September 15, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
As I pointed out early on in our WorldFlight tour, most of the airports we’ve landed/departed from are default scenery airports. While for the most part, the runway and taxiway configurations are somewhat accurate…the other buildings and such are not. I use the word “somewhat” because much of what we see in default Prepar3D is all based on FSX scenery. Or said another way, much of what we see in P3D, is how things looked waaaay back in the 2006 timeframe. Once we depart Ottawa, the next several destinations including Minneapolis/St. Paul (KMSP), Jackson Hole (KJAC), Vancouver BC (CYVR) and Sitka Alaska (PASI) will be payware scenery which very closely represents the true look of the airports.
To sync things up with my current real world schedule, I’m writing this blog update on the 12 of August and it will appear for you to read on the 15 of September. We’ve yet to leave for Europe and when you’re reading this we’ve been back at home about a week. I plan to fly and write up one more update post before leaving for vacation as this will give me some buffer and give me time to settle back into the work/life schedule once we get back.
History of City
Minneapolis/St. Paul, also known as the Twin Cities is a major metropolitan area build around the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in east central Minnesota.
History of Country
The United States of America, is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the US is the world’s third largest country by total area and just fractionally smaller than the entire continent of Europe. With a population of over 325 million, the US is the third most populous country.
History of Airport
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport is located 10 miles of both downtown Minneapolis and downtown Saint Paul, it is the largest and busiest airport in the six-state Upper Midwest region of Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Wisconsin. KMSP is the 17th busiest airport in the US and the 49th busiest in the world.
History of Airline
American Airlines is a major United States airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. American is the world’s largest airline when measured by fleet size, revenue, scheduled passengers and number of destinations served. American, together with its regional partners, operate an extensive international and domestic network with an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in more than 50 countries. American Airlines fleet size is approx. 955 aircraft.
Flight Briefing
AAL1066
CYOW – KMSP
Planned Fuel – 15,000 lbs
Planned Altitude – 38,000
Distance – 742nm
Flight Time – 2hr, 10min
Route: YOW Q824 MENKO NOSIK Q812 ZOHAN IDIOM MUSCL3
Flight Journal
Over the past few flight legs, our travelers have been accustomed to afternoon, or late afternoon departures. However, today we’re getting an early start out of Ottawa and plan to arrive in Minneapolis before lunch. Our travelers will clear US customs here in Ottawa which will significantly reduce the time normally required before we can proceed to the hotel. Our aircraft for this leg is an American Airlines Boeing 737-800.
We can’t leave until all the bags are loaded.
Push-back and taxi complete, we’re clear for take-off. Let’s GO!!!!!
Goodbye Canada, next stop the USA.
Climbing out of Ottawa.
The Rideau River in the background as we continue our climb-out to our cruise altitude.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure how much I would really care for the new American livery. I had always been a fan of their shiny aluminum look. But the more I fly their new livery, the more I do like it.
Flying over Lake Michigan as we cross from Michigan into Wisconsin.
Flying over the mighty Mississippi River as we begin our approach into the Minneapolis/Saint Paul Airport.
Looks like pretty descent farm land.
Just a few of the 10,000 lakes that can be found in the state of Minnesota.
Hazy conditions on final approach.
Clear to land.
Please remain seated with your seatbelt securely fastened until I turn off the seat belt sign.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.3
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG Boeing 737-800 (American Airlines livery)
Flightbeam KMSP Scenery
Orbx Global Texture
Orbx FTX Global openLC North America
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft, PFPX & Simbrief
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
Another flight leg is officially in the books. We’ll next fly down to Jackson Hole, Wyoming where our travelers will spend a week exploring the area including Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Shoshone National Forest, Craters of the Moon National Monument and many other sites in the area.
As always, thanks for reading this tour update. Have a wonderful day!
Until next time…
Happy Flying!
JT
September 12, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
Hello to my wonderful and loyal readers. We’re back in the USA…well sort of. I’m writing this update before we actually left for vacation, but as my dad would say “The Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise”, we should be back home, back to work and trying to figure out how to sleep through the night without waking up at 2 AM as you are reading this. It typically doesn’t take me very long to get back on my schedule. The first couple of days are a bit brutal and coffee, good strong coffee is usually the thing that keeps me going then once home I fight the urge to crash at 7 PM. After 2-3 days I’m back to my routines and all is once again right with the world.
When I began this tour waaaaaaayyyy back in early June, I really had no idea when it would wrap. I know I told you all that if I could make it wrap up around the time of the actual WorldFlight event I would. But with 46 flights, 36,000 miles and no telling how many hours…the target was a moving one at best. However, now that we’re past the half-way mark and now that I’ve actually managed to build up a queue of almost 5 weeks of flights, I have a pretty good idea when I can say this tour will end.
The actual WorldFlight 2018 begins on 3 November and wraps up a week later on 10 November. Now if I continue to release two flight updates each week, it means I’ll conclude my tour on 17 November (a week after the actual tour finishes). So my plan is simple. Once I get back from vacation, get over my jetlag and get caught up…I’ll increase my blog update schedule so that the final flight of this tour ends on 10 November (just as the official event). So basically, as you are reading this update…we’ll wrap all this up in just two months. Now let’s get flying….
History of City
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada and stands on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of southern Ontario. Founded in 1826 as Bytown and incorporated as Ottawa in 1855, the city has evolved into the political center of Canada with a population of just over 964,000 and a metropolitan population of 1.3 million, Ottawa is the 4th largest city in Canada.
