Am I the only one on PA with a flight sim? When at the condo in Pattaya time is spent walking, exploring, meeting friends and going places we haven't been to for eats. Recently I upgraded my simulator hardware and being "stuck" here in Udon while wife rebuilds her rental kitchen, I'v used the time to rebuild my simulator.

 

Some years ago we drove out to Pattaya Air Park and frankly not much activity but remember there was a neglected Cessna 310 (I think) in a hanger. Now as luck would have it Pattaya Airpark happens to be one of the many, many airports in my Xplane flight sim. In my past life much of my flying was weekend trips to wherever my sailboat was moored at the time. Now I can fantasize having an airplane and flying to Pattaya for our frequent "beach time" trips. Pattaya Airpark has a 2000' runway suitable for many light aircraft, but as just a "fantasy" why not push the envelope and see if larger, faster airplanes can also operate there. So this guy has reversible prop was "cake"

 

the Piper Meridian is a cabin close single engine turbo prop, BIG $'s. When we visited there were not many hangers, but hey maybe tine for another look see. 

 

Edited June 6Jun 6 by jetdoc
typo

That's a impressive set up.

I stopped flying years ago and now with soaring costs and my feeble old age it's just a pipe dream. So I recently indulged myself with the only thing that I can do, RC planes. If that interests you there is supposed to be a field on the east side of town. It's been a fun hobby for me so far.

In my youth into model airplanes, free flight and u control. RC was just becoming a thing and I was interested, a bit beyond my reach and at 16 started student pilot training. Are you Pattaya or Udon located?

Pretty much the same with me, u control planes but RC was out of my league.

I started my flight training at the base aero club in Germany. 

I was in Pattaya last month for a visit. I'd planned on checking out the RC field but didn't make it out there.

I'm living in the Philippines. 

17 hours ago, ValleyCowboy said:

Pretty much the same with me, u control planes but RC was out of my league.

I started my flight training at the base aero club in Germany. 

I was in Pattaya last month for a visit. I'd planned on checking out the RC field but didn't make it out there.

I'm living in the Philippines. 

Interesting, started my with the GAFB flying club, Air Force pilots were doing the instructing and were working on getting FAA instructor ratings so couldn't log the time. If we ever connect in Pattaya, be nice to do lunch.

When I was going for my commercial/multi engine and instrument ratings, the fixed base operator had acquired a Beech 18 due to a maintenance lean. Was able to buy it by offering to do instrument rating in the newly purchased Piper twin. Worked on it for about 2 years got it flyable and a local jump club made me an offer I couldn't refuse. 

 

looked like this and was a tail dragger.

 

Closest I have in Xplane hanger is this tri gear conversion. Dusted it off, did engine adjustments and went on a test hop to fine tune flight behavior. Satisfied she was flying well, headed back for landing.

 

Seems I still got it, as managed to land with room to spare.

 

light load so think doable as the 18 was known as short rough field heavy hauler, similar to DC 3 on a lighter scale. 

 

4 hours ago, jetdoc said:

Interesting, started my with the GAFB flying club, Air Force pilots were doing the instructing and were working on getting FAA instructor ratings so couldn't log the time. If we ever connect in Pattaya, be nice to do lunch.

If I get back to Thailand I'll definitely look you up. Lunch would be great.

Wanted to book a flight to UTP this coming Friday but NO HAB, whether suspended temporarily or permanent - no clue. Construction on rental drags on could be here in Udon another 3weeks so maybe enough time to become proficient in a VLJ so I can operate it in and out of Pattaya Airpark. Two possibles,

 

6place 8k#, although I was barely able to take off with enough fuel to go to Udon, high likely it can be landed and stoped on the runway. 

 

On the other hand this guy was a military light jet trainer that is modify to carry 4 and is under 6k# for landing. No problem taking off from 2k' runway but getting it on will require good approach and hitting the "numbers'. This will probably be the only twin engine jet I will find too handle 2000 foot runways.

This is set up for my GA flying (ignore the 747 throttles down below, havent moved them as they are bolted on). I have the full WinCtrl Airbus throttle, sidestick, landing gear, rudder MCDU (FMS) EFIS and glareshield, as well as the FMS for the 777, and boeing glareshield, and the Moza force feedback yoke. I have a rowsfire radio panel but I haven't hooked it up as it goes with the Airbus equipment. I switched over to the honeycomb bravo throttle system which is excellent, but some things are tough to get mapped such as beta, and speed brakes on the PC-24 (I have ditched the thrustmaster yoke and rudder pedals, as they feel too "cheap") I use a streamdeck with autopilot control profiles for different aircraft that give you physical buttons and knobs, rather than trying to use your mouse to adjust everything. I would like to buy the Garmin G1000 panels from rowsfire, but I don't fly the 172 or Caravan much so they aren't any good for other aircraft I fly (maybe the Corvalis or the Skymaster would be fine to use them)

I mostly fly the Cirrus Vision Jet and PC-12. At some point I will set up another desk with all of the airliner stuff on it, and have it that I can just swap the monitors (TCL gaming TV) over so I can do airliners on occasion. 

