July 29, 2019 / admin / 0 Comments
While I’ve only been based at SFO a short time, I’m starting to sense a bit of an uneasy feeling. Some of our pilots have had their schedules cut and others temporarily furloughed. While I enjoy a relaxed schedule, I also need to work. After all, if we’re not flying…we’re not earning a living. I’m hopeful this is only short-term problem as it’s been over a week between flights for me. But hey…today I’m flying up to Portland and back.
Flight Details
I’m back in the right-hand seat and flying with a captain I’ve worked with before. We get along very well. He’s been my mentor for a while now and I’m always pleased to serve as his FO. In this case as is SFO at SFO. 
Perhaps I’ll have some time to speak to him and get a better understanding of what all is going on.
Our flight today is Alaska flight 800 in the Boeing 737-900 up to Portland (KPDX). Our alternate will be my old stomping grounds of Sea-Tac. Our block time today is just under 2 hours. We’re taking 16,000 lbs of fuel and have a planned cruising altitude of 34,000.
Route: TRUKN2 GRTFL DCT MACHU TMBRS2
It’s Time To Go
Today we’re in the “More To Love” livery which celebrates the merger between Alaska and Virgin America.
No flight can begin without a walk-around.
Time for push-back and hopefully an on-time departure. Today our taxi is a little longer as we’re departing from 28L.
Let’s Roll
Wheel’s Up
Climbing to cruise
The view on this side of the aircraft won’t change much as we fly up the coast of California into Oregon.
I believe that’s Mt. Hood just behind us.
Clouds are building as we begin our descent into Portland.
Making our turn to join the localizer for 10R
The Columbia River just below.
Cleared to land 10R
Nice
Credits
If you are interested in experiencing your own “A Pilot’s Life”, I highly recommend the A Pilot’s Life, by SimBitWorld add-on for Prepar3D, FSX and X-Plane. You can learn more about the A Pilot’s Life by visiting the SimBitWorld website and/or purchase APL at SimMarket. Also, please read my full review of A Pilot’s LIfe here.
Flight Simulator: Prepar3D v4.5 (hotfix 1)
Aircraft: PMDG 737-900
Airline: Alaska Airlines (ASA)
ATC: VATSIM
Airport Scenery: KSFO Flightbeam, KPDX Flightbeam
Terrain Scenery: Orbx Global Base, Orbx Vector, Orbx openLC North America, Orbx Northern California, Orbx Southern California, Orbx Pacific Northwest
Sky/Cloud Textures: REX 5 SkyForce and REX 5 Environment Force
Weather Generation: ActiveSky (ASP4)
Flight Planning: SimBrief, Navigraph, FlightAware, FlightRadar24
Note: If you are interested in any of the above mentioned add-ons. Visit my P3D Add-ons directory for links.
July 22, 2019 / admin / 0 Comments
Our new San Francisco adventure starts now and I’m really excited about this new opportunity. My first flight out of SFO will be a trip over to Vegas and back in the 737-800. I’ve flown into and out of SFO many times, but there’s something a little different about this first flight out, as now I’m based here. The good news is I’ve been really made to feel welcome by all the SFO based team and I’m starting to settle into my new home.
Flight Details
Today I’m serving as Sr. First Officer on Alaska flight 1932 with service to Las Vegas. Our flight today is in the Boeing 737-800. Our block time for this trip is 1 hour, 40 minutes and we require 14, 650 lbs. of fuel and our take-off weight is just over 148,000 lbs. This is a late afternoon flight and will be arriving into Vegas just around sunset.
Route: WESLA4 NTELL Q162 ESSAA DCT BTY SUNST4
Let’s Go Already
Our 738 is at the gate and being prepped for the flight. As Sr. First Officer, it’s my job to perform the walk around.
We start at the front and make our way around.
Inspecting the engine and control surfaces.
Making sure all lights are working as they should.
Then to the rear of the aircraft.
Tires and gear all look good. It’s time to head back inside.
Some things are still branded with Virgin America, but that will soon change I’m sure. Time for push-back.
Push-back and two successful engine starts. It’s time to taxi out to 01L. Don’t worry…it’s a short taxi.
Line up and wait. We’re waiting on a United B788 landing on 28L.
Blasting off 01L at KSFO on our way to Vegas.
Making our left turn to circle around SFO and join the departure out of the Bay area.
Climbing up to FL370.
The sun is setting and the moon is rising as we enter our cruise phase.
Beginning our descent on the Las Vegas SUNST4 Arrival.
The view from my office window.
Beautiful sunset
The Vegas strip just off our left side.
On final approach.
Cleared to land
Parked at the gate and deboarding. We’re set to return to SFO tonight.
