Alaska Adventures

[jsapair]

Ok, I'm signed up. Off to check it all out.

[jsapair]

Not my cup of tea. Not being able to use the plane of my choice was a game changer for me. And I spent $300 virtual money on a plane I didn't want or need just by clicking on an icon to see what it was. Now I can say 'been there, done that'. Tried to contact them by email and got a missing .dll error. Now I really am done.

[Stearmandriver]

Not my cup of tea. Not being able to use the plane of my choice was a game changer for me. And I spent $300 virtual money on a plane I didn't want or need just by clicking on an icon to see what it was. Now I can say 'been there, done that'. Tried to contact them by email and got a missing .dll error. Now I really am done.

I've been messing with them as well.  I was annoyed at first as well, that the trips seemed too structured, I couldn't choose my own routes or planes... then I figured out how you can.  In their "Blue Box" acars software, there's a check box near the top left labeled "charter flight".  Tick that, then you can choose any departure location and destination you want, flown in any plane you can choose from their menu.  Admittedly that's not quite the same as choosing ANY plane you want, but there are entries in there for everything I fly, or close enough anyway.  (Beaver, super cub, DC3).  I just pick an entry that's close to what I'm going to use.  I figure if they really care, they can deny the pirep, cause I surely don't care that much lol... But it hasn't been a problem. 

I've been working my way through one of their tours as well, the short fields in a DC3 one.  Doing that led me to Manfred Jahn's freeware C47/DC3 and man, what a beautiful piece of work it is.  The new high def vintage virtual cockpit they're about to release for it is amazing, puts every payware DC3 to shame (even the currently available version does that, it just has a more modern cockpit).  That tour uses a lot of RTTM scenery.

My only gripes with them, really, are that not ALL of the RTTM scenery locations are available in their system, though most are.  And there's no real instructions I've found on how to use their site and system.  I've been using their "destinations" link to see if where I want to go is available before trying to set it up in Blue Box.  And Blue Box itself is glitchy for me - it likes to lock up when I send a pirep, but the report gets sent anyway, haven't had one lost yet.

So anyway, it's been kind of fun, adds a little extra dimension to this stuff, once you figure out the system.

[Doug]

I've got the first 13 legs up on TwitchTV ... you can see how the legs look up there.  I'm on leg 14 right now. Going to finish this tour, then going back to working on the autoroutes for Misty.  I'm now flying in the VA, I'm strictly flying the plans with their paints.  I'm finding it very enjoyable.  It is nice to have the longer flights so you can set the autopilot and just sit back and enjoy the flight. I'm amazed at how flat most of Alaska is, I really pictured it as mostly mountainous... so it has been fun seeing these sights for the first time.

I'm not very good at the VA procedures. I know Spud is darned good at it, he might be able to help you get started over there. I started to, then sort of gave up because I didn't understand it all. But the flights are a LOT of fun.

Doug

[jsapair]

Thanks for the come-backs guys. I won't write it off quite yet, then. I was a pilot for Val, #52, but got tired of hauling cargo. The missing .dll link was on my end...a MS messenger thing. Got that fixed. OK, on your recommendations I will pursue the matter further. I love the C-47/Dc-3 so I will check out your suggestion plane-wise, Stearmandriver, but I still feel a little too restricted for my tastes. Doug, I haven't, as of yet, checked out Twitch TV. I should probably do that before I make any kind of decision. Thank again guys.
                                     jsapair

[Doug]

If you click on the link, it will take you right there with no hassle ... quick to see.

Doug

[nbrich1]

Sorry you guys had a few issues....  Any one can fly what they want to fly... yup we recommend a plane but you are not limited in any way at all.  Just don't use a C-130 for a leg that needs a seaplane. 

I'm on this forum every day of two.. and on our forum too so if you guys have any problems just post or email direct (I don't know about the DLL problem from the email on the site but will check it out).. 

There are lots of various tours as well as a multude of flight legs and we'll have a tour switch over in the next couple of weeks to move to spring tours.. as the water opens up for seaplane and/or amphbians.  Some of us are also using FSCloud now to hook up together in the Sims flying flights together.. a new experience.   
Again all the VA stuff is new to some and does take some getting familiar but nice to capture the flight legs and clock flights and hours.. 

As for aircraft taking VA $$ to buy... I am in a big conversion to make everything available from direct link just as on the RTMM site.. much better and VA money is just that.. virtual.. and it is much easier to driect link everything like our tour info downloads etc...

Any problems or issues if you are on the site just email me or post here or there...

Norm

[Doug]

Thanks Norm!

Doug

[jsapair]

Yeah, thanks Norm. That .dll problem was on my end. My point of the virtual money for a plane was that I clicked on an icon at random just to see what it did or where it went...no pop-up info on a mouse-hover... and lo and behold I bought a plane I didn't even want. Didn't see a way to cancel it. Glad to hear about being able to use any suitable plane...that was a major issue for me. Anybody want to buy a DHC-6?

                                                       jsapair

[Doug]

I got two planes like that. I was trying to get the Beaver :-).  When u do get them, the repaints are excellent. Great Twitch stream last night on the last leg. The Beaver went uo to 8000 feet with weather and mountain peaks...some spectacular footage in that recording.

[jsapair]

Got the first flight completed and filed. Should be smooth sailing from here. Doug, were you using ASN  weather in 'real-time' mode on the Sno-Dogs 8,9,10? Great clouds.

[Doug]

Yes, ASN but sometimes I flew "summer" instead of "winter" just to mix it up.  The very last leg of the last flight was kind of "white knuckle" ... 45 knot winds in a snowstorm landing visual at Deadhorse.  Also the leg coming into Galbreith ... amazing scenery.  I do feel like I've been on a trip having completed the course. Saw a lot of Alaska I'd never seen before.

Doug

[jsapair]

Doug, what hub were you assigned? I got PACD, Cold Harbor...the freaking Aleutians. Some of those legs are 300-600 miles. I sent in a request for a change 'cause I'm a bush pilot not a heavy metal guy. One of the allures was to be able to fly in RTMM land, but, playing Devil's advocate, how would they know. I don't know, but I assume, that you have to book flights from your own hub, which is why I requested a change. I'm sure Norm will chime in in a day or two.

                                                jsapair

[Doug]

Hi ... I was running a prototype to make sure all the scenery was working. When I signed up, I used Juneau since it was the closest to "home" for me. But then I got the scenery and the routes from Brad and Norm to check things out and that's what I was flying.  I wasn't "online" with FlyAKA, so you wouldn't have seen me on the map, etc.

There were some long routes. But I flew [almost] all of them at 1200 feet above the terrain ... which didn't necessarily follow the plan ... detouring around mountains, etc. So there was a lot of non-autopilot flying on some of the legs.

I don't enjoy going up to 8000 feet and flying in a straight line, just not what I enjoy ... all the scenery below is missed above about 2000 feet. But I was surprised that some of the long legs were sort of fun to fly compared to the relatively short legs at RTMM. I suppose we should have some longer routes in RTMM.  When I get this AutoPilot project done (half way now), I'm going to make routes from airport to airport. These will be longer, but I'm going to keep them scenic at lower altitudes. Just to "break it up" a little.

[briansommers]

what are you guys are talking about? Is this some VA? any Links?  I would like to check this out.