Scenic sim flights (VFR) in the eastern US?

[brucek 38]

I live in the western US (near Denver). I'd like to experiment with some scenic sim flights in the eastern US, in a GA (like C172) aircraft (VFR flight). I'm wondering, for the area east of the Mississippi, if anyone has some suggestions of perhaps a "round robin" of scenic flights in that area? My own visits to that area are limited, but I have noted some very beautiful country up the Ohio valley, and hear that the New England coastline is very nice too.Maybe I can drum up some similar flights here in the Rockies! Thanks,Bruce.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Just as a short flight, take off from Toronto City Airport, head south across Lake Ontario and proceed up the Niagara River and circle the falls.. From there, you can go to Buffalo or Rochester, NY or over the Finger Lakes, down to Elmira.

[Guest Lindy]

Even though I live here, in the East, I don't do my sim flying locally. However if you by chance have Lago's FSSE program, many of the smaller fields in Maine, Virginia, Delaway and I think Pennsylvania have been enhanced by I think her name is Lauren Robinson. If I have the wrong name, I do apologize. She usually also adds sounds through Lago's FSSS program.Brian Gladden has some great scenery done for Vermont, and Don Moser has a Maine scenery addon. You should be able to come up with some fun flights for out here.Also you might check out the freeware mesh by Justin Tyme here in the East -- you should be able to find it in the Avsim Library.-Lindy :-rotor:-wave

[brucek 38]

Thanks Bert. That's a good suggestion.Bruce.

[shermank 166]

You can also use some good mesh terrain, start almost anywhere in Maine and fly south to SouthWest and follow the Appalachians until they reach the Georgia plains...Another good area for scenic flying is The Smokey Mt Range, part of the appalachians, in central Tennessee...Shermbtw, Justin Tyme's sceneries are excellent for this at fsgenesis.com.

[ChrisJake 0]

i agree. the smokey mountain area is a beautiful place to fly.use Asheville NC (KAVL) as a destination or origin and go from there.also....a trip from Ft Lauderdale (KFLL) down to Key West is gorgeous. stay low and slow and check out all the hotels along the coast. don't do this GPS, but just follow the Keys. do a quick touch-n-go at Marathon (KMTH) 1/2 way down the keys.or this one... starting at Burke Lakefront (KBKL) in Cleveland, head west along the lakeshore. once you get out near Sandusky (SKY VOR) you can head north to the Lake Erie Islands. Put-In-Bay, Kelly's Island, and Middle Bass Island all have small strips to land on. hop on over to Detroit City (KDET) airport from there. you'll also get great views of the skylines of Cleveland and Detroit.hope this helps!chris

[Guest]

I highly recommend FSGenesis free mesh of the White Mountains (VT) and Green Mountains (NH). Just last night I flew the RealAir 172SP from Manchester VT (the default starting point in the Green Mts) down to Bennington east past Mt Snow up into the Mt Washington valley and then across Maine to NAS Brunswick (NHZ). Great scenery with lots of VFR landmarks. I happen to have a sectional chart of the route and navigating was a breeze. Although I didn't stop enroute, there are lots of interesting smaller airports all along the way.Jeff

[brucek 38]

Thanks Lindy,I had you living in the mid-west, but don't ask me why :). Must have been something I invented from way back in those PP days!Thanks for your suggestions, much appreciated.Bruce.

[brucek 38]

Some really good comments here of places I've never heard about before :). I think I'll slew (or fast forward) to the Mississippi area from Denver, and go "see" these places in the sim. Some good add-ons mentioned too.On a more serious note- Once I finally get my instrument rating, this is just what I would love to do- fly east from here on a huge round robin. I just have to find that National Geographic photographer who will pay the pro-rated bills to do it though :) .We all have some local knowledge of somewhere. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to pool all that in a gigantic VFR sim expedition?Thanks all for your comments.Bruce.

[Guest guyjr]

Heh, my dream, once I get _my_ instrument ticket (3 months maybe?), is to fly out to at least Wyoming and back (I live in NJ), in one of the school's C-172SPs. Gotta save up $$$ for that trip tho. :)As for scenic trips, I took this one for real a couple weeks ago... CDW -> Sky Acres (NE of Poughkeepsie), then take off from there and do a nice visual cruise down the Hudson, past the city, at 900 feet. (Only need to be at 900 feet when you get past the Tappan Zee Bridge tho). That's the real way to fly the Hudson River corridor. On your way back into New York harbor, after passing the Verrazano Bridge, call up Newark tower and transition their airspace over the arrival end of the parallel runways, directly over the numbers, at about 1500 feet. Then proceed direct CDW. Enjoy!

[Guest Lindy]

You're not so far off, Bruce. I was born and raised in the Midwest, but have been here on the East Coast since 1986. -Lindy :-rotor:-wave

[Guest Lizardo]

There is a "tour" from Georgia up through Vermont, vaugely along the "Appalachian Trail" at www.flightsim.com called aptour.zip

[Guest sgreenwood]

"... hear that the New England coastline is very nice too."Here is some 10m (very high resolution) mesh for the Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park area of the Maine Coast (~700kb).www.fs-traveler.com/cgi-bin/fst-maine_coast.zipWhile there, you might enjoy a break sailing among the islands aboard the beautiful model of the clipper ship Cutty Sark by Shigeru Tanaka! (Click the framed image to download)http://www.flightsimnetwork.com/shigeru/humor.htmFor me, "scenic sim flights" means areas with improved mesh. Unfortunately, in the East, only the Niagara Falls region has good default mesh. I've written a small (4kb) text file describing all the default mesh in FS2002, giving locations and LOD (resolution) information. This may help you plan scenic flights in other regions of the country/world.www.fs-traveler.com/cgi-bin/fs2002-default_mesh.zipStevewww.fs-traveler.com

[brucek 38]

Hi Guy,My IR is probably at least 6 months out yet, in order to get the currency and proficiency requirements. :) I'm also flying a C172SP (see my club's web page below).http://www.mcairaviation.com/splash.htmlInteresting the we both have the same dream! I'm very familiar with the area west of WY (I also have flown in CA), and you're from the east- do I see a collaborative plan here in the future? :)Unfortunately, our club restricts SP flights to no over-nights, so I'll have to get into their Cardinal of 182 at least. Thanks for the info,Bruce.