May 11, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments
Things have been busy down on the farm. In an earlier post, I mentioned having some small challenges I was dealing. These challenges were with regards to the overall stability of the Farming Simulator 2015 application. I couldn’t understand why the crashes were occuring. The PC I run FS 2015 on is fully capable and it was just rebuilt a few weeks ago. To be very honest, I’m not really sure what the root cause was. I just know that I did manage to resolve it and the sim has been 100% stable for some 20+ hours of game play. In short, I reinstalled Farming Simulator 2015 and removed all installed Mods. I also began game play on a brand new map (or new map to me). I’m currently farming on Ringwoods 1.7.1 and am very happy with both the layout of the map and the stability and performance of the game play. Ringwoods is essentially the default Westbridge Hills map, but much improved and redesigned. There is so much to do on this map that from time to time I feel overwhelmed. As the name implies, there is a lot of logging opportunities on this map. Perhaps one day I’ll give logging an honest try, but for now I’m just not that impressed with how it all works. Perhaps this is a subject for another blog post. Now on to the topic of the day…
I learned about the Courseplay mod some time ago. I had watched a few YouTube videos and read much commentary about the mod in various forums setup to support the community. While I didn’t immediately dismiss the mod, I wasn’t really sure I would use it. After all, I enjoy performing many of the tasks required in Farming Simulator 2015 myself, but I also realize that running a large farm (or certainly hoping it becomes large) can’t be done with just one person. So I installed the Courseplay (CP) mod and began experimenting.
One of the first tasks I setup was having Courseplay handle the movement of Silage down at the BGA. A very helpful YouTube video got me started in setting up the default wheel loader to handle almost two full silos of silage I just created. Being able to use Courseplay to automate this task will allow me to do other things on the farm, while the hired help assists in earning a lot of money in the sell of the silage at the BGA. The task of setting up Courseplay to empty the silo is a little more advanced than some of the other CP tasks, once you get it setup not much will go wrong. Meaning there isn’t as many challenges to over come with traffic and collisions you may experience with other tasks. Just with this first CP setup, my competent worker generated almost two million dollars by moving/selling silage. Cha-ching…brand new equipment. I like…I like!
The next task I setup for Courseplay was hauling grain from my farms silo to the various sale points on the map. Setting up CP to handle this task was super simple and it works really well. All you need to do is drive from your storage silo to the sell point allowing CP to record the course. Then you save it and activate it to allow your hired worker to help generate even more revenue for your small farm.
To be honest, I figured this would be the extent of my CP setup (at least for now). But I then watch a few YT videos on using CP to automate the emptying of the combine and transporting that material back to the farms silo. Again, to be honest…this was not an easy process. It’s not difficult to do, just a bit of a pain (you know where) with dealing with traffic, collisions with trees and all the bloody fences on the Ringwoods map. Now what I’ve found through a lot of trial and error (mostly error) is CP appears to work a little better (especially with all the fences in Ringwoods) when you setup the combine course starting in the Northeast corner, heading South with two headlands in a counter clock wise rotation. Again, for me this seems to limit the number of collisions my hired help seem to make when running into fence posts, trees and most importantly…each other.
While it’s not perfect, I also know that Courseplay itself is also not perfect. Of course, I’m not a developer and it’s easy for us to play “armchair quarterback” in these situations. But what I find a bit mindboggling is CP does a pretty darn good job controlling the combine. But CP tends to struggle in controlling the other vehicles working in conjunction with the combine on any given field. Now I’ll also admit that I’m not sure how Courseplay works. But I would assume in combine mode, the combine would be (or should be) the master vehicle and it would (or should) control all the other vehicles. It calls for the other tractor/trailer vehicles to approach for offload AND as it is master, it knows where it is in relation to the map and also knows where the other vehicles are. When an approaching tractor/trailer comes too close to the combine, then CP should make sure the tractor/trailer navigates clear of the combine. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Many times the tractor hauling the tipper gets too close to the combine and both get stuck in traffic. Again, the combine obviously knows where it is on the map and the combine knows where it is going to go next. All other CP controlled vehicles should yield to the combine.
