Starship Diaries first Ten Flights

[DrZGard]

I hope this is allowed to post. I've been doing a Word document to write up the flights from Dallas Kachan's "Starship Diaries" novel. Here are the first ten flights.

Starship Diaries Flights 1-10

Tips: the sweet spot in the Starship for altitude on long journeys is FL320 to FL370. Any lower and you burn too much fuel, any higher and you really run into the drop in efficiency for propeller driven aircraft in this thin air. Climb at 140 IAS till FL300 then IAS Perf for last part of climb. For the lower altitude VFR flights pay attention to power settings, you can very easily overspeed and you also want to keep fuel burn down to under 400 pph per side so you can maintain some ability to land with fuel reserves.

1. KSJC to PHNL San Jose International to Honolulu International. The Starship does not carry enough fuel for this flight so you will have to open the fuel menu mid-flight and refill the tanks to full. Dallas Kachan writes that he was able to get a ferry permit installation of an auxiliary fuel tank installed in the lavatory area which he had uninstalled after the Hawaii trip. While this kind of ferry permit installation is common in smaller non-pressurized aircraft I have to question the feasibility of there being a working example in real life for a pressurized aircraft. On one of the Citation forums someone asked this question and one of the Citation A&P mechanics commented that in his 25 years working with Cessna he had never heard of one. Were the flight to be performed without pressurization and pilot wears oxygen mask maybe. Use Navigraph or Simbrief to check current winds and pick one of the generated routes. You’ll want to be high but also aware of winds aloft, check FL320, FL340, and FL360.

2. PHNL to PHLI Honolulu International to Lihue, USA. This is fun VFR sightseeing flight departing to the East and hugging the Southern shoreline of the islands and making a big left turning loop around the big island returning hugging the Northern shorelines of the islands and finally landing on Kauai. Use even/odd rule for VFR flights, probably 5,500 Eastbound and 4,500 or 6,500 Westbound to maximize the island views. Avoid military airspace and restricted zones, and use flight following.

3. PHLI to PLPA Lihue, USA to Palmyra, Kiribati. This is a fun chapter since it deals with the logistics of landing on a private airstrip used on a research island funded by a non-profit. The navigation capabilities of the Starship will allow a direct to and you’re at the will of the weather Gods since there are no instrument approaches into Palmyra. Check winds aloft and use FL330, FL350, or FL370 depending on winds. You can use the “SEL CRS” button on the Flight Plan menu like an OBS function to help line up with your landing runway.

4. PLPA to NSTU Palmyra, Kiribati to Pago Pago International, American Samoa. This is the interim fuel stop for the day’s flight to Nadi, Fuji. Navigraph or Simbrief will give you an airway you can meet up with about 250 nm out of Palmyra, G457 as I write this. Check winds aloft and use FL320, FL340, or FL360 depending on winds. You’ll have ILS, RNAV, and VOR options for landing if weather is not VFR when you arrive.

5. NSTU to NFFN Pago Pago International, American Samoa to Nadi International, Fiji. Use Navigraph or Simbrief and pick one of the generated routes. Check winds aloft and use FL320, FL340, or FL360 depending on winds. This is a shorter flight but in the book it’s also where the lineman at Pago Pago wouldn’t let Dallas fill the tanks and he almost ran out of fuel due to higher than expected headwinds. If you want to simulate this you have the advantage of in air refueling with MSFS!

6. NFFN to NZAA Nadi International, Fiji to Auckland International, New Zealand. Navigraph or Simbrief will give you an airway you can meet up with that’s a direct line to your destination, A578. Check winds aloft and use FL330, FL350, or FL370 depending on winds. The arrival in to Auckland is breathtaking.

7. NZAA to NZNV Auckland International, New Zealand to Invercargill, New Zealand. This is another VFR lower altitude sightseeing flight this time taking in the incredible beauty of New Zealand. I flight planned this to fly direct to Flat Point, direct Nelson, Direct Dunedin, then final destination Incercargill. Initial altitude of 7,500 to Flat Point, then even VFR altitude for the rest of the flight. While you can fly some of this at 6,500 the Nelson to Dunedin leg takes you over Mt. Chittendon which towers 7,234’ so best to climb to 10,500 after Nelson and then descend to 6,500 as you pass Christchurch way off to your left side.

