ROUTE | Start | 1st stop | 2nd stop | 3rd stop | Last stop |
Old codes | 2V2 | KBJC | KAPA | KDEN | 1V5 |
Brand | Jeffco | Centennial | Denver Intl | Boulder Mun | |
New codes | KLMO | KBJC | KAPA | KDEN | KBDU |
Vance, Brand | Rocky Mtn Met | Centennial | Denver Intl | Boulder Mun |
Cruise: 90 knots indicated (approx) at 6500-8000 ft.
Aircraft: Something appropriate for that speed. Fixed and rotary wing both OK. :eagerness:
Note: All airports are above 5,000 ft.
Server: SimLink AU server: 101.165.150.139
Simulators: All welcome: FS9, FSX boxed, FSX Steam edition, Prepar3D, X-Plane.
X-Plane pilots:
- You will need X-Plane plugin XSquawkBox. You don't need to use/install the FSD proxy if you use XSquawkBox's current release, version 1.3.3, pointing it directly to the SimLink server's IP address. This is the cleanest and simplest way to connect to the SimLink server.**
- The .FMS flight plan file can be used with your GPS. Put it in X-Plane 11\Output\FMS plans\
- The .PLN flight plan file can be used with Plan-G. Plan-G doesn't support X-Plane 11 data format at present so use old XP9/10 data or FSX or P3D data. You will need X-Plane plugin XPUIPC to track aircraft live on Plan-G.
__________________________________________________ ________
The overall idea
We depart from our 'focus' city for that week and fly around its local airports and exploring its landmarks, typically in two, three or four hops, using SimLink as our multiplayer platform. I'll choose the following week's focus city from the official list of "Sister Cities" for this week's city. (They're usually listed in Wikipedia.) We just carry on around the world, hopping between Sister Cities, trying not to repeat ourselves.
Example
The first week of the series, our focus city will be Denver, Colorado, simply because that's where I live. Denver is also the second oldest participant in the Sister City network, starting out in 1948, and it has amassed the following 10 Sister Cities:
- Brest, France, (1948)
- Takayama, Japan (1960)
- Nairobi, Kenya's capital (1975)
- Karmiel, Israel (1977)
- Cuernavaca, Mexico (1983)
- Potenza, Italy (1983)
- Chennai, India (1984)
- Kunming, China (1985)
- Axum, Ethiopia (1995)
- Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital (2001)
So the week after we fly around Denver, we'll be flying around one of those 10 cities. (I'll make sure I choose a city with more than one Sister City, otherwise we'd be flying back in Denver the week after!) If, for example, I chose Brest, that's where we'll fly for the second week. And since Brest also has 10 Sister Cities (Denver + 9 others), I'll have nine to choose from the following week. And so on.
What's a Sister City anyway?
Look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_city and http://www.sister-cities.org/ or http://sistercities.org/
Why SimLink?
I want to maximize the number of simulators pilots can choose to participate. SimLink is a proven and reliable technology for us and currently allows pilots on the greatest number of different sims to fly together: FSX, FS9, P3D and XP.
What aircraft?
Each week I'll publish the target cruise speed (which most weeks will be fairly slow, though not always). The speed will depend on how much distance we have to cover in two hours. You choose something appropriate for that speed and then select one of our standard SimLink codes accordingly.
Won't SimLink's five second delay cause problems?
For most flights, ground speeds will be just 25-50% of some of our other group flights (viz. cargo props or airliners) so the five second SimLink delay will be less significant. We'll all still appear in close range of one another (if not in true formation).
When will Sister City Flights start?
Our first Sister City Flight will be on Friday July 14th 2017 (and weekly thereafter, holidays notwithstanding). I'll update this post (at the top) with details for the first flight.
When will they end?
They needn't! But they can when people get fed up of the idea, or when I get fed up of leading them. Otherwise, when we've traced every line on this map!
Comment