September 18, 2025Sep 18 As the summer season is coming to an end, at least for the countries in the Northern hemisphere, and as the temperatures around here have already turned cool; most significantly, I am getting to see, around the suburban yards and gardens, for this year, the last of the butterflies, bees, and especially (those almost bee-look-alike) hummingbirds of Illinois...🙂...Yes, indeed, there is at least one (dazzlingly colored) and vibrantly ruby-throated hummingbird species that shows up (every year) without fail outside my virtual aviator's window...🙂...while the neighbor gingerly tries to take pictures of it...🙂...as the little bird zooms around among the trees and plants. I do not now recall seeing that one for some time now. I'll miss that little aviator...Oh well...till next spring... Likewise, in Europe, as the summer dwindles down towards winter; I came to know that an acquaintance of mine, in Poland, chose to travel on an extended vacation and road-trip, from Poland to Italy; currently (probably)already nearabout some of those famous mountains of Italy. Anyway, the least I could do, is take a virtual trip myself, while selecting the (aerial) route at my own discretion...🙂...So, I fly here from EPWA/Warsaw Chopin Airport to LIRF/Rome Fiumicino Airport. As I inspected the (EPWA-LIRF) Sim Brief Route, I noticed, it seemed to completely miss the Austrian Alps...passing by the easternmost edges of it. That's not good enough...🙂...I thought. Instead, my flight plan entered into the MCDU is very simple, primarily designed to fly me right over the thickest of the Austrian Alps (see MSFS EFB Map and the Cockpit ND Display screenshots below): EPWA/29 -> Innsbruck VOR (KPT/Kempten) -> Bologna VOR (BOA/Bologna) -> LIRF/16L So, the segment between Innsbruck and Bologna, flying from north to south, will directly cut across the heart of the (highest) Austrian Alps. For this post, I've selected to fly the default A321LR. The Airbus A321 is an interesting aircraft type and a favorite of mine. It has many variants (-100/-200 in ceo) and (-Base/-LR/-XLR in neo). Moreover, unlike my other favorite (good old) A340 that is/was non-existent with U.S. carriers; the A321 is a very common type in the fleet of the major U.S. carriers; that I've flown on, several times. I now also recall this bit of A321 news from a month or two ago: American Airlines recently became the first U.S. airline to have ordered and taken (official) delivery of the (latest) -XLR variant. However, the type has not yet entered service because of a supply chain issue that prevented the installation of certified "passenger seats". The aircraft remained in Europe to receive its seats and undergo the necessary certification, being completed in the Czech Republic before a final delivery flight to the U.S. This delay highlights broader supply chain challenges affecting aviation, even for relatively new aircraft models... Anyway, today, I wished to fly this A321LR in the colors of ICELANDAIR. I have been always fond of the airline's previous (blue, white, and gold) livery, especially on their 757s, but this new livery here, on the a/c type that is Airbus's answer to the venerable Boeing 757; is also a good one (especially, look at its multi-colored tail design). On my route, I fly across the plains of Poland first, then over the low mountains of Czech Republic, into the majestic Austrian Alps (see images), and then into the high-heeled-boot-shaped landmass of Italy, skimming over the Apennine Mountains (nearabout which probably my acquaintance is visiting at this moment...🙂...I will surely see some RW tour photos...), to overfly Lake Bracciano, on the approach path ~20 miles north of Rome, to finally reach Fiumicino airport's ILS Runway 16L... The (default) A321LR was a pleasure to fly, and I hope you enjoy this collection of images from my trip today. Thanks for viewing... and happy flying...!
September 19, 2025Sep 19 Nice set of photos...you did a fantastic job catching the light in the first several...well done! 🙂Â
September 19, 2025Sep 19 Fine set of shots, thanks for sharing ! cheers 😉 08.2024 new PC is online :  ASUS ROG STRIX X670E-F GAMING WIFI Mainboard, AMD Ryzen™ 9 7950X3D Prozessor, G.Skill DIMM 64 GB DDR5-6000 (2x 32 GB) Dual-Kit, MSI GeForce RTX 4090 VENTUS 3X E 24G OC Grafikkarte, 2x WD Black SN850X NVMe SSD 4 TB - Drive C+D, WD Gold Enterprise Class 12 TB for storage  HDD, Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 1000W PC - Power supply, Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO CPU Aircooler with 7 Heatpipes, Design Meshify 2 White TG Clear Tint Tower-Case, 3x 4K monitors 2x32 Samsung 1x27 LG 3840x2160, Windows11 Prof. 23H2 - now Windows11 Prof. 25H2 Flightsimulator Hardware: Honeycomb Throttle Bravo, Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, Logitech Flight Joke System, XBox Controller, some Thrustmaster stuff, Winwing CDU Panels.
September 20, 2025Sep 20 Author On 9/18/2025 at 10:51 PM, rmeier said: Nice set of photos...you did a fantastic job catching the light in the first several...well done! 🙂 Thank you, rmeier. The dawn and dusk are my favorite times in MSFS to either takeoff or land...🙂...I can never get tired of this lighting...  On 9/18/2025 at 11:52 PM, pmplayer said: Fine set of shots, thanks for sharing ! cheers 😉 Appreciated the comment, pmplayer. Glad you liked, and you're welcome. I know the A321 is one of your favorite airliners in the SIM. Cheers...!
September 20, 2025Sep 20 Author On 9/18/2025 at 10:51 PM, rmeier said: Nice set of photos...you did a fantastic job catching the light in the first several...well done! 🙂 Thank you, rmeier. The dawn and dusk are my favorite times in MSFS to either takeoff or land...🙂...I can never get tired of this lighting...  On 9/18/2025 at 11:52 PM, pmplayer said: Fine set of shots, thanks for sharing ! cheers 😉 Appreciated the comment, pmplayer. Glad you liked, and you're welcome. I know the A321 is one of your favorite airliners in the SIM. Cheers...!
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