Lesotho Part II

We continue our round tour of the Kingdom in the Sky.

For our second flight in Lesotho, we depart from an airstrip in South Africa, the Drakensberg Gardens Airport (FADZ). We climb up to land at Sehlabathe (FXSE), head back to the escarpment, and reach Qacha’s Neck (FXQN) again. The town is home to Lesotho's first and only Snake Park, which is conveniently situated at the foot of the historic Letloepe hill/rock formation. We turn northeast and land at Nkaus (FXNK) and Semonkong (FXSM) before reaching Matekane (FXME). The airstrip is often used by charity organizations and doctors to access remote villages in the area and is known as one of the world's scariest runways. Just about 8 miles south of Matekane we land at Nohanas (FXNH). We now turn west again and land at Mohale’s Hoek (FXMH).

In the year after the proclamation that made Lesotho British territory (1869), an assistant commissioner was appointed to administer what was then called Cornet Spruit District - after the Makhaleng River. This would make Mohale's Hoek the second oldest of all the district headquarters towns in Lesotho, except that the town was destroyed during the Gun War of 1880. Southwest of the town near St Patrick's Cathedral are the Motlejoeng caves which were used by the celebrated cannibal, Motlejoa during the Lifaqane.

The final leg gets us back to Maseru (FXMM). The city was established as a police camp and assigned as the capital after the country became a British protectorate in 1869. When the country achieved independence in 1966, Maseru retained its status as capital. The name of the city is a Sesotho word meaning "red sandstones". After the 1998 parliamentary elections in Lesotho led to suspicions of vote fraud and a military intervention by South Africa, much of the city was damaged by riots and pillaging and until almost 2008, the effects of the riots could still be seen within the city.

The flight plans are here.

The flight has about 170 miles and 7 landings. I will be in the Caribou, but the C208, the Twin Otter, or the turbo-charged Bonanza are suitable aircraft. To see the Caribou in MSFS 2024 you may have to enable the airplane in the Marketplace (in your library). The autopilot mod from MSFS 2020 works also in 2024, some keyboard assignments for AP commands may be required.

All recommended sceneries were linked here.

We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 4:00 pm local departure.

Multiplayer Particulars:

Date and time: Sunday, March 16, 2025. 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!