High Adventures in the Alps Redux

High Adventure in the Alps Redux
For Wednesday August 12, 2026
Michael MacKuen

Note. This is a “Summer Rerun” of a previous flight that we flew in MSFS 2020. The June 2024 posting is here. The original has been slightly modified for our purposes.

We revisit the highest Alps of Switzerland and France. From Lugano, we circle the castles of Bellinzona and fly up the Ticino Valley to transit the Gotthard and Furka Passes to Meiringen. Then we spend some time flying through the dramatic peaks of the Bernese and Pennine Alps. Finally, we climb over the Skyway of Mont-Blanc and descend to the comforts of Megève.


The Jungfrau and the Sphinx Observatory

We depart from Lugano [LSZA] in Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. We proceed north along the highways to Bellinzona and its historic castles: Castelgrande, Montebello, and Sasso Corbaro are all UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We land briefly at Lodrino Riviera [LSPR], a formerly a small Swiss Air Force Base [LMSL] that has recently been privatized and renamed. We continue up to Ambri [LSPM] which once was a jet fighter base (with hangers under the mountains). It is now a regional GA facility. We climb up over the Gotthard Pass the historic and still important north-south trade route (nowadays mostly through tunnels). Then west over the Furka Pass (the famous drive is depicted in Goldfinger and more recently here). Turning north, we descend down the Aare Valley to pass Arthur Conan Doyle’s site of Sherlock Holmes’ apparent demise Reichenbach Falls. We land at the current Swiss Air Force Base Meiringen [LSMM] which hosts F/A-18s in a large under-the-mountain cavern on the south side of the field.

From here we engage in a bit of play by flying up to the high ridge site of the Axalp Fliegerschiessen, an annual “training” exercise by the Swiss Air Force to which the public is invited (film here). (We shall run a west-to-east “gunnery pass” at the targets before circling back to see the crowds of camera-wielding onlookers.) Then down over the beautiful Brienzersee to land at Interlaken [LSMI]. This is a former air base that is now closed but used by helicopter operators and occasionally by military contractors. In place of the roar of Hawker Hunters, the base is almost silent as it hosts a largely-failed amusement park that was centered on Erich von Däniken’s theories of ancient astronauts as explanations of the world’s mysteries.

Next we ascend the Bernese Alps to see the iconic peaks of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau (the “ogre”, “monk” and “virgin”). The prominent mountains dominate the vista for miles around. We climb (vigorously) along the mountainsides taking in the famous North Face of the Eiger. The sheer north face was long thought to be too dangerous for serious climbers before it was finally attempted (in 1935) and ascended (in 1938). Since 1935, at least 65 climbers have died attempting the north face. This is the Nordwand (“north wall”) and has earned the German nickname Mordwand (“murder wall”). After we ascend we curl back over the snow-packed southern sides of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. Just southward lies the Aletsch Glacier, the largest in the Alps. Forward, on the saddle between the Monch and Jungfrau, we see the Sphinx Observatory perched on a sharp rocky summit. It operates a scientific astronomical observatory as well as a public observation deck with bars and restaurants. (It is served by an inside-the-mountain railroad line that carries a half-million visitors a year up to the spectacular observatory.) We continue along the “top of Europe” to the Daubensee and descend southward to the Rhone Valley to land at the small airport at Raron [LSTA].

After a moment we turn south up the Matter Valley to the Pennine Alps. We climb to Zermatt, the world famous mountaineering and skiing resort. Continuing the climb along the cog-railway line, we see the hotel/ski/observatory complex Gornergrat (10,500) and note the railway station and its waiting rail cars. We then proceed to glance at the Gant-Hohtsälli aerial tramway station (11,000). Continuing eastward past the Stockhorn peak, we encounter the stunning view over the Swiss-Italian border. Some pilots may choose to go direct to the Gorner Glacier. Others may continue climbing (to about 15,100) before turning around over the Monte Rosa massif to see the Dufourspitze (15,203), the highest peak in Switzerland. We continue west over the Gorner Glacier (Grenzgletscher), the second largest glacial system in the Alps. And flying further we get a good look at the Matterhorn, perhaps the most famous peak of the Swiss Alps. We continue at altitude over the high Pennine Alps to enjoy the peaks, glaciers and lakes. At the Grand Combin massif we turn south and descend into Italy to land at Aosta [LIMW].

Our final exercise lies to the west. We depart and climb along the Aosta Valley toward Mont Blanc. We shall trace the Mont Blanc Skyway (Skyway Monte Bianco) which begins at Courmayeur alongside the Italian entrance to the busy Mont Blanc Tunnel. The cablecar system rises up the mountainside to Pointe Helbronner (and the nearby legendary Refugio Torino) and then to the Aiguille du Midi peak at the top. On a steep descent we turn at the Plan de l’Aiguille station to see the French entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel. We then proceed to our final destination Megève [LFHM]. The altiport hosts the Megève Flying Club (for mountain pilots) as well as a “convivial restaurant and terrasse.” We’ll gather at the Coucou Café to swap tales of our derring-do.

Documentation
The flightplan can be found here.

Aircraft
This is a flight of about 250nm with 7 landings. Some serious climbing is involved. A reasonably powerful GA aircraft will be able to climb to altitude and then move smartly along. We want something that will cruise at about 150kts and climb to and operate at 13,000-14,000 feet. Most of our favorite fast singles will do the job. I’ll probably fly the default Cirrus SR22T or Bonanza A36TC. A good alternative would be the Cessna Caravan. Please fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
Almost all of the airports are in the default simulator. That said, several addons will enhance the scenery appreciably. Thanks to these talented addon creators.

Lugano-Agno [LSZA]. tchax95
Lodrino [LSML]. Heli30. Now privatized and renamed Riviera Airport.
Lodrino Riviera [LSPR].  Heli30 
Airbase Meiringen [LSMM]. unglajo10
Fliegerschiessen Axalp. ChrisPiAviation
Interlaken [LSMI]. FxM42
Jungfraupark Interlaken. Bruchpilot80 (Optional)
Swiss Huts Mittellegihutte & Monchsjochhutte. topgunsi (Optional)
Aosta [LIMW]. WonderOfficial
Skyway Mont Blanc. mamudesign
Swiss Mountains Tree Fix. THEOLI4D
Temporarily, you can obtain the freeware package here (829MB).

(If you have them, you probably want to activate the mamudesign power lines and especially the ski lifts.)

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Wednesday, set the simulator for late Summer afternoon at 15:00pm local for August 12, 2026. We typically prefer real weather but today I will recommend the  default “High Clouds” or “Clear Skies” preset. Real weather will cover much of the terrain in snow – far beyond what we might expect in mid-Summer. For our high altitude sightseeing, we want high clouds or clear skies rather other cloud mixes.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Wednesday, August 12, 2026. 1800 UTC (2000CEST, 1400EDT, 1100PDT)
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!