Ireland Ulster
For Wednesday August 7, 2024
Michael MacKuen

We explore the north of Ireland. We start in Northern Ireland, the largely Protestant “loyalist” counties that have remained part of the United Kingdom. First, we fly to some “light aviation” airfields in the Mountains of the Mourne and visit some castles and monuments on the way. Then a quick circle over Belfast before the Antrim Coast. Finally, we fly into the Republic of Ireland to Donegal.


Dramatic Fair Head on the Antrim Coast

We depart from Tandragee’s Kernan Airfield [EGVU], home to the Kernan flight school and the Kernan Valley flying club, both of which emphasize light aircraft. We fly into the Mountains of the Mourne to land at Aughrim Airstrip [EGZG] in the foothills beyond. This small field is best approached from the southeast but manageable from the northwest if winds so dictate. Next, we fly directly over Slieve Donard – at 2760 ft this is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland. The bare mountainsides evince a sort of stark beauty. On the north side we descend to Newcastle where find the Slieve Donard Hotel (a classic older hotel) and County Down Golf Club (one of the world’s very best courses, always in the top ten of the rankings). Then to the north for the challenging Slieve Croob Airfield (EGJO) that is best approached from the north for an uphill landing but can be handled from the south if the winds require.

A move to the east brings Downpatrick with the Down Cathedral and its St. Patrick Centre. (This is the claimed burial site for Ireland’s revered St. Patrick and the visitor center gets good reviews.) Continuing, we see Castle Ward, a 16^th century manor house which has the interesting feature that it reflects the divergent architectural preferences of the original couple – the southern approach is Palladian style and the opposite side, facing the water, is Georgian Gothic. This grand house (along with many other spots in Northern Ireland) was used for filming Game of Thrones – here as the Stark family home “Winterfell.” (Northern Ireland Tourism has developed a marketing theme around the Game of Thrones that continues to attract tourists. Some of the filming sites will be indicated in our narrative by the initials GOT.) A few miles on is the Killyleagh Castle Towers which has been held in the Hamilton family since 1625. Over the years it has been rebuilt and expanded to adopt the look of a Loire Valley château. Ten miles up the coast of Strangford Lough brings Scrabo Tower, the hilltop tower which salutes a 19^th century local nobleman Charles Stewart. (The honor may not have been fully supported by local tenants whose Potato Famine charity was ignored by Stewart as “personally inconvenient”.) After a quick circle we land at Newtownards [EGAD]. Newtonards was an old country town which has become a distant suburb for Belfast. The 1930s airport is now owned-and-operated by the Ulster Flying Club (of which the scenery-model-maker is a member). This is a regional center for GA flying.

Next is a visit to Belfast. We begin flying north to look at Helen’s Tower erected on forested high ground by a young local baron as a tribute to poetry. We turn west and turn down Belfast Lough toward the Harland & Wolff shipyards. We quickly encounter the two huge yellow gantry cranes Samson and Goliath (Krupp-built in 1974 and 1969) which dominate the Belfast skyline and have become symbols of the city. Just to the west is the architecturally-interesting Titanic Museum (which celebrates the shipyard’s most famous product), and the SSE Arena (for sports and concerts). Crossing the River Lagan, we see the classic Belfast City Hall. We turn west for two waypoints that mark two tough working class neighborhoods that manifested the worst of the “Troubles.” First is The Shankhill Road (the Protestant Loyalist neighborhood) and then The Falls Road (the Catholic Republican neighborhood). Between the two was built the high Peace Wall which until recent years physically separated the two parts of the city. (These districts were not the only sources for Loyalist or Republican foot soldiers, but they were especially fertile ground.) We circle to the south and east to see Windsor Park (the National Football Stadium), Queens University (Northern Ireland’s premier university), and Riverhill Kingspan Stadium (Rugby Union). Then the impressive Stormont Estate, with Stormont Castle (the site of the Prime Minister and the executive offices), and the Stormont Parliament Buildings (the center for the Northern Ireland parliament). We complete the tour when we land at George Best Belfast City Airport [EGAC].

Next we take a good look at the scenic Antrim Coast. Crossing Belfast harbor, we fly over Belfast Castle, a grand 19^th century manor house which was gifted to the city and is now a tourism magnet and a place for public and private events. The next POI is the historic Carrickfergus Castle which for centuries served as a military stronghold for English barons before the crown, in the 17^th century “Plantation of Ulster,” essentially replaced Irish landowners with English and Scottish “planters.” We turn at Blackhead Lighthouse and up Larne Lough to pass the Ballylumford Power Station (Northern Ireland’s largest) and the Chaine Memorial Tower (a controversial 19^th century memorial structure that was justified by hosting a navigational light). Next is Glenarm Castle, built and owned by the MacDonnell family for 400 years. Year round, the Castle and its gardens host many musical, sporting and cultural events. We then circle around the high seaside cliffs Garron Point, Torr Head, and Fair Head while passing the Caves of Cushendun and Murlough Bay (the last three being GOT sites). Turning back inland, we cross The Dark Hedges, a long avenue of beech trees that were planted in 1775 by James Stuart to impress visitors as they approached his Georgian mansion. The trees create a tunnel that frames those who travel the road. This dramatic sight is the GOT location that receives the most attention online and is one of the most photographed sights in the country. At Ballymoney we land on the turf of Causeway Airfield [EGBA].

