November 22, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
In over 25 years of flight simming, my only time to fly in or around Africa was in 2010 when I flew along the northern coast of Algeria and briefly in Libya before heading across the Mediterranean Sea towards Palermo, then on to Athens. This adventure is allowing me to journey into the deepest portions of Africa and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to fly to Timbuktu.
My rich passenger travelers are tired from shopping and sightseeing around Casablanca. We depart Casablanca early as we’ll travel most all day in order to reach Timbuktu. However, I was given strict instructions to limit the flight segments to under 3 hours as best as possible. I plotted the second travel day to depart Casablanca (GMMN) to Tindouf, Algeria (DAOF). We’ll refuel, stretch the legs, grab lunch and then it’s off to Timbuktu, Mali (GATB).
I did learn what I needed to know about the flight characteristics of the King Air 200. Under normal weather conditions, I have a range of just slightly over 1200 miles when fully loaded with 548 gallons of fuel (3671 lbs.). The King Air 200 is also speedy in comparison to the single engine Mooney I used last time. My passengers also enjoy all the amenities they expect including full drink and refreshment center (with flight attendant) and that fully enclosed aft lavatory.
Bright and early in Casablanca. Time to load’em up and move’em out.
Ready to go 35R GMMN
A little bumpy on the climb from Casablanca.
The western Sahara
On final to Tindouf, Algeria DAOF
Not much here but tarmac. Topping off the fuel tanks and back in the air. Thankfully we have that on-board enclosed lavatory. 
Climbing out over the western Sahara enroute to Timbuktu.
On final into Timbuktu.
On the ground at Timbuktu. The rich family wants to push on to Niamey, Niger (DRRN). After re-fueling we resume our trip.
Departing Timbuktu and turning south towards Niamey. The Beechcraft King Air 200 is getting a workout today.
On final approach into Niamey (DRRN).
On the ground, parked and engines off at Niamey, Niger.
We are 2620 nm into our journey. Our route will continue soon carrying us further south into Africa towards Kinshasa, DRC with planned fuel stops at Kaduna, Nigeria (DNKA) and Doula, Cameroon (FKKD). I’ve also plotted my course to Cape Town. I’ll have the Beechcraft checked out fully before resuming the journey. From Cape Town our course will carry us up the eastern coast of South Africa, across to Madagascar.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
November 21, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
As stated in my most recent blog post in almost a year, I’m gearing up to start a new flight simulator adventure that will take me around the world as I zig-zag between northern and southern hemispheres in the Carenado B200 Beechcraft King Air twin-turboprop. This aircraft is a brand new addition to my virtual hangar. While I’ve spent some time in the virtual cockpit of this awesome aircraft, I’ve only managed to spend a few minutes at a time. So the first leg of this adventure is truly important and one I’ll pay close attention to how the aircraft performs based on general specifications of the aircraft.
In 2010, my Mooney had a range of less than 900nm. This meant my average leg flying time was approx. 3-4 hours. The King Air range is about double that of the Mooney, but that doesn’t mean I’ll have 6-8 hours to spend in a single sitting. But of course, with the aircraft upgrade I’ll also have additional airspeed available which I didn’t have with the Mooney. It should all balance out.
The first planned leg will be a long one taking us from the departure airport in Antwerp, Belgium all the way to Casablanca, Morocco. I have plenty of re-fueling options along the way should the need arise. But I want to challenge the suggested performance characteristics of the aircraft while I’m over heavily populated areas versus a large body of water or the Sahara.
I’ve plotted the route for the long journey to carry us over Paris, Madrid, Seville (refuel), Gibraltar then Casablanca with estimated travel time of just under 6 hours.
My new Beechcraft B200 King Air twin-turboprop parked at Antwerp airport EBAW.
Holding short, runway 29 EBAW.
Position and Hold (OK, Line up and Wait) RW 29
Turning southwest towards Paris. The river Scheldt just below.
The port side Pratt & Whitney doing its job.
Sunset over northern Africa
Short final runway 35R Mohammed V International Airport GMMN.
