World Flight 2013

[Theodore Martin]

I almost missed them again this year. This is a group out of Australia than choreographs and flies a world flight for charity. It's a 7 day event where they provide a complete schedule that includes flight plans for FSInn, Squakbox, and most payware aircraft. They have their own traveling ATC that coorinates 20 to 30 flights into and out of small airports with long runways.

This group utilizes fixed-base (actually one is full motion) fully implemented simulators and coordinate sim flight crews to fly these simulators almost around the clock. The neat thing is they have a live video feed from one of the simulators so not only can you fly with them, you can see what is happening in the simulator cockpit of one of your fellow pilots. I normally fly only a few legs with them but it's always been fun.

Check out their website to get more info on what they are doing. The last leg was this Sunday but maybe it's something some of you may want to join next year. It normally happens in the Oct.-Nov. time frame.

http://www.worldflight.com.au/

Be sure to check out this guys simulator at http://www.hyway.com.au/747/747.html. This thing is outrageous and I don't believe for a moment it is a hobby as he says (unless the guy just has money falling out his pockets). BTW, you Google Chrome people (like me) will have the view the website in either an IE Explorer tab within Chrome or use IE itself. Website does not function properly in Chrome.

(Wayne Piece - Here's your next project. You build it, we will ALL come. )

[Barry Theodore]

Good writeup Theodore, make that up to 50 or 60 flights, and where possible they use the local ATC. I was manning approach for Edmonton and was on for a solid 8 hours. It was probably unusual but Edmonton Center, Approach and Tower (all regular controllers in the Edmonton FIR) were from Australia, me in Melbourne and the other 2 in Brisbane.
I stopped in when they were in Wellington NZ for a look, planes everywhere.
A very enjoyable event.