An Austrian Alpine Escapade

An Austrian Alpine Escapade
For Saturday, September 14, 2024
Michael MacKuen

We fly over Austria’s Alps. We begin over Tyrol’s vast array of high peaks and then shift to the mountains and wider valleys of Salzburg. And finally we cross over the high ridges of Carinthia.


Under highline 179

We depart from Bolzano (or Bozen) [LIPB] in the Italian province South Tyrol which, until WWI,  was a core part of Austria. For many years the region remained contested by native German-speakers who identified with Austria rather than Italy – this matter is now formally settled and South Tyrol accommodates its two languages and cultural lineages. We fly north to Timmelsjoch Pass (8,500ft) through the high ridgeline which marks the Austro-Italian border. Note the MSFS POI Landscape Telescope. A few miles further lies Hinterer Brunnenkogel (and it Café 3440) (about 11,300ft). About a mile north of Wildspitze (Austria’s second-highest mountain), this mountaintop visitor center provides public access via Austria’s highest  cable car system. Another 20nm and we cross over high mountains to descend into the Trisanna Gorge to look at the Trisanna Bridge. Spanning the valley and gorge, the bridge supports one of the most important east-west railway routes in the Alps. (At its 1884 construction, it was the longest steel bridge in the world.) Among the finest bridges in Austria, it is accompanied on the eastern side by Wiesberg Castle. This combination is the backdrop of thousands of railway photographs. (Conducting a closeup bridge examination is an airmanship challenge and can be rewarding. Note that the steep descent into the bottom of Trisanna Gorge needs some planning – to get down before the village of See. And, as you pass under the bridge be aware of the nearby high terrain and multiple powerlines when you exit and climb out. And carry a rabbit’s foot.)

We continue northeast over high mountains to Reutte Hoefen [LOIR], a small and ancient market town. Either on the way in or on the way out, we take a look at the Ehrenberg Castle (ruins) magnificently perched on a high crest. More interesting, we examine the highline 179, a pedestrian suspension bridge between the Ehrenberg castle and Fort Claudia. The bridge is 374 ft high and 1,322 ft long, with one end being 30 ft higher than the other and it sags 50 ft in the middle. Visitors get a good view of the mountain pass far below through the thin wire mesh that supports their weight and prevents accidental excursions.

We proceed eastward along the Northern Limestone Alps and the Austro-German border. First we see a station on the top of the Zugspitze (on the border but technically Germany’s highest mountain at 9,718ft). Lifts from both countries meet at the top for the restaurants, shops, and telescopes. And then we see the Karwendelbahn Mountain Station, connected via cable cars to Mittenwald below. Apparently great views but only adequate infrastructure.

We descend southward to Innsbruck [LOWI], an international airport famous for its circling approach – which can be a challenge when the winter weather is poor. Innsbruck is the capital of Tyrol and Austria’s fifth largest city. Lying among high Alpine terrain, it is an international winter sports center, having hosted two Winter Olympics. And every winter, Innsbruck is a major skiing destination. On departure, we note the Bergisel Ski Jump (capacity 26,000 spectators) one of the prominent sites on the Ski Jumping World Cup.

We divert a couple of miles south along the Brenner Autobahn (the major north-south route connecting Germany and Italy) to “inspect” the Europa Bridge. At 620 ft above the ground, this was Europe’s highest bridge on completion in 1963 (but since surpassed). It hosts Europe’s highest legal bungee operation – so beware. We turn north along the Inn Valley and pass the well-preserved Tratzberg Castle (early-Renaissance “alpine palace” architecture) which has been home to the Enzenberg family for nearly 200 years. And then we reach the medieval Kufstein Fortress which is perched on a commanding hilltop and linked to the city below by a funicular railway. For centuries, the fortress controlled entry to the Inn Valley and it was fiercely fought over by Bavaria and Tyrol – until it was finally given to Austria in 1814. It is a tourist destination with the added attraction of the world’s largest open-air organ whose sound can be heard right across the town.

