Microsoft Flight Sim 2020

[Lusekofte]

Cannot buy because of another pending purchase. Had this problem for days. And in MS store all my purchases are complete

[BOO]

7 minutes ago, Lusekofte said:

Cannot buy because of another pending purchase. Had this problem for days. And in MS store all my purchases are complete

you tried clicking that notification bell in the top to clear it and logging out of the account and back in  (clicking the top right icon).  I had the same early doors, that seemed to sort it. 

[Lusekofte]

tried that did not help

 

[LukeFF]

8 hours ago, BOO said:

Its a very engaging module. The Kodiak is great but, as I said before, its very clinical. Very efiicient. The Beaver "feels" of its age. Would be better with state perisitence, especially given its vintage but Ill forgive that just for the sound of the radial and the prop animation. Speed wise it'll cruise along at 135mph and fuel burn in cruise is substantially different form the advertised ones (Im getting roughly 10 mins per Imp Gallon at 2000/30 giving 135mph at 5000ft) making longer transit flights more possible than i thought. 

 

Its the first time Ive really played with the VORs in game too. Very easy and, coming out of AP on the final of an ILS appraoch, you inherit a stable and trimmed aircraft. 

 

Yes, it's a really fun plane. It's a shame it doesn't have state persistence and failure modeling, given that it was built by the same team that made the 310R. Once I complete my world tour (and assuming nothing else is released in the meanwhile that grabs my attention), I intend on flying it a lot more, first off in and around McCall, Idaho.

[BOO]

23 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

 

first off in and around McCall, Idaho.

I see what you’re doing here……,?

[BOO]

39 minutes ago, Lusekofte said:

tried that did not help

 

Dunno if you are steam but I also had to log in and out of that too.  Sorry I can’t help you Luse

[LukeFF]

11 minutes ago, BOO said:

I see what you’re doing here……,?

 

Oh, it's a wonderful place to visit - both from the ground and the sky. My father and stepmother live in the vicinity of Coeur d'Alene, and it's stunningly beautiful.

[BOO]

Just now, LukeFF said:

 

Oh, it's a wonderful place to visit - both from the ground and the sky. My father and stepmother live in the vicinity of Coeur d'Alene, and it's stunningly beautiful.

In return I can offer you Retford. In some places the ground is up to a metre higher than the surrounding 20 miles and there is a big ugly power station nearby. Not much wildlife but there’s a couple of doggin spots off the A57 and Harecoursers Nov to March. Yeah….ya thinkin now ain’t ya?! Touché! 

[ZachariasX]

17 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

Oh, it's a wonderful place to visit - both from the ground and the sky. My father and stepmother live in the vicinity of Coeur d'Alene, and it's stunningly beautiful.

Love the place! Driving license is good enough to rent a motor boat on the lake and along with the keys for the boat they sell you as much booze as you want. I don‘t know how I returned the boat, but the CC statement showed no extra charges that day…

[JimTM]

I made a run in the MD 500E to the Woodstock Festival site, which is about 7km or 4.5 miles west of Sullivan Country International (KMSV). I think the intermittent rain in the area and the groovy chopper colours fit right in. That helicopter is a long way from Hawaii though.  

 

 

The stage area is in front of the three white lines left of center, right below the lake:

 

Looking downhill at the stage area, at the center, in front of the road:

 

Looking from the stage area, imaging 1/2 a million people enjoying the show:

Edited May 5, 2023 by JimTM

[DD_Arthur]

@LukeFF Is there something going on that we should know about?  We're grown ups here, remember?

[LukeFF]

21 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

@LukeFF Is there something going on that we should know about?  We're grown ups here, remember?

 

No, other than that we would like to keep the topic clean and not make...suggestive references to things that don't have anything to do with flight simulation. ?

 

And with that, let's return to our regularly scheduled programming.

