Around the world in a DC-6

[geoffda]

After a quick stopover in Carcassonne, we are off to Marseille.

Positive rate, gear up.

As promised, a couple of shots of Carcassonne Castle.

More nice Mediterranean views.

Ship traffic.

Neat water area with the French Alps in the distance.

The hills northwest of Marseille.

Provence has some interesting peaks. Not sure which one that is.

Passing over Marseille Airport on the approach.

Marseille in the distance.

Beautiful location for a house!

Cool lighthouse!

Angling back towards Marseille.

Lots of pictures of downtown Marseille. I think just above the aircraft in this shot is a very old church that I’ve been to in real life. I seem to remember some extremely old sarcophagi in the crypt.

One last shot before intercepting the localizer.

Final approach for RWY 31R.

Touchdown. Much better landing this time!

Marseille Provence Airport (LFML), Marignane, France. I love Provence! It is one of my favorite areas in France.

A bit surprised to see a Cathay Pacific A-340 here…

[geoffda]

Departing Marseille Provence Airport.

Climbing out over Provence.

Skirting the French Alps. Getting bounced around a bit at 8,000’, but we will be starting down soon, so I don’t want to climb higher.

Looking deeper into the Alps.

Such pretty countryside.

Bourg-de-Peage and Romans-sur-Isere.

A bit of the city of Lyon on the RNP RWY 34.

Mains are down.

Quick stop at Lyon-Bron Airport (LFLY), Lyon France.

Lyon, France…looking a bit wierd…Not sure if the problem is the add-on or the default sim.

That’s pretty!

Looking towards Grenoble, France.

Into the valley northwest of Grenoble.

Saint-Egreve, France.

Grenoble, France, host of the 1968 Winter Olympics.

Gorgeous fall colors.

My last landing was a bit floaty, so I made sure to pin this one on the touchdown zone.

Down for the night at Grenoble-Isere Airport, (LFLS), Saint-Étienne-de-Saint-Geoirs, France. It is looking a bit, shall we say, unfinished…

Looking towards Grenoble and the French Alps.

[geoffda]

Ah ha, there is an airport here! Apparently, I got SU5’d on the arrival. Anyway, getting ready to go at Grenoble-Isere. Up to Geneva, Switzerland today, and then if the weather is good enough, we will be crossing the Alps to get a look at Chamonix and Mont Blanc.

Another view of LFLS, now that we can see it.

Nice views of the Rhone River from 7,000’.

Long approach on the ILS RWY 04 into Geneva. Lake Geneva in view behind the airport.

Some pictures of downtown Geneva on the way in. We will do a pass over the city on the way out.

Lovely mountain views as we touch down.

Geneva Airport (LSGG), Geneva Switzerland. We are getting the SU5 treatment here, so I’ll do a reload to see if we can get proper texturing.

[geoffda]

Well, a few of the textures came back on reload, but not all of them. Hopefully, this issue gets fixed for SU6. Ok, live weather was fine for flying, but not quite good enough for sight seeing, so we we cough, cough made some adjustments. I really want to see Mont Blanc and the Chamonix Valley. A couple of things to consider for this leg. First, we’ll need to pressurize the cabin (which we haven’t had to do for a while), so we’ll need to make sure we set the destination elevation once we get to cruise. Second, for optimal views we are going to Aosta, Italy, which as a runway of just under 5,000’ in length. With a field elevation of 1,800’, we will be fine going in there with a landing weight of 74,000 lbs, but we can’t take a tailwind of greater than 5 knots. Should be a fun and interesting flight! Off we go…

Ramp space is a bit tight, but we should be able to squeeze by the Lufthansa A-340.

Holding for Eurowings…

30 Inches Stabilize…About to depart into the autumn sunshine.

So long LSGG!

Geneva, Switzerland.

This is what we came to see! Mont Blanc at 12 O’clock.

Crisp views now that we are out of the valley mist. Cluses, France below.

Passing over some ski pistes as we claw for altitude; not sure what resort.

Spectacular views! Mont Blanc, Aguille du Midi and Les Drus, plus the Chamonix valley laid out below.

The world renowned aguilles of Chamonix and Mont Blanc massif.

Mont Blanc and the Aguille du Midi

Les Drus, looking towards Argentiere, France.

