Beijing - The Forbidden City and more

Today we will be in China.

This flight has two parts. First, we fly fast aircraft (cruising at about 300 kias) and later switch to helicopters.

We depart from Taiyuan (ZBYN). It is an industrial base focusing on energy and heavy chemicals. Throughout its long history, Taiyuan was the capital or provisional capital of many dynasties in China. We fly northeast and stop at Shijiazhuang (SBSJ) and Tiajin (ZBTJ). In terms of urban population, Tianjin is the seventh largest city in China. In terms of administrative area population, Tianjin ranks fifth in mainland China. The Walled City of Tianjin was built in 1404. As a treaty port since 1860, Tianjin has been a seaport and gateway to Beijing. During the Boxer Rebellion, the city was the seat of the Tianjin Provisional Government. Under the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China, Tianjin became one of the largest cities in the region. At that time, European-style buildings and mansions were constructed in concessions, some are preserved today. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Tianjin suffered a depression due to the central government's policy and the 1976 Tangshan earthquake; however, it has been recovering since the 1990s. Due to its large urban population and port traffic volume, Tianjin is classified as the largest type of port city, with a large port Megacity. Tianjin is one of the 20 cities in the world with the highest scientific research outputs, as tracked by the Nature Index. Now we head north and reach the Beijing area. We land at Daxing (ZBAD), one of the two International Airports of Beijing. It began operations in September 2019. We continue north for about 17 miles and land at Beijing’s Nanyuan Airport (ZBNY). Nanyuan Airport was opened in 1910, making it the oldest airport in China. It was the main operating base for China United Airlines, which was also the airport's sole airline. Nanyuan Airport ceased civil operations on 25 September 2019, after all commercial passenger flights were moved to the newly opened Beijing Daxing International Airport. It remained operational as a People's Liberation Army Air Force military base until 30 September 2019. Here we switch to our preferred helicopter and visit the many POIs of Beijing. They are waypoints in the helicopter flight plan.

After flying around the central district of the city we land at Beijing’s military Xijao Airport (ZBBB). After departure, we overfly the Summer Palace and the Beijing National Stadium before landing at the Beijing Capital Airport (ZBAA), Beijing’s other International airport. At its opening, the new Terminal 3 was the largest man-made structure in the world in terms of area covered, and a major landmark in the developing Chinese capital. The expansion was largely funded by a 30 billion yen loan from Japan and a 500-million-euro (US$625 million) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The loan was the largest ever granted by the EIB in Asia, and the agreement was signed during the eighth China-EU Summit held in September 2005. Following the 2008 Summer Olympics and the addition of the new terminal building, Beijing Capital overtook Tokyo Haneda as the busiest airport in Asia based on scheduled seat capacity. Due to the limited capacity of Beijing Capital International Airport, plans were announced for the construction of a new airport at Daxing. The project was given final approval on 13 January 2013. Construction began in late 2014 and was completed in 2019. The new Daxing Airport became the Beijing home of China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and China United Airlines, while Air China and Hainan Airlines remained at the Capital Airport. From here we head north to visit a small part of the Great Wall of China before finishing the flight at Miyun (ZBMY).

The flight has a length of 380 miles and 6 landings. The flight plans are here.

For the first, part I will be in the PC 21, but any aircraft cruising at about 300 knots is suitable. I will fly the HPG H145 for the helicopter flight. As always, please fly what you like.

Recommended scenery:

ZBMY: https://flightsim.to/file/22783/beijing-miyun-mujiayu-airport-iata-yun-icao-zbmy

ZBAA: https://flightsim.to/file/3758/beijing-capital-international-airport

ZBTJ: https://flightsim.to/file/50223/zbtj-tianjin-binhai-intl-airport-simple

ZBYN: https://flightsim.to/file/57096/zbyn-china-taiyuanwushuairport

The Great Wall: https://flightsim.to/file/18761/the-great-wall-of-china-mutianyu-section

ZBMY and the Great Wall are not in the MSFS database. ZBAA and ZBAD are available as Payware from/via ORBX. A SamScene3D Beijing City Times Scenery is also available as payware.

We try real weather and want to depart at 10:00 am local.

Multiplayer Particulars

Date and time: Sunday, December 22, 2024. 1700 UTC

Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark and use DTP's Teamspeak Channel for communication.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!