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AROUND THE (VIRTUAL) WORLD IN A P-38
(accomplished back in the days of FS98 & FS2000)
This page has many graphics and may take some time to load
The route: **Peoria, IL;*Cheyenne, WY; *Seattle,
WA; Gustavus, AK; Kodiak, AK; Unalaska, AK; Petropavlovsk, Russia; *Sapporo, Japan;
Vladivostok, Russia; Beijing, China; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Novosibirsk, Russia; Orenburg,
Russia; Moscow, Russia; *Copenhagen, Denmark; Glasgow, Scotland; Keflavik, Iceland;
Godthab, Greenland; Gander, Newfoundland Canada; *Boston, MA; *Chicago, IL; **Peoria, IL
*Places I've actually lived/visited in real life
**my home |
| On September 11, 1999, I began
a trip around the virtual world in my virtual P-38 Lightning, XP-38N, in Microsoft Flight
Simulator 98. I completed the long journey April 2, 2000. Throughout the
trip, I took advantage of virtual flight's key features, such as the ability to pause in
mid-air during a leg of the trip, so I could tend to real-world matters. As such,
the trip took quite a while in real time. My XP-38N can fly approximately 1,400
miles before refueling. The specific waypoints were chosen for a number of reasons,
including facilitation of transworld flight based on the aircraft's range, places I've
actually been, and available Flight Simulator 98 airports, some of which are freeware
creations downloaded from sites such as www.flightsim.com.
(Towards the end of the flight, I had upgraded to FS2000 and could land at practically any
airport in the world.) You may be thinking, "shouldn't he have flown the other
direction, so as to take advantage of a tail wind?" The answer to that is
"I control the weather in my virtual world!" I'm went West as a result of
a coin toss...... It was heads.
There was no autopilot in XP-38N so I flew every mile. Once the aircraft is
trimmed out at a good cruising altitude and speed I only have to make minor adjustments
from time to time. |
| Real-world Date |
Log |
Picture |
| September 11, 1999 |
Take-off from Peoria, IL |
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| September 11, 1999 |
Flight paused over central Iowa en route to Cheyenne |
- |
| September 16, 1999 |
Paused just south of Omaha, NE |
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| September 20, 1999 |
The first leg is done! Landing at Cheyenne, WY. |
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| September 27, 1999 |
After a week layover in Cheyenne, I take off and later pause over the
Continental Divide in central Wyoming. |
 |
| October 3, 1999 |
High over the Sawtooth mountains in central Idaho. |
 |
| October 5, 1999 |
Paused just east of Moses Lake, WA. |
- |
| October 6, 1999 |
Arrival at Seattle-Tacoma (SeaTac) airport, Seattle, WA. The shot to
the right was taken as I passed over Issaquah, just about 15 miles east of Seattle.
Lake Sammamish is in the center right. The home where I grew up is just above the
right propeller circle. |
 |
| October 12, 1999 |
Just before take-off from SeaTac in an early morning fog/drizzle. |
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| October 12, 1999 |
Flight paused over southern Vancouver Island, BC. |
- |
| October 18, 1999 |
Approaching northern tip of Vancouver Island, BC. |
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| October 19, 1999 |
Arrival at Gustavus, AK (east of Juneau). Due to high winds, the landing
was a rough and the aircraft sustained some minor damage to the main landing gear.
It'll be about a week before I get back in the air. |
 |
| October 25, 1999 |
The gear is fixed and I'm back in the air! This shot was taken
just after take-off from Gustavus, AK as I turned West and began climbing to cruising
altitude.
|
 |
| October 25, 1999 |
Flight paused out over the Gulf of Alaska. |
- |
| October 26, 1999 |
Just before landing at Kodiak, AK. During the flight both primary
carburetor heaters failed and only one backup heater worked. As a result, the
aircraft experienced some carburetor freezing. Had to fly well below optimal
cruising altitude for a good portion of this leg and the landing was tricky.
The flight will be delayed while the electrical system is diagnosed and repaired.
Other systems will be checked as well. I can't have any trouble during the
next few legs of the trip! |
 |
| November 2, 1999 |
Kodiak, AK. After a thorough inspection following electrical work
and routine maintenance, I'm ready to go again. Here you can see me taxi by a
parked Portuguese airliner. |
 |
| November 2, 1999 |
Approaching Unalaska Island, AK. Moments later I land at Dutch
Harbor, where I will prepare for one of the longest and monumental legs of my trip:
crossing the Pacific Ocean and into the Eastern Hemisphere. |
 |
| November 5/6, 1999 |
Left Unalaska early morning to avoid approaching storm system. Paused
high above the international date line, W/E180 just north of the Rat Islands, AK. It
is still early morning, but which day? |
 |
| November 8, 1999 |
Despite my attempts to outrun the sun, it is catching up to me.
