Appalachian Fall

Appalachian Fall
For Saturday, November 4, 2023
Michael MacKuen

We continue our tradition of setting up a special “Fall Colors” flight to enjoy the vibrant foliage of the Autumn. This year we shall fly over the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee and enjoy a few interesting airports along the way.


Right Downwind Runway 32 Mountain Air

We depart from the famous Charleston Yeager [KCRW]. The airport sits on a 300 ft hilltop with sharp drop-offs on all sides. The views make it a favorite for passengers – in good weather. (Runway 5/23 has a special safety engineering system. The secondary runway is now closed.) This is the capital city of West Virginia. Once aloft, we follow the valleys of the Kanawha River and its main tributary the New River. The New River is unusual as a southern river that flows northward through the Appalachians in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virgina to eventually flow into the Kanawha, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. Its source is near the town of Blowing Rock in the Blue Ridge mountains. Much of its course runs through steep cliffs and rock outcrops. Especially dramatic is the New River Gorge Bridge [NRGB], one of the world’s highest and longest single-span bridges. Taking a few minutes to fly on the New River Gorge might be considered foolhardy ... or fun.

We land at Beckley’s Raleigh County [KBKW]. This is traditional coal country (all over the state but particularly important in this southern region). While coal had been mined for many years, the industry really took off in the 1880s when the railroads arrived to connect the mined coal to the eastern seaboard. Coal mining was West Virginia’s featured economic engine then and it is now. Employment peaked in 1940 but with mechanization (the “continuous miner”) the number of employees has dropped from 140,000 to 12,000. Production peaked in 1997 but has dropped by half since then. (Wyoming coal is cheaper to extract and other energy sources such as natural gas and renewables have proven even less expensive.)

We fly over Bluefield WV, the first of the successful “coal towns” – with its own millionaires. And then we descend into the Great Valley to land at Mountain Empire [KMKJ] between the towns of Wytheville and Marion. The Valley runs northeast to southwest from Pennsylvania to Georgia and constituted the main pathway for settlers who could travel without having to surmount the formidable mountain ranges to the east and west.

Then up to Ashe County [KGEV] to again encounter the New River. These northern mountain counties are the least populated and least wealthy counties in North Carolina. Departing, we fly over the twists and turns in the New River to its source near Blowing Rock [BLOWR], itself a tourist attraction. We continue over the Blue Ridge to land at the resort airport Elk River [NC06]. This is an interesting airport. The preferred arrival runway is 12, even with a tailwind of up to 15kts. Recommended is a 3 mile approach, starting at 4,500 and descending along a curving valley. The runway is offset but slightly uphill and plenty long. See the Elk River Approach Chart or the Elk River Airport Instructional Video. (For 15-plus kts westerly winds, see the special instructions for the steep descent into Rwy 30.) Despite the challenging circumstances, Elk River is often visited by business jets and powerful turbine aircraft.

The next stop is Mountain Air [2NC0], the highest airport east of the Mississippi. This is a private airport, part of a specially-designed fly-in community perched on a mountainside. The runway can be difficult to see and the density altitude, the winds, and the location demand special care. The preferred arrival is right traffic onto the upslope of Runway 32. However, if the winds require Runway 14 then it is manageable with some attention. You might glance at the Mountain Air Procedures. For a one-minute view of a landing, see Mountain Air Landing. For an excellent explanation by a veteran pilot, see How to Fly into Mountain Air NC. The airport team offers this tip, “Landing at Mountain Air is not recommended for new or rusty pilots.” (That said, the airport does routinely host light twins and turbines.)

On departure, we fly south to the Black Mountains and climb over Mount Mitchell (MITCH), the highest peak east of the Mississippi at 6,684 ft. Then southwest over Asheville and get down to look at the Biltmore Estate [BILT]. The Biltmore House was built (1895) as a Chateau-style mansion for George Vanderbilt (a bookish son of the “railroad” Vanderbilt family). This is believed to be the largest private house in the US. Vanderbilt took an interest in the science of forestry and hired as a manager Gifford Pinchot, the forester and conservationist who became the first chief of the US Forest Service and tripled the nation’s forest reserves. The magnificent estate is currently a very popular tourist attraction. A “worthwhile experience” says one husband normally immune to the attractions of historic houses. We land at Asheville Regional (KAVL), an increasingly busy small commercial airport.

On leaving we climb up onto the Blue Ridge and pass over the Pisgah Forest, the home of the nation’s first School of Forestry, funded by the same George Vanderbilt. (The boundaries of the Pisgah Forest have expanded considerably over the years.) We land at the ridgetop airport Jackson County (24A). Then northwest above the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to crest at the highest peak, the site of Clingmans Dome Lookout Tower [CLING]. (This structure is an example of the National Park Service Mission 66 – an effort to reset the design ethos to a more modern style that emphasized an integration with the natural environment. Here the tower is defined by a sweeping 375 foot ramp that mimics the natural curvature of the landscape. Clingmans Dome (6,643 ft) is not quite as high as Mt Mitchell – a contentious dispute settled in the 1850s. (The nearby Fraser fir forest experienced a large die-off caused by a small non-native insect. In the last 30 years, the Fraser fir has made a partial recovery.)

We cross the Great Smokies and land at Knoxville Downtown Island [KDKX], once the city’s commercial airport and now a modestly busy general aviation field. Knoxville has successfully resurrected its city center with businesses, apartments, shops, and restaurants – a good place to visit. Even better, we have weekend reservations at Blackberry Farm. This is an expensive way to enjoy the nature of East Tennessee living while experiencing local cooking, country charm, and a touch of luxury.

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
We need to cover about 315nm and so require something that will “fast cruise” at about 160 kts. Some of our faster singles, including the Beech Bonanza, Cessna 208B Caravan, Mooney Ovation and Piper Comanche, will do the job. Light twins such as the Piper Seneca, C310, C414, Beech Baron, and Diamond DA62 will be fine. I’ll take the Comanche (and will have to push the throttle). 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.

Raleigh County [KBKW]. danielsjam
Mountain Empire [KMKJ]. MazerMart
Ashe County [KGEV]. BaptistDeacon
Elk River Airport [NC06]. Windhover
Mountain Air [2NC0]. Windhover
Asheville Regional [KAVL]. mangosprout
Jackson County [24A]. Windhover
Knoxville Downtown Island [KDKX]. danielsjam

Temporarily, you can download a scenery package here. 288 MB.

Optional. Orbx has a good payware rendition of Charleston KCRW. There are payware versions of Asheville, Mountain Air and Elk River but our freeware versions will do the job nicely.

A note for custom seasonal foliage packages. If you have Fall Colors, you might use them.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 12:00 pm local for November 4, 2023.
We normally prefer real weather. For this week we shall want bright skies to illuminate the brilliant foliage.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, November 4, 2023. 1900 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!

Please note the 1900 UTC start. (For this week only, the change in UTC  means a change in local time for North Americans.)