"OVER THE HUMP" FLYIN
Saturday 12th April 2008
1830 BST - 1730 Zulu/GMT/UT
and
2200 BST - 2100 Zulu/GMT/UT
PLEASE NOTE THE FIRST LEG HAS BEEN CHANGED FROM THE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED PLAN
History
Between 1941 and 1944, the USAAF Transport Command flew military supplies from Assam, India, to Yunnan Province, China; over the lower Himalayas. This 500 mile trip, up to 15000ft, was christened 'The Hump' by the aircrews. The aircaft used were the Douglas DC3/C47 supported by the Curtis P40 'Flying Tigers'.
Scenario
The Flyin will have two legs and pilots can elect to fly either or both. Firstly, Groups of transport aircraft will fly from ZPPP Kunming over "The Hump" to VEMN Dibrugarh. These aircraft will be carrying troops and equipment for repair. The second leg will be over 'The Hump' from VEMN to ZPPP Kunming in China and they will be carrying replacement troops and aircrew as well as supplies. On both legs they may be escorted by USAAF fighters based at VEOF Sookerating and ZPPP Kunming, and may encounter enemy fighters coming from occupied Burma and South China. The latter will depend on the number of pilots taking part in the Flyin. The two components of this Flyin will enable pilots from all Noble Air Hubs to take part, with those from Europe and the US able to complete both legs if they wish. Pilots from Australia, may prefer to only fly the second leg as it will be early Sunday morning for them.
Aircraft
The default DC3 in FS9 and FSX is adequate for the transport. Any of the 'Addon' DC3s could be used, for example the MAAM SIM R4D-6 C47, or the Norm Hancock DC3 from dc3airways.com. The P40 'Flying Tiger' and the Japanese Zero will be addons. I will try to list some possible aircraft packages at the end of this document.
Please remember that if other pilots do not have your aircraft installed then you will appear to be flying the same aircraft as that pilot. Not a problem with the DC3's but may be a problem with the fighters
Scenery
The FS9 and FSX default scenery for these areas are perfectly adequate. The taxiways and parking are sparse so aircraft will need to be dispersed on the grass.
Historically a large number of airfields were built for this mission in India and China, most of which do not appear in FS9 and FSX. The placenames recorded have changed over the years, particularly in China. There was a big cluster of airfields in the region of Dibrugarh, at the end of the main railway line; and another cluster in Yunnan Province, China, centred on Kunming. There were no navigation aids in the mountain area of 'the Hump', apart from the Radio Range beacons set up on either side. This has limited the choice of departure and arrival airfields to those listed, and the route waypoints to the NDBs & VORs; with visual reference points.
Weather
Weather will be "real". You may use any weather generator. FS's own on-line weather or Active Sky etc. will be perfectly OK. It may be sensible to ensure that this is updating during the flight. The weather on the day will determine the departure and landing runways. NB if the weather is too clear we may use FSHost to force an interesting weather pattern in the area.
The weather conditions 'over the hump' are normally bad, with strong upper winds, and dense cloud at peak level and heavy rain shrouding the ground. The advice to pilots at the time was; "If you can see halfway up the runway, then it's clear to take off."
Procedures
ATC will be provided at all airports by Tony Hoskin on Teamspeak (text ATC can be provided for a very few pilots). We will try to get 1 minute spacing on takeoff from both bases. As this is a wartime simulation ATC may have to adapt to any changing circumstances, so please respect all ATC commands.
Groups
We will aim to fly the second leg in Groups of 3-5 aircraft with one pilot acting as lead. The number of groups will depend on the number of Flyin participants. If you lose your group then you should continue the flight independently. Group names and pilots will be decided during assembly.
Navigation
Routing should be based on NDBs and VORs but are limited in mountainous regions. Achieving a height of 15000 feet is essential to clear the mountains. Care should be taken with fuel management, and pilots should start with full tanks and aim for as large a cargo load as possible. The maximum ceiling for the DC3 is 20,000ft. Visual references may be possible through the flight assuming good visibilty. Pilots using FSNav may go into multiplay for a short time so that they may share routes with other members of their group.
John Mckeon has produced a document with information on navigational aids used in these flights. If you wish to make use of this it is available from the link below.
Link to additional Navigation Information
Communications
The LAX FSHost will be available for FS2004 and FSX users on IP 75.185.137.12 The password will be in force. Email John Barron at NA4515@tesco.net or Roger Eve at eveholme@ukgateway.net if you need the password. If you are new to FSHost then please ensure that you have disabled your virus checker as this may block other pilots from joining the Host.
The new Teamspeak will be available for communications - If you haven't registered with this TS then please contact John or Roger for the IP address. The password will be disabled for the flyin which will save time for unregistered pilots. If you are new to TS then please try and connect a few hours or even days before the event. You should contact John Barron by email in advance to arrange a time so he can be available to help.
Please note that the Multiplay Chatbox should also be used very sparingly as its use does reduce the framerates for pilots with slower computers.
FSNavigator or it's equivalent is NOT to be connected to multiplayer during the flight. It may be used for flight planning, autopilot etc. Pilots may briefly connect FSNav to the host to share flight plans before takeoff.
Useful Links
MAAMS DC3/C47 http://www.maam.org/maam_sim.html Although payware this is a beautifully crafted addon. FSX versions are available as a free addon to the original package
Norman Hancock DC3 (freeware) - http://www.dc3airways.com
Numerous freeware versions of the Mitsubishi Zero are available from Flightsim.com and AVSIM.
P-40 payware packges are available from IRIS Flight Simulation ( via software online shops) Also an FSX version from Shockwave productions - http://www.shockwaveproductions.net/
Thanks
Very many thanks to John McKeon who came up with the idea for this flyin and did most of the research - Cheers John.
Please print these instructions for your convenience
16th March 2008