Ecuador – Volcanos and High Altitude Airports

[jt_williams 291]

Ecuador – Volcanos and High Altitude Airports

Starting from Villagarzon (SKVG) in Columbia, we will climb west into the Andes to our first landing at Antonio Narino (SKPS). The route then turns south and we enter Ecuador and a series of high altitude airports (SEQM, SERB, SECU) along the Avenue of the Volcanos.  Running for 200 miles south of Quito between two parallel cordilleras, Ecuador’s “Avenue of the Volcanoes” contains seven peaks more than 17,000 feet high.  At La Toma (SETM) our route turns west towards the Pacific. Our final landing in Ecuador is at Macara (SEMA) on border with Peru.  Time permitting we will continue on to Talara (SPYL) crossing the costal desert to reach the point furthest west in South America.

The total route is 524nm and you will probably want to fly an aircraft that can cruise at 250knts.  I will be flying the PMDG DC-6 in the PanAm meatball livery. The King Air, Citation Mustang will also work.  As always, you are free to fly what you like.

Recommended Scenery:
Orbx South American Landclass
Optional Payware: Flightbeam Quito 
Freeware: FSX/P3D Scenery--Mariscal La Mar, Ecuador
 
Flightplan & Pilots Guide: HERE

Weather NOTAM:  I tried to find Active Sky Historical weather that would allow good views of the Avenue of the Volcanos but the best I could do was partly cloudy which always produced partially obscured views of the volcanos. I created an “Ecuador Clear” weather theme (included in the Pilots Guide download) that has much better visibility with two high Cirrus cloud layers.  You may want to try this if you are not happy with real weather.

 Where & When
Date and time: Saturday, Aug 17, 2019. 1800 UTC.
Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel
Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com
Cross-Platform Multiplayer: JoinFS. (FSX, FSX-SE, and P3D).

Multiplayer Experience
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!
 

[spokes2112 179]

Perhaps a working link to the optional scenery?
Here... 

[okupton 308]

Very cool. I used to live about a block away from SERB. Very nice views of four volcanoes on a clear day, but those were rare. Tungurahua was (and I believe still is) erupting on occasion which made it even more interesting!

[jt_williams 291]

 

SEQM NOTAM

The new Quito International Airport is located on the Oyambaro plain near the town of Tababela, about 18 kilometers (11 mi) east of Quito, Ecuador. The location was chosen in order to expand the capacity of the city's airport.

The old airport posed enormous risks because it was located in the middle of a mountainous city. It could no longer be expanded to accommodate larger aircraft or increased air traffic, and had been the scene of numerous incidents and accidents during the latter years of its operation.

 

 

Edited August 13, 2019 by jt_williams

[jt_williams 291]

5 hours ago, spokes2112 said:

Perhaps a working link to the optional scenery?
Here... 

Thanks Roman.

[okupton 308]

I was lucky enough to fly in and out of SEQU, SEQM, SEGU, SECU and SECA during my time there. All fantastic approaches and departures.

[MM 424]

Just a quick scenery note.

For Quito, Jeff has us land at the city's newish Mariscal Sucre International (SEQM). The airport opened in February 2013 and immediately replaced the old now-closed facility while transferring over the old name. (The new location makes for an interesting and beautiful approach and departure. Safer but not "too" safe.) This airport does not exist in FSX. Thus, for FSX pilots or for those wanting a freeware addon, you might consider Carlyle Sharpe's North Central Ecuador v2, including SEQM at AVSIM. The scenery is described here and it is available for direct download here. Using default objects, Sharpe has done a good job.

Jeff's recommended airport represents Mariscal La Mar International (SECU) that serves the historic city of Cuenca. The model, by Otavio Bonomi, works in both FSX and P3D. We saw some of Bonomi's excellent freeware when we visited Chile not long ago. As Roman pointed out, this is located at FlightSim.com: described here and available for direct download here.

A decent freeware improvement is Matthew Ward's Riobamba Chimborazo (SERB). This is an ADE enhancement that adds airport facilities and some nearby buildings. And it works in both FSX and P3D. At AVSIM, it is described here and available for direct download here.

And a "better than default" addition would be Bill Bridges ADE version of Pasto (SKPS), the "aircraft carrier" landing. Again, at AVSIM it is described here and available for direct download here.

This should be great, Jeff. We'll enjoy the challenge of following the rubber tire marks of okupton. 😎

[MM 424]

In Jeff's Tour of the Volcanoes, several pilots are flying the PMDG DC-6. For those who do not own it and would like to see the correct liveries, you might look for a PROXY in you email inbox. Please let me know if this does not work properly or if you have suggestions about improvements.

Hope this helps,
M

[spokes2112 179]

Jeff,

Great flight! Really enjoyed it. 
Watching CHT's, RPM's and host of other things didn't leave much left over for camera work.
Alas.. It was done though. Fresh from the K-Mart developing center are a few shots which you can view here.
Fingers crossed for a Sunday, "pressurized aluminum tube, kerosene burning, button pushing" flight.. HA! - looking forward to this one too!

[robrooke 42]

what a plethora of the heavy metal, great flight as usual, superb photo's,  thanks for a most enjoyable 2hrs.

regards.