High Alps

[MM 424]

High Alps
For Saturday, September 11, 2021

We shall visit the high Alps of Switzerland. In this week's World Update 6, MFS has enhanced Switzerland. We shall take a look. After passing Mont Blanc, we visit the towering massifs of the Pennine and Bernese Alps. Then over the Gotthard Pass and down the Ticino Valley to the castles of Bellinzona before heading for the elegance of St. Mortiz.



We depart from Megève [LFHM], the altiport which hosts the Megève Flying Club (for mountain flying) and discovery flights over Mont Blanc, as well as "a convivial restaurant and terrasse." We climb up to fly past the Mont Blanc massif [BLANC] over the high ridge near the Domes de Miage. (You want to climb vigorously to clear the ridge at about 11,000 ft.) Mont Blanc is the highest peak in Western Europe at 15,777 ft and the full massif is enormously impressive. We proceed to land at Aosta [LIMW]. Then another serious climb to the peaks, lakes, and glaciers of the Grand Combin massif [GCOMB]. We stay at altitude (about 14,000) over the high mountains and deep valleys of the Pennine Alps to reach the Matterhorn [MATT]. We continue climbing eastward to slip past the Dufourspitze [DUFR] (second highest peak of Western Europe) – as you crest the high ridge, look straight down... We turn to initiate our descent. Take a look at the hotel/ski/observatory complex Gornergrat [GORN] – and note the railway station, the open passenger cars, and follow the railway partway down the mountain. We overfly the world famous mountaineering and skiing resort Zermatt [ZERMT] before descending to the Rhone Valley to land at Raron [LSTA].

Next we mount the Bernese Alps. We begin climbing over the Rhone Valley up to the Daubensee [DAUB] and then eastward to the famous Bernese trio of peaks who form a massive wall of mountains, one of the most distinctive sights of the Alps. We reach first the Jungfrau [JUNG], the highest of the three including the Monch and the Eiger [in English, the "maiden", "monk" and "ogre"]. We quickly reach the Sphinx Observatory [SPINX] which is located on the saddle connecting the Jungfrau and the Monch. This is part of the larger tourist complex of restaurants, bars, and shops which constitute the "Top of Europe." We turn to descend along the north side to admire the famous north face of the Eiger [EIGER] which rises nearly 6,000 feet in a vertical wall of rock and ice. This is a dangerous, sometimes deadly, climbing challenge. We continue downward to a low pass over Interlaken, the long-standing tourist town at the base of the Bernese Alps. We execute a touch-and-go or a low pass over the former AFB Interlaken [LSMI] before we cross the Brienzersee to land at Meiringen [LSMM]. Meiringen is one of the three main airbases of the current Swiss Air Force, housing F-18 fighters in under-mountain caverns on the south side of the field.

Next we climb up the Aare Valley, passing Arthur Conan Doyle's site of Sherlock Holmes' apparent demise Reichenbach Falls [RFALL] 3.5nm out of Meiringen. We pass over the high center crossroads of the Alps before descending again over the historic Gotthard Pass [GOTT] to land at Ambri [LSPM], formerly an Air Force field and now a GA facility. We continue down the valley for a quick stop at Lodrino Air Base [LSML]. Then south to circle low over the town of Bellinzona which features three magnificent castles. Castelgrande [GRAND], Montebello [BELLO], and Sasso Corbaro [SASSO] are all UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We want to honor Gunther by visiting these castles! Finally, we cross over several mountain ridges to enter the Engadin Valley to land at our final destination Samedan [LSZS], the highest "regular" airport in Western Europe. If we can find a place to park among the corporate jets, we shall spend the night at St. Moritz and experience the luxurious accommodations to which we could easily become accustomed.

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
We want to fly through the mountains and valleys to appreciate the detail work accomplished by the MFS team. And a reasonably powerful and fast GA aircraft will be able to climb to altitude and then move smartly along. We require something that will cruise at about 150kts and climb and operate at 14,000 feet. Most of our favorite "quick" General Aviation aircraft will be just fine. I'll try the "newly-improved" Asobo (default) Cirrus SR22 in the lovely Swiss livery HB-KHR by Juan Alcala (rav707).

Additional Scenery

All the airports are included in the default.

We finish at Samedan (LSZS) so you might enjoy a quality rendition for our gathering. I would highly recommend Sergio Del Rosso's terrific freeware Samedan. (Note that you need also Sergio's own scenery pack here.) You might prefer instead the professional payware version by Orbx – which is currently on a flash sale. In addition, you might like Aosta [LIMW] by paperplane_simulations.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 9:00 am local for September 11, 2021.
While we typically prefer real weather, this time we recommend the "High Clouds" or "Few Clouds" preset. We want to get a good look at the newly depicted Alps and prefer to see their grandeur unobstructed by either clouds or procedurally-generated snow.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, September 11, 2021. 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 and MSFS2020)
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

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!

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

I look forward to this... Switzerland is spectacular after WU6.. 🙂

[MM 424]

As an aside, just after leaving Meiringen (LSMM), we pass Reichenbach Falls which was the site of Sherlock Holmes' apparent death in "The Final Problem". His demise caused so much consternation in Conan Doyle's readership that Holmes reappeared years later to reveal that he had staged the event to fool his enemies. (The revised flight plan marks the spot, just south of [RFALL].)



And...

Before and after Waypoint 16 are the Grimsel Pass and most notably the legendary Furka Pass. The latter, especially, can make for an entertaining drive. The road entered popular culture as a setting for Sean Connery's James Bond in Goldfinger. You can see a brief clip of another Brit taking a proper four door British saloon over the same road here.
 

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

And a little bit of nostalgia.. here I am in 1977, heading back from our honeymoon in St. Moritz.. just days before we left for Vancouver, Canada.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qmji901fu8zaihe/1977013.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6aylevw2vdcbqey/1977017.jpg?dl=0

Edited September 10, 2021 by Bert Pieke

[somiller 694]

Bert,

That has to be about the best honeymoon destination I can imagine. I bet it was great! What time of year were you there...I see skis on the car and snow.

Was in Switzerland in 1988, skiing in Valbella-Lenzerheide area (about 25km north of St. Moritz).

Ooh, a DC-8.

[ponchovilla 7]

I keep running around in circles on the update. The MS Store provides me with circular options. Please remember that I am somewhat of a luddite. I'll be on early before the flight.

[ponchovilla 7]

Forehead. Desk. Repeat. What am I doing wrong with the update? And I am invoking the Name for the Christmas season and the Easter season.

[CavalierDuck 106]

Sounds like you're going through what I went through last night.  The good news is the fix was easy - once I found it in the AVSIM forums.

I needed to install the "Xbox app" from the Microsoft store.  There are other apps with "Xbox" in their name, but the one you want is just called "Xbox app".  Once this was installed (and I ran it once), the update showed up under Microsoft Flight Simulator in the M$ store and it all went easily from there with the usual shenanigans of installing the content in the marketplace, etc.

No, it doesn't make any sense.  Yes, whoever at MS/Asobo was responsible for the update process should be relegated to emptying the office bins.

[ponchovilla 7]

Thanks large. Instead of transforming my head into even more of a chrome-dome (pulling my hair(s) out) I am now sinking down into my chair and transforming into a puddle of relaxation. Thanks for the advice.

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

16 hours ago, somiller said:

That has to be about the best honeymoon destination I can imagine. I bet it was great! What time of year were you there...I see skis on the car and snow.

It was at the end of February, and skiing was really cold  (-22 C)..

On the way up, we had chains on the car and barely made it, on the way back, I booked a train trip to tunnel under the Julier Pass.