Then south, passing the western edge of the Wilder Kaiser massif (the dramatic “Imperial” mountains), we ascend to the Summit Hut of Hohe Salve with its revolving panoramic terrace (providing non-flying patrons a view across 70 nine-thousand-feet-high peaks. Remaining at altitude, we pass high above Kitzbühel, a famous “exclusive” ski town, and then glance at the top of Kitzbüheler Horn with its large antenna and popular restaurant. After a sharp descent, we land at Sankt Johann [LOIJ], the second-largest of Tyrol’s airports and a comfortable home to the local flying club.

Next we fly east, passing the Jakobskreuz (a large observation deck in the form of a huge cross) and heading up into the Berchtesgaden Alps and the Berchtesgaden National Park in Bavaria. We pick a notch between the Waltzmann Massif (the 9,000ft high peaks to the north) and the Steinernes Meer (the 6,000-7,000ft high karst plateau to the east). We spiral down to the large lake Königssee and the pilgrimage Church of Saint Bartholomew located on the western shore. Its Baroque style with red onion domes give it a distinctive look. (For an impressive view, glance back over your shoulder after you pass the church. Get out your Kodak...or Leica.) We pass over the town Berchtesgaden which has long been a destination for nobility and later, more artistic types. (It was temporarily famous as the site for word not allowed’s chalet home and the word not allowed-constructed mountaintop “Eagle’s Nest” Kehlsteinhous.)

We fly on over the lovely alpine scenery and descend to the exquisite old city Salzburg. We circle around the Red Bull Arena and come back over the historic Altstadt (Old Town) renowned for its well-preserved Baroque architecture. We see in quick succession Mirabell Palace, Salzburg Cathedral, the Nonnberg Benedictine Abby, and Fortress Hohensalzburg. Mirabell Palace was a pleasure palace built on (what was then) the outskirts of town as a residence for the mistress of the ruling archbishop-prince. The Cathedral stems from an early 8^th century church and was rebuilt in the 17^th century in the then contemporary Baroque style. The Church represented the main center of power for the archbishop-princes who ruled Salzburg for nearly a thousand years. And the Hohensalzburg is a massive medieval fortress built atop the Festungsberg mountain standing at 1600ft. This was a major military fortress and also served the archbishops as a residence for many years. (In the 1525 Peasants War, the Archbishop took refuge here to wait out the rebellion.) The Hohensalzburg remains among the largest and best preserved castles in Europe. 

[If you look closely at the Kapitelplatz between the Cathedral and the Fortress, you will see a piece of modern art – the sculpture “Sphaera” which depicts a golden sphere with, standing on top, a male figure with a neutral expression. He faces the ambiguity of life, the condition of “Everyman.” Default photogrammetry has only the golden sphere; Digital Design has the man.] [On a more popular culture note, Salzburg was the site for the 1964 filming of The Sound of Music – a fictional retelling of Maria von Trapp’s Salzburg story and the von Trapp family’s 1938 escape to the United States.]


Salzburg’s historic Altstadt with the Cathedral and Fortress Hohensalzburg in the background

We land at Salzburg W.A. Mozart Airport [LOWS], Austria’s second busiest airport that serves tourist and skiing clienteles. (Mozart was born and lived in Salzburg until age 25. The city is full of tributes to the musical genius.) Of special interest is the Red Bull facility to the east of Runway 15-33. Hangar-7 is a venue, gallery and museum as well as a Michelin-starred restaurant. Hanger-8 serves as a maintenance facility for the Red Bull fleet of aircraft.

Next, we follow the Salzach River south to Hohenwerfen Castle, built as a sister to Hohensalzburg as a defensive fortress by the Archbishops of Salzburg. It has served as a military site, an opulent residence, a notorious prison, and now as a museum (with an active Falconry Center). Hohenwerfen Castle was the main location in the film Where Eagles Dare. After circling, we turn west up the valley and over the Niedere Torscharte pass (7,600ft) that lies between the towering Hochkönig massif on the east and the Steinernes Meer on the west. Then a grand descent to Zell Am See [LOWZ], an old favorite of our group.