History of Country
Canada is a country located in the northern part of North America. Canada is comprised of ten provinces and three territories which extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 3.85 million square miles, making it the world’s second-largest country by total area. Canada’s southern border with the United States is the world’s longest bi-national land border. The capital of Canada is Ottawa.
History of Airport
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport is an international airport named after the Canadian statesmen and two of the founding fathers of Canada, Sir John A Macdonald and Sir George-Etienne Cartier. The airport is the 6th busiest airport in Canada. The airport is one of eight Canadian airports that have United States border preclearance facilities.
History of Airline
Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada by both fleet size and passengers carried. Founded in 1937, Air Canada’s corporate headquarters are in Montreal, Quebec with its largest hub at Toronto Pearson Airport. Air Canada’s total fleet size consists of 415 aircraft including all Air Canada subsidiaries (Air Canada Cargo, Air Canada Express, Air Canada Jetz and Air Canada Rouge). Together with its regional partners, the airline operates on average more than 1,602 scheduled flights daily.
Flight Briefing
ACA1066
CYYR – CYOW
Planned Fuel – 19,500 lbs
Planned Altitude – 36,000
Distance – 762nm
Flight Time – 2hr, 30min
Route: YYR L600 YZV V316 PESAC T781 AGLUK T731 TAKOL
Flight Journal
Our 27th leg has started off much like the 1st, with rain and lots of it. Rain has pretty much been the theme during our stay in the Goose Bay area. But considering the extremely hot and dry conditions our group experienced in the Africa and Europe legs, the cooler and even damp conditions have been a welcome change. The ground crew at Goose Bay have been extremely helpful and we’re assisting Air Canada in moving one of their newly painted Airbus A320’s down to Ottawa.
Loading on our required fuel for this leg of the journey.
Our passengers have arrived and will soon be boarding. Their bags are enroute to the aircraft as well.
The bags have arrived and are being carefully (yea right) onto the aircraft.
Fuel – check, Baggage – check, Passengers and Crew – check. Time to pushback and get on our way.
We’ve had lots of cloudy departures, but not very many wet/rainy ones. Taxing out to the active runway.
Cleared for take-off.
Blasting out of Goose Bay and on our way to Ottawa.
Making our turn to the right to join the SID or Standard Instrument Departure course out of Goose Bay.
The rain continues to fall as we’re climbing out. We’ll soon be above the clouds and clear of this weather.
Finding ourselves in another cloud sandwich.
The view from the flight deck. Keeping an eye on the weather radar. ATC vectored us around the strongest of the cells and we should be in clear skies shortly.
There we go. Clear skies all around.
Cruising at flight level 360 as we zoom across Quebec.
Nice lush landscape as we begin our descent into the Ottawa area.
On final approach into the Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport.
Runway in view.
Cleared to land.
Our passengers are able to deboard via the airport jetbridge and will also be able to clear US customs here in the Ottawa airport.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.3
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
FSLabs Airbus A320 (Air Canada livery)
Orbx Global Texture
Orbx FTX Global openLC North America
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft, PFPX & Simbrief
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
My plan is to fly two more legs of the tour before I leave for vacation which should place us in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This will mean that while I arrive back home on the 7th of September, I will have a two week buffer. I most likely will get started flying the tour segments once again within a few days of arriving back home, but in the event I’m just too busy then I’ll have the flexibility. As mentioned at the top of this article, I do plan to double up a few postings either in late September or early October so that we can complete the tour around time of the official tour wrapping up.
Thanks for reading this tour update. Have a great day!
Until next time….
Happy Flying!!!
JT
September 10, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
Tomorrow marks the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Tomorrow I’ll begin my day just like I did on 11 September 2001 and each year since. I’ll wake up early, take my shower, get dressed and head downstairs for my morning coffee and to watch the morning news. I’ll spend a few minutes thinking about my grandfather as this year would have marked his 98th birthday, then between the thoughts of my grandfather and the images of the 9/11 memorials, reading of the names and the moments of silence, this 52 year old man will ball his eyes out for much of the rest of the morning.
On the morning of Tuesday, 11 September 2001…it was like any other morning for me. My weekday morning ritual hasn’t changed much since college. For much of my adult life I have been an early riser. At this particular time in my life I was living alone. My now wife (who I had met a few months prior) was still living in England and I was scheduled to leave Denver to fly to London on Friday, 14 September. I had just sat down on my sofa with coffee in hand about 6:30 AM MT. I remember (just like it was yesterday) the morning news anchors (Fox News) talking about what a beautiful fall-like day it was in New York City. As I only lived about 5 minutes from my office, I would often leave my apartment about 6:45 AM to allow myself plenty of time to be in the office just before 7. But this morning…and I can’t explain why, I felt the need to stay on the sofa a bit longer and finish that first cup of coffee.
The first plane hit the World Trade Center at 6:46 AM MT. Within what just felt like seconds, Fox News was showing the smoke pouring from the north tower. The news folks kept talking about what a beautiful day it was in NYC and initial speculation was somehow a sightseeing aircraft must have accidently crashed into the WTC. Being interested in aviation, I decided to continue watching the news that morning for just a few minutes longer. With my coffee cup in one hand, and the TV remote in the other…I was just about to click the off button when the second plane crashed into the south tower. It was obviously clear the first plane was no accident and something terrible was playing out before our very eyes.
At the time, I was working for a small tech company and part of my day to day role dealt with crisis management, business continuity and disaster recovery. Without knowing everything that was occurring in New York City, I decided I had better get to the office as we had offices and customers in the NYC area and I would need to begin looking into how these events would impact our operations. By the time I reached the office, the third plane had crashed into the Pentagon and we all watched in shock and horror as both the South and North towers collapsed and we eventually learned of the fourth plane crashing in Pennsylvania.