I think those are the pistes of Les Grand Montets in the distance.

Man, 15,000’ is barely cutting it around here!

Just crossed into Italy so these are the Dolomites.

Now we have to get down!

We are hanging out everything including our laundry for the descent! I think that is the Matterhorn in the background. If not, we’ll fly by it tomorrow.

Gorgeous fall colors made it hard to concentrate on the approach!

Short final and looking small in the big mountains.

Get her down, get her stopped!

Kind of running out of superlatives for this place. Stunning seems to be an understatement. Welcome to Aosta Corrado Gex Airport (LIMW), Aosta, Italy.

[geoffda]

Ok, time to complete our challenging day of flying and continue the final 40 nm to Torino. We are going to try to shoehorn ourselves into Turn-Aeritalia Airport because there is some nice custom scenery there, whereas Turin Caselle is either default scenery, or I have to spend $21 for a very nicely done add-on. Since the airplane can just make it into LIMA, I’m going to opt for free :).

Glad we have reverse pitch–I’m not seeing a tug anywhere around here!

We are a bit hemmed in until we get above these peaks!

For now we will just follow the valley as we climb.

Following the valley out of the mountains.

Magnificent mountains on the descent into Torino.

The Turin-Caselle Airport (LIMF). That is the main airport and would have been much easier to get into, but it would have also been less scenic.

Torino, Italy.

Some Torino closeups as we dump altitude in a hurry so we can take a modified base leg into LIMA.

The Olympic torch (from the 2006 Winter Olympics) seems to be poorly located! We had to overshoot our turn to final somewhat to navigate around this.

Painting the numbers to squeeze ourselves in here. Fortunately, we have a short leg back to Zurich next, so water injection will get us out with plenty of fuel.

Shoehorning complete after using up almost all 3,500’ of available runway (as expected) at Turin-Aeritalia Airport (LIMA), Torino Italy. Now that I’ve switched all of my control profiles to use FSUIPC, we will be mapping a joystick button for the reverse pitch. I just about ground-looped trying to get into reverse pitch with the keyboard command!

[kaha300d]

Just to inform you. LOWI is currently closed due to construction work on the runway.

[geoffda]

Thanks, I’m probably a few days away still since I can’t fly tomorrow. Is it a short term thing or is it closed for awhile?

[kaha300d]

until October 18.

[geoffda]

About to depart Turin-Aeritalia (LIMA). The runway is only 3,500’ long, but we should only need 3,000’ at our weight and density altitude. Plus we have some extra due to the displaced threshold. All in all, we should have plenty of room for a wet takeoff. And the Alps are stunning today. Should have a good view of the Matterhorn!

Up we go.

Climbing out over the valley to the west. It would have been easier to just climb to the east out over the city, but this way was so pretty, I couldn’t resist.

Dolomite (Italian Alps) views.

Many pictures of the Matterhorn, including classic views from the Zermatt, Switzerland side.

Zermatt, Switzerland.

A few pictures of the surrounding mountains.

Looking back up the valley towards Zermatt, Switzerland

Massive glacier in the Jungrau!

A glimpse of the top part of the Eiger Nordwand at 2 O’clock.

The view down!

Last look back at the Eiger, Wengen and Grindelwald.

Descending over the Interlaken area.

And then the weather got bad near Zurich. Picked up some bumpers along with some ice.

A nice hole, but we still have some way to descend before we are out of this.

Swiss countryside outside of Zurich.

20 miles back, inbound on the LSZH ILS RWY 28 and things are looking a bit gray…

Distant views of Zurich on the approach. We’ll do a circuit on the way out to get a feel for the city.

Short final, LSZH.

Wheels down in Switzerland.

Welcome to Flughaven Zurich (LSZH), Zurich, Switzerland.

Walking through the terminal on the way out. There is some nice modelling both inside and out. This is a very nice airport–especially for the price.
[EDIT] IMO, the new Gaya-built handcrafted default airport included for free in World Update 6 is better. [/EDIT]

[geoffda]

Taxiing out at Flughaven Zurich (LSZH).

Pretty views of the city and the mountains while we are waiting to depart RWY 34.

So long Switzerland!

Zurich, Switzerland.

