Just finished a test flight of the superb Fokker F27-MK500 FREE addon using the VOR nav route Andes 571 flight took before deviating and crashing in the mountains (them not me).

I can't see how I would need better graphics than this? Using latest Bing maps from the map enhancement mod.

Would be VERY interested if someone with 2024 could fly the same route and make a comparison? Asking for a friend :D

I'm guessing if you flew DOWN into the valley it would look better?

Could we have a FRIENDLY discussion on say mountain terrain depiction/quality from cruise level down to valley flying about the 2 sims? Is that possible? :D

Route:

SAMM.3  MLG(117.2) 290-86 ICO(114.7) 011-95 AMB(116.1) 009-22 SCVH.03

https://imgur.com/gallery/andes-crash-1972-flight-571-vor-route-fokker-f27-VFi2DuN

 

 

 

 

Sorry for 3 screenshots. Apologise if over limit.

Interesting 🧐 And tempting! I’m afraid I might have uninstalled the map enhancement mod earlier today as I was upset with it. Am I allowed to choose a different aircraft?

21 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Interesting 🧐 And tempting! I’m afraid I might have uninstalled the map enhancement mod earlier today as I was upset with it. Am I allowed to choose a different aircraft?

Sure! Actually would be fine without the mod as the more different scenery /maps the better. Any twin passenger turboprop would be ideal but the Turbine Duke/Grand Duke probably be fine as long as no gps installed 😁. I really want to do it again in bad weather now. I have the whole route the actual flight made from Montevideo to do one day. Incredible how they took the long way round as the plane couldn't fly direct over the Andes as ceiling too low. We have it way too easy these days with our triple ins jets! 

I'll post the route anyway :

SUMU/07 DCT CRR DCT FDO DCT ROS DCT CBA DCT DOZ DCT MLG DCT ICO DCT SCEL. 

1070 miles in a prop airliner in poor weather over a 21000ft mountain range using only vor nav. They actually used dead reckoning which sounds insane now, hence the wrong turn to disaster 35 miles too short due to strong headwinds. The plane had a dme but the pilot didn't use it to check they'd reached the vor that signaled they'd safely crossed the Andes. 

 

4 hours ago, sloppysmusic said:

Would be VERY interested if someone with 2024 could fly the same route and make a comparison? Asking for a friend 😄

Sounds interesting! I’ll try and do that if I get some time today/tomorrow.

Is there a specific altitude, weather and time of day you’re hitting? Or just clear skies at say 2 PM and maybe 5000 ft above the mountains (so roughly FL260?) 

Hmm there used to be an auto screen shot app that I used ages ago in MSFS 2020. By any chance does anyone here remember  the name? 
 

I’ll look for it as well and will edit this post if I find it and it works with 2024. 

8 minutes ago, JonathanC said:

Sounds interesting! I’ll try and do that if I get some time today/tomorrow.

Is there a specific altitude, weather and time of day you’re hitting? Or just clear skies at say 2 PM and maybe 5000 ft above the mountains (so roughly FL260?) 

Look forward to seeing your results!

Altitude 23000 cruise all the way on that route until descent just before Santiago. SAMM is 4666 ALT approx where I started it's where the first vor is located. I flew real time and real weather active with ASFS and very surprisingly it was almost clear sky the whole way. It wasn't supposed to be a sight seeing trip but a challenging vor nav trip testing a plane out where 571 went down. Looked so good I took extra shots though. 

Flight was 4pm gmt so would that be approx 8am in Argentina? 

Thanks for the details. If the kids allow time  I’ll certainly try it. Am sure other people will as well, this is an interesting one! 

To answer the OP, I think you are right that the difference between scenery in MS2020 and MS2024 is to be found mainly on the ground and at lower altitudes, with far less difference at higher altitudes. I have both sims installed and have been doing comparisons of selected areas (e.g., Yosemite,  Yellowstone, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, a number of cities, etc.). There is no doubt that on the ground and within a few hundred feet of the ground, MS2024 is far superior and provides the closest depiction of the real world I have ever experienced in flight simulation. It really approaches photographic quality, at least for me. 

 

@cobalt Well said! Nevertheless, I’m curious if the Bing map textures have been updated in areas of the world e.g. Andes region vs 2020. 

If I get time later today I’ll test it with and without the map enhancement mod.

Just a minor comment to recall that the aircraft involved in that terrible accident was a Fairchild FH-227D, which looked in fact very similar to the Fokker F27-MK500 that we currently have as freeware for MSFS2020 now.

Edited December 31, 20241 yr by edpatino

Well, the Andes crossing was uneventful. Ground doesn't look very good though with default Bing maps (FL230 and TLOD 600 in screenshot below). 

That's not however my biggest problem right now. My biggest problem is that I blatantly disregarded the advice of taking a "twin passenger turboprop" or one of the Dukes. In fact, I'm flying the A319 and will very soon face the challenge of landing on a 975m runway with no published instrument approaches (or at least, none in Navigraph Charts). 

My plan so far: I'll do some sort of custom/hybrid VOR/visual approach to rwy 21 (don't even want to attempt landing on 03 even though there's only a 3kt tailwind). Looks very tricky due to the nearby terrain. So yeah, wish me luck! I'll post some more screenshots later on. 

Maybe I'll just cheat and land on the nearby international airport haha! At least I'm doing 100% VOR navigation, which is always fun in an airliner 🙂

Edited December 31, 20241 yr by Cpt_Piett

Update: I made it! The landing was a bit hairy - might have to get the gear checked ahem. 

I "cheated" a bit by putting the landing rwy as a fix on the ND with a radial and a 5nm arc. Even though, it quickly became clear that there was no way I could aim for my usual 1500ft AGL at 5nm trick for visual approach - due to the terrain. A tricky one - but a fun one for sure! 😄

Btw, my flight plan: SAMM/27 DCT MLG DCT ICO DCT AMB DCT SCVH/21

Edited December 31, 20241 yr by Cpt_Piett

I flew this last night too and it basically looked the same as the few screenshots above. The lighting is different though, and that changes the “feel” of the view. But yes, i didn’t think it was a lot better than 2020 or anything like that. In fact in places it looked worse than OPs pics. 
 

Will post screen shots later when I get a moment.