Exploring the world in the Beechcraft Bonanza

Leg 197, Atuona, French Polynesia via Republic of Kiribati to Pahala, Hawaii

DAY03_07.PLN (3.9 KB)

The longest leg yet, 2,523 NM, with the longest single stretch, nearly 1200 NM, pushing the limits of the Bonanza.

03-06 Atuona NTMN 10:00 AM
03-06 Ua Pou NTMP 10:28 AM
03-06 Ua-Huka NTMU 10:47 AM
03-06 Nuku-Hiva NTMD 11:09 AM 1196nm next min 16.16 nmpg
17% mixture FL75 55F 2426 rpm IAS 126 TAS 142 GS 154 1162.0 rt 40.00 14 knot tailwind
17% mixture FL75 55F 2426 rpm IAS 127 TAS 144 GS 157 827.0 rt 23.98 15 knot tailwind 20.9 nmpg
17% mixture FL75 55F 2426 rpm IAS 127 TAS 144 GS 157 823.0 lt 36.60 15 knot tailwind
17% mixture FL75 55F 2426 rpm IAS 128 TAS 145 GS 155 299.0 lt 11.65 11 knot tailwind 21.0 nmpg
18% mixture FL75 55F 2426 rpm IAS 137 TAS 155 GS 164 292.0 rt 23.77 11 knot tailwind
18% mixture FL75 55F 2426 rpm IAS 137 TAS 155 GS 166 120.0 rt 14.10 14 knot tailwind 17.8 nmpg
03-06 Banana Village PLBA 6:48 PM 62.02 gallons used, 19.3 nmpg, 156.3 knots
03-06 Cassidy Intl PLCH 6:57 PM
03-06 Tabuaeran Island PLFA 7:55 PM
03-06 Washington Island Airstrip PLWN 8:38 PM 2 attempts 910nm next min 12.3 nmpg
19% mixture FL120 40F 2436 rpm IAS 132 TAS 160 GS 151 862.0 rt 40.00 16 knot headwind
19% mixture FL120 40F 2436 rpm IAS 132 TAS 160 GS 153 735.0 rt 30.00 12 knot headwind 12.7 nmpg
19% mixture FL120 40F 2436 rpm IAS 132 TAS 161 GS 157 660.0 rt 24.25 10 knot crosswind 13.0 nmpg
19% mixture FL120 40F 2436 rpm IAS 132 TAS 161 GS 157 660.0 lt 33.75 10 knot crosswind
19% mixture FL120 39F 2436 rpm IAS 132 TAS 160 GS 161 579.0 lt 27.70 7 knot crosswind 13.4 nmpg
19% mixture FL120 41F 2436 rpm IAS 133 TAS 161 GS 171 419.0 lt 16.21 10 knot tailwind 13.9 nmpg
Divert to Pahala Aistrip HI28 (no data for Kaalaika HI25)
19% mixture FL120 41F 2436 rpm IAS 133 TAS 161 GS 184 379.0 rt 20.79 27 knot tailwind
19% mixture FL120 41F 2436 rpm IAS 133 TAS 162 GS 183 217.0 rt 10.98 30 knot half tailwind 16.5 nmpg
19% mixture FL120 41F 2436 rpm IAS 133 TAS 162 GS 183 217.0 lt 15.90 30 knot half tailwind
19% mixture FL120 41F 2436 rpm IAS 134 TAS 163 GS 171 120.0 lt 9.37 19 knot crosswind 14.9 nmpg
03-07 Pahala Airstrip HI28 2:33 AM 67.5 gallons used, 917nm, 13.6 nmpg, 155.0 knots

Flight time 16:33 8 stops

Departure from Atuona at dawn

Climbing over an the unnamed mountain on Hiva Oa, to 3,000 ft

Hanaui Bay on the other side of the island

Hanamenu

Approaching Ua Pou

Hakahau, main village and port of the island of Ua Pou

Sunrise over Ua Pou

Aneou Airstrip

Beautiful approach in the morning sun

Ua Pou and the airstrip at Aneou

Leaving Uo Pou on to Ua-Huka

Ua-Huka island

Ua Huka Airport

So different island to island

Nuku-Hiva

Anaho bay

Nuku Hiva Airport

Nuku Hiva with Tiki Tuhiva in the middle and Vaipo Waterfall on the right

Nuku Hiva departure, 7.5 hour flight ahead

7,500ft cruising altitude at 17% fuel mixture and 2426 rpm, giving me over 10h flight time

More than enough with 11 knot tailwind speeding me up to 154 knots ground speed

Checking back in a couple hours later, tailwind increased, now going 157 knots

Managing around 21 nautical miles per gallon, 1,500 nm range

Another couple hours later, increased the mixture to 18%

164 knots ground speed, slightly less tailwind

Got to check all the instruments new and then :crazy_face: purring along nicely

Kiritimati in sight, on the display that is

Kiritimati island part of the Republic of Kiribati

Landing at Aeon Field military airfield, called Banana village in game

Flight time 7:39, 1196nm, 62.02 gallons used, avg 19.3 nautical miles per gallon at 156.3 knots

Kiritimati island is a strange place

Cassidy International Airport

The Republic of Kiribati is a drowning paradise

The weather is turning on me on the way to Tabueran Island

Hmm, rather tumultuous out here

Down to 300ft to catch a glimpse of Tabueran

A little break over the lagoon

Gnarly landing in a thunderstorm on the chalk outline airstrip

In better weather

If I had a license it would be revoked for attempting to take off in this

It took a while to climb above the clouds

Just in time to start my descent down to Washington Island

Ahh, that’s where those upside down rainbows in Death Stranding come from

Washington Island, down to 300ft again to get a glimpse

The airstrip, the thunderstorm rages on

Another gnarly landing, skidding over the runway. Luckily it’s a wide one

Wind, very wet runway, I did the equivalent of a hand brake turn to turn around, unintentionally

Perfect weather for a long distance flight to Hawaii…

Climbing to 12,000ft to stay out of the clouds

Barely high enough but I don’t want to go higher and risk icing

Some wispy clouds up here, no problem, settling in at FL120, 19% mixture
https://i.imgur.com/dlqnXzH.png
Slight headwind this time, 151 ground speed despite burning more fuel, just over 6 hour range

The winds changed in my favor, speeding up to 161 knots ground speed
https://i.imgur.com/y9H9Uhy.png

Another cloud layer appeared above me, lightning all around
https://i.imgur.com/OsvrB4U.png

It’s getting darker, keeping my eyes peeled to catch the sunset
https://i.imgur.com/XE4ryMx.png

There it is, briefly showing up between the cloud layers
https://i.imgur.com/DL2rWJm.png

Still a long way to go, it’s going to be dark very soon
https://i.imgur.com/ibkRbeb.png

Into the night, still flashes all around
https://i.imgur.com/fMHCZqR.png

There she is, island of Hawi’i aka the big island
https://i.imgur.com/TLkjaA9.png

Pahala Airstrip Approach, this will be landing by screen again
https://i.imgur.com/XD324Sb.png

Pahala Airstrip, safely on the ground
https://i.imgur.com/gQxtCNe.png
5:55 flight time, 917nm, 67.5 gallons used, on average 13.6 nautical miles per gallon at 155.0 knots

It is theoretically possible to reach LA in the Bonanza from here, in game that is. By (ab)using the ground effect and quirks of running with ultra lean fuel
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/mapping-the-performance-of-the-beechcraft-bonanza-g36/332575/8
That only works with calm water, no waves for a 21 hour flight to cover the distance at avg 100 knots.

1200nm already wasn’t realistic for the Bonanza (rated 920nm range) but thanks to the quirks of running leaner fuel mixture without the danger of overheating the virtual engine it works. However I’ll be heading back west after exploring Hawaii and cross over to North America via Alaska later.

Leg 198, Pahala, Hawaii via French Frigate Shoals to Midway Atoll

DAY03_08.PLN (12.1 KB)

Long day of exploring, Hawaii in 7 hours then a couple long autopilot flights back west. Hawaii is very pretty in game bar some compromised patches due to clouds. The active volcano is missing yet the dramatic coast of Kauai turned out pretty well.

03-07 Pahala Aistrip HI28 11:30 AM
03-07 Hawaiian Paradise Park PHHA 11:55 AM Short runway, dodge the trees
03-07 Mountain View Airstrip HI23 12:01 PM Short runway, buildings at both ends
03-07 Hilo Intl PHTO 12:09 PM
03-07 Pepeekeo Airstrip HI32 12:20 PM Short runway, trees at end of ‘runway’
03-07 Upper Paauilo Airstrip HI27 12:29 PM Short runway Observatory x2 19°48’6"N, 155°27’20"W
03-07 Bradshaw Army Airfield PHSF 12:57 PM
03-07 Ellison Onizuka Kona Intl At K PHKO 1:09 PM
03-07 Puu Waa Waa Ranch HI13 1:18 PM
03-07 Waumea-Kohala PHMU 1:27 PM
03-07 Opolu PHUP 1:41 PM
03-07 Hana PHHN 1:58 PM
03-07 Kahului PHOG 2:22 PM
03-07 Kapalua PHJH 2:33 PM
03-07 Lanai PHNY 2:43 PM
03-07 Brandt Field 18HI 3:12 PM
Break time, no long flights!
03-07 Brandt Field 18HI 5:26 PM
03-07 Kalaupap Apt. PHLU 5:34 PM Trees at end of runway
03-07 Molokai PHMK 5:40 PM
03-07 Panda HI49 5:48 PM
03-07 Kaneohe Bay MCAS (Marion E Carl Field) PHNG 6:04 PM
03-07 Bellows Air Field 21°21’17"N 157°43’9"W 6:12 PM Cemetery 21°18’49"N, 157°50’40"W
03-07 Honolulu Intl PHNL 6:46 PM Pearl Harbor Memorial 21°21’53"N, 157°56’60"W
03-07 Ford Island NALF NPS 7:02 PM
03-07 Kalaeloa (John Rodgers Field) PHJR 7:09 PM
03-07 Wheeler Aaf PHHI 7:18 PM
03-07 Dillingham Airfield PHDH 7:25 PM
03-07 Princeville HI01 7:56 PM
03-07 Hanamaulu Airstrip HI03 8:07 PM Hard to find
03-07 Lihue PHLI 8:11 PM
03-07 HI 23 Airstrip HI46 8:15 PM
03-07 Port Allen PHPA 8:19 PM
03-07 Barking Sands Pmrf PHBK 8:26 PM 376nm next 20 to 23 knot tailwind
03-07 Tern I. PHFS 10:31 PM 652nm next 21 knot tailwind
03-08 Henderson Field PMDY 1:52 AM

