🇯🇵 954th fly-in: Osaka Itami Airport, Japan (RJOO)

[Kumiankka]

link to fly-in index thread

Quote

Next Sunday, April 23rd let's head east and revisit the city of Osaka, Japan, this time centering on the smaller Itami Airport (RJOO) closer to the city center compared to the larger Kansai Int'l (RJBB) which was the focus of our previous visits in 2007 and 2016. Also officially known as Osaka International Airport, Itami does not in fact have any scheduled international traffic, focusing entirely on domestic flights instead. But it is an excellent starting point from which to take in the sights of the Kansai region, including not only the prominent skyscrapers of the Osaka city center itself, but also various cultural sites such as the historic city of Kyoto.

The linked landmarks package by @Criminy and @scottp is a must-have and includes plenty of the aforementioned details, and you also don't want to forget the incredible Japan Pro add-on by @MisterX6. For Itami Airport itself the default Scenery Gateway representation is quite sufficient, in fact it is one of the better-looking airports out there using the generic "lego block" system. But two other airports nearby, Kansai RJBB and Kobe RJBE do have custom scenery available courtesy of @pgspilot and @Devinci - I've linked those below as well in case you want to visit. And despite the warnings, it seems the RJBB scenery works fine without any ortho add-ons too, an important detail because I haven't been able to get any of the available orthos to work with the Japan Pro add-on myself, and given the choice prefer to use the latter.

Pleasant journeys - よい旅行を!

 

 

 

New pilots are always welcome, just read the guide on how to get started!

Remember to listen in on Teamspeak, new channel assignments listed here:
121.00 - fly-in main channel
123.00 - fly-in pre-flight
124.00 - small talk (in German)
125.00 - general comms (non-fly-in)

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by Kumiankka
Removed link to RJBB scenery due to copyright issue

[Quintao]

There is this interesting bridge serving as access to the Kobe airport, wondering if there is space for a bridge challenge.

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by Quintao

[Kumiankka]

A quick heads up: as @ostkamp just pointed out to me, the originally linked RJBB Kansai Int'l custom scenery has some copyright issues with linked ORBX objects and should not be used. I have removed the scenery from the original post and the download manager, and suggest using the default gateway scenery instead.

Also, nice challenge suggestion @Quintao - as it happens I have another one here, the Umeda Sky Building:

[ostkamp]

Hi fellow pilots,

I started today´s fly-in from Naha airport (ROAH) with the new Aerobask ViperJet Ex for XP12 using a community livery provided by @ruifo obviously originally meant to advertise FS Economy. No idea whether there is or was any Brazil event on FSE like mentioned on tail of the aircraft.

The jet really runs very well and has been improved comparing to the previous model for XP 10 which could also be used for XP 11 after some tweaking. With the new one for XP 12 you can now really reach FL410 and fly up to Mach 0.85 and it has some color spray system for funny effects.

Some of the instruments have pop-ups like shown here on the right side. This one is less obstrusive than others. I am still looking for the best FOV and seat position. The engine reporting is now done on the right side and the GNS 530 and autopilot sit on the left side. This is a bit uncomfortable since it is nearly impossible to monitor engine spool-up while holding started buttons.

Departing from Naha.

There were lots of clouds while enroute ...

Here are some aircraft limitations

Left side of cockpit still has the engine settings for startup.

Complete image of the middle area.

And on the right armchair side most things remained the same. At some point one needs to activate the oxygen mask.

XP 12 really generates strange cloud formations sometimes.

While enroute I suffered a sudden XP Crash to desktop and had to restart. I then departed again from nearby airport Nyutabaru (RJFN) and resumed flight plan at a lower altitude, now FL300 instead of previous FL410.

Near todays destination I had a lot of trouble with the AP which kicked out, the ILS etc. I could at least regain control and get back in time without crashing. The landing was a bit to the right, but ok. I think I came in too low and not with the correct glide angle so view was quite limited. The head up display which can be seen in the image below is also just visible from a certain angle and seat position.

Got parked, then later @Quintao and @rajo also arrived. @CHASMAN2014 was already at the airport.

@Quintao should have been in a Cirrus SR22 but was shown as something completely different (ULAC). I have to check this in Swift.

@rajo looked as if he was flying through the houses in the background, but probably he used another scenery.

The four of us parked adjacent to each other.

After cake break, I jumped into a Cessna Skyhawk 172 and went for Kobe airport (RJBE) first.

