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gmurray56

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  1. I started this journey in Aurora, Illinois, six years ago. (See blog entry “PA32 XC: Illinois to Washington†from 6/17/2015.) I recreated my trips in a real plane from Aurora to Seattle to California to Texas, where I sold my beloved Saratoga and eventually stopped flying. When I moved to Florida, I imagined what it would be like to fly from Texas. Then, I decided to close the loop of the continental U.S. This is the final leg. South Bend,IN-Chicago-Aurora: I spawned on the active runway in South Bend, but decided to taxi to the other runway to take off in the direction of the route. Instead of straight to Aurora, I cut across Lake Michigan, bound for Meigs Field. (The airport was closed in 2003, but it was still on my FS2004. I had flown out of there many, many times in FS98.) I turned final when I hit the shore and did a touch-n-go for old times’ sake. I could see the stadium out the left window. Then I turned to downtown and flew between skyscrapers and around the Sears/Hancock building before heading for O’Hare. I set up for a touch-n-go, then decided to buzz the tower. What fun! I was a mad man! I paused the program to savor the view from multiple angles. Finally, I headed to Aurora. Thank goodness for the map and GPS. On the way, I even turned on my strobe lights, something I had neglected to do (like leaning the mixture or using flaps) in the sim that I always did in real life. After landing, I taxied to parking, leaned to kill the engine, and turned off the master switch. I was a little sad. I am happy to see much of the USA I have never seen in person, and get a feel for the varied topography. I feel accomplishment in planning a flight and flying the plan, but it’s also fun to just follow the shoreline and find an airport. I am still amazed by the program, now almost 20 years old, especially because the entire world is on my computer, unconnected from the internet.
  2. Niagara Falls-Toledo,OH: I glimpsed the Falls out the window of the PA-32 as I left KIAG and turned to 211 degrees, bound for Dunkirk. This route took me across Lake Erie and through some Canadian airspace. At Dunkirk, I turned to follow the shoreline to Erie Intl. (KERI), then on to Cleveland. The rolling hills gave way to fields, with occasional cities. It was monotonous, green on the left, blue on the right, without even clouds. I did see several radio antennas, plus a cooling tower for a nuclear plant on the lakeshore. I was making good time, with a ground speed near 170 knots. Before long, the Cleveland skyline was visible. The program generated a Cessna 172 in front of me, above and descending. I watched as the distance ticked down to 1.9 miles as it crossed from right to left. I even got a glimpse of a flickering pixel, but could not make out the plane. On the other side of town, another C172 crossed from left to right, almost at my altitude, getting within 4.9 miles. I started turning west toward Toledo, again taking me out over Lake Erie. The clouds had returned, and the sun made a nice reflection on the water. Under a gray cloud, it suddenly got turbulent. From the SPOT view, it was interesting to see the plane bounced around. After passing over some islands and a large river mouth, I was back over agricultural fields. Toledo Express (KTOL) came into view, and the landing was uneventful. I couldn’t believe I went so far in an hour and a half. Toledo-South Bend,IN; The next flight I spawned at Toledo Express pointing the opposite way I needed to go, so I back-taxied before taking off to the west. Trimmed out at 2000 feet, I followed the highway to Indiana. Michigan was out my right window. The land was flat, a patchwork quilt of green, orange and yellow, mainly farms and small towns. At this height, I could see transmission line towers marching along. Eventually a hint of Lake Michigan appeared on the horizon. After a 45-minute flight, the red VASI lights were right in front of me, showing I was below glideslope. When the bottom light turned white, I cut the power and landed straight ahead. Straight out, straight in; that doesn’t happen very often.
