Hey everyone,I already posted this but didnt seem to go through so Im going to try and repost it.Now before you read this, please note that this isnt a cheap shot at simmers who enjoy long haul flights, I have nothing against it or them.Im just wondering what you find so interresting about flying a 10-12-13 hour flight. What actually brings you to flying them. I have purchased a long haul aircraft(RFP 747) to try and get into the long hauls, but I cant seem to understand what the big fancy is about flying 10+ hour flights. In fact I have never completed one because I find it utterly boring.I really dont understand what is so interesting about it, You climb to cruise, monitor instruments, descend and land.( And the FMC does all the flying for you). The most interresting part seems like the T/O and landing hence In the 12 hours you put flying the long hauls, you could have flown many shorter legs and have a lot more action(EX: more T/O and landings, approaches etc.)Is there some sort of satisfaction that you get out of flying a long haul flight that I dont know about(probably because i never completed one).This post is in no intenetion to upset others just trying to figure ot what the big buzz is on long haul flights. Im sure people will react negatively to this post but thats not my intention and if moderators feel that this post shouldnt belong, please feel free to delete.Regards GerryP.S. in case your wondering what got me to write this, well it was the big hype of the PMDG 747, which is made for long haul flights.

Hi Gerry,Well in my experience, I spent a lot of time on long haul flights when I was a young lad cause my father had several jobs in different countries across the world. I was born in England and now live in Sydney so if you have experienced that marathon 24 hour flight, via Singapore or Bangkok, you may understand a bit more about long haul.Its also the love of the big 747 when I was young which has sparked my love of planes and avaiation in general. I'm no pilot but flight sim is the next best thing! P.S. For long haul flights I usually turn the speed up to 16x so I get there quicker.

well i think its more about copying the real thingits a simulator we are trying to 'simulate' real life.

It can be a challenge. After a long flight you REALLY want to ace the landing because you have a lot of time invested in this flight. That being said, when I do a long haul now, which is not as often as it used to be, I turn the speed up to 4x or 8x when I'm on long legs. And there are plenty of realistic short (well, shorter) hops using 747's. But you're right, it is a sim and there is no interaction with the other pilots or crew and you're not being paid big bucks and your wife is yelling at you so while turning the speed up is not realistic it does make up for a lack of pluses that rw pilots have. billg

...and your wife is yelling at youThat's one of the biggest pluses for a real world pilot :-lol

Interesting....My wife and I are flying to South Africa (Johannesberg)in October. We are flying from Allentown, Pa. to New York and then boarding a direct flight to South Africa. Although I love flying (been doing FS for over 12 years), I do not relish the 15 hour REAL flight. It's hard to imagine. I really flew to Hong Kong in 1989 (New York over the top of the world to Narita... and then on to Hong Kong) and that was brutal.Oh well...I'll try to dwell on the great time we're going to have there and not the time in the airplane.I think I'll take off in FS one evening toward Johannesberg, wake up and see where I am the next morning, and just keep checking on it until touchdown. I WILL NOT turn up the simulation speed, but I'll do the flight the real way. Now it's time to choose either the 777 or the 747.

I love it. interacting with the ATC, listening and watching the tons of AI traffic I have setup in the game thanks to the many free flight plans and repaints out there, adjusting the systems for the flight, such as cont ignition and a specific speed to go through turbulance, reconfiguring the fuel panel when the time comes to drop the center tank, balance the tanks out, etc. The RFP was my first long haul aircraft I've ever flown, and there is so much to do with that old bird it never gets old. I also have a book handy when it's time to relax.

Gerry:One suggestion to break the bordom at least some of the time:You can get into some interesting discussions with fellow simmers with private messages on VatSim on long flights. You will also find that most are happy to share tips which may enhance your simming experience as well (as well as being able to offer a tip or two yourself at times).Give it a try.Happy Flying:RTH

fly your plane with this: www.simufly.com/ins and you'll never be bored again on a longhaul.plus,i fly DC8's,which have no A/T,and need to be watched constantly.then there is the changing weather,lotsa checks to be made...my flights are actually pretty busy,now if only there was a payware DC8,with even more buttons to push and dials to watch :)i'll admit i would find a long haul boringin a plane like the PMDG 747 or the LDS 767,because you are more or less just guarding the systems,you don't have to fly it up to at least 10k by hand,etc.cheersJP.

Makes me wonder as well. Is everyone on these forums retired? I don't have the time (or inclination) to spend 10 hours sitting in front on my PC pressing buttons. In fact I'd rather go flying..RegardsAdam

GerryInteresting question. I tried it once as an experiment and set up the LDS 767 on a flight from Heathrow to Atlanta. It was one of the most boring things I've ever done. I lasted about four hours. I kept wondering off to do little jobs or make a cuppa. Eventually sanity prevailed and I switched it off.I can however understand how VATSIM flying would be more involving, as some have said, and also flying an older aircraft would give you more things to check, but I prefer flying the aircraft to monitoring systems anyway. And I just don't have the time.Last night I spent a happy half hour doing (slightly wobbly) touch and goes in the fantastic new PMDG 747. Now that's more like it!!RegardsIan

long hauls give me the time to program. usually start the flight Saturday morning, spent the time programming until family wakes, then disconnect from VATSIM do what normal people do and finish the flight in the evening. That's why did a program that pauses the sim.Jose

Hi Guys,Well, you may find that some of these long haul pilots have FULL scale cockpits in their garage, I'm building a B737 cockpit myself. The immersion factor that this type of environment brings, makes the flight anything but boring.Mike

My reason is similar. My father was in the military and we were stationed in England when I was growing up back in the early 70s as a child. In 1972, we took a Pan Am 707-320 from RAF Mildenhall to McGuire AFB in NJ. That experience alone was all it took to get me hooked. And, to this day, I have never been on an airplane that was as clean, sharp, and as beautiful as that plane. The trip took about 7 hours, so I like to keep my long hauls under 8 hours but prefer them over other types.RH

With the RFP, you have to keep the INS updated as the default INS only holds 9 waypoints. So, you can't exactly do nothing. And, that's not to mention keeping your eye on the fuel distribution.RH