Today we will visit two of the Mascarene Islands, Mauritius, and Réunion.

During our first flight, we will visit Mauritius.

Owing to its geographic location and centuries of colonialism, the people of Mauritius are highly diverse in ethnicity, culture, language, and faith. It is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the most practiced religion. Indo-Mauritians make up the bulk of the population with significant Creole, Sino-Mauritian, and Franco-Mauritian minorities. The island's government is closely modeled on the Westminster parliamentary system and Mauritius is highly ranked for economic and political freedom along with being the only African country with full democracy. Mauritius is also the continent's only country with a "very high" Human Development Index. According to the World Bank, the country is classified as a high-income economy. It is also ranked as the most competitive, and one of the most developed economies in the African region. The country is a welfare state. The government provides free universal healthcare, free education up to the tertiary level, and free public transportation for students, senior citizens, and the disabled. In 2019, Mauritius was ranked the most peaceful African country by the Global Peace Index.

Along with the other Mascarene Islands, Mauritius is known for its varied flora and fauna. Many species are endemic to the island. The island was the only known home of the dodo, which, along with several other avian species, was made extinct by human activities relatively soon after the island's settlement.

 

 Since independence from Britain in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculture-based economy to a high-income diversified economy, based on tourism, textiles, sugar, and financial services. The economic history of Mauritius since independence has been called "the Mauritian Miracle" and the "success of Africa".

In recent years, information and communication technology, seafood, hospitality and property development, healthcare, renewable energy, and education and training have emerged as important sectors, attracting substantial investment from both local and foreign investors.

Mauritius has no exploitable fossil fuel reserves and so relies on petroleum products to meet most of its energy requirements. Local and renewable energy sources are biomass, hydro, solar, and wind energy.

We fly around the island, departing from and arriving at Mauritius International Airport (FIMP). The flight has about 80 miles and just one landing at the Skydive Austral Airstrip (FIPL).

The flightplan is available here.

Aircraft

Any slow-flying aircraft of your choice is suitable. We want to cruise at about 100 knots. I will probably be in the Milviz PC-6 Porter. Please fly what you like.

 Additional scenery

We have two airports available for Mauritius:

https://flightsim.to/file/39933/fipl-piste-d-atterrissage-de-skydive-austral

https://flightsim.to/file/30934/sir-seewoosagur-ramgoolam-intl-fimp

The package is available here.

 

Our second flight today covers Réunion and to avoid a boring 110-mile flight over water to reach France - well, the French Overseas Departement Réunion - we should restart MSFS. Especially, since we want to switch airplanes as well.

 Like the other four French overseas departments, Réunion also holds the status of a region of France and is an integral part of the French Republic. Réunion is an outermost region of the European Union and is part of the eurozone. Réunion and the fellow French overseas department of Mayotte are the only eurozone regions located in the Southern Hemisphere.

 As in the rest of France, the official language of Réunion is French. In addition, a majority of the region's population speaks Réunion Creole. 

 The island is 63 km (39 mi) long; 45 km (28 mi) wide, and covers 2,512 km2 (970 sq mi). It is above a hotspot in the Earth's crust. The Piton de la Fournaise, a shield volcano on the eastern end of Réunion Island, rises more than 2,631 m (8,632 ft) above sea level and is sometimes called a sister to Hawaiian volcanoes because of the similarity of climate and volcanic nature. It has erupted more than 100 times since 1640, and is under constant monitoring, most recently erupting on 19 September 2022. During another eruption in April 2007, the lava flow was estimated at 3,000,000 m3 (3,900,000 cu yd) per day. The hotspot that fuels Piton de la Fournaise also created the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues.

The Piton des Neiges volcano, the highest point on the island at 3,070 m (10,070 ft) above sea level, is northwest of the Piton de la Fournaise. Collapsed calderas and canyons are southwest of the mountain. While the Piton de la Fournaise is one of Earth's most active volcanoes, the Piton des Neiges is dormant. Its name is French for "peak of snows", but snowfall on the summit of the mountain is rare. The slopes of both volcanoes are heavily forested. Cultivated land and cities like the capital city of Saint-Denis are concentrated on the surrounding coastal lowlands. Offshore, part of the west coast is characterized by a coral reef system. Réunion also has three calderas: the Cirque de Salazie, the Cirque de Cilaos and the Cirque de Mafate. The last is accessible only on foot or by helicopter.

We depart from Roland-Garros Airport (FMEE) in the north of the island. Following the coast southeast we reach our first landing at Base Ulm de Bras Panon (FMG7). Now we head west and fly into the mountainous terrain. We follow the valleys and canyons as much as possible, but some climbing is unavoidable. For helicopters, there are two very challenging landings at La Nouvelle-Cirque De Mafate (FMEM) and Grand-Îlet (FMG4). The helipads offer room for just one helicopter, but some fields are around as alternate landing spots. We reach the coast and land at De Cambaie (FMG8). Staying at the lowlands we follow the coast and could land at WP 10, which marks a field in a little village. Fixed-wing aircraft could enjoy the scenery while landing at the beach or continue one mile to reach Ulm de La Saline Les Bains (FMA8). Heading southeast we start getting back into the mountains at WP11. The next landing is again for helicopters, at the Hélistation Ciel 974 (FMA1). Flying back a bit gets us over the ridge and back on course into the mountains. The next landing at Chu Cialos (FMH7) is again for helicopters. We now try to reach the crater of the Piton de la Fournaise and land at the Base Ulm Grand Coude (FMA7). Now the heading is south until we reach the coast where we turn northwest and reach today's destination Pierrefonds (FMEP).

The flight has 112 miles and 9 landings.

Aircraft

The second flight was planned for helicopters as 4 landings are helipads, and the others have very short runways (665 feet is the shortest runway). But it can be flown in a fixed-wing aircraft if you choose a STOL-capable one. I will be in a HPG H145. As always, please fly what you like.

For the helicopter pilots, I suggest loading the it with just one person, no cargo, and not too much fuel.

The flightplan is available here.

Additional scenery:

For Réuinion, there are 10 addons available:

 https://flightsim.to/file/44779/plateforme-ulm-la-saline

 https://flightsim.to/file/17868/base-ulm-de-cambaie

 https://flightsim.to/file/47130/aroport-roland-garros-la-runion-oaci-fmee

 https://flightsim.to/file/17867/base-ulm-de-bras-panon

 https://flightsim.to/file/44775/base-ulm-grand-coude

 https://flightsim.to/file/40115/fmep-aroport-de-st-pierre-pierrefonds-le-de-la-runion-974

 https://flightsim.to/file/44686/hlistation-ciel974

 https://flightsim.to/file/17866/helipad-chu-de-cilaos

 https://flightsim.to/file/17768/helipad-gite-de-grand-ilet

 https://www.lca-scenery.fr/index.php/fr/telechargement-lca/scenes

 To land at the helipads and the small airfields, these downloads are required.

 The package is available here.

 

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 9:00 am local. For the first flight we can use real weather. For the second flight I suggest using High Clouds.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, March 4, 2023. 1900 UTC
Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel
Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server. (If too crowded, we may choose another server with less South Island traffic.)

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!

 

Wow! Great environment for a challenge.
(And a lovely beach scene with a surprise...)