Climbing through 12,000’ on the departure.

Lake Constance, straddling the Germany-Switzerland-Austria border.

Swiss countryside near the Austrian border.

Welcome to Austria.

The Austrian Alps.

Those are some pretty jagged peaks. Great DEM!

Magnificent mountain scenery over Austria.

Looking back towards Innsbruck, Austria.

Descending in the hold.

On heading to intercept the localizer.

Some pictures of downtown Innsbruck on the LOC R RWY 26 approach.

Safely parked at Flughaven Innsbruck (LOWI), Innsbruck, Austria. This is the Asobo hand-crafted version and it is quite satisfactory.

[geoffda]

Well, we were planning to visit Munich today, but since Gaya hasn’t released their version of EDDM yet, we are going to wait until we come back westbound through Europe. That will make for a bit of an ugly detour, but what can you do? Anyway, onward to Salzburg, Austria and beyond.

It is a bit of a gray day today with some drizzle in Innsbruck, so I’m glad we got our good views of the Austrian Alps yesterday. Was hoping for some views of the Tirol, but I don’t think we will get them.

Last view of Innsbruck, before we disappear into the mist.

Climbing out along the valley.

Cruising on top at 15,000’

In and out of the clouds on the ILS RWY 15 approach LOWS.

Short final, LOWS.

Fighting a bit of a crosswind on arrival.

Welcome to W. A. Mozart Airport (LOWS), Salzburg, Austria.

Salzburg, Austria. The weather wasn’t conducive for a flyover, so we did our “Sound of Music” tour via the drone camera.

[geoffda]

Departing Salzburg, Austria on the VERDA 2B departure.

Once again, on top at 15,000’. Passing between Flachau and Schladming, Austria.

Breaking out above the Klagenfurt area.

Klagenfurt airport and the city of, I presume.

Not at all happy with the GNS-470. It nearly flew me into the ground executing a non-standard ILS RWY 28R routing. Had to abruptly go to full power and stressed engine number one in doing so.

Wheels going down over the Klagenfurt valley.

Welcome to Klagenfurt.

Klagenfurt Airport (LOWK), Klagenfurt, Austria. This is the Asobo hand-crafted version.

The view from inside.

[geoffda]

Out of Klagenfurt, heading for Slovenia. Hoping for VMC on this leg.

Looking back at the airport and the city as we climb out.

Skirting the Austrian Alps.

Crossing the Slovenian border at 7,000’. Nice to be able to stay a bit lower on this leg.

Descending over Maribor, right next to the ski hill.

Maribor, Slovenia.

Turning final RWY 32 LJMB.

About to touch down in Maribor.

Maribor Edvard Rusjan Airport (LJMB), Maribor Slovenia.

[geoffda]

Departing Maribor.

A nice view of the Maribor city ski slope.

Views of the countryside through the break in the clouds.

Heavy sleet inbound on the LIMRA 1K arrival.

Foggy approach ILS RWY 26. Had to hand fly since the autogyro didn’t want to intercept the localizer. My flying was a bit sloppy, but I finally got things stabilized to shoot a successful approach.

Happy to be landing instead of flying the missed approach!

Linz Blue Danube Airport (LOWL), Linz, Austria.

LOWL is a very nicely done airport.

[geoffda]

Departing LOWL.

Climbing out over Weis, Austria.

A few pictures of Linz, Austria and the Danube River.

The Danube River and Austrian countryside.

Low clouds moving in on the way to Vienna.

Austrian hill country.

Looks like there is some beautiful scenery being obscured by the mist.

Its like flying in a watercolor painting.

Weather is clearing up a bit. Hopefully, we will get some nice views of Vienna.

Clear of the hills and starting our descent.

Touchdown at Fughaven Wien.

Vienna International Airport (LOWW), Schwechat, Austria.

Looking out the departure lounge.

Forgot my flight bag and had to clear security to get back to the airplane. Should have just asked to park at the GA terminal!

Lots of interior terminal detail.

I like the mural land-side.

The cargo terminal with Vienna in the background.

Ok, that is cool. Austrian is getting a tow while KAL is going into the hangar (and the doors closed once it was in).

[geoffda]

Departing LOWW RWY 29 to overfly Vienna before heading on to Budapest.

