Over the Hills and Through the Alps of Western Slovenia

[MM]

Over the Hills and Through the Alps of Western Slovenia
For April 9, 2025
Michael MacKuen

After a few years, we shall return to the forested hills and alpine mountains of Slovenia. This small country (about 2.1 million people) has long been at the crossroads of Slavic, Germanic and Romance cultures. And the territory has been ruled as part of many larger states, most recently the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. After WWII it became part of Tito’s Socialist Yugoslavia. In 1991 it split from Yugoslavia and became a member of the EU and a fairly prosperous society.

Threading Through the Julian Alps

Our day begins at Portorož [LIPZ], a spa and seaside resort city. This is Slovenia’s third international airport – nowadays serving regional turboprops. On the way out we fly over the peninsular town Piran to glance at its harbor, medieval architecture, public square, and St. George’s Church. This old Italian town is now one of Slovenia’s main tourist attractions. We then see Trieste which was, under the Hapsburgs, the main city of the region. After a period of stagnation, it has now become a deep-water port for southern Central Europe. The city itself lies on a narrow flat shelf on the Gulf of Trieste. The city’s landscape thus lies at the foot of an imposing escarpment that comes down abruptly from the Karst Plateau above. A dramatic sight for our flight. And we do a quick pass over Lipica, the original home of the Lipizzan horse breed which is famous for their great performances with the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

We land at Divaca [LJDI], Slovenia’s oldest airport. It began as an Italian bomber field in WWI and became a flying club during the interwar years. After being ignored for some time, it has recently been renovated with facilities for the flying club at mid-field and a private hangar facility at the northwest. A short flight takes us to Predjama Castle which was originally built in a cave to enhance its defenses. (One famous occupant rebelled against the Hapsburg Empire and in this castle was able to hold off the Imperial forces for a year’s time…it did not come out well in the end.) We continue on to land at Podpeč Field [LJNO], a small glider strip nestled alongside the Ljubljanica River. After a moment, we fly into Ljubljana, the nation’s capital and largest city. It’s worth circling over Ljubljana Castle, a former military stronghold and now a venue for public events. Below the castle, we can see the old town with the cathedral and Congress Square. Turning to the southeast, we fly over forested parks and hills to land at the grass field Šentvid pri Stični [LJSE].

Next we head north over terrain to the Sava River before turning through an opening to land at Zagorje Ob Savi [LJZA]. The small slightly uphill strip is maintained by the local flying club. (This is a short field with a tricky approach. Some pilots may choose to do a low pass here.) Flying north, we cross mountain ridges before descending to the paved field at Šoštanj [LJSO], another aeroclub facility. (The massive power plant here has retired four old-technology units and is now running two “modern” coal power plants. Lots of controversy here both for the coal-sourced pollution and the scandals surrounding the construction.) Finally, we fly over the hills and land at Slovenj Gradic [LJSG]. The local club here has modernized the runway and spiffed up the restaurant and added a hotel.

After a few moments, we climb up to the top of Mount St. Ursula to see the small Gothic church and a mountain inn from which the views are grand. Continuing westward, we pass through the attractive Kamnik-Savinja Alps to eventually reach Ljubljana Jože Pučnik [LJLJ], the nation’s primary international airport. Next we fly northwest over Brdo Castle (formerly a renaissance palace and Tito’s summer residence and now a diplomatic conference center). Shortly we land at Lesce-Bled [LJBL]. This is another well-established aeroclub airstrip that hosts a particularly active 300-member glider operation. (The local conditions facilitate long distance flights – including some record-setting efforts – over the rising thermals of the nearby Alps.) We take off and quickly come to the most famous tourist spot of Slovenia. This is the town of Bled on glacial Lake Bled with its iconic Bled Castle and island-sited Church of the Assumption. Worth a circle to appreciate the sight.

