So much for a "Mini" PIC/VATSIM event, huh Mike? :-lolHehe...What a riot! 21 arrivals and 7 departures at LaPaz...We were parkin' in the grass. :)Thanks for putting it together Mike...I can't speak for everyone, but I sure had a blast seeing all those targets converge into SLLP!Here are some shots:Man look at that loooong train!...I was coming in from the West. :)http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e559d20593e87b3.jpgHere's the LAB 767...I got special permission from the painter to fly her on this hop! :-lolhttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e559d3c599fd5dc.jpgAnother shot of the train with me & JJ sneaking in from the west.http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e559d4b59d24520.jpgTouchdown...On the reversers and brakes hard...I was a little hot! :)Mike B. (AAL327) is there watching me from "his" LAB 767. ;)http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e559d605a039837.jpgIn the grass...It's amazing how hard Bolivian grass is...held up all the 767's. :)http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e559d765a402da1.jpgHad a great time, thanks again Mike!Regards,Steve Dra

Nice job on the painting Steve, a talent I did not know you had sir. We about over did it this evening for sure. I am on my way into Santa Curz now behind Stiff and a few others ahead and behind. Very beautiful country down here.

Steve you could not have said it any better than your title!Mike sent me an email a few days back, stating his concern about the possibility of a small showing. Boy was he wrong!I started late out of Bogota, with Brian Hoyle (COA1950) touching down and Taufiq S (MAS201) showing up same time as me. I took off for a beautiful "downwind" departure, noticed (quite amusingly I might add) that the land class seemed to be quite "agricultural" and soon after lit the afterburners to catch up with the group - Gary Norris (AAL314) was my target at the back of the conga line.After a great amount of banter on our roger wilco frequency, we finally got down to business and headed off to Robert on center. Obviously a pro, he handled all of us easily and was even quite apologetic about having us hold (more on that below). The approach controller had his hands full, and after my approach with some weird 30 knot 1/4 tailwinds going on - resulting in a missed approach, I had to disconnect to deal with a female passenger who burst into the cockpit yelling at me (I'm sure you can all relate).What a great time, sorry I could not join to Santa Cruz - looking forward to Paris on Sunday. Hope you enjoy my little photo essay.Ian Elchitz--------------------The Brave Controllers who showed uphttp://www.eleventhstreet.com/images/POV4-1.jpgThe Crazy PIC'ers who swarmed to Boliviahttp://www.eleventhstreet.com/images/POV4-2.jpgSteve and JJ headed in from the West, Brian from the north (sneaky devil got in before us somehow), and the rest of the Conga Line.http://www.eleventhstreet.com/images/POV4-3.jpgTight SpacingI took this shot a few minutes after center asked me "Air Canada 301 are you touching wings with Malaysian 201?"Umm no Center our TCAS shows him 2000' belowhttp://www.eleventhstreet.com/images/POV4-4.jpgWell my smart mouth ended up getting me a 360 while malaysia went underneath me - see what happends when you try to be a wise guy on the freq?http://www.eleventhstreet.com/images/POV4-5.jpg Now we come to the part of the event titled Ian holds, and holds, and holds, and holdsnote the time 2244Z (actually must have been 0244Z)http://www.eleventhstreet.com/images/POV4-6.jpgAt least I am not the only one holdinghttp://www.eleventhstreet.com/images/POV4-7.jpgAt least I am not the only one STILL holdinghttp://www.eleventhstreet.com/images/POV4-8.jpgNow 2259Z and we are still holding with 1950 in sight and what was a beautiful sunset before my graphical abilities butchered it.http://www.eleventhstreet.com/images/POV4-9.jpg2306z still holdinghttp://www.eleventhstreet.com/images/POV4-11.jpg2317z and still holding, you can tell i started to get bored, in the previous photo the FMC is doing the hold for me, by this point I have painted the radials with the FIX function, making the turns using HDG SEL and I even have the Chronometer running to keep track of my legs .. lol..http://www.eleventhstreet.com/images/POV4-12.jpgEventually I got out of the hold - poor Roberto was very apologetic - NO NEED ROBERTO, I had fun actually chatting with everyone and playing with my FMC (never gets boring).I'd like to thank Mike for setting this up along with anyone else who helped him - the charts, scenery, and flightplans were top notch as always. The ATC was great, some of us in the group know how hard it is to handle a large group of traffic, and we all really appreciate the job they did (I couldn't do it in a language other then English that is for sure.) I will be back for sure.Finally thanks to all the people who showed up, it's such a great group to fly with and kill some time. Looking forward to seeing you all for the flight on Sunday morning - that is GUARANTEED to be another classic.Ian Elchitz CYWG Air Canada 301

