Rocky Mountain Airways, PE &VR

[Kilstorm]

In flight simming there seems to be a collection of factors that can make a great flight. The choice of addons, the use of hardware and the sim platform used are some of the main categories. For me, the first big factor is getting a flight in that is smooth in frames and complete without OOM terminations. I prefer P3Dv3 and enjoy the eye candy as well so to find that rather niche area inside of PE was not all that easy prior to the Western US Expansion.

Being I fly in VR with my Oculus Rift I also need to find an area that offers ATC control but not a crazy work load as going in and out of the VR hood takes away from the immersion I am looking to have. I started off with my A2A Cherokee out of Aspen but found two issues. One the plane does not have ice boots on it and flying IFR in that area in the winter would present some challenges and secondly flying from Aspen to Denver and back which would allow full ATC services in real life might be a once in a blue moon kind of GA flight but not an all the time one and lets face it, we simmers do enjoy having a kinda back story or purpose to our flights.

I looked at the Aerosoft Twin Otter Extended as it does have boots and does offer structure icing and window freezing. The only issue is that it is not pressurized and to fly IFR in that area would require oxygen. I first looked at doing cargo ops as I could easily see that being a real life case but in looking for a FedEx or DHL addon livery came across a Rocky Mountain livery. I did some research on that outfit and found some very interesting facts from both a wiki page and facebook page devoted to the now closed airline.

It seems that not only did this airline provide service to the exact area I was looking to fly but also did it in the same aircraft I was wanting to use. That the airline provided oxygen mask to all passengers and frequent flyers would often remove the mask from the oxygen tube and breathe out of it like a straw much like what they saw the pilots doing. Many times using a pipe mouth piece to put on the end of the tube. This airline also impressed me as they built their own STOLport in Vail before there was Eagle County Airport KEGE and is offered in the Orbx KEGE addon. A location I will use when KEGE is not manned.

So now having worked down my check marks of sim platform, Aircraft, Locations that are ATC'ed in PE area that are also smooth and provide no OOM issues with both departure and arrival plates to practice good radio comms, I was ready to put it all together. For now, while KEGE is open, my flights will be from KDEN to KEGE using FSPassengers. One last checklist item of mine is short hops as I have no desire to sit on long flights regularly. I determined to base my operations out of KDEN Terminal A gate 57 where in real life a small commuter outfit operates out of. In the FlightBeam KDEN and GSX, I have a few parking spots to pick from in the Gate A57 row.

Using FSEconomy as my planes place holder for location and fuel and FSPax for Passengers and the Aerosoft Fuel Planner for random Cargo weights, I was finally up and running and ready for my first Commercial PE and IFR flight. The Twin Otter also comes with a nice black box flight recorder as well to review my flights. Overall I did okay on my out and back legs and got to get a better idea of how to make it all work in VR. See with the VR hood on, its not that easy to look at charts, copy or write down things and from time to time find the cursor in a quick manner when going from in and out of the hood. However, it is all do able and I loaded the GTN750 into my plane as a pop up 2d window.

So thats my story, if you hear a Rocky Mountain Twenty Four radio call in the Denver, Apsen, Vail and Telluride area you will know that I'm trying, enjoying the complete immersion of having detailed airports, a great aircraft, real weather, a purpose of flight and most importantly professional ATC services shared in the virtual skies of fellow simmers all in a 3D virtual world. Can a hobby get any better than that?!

[Keith Smith]

That's a cool back story. I believe I did work Rocky Mountain 24 just the other night. It's neat hearing what you're up to.

I plan on doing quite a bit of FSE flying myself in the area. In the future, I also suspect EGE might be featured more than once in a blue moon, too.

[Justin Lerner]

I agree, that is super cool. I envy the immersion you've got going on there. Whatever brings more traffic to the virtual skies of PE! Plus I learned something about the history of aviation in the state I have come to call home for the last six years.

[Kilstorm]

... Plus I learned something about the history of aviation in the state I have come to call home for the last six years.

I cant wait to call Colorado my home. I actually own a skyranch in Alamosa. ICAO CO14 Alamosa Outpost is my land, a 35 acre parcel with a dirt strip on it. When I'm ready to leave Nantucket, that is where I will be going next but having grown up on the water all 46 years of my life, working 4 years on a private yacht and now 17 years at a marina, its hard to think of living in a land locked state but its the open vistas, quality of life and southwest feel that I look forward to in the trade.