Viking01

Let‘s stick to the North American times. I will be there in time. Gunter

This is the first flight following the majestic Yangtze River! Spanning over 6,300 kilometers, the Yangtze (or Chang Jiang) is Asia's longest river, flowing from the high-altitude glaciers of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau all the way to the East China Sea. It has served as China's ultimate geographic and economic lifeline for millennia, carving through dramatic gorges and nurturing massive megacities. With no airports between the Yushu Batang Airport in Tibet (close to the river's source) and Kangding, the flight departs from Kangding (ZUKD). Sitting at a staggering elevation of over 4,280 meters (14,042 feet), it's one of the highest commercial airports in the world. Located in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in western Sichuan, Kangding is famous for its stunning mountain peaks, rich Tibetan culture, and deep gorges. After departing the thin mountain air, our first leg brings us down toward the Sichuan Basin to land at Chengdu Shuangliu (ZUUU). This massive airport serves Chengdu, the vibrant capital of Sichuan province renowned worldwide for its spicy cuisine and giant pandas. Next up, we will follow the flow southeast toward Yibin (ZUYB). Yibin sits right at the confluence of the Jinsha River (the upper stretch of the Yangtze) and the Min River. It is famously known as the "First City on the Yangtze" and is the birthplace of the legendary Chinese liquor, Wuliangye. Continuing our eastward cruise along the river, we will head to Luzhou (ZULZ). Yunlong Airport serves this bustling port city as a modern dual-use military and civil facility, replacing the older Lantian airfield. Luzhou is another heavyweight in Chinese brewing history, famous for its strong-aroma Luzhou Laojiao baijiu, and has long served as a crucial shipping and trading port along the upper Yangtze waterway. Our next landing is at Chongqing Jiangbei (ZUCK). Chongqing is a megacity built entirely on steep hills and mountains where the Jialing River merges into the Yangtze. Jiangbei is a massive aviation powerhouse equipped with multiple runways and terminals, perfectly matching the futuristic, cyberpunk vibe of Chongqing's skyline. The first flight along the Yangtze wraps up at Wanzhou (ZUWX). The city is located in the northeastern part of Chongqing municipality, right in the heart of the dramatic Three Gorges region along the Yangtze. The airport is nestled in mountainous terrain, offering a scenic and technically interesting approach. The flight is 500 miles long and has 4 landings. We want to be fast and – at the beginning – high. I suggest a business jet or maybe a warbird. I will probably be in the CJ4. As ever, fly what you like. The flight plan is here. Recommended scenery: Kangding – ZUKD Yibin – ZUYB Yunlong – ZULZ Chongqing – ZUCK We prefer real weather. Please set your simulator for a 1 PM local departure. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Sunday, November 18, 2026. 17:00 UTC Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication. 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!

Today's flight takes us around the northern side of the Pyrenees Mountains, one of Europe's most impressive mountain ranges, forming the natural border between Spain and France. We depart from San Sebastián Airport (LESO) on Spain's beautiful Basque coast and head east. After crossing into France, we continue along the foothills north of the Pyrenees, enjoying views of rolling countryside and traditional Basque villages. Our first stop is Itxassou (LFIX), located in the heart of the French Basque Country, close to the famous pilgrimage town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. We then continue to Herrère (LFCO) and Laloubère (LFDT) near the city of Tarbes. Laloubère is situated close to the renowned pilgrimage site of Lourdes, one of the most visited religious destinations in the world. Here, we turn south toward Bagnères-de-Luchon (LFCB), often called the "Queen of the Pyrenees." This charming mountain town is known for its thermal spas and beautiful alpine scenery. Turning north once again, we land at Montréjeau (LFIM), located in the foothills with excellent views of the surrounding peaks. Continuing east while remaining north of the mountains, we visit Palaminy (LFJH) and Antichan (LFCG). Antichan is a popular base for glider operations due to the favorable mountain winds. Our next stop is Puivert (LFNW). Our destination once again lies in the mountains. Turning south, we cross into the higher terrain of the eastern Pyrenees and conclude our flight at La Quillane (LFNQ). Located on the Cerdagne Plateau, La Quillane is surrounded by spectacular mountain landscapes and is well known among glider pilots for its excellent soaring conditions. The trip is 233 miles long with 8 landings. We want to cruise at or about 180 knots. I will probably be in the BS Turbine Duke. Please fly what you like. The flight plans are here. Additional scenery: LESO is available here or as payware from MK Studios. We prefer real weather. Please set your simulator for a 2 PM local departure. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Sunday, October 18, 2026. 16:00 UTC Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication. 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!