Departing, we fly over the historic Bushmills Distillery and 3 miles later reach the steep coastal cliffs at the Giant’s Causeway. The terrific array of 40,000 interlocking basalt columns are explained in one of two ways: (a) these are artifacts of volcanic activity or (b) these were built in ancient days by Giants, one Scottish and one Irish, during their battle for supremacy. Voted the 4^th greatest natural wonder in the UK, this is visited by a million visitors each year. We continue along the sheer cliffside coast to the ruins of Dunluce Castle. In its early days, this was a serious fortification perched right along the high cliffs. Years later, after the kitchen fell into the sea, the lady of the house moved the family out of the castle. (This is another GOT site.) Then the summer  seaside resort Portrush and the Royal Portrush Golf Club (ranked 16^th in the world). Six miles further we see the Mussenden Temple and the ruins of Downhill Castle. The Temple, with its slightly risqué past, was an 18^th century library modelled from the Roman Temple of Vesta. (In the basement was a furnace to keep the books dry.) It remains a popular tourist attraction and wedding site. (The clifftop temple and the beach below were GOT sites.)

We turn southwest over the dramatic Binevenagh Mountain on the outermost edge of the Antrim Plateau. This is a breath-taking sight that stands majestically over the coastal landscape. (It is also a GOT site.) We land at Derry Eglinton Airport [EGAE]. (Be sure that you do not accidentally land at the now-closed RAF Ballykelly as did a Ryanair A320 in 2006. Some paperwork might be involved.) Northern Ireland’s second-largest city Londonderry/Derry has two names to reflect the distinctive Protestant/Unionist vs Catholic/Nationalist preferences. The official name is “Londonderry” while in everyday conversation people use “Derry.” The River Foyle serves as the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland – except here where the border was drawn so that Londonderry (then a Protestant city on the west side) remained in the UK. At one time these naming distinctions were a deadly fighting matter, but over the last 25 years things have settled down...a bit.

Leaving Eglinton, we follow the River Foyle to see the city’s port and harbor, the Foyle Bridge (the longest in Ireland), the pedestrian Peace Bridge, and the Craigavon Bridge. We turn over the old walled city to the northwest and cross the border into the Republic of Ireland and County Donegal. We fly over the rural countryside to land at Parke Airstrip [EIRM]. This private grass strip is short, it is near the water, and it is susceptible to strong westerly cross-winds on landing. No worries. Then southwest between the hills to the east and the Atlantic coast on the west. If we have the time, we might divert directly westward 270° to fly down the coastline to admire the spectacular rugged beauty. We land at Donegal Airport [EIDL]. This is an award-winning commercial airport with voting passengers likely to remark on the scenic approaches and friendly staff. As one might expect, the Irish weather can make for an interesting landing. Let’s hope that the friendly staff can help us recover.

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
This is a flight of 237nm with 8 landings. Any GA aircraft capable of something like 130-135 kts should do the job nicely. Note that three of the airports involve short and potentially challenging landings. These are not bush strips but they do require a deliberate landing speed. (You might like a small slow aircraft at the beginning and then switch to something quicker at Belfast. Or not.) I’ll probably fly the A2A Comanche in the historic PH-EDH livery by Jan Kees Blom. (Though I do need to test the Comanche on those strips again...!) As ever, you should fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
All of the airports are in the default simulator. That said, several addons will enhance the scenery appreciably. Thanks to these talented addon creators.

Tandragee Kernan Airfield [EGVU]. dimus
Aughrim Airstrip [EGZG]. Gflo156
Slieve Croob Airfield [EGJO]. Gflo156
Newtownards [EGAD]. millingp
George Best Belfast City Airport [EGAC]. jeromelogue
Eglinton Derry Airport [EGAE]. jeromelogue
Belfast Stormont Parliament and Castle. mv46

Belfast City Buildings. jeromelogue
Helen’s Tower. mv46
Scrabo Tower. mv46

In addition you might like the payware Orbx Great Britain North landmark package which also includes Northern Ireland. This package is very good but it will have minor duplicates with the new MSFS WU17 POIs. [If you have the Orbx Great Britain North and want to avoid several additional duplicates, then you should disable the last three sceneries above – Belfast City Buildings, Helen’s Tower and Scrabo Tower.]

Temporarily, you can obtain the full freeware package here (120MB).

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Wednesday, set the simulator at 2:00pm local for August 7, 2024.
We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Wednesday, August 7, 2024. 1800 UTC
RTWR Multiplayer Discord Channel
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!
 

 

Ironically, parts of "The South" are actually geographically further north than "The North".