May 12, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
While Flight Simulation is the only hobby I discuss on this blog, it is not the only hobby I enjoy. As discussed in the blog posting titled “The Cost of a Hobby”, I do enjoy photography, golf (although my game is suffering right now) and amateur radio (also known as ham radio). It is a lesson from amateur radio that I plan to share with you today.
I returned to the world of VATSIM last November and estimate over 90% of my current flight simulation time is spent flying online. I also had a “full-circle” moment and re-joined with my old virtual airline, American virtual Airlines. In another “full-circle” moment, I’m now managing the Dallas/Ft. Worth Hub for AvA (which I did back in the 2001-2004 timeframe) and am truly having a ball.
For those who have never experienced the fun of flying on VATSIM, you should check it out. Yea I know all the reasons some people have. Let’s see. ONE The software is too complicated to install. TWO The procedures are too difficult to master. THREE There is never any ATC online at the time I want to fly.
OK…So number three is a valid point. There are times (OK…a lot of times) where ATC coverage is not available. But there are also times when there is and when there is….it truly is As Real As It Gets. But this blog post is not about that and unless you regularly fly on VATSIM then it probably won’t apply. But I hope you’ll keep reading.
When I previously flew on the VATSIM network (back in 2001 – 2004 or so) I didn’t have my ham radio license. In 2007 I did earn my license and upgraded to the second level (general class) in early 2008. I’ve been off and on studying for the top tier, (extra class) for several years. One very key element that all beginning ham radio operators learn about is the art of listening.
Now we’ve all been (regardless if you are a fellow ham) taught this lost art. More than likely it was taught to us at a very young age by our parents and certainly was taught during Kindergarten. After all, everything we need to know in life was taught to us during our year of Kindergarten The problem is we tend to forget and most of us have simply forgotten the art of listening.
Back to the hobby of amateur radio. We are taught again about the importance of listening. Part of the material we read and study to earn our entry level license (called technician class) tells us we will do more listening than actually speaking when operating our radios. The guidance when tuning into a frequency is to listen………..listen some more…………listen yet some more……….no we’re not done listening just yet……..after some time we don’t hear anything….then we listen a little more and finally will politely ask if the frequency is in use and yes……LISTEN.
We do this because it is possible I may not hear another ham operator using that particular frequency and my transmission could interfere with his or another operators ability to hear and use that frequency. After I listen for a minute or two and politely ask if the frequency is in use, if I then do not hear anyone…I’m free to go ahead and begin using that frequency.
Of course in VATSIM we do not need to ask if the frequency is in use. This was merely an example of how the art of listening is applied in the hobby of amateur radio. But the key take away that I’m trying to make with this blog post is even in the world of simulated ATC on VATSIM, we all need to LISTEN more than we speak.
Many, Many, Many times fellow pilots will “step over” another pilot or ATC simply because they are not listening. Other times pilots need to ask again for ATC to repeat what they said again because they are not listening. I know some will argue that what is happening is not because of the lack of listening…but I think many and actually most cases it is.
My first piece of advice for virtual pilots is to invest in a good set of headphones. Preferably USB so you can set Squawkbox or FSInn to only send the ATC audio into the headset and keep the sound of the flight sim (the airplane) out of the headset. I know I also flew for many years with the sound of my aircraft mixed in with the ATC audio. It’s not like this on a real airplane….so make the change. You’ll thank me later.
Second, (and this ties in with the above) route your aircraft sounds into some external speakers and keep the audio turned down low enough so when you speak into your headset only your voice is transmitted and not the sounds of your engines etc. This will help everyone hear and understand you better.
Third, if you use an external microphone….read my first piece of advice and invest in a USB headset with boom microphone. Spend some time setting up the audio. The new USB headset you buy might be plug and play, but getting the audio levels just right isn’t.
Fourth, after taking all the above advice….when you tune into an active ATC frequency please LISTEN and LISTEN just a little bit more to see if there is an active conversation taking place. Even when being handed off from one ATC to another, you have plenty of time to LISTEN first. The reason why I’m suggesting you listen is to assist in the overall flow of communication.
