Aegean Spring

Aegean Spring
For March 22, 2025
Michael MacKuen

Today we travel to the Greek Islands to enjoy a brisk early Spring day. During the Summer, the islands are hopping with tourists. During March, on the other hand, the temperatures are 60F (16C) degrees and the winds can be strong. Great days for a relaxed casual visit. From Lemnos, we fly south along the Turkish coast to visit the islands of the North Aegean including Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria. We continue into the center of the Aegean to see the tourist-popular Cycladic Islands including Syros, Santorini and our final stop Mykonos. These different islands, along with Athens, were the center for classical Greek culture which helped define the mathematics, science, art, theater, literature, philosophy and politics that we associate with Western Civilization.


Taking an off-season open slot at Mykonos

We begin at Lemnos (Limnos) [LGLM] in the northern Aegean at the fringe of Greek culture. The largely flat agricultural island once served as Constantinople’s granary but is now more self-sufficient than an exporter. We head south while taking care not to fly over Turkey (no need for extra paperwork). We get a good look at Lesbos, the third largest Greek island, with its olive tree covered hillsides. We land at the main city Mytilene (Mitilini) [LGMT]. During the Classic period, Lesbos was seen as a cultural hot point with poets and historians coming for the relatively free-thinking ambiance. (Nowadays, the most prominent of these poets was Sapho whose poetry explored the inner thoughts of romance and family life.) Then to Chios [LGHI], the fifth largest island. Historically, the southern part of the island was world-famous for its mastic gum cultivation and a great source of wealth. Tragically, in 1822 during the Greek War of Independence, Chios joined the revolt and the Ottoman Turks responded with the Chios Massacre in which troops killed or enslaved 100,000 islanders while another 20,000 escaped as refugees. Despite the devastation, later in the 19^th century Chios became the birthplace of modern Greek shipping with 440 ships, 3,000 sailors, and associated merchants and bankers. Only after the 1912 Balkan War did Chios become part of the new Greek state.

We proceed south to land at Samos [LGSM]. Commercial flights into the island face a special challenge – the approach from the West is blocked by mountains and from the East is prohibited by Turkish airspace. Thus, the normal approach is from the south with a circle west to land on Rwy 09. (When necessary, a similar circle to 27 is possible but not preferred due to the character of local winds.) [For more, see the explanatory note accompanying the flightplans.] Historically, Samos was been a rich and powerful island with fertile fields and vineyards. During the Classic period, it was home to Pythagoras, Epicurus, Herodotus, and astronomer Aristarchus. As our other islands, Samos was ruled by the Roman, Byzantian and Ottoman empires before reintegrating with the Greek state after the Balkan Wars. Through the  years, it has remained fairly prosperous with its agricultural products, especially its Muscat wine. And at the end of the 20^th century it became popular with European vacationers. Most recently, as with Lesbos and Chios, Samos has been disrupted by the thousands of Syrian refugees living in camps.

Turning east, our next destination is Ikaria [LGIK]. In legend, Icarus is believed to have fallen into the sea nearby. Far from the center of modern Greece, Ikaria has maintained a very traditional lifestyle. Notably, the island has gained fame as the foremost of the "Blue Zones" where the population regularly lives to an advanced age. A subject of some scientific interest.

After departing and viewing the long ridgeline island, we fly 68nm to Syros [LGSO] where Ermoupoli is an historically significant port and the modern commercial center and capital of the Cyclades. Not a really a tourist magnet, the city nevertheless appeals with its elegant architecture gracing the steep hillsides.

We continue to Milos [LGML], the southwestern corner of the Cyclades. Volcanic in origin, the island is still a hot spot. Gases forced up from the Earth's interior both produce hot springs and also heat the soil to yield exploitable minerals. Almost 10 percent of the land is being mined for various minerals whose names you have never heard. In recent decades, Milos has started to attract more visitors as a quiet relaxed getaway.

The island is famous for the Venus de Milo and the Asclepius of Milos, two of the classics of early sculpture. An active independent city state during the Classic period, Milos sided with Sparta during the Peloponnesian War in the late fifth century BC. An invading Athenian army demanded tribute and the Melians refused. After their subsequent military victory, the Athenians executed all the adult men and sold the women and children into slavery.

