX.

Our Flight plan will be YFR, starting with IFR from Enrique Malek in David, Chiriqui terminating with VFR in Bocas del Toro. Will be using our IFR equipped Piper Seneca II. I used the excellent Plan-G flight planner. Remember this is not to be used for real aviation!.


Departure from David
We are on our beloved Piper Seneca II (Carenado) with Lord of Wings livery. The aircraft is at the ramp where I had already performed the checks on the control surfaces.
It is rainy on the Enrique Malek airport (MPDA / DAV) currently winds are 210 degrees at 10 knots so I will be departing from runway 22.

Prior to departure I tuned NAV1 to DAV VOR/DME (114.30 MHz) in the active frequency and BDT (114.9 MHz) on standby. OBS1 set to 030 our outbound radial.

Tune NAV2 to BDT (Bocas del Toro) VOR/DME with OBS2 to 352 degrees, our inbound radial to Bocas del Toro from OSITO to URUGA (still v15 but different direction) just prior to the DME arc.

The ADF to the DAV NDB (350.0 kHz). Departure time 17:40 local time (22:40 UTC) and we are scheduled to arrive shortly before sunset.

Taxied via the parallel taxiway to the head of runway 22 until cleared for immediate takeoff. Climbed runway heading, passed 1,000 feet, gear up and initiated a sharp turn to intercept the David (DAV) VOR/DME we had just left behind. The plan calls for intercepting DAV outbound R-030 to our first intersection, EGULA and continue climbing to 11,000 feet. Not only was it rainy but there were also distant thunders and a lot of turbulence. Very quickly during climb the aircraft found itself surrounded by clouds above and below. It is nice to see turbulence in FSX with a good a/c, in fact this was perhaps the first time I actually experienced weather in this area that closely resembles what is present in real life.

Cruise
During climb it was necessary to periodically adjust the engine fuel mixture until I settled at 11,000 feet. We are flying east under IFR rules. We need this altitude to safely clear the mountain range that divides the Pacific and Atlantic sides of Panama.

On our departure we flew from DAV to EGULA on R-030 (outbound) via Victor Airway 15 following to ETATI. There is a more straighforward route on Victor Airway 17 following ASEGO and ATOBA but that would require clearing much higher mountains in the vicinity of the Barú Volcano which is usually very cloudy, therefore my choice for V15.

Passed ETATI at some 20.6nm outbound DAV, fly over La Estrella dam/lake and we need at least some 7 nm (passed ETATI) more to clear the highest part of the mountain range. We would then pass the western end of the Fortuna lake and continue flying DAV R-029 to OSITO some 13.2nm from ETATI so we must keep an eye on our DME.

Okay, at OSITO we must make a left turn towards URUGA on the Atlantic coast. There are two ways to know when we reached OSITO (remember, we are still on IFR), do you know which? Well, for one thing OSITO is some 33.8 nm outbound DAV. The other is with our VOR2 instrument, do you remember we tuned NAV2 to BDT (our inbound VOR/DME)? OSITO is about 18.2 nm southeast of BDT and remember we set OBS2 to R-352? well, when we see that the CDI of VOR2 aligning it means we are approaching the inbound radial that would take us to URUGA intersection.

At this point both our NAV radios are set to BDT so it doesn’t matter whether our DME is tuned to NAV1 or NAV2. We continue from OSITO to URUGA intersection just at the coast of the Gulf of Bocas del Toro.

Approach
Some point (around 6nm) after OSITO we can safely initiate our descent. We must reach URUGA intersection at or above 6,000 ft.

The picture on the right shows our cockpit when we are at our IAF URUGA. URUGA is 10nm from BDT and is the point where we turn right to start doing our 10nm DME arc on the Bocas del Toro (BDT) VOR/DME. At this point we switch our flight plan to VFR (Visual Flight Rules) but I will be using the instruments for guidance as well (it’s nice).

Well as you can see the Piper Seneca is very nice for IFR but unfortunately (at least for flight simulation) it is not too suitable for Visual Flights. With its large engine cowls it is very difficult to appreciate anything via the side windows.

Now we are tracking our DME arc, you know the drill, we use VOR1 and periodically adjust OBS1 to a new radial until we arrive to our inbound radial for the final approach.

The picture on the left shows our beautiful aircraft above Loma Partida on the mainland near URUGA. For visual references we go almost through the middle of the peninsula of Loma Partida towards the north northeast edge of the adjacent Popa Island.

