A Tour of the USA

[Guest yienmaster]

I just spend a couple hours planning a tour of the USA. There are approximately 20-25 stops, with the longest leg being about 600 miles and the shortest being about 50 miles. Going from Seattle (forgot the airport) to La Guardia in NYC. The path basically makes a trip down the west coast to see Mt. St. Helens, and a couple places in CA and Las Vegas, and then goes diagnol across the rockies to hit Yellowstone and the Badlands. Then it goes to some personal places in Minnesota and Michigan before dipping down to Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans to see the Mississippi River Delta. Next it goes across the Gulf to La Habana, Cuba and then comes up again via Key West, Florida and hit a couple famous places in Florida, including Cape Canavral. Up the East coast next, stopping in DC and ending in NYC.I started the journey last night in a Rutan Long EZ O-320 and went from Seattle (which is a beautiful area in FSX) to Mt St Helens (amazing), and stopped at a smaller airport to get a Learjet for the 500 mile leg to San Fran.I figure the whole trip will probably take me a month if I fly an hour or two a day and miss a couple days a week for various reasons.Anyone else planned any major trips like this? I would love to try some other trips like this our, perhaps around Europe. I can share the flightplan file if anyone is interested.PS. Am I crazy to plan such a grueling trip using only a turboprop two-seater and a Learjet for long hops?

[Guest j-mo]

>PS. Am I crazy to plan such a grueling trip using only a>turboprop two-seater and a Learjet for long hops?Nope! I've got about 51,000 miles of a 72,000 mile RTW tour in a Piper Twin Comanche. The route is here: http://www.dmcity.com/slarty/route.htmlMemorable moments include: approach in to Bella Coola and landing at PASD in near zero visability. Most challenging times were crossing the Pacific (PADU-UHPP, 1390 nm) and landing on fumes, and crossing the Himalyas.I've thought that after I have finished this that I would next do a continental US tour. I hope you enjoy yours, and that you post about your experiences.Regards,

[eldar2112 10]

Hi, I don't think you're crazy. When I first switched to using FSX, before I had any addons, I took a flight in the default Goose from where I live in Southwest Florida up and over to Fairbanks Alaska via some places I've lived or visited in Missouri, Illinois, South Dakota etc. In FS2002, I flew the default Kingair 350 from SW Florida up through the U.S., with a couple of fuel stops, to Yellowknife, NW Territories Canada. Then over to Eastern Canada and across to Greenland, Iceland, England, down to Cairo, a stop in Riyad Suadi Arabia, over to Bangkok, up to Japan. I was going to continue up to Eastern Russia and across to Alaska and back to Yellowknife, but, FS2004 came out and....well. Enjoy your flight and maybe throw some screenshots in the screenshot forum here if you get a chance.Cheers,KailFlightSimmer since 1987C2D E6850 3.0GHz 1333FSBXFX Nforce 680i LT SLI2x XFX 8800GT 512MB SLI'd4GB Crucial Ballistix PC6400 800MHzCreative SB Audigy2 ZSUltra Xfinity 600W SLI PSUSeagate 320GB SATA-3GB/S HD for O/SWD 160GB SATA 3GB/S HD for FSXWindows XP SP3 / FSX SP2 / FS9 SP1

[Ramasurinen 0]

Crazy? Nope. I think every flight simmer has their 'odd' travel adventure. Mine was rounding the world equatorially in 17 hours and 15 minutes with five friends in multiplayer, all of us flying Alphasim SR-71s. I do remember someone posting here long ago that they were attempting to cross North America in the Trike of all things, very shortly after FSX came out. If they had a 1 knot headwind or greater they might still be in the air. ;)

[Guest JIMJAM]

FSX has changed my flying habits from fast and high to low and slow.After picking up the A2A 337, I am however considering doing a long,possibly historically accurate flight.IMO in the newer gen planes, you are just watching a map scroll by and a computer is running the show.In the 337, I feel navigating by what was available then and keeping those 4 huge motors purring would make the trip an adventure.I recently did a around the world in a SR-71 but the world was a bluish blur,sky above was black and I was basically watching numbers click by.I just need to accept FSX's flaws and realise its never going to be perfect and spend less time tweaking,more time flying.Have Fun

[sightseer 895]

In FS9, I went across the US from east to west and then back and then halfway back again before I was inexplicably drawn to that little chain of island that connect Cuba and S America. I flew the Mooney almost entirely.I would fly a pattern that went basically north until I had landed at at least one airport in every state (except for the northeast, I dont remeber hitting rhode Island for example) and then I would head a little west and then south and then west and back north again. (you get the idea)I only traveled 120 to 200 nm each time. I saw a lot of smaller airports.When FSX came out I just continued on with that same concept but mostly I would fly in the Cessna because the Mooney didnt get upgraded. the sound did but not the VC. i also enjoyed the Goose for a while (great sound).I just recently got sick of low and slow and have switched over to jets.First it was the Lear and then the A320. i tried to takeoff out of KSTL in the B737 but I kepyt getting fatal error (module msvcr80.dll)problems and so I switche dto the A320 again and had no problems. I'm not sure if thats connected but i had never flown the A320 and it kinda fun. it seems easy to control but at the same time its kinda 'bouncy'One of my favorite things about FSX is how different the flying environments are between the Cessna or an A320 or a glider.i'm not a real world pilot but it seems to feel like you are there.The head movemenet from accel and decel is REALLY cool. i've always loved it when you are flying along as a passenger in a real world jetliner and suddenly 'they put on the breaks' (spoilers usually).Its really cool IMO.anyway... i'm at little Rock and Im headed for Albaquerque(sp?). I'm not sure if I should go to dallas or OK city next. maybe I'll bypass both and go straight to new mexico.if your in a samll plane, i would recommend you do some flying around KLWB and KROA and KINT and KTYS. the mountains around north carloina and virginia and tennessee look good.over in the west their is KRAP and an airport at Gillete and from their KJAC (jackson hole) and then back to Denver.i had a long list of all the airports I went to at one time.