Flight time 5:08 33 stops

Early departure from Pahala Airstrip

Right at sunrise

Flying over the lava fields at Kīpuka Pepeiao

To climb up Mauna Loa (13,678ft)

Mauna Loa is the largest volcano in the world, last erupted in 1984

A bit back down the mountain slope is a currently active volcano, Kilauea, footage from Januari

Not much to see in game, just a grey depression in the terrain

Hilo on the North-East side of the big island

The boiling pots in Wailuku river

Boiling pots park

Next climbing up Mauna Kea (13,802ft) higher than Mauna Loa and highest point in the state of Hawaiʻi

Back the other way and around to gain height

Plenty time to check out all the vents

And the traces the lava flows have left behind

Gemini observatory at the peak (the one on the far right)

Flying over the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope

SUBARU Telescope National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

I’ll leave the astronomers to their work now, is it a bird, is it a ufo, no it was a Bonanza

Puu Waa Waa Ranch in Pu’u Wa’awa’a Cinder Cone State Park

Landing at Waumea-Kohala on the northwest side of the big island

Kohala Mountain with Kohala Forest Reserve behind

Pu’u O Umi Natural Area Reserve

Opolu Airport at the northwest tip of the big island

Arriving at Hana Airport on Maui

Hanakauhi (8,907ft)

Halali’i next to Kawilinau (Bottomless Pit)

Haupa‘akea Peak (9,147ft)

Red Hill Haleakala

Kahului on the nortwest side of Maui

Puʻu Kukui (5,788ft) in West Maui Forest Reserve

West Maui Forest Reserve

Kapalua at the northwest tip of Maui

Kamakou (4,961ft) in Molokaʻi Forest Reserve

Molokaʻi Forest Reserve features lots of steep cliffs and waterfalls

Pulling some g’s through Wailau Valley

Brandt field on the eastern side if Moloka’i

Good time for a break

The weather changed after my break, some light rain moved in

It was just a local shower, back out in the sun flying past Pu‘uka‘ōkū Falls

Pelekunu Preserve

Kalaupap Airport next to Kalaupapa National Historical Park

Mo‘Omomi

Landing at Panda ‘Airport’ along Pohakuloa Rd

Kailua on the east coast of the island of O’ahu

I recognize a lot on this island from my time with Test Drive Unlimited

Mokapu on Kailua Bay

Lanikai Beach, I so wish I could jump out into that lovely blue water

Landing at Bellows Air Force station

Not a listed airport in game, all closed and degraded

Bellows field, old air force bases

Koko crater on the outskirts of Honolulu, the capital of the former Kingdom of Hawaii

The Hawaiian kingdom lasted from 1795 until Hawaii was annexed by the US in 1898. The Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their inherent sovereignty, overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States.

The desire for independence is still there

Most of my ‘exposure’ to Hawaii came from Dog the bounty hunter :confused: based in Honolulu

Meanwhile flying on to Hanauma Bay
https://i.imgur.com/zs9gplP.png

Diomand head
https://i.imgur.com/FIxmBpJ.png

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on a hill in Honolulu
https://i.imgur.com/NuTl0W7.png

Queen Liliuokalani Fwy, I remember this crossing well from TDU for the Explorer achievement
https://i.imgur.com/1zP2V7U.png
I tried flying under all those bridges (of course), however the one on the far right is too low with the water bulging up from height errors. Almost possible.

