If there was one thing I looked forward to it was meeting this character they called "The Flounder." Did he look like a fish? Still, I was cautiously skeptical about the whole thing. From the moment my Senior Editor told me I had six weeks to write an article about Virtual Flight Simulation I had been skeptical.
First, I'm not that computer literate and second, I'm not an aircraft or flight aficionado. Still, an assignment is money so I started out where many modern-day writers do, on the Internet. My first stop was a sight called FlightSim.com. I was completely blown away by the shear size and volume of this sight, indeed of this hobby. In my career here I've covered the Northeastern Model Railroader’s Show, the "Baja"-California RC Challenge, the Golden Grannies’ Quilt-Off and Ma Kettle's Pumpkin Pie Trophy Bake in Northwestern Tennessee, but this was larger. This hobby covers the entire world, and there are hundreds-of-thousands who participate in one form or another. I had seen enough! A "virtual" hobby? A Website? Millions of "pilots" who were "out there"? I needed something tangible, something to hold in my hand (sometimes my wife says I'm too "concrete"). Another search along with a follow-up call to a local bookstore and I was holding a copy of PCPilot Magazine, published in the UK. I felt marginally better.
The magazine came with a CD-ROM (there's a shock from a "virtual hobby"). I found myself asking if nothing about this were real. Both on the CD and in one of the articles I found the name of a man in Oregon, "Tony", so I called. He not only was real, he immediately invited me to join him in Portland, promising to put me in touch with "The one who started this hair brained idea, ’The Cub Flounder'." Some days later I stood in the middle of Concourse C, on a crystal clear afternoon. We had landed in thick fog but by the time I deplaned and walked to the nearest bench it had cleared into a spectacular day.
Soon enough I met "Tony", a friendly middle-aged man with an eager smile. Obviously very intelligent, he immediately began talking about computers, Gigahertz, downloads, Megabytes and within 30 seconds I had decided that although I had NO CLUE what he was talking about, he was pretty harmless. I followed him out to his Ford Explorer, "A real Northwest car" he commented. Tony's conversation seemed to lull me into a sleepy state of semi-consciousness and before I knew what was happening he was giving me a tour of "Flounder One." He touted it as one of his newest creations and one that would likely be very popular with the other virtual pilots. This "Presidential" aircraft was bedecked in Mahogany wood with green and brass trim. Leather accents, a full-service kitchen, seating for 50.... "The baggage area can be converted by our wives for storage or additional living space (including a spot for the kids - AIr and Flounder will need that)." We departed Portland the same afternoon, destination unknown. As we climbed up through clear skies Tony began explaining to me about the "River-Six" something or other, VOR's, Waypoints and high-altitude jetways. I tried not to care but it was fascinating how this man knew so much about flying and navigating, yet he wasn't even a real pilot.
Then it struck me...HE WASN'T EVEN A REAL PILOT! "Do you golf?" he asked me. "Sure" I said. "But you’re no Tiger Woods!" "HA! Hardly that guy is...." "Why do you do it?" Tony fired back. I had to stammer. "To get away I guess. To get out a little bit." "You watch NASCAR?" was his next question. I said that Basketball was more my thing. "Why do you watch but not play in the NBA?" "Well because I am fascinated by the athleticism and the competition." "It's the same here you know?" He continued. "From my living room I can 'get away' to Europe for example. It's the challenge of navigating and landing and real-world weather and....." Suddenly I was lost in thought about all the places I had always wanted to go but have never had the chance. But still, skepticism reigned the day.
As the sun set behind us Tony took me outside the plane to look back over the scenes below! WOW, this really is spectacular, for a “game.” (See Photos 01 & 02 )
It is dark. I've dozed off. I can still here the rumble of the jet engines. Tony is nowhere around. I'm not sure if I'm dreaming or really flying. Was that a bit of turbulence? Fatigue, travel and too much information has blurred my mind as to what is real and what is not. I've never felt this way in ANY other hobby venue. "And that's the beauty isn't it?" Tony was standing behind me; he'd been watching me fondle the gauges on the cockpit. "For a moment there you forgot all about your laundry and your bills." Well, he was right. And now a deep concern for my own sanity washed over me.
"We'll be landing in Amsterdam shortly after sun-up." Tony told me "Weather is breezy, the few showers have moved on so should be a nice day. Flounder has an 11:42 AM scheduled departure to Vienna, so you can go with him from there."
