My goodness, what a blast from the past!I remember your name well, though we've never "talked". Glad to see you're still around.

Yes always good to hear from Peter SidoliI like hearing about real-world flights whether it be from you, Berndt Stolle, Geof A or anyone else.Regarding sand in the intakes, in Gulf War I, some of the helo mechs put panty-hose over the air intakes on their helicopters to deal with the sand. I never did hear how that worked out.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

so glad your back peter,nice to see you back in forums steve

>Regarding sand in the intakes, in Gulf War I, some of the helo mechs put panty-hose over the air intakes on their helicopters to deal with the sand. I never did hear how that worked out.

>Regarding sand in the intakes, in Gulf War I, some of the helo mechs put panty-hose over the air intakes on their helicopters to deal with the sand. I never did hear how that worked out.

Wow Peter! Good to see that you are alive an well and enjoying some adventures (ex-wife not withstanding...I know first hand how much of an adventure that can be).BTW, nothing can be done with the sand. Jets are not too bad since you only have to fly in the muck on take off and landing and most times they won't take off in a driving sandstorm. Just have to grin and bear it and get the maintenance folks to keep an eye on the jets.As an aside, in GW1 the crew chiefs came up with the idea of putting pantyhose material across the intakes on the helicopters, for the sand. Good idea in theory except the sand stuck to the panyhose and caused a loss in performance, so that didn't last too long. At the end of the day, the real big problem was with the blades which were sandblasted clean on every sortie. The poor crew chiefs spent more time jumping from bird to bird because after every few sorties they were replacing blades and taking the engines apart and soaking them in oil!As far as FSX, well, it is what it is...either your love it and are willing to make the commensurate compromises or you hate it and have gone back to FS9. The debate still rages and there seems to very few still sitting on the fence who have actually tried FSX. One thing for sure, if the ex left you any cash, spend it on the fastest hardware you can afford.Warmest regards,Mike T.

Great, thanks Eric, much appreciated.Chris Porter:-outtaPerthWestern Australia

Haboob!Hah! Peter, good to "hear" from you, Pics would be nice.Yer livin Flight like we try to pretend...FSX isn't working for me anymore (just grumpy old Phart) Really stay with FS9 or wait till FSXI. remember all the old theories about Odd and even versions of FS, Its true! Hah! Sigh...Good to see yer.Take Care.PaulL01

Hello Peter, yes I remember you and the great stories you posted here. I have been to far away places in the last year, too and put in alot of airmiles, never will tire of longhaul.Are you going to be shuttling people about European skys now?Please post pictures if you can and WELCOME BACK!Regards,David

Cheers from bt!bt

>Are you going to be shuttling people about European skys now?

I cannot reply to all the people I know in this thread so I am making this to everyone.It is great to see so many still active and loving flight sim and to see so many people I see as friends even though we have not met real world.I am stuck with a lap top in London so will wait till I get back to my home town computer to grab the India Trip photos.I will post some at Avsim over the next week.A big thrill and piece of news is about my Son Nick. Nick has flown with me since a child and got his first solo at 16? He went straight to Oxford in the UK on a JAA modular course. He went through that and was selected by CTC who have now placed him with EasyJet out of Luton.he has just completed his 737 full series type rating and starts on line with Easy Jet in a few weeks.Nick is only just 22 years old and will be a far better pilot than me and probably is already :-) i am really proud of him as I did everything I could to put him off a career in Aviation :-)Thanks to you all and try to keep the sunny side upPeter

Hi Peter, nice to see you're back.........and with such an interesting trip to tell us all about, can't wait for the pic's. That would a good subject for a mission is FSX!Great news for your son, especially with you having tried to put him off ;-)Greatest Airliners - DC-8Greatest Airliners - 727 Whisperjethttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

Peter,Congrats to your son! You must be very proud.I've always enjoyed your trip pics over the years and can't wait to see the latest ones.Glad to see you're still kickin' :-beerchug

PaulNow there is something I will work on with you. A jet limited to FL280 so Highish fuel burns.New Delhi to Karachi In Pakistan through monsoon stormsKarachi to Bahrain in the airway through Iran again at night with strenthening headwinds and a diversion for fuel to Dubai.Daytime flight with landing in sandstorm with 35 kt crosswinds in mid Saudi Arabia.Dusk Landing in Alexandria Egypt.Night takeoff and landing at Crete.Day flight to Malta Day flight to Marseille in south of France( thunderstorm band over north Corsica running right across track)Night flight Marseille to Southen EGMC with a beautiful night view of Paris.This jet was a wreck with every failure you can think of from Night lights to pressurisation to autopilot etc and no RVSM. GPS was not as promised worldwide but Eastern so we had to load all co ordinates manually for airways points from Saudi Arabia (or my poor co-pilot had to :-)Best wishesPeter