Rupert

1 hour ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

I miss the days when schools would either let you stay home to watch a launch or they would project the TV in the auditorium for all to watch (yes TV, no computers or internet at that time). I watched every launch from Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the early shuttles.

Unfortunately the Columbia incident, the over televised shots of the explosion and the shocked families at Canaveral, accelerated the already decreasing public support for these missions. That was seen by many as the same type of event as the Hindenburg and the Concord crashes. I hope that the the new budding interest in space continues to grow and people can share the joy and wonder I did during those early years.

Those broadcasts were also a wonderful recruiting tool for the armed forces and also for kids who were tempted to enter math and/or science fields.  

IMO anything we can do to wean kids and in fact most of their parents, from TIK TOK and other phone apps is a good thing!!  There are millions of interesting things going on in our world and in other worlds if people would just put their phones down and look around a few minutes every day! 

Beautifully Done!  I can well remember Molly & my first 747 Flight on the "City of Westminster" from Boston US to London UK for Christmas.  That was the most special ticketed flight I can recall ever being on.  

It's hugely sad the bean counters have de-contented Boeing into the disaster it now appears to be!! 

I'm hugely thrilled they never seemed to have done their damage to the H-46s and H-47s! 

56 minutes ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Concerning hovering and pedal turns.

Never rush these actions.

When I lift into a hover it can take 30 or more seconds to obtain the stable 5ft hover.

Power (collective) application is as slow as I can possibly make it happen.

I'm constantly scanning for, and correcting, the slightest undesired movement.

Also, with and pedal turn, again, don't rush.

A 360deg turn may take one or two minutes.

Speed is never the goal in helicopter flying, it is smoothness and precision.

You may even find that your airplane flying improves due to your new skill of strong scan and smooth corrective control application.

+1!  Especially the last sentence, which I highlighted in the quote.  Anticipating the need for control input and doing it smoothly rather than reacting is key to every great flight experience, regardless of aircraft type or design. 

BTW:  The same rule applies whether flying, biking, yachting, or operating any other device.      

13 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Even with ONE Wright-1820 spitting out 1475HP, landing on the Lexington was one of the most thrilling and scariest moments of my life.

Yep!  Life wouldn't be nearly as worthwhile without a few good moments and great sounds like that to remember!! 

Michael

9 hours ago, ViperPilot2 said:

 

When you depart KRCA, turn South to 190°, fly for 40 minutes and land on 17L at Centennial (KAPA). Go to the Perfect Landing Restaurant and meet me for Lunch!  

 

Here's the Menu:

 

https://theperfectlanding.com/our-menu/

 

Alan 

I'm all over that Crab Benedict!!  And some Rye Toast complete with lots of Joe to wash it all down!!

12 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Interesting, Navy blimp? Not seen any LTA in AI before.

I agree! I certainly haven't noticed one.

3 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

We had a 90% eclipse in NJ, and was clear skies until right at peak eclipse,

I used the sun shades on my Plath sextant to view the partial eclipse.

Actually we've had two (2) total solar eclipses in my part of the world in the last several years!  The first was in 2017 during which I and about 100 or more "friends" watched while they drank every drop of my beer and cheap wine while watching the eclipse in my backyard. 

The other instance just happened over Paoli Indiana. (Yes there is really a town with such a strange name in Indiana) Where I wasn't "Hosting" anyone TBTG!! 

Paoli is about 40 miles from where I live. And it was a bitch to get home from after the event!!!  Having already seen one "totality" it was already a kinda Been There Seen That scenario.  And not worth the trip.

I assume I'll miss the next one in 2044.

On 4/7/2024 at 11:05 AM, Shrikharan said:

As what we had in FSX,   a 2d cockpit, able to fly with full front view without cockpit blocking and important  flight details such as speed, direction,  and height  displayed on top of the screen, With these  options not abled in FS2020 I simply cannot fly an aircraft.  Flying a real aircraft  in real world is different to fly in computer with the mouse and  keyboard it takes a long time to see around. In real flight we  have a wider field of vision and we can quickly move our neck to see or simply moving the eyes. We cannot do that in computer. before we use the mouse to change the view plane would have crashed, (unless we pause the flight and  doing that the thrill is over). 

 

The FS2020 team must quickly bring an update to enable these defficiencies.  I have now shelved my FS2020 and  gone back to FSX. 

Also with the older sims, I prefer P3D, you could scan multiple views all the time just by moving your eyes, as you do in a real aircraft,  Instead of scrolling or changing screens to see what you want to see.  I normally have three screens to look out of the windscreen and sides with and another screen, mounted lower, to scan the instruments.  Like RW flying.

Plus, on day one, I already knew how to work all the control functions as they were standard on the older sims. 

49 minutes ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

As a reward for being last in, we left the tab for you to pick up.

Don't forget a big tip to the party wait staff.

Please do!!  They were really nice! 

