Well, I think I am one of those "people" as I just completed this leg with the Eurobusiness A318. First of all, a few remarks:
1) There was no cheat whatsoever, "my" A318 actually landed and took off at MPBO;
2) While planing the leg this way, I felt it would just work, and my intention was definitely not to throw people off their chairs
3) My landing at MPBO was not a very glorious one, I tried to do a VOR approach but somehow managed to get off the proper glide slope, so I eventually shut down in the grass, unable to stop completely on the runway. However, I think this landing is possible with no problem for a better pilot than me
Now, this being said, I have all the reasons in the world to believe Didimo knows better what can or cannot be operated at this airport, so there must be an error. But where?
Not a timetable issue for sure, because the tour rules stipulate you can fly any leg with any aircraft (that is, anything between a C172 and a A388), so it's up to every pilot's skills... and wisdom.
Which leaves two "suspects": the runway and the aircraft.
In fact, for an A318 it's hard to tell because the aircraft should be able to take off on any runway longer than 5000ft while MPBO is just slightly shorter. The difference can easily be associated to the low amount of fuel on board.
In fact, the tour leg is short enough that I think the most unrealistic thing is to use a jet for this distance!
And maybe I should add a third suspect to the list: myself. Being aware of the short runway, I indulged myself into some procedures that are certainly non-standard for an A318 but work well in FS:
1) I initially positioned the aircraft at the VERY beginning of the runway (that is, with the tail over grass);
2) I only started rolling when the engines were at full thrust.
I have no doubts everything would work the same with the F70, which allows for even shorter runways, but I cannot comment on the B757 which I seldom fly.
Andrei
