July 11, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
Moving right along with our WorldFlight 2018 tour, as mentioned in the leg 8 update, our wealthy (and very lucky) tourists were only able to spend a few hours exploring the island of Diego Garcia. The tour was conducted by US DOD (Dept. of Defense) officials and unfortunately no photographs were permitted during the tour. But once again we were provided photos of our aircraft for the purpose of this update. But as you can see from the updated tour map below, we are just a few hops away from reaching the shores of the African Continent and I believe we’re making great progress. I would just like to remind all of my readers why I’m doing this tour. If you refer back to the article I wrote back in early June, I explained who was behind the WorldFlight organization and the purpose of that annual event. It truly is a great cause and the event is fun to watch. Stay tuned for future news and updates regarding the event for 2018 which is scheduled to take place in November.
Also, just to note. Between leg #8 and this leg #9, an update to Prepar3D v4 was released. I’m now running Prepar3d v4.3. The upgrade was very smooth and the benefits are slightly better performance. If you haven’t updated your P3D to v4.3 and would like to do so, I wrote a step-by-step guide which should help you complete the update with as little headaches as possible.
History of City
Plaine Magnien is a village in southeast Mauritius located in the Grand Port District. According to the 2011 census, the population is just under 10,500. The village is the location of the only airport on the island.
History of Country
Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean located approx. 1,200 miles off the southeast coast of Africa. Formerly founded by the Dutch in 1638, then the French maintained a colony between 1715 – 1810, Mauritius became a British colonial possession in 1810 and remained so until 1968. Mauritius is a major tourist destination and ranks 3rd in the region and 56th in the world. The tropical climate, clear warm sea waters, beaches flora and fauna make it a favorite destination for some. And if you’ve ever heard of the Dodo bird, this now extinct bird called Mauritius home until the last one was killed in 1681.
History of Airport
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, FIMP is the main international airport in Mauritius. The airport is located 26 nm from the capital city of Port Louis. The airport has direct flights to several destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and is home to the country’s national airline Air Mauritius. The airport has one runway (14/32) measuring 11,056 ft in length and the airport terminal can handle aircraft as large as the Airbus A380.
History of Airline
Air Mauritius is the flag carrier airline of Mauritius. The airline is the 4th largest carrier in Sub-Saharan Africa and has an important standing in the European, African and Indian Ocean regional markets.
Flight Briefing
SEY1066
FJDG – FIMP
Planned Fuel – 24,800 lbs
Planned Altitude – 38,000
Distance – 1162nm
Flight Time – 2hrs, 50mins
Route: NKW R329 DUDIP GBY1
Flight Journal
What a wonderful and very lucky experience our travelers had on the island of Diego Garcia. While this entire trip could be summed up as “Once in a Lifetime”, the opportunity to visit a place almost a secure as Area 51 can only be described as “Once in a Lifetime”. We only had a few hours to visit and as previously stated, we were under the watchful eye of the US DOD the entire time. Our JANET airlines B737-600 departed out of FJDG shortly after we arrived headed to points unknown. Fortunately all our bags and other supplies were loaded onto another Boeing 737-700 which was an older, retired Air Seychelles aircraft which had arrived a few days ago under “mysterious” circumstances. I asked one of our handlers what happened to the passengers and crew, he politely said…”DON’T ASK”! So I just zipped my lips and went on about my business.
Once all our passengers were safely on board the Air Seychelles B737, we were immediately given our clearance and instructed to depart without haste. I really don’t think this means we out stayed our welcome, just perhaps we had too many eyes which could witness something they didn’t want us to witness.
A very quick taxi to runway 13 (how fitting) and it was time to kick the tires and light the fires once again and get this bird in the air.
The runway on the island of Diego Garcia as we climb out.
Our departure couldn’t have come at a better time as weather was starting to move in.
Clouds have somewhat been a theme for this adventure. But then again we are in the tropical regions of the world.
Nice views
The Air Seychelles Boeing 737-700 (retired).
We’ve managed to leave the clouds behind (for now)
As I said, for now. LOL The clouds have returned just in time for our arrival into Mauritius.
Speed brakes deployed to help slow our descent.
You may have noted the lack of winglets on this aircraft. Nice views as we get closer to our destination.
A few afternoon storms are expected and we’ve asked ATC to vector us around a few strong cells. But we’re still on-time for our arrival.
Looks to be a thriving place down there.
On final approach.
It’s been a bit of a long day for everyone. We’ll be glad to spend a few days exploring this area.
Our Boeing 737 parked up. Not sure what this old girl has in store for her.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.3
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG 737-700 Expansion (Air Seychelles livery)
Orbx Global Texture
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
We’re due to stay here for a few days before departing to our next destination of Dzaoudzi, Mayotte, France.
Until next time…Happy Flying!
Jerry
July 9, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
As my readers will know, a few months ago I experienced a total PC meltdown/failure of my gaming PC. I went through my normal process of designing, acquiring parts and building my new gaming rig. I won’t deny that the timing of this build was not good, but it was necessary as I had no other PC capable of delivering the performance I need with the games I enjoy.
Question Time
I’ll share my thoughts, ideas, suggestions etc. on the very subject of this blog article shortly, but as with many of my writings, I like to get my reader thinking about a few things first. So basically the main question you need to ask yourself is for what is the purpose of this new computer you are contemplating buying or building? Now one might think the first and perhaps only question one might need to ask is whether you believe you have the ability to build your own PC. While this is an important question to ponder, at least for now…this blog article IS NOT going to be about how to build your own PC, just whether or not you should (or at least consider the option). So, for what purpose will you use this new PC?
