My Typical FSX Flight/Vienna (LOWW) to Prague (LKPR)/Avro RJ100

Hey everyone,
I'd like to show you one of my typical flights with the Avro RJ. I made some mistakes, but also went for some unusual things and procedures (You'll find out).
The Flight
In general, this was a rather short flight. I checked the flight plan at one of my favourite flightsim sites-rfinder. I was cruising at FL190. The flight heads north to the waypoint LANUX. I get to this waypoint by the LANUX5D departure. Then I fly to the DESSNA VOR (there's also an NDB, If I recall) and then to VLASIM VOR. I was cruising at FL190. I actually don't remember which SID I chose, probably VLASIM2Z. Then, an ILS landing (runway 24).
I'm not using any scenery. The repaint of the Avro RJ100 can be downloaded from Flight1 File Library. It's made by Andreas Hempel. Other than that, I also use repaints from Avsim made by Sebastian Szucs and liveries from the Qualitywings library.
Takeoff


I'm sitting on the runway (that's when I decided to take pictures of the flight no taxi and startup, sorry). Flaps and trim (-3.5 to -4.0) are set properly.The FMC is set up, the MCP as well. In general, I'm ready for take off from runway 34. I'm going to use the LANUX5D departure.

Looking good from the outside.
The departure was smooth, though the plane seemed to fly a little bit slow and heavy, on the other hand, that's how the Avro RJ flies. I was rather reluctant to engage the autopilot at that height, as VNAV sometimes does weird things when flying a little bit slower than it should.
Departure
 
We continue our departure Now at a Flight Level as the transition altitude in Austria (and The Czech Republic) is 5 000 ft. I'm still not on VNAV. This time, again, I'll have to wine about VNAV. It sometimes is very inaccurate. VNAV sometimes climbs to the desired altitude to early, sometimes being to early by something like 8-12 nm. But nonetheless, on later parts of the climb and early descent, I use VNAV.

Still Climbing.....
Now, I've tuned in on the ILS frequency. The frequency didn't show up in the FMC after programming the arrival, but when I chose a transition, it did. I'm not a fan of using transitions. I don't usually fly ILS approaches or use transitions. I prefer VOR approaches or manual approaches. But nonetheless, I prefer ILS from RNAV approaches.

A wing-engine view that you would get from the Avro RJ100 business class.
Cruise

According to the FMC we should have been here a little bit lower, but it's no real issue.

Looking good from the outside, nothing to worry about.

I added another waypoint, at the end of the ILS approach (L NDB), so that If I don't intercept the localizer and can't make an ILS approach, I'll (at least) have some sort of reference.

Descent/Arrival

I have made an error, trying to delete one of the transitions, as it made my route down to the airport longer. Accidentally, it deleted my entire route apart from the L NDB. Luckily, I have put a 12 nm fix around the L NDB, so I had some sort of reference. I had to make my descent rather rapid, but the Avro RJ is capable of a rapid decent, due to it's large speedbrake. Oh yeah, that's one big speedbrake :)

I'm intercepting the localizer. I'm going a little bit to fast, but with this plane it's no big deal to slow down nicely. The DME shows that we are 12.7 nm from the airport, so things are looking good at this point we don't have to hurry.
Landing

I take out the autopilot, as we are pretty close to the airport. I also disengaged autothrottle (some people would still leave it on), but I can safely control the speed my bare hands. I don't know why, but the plane veered to the left a little bit.

It's a nice touchdown, close to the centreline. The nose is a little to high for an RJ, but nonetheless it's not a big problem.
I forgot to take any pictures of the taxi procedure. I'm sorry I was in sort of a rush.

Shutdown. I have opened and put on all of the entries and chocks apart from the airstair, which the real airplane doesn't have.
Please give a +1, comment and share. This is a very big motivation to me. Thank you!