Then we continue the DME arc towards the eastern point of Bastimentos Island and contine the DME arc until we are 10 nm out and intercept BDT inbound R-262 which is our initial fix. We must be here at around 1,600 feet and turn left straight to runway 26 more or less flying along part of the shores of Bastimentos. At 5 DME we must be at 1,400 feet.
Unfortunately nearly on finals I missed alignment (BTW remember the VOR is not aligned to the runway!) and I had to put the gear up, apply full throttle and climb I declared a missed approach. Sadly I didn’t have my chart at hand so I did not do (shame on me) the proper missed approach procedure. However I will describe it here.

For the missed approach climb heading 271 until 8 nm outbound BDT. For visual reference this point is right at the mainland coast opposite to the runway end. At that point you do a sharp turn right to intercept BDT inbound R-104, overfly BDT and at DME 10nm we do our approach to runway 26 again.

Arrival to Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro
I did my second attempt with waning daylight thus making it more challenging after my sad mistake.
I was using the excellent FSX Bocas del Toro airport scenery by Rhett Browning. Unfortunately this scenery is already old meaning it does not have runway lights for night approaches. The real Bocas del Toro (MPBO / BOC) airport does have runway lights so we must soon do an refresh update to the runway.

On my 2nd attempt I managed to land and taxi to the terminal just in time for sunset.

This virtual flight was flown online but during the whole flight there were no nearby aircrafts and no ATC coverage. Sadly the only airport in Panama that seems to get ATC coverage online is Tocumen (MPTO). Even more unfortunate is that my fellow Panamanians have not made it any easier to organize ourselves to have a more interesting virtual airspace.

My next flight will be the next leg of the tour, from Bocas del Toro to the Enrique Jimenez airport in Colon city, Panama. Until then have safe virtual flights and remember to follow me on Twitter (@aviationweb), the Panamanian scenery development for FSX on the Lord of Wings Flight Simulation Facebook page and of course this blog of Virtual Aviation.

Last but not least if you would like to know a bit more about Panama, our little Central American country then make sure to visit Panama Vibes or the Panama Vibes Articles section.

Panama Rally 2013–Punta Cocos to Albrook

This is the 4th leg of the Panama Virtual Air Rally 2013 I created for Virtual Pilots Association.

We would depart from Punta Cocos, Isla del Rey, Pearls Archipel in Panama (MP0H or MP26) to Marcos A. Gelabert in Panama city (MPMG).

Our virtual flight departed at 18:15 local time (UTC-5) from the southermost tip of El Rey island in my new Carenado Piper Seneca II (PA34-200).

After departure we turned left parallel to the runway climbing to 4,500 feet. Here we would be intercept TBG inbound R-314 to BOMAK intersection, then along UV20 to TBG (110.00). For this I had tuned the Taboga VOR on NAV1, the Taboga NDB on the ADF and set the OBS1 to our radial (314).

Typical of the tropics and due to the late hour of departure (which was my arrival time from the previous leg from Jaque to Punta Cocos). The flight was peaceful without turbulence, at 4,500 ft. a lot of cloud coverage was encountered but visibility was still pretty good.

Though the flight was filed VFR I flew it by instrument as I like to practice that. I kept the CDI centered on the inbound radial. Some miles out of TBG I started descent to 2,500 feet. Just prior to flying over Taboga we turned right heading 005 and continued descending toward the runway, it was already dark but the airport has lights and the runway was in sight. The illuminated Bridge of the Americas was on our left (Victor Brumley’s Panama city 3D scenery). Watch out for the hills flanking the final approach.

Landing was perfect and soft along the centerline at –233 feet per minute, after which taxied to the terminal for a total of 36 minutes of flight. I must say I am pretty much enjoying flying the Carenado Piper Seneca II.

Testing scenery for Panama (San Blas X)

I am testing scenery of Panama for FSX made by Lord of Wings Flight Simulation. This is in fact pretty exciting though it is repetitive work but well, it helps sharpening virtual flying skills.

Panama is a country that has long been neglected in Microsoft Flight Simulator by both the scenery makers (freeware) and the payware scenery makers, that is until Lord of Wings Flight Simulation.

