Scotland. Castles, Casks and a Course
For Saturday, July 22, 2023
Michael MacKuen

Today we shall take a look at some of the iconic castles and distilleries in and near the Highlands. And we shall tip our caps to the Old Course at St. Andrews. Some of these “points of interest” are depicted in the default simulation, others are portrayed by the payware Orbx “Northern Britain” package, and others are represented by Black Shark technology and will require some imagination. The Scottish landscape will be good throughout.


Loch Einaich in the Cairngorm Mountains

We depart Cumbernauld [EGPG] for Falkirk and take a close look at the massive public sculpture “The Kelpies”. These 2013 works are 100 ft high stainless steel representations of the heavy horses of Scottish industry – the art is both popular and controversial. We turn north over historic Stirling Castle which was for five hundred years a frequent home to the Kings of Scotland. During the Scottish Wars of Independence and then during the subsequent English conquests, it was a key strategic fortress that dominated the center of Scotland. Shortly, we pass over the William Wallace Monument that commemorates the thirteenth century knight who defeated the English at Stirling Bridge during the First War for Independence. (He was later captured and then hanged, drawn and quartered by the English.) We pass over Kenross House [KENRO*], once said to be the most beautiful house in Scotland, and then the ruins of Lochleven Castle [LEVEN*] – a ancient fortress and home to royalty in the middle of the lake. We land at Fife [EGPJ].

A few minutes flying takes us to the ancient town of St Andrews. We see the sandy public beach, the historic ruins of the Cathedral [SCATH] and the Castle [SCAST] and then the thriving University of St Andrews [SUNI]. The latter is the third oldest English-speaking university and currently ranked among the top three universities in the UK. We pass over the Old Course at St Andrews [SOLD] – an icon for golfers around the world. And to the right is West Sands Beach (think the opening scene of “Chariots of Fire”). We proceed over the mouths of the River Eden and River Tay to Broughty Castle [BROTY], the strategic sixteenth century fortress that twice exchanged hands between the English and the Scots. We land at Dundee [EGPW].

A quick hop to Scone [EGPT]. We take off toward Perth to see Scone Palace [SCOP*], the rather nice red sandstone Gothic Revival house – home to the same family for 400 years. Then into Perth to Balhousie Castle that now hosts the Black Watch Regimental Museum [BLACK*]. This is the legendary Highlands regiment that served in the British army through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. (It was formed at Aberfeldy in the early 18^th century to control the rebellious Highlanders.) The regiment is currently based at Fort George, Inverness.

Then north to Aberfeldy to turn over the Dewars distillery [DEWAR*]. The Aberfeldy malt is a large component of the company’s blended whiskey and has earned recognition as a stand-alone single malt. We land at Blair Atholl Airfield [EGQI]. As this can be difficult to see, you might proceed over the village to the striking Blair Castle and then turn back to land on Runway 12. The castle is the ancestral home of the Clan Murray and its position on the main road through the Highlands gave it military significance through the centuries.

We turn west over the heart of the Highlands and pass over the Dalwhinnie distillery [DALWN*]. The location makes it a pure Highlands single malt whiskey – though its rankings have been uneven over time. (Most of Dalwhinnie’s production goes into blends.) We proceed to land on the grass strip at Feshiebridge Airport [EGZL]. Then we climb to the east over the starkly forbidding Cairngorm Range and Ben Macdui [MACDU], Scotland’s second highest peak. Then a descent to the River Dee and Braemar Castle [BRMAR*]. And then Balmoral Castle, the summer home for the Royal Family. This archetypical Scots Baronial grand house was privately purchased and then re-built in the 19^th century by Prince Albert (and Queen Victoria). Since then, members of the Family have typically spent their Summer-Fall seasons here in a relatively quiet natural setting. Worth a look. And just a mile away is the Royal Lochnager distillery, a long-held local operation that has “served the Royal Family” for generations. We follow the River Dee past Ballater to land at the Deeside Gliding Blub at Aboyne Airfield [EGZM].

