Two Passes through the Canadian Rockies
(Scheduled for Wednesday September 22, 2021)

We shall fly through a part of the Canadian Rockies along the Alberta-British Columbia border. [Three years ago, we flew this area in Orbx P3D. We now get a comparison.]  We start at Valemount [CAH4]. Then we pick up Yellowhead Pass [YHEAD] which is the main northern pass through the Rocky Mountains. (Its gentle slope made it the favorite as the Canadian Pacific decided how to cross the Rockies. The Kicking Horse Pass won because the more challenging Southern route would be faster ... and would fend off the US railroad industry. The Canadian Northern would later run through Yellowhead Pass.) If the visibility is right we shall see the magnificent Mount Robson as we turn at waypoint [ROBSN]. Then we fly through the pass along Route 16, the Yellowhead Highway, toward Jasper [JASPR] and its small grass field northeast of town at Jasper Airport [CYJA]. (Lying within the national park, the field is normally closed to outsiders, but an exception has been made.)



We go south for a long leg. Flying high in the Rockies, we follow the Athabasca River and the scenic Icefields Parkway for about 60nm to turn west at the popular Athabasca Glacier [ATHAG]. If you look closely, you can see the visitor center (across the highway) and the glacier parking lot from which specially-equipped vehicles carry tourists partway up the glacier. Climb to 10,500 and observe the dramatic Columbia Icefields, with the Snow Dome and imposing Mount Columbia [COLUM] on the right. Then descend into the Columbia River valley and proceed to Golden [CYGE], a former railroad town and now a recreation-tourism center.

In the final phase, we fly through Kicking Horse Pass [KHORW and KHORE] which is the main southern pass through the mountains. With an elevation of 5,338 ft, steep gradients, and dangerous winters, the Canadian Pacific Railroad had to do some work to develop the route for what was then the primary connection between eastern Canada and British Columbia. (At the waypoint [SPIRL] you can see the impressive engineering feat employed by the CPR to permit trains to ascend/descend the steep pass more safely. In 1908, the engineers tunneled two spirals into the mountainsides north and south of the pass to "flatten out" the grade.) The pass now incorporates the Trans Canada Highway, Highway 1. We pass the Fairmont Lodge at Lake Louise (LAKLU) and turn at Banff (the vaguely-depicted grand old Fairmont hotel at Banff Springs is marked as [GRAND]) to land at the grass strip Banff [CYBA].

Finally, we descend to the Albertan plains to land at Calgary Springbank [CYBW]. This is the main General Aviation field for Calgary. With its many based-aircraft, helicopters, maintenance facilities, flight schools and other aviation businesses, Springbank is one of Canada's busiest airports. (In 2016, it ranked 6th overall with 432 aircraft movements per day). A former controller at CYBW is a highly respected member of our RTWR community. We'll park at the tower.

Flight Plan
The flight plan is available here.

Aircraft
The route is 317nm with all the twists and turns through the passes, valleys, and between mountain peaks. You probably want something that fast-cruises at 150-170kts so that we can complete our journey in the allotted time. Good choices might include faster singles like the Turbo Arrow, Cirrus SR22, Bonanza G36TN, and the Mooney Ovation. Or you might prefer a light twin such as the Baron G58 or the Piper Seneca. Many other options will work just as well. Please fly what you like.

Scenery
Required is the addon for Banff Airfield (CYBA) (the long grass strip is no longer operational and not in the simulator). In addition, the addons for Jasper Airfield (CYJA) and the Lake Louise Fairmont Lodge are highly recommended. On a different note, I strongly suggest Bijan Habashi's "Fall Season" for those who have the small addon. The touch of color adds much to our late September flight.

Weather
For takeoff on Wednesday, set the simulator for an early afternoon takeoff at 1:00pm local for September 22, 2021. (This flight crosses time zones.) When we fly through the mountains, the weather will matter. The first choice will be live weather. However, the forecast for Wednesday is for a cloudy day. If we have clouds that prevent mountain flying, we might choose an appropriate preset weather.

Particulars
Date and time: September 22, 2021. 1800 UTC
Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel
Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com
Multiplayer: Microsoft Flight Simulator MP. East USA server.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (use the Wednesday sheet here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!

PS. Hope that someone who knows something about Canadian railroads will drop in on the session!

Just got home MM.. firing up the sim now..  Yes I know a bit about this area!!

Kicking Horse Pass (on the CP Laggan Sub) and the . My co-worker dispatched that subdivision. spiral tunnel! A very interesting and neat site to see in real life...

 

 

 

The containers pictured ontop of the bridge is from the same train that the CP9508 is pulling!!.

Edited September 22, 20214 yr by nbrich1