  3. Berlin,NH-New Bremen,NY: Continuing my journey around the perimeter of the contiguous U.S., I planned to see Niagara Falls. Departing KBML, I turned the PA-32 west, heading 274. I had to climb rapidly to clear the 3000 ft. mountains, but soon settled in at 4500 ft. Across New Hampshire and Vermont, the woods and hills rolled by in monotony, with occasional higher ridges. I saw a Cessna Skylane, and later, a Beech Baron in the distance. Crossing into New York, Lake Champlain was a huge swath of blue before the Adirondacks rose up again. I had noticed the cloud bottoms were below my altitude, and then what appeared to be a cloud going all the way to the ground. Rain! I passed a rainstorm on my left, then a closer one to my right, then a whole line of storms on both sides. I don’t think I entered the clouds, but they were close enough to create quite a bit of turbulence. (The log entry showed .1 hours instrument. Ironically, it was raining outside my window in the real world, too.) The plentiful airports near the lake had disappeared behind me, with over an hour left to go, and my butt was getting tired, so I decided to land at the next airport. Duflo (NY10), was on my route, so I pushed on. I saw what looked like an airport beacon where it should be, so I started down. The white pixel turned out to be a factory, with no airport in sight. I flew around, searching, until I saw the private field (asphalt and grass runways, no beacon) below me. In a real plane, I would have flown a pattern, but I just tried to force it down. I bounced, then crashed. I’m sure the insurance company will have it ready for the next flight. New Bremen-Niagara Falls: Since I knew the route from the interrupted last flight, I did not make a flight plan. I spawned on the asphalt runway at Duflo, took off and turned to 274 degrees. The land was much flatter, and it looked like more fields and less forest. After a while, I was approaching Lake Ontario. From the map, it seemed I would be over the lake for most of the trip, so I turned toward shore and paralleled just to be safe. I spotted a cooling tower for a nuclear power plant. Approaching Rochester, I made landfall and noticed the land appeared more suburban/urban. There was even a skyline. I saw a de Havilland Dash 80 that had just taken off. From the map, I saw that I had to turn west toward Buffalo. There, I spotted a Boeing 737. I continued toward KIAG (Niagara Falls Intl.), but decided to sightsee before landing. I flew toward the river and the restricted area, slowly getting down to about 1000 feet. The falls were more dynamic than I had hoped, especially the Canadian side. The attention to detail was impressive. I turned back to KIAG, and managed to drag it in to Runway 10L, although I almost hit a house and a tree. I turned off left onto the taxiway and saw a fancy building with a domed roof. Swear to God, next to it was a GIANT CHICKEN on a pole! I taxied to a hangar and parked next to what looked like a Cessna Caravan.
  4. gmurray56

    Maine

    Eastport-Houlton: To continue on my journey to the Northeast corner of the U.S., I left the Atlantic behind and headed 355 degrees. Even though the ocean was behind me, there was still plenty of water all around. At 2500 feet, I was higher than any terrain in my path, but I could see individual trees below. Much of my route was in Canada, as shown by the St. Stephen airport identifier (CCS3) when I flew over. Canada out the right window looks just like Maine out the left. The lakes began to be fewer and there was very little sign of humans apart from the occasional highway or railroad. After about 45 minutes, I found the isolated Houlton airport. It is so close to the border, the downwind landing pattern for Runway 23 looks to be in Canada. Houlton-Frenchville: Still in the Cherokee Six, I took a heading of 003. Interestingly, the woods thinned out and there were more fields, roads, and towns. Still at 2500 feet, I passed over Presque Isle and Caribou in my push North. More and more water began to appear, and there were even some seaplane bases. Eventually I saw the lights at Northern Aroostook Regional Airport. (What a cool name!) I had arrived at Frenchville at the top right corner of the United States. I tried for a smooth landing, but managed to scrape both wingtips. I hope no one was watching. I had made it to my fourth corner! Now to Illinois, to complete the circuit. Frenchville-Berlin, New Hampshire: From Northern Aroostook Regional I turned the PA-32 south and west, heading 237. At 3500 feet, the rugged ground was less than 2000 feet below. There were mountains on the horizon (to the left this time) and in front. I was amazed by the many big lakes, carved out by ancient glaciers. I was tracking the GPS route, hands free and stable, when I noticed the terrain was rising. Soon I was sandwiched between the bottoms of the scattered clouds and the tops of the hills, when I suddenly hit turbulence! My altitude and course had to be adjusted. I was definitely lower than some peaks. I hand flew the rest of the way, over Moosehead Lake and through the Condor One MOA, into New Hampshire for a landing (just short of the runway) at Berlin Municipal (KBML). I know for sure the turbulence was not due to my joystick, but to passing over ridges. The logbook function only works if I first change the date, then access the logbook function before flight. I have also found www.skyvector.com to be a helpful source for seamless sectional maps.
