Volume 2, Issue 2
May 2009
Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Made By OliveNet Design.
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Flights of Fancy by Don McIntyre
I’m sitting on runway 08 at Gatwick Airport, awaiting clearance from the Control Tower to take off for today’s flight: to Corfu. We’re in a Boeing 737/300 airliner with a full load of passengers, many bound for Roda. Control Tower: “You’re cleared for take off. Fly runway heading to altitude 20,000 feet.” I
And all of this sitting at my computer in our spare room!
You see, I’m a computer pilot – perhaps even a PC Pilot! We flew to Corfu today courtesy of Microsoft’s wonderful flight simulator program: FSX (Flight Simulator, 10th Edition). With FSX I can sit at my PC and fly literally anywhere in the world. I can take off and/or land at any of over 25,000 airports. All of their
You see, I’m a computer pilot – perhaps even a PC Pilot! We flew to Corfu today courtesy of Microsoft’s wonderful flight simulator program: FSX (Flight Simulator, 10th Edition). With FSX I can sit at my PC and fly literally anywhere in the world. I can take off and/or land at any of over 25,000 airports. All of their
destination airport, or I can “find my own way”.
Much of the world in FSX looks pretty realistic as you fly over it: cities, deserts, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, roads – some with
Much of the world in FSX looks pretty realistic as you fly over it: cities, deserts, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, roads – some with
ease the throttles to full power. We accelerate down the runway. At 160 knots I pull back on the yoke and we lift off…raise the landing gear…switch on auto-pilot. We’re on our way to Corfu!
Our route today takes us over the Channel, across France, over the Alps, down the Adriatic Coast and over Roda (special request!) before landing at Corfu’s main airport: Kerkyra.
“I ease the
throttles to full power. We accelerate down the runway.
At 160 knots I pull back on the yoke and we lift off..”
throttles to full power. We accelerate down the runway.
At 160 knots I pull back on the yoke and we lift off..”
runways, taxi-ways, and navigation aids are faithfully reproduced. All the major airports have fully functioning ILS (Instrument Landing Systems) so that I can fly real-world approach routes and use the aircraft’s auto-pilot to descend at the correct rate (Glide Slope)
and perform a perfect touchdown. Or, I can turn off the auto-pilot and land “manually” – which often proves a much bumpier affair! I can use ATC – Air Traffic Control – to guide me from departure to
moving traffic! – they’re all there. While the default FSX scenery is pretty impres-sive many specialist flight-sim software
developers have produced add-on scenery packages which are absolutely stunning…literally “real” scenery created from aerial photography.
I can choose which aircraft to fly in, from a two-seater Cessna to huge jetliners, seaplanes, even helicopters. I can choose my weather to fly in, from sunny clear skies through overcast clouds to full-blown storm, with winds and rain to match. I can fly in Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn – yes, the scenery does change with the seasons! I can fly at dawn, daytime, dusk or night-time.
I’ve produced a brief video of our flight to Corfu. Hope you like it.
If any Rodaphile is tempted by my flightsim enthusiasm and would like to try it, I’ll be happy to provide any information or advice. Or there must be some other flightsim fans out there: let’s hear from you!
I can choose which aircraft to fly in, from a two-seater Cessna to huge jetliners, seaplanes, even helicopters. I can choose my weather to fly in, from sunny clear skies through overcast clouds to full-blown storm, with winds and rain to match. I can fly in Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn – yes, the scenery does change with the seasons! I can fly at dawn, daytime, dusk or night-time.
I’ve produced a brief video of our flight to Corfu. Hope you like it.
If any Rodaphile is tempted by my flightsim enthusiasm and would like to try it, I’ll be happy to provide any information or advice. Or there must be some other flightsim fans out there: let’s hear from you!
“I can fly in
Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn – yes,
the scenery does change with the seasons!”
Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn – yes,
the scenery does change with the seasons!”
