Mendig – New York – Oklahoma Trip1 (V5.0)

Flight created on 28.01.2020 (Changed 10.02.2025 to V5.0, Mooney Bravo installed.)

This mission only works with P3dV4.
For P3dV5 and P3dV6 download the appropriate version here:

https://www.andi20.ch/p3d

Estimated flight duration with AN2 6h (48h all 8 trips)

The An2 flies at 100, the Mooney at 160 KIAS, so all times are shorter by a factor of 1.6.

Level of difficulty easy - difficult (with - without help)

Task: Fly from Mendig (Germany) to Oklahoma (USA).

Introduction

This is the re-enacted flight of “Steel Buddy” Michael, from Mendig to New York and on to Oklahoma, with the old An2 biplane.

Since the AN2 is no longer for sale, here is the alternative version with the Mooney.
If you still own a P3dV4 and have purchased the AN2, you can download an AN2-compatible version at this address:

https://www.andi20.ch/p3d

So that some AN2 feeling remains, I'm leaving the help texts and pictures for the AN2.

Adjustments and new features in this version:

1) Pumping fuel:

- The Mooney Acclaim flies the same distance with 18% fuel as the An2 with 90%.

So that you can still enjoy the “pump fuel”, the Mooney Acclaim starts with 28% fuel.

- The Mooney Bravo consumes 70% fuel for the same distance as the AN2 with 90%.

2) Because the Mooney Acclaim is not simulated very realistically, I have added the Mooney Bravo as an alternative aircraft.

- With the Acclaim, the mixture setting has no influence on the engine performance, regardless of the altitude, the mixture can be set anywhere between 6 and 100%.

- The fuel consumption is far too low: fully loaded and with 100% fuel, the Acclaim easily flies from Paris to New York (3150nm) and still has more than 4% fuel in the tank, which is enough for another 150nm. According to the data sheet, only 1400nm are possible.

3) AN2 had neither autopilot nor GPS:

The Mooney has both. The use of both makes the flight easier, but can lead to problems if, for example, GPS steers somewhere other than the air traffic control specifies.

4) Overheating problems and other things that only occur with AN2:

There are no overheating problems etc.

- For the Mooney Bravo I have “artificially” built in an overheating problem:

If you fly for a long time at 100% power, and/or at 100% propeller speed and the cooling air flaps are closed, an oil leak occurs. In this case, you have up to 50 minutes to make an emergency landing somewhere, repair the engine and continue flying.

- The flight with the Mooney Acclaim is unchanged, there is no problem.

5) Now you can fly the flight with the Mooney Bravo a little more realistically.

Ignore the information on power, speed and flap position, they only apply to the AN2.

- Fly at maximum speed, approx. 165 knots and adjust the mixture of the Mooney Bravo according to the altitude.

- Remember to open the cooling air flaps on the Mooney Bravo when setting full power and/or propeller speed.

General information

Michael has installed additional tanks in the Antonov, this additional fuel must be filled into the fuel tanks by hand if required.

I have “modified” the AN2 a little for this flight, i.e. adapted the switch for the “cab light” so that this switch now triggers refueling.

It is best to refuel several reserve tanks if the fuel is below 10%.

Here are the most important instruments of the An2 incl. cab light:

The cab light of the Mooney is overhead:

Acclaimc         Bravo

Info about Mooney Bravo

Overview:

The mixture must be set correctly when climbing. The FuelFlow display helps you to do this. The higher the FuelFlow value, the more optimal the mixture setting.

During take-off and climb, the aircraft is normally flown at maximum power and propeller speed.

Power 100%          Propeller 100%

For cruise flight, reduce the propeller speed to the green range and reduce the power.

Power 90%           Propeller 90%

To prevent the engine from overheating, open the cooling air flaps.

The fuel gauge on the Mooney Bravo is based on the same “panic principle” as in a car:

If the needle points to the red area, it suggests a lack of fuel, although you still have plenty of fuel in the tank.

Here is the fuel level, with the corresponding display:

30%                    20%

15%                    10%

When the needle is at the left stop, there is still 10% in the tank.

It is therefore sufficient to refuel as soon as the needle touches the “E”.

Info about Trip 1

Michael's plan for the first trip was to fly overland (blue route), and only a short distance across the channel to Scotland.

Toni said, this can be shortened, direct flight to Scotland (red route, 1h faster).

That's why my flight goes 4.5h over water.

Start of the flight

Trip 1: Mendig Army (ETHM) - Wick (EGPC) 605nm

You are in Mendig on runway 8. Take off, climb to 4000 feet and fly heading 326.

After a while (about 20min.) you will see some lakes. If you fly right over them, you are on the right course.

About 1h20min. after takeoff, you just fly over the Netherlands passing Amsterdam on the left, you encounter 2 conspicuous places.

On the right the narrowing, over which the A27 leads

and on the left the constriction with the A6.

If it looks like this to you, you are on the right course!

Fly heading 320 on command.

You are now flying towards the North Sea. From now on you will fly over water to the first destination airport. A very long distance, even with 8x speed, it takes a while (so trim the airplane well before you make 8x speed, at 16x or 32x speed even more important).

After about 4.5h the coast of Scotland appears.

But beware, the visible headland is not the destination, it will still take quite a while over the sea to reach the north of Great Britain and thus the destination airport.

Fly past the headland and now heading 310.

Caution: Fuel is running low, only about 10% left in the tank.

After about 1h30 min. you come to the northern end of Scotland.

The red circle shows the airport.

You will land on runway 31.

The tower guides you to the gas station (red circle).

Red shows possible taxiways.

I hope you enjoyed this flight, if so please give feedback to p3d@andi20.ch . Also send error messages (spelling mistakes, wrong information, etc.) to p3d@andi20.ch, I appreciate any feedback.