Equinox Flt 101 - CYYZ - EGPK

[Deleted]

Back for another LH. Tonight it's Toronto to Prestwick in the 747-400F. Pretty heavy load tonight and lots of fuel for the run just in case. For this trip we're using FT CYYZ and UK2000 Prestwick Extreme. Nothing else activated other than FTX Global and Vector.


Loading complete and the service vehicles are gone. Just need to close the doors now.


On the roll on 15L at 00:05


Nothing to shoot on these overnight long hauls but I did get one shot as we neared Scotland. Our flight was at FL350 for the duration at M0.85 for a 5.9 hour flight in all.


On final for a pretty routine VFR approach to RWY 12 at Prestwick


On the rollout


Taking in some of the sights as we taxi for the cargo terminal


Docked with the service vehicles starting to do their thing


Prestwick I gather used to be very busy. Now it's mainly cargo although Ryanair does have a fairly major base here


Not a bad trip all in all. UK2000's Prestwick Extreme is very nice although a bit stuttery as I taxied around. That's to be expected given all the detail, but I found it almost as stuttery as Fly Tampa's CYYZ, which is way more complex. That said, CYYZ has a heavier VAS footprint. Either way, I'll add the newest versions of VFR Airfields for England if I find I'm going to spend a significant amount of time over here. The only really "glaring" thing I noted is the trees that look decidous but are actually evergreens, but then Orbx does that as well. UK2000 scenery is nowhere near the price of Orbx's scenery though, so I find it very good value for the money. Gary's scenery is made to ride on top of Orbx UK as well, which is really nice. Equinox is considering making Prestwick a main cargo base for Europe.

FWIW, I love the 747 for its history and the sheer load it can carry. That said, the 777 has become my favourite heavy to fly. I love the sleek design of the 777, the more modern cockpit and those big-ass engines. It's not quite as fast, but it's no slouch in the speed department either. Both are great machines though.

Thanks for looking in .

[Bushpounder]

Airport looks nice. That last shot looks like a busy cargo op. Nice.

BP;)

[Deleted]

Thanks Don. Yeah, Gary has been around for a long time now and he does nice work. I have picked up Aberdeen Extreme in the mean time (see EQ201 PIREP) and it's just as good. He's done just about every airport in the UK, so you have a LOT of options over there. I suspect now I'll be spending a lot of time at our UK ops.

[scottb]

Looks like a great operation Glenn! I really like your paint scheme. The third shot is one of my favorite views of the 747. Such a graceful looking shot. It's sad that they are being phased out more and more in regular airline service. Such a unique looking plane, but they will likely fly cargo for some time yet .

-Scott

[Deleted]

Thanks Scott. Yeah, the '47 is on its way out for sure. PMDG sure did a good job on this one! If there are any bugs, they are well buried. I can't find them, and how often do you get to say that on a new release <LOL>? Truth be told though, for as good as this release is, I've really fallen for the 777. It has a couple of quirks I've not been able to quite sort out yet, but otherwise I really, really like flying it. Apparently PMDG are going to migrate the service vehicles from the 747 and whatnot over to the 777 at some point, which will be a big deal for me.

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2017 7:17:06 GMT -5 Bushpounder said:

Airport looks nice. That last shot looks like a busy cargo op. Nice.

BP;)

Don, I meant to say that a lot of that service equipment is attached to the PMDG 747 itself. They really add a lot of immersion and is a big reason to fly that airplane if you like 747's.

[Deleted]

Thats one big fat girl!

[Bushpounder]

Fat bottom girls they make the rockin' world go round!! I went to the default Prestwick and found basically an ghost town there. My airplane was it. I looked for a different AFCAD for it that WOULD PUT PLANES THERE. stupid caps lock!!!

BP;)

[Deleted]

AMEN! <LOL> Except in this case I think it's her head <LOL>.

Yup, Prestwick is pretty lonely in the default FS world. All the extras you see (except what's actually servicing the 747) are courtesy UK2000 Prestwick Extreme. There is almost too much sometimes and it gives one a case of the stutters, but you can opt to not install them. I'm like you though - I prefer something to be there.

IRL Prestwick is not that busy anymore. It does do a fair bit of cargo traffic and Ryan Air has a hub there, but most of the flights now are coming out of Edinburgh. What with A320's crossing the oceans now, smaller airports can handle the load more easily than before. For me, Prestwick works well, although we are setting up a base at London Stansted.

[Deleted]

Feb 12, 2017 17:26:53 GMT -5 @todd765 said:

Thats one big fat girl!

It is, and it's neat to feel that much mass lift into the air when you hit V2. Pretty impressive and those engines are really pushing a whoooole lot of air. Interestingly, it climbs slower than the 777, but it will keep going to the mid to upper 30's in altitude without step climbing. I was able to get right to FL350 out of Toronto, although it took quite a while to get there, whereas coming out of Copenhagen a week or two ago in the 777, the best I could do was FL280 for the first hour or so. I eventually step climbed to FL340, but that's all I got on the trip to Toronto. It might be old, but the 747 can still haul both weight and ass.

[Bushpounder]

I looked at some r/w pics of it. You're right - not much there. Looks like a nice airport series though. I reinstalled UT2 again. I was missing too much traffic at some airports. I just found a way to add in FEDEX and UPS, so that will be my next adventure. That's one reason I went with the WOAI. I wanted those other two working.

BP;)

[Deleted]

UK2000 Extreme airports are somewhere below Orbx, Fly Tampa and Flightbeam, but above much of the other stuff out there. If you're flying a lot in the UK, it's more than worth the $$ (and the $$ isn't that bad at all). The UK VFR airfield series is not as good but considerably better than the Orbx default fat region airports (each airport is true to the field and has appropriate signs and whatnot, but the textures are generally only slightly better than run of the mill). To be honest, I've been interested in setting up shop (so to speak) in the UK for a while now, and the UK series definitely tips the scales. Some of the smaller, grass strips are really fun to fly out of. I took the DC 3 from Goodwood to Jersey yesterday and it was a real hoot getting it out of Goodwood and over the trees. Gary has been around forever as I say, and he does good work. Not just that but the help I received on their support forum was very friendly and very fast. I didn't get one of those, "Did you even try to do a search??" questions. I'm becoming quite a big fan of theirs because of that, and the scenery itself. And (the point of this) there are tonnes of static aircraft around, all appropriate to the airport. One airport has several large machines parked off to the side and I thought that these were just stuck there for appearances (I've seen a 747 body parked at the Orbx Calgary/Springbank airport, and unless that was trucked in, it's very, very out of place). I went and looked at the overhead Google Earth shot of that airport and sure enough, they are all accurate and well placed. He's done his homework and hasn't spared the effort to get it right.