England - The Northwest

We continue our tour around England.

We start at Tatenhill (EGBM), a friendly GA airfield near Burton-on-Trent. It has a great rural feel and is home to some active flight schools. Our first POI is the Villa Park stadium in Birmingham. We stop at Wolverhampton (EGBO), also known as Halfpenny Green, a classic ex-RAF base with three runways. From Wolverhampton, we head west, fly over the Iron Bridge, and continue toward the border to land at Welshpool (EGCW), a mid‑Wales airport born not from the Air Ministry but from a local farmer‑turned‑aviator, Bob Jones, who started with a grass strip on his land in 1990. Developed into Welshpool Mid‑Wales Airport with a hard runway and hangars, it became both a business and community hub, even hosting the Wales Air Ambulance base from 2006.

After departure, we fly over Powis Castle. It is the best-kept castle in Wales and is also known for its gardens. Now we’ll climb over Lake Vyrnwy. It’s a massive Victorian reservoir with a famous stone straining tower that resembles a fairytale castle rising out of the water. From there, we swing back east to land at Shawbury (EGOS). This is a major military helicopter training base.

Next, we track north to Liverpool John Lennon Airport (EGGP). As we depart, we’ll be overflying the city of Liverpool. Look for the Silver Jubilee Bridge and the Mersey Gateway Bridge spanning the River Mersey. A short hop east takes us to Manchester (EGCC). Here we see the Old Trafford Stadium.  It dates from 1910, was rebuilt after WWII bomb damage, and today holds around 74,000 spectators, making it the largest club football stadium in the UK. We see that the Hulme Arch, which was opened in May 1997, has a 52 m steel arch with cable stays, and is mainly there to restore the historic road route while acting as a local landmark. Beetham Tower (Hilton Tower) is a 47‑storey mixed‑use skyscraper on Deansgate, completed in 2006, and for years the tallest building in the UK outside London at 169 m. 1 Angel Square is known for its distinctive glazed, triangular form and highly energy‑efficient design.

As soon as we leave Manchester heading east, we’re crossing the Peak District. As we cross the hills, we’ll fly over Chatsworth House (The Palace of the Peak), one of the most famous stately homes in the UK. It’s massive, surrounded by yellow-green parkland and the River Derwent. Chatsworth is often called the finest country house in England. It has been the seat of the Duke of Devonshire since 1549.

After that, we’ll touch down at Doncaster (EGCN). The RAF Base (depicted in the addon) was decommissioned in 1996, and became an International Airport which ceased operations in 2022. Finally, we head to our destination: Humberside (EGNJ). It’s a busy hub for offshore helicopter operations serving the North Sea gas rigs.

The flight is 238 miles long with 6 landings. The flight plans are here. I will be in the BlackSquare Duke; any GA plane able to cruise at about 160 knots will do.

Recommended scenery:

Tatenhill – EGBM

Wolverhampton – EGBO

Welshpool – EGCW

Shawbury – EGOS

Liverpool – EGGP

Manchester – EGGC

Finningley – EGCN

Humberside – EGNJ

As payware, we have EGBM, EGBO, EGCC, EGCW, EGGP, EGNJ available from or via ORBX.

We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 10 am departure.

Multiplayer Particulars:

Date and time: Sunday, March 22, 2026. 16:00 UTC

Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: South East Asia server

These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication.

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