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A few downs then on a roll!

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 I must have been tired on Saturday night. Rubbish landings and struggles with career missions left me feeling like my piloting skills were regressing. I finally completed enough Parachuting flight missions to be able to do aerial advertising. It's actually pretty tricky. You need to fly very low with a tail hook retracted, which picks up the banner. I managed it on my first attempt. Yahoo! Only, I was travelling too slowly, and the drag of the banner caused me to stall and crash land. It took several additional attempts before I could connect the banner without it dragging me in, Completed...but COUNT THOSE CRASHES  Not as easy as it looks! Two more ratings! I picked up the Night Currency. I can now ply my trade all ours, day and night. I then completed training lessons for handling seaplanes and bush flying. Then it was on to that Scoop Endorsement. Scoop Endorsement -- fire fighting flyers  Night flyin I also took a quick flight over Washington DC, looking at many plac...
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Free flight #1 Along the Florida Keys

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 Here we are nearly two weeks into getting hold of the sim and I'm only now charting my own course in Free Flight mode. I first thought about retracing the flight I did in FS2020 that ran from the Northern Coast of Iran, past Mount Damavand, then down some provincial locations that were mostly goats and sandy hills. I decided to save that one and do some proper planning for it. So, I recreated another previous flight along the length of the Florida Keys.  Key West Int to Ocean Reef Club Minutes after take-off, I accidentally found Space X ...actually, nope. Different Boca Chica Makes a note to fly over Boca Chica in Texas. See if Microsoft have put a rocket factory there. These people should be a lot more bothered about climate change. Ocean Reef Club at Key Largo.  Lovely low flight zipping past the traffic following the highway as it seemingly travels across the shallows of the Florida coast.  Aircraft : Cessna 350 Corvalis, a composite construction, single-engine,...
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Turned a career corner

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 It's been a rush! Armed with the Turboprop rating, new mission types became available. Search. And. Rescue!!! Amazing fun, although I got very frustrated on the first attempt. Flight Simulator 2024 actively encouraged me to land in the middle of nowhere—on sloped terrain—which I messed up.  I landed successfully, but the plane appeared to be stuck in the sand.  That's a whoops! Made it down... Made it back, made it big! Well, that turned out to be absolutely thrilling. I've done two more of the missions, since. Pays great, tons of XP awarded.  I got my multi-engine rating. Not too hard! I failed the first time because I prematurely slowed and reduced altitude, unaware that the test was for a single-engine landing.  Then... well, this is interesting. It initially said "INFINITE XP" was awarded. It then settled on this. Then—for the first time ever—it crashed to the desktop, losing this result and locking me out of replaying the mission. It was super fun, too—tor...
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Minor Patch!

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 I was just finishing a session last night when a new patch auto-installed. It's strictly a patch for stability and some priority bugs, as apparently, a more significant patch will be released next week that promises to squish some of the broader issues plaguing our play. Certification: Turbo Prop Engine Rating I relished the opportunity to gain my Turboprop rating. The Cessna 208 Grand Caravan was my favourite aircraft in Flight Simulator 2020. Its greater speed and durability compared to the trusty Skyhawk benefited my touring and sightseeing.  What's interesting is how the certification forces you to learn some additional details -- like the 208's reverse thrust capability. Using this feature is what this certification tests you on. I managed countless flights in 2020 without ever knowing about this. This is where 2024 feels like it's planting deeper roots than the previous version, even with all its many problems. The career mode has given me a purpose I never had i...
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Hit a wall of frustration

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Triple the tanks for triple the fun.  I've enjoyed flying in career mode but suddenly suffered problem after problem. Some of this might be how you get introduced to new aircraft types without assistance learning the type's ins and outs. I've had jobs where the radio comms doesn't work, so I lose points for not using proper radio protocols. I've flown a DHC-2 Bever, only for the engine to repeatedly cut out without explanation. In fact, you should only fly a Beaver if you know it has three fuel tanks and that you need to know when to switch tanks... I actually made it back but got into trouble during the landing. This on top of the issue where my control profiles stop working - always after starting the game up, and occasionally when switching play/plane type. This is very annoying. I believe there will be a patch coming in early December. That will be very welcome.
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Certified!

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  I took the next two certification exams. Tailwheel endorsement (taildraggers) and then the High-Performance Endorsement. The briefing scared me a little. I've flown a lot of these bush planes before. I thought I could handle whatever the exam threw at me. I then took note of the warnings about the need to apply differential breaks to help mitigate a taildragger's tendency toward instability in taxi turns. Eeek!  I thought I was going to lose the Cr 5000 it costs to take the exam. Luckily, I had no problems with the exam. You just need to take things slow and be extra careful with the landing, as you need to touch down on all three wheels for the exam. The HPE didn't quite so well. I missed out on the A grade by a hair. The Cessna 400 Corvallis is a monster hiding in a small body. After a flight in the 400, you really appreciate the Cessna 172 Skyhawk's simplicity and friendliness to trainee pilots. It's got no sharp corners, no nasty surprises. In contrast, I was ...
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Back!

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 I started this blog to track my Flight Simulator 2020 activities. It was fun, but I didn't keep it going. I've been bitten by that flying bug again, so it may be time to restart the blog. Flight Simulator 2024 is more content-rich because of the career mode, the dynamic missions, and the photography challenges. We will see. Progress so far I completed basic training for GA aircraft. I then started the career mode, gaining both my Private Pilot's License and my commercial pilot's License. Next, it's time to get lots of practice in, as some of my flying skills are a bit rusty. The pilot This is Martha Washington. She's based on my character from The Division (first game). I started her flying around Seattle. So far, I've completed a few volunteer flights while I got my CPL and one tour flight, which I completed today after I got certified to take money off people for flying them over their childhood haunts. Hello Martha, nice plane! PPL
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