For something a little bit different, you can not only read about bush flying with this latest feature article of ours, but you can fly it too! To try these adventures out, you will need to first download the file named avsimadventureflights.zip from the AVSIM library. Once you've done that, you will also need to download the following files:
Once you've downloaded and installed the above files (keeping their original folder names), you then simply unzip the AVSIM Adventure Flights zip file, then install the folders "aircraft," "effects," and "flights" from that download directly into your FS2002 folder. That's it, now you can fire up FS2002, select your AVSIM flight from your "my flights" list and have fun.
There are 12 Alaska-Canadian bush flight adventures, plus one bonus adventure flying in Antarctica during the winter time. Each of the flights are rated as to their level of difficulty, so there should be something for everyone. It is primarily the weather conditions that creates the level of difficulty, though one flight combines bad weather and a stretch of your fuel supply, meaning you will have to be somewhat conservative on your fuel use. These flights have been designed to be entertaining, yet challenging for all skill levels of flight simmers.
The aircraft you will be using for these flights is also wide ranging, in addition to the default aircraft (both the amphibian and wheeled default Cessna Caravan plus the default Bell 206 helicopter), you will have the choices of using the above 3rd party add-on aircraft (above being the 6 files listed above). Included with the AVSIM download file are the necessary documents, explaining each adventure flight in detail, by providing helpful hints and giving you some indication of what to expect along the way. To briefly explain the adventures, I will list them here so as to give you an example of what each flight entails.
Adventure 1 & 2:
The first bush flight adventure is split into two parts, so that you can complete each leg in under two hours. Flying the default Cessna Caravan, you are to fly from Whitehorse (Northwest Territories, Canada) up to Chapman Lake (about 260 nm north-northwest of Whitehorse). A local prospector has been savagely attacked by a 1,200 pound bear (Kodiak) and he needs to be brought back to Whitehorse for emergency care. You'll have to contend with turbulence, rain, low clouds, and mountains, but this man's life depends on you moving fast. To top things off, you've only got about 4 hours before darkness sets in and you don't want to be wandering around these mountains after dark!
Adventure 3:
This is nice easy trip on a early morning transporting 2 hunters back from bush to their waiting flight back to the lower 48. Flying from Devil's Lodge airport down to the Lake Hood Airstrip, you have about an hour's flight ahead of you in pretty nice weather, so you'll have a wonderful time watching a fall sunrise over the Alaska landscape. The aircraft you'll be using is a DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver equipped with skis.
Adventure 4:
Using the default Bell 206 jet helicopter, you'll be flying the 48 nm from the J Mine airstrip down to the Anchorage International Airport. With a low sun, 3 mile visibility, light snow, and a bit of a crosswind, this should be a moderately easy flight for those of you with some helo experience.
Adventure 5:
This is an easy flight from Fairbanks up to Deadhorse on a nice summer Alaskan day with the default Cessna Caravan Amphibian. In your 1:45 hour flight you will be crossing the Brooks Range of mountains and then out over the north tundra, very nice flight.
Adventure 6:
Flying a float equipped "Wilderness Outfitters" Piper SuperCub, you're to fly from the lake next to Holy Cross airstrip all the way over to Begula Lake at Homer. This is an extremely difficult flight, were you will be maximizing all of your flying skills at dealing with mountains, low visibility, headwinds, turbulence, snow, cold air and icing, and you'll have to conserve your fuel too! There is even a possibility of losing some of your instruments due to pitot tube freezing (this aircraft lacks a heated pitot tube)! The most difficult part will be successfully picking your way through the mountains along the eastern shore of the Alaska Peninsula on Cooks Inlet! This is a 2:45 hour flight and you should be a bit tired and sweaty when this one is done!
Adventure 7:
This is an easy flight over the Harding Ice Flows of the Kenai Peninsula as you make your way from Homer over to Seward with a DHC-2 Beaver on floats. Having the Lennart Arvidsson's textures and Eddie Denney 38m Alaska mesh installed makes this a rather spectacular flight for viewing the Alaska scenery.
Adventure 8:
Flying the default Cessna Caravan Amphibian, you'll start by taxiing from the beach line at Baker Point out into the water, then you'll takeoff and head back up to Juneau (the Capital of Alaska). Because a weather front is moving through, you'll encounter turbulence, heavy rain, and headwinds, but the trip shouldn't take any longer than 45 minutes or so.
Adventure 9:
A moderately difficult flight in the beautiful Red Cub from Bob Wening (Yannick Lavigne textures). You'll be flying from the airport at Seward down to Thompson Pass. Thompson Pass is up above Valdez in the mountains and you'll crossing a fairly high altitude mountain saddle just prior to reaching the dirt airstrip at Thompson Pass. The weather is pretty good, except you'll find out the difficulty in landing a taildragger in a mild crosswind once you arrive at Thompson Pass.
Adventure 10:
For once you'll have a tailwind as you fly the "Wilderness Outfitters" SuperCub with floats from Ketchikan up to Wrangell. Wind and rain is the word for today, but this trip should be an easy 45 minutes or so.
Adventure 11:
Once again, flying the Red Cub, you'll find a moderately difficult flight from Healy River down to the Flying Crown airstrip near Anchorage. To safely make this trip you will have to fly between cloud layers and then pick your way across several mountain passes. If you have Eddie Denney's Alaska mesh installed, then you'd better be practiced up on your short field landing techniques when you arrive at Flying Crown!
Adventure 12:
In an easy tribute flight (tribute to the great bush pilot, Don Sheldon), this flight starts high up on the Ruth Glacier at Sheldon's cabin, which is up on the slope of Mt McKinley. From here you'll fly down the Ruth Glacier out to the Susitna River and then down to Talkeena Village Airport, home to the base operations for Don Sheldon's Talkeena Air Service. Its about a 35 minute flight in the DHC-2 ski equipped Beaver you'll be flying.
Bonus Adventure:
After installing the Marambio Base scenery from VisionReal (AVSIM library) and the Steven Grant DHC-6 Twin-Otter (in Argentine Air Force Arctic colors), you'll fly a winter time flight from the Argentine Research base (Marambio) over to Rodelfo Marsh (Chlian Research base). What can I say, its winter time and it is Antarctica!
— Steve (Bear) Cartwright
Click here to return to the main Bush Flying in FS2002 page.
© 2002 - AVSIM Online |