  5. Long Island-Montauk-Block Island: My next flight was again in daytime. I departed Long Island McArthur airport in the Cherokee Six (PA32), leaving the New York City skyline behind. I continued along the island, all the way to Montauk. It is most certainly a long island, at around 100 miles. It was interesting to see green and brown below the plane, with blue on either side. From the tv show The Affair, I had gathered that Montauk is isolated. The view from the air confirmed it. I wasn’t quite ready to land, so I continued a short distance across the water to Block Island for a slightly bumpy landing on the relatively short runway. Block Island-Martha’s Vineyard: Since I was flying the PA32 to Martha’s Vineyard, I decided to recreate part of a famous ill-fated flight from 1999. I changed the day to night and took off. It was VERY dark, with few lights on shore or in the water. There was no visible horizon. I could see how easy it would be to become spatially disoriented. Eventually I saw the airport beacon and made a safe landing. Cape Cod-Boston: From Martha’s Vineyard I flew to Cape Cod (Provincetown), then on to Boston. Although I usually just flew at the default date and time (7/21/2003 at 10:15 a.m.), I had set the date to the real date to help with the bug on the logbook. I was pleasantly surprised to look up and see the same waning daytime moon I had seen in real life in my car. Most of both legs was over water. Coming in to Boston Harbor, I was struck by the number of fishing boats and sailboats, including one very large sailing ship. I took a tour of downtown but did not recognize anything before landing at Logan. Portsmouth-Portland-Eastport: The last push to the northeast corner took me along the coast with green turning to orange and brown. If anything, the coastline became even more ragged. No wonder so many towns had “port†in their name. The elevation continued to rise, and eventually I saw islands with distinct hills or small mountains. I finally landed at the small airport of Eastport, surrounded by forest with a final approach between two large trees. Any further and I would have been in Canada.
  6. Long Island-Montauk-Block Island: My next flight was again in daytime. I departed Long Island McArthur airport in the Cherokee Six (PA32), leaving the New York City skyline behind. I continued along the island, all the way to Montauk. It is most certainly a long island, at around 100 miles. It was interesting to see green and brown below the plane, with blue on either side. From the tv show The Affair, I had gathered that Montauk is isolated. The view from the air confirmed it. I wasn’t quite ready to land, so I continued a short distance across the water to Block Island for a slightly bumpy landing on the relatively short runway. Block Island-Martha’s Vineyard: Since I was flying the PA32 to Martha’s Vineyard, I decided to recreate part of a famous ill-fated flight from 1999. I changed the day to night and took off. It was VERY dark, with few lights on shore or in the water. There was no visible horizon. I could see how easy it would be to become spatially disoriented. Eventually I saw the airport beacon and made a safe landing. Cape Cod-Boston: From Martha’s Vineyard I flew to Cape Cod (Provincetown), then on to Boston. Although I usually just flew at the default date and time (7/21/2003 at 10:15 a.m.), I had set the date to the real date to help with the bug on the logbook. I was pleasantly surprised to look up and see the same waning daytime moon I had seen in real life in my car. Most of both legs was over water. Coming in to Boston Harbor, I was struck by the number of fishing boats and sailboats, including one very large sailing ship. I took a tour of downtown but did not recognize anything before landing at Logan. Portsmouth-Portland-Eastport: The last push to the northeast corner took me along the coast with green turning to orange and brown. If anything, the coastline became even more ragged. No wonder so many towns had “port†in their name. The elevation continued to rise, and eventually I saw islands with distinct hills or small mountains. I finally landed at the small airport of Eastport, surrounded by forest with a final approach between two large trees. Any further and I would have been in Canada.