What are you talking about Jerry? I’m glad you asked. Just like in normal conversation you have with a friend either face to face or on the phone or what ever, there is a period of time where you speak and then you stop talking and you listen while your friend speaks. This is the flow of normal conversation and is exactly what we learned when we were young.
In the virtual ATC world on VATSIM, the normal flow of communication works something like this. ATC issues instruction to pilot. Pilot reads back instruction to ATC. In some cases (as in reading back clearance) ATC might confirm the instructions the pilot read back. The point I’m making is there is a normal flow and an expected flow of communication.
In the above example, this is a communication between ATC and a pilot A. Let’s say pilot B is on frequency and is not carefully listening or just ignoring the normal flow of conversation. When ATC issues an instruction to pilot A, Pilot B should not speak on frequency until he is aware the conversation between Pilot A and ATC is finished.
Some may argue and ask the question…well how do you know when the conversation between ATC and Pilot A is completed? Again, depending on the situation you will know or you will learn over time. Let’s use another example. ATC is issuing vectors to Pilot A and providing runway assignment. Pilot A needs to read back or confirm this instruction to ATC. Typically once that read back is completed…then the conversation is finished.
Finally, when it is time to speak…speak clearly. So many fellow pilots sound like their mouth is stuffed with cotton balls and ATC have a difficult time understanding them. Remember….we all learned these very important lessons when we were small. Many of us just simply forgot over time. Have fun and LISTEN!
By the way, if any of you reading this are fellow ham radio operators. I operate mostly HF SSB, PSK and a few months ago tried JT-65 and truly love the mode. I also podcast about amateur radio. You can visit MyAmateurRadio.com to download/listen or find me on iTunes. The podcast is titled “The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast” 73 de KD0BIK.
Until next time,
Jerry
April 18, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
I’ve changed the subject or title of this blog post a few times since I started typing all that I wanted to say. At this point I’m really not sure what it will be called….so it is just as much of a surprise to me as it might be to you the reader.
As I have stated many times, I’ve been flying computer sims on various computer hardware platforms for over 25 years. In those early beginnings I was still in high school and was one of those kids that wasn’t 100% sure what I wanted to be when I grew up. But airline pilot was really never in my top 10 list. So having said that, I never really got all that serious about learning all the procedures and perhaps this is why I struggled for so long on learning how to correctly land my airplane.
In the post Windows age of computer simming I have changed my ideas on what once was only a game to me. While airline pilot is still not in my top 10 list, at the age of 44 I guess I need to stick with just being an IT guy and not change careers. But learning and understanding how things are done is important to me.
Over the years my landings have sort of gone from being non-existent to crashes to controlled crashes to where I am today. Yes today I can pretty much make a great landing and my FSPassengers don’t complain much 
and my tires don’t pop. At least not all the time.
I learned how to fly SIDS and STARS back in the 2001 timeframe. It was sort of a requirement for VATSIM…at least for me. I say this because I know there are a lot of computer pilots today who do not know how to fly SIDS and STARS. You can see this from the way some pilots file flight plans. Now being involved with a VA and especially one that requires all flights to be flown online (VATSIM) I know from first hand experience that some of this is a lack of knowledge and some of it is just laziness. It’s easy to fix the lack of knowledge….but much harder to fix the laziness.
When I began learning SIDS and STARS, I looked at it as just a road map. After all, this really is all a SID and STAR is. It is a road map either to an airport or a road map from an airport. Of course we know there is a little more to it…but when I explain SIDS and STARS to new pilots I first get them to grasp the road map concept. It makes all the rest a little easier.
Anyway….I still find there is something new to learn with this hobby. One might think with nearly 30 years of experience that I know everything there is to know. Simply put….I don’t. However, I’ve also forgotten a lot from the days of heavy online VATSIM flying in the years 2001 – 2005. The five year or so hiatus I took from the hobby caused me to forget a lot more than I truly ever knew in the first place.