They have several parts in progress all under the name “Panama Lite X” and by “lite” they mean you must not expect scenery like ORBX and the like where they have volumetric grass and stuff like that. I myself find that an overkill, you are there to fly either VFR or IFR not to do plane spotting. The Panama Lite X scenery is lightweight:

• Corrects coastlines
• Uses a better elevation mesh
• Corrects the vegetation. If you want to correct the vegetation on parts of Panama not covered by Panama Lite X, I can recommend the XClass South America landclass add-on (payware).
• Corrects navaids such as NDBs, VORs and VOR/DMEs.
• Adds visual queues such as river mouths and others that are useful for VFR and are totally missing in the default scenery.
• Whenever possible even the airport terminal is modelled in 3D.
• Corrects regional airfields of Panama (other than MPHO, MPMG and MPTO) that are present in FSX.
• Adds a lot of regional airfields that exist in real life but are not present in FSX. This adds a lot of exciting short-runway airfields as well as several (short) island airfields.

The Azuero X component is nearly finished and you can see some videos of it at the Lord of Wings Flight Simulation You Tube channel. As for myself I am currently testing the San Blas X add-on component of Panama Lite X. It has the following airports under test (more to be added):

• Puerto Obaldia
• Carti
• El Porvenir
• Rio Sidra
• Playón Chico

This of course as time permits because LoW FS is a one-man team. I am pretty sure when it becomes available many people will be excited even if it is not a high-end detail scenery like ORBX.

