May 30, 2022 / admin / 0 Comments
It’s been a while since I took the time to write a flight sim blog post. I’ve been busy with lots of DIY projects and just enjoying the spare time I have flying. As I discussed soon after the release of MSFS, I decided to continue to fly Prepar3D v5 for all my airliner flights and have enjoyed Microsoft Flight Simulator mostly for General Aviation flying. While I recognized from the very beginning that MSFS was going to be the new flight simulator standard, I saw no immediate need to begin flying airliners in the platform until just recently for several reasons.
First, while I did briefly play around with the FBW A320 in MSFS and will admit that what that team accomplished with the FBW A320 project is truly amazing, I didn’t see it replacing the FSLabs A319, A320, A321 I had in P3Dv5. Second, from a short-haul perspective….I had everything I truly needed between the FSLabs and the PMDG 737. I truly was waiting for something to grab my attention to the point where it would suck me right into MSFS. Third, I must admit that I’m super spoiled with using Chaseplane to handle all my camera views in P3D. The MSFS camera view system is seriously lacking when compared to Chaseplane and as I’ve been a Chaseplane user from the very beginning, old habits are truly difficult to break.
While I’ve been anxiously awaiting PMDG’s release into MSFS, I was slight disappointed in their release strategy. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the reason behind releasing the Boeing 737-700 first, followed by the 737-600 then finally the 737-800 followed by the 737-900. After all, had PMDG released the B738 first, they might have struggled with getting the sales on the –700/-600. But, for me personally I’m just not interested in owning a –700 or –600 variant. My primary interests are in the 737-800 and the 737-900. As I fly mostly American Airlines with some Alaska Airlines flights mixed in. But I digress as this blog post is supposed to be about the Fenix A320.
I began hearing about the Fenix A320 project a few months ago. I’ll be honest, I really didn’t pay much attention to it until the last 60-90 days before release. But the more I read about it the more I anxiously awaited its release and realized this could be the airliner to finally bring me more into MSFS. After all, I absolutely love the visuals (eye candy) in MSFS over P3D and truly want to do more airliner flying in the new sim.
The Fenix A320 was a day one purchase for me and since the release, install and setup…I’ve flown nothing but the Fenix in MSFS. I’ve successfully logged 24 flights in the Fenix and absolutely love it. I’ve managed to setup the MSFS camera system to a point where I can use it and have been having fun. I’ve flown a variety of short flights (1-2 hours) and several longer flights of 3-4 hours. Both the Fenix and MSFS have performed flawlessly. I’ve also started adding a few airports into MSFS from both some freeware selections on Flightsim.to and a few payware options where I’ve had discounts from previous P3D purchases. While I’m not ready to uninstall P3D as I plan to fly P3D tomorrow in the Boeing 777, I’ll do the majority of my short-haul operations, and certainly all my Airbus flying in MSFS.
Final thoughts on the Fenix A320. I don’t like to “Never Say Never”, but if the devs behind the Fenix project remain true to their word and release the additional engine types and sharklets for the A320 and if they also produce (in time) an A319 and A321, I’ll be a Fenix customer from this point forward and won’t even consider any future FSLabs purchases in the A319/A320/A321 categories. But of course time will tell.
As always, thank you for reading.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
February 10, 2021 / admin / 1 Comment
Long time readers of my blog will certainly know that I’ve discussed the subject of virtual airlines (VA’s) many times. I’ve shared with my readers the pros and cons of VA membership and I’ve also shared my experiences with some of the best and worst the internet has to offer. This writing is going to focus on a new (to me) virtual airline and why you should join today.
During the internet age of my flight simulation experience, I’ve always enjoyed being a member of a virtual airline community. For me personally, I’ve found VA membership brings a sense of purpose to my flight simulation hobby. Especially when flying jetliners around the world. I’ve held memberships in many different VA’s over the past two decades and served in many capacities including pilot, hub manager, executive management and even owned my own fictional cargo based VA for about 5 years where I served as CEO. For the most part, my experiences have always been extremely positive. I’m a believer in the saying “You Get What You Give”. More about this in a minute.
