KBOI-KBYG
Boise, ID to Buffalo, WY
Distance 419.4nm
Estimated Fuel Burn: 24.1 gal
Estimated time: 3h 26min

To start this leg off I first want to talk a little about the maintenance hangar, the heart of A2A’s Accu-sim. As far as flight simulators go, this is the best thing since sliced bread. It takes every little detail about your plane and puts it in one easily accessible spot. And it’s persistent too. Leave your plane to idle a little too long on the ground and you can foul your plugs. Let your aircraft sit without use for too long and the oil will break down and corrosion will set in. You can even choose from 2 different batteries, 2 types of tire, 3 weights of oil (which I have no clue what difference any of those make), and you can have 2 different props, nose wheel and main wheel fairings, flap seals, and even something called an Engine Heater Kit. But don’t worry if you’re not mechanically inclined, because it all comes with your very own maintenance technician who will spot the problems even if you don’t. This is just one of many things that adds to the immersion of the A2A 172 Skyhawk.

The Hangar

 

So today we will be flying out of Idaho and into Wyoming, which means going over the Rockies. I’m keeping to the bigger airports for now, I have a feeling they’re going to be few and far between once I leave the US. I got my pre-flight checks out of the way nicely. It was all you can eat Tacos at the hotel last night and I stuffed myself, bringing my weight up to 136lbs, and I still have my 50lbs of luggage. One thing I noticed when filling the fuel tanks that really stood out to me is that when you put fuel into one tank only, you can actually see the aircraft shift its weight over to that side and vice versa. Even my luggage made a noticeable effect on the balance of the plane.
Takeoff was a little dicey with a moderate crosswind, but I managed to get it off the ground okay. For some reason my throttle only picks up 86% when it’s all the way forward, so I had to use the mouse to get it the rest of the way. It is very cloudy over Idaho today, but I’m going to stick with VFR flight and just hope I don’t hit a mountain. Our cruising altitude today will be a little higher than last time at 13,000 ft MSL so I can see what the effects are on range.

Sunrise Over Boise

 

The climb went very smoothly, and we reached 13,000 ft in no time at all. Now all I can do is hope it’s high enough to miss the mountains. Visibility is near zero, but with the GPS I think I can manage. Off for a smoke, hopefully I’ll still be in the air when I get back.

Yep, we still are.

 

Approaching the Rockies as I type this. This will be the real test of my flight planning skills, but I really have no way of knowing before hand how tall the terrain is for my route. I really don’t want to have waste all the time to go around, so hopefully at the very least I can find a navigable path through. They’re actually kind of intimidating when your in a tiny 172. I forgot to mention, it’s raining now. I wish you could actually see it on the windshield.

The Rockies

 

It looks like my fears were completely un-grounded. I sailed over them with at least 2000 ft to spare. Over Yellowstone I think, there is some amazing scenery here.

That is seriously the most majestic thing I've ever seen in FSX.

 

Scenery!

 

Well as it turns out, it got worse. I ended up having to climb to 15.000ft, and even then my terrain buzzer thing went off.

The approach was in some really bad weather, or so I thought until I realized that it wasn’t fog making it so I couldn’t see, it was actually my windows fogging up. It was still raining though, so that was a first for me to land in the rain. Maybe that’s what the different types of tires are for? Like in F1 how they have slicks and wets? I will have to test that. Landing went off without a hitch, although a little ways past the threshold. However, on descent I did start to hear a funny noise that sounded like a bearing going bad. I hope it’s nothing major.

Foggy Windows

 

Yay! We didn't die!

 

Another leg down, I'm starting to feel like I can really do this. I'll be staying here a couple days, have to work so no FSX time.