Virtual CYA226

Five sleeps. Five whole sleeps. Five nights of anticipation waiting for the next bit of training - would I actually make it to the skies this time? The suspense was killing me.

Talk about a case of shpilkes.

Unable to sit around and wait, I just had to find a reason to sit down at the simulator so that I could learn something. There isn't a solid DA20-C1 out there for X-Plane 9 yet, but I do have a nice payware version of a Skyhawk that truth be told - was the aircraft which lit a fire in me to fly GA aircraft in the simulator.

OK - well I could do a flight out of CYBW and follow the power lines out to the practice area. This would at the very least give me an indication of some landmarks and/or elevation to find my way there, and define the boundaries of the practice area. Also would help with some map familiarity.

I plugged in the yoke, fired up X-Plane, selected the C172 Skyhawk, and set myself at CYBW starting at the flying club. After a quick weather briefing I yanked out the charts to make sure I knew my way around the airport and then folded up the VNC. Wait a second! These Canadian charts are WAY different than the American ones. Hmmm... Going to have to do some reading to truly understand this one. At least I can make it out the practice area and poke around.

After jotting down a few questions to be answered by self study I pulled out my checklists for the C172N. OK so .. we can't do a virtual walk around so we'll go with pre engine start, engine start, taxi, and now the runup prior to take off. Following the list and feeling a bit proud of myself (though I'm not familiar with the C172 checklist, the C172 panel, or to be honest ANY checklist or panel - so this is taking a long time) I move down quickly: Brakes Set, Doors closed and locked, Controls free, instruments set, both tanks selected, mixture lean, trim at takeoff, bump the RPMs up to 1700 and set the mixture and magnetos.. OK the drop off is not too high, and now the carb heat. The carb heat.... hmmm the... the.... the.... Oh my goodness where in the world is the carb heat? Hmmm.. what do you know - this isn't a C172N after all it is a C172S and it comes with a fancy fuel injected engine. You learn something new every day.

After departing runway 16 to the NW I started my search for the power lines. Hmm nothing doing. I wondered if I needed to be closer to the ground but wanted to stay at a more realistic altitude (6500). I took a long look at the Rivers, Lakes, Roads, and elevation. There are some easy to identify lakes on the VNC that correspond well to the simulator. Sadly missing from X-Plane appear to be the Gas Plant, Dam, and Petro Canada station (huge truck stop). I guess we will have to figure out where these are supposed to be or make friends with a scenery designer quickly!

Once I reached the SE corner of the practice area I planned on flying the border all the way around to get a feel for the terrain. It was flat and full of trees for the most part, with a small river running through the middle of it. I also spotted 2 roads which made it easy to determine the western boundary within a few miles. Turning north now is when I noticed it. OMG - we are right beside the mountains here. These are spectacular on X-Plane, one could only imagine what they look like for real.

After making it back to my starting point on the SE corner over Ghost Lake, I recalled that most GA aircraft check in over the Ghost Lake dam for sequencing to CYBW airspace. Hmmm no dam. Oh well I guess fly a bit further SE and check in over the Gas Plant. Oh ya, that doesn't exist either. I'll have to follow Highway #1 until it meets up with #22 and check in over the Petro Canada Station. Oh ya - not station either. Note to self - must bribe scenery designer for Dam, Gas Plant, and Petro Canada station.

After an extremely uneventful landing on runway 16 I started taxiing back to the club ramp. It was then that I noticed something. The default X-Plane taxiways are completely well.. wrong, just plain wrong. Luckily I don't need a scenery designer for this sort of thing and I already KNOW a guy who is a machine at upgrading X-Plane airports. Will have to give him a shout.

Not sure if the experience was worth it at all. I think tomorrow night I'll spend my free time in the evening reading the FTM and From the Ground Up.

Only 4 more sleeps.