Prior to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the spare time I had was rather limited and it had been several years since I had been a member in a virtual airline. However, being stuck at home and especially after being laid off in July, I found I had more time and I began seeking out a new VA to call home. For most, the choice of VA will most likely be an airline in their home country and one they prefer over another. Growing up in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and beginning my IT career there as well, I always preferred to fly American whenever possible. So I’ve always gravitated towards an American Airlines based VA whenever possible. But unfortunately, not all VA’s (even those simulating AAL) are created equal.
A few weeks ago I found myself somewhat bored with the American VA I belonged to. While I was keeping myself busy flying (almost daily) and I was serving in a management capacity, I just wasn’t happy with the direction things were going. While I’m not going to mention the name of this VA, I’ll just say that I’ve had a long history with them and in all honesty not much has changed or progressed with their systems in more than 10 years. Don’t get me wrong, they are a fine VA with wonderful and dedicated individuals. But I just wasn’t happy and felt I needed to make a change.
In the VATSIM Facebook group I saw a posting from another American Airlines VA which caught my attention. I clicked the link and had a look over their website. After reading as much as I could from their About, FAQ and News pages and reading even more comments others have posted on Facebook, I decided American Virtual was going to become my new home. I completed the application process and was absolutely stunned when I received my acceptance and welcome email within 10 minutes of applying. In the past I’ve waited 24 – 48 hours or sometimes longer to be accepted into a VA. Being hired/accepted in the short period of time I experienced after signing up with American Virtual showed me these guys are a serious VA. Of course it needs to be said, VA’s are operated by real-life humans and the expectation of being hired within 10 minutes will not always be possible. However, any properly managed virtual airline should be able to review, process and hire certainly within 24-48 hours. But I digress….
I downloaded the ACARs program and setup my first flight from DFW to DEN in the PMDG Boeing 737-800. During the flight I joined the American Virtual Discord and found it to be an active and lively group. By the time I completed the return flight to DFW I had decided I made the right decision. The very next day I contacted the CEO and inquired about an open hub manager position at DFW. While I was new to the VA, I wanted to offer my experience and willingness to serve in a management capacity and was promoted to the role of hub manager over the DFW hub.
While I realize this has quickly become a lengthy post, I will wrap things up very shortly. I promise! While most VA’s operate in a similar fashion by allowing pilots to accrue hours, offer group flights and an online community via forum, Discord etc. American Virtual takes all this many, many steps forward.
In a recent video message from the American Virtual CEO, Sean Jackson, he describes the VA as being “more than just a virtual airline, but literally a technology company that provides virtual airline services.” During his six minute address, he highlights many of the features which makes American Virtual stand out as a leader in the flight simulation community. A few features he discusses are as follows:
Flightaware Schedules
At American Virtual we strive to mirror the real world American Airlines flight operations in as realistic manner as possible. American Virtual uses flight data from Flightaware to inject real world flight data in the scheduling system for both American Airlines and also its direct subsidiaries.
Enhanced Flight Air Map
American Virtual uses a feature rich graphical tracking mod which provides a street level view of your aircraft in flight. This is very similar functionality to what you might see with real world traffic on FlightRadar24.
Premium Miles
Earn miles towards purchase of real items or unlock special privileges on the site.
Perks Program
Earn discounts towards amusement parks, movies, sporting events, restaurants and more.
Odyssey Magazine
A quarterly full-color virtual magazine similar to American Way (AA’s inflight magazine).
Discord Community
An active community on Discord where virtual friendships are forming on a daily basis.
Plus Much, Much More…
American Virtual is hiring and if all this sounds interesting to you, you should join today! But before I let you go, near the top of this lengthy article, I mentioned a saying or motto which has always been important to me. “You Get What You Give”. I’ve applied this in all aspects of my life, everything from my faith, my family, my education, my career and to my hobbies. In the very short time I’ve been with American Virtual, I can tell you this is also an important motto from the CEO all the way throughout the management team. There’s more to running a successful VA than just opening the doors. The effort Sean and his management team, as well as each individual member is putting into this fine VA will only strengthen its core. I’ve found my new home and I certainly hope you’ll join me.