Credits
If you are interested in experiencing your own “A Pilot’s Life”, I highly recommend the A Pilot’s Life, by SimBitWorld add-on for Prepar3D, FSX and X-Plane. You can learn more about the A Pilot’s Life by visiting the SimBitWorld website and/or purchase APL at SimMarket. Also, please read my full review of A Pilot’s LIfe here.
Flight Simulator: Prepar3D v4.5 (hotfix 1)
Aircraft: PMDG 737-800
Airline: Alaska Airlines (ASA)
ATC: VATSIM
Airport Scenery: KSFO Flightbeam, FlyTampa KLAS
Terrain Scenery: Orbx Global Base, Orbx Vector, Orbx openLC North America, Orbx Northern California, Orbx Southern California
Sky/Cloud Textures: REX 5 SkyForce and REX 5 Environment Force
Weather Generation: ActiveSky (ASP4)
Flight Planning: SimBrief, Navigraph, FlightAware, FlightRadar24
Note: If you are interested in any of the above mentioned add-ons. Visit my P3D Add-ons directory for links.
July 18, 2019 / admin / 0 Comments
I know I’m not the only one who enjoys simulating their real world flights either before or after any trip. I’m actually a little superstitious about it to be honest. In the past dozen years or so, there’s only been one real world trip which I didn’t fly in the sim before hand. It was a few months ago when I received the word that my Mom had passed away. I rushed out to KDEN and jumped on a Southwest Boeing 737-700 and flew to Austin. When I got back home a week later and found myself in the mood to spend some time in Prepar3D, I setup that flight in memory of my mom. I think she would have appreciated that. After all, flight simulation has been a hobby I’ve been involved with since I was a teenager back in the early 1980’s.
Memorable Flights
I’ve had many. When I first moved to Denver back in the late 90’s, I would fly to visit my family in Texas. Before hand I would simulate an American Airlines flight from KDEN to KDFW in one of my favorite aircraft the MD80. After landing at KDFW, I would jump in a Saab 340B and simulate the quick flight down to Killeen – Fort Hood Regional. Then I would do the reverse.
Of course, in my job I’ve traveled a lot. Some domestic and many trips overseas. After all it was a business trip back in 2001 which led to me meeting my now wife. But regardless if I traveled domestically or international, I set aside the time to simulate the roundtrip flights before I head to the airport in real life.
London Calling
By the time you read this, my wife and I will be halfway through our European vacation. Once again we’re headed cross the pond from Denver to London Heathrow via the Queen herself a beautiful Boeing 747-400. A trip I’ve made about a dozen times. Anyway, we’ll spend a few days in the English countryside before heading to Antwerp, Belgium (family visit) on the Eurostar for a week, then back to the English Countryside for another week and then back home to Denver.
A few weeks ago I completed the first leg of the trip and flew my PMDG 747-400 from Denver to London Heathrow. On Thursday, 4th of July I completed the return leg and captured the following screenshots of the trip.
Of course, no trip of this magnitude can be completed without snacks. I’ve gotta say, the food British Airways serves in their business class is top-shelf and the drinks are nice as well. 
I would have snapped a picture of the bags being loaded, but GSX being GSX decided to use belt loaders which just looked really silly. So here we are being pushed back from our stand at London’s Heathrow (UK2000) airport (one of my favorite airports in the world).
Pushback complete, time to taxi out to 27R
Once you get this big girl rolling, she just wants to fly and fly she does. I don’t fly the Queen near as much as I wish I could.
Well on our way across the Atlantic. Personally I find the return trip to be a lot easier than the eastbound trip. I think it has to do with flying during all daylight hours.
If you happen to live or have visited the Denver area, then you know all about our late afternoon thunderstorms. They can wreak havoc with on-time departures and can cause holds while these powerful, but quick moving storms move near Denver International. In the below, we’re approaching KDEN for the ILS 16L approach with storms brewing just northwest of the field.
Touchdown imminent. 9 hours, 45 minutes after pushing back from Heathrow we safely touchdown on runway 16L at KDEN (Flightbeam).
And with that…I’m ready to board the Queen for what might be my last flight aboard a Boeing 747-400. As most will know, United Airlines retired their last 744 in 2017 and with that it marked the end of any US carrier flying the Queen. Other airlines including British Airways have also started the process of replacing their 747 fleet with 777’s, 787’s and others from that other aircraft manufacture.
As a point of reference, when I began flying British Airways between Denver and London (2001 timeframe), BA operated the 777-200 on this route. They changed to the 747-400 in Spring of 2015. While BA’s plan to reduce the number of 747-400’s by 50% in 2021, the Queen may still fly until 2024. But who really knows what the future holds…
Until next time….God Save The Queen!
Jerry
July 15, 2019 / admin / 0 Comments
Just a little clarification. As my storyteller series continues to unfold, I’m going to be taking a new job in APL with Virgin America. As Virgin America was acquired by Alaska Airlines and fully merged in 2018, for the sake of this continuing story line…I’m going to continue to fly for Alaska. But be based in San Francisco. APL will think of me employed by Virgin America…but I’ll follow the real world situation and consider myself still employed by Alaska. Confused? Hopefully not….
