AboutArmidale is the Northern Tablelands administrative centre, about halfway between Sydney and Brisbane and also home to the University of New England.
AboutBotany Bay is where Captain James Cook first stepped ashore from HMS Endeavour on April 29th 1770. Initially thinking this to be a suitable site for the 1st settlement, he changed his mind upon sailing 10 miles north to the mouth of what became Sydney Harbour.
AboutBack o' Bourke: is an expression allegedly minted by poet Henry Lawson, and refers to Bourke's place at the edge of civilisation. Bourke is at the western edge of the agricultural regions of New South Wales and is a gateway to the vast and arid Australian outback.
AboutBrewarrina is an aboriginal term for the native gooseberry. In the 1860s Brewarrina was a busy port for shipping wool to Adelaide (captial of South Australia). It's quite the feat of imagination these days to picture river boats making the long journey along the meandering path of the Darling River!
AboutCamden Airport is bordered on three sides by the Nepean River and is the Boy Scouts air activity base. I have seen everything there from gliders to L-39 Fighter Jets!
AboutLocated in the far NW of N.S.W. at the intersection of Kidman Way and the Barrier Highway, Cobar's main activity is mining. One of the oldest, Peak Gold Mine was opened in 1896, and the CSA Mine is one of Australia's highest grade copper mines.
AboutForster and Tuncurry guard the entrance to a complex series of lakes. The three main lakes to the south are Wallis Lake. Smith's Lake and Myall Lake.
AboutSitting astride the Macintyre River, Inverell has been a source of diamonds and sapphires from the mid 19v onwards. Nowadays the main activities are tourism and a variety of crop cultivation.
AboutUntil 65 million years ago Australia was 1/4 covered by a vast inland sea. At Louth we get our first sightings of the rolling and worn mountain ranges which permeate the largely flat former seabed.
AboutVisit the most southern town in NSW and stray a few miles over the Victoran border to Mallacoota. You should have no problems as Victoria is mostly a friendly state.
AboutWith the skyline dominated by Dromedary Mountain to the south, Narooma and surrounds are an idyllic combination of sandy beaches, lakes and mild weather.
AboutAustralia has been said to ride on the sheep's back, and when you see the Big Merino at Goulburn you will understand why! The locals call it 'Rambo', after an award winning ram from the Bullamallita stud. There is a multi-level gift shop inside Rambo and at night it's eyes cast an eerie green gaze over Goulburn. Nobody knows why.
AboutThese images use the ORBX Sydney scenery plus other addons. The first and most obvious difference is the presence of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.
AboutLocated at the base of the Blue Mountains on Sydney's western border, the Warragamba Dam is one of Sydney's main water suppiles as well as being a popular recreational area.
AboutThe Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) has an extensive collection of military and civil aircraft which includes John Travolta's Boeing 707 and a MiG-21.
AboutBowral, Berrima and Mittagong are at the junction of greater Sydney and the Southern Tablelands. The area is a favourite weekend destination for Sydney-siders with it's charming manors, wineries, antique shops and tulip gardens.
AboutBowral, Berrima and Mittagong are at the junction of greater Sydney and the Southern Tablelands. The area is a favourite weekend destination for Sydney-siders with it's charming manors, wineries, antique shops and tulip gardens.
AboutBreaking every rule in the book I fly under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, through a football stadium, and frighten the diners 60 floors up in Centrepoint Tower's revolving restaurant! Oh, and it's at night in a Vought Corsair, which Microsoft thoughtfully provided for us in every copy of Flight Sim 2004.
And then I land at Sydney International Airport... probably in the wrong direction...
AboutIn my first caching experiment I cached the Williamtown RAAF base near Newcastle. That only used 45mb of space, so this time I set my sights higher. Or broader.
AboutLocated in the far NW of N.S.W. at the intersection of Kidman Way and the Barrier Highway, Cobar's main activity is mining. One of the oldest, Peak Gold Mine was opened in 1896, and the CSA Mine is one of Australia's highest grade copper mines.
AboutExplore the vast irrigation bores, reservoirs and ditches around Collarenebri, and fly over Moomin Gin. In 1962 a small group of pioneering cotton growers formed a cooperative at Wee Waa and processed 98 bales of cotton in the first year. Today Namoi Cotton processes up to 84,000 bales per week at it's 11 facilities. In 1794 the first cotton gin patent was granted in the USA to Eli Whitney. Today at Moomin Cotton Gin the process of separating cotton lint from it's seeds with the descendants of Whitney's invention.
AboutThredbo, Perisher and Mt Kosciusko mission. Thredbo and Perisher are two of Australia's most popular ski destinations. While not the most dramatic peak, at 7,310 feet Mt Kosciusko is nonetheless Australia's tallest. RAAF 20 years livery by Impulse Simulations
AboutThredbo, Perisher and Mt Kosciusko mission. Thredbo and Perisher are two of Australia's most popular ski destinations. While not the most dramatic peak, at 7,310 feet Mt Kosciusko is nonetheless Australia's tallest. RAAF 20 years livery by Impulse Simulations
AboutThe Jacaranda capital of Australia, Grafton lays astride the Clarence river and features Edwardian and Victorian architecture. Fly east of Grafton to the coast and then north to the coastal towns of Wooli, Minnie Water, Sandon, Brooms Head, Angourie Point and Yamba. Then return to Grafton via the Clarence River.
AboutAcquired this in December 2022 and I am really enjoying it. The virtual cockpit scales nicely with my physical cockpit and it gives a really most immersive "you are there" feeling to the whole experience.
AboutIn 1995 MiGMan and PC paid a visit to Amberley, a RAAF base in sunny Queensland, Australia. as guests of No.1 Squadron. Australia is the only country in the world operating the F-111, the Americans called it the "Aardvark", or "Vark"... the Aussies call it the "Pig". Aardvaark is Afrikaans for "Earth Pig"
AboutPeter Inglis’ submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into Australian Defence Force Regional Air Superiority, 2006
AboutOn an unusually grey Sydney afternoon in October 2006 MiGMan was a guest of Microsoft at the launch of their new flagship product - Microsoft Flight Simulator X.
The creme-de-la-creme of Australia's gaming journalists gathered at Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney, and embarked on a champagne flight over Sydney Harbour in a C-47, the military transport version of the Douglas DC-3.
AboutAfter getting special permission from a nervous civil aviation authority an RAAF F-111 was granted permission to fly at under 500 feet altitude - practically IN the stadium during the closing ceremony. As it passed over the flame the pilot engaged afterburner and then dumped fuel, resulting in the trademark 100 foot plus trail of fire - as if a chariot of the gods had picked up the flame on the way to Greece.
As it flew 14 kilometres towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge it was accompanied by a sea of flame as the Parramatta River seemed to explode, with fireworks every 500 metres.
AboutMiGMan was keynote speaker at Australia's first ever Flight Sim Expo, held in the old Ansett terminal at Kingsford Smith International Airport, Sydney.