Going Around the World in the Comanche

[eighteez]

Great pics thanks for the update

[Mustang]

Thanks all! To answer the queries:

Will: I made a detour because I set off without a route in mind. I decided to fly up to the Netherlands because I've visited a few cities there in the past and I have a couple of friends who live over there. I also thought I might head east towards Russia where I have family. However, after arriving in the Netherlands I decided to plan a rough route across Europe & Asia. The terrain across Germany, Poland and on towards Russia looked so flat on the map, I realised it would look incredibly dull in FSX. So I turned south and decided to go for the scenic route!

Lewis: I'm using default FSX ATC throughout. Flying without ATC is too... quiet. It's passable for VFR. As you surely know, flying IFR in a GA aircraft is silly as the ATC vectors you halfway around the world to line you up. I'm planning to try VoxATC soon but want to make sure I find time to get the most of out the 7-day trial to evaluate it properly as it's not the cheapest add-on. I'm starting to think about making a cut-off with FSX add-ons as newer sims are coming on the horizon, even if we'll have nothing to rival the depth & variety of FSX/P3D for many years yet.

Piper: Thanks for the Mannheim link, that looks amazing for freeware! I found Germany a pleasant place to fly over with lots of detail and interesting terrain even in default FSX so definitely one to revisit. I've spent most of my FSX time over Australia as I have Orbx's AU scenery but I'm rediscovering Europe now. I'm not used to seeing so many roads, railways and rivers!

[LZ-WIL]

Great,

Thanks for sharing your reasons for the detour. I agree Alps are much more fun scene, than the plains of Poland.

Cheerz,
Will

[Piper_EEWL]

Yes thank you for the answers. I agree. The alps give a very good scenic route! Good decision

Happy flying

[Mustang]

Some more progress this week with two slightly shorter legs taking me from Innsbruck through Slovenia and Croatia. I had to delay my departure from Innsbruck due to some heavy rain & snow in recent days. With poor visibility and low cloud I was not (safely) going anywhere in the Comanche!

Google Map

Leg 5 - LOWI Innsbruck (Austria) to LJLJ Ljubljana (Slovenia)

A navigational challenge with all the valleys and lack of significant landmarks. I may have gotten a little carried away with the screenshot key on this leg!


Leg 6 - LJLJ Ljubljana (Slovenia) to LDSP Split (Croatia)

A straightforward leg in terms of navigation with some longer cruise segments, but heavy turbulence during descent and landing, just like the SIGMET on ASN was reporting! At one point I was tipped over to around 40° of bank after looking down to flick a couple of switches!

[Piper_EEWL]

Very nice shots! And yes it's hard to make some progress through the alps this time of year. The weather has been horrible for a week here. Today was a really nice day. Bright sunshine. I don't know what it was like on the south side of the alps though. Seems like you've made some good progress there!

Nice flying! Thanks for sharing your progress! I'll be looking forward for more.

[Mustang]

Quite some time since I last made an update, but progress has been ongoing, if a bit slow at times.

Since my last post, I've flown a further six legs; legs 7 to 12, and now find myself in Turkey, soon to pass Istanbul and cross into Asia.

Since Leg 6, which saw me in Split in Croatia, the route has been as follows:

Leg 7 - Tirana, Albania (LATI)
Leg 8 - Corfu, Greece (LGKR) - unplanned stop due to weather & lack of daylight (aka bad planning!)
Leg 9 - Kefalonia, Greece (LGKF)
Leg 10 - Athens, Greece (LGAV)
Leg 11 - Limnos, Greece (LGLM)
Leg 12 - Hezarfen, Turkey (LTBW)

> Google Progress Map <

And the screenshot albums for each leg (also linked from the legs on the Google Map):

And here are a few assorted photos for your convenience


Overflying the ridge between Croatia and Montenegro


Clearer weather out to the north west


Rising peaks and lowering clouds...