Present Day
Upon returning from the Las Vegas trip, I had a few days off and needed to give serious thought to my future plans. The way I saw it, I had three possible doors to open and walk through. Thankfully I knew what was behind each door. The hard part was deciding. Would it be door #1, door #2 or door #3?
I also suppose there could have been a 4th option, but I just don’t have the brain power to think about that option right now.
Door #1 is basically stay with Alaska and stay in Seattle. I could continue flying mostly the same routes I’ve been flying.
Door #2 would have me accept the transfer down to San Francisco and operate the old Virgin America routes. Most likely I would stay in the Boeing 73x aircraft. But could certainly work through the process of getting type rated on the Airbus A320. This option would certainly better assist me down the road.
Door #3 is to look at the list of offers I have available. I really didn’t want to take a step back in pay and my ultimate goal is to eventually get hired on by a 5 star airline. As far as I’m concerned, this can wait until I reach the rank of captain. I’m really in no rush.
A part of me feels that Alaska needs/wants me to go to San Fran. After all, if they didn’t…they wouldn’t have offered it. So I must be doing something right. Again…decisions, decisions.
OK….
Done! We’re moving to the Bay Area. Might as well.
Flight Details
All my belongings are packed and being moved down to the San Francisco area. My car is also being shipped down and while I’m still in Seattle, I managed to get assigned to a flight down. Might as well earn some money and XP in the process right? Right!
Today I’ll be serving as Sr. First Officer on Alaska flight 1740 with non-stop service to San Francisco. Our flight today is in the Boeing 737-800 with a total block fuel of 17,141 lbs. and a take-off weight of 159,232 lbs. Our block time is 2 hours and 10 minutes and our cruising altitude is 35,000.
Route: HAROB6 FEPOT Q3 FOWND MLBEC BDEGA3
Time To Go
The feeling is somewhat bitter sweet. While I know this won’t be the last time I fly into Sea-Tac, I’ve truly enjoyed calling this airport home. I’ve enjoyed living in the Seattle area, but looking forward to finding out what life is like in San Fran. While I know this isn’t permanent, SFO will be my new home for the foreseeable future.
For my big send off, Alaska has matched me up with one of the old black/white liveries. She’s a classic for sure and I’m honored to have one last opportunity to fly this livery before they are all repainted. Obviously, Alaska has been most concerned with getting all the Virgin America Airbus aircraft updated first. After all, branding means everything.
We’re all buttoned up and ready to push back.
Push back the Boeing 737-900
Holding short runway 16L. We all bow to the Queen. A Boeing 747-400 landing 16L.
Once the Queen vacated the runway, it was our time to blast off for SFO. Bye Bye Sea-Tac. See you sometime soon.
Turning to join our departure course.
Climbing out above the clouds.
Descending into what will be my new home for a while. Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge just out of the Captains window.
Silicon Valley
Clear to land, runway 25L
Almost there….
Short final for 25L.
At the gate, SFO.
The sign above the door says it all. Or at least tells us we landed at the correct airport. This day and age, that fact is not always a given.
I’m here and a new adventure begins at SFO. We have a busy schedule of flights which start almost immediately. For me, A Pilot’s Life has really helped to give purpose to my virtual flying. APL makes you think, it makes you plan and it makes you work hard to gain both experience as well as money.
I truly hope you are enjoying this storyteller series and I hope you’ll tune back in for the next episode next week.
Thanks again and happy flying!
Jerry
Credits
If you are interested in experiencing your own “A Pilot’s Life”, I highly recommend the A Pilot’s Life, by SimBitWorld add-on for Prepar3D, FSX and X-Plane. You can learn more about the A Pilot’s Life by visiting the SimBitWorld website and/or purchase APL at SimMarket. Also, please read my full review of A Pilot’s LIfe here.
Flight Simulator: Prepar3D v4.5 (hotfix 1)
Aircraft: PMDG 737-900
Airline: Alaska Airlines (ASA)
ATC: VATSIM
Airport Scenery: KSEA Drzewiecki Design, KSFO Flightbeam
Terrain Scenery: Orbx Global Base, Orbx Vector, Orbx openLC North America, Orbx NA Pacific Northwest, Orbx Northern California, Orbx Southern California
Sky/Cloud Textures: REX 5 SkyForce and REX 5 Environment Force
Weather Generation: ActiveSky (ASP4)
Flight Planning: SimBrief, Navigraph, FlightAware, FlightRadar24
Note: If you are interested in any of the above mentioned add-ons. Visit my P3D Add-ons directory for links.