A "Scheduled departure"? I thought this was all a fantasy. Are these guys nuts? Tony must have read my thoughts because his next question really hit home.
"When you shoot basketball, do you use a tennis ball on a 6 foot rim?" "Of course not!" was my answer. "Well," this taller man (once athletic?) continued, "we try, sometimes anyway, to fly LIKE the pros even though only few of us would claim to actually BE professionals." It was a good point. The model railroaders build their sets to look VERY real, only miniature. The model RC builders build their cars or trucks or planes to look real, only miniature. These guys take on their hobby trying to be real too, only they can't actually TOUCH anything they fly, and I still found that concerning. Maybe that's why they don't get the press some of these other groups do...maybe you have to have a certain amount of ethereal intelligence to be a "Flight Simmer."
As Tony sets up for landing I have no idea what he's doing but he is busy over there and appears to be concentrating as well. For him, those cows out back in the garden are a pretty distant thought right now. This is escapism at it's best, and there's no mess to clean up, no room or garage dedicated to your hobby, not like guys who rebuild cars (which seldom ever run anyway). Suddenly I see runways ahead and other planes in the air. There is conversation from planes and pilots and airport and..... how does he do it all? I guess THIS is the attraction, for guys who like planes and flying. The landing is smooth and Tony tries to explain what is going on but as usual, I'm lost. Maybe this "Flounder" will speak English.
"The Flounder" is another real man, named Ron. Oddly, he's also from Oregon (conspiracy theories quickly cross my mind). He's shorter than Tony but much more athletic! Younger too I suppose (I'd say 20 years younger looking but I know that Tony is only in his late 40's). Ron has arrived in a twin-engine business-class jet that looks like it's designed after a full-sized airliner. He seems not to notice me until we are halfway through the tour of "Flounder One", the jumbo I came over on and his new, personal plane.
Pleasantries exchanged I have determined already that this Ron guy may not have the technical expertise of Tony but I find him more captivating. Later I will ask him about his enthusiasm and he'll laugh. "No," he'll reply, "Wait until you meet Bill Smith. This guy sleeps with his hard drive under his pillow.... actually, I'm not sure if he uses a pillow, maybe he just sleeps on his keyboard, which could explain where his hair has gone - wore it right off his head." Now I am intrigued.
Ron will go on talking about "Kirk" who pursues his hobby while at work (away from wife and kids) and "AIr" for that matter who works LATE in order to have some flight time and a faster internet. "Skygirl" who has no real friends and "The Monk" who (worships) his private plane collection. Not wanting to leave out "The Wizard" he promised I'd meet them all later.
Back to the story. Ron and I walk over, there I go, we VIRTUALLY walk over to an older looking plane, which he calls the "DC-4". A World War II-era design which saw military and commercial service the world over. "In fact," he continues, "since we'll be flying over Germany I can tell you about the Berlin Airlift on the way. DC-4's were a BIG PART of that Operation." Now, I can honestly say that I have not had a good history lesson while researching any of my other stories.
Ron goes through some real mental and keyboard gymnastics to get the engines to start, they grumble and groan just like a real plane - and unlike any RC plane I've ever seen! He explains that many of the steps are the same one's a real DC-4 pilot would do, "only he has REAL knobs to turn." At least this guy can admit that.
We bump and grind out to runway 06 and depart to the Northeast. Ron allows me to look back over the main airport as we climb away and I can see that this is one of the busiest places imaginable with airlines from all over Europe and the world docked up or taxiing about. Ron explains how we will use only "non-directional radio beacons" to guide us across Germany. He shows me the arrow, much like a compass, which points to the next radio tower, some miles ahead. Once we cross that he tunes a new channel (just like in your car) and the arrow moves to show us a new heading to fly. We "trim-out" at 7,000 ft and spend the better part of two hours crossing the green fields and rolling hills of central and southern Germany. (See Photo 03)
As we approach Vienna Ron explains very clearing about the radio beacon at the end of some runways, "like a non-rotating lighthouse" he says. He tunes the radio to pick up this "beacon of light" and shows how the needles tell him if he is left, right, above or below the beam. "Then we just drive down, right onto the runway,” he says. But I could clearly see that out the window. "Better to know what to do before you need to do it." he responds. And I find myself thinking that nowhere else can I get this kind of an up-close experience to flying a DC-4...and after 9/11/01 I likely won't get too near any other cockpits either!