 

1 hour ago, ZachariasX said:

Love the place! Driving license is good enough to rent a motor boat on the lake and along with the keys for the boat they sell you as much booze as you want. I don‘t know how I returned the boat, but the CC statement showed no extra charges that day…

 

Yeah, it really is a boater's paradise. My dad recently gave up boating because he wasn't using it as much as he'd anticipated and he has plenty of other things to keep himself busy. It's also a great place for float planes:

 

(I'd totally forgotten that there was a DHC-2 flying from Lake CDA):

 

EDIT: I'd also forgotten that it collided with another plane not long ago, killing 6 people: ?

 

https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dhc-2-beaver-lake-coeur-dalene-6-killed

 

[Lusekofte]

?

[BOO]

27 minutes ago, Lusekofte said:

?

I remember seeing a pic of your home cockpit and thinking “ there’s a man who takes this stuff seriously”

 

…and what’s the first thing you do with the Transall………. ?

[Lusekofte]

10 minutes ago, BOO said:

I remember seeing a pic of your home cockpit and thinking “ there’s a man who takes this stuff seriously”

 

…and what’s the first thing you do with the Transall………. ?

The guys I fly with knows how serious I take flying. Or rather the lack of it. 
But maybe my continued problem with this sim is I am being watched by adobo and they have a clever way to prevent me from flying

[BOO]

1 hour ago, Lusekofte said:

But maybe my continued problem with this sim is I am being watched by adobo and they have a clever way to prevent me from flying

ah....that explains the low flying...cunning..

[LukeFF]

Looking at the next leg of our journey, I let our passengers know they should stock up on reading material while we were on the ground at Pleiku in Vietnam: our next leg would be 716 miles, most of it over water, and it would take over 4 hours. "Well, nothing we can do about it. We aren't headed south to Australia, so over the water it is."

 

With passengers grumbling, we set out on our next leg: Pleiku, Vietnam (VVPK) 5 to Subic Bay International Airport, Philippines (RPLB). 

 

 

On yet another hot day in Vietnam (hmm, sounds like a title to a movie), we noticed yet again during our preflight inspection that the circuit breaker for the GPs was popped. This is really becoming annoying... 

 

Anyhow, at nearly our max takeoff weight, we crawled our way into the air and made our way east to the coast. The C310R really struggles to get into the air at such a heavy load, but we made it to our cruising altitude without incident:

 

 

We passed over some lush low-lying mountains before reaching the coast in short order. From there, it was time for the long, tedious flight over the water, where occasionally we saw the passing freighter or oil tanker:

 

 

Thanks to the wonders of time compression, it wasn't long before we reached the coast of the Philippines in the later afternoon, with the sun to our backs:

 

 

It was right at about this point that the game decided to tell me my video card was misbehaving and would therefore shut down the game. Infuriated, I restarted the flight right at about the same point, continued on, and made our approach into Subic Bay:

 

 

Things went fairly well with the approach (a fully visual procedure this time), except that in my frustration of having to restart things I forgot to extend the landing lights before landing. Ah, well, at least I had the strobes, anti-collision light, and nav lights on... ? 

 

 

Apparently, I burned out one of the brake pads while landing, so that'll need to be tended to before we take off tomorrow. I'd noticed the spark plugs in the left engine were starting to wear out, and sure enough, the post-flight inspection showed they needed some attention. With that in mind, we secured the plane, hailed a taxi, and headed into town.

 

[BOO]

@ZachariasX, tell @LukeFF that real men dont use time compression. Tell him, tell him!!!

 

(didnt even know TC was even a thing)  

[LukeFF]

2 minutes ago, BOO said:

@ZachariasX, tell @LukeFF that real men dont use time compression. Tell him, tell him!!!

 

(didnt even know TC was even a thing)  

 

That's the only way I'm going to get any sleep tonight. ? 

[ZachariasX]

31 minutes ago, BOO said:

@ZachariasX, tell @LukeFF that real men dont use time compression. Tell him, tell him!!!

 

(didnt even know TC was even a thing)  

You are right. I did my first world tour without it, but with the grace of GPS and Alt-Tab.

 

But if you are maxing the DC-6 for range, you‘ll have an about 13 hour flight… I got weak as well. 

[BOO]

17 minutes ago, ZachariasX said:

You are right. I did my first world tour without it, but with the grace of GPS and Alt-Tab.

