Wasn't sure I would finish when I started, but today I flew the last leg in a GA RTW trip. Whew! My route was Slarty & Deans 'Round the World Buzz' http://www.dmcity.com/slarty/index.php3 For those not familiar with it, this has been around for a while, and is more of a tour of the FS world than a quick(!) RTW tour. More than 72,000 nm (I chose not to use any time acceleration), touching all continents. What's nice is that there are routings for all legs, and excellent narratives for the majority of them that really add to the enjoyment. One finds lots of FS easter eggs, and flies into many interesting and challenging airports.I flew this in the a Piper Twin Comanche (Eaglesoft), and Active Sky really made for some memorable experiences during this expedition. I've feel I've gained an incredible amount of flying and aviation knowledge, given that I'm not a RW pilot. One of the toughest for me was crossing the Himalayas in an aircraft with a service ceiling of 18,600 (twice)! If anybody decides to do this route, I strongly recommend using a turbo, because finding, and following, the passes was very nerve-wracking.Anyway, not looking for replies necessarily, just felt the need to share, and this seemed like the best place.Note to Dean EGTC: if you happen to read this, thank you so much for keeping the website going. It's far and away the best that I found prior to embarking on my trip!

I won't forget the RTW Buzz. It was a grand tour of the FS world for sure. Good job getting the Twin Comanche to 18,600 feet. I bet you had to plan weight and fuel well to pull that off. I also imagine you ran into icing during your trip...Anyway replies are necessary, since you did the buzz! Congratulations.Rhett - RTW Buzz Pilot #006 2002-03.

Heh, heh...Yeah, just barely enough fuel for the legs, then once at 16,500 or so, level off, gain a little speed, climb 100 feet, lather, rinse, repeat... and definitely icing conditions!If the Buzz forum were open, I would have posted about many interesting and challenging experiences. I still remember taking off from Simikot (as if landing there wasn't challenging enough)- at 9,793 ft MSL, the runway wasn't quite long enough for the TwinCo, so I flew off the edge... and heard a loud "thunk" that could have only meant one thing. She flew OK though, so I continued the flight until reaching mainenance facilities. It's the only time in many years of simming that I have ever heard that "thunk!" What a nasty sound it was.You all must have had a blast back in the day...

Catacamas in Honduras was memorable for me. I think Dean and Mike McKuen picked really tough airports to fly into and out of on purpose. I still have some screenshots archived somewhere, of some of the buzz legs.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

Greetings Alex,I am delighted that you found your way to the RTW Buzz. I am the guilty party (Pilot ID: JT_dub) who was responsible for finding Simikot. Mike MacKuen (MM) was responsible for Catacamas. I had a great time doing the research for the legs that I planned. If you enjoyed the Buzz I would like to invite you to join AVSIM's RTW Race Team. The race is held in February and practice should be underway after the New Year. MM and myself are part of the team and so is Jozef Kusters (another Buzz pilot and route planner). We are always looking for new race pilots and your Buzz flying is excellent preparation for the race. The link below will give you more information about the race.http://www.fsrtwrace.com/about.htmBest Regards,Jeff Williams (aka JT_dub)

This thread is really cool. I know my ex plane the Beech Debonair had something to do with this.What happened to Capt. Slarty (Joe)-I always enjoyed his posts...GeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

Quite an accomplishment with our Twin Comanche I must say! Next time please use our SR22G3 Turbo or Columbia 400 Turbo. It makes us nervous when we see simmers barely making it across the mountains :-lol :-lol

I've wondered what happened to Capt Slarty too. I'd read posts he'd answered just to see what he had to say, even if the rest of the post didn't have much to interest for me. Colorful characters like him make this hobby a community.

Its a fuzzy memory, but didn't Slarty get sideways with Avism Mods?I enjoyed his posts as well.Bob

I am the guilty party (Pilot ID: JT_dub) who was responsible for finding Simikot.Hello, Jeff-Don't know if I love ya or hate ya for this, but sure was gratifying to find and manage to get in and out!I am in awe of all the planning and work that went into the Buzz. Thank you for your contributions here!I can't say whether I can commit to the RTW race, but I shall consider it.Regards,

Hello, Ron-I thoroughly enjoyed the TwinCo. Makes me wanna jump in one for real and take it out for a whirl. You might be interested in knowing that this all renewed my interest in simming, as I had gotted bored with it about 15 months ago... so much so that I stopped flying for about six months. At that time, I was an airliner guy only. Now my passion has been rekindled.By the way, the fuse needs a new paint job from the brush scraping on those Himilayan legs!Regards,

>Hello, Ron->>I thoroughly enjoyed the TwinCo. Makes me wanna jump in one>for real and take it out for a whirl. You might be interested>in knowing that this all renewed my interest in simming, as I>had gotted bored with it about 15 months ago... so much so>that I stopped flying for about six months. At that time, I>was an airliner guy only. Now my passion has been rekindled.>>By the way, the fuse needs a new paint job from the brush>scraping on those Himilayan legs!>>>Regards,Glad to hear the TC and RTW flights renewed your flying spirit! There are new paints in the file library here at Avsim so that should help with the brush scrapes:-)

Hi Alex,Yes, I'm still around and flying. The Buzz brings back many happy memories and I know a great many simmers have flown the route, or legs from it, since we finished the trip so many years ago.I had to close the forum because it became plagued with spammers pedaling every type of trash imaginable.Heck, with winter fast approaching and the long dark evenings that generally spark 'Simming Season', I may upate the site for FSX, purge the database, and invite a fresh group of pilots to 'come fly The Buzz'!

Yes, you flew the Beech Debonair, didn't you?? It's coming back to me now. I remember JT_Dub (Jeff W.) and the others. I also remember Ade Mansbridge, who was very active there. I wonder what happened to some of those guys--I hope they are still flying a little. The sim has advanced a lot, relatively speaking, in 6 years.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

HelloNow that would be a really great thing to do, Im in