Thursday, February 19, 2015

FedEx Virtual Air Cargo Mission: Custom Critical

I participate with a virtual FedEx Cargo Company (www.fedexvac.org) and due to the recent snow storms in the New England region, a great plan was developed: create custom flights for users to move virtual cargo into the snow hampered regions.  I was dispatched a flight from KEDW (Edwards Air Force Base) to KBOS (Boston Airport) and chose to fly my trusty PMDG 777-200F.  The local national guard unit created the manifest, delivered the much needed supplies to KEDW and it was my job to get it to Boston.  As can be expected, the weather was perfect in Southern California for the departure and as I traveled east over Denver, the flat terrain began to turn white with blankets of snow.  The sun began to set as I continued eastbound at FL370 and I monitored the METAR at KBOS, hoping to catch a break in the weather.  At one point, the cloud layer was down to 1,000 feet and moderate snow was beginning to fall at the airport.  My top of descent (TOD) was fast approaching and the QUABN3 arrival was programmed into the FMC with a planned ILS landing on 22L.  One last check of the METAR showed the snow had cleared and the cloud layer began to raise, hinting at a nice approach into Boston.  I was still concerned about the winds as they were reported out of the west at 19 knots, gusting to 29 knots and as I turned final for 22L, the wind gusts were beginning to push the mighty 777 around the sky.  Thankfully, the runway was fully visible at 8 DME and the background of the city, lit up with the night sky made the approach a pleasant one.  The autopilot was disengaged and a slight crab into the wind brought the plane down onto the center line.  My virtual F/O cleaned up the aircraft as we taxied to the north cargo parking to be met by the hardworking ground crews of FedEx.  Enjoy the screenshots taken and as always, thanks for following along.





 


 






 

    

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