Maine Coastal Airways
General Information for Pilots Flying Routes in Maine
Step 1: Aircraft
The first step is to download the planes you'll need. From the Main Page, select Aircraft and follow the instructions that start with joining TCA. This will give you TCA and TDM planes that can be used in Maine, the Caribbean (my other favorite spot), and around the world. Once a member of TCA, you'll be part of a community of helpful people who will help you pursue whatever part of the hobby appeals to you personally. Join the bulletin board to get daily e-mails from each of us. To do this, you....
Step 2: Scenery
You have your airplanes. The next step is to download scenery. I recommend going to FlightSim.com or AVSIM and downloading the three main Maine scenery files that cover all of New England. Next, go to ARTCC Boston and download their airport sceneries. This will ensure that when they attempt to help you land in bad weather, you have the scenery they expect. Finally, both FlightSim.com and AVSIM have additional sceneries that my be helpful to you. I used Airport (and may learn to use SceneGenX) so that I could put my hometown and house on the map, and even put my car in the driveway. What you do is up to you.
Step 3: Seeing and Talking to Everyone Else
Finally, you'll need to join VATSIM to get a pilot ID number so that you can see the rest of us fly online, and Squawkbox so that you can talk to us. I also recommend ServInfo so you can check to see who is on before you go through all the steps of generating a flight plan...that no one will see. Later, if you want to fly Multi-Player with a better voice package, you should look for Par's section on the TCA website.
Step 4: Building Up the Maine Pilot Community
The more you fly in Maine while on VATSIM using Squawkbox, the more ARTCC Boston Controllers will pay attention to you. Get active. Use flight plans and encourage others to fly the islands of Maine. Some of the airports are downright tricky even in good weather, and impossible in bad. FS 2004 is realistic enough that if you fly online with VATSIM, using real weather, there will be times you can't get there from here. Send me an e-mail when that happens. And, above all...have fun!
