Simsbury – Return from the Cape
For Saturday, August 26, 2023

Today we fly “home” to Simsbury from a summer vacation on Cape Cod. While we shall take our time to see a number of lighthouses, bridges, and even a “castle” ... flying will be faster than driving on an August weekend. We need to get back from the Cape to finish work on the _____.  [Please fill in the blank with: Aerostar, V-Tail, Skylane, T-6, Mustang, ...]

We begin at Provincetown [KVPC] noting nearby Race Point Lighthouse [LRACE] and pass the Pilgrim Monument in the town itself. In the 19^th century, Provincetown was a booming fishing and whaling port. But as that industry waned, the town started to attract artists and summer tourists. By the end of the twentieth century it had added counter-culture types as well as a substantial LBGT community. The year-round population is about 4,000 while the summer crowd can number 60,000.


Cape Cod Airfield with its long and colorful history

We soon reach the Highland Light [LHIGH] whose quarters have been transformed into a museum. The light was authorized by George Washington and the current lighthouse is the tallest and oldest on the Cape. We turn south along the spectacular beaches and cliffs of the Cape Code National Seashore. We can see the site of the Wellfleet Marconi Wireless Station [MARC] that in 1903 became the first US station to communicate with Europe and then with the ships at sea. (After 15 years, the beach cliffs that supported the station’s four 210ft masts were being lost to erosion and the operation was moved south to Chatham. Today the original site is largely barren.) Further on is the picturesque Nauset Light [LNASET], a restored working lighthouse. (The image is the iconic logo for Cape Cod Potato Chips.] Just beyond lies Coast Guard Beach [CGB], ranked 10^th in the US by “Dr Beach”. We turn southwest to land at Chatham Municipal [KCQX]. The long-operational (1920-1995) ship-to-shore Marconi Wireless station stands a thousand yards north of the airfield. Chatham is now a tourist town whose 7,000 population more than quadruples during the season. It has a quaint downtown with summertime outdoor concerts and the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod League. (The latter is a summer baseball league for the country’s best college players.)

We depart and pass the Chatham Lighthouse [LCHAT] which remains an active Coast Guard operation. Then the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge and the decommissioned deep-red cast iron Monomoy Point Light [LMONO]. We land at Nantucket Memorial [KACK]. From the 17^th to the 19^th century, Nantucket was the heart of the American whaling industry – the main characters of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick were Nantuckers. By 1850 the industry had moved to New Bedford and Nantucket became under-developed and isolated. However, by the mid-twentieth century the island had become a summer colony for wealthy New Englanders and it remains tremendously popular today. (The average family home is more than $2.3 million.) West is Martha’s Vineyard [KMVY] – known locally as “the Vineyard.” Like Nantucket, the decline of whaling was followed by economic stagnation. And similarly, the island also became a summer colony for New England families (including famously the Kennedys). Coupled with growing tourism, the island’s prosperity continues into the present. On both Nantucket and the Vineyard, a majority of summer visitors have long ties with the island and have formed local communities of families who have known each other for years. These are summer folk. The year-round residents are less well-off and are challenged by the costs of living on the islands.

We return to the mainland’s Hyannis and its airport Cape Cod Gateway Airport [KHYA]. (Before 2021, Barnstable Airport.) This is the main airport on the Cape and is the headquarters of Cape Air/Nantucket Air who operate services that connect Cape Cod with Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, and all three with Boston and New York. (The fleet is comprised of 68 Cessna 402s – which are slowly being replaced with the Tecnam P2012.) Hyannis is the largest of Cape Cod’s towns and is the commercial center with an historic downtown, a major mall, and the largest hospital. It is the headquarters of Cape Cod Chips. We fly north four miles to the windswept  Sandy Neck Light [LNECK]. Built in 1825, it served for more than 100 years – it was discontinued but later rebuilt and restarted in 2007. We turn southwest for 5 miles to Cape Cod Airfield [2B1], a grass strip with a long and colorful history that includes military service, flight training, a drinking club, an auto racecourse, an equestrian stable, skywriting, sail planes, hot air balloons, and the installation of a windmill office building. Nowadays it hosts local GA pilots, a flying school, and a number of vintage aircraft.

