Sardegna in aereo, Parte uno

Sardegna in aereo, Parte uno

 This is part one of a two-part flight covering the Italian island of Sardinia.

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and before Cyprus), with an area of  9,305 sq miles. It is directly south of the French Island of Corsica.

The coasts of Sardinia are 1,149 miles long. They are generally high and rocky, with long, relatively straight stretches of coastline, many outstanding headlands, a few wide, deep bays, many inlets, and various smaller islands off the coast.

The island has an ancient geoformation and, unlike Sicily and mainland Italy, is not earthquake-prone.

Sardinia has a few major rivers, the largest being the Tirso, 94 miles long, which flows into the Sea of Sardinia, the Coghinas 71 miles, and the Flumendosa 79 miles. There are 54 artificial lakes and dams that supply water and electricity. The main ones are Lake Omodeo and Lake Coghinas. The only natural freshwater lake is Lago di Baratz. Many large, shallow, salt-water lagoons and pools are located along the coastline.

It is one of the five Italian regions with some degree of domestic autonomy being granted by a special statute. Its official name is bilingual in Italian and Sardinian: Regione Autonoma della Sardegna / Regione Autònoma de Sardigna (English: "Autonomous Region of Sardinia"). It is divided into four provinces and a metropolitan city. The capital of the region of Sardinia — and its largest city — is Cagliari.

Due to the variety of Sardinia's ecosystems, which include mountains, woods, plains, stretches of largely uninhabited territory, streams, rocky coasts, and long sandy beaches, Sardinia has been metaphorically described as a micro-continent. In the modern era, many travelers and writers have extolled the beauty of its long-untouched landscapes, which retain vestiges of the Nuragic civilization.

This civilization lasted from the 18th century BC (Bronze Age) (or from the 23rd century BC) up to the Roman colonization in 238 BC. The name derives from the island's most characteristic monument, the nuraghe, a tower-fortress type of construction the ancient Sardinians built in large numbers starting from about 1800 BC. Today more than 7,000 nuraghes dot the Sardinian landscape.

No written records of this civilization have been discovered, apart from a few possible short epigraphic documents belonging to the last stages of the Nuragic civilization. The only written information there comes from the classical literature of the Greeks and Romans and may be considered more mythological than historical. (Source: Wikipedia)

Apart from Alghero and Olbia, we will land on small airfields. Those called Aviosuperficie are private fields that are used with a special permit from the Italian authorities. You need permission to land there and they are just for light airplanes and ultra-lights. Other fields are called Campo di Volo and are just for ultra-lights but some can be used for light aircraft as well.

We depart from the Campo di Volo Maraclub Icamar (LIOO), east of Sardinia’s Capital City Cagliari. We overfly the city and the harbor (avoiding traffic at Elmas by staying below 500 feet) and explore the southwest of the island with its many nice beaches.

We land at the Aviosuperficie La Tana del Volo (LIXH). From here we head towards the coast and follow it northbound until passing Capo Frasca, the NATO air-to-ground range. Our next stop is Campo die Volo A.S. Ulcor (LIWQ), northeast of Oristano. The next stop is Aviosuperficie Torre Foghe (LIYK), at the coast. We head north and reach Bosa. Bosa belongs to the Association of the most beautiful places in Italy. There are olive groves and vineyards and one of the most well-known wines comes from Bosa. Watch out for the last Griffon Vultures, a bird strike with one of them could be fatal (for all involved).

At Bosa, we turn inland for a while to see the variety of the landscapes of this island. We turn back east and before reaching the coast again we land at the Campo di Volo il Volo (LIEB).

After reaching the coast we turn north and land at Alghero’s airport Fertila (LIEA). Alghero has a medieval old town with many interesting old buildings and a thick city wall around it. Alghero’s history is an example of the turbulent past of the whole island: 

Due to its strategic position on the Mediterranean Sea, Alghero had been developed into a fortified port town by 1102, built by the Genoese Doria family. The Dorias ruled Alghero for centuries, apart from a brief period under the rule of Pisa between 1283 and 1284. Alghero's population later grew because of the arrival of Catalan colonists. In the early 16th century, Alghero received papal recognition as a bishopric and the status of King's City (ciutat de l'Alguer) and developed economically.

