FSX-SE Romance of a Biplane in Norway...

[P_7878 6,588]

There is something of an unique appeal about a Biplane, that, I think, is hard to resist whether we routinely fly small or big - GA or Jetliners. I ran into this gem of a plane (Roland D6) from the passionate folks at "French VFR" (please search for "French VFR Downloads" to see all their beautiful (FW) collection of aircraft). Roland was a fighter aircraft built at the end of WW I (first flown in 1917). It lost a fly-off to the (well-known) Fokker D.VI. In January 1918, two D.VIs were entered into the first fighter competition, one powered by a 160 hp (119 kW) Mercedes D.III engine and the other by a Benz Bz.IIIa of similar power. Although the winner of the competition was the cheaper Fokker D.VII, orders were still placed for the Roland as insurance against production problems with the Fokker.

And, I like (Orbx) EU-Norway a lot, but, frankly, have not flown much in that scenery. So, here is a sight-seeing flight from Evenes Airport (ENEV) to Narvik Airport (ENNK) - a PW Orbx Airport (that I picked up from their SALE). Narvik is scenically nestled far up north on the globe past the Arctic Circle. Narvik airport was actually closed less than 2 years ago (as of April, 2017) and is no longer operational in RW. It was previously served by Wideroe (by DHC Otter and Dash 8 aircraft - See AI shot). Please be aware that ENNK would not be, therefore, found in your up-to-date navigational database for flight-planning purpose, but, it (continues to be) listed in FSX/SE - e.g. for creating a simple FSX FPLN that I've used here. In my flight into ENNK, I seemed to be the only one there on arrival - the airport all to myself, so to speak, with lights "on" a few windows still, but no living souls found (see a couple of Airport shots).

In 1935, the Norwegian Air Lines had first started scheduled service to Narvik using Junkers-34/52 aircraft. One ironic fact about Narvik/Narvik Airport is that the Halogaland Bridge - opened December last year and dubbed the "most beautiful bridge in the world" - also seen here on approach on a few shots - was the real cause of demise of the Airport. Essentially, the local Government was faced with the choice of saving/using the operating costs from the Airport to finance/build this bridge - a hard choice indeed! Thanks for viewing these images from this amazing and and secluded part of the world - that we can only imagine (from the virtual world) to be exceedingly beautiful in RW! [FW(Roland)/Orbx(Norway-ENNK)/REX]

Edited February 17, 2019 by P_7878

[kiwi_biplane 635]

Many thanks for the exellent screenshots and for the information! I did not know about the existence of this model, but now, thanks to you, I will try to raise this beautiful biplane in the virtual sky.

[P_7878 6,588]

55 minutes ago, kiwi_biplane said:

... I did not know about the existence of this model, but now, thanks to you, I will try to raise this beautiful biplane in the virtual sky.

Yes, that would be great, I'm sure, you would be able to do a much better job of show-casing their vintage/classic aircraft than I can....🙂...

I know they have aircraft listed for both FSX/P3D, but please check the website (or/and communicate/request directly with them) for version-compatibility...

I've flown their aircraft (e.g. C150) since a long time, but have not been to the website for several years...All their aircraft are near (or better than) PW quality, IMHO...

Edited February 17, 2019 by P_7878