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 i
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
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 b
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 f
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
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
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
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 Jackso
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 c
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,
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
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, p
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
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
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 soo
Well, I think I have almost exhausted the recreation of my flying days. There are still a few flights I did not re-fly, and there are a few planes I did not revisit (including retractable versions of the Saratoga and Cherokee 180.) I may still fly those flights on the computer, but I will not blog them. I have decided to wrap this up by recreating my final flights in the planes I flew the most.
Cessna 150/152: This was the first plane I flew, but I realize I do not have one for FS2004. (I ha
A direct route from North Las Vegas to Double Eagle Airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico took me over the Hoover Dam and parts of the Grand Canyon, and near the Meteor Crater. This is a recreation of that flight on FS2004.
I depart KVGT in the daytime, and cannot resist taking another low-level tour of the Strip. This time I see even more, including Big Ben, the Statue of Liberty, the Sphinx, and a billboard featuring Siegfried, Roy, and a white tiger. The attention to detail is impressive. I t
When I flew this leg in the real Saratoga, the lights of Las Vegas were so vast and so bright that I lost sight of the airport amidst the glow. In FS2004, the lights are not quite so bright, but Las Vegas at night is a definite must-see for any simulator fan. With the Saratoga, I felt more comfortable going over mountains, so I took a more direct route from Washington to Texas. The first leg was from Bremerton to Red Bluff, California, to Hawthorne, Nevada. This leg was from Hawthorne to North L
This was an unusual entry in my logbook, a chance to play “fighter pilot for a day.†To recreate the flight, I reluctantly looked at the video again. Reluctantly because, even though I had 400 hours by that time, I did not do that well. It just was not normal to fly in unusual attitudes, even inverted, although the plane did it easily. The video was not that helpful; I heard departure heading from the tower and the altitude, but I could not really tell attitude from the horizon. Plus, this
In 1996 I bought a Piper Saratoga (PA-32-301) through an aircraft broker. He flew it from the east coast to Illinois. I flew it from Illinois to Washington. This is a recreation of that flight. Although my plane was a fixed gear Saratoga, the best virtual approximation I have found is a Cherokee Six (PA-32-300). They are almost the same, and I even had more than one controller call me “Cherokee†instead of “Saratogaâ€.
Aurora, Illinois to Sandwich, Illinois: I depart Aurora for Sandwich
Harris Ranch to Red Bluff: I start on the narrow runway, with both wings of the Cherokee extending beyond the pavement. I am already pointing in the direction of my route, so I take off and climb straight ahead. I stay below 3000 feet, as there is no dangerous terrain along the flightpath. The scenery is nice, with lots of green. I crank up the sim rate to 8x and speed through California, trying to maintain a straight line. I bust through the Sacramento airspace, with hardly time to look out the
El Paso to Blythe: Unlike the real flight, a week has passed between legs. I ask myself why I need to continue, just to prove that I can follow a course and sit for hours? I decide that, like the touch-n-go’s, this is a part of the logbook recreation, but it doesn’t have to be 100 per cent realistic. So I start on the runway at El Paso International and take off to the west. It is a long ground roll at the 4500 ft. elevation, and the Franklin Mountains are in my departure path, but I clear t
I flew my Cherokee 140 from Texas to Washington in 1993 over a four day period. This is a recreation of that flight.
Leander to Burnet: Before the long trip, I had the plane inspected by a mechanic. His shop was at Pegasus Place, a grass field in Leander, Texas. For a realistic recreation, I set the time and season to a March morning and adjust the fuel and payload to minimums for the soft field take-off. The wheels are off before the end of the runway, and I turn to the northwest for my fi
In all the aircraft I flew, I practiced engine-out procedures. The Grob 109 is the only one I actually flew to a landing with no engine. Of course, it was designed to be able to do so, and that was part of my training for the glider rating.
This time, for recreating the flight, I remember to use the Logitech joystick instead of the CH yoke. I also set the season and weather to summer with scattered clouds and slight wind in the hope of finding some lift. On the runway at Georgetown, the dif