Today’s flight takes us almost the entire length of Provence, from the Rhône valley up into the Hautes-Alpes near the Italian border. We depart from Orange-Caritat (LFMO), a military airfield. Orange itself is worth a glance down — it has one of the best-preserved Roman theatres in the world. Our first stop is Avignon-Pujaut (LFNT), a restricted-use grass field (gliding, parachuting, ex-French military parachute school — actually the birthplace of French military parachuting back in the 1930s). From there it's a short hop to overfly the Palais des Papes in Avignon — the massive Gothic papal palace on the Rhône, one of the largest medieval fortress-palaces in Europe, with the old town walls and the famous half-a-bridge (Pont Saint-Bénézet) right below it. We continue to Le Mazet-de-Romanin (LFNZ), near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, right at the edge of the Alpilles — the jagged little limestone ridge that Van Gogh painted obsessively while staying nearby. Now we arrive at Salon-de-Provence (LFMY) — a major French Air Force base and home of the Patrouille de France aerobatic team. Salon itself is a lovely old town, home turf of Nostradamus. We continue to Aix-les-Milles (LFMA), a civil field just outside Aix-en-Provence. We fly over the Rotonde — the big fountain roundabout at the foot of the Cours Mirabeau, the grand tree-lined avenue that's the heart of Aix. And of course this whole area is Cézanne country — heading east, we overfly the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, his favorite subject. From Aix, we head up the Durance toward Vinon-sur-Verdon (LFNF), the classic gateway airfield for the Gorges du Verdon — Europe's deepest canyon. From here, the route basically follows the Durance river valley north into the pre-Alps: Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban (LFMX), then Sisteron-Thèze (LFNS). Sisteron is a fortified citadel town squeezed into a narrow gap where the Durance cuts through a limestone ridge, often called the "Gateway to Provence." On the way to La Motte (LFUK), we overfly one of the best glider flying areas in France. Continuing north, we pass Serres-La Bâtie-Montsaléon (LFTM) and Aspres-sur-Buëch (LFNJ), both small restricted-use fields. We finish at Mont-Dauphin-Saint-Crépin (LFNC), right by the Fortress of Mont-Dauphin — a Vauban-built citadel (UNESCO World Heritage) perched dramatically on a rocky plateau above the confluence of the Durance and Guil rivers. The flight is 180 miles long, with 10 landings. We want to be fast, about 180 knots. Any GA plane – single-engine or twin – is suitable. St Auban (LFMX) is a touch-and-go. I will probably be in the BS Turbine Duke. As ever, fly what you like. The flight plans are here. No add-ons are required; all airports are ASBO-enhanced airfields. We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 3 pm departure. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Sunday, September 27, 2026. 16:00 UTC Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication. 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!

Today we will transport some cargo and a couple of passengers to the Channel Islands. We depart from Nantes (LFRS) and head straight north to land at Rennes (LFRN). Here we pick up some more passengers and head to Pleurtuit-St Malo (LFRD). On the way, we overfly the famous Mont Saint-Michel. Now we start our tour around the three Channel Islands and land at Jersey (EGJJ). After clearing customs, we head to Guernsey (EGJB) and then to Alderney (EGJA). To finish the flight in a somewhat less expensive environment, we head back to France and land at Maupertus (LFRC). After departure, we fly to the Phare de Gatteville, a POI and a famous lighthouse, and then head to Caen (LFRK), today's destination. The flight is 283 miles long and has 6 landings. We want to cruise at about 180 knots, so any GA plane or light transport will be suitable. I will be in the Carenado Do 228 in the German Navy livery. As always, please fly what you like. The flight plans are here. Recommended scenery: Nantes LFRS Rennes LFRN Cherbourg LFRC Channel Island Caen LFRK We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 1 PM local departure. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Sunday, September 20, 2026. 16:00 UTC Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication. 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!

Thanks for the Information! In the Trailer an Autopilot was mentioned, but not in the feature list on their website. Does the new version has an autopilot?