"Now what?" I have to ask. "Now," Ron replies, a twinkle in his eye, "we see a little of Vienna." He leads me over to the FujiFilm blimp! I've always wanted to ride in a blimp - now this was providing me some cheap thrills! There are scattered showers around the city as we take to the sky. This is some of the most fun I've had researching a story EVER. The views from inside and outside the Blimp are amazing. We fly over to a soccer stadium but there is a game going on and “Flounder,” suggests that 65,000 fans might not like our visit. We find a small park right in the middle of town and we proceed to set down, to LAND THE BLIMP, right in the middle of the neighborhood! This is incredible!! We tie up to some trees and run over about 2 blocks to a shop that sells Lederhosen, “Bill wanted these” Ron says. (See Photos 04 - 05 - 06 )
Back to the blimp we take off, nearly shearing some roofs along the way, and return to the airport where a new surprise awaits. A two-seater, fighter from the Vietnam era, the big and powerful F-4 Phantom. I cannot believe what I have seen here, business jets, jumbos, old piston-engine transports, blimps, and now fighters! What can these guys NOT fly? I had a neighbor who rebuilt cars, only Chevy’s, nothing else. “Oh, some guys are like that, ‘The Monk’ is an example, he has, probably, 500 private or General Aviation planes in his collection. Getting him to fly something like this might actually kill him off!”
We depart Vienna and OH MY GOSH, STRAIGHT UP. (See Photo 07) “YEEEEEHAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” As we climb up to 17,000 ft the weather clears and we get some spectacular views of this amazing country. (See Photo 08) Then, barely 45 minutes later we are heading down, waaaaaay down, into an alpine valley. To me, it feels like we are doing 700 miles an hour. WHAT A RUSH! I never felt THIS watching grannies quilt! Finally I see the village, the hamlet of Innsbruck laying in the valley ahead. The Flounder puts up the spoilers, lowers the flaps and landing gear and gets blown off coarse a bit. (I had to say that so that you all wouldn't think he was perfect). But with some tricky play on the throttles he corrects in time to make a rough landing on the runway. The rest of the day is spent reviewing Olympic memories and collecting souvenirs.
http://www.geocities.com/mollyjoyful/austria.html http://www.kiat.net/olympics/history/winter/w09innsbruck.html http://www.pinlink.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=P&Category_Code=I
While here, Ron also introduces me to his Brother-in-Law, via this link: http://www.plr.org/ Actually, when an American is in Austria, he tends to forget about Thanksgiving back home. Suddenly that last Thursday of the month has come and gone and Flounder is dragging me back out to the airport. I didn't want to go but somehow I knew I had a job to do, and The Flounder promised better things to come. We boarded an Air-Berlin 737 (nice winglets) with a rather robust load of Austrian Vacationers and I watched Ron taxi back out to runway 08. The weather had cleared and I actually looked forward to a beautiful flight.
Up in the Cockpit Ron showed how we would track a route back over Vienna, over Budapest, Belgrade, Kopje, and Thessoloniki before landing at one of the Greek Isles. Another place I've longed to visit, GREECE. (And home of the next summer Olympic Games by the way) This job was turning out to be more fun than I had ever dreamed! I'm afraid I've become hooked on this. As stated, I'm not much of a computer or airplane kind of a guy but the challenge of navigating, the thrill of seeing the world, the knowledge gained for my next real-world flight.... I could do this, if only just once a month or so!
We depart up the same valley we had rocketed down in the Phantom. Ron skillfully shows me how we follow the "tails" on the navigation dial to avoid "driving into the mountains." (See Photo 9) We climb up to cruise level at 35,000 ft. I watch intently as clouds build below, obscuring views of the former Yugoslav Republics. (See Photo 10) By the time we cross Greece and head out over the Mediterranean however it has cleared again. "The Flounder" asks me to dial up the navigation radio for Samos, Greece which by now I can do. We watch the numbers count down and by 110 miles out Ron has slowed the plane and we are descending over the isles. Green, Brown and Rocky but surrounded by Azure Seas! This is amazing - have I already said that?
We fly directly over the island and I'd have to say that the runway didn't look very big. Ron explains that this is traditionally quite the tricky approach. Once down to 3,000 ft (just nine miles from the airport now) we make a big turn and head back directly for the island. Ron keeps looking out the Right-side window to get a fix on the airport. We continue to slow and descend as Ron drops in flaps and landing gear. (See Photo 11) It looks to me like we are flying directly toward the mountains but Ron keeps looking over to the airport. (See Photo 12) I'm no pilot but it seems to me that this is a very awkward angle! Finally, just before we slam into the rocks and trees Ron lays the plane over onto its right side! I can feel the engines surge. (See Photos 13 - 14 - 15 ) We roll out of the turn heading right for the end of the runway.
