The Andes. Part I.

[MM 422]

The Andes of Venezuela

This week we shall get a taste of the less-well-known northern Andes of Venezuela and Colombia.

We begin at Barquisimeto, Venezuela's fourth largest city. Jacinto Lara International (SVBM) is a relatively large regional airport. We head southward to Guanare (SVGU), a commercial, cultural, and pilgrimage center on the border of the great Los Llanos grasslands that extend far to the east. Then back up into the Andean valleys to the small mountain city of Boconó (SVBK). Turning southward, and upward, we climb up into the mountain ridges to land at the Andean university city of Mérida (SVMD). And then further into the Andes, through high mountain passes, we travel to the city of San Cristóbal's Paramillo (SVPM). Finally, again climbing over the Andean ridges, we cross over into Colombia and finish at Bucaramanga's Palonegro (SKBG), an airport that sits on an artificial mountaintop that rises over the city below.

Flightplan and Pilot's Guide:

Available here.

Aircraft:

Given the high altitudes, you probably want something with a turbocharger (supercharger) or turbine engines that can cruise at 160kts. To make things more interesting, I suggest the venerable DC-3. I shall be flying Manfred Jahn's C-47 (v3.14) in the livery of Colombia's Allas.



Recommended scenery:

Standard Stuff:
Orbx FTX Global Base.
Orbx FTX Global South America Landclass.
Orbx FTX Global Vector. (Not necessary, but it is interesting to see the mountain roads climb up into the passes).

Special for this flight (all freeware):
Barquisimento Jacinto Lara (SVBM). Gustavo Ramirez. HERE.
Guanare (SVGU). David Maldonado. AVSIM HERE.
Bocono (SVBK). David Maldonado. FlightSim HERE.
Merida (SVMD) v2.0. David Maldonado. AVSIM HERE.
Bucaramanga Palonegro (SKBG). FliSim. HERE.

Particulars:

Date and time: Saturday August 19, 2017, 18:00 UTC
Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel
Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com
Cross-Platform Multiplayer: JoinFS. Latest version is here. (FSX, FSX-SE, and P3D)
If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!

Recommend that you set your initial clock to 15:30 hours in local time to account for flight time and the usual "faffing about" time.

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

Can't find the links to the Flightsim ones. Another impenetrable maze like SOH! 

With a bit of luck and a following wind I should have this one finished by Saturday:

[Viking01 181]

Too bad I can't fly this with you, but I will do it on my own!

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Mike, do I need any mesh for this flight?

[MM 422]

Bert, you probably want a much better mesh than the default. After all, this is the Andes and we want to get an accurate rendition of the majestic mountain range.

The quickest option is to install the Orbx South America mesh via FTX Central. The Orbx team report that this will be better than the default.

Much better is FreeMeshX – a freeware mesh that produces a 38m mesh for the whole world. The team have just released the second version: FreeMeshX Global 2.0. You can get it at NineTwo Productions HERE. (You can go to the Direct Download Links and you can read the informative Release Announcement as well.) For this week's journey, you need only the South America portion of the mesh.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

I kind of expected you might say that... but 46 GB is a bit much 

So, getting the Orbx mesh!

Thanks.

[Viking01 181]

Indeed, but that would be the world, South America is less, and the ORBX Freeware Mesh for South America is also less than 46 GB. Any mesh improvements over default would be noticeable.

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

This is my ride for Saturday.

Pre-production photo. A few little details added:

 

Obtainable from my MediaFire

Thanks to Jeff for bringing it to my attention.

 

 

[Luis Hernandez 567]

On 8/14/2017 at 6:34 PM, MM said:

Bucaramanga's Palonegro (SKBG), an airport that sits on an artificial mountaintop that rises over the city below.

Well, being Bucaramanga my hometown, let me tell you that the mountains were always there. Well, there were 7 hills and 6 ravines that had to be levelled, about 14 million m³. For reference, Hong Kong had to move 90 million m³ for an airport 10 times bigger (and we didn't build an artificial island).

The only artificial thing in Palonegro is that the terrain is flat enough for an airport. Still, the airport is 230 m over the city, and 400 m over the bottom of the valley that separates Bucaramanga from the airport. You'll need a good mesh to appreciate this fact (and to learn why I hate the hill that sits to the right of the runway 35 threshold).

If you want some additional details (and a view of the terrace that started my love for aviation), and if you understand some Spanish, see this post:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?s=f02f67dfb0636b4bf4967d141024d19d&p=18715279&postcount=407

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

Blimey! Mike, what have you got us into?  Thanks for that Luis.

[MM 422]

Thanks, Luis.