Literally, hello world!

 

So the 2020 edition of Flight Simulator has been released. It's pretty amazing, and a fun way to explore the world.

So, that's what this blog is going to do. It's going to record some of the cool places that I've been to, maybe learning a bit about the place when there's a story to tell.

Last night's first flights were spent with the graphics settings accidentally knocked down to medium-low, leaving me with the impression that the sim was having scenery streaming problems. It wasn't and within moments of starting a flight, it was immediately apparent that the muddy textures and fake-looking clouds were all the result of some fat finger action on the settings screen.

The first destination is a lonely little airport, located on the western edge of Scotland. This unassuming aeronautical backwater has some interesting history.

Campbeltown airport, (Previously, RAF Machrihanish), Scotland

Scotland's slightly secret cold war base

Flight Simulator looks okay, even with graphics set to low

This backwater airfield is a former Royal Air Force station located near the town of Machrihanish and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Campbeltown, at the tip of the Kintyre peninsula, Argyll and Bute, in Scotland.

If that looks like a long runway for a backwater airfield, its because it was extended so that it could field large and or specialised military aircraft. In fact, it was certified as a potential destination for the Space Shuttle, should it need to make an emergency landing.  In the 1960s the base was handed over to the US Navy and during the 80s it was the staging area for US Navy SEALS.