And So …

I keep apologizing for the dearth of posts as if there are a bunch of subscribers eagerly waiting for my every enlightened word. Pshaw, as if!

Anyway, with Ramalamadingdong taking office next week, I've not only decided not to pay much attention to the news (it's worked wonderfully, my blood pressure is way lower), but I've also decided to write about things that make me happy.

Such as aviation: for now, this consists mainly of flying Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft over the Atlantic between KORD (Chicago O'Hare), KMIA (Miami), KBOS (Boston), KJFK (guess) on one end and EGLL (London Heathrow) and EGKK (London Gatwick) on the other. Most of these flights I make for a few "virtual airlines", like American Virtual Airlines and British Virtual Airways.

So what does this all mean? Well, I fly both the Level-D Boeing 767-300ER and PMDG Boeing 747-400 and if you aren't a flightsim enthusiast, you will not believe the level of detail (and work!) that goes into doing that. For a flight, there is almost as much time spent pre-flight planning as in the real world, starting with generating a passenger and fuel load document. After this comes route planning.

Flights both ways across the Atlantic fly what is known as North Atlantic Tracks or NATs. These are specific tracks that have been designed by Air Traffic Control on both sides of the Atlantic, the Canadians (called "Gander") and the Brits (called "Shanwick"). The high speeds of the jet stream constantly blowing over the ocean requires careful planning because, as a pilot, you really don't want to be flying with a 125mph headwind! This means that most flights starting in north America leave in the evenings to take advantage of good tailwinds--the other night, I was flying with almost a 200mph tailwind--and most flights the other way from the European continent to north America leave in the mornings when the jet stream has dipped further south.

Preparing the aircraft is another ordeal, but a pleasurable one obviously. There is a checklist that must be followed when loading fuel, clicking all those buttons you may have caught a glimpse of as you passed by the open cockpit door on your way into your last commercial airliner--and that's because all of those buttons are modeled in the simulated aircraft. The level of simulation is incredible and, to the new pilot, somewhat bewildering. It took me some serious reading before I could even start the engines on the Level-D B767.

Here's the bottom-line: there isn't much (beyond the guards and their guns) that can stop me from walking up to a 767 or 747 and starting up the aircraft, taxiing to the runway and taking off! The simulations are that perfectly modeled after the real thing.

I can't wait for the next time I'm in an airliner and the pilots fall ill from seafood poisoning!