Flying to a Dream

15th October 2003, VATSIM
 Munich (EDDM) - Pisa (LIRP)

Origin of the event (idea, story and text by EHM1077 Emanuele D'Arrigo)

October the 5th, 1998, one of the most important dates in my life.
At the tender age of 24, I take a plane for the first time and I leave Italy for good. Don't get me wrong, I like my country, but I had just landed (!) on the most wonderful position I could imagine at the time in a German company. My salary is suddenly tripled and the production requires me to deal with real technical and inspiring challenges as opposed to "how to do as much as possible in basically no time", characteristic of Italian productions. It was the beginning of four wonderful years. There were ups and downs as usual of course but I was mostly working on dream projects with really nice people in a really nice city, Munich.

I'll never forget the cute ATR-42 of the regional carrier Air Dolomiti. Nice aquamarine-white livery, pretty stewardess with perfect uniform and make up, yummy and well presented breakfast. I eventually end up flying with them about 6 times a year. I was a bit nervous as I'm not exactly the roller-coaster-fan kind of guy, but the flight was actually very smooth and it has been for pretty much all flights in the following years.

The routing has been usually always the same, with a couple of small variants: sometime we'd pass over Verona and Bologna, sometime over Vicenza and Ferrara. In a couple of instances, on the way back to Pisa, we were re-routed before the flight to pass over Switzerland instead of Austria, leading to an arrival from Genova instead of Firenze, but it has been rare. Furthermore, from the information provided by the pilots, on average we flew between FL250 and FL270, at about 320 kts GS. (550-600 Km/h).

But beside the thrill of the new experience, It was so beautiful to see all the places I've lived in for so long from a completely different perspective, my whole hometown (Pisa) and its surroundings almost like a miniature village. The stadium close to my house, the leaning tower, the river cutting through the city... and then the freeways going in and out of the city, the station and the railroad line going to Florence, the sandy beaches just 15 Kilometers from the center, the ruined middle-age castle on a nearby mountain and the large green patch of forest along the seashore that is S.Rossore national park, where is still relatively easy to spot Deers and Wild Boars. It was almost like re-winding my whole life and watching it again in a short time.

 
Our Flight

After 5 years, we escorted Manu in this return flight from Munich to Pisa, this time on VATSIM, in FS. The event was a major success - almost full ATC coverage and 12 EHM planes online, flying together on the same route. We used the EuroHarmony ATR 42-500 and started departing from Munich at 1830Z. Traffic was very high and some people had to wait 40-50 minutes to depart. The last arrival to Pisa was at 2220Z. 

Below you can view some pictures made by members, and there are some links to stories and text transcripts. Move the mouse over a picture to get a description, click to enlarge them.

 

EHM0001 Gergely Kosa
   I was third to depart from Munich, after Maarten and Dejan; however I was first to arrive to Pisa, with Dejan, then Maarten and Manu landing after me. Used the EHM ATR 42 in FS2004.

7 EHM planes on the apron Dejan lining up Airborne and a Lufthansa lining up En route
Servinfo shot around 1930Z Late afternoon over Italy Maarten at a lower altitude The sun is setting as I'm on downwind 04R
Servinfo shot around 2015Z On final Dejan and Maarten arriving At the apron, with Dejan and Manu
 

EHM0695 Scott Clifford
   Scott arrived to EDDM from LSZH, however, due to other commitments, he couldn't follow the group from there to LIRP; he was able to catch only the 'tail-end' of the event, together with Armando. He used the TU-154M.

FSNAV shot around 1830Z Climbout On final
 

EHM1001 Robert Szikszo
   This was Robert's first online flight, and he said it was a great experience for him. What's more, he wrote a story of the event, click here to read it. He was 5th to depart.

 

EHM1123 Dejan Ivanovic
   'Wish all of the events were like this! I had an excellent time and hope you had too'. Dejan was second to depart and second to arrive.

Watching Scott on final at 1745Z Holding short 08R Lined up, looking at the EHM planes on the apron Departure
On TULSI5E departure route Sun is setting slowly above the amazing Alps scenery FL250, with DLH555 and EHM001 following EHM planes departing from Munich
Approaching the sea Descent Nearly established localizer 4R Watching Robert on final
 

EHM1150 Armando Chimbante
   Armando was last to depart from EDDM (right after Scott) and last to arrive to Pisa. It was nice to see that ATC didn't leave his position until all planes landed.

Around 1800Z, the first 3 guys to check and Scott was arriving At least 6 EHM planes visible, and waiting for some more to come Enroute with Scott a few feet above One more sunset for the album
It looks cold down there Overflying Bolzano Heading southwest inbound PIS VOR, with Scott already landed I was warned by Manu and Scott abou stong wind, so I had to compensate, but it was a landing on the edge of the runway
 

The following EHM members have participated at the event:

EHM0001 Gergely Kosa EHM1077 Emanuele D'Arrigo
EHM0005 Maarten Pols EHM1123 Dejan Ivanovic
EHM0695 Scott Clifford EHM1150 Armando Chimbante
EHM1001 Robert Szikszo EHM1152 Thomas Gilpin
EHM1029 Brent Stewart EHM1303 Dimitris Nisiotis
EHM1065 Tony Wedgwood EHM1304 Hideki Yukawa