 

But if you are maxing the DC-6 for range, you‘ll have an about 13 hour flight… I got weak as well. 

I got cramp after about 3 hours, parked up, went and did grown up things like feed son, visit hospital, walk dog and came back,having left the pc running,  taking off into the night. Yet I ignore ATC, fly under bridges, pay scant regard for international borders and have a seemingly unending source of cash......

 

Seems at present if you max the beavers range you can out travel a nuclear airctaft carrier...just done 500Nm using only 32 Imp Gallon. Something is off.  

[MisterSmith]

3 hours ago, BOO said:

Seems at present if you max the beavers range you can out travel a nuclear airctaft carrier...just done 500Nm using only 32 Imp Gallon. Something is off.  

Just lean er out!

 

[ZachariasX]

3 hours ago, BOO said:

got cramp after about 3 hours, parked up, went and did grown up things like feed son, visit hospital, walk dog and came back,having left the pc running,  taking off into the night. Yet I ignore ATC, fly under bridges, pay scant regard for international borders and have a seemingly unending source of cash......

The only time they leave me alone is when I build plastic models. All other occasions, be it home office, flying flight sims etc, they always see me as "available". This makes any longer stint in a sim a bit of a problem. You know, slowing down sim rate can also be useful when you have to leave the cockpit for whatever reason. I lost many planes to "active pause". Esc ist the only thing that helps if you have to leave the chair otherwise.

 

4 hours ago, BOO said:

Seems at present if you max the beavers range you can out travel a nuclear airctaft carrier...just done 500Nm using only 32 Imp Gallon. Something is off.  

That would be a cheat in a good air race!

 

Back on my rig now, I try now to make the best of the JPL C152. Getting those stated 769 km range is not easy! Especially if you bring some baggage. But it works well, also in regards of fuel consumption and efficiency. Setting stints for an air race that would best case let you reach each stint with one fill of the tanks would be ideal. Pushing it more would mandate another "pit stop" that lose you some time.

[LukeFF]

So, I just picked up the Flow Essentials addon from Parallel 42. From what I've seen in demo videos and discussions, it looks to be a far better toolbar than the stock one. Off to check it out!

[BOO]

7 hours ago, LukeFF said:

So, I just picked up the Flow Essentials addon from Parallel 42. From what I've seen in demo videos and discussions, it looks to be a far better toolbar than the stock one. Off to check it out!

I dont get on with it but havnet given it much time. Having to hit a keybind then use a mouse isnt working for me. 

[Hoots]

I thought I'd take a trip across North America, there's bound to be tonnes of lovely views... It's chucking it down. I could be at home.

 

[BOO]

3 hours ago, Hoots said:

I thought I'd take a trip across North America, there's bound to be tonnes of lovely views... It's chucking it down. I could be at home.

 

That is a lovely view - its about perspective ?

[ZachariasX]

So... I tried something new. The idea of an air race was brought up. So I figured, I make something for the Cessna 152 class. As venue, I chose an often overlooked place, Africa. From LSZF in Switzerland to FAAF near Cape Town:

 

LSZF - LIRL - HLLT - DAAJ - DRZT - FKTI - FZGA - HBBA - FWUU - FMCH - FMMV - FQIN - FAAF

 

It is of note that "DIA" ("dis is Africa") applies here, hence things may be subject to change regarding the route. Haven't checked all the airports yet in detail but they should be ok. MASFS is getting difficult again to get past clicking "FLY", which is a pain. (-> DIA)

 

I set the following rules:

• Airplane must have persistent damage turned on.
• No GPS (of course).
• Onboard simulator time (resistant to sim rate changes) counts.
• Local time for start and shutdown can be read from onboard clock or LittleNavMap (or other tools).
• The route is split up in several legs. A lag can be completed with as many pit stops (refuel/repair/sleep/shopping/restroom visits/etc.) as required.
• Time is measured from starting the engine to shut down at the fuel pump of the destination airfield.
• A fuel stop ads a 10 min penalty to your sim time.
• Total shortest time of all legs plus eventual penalties give your race time.
• Fueling up is possible during a pit stop is possible at the fuel pump. (The sim prompts you for that upon reaching destination.) Engine has of course to be shut down for that.
• Repair is also possible, but ads a 24 hours (!) time penalty. (Your problem is not the mechanics problem.)
• Loadout: Your personal gross weight plus, in accordance to the Mac Robertson Air Race: Aircraft had to carry three days' rations per crew member, floats, smoke signals, and efficient instruments. This means 70 kg of luggage wherever in the aircraft you can put it. (Anyone has the handicap formula of that race?)
• Shortest race time wins.

Hence, the route:

 

 

 

First leg from Birrfeld to LIRL, just south of Rome. I packed everything and I have a great plan. All packed up, almost 98 litres of fuel, I plan to fire up the engine and do whatever checks I can't do beforehand while rolling to the runway.

 

All done, hit the clock and prime the engine and crank the starter... oopsie. It didn't catch.

 

 

There I am, time is running and people can just watch how I desperately crank the engine, but it won't catch. I must have flooded it. Oh well, be it. Just crank it wil full power in hope it will eject the sauce as you can do it with old cars.

 

 

BANG!!! Ehmm... someone bring the fire extinguisher? As they are all just laughing their a**es off in the cafeteria, I have to to it myself. After his coffee break, the local mechanic takes a look at my engine. As he can fix everything, but that sets me back 24 hous in the race and I haven't moved an inch!

 

Ok, I have to do something smart here. I suspect with 70 kg of luggage the range is gonna be tight, as I have to cross the Alps.

23 hours ago, MisterSmith said:

Just lean er out!

 

With a fresh engine and 24 hours penalty (this is like Formula 1), I take off and immediately take her lean of peak at full power, just lean enough to maintain some 2500 rpm. And I climb... and suddenly she becomes slightly slowish. Sounding even different? Over time, definitely different.

 

 

 

 

Ok, back where I came from. Another 24 hours penalty. How many kinds of smoke color does this thing have?

 

 

Off a third time. Yes, full rich until 4'500 ft. Yesyesyes....

 

The easiest way across a moutain range is using a pass. The Gotthard it is. It is popular for a good reason. (And grave to some intrepid flyers.) Along the lake of Zug in front of me, then a tad to he right and up the lake of Lucerne. Who needs GPS?

 

 

Here where the endles stream of traffic, the "tin avalance" commences each holiday in spring and summer. I climb some more to some 6'500 ft. Above 4'500 ft I can finally lean her without the engine sounding nasty.

 

 

Getting close to the pass (right in front), near Andermatt. I try to climb as litte as possible in order to save speed and fuel.

 

 

Ok. I wasn't thinking of all the high tension powerlines that go through here. It's just the power to connect a whole continent. But made it past all those cables.

 

 

From here on it gets easy. Past Lugano (just next to the plane), the world is flat (enough).

 

 

River Po. Around 5'500 ft, I can run her nice and lean, and we're making good pace. The beacon of Florence guides me but in these conditions navigating is easy. Just follow the A1 Highway.

 

 

The hills north of Florence require me to climb again to some 7'000 ft. From then on I can tune in to the beacon of my destination.

 

 

Full power ILS approach, as I have more fuel left than anticipated.

 

Alright, the verdict:

 

Flight time: 4 hours, 18 minutes, flown distance: 427 nm

Penalty: 48 hours

 

Total: 52 hours 18 minutes.

 

Had I taken the car: 9 hours 32 min (Google)

Had I taken the bicycle (Google!!): 56 hours.

 

I beat the bicycle!

 

[LukeFF]

1 hour ago, ZachariasX said:

How many kinds of smoke color does this thing have?

 

?

 

You probably didn't let the oil warm up enough. Common complaint on the JPL Discord chat.

[Lusekofte]

As soon as I learn to tune in beacons and Get away from this Wind turbine project in sweeden I will attempt this. Started driving 7:30 this morning. Arrived on site 10 in the evening. 