  7. Washington D.C.:From Norfolk, Virginia, I flew the Cherokee Six to Reagan Airport in D.C. Once again, even though I knew there was a lot of water in the area, the extent of shoreline was surprising. The approach into Reagan follows the Potomac River, and the national monuments were easily visible, but I decided to land and go sightseeing the next flight. For my tour of the town, I thought something low and slow would be the way to go, so I opted for the Wright Flyer. (I don’t really have any time in a real Wright Flyer, but I do like flying the sim.) Bad choice. The take-off was good, but I crashed before reaching the end of the long runway. I tried again in the C172, and headed straight for the Washington Monument. It was hard to go slow enough to stay low, but I circled the obelisk then headed to Jefferson and Lincoln. I think I saw the White House, but didn’t know where to find the Pentagon. The Capitol building, though, was impossible to miss. I circled the dome, then set down in front. It is a very large building. I taxied around and took in the view before taking off again and continuing my journey, a short hop to Baltimore. Recently I saw on YouTube a channel where people all fly together in FS2020 and stream it. They followed almost the same route I had, except they did know where the Pentagon is. (Apparently there is some invisible dome preventing people from landing in the middle.) I must say, the 2020 buildings are infinitely better. Baltimore-Philadelphia-New York City: I flew the Cherokee Six from Baltimore, with a stop in Philadelphia on my way to NYC. I looked around Philly for a while, but I’ve never been there in real life, so none of the landmarks were familiar. From there, I flew to the coastline again, going up the Jersey Shore. Water, water, everywhere, with a lot more buildings than the southeast coast. I’m guessing they were hotels and casinos. Even though I had been flying for a long time, I could see that JFK International was not too much further, so I pressed on. The program was showing lots of traffic in the area. I landed on the runway, and saw there was a Boeing MD 88 on approach behind me. I pulled into the grass to watch it land. I expected to see it pass, but it pulled off on the intersection just before my location. I followed it on the taxiway to the terminal. New York City: I have flown the sim in NYC many times, but not so much in FS2004. I believe the previous MS version that I owned always started there. FS98 maybe? I remember it had the Twin Towers, and the Statue of Liberty looked like a 2-D picture with an easel like the back of a picture frame. (Or was that the sim that always started at Meigs Field in Chicago? Anyway…) I took off from JFK and headed for all the tall buildings. I soon saw a blinking green pixel in the water, and knew it was Lady Liberty. Keeping low, I saw that this statue definitely looked more 3-dimensional. I circled the island, then headed to the iconic Brooklyn Bridge before turning uptown. I flew between skyscrapers, then around the Empire State Building before landing on a street near the water. (There is a YouTube video of a flight on an Extra 300 in FS2020 zooming between the buildings that is fun to watch. My flight was nothing like that.) My next flight, I went on a very similar route, but I had changed the time to night to see all the lights. It was very pretty. I continued on to Long Island McArthur for a night landing.