Now one might think the only folks that may stumble onto my blog site or read my writings on other websites are gamers. I’d wager to guess that gamers do make up 95% of my readership, but with the power of SEO….someone, anyone could perform a Google search and end up reading this article whose interest is not gaming. Let me share a few thoughts about the non-gaming and non-performance driven user first.
Basic PC User
In the event you are a non-gamer, non-performance driven PC user and you’ve stumbled onto this writing…WELCOME! Thank you for reading! If you are merely in the market for a new PC simply for web use, word processing, accounting and stuff like that, then you may very well be a candidate for an “off the shelf” store purchased PC. At the end of the day, you might actually save some money this way. Brand named PC’s are available just about everywhere and often bundle deals can be found where you can walk out of the store with a new PC, monitor, printer and even bundled software options that when all considered together do make this the less expensive (and certainly less frustrating) option.
In the real world, I’m an IT Professional. While most of the systems my group deploys are laptop computers, even the desktop PC’s we deploy are store bought models. Yes, we get volume discounts….but the time saved in simply being able to open a box and deploy versus build just can’t be overlooked. Do your homework, shop around and I’m sure you’ll find everything you need.
Another option for the basic PC user to consider is purchasing a laptop computer. Many years ago, laptops were typically only for the wealthy business traveler. But in today’s world, an excellent range of brands/specs can be found and if you would like the flexibility to user a computer just about anywhere, then a laptop PC might be the best choice for you. However, I do invite you to continue reading.
Desktop versus Laptop for Gaming
Before I dive into the world of gaming PC’s and gaming PC components, let me just state the following. While I just suggested a laptop PC might be an excellent choice for the non-gamer, non-performance driven individual, I simply can’t recommend any laptop for the serious gamer. Even a “Gaming” branded laptop will have limitations in what can and can’t be done with that platform. I’ve witnessed too many examples where an individual has shelled out thousands of dollars on a “Gaming Laptop” only to find out they can’t play their favorite games after all. This is especially true if you are working on a tight budget and perhaps you can’t afford the top of the line machine. Laptops offer very little upgrade opportunity and as a result, they don’t hold their resell value very well.
I fully understand budget constraints when planning a new computer purchase. I also understand some folks just can’t afford to have two PC’s and often times a laptop purchase becomes a requirement (students etc.). If this situation applies to you, then I suggest purchasing the very best gaming style laptop you can afford and just understand you’ll most likely have to compromise when it comes to graphic settings in order to get solid performance. Remember, the bottom line between any gaming laptop and the equivalent desktop is portability over performance.
One final comment or perhaps a word of advice if you truly must go down the road of purchasing a gaming laptop. Just because the word “lap” is used to describe this type of computer, don’t even think of trying to game with it in your lap. You’ll need to place the laptop on a hard surface (table/desk) and I would also highly recommend purchasing a cooling pad. Not only will this fairly inexpensive accessory help keep your laptop cool, it will also help to extend the life of the laptop. Remember, heat kills.
Performance/Gamer User
The performance driven or gamer type user is a unique breed of user. Computer based tasks such as video editing/video production, CAD Design and gaming have a very similar requirement. Often the need for a lot more horsepower than what can be found in a brand name, store purchased PC. Yes, there are some major brand computer manufactures designing, building and distributing “Gaming Machines”. But in my opinion, these are much, much more expensive in the long run and often come bundled with a lot of extra software which really is never needed or even wanted. This is why a custom built PC will almost always be the less expensive option. In addition, a custom built PC might also allow the consumer to build something on a budget and down the road upgrade a few components.
A Real World Example
The new gaming PC which I recently built, is my dream build. Perhaps for the first time, at least in a long time…the machine is exactly what I want it to be. In other words, I’m not skimping on anything. From a hardware perspective…this machine is state of the art with all the latest and greatest available hardware (at the time of build) and will serve me (as built) for hopefully 5 years. Even my previous build I went with a lower end graphics card and upgraded to the 980Ti about a year later. Not this time.
While I always planned to build this new machine myself, I’ve taken the time to do a little research just to see how much I’ve saved overall by building the machine myself. I’m pleased to say (and my wife is pleased to hear) that I’ve saved over….(drum roll please) ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Yes…over $1,000 I saved by doing the job myself.
But time is money right? It sure is. I’ve invested perhaps 4-5 hours of my time planning, tweaking, researching my build, more tweaking, ordering parts and perhaps another 3-4 hours to assemble and complete the hardware build. So let’s call this 10 hours. But for a geek like me, it’s been 10 hours of reading reviews, watching some videos and basically feeling like a kid in a candy shop. Bottom line, it’s been a fun process. It’s something I enjoy doing and I consider it to be an extension of the gaming hobby.
But you’re an IT Guy, I’m not!
In today’s world, even a non-IT person can design and build their own gaming PC. YouTube and Google are both excellent resources in helping the non-IT Professional in this area. There are also websites such as PCPartPicker which can assist you in designing the build and can help ensure individual parts compatibility. After all, not all PC parts are created equal. Another alternative is to copy cat another build. For example, you can view all the individual hardware components I used in my recent build here. I ordered all my individual PC parts from Amazon, CDW and Newegg.
Intel versus AMD
The Intel versus AMD debate may be as confusing as Coke v. Pepsi, Ford v. Chevy or Prepar3d v. XPlane. Folks have their preferences and for the record my choices are Intel, Coke, Ford and P3D…but I digress. Most of my readers may know that I’m a long time flight simmer and really have only branched into other simulation based games in the past 3-4 years. But I made a really costly mistake about 10 years ago when I made the disastrous switch from Intel to AMD CPU’s. While I can’t specifically speak towards AMD performance with games such as Farming Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator 2/American Truck Simulator, I can say that just about every flavor of Flight Simulation software I’ve ever used performs far, far better on an Intel CPU than the AMD equivalent. So I would highly suggest you research this topic carefully and when in doubt, make sure Intel is inside. You’ll thank me later. Especially if you’re a flight simmer.
