!!!September GFI!!!!

[Rey Ramon]

Desert Oasis: Circling into PSP

FROM: KSFO

TO: KPSP

Suggested Route: SSTIK5 KAYEX LOSHN CLASN SIZLR3 RNAV Z Rwy 13R

PILOT RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHOICE OF SID / STAR
Your route may vary due to VATSIM traffic and Controller instruction. Pre-filing a flight plan is required for VATSIM now.
I use SimBrief/Navigraph. I am attaching copies of the SID, STAR, RNAV Z RWY 13R.


Distance: 393nm
AAL EQUIPMENT: Pilot's Choice
Date: Saturday, September 21st, 2024
Time: 730 PM Eastern, 630 PM Central, 430 PM Pacific 2330 Zulu
PUSHBACK @ 2320Zulu - WHEELS UP AT 2330Zulu
SUGGESTED LOG ON FOR PREP @ -30 MIN FROM WHEELS UP
Flight Number will be your AAV number preceded by AAL, For example I am AAV125. My flight number will be AAL125

NOTAM: ALL GFI'S ARE FLOWN USING VATSIM. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME AAV REQUIRES USE OF VATSIM.
AAV FSACARS FREP IS ENCOURAGED
Pilot Coms on Discord AAV channel

[David Briggs]

Good going! With any luck, I will be there.

[David Roark]

Its on my calendar!

[David Briggs]

Mine too. And, my wife's!!!!!

[Harold Henderson]

REMINDER: GFI is coming up tomorrow. Join us online!

[David Roark]

The three of us parked up at KPSP after the GFI

[Rey Ramon]

Sorry I missed this one! I've been under the weather. Did they ATC let you do the rnav approach to rwy 13R?

[David Briggs]

No, visual to 32L

[Harold Henderson]

Rey, specifying difficult/dangerous approaches may require flying at different times/locations which normally have low/no ATC coverage.

Maybe we just need to do plain A to B flights.

[Wayne Pierce]

Greetings, I am going to tell you my excuses for not flying the GFI;

I have not flown a GFI since Sept 28, 2018... That is the last one I have recorded as having put on the calendar when our web site had it, and really the last time I used VATSIM. I logged onto VATSIM 1.5 hours before the proposed event. That was plenty of time, so I thought. Then my computer, MSFS, PMDG decided I had to update all the programs. You know how that goes. I created what I thought was the flight in SIMBRIEF, saved the flight using the generate flight and the upload flt program I have used forever. I then realized that I could not file a flight plan with VATSIM like I used to. Boy was I behind the times on this one. I clicked on the flight plan tab on Vpilot and it put me on the page on VATSIM for filing a FLIGHT plan. ??? What was that about. I tried to understand the page as shown to me. No Joy. I then needed to watch their video on how to file the flight plan which took a half hour. OK I filed what I thought was a good flight plan. No Joy there, as it still would not show up as logged on in VATSIM flight.

I went back to SIMBRIEF and found the auto file for VATSIM and tried that still no good. Meanwhile looking at SIMBRIEF Nav program it showed the flight to PSP where I did not want to fly. I kept putting me on 31R and not 13R. After that I found out I was putting the rwy in backwards. So after that I filed the flight. Then the FMC on my aircraft would not accept the changed flight from SIMBRIEF and kept using the old approach to 31R and not 13R. Then saw that after the hour the flight plan was no longer in VATSIM. I had to try to refile and still it would not load there.

Looking at the DISCORD comms channel I saw David on line but he would not answer my hails to him.
After all that it was getting close to the time for the flight . No flight plan upload to VATSIM, incorrect flight in the FMC,no talky on Discord.

I frustratingly quit, took my toys, and went home.

I will now spend some time to learn the new and improved VATSIM file a flight plan procedures.

So that is my story and I am sticking to it.

Thanks for watching.

[David Briggs]

We saw you bounce on and off discord. Saw you on the KSFO tarmac.

The three on line at the time figured you were network challenged some how.

I would be glad to help get you BACK up to speed quickly on simbrief and vatsim, should you desire. Once you figure it out, it is pretty straight forward. But, can't help you with MSFS or PMDG.

HTH

David

[Harold Henderson]

Wayne, I feel your pain. Flying online has gotten more complex. Just need to work it out in our non-GFI flights.

[Theodore Martin]

WOW, I guess us "vintage" pilots all had a bit of a problem. Since it had been awhile since I'd used Discord I tried it the day before the GFI only to find that after I upgraded to Windows 10 I never reinstalled the Discord app (only used the webpage version a few times). So did that and played with it to assure I could communicate before the GFI. Also, like Wayne, had to figure out how to pre-file my flight plan. Lucky I remember hearing that Simbrief could do that so all I had to do was find the "button" to push to accomplish that.

Enough about the little inconveniences and now on to the real problems. Started a/c, received clearance, taxied to runway and took off. After climbing to 3K or 4K the auto pilot turned off and I had to hand fly. While hand flying and trying to stay on course, I found out the reason auto shut down. My number 1 engine had quit. Now I'm trying to hand fly the a/c, stay on course, restart the APU, and finally restart engine #1. Got it started and set my next waypoint in the FMC in order to turn auto on again. However 5min. later I had to do it all over again. After the 3rd time this happened I finally realize there was a problem with the fuel delivery system. The left fuel tank was almost empty, why I don't know since I loaded both wing tanks with the same quantity. After figuring out how to turn on the fuel crossfeed I could restart the APU & engine, and now have auto fly the plane the remainder of the flight.

During short final upon arrival, since it was now dark (on my sim anyway) I tried to turn on the landing lights which meant switching to a different screen. When I switched back to the cockpit view I was drifting right and my airspeed was low. Trying to correct that my engines came on full throttle momentarily. Needless to say my landing was TERRIBLE.

David, I'm glad to see someone was thinking and got a pic of us at the gate. Good shot.