(FS24) Sunrise and sunset over Amazon - In a King Air C90GTx

[P_7878]

[The MSFS2024 Marketplace is finally open for partial business, though its current state gives me the impression of a local (indoor) mall that I used to visit...often in early weekend mornings...🙂...for walk and a Coffee. Since the front entrance would be open before the individual shops open for business, I would see there only a few shops with any real activity (including the Coffee shop), but most of the shops still shuttered awaiting their opening times, and the tranquility suited me fine...🙂...but NOT here in the MSFS Marketplace...🙂...! I see no big-ticket (3rd-party) aircraft yet, and lots of (my already owned) items now tagged with "Not Developer Approved" warning signs etc. Remember the days: This FS9 aircraft may work in FSX, but NOT tested, so, the developer is not responsible if it does some undesirable damage to your system...🙂...Oh well...At least the front entrance of the (MSFS2024) Marketplace is now open...🙂..., so, things will catch up soon...hopefully...]

For this post, I wished to fly the Beechcraft King Air C90GTx in MSFS2024, having recently seen someone around here...🙂...flying this aircraft. The C90 is the smallest model King Air, a curious and attractive (petite) variation of the legendary (Beechcraft) King Air series, and an immensely likeable GA airplane, especially if you are fond of the King Air Twin turboprops...which I certainly am. Please also note that this post is partially triggered by the (most recent and long awaited) MSFS World Update XIX (touted to enhance half the landmass of South America), which Update also includes Brazil, and, in particular, the hand-crafted airport of (SBSN) in Santarem, Brazil, my departure point for this flight (see my shot #s 2 and 3 below).

Plus, I have an everlasting interest in Rivers of all kinds. And thanks to MSFS, I have (virtually) visited and posted about some of the large rivers of the world...such as the Mississippi, Nile, Rhone, Rhine, Mackenzie (of Canada), Po, and Brahmaputra...just to name a few. These visits in MSFS have surely felt a bit more meaningful (short of RW visits), compared to my FS9/FSX days where I would also conduct such (river) explorations, but my attempts marred by the (same) monotonous, featureless (and always dull blue) ribbons that stood for rivers, meandering through the (equally) featureless terrains of our (one-time) virtual world...🙂...In contrast, here, e.g., the "milky brown" (RW) color of Amazon river in Brazil, I found to be nicely replicated in MSFS (see my images below), including the dense green foliage and vegetations of the Amazon Rainforest, on the river's banks and basins (some images, in fact, coming remarkably close to what I noticed on (RW) on-line pictures). 

So, for this flight, I travel the last (but not the least...!) ~300 miles of the Amazon River...the one and the only one in the world...! I've flown from (SBSN) Airport located in Santarem (Brazil), lifting off at my favorite time of the day in MSFS...🙂...tracking fairly closely the Amazon River's flow (see my customized waypoints on the EFB Map), eventually reaching its (gigantic) merger with the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil's northeastern coast. 

Now, both Amazon and Nile, the two most significant rivers of the world, are well-known for their massive size and length, and also revered for their historical/cultural importance. But which one is longer...? That eternal debate (and bragging rights) will probably be never settled indisputably in human minds...🙂...The Nile is generally considered ~130 miles longer that the Amazon. However, how a (large) river's true length is determined, is somewhat confounding because it is left to human interpretations. Where exactly is the source? Where exactly it got to be called by its current name? How does one account for its numerous tributaries and branches (Amazon has over 1,000 tributaries) ...so on...? Someone has said, "The Nile is like a worm and the Amazon, an anaconda. So, there is no comparison - we have the biggest river, but the longest, we'll see...". So, Amazon is, by far, the world's largest river by volume. By the time it enters Brazil, its average discharge rate is greater than the next seven largest rivers combined. And regarding its length, the (exact) headwaters of Amazon River still remains a subject of scientific study.

Being personally rather familiar with the Mississippi River in U.S., having visited, multiple times, most of the major cities on its 2,300 miles track, and having spent much time in New Orleans (on and off the river's waters), where this massive river discharges into the Gulf of Mexico; it surprised me today to know that the Amazon River discharges 10-12 times more water into the Atlantic Ocean than the Mississippi River. 

A large river, just prior to reaching the ocean, while maintaining the main flow, also branches out into multiple small outlets, for most efficient discharge of the water and sediments it has carried with it. However, Amazon's discharge and delta, is rather different and unique, characterized by the formation of 3 distinct and large branches (best seen in my EFB MAP displays below), so, once I reached the mouth of the river, I was in a quandary...🙂...at the crossroads of a 3-way choice. Do I fly my way into the ocean, by tracking the branch to my left, or center, or right...? I've chosen to proceed straight ahead following the center branch of the river. 

I could visualize how the river's milky-brown (muddy) water gradually and finally meets the blue waters of the vast Atlantic. In the last two images below, my aircraft (and I) are seen suspended in air, above the Atlantic Ocean, just past the remotest point of Amazon's central branch...as the golden lights of sun, setting behind me, from across the South American continent, is shining down...on the river, the ocean, and my C90 GTx...🙂...

The river's long journey, from ocean to ocean, that started 4,000 miles away (from near the Pacific), sprouting from the high mountains of the Peruvian Andes, at 16,500 ft, has finally met its end...at a height what we call the "Mean Sea Level"...of the Atlantic Ocean...

Hope you enjoy this collection of pictures of my tour of (and along) the final segment of the amazing Amazon River, and of this (Baby) King Air C90 GTx which is a nice a/c to fly indeed...that transported me there...in style...🙂...

It was good fun...! Thanks for viewing...!

Edited March 14 by P_7878

[bernd1151]

Very nice shots, P_7878! I need to explore this improved area too.

[John F]

Some terrific river and terrain views there. Really looking forward to spending more time (a lot of time) simming in Brazil.

[pmplayer]

Very nice set, like the different colors of the water, thanks for sharing !

cheers 😉

[P_7878]

17 hours ago, bernd1151 said:

Very nice shots, P_7878! I need to explore this improved area too.

Thanks much, bernd. Yes, please do and share with us your amazing tour pictures from this region...🙂...

 

14 hours ago, John F said:

Some terrific river and terrain views there. Really looking forward to spending more time (a lot of time) simming in Brazil.

Appreciated the comment, John. I recall you'd already ventured a lot into South America in MSFS2020 with reasonable success, but on my Xbox, the terrain textures looked so unpleasant that I gave up. I think the WU XIX might just be good enough for further exploration for me. Have fun flying in Brazil and on this Continent...🙂...

 

7 hours ago, pmplayer said:

Very nice set, like the different colors of the water, thanks for sharing !

cheers 😉

Thank you, pmplayer. Yes, your observations are right...I think MSFS has done a good job here with, at least, the watercolors of Amazon River for the segment I flew (as I also read on-line) ...from coffee-brown to the mixed-blue hues past its merger with the Ocean...

[Alaska738]

Great set of shots! 😉 

[P_7878]

19 hours ago, Alaska738 said:

Great set of shots! 😉 

Thank you for the note...🙂...

Cheers...!