Frankly, this topic has been on my mind, since, the first day, I got my (RXP) GTN 750, which I got (as they say, better late than never), purely encouraged by seeing its (frequent) use by other members, here. Today, while I was searching a bit for information about NZQN (Queenstown) airport, I came across an interesting discussion in the MSFS Forum "EPIC Approach Procedures – STAR, RNAV, ILS, LOC, VOR DME, ADF, Visual", which contains a user-submitted compilation of challenging Rwy approaches. The very first one listed, there, coincidentally, happens to be for NZQN (RNAV Y RWY 05 (or Rwy 23) plus RNAV STAR RWY 05), and, the last one is for Hong Kong VHHX (IGS Rwy 13)...of course, such a list wouldn't be complete without Kai Tak....

Anyway, this post is about (NZQN) VOR/DME approaches, which are considered among the most challenging approaches to encounter in RW, especially in marginal weather (btw, on the cited (MSFS) website above, I suggest a viewing (if you've not already) of the (4min 11sec) RW Video about Queenstown approach and landing...(the brief 50 seconds of blind-flying, from 2min 30sec to 3min 20sec, surrounded, on all sides, by mountains and clouds, was, to say the least, a bit unnerving...). In this post, I wish to get a first (personal) feel of flying two VOR/DME (NZQN) Approaches (1) VOR/DME C for Runway 05, flown near to the Missed Approach Point, and (2) VOR/DME B for Runway 23, from the opposite direction, for the final landing. Maybe it's more than what this virtual pilot could chew, especially done, in the same flight,...oh well,...it's only in my virtual world...🙂...so, there is no penalty or danger...

Queenstown Airport (NZQN), is located on a section of Lake Wakatipu known as the Frankton Arm, in the (NZ) South Island. The airport is surrounded on all sides by the majestic mountain ranges (of the Southern Alps), some of which reach up to 7,500 ft high (so, just one false move, during approach, and, as I myself amply realized (see shots below), my (virtual) plane would have surely gone into smithereens...(though, my flight completed without any major mishap and I survived...🙂...)...! Up until recently, the only approaches to Queenstown were VOR/DME approaches with steep (descent) profile gradients, also requiring a circling maneuver to be completed in a small valley North East of the field. Lately, other more modern RNAV/RNP based Approaches have been made available for NZQN.

For this post, I'm using my (long-owned) Emb-120 Brasilia, as the subject aircraft, after (just recently) seeing another post, here, about this (nice) a/c. I've integrated, into the [VC] of my Emb-120, the RXP GTN 750 (in place of its default GPS), so, the new (touchscreen) GTN is, now, much easier on my eyes and (also) on my fingers...and, I have made good use of the its capabilities, too, as applicable to the objectives, here, (which are quite non-trivial for my standards)...

Below is a bit of notes, if you're not a Pro and new into this stuff, like I'm, or/and, also, if you wish to attempt it yourself (e.g. in the beautiful NZ scenery of MSFS) with one of your many wonderful (GA) a/c.

Below is my quick (but ambitious) laundry-list of objectives, as I'd prepared, for this flight:

1. Input a simple flightplan (for my guidance) into the GTN750, see screenshots, as follows: [NZCH -> AFTON (Fix) -> QN (VOR) -> AKDUX (Fix) -> NZQN].
2. Lift-off from NZQN Rwy 23 [Direct] to AFTON Fix (15 nms southwest from Queenstown VOR (QN)), with altitude at AFTON required to be 8,500 ft.
3. With the aid of my GTN, set-up a [Hold] Pattern at AFTON, (easily done via the very convenient [Dir-To] button), with a 32 degrees inbound loop (see screenshot of AFTON [Hold]).
4. After one complete loop, exit [Hold] from AFTON Fix, and track inbound (32 degrees) to Airport, for Rwy 05, following this descent profile of the VOR/DME C Approach: [15.0 nm (8,500 ft) AFTON; 10.0 nm (6,100 ft) FF032; 9.0 nm (5,700 ft) 90VOR; 6.5 nm (4,900 ft) 65VOR; 3.0 nm (Missed Approach Point / MA032).
5. Instead of actually landing into Rwy 05, near about MAP (Missed Approach point), climb back up to 8,200 feet, circle around the QN VOR (in a clockwise circle, per NZQN Approach plate), and then proceed to AKDUX Fix (12 nms southeast from Queenstown VOR (QN)), on the other side of the airport, with altitude requirement, at AKDUX, being 8,200 ft.
6. For practice, set-up a [Hold] at AKDUX, with a 260 degrees inbound loop, and complete one loop.
7. Exit AKDUX [Hold], tracking now 260 degrees inbound to Airport, for Rwy 23, for landing, with the following (VOR/DME B Approach) descent profile: [12.0 nm (8200 ft) AKDUX; 7.0 nm (5700 ft) FF260; 4.0 nm (4900 ft) 40VOR; 2.0 nm (Missed Approach Point / MA260).
8. Finally, from the inbound 260 degrees track, visually align and land (I found this to be the hardest part), into NZQN Rwy 23 (234 degrees heading; Elevation 1,171 ft).

I've included several GTN shots, below, at various points of this composite flight.

For livery, for this post, I've chosen a (striking) all-Red paint of OceanAir, which was a (prominent) Brazilian airline based in Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, and was also known as Avianca Brasil S.A. (the legal name of the airline always remained OceanAir, as in founding, but, it was re-branded as Avianca). However, since just last year (July 2020), the airline has ceased all activities, after 20+ years of continuous operation. It had 7 Emb 120 Brasilias in its fleet, and had deployed an impressive mixture of (prop/jet) a/c during its life e.g. all its A320neos went to Azul Brazilian Airlines, on its cessation. So, if you're now flying the (MSFS) A320neo in Azul colors,...it's quite possible that, once, it belonged to OceanAir...

And, here is a small historical side-note, about the maker of the plane, Brazilian Aviation giant, Embraer. From predominantly unknown, from its piston planes to turboprops to regional jets, Embraer rapidly (and smartly) climbed the ladder of success to be the world’s third largest commercial aircraft manufacturer, after the “duopoly” of A- and B-. But it was this Brasilia 120 (twin-turboprop), that was one of the first (major) cornerstones of its success, that had sustained it during infancy and also had put its name on the international arena...(long before the profitable ERJ family showed up)...

As you can see below, my touchdown was far from perfect, onto Rwy 05, though I made it (near) to the Rwy Threshold (it was all exhilarating, nonetheless)...this peppy little twin-turbo-prop was a bit too much for this (virtual) pilot, I thought I had it in control during the last mile or so, but, mishandled the (speed/pitch) just before touchdown...(clearly, need one more attempt to fix it, and, probably, a (more manageable) C172 could suit me better, here, I think...🙂..)...

I hope you enjoy the pictures of this (beautiful) plane, along with bits of my own (virtual) experience from these sample images of one of the most challenging approaches in the world...!

Thanks for your interest...!!

[Carenado (Emb 120), Orbx (NZ(SI))]

Beautiful

Great set of shots also your explanation, where you do not save with the words..

cheers 😉

 

Nice shots! 😉 

Thanks,....Patrick, pmplayer, Alaska738...!!