[LukeFF]

FSLTL just released a big update. Among other things, parked GA planes now populate airports, which means they no longer look like desolate landscapes. ??

[LukeFF]

And from last night: Subic Bay, Philippines (RPLB) to Fengnin, Taiwan (RCFN). Distance flown: 498 NM, real-time weather, time of day, and traffic. 

 

I really should have cut the distance I flew on this leg since I was feeling so tired, but I figured what the heck, this is my last night of flying MSFS for the next few days, so let's go long.

 

 

With the time zones creeping ever eastward, our start times are evermore later in the afternoon, and this one was no different. We took off sunny but windy skies:

 

 

North of Subic Bay, the terrain becomes increasingly mountainous. On this day as well, the clouds hugged the ridges, some of which dumped rain on us for a few minutes:

 

 

Soon we cleared the northern coast of Luzon, and from here it was flying over mostly open waters, punctuated only by the occasional small islands that all had ugly textures. 

 

 

[LukeFF]

 

With the sun setting over Taiwan, we received our clearance to land at RCFN, which is where the fun started. The first bit of "fun" was the AI ATC telling me to land from the north, even though that's the direction the wind was blowing from. Going with it, the next decision was determining the best approach procedure - never mind I'm still learning all the ins and outs of the GTN 750Xi. I chose the visual approach procedure, which for some reason took me way south of the island. I manually changed course back to the north before too long, because I really didn't want to make this any more difficult, with me being as tired as I was and with daylight quickly fading. 

 

And, then, once again, the game up and crashed on me. Not a driver crash this time (I rolled back my Nvidia drivers before this flight), but a crash nevertheless. Infuriated, I reloaded the flight at the final waypoint, reloaded the visual approach again, and determined to get the plane down. With the fading light and the way the procedure is laid out, I ended up making a landing that was...less than optimal in terms of descent rate and keeping the plane above stall speed. From the sounds in the back of the plane, our friends were not too optimistic about our chances. 

 

But, in the end, we put the plane down on the runway centerline and taxied to our parking area. 

 

 

Realistically, I should have chosen one of the NDB approaches - it still would have been a tight turn onto the final, but it would have been much more doable. Note to self: don't fly such long flights like that when you're already tired. ? 

[BOO]

7 hours ago, LukeFF said:

FSLTL just released a big update. Among other things, parked GA planes now populate airports, which means they no longer look like desolate landscapes. ??

Ive literally just finished wrting "It would be great if FSLTL added GA into mix as smaller airports feel quite barren"

 

Turned this back on a coupe of days ago to see if I could cope with any performance hit. Seems there isnt much at all. Last flight I landed at Casablanca. ATC seemed awake on Asobos side which was nice  Having both FSTLT and the sim add partked aircraft (for the GA) there were 34 fully liveried airliners at the location when i connectd the sim back up to LNM. Performance was great, not a beat skipped, FSLTL models are really nice for their intended purpose and such much immersion as I didnt realise the progam forces the ground handling annimations as well. 

 

Another thing I cant beleive is free.

 

Just wish the single point contact model for the AI could be fixed in the main game. Bouncing and half submerged models are not a great look when they happen. Still, Im learning with MSFS to do what you do in RL, get on with your thing, enjoy the peripheral immersion and DONT ZOOM!. 

 

Really hoping i can switch off the ingame parked aircraft now as Im tired of seeing Fox's at every airport or (worst still) another Beaver in the OBS livery floating 2 ft off ground.

 

 

 

EDIT - the GA injector is somewhat hit and miss. FSLTL seems to prioritse Airliners for the parked spots and doesnt appear to differentiate between Small/Medium GA allocations and Airliner ramps. At quieter airstrips it'll put 2 or three GA about but not more usually unless you have the radiuses really dialled back. Even then, not many. Using the games ground aircraft seems to be still required if you want a busier feeling GA park. 