On departure, we head over the water to Santorini [LGSR]. The island is part of an archipelago formed by a caldera rim that marks the one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history. This, the Minoan eruption, occurred about 3600 years ago and left deposits of volcanic ash hundreds of feet deep. The ensuing gigantic tsunami may have led to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. Today, the island's larger towns are perched on the high cliff's edge of the caldera, with their houses pushing and shoving each other to grab the most spectacular sunset view. From the west, this is a dramatic visual approach.

Santorini (officially "Thera") is now primarily a tourist center. This is picture-postcard stuff. During the season, the harbor hosts cruise ships and the streets, shops, and restaurants serve thousands of tourists every day. (We’d love to hear more from the real-world visitors in our gang.) The international airport, with jet connections to Europe's major cities, does its share to energize the tourist economy.

Next comes Naxos [LGNX], the largest of the Cyclades. According to local legend (and contrary to the common tale), Zeus grew up on Naxos and received his thunderbolt from an eagle on the peak of Mount Zas. Historically, Naxos was the most prosperous of the Aegean islands and was a target for both Persia and Athens in their imperial designs. Today it remains a wealthy agricultural island as well as a wind-surfing sun-worshiping beach resort.

The last of our Cycladic visits is Mykonos [LGMK]. Just west lies Delos, the small sacred island of Greek history. It served as a special religious site and symbolic geographic core for Greek culture in the Aegean. Nearby Mykonos was historically unimportant. From the mid-twentieth century, of course, the island has become the hottest tourist spot in the Aegean. This is the party capital of the region. During the season, the town and the nearby beaches are loud, decadent, and unforgettable. Once a spot for the wealthy jet set, the island now attracts the mass tourist trade as well – with exclusive shops and chic restaurants mixed in with establishments of a more general clientele. If we have extra time, we might circle to see the classic white town and harbor on the west and the beaches on the north, east, and most famously the south coasts. The airport (opened in 1971) is a busy commercial operation with traffic tripling in the last 10 years. During the summer nowadays, general aviation is severely limited in order to reserve space for the jet transports and mass tourism. Happily, we have secured slots for our flight. Of special interest to pilots, Mykonos's nickname is "the Island of the Winds" – due to the intensity of the winds that usually blow on the island.

Documentation
The flightplans can be found here.

Aircraft
This is a flight of 450 miles. We shall want aircraft with a “fast cruise” of about 220ktas. Some possibilities include the C414 Chancellor (with some rocket boost), the Beech B60 Duke and Turbine Duke, the Beech King Air C90, the Daher TBM 850/930, and the Pilatus PC-12. Faster yet are the Beech King Air 350 and the Cirrus Vision Jet. Much faster would be the Piaggio P.180. I’ll probably fly the PC-12. As ever, please fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
All of the airports are in the default simulator. I recommend the following scenery to enhance our experience. (These are MSFS2020 sceneries that work well in MSFS2024.) Thanks to the authors for their talent and efforts.

Recommended:
Limnos [LGLM] jackzyg Greek Airports 2
Chios [LGHI]. JasonGR
Mitilini Odysseas Elytis [LGMT]. JasonGR
Samos [LGSM]. AlexAB
Ikaria [LGIK]. nkxd
Syros [LGSO]. JDot039 (for better version, see complete package below)
Milos [LGML]. jackzyg Greek Airports 2
Santorini [LGSR]. jackzyg Greek Airports 5
Naxos [LGNX]. jackzyg Greek Airports 2
Mikonos [LGMK]. JasonGR

You can get a download package here (1.08GB).

There is also a good payware rendition of Samos [LGSM] by Terrainy Studios (2020). See Orbx and simMarket. And good models of Santorini [LGSR] and Mykonos [LFMK] (2020/2024) by 29Palms. See Contrail and simMarket. I have and recommend these three. And yet, while not as detailed, the freeware versions of these airports are just fine for our purposes.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 2:00pm local for March 22, 2025.
We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Saturday, March 22, 2025. 1900 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!