Last night’s stream was a blast! The stream started with a two-hour dive into more aviation weather resources and takeoff and landing performance. Then we went to Chandler, AZ (KCHD) in the sim, where we had calculated the performance using live weather, and flew the 172 around the pattern several times. I will say that it was pretty much dead-on accurate to the calcs!
After that, I took Mike Patey’s Draco X out of Hite, UT (UT03), along with a gaggle of friends, and we flew up the Colorado River, darting through the beautiful landscape of Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, before diving from Mount Waas down into Hubbard Airstrip (9CO3) in Gateway, CO. There, we practiced our short field landings before heading up to The Palisade, really putting our short-field technique to use on a 200 x 75’ clearing, then basically zip-lining from there down to the airport 2500’ below and one mile away (a 25° descent to land). Draco FTW!
By the way, this may mark the first time I got vertigo in a game - from standing on the precipice of The Palisade. It was so uncannily real - walkaround mode is amazing, even in the current state of some bugginess - it’s really worth the price of admission and holds so much promise!
For comparison, here is a real-world GE pic of the Palisade from very close to the same airstrip:
And another GE pic showing the amazing natural geography:
Here’s the VOD from the event (unfortunately it will expire in 60 days):