In the days after the attacks, I would come home, have dinner and watch the news to try to understand what had happened and why. Generally just before bedtime, I would go for a walk around the park next to my apartment. The extremely noticeable lack of aircraft was deafening.
What does all this have to do with flight sim?
Just a few months prior to the 9/11 attacks, the VATSIM network began operations and I had just started flying (virtually of course) for an American Airlines virtual airline. Just a few days before 9/11 I had assumed the role of VP of Operations of the VA. After the attacks of 9/11 and during the period of time the FAA had grounded all civilian air traffic, VATSIM also shut down their servers out of respect. As I felt then, and still do to this day…the actions taken by VATSIM were correct and extremely commendable.
What I’m going to say next is going to be very unlike me. I don’t typically mix politics and/or real world issues into my writings. But in the days after 9/11, everywhere you looked American flags were proudly flying. We were all Americans…we were all proud to be Americans and we stood behind our President as proud Americans. Today, 17 years later…we barely resemble the same country. We’re as divided as we’ve ever been in my lifetime and there’s so much hate towards not only our President, but also for law enforcement. No longer can people simply just disagree. Disagreement often leads to various accusations including racism, sexism etc.
I pray daily for peace, I pray daily that the events we witnessed on this day 17 years ago won’t happen again and I pray daily for our country. I pray that we as once proud Americans can once again be at peace with one another and that patriotic spirit which makes this the greatest country on earth can heal our divided wounds.
Thank you for reading.
Jerry
P.S. I’ll return next Monday with my usual non-political style of writing, until then…..may God continue to bless us all and may we all strive for peace and kindness in everything we do.
September 8, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
As our travelers depart Greenland to begin the North American segment of our 2018 WorldFlight tour, in the real world my wife and I will be spending our last day/evening in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. Tomorrow (9 Sept) we will head into London and London Heathrow for our British Airways flight back to Denver. Just as a reminder, I’m writing these updates before even leaving on vacation. At the time I’m writing this update, it’s about two and a half weeks before we leave. Upon returning, I’ll be sure to fill you all in on the vacation trip. My plan is to continue flying these tour legs and writing up the blog postings until we leave, so hopefully by the time we actually leave the US for Belgium, I’ll have completed most of the North American flights, this way I have a bit of a buffer where I can ease back into my work life (which will be busy), but continue to keep these flight updates coming to you on a regular basis.
History of City
Located in the central part of Labrador on the coast of Lake Melville and the Grand River, Happy Valley-Goose Bay is the largest population center in this region of Canada.
History of Country
Canada is a country located in the northern part of North America. Canada is comprised of ten provinces and three territories which extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 3.85 million square miles, making it the world’s second-largest country by total area. Canada’s southern border with the United States is the world’s longest bi-national land border. The capital of Canada is Ottawa.
History of Airport
Goose Bay, is a Canadian Forces Base operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force, but also has shared use operations with several civilian airlines.
History of Airline
Air Transat is a Canadian low-cost leisure airline based in Montreal, Quebec operating both scheduled and charter flights serving 63 destinations in 30 countries.
Flight Briefing
TSC1066
BGTL – CYYR
Planned Fuel – 24,000 lbs
Planned Altitude – 38,000
Distance – 1405nm
Flight Time – 3hr, 30min
Route: THT NADMA NALDI MUSLO DUVBI YYR
Flight Journal
Our travelers began their world tour way back on 6 June when we departed Sydney, Australia and with another two months ago they are just a little over the half-way mark of their trip. This leg will start the North American tour segment and will have them visiting three different airports in Canada, two airports in the lower 48 of the United States and two different airports in Alaska before heading to Russia, Japan and China as we make our way back down under to our starting point of Sydney. We’ve shifted our schedule slightly and will have another tour break once reaching Jackson Hole, Wyoming and another shorter break in Sitka, Alaska.
We’re all present and accounted for, so let’s get started. Our journey today is just over 1,400 miles and we should land in Goose Bay just before the sun sets.
Goodbye Greenland! You were a wonderful host.
A cloudy departure out of Greenland.
A little bit bumpy as we climb out.
A much smoother ride at our cruising altitude of 38,000 feet. Our Air Transat B737-700 is one of the more colorful liveries we’ve had thus far.
Almost to our destination. The Grand River just off our right wing. We’ll see that again shortly.
Making our turn to final.
Once again, the Grand River as we’re on final approach into Goose Bay.
That’s a gorgeous river.
Clear to land as we fly over the Grand River once again.
Parked up and awaiting the bus who will take our travelers to customs and then on to the hotel.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.3
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG Boeing 737-700 (Air Transat livery)
Orbx Global Texture
Orbx FTX Global openLC North America
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft & PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
Another long, but exciting flight is in the logbook. Our stay in Goose Bay will be brief. Soon we’ll depart for Ottawa. I hope you’ll join us as we continue our 2018 WorldFlight Tour.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!
Jerry
September 5, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
As we begin this leg of the journey, we find ourselves on top of the world. As mentioned in the last update, our final departure location in Norway is the highest point in the northern hemisphere we’ll visit. We were going to take another week-long pause, but our travelers wanted to to delay that until we reached North America. The group took a vote and all agreed to take that week long pause once we reach Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This will allow them more time to spend in the mountains. So the plan is to add a few extra days to the stay in Jackson Hole and a few extra days once we reach Vancouver.
