Rain over the Tatra Mountains... (20 Pics) ...

[P_7878 6,643]

My Title sounds a bit like that of a (possibly romantic) novel...🙂...but it's not. A long while ago I was once talking over the phone with a colleague from Slovakia, who was in Slovakia... (now, where exactly is Slovakia located in EU again...🙂...?). Anyway, though not admitting my ignorance up front, I made a (polite and amicable) comment to her that it's a beautiful country that I would like to visit sometime. Of course, I was quite sure that such countries in EU though not as frequented by (mass tourists) as some of the well-known EU countries, are typically very beautiful with that old European charm distinctive to the country and culture. Then, I happened to speak with her again recently, and then thought to myself, it's time to make use of the MSFS tool, to overcome the void of my ignorance about Slovakia, even though at a virtual level. 

This is another country, btw, that I would not have thought of venturing into in my earlier SIMs, even in my wildest dreams...🙂...So, let me share with you a bit of my (own) experience, here, via this collection of 20 pictures, below. First of all, about that "Rain" thing in the Title...I added (artificially) rain and clouds to make my journey a bit more exotic and adventurous in this foreign land (MSFS Rain is always remarkably realistic feeling, though I can't say the same about those clouds...🙂...). Anyway, I travel here from western part of Slovakia from the capital city of Bratislava across the country to Košice which is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. My on-line sources that always tell me the "4" different ways to travel between any 2 cities of my interest, says that the cheapest way to travel (the 280 miles) between Bratislava and Košice (not considering flight, which I'm doing already here...🙂...) is by Bus for ($20-$50). Good to know...if I ever get a chance to go. Most significantly, for this mountain lover, the trip touches the southern edge of the series of (somewhat disjointed and less than 10,000 ft, but beautiful) "Tatra Mountains" (see shot #s 10-12) that form the natural border between Slovakia and Poland. 

Regarding aircraft, I've used the Carenado/Pilatus PC-12, which I had purchased several months ago when I'd also got the PA-34 but have not had a chance to deploy for my flights, so far. On retrospect, I don't know if it was a good choice today. Compounded by self-induced low-visibility conditions, this plane, at least on my Xbox system, posed one problem after another, most significantly the blank (or dark as you might say) avionics (Glass) Screens. Sometimes I wonder, how come, when I flew the PMDG 736, for the very first time, on Xbox, everything, to my limited knowledge, worked as perfectly as it had done decades ago on my FSX, but this simpler a/c did not...Oh well...

Some of us here, surely, would recall that Flight1 PC-12 we had flown in older SIMs. So, I know this a/c since a long time in our virtual world. Just now, for a bit of nostalgia, I visited that F1 webpage, and read, "Notice: Please read our FS9 Limited Support before purchasing this Product.". OK, got it. Then, more significantly, a statement from the Vice President of Pilatus Business Aircraft, "We'd been looking for a high-quality Pilatus PC-12 plug-in for Microsoft Flight Simulator for several years, and as soon as we heard Flight One had one available, we browsed their website to look at what they'd created. We were simply blown away by what we saw...". If that's not a (credible) complement, then I don't know what is. Unfortunately, I wish I could say my experiences today with this PC-12 were similar. I'd been forewarned by on-line discussions though...but was hoping updates etc. would have fixed some of the commonly mentioned anomalies by now...

Anyway, no one can fault the look of this aircraft in the MSSF world...simply beautiful. That more than made up for my gloom with the avionics deficiencies. So, please find these 20 images, from my trip today, across Slovakia, which educated me well enough that I could now have a more (honest) chitchat with my colleague next time I happen to speak with her...or even better, maybe I should call her up right away...🙂...

Thanks for viewing these pictures...! Hope you enjoy...!

And Happy Easter Weekend to those who are celebrating it...!

[rmeier 473]

Nice set of photos, P_7878!

I have to admit, I'm used to seeing "fair weather" photos from you that always capture terrific scenery from different parts of the world...nice (for me!) to see that you've added a perfect balance of photos in this series...and especially to enhance the "thrill" of low visibility airport departure/landings!

Well done! 

[Alaska738 8,418]

Great set of shots as always! 😉 

[bernd1151 5,872]

Interesting narration and your shots are superb, P_7878 ! And yes, Slovakia is a beautiful country 🙂

[John F 2,427]

A bit of mist, a bit of gloom...a different kind of look (coming from you). And that dark livery fits right in. Regarding "Tatra," I've had the beer 🙂 but it is a Polish brand, not Slovakian.

[andiflyit 454]

Nice shots there P_7878. Have the Carenado PC12 used a lot in msfs and no issues at all, for me it's good and it's nice. Turbine reverser is a bit slow engaging

but they always model slow turbines because of realism. Must be watched in STOL situation.

Edited March 30 by andiflyit

[pmplayer 9,495]

Beautiful set, thanks for showing !

cheers 😉

[P_7878 6,643]

20 hours ago, rmeier said:

Nice set of photos, P_7878!

I have to admit, I'm used to seeing "fair weather" photos from you that always capture terrific scenery from different parts of the world...nice (for me!) to see that you've added a perfect balance of photos in this series...and especially to enhance the "thrill" of low visibility airport departure/landings!

Well done! 

Thanks, rmeier. Yes, once in a while it's nice to use the available suite of the (stock) weather ambiences from MSFS...a world apart from my old FSX days...

 

19 hours ago, Alaska738 said:

Great set of shots as always! 😉 

Appreciated the comemnt, Will. Glad you liked...!

 

19 hours ago, bernd1151 said:

Interesting narration and your shots are superb, P_7878 ! And yes, Slovakia is a beautiful country 🙂

Thanks for confirming my expectations, Bernd, about the beauty of Slovakia country, surely from  your first-hand experience...Now I would feel better when I speak with my colleague next time...🙂...

 

16 hours ago, John F said:

A bit of mist, a bit of gloom...a different kind of look (coming from you). And that dark livery fits right in. Regarding "Tatra," I've had the beer 🙂 but it is a Polish brand, not Slovakian.

John: The black repaint was unintentional for the purpose, but you're right...it magnifies the (apparent) realism of mist and gloom...🙂...And Tatra, that Polish beer is surely named after these mountains that are common to Slovakia and Poland...Need to look for it in the local grocers...

 

10 hours ago, andiflyit said:

Nice shots there P_7878. Have the Carenado PC12 used a lot in msfs and no issues at all, for me it's good and it's nice. Turbine reverser is a bit slow engaging

but they always model slow turbines because of realism. Must be watched in STOL situation.

Thank you, Andreas. Glad you've no issues with the a/c, but I think the updates are still missing in the Xbox version...And I'm not surprised...Cheers...!

 

5 hours ago, pmplayer said:

Beautiful set, thanks for showing !

cheers 😉

Thanks, pmplayer, and you're welcome...!