Austria’s Hills are Alive with the Sound of Aeroplanes
(LOAN-LOWS)
For August 27, 2022
Michael MacKuen

We take a Saturday morning to fly over the Austrian Alps. We have flown in this region often and much will be familiar. Our emphasis today is to take our GA aircraft up over the mountains while staying low enough so that we may enjoy the “peak” experience. We spend most of our time visiting small airports of the aeroclub variety. Some are grass and others asphalt. While these are not landing challenges, pilots will notice that many of the fields are fairly short and that some attention might be needed to execute a safe landing. To celebrate two of Austria’s currently popular brands, we shall depart from Diamond Aircraft’s facilities at Weiner Neustadt and end our excursion at Red Bull’s hangars at Salzburg. The chefs at Hangar-7’s Restaurant Ikarus will have a first-class lunch waiting for our group’s arrival.



We begin at Wiener Neustadt [LOAN], the home to Diamond Aircraft Industries. In 1987, the small company came to the local flying club field, with its grass runways, to relocate its headquarters and factory. The asphalt runway and aprons were built and Diamond bought a majority interest in the airport. One can come to Wiener Neustadt to pick up new Diamond airplanes straight from the factory. (The company has gone through a number of name and ownership changes. In 2017, Diamond was bought by the Chinese firm Wanfeng Aviation, part of a larger conglomerate.)

We fly into the Alps. We first encounter Schneesberg [SCHNE], the highest of the eastern Alps at 6,811 ft. The distinctive limestone massif has steep slopes on three sides making this a great spot for walkers, climbers, and skiers. This is part of a rich Karst plateau that provides water to the city of Vienna (and is claimed to be the best drinking water in the world). We turn to land at Mariazell [LOGM], a private field near the small town site of the Mariazell Basilica. This houses a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary and has long been one of the most visited pilgrimage shrines in Europe. (Note the hand-crafted model for the Basilica.) To the west of the airstrip is Lake Erlauf and towering over the northern approaches is Ötscher mountain. We fly southwest over several ridges and then down to Leoben Timmersdorf [LOGT], a favorite for glider pilots.

We continue to the southwest, overflying the Red Bull Ring [RING]. This is the former Österreichring, a very fast racing circuit that held the Austrian Grand Prix for 25 years before closure in 2003. Bought and refurbished by Red Bull, it has in the last decade hosted a number of high profile races, include three F1 races. We fly on to land at Hirt Airfield [LOKH]. This grass strip was the original home base for Diamond Aircraft. (Recommended is the nearby brewery and its Hirter Bier.)

We turn northwest over the mountains to Mauterndorf [LOSM], the highest airfield in Austria. The market town lies at a crossroads in the Taurach valley with a connection to the Radstädter Tauern Pass north over the Niedere Tauern range of the Alps and south to the Katschberg Pass  crossing the Hohe Tauern range toward Carinthia. Especially interesting here is Mauterndorf Castle [MAUT]which was built in the Middle Ages on the site of an old Roman fort. It was funded by a toll on the nearby road and it was completed to its current size in the 15^th century. After some hard times, it was expensively refurbished as a residence during the nineteenth century by a German physician who later befriended the distinguished Göring family (whose young son Herman who later became an historic figure). The building is now a state-owned museum and scientific conference center. The castle is worth a look.

Then southwest over (or around) the rising mountains to land at Lienz-Nikolsdorf [LOKL], a small town and nearby airstrip in the southeastern edge of the Austrian state Tyrol. We continue to the northwest, passing Lienz and up the Felbertauern road (B108) toward the main chain of the Austrian Alps. Just to the north of our route is the Glockner Group and the Grossglockner (Großglockner) which is the highest peak in Austria (12,461 ft) and the second highest prominence in the Alps.

We proceed westward, “inspecting” the peaks for clarity and sharpness, and enjoying the experience. You will need at least 10,000 feet here, maybe 11,000. But no need for much more than that if you want to fly “in” the Alps rather than “over” the Alps. Eventually we descend into the wide Inn Valley and land at Innsbruck [LOWI], the famous international airport. For those who have the Orbx airport, this is probably the most beautiful hand-crafted airport in FSX-P3D and now MFS. We pay tribute to the brilliance of Jarrad Marshall in his years associated with Orbx.

Next we turn northeast along the Inn Valley to the grass strip at Langkampfen [LOIK] for a brief stop or a touch-and-go. We take off to circle the Kufstein Fortress [KUF] which played a pivotal role in the medieval wars between Bavaria and Tyrol. (The detailed model includes the funicular that connects the tower to the street level below the hill.) After circling we head south and then east to St. Johann [LOIJ], a lovely flying club and glider field. Then we head southeast. The most interesting route is direct over the intervening massif to enjoy the mountain valleys, to land at Zell Am See [LOWZ], a familiar airfield from our previous flights.

