Sitting at the airport

[OBIO]

Just a little bit ago, I took Robert Hawk's Cessna 182RG (wish it had a VC) up for a short spin around my home town. Had FSmetars running in the back ground, pulling weather updates off the net every minute and refeshing the sim every 15 seconds and had my time set to my real local time and date set for today's date...basically, as close to my real world as I can make it. Departed KMFD (Mansfield Lahm Regional, Mansfield, Ohio) for a nice low level flight....maybe a 20 minute flight. Just out, a big circle back. Watching the clouds break up as the storm that has been pelting us with some heavy rains (much needed...my flower garden should really take off now) moved on. Stars peaking through the breaks in the clouds and the occasional bolt or flash of lightning. Had the plane trimmed nicely, cruising along at 140 knots.

Made a very nice landing (in the dark no less), even though my approach pattern was way off....a single bounce on when the wheels first met the tarmac, but second kiss was so much sweeter. Rolled to a stop and moved off the runway and shut down....in the grass between the taxi way and runway. Watched a Cessna 172 and a Cessna 182 motoring down the taxi way to the head of the runway. Killed my lights, went to external view and zoomed all the way out....turned the sound up so I could hear the thunder and the Cessnas as they went by on their take off runs.

It was simply amazing, just sitting there, experiencing my world in a way that I have never done in real life. I was sitting at my computer, but my experience was taking place a few miles away as the crow flies. Floating there, above my plane, I knew that my sister-in-law's house was right over that way about a quarter mile, I knew that the race track was just a few hundred yards over that way. I knew that while I was flying, I flew over my house.

I didn't take any screen shots. I was to busy being two places at once.

OBIO

[Tom Clayton]

It's always fun to let yourself go in this hobby of ours - sounds like you had a blast!

[Drzook]

I think the last time I did that, just sitting at the airport watching planes go by was in my fs98 days and it was at Meigs Field, when it was still an airport and not a park. I get a warm feeling just thinking about it. Can't really do that from my 'home' field (08C, Riverview Airport, Jenison MI) because the traffic is just too sporadic (that and I know nothing about getting the AI to do my bidding). Might have to try one of the bigger population centers.
In any case, thanks for sharing OBIO.:ernae: