Where did you fly today ?

Flew from Hilo Hawaii up to and over the volcanoes. Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Photo of the Keck Observatory on MK. I think I may have approached the ceiling of the C172S.

https://youtu.be/6jJE-t0RFiY?t=292

Just as I was landing into Inverness I got buzzed by what Im assuming was a F-15 but as I dont have it probably showed up as a small jet ??

Anyway, if that was you, looked awesome!

FF to 4m 50s .

A trip around the Italian lakes for me today.

Starting at Lake Lugano in Switzerland and crossing through the mountains to beautiful Lake Como. A place I holidayed at a couple of years back. No sign of George Clooney in his garden adjacent to Lake Como though. [emoji4]

MSFS represents it all extremely well. I like the different "feel" that you get in the various countries, i think Blackshark have done a great job with house types etc.

This was something that was lacking in previous sims . Every country felt the same before now.

All the best

Stinger

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Like pops52, I've also had an evening flight - or landing at least - from Leeds-Bradford to Palma de Mallorca, with quite a sunset:

Turning onto Final-

Final approach - this one looks like a painting to me-

Fsx

phnl-klax

After learning the hard way that a Cessna 172 flown by an amateur pilot cannot land in a remote Himalayan air strip surrounded by canyon walls, I lowered my target. From the airport in Pantnagar, India (which they slyly call "Nainital" airport to draw tourists--but actual Nainital is an hour car drive away), I quickly gained elevation to 8,000 and re-entered the Himalayas and actually found Nainital. This is a lake town, where you can sit on a paddle boat and float through clouds on the water, literally, with houses perched up on the steep slopes above you. MSFS has recreated it perfectly. I couldn't believe my eyes.

You can't land there and will fly over only. As long as you're over 8,000 feet, you're good.

I then left the mountain range and headed west with the Himalayas to my right, to the ancient, temple city of Haridwar along the banks of the river that is sacred to Hindus, the Ganges. This is actually where I scattered the ashes of my dad many years ago. Again, the recreation is stunning. I couldn't spot any colorful temples per se--maybe a developer should think about that for an India project--but the development along the river banks, including bridges, and small installations that are in fact religious shrines, were all spot on.

From Haridwar I used ILS to land at Dehradun. I thought I got ATC permission to do so, but I guess not, so I was reprimanded by a controller guy who did not sound very Indian. How cool would it be if Microsoft could figure out how to implement international accents based on the country you're flying in?

Like pops52, I've also had an evening flight - or landing at least - from Leeds-Bradford to Palma de Mallorca, with quite a sunset:

 

Turning onto Final-

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]225016[/ATTACH]

 

Final approach - this one looks like a painting to me-

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]225017[/ATTACH]

Mallorca has been kinda ruined for me at the moment with too much water climbing the cliffs so it is probably better to arrive there when it is getting dark. Hopefully Asobo will sort this out soon.

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You're my kind of pilot!

So you got me to go to Lukla, and I nailed it in the 172 four out of four!

I lined up about a mile out at 92 to 9400 ft and used two notches of flaps, leaving another notch so that if I'm coming in a bit two hot towards the end I can still add more drag. Mid valley 80kts, about 1/8th mile from the trees (at 70 kts) cut power come over the trees at about 50 kts and hold her off as much as you can; she'll still set down hard. But don't stop in the middle of the runway or you'll have a fight to get going again. You may have to coast backwards and turn sideways on the runway in order to get a rolling start uphill again,

#5 was the best one yet, I carried a little power to the threshold and a bit beyond.

You're my kind of pilot!

 

So you got me to go to Lukla, and I nailed it in the 172 four out of four!

 

I lined up about a mile out at 92 to 9400 ft and used two notches of flaps, leaving another notch so that if I'm coming in a bit two hot towards the end I can still add more drag. Mid valley 80kts, about 1/8th mile from the trees (at 70 kts) cut power come over the trees at about 50 kts and hold her off as much as you can; she'll still set down hard. But don't stop in the middle of the runway or you'll have a fight to get going again. You may have to coast backwards and turn sideways on the runway in order to get a rolling start uphill again,

 

#5 was the best one yet, I carried a little power to the threshold and a bit beyond.

Very nice! I'm waiting to get a little better to attempt Lukla but it's on my bucket list. I've read that the challenge is similar when flying to the capital of Bhutan, Paro International, so give that a try also if you're in the mood for more Himalayan challenges.

Took off from Amritsar, India across the border to Lahore, Pakistan on a peace mission. Took advantage of my dual citizenship and persuaded a buddy in the Canadian Air Force to lend me an official Government of Canada CJ4 so I could cavort around Pakistan without causing a diplomatic stir. (He's a good buddy. He also owes me a lot of money.)

Stopped in Dera Ismail Khan, a small military town which has some connections to family members of mine. Then decided to take advantage of the Canadian colors and fly to Kandahar, Afghanistan. The mountains in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region were not as scenic as I thought they might be (per MSFS recreation, I mean).

Pretty funny when I landed in Kandahar: upon taxiing to the parking area, I parked right next to a plane flown by the Government of the United States!

Now set up with an Oculus Quest 2. Spent hours configuring it to recommended specs on this and other forums--not easy to do with my limited tech skills, but it got done. Pretty amazing. Flew my wife and 15-year old daughter around our city of Phoenix for a while, and they couldn't believe it.

Flew from Montreal to Quebec City, in one of my favorite Canadian provinces. I've installed some great freeware which I recommend for those cities. There were at least 4 or 5 spots along the St. Lawrence River have those MSFS water-level anomalies I've read about in Alaska. Other than those spots where it felt like Salvador Dali was trying to tell me something, the flight was as beautiful in MSFS as the car drive is in real life.

Then I returned to my Arizona bush trip, taking off from the tiny Monument Valley airport on the Utah side of the border. There was a 737 or something on the runway for some reason. He managed to take off from the strip. Impressive. I then flew over Navajo tribal land through what may have been the Painted Desert area into Farmington, NM. [update: This was not the Painted Desert, which is further south than where I was.] The scenery on this stretch was absolutely spectacular, largely matching what I've driven through in real life. I recommend this flight: UT25 to KFMN.

Almost died in KMFN because I am not used to turning autopilot off while wearing a VR headset. A violent struggle between man and machine ensued just a couple hundred feet from the runway. I managed to prevail.

Currently "doing" the Pilots of the Caribbean tour - a series of flights around the Caribbean sea - in my purple Bonanza (N682FB), complete with new lady co-pilot (who doesn't say very much, probably 'cos she hasn't got a seatbelt!)

Today took off in beautiful weather (using live all the time) east from West Caicos emergency dirt airstrip to have a look at some of the smaller Cays. A round trip ending at Mayaguana in the SW Bahamas in a thunderstorm! Mostly over the sea at low level.

Just loving the Bonanza!

Just nailed the toughest landing I think I've ever tried. Right in Denali National Park, Alaska (where I lived for a breathtaking summer), I took off from the tiny but mod-improved strip in the town of Kantishna (5Z5). 20 nm away is a 2,000 foot strip of grass, if that, called "Stampede" (Z90). You fly through a valley, climb just a few smaller mountains, and then do your best to spot the Stampede strip. I failed at first, and had had to turn around and spot it along the river.

I am not sure it can be landed from both directions in a Cessna 172, because you can barely see it. But from the other direction, the strip is right off a ledge making it pretty challenging for an inexperienced sim pilot (like me). I highly recommend, for anyone seeking a short adventure with gorgeous scenery to boot (I recommend simulating to July summer flight--Alaska being pitch dark and covered in wintery hell right now).

KHLC to KFMZ

6K3 curir saugi 93Y

Took off from the Grand Canyon National Park Airport (KGCN) using live weather. Flew into the Grand Canyon presumably in violation of numerous laws and regulations. Discovered it is actually pretty easy even with a Cessna 172. Flew anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 feet below the rim, following the Colorado River.

Then a storm began approaching, and also I got a little bored, so I exited the Canyon and landed in gusty conditions at some air strip I didn't know existed right next to the GC edge. It's apparently the Grand Canyon Airport (KGRM), as opposed to the Grand Canyon National Park Airport.

I am unable to learn virtually anything from google about KGRM. Aviation sites list KGRM as another airport in Minnesota. Sky Vectors does not show it on the map. Very mysterious.

Took off from the Grand Canyon National Park Airport (KGCN) using live weather. Flew into the Grand Canyon presumably in violation of numerous laws and regulations. Discovered it is actually pretty easy even with a Cessna 172. Flew anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 feet below the rim, following the Colorado River.

 

Then a storm began approaching, and also I got a little bored, so I exited the Canyon and landed in gusty conditions at some air strip I didn't know existed right next to the GC edge. It's apparently the Grand Canyon Airport (KGRM), as opposed to the Grand Canyon National Park Airport.

 

I am unable to learn virtually anything from google about KGRM. Aviation sites list KGRM as another airport in Minnesota. Sky Vectors does not show it on the map. Very mysterious.

Where does flight sim have it on the map?

Where does flight sim have it on the map?

Right here:

https://goo.gl/maps/RcbzwFWNzLGcKMid7

Pretty impressive that Microsoft found this, given the difficulty of finding it in conventional ways.

Right now I'm setting up for the approach in to KCLT from KMCO.

Winds are 300 at 6kts so taking 36C ILS

Right here:

 

https://goo.gl/maps/RcbzwFWNzLGcKMid7

 

Pretty impressive that Microsoft found this, given the difficulty of finding it in conventional ways.

For sure. That's a new one to me.