July 8, 2019 / admin / 0 Comments
Hello and welcome back to another installment of my “A Pilot’s Life Storyteller Series”. As you might recall when we were last together, we landed in Las Vegas (Alaska Flight 634) and were due to return back to Seattle that afternoon/evening. Let’s get right into the action.
Present Day
I’m still contemplating my options as it relates to my career with Alaska. I will admit that a change of scenery will do well for me. My contract with Alaska is up and in reviewing the job offers out there, I do have options.
As you can see below, Alaska has offered me the option to move to San Francisco and work in what was the old Virgin America division. The pay is a step forward as my current pay rate is $39.39 per hour and Alaska is offering me $39.55. The next best choice for me would be to leave Alaska and of that list, Southwest Airlines is the most attractive. Southwest has offered me a job before and each time they up the ante. So I’d rather keep moving up if at all possible. Decisions…decisions.
Flight Details
This is the return flight from Las Vegas back to Seattle, Alaska flight 635. Our planned fuel for this trip back to Seattle is 19,640 lbs and our TOW is 161,731. Our cruising altitude will be 34,000 with a total block time of 2 hours and 36 minutes.
Flight Plan: SHEAD1 OAL LOMIA LKV HAWKZ7
Are you Ready?
We’re running slightly late as we had a passenger who hadn’t boarded, so their bags had to be removed from the aircraft as standard procedure. The ground crew needs to move a cart out of the way and then bring the tug around. We’ll be pushing back in just a few minutes.
Push back underway and along with that is engine start.
Tug disconnected and we’re given the all clear.
Leaving Las Vegas
Climbing out on our departure SID.
A noticeable Washington landmark just above the clouds off the right wing. (Mount Rainer)
Typical cloudy afternoon as we make our way along the arrival route.
The view from my office window.
Almost home as we fly near downtown Seattle.
Hello Boeing…..
Safely back where we started about 6 hours earlier.
I’m not scheduled to fly for a few days and need to give Alaska Airlines my decision by end of the week if I want to consider the move to SFO. I’ll admit, I’m certainly leaning in that direction.
Credits
If you are interested in experiencing your own “A Pilot’s Life”, I highly recommend the A Pilot’s Life, by SimBitWorld add-on for Prepar3D, FSX and X-Plane. You can learn more about the A Pilot’s Life by visiting the SimBitWorld website and/or purchase APL at SimMarket. Also, please read my full review of A Pilot’s LIfe here.
Flight Simulator: Prepar3D v4.5 (hotfix 1)
Aircraft: PMDG 737-900
Airline: Alaska Airlines (ASA)
ATC: VATSIM
Airport Scenery: KSEA Drzewiecki Design, KLAS FlyTampa
Terrain Scenery: Orbx Global Base, Orbx Vector, Orbx openLC North America, Orbx NA Pacific Northwest, Orbx Northern California, Orbx Southern California
Sky/Cloud Textures: REX 5 SkyForce and REX 5 Environment Force
Weather Generation: ActiveSky (ASP4)
Flight Planning: SimBrief, Navigraph, FlightAware, FlightRadar24
Note: If you are interested in any of the above mentioned add-ons. Visit my P3D Add-ons directory for links.
July 4, 2019 / admin / 0 Comments
Good morning, good afternoon and/or good evening and thank you for returning to our 5th installment in this Storyteller series focusing on A Pilot’s Life. A few things to catch you up on. In the last installment, we traveled from Ketchikan back to Seattle. This was the last flight of the month as I completed it on 31 May. As I get paid monthly, I received a nice paycheck on 1 June and have already made a few strategic purchases which will assist me in gaining more XP per flight. As you can see from the screenshot below of the main APL program screen, my bank account has had a nice $2,253.60 in it.
After purchasing two items in the APL Shop which consisted of a mobile phone and a flight bag, I now only have $983.60. These two purchases will earn me an additional 15% XP per each flight and help me to gain my promotion to the rank of Captain just a little quicker.
While I could have purchased the headset instead of the mobile phone and gained a total of 20% XP, I’m trying to be somewhat practical with these purchases. After all, who doesn’t own a cell phone in this day and age. Next month I’ll make additional purchases.
Present Day
I’m hearing about an opportunity I may soon have to transfer down to San Francisco. As a Sr. First Officer who will soon be moving up and over to the left seat as Captain, I suppose Alaska is looking to ensure I stay both motivated as well keep from burning out by flying back and forth from Sea-Tac. I must admit that I do like the idea of a change of scenery. SFO was the main hub for Virgin America and after the merger, Alaska kept SFO as a hub. I’ll be sure and keep you informed if this move becomes reality.
Flight Details
Today we’re operating Alaska flight 634 with service from Seattle down to Las Vegas. Our flight departs at 10:30 AM. Our planned fuel for this trip is 31,335 lbs and our take off weight is 162,046 lbs. with a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. Our block time is 2 hours and 38 minutes.
