I've recently come to take the position that the best part of flight simulation is what happens in the mind. That beyond the software add-ons and hardware widgets we all love, it's our fevered imaginations are what we all have in common, and are what drove us all to this hobby to begin with: the promise of being able to slip the surly bonds that most people don't get to in real life.

I'm as fascinated as you are about new levels of detail in aircraft models or other graphical wizardry. But as fun as it is to be consumed by the technology of flight simulation, my biggest rewards of the last few years have come from more-or-less stock installs of MS Flight Simulator 2002 and 2004, a dark room and an add-on model of a fantastic plane called the Beechcraft Starship. And my imagination may be more fevered than most, as the last few years of this has led to a full-length novel based on these and other adventures.

Technology + imagination = fun

The wire-frame VIC-20 and Commodore 64 versions of Bruce Artwick's Flight Simulator were coarse by today's standards, but still inspired late nights learning about VORs, cross-country flight and emergency procedures. In high school I spent more than a few nights fixed to the monitors of these early computers, imaging the far-off destinations while flying between the small handful of U.S. cities reproduced in the simulator, speculating about what wonders lay in between.

Fifteen years later, a real-world pilot with a lot of free time, I was inspired to continue exploring using the then state-of-the-art Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000. It was hard to believe much of the planet had by then been replicated inside the program. I was inspired to explore the software's far corners and see just how convincing a computer program could be.

Suspension Of Disbelief

The biggest rewards from flight simulation come, in my opinion, from our willingness to forget that what we're doing isn't real. The literary, theatre and film worlds have a phrase for this -- they call it "suspension of disbelief", or in other words, the audience's willingness to forget that what they're seeing isn't real helps them overlook minor inconsistencies or shortcomings. The phrase was coined by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but the concept was certainly recognized by Shakespeare, who refers to it in his Prologue to Henry V: "make imaginary puissance ... 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings ... turning th'accomplishment of many years into an hourglass." Similarly, we've long accepted limitations in our virtual flight simulation worlds, sacrificing realism (and occasionally logic and believability) for the sake of enjoyment.

Suspension of disbelief was an essential ingredient in the enjoyment of B-grade science fiction films and TV series. If you're as old as I am, you might remember Doctor Who, and its low-budget props, plot holes and poor acting. It was necessary to see beyond these to enjoy the outrageous yet ultimately satisfying stories.

That said, as TV and movie budgets have risen and special effects have become more and more realistic, and as hardware and software have become more and more sophisticated, audiences and simulation users have become less inclined to suspend their disbelief. The better our flight simulators get, the more we bemoan how much farther they have to go.

Picking Up Where Simulation Ends

Where pixels fail to create images that completely fool our eyes, it might be surprising to learn how effectively words can paint pictures in the most resolute medium there is: our minds! Flitting about the FS2002 world and encountering vistas that inspired, I was prompted to capture the odd adventure in prose and was surprised just how entertaining others said they found them. Embarking on a lazy round-the-world trip in a Beechcraft Starship model from Abacus from their Corporate Pilot collection, a collection that's a tad long in the tooth by today's commercial standards, I took notes and translated my simulated in-air adventures into prose. In 300+ hours and two years of flying to some of the most remote places on the planet, some interesting things happened, including:

• Nearly running out of fuel over the South Pacific at night
• Landing gear locking up over Russia
• Near collision over the U.S. Midwest
• Falling asleep at the controls

This stuff was chilling enough in the simulator, but what would the consequences of these have been if this were a real flight? How would a real pilot have coped?

It was inspiring to write about the adventures, and fill in the blanks between flights with color describing each locale and real-world travel experiences in these locations that I and others have had first-hand. It seemed odd that simple words could result in an experience more seemingly authentic than our 35 fps, anti-aliased worlds. But the dozens of flights that made up my round the world journey proved an interesting framework from which to tell travel stories, detail the science and art of flight and relate information about the history, geography and cultures of exotic areas of the world.

The Starship

I'd always been a fan of the Beechcraft Starship's unusual lines and innovations. For authenticity, I sought out Starship pilots past and present for anecdotes and colorful detail about the plane. The Starship is a dying breed, so pilots I contacted that had flown the plane were thrilled the aircraft was to be immortalized in a book and were anxious to help. One pilot flew me, my photographer and publisher in his employer's Starship from Washington to Chicago -- on the condition that he not be identified -- to allow us to experience the plane first-hand for several hours. He and others helped review iterations of the manuscript for technical detail.

Half The Fun

Simulation does a good job of suggesting, or even facilitating, interesting adventures, but if getting there is half the fun, there can be an equal half of fun in describing adventures at one's destinations. So half of The Starship Diaries relates stories about the "other stuff" that happened to the plane's pilot as he made his way around the world in the two years of my simulated flying adventures; coincidentally the period just before and just after the terrorist attacks of September, 2001 in the U.S. These attacks midway through the trip gave a unique opportunity to fold in international reaction to the attacks as the book's character made his way around the world, as well as reaction to the U.S. response in Afghanistan and, as the book comes to a close, pending action in Iraq.

The Internet makes it possible to research and write convincingly of places one has never actually been to. The volume of descriptions, pictures, encyclopedic information and people's travel stories on the net allow one to conjure convincing accounts and histories of almost any place in the world. For example, through hard work, I assembled a thorough account of a small backwater town in Southeastern Australia called Tibooburra, one of the stops on the journey. A local resident I found on the Internet who was kind enough to reviewed the manuscript was convinced I'd been there! Research of Morocco and attractions in the area of Casablanca made an African who knew the country proud. Many of the Asian destinations were validated by people who'd been to the areas. The objective was to tell interesting stories on terra firma such that fans of travel literature, who weren't necessarily acquainted with the science of flight, would also find the book appealing.