Vienna views.

Following the Danube River to Budapest. We are across the Hungarian border now.

Blue Danube.

Hungarian countryside.

Descending into Budapest, Hungary.

Now arriving, Budapest.

Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (LHBP), Budapest, Hungary.

Looking across to Apron 1 (which is really where we were supposed to park, but I wanted to check out Apron 2).

I noticed some cool aircraft on display as I was on short final to 31L.

[geoffda]

Weather is better than forecast and there is even a pad for us to do our engine runups. A good start to the morning!

So long LHBP.

The outskirts of Budapest, Hungary.

Budapest, Hungary.

Some morning haze. We are up at a 11,000’ to clear the Carpathians as we head to Bucharest, Romania.

Approaching the Tisza River.

Near the Hungary-Romania border.

Over Romania.

The Carpathian mountains and the Transylvania area of Romania. Fortunately it is daytime, so Count Dracula is sleeping in his coffin somewhere.

And the weather has suddenly gotten very bad. Not unexpected, but looks like it is going to an instrument arrival to Bucharest. Time to get the anti-ice systems turned on.

Hallways in the sky.

A momentary hole on approach, but I don’t think it will last.

Close to minimums approach. Saw the approach lights and dipped down below the glide path to flatten out the approach for landing.

Slick runway on touchdown.

Welcome to rainy Bucharest, Romania. It is a long taxi to the terminal.

Attracting some attention in the departure lounge as we shut down.

Parked at Henri Coanda International Airport (LROP) Bucharest, Romania.

Nicely modelled terminal area.

View from land-side.

[geoffda]

Leaving Bucharest and its rainy weather behind.

Cruising in the soup at 5,000’.

Out over the water at 5,000’. The weather is supposed to be clearing up, but at 30 miles out, the weather looks worse than forecast and worse than the METAR. I guess we will see when we get in a bit closer.

Maybe starting to break up a bit.

Now the weather is looking a bit more plausible with respect to the METAR.

Ship ahoy!

Hmm, this low ocean layer is just hanging in. If we miss, it might be better to try landing north.

Just about established on the localizer. I think we will be just fine getting in. Looks sunny where we are going.

13,551 feet is far more runway than we need, so we are going to land long to avoid taxiing for miles to get to the terminal which is at the far end.

Welcome to Istanbul International Airport (LTFM), Istanbul (not Constantinople), Turkey.

Various views of the airport. It is very well done, but I hung twice when trying to go to external view. Fortunately, I was running Sky Dolly, so I was able to recover, but heads up to anyone running this otherwise excellent add-on.

[geoffda]

Departing LTFM. This was an expensive picture as MSFS hung and I had to start over.

Istanbul, Turkey.

Crossing the Bosphorus and into Asia.

Last views of Istanbul as we climb into the clouds at 9,000’.

Cruising over Turkey at 15,000’.

Colorful farmer’s fields near Ankara, Turkey.

Hirfanli Reservoir, Turkey.

Not sure what mountain this is…

The Taurus Mountains.

Syria.

Farmland in the desert.

Crossing into Iraq at Buwarah salt pan.

Lake Qadisiyah and the Euphrates River.

Lake Tharthar, Iraq.

Irrigating the desert…

Views of Baghadad on the approach to RWY 15L.

Touching down with downtown Baghdad in the distance.

Parked at Baghdad International Airport (ORBI), Baghdad, Iraq.

The autogenerated terminal building actually doesn’t seem that bad. The AI did miss adding a control tower. Also, I’m pretty sure Jet Blue doesn’t fly to Baghdad, but other than that…

[geoffda]

Departing ORBI.

Outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq.

Downtown Baghdad, Iraq and the Tigris River.

Iraq countryside.

Some desolate views…

More of the Iraq countryside.

Lunarscape?

Crossing into Kuwait.

The Persian Gulf and Kuwait City in the distance.

Kuwait City skyline pictures.

More Kuwait City pictures from inbound on the DME arc for OKBK ILS Z RWY 15R approach.

Passing over some fairly tall buildings on the approach.

Short final RWY 15R.

And touchdown.

Parked at Kuwait International (OBKK), Kuwait City, Kuwait. No idea how the Frontier flight ended up here. They must have gotten good and lost!