| Cruise | Climb | Descent | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| FL290@M0.53 | 170/40 | 2000fps | 697kg (4.25h) |
| Planned Route via FPLtoIF | Weather via Windy |
|---|---|
| VNKT D022C D320D KTM IGRIS D102T KIMTI 2723N/8650E TUMLI NONIM RKZ LXA TAPUN LEVBA 2733N/10000E 2700N/10000E 2656N/10019E ZPLJ | 70kt+ tailwind at FL290. MVFR conditions at VNKT. VFR conditions at ZPLJ. |
Utilizing IGRI1B SID on departure, expecting RWY 20 on arrival.
It was a beautiful flight to Lijiang. I did fly by Shangri-va and if you look carefully above, to the right of the tail of the 930, you can Shangri-la airport (ZPDQ) sitting in the valley. It’s unfortunate it doesn’t actually exist in IF.
Lijiang was fun flying into because you have to fly AROUND Yulong Snow Mountain before descending for ZPLJ. It’s a fun approach if you’re coming from the North as you have to avoid a few different mountains and descend into the valley.
This is the beginning of the mountain range just north of Lijiang that you have to navigate around before making a hard left to begin descending into the valley, followed by a hard right.
Flying over the Himalayas (I believe between Everest and K2). Everest is in the background here, to the right.
| Cruise | Climb | Descent | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| FL290@M0.53 | 170/40 | 2000fps | 656kg (4h) |
| Planned Route via Skyvector | Weather via Windy |
|---|---|
| ZPLJ NIVUX L888 BIDRU LPB A206 VIN W2 HUE HUE1A VVDN | ZPLJ / VVDN / Still heaven crosswinds today, VFR at ZPLJ and MVFR at VVDN. |
Utilizing IGRI1B SID on departure, expecting RWY 20 on arrival.
Awesome shots as always, I’m really enjoying the ongoing updates - very inspiring 👍🏻
I’ve made it to my stop in Vietnam, Da Nang. Turning onto final for the only lit runway. Love the glass in the 930. Maybe one day these will be operation in IF.
The rolling hills of South West China in the background. This is my last major leg over ground if I shoot fo the PHNL hop to KHAF at the end of this trip.
The coast of Vietnam. I bet it’s beautiful in better light!
Stopping for some serious planning now. The legs for the rest of this journey are going to be about an hour longer at this point. Careful fuel planning, checking high altitude winds, and backup plans become paramount for this next section over the Pacific.
Anyone have a formula for calculating how much further tail winds will carry me?
RPVI will be my alternate for this flight. I should be fine on fuel, but just incase, I can certainly make it there. There are several airports to land at in the Philippines if need be.
| Cruise | Climb | Descent | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| FL290@M0.53 | 170/40 | 2000fps | 890kg (max fuel) |
I know!! been an excellent experience so far. I was pleasantly surprised that at higher alt airports the physics had been modeled of making it a little harder to take off. Great sim!
Another leg down. I’m going to fly at least one more this evening (EST) and get this over the water party started. Ran into MVFR conditions at RPMD but nothing super challenging. Selecting the ILS and following it is surprisingly easy. The only characteristic of the TBM9 that I’ve noticed is that I need to stay at 130kts for easier correction or learn to be more stable with my iPad. Either way, this has been a blast and a great way to get acquainted with IF.
Aright this looks like a lot of fun… I think I’m gonna do a round the world also
(Thx for the inspiration)
IT IS!!! I have as much fun planning, checking real work weather, considering flight scenarios (like where is it safe to fly on the real world and where is it not) as I do actually loading everything into the sim. IF excels in the ability to EASILY enter that info and act on it.
There are no direct airways to follow from where I landed in the Philippines so I’m going to island hop from/to different waypoints towards Guam. I thought about backtracking north but that didn’t really make any sense to me either. If anyone has any real world info about procedures regarding planning for this let me know. I don’t think you can technically fly VFR above FL180 but I may be wrong. Need to do some studying up on this.
| Cruise | Climb | Descent | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| FL290@M0.53 | 170/40 | 2000fps | 820kg (5h) |
Lots and lots of water. That will be my story for the next couple of legs of this journey. Took off successfully, landed successfully, and ocean as far as the eyes could see.
Approaching Guam under MVFR conditions. I’m off to Wake Island next.

| Cruise | Climb | Descent | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| FL290@M0.53 | 170/40 | 2000fps | 890kg Fuel Max (5h) |
| Planned Route via Skyvector | Weather via Windy |
|---|---|
| PGUM BAGBE A450 HOPPY A450 FONUG A450 STINE A450DEWSS A450 JIMOS A450 NGUEN PWAK | PGUM / RPMD / Small ~20kt headwind on the way. There is rain and a thunderstorm to the south of my route that seems to be traveling WSW of my route so I should be fine weather-wise. |
High right crosswind for I believe what was RWY 10 at PGUM.
Nondescrip journey to Wake Island. Midway atoll is up next and that’s where I’ll have to decide wheather I’m hopping over to Hawaii to attempt a Hawaii to California jump in the TBM9 or if I’ll instead head North to the Alluetian Islands (which are within the TBM9s specified max range with 4 passengers.) I’ll be doing some more search when I hit AP for the next flight.
This is my first truly Direct (DCT) flight from one airport to the next. Small island to small island with 1000nm of ocean between them.
| Cruise | Climb | Descent | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| FL290@M0.53 | 170/40 | 2000fps | 697kg Fuel Max (4.25h) |