Today, we follow Australia's Highway 1 for a short stretch. Highway 1 in Australia is not a continuous road in the traditional sense, but rather a vast network approximately 14,500 km long that circles the entire continent. It is particularly important in the Northern Territory (NT), where it serves as the link between remote regions and major transportation hubs. In the NT, Highway 1 consists of various sections that together form a route of about 1,400 km. It runs roughly from the border with Western Australia in the west to the border with Queensland in the east. In the west, Highway 1 comes from Kununurra (WA) and continues as the Victoria Highway to Katherine. From Katherine, a major section branches off northward toward Darwin. This section follows the well-known Stuart Highway. Also from Katherine, Highway 1 continues southward on the Stuart Highway to Daly Waters. There, it turns east and follows the Carpentaria Highway to the border with Queensland (near Wollogorang). We depart from Newcastle Waters (YNCW) and head north. We land at Murranji Station (YMJI) and Dunmarra (YX21) and follow Highway A87 to Daly Waters (YDLW), where Highway 1 joins A87. Only 5 miles north, we land at Kalala Homestead (YX55). We follow Highway 1 and land at Vermelha (YX47), Rombola Family Farms (YX48), and Homebush Park (YHBP) before we finish the flight at Tindal (YPTN), a joint military and civilian field. The flight is 200 miles long with 7 landings. We want to cruise at about 150 knots. I will be in the PAC P-750. As always, please fly what you like. If you want to use the ORBX PAC P-750, there is a 2024 version available. To my knowledge, the update was free. In case you find the exhaust heat effect way too big, drop me an e-mail, and I'll send you a new exterior model file that resolves the problem for me. The flight plans are here. Newcastle Waters is not in the GTN database. The GTN flight plan departs from Tennant Creek (YTNK). Recommended scenery: Daly Waters – YDLW NT Missing Airfields Mandatory! Tindal – YPTN We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 3 PM local departure. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Sunday, June 28, 2026. 16:00 UTC Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication. 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!

Sorry, there was a wrong LNM flight plan in the package. The pln files are correct. Here is the correct LNM plan.

This is the third - and last - flight in our "Danube revisited" series. We're going to thread through four countries — Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria, with a peek at the Romanian-Serbian border — following one of Europe's great rivers for much of the way. We're departing from Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (LYBE), Serbia's main international hub sitting about 18 km west of the city center. It's named after the Serbian-American inventor. From Belgrade, we head northeast, leaving the flat fertile plains of Vojvodina and tracking up toward the border. Vrsac (LYVR), our first landing, is about 80 km northeast of Belgrade, sitting in the Vojvodina region of Serbia. It is home to the SMATSA Aviation Academy, which has been training airline pilots since 1972, when JAT Yugoslav Airlines, now Air Serbia, set up shop here. It has trained pilots for airlines across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Now, we turn south and pick up the Danube, following it downstream through increasingly dramatic terrain. After crossing back over the Danube, we are in Romania — and as we track the river southwest, the flat plains give way to something altogether more impressive. We're entering the Iron Gates, the 134 km gorge system where the Danube forces its way between the Carpathian Mountains to the north and the Balkan Mountains to the south. The river narrows dramatically — at the Great Kazan gorge, it squeezes to just 150 meters wide, flanked by limestone cliffs rising 300 meters. We'll also pass the joint Romanian-Yugoslav hydroelectric dam built in the 1970s, still splitting its output equally between the two countries. After the gorge's ease, we leave the river and turn southeast toward our stop, Barza Targu-Jiu (LRPOU — sometimes listed as RO-0045). It is a small private airfield about 5 km southeast of the city of Târgu-Jiu in Gorj County, Romania. Târgu-Jiu itself, a few minutes from the airfield, is worth knowing about: it's the hometown of Constantin Brâncuși, arguably Romania's greatest sculptor and one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. In 1937, he created the "Way of the Heroes" here — an open-air ensemble running through the city center that includes the Endless Column, the Gate of the Kiss, and the Table of Silence. The whole ensemble was recently inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A short hop back west and north to the Danube brings us to Drobeta airfield (LRBI, also referred to as RO-0023). The city is one of those places where ancient history is literally sticking out of the riverbed. Drobeta-Turnu Severin sits just east of where the Iron Gates gorge ends, and it was here that Emperor Trajan built the first bridge ever thrown across the lower Danube, completed in 105 AD. The bridge was over 1,100 meters long — for more than a thousand years, it held the record as the longest arch bridge ever built. Back on the Danube heading southwest, we cross into Bulgaria. Vidin Smurdan (LB40, also LBVD) is a small airfield 4 km from the city of Vidin, in Bulgaria's northwestern corner. It's a port city on the Danube with a long history — Celtic, Roman, and then medieval Bulgarian. For the final leg of the day, heading southeast into Bulgaria's interior, we leave the Danube behind. Gabrovnitsa (LB15) is near the town of Montana in northwestern Bulgaria, a former Bulgarian Air Force base, home to fighter squadrons flying MiG-21s and later MiG-23s. Its job was to defend the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant on the Danube from air attack. It closed in June 2002 and was partially demolished, though the runway infrastructure remains. The flight is 320 miles long with 4 landings. We want to cruise at about 200 knots. I will be in the A2A Aerostar. Please fly what you like. The flight plans are here. The GTN flight plan ends at LBSF as the destination airfield is not in the GTN database. Recommended scenery: Belgrade – LYBE Vrsac – LYVR There is a payware version of Belgrade available from Fly2, via ORBX. We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 6 pm departure. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Sunday, June 21, 2026. 16:00 UTC Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication. 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!

