Originally Posted by leejo

I made this little mission to help me practice in a setting I enjoy "flying". This really is as hard a workout as I want to make it, or is a quick, relaxing flight to tinker on a skill or two, whatever I'm in the mood for.

I've had a lot of fun just flying around on this, so I thought I'd share it.

Best regards,

leejo




Mission Details:

There's a tanker well east of launch and an F-15C to the far southeast to help practice refueling and formation flying. The tanker is near the 4th waypoint and the F-15C is near the 6th.

There's also a tanker near the start to the west, and another F-15C southwest to practice these tasks without the long flight. There's an AWACS floating around to give hints toward the tankers if one should want that.

The flight plan is as follows if you want to navigate:

STP Course Distance Altitude Airspeed
0 62 9.7 2000 500
1 174 20 2000 500
2 117 45 10000 500
3 93 67 8000 500
4 184 31 6500 350
5 211 22 14500 500
6 239 40 8000 500
7 294 13 1000 300
8 291 13 549 250

I like to navigate without using the altitude or throttle locks and play little games to help improve my precision flying and concentration:

1) how close to exactly on course can I fly - vertical, horizontal, speed are all correct and I'm on time within .1 minutes.
2) during altitude and speed adjustments, how smoothly can I make the transition - e.g. set a 5 degree climb and maintain it perfectly until hitting the new altitude without exceeding it. Set a 10 ft/min. climb rate and maintain that without crossing. Etc.
3) do the above upside down. Do it sideways.
4) How quickly can I make altitude and speed adjustments without overshooting? How quickly upside down?

If I need to take a break, I may get ground stable (either right side up or upside down) and just enjoy the view. If I want to relax and just fly, I may surf the clouds or fly low for a bit, either upside down, sideways, or otherwise. All the while keeping a (relaxed) eye on the time, speed, and direction I need to travel.

With other aircraft:

1) When nearing a KC-10A or F-15C, I turn on the radar and try to acquire it, then lock it while continuing to navigate as described above. Someone wrote "Be AGGRESSIVE with moving the antenna."
2) Same as above, but upside down or sideways while navigating.
3) fly in formation with the tanker, and (try to) practice flying with an F-15C.
4) close with the other aircraft as if in a dogfight? How quickly can I acquire and stabilize a position .5 nm off their 6?

Finally, I practice landing!

Other aircraft info:
SPRINGFIELD KC-10A Refuel Alt. 8000 Speed 350 Flies a track along the 270 to 91 headings
UZI F-15C Formation Alt. 10000 Speed 450 Flies a lazy clockwise loop above some mountains.
DODGE E-2C AWACS
FORD KC-10A Refuel Alt 6561 Speed 350 Flies along a 180/0 degree track
PONTIAC F-15C Formation Alt. 8000 Speed 500 Flies a lazy clockwise loop W of takeoff. ** PONTIAC will slow to 400 knots on the western leg of the loop and will accelerate back to 500 knots when it turns back to the NE.

Do you mean you want this new post as a thread?