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The rest of 2019 (Part 2 – A summer of mostly flying)

As a result of biking less I suddenly got quite some extra free time, which meant that I could do things that I could not do before. First, I fixed the long-standing problem of not being able to give the home monitoring system’s sensors – and most importantly the central RPi a fixed IP (because it is not possible on the router of our internet provider – Telenet -, meaning that after a power-cut, or simply the restart of the router, sometimes the RPi did not get its preferred IP address, which screwed up the communication between the wireless sensors and the RPi, so I had to manually look for the conflicting device and kick it off the network, making sure that the then rebooted RPi got the IP it wanted, then restart the wireless sensors, etc. – even just writing this down took more time than what I would want to spend on such issues). As a solution I simply bought an extra wireless router (TP-Link Archer C2300) with all the necessary features, connected it to the Telenet router via an Ethernet cable, and migrated all our devices to using the new router (giving fixed IPs to the ones that would benefit from it). Since then everything works flawlessly. (Of course as we have literally dozens of WiFi enabled devices, this migration took more than two seconds, which might explain why I had not done this earlier already.) Recently I also switched to reading the data of our outside sensor cluster from its local JSON output instead of using the luftdaten database (which has been often unresponsive lately) – this was also made possible by the fixed IP addresses.

Then I bought a quite powerful gaming PC (Lenovo Legion T530, Intel Core i7 9700 processor, 32 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 with 8 GB VRAM, 1 TB SSD + 2 TB HDD) with the primary goal of getting back to the world of flight simulators (the only unrelated software I have installed is the Zwift client for my training workouts). I got X-Plane 11, rudder pedals (Logitech G Pro Flight Rudder Pedals), a joystick and a throttle quadrant and (initially a Logitech G X52 Pro but then I replaced them with a Thrustmaster T16000M FCS and a Virtual Fly TQ3+, both of which are using magnetic Hall-sensors which makes their use much more precise), a radio and a switch panel (also Logitech, and while these are definitely fun to use, they are the least necessary components of the setup, as everything they do could be done in the virtual cockpit with a mouse too). I also got a new screen (Asus PG279Q, replacing my 10 year old Dell U2410 which I now use as a 3rd display at work) when I was sure that I would not give up on this hobby after a few weeks.

Virtual flying was not completely new to me, since I had already gotten into it during my university years for a short while, so it did not take me long before I joined IVAO to fly online (so I had to buy a new headset too: SteelSeries Arctis 7) with other pilots and virtual air traffic controllers.

In the second half of the year I flew almost 200 hours online (and probably 100 more offline), using mainly study-level aircraft (planes that are modeled as close to reality as possible, meaning realistic flight model, systems, and procedures), such as the Cessna 172 with the REP package, the SIAI Marchetti SF 260D, the TBM 900, and the A319 from Toliss. In the beginning I flew only GA planes (and VFR), and only after the first ~100 hours did I start mixing in some commercial flights (and IFR) too.

I took part in a few online events, e.g. two real flight events (RFE, simulating the actual traffic on a selected airport – in my case Munich and Budapest -, aiming at reproducing the real-life arriving and departing traffic at that airport, providing a complete coverage of the various air traffic controllers and high traffic levels, which results in a very busy and realistic – and in the beginning stressful, but rewarding – experience altogether), and also the annual crowded skies event (where the goal is having the most people connected to the IVAO network at the same time – during the peak period there were more than 2000 people connected to the network this year, resulting in a lot of radio chatter and a complete coverage of the European airspace by various levels of ATC).

It is a quite serious hobby, I follow real-life checklists, real-life procedures, I fly according to actual flight rules (instrumental or visual), and communicate with air traffic controllers using the real life phraseology. (This means that just setting up the A319 before getting ready for push-back already takes almost a half hour…) Besides flying, I also enjoy designing airports (it’s basically drawing “maps” – layouts based on official charts or satellite pictures – and doing some 3D modelling), so far I have completed EBGB and EBNM (two small airports in Belgium), and now I am working on EBCI (Charleroi). It’s like an advanced version of colouring books for me, lately I have spent more time working on EBCI than I spent flying… (But you will see the significance of this specific airport later.)