With regards to the fences and trees…..well I don’t think I can fault Courseplay. CP knows the field dimensions and setting up the combine to perform two headland cuts does provide plenty of buffer zone for both the combine (especially with the 41’ header) to perform its maneuvers and for the most part allows the supporting vehicles (tractor pulling tipper) to maneuver. I’ve found when I create the route the tractor/tipper follows from the field to silo, that if I make the start/stop points as close to the field as possible, it leaves plenty of room for the tractor/tipper to maneuver without a collision to a fence or tree. At least in theory….
In closing, perhaps some of the issues Courseplay has with tractor/tipper collisions with the combine is due to the poor drive physics in FS2015. Fortunately within CP you can adjust speeds. Based on info I’ve seen in various YT videos I’ve set my field speed to be 20 mph and may even bump it down to 18 or even 15 to see if that helps. I’ll let you know.
If you are looking to automate more of the tasks on your farm, then the Courseplay mod will certainly help. The current stable version of Courseplay is 4.01 and is available from theCourseplay website. If Courseplay helps you (and it will), then please consider making a donation/contribution to the developers of this wonderful mod. You can donate via their website.
That is all for today. I need to tend to the cows, sheep and chickens now. Plus the wheat on field 17 won’t harvest itself. At least not without me getting the process started with Courseplay.
Until next time…
Happy Farming!!!
Jerry
May 4, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments
I first purchased and played Farming Simulator 2015 (Steam version) a couple of weeks ago. As I stated in my welcome post earlier, I’ve spent the past 30 years playing computer based flight simulation programs. I started out on the Commodore 64 version which later became the popular Microsoft Flight Simulator and today I pretty much fly the new Lockheed Martin Prepar3D (P3D). Of course, it takes quite a beast of a PC to run flight sim and all the various add-ons I use for as much immersion as I can get from the software. My setup truly is “As Real As It Gets”.
So when I purchased, installed and began my experience with Giant’s Farm Simulator 2015 I was impressed. Wait…actually…I was REALLY Impressed! While I won’t tell you the software doesn’t have issues and opportunities, I will tell you that out of the box the level of detail, the level of immersion is perhaps better than I have with P3D, Orbx etc. and my PC (a pretty hefty machine) just purrs like a kitten when running Farm Simulator 2015 at the highest graphic settings available in the game. This is very cool as it takes me many, many, many hours to get FSX or P3D setup the way I want it. Of course, in all fairness to flight sim….P3D (even at version 2.5) is still very old in game/program standards and is lacking the flexibility of a 64-bit application.
Farming Simulator 2015 has both a 32-bit version and THANKFULLY also a 64-bit version. As is the case with both FSX and P3D (Flight Sim), they are both 32-bit applications and are limited by how much total system RAM they can access and use. Regardless of the amount of RAM installed in your machine, a 32-bit application will only access 4GB. Again, regardless if you have 8, 16, 32 or more GB’s of RAM….a 32-bit application will only leverage up to 4 GB of that RAM and if it exceeds 4GB of VAS (Virtual Address Space) it will crash. With a 64-bit application (like Farming Simulator 2015), it is not restricted to just 4 GB of RAM. It can (and will) stretch its legs out and a system with 8, 16 or more GB of RAM will work well. Now what I don’t yet know about Farming Simulator is whether it utilizes more of the GPU or CPU. Perhaps it load balances, but FSX and P3D are both very much CPU intensive. Which means even if you throw down the cold, hard cash and put a 3-4GB video card in the system, FSX/P3D will still hammer the CPU and barely touch the GPU. OK enough about Flight Sim.
As I stated, I’m truly impressed with the experience of Farming Simulator 2015. What separates a game from a true simulation is the immersion factor and I feel the level of immersion is very high with Farming Simulator 2015. The landscape, the equipment, the crops….the stalks of barley and wheat look amazing. To get to this level with flight sim you must spend a few hundred dollars on add-on scenery. With Farming Simulator 2015, this comes out-of-the-box. Awesome….
