The mysteries of MSFS abound.
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Leg 6, take 3!
The original plan was to fly straight to Saint Martin over the Caribbean, but I have less time today so I couldn’t commit to it.
Instead, I took the Stratoliner to MBPV Providenciales International Airport in Turks & Caicos. I would love to visit some of these Caribbean islands some day, but I’ll need to make do with virtual visits.
It was rainy and sad over KMIA at the start of my flight, and that storm made its way over my house in SC during the flight. Live weather is cool to see, even if it doesn’t always cooperate. Nassau was getting rained on too.
On to Saint Martin next!
Enjoy the bonus screen shot where the earth turned into not just one giant airplane, but at least half a dozen of them!
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Update: I installed Windows 11 against my will three weeks ago. While I dread the privacy nightmare, it seemed to be the wiser choice compared to installing Linux and all that entails.
Thankfully, the install process was smooth and easy, though I did have to research… tweaking things… to my liking during the install process. I used a handy debloater tool to remove all the unnecessary garbage that comes with it. I’m happy to say that it’s running nicely! I’m sure that’s down to the work I put into those tweaks.
I’ve held off on the world tour because I wanted to make sure there are no surprises while running the sim, and I’m ready to jump back in.
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I followed N151ZE on Flightradar24 for awhile today, a privately owned DC-3 that flew from Narsarsuaq, Greenland to Reykjavik, Iceland.
For some strange reason, I had the DC-3 on the brain, so for leg 7, I flew it from Providenciales International to Luis Munoz Marin International Airport TJSJ in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I guess this means I’m back in the US too!
Peaceful the entire way. Blue sky above, blue water below. PR though, was covered in stormy clouds. Couple that with a perfectly timed sunset arrival, I got a couple nice images on final.
The DC-3 and the Grumman Goose, those two are my happy places.
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Leg 8, more DC-3 action today!
Another short hop from TJSJ to Saint Martin. I love that approach over the beach. Is it the best approach in the world? I think it might just be…
Lots of multiplayer shenanigans today. I got buzzed by someone in what I assume is a fighter jet, though it looked like an A320 to me. They passed me like I was standing still and went to visit Davey Jones immediately after. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the obligatory beach crowd picture as I flew over either. Oh well, such is the nature of flying online.
More island hopping coming soon!
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Nice choice in liveries. I love the old AA silver and orange from “the day”.
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Thanks! I’m partial to NC17334, Flagship Detroit, since it’s a real airworthy DC-3. I know I said no airliner liveries but I can’t resist. Liveries from this time period are just better than the ones used today.
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I love N90710 Flagship Mexico for the DC-6. It’s the similar livery style to Flagship Detroit.
And I totally agree about yesterday’s vs. today’s liveries. I guess I’m partial to most vintage design whether industrial or graphic.
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Leg 9 was a nice, uneventful cruise south along the Caribbean islands in HCG’s Spartan Executive 7W. I would really love to visit them some day, but it’s probably going to remain a dream for the foreseeable future.
The poor state of iniBuild’s Spartan makes me sad. It’s so close to being excellent, but like FS24 itself, they decided to release it broken, and possibly unfinished. I hope it gets the attention it deserves.
Thankfully, I kept a backup copy of HCG’s rendition. Textures aren’t the greatest, and the engine sounds are copied from Big Radials’ Goose, but the thing actually flies like it should.
As soon as I took off from Princess Juliana International, two cruise ships plowed into each other. I guess the captains had too many giant margaritas. I could go for one of those…
I was planning on flying lower to take in the views, but weather forced me up to about 9,000 feet. The HCG Spartan is great to hand fly, and the autopilot was a convenient bonus for this 3.5 hour flight. Not to brag, but my landing at TTPP Piarco International Airport in Trinidad was butter, the smoothest one of the journey so far, right as the sun was setting. I keep timing that perfectly somehow.
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Leg 10 was special. Not because anything thrilling happened, but because the exact opposite ocurred - absolutely nothing of note at all.
See, leg 10 was an experiment performed in FS24, only my third real flight, 6 months after launch. A short hop from Trinidad to General Manuel Carlos Piar International Airport SVPR in Ciudad Guyana, Venezuela. Today’s flight was in the absolutely wonderful Grumman Albatross.
Overall, I’m pleased with the flight planning in the EFB. Again, it should be illegal to make a game this complex and not include a manual. At least make official video tutorials for Pete’s sake. And I cannot speak highly enough of the Albatross. It’s the best base aircraft in FS24 and FS20, and you’ll never change my mind about that.
I’m officially on another continent! Time to cruise around South America!
