The Outer Banks Revisited
OBX Redux
For Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Michael MacKuen

Today we shall revisit North Carolina’s Outer Banks. (The initials “OBX” are often used as a shorthand for the “Outer Banks”.) These low-lying barrier islands cover most of North Carolina’s coast from Virginia to South Carolina. The islands appeared when the last ice age receded and the ocean’s level rose. While the islands have done much to protect the populated coastline, their baren nature and susceptibility to the Atlantic’s storms have made them inhospitable to dense human habitation. Only in the last quarter of the twentieth century have they attracted enough tourists for the economy to flourish. Today we shall fly North to South and visit the Wright Brothers First Flight Memorial, the three primary capes of the Outer Banks, three famous lighthouses, and enjoy miles and miles of beautiful white sand beaches.


Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

We begin at Virginia Beach [42VA], the grass strip of the Military Aviation Museum that restores military aircraft from WWI and WWII. It may have the world’s largest collection of flying instances of such aircraft. (If you have the scenery and dependencies installed, it is worth a closer look before takeoff.)

We leave and fly southeast over Back Bay and into North Carolina along the edge of Currituck Sound and onto the Outer Banks. Here, in the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge, live one of three herds of the Banker [BANKR] horses (or “ponies”) – the other herds are on Ocracoke Island and the Shackleford Banks. These are the feral remnants of Spanish horses who were (probably) left on the islands during shipwrecks of the sixteenth century. They once roamed freely on the islands and served as a source of income for islanders who would capture and sell them on the mainland. But over time, for their own safety from encroaching human populations and to protect the fragile ecosystem, they have been moved into managed reserves. We fly south along the beaches passing Corolla [CORA] (pronounced kuh-RAH-la) which until the 1990s was largely remote and only sparsely populated. The relative isolation attracted many vacationers – to the point that is now becoming crowded. (As Yogi Berra once observed of popular Manhattan nightclub Toots Shor’s, “It’s so crowded that no one goes there anymore.”)

We proceed past Kitty Hawk to Kill Devil Hills and the Wright Brothers National Memorial. We might circle the monument and take a look at the historic flightpath of the first aircraft and the neighboring museum. We then land at First Flight [KFFA]. This site is worth a few minutes' time. At the ramp, you can catch a glimpse of the Memorial set against the eastern sky. And, at the threshold of Rwy 21, take a look at the museum, reconstructed camp buildings, and the measured flights of the early Wright Flyer. (December 17, 1903 flights: Orville 120ft, Wilbur 175ft, Orville 200ft, Wilbur 852ft. The last remained aloft for 59 seconds!)

Next we cross a few miles of Albemarle Sound to Roanoke Island [ROAN], one of the earliest North American settlement areas for Europeans. This is also the site of the Roanoke Festival which each summer evening presents a pageant that recounts the “Lost Colony’s” founding and its  mysterious disappearance. Then back along “The Bridge” to Nags Head and southward along the unspoiled beaches, maritime forests, and wildlife areas of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore starting with Bodie Island and Pea Island [PEAIS]. This is a barren and beautiful area. As we move south, we encounter the communities of Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo [SALVO] which are constituted of summer houses to which weeklong visitors flock.

We reach the iconic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse [LHAT] which is certainly worth a close look. This was the US government’s main coastal lighthouse (at 200 feet) intended to protect shipping at the Diamond Shoals, a critical area on the East Coast. Here the cool Labrador Current meets the warm Gulf Stream to create oceanic turbulence. The result is that the sand mountains below the sea are moved about in uncertain ways to create dangerous and often invisible sandbanks out in deep ocean waters. For four hundred years, these particular waters were especially heavily travelled as this was a good spot for ships to use the Gulfstream “highway” to Europe. Over the centuries, especially during stormy weather, the Outer Banks shoals have caused more than 5,000 shipwrecks in “The Graveyard of the Atlantic.” (In 1999 the lighthouse had to be moved 2,900ft due to natural island movement, an instructive story in many ways.) We land at Billy Mitchell Airport [KHSE].

