This time last year, the Bush League Crew made their first trip to the Utah desert. An epic adventure in the Canyonlands near Hanksville. Once again, a long winter has convinced the Hooligans to migrate along a similar flyway, diverting a little further South to the welcoming arms of Lake Powell. Dotted amongst the winding tributaries and gentle mesas are scores of tiny bush airstrips just waiting to be discovered, each with vistas more breathtaking than the last.
Flight Information:
The event takes place on Monday, April 5th. Plan to meet at U96 Cal Black Memorial for a quick flight briefing at 8:00pm EDT (0000z) with departures immediately to follow.
This is a locate and land event, a test of your navigation and bush flying abilities where decision making is critical. A pilot will need to know their personal safety minimums, as well as the capabilities of their aircraft, when considering a landing at these strips. Some are quite short with challenging terrain. Others are closed and have become a bit overgrown. Still others have slight scenery glitches that look like small folds running across the landing zone. Think of them as washouts caused by flash flooding.
The landing strips mentioned in this brief are those found within the boarders of tile +37-111, but you are free to extend your flight to any of the nearby areas. I’m certain the proximity to Monument Valley will entice more than a few of you to take a slight, sight seeing detour. In addition, there are plenty of river beds, high bluffs, and mesas for those pilots seeking off-airport opportunities. I can’t wait to see the screen shots!
Scenery Information:
This is the very first Bush League Backcountry Fly-In that has been designed with MSFS as the primary sim. All airstrips and surrounding terrain are presented in their natural state. There are a few scenery addons that enhance the look and feel of the area, but I have not tested them to see if the mesh eliminates the bush strips. User discretion is advised.
In a similar fashion, most of the airstrips in X-Plane have also been left untouched, available for you to discover and enjoy as they are found in your ortho. There are a few that received some extra attention from DownwindSim and myself. Here is a google drive folder that contains some of those airports as well as an .mesh file for the ortho tile, and a handy custom map. UPDATE: Here’s perhaps an even “handier” custom map from Uncle Melvin!
~ Extract the airport folders to your X-Plane 11 > Custom Scenery folder.
~ If you have the ability, I recommend re-cooking this Orthotile in Zoom Level 17 (or even 18) if your sim rig can handle it.
~ Watch this video to see how to use the .mesh file.
~ Regardless of the sim platform you are using, you may find the Lake Powell Bush League Map helpful. For those flying in MSFS, this will be the only file you need to extract.
NOTE: This event offers a unique twist. Since none of the uncharted airstrips have been modeIed, if you damage your aircraft, you will have to spawn back at one of the airfields that are recognized by your sim. Fly safely, my friends.
Bush League Basics:
- Everyone is welcomed! Whether you’re an expert or beginner with flight simulators, radio communications, or navigation, etc., you’re invited! We’re a friendly bunch and enjoy learning from each other.
- The best aircraft for these events are those that can handle short, narrow airstrips. STOL mods are not mandatory, but helpful. Fat tires help make the bouncy strips that much more enjoyable. Several CSL files are available to correctly render other aircraft.
- We encourage you to join the VATSIM network and use the CTAF frequency of 122.8 to announce positions. We will not be in communication with ATC unless you plan to extend your flight into a controlled airspace.
- We’ll also use the Downwindsim Discord voice channel during the flight for non-ATC related chit-chat.
- As always, the main goal of these flights is to have fun and practice good airmanship. The event is intended to be VFR, so you are free to configure your weather and time of day as you see fit.