RTW Retro Flight #125 Vienna to Zurich . . . . 1962

[nmlw]

Tarom flight RO209 is an Ilyushin IL-18V flying from Vienna to Zurich, (LOWW-LSZH). We have 1,400 gallons of fuel on board for the 326 nm flight. Light to Moderate high cloud cover is expected for the entire flight. We will be cruising at an altitude of 12,000 feet.

Thanks to:
Aircraft: Ilyushin IL-18V. The model is by Pavel Hvatkin. The Tarom paint is by Patrick George Mititeanu.
Propliner AI & Traffic: CalClassic & FS Aviator - Tom Gibson, Mike Stevens, Jason Krogmann, Manuel Jagmann, Bill Towers, Nikko Yaginuma, Richard Wright, Frederick Coleman, Dave Jones, Paul Haak, Marty Lochmiller, Ake Lindberg, Harland Sandberg, Richard Wright and Gary Harper, at www.calclassic.com
Scenery and Add-ons: MS FS2004 v9.1 Standard and:
- Vienna and Zurich Airports are from the Central Europe scenery package by Wolfgang Gersch, Harry Biard, Michael Schneider, Jaap de Baare, Nikko Yaginuma, Tom Gibson, Bernard Leuenberger and Mike Stevens, at www.calclassic.com.
- Tarom timetable 1 June to 31 October 31, 1962 is from Timetable Images, at www.timetableimages.com
- Rwy12 and EZ Static Object and Scenery Libraries, at www.flightsim.com
- FS2004 Classic Scenery Libraries v4a by Wolfgang Gersch, at www.flightsim.com
- REX FS9 w/Overdrive & SP5.
- Flight One Ground Environment Pro II
- FS Genesis UT Europe.

1. Tarom timetable 1 June to 31 October 31, 1962.


2. Passengers embarked, cockpit checks completed and starting number one.


3. Number one started.


4. Receiving runway and taxi instructions from ground control.


5. Taxiing out to runway 29 for departure.


6. In the air and packing up the gear.


7. Turning on course for Zurich.


8. Near the town of Wilhelmsburg we see the foothills of the Austrian Alps.


9. Cruising at altitude about 50 nm from Vienna.


10. The well preserved ancient city of Steyr is off our right wing.


11. Off our left wing is the city of Salzburg partially hidden by clouds. The city center is known for its beautiful baroque architecture.


12. Now into Germany with the city of Rosesheim below we see the Mangfall River.


13. Twenty nm southwest of Munich we are passing over Lake Starnberg.


14. We are 80 nm from Zurich with the small town of Nesselwang below.


15. Forty nm east of Zurich we are turn to intercept our approach to the airport.


16. We begin our initial descent to 4,000 feet.


17. The Pfaffikersee is off our left wing as we continue to descend.


18. We turn toward the northwest to begin our approach to the airport.


19. We are down to 3,000 feet passing over the Töss River south of the city of Winterthur.


20. Lining up our approach to runway 16.


21. Touchdown.


22. Off the runway and taxiing to parking.


23. Parked, passengers disembarked and all systems shut down. Thanks for flying Tarom.

[Erik]

Can't help but simply hear those engines!

Cheers,
Erik

[Tom/CalClassic]

I was a little confused when you boxed in Zurich to Paris on the timetable, but a nice flight just the same.

[nmlw]

Yes, it should have been Vienna to Zurich on the timetable. I mixed it up with the next flight on an LOT timetable. I think almost nine months of Covid-19 lockdown must be getting to me.

[Dennis the menace]

Do you find that the IL-18 tends to "sit down hard" when it touches the runway?

[nmlw]

It seems to depend on how much fuel is on board. If there is too much fuel it does sit down hard, but if too little it tends to bounce or even hop.

[mrcapitalism]

Oh cool, that IL-18 has been updated for FSX! Downloading now!

EDIT: Aww bummer there's not handling notes or documentation.

[nmlw]

Who needs handling notes and documentation - just fly it and learn.

[Dennis the menace]

The original IL-18 did not come with handling or pilots notes, either, because in the USSR the pilot does not fly the plane, the plane flies the pilot!

Just kidding....

Full power and flaps 1 for takeoff.
Retract gear and go to 90% power.  (the power gauges show percentage of power as applied by the power levers, not engine or prop functions)
Between 170 and 180 kts retract flaps.
Initial climb 1200 fpm.
Engage AP altitude hold when under 500 fpm, the lower the better. I like to be at 100 fpm.
Cruise at 80% power. Economical cruise used by post USSR carriers was 68% power.
Descend, power back to 40% power.
Descend at around 1000 fpm.
Level off at 3,000 feet above airport elevation, and reduce power to 35%.
Once you reach 170 kts, flaps one.
Adjust power to maintain 150 kts holding.
Upon glideslope, gear down.
Once airspeed drops to 140 kts, flaps 2.

Adjust power to maintain 135 to 140 kts.

1,000' over threshold disconnect autopilot.

Over threshold and less than 100 feet reduce power and start to flare.
Touchdown should be around 118 kts.
Reverse thrust until reaching 50 kts and then brake.
Flaps up and turn off onto taxiway.
Now taxi to the nearest KGB interrogation center in order for the crew to be questioned about subversive Western contacts!

Do not adjust prop pitch on this aircraft (leave the pitch lever full up in full fine position). The IL-18 flies like an L-188 Electra. The power levers (I believe) adjust the prop pitch and the engines maintain a constant speed, same as the L-188 Electra. This is why you have a Beta and a Flight Pitch switches on the power panel. The USA and the USSR understood this concept. The UK did not understand nor was it capable to design and build this type of system. Instead they used a "lock" system on the Viscounts, and the Britannia worked like a DC-7, with separate power and pitch settings. The Vanguard, I have no idea how it worked.

The first few IL-18s had a flaps 3 setting, but the margin between stall was slim and after several crashes that function was removed and only 2 flaps settings were allowed.  However since thousands of flaps gauges had already been ordered, they installed them into the later aircraft.  Later on the flaps gauge only had two settings - "takeoff/approach" and "landing".

Mike

[mrcapitalism]

Mike you are a saint sir!

Would you perhaps know a "planning" KTAS and FF? I think that's about all else I'd really need for weight compliance...

EDIT: I just realized I can do a flight test and figure this out myself. I'm going to choose FL200 as that's probably an ideal case turboprop alt.

[nmlw]

You can also download the FS9 version of the IL-18D_AP by Edgar Guinart to get a lot of handling information in the included "Reference" folder. It probably isn't much different than the FSX version.