Runway Usa

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Runway USA

A pilot's guide to destination cities in Flight Simulatorby Charles Gulick

Table of Contents

Title PageForeword by Bruce ArtwickPrefaceIntroductionTale of Two Cities

Oklahoma!How's Bayou?Track of the CavemenInstrumental InterludeOn the Misleading EdgeOut of the DarkThe Right StuffA Water IdyllA Bridge Very FarDust DevilsHigh Drama

Study in BrownThe Farside GambitHalfway to the StarsCan't Get There From HereThe Devil You SayEast Side StoryOn the Glide PathOut of the NightSnow JobThe LowdownThe Griddle RiddleTime and the RiverPanningPocketful of StuntsOne Small StepClimb Every MountainDetour AheadOpportunity KnocksThe Big Muddy
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Husking CornEnigma at DuskThat Was Too EasyGit AlongIn a Spin

Truman CountrySunday FlyerAppendix A: Flight Instruction SummaryAppendix B

Aircraft Controls for the Apple IIAircraft Controls for the AtariAircraft Controls for the Commodore 64Aircraft Controls for the IBM PCAircraft Controls for the IBM PCjr

GlossaryBack Matter
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PUBLISHED BY

Microsoft PressA Division of Microsoft Corporation16011 N.E. 36th Way, Box 97017, Redmond, Washington 98073-9717

Copyright 1987 by Charles Gulick

All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in anyform or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Gulick, Charles.Runway USA1. Flight Simulators. 2. AirplanesPilotingData processing.

I. Title.TL712.5.G857 1987 269.132'52'078 86-31101ISBN 1-55615-002-4

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 FGFG 8 9 0 9 8 7

Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Harper & Row.

Distributed to the book trade in Canada by General Publishing Company, Ltd.

Distributed to the book trade outside the United States and Canada by Penguin Books Ltd.

Penguin Books Ltd., Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England

Penguin Books Australia Ltd., Ringwood, Victoria, Australia

Penguin Books N.Z. Ltd., 182190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand

British Cataloging in Publication Data available

Amiga

is a trademark of Commodore Business Systems, Incorporated. Apple

is a registeredtrademark of Apple Computer, Incorporated and Macintoshis a trademark licensed to AppleComputer, Incorporated. Atariis a registered trademark of Atari, Incorporated. Commodoreisa trademark of Commodore Business Machines, Incorporated. HerculesGraphics Card is atrademark of Hercules Computer Technology. IBMis a registered trademark, and PCjris atrademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Microsoftis a registered trademarkof Microsoft Corporation. Flight Simulator is produced by Microsoft Corporation; copyright


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1984 by Bruce Artwick. Flight Simulator II is produced by SubLOGIC Corporation; copyright1984 by Bruce Artwick.


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Foreword

It's 1987, and it's hard to believe that Flight Simulator has been airborne for five years already. Iremember as though it were yesterday getting a phone call in the summer of 1981 from a small100-employee company in Bellevue, Washington, called Microsoft. They wondered if I would

consider converting my primitive Apple II Flight Simulator 1 to an obscure new machine thatnobody had heard of called the IBM Personal Computer. They thought it would make a gooddemo for the machine's color graphics card. Well, the rest is history. Five years, twenty-fourversions, and nine scenery disks later, the project continues.

Instead of getting stale over the years, however, the whole Flight Simulator project keeps gettingmore interesting. Features based on improved computer capabilities and user feedback areconstantly being added, and whole new versions for new machines are being written. Add-onssuch as scenery disks and explorer flight guides like Charles Gulick's excellent series (from theearly 40 Great Flight Simulator Adventuresup toFlight Simulator Co-Pilotand his mostambitious guide yet,Runway USA) continually add to the depth of Flight Simulator and what you

can do with it.

I look on the first three years of Flight Simulator's development as years of building toward myoriginal idea of what version 1.00 should have been. Three years is a long time, but my originalideas were quite ambitious. Most of the features on version 2.13 of Microsoft Flight Simulator(including scenery disk overlays, hidden surface removal, and a good shading system) wereitems intended for release in 1982 but not well-developed yet. Many of the systems in the latestversion are total rewrites of original systems. A few curves were thrown my way over the earlyyears. The PCjr, Hercules Graphics Adapter, PC AT with its 80286 processor, EGA card, RGBmonitor, and, last but not least, all the clones had to be compensated for. I was luckier thanmany programmers, however, because most graphics cards and clone manufacturers used Flight

Simulator to verify the compatibility of their machines, thus saving me the trouble of having tomake it work on their hardware.

The years from then to the present were conversion years. Coverage spread from the IBM andApple II to the Commodore 64/128, Atari 800/130XE, NEC 9801E Texas Instrument PC, andTandy 1000/2000. A few new features were added along the way, but these were basicallyconversions of my original version 1.00 ideas to new machines.

Scenery disks were also developed over this period as a separate project. Just as it took FlightSimulator a few years to evolve, scenery disks are taking time to evolve. The correct balanceamong graphics complexity, coverage density, navigation-aids-to-scenery ratio, and frame rate ishard to reach. I must say, though, that I have learned a lot about mapmaking and it is now veryclear to me that the USA is a big, big place, and the world is bigger yet!

That brings us to the future. As I see it, Flight Simulator-Phase One is now complete. It's time toimplement a whole new set of ideas. Over the next few years you will see these unfold one-by-one. The new Macintosh, Atari ST, and Amiga versions provide a glimpse of the future. Somenew features include multiple 3-D views from inside and outside the plane, multi-machine/multi-player modes, smooth zoom, and digitized sound. Atari 520 ST Flight Simulator II rolls down


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the runway at 15 frames per second compared to the original 2 frames per second of IBM version1.00, and this is just the beginning. New computer graphics software techniques and highperformance hardware make this possible. High speed 68000, 80386, and 68020 microprocessorswill make future versions even faster.

As for future scenery, Mike Woodley and his scenery design team at SubLOGIC have finallyachieved a good balance. Future scenery disks will feature wide coverage with detailedcorridors ofinterest. The addition of Loren Kirk-wood, an artist, to the design team promisesto bring interesting touches to everything from swamp areas to buildings.

And, finally, the future also holds some Flight Simulator hardware. A control yoke setup is in theworks. The future for Flight Simulator definitely looks bright.

Runway USAis an excellent guide for exploring the scenery and capabilities of the latestversions of Flight Simulator. I've always seen Charles Gulick's books as much more than thedull, step-by-step procedure manuals that other guidebooks all too easily turn into. They offer a

sense of adventure. They give procedures and point out real-world features, but they go a stepbeyond by telling interesting tales along the way.

Good luck on your adventures with Flight Simulator andRunway USA. Sit back in your pilot'sseat and enjoy the flight and scenery of the completed Phase I Flight Simulator system. And staytuned for Phase II.

Bruce ArtwickJanuary 1987


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Preface

Let's go flying againthis time across the mighty skies and multi-colored earth of the entirewestern United States. All you need is your computer, your Microsoft Flight Simulator orSubLOGIC FSII, the western set of SubLOGIC Scenery Disks, and, for a group of very special

chapters, the SubLOGIC San Francisco STAR Scenery Diskplus, of course, this book.

Unlike the first book in this series,Flight Simulator Co-Pilot, Runway USA's instruction contentis minimal (although you will learn some neat new stunts, such as loops, Immelmans, and spins).We're out to have some fun, and we'll concentrate on enjoying the scenerywestern America'slakes, rivers, giant reservoirs, roads, hills, and cities. Alone in our airplanes, we'll discover themystery of night and early dawn aloft, and view the vast landscapes of prairie and desert (you'lleven learn how to make New Mexico looklike desert).

Andwould you believe it?we'll make a flight over a quiet earth blanketed insnow.

So make yourself a thermos of coffeepack a few sandwiches in your flight bagand grab yoursectional charts. We're Westward, Ho!

Charles GulickLake Park, FloridaJanuary 1987


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Introduction

Runway USAis the second book in the Microsoft PressFlight Simulator Co-PilotSeries. To flyall of the itineraries described inRunway USA, you need the SubLOGIC Scenery Disks (Westernset: 16), and either the Microsoft Flight Simulator for the IBM PC, PCjr, and compatible

computers, or the SubLOGIC FSII Flight Simulator for the Commodore 64, Apple II series, andAtari 800, XL, and XE computers.