I just bought the Piaggio p180 Avanti II plane today, and only did one circuit with it at UTP just to see how it feels (hits 250 knots in about 2 mins after takeoff and climbs over 5000 fpm at 140 kts)

I have about 350k into my system, and still have a few "wants" to add on at some point. 

 

I have MSFS and mostly fly airliners, either A350s or A32NX. I would love to fly a good 787 but so far still waiting for one.

7 hours ago, 28templarknight said:

I have MSFS and mostly fly airliners, either A350s or A32NX. I would love to fly a good 787 but so far still waiting for one.

As most of my real world flying was in my own 210 I focus on single pilot certified aircraft, with a preference towards twin engine. Being a retired airline mechanic I often upgrade avionics and most of the A/C's in my hanger have G1000's. even the B-26.

7 hours ago, 28templarknight said:

I have MSFS and mostly fly airliners, either A350s or A32NX. I would love to fly a good 787 but so far still waiting for one.

The 787 is a great flying machine for sure, but I would hold out a bit and wait for the 777-9 to come along.  the 777 is hands down the best flying commercial jet I have ever flown, and the 777-9 (if the simulator is any indication) will be even better.  They have taken the best of the 787 flight control software and put it into the 777-9.  Of course an extra 24 feet of wing doesn't hurt either!  Just one opinion.  I am curious if you have been able to find a Piper/Ted Smith Aerostar to use in MSFS?  That is a sweet flying machine as well.  I've got a bit of time in a Beech 18, but only the tailwheel version. 

My setup for Paris jet

 

Basic but functional, had to upgrade to Mac mini to run Xplane 12, so a bit less than 200Kb. The Saitek rudder pedals and throttle are left over from pre silicon V12 days and are basic entry level sim equipment but gets me buy. A force feed back yoke and better rudder pedals would be nice but hard to justify. The orange tie down strap secures sim equipment table to TV stand so elevator yoke input doesn't move the sim table. Had to add counter weight to offset the Alpha/Bravo Honeycomb units. The Saitek throttle quadrant is set for light A/C cowl flaps and I fashioned a speed brake handle for VLJ's.

 

1 hour ago, Skyryder said:

I am curious if you have been able to find a Piper/Ted Smith Aerostar to use in MSFS?  That is a sweet flying machine as well.  I've got a bit of time in a Beech 18, but only the tailwheel version. 

This is the one in my hanger.

 

 

Also have the proposed jet version that didn't happen. Free download and very nicely done.

1 hour ago, Skyryder said:

I've got a bit of time in a Beech 18, but only the tailwheel version. 

Owned one for a couple of years was neglected and required a lot of work get it flyable, once  it was a jump club made an offer I couldn't refuse, took the loot and bought a bigger sail boat.

Out of the box the Paris jet panel looked like this

 

Time for mister mechanic to get working 

 

upgraded avionics makes a big difference.

My dream would be having a motion platform like the DOF Reality H4 at home. Think it runs from $4k so it's really not that expensive. A RTX 5090 would cost more than that.

10 hours ago, 28templarknight said:

My dream would be having a motion platform like the DOF Reality H4 at home. Think it runs from $4k so it's really not that expensive. A RTX 5090 would cost more than that.

I'm sure "gamers" will love it but as a pilot I don't need it. Back when I had my own planes these desktop sims were not available, if they had been, my main use would be being able when going to an airport that I wasn't familiar with to fly  approaches. Even though I could not log instrument time on the sim, still helpful for staying in tune.  

I've also recently upgraded my flight sim setup. What’s your go-to simulator software? I’ve been loving experimenting with different aircraft. Always excited to hear new tips and tricks!

22 hours ago, SamNavid said:

I've also recently upgraded my flight sim setup. What’s your go-to simulator software? I’ve been loving experimenting with different aircraft. Always excited to hear new tips and tricks!

MSFS 2024 or XPlane. If you want more realistic flight characteristics, XPlane is said to be superior, and it can be even certified for FAA simulator hours. 

Scenery (eye candy) MSFS wins hands down, real life pilots tend to go with XPlane. As a retired mechanic, like XPlane "plane maker" app to modify air planes to my liking.

On 01/07/2026 at 18:00, SamNavid said:

I've also recently upgraded my flight sim setup. What’s your go-to simulator software? I’ve been loving experimenting with different aircraft. Always excited to hear new tips and tricks!

I'm running XPlane V12 on a Mac Mini Pro, the problem with the mini/silicone is a lot of my old Saitek equipment no longer works. Expensive upgrade to Alpha yoke (plugin and play) and Bravo throttle plugin and play for all functions but getting button and gear lights working requires additional plugin setup and I'm still trying to figure out how to use it.

 

Stock A/C's

 

Airplanes from earlier versions of XP:lane

   

More, disclaimer - I have no commercial nterest in Laminar Research.

All the airplanes in my hanger are free downloads many of which are available on the net. From time to time I get requests for airplanes that are no longer available or aircraft I'v modified. willing to share free peer to peer.