Unfortunately, as you are reading this posting….our European vacation is almost coming to a close. We’ll be flying back to Denver on the 7th and will have two days to re-acclimate back to the USA time zone before returning to work on Monday, 10 September. I’ll make sure to tell you all about my vacation, the flights and all the wonderful food I’m sure we’ve enjoyed the past two weeks. But for now, let’s get started with the tour update.
History of City
While not technically a city, Thule Air Base is a United States Air Force base located 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle and 947 miles from the North Pole on the Northwest side of Greenland. Thule Air Base is the US Armed Forces’ northernmost base. This is the only place on earth where four active glaciers join together.
History of Country
Greenland is an autonomous constituent country within the kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. Greenland is the world’s largest island. While Australia and Antarctica are larger, they are generally considered to be continental landmasses rather than islands. Greenland has been inhabited off and on for at least the last 4,500 years by arctic peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada.
History of Airport
See history of city.
History of Airline
Icelandair is the flag carrier of Iceland and headquarted at Keflavik International Airport. As of April 2018, Icelandair operated scheduled services to 48 cities in 16 different countries on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Flight Briefing
ICE1066
ENSB – BGTL
Planned Fuel – 19,000 lbs
Planned Altitude – 38,000
Distance – 1018nm
Flight Time – 2hr, 52min
Route: GOLO1B GOLOL 79N010E 80N000E 81N010W 81N020W 81N030W 81N040W QQ W20 THT
Flight Journal
Over the course of the past several months, our travelers have been exploring two dozen different cities in 19 different countries within Eurasia. This leg will transition us over to the North American segment of our tour where after departing Greenland, will visit three cities in Canada and four cities in the United States before heading back over toward the Eurasia side of the world. Up to this point of our tour, we’ve traveled just under 20,000 miles, spent approx. 57 hours flying and have burned more than 350,000 pounds of jet fuel.
Our flight today is just over 1,000 miles and we’ll be flying an Icelandair Boeing 737-800. Our travelers have arrived and are both ready and anxious to board and continue their jouney.
Push back and engine startup procedures underway.
The great thing about these smaller airports is the short taxi ride out to the active runway. From completion of pushback, we can often be lined up and ready to go in 5-10 minutes. Some larger international airports the taxi ride can be 20+ minutes if not longer.
Positive rate, Gear up
Goodbye Norway, you’ve been a most excellent host.
Climbing out on the departure route.
Climbing up to our cruising altitude of 38,000 feet.
The eastern coast of Greenland just off the left side.
I’m sure there’s some green below.
Can’t forget to showcase our Icelandair Livery.
Below the clouds.
Greenland is really green.
On long final with the runway just appearing in the distance.
C is for crosswind and we have a strong one.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.3
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG Boeing 737-800 (Icelandair livery)
Orbx Global Texture
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft & PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
Another fantastic flight is officially in the logbooks. Our next flight is another long one at 1,400 miles. We’ll be flying the Boeing 737 once again as we fly from Greenland down to Goose Bay, Canada. I think it’s time for me to say those three words….
Until next time…
Happy Flying!
Jerry
September 3, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
This will serve as the introduction and first of a multi-part blog tutorial series for how I learn and fly sim aircraft that might be classified as the more complex, study-level, payware aircraft types. While some will argue that products developed by QualityWings, CaptainSim, Carenado, Aerosoft (just to name off a few) aren’t in the same category or classification as the likes of PMDG, A2A or FSLabs. While I agree partially with this argument, there is still a learning process with these different aircraft models and more or less the same method I use can be applied to each of them.
The Fine Print
I’m sharing the methods I use to learn and fly study level aircraft. This series of tutorials are not designed to be the end-all, be-all of methods to accomplish this task. These are simply the methods which have worked well for me over the years. Actually, the process has become a lot easier since the dawn of YouTube and Google. If you have different methods that work, great. Likewise, if you prefer to first start by studying the Boeing manual…I take my hat off to you. However, many of us just don’t have the time, nor the desire to go to the full depths of understanding when it comes to “when I flip this switch in the cockpit, this is what is happening behind the scenes with all the complex theory behind it” type scenario. As I have stated many times…I have no desire to learn how to fly a plane in real life. But I get a lot of stress relieving satisfaction from the time I spend in flight sim and the other simulation based platforms I enjoy. There’s nothing wrong with any method. Let’s get on with this first tutorial.
The New Aircraft
So PMDG, FSLabs, QualityWings etc. have released their latest and greatest version of whatever real world airplane they’ve been spending years developing. This new virtual aircraft is the closest thing us flight simmers can experience to the real thing short of spending time in a full-size simulator or becoming a real-world airline pilot. Almost every button, switch, dial in the cockpit has been programmed to simulate the same real-world operation we’d find on the real flight deck. It’s truly a thing of beauty…but, just like in the real world…a series of steps must be carried out and in most cases these steps must be followed in a specific order before we’ll ever get the aircraft into the skies.
I don’t know about you, but when I first purchase, download and install the latest and greatest from my favorite developers the first thing I really want to do is fly the darn airplane. While I absolutely love flying on the VATSIM network, I’ll never fly a brand new aircraft until such time as I’ve learned more about the aircraft and can perform all the necessary functions as not to embarrass myself on the network or more importantly, not cause any disruption or dissatisfaction with other pilots.
I’ll be open and honest, in the beginning for each new aircraft I’m just concerned with the minimum effort needed to get the aircraft in a state where I can fly it, control it and land it. Once I can do this….I then proceed with diving a little deeper and deeper into the aircraft. As time goes by, I’m following more of the “checklist flows” for how things are done. Once I reach this point, this is when I’m willing to use the new aircraft on the VATSIM network.