In addition to the foregoing Scenery Disks,Runway USAcovers the San Francisco STARScenery Disk in detail, devoting fully nine chapters to this significant Flight Simulator upgrade.So you'll want this disk also. Due to the comprehensive coverage of the STAR disk, SceneryDisk 3 (which includes the San Francisco area) is given just one chapter. Though the parameterslisted for the San Francisco STAR area will work with Scenery Disk 3, the latter is, of course,missing many airports and scenic features described in the text.

Co-PilotBasic Training Assumed

Runway USAassumes you know how to fly your airplane. However, if your skills are a bit rusty,you can brush up on some of the basic techniques by using Appendix A: Flight InstructionSummary, and Appendix B: Aircraft Controls. There you will find a synopsis of the mostimportant flight procedures, along with ready references to command and control keys. If you'rea novice, then you needFlight Simulator Co-Pilot,the introductory book in this series. Itembodies comprehensive ground-school and in-flight instruction, teaches you correct taxi andtakeoff procedures, how to fly straight and level, how to perform standard climbs and descents,how to reach and maintain specific altitudes, how to slowfly the airplane, fly airport patterns, andmake precision landings. Co-Pilotalso introduces you to your NAV and COM radios, yourOMNI equipment for flight via VOR (Visual Omni-Range) stations, IFR (Instrument Flight

Rules) flight in weather, night flights and blind ILS (Instrument Landing System) approaches,and more, acquainting you in detail with almost every aspect of your aircraft's performance.Without that depth of flying know-how and experience behind you, the present book cannot befully appreciated.

Flight Plan

Runway USAfollows Scenery Disks 1 through 6 in order, except that the San Francisco STARdisk is substituted (in all but one flight) for Scenery Disk 3. Within each area, the sectional chartsinvolved also appear in the order in which they are found in the set. However, it is not necessary(though it may be desirable and more satisfying) to fly the flights in any particular order. Youmay select any flight and fly as you please.

The airports and itineraries chosen are designed to encompass the best scenes and/or operationalinterest provided by the simulation. As readers of my earlier books know, I orient you to thegeography of the areas you flynaming cities, highways, mountains, bodies of water, and otherpoints of interest as you go, and often weaving in some history, personality, or local color.
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Runway USAwas written using the first version of both the western Scenery Disk set and the SanFrancisco STAR Scenery Disk. Later versions may include features not described in the text, ormay have corrected or cancelled phenomena encountered in the early versions.

Setting Parameters

In this book, the parameters given at the start of each chapter are truncated for simplicity. For allthe parameters not listed, you are to use the power-up values (unless shear altitudes in yourversion of the simulator are zero, in which case set them to 9000, 6000, and 3000 feet,respectively). Note that while airport elevations (altitudes) are provided for your information, itis best to set altitude to 0 in all cases when beginning a Scenery Disk flight on the ground.Otherwise, a spurious dive and crash may result when you exit the Editor. All flights inRunwayUSAbegin on the ground.

New Stunts

While you tour the western U.S. inRunway USA, you'll learn some exciting new maneuvershow to do power-on as well as power-off stalls, inside loops, steep climbs and fast descents,Immelman turns, and even a tailspin.


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Tale of Two Cities

Why are we starting a tour of the western U.S. from Hudson, Texas?

Back in the days before the word hippie meant anything, there was a musician and philosophernamed Moon Dog who used to be seen on the streets of New York City. Clad usually in a sheet,wrapped about him like a Roman toga, he had a classic air. He invented his own instruments, andwas also a pianist of sorts. One night, while playing flute on the shore of the Hudson River, herecorded a duet with the Queen Mary's haunting whistle as it plowed its way upstream. On thesame disk he recorded a soliloquy while improvising at the piano.

Two of the thoughts in the soliloquy were memorable. One went something like people ask meif I dress the way I do to attract attention. (Pause, with piano filigree.) I attract attention

because I dress the way I do. The other was, To square a circle, start anywhere.

I'm not sure the last quote was original with Moon Dog. But it explains why we're starting a tourof the western U.S. from Hudson, Texas, doesn't it?


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I must say that of the hundreds of places I've flown to and from in the simulator, Hudson is theonly town I am unable to locate in any of eight atlases, an almanac, and six or seven other place

references I use. Some of the atlases list towns with populations as low as 50 people, but noHudson. Yet this town is big enough to have an airport of its own, and even an NDB (Non-Directional Radio Beacon). Perhaps it isn't a town at all, but simply an airport location.

Anyway, this is what Runway 35 at Hudson Airport looks like at dawn. Daylight will come at5:30 a.m., so don't take off until then, because I would like to show you a couple of lakes on ourway to McKinney Airport, and the simulator doesn't depict misty lakes at dawn very well.

Switch on radar and zoom up until you see five lakes, two cities, and some highways. The citiesare Dallas (to your immediate left) and Ft. Worth, Texas, which we'll fly by on the second leg ofthis morning's triangular flight. The lakes just ahead of you are named Lake Ray Hubbard and

Lavon Lake. The one to the north of Dallas is Lake Dallas.

Return to your out-the-windshield view.

We want to fly a heading which will take us directly over Lakes Hubbard and Lavon, and if youlook at your sectional you'll see that we can track a Blue Ridge VOR (Very High FrequencyOmnidirectional Range) radial to do just that.

Tune Blue Ridge on 114.9 and center your OBI (Omni-Bearing Indicator) needle.

Okay. So we want radial 8, and unless or until the wind tells us differently, 8 degrees will be our

heading. Plan a cruise altitude of 2000 feet, and take off when you're ready.

Climb out to about 900 feet, then make a shallow turn to the right to intercept the OMNI spoke.

The highway you see crossing Lake Ray Hubbard, or trying to, is Interstate 30. Whoeverdigitized the highways and lakes in this Scenery Disk apparently first laid down the highways,and then put the lakes on top of them. In real life, of course, it's the other way around.

Since the wind is from your left, you'll no doubt wind up crabbing to the left to keep the needlecentered.

By the time you reach Lake Lavon, you'll be flying along its eastern shore. Take a left front viewand you'll see McKinney Airport. But stay on your heading.

When you reach the northern tip of the lake, turn left to a heading of 260 degrees. Then youshould see McKinney Airport ahead of you. Correct your heading as needed to keep the runwaywell to your left, and again get on a heading of 260 degrees. You'll be flying an extendedcrosswind leg for Runway 35, but above pattern altitude. We're going to fly beyond the runway,then enter the downwind leg at a 45-degree angle.


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As you approach the airport, transition to slowflight. After you pass the end of the runway, begina gradual letdown to pattern altitude. Since the elevation at McKinney Airport is 581 feet, figurea pattern altitude of 1500 feet.

Seeing that the downwind leg heads 170 degrees, you know your entry heading should be 170

minus 45, or 125 degrees. Based on your relationship to the strip, decide whether circling to theleft or right will put you in optimum entry position. The exact heading on entering downwind isnot the critical thing. The reason for entering a pattern at a 45-degree angle is so you can seeother aircraft which might be flying the pattern, and they can see you.

Take any views you need to stay aware of the runway position in relation to your position.Remember you'll have to fly far enough beyond the runway to turn back and approach itproperly. If you miss, keep flying and repositioning yourself until you get it right.

Once downwind, go ahead with your approach (base leg heads 80 degrees) and use full flaps foryour landing. But wait! We're going to touch and go. Here's how.

Once in the landing roll:

1. Take off carburetor heat. (I hope, you had it on!)2. Trim your elevator to its usual takeoff position. (Approximate it as best you can.)3. Change your flap setting to 10 degrees (takeoff setting).4. Add full power.5. Proceed with your normal takeoff.

That's called touch and go. It's like a kiss and a promise. We landed at McKinney Airport andtook off again, all in one smooth operation. Right?

If by any chance you failed, don't worry; I won't leave you behind. Go into the Editor, pressRecall to return to the Hudson mode, and set the standard North and East parameters forMcKinney Airport given in your manual (13616N, 13419E), and you'll be at McKinney Airportwith no change in weather or wind. Then just taxi to Runway 35 and rejoin the group.

If you touched and went okay, you can fine-tune your elevator setting as you climb out, checkingfor operational neutral at your usual climbout RPM (2105 in Cessna, 2250 in Piper, unlessaltitude dictates otherwise). You should be climbing, eventually, at 500 FPM.

Our destination now is Dallas Meacham Airport. We'll use the same cruise altitude of 2000 feet.