Today we’re flying from the Black Sea through Georgia and Azerbaijan to the Caspian Sea. We depart from Batumi (UGSB), Georgia’s second-largest city and a vibrant Black Sea resort town known for its striking mix of Belle Époque architecture and futuristic modern towers. Georgia is one of the world’s oldest Christian nations — the Georgian Orthodox Church dates to the 4th century. The country has a turbulent modern history: Soviet rule until 1991, a brief civil war, the loss of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (both Russian-backed breakaway regions), and a short war with Russia in 2008. Currently an EU candidate country, with strong pro-Western public sentiment but a government drifting toward Moscow, a source of ongoing domestic tension and street protests. From Batumi, we head east through Georgia to Tbilisi (UGTB), the country’s ancient capital straddling the Mtkvari River — a city of sulfurous bathhouses, medieval churches, and a lively old town that has sat at the crossroads of Europe and Asia for over 1,500 years. From Tbilisi, we follow the southern flanks of the Greater Caucasus range, crossing into Azerbaijan to land at Zagatala (UBBY), a small regional airport nestled in the foothills close to the Georgian and Russian borders, surrounded by dense forests and walnut groves. Azerbaijan has about 10 million people, the majority Shia Muslim but largely secular in practice — a legacy of 70 years of Soviet rule. It sits on massive Caspian oil and gas reserves, which funded a dramatic modernization of Baku from the 2000s onward. Ethnic and political tensions with neighboring Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh defined much of its post-Soviet history — Azerbaijan retook the enclave by military force in 2023, ending a 30-year frozen conflict. Politically, the country has been an authoritarian state under the Aliyev family since 2003. It hosts a Formula 1 street race in Baku. The country’s name roughly translates as “Land of Fire” — a reference to naturally occurring surface gas fires. Next, we push a little further into Caucasus terrain to Gabala (UBBQ), a mountain resort town that was once the ancient capital of Caucasian Albania — a fascinating and largely forgotten civilization predating the Arab conquest. From Gabala, we descend toward the Caspian lowlands and arrive in Baku (UBBB), Azerbaijan’s spectacular capital. Built on a peninsula jutting into the Caspian, Baku blends a UNESCO-listed medieval old city with an oil-boom skyline dominated by the iconic Flame Towers. Finally, we head north along the Caspian coastline to finish the flight at Uytash (URML) — the airport serving Makhachkala, capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan. Dagestan is Russia’s most ethnically complex republic — over 30 distinct indigenous peoples speaking mutually unintelligible languages, including Avars, Dargins, Lezgins, and Kumyks, among others. Overwhelmingly Muslim. The mountains of Dagestan resisted Russian conquest fiercely throughout the 19th-century Caucasian War. In the 1990s–2000s, it was a major flashpoint of Islamist insurgency spilling over from Chechnya. Today, it is still considered a sensitive security zone. It is also known for elaborate silver craftsmanship, distinctive tower villages clinging to cliffsides, and some of the most rugged mountain terrain in Europe. Makhachkala itself is a fast-growing, somewhat chaotic city with a very young population. The flight is 600 miles long, so we want to cruise at about 400 knots, a good opportunity to get back into the cockpit of a fighter jet. I will be in the IFE Tornado. Please fly what you like. The flight plans are here. Recommended scenery: Tbilisi – UGTB Gabala – UBBQ Baku – UBBB Uytash – URML The complete package is here. We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 3 PM local departure. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Sunday, June 14, 2026. 16:00 UTC Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication. 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!