On downwind to Kobe.

On final runway 09.

From there I immediately lifted off again for Kansai International airport (RJBB).

On final to runway 24L. I also heard @rajo declaring Mayday and that he intended to land at this airport, but could not see him since he was not connected to X-Flightserver.

Took my time with plenty of runway behind and had a smooth landing.

Called it a day around 17 o´clock local time after some 3-4 hours of flying.

Have a nice week and see you next time! 🙂

 

Edited April 23, 2023 by ostkamp

[Quintao]

A great destination with plenty of high-quality sceneries means lots of pictures, 30 in total in this PIREP alone. Started on Amakusa RJDA aboard the Lancair Re-Evolution; moved the clock to early morning for picture purposes.

 

Backtracked on RWY 31 and took off from the short runway.

 

 

Climbed to FL210 and cruised to Osaka Kobe airport (plan was filled with Kansai in mind, but given the instructions above, I decided to scratch that airport from the list.

 

 

Descended once close to the airport and landed on Kobe RJBE RWY 09. While on descend, noticed the blue bridge at a distance, you know what it means!

 

 

 

Cleared RWY 09 and parked by the terminal to switch planes and visit the bridges in the area.

 

 

Came back on the CIrrus SR22 parked next to @Vega66 on a Beechcraft and took off from the same RWY 09.

 

 

Visited the red bridge.

 

And the blue bridge.

 

 

 

 

Noticed the first yellow Ferris Wheel by the Kobe skyline.

 

This time many were arriving at Osaka RJOO, so I flew in that direction, flying over the city.

 

While on the long final after @ostkamp, noticed many other Ferris Wheel, both to the left at a distance and two to the right of the procedure.

 

 

Landed on RWY 32L.

 

Parked in between Guido on the acrobatics Jet and @CHASMAN2014 on the JAL 737-800. Shortly after @rajo landed on what looked like an ERJ or CRJ.

 

Later Vega landed also at RJOO.

 

Took off RWY 32R with Chas taking of shortly after and quickly catching up.

 

Flew over Kobe and the many bridges while flying south.

 

Flew south for about 30 minutes and landed at Takamatsu RJOT.

 

 

See you all next week, certainly on a different continent.

[Vega66]

Hi, great pilots

As @Quintao mentioned, a destination with lots of places to visit tends to produce many pictures, and this sure was no exception.

 

Started today from Bangkok on a All Nippon Airways A321.

Loading the flightplan data on the FMC was not an easy task, as the sim just froze a couple of times after loading the assigned STAR on destination. Finally, skipped and planned a direct arrival, which allowed to complete the preparation without further issues. 

 

Expedited depart clearance and rotated 30 minutes behind schedule for a 5 hour cruise flight which allowed me to finish other planned tasks. 

Cruised without issues at FL340. 

Approaching Japan, experienced some stutters and occasional FPS losses. The add-on sceneries were very demanding this week, but in turn provided really nice and very detailed views..

Turning finally to Osaka Itami

From here you can figure out the density of the scenery.

Caught a bit of cross wind and managed only an acceptable landing, but a safe one.

Nice detailed default scenery. Great work.

Switched to the default Baron 58, this one from the Japan Flight Academy, to take the nearby airports and city tour.

Flying over some Points of Interest at Osaka.

Heading to Kobe, spotted the bridge suggested by Quintao. The overlapped road underneath almost made me quit, but finally decided and turned back, managing to cross it just on the virge of disaster.

A small tour over the harbour.

Then a slight detour to pass under the Akashi bridge. Again, an overlaped road beneath, but this time with enough space to cross it confortably.

Finally landed at Kobe and parked a few minutes next to Quintao.

With a quick lunch break among the tour, still had time to make a brief stop at Kansai and turn back to Osaka, looking for the Umeda Sky Building.

Not too much trouble, finding it, but again the overlapped buildings from SimHeaven totally blocked the passage. 

Returned to Itama and quickly added some custom exclusions just above Simheaven.

Changed to a Skyhawk from the Japan Coast Guard in order to check the result.

This time the passage was open for the necessary fly between.

Also the double road under Akashi bridge was gone, but also too many of the buildings, so made another version this time limiting the exslusiones only to the points of interest.

A brief stop at RJBK Kohnan (nothing interesting there) and ended at Okayama (RJOB) to make the final change of the day. 