Some more tidbits again: this summer all previous temperature records were broken again in Belgium (and all over Europe), and sadly this is becoming a recurring news item every year… On the 25th of July the temperature reached 39.7°C in Brussels (Ukkel), which is 3.1°C more than the past record, and 41.8°C in Begijnendijk (not far from Leuven). To put things into perspective, this is only 0.1°C less than the maximum temperature record in Hungary, while in theory Hungary has significantly warmer summers… I became 2nd on the annual Tour de France prognosis competition at work, which was definitely necessary to restore my honor after finishing almost last during the spring classics… Not much later there was a fire in the student apartments just in front and above our offices, which luckily resulted in no injuries, but forced us to work from home for a week, as the electricity could not be turned back on before all the water damage was cleaned up by the team of the insurance company, etc.

The annual meet-up with my parents this year brought us to the Trier and Luxembourg (and Saarburg), and while both of these cities were nice to walk around in, the best part of the long weekend was still the elevated wooden path that led to the lookout tower built just above a sharp bend of the river Saar (Treetop path Saarschleife).

Around this time I had a serious lack of sleep because I kept staying up until completely unreasonable hours, being busy with the flight simulator… (Since then this has improved, but I am still finding it very difficult to go to sleep in time, as I just want to keep doing stuff even when I am tired…)

During the autumn we spent one day in Breda with Clio (staying in the Hotel Nassau, with a fancy dinner, and breakfast served in a former church), and I also made it to Bilbao for work for two busy days. We also tried a few new restaurants in Leuven, actively seeking new experiences, leading to the discovery of a couple of really nice places (even though ordering food from the couch is just so easy), we should continue this when the weather becomes good enough to sit outside again.

While I got deeper and deeper into training on the flight simulator, I also got to fly in a small GA aircraft for the first time, thanks to Clio’s cousin, who invited me to join him for a flight at the end of August. We flew a Cessna 172S (with a G1000 glass cockpit) from Grimbergen to Brasschaat and back, and most importantly, on the way back I got to do everything from take-off (with a bit of assistance in that phase) to just before the landing. I did climbs, descents, and various turns, following instructions.

By then I had more than 50 hours on the exact same plane (with the exact same instrument panel) in the simulator, so everything felt very familiar (but of course the actual movement of the aircraft can not be replicated, so that was very new). It was definitely the best one-day thing I did in 2019 (I could not stop smiling the whole evening), and it motivated me so much that I decided to sign up for an actual PPL (private pilot license) training. I started with having my medical certificate arranged (EKG, blood test, and a general checkup lasting more than an hour at a certified doctor), then after a face-to-face meeting in Charleroi, I enrolled at the New CAG Air Academy. I am using a distance learning platform to study the theory (this is really well done and very convenient too), and if everything goes well (weather – just confirmed OK!) then tomorrow afternoon I will have my first practical lesson too (booking this was not that easy even though there is a good online tool for it, but as a newcomer I had way too many practical difficulties in the beginning). I am really looking forward to flying (and at the same time I wish that I could make things happen a bit faster, but that is just how I am), and I am sure I will write more about the training later on…

A weekend in the Netherlands with my parents

Last week my parents flew over for the long weekend, and we spent the first two days visiting the most touristic sights in and around Leiden. (On the last day we did a very long walk across previously unexplored and new parts of Leuven). Our first stop was at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the windmills in Kinderdijk.

Here we had a nice walk discovering the area, except for the first few hundred metres where the path along the small channels was packed with tourists from all over the world. Afterwards we drove to our hotel in Leiden, checked in, and almost immediately went for a walk (leaving the car in a nice new underground parking garage that was opened only two days earlier). Of course first we had to refill our energy reserves, so we went for pancakes in a “pancake house” (Pannenkoekenhuys Oudt Leyden). They were excellent (and huge)! Then we walked around the centrum, and among others we also made it to the top of the Burcht van Leiden (an old fortified point overlooking the city, providing great panoramas).