Honolulu, that tunnel was rough in TDU, angular slope transitions don’t work well with race cars!
https://i.imgur.com/Ef3TWy8.png

Iolani Palace, 19th-century home of Hawaii’s last monarchs
https://i.imgur.com/KJoxImZ.png

A look inside Bishop Museum
https://i.imgur.com/WGgB0YC.png

Pearl harbor, bombed by Japan in 1941 dragging the USA into WW2
https://i.imgur.com/TSHxBfW.png

USS Arizona historic marker
https://i.imgur.com/mhquUNM.png
Unfortunately the Battleship Missouri Memorial behind is just a flat half drowned texture

Wheeler Army Airfield
https://i.imgur.com/H0j9Mrr.png

Ka’ena Point, western tip of O’ahu
https://i.imgur.com/67phvA0.png

Moloaa Forest Reserve on Kauai
https://i.imgur.com/4eAeCJu.png

Princeville
https://i.imgur.com/vGG05iB.png

The confusingly named HI 23 Airstrip with IOAC code HI46
https://i.imgur.com/xuvsr8t.png

Along the Awa’awapuhi Trail
https://i.imgur.com/8p9X7Aw.png

Nā Pali Coast State Wilderness Park
https://i.imgur.com/4LNFDGn.png

Hono’Onapali Natural Reserve Area with Crawler’s Ledge down at the coast
https://i.imgur.com/Sc3aF61.png

Unbelievable coast line
https://i.imgur.com/g668bf6.png

2 hours later, Tern Island, part of the French Frigate Shoals
https://i.imgur.com/fqF7fLT.png

Deserted, home to many birds looking for a place to use their legs
https://i.imgur.com/Gx7gxB2.png

Back rest down, head on the window ledge, time for a little snooze while the sun slowly sinks
https://i.imgur.com/9otGbrS.png

Chasing the sun, a race I will lose
https://i.imgur.com/epYi1qB.png

It does feel a lot longer for the sun to set heading west
https://i.imgur.com/jERVHi7.png

But falling behind is inevitable
https://i.imgur.com/d4pdg7R.png

https://i.imgur.com/66r5SJT.png

https://i.imgur.com/8IcljuL.png

Midway Atoll with runway lights!
https://i.imgur.com/mojdWEY.png

Final stop today, Midway Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands
https://i.imgur.com/LnHzigU.png

It’s a wildlife sanctuary nowadays with a couple WW2 memorials
https://i.imgur.com/Y2DiKEy.png
Midway hosts the largest Albatross colony on the planet, with some two million birds packed onto three small islands, and about 100 to 200 people.

Further west tomorrow, 2 monster flights ahead to get to the Mariana islands.

Leg 199, Midway Atoll via Wake Island to Pagan Island, Northern Mariana Islands

DAY03_09.PLN (2.2 KB)

Basically just 2 long flights today visiting one of the most isolated islands in the world. I timed the second flight to go over night while sleeping which almost went horribly wrong. I saved the plane from splashing down with 5 minutes to spare. I very rarely sleep this long, got up to a stall warning, empty right tank and the plane on a glide path to the water down below. Close call.

03-08 Henderson Field PMDY 12:55 PM
03-08 Sand Island HI99 1:16 PM 1026nm next min 13.9 nmpg 18% mixture
18% mixture FL75 45F 2423 rpm IAS 135 TAS 151 GS 149 935.0 rt 40.00 2 knot headwind
18% mixture FL75 49F 2423 rpm IAS 135 TAS 152 GS 157 687.0 rt 25.55 6 knot tailwind 17.2 nmpg
19% mixture FL75 49F 2423 rpm IAS 141 TAS 158 GS 163 672.0 lt 34.56 6 knot tailwind
19% mixture FL75 52F 2423 rpm IAS 142 TAS 159 GS 157 366.0 lt 14.80 6 knot headwind 15.5 nmpg
20% mixture FL75 52F 2423 rpm IAS 146 TAS 164 GS 162 359.0 rt 24.98 7 knot headwind
20% mixture FL75 53F 2423 rpm IAS 147 TAS 165 GS 156 88.0 rt 4.57 14 knot headwind 13.3 nmpg
03-08 Wake Island Airfield PWAK 7:45 PM
67.32 gallons used, 1026nm, 15.2 nmpg, 6:29, 158.3 knots
03-08 Wake Island Airfield PWAK 10:11 PM
1187nm next min 16.0 nmpg ~8 hour flight time, slowing down to arrive in the morning
16% mixture FL75 53F 2149 rpm IAS 99 TAS 112 GS 111 1156.0 lt 36.69
16% mixture FL75 53F 2149 rpm IAS 100 TAS 113 GS 115 1018.0 lt 30.66 2 knot tailwind 22.9 nmpg
16% mixture FL75 53F 2149 rpm IAS 100 TAS 113 GS 115 1018.0 rt 40.00 ETE 530 (2:39 PM)
Bizarre incident, rt tank empty in the morning (3.0), mixture lever at 57% others 100% ? 7:27 AM (9:27 PM)
Stall warning, plane sunk just below 5,000 ft, switched tank, restarted engine, climbed back to FL75
16% mixture FL75 53F 2423 rpm IAS 110 TAS 125 GS 138 70.0 lt 29.31 14 knot tailwind 24.7 nmpg
03-09 Pagan Airstrip TT01 8:03 AM Trees at end of runway
50.28 gallons used, 1187nm, 23.6 nmpg, 9:52, 120.3 knots

Flight time 16:42 3 stops

Early departure from Henderson Field, Midway Atoll

To watch the sun rise over the North Pacific

Kure Atoll in sight, part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Kure is an important nesting area for a number of seabird species and wintering area for a variety of migratory bird species from North America and Asia. Kure Atoll is also an important pupping and resting area for Hawaiian Monk seals.