As you climb, make a left turn to head approximately 185 degrees. This should point you towardthe approximate center of the city of Dallas. Use radar to check on your position and direction.We'll fly contact from this point on, the idea being to follow the northern outskirts of Dallas andFt. Worth so we can view them out the left side.


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Your standard cruise RPM for this altitude (1905 in Cessna, 1950 in Piper) should get youstraight and level at 2000 feet without any further elevator adjustment (given, again, that you'reat operational neutral).

Dallas, which Texans call Big D, is a giant stage-set for a popular television series. When and

if the series is ended, Dallas will be taken down and stored in a warehouse somewhere.

Kidding aside, it's been said that Dallas grows so fast that the skyline changes every week.Three-quarters of all known U.S. oil reserves are within 500 miles of here, and it was oilalongwith cotton and cattlethat nurtured the city's growth.

Dallas was also the scene of one of the unhappiest days in modern American historyNovember22, 1963when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcadethrough the city. The youngest president we've had, he was at the peak of his popularity. No onewho experienced that day can forget where he or she was when the news broke. I was entering anoffice building on Fifth Avenue in New York, with a party that included a U.S. Army officer in

uniform. We were returning from lunch, and were just about to enter the building when a womanconfronted our military friend with the words, Your commanding officer has been shot.

Dallas is much more than oil fields and farms. The second largest city in Texas, it's theSouthwest's major commercial, financial, and transportation hub, and is a key center for research,space technology, and fashion.

Out the right front you should be able to spot the runway at Addison Airport. Directly ahead ofyou is the site of the University of Texas at Dallas. In the heart of town, a bit left of your course,is the Cotton Bowl, just south of Interstate 30. As you get closer, an airport will come into viewon the right side of your screen. It's Love Field, nestled right inside the metropolitan area.

When there's no more earth, but only city, at the bottom of your windshield, turn right to aheading of 240. You'll have Addison Airport on the right and Love Field on the left of yourwindshield, and you'll be approximately parallel with Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway.

The highway you see just beyond Addison Airport is Interstate 35 East, which with itscounterpart 35 West forms an ellipse linking the metropolitan centers of Dallas and Ft. Worth.

When you're about opposite the end of Runway 15/33 at Addison Airport you'll see Dallas LoveField and Addison Airport on radar. Note Love's parallel strips, and take a look out the left front,too, as you fly.

Then watch ahead, because the biggest airport in the United States is about to rear upDallas-Ft. Worth Regional. Where but in Texas would you expect to find the biggest anything? Theairport was opened in 1974, and lies halfway between its namesake cities.

Point to fly straight over the center of this massive facility, with its five strips, all of them exceptRunway 13/31 well over two miles long. As you approach Dallas-Ft. Worth Regional, look offyour right wingtip and you'll see Lake Dallas, just east of Interstate 35 East.


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The first runway you'll cross is the little oneshort by Texas standards, but wide enough toaccommodate even the wildest student pilot. The remaining runways are parallel pairs, 0/18 andthen 17/35. Try a straight-down view as you cross all these strips.

Although they are often thought of together, as DallasFt. Worth, these two cities are by no

means twins. It's a classical maxim that Dallas is the place where the East ends. Ft. Worth is theplace where the West begins. Ft. Worthalso used to be known as Cowtown, U.S.A., when itwas a large cattle-trading center. The smaller communities between these two large cities arereferred to locally as the Mid-Cities.

As for style, Dallas is the dude; Ft. Worth is the ranch. Where the Ft. Worth stockyards used tobe, you'll now find cowboy bars andthe largest in the world, naturallythe nightclub calledBilly Bob's Texas, comprising more than three dozen bars, an honest-to-goodness rodeo, andentertainment by country stars such as Willie Nelson.

Go into radar and adjust to the view which shows you a good portion of the Interstate 35 East

and Interstate 35 West ellipse. At about 11 O'clock from your position, Interstate 35 West cutsinto the northern edge of Ft. Worth, and you'll see another highway, Interstate 45, just beyond.Our destination airport, Dallas Meacham, is on the edge of Interstate 45 just north of themetropolitan area.

Our landing will be on Runway 34 Left, and elevation is 708 feet. Airport traffic necessitates aleft-hand pattern, so you'll fly beyond the field and negotiate a downwind entry, just as you did atMcKinney Airport.


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Oklahoma!

Runway 35 at Wichita Falls is just ahead. If your panel is blacked out, turn on your lights.

We'll be flying a bit more than a hundred miles this morning, and I want us to be about halfwayto Durant before daylight. So let's take off immediately.

Climb out to 1500 feet. Then turn right, heading 85 degrees.

Level off at 2500 feet.

That's some town, Wichita Falls, loaded with memories for me. I was stationed there for a whilein the Army, at what's now Sheppard Air Force Base. I drank my first boilermaker there, in a


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place that looked like a huge barn and old mill, somewhere near the river, at the tender age of 18.And a few hours later I drank my last boilermaker, forever.

That line below the horizon is the Red River. Rising in New Mexico and flowing over 1200miles into the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, it forms a natural boundary betweenTexas and Oklahoma.

Take a good look back at Wichita Falls, out the right rear window.

Radar will show you your relationship to the river as you fly. You'll be flying over Texas and,sometimes, over Oklahoma. The highway bending south is U.S. 287.

Just about everybody on earth is asleep down there below usin the small towns of Dean,

Petrolia, Riverland, Henrietta, Ringgold, Rowland, and Nocona.

Soon you'll see a highway on the horizon. It's Interstate 35the same one that forms an ellipsesouth of here to link Dallas and Ft. Worth, remember? You'll probably be able to pick out theellipse on high-altitude radar, and, presently, the cities themselves. Interstate 35 also delineates,approximately, the Old Chisholm Trail.

When the sun rises, you'll see you're headed for a good-sized body of water. It's Lake Texomaand guess where it got its name.

You're probably pointed for the approximate center of the lake, which is fine. Until its full

dimensions are revealed, however, it'll look like you're headed along the southern shore. Checkradar.

As you cross Interstate 35, take right front and right side views. You will be just able to make outthe edges of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolitan areas. And that's some visibility. They're about 65miles south of you. You should be able to spot, much closer by, the runway at Gainesville,Texas, too.

Check Lake Texoma on radar, and correct if necessary to point for the approximate center of theeastern shoreline, which looks like a wave swell or sine wave.

Check your sectional chart to see how and why I'm pointing you over the lake this way.

Start a 500 FPM letdown to about 1700 feet when you're over the lake. We're still quite adistance from Durant, but you might as well take in the lake scenery from a lower altitude. Also,that will put us at pattern altitude when we get where we're going. The field elevation at EakerField is 699 feet MSL.


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Keep checking your radar and make further heading corrections as needed to point where youwant to go.

Now just keep a lookout for the airport ahead. We'll land on Runway 35. Your downwind legentry heading is 125. Get into slowflight as soon as the strip is in sight.


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How's Bayou?

Lake Charles, Louisiana, has a population of more than 75,000 today and is a major port of entryand shipping center for oil, lumber, cotton, and particularly rice. This port city is also the site ofMcNeese State University and Sowela Technical Institute.

But in 1781 it had a population of one, a Spaniard named Carlos Salis who came from NewOrleans, built a house, and changed his name to Charles Sallier. Travelers named the little townthat grew around him Charlie's Lake. So you can see how the present name evolved.

We're going to skim low over the Louisiana marshlands and bayou country, then make a landingapproach over Galveston Bay to Scholes Airport. The whole flight will be at an altitude of about900 feet.

You're in position to taxi ahead and depart via Runway 23. But before you go, tune your NAV toSabine Pass VOR, 115.4. The station is just across the TexasLouisiana border, and on the Gulfof Mexico. Set your OBS for a bearing to fly when you leave the airport pattern. You'll see thatthe runway heading puts you almost exactly on course.


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Once you're on your heading at 900 feet, look out the left front window. The big lake (shapedlike a hang glider when you look at it on radar, or like a square edge if you're viewing from thewindshield) is Calcasieu Lake. You'll be crossing the Creole Nature Trail after you passCalcasieu, and then the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge. There are lakes and bayous out thereyou don't see, and in fact anything that isn't a lake or bayou is at least pretty marshy and muddy.

When you have mostly green, or land, in front of you, take some rear views. It just lookssoggy, doesn't it?

Louisiana is the country's major producer of rice and sweet potatoes, and one of the leaders inpetroleum. The people of Louisiana are largely descended from French and Spanish settlers, whocontrolled the territory until the U.S. bought it in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. By thetime of the Civil War, half of the population was slaves.