[Guest JIMJAM]

It does not need to be long distance to be exciting.Get Aerosofts Lukla and using real weather fly betreen Kathmandu,Lukla and the other 2 strips.Also flying the Twin Otter betreen FlyTampa's St Maarten ,St Barts and Saba will give you gray hair quickly.Add in FSX's built in, "You never know what will happen next" factor, its Three Stooges ran ATC and every trip is a adventure!

[Guest PPSFA]

Grab some friends and fly it in multiplayer, you wont believe how much fun it is on that type of flight!We have made 3 RTW trips, north, south, and central, the longest was 44 legs. We have users from South Africa, Turkey, UK, Netherlands, USA, etc, and we make sure to fly over their home areas and get a guided tour as we are passing through. Its an experiance you can only get using MP, and well worth it!XP Pro SP2-FSX SP2AMD FX60-8800GTS-2 Gigs RAMFEX-GEX-UTUSA-FSGenesis-and a bunch of other stuffComputer optimized by www.fs-gs.com

[lliaudais 2]

If you're crazy (and I certainly don't think you are), then I'm crazier still...I've liked touring VFR ever since USA roads came out for FS9; I still use FS9 with Ultimate Terrain as well as UTX for FSX. I use FSMMovingMap with FS9 and FSX but I'm beginning to depend on the (FSWidgets) Gmap with FSXI was flying along Skyline Drive near Front Royal (KFRR)and decided to fly back south through the Shenandoah Valley and touch down at all the little airports along the way. This almost immediately became a 'plan' to touch down at ALL the airports in Virgina. Then North Carolina. Then South Carolina...Florida, WV,DE,MD,TN,KY,GA and now I'm working my way across Alabama. I got sidetracked when I noticed US highway 50 coming out of Montrose Colorado and recalled a US50 crossing the Sierra Nevadas in California; a quick google to wikipedia revealed that 50 goes from the Atlantic Coast to Sacramento through Montrose. So, of course I had to do that one: part 1, Ocean City to St Louis; part 2, St Louis to Pueblo CO; part 3, KPUB to Sacramento. From pre-dawn to just after dark; a very loooong day - a little Cessna at the start, mostly Baron enroute and finished off in my Pitts.At the moment I'm paused in Oregon over US395, having followed the road from the LA area on my way to Canadian border. FSX logbook has documented my landing at 3292 different airports and I fully expect to add the rest of the land runways in the "lower 48" before I'm done. You're not crazy, but I think I am... Oh, and I'm keeping my eyes open for the smoothest roads. I'm considering a cross-country tour by motorcycle - even if I have to use the Trike in very mountainous areas, I'd stay on the surface for most of the way. That's beyond crazy!Loyd

[Tim Arnot 5]

Sounds pretty normal to me, although the turbine and Lear are a bit of an extravagance IMHO ;-)Last month I flew in to Oshkosh for the airshow in the Carenado Mooney. I started from England. About 20 hours flying, across the Atlantic via Iceland and Greenland, and down through Canada.Before that, I flew from New Zealand to England, going the "wrong way" - Antarctica, South America, North America... (19,310 nautical miles, 145 hours), starting in a Seneca, but switching to a Twin Comanche partway through. Getting from England to New Zealand in the first place, using the "traditional" route through the Middle East, across India, Indonesia and Australia was done in the RealAir Marchetti (about 100 hours). Back in the FS9 days, I did CapeTown to Cairo, several tours around Oz, got frequently lost exploring the High Andes (a Warrior was probably not the best plane for that one!), ski'd down Mt Everest (about the only time I went above 10000ft!), went island hopping around the Caribbean, etc. etc. It may be easy and quick to travel long distances in the big jets, but you get no sense of where you've been...

[simman 0]

I flew east coast to west coast doing short hops in a mooney. It was fun, until I got to those monster mountains out west. I went south and it helped but it got pretty boring in that section.Don

[northtexas 51]

I have crisscrossed the USA at least four times choosing different routes and aircraft...Eaglesoft Twin & Columbia. I really enjoyed those "monster" mountains and the challenge of landing at airports like Aspen Co. I've also island hopped the Caribbean from The Florida Keys to Caracas and back. I'm waiting until GEX Europe is released to do a tour of Europe. I also plan a tour of Canada & Alaska upon the release of UTX-Alaska.

[simman 0]

Wow you have been busy!Don

[Mace 1,902]

>>Nope! I've got about 51,000 miles of a 72,000 mile RTW tour in>a Piper Twin Comanche. The route is here:>http://www.dmcity.com/slarty/route.html>>Memorable moments include: approach in to Bella Coola and>landing at PASD in near zero visability. Most challenging>times were crossing the Pacific (PADU-UHPP, 1390 nm) and>landing on fumes, and crossing the Himalyas.>>That's great that you did the Buzz route. I'm glad Dean still has the site there...that's a great routing and really lets you see the FS world.I've been thinking about doing that route in the Twin Comanche myself. Or maybe some variation therof. PADU-UHPP is a tough route especially with the weather. I remember having a tough landing at Catacamas, in Honduras.RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

[northtexas 51]

>Wow you have been busy!>DonLOL!!...I'm a Delta Air Lines retiree so FSX is my "job" along with cycling 60-80 miles a week to try and stay in shape after all those long hours in front of the computer.