Kure Atoll Conservancy works hard to keep the island clean from ocean debris

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument at Kure Atoll

At the airport, getting ready for the first of 2 long flights, first one 1026 nm to Wake Island

Settled in at FL75 18% mixture ground speed 149 knots with a slight headwind

Very calm flight, increased fuel flow to 19% mixture, 163 knots ground speed with tailwind

Increasing to 20% mixture while the weather starts changing, 162 knots ground speed, headwind

So far minimal turbulence, seems I’m good between the cloud layers

The skies are closing in though

Nature putting on a show to pass the time

Spelunking at 7,500 ft

The weather is calming down while Wake Island gets in range

All clear, Wake island shining brightly in the sun

Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to land with the wind in your back…

Wake Island Airfield, huge compared to the regular ‘airports’ I land at

67.32 gallons used over 1026nm, 15.2 nmpg, 6h29 flight time, average 158.3 knots

Welcome to one of the most isolated islands on Earth

Hotly fought over in WW2 and was in Japanese hands from 1941 to 1945

VFA-27 Royal Maces flying over and “The 98 rock” on the right

A desperate final message left by a POW on the run carved into a coral rock

After a 2+ hour break on the island, time for the second long haul

Just in time to escape the thunderstorm rolling in

1187nm to go, aiming to go slow and sleep through the flight

16% mixture, 2149 rpm, 111 knots ground speed

Switching over to the still full left tank (40 gallons) before heading off to bed

Up to 115 knots ground speed with a slight tailwind, ETE 8h50, about 8:36 AM arrival my time
According to lnm I can stay in the air for over 14 hours at 70 gallons left, should be 8 hours on 40 gallons.

I usually never sleep this long, got up at 7:25 AM, walked over to the laptop to the stall warning sound. Tank dry (3.0 gallons remaining) while the plane was drifting down at 1000 fpm, just over 5,000 ft left. I quickly switched over to the left tank, restarted the engine and gave it full power to climb back to 7,500 ft.

Phew disaster averted, 5 minutes later and I would have been in the water

Now to figure out the landing, no lights at all on this island

Lining up according to google maps, maximum exposure in the drone cam, landing + taxi lights

The landing light is only visible under 100ft

Scary landing, trees at the end of the runway (tree line after the field above, before the actual strip)

I dodged the trees (might have snagged a few branches with the landing gear) and got it down in time to stop at a little building.

That building is about 100ft from the beach on google maps!

Another close call, I’m running out of lives fast.

Should be a pretty place to wake up to and assess the damage to my under carriage

Landing before coffee, not recommended!

50.28 gallons used over 1187nm, 23.6 nmpg, 9h52 flight time, average 120.3 knots

I tested how close I came from splashing down by timing how long the plane can glide on auto pilot from 7,500ft without fuel. 7 minutes… That’s all. AP keeps trimming up to 100% trim while the plane slows down to 70 knots IAS dropping up to 1100 fpm. Then something ‘resets’ and AP drops the nose, speeds up to then tries to climb again. It did this cycle 3 times before running out of room and hitting the water at 80 knots IAS. AP keeps the plane level all the way at least.

Tomorrow (or this evening) exploring the Northern Mariana Islands.

Leg 200, Pagan Island, Northern Mariana Islands via Guam to Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia

DAY03_10.PLN (3.2 KB)

Anoher milestone reached, day 200 on my 80 day tour of the world… More interesting islands today with a lot of WW2 remnants and one mysterious ancient civilization.

03-09 Pagan Airstrip TT01 5:24 PM
03-09 Francisco C Ada/Saipan Intl 6:33 PM
03-09 Tinian Intl PGWT 6:39 PM
03-09 Anderson Afb PGUA 7:12 PM
03-09 Guam Intl PGUM 7:22 PM 487nm next 15 knot headwind
03-09 Chuuk Intl PTKK 10:56 PM 380nm next 12 knot headwind
03-10 Pohnpei Intl PTPN 1:34 AM

Flight time 8:10 6 stops

Departing from Pagan airstrip, getting a good look at how close I came last night to the edge of the water, stopped next to the little building. That pesky tree line popping up in the landing lights last minute threw me off. Why leave a line of trees at the end of runways!