Regarding tractors, trucks and other machinery….well they are simply beautiful. At the present time, the amount of DLC (payware add-ons is somewhat limited), but this isn’t an issue as the default or in-game equipment looks stunning. Also, after a few hours of field work the equipment will get dirty and muddy. Not to worry, a few minutes with a pressure washer (available as a placeable object) and they equipment looks like it did when brand new.
As time goes by, I’ll provide more content along with some screen captures showing my farm adventures. In the mean time, if you think you might be interested in doing a little farm simulation of your own. Then please check out the official Farming Simulator website and also this extremely helpful Gaming Guide website which provides very detailed explanations into how to get started with your very own virtual farm.
Until next time..
Happy Farming!!!
Jerry
May 2, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments
As the subject line reads, Welcome to my farm. My name is Jerry! As a relatively new-comer to the world of Farm Simulator (coming on-board with 2015 version) I’m not new to simulation type games/programs. I’ve been flying computer based sims since the early 1980’s. If you are interested in the flight simulation hobby, then please check out my “Position and Hold” flight sim blog site.
As I stated, I’ve been flying computer based sims for over 30 years and to be honest, I wanted a little variety in my computer gaming experience but don’t necessarily enjoy first person style shooting games. While I have no real world experience with farming, I did spend four years of my high school time (Freshman to Senior) year taking Ag/Shop classes and was a member of the Future Farmers of America (Texas). Of course, I also have no real world aviation experience either (not a real world pilot) so I guess as qualifications go, I’m actually more qualified to run a farm than I am to fly an airplane. But I digress…
As this is the first post, I’m really not sure exactly the direction I’m going to take this blog. With the flight sim blog, I use it to both showcase my adventures in the flight simulation hobby and also spend a great deal of time teaching and helping others. While I’m not opposed to using this site to help others, I think for now my blog posts will be more about my overall initial experience with the game and just take it from there. But what I will eventually do is add a section on my computer hardware and also list the in-game add-ons and mods I’m using in my day-to-day farming adventures.
In closing (just for this welcome message post), while I’ll never consider myself an expert in the flight simulation community, I’m very much a noob with regards to farming. However, with just about anything in life…the more you participate…the more you experience…the more knowledge you gain. Thanks for stopping by.
Until next time…
Happy Farming!!!
Jerry
March 11, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments
While you may have already read about this, on Friday a new version of the SteveFX DX10 Scenery Fixer application was made available. This is version 2.0 and it’s available in the FlightSimStore. The update is free for registered users. Please visit the SteveFX blog site and read this blog entry for instructions on installing the update.
As for me, I’m truly sold on what this wonderful application does for me and my FSX setup. You might recall I received my very first OOM error a few weeks ago. I installed the SteveFX DX10 Scenery Fixer in mid February and my system has been working fine ever since. While I certainly can’t guarantee this application will solve your OOM issues, I can certainly say it allows me to fly my PMDG T7 into and out of complex airports without the OOM headaches.
Check it out!
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
March 10, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments
It’s never been my intention to use this blog site as a platform to voice political commentary or complain about events in the real world. I’ve mainly kept the topics related to the hobby of flight simulation. However, sometimes events of the real world touch us in such a way that writing about it and sharing feelings can help.
First, let me say that my sincerest condolences are with the families of those passengers and crew of the Malaysia Airlines flight 370 which was lost over the weekend. Like anyone who shares a passion for aviation and flying, I’m following the news cycle as closely as possible. I also know that news of these types of events is very slow at first. As of the updates I’ve been reading on Monday morning (US time) 10 March, basically…the oil slicks which were reported over the weekend do not belong to the missing plane. In addition, other possible wreckage items have also been determined not to be from MH370.
I believe it was sometime Saturday when I heard about the two passengers who were allowed to purchase tickets and board the flight on stolen passports. While I’m not the type of person to immediately play the terrorism card when I hear about a disaster, as more news became available it got me thinking. What are the odds of one of the most reliable aircraft in the history of aviation, along with being operated by an airline with a satisfactory maintenance record just simply falling out of the sky?
Of course, who is to say that passengers fly all the time with stolen passports? Is this a common event? I suppose it is very likely we would not have learned about the stolen passports if the plane would have made it safely to Beijing.