"Too Fast, too fast!" Ron keeps saying. He pulls the throttles back and raises the nose of the plane. (See Photo 16) I can still see the runway ahead; it looks fine to me.... Ron deploys the spoilers, early according to him, and the plane settles smoothly onto the runway. (See Photos 17 & 18 ) Braking and reverse thrusters engaged and we pull up easily before the end of the runway. It is a few minutes after 2 PM. "Welcome to Greece!" (See Photo 19)
Here, on this arid resort in the middle of the Mediterranean I have the honor to meet the other pilots in this "Flight Club" which Tony has set me up with. I cannot tell you the contentment I felt sitting on the rocky beach, Mediterranean Sea lapping at my toes, sipping the Australian Wine which "The Wizard" had flown in, listening to these friends talk of their flight adventures. It is almost like they had BEEN THERE. I felt like I had been there, how much more for them? Truly, I'm going to have to try this as soon as I get home.
And speaking of home. Now that we are at the end of my part of the assignment Ron agrees to fly me out of Greece (as far as Athens anyway). We borrow Alejandro's King Air 200 and fly into Mykonos for a brief look around and then on to Athens. (See Photos 20 - 21 - 22 ) That is where I leave these newfound friends and head back to my own little corner of the world. But now I knew that I wasn't doomed to stay in my own little corner, I could travel, if only virtually, anywhere I wanted.
Thank you to F.S Flight Club International for hosting my tour. A special thanks to "Tony" for setting me up with this wonderful group, thanks to "The Flounder" for so expertly showing me the world and to "Kirk" for this awesome destination in the Greek Isles! I will end by promising my new virtual friends that you will hear from me again, in the skies over some distant land.
To find out more about this virtual flight club visit http://www.toomuchfs.com/ To find out more about Flight Simulation in general visit http://www.flightsim.com/ To find out more about PCPilot magazine visit http://www.pcpilot.net/ To find out more about Positive Life Radio visit http://www.plr.org/
Ron Blehm cubflounder@toomuchfs.com
First, I'm not that computer literate and second, I'm not an aircraft or flight aficionado. Still, an assignment is money so I started out where many modern-day writers do, on the Internet. My first stop was a sight called FlightSim.com. I was completely blown away by the shear size and volume of this sight, indeed of this hobby. In my career here I've covered the Northeastern Model Railroader’s Show, the "Baja"-California RC Challenge, the Golden Grannies’ Quilt-Off and Ma Kettle's Pumpkin Pie Trophy Bake in Northwestern Tennessee, but this was larger. This hobby covers the entire world, and there are hundreds-of-thousands who participate in one form or another. I had seen enough! A "virtual" hobby? A Website? Millions of "pilots" who were "out there"? I needed something tangible, something to hold in my hand (sometimes my wife says I'm too "concrete"). Another search along with a follow-up call to a local bookstore and I was holding a copy of PCPilot Magazine, published in the UK. I felt marginally better.
The magazine came with a CD-ROM (there's a shock from a "virtual hobby"). I found myself asking if nothing about this were real. Both on the CD and in one of the articles I found the name of a man in Oregon, "Tony", so I called. He not only was real, he immediately invited me to join him in Portland, promising to put me in touch with "The one who started this hair brained idea, ’The Cub Flounder'." Some days later I stood in the middle of Concourse C, on a crystal clear afternoon. We had landed in thick fog but by the time I deplaned and walked to the nearest bench it had cleared into a spectacular day.
Soon enough I met "Tony", a friendly middle-aged man with an eager smile. Obviously very intelligent, he immediately began talking about computers, Gigahertz, downloads, Megabytes and within 30 seconds I had decided that although I had NO CLUE what he was talking about, he was pretty harmless. I followed him out to his Ford Explorer, "A real Northwest car" he commented. Tony's conversation seemed to lull me into a sleepy state of semi-consciousness and before I knew what was happening he was giving me a tour of "Flounder One." He touted it as one of his newest creations and one that would likely be very popular with the other virtual pilots. This "Presidential" aircraft was bedecked in Mahogany wood with green and brass trim. Leather accents, a full-service kitchen, seating for 50.... "The baggage area can be converted by our wives for storage or additional living space (including a spot for the kids - AIr and Flounder will need that)." We departed Portland the same afternoon, destination unknown. As we climbed up through clear skies Tony began explaining to me about the "River-Six" something or other, VOR's, Waypoints and high-altitude jetways. I tried not to care but it was fascinating how this man knew so much about flying and navigating, yet he wasn't even a real pilot.