Continuing to the west, we climb into the Julian Alps to pass the Triglav massif (the peak at 9,395ft is a national symbol of Slovenia), make our way through the Luknja Pass, and then down through the Soča river valley to stop at the tourist town Bovec [LJBO]. The grass strip here is used for sport flying and especially skydiving operations in the area. We continue along the beautiful Soča valley whose emerald-blue waters owe their color to local bedrock minerals that dissolve into the water. This is tourist country that has a special international appeal for its trout fishing. At the end of the mountains we pass by (or under) the Solkan Bridge, the world’s second-longest stone arch bridge. This was built in the early 20^th century to complete a trans-Alpine railway that connected Austria and Central Europe with the Adriatic. It was once a truly strategic line that ran through major mountain tunnels but it fell into secondary importance for some time. However, recently the railway and the port of Trieste have been renewed as a way to connect Central Europe with the Mediterranean.

We reach Gorizia, the regional town that played a prominent role the area’s history. It is just on the Italian side of the border. After passing over Gorizia Castle, we land at Gorizia [LIPG], the airport that hosts the second factory of Slovenia’s Pipistrel aircraft company. After visiting the site, we turn east for a look at the classic Rihemberk Castle. And then we end our flight at Ajdovščina [LJAJ]. This is the main home for Pipistrel who have had award-winning success with the lightweight Sinus and Virus and are now turning toward work on all-electric-powered aircraft. (Just two years ago, Textron purchased Pipistrel for its alternative aircraft development program.) To celebrate our little event, the company has invited us to a gathering complete with refreshments and food.

Documentation
The flightplans can be found here.

Aircraft
This is a flight of 230 miles. We shall want light sport aircraft with a “fast cruise” of about 125ktas. Some possibilities include the JMB VL3, C172 Skyhawk, the Pipistrel Virus, the Cubcrafters XCub or NXCub, and for “wind-in-the-wires” the Stearman (modern). Also the Vans RV-8 and RV-14 are of the proper type – though faster than necessary. In fact almost any light GA aircraft will be just fine. I’ll probably fly the featured Pipistrel Virus. As ever, please fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
Not all of the airports are in the default simulator. I recommend the following scenery to enhance our experience and to add some character. (These are MSFS2020 sceneries that work well enough in MSFS2024.) Thanks to the authors (especially Neptune11) for their talent and efforts. (You may have some of these already. Do be sure that you have the latest updated version of each to insure compatibility with World Update 14.)

Recommended:
Portoroz [LJPZ]. Troglodytus. (Either latest-larger v1.0 or older-smaller v0.7.)
Divaca [LJDI]. Neptune11. Video here.
Sentvid pri Sticni [LJSE]. Neptune11.
Slovenj Gradec [LJSG]. Neptune11. Video here.
Sostanj [LJSO] and thermal power plant. Neptune11. Video here.
Ljubljana [LJLJ]. Spiki.
Lesce Bled [LJBL]. Neptune11. Video here.
Gorizia Airfield [LIPG] and Pipistrel factory. Neptune11
Ajdovscina [LJAJ] and Pipistrel factory. Neptune11. Video here.

Notes. Portoroz [LJPZ] is a large download by Troglodytus. (His excellent work is often a bigger download than you might expect. This one is newly constructed with new land features and enhanced Piran scenery.) If you are worried about size, you might consider the older 2021 version, at about half the size. (Both are available at the same FlightSim.to page.) Or, of course, you might go with the default. Zagorje [LJZA] is a good quality addition from World Update 14. In addition, there is a highly-acclaimed payware 2020 version of Ljubljana [LJLJ] from a small Slovenian developer Scenic Routes. [Simmarket & MSFS Marketplace at about $17.] And ST Simulations has a just-released 2024 model of Bovec [LJBO]. [At Simmarket and Contrail (not sure if newest version here).]

You can get a FULL package here (1.2GB). Alternatively you can download a LIGHT package that does not include Portoroz (358MB). (Please download the Portoroz version you want from FlightSim.to or use the default.)

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Wednesday, set the simulator at 3:00pm local for April 9, 2025.
We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Wednesday, April 9, 2025. 1800 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!