That IPA looks great.
To make up for the lack of altitude hold on the Piper Arrow, you can single-click on the center of the autopilot knob in the Just Flight version, FYI. This is not realistic and I have chosen not to take advantage of it, but if you get sick of maintaining altitude it is an option.
I’ll be joining you, -12C here today with a windchill of -300C. I’m heading south like a snowbird. Save me a Pina Colada.
Will do. I’m in San Juan at the moment where it is 81 degrees F. Probably going to do a short hop around the Virgin Islands next.
I didn’t realize that Piper didn’t have a full autopilot. That definitely makes the longer rough wind legs tough!
I have been grounded over in Gander for a couple days waiting for the weather to improve. Tried getting out to go Gros Morne and up to St. Anthony, but got terrible icing at 1000AGL right after departure and headed back.
Definitely go south asap ha. I’m heading the opposite direction, up to Iqaluit and Greenland, and I think I will be grounded for a bit unless I decide to do some over the cloud IFR.
Good luck!
Greenland? Don’t do it if you’re using Live Weather today.
I departed BGSF this morning for BIRK, TBM 930, using Live Weather.
108 kts out of the ESE at FL310. I was crabbed for the 400 nm until I made Feet Wet just north of Kulusuk. Made it to Reykjavik with practically nothing in the tank. NBAA IFR rules? What’s that?
Ya Greenland and Iceland can be wicked weather wise this time of year. I’ve done crossings this time of year and it’s hard to find decent ETP diversion airports. Make the sure the weather is really good, not much in the way of decent alternates and the airports in Greenland are tricky getting into IFR.
Have fun, I’m hoping my biggest worry is finding sunscreen. 
@CasualClick @G280driver Ya will definitely wait to have a good day for it! Still stuck in Newfoundland, so still a long way to go before those crossings thankfully!
Which weather system do you use to check GFA’s etc…? I know know CFPS and FAA websites for North America, but what resources can I use for Greenland and eventually Europe?
Thanks!
I believe the sim uses Meteoblue as the basis for Live Weather, so if you have a subscription to them, that’s a good place to start.
Day 3 Woke up and got started early again today. Planned a wheels up at 0700 before the winds started howling again. Today’s plan was to leave Port Hawkesbury CYPD and head for Summerside PEI CYSU for a brief stop and then to Moncton, New Brunswick CYQM for the night to see my daughter who is at the Moncton Flight College.
Weather was good 270/10kts 130OVC 2C. Nice VFR day.
Departed off RWY27 and right away the fun began…more landing gear problems. Now it won’t come up. Checked the CB’s, checked the alternate system. Reset the CB’s. Recycled the gear multiple times. Nope, nadda, won’t come up. Which is a better problem than it not coming down. I had lots of fuel so I decided to press on, plus I wasn’t gonna get it fixed back in YPD.
I decided to divert into Trenton, NS, CYTN. There is a good sized corporate flight department based out of there, and I know the folks well. Maybe one of their engineers can have a look at it. I wasn’t sure I could handle going all the way to CYQM with the gear down, I was grounding 50kts as it was. Darn wind.
The boys in YTN helped me out, they didn’t see anything too wrong, cleaned up the gear and did a regrease, couldn’t test it without putting the bird on jacks and swinging the gear. I said that’s OK, if it was still giving me issues I’d get it seriously looked at in CYQM. They didn’t want to charge me for the work, so I took them to the Irving Big Stop and bought them breakfast.
I took off again and with baited breath selected gear up…and this time it worked. I made course for YQM, via the Confederation Bridge (bridge to the island province of Prince Edward Island) Bouncing along in the ever increasing winds and bumps.
Weather in YQM was decent good ceiling 15sm in DRSN, the winds were getting up there 32022G31.
Landed on RWY29 without any problem, and taxied over to the Flight College.
I’ll get to go hang out with my daughter and her flying school mates tonight. She’s almost finished her private licence, and has another year and half to go to finish everything else up in the diploma program.
As luck would have it, I have a line on a nice Piper Seminole. I am not entirely happy with the Arrow. It’s a great airplane but not for the trip I have planned, plus 2 engines is more comforting when crossing large bodies of water. The little bit of extra speed and better autopilot will help. My daughter may get an Arrow to work on commercial with.
Oh and to heck with crossing Canada in March, I’m headed for warmer waters. Headed down the eastern seaboard. Gonna stop in Cape Hatteras for a few days of kiteboarding, a couple of other places along the way, explore Cuba and head down through the islands I know well to Panama and then up the west coast.
Stay tuned for more kids.
I suppose you will have to edit the title of this thread! 
Awesome thread, I’ve book-marked it to follow your progress.
I’m a fellow RW pilot who has jumped back into simming after a long hiatus and am enjoying the low and slow side of flying on screen without having to worry about OTP and following the magenta line. Thinking of doing a similar round the world trip to yourself as time allows- I’m enjoying the commentary and looking forward to your next update 
Well folks, as I write this I am sitting on a patio on Miami Beach trying not to get caught up with the spring breakers.
Let me get you all caught up.
I went ahead and purchased a Seminole, and glad I did because it has proved a wonderful airplane so far. Little bit faster, but has a more capable IFR cockpit. Love the Arrow, but not for this trip.
Day 4
After taking care of all the paperwork on the new airplane, getting my US Customs decal, I headed out early for Bangor, Maine. KBGR. It’s only 192nm, but it was a good place to clear customs. I travel through there quite a bit for work and know the officers wwell.
Flight to BGR was good, it was a solid overcast layer at 4000ft, so I cruised down via YSJ at 2500ft. Direct from YQM wasn’t possible because of restricted military airspace. Camp Gagetown.
The clouds scattered out as I crossed the US border.
