Enjoy Flying
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Recent Activity Updates
Entering 2026, I still spend some spare time on flight simulation and aviation photography. It’s just that I won’t write in such detail; I’ll just keep a running log here.
1 Upgraded X-Plane 12.4.0 to beta4 for a test. It feels quite normal, didn’t encounter any bugs, so everyone can use it with confidence.
2 New discoveries with miniCOCKPIT “It would be great if miniCOCKPIT could be used on aircraft other than the A330.” With this thought in mind, I tried it with a C172, and surprisingly, some functions work. It was a real surprise. For example, the landing lights, strobe lights, and the Autopilot’s Altitude/Vertical Speed/Heading/Speed are quite useful. So, I’ve been doing more flights in the Cessna just to enjoy the scenery.
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From Haneda to Itami Airport
Over the weekend, I hooked up the miniCOCKPIT miniFCU and Yawman Arrow Handheld Controller to the computer.
After enjoying some free flight around Narita and Haneda, I decided to fly the route from Haneda to Itami.So I opened simbrief.com and checked the flight plan as follows: LAXAS3 LAXAS Y56 TOHME Y54 KOHWA Y546 AGPUK MIRAI ABENO IKOMA
Immediately entered it into the FMS and took off from Haneda Runway 05.
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First Flight of 2022
Now that we’ve entered 2022, I look forward to health and happiness for my loved ones, hope the viral pandemic leaves us soon, and eagerly await the early release of X-Plane 12. This blog has been updating for 10 years since December 2011; I hope it can continue for the next 10 years as well. Woke up early with nothing to do on the first day of 2022, so I decided to fly a bit in X-Plane 11 to commemorate the occasion.
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Scenery Selection for Flight Simulation
Last time, netizen Wang asked about scenery suitable for flight simulation in Japan. Personally, I think places with good natural scenery are all quite nice. For example, the areas I often fly to include: The Mount Fuji region, Shizuoka Airport RJNS, The mountainous regions of Toyama and Nagano, Matsumoto Airport RJAF, Toyama Airport RJNT Kagoshima, Kagoshima Airport RJFK Hokkaido region, Obihiro Airport RJCB, Hakodate Airport RJCH, Kushiro RJCK, Asahikawa Airport RJEC. Generally speaking, these scenic spots won’t disappoint.
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Commemorating the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, Flying to Rio de Janeiro
Yesterday, the much-anticipated 2016 Summer Olympic Games officially opened. After watching the stunning Opening Ceremony at the Maracanã Stadium, I got the idea to fly around Rio de Janeiro in X-Plane (and upgraded to 10.50r1 while I was at it).
I happened to see a video on YouTube titled “Rio de Janeiro - Santos Dumont (SDU) Approach runway 02,” which claims it is “One of the most difficult landing approach in the world. NDB V RWY 20 procedure + circle to land on runway 02R.” Alright then, off to Santos Dumont Airport we go.
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FlightGear 3.7 Nightly Build Testing
I am currently using FlightGear version V3.4 Stable. I’ve been waiting for V3.6, but it has been迟迟不来. So I went to the official website and checked http://wiki.flightgear.org/Portal:Developer. It says Next release: 3.6 (-69 days from now). I still have to wait for over two months.
Left with no choice, I went to http://download.flightgear.org/builds/nightly/ to download 3.7 and give it a try. I found it runs quite smoothly. The c172p (detailed) I installed previously couldn’t work on 3.4, but it’s actually quite good on the 3.7 test build. The aerodynamics feel more realistic than before.
Just a small recommendation.
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Visiting the 737NG Simulator at LUXURY FLIGHT
I’ve known about this simulation shop, LUXURY FLIGHT, for a few years, but since it was originally located in Saitama, it was a bit far, so I never went. Recently, it moved to be near Haneda, making transportation much more convenient. So, I took advantage of a morning to go there and practice flying the 737NG for an hour.
There are two simulators at LUXURY FLIGHT: one is a 737NG, and the other is a Beechcraft Baron B58. I signed up for the free seminar about the Baron held earlier this month.