I’ve often felt the further away from the events which took place on the morning of September 11th 2001, the closer to another event like this we were approaching. At least in the US, we seem to be slowly relaxing security to a pre-9/11 timeframe. As a nation, our focus (and that of our leaders) appear to be on other things.
As I’m learning more about these stolen passports, I’m left thinking to myself why do we have such a technology disconnect? Interpol stated they knew about the stolen passports, but no one had checked their databases on stolen documents. Why? Why is this information NOT automatically cross referenced? The idea of identity theft is not new nor is the concept of a person (or persons) using fake and forged documents to gain access to places they shouldn’t have access. Is this just another example of having to wait for tragedy to strike before something is done?
Again…perhaps this happens all the time. Perhaps something occurred with this particular aircraft and the pilots just could not recover…or never had the chance to recover. Will we learn the truth?
Until next time…
Jerry
February 19, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments
Without sacrificing the eye candy.
This is part two of a two-part blog article. Please see and read part one for the clear picture on what I’m talking about.
First, this blog post is titled “How I fixed my OOM issues without sacrificing the eye candy”. Please note the large “I” as in ME. The disclaimer here is this is how I did it. It worked for me, but there is no guarantee it will work for you. In other words, your mileage may vary.
Again, please take the time to read part one to get the full picture.
As I stated towards the end of part one where I described the OOM errors I had only started to receive after many years of using FSX. I DO NOT BLAME PMDG! IT”S NOT PMDG’s FAULT. If you feel I’m wrong about this statement. Then please stop reading.
To recap from part one…
My FSX machine had been running on the same build for about 3 years. I purchased and installed the PMDG T7 about a month ago and experienced my first OOM. As I was having some other challenges on this PC, I decided to do a full and complete rebuild of the machine following Nick’s method and was still experiencing OOM’s when flying the PMDG T7 into payware airports. I followed the recommendations mentioned in Kosta’s Flight Simulation Blog but wasn’t satisfied with losing out on some of the eye candy.
Part Two
I don’t give up easily. I continued reading and searching various forums. The only hopeful piece of information was reading about the possibility of a P3D 64 bit version of their flight simulator. While this is the way forward…it wouldn’t be happening any time soon. Finally I stumbled on this forum thread.
If you read that forum post, you’ll notice that many of the discussions are centered around all that I had previously done and described in Part One. However, if you look at the 9th reply posted by stretch1365 on 07 November 2013 he mentions something called “Steve’s Scenery Fixer”. This is actually a piece of software called SteveFX – DX10 Scenery Fixer and is available from The FlightSim Store. The price is $33 USD.
Based on what I had read in that forum post, this SteveFX – DX10 Scenery Fixer might just help me. It was worth $33 to find out. So I made the purchase, installed the software, read the instructions. I launched the software and performed the changes and enabled DX10 in FSX.
The moment of truth. I knew I could easily determine if I had wasted $33 by flying from KDEN to KLAX in the PMDG T7. So I set my sliders and everything else for what had triggered the OOM’s on approach into KLAX and departed KDEN running ActiveSky weather. I monitored the VAS using the Process Explorer and upon departure from KDEN, FSX was running approx. 2.4GB.
As I began the descent and approach into KLAX I kept my eye on Process Explorer and noticed it stayed under 3GB. I made the exact same approach into KLAX and made my turn onto final for runway 07R. Checking Process Explorer and about 10nm out from KLAX I was still under 3 GB. VAL crept up to slight over 3 GB as I landed. Success????
I conducted another test of loading up a flight from KLAX back to KDEN. Yes, I realize the T7 probably hates these short flights, but just hang in there. As I departed KLAX, heavy cloud cover blanketed the airfield. At take-off I was running a VAS of 2.6GB. No OOM’s and had a safe and happy landing back at KDEN. Success???
OK…it takes more to convince me. I next tested a flight from KDEN to KJFK (FSDT payware). Results were just what I had experienced with the KDEN to KLAX flight. In other words, my VAS does not creep up higher than about 3.2GB. Success???? Maybe….
