I had a flight in X-Plane recently and saw a plane nearby so I thought I would check it out. It was and MD80 faffing around over Essex and Suffolk.
I had a fun time chasing this bird through the sky and trying to stay in formation.
Interception!
Testing Flights
I’ve been testing the new PC set up by flying around places I’ve recently visited. It’s nice to see how these places are recreated in X-Plane. I think it looks pretty good, it’s good fun also.
I’ll soon write about a visit to this castle and some other places in Hampshire and Dorset. I flew over Hurst castle to see how it was created within the flight simulator.
I haven’t been to Portsmouth for quite a while but I am planning to head back there soon. It looks good in this early morning flight. Note the aircraft carrier.
Having stayed in the New Forest recently it was nice to fly over it. There’s quite a bit of air activity in the New Forest as it’s within the ILS of Bournemouth International. There are a few 737s, the odd Airbus A340 and some Draken Air Dassault Falcon 20s.
Video Upload Thing
In testing for video output and uploads on the PC I decided I would try flying a floatplane in X-Plane. I chose to take off from Rochester, UK and land on the river Medway. This is not as silly as it seems because eighty years ago the Shorts Brothers made seaplanes in Rochester and they slid down a gangway to the river Medway for their first flight. The whole area is now residential but you can still see the gangway which is a historical object. It would have been nice to still have seaplanes and floatplanes taking off from there.
What A Shocker
You know how it goes. You’re flying along over the Netherlands and then BOOM, there’s a lightning storm in front of you. Fortunately for me I was already planning on landing before the storm but I don’t recall seeing lightning before in X-Plane.
You might need to click on the picture to embiggen it and then be able to see the lightning forks.
Taking In The Views
I’ve spent a little time recently flying in X-Plane. Now that my journey around the world is complete I’ve decided to spend some time learning start up and shut down checklists to get a real feel for the aircraft. I’m currently playing with the T-6A Texan that the RAF uses as a basic jet trainer. It’s a good little aircraft. Here are some views that I’ve photographed recently:
I’m really enjoying the whole – potter about a bit – approach to exploring the UK. I’m trying to improve my take-off and landings at the moment, a little crucial you might think, but making them smooth and “butter” is taking some time.
Flying Setup
I was looking through this site to see if there were any current pictures of the Flight Sim setup and I couldn’t find any. So this communication aims to correct for that.
In this picture you can see the PC, desk, three monitors, and the HOTAS bits and pieces. In this flight I had just landed at Stansted in the fog, which was interesting! Maybe I need to get some rudder pedals, but then I also fancy getting the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS bundle so I’m not sure what to do. I know! I’ll set myself a target of things to learn before I reward myself with these luxury items.
Task – Around The World – Status – Completed
What started as a bit of a “around the coast” trip to look at the scenery ended up being an around the world trip in short hops. I started this sometime in 2021 with a trip from Manchester Airport to RAF Valley, just to see what it would be like. Then I continued around the coastlines of all seven continents. See this communication for the start of the list. All airports landed at are listed in these communications:
- First one. Manchester to Nepal.
- Nepal to Russia.
- Russia to the Falkland Islands.
- Onwards to the Caribbean.
So now we have the final list of airports. From somewhere in the Gulf Of Mexico to Manchester.
- Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, US Virgin Islands
- JAGS McCartney International Airport, Turks and Caicos
- Providenciales International Airport, Turks and Caicos
- Leeward Point Field – Guantanamo, Cuba
- José Martí international Airport, Cuba
- Naval Air Station Key West, USA
- Florida Keys/Marathon International Airport, USA
- Tavernaero Park, USA
- Ocean Reef Club Airport, USA
- Boca Raton Airport, USA
- NASA Shuttle Landing Facility, USA
- Daytona Beach International Airport, USA
- Waycross-Ware County Airport, USA
- Myrtle Beach International Airport, USA
- First Flight Airport, USA
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, USA
- Atlantic City International Airport, USA
- LaGuardia Airport, USA
- Nantucket Memorial Airport, USA
- Beverly Regional Airport, USA
- Portsmouth International Airport, USA
- Seacoast Airfield, USA
- Portland International Jetport, USA
- Saint John Airport, Canada
- J.A. Douglas McCurdy Sydney Airport, Canada
- Gander International Airport, Canada
- Narsarsuaq International Airport, Greenland
- Bíldudalur Airport, Iceland
- Reykjavík Airport, Iceland
- Vestmannaeyjar Airport, Iceland
- Hornafjörður Airport, Iceland
- Vágar Floghavn, Faroe Islands
- Tingwall Airport, Shetland
- Sumburgh Airport, Shetland
- Kirkwall Airport, Orkney
- Wick John O’Groats Airport, Scotland
- RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland
- Oban Airport, Scotland
- Glasgow Airport, Scotland
- Campbeltown Airport, Scotland
- City of Derry Airport, Northern Ireland
- Belfast International Airport, Northern Ireland
- Belfast City Airport, Northern Ireland
- Ronaldsway Airport, Isle Of Man
- Keswick Airport, England – Fictional Airport
- Warton Aerodrome, England
- Manchester Airport, England
And there we have it. All the airports visited as part of this around the world flight. It’s taken around two years but I feel a sense of achievement. The next thing for me to do is to learn how to use navigation aids rather than VFR. That’s my plan for the next set of flight sim activities.
First Flight – It’s A Place
As part of my journey around the world in a flight simulator I am heading up the eastern seaboard of the USA. I’ve just left Florida and was looking for another place to land when I saw an airstrip called First Flight. This made sense when I looked on a map as it is at Kitty Hawk Sands in North Carolina. I landed at the airport and then saw something so I taxied my plane to it.
Hopefully the plane has off-road capability. After the flight I looked this stuff up and it’s all monuments to the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight. I’m impressed with the scenery in the simulator. The only thing it doesn’t get right is the grass being a shit colour instead of green.
I’m slightly amused by the monument as there is a road in a circle around it so you don’t have to walk around the thing. Just park up somewhere and see it from a distance.
I landed on runway 21 and then taxied up to the monument which was a bit cheeky really. My next flight is going to be over Norfolk Navy base and then maybe on to Washington DC to see what the scenery there looks like. I don’t think it’s going to be too long before I’m back home and at RAF valley where this thing started.
Ron DeSantis’ Florida
As part of my around-the-world tour I have made it to Florida. Currently, the state is suffering from what we would call – WLS – or wanker leader syndrome. It’s a shame really. I really liked my time there at the Kennedy Space Center, but I don’t think I’d want to visit now. Other places with more liberal laws can have my money.
Rendition Flight
I’m flying around the world in my Flight Sim – X-Plane. There are communications giving my progress, but I’m in the Caribbean at the moment heading to that hellscape that is Florida. I think my last stop before USA [again] is Havana. But, and this is the most important bit, I landed at Guantanamo Bay air station from the Turks and Caicos. I was in a little private jet and somehow it seemed fitting to land there and then depart quite quickly. I left my cargo there to be abused of process and tortured.
The things the “west” have done over the last thirty years distress me immensely. I have a suspicion that if I looked at most of history I would find that it’s all rather terrible and the “west” has pretty much fucked everything up. Anyway, onto Florida where the current governor has banned medical help for women and trans people because – fuck you. I don’t understand people full of hate.