Then it struck me...HE WASN'T EVEN A REAL PILOT! "Do you golf?" he asked me. "Sure" I said. "But you’re no Tiger Woods!" "HA! Hardly that guy is...." "Why do you do it?" Tony fired back. I had to stammer. "To get away I guess. To get out a little bit." "You watch NASCAR?" was his next question. I said that Basketball was more my thing. "Why do you watch but not play in the NBA?" "Well because I am fascinated by the athleticism and the competition." "It's the same here you know?" He continued. "From my living room I can 'get away' to Europe for example. It's the challenge of navigating and landing and real-world weather and....." Suddenly I was lost in thought about all the places I had always wanted to go but have never had the chance. But still, skepticism reigned the day.
As the sun set behind us Tony took me outside the plane to look back over the scenes below! WOW, this really is spectacular, for a “game.” (See Photos 01 & 02 )
It is dark. I've dozed off. I can still here the rumble of the jet engines. Tony is nowhere around. I'm not sure if I'm dreaming or really flying. Was that a bit of turbulence? Fatigue, travel and too much information has blurred my mind as to what is real and what is not. I've never felt this way in ANY other hobby venue. "And that's the beauty isn't it?" Tony was standing behind me; he'd been watching me fondle the gauges on the cockpit. "For a moment there you forgot all about your laundry and your bills." Well, he was right. And now a deep concern for my own sanity washed over me.
"We'll be landing in Amsterdam shortly after sun-up." Tony told me "Weather is breezy, the few showers have moved on so should be a nice day. Flounder has an 11:42 AM scheduled departure to Vienna, so you can go with him from there."
A "Scheduled departure"? I thought this was all a fantasy. Are these guys nuts? Tony must have read my thoughts because his next question really hit home.
"When you shoot basketball, do you use a tennis ball on a 6 foot rim?" "Of course not!" was my answer. "Well," this taller man (once athletic?) continued, "we try, sometimes anyway, to fly LIKE the pros even though only few of us would claim to actually BE professionals." It was a good point. The model railroaders build their sets to look VERY real, only miniature. The model RC builders build their cars or trucks or planes to look real, only miniature. These guys take on their hobby trying to be real too, only they can't actually TOUCH anything they fly, and I still found that concerning. Maybe that's why they don't get the press some of these other groups do...maybe you have to have a certain amount of ethereal intelligence to be a "Flight Simmer."
As Tony sets up for landing I have no idea what he's doing but he is busy over there and appears to be concentrating as well. For him, those cows out back in the garden are a pretty distant thought right now. This is escapism at it's best, and there's no mess to clean up, no room or garage dedicated to your hobby, not like guys who rebuild cars (which seldom ever run anyway). Suddenly I see runways ahead and other planes in the air. There is conversation from planes and pilots and airport and..... how does he do it all? I guess THIS is the attraction, for guys who like planes and flying. The landing is smooth and Tony tries to explain what is going on but as usual, I'm lost. Maybe this "Flounder" will speak English.
"The Flounder" is another real man, named Ron. Oddly, he's also from Oregon (conspiracy theories quickly cross my mind). He's shorter than Tony but much more athletic! Younger too I suppose (I'd say 20 years younger looking but I know that Tony is only in his late 40's). Ron has arrived in a twin-engine business-class jet that looks like it's designed after a full-sized airliner. He seems not to notice me until we are halfway through the tour of "Flounder One", the jumbo I came over on and his new, personal plane.
Pleasantries exchanged I have determined already that this Ron guy may not have the technical expertise of Tony but I find him more captivating. Later I will ask him about his enthusiasm and he'll laugh. "No," he'll reply, "Wait until you meet Bill Smith. This guy sleeps with his hard drive under his pillow.... actually, I'm not sure if he uses a pillow, maybe he just sleeps on his keyboard, which could explain where his hair has gone - wore it right off his head." Now I am intrigued.