 

Rare Aircraft-Yak-28

A Tushino Appearance and it's Design


Photo from Flickr.com by Tom Wigley.
Details about the development of this aircraft aren't known. The prototype was called the Yak-129.  The Yak-28 was first flown on March 5th 1958 and first shown in puclic in 1961 on the Tushino Air Show. It had plenty of roles, used as a bomber, interceptor, reconnaissance and electronic warfare aircraft, somewhat also as an attack and fighter airplane.
The Yak-28 had swept wings and two Tumanskiy R-11 turbojet engine with afterburner. There were two types of radar available. The autopilot used on the YAk-28 was rather basic. For navigating, RSBN navigation was used. RSBN was a popular system used in Soviet military aircraft, but later on also in civilian airplanes. The navigator sat in front of the pilot in the glass nose. The Yak-28 also used terrain maps. The aircraft had ejection seats. All versions except the interceptor had cannons and four missiles, two short range and two long range. The plane could carry two rockets and more than 2000kg of bombs

Source:Tom Wigley from Flickr.com
Performance

Yak-28 interceptor.
Yak-28

Maximum speed: 1840 km/h (1142 mph)

Range: 2,500 km (1,550 mi)

Service ceiling: 16,750 m (54,954 ft)

B-66 Destroyer

Maximum speed: 631 mph (548 kn, 1,020 km/h)

Ferry range: 2,470 mi (2,150 nmi, 3,970 km)

Service ceiling: 39,400 ft (12,000 m)

F-101 Voodoo

Maximum speed: Mach 1.72 (1,134 mph, 1,825 km/h) at 35,000 ft (10,500 m)

Range: 1,520 mi (1,320 nm, 2,450 km)

Service ceiling: 58,400 ft (17,800 m)

For it's size, the Yak-28 was a decent performer. Compared to other reconnaissance-light bomber aircraft from these times, there's much less data, even on Russian sites. The rate of climb is unknown, as well as combat radius.
Versions
Yak-28

This was the bomber version. Produced in small numbers, it had no radar.
Yak-28B Brewer A
Version with weapon aiming radar system and JATO bottles fiited.
Yak-28L Brewer-B
This variant has a ground controlled targeting system
Yak-28I Brewer-C

A version with new radar and terrain map.
Yak-28U Maestro
The Yak-28U was a trainer aircraft, a two seater with a different nose (and probably simpler instruments).
Yak-28R Brewer-D

The reconnaissance variant, with a new radar, modified nose and pallets with mission equipment. Rather a short range reconnaissance aircraft, ideal for wartime reconnaissance.
Yak-28PP Brewer E

This airplane is the first Soviet electric countermeasures aircraft (aircraft, that deceive detection systems, such as sonar or radar), the two other (only) being a version of the Su-24 and Mi-8 helicopter. The electronic warfare equipment was placed in the bomb bay
Yak-28P Firebar

With additional fuel tanks and a new radar, this version was a long range interceptor. It used R-98 missiles installed on other Soviet interceptor.
Operational History

A total of 1 180 Yak-28s were produced between 1963 and 1971. The Aircraft was spread out in the Warsaw Pact countries and many air bases in the USSR,as an interceptor airplane. In 1966, April 6th A Yak-28 crashed after a failure of all of it's engines in West Berlin. After the failure,the aircraft diverted from a rural area in West Berlin,and tried to land on a lake, but crashed. Both pilots died, but saved lives of many people.After the crash, the crew was posthumously awarded the Order of the red Banner (a Soviet award for bravery and courage etc.). Meanwhile, the British recovered the remains of the Yak-28 and brought to the United Kingdom for examination. The Yak-28 partcipated in many operations and training exercises. It was widely used in the Afghan War (1979-1989).
Despite poor automation (very basic autopilot), the Yak-28 was sometimes difficult in operation, due to engine problems related with the afterburner. Later on, they were reduced.The fuselage was quite weak and vulnerable. The plane was advised not to make acrobatic manouveres.
The Yak-28 was retired in 1994.As a bomber and attack airplane it could be changed for fighter aircraft with better manouverability or weapon loading. As a reconnaisance, the Yak-28 wasn't sophisticated enough (radar).
Operators
Soviet Air Force