Twin Otter adventures: Panama city to Puerto Obaldía

Has been nearly two months since my last flight with Flight Simulator X so this is my first flight of the year 2012. Naturally and being it an online flight on IVAO, it is flown at 1x rate, why cheat?
Our Aircraft
Our destination is a remote location on the San Blas reserve on the Republic of Panama and it is the short and narrow landing strip of Puerto Obaldía. We will be using the Aerosoft Twin Otter (ICAO: DHC6-300) because we need a plane with STOL capabilities. Also because the Twin Otter is a regular visitor of this location and region. We will be using the beautiful Air Panama livery found on the internet.
On this particular aircraft I have logged officially more than 25 hours of online flight plus many more of offline (test) flights.
Log Book
This flight will be recorded in our master logbook at Virtual Pilots Association as well as on Aero Virtual Panama. We will be flying a commercial schedule flown by Air Panama as flight number PST423.
Flight Plan
On the left there you can appreciate the eastern part of the Republic of Panama. We will be departing Marcos A. Gelabert (ICAO: MPMG) airport in Panama city (Albrook) at 08:30.
Our route will be TUM v16 ISUMA. Up to ISUMA we will flight at 8,000 feet under IFR rules covered by Panama TMA. At ISUMA we will descend to 3,500 feet and change to VFR. Therefore the flight plan is filed as YFR. According to the virtual dispatcher we should be flying around an hour and spend about 60 gallons of fuel.
Our destination is the small airfield of Puerto Obaldía (ICAO: MPOA) in the idyllic region of the San Blas archipelago, an indigenous semi-autonomous area with lots of small and challenging airfields (all but one missing in FSX). Puerto Obaldía is just a few miles from the border with Colombia. Many adventurous travellers cross from there to Colombia and back by boat.
Departure
Unfortunately no live ATC coverage on the IVAO network at the time of the flight. No problem, there is usually an a**hole that doesn’t know much about Panamanian airports controlling in the area.
At 8:10 we begin going through the checklists while boarding is taking place. Our first leg is MPMG to Tocumen, therefore I tune the TUM (ICAO: TUM 117.10) VOR/DME on NAV1 for navigation, and set it as well in NAV2 because our a/c uses that for the DME. The course indicator is set to 66 degrees, our heading to TUM. We also tune the La Palma VOR (ICAO: PML 113.10) on the Standby frequency of both NAV1 and NAV2.
As a helper (you never know when you need it) I have also set the Taboga NDB (ICAO: TBG 311.00) on the ADF at least for the first half of our trip. The METAR said winds were low but variable and we were assigned runway 36. Closed the doors, final checklists done, pushback and taxied to the runway. After being cleared for take-off (sadly no traffic in IVAO) I did the initial climb and turned right to intercept R-096 inbound TUM overflying the beautiful city of Panama, hereby a bit better depicted than the default FSX (my own improvements)
Not surprisingly after a little while we found ourselves arriving to Tocumen. By now I have activated the autopilot to maintain our cruise altitude.
The TUM VOR/DME is used for most SID/STARs of Tocumen International airport. We have to fly with care here because it is a busy airport. I suppose in real life we may have been routed some other way.
Cruise
We passed TUM and there were some clouds at our altitude but we could see the ground. The snapshot on the left shows my kneeboard containing the flight plan and my NAV1/2 radios together with the GPS. In particular I was paying close attention to the waypoints in the GPS and the DME, the TUM-ISUMA leg is 96nm R-096 outbound TUM. That’s why it is on active for both NAV1 (navigation) and NAV2 (DME). The TBG NDB should be pointing nearly backwards.
We are on the clouds as you can see on this snapshot. However on the left there were some ominous black cloud blanket on the sea. On this long leg we should be passing the Pacora and Bayano river mouths on the Pacific coast. You cannot miss the large Bayano lake which is man-made either, if on course we should be bordering the south eastern shores of the lake.
Descent
When around 86nm outbound TUM I placed the heading bug at 135 degrees. I also switched frequencies on NAV1 so that PML was active. According to my planning, ISUMA is at the intersection of TUM R-096 and PML R-039. PML has no DME (sad) so I was hoping that by putting the NAV1 OBS to R-039 I could see the CDI closing in as we neared ISUMA. I did not see that happening, don’t know if it is a bug in the Aerosoft Twin Otter or what. Anyway, there is the small peninsula of Mulatupu, there should be a small island there wit small airstrip (not in FSX). Anyway, this is our visual reference. Having passed the mountains (will have to update that on FSX) I initiated descent to 3500 feet, switched to VFR according to flight plan and turned heading 135.
My flight on Aero Virtual Panama is monitored by an ACARS device so on their page you can see the Live ACARS moving map. There you can appreciate that on heading 135 we should be flying with the coast of San Blas on our right, lots of small beautiful islands in real life, as many as there are days in a year!
On this ISUMA-MPOA leg we could have switched the ADF to the Tupile (ICAO: TPL) NDB. Just prior to arriving to ISUMA Tupile should be on our right but on this final leg along the coast it should be right behind us.
Approach
If the La Palma VOR also had a DME it could have been more helpful. In my virtual flight map, our destination (Puerto Obaldia) should be at the intersection of TUM R-104 (DME 124nm) and PML R-073 (DME 46nm). Unfortunately the Panamanian aeronautical authority hasn’t invested in a DME for La Palma. Anyway, around here things are flown VFR (bush whacking). Along the coast we should see the Puerto Escoses peninsula growing towards us and shortly after the Punta Carreto pointing towards the sea. Many years ago a Twin Otter from AeroPerlas vanished prior to reporting at Punta Carreto. It crashed on the mountains…
It was very hazy even at low altitudes, that complicated with the fact that I had not tuned TPL, PML and TUM were out of range I lost my way for a while (shame on me) and you definitely don’t want to end up in Colombia without permission!. Anyway, finally I had runway in sight. I armed the auto feather. I had a weight of 9,900 pounds so according to the reference card on the virtual kneeboard I should setup for V_ref of 72 knots., set flaps once I had reduced speed I configured flaps accordingly.
Arrival
The Puerto Obaldia (ICAO: MPOA) airfield is a hard surface (unlike some in the area) but it is relatively short. Here you only see STOL aicrafts such as Twin Otters, Britten Normal Islanders and the usual Cessnas. This airfield is not part of the standard FSX but was developed by Lord of Wings Flight Simulation. It is very close to the real one as far as I know and like all the others in the area, a challenge to land. Not having flown for several months I had lost my touch, I was pretty comfortable with the Twin Otter (not to mention I lost the touch on jets too). Sadly I had to declare a missed approach twice but I nailed it on the 3^rd. The virtual passengers were getting a bit scared, many wanted to see their beloved ones and some were eager to try to catch a boat to Colombia.
So there we were, with a proper landing configuration I landed the Twin Otter on MPOA’s runway 17, the speed was low already but because the runway is short I applied reverse thrust anyway.
Taxied to the apron and left the right engine running as usual, getting ready for the return trip. I should have used 60 lbs. of fuel, loaded 140 lbs. but unfortunately used up more than expected due to the turn around. Now I barely have enough to return, that will be the next challenge . For now the passengers offload and pass to the green house crowded by immigration and border police.
In summary, departure was on time and in spite of the two missed approaches arrival was also timely. Fuel usage was a bit excessive , suffered a mild disorientation (even on the simulator you have to keep your skills!) and landed at a rate of –632 feet/minute, definitely not my best landing rate on the Twin Otter, my best so far was –36 feet/minute at Playon Chico, another short runway in San Blas (also developed by Lord of Wings Flight Simulation).
Hopefully this year I get to fly a bit more than last year, I have been busy with several development projects and business ideas so that has priority. Have fun and fly safe!

