Lukla!

[Viking01 183]

Hi,

this is just a heads up for an upcoming flight in Nepal, mainly around Lukla.

The new Aerosoft Lukla - Mount Everest Extreme (available for FSX and P3DV4) includes a number of smaller airfields around the famous airport of Lukla!

In a couple of weeks we could have a flight around this interesting area with a number of challenging landings and take-offs. If you don't have this addon installed it's a good time now to do so. A little practise for some of these airfields might be a good idea...

Details to follow....

[Viking01 183]

Finally! This Saturday will take us to Nepal (and to China, for a short time) to visit some of the most challenging airfields in the world.

We depart from Tingri (ZUTG, a semi-fictional airport in China) and head towards Mt. Everest, visit the famous Lukla Tensing Hillary Airport (VNLK), and ten other airstrips in this part of Nepal.

For this flight, we follow the valleys as much as possible, but some climbs to more than 12.000 feet will be unavoidable.

On the way to our first landing, we will be passing some smaller settlements, the Everest Base Camp and various Helipads.
The first landing will be at Syangboche (VNSB). This strip has an elevation of 12.317 feet, a single runway (13/31) with about 1330 feet and an upslope of 5.6% from RWY 31. Landings 31 only, T/O 13 only. The lead-in waypoints are just rough ideas, depending on your airplane and speed you may want to change these points!

The next stop will be at Lukla (VNLK), 9357 feet elevation. Landings will be on RWY 06 only. This RWY has an upslope of 12.99%. T/O of course on 24 only!

From here we head to the South-West for the next landing at Phaplu (VNPL), at an elevation of 8074 feet. Landings are on RWY 20 only, with an uphill slope of about 2,4%. The runway has 2230 feet. It should be a straight-in approach. In case of a missed approach, the flight plan shows roughly the recommended approach pattern for RWY 20. THe airport closes at noon, so let's get there in time.

Next up is Kangel Danda (VNKL) at an elevation of 6580 feet. The 1700 feet runway allows T/O and landings on 29 and 11. There is a slight slope of about 1,4% on both ends.

Tumlingtar (VNTR) at 1311 feet elevation is a large airport with a 4000 feet runway (16/34). Not too much of a challenge here!

Bhojpur (VNBJ) at 3983 feet offers an 1780 feet long runway that slopes upward with 7,2% at RWY 35, the recommended landing direction.

Man Maya Khanidanda (VNKD) at an elevation of 4423 feet has a 08/26 runway that slopes upward with 5% at the 08 end. I set a waypoint that gives us a final approach of about 2 nm for 08.

Only 7 miles further we will stop at Lamidanda (VNLD). This airport has an elevation of 4042 feet and a runway with 1690 feet, orientation is 26/08. There is an upslope of 1,93% at the 08 end.

Rumjatar (VNRT), at 4504 feet elevation, has a 17/35 runway of about 1800 feet, sloping up with 4,44 % at RWY 35.

Ramechap (VNRC) has a runway 21/03 at 1627 feet with a length of 1740 feet.

The last stop before we return to Lukla is Jiri (VNJI). The airfield is actually closed and not maintained. The grass surface at 6063 feet elevation has an upward slope of 2,25% at its 32 end and a length of about 1200 feet. T/O should be on RWY 14.

The challenge to operate from these airports is not over when you mastered you landing. There is almost no room to taxi, so be very careful.

Flight plan and documentation: The flight plan can be downloaded here. GTN users please note, that the flight starts at your first waypoint after VNKT, as the Chinese departure airport is not in the GTN database. There is no separate Pilots guide. All relevant information for the visited airports is nicely documented in the Aerosoft "Lukla Mount Everest Extreme" Addon's manual (to be found in the ...aerosoft/Lukla Mount Everest Extreme/Main folder.

Scenery: All airports are included in the Aerosoft "Lukla Mt. Everest Exteme" addon. I don't know which airports other than Lukla are part of the P3D database. There is a Lukla addon available for FSX, which does include the same airports. 

Aircraft: You will need a STOL capable airplane to get in and out of these airfields safely. The best airplane would be the de Havilland Twin Otter, which is included in the Lukla Extreme addon. I tried the Pilatus Turbo Porter PC-6 and the de Havilland Turbo Otter. Both are a bit slower than the Twin Otter but are otherwise ok. Please fly what you like and always have an eye on your aircraft's engine readings to avoid a sudden moment of silence in the air!

Time and weather: Please set your clock for a 08:00 hrs local departure. If the real weather is unsuitable we could switch to Tuesday, February 11, 11:00 hrs local weather.

Particulars
•    Date and time: March 21, 2020  1900 UTC (3pm EDT, 2pm CDT, 1pm MDT, and 12noon PDT.)
•    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!

[CavalierDuck 106]

On 3/16/2020 at 1:58 PM, Viking01 said:

but some climbs to more than 12.000 feet will be unavoidable.

If you want to get to 12,000ft from Tingri you're going to need a spade!

[Viking01 183]

This is correct, my mistake!

[jt_williams 291]

5 hours ago, CavalierDuck said:

If you want to get to 12,000ft from Tingri you're going to need a spade!

Since Tingri is at 14,177 it should be all downhill from there. 😁

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

Well that ended well! Sorry about that folks. I guess it was the stress caused by the coronavirus...Or something.