MM

PS. As a backup, in case of dismal weather, we can readily use Friday October 19, 2018 at 1800 UTC. Some clouds but mostly clear enough in the critical areas along the Kokoda Track. PS2. Andrew Crowley did a set of AFCADS for the Kukoda Track airstrips. You might find these handy if you want to place your aircraft at one of these fields...say after a computer crash or some such. Quick, easy install. Available at the AVSIM library here. (I'm using this one.) Alternatively, Matt Levi has done the same. He adds helicopter pads. Different, but also at the AVSIM library here.

Looks great, Roger. Now, this is not for everyone. I've compiled a small "Kokoda Track Resources" sheet with URL references. Some videos of Twin Otter flights into a number of our now-familiar PNG airports...from Tapini to Efogi. Then a website, an interesting article, and an amateur video that describe the contemporary Kokoda Track environment. And finally, a page of references to some historic newsreels, and a long documentary, about the 1942 Kokoda Track Campaign that has become a defining moment for Australians. The reference sheet is available here. --M

Steve. Yup. Just a little kidding here. (Hard to do online without emoticons.) 😉 My apologies. Mike

Roman, just spectacular images. A pleasure to see these. And Steve, which aircraft was the "Tiger"? Not sure which one you have in mind. ...

Thanks, Roger. We have enjoyed flying in PNG in several different ways. And it will be a great pleasure to come back again to this wonderful environment. Here is a previous "Pilot's Guide" that includes materials on many of the airports that we shall visit (and more). I believe that it has been widely unread. If you wish to add to the numbers, you can make a special effort to ignore the document that is available here. M

The weather today looks like fog and clouds with clearing much later. Let's treat ourselves to good weather. I suggest that we initiate our weather engines for May 15, 2018 at 1600 UTC. (Or go to "Fair Weather" or its equivalent.) And, as indicated before, set our departure time from CYCP at 1230 hours (12:30pm) local time.

The Canadian Rockies We shall fly through a part of the Canadian Rockies along the Alberta-British Columbia border. We start at Blue River [CYCP] to land at Valemount [CAH4]. Then we pick up Yellowhead Pass [YHEAD] which is the main northern pass through the Rocky Mountains. If the visibility is right we shall see the magnificent Mount Robson as we turn at waypoint [ROBSN]. Then we fly through the pass along Route 16 toward Jasper [JASPR] and its small grass field northeast of town at [CYJA]. (The field is normally closed to outsiders, but an exception has been made.) We go south for a long leg. Flying high in the Rockies, we follow the Athabasca River and the scenic Icefields Parkway for about 60nm to turn west at the popular Athabasca Glacier [ATHAG]. If you look closely, you can see the specially-equipped tourist busses that go up the glacier. Climb to over 10,000 and observe the dramatic Columbia Icefields, with the Snow Dome and imposing Mount Columbia [COLUM] on the right. Then descend into the Columbia River valley and proceed to the recreation-oriented town Golden [CYGE]. In the final phase, we fly through Kicking Horse Pass [KHORW and KHORE] which is the main southern pass through the mountains. With an elevation of 5,338 ft and dangerous winters, the Canadian Pacific Railroad had to do some work to develop the route for what was then the primary connection between eastern Canada and British Columbia. (At the waypoint [SPIRI] you can see the impressive engineering feat employed by the CPR to permit trains to ascend/descend the steep pass more safely. The engineers tunneled two spirals into the mountainsides north and south of the pass to "flatten out" the grade.) The pass now incorporates the Trans Canada Highway, Highway 1. We pass the Fairmont Lodge at Lake Louise (LAKLU) and turn at Banff (the grand old Fairmont hotel at Banff Springs is marked as [GRAND]) to land at the grass strip [CYBA]. Finally, we descend to the Albertan plains to land at Calgary Springbank (CYBW). This is the main General Aviation field for Calgary. With its many based-aircraft, helicopters, maintenance facilities, flight schools and other aviation businesses, Springbank is one of Canada's busiest airports. (In 2016, it ranked 6th overall with 432 aircraft movements per day). Flight Plan The flight plan, in two formats, is available here. Aircraft The route is 318nm as the crow flies but about 360nm with all the twists and turns through the passes, valleys, and between mountain peaks. You probably want something that fast-cruises at 160-170kts (or more) so that we can complete our journey in the allotted time. Good choices might include faster singles like the Comanche, Bonanza, Lancair Legacy or Vans. Or you might prefer a light twin such as the C310, Baron, DA62, or possibly the C421 or Duke. Many other options will work just as well. Please fly what you like. Scenery This route is handsomely depicted by the Orbx Northern Rockies regional package. It should be fine with the Orbx basic packages: FTX Global, North America Landclass, and Vector. (If you are using Vector, you might disable the Airport Elevation Correction, AEC, for Jasper CYJA.) Weather When we fly through the mountains, the weather will matter. The first choice will be live weather. And the forecast for Saturday, October 6, 2018, is for sunny skies! But if we have clouds that prevent mountain flying (as has been the case for several months in the Canadian Rockies), then we might consider switching to historical weather. It appears that most of the route is partly cloudy but flyable if you use Active Sky starting at 1600 UTC on October 3, 2018. Alternatively, sunny skies predominate if you use Active Sky at 1600 UTC on May 15, 2018. Or, if that does not work, you might select "Fair Weather" or some alternative that will allow you to fly safely in the mountains. Where & When Date and time: Saturday October 6, 2018. 18:00 UTC. Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com Cross-Platform Multiplayer: JoinFS. (FSX, FSX-SE, and P3D). 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! Recommend that you set your departure clock to 1230 hours (12:30pm) in local time at Blue River. (The flight plan crosses time zones.) We shall appreciate good visibility as we wend our way between rocky mountainsides.