Today we fly in the border region between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We depart from Pakuba (HUKFF), Uganda, at the northern tip of Lake Albert. This lake is part of the complicated system of the upper Nile. Its main sources are the White Nile, ultimately coming from Lake Victoria to the southeast, and the Semliki River, which issues from Lake Edward to the southwest. The water of the Victoria Nile is much less saline than that of Lake Albert. The lake's outlet, at its northernmost tip, is the Albert Nile section of the White Nile. The river later becomes known as the Mountain Nile when its course enters South Sudan. We head west, land at Mahagi (HUPI), DR Congo, and then follow the lake shore south until we reach Bunia (FZKA), DR Congo. This is by no means a peaceful area, so we depart, cross back into Uganda, and land at Fort Portal (HUFP). We cross the northern part of the Rwenzori Mountains and land at Bundibugyo (HUBU), before flying over the main ridge of the Rwenzori Mountains. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori reaches 5,109 meters (16,762 ft), and the range's upper regions are permanently snow-capped and glaciated. Rivers fed by mountain streams form one of the sources of the Nile. Because of this, European explorers linked the Ruwenzori with the legendary Mountains of the Moon, claimed by the Greek scholar Ptolemy as the source of the Nile. Virunga National Park in eastern DR Congo and Rwenzori Mountains National Park in southwestern Uganda are located within the range. We land at Kasese (HUKS), the gateway to the Queen Elizabeth National Park. Kasese began as a small trading post in the early 20th century. Its growth was significantly stimulated in the 1950s with two major developments: the establishment of the Kilembe Mines for copper and cobalt extraction, and the construction of the western extension of the Uganda Railway to the area, creating a transport hub. The town was planned and built to support the mining industry, which attracted a large workforce and spurred commercial activity. We cross the mountains again and land at Margarita (HUMH) before heading to Beni (FZBM). Time permitting, we continue south to finish the flight at Rughenda (FZMB). The flight is 270 miles long and has 8 landings. I planned the flight for the Cessna Caravan, but, as always, please fly what you like. The flight plans are here. Most airfields are not in the GTN database. Therefore, the GTN flight plan departs from HUGU and finishes at FZNA. Recommended scenery: Pakuba – HUPA. Please set your simulator for a 9 am local departure. We try real weather. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Sunday, June 7, 2026. 16:00 UTC Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication. 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!

