The top of the world

We will be flying at the top of the world!

We depart from Qamdo Bangda (ZUBD), Tibet, China. At an elevation of 4,334 m (14,219 ft) above sea level, Qamdo Airport was formerly the highest airport in the world. It was surpassed by Daocheng Yading Airport, with an elevation of 4,411 m (14,472 ft), on 16 September 2013. It has a very long runway, 4.5 km (2.8 mi), a necessary feature to accommodate the reduced engine and lift performance that affects aircraft at high altitudes, requiring higher than normal takeoff speeds and therefore longer takeoff and landing runs.

We want to climb to about 20.000 feet, using some valleys. At waypoint 4 we enter the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, also known as the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, the Tsangpo Canyon, the Brahmaputra Canyon, or the Tsangpo Gorge.  This is a canyon along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is the deepest canyon in the world, and at 504.6 kilometers (313.5 mi) is slightly longer than the Grand Canyon in the United States, making it one of the world's largest. The Yarlung Tsangpo (Tibetan name for the upper course of the Brahmaputra) originates near Mount Kailash and runs east for about 1,700 kilometers (1,100 mi), draining a northern section of the Himalayas before it enters the gorge just downstream of Pei, Tibet, near the settlement of Zhibe. The canyon has a length of about 240 kilometers (150 mi) as the gorge bends around Mount Namcha Barwa (7,782 meters or 25,531 feet) and cuts its way through the eastern Himalayas. Its waters drop from about 2,900 meters (9,500 ft) near Pei to about 1,500 meters (4,900 ft) at the end of the Upper Gorge where the Po Tsangpo River enters. The river continues through the Lower Gorge to the Indian border at an elevation of 660 meters (2,170 ft). The river then enters Arunachal Pradesh and eventually becomes the Brahmaputra. As the canyon passes between the peaks of the Namcha Barwa (Namjabarwa) and Gyala Peri mountains, it reaches an average depth of about 5,000 m (16,000 feet) around Namcha Barwa. The canyon's average depth overall is about 2,268 m (7,440 feet), and the deepest depth reaches 6,009 m (19,714 feet). This is the greatest canyon depth on land. The gorge has a unique ecosystem with species of animals and plants barely explored and affected by human influence. Its climate ranges from subtropical to Arctic, and it has several different vegetation zones: Lowland tropical forests, including the tropical rainforest and seasonal tropical forests; tropical montane and subtropical broad-leaved forest; subalpine temperate coniferous forest; subalpine cool coniferous forest; alpine shrubland and tundra. The canyon is home to a Himalayan cypress (Cupressus torulosa) that is 102.3 meters (336 ft) tall and, upon its discovery in 2023, is believed to be the tallest tree in Asia. Here is a short video.

We reach Nyingchi Mainling Airport (ZUNZ). It is considered to be one of the most challenging instrument approaches in the world, since the airport is in a winding valley. Nyingchi Airport is the third airport that Tibet has put into operation. Built for 780 million yuan (96.18 million U.S. dollars), including investment by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), the airport is 2,949 meters above sea level, lower than the other two civil airports, with a designed annual passenger flow of 120,000. Known as one of the world's most difficult airports for aircraft to reach, because it is situated in the valley of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, surrounded by over-4,000-metre-high (13,000 ft) mountains enveloped by clouds and fog throughout the year. Aircraft have to fly through the narrow and winding river valley to approach the airport. The narrowest flight path is less than 4 km from one mountain ridge along the valley to the opposite one. According to meteorological data, there are just 100 days overall with suitable weather to operate at the airport each year. The first landing of a commercial aircraft was made by an Air China Boeing 757 without passengers on July 12, 2006. Six weeks later the first commercial flight with passengers was made to the airport. The airport uses a required navigation performance (RNP) approach procedure to provide instrument approach guidance through surrounding valleys to the vicinity of the runway threshold. From here we turn south for a detour to Machuka (VE67), India. Now we head back to the river and follow it west.

We pass Lhasa’s International Airport to see the city of Lhasa with the Potala Palace. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining and, at an altitude of 3,656 meters (11,990 ft), Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world. The city has been the religious and administrative capital of Tibet since the mid-17th century. It contains many culturally significant Tibetan Buddhist sites such as the Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, and Norbulingka Palaces. The Potala Palace was the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas from 1649 to 1959, has been a museum since then, and a World Heritage Site since 1994. The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical abode of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The 5th Dalai Lama started its construction in 1645 after one of his spiritual advisers, Konchog Chophel (died 1646), pointed out that the site was ideal as a seat of government, situated as it is between Drepung and Sera monasteries and the old city of Lhasa. It may overlie the remains of an earlier fortress called the White or Red Palace on the site, built by Songtsen Gampo in 637. The building measures 400 meters (1,300 ft) east-west and 350 meters (1,150 ft) north-south, with sloping stone walls averaging 3 meters (10 ft) thick, and 5 meters (16 ft) thick at the base, and with copper poured into the foundations to help proof it against earthquakes. Thirteen stories of buildings, containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines, and about 200,000 statues, soar 117 meters (384 ft) on top of Marpo Ri, the "Red Hill", rising more than 300 meters (980 ft) in total above the valley floor. Tradition has it that the three main hills of Lhasa represent the "Three Protectors of Tibet". We return to the river to finish the flight at the Lhasa Gonggar Airport (ZULS). Situated at an elevation of 3,600 meters (11,800 ft), Lhasa Airport is one of the highest in the world. The airport was first built in 1965, a second runway was built in 1994, the second terminal was built in 2004, and the third terminal was operational in 2021. Building an airport in Tibet, which is termed in flying parlance as going over a "hump" in the Tibetan Plateau, has gone through a process of trial and error through many hazardous air routes and several fatal accidents during World War II.

The flight has 487 miles and two landings. The very high field elevation of the airports requires a powerful aircraft. I will be in the P-38, but a subsonic jet or the PC-12 could also be used. As always, please fly what you like.

Flight plans are here.

Additional scenery:

ZUBD: https://flightsim.to/file/24715/zubd-changdu-bangda-airport-qamdo-bamda-airport

ZULS: https://flightsim.to/file/814/lhasa-gonggar-airport-v1-0-tibet

ZUNZ:  https://flightsim.to/file/35994/zunz-linzhi-minlin-airport-nyingchi-mainling-airport

Lhasa Gonggar Airport is also available as payware from SamScene.

 We try real weather. Please set your simulator for 1 pm local departure.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Sunday, September 1, 2024. 1800 UTC
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.
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