  8. I have decided to fly the FS2004 from Florida to Maine to complete the 4 corners of the continental U.S., and then from Maine to Illinois to complete the circumnavigation. I plan to use only prop planes that I have flown in real life; to disregard airspace restrictions and communication; to not use slew; to go only as far as I feel like flying at the time; but, always to attempt to complete a flight with a landing. Ocala-Jacksonville: The first leg was from Ocala, Florida northeast to Jacksonville. I flew the Saratoga/Cherokee Six for over an hour up the peninsular state: green, green, and blue with more lakes than I had imagined. The joystick was working fine, and the plane was very stable. After chasing the elevator trim a little, I settled down at about 4500 feet. Eventually there was a very wide and long river/lake that took me straight to the airport. I landed on the huge runway and taxied to the terminal, next to a jetliner. When I exited the program, the error message about the logbook came on. (It kept saying Logbook L, then Ll, then Lllll, etc. could not be found.) So frustrating! It’s not that big of a deal, but it is evidence that my FS2004 may not be well. Jacksonville-St. Simons-Savannah: The plan was to go straight to Savannah, so I set course along the coast in the Cherokee Six. It was surprising to see all the rivers, inlets, and islands. I was expecting the coast to be more like what I had seen along the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. No wonder so many people on the Atlantic coast have boats! Georgia slid by under my wings at 2000 feet, and I could see forests, with rising terrain to the west. After about an hour, I was getting bored going in a straight line, even with the interesting views from inside and outside the plane. The map and GPS showed Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island airports ahead, so I decided to land at KSSI. It is a nice little airport, and the VASI lights guided me in. I forgot to lower flaps, so it was a fast landing, but I walked away. The next flight I pushed on to Savannah. Again, there was the amazing view and the monotony of a straight line. (My daughter thinks it is hilarious that I fly in a straight line. She’s one of those people who think you have to be twisting and turning constantly, and she has no qualms about crashing. My wife thinks it is hilarious that I fly the computer at all.) Halfway to Savannah, I remember that the options menu (alt) lets me switch planes in midair, so I beam into a Beech Baron. After raising the landing gear, my speed is nearly 50% greater. I considered switching back to a single for the landing, but I’m already in the twin, and the long runways allow a noneventful landing. Savannah-Norfolk: The next few flights were shorter, working my way up the East Coast. Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, and New Bern were stops along the way. There were definitely mountains rising far to the west, and the coastline was always intricate. I tried to mix it up by flying a motorglider and an aerobatic plane, but the single engine GA prop planes (C172, PA28, PA32) were the best for a cross-country. I seldom saw other traffic, but a Cessna Caravan kept appearing. Was it following me? Sometimes my route was more east than expected, as the land mass passed below with the ocean out the right window. Eventually, I made it to Norfolk, Virginia. From a recent trip there, I knew there was a highway into the ocean, that turned into a tunnel under the water. I looked and looked, but could not find it. Finally, I landed at Norfolk International (instead of the Naval Air Station.)
  9. After resigning myself to fly without my beloved CH yoke, I was determined to get to Miami. It did not take long to get used to using the joystick; I didn’t really use the mixture or prop controls that much, anyway. (Never worry about fuel price or engine damage on the computer.) The mouse could be used to adjust trim, and the C172 is very stable once trimmed out. Once again I spawned at Okeechobee heading north, but I back-taxied on the runway to take off to the south. (The twist rudder control on the joystick makes taxiing a lot easier.) I took off over the immense lake and settled in for nearly an hour to Miami. The route was in the GPS, so I just followed the line. When the coastline was tantalizingly close, I headed for the shore and flew along the Atlantic. At under 2000 feet, I could see waves on the beach. As I approached the city, I was surprised to see a number of cruise ships! I should not have been, I suppose, because I was used to seeing ferries in Seattle. Soon, I could see the PAPI (precision approach path indicator) lights at Miami International. I set up for a landing on the huge main runway, and once down saw that there were palm trees everywhere. Suddenly it occurred to me that I was so close to the bottom of the peninsula, that I might as well go for it. After all, I had flown from Chicago to Seattle to Southern California to Austin in the real Saratoga and in Microsoft’s world, then in the MSFS from Austin to Florida. A plan was hatching to circumnavigate the continental United States. Why not? I took off from Miami Intl. and headed to Key Largo. I followed the coast but checked my progress on the map. Again, it took longer than I had anticipated. Finally, a bit of over-water and I was at the key. However, I could not find the airport. I landed on what looked like a dirt strip and taxied up to a gas station, but the map said I was a couple of miles from the airport. Believe me, there is a very small and rustic gas station among the palms. Although I had not landed at the airport, I had made it to my 3rd corner of the U.S.