The route of flight was as follows:

DATE     	TO/FROM								DAY	NGT	TOT
11/1/2000    	San Jose, California to Honolulu, Hawaii			6.0    	0.0	6.0
12/26/2000   	Honolulu, Hawaii to Lihue, Hawaii				3.5    	0.0    	3.5
1/3/2001     	Lihue, Hawaii to Palmyra, Kiribati				4.0    	0.0    	4.0
1/18/2001    	Island tour near Palmyra					0.6	0.0	0.6
3/3/2001     	Palmyra, Kiribati to Nadi, Fiji via Pago Pago, Am. Samoa	4.6    	2.6    	7.2
4/17/2001    	Nadi, Fiji to Auckland, New Zealand				4.2    	0.5    	4.7
4/17/2001    	Aukland, New Zealand to Invercargill, New Zealand		4.6    	0.1    	4.7
4/20/2001    	Stewart Island tour						0.6    	0.0	0.6
5/13/2001    	Invercargill, New Zealand to Melbourne, Australia		5.4    	0.0    	5.4
5/20/2001    	Melbourne, Australia to Tibooburra, Australia			4.8    	0.0    	4.8
6/22/2001	Tibooburra, Australia to Alice Springs, Australia		7.9    	1.6	9.5
7/18/2001	Alice Springs, Australia to Weipa, Australia			4.8    	0.0    	4.8
7/29/2001    	Weipa, Australia to Palu, Indonesia				5.0    	0.0    	5.0
8/4/2001     	Palu, Indonesia to Tarakan, Indonesia				4.0    	0.0    	4.0
8/16/2001    	Tarakan, Indonesia to Manila, Philippines			5.0    	0.0    	5.0
8/30/2001    	Manila, Philippines to Hiroshima, Japan				3.0    	1.5    	4.5
9/11/2001	Hiroshima, Japan to Wakkanai, Japan				4.8    	0.0    	4.8
9/17/2001    	Wakkanai, Japan to Shanghai, China				4.2    	0.0	4.2
10/22/2001	Shanghai, China to Chengdu, China				5.5   	0.0	5.5
10/28/2001	Chengdu, China to Kathmandu, Nepal				4.4    	0.0    	4.4
11/2/2001    	Kathmandu, Nepal to Hotan, China				2.7    	0.0	2.7
11/18/2001	Hotan, China to Novosibirsk, Russia				4.6	0.0    	4.6
11/30/2001	Novosibirsk, Russia to Moscow, Russia				5.9    	1.0    	6.9
12/15/2001   	Moscow, Russia to London, England				3.9	1.3	5.2
12/21/2001	London, England to Caernarfon, Wales and back			1.0    	0.5    	1.5
1/20/2002    	London, England to Venice, Italy				3.8    	0.0    	3.8
2/10/2002  	Venice, Italy to Ibiza, Spain					4.0    	0.0    	4.0
2/25/2002  	Ibiza, Spain to Casablanca, Morocco				3.8    	0.0	3.8
3/20/2002  	Casablanca, Morocco to Tamanrasset, Algeria			4.0    	0.5    	4.5
3/26/2002  	Tamanrasset, Algeria to Mbandaka, Congo				5.4    	0.0    	5.4
4/13/2002  	Mbandaka, Congo to Livingstone, Zambia				4.2    	0.0    	4.2
4/17/2002  	Livingstone, Zambia to Cape Town, South Africa			4.7   	0.0    	4.7
5/26/2002  	Cape Town, South Africa to Sao Tome via Lubango, Angola		8.0    	0.0    	8.0
6/11/2002  	Sao Tome to Praia, Cape Verde via Bamako, Mali			8.7    	0.0    	8.7
6/20/2002  	Praia, Cape Verde to Natal, Brazil				5.1    	0.1	5.2
7/2/2002   	Natal, Brazil to St. Kitts, Caribbean via Cayenne, Fr. Guiana	8.2    	1.0    	9.2
8/3/2002   	St. Kitts, Caribbean to Bermuda, Caribbean			3.5    	0.0    	3.5
8/5/2002   	Bermuda, Caribbean to Toronto, Canada				3.8    	0.0    	3.8
8/28/2002  	Toronto Tour							0.6    	0.1    	0.7
8/31/2002  	Toronto, Canada to Wawa, Canada					2.9    	0.0    	2.9
9/1/2002   	Practice landings at Wawa					0.9    	0.0    	0.9
9/9/2002   	Wawa, Canada to Brandon, Canada					3.1    	0.0    	3.1
9/9/2002   	Brandon, Canada to Shoal Lake, Canada and back			0.8    	0.0    	0.8
10/3/2002  	Brandon, Canada to San Jose, California via Boise, Idaho	6.4    	0.0	6.4

										183.4 	14.3 	197.7

Low Tech The Right Tech?

In this increasingly digital world, there's something more delicious than ever about picking up a printed book, turning off the computer, finding a comfortable chair and exercising your mind's eye. Because for all our advances in desktop PC technology, low tech is sometimes the right tech. Give me a low-res monitor and an overactive imagination over the latest graphics card and homebuilt cockpit anytime. You might be surprised to find, too, how well words fill in the blanks.

"A tale told so true to life, it becomes real."

-Longtime Starship captain Wayne Roberts on The Starship Diaries.

"It made me want to drop everything, find a Starship, and go tomorrow!"

-Aviation pioneer Burt Rutan on The Starship Diaries.

Dallas Kachan is an author and flight simulation aficionado who lives near Santa Cruz, California. His book, The Starship Diaries, is available here.

Download sample chapters and other information here from FlightSim.Com. The Beechcraft Starship FS model Kachan flew around the world that inspired his novel is from Abacus Publishing's Corporate Pilot collection.