Saturday night I knew that I would have some free time Sunday evening, so I asked on the suggest a route thread where I should fly. @Mort suggested Minneapolis to Boise on a Sun Country 737-800 and in true Real One fashion I knew I had to oblige. I decided I would depart runway 30L and land at runway 28R in Boise.
The First Attempt
The first time I tried this flight I taxied out and took off normally. I left my phone alone while I went on a hike and planned to land it once I was done hiking. Well anyways, I got back from hiking and I saw that my plane had somehow stalled mid-hike and nosedived somewhere in Montana. Whoops!
The Second Attempt
The second time I tried this flight I taxied out normally and took off like before but then my phone’s hotspot disconnected while I was flying and I had to start over.
The Third Attempt
The third time I tried this flight I was about to take off when I yawed to the left by accident. I tried to take off and activated my autopilot but forgot to set a higher altitude. I flew into the ground.
The Fourth Attempt
I took off but I rotated too slow and ended up landing away from the runway. I took off again and the flight continued normally, but my phone died while I was cruising.
Fifth Time’s the Charm
I loaded into this flight fully ready to crash and/or disconnect again. You can’t see it here, but my heart was practically palpitating.
I taxied out to Runway 30L, still nervous, and took off like a true pro (and by “like a true pro” I mean “mishandling crosswind again”). However, when I activated the autopilot I forgot to set the correct altitude again and started diving.
I managed to quickly set a higher altitude and pulled out at the last second, saving the day. Climb was normal, I think.
I got to my cruising altitude of 35,000 feet and leveled off, ready for my two hour long flight.
Before long, I began seeing some of the Rockies. Of course I had to take pictures. You were right Mort, these views are elite.
But anyways, all good things just come to an end. Boise was quickly approaching, and I needed to start descending.
Using some tips I learned from the wonderful folks who replied to my “Somebody help” post, I correctly utilized VNAV and APPR to guide me closer to the ground. I winced as I closed in, worried some kind of issue would invalidate the past three hours of my life, but…
Everything was ok! I guess your tips really worked. I taxied back to the gate, amazed at what was my most successful landing in the game yet. Oh, and also at how much Sun Country was living up to its name in this photo. I mean, wow.
Seriously Mort: I am so grateful for this suggestion, I thoroughly enjoyed it! I would highly recommend it for anybody else looking for an all-American flight with 2–3 hours of free time to kill.
See y’all after my next flight!