Parked with engines off as the sun sets and a Royal Air Maroc departs.
My passengers are thrilled to make it to Casablanca and will spend a few days sightseeing. Our journey will resume soon as we continue to fly south into the heart of Africa.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!
JT
November 20, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
I know it’s been a while since I posted to my flight simulation blog, Position and Hold. Like many of you…I just get too busy from time to time for my hobbies or I let one hobby sort of over rule everything else. Some of you who follow this blog may know that I’m an active amateur radio operator (aka ham radio). I host an amateur radio podcast titled The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast (PARP). PARP will celebrate its 5th birthday in May 2013 and along with my amateur radio hobby, it keeps me busy.
The last time I posted to this blog was almost one year ago and at that time I was thinking about starting another adventure journey in my new Carenado Malibu JetProp. Unfortunately, this adventure never got off the ground. Instead I devoted much of the first nine months of 2012 to finishing the basement project I started some 3-4 years earlier.
The two pictures below show what the basement looked like in January 2012 (top photo) and the finished product on September 1, 2012. With exception to the granite counter installation, everything else including framing of the walls, drywall, texture, painting, flooring and cabinet installation was completed by mine and my wife’s own hands.
During this remodel phase, much of my flight sim gear was packed away and my available time to sit in front of a computer and fly a computer plane around from place to place was just not available. Now that I’m in my new space, it was time to drag out the flight sim gear and enjoy the hobby of flying again.
Ironically, from the time I packed my gear up to the point that I began unpacking…those flight simulator gremlins managed to get into my PC and work their havoc. I spent a few frustrating weeks experiencing CTD’s and other FSX problems. I became seriously frustrated and decided to just walk away from it for a few days. A few days did turn into a few weeks, but I believe I’ve made some good progress and have not had the CTD’s which I experienced on early flights.
To sort of cap off 2012 and kick-off 2013, I plan to start another flying adventure. This new adventure will be similar to my Around the World flight in 2010, but also different. In 2010 I set off in a single engine Mooney Bravo from Centennial Airport (KAPA) with a single goal of flying around the globe and returning back to KAPA. You can view my route here. I began the 2010 journey on 30 September 2010 and completed it 19 November 2010.
For my 2012/13 journey I plan to depart Antwerp Belgium (EBAW) in the new Carenado B200 Beechcraft King Air twin-turboprop. My fictional journey is to serve as pilot for a large wealthy family who have nothing better to do than tour the world. They have more money than judgment and the sky truly is the limit on just where this journey will take us.
The first few legs of the journey will take us from Antwerp, Belgium towards Casablanca, Morocco. From Casablanca, I’m told the journey will continue deep into the heart of Africa and what once was the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and the capital city of Kinshasa. From Kinshasa we will likely continue south to Cape Town, South Africa. After Cape Town we will travel in the direction of Madagascar. From Madagascar the route and plan is open.
The idea for my 2012/13 journey is to see new places within the FSX world (hence the trip to Africa). Just like the 2010 trip, I have no idea how long this will take me to complete as I zig zag between northern and southern hemispheres around the globe. I plan to start soon and you can track my progress here.
As I tried to do in my 2010 trip, I’ll post screenshots and blog updates throughout the journey. I plan to get started soon. So look for updates in the next couple of days.
Happy Flying…
JT
January 15, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
Yes it’s been a while since I posted anything to this blog site. It’s also been a few months since I’ve taken time to enjoy flight simming. As mentioned back in September, I did have to step away from the virtual airline aspect of the hobby. I had a project offered to me which I couldn’t turn down and I spent a great deal of time involved with that.
As the subject line reads. I’m gearing up to do another adventure. I completed one back in 2010 in the Carenado Mooney. I’m currently looking at other options and honestly looking pretty hard at the brand new Carenado Malibu JetProp which has recently been released.
The adventure for 2012 is still somewhat up in the air. Right now I’m leaning towards a tour of the lower 48. The idea is I would fly from state to state and land in each state capitol city. Right now I’m spending just a little time making sure my sim machine is in working order and just flying around in the Mooney.