Ron will go on talking about "Kirk" who pursues his hobby while at work (away from wife and kids) and "AIr" for that matter who works LATE in order to have some flight time and a faster internet. "Skygirl" who has no real friends and "The Monk" who (worships) his private plane collection. Not wanting to leave out "The Wizard" he promised I'd meet them all later.
Back to the story. Ron and I walk over, there I go, we VIRTUALLY walk over to an older looking plane, which he calls the "DC-4". A World War II-era design which saw military and commercial service the world over. "In fact," he continues, "since we'll be flying over Germany I can tell you about the Berlin Airlift on the way. DC-4's were a BIG PART of that Operation." Now, I can honestly say that I have not had a good history lesson while researching any of my other stories.
Ron goes through some real mental and keyboard gymnastics to get the engines to start, they grumble and groan just like a real plane - and unlike any RC plane I've ever seen! He explains that many of the steps are the same one's a real DC-4 pilot would do, "only he has REAL knobs to turn." At least this guy can admit that.
We bump and grind out to runway 06 and depart to the Northeast. Ron allows me to look back over the main airport as we climb away and I can see that this is one of the busiest places imaginable with airlines from all over Europe and the world docked up or taxiing about. Ron explains how we will use only "non-directional radio beacons" to guide us across Germany. He shows me the arrow, much like a compass, which points to the next radio tower, some miles ahead. Once we cross that he tunes a new channel (just like in your car) and the arrow moves to show us a new heading to fly. We "trim-out" at 7,000 ft and spend the better part of two hours crossing the green fields and rolling hills of central and southern Germany. (See Photo 03)
As we approach Vienna Ron explains very clearing about the radio beacon at the end of some runways, "like a non-rotating lighthouse" he says. He tunes the radio to pick up this "beacon of light" and shows how the needles tell him if he is left, right, above or below the beam. "Then we just drive down, right onto the runway,” he says. But I could clearly see that out the window. "Better to know what to do before you need to do it." he responds. And I find myself thinking that nowhere else can I get this kind of an up-close experience to flying a DC-4...and after 9/11/01 I likely won't get too near any other cockpits either!
"Now what?" I have to ask. "Now," Ron replies, a twinkle in his eye, "we see a little of Vienna." He leads me over to the FujiFilm blimp! I've always wanted to ride in a blimp - now this was providing me some cheap thrills! There are scattered showers around the city as we take to the sky. This is some of the most fun I've had researching a story EVER. The views from inside and outside the Blimp are amazing. We fly over to a soccer stadium but there is a game going on and “Flounder,” suggests that 65,000 fans might not like our visit. We find a small park right in the middle of town and we proceed to set down, to LAND THE BLIMP, right in the middle of the neighborhood! This is incredible!! We tie up to some trees and run over about 2 blocks to a shop that sells Lederhosen, “Bill wanted these” Ron says. (See Photos 04 - 05 - 06 )
Back to the blimp we take off, nearly shearing some roofs along the way, and return to the airport where a new surprise awaits. A two-seater, fighter from the Vietnam era, the big and powerful F-4 Phantom. I cannot believe what I have seen here, business jets, jumbos, old piston-engine transports, blimps, and now fighters! What can these guys NOT fly? I had a neighbor who rebuilt cars, only Chevy’s, nothing else. “Oh, some guys are like that, ‘The Monk’ is an example, he has, probably, 500 private or General Aviation planes in his collection. Getting him to fly something like this might actually kill him off!”
We depart Vienna and OH MY GOSH, STRAIGHT UP. (See Photo 07) “YEEEEEHAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” As we climb up to 17,000 ft the weather clears and we get some spectacular views of this amazing country. (See Photo 08) Then, barely 45 minutes later we are heading down, waaaaaay down, into an alpine valley. To me, it feels like we are doing 700 miles an hour. WHAT A RUSH! I never felt THIS watching grannies quilt! Finally I see the village, the hamlet of Innsbruck laying in the valley ahead. The Flounder puts up the spoilers, lowers the flaps and landing gear and gets blown off coarse a bit. (I had to say that so that you all wouldn't think he was perfect). But with some tricky play on the throttles he corrects in time to make a rough landing on the runway. The rest of the day is spent reviewing Olympic memories and collecting souvenirs.
http://www.geocities.com/mollyjoyful/austria.html http://www.kiat.net/olympics/history/winter/w09innsbruck.html http://www.pinlink.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=P&Category_Code=I
While here, Ron also introduces me to his Brother-in-Law, via this link: http://www.plr.org/ Actually, when an American is in Austria, he tends to forget about Thanksgiving back home. Suddenly that last Thursday of the month has come and gone and Flounder is dragging me back out to the airport. I didn't want to go but somehow I knew I had a job to do, and The Flounder promised better things to come. We boarded an Air-Berlin 737 (nice winglets) with a rather robust load of Austrian Vacationers and I watched Ron taxi back out to runway 08. The weather had cleared and I actually looked forward to a beautiful flight.
