I'm stationed at Darrington (1S2) I want to fly to Heather Lake and a few others in the area like Lake Wenatchee, and Blanca Lake. I've found routes through the mountians using google earth but how would I navigate this or plot a course. I don't have the link to google earth for flightsim as I'm afraid it would hurt my fps and also I've never taken the time to set it up. I do have FSNav but it's not very detailed when it comes to flying bush. Thanks, Dan

Logan You can do this quite easily using the default FS9 flight planner. Just put in your departure and arrival airfields then ask FS9 to find a (VFR) route. A mapview opens and you can then add waypoints (as long as they are Navaids, Intersections or Airfields [in FSX you can choose any part of the map as a waypoint] and "plot" your route thru the mountains. this is one I created for 1S9 to27W (Lake Wenatchee State):1S9; WA23; KNOCK; 73WA; 3W7; WA15; DMAKQ; IDUYI; CRUMM; IDOCI; MADAJ; IDMIH; CFCYH; DMJDE; 3WA1; 27W. Dist 192.7nm; Max Alt 12,500' and time taken in the Beaver = 1:35hrs.Hope this helpsPeterHPeter Hayes

Peter, Great explaination. The problem is I want to do this as real as possible. I have fsnav as explained above and could just place user fixes along the route. I also have sectional charts and could plot a course but I would have thought if I was plotting a course I'd be above the mountians. I'd like to fly this bush style. Hope this explains my situation a little better. BTW Peter, I wasn't taking a shot at you about your post, if I were new to simming this would have been a great deal of help. I guess I should have noted to that Heather Lake, Blanca Lake and another one I'd like to fly to is Virgin lake. I ment literaly the Lake and land on it. Dan

Peter,An aside...Which Beaver do you fly. I have the Aerosoft DHC-2. Made my first water Ls and TOs the other day. Wow. Wheels, floats and skis--like having 3-airplanes. for the price of one.--Roger

Peter, Same one. I love it.Dan

"Old School" bush flying is pretty much by the seat of your pants flying. Dead Reckoning. Of course the smart bush pilot will have studied topo maps as well as conferred with the local bush pilots that may have flown the route. For your own sanity as well as your FBO's (if you are flying for someone else), then plot per usual using your charts and topo's. Make notations as to specific landmarks and elevations you need to clear ridges, etc.You can still use FSNav to plot a route, keeping in mind that it is not clear about that 8000' cliff-face staring you in the face. As suggested above, you can also plot using FS's flight planner. Again it will be mainly used as a reference.Besides the maps, the bulk of bush-types today use the features of a GPS.As a Bush Pilot, or any pilot for that matter, you are the pilot in control. Know your and your aircrafts abilities and limitations. Then go fly.Her are some links to sites that have good maps. Most are free and printable. It's the best way to go in my opinion.Topographical Quadshttp://www.topozone.com/Maptech_Topo Maps Charts Navigation Software GPS and Online Mapserverhttp://mapserver.maptech.com/homepage/index.cfmUSGS topographicsTerraServer-USA: http://terraserver-usa.com/default.aspxhttp://nationalmap.gov/gio/viewonline.htmlVirtual Fly and othersTerraFly: http://www.terrafly.fiu.edu/Canadahttp://toporama.cits.rncan.gc.ca/toporama_en.htmlVATSIM Chartfinder (enter the airport ICAO and hit Enter)http://chartfinder.vatsim.net/

Check out real charts:http://skyvector.com/

>Check out real charts:>>http://skyvector.com/>>>Thanks Craig! That's a good one that I had totally forgotten about. Their little feature for laying a flightplan with a right-click is a handy feature, too.

Brent and everyone who replied. Thanks those links really helped. As for the "seat of your pants" I sort of figured that along with the use of the GPS. I really wish flight sims had a better more up to date gps such as the one I have in the real world. Great answers guys, thanks.Dan

if you want realism you use those real charts and do NOT use FSNav or other computer gizmos.At most use the built in GPS as a moving map.

RogerI fly the default Beaver and the Aerosoft variants. Only one problem with the latter it has no 2D cockpit and I can't get FSForce to install its trim gauge. Its a great plane to fly in the Bush. I tend to use FS Earth with Google Earth to find my way through the mountains!!Good LuckPeter Hayes

This post is off-topic a bit. It's a link to the bush flying forum on AVCanada's website. Real bush pilots asking advice, talking about the business, discussing aircraft, and so forth. I found the site when looking for Beaver power-settings. The threads are interesting, useful and in most cases fun to read.--Rogerhttp://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewforum.php?f=25

Roger, cool...thanks, I'll have a look.Dan