November 29, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
To some individuals, a computer based flight simulator is just a game and to many others it is much more, it’s an important hobby. I’ve even known many younger individuals who were inspired to pursue aviation careers and became pilots and air traffic controllers as a result. Regardless of your motive, one can learn and experience many different aspects of aviation and even learn something about geography through a computer based flight simulator program.
For me, flight simulation changed from being “Just a Game” around the year 2000. As it was around this timeframe when I was first introduced to the world of internet based virtual airlines or VA’s. I’ll discuss VA’s in more depth in a future article. Before 2000, I would load up a flight in my simulator, pick a destination, take off and come back in a hour or two and land the plane. I was happy if I could land within a hundred miles or so of the airport. However, with a little practice (practice does make perfect after all), I could navigate my aircraft and found it was actually interesting to fly the aircraft versus letting the autopilot do it.
Tip – It is easy to get caught up in wanting to fly “Big Iron” aircraft like the Boeing 747. However, you’ll learn more about flying and navigating when spending time in the default Cessna type aircraft which are featured in all versions of the popular flight simulator programs. Work your way up from the single engine prop models just like real pilots.
While I have no desire to take flying lessons or earn my private pilots license, the flight simulation hobby has taught me much about aviation, about the world we live in and I’ve met some really wonderful people as a result.
Next time I’ll discuss what flight simulator software is right for you (there are many to choose from) and some tips on setting it up. Thank you for reading my blog.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
November 27, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
Continuing our southerly path towards Cape Town, days five and six were pretty much uneventful. I departed N’Dola airport in the city of Kinshasa, DRC for Huambo, Angola and the Albano Machado airport (FNHU). The town of Huambo sits at an elevation of 5,584 feet.
Lined up on the active at FZAB. Slightly improved weather conditions from yesterday.
I love these shots looking back. FZAB in the background.
On the ground at the Albano Machado Airport (FNHU) in Huambo, Angola for a fuel/food stop.
Back in the air after a brief fuel stop. We’ll make Windhoek Airport in Windhoek, Namibia by nightfall.
On final for the second time into Windhoek FYWE. Had to go around due to aircraft on the runway. We’ll spend the night here and resume our journey towards Cape Town, South Africa tomorrow (day six).
Day Six begins late morning as we depart Windhoek, Namibia for Cape Town, South Africa.
It’s been an amazing week of flying through Africa. To break things up just a bit, I’m going to place the King Air in storage at the Cape Town airport while my wealthy passengers spend a few weeks vacationing in Cape Town. I’ve warned them about the great white sharks and will catch a flight from Cape Town back to London to run some “big iron” flights in and around Europe. I’ll resume my adventure in a few weeks.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
November 26, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I packed away my flight sim computer and other gear (yoke, pedals, GoFlight hardware modules) in early January 2012. Prior to this timeframe, I hadn’t spent much time flying since July/August 2011. However, at this time (and even in January 2012) my FSX machine ran just fine.
Since my FXS machine had been packed away between January and September of this year, I had a number of Microsoft updates to apply to the machine, along with updates to my antivirus programs. Also, specific to FSX I had several updates to apply for various scenery and other add-ons.
From almost minute one, FSX was unstable and I experienced many CTD’s or crash to desktop issues. Many of these were experienced when clicking menus within FSX. But FSX would also crash when starting up as well as when going to an airport (FSX default or otherwise) via the menu. The odd part of this was I new I had applied the fix to resolve CTD’s when clicking menus just after I built the new machine two years ago. Of course I’m talking about the uiautomationcore.dll fix. This impacts users running FSX on Windows 7 64 bit machines. If you want more information on this fix, please read this.
Anyway, I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out what was wrong. I was very close to just biting the bullet and performing a full system rebuild on my machine. Then on one of my Africa flights I experienced a CTD and decided to do a little more research on the specific error. The error pointed to g3d.dll. I used Google to search and found a blog post on the Avsim Forums which pointed to the fault being with FSUIPC. I hadn’t thought about checking to see if an update to FSUIPC was available since my long hiatus.
I applied the most recent version of FSUIPC and ran some tests. Since applying the update, I’ve spent another 4-6 hours on the machine flying, clicking menus and just about anything else I can think of. The machine is stable and I’ve experienced no CTD’s.
