Harald Nehring Airbus 310
Question: Why the name change?
Answer: After searching online a lot of people were doing Around the World or similar phrases.
Question: Why did you start the original Hopping Round the World Adventure?
Answer: Curiousity! I love flying on VATSIM in real-time with other pilots and air traffic controllers. Most fun was flyins. Got tired of going to the same airports again and again. I had a crazy idea to fly with other pilots in HRW on VATSIM but it never happened. With the current Microsoft Flight Simulator and VATSIM integration there are endless opportunties to fly certain legs with other pilots in real-time on we officially launch the Ready Captain add-on.
Question: When did you start the original HRW?
Answer: August 3, 2003 at 12 Noon local time using a King Air 350. ROUTE: SFAL - EGYP in the Falkland Islands. 26nm.
Question: When did you end the original HRW?
Answer: May 17, 2005 after 7PM local time using a Cessna Skylane. Landed at Meigs Field (now closed). ROUTE: KORD - KCGX in the United States of America. 14nm.
Question: How long did the HRW Adventure take officially?
Answer: 654 days or 1 year and 9 months. I still counted days off since I flew more legs on certain days.
Question: How many takeoffs and landings?
Answer: 796.
Question: How many nautical miles flown?
Answer: 149,984 nautical miles flown. I kept track of my time with Microsoft Excel.
COMPLETED HRW MAP
(click to enlarge)
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004
Question: What was the shortest leg?
Answer: KCBE - 5MD2 Leg 200. 8nm in a Piper J3 Cub. Also at 8nm was TVSV - TVSC Leg 65 in a Mooney Baron.
Question: What was the longest leg?
Answer: PJON - PKWA Leg 656. 1,414nm in a Concorde.
Question: How many times did you redo a leg?
Answer: Only 2 legs had to be reflown. I had a Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) while landing at night in an unfamiliar airport thinking that I was flying through clouds losing sight of the runway lights only to hear the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) screaming Pull Up, Pull Up. The other occasion was a cruising altitude stall because I ignored the icing conditions. Not bad considering I mostly had ONLY the Garmin GPS as a navigational aid and NO CHARTS for 99% of the airports visited.
Question: What kind of weather did you experience?
Answer: I used real world weather that produces calm clear blue skies to overcast to thunderstorms to snow to rain to almost zero visibility to wind shear. I flew in all seasons with the local weather for those dates. Expect the same conditions during Ready Captain add-on but with improved visuals and simulation.
Question: What computer did you use?
Answer: I had a Dell XPS Gen 4 with a Sony Trinitron monitor. I got more than 70FPS with no computer or game crashes.
Question: What airplane models did you use?
Answer: I used more than 80 FREEWARE models from the default Microsoft to Derek Meyer A318 to DreamWings E170 to Eric Cantu 732 to iFDG 767 to Harald Nehring A300 to Kitty Hawk 733 to MelJet 777 to POSKY A340 to FS France Project Mach2 Concorde to SGA DC-10 and many others more.
Question: Will there be a FSX version of the original HRW?
Answer: There will NOT be a FSX version of HRW or ReadyCaptain. The primary reason is the lack of HD, differences in airport layouts & parking plus the amount of prep and flying including real life issues to manage Ready Captain and Microsoft Flight Simulator will be the last time I do such an adventure. There are so much real-world travel and console gaming I need to finish up and raise a family as well. Not enough time!
Question: How did you come up with the name Ready Captain: You Have Control?
Answer: Sitting at my computer for more than 2 hours looking up available dot com domain names was such a pain. I got a Coca Cola Classic and sat back down and the name came to me. Trembling I entered it and behold it was available. Now whenever I fly I have a Coke before or after as my lucky charm. There will also be lots of Pizza Hut Supreme pan pizza for my inflight meal, KFC, Popeyes and chicken wings.
Question: What computer do you plan to use for ReadyCaptain?
Answer: Power, power, power, I plan to buy as much power as I can afford with the most memory and faster CPU and graphics card with at least a 100MB interent connection. The biggest HD screen although I wouldn't mind using at 4K TV 55 inch or larger as my monitor. Testing, testing, testing.
Question: What aircraft can we expect?
Answer: We always start with the default aircraft and add FREEWARE models as they become available. However, I am trying to find or build the Grumman Mallard G73 Turbo, V22 Osprey, B737-200 for unpaved runways, King Air 350, DC10 passenger version, Twin Otter, F16, YF23A, Dash 8-100, 727-200, 747SP and the 757-200 passenger variant. Everything comes down to time and cost of producing those aircraft but if I could have only one it will be the Grumman Mallard G73 Turbo. I try to cover as many models to handle the different range and performance requirements.
Question: How many airports will you visit this time?
Answer: Microsoft said there are more than 40,000 airports. It all depends on the high definition fidelity of FS HD. So far, early estimates are more than 2,000 airports. It could be higher depending how many airports fit in the route. If you view the Original COMPLETED HRW map you will see that I left off a lot of areas. Why? The scenery was bland and boring closer to the end. What cheaper way to see the world while having the best seat than the captain's chair.
Question: Anything noticeable difference for Ready Captain?
Answer: Everything HD. I plan on flying on Twitch and YouTube. You can expect tee shirts and READY CAPTAIN varsity jackets for any pilots who wants one to purchase some swag. Lots of planning ahead which may also include an Android app. I have already mapped out many routes and the beginning will be very difficult. However, the visuals are quite stunning and memorable so far. This adventure will be EPIC!!!