  10. What started as a local flight around my Florida home turned into a trip to Disney World and beyond. I departed Ocala in the FS9 Cessna 172, trying to orient myself to local landmarks. I followed a familiar highway south at under 2000 feet. After about 30 minutes, I thought I would head to Orlando, knowing it was vaguely east and south. I didn’t have a flight plan or waypoints, but I was going in the right direction and I was sure I could find a big city. The monotonous green slid away below, with numerous blue lakes. Eventually I saw a blinking white light on the horizon and headed toward it. To my surprise, the beacon turned into a huge, white geodesic dome near a castle, a pointed white mountain, and a large trapezoid-shaped building. I had found Disney World! I flew low and slow around these strange and unexpected structures, and finally landed in front of the castle. I easily taxied around trees to get a better view. While not as realistic as FS2020 must be, it was nice to know that the FS2004 coders had gone to such trouble. I took off again and flew past the Epcot dome to Orlando International. My next flight, I decide to continue down the coast to Miami. Again, with just a vague sense of direction, I headed south and east. It was a lot farther than I had anticipated. I had been experiencing that my left wing felt heavy, causing me to keep right pressure on the yoke, and when I saw an airport near a very, very large lake in front of me, I decided to set down for the day. I had found Okeechobee. The C172 had been sort of boring, so the next flight I decided to take the Extra 300 and maybe do some rolls along the way to Miami. My CH yoke and Logitech joystick were both plugged in, so I used the joystick to fly. The Extra is not a stable platform (on purpose), but I had a terrible time controlling it. I wound up in the lake twice. Determined to go to Miami, I jumped into a Boeing 737, using the yoke. The active runway I spawned on was pointed north, so I had to make a right turn after take-off. (I have very little time in the FS9 737.) I was at 4500 feet before the turn was completed and had a heck of a time leveling off. Overspeed! My left wing was still heavy, causing me to use full deflection to go straight. Overspeed! I throttled back and headed for the airport in front of me. Gear down, throttle off. I landed in the grass about a mile from Palm Beach, but didn’t crash. Something was seriously wrong with my controls. I went through the calibration process a couple of times, and the cursor refused to stay centered, drifting to the left and up. I had been getting some weird messages, such as the logbook wasn’t working correctly, or that there wasn’t enough memory to run the FS9, so I uninstalled and reinstalled the whole program. Calibration was still wacky with both controllers plugged in, but unplugging the CH yoke allowed the Logitech joystick to work properly. Dang it, I liked that yoke! It’s what made my desk look like an airplane! Oh well, I guess that the coolest airplanes don’t have yokes, anyway. At least I could still fly.
  11. For the final leg from Austin to my new home in Central Florida, I will be flying across open water for long stretches. In a real plane, I would stay within gliding distance of land, but I am not worried about engine failure in FS9 (unless I ask for it.) Again, I will be flying the Cessna 172. I spawn on Runway 1 at Pensacola NAS, and have a look around. There are trees and military-style housing near the runway. Suddenly, a large tree grows right before my eyes, blocking a house! Interesting. Once again, I depart to the north and turn right, heading 103, climbing to 2500 feet. Again, I see shoreline and islands with breaking waves. Soon, I am over the Gulf of Mexico, but still in sight of land. The texture of the water is pretty, and there are shadows of clouds to break the monotonous blue. I find that in the SPOT view, if I position above and a little to the right of the airplane with the sun above, the shadow of the plane appears on the water below. Nice. I also find in this view, when looking through the window into the plane, that I am not alone! Who is this guy in the right seat? How did he get there? From the cockpit and virtual cockpit view, the right seat is empty. Is he a ghost? I drone on and on. Tyndall AFB slides by on the left, and the shoreline stretches out to meet me. Between Tyndall and Apalachicola Regional, I make landfall. Suddenly the plane makes a turn to the left! I make a hard right to get back on course, and have to keep slight pressure on the yoke to maintain my heading. I'm wondering if my yoke is broke. I check the fuel to see if maybe one tank was dry, making the plane heavier on the left, but they are both the same. I think maybe the sea breeze from the ocean is programmed to do that. There also seems to be an updraft, as the plane starts to climb. The time over land doesn't last long, as my course takes me back over the Gulf for an even longer stretch, even further out. The plane settles down, but my butt is getting numb. After almost 2 hours in flight, I see the shore again. The map shows a circle of blue, identified as Horseshoe Beach Restricted Area, from surface to 15,000 feet. (Later, I look it up, and find the Federal government had lifted the restriction in 2004, at the request of the Air Force. What was going on there?) There are so many airports! Once again, when I make landfall there is unexpected turbulence and a climb. It has to be part of the program. Below me is the Ocala National Forest, with barely visible power line towers in a row in the distance. The forest gives way to pastures. I see Ocala airport, with a beacon and long runways, but my destination is closer to my house: Johary Airport (FL58). I have never been there, and there is a seaplane base near it that FS9 also identifies as FL58, Jordan. I descend to 1000 feet and search for the airfield, but do not see it. I do see what may be a dirt runway, and decide to land. The landing went well, but I don't think it was an airstrip. Oh well, I'm close enough to home that I can walk, or call my wife to come get me. Total time: 2.6 hours. I have to learn this area better.
  12. For this leg of the trip, I'm taking the Cessna 172, the default plane for FS9. As such, it is beautifully rendered. The high wing will make it easier to look out the windows. I spawn on Runway 35 at Louis Armstrong airport. I see what appears to be the city of New Orleans on the horizon, so I decide to take a tour downtown before heading on course. What I find is more of those strange factories(?) with tall smokestacks, and one cubic building that looks about 10 stories high. A hotel/casino, perhaps? I can't wait to compare with FS2020 when I finally give in. I turn back toward the airport to intercept my course on the GPS, and to my surprise, realize that the GPS can be sized to cover less of the panel. Man, am I rusty! The ETA is about an hour and a half, so I realize I'm only going about 90 knots. I increase throttle to 2300 rpm, and finesse the trim control until I'm doing about 120 knots at 2000 ft., heading 080. I have mainly been flying over water since leaving downtown, with shoreline on either side. Slowly, the land gets farther apart, until I have the continent on the left, barrier islands on the near right and below, and the Gulf on the right horizon. Suddenly, the water turns a lighter shade of blue! Another glitch, or part of the programming? As I pass over islands, I see waves breaking on the shore below me. For much of the trip, it would be impossible to glide to land in case of engine failure, (and I didn't bring flotation devices.) I did pass one island with its own airstrip and what looked like a golf course. The Cessna 172 is amazingly stable. After I pass Mobile on the left horizon, the islands start to get closer together again. I let down to 1500 feet, and spot some hotels on the beach. Pensacola airport is ahead, but I decide to land at the Naval Air Station, hoping to see a Blue Angel. What are they going to do, arrest me? I haven't been talking to ATC at all, busting through all sorts of airspace. I head for the closest of the parallel runways, 07 Left, and perform a perfect landing. There are no military police to greet me (and no Navy jets to be seen.)
  13. The next leg on my trip to Florida was to New Orleans, heading 087. I took off to the north in the Cherokee Six and turned right. There was not as many wetlands as I had expected until about halfway into the hour-long trip. I could still see the Gulf on the right horizon. As I approached New Orleans, the program started glitching, especially in the spotter plane view. Random triangles and polygons of a different view flickered and pulsed on the screen, as if glimpsing into another dimension. The virtual cockpit view did it as well, though not as bad. The cockpit view was not affected, so I made a straight-in approach to Runway 17 at Louis Armstrong Regional. Unfortunately, I crashed. Obviously I need to shoot some touch-and-goes, but I survived. Maybe it was the glitch that distracted me, or maybe it was the rum to celebrate my birthday. The next day I flew the same route, this time in a Cherokee 140 (the first plane I owned.) The cockpit of my virtual model appears as time-worn as a real one. The bow-tie yoke brought back memories. In this model, the GPS was much larger than yesterday, causing me to work a bit to see all the instruments. But, of course, the only important ones (Heading (DG), Airspeed (ASI), and Altimeter) were easily visible. I got the altitude and airspeed steady, but had a difficult time holding a heading. I had to hand-fly the entire way. No glitches today, but I noticed a lot of antennas and an oddly large number of smokestacked "factories" as I followed the Mississippi. About 10 miles out from the airport I got a visual on the runways and set up for a straight-in. On my approach, I saw a Boeing 747 taking off from the runway I was landing on. It flew over me by at east 1000 feet. It was not a pretty landing, but I managed to taxi to the terminal and park right next to an MD-80.
