Read Time= 3 Minutes
I must admit, I’m the type of flight simmer that loves to load the aircraft to the gills and fly across the world. I’ll do this spending 15 hours at the computer if needs be! The good news is, I usually don’t waste the time in between. I get up to cruise, and then I work on stuff; like this blog!
With that said, I also have many friends that are short hoppers. The kind of guys that when getting to top of climb, like to start their descent to their destination… and then 5 more times in the same day! Granted, you can get more takeoffs and landings in this situation, but there’s no time in between to even think!
In this blog post, I simply want to weigh out the pros and cons and give you an idea things that may determine which route you choose from flight to flight.
Here we go.
Long Haul Pros and Cons
- Pro- You get to see A LOT of different scenery
- Con- Takes a lot of time
- Pro- Challenging takeoffs and special performance requirements
- Con- No such thing as “Crew Rest” in Flight Sim
- Pro- More Time with your Sim
- Con- Sore bottom
- Pro- See a sunset and sunrise in the same flight
- Con- Sorry, although this flight is longer than 4 hours, no meal service will be given (Unless you have an awesome wife like me!)
- Pro- Sushi in Japan and a Burger in Los Angeles, all in the same day! (Ok, this is make believe)
Short Haul Pros and Cons
- Pro- More time practicing important maneuvers like takeoff and landing
- Con- The entire flight is ‘busy’ with pilot workload. No chance to roll back the seat and get a beverage.
- Pro- Good for busy flight simmers
- Con- Aircraft really aren’t a challenge to fly at all. They are nimble with less fuel on board
- Pro- Much like the last “Con”, a lightly loaded jet will rocket off the runway.
- Con- No time to do other things FS (like read more AOA blog posts 😉 ) during cruise
- Pro- Keeps you sharp as a pilot
- Con- You’ll get worn down faster (flying is not easy)
So there you have it. Those are some short lists of some things I think long haul and short hauls both have and don’t have.
In Closing
Although I have been a long hauler for most of my FS career, I am actually moving toward what I call the ‘gray area’. This is between 4 and 9 hours of flight time. I really like the climb and descent phases, and could always use more practice with those procedures. Cruise is super simple, and I don’t need any help there. However, every time I do a flight I ALWAYS learn a lesson. I take something away EVERY TIME.
Are you a short hauler, or a long hauler? Why are do you like those kind of hauls?
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