This is an awesome guest post by Andrew James of FSGroundSchool. You can checkout more about his blog HERE
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If Aviator 90 has been teaching us one thing, it’s not only how to fly but – as the name suggests – how to be a true aviator. There are so many decisions to be made before even getting into the cockpit – is the weather too poor to take off? Will my fuel be sufficient or should I be a bit more cautious and add another stop?
Nowadays these decisions are aided by not only the latest technological advances but by law. Well, not in 1911.
Calbraith (“Cal”) Rodgers was definitely a risk-taker, jumping into a Wright EX Bi-plane and accepting the challenge to fly across the USA from New York to California. Renowned publisher William Randolph Hearst had offered a prize of $50,000 if someone could fly coast to coast in either direction within 30 days.
He missed the deadline, but he became the first man to complete such a feat and it wasn’t easy. Cal had no heater, no instruments and no navigational aids. He landed more than 70 times, of which about 16 were crashes. The aircraft had to be rebuilt twice, and during the trip he was injured several times sporting a broken ankle, a concussion and a twisted spine. Oh, and he was deaf!
When we’re using Flight Simulator, it’s easy to rely on the instruments (as we should many times) and let the plane fly itself. How about jumping into the Wright EX and taking off from New York and just heading to the west. How to get to California? Are we going to try and fly through the rocky mountains or go around them? What about when the sun goes down – are we going to find a grass strip and play it safe or fly in the darkness at low altitude to save time? When the weather changes, how far are we going to go before deciding to land?
The other thing that is great about doing something like this apart from the learning experience and the sheer excitement of adventure is that it is also good for time. Juggling between work, family life, pets etc leaves little time for most simmers. This easy save and start type of flight without flight planning or long start-up procedures makes it ideal for filling that twenty minutes here and there you might get.
Imagine the feeling of accomplishment you’ll get when you finally taxi into the surf on a California beach. For Rodgers it was worth it.
I’d love to hear you comment about how you get along doing a challenge such as this and how it helped you become a better aviator.
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