MattNeffer

Funny one, this. I'd been away from Flight (and this forum) for several months, since April, I think. I started it up and went for the cache, but, as usual, not going through the "hunt for aerocache" feature or from the suggested starting airport. Just went into free flight and took off from Songlo Vista, to the north, getting used to my TrackIR I'd gotten in March but only used a couple of times. When I got to the bridge, the AOTD was not there. Flew around and around. Not there. I thought, oh geez, those messages were true, no more aerocaches. So just to make sure, I went back and started via the "hunt for aerocache" page, and this time it was there. Weird, never seen that before. Anyway, it was fun to fly again after a few months off. And I'm liking the TrackIR a lot.

The Easter Cub is currently my go-to ride. Nice job.

Thanks, Don, those are just the sort of tips I was looking for. I appreciate it.

I just purchased TrackIR 5 a couple of days ago after reading all the praise heaped on it. I've only tried it briefly in Flight, right out of the box, to check that it worked. It's impressive, but I can see I'll need to tweak it some. I assume you can do that with the software. I'd like to make it have a sort of a neutral zone right in the center so I can move my head a little without it registering. I kind of got the feeling I'd get a stiff neck trying to hold the view steady. Are there game-specific profiles you can load? Or does it just sense what you're playing? I'd appreciate any beginner tips anybody has.

Moe, that's a great idea. Thanks for passing that on. Peter

Gee whiz, you guys had much nicer weather than I did. I took off from Unalakleet, heading first for Shaktoolik. Then it was off to Besboro. Peter

I think the white looks great, but I tried the link and got a 404 error, darn it. Peter ETA: OK, this link didn't work for me, but the one in the sticky thread at the top did, so I've got it now. Thanks for sharing this with everyone.

Luis, I like 'em both. Thanks very much. So cool to have new Icons and new Cubs in the hangar.

Thanks very much, your effort is appreciated. I especially like the blue one. (It's been so long since I looked at the basic Cub I'd forgotten it had different liveries than the deluxe.)

I did it at night, with the panel lights off. I sometimes find it easier to spot the yellow cache marker in the dark when I know there won't be any other lights around (like a waterfall in the jungle).

Aha! Perhaps that's why my aerocache count decreased by 1 since yesterday. I see it's no longer in the list.

I was treated to a moonrise as I approached the cache. - Peter

Give this thread a look. It has a couple of pictures that might help. http://forum.avsim.net/topic/395278-aotd-for-1227-iditarod-1-campbell-airstrip/ And you get to see Luis fly upside down.

No, you do not need to start from the recommended airport - although it usually is the closest to the cache - and you don't need to start by clicking the "START HUNT" button. You can start in Free Flight from anywhere, but doing so will not display the "within 5 miles / within 10 miles..." gadget. I like to do the research, plot a course (and intersecting VOR radials when available) with Skyvector, and hunt without the gadget, but sometimes I'll go back and use it when things seem hopeless - there are some caches out in the ocean between islands in Hawaii that just lost their appeal after a while for me.

I doubt it. Why on earth would they waste employees' time on a product they've all but abandoned?

I've always been impressed with Flight's load time, never a long wait - especially compared to how long it takes FS 2004 to load on the same computer. I realize FS 2004 probably has much more to load, but Flight's quick load time hs always encouraged me to get into it. I start it up and I can be flying a minute later if I want. I never get that, "Oh man do I really want to wait for all that?" feeling that often dissuades me from staring FS9.

24-Feb-2013, 3:32 pm CST - I see "Lonely Radar Farm" for the AOTD. "Lonely Air Station was built in the 1950's to support the Distatnt Early Warning Line Later decommissioned, upgraded, and in 1994 was re-designated part of the North Warning System as a Short Range Radar site. Submitted by community member AlbacoreTunaMan." - Peter

I've been saving all the Iditarod caches that have gone permanent until they're all there, so I can try to get them all in one flight, but since this one showed up out of sequence on a day when there was no AOTD, I thought I should get it in case it disappeared. I used Skyvector to plot a course from McGrath to Iditarod, followed the 232 radial for 72.5 nm in the RV-6A, and looked around for the road that's in the aerocache picture. Found it, and the cache was right there. Pretty easy, this one. Then I headed SE and landed at Flat, and walked over to the dredge that was the host of the Nov. 28 AOTD.

And I still get "Aerocache of the day is not available."

A tip - I've found the "hunt" is much more satisfying if you turn off all the aerocache detection widgets and just look for them in Free Flight.

At 3:12 pm CST, AOTD is not available - but "Iditarod 12 - Iditarod" has been added as a permanent aerocache.

Actually, Yentna Bend has been a permanent cache for over a month.

I don't get it - they have room in the Waipio Valley for (apparently) an endless number of waterfalls, but only enough space for about half a soccer field. The poor kids. - Peter

I'd agree that I'd like to see a little more variety in the AOTD choices. How many times does one need to go to the Waipio Valley? (Answer: As many times as there are waterfalls there, apparently.) More history-based caches would be good, and Luis' suggestion of places out of poems and literature is intriguing - where are Lake Labarge and the Dawson Trail from "The Cremation of Sam McGee?" But I don't mind trips into the Twilight Zone, on occasion, either, in the spirit of using every part of the pig but the squeal. This was a good navigation challenge, too, with no VOR to fall back on. - Peter

I didn't get it originally, so I was glad to have a second chance. My aerocache count became one less than it should be after picking up the Reservoir repeat the other day. I was hoping (for no reason based on anything) that getting this would fix that, but no. - Peter