Back in those early VATSIM days for me I did fly a lot of “over the pond” flights. I don’t remember the heavy influence on NAT Tracks (North Atlantic Tracks). Perhaps we (or I) just ignored them….I just don’t recall. However, today there seems to be more information about them and I’ve spent the past few weeks trying to better understand how it works and what it means to me as a computer pilot.
Unfortunately I didn’t start my “learning” with enough time to participate in the VATSIM “Cross the Pond” event which took place a few weeks ago. So I did the right thing and stayed far away from the event, but am working to understand for next time. If you are interested in learning more about how NAT’s work (especially for VATSIM use), please visit the following link.
There truly is something in this hobby for everyone. I know many who frequently read this blog only fly offline and several who are like me tend to fly mostly connected to VATSIM. This is what makes the hobby what it is.
Well…I think I’ve settled on the title for this blog post. While I choose to fly computer sims as a way of de-stressing from my IT job….I find the challenges of learning and even making mistakes to be very therapeutic. If there is something you don’t know….just learn it. Practice makes perfect and don’t worry about making mistakes. We all make them and best of all….in our computer sim environment no one gets hurt.
Until next time…happy flying.
Jerry
March 23, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
As mentioned a few weeks ago here in my March 10th blog posting, some changes were possibly on the horizon for me with American virtual Airlines. I’m excited to report that I’ve been appointed the Dallas/Ft. Worth Hub Manager for American virtual Airlines. This was something I had wanted to happen for some time and I’m very excited and honored to accept the role.
My virtual airline (VA) experience all began in DFW with AvA almost 10 years ago. I honestly can’t remember just how I learned about virtual airlines. I believe it was either through Flight Simulator itself or in a magazine…but in any event, until the late summer of 2001 my experience with flight simulator was just standalone. I had been flying computer sims since the early 80’s, but it was 2001 before I paired flight simulator with the internet.
I believe I’ve blogged about the selection process for a virtual airline. If not, I’ll keep it brief. Growing up in Texas and working some of my professional career in the DFW area I preferred American Airlines over any of the other carriers. As a child I had visited DFW airport many times and always marveled at the big shiny aluminum planes. Also, those who know me know I’m a proud Texan and with AA being headquartered in Texas….well it was just all the right reasons.
So with the new knowledge of virtual airlines I began my search for an American Airlines version. Unfortunately, AvA was not the first AA VA I located. I found another group, joined and was assigned as a pilot to their DFW hub. My career with this AA VA only lasted a few weeks as the CEO more or less vanished without a trace and the roster was no longer being updated. So the search began again….
In the August 2001 timeframe I found AvA. It was born just that previous June, but had already gained a few hundred members and had a half-dozen or more hubs. Of course I requested DFW and was assigned as a pilot. While my only real-world aviation experience is in the form of a passenger, I had been flying computer sims at this point for over 15 years and with my few weeks of experience with the other AA VA, the CEO of AvA offered me the position of Vice President of Operations, placing me essentially in the number two position of AvA.
Part of my responsibilities of VP of Ops was the day to day management of the hub managers. If memory serves me correctly, we had hubs in DFW, ORD, LAX, JFK, MIA, BOS and SJU. I was responsible for the hiring of new hub managers when a vacancy occurred. Around the time of my VP of Ops appointment, the DFW hub manager position was open and since I was a pilot in that hub I assumed the manager role and planned to replace myself as soon as possible. However, a few weeks after that we had more openings in ORD and SJU. I began filling the positions for ORD and SJU first and basically never replaced myself in DFW.
Back then the role of a hub manager was much, much more difficult than it is today. In those early days we didn’t have automated PIREP systems and FSACARS functionality. We used a web form which the pilot would fill out with all the particulars. This web form would send the hub manager an email with the information. The hub manager would then take the information in the email form and manually update an HTML page reflecting the pilots hours. A good hub manager would update his hub roster page every couple of days. One that really wanted to stay on top of things would do it daily as a big hub like DFW or ORD could easily produce 20 or more PIREPs per day.
