2026-07-05 Sierra Foothills

Sierra Foothills
For Sunday, July 5, 2026
Michael MacKuen

This flight is a quick substitute for our normal Sunday offerings hosted by Gunter.

Today we enjoy a late afternoon flight over the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. This is a countryside made famous by gold and wine. We will have the pleasure of flying over Yosemite National Park, and then flights into airports perched on the ridges and hills of the California gold rush and later the early century of California wines. And finally, we get a chance to soak in the beauty of Lake Tahoe.


Blue Canyon

We begin at Lee Vining [O24] to climb up in the Sierra Nevada through Tioga Pass. (Closed in the winter, it opened this year six weeks ago.) We cross over Tuolumne Meadows while gazing at the vast beauty of Yosemite. And then turn down Tenaya Creek to Olmstead Point – to see the framed picture of Half Dome and Clouds Rest. Over Yosemite Valley we pass Sentinel Dome, Yosemite Falls, and of course El Capitan. At Tunnel View, we can look into our mirrors for an Ansel Adams moment. Exiting the Park, we proceed over the forested hills to land at Mariposa-Yosemite [KMP].

After a few minutes, we continue over the New Exchequer, Don Pedro and New Melones Dams and their associated lakes and reservoirs. These remind us that besides gold and wine, the Sierra Nevada are economically critical for California because the winter snow melt supplies the water for the state’s urban populations and the water that irrigates the rich farms of the Central Valley. We land at Columbia Tuolumne County [O22], a GA airport with aircraft maintenance and restoration shops. And proceed on to Calaveras County-Rasmussen Field [KCPU], made more interesting by its ridgetop location. This is old Gold Rush country, made especially famous by the young story-telling journalist Mark Twain.

We continue north to Placerville [KPVF], a long established GA field with Piper Cubs and corporate jets. And it is well-known as having an especially friendly aero club. (They just held a July 4^th Pancake Breakfast!) Further along, we land at Grass Valley’s Nevada County [KGOO] which was built in 1934 to support a local gold mine (flying gold to the San Francisco mint). It was rebuilt in 1955 by local entrepreneur to attract new businesses to the region. It is now home base to Juan Browne of the Blancolirio Channel.

We depart to the east, climbing 14nm to land at Blue Canyon-Nyack [KBLU] – and take in the magnificent view. Continuing, we pass over the Donner Pass to land at Truckee [KTRK]. And finally over the deep blue of Lake Tahoe to land at the airport Lake Taho [KTVL].

This is all familiar territory. We can relax and enjoy it again.

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
This route runs 247nm and is designed for GA aircraft. We want planes that can fast-cruise at about 160-170kts. I shall probably take the Black Square Bonanza. As ever, fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
All of the airports are in the default simulator. For some local color, I recommend the following freeware addon airport packages. Thanks to these fine authors for their talent and efforts.

Recommended:
Lee Vining [O24]. Zepingouin35
Mariposa-Yosemite [KMPI].  Vince Bazillio
Columbia Tuolumne County [O22].  Nandengo12
Calaveras County-Maury Rasmussen Field [KCPU].  Nandengo12
Placerville [KPVF].  Vince Bazillio
Nevada County [KGOO].  dvlourie
Truckee-Tahoe [KTRK]. Windhover

You can get the freeware package here. The package also includes freeware creations that are difficult to find. (Please check for duplicates of previously installed packages.)

There is a nice (and inexpensive) payware Blue Canyon-Nyack [KBLU] at Orbx. A little visual treat – but we shall not stay there long. Our final destination Lake Tahoe [KTVL] is a MSFS handcrafted airport.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Sunday, set the simulator at 16:00pm local for July 5, 2026. We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Sunday, July 5, 2026. 1600 UTC (1800CEST, 1200EDT, 0900PDT)
Where: RTWR Multiplayer Discord Channel
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: South-East Asia 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). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!