Next is Ocracoke Island. It is here that the Banker ponies first became nationally famous as tourists would bring their stories home. The reserve Pony Pen [PONY] now protects the horses by giving them their own fenced-off land. We circle over Ocracoke Lighthouse [LOCRA] before landing at Ocracoke Island [W95]. (I would highly recommend the National Park Service Lighthouse Experiences – scroll down to the video clips of the “Ranger Alisa tours” of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and, especially charming, the Ocracoke Light Station.)

We head south along the Core Banks and the wild Cape Lookout National Seashore to find the Cape Lookout Lighthouse [LOOK]. Again, a quick circle to examine the distinctive “Day Mark” of black diamonds on the white tower. Then west over the Shackleford Banks [SHACK] which host the third herd of feral Banker horses. We land at Beaufort Smith [KMRH]. Beaufort is a small (and quaint) port town that sites a handful of government and university maritime research centers.

Then southwest along the island beaches, including Atlantic Beach, Emerald Isle, and North Topsail Beach [NTOP]. We stop briefly at Holly Ridge/Topsail Island [N21]. And we continue to the very popular (and bustling) Wrightsville Beach [WRIT] before landing at Wilmington [KILM], a commercial airport and large GA facility. When we leave, we pass over downtown Wilmington and cross the river to visit the museum battleship USS North Carolina [USSNC]. We follow the widening estuary of the Cape Fear River to Cape Fear [FEAR] and the environmentally conscious Bald Head Island tourist/retirement community – which substitutes golf carts for motorized vehicles. This is the location of the lovely restored historic lighthouse Old Baldy [BALDY] ... not modelled. The name “Cape Fear” was earned by the 30 miles of Frying Pan Shoals hidden under the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

We land at Brunswick County [KSUT], (recently renamed Cape Fear Jetport). On departure, we fly along the barrier islands Holden Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, and finally Sunset Beach [SUNST] before crossing the border into South Carolina and reaching our final destination North Myrtle Beach Grand Strand [KCRE].

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
We need to cover about 300nm so require something that will “fast cruise” at about 160 kts. Many of our favorite singles will do the job including the Turbo Arrow, Comanche, C182T/C182RG Skylane, C208 Caravan, Mooney Ovation and Bonanza. Light twins such as the Seneca, C310, C414, Baron, and Diamond DA62 will be just fine. I’ll take the Comanche. 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. Thanks to these authors.

Virginia Beach Military Aviation Museum [42VA]. i9Simulations
Ocracoke Lighthouse. michelvp
Ocracoke Island [W95]. IanBrettCooper
Cape Lookout Lighthouse. MazerMart
Beaufort Michael J Smith [KMRH]. MazerMart
Wilmington International [KILM]. trynaeat
USS North Carolina Museum. i9Simulations
North Myrtle Beach Grand Strand [KCRE]. BaptistDeacon

Temporarily, you can download a scenery package here. 851 MB. (To economize on downloads, pick the lighthouses and KCRE.)

Optional. In addition, if you already have Totof33120’s Vintage Aircraft collector library V 2, you should activate it. (At the Military Aircraft Museum, you will see a Corsair, BF109, P-51, Spitfire, Texan, Jenny, P-40 and Storch. This is a 790MB file, so if you are not especially interested in vintage aircraft you might ignore it.)

A side note for custom seasonal foliage packages. The Fall Colors have not yet begun in this region: stick with Summer.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Wednesday, set the simulator at 7:30 am local for September 20, 2023.
We prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Wednesday, September 20, 2023. 1800 UTC
AVSIM Discord Server: https://discord.gg/K5Vy6UxWNm  - AVSIM GROUP EVENTS-WED. COM2
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 Wednesday 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!

Told a friend that I was to host a session on North Carolina's Outer Banks. He insisted that I take his 1963 "Carolina Blue" version of the Comanche. As they say in these parts, "If God is not a Tar Heel, then why is the sky Carolina Blue?" Then they smile at their friends from Wake, NC State and Duke.

This livery is by Waffler11 and available in his Classic Six Pack here:
https://flightsim.to/file/58313/a2a-comanche-classic-pack

or as a single paint here.

Nice 😘