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.

Panama Air Rally leg #4: Albrook to Pedasí

It is time for another exciting VFR trip with IFR practice in the virtual airspace of the Republic of Panama! As usual we will be using the Microsoft Flight Simulator X. This article describes the 4th leg of the Panama Air Rally of the Virtual Pilots Association.

Flight Brief

Our flight will be a total of 116nm departing from Marcos A. Gelabert (MPMG/PAC) in Albrook, Panama city, Panama to the old Pedasí airport (MP00 in FSX) in Los Santos, Panama. We will cruise at 6,500 feet. We loaded 60 gallons of fuel but expect to spend 18 gallons.

We will be using our trusted Piper Seneca II (Carenado) with custom livery. Here in this photo we the airport terminal and the Panama Ports’s cranes in the background.

Departure
Now we are at the holding point of runway 18 at MPMG and awaiting permission to enter the runway. We are setup for departure with VOR 1 tuned to the Taboga VOR/DME (TBG 110.00), the ADF to the Taboga NDB (311.00), OBS 1 to 183 and the heading bug to 235 the course of the next leg. Here with the Panamanian flag waving proudly at the top of Ancon Hill with Albrook Mall in the background. Albrook airport and Panama city scenery courtesy of Victor Brumley.

We are airborne, winds 330 degrees 09 knots. As we climb keeping runway heading we see the Panama Canal Administration building on our left at the base of Ancon Hill.

We continue climbing past the hill on our right next to Panama Ports. Flaps up, Cowl flaps open.

OK, we have cleared the hills and we turn left R-183 inbound Taboga (TBG). Still enjoying the scenery of the beautiful but chaotic city with the Bridge of the Americans and the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal in the background.

We continue climbing and we should soon be crossing the Taboga VOR (11nm) atop the island of the same name.

En Route
We have crossed Taboga VOR/DME (did you see the instrument?) and we turned right tracking Taboga outbound R-235. This leg will be 15.1nm to the DAMAX intersection.

In the meantime here in the vicinity of Taboga we can see the Howard airport (MPHO) nowadays renamed Panama Pacífico (MPPA). We still keep the ADF and VOR 1 on TBG VOR/DME.

Now we are approaching DAMAX intersection which should be near the base -but over water- of that tip of land called Punta Chame. At that tip there used to be a short dirt landing strip which is closed nowadays.

We passed DAMAX at 6,500 feet and went over the Chame mountain and here we see the Chame airstrip (MP24) below the starboard engine. Here a somewhat enhanced version based on real life from the Panama Lite X preview.

On this leg we keep cruising outbound TBG R-237 for 25.7nm towards UKATI intersection.

At this point we are right at UKATI intersection with the Rio Hato airport (MPRH) in sight. Here showing the Panama Lite X version of the airport.

This airport has always had the Panamerican highway cutting it in half (no tunnel!). Nowadays it is being totally renovated with a tunnel, new runway and a passenger terminal to become the newest international airport in Panama. Past UKATI we turn left heading 218 for 29.7nm. Time to tune the Chitre NDB (CHE 440.00) on the ADF.  To help us finding the CHE NDB on the Chitre airfield (MPCE) we tune VOR 2 to the Santiago VOR DME (STG 114.50) and OBS 2 to R-104, the CDI should also center above Chitre if we use TBG R-229.

This is perhaps the longest leg of the trip, we are now flying above the Gulf of Parita with the town of Pocrí and Aguadulce on the far right.

Since we departed late in the afternoon we can observe that the sun is beginning to hide on the horizon. This trip should take us between 50 –60 minutes, enough to arrive with daylight.

Okay we went straight to the CHE NDB  and saw both CDI needles center as we approached Chitre airport shown on this picture at 5 o’clock.

Here we are depicting Panama Lite X’s version of Chitre airfield which updates the default FSX airport to current day state.

We passed Chitre at 3,500 feet and turned left heading 137 degrees (use the heading bug) with CHE NDB directly behind us.

This is actually the longest and final leg of the trip with 34.4nm. We should pass several major rivers. Here one of them with the Guararé airfield in sight (Panama Lite X version). In older Microsoft simulators it was MPNU but in FSX it has a different code. This Panama Lite X version updates the Guararé airfield complete with terminal building and surrounding areas.

Further along this last leg we see the mouth of Mensabe river with the La Candelaria dirt airstrip following it prior to the mouth of the Pocri river. All VFR reference points added by Panama Lite X.

La Candelaria airstrip is not found in the default simulator. About a year ago the airstrip was closed but as it goes with airfields in Panama, it may be opened (and closed) as time passes.

Arrival
After we passed Mensabe river, La Candelaria and Pocri river we find ourselves in the vicinity of Pedasi, but first we have to also pass the mouth of the Purio river.

We continue descending, here with the old Pedasi runway in sight at 1,200 feet. Again, this is Panama Lite X depiction of the Pedasi airport. A new airfield with a longer airstrip has been built 1.8nm south west of the old airport because the land had been bought by a foreign real estate developer and because winds were a bit too strong in the area.

Finally we arrived safely to Pedasí (MP00) just before the sun went over the horizon as there are no airport lights.

We used 13 gallons of fuel against the expected 18 gallons with a cruise fuel flow of 6.9 gal/hr. Our Carenado Piper Seneca II proved again to be a wonderful aircraft for practicing IFR navigation. I suppose you have noticed how I hinted the settings of the navigation instruments for a reason but in any case it is left for the reader to grab an interactive chart and verify the information.

Last, remember that this is NOT for real life navigation. I hope you enjoyed our long trip over the Panamanian skies. If you are interested in Panamanian virtual aviation or being up to date in the happenings of the virtual skies of Panama (flight simulation) visit our Facebook group “Aviacion Virtual en Panama” were you can find freeware scenery and references to payware scenery, anything related exclusively to our virtual skies. May the ILS be with you!.

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.

Panama Lite X: Azuero Peninsula add-on for FSX

Lord of Wings Flight Simulation (see their page on Facebook) is bringing out the first of several add-ons for FSX.

The product is called Panama Lite X and the first of the line of packages is called "Azuero Peninsula". The Panama Lite X: Azuero Peninsula contains a much improved version of 3 airports of the Azuero Peninsula (Herrera, Los Santos) plus another airfield that exists in real life but is not present in the default FSX.

The following airfields are included:

• Chitré (MPCE but wrongly named PX06 in FSX)
• Pedasí (wrongly named "Los Asientos" in FSX)
• Guararé
• La Candelaria (new)

It basically redesigns the entire coastal area to add all the missing VFR reference points and enhancing the default scenery to more closely match reality. It includes custom 3D buildings to match the real airfields.

On their Facebook page there are several videos posted featuring each of the above named airfields.