We climb to the north west to pass over Corgarff Castle [CORF*], a 16^th century castle that was fought over and burned twice before it became a government military post for controlling the Highlanders’ illegal distilleries. And then the modest Lecht Ski Center [LECHT] on one of the highest main roads in the UK. We fly over the Glenlivet distillery [LIVET], the first of the prominent single malt distilleries in this “Speyside” region. (The only approximately depicted buildings are Black Shark AI style and call for the use of your imagination.) Then on to Dufftown, turning over the ruins of Auchindoun Castle [AUCH*] to reach Balvenie Castle [BALV*] and the Glenfiddich distillery [GFD]. Glenlivet and Glenfiddich are often grouped together as the most accessible and popular of the single malts. And a few miles further lies the Macallan distillery [MACAL] with its signature oak sherry casks. While often more dear, The Macallan is probably the third most popular of Scotland’s single malts. We swing down the River Spey over Charlestown and the Arberlour Distillery [ARBLR] ... one of many fine whiskey distilleries in the Speyside region. Our final visit is to the famed Cardhu distillery [CARDU]. This is one of the nation’s first distilleries – an illegal operation run by a farmer’s wife to great local success. It was so well regarded that the Johnnie Walker family bought out the distillery to control access – and the Cardhu malt remains one of the essential ingredients of the famous blends Johnnie Walker Black and Johnnie Walker Blue. (For an entertaining short commercial film, see “Johnnie Walker. The Man Who Walked Around the World.” The 2010 award-winner starring Robert Carlyle was filmed in one continuous shot – it took 40 tries to get it right. In Scotland, the film was seen as a tribute not only to the company but also to the nation as a whole.) We land at Easterton Glider Field [EGJL].

On our final leg, we fly over Brodie Castle [BRODI*], rebuilt in the 19^th century as a lovely mansion house in the Scots Baronial style. Then Fort George [FGOR*], the large star-design 18^th century fortress that was built to control the Highlands after the 1745 uprising. The fort currently serves as the home of the Black Watch. We travel down Moray Firth, passing the high Kessock Bridge [KESS] to see a bit of Inverness, including Inverness Castle [INVCA*]. We swing eastward over Culloden Battlefield [BATLE] where the English forces defeated the Jacobins in Scotland’s final armed rebellion in 1746. The impressive Culloden Viaduct [CULOD*], built for the Highland Railway. is Scotland’s longest masonry viaduct and remains in use today. We reach our final destination at Inverness Airport [EGPE].

[* Depicted in Orbx Great Britain North.]

Documentation
The flightplan is available here.

Aircraft
Today’s flight is 288nm with a mix of hard runways and turf fields. You might like a quick GA aircraft with a speed of about 150ktas. Popular types would include Cessna 182, Piper Turbo Arrow, Piper Comanche, Beech Bonanza, Piaggio P.149, Vans RV-14, Quest Kodiak, or a Cessna 208 Caravan. I’ll fly the BlackSquare Bonanza A36 in the Green Jaguar livery by Crispy136. Please fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
All airports are in the default simulator. For some character, I would recommend the following freeware sceneries. Thanks to the authors.

Aboyne Deeside Gliding [EGAO]. photosbykev
Blair Athol Airfield [EGQI]. Amb7364
Cumbernauld [EGPG]. studiocd
Dundee Airport [EGPN]. ImDaPandaNow
Fife [EGPJ]. Scotflight
Inverness [EGPE]. Scotflight
Perth Scone [EGPT]. Scotflight
Dundee Broughty Castle. MostlyRandom
Inverness Kessock Bridge. Roansky

You can get a full package here. (217MB)

In addition, I would recommend the freeware rendition of St. Andrews city. Normally I do not push photogrammetry, but this is really good for purpose.
St Andrews City. DemoKen (1.28GB)

Finally, I would also recommend the Orbx package Great Britain North, now on “Summer” sale for about $9.75.

There are also good payware airports for Dundee and Inverness.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 2:00 pm local for July 22, 2023. We typically prefer real weather but may need to adjust.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and Time: Saturday, July 22, 2023. 1800 UTC
AVSIM Discord Server: https://discord.gg/K5Vy6UxWNm  - AVSIM GROUP EVENTS-SAT. COM3
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 Saturday multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Please be kind enough to enter the title exactly as it stands in the title=”xxx” line of the aircraft.cfg file. Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!

NOTAM. Just a quick reminder. If you purchase and activate the Orbx Great Britain North package, then you might uninstall the freeware Dundee Broughty Castle and the Inverness Kessock Bridge. And if you purchase and install the payware scenery for Dundee EGPN and/or Inverness EGPE, then uninstall the corresponding freeware pieces.

And FWIW I’ll be flying the A2A Comanche because...it is new. And we have someone who knows more about it than most. Should be fun.