Sniper31

Good to see this is happening

Flying in a 747 to Shannon, Ireland on one of my deployments to Iraq, the flight crew let volunteers sit in the cockpit. This was allowed because this was a military contract flight, so everyone on it was in the same unit, so they had no issues leaving the cockpit door open. To my surprise, no one really wanted to take advantage of the opportunity (and probably were not big flight sim fans like myself...lol). As it was, I got to sit in the co-pilots seat at cruise altitude and even got to eat my breakfast there! Of course, I wanted to touch everything, but didn't dare. I asked a TON of questions. When it was time to descend, I had to move, but the pilots said if I wanted to sit in the jump seat for landing, I could. Of course! That was one of the coolest flight experiences I have ever had, sitting in the cockpit of a 747 on final and landing into Shannon. So cool, and mind you I have hundreds of flight in helicopters at nap of the Earth flight in day and night, over desert and jungles. This 747 flight tops them all though!

In addition to all the great comments and advice above Paul, I would say that Navigraph (and Simbrief) are a huge benefit when flying the larger passenger and cargo aircraft. For me LNM workds great for VFR, but when it comes to SIDS and STARS and not to mention all the included approach plates, you can't beat Navigraph. And the new version 8 has imroved so many things! I have not tried the new VFR option in Navigraph yet, but I can tell you that it was sorely missed. As great as LNM is, having one platform that can handle both VFR and IFR low and high altitude is even better. Also, I run Navigraph on a separate PC and it works great.

I had three great uncles that all served in the Pacific theater during WWII, in the U.S. Army. Two of them, the younger two, survived the war and made it home. Of those two, the youngest one stayed in the U.S. Army and made it a career. When I joined the U.S. Army and started my career, he spent lots of time talking to me over several years comparing our experiences. He also gave me lots of leadership information that helped me in my 28 years of service in the U.S. Army. The oldest of the three, Raymond, did not return from the war. He was captured in the Phillipines when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded, and subsequently was killed in action during the Bataan Death March. During the last part of my Army career, I was stationed in Hawaii and working for a joint command that was responsible for recovering American POW and MIA remains scattered around the globe from past wars. That command has a very deep database on all the missing U.S. Servicemembers to include ones whose remains have since been recovered. My great uncle Raymond's story was in their database and I was able to research all of his remains' recovery from there, covering how his remains were found and how and when they were returned to his family in the 70's, when I as just a little boy.

Yes, this is the same for me. I have never been able to meet any of the pilots, some of whom I talked to directly on the radio at the time we needed thier close air support help. I have spent some time after certain missions trying to find some of them, but it's very difficult as in the U.S. military, the A-10's belong to the USAF and me being a U.S. Army Infantry guy, we are just never based near each other at all in combat zones or back in the States.

Every A-10 pilot that showed up when we called them on the radio in need of fire support RIGHT F****** NOW. If I ever run into any A-10 pilot in a bar, drinks are on me. Saved my bacon on more than a few occasions in some rough firefights.

A very nice looking trio Iain. Cool details in these

Some really great looking PC images here John, glad it has improved for you

Looks like a nice winter atmosphere in that image Jon

A nice view of the downtown area on this leg of your flight as you depart Broome!

Looks like a nice, chilly location...love it!

A venerable aircraft for sure, and a nice set of images here Paul The F-14 always looked like a missile to me, but that thing can scoot!

Tremendous image Iain! I've flown on Frontier a handful of times and they are a nice, mid level cost airline. Before the pandemic, if you flew on Frontier, you would get a free glass of beer or wine on the flight. I don't think they do that anymore though

1) Can't decide...I fly them both pretty equally. 2) Cessna 185, although still waiting for a more complex developed one for MSFS 3) Neither, I'll walk 4) Citation X 5) Cessna Caravan 6) Piper Cub 7) Dream On baby!

Looking good Marcus, will be nice to see some more custom GSE at an airport in MSFS.

Very nice image Iain. A different time an angle...very cool!

Quite the deflating experience as the end of such a calm and beautiful floating trip comes to an end Very nice and pleasant images Adam.

You have been quite the busy sim pilot Paul. More solid images with lots of cool details showing off these nice airport locations.

More nice and good looking images with some good background Paul. You just keep 'em coming!

I like leftovers, especially these ones Great images Iain!

Another great synopsis regarding the aircraft background accompanied by some cool images Paul!

Looks pretty good Wayne

Hope you have a nice and enjoyable birthday Jon

Which I always appreciate Paul. I love your little historic tidbits in your postings

@paulb I think maybe my comment was misconstrued a little Paul. I meant no offense to the venerable Vampire, just that I meant it is an oddity to see in the MSFS world as I have not encountered any images of it until yours. It obviously has a storied history, and please accept my apology on the Vampire's behalf