However I had to hurry to get back home for the total eclipse yesterday.  Therefore I didn't have time to tip them myself!  I wanted to see this eclipse as I'll likely miss the next one in 2044.

Thankfully the rainy weather held off til today, so we could see the whole eclipse very well in French Lick In. yesterday!!!!

On 3/12/2024 at 6:14 PM, jgf said:

Use military aircraft to stalk commercial aircraft, "shoot" them with camera (screenshot), must get close enough and in position to clearly read the registration number.

 

 

 

GREAT IDEA!!  I'll give that a try!  Planning and forethought, but without malice!!  Just don't tell the FAA!!!!!!!!!!!!

23 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

 

It gave me flashbacks to my 9 years living in Orange Co, CA.

All good, thanks for asking!

 

Damned Straight!!  In Orange County as well as Frisco!!  My first experience of one, I was driving a car!!  I had not a clue how to steer!  It felt a lot like flying in very heavy wind gusts!  But other objects such as guard rails and other vehicles were just feet or inches away!! Luckily I didn't get hit or hit something else!

We have tornadoes here in Kentucky fairly frequently.  In fact a Force 2 one came through just this last week less than three miles from where we live.  Both Molly's and my mother's homes, about five miles apart, were damaged by tornadoes in the 1960's.  (Before we met.) And we had some garage damage from one early1980's.  But they're usually somewhat predictable. 

Shakers!!  I don't ever want to live thorough another one of them! 

2 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

 

 

 

Not landmarks, but here is a of 429 FSX airports with links to information on each.

https://flight.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Included_airports_for_Microsoft_Flight_Simulator_X

 

Excellent site, and the only one I know of its kind.

 

Not switched to MSFS2020, and for now am quite happy with FSX.

I purchased FSX Acceleration when it first was available, moved there from FS9/2004 and started recreating everything I had done in '9, and I've stuck with it ever since. All these years, tons of add-ons and aircraft, and never spent a penny other than for the program. I really IS that good.

Slowly moved into painting aircraft and creating scenery.

There is still so much to learn.

For me, FSX has everything I need to stay active and have fun.

Welcome to the dark side!

I basically agree.  FSX is a very good program!  Having said that, I find I'm happier with the similar, but I think somewhat better, P3D.  First off you don't need to learn a whole new group of keyboard controls with P3D as you have to with MSFS.  It's the same format you've used for years.

Regardless of which boxed program you prefer I'd hugely suggest you look into buying some ORBX add-on scenery for the specific places where you really want accurate scenery.  ORBX scenery isn't quite as complete or "picture perfect" as MSFS.  But it's much closer to correct and much more detailed than what I've found in any of the box based sims I've tried, 

You can download what scenery pack/s you choose from ORBX without tying up your system for hours and sometimes days at a time.  Also you won't worry about losing days at a time loading "Updates" which I found often happened when I tried MSFS!   

2 minutes ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Absolutely correct.

For flight simming with a helicopter it is less important whether you have a throttle or collective, anti-torque (rudder) pedals or twist grip, or any of the various control peripherals that you can purchase, and more important that you move those controls SLOWLY and SMOOTHLY.

 

Do not get frustrated, none of us did well at this the first time, even with many real helo hours.

 

Good luck.

Plus one!!

2 minutes ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

 

 

On 4/3/2024 at 6:58 AM, MAD1 said:

Why do helicopter pilots sit on the right?

It's because of the mechanics of the chopper.  The Collective (the lever on your left) raises and lowers all rotor blades the same amount by raising the stationary swash plate equally so it requires by far, the most leverage.  By setting the pilot on the right, the linkage from the collective lever is almost straight up to the swash plate making the extra leverage needed, more practical to apply. 

With all blades set at the same angle for a full rotation, the aircraft should hover. Having said that, a single main rotor aircraft would rotate in the opposite direction from the rotation of the main rotor because of the torque involved.  Thus at low speed or hover you need another force to prevent unwanted aircraft rotation.  On a single main rotor craft you often have a smaller side mounted tail rotor to cancel out the torque spin, 

However with a dual main rotor aircraft torque rotation isn't nearly so much of an issue because the main rotors rotate in opposite directions from each other so the torque reaction is cancelled out.

The Cyclic (what you might  call the joy stick) raises and lowers only parts of the swash plate(s) on the fore and aft planes and side planes to lessen or increase the blade pitch depending where the blades are in their rotation to make the aircraft go forward, aft, or sideways.  Since the Cyclic needs much less power to make these changes, the linkage doesn't need to be nearly as straight as that of the Collective. 

On a multiple main rotor aircraft you move the plane forward by using more rotor tilt on the aft rotor than the forward one and vice-versa.  Hover is with both rotors pulling equal load,  

59 minutes ago, TomPenDragon said:

Wow - Congratulations, you two!!  And Happy Birthday to you both!  How's Molly doing, Michael?