I’ll post more details about the planned tour very soon.
Until then….
Happy Flying!!
JT
November 26, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
I’ve been flying computer flight simulators since the early to mid 1980’s. During this over 25 year period of time I’ve learned a lot and I would like to share what I’ve learned with my readers. If you’ve been flying for a while, then perhaps nothing I’ll tell you will be new information. However, I know our hobby continues to attract new blood and if I can help those through my knowledge, then it is worth the time I’ll spend blogging about these various subjects.
I’ll “Kick the Tires and Light the Fires” on this content in the coming days. I have a list of topics to discuss and knowledge to share. Please bookmark my site or subscribe via RSS to stay current on my content.
Thank you
JT
September 10, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
There have been events in history where individuals will always remember where they were, who they were with and what they were doing when the event happened. For the generation of my grandparents, that day was December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. For the generation of my parents, that day was November 22, 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. As I watched the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster unfold on January 28, 1986 I was certain this would be the day which I would clearly remember for the rest of my life and certainly hoped none other would ever prove to be greater. After all, I was only 19 years old, in my first year of college and grew up in small town Texas. By the way, I still do remember very much what I was doing, who I was with and where I was on that tragic day.
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 began just like every other day for me. I woke up early (around 6 AM MT) I had showered, dressed and was downstairs drinking a cup of coffee and watching Fox News by 6:20 AM. This was pretty much a morning ritual for me. Because my commute was less than five minutes, I typically wouldn’t leave my apartment until around 6:45 or so. On this day, I wasn’t in that big of a hurry. I had been working long hours as I was planning to fly to London later that week. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day in the mile high city and from what I could see while watching Fox News, New York City was also looking beautiful.
My apartment was relatively small. From my kitchen I could hear the TV in the living room and heard the initial report of a plane hitting the World Trade Center. The time was 6:46 AM MT (8:46 AM ET). I stepped into the living room and watched/listened for updated news. Initial reports was it was a small airplane (perhaps a sightseeing plane) which hit the WTC. The Fox anchors talked about how clear the sky was overhead in NYC. Thoughts of perhaps the pilot suffered a heart attack or aircraft malfunction were more or less what most believed had happened.
As the time approached the top of the hour, I was really intrigued in what had happened. I remember at the top of the hour Fox and Friends passed it off to Jon Scott who happens to be a pilot. Again for several minutes the speculation into what had happened to the pilot or to the airplane was the topic of discussion. Fox had switched to an anchor outside the studios and I was just about ready to turn the TV off and drive to the office. Again, it looked like an accident and I would follow up with what happened once I got to the office.
As I was reaching for the remote, what I saw next on TV will forever be in my memory. It was 7:03 AM MT (9:03 AM ET) when the outside live shot showed a second plane flying into the second tower of the World Trade Center. It became clear to me and to the entire nation that we were under attack. Yes, one aircraft could accidentally hit the WTC, but two? Absolutely not. It was also very clear the second plane was not a small sightseeing plane, but a large airliner. For the next 15 minutes or so I sat on the edge of my sofa watching the events unfold in New York City. I (and certainly like many Americans) was in total dis-belief at what I had just watched happen.
Part of my job responsibilities (both then and now) was/is to manage our business continuity and disaster recovery processes for the customer support organization at my company. While we (at the time) didn’t have an office in the NYC area, I wanted to get into my office so that I could be prepared for what ever else might happen on this day. At this time, only the two WTC towers had been attacked. I was not aware there were two other planes.
I quickly drove to the office and of course most everyone had already heard about the attacks in NYC. I’m asked by a colleague if I had heard of the events and said yes, I had watched the information regarding New York. He said, but have you heard about Washington DC? It soon became very clear this was not just an attack on New York and the World Trade Center. This was much, much larger.
Internet access from the office became really slow with employees checking the various news sites, emailing friends and family. We had small TV’s in the lobby of the building connected to a DirecTV feed and I went down to try to get more information. I was not only concerned about what other attacks might be planned, but also on the WTC attack which I had watched earlier from my apartment. I wanted to see what progress had been made on extinguishing the fires and of course get updates on the rescue efforts.