8. NZNV to YMML Invercargill, New Zealand to Melbourne Tullarmarine International, Australia. This was one of the more difficult flightplans to figure out based on looking at the book picture. I am sure the charts Dallas was using back in the early 2000’s still contained many of the VOR and NDB navigation aids which have been retired in favor of GPS. If you use this flightplan: NZNV ISDUP BUGBA TASUM V33 IRSOM H169 ML YMML you will be pretty close. Check winds aloft and use FL320, FL340, or FL360 depending on winds. Oh… and don’t fall asleep during the enroute to Tazmania!

9. YMML to YTIB Melbourne Tullarmarine International, Australia to Tibooburra, Australia. This is a VFR sightseeing journey that initially takes you over Sydney, then West into the outback. Initial altitude is 9,500 which will give you clearance flying over what is known as the “Great Dividing Range” which is considered to be some of the oldest parts of the Earth’s crust. The tallest peak is Mt. Kasciusko which peaks at 7,316’ but it will be many miles off your right wing before you fly over Canberra. For the Westerly part of the flight you can use 8,500 but you will be surprised how other worldly the outback continues to get as you fly further into it.

10. YTIB to YBAS Tibooburra, Australia to Alice Springs, Australia. This is another VFR sightseeing trip going even deeper into the outback but specifically to see Ayers Rock aka Uluru before turning NorthEast to land at Alice Springs. Flown at 6,500 Dallas said he was disappointed seeing Ayers Rock from 4,000 above and wished he could have gotten a closer look. If you want to take a closer look you can search for the “Alice Springs Visual Terminal Chart (VTC) Uluru Inset” which will give specific routing and altitudes to conduct a sightseeing flight to the side of Uluru and Mt. Olga at 4,000 to 4,500 depending on direction and it is very impressive. In the book Dallas reaches Alice Springs after dark which means if timed right you should see Uluru and Mt. Olga near sunset which is even more impressive than mid-day light.

[dadgametime]

Thank you for this. I bought the book after seeing it mentioned on here, only to discover that it is fiction and that killed my interest in it, however, perhaps if that flight to Honolulu were possible, I’d try this as well. For now I’m learning the hard way just how big South America is as I make my way from the Arctic to the Antarctic. I forget sometimes to time these transpolar flights in the shoulder seasons. Summer/Winter is not the time to cross the strait

[DrZGard]

@dadgametime said in Starship Diaries first Ten Flights:

Thank you for this. I bought the book after seeing it mentioned on here, only to discover that it is fiction and that killed my interest in it, however, perhaps if that flight to Honolulu were possible, I’d try this as well. For now I’m learning the hard way just how big South America is as I make my way from the Arctic to the Antarctic. I forget sometimes to time these transpolar flights in the shoulder seasons. Summer/Winter is not the time to cross the strait

I read this book 20 years ago, shortly after its release, hearing about it from other Starship enthusiasts. I only found out a few weeks ago it was fiction. Dallas was my hero for 20 years... and he still is for creating such a wonderful story. The book does say it is a work of fiction in small print on the copyright page and in the audiobook he does announce it is a novel in the introduction. I don't feel he was dishonest in any way since the author's job is create a sense of reality around the story they are telling.

Hope you do get to enjoy it for the wonderful story it tells. Many of the flights are too long for my simming taste so when not over water I will split them up into at least one if not two stops along the way.

[dadgametime]

I’m not denigrating the author or the work, just saying I lost interest when I realized it wasn’t true. I’ll probably pick it up again.

[DrZGard]

Flights 11-20:

11. YBAS to YBWP Alice Springs, Australia to Weipa, Australia. Back to flight levels. In the book Dallas flies this at FL370. Plan for J64 then W319 to ISMUN, then North to the COE NDB and then the Scherger TACAN SGR then direct to Weipa airport. That last waypoint is so you fly over the Scherger RAAF base where they are still planning on building Spaceport (which is mentioned in the novel). You have VOR, NDB, and RNAV approaches available in Weipa if weather turns on you.

12. YBWP to WAFF Wiepa, Australia to Palu Mutiara Sis Al Jufri, Indonesia. In the novel Dallas lands at WAMM Palu Mutiara Airport which was severely damaged in an earthquake and resulting tsunami in 2018. It reopened in 2024 with the ICAO designator WAFF. Dallas flew this direct to in the novel and given the lack of suitable airway navigation to make it within the range of the Starship it makes sense to do it this way. Check winds aloft and use FL320, FL340, or FL360 depending on winds. WAFF has a VOR and RNAV approach for runway 15 if the weather has turned for the worse.

