Ken Q

Currently marooned at Monterey until my knee (replacement) heals enough to fly. Maybe tomorrow. Heading north towards Rodge. But Hoquiam/Boardman Field! A favorite fantasy has always been to fly into Bowerman in the sim, and park outside Lana's then go up to lunch to enjoy a $100 hamburger (in my own kitchen, or in summer on the porch). Then, A few years ago we got the devastating news (almost as bad as Miegs) that Lana's had closed. In was a sad day in Sim World! But sitting here, nursing a sore knee, I happened to look up Lana's on the web, and found a website, menu, and reviews. So my question to my PNW chums, Has Lana's been rescued? Is it still there? Ken

Generally the usual: wallet, keys and phone. But puttering about the house, just as likely to have a utility knife, screwdriver, and a half dozen all purpose screws (actually sheet rock screws, I use them for almost everything. At work, add to the usual a pocket watch in one vest pocket, and a pen knife (actually a bit like the Swiss Army Knife kit has little scissors too) in another. Ken

I certainly should add Bowerman/Hoquiam to my list. Neat airport with a lot of character, and it's free. Ken

I'll start with Catalina (KAVX) and Sedona (KSEZ). While flying the West Coast I base myself at Santa Barbara or Palm Springs. I really wish Orbx would do Camarillo (KCMA) for all platforms including P3D. But I dream in vain. Farther north, I love Felts Field and Cle Elum (S93), but unless I fly IFR the Washington weather keeps me away. There are others that are also great. Two more Nyack-Blue Canyon, and Kern Valley (L05). On the East Coast Nantucket and Bar Harbor are favorites. But I've been out west for PilotEdge. Ken

You're right of course, sorry! I have your birth year right, but forgot the current one. Oh well! No, I can't kneel. Haven't for some time, Dr's. orders. As Bishop John Cousin of Durham (1660-1672) commented "I bend to Thee the knees of my heart." The Lord receives my prayers sitting or standing. K

Rodger, my friend! A very happy 80th birthday.tomorrow! I hope and pray for many more for you in good health. And I have much to thank you for. The very best, Ken

Happy Birthday, Karl. Many more! Ker

Best wishes Carlos. Happy Birthday! Ken

Thank you very much, Gentlemen. I had the left knee done four years ago, but this was delayed by the pandemic. Finally done, and now I seem to be recovering well. Thanks again. Ken

Happy belated birthday, Smudger. Many happy returns. Ken

Happy Birthday, Don. Do hope your health improves and you can enjoy several more birthdays. Best wishes, we all missed you, Ken

Happy Birthday, my friend, and many happy returns! Ken

In one word: no. I had a few close friends in H.S. One I outgrew in the years I was i college. Another was a couple, Larry and Paula. We were friends in HS and remained so after I went to college Larry went into the Army, then married Paula. But Larry died young a few years later. I still have occasional contact with Paula. My one enduring friendship from my youth was a Navy buddy, Tom. A couple of years ago he was living in Indianapolis when I got a call from the city coroner that he had been found dead in his bed by the landlord. A shock! BTW, just got home from the hospital last night after knee replacement surgery. So far so good. Ken

Happy Birthday, Emsie! Many happy returns! Ken

I remain devoted to P3D and so far I am not tempted by MSFS. So I am very much saddened that Orbx and other devs have abandoned P3D and stopped releasing new products for it. I hope Gumby is right about the "back burner," but I fear that "under the sink" is more like it. Sad, because I have a LONG wishlist I would gladly spend money on, and I don't think I'm alone. Ken

I remember when the White Pages and the Yellow Pages were separate big fat books. As a little kid one or both books served as a booster seat at the dining room table. The new combo book would not serve that purpose at all; it's only 3/4 inch thick, if that! Ken

I'm not much of a sports fan. I do enjoy going to an occasional baseball game; I'm a fan of our local Minor League team, the Long Island Ducks. But here is an interesting turn, if you will: I am employed by Nassau County Museums, which is part of the Department of Parks. This summer the Department is hosting the World Cricket Championship at Eisenhower Park, and they are building a special stadium for the games. Now while we have a lot of recent immigrants fro countries where cricket is popular, so far the sport has not really caught on in the wider population. It is still considered rather exotic. Maybe that will soon change. Ken

I quite agree with John B, indeed John, we are very much on the same page. Back when I started with flight simulation, nearly thirty years ago, there was very little correlation with the real world; the simulator (FS5) and the computer that ran it did not have that capability. So if an airport lacked real world verisimilitude we accepted it, and accepted that our "real" airport was the one in the sim. Today, fortunately, it is quite different. We have all sorts of real world resources available, FAA charts, Skyvector, VFRmaps, and Navigraph Charts. These lay out airport diagrams, taxi routes, parking, etc. There are also approach plates, SIDS, STARS, and other procedures, all of which we should be able to use in our sim. Anyone who belongs to PilotEdge knows that the controllers assume the real world setting. Mostly we can. But there are limitations: Some airports are more faithful to the real world: Orbx payware, detailed, airports seem to be spot on, at least at the time the scenery was created. Orbx freeware and enhanced Region airports are quite accurate, but of course not as detailed. Default airports in P3D are a mixed bag. Based on old FSX scenery most are "OK" but they do have problems. In all of these a major, but insoluble problem is that our Sim airports are frozen in time at the time they were developed. The real world changes, and these changes are obviously not reflected. And there are just plain inaccuracies. Lately I've been doing a couple of real world flights out of Islip Mac Arthur Airport (KISP). I like to rehearse these flights in the Sim first. The plane is kept in a private parking area on the east side, connected to the airport by Taxiway "H." But from there the taxiway does not connect with "S" as in the real world. Also, the east/west runway in the sim has been closed for some time. These are frustrating, but ultimately not important. I just follow the path shown in Navigraph Charts, even if it has me taxiing over grass. Our Flight Simulators are still really incredible, and getting better. For the most part we can compensate for the glitches end enjoy a really realistic experience. Ken

