All this talk about new 757s vs. 767s with the PIC panel is wearing me down gang. Lets get these birds flight certified and fly them. I have a nice little evening planned next week and I would like any of you who are free that evening to join me.I was chatting on VATSIM with an old friend, Roberto Stopnicki. He was controlling on the approach frequency down in La Paz. They are open for traffic down there every Thursday night and I thought it would be cool for some of us to pay them a visit next week. La Paz is 13,300 feet above sea level with mountains all around. It should prove to be a fun evening.Since everyone

Hey Mike,Vatsim Uk are having their monthly event on the 23rd Feb, fly in between either EGCC/EGLL and LFPG.What about taking the 75s or 76s across the pond from NYC/YYZ to either EGLL or LFPG?We would also be gauranteed busy traffic levels.Mark

Mark,I have been working on that one for a few weeks now. That is the day I am trying to set up for the PIC on VATSIM - Athens to Paris. We will be arriving LFPG right in the thick of things. More to follow on this.

The flight plan download now contains La Paz charts in addition to the flight plans. (About 1 meg total)

Hello mike, I would truly like to be among the partakers next Thursday but as you know iam a west coast resident in addition my operational day finishes more or less around the 18:00 local (04:00z)which makes it unfortunately impracticable for me to be able to be among you. I regret it deeply. besides lately I fly less and less regularly for various motives

Henry,From what Roberto has passed onto me, I'm sure that some of us will be departing La Paz around 0430Z for SLVR. I am waiting an OK from him and I will put some more charts and free scenery on my (Gregg Baker's really) download link. Come on down and join us for the finish if you get home early enough.

Awe man. I wish I could attend guys.BUT! Ill be on a DAL 752 on my way out to SoCal to have dinner with my associates at he ZLA ARTCC.Maybe next time. Have fun GentsLet the 767 live!

I received some more information from Roberto today. He also provided some scenery files and some more charts. From what he has told me, I am planning on departing La Paz for Santa Curz after the flight in from Montego Bay. New Downloads:La Paz Scenery http://www.simsource.net/files/MB327/La_Paz_Scenery.zipSanta Cruz Charts http://www.simsource.net/files/MB327/Santa_Cruz.zipSanta Cruz Scenery http://www.simsource.net/files/MB327/Santa_Cruz_Scenery.zipHere, with Roberto Stopnicki's permission, is his email:Hi Mike:Don't want to overwhelm you with stuff, or anything ( :-) ), but here are a few interesting operational facts of flights to/from Bolivia.Because of the altitude of the airport in La Paz, there are no "long range" flights leaving out of there. For example, AA flies its daily 757 from KMIA to SLLP non-stop, then flies to Santa Cruz (Viru Viru, SLVR), still in Bolivia, fuel up at this airport (1300 ft asl) and then return to KMIA. The departures are at midnight, to avoid the heat and humidity of the day.The local airline Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB) does the same, flies its A310 and B767 from SLVR to the north, after feeding them with B727-200 coming from the principal cities.I send you charts for SLVR in this mail, and sceneries for La Paz and Viru Viru in two separate mails, in case the files are too big. They are nice sceneries and might just add to the enjoyment of the flight.In case you have more than 10 folks joining you, you might consider splitting them between the two airports, because the ramp in La Paz is really tight. Take a look at it with a 767 parked at one of the gates. The runway has no parallel taxiway and with prevailing calm winds, departures are on 28 and arrivals on 10. When the winds mandate all operations from RWY 10, it becomes a great opportunity for everybody to practice some holds LOL. and......did you know that LAB is the ONLY airline still flying the ORIGINAL 727's (!!) they bought from Boeing over 30 years ago? They were also the first airline to fly the 727-200-ADV, for very obvious reasosn! :-)) Take careRobertoLooking forward to have you guys. With that many 767's, we'll park them on the "grass". It's frozen up there most of the time, so its OK :-)

UPDATE 2:ALL DEPARTURE TIMES REVISED for 0230 Zulu Arrival in La Paz

OK, PIC pilots it's time to stop talking and start showing your stuff. Let's see what you have and how those techniques everyone professes to know so much about work at a airport 13,300 feet above sea level. Randy et all, this is a personal challenge. Be There!Just kidding a little with you all, but seriously these events are a lot of fun. If you still are not sure you have spent enough time on VATSIM to handle this, post your concerns here. Ian Elchitz will be glad to help you out. Huh Ian?

Mike,This sounds like a real challenge. 13,300 feet! Wow - I don't know how you keep topping the previous PIC on VATSIM, but you always come up with a way.People - you should all try and get out for this one. Every other get together has been amazing, Crossing the Ditch, departing Cranbrook, The PAR into Cold Lake, the River Visual in DC, Madeira, into San Fran, our little impromptu Orlando - Montego Bay - Panama City jaunt, and who could forget 37,000 feet over Southern Asia at 1200Z listening to Daryl Shuttleworth after 36 straight hours of flying?This is what it's all about - the human interaction.For those of you who are unfamiliar or "gun shy" of VATSIM, I would love to help you out. This organization is full of people who love aviation just like you, and just want to have some fun. These are people from all over the world, from varying backgrounds, varying skillsets and demographics, all coming together with a single bond - an interest in the world of Aviation.If you want to join up on Thursday but need a few pointers or help, please feel free to contact me at the email address below.For those of you concerned about the early start time in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific Time Zones - you could either depart Montego Bay at 4X, depart Wednesday evening and save the flight, or just find a closer spot to La Paz.Looking forward to seeing you all there,Ian Elchitz [email protected]

Hey Mike,It sounds like a great flight! I hope to join you guys! Sorry about not being up on VATSIM lately, I've been bitten by the paint bug, and have been busy doing this:http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/DCForumID47/17003.htmland this:http://library.avsim.com/esearch.php?DLID=...abek&CatID=RootIf you don't see me up with you guys Thursday, I'll be in the "paint booth" :)Regards,Steve Dra

Sounds like fun Mike. I'm hoping to do the SKBO SLLP (Bogota, Colombia to La Paz, Bolivia) route.

Guys,Thursday's out for me, even with the earlier arrival into La Paz.Going to the football (soccer) Thursday night, and plan on having a few :-beerchug before hand.You Know 8 hrs bottle to throttle ;-)Mark

The La Paz and Santa Cruz scenery from the download link are very painless as far as framerates go. The Santa Cruz scenery is particularly good and I highly recommend it. As to the mesh scenery, I am not seeing much of an improvement over the default which makes me wonder if I missed a step in the installation. My Spanish is not that good so that is good posibility.A few of us did the Lima to La Paz flight tonight because that is not the leg I will be flying Thursday. The fuel burn from the supplied flight plan was spot on, projected to land with 9,900 pounds and I shut down the engines in La Paz with 9,800. Very interesting trip and the ATC was excellent. I am really looking forward to Thursday with a full house of ATC and hopefully some company from the PIC crew.