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Report:
So,
the time has arrived. Finally, after months of
this endeavor, GB and I have gathered the courage,
the steadfast fortitude, to embark on our riskiest,
most daring challenge to date.
Today,
I will pilot The Hopper.
From
the surface, this would seem to be a trivial thing.
I've been a flight sim veteran for nearly 15 years,
having flown everything from heavies to ultralights
on all four corners of this virtual planet. I
have helped to captain a vast virtual airline
empire back in the day, landed in enough zero-zeros
and carrier traps to qualify as knowing what I
am doing in the cockpit. Why would this be a daring
challenge for someone with such a background?
Well,
about 4 years ago, I started losing my eyesight.
Today, I am legally blind.
Now,
please don't misunderstand what I am about to
say. I would trade about anything to see properly
again. But, I relish the challenge of flying a
leg of The Hopper's journey.
When
people talk about being blind, there is a small
percentage that actually see nothing. Although
my uncorrectable vision prohibits me from driving
and reading, I've had 35 years of fully-sighted
experiences to draw from and a plethora of modern
tools that help me get by on a day to day basis.
But, let's face it: I should NOT be flying in
real life. Period.
So,
how do I do it in FS2004? Well, it helps to have
the ability to magnify text on your computer.
From there, with a little trial and error, it
doesn't take much to start monkeying around with
panel.cfg files and the like. Before you know
it, with some editing, hot keys can be used to
bring up HUGE versions of the autopilot, altimeter,
GPS or whatever it is that needs to be seen. FS
also has it's own magnification thanks to the
"+" and "-" keys that magnify
the main view. This helps to find a runway from
10 miles out. In the end, FS's editability makes
it accessible to someone like me.
I
Started out trying to fly in FS again about the
time we began this project. At first, I was happy
to fly the Cessna Caravan around and land it on
water. Then, I took to flying a Twin Otter around
the Caribbean and even started landing on actual
runways. I graduated to the DC-3 (with significant
panel mods), and flew it over the course of a
month from San Juan to LAX. Then I mastered Flight1's
ATR (again, with some mods), touring Hawaii. By
the time I had toured Hawaii, I was convinced
that I could handle The Hopper, and this leg to
Amsterdam seemed the perfect time to take the
left seat.
Weather
was nice as we taxied out and departed Copenhagen.
We cruised at FL260 in what can be considered
a pretty uneventful flight. Our approach into
Schripol was peppered with traffic, but the overall
management of the affair was smoother than Carlsberg's
Elephant.
I
think GB was a bit concerned as we began our approach.
Although I am confident in my abilities to get
an aircraft lined up and on glideslope, things
can look a bit harry at times. I can't see the
runway as early as most, so sometimes there are
some late approach adjustments that are, shall
we say, a bit aggressive. Ok, so maybe I used
up a bit more runway than I used to. Look at that
vertical speed on landing, though, folks. I think
the passengers were happy with it!
One
of the reasons I flew this leg was that, because
of Hurricane Wilma and GB having no power at his
abode, we were on my machine. I don't think we'll
be seeing me in the left seat on a regular basis,
but it's good to know that I can do it in a pinch
- without landing us in St. Louis. We'll leave
it to GB to get us to Belgium. Getting
us out of that fine beer country may prove more
problematic, though...
GZ
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