Seems like it's what all the fuss is about. (Read: Marketing impetus.)I've been complaining that FFA has barely even been considered in the program until now (or for add-on scenery for that matter). Maybe it's a boring area, I don't know! :)And if that's not it, then, perhaps, upon running 2k4 for the first time, the program will simply ask you to choose a default airport.Meigs should remain, but be bulldozed.Heck, you can still land a copter there if you like.2

Good idea about Meigs. It would be a fitting tribute to our mayor's handiwork. Leave the airport in the sim, but with ugly "Xs" bulldozed across the runway.

FFA might not be a good choice. It has only a 3000 ft runway whereas Meigs had 3900. It also lacks a tower or automated weather.I would vote for something like Allegheny County (AGC). It is a medium towered airport underlying the Pittsburgh Class B with a 6500 ft runway and two ILS approaches. There is interesting terrain nearby, with low hills, the Allegheny mountains to the east, plains and Lake Erie to the north.To stay in the Chicago area, Palwaukee (PWK), Waukegan (UGN), or Gary (GYY) would be good choices.

After reading yesterday's AOPA internet newsletter ------ there is chance that Meig's could be re-opened before FS2004. It seems that a lot of pressure is going against the Mayor.L.Adamson

LOL... of course, but I'm picturing that the default aircraft is the Wright Flyer, and you're not on the runway, but on the hill near the monument :)Are you from PA? I'm from Allentown originally, so I'm all for that. Lehigh Valley/surroundings are nice, terrain-wise, I suppose. Lehigh Valley International is OK but as it stands the current scenery is boring. There's also Philadelphia Intl, oh, heck, there's a million airports that would work. I doubt that mountains are a requirement for the default startup scenery though.San Francisco also seems to be a logical alternative, though it's a lot more mainstream (or, used to be, simulator-wise) than Meigs...>FFA might not be a good choice. It has only a 3000 ft runway>whereas Meigs had 3900. It also lacks a tower or automated>weather.>>I would vote for something like Allegheny County (AGC). It is>a medium towered airport underlying the Pittsburgh Class B>with a 6500 ft runway and two ILS approaches. There is>interesting terrain nearby, with low hills, the Allegheny>mountains to the east, plains and Lake Erie to the north.>>To stay in the Chicago area, Palwaukee (PWK), Waukegan (UGN),>or Gary (GYY) would be good choices.

I wonder what our non-USA virtual pilots set as their default airports. Well, let us know, as soon as you install ACOF, regardless of what MS selects as default, what are your plans?Dave Vega

No, not from Pennsylvania. I've just been flying virtually out of AGC the last couple of days by chance. I bought the Detroit and Cincinnati sectionals recently to explore a less familiar part of the country. There have been some interesting frontal movements over the area in the past few days, so I have been using AGC as my temporary base of operations to test out ActiveSky Wxre and the new freeware FlightMax.LSE, LaCrosse WI is another beautiful airport with a tower, long runway and great scenery nearby.

What are the odds the new default (if there is to be one) won't be somewhere in WA, where MS is headquartered?N

I've always set my default airport as my home airport. It would make sense for MS to use Boeing or SEATAC as the default. There is a lot of good scenery in the PNW. The San Juan Islands, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens and downtown Seattle with Lake Washington.

If first flight isn't the new default, I'm sure O'Hare will be or Boeing Field, but my bets are on O'Hare. Also 3000 feet is good enough for flight sim, you can get anything off the ground in that length, piper cub to 757.

wow you can take off the 757 on 3000 feet runway?