I hope to see you in the friendly skies at American Virtual.
Until next time….
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
January 25, 2021 / admin / 0 Comments
Note: This is a fictional flying adventure using Microsoft Flight Simulator. Any similarities to real world events, people and places is strictly for the purpose of the story. While a trip like this might not be possible (or even a good idea) due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, I’m omitting this from this adventure. At this time in all our lives, we need a little break from reality from time to time.
Flight Day 6
To date our general flight routing has been with the goal of reaching South America. All previous countries we’ve landed in or over-flown have been countries I’ve previously visited in the flight sim. We’ve finally reached the portion of the trip where I’ve not (at least in the past 4-5 years) visited. So today’s flight is taking a bit of a shortcut from Tocumen direct to Ecuador (bypassing Columbia). Over the next few weeks the hope is to pickup all the remaining countries I need to visit to make South America 100%. This plan also includes a flight down to Antarctica. Once this has been achieved, we’ll turn and fly along the eastern coast as we make our way north towards the Caribbean. While I’ve visited most of the Caribbean islands before, we’ll do a little island hopping to pickup the ones I’m missing and using that path as a shortcut to get back to Florida and the east coast of the US.
MPTO SETN
Today’s flight is just under 500nm, but will be the first over open water as we’re taking a bit of a shortcut and flying direct from Panama City, Panama to Esmeraldas, Ecuador.
The Mooney Ovation has been performing flawlessly and is certainly up to the task.
The Pacific Ocean is looking pretty calm, but keeping our eye on the clouds ahead of us.
As expected, had to climb above the clouds to avoid a small storm.
Runway ahead. I think we’ll beat the rain.
On the ground in Ecuador. As we’ve been pushing ourselves a bit hard over the past few days, we’re going to spend 2-3 days here exploring the area before proceeding towards Peru.
Thanks for following along with my around the world adventure.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
January 18, 2021 / admin / 0 Comments
Note: This is a fictional flying adventure using Microsoft Flight Simulator. Any similarities to real world events, people and places is strictly for the purpose of the story. While a trip like this might not be possible (or even a good idea) due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, I’m omitting this from this adventure. At this time in all our lives, we need a little break from reality from time to time.
Flight Day 5
Once again it’s time to move on and continue our journey through Central America to South America where I hope to visit several countries I’ve not flown into in the past 5 years or so. Below is a screenshot from the ProjectFly flight tracker indicating the countries I’ve visited in South America before I began this Around the World Adventure. While the image is a bit dark, you can see I’ve previously visited Columbia, Venezuela, Caracaras, Guyana and Chile (shaded in gray). Most of these flights were flown from the US out of either KDFW or KMIA with return flights back. In other words, I tend to always fly from the last airport I’ve previously landed.
As previously discussed on an earlier blog post, I’ve visited 36% of the world. While I could have just jumped around, I’ve always enjoyed flying with a purpose and that’s really what this adventure is all about. Over the next few weeks the goal is to complete all of South America and also pickup Antarctica before heading north towards the Caribbean. More about all this later.
MSLP MROC MPSM MPTO
On the ground at MSLP. Should be a beautiful day to fly.
Climbing to our cruise level as we fly along the western coast.
Flying over mountains in central Costa Rica.
Flying over Panama City and preparing for our arrival at Tocumen Airport. We will stay here overnight and head for Ecuador.
Thanks for reading and following along with my progress as I fly around the world in a Mooney Ovation.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
January 11, 2021 / admin / 0 Comments
Note: This is a fictional flying adventure using Microsoft Flight Simulator. Any similarities to real world events, people and places is strictly for the purpose of the story. While a trip like this might not be possible (or even a good idea) due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, I’m omitting this from this adventure. At this time in all our lives, we need a little break from reality from time to time.
Flight Day 4
We spent a few days exploring the Veracruz area including some much needed “beach” time. I must admit the mid to upper 70’s temps in January compared to the snow and cold of Denver has been a nice break. Of course the further we travel south on this portion of our journey will continue to be warm, perhaps even hot since we’ll be entering summer once we cross the equator.
