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Getting bored? Want to add more to your flightsimming experience?
Want to add more meaning to each flight but don’t want to fly a
bus for a virtual airline over the same old routes. Want more
uncertainty in every leg? Want to learn more about how weather,
panels, configuration and scenery files work? Like to fly a variety of
aircraft? Like to involve your children if they’re interested?
Heck, would you like to learn more about the world all be it a
virtual one?
If yes, you could try this adventure which just keeps on going. You
could fly around the world in small aircraft as I have over the past
11 months. In February 2000, I set off in a Mooney Bravo from
Busselton in Western Australia to head east around the world using
Flight Simulator 2000 Pro. I could have used a 777 or other long haul
aircraft and completed the journey in a few days but all I would have
seen is the instrument panel and a few airports. Instead, I have seen
many amazing geographical features I never knew existed. I’ve been
to cities, towns, remote airfields, volcanoes and mountains across
the Pacific, South and North America and Europe. I’ve flown through
weather I shouldn’t have been flying in and have been in awe of
the spectacular displays that weather can exhibit.
I started by travelling from Busselton, Western Australia and headed
east across the Great Australian Bight and onto Sydney. For the next two
months we (my children are occasional passengers) island hopped
across the Pacific Ocean in the Mooney Bravo. As some of the sectors
became longer or greater cruise altitudes were required, we stepped
up to the default Super King Air 350 and even the Learjet 45 for a
particularly long leg to the Galapagos Islands and a side diversion to
the Antarctic circle. South America was spectacular with the Andes
providing some flying challenges as well as some interesting
geographical features to learn about. After flying anti-clockwise
around South America, we headed through the USA and Canada before
heading to Europe via Greenland and Iceland.
We contended with thunderstorms in the late afternoons, inadvertent night flight when I forgot to re-set the aircraft clock before takeoff (and hence we saw some spectacular sunsets)! When I was low on fuel in the King Air and approaching a 3000 foot airstrip in the Canadian Arctic, I learned that darkness comes early at those latitudes! I also learned that the fuel and range data supplied in FS2000 and some add-ons are not accurate which saw an occasional diversion to the nearest suitable airfield! You often really do feel a sense of relief and achievement when the destination island or airport finally appears ahead on the nose!
The legs are planned during quiet moments during the week using Flight Planner in FS2000. I print out the route, add the navaids and major airports. We visit FlightSim.Com to see if any scenery updates had been posted for the region we were travelling to. I download any relevant SID’s, STAR’s or IAP’s from a number of web sites to allow for any inclement weather.
I soon found using the GPS a lazy way to navigate and now always
navigate with radio navigation aids and dead reckoning. (I was taught
to fly long before the days of GPS and find I get a bit bored when I
use the GPS.) By the time we got to the US I yearned for more of a
challenge and started using Real Weather. This was fine in the
Caribbean, but nearly caused ‘collision with terrain’ problems
a couple of times in northern Europe, but we have always managed to
land safely until the weather cleared.
How are my kids involved? My eldest son has to write a short piece on each country we visit (This is really to justify to his mother the amount of time we spend on the computer!). I must admit, his knowledge of world geography has increased incredibly while we have been on this journey. (No one else in his school including the teachers know what Simon Bolivar is famous for - do you?) I also take screen shots when I see something memorable to show my other children (and my long suffering wife). I teach them a bit about principles of flight, navigation and searching the internet for useful information etc.
After 11 months into this journey I have just arrived in Paris. Over
the coming months I am headed through southern Europe, Africa, the
Middle East and Asia before heading back to Busselton. And while I am
travelling in my virtual world, FlightSim.Com is there providing a
huge range of add-ons and information that has added greatly to my
enjoyment of this hobby. Use it!
Will it take 600 days? Who knows, but I don’t really care if it takes 900 days! I enjoy flightsimming!
Peter Stark
Western Australia
pjstark@highway1.com.au
