It’s summertime in the northern hemisphere, and that means another great opportunity to explore Alaska… eastern Alaska. This month you’ll play the role of a bush charter pilot, ferrying passengers and supplies to locations hard to reach any other way. We’ll have to wait to see what the weather brings to see how this trip turns out.
We’ll plan on starting at Valdez and then follow the Richardson Highway (and the Alaskan Pipeline) north, stopping by Thompson Pass, known as the snowiest place in Alaska, over 500 inches per year. Then we’ll pick and choose our way up to Chitina, and depending on your route (and the weather), there could be a few airstrips along the way. Then we’ll head out to the end of the line… Jakes Bar, located deep in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park. There’s not much out there, so plan your fuel accordingly. Be sure to stop by the cabin and say hi to Jake at the picnic table.
Bush League Basics:
- Everyone is welcome! 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.
- An old beat-up, private carrier bush plane is recommended. That’s adds to the fun and challenge.
- 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 flown in real time with real weather, giving you a chance to fully experience the challenges of flying the backcountry in Alaska.
Ortho4XP Scenery Installation Instructions:
All the airstrips are developed, tested and designed to work with Ortho4XP scenery tiles. You’ll need to cook at least tiles +60-143, +60-144, +60-145, +60-146, +60-147 and the row to the north… +61-143, +61-144, +61-145, +61-146, +61-147 . These are the settings I used to cook my Ortho4XP tile… I’d recommend the same! Also, I used “ARC” for the imagery source as this provided a bit more consistency throughout the Alaska region. Again, I’d recommend the same. I’ve also provided this link to modified OSM data files for six tiles. These help shape the terrain immediately around airstrips and also add A LOT of missing water features. If you’re not sure how to use the modified OSM data, here’s a short video. Get and install this “patch” for better terrain at the Chitina airport.
Your patch file should end up in this folder structure:
drive:/Ortho4XP/Patches/+60-150/+61-145/chitina.patch.osm
As always, ask in my discord if something isn’t working right.
Remember, after you install the patch and the OSM data, recook your tiles to use the modifications (the recooks go really fast). While you’re at it, you might want to cook some of the surrounding tiles too.
X-Plane Scenery Installation Instructions:
Valdez Pioneer Field (PAVD) scenery from x-plane.org
All the rest of the X-Plane airstrips courtesy DWS.
A word about forests and trees…
If you don’t have it already, you’ll definitely want to pick up GeoReality’s FREE Global Forests for Alaska. This addon will provide much better foliage coverage than the default scenery. You can download the file here.
Flight Plan and Scenery Links:
- The event takes place on Monday, July 5th, flight briefing begins at 8:00pm EDT in the DownwindSim Discord voice channel.
- The route starts at (scenery link) Valdez Pioneer Field (PAVD).
- Some of these airstrips are available in MSFS. Be sure to pick up the Valdez Airport here for MSFS (thanks Melvin!). PAVD is not included in the base sim.
This adventure might seam easy, but Melvin and I have already made several wrong turns! Do your homework, leave your GPS at home, study the charts and be mindful of the weather. Good luck and I hope you can join us!