Pyrenees, 12th October

[Viking01 183]

For this trip around the Pyrenees, we depart from Huesca (LEHC), Spain. Close to the city are the Sierra de Guara mountains, which reach 2,077 m. We fly east staying out of the mountains and land at Benabarre (LENA), Spain. The town has a population of about 1.000 inhabitants but is a center of cultural and historical attraction.

From here we initially turn east but turn north very soon to enter the Pyrenees. This mountain range forms a natural border between Spain in the south and France in the north. In these mountains lies the micro-state of Andorra. The Pyrenees reach a height of 3,404 meters (11,168 ft) altitude at the peak of Aneto The range separates the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of continental Europe, and extends for about 491 km (305 mi) from the Bay of Biscay (Cap Higuer) to the Mediterranean Sea (Cap de Creus).

We follow a lake northbound until, after flying through a gorge, we turn sharply back, cross a ridge and land at Ager (LEH8), Spain. We will want to land using runway 01, take your time and enjoy the scenery when descending from the ridge!

We depart from runway 19 and head east again. When reaching the La Noguera Pallaresa river, we follow it north until we reach the last of a series of lakes. Here we turn north-east and head for our next landing, La Cerdanya (LECD), Spain. 

An overview of the airport: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3f35_HGDrY

Here we are in the border region between France and Spain. With the Treaty of the Pyrenees 1659, this area was almost evenly split between the two countries. Historically it belonged to Catalonia. The area enjoys a high annual amount of sunshine – around 3,000 hours per year. For this reason, pioneering large-scale solar power projects have been built here.

We depart and follow a road and a river westbound, staying just south of Andorra. Andorra is a sovereign landlocked microstate. Believed to have been created by Charlemagne, Andorra was ruled by the Count of Urgell until 988, when it was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. 

The present principality was formed by a charter in 1278. It is known as a principality as it is a diarchy headed by two Princes: the Catholic Bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain, and the President of France.

Andorra is the sixth-smallest nation in Europe, having an area of 468 square kilometers (181 sq mi) and a population of approximately 77,281. The Andorran people are a Romance ethnic group of originally Catalan descent. Andorra is the 16th-smallest country in the world by land and the 11th-smallest by population. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 meters (3,356 feet) above sea level.

We land at Seo de Urgell (LESU), the gateway to Andorra. It is located at the confluence of the Segre and the Valira rivers. 

A view of the city: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXg9o5IFosY

From here we continue west, cross over the mountains and land at Castejon (LE06), Spain. There is not much to do here so we depart and turn north (climbing!) to land at Peyresourde Balestas (LFIP), France. It is the only stop in France. On our way, to the east at waypoint 12, we passed the highest peak of the Pyrenees, the Pico Aneto. Not far to the east from the airport is the Col de Peyresourde, a famous climb during the Tour de France.

An approach to LFIP can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afhYgOiJk-o

We depart and follow the valleys for a while, but then we need to climb, cross a ridge or two and head for today's destination, Santa Cilia (LECI), Spain.

You will find the flight plan here.

 

Aircraft

The route is about 245 NM and involves some climbing en route. I recommend a fast single-engine GA plane like the A2A Bonanza or A2A Comanche. Light Twins are also an option. I will take the A2A Bonanza in the D-EHVD livery. As always, please fly what you like.

 

Scenery

ORBX Global and Vector will do, openLC Europe will improve the scenery. A good mesh will improve the impression of the Pyrenees quite a bit. Additionally, I found a collection of Spanish Airports from AirHispania (http://www.airhispania.com/moddoc01.php?tCod=20121101120945). I recommend installing them as they add quite a bit of eye candy to the otherwise empty airports.

On their site, you'll find many different downloads. Please download the Aerodromes and the "Bookshop" (i.e. the libraries). In case you have any problems with the aerodromes you may try using the Airfields Update download. I run the Vector Tool and everything shows up fine.

Note: I deleted those airports from the download I had from other sources like Bilbao from ORBX and Barcelona from Aerosoft. LESU is part of the ORBX freeware airport packs.

I tried their other downloads like the castles or the VFR landmarks, but most of the objects did not show up in P3D.

 

Time and Weather

We should fly real weather if possible. Otherwise, you might consider the partly cloudy skies of September 23 at 1100 UTC. For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 4:00pm local.

 

Particulars

Date and time: October 12, 2019, 1800 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!

 

 

[robrooke 42]

hi gunter,

airhispania link does not work for me & i only have  LEHC - LECD - LESU  showing in p3d.

roger.

[Viking01 183]

Odd. Did you try the ORBX Vector Tool?

[somiller 694]

LFIP payware available here, and currently 50% off - https://www.llhinfo.com/home.html

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

airhispania.com are not at home. I knocked several times but no answer. 

[Viking01 183]

Everyone hold short for AirHispania. We are working on a solution for these sceneries...

[spokes2112 179]

Have them all so if the download is the problem then..... 👽 (Gunter, email me if this is the problem)
Also translating some of the install notes from spanish to swahili for easier understanding.

[Viking01 183]

Well, there is something wrong with these downloads for some of us. Mike got a virus warning that was confirmed by malewarebytes, so for the moment I suggest we do download anything from AirHispania. 
I will keep you informed...

[spokes2112 179]

mmm very strange.. malewarebytes caught it when the packages are zipped up, nothing to report unzipped & installed. (scanned the flight sim files)
Dang bitminer is in the install executables.. More tech info may be provided in the upcoming email.
In any case - later on today ( ~0000 UTC 09OCT19 ) an email will be sent out with options available for y'all..
Have an outstanding day!

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

2 hours ago, Viking01 said:

Mike got a virus warning that was confirmed by malewarebytes

Ditto

[Viking01 183]

We have worked something out,   info follows soon, sorry about that...

[MM 424]

Captain Obvious here. If you have the realistically beautiful and modestly challenging LLH Creations Peyresourde LFIP, you might want to use it. As Steve suggested above...it is still on sale at 50 percent off the normal price until October 14. On filling out the purchase, be sure to enter the "Sale Code" as outlined in small print on the home page. A caution here. I had trouble with both the A2A Comanche and Bonanza on takeoff – the front wheel did not always come down onto the sloped runway. Not sure why. Seems to work with all other aircraft that I tried. As Roman says, YMMV.

When using the LLH Creations version, you want to disable the AirHispania version which is short and flat rather than steeply sloped. Look under the "scenery" folder and disable or relocate all *.bgl files with "LFIP" in their name. (For example, "peyresourde_FIP_AFX.BGL".) Don't worry about the peyresourde files in the "texture" folder.

 

Also, Gunter's special trademark ... Balloons!

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

Very nice flight. I should have flown something with tundra tyres though.

[spokes2112 179]

Ditto what Ron said..
"Very nice flight" ... Thanks Gunter!
Not too many pics taken, perhaps still not awake ;))
My story & sticking with it.
If wanted, you may view them here.

Thanks again Gunter!

[MM 424]

Thanks for the lovely photos. BALLOONS! A terrific way to gain a taste of this impressive country.