Edited May 8, 2023 by BOO

[BOO]

Day 24. Talavera La Real Airport, Badajoz, Spain – Gibraltar. 386Nm, Real Time, Live Weather, Live Traffic

 

Pt1 - Circles in the Sand

 

Today’s leg will take us into Portugal and its capital Lisbon before turning South to th’Algarve (as we used to say in Oldham). The Airport there should provide a timely fuel stop if needed. Afterwards, we leave Portugal, head back into Spain before leaving it again to land in what the UN calls a "non-autonomous territory that must be subjected to a process of decolonisation" and what we English call Gibraltar, The Rock or just plain “ours”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Returning from the privy, I catch Ralf running his hand along the stressed panels of the Beaver (modelled to perfection in the sim).

 

“Told you, she’s a thing of beauty”

“S’ok I suppose”

 

After removing the prop to take off the cover (seriously I cant see any other way) we’re off heading in the exact opposite direction to the one we spent the first two weeks coming from. Leaving Badajoz, the oddity that is Talavera La Real Airport becomes apparent. It’s dumped in a repetitive “mask” of low res imagery. As if the sat data has been cut out of the tile. Nasty. And confusing given it has functioning ATC and ILS.

 

 

Passing over Badajoz itself and leaving Spain for Portugal, the landscape becomes a little greener but also a little more uninhabited. The result is a largely rural plain with little by way of distinct features from 5000ft. And this is largely the journey. With nothing to really do but fly over the land, I will admit is one of the more unengaging legs but add that this is not the fault of the sim or even the country. Its just what it is.

 

 

I’m fairly relaxed about the navigation. I know that I’m heading West and I know Lisbon will be difficult to miss in the clear conditions. I do however attempt to predict wind drift, watching the yaw needle and trying to judge my track towards distant points ahead. I also get back into the habit of road reading and water body spotting as one would do in Great Battles.

 

 

Mainly, thanks to the conditions and, of course being able to see, this works and, switching on the radio Nav as I approach Lisbon, I’m only very slightly North of the 272 degree track I had chosen. 

 

 

The land outside of Lisbon, whilst agricultural, shows much more evidence of larger scale production and provides some of those landscapes that look photo real from medium altitude.

 

 

The PG in Lisbon works well enough if I don’t zoom. Lower down however, the game stutters and the PC struggles to process it all. PG is very much a mixed bag for me, yes it can add a veneer of realism, but it comes at an immersion breaking performance cost. Often is stands darkly stark against the artist made “landmarks” and auto gen. Overall Id say Im not a city sightseer or a PG fan. It’s an aspect of the sim I least enjoy, not just because of performance but because I like the rural I guess.

 

 

I also like not to be thinking “Wut” all the time. As in here. A handcrafted landmark and a prominent one. Yet not 200m away is a football stadium with trees growing on the pitch. I mean “Duh”, did no one at Asobo think to check the area around these features they seem so keen everyone visit? Especially given their preference for modelling Football Grounds over…oh say…really significant war memorials..

 

 

Climbing away from Lisbon to the South, we pass back into a landscape of brush and occasional agriculture.

 

 

Again, despite the lack of promise, the sim produces outstanding imagery that draws you in. This is where sat tiles really work over handcrafted maps. The random nature of fields and human activity is ever changing.

 

  

We continue to track South, passing over the hills that denote the start of the Faro region and looking beyond to the Southern coast and Atlantic Ocean beyond.

 

 

Contacting Faro Airport in a left hand pattern, we are directed to runway 28 and I set the radio nav and OBS for an ILS approach. At first the dials make no sense to me before realising that I had not switched over to the correct frequency on the radio. This is under no pressure, in clear calm air and in daylight. I can see how I’m likely to make mistakes in future. On a side note, despite starting in the USA, I think this is only bit of the Atlantic Ocean I’ve crossed. In time Ill begin to use the Navigraph charts Im paying for to do things properly. For now, its basic legs.

 

 

To my delight, the AP does its thang and even reverses course onto the chosen radial when I activate it after completing the downwind leg at 1500ft and waiting for the GS needle to centre. Hitting the Approach mode all I need do is take in the views and manage the throttle.

 

 

A mile out I take control and am politely handed back the aircraft. No lurching, no pitching. Smooth. There’s a bit of crosswind but the Beaver calmly deals with it, allowing gentle rudder adjustments to maintain the track.

