Nick Tselepides 1 Posted June 28, 2004 Steven Coonts is a former USN A-6 pilot who flew across the US in a Stearman biplane and wrote a great book about it, "The Cannibal Queen-- A Flight into the Heart of America". His plane is downloadable for FS2002 and will also fly in FS9 without the prop showing. Made by Bill Lyons of Golden Age fame.Go to his site to get it. I am 3/4ths into the book, and find it fascinating. You can fly Coonts' flight legs in any order you wish, making your own flights as you go, and having flown a few of the first flights of his journey and a couple on the East Coast, I flew some flights out west today over the Sierras, from Reno down to Chino,, then over Yosemite Ntl park and the San Joaquin valley to Vaisila KVIS and Meadows KBFL by Bakersfield, Calif., then on to China Lake after having flown through the Techachapi Pass through the mountains, and breaking out over the crest to the red desert. As I fly I consult the book and find many of the land features he talks of in it in FS--amazed at how well MS have captured the area. I set up every next flight by the book and will now head into the Mohave Desert and the area of Edwards AFB. I also change planes in midflight at times to fly faster, but always take off and land in Coonts' s "Cannibal Queen" Stearman biplane. I am thankful to Navychief who sent me this book, as I could not find it Athens. The book also has a lot of insights about America, and some of Stevens's thoughts on larger issues are very interesting. For 8$ or so so you can have at least 15 hours of excellent and enlightening entertainment by reading the book and many more by flying out his flights in your FS2002/04. The experience of flying his flights also gave me the chance to get out of the tyranny of downloading stuff and putting the planes into the sim, and allowed me to fly by the seat of my pants, VFR, with a peek at the map from time to time, and see the American landscape from the air. If you find some flights too long, you can always cheat a bit by selecting the Map View and moving your plane further along the route towards your destination. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutchy 0 Posted June 28, 2004 Nick, I got every book from him. I am a fan from his first book and tell you what happend to me with Stephen Coonts. A few months ago. I was serving on his internet site. Looking for last details about new books. Saw the book Cannibal Queen on his site and mailed him about that. Five weeks later: A big brown envolope in mine postbox. He send me two books "war in the air"and "The Cannibal Queen". In each book he wrote mine name, give me the best wishes and he find me a real fan. Imported, the books are signed with his autograph. So it was very personally. Stephen Coonts was allready my favourite writer, but after that. Nobody can beat him anymore with writing. Yeah Nick, Stephen Coonts is not only a good writer, but he is also a nice person. Salute Dutchy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nick Tselepides 1 Posted June 28, 2004 Dutchy, You confirmed what I thought all along--that he is anice man. I am so glad. Thanks for the vaulable info. Cheers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
