blog.bloud.org

As part of my current effort to self-host all services I can, I decided to move this legacy blog off Blogspot/Blogger. This will allow me to take a zero-cookies approach and makes it possible to run an even more minimalist style, as I like it. I might even start writing some articles here, but no promises…

Most Linux distributions started using hardening compiler and linker options for the programs in their packaging systems. Due to the slightly unorthodox build strategy of Psi (and even worse Psi+), it is not absolutely trivial to add these options when building it. Following is a short of instructions to build Psi (would also work for Psi+) with several hardening options. The options I will be using for this (feel free to use your own), are:

Now – ridiculously late, I know – a couple of pictures I took back when tearing apart my Delco Carousel IV-A (CIVA) CDU. Sorry for the rather mediocre image quality, some day I should get a macro lens…

Today my Delco Carousel IV-A Display Unit arrived from the US. It came in a much better shape than I expected it to.

FlyJSim recently updated the amazing 732 TwinJet to a newer version which much improved sound, a great new pushback feature and what not… In the same process Jack also added a 3-D CIVA INS (requires a separate license). I really like the CIVA for flights without good VOR coverage, so I greatly appreciate the addition as a 3-D object. Unfortunately it was only added to the right hand side of the cockpit, so it is not easily visible from the captain’s side when the throttles are advanced forward (see also this thread on the FlyJSim forums).

Yesterday Navigraph released their new charts product also including a new pricing scheme. This, of course, comes about a week I released a post on their product and their pricing. I will update those posts and take the opportunity to evaluate their new offering to see if it is worth the subscription extension that is coming up for my account. Navigraph comes with both a desktop software (on Windows) to download and print the charts as well as a web-based “Charts Cloud”.

This post will give a short summary of the tools and X-Plane plug-ins I used for the flight presented in the previous series of posts with their current prices. You do not need any of these to have a great time flying in X-Plane, it is just what I used for the flight. In comparison to what I had to pay for the Computer to run it on, it is a steal.

The last blog post left us in cruise enroute from Yellowknife to Edmonton International Airport. Enduring the usual cruise-boredom let us check the current wind and compare it to what we predicted during our pre-flight preparation.

After five blog posts of preparation it is now finally time to take the 732 into the air on our flight from Yellowknife (CYZF) to Edmonton (CYEG). Figure 1: Cleared for Take-Off As expected by the flight planning software, the Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) announces Runway 34 as active for CYZF. This directly opposite to our travel direction, accordingly we have to do an almost 180° turn after takeoff.

Finally, after four blog posts of preparation, everything is ready and we can launch X-Plane. Keep in mind that everything I described in the previous posts usually only takes a few (speak single digits) minutes. INS Alignment As mentioned in the first post of this series I will use the FlyJSim 737-200 with Philipp Muenzel’s CIVA INS. The INS needs quite some time to warm up and properly align itself. So the first thing I do inside the plane after establishing electrical power is taking care of the INS alignment.