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Leg 11, more dabbling in FS24. Again, nothing noteworthy happened! Now I’m wondering if I should think about switching to FS24 more permanently…
This time, a 5 ish hour flight across the Guyanas! I couldn’t see all of it thanks to some stormy weather, but this area of the world is beautiful.
For the next few legs, we’re exploring the Amazon, so it’s time to trade the Albatross for something truly low and slow. I’m thinking the Beaver…
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It has its merits…
Love the last photo!
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The Albatross is a big one, but not all of the radial powered planes are compatible yet. I suppose I could do the rest of the tour across both sims.
Leg 12, a shorter one today. Destination: Macapa, on the north shore of the Amazon Delta.
I put the iniBuilds Spartan to the test today. I really don’t like that steep nose down attitude, and boy is it hard to slow down. It’s much improved from release, but it just doesn’t feel right. I’m not sure I’ll fly this one again. It doesn’t like to show a pilot in external view, so I didn’t get too many pics either.
The HGC Spartan isn’t nearly as refined, but it’s still better overall, even without sounds by Echo 19.
Next leg is a loooong one up the Amazon. Should I take it slow in the Goose, or super duper slow in the Beaver?
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Leg 13 heads west along the Amazon, back in the Goose. From Macapa, I flew to Santarem.
I really would love to visit the rainforest, there are so many beautiful creatures that only live there. That said, Goliath Bird-Eating Spider are words that combine to tell me I shouldn’t.
I think I got a couple wallpaper-worthy screen shots out of this leg. I’ve got the next two weeks off work for a much deserved, and long overdue, vacation. Expect a flurry of updates!
Leg 14! Santarem to Manaus, where the Rio Negro meets the Amazon.
I found some issues. Most of Lago Moratinga wasn’t registered as water in the sim. I got a bit confused navigating for a few minutes… The water around Manaus was rising upward in some places, and the Goose didn’t want to settle into the water like it normally does. Do I have a scenery conflict? I don’t think I have any scenery downloaded for this part of the world.
While I’d love to keep flying west following the Amazon, I have much to see further south. From here, I’m cutting straight southeast across Brazil toward Rio de Janeiro.
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Leg 15 probably got me in trouble with the FAA and/or Brazil’s equivalent.
See, I was going to fly IFR straight to Rio in the Constellation, but I just can’t figure out the voodoo magic that is the gyropilot. Between that and not having IFR callouts down pat yet, I was feeling overwhelmed. I decided to break up this trip into shorter flights.
Leg 15 ended up being a trip from Manaus to a small airport called SIYW Cuiu Cuiu Airport. Little Navmap picked it up, Volanta picked it up, and so did the sim itself. I didn’t think much of it. Turns out this airport is a just an unlit grass strip in the middle of nowhere. I believe I ended up at an abandoned mining town.
I picked the wrong leg to do a little night flying. As you can probably imagine, it was a little hard to land the Beaver in pitch black. I was forced to quickly change the time of day so I could see, when I realized my planning error.
On the bright side, the Beaver is just a joy to fly!
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I was better prepared for leg 16. From the middle of nowhere, to the middle of nowhere! Cuiu Cuiu Airport to SBAT Alta Floresta.
In honor of Golden Age Simulations, I took their PT-17 on this flight. This is a nice one, sad to hear that they’re ceasing operations.
The route was dotted with small dirt/grass airstrips along the way. Not a single other player nearby. I was all alone…
Leg 17 was a nice leisurely cruise in the DC-3 once again, landing in Brasilia. Night flying is a nice change of pace.
I find myself torn between two hobbies now. Flight simming is a hobby I dabbled in as a kid, and couldn’t really take to because of the cost. Well, I’ve rediscovered another hobby I couldn’t fully enjoy as a kid, RC planes.
Good lord is there a lot of red tape to do this in the US now! And it’s not a cheap hobby either!
I must say, while this world tour has been great for finding enjoyment in this hobby again, FS24 just… isn’t appealing to me that much, even though it’s apparently gotten a bit better with SU3. I can’t see myself sinking a couple thousand hours into it like FS20. Maybe that’ll change when it’s legitimately good and third party devs migrate their addons.
I’m wondering if I’ll be able to strike a balance between the two aviation interests. I won’t give up on the world tour though!
Side note: sorry if these pics are a little hard to see!
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It’s been while… unfortunately life is getting in the way, and I haven’t had much time for gaming in general, let alone time to commit to a flight for an entire afternoon.
I’ll pick this back up as soon as I can! My goal is to be at Cape Horn by the end of the year. Should be realistically achievable.
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