SSD versus HDD
I suppose I could have listed this topic in the above section when talking about debates, but really there isn’t much of a debate regarding SSD versus HDD performance. If your budget allows, you’ll appreciate the performance gain when choosing an SSD over an HDD. If your budget permits, go with multiple SSD’s and perhaps one HDD. Install Windows on its own SSD (recommended 250GB) and on a second SSD install your games and any other supporting applications. If you record your gaming content on a frequent basis, consider installing a fast HDD for this purpose.
Air or Liquid Cooling
As CPU’s have increased in speed over the past several years, the need for liquid cooling has become more important. When I built the beast version 4 about four years ago, I installed an inexpensive water cooled CPU cooler. This cooler only lasted about 6 months and nearly caused my CPU to meltdown before I realized I had an issue. I replaced it with a air cooled CPU cooler as that was what I was used to using. However, as I began researching the new build and specifically how best to keep the Intel i7 8700K cooled, one CPU cooler kept coming up in all the reviews and that was the Corsair Hydro Series H100i v2. I decided I would give a liquid CPU cooler another try and I’m really glad I did. I still frequently monitor my CPU temps just to be on the safe side, but it really keeps my CPU temps nice and low and as I mentioned before….Heat Kills!
Overclock???
The subject of overclocking is a highly debated topic. To be perfectly honest, I’ve overclocked my builds in the past and rarely see a performance difference. Especially when I weigh what little performance gain I might experience versus the added stress caused by the OC’ed components. Remember, Heat Kills!
Budget Build Today, Upgrade later
As I mentioned in the laptop versus PC section, a laptop (gaming or otherwise) offers very little in the area of down the road upgrades. Also, gaming laptops just don’t retain their value. Also as previously mentioned, I’ve built gaming PC’s on a budget and upgraded components at a later time. The issue with my last PC was a motherboard failure, but all other components were just fine. I managed to sell my 980Ti for just a few hundred dollars less than I paid for it. So keep that into consideration and if you are building on a budget and plan to upgrade some parts down the road, make sure you keep the original box. You’d be surprised at how much more you can make from selling used parts when you have the original box, user manual and any other accessories.
In Closing
I know this article doesn’t cover everything you need to consider with regards to building or buying your next computer. But hopefully I’ve addressed some of the key areas to consider and really I truly believe that just about anyone can build their own PC these days. Just do your research and read the instructions. Seek out assistance via YouTube and Google, take your time….and enjoy the process. When it’s all built and you power it up for the first time, you’ll experience a level of satisfaction that’s hard to beat and just think about all that money you’ve saved which can be used to buy more games.
Until next time….
Happy Building!
Jerry
July 7, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
I hope you enjoyed the information I passed along during the update for leg 7. Just as a point of reference, before beginning leg 8 we have 18 hours, and 20 minutes of flying time logged on this tour. We’ve traveled 5,965 miles and burned just over 99,000 pounds of fuel since we left Sydney, Australia on 2 June. Once again this flight will take us south of the equator.
You may also remember I told you that not all flights operated during the course of this WorldFlight 2018 tour will be 100% accurate. From time to time I may take some artistic license and go fully fictional in what I choose to fly. As you’ll soon learn by reading more about our next destination, commercial flights simply do not operate into this airport. While this airport may be used as an ETOPS (Extended Range Twin Engine Operations) emergency landing site (this will explain our flight for Leg 9), non-military/government flights do not operate here. But more about this later in the article.
History of City
Diego Garcia is an atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean and the largest of 60 small islands comprising the Chagos Archipelago. Settled by the French in the 1790’s and was transferred to British rule after the Napoleonic wars. Diego Garcia was initially one of the dependencies of the British Colony of Mauritius until it was detached in the newly created British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) in 1965.
Between the years 1968 and 1973, the native population was forcibly removed by the United Kingdom and the United States to establish an American military base. As of March 2015, Diego Garcia is the only inhabited island of the BIOT, the population is composed of military personal and supporting contractor agencies.
History of Country
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is a British overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory consists of seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago with over 1000 individual islands amounting to a land area of just 23 sq. miles.
History of Airport
The airport located on the island of Diego Garcia is under the operation/control of both the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States. While no commercial airlines operate into or out of Diego Garcia, the airport may be identified as an ETOPS (Extended Range Twin Engine Operations) emergency landing site or an en route alternate for flight planning purposes for commercial airliners. ETOPS allows for twin engine commercial aircraft (Airbus A330, Boeing 767, Boeing 777 or Boeing 787) to make theoretical nonstop flights between city pairs such as Perth to Dubai, Hong Kong to Johannesburg all while maintaining a suitable diversion airport within 180 minutes of flying time with one engine being inoperable. The airport also served as one of 33 emergency landing sites for the NASA Space Shuttle program.
Many conspiracy theorists suggest that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 which disappeared on March 8, 2014 after departing from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing was flown to Diego Garcia.
History of Airline
If you’ve been to Las Vegas, you may have seen several white Boeing 737-600’s with a red stripe flying into or out of McCarran International Airport. These US Government operated aircraft, shuttle employees from Las Vegas out to the Nevada National Security Site (Area 51) and to the Tonopah Test Range Airport (KTNX) also known as Area 52. The airline name JANET, is derived from Just Another Non-Existent Terminal or Joint Air Network Employee Transportation. Janet flights operate under the ICAO airline code of WWW and flights can often be tracked on websites such as FlightAware.