Over the next several weeks, our general direction of flight will be generally south as we fly along Central America into South America. We’ll fly along the western side of South America exploring Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Our routing will take me to places which I haven’t flown to in many years.
I’ve been using the ProjectFly app to track my flights for many years. There is a Passport feature which tracks the countries you visit. At present I’ve only visited 35% of the world’s countries and this Around the World Adventure is to help me add to this. Will I reach 100% before this adventure is complete? Well…that is certainly my goal and one of the reasons we’re headed to the southern tip of South America as I do plan (weather permitting) to fly from the southern tip of Argentina (SAWH) to Teniente R. Marsh airport in Antarctica. This would be a 530nmi flight over open ocean. But it’s about the only chance I will get to fly to this part of the world.
MMVR MMTP MSLP
It was hard to pry ourselves away from the little beach side cabana. But as the weather is changing, it’s time for us to move along.
Our next flight will take us from Mexico down to El Salvador by way of Tapachula. It’s a longer flight leg, but as I had mentioned in a previous update, we agreed after a few days of R&R on the beach that we would make it up with a few longer flight legs.
Refueling in the rain. This is one of those moments where I wished I had done this when we landed a few days ago in the sunshine.
Lining up on runway 01
Climbing out
Making our turn to head direct to MMTP.
Smooth air above the clouds.
Making our turn over Tapachula (MMTP).
On the ground and another flight day is complete. We will stay here for a day and then depart for Tocumen Airport in Panama City, Panama. Thanks for reading.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
January 9, 2021 / admin / 0 Comments
We all woke up to some wonderful and exciting news this morning from PMDG and the soon to be released Boeing 777 for P3Dv5. You can read the press release from FSElite here.
Since making the move to P3Dv5, the Boeing 777 has been missed from my virtual hangar. While I don’t have a lot of time for long-haul flights, there are plenty of US domestic routes being handled via the T7 such as DFW – ORD, DFW – MIA, DFW – LAX, MIA – LAX (as examples) for American Airlines to certainly keep me busy.
The Boeing 777 is truly a wonderful aircraft to fly and I’m looking forward to the release which hopefully will be sometime towards the end of January or early February.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful weekend.
Jerry
January 8, 2021 / admin / 0 Comments
Note: This is a fictional flying adventure using Microsoft Flight Simulator. Any similarities to real world events, people and places is strictly for the purpose of the story. While a trip like this might not be possible (or even a good idea) due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, I’m omitting this from this adventure. At this time in all our lives, we need a little break from reality from time to time.
Day 3
Our third day will be another full day of flying. We’ve decided to spend New Year’s Eve in the port city of Veracruz, Mexico. While we could push deeper into Mexico, we figured we would have a shorter day today and make up for it in the next few legs and try to be in South America sometime next week. Plus who doesn’t want to spend New Year’s Day lounging on a beach!
KBRO MMTM MMVR
Lined up and ready to take-off at KBRO.
The Rio Grande and US border between Texas and Mexico. We’ll be back in the USA in a few weeks or perhaps a month or two. Really don’t know. We’re just going to take things day by day. But do have plans to reach the southern tip of South America before we turn north and head back this direction.
Flying along the eastern coast of Mexico.
On short final for runway 01 at MMVR Veracruz, Mexico.
We’re off to the beach hotel for a few days of fun & sun before proceeding on our trip. We’ve had a long few days of flying and need a break.
Thanks for following along. At the present time, we’ve flown 1,481 nmi, in just short of 10 hours of flying time. You can track my individual flight logs here.
Until next time….Hasta la vista from Mexico!
