So for those same stretches in the car they switched to a Ferrari ?????  (and the dogs became Greyhounds?)

Heya FP, 

 

Nope, they just gritted it out. Their longest leg was 580 miles in one day, from Colorado Springs across Kansas and into Independence, MO. It was about 14 hours in the car, and if any segment begs for an F-18 this is it. However, I found that fuel-management becomes critical in the F-18 - just can't pound out the miles on afterburner and expect to have any reserve at the destination. 20,000 ft at Mach 0.96 seems to work best.

 

Anyway, this long day was followed by another, 501 miles to Louisville, KY. 

 

It is because they were stuck in real time that I honor their achievement, if only slight less committed,  :lol: and fly real-time instead of ALT-M-8. 

 

Many days (they cruised historic Route 66) they only traveled 60 miles. For this the WACO is perfect - can't get too lost in just 60 miles! So far, I have used my Legacy, WACO, RealAir Duke, A2A P-51 Civilian (must have auto-pilot!), Staggerwing, and because the Joplin and Jones (Tulsa) regional airports have such wide long runways I flew the FS-Cast B-17 Flying Fortress! Happy to say my first flight was a success, although I did use a wee bit of the grass on the landing. B-17s are rated for grass, yes?   ^_^

 

Okay, enough thread-jacking! As you say, Resume Own Navigation!

The tiniest aircraft is not at all twitchy in still air and small aircraft generally are not twitchy just because they are small. In fact no aircraft ever designed is twitchy unless turbulence acts upon it. Even a cross wind does not make an aircraft twitchy unless there is turbulence as well. I've been in the flimsiest glider and it was rock solid in smooth air. I've been in an Extra 200 and there was not a hint of twitchiness. On the other hand I've been in several 737s that were bucked and tossed by turbulence to the point of extreme anxiety on my part.

 

If the air is reasonably stable ALL aircraft act similarly. They can't twitch around unless you abuse the controls. They are smooth to fly and generally speaking very stable once trimmed. High performance GA aircraft do have sensitive controls though and this can give the illusion of twitchiness, but flying them with a light touch makes them smooth again.

 

Unfortunately FSX isn't very good at turbulence but it's better than nothing. It can however act a little differently on different aircraft in FSX.

The fastest non-jet GA aircraft is the TBM 850 (as some have pointed out already). Next fastest is probably the Pilatus PC12. Both are turboprops. The TBM can also fly the highest and the furthest, so is a good choice for flying around the World. According to posters, it flies pretty much like the real one, but real pilots have pointed out a bunch of inaccuracies in the instrumentation (see the Carenado forum here on AVSIM for details).

It is because they were stuck in real time that I honor their achievement, if only slight less committed,  and fly real-time instead of ALT-M-8. 

 

Many days (they cruised historic Route 66)

 

Their trip is near and dear to my heart.  Check out the link below and you will see why. It is a blog of a similar road trip my wife and I made from California to Maryland about 3 years ago as we retired.  Much of it on historic Route 66.  Best way to read it is to go to the bottom link on the right side of the blog and read the blog posts from bottom to top, as that follows the chronological sequence.  You might read there that you missed some "aviators" in eastern Kansas, likely because you were too high and fast.

 

I should consider following the same route in FSX, likely in my MilViz B55 Baron.  That's the type (military T42) in which I gained my initial instrument rating in 1971 at Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri, which is a stop profiled in the blog.

 

http://routesrevisited.blogspot.com/

Their trip is near and dear to my heart.  Check out the link below and you will see why. It is a blog of a similar road trip my wife and I made from California to Maryland about 3 years ago as we retired.  Much of it on historic Route 66.  Best way to read it is to go to the bottom link on the right side of the blog and read the blog posts from bottom to top, as that follows the chronological sequence.  You might read there that you missed some "aviators" in eastern Kansas, likely because you were too high and fast.

 

I should consider following the same route in FSX, likely in my MilViz B55 Baron.  That's the type (military T42) in which I gained my initial instrument rating in 1971 at Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri, which is a stop profiled in the blog.

 

http://routesrevisited.blogspot.com/

Heya FP, 

 

I highly recommend retracing your route. I use Plan-G for flight planning and it is really quite a bit of fun finding the regional/municipal airports (the "airports less traveled") that coincide with ground travels. I will have to check out your blog: the reverse direction would be interesting, and see what your take on the kitschy stops on Route 66 is. It is a fading piece of Americana, that's for sure.

 

And I change aircraft on each leg because I can - the husband and wife team are actually enjoying my retrace, so I try to mix it up. The MilVis Baron would be a good choice. I too have it, and plan on using it in the western portions. I have found that it has a "made from billet" feel to it. Weird that a simulation could do that, but that is definitely my impression when flying her.

 

JKH

TBM 850, Citation x, Turbine Duke, Lancair Legacy and L39 Albatross; all fine planes but the guy was asking for FAST GA.

 

No no no my man forget that lot what you needed is a Harrier (try Razbam’s).Admittedly thin on the ground in the Second-Hand pages but we (insert UK) have got rid of loads and if US Marine Corp haven’t snapped them up they’re bound to seep onto the market. Already some enterprising Yank has snapped up one of our Sea Harriers. None of this 200 kts-400kts in a dive rubbish we’re talking TRANS-SONIC !!  Plus you can claim it as  a legitimate business expense. There you are spearheading you companies drive for a big customer contract. Your competitors all arrive for the big final meeting in their blah blah citation blah blah Gulfstreams  needing to be picked up from the local airport (woossies)....But you hah hah.........Nothing and I mean Nothing says YOU HAVE ARRIVED like a harrier vertical let down, Pegasus screaming,  into the customers car-park. The competition evaporates (possibly as a result of the jet efflux) .... the contract’s yours.

 

But wait I see you’re a man of discernment.

 

 So you could save on hangarage and having to find those pesky long runways with your Harrier; but you asked for fast not practical. Please step this way I have just the thing. I give you ....the F104 Starfighter (try the Skunk Works). More on the GA scene than Harriers but still pretty exclusive. 200-400kts  noop  Trans-Sonic  noop  we’re talking Super Dooper  Dooper Sonic. So you can tear around at Mach Ridiculous anywhere from ground level upto the Stars. Also the designer, Kelly Johnson, was a genius. Having an eye to the market and the insatiable desire for GA pilots to upgrade he made a twin.....  called the SR 71. Unfortunately demand has been low but keep checking the classifieds (literally).

 

So there you have it. Fast GA there is only one......F104

I counter with a Milviz T-38 Talon.

 

BTW for fast piston the Milviz RedBull Redux has speed and legs plus RXP and autopilot, the sound on take off is OMG and it is a P-38!