I had a lot of fun playing with the interior of the recreation of Miegs Field in Chicago. Using "Bob" I spent about half hour exploring, going up and down stairs and so on. I enjoyed the novelty of it, for a while. That was fun while it lasted. It was several years ago, and I've never done it again. I have, however, explored the grounds of and around Catalina airport. Those details (all exterior) are nice, and exploring is fun and increases the immersion. I fully agree with Ryanm, that the ability to select on or off for interiors would be good. Then we can have it both ways. Ken

Exterior details and layout are very, very important. Interior details are nice, but I rarely explore them, so not so much. What I really want is an airport with recognizable buildings, accurately placed and identified FBOs and parking. The reason: I almost always fly on PilotEdge. Several years ago I flew into Reno (KRNO) with default scenery (this is just outside of Orbx region territory). On landing Ground instructed me to taxi to Atlantic (FBO). So, where was Atlantic? Quick look at AirNav, find the approximate location. No signs. No recognizable structures. After parking and closing out, I quickly found a good payware Reno scenery and bought it (sorry Orbx). It's so nice, and greatly increases realism and immersion to be parked at Signature at Palm Springs, for example, looking at the FBO with the aerial tram in the distance, and calling PSP Ground, saying "Palm Springs Ground, Mooney 2442Papa, at Signature with Charlie, ready to taxi..." A realistic depiction of the area immediately surrounding the airport is also great for VFR flying. Also now that my friend and CFII Bill is giving me some real world flying time, i like to preview the flights in the SIM before hand. And accurate Airport makes this much more productive. (We had planned KISP to KACK for yesterday, but defeated by the weather. Next Tuesday). Note, I'm using P3D v5 and no plans to change. Well, maybe 6 someday. Ken

I'm going to combine my response to this post, Adam, with Rodger's TWMT. Until it closed several years ago we had here a really fun restaurant called the "56th Fighter Squadron." The food was very good, basic fare. But the theme, ambiance, and location was perfect for a military veteran/retiree, history geeg, and aviation nut. It was located at the edge of KFRG, Farmingdale Republic Airport. The view out the windows overlooked the ramp.and Runway 14/32. But in the foreground there were a couple Republic P47s which had been built at this field. The restaurant was decorated as a WW2 Officers' Club in Europe during the War. And of course this was the music played over the sound system: Andrews Sister, Argue Shaw, Glenn Miller, and all the others. Wife and Mother indulged me, but it was a great favorite of mine while it lasted. Thanks for.sharing these. Great memories. Though I must say, my Mom could never understand why I liked this music. She pointed out that it was the music of her generation. Actually I never cared for most of the music from "my" generation. But then mom insisted that I was fifteen years older than she was. She was 25 when I was born, but she figured I was 40. Ken

Where I live, on Long Island, on the east coast of the US ( approx 41 degrees north), surrounded by the sea, we only occasionally get extremes of temperature. Temperatures in the single digits or over 100 Fahrenheit are very rare. This past week temps were in the mid teens, the lowest of the season. Being in a maritime climate we tend to get quite a bit of precipitation, especially in the winter, but a significant snowfall has become somewhat rare with global warming. Last really big one was Christmas, 2010. I don't mind snow or rain. What I really HATE is "wintery mix." That gets to be so dangerous. Our greatest meteorological threat is a tropical weather system in the fall. By the time they get to us they are weakened by cooler sea temperatures, but they can be devastating. The last bad ones were Irene in 2010, and Sandy the following year. We lost trees in the area, but the worst was no electricity for almost two weeks. After Sandy (end of October) it got cold, too, and we had no heat, either. Next year I had a fireplace insert installed (a woodstove that fits in the fireplace and uses the chimney, but throws a lot more heat into the room. Incidentally, using it regularly has reduced our fuel oil bills significantly). Stay warm, or cool, and safe! Ken

There is not a Denny's anywhere near here, but my wife remembers the restaurant fondly, as there was one near her when she was growing up in St. Cloud, Minnesota. I did go to one once. We were attending a conference for Medievalists at the University in Binghamton, NY. The hotel had a full service restaurant, and we and our colleagues went there for breakfast the first morning. One of our colleagues was just recovering from a heart attack, so he requested one egg and toast for breakfast. No, he could not order that, he had to get the three eggs with bacon and the works. And pay for all of it too. So he got, ate the one egg and toast, and the rest went back. This, of course was witnessed by all of the attendees. The next morning, as we walked past the restaurant it was empty; the Denny's across the street was packed with all of the conference attendees. And we all had a good breakfast prepared as desired. Even before the Pandemic diner style restaurants were having a rough time and closing. Now there are only a couple left. Now we rarely eat out, though we regularly patronize a number of restaurants for take out. Among our favorites is one specializing in Afghan food called Kabob Express. Another is a taqueria called MI Vieito Pueblito. There's a good Indian/Pakistani place, and finally, after several years, a GOOD pizzeria. Gumby, congrats on the new arrival! Ken

You've outdone yourself Rodger. Sorry you'll have to move across the country, but I'm nominating you for the New York State Board of Regents. They need your input on writing Revenge Exams required for H.S. graduation. (I wrote "Regents Exams" but that darned Auto Correct changed it. Maybe the Auto Correct is right). Ken

Nice picture! This is the Kingdom of Mercia? My regards to King Raedwald (whether or not he actually is in Sutton Hoo)! Beautiful. Ken