The big lake you'll fly over before you get to the Gulf is Sabine Lake. Northwest of the lake isBeaumont, Texas, intersected by Interstate 10.

When you're a few miles from Sabine Pass VOR, switch to Scholes VOR, 112.8, and get a newbearing to fly.

You'll be able to see the Gulf of Mexico off to your left, and if you look at your chart and/orradar you'll see you're flying toward the southern portion of Galveston Bay. Before long, the baywill begin to appear ahead of you.

On high altitude radar, you'll be able to see Houston, Texas. The highway leading to it isInterstate 10, which you'll probably be able to see out the right side.

Also, in front of you and on radar, you'll begin to make out a narrow peninsula, surrounded bythe Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay. It's named Bolivar Peninsula, and you areor shouldbetracking up the right side of it.

Forget the OMNI now. You'll fly contact from here on in.

It's almost impossible to determine where the airport at Galveston lies from your chart. If youbelieve the symbol, it's right out in the Gulf of Mexico with no land under it. It's also virtually, ifnot literally, invisible using your out-the-windshield view. So I'll have to guide you in.

Notice, on your screen and on your radar, that Bolivar Peninsula turns sharply south and points a

finger out into the Gulf of Mexico. Actually, it points to another strip of land, which only showsup when you're close to it. That land is Galveston Island.

So when you pass the edge of Bolivar Peninsula, and no longer can see any of it out front, turnleft to a heading of 216. This will point you toward Scholes Airport, which will show up in aminute or so.


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If you're in good position, a left turn directly to final for Runway 17 will probably be approvedby the tower. Use radar to keep a check on your relationship to the strip.

And what a beautiful approach this is, isn't it?

Pure storybook.


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Track of the Cavemen

Here we begin the longest contiguous series of flights you'll encounter inRunway USA, becauseI felt Texas should be honored with the longest something, andalso because I thought youshould get some feeling of what an actual point-to-point tour in an airplane might be like. As inreal life, there are stretches in this flight when you see virtually nothing and virtually nothinghappens. But I promise you, on the last leg, you'll enjoy one of the most beautiful waterscapesand landscapes the Scenery Disks have to offer.

This is Waterloo, but one Napoleon never saw. Waterloo is what Austin, Texas, was called whenit was founded in 1838. O. Henry called it City of the Violet Crown, with its high towers of

mercury-vapor lights flooding the downtown area. It became the capital of the Republic of Texasin 1839 and was renamed for Stephen Austin, a leader in the fight for independence fromMexico. He was jailed in Mexico City in the 1830s, where he went to argue for a colony of 300


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families his father had established in Texas. The Mexican Republic opposed such colonization,and all the encroachments of the U.S. on its land, which then included most of what is nowTexas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, and more than half of Colorado. Theargument led to settler rebellions, the Mexican capture of the Alamo, and eventually the war in1846.

In more recent and pleasanter times, Austin was the home of storyteller O. Henry (18621910),master of the twist ending. His real name was William Sydney Porter, his own private twist

being that he was sent to prison for embezzlement, and that's where he wrote his first publishedstory. Before that he was editor of a humor magazine, The Rolling Stone(yes, there was one wayback then).

Austin is a city with high-tech industries and the richest of public universities, the University ofTexas. Look at the city on radar and eyeball the line of Interstate 35. The campus is about as fardue west from the highway as you are due east from it. The University of Texas has anendowment of over $1 billion and also holds deeds to millions of acres of oil fields.

Our takeoff to the northwest will point us in the general direction of the Colorado River. Offyour left wingtip, in the real world, you could spot the giant Lyndon Baines Johnson Library &School of Public Affairs. Exactly big enough to be pure Texan.

Let's go when you're ready.

When your altimeter indicates 1500 feet, turn left toward the water. You'll probably be headingbetween 290 and 295 degrees.

Level off at 2800 feet. (Above 3000 feet, but not below, we'd need to fly regulation altitudes,

which means even numbers plus 500 feet if you're heading west, odd numbers plus 500 if flyingeast.)

LBJ's famous ranch is well to the southwest. We won't be flying over it on our present route, butat least you now have some idea of where it is.

While the Colorado zigzags along, keep pointing toward the middle of it. Our reward will be tooverfly a neat little body of water named Lake Buchanan.

All along this stretch of the Coloradowhich begins northwest of Boulder and flows nearly1500 miles to empty into the Gulf of Californiaare little towns with such names as Marshall

Ford, Lakeway, Jonestown, Spicewood, Lago Vista, Smithwick, and Marble Falls.

Check radar once in a while, until you pick out Lake Buchanan distinctly. Then point your nosetoward the left edge of it.

As you come closer you'll overfly Longhorn Cavern State Park. Genuine cavemen crouchedinside the caverns down there once. The river flowing by the park is Lake Lyndon B. Johnson,


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with the towns of Kingsland and Sunrise Beach Village on its shores. At the southern tip of LakeBuchanan is Buchanan Dam.

Fly out over the center of the lake, then turn right between its banks. You'll fly by the towns ofBluffton and Tow, both west of your course.

As you reach the northern limits of the lake, tune your NAV to Lampasas VOR, 112.5, andcenter your OBI to get a heading. We'll land at Lampasas on Runway 34, punctuating the firstand shortest leg of our journey.

(Just keep looking. The airport will show up.)


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Instrumental Interlude

Well, we have some weather, don't we? Guess what? I ordered this up special for you so that youwouldn't get too sluggish. Flying in nothing but sunshine can give you bad habits.

We have some slightly tricky winds aloft, too. But the good news is that we have San AngeloVOR right at our destination. If you trust your OBI needle and keep your nose on it, we'll be inSan Angelo in time for lunch. I'll even buy.

Tune your NAV to San Angelo OMNI (check your sectional) and see if you can pick up a

heading.

You say we're out of range of the station? Well then, we have to use our chart. It shows us wherewe are in relation to San Angelo, and where north is.

The best thing to do is to get up there and fly in the general direction until we're in range of thestation. I'll leave it to you to decide what heading you'll take up, but our cruising altitude will be8500 feet. That will put us nicely above the clouds.


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Runway 34's ahead and to your left. Take her off.

Climb straight out to at least 2000 feet.

After you've dumped your flaps, work with power and trim as usual to climb 500 FPM. Get it on

the button, at least by the time we get to 2000 feet.

Make a standard rate (two-minute) left turn to your heading. Everything precise. Everythingunder control. You should be on your course long before we ever get into the weather.

It's so much easier if things aren't piled up, isn't it? Out of your turnon your headingnicestandard climb with everything smoothtuned for the VOR when it wants to turn onisn't it

fine?

And once you get into the gray stuff, everything's just as easyno sweat. If you're in control,you've nothing to do but wait for the blue. It's just a poem.

You'll be on top at 7000 feet. While you're climbing is a good time to practice your instrumentscan, the way you learned it in Co-Pilot. Remember how the instruments confirm one another.They also confirm that you're in control, whether or not you can see anything of the outsideworld. Except for the missing scenery, you'll soon feel as satisfied and confident in weather asout of it. If the airspeed looks right and the artificial horizon looks right and the altimeter looksright, then the turn coordinator, heading indicator, and rate-of-climb indicator will look right.And vice versa. In all directions.

If you were making an instrument approach, the OBI and its glide slope references would beadded to the primary instruments you'd scanin fact, they would become the primary

instruments. But all other instruments will confirm what you see on the glide slope, and it willconfirm them.

Back to what we're doing now: Your DME will get active when you're about 60 to 70 miles out.Then you can crank your OBI around to find out what radial you're on. As soon as the OBIneedle is centered, see how close your estimate was when you eyeballed your heading west.

Keep the needle centered, mile by mile. Don't let it go astray more than a degree or two beforeyou make a correction. And don't expect the heading on your directional gyro necessarily toagree. The OBI needle is your primary directional instrument when you're flying a VOR course.If, in the present case, it's centered, then you're headed straight for Mathis Airport, in San

Angelo.

While you have some time en route, let's have some fun:

You've probably noticed that with the wind at your back, and at this higher-than-usual altitude,your airspeed is pretty good. Let's do a check on ground speed.


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If you happen to have a stopwatch handy, perfect. If not, use the sweep-second hand on yourwatch. You also need a pen or pencil. Starting anytime, jot down your DME reading, and at thesame time start timing for one minute. At the end of the minute, jot down the new DME reading.