This is the second part of a new visit to the River Danube. We continue from where we finished part I: from Langenlebarn (LOXT) and head towards Vienna. We overfly the City - including a circle over the town - and land at Vienna International Airport (LOWW). It is Austria's largest airport and serves as the hub for Austrian Airlines. Departing to the east, we follow the river that flows broadly across a flat plain. The Danube flows through ten countries and passes through four capital cities: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade. The next stop gets us to the Slovakian capital, Bratislava. The landscape is low and marshy — this is the edge of the Pannonian Plain, where the river begins to slow and spread. After the Danube emerges from the Hungarian Gates Gorge near Bratislava, the river stream slows abruptly and loses its transporting capacity, causing enormous quantities of gravel and sand to settle, forming a network of islands on both the Slovak and Hungarian sides of the river. We overfly Bratislava Castle. Its roots date back to 907 AD. The castle building features four towers — one on each corner — and a courtyard with an 80-metre-deep water well. The largest and tallest is the Crown Tower on the southwest corner, dating from the 13th century, which for approximately 200 years housed the crown jewels of Hungary. We land at Bratislava's International Airport (LZIB). Slovakia's capital sits gracefully along the Danube with a beautifully preserved old town, Baroque architecture, welcoming squares, and a hilltop castle watching over it all. Now we cross into Hungary and head southeast. The Danube here divides into multiple arms and channels, forming the Szigetköz wetland on the Hungarian side — a floodplain maze of river branches, oxbow lakes, and poplar forests that is now a protected nature area. We stop at Győr (LHPR). The Town sits at the confluence of the Danube, Rába, and Rábca rivers in northwest Hungary's Western Transdanubia region, earning it the nickname "City of Rivers." We depart for a short southeastward leg to reach the ruins of Tata Castle. It stands on the shores of Öreg Lake (Old Lake) in the town of Tata, Hungary. Built between 1397 and 1409 by King Sigismund of Luxembourg on the foundations of an earlier fortification, it became one of the king's favourite residences. During the Ottoman occupation, the castle was an important fortress of the Hungarian borderland defensive system. Today, it houses the Kuny Domokos Museum. Rejoining the Danube, the route now enters one of the most dramatic stretches of the entire river. The flat plain is left behind as forested hills close in on both banks. East of Komárno, the Danube enters the Visegrád Gorge, squeezed between the foothills of the Western Carpathians and the Hungarian Transdanubian Mountains, where the steep right bank is crowned with fortresses, castles, and cathedrals of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty from the 10th to the 15th century. We pass Esztergom, with the Esztergom Basilica, the largest church in Hungary and the seat of the Catholic Church in the country. The next POI is Visegrád Castle, crowning a 333-metre hilltop above the Danube Bend, built following the devastating Mongol invasions of the 13th century and evolving from a defensive stronghold to a royal residence, serving as guardian of the Hungarian Holy Crown for nearly two centuries. Visegrád became the country's capital during the 14th century reign of Charles Robert of the Anjou dynasty. The Citadel was connected to a Lower Castle by a high stone wall that ran all the way down to the bank of the Danube, ending in a watchtower. The sharp bend at Visegrád — the Dunakanyar — is the most photographed landscape in Hungary. Now the Danube widens again as the hills recede and the great Hungarian capital comes into view. We overfly Budapest, Hungary's capital city. Split by the Danube into hilly Buda and lively Pest, the city is an extraordinary mix of grandeur, grit, elegance, and energy, offering one unforgettable view after another. We pass the green dome of the Parliament Building and land at Hungary's main International Airport (LHBP). South of Budapest, the river enters the Great Hungarian Plain — the Alföld — a vast, largely flat agricultural landscape stretching to the horizon. The Danube here becomes broader and slower. We land at Kalocsa (LHKA), Hungary's paprika capital — the fields of red peppers surrounding the town are one of the most distinctive features here. Our next turnpoint, Baja, is at the meeting point of two large regions: the Great Hungarian Plain and Transdanubia, with the River Danube separating the two. Continuing south, the Danube crosses the Hungarian-Serbian border. The landscape becomes increasingly flat, and the river widens further, dotted with sandy islands. South of the border, we are in the Vojvodina region of Serbia. We finish the flight at Klisa (LDOS), an urban area of the city of Novi Sad, Serbia's second-largest city. Novi Sad itself is a major cultural centre and the administrative capital of Vojvodina. The flight is 300 miles long with 5 landings. I will be in the A2A Aerostar. As always, please fly what you like. The flight plans are here. Recommended scenery: Langenlebarn – LOXT, you may have this airfield already Vienna – LOWW Bratislava – LZIB Gyor – LHPR Hungary VFR, we used this addon before. It is also available via ORBX We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 4 pm local departure. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Sunday, May 31, 2026. 16:00 UTC Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication. 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!