I made it downstairs to one of the TV’s. Smoke was still pouring from the top of both towers, within seconds the south tower began to collapse. I honestly couldn’t believe what I was watching. It wasn’t long after the south tower collapsed that we heard word of United Flight 93 crashing near Shanksville, PA. I had already went back upstairs to make a few phone calls. I remember hearing some employees talking about the north tower collapse. Again…I just couldn’t believe it.
At some point in the day, an announcement was made or perhaps there was a company email. But what ever the delivery mechanism, the message was to let us all know that all employees had been accounted for. I doubt very seriously if much work got done that day. As I said, I was scheduled to fly to London in a few days. After hearing about all flights being grounded for possibly a few days, I spoke to my boss and determined I would not be traveling as scheduled.
I remember going home and making myself a fairly stiff drink. Sometime around 9 PM I went out to the hot tub. It was a cool evening and I remember looking up in the sky and seeing and hearing nothing. This was odd as I lived near the flight path for Centennial Airport (KAPA) and Denver International (KDEN) is only about 25-30 miles and at just about any time of the day and evening you can see the planes coming in for landings and departing. I do recall hearing a few jet fighters and seeing various types of military aircraft. I’m sure this was the case over most every major metropolitan city.
Like many Americans, I did a lot of praying and in doing so asked God a lot of questions. I have tried to pray for peace each and every day since the attacks and pray for the those who are making sacrifices and sometimes the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our freedoms both at home and abroad.
In 2005 through the course of two acquisitions, Oracle acquired Peoplesoft who had acquired JD Edwards in 2003. On the four year anniversary of 9/11 I learned something I didn’t know previous. While JD Edwards didn’t lose any employees in the attacks, Oracle had lost eight employees that day. Most will know the name of one employee in particular. This employee, along with many other brave individuals fought back in what possibly should be considered the first battle won over terrorism and that employee was Todd Beamer. Todd and many other brave individuals fought back on United Flight 93. While they gave their life, they did it so many others could live. Of course we now suspect that Flight 93 was headed for the US Capitol Building or the White House.
In 2007 I realized a childhood dream to get my amateur radio license. I remembered the speech which President George W. Bush made in January 2002 when he announced the creation of the USA Freedom Corps. During that State of the Union address, President Bush asked Americans to serve a cause greater than themselves. I answered that call by joining the Denver Police Depts. Volunteers in Policing Unit and DAREC, Denver Amateur Radio Emergency Communications. In the course of just 3 years I had volunteered over 250 hours in that program.
Yes it is easy to say “I’ll never forget”. Through illness or old age there may come a time when I just don’t remember. But for now, I will remember and each year on September 11th (as I have done for the past 9 years), I’ll wake up early and I’ll go downstairs, make a cup of coffee, turn on the TV (yes Fox News Channel) and I’ll say a little prayer and prepare myself to watch, to remember and even cry a little. I hope all American’s will remember, I hope all American’s will pray and I hope all American’s will cry a little.
Thank you for reading and for allowing me to cross post this across my different blogs.
God Bless the United States of America.
Jerry
September 1, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
Yes, I suppose it truly does go around. I’ve blogged over the past 9-10 months about my full circle experiences of getting back involved with a virtual airline, flying on VATSIM and even managing my old DFW hub. Sadly, it all came to an end tonight when I had to make the difficult decision to resign.
I just don’t have the time these days. I haven’t flown or blogged much (as you can tell) and I want to change that. But I’m afraid I just don’t have the time to spend flying 30-40 hours a month along with investing 10-20 hours with the management duties in the VA.
I do enjoy the flight sim hobby very much. I will return to it very soon as well as blogging about my adventures. I think I’ll park the heavy iron and dust off the Carenado Mooney and my Carenado float plane and head up to the PNW soon.
Look for fresh blog content about this adventure very soon. Thanks for stopping by.