  14. My ancient computer quit talking to the internet, but it still works, so I took the opportunity to make it a dedicated simulator. FS2020 is getting all the attention, but FS9 is still fun for some of us. I had to re-learn the keyboard commands and yoke buttons (and how to get to the map and GPS) because I'm that rusty, but a little research helped. I am flying from my old home in Texas to my new one in Florida in a Cherokee Six (PA32). I never flew this route for real, and my old Saratoga is (hopefully) giving enjoyment to its present owner, but this is how I would have done it. Flight planning showed an initial heading of 082, which surprised me. I thought it would be southeast, not a little north of east. I'm sticking to big airports, on the chance I might see a big plane. I take off from KAUS runway 35 and turn right, climbing to 3500 feet. It takes me a while to get everything stabilized, but eventually I am able to fly hands-free, parallel to the GPS track. I look out the window at the brown fields and pastures, with the occasional subdivision. FS9 asks me if I want to talk to Houston for flight following, and I do, but soon enough I get tired of the typed conversations and irrelevant calls, and turn it off. About an hour in, I'm approaching Houston airspace, and the pastures turn into forest. I recognize some of the big lakes in East Texas. The Gulf of Mexico is visible on the right horizon. It stays there all the way to Louisiana. I take advantage of the stability and get up to take care of some other stuff. (Something you definitely can't do in a real plane.) When I get back, I see that the altitude has slowly increased, so I have to use the virtual trim on the panel because the trim wheel on the CH yoke is already at its limit. I start letting down, planning to come into Lake Charles at about 1500 feet. I enjoy the views out the windows, but really like the SPOT view. I could never see the plane from the outside while flying in the real world! There is more and more water. Eventually I see the airport, KCWF. I make a straight-in to the runway, but don't use any flaps, resulting in a couple of bounces and a long, long roll-out. A little over 2 hours of what may seem like incredible boredom to some (like my wife), but I feel accomplishment.
  15. I flew the sim for the 1st time in about a year. (FS2004, aka FS9, aka A Century of Flight) I have recently retired and moved to Florida, so I wanted to explore the area from the air. The program took forever to load on my ancient pc, but eventually I took off from Ocala in a Cherokee 6. Instead of my normal CH yoke, I had plugged in my Logitech joystick. I soon learned that I had forgotten the functions of multiple buttons (and even keyboard controls!) Throttle and stick. I turned east and soon could see the Atlantic Ocean on the horizon. I turned west, and eventually saw the Gulf of Mexico. Below me, not much to see but varying shades of flat green and occasional lakes. It was kind of boring. I love to fly low and slow, and FS2004 has the perfect plane for that: the Wright Flyer. Talk about throttle and stick. I flew all the way from launch to the shore at less than 50 feet, dodging trees and buildings. Next, I looked at the choice of historical recreations and decided to fly a DC-3 from Denver. It was hard to taxi to the active, and wound up just taking off without a runway. The interior views are great, with switches and knobs to remind me how complex this old plane really is. I hit the GPS button, and the glass screen looked so out of place! I didn't want to commit to a long flight, so I just flew to the downtown skyline (with the iconic cash register building.) Finally, I wanted to do some yanking and banking, so I got into Patty Wagstaff's Extra 300. Woo-hoo! From a very low altitude I could do rolls and pull straight up. From the external view, I zoomed into the cockpit only to see Patty herself wearing aviator sunglasses. So, I guess I'll have to dust off the manual and renew my passion for flying the computer. I have a few other ancient sims, including WarBirds and Beyond Pearl Harbor, to relearn. Who knows? I may even be inspired to invest in a new computer.
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