Jeff. What a wonderful idea for an Autumn flight. Fall Foliage is something long-honored by New Englanders. We can enjoy some drone footage starting with an interesting and beautiful New England sampling here. Following the flight plan, we have the quiet solitude of the Adirondacks here. Then spectacular Vermont here and the White Mountains here. And we finish with the classic Acadia National Park here . We can, sort of, experience all this because the artists at Orbx did a "brilliant" job. --M

Great flight through lovely country with delightful companions. Josh, thanks for designing an enjoyable event.

If you please, here are a couple of sources from last year's flight. First, if you are worried about having to take more than one approach into the final airport at Speyer, then you have company. Here is the 1999 arrival of the Ukrainian An‑22 into Speyer for display in the museum. You might like the Tecknik Museum Speyer's description of the details. The video is more dramatic: the cinematic Antonov film and the rougher Museum film. Then here is Gunter's reference to the very different arrival of the Lufthansa aircraft. "This is how the 747 got there." And finally, Bert posted: "This is the hotel that Ricki and I stayed at. Click on the map at the bottom for a detailed view" of the castles over which we shall fly.

Jeff's selection of videos of the approaches and landings is just terrific. (Not to mention the spectacular films of Concordia, K2 and the Karakoram.) This is all going to be great fun. If you would like to use more of your time on this, you might look at the longer set of YouTube videos by PIA Captain Salehyar Janjua of his ATR 42-500 flights in northern Pakistan during 2016. See a full listing here. Many of these are instructive about the nature of the actual approach into the different airports. In particular, you might enjoy his approach into Skardu (OPSD) from the north – lots of actual flying through the valleys here. (You might speed through the first several minutes of scenic views to get to his flying the approach.) Unhappily, Janjua died in a crash in October 2016 when his ATR lost an engine en route from Chitral to Islamabad. See the wiki page here. (There is some newspaper speculation about what happened here and here.) We can certainly appreciate the danger of this flying regime.

!

Some lovely airliner approaches here. Great stuff.

Addendum. You might like to trace the route on this excellent map of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. (Download and blow it up for the detail.)

