Here's the latest in the 'Tako Tours' series. 
This time it's a tour of every FSX airport in New Zealand bar one (see note below).
If you would like to fly the tour proceed as follows:
1. Download the attached zip file and save it to a safe location on your computer, then unpack it.
2. Move the 'New Zealand Tour.PLN' file to the same location that FSX uses when you save a flight plan (in XP that would be 'C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\My Documents\Flight Simulator X Files' ...... in Vista it is 'C:\Your Name\Documents\Flight Simulator X Files' .....not sure what it is in Win7 sorry
).
3. Start FSX, go to the 'Free Flight' screen then select your initial aircraft, the time and season and your weather preferences (I use real weather to add some variety during the tour and some days can be really bad and add an extra dimension to the flying!)
4. When you have the above set click on the 'Flight Planner' button then click on the 'Load' button at the bottom of the screen. Navigate to the 'New Zealand Tour.PLN' file and double-click it.
5. Click on the 'Find Route' button and you should see the same as the screenshot below.....
View attachment 15052
Click on the thumbnail to see it full size.
NOTE: The flight plan only shows the start and finish locations at this point.
6. Click on the 'Load' button on this window and reload the 'New Zealand Tour.PLN' file. You should now see the entire flight plan, with waypoints, as shown below....
View attachment 15053
Click on the thumbnail to see it full size.
7. Click on 'OK' and then click on 'YES' on the notification pop-up window.
8. Click on 'Fly Now' when you are ready to start the tour.
9. When you reach a point where you want to stop for that session simply save your flight with a suitable name and it will also save the flight plan at your current location. When you want to continue the tour simply reload the saved flight using the 'Load' button on the 'Free Flight' screen and the GPS will already have the flight plan in it and will show the next leg to fly.
Oh BTW, grabbing some add-on sceneries for New Zealand (payware or freeware) can only enhance your experience!
This time it's a tour of every FSX airport in New Zealand bar one (see note below).
If you would like to fly the tour proceed as follows:
1. Download the attached zip file and save it to a safe location on your computer, then unpack it.
2. Move the 'New Zealand Tour.PLN' file to the same location that FSX uses when you save a flight plan (in XP that would be 'C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\My Documents\Flight Simulator X Files' ...... in Vista it is 'C:\Your Name\Documents\Flight Simulator X Files' .....not sure what it is in Win7 sorry
).3. Start FSX, go to the 'Free Flight' screen then select your initial aircraft, the time and season and your weather preferences (I use real weather to add some variety during the tour and some days can be really bad and add an extra dimension to the flying!)
4. When you have the above set click on the 'Flight Planner' button then click on the 'Load' button at the bottom of the screen. Navigate to the 'New Zealand Tour.PLN' file and double-click it.
5. Click on the 'Find Route' button and you should see the same as the screenshot below.....
View attachment 15052
Click on the thumbnail to see it full size.
NOTE: The flight plan only shows the start and finish locations at this point.
6. Click on the 'Load' button on this window and reload the 'New Zealand Tour.PLN' file. You should now see the entire flight plan, with waypoints, as shown below....
View attachment 15053
Click on the thumbnail to see it full size.
7. Click on 'OK' and then click on 'YES' on the notification pop-up window.
8. Click on 'Fly Now' when you are ready to start the tour.
9. When you reach a point where you want to stop for that session simply save your flight with a suitable name and it will also save the flight plan at your current location. When you want to continue the tour simply reload the saved flight using the 'Load' button on the 'Free Flight' screen and the GPS will already have the flight plan in it and will show the next leg to fly.
NOTE: I said at the top that this is a tour of all the New Zealand airports bar one, I purposely left out NZCI (Chatham Islands Airport). NZCI is located in a remote island chain and would require an each way trip in excess of 400 NM over open water which is not everyones cup of tea!
However, if you are into the FS Rewards system (see FS-Shipyards - Rewards - Visit Series - Countries for more info) you will need to 'collect' this airport in order to get the 'All New Zealand Airports Visited' award and there are several ways you can do this as follows:
1. If you want to include NZCI as part of the tour then when you have the window open shown in Step 6 above simply left-click and hold the mouse button down on the red line between two airports of your choice and drag the line over to NZCI located due East of New Zealand and then let go of the mouse button. Make sure you drop the line onto the airport itself otherwise you will get a waypoint added instead of an airport destination. If you do it wrong you can always delete the waypoint and try again. Once you have it correct save the file and NZCI will be part of the tour.
2. If you would prefer to not fly the over the water legs you could simply start a flight at NZCI, do a circuit and land again to qualify for the landing.
3. By far the simplest method (but some may consider it cheating) is to start at NZCI in a helicopter, lift off the ground and then immediately land again and this is enough to pick up the reward for the airport.
Whether you decide to include NZCI or not I hope you enjoy this tour and please feel free to leave feedback (good or bad).However, if you are into the FS Rewards system (see FS-Shipyards - Rewards - Visit Series - Countries for more info) you will need to 'collect' this airport in order to get the 'All New Zealand Airports Visited' award and there are several ways you can do this as follows:
1. If you want to include NZCI as part of the tour then when you have the window open shown in Step 6 above simply left-click and hold the mouse button down on the red line between two airports of your choice and drag the line over to NZCI located due East of New Zealand and then let go of the mouse button. Make sure you drop the line onto the airport itself otherwise you will get a waypoint added instead of an airport destination. If you do it wrong you can always delete the waypoint and try again. Once you have it correct save the file and NZCI will be part of the tour.
2. If you would prefer to not fly the over the water legs you could simply start a flight at NZCI, do a circuit and land again to qualify for the landing.
3. By far the simplest method (but some may consider it cheating
) is to start at NZCI in a helicopter, lift off the ground and then immediately land again and this is enough to pick up the reward for the airport.
Oh BTW, grabbing some add-on sceneries for New Zealand (payware or freeware) can only enhance your experience!