So much for being brief…..
Fast forward 10 years and I’m now once again the Dallas/Ft. Worth hub manager. DFW is without a doubt my favorite airport and it is both an honor and privilege to be able to manage this wonderful hub for American virtual Airlines. While the role of a hub manager has changed slightly since the early days, there is still a lot to do. The automated PIREP and FSACARS systems that AvA uses do save the tedious task of manually updating a roster. But certainly nothing has changed in the sense of what I need to do to motivate my pilots and keep everyone in line.
While each hub manager at AvA believes their hub is the best and the most important….I do know that the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport is the “Jewel in the Crown” of American Airlines. Now I truly have no intention of climbing any higher in the management ranks than hub manager. My real-world life and career keeps me way too busy to take on any more. Plus Flight Sim isn’t my only hobby. But I’m very, very happy to be back home where it all started. By the way, the photo to the left is my first flight as DFW HM. Pushing back in the MD80 for a flight to KMEM.
Now I would be remiss if I failed to invite you to become a member of American virtual Airlines. AvA will celebrate it’s 10th birthday this summer. We are planning a huge VATSIM event to celebrate. AvA was the very first virtual airline to be affiliated with the VATSIM network. We are a 100% online VATSIM virtual airline. Which simply means that all flights must be flown on the VATSIM network to count towards pilot hours and rank. Please take a look at our website and if you are interested in joining one of the oldest virtual airlines on the VATSIM network, then please sign up.
Well I believe I’ve kept you long enough from doing whatever it is you were doing before you landed here on my blog page. I’m glad you stopped by and I’m glad to share with you my adventures in the wonderful hobby we call flight simulation.
Until next time…..
J
March 10, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
Yep, I know it’s been over a month…Oh who am I kidding. It’s been over two months since I last posted a blog update. January was a busy month for virtual flying…but February not so much. I believe I logged over 60 hours of virtual simming in January and only about 3-4 in February. Bottom line is February was a busy month for me in my job and we all know that jobs come first and hobbies come last.
I’m still flying with American virtual Airlines and still managing the training hub. It keeps me busy. On average we have 20+ new pilots join each month and again on average about half that many are terminated for inactivity. For the life of me I can’t figure out why someone would take the time to join a VA and not fly. Sure we have a few rules that must be followed and we also conduct a very brief quiz over VATSIM and our own policies….but this quiz is not difficult at all. Also, you must fly 5 hours as a student pilot before transferring to a mainline hub. But we don’t require a check ride and the quiz is done on-line and we even tell you where to find the answers. Oh well.
There is something possibly big going to happen with me at AvA. I won’t talk about it now, but will be certain to come back and blog about it just as soon as I can. It’s all good.
The FSX machine is still running incredibly well. I finally got around to installing all the FSDTsceneries I had purchased a few months back. I purchased about a half dozen on a special deal FSDT was running. I installed KDFW and KFLL but had never got around to installing KORD, KFJK, KLAS, PHNL. Anyway….I had all but forgotten I had KORD and had been having issues with the terminals showing up correctly. Basically when I would land in Chicago and taxi to the terminal area all I would see were hanging jet bridges and no buildings. Well..I’m glad to say that the FSDT KORD scenery fixed that issue and I went ahead and installed the rest. I’m planning on flying from KMSP to KLAS on Sunday evening for an AvA event.
Speaking of sceneries. I also purchased the FlyTampa scenery for St. Maarten, TNCM and for Tampa, KTPA. I’m really impressed with FlyTampa’s quality. I know many of you own this scenery and I’m really not sure why it took so long to purchase it. I think Boston KBOS will be my next FlyTampa scenery.
