River's Bend Airstrip

Down a narrow canyon in Sansara, daring Second Life pilots can navigate small planes through the mountains and over a small river to land at River's Bend Airstrip in Enceladus. The airstrip is tucked away in a tree-lined valley, and the parcel advertises that it is "best approached with a bush plane and a sense of adventure!" Rezzing is enabled with a 30 minute auto-return, so you can either land your plane at the airstrip, or pop by to explore first, then rez a plane and take off through the canyon.

Owner Xi Larnia commented, "I built the airstrip back in April after seeing the area abandoned for some time. I finally put a ticket in and 'won' it on an auction. The build only took a couple of days, but I knew I wanted to build a rundown looking air strip. There are far too many modern and square airstrips and airports in SL." River's Bend provides some welcome variety for those among us who love to explore by air.

Xi continued, "As somebody who loves to fly small 'bush' planes from East River out over the Snowlands, I wanted a place that would be a technical place to land. Difficult, but not impossible. My big inspiration was the end of the small film 'Wings Over The Rockies' with Harrison Ford, in which he lands his small DHC-2 Beaver (around 6 minutes into the 10-minute film) onto a small dirt field that is not flat, but slopes upwards." There are some fun details everywhere, including an abandoned house uphill from the helipad, rabbits in the grass, and even a crashed plane in the river.

"I will say this," concluded Xi, "Rivers Bend seems to have touched a nerve. People really seem to love it. I built it for myself, but I am just glad other people enjoy it too." Make sure you stop by during SL's night cycle, when the fog rolls in through the canyon, and can get as thick as waist deep! I didn't find a tip jap on the parcel, but if you enjoy your visit to River's Bend, there is a guest book in the main office, so please drop Xi a note to say hello. The River's Bend Airstrip group description is as follows, "RBA is not for the faint-hearted, it's not even for the strong-hearted, it's for the absolutely mad-hearted. Who else would want to fly down to the water's edge in a narrow canyon just so they could hit a small dirt strip in the middle or nowhere for no reason other to say they did it. Nobody in their right mind would come to River's Bend, and that may be the point to this beat up, dirty, and out of the way little airport. You only go there because you want to go there...and these are the pilots who do." So the question is, will you be one of those pilots?

Airship Show - Tradewinds Yacht Club

Starting on April 30 and running through Sunday, May 15, is an extravaganza Airship Show at the Tradewinds Yacht Club (TYC) in Dex. Visitors will get to see a great variety of balloons, dirigibles and airships (see photo, below); only one of each kind was solicited for the show. I spoke to TYC's Harbormaster, Ahab Quandry, who told me, "We have shows every so often, maybe as many as six per year. There are some amazing builds at this particular show, most I don't remember seeing before."

Ahab, pictured below, speaking about the yacht club itself, said, "TYC is one of the oldest clubs in the sailing world and it has been in this location for about 7 years.  We are more relaxed here I think than some of the others and have no rule book as such. There are several sort of unwritten rules but they are more about being polite to our fellows and that sort of thing." The description of the yacht club states, "Home to the independent minded sailor. What we're about is just having fun without the politics. You're welcome to launch your sailboat here and sail." Continued Ahab, "Well, apart from putting on shows and the occasional races we sort of pride ourselves as being one, if not the most, friendliest place to come to.  Everyone (who behaves) is welcome and most of the regulars will always jump in to help a newbie to sailing or boating."

The Tradewinds Yacht Club is located in Nautilus, right at the edge of the Blake Sea. It is a very busy location; I saw a great number of boats sailing past and planes flying overhead while I was there. There are inexpensive boats for sale there, 7Seas fishing gear vendors, and of course, the airships. You might spot colorful balloons, flying pirate ships, and even the Bay City blimp, pictured below. Why not stop over and have a look, and perhaps investigate the joys of sailing in SL while you're there? The airship show will remain at the club for the next two weeks.

The Moth Temple of Iris

At the center of the Inner Delta of Heterocera sits the impressive Moth Temple of Iris. The first telehub on that continent (and still an incredibly busy place today!) the Temple (pictured below) is a delicate but towering wooden structure designed by Xenon Linden. Almost all of the sims in Heterocera are named after species of moths; the continent itself is named for the sub-species of insect by which moths are categorized. You can find these lovely little creatures all over the Moth Temple, including fluttering around the lamps that line the boardwalk surrounding it at dusk.

The area surrounding the temple is owned by Prokofy Neva's Second Life Public Land Preserve, and is a resident-designed infohub modeled on a fishing village, created by builder Jessica Ornitz. The boardwalks of the infohub are lined by charming huts, which, according to Prokofy, contain "freebies, dollarbies, things to explore, meditation, games, etc. There is also a little tutorial about how to start a business in SL. I try to have my sims being sort of 'second tier' tutorials after the basic newbie stuff that they have on Caledon." Wandering around, visitors can find a great deal of information which will be especially helpful to new residents: hints on reducing lag, tips on how to stop animations, even some very cool random LM generators to help you find new places to explore. There is a set of free moth wings hanging from a lamppost (the ones which were used in Osprey Therian's memorial), and if you look for the red moth lanterns hanging from the lampposts near the wings, they are also free.

Build is on in part of the infohub, so I capitalized on the moth theme and rezzed one of my very favorite vehicles, the Lepidoptera, pictured above and below.This fabulous flying machine, modeled after a James Gurney illustration and created by resident bunnys Fride, is free on the marketplace here. It can handle a pilot and 11 passengers, and is incredibly easy to fly. A wonderful way to take in the sights around the Moth Temple...and on the Moth Continent of Heterocera!