Jerry
January 6, 2021 / admin / 0 Comments
Since the last update from a few weeks ago, I’ve made even more progress in my overall expansion plans. I did go ahead and purchase the Boeing 747-400 for heavier and longer cargo operations. In doing this, I also decided to sell off all the King Air aircraft. I was able to keep all the current pilots, train them onto different aircraft between the remaining Connie’s, B738’s and B757’s. The fleet now consists of three Connie’s, four 738’s, two 757’s and the one 744. I keep the Connie’s based at KAPA along with two B738’s. The remaining two B738’s, two B757’s and the Queen are based at KDEN. While technically the runway at KAPA is long enough for the B744 to land (based on Air Hauler 2 specifications), living just about 5 miles and on the approach path of the 17’s, I would be surprised if I ever were to see a 747 going into KAPA. Of course I would also be just as surprised to witness a 737 landing there as well. But sometimes reality just needs to give way to imagination.
I opened a new base at KDEN and eventually closed the base and factory at Colorado Springs KCOS. While I believe the long-range plan will certainly support additional bases, I want to just focus on two at this time. Keeping KAPA and KDEN made more sense than KDEN/KCOS. With the factory operations I need to move materials between the two factories. While I can do that via my own aircraft, I find just contracting this function to ground transportation is my better option. The KAPA/KDEN combination has saved money in these ground transport fees and also shortened the amount of time it takes to move materials between the two factories as well. The combined factories work to produce materials to make cell phones. The current production rate of cell phones is 2000 per day which brings in approx. 1 million per day.
Financially speaking, with the current setup the monthly overhead is just under 30 million dollars. This includes the rent at both KAPA and KDEN along with the lease and insurance payments for our fleet of ten aircraft and salaries of our twenty pilots. We currently have 65 million in the bank with no outstanding debt.
Looking Ahead
I think the next step I would like to take is to replace the slower Connie’s with B738’s. The Connie’s have certainly been useful, but their speed and cargo capabilities are somewhat limiting. The 738 can still fly into smaller airports, but transport twice as much cargo in much less time. After all…time is money! Of course, I want to take the same approach as I did with replacing the King Air’s and that is to train those current Connie pilots up to the B738 which will take some time.
Not Bored Yet
As I mentioned in a previous update, I’m playing this in the role of CEO and not actually flying the routes myself (as is possible). I’m about 45 days in and still enjoying the strategy of it all. I’m sure at some point I will grow bored with it. Unfortunately Air Hauler 2 doesn’t have a pause feature. As an example, if I simply stop playing for a month or two and then relaunch the application, I will most likely find my cargo company bankrupt as the monthly lease, rent and salary payments will continue to be paid out. To prevent this from happening I would need to essentially sell off any assets, turn in any leased aircraft, fire pilots and close down bases/factories. But for now, I still enjoy spending an hour or so each day just planning out flights and ensuring enough revenue is coming in to keep the forward momentum going.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time…
Happy Cargo Hauling!!!
Jerry
January 4, 2021 / admin / 0 Comments
Note: This is a fictional flying adventure using Microsoft Flight Simulator. Any similarities to real world events, people and places is strictly for the purpose of the story. While a trip like this might not be possible (or even a good idea) due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, I’m omitting this from this adventure. At this time in all our lives, we need a little break from reality from time to time.
Day 2
While our trip is mostly self-funded, we have been sponsored by the Mooney International Corporation. Our day two trip will include a short hop from Georgetown over to Kerrville (KERV) for a photo op and some handshaking and well wishes. The Mooney International Corporation is based at the Kerrville airport. There have been many (including my Mooney Ovation) produced at the Kerrville facility. We’ll then proceed southeast to Brownsville where we’ll spend the last night in the US for several weeks.
KGTU T82 KERV (FS) CVB PEZ IKG BKS T05 PIL KBRO
We arrived back to the Georgetown Municipal airport in the early afternoon. Temps were in the mid 60’s with light rain falling.
Loading up our bags and getting ready for the first leg of two today.
Performing our pre-flight checks.
As we taxi to the active runway, we noticed the double rainbow.
Climbing out over the clouds over Central Texas.
Descending into the Kerrville area.
Parked in front of the Mooney International Corporation at KERV. We met with the CEO and many Mooney employees. We received one of those big cardboard checks (which we left behind) and the best wishes for a successful trip around the world from the Mooney company. They consider this a great publicity event for their company showcasing the endurance of their aircraft.