Back to the subject of FSDT. Have you heard about the newest product they are currently developing? It’s called Ground Services X and is pretty darn cool looking. I’ve provided the video showing some of the things it will do. It’s cool. You can learn more about GSX in this forumthread.
FSDreamTeam GSX Preview
What else? Oh….I also purchased and have been using FS Passengers in my VA flights. It’s pretty cool and it has made me a better pilot. I do think the lead flight attendant is flirting with me. She keeps popping into the cockpit asking me what I’m going to do this weekend. Ha ha
Well…that just about does it for this update. I promise to get back to the blog and provide an update real soon on more of my flight sim adventures.
Until then….
Happy Flying!
Jerry
January 15, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
Back when I began to get serious about this hobby, I wanted to learn how to read all the various charts. This included understanding how to read approach, departure and airport diagrams. But I also wanted to understand how to plot a course from point A to point B using high or low altitude routes. While you certainly do not need this knowledge to fly any version of Microsoft Flight Simulator in offline mode using the built in ATC, it truly is a must when you decide you want to connect to VATSIM.
So one weekend I managed to download all the various charts I would need to fly to most destinations in the lower 48. I then printed off each chart and organized them by airport and placed each in a plastic page protector. I created a binder for approach charts, a binder for departure charts and a binder for airport charts. After all was said and done, I had 8 binders of data. When I would plan a flight I would pull the charts from the appropriate binder and utilize online sites like SimRoutes to help me tie everything together. After completing a flight, the charts (most of the time) would be placed back in their appropriate binder. I’m proud to say that this system worked for me for several years.
When I came back into the hobby, I dug out all those binders and thumbed through them. The first thing that came to mind was how outdated they probably were. Some (if not all) were 8+ years old. The second was how much time it took me to assemble all those binders. Ugh….there’s got to be a better way.
Thankfully my iPad came to the rescue. Since the birth of the iPhone and iPad, all sorts of Apps have been produced. I figured it was worth a try just to search in the Apps Store for Flight Simulator and see what hits would pop up. This is when I was introduced to FS Kneeboard. FS Kneeboard is available in both an iPad App (which I own) and a version titled FS Kneeboard Mobile for the iPhone, iPod Touch (which I do not own). While I own both an iPad and an iPhone, I only opted to purchase the FS Kneeboard for the iPad. The iPad app is available for $7.99 in the Apple iTunes Store and the cost is certainly worth the investment considering it cost me a lot more than that to put together my binders a few years ago.
The FS Kneeboard app includes all the same (but certainly updated) charts I have stuffed away in those binders. It includes 148 IFR and VFR Charts for the US and over 15,000 US digital terminal procedures. But wait….there is more. FS Kneeboard also includes current weather conditions and weather maps for all US airports (updated via NOAA) and over a dozen built-in checklists (with ability to create your own).
FS Kneeboard has certainly helped me to de-clutter my flight sim cockpit and if you own an Apple iPad, I’m confident it can help you as well.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
January 1, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
Hello everyone and thank you for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my blog site. The latter part of 2010 has sure been exciting for me in the flight simulator department. This time last year flight sim wasn’t even on the radar. While before getting involved in the hobby (August timeframe) I would often think about flight sim. I would see my GoFlight gear sitting over in the corner of my basement office and would think to myself….one day I’m going to plug you back in and take a flight. Thankfully that day happened in early August and by the end of August plans were in place to build the new FSX machine.
Somewhere along the way I discovered Al’s Flight Sim Adventures Blog (now titled Clear Left). One can say the best form of flattery is to just outright duplicate what someone else is doing. Well….it wasn’t like that, but I was inspired by Al’s blog and Al was also friendly enough to answer a few email questions I had about getting the hobby going again. Through Al I also met another Flight Sim blogger named Onur. Onur’s blog named “Clear Right” has also given inspiration and ideas which I have incorporated into my FS blogging style. I’m honored to call both of these gentlemen friends.
