Categories
Flight Simulation

List of the Orbx freeware and payware airports. Halloween 2020 edition.

I have reviewed and edited my list of the Orbx freeware and payware airports, with runway description and airport elevation. It includes most airports that were created up  to Halloween 2020.

The addition of airports are based on what Orbx releases on its “Orbx Release Announcements” section. There are airports for Microsoft 2020 (MSFS), X-Plane, P3DV4+, AFS2 and FSX.

Payware airports often come with secondary, smaller virtual airports included in their package. The data is included in the list.

There are several airports included in the older Orbx regions on the west coast of USA that are not shown here. So the list is not perfect, but it does help the flight simmer. For the rest of the planet, the list is pretty accurate.

You have access to a free download PDF file on my website.

Have fun!

Categories
Environment Photography

Blue Jay in Autumn in Quebec City.

Blue Jay in a Russian Mountain Ash tree.
Blue Jay in a Russian Mountain Ash tree.

The picture above, taken with a Canon 5DS R full frame camera equipped with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens was taken in the Fall morning in Quebec City , after a night with frost. The Russian Mountain Ash berries have not yet been eaten by all kinds of birds, so we can use them for our bird photography  session before it is too late.

In anticipation of the cold winter days, I designed a retractable feeder to help the family of five blue jays   which lives in the neighborhood. I thought it would take several days for them to get to grips with the new system, but in less than 24 hours, they were gleefully stuffing themselves.

Blue Jay eating peanuts
Blue Jay eating peanuts

The five blue jays each have a well-defined behavior. I have one who accepts to eat peanuts in my hands, but he mistakes my fingertips for the tip of a peanut. He pulls but nothing helps : the peanut does not follow. He probably suffers from myopia…

There is another who spends his time changing his mind; he chooses a peanut, then puts it back in the pot, then chooses another. After procrastinating and swapping the peanuts multiple times, he flies away. Another is an aerobatic ace; it arrives at high speed and catches peanuts in a fraction of a second without stopping. It rarely drops it.

Hermit Thrush in a Russian Mountain Ash.
Hermit Thrush in a Russian Mountain Ash.

During this time, the Hermit Thrush in the tree continues to taste the small red berries, indifferent to the activities of the blue jays.

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

On The Road (2)

Old American Ford pick-up on the road to Lyster in Québec in 2020
Old American Ford pick-up on the road to Lyster in Québec in 2020

This photo was taken at the end of a beautiful day in the Chaudière-Appalaches region. The sun is almost on the horizon and is hitting the sides of the trees directly, further enhancing the autumn colors .

By this time, people are home having dinner and there are hardly any vehicles on the road. Rather than photographing an empty road, which certainly would have been a logical choice, I waited for a vehicle to show up and advance into the foreground of the photo. We are in the countryside and, luckily for me, the old Ford pick-up   fitted perfectly in the landscape.

In terms of the photographic composition , the ideal position to capture the scene seemed to be near the curve, so as to use the white line of the road as a guideline leading to the subject of interest. The 16×9 format also allowed for a photo large enough to include the set of transmission line poles on the left, which itself was certainly as old as the pick-up. The latter was positioned according to the rule of thirds , without any compromises being necessary.

The posts on the left allowed a better framing of the subject. In the distance, the sun shines on the road and we assume there is a field on the left that lets the sun’s rays pass through.

The picture was taken with a Canon 5DS R full frame camera.

Categories
Photos of Quebec

On the road (1)

Cows and autumnal landscape in Quebec 2020
Cows and autumnal landscape in Quebec 2020

The picture above was taken from my car as I was driving on the roads of Quebec in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, looking for interesting subjects that would show the first autumn colors. The sound of the engine idling attracted the curiosity of the animals. Ears are pointed and the two cows kept their eyes on me the whole time I was adjusting the camera. Coincidentally, they stood in an ideal position for a photo taken in vertical format. The photographic composition was thus simplified. A few yellow leaves in the tree show that Autumn was only starting. The picture was taken with a Canon 5DS R full frame camera.