By Alex Polezhaev from Flickr
Operated by the Air Force and Anti-Air Defense (interceptor) until the country collapsed.
Russia
Operated for one year, afterwards retired.
Turkmenistan
I haven't found anything about what Turkmenistan's Yak-28s. They were retired in 1992.
Ukrainian Air Force

35 Yak-28s were operated until 1994.
Why "Rare"?

Why? The Brewer (or Firebar, or Maestro) was very popular. However, it isn't well known, despite more than a thousand have been build.The issue here, is that the Yak-28 isn't popular today and therefore well-known (or as known as other soviet bombers-for example Il-28).There's one book about the airplane (in actual fact the Yak-25/26/27 and 28).The Yak-28 doesn't stand out, doesn't have anything special. However, I consider thios plane to be interesting due to it's multirole capabilities and unusual design. However, most people will probably disagree with that.
Nonetheless, the Yak-28 is a noteworthy plane.

Rare Aircraft-Atlas Cheetah

Hey there everyone,
I've started a new series of posts (Sorry, but I have to organise verything into some series, it helps me a lot) about rare, lees known or forgotten aircraft. The next one can be either about the Tu-128, the A-5 Vigilante or the Convair CV-880 and CV-990. If you want something different, write in the comments.
South Africa's Supersonic Fighter

In the early 1980s South Africa needed a modern fighter and strike aircraft. Many bordering countries that were equipped with advanced Soviet aircraft, such as the Mig-23 fighter. This could be seen during the so called Border War, where South Africa and Portugal fought Namibia, Angola, also supported by Cuba.
Other than that, the political situation in South Africa was a problem. United Nation's sanctions prevented the country from buying new aircraft, the only option being upgrading the ones owned by the South African Air Force (SAAF), if talking about fighters, mainly old Mirage III and a newer, hence more advanced Mirage F1 aircraft (At the time SAAF also operated Bucaneers or Canberra bombers as other combat aircraft). The SAAF decided to make very large upgrades to one of it's fighters.
A modified Mirage III
The SAAF decided to make a newer, updated version of the Mirage III. The Mirage had one successful updated, the IAI Kfir (In Hebrew-Lion Cub), first flown in 1973. The Mirage III was older, and pilots, engineers and staff had more experience with it, than the Mirage F1, making the Mirage III an ideal aircraft for upgrades.

The IAI Kfir (Sri Lankan Air Force).
The work on the Mirage II upgrade was carried by Atlas Aviation. The company upgraded or changed many aircraft used by the SAAf, such as the Aeramacchi MB326 (Atlas Impala). A group of Israeli technicians helped designing the Atlas Cheetah. The airframe was changed, sometimes replaced. Canards (small surfaces placed ahead of the wing) were installed, a refuelling probe was installed (more likely build for possible customers), better ejection seats, a more powerful engine, the wing leading edge was changed, flight dynamics were improved.
The minimum airspeed was reduced, the Angle of Attack was improved due to some nose corrections. other than that the maximum takeoff weight was increased by 700 kg (that's nearly three more bombs that could be loaded onto the Cheetah). The Cheetah's avionics included a dopppler radar that could track and target both air and ground targets. The aircraft had new navigation and weapons systems. The plane was fitted with a self-defence system.

A Cheetah stored in a museum in Pretoria.
The design

The Cheetah's cockpit wasn't as sophisticated as many cockpits from the eighties. Compared to the Mirage, there was much more features that were used in the most advanced aircraft at the time, the fourth generation fighter, such as a Head-up Display. The Cheetah could carry numerous bombs, the lightest weighing 12,5 kg. and the heaviest-250, totally 4,400 kg of bombs. It could carry two missiles and four rockets, that is two times more rockets than the Mirage III.

