The PFJ scenery is the dif. One of my favorite rivers is the Pantenal in Brazil ... yuk in FSX! So I quit doing it. Then I started taxiing around in PFJ ... first it was Aiken Creek, landing on the creek and taxiing in ... hey, look at that! This is different! When you lose that 3rd dimension, navigation becomes an entirely different kind of task. (When you see the end of Aiken Creek coming, you don't know it turns to the left into a beautiful lake until you are almost on the turn). The horizon flattens and you can't see the inlets, so there are surprises. Also, we "know" the area so well form the air ... you could put me over almost any part of it and in about 5 minutes, I could fly "home" to Misty's. But put me down on the water somewhere? Lost!!
I cannot get over how the scenery is not only so good "up close" but how absolutely random it is. EVERY shoreline is different. Last night I went up the Harding River... it's kind of messy with some water anomalies and a lake that is 4 feet above the river ... but winding up there for about 30 miles and never seeing the same thing and not knowing if it goes left or right until you are on the turn ... it isn't easy to stay out of the woods! What's fun is to get to the USFS Harding River Cabin by boat or plane, then switch and go up the river in the Malibu.
From what I'm seeing, I'm predicting we're going to see great boats like we now see great planes. Right now there is only ONE manufacturer out there (DeltaSim). And 95% of the FSX'ers haven't discovered PFJ yet. Then there's Hama's Riva and the Sirroco and some blue water tankers. So there isn't much to work with ... but before PFJ there has never been a reason. When people discover what it's like being down on the water in PFJ, then I'm betting those activities will increase, and I'm putting "money" on that bet with the development of The Moorings.
Last night I created a cruise from The Ketchikan Int'l seaplane base to the Harding River Cabin. All the way points are named after real features, all of the key features along the way are in FSDiscover!. I used the Plan G flight plan and when I hit a way point, I changed course to the next one ... no autopilot. The course misses all the little islands and takes you right to the cabin. Out on the blue water, I kick the sim rate to X 2 then back to normal at the way points to make the turns.
It's not for everybody, the jet guys would think this would rival watching paint dry ... but I've spent a lot of time on the water and getting on a new lake was always a thrill ... here I've got a "new lake" every day!
Attached is a screenshot of the bridge of the Gemini 94. You've got 2 gps, one you can track course, the other holds the flight plan data. Right there in front of you is the course. This is the "best laid out" bridge I've seen yet. This bridge layout makes "charting" a piece of cake ... (if we get the charts right!).
D
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