2010 was finally the year that I accomplished a goal I had been attempting for many years. Yes, I’m talking about my Around the World Journey. I’ve flown around the world many times in “Big Iron”, but had never accomplished it in a single engine aircraft. I had started many times….but always got bored with it. This time was different. You can read the overview of the journey in the final update here.
In the blog posting just prior to this entry, I talked about “Coming Full Circle” with my return to both VATSIM and Virtual Airlines. Neither was necessarily a goal I had when I re-entered the hobby in August…..but I’m glad I’m back.
There is an old saying I’ve heard since childhood and it goes something like this. What you do on New Year’s Day is likely something that you’ll do often do through out the new year. So with that said, I got up early and departed TNCM (where I had flown to yesterday to spend the virtual new year) for KMIA. I’m flying the American B738. While at FL360 I’m taking a moment to wish you all a very productive 2011. Flying and blogging about it. Two things I hope I can enjoy often throughout the new year. Thank you for reading.
Until next time,
Jerry
December 29, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments
If you’ve followed some of my blog posts in the past 4-6 weeks, you know that I started flying on VATSIM again and also re-joined American Virtual Airlines. AvA was founded in the summer of 2001 and was the very first VA to be affiliated with VATSIM. While I wasn’t one of the “Founding Fathers”, I did join in August 2001 and within a few weeks had been offered the role of VP of Operations and managed several of the hubs. AvA was my virtual employer from 2001 until 2004 timeframe.
I started flying again with AvA just over a month ago. I joined the DFW hub and for the month of December have accumulated over 52 hours and I still have one more day to go. Anyway, after a few weeks I contacted the CEO of AvA and offered my assistance in whatever capacity he could use me. Initially his response was that he would keep me in mind for future openings (as there were none at the time). About a week later he contacted me again and told me about an open position for the AvA Training Hub. The position would be to manage the training hub.
So as you can tell from the subject of this blog post, I was officially offered and I accepted this position. I officially got started in the position yesterday and am learning about the automated PIREP system and trying to figure out what pilots are active and which ones need to be showed the door. Don’t worry…I’m not issuing any pink slips just yet. I granted everyone a 2 week amnesty to either start flying and file their required two PIREPS per month or just simply contact me and let me know what is going on.
Since this is my blog, I’m going to insert a little “Help Wanted” notice here. Are you looking to join a virtual airline? Would you like to fly for one of the oldest and best VA’s? Want to fly for the best American Airlines group? At American Virtual Airlines we offer a fully automated PIREP system complete with FSACARS/FSPassengers/FS Flight Keeper/XAcars integration. We offer a low commitment of only filing two PIREPs per month to remain fully active and while all flights must be flown on the VATSIM network, this really only enhances your overall FlightSim experiences.
I would love if you would stop by American Virtual Airlines and submit an application. If you have less than 100 verifiable VATSIM hours you’ll be assigned to the training hub. We offer complete training (soon to be fully automated) to help get you started flying on the VATSIM network.
As Frank Sinatra would sing…..Come Fly With Me, Let’s Fly, Let’s Fly Away.
Happy New Year!
Jerry
December 19, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments
Yes it’s that time of the year and our virtual passengers need our help. Like my discovery of how much I enjoyed flying the Mooney around the world, I’ve also discovered I really enjoy flying online on the VATSIM network. My frustrations of trying to fly online from years ago seem to be resolved with my awesome flight sim PC that I built back in the September timeframe. If you are just finding my blog, please read some of the older posts from September as I describe my new hardware and also discuss how I’m keeping it cool.
Anyway, since re-joining American Virtual Airlines (AvA), I’ve flown over 15 flights (over 30 hours) all of them on the VATSIM network. Of these online flights I’ve covered flights out of KDFW to DEN, LAX, MEM, MIA, MSY, ORD and my most recent flight to our Nations Capital, DCA. In thisblog post I discussed how I simulated a real world flight I made recently. Bottom line is I’ve had a ton of fun and my online experience has been nothing but fun and also educational.