I will continue to test and do plan to conduct several long-haul payware to payware flights. I will probably start with a KJFK to EGLL and then EGLL back to KDFW. I’ll be sure to post the outcome of these flights. But for now, yes I believe I have reached some level of success with the $33 investment. I’ve also tested many of my other aircraft (payware and freeware) and have not found any issues after the running the SteveFX – DX10 Scenery Fixer software.
Will the SteveFX – DX10 Scenery Fixer software work for you? All things being equal, I would say yes…but there are no guarantees.
Until next time…
Happy Flying !!!
Jerry
February 18, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments
Part One
While I’ve had my share of CTD’s (Crash to Desktop) in FSX over the years, I only recently began experiencing the dreaded Out of Memory (OOM) errors which plaque many. As a result, until I started experiencing the OOM’s I really didn’t know much about them, nor what truly caused these to happen. Likewise, I was also mis-informed about how to prevent them from happening. What? I’m running out of memory? Time to go to the hardware store and buy more RAM. WRONG!!!!!
Let’s break this down…..
FSX is a 32 bit Windows application. While I (and many others) suggest running Windows 7 64-bit OS on your Flight Sim computer, FSX is still a 32 bit application. Even with FSX installed on a Windows 7 64 bit computer, the maximum amount of VAS (virtual address space) available for FSX (and all the goodies installed for FSX) is just 4 GB. But hold the presses….you have 6, 8 or more GB of RAM. What is going on? Again, due to FSX and its 32 bit restriction, the best you can expect is a max of 4GB of VAS. Any more will trigger the OOM error and bring much frustration to your FS experience.
Now if you are running FSX on a Win 7 64 bit OS, consider yourself lucky. If you were running FSX on a 32 bit OS the best you would have is 2GB of VAS (3GB if tweaked). To my knowledge, there are no tweaks to get any more than 4GB in the 64 bit OS scenario.
There is a ton of knowledge published by many wonderful flight sim enthusiasts regarding these OOM errors and how best to prevent them from happening. Perhaps one of the best I’ve read is Kosta’s Flight Simulation World blog site. The link to his specific article on FSX, OOM and Addon VAS Usage is here.
Again, I’ve been flight simming since the early 1980’s and have been an FSX user since day one of its release. I’ve been running FSX on a Windows 7 64-bit OS computer with 6GB of RAM for over 3 years and I only began experiencing OOM errors. So what was my tipping point? Before I tell you what ended up being the straw that broke the camels back, allow me to give a brief history of the last 30 days.
For perhaps the past six months or so I’ve been saying to myself that I felt it was time to do a full and complete rebuild of my FSX machine. I’d been having a variety of issues (mostly performance issues) with the machine which had been running for about 3 years on this build. However, being the CEO of a relatively new VA, I just didn’t want to take the time away from flying to do a full reinstall.
I purchased the PMDG T7 about six weeks ago and was starting the process of learning to fly this beautiful aircraft. I read the manual and I watched a few great Youtube videos. The time was ready for me to make a flight from KDEN to KDFW. Yes, a short-haul flight in a long-haul aircraft. But I was limited on time and familiar with both airports…so figured it was a good first flight.
With exception of dragging the tail on take off, the flight was uneventful until I reached about 30 miles out of KDFW. I began hearing a dinging sound which I had never heard before. In my mind I’m trying to remember if I read anything in the PMDG manual about some type of audible warning. I had no visible errors on the T7. OK…no worries I’ll land at KDFW and then investigate what I did wrong to cause the dinging bell. Then just a few minutes later….I received my very first OOM error message and FSX shut down. Bummer…..
Remember, I had never experienced an OOM error before and with some of the other issues going on with my FSX machine…I decided the time was now to do a full reinstall of EVERYTHING.
When I build or rebuild my FSX machine, I follow the very sound advice outlined here in Nick’s FSX Bible for installing FSX. So after spending a couple of days getting Windows 7 setup and getting FSX installed and the add-ons, I was ready to once again take flight. But I also wanted to take the cautious approach and I made very good notes on what I installed and in what order. The PMDG T7 was one of the last payware aircraft I installed and was one of the last I got around to test.