I hope this information might help someone else.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
November 24, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
This update will serve as the update for day three and four as our journey continues into Africa. Day three began in Niamey, Niger (DRRN) under clear skies. The decision was made to push on to the coastal city of Douala, Cameroon (FKKD) which is a three hour journey from Niamey.
The weather was clear and warm (actually hot) in Niamey. We fueled and prepared to taxi to the active runway.
Taxi from the fuel station to the active runway at DRRN.
Our departure clearance was granted quickly and we were airborne and turning towards the south enroute to Douala.
As our route carried us closer to the coast, thick dark clouds began to develop with reports of strong turbulence between 15,000 and 18,000. I descended below 12,000 and continued to make my way towards Douala.
At about 10 miles out, we had one more storm cell to route ourselves around. This extended our flight time by about 15 minutes, but would ensure a safe arrival.
As we crossed the river we were instructed to follow the King Air ahead of us. We resumed our position as number two and made it safely to the ground.
On Friday morning I double-checked weather conditions and discovered we would need to carefully plot our departure out of Douala much the way we approached. The coastal storms were back. We departed Douala for Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (FZAB).
Departing runway 30 in Douala, Cameroon.
Note the addition of the winglets for the Carenado B200 King Air.
Circling the Douala airport for a patch of clear sky.
Headed for smooth air and clear skies as we fly in-land from the Gulf of Guinea. Our journey today will carry us south of the Equator for the first time on our long journey.
Just managed to land and taxi off the active before the clouds opened up.
I did experience a CTD (Crash to Desktop) on this flight, but thankfully FSUIPC and the “save” feature helped me get back on track. I did in fact learn something about a resolution to this CTD and will write about the solution soon.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
November 22, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
In over 25 years of flight simming, my only time to fly in or around Africa was in 2010 when I flew along the northern coast of Algeria and briefly in Libya before heading across the Mediterranean Sea towards Palermo, then on to Athens. This adventure is allowing me to journey into the deepest portions of Africa and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to fly to Timbuktu.
My rich passenger travelers are tired from shopping and sightseeing around Casablanca. We depart Casablanca early as we’ll travel most all day in order to reach Timbuktu. However, I was given strict instructions to limit the flight segments to under 3 hours as best as possible. I plotted the second travel day to depart Casablanca (GMMN) to Tindouf, Algeria (DAOF). We’ll refuel, stretch the legs, grab lunch and then it’s off to Timbuktu, Mali (GATB).
I did learn what I needed to know about the flight characteristics of the King Air 200. Under normal weather conditions, I have a range of just slightly over 1200 miles when fully loaded with 548 gallons of fuel (3671 lbs.). The King Air 200 is also speedy in comparison to the single engine Mooney I used last time. My passengers also enjoy all the amenities they expect including full drink and refreshment center (with flight attendant) and that fully enclosed aft lavatory.
Bright and early in Casablanca. Time to load’em up and move’em out.
Ready to go 35R GMMN
A little bumpy on the climb from Casablanca.
The western Sahara
On final to Tindouf, Algeria DAOF
Not much here but tarmac. Topping off the fuel tanks and back in the air. Thankfully we have that on-board enclosed lavatory. 
Climbing out over the western Sahara enroute to Timbuktu.
On final into Timbuktu.
On the ground at Timbuktu. The rich family wants to push on to Niamey, Niger (DRRN). After re-fueling we resume our trip.
Departing Timbuktu and turning south towards Niamey. The Beechcraft King Air 200 is getting a workout today.
On final approach into Niamey (DRRN).
On the ground, parked and engines off at Niamey, Niger.
We are 2620 nm into our journey. Our route will continue soon carrying us further south into Africa towards Kinshasa, DRC with planned fuel stops at Kaduna, Nigeria (DNKA) and Doula, Cameroon (FKKD). I’ve also plotted my course to Cape Town. I’ll have the Beechcraft checked out fully before resuming the journey. From Cape Town our course will carry us up the eastern coast of South Africa, across to Madagascar.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
JT
November 21, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
As stated in my most recent blog post in almost a year, I’m gearing up to start a new flight simulator adventure that will take me around the world as I zig-zag between northern and southern hemispheres in the Carenado B200 Beechcraft King Air twin-turboprop. This aircraft is a brand new addition to my virtual hangar. While I’ve spent some time in the virtual cockpit of this awesome aircraft, I’ve only managed to spend a few minutes at a time. So the first leg of this adventure is truly important and one I’ll pay close attention to how the aircraft performs based on general specifications of the aircraft.