Jerry
July 21, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
As a flight simulator blogger, I use this blog to provide reports to you the reader about my flight simulation adventures, news about the hobby of flight simulation, product reviews and from time to time share my personal opinions about the hobby. If I’ve mentioned the new flight sim software from Microsoft simply called Flight, it was only briefly. I do not recall providing any in-depth opinions. This is mostly due to the fact that the flight simulator community really doesn’t fully understand what MS Flight will be or won’t be.
Having been active in the hobby for over 25 years, I’ve seen a lot of changes with regards to Microsoft Flight Simulator. I remember the hype leading up to FS9 and certainly FSX. I also remember purchasing FSX and really not using it for many months afterwards. I also believe that a lot can be said of the fact that FS9 still has a very strong following amongst fellow flight sim enthusiasts. I do see some software developers beginning to phase FS9 out and solely going in the direction of FSX. This is of course bitter sweet for those who are still running FS9. The bitter part comes from the fact that they will no longer be able to purchase some add-ons for FS9, but if they have purchased or built a new computer in the past couple of years then it more than likely will run FSX without issue. But of course there is the cost of re-purchasing add-ons for FSX if they want to exclusively use it. I fully am aware of the cost it takes to re-purchase add-on software. Before I took my almost five year sabbatical from the hobby, I was using FS9 for most of my flying. My PC at that time would run FSX, but there wasn’t a lot available yet in the add-on department. When I return last Fall, I decided I would build my flight sim PC to run FSX and fully adopted that as my flight sim platform.
But what about Flight? I started hearing the rumors of the rumors of the rumors about Microsoft Flight very soon after returning to the hobby. I read forum threads speculating what Flight was and what Flight wasn’t. I believe I read more “what it wasn’t gonna be” thoughts than the opposite. To this day, I’m still not certain we really know much more about it. Sure Microsoft has a website up dedicated to Flight, but it really doesn’t say much.
The rumors I mentioned before state (and I quote from several forums) “Microsoft Flight will not be what we have grown to know and love with the long running line of Microsoft Flight Simulator products”. Another reads, “MS Flight will be more like an arcade game versus a simulator” On the more positive side, I read this statement “MS Flight will be what FSX should have been with regards to performance”. I think what this person was trying to say is MS Flight is being developed for today’s technology and not like FSX where most users didn’t own a machine at the time FSX debuted that would run it to its full potential.
But these quotes are just (in my opinion) just rumors, guesses and assumptions (do you know what happens when you assume)? On the MS Flight website there is an FAQ page and in my opinion it tells me nothing. Addtionally, PC Pilot and Computer Pilot Magazines have provided some Q&A type details in their magazines over the past 6-8 months. My opinion about these Q&A sessions is the writer from the magazines isn’t asking the right questions. Of course you can’t sell future extremely pricey magazines if you divulge everything in one edition.
However, I must give credit to PC Pilot Magazine as in the May – June edition, they do ask Microsoft if Flight will have an opportunity for third-party developers to produce products. MS answers by saying they fully know they can’t do the work alone and they are creating the tools for others to develop add-on software.
At this time I believe “the jury is still out” on just what MS Flight will mean to the flight simulator community. While I’m just as much in the dark as the rest of you, I can tell you that regardless what MS Flight is or isn’t, worse case scenario it doesn’t mean our hobby is dead or dying.
As for what I plan to do when MS Flight is made available, well….I’ll probably purchase it just as I did FSX but it’ll more than likely sit on the shelf until (and this is if it works with VATSIM etc.) until enough quality add-on products have been developed.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
July 15, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
Please note: I wrote this blog post approx. 6 months ago and for whatever reason it failed to publish. I just realized it was stuck in draft mode and while I’ve changed my mind about some aircraft developers and also own a couple of excellent payware models that work flawlessly with my GoFlight hardware, some of the ideas expressed are still very much valid in the grand scheme of things.
I don’t know about you, but I think we need a better “try before you buy” system for flight simulator software add-ons. Yes I get the whole issue around software piracy. In the “real-world” I work for a large enterprise software company. We take software piracy very seriously and so should the creators of flight sim software and add-ons. But in most cases the “trial or evaluation” method in flight simulator add-ons is extremely limiting.