With weapons
Cheetah's Performance
Performance

Atlas Cheetah Performance

• Maximum speed:
  
  • At altitude: Mach 2.2 (1,460 mph, 2,350 km/h)
  • At sea level: Mach 1.14 (865 mph, 1,390 km/h)
• Range: 700 nmi (1,300 km)
• Ferry range: 1,400 nmi (2,600 km)
• Service ceiling: 55,755 ft (17,000 m)
• Rate of climb: 45,950 ft/min (14,000 m/min)

The be honest, I think that the performance of the Atlas Cheetah. Why?
Mirage III Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2 (2,350 km/h, 1,268 knots, 1,460 mph) at 12,000 m (39,370 ft)

Ferry range: 3,335 km ()

Service ceiling: 17,000 m (55,775 ft)

Rate of climb: 46,600 ft/min ()

A comparable aircraft is the Mig-23 a third generation fighter-attack (bomber) aircraft.
Mig-23 Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2.32, 2,445 km/h at altitude; Mach 1.14, 1,350 km/h at sea level (1,553 mph / 840 mph)

Range: 1,150 km with six AAMs combat, 2,820 km ferry (570 mi / 1,750 mi)

Service ceiling: 18,500 m (60,695 ft)

Rate of climb: 240 m/s (47,245 ft/min)

The Cheetah doesn't stand out with bad performance. It's an improvement. It is. But in general  the performance isn't a big change from the Mirage III.
The Versions
Cheetah C


This Cheetah version had better avionics and radar, a HUD updated. Other than that, the design changed, such as the refuelling probe an gear. The C version could use GPS guided and Laser guided bombs.
Cheetah D

This was the two-seater variant. The one and only two seat variant would help pilots to switch to the C variant. The Cheetah D was in a way a trainer. The engine replaced, too. The windshield was modified. The D variant was also used for testing by Atlas, which later became Denel Aviation. One of tests included a Cheetah D version, that used a modification of the Klimov RD-33 engine used on Mig-29 and Mig-35 aircraft.
Cheetah E

This version of the Atlas Cheetah had rather simple avionics. It's role was an interceptor, that could be used in case of an attack on South Africa from the north.
Cheetah R
This variant was more of a study into a reconnaissance version. The SAAF didn't want a reconnaissance Cheetah, and Cheetah C was made into a reconnaissance airplane.
Operation and Operators

Due to the lack of data about South African technology from the Apartheid times, there is very little knowledge about the Cheetah's operation in South Africa.The first Cheetah's to roll of production line were D and E variants. Eventually I haven't found data about the first flight, but the fighter became operational in 1987 and first flown in 1983. Between 1986-1991 70 Cheetah's were built. None of the Cheetah's entered combat in Border War. Two of them were on a 24/7 alert status and meant to be used as an interceptor.
Other than the SAAF, two (actually one) air forces operated Cheetah's. The first one was Chilean Air Force. As Chile operated Mirage 5 fighters and they were similar to the Cheetah, the E variant was bought for spare parts. The mirage 5 was retired in 2007, so there was no need for the Cheetah.
The second operator was Ecuador. In 2009 10 Cheetah Cs and 2 Es were bought. They arrived in Ecuador on April 2011 and are still operated. Denal Aviation (ex Atlas) owns two Ds as testbed. SAAF retired Cheetah's in 2008, replacing them with Saab JAS39 Gripens.
Why was the Cheetah unsuccessful?


F/A-18 Hornet
Atlas Cheetah was the last Third generation Fighter. At it's times highly advanced Fourth Generation fighters were already operational. They have highly advanced avionics with LCD displays, much better radars, advanced autopilots (most third generation fighters had pitch control only in case of the autopilot's "work" on the altitude), Fly-By-Wire controls or supercruise (maintain a supersonic speed without use of afterburners, though featured on older aircraft, fourth and fifth gen. fighters have it more often than any other fighter generations).

Fourth Generation fighter cockpit simulator (Su-34).
With such competitors, the Cheetah was too old. It can be simply explained by the fact, that it was meant to be an improvement for the SAAF, not really an aircraft targeted for export to other countries.
The Cheetah is an old airplane, the last third generation fighter. It's a bit of a mystery due to the times it was built in.
All pictures from Wikipedia