Pagan Island, nice place

Saipan, the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States

From front to back, Banzai Cliff, USA veterans cemetery and Suicide cliff

Banzai cliff and Suicide cliff is where thousands of Japanese civilians and soldiers lept to their death to avoid capture by the US in 1944 at the end of the Battle of Saipan

Suicide cliff and the Last Japanese Command Post on the right

Also here the Korean Peace Memorial to commemorate the approximately 1,000 Koreans who were killed on Saipan during the Battle of Saipan

Further along the island there’s an abandoned Pacific Barrier Radar III

It’s on the hill in front on the right

Here on the far right (Pacifir Barrier Radar III)

On the left American Memorial Park and scenes from the WW2 Museum about the battle of Saipan

Next to painful history there is also natural beauty to discover, The Grotto, popular diving destination

Francisco C Ada/Saipan International Airport

On to Guam, a U.S. island territory in Micronesia. Anderson Air Force Base

Guam is the westernmost point and territory of the United States in Oceania, it is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia

Flying by Puntan Dos Amantas

Which means Two Lover’s Point

Tumon Bay

Landing at Guam International Airport

A peek into Guam Museum

And on to the next island

Dodging clouds on the way to Chuuk

Under or over, just rather not through

Arriving at Chuuk State, Patta Island left and Polle Island on the right

Chuuk is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Tol Island, west side of Chuuk Lagoon

Uman Island on the southeast side

Roro to the North of Uman island

Here you can find abandoned Japanese buildings and caves

All these islands house remnants from WW2

Moen, my destination where the airport is

Also here abandoned Japanese guns and a WW2 lighthouse

Weno on the northwest end the island

Landing at Chuuk International Airport

My landing went a bit better than Air Niugini’s in 2018, short of the runway in Chuuk Lagoon

Next to Pohnpei state, here Tenwen island on the southeast side of Pohnpei island

Nan Madol on Tenwen island

Nan Madol, ruins of an ancient city, the capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty until about 1628

Not much is known about the civilization that build Nan Madol

Landing at Pohnpei International Airport

Sokehs rock on the left, visible on approach (but clouds on the aerial images)

And also more left overs from WW2 and on the right Kepirohi Waterfall

More of Micronesia tomorrow.

I used to fly into Hopedale, and all the other Labrador coastal airstrips back in the early 90’s in Cherokee Six.

The picture is on the ramp in YYR Goose Bay. Spent the odd overnight in Hopedale.

1 Like

Leg 201, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia to Rongelap Atoll, Marshall Islands

DAY03_11.PLN (5.5 KB)

To the Marshall islands, which are slowly drowning with the threat of nuclear waste, from years of nuclear weapons testing, seeping into the ocean added on top…

03-10 Pohnpei Intl PTPN 4:36 PM 300nm next 18 knot headwind
03-10 Kosrae PTSA 6:32 PM 309nm next 7 knot headwind
03-10 Namorik 3N0 8:26 PM
03-10 Jaluit N55 9:04 PM 15 knot tailwind
03-10 Ailinglaplap Airok AIP 9:39 PM
03-10 Jeh PKJB 9:54 PM
03-10 Woja PKAR 10:04 PM
03-10 Bucholz Aaf (Kwajalein Kmr) PKWA 10:36 PM
03-10 Dyess AAF PKRO 10:53 PM
03-10 Elenak EAL 11:09 PM
03-10 Ebadon PKLA 11:13 PM
03-10 Wotho Island PKWO 11:42 PM
03-11 Enewetak Aux AF PKMA 268nm next 12:55 AM The Runit Dome 11°33’07.4"N 162°20’49.6"E
Bikini Atoll 11°35’36.3"N 165°22’41.6"E
03-11 Rongelap Island PKRG 2:54 AM Virtual vision landing

Flight time 10:18 13 stops

Daparture from Pohnpei, quick 180 to get on course

To Kosrae, formerly known as Kusaie or Strong’s Island

Finol Finkol (2,064ft) highest point on the island

Lelu Ruins Historic Park

Lelu Ruins, ancient city, same style as the Nando Ruins

Much bigger than it looks at first glance

Kosrae International Airport

Namdrik Atoll aka Namorik Atoll, Marshall Islands

Nice landing strip along the beach, well everywhere is along the beach on these Atolls

Namdrik Atoll in close up

Jaluit Atoll to the East

Another wide oval composed of thin little islands

Jabor, the widest section of the Jaluit Atoll, where most of the people live

Jaluit Airport

On to Ailinglaplap Atoll, Bigatyelang island

Approaching Jeh island

And a third airport on Woja Island, all part of the same Atoll

All of this could all be gone in the future, a third of the people have already left

Bucholz Army Airfield, south end of Kwajalein Atoll, only US military personnel allowed

Tax dollars well spent

Dyes Army Airfield on the north side of Kwajalein Atoll

Mejato airstrip on Elenek island at the west end of the atoll

And a 4th landing strip close behind on Ebadon island

A long flight to Enewatak island, Enewatak Aux AF

Enewatak is one of two Mashall islands used for nuclear bomb tests

Here the Runit Dome aka The Tomb on Runit island

A radioactive waste repository left by the USA after conducting a series of nuclear tests (1946-1958)

The actual dome and one of the tests

The crater isn’t visible in game, flooded already

An up close look at this ticking time bomb

On to the other test site, Bikini Atoll

On the right the Baker Bomb test from 1946

Castle Koon test site on the left and the hole left behind where the Krause-Ogle Box structure was

Already mostly flooded in game, MSFS is ahead in global sea rise!