Flight Briefing
WWW1066
VRMM – FJDG
Planned Fuel – 22,000 lbs
Planned Altitude – 36,000
Distance – 690nm
Flight Time – 2hrs
Route: A4D ATISA R329 MOMMA DCT NKW
Flight Journal
Until just before departure, our travelers believed we were flying direct to Plaisance, Mauritius. However, we have an incredible opportunity to spend a few hours touring Diego Garcia. One of our travelers, knows someone who knows someone else connected with the island and assisted in arranging for this brief stop and tour. And just to add a little touch of mystery to the day, we’re flying one of the Boeing 737-600 JANET airlines which the US Government needed shuttled out to the island. NOTE: The JANET airlines aircraft do not operate in this part of the world, but just to mix things up this is the story I’m going with. Enjoy.
Our passengers have boarded and we’re all buttoned up and ready for push-back. We’ve been instructed to tanker out additional fuel in the slight chance we’re unable to land at Diego Garcia.
Making the turn to line up and wait for departure on runway 18.
Positive rate, gear up.
A wing shot as we climb to our cruising altitude of 36,000.
Just making the announcement about our brief stop-over. I can hear the clapping and excitement of our lucky travelers from the flight deck.
The JANET airlines livery on the PMDG Boeing 737-600. Just a reminder, JANET airlines do not operate in this part of the world that I’m aware of.
The island of Diego Garcia just off the starboard side.
The water looks amazing.
Our island runway
Making our turn to join the visual approach for runway 31.
Interesting island
We’ll be on the ground shortly
Short final into Diego Garcia
Photography is strictly prohibited on Diego Garcia. The US DOD will provide the exterior photos to document our brief stay on the island.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.2
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG 737-600 Expansion (Janet Airlines livery)
Orbx Global Texture
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
Our stay on Diego Garcia will be short. In approx. 3 hours we’ll depart in a retired Air Seychelles Boeing 737 for Mauritius where our travelers will spend a few days exploring and doing all the things tourists tend to do.
Until next time…Happy Flying!
Jerry
July 4, 2018 / admin / 2 Comments
As I had mentioned in the tour introduction posting I wrote before starting the 2018 version of the WorldFlight tour, I’ve circumnavigated around the world many times. I’ve done it in big and fast aircraft and I’ve done it in small and slow aircraft. I’ve done it with many legs (much like this tour) and I’ve done it in as few as 3-4 legs utilizing aircraft like the Boeing 747 and Boeing 777. Back in the FS9 days (when FS9 had the default Concorde) I went around the world (northern hemisphere) in 3-4 legs (can’t remember exactly) but did it at supersonic speed. That was cool. While the flights I conducted in only 3-4 legs were fun, I certainly learn a lot more when visiting more locations and especially taking the time to research some of the destinations.
In thinking back to some of my earlier “round the world” adventures, it got me thinking about just how much time it would take to go around the world if there was no need to stop to fuel (or mid-air refueling could be performed). So I asked Dr. Google and this is what I found out…
Cessna 172 – 132.7 hours.
Boeing 747-400 – 41.96 hours
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon – 18.9 hours
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird – 11.3 hours
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo – 10 hours
International Space Station – 2.27 hours
Interesting stuff and hopefully you also find these sort of facts interesting as well. Enough of this, let’s get on with the tour. As you can see from the updated tour map (below), the first six legs have primarily been making our way northwest. We’re now turning and headed southwest and will soon dip back below the equator.
History of City
Male is the capital and most populous city in the Republic of Maldives and has a population of approx.. 133,000 and an area of 2.2 sq. miles making it one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city is geographically located at the southern edge of North Male Atoll and consists of a central island, an airport island and two other islands under control by the Male City Council.
History of Country
The Maldives, officially known as the Republic of Maldives, is a South Asian sovereign state, located in the Indian Ocean and lies southwest of Sri Lanka and India. The Maldives is one of the worlds most geographically dispersed countries consisting of a chain of 26 atolls spanning approx. 115 sq. miles.
History of Airport
Velana International Airport, also known as Male International Airport is the main international airport in the Maldives. It is located on Hulhule Island in the North Male Atoll and nearby the capital city/island of Male. The airport first began operations in 1960 with the first runway being constructed of slotted steel sheets measuring a length of just 3,000 ft. As tourism increased in the early 70’s, the airport was further upgraded to handle the volume. Today, the main asphalt runway measures 10,499 feet and routinely handles aircraft up to the Boeing 777.
History of Airline
China Eastern Airlines is a major Chinese airline operating international, domestic and regional routes and is the second largest carrier by passenger numbers in China. The airline was established in 1988 and currently operates 496 aircraft. China Eastern typically operates a Boeing 737 between VCBI and VRMM.
Flight Briefing
CES1066
VCBI – VRMM
Planned Fuel – 13,500
Planned Altitude – 38,000
Distance – 420
Flight Time: 1hr, 35min
Route: BASU2D BASUR P570 TVM R457 MUGBA M3B
Flight Journal
The visit to Sri Lanka, while enjoyable….most days consisted of rain, more rain with short breaks from the rain where the sun would come out and the humidity would soar, then it would rain again. I believe our travelers are weary from the heat and humidity and ready for a break. But as I’ve shared with them, the next few legs will mostly be much of the same. Perhaps a brief break from the damp, sticky climate will come once we reach South Africa. But even that will only be brief.
For this leg of our journey, we will be flying a China Eastern Boeing 737-700. China Eastern operates flights between these two airports in the real world, so I felt it only right to do the same in our virtual tour. Our passengers have arrived for a very wet, late afternoon departure.