 

And nothing less than the Virtavia C-17 Globemaster on a fresh adapted XP12 version. So cool to be able to keep flying this awesome plane.

Filed a flightplan towards Fukushima and expedited departure.

So, so nice to be able to fly this nice bird on XP12.  Landed at Fukushima about 45 minutes

That's all for today. Wish you all a great week ahead.

Edited April 23, 2023 by Vega66

[CHASMAN2014]

Greetings to all, thanks for another fun flight.  I love the PIREP's  the graphics are so nice hard to tell them apart from real pictures, nice job to all!

I took another attempt at a video this time I used the tower view in swift, but there is no way to adjust the view angle or zoom in.  Next week I will try the tower view in X-plane. At least the audio is good. 

 

Have a nice week everyone hope to see you again next Sunday and many thanks to @Kumiankka for all his hard work setting up this great destination.

All the best,

Chas

[Kumiankka]

So many awesome sights to see and too little time - even on my older computer with the object density turned down this was still a visual treat compared to your average X-Plane fare.

 

My starting point was Hakodate in Hokkaido, the site of our previous visit to Japan. Opted to fly the old JRollon CRJ-200 which has a few local connections: not only has the CRJ line recently been sold by Bombardier to the Japanese Mitsubishi conglomerate, but the type was also previously operated by JAL subsidiary J-Air which has its headquarters at Osaka Itami.

 

The #2 engine on the CRJ acted up throughout the flight, producing noticeably less thrust than the #1 one. Going easy on the realism factor here I opted to continue to Itami anyway, passing Mt. Fuji here and starting the descent without further incident.

 

The arrival into Osaka provided the first of many scenic views of the city center.

 

Landing at 32L (on a positive note, the ILS worked fine, no problems with either the aircraft or the nav data here)

 

Next on my list was the Kawasaki C-1 transport in a fictional repaint from the Ace Combat games. I remembered this being a converted X-Plane 7 model but it's actually way older than that, the AeroPedro site lists the original model being as old as X-Plane version 5!

 

@MerlinEng arrived in his usual C-17 Globemaster III just as I was taxiing back to the runway.

 

On the way west to Okayama, passing the port city of Kobe (with much more scenery details than I remember seeing the last time we were here)
 

Passed @rajo on the way to RJOB, then flew the VOR approach to runway 07 at this interesting mountain plateau airport (named after fairy tale character Momotaro of all things).

 

Making my way back to Osaka in a rather slower plane, the default Cessna 172 in Okayama Air Service livery. Some other fairy tale creatures must have appeared to mess with my directional gyro because I had to recalibrate it like three times! (maybe electrical fields from wild Pokémon?)

 

Made a quick detour to see the historic Himeji Castle on the way back.

 

Bridge challenge part 1 (easy mode): the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge

 

The Kobe Bridge was another matter entirely… I was saved from losing most of my tailfin by the lack of collision detection with the custom bridge object, and still nearly stalled and hit the water's surface after barely clearing the bridge.

 

Flying a visual circuit to return to Osaka Itami

 

Decided to try out a freeware model of the Mitsubishi MU-2 next for some more sightseeing in the direction of Kyoto. The aerodynamics felt a bit stiff but hey, it's free 🙂

 

Some very elaborate highway spaghetti on the way to Kyoto

 

Overflying Kyoto, the blocky modern-style department stores near the railway station in contrast to the more traditional pagoda of the To-Ji Temple

 

Returned to land at Kobe Airport rather than the main fly-in airport this time

 

As usual I decided to try out some fighter planes too, starting with the fearsome A6M Zero of WWII fame. Surprisingly X-Plane's usual quirks with taildraggers were nowhere to be seen, and the takeoff went smoother than I had expected.

 

Low over the city center, lining up for the Umeda Sky Building

 

And we're through!

 

Landing at RJOO, the Zero still felt just as easy to handle, the only downside being the deafening noise from the single Nakajima Sakae engine which made it almost impossible to hear anything over Teamspeak.

 

Taking off again in the Kyushu J7W Shinden, a unique-looking design from the same era that never flew in battle since only two prototypes were completed before the end of the war. As for the X-Plane model, while it looked nicer than previous iterations the realism had probably taken a step back, with the controls now feeling incredibly sluggish for such a fighter aircraft. The realistic turn tendency caused by the powerful pusher prop was accurately simulated though.

 

Going through the Sky Building again, a bit trickier than in the Zero since the Shinden wasn't cooperating with turns in any direction

 

Keeping the turns shallow, I managed to point the nose in the direction of Kansai Int'l for a quick visit

 

Flying the pattern to runway 06L took a bit of planning and patience, but I eventually made it down

 

With time for one more quick flight, I took off in the AOA F-35A to drop some fireworks over RJOO

 

 A quick afterburner-powered flyby of the city center on the way…

 

…and a chance to say hi to the tower

 

Took me a few tries to nail the angle for the flare drop, but finally made it on the third attempt

 

Landing at RJOO once again after completing the display routine

[rajo]

All flights for pilot rajo

Date	From	To	Aircraft	Type	Duration	Distance	Earnings	Action
2023/04/23 13:51:11	RJOB	RJOO	DCRAJ650	Bombardier Challenger 650	00:39	79	-$1,414.00	View
2023/04/23 12:58:44	RPLL	RJOB	DCRAJ650	Bombardier Challenger 650	03:38	1402	$9,900.60	View
2023/04/22 03:13:35	ROMD	RPLL	DCRAJ650	Bombardier Challenger 650	02:33	893	$8,375.62	View
2023/04/19 00:29:19	RJCC	ROMD	DCRAJ650	Bombardier Challenger 650	03:52	1140	$8,111.73	View
2023/04/18 04:14:41	PASY	RJCC	DCRAJ650	Bombardier Challenger 650	06:18	1424	$1,628.59	View
2023/04/17 02:44:08	PASY	PASY	DCRAJ650	Bombardier Challenger 650	00:08	1	-$343.59	View
2023/04/17 02:34:55	PASY	PASY	DCRAJ650	Bombardier Challenger 650	00:05	0	-$538.20	View

As one or the other probably hardly remembers, I already wanted to come to the Shanghai FlyIn with the Bombardier Challenger 650 (March 26th: Shanghai Pudong Int'l, China ZSPD), but the flight from PASY over the dateline ended 4 times with the message in FSEconomy, I had refueled during the flight and would therefore not be able to book this flight in FSE. I report this to both the Hotstart (X-Aviation) and FSE support forums, but each blamed the need for action on the other. Since then, this most expensive X-Plane aircraft has been sitting like lead in PASY. Until a few days ago the XFSE plugin was updated to version 1.1. When reading the update message I had the hope that this problem was also solved, and it was not disappointed.

The first long flight from Manila was not to Osaka, but to Okayama, where there was about $17000 to be earned.

It was practically already dark when I set off

 

on the MFD the approach is nicely visible

on apron with @ostkamp @Quintao und @CHASMAN2014

Didn't I once send you the swift CSL for the CL60? I look that up again and deliver again if I find something

then I wanted to see Kyoto

and changed to the DA62. Right you see the Ferris wheel and this funny fish

on the way back there was a bridge challenge

then I also visited all the other airports and flew under the Blue Bridge

Only by reading your pireps I realized why my framerate in this area was so bad, really really bad: I should have used an Exclusion Zone to hide the Simheaven objects. Too bad, maybe I'll learn something!

This is @CHASMAN2014 as a pilot of Japan Airlines. Seen with the Swift tracker function.

Always fun! Happy landings!

[F5Chaser]

This week I decided to go more realistic. Starting from Fukuoka with a Dash 8 which appears to be regularly flown to Osaka on an All Nipon Airways' route. I set my time to about 4:30 PM local to not have the whole flight in darkness.

Skies were broken this week as I departed from Fukuoka on runway 34. Later they turned completely overcast with a break few and far between. Here cruising over Kochi at FL230.

This aircraft is very demanding and when combined with the scenery in the area, my frame rate sank close to 23 during descent and approach. Once I was below the cloud layer, you could see Kansai Intl and eventually the larger city of Osaka.

I opted for runway 32 left which had a strong crosswind out of 030 to 050. I think it was up around 17 knots. My landing was smooth in spite of it although definitely not on the centerline.

I think I arrived somewhat later than my usual time and joined @CHASMAN2014 and @MerlinEng up by the terminal to call it a day.

See you next week!

[rajo]

If you want to have a proper look at the Bombardier Challenger 650, you can download a CSL here (not tested), or my 7z-file, directly extracted from my CSL_swift folder:

https://mega.nz/file/f0IBwACI#1zt6gCx1k2KC_AXprT5CQoPyBu7G4gMVqQyaYUeHa64