This post is a bit similar to one I posted on Steam but I thought it would be nice to talk about it here. Quite a few people (including me) say the Cub is too slow. To slow for what? Too slow for flying from the west of Alaska to the east, yes. Maybe also too slow for a lot of 200 nm jobs. But it certainly isn't too slow to simply fly in and to enjoy the scenery.

 

The thing is: it seems to me that 99% of the virtual pilots want to fly from A to B. Why is that? I live near a small GA airport and 90% of the airplanes that take off there also land there again! I've have seen (only a few) tv shows about those Alaskian pilots and they ALL took off from their homebase, dropped some stuff somewhere (quite often not on airports) and went back to their homebase again.

 

You don't HAVE to fly hours and you don't HAVE to fly from A to B. You can also fly from A to A! Why is everyone so obsessed with wanting to fly from A to B while flying from A to A is maybe even more realistic for the kind of planes we have in Flight?

 

I think the Cub will be perfect to fly AROUND an airport to check out the scenery. Or to drop something (virtually) somewhere in the bush where there are no airports at all. In FSX I did this quite often whenever I had a new airport addon: I would fly around it, enjoy the scenery and I would land there again when time was up. The Cub is perfect for that.

 

Some people seem to never have heard of this possibility... I wonder if some of you also do flights 'from A to A'. I wonder where that 'A to B syndrome' comes from because, again, apart from big airliners, the planes I see in Flight quite often do A to A flights. Or maybe the small GA airports I have visited up to now were totally different from all others in the world...?

Speed shouldn't matter if the aircraft is engaging enough and the pending VC should help in that matter with the cub.. The other week in Prepar3D I did a 300+ mile tour of various airports in the Aerosoft Katana.. Cruising speed is generally around 100kts and from 65-80 in a climb.. Slow, but the aircraft is completely engaging and a blast to fly.

I fly mostly A-B-C-A scenarios.

 

I take a Job from my "home" field at Kenai (or one of the little strips right around it) to a destination 100-150nm or so away, then take a Job from there to somewhere else that's within about that same distance from Kenai (or return home, if there's a back-haul Job available), then try to find a Job from that third field that gets me back home, or close to it. Every so often, I'll take a very roundabout route, hitting five or six airports, never getting more than 200nm or so away from Kenai, but eventually I'll make it back there.

 

When I get the Cub, I'll do the same thing, except that the distance I fly on each leg will be shorter. I'll probably take the Cub for anything less than 100nm.

From my experience as a real world recreational pilot I can tell you that landing at B for a coffee and then go back to A is much more fun than taking of from A and landing at A. It may be the feeling that you've actually travelled a distance, or the feeling that you're going somewhere

From my experience as a real world recreational pilot I can tell you that landing at B for a coffee and then go back to A

 

The $250 hamburger syndrome. :D Why else do we have airplanes?

 

Hook

Well, as I just said in another post. The Cub is a blast to fly from A to A or A to B and back to A if not to much time involved as it is slow, slow, slow. So far in Alaska it is what I use most often. And as I said before I do have to use the skip fuction a lot doing jobs. But, you can plant the thing anywhere. I will be well used to it when we get the new version in a couple days. Really, I can fly it mostly by feel now with out much reference to the stupid HUD. But a working panel will be a nice addition.

Your aircraft is only too slow in real life when your flying a 100$ hamburger and your hungry.

I take a Job from my "home" field at Kenai (or one of the little strips right around it) to a destination 100-150nm or so away, then take a Job from there to somewhere else that's within about that same distance from Kenai (or return home, if there's a back-haul Job available), then try to find a Job from that third field that gets me back home, or close to it. Every so often, I'll take a very roundabout route, hitting five or six airports, never getting more than 200nm or so away from Kenai, but eventually I'll make it back there

 

 

You know, I have been flying via Free Flight, looking around, finding a job that looks fun, and executing it.

I think it's time to make myself a "home" and venture to always return to it. Better immersion.