We spent an hour on the ground in Kerrville, had a nice early afternoon snack and prepared to head further south to Brownsville. Our second leg should take us less than two hours and we’ll be in Brownsville before dark.
Flying over South Padre Island near Brownsville.
On final approach into KBRO.
On the ground in Brownsville, Texas. Headed to the hotel and we’ll return tomorrow for our third day of flying fun.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
January 1, 2021 / admin / 0 Comments
Note: This is a fictional flying adventure using Microsoft Flight Simulator. Any similarities to real world events, people and places is strictly for the purpose of the story. While a trip like this might not be possible (or even a good idea) due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, I’m omitting this from this adventure. At this time in all our lives, we need a little break from reality from time to time.
The day has finally arrived to embark on what I hope will be a fun adventure as I fly my single engine Mooney M20R Ovation around the world. I’ve been busy the past several weeks planning, packing and even more planning for what will be a long, but hopefully fun experience. While I certainly have the “Big Picture” concept of this entire journey planned out, at this extremely early stage of the journey, it’s difficult to say exactly where we’ll be this time next month, in six months etc. The best I can truly do is plan out a few days at a time and hope the weather allows for safe travel conditions.
My wife and I spent a nice, quiet Christmas together completing a few last minute projects in our home. Our friends will be looking after the place while we’re away. Our original plan was to leave on Monday, 28 December and spend a few days with family in Texas, then perhaps spend New Year’s Eve in Mexico. However, Mother Nature had other plans for us and decided to bring about a late White Christmas. So being the flexible travelers we are, we are delaying the start of the trip until after the snow storm and will spend New Years Eve in Texas with family.
The Aircraft
I purchased the 95’ Mooney M20R Ovation (reg. N542JS) six months ago from a friend. It’s in near mint condition for a 25 year old aircraft and will be perfect for our journey. The M20R features a slightly longer fuselage than earlier models and while it’s still a four seat aircraft, the extra length will allow for more cargo capacity. In other words, more room for all the things my wife couldn’t leave behind. 
My wife and I have flown several endurance flights to best determine just how many hours at one time we can fly. Unlike a road trip in a car where you can quickly and easily pull into the next town, the next gas station for a bio break….this can’t be done as easily when flying cross country. So over the summer we took a few trips and determined four hours is the max. Under most conditions we should be able to keep our flight legs under four hours, with some perhaps exceeding this but that should be the exception and not the rule.
Day 1
The day has finally arrived. The snow storm was pretty much a non-event, so we decided to embark on our trip on Tuesday, 29 December. We arrived at Centennial Airport (KAPA) just before 9 AM and loaded the last minute items into the Mooney. We also needed to clear the ice and snow off the aircraft.
Our flight route from KAPA to KGTU. KAPA LAA DHT KAMA (FS) LBB SWW BMQ KGTU
With the aircraft fueled and ready to go, we departed KAPA enroute to Amarillo, Texas (KAMA) by way of the LAA and DHT VOR’s.
Holding short runway 17L KAPA
Departing the south Denver area.
Goodbye Denver, see you soon.
Passing the LAA (Lamar, CO) VOR and turning south to intercept the DHT (Dalhart, TX) VOR.
On the ground in a wet and cold Amarillo. We’ll refuel and have lunch before continuing our trip to Georgetown.
With some hot food in our bellies, we taxied out to runway 13.
The weather was quickly changing in Amarillo with freezing temperatures expected soon. We’re leaving just in the nick of time.
Heading south towards the LBB (Lubbock, TX) VOR.
Above the clouds and in smooth air. Next stop Georgetown.
Breaking through the clouds as we approach Georgetown.
North Fork of the San Gabriel River.
Gear Down! Flying over Sun City on approach to runway 11 at KGTU.
Final approach for runway 11.
On the ground at Georgetown Municipal Airport. Total flying time today was 4 hours, 22 minutes with one stop. Not a bad first day. We’ll tie the aircraft down here and spend the night with my dad and most of tomorrow. As we’re slightly ahead of schedule, I believe we’ll be able to spend New Year’s Eve in Mexico after all.
Check back in on my progress as I fly around the world in a Mooney Ovation.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry
