I did something weird today...

[Wing Nut]

I actually hopped in the default 182, taxied from parking, used ATC, and flew VFR from KOTM to KOXV.

[Marlin]

You know this funny,

First off I didn't know that there are any default planes, I only have one. ABC corsair.

ATC? how do you make that work?

Cutting off other planes, they'll go around ya. Gas, always set to unlimited.

Umm, you talked out blowing your landing? So how did you get it to fly back around? When this happens to me (most of the time) there isn't a chance to fly it anymore, at all.

Here is a first for me, I actually crashed on take off.  I thought that the F4U was like any other.... floor it and go. NOT  boom crash smoke and fire  :o

[Wing Nut]

First off I didn't know that there are any default planes, I only have one. ABC corsair.

If you don't use the default planes once in a while, you are cheating yourself.

[ozzy72]

I actually hopped in the default 182

Kevin I think it is time for you and me to sit down and discuss these problems of yours over a few beers!

No warbirds

Sick!

stunt planes

Very sick!

trying to land a 747 on a 2500 ft

Where is the fun in flying then?

[Hagar]

[quote]I actually hopped in the default 182, taxied from parking, used ATC, and flew VFR from KOTM to KOXV.

[beaky]

You know, this is one thng I've never done. I rarely, if ever, use the default aircraft in any of my M$ sims.* All this messing around with radio, ATC & numerous other petty rules & regulations is the main reason I decided against going for my PPL, which I could easily afford if I really wanted to do it. Everything is so different now from when I was learning to fly in the 1960s. I prefer my memories of the old days when flying was far less complicated. FS gives me the chance to renew those memories whenever I wish.

*PS. Except for the FS9 default Piper Cub.

Hm. I guess the regulatory collar doesn't chafe me so much because I learned to fly with it on, but I have discovered in RL and the sim that you can fly around all that stuff.
Of all the default MS birds, other than the Cessnas (which I use as sort of a training aid for RL flying), I've probably flown the Cub and the Jenny the most- on short flights outside of controlled airspace, without talking to anybody on the radio.
As far as RL goes: last Sunday's flight was very similar: Other than turning on the transponder before takeoff (47N is just inside the NYC Mode C veil) I could have legally made that entire flight without touching a radio if I wanted to. Using the radio in that case was more of a benefit (to enhance safety) than a restriction.  The only concession to a controlled airspace was dipping briefly below the Atlantic City Class C- which, had I wanted to penetrate it, would've been no big deal, as it's really just a radar sevice area- just have to call and say "hi, I'm here; I'm going there, see ya".
  Plenty of navaids and ATC services available, but again, I didn't have to use them, and certainly didn't need to, for a flight below 3000 along the shore. Filing a  flight plan was an option I chose just for insurance, so I could have made the flight without Big Brother ever knowing about it.
 And in RL as well as the sim, studying the airspaces beforehand and dealing with ATC, once you get the hang of it, is really not a big price to pay for the rewards of flying as PIC...
Don't mean to pester you, Doug, and I'm sure other pilot friends have told you this, but I think you should reconsider. I almost balked the first time I felt the weight of the FAR/AIM in my hand, but first I noticed that half of it, the AIM, is not rules so much as advice, then I found that the bulk of the FARs don't apply to VFR-only non-commercial pilots, then I saw that most of what I did have to study, although verbose, was basically common sense. This cheered me up, and i went on to nearly ace the written (missed one question; I forget what it was, but it was something I knew- I just didn't stop and think quite enough about it).
I think you could do it- and without losing any passion for the act of just taking off to wander around and have fun. I managed it, and even picked up some appreciation for the challenges of  flying within the system.

[Hagar]

[quote]I think you could do it- and without losing any passion for the act of just taking off to wander around and have fun. I managed it, and even picked up some appreciation for the challenges of

[Wing Nut]

Doug, I would have thought you a Jenny fan...  :)

[Hagar]

That's true Kevin. Strangely enough I don't think I've even tried it. I'll remedy that when I next fire up FS9.