As vAL (my virtual airline) continues to grow, we will expand and have plans to use the T7 to expand our cargo operations outside of North America. We will probably offer a freeware paint version of our aircraft and offer the PMDG payware version. In anticipation (still a few weeks out) of adding the T7, I needed to resume my practice in this awesome aircraft. So I loaded up another short flight (KDEN to KDFW) just like before and started my journey. Success. I landed in KDFW with no issues. Over the next few days I completed many other flights all over the US in many different types of aircraft (payware and default/freeware) and had no issues.
One other point I want to make. I love add-on scenery. I have just about everything in Orbx North America catalog and have all the FSDT US airports and also now own the Orbx FTX Global. My new FSX build really makes all the airports come to life and regardless if I’m flying VFR or IFR, low and slow or high and fast, it all looks good. I’ve really been pleased with the effort I put into the new build.
On Saturday, I completed a flight from KDEN to KMIA (default FSX to default FSX airport) in the PMDG T7 with no issue. However on Sunday I decided it was time to fly from KDEN to KLAX (default FSX airport to FSDT payware airport). The departure from KDEN was uneventful (no tail drag) and as I was approaching KLAX (about 30 miles out) I began hearing that blasted dinging sound. KLAX was landing west to east and as I made my turn to final out over the Pacific, OOM ERROR! DOH!!!!
How was this possible? Why did this happen? Is it PMDG’s fault? Most importantly, what must I do to fix this from happening?
I began reading and learning about OOM’s. Just about everything I read was telling me things I really didn’t want to hear. Suggestions such as disabling scenery I’m not using. Why? Why would I need to do this? I don’t have these issues with any other aircraft. I was starting to regret my PMDG purchase. But I forced myself to keep reading. To keep learning.
Because I so enjoyed flying the PMDG T7, I was willing to start moving sliders, backing AI traffic down and disabling scenery. I made a few small adjustments and began another flight from KDEN to KLAX. Boom….same place…OOM. Geez…. Really???
Oh, before I forget. I did install the Process Explorer software which is mentioned on Kosta’s blog site. Even with the tweaks I mentioned above, I was still maxing out VAS on approach into KLAX. More cuts would be needed.
I turned AI traffic down to almost nothing. I turned off ActiveSky weather and used FSX weather to setup a flight on a clear day. Finally I deactivated ALL add-on scenery with exception of FTX Global and KLAX. I once again departed KDEN and headed west to KLAX. I performed the same approach as I had done the two previous attempts and made my turn out over the Pacific. On final I was watching the VAS and it was creeping up, up, up. Just as the T7 touched down on runway 07R the VAS hit 4GB and the dinging started.
While I was successful at getting the aircraft parked and FSX shut down without the OOM error. What this was telling me was I would never be able to fly a long-range route and probably not be able to fly from payware airport to payware airport. I really didn’t like these terms….But I continued to turn down the sliders and made one more attempt. BINGO…I was able to fly from KDEN to KLAX without the OOM dings and my VAS stayed around 3.5 GB. But it was rather boring looking outside. I guess this is what it would be like if I wanted to fly the T7.
Now let me just quickly say that I do not blame PMDG. While the PMDG T7 appears to be the only aircraft that pushes me over my VAS limit, this is not PMDG’s fault. Remember, FSX is a 32 bit application with restrictions as I outlined in the beginning of this blog post. Should PMDG NOT have pushed the envelope as they did with the T7? Some may say PMDG should not have…but I say…Push it baby!!! It’s the only way we’re going to move past FSX. But this is another story.
I will tell you that I’m not satisfied with what I must do to fly the PMDG T7. I’ll tell you what I’ve done to resolve the issues in part two in the coming days. Stay tuned….
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
December 28, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
I’m increasing my collection of add-on scenery for the European region and just recently purchased the Aerosoft version of Gibraltar LXGB for FSX. This is a fantastic little airport and reminds me of my St. Maarten TNCM package I have from FlyTampa. I currently own scenery from Aerosoft, FlyTampa, FSDT, Orbx, and UK2000 and truly love them all.
I suppose one can quickly go broke on purchasing add-on scenery. One criteria I attempt to use in making a decision on whether to purchase a particular scenery package is the frequency I think I may use it along with just how much more the scenery package will enhance FSX. I really enjoy the KMIA to TNCM route in either a 737 or 757.