Temps were still around the freezing as I touched down in BGR. Taxied over to Bangor Aviation where the fine folks from CBP were waiting. Quick passport check and I was on my way.
I topped off the Seminole and headed out right away. Next stop was Block Island in the Long Island Sound. A 250nm trip.
I routed down over Kennebunk, just east of Boston, and then a straight shot to Block Island.
Block Island is pretty quiet this time of year, it’s a summer town, reminds me of Amity Island from the movie Jaws.
After close to 2 hours I was turning final for RWY 28, winds were 260/14. The runway is only 2500ft long, but 100ft wide and in good shape. No problem for the Seminole.
I was lucky that the Water Street Inn was still open, and had a room for me. They were also kind enough to come pick me up at the airport.
Total for the day was 3.7hrs
Next day, I make tracks for Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. Gonna spend a few days there with some friends kiteboarding.
The trip so far…1221miles/1965km
Thanks for following, and welcome back to flight sim. You most definitely should give this a go, it’s great fun.
Sorry for the lack of updates lately, too busy flying. As of now I am in Cayo Coco, Cuba, it’s sunny and 28C. Life is good.
Day 5
Block Island to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. 455nm
I was awake early and wanted to get going, I was meeting friends in Hatteras for a few days and didn’t want to be late.
Weather was good, SKC -7C still windy 3318G26. Brrrr
I topped off the Seminole the night before to save time and fired up the ol’ girl and headed for RWY 28 taking off as the sun was breaking the horizon
I climbed up to 8500ft to find some smooth air and picked up a flight following from BOS center. My route this morning took me west along Long Island and then following the shoreline SW for North Carolina.
New York Center was relatively quiet and they cleared me right on through JFK’s airspace. Cause that would happen in real life.
Before long I was on a downwind for RWY 07 at KHSE Billy Mitchell Field
Flight time was 2.1hrs
My friends picked me up and we headed for the house we rented for a week. Wind is supposed to switch SW tomorrow and warm up. Looks like a good week in kiteboarding paradise.
Next stop The Sunshine State before heading to Cuba
Good to see you back in the saddle @G280driver, still enjoying the narration and screenshots!
Absolutely… great drone pics and stories 
“too busy with flying, I’m on Cuba life is good” LOL
Hey folks,
Well after a few days in Cape Hatteras kiteboarding, surfing and drinking way too much beer, it was time to head further south. The Caribbean was calling and it was still a long way to go.
I departed KHSE on a foggy morning headed for KMRH, Beaufort, NC to get some fuel since there is none here.
I went IFR this morning due to the morning ground fog everywhere, MRH was reporting 2OVC and 1/2sm in fog. It was thin enough to see the sun through it.
Thirty minutes later I was touching down in MRH after shooting the RNAV 08 . The wx had improved to 3OVC and 4sm BR.
Crystal Coast Aviation FBO topped up the Seminole and before long I was headed south again for KSSI St. Simon Island Georgia. I have a friend there that I was hoping to do some surfing with for a couple of days.
The weather wasn’t looking too good, so again I filed IFR and headed off into the murk.
Other than some late morning cumulus building up requiring some small deviations it was a nice flight, and the weather had improved as I approached KSSI
I parked at Golden Isle Aviation, had them top it up, and put the plane to bed.
Total for the day was 2.4hrs.
Time for some waves and more beers.
Day 8. Trying to get the blog caught up to where I am currently, which is the French side of St. Martin.
We got got skunked with surf in St. Simon, GA, so I headed further south for the Sunshine State. The weather was nice, but cool, a cold front had blown through and it was rippin’ out of the north.
The plan was to head to Melbourne Florida, just south of Daytona.
I headed out mid afternoon, and flew low level along the coast.
One of the highlights for me was Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. It’s restricted airspace, but I called in a favour from an old, old friend, Capt. Tony Nelson, and they let me pass through, with low pass over the shuttle airstrip and a buzz of visitors center.
I continued down the coast headed for KMLB, but after getting the latest wx, the winds were howling out of the north straight across the main runway at 35kts. I decided to divert to KVRB, Vero Beach. RWY 30 was more into wind, with the wind there 330 at 25kts.
May get in a good evening of kitesurfing here.
It was a bumpy arrival in Vero Beach. Ended the day off with another 2.0hrs and 187nm.
Tomorrow I head for KMIA for the night, and then its off to Cuba.
Day 09. Vero Beach to Miami KVRB-KMIA
Not a bad day weather wise, broken cloud forecasted between 2000 and 3300, winds of 5kts increasing to 10 to 15kts mid day. Pretty calm after yesterdays 30+kts.
Once again I left midday, wheels up at 1755z
Flew down the coast at 1500ft, not a lot of traffic to worry about, KPBI let me fly right through the zone. I flown a lot in south Florida so it was all familiar territory for me. There have been a few nights spent at the Elbo Room in Lauderdale. One of the world’s oldest dive bars.
Before long KFLL was passing by the right wingtip and Miami was in view. I set up for RWY 26R as the Signature FBO is just off to the right of it saving me a long taxi.
I was cleared for tight right base, tower snuck me in ahead of an American flight, which was mighty nice of them.
Guided the ol’ Seminole to a half decent landing, winds were 10-15kts and the afternoon thermals were bouncing the little plane around. Quick right turn after landing and I was parked at Signature FBO. Flight time 1.1hrs
KMIA is not ideal place, it’s busy and an expensive place to land, but it’s a quick Uber to the beaches. I love the art deco area of Miami Beach, some cool buildings and neat hotels. Good place for a night or two. I checked into the Blue Moon Hotel and hit the bar for a Mojito while I planned tomorrow’s trip to Cuba.
I love reading about your adventures. Thanks for sharing!