13. WAFF to WAQQ Palu Mutiara Sis Al Jufri, Indonesia to Tarakan, Indonesia. This is a particularly interesting flight from the novel as it has Dallas winding his way VFR at 13,500 up the Utari peninsula of Sulawesi, a winding gooseneck that takes him hundreds of miles out of his way, just to see an area of land he had dreamed of since grade school. You will need the altitude since the mountain has several tops above 10,000’! At the northern tip of that peninsula, use the airport at Manado, ironically now using the ICAO code of WAMM (remember the last flight?), and head direct to Tarakan WAQQ at FL350 over the Strait of Makassar. If you want to use an airway you can go direct DIANI and pick up A211 which takes you to the Tarakan VORDME TRK located on the field.

14. WAQQ to RPLL Tarakan, Indonesia to Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Phillippines. This is another mixed low level VFR and then flight level journey and I can only wonder if fuel would actually hold out for such a flight. Fly over the jungle at 6,500 feet to the Sibu NDB SB to see the Rajang and Baleh rivers written about in “Into the Heart of Borneo” (a favorite novel of Dallas), then sharp turn to the right and climb to FL370 to the Mulu VORDME VZU, then direct to the Caticlan NDB CT intercepting TR21 then B472 to LIGPA just South of Manila. Multiple IFR approaches into Manila if weather doesn’t treat you well.

15. RPLL to RJOA Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Phillippines to Hiroshima, Japan. The airways are almost a direct routing so autoroute with Navigraph and use FL330, FL350, or FL370 depending on winds. There are islands along the way so you could break this flight up into one or two stops along the way rather than stay in the air for so long.

16. RJOA to RJCW Hiroshima, Japan to Wakkanai, Japan. This is a sightseeing flight but instead of VFR Dallas chose to file IFR at 11,000 feet but when he started flying he was in and out of scattered clouds and requested 9,000 and it was approved. The routing I figured out for this flight is OYE CBE NJA OJT TLD GTC MXT YOROI. The pass alongside Mt. Fuji is quite impressive. It’s a long flight for such low altitude so keep fuel flow under 400 pph in each engine… you might make it!

17. RJCW to ZSSS Wakkanai, Japan to Hongqiao, Shangai, China. If you autoroute this flight it will take you along the NorthWest coastline of Japan. Dallas wanted to fly over Seoul, South Korea, the hometown of the lady he had met in New Zealand. While this routing is effortless in the sim I can’t imagine the routing would be as easy to negotiate with the three countries involved. If you use the Gimpo VORDME KIP you will fly directly over Seoul. Check winds aloft and use FL320, FL340, or FL360 depending on winds.

18. ZSSS to ZUUU Hongqiao, Shangai, China to Shuangliu airport, Chengdu, China. This is a difficult route to figure out from the picture in the book and even the description given of the flight. In the novel it is flown at FL330 and you initially head South over Shanghai proper then turn NorthWest to hopefully see evidence of the Great Wall of China near Xining and Lanzhou, then finally South to land at Chengdu. On the first leg you will pass over the Yellow River basin while known for its farming it is also famous for flooding. The land tapestry in this area will look different than anywhere else you have flown. If you plan your flight to first cross the Andong VORDME AND that will take you South over Shanghai, then turn NorthWest towards the Zhongwei VORDME ZWX followed by the Zhonghe VORDME DZH, then direct ZUUU. As you approach ZWX and then fly towards DZH the ridgeline will see signs of the serrated remnants of the Great Wall… at least as MSFS has represented it. There are a few add on sceneries which include some segments of the Great Wall but not in this area.

19. ZUUU to VNKT Shuangliu airport, Chengdu, China to Tribhuvan International, Kathmandu, Nepal. Navigraph or Simbrief will zag around a bit but it’s mostly direct. Check winds aloft and use FL340, FL360, or FL380 depending on winds. You are going to really notice when you get into the Himalayans how the ground is closer, many of the peaks are over 20,000 feet. You are also very likely to experience some serious headwinds so make sure you aren’t exhausting your fuel reserves. The landing in Kathmandu is trickier than you might expect, it is considered one of the hardest in the world. Mountains all around, high winds, and if IMC you are going to want to use that ground radar.

20. VNKT to ZWTN Tribhuvan International, Kathmandu, Nepal to Hotan, China. This flight is going to take you over the Plateau of Tibet where you will again be flying over terrain that is over 20,000 feet! No airways on this route, just a few waypoints. I used Simbrief since I liked it’s plan better than Navigraph. Check winds aloft and use FL340, FL360, or FL380 depending on winds. Your headwinds shouldn’t be as pronounced as the last flight. There is an ILS and VOR approach if weather is poor. The change in ground topography is interesting to note on this flight.