We can’t depart until all the luggage has been loaded and the ground crew is working extra hard on this wet day to ensure an on-time departure.
With the doors securely closed and locked, it’s time to pushback this Boeing 737-700 for the trip.
Position and Hold on runway 04. We’re ready to go…
Up and away.
We may eventually find some sunshine…somewhere.
Ahhhh, there we go. Clear skies and sunshine as we cruise at 38,000 feet.
As previously mentioned, our departure out of Sri Lanka was in the late afternoon and the sun is beginning to sink into the Indian Ocean.
A beautiful view as we descend into our destination.
The view from the flight deck.
One more wing view as the sun has just about disappeared.
We quite a strong cross-wind for our approach into Male.
On short final, we’ll be on the ground shortly.
On the ground at Male International Airport just before darkness sets in.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.2
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG 737-700 (China Eastern livery)
Orbx Global Texture
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
Our travelers will spend two days in Male before our next flight. I certainly hope you’re enjoying following along with the journey and learning a few things along the way. I’ll see you right back here for the next leg.
Until next time…
Jerry
July 2, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
If you follow the happenings around the flight simulation community, then you should be well aware that the 2018 FlightSimExpo which was held in Las Vegas on 9-10 June was a success. Flight Sim enthusiasts from around the world flew into LAS for the event and just about everyone I’ve heard from had nothing but positive thoughts regarding the 2018 event and look forward to 2019 and beyond.
As the dust begins to settle from the event, the organizers have been quick to communicate to those who attended the 2018 event regarding their opinions for future shows. Specifically their interest/opinion regarding specifically where they might wish to see the 2019 event held.
From what I understand the survey sent out to the 2018 attendees, identifies a list of six US cities including ATL, DEN, LAS, MIA, MCO and SAN. The survey also includes a write in slot as well. But most likely people will focus on the six named cities.
Of course, yours truly would absolutely love to see Denver named as the 2019 host city location. Denver (and the surrounding area) has a lot to offer and would be well suited to host the 2019 Flight Sim Expo and even future years as well. Denver International Airport is the international destination of many European carriers including British Airways, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Icelandic and Edelweiss. It is also a major hub for United Airlines and is served by most all the US carriers including American, Delta, Frontier and Southwest just to name a few. While the event would certainly save me a lot of $$$ and allow me to even sleep in my own bed, is Denver (or any of the other cities listed) the best choice for FlightSim Expo 2019 and beyond?
In short, I say NO!
Yes absolutely, Denver (and all the other cities) have excellent airports with plenty of flight options. Yes, Denver (and all the other cities) have plenty of state of the art conference facilities which could host this type of conference. Yes, Denver (and all the other cities) also have a suitable nightlife to keep everyone entertained after the conference event ends for the day. But….neither Denver…nor any other city listed has the nightlife that Las Vegas can offer. Especially when you think about location and proximity.
Consistency is Key
I believe the key to having a successful conference year after year after year is consistency. I believe it’s important to hold annual conferences around the same time each year and in the same location each year. While one might could say that holding a conference in Denver on an annual basis could get old and stale after a few years, I really don’t think the same can be said for Vegas. After all….when I think of Cool…the image of the Rat Pack comes to mind. Frank, Dean, Joey, Sammy and Peter absolutely understood just how cool Las Vegas was and still is.
The other advantage to holding a conference in the same location each year ultimately comes down to cost. Once a conference can establish themselves as an annual event, the organizers should be able to better negotiate deals with the hotel/conference center and pass those savings down to the attendees or use it to better enhance the event itself.
My Advice
If the organizers of FlightSimExpo care to listen, I say Vegas Baby! Consider moving the event up the strip…but keep FSExpo19 in Fabulous Las Vegas. You’ve got a really good thing going here….keep it consistent and it’ll grow.
Finally
Yes I realize some will say (in a nasally voice), “but Las Vegas is too hot”. I’m actually writing this (to be posted next week) while I’m traveling for work. I’m currently in MCO (Orlando) and this is how the weather report was posted earlier today online “Hot, Sticky, Steamy, Soupy, Wet, Swampy and Nasty”. Does that sound fun to you? Yes, it’s hotter than a two dollar pistol in Vegas, but remember…it’s a dry heat. MCO can’t claim that! Oh no….just Nasty!
Until next time….
Perhaps I’ll see you next year in LAS.
Jerry
June 30, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
After a four day business trip and visit from my parents, it’s great to get back into the sim and resume our WorldFlight tour around the world. I had to spend just a bit of time reading the past trip reports to bring myself up to speed on where we left off and what leg was next up.
The magenta dots are slowly but surely starting to take numbers on our world map. But we still have a lot of ground (and water) to cover before this tour is complete. So let’s stop talking, and start flying.
An updated version of our tour map showing the five previous stops.
History of City
Colombo is the commercial capital and largest city in Sri Lanka. Known for its natural harbor, Indian, Greek, Persian, Roman, Arab and Chinese traders have been visiting this area for over 2000 years. The metro area of Colombo has a population of over 5.6 million with 752,993 in the city proper.
History of Country
The pre-history of Sri Lanka goes back 125,000 years and possibly even as far back as 500,000 years. Today the island is home to many cultures, languages and ethnicities. The majority of the population is from the Sinhalese ethnicity, while a large minority of Tamils have also played an influential role in the island’s history.
History of Airport
The Bandaranaike International Airport (also known as Colombo International Airport) is the main international airport serving Sri Lanka. It is named after former Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike and is located 20 miles from the commercial capital of Colombo. The airport began as a Royal Air Force airfield in 1944. Today the airport is more than capable of handling the world’s largest passenger jets including the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380.