Twin Otter : Carepa to Medellín

Sorry I have not published my last trips here. Today I we will do the flight from the Roldan Betancourt airport (ICAO: SKLC) in Carepa, Colombia to the Olaya Herrera (ICAO: SKMD, IATA: MDE) airport right in the city of Medellín. Don’t confuse it with the Jose María Cordova international airport in Rio Negro which also serves Medellin.

The flight will be performed in FSX with custom scenery (by me) for both airports. This will be an IFR flight for the most part, then switching to VFR at Medellin. We would fly at 13,000 ft and our route will be “LCE B689 REMUK B689 PEQUE”

Departure

At the moment I was requesting my clearance to Bogotá Center it decided to go offline. The metar at SKLC indicated winds of 6 knots at 30 degrees meaning we would have to depart from runway 33 and use a normalized departure according to the charts. There was another fellow from IVAO “flying” a Dash 8 Q200 in the colors of AIRES (another Colombian airline). Mine was the trusted Twin Otter in the colors of ADA (Aerolíneas de Antioquía) because this is a route they cover.

Jhon the other fellow from IVAO was not ready to depart so I taxied first, he indicated he was going to use runway 15 (tail winds!) for a direct departure. I went through the pre-departure checklist run up the engines and took off. I used the normalized SID which meant flying to the LCE (112.60) terminal VOR then turning left and then downwind with the airport on our left. Then I intercepted R-145 of Rio Negro VOR (RNG 115.10) towards REMUK. On the downwind leg I saw the other fellow take off from SKLC and climb fast. Take-off at 17:21 (UTC) or 12:21 local time (UTC-5), about 21 minutes late due to waiting for ATC.

En Route
After the initial climb to 4,000 feet I set the autopilot to our cruise altitude (FL130) with a vertical speed of 1,200 ft/min. This would be a straight flight along radial 145 of the Rio Negro VOR. We had to gain sufficient altitude because our first waypoint (REMUK) is on the mountains but not too high. After REMUK the mountains keep getting higher. PEQUE intersection was among high mountains and it signalled we were near Medellin. Top of Climb (TOC) reached at 17:35 UTC.

Approach
At some point having passed PEQUE intersection we would see the beautiful Cauca river on our right as it winds down the mountains into the valleys below.

Time to prepare for descent, I was having some lengthy conversations about the approach with the other fellow that was flying some 15nm ahead of me.The Olaya Herrera airport is only operational during the day and in VFR, something you can understand if you have been to Medellín. Top of Descent at 17:54 UTC.

For our initial approach we will set the heading bug to our present course (145) towards RNG VOR. We could tune the Marinilla VOR (MRN 116.90) and use its R-296 as reference (see chart on your right). So, having switched to VFR there was no ATC covering Olaya Herrera (IVAO).

So when we see we are about to intercept MAR R-296 and are some 21nm inbound Marinilla we can enter the Medellin circuit. We are just past the mountains with Bello on our left so we can descend to 9500 ft. and turn slightly left.

You can see on our map (see just above) that we head first towards the mountains on the other side of Medellin. When we have crossed the Medellin river (opposite to the airport) and before we crash into the mountains we turn right into the downwind leg. The picture on the right shows we have Olaya Herrera on our right (the river should too!).

Then we head towards Envigado overflying the beautiful city of Medellin (and the apartment of my ex-girlfriend). You can use the Rio Negro inner marker if you wish to draw an imaginary line of the edge of the no-flight area near Sabaneta. Then before we run into the hills ahead we turn right again to the base leg.

Arrival

This is a visual approach (no IFR in Medellin) so we keep the airport in sight and making sure we don’t run aground.

We initiate the final turn in time to align to runway 02, overfly the El Rodeo golf club on finals and as we land we would have one of Medellin’s stadiums on our left along the runway.

We landed safely and with good weather. During finals the descent rate was around 1000 ft/min with flaps set, as we got close to the touch down I nosed up a little to start reducing vertical speed. We landed with a V/S of –162 ft./min (pleasant). We used up 83 gallons of fuel on this 117 nm trip in 01:25 hours. Gross revenue according to the virtual airline was $1,200 (US Dollars).