Return of the Mac.

[Paul K]

Leg 3; Rome to Athens, with some slight diversions for sightseeing enroute. As ever, click on the pictures to see them full size.







Taking off from Ciampino (LIRA), south of Rome, I flew a bit of a dog leg south via Anzio then headed eastwards:







My first landmark - the abbey at Monte Cassino, and site of the famous battle in 1944. Behind it, just above the tail of the aircraft, the cross and white building is the Polish military cemetery. The white building doesn't actually exist - it is an area filled with close rows of white headstones, which the sim interprets as a single building. Maybe they will sort that out in the next WU, which is going to be Italy:







I then altered course more to the south to see the port of Naples, and the volcano Mount Vesuvius:








From Naples, eastwards across the Campania and Basilicata regions of southern Italy, to Taranto harbour:







I then came across something I never knew existed. This is the Nardo Ring, a testing circuit built by Fiat in the 1970s. It is now owned by Porsche, and called the Nardo Technical Centre.







Leaving the 'heel' of Italy behind, and across the Strait of Otranto in the Adriatic. That's Corfu in the foreground, with the mountains of northern Greece and Albania beyond:







Onwards over the immense landscape of central Greece. MSFS continues to amaze and delight:







Another slight diversion, to have a look at the Corinth Canal. It connects the Gulf of Corinth and the Ionian Sea at this end with the Aegean Sea at the other.







Now, straight to Athens' Eleftherios Venizelos international airport - but before asking for a runway, I take a quick loop round the city to have a look at the Acropolis.







Flying a bit low maybe, but I'll only see it this once:







Coming in to RW 21R at Eleftherios Venizelos airport:







Parked up, out the door, rucksack from the baggage compartment, and off to my luxury hotel. After a trip of 622 nautical miles, I need a shower, a plate of souvlaki and some cold ones.

[FlyTexas]

Loved the screenies and the commentary, Paul. MSFS seems to have been designed for flights such as yours.

Brian

[TSR2]

Coming along Nicely Paul

Great screenshots, there's so much to discover. The DME is now working on the Hunter so I might start following you soon

[Paul K]

Loved the screenies and the commentary, Paul. MSFS seems to have been designed for flights such as yours.

Thanks, Brian - yes, the world of MSFS is definitely worth seeing. I didn't expect to see so many recognizable landmark buildings in Rome, and the Nardo ring was a genuine surprise. I'm already thinking about other trips, like touring the USA and visiting all the states in the process. PMDG DC-6 for that one, I think, to get me from Hawaii to California.

Coming along Nicely Paul

Great screenshots, there's so much to discover. The DME is now working on the Hunter so I might start following you soon

Cheers Ben - I think you'll get to Melbourne before me . With Italy and Malta in the next WU, maybe an authentic flight for the Hunter would be down to Luqa in Malta. They say it's going to be the biggest WU yet, even bigger than Australia, so it'll be well worth the visit. By the way, will the Hunter have TACAN ? I wish I was able to use TACAN in the Arrow, as they would supplement the VORs and NDBs.

[DaveG]

By the way, will the Hunter have TACAN ? I wish I was able to use TACAN in the Arrow, as they would supplement the VORs and NDBs.

I haven't implemented TACAN at the moment, although it's something I could look in to adding.

[Paul K]

By the way, will the Hunter have TACAN ? I wish I was able to use TACAN in the Arrow, as they would supplement the VORs and NDBs.

I haven't implemented TACAN at the moment, although it's something I could look in to adding.

Dave - would it be feasible to produce a mod that enabled NAV radios in any aircraft to use TACAN ? I've seen it requested a couple of times, but no word back from Asobo. Would it be something that could be dropped in the community folder, or maybe some lines added to the systems.cfg ?

[DaveG]

I don't know to be honest Paul. I suspect it's possible, but I wouldn't know how to go about it.

[Paul K]

Okay, thanks for that, Dave. It's seems odd that TACAN beacons are spread all over MSFS and Little Nav Map, but can't be used.

[TSR2]

They can be used Paul, I just can't remember how. Its a function in the JF Hawk, but I’d need to read up on it.

[Paul K]

They can be used Paul, I just can't remember how. Its a function in the JF Hawk, but I’d need to read up on it.

Ben, funnily enough, I wondered about the Hawk, so I downloaded the manual. This what it says on page 60:

"TACAN ground stations are not supported by Microsoft Flight Simulator, therefore the TACAN equipment in the Hawk allows you to select NAV 1 frequencies which can then be used as the input source for the HSI."

From that, it seems that the Hawk simulates TACAN only by using VOR frequencies. The TACAN stations are there on Little Nav Map, but it seems they are not useable in the simulator. You could try tuning in to one, and see for certain.