In 2010, my Mooney had a range of less than 900nm. This meant my average leg flying time was approx. 3-4 hours. The King Air range is about double that of the Mooney, but that doesn’t mean I’ll have 6-8 hours to spend in a single sitting. But of course, with the aircraft upgrade I’ll also have additional airspeed available which I didn’t have with the Mooney. It should all balance out.
The first planned leg will be a long one taking us from the departure airport in Antwerp, Belgium all the way to Casablanca, Morocco. I have plenty of re-fueling options along the way should the need arise. But I want to challenge the suggested performance characteristics of the aircraft while I’m over heavily populated areas versus a large body of water or the Sahara.
I’ve plotted the route for the long journey to carry us over Paris, Madrid, Seville (refuel), Gibraltar then Casablanca with estimated travel time of just under 6 hours.
My new Beechcraft B200 King Air twin-turboprop parked at Antwerp airport EBAW.
Holding short, runway 29 EBAW.
Position and Hold (OK, Line up and Wait) RW 29
Turning southwest towards Paris. The river Scheldt just below.
The port side Pratt & Whitney doing its job.
Sunset over northern Africa
Short final runway 35R Mohammed V International Airport GMMN.
Parked with engines off as the sun sets and a Royal Air Maroc departs.
My passengers are thrilled to make it to Casablanca and will spend a few days sightseeing. Our journey will resume soon as we continue to fly south into the heart of Africa.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!
JT
November 20, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
I know it’s been a while since I posted to my flight simulation blog, Position and Hold. Like many of you…I just get too busy from time to time for my hobbies or I let one hobby sort of over rule everything else. Some of you who follow this blog may know that I’m an active amateur radio operator (aka ham radio). I host an amateur radio podcast titled The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast (PARP). PARP will celebrate its 5th birthday in May 2013 and along with my amateur radio hobby, it keeps me busy.
The last time I posted to this blog was almost one year ago and at that time I was thinking about starting another adventure journey in my new Carenado Malibu JetProp. Unfortunately, this adventure never got off the ground. Instead I devoted much of the first nine months of 2012 to finishing the basement project I started some 3-4 years earlier.
The two pictures below show what the basement looked like in January 2012 (top photo) and the finished product on September 1, 2012. With exception to the granite counter installation, everything else including framing of the walls, drywall, texture, painting, flooring and cabinet installation was completed by mine and my wife’s own hands.
During this remodel phase, much of my flight sim gear was packed away and my available time to sit in front of a computer and fly a computer plane around from place to place was just not available. Now that I’m in my new space, it was time to drag out the flight sim gear and enjoy the hobby of flying again.
Ironically, from the time I packed my gear up to the point that I began unpacking…those flight simulator gremlins managed to get into my PC and work their havoc. I spent a few frustrating weeks experiencing CTD’s and other FSX problems. I became seriously frustrated and decided to just walk away from it for a few days. A few days did turn into a few weeks, but I believe I’ve made some good progress and have not had the CTD’s which I experienced on early flights.
To sort of cap off 2012 and kick-off 2013, I plan to start another flying adventure. This new adventure will be similar to my Around the World flight in 2010, but also different. In 2010 I set off in a single engine Mooney Bravo from Centennial Airport (KAPA) with a single goal of flying around the globe and returning back to KAPA. You can view my route here. I began the 2010 journey on 30 September 2010 and completed it 19 November 2010.
For my 2012/13 journey I plan to depart Antwerp Belgium (EBAW) in the new Carenado B200 Beechcraft King Air twin-turboprop. My fictional journey is to serve as pilot for a large wealthy family who have nothing better to do than tour the world. They have more money than judgment and the sky truly is the limit on just where this journey will take us.
The first few legs of the journey will take us from Antwerp, Belgium towards Casablanca, Morocco. From Casablanca, I’m told the journey will continue deep into the heart of Africa and what once was the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and the capital city of Kinshasa. From Kinshasa we will likely continue south to Cape Town, South Africa. After Cape Town we will travel in the direction of Madagascar. From Madagascar the route and plan is open.