History of Airline
Garuda Indonesia is the national airline of Indonesia. Named after the holy bird Garuda of Hinduism from the national emblem of Indonesia, the airline is headquartered in Jakarta which we visited a few legs ago. The airline was founded in 1947 as KLM Interinsulair and commenced operations as Garuda Indonesian Airways in 1949. They have a fleet size of 142 aircraft consisting of 73 Boeing 737-800, 10 Boeing 777-300ER and 13 Airbus A330 to name just a few.
Flight Briefing
GIA1066
WITT – VCBI
Planned Fuel – 21,500 lbs
Planned Altitude – 34,000
Distance – 933nm
Flight Time – 3hrs
Route: ANSA1B ANSAX P574 DUBTA L645 SADRI N563 ADKIT T3 BEBOK A465 DABAR DABA1A
Flight Journal
We begin our flight today in the late afternoon. We’ll be serving light snacks and should reach Sri Lanka in the early evening with enough time for our travelers to have a nice dinner before heading to their hotel. We wasted no time in getting boarded and all loaded up for the flight. As the WITT airport is rather basic, I thought I would just cut to the chase and get us airborne.
Hopefully you’re not getting bored with the 737. The fact of the matter is the Boeing 737 is a workhorse aircraft for so many airlines around the world, that it shouldn’t be uncommon for it to get a lot of rotations on our tour. Until the Aerosoft Airbus A319, A320 and A321 releases for Prepar3D v4, the B737 is our best option for short field operations.
Climbing out of WITT for FL340
Spiral contrails from our Boeing 738 with the crescent moon visible.
Another well done livery scheme
Our Garuda Indonesia Boeing 737-800 fully configured for landing at VCBI
Another fairly basic default airport.
Down on the ground just before the afternoon thunderstorm rolls in. We’re fortunate to have the ground power and most importantly the ground AC unit. It’ll be another hot and sticky visit.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.2
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
PMDG 737-800 (Tiger Airways livery)
Orbx Global Texture
Orbx Australia
Orbx Cairns Airport
Orbx Broome Airport
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
As always, I truly appreciate you reading this trip report. I hope you are enjoying the tour and learning a little something along the way. I know I have.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!
Jerry
June 27, 2018 / admin / 4 Comments
There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding the process of how to update Prepar3D. While the geniuses at Lockheed Martin have created a super easy to follow instruction manual, the confusion regarding this process seems to run rampant on social media. I’m not sure why really. Perhaps it’s the reluctance of reading the manual or perhaps the manual just contains too much detail and not enough step-by-step-by-step guidance. In any event, I’m going to do my best to provide you a step-by-step guide for how to update Prepar3D. Or at the very least, how I update my own instance of Prepar3D.
About this guide
This step-by-step guide was written specifically for the Prepar3D version 4.2 to 4.3 update and written/published in late June of 2018. Lockheed Martin released P3D v4.3 on 25 June 2018. If you are referring to this guide anytime after version 4.3 (v4.4, v4.5 etc.) then this method should also work as well. Unfortunately my crystal ball isn’t working for peering into the future, so who knows how the update process will work for P3D v5 (if there is such a thing). What I’m trying to say here, is content on the Internet tends to live forever and you might be stumbling on this writing a year, two or more from the time I wrote it. Just keep that in mind.
The Update Process
Just a little background for those that may not be aware. I believe, starting with P3D v3.x, Lockheed Martin developed P3D to be somewhat modular in the way one can update and maintain the simulator. This modular setup consists of three main files with the first being the Client, the second being the Content and the third being the Scenery. When Lockheed Martin develops, tests and deploys an updated version to us, we no longer need to completely uninstall the entire P3D application just to take advantages of the updates. In many cases, only the “Client” portion of the update needs to be applied. But you should do your homework to best determine exactly what you need to update to take advantage of all the new bells and whistles available.
Prepar3D version 4.3 Change Log
To aid you in understanding all the changes included in the P3D v4.3 update, please follow this link. Use this information to determine what you want to update.
My Update Process
I’ve studied the change log and have determined my action plan. In short, I don’t see enough value add in the Scenery updates to worry at this time with updating. That’s really the beauty of this modular update system. However, I will of course update the client and also the content. If you are not interested in flying the six different versions of the C-130, then I suppose you can simply skip the content portion. But as I previously stated, my update plan is to update both the client and the content portion of P3D.
Step One
Make note of P3D Settings. Before I perform an update, I typically will start up P3D and take screen captures of all the settings screens. This way, if anything gets changed during the update process…I’ll be able to quickly reset everything back to the way it was before. I like to run P3D with the updated version with the same settings I ran on the previous version first, before tweaking anything. This way I have a better determination on just what improvements were made and how these improvements impact my setup.
Step Two
Download the update files required. As I previously mentioned, I’m only planning to update the Client and the Content. So you’ll need to login to the downloads section of the Prepar3D website with your license or account credentials. Once there, click to expand the individual component downloads section and download the following four files: Install_Client.msi, Install_Content.msi, cont1.cab and cont2.cab. Once downloaded, I typically place all the files into a new folder I create on the Windows desktop for ease of access.
Step Three
We’re going to uninstall one component at a time. I’ve found this to be the least error prone way of doing this. On your Windows gaming PC, go to Control Panel > Programs and Features. From here we’re going to uninstall the P3D Client ONLY.
When prompted “Would you like to deactivate your P3D installation?”, Click NO!
Step Four
Next we’re going to install the updated P3D Client which we downloaded in step two. As previously mentioned, after I download all the appropriate files (in this case four), I create a folder on my Windows desktop and place all the downloaded files in that folder. Right-click on the Install_Client file and select Install.