As many of you who follow my blog know, I’m an avid GoFlight Customer. I love this hardware and I love that for the most part I can conduct the majority of my flights with limited use of the keyboard and mouse. I have over a thousand dollars invested in GoFlight gear with the very idea of not needing to click with a mouse during flight. However, with this comes some restrictions that I’ve only learned about since coming back to the hobby.
During the 2001 – 2005 timeframe, most of the aircraft I operated were either the FS default variety or those based on the default variety and shareware type aircraft available from sites likeFlightSim and AVSIM. Today most of what I have flown have been the same type of aircraft. However, I did purchase a few Carenado models which I dearly love.
Part of my on-going frustration with software add-ons and the lack of a decent trial system stems from a PMDG purchase I made a few months ago. The product in question is the PMDG 747-400X. I had heard about and seen images of this beautiful aircraft and decided to purchase it. Once I downloaded and installed the aircraft I discovered it would not work with my GoFlight GF-MCP Advanced auto pilot module. While I researched and found forums from years ago talking about a software fix available from PMDG to correct the issues, the fix is no longer available. I essentially spent $54.99 on an aircraft that will sit in my hangar and never be flown.
Initially I didn’t understand why the PMDG 747-400X wouldn’t work. I had a lot of experience with the default aircraft and the shareware type from Flightsim and AVSIM. I’ve never run into any issues with the compatibility of my GoFlight equipment and these models. I even had purchased from Flight1 an MD-80 model and experienced no issues using that aircraft and my GoFlight hardware. So why is this PMDG model not working?
From what I now understand, the GoFlight GF-MCP Advanced is compatible with all MSFS default aircraft and any freeware/payware aircraft that model their MCP/autopilot functions the way the default aircraft are modeled. After spending $54.99, I realized PMDG DO NOT model their aircraft autopilot functions the way that MSFS modeled the default aircraft. This means if I want to fly the PMDG 747-400X that I own, I would need to fly it with my mouse and keyboard to control the autopilot/MCP functions. Not cool.
To explain the above paragraph differently. The GoFlight GF-MCP Advanced uses the standard Microsoft FSX keyboard commands to control the aircraft. When I turn the heading knob on my GF-MCP, it sends the corresponding keyboard commands of Ctrl-Shift-H followed by = or – depending on which direction I’m turning the knob. The PMDG aircraft uses a completely different keyboard mapping per function setup. It’s this difference which prevents the PMDG aircraft from working correctly with the GF-MCP.
Many will argue the PMDG aircraft is far superior to any default and shareware aircraft available today. I do admit the flight dynamics, the look, the feel of the PMDG models are truly amazing compared to the default and shareware models I own. My reservation to flying it is simply the lack of support for my GoFlight GF-MCP Advanced.
Now before I forget, yes I have talked to tech support for both PMDG and GoFlight. Both sort of point their fingers back to each other as being the responsible party. However, I will take the side of GoFlight in this argument. GoFlight creates their hardware to work with the default and shareware models. GoFlight also makes their SDK available to any aircraft developers free of charge.
What I’ll admit to not fully understanding is why PMDG (and others) code some of the aircraft functionality different from the default aircraft. I’m not a software developer….but I would think it would be possible to create an aircraft model just as wonderful as the PMDG 747-400X, yet stay with the basic functional requirements as what the default aircraft uses.
Now I certainly do not hold PMDG responsible for me spending $54.99 on something that I may never fly. As a matter of fact, the aircraft isn’t installed any longer. I should have conducted better research. However, back to the original subject of this topic, PMDG does not offer any sort of trial process. But even if they did, I would imagine it would be lacking in the functionality available.
