There is a group of aviation enthusiasts called the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF), intent on preserving, improving, and creating airstrips for recreational access. They have grown to include members, and backcountry airstrips, in all 50 states (see their website: airfield.guide). In this month’s Bush League Fly-In, we will explore six of those airstrips found along the Missouri River in North Central Montana.
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.
Flight Information:
The event takes place on Monday, April 4th. We will begin MT08 Zortman Airport with the flight briefing at 8:00pm EDT (0000z). The goal is to visit the ones associated with the RAF: CW0 Cow Creek, LC0 Left Coulee, BB0 Black Butte North, BW8 Bullwhacker, WH0 Woodhawk, MT3 Knox Ridge, and L51 Heller Farm (also known as Heller Bottom). The route of travel will be up to you. There’s no time limit or itinerary, so stay as long as you’d like and explore. Return to Zortman for the final tie down. We will meet you in the hanger and enjoy hearing your stories.
X-Plane Scenery Installation Instructions:
- The airstrips in Bush League Backcountry Fly-Ins are customized to work with Ortho4XP scenery tiles +47-109 & -47-110. If you haven’t already, please cook these tiles. These are the settings I used. I used “Arc” for the imagery source.
- Here is the link to the airstrips. Download and install the airports in your X-Plane/Custom Scenery folder. The only additional scenery library requirement is opensceneryx.
- Within the scenery download, you will also find two osm files. These are necessary to shape the terrain immediately around the airstrips. Place those files in the appropriate Ortho4XP folder. REMEMBER TO RECOOK THE TILES. If you’re not sure how to use the modified OSM data, here’s a short video.
If you get stuck or have a question, drop a message on the DownwindSim Discord bush-flying text channel. There’s a bunch of friendly folks that’d be happy to help. Let’s go have some fun up Montana way! -Mel