Castle Koon Test Site in the setting sun

Parts of the Marshall islands are already just as radioactive as Chernobyl and Fukushima

Still a popular wreck diving site for the high concentration of ship wrecks

Leaving Bikini Atoll behind, no landing strips there

Last stop today at Rongelap Atoll

Landing at Rongelap Island

Heading south tomorrow to visit the rest of the Marshall islands

Leg 202, Rongelap Atoll, Marshall Islands to Arorae Island, Kiribati

DAY03_12.PLN (9.2 KB)

So many islands! Exploring the rest of the Marshall islands and Kiribati today.

03-11 Rongelap Island PKRG 174nm next 5:07 PM
03-11 Utirik 03N 6:09 PM GPS map marker in the wrong place
03-11 Ailuk PKAI 6:32 PM
03-11 Wotje N36 6:51 PM
03-11 Kaben PKTA 7:11 PM
03-11 Maloelap 3N1 7:23 PM
03-11 Tabal Airstrip TBV 7:34 PM
03-11 Aur Island PKAU 7:39 PM Short runway, trees at one end
03-11 Marshall Islands Intl PKMJ 8:04 PM
03-11 Enejit EJT 8:33 PM
03-11 Makin Island NGMN 9:34 PM
03-11 Butaritari NGTU 9:44 PM
03-11 Marakei NGMK 10:13 PM
03-11 Abaiang NGAB 10:24 PM
03-11 Bonriki Intl NGTA 10:37 PM
03-11 Maiana NGMA 10:51 PM
03-11 Abemama Atoll NGTB 11:17 PM
03-11 Kuria NGKT 11:30 PM
03-11 Buariki NGUK 11:37 PM
03-12 Tabiteuea North NGTE 12:17 AM
03-12 Tabiteuea South NGTS 12:28 AM
03-12 Onotoa NGON 12:43 AM
03-12 Beru NGBR 12:59 AM
03-12 Nikunau NGNU 1:11 AM
03-12 Arorae Island NGTR 1:42 AM

Flight time 8:35 24 stops

Departure from Rongelap Island

Utirik Atoll

More Morse code land

Wotje Atoll

Kaven Island, part of Maloelap Atoll

Landing at Tabal Airstrip on Aur Atoll

Aur Island

Calalin Island, part of Majuro Atoll, the capital of the Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands International Airport ahead

The airport is wider than the island

Majuro Atoll

Laura Island, west side of Majuro Atoll, WW2 remains here as well

Alele Museum and Public Library

Mili Atoll

Enejak Airport on Mili Atoll

Makin Island, part of Kiribati

Butaritari Airport

Traditional style house (mostly for tourism nowadays) and more WW2 remains laying around

Marakei Island

Landing at Marakei Airport

Marakei

Abaiang Island

Bonriki part of Tarawa Atoll

North Tarawa and Biketawa, one of the many islands part of the atoll

Maiana Island

Oi, I’ll have some of that juice in that truck over there

Abema Atoll

The water is so clear!

Buariki, just leaving the airstrip

Tabiteuea South, I haven’t seen a bridge in a long time

Beru Island

It’s getting late on the way to Nikunau

Watching the sun set on the way to Arorae Island

Arorae Island

Last stop today, when the sun goes down it gets dark fast around here

Heading west tomorrow, to the Solomon Islands.

Leg 203, Arorae Island, Kiribati via Nauru island to Kologhona, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands

DAY03_13.PLN (4.8 KB)

Moving on to the Solomon islands, longing for some better detail. I guess all these tropical islands are mostly hidden beneath the clouds leaving large empty patches everywhere. Interesting nation anyway.

03-12 Arorae Island NGTR 2:06 PM
03-12 Tamana Island NGTM 2:23 PM 19 knot tailwind
03-12 Nauru Intl ANYN 5:22 PM
03-12 Santa Cruz AGGL 8:53 PM
03-12 Santa Anna AGGT 10:02 PM
03-12 Nana AGNA 10:11 PM Trees at end of runway
03-12 Kirakira AGGK 10:23 PM Bad performance, trees?
03-12 Rennell AGGR 11:23 PM
03-12 Bellona AGGB 11:35 PM
03-13 Yandina AGGY 12:22 AM World Discoverer 9°01’23.0"S 160°07’23.0"E
03-13 Honiara Intl AGGH/Henderson Field AGGH 12:57 AM Terrible performance, trees drawing in late as well
03-13 Babanakira AGGI 1:17 AM Landing at 2 fps, unresponsive controls

Flight time 11:11 11 stops

First, last stop in Kiribati at Tamana island, no info on Google maps

Flying by Tapiwa island on the way to Nauru. Still part of Kiribati, also no info.

