Two years ago, today...

On March 11, 2011. Japan was hit head on with one of the most destructive natural disasters in history.

The magnitude 9.1 Earthquake struck off the coast of Miyagi prefecture which caused a 20 meter tsunami to hit most northern coastal parts of Japan.

I was directly affected by this since many of my close friends were in the affected areas at that time. I still clearly remember waking up at 1am PST and stood in disbelief while watching the news unfold. Although natural disasters take everything away, the world stands together and helps each other out, regardless of religion, politics, race etc. Sometimes we need to remember how fragile life really is.

You may be wondering, what does this have to do with flight simulation? I know it may not seem like much, but Japan has a close place in my heart. Because of that, I try to remember and show respect for those who were affected. Whether it be cleaning up some debris on our coast here in BC (Yes we still have some washing up on our shores.) or doing a couple flights in Japan within my simulator. Either way, it reminds me that I have them in my mind and still think about it 2 years later.

So if you have the chance to hop on your simulator today, download your favorite Japanese livery and try a flight or two within Japan. There are some wonderful NGX repaints out there! I will be flying between Kansai, Narita and finally Fukushima (the hardest hit area). Wings Creation will be releasing their Fukushima scenery soon so I will also be completing a full review in the weeks to come. So stay tuned for that.

Hope to see some of you in the virtual skies over Japan later today!

As always,

Happy Flying!