What a fabbo neat event!Thanks Mike B... sorry I had to blast off after touching down, but I had a meeting to attend... good thing too I don't think there was much room for HZR3339.. Hoze Air, eh, Ian?DSCVA3339

Shut down in Santa Cruz now. Thank you all so much for showing up and putting on a display of your great piloting skills for the Bolivian crew. One of the controllers (Geraldo Pereyra) summed it up best just now while thanking us all. He said, "Thank you all for flying Bolivia, 41 flights tonight and no one got killed." Afterward, Roberto Stopnicki, FIR Chief and our center controller for the night added that this was an all time record for movements within the Bolivian FIR.A special thanks to Roberto Stopnicki for making this possible. And also to Arturo Cuellar, Gerardo Pereyra, Carlos Villegas, and Mauro E. Feliz Zapata for running the scopes and bringing us all in. And lets not forget the open book of facts that Daryl turned into as we all paraded down across the equator.Happy flying to all and to all a good night!

@Steve Dra :Could you please tell me where I can download this wonderfull tarmac presented on the runway you

Sure Matthias, I'll do ya one better, give you a direct link (here at AVSIM of course) to the file:http://library.avsim.com/esearch.php?CatID...scen&DLID=26566This is version 3 which I haven't tried yet (you're looking at ver. 2 in my pics), But it should be as good if not better.Thanks to Chris Arrington for this wonderful enhancement!Regards,Steve Dra

LoL Thanks Mike. Yeah, until a few days ago, I did not know I had a talent for painting either! :-lol Thanks to Mike Baumann (of Flight FX Design Group fame) for getting me started on this dark journey into the bowels of the painting underworld! :-lol He gave me some invaluable tips and provided me with his master fuse textures for the MD-80 to paint on.Expect more 767's from me in the future! And if your in for a change of pace, I'm releasing my Alaska MD-80 today, check her out here: http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/DCForumID47/17169.htmlYou're right, it is a beautiful (and challenging) region to fly in....I hope for more junkets to our Southern neighbors in the future.The next time we make a South American run, my LAB (and maybe a few other South American liveries ;)) will be available to fly!Regards,Steve Dra

That was a great event! Fantastic turnout! I really enjoyed seeing a part of the virtual world that I have not flown in before. Thanks to the ATC on duty in La Paz and thanks to Mike Bevington for putting together another great PIC on VATSIM event. I'll be looking forward to Sunday.

To all the folks that visited us, thanks you for dropping by and for your patience. The 5-6 a/c that Mike said would likely come, multiplied exponentially.We had a great time and we hope that you all made it back home safely. Come again!!On behalf of all the controllers in FIR-BOLIVIA and pilots of LABVirtualAll the best!Roberto

Hehe, Thanks Roberto!I had a blast last night! :) Sorry I had to text message you and ask how to pronounce LAB's callsign! (it's the 1st time I ever flew under your flag) :-lolI didn't even know there was a LAB virtual...but as you can tell, I've become pretty fond of your airline's colors. :)As soon as I get her finished, you (and your VA) are more than welcome to fly her proudly wherever LABVirtual takes her!http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e562a983cf92aa4.jpgRegards,Steve Dra

Mike and all pilots who participated in the Bolivian Fly:Thanks to all of you for coming to Bolivia, we hope this will not be the firts and las time you make this trip. We didn

I feel compelled to add my 2 cents in complimenting Mike for putting this together and to Roberto for having the wonderful ATC available for us.I really wanted to fly the second leg into Santa Cruz but alas too many users and not enough bandwidth finally forced me off. I did fly to Santa Cruz but offline.Not sure if I can make Sunday's run but I will try. Thanks again guys.

Figured I'd add my 2 bits as well.I've been a PICer since the beginning like many of you. And while I'm usually doing my own thing on Vatsim, it was pleasure to join the pack. If anything, it gave me a chance to put the Route Offset feature to use when at times I was 3 miles in trail to Mike!Unfortunately i won't be able to join this Sunday, but do look forward to many more.Thanks again for the experience!Rob