October 13, 20214 yr The Golden Horseshoe The core of the Golden Horseshoe starts from Niagara Falls at the eastern end of the Niagara Peninsula and extends west, wrapping around the western end of Lake Ontario at Hamilton and then turns northeast into the Greater Toronto Area on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. The Trip/Itinerary: We start our trip just across the street from the Golden Horseshoe departing from Buffalo Niagara International (KBUF) located in the state of New York, USA. This airport is situated in close proximity to the eastern shore of Lake ERIE. Just after takeoff as we head west, we enter “The Golden Horseshoe!” We’ll head almost due west over Fort Erie, and follow the north shore of Lake Erie to the city of Port Colborne, Ontario, which is located at the south end of the Welland Canal in the Niagara Region. We’ll turn almost due north and travel the full length of the Welland Canal. The Welland Canal consists of eight locks over 27.6 miles, (44.4 km) which connects, or makes passable, two “Great lakes”- Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. (I have marked the 8 lock locations on the LNM plan of which most are present in the sim). We’ll reach Port Weller, Ontario which is at the north end of the Welland Canal at Lake Ontario. Here we turning east and we’ll fly along the south shore of Lake Ontario to the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and at that vicinity, the entrance (or exit) of the Niagara River. As we start up the Niagara River, Canada will be on your right and the USA will be on your left. This river border between Canada and the USA became the site of the first battle of the War of 1812: the Battle of Queenston Heights which was the struggle between Canada (Britain) and the USA for access to secure this river and lands on both sides of the river. We are purposely traveling up the Niagara River, from North to South, so that we’ll be in the best vantage point to view the falls in all their splendor. We’ll enter the Niagara Gorge which is a 6.8 miles (11 km) canyon starting at Queenston and follow the gorge up to Niagara Falls. POI’s on the way up the river: Fort Niagara (USA), Fort George (Canada), Brock's Monument, Whirlpool Aero car, Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Generating Station (Canada), and right across the river the NY Power Authority Dam and power station (USA). We'll travel under several international bridges that cross the gorge, then see the Maid of the Mist boat just as we approach the falls. This area is a prime area for wine tasting, helicopter tours, historic battles, and of course, the main attraction of the Niagara Gorge and the Falls. For those who have never visited this area, the Niagara Gorge and Niagara Falls are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Canada. Niagara Falls is referred to as the “Honeymoon Capital of the World”. There are actually three sets of water falls which make up Niagara Falls those being the American Falls, the Bridal Veil Falls on the USA Side and the Horseshoe Falls, also known as the Canadian Falls, on the Canadian side of the border. Welcome to Niagara! Once we have inspected the “Falls” and area, we’ll head west to other locations in the “Golden Horseshoe” in Ontario: visiting Hamilton, Burlington, Mississauga, Toronto-the downtown core, Scarborough, GTA: Pickering, Whitby, Oshawa, then over the cities of Markham and Vaughan, before ending our trip landing at the largest and busiest airport in Canada: Toronto Lester B. Pearson International Airport (CYYZ). (The Toronto Skyline is pictured below:) This trip is 236 nm. Airports on the Route: KBUF-CNJ3-CYSN-CNF9-CYHM-CZBA-CYTZ-CHOO-CYKZ-CYYZ. Documentation: The flight plans and documentation are found “here”. Aircraft: Airports are not a problem in this trip but to see the wares of these landscapes, especially for traveling in the Niagara Gorge it’s best to be flying a “low and slower” aircraft: IE: Savage Carbon/Gravel, XCub, C172, C182, VL3, PC-6, PA28, P149 or similar. Any aircraft that can fly between 120-150 knots will be suitable. (I’ll try the PA28-III (non-turbo) in the “Gulf World Tour 2021” livery for this trip but of course, please fly what you like. Additional Scenery: All the airports and most POI locations are included in the default sim BUT default MSFS disappoints for the Niagara Falls area as well as the Toronto downtown core. The following add-ons greatly improve the appearance of the POI in the “Niagara” and “Toronto” areas. (All recommended add-ons linked below, (freeware), are hosted on Flightsim.to and work without issue for SU5): Scenery: Niagara Falls Enhancement Pack, Niagara Falls Animation, Niagara District CYSN, Hamilton Tim Hortons Field (Stadium), Greater Toronto Area Enhancement Pack, Required Libs:: https://flightsim.to/file/5452/dave-s-3d-people-library, https://flightsim.to/file/1923/mikea-at-assetpack, https://www.jpfil.com/quebec-fs2020/collections.htm Time and Weather: Time: Set the simulator for 07:45 departure KBUF on Wednesday October 20, 2021: An early Morning flight- A twilight dawn start. Weather: While we typically prefer real weather, in this case, for our viewing pleasure, the "High Level Clouds" or "Few Clouds" preset is best to viewing these areas. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Wednesday October 20, 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! Edited October 13, 20214 yr by nbrich1
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