[Hai Perso Coyone?]

Kevin I think it is time for you and me to sit down and discuss these problems of yours over a few beers!
Sick!
Very sick!
Where is the fun in flying then?

I couldn't agree more Mark

[chief1995]

Hagar,

You are a long way from crazy, you are a tremedous contributor to Simvation. I appreciate Grumpy's Lair, and the advice you have given me in the past, you are always "on the money" as we say in Texas.
Keep up the love for flight that you have and I seem to be devolping the more I do flight simming.

Regards,

Chief

[beaky]

That's true Kevin. Strangely enough I don't think I've even tried it. I'll remedy that when I next fire up FS9.

Before you do, you should DL the free upgrade... makes it much more realistic (trim with power, etc). I'm on the work laptop right now, no access to my FS9 files, but when I find it I'll send you a link.
She's a real nice flier, though, even "out of the box".
 Looks and sounds very good, too.
Love that Cub, also- when i first set up my PC and fired up FS9 for the first time, I used that default Cub in Hawaii flight to do my tweaking... man, it really was entrancing, esp. after having flown in one in RL.  I'll never forget that first time...  ;D

[Brett_Henderson]

By the time I got my PPL and was about 1/2 way through instrument training.. I found it real difficult to keep myself entertained just flying for the sake of not being on the ground. If it wasn't some hood work or genuine IFR stuff with a safety pilot, I wouldn't fly unless there was a purpose to it. Like taking someone up for THEIR entertainment.. or needing to get somewhere.. or taking someone or something somewhere.

Droning around in uncontrolled airspace seeing no other planes and talking to nobody gets boring. If I near an untowered airport and there's nobody in, or approaching the pattern or taxiing for take-off, I'm kinda disappointed. Landing at larger B and C airports is my favorite part of flying. Hearing all the other pilots.. all the different planes.. gauging the mood of the tower guy.. taxiing to a runway that's five times longer than you need, between a 737 and an MD-80, having pretty much the same conversations with the ground and tower as they are.. is just about as fun as it gets.

My favorite flying memory was of landind at Port Columbus (Ohio.. C-airspace).. on downwind for 10L. Just about midfield.. the tower called.. " 4790G fly at the numbers now or circle for spacing.. 757 on 6 mile final". I chose the expidited landing which ended up with a no base-leg, 135 degree right-hand turn about 300agl to a quick flare and touch-down

I don't think he expected me to take that option, or have me on the ground so quickly. My reward (I guess) was beeing allowed to taxi the 8,000 foot length of the runway.. avoiding the crowded taxi-ways. It was kinda like being on stage

[Hagar]

I've been giving this some thought & I've come to the conclusion that I was always in love with the idea of being able to fly rather than actually doing it for any practical reason. I overheard my instructor on my first gliding course (which I passed in the minimum time possible) telling his colleagues that I was a born pilot. I don't remember a time when I didn't know how to fly a plane or understand how they work.

I've worked on the darned things & flown in them, sometimes even flown them myself all my working life but flying from A to B never interested me in the slightest. It's just being up there that I find thrilling & my advanced aerobatics lesson a couple of years ago was fantastic. Probably the best present I've ever had & I'll remember every second of that flight for the rest of my days.

I'm a little old to contemplate a full aerobatics course now (I actually enquired about doing it & it's not impossible but I would need a PPL first) but this is what I would really like to do. Like Mark, I get bored flying straight & level for more than a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, I can do all that with my RC models & in FS.

[beaky]

It's definitely true that both kinds of flying have their rewards: when I was a new student I flew out of KTEB, and even then it was a very busy airport. My early x-cs often started and ended with lots of talking, looking, and oh my yes, those "modified" approaches, but in between I'd be off somewhere where I could feel like I had the sky to myself, and I could take my time and work on my technique.
 I like both worlds, both moods. As long as I'm flying, it's all good.

 ;D