She's coming along!  Still trouble walking after her knee replacement that didn't go well.  Plus some other issues probably age related.  But then we all have those.  So neither of us can really complain!

Thanks for remembering and asking!

Michael

On 3/31/2024 at 5:21 PM, TomPenDragon said:

What a great topic sentence for a story.  And yeah, such a sad reality.  I don't know about you other retirees, but I've never been happier.  My wife reminded me of something this morning: We passed our seven-year anniversary in our current house back in March.  It seems like we just moved in.  In a couple of weeks, she's going to notch another decade under her belt.  This summer's going to be 40 years for us.

 

Just yesterday...

GOOD ON YOU BOTH!!  Molly just turned 80.  I will do the same in a few months as well.  Which also means we will have been married 50 years at that time.  I remember marrying when I was thirty because after all, my life was pretty much over by then anyway.

On 3/15/2024 at 9:16 PM, MAD1 said:

https://www.daftlogic.com/information-locations-of-concorde-planes.htm

There were 20 Concordes built. Number 101, G-AXDN, is at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, England, UK.

https://www.heritageconcorde.com/duxford

Great info!

Molly and I dreamed of making a round trip-one way on the Queen Mary II, the other on the Concorde.  We've made several round trips on the QMII but the Concorde was sadly shut down before we could take it.

20 hours ago, taoftedal said:

Just a teaser ... all cleaned and polished ready for the Meigs Mini ... 

 

SWEET!!  Plus the sound of Rolling Thunder!  Well chosen!

23 minutes ago, JordanI said:

 

That started out like an interesting film clip.  Having said that, it's way toooooo long before takeoff to be an effective post!  Even in the Real World that would have been a hugely draggy takeoff sequence unless it was on Derby Day, Spring Break Day or some similar event, especially to the passengers aboard!!!  From Nashville many popular destinations could be reached faster traveling by car other than going through the TSA Precheck and then this hugely long take off.  Next trip I'll rent a car and drive!!

4 hours ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Range means total distance from T/O to Landing at standard cruise speed/fuel burn.

And yes, that's always one way data!  On any flight if your range isn't enough to complete the flight as planned,you might (probably will) end up dead! 

HELLO!!

On 3/23/2024 at 11:01 AM, PhrogPhlyer said:

Semper Fi brother.

BTW, in the photo I found, is that Marble Mountain?

OK,

After looking at your photo again and pulling up some old pictures of my own I'll give my opinion of what's happening.

It appears to me, considering the altitude and the view looking aft, that flight was going South, probably from around Phu Bai or Hue to Chu Lai or so.  They're probably hugging close to Da Nang so as to not interfere with flights in and out of Marble Mountain air space.  Marble Mountain would be on their port side right about when the picture was taken.

Michael

WANT A BEAUTIFUL FLYING CHALLENGE!??

I know a lot of folks are flying in and near Australia after this challenge.  I suggest you turn all your scenery slides way up and fly from NZQN to NZMF in New Zealand!  It's only 41 miles as the crow flies. 

Let us know how your landing at NZMF went!  If I were flying RW I'd be dead there at least twice before I got it even half decent!  But, at least with the ORBX New Zealand scenery, it sure is beautiful!

Michael

24 minutes ago, ritcheyl said:

My youngest son lives in Da Nang and loves it. He teaches English. He's sent me a lot of pictures and it really looks nice. Probably a lot different since the war.

Actually Da Nang was a pretty nice city even back then.  Lovely beaches.  Lots to see and do and most of the general public was friendly to us.  They were more scared of the Cong than they were us!  And like most of Vietnam, there were almost as many people there who spoke French as spoke only Vietnamese. 

I always intended to go back there as a tourist but life and making a living got in the way. 

On 3/20/2024 at 2:04 PM, PhrogPhlyer said:

And you definitely don't want to see the look on the face of a PO'd General.

Been There Seen That!  On the faces of General Walt and General Krulak!  Each was on different occasion.  But still you could tell neither one was at all happy at the time!! 

Of course during Vietnam we had a huge advantage over peace time Juggies.  Anything they did to punish or get even with us would only delay us from getting shot at.  You don't Down a squadron in a combat zone or about to be deployed to one, just because you're mad at them.   

21 hours ago, ScottishMike said:

VP2 The craft is a Beech King Air 300 belonging to the FAA (nav aid calibration etc.)

all the info I have is from the Aircraft.cfg file:

 

ui_manufacturer=Beechcraft
ui_type=King Air 300
ui_variation=N74 - FAA Flight Check
description = Beech King Air 300 for FS2004 Century of Flight. 3D model: Esa Kaihlanen / Juri Pelkonen, Flight Dynamics: Ari Kaihlanen, Textures: Siegfried Schaeffer / Rui Cristina. Sound by Leon Medado.

That's nicer than any King Air I have!