[First of all, a short while ago, I recall, there were several excellent posts and screenshots, here, about the (MSFS) CRJ, the very first (complex) 3rd-party add-on for MSFS. Lately, however, I don't recall seeing that nice jetliner around here. The CRJ has been always a great favorite of mine in the SIM world. Many of you might remember the Wilco "Regional Jet - CRJ", from the FS2004 days..., I'd the DVD Box for it (likely purchased from my sole DVD supplier, "Fry's",...not sure, though, where I lost it along the way...)...Anyway, that DVD was my introduction to "RJ" simulation....a good one for its time. I checked today and see it still listed on the Wilco website (with a "FSX Compatible" sticker proudly displayed on the cover). That package featured CRJ-200/700/900 variants. Of course, the more modern CRJ1000 and the CRJ550 variants were yet to be conceived at that FS9/2004 time (CRJ1000 was launched in 2007 and CRJ550 was launched 12 years later in 2019). In my hangar, the AS/DA CRJ, is one my most favorite jet aircraft, which allows me to conduct short (200-400) nm flights (norm for me these days), plus this SIM, with a smart balance of "complexity" and "ease-of-use", is quite enjoyable too. But, I have not flown it since several months, and wished to fly it, today, for a special "exercise" of mine, as reported in this post. Hope you enjoy, as much as I did...so, here we go...]

While looking for new repaints for my AS CRJ, I came across Alitalia, a favorite Airline of mine. And, that repaint, naturally, made me think of Italy, and, in turn, that reminded me of the Apennine mountains. Regarding mountains, I've once visited the foothills of the Himalayas (in Nepal), and, around here, the Rockies (in Colorado), couple of times. So, the Alps, Andes etc. still remain (virtual visits not counting...🙂...), and also remains the majestic Apennines...the subject of my post here. You might have heard/read that Italy is shaped like a shoe, actually, more like a "cowboy" boot (you know, the ones with high top, high arch and tall heels). And, equally curiously, the Apennines are so situated to be called the physical backbone of peninsular Italy. This impressive (~900 miles long) mountain range has a northwest–southeast orientation, but, at the southern tip of Italy, it changes direction (ran out of land, so to speak), and extends westward to the West of Sicily. Though not as high as the formidable Himalayas and the Andes, it's spectacular in its own right, in terms of natural scenery and geological features.

And, I list, below, the 6 highest mountains in the Apennine range ( > 8,000 feet in height): Corno Grande (9,555'); Maiella (9,163'); Monte Camici (8,412'); Monte Velin (8,159'); Monte Vettore (8,123'); Monte Gorzano (8,064').

From the LAT/LONG co-ordinates of these six mountains, I created a simple SimBrief Flightplan as follows:

LIPE (Bologna) -> [4249N01316E 423704N01323E 4228N01334E 4226N01343E 4209N01322E 4205N01405E] -> LICA (Lamezia Terme)

And, thus, I set myself to familiarize with about the first ~500 miles of the Apennines, and most importantly, letting my CRJ/CRJ-FMS, guide me precisely, one by one, on top of these highest six mountains, that I've listed above. This SimBrief Flightplan, when placed into the correct AS directory, is then conveniently and directly uploaded into the CRJ FMS, for navigation, tracking the Apennines. BTW, the Apennines are divided into three distinct sectors: Northern, Central, and Southern, and, note (see SimBrief screenshot) how the six highest peaks are bunched together in the Central Apennines (northeast of Rome).

I kept the FMS (L)NAV mode active throughout the flight, from just after gears-up, through passing overhead of these 6 mountain peaks (not necessarily traversed in the order of heights, see ND close-up shot e.g LL01 is Monte Vettore and LL02 is Monte Gorzano etc.), all the way to the ILS capture of LICA (Rwy 28). Please note the CRJ does not provide full VNAV, but, can provide only "VNAV Advisory" (Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 jetliner "simmers" beware...🙂...). I set cruise level to 23,000 feet (a good height for aerial viewing of these mountains), and used the well-known Rule-of-Thumb to determine my start of descent towards LICA (with a BOD of 3,000 feet, the Rule gave me [(23-3) x (3)] = 60 miles out, to initiate my descent). I also noticed (comfortingly) that the position of the Green (Advisory) "TOD" marker automatically appearing on the ND, matched my calculations closely too. And, for descent rate, I used [(Speed 200) x (5)] = 1,000 fpm. These numbers worked out fairly well.

It's to be noted that LICA airport, itself, is adjacent to (and surrounded by) small mountains and hilly areas (screenshots in Part II), and requires a cautious approach. The LOC-Z/ILS Rwy 28 Approach uses LMT (Lamezia Terme) VOR as the reference to define the approach fixes. So, I, too, used the LOC-Z (Rwy 28) Approach pre-defined on the DEP/ARR page of the FMS, to align and prepare myself for landing.

Hope you enjoy these, below, pictures of the Apennines, from the first part of my flight, as I fly south, along this backbone mountain range of Italy, with delectable glimpses of the Adriatic Sea to my left and the Tyrrhenian Sea to my right...and, also, of course, pictures of this worthy Regional Jet. It's to be noted, however, that the CRJ Series production has now reached the end of line. Less than 3 months ago, on 28 February 2021, the final Bombardier CRJ produced, a CRJ-900, was delivered to SkyWest Airlines. For myself, I recall many (pax) flights in the CRJ, including one, in the smallest CRJ-100. Lufthansa CityLine was the first to operate the CRJ-100, as the customer that had launched the popular CRJ Series, 30 years ago, in 1991.

For this post, on the LIPE/Bologna tarmac, I've done a full Cold & Dark start-up, see shots, (always a rewarding experience), but, if one wishes to do without such prep, Aerosoft's competent Configuration Manager, "DAVE", can get one going in minutes..., and, as you can see, from my screenshots, I've made extensive use of the Heads-up-Guidance-System (HGS), thereby, without the need to strain my eyes to peer down at the PFD/ND, for the essential data, especially during my manual descent phase. [Side Note: BTW, if you still don't own the MSFS CRJ, but use P3D alongside, please note that the (P3D/FSX) AS/DA CRJ is at 50% SALE now...absolutely worth it, being a remarkable SIM indeed...everything in it working well, as far as I can tell from my knowledge...]

[Screenshots for the part of my flight from the Apennines to landing at LICA,...will be in Part II...Thanks for viewing...!!]

[AS/DA (CRJ-900), MSE (Italy)]

Edited May 23, 20215 yr by P_7878

Very nice shots.. Just to confirm, this is MSFS?

Regards

 

Great post, again, P_7878 🙂

Trevor and Bernd: Appreciated the comments...!!

9 hours ago, TrevorS said:

Very nice shots.. Just to confirm, this is MSFS?

Regards

 

Thanks for your interest, Trevor...! This is FSX/SE...I never fail to prefix the "FSX-SE" label in my Titles...🙂...just to be clear....

Great shots again!

You have a Fantastic Eye for Detail...Bravo!!!

Alaska738, Patrick: Appreciated the kind words...!!

Nice set off shots ! Thanks for showing..

cheers 😉