thanks for last night

[Keith Smith]

Guys, we had 11 pilots flying concurrently on the system last night, most of them doing the published focus flights, in a variety of aircraft. That might not sound like a lot of aircraft, but the 'focus flight' concept does its job of concentrating the traffic in a well-defined area.

It worked out very well, resulting in a reasonable amount of congestion and radio traffic at the Burbank and Van Nuys airports.

Thanks to Air Northwest and X-US Airways for helping build a presence, as well as those who are hearing about it through word of mouth via r/w flying forums. It no longer feels like we're pushing a snowball up a steep hill...I think we're getting closer to the top, after which the snowball will start rolling all by itself...possibly taking out numerous skiers, some endangered wildlife, and perhaps even the entire ski lodge at the base of the hill. I have no idea how my metaphor turned into a winter version of The Blob. Sorry about that.

Thanks also to Steve Winslow, CEO of Air Northwest, who started his flight from CRQ to LAX in a Cessna 152 shortly after the Carter Administration. He touched down late last night, and is in relatively good health.

Most importantly, however, we had two pilots experience an enroute crash, most likely caused by the plugin. As much as this doesn't sound like it's a good thing, it actually is. Precision Flight Controls (PFC) has experienced this crash, too, and up until now, has been the only party to encounter it. Having the other pilots encounter issues last night means the problem is likely not to be system-specific after all. When I find the cause of that one issue, it should solve it for everyone that has encountered it, or would've in the future. So, Tim and Bob, hang in there...your sacrifice will go a long way to helping out!

[Steven Winslow]

It was a good year for flying last night. Good traffic and great controllers. I did noticed, however, my goatee had turned gray enroute.........

[Eugene Zaporozhets]

Had a great time on tower last night. Saw some new pilots and the regulars that come back for every beta night, everyone doing a great job. Thanks for the fun!

[Tim Krajcar]

The true impact of virtual aviation in general and PE in specific as a training aid was revealed quickly to me last night. After a year or so of break since my last time in front of a panel, the airmanship and instrument navigation skills were back under my fingers in a matter of minutes - the communications, however, of moving through busy airspace with several aircraft on freq with either similar equipment (another Columbia 400) or similar callsigns (Columbia/Cessna 1 Whiskey Bravo vs Citation 1 Charlie Bravo) really got the blood flowing and I was very surprised that that was the area that I was rustiest on (considering I've logged no shortage of hours behind the scopes myself).

Great job to Keith, Eugene, and Alex. One of the most entertaining nights I've had online in a long time.

[c.b.powell]

I'd like to echo the praise and thanks of others here. Last night was my first try of PilotEdge and I was quite impressed. I spent the first few minutes just parked on the ramp with the radios on, tuning various freqs and listening to the traffic. The professionalism and talent that were displayed by controllers and pilots alike were thoroughly pleasing. I embarked upon a short little pointless VFR flight to get a feel for things, and I have to say that this is going to be a serious boon for simulator flying. (Now if there were only a decent simulated Garmin 430 to practice RNAV approaches... )

Looking forward to flying with you again soon. Very, very fun.

Note to self: better go out and get an actual LA sectional and the SW-3 terps...

[Keith Smith]

C.B.P, I'm glad you had a great time. Bear in mind, tuning into different frequencies will not always yield the results you might expect. For example, if you were at SBA and you tuned into VNY_GND to see what was going on, you'd likely hear nothing at all due to the simulation of limited radio range (even if it was the same controller you were talking to at SBA)

Also, have you checked out the Fly This Sim 430? http://www.flythissim.com/FTS430.aspx

Welcome, to PE, it was great to have a few new visitors last night!

[c.b.powell]

C.B.P, I'm glad you had a great time. Bear in mind, tuning into different frequencies will not always yield the results you might expect. For example, if you were at SBA and you tuned into VNY_GND to see what was going on, you'd likely hear nothing at all due to the simulation of limited radio range (even if it was the same controller you were talking to at SBA)

Also, have you checked out the Fly This Sim 430? http://www.flythissim.com/FTS430.aspx

Welcome, to PE, it was great to have a few new visitors last night!

Indeed, I cheated by using X-Plane's go-to-airport feature to bounce to a few different ramps just so I could eavesdrop on the goings-on. <grin>

I know of the FTS430, and also the one by Reality XP ( http://www.reality-xp.com/flightsim/gns ... index.html ). Sadly, both products are Windows-only at this time ... and I'm on a Mac. I've considered booting into Windows just for the sake of training with one of these.

[Tim Krajcar]

CBP, for charts, check out mypilotstore.com. Search on the site for 'expired' and you'll find their collection of documents that are a cycle or two out of date, but just fine for simming, and bargain-priced. Their quantity on hand varies by individual charts, but for the ones they have, you can't beat the price for simming. For example, at http://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/7089 they have the expired LA sectionals in stock for just two bucks.

[c.b.powell]

CBP, for charts, check out mypilotstore.com. Search on the site for 'expired' and you'll find their collection of documents that are a cycle or two out of date, but just fine for simming, and bargain-priced.

Tim, thanks for this -- I was completely unaware that mypilotstore sold these.

[Alex Stjepanovic]

I'm sure you already know and want the actual stuff, but since a few months ago, FAA started making all of its charts available for free on aeronav.faa.gov.