"Straighten Up And Fly Right"

While Nautilus City, which I featured in my last post, is fascinating to visit, it is by no means all of Nautilus. The continent itself is comprised of a great number of lakes and waterways and a complex, interesting coastline. Today I visited two other locations on that vast and watery continent, the 1930s/40s era aerodromes at Tsurlington and at Waddon (aerodrome being a much more commonly used word than airport prior to WWII). I was welcomed by pilot Tom McGregor (mastersinn resident, left photo below) who spoke to me about vintage aviation in Second Life, and these two locations in particular.

According to Tom, the aerodromes "have just changed hands; a group of old aviators clubbed together and saved them from oblivion." The main buildings at each location feature lovely art deco style details; make sure to check out the stained glass windows from the inside.The aerodromes request "Light Piston Engined or Rotary Prop Aircraft & Helicopters Only," in keeping with the vintage era of the builds. Interested aviators can rent a hangar at either aerodrome, both of which often hold 1920-40s era themed events and dances. 

In addition to pilots, passengers are also welcome to visit. A large yellow sign at Tsurlington encourages people to join the "Passengers of SL" group, which regularly announces flights. According to the group's founder, Laben Core, "As a pilot, you have the thrill of directly affecting the outcome of the trip through your navigational abilities – server conditions permitting, of course. Passengers, on the other hand, have the freedom of surveying the churning landscape before them without having to concern themselves with the details of flight operation." I've been fortunate enough to fly as a passenger with Marianne McCann as a pilot, and the experience included "passenger goodies" such as tickets, a wearable drink tray, a safety card, an in-flight magazine, and even an air sickness bag!

Those wishing to learn more about aviation in Second Life can delve into the extensive resources available on the Wiki page. There you can find lists of active airports, available aircraft, and working airlines, as well as a very handy "Aviator's Toolkit" that includes a glossary of terms and a list of useful aviation-related groups. You can also view a video of the services available at Tsurlington here. There is an active SL Aviation Flickr group, and even a radio channel called "Music to Fly By." So come visit the lovely aerodromes at Tsurlington or Waddon, board a flight as a passenger, or rez a plane and light out on your own to explore. Just remember to take the Andrews Sisters' advice!

"Let's take a trip to Niagara; this time we'll visit the falls"

A couple of years ago, I asked my partner Ziki if she had ever blogged any Mainland destinations. Her response was to wrinkle her nose and ask, “Why??” I grinned, but I think that’s a pretty typical view of Mainland in Second Life: people complain that the builds are random and often ugly, that there is a lot of low-hanging sky clutter, and that abandoned parcels are everywhere. There is truth to all of those complaints. But Mainland also contains some wonderful hidden gems, expansive transportation networks, and some strong, tight-knit and welcoming communities like Bay City and East River. The resident/builder “moles” of the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW) have created road and trail systems on each of the ten Mainland continents*, and their creative and often humorous builds dot the landscape. In this blog, I plan to highlight places on the Mainland which are well worth a visit...or two!

Mainland advertisement from the ever-delightful LDPW

 

After deciding to write about these vast and oft-maligned regions, I was pondering exactly where to begin. Should I start with listing the Mainland continents and giving some history about each? What about highlighting one iconic location, like the sim DaBoom, or the volcano Mt. G'al? Should I start in Bay City, my home away from home on the Grid? Finally, I opened the World Map to Sansara, the first Mainland continent, clicked at random, landed on a small island, and almost immediately had to duck out of the way of an airplane. That small island is the only spot of dry land in the sim Kremer, and consists mainly of a sandy airstrip and a rez zone. A cluster of mostly empty shacks dots the south end of the island, and on the north end, a single wooden pier hosts a working sailboat giver. From there one can set sail across the oddly-named Bay of Space Pigs to such iconic destinations as the Beanstalk.

But first, what’s that big, concrete arrow on the ground nearby?

In first life, a transcontinental air mail route was initiated by the US Post Office in 1920, but those were the days before radar or even any decent aviation charts. Pilots had to navigate from New York to San Francisco and back using only landmarks, which made flying in bad weather or at night nearly impossible. Responding to that situation, in 1924 the Postal Service created a series of bright yellow concrete arrows, connected to beacon towers and placed every ten miles along the route. Most of the beacon towers were torn down in the 1940’s and their steel reclaimed for the war effort, but many of the big concrete arrows remain.  Click here for more information and a wonderfully illustrated 1929 map of the arrow route. In Second Life, the arrow and accompanying beacon at the Kremer airstrip are a nod to this early form of navigation.

There are a great number of very active aviation communities in Second Life, and most of them are located on Mainland sims. The advantage of Mainland for travel is that each of the continents is at least 100 sims linked together, making long distance trips possible. Sim crossings and ban lines can make these trips especially interesting! So pay a visit to Kremer, rez a plane or grab a free boat, and set off on your own adventure. The Mainland awaits! 

"Let's get away from it all"

* There are ten Mainland continents - not counting the Wilderness or Premium Home sims - and those ten are listed here starting with the oldest: Sansara, Heterocera, the Sharp Continent (the old Teen Grid), Jeogeot, Nautilus, Satori, Corsica, Gaeta 1, Gaeta 5, and Zindra.