Delivery Flight of N661US (DAL 1 KPAE to KATL)

On Tuesday evening, January 31st, PMDG released their much awaited and hyped 747-400.  Granted, I wasn't very excited about the 747 as it went through its development phase.  Meh, another long haul jumbo jet that had been done before by both PMDG and other developers.  The screenshots, beta updates, and possible release estimates were flooding the Internet and while I did read the updates, I still wasn't convinced that I would be buying it.  Mr. Randazzo, the founder and spokesperson for PMDG began posting updates on the Avsim forums about final touches being made on the Queen and the ground crew was preparing her for departure.  And of course, the peer pressure from the The Nutters was ever present, as well as the "release stream" going live on Twitch.  The price tag of $228,000,000.00 had suddenly been reduced to $114,000,000.00 on PMDG's web page and the time was nearing for the hangar doors to open.  My personal excitement began to increase and the 747 hype was beginning to fill my inner flight sim geekness which at this point, there was no fighting it or going back.  Once the release was announced...the purchase was made and I too was the proud owner of the virtual PMDG 747,  also referred to as the "Queen of the Skies."

I am a member of FlyVirtual, a virtual airline that upon release, set up delivery flights for the 747-400 from KPAE, Paine Field, also known as Snohomish County Airport, to a pilot's home base.  For me, that would be KATL, or Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.  Yes, the 747 in the real world has been in operation for many years and many large carriers are beginning to either retire or drastically reduce the size of their 747 fleets.  It is the end of an era for such an iconic aircraft as carriers begin to move to newer, more efficient aircraft.  But, since this hobby, as I'm so often told, "isn't real," we can rewind the virtual clock and enjoy a hop across the United States as N661US is delivered to KATL for long haul operations. 

Flight preparations were completed and today's delivery flight would take approximately 4 hours and a quick look at the weather would have us departing to the north off of 34L from KPAE.  A quick walk-around was completed and as I've heard so many times this week, the PMDG rendition of the 747-400 is simply stunning.  The model, textures, system modeling, and animated ground services really bring The Queen to life and PMDG didn't miss anything with this one.  PMDG has an extensive history with developing aircraft for flight simulators and as each new release comes to life, their dedication and love for aviation shows in their products. 

I hopped into the flight deck which sits quite high above the ground and began entering the necessary data and route into the FMC.  The doors were closed as a few VIP's and ground crew from Delta Airlines boarded the jumbo jet and we were almost ready to go.  The APU was fired up and due to our parking position, push-back would not be necessary for this early morning flight.  All systems were in check and the engines slowly came to life as the fuel switches were activated.  The sounds for the 747, both internally and externally, are done extremely well, which adds to the realism for the virtual pilot.  Other various Boeing jets were parked on the tarmac as well, as I slowly made my way to taxiway "A" toward 34L.  The 747 is a large jet to taxi which will take some practice, especially while trying to keep the speed in check.  PMDG also modeled ground bumps, shakes, etc in the cockpit which again, adds that extra touch of immersion in the cockpit.  Runway entry procedures were completed as I turned onto 34L and the throttles were advanced forward, beginning the short roll down the runway.  Since the airplane was light for today's flight, Vr was quickly achieved as the four Pratt & Whitney PW4056 engines powered the plane down the runway.  "Rotate," was called out and the giant, albeit graceful and gentle jumbo lifted into the morning sky. 
 

 

 

At this point, I was flying on VATSIM and no controllers were on-line.  I had departed on Unicom when suddenly, that familiar contact tone came across the headphones.  Seattle Center had gone on-line just before departure and I began my climb west of the airfield, while climbing to an initial altitude of 5,000' above the Pacific Northwest.  I dialed in the new frequency and made contact with the Seattle Controller.  Vectors were provided to my first waypoint and my journey began to FL390 toward KATL.  The climbout was very bumpy and PMDG also modeled turbulence shakes in the cockpit and things were rattling and shaking while climbing to altitude.  A quick check of the Active Sky 2106 weather map listed various airmets in the area which reported moderate turbulence which matched conditions in the simulator.  After passing 10,000', the landing lights were turned off and the final "after take-off" checklist was complete.  I began to enjoy the outside and wingviews of my new ride and the iconic Mt. Rainier was spotted off the right side of the aircraft.  Things finally smoothed out after clearing transition altitude and FL390 was quickly reached.  LNAV was finally captured as I neared the Baker City VOR (BKE) and now, it was time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight.  Much of the U.S. was covered in thick cloud cover with a few open areas in the clouds showing the snow covered terrain below the jet.  I departed Seattle's ATC coverage area and the remainder of the flight would be conducted on Unicom with a few text messages to other 747 pilots flying on the network. 

After a few hours at FL390, it was time to start preparing for the descent into KATL.  The airport was reporting winds out of the southwest at 4-5 knots and I entered the KOLTT1 STAR into the FMC with an ILS approach onto 26R.  Top of descent or TOD was reached and like the 777, the 747 allows "wind requests" from an Active Sky flight plan which is a nice feature.  The 747 handles very well in the descent, at least the few flights that I have completed to date.  The rate of descent and VNAV path was solid during the descent and the speed was handled very well.  A few other virtual pilots were also approaching KATL so I slowed my descent and extended my downwind to create plenty of time/space for my arrival.  I flew south of the Atlanta sky line as I continued my downwind approach to 26R and The Queen responded beautifully to the heading inputs, flap deployments, and further descent to 5,000' for the initial approach fix.  I turned base for 26R and the localizer was captured as the 747 turned onto course to capture the glideslope.  The glideslope was captured as further flap deployments were made and the landing gear was lowered, all while slowing down to final approach speed.  The airport was fully insight as the final landing checklist was completed.  The autopilot was disengaged and the descent down the glideslope was very steady with very few inputs needed on my part.  The auto throttle was left engaged during the approach and as the aircraft crossed the threshold, the sounds of the throttles moving to idle was very apparent as the airplane slowly touched down on the runway.  The spoilers deployed, reverse thrust was engaged and the 747 slowed very quickly for a quick exit to the left, vacating RWY 26R.  

 
I completed my taxi to the Delta hangars and the Delta folks were anxious to see one of their new birds delivered to the base.  The aircraft was quickly secured, emptied, and the shut down checklists were completed.  PMDG did a great job with their rendition of the 747 and I look forward to future flights with the iconic aircraft. I've had the opportunity to fly on 747's in real life during trips to the far east and I'm hoping to re-create my past flights with AirChina and United Airlines from the US to China in future blog posts.  Until then.........

Software Used:

FSX with DirectX 10 enabled (Steve's DX10 fixer)
PMDG 747 Queen of the Skies II
Active Sky 2016 with Active Sky Cloud Art
Orbx Pacific Northwest, Orbx North America OpenLC, Orbx Vector
Imaginesim KATL
Vpilot (VATSIM client)
VATSIM Network
REX Simulations Texture Direct 4 Sky Colors
Simbrief (flight planning)
EFASS Flight Bag
SmartCars ACARS
FlyVirtual (www.flyvirtual.net)