 

In other news, I picked up Wings of Prey from the Steam sale....it was only 5$ so what the heck. A whole lot of silliness, but rather fun silliness.

Good for perspective though....such a contrast with Flight in regards to the flight model...compared with Flight, I get no sensation of air pressures and vacuums on control surfaces, and feels almost entirely like I am flying on rails....but for 5$ a hell of a blast, and an insane bargain.

I'll keep coming back to Flight though, that's for sure!

You know, I have been flying via Free Flight, looking around, finding a job that looks fun, and executing it.

I think it's time to make myself a "home" and venture to always return to it. Better immersion.

 

It's even more immersing if you only take fuel from the airport fueling windows... never from the Hangar screen. That makes you plan ahead.

 

I'm glad I did though, though. I'm getting pretty familiar with the Kenai Peninsula now, as well as the surrounding area from Kodiak up to Lake Clark and around the northern side of Cook Inlet to Anchorage, then on down to Seward. It's getting to where I can know where I'm at by looking at the lakes and rivers, hills and mountains, without having to keep comparing it to my paper maps.

My RW flying for the most part was in a PA12, which was a little slower than the Carbon Cub. Performance wise it could not come close to that of the CC. Almost all my flights were point A to point A because it was my father's aircraft hence a lot of restrictions. The aircraft was our only transportation during the winter months but did not get used much ... Its cold flying in a cub or PA12.. They didn't have much for a stove. The plane sure made hunting easier. In the summer, however I flew a lot in the evening when the air was calm and the scenery was beautiful. Most of the flights were around an hour in length. There were two airstrips within a half hour flight.... no facilities and they were like a rollercoaster..

It's even more immersing if you only take fuel from the airport fueling windows... never from the Hangar screen. That makes you plan ahead.

 

I'm going to do that, only take fuel at fuel-adding-airports.

I'm also going to adopt a new rule...I can only change airplanes at my home base. Changing planes when I'm away makes that hangar fuel option too tempting.

I'm also going to adopt a new rule...I can only change airplanes at my home base. Changing planes when I'm away makes that hangar fuel option too tempting.

 

Oh, yes! I do that also. I pull up to "my" hangar there and switch planes as needed. I usually fly the Maule, but switch to the RV-6 for some Burger Runs from time to time when I need a break from the Maule.

 

I've also been doing my flying in the Spring because I like the mix of snow at higher elevations and green down low, but have now transitioned to Fall for variety. I'll give Fall a couple of weeks then change to Winter.

 

I vary the weather around, but pick Low & Threatening or Heavy Weather the most.

I've been only refueling at airports with fuel available. But yesterday I made a mistake and landed at Thompson Pass with only a bit over a gallon of usable fuel left, not enough to fly the 20 miles to Valdez to refuel. I figured I could send someone with a 5 gallon can to Valdez.

 

While I had a home airport in FSX (it's only a few miles from my house, has an NDB on the field, a VOR about 5 miles away, and the cheapest fuel in the area [i was keeping track of fuel costs]), I don't have a place in either Alaska or Hawaii that I feel strongly attached to like I do Jones Field. Otherwise I'd probably be flying out of one field all the time myself.

 

Look Mom, nested parentheses! :D

 

Hook

I don't have any personal attachment to any place in Alaska (I did with Kaneohe in Hawaii), but Alaska is just too big for me to take on all at once. I like learning an area, the way I would if I really lived there, becoming familiar with it.

 

So, I'm breaking Alaska up into chunks, starting with Kenai and the surrounding area. Next will be Unalakleet, for my FWA-fix. After that? Maybe I'll head up the Yukon to see the interior.

 

The way I do things, Alaska alone is big enough to keep me occupied for months.

 

The imagination drools at what a reality where Orbx was allowed to come in and do Alaska scenerys would look like.

 

I think like my surprise introduction to Australia, people would find themselves taking up semi-permanent sim residence in Alaska, overwhelmed by eye-candy.