Historically, the city was founded in the early twelfth century between 1102 and 1112, when the noble Doria family of Genoa was allowed to build the first historical nucleus into an empty section of the coast of the parish of Nulauro in Judicature of Torres (Sassari). For two centuries it remained in the orbit of the Maritime Republics, first and foremost the Genoese, apart from 1283 to 1284 when the Pisans were able to control it for a year. It is plausible that at this time the town shared, given its commercial and multi-ethnic nature, a language similar to the nascent Sassarese.

The village was conquered by force by the Crown of Aragon, at the behest of King Pere IV of Aragon (r. 1336–1387), who later actively promoted colonization of the town and the surrounding area, sending numerous families from different counties and provinces of the then Crown of Aragon. These were granted enticing privileges and replaced the original population, some of whom were sent to the Iberian Peninsula and Majorca as slaves. The dialects these families spoke in Alghero were all very similar and derived from the same linguistic family. Over time, it settled on its current form of Catalan, despite the subsequent decline of the Crown of Aragon.

The Aragonese were followed by the Spanish Habsburgs, who ruled until 1702 and continued expanding the town.

In 1720, Alghero, along with the rest of Sardinia, was handed over to the Piedmont-based House of Savoy, upon the arrival of which a policy of Italianization was commenced. In 1821, famine led to a revolt by the population, which was bloodily suppressed. At the end of the same century, Alghero was de-militarised.

During the Fascist era, part of the surrounding marshes were reclaimed and the suburbs of Fertilia and S.M. La Palma were founded. The presence of malaria in the countryside was finally overcome in the 1950s.

Since then, Alghero has become a popular tourist resort.

We continue north and land at the Aviosuperficie Stintino (LISJ). We overfly the towns of Porto Torres and Sassari and reach the Campo di Volo Air Adara (LIAJ).

Sassari is one of the oldest cities on the island.

Since its origins at the turn of the 12th century, Sassari has been ruled by the Giudicato of Torres, the Pisans, as an independent republic in alliance with Genoa, by the Aragonese and the Spanish, all of whom have contributed to Sassari's historical and artistic heritage. Sassari is a city rich in art, culture, and history, and is well known for its palazzi, and its elegant neoclassical architecture, such as Piazza d'Italia (Italy Square) and the Teatro Civico (Civic Theatre).

As Sardinia's second most populated city, it has a considerable amount of cultural, touristic, commercial, and political importance on the island. The city's economy mainly relies on tourism and services, but also partially on research, construction, pharmaceuticals, and the petroleum industry.

Again we head back for the coast and land at the Campo di Volo Valledoria (LIWC). Just some 10 miles northeast we land the Campo di Volo Pista Vasa (WD). From here we turn back south and set us up for today’s final landing at Olbia’s airport Costa Smeralda (LIEO).

For those who use Little Nav Map, I added some notes on how to find the fields in the comment section of the flight plan (only useable in the lnmpln-format).

Documentation
The flight plan can be found here.

Aircraft
The flight hast 330 miles and 9 landings. Since there will be a second part of the tour on the island of Sardinia, we can end this flight earlier if we run out of time.

Most of the airfields are difficult to find and have rather short runways. I recommend using the PC-6 or any other STOL-aircraft available. I will be in the Milviz PC-6 in the D-FOGO livery. As ever, please fly what you like.

Scenery
There is a payware version of Costa Smeralda (LIEO) available from ORBX. A freeware version of Alghero (LIEA) can be found here: https://flightsim.to/file/15656/aeroporto-alghero-fertilia

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 8:00 am local for January 8, 2022.
We typically prefer real weather…

 

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, January 8, 2022. 1800 UTC
Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel
Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com
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!