Flight Plan: SUMMA1 LKV RYANN J92 BTY SUNST4
Let’s Get Going
This will be a turnaround flight for me. While I enjoy the overnight stays in Vegas, my bank account can do without the possible gambling losses which might be incurred if I were to not have the best of luck. Let’s face it, my luck in Vegas the past few trips hasn’t been the best. I lost BIG TIME at the roulette table and ended up falling off the mechanical bull. But as they say….what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.
Today we’re flying the Boeing 737-900 with the special 100th year Boeing livery. ServAir is stocking up the aircraft galley.
Next of course comes the bags. We’re set for an on-time departure.
A little help from our friends…
Holding short at 16L
Blasting off and on the way to Vegas.
Just a little hazy this morning. We’re now above the clouds of the Seattle area. Nothing but clear skies to Vegas.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you direct your attention to the left side of the aircraft you’ll see the Vegas strip where I’m sure all of your hard earned money will be left. Welcome to Vegas Baby!
Typical Vegas weather has us landing on the 26’s.
Lake Mead in the background.
Easy does it. I personally love this photo. The sky, the shadows.
Some Southwest aircraft parked at LAS.
At our gate and shutting down. The ground crew needs to get us turned around in less than an hour.
That’s all for now. Tune back in next time for the flight back to Seattle.
Credits
If you are interested in experiencing your own “A Pilot’s Life”, I highly recommend the A Pilot’s Life, by SimBitWorld add-on for Prepar3D, FSX and X-Plane. You can learn more about the A Pilot’s Life by visiting the SimBitWorld website and/or purchase APL at SimMarket. Also, please read my full review of A Pilot’s LIfe here.
Flight Simulator: Prepar3D v4.5 (hotfix 1)
Aircraft: PMDG 737-900
Airline: Alaska Airlines (ASA)
ATC: VATSIM
Airport Scenery: KSEA Drzewiecki Design, KLAS FlyTampa
Terrain Scenery: Orbx Global Base, Orbx Vector, Orbx openLC North America, Orbx NA Pacific Northwest, Orbx Northern California, Orbx Southern California
Sky/Cloud Textures: REX 5 SkyForce and REX 5 Environment Force
Weather Generation: ActiveSky (ASP4)
Flight Planning: SimBrief, Navigraph, FlightAware, FlightRadar24
Note: If you are interested in any of the above mentioned add-ons. Visit my P3D Add-ons directory for links.
July 1, 2019 / admin / 0 Comments
A few weeks ago I discussed the completely out of the blue announcement Microsoft dropped on the world regarding their planned release of what they have titled “Microsoft Flight Simulator”. Of course depending on what you are reading and where you are reading it, you might also see it referenced as Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. The 2020 has been added by folks in the community simply because the anticipated release date is sometime in the year 2020.
Beware False Prophets
Almost overnight we’ve seen many in the community come out as “Experts” and “Insiders” when just about the only thing they are an expert or insider on is the art of BS. I find it extremely interesting that literally a few “no bodies” in the community were some how, or another privy to info from Microsoft, when many of the legit major players in the FSX and P3D communities were just as blinded sided as the rest of us. So my advice, is take anything you see/hear from some folks on YouTube as complete and udder BS for now. Some folks will do just about anything for a few extra clicks here and a few extra subs there….With that said….I’ll continue.
Word From Microsoft
Microsoft provided a bit of additional information a few weeks ago in the form of an announcement which can be read here. In this announcement, Microsoft attempted to clear the air on several important areas in the bullet points I’ve pasted below:
- We are making Microsoft Flight Simulator. Emphasis on the word SIMULATOR.
- Designed for PC, optimized for multiplatform support (e.g. Xbox).
- Yes. We are supporting 3rd Party Content Development and Community Content creation. We are aware of the concerns in the current eco-system and are working to address them.
- Yes. We genuinely want to work closely with the community in the development of this title.
- Accessibility is important to us. Whatever your abilities are, if you want to fly, we are going to do whatever we can to make that happen. Yoke and pedals, mouse and keyboard, controller, etc. No pilot should be left behind.
My Thoughts
I’ve received a few emails from some of you asking about my thoughts and even asking for advice regarding the subject of MSFS 2020. Bottom line is I’m still hopeful and I’m also excited about what this could mean for the future of flight simulation. However, until we know even more than what we do now (and let me just say, we still don’t know a whole lot), I’m going to continue flying and enjoying Prepar3D version 4.
One of the big questions I’ve been asked more than once is whether or not I’m going to stop investing in P3D and P3D scenery. The assumption (and I agree) is anything currently available for FSX/P3D will not be compatible with MSFS 2020. I’ve often said that I believe at some point we’re going to need to yank the band-aid off and say goodbye to old/outdated add-ons that will only continue to be a boat anchor to any forward progress we want to have in any simulator. But in the mean time, if an add-on comes out for P3D that I’m truly interested in…then most likely I’ll purchase that add-on.