We go northwest to visit the Sagamore Bridge [BSAGA[ and Bourne Bridge [BBORN] which span the Cape Cod Canal. On a Summer day, traffic will be backed up with lines of vacationers entering and leaving the Cape. One might want to provide aviation-themed entertainment for the tourists. We proceed to land at New Bedford [KEWB], just a mile north of the city. New Bedford was a successful hard-working whaling and then fishing port right through the 19^th and 20^th centuries. It is now facing an economic transition.

We pass Newport, home to the great houses from the Gilded Age. The most famous is The Breakers, the Vanderbilt family’s 70-room “summer cottage.” And then over Beavertail Lighthouse which, since 1749, has marked the entrance to Narragansett Bay. We fly along the coast over Rhode Island and into Connecticut where we land at New London-Groton [KGON]. We turn up the Thames River to see the General Dynamics Electric Boat operation which has long been the US primary builder of submarines. We transit the railroad bridge and the I-95 bridges and, further north, we get a look at the US Navy New London Submarine Base that includes the Nautilus (now a museum) and a number of active duty submarines.

We turn west and land at Goodspeed [42B] which is a beautiful little strip along the river with a view of the East Haddam Swing Bridge. We go on to the interesting little airport Chester [KNSC] which rests on a small plateau. These two charmers were given a national audience by a Matt Guthmiller video Epic Short Runway on the River.

We proceed to New Haven Tweed [KHVN] which hosts a small commercial operation along with a large GA facility. Then, on departure, we fly over Yale University [YALE] , one of America’s elite education and research institutions. Then northward over inland Connecticut to look at Castle Craig [CRAIG], located on the East Peak of the Hanging Hills at 976 feet ASL. The stone tower, along with the surrounding park, was donated by a local industrialist who had travelled in Europe. We land at Robertson Field [4B8], built in 1911 and the state’s oldest airfield. It has been modernized in the 21^st century and now handles helicopters and business jets along with normal private aviation. Our final destination is Simsbury Airport [4B9]. Operated by the local flying club this smallish field hosts the Simsbury Fly-In on the third Saturday each September. Originally a small country town, Simsbury is a comfortable bedroom community for metropolitan Hartford. Among the town’s successes is a small company that has recently released a simulated vintage Piper Commanche – which we celebrate with this flight.

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
We need to cover about 290nm so require something that will “fast cruise” at about 150kts. All of our favorite "quick" General Aviation aircraft will handle the task. A Bonanza, C182 Skylane, C208 Caravan, Kodiak, P.149 or Piper Arrow will be just fine. (Even the light twins will do the job – but you probably do not need the extra speed.) I'll fly the A2A Piper Comanche in the N7510P livery by Tim Scharnhop. (The theme of the day indicates a Comanche, but you should fly whatever you like.)

Additional Scenery
These are not necessary for the flight. They do add some color and some are just excellent quality freeware scenery.

Provincetown & Race Point Lighthouse [KPVC]. MazerMart
Chatham [KCQX]. MazerMart
Nantucket Memorial [KACK].H2Air
Martha’s Vineyard [KMVY]. H2Air & ProFlight
Cape Cod Gateway [KHYA]. Windhover
Cape Cod Airfield & 5 Lightouses [2B1]. MazerMart
New Bedford & Cape Cod Bridges [KEWB]. MazerMart
Goodspeed [42B]. Rustydatsun77
Goodspeed East Haddam Swing Bridge. michaelvp
Chester [KSNC]. Rustydatsun77
New Haven Tweed [KHVN]. Ghosh9691
Meriden Markham [KMMK]. Larry19447
Robertson Airfield [4B8]. Windhover
Simsbury [4B9]. Larry19447
Groton City. Rustydatsun77 (OK photogrammetry. Not too large)
US Navy Groton. FreakyD (Submarines including Nautilus)

Temporarily, you can download a scenery package here. 1.3 GB (Large size. If you need to minimize downloads, you might focus on our final destination Simsbury [4B9]. And maybe Cape Cod Airfield [2B1} for the lighthouses.)

There are good payware scenery packages for Martha’s Vineyard, Chester, and New Haven Tweed.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 7:30 am local for August 26, 2023.
We prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, August 26, 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 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!

In the original posting, the address for the US Navy Groton scenery (FreakyD) was incorrect. I have fixed the posting above. Sorry.
(The correct address is https://flightsim.to/file/6333/us-navy-groton-ct .)
Thanks to Gunter and Jeff.