As an example to the lack of functionality available in a demo model. I looked into the Captain Sim Boeing 757. I downloaded and installed it. But the demo model is so locked down in functionality, I couldn’t make a conscious decision to buy. Here is what the Captain Sim website states about their demo model “We hope this Free Demo will help our customers to make more informed purchase decisions and thereby enhance their satisfaction with the 757 Captain product.” Further down the page, this is how it reads to inform you of what doesn’t work in the demo:
Please note, the following features are not included in the Free Demo:
• Extensive Systems Programming (ADI, HSI, EICAS displays inop)
• Flight Management System (CDU inop)
• Realistic Flight Model (flight controls locked in the Demo)
• Custom system sounds and crew voice messages
• Authentic Sound Set – PW and RR engines (alias to default 737 sounds in the Demo)
• Collins WXR-2100 Weather Radar
• Aeronautical Data including Terminal Procedures
• Repaint Kit
I don’t know about you….but how do you make an “informed purchase” with the above mentioned restrictions? I couldn’t even find a way to contact the Captain Sim folks to ask if their aircraft would work with my GoFlight hardware as the only way it appears to reach their forum is with an order number. Sorry….you’re not going to get my money before I can find a way to review your support forum.
Now I realize I’ve picked on two aircraft manufactures. Here’s my thoughts on how some scenery developers handle their trial periods. I own several FSDreamTeam sceneries. They offer a try-before-you-buy method. But the scenery demo only works for the first 5 minutes. Yes, you can restart the timer, but only if you exit and restart FSX. 5 minutes? One can’t explore the complex scenery of KDFW in 5 minutes.
Another small beef I have with some vendors is what appears to be the number of times I can activate a particular product. I believe if I purchase a software product, I should be able to install this particular software product over and over and over (as long as I’m not running it on multiple systems). In other words, if I feel the need to rebuild my FSX computer every 6 months, I shouldn’t have to worry in a year or two running out of the number of install/reinstalls I’ve performed. This appears to be an issue in our hobby.
As I stated near the beginning, I fully understand the issues software vendors (all software vendors) face with software license piracy. I understand (and appreciate) that a lot of hard work goes into the development of quality software. While I don’t have the answers, I believe in the examples I’ve provided that a better solution must exist. There must be equal parts of trust built into the license protection so that honest customers like myself can determine if the product is right for them and the software developers can protect their IP or intellectual property.
In closing, I want to make it clear that I do not hold any bad feelings toward PMDG or any developer of Flight Simulator add-ons. Yes I called out my experiences with PMDG, but I only hold myself responsible for purchasing something that I may never use. I may never fully understand why PMDG and others develop aircraft add-ons that differ in the primary functional aspects from the default aircraft. Yes I get the need for better flight dynamics etc. But why change the autopilot keystroke combinations which is basically why the PMDG doesn’t work with GoFlight? To me and my flight simming experience, it is more accurate to turn a knob on my GF-MCP to control autopilot functionality than to use my mouse.
Until next time…Happy and Safe Simming…
Jerry
July 8, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
This was the question asked of me after I landed my iFly B737NG (FSX version) on 16L at KDEN the other night.
It was a dark and stormy night….no really, it was both dark and somewhat stormy with lightning flashes to the west of KDEN. I had departed KDFW for a 2 hour flight on the VATSIM network. I’ve probably logged over 60 hours in the iFly 737, but that isn’t the subject of this blog posting.
I truly love flying on the VATSIM network. I know there are those who don’t like it because of the sparse ATC controllers typically online. Of course, with the various traffic programs available like MyTrafficX and Ultimate Traffic 2, you can turn an international airport into a hustling and bustling airport with just a few mouse clicks. However, you won’t hear and get the awesome “atta boy” comments that I received the other night from the FSX default ATC. More about this in a minute.
True, I’ve been known to nail some real greasers on landing. This is especially true when I’m in a bit of a hurry and not doing everything by the book. This happens more in the default aircraft since you don’t have the dynamic flight systems of the payware models like the iFly or the LVLD. But it can also happen in these payware models I just mentioned when you cut corners. But I digress and for that I’m sorry.
I had departed KDFW with no ATC online, but really wanted to enjoy this flight up to my now home town of Denver, Colorado. This is one of my favorite flights for many reasons and only second to flying down to St. Maarten and TNCM out of KMIA. I just love the approach over the beach and hope to visit St. Maarten in real life someday. The flight to Denver was as uneventful as it can get. While Ft. Worth Center was not online, I did pickup Kansas City Center and Denver Center. Denver center was the only ATC on and he controlled me all the way down.