We depart to the north, passing the town and lake, to climb vigorously toward the mountainous corner of Bavaria that points like a finger into Austria. We crest the Watzmann massif and pass over the picturesque Königssee, an alpine lake surrounded by majestic mountains. This is the Berchtesgaden Alps, long a romanticized Alpine corner of Bavaria and Germany. (Its actual economic mainstay was the salt mines ... less romantic than the legend.) It is famous now for the history of the 1920s-1940s when a German politician fell in love with the region when he was writing his bestselling autobiographical manifesto. In the 1930s, after he and his supporters gained control of the government, he built a residence (the Berghof) and in the next few years, especially in the war years, this area became a hotbed for high political and military officials and the troops who protected them. At the end of the war and afterwards, almost all these buildings were destroyed. One exception is the Kehlsteinhaus [KEHL], a governmental meeting place built atop the summit of the rocky Kehlstein ridgeline that towers over Berchtesgaden far below. (In English, this is typically referred to as the Eagle’s Nest.) The location is just spectacular. Not a place for those afraid of heights, as was the government leader for whom it was built. [The representation of the Kehlsteinhaus is very much Blacksharkian. The setting is correct.]

We descend to fly low over a nearby hilltop meadow [MUSIC] which marks the spot where Julie Andrews was filmed singing The Sound of Music’s opening scene. Ironically, given the story of the film, this celebrated location is in Bavaria and not Austria.

Finally, we land at Salzburg [LOWS] just west of the city center. This is a busy commercial airport. We shall exit the runway on the east side at Red Bull’s Hangar-7. This is the southernmost of the pair of futuristic hangars built of glass, steel, and sunlight. It houses Red Bull’s historic flying fleet and a collection of F1 cars. (Hangar-8 handles the restoration and maintenance operations of the Flying Bulls.) We shall be delighted to accept the gracious hospitality of the staff at Restaurant Ikarus.


Documentation
The flightplan can be found here. Good news is that all the airports are in the Garmin database.

Aircraft
This route runs 346nm and indicates a “fast cruise” of at least 165-170ktas. Many general aviation fast singles and light twins will do nicely. The Bonanza V35B and Bonanza G36, Cirrus SR22, Piper Turbo Arrow, Mooney Ovation, Piper Seneca V, Cessna 310R, Baron G58, and so forth. For local color, I shall fly the Asobo Diamond DA62X (as developed by mrtommymxr). And to tip my cap to Red Bull and Diamond Aircraft, I’ll take the “Red Bull Race” livery by Cripy136. This ship was used to celebrate the 2018 Red Bull Race in Wiener Neustadt. It has racing stripes which will make the diesel-powered craft go fast enough to keep up with most of the group. If you fancy the Diamond twin, please join in the Austrian-developed aircraft. As ever, fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
All the airports are in the default simulator. I recommend these addon airport packages but they are not necessary. (Most are really first-rate freeware.)

Recommended:
Wiener Neustadt Ost [LOAN]. kmalle. 76mb. Merely OK but fine for our purposes.
Mariazell [LOGM]. littlekrg. 244mb.
Leoben-Timmersdorf [LOGT]. littlekrg. 317mb.
Hirt [LOKH]. Troglodytus. 373mb.
Mauterndorf [LOSM]. moonlander69. 51mb.
Mauterndorf [LOSM] Better Orthophoto. Freyenb. 955mb.
Nikolsdorf [LOKL]. Troglodytus. 237mb.
St. Johann [LOIJ]. dzefdet (Sven Schill). 2mb.
Zell Am See [LOWZ]. quelcertoleo. 15mb.

Thanks to these fine authors for their talent and efforts.

Temporarily, you can download a package that includes all the sceneries here. (2.3gb).

In addition, I’d recommend the following payware airports:
Wiener Neustadt [LOAN]. Troglodytus. Payware at Flightsim.to.
Innsbruck [LOWI]. Jarrad Marshall. Orbx. Available at Orbx.
Salzburg [LOWS]. Digital Design. Available at Orbx.

These two look good (but I don’t have them so cannot vouch for them).
Zell am See [LOWZ[. Gaya Simulations. Available at Orbx.
Sankt Johan [LOIJ]. Gaya Simulations. Available at Orbx.

(If relevant, be sure to drop the freeware renditions if you have payware sceneries active.
For Innsbruck, early advice was that you disable the Asobo Innsbruck if you have the Jarrad Marshall version active.)

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 8:00 am local for August 27, 2022.
We typically prefer real weather. This is a VFR flight through the mountains, so we should be willing to reset the weather if necessary. This week has been delightful but the forecast is for thunderstorms. Things may change.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, August 27, 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!

An additional scenery note.
One particular “generic” addon that makes a special difference in the Austrian Alps is mamu82’s Project Lifts – Chairlifts, Gondolas and Cablecars of the entire World. His Powerlines and Solar Farms, and Default Wind Turbine Replacement apply to Austria as you might expect. But the Project Lifts produces scenic elements that are more frequently visible for pilots flying high along the slopes of the Alps.