Majestic Wilderness We visit the western section of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in southern Alaska. This flight is over a wilderness populated by black bears and grizzlies, moose, caribou, and mountain goats with rivers rich in salmon and trout. We depart from Valdez [PADV] to follow the southernmost sections of the famous Richardson Highway and the parallel Trans Alaska Pipeline. We fly through the Chugach Mountains, over Thompson Pass [K55], to the Pipeline's Pumping Station Number 12 [PUMP] and then direct to land at Chitina's airfield [CXC] on the Copper River. Then along the Chitina River to land on the small airstrips at Long Lake [4AK3] and then Glacier Creek [KGZ]. We ascend the valley, climbing to 10,000 to fly along the shoulder of the University Range and, subsequently, descend down Hawkins Glacier to the Chitina River below. We land at the Ultima Thule Lodge (in Orbx SAK) [THULE] (or if you do not have Orbx SAK, at the fictional Last Resort at Bear Island [BEARI] or further along at Jakes Bar [AK0]). After a cheese sandwich (or something more local) and a coffee, we push on from the luxurious lodge to the historic settlement McCarthy and its active airstrip [15Z]. We pass the famous Kennecott Mine and climb the Kennicott Glacier to an elevation of about 10,000, pass between Mount Blackburn and the Atna Peaks, and enter the glaciers and snowfields of the Wrangell Range. At waypoint [TOP], elevation 7380, we land on skis, tundra tires, or ordinary tires and stop to admire the crisp panoramic views. (This real world airstrip at the top of the Nabesna Glacier is used by professional pilots for skiing, climbing, and scientific expeditions. Not depicted in the simulator.) Then westward along the top, we pass the massive volcano Mount Wrangell on the south and the Copper Glacier on the north. Finally, we descend between Mount Sanford and Mount Drum along the Sanford River onto the plain below. Rejoining the Copper River and the Richardson Highway, we land on the lighted asphalt runway at busy Gulkana airport [PAGK]. For an excellent introductory film about flying in the Wrangell St. Elias wilderness, see this personal Bush Pilot's View, narrated by Lynn Ellis (5:45). Flight Plan The flight plan and a Pilots' Guide are available here. Aircraft The route is 305nm so you probably want something that cruises at 150kts or more so that we can complete our journey in the allotted time. Aside from the first and last airfields, we shall be landing on gravel/dirt/snow fields so you might prefer an aircraft with sturdy landing gear designed for rough surfaces. Good choices might include the C182, C185, C206 Soloy, DHC-6 Twin Otter, and the Quest Kodiak. Many other options will work just as well. Please fly what you like. Scenery This route shows off the landscape artistry of Orbx Southern Alaska Region scenery package. It works well enough with the Orbx basic packages: FTX Global, North America Landclass, and Vector. The Orbx payware PAVD Valdez Pioneer Field provides a stylish departure point: before the flight, you can check out the Trans Alaska Pipeline terminal across the bay from the airport. Additional eye-candy is available with two Return to Misty Moorings packages: Chitina-Kennekot and Last Resort at Bear Island. These add some enhancements to the airstrips, some cabins, and the Kennecott Mine. They do not require the RTMM scenery libraries. (If you do not have Orbx Southern Alaska, you might install the Last Resort at Bear Island to create an alternative landing site on the Chitina River. Or you might just proceed to Jakes Bar.) None of these enhancements is necessary. Weather The weather will matter. The first choice will be live weather. But if we have clouds that prevent mountain flying (as is often the case in Alaska), then we might consider switching to historical weather. Zane Jacobson's 2015 C170 trip to the region (see the report and video in the Pilots' Guide) encountered beautiful weather and we shall use his experienced environment to be sure that we can do our flying on the scheduled day. (Start Active Sky at 1800 UTC on May 4, 2015.) Or, if that does not work, you might select "Fair Weather" or some alternative that will allow you to fly safely in the mountains. Where & When Date and time: Saturday July 7, 2018. 18:00 UTC. Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com Cross-Platform Multiplayer: JoinFS. (FSX, FSX-SE, and P3D). 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! Recommend that you set your departure clock to 1730 hours (5:30pm) in local time. While we should finish before sunset, Gulkana airport does have lights to insure a safe arrival in the event of unexpected delays.