I need some reason to fly, which means I struggle with something like the wonderful RealAir Duke, which is almost totally owned by private flyers, retired professionals, etc. I find it very hard to keep up any enthusiasm for that kind of A to B pleasure/leisure flying and lose interest straight away. Ohh how I wish RealAir had modelled the 208 Caravan instead! I guess I’m not just flying, but playing a ‘role’, imagining I am someone flying for a reason. I really struggle otherwise.

 

I get my greatest thrill from flying ‘hardworking’ aircraft, so my time is spent flying the BN-2 Islander, the DH-6 Twin Otter, the Seneca II (as a Caribbean air-taxi), the Antonov-32, the Beech Baron, the C-130 Hercules, the 208 Caravan and other small cargo or  feeder planes.  The list of missions I fly in these is extremely long, and news items always suggest new ones on a daily basis.

This is my current list of ‘reasons to fly’ a twin prop, if anyone can suggest any flight ideas I can add to it, I’d be very grateful!!

 

Sport – Charters for teams, sponsors, managers, golf tours

 

Music – For one off concerts, or tours.

 

Political – Election campaigns, press events, fact-finding

 

Film/TV – Journalists, actors, agents, directors, sponsors, aerial photography, reporters and film crews

 

Industry – Urgent documents, critical parts deliveries, fast staff transport, prototype delivery, samples, survey work, transport of CEOs or board members.

 

Corporate – Roadshows, promotion events, client entertainment, corporate shuttle, sales teams, buying officers, conferences, exhibitions, trade delegations

 

Private – Birthdays, weddings, family events, scenic tours, night and city breaks.

 

Other – Maritime or bird surveys, air ambulance, organ transport  and forestry surveys, air taxi feeding tourists to and from their resorts, ferrying or resupplying wilderness hunters or anglers, taking hikers out to the mountains, spotting for forest fires, disaster relief - ferrying supplies to disaster zone. 

 

Anything I've missed? 

The earth is roughly 29,000 miles in diameter...that's plenty of ground to cover with so many places to see.  My motivation is to always get better at flying, but at the same time, fly to places you've never seen, perhaps a jaunt across the Gobi desert or even a haul from Gander Bay to Yellowknife.  The possibilities are endless and if you have good scenery installed, you'll get breath-taking views.  This is probably the cheapest and easiest way to travel the world without leaving your chair.

 

-Jim

Check how Hoover used his Twin Commander :-)

Some of recent flights have included: taking a film crew out to Vancouver Island after the whale watching accident, taking Egyptian government people out to Sinai and flying supplies out of Kathmandu to Ghorka after the earthquake. Some might find this a bit morbid, but I'm just taking ideas right out of current affairs. 

Fly to places you've never seen, perhaps a jaunt across the Gobi desert or even a haul from Gander Bay to Yellowknife.  The possibilities are endless and if you have good scenery installed, you'll get breath-taking views.  This is probably the cheapest and easiest way to travel the world without leaving your chair. -Jim

 

I agree, sometimes watching a wildlife documentary or something filmed on location will inspire me to fly over there and take a look myself ....

Perhaps you could try joining a Virtual Airline and then instead of choosing your (albeit imaginative and cool!) missions yourself, you can get 'given' them.  Perhaps will provide more operational realism.

 

Of you could try one of the programs that gives you a mission;  Air Hauler, etc.

 

Perhaps we could have a sub-forum here at AVSIM where we can create imaginative scenarios and missions (I mean just written mission, not FSX style missions), that people could then choose to do if they liked, and provide some screenies etc, if they did it.   Just an idea :smile:

I do a variation of what Jim says, I pick a region somewhere in the world and spend a couple of months just checking out the different airports.

 

Norway, Argentina, Morocco all have interesting scenery, variety of airports and a lack of expectations :-)

Or take a break. Two days, a week, a month. Like you, i must "have a role". 

 

There is a point where I am more time searching for new addons, scenery, liveries, strugling my head at night thinking, will i purchase this if i will use it one time of my life? than enjoying. So here is when I stop.

Its a flightsim burnout.. you just flew to much.

Take a month or more leave and let it build up back.

 

In your list you forgot airshow.. also a nice one, with a few scenerys around.

There is another variation of my idea by going to FlightAware.  Pick out a real world flight from there, set it up like it was done, so you get accuracy and fun all in one!

 

-Jim

I haven't seen it suggested, so how about trying another sim?

 

Prepar3d, X-Plane, DCS Lock-On, Rise of Flight, IL2, etc. are all available to try!

Have a look at FS Economy ... it has given me a reason for flying FSX and P3D for years now.  You could end up 'buying' your Duke or C208 with the virtual dollars you've earned while flying people and cargo around your favourite stomping ground.  The FSE forum is also full of like-minded, very friendly people too.

 

Regards,

Paul.

Here's what I do...of course this might be a no brainer, but I'll suggest it anyway.

 

I try to never re-position my aircraft. For example I normally fly only 2 or 3 GA planes depending on mission..

 

Say I just flew my King Air to El Salavador (why because I was really going there and I wanted to test fly it), and now I want to fly it to Bermuda...but I've flow other airplanes since then. So I'll start at my base airport (KLHZ) find closest international airport (KRDU) ...fly a commercial flight there and then start my new trip to Bermuda...of course real time, weather and fuel flow.

 

I will also do this the other way. Say I've reached EL Salavador and now I want to fly my RealAir Legency, but it's at my base airport. Again, find closet commercial airport fly commercial back to base airport before flying my RealAir.

 

Also, I never save it mid flight. If I'm tired I find the closest airport and land.

 

-Ray

A world tour is always a good one too - planning the legs for the aircraft(s) you're going to use, checking weather, and flying legs.  I've done it once and it was an amazing feeling when I landed back at the airport I started from (Orillia, Ontario) - from the opposite direction!

If you need to haul stuff with a purpose, check FSEconomy. They've got different cargo types, from dudes on a fishing trip to ferrying fuel to small airstrips.

Take a break for a month like someone else said

 

Pick some sort of excercise you hate - mine is running - and do that for a month lol - this is basically what I do when I get bored.