 

 

Faro Airport itself is a great looking piece of work. Its one of the “handcrafted” ones and the details are spot on and in abundance. Performance is good too. Incredibly good. As is the economy.  Fuel wise, there’s still plenty in the tank and the gauges are showing a total of 48 Imp Gallon. Certainly, enough to reach Gibraltar and far beyond. Bearing in mind we haven’t refilled on this journey since Albercete some 500 Nm ago its also suspiciously frugal.

 

We decide to stay a few hours and sample some fresh sardines. The last part of the leg will be flown in the evening and into the night. 

Edited May 8, 2023 by BOO

[BOO]

Day 24. Talavera La Real Airport, Badajoz, Spain – Gibraltar. 386Nm, Real Time, Live Weather, Live Traffic

 

Pt2 - Rock-etman

 

 

In the setting sun we set off on the last short section of the leg. Inspired by the airport surrounding and dismayed by the amount of white tail oddities that the game uses for its low poly models I reactivate FSLTL. This adds a lot of colourful life to airport and seems not to be too resource heavy in the restrained manner I’m using it. Its drawback however is that it doesn’t really favour small GA on its own at bigger airports.  Adjusting the parked aircraft setting in game up to about 30 does appear to alleviate this issue without impacting on the program. One to be watched.

 

 

Taking off into the sun, the Beaver gracefully climbs away from the airport having used so little runway, I think about asking for a refund for my fees.

 

 

And, finally, we cross the Atlantic, well a bit of it. The night sky is moonless as we set our course. I tune to the TACAN for the Rota Naval Base and set a rough course towards it.

 

 

Ultimately, the TACAN beacon doesn’t ping, but the lights of the vase are clear and visible from quite a way off. Making a small course correcting to the south od the base, I set the heading bug to head towards Gibraltar and get airspace clearance. Although the clicks of the coms come though, the ATC is silent, and I have to open the ATC panel to see what’s being said. This issue persists for the rest of the flight and until a game reboot afterwards.

 

Night navigation is not my favourite thing it turns out but it’s a short section and there are enough towns and lit roads to keep a check on position. Gibraltar and its lit outline is easy to spot in the clear skies.

 

Communicating with ATC via text messages, we are directed to Runway 28 and begin our left hand approach into the circuit. Here the AP beings to play up and altitude and VS settings become impossible to set. I curse Asobo for the half-done key bindings in the game as I struggle with the VS buttons. I’m soon at risk of losing my bearings and control of the Beaver in my head down struggles and the old adage “Aviate, Navigate, Communicate” jumps into my head. Regaining my SA, and getting final approval, I make a non-too hectic touchdown and on the long runway. 

 

 

Getting off the runway is harder than getting on it. I consult the airport diagram on Little Nav Map. It takes a while, but I eventually realise that Im looking at the wrong airport and, looking up, realise I’m about to taxi straight off the end of the runway into the sea.  Another silly mistake in non-stressful circumstances demonstrates just how easy I can get saturated. We eventually find out slot and, with the Rock looming behind and a blood moon finally rising, go to find a bar.

Edited May 8, 2023 by BOO

[ZachariasX]

1 hour ago, BOO said:

Another silly mistake in non-stressful circumstances demonstrates just how easy I can get saturated.

Same with me. I died countless times like that in my sim life.

[Hoots]

The weather continues to give me opportunities to practice IFR flying...

 

But by way of making up for the lack of ground views MSFS decided I should be treated to some epic cloudscapes. Flew out of a complete blanket into this wonderland

 

With some extra little delights thrown in for free

 

 

So even thought I saw the ground for approximately 1 minute in total I had plenty to see. MSFS really does deliver.

 

[BOO]

4 hours ago, Hoots said:

 

 

 

 

Is that the smoke trail from @ZachariasX's C152 behind you?

Edited May 8, 2023 by BOO
theres a "T" in "Trail"

[BOO]

Ive just made a bat file for all the stuff I need to start before and after MSFS. 

 

Ive read shorter books