A new first flight for me with this latest instalment of Flight Journal. This time it’s Blackbird Simulation’s C310R and a first full flight in it in the skies over Oregon and Washington State. Let’s go!

Oregon coast

I picked up a few new airports in one of the last Orbx sale. This time it was S45 Siletz Bay State Airport located along the coast of and directly to the west from Salem, Oregon.

The airport itself is located in a fun spot nestled between several hills and the coast. It’s very scenic and I’m glad that the scenery has forced me to check it out because it’s beautiful!

I decided that my destination for this first flight would be a familiar spot – Tacoma Narrows airport located to the south of Tacoma in Washington state.

Startup and go

Working my way through the checklist at dawn. The C310 was intimidating me because I knew that Blackbird Simulations had put a lot of effort into the simulation of this aircraft. But I shouldn’t have been because the C310 is relatively easy and straightforward to start up. Before long I had the engines started, GPS programmed, run up procedures completed and the aircraft ready to go.

Then I taxied my way to runway RR. The taxiway is narrow but the C310 is just the right size to handle it.

Then it was a matter of taking off. No problem for the C310 which lifted off quickly although a crosswind hit me almost immediately and I had to correct it very suddenly and somewhat awkwardly. But I was up!

Cruise and landing

After that I began a leisurely fly about to get a feel for the airplane before I set course north towards Seattle and the Tacoma Narrows airport.

Climbing through low clouds with the full suite of anti-icing gear on I emerged above some of the clouds around 5,000 feet and was able to take in a somewhat snowier landscape. The rest of my trip would comprise of a mix of snowy and clearer landscape with lots of transitions in between.

Dramatic clouds would dot the horizon in all directions.

As I approached my destination, I ended up descending a bit early and got in under a cloud shelf. Under here I was treated to some spectacular views of the area as dark cloud and bright sunlight clashed in dramatic fashion. Microsoft Flight Simulator can produce some incredibly beautiful scenes!

Then it was a matter of landing on Runway 17 and taxiing in to end my flight. What a great first experience!

C310 first impressions

It’s not a shock to me that this is a really well executed airplane. Blackbird Simulations has a long reputation of producing good products and the C310R comes jam packed with features. I have only just begun to explore some of the more sophisticated functions but I did have fun just flying the airplane and digging into just a few of the features.

It also features a bit of fun thanks to a bobble head that can be attached to the dashboard. It’s got its own physics model so it bobbles realistically in turbulence and through maneuvers. The aircraft has its own maintenance system and a dynamic dirt mode that adds dirt to the airplane gradually over the course of several flights. I look forward to exploring that soon.