Julian's Humble Hubris

See the above region on Google Maps At the end of  part 2  of our round-the-world tour , we had just landed on a tiny airstrip upon making a first landfall at the western tip of Jamaica, arriving there from Cuba by way of the Cayman Islands. If landing the larger 6-seater airplane, the Beechcraft Baron 58 , on that tiny airstrip wasn't a workout enough for my still-limited landing skills, later landing on an aircraft carrier , while in transit to Haiti, certainly stretched my abilities!  Fortunately, I had fortified myself with a training video on handling sideslips , i.e. fine alignment with the landing strip.  That has been my Achilles' heel so far: ending up a little diagonal and/or offset, just as I'm about to touch down...  Getting better, though :) North-West of Jamaica : Montego Bay In Jamaica, I've been fascinated by two gorgeous bays: the first one is Montego Bay, close to my original landfall on the island. Here are two v...

See the above region on Google Maps So, I'm planning to go around the world, starting in Miami - and I'm still in Cuba...  I'd better step on it!  In part 1 , we left off on a cluster of little islands off the north coast of Cuba, east of Havana. While heading south, halfway through crossing the narrow side of Cuba, someone in my household turned on her hair dryer, and overloaded the circuits: the computer rebooted and I lost the flight, grrr! But in the Grand Scheme of Things, it was perhaps a good thing: it motivated me to learn how to pilot a faster airplane, the slightly-larger Beechcraft Baron 58 .   I can now zip along at speeds around  200 knots (230.156 mph or 370 Km/h), instead of chugging along at a meager 130 knots (150 mph or 240 Km/h.) Crossing Cuba North-to-South Large topographic map of Cuba Approaching the north coast of mainland Cuba in the new airplane type Crossing mainland Cuba north-to-south in the roomier airplane...

See the above region on Google Maps I recently bought a very realistic flight simulator , and have been learning how to fly.  After my landings got halfway passable, haha, I naturally found myself drawn to coastlines and islands (I also love to sail)... and I took off from Miami International Airport , to explore the Florida Keys . Well, I just kept going from there - and decided to go around the world :) Of course, I'll also be taking "side tours" in all sorts of other locations...  Well, that's the beauty of virtual flying: just pause a journey and do a side-trip somewhere across the globe! The flight simulator, XPlane 11 , has unbelievable coverage of the entire world.  I periodically compare the views against Google Earth, and I've been impressed by the accuracy of the landscapes and coastlines.  Buildings and vegetation could use improvement - but not so bad as to ruin the amazing experience of traveling up-close to wherever it suits me, or my frien...