Over the course of the next few written tutorials, I’ll share the steps I follow to learn these new aircraft and to develop a proficiency at flying them well enough to fly online. As I’ve stated in the past, I’ve been flying on VATSIM from the very beginning. I have over 18 years of online experience, I’ve never been banned, I’ve never been given a warning. I take great pride in always being professional and always following the rules.
But how do I begin the learning process?
Read the Manual
Yes…it starts with reading the manual. I’m sure you’re probably thinking to yourself, surely (don’t call me Shirley) Jerry has figured out a better process to all this versus reading the manual. Well…all I can say is the manual generally has a lot of valuable information that will assist you in the process of learning your new aircraft. But even I’ll admit that a lot of the information contained in these manuals provide more of the theory behind how things function versus the how do I do this and why should I do this procedure. But at the very least….know where the manual is located (where it’s been installed on your PC) and familiarize yourself with it. It’ll make for great reading material during the cruise phase of your first flight.
Tutorial Flight
Most complex, payware aircraft will include a tutorial flight. As I begin laying out the framework of this article (early July timeframe), I’m in the process of learning the FS Labs Airbus A320 (and the A319). I’m relatively new to the FSLabs Airbus and you can read more about my decision to purchase this add-on here. The tutorial flight for the A320 is a short flight from Vienna, Austria to Copenhagen, Denmark. It’s written in a step-by-step fashion and can very easily be followed.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always learned by doing. I can sit in a classroom listening to someone explain something until my eyes glaze over and not learn a thing. Or I can actually roll up my sleeves and follow along by actually doing the same thing the person is talking about and learn everything I need to know. Well, learning how to fly is the same thing for me. The FS Labs tutorial flight is one of the best documented processes I’ve seen and after flying this flight twice, I was ready to fly to other destinations using the processes documented in the tutorial.
YouTube is your Friend
The first complex payware aircraft I purchased was the Level-D 767. This aircraft came out before YouTube was born and I must admit that the learning curve for the 767 (for me) was much steeper than any other aircraft since the dawn of YouTube. Prior to the 767, I was a CTRL-E kind of guy. So trying to follow along in the manual (and I can’t remember if there was a tutorial) was much like trying to fly to the moon. But now days, within days (sometimes hours) of an aircraft release, you’ll find really detailed videos from very talented individuals on full, immersive flights.
Some YouTube content creators will go over the flow based on the provided checklists and others will hit the highlights of just what’s needed to power up the aircraft and fly it. As I previously mentioned, I’m more inclined to initially take the path of least resistance in the beginning. But there are a few real world airline pilots who also record YouTube videos and stream on Twitch while flying in P3D. I thoroughly enjoy watching their content, especially once I’ve somewhat mastered the basics and it helps me to then go back and fill in some of the areas I’ve either missed or perhaps just don’t understand why a process is done.
Checklist Flows
Once you’ve completed the tutorial flight(s) and have a better understanding of your new aircraft. Future flights are easier and setup a lot faster when using a checklist. Again, most of the developers will include a checklist within the documentation of the aircraft. However, in some cases these checklists when used without any additional aids may not be enough to get you over the learning curve. This is where my modified checklists come into play.
Modified Checklists
Generally after a few tutorial flights, then a few flights loosely based on the tutorial flight, I begin creating my own checklist flow. I do this for a few reasons. One, in some instances there are steps on the official checklist that just don’t provide enough details as to the steps I need to follow. For example, in the FSLabs A320 checklist provided in the documents, the first checklist item in the Before Start section is “Cockpit Preparation”. What does all this entail I ask? To a veteran airline captain or first officer, they know all the finer details behind all that goes into this important checklist item. But for me…it’s simply not enough…at least not in the beginning stages. So I’ve developed a method of creating my own Word document lists which somewhat mirror the actual A320 checklist, but at the same time helps me to remember everything I need to do to ensure the cockpit is fully prepped. In addition, when I lay out these flows, I try (as best as possible) to follow a flow that works best for me. Yes, I realize this may deviate from how things are done in the real world. But if it keeps me from having to bounce all around cockpit then that just saves me a little time. And honestly, we’re not talking about major differences…just a few shortcuts here and there. I may consider making an effort to clean these documents up and make them available to anyone interested.
Just to repeat myself
There’s no right or wrong way with these things. Yes, there are those “hard core” types that actually dress up like a real pilot to enjoy their computer based sim. But the thing everyone needs to keep in mind is that what we’re simulating…the workload and role of an airline pilot in the real world is carried out by two highly skilled pilots. Unless you are using an aircraft capable of shared cockpit functionality, you’re really doing all the work typically shared between two pilots. There are add-ons available for some payware aircraft which simulate a multi-crew experience. FS2Crew is one that I’m most familiar with. The add-on is capable of performing various tasks on the flight deck using voice recognition. I’ve used it in the past on the Level-D 767 and one or two of the PMDG aircraft I own. While I’m no longer using it, I certainly recommend it if you’
Final Thoughts
The old saying, “Practice Makes Perfect” is certainly a very wise suggestion. The more you fly your brand new aircraft, the easier it will be to commit all the steps necessary to memory. But remember, even real world pilots use a checklist for each and every flight so don’t feel bad if you (from time to time) need to reflect back to your checklist. It’s just all part of the process. Finally, for the sake of all others (and your own reputation)….spend a little (or a lot) of time flying your new aircraft off-line to familiarize yourself with it fully before contemplating going online with VATSIM, IVAO or the other online networks.