Subtract the second DME reading from the first. The difference is your approximate ground

speed in nautical-miles-per-minute. Multiply that by 60 and you have your approximate groundspeed in nautical-miles-per-hour.

Both figures are useful, but the per-minute value is the most useful when you're working withshort distances. With it, you can figure your ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival). Divide thedistance to go by the speed per minute. Add the result to the current time, and you have yourETA. Note that this result, however, assumes no change in ground speed from here to thethreshold of the runway, which is unrealistic. The formula is more exact when figuring elapsedtime between OMNI stations or other points of reference.

The speed-per-minute figure is also useful for figuring when to start your letdown. Supposing a

ground speed of 2.3 NM per minute, or 138 NM per hour (thanks to our tailwind), and thecorrect descent rate, 500 feet per minute, your aircraft will cover 4.6 nautical miles while itdescends 1000 feet. If, as in the present case, you're at 8500 feet and the ceiling of the cloudcover below you is at 3500 feet, you have 5000 feet of altitude to lose before you see the groundagain. And because, theoretically at least, you'll cover 4.6 NM for each thousand feet of altitudeyou lose, you'll need 4.6 5 or 23 nautical miles to get from where you are to where you want tobe, out of the overcast and in visual reference to the ground again.

So go ahead and plan your letdown for San Angelo, remembering that you'll need time anddistance to get into approach configuration for your landing. When you break out of the overcast,it'll be more comforting to see Mathis Field out there ahead of you than to wonder where it went.

Just before you start to descend, see how closely you can estimate what time it'll be when you getout of the clouds, and what the DME will read at that point.

Don't be surprised if you're off a few miles or minutes. An error of 1/10 nautical-mile-per-minutein your calculation with the stopwatch or sweep-second hand adds up to an error of six milesover the course of an hour. And, precise as you try to be, you really won't maintain constantairspeed or ground speed, particularly in climbing or descending flight. Add the difference inactual over-the-ground speed when you're climbing or descending, ground lost while you'recorrecting to keep the OBI needle centered, instrument error and other vagaries, and you'll seethat all of our formulas are just aids, not solutions.

The key thing is to allow plenty of margin for error. In short, start early.

As a very general rule of thumb, I use formulas requiring no major in-flight calculations, basedon an average speed of 120 knots (a convenience figure, but not too far off), which whenrounded off indicates I'll fly two nautical miles while I lose or gain a thousand feet. And at avertical speed of 500 feet per minute it'll take me about two clock minutes to lose or gain that


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thousand feet. The same data tells me that for every nautical mile my DME says I have to go, I'llconsume a half-minute of flying time.

Thus I can look at my DME anytime I'm tuned to a VOR, divide what it says by two, and havemy approximate flying time in minutes to that VOR. I can also decide how much altitude I need

to lose (or gain) in thousands of feet, multiply by four, and the result is the approximate nauticalmileage I'll use up making the altitude change. I can then start my descent (or climb) when theDME reads that many miles.

But again, I must start early. Like ten miles or five minutes early. So when I get out of overcastsI can see airports out the windshield, ahead of me, not right under my wing, or worse yet,somewhere in the past tense.

The surface wind being from the north quadrant, our landing at Mathis Field will be on Runway36. The ground elevation is 1916 feet.

My earlier offer to buy lunch is contingent on whether, after your landing, I still feel like eatinglunch.


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On the Misleading Edge

The sky's still overcast, but we'll fly under it. The wind's shifted around to the west, so we'll takeoff over Twin Buttes Reservoir.

This is sheep-raising and goat-raising country we're sitting on here. Our destination is HurdMemorial Airport, Monahans, Texas, but we'll take a little detour so you can see some GreatPlains country, and two real lone-prairie cities. There isn't much else to see out there, wherepeople mostly grow wheat and cotton and cattle, and eat a lot of dust. We're lucky we're going inthe spring, because in winter the blue norther winds might pick this airplane off the ground and

end-over-end it right down to Mexico.

Taxi ahead and get lined up, but put your brakes on and hold at the end of the runway. Go intoradar and zoom so that you see the whole reservoir ahead of you. Notice the sharp fingerpointing to one o'clock. We're going to take off and fly right along the finger, in the direction itpoints. Our cruising altitude will be 2900 feet. It'll be straight climbout, then a slight right turn tofollow the finger, which you'll see distinctly when you're out over the water. Check your


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progress on radar, and get the pointed tip of the finger like an arrowhead right in the center ofyour windshield.

That's San Angelo off to your right, sitting beside O.C. Fisher Lake. The lake is fed by the NorthConcho River.

Once you're level, tune your NAV to Midland, 114.8. Set the OBI to the heading you're on. Youwon't be in range of the station yet, but stay on your course. When it does get active, you'll findyou're on or close to the 288 radial. That finger we followed points almost straight to Midland.

There isn't much to see way out here. If you fiddle around with radar, you'll see a highway wellsouth of your course, Interstate 10 to El Paso.

There are fewer than a handful of towns all along our route. Off to the north, on U.S. 87, are thetowns of Carlsbad and Water Valley. To your left, about 40 miles from Midland, is St.Lawrence. A bit further on, Garden City is off your right wingtip, followed by Glasscock. Then,

about 15 miles from the OMNI station, we will fly almost directly over Spraberry, Texas.

Don't let your altitude slip away around here. Keep it between 2900 and 3000 feet, or you maythresh some wheat.

Eventually you'll see a highway, Interstate 20, appear on the horizon.

The city that appears ahead of you when your DME reads about 51 is Midland, Texas, a hair tothe right of the radial. Twenty miles later you'll see another city, named Odessa, on the horizon.

Admire them now, from a distance, because you won't see them up close. Like other features on

the edges of the sectional charts, Midland and Odessa evaporate before our very eyes. Ghosttowns. Wraiths of the Great Plains. And the OMNIs just turn off, as if they were never there.Stay on your heading until it happens (after the disk access).

So what do we do now?

First of all, let's see if we can escape no-person's-land. Turn left to a heading of 210 degrees andfly for a minute or so. There'll be another disk access. Then look out the right side, and on radar.

Presto! Midland and Odessa again. And we're headed down Interstate 20.

Turn to the right now, using radar as a guide, until you're paralleling the highway, heading about234 degrees.

We're going to sneak along Interstate 20, trying to avoid the wipeout that results if we get tooclose. Monahans is this side of it, and just below the point where the highway bends to the right.You can see the bend on radar.


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The elevation at Monahans is 2614 feet, so we'd better climb. Take her to 3400 feet, so theclouds are sitting right on your shoulders.

If Hurd Memorial Airport, Monahans, is on this sectional, we certainly should be able to landthere, even if we couldn't fly over Midland and Odessa. Possibly Midland is blacked out for

some sinister reason by the oil cartel. It's the center of the Permian oil basin, and a hideout forhundreds of big oil companies. Odessa (rhymes with don't messa), on the other hand, is a rough-and-tough town where all the oil is in the engines of pickup trucks.

Nothing seems to move at all on the landscape for quite a while. But keep a lookout to yourright. And keep correcting to the right to stay as close to the highway as you dare.

As the wind indicates, land on Runway 30 at Hurd Memorial Airport. I don't care what kind ofpattern you fly. Just don't miss, whatever you do or you will have to refly the approach. We're atthe very edge here. Of everything.


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Out of the Dark

I know it's early in the morning, but it'll be daylight when we get to where we're going.

I'm sure this airport is very nice in the real world. But in the world we're flying in I think it'sjinxed, and so are all the airports on the edges of the sectional charts.

Nonetheless, we'll fly into and out of them and take our chances. Why take chances? For thesame reason people climb mountains.

We're pointed right up Runway 19. But if you check radar you'll see that we're already halfwayup the runway. And as oldtime pilots say, there's nothing as useless as used-up runway.

The situation calls for a short takeoffreally short. We'll have to be airborne with a run of about1200 feet. The sooner we're up the better.

Be sure you remember your takeoff procedure, the trim, the flaps, when to rotate, and all thatgood stuff. If not, tell me and I'll take us off.


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Now let's move and as soon as you get some altitude, turn left to a heading of 130 degrees.

Then just keep climbing, leveling off at 5500 feet (from where we were, that's not very high up).

For your last glimpse, for a while, of civilization, be sure and look back at Hurd Memorial

Airport. The runways form a pretty crisscross. Or is it double cross?

The line slicing your view is a highway, not a horizon. It's our old friend Interstate 10.

