How long do you spend flying?

[Guest Gordius]

How I fly.I always have plenty of time on my hands so I enjoy flying long flights (not necessarily long haul). For example the MacRobertson Air Race (non stop catching 2 or 3 hours occasionally but only when on the ground), Beaver from New Guinea to Alaska (4 days, longest without sleep in that one was 24 hours), RTW in the heavies, etc. Flights I am planning are RTW in Concorde following most of a charter flight flown in 2000 later this month (in the air for 22 hours I think but add time for refueling etc) and having a try at the recent 23 hour flight by the Boeing Pilots in the 777LR.I don't pause. I fly without time compression (please don't make this a chat about time compression).I already know that some of you fly long haul with pauses for work/sleep but does anyone else fly such long trips? Why?Andrew BrownRoaring Thirtieshttp://www.gordiusfs.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

[aerdt 0]

I usually fly short or medium-haul from anywhere one hour to three hours. Why? Because just staring at the FMC or EFIS for 8 hours is really kinda boring. I generally don't use time compression either. I would love to get the PMDG 747 or Level-D 767, but sitting in from of the screen and watching my plane pass waypoints is just not fun for 3 hours unless you watch TV or a movie next to your computer.I mostly fly in Europe and the US, because they're just the best choice to fly short/medium-haul routes (diversity, airport and terrain add-ons) and mostly the PMDG 737, PMDG B1900D, PSS Airbus Pro, PSS Dash or the ATR.Pat

[brucek 38]

I like the taxi, take-off and climb-out, and the descent phases of flight. But the enroute phase is rather benign. I do fly some long haul flights, but always put auto-pilot on and leave the computer to it's own devices and go do something else- or run FS9 in the background and use the computer for a secondary function. Particularly when the flight is in a jet aircraft (usually is for long-haul), so I'm realistically at a high altitude- too high to see much below.I know that real ATP's must get equally as bored watching waypoints pass and the occasional hand-off to/from ATC- however they are getting paid to do that, and when they do land and get off the aircraft they are in a whole different place, even country- which adds some meaning to it, I guess.To each their own- this is the beauty of FS, you can simulate being a passenger and a pilot on the same flight even. Not to mention being able to pause the simulation at TOD, as some add-ons allow. I guess the answer to realistic long haul flights in FS lies in whatever other hobbies and tasks each of us has, and how much time is available to do these things. Bruce.

[Chaos81 110]

If I have the time, I'd rather fly from airport to airport instead of one long flight. Take last night for example. Had all of the night free, and decided to hop on VATSIM. Flew from KATL to KSTL to KMCI to KDEN. Lots of fun, ATC 90% of the way, and even got up the nerve to try voice.

[Guest Gordius]

Thw word boredom is looming on the horizon perhaps. I agree, staring at an FMC is certainly boring. Where I "fly" I have TV, DVD and PC with inflight kettle.I find the way to help the time pass is to do other things while on a long flight. There is AVSIM chat for example and I keep an eye open for people I know who might be flying online at the same time.In the case of the MacRobertson Race I flew with others, nav was only map compass and a gauge showing nearest airports. I spent the whole time at AVSIM chat. TV was on with BBC News 24. Couldn't lose concentration because with no GPS or autopilot to steer by/with it was easy to get lost very quickly.The last really long haul I did I had company from a friend from chat here that joined me for part of the way. It did get boring sometimes (a lot actually) but I always found something to do.For the Concorde flight each leg is only up to around 4 hours so plenty of climbing and descending. I am spending hours planning the route, downloading charts, asking permission to fly supersonic across USA and India, etc. I will fly SIDs and STARs which with an INS at a strange airport needs thought. I guess one of the things I enjoy about Concorde is that the flights are of a length that there is something to be thinking about quite a bit and with no FMC the INS has to be continually updated with coordinates of next waypoint.As for the proposed 777 trip still a question mark on that one. Having a FMC to stare at for 23 hours is a bit zzzzzzzzz to me so maybe it won't happen but who knows :-)Andrew BrownRoaring Thirtieshttp://www.gordiusfs.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

[Ricardo41 5,949]

Boredom is certainly one issue, but do you really want to waste your time away glued to your computer screen?Judging from the set pictures posted about a flightsimmer conference, I'd say that many simmers need to seriously go out and exercise. Almost every single dude in those pictures had a huge gut. For this reason, the save functions in the LSD 767 and the PMDG 744 are a god-sent. ricardo

[Max Kraus 339]

Euro short hauls mainly, <2hrs, for all of the above reasons. I have a life away from the PC which I try to maintain. Long haul watching a purple line pass by bores me.

[Guest Gordius]

That the nice thing about the sim. It is different things to different people. What to some is a waste of time is to thers time well spent, my work colleagues consider me mad to fly at all even for one hour. Each his own.Not sure about the huge gut thing with certain simmers though, won't go thereAndrew BrownRoaring Thirtieshttp://www.gordiusfs.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

[Ckeatin 0]

>>Judging from the set pictures posted about a flightsimmer ??>>conference, I'd say that many simmers need to seriously go out and >>exercise. Almost every single dude in those pictures had a huge >>gut. :D :D :D :D :DI couldn't stop laughing when I read that! Thanks for the much needed amusement!I've stopped myself more than once from upgrading my computer with the thought "great, flight sim will run so well I'll never leave the computer!". I certainly don't want that as a result! It might well lead to the "huge gut".

[Guest abent]

Unfortunately not enough due to scenery design projects :-roll . However, I have discovered the joy of VATSIM and have done a few 'solo' flights. What a blast. My flights are usually less than an hour, but I'm getting braver by the day... :-lol Adam

[Guest japangg]

Thanks to Civilization IV, my flying time is virtually zero lately.Cheers,japangg

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I try to fly mostly short hops--anything that may fit into about an hour's time or less. If I'm in a Microlight, that may be something as simple as Prescott to Glendale. If I'm in a B200, perhaps Napa to Reno. In the jets I find myself flying from the Bay Area to Vegas, SoCal or Reno alot, or from Frankfurt to Milan.I also plan flights that take me from one type of terrain to another--it gives a feeling of "having gone somewhere". All the examples above fall into that category. However, when I am in the mood for flying the sim, the "Session" I fly in may run from 9AM to midnight. It's not uncommon for me to fly fifteen, sixteen different flights during that time. It's also one of the reasons I've held onto my old 'n slow system as long as I have. I've never had a lockup in one of my marathon sessions, and if it ain't broke...... :)-John

[aerdt 0]

It seems that most people do indeed enjoy the short/medium-haul flights. This might be out of the scope of the thread, but I have to say that I was disappointed to see developers releasing highly detailed long-haul aircrafts, instead of closing the gap for the, what it seems, more popular (and more revenue-generating) short/medium-haul add-on aircrafts.I think there is tremendous demand, especially for the Airbus series. A good Airbus, a Boeing 737-300/400/500, an MD-80, and some short-haul jets come to mind.Don't get me wrong. The PMDG 747, Level-D 767 and PSS 777 are surely marvelous, but for the exact same reason as some users have stated (flying for 8 hours along purple line), I won't spend the money on long-haul aircrafs.

[albar965 1,041]

I try to avoid too long haul and use the time compression and I'll never let the computer do a flight overnight.When I'm in the mood for heavy metal I fly the LDS 767 and try to keep the time of a flight (including time compression and preparation) around 2 hours. That's usually 1000 - 2000 nm. I mostly enjoy takeoff, climb descent and landing - all manually.For cruise I usually leave the computer and let the autopilot, fspause and the 8x time compression to the work.I try to fly realistic routes with the correct liveries and destinations, but I do not care too much about the actual route (that's up to FSBuild).I have no preference for any special region. I fly anywhere on the world. When I want to fly short hops I take the Dreamfleet Baron.Currently I'm flying a real round the world trip with this bird (I found that trip here: http://www.godlywings.ch and http://www.earthrounders.com).I always use real weather.And all that sums up to at least 2 hours flight a day if the weather is bad outside and nothing else is to do.Alex

[AirbusA340300 0]

i do my flights as realistic as possible. i enjoy long haul in the PMDG744 and LD763. tommorow i am planning a 4.5 hour flight, kpae to katl. then from sat to sun, im flying KATL-LFPG, i think like 8 hours. i never use pause or time compression. but thats just me. and during cruise i watch tv and do cruise work.adam