Pay very special attention during the install to make sure the updated client is being installed in your specified P3D install directory. In my example, everything defaulted in just as it should have.
Step Five
Return to Control Panel > Programs and Features and locate the P3D Content component and just as you did before, uninstall this component.
Step Six
Again, as before…right-click on the Install_Content file and click Install. The Install_Content installer will automagically access the two cab files (cont1 and cont2) as necessary to perform the updated content installation.
Step Seven
Pending everything installed successfully, reboot your PC. While the P3D update/install files will not prompt you or even require you to reboot, it is ALWAYS in your best interest to reboot after installing software and we’re wanting a trouble-free upgrade…so just reboot! Trust me, I’m an IT Guy!
Step Eight
Once your Windows gaming PC has successfully restarted, launch P3D. Don’t be alarmed if P3D takes a little longer than normal to launch the first time. P3D is doing a lot of work behind the scenes and in my experience it took perhaps an additional 1-2 minutes than normal.
Once P3D launches, pay special attention to the screen below. If all was successful with your update, you should see the new “Add-ons” button at the bottom. If so, SUCCESS! Pat yourself on the back as you’ve just successfully updated P3D. At this point, I closed out of P3D as I still needed to perform a few other updates to software accessories such as ActiveSky, Envtex etc.
Additional Notes of Interest
I’m writing this just a little over 24 hours from when Lockheed Martin released the update for Prepar3D v4.3. At the time of this writing, third party developers are working hard to update all the various add-ons which required some level of change due to the new P3D update. Within just hours of the P3D update, ActiveSky, Chaseplane, Envtex/Envshade all had updates available for P3D v4.3. Once I updated these add-ons, these along with all my other 3rd party add-ons work including all my PMDG aircraft, QualityWings 787, A2A aircraft, Carenado aircraft and sceneries including Orbx, FlightBeam, FSDreamTeam etc. etc. all worked as expected. In other words, I did not need to reinstall any add-ons.
Benefits to Updating?
After I managed to get everything updated and launched P3D, I noticed a much faster load/launch time and I’m seeing a very slight increase in FPS performance. The amount of time it took me to perform the update process was about 15-20 minutes. But I can certainly understand ones reluctance to updating…especially if your current v4.2 setup is running stable. To my knowledge, no 3rd party add-ons at this particular time require version 4.3. However, if you’re an Aerosoft Airbus fan and are anxiously awaiting the release of the A318/A319 and A320/A321, then you may need to update to 4.3. But as the release date for the Aerosoft Airbus has been pushed to sometime in mid-late July, you have plenty of time.
Final Thoughts
Over the past 24+ hours I’ve seen a lot of frustration from others who have attempted to update P3D to 4.3. This is one of the reasons I decided to document my update process in the hopes it helps others. However, let me say this. My gaming PC is 100% rock solid. I was experiencing zero issues before deciding to update to v4.3. P3D v4.2 was stable and the only CTD I’ve experienced was caused by the wx radar in the QW787. If you’re experiencing issues with your gaming machine, if you’re experiencing issues with Windows on your gaming machine and especially if you’re experiencing issues with v4.2, then your upgrade/update process may not go as smooth as mine did. While this process is super simple (especially following my method), it won’t solve problems which exist in your system. These problems (what ever they may be) may result in a less than desired outcome.
I wish you the very best of luck. I truly believe if you follow my guide step-by-step as I’ve laid it all out, you’ll have the very best chance for a successful update. Again, the best of luck to you and I hope to see you in the virtual skies very soon.
Until next time….
Happy Updates!
Jerry
P.S. After I have more time to spend flying in P3D v4.3, I’ll post an updated settings post. I don’t anticipate anything changing, but need to update the page anyway.
June 27, 2018 / admin / 0 Comments
Our tourists are once again on the move. The time spent in Singapore was certainly not disappointing. Only time will tell just how historic of an event which also took place while our travelers were visiting Singapore. Without getting too deep in the political weeds, I’ll just say that anything positive will certainly be a great thing for not only the region…but the entire world. As mentioned during the last trip report, we will be flying this next leg in the beautiful QualityWings Boeing 787 Dreamliner. For this leg we’re flying the Scoot Tigerair Dreamliner. Scoot Tigerair (not to be confused with Australia’s TigerAir) is a low-cost airline from Singapore. More about that later.
An updated version of our tour map.
History of City
The Sultan Iskandar Muda airport is located 13.5km southeast of the capital of Banda Aceh, in the province of Aceh, Indonesia. Banda Aceh is situated at the tip of Sumatra and has long been a strategic, transportation and trading hub in the eastern Indian Ocean. The first mention in western accounts comes from 1292 when Marco Polo and his expedition visited the city and noted as the logical first port of call for travelers from Arabia and India to Indonesia. On December, 26 2004 the city was hit by a tsunami which was caused by a 9.2 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean. The disaster killed an estimated 167,000 inhabitants and destroyed more than 60% of the city’s buildings.
History of Country
The history of Indonesia has been shaped by its geographic location and consists of 17,000 – 18,000 islands of which 8,844 are named and 922 of these are permanently inhabited. Indonesia is positioned along the equator in South East Asia.
History of Airport
Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport also known as Banda Aceh International Airport, is located 13.5km from the capital of Banda Aceh. It is named after the 12th sultan of Aceh, Iskandar Muda. The airport was built in 1943 by the Japanese Government and is currently the 23rd busiest airport in Indonesia.