I hope this information helps you.
Until next time…
Happy Learning!
Jerry
September 1, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
Before we get started with this tour update, I would like to remind everyone why I’m doing this. When you have a moment, (or right now) please visit the WorldFlight website. This is the official site for the 2018 event and from that webpage you can find links to other sites such as Simfest UK, CB-Worldflight Team USA and others. Each team of participant groups from around the world are raising money for various charities. The official WorldFlight Event for 2018 will begin on 3 November at 2200z with teams departing Sydney, Australia and conclude a week later on 10 November around 0845z back in Sydney. These teams will stream their flights on Twitch and YouTube for the world to watch and hopefully donate towards the charities these teams are sponsoring.
This particular tour update has many special meanings for us and our long journey around the world. First, it somewhat marks the downhill segment of our tour. However, we’re still flying somewhat uphill on the globe. Second, today is the 1st of September and for those of us in the northern hemisphere it means fall is just around the corner and third…it marks the start of the 3rd month of our long tour. Finally, upon landing we’ll reach the furthest in latitude we’ll achieve on this tour. With our starting location of Sydney, Australia being the furthest south.
Now in the real-world, my wife and I should be enjoying the English Countryside down in Kent (Tunbridge Wells). We would have departed Antwerp yesterday for the short 1 hour hop over the North Sea, then traveled by train from London City Airport out to the southeast of England. Pretty much our favorite place on earth. Of course I’m writing and posting this in advance of leaving for our vacation.
History of City
Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Situated north of mainland Europe, it is about midway between continental Norway and the North Pole. The islands were first used as a whaling base in the 17th and 18th centuries. Coal mining came to the area in the early 20th century with the establishment of several permanent communities. Svalbard is a breeding ground for many seabirds, and also features polar bears, reindeer and the arctic fox just to name a few.
History of Country
Norway is a unitary sovereign state in Northwestern Europe whose core territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Norway has a total area of 148,747 square miles and a population of 5,258,317.
History of Airport
Svalbard Airport, located in Longyear is the main airport serving Svalbard, Norway. It handles approx. 150,000 passengers annually.
History of Airline
Scandinavian Airlines, usually known as SAS is the flag carrier of Sweden, Norway and Denmark and operates out of its main hub at Copenhagen-Kastrup Airport with connections to over 50 cities in Europe.
Flight Briefing
SAS1066
ENTC – ENSB
Planned Fuel – 12,000 lbs
Planned Altitude – 38,000
Distance – 517nm
Flight Time – 1hr, 40min
Route: TC603 LOMVI P853 UVSAS BJO PITOL ATSOT ISD LALAD LOLVO
Flight Journal
The theme of today’s (or actually, should I say tonight’s) flight is “Chasing the Midnight Sun”. To somewhat maximize our travelers time while visiting Norway, we’ve been departing during the late evening hours. The flight tonight is no different as we have a scheduled departure time of 11:00 PM. My flight crew and I have arrived at the airport and in the process of getting our Boeing 737-800 ready to go. We’re shuttling another SAS aircraft and this happens to be a real world flight as well which is operated by SAS and also in the B738.
Pushing back with the help of the SAS ground crew. It’s just before 11, we should be airborne in the next 10 minutes.
Lined up and ready to go.
Off we go into the clear cloudy somewhat blue yonder.
Making our right-turn to join the departure route.
We’ve passed through one layer of clouds only to find another.
I’m sure we’ll find some clear skies soon.
Finally we’ve climbed above the clouds and are on our way of chasing the midnight sun. This time of year the sun at this latitude never sets fully. During our flight the sun will begin to rise again before we land.
Just before top of descent, our B738 is bathed in the light of the rising sun.
It’s midnight.
The moon is visible off the right wing.
The arrival into Svalbard is quite challenging and made even more so under this level of visibility. But in our instruments, we trust.
On final, the PAPI lights are visible.
Such a nice approach.
Cleared to land, runway 28. I’ll most certainly want to try this approach under clear conditions as I’m sure the views are simply amazing.
Parked at our gate and ready to deboard our passengers.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.3
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG Boeing 737-800 (Scandinavian livery)
Orbx Global Texture
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft & PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
While it’s late, our travelers will spend the next two days exploring this area of Norway and do so mostly in the late afternoon and evenings. Tomorrow evening they’ll take a special tour (weather permitting) to once again enjoy the midnight sun and dinner in a beautiful Norway. As previously mentioned, this is as far North we’ll travel on our tour. Once we depart Norway, we’ll fly west to Greenland and being our North American tour segment. I hope you’ll join us.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
August 29, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
As the title reads, this is our 23rd leg of our 46 total leg journey around the world using the WorldFlight 2018 route schedule. Upon completion of this flight, we will have reached the half-way point for our long, long journey. As a reminder, as you are reading this on or around the 29th of August….My wife and I are still in Belgium and will be departing Antwerp in just a few days time to fly back to London. Once reaching London, we’ll spend a week in the English countryside in the county of Kent. As I write this in early August, I’m really excited about our trip…but still really busy with work. But the days seem to be flying by at a fairly good pace and I’m sure I’ll get everything done that truly needs to be done before vacation starts.
The magenta dots are cities/airports we’ve visited and the blue dots are cities/airports yet to be visited. But we’re making progress as it seems like it was just yesterday we were turning the corner down in South Africa and that was many, many miles and hours ago.
