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NEWS ARCHIVE Page
1
NOTE:
Unlike the Main Page, where latest news appear at the top, here you will
find the news sorted chronologically, from top to bottom
Tour Around the World
began Today
(Nov
4th. 1999 VD/RD) KITTY HAWK, North Carolina,
USA:This expedition was first started 
on November 4th. 1999, when the Wright Flyer (photo) made a symbolic recreation
of its historic flight
of Dec. 17th., 1903 in Kitty Hawk. Then the flight was officially inaugurated
and I departed in the Pilatus PC-12. About 100 airports were visited, but
then FS2000 was released in Buenos Aires and I found it has 200 new airports
only in North Carolina. So I decided it was better to incorporate all the
new airports to the flightplan and start the expedition again. The new,
definitive flight (I hope) was started on Jan. 3rd., 2000. Now I've got
more than 21,000 airports to go, worth at least a couple of years but,
as I said elsewhere, I'm not hurried. |
 |
First
Airports Visited
(Jan.
3rd RD/VD) OCRACOKE ISLAND, North Carolina,
USA: The first airports on the route were
those of North Carolina's coastal area. One of them, Ocracoke (#10), is
in a narrow island several miles away from the coast, a part of the Outer
Banks. This island, home of the pirate Blackbeard in the 18th.
century, is now typical by his old lighthouse, dating back to 1823. |
|
SEE
NORTH CAROLINA'S LIGHTHOUSES PHOTO COLLECTION
|
Better to Go by Foot
(Jan.
3rd RD/VD) KEECH, North Carolina, USA:
So
far, the most expensive flight was from Respess Field (#16) to Keech
(#17),
two airfields separated by just 0.7 miles. It was one of my first
flights in FS2000, where grass runways are very difficult to spot from
the distance and, worst, my joystick doesn't work. So I went back to the
time when I flew in the ATP Simulator in my old XT PC and I was used to
keyboard controls and extremely slow frame rates. The flight took 14
minutes and I missed the approach several times. Fuel consumption was
29
Gallons/NM and the speed average was 3 Kt. I had rather go by
foot. |
 First
Day Complete
(Jan. 3rd VD/Feb. 23rd,
2000 RD)
CAPE CARTERET, North Carolina, USA: The
first day has come to an end. Arriving at dusk at Cape Carteret's Triple
M airfield (#41), I have logged 6:13 hours
and flew 487.2
nautical miles.ENLARGE |
NOTAM: Beware of the
Hangar!
(Jan. 4th VD/Feb. 29th,
2000 RD)
Farmville, North Carolina, USA: Look
at the picture below. It is Craft Air airport (#78). How it's possible
that someone with a couple of healthy neurons could come up with the idea
of putting a hangar just at the end of the runway? It's ridiculous.
Only Microsoft could have this crazy idea. And if you are skillful and
lucky enough to land your plane safely, when you take off be careful of
the antenna at the other end of the runway.ENLARGE |
|
 End
of the Second Day
(Jan. 4th VD/Feb. 29th,
2000 RD) ROANOKE RAPIDS, North Carolina, USA:
At
the end of the second day of flights, I arrived to Halifax County
airport to spend the night and refuel the plane. The numbers so far: 86
airports, 12:13 hours and 947.9 nautical miles.
CLICK
TO ENLARGE
|
NOTAM: Rebel Taxiway
(Jan. 5th VD/Mar. 5th,
2000 RD) FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina,
USA: Look at the photos below. Do
you think this is a menacing cold front? A huge mountain? Wrong. Is the taxiway
to runway 5 in Pope Air Force Base (#123), in FS2k, which is some
12 feet above the runway elevation. So if you go to Pope, be advised: you'll
have to taxi over the grass. |
 |
Third Day Shortened by Fog
 (Jan. 5th VD/Mar. 12th,
2000 RD) NEWTON
GROVE, North Carolina, USA: Due
to poor visibility, the third day of flights ended early. Most of the afternoon
the visual range was 1 mile. I could still approach airports by GPS,
but I want to do ths flight in VFR. Today I could have flown to
10 or 12 more airports, but I decided to land in Massengill (#126) and
wait for better conditions (minimum: 3 miles). |
 First Virtual Meeting
(Jan. 6th VD/Mar. 14th,
2000 RD)
RALEIGH,
North Carolina, USA: At
9:17am I landed in Raleigh- Durham International airport (#137).
There I met Ken Wright, who is Cardinal Airlines' KRDU Station
Manager. You can see him in the photo, waiting for me alongside
runway 05R... OK, if you can't see him, I swear he was there. We chatted
for a few minutes and then I continued to my next destination. The next
virtual meeting will be with Clas Holm in Titusville, Florida |
 Two Airfields at the
Prize of One!
(Jan. 6th VD/Mar. 29th,
2000 RD) RAMSEUR, North Carolina, USA: It
would seem this is an airfield with two parallel runways but, in fact,
they are two different airports. Caveness Field(#162)
and Allen (#163) are only 0.1 mile apart. The flight between
them took 7 minutes at a vertiginous speed average of 0.86 Kt. |
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