Nauru island, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant island

Also here, WW2 remains, Anabar Beach

Nauru Australian Immigration Detention Center

After Nauru ran out of its natural resources (phosphate mining) it accepted aid from Australia in exchange for hosting the Nauru Regional Processing Center. There are 3 of these camps on the small island. It offically closed in 2018, however as of last May 211 refugees and asylum seekers still remain on Nauru.

Arriving at the Solomon Islands, in particular Nendo Island, part of the Santa Cruz Islands

Lata on Nendo Island

Santa Cruz Airport (probably just a standard name in game) at Lata

Lata

Santa Anna Island

Tahaworo, San Cristobal

Kirakira on the north side of San Cristobal

Lake Tengano ake Te Nggano on Rennel island, East Rennel

This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the largest raised coral atoll in the world

Bellona Island

No paved runway in reality

Nggela Sule Island where the MS Discoverer is beached after hitting an uncharted rock or reef in 2000

The MS discoverer was build in 1974 with a double hull allowing it to visit Antarctica

Nowadays it lies along the shore between the Indispensable Strait and Iron Bottom Sound

Honiara Intl AGGH - Henderson Field on Guadalcanal across the Iron Bottom Sound

Iron Bottom Sound got its name for the dozens of ships and planes that sank there during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942 - 1943. Part of the Battle of Savo Island which lies in between Guadalcanal and the Nggela Islands.

Honiara is the capital of the Solomon islands, located on the north side of Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal Memorial (American memorial and Solomon Peace Memorial Park (Japanese war memorial)

Many remnants of WW2 can be found near Guadalcanal Memorial

The national museum shows a couple artifacts from the Solomon’s thousands years of history and first encounters with the Spanish in 1542

Final stop today at the other side of the island

Babanakira Airport in game, at Kologhona

Landing at 2 fps wasn’t fun. Something went wrong with tree rendering in the last patch. Hopefully the sim holds together better tomorrow. There’s still a lot of rain forest ahead… More of the Solomon islands, then to Papua New Guinea.

1 Like

Leg 204, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands via Bougainville to Momoto, Manus Island, Papua New Guinea

DAY03_14.PLN (13.6 KB)

A bit of a frustrating flight marred by performance problems from the recent sim update. FPS better measured in frames per minute while crossing the forested mountain ranges, main and manipulators thread throwing up times in excess of 1400 ms while the terrain slowly turned into bland squares.

A couple restarts later, reducing the draw distance to half of what worked fine before and it sort of stays in the air. Still periodic long stuttering, not really looking forward to the dense jungles of Papua New Guinea.

Bad performance or not, it never crashed and landing at 2 fps is still possible. Hopefully a hotfix will come soon, for now less trees to keep it sort of going.

03-13 Babanakira AGGI 2:36 PM
03-13 Avu Avu AGGJ 2:50 PM
03-13 Marau AGGU 3:01 PM
03-13 Parasi AGGP 3:16 PM Performance degrading
03-13 Afutara Aerodrome AGAF 3:35 PM 2 attempts, short runway, sim behind, not sure if right spot
03-13 Atoifi AGAT 3:44 PM
03-13 Auki AGGA 3:55 PM Terrible performance, heavy memory fragmentation
03-13 Kwailabesi AGKW 4:09 PM
03-13 Maringe AGGF 4:38 PM
03-13 Suavanao AGGV 5:15 PM Terrible performance, memory fragmentation
Long pauses, long period of sub 1 fps while flying over water along the island, try a restart
03-13 Suavanao AGGV 5:26 PM
03-13 Seghe AGGS 5:52 PM
03-13 Munda AGGM 6:08 PM
03-13 Ringi Cove AGRC 6:14 PM
03-13 Kukudu AGKU 6:24 PM
03-13 Gizo AGGN 6:30 PM
03-13 Geva AGEV 6:46 PM
03-13 Kaghau AGKG 7:08 PM
03-13 Ballalae AGGE 7:46 PM Terrible stuttering, half drawn terrain
Reduced settings, trees down to high, terrain from 200 to 100, disabled online traffic/multi
03-13 Ballalae AGGE 8:35 PM
03-13 Buin UBI 8:43 PM
03-13 Tonu AYVO 8:50 PM Terrible performance, no hard faults, not a ram problem
03-13 Aropa AYKT 9:06 PM
03-13 Arawa RAW 