Breaking out again to the Adriatic at the tiny Porto Palermo, Albania


FreeMesh X + freeware Greek coastlines working beautifully along with ASN


Parked up but still drizzling with rain


Various small boats out in the water along the coast


Overflying the Parthenon at the Acropolis of Athens


Gorgeous evening as we prepare for landing


Passing Skopelos before turning towards Limnos


Lots of activity at this small GA airfield

[Piper_EEWL]

Nice screenshots and nice to see some progress!

Thanks for sharing

[Lewis - A2A]

Beautiful screenies, looks like you got your sim all setup and looking beautiful!

[Mustang]

Thanks Lewis! It's not P3D, but it still looks pretty good at times. And it still works perfectly well after last week's Windows 10 upgrade. Bonus!

I've just picked up FTX Global + Vector so it should look even better soon. Next flight has been delayed due to decorating the dining room over the bank holiday weekend ( ), but I shall be airborne again shortly

Martyn

[Lewis - A2A]

Looks as good as P3D to my eyes lol, great job

Good luck with the decorating lol Nice to know she's keeping you an honest man

cheers,
Lewis

[Mustang]

Once again, quite a while since the last progress was posted. It's summer time (sort of; it is grey and raining right now), so less time has been spent at the computer.

Nevertheless, I have slowly crossed Turkey via Istanbul, the gateway to Asia, and the capital Ankara. Given recent world events I'm glad to have left those places behind a few weeks ago. I'm now in Georgia (into well-known DCS territory).

What's more, the scenery has now been upgraded with FTX Global + Vector, so there's much more to look at. The texture replacement hasn't made a huge difference (in some ways it makes the drier climate of this part of the world look more western European), but the vector detail is fantastic, with coastlines, lakes, rivers and roads looking fantastic all around.

Recent legs:

Leg 13 - Ankara, Turkey (LTAC)
Leg 14 - Ordu-Giresun, Turkey (LTCB) - a newly opened airport (not in FSX by default)
Leg 15 - Batumi, Georgia (UGSB)

As always, more info on the:
Google Progress Map

And the full screenshot albums for each leg (also linked from each leg of the map).

Some screenshot highlights as before:

Istanbul:


Approaching the densely packed centre of Istanbul


Closer view of the Hagia Sophia (left) and Topkapi Palace (right)

Lovely sense of atmosphere in this one, FSX can still give P3D a run for its money:


Soft light in the early evening as we continue to Ankara


Passing north of the city as we approach Ankara Esenboga Airport

I found some great freeware of Ankara (LTAC) which greeted me on arrival:


Taxying in


Ready for pre-flight, with the military's Hueys baking in the sun


Passing the Red River north-west of Corum

Ran into some extensive storms on leg 14, as we reached the northern Turkish coast:


Reaching the coast and heading east, to face a wall of cloud

Some more excellent freeware, this time of Ordu-Giresun (LTCB) airport which only opened in 2015 and was built in the sea on reclaimed land:

Tied down and ready for refreshments in the terminal!


Departing Ordu-Giresun as we head to Georgia

Leg 15 was another flight where the weather slowly deteriorated as we headed to our destination:


Heavy cloud building inland


Visibility dropping further as we approach the border


Marginal VFR as we round the headland into Georgia

But we made it

Also, here's an idea some of you might like:

Since my wife doesn't take much of an interest in my flight simming activities, but loves cooking, I thought of a fun way to link our interests. Every time I reach a new country, she has to find a recipe for a local dish. Since we started we've had a couple of fantastic Greek and Turkish dinners. Next up is Georgian

[Lewis - A2A]

Looks great, nice screenies and still loving that livery. Nice idea on the cooking front with the mrs, be interested to hear what you have next on that front too, not sure I know any of those dishes.

cheers,
Lewis

[Piper_EEWL]

Awesome screenshots! I really like the lighting in your setup!

And what a nice idea to include your wife with cooking dishes out of the respective country. I might have to suggest that idea to my better half. Maybe I'll get some more time simming out of it

[Paul K]

I'd completely missed this thread, so apologies, Martyn. Like you, a round-the-world trip has always been at the back of my mind, and unfortunately there it must remain for a little while longer. Glad to see you on your way, though. May I ask why you didn't take the wingtip fuel tanks with you ?