These are very exciting times we live in and I believe we best buckle our seat belt, as it looks like it will only get better. Remember, competition is always a good thing. Competition helps to produce better products, more affordable products and sometimes forces those who can’t keep up out of business. It’s just how business works.
The expectation is we may start hearing more from Microsoft later this summer (August timeframe). I’ll certainly be watching, listening and reading and may from time to time provide my opinions here on my blog site. But I think we’re all in a holding pattern until more is known. This is really all I know.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
June 24, 2019 / admin / 0 Comments
My R&R break in Ketchikan has drawn to a close and it’s time for me to get back to work. Perhaps not as much as I want to, but truly need to. It’s quickly approaching the end of the month of May (as I’m writing this) and as we only get paid once per month, I need to rack up as many flight hours as possible. This flight back to Seattle will be the last flight of the month. As also mentioned on the S1, E2 update, this flight also completes my current schedule with Alaska. I will receive another schedule upon my return to Sea-Tac. I’m still thinking about my future and most likely will discuss that next time.
Present Day
I truly enjoyed the past few days I’ve spent in Ketchikan. But it’s time for me to return back to work. Once again we have beautiful weather here and this will be a late afternoon departure back to Seattle. While the Ketchikan area has many endearing qualities, I think the people are what I truly like about my visits here.
Flight Details
Today we’re operating Alaska flight 9248 with non-stop service from Ketchikan back to Seattle. This flight originated in Anchorage and many of our passengers were part of that flight. Our flight departs at 19:35. Our planned fuel for this trip is 15,743 lbs and our take-off weight is 149,457 lbs. with a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. Block time is 2 hours.
Flight Plan: ANN YJQ YYJ MARNR7
Let’s get going…
We’re in our standard livery today for this B738. We’re ready to go and just waiting on the ground crew to disconnect ground services and get the tug connected. Time is money…
Cleared to start engines and engine #2 is spinning up.
As we taxi up the hill towards runway 11, the sun is setting.
We’re lined up and waiting for our take-off clearance. We had a departing Cessna in front of us. While we have no worries from his lack of wake turbulence, the last thing that pilot wants to see in his rear-view mirror is a Boeing 738. 
But he’s headed for Sitka, so he’ll be turning and proceeding NW soon.
With the departing Cessna out of the way, it’s wheels up for Alaska 9248.
Continuing our climb up to FL350.
Beautiful weather for flying.
That just about does it for the sun for this day.
And now for the wing view.
Of course the problem with flying at night is…..
Cleared to land runway 16L at Sea-Tac.
Just a few more seconds…..
There we go…a smooth touchdown. Yea…I suppose it’s also good to be back home.
Parked at the gate and beginning our shutdown checklist.
As previously stated, this flight marks the end of my schedule. We get 10 flights scheduled to us at one time. My new schedule set has me returning back to Las Vegas, Portland, San Francisco, Salt Lake City and finally back up to Juneau.
As I don’t want to commit to any decisions at this time, I most likely will take the Las Vegas flights out and back. I should then be close to the end of the 7 day waiting period on my Sr. First Officer contract and will look at all my options. The deciding factors will be hourly salary and routes. As you can tell from the image below, these are the flights I’ve completed with Sun Country (based in KMSP) and Alaska (based in Seattle). I’d also still love to get hired by a 5 star airline like American, United etc. Time will tell.
Thanks for reading. I’ll keep you posted on my decisions. Talk to you once again soon.
Credits
If you are interested in experiencing your own “A Pilot’s Life”, I highly recommend the A Pilot’s Life, by SimBitWorld add-on for Prepar3D, FSX and X-Plane. You can learn more about the A Pilot’s Life by visiting the SimBitWorld website and/or purchase APL at SimMarket. Also, please read my full review of A Pilot’s LIfe here.
Flight Simulator: Prepar3D v4.5 (hotfix 1)
Aircraft: PMDG 737-800
Airline: Alaska Airlines (ASA)
ATC: VATSIM
Airport Scenery: KSEA Drzewiecki Design, Orbx Ketchikan
Terrain Scenery: Orbx Global Base, Orbx Vector, Orbx openLC North America, Orbx NA Pacific Northwest, NA Pacific Fjords
Sky/Cloud Textures: REX 5 SkyForce and REX 5 Environment Force
Weather Generation: ActiveSky (ASP4)
Flight Planning: SimBrief, Navigraph, FlightAware, FlightRadar24
Note: If you are interested in any of the above mentioned add-ons. Visit my P3D Add-ons directory for links.
June 20, 2019 / admin / 0 Comments
While I’ve been thinking about this subject for a few weeks, I really was prompted to actually sit down at the computer and pour my thoughts into WordPress for you all to read. The subject of this writing has to do with add-on developers duplicating each others efforts. Understand, I’m not referring to stealing, copying or anything underhanded.