I’ve recently performed a lot of flights out of both London Heathrow and Gatwick, so adding those packages from UK2000 was an easy decision. I also picked up the UK2000 package for London City as that is a really neat airport and one I fly into in real life every other year or so. Plus I’m really looking forward to completing the EGLC-EINN-KJFK flight in an Airbus 318 soon.
Another factor I use in my decision is the level of difficulty a particular airport may offer. Perhaps better known as the “Wow” factor. I watched a History Channel program a few years ago called “Most Extreme Airports”. Gibraltar is identified as the 5th most extreme airport. If you are not familiar with this History Channel program, or just want to watch it again. It is available onYouTube. Fast forward to minute 33:00 for the Gibraltar LXGB segment.
Our simulated flight today is the British Airways flight 490 from London Heathrow to Gibraltar in the Airbus A320. Gate to gate time is 2 hours and 50 minutes. Our departure from Heathrow was uneventful.
Our route today
BAW490 departing EGLL runway 27L
Conditions for Gibraltar are showing winds 090 at 6kt. We’ll be landing on runway 09 which is the more difficult approach.
Thick clouds and light turbulence as we approach the southern coast of Spain.
Clearing as we continue the descent.
Approaching Victor
Flying the published approach and configured at gear down and flaps 3 upon crossing the 5 mile radar fix.
Beginning the turn after crossing the 3 mile radar fix. Airport and runway clearly in sight.
Just a slight cross wind and hoping the aircraft ahead will soon exit the runway.
BAW 490 Clear to land runway 09.
Slowing with plenty of runway to spare.
At the gate.
The Rock of Gibraltar in the background.
Terminal at Gibraltar
Additional detail shown for the LXGB scenery. Need to watch those towers on departure.
All-in-all I’m very pleased with my purchase of the Aerosoft Gibraltar scenery for FSX. If you like flying into and out of some of the worlds most extreme airports where weather, neighboring obstacles, traffic and shorter than normal runways are the featured attraction, then Gibraltar is an add-on I recommend.
Now to return back to Heathrow along with 127 vacationers and crew so that we can plan the next adventure.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
December 26, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
By now, if you follow any of the other sources which communicate the news happening in and around the flight simulation hobby, then you’ve heard about the guys over at World of AI will close their doors on 30 April 2013. I suppose of course on April 1 (or sometime soon after) they could always say….”April Fools”. But if this is the case, this might be the earliest recorded April Fools event in recorded history.
Here is the message (copy/paste) as posted on the WoAI website.
“After serving the FS community for a lot of years and having made several easy to install WOAI packages its time to look forward.
As many already noticed there was almost no activity at WOAI the last year.
To be honest, we are a bit tired of FS, most of us haven’t fired up FS for a long time and there are a lot of real life issues that come in the first place.
This has led to our decission to stop with World of AI.
At 30 April 2013 our website and support forum will go black.
This also mean that at 30 april 2013 we will remove all our packages and the installer from AVSIM and Flightsim.
We want to thank all the contributors to the World of AI packages for there trust in us by giving there permission to use there work the past years.
On behalve of World of AI.
Peter van der veen”
Now I don’t typically blog about flight sim news. I just don’t want to be that kind of blogger. My primary purpose for this blog is to simply document my adventures in the hobby and share some of my knowledge and opinions with others. The news about WoAI is of course bad news for our hobby….but it’s also not a death sentence. Meaning….our hobby will not come to an end just because the folks at WoAI are burned out.
There are many losers in this situation. The hobby as a whole will miss out on some truly quality AI aircraft and traffic packages. I’m sure it was a difficult decision for those who manage WoAI to make this very final decision. But the biggest losers (in my opinion) are all who have given their time to help develop and create, including all the model creators, texture painters and flight planners. Because it is these individuals who are really what is behind WoAI.
