Today, I was practicing a Cold & Dark engines-start-up sequence on the (iniBuilds) A350 (see the 2nd and 3rd screenshots below). Then, with the British Airways livery for the A350, ready on hand, I thought I might as well go ahead and do a long-haul flight with it, choosing to fly from (KORD) Chicago O'Hare to (EGLL) London Heathrow. For visualization of this route, see the SimBrief Flight Plan (shot #4) and a (FlightAware) RW Flight Plan (shot #5). SimBrief Flight Plan is the one I flew today with an A350-1000. The RW Flight Plan was flown within the last 24 hours by a British Airways 787-10, leaving Chicago yesterday, Thursday, evening 5pm (local), and arriving in London today, Friday 7am (local). With a flight time of about 8 hours, and London time being 6 hours ahead of Chicago time, this makes sense: 5pm + 8hrs + 6hrs = 5pm + 14hrs = 7am (London Time).

As far back as I can recall, this is a typical pattern for long-haul flight departures from Chicago to the major European (hub) airports i.e., as they leave Chicago in the evening, very soon night falls, by the time the plane flies over Newfoundland which is the easternmost part of Canada and also the North American continent. Just past Newfoundland, with Gander being the primary location, is where these transatlantic jetliners get on the oceanic skyways (aka the North Atlantic Tracks or NATs) to Europe; see e.g. the SimBrief Route screenshot, below, for the (applicable) oceanic Tracks for this flight. From that point on, we fly in total darkness, for 4,000+ miles over the vast Atlantic Ocean, till we finally make landfall into Ireland. In my RW travels, that's when I would breathe a sigh of relief...🙂...See one Screenshot, below, for the (juxtaposed) Maps of the A350 EFB and the MSFS EFB, as I reach Ireland, in this virtual flight.

No matter how many times I've travelled across the Atlantic in the RW; each time, once the province of Newfoundland and Labrador passes by underneath me, I cannot help feeling a sense of loss and uneasiness. This is because, the main landmasses on the upcoming oceanic segment, include Greenland far up to the north and Iceland even further north along the route, with the Irish coastline being the next major landmass to be reached, straight ahead, in the direction of Europe. So, while flying along in total darkness and if seated on the port side of the cabin, I would peer out into the (invisible) distance through my seat window, trying to visualize, in my mind, the outline of Greenland. The thought would also occur to me that Greenland might serve as the only diversion alternate, if so needed; quite a sobering feeling...

So, here we go, as I depart Chicago O'Hare in the late afternoon, and soon I fly into the dusk light, as the sun sets behind my airplane (see e.g. shot #10), and then the night follows quickly. I am left with my (illuminated) ECAM screens, and the comforting HUD up front and its see-through glass screen of (steady) green symbols, for company...🙂... indicating to me that all is "OK".

Once into Europe, just as the golden sun is rising up into the sky, on the eastern horizon, directly in front of my airplane, a glorious sight; indeed, I prepare to descend and land in London Heathrow.

I've used 4x Sim Rate for the cruise portion of this flight. In one close-up shot of the A350 EFB below, you can spot the (active) Sim Rate, conspicuously and conveniently displayed on the top margin of the EFB.

The A350 flew flawlessly for me today from start to finish. Hope, you enjoy this collection of images of this Airbus A350-1000, in the (attractive) colors of British Airways, flying under the command of yours truly...🙂...across a (dark) Atlantic Ocean.

Thanks for viewing and happy flying...!

Edited February 21Feb 21 by P_7878

Very nice ....... but VERY long. Think I'll give this route a try in the A350

 

Beauty shots, thanks for sharing !

cheers 😉

3 hours ago, pmplayer said:

Beauty shots, thanks for sharing !

cheers 😉

I don't know what happened. I clicked only once, but 2 votes were registered for you ...🙂... [Edit: I did now see the option to correct it, so, I did.]

Anyway, thank you, pmplayer, and glad you liked these pictures of the A350.

BTW, are you still having WASM errors on your MSFS2020 (iniBuilds) A350? I now know that many are having (and have had) such issues with A340/A350, including few seasoned simmers, and even a couple of (RW) pilots included...🙂. Somehow the A350 refuses to play well on their systems, for one reason or another...

If I recall correctly, yours was the very first A350 in MSFS, I'd seen the screenshots of, around here.

Edited February 21Feb 21 by P_7878

4 hours ago, TWSY said:

Very nice ....... but VERY long. Think I'll give this route a try in the A350

 

Appreciated the comment.

Yes, it's a long one. SimBrief gave me 3,588 nautical miles aka: 4,128 statute miles, while the RW (BA) 787-10 last-completed (ORD->LHR) flight, showed 4,192 statute miles, on the FlightAware.

BTW, you probably missed my other (recent) A350-900ULR flight, here, see below. That was a really long flight, indeed; of 9,400 miles, more than twice the distance of this one. This was a pond-crossing, compared to that one...🙂...

Yes, if you own the (iniBuilds) A350, and are not plagued by WASM issues, do give it a try. You don't have to necessarily fly long-haul. It's a very nice and ultra-modern airliner, a little unlike any other Airbus that we've seen in our SIMs.

Cheers...!

 

Edited February 21Feb 21 by P_7878

I enjoyed this, and now I have to do it! Great pics as well. Thanks for sharing! 

3 hours ago, P_7878 said:

 

BTW, are you still having WASM errors on your MSFS2020 (iniBuilds) A350? I now know that many are having (and have had) such issues with A340/A350, including few seasoned simmers, and even a couple of (RW) pilots included...🙂. Somehow the A350 refuses to play well on their systems, for one reason or another...

If I recall correctly, yours was the very first A350 in MSFS, I'd seen the screenshots of, around here.

I have the latest update i belive, its V.1.2.1 and at last flight there was no WASM crashes anymore but i belive i had no WASM error since V.1.1.9

I think this was later back around at V1.1.0 under and upper ..

cheers 😉

Edited February 21Feb 21 by pmplayer

12 minutes ago, RobJC said:

I enjoyed this, and now I have to do it! Great pics as well. Thanks for sharing! 

We’re both inspiring each other…🙂…for this A350.

Thank you for the note, Rob.

5 minutes ago, pmplayer said:

I have the latest update i belive, its V.1.2.1 and at last flight there was no WASM crashes anymore but i belive i had no WASM error since V.1.1.9

I think this was later back around at V1.1.0 under and upper ..

cheers 😉

I see.

That’s good news, though I still see WASM related issues being reported for the A350, by some users.

Yes, I believe v1.2.1 is the latest version, which is the one, I flew for my post (and flight) here.

Cheers…!

nice shots...really fun ones..

On 2/24/2026 at 5:29 PM, darrenvox said:

nice shots...really fun ones..

Thank you, Darren, for the comment.

good, thanks you liked my comment

I see this monster fly into Las Vegas almost every night on my evening walk.

I live near the outer marker of 26L.

Big vibes as it drops the gear!

9 hours ago, skully said:

I see this monster fly into Las Vegas almost every night on my evening walk.

I live near the outer marker of 26L.

Big vibes as it drops the gear!

Appreciated the note, skully.

Next time I’m around the Sin City while in command of it, I may do a low (virtual) flyover in your neighborhood…🙂…

Seriously, yes, this is a monster with those monstrous RR Trent XWB power-plants on it.

Cheers…!

Very cool! I especially like the HUD!