A long while ago, when I lived in Columbus (OH), I knew that the city was named after Christopher Columbus, even though the city does not really have any direct connection to the explorer. BTW, finding a city by the name of "Columbus" is all too common in the U.S. (after all, this was part of the so-called "New World" the explorer was heading out for...🙂...) ...In fact, out of the 50 U.S. states, there are now 23 states with a city called "Columbus", including my own state Illinois, which fact had escaped my attention till today. This village of Columbus (IL), I gather from on-line sources, has a population of "114" and an area of "one-fifth" of a sq mile...Oh well...still it's named after the famous explorer. The (better-known) city of Columbus (OH) is the largest city in the world named after the explorer. Columbus Day there was always a remarkably prominent celebration and event each year. I do recall visiting the (impressive) replica of the Santa Maria Ship, several times, in the Columbus downtown, proudly displayed on the bank of the Scioto River that flows through the city. However, as part of bits of looking up for this post, I learned that, due to multiple factors, since 2018, the Columbus Day event has been discontinued, and that Day has been also renamed.

That (Santa Maria) Ship replica, in Columbus (OH), is supposed to be the world's most authentic (museum quality) representation of Columbus's flagship. When Columbus had set sail from the town of Palos (Palos de la Frontera), Spain, he had 3 ships with him, and the largest of the 3, a square-rigged ship, was Santa Maria. Today, the nearest airport to Palos is the Seville Airport of Spain, 50 miles inland eastward, which is the destination of my flight today. Seville was historically the pivotal city, from where nearly every Spanish voyage, across the Atlantic, for the "New World", had begun. It was also where Columbus had received permission for his voyage in 1492.

Air Madrid, the airline of my choice for this flight and for this post, in preference to e.g., the big and mighty Iberia...🙂..., was an extremely short-lived Spanish airline, that lived and operated for only 3 years (2003-2006) ...again an unknown repainter is ahead of me...🙂.... the airline did have one A310-300 in its fleet, with Reg. ID (D-AIDH), that's seen below in my images. So, please find this collection of images as I fly here the Air Madrid A310, from its namesake capital city of Madrid (LEMD) westward to Seville (LEZL) (and getting that much closer to Palos). So, while flying to Seville today, in the virtual world, I could not help thinking simultaneously about both the city of Columbus (OH), my one-time domicile, and the famous explorer, Columbus himself. 

[Note: The iniBuilds A310 is flying quite well on my Xbox, and I like it a lot, except that, due to some reasons, I cannot take screenshots effectively without (mostly) losing control of the aircraft when I un-pause the SIM, so, my ability to capture screenshots is limited...] 

Anyway, thanks for viewing these images of this Airbus on a short flight to the city that was the (real) starting point of the famous explorer's voyage(s) and thereby so closely associated with his life and adventures...creating, on the side, the 23 Columbus named cities in U.S....🙂...The city of Seville is also Columbus's final resting place...!

Thanks for viewing...!

Edited March 31, 20242 yr by P_7878

A great series! That Air Madrid livery looks very well done, especially in your final shot. Is it part of the new A310 livery bundle in the Marketplace that features extra wear-and-tear/ weathering effects? The second panel shot (with sun and shadow) is sublime. As is the sun-dappled Spanish countryside in your exterior shots. No wonder Spain has become one of my favorite places to fly in MSFS.

8 hours ago, John F said:

A great series! That Air Madrid livery looks very well done, especially in your final shot. Is it part of the new A310 livery bundle in the Marketplace that features extra wear-and-tear/ weathering effects? The second panel shot (with sun and shadow) is sublime. As is the sun-dappled Spanish countryside in your exterior shots. No wonder Spain has become one of my favorite places to fly in MSFS.

Thanks for catching this post today...John...🙂...and the notes...

This livery was part of the bundled repaints I'd picked up a while ago, and I agree, this one, indeed, looks weathered compared to a couple I'd posted about earlier, that wore sparkling and shiny uniforms... 🙂...

And yes, the play of shadow and light on the flightdeck when the plane is banking, and the sun is in the right position...never fails to impress me in MSFS ...You've to catch it before it's too late though...🙂...Glad you're enjoying (MSFS) Spain ...a place you've travelled in RW, if I recall ...

Edited April 1, 20242 yr by P_7878

 

15 hours ago, P_7878 said:

I cannot take screenshots effectively without (mostly) losing control

Very nice set P_7878. I like to fly the A310 as well but I have the same issue. As soon as I reactivate the plane from "pause" the autopilot is off and it goes to

the sky like a rocket. It's a bug of the plane.

Nice set of shots, thanks for showing !

cheers 😉

Fine shots! 😉 

Andreas, pmplayer, Will:

Thank you all for the comments ...!!

[Andreas: Glad you confirmed the anomaly about the un-pause behavior with this aircraft on the PC, so, it is not unique to Xbox, as I was wondering...Cheers ...!]