Tune your NAV to Laughlin VOR, 114.4, to be ready when it comes within range.

It may not look it, but you aregaining on the highway. And don't worry that you're missinganything on the ground. There's nothing to see down there. Three unsimulated mountainsCastle, King, and Tabletopto the left of your course, each around 3000 feet high. A few smalltownsRoyalty, Grandfalls, Imperial, Girvin, Rio Pecos, and, directly on Interstate 10,Bakersfield. Then just prairie.

Watch for the dawn's early light at six o'clock.

Isn't that beautiful?

As you leave Interstate 10 behind, it continues on to San Antonio, where we'll head later in thisextended flight.

Check your DME regularly. When it turns on, center your OBI needle and fly the indicatedradial. If you've stayed on course so far, this will happen about 76 miles out, and your newheading will be between 140 and 145 degrees.

You'll have daylight at precisely 6:30 a.m.

And at daylight, lo and behold! There's what we've been flying toward in these wee hours.Directly ahead of you is the big Amistad Reservoir, just a few miles northwest of Del Rio, Texas,situated directly on the Mexican border.

The river off to your right is the Rio Grande, born in the San Juan Mountains of southwest

Colorado and flowing nearly 2000 miles to the Gulf of Mexico at Brownsville, the southernmostcity in Texas.

If you look at the reservoir on radar, you'll see another river, left of your course, which alsoflows into the Amistad Reservoir. That's the Pecos. You'll see it out your windshield, too, if youtake a left front view.


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Turn to head about 150 degrees, so you're approximately midway between the rivers. Use radarfor reference. You'll be aiming at the center of the reservoir.

Just above where the Rio Grande flows into the Amistad Reservoir is the town of Langtry,Texas. It wasn't always called Langtry. It was originally named Vinegaroon, for a large scorpion-

like spider, native to the area, which emits a vinegarish stench when upset. It was renamed in1882 by Judge Roy Bean for the British actress, Lily Langtry, mistress of King Edward VII.Bean, who was once chased out of Mexico for cattle rustling, appointed himself justice of thepeace in a saloon in Langtry and kept order in the court with six-guns. He was known as theonly law west of the Pecos. You can still visit Judge Roy Bean Saloon & Museum down therein Langtry, courtesy of the Texas Highway Department.

About where you're pointed, on this side of Amistad Reservoir, is Seminole Canyon State Park,and reaching out in all directions is the Amistad National Recreation Area.

As soon as you can see the city of Del Rio on the landscape out front, head to fly straight over it.

You'll also fly over a big portion of the reservoir. Be sure to take views to all sides to get an ideaof its size.

Just the other side of the city is Laughlin Air Force Base, whose OMNI we've been borrowing.

When the city of Del Rio is about at the center of your windshield, turn left, heading 80 degrees.

If you're flying Piper, you may need to switch fuel tanks, since we're flying right on to SanAntonio International Airport. (Cessna feeds from both wing tanks.)

Tune San Antonio VOR on 116.8. Nothing will happen to your DME or your OBI yet.

By my calculations (hunches), we have more than enough fuel to make it to San Antonio. Wecould make a stop at Garner Airport in Uvalde, but we'd lose time.

You seem to be pretty sharp this morning, so I'll get a little shut-eye. Hold your altitude, 5500feet. Watch your DME for contact with San Antonio OMNI. And fly the OBI needle when ithappens. You'll see some highways pretty soon: Interstate 10 from the north and Interstate 35from the south. They converge at San Antonio. Wake me when you're about 30 miles out.

Now we have some work to do. San Antonio tower says the wind is from 280 degrees at 5 knots.Go into the Editor and make the adjustment to: Surface Wind: 5 knots, 280 degrees. Thewindshift means we'll land on Runway 30R.

Now if you look at your sectional, you will see that Randolph OMNI is somewhat more in linewith San Antonio International than San Antonio OMNI, which is well north of the airport.


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So tune to Randolph, 112.3, and get a new bearing.

And what do you know! Look at your fuel gauges. That's called in-flight refueling. And youthought only the Air Force did it. The great Editor in the sky must've thought you were startingall over again.

Anyway, I'm convinced we would have made it even if the winds hadn't shifted.

Nextthe elevation at San Antonio is 810 feet. Figure pattern altitude at 1800 feet. We're at5500 feet. (You are, aren't you?) So we have to lose 5500 minus 1800, or 3700 feet, before weenter the pattern. Round it up to 4000 feet.

Our rule-of-thumb start-descent-distance formula is SD = A 4, where A is altitude in thousandsof feet. But the OMNI is beyond the airport by 8 or 10 miles, so let's give ourselves plenty oftime and distance: Start your descent when the DME reads 30 miles.

Our target altitude for the approach, remember, is 1800 feet.

Reduce power for a 500-FPM descent. When you can't hit that rate exactly, err on the highside600 rather than 400, for example.

Keep the OBI needle centered as you descend. The airport will show up almost directly ahead.

Don't change trim until you're at 2800 feet. Then start trading trim and RPM to slow the airplaneto pattern airspeed. Keep reducing throttle and applying up elevator or trim, slowing the airplanewhile you maintain your 500-FPM descent rate.

Turn left, heading 65 degrees to enter the downwind leg. Check your position on radar, as well asout the windshield.

Downwind heading for Runway 30, left-hand pattern, is 120 degrees. Turn right to that headingwhen the runway is about in the center of your windshield.

Now take a look out your left side and see Runways 12/30 big as life and straight as a die. Thefar one, of course, is 30 Right.

Put on carburetor heat when you're opposite the end of the runway, and go ahead with yourapproach. Your base heading is downwind minus 90 degrees.

Use full flaps. Use your turn coordinator and artificial horizon to make your turns, so you keepthe end of the runway in sight all the time and just switch views to match your relationship to thestrip.

Now, don't forget to take your carburetor heat off after your landing.


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The Right Stuff

You're looking north.

If you could see 700 miles, you could see the town of Abilene, Kansas, way up there. There arehighways, of courseInterstate 35 through Oklahoma, then Highway 135 out of Wichita toSalina, with Abilene a bit to the east of Salina on Interstate 70.

Try to imagine, though, that there are no roads or routes from here to Abilene. No paths or signs.No markings of any kind. Instead, just 700 miles of woods, hills, valleys, brush, grass, and earth;

or, if it rains, mud, followed by dust. No bridges. No cities. No towns. No habitation. No stores.No Coke machines. No lights at night.

Further, imagine you're 60 years old, and you're sitting here, not in this airplane, but on a horse-drawn wagon. And you have just made the decision to make your way from San Antonio toAbilene. For the first time ever. Not the first time just for you, but for anybody.


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You know you'll have to get across rivers and creeks, and down and up ravines, and your wheelswill get stuck, and the sun will get hot and the nights will be dark, and you'll wish you neverstarted. You know you'll look ahead and wonder which way to go on, or whether to go on.

But you made the decision and it's time. So you spit at the wind, pick up the reins, and begin.

In 1866, a year after the Civil War, Jesse Chisholm drove a wagon from San Antonio, Texas(where you're sitting now) 700 miles north to Abilene, Kansas. He went through the heart ofTexas and on through what was then Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. He was the first. A yearlater, Abilene became a railroad shipping center, and the cattle drovers followed Chisholm's trailto Abilene and other Kansas shipping points. His wheel ruts showed them the way, so theynamed it for him: The Chisholm Trail. At its peak in 1871, more than a half-million cattle werestretched along the route, raising dust that hasn't settled yet.

The trail pretty much parallels Interstate 35 through Austin, Temple, Waco, Dallas-Ft. Worth,Gainesville, and across the Red River to Ardmore, Oklahoma; then on to Oklahoma City andhundreds of miles more, across the Arkansas River at Wichita, and continuing north.

However, this morning we're going the other way, to Laredo, Texas. We'll go about a hundredmiles an hour. On the way, think how long it took Jesse to go that many yards, and the courage ittook to begin.

Take a 45-degree left view and there's your active runway, 30 Right.

Fire up your NAV and tune to Cotulla, 115.8. Don't set your OBI yet. We will pick up a headingafter we fly over San Antonio.

Take off and climb straight out to 1500 feet. The campus of the University of Texas at SanAntonio is ahead, just off your nose.

Plan to cruise at 2500 feet, but as you climb, make a wide turn to the right so that you fly back

across the airport and head south over the center of San Antonioabout 180 degrees should doit.