The next morning we drove to the tulip gardens of Keukenhof right after a not too early breakfast. We arrived there around 11:15, and luckily we still got into the (otherwise amazingly well organised and coordinated) parking without a problem. People coming just a half hour later were not that lucky anymore, because by that time everything was full. It turns out that we managed to visit on one of the busiest days the park has ever had. This was pretty evident inside, since there were people everywhere, but there were also so many flowers and it was really so extremely beautiful, that it made up for the otherwise alarmingly high tourist-density to the full extent. Of course it was basically impossible to take photos without including a Chinese family or a Russian couple in the background, but I did my best to still get some nice pictures. It was definitely worth a visit, but I would recommend going during the week and maybe when the weather is a bit less perfect :D

Visiting Amsterdam with my parents

Again, I have to apologise for not keeping the blog up to date, but – for some months now – I really do not feel like spending time on writing down all the stuff what happened to me. So I will be very short. In the first half of April I still had a high training load on the racing bike, I was already over 700 km before the half of the month, so I did not feel so bad when I basically stopped for two weeks because the weather sucked, big time… Then I went to Amsterdam to have a nice long weekend with my parents. It was really great, we visited all the places and museums we could, maybe even more, and walked through every part of the city. I liked the fun science museum the most, with huge soap bubbles to play with :D Here is a short selection of the pictures I took, for more, have a look at my Flickr set!

Downtown Amsterdam

Oude Kerk

Scheepvaartmuseum

And a ship just in front of the museum

Iconic flowers of the Netherlands

Magere Brug

Random people ;) in the garden of the Museum Van Loon

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My parents came for a visit!

My mother and my father spent four days in Belgium from Saturday till Tuesday. We had a lot of fun (and food :D) together! On Saturday (I planned to go to the airport, but I slept over, so I met them only at the train station… such a shame…) we just walked around Leuven. But we walked a lot (~15 km). We went to the Botanic Garden (one of the most beautiful sights in the city during this time of the year with all the flowers), the Arenberg Castle and the Great Beguinage. Then we had a great lunch (or early dinner) in the Domus (good Flemish food and Belgian beers). And finally they managed to see the square in front of the library free of any view-blocking installations (if you are from Leuven you know what I am talking about…).

After three weeks of great, dry, sunny and warm spring (25.6°C on Friday) the weather changed. To crap. On Sunday, we get off the train in Brugge in rain and cold wind. So – to put it in a more touristic point of view, or way of thinking – I could easily show the so called typical Belgian weather to my parents. (Which is not at all as bad as some locals claim it in their non-stop complaints, but that is something I will have to prove during their next visit…) They were really happy about it (place sarcasm mark here). And no, my mother was “not” wearing a skiing coat :D

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Anyway, the worst part of the storm (as it was a nice small thunderstorm indeed) ended pretty soon, so we could leave the small church of the local Beguinage and start our looong walk in the city of Brugge – the most touristic place in Belgium. I am sure there are more foreigners in the city on a normal summer day than Belgians. And I am quite sure that every third shop is a chocolate store… (torturing me with the smell and the view of their windows…) But I can not deny, that the old city is beautiful. My parents also agreed on this. And we ate fries, chocolate, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, so we did what a foreigner has to do in this country :D Around noon, we even had some sunshine, so we hopped in a boat and rode around the canals of the city. They loved it. (Me too.)

On Monday the weather was extremely cold (come on, maximum temperature of 7.1°C in May…), so I went to work and they went to Brussels, but at the end of the day, we had a great dinner in De Kansel. (Nota bene: new bear taste – Steenbrugge Blond.) And I gave them the best Neuhaus pralines I have ever tasted as a present. On Tuesday, we only met at lunch (again in Domus, so my mother finally tasted my favorite waffle with the warm cherries…), then after some shopping (e.g. cycling bag for my mother’s bike) they flew back to Hungary :(

I am very happy that they came. And I have no idea when will be the next time we see each other. It may not happen before Christmas… But for the near future, I really hope my brother can come somewhen during the summer, because I miss him too ;) Oh, and last but not least, my parents brought me some bottles of high quality Hungarian wine, home-made cake (thanks Mom!), Túró Rudi (check Wikipedia) and a Hungarian Apple keyboard – which makes blogging (ok, writing in general) much easier :) So thanks for all!

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