Earlier today the flight simulation community learned a brand new Las Vegas, KLAS airport scenery had been released by scenery developer FlyTampa. I’m familiar with FlyTampa and own two of their add-on airports including TNCM (St. Maarten) and KTPA (Tampa). On my wish list I have Amsterdam (EHAM), Chicago Midway (KMDW), Boston (KBOS) and with the word MAYBE beside it I now have Las Vegas (KLAS).
For the past 8+ years I’ve owned the add-on scenery for Las Vegas from FSDreamTeam. For the most part, I’ve been very pleased with their scenery. As a matter of fact, I’ve been so pleased with FSDreamTeam that I own a total of 16 of their add-on airport sceneries. The only developer which tops them in the number of products I own would be Orbx. Anyway…
Back to the Question at Hand
Generally speaking, as consumers, we see duplication of effort everywhere we look. Go to the grocery store and you’ll find multiple brands of products that essentially do the exact same thing. Out on the highway, you’ll see different types of automobiles which all do the exact same thing. Even in the very industry we simulate through flight simulation we have Boeing versus Airbus and American versus United. Let’s also not forget we have Prepar3D versus XPlane. I think the saying, “Variety is the Spice of Life” comes to mind here. Also, competition is always a good thing.
But is competition such a good thing in our hobby? I’d say YES and NO!
In the example of FSDreamTeam’s Las Vegas, it’s been out for about 10 years. Originally developed for both FSX and FS9 (Flight Simulator 2004) and made compatible for Prepar3D (including v4) it is starting to show its age. Having said that, much of the other FSDT scenery I own (with exception of KMEM and KSDF) were all purchased for FSX and FSDT has updated them for P3Dv4 at no out of pocket cost. Said in another way, the vast majority of the 16 products I own from FSDreamTeam were purchased 7-10 years ago and the developer has worked to make them compatible with P3Dv4 and I didn’t have to spend any money. This is one reason why FSDT has remained one of my favorite developers and why I try to support them every chance I get.
Back to the competition question and why I say it’s both a good thing and a bad thing. First let’s get the bad out of the way. When I hear of an add-on developer creating airport scenery for an airport which already exists via another developer, I think to myself just how many other airports in the world which we don’t have represented with accurately detailed add-on scenery? In other words, instead of recreating an airport that already exists by an established developer…why not select another airport?
As for the reasons why it can be a good thing, well in the case of FSDT’s KLAS which was developed for FS9/FSX, FlyTampa’s KLAS is 100% P3Dv4 including PBR textures which of course is the brand new buzz word around the P3D community. LOL No, PBR doesn’t stand for Pabst Blue Ribbon…it stands for Physical Based Rendering and in simple terms PBR offers lighting techniques that treats light the way it really behaves in the real world. When applied to an aircraft (as an example), the materials which make up the aircraft look more realistic.
As I said…
Competition is a good thing. Not only can it help to keep the cost to the consumer low, it also can assist in keeping everyone on their toes. But if you blink….then bad things can happen. In the case of FSDreamTeam and their KLAS scenery…THEY BLINKED and FlyTampa pounced.
Like any other piece of software, FlyTampa didn’t decide last week or last month to develop their version of KLAS. Most likely it’s been in the works for some time. As I’ve stated before in other writings, compared to other gaming communities…the flight simulation community is rather small. These 3rd party development teams are also small in size. The PMDG wiki page states there are 8 employees. So these things take time. But in the case of FSDT, I see no signs they were planning to make any major updates to KLAS and with the recent hype around FlyTampa’s version, I’m most certain FSDT won’t bother.
Bottom Line
There’s very little brand loyalty in the flight sim community. If my wife sends me into the store to purchase a cold soda, I better come out with a red can in my hand. In other words, she drinks coca-cola or she’ll go without and I’ll get one of those looks if I even think otherwise. You know the look I’m talking about. Right?
On a related note, FSDreamTeam has been in the process of developing a version 2 for Chicago O Hare KORD. I believe it’s been in the works for almost two years. As is the case with most projects like this, no release date is known at this time. FSDT’s KORD will be amazing and it’s badly needed. However, another relatively new developer called Skyline Sim announced they were working on their own KORD (and other airports as well). Time will only tell…
For now, I plan to pull the trigger on FlyTampa’s version of Las Vegas. I’ll uninstall FSDT’s version and continue moving forward.
Until next time…
Viva Las Vegas!
Jerry
June 17, 2019 / admin / 0 Comments
Thank you for returning for another edition of our “A Pilot’s Life” Storyteller series. When we were last together (S1, E2) I had just completed a flight from Seattle up to Ketchikan, Alaska. I mentioned I planned to spend a few days of R&R while there. So this edition won’t really be so much about the APL application as it’s just going to serve as a brief break from flying jets and give me some time to enjoy flying a little lower and slower and taking in all the eye candy that is this region of Alaska and Canada.