History of Airline
Scoot Tigerair is a Singaporean low-cost, long-haul airline owned and operated by Singapore Airlines. It launched flights in 2012 on medium and long-haul routes from Singapore, predominantly to China and India. Initially, Scoot’s fleet consisted of Boeing 777 aircraft obtained from Singapore Airlines. The airline began to transition its fleet to Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in 2015.
Flight Briefing
TGW1066
WSSS – WITT
Planned Fuel – 32,377 lbs.
Planned Altitude – 38,000
Distance – 571
Flight Time – 1hr, 50min
Route: ADMI3F ASUNA L762 MDN W12 JILAT JILA2D
Flight Journal
Once again it’s time for our travelers to head towards their next destination. Our next stop will once again have our travelers back in Indonesia, but this time on the northern side of the equator. Once again the clouds are building as this is pretty much the pattern in these locations. The ground crew in Singapore is getting the final cargo items loaded and soon we’ll pushback and taxi to the runway.
As Scoot is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, the Singapore airlines crew is helping with the ramp operations including pushback.
If you follow aviation news, you may know there are some major issues with the Rolls Royce Trent engines. However, in the virtual world…they work just fine.
Lined up and waiting on runway 20C. The tires have been kicked, we’re just waiting to light the fires on these RR Trent engines and get the Dreamliner in the sky.
Just as the tag-line reads under the Captains window, it’s time to “Lickity Split”.
A little artistry “Dream like effect” for the beautiful Dreamliner.
Rolls Royce Trent engines doing their thing…
I love wing shots. The differences between the Boeing 777 and 787 vary little. The wingspan of the 787 is 197’.
Fully configured for our landing this evening.
Short final into our very basic default P3D airport. Not a lot of eye candy.
Parked and awaiting the ground crew. Another leg is safely and successfully in the books.
Simulator Specifics
Prepar3d v4.2
ActiveSky Weather Engine
ActiveSky Cloud Art
Envtex & Envshade
QualityWings 787 (Scoot Tigerair livery)
Orbx Global Texture
VATSIM
Route Planning Tools
AivlaSoft PFPX
Navigraph Charts Desktop
FlightAware
FlightRadar24
SkyVector
Google Maps
Computer Hardware Specs
Yes ladies and gentlemen, another successful and most importantly safe flight in the books. As I have some real-world travel of my own coming up, it will be a few days before I can sit down and fly the next leg. But when that time comes, we’ll be back in the Boeing 737-800. While I haven’t planned out the equipment for each leg of the tour, my guess is the 737 will end up being the most used aircraft for the tour. But I’ll do my best to keep it interesting. Thanks for reading.
Until next time…
Happy Travels
Jerry
June 26, 2018 / admin / 2 Comments
When one is bored in a hotel room and there’s basically not much worth watching on TV, I often find myself surfing the internet and catching up on news related to my favorite simulation based games. To my knowledge, the official release date for the much anticipated Farming Simulator 19 is only known to Giants. In other words, I’ve seen nothing official come from Giants regarding a release date. As I mentioned back in April in my posting titled “T-Minus Six Months and Counting…” history (based on previous releases) had me speculating that FS19 would release in the late October/early November time frame of this year. However….
Again…too much time on my hands (I think I recall some music lyrics in that sentence STYX????) anyway, while reading some Facebook postings I discovered this little tidbit of information on Amazon. Now before everyone gets excited….I have no idea if this is actually true and no idea of knowing if this is legit software. I remember hearing some stories about folks selling vaporware on Amazon and other sites and customers never received their games. But this states a release date of December 31, 2018 (New Years Eve).
I absolutely see no reason for anyone to rush out and purchase this. Even if you typically purchase the boxed versions versus Steam, I would suggest a “wait and see” approach on this and wait until Giants actually announces a release date. But hey…I’m stuck in a hotel room in Orlando and bored out of my skull….so I thought I would share my boredom with you all.
Until next time….
Happy Farming!!!
Jerry
June 25, 2018 / admin / 1 Comment
My apologies for communicating to you all this way. I had every intention to record a short video to announce my break from YouTube over the weekend. But time simply got away from me. I’m writing this on my flight to Orlando and plan to create a short video consisting of a title slide just asking everyone to read this note so you’re aware of what’s going on. It’s the best I could come up with and I didn’t want to leave you all wondering what was going on another week.
For those who have been around from almost the beginning of my GBS YouTube channel, you know I live a fairly busy and hectic life. If work isn’t keeping me pulled in a half-dozen different directions, my darling wife and her almost never ending project list certainly keeps me busy, busy, busy. This past weekend was a good example, just before it was time to drive to the airport for another work trip I wrapped up some outdoor work which consisted of replacing a few cedar boards which were showing signs of rot along the side of the house. Anyway….
Between the previous business trip, the weeklong visit with my parents and all the other tasks required to keep an almost 40 year old house running…I’m out of videos. I have more work travel and other work related projects which I’ve scheduled during July and early August…then thankfully, my two week long European vacation will happen in late August/Early September and trust me when I say, the vacation can’t get here soon enough.
Basically, let me get to the point before this turns into another novel. I need to take a break from YouTube for a while. This doesn’t mean that I’m not going to be playing my favorite sim games and it also doesn’t mean I’m going to disappear. I may actually live stream from time to time (if time permits) but I just simply don’t have the time at this point to devote to creating recorded content for YouTube.
I will do my best to touch base with everyone on Discord and most likely you’ll continue to see some activity here on my blog site. It’s much easier for me to continue to write about simulation gaming while traveling than it is for me to produce content for YouTube.
I sincerely hope you all understand. Life is busy for all of us and we must always ensure we focus on the areas that matter most and while I consider each and every viewer a friend, I need to take some time away and I hope you’ll understand.
Thank you and God Bless you all.
Jerry (GBS)
