Jim Albertson 812206 Posted March 19, 2006 at 02:27 PM Posted March 19, 2006 at 02:27 PM I have started a project to fly consequtively to each state in the Continental U.S. The self imposed rules are simple: All flights must be done online following proper VATSIM rules. Also, once the aircraft has departed a State's airspace, that state's airspace cannot be entered again. I want to thank all controllers for their dedication to our hobby, I will certainly be telling those I encounter a big thanks, but wanted to let ALL CONTROLLERS know how much they are appreciated. It has been seveeral years since I have flown on VATSIM, and as the rust slowly comes off I hope to fly as professionally as the controllers have been thus far. When I lost my Medical, I thought I was done flying. The Aviation Bug, however, never goes away. What a thrill to be in the skies once again. The virtual skies are even more enjoyable than the real world skies. No pain in the pocket for annuals, no worries about keeping the GPS data card up to date, no FAA forms to fill out for botched landings and no instructors to pay for currency training, biannuals, etc. Thanks VatUSA for all you are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Hare 907837 Posted March 19, 2006 at 03:23 PM Posted March 19, 2006 at 03:23 PM Jim, Good luck with your endeavor. We have a gent in our VA who is currently flying Miss Earhart's route in realtime and has been posting screenshots and text for each leg. Perhaps you could keep others updated by posting a map or schedule. You may also want to post the callsign you will be using. You may find that others would like to fly along with you on a few of your legs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Thomas Posted March 19, 2006 at 04:58 PM Posted March 19, 2006 at 04:58 PM Jim, good luck. I started a "capital tour" awhile back using only GA aircraft...never finished though... Maybe I'll restart it someday. Here's my route map. Jeff Thomas VP-IT https://joinava.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Speranza 908835 Posted March 19, 2006 at 06:08 PM Posted March 19, 2006 at 06:08 PM Yea...Uh, I was going to do somthing like this when I got the time. Although, no rules. Just a LITERAL "cross-country" My routing would be OWD-ERI-AZO-DBQ-DSM-BBW-BJC-GCN-CRQ...In the stationair... Never got around to it, though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Albertson 812206 Posted March 19, 2006 at 06:40 PM Author Posted March 19, 2006 at 06:40 PM Norm, good ideas. I never thought about anyone else being interested in a fly along. Callsign I will be using is N46TA. I am flying the default Mooney Bravo. I once had this as a goal for my retirement years, but this is even more fun...I can snack and visit the little pilot's room as needed. Anyone who has ever carried Sporty's favorite little red carry-on and tried to use it in hard IFR while in mild to moderate chop will appreciate the humor in that part. I even get to sleep in my own bed each night. The route of flight is a bit ambiguous. I departed my home in Hot Springs Arkansas (KHOT) and flew to Spirit of St. Louis. Then up to Palwaukee (KPWK) in Illinois. From there I have now made it to Madison (KMSN) Wisconsin, and plan to depart for Iowa and Minnesota today. I sat down with a Rand McNally road atlas to find the general route so I can stay out of the aforementioned airspaces, but have yet to dig out all the charts to see which airport is closest to the neccessary route. Will try to keep everyone informed as much as possible. The next 30 days will be flyable but after that my free time will get limited. Gotta hurry!!! I usually fly around 0200Z on weekdays, and as much as the honey will let me loose on the week-ends. Tell your VA gent I send him best wishes on his flight and be careful when he goes feet wet over the Pacific . Jeff, that is one ambitious undertaking. Wow!!! Hope you get a chance to get back to it. John, get yourself back on the project. Take it from someone who has been there, you don't always know when the times will change and you CAN'T do something. Take care all, gotta go fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Hare 907837 Posted March 21, 2006 at 05:08 PM Posted March 21, 2006 at 05:08 PM Jim, You might want to check out the gang at www.dc3airways.com We have many members that are interested in the type flying you are doing and you will find a plethora of interesting routes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Albertson 812206 Posted April 2, 2006 at 04:28 AM Author Posted April 2, 2006 at 04:28 AM Thank you all for the encouraging words. I will post just a few words about the flights I have made so far. If there is interest I will post more. Wow Wow WOW!!!! After far too many moons, I have rediscovered aviation. I have also rediscovered a few things I should have remembered before getting in the cockpit. I will point fingers at myself and have a good laugh (offline). My very first flight online was a fiasco. Thought I understood SB3 enough to get busy. Nice easy flight from KHOT to KMEM. GPS direct. What could be easier? WROONG!!!! The CH Products yolk is not automatically programmed to transmit using the push to talk switch. Many years of unthinkingly reaching behind the yolk on the left side with my left forefinger reared its ugly head. I learned that no matter how loud you yell, Center still won't hear. Then the yolk which had been lying idle for several years decided that my inputs were merely suggestions and not commands. I requested and was granted permission to abort and disco. Cleaned the pots. Any idea how much dust accomeulates on one of these things? pfffft. Back into the manual to find the PTT and I was ready. Next up, leg one of the around the Continental U.S. It dawned a beatiful day. Sun came up revealing clear skies and th promise of calm winds. Rushing through chores, scarfing down lunch, and then came the all important week end nap. Ahh, fresh as a daisey and ready to rediscover flight. Flightplan filed, connected, and voila!! A Mem CTR online. Piece of cake. Leg one was GPS direct to Spirit of St. Louis. Get my IFR feet wet, so to speak. I have to set the stage here. In the real world, KHOT is below radar coverage of MEM CTR, so one can activate the flightplan several ways. Tune the local VOR, and Tx to Jonesboro FSS. Get Airborne and call Jonesboro, or Center. No FSS visable, so the call went out to Center. Perfect phraseology from the Controller. Did I mention Hot Springs Memorial is uncontrolled? Dang, getting old is fun. So, I switched to Unicom, called my intentions (NOW I have learned that doesn't work on voice) and got airborne. Apparently in the sim world the controller can "see" KHOT. After being politely admonished about not holding short and awaiting T/O clearance I was cleared on course. I listened as the Controller did an admirable job with a fair amount of traffic. After leaving Memphis airspace I droned along in the little Mooney Bravo. Should be a nice aircraft when I get out west and have to get "tall" to clear the mountains. Nice little plane. Vectored myself around to final and greased the landing. By golly I was proud of that one!!! Next stop, Illinois and Palwaukee airport just north of Chi-Town. Should be plenty of traffic and loads of fun. I am liking this VATSIM thing. Neatest thing since airplanes were invented. See you soon in the smiling skies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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