Present Day
I’ve been in Ketchikan the past couple of days and have just one full day before I’m due to return back to Seattle on Alaska flight 9249. This will complete my third schedule set with Alaska and I’ll apply for a new set and then see how things look once I’m eligible to apply for other airlines. But this week has all been about having some fun. The weather has been truly amazing with VFR flight conditions each day. So far I’ve managed to spend some time flying, fishing and just doing a little exploring. Mostly I’ve been able to relax and enjoy my time off. They say “membership has its privileges” and rightfully so. This is a pretty darn good life if you ask me.
As this is my last full day, I thought I would rent a Cessna 182 and depart Ketchikan and head east to Stewart, British Columbia, Canada. As I’m also trying to make friends where I can, I asked if there was anything which needed to go to or picked up from Stewart. As long as it would safely fit in a 182, I’m happy to take it. I’m really just planning to fly to Stewart, land and have lunch. Perhaps stroll through town and then head back to Ketchikan.
Doug (the guy that works at the rental desk) knows a guy that knows a guy that knows this other guy. Anyway, there is a package on Annette Island which needs to go to Dawson Creek. The timing isn’t an issue and they figure someone in Stewart will move it along. So the plan will be to depart Ketchikan, fly the 18nm to Annette Island, load the package and then head 76nm northeast to Stewart, BC. Sounds like a fun day.
Of course, we’re not going to fly as the crow would. Especially not on the second leg. I’ll take the safer and longer route and fly along the Portland Canal which makes up the border between the US (Alaska) and British Columbia (Canada).
It’s mid-morning and I show up at the Ketchikan rental facility and directed down to the lower level where my Cessna 182 is waiting for me.
As I’m taxing up the ramp, I see another Alaska 737-800 has just arrived. Most likely from Seattle.
The wind this morning is out of the north, so we’ll be departing runway 29.
Holding short runway 29 awaiting an approaching DHC-2 Beaver on final.
We’re issued our take-off clearance and we get moving. We were allowed to do a 180 degree turn and proceed direct to Annette Island.
Runway in sight, first leg is almost in the books.
We accept the package and quickly resume our travels. My stomach is already growling. I’ve heard there is a little cafe that makes a great burger in Stewart.
We’re back in the air and made our way across Duke Island and the Revilagigedo Channel. We’re now entering the canal. At this point in our flight we experienced a bit of turbulence as we crossed the channel. But all seems smooth for now.
Besides my stomach rumbling, we’re in no hurry and making great time. This second leg is obviously made longer since we didn’t go direct. But hey…I’m on vacation and the weather is amazing. So are the views.
At this point in the flight I’ve switched the auto-pilot off and just enjoying hand flying the aircraft along the canal. The air is nice and smooth.
I begin the descent into Stewart and the ride gets pretty bumpy and choppy.
The approach is an easy one. But at this point in the flight I’m feeling some pretty gnarly cross-wind action. Each time I think about taking a screenshot, I’m reminded I need to concentrate.
On the ground, safely….not too sure just how hungry I am at this point. But I’m sure once I park up and walk around a bit I’ll feel better.
Just spoke to the guy in the yellow shirt. He landed about 10 minutes before I did. I swear I saw him kneel down and kiss the ground just a minute ago. LOL It was a fun approach and landing. I’m thankful for rudder pedals.
Time to go find that $100 hamburger now. That older gentleman sitting down over there will take the package from me.
It’s been a fun, short and very adventurous flight. Looking forward to the return later this afternoon, then it’s back in the Boeing 738 and back to Sea-Tac.
Thanks for reading!
JT
Credits
If you are interested in experiencing your own “A Pilot’s Life”, I highly recommend the A Pilot’s Life, by SimBitWorld add-on for Prepar3D, FSX and X-Plane. You can learn more about the A Pilot’s Life by visiting the SimBitWorld website and/or purchase APL at SimMarket. Also, please read my full review of A Pilot’s LIfe here.
Flight Simulator: Prepar3D v4.5 (hotfix 1)
Aircraft: A2A Cessna 182
Airline: n/a
ATC: VATSIM
Airport Scenery: Orbx Ketchikan (PAKT), Orbx Stewart (CZST)
Terrain Scenery: Orbx Global Base, Orbx Vector, Orbx openLC North America, Orbx NA Pacific Northwest, NA Pacific Fjords
Sky/Cloud Textures: REX 5 SkyForce and REX 5 Environment Force
Weather Generation: ActiveSky (ASP4)
Flight Planning: SimBrief, Navigraph, FlightAware, FlightRadar24, SkyVector
Note: If you are interested in any of the above mentioned add-ons. Visit my P3D Add-ons directory for links.