I typically do things just about the same way each and every flight I make. I check the weather conditions either via FSInn or direct from the NOAA METAR database. And in the case of Denver Center, he had an updated published ATIS which I pulled down well before entering his airspace and I acknowledged I had information Bravo when I initially checked in with him.
I don’t think a lot of pilots really bother picking up or at least confirming they have the current information even though that is depicted well within the default FSX ATC. Even if you don’t bother tuning into the ATIS frequency for the airport you are going to land, there are other ways of getting the info and it certainly helps the ATC guys for you to be that much more prepared. Anyway….Information Bravo was telling me that KDEN was landing and departing to the East. Landing runway 7 and departing runway 8. So I pulled my charts for runway 7 and just quickly familiarized myself with the approach.
As I was inbound on the Quail Six Arrival and roughly 50nm from KDEN, Denver Center updated the ATIS with updated information. I quickly listened to the update and realized KDEN was now going to be in South Ops and made the adjustments necessary to plan for a runway 16L approach.
Approaching KDEN from the South, the Quail Six arrival brings you just south of the airfield and makes for an easy transition when KDEN is under North Ops with easy access to runway 35L. However, KDEN was not in North Ops and this would mean flying downwind to the east of the field for vectors to 16L.
Now back to the dark and stormy night comment. Weather conditions in the area was a typical summer evening in the mile high city with storm cells erupting out on the eastern plains. A few of these cells had moved in closer to the city and both myself and my virtual PAX were treated to a nice light show of cloud to cloud and cloud to ground lightning strikes. The combination of ActiveSky X and Real Environment Extreme make for some truly impressive eye candy at times and this particular night was no different.
As I completed the roll-out from the vectors given by Denver Center, KDEN airport and runway 16L was in clear visibility so a visual landing was certainly in order for the evening. Along with FS2Crew (the iFly version) my FO and I readied the beautiful Boeing 737-800 for her landing and had a smooth landing with no complaints from the virtual PAX. As I turned the B738 onto the high-speed taxiway and gave the “OK to Clean-up” order to the FO I received a private message from the VATSIM ATC Controller simply asking me “Are you a real pilot”?
Now if you’ve read my recent blog post where I state I’m not a real pilot, you would know (or will know if you kindly read it) that I’m not a real pilot. But of course the gentleman working VATSIM ATC doesn’t know I routinely blog about my flight sim hobby. But I answered him by saying Negative….why do you ask? His response simply was “you do a very good job”.
I have no VATSIM ATC experience. I also have no desire to gain any other than from a pilots perspective. So I’m not 100% certain what the VATSIM controllers really can see and what they really can’t see. I’ve been told by several VATSIM controllers that I know very well, that what they can see is very limited. They of course can tell if you turn the wrong direction and they can also tell if you land on the wrong runway. But they can’t really tell how hard or how soft of a landing a virtual pilot makes.
So what is so special about his comments and why blog about them? This is a very good question and the reason why I chose to blog about it was to one, share the experience and two to turn it into a learning experience for all. As I stated in the opening paragraphs of this blog post, I’ve truly experienced some real greaser landings. I call those controlled crashes. While I’ve never mistaken a taxi-way for an active runway, I’ve certainly had my share of off center touchdowns and some of those where you hit just before the touchdown zone and some where you hit well past it. This flight and this landing was textbook and the comments from the VATSIM ATC Controller sort of showed me that it is worth doing everything somewhat by the book. Of course, having over 25 years of computer sim experience doesn’t hurt.
In closing, You’ll never hear me make claims that I could fly a real plane….but I think my virtual PAX can rest easily knowing I at least know how to operate my iFly 737NG to get positive feedback from VATSIM ATC. I hope you too will take your virtual flight simulation to the next level and work harder to improve your skills. One day a VATSIM ATC controller might ask you, “Are you a Real Pilot”?
Until next time….
Jerry