Up in the Cockpit Ron showed how we would track a route back over Vienna, over Budapest, Belgrade, Kopje, and Thessoloniki before landing at one of the Greek Isles. Another place I've longed to visit, GREECE. (And home of the next summer Olympic Games by the way) This job was turning out to be more fun than I had ever dreamed! I'm afraid I've become hooked on this. As stated, I'm not much of a computer or airplane kind of a guy but the challenge of navigating, the thrill of seeing the world, the knowledge gained for my next real-world flight.... I could do this, if only just once a month or so!
We depart up the same valley we had rocketed down in the Phantom. Ron skillfully shows me how we follow the "tails" on the navigation dial to avoid "driving into the mountains." (See Photo 9) We climb up to cruise level at 35,000 ft. I watch intently as clouds build below, obscuring views of the former Yugoslav Republics. (See Photo 10) By the time we cross Greece and head out over the Mediterranean however it has cleared again. "The Flounder" asks me to dial up the navigation radio for Samos, Greece which by now I can do. We watch the numbers count down and by 110 miles out Ron has slowed the plane and we are descending over the isles. Green, Brown and Rocky but surrounded by Azure Seas! This is amazing - have I already said that?
We fly directly over the island and I'd have to say that the runway didn't look very big. Ron explains that this is traditionally quite the tricky approach. Once down to 3,000 ft (just nine miles from the airport now) we make a big turn and head back directly for the island. Ron keeps looking out the Right-side window to get a fix on the airport. We continue to slow and descend as Ron drops in flaps and landing gear. (See Photo 11) It looks to me like we are flying directly toward the mountains but Ron keeps looking over to the airport. (See Photo 12) I'm no pilot but it seems to me that this is a very awkward angle! Finally, just before we slam into the rocks and trees Ron lays the plane over onto its right side! I can feel the engines surge. (See Photos 13 - 14 - 15 ) We roll out of the turn heading right for the end of the runway.
"Too Fast, too fast!" Ron keeps saying. He pulls the throttles back and raises the nose of the plane. (See Photo 16) I can still see the runway ahead; it looks fine to me.... Ron deploys the spoilers, early according to him, and the plane settles smoothly onto the runway. (See Photos 17 & 18 ) Braking and reverse thrusters engaged and we pull up easily before the end of the runway. It is a few minutes after 2 PM. "Welcome to Greece!" (See Photo 19)
Here, on this arid resort in the middle of the Mediterranean I have the honor to meet the other pilots in this "Flight Club" which Tony has set me up with. I cannot tell you the contentment I felt sitting on the rocky beach, Mediterranean Sea lapping at my toes, sipping the Australian Wine which "The Wizard" had flown in, listening to these friends talk of their flight adventures. It is almost like they had BEEN THERE. I felt like I had been there, how much more for them? Truly, I'm going to have to try this as soon as I get home.
And speaking of home. Now that we are at the end of my part of the assignment Ron agrees to fly me out of Greece (as far as Athens anyway). We borrow Alejandro's King Air 200 and fly into Mykonos for a brief look around and then on to Athens. (See Photos 20 - 21 - 22 ) That is where I leave these newfound friends and head back to my own little corner of the world. But now I knew that I wasn't doomed to stay in my own little corner, I could travel, if only virtually, anywhere I wanted.
Thank you to F.S Flight Club International for hosting my tour. A special thanks to "Tony" for setting me up with this wonderful group, thanks to "The Flounder" for so expertly showing me the world and to "Kirk" for this awesome destination in the Greek Isles! I will end by promising my new virtual friends that you will hear from me again, in the skies over some distant land.
To find out more about this virtual flight club visit http://www.toomuchfs.com/ To find out more about Flight Simulation in general visit http://www.flightsim.com/ To find out more about PCPilot magazine visit http://www.pcpilot.net/ To find out more about Positive Life Radio visit http://www.plr.org/
Ron Blehm cubflounder@toomuchfs.com