History of City
Established in 1838, Tromso has a population of approx. 64,376 and is the 9th most populous municipality in Norway. It is the largest urban area in Northern Norway and is warmer than most other places due to the warming effect of the Gulf Stream.
History of Country
Norway is a unitary sovereign state in Northwestern Europe whose core territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Norway has a total area of 148,747 square miles and a population of 5,258,317.
History of Airport
Tromso Airport began operations in 1864, replacing the older airport. It is the 5th busiest airport in Norway handling 1.9 million passengers annually.
History of Airline
Scandinavian Airlines, usually known as SAS is the flag carrier of Sweden, Norway and Denmark and operates out of its main hub at Copenhagen-Kastrup Airport with connections to over 50 cities in Europe.
Flight Briefing
SAS1066
ENVA – ENTC
Planned Fuel – 12,000 lbs
Planned Altitude – 39,000
Distance – 419nm
Flight Time – 1hr, 22min
Route: NIGE1A NIGEX AMIMO AMIM4L
Flight Journal
Not only has the Norway experience been a nice one for the flight crew, our travelers are also finding the Norway experience awesome as well. Our group spent a few days exploring and now it’s time to move onto our second of three Norwegian cities on our tour. Once again we’re departing in the late evening. It’s nearly 9 PM and if not for the cloud cover, you might think it was only late afternoon.
Lining up and waiting for our take off clearance. For this flight we’re moving a Boeing 737-600 up to Tromso. The last time we flew this variant of the 737 was the JANET flight out to Diego Garcia.
Up, up and away once again.
Wing view to the right
Wing view to the left
Our Scandinavian Boeing 736 at flight level 390. (39,000 feet)
More of those fluffy clouds.
Beginning our descent into Tromso, Norway.
Absolutely love the arrival into Tromso. Reminds me of some of my favorite flying spots in Alaska.
Approaching 10:30 and the sun is still high in the sky.
The descent path is taking us over some beautiful mountains and Fjords. I’ve definitely got to come back here for some low and slow bush flying.
On final into Tromso.
Short final into Tromso
Under a very cloudy sky, it’s approaching 11 PM and still light enough to see what we’re doing.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.3
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG Boeing 737-800 (Scandinavian livery)
Orbx Global Texture
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft & PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
This was another fantastic flight and as previously mentioned, marks the completion of the first half of the tour. Our travelers will spend two days exploring the Tromso area before another late evening departure to Svalbard. This will mark our third and final stop in Norway before we turn west towards Greenland and North America.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!
Jerry
August 25, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
As you are reading this tour update entry, my wife and I have hopefully (I wrote this obviously in advance) safely arrived in Antwerp Belgium and are enjoying ourselves visiting family and seeing a few sights in the area. I believe this is my 7th or 8th time to visit Belgium and we always find new things to do and revisit a few places again. We’ll stay in Belgium for a week, then return back to England where we will stay a week out in the English Countryside of Kent. But don’t worry…while I’m traveling around Belgium and England, you’ll still have regular/scheduled tour updates over the next two weeks. Plus if you are somewhat new to study level aircraft, I’ll be releasing an article on 3 September with tips on how I learn these complex aircraft.
It’s been a whirlwind of travel and touring the past couple of weeks for our jetsetters. The week of relaxation experienced by all back on the island of Madeira is all but a distant memory. But not to worry, once we reach Svalbard, Norway…we’ll once again pause travel for a week before heading west across to Greenland and North America.
History of City
Trondheim, founded in 997 as a trading post and served as the capital of Norway during the Viking Age until 1217. Today, Trondheim has a population of 193,501 and is the third most populous municipality in Norway.
History of Country
Norway is a unitary sovereign state in Northwestern Europe whose core territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Norway has a total area of 148,747 square miles and a population of 5,258,317.
History of Airport
Trondheim Airport, is an international airport serving Trondheim, a city and municipality in Trondelag County, Norway. The main airlines at the airport are Scandinavian Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Wilderoe.
History of Airline
Norwegian Air Shuttle, is a Norwegian low-cost airline. It is the third largest low-cost carrier in Europe behind EasyJet and Ryanair and the ninth-largest low-cost airline in the world and the largest airline in Scandinavia.
Flight Briefing
NAX1066
EGNM – ENVA
Planned Fuel – 15,000 lbs
Planned Altitude – 37,000
Distance – 694nm
Flight Time – 1hr, 55min
Route: POL UP17 TIPTA UM82 RIVOT UM89 ALOTI T400 ZOL P5 TOTKO Z86 NELSU NELS1L
Flight Journal
While our stay in Leeds may have been short, our travelers packed a whole lot of touristy things into the time they had available. Visits to the Royal Armouries Museum, Harewood House and Kirkstall Abbey. I think some of our travelers were a bit confused when they learned Leeds Castle is not located in Leeds, England. Well that’s down in Kent and is one of the spots my wife and I plan to visit on our European holiday. But I digress….
Our chariot (A Norwegian Boeing 737-800) awaits us at the Leeds Airport. The ground crew here has been spectacular at helping us keep to our schedule.
Pushing back from the stand and getting our engines started.
It’s actually late evening, but being this far north the sun doesn’t set until fairly late. We’ll arrive into Norway well after 10 PM and it should still be daylight.
Up, up and away….
Our Orbx EU England ground textures are really providing the nice eye candy for our departure across northern England. Looks like some really nice farm land down there.
Naturally all the other add-ons I’m running to enhance the weather, sky textures, colors etc. are all doing a fantastic job here.
As a child, my wife believed if she had a plastic bag and a tall enough ladder that she could scoop up the puffy clouds and place them in the plastic bag. Who can really argue against that possibility?
