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.
Still Looking Lovely
Managed a flight this morning, I flew from Oban to Cardiff. These are some pictures I took, my it looks lovely.
Views Of Flight
I’ve been trying to fly in X-Plane a bit recently. I need to do more I guess. There’s a plugin called Volanta by Orbx which I’m using to track my flights and it has some challenges it can add to the simulator so that gives me things I can aim for. I recently took a dawn flight from Biggin Hill to Le Touquet and I flew under the QE2 bridge and alongside my village. In the second picture here you can see the village where I live, if you know what you are looking for.
Flight Sim Photos
This is just a page of flight sim photos.
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.
London Views
Now that I’m back in the UK after having flown around the world it’s time to start learning how to fly. I’m going to spend time in the T-7 now that it’s X-Plane 12 compatible and start assigning shortcut keys and learning how to navigate. But, because that all seems like a lot of effort here are some pictures of London taken this morning.
I think I need to assign some new keys to the trim controls along with changing views etc. Let’s see what happens.
Hildesheim Travels
There was an X-Plane update and I thought I ought to “test the system”. I also found some scenery for my favourite airport – Hildesheim. I’ve been to this airport about seven times but I’ve never flown from there. When I visit it is the location of a music festival and the whole airport is a campsite. Anyway, I did a circuit. I don’t think there’s any sound, I’ve got to play with OBS settings a bit more. Also, no visuals of me! Who wants to see that!
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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.
Just Another List
I’ve always enjoyed playing computer/console type games. Ever since the classic Commodore 64 with Chuckie Egg and Manic Miner. So, here’s some of the recent games I am enjoying:
- Fortnite
- Minecraft
- Gran Turismo
- Minecraft Dungeons
- X-Plane
I tend to have quite a bit of imposter syndrome so I think if I was asked I would say that I’m not a gamer. But then I have nearly 800 hours on Minecraft so maybe I am.
F-14D Over Brazil – Nothing Else To Say