The idea for my 2012/13 journey is to see new places within the FSX world (hence the trip to Africa). Just like the 2010 trip, I have no idea how long this will take me to complete as I zig zag between northern and southern hemispheres around the globe. I plan to start soon and you can track my progress here.
As I tried to do in my 2010 trip, I’ll post screenshots and blog updates throughout the journey. I plan to get started soon. So look for updates in the next couple of days.
Happy Flying…
JT
January 15, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments
Yes it’s been a while since I posted anything to this blog site. It’s also been a few months since I’ve taken time to enjoy flight simming. As mentioned back in September, I did have to step away from the virtual airline aspect of the hobby. I had a project offered to me which I couldn’t turn down and I spent a great deal of time involved with that.
As the subject line reads. I’m gearing up to do another adventure. I completed one back in 2010 in the Carenado Mooney. I’m currently looking at other options and honestly looking pretty hard at the brand new Carenado Malibu JetProp which has recently been released.
The adventure for 2012 is still somewhat up in the air. Right now I’m leaning towards a tour of the lower 48. The idea is I would fly from state to state and land in each state capitol city. Right now I’m spending just a little time making sure my sim machine is in working order and just flying around in the Mooney.
I’ll post more details about the planned tour very soon.
Until then….
Happy Flying!!
JT
November 26, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
I’ve been flying computer flight simulators since the early to mid 1980’s. During this over 25 year period of time I’ve learned a lot and I would like to share what I’ve learned with my readers. If you’ve been flying for a while, then perhaps nothing I’ll tell you will be new information. However, I know our hobby continues to attract new blood and if I can help those through my knowledge, then it is worth the time I’ll spend blogging about these various subjects.
I’ll “Kick the Tires and Light the Fires” on this content in the coming days. I have a list of topics to discuss and knowledge to share. Please bookmark my site or subscribe via RSS to stay current on my content.
Thank you
JT
September 10, 2011 / admin / 0 Comments
There have been events in history where individuals will always remember where they were, who they were with and what they were doing when the event happened. For the generation of my grandparents, that day was December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked. For the generation of my parents, that day was November 22, 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. As I watched the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster unfold on January 28, 1986 I was certain this would be the day which I would clearly remember for the rest of my life and certainly hoped none other would ever prove to be greater. After all, I was only 19 years old, in my first year of college and grew up in small town Texas. By the way, I still do remember very much what I was doing, who I was with and where I was on that tragic day.
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 began just like every other day for me. I woke up early (around 6 AM MT) I had showered, dressed and was downstairs drinking a cup of coffee and watching Fox News by 6:20 AM. This was pretty much a morning ritual for me. Because my commute was less than five minutes, I typically wouldn’t leave my apartment until around 6:45 or so. On this day, I wasn’t in that big of a hurry. I had been working long hours as I was planning to fly to London later that week. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day in the mile high city and from what I could see while watching Fox News, New York City was also looking beautiful.
My apartment was relatively small. From my kitchen I could hear the TV in the living room and heard the initial report of a plane hitting the World Trade Center. The time was 6:46 AM MT (8:46 AM ET). I stepped into the living room and watched/listened for updated news. Initial reports was it was a small airplane (perhaps a sightseeing plane) which hit the WTC. The Fox anchors talked about how clear the sky was overhead in NYC. Thoughts of perhaps the pilot suffered a heart attack or aircraft malfunction were more or less what most believed had happened.
As the time approached the top of the hour, I was really intrigued in what had happened. I remember at the top of the hour Fox and Friends passed it off to Jon Scott who happens to be a pilot. Again for several minutes the speculation into what had happened to the pilot or to the airplane was the topic of discussion. Fox had switched to an anchor outside the studios and I was just about ready to turn the TV off and drive to the office. Again, it looked like an accident and I would follow up with what happened once I got to the office.
As I was reaching for the remote, what I saw next on TV will forever be in my memory. It was 7:03 AM MT (9:03 AM ET) when the outside live shot showed a second plane flying into the second tower of the World Trade Center. It became clear to me and to the entire nation that we were under attack. Yes, one aircraft could accidentally hit the WTC, but two? Absolutely not. It was also very clear the second plane was not a small sightseeing plane, but a large airliner. For the next 15 minutes or so I sat on the edge of my sofa watching the events unfold in New York City. I (and certainly like many Americans) was in total dis-belief at what I had just watched happen.