We turn south and climb (vigorously) over the Kaprun High Mountain Reservoirs (the power generators are under the mountainsides) to the ridgeline (10,600ft) of the High Tauern mountain range. (From 25nm west to 35nm east, the range constitutes the Hohe Tauern National Park, one of the largest in Europe. The landscape incorporates mountain lakes, waterfalls, wild rivers and glaciated peaks all interspersed with high alpine pastures.) We get a good look at Grossglockner which is Austria’s highest peak (at 12,461ft) and the Pasterze, which is Austria’s longest glacier. Halfway up the mountainside to our left (north) is the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, a busy tourist lookout with viewpoints, restaurants, hiking centers, and parking. We fly along to the Summit of Hoher Sonnblick with its Sonnblick Meteorological Observatory and Alpine refuge hut. And continuing, we work our way though the High Tauren peaks to look at Kölnbrein Dam (6240ft) with its high mountain reservoir, a bungee jump site, and restaurant. The tallest dam in Austria, this was planned for decades before it was built in the 1970s. Unhappily, it developed cracks and underwent a decade of repairs before it reached maximum production levels (1.02 GW) via multiple powerplants.

We continue east to land at Mauterndorf [LOSM] which lies in a high valley of the Taurach River. The small market town grew up around Mauterndorf Castle which was built by the Archbishops of Salzburg in the 11^th century. The Mauterndorf airfield is Austria’s highest (3,642ft) and it hosts light aircraft, gliders and helicopter operations as well as a flying club.

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
This is a flight of 321nm with 6 landings. Any GA aircraft capable of something like 160kts should do the job nicely. I’ll probably fly the COWS Diamond DA42 in the stock Deluxe Silver livery. Please 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.

Reutte-Hofen [LOIR]. Troglodytus-Littlekrg
St. Johann [LOIJ]. dzefdet (Sven Schill)
Zell Am See [LOWZ]. quelcertoleo
Mauterndorf [LOSM]. moonlander69
Bolzano, Innsbruck, and Salzburg are all fine MSFS handcrafted airports in the default sim.

Temporarily, you can obtain the full freeware package here (549MB).

There are two payware airports for Salzburg. (The older Digital Design version may, or may not, be slightly better than the new MSFS version. The newer RDPRESETS version looks good in the screenshots.) There are also payware renditions of Innsbruck (the Jarrad Marshall classic from 2020), St. Johann, and Zell am See. In all cases, the default or freeware versions are really good.

If you have them, you want to activate MamuDesign’s Ski Lifts. (Mamu adds cable cars throughout the region and really improves the “Alpine” atmosphere. They do add a few extras to spots where MSFS POIs have modeled cable cars – but the overall effect is worth the extra clutter.) Similarly, Puffin’s ILoveVFR package adds transmission towers which occasionally duplicate a few MSFS POIs.

Finally, I would conditionally recommend the freeware Austrian Landmarks Project. The team has created a barrelful of good “POIs” for Austria. And they have recently cleaned up to accommodate MSFS POIs introduced in World Update 18 (for Austria). For this week in the Alps, the package will be helpful on only a few points which we shall not emphasize. However, when we turn to Eastern Austria, many more of the Austrian team’s points-of-interest will be featured to complement the MSFS points-of-interest. The package is 1.5 GB. (It does not seem to affect performance.) So I would recommend this work for pilots who have a fast internet connection. For you who are careful about how much you download, then skip this package altogether.
Austrian Landmark Project (WU18). Troglodytus and Littlekrg [1.5GB!]

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 1:00pm local for September 14, 2024. We typically prefer real weather. If the current forecast of overcast-with-rain appears, we might try High Clouds or another preset suitable for high mountain flying.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, September 14, 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!