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A Visit to JFlight's A320 BFPT Flight Simulator
After returning from the Anabatic Simulation C172 simulator experience in Kyoto, I planned to visit other flight simulation shops near Tokyo. The other day, I went to Yokohama Sakuragicho to watch the movie “The Assassin” with a friend. After leaving the cinema, I remembered there was an A320 shop nearby, so I decided to drop in.
The shop is called JFlight, established late last year, open for less than a year.
Upon entering, you can see Owner B’s commemorative certificate for flying a PA28 in Hawaii hanging on the wall.
I have one myself, though I don’t know where I put it, but the owner is definitely an aviation fan, no doubt about it. -
Experience with Anabatic Simulation's C172 Simulator
There are two small companies in the Tokyo area with fixed-base flight simulators,
providing Boeing 737NG and Airbus A320 flight experience facilities for aviation enthusiasts and flight trainees.In terms of equipment, I estimate their investment to be around $200,000 USD,
which means they provide a fairly realistic cockpit and electronic instruments,
but they are not full-motion, and cannot perform free movement on 3 axes.
After all, the full-motion simulators used by airlines to train pilots are incredibly expensive,
requiring an investment of tens of millions of dollars for just one unit. -
Thoughts on Trying Out FlightGear
I saw a beautiful female commercial pilot introduce FlightGear on Baidu Tieba—another famous flight simulation software, so I installed and tried it for an hour or two. Although I didn’t use it for long, I feel this software is worth playing more. Compared to X-Plane, its features include: 1 Completely free 2 Scenery can be automatically downloaded from the internet, no need to search for them one by one 3 Small size, the download package is only 1G, compared to X-Plane’s 8 DVDs, it is easier to install, and has lower requirements for network and hardware 4 It is also relatively lightweight during flight, the control feel is direct, and the response is fast, not as slow and heavy as X-Plane 5 Many extension functions, and good hardware support 6 The texture of the 3D models is a bit poor, so it looks more like a game software, so in terms of realism, it is quite inferior to X-Plane
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Cessna C172 Flight Training in Hawaii (Real Flight)
I recently took a short vacation to Hawaii and managed to squeeze in an hour of flying, mainly to see if my understanding of flying had improved through practicing with X-Plane. This time, I booked with a very small flight school run by a Japanese owner, because the company I flew with last time didn’t have a Cessna, and after all, I haven’t flown a 172 yet.
This flight school has two fixed-wing Cessnas and a Robinson R44 helicopter. Besides teaching flying, their main business is sightseeing flights for tourists. I chatted with the owner for a while, asking about training prices and the flight hours required to get a PPL. It was interesting that he said Western tourists almost 100% choose the helicopter, while Japanese tourists almost 100% choose to fly the Cessna. The reason for such a huge difference is mainly Japan’s strict laws; you cannot experience flying domestically in Japan, so aviation enthusiasts have to come to Hawaii to get their fix. Since the owner knew I had previous flight experience, he didn’t introduce any basics and we went straight to the Apron.
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Recent Log: Accidentally Flew to the Mysterious Area 51 KXTA
I haven’t been flying much in X-Plane lately, averaging about 1-2 hours a week. It’s mostly just to relax and enjoy the scenery.
For example, this time I took a leisurely flight from San Jose in the heart of Silicon Valley, still using the Cessna 152. Every hour or so, I’d find an Airport to stop at, hopping along the way.
First, I headed southeast into the Central Valley, then slowly continued south. When I got near Los Angeles, I decided to swing by Las Vegas. So, after resting at Edwards Air Force Base, I turned northeast.
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Manually Add Navigation Information
I see many friends online struggling to find the latest navigation database, because the data included with X-Plane 10 itself is quite limited. Often, much of the route information found online cannot be entered into the FMC, so everyone feels the need to constantly update this data.
Actually, X-Plane 10 itself allows for very simple manual addition of navigation information. As long as you find Waypoint or navigation station information from an Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) or websites like OpenNav, you can input it into the system in just a few seconds, so generally, there is no need to go through the trouble of regularly searching for and downloading the latest navigation data.