Sorry, I cannot set tags, and I have found no way to insert a screenshot. ☹️

We continue our tour around the Black Sea and depart from Pashkovsky (URKK), Krasnodar's main airport. We head back to the Black Sea and cross the Caucasus. The Greater Caucasus forms a nearly impassable wall, a natural barrier separating two very different air masses — and historically, two different worlds. On the north side: Russia's flat steppe. On the south side: the lush, subtropical Black Sea coast. Once clear of the ridge and beginning to descend toward the sea, the landscape transforms completely — dense green forest, rivers tumbling down to the shore, and the blue of the Black Sea stretching out to the west. We land at Agoy (UAGG), a small village with a beach stretching over 400 metres, and trees growing right up to the water's edge. The village is over 100 years old, founded in 1915. There's no big resort infrastructure here — it's the kind of place Russian families come for a quieter alternative to the crowds further south. Next up is Sochi (URSS). Sochi was established in 1896 on the site of a former military fort and began developing as a resort area in 1902. The presence of mineral springs, beautiful coastal and mountain scenery, and a warm, humid subtropical climate quickly made it a large and popular holiday destination. Sochi is the only city in Russia with a humid subtropical climate — palms, magnolias, and citrus trees grow alongside traditional Russian birches and pines. In the early 1930s, the Soviet government allocated 1.4 billion rubles to develop Sochi, inviting the best architects and engineers. The resort was meant to show the whole world how a person would live under communism — a Utopian fairy tale by the sea. By the 1960s, Sochi was home to a network of sanatoriums and rest homes serving the Soviet elite, with retreats for artists and intellectuals. Sports celebrities and cosmonauts trained and recovered there. It became a kind of Shangri-La, a "dream place." Then came the 2014 Winter Olympics, which transformed the infrastructure again. Greater Sochi stretches about 145 kilometres along the coast, making it technically the longest city in Europe. The nearby Rosa Khutor ski resort, built for the Olympics, is now one of Russia's premier winter sports destinations. After Sochi, the coastline continues southeast, and we pass the border from Russia into Abkhazia. This is one of the most geopolitically loaded stretches of coastline in the world. Abkhazia is a small disputed territory on the eastern shore of the Black Sea that declared independence from Georgia in 1999 following a civil war in 1992–1993. Despite recognition by a handful of nations, including Russia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, Abkhazia's sovereignty is not recognized by most of the international community. Georgia regards it as occupied territory. After the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, Abkhazia allowed Russia to take control of its border, railways, and airport, and to build military bases in the region. The territory is effectively a Russian protectorate — it uses the Russian ruble, Russian passports are widespread, and Russian soldiers are stationed there. Our next stop is Gudauta (UG23), the capital of Abkhazia. It's the administrative center of its district and has a population of around 9,000 people. The area has its own microclimate — the bay is small, and the town is more exposed to sea winds, making it a bit cooler than nearby villages. The town is a traditional, calm Black Sea resort — but like most small resort villages in Abkhazia, it's somewhat neglected: roads are in disrepair, the city park is abandoned, and buildings are dilapidated. Gudauta is also notable for hosting a Russian military base, which tells something about the current reality on the ground. Our next landing is at the Vladislav Ardzinba Sukhum International Airport (UGSS) — formerly known as Sukhumi Babushara — the main airport of Abkhazia. On 1 May 2025, it resumed operations and direct flights with Moscow for the first time since the 1990s and the war in Abkhazia. The airport was built in the mid-1960s during the Soviet era, when it was used purely for domestic flights — primarily to bring Soviet citizens to the beaches of Abkhazia. Close to 5,000 people a day used to pass through in the summer months. Then the civil war hit in the early 1990s, and everything stopped. The airport was heavily damaged, and land mines were subsequently cleared from its grounds by the HALO Trust, the only mine clearance agency active in Abkhazia. It then sat largely dormant for over 30 years before recently reopening. The entire story of this airport is essentially a condensed version of Abkhazia's own turbulent history. Now we cross into Georgia proper. Georgia (Sakartvelo in Georgian) is a country of extraordinary geographic variety — from the subtropical Black Sea coast to alpine glaciers to semi-arid wine valleys. The Georgian script is one of only a handful of unique alphabets in the world. The country has had a turbulent recent history. It gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, went through a chaotic and violent 1990s, experienced the Rose Revolution in 2003, which brought a pro-Western government to power, and then fought a brief but consequential war with Russia in 2008 over South Ossetia, which, like Abkhazia, remains a frozen conflict and Russian-backed breakaway region. Georgia has been on a path toward EU integration, though that process has had its tensions. What visitors almost universally remark on is the warmth of Georgian hospitality — there's even a saying that a guest is a gift from God — the remarkable cuisine, and the wine culture (Georgia is considered one of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world, going back some 8,000 years). We land at Kopitnari (UGKO), the airport serving Kutaisi, Georgia's third-largest city. Officially named David the Builder Kutaisi International Airport, it is the second busiest airport in Georgia, handling 1.7 million passengers in 2024. Originally a military airfield built after World War II, the site was used during the Soviet years for domestic flights connecting Kutaisi with other cities across the USSR. It was closed for renovation in 2011 and reopened in 2012 with Wizz Air as a key partner, which quickly made it Georgia's main hub for low-cost airlines connecting the country with European destinations. Kutaisi itself is an ancient city — one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world — and was historically the capital of the Kingdom of Colchis (the land of the Golden Fleece) and later the capital of the united Kingdom of Georgia. We finish at Batumi (UGSB), the second-largest city in Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara. The city has been a place of importance for a very long time — the earliest known written reference to Batumi is attributed to Aristotle in the 4th century BC. The ancient Greeks called it Bathys Limen — "the deep harbor" — which is still accurate; it remains a major working port today. Its economy historically relied on maritime trade and oil transit, particularly after the construction of the Baku–Batumi pipeline in the early 20th century, and it remains a key transit point for Caspian energy exports. Today, Batumi is often referred to as the "Las Vegas of the Black Sea" for its gambling industry, modern hotels, and nightlife. The flight is 300 miles long with 5 landings. The flight plans are here. We want to cruise at about 220 knots and have one stop with a 2000-foot runway. I will be in the SWS PC-12, please fly what you like. Recommended scenery: Agoy – UAGG Sochi – URSS Babushara – UGSS Kutaisi – UGKO The complete package is here. We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 12 noon local departure. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Sunday, May 24, 2026. 16:00 UTC Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication. 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!

