I can highly recommend it but I appear to be biased towards 4 engined airplanes!
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the 550 on those long over water legs it was a godsend and no disrespect to you guys who do it for real, when the master or caution warning light comes on I am eternally grateful you are in the cockpit, but programming a FMS then sitting back and literally reading a book… Boring
Even if I did get to re-read Isaac Asimov’s Foundation (Books 1-3)
For this leg, with only 500 miles to go I really needed a change of pace.
This sexy beast has no fancy navaids or autopilot so I will be hand flying it all the way with a generous helping of dead reckoning.
I have gone from the study to the survey end of the X-Plane spectrum but the flight model is still enough to make you pay attention on take off and climb out, especially rudder trim on TO and monitoring the RPM and manifold pressure of those lovely big radials..
No fancy navaids but a bit of RTFM and weaving to & fro and I finally worked out the compass
Figured all I had to do was keep it North of my destination, hit the coast and turn left…
After a bumpy couple of hours keeping it under the cloud cover, coast in sight. That ‘should’ be St Luce ahead?
How is that for Nav! I am actually further South than I anticipated and crossing the coast at Itapera. Looks like all those years walking through the ‘boonies’ following a compass needle paid off… I planned this.
Yep that is where I need to be.
Short final.
Gunsight is convenient… Did I mention that I was a HUD cripple?
Don’t mean to brag, but greased it in 
And. Merry Xmas everyone.
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It’s not so bad IRL. There’s two of us and plenty to talk about. Airline pilots are worse than any sewing circle. Together we solve the world’s problems, we fix Boeing, we marvel at odd objects in space, we offer shoulders over failed marriages because that dumb spouse couldn’t accept the reality of being married to god’s gift to aviation. So much happens up there while Honeywell drives the machine. Point taken though. I prefer the manual stuff when off the clock. (Mainly because my wife refuses to sit next to me and gossip and hear how great I am while I play MSFS).
Actually, and this confirms exactly your point, yesterday I tried. I was going to do a final few legs and bask in the satisfaction of being a XMAS flight participant. This is me (autopilot on of course) between Dar es Salaam and Lindi. That flight played in the bg while I studied helicopters. Alas, I just can’t do it. In my day job I eat this sh** up. But in the sim it kills me.
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Welcome to the party, mate.
Congratulations.
Take a cold one and join us for a round of beach soccer: Team Lemur 
vs Team Penguin 
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Team Fossa all the way baby 
… If you are going to be a bear, be a Grizzly
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That is what I love about this place. The real deal of aviation from the real deal 
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A short leg from Zanzibar to the Grand Comores. Was flown a while back, but never got to post the report.
Take off on the calm opean sea poses no problem.
We leave Zanzibar behind.
Flying south-easterly direction, into the rising sun.
Arriving at Grand Comores, we find a lovely anchoring place at the southern tip of the island.
The watering was uneventful.
Currently flying the leg from Grand Comores to Madagascars northern tip. I tried a few days before, but was called to other duties and when I returned to the cockpit I see my plane bouncing from crash to crash, so I decided to refly the leg.
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aaand here the final one , Madagascar 
leaving Africa
great plane , full of presents , but the canopy is much better in Starfighter 
Mary Xmas to everyone ! 
where is the bar !? …
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congrats @Harry_Bumcrack !
I was going to do a quick leg to Zanzibar in the 742. But alas, XP12 crashed once more. I am getting pretty sure one my memory sticks is going tits up which is not a good time right now…
Enjoy these two shots I did get to take. Was going to show some cool bumpy clouds but alas…
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Wait, Madagascar is not in Africa?
Congrats for completing the trip!
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Congrats, @Harry_Bumcrack and @NEVO!
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And we’re on our second but last leg now. On Christmas Eve the route took us from Grand Comores to Fascene, on an island of the northern coast of Madagascar. Or rather, to the sea besides the airfield.
Our trusted tug boat aligns us with the open sea at the Comores.
Bit of a shaky take-off while I take this screen 
Some clouds, but the sun prevails.
Routine check that our swimmers are down before landing.
Of course I did not land parallel to the coast line, so will we stop in time?
Worked out nicely, in the background you see the runway from Fascene.
The last leg will bring us to our destination, or at least to the sea close by.
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Africa and Madagascar are two completely different islands
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Leg 11: Hwange National Park Airport, Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe (FVWN) TO Tolagnaro Airport, Fort-Dauphin, Anosy Region, Madagascar (FMSD)
Well, this didn’t go quite as planned…
It was the evening of the 23rd, and I was puzzling over what aircraft to fly the approximately 1,100NM that I had left to reach Tolagnaro, when an unexpected 1AM trip to the animal hospital threw an unceremonious, and undefrosted, holiday goose…
“What? the one as big as me?”
…right down our Christmas intake.
And so it was that, crisis apparently averted, I flew my final leg on Christmas Eve, as we were waiting for our dog, Willow, to be released from the hospital.
She’s home now, and this is the tale of that journey, curtailed somewhat, as I have some back petting to attend to. 
For my last leg, I needed something with some legs(pun intended). Ultimately, I chose the Flyingfries XF-11 in its original production livery.
After a few growing pains, I finally got her fuelled…
and off the runway.
She climbed well enough…
although the mixture required a lot more leaning than I think would be strictly accurate. 
She eventually ran out of schlitz at about 42,500ft.
I engaged her autopilot and decided to check out her spaces a bit.
The nose dome is pretty cool for sightseeing but, with the AP being a little pitchy, is not for the faint of stomach! 
Not much to see up here with a solid undercast beneath.
Just the occasional glimpse of a landmark (here, Lake Muzhwi, Zimbabwe) below.
Originally, I had planned to arrive right at dusk. But a little time zone misinterpretation pretty much knocked that one into a cocked hat.
I run drops dry just before the coast. The sun is already tellingly low on the horizon.
With a little jiggery pokery, I get the drops off…and without (nearly) shutting down the engine!
Feet wet not long thereafter.
The sun set only about 20 minutes later…with still over an hour to go!
Hmmm, dark, no navaids (that I know how to operate ), and terrain near the field.
Yeah, I’m not sure that’s a goose that you’re going to want to put sauce on… 
I was beginning to sweat the gas a bit (long story), so I kept her high and dumped her in.
“Tolagnaro Tower, Three in the breeze, clear of the trees, give me a descent, to the cement. Full stop. Last hop…”
“The landing was beautiful”…is what I would have said, had the runway been three feet lower! 
And here I am. Another holiday flight under my belt.
In signing off, I would like to say that it has been (and continues to be for those not here yet), a great pleasure reading everyone’s reports this year and I wish you all a happy holiday with my usual adage…
And so said old Santa,
As the Fed clicked his pen.
“Merry Christmas to all,
And RTFM!”
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Africa?.. Technically yes, but only because of the Suez canal?
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Congrats.
And nice choice. Big radials, contra rotating props (two of my favourite features in an aircraft)… Looks fast standing still. Love it, wish someone would do the XF-11 for X-Plane 12.
And I hope Willow is OK?
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Thanks for asking! We hope so. She had some kind of digestive thing and seemed to be pretty unhappy, unable lie down.
The docs gave her something to address the issue but we don’t know why it happened.
She isn’t quite herself yet, but she’s enough of herself to beg for food…so that’s a step in the right direction!
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congrats @Deacon211 !
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