On The Glideslope

The Virtues Of Flying From Place To Place

One of the readers and forum contributors here is a nice gent named Ken. Ken and I have flown together on PilotEdge, and one of the things I’ve learned is that he literally flies from place to place in Prepar3D using his slippery-fast Mooney. He does not relocate his aircraft at specific airports – if he wants to go some where, he flies there. The past several months he’s been on the West coast. A few months ago he nearly joined a PE ACT flight we’d arranged in Oregon as he was within striking distance of the fields we planned to use. Yesterday he joined the Alphabet Challenge flight from KTSP, and he flew up from elsewhere in SoCal that morning to do so. We finished at Bermuda Dunes, and it’s from there that he’ll continue his journey. He lives in Long Island, and plans to soon start the journey east so he can again simulate flights in his own neck of the woods.

I was impressed by this when I heard it, and I still am. One of the great things about our simulation software is that you can instantly fly anywhere in the world, and I’ve been able to simulate flights in some cool places as a result. At the same time, there’s a whole new dimension one probably adds to the experience by getting there the hard way.

So I think I’m going to give that a go. Not on every flight, as there are too many missions I want to fly for training and videos to do so, but with a specific aircraft that I will fly as my “fun” airplane. I’ll start it on the ramp at KSLC and see where we go from there, always leaving that situation saved in X-Plane so I can pick it up along the way.

To do this and make it reasonable from a time perspective one probably needs a fast ship like Ken’s Mooney. So, thanks to Jason Chandler’s Piper Package, I do believe I’ll be using this, which should do the job nicely.

screenshot_194

The Piper 32R-301T Saratoga. Retractable gear, 300 HP, a cruise speed of 177 knots, range of 784 miles, ceiling of 20,000 feet, and still short-field capable. Much more airplane that I would fly right now in the real world, but simming in a more complex aircraft will increase my workload and help train me to stay ahead of the aircraft in the Warrior (“Fast ship? … Fast enough for you, old man …”). I think this is going to be fun, and I’ll post updates from the virtual journey along the way.

Basement Fly Guy

4 responses to “The Virtues Of Flying From Place To Place”

  1. Tony Avatar
    Tony

    I thought I was the only one doing this so I am really happy to hear that others are as well. I haven’t relocated the A2A172 since I started using it. Been fly between airports from Northern WA to Southern OR and soon down into Northern CA. I might have to start using a faster aircraft also since my flight times are starting to get pretty long and there is only so many real world hours in the day.

    Will you also be doing this in Pilots Edge? Meaning a start and stop of each journey in the location you last left off? I was thinking about doing it but I am pretty hesitant/shy of using the service since its been 15+ years since I have been on the radio in real life.

    1. Basement Fly Guy Avatar
      Basement Fly Guy

      And I’ve begun! I flew KSLC to 1U7 earlier today. I hoped to get all the way to 46U but I needed to end the hop early. It was fun. And yes I flew it on PE talking to KSLC clearance, ground, tower, and departure before being cleared to resume own nav and altitudes. You should give it a go, Tony. Get the two week free trial, do the “first flight” as they suggest on their site and then fly the first few CAT rating missions. You’ll be back to snuff in no time. It’s an excellent service.

  2. Ken Quinn Avatar
    Ken Quinn

    Thanks for the kind comments, BFG. I really did enjoy the flight with you yesterday! Now I’m still at Bermuda Dunes where we left off, and later today will hop over to Brown Field, just south of San Diego. Then I think back to beautiful Catalina, probably on Pilot Edge. But then, soon to head home to KFRG. Will probably take a northern route and spend some time in Minnesota, my wife’s home state.

    Tony, as BFG points out, getting started on Pilot Edge is not too difficult, but it is of course limited to the western part of the country. I’ve used VoxATC for a couple of years,now, and am pretty well satisfied with it. It of course is an AI program rather than live controllers, but it’s always available and does keep you using proper ATC terminology. The version 7 is in Beta now.

    I’m trying to join and log into the OTG Forum, and when I do I’ll leave notes of my intended flights, so anyone can join on PE who would like to.

  3. Monica Duerr Avatar
    Monica Duerr

    I do this as well. It is fun to see what surprises you can find along the way. I do my flights in a Cessna 182. It is a bit slower than your Saratoga, but it is My aircraft. I bought it, customized it, and maintain it, just as if it were a real aircraft.
    I live in southern California, near John Wayne Airport (KSNA). A few years ago, the virtual flying club I used to fly with was holding a memorial flight for a fallen member, and his favorite aircraft was the Piper Cub. The event was to be flown in helicopters since he used to work on helicopters. The plan was that everyone who wanted to participate would fly from their homes to his home airport, which was in Alabama. We could fly any aircraft we wanted to get there. I decided the best way to honor a fellow flyer was to fly his favorite aircraft. So, two days before the event was to take place, I started my long journey from KSNA to his home field, Redstone Arsenal (KHUA). It was a long, slow flight, sometimes with weather challenges. But it was very relaxing and beautiful. I discovered lots of little gems along the way. It is amazing how many little airports are really fun to fly into and around. I took lots of snapshots along the way, then converted it into a movie and put it to some of his favorite music. I flew everything in real time and real weather. I felt such an accomplishment when I finally landed at Redstone. After the event, I flew back home in the same plane. I had to divert way up north on my way back due to storms, and even decided to wait some out in Kansas. It is so much fun flying this way, and you never get bored. Each day you get to see something new.

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