A while ago, I'd recreated here in the SIM, reminiscences of one of my longest (RW) road-trips, from Chicago to New Orleans (I'd thought it was my longest drive, but someone...🙂...corrected me...with slightly better long-term memory). The distances between 2 cities are calculated and displayed for us on-line, probably using some fixed references within each city, not necessarily the geographical centers of the two cities. When I search on-line for "Chicago to New Orleans Distance", it comes up with "928" miles. However, I remember the door-to-door distance was closer to 1,000 miles one-way. Now, with an upcoming ORD-MCO flight on the wing for me, deliberations within the family brought up the fact that I'd also made one (round-trip) road journey, decades ago, from Chicago to Orlando. The on-line sources tell me this one-way (driving) distance to be "1,154" miles.

So, the (Chicago-Orlando) round-trip distance of over 2,300 miles would supersede my earlier mentioned record...🙂...unless I'm reminded of yet another one from the long-past...faded into my distant memory and my grey (eh...greying...) hairs...🙂...Anyway, I'd (recently) recreated, here, my one (RW) ORD-MCO flight, with 2 heritage liveries of United Airlines, using an A320neo in the SIM (since I do not have either a 737 MAX (actually a -9) or a 757 (actually a -300) at my disposal, the two a/c types that UAL has assigned, as of now, to my upcoming round-trip legs). I'd flown that A320 (SIM) flight at 30,000 ft. following the RW airways as much as I could, so, for this post, I fly the DC-3, but at steady 3,000 ft, in the nostalgic colors of Pan Am. Moreover, I am (roughly) tracking my RW en-route cities (See my GPS FPLN page display shot, below, showing just a few waypoints [KORD (Chicago) -> KIND (Indianapolis) shot #10 -> KCHA (Chattanooga) -> KATL (Atlanta) shot #12 -> KMCO (Orlando)].

If you examine the MAP of U.S., you will notice that both Chicago-Orlando and Chicago-New Orleans routes, are pretty much north-south oriented across the whole breadth of U.S. The former distance exceeds the latter, only because of the peculiarity of the Peninsular shape of Florida (which reminds me very much of the similarly shaped Italian Peninsula...🙂...from a recent (virtual) visit to Rome). Florida is a state surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on 3 sides. For New Orleans, the U.S. mainland ends in New Orleans at the mouth of Mississippi River, while for Orlando, I had to traverse the so-called "Floria panhandle", the part connecting to the mainland, and then drive further south into the Peninsula (just for curiosity, during my trip from Andorra to Rome, I had to also dip further south of mainland Europe into the Italian Peninsula, both Rome and Orlando located roughly half-way down their respective Peninsulas).

My pictures, below, reflect what I saw as I'd travelled the (RW) 1000 miles. Here, I flew over mostly the flatlands of the vast midwest and southeast regions, touching six different U.S. states on my path. Here is one remarkable thing to note; though I travelled 1000 miles, (noting that I already start near 700 ft at KORD) my highest elevation was less than 2,000 ft for the entire route, which would occur around Chattanooga (KCHA), in Tennessee. This is the only place, where I expected to have a brief skirmish...🙂...with the trailing ends and ridges of the Appalachian Range (and the Great Smoky Mountains). Chattanooga is the juncture where the mountains of the east (on my port side), end, and the vast plains, of the west, start, so, I knew, there was nothing to worry on my starboard side, for 1,500 miles across...all the way till the formidable range of the Rocky Mountains begins in the wild west...🙂...

To simplify my flight, soon after I lifted off KORD 28R, I retracted my gears (leaving the flaps on for slow speed), and set climb to top off at 3,000 ft. Then I did not (have to) touch the altitude again until I was ready to capture the ILS signals at the FAF fix of ILS Runway 17R of KMCO. Of course, around Chattanooga (KCHA), I was cautious...on the lookout for that (aptly named; and RW visited) "Lookout Mountain"...🙂...of 2,300 ft height just south of KCHA. I did not look for this mountain, but gingerly travelled on per my GPS magenta route, watching the emerging ridges and hills (see my shot #11) gliding below my a/c (transiently and harmlessly), while my GPS pointed me next to Atlanta, 100 miles further south. There are indeed stretches of (hazardous) steep-grades (descents and rises) on the freeway, around the mountains of Chattanooga, that I recall well from my RW trip, but of no concern to me on this flight ...🙂...

One landmark I was (eagerly) looking to meet was my old friend "Tennesse River" (see shot #15), which passes by Chattanooga north of the city. The river has its tributary, the "Little Tennesse River", that courses through the Great Smoky Mountains, a place (and both these rivers) I've had chance to visit on several occasions.

You may inspect my pictures (shot #s 13-14; a lonely shot of windmills included) for this mostly unchanging and repetitive landscape of these meadows and flatlands. Again, I must point out, travelling across such plains, by air (either virtual or real), is no substitute for the actual road trip experience and impromptu stops. One point comes to mind from my RW trip. Near Kentucky and Tennesse border, there is the "Mammoth Cave", the longest known (400+ miles) under-ground cave system in the world. I'd detoured to visit it. Deep inside it, there are rivers and streams, which, I recall, are home to a species of "eyeless" fish that have adapted to these lightless environments by ceasing to grow any eyes...completely blind...

Hope you enjoy this collection of pictures from my tour and of this Pan AM DC-3...! Thanks for viewing...!

Edited May 31, 20242 yr by P_7878

Very nice set of shots! 😉 

Edited June 1, 20242 yr by Alaska738

Beautiful set, like that Pan Am livery on your DC-3..

cheers 😉

Great shots of this classic bird, P_7878!

Great shots, P_7878. That Pan Am livery is always a treat to see, it would look good even on the luggage!

On 6/5/2024 at 7:51 AM, andy1252 said:

Great shots, P_7878. That Pan Am livery is always a treat to see, it would look good even on the luggage!

Thanks, Andy.

Yes, I do recall having had one tattered blue Pan Am cabin bag for sometime…🙂…probably went with the times…

On 6/1/2024 at 10:50 AM, Alaska738 said:

Very nice set of shots! 😉 

Will: Thanks for the comment. Glad you liked…!

 

On 6/1/2024 at 11:50 AM, pmplayer said:

Beautiful set, like that Pan Am livery on your DC-3..

cheers 😉

Yes, pmplayer, this DC-3 would look good in any color, but agree Pan Am looks especially nice…had fun flying this one. Cheers…!

 

On 6/2/2024 at 3:43 AM, bernd1151 said:

Great shots of this classic bird, P_7878!

Appreciated the feedback, Bernd. Thank you and all the best…!