The outskirts of the city bristle with military bases. Off to your left is Randolph Air Force Base,then Fort Sam Houston, a big Army complex. Martindale Army Airfield is just the other side ofInterstate 10. Ahead to the right are two Air Force bases, Kelly and then Lackland; nothing but alittle road (named Military Drive, logically enough) separates them.


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At the center of the city, just north of HemisFair Plaza, is the main attraction of San Antonio: theremains of the Alamo. There, on March 6, 1836, after a long siege, 188 Texas defendersincluding Davy Crockett, James Bowie, and other Americans, many blacks and Latins amongthemdied at the hands of several thousand Mexican troops led by General Santa Anna, withthe final gasp coming in the chapel of the fort. Three weeks later in Goliad, 75 miles to the

southeast, twice as many Texans surrendered on a promise of safe conduct, following a battle onColeto Creek. The promise was not kept, and they were massacred. Three weeks later, shoutingnot just Remember the Alamo! but Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!, a Texas army

under General Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto, and independence from Mexicowas won. If Americans remember the Alamo, then they should remember Goliad, too; and, alongwith famous names like Crockett and Bowie, the unnamed and unknown black and whiteAmericans martyred in both these Texas tragedies.

The airport you'll spot on the southern outskirts of town is Stinson Field.

Center your OBI and get a heading to Cotulla OMNI.

The highway out your windshield is Interstate 35. The one going east, visible out the left frontwindow, is the continuation of Interstate 10, on its way to Houston.

You might tune your NAV2 to Laredo VOR, 117.4, somewhere along here, and set its OBI to theheading you're flying. Then, when you're in range, OBI2 will stop reading Off and you cantune NAV1 to Laredo for a DME reading. Cotulla VOR is just a stepping stone.

Your aircraft probably won't stick all that well to its altitude on this flight. Just use power andkeep adjusting, or trim your elevator a notch, to hold as close to 2500 feet as you can. Downelevator trim is best in such cases, as you've already learned, since it yields an increase inairspeed.

Some of the towns you'll pass are Von Ormy, Somerset, Natalia, Rossville, Devine, Kyote, BigFoot, Moore, Pearsalll, Derby, Divot, Dilley, Millett, and Gardendale. From Cotulla to Laredothe towns thin out considerably, but right on the highway are the towns Artesia Wells andEncinal.

Once you're in range of Laredo OMNI, you'll probably be altering your heading slightly to the

south.

Laredo International is this side of the OMNI station and this side of Laredo, on the northeastedge of the city. As chief port of entry from Mexico, one of Laredo's primary businesses thesedays is likely to be arresting illegal aliens.


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We'll set down on Runway 32, using a right-hand pattern. Elevation is 508 feet. You're clearedfor direct entry onto base leg, heading 230 degrees. Be sure you're at pattern airspeed and altitudewhen you enter.

And don't accidentally cross the Rio Grande. You may never get back.


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A Water Idyll

Shades of Monahans! We're in for another fringe trip; this one right along the shores of the RioGrande to the southernmost city in TexasBrownsville. These shores are not just those of theRio Grande, but those of the chart we're flying, as you'll see if you look at it.

Anyway, we have to fly these razor edges, because that's where much of the scenic interest is,because that's where much of the water is.

Go into radar and zoom out until you see the entire shape of Laredo, and the Rio Grande

chopping off its lower half. Actually, you're looking at a pair of cities hereLaredo, Texas, andNuevo (New) Laredo, Mexico.

Now go back to out-the-windshield and get ready for your takeoff.

My idea is to fly on the U.S. side of the river, in a generally southeasterly direction, but keepingthe river readily visible all the way so that we don't inadvertently cross it and end up in no-man'sland.


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The Rio Grande isn't all that spectacular in the simulation, but it will lead us down to thatdouble-headed arrow on your chart, which does look interesting. Beyond that, the river will takeus to Brownsville and the Gulf of Mexico, where this long, contiguous trek in and around Texaswill terminate, and we'll head for new horizons.

Take off and climb straight out until you have reached 1000 feet. (Yes, that little strip of blue onthe horizon, as you climb to the east, is the Gulf of Mexico, believe it or not.) As you gainaltitude (plan to level off at 2000 feet), turn right and parallel the river, keeping it at the center ofyour field of view when looking out the right side. Use radar to check where you're going untilthe lie of the river is apparent.

When you're at cruising altitude, you'll find that the body of water we're headed for can be seenon radar. Head for the center of it, always staying left of the river as cautioned above. Note that

on high-altitude radar, the river will look closer than it really is.

When things settle down, your heading should be in the general vicinity of 160 degrees.

The water we're headed for is Falcon Lake. As it comes closer you can get a better view of it onradar, and before long it will take shape out your windshield, too.

As you near the point where the river flows into the lake, check your position on radar, and, ifneeded, make a course correction to aim over the lake proper. You'll probably be heading about150 degrees.

As far as I know, there's only one town all along this stretch, and it's called San Ygnacio. On thenorthern tip is another town called Zapata, which is also the name of the county we're flyingover. I can find no references to the town, but, to be on the safe side as we fly by, yell Viva,

Zapata! out the left side and Viva, Villa! out the right side.

The contours of this lake are a real feast for the eyes, aren't they? Be sure to fly right toward thelake and then down the center of it. Really beautiful, isn't it? Wouldn't it be a shame to havemissed it?

I'm really tempted to land right along that point. Once we're over the shaft of the arrow, it seemsto stretch ahead forever. I definitely plan to make this trip from Laredo again some day, and land

down along the point. It just looks magical, somehow.

While you're cruising along, tune to McAllen VOR, 109.8, but don't set your OBI or change yourheading yet. Enjoy Falcon Lake until it slips away under your nose.

Meanwhile, zoom way out on radar, and you'll see another lake ahead, where the river bends tothe left and flows toward the Gulf. That lake lies in Mexico and is called Presa M.R. Gomez.


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At about the center of Falcon Lake, correct your course (if needed, and probably to the left) tostay on this side of the Rio Grande.

Another beautiful vista lies ahead, composed of the southern tip of Falcon Lake, the resumptionof the Rio Grande, and Presa M.R. Gomez in the distance. I really hope you're enjoying this

flight half as much as I am. I am totally charmed by the gray sky, the deep green and blue, andthe edges of the shore which seem to glitter like diamonds.

As the last point of Falcon Lake works its way off your windshield, it's time to get on the OBIneedle for McAllen. You'll probably find the 110-degree radial is the one.

As you bank to get on the heading, you may see some brilliant white bars flash on and off.They'll look, momentarily, like runways or highways as they come on the scene and then vanish.

Try some wing-wagging to view them again.

Well, true, we are heading for a highway (and some more neat water scenics, too). Presently, afew bars of white will link arms on the horizon, stretch halfway across your windshield, and thenunlink again.

The highway is one of the few non-interstate routes we find in the simulator: U.S. 77, goingnorth from Brownsville through Harlingen and joining Interstate 37 just west of Corpus Christi.

The city directly ahead, now or shortly, is McAllen.

When your DME reads about 28, retune your NAV, this time to Brownsville OMNI on 116.3,and get a new bearing on your OBI. It'll probably be 102 degrees, but regardless of what it is, fly

it.

Now if you access and adjust your radar so that you see the Gulf of Mexico ahead, you'll also seeMcAllen and a short strip of highway which forms a T with U.S. 77. You'll also see the Rio

Grande south of the highway and, over in Mexico, a lake named Presa del Azucar. Further, you'llbe able to trace U.S. 77 all the way up to Corpus Christi.

Out the windshield again, before long you'll see another great vista ahead. The flat shape ofMcAllen, Texas, with Miller International Airport on its southern outskirtsthe little strip of

highway (U.S. 83) from McAllen to Harlingen peeling off to the left and eventually linking withU.S. 77and beyond Miller International Airport, Presa del Azucar, with the Gulf of Mexico on

the far horizon.

You'll fly directly over the city of McAllen. Take a look at Miller International Airport out theright front and side windows. The runways certainly look inviting, but we have promises to keep.

The city of McAllen almost looks like the deck of a carrier out front, doesn't it? One no Navypilot could miss.


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And very soon, there's the city of Brownsville ahead, sitting like a jewel surrounded by bluevelvet. Sort of twinkling on and off, pulsing like something alive.

The Rio Grande curls right around Brownsville and into the Gulf of Mexico, through a baycalled Port Isabel.