Here, in the pre-dawn of yet another time zone, I paused the flight at 34,000 ft and about
twenty miles north of Attu Island, the eastern-most part of the Aleutian chain. My
cockpit heater is working fine! |
 |
| November 9, 1999 |
Paused over the ocean at 35,000 ft.off the coast of Kamchatka peninsula. |
- |
| November 10, 1999 |
Landing at Petropavlovsk, Russia. My journey across the eastern
hemisphere has begun. |
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| November 13, 1999 |
Departure from Petropavlovsk, Russia. |
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| November 13, 1999 |
Flight paused over Sea of Okhotsk, en route to Hokkaido Japan. |
- |
| November 17, 1999 |
Flight paused a close to Hokkaido. |
- |
| November 18, 1999 |
Turning into final approach to Sapporo, Japan. Now that I'm in a
more populated area, and a place where parts and supplies are available, I'll perform some
routine maintenance before I head into Siberia and China. |
 |
| November 26, 1999 |
Starting up number one, just before take-off from Sapporo. (I was
towed out to the runway.) The plane is now in tip-top condition, ready for its
trans-Siberian journey. |
 |
| November 26, 1999 |
Paused over the Sea of Japan. |
- |
| November 27, 1999 |
Landing at Vladivostok, Russia. If you look closely you can see that
I captured the landing gear in mid-deployment. The weather has turned sour so I will lay
over here for a few days before proceeding to China. |
 |
| December 11, 1999 |
Trip paused for some time while I was away on real-life business trip.
I will resume soon. |
- |
| December 18, 1999 |
Trip resumes. I'm on my way to China. |
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| December 27, 1999 |
Arrival at Beijing. I'm half-way around the world! |
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| January 1, 2000 |
Depart Beijing. |
|
| January 4, 2000 |
Awaiting clearance to land at Buyant-Ukhaa airport, near Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia. |
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| January 11, 2000 |
Leaving Ulaanbaatar early in the morning. This next leg is going to
be a long one. |
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| January 15, 2000 |
Flight paused over northwestern Mongolia. |
- |
| January 17, 2000 |
Flight paused over central Russia. |
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| January 18, 2000 |
Landing at Novosibirsk, Russia. I liked the nuclear power plant near
this airport so much I took two snap shots!
(I couldn't get a very good shot of when I went joyriding between the two cooling
towers :-) |
 |
| January 20, 2000 |
Novosibirsk, Russia. A look over my right shoulder just after take off.
(The reason the view seems washed out is because we're looking the the 'window' which
is modeled as a grayish, semi- transparent color. |
 |
| January 21, 2000 |
After overcoming a navigation error and veering off course for some time,
I finally found Orenburg, Russia! |
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| January 24, 2000 |
Leaving Orenburg. |
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| January 25, 2000 |
Paused at 20,000 feet en route to Moscow. |
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| January 29, 2000 |
Paused about hundred miles from Moscow |
- |
| February 5, 2000 |
After some technical difficulties I made it to Moscow. I buzzed Red
Square before touching down. |
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| February 11, 2000 |
Departed Moscow. Europe, here I come! |
- |
| February 19, 2000 |
Final approach to Copenhagen at dusk. |
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| February 21, 2000 |
Crossing over the western coast of Denmark and on to the North Sea. |
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| February 26, 2000 |
Landing at Glasgow Scotland. |
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| March 4, 2000 |
After a thorough check of all systems, departed Glasgow under gray skies.
|
- |
| March 10, 2000 |
Arrival at Keflavik, Iceland at sunset. (Note that this shot is in
FS2000. I flew the leg in FS98 but set up this shot in FS2000. The model is still not completely ready for FS2000, but I wanted
start including shots just because I like the look of the clouds and the sun.) |
 |
--- Transition to FS2000 --- |
| March 14-18, 2000 |
Flight from Iceland to Godthab, Greenland. (I am now flying in
FS2000, as the flight model is getting better, and I am using the remainder of the trip to
test and fine-tune the model.) |
no photo available |
| March 20-21, 2000 |
Departed Godthab, Greenland. This shot was taken looking out my left
window a few minutes after take-off. Flight paused over North Atlantic / Labrador Sea. |
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| March 24, 2000 |
I'm nearing the coast of Newfoundland. |
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| March 25, 2000 |
Arrival at Gander, Newfoundland Canada. Here, the aircraft will
receive one final checkup before going home! |
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| March 28, 2000 |
Got off to a late start. Flight paused somewhere out over the
Atlantic, just south of Nova Scotia, well off the coast of Main. |
- |
| March 29, 2000 |
Landing once again in the USA! Sunset landing at Logan Intl, Boston,
MA. |
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| March 31, 2000 |
Cruising by Rochester, NY at 12,000 ft. What a beautiful Spring
day! |
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| April 1, 2000 |
A familiar sight -- the Chicago skyline. I landed at O'Hare a few
minutes later to a throng off well-wishers. Only one more leg to go, and it's a
short one. |
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| April 2, 2000 |
I did it!!! Photos are:
1) Peoria Lake (Illinois River) as I pass above the northern edge of the city
2) Touchdown at Greater Peoria Regional Airport
3) Parked near terminal |
 
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