MSFS 2020 with RealTraffic and weather.
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2020, So, got inspired by rewatching the first MI film from 1996, filmed along the West Coast Main Line. The train in the film was CG and filmed in Scotland rather than SE England where the chase takes effect. So, this three-part series will be a tour of the West Coast Main Line and the High Speed 1 systems from Glasgow to London and London to Calais. Wish the animated trains mod I use for flights in the Western US was made for high speed networks in Europe and Nippon, but, nobody asked me… Fantasy aside, this leg, went from Glasgow to Haydock Park (which is a horse race track with a small airfield in the center). Flying the H500 w/o AP is fatiguing, hence the three-leg flight. Does 2024 have fewer trees along the rails? The footage in MI shows long open bits of uncovered track, not tree-lining. Have trees grown since 1996? Is it just a case of the sim putting trees where they don’t belong?
One other thing in this has been experimenting with controller settings and I’ve found that less is more… perfect for flying helicopters.
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Another 8 hours live stream going on!
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Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport to Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport completed tonight.
My next trip is over to Ibiza Airport but this will probably be on Saturday morning now as I want to do the Balearic Islands in the day.
After those, it’ll be Italy. Once Italy is done I don’t intend to spend too long in each country, alright got my journeys sorted. A few pics of tonight, really enjoyed that flight actually!
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Flew the Port Stanley Terminal Railway (Canada)
Port Stanley Terminal Railway is an operating “tourist railway” run by volunteers, with restored locomotives and rail cars, that passes “North America’s Smallest Train Station” - Union Station along its route between Port Stanley and St Thomas in Ontario Canada.
Having a friend who is a certified volunteer Conductor for the PSTR, but never myself having visited that region, I went looking for the PSTR tracks in “my helicopter” (Blue Cabri G2) in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. I found the Port Stanley Terminal, but quickly lost sight of the railbed in the over-represented trees of MSFS24. I did manage to land safely at St Thomas Muni (CYQS) and taxi my heli back to the most awful helipad of any airport I have ever flown from.
Not to be foiled in my plan to enjoy a ride on the PSTR from the comfort of my Florida USA home, I built a detailed flight plan, and took to the air again from that terrible helipad of St Thomas Muni.
First I flew to where my friend’s 200 year old house is supposedly located. Again the MSFS24 trees totally obscured everything.
Then on past Hawk’s Cliff:
Next I found the Port Stanley Terminal again.
Heading north from the terminal, where Union Station should have been visible, I found more trees:
On past Whytes Park
Passing by the Elmdale Memorial Park Cemetery
I reached the St Thomas switch of the London and Port Stanley Railway which leads to
the Elgin County Railway Museum
With afternoon thunder clouds gathering, I headed back to St Thomas Muni and successfully made an ill-chosen crosswind runway landing that required the nastiest hover-taxi back to the parking I have ever endured.
While Port Stanley remains a long way from my south Florida home, I hope to someday get to ride the train without worrying about my landing.
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Another chunk of my tour down the U.S. Atlantic coast in the Grumman Albatross. I took off from the water south of St. Simons Island, Georgia where I had landed yesterday. Weather was atrocious - visibility of about half a mile in a heavy thunderstorm. But it’s a sim so I turned east, took off and hit IMC about 250’ above the water, and just climbed up out of the soup and turning generally south to follow the coast on instruments at 2,000’. I broke out of the storm a few miles away, as I expected, and just followed the coast. I stopped tonight at Palm Beach International, KPBI. Tomorrow I will press on to the Keys!
Heading south under angry-looking skies:
But blue skies beckoned ahead:
Passing by Cape Canaveral, I could not help but marvel at the infamous “NASA Apartments” built on the remains of historic Launch Complex 39B (yes, this is sarcasm - these are supposed to be lightning towers for the pad complex. It astounds me that neither MS nor Asobo have made any effort to get accurate stock scenery into the sim for Kennedy Space Center after all these years)
Passing beyond KSC past Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (though old space industry veterans still refer to it as CCAFS):
The long-serving CCAFS “skid strip”:
Southward down the Florida coast as the sun slowly sets:
The lighting in the sim really can look amazing at times:
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Leg 8 of my Canada to California trip in the SWS RV-8, MSFS2020
KIKV: Ankeny Regional, Iowa
90IA: Missouri Valley, Iowa
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Charlotte (KCLT) to Charleston (WV) (KCRW) in the Saab 340B
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After completed world around tour by helicopter and look of the most of sights on the classic route the only one continent is left undiscovered - Africa! First check shows that there are no much human made sights there but looks like it is more about nature wonders. The unique Eye of Sahara (Richat Structure) is top discovery now so going to check for new wonders)
Have a great flights and better in VR!
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Was going to wait until Saturday morning to do Alicante to Ibiza Airport, and then I remembered I haven’t seen an Ibiza sunset since I was 20 
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Tested the SU3 Beta, was too unstable to carry on so I reverted back to SU2. Before I did, I managed to download the entire game instead of streaming the assets. Performance is a lot better and no more stutters. Plus on the upside, the views are spectacular! Quick flight from EGKK - EGLL.
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Got the Menorca Airport (LEMH) to Cagliari Airport (LIEE) trip complete while I had time, the most boring trip of all time over the sea but that’s done. Now I’m definitely not doing anymore until Saturday, I promise!
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Another afternoon, another leg in the mighty Grumman Albatross. What a wonderful plane …
Starting where I left off yesterday evening, I took off from KPBI, Palm Beach (Florida) International, and headed south for the Keys. It was broken clouds at the field and dead calm when I took off headed west. climbed out turning north and then east to the coastline, dodging some heavy afternoon south Florida showers and thunderstorms before heading south once offshore. Glad I got out when I did!
But as is common on hot summery afternoons in the southern U.S., the showers were spotty and broken and I was soon past them.
Leaving the Palm Beach area behind, I soon approached the coastal sprawl of Miami and its suburbs.
Passing the rather empty southeast corner of the Florida peninsula itself, I headed out over the Keys; below me I spotted Key Largo, a place I haven’t visited IRL since a post-graduation trip I took with my wife the week after I finished graduate school. It was a week-long scuba vacation with my mother-in-law in tow to play babysitter and nursemaid to our 6 week old son. That was over 29 years ago now.
Thirty minutes later I landed in the water east of Key West Naval Air Station and anchored up for the afternoon.
Time for a (virtual) swim.
I will probably fly out to Dry Tortugas tomorrow and then who knows? South to Havana? Southwest to Cancun? North to the Gulf Coast? West to Texas? Time will tell …
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Yeager (KCRW) to Charlotte (KCLT) in the default 737 max 8
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