Flying from the mainland US to anywhere in the tropics or Caribbean with real weather will give some great sky conditions. On an approach to St. Croix once, I encountered beautiful partly cloudy skies, excellent visibility and rain showers. I have yet to experience that in other parts of the globe.
Intercepting one of the many ILSes at Atlanta Hartsfield on a damp winter morning is a great time to experience an autolanding. One morning just after FS2000 was released, I was landing in fog and variable ceilings all the way in on the approach. At 400 feet I saw the runway. At 200 feet I lost it again. The autopilot was flying me down to the bottom. At about 100 feet, with no runway in sight, I began to get ready for the flare. Suddenly, runway stripes burst through the fog! Power off. Ground contact. I was now in Atlanta, and now could see nothing but the taxiway immediately in front of me on the way in. It was neat knowing I was here, even though I could not even see the terminal or hangars. Somewhere to the north was the city. It was there, yet I would not see it. That's cool.
Some of the best lessons in geography have been while flying in the far Pacific, flying over areas such as the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. With an atlas in hand, I have been able to identify the strange islands far below me. On autopilot at 37,000 feet, why not spend some of your time tilting your view down? I do that in a real airplane cockpit!
A fun place to go see is Cape Town, South Africa. It's about as far south as you can go in the first place, so why not? Surrounded by the turbulent ocean, Cape Town is located at the edge of some high plateaus and mountains. The grassy and farmland mixed textures, combined with the steep terrain make for some great sightseeing. Then you've got the city with one big mountain right on the edge of it. The day I went there was hot and crystal clear with unlimited visibility. Puffy cumulous dotted the blue sky adding to the feeling of traveling to a new climate. It was one of those places that require "renting" a small plane after arriving in your heavy jet.
As a blend of good memories are some great early morning flights over various places in the Rockies, using the default Skylane. With just enough power to get you over most of the 13,000 foot peaks, any variable weather will certainly test your ability to survive. Sunrise flights transitioning to increasingly foul weather will force you to fly the valleys, weaving in and out of towering granite walls. Using a normal sectional chart in hand, trying to locate landmarks and small airports is a lot of fun. Even better are the times I had questioning whether or not I was going to clear the ridge ahead. Circling in a box canyon, at 200 feet per minute, with scattered clouds about, loosing visibility is about as good as it gets.
Maybe even better is another dark night on the ramp, where the wind is whistling around you. All you can see is the rotating beacon, and a few distant houses. The hills to the west have suddenly disappeared. A rumble of thunder comes rolling in. Splat. Splat. The wind blows hard for a moment, then dissipates. Your airplane just moved. Get inside. Spark! Bang. A big thunderstorm is moving in. Should I go? Should I wait? How long will the approaching squall line last? Without radar in this airplane, the thoughts of taking off are terrifying. Wow, this Flight Unlimited III thing is really wild!
A long trans-Pacific or continental flight, obstructed from the oceans below, transiting through sunsets and rises, to be followed by descents over a completely foreign landscape does it for me. The small details that we get in FS2000 such as a distant cruise ships, beach front resorts, and car night traffic on the highways are the icing to the cake.
Over a lifetime of flightsimming we'll all remember our favorite "serious" flights. All the challenging landings, instrument flights and rough weather. No background distractions, bright lights, TVs on, phones ringing or the office calling, wondering why you're late. Just you and your computer. And all the virtual skies around you, filling your memories forever. That's the magic of flightsimming. Take a break, and just go flying. You can tell us your stories. We won't laugh at you.
>>>> Part I