Part of my job responsibilities (both then and now) was/is to manage our business continuity and disaster recovery processes for the customer support organization at my company. While we (at the time) didn’t have an office in the NYC area, I wanted to get into my office so that I could be prepared for what ever else might happen on this day. At this time, only the two WTC towers had been attacked. I was not aware there were two other planes.
I quickly drove to the office and of course most everyone had already heard about the attacks in NYC. I’m asked by a colleague if I had heard of the events and said yes, I had watched the information regarding New York. He said, but have you heard about Washington DC? It soon became very clear this was not just an attack on New York and the World Trade Center. This was much, much larger.
Internet access from the office became really slow with employees checking the various news sites, emailing friends and family. We had small TV’s in the lobby of the building connected to a DirecTV feed and I went down to try to get more information. I was not only concerned about what other attacks might be planned, but also on the WTC attack which I had watched earlier from my apartment. I wanted to see what progress had been made on extinguishing the fires and of course get updates on the rescue efforts.
I made it downstairs to one of the TV’s. Smoke was still pouring from the top of both towers, within seconds the south tower began to collapse. I honestly couldn’t believe what I was watching. It wasn’t long after the south tower collapsed that we heard word of United Flight 93 crashing near Shanksville, PA. I had already went back upstairs to make a few phone calls. I remember hearing some employees talking about the north tower collapse. Again…I just couldn’t believe it.
At some point in the day, an announcement was made or perhaps there was a company email. But what ever the delivery mechanism, the message was to let us all know that all employees had been accounted for. I doubt very seriously if much work got done that day. As I said, I was scheduled to fly to London in a few days. After hearing about all flights being grounded for possibly a few days, I spoke to my boss and determined I would not be traveling as scheduled.
I remember going home and making myself a fairly stiff drink. Sometime around 9 PM I went out to the hot tub. It was a cool evening and I remember looking up in the sky and seeing and hearing nothing. This was odd as I lived near the flight path for Centennial Airport (KAPA) and Denver International (KDEN) is only about 25-30 miles and at just about any time of the day and evening you can see the planes coming in for landings and departing. I do recall hearing a few jet fighters and seeing various types of military aircraft. I’m sure this was the case over most every major metropolitan city.
Like many Americans, I did a lot of praying and in doing so asked God a lot of questions. I have tried to pray for peace each and every day since the attacks and pray for the those who are making sacrifices and sometimes the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our freedoms both at home and abroad.
In 2005 through the course of two acquisitions, Oracle acquired Peoplesoft who had acquired JD Edwards in 2003. On the four year anniversary of 9/11 I learned something I didn’t know previous. While JD Edwards didn’t lose any employees in the attacks, Oracle had lost eight employees that day. Most will know the name of one employee in particular. This employee, along with many other brave individuals fought back in what possibly should be considered the first battle won over terrorism and that employee was Todd Beamer. Todd and many other brave individuals fought back on United Flight 93. While they gave their life, they did it so many others could live. Of course we now suspect that Flight 93 was headed for the US Capitol Building or the White House.
In 2007 I realized a childhood dream to get my amateur radio license. I remembered the speech which President George W. Bush made in January 2002 when he announced the creation of the USA Freedom Corps. During that State of the Union address, President Bush asked Americans to serve a cause greater than themselves. I answered that call by joining the Denver Police Depts. Volunteers in Policing Unit and DAREC, Denver Amateur Radio Emergency Communications. In the course of just 3 years I had volunteered over 250 hours in that program.
Yes it is easy to say “I’ll never forget”. Through illness or old age there may come a time when I just don’t remember. But for now, I will remember and each year on September 11th (as I have done for the past 9 years), I’ll wake up early and I’ll go downstairs, make a cup of coffee, turn on the TV (yes Fox News Channel) and I’ll say a little prayer and prepare myself to watch, to remember and even cry a little. I hope all American’s will remember, I hope all American’s will pray and I hope all American’s will cry a little.
Thank you for reading and for allowing me to cross post this across my different blogs.
God Bless the United States of America.
Jerry
