My biggest thing is figuring out good routes to fly when I have no clue of the area.....

Things like this help: https://flightsim.to/file/11294/zurich-lszh-real-swiss-airlines-passenger-routes

9 minutes ago, HiFlyer said:

My biggest thing is figuring out good routes to fly when I have no clue of the area.....

 

Open Goggle Earth, slant the view a little et voilà you have all the clues you need to draw a route in LNM.

8 hours ago, Farlis said:

So you guys don't even leave your country in the virtual world. 😉

 

As times goes on I will.  What turns me off with so many parts of the world is locations aren't done in detail like for example Florida (the ground is done correctly thanks to satellite imaging but the buildings are very generic and destroys what areas really look like).  The Lisbon area is another city that comes to mind.  Without mod help that city looked like word not allowed in the sim.  It was a let down to see the whole French Riviera not done in the same detail as the US even after the French update.  It takes slow loading/performing Google objects to make the area look as good as many default US/Canada locations.  That's pretty sad.  Paris for example after the update is still lacking.  The only comparable eye sore in the US that stands out because of it's global promince is Chicago.  South of Midway airport that area looks like word not allowed, nothing like the loop around downtown.  So I'm not really motivated at this time to explore all over the world.  When the airliner environment is fully realized (real world airline AI models at airports, improved ATC, and more international airports being released by third party developers) then I'll explore further.  A PMDG 777 will change allot for me when that day comes.  I still need AI accurately portrayed at gates at international airports before I'm fully in. On a side note we really need better options to fill in lacking areas than Google scenery objects which destroys sim performance and loading times.

1 hour ago, Dillon said:

As times goes on I will 

I'd say Americans are not the only ones to fly preferably at home. Most of the Germans, French, Brits that I see around in forums do that. The Dutch would very much do that but once taken off they are already in foreign skies 😄. Flying globe-trotters like me are few in my experience. They are often expats or ex-expats by the way. Some get their kick out of familiar skies, some get their kick out of new skies. Nothing wrong. The former just miss a bit 😉.  

26 minutes ago, Dominique_K said:

I'd say Americans are not the only ones to fly preferably at home. Most of the Germans, French, Brits that I see around in forums do that. The Dutch would very much do that but once taken off they are already in foreign skies 😄. Flying globe-trotters like me are few in my experience. They are often expats or ex-expats by the way. Some get their kick out of familiar skies, some get their kick out of new skies. Nothing wrong. The former just miss a bit 😉.  

Yes, it is people from the Netherlands I feel sorry for; so flat!   I wondered why there was no decent DEM for there, but it seems like it doesn't need it - 99.9% of it is as flat as a billiard table.  A few speedbumps in the road is about as hilly as it gets!  

Strange.....

I'm American and most of my flying is in Europe, the UK especially.....

19 hours ago, HiFlyer said:

I have now been a ton of places that I would never even have dreamed of bothering to go to in any other sim, for all of these years.

Same here.

11 hours ago, HiFlyer said:

My biggest thing is figuring out good routes to fly when I have no clue of the area.....

I use my own web app that i wrote to teach myself programming ( https://www.flightsimdiscovery.com/) to work out where Im going to fly my next leg.  I always try and connect the previous leg with the next.  I also use Volanta to record my flights and I upload them to my website to show the exact route.

I try to be indeed EVERYWHERE, as much as this is humanly possible.

I plan on visiting ALL countries of the earth in the sim at some time in alphabetical order. Currently I'm in Trinidad, Bolivia after my third leg towards the Andes and La Paz. I will be stay there for some time and then it's off to the next country in the alphabet.

It's always a matter of finding a time slot and hoping that the weather is suitable for VFR flying.

Edited June 13, 20214 yr by Farlis

I've thought myself it would be nice if on the map you could have something, like a red dot, which indicated each field you'd been to.

16 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

The upcoming DC6 by PMDG will easily handle icing. It was called the Globe Master. 

I am very intrigued by it, but it seems like a complicated beast. 

I flew the Cirrus SR22 from Orlando, FL to Ketchikan, AK. It was a very fun flight and stopped in several places along the way. Gainesville, FL, East Texas Airport, maybe KGGG? Amarillo, TX, Aspen, CO, Twin Falls, ID, Somewhere in WA just below Canada, then from there to Ketchikan.

Well I haven't been everywhere.. yet 😄 But I've certainly been to places that I would not even have dreamt of exploring before MSFS.

I can't remember my first flight in MSFS - but it was not over my own house 🙂 I spent some time before the world update exploring US, where for a while I had the idea to fly along every interstate highway and to overfly every major city. The plan was to use a new default aircraft for every flight, but I never fullfilled that goal, and have since ended up varying between 2-3 default/modded and the same number of payware aircraft. 

I only flew in South America for several weeks which is some of the best and challenging so far in MSFS. The contrast from flying from the Pacific coastline, over the Andes and ending up in a remote dirt strip somewhere in the rainforest is amazing. As well as the challenges in terms of changing weather, temperature, altitude, icing and so on. 

Most of my flying has been in Europe, which certainly has helped with my geographical knowledge of several countries - UK and France in particular. One day I had the idea to follow the Rhone river from its origins in the Swiss alps to the Mediterranean. I often use google maps when I fly and look up interesting information about various cities and regions. It's all a great big learning and discovery experience. 

Another country I spent a great deal of time in is Nepal, where I lived for a while personally. In addition to the Andes region, Nepal (and Tibet) has been the most enjoyable and challenging so far. 

I started a world trip in Venice but got stuck in Taipei as I couldn't find the motivation to cross the Pacific - even in an airliner... (yes I know time acceleration is possible). 

EDIT: Almost forgot - Australia and NZ. Will have to spend more time there as there is so much to discover!

Edited June 14, 20214 yr by Cpt_Piett

15 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

One day I had the idea to follow the Rhone river from its origins in the Swiss alps to the Mediterranean. I often use google maps when I fly and look up interesting information about various cities and regions. It's all a great big learning and discovery experience.

Yep, and you’d better remember that the five nuclear power stations of the Rhone valley are not VFR landmarks to be flown over.🤣

15 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

The contrast from flying from the Pacific coastline, over the Andes and ending up in a remote dirt strip somewhere in the rainforest is amazing. As well as the challenges in terms of changing weather, temperature, altitude, icing and so on

You did that too 😉 !  Yes, amazing flights. 

 

33 minutes ago, Dominique_K said:

Yes, amazing flights.

Absolutely! La Paz, Cusco and Quito are amazing - but the western part of South America is scattered with exotic locations. Best enjoyed in a turboprop with a glass of chilled Chardonnay 😊

I've taken the time to note every major city that I've been to in MSFS as a favourite in google maps. It's easy to see where I've been - but there are still huge areas left to explore. The most unexplored for my part is Russia / Central Asia - and Africa.