The Comoros & Mayotte Today, we explore the Channel of Mozambique and fly from the Comoros Islands to Majotte, searching for Sailing Ships and wrecks. The Comoros is formed by Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Mwali (Mohéli), and Ndzwani (Anjouan), three major islands in the Indian Ocean, located in the Mozambique Channel between the African coast and Madagascar, with no land borders. The islands emerged from the floor of the Indian Ocean as a result of volcanic activity and are often called the "perfume islands" for their fragrant plant life and scenic beauty. Comoros is the third-smallest country in Africa at 1,862 km². All three islands feature rugged topography with steep peaks formed by volcanic activity. The highest point is the active volcano Karthala on Grande Comore, rising to about 2,361m. Comoros has experienced more than 20 coups or attempted coups, with various heads of state assassinated. President Azali Assoumani has consolidated power since 2019 by cracking down on the opposition and limiting press freedom. In January 2025, his ruling party won parliamentary elections, taking 28 out of 33 seats; opposition parties rejected the results. Under the constitution of 2001, each island elects its own governor and legislative assembly. The government of each island is free to administer its own affairs so long as its actions do not infringe upon the rights of the other islands or the federal union. Comoros' economy gained momentum in 2025, with real GDP growth estimated at 3.8%, driven by construction linked to the Galawa Hotel, El-Maarouf Hospital, and infrastructure for the 2027 Indian Ocean Island Games. Remittances from the large diaspora are a major economic pillar. Mayotte is a special case: it is an overseas department of France. It is geographically part of the Comoro Islands, but politically French. The Union of the Comoros claims it but does not administer it. We depart from Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport (FMCH), the principal international airport of the Comoros, on the Island of Grande Comore. It is the only airport in the country equipped to handle international flights. We fly along the island and cross over to the Island of Mohéli and land at Mohéli Bandar (FMCI). The airport does not publish a METAR — the nearest weather station is Dzaoudzi Pamandzi International Airport, 174 km away. It's a small, simple airfield serving the least populated of the three Comorian islands, known for its pristine nature and sea turtles. We head over to the Island of Anjouan and land at Ouani (FMCV). Anjouan is the most densely populated island of the Comoros. Airlines serving the route include Int'Air Îles, Comores Aviation International, and Ewa Air, connecting to Mohéli, Dzaoudzi, and Moroni. Now we fly once more across the Mozambique Channel and arrive in Europe - kind of. We reach Majotte, a French Overseas Department. It is an outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, part of the eurozone. We land at Chirongui (FMCR), a small general aviation airstrip on the main island of Mayotte (Grande-Terre). It's a minimal facility with no scheduled commercial service. We head over to the Petite-Terre Island, fly around it clockwise, and land at Aéroport de Mayotte – Marcel Henry (FMCZ). The airport faces significant vulnerability to tropical cyclones and to rising sea levels, given its elevation of only 7 meters. Time permitting, we should jump into a helicopter and check out the many sailing ships and shipwrecks that come with the ship addons for Majotte. The flight is 200 miles long with 3 landings. The flight plans are here. There is no flight plan for the helicopter flight. A typical aircraft for the area could be the Brittan-Norman Islander, the Caravan, or a Cessna 404. Since we want to operate from a 1000-foot runway, I will be in the Islander. For the helicopter flight, I will probably be in the Huey again. As always, please fly what you like. Recommended scenery: Pamandzi – FMCZ Sailing Ships and Wrecks Sailships Library Scilly Sailships Dapani – FMCR Prince Said Ibrahim – FMCH The complete package is here. We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 10 am departure. Multiplayer Particulars: Date and time: Sunday, May 17, 2026. 16:00 UTC Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication. 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!