Flight simulation is a hobby. While it can certainly be a spring board to energize a young mind to a future career, what we do behind our computer screens is nothing more than a hobby. To my knowledge (and despite my own brainstorming many years ago) there is no way to earn a living flying a computer simulator in the way that we do. But I digress…
Of course, our hobby of flight simulation would be nothing without all the various companies who do profit (or try to profit) from developing and selling various pieces and parts. Our hobby, (like others) does have a certain cost involved. By the way, I blogged about the cost of a hobby a few years ago. That information is still applicable today. But the beauty of this (and any other hobby) are those who freely give of their time and talents to help make the hobby better and more accessible to all. I truly believe that World of AI falls directly into this category and will be missed by many.
The word hobby is defined as an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation. In the hobby of amateur radio (which I also enjoy) we have what is referred to as the amateur’s code. The amateur’s code is comprised of six elements including Considerate, Loyal, Progressive, Friendly, Balanced and Patriotic.
While I could certainly take each of these elements and wordsmith them to fit the hobby of flight simulation, the element “Balanced” is one that I really want to share here. Because the element “Balanced” in the radio amateur’s code also very much applies to the hobby of flight simulation and any other hobby that comes to mind.
Balanced – Radio Flight Simulation is a hobby, never interfering with duties owed to family, job, school or community.
Now I’m not suggesting that the folks at WoAI became un-balanced in their approach. But it appears they perhaps lost their way and lost focus on what was obviously once a passion. I believe if you let other related interests distract you from the main core interest (in this case the hobby of flight sim) it will eventually lead to burn out. Said another way, if you spend all your time developing and supporting the WoAI product and not actually spending time flying. Then it just simply becomes like a second job.
I’ve experienced burnout from the hobby of flight simulation many times and just about each time it has happened was not because I was spending too much time sitting behind the computer flying around. It was mostly due to other elements related some how to the hobby which caused a distraction. See, I believe when something designed to help relax you becomes too much like work…something in the process will break.
Now having said all this, I believe this is just the cycle of life. Comparing WoAI to our four seasons, it is clear WoAI hit their spring, summer and fall a long time ago. Just like the beautiful flowers my wife has planted outside all covered in snow, they will return this spring and will be bigger, better and more beautiful than before. Someone will come along behind WoAI and hopefully provide the same level of quality with renewed passion of providing a freeware alternative to the flight sim community.
In closing, I truly hope the folks at WoAI will reconsider. Perhaps taking time to visit the WoAI Forums and simply post a “Thank You” message along with a sympathetic and understanding message of support would help convince a change of mind. However, if WoAI truly have their minds made up, then I also must commend them on their decision to pull the plug. As I believe it is better for our hobby for WoAI to completely vanish then to linger in an unsupported and outdated environment. But this is just my opinion. Thank you for reading.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
December 24, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
As previously mentioned in my blog, I’ve really been having a lot of fun flying for British Airways virtual. I’ve accumulated many hours since joining just about a month ago and my travels have taken me to many European destinations. Since reaching Senior First Officer, I’ve been really having fun in the Level D 767. I’m only a handful of hours away from Captain and looking forward to some long haul routes.
It just so happened that I arrived back to London Heathrow from a flight I made yesterday down to Cyprus and decided today (Christmas Eve) that I would fly to Israel in time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This simulated flight is the British Airways BA163 from London Heathrow to Ben Gurion (LLBG) in Tel Aviv, Israel. Gate to gate time is just under 5 hours.
Our Route
It’s a crisp winter morning as the sun is just starting to rise on the capitol city. Our Airbus A321 is getting catering service.
Can’t forget to load the bags and cargo items.
Passengers have boarded, aircraft fueled and time for pushback.
The weather this morning is dry with a nice steady breeze from the west. Holding short runway 27L waiting for a company Airbus A319 to depart.
It’s our turn, BAW163, Position and Hold runway (line up and wait) 27L.
Climbing out with London Heathrow in the background.
Beginning our gradual turn to join the departure route.
Approx. 4 hours later we begin our descent.
Beginning our turn to join ILS for runway 12 at LLBG.
Almost there…
Parked and unloading our passengers. We were just a few minutes late as I performed a hold waiting for other inbound traffic. Great flight!
This flight was a lot of fun (aren’t they always). I hope you have some time over the holidays to spend time flying in the virtual world. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
