Goblin

Not much time in the Turbo Arrow yet. A few test flights and we're off! Departing the close runway at Athen's LGAT: Out of Athens: The flight was going well and I had chosen 2 hours and 30 minutes worth of fuel. Only, that wasn't working out...I was starting to get concerned. 17.5 Miles to go and things are not looking good. This could be a very long swim. Come on...Just a little farther. O.K. After this I landed safely and went to do some work on fuel management. This is my thir

That is a beautiful aircraft! I missed out on that one.

I can see why. Very nice, Wayne!

I've experienced the same issue. No way I'm going to miss this; I will be sending my registration in via the rally address above.

Wow, you didn't have much leeway there did you? Always exciting landing a big airplane on a small runway: get it on the ground and warm up the brakes! Nice job, Chuck.

I’m looking at my screenshots above on my iPad and they all look VERY dark. They look fine on my PC; I hope you can see them ok.

Well, it turns out I was running a little late, so I needed something a little faster. O.K. A LOT faster: Ahhh, the SR-71. Yet another example of Kelly Johnson's genius. I found the lights fairly easily this time, despite having never flown this aircraft. Although, it take a bit of hunting and pecking to get the engines started. Hmm... I hope this runway is long enough. The team would be awfully upset if it were to run it off the end of the runway. Sheeeooooot, no problem! Climbing and accelera

X-Plane 11 Default Scenery Hot Start TBM900 Before I set off, I headed over to the castle. I placed a stone, so as to add to the structure of the fortress; I believe the Papal decree still holds and guarantees me a place in heaven, as I would be considered someone who helped with construction, right? There it is! The TBM almost as amazing as Bodrum Castle! Well, O.K., maybe not. But still fun to fly. With the "sandwich bag" safely stowed in the forward stowage compartment, we leave the vomiting twin driver behind. Gorgeous da

X-Plane 11.32 Default Scenery Default Aircraft: Stinson L5 Sentinel So, as I was waiting for John over in Maintenance, this mechanic walked over with an irritated look on his face and told me that the pilot that was supposed to ferry my plane over landed in Imsik, thinking that was where he was supposed to leave it; he must have been confused by my destination. The mech said I could borrow one of the field's trainer aircraft and to just leave it at Imsik. No charge. Nice huh? He was about to leave when he turned back with a frown and said, "You know what really burns my ass?

Very nice, John. Love that full afterburner departure! You didn't think you would find me in that Vegan food truck there did you? I'm over here in maintenance...

Oh, come on! Next you're going to tell me the world is round, right? Nice screenshots: what is that plane? It looks something like a citation, but those business jets all look so similar to me.

750 KNTS, 300 ft: YEAH!!! Cool PIREP. Agree with your assessment of x-plane; rock solid and beautiful right out of the box. My P3D has only been fired up a few times after completing last year’s MEBAR.

I made it. I made it. Whew, just in time too! I've been learning to fly this thing in X-Plane and I'm coming to like it quite a bit. Although, the FMS is a little quirky; which is to say generic. Climbing out of Eppley Field Coming up on Lake Michigan. Just of the tip of my right wing is lake Geneva. I had a brush with greatness here when I got to play Dungeons and Dragons with Gary Gygax at one of the Lake Geneva Gaming Conventions that were restarted in the mid 2000's. GenCon is still a major event, but is currently south

Oh, good lord! I'm embarrassed to say that I've only just figured out what "Feel the Power" means. And I'm an electrical engineer for crying out loud! Great set of pics there Brian! As I was looking at them I was thinking, "Hmm, there sure are a lot of hydro-electric sites here. Huh, what's with all the power stations?" DOH!

All beautiful shots, but the one over Trondheim is gorgeous! I have a shot of overflying the same area (I'll bet we are flying within a mile of the same spot), just a slightly different angle. Yours is much better; I regretted turning on the "Frozen Water" option in the Orbx scenery as the transition from frozen rivers to dark blue ocean was pretty harsh.

Hi everybody, A big thank you to Andrew, Joe and crew for hosting this excellent event. This was my second rally and, like last year, I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot along the way. Also, thanks to all of you who participated and shared your stories. So cool to see what other folks are going through doing the same flights. Here are a few shots over the course of the rally. Completing the test flight (the best weather we'd see for the entire event ): Setting off on the first leg: It was e

Ha ha! Me too. I flew the first three legs at indicated. In a fluke, my first flight came in very close to the expected time only because I over flew one of the waypoints by 26 miles. At which point, I fire-walled the throttle for the remainder of the flight. I flew leg 4 last night referencing ground speed, but I think my execution was bit off, so we'll see. Doesn't matter though -- it's really about planning, executing, and arriving at the destination.

Great post John. I refrained from reading until I had completed the flight. For the vast majority of the flight I couldn't see a thing in front of me. I was able to get an ominous glimpse of the snow capped mountain peaks passing silently below from time to time. Very unsettling. I've been doing my planning in google earth and after building my route, I ran an elevation profile on the route itself and offset left and right. I think it was on the final segment that I looked down through the mist and saw windmills turning. It was an eerie and lonely feeling. Took me a

I had the EXACT same experience. Complete with an attempt to land on the "ground" above the runway and sinking through -- only in my attempt, I actually flared and was just above the stall before "touchdown" and crashed on touchdown to the runway. It's a real bummer to end a flight like that, especially after all the planning and careful execution. Immediately ran the elevation correction and all was well. I should have known better -- been running ORBX scenery for years. Otherwise, nice video Marc!

Nice PIREP Kieran. Nothing a little duct tape can't fix, right?

I never thought about it that way, but that makes perfect sense! Same with Brett's comment on the glass panels. These are things that I liked about the two implementations, but I never really thought about what it was I liked about them; if you know what I mean. Actually, you're referring to the DA-42 Twin, which does have the analog gauges over the screens. I should have been more specific. Aerobask modeled the DA-62. On the other hand, I didn't even know either of these aircraft existed until they were modeled for a simulator. Come to think of it, this is true for

It's the Aerobask twin Diamond. They just released a couple of days ago. I think it's a little too automated for my taste and I wish it did have analog gauges. The ground handling seems to be a little off too; considering X-Plane's ground handling, they've done pretty good, but they can do better. I bought it because I absolutely love their Pipistrel Panthera. In fact, I may end up flying the Panthera again in this year's MEBAR.

Well, the THRUSH agents told me they had to take their jet back, but they were kind enough to lend me this Diamond for my final (near fatal) flight(s). First flight in the DA-62. Not an ideal training ground, but hey, I'm not complaining. Picking up the Pi out of the ZCO VOR to look for Machu Pitcchu. That's the 314 radial out of the ZCO VOR. There it is just ahead of the right wing. I'm liking this airplane and the view is fantastic! Plenty of information on the instrument panel without feeling clutt

Tim, don't worry I've got it. Going to use one of the local farmer's mules. She doesn't look like much, but she's tough as nails. Who would ever suspect that we'd trust the Baton in this old bird? ....What?! It's going to be fine. Yes, yes. I know were taking off at 9,500 feet. Jeez, don't worry about it. I got this. Hail Mary, full of grace, HAIL MARY FULL OF GRACE!! As I made my take off run, I could see the Putinfield goons swarming over that jet on apron. They never even bothered to look at this old junker.

Roger that! I'm there. I've got something up my sleeve that they will never suspect! Just as soon as I dig out from all this snow I've been hiding in. Matt, those screen shots are fantastic -- love the thunderjet!