The airport at Brownsville (Brownsville/South Padre Island International) is at an elevation ofonly 23 feet. We'll land on Runway 13 Left, which is slightly less than 3000 feet long. Just glueyour OBI needle to center, and you will be in fine shape.

The tower couldn't do anything but approve a straight-in approach after a beautiful flight likethis, could they?


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A Bridge Very Far

Here's a short flight we just have to makefor two reasons. The first is that, according to thePhoenix sectional chart, the runway at Lake Havasu Airport goes right across the lake like abridge, and I would like to check it out. The second is that just north of the airport in LakeHavasu City lies an unusual entity, which also crosses the lake. I'll bet ten dollars we won't seethis amazing object, but at least we'll see where it is, which is better than nothing at all. Maybeyou know what I'm talking about, but if not, come on along and find out.

As I write this, I assure you that I'm making my first trip ever to Lake Havasu City. If the entity

is simulated, we'll discover that fact together, and I'll be out ten dollars.

I've lined us up precisely on Runway 20. So all you have to do is take off.

Climb to 1500 feet, turn left to a heading of 130 degrees, and level off at 2000 feet.

The body of water materializing ahead of you is, of course, Lake Havasu. The highway on thehorizonquite a way offis Interstate 10, which goes east to Phoenix and west to Los Angeles.


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The Colorado River, presently on your left, forms a natural border between Arizona andCalifornia.

Looking on radar, the highway behind you is Interstate 40, and between that highway and theColorado River is the Fort Mohave Indian Reservation. Though unsimulated, there are mountains

on both sides of your course, the Sacramento Mountains to your right side and the MohaveMountains to your left.

Lake Havasu is not simply a wider segment of the Colorado River. It was created by ParkerDam, about 15 miles south of our destination. Lake Havasu City is a relative newcomer amongArizona communities, and a favorite recreation spot.

The runway at Lake Havasu Airport appears quite suddenly and certainly seems to be as wide asthe lake, doesn't it?

Let's cross the river and make our approach to Runway 23 from the Arizona side of the lake.

You're on your own now, so fly it as you see it from here on in. The field elevation is 482 feet.Your heading for a right base leg would be 140 degrees, and in the absence of traffic you canenter that leg directly. Also, as you fly, don't forget to keep a lookout for an unusual entity this

side of the airport.

When you're close, look on radar and you'll see the basis of the illusion, in the chart, that therunway crosses the lake. The runway extends right up to the edge of the lake, to a point wherethe land reaches out like a bullethead. So don't use up too much runway in your landing, or youmay get wet.

When you're on the ground, taxi off the runway and point your nose about 300 degrees.

Out there in front of you is supposed to beand is, except that it's not simulatedan unusualentity. Something which, unlike the runway, doescross the lake. It's a very special bridge. Abridge which put Lake Havasu City on the map: London Bridge.

In the late twelfth century a priest named Peter of Colechurch designed and built a unique stonebridge across the Thames River in London. It took 30 years to construct and was finally openedin 1209.

One would have to see at least a picture of the original London Bridge to believe it. For it lookedmore like the architecture on the edge of a fabled city than a bridge. Supported by 20 pointedarches, on piers locked into the river bed by closely-spaced, hard-driven pilings, London Bridgeconsisted of multi-storied houses and shops soaring toward the sky, all enclosing a wide corridor,which formed the roadway. It had a great stone gate, atop which the heads of both martyrs andtraitors were displayed on poles. Smaller boats had a choice of arches under which to pass, andfor tall ships there was a timber span that could be opened. The buildings with their chimneys,


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spires, and weather vanes towered over the highest masts. In its time, which lasted more than sixcenturies, the bridge was the only dry way across the Thames River.

So how did London Bridgenot the original one, but its genuine descendantget to LakeHavasu City, Arizona?

Piece by piece, reverently and painstakingly, over the seas from London, after which it was putback togetherstone by stone and timber by timberto span this little lake and form one ofAmerica's most unusual tourist attractions.

For Lake Havasu City, Arizona, applause and accoladesthat's what I call enterprise.


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Dust Devils

In the Phoenix metropolitan area, there are some of the longest, straightest roads you'll ever see.And one of the very longest, flattest, and straightestScottsdale Roadleads to this airport.

This will be like old home week to me, because when I was in the advertising business, I had aclient out here, practically across the road from the airport you're sitting on. I have actually flownaround the area we're going to be flying over this afternoon.

I have to tell you another story about another long road that leads outside Phoenix and into the

desert. The road was like a miniature roller coasterup and down, up and down, over endlessdry gulches. We drove it at breakneck speed and in darkness, until it led to a unique diningestablishmenta restaurant named Pinnacle Pete's.

Pinnacle Pete's had only one choice on its menu: steak, and it came only with pinto beans andsalad. So all the person doing the serving had to ask was how you wanted your steak.


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I ate there twice with my hosts. The first time, I sat outside on a bench at a long redwood tableand ate by the light of the fire where the steaks were cooked. They were delicious. But while Iwas wolfing mine down, I felt a gentle nudge on my arm; I turnedto look into the friendly buthungry eyes of a goat.

The second time, our party ate indoors. Same redwood benches. Of course, I placed the sameordermedium rare. But before the steak came, the waiterwho reminded me of a lumberjackor ranch hand more than a waitercame up to me carrying a big pair of shears and swiftly cutoff my tie, just below the knot. It was only then I noticed that the big barnlike restaurant wasfestooned with the remains of ties, snipped from other city dudes like me who didn't know howto dress for the desert.

If you ever go to Phoenix, don't miss Pinnacle Pete's. And just for kicks, wear a tiebut a cheapone.

Let's go ahead and get airborne via Runway 3. At 2000 feet turn left to a heading of 265 degrees,and get straight and level at 2500 feet.

For everything that looks green below, substitute a desert sand color in your mind. Imagine thatyou can see, in almost any direction, little dust devilsthe miniature tornadoes of sand anddebris that whirl dizzily along the ground, just a few feet highchanging direction at the whimof the wind.

People do a lot of private flying here in Arizona, partly because the whole desert is a runway;

you can set an airplane down almost anywhere. There are also many official airports, and one isvisible out of your windshield just to the right: Deer Valley Airport. If I'm recalling the airportcorrectly, it's a neat little fixed-base operation.

Turn right a bit, and let's circle Deer Valley for old time's sake. Circle around, keeping theairport to your left. When I flew into it, there was just one strip, so it must have grownconsiderably. I wonder if the same fine husband-and-wife team still runs it.

Fly wide of the traffic pattern and parallel the runways, on a heading of about 250 degrees.You'll be flying at a right angle to Interstate 17, also known around here as Black CanyonFreeway.

Off your left wingtip, if you could see it, is Taliesin West, designed byand once the home ofFrank Lloyd Wright, and now a school for architects. When I visited the school, there werenumerous students who lived right on campusin tents pitched in the sand around the building.Taliesin West was also badly in need of a paint job at that time. In Arizona, everything seems todeteriorate, although in authentic desert colors.


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Check radar as you cross the highway, and you'll see the city of Glendale, just a bit west ofPhoenix. West of Glendale is Luke Air Force Base. The east/west highway is Interstate 10.

Turn left midway between Phoenix and Glendale, taking up a heading of 160 degrees. You'llhave a good view of Phoenix out the left front window. You'll also be on a long base leg for

Runway 7 Left at Phoenix International, also called Sky Harbor Airport. The runway you want isjust beyond the point where Interstate 10 meets the city. Radar will give you a clear idea of yourpresent position in relation to the airport, before you see it out the left front window.

When you do see it, get into slowflight, but continue on your present heading until you can spotit out the left side window, and it's about a third of the way across your screen. Time then to turnleft, heading 70 degrees, and set up a nice long final approach. The field elevation is 1132 feet.

Caution: If you see a dust devil on the runway, you would be wise to go around (abort yourlanding, fly the entire pattern, and make a new final approach)those little characters can spoilyour afternoon.


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High Drama

NOTE: The mountains described in this and the following chapter are not, unfortunately, in theScenery Disks for all computers. If you see no mountains, you'll just have to make the flights as

described and try to imagine them.

Talk about beautiful! This has to be (if you have mountains) one of the most inviting runwayscenes in the simulator world. Spend a minute just looking at it. You and I may be the only oneswho ever see it just this way.

Those are the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, with peaks such as Thompson (10,546 feet) andBaldy (12,623 feet). You'll see them up closer, because Santa Fe is on the other side of them.The whole a

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