Just like the airlines we simulate, I’m enjoying making every effort to get my flight sim passengers from point A to point B as quickly and as safely as possible. I’m trying to get in as many hours as I can over the next few days. This weekend I managed to find time to fly from KDFW to KMIA then from KMIA up to KORD. Today I picked up my route and headed back to KDFW from KORD. Finally this evening I’m flying from KDFW to KDCA. My PAX are happy today as the in flight entertainment is compliments of Fox Sports and CBS Sports.
The weather across the areas I’ve been flying has been mild. This morning I had some cloud cover as I departed ORD. I enjoy the challenge that real world weather provides us through the various add-ons like ActiveSky and Real Environment Extreme. As previously discussed on this blog, I do own both of those applications and find myself using the REX graphics more and more, but I still tend to run ActiveSky weather engine. I guess it’s my way of getting my $$ worth out of both applications.
Something else I’ve really enjoyed about my new beast of a PC is how much better it functions when flying at night. When I took my wings off five years ago, not only was it a struggle to fly online…it was also hard to fly at night. I pretty much had to simulate all my flights during the daytime hours, but now I can handle the twilight and full night-time operations. I love it.
My flight up to Washington DC this evening was a lot of fun. DFW was in its usual south operations and ATC gave me 17R. Once airborne I resumed the Triss3 departure and began my northeast flight up to KDCA. My route was TRISS3 TXK J42 MEM J42 BKW ELDEE4. I had ATC coverage just about the entire route with both Memphis and Indy Centers providing the coverage. Once I departed the Indy airspace I was on my own the rest of the way.
The northeast portion of the US is the most crowded airspace and it is always typically represented this way on VATSIM. Tonight was relatively light. I began researching weather conditions for the DC area about 300nm out. If all holds I’ll be landing on runway 1.
The ELDEE4 arrival takes you north passing over Dulles then turning south keeping you far away from Andrews AFB, The White House and other important locations in the area. The above image was captured just after I turned south. I checked weather conditions again and winds were from the north at 7 mph, yep runway 1 is still my best choice.
Taking the easy way into KDCA. On final ILS runway 1.
At the gate and shutting down. An end to a great weekend of flying. I’ll try to fly another route or two this week as I will have a day off and can’t think of anything better to do but fly and help my virtual passengers get to where they need to go just in time for Christmas.
Until next time…Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Jerry
December 9, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments
In a few days I will travel down to visit family in Texas. In the past, and for at least the last 3-4 years, we would always drive down. This year we have decided to fly. We are flying American Airlines from Denver (KDEN) to Dallas/Ft. Worth (KDFW) and then on down to Killeen, Texas (KGRK). My parents live in Salado, Texas and the drive to come pick us up is only about 30 minutes versus over an hour if we were to fly into Austin (KAUS).
I’ve been flying into Killeen for several years now. Only a few years ago the old Killeen airport (KILE) relocated to the much larger Gray Army Airfield. Gray is located on the south end of Fort Hood and now serves both military and commercial traffic. American Eagle which has served the Killeen/Ft. Hood area for many years had to operate the Saab 340B into KILE. With the expansion to Gray, American is now able to fly just about anything in now and occasionally does so for military charter flights. But the normal equipment is the Embraer ERJ-145.
Now I don’t know if you are like me, but when I fly in real life I like to simulate the flight before hand in FSX. I fly a few times a year and every other year my wife and I fly to Belgium to visit her family. We’ll be doing this flight next summer and I’ll enjoy simulating that one in FSX as well.
For this trip to Texas, I’ll simulate flight AA1034 and AA3246. AA1034 will take me from Denver, Colorado (KDEN) to Dallas/Ft. Worth (KDFW). I’ll use the same equipment in FSX as American Airlines uses for this route. The equipment is the MD80. The MD80 series is the workhorse of American Airlines and one of my favorite FSX planes. The route I used was again the real world route which takes us south to Pueblo, Colorado on the Pikes4 departure then turning southeast across the southeast corner of Colorado and down into the panhandle of Texas to Amarillo. From Amarillo the route follows very closely the Texas/Oklahoma border then drops down to Wichita Falls and then on into the DFW Metroplex on the Bowie One arrival. The route is as follows: PIKES4 PUB J17 PNH UKW1 You can view the flight info from the Vataware website here.