Norwegian honors various individuals by incorporating their likeness into their liveries. The individual featured here is Max Manus who was a Norwegian resistance fighter during WWII. You can read more about Max here.
The Fjords of Norway are visible as we are flying over Norway. Orbx Global Texture does a fantastic job keeping the visual senses filled with immersion.
We’ll soon reach our top of descent.
I really like the Norwegian livery.
The view from the “left seat”.
I realize I may have gone a bit overboard with the images for this posting. But the views and ground textures are simply amazing.
Making our turn along the arrival into Trondheim.
The shadows are getting long, but still very much light at almost 10 PM.
Making our turn on final approach with the city of Trondheim just off the right wing.
Gear down.
Another view from the right wing on final approach.
Can’t have the left wing get jealous….What a view across the Trondheim Fjord.
Norwegian Flight 1066 cleared to land.
This approach over the water somewhat reminded me of landing at SFO.
At the gate and shutting down. We’ll soon depart for Tromso, Norway (our second of three Norwegian destinations).
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.3
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG Boeing 737-800 (Norwegian livery)
Orbx Global Texture
Orbx EU England
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
Of the twenty-two flights of this years tour, this was one of my favorite as the views of this part of the world are extraordinary. This is certainly a place I hope to visit someday in real life. Until then…I’ll certainly do more flying in this part of the world. As Real As It Gets Right?
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
August 23, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
Just a little over one month ago, I wrote about the FlightSimStore, their demise and my own personal story regarding an issue I had been experiencing in attempting to upgrade a flight sim add-on aircraft. If you happened to miss this article, I encourage you to read it first as it will provide much of the backstory which I’ll omit from this follow-up and closure article.
One thing I do want to reiterate from the previous article. My decision to write about my struggles with the FlightSimStore was not in any way meant to name & shame the add-on aircraft developer (who I’ll name in just a minute). In addition, my intention was to not an effort to get something for nothing. I simply wanted to alert the flight sim community to be careful about making future purchases from the FlightSimStore and to also protect their investment by downloading their purchases and making copies of their purchase receipts/transactions.
Our Community
The flight sim community is small and I believe we’re a special breed of simulation gamer. While I’ll always argue that flight simulation is NOT just a game, it’s a simulation….but to the outside world it is just a game. But I believe our community which is comprised of those of us who enjoy flight simulation and those who develop the add-ons are a very special breed of gamer. I would wager to guess that nearly each and every developer of flight sim add-ons are also flight simmers. While capitalism and the free enterprise system makes it possible for those developers to operate a business, employee others and market their creations….I believe they also do it because they love and care about the hobby of flight simulation. After all, it shows in their finished product and it shows in the way they support their customers.
Thank you Majestic Software
Yes, the aircraft add-on which all this has been about is the Majestic Bombardier Dash-8 Q400. I originally purchased this aircraft from the FlightSimStore back in May 2016 for Prepar3d v3.x. Again, I direct you to my published article from early July for all the backstory details.
As I explained back in July, I reached out to Majestic for their help. While it took a few weeks for Majestic Software to provide a solution, I certainly don’t fault them for the delay. Majestic Software relies on their online partners/retailers to market and sell their add-ons to the flight sim community. Other than technical support, this partnership handles all the rest. For a small business, this usually a fantastic relationship as it allows the developer to do what they do best, while leaving financial transactions, bookkeeping etc. to someone else. While some developers may sell direct and also market through online retailers, Majestic Software only utilizes online retailers. So naturally Majestic needed a few weeks to work with their other online retailers on a solution.
The Solution
If you are like me and originally purchased your Q400 from the FlightSimStore and either need to download your aircraft again, or wish to upgrade it to the 64 bit version for P3D v4, then just follow the steps below.
+++ATTENTION FLIGHT SIM STORE CUSTOMERS+++
Over the past few months there has been some difficulty for Flight Sim Store Customers who purchased the download versions of the Majestic Software products. We are now making the downloads available to customers who have originally purchased the Q400 from the Flight Sim Store.
1. Acquire the full installers for your originally purchased Q400 Edition:
Since FSS no longer allows users to download products, we now provide the full installers of the MJC Q400 to all customers who purchased the Q400 from Flight Sim Store.
2. Where can Flight Sim Store users gain access to the new installers?
The new installers are accessible via the USER AREA which can be found on the Majestic Software website.
3. The Flight Sim Store customers who would like to upgrade their existing Q400 edition, can write to our Support Department (support (at) majesticsoftware (dot) com). Be sure to include supporting credentials used for the purchase of your original Q400.
a. Order Number
b. Vendor
c. Email address used with purchase
d. Full name used with purchase
e. Indicate which 64 bit version of the Q400 you are interested in upgrading to
Please note:
This announcement is applicable ONLY to owners of the Majestic Software PILOT and PRO Editions of the Q400.
The Majestic Software Team
Final Thoughts
I’m once again a very happy virtual pilot. I once again have the Q400 in my virtual hangar and I can’t wait to install a few liveries and fly it once again. Of course, it’s been well over a year since I’ve flown it and it’ll be a few weeks before I get the chance to start the learning process all over again. I must state for the record, the Q400 is perhaps the most difficult aircraft I have in my virtual hangar. As a reminder I own a lot of add-ons including all PMDG offerings for P3D v4, the QW787, CS757 and many others. The Q400 challenges me in a good way and I look forward to flying this beautiful aircraft and learning even more than I knew before. Thank you Majestic Software!
Until next time…
Happy Flying!
Jerry
