What do I mean by that?   Well, in the last 6 months, my wife and I have traveled.  We've flown the 787 (LOT Polish Airlines) from Newark (KEWR) to Warsaw, Poland (EPWA), and the LOT Embraer 175 from  Gdansk, Poland (EPGD), back to Warsaw, and the 787-800 back home.  That was in May.  So, P3d has provided me with many hours of replicating these flights and enjoying them much more than if I had never visited this country and these cities.  I now enjoy the 787-800 LOT plane in P3d, and I enjoy my new Poland scenery of Warsaw and Gdansk in a much more meaningful way.

This month, in October, we traveled to Frankfurt on a beautiful 747-800 Lufthansa, and traveled on to Sophia, Bulgaria (LBSF) on a Lufthansa Airbus A-320.  We toured Bulgaria, and coached to Romania and Transylvania ("In Search of Dracula and Vlad the Impaler tour).  We flew to Munich on Lufthansa A-320 from Bucharest Romania (LROP).  We boarded an Airbus A-340-600 for our return trip to Newark.  We enjoyed these countries and cities so much that when I returned home, my enjoyment continued on and on by acquiring these airports and planes and REPLICATING my memories of it all over again.

What am I trying to convey?  Well, the VALUE of Flight Simulation in our lives is amplified so much more if it can be paralleled to our real lives.  Vice-Versa, if you enjoy flying certain routes in simulation, perhaps you can replicate it in real life some day by going on a long awaited vacation or just going somewhere exciting for a "bucket list" check off.

I now enjoy flying in EUROPE more than I ever have.  I used to fly (in simulation) in the U.S. almost all the time, and now....Europe and all its wonderful countries has a very special appeal to me.  EVERY day, I find myself flying from perhaps Sophia to Frankfurt or Romania to Warsaw...or whatever!  It's really quite meaningful now.

So in April, 2019, my wife and I will be going to Berlin, Germany for a week, and in September, we'll finally do a bucket list item...…OCTOBERFEST in Munich!

Life is fun, and tying it to Flight Simulation makes it so much more fun …..for me, anyway!

 

Stan

Edited October 29, 20187 yr by spilok

Your life crashes a lot!? Just kidding.

I have similar feelings, love to fly to places where i went or where im going... i worked and lived some years ago in Africa, years later i decided to make that same flight that took me to Africa for the first time in the simulator, i used the same company, the same route, same airports, even the same flight number that i had in the old ticket that was storage in a remote drawer...i felt so nostalgic when i saw myself doing that same flight so many years later, remembering how nervous i was in that day, i almost cry, but it was a good feeling!

Edited October 29, 20187 yr by dmarques69

Love the post Stan. You're right - sometimes you do have to get out and smell the ATF...😊

Great post Stan, thank you.  

1 hour ago, spilok said:

What do I mean by that?   Well, in the last 6 months, my wife and I have traveled.  We've flown the 787 (LOT Polish Airlines) from Newark (KEWR) to Warsaw, Poland (EPWA), and the LOT Embraer 175 from  Gdansk, Poland (EPGD), back to Warsaw, and the 787-800 back home.  That was in May.  So, P3d has provided me with many hours of replicating these flights and enjoying them much more than if I had never visited this country and these cities.  I now enjoy the 787-800 LOT plane in P3d, and I enjoy my new Poland scenery of Warsaw and Gdansk in a much more meaningful way.

This month, in October, we traveled to Frankfurt on a beautiful 747-800 Lufthansa, and traveled on to Sophia, Bulgaria (LBSF) on a Lufthansa Airbus A-320.  We toured Bulgaria, and coached to Romania and Transylvania ("In Search of Dracula and Vlad the Impaler tour).  We flew to Munich on Lufthansa A-320 from Bucharest Romania (LROP).  We boarded an Airbus A-340-600 for our return trip to Newark.  We enjoyed these countries and cities so much that when I returned home, my enjoyment continued on and on by acquiring these airports and planes and REPLICATING my memories of it all over again.