The weather in the DFW area on this flight day was clear and DFW airport was in their normal south operations. ATC directed me to runway 13R. After taxing across DFW I parked at the gate and prepared for the second leg of my journey.
The second flight and second leg of my real world flight will be AA3246. This is an American Eagle flight from KDFW to Killeen, Texas (KGRK). The equipment type is the Embraer ERJ-145. I departed runway 18L and once airborne made my turn to join the Nelyn Two departure. This route takes you south to Waco where you turn southwest carefully missing President George W. Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas to the Tenat intersection. At Tenat I turned to heading 125 to head across a portion of the Ft. Hood military base to land on runway 15 at KGRK. You can view my flight info from the Vataware website here.
My real-world trip is to visit my family for the holidays. We are sort of splitting the difference between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The little town where my parents live hold a Christmas festival in early December with nighttime shopping and an outdoor play. This outdoor theater is presenting A Christmas Carol. It will be a lot of fun. Back in the early 90’s I played the character of Bob Cratchit in this same outdoor theater.
I have completed the return trip from KGRK to KDFW and have been running some short flights in the MD8x out of DFW. I’ve flown down to KMSY and back and then over to KMEM and back. Finally I took a short hop up to KOKC and back to KDFW. The screenshot below was captured during my climb out of KOKC on Sunday evening. The sun had just set and the evening sky still had a hint of red in it.
I’m not sure when I’ll complete the return leg to KDEN to match up with my real world travel. I’m having fun running routes out of KDFW for now. But when I do return to KDEN I’ll probably fly from KDEN over to either KLAX or KORD and run routes for a while. Eventually I will head back up to the Pacific North West or even Alaska for more of that GA flying I enjoyed so much on my return from my Around the World – 2010 Adventure.
Until next time,
Jerry
December 5, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments
Just a brief blog update. Yesterday I attended a small meet up of like-minded individuals on the topic of….(you guessed it) flight simulation. Except the time I met with a member or two ofAmerican Virtual Airlines back in 2002/03 timeframe, I had never met with fellow flight simmers and sat around a table and discussed the subject of our hobby.
Including myself, there were eight fellow simmers who attended the meet up. The age range was from the early thirties up to the late sixties/early seventies. While age in this hobby certainly makes no difference, it is always good to interact with the more mature crowd.
The experience background ranged from real-world pilots (both active and retired) as well as a young gentleman who is a flight instructor for the University of North Dakota. I was also pleased to find there was another gentlemen who like me has no interest in learning to fly.
The fact I have no interest in learning to fly in the real world may strike some as odd. However, I suppose there are those who may doubt why any real world pilot (active) would spend hours sitting behind a computer flying computer planes. The flight sim hobby is and always will mean different things to different people. This fact was demonstrated in the meet up.
Just another fact from the make up of the group. About 50% of us had experience in or actively participate in VATSIM. Two of the younger (early thirties crowd) are actually VATSIM Supervisors. We hope to make our Spring meet up topic (scheduled for first part of March 2011) be all about the world of VATSIM. I certainly look forward to sharing the knowledge I have with others and while doing so, pickup up a few new tid bits of knowledge along the way.
If you are located in the metro areas of Denver or Colorado Springs and interested in attending our Spring 2011 meet up, please contact me. This group meets in Castle Rock at the public library. If you are not in this area, please consider looking up others who share in the interest of flight simulation and start a group meet up.
I’m working on my next blog entry which will feature a flight I made on VATSIM and will also make in the real world when I travel down to Texas in a few days. Also, I added a new poll question asking the question, “Do you fly online” You’ll find the poll question in the right hand column.
Until next time,
Jerry
