Searching for the perfect flight

[Guest Rockcliffe]

Carrying on from another thread....After some flights jumping from plane to plane and airport to airport, my eyes are burning, my arm aches and as I shut down the sim I think: "I just wasted an hour of my life."Other flights go perfectly, beautiful weather and scenery and end with a gentle, straight-as-an-arrow approach and touchdown. These are the flights that keep me firing up the computer day after day; The ones that I replay in my mind for days afterward.So the question is, what makes a perfect flight for you?I recall two in particular. The first was on my first or second day with FS2002 (my first flightsim, btw) when I approached Gibraltar in a Cessna 182. In the real world it was after midnight and in the dead of winter, but on the sim the sun was just rising over the Mediterranean Sea as I taxied up to the terminal. I was blown away.The second was a hop from Newark to Wilkes-Barre in a Convair 580. The weather was dreadful and I was completely disoriented, but following the default ATC instructions brought me right to the threshold. What a relief to see those runway lights come into sight.There have been many others of course, in everything from an amphibious Otter to PIC 767. Invariably the best flights (for me at least) include real world procedures and smooth and accurate flying.(Even though sometimes it is fun to try to fly a 747 under the Golden Gate Bridge or land a Harrier inside Tiger Stadium.)So how about you? What makes your perfect flight?BlairCYOW

[Guest Rockcliffe]

I'm going to indulge myself with one BUMP

[John_Cillis 2,406]

For me, it's flying in my Microlight from Reno, down Owens Valley, then over Death Valley into Vegas.... If I time the flight to start in the late afternoon, I get imagery that I still can't believe is possible with a $50 sim--mountain shadows stretching into Owens Valley, the earth in reds, greens, tans and almost every other color one can imagine, and the colors of the sky at dusk. All at motion picture quality smoothness on a lowly P3/800....I used to live along the route, not too far from Minden airport. To me it sums up what FS2002 is all about, and it's a perfect flight I repeat quite often....-John

[Guest ba747heavy]

My perfect flight is any 767 PIC flight where I grease the ILS landing, and taxi to a gate(very important, has to be a gate ;-))

[Guest A321]

A perfect flight for me is when I fly over great scenery like the alps, grand canyon or mountins, cities, a nice smooth approach, and when the plane touches the tarmac like a feather, and I taxi to the gate, then I can wath the whole approach, landing in replay mode.

[Rottenlungs 0]

The best flights I`ve done have been with me & a mate (over the web - On ya, Mannie if you ever read these forums).We plan an IFR flight in the Dfleet 737, fly SID - Enroute VOr - VOR and then STAR to an ILS arrival, generally we stay within a few 100 feet of each other the whole way. By following procedures closely we can fly some pretty close formation stuff. Nothing is more fun than a nice complex SID where we`re head down in the panel for 15 minutes, look up near TOC and see your mate right there, just where he should be. RVSM is one thing, we`ve taken it to a new level.I also like vfr hops in the SF260 around New Zealand, where I live and am learning to fly in the real world.CheersRottenlungs

[turner112 52]

We make it unreachable by defining it as "perfect"...I'm happy to keep it that way and keep trying.**What I will say, though, is this: if there is something approaching perfection that is common enough to enable all of us to experience it, it's the idea of being "in the groove" - to the point at which you've temporarily suspended the concious experience of sitting at your desk for the time being, and you are within the sim.This is to say that your concious mind isn't considering, perhaps, how much your butt hurts, but instead is convinced by what you see.Of course this isn't unique to flight simming, but I know that when I get in the groove and can see all the instruments at the same time, and am way ahead of the plane, and I feel the mass of my aircraft, things are real nice...Andrew

[Guest crashing_pilot]

for me:#1: it's slamming my dash 7 onto a 900 foot runway somewhere in Alaska,while on approach you just barely miss the ship,that pops out of the mist,and just as you think the runway isn't where you want it to be,it pops into view,right where you expected it,and all of this preferably with a heavy (cross)wind,without using gps....that makes it a "perfect flight" for me.#2:flying the igs rw13 into kai tak with a big lump of aluminium.#3:flying the vor approach into madeira.#4:flying the vor approach into basle-mulhouse.#5:flying both approaches into innsbruck.sheesh...i'm gonna quit...basically,its flying whatever airplane in flightsimulator,without crashing,or bsod,then its great for me :-)

[brucek 38]

Do you know where the IAP is for Madeira? That would be cool to fly.Bruce.

[Guest WorkingStiff]

http://portugal-vacc.org/4_m2.htm

[brucek 38]

Thanks!