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Haneda-Hong Kong Route File RJTT_VHHH.fms
Based on the route information found in Cathay Pacific Flight CX543 Trip Report: Haneda to Hong Kong, I created a flight management file, RJTT_VHHH.fms. Since many of the waypoints are not defined in X-Plane, I looked up the latitude and longitude for each one using the Jeppesen charts iPad App and edited them into the file. The result looks like this:
I 3 version 33 33 1 RJTT 20.000000 35.548254 139.788554 13 LOCUP 4000 35.455228 139.935700 13 TAURA 12000 35.288092 139.751553 13 JYOGA 20000 35.146039 139.526350 13 SIOMI 36000 33.507725 136.099964 13 KEC 36000 33.447742 135.794494 13 KOSHI 36000 31.288503 129.964714 13 APU 36000 25.176944 121.522222 13 HLG 36000 24.559803 120.727178 13 MKG 36000 23.595444 119.637278 13 ELATO 36000 22.333334 117.500000 13 MAGOG 20000 22.288333 115.823333 13 FISHA 10000 22.288333 115.336667 13 ABBEY 7000 22.27 114.923333 13 HAMOK 5000 22.44 114.3 13 RIVER 4500 22.401667 114.181667 13 VH512 3500 22.381667 114.116667 13 VH514 2000 22.353333 114.031667 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0 —- 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
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Checking Track Using Map
Spring is a season suitable for travel, with the side effect being that this blog has been neglected for a while. My apologies. I definitely must finish the “Airliner Cockpit Exploration” series by mid-May. (The photos I took in Kyoto, Nara, Fukushima, Tokyo, Nagano, etc., turned out to be quite a substantial harvest.)
Today, I flew for about an hour or so, practicing spiral high-speed Descents and ILS approaches. After finishing, I checked my Track in map mode. I felt the flight went pretty well, so I took a screenshot as a souvenir.
The image above shows the Track during the spiral Descent. I maintained a 30-degree bank angle while spiraling down at high speed from over 10,000 feet,
then leveled off at 1,000 feet to enter the Downwind, Base, and finally Final for landing.
Looking at the spiral, the circles I drew were fairly regular, giving me a small sense of accomplishment. -
Carenado's Christmas Sale, Purchase of PA28 181 Archer II, and First Flight
I was away on business trips for three weeks straight in November and December. When I wasn’t traveling, I went to Kyoto and Nikko to see the autumn leaves, so updates to this blog have been stagnant for a long time. Sorry about that!
Carenado’s X-Plane aircraft products have always had an excellent reputation, but I hadn’t bought any before because the price was a bit high. Fortunately, they are currently having a sale. If you are interested, do not miss this great opportunity. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m really not advertising for them)
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Huangyan Dao Patrol?
Last time I visited the Senkaku Islands in a flight sim, so can I also fly to Huangyan Island (Scarborough Shoal), which is also disputed with the Philippines? I checked today and found that the X-Plane world map is quite impressive; it was very easy to find. Below is a report on the flight situation.
First, I checked the approximate location of Huangyan Island on Google Maps.
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Flying a Simulation Over the Diaoyu Islands
I’ve been traveling on business for weeks, and my blog has been neglected for a long time, which is very embarrassing.
During this period, another diplomatic crisis between China and Japan has emerged, and hostile sentiments between the peoples of the two countries have resurfaced. The Americans must be gloating on the sidelines, thinking their strategy of alienation is quite successful, right? I really hope this boring situation will end soon.
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Dassault Falcon 7X Business Jet Freeware Addon
The X-Plane official website introduced a free plugin/addon for the Dassault Falcon 7X business jet. I downloaded and tested it myself; the flying feel is quite nice, so let me introduce it to you.
You need to download it from x-plane.org. If you don’t have an account for this official community website, please register one first. The download link is here.
Installation is very simple. Extract the downloaded zip file to generate the
falcon7X_v9_50orgdirectory, and copy the entire directory toAircraft/General Aviation/in your main X-Plane directory. -
Opening and Closing the Cabin Door & Flying Over Tahiti
It’s been a while since my last update. I was on a business trip last week, and then went to Kyoto and Osaka to admire the cherry blossoms on the weekend, so I had fewer chances to practice on X-Plane. It’s been raining outside all day today, not suitable for going out, so I’ll just practice properly at home.
I started flying in Hawaii, when I suddenly discovered by chance that the cabin doors of the Cessna 172 can be opened! Just press Alt+E. To close the door, use Alt+R.