What am I trying to convey?  Well, the VALUE of Flight Simulation in our lives is amplified so much more if it can be paralleled to our real lives.  Vice-Versa, if you enjoy flying certain routes in simulation, perhaps you can replicate it in real life some day by going on a long awaited vacation or just going somewhere exciting for a "bucket list" check off.

I now enjoy flying in EUROPE more than I ever have.  I used to fly (in simulation) in the U.S. almost all the time, and now....Europe and all its wonderful countries has a very special appeal to me.  EVERY day, I find myself flying from perhaps Sophia to Frankfurt or Romania to Warsaw...or whatever!  It's really quite meaningful now.

So in April, 2019, my wife and I will be going to Berlin, Germany for a week, and in September, we'll finally do a bucket list item...…OCTOBERFEST in Munich!

Life is fun, and tying it to Flight Simulation makes it so much more fun …..for me, anyway!

 

Stan

Exactly my feelings. I always try to only use sim destinations where I have been in real life - or plan to go to in the near future. The best scenery enhancement is my own memory of a real world experience that merges in my mind with what I see in the sim. Only then a sim scenery really comes to live for me.

Edited October 29, 20187 yr by RALF9636

I can relate to this.  I've done many trans-Pacific trips when living in SE Asia, and P3D allows me soothe my longings for that part of the world when they crop up between holidays.  With Singapore now in the mix, my Asian network is getting more-complete, and I look forward to a new BKK sometime in the hopefully not-too-distant future.  In the meantime, I also enjoy flying to destinations previously visited in the US, which will be even better once KORD comes out. 

I just wish I can get those shaders just right to cap off the realism even more.

John

Great post. I do this often...in fact just finished a leg my wife is on, SFO/DEN and arrived at about the same time she did. Lots of fun and keeps me from having to think up my own flights, lol. That gets old...like me. 

As often as possible, if I have a real world flight coming up I'll fly it in the sim first before I leave, and then fly the return leg when I get home, something fun to do. 

If it's a flight my wife and I are doing together, I usually notify her when I've finished it in the sim: "good news honey, I was able to safely complete our flight in flight sim, so the pros should have no problem doing it in real life".  That usually results in a massive eye roll and/or "oh Dave, you're funny".  🙂

I do the same, Dave.  If I can do it....the pros can do it better!

 

Stan

FSX replicates my life!............ CTD just as I get to a good bit.😜

Edited October 30, 20187 yr by SierraHotel

I'm living in Vienna/Austria below landing corridor of RW 11. Sometimes when I see and hear a bigger aircraft on landing approach, I check in flightradar24 which ac/airline it was to repeat these flights ... With FT LOWW, AustriaEastHD and AS, it feels so realistic and makes alot of fun.

I also prefly and repeat my real world passenger flights. Next will be Vienna-->Frankfurt-->Vancouver. Looking forward to it in simulation and real world.

Edited October 30, 20187 yr by Nemo

Flightradar 24 is a phenomenal app.  Use it all the time.

 

Stan

On 10/29/2018 at 12:18 PM, spilok said:

 

...What am I trying to convey?  Well, the VALUE of Flight Simulation in our lives is amplified so much more if it can be paralleled to our real lives....

 

 

Stan

Completely agree with everything you said. I used to pretty much live on airplanes back when Ch9 was still a major thing. With a career change I’m way more grounded but I can get my itch by flying in P3d! Glad I’m not the only one who equates this. 

These sim flights are especially meaningful if you use Active Sky and Rex Textures and set your time to the time of the actual flight.  Love it.

 

Stan

7 hours ago, spilok said:

Flightradar 24 is a phenomenal app.  Use it all the time.

 

Stan

I used to come home very early in the morning from work, like 3 to 4am local. I would look up and see an aircraft overhead and try and guess based on the last time I saw one at this time what airline it was. I would then look it up on FR24 to see if I was right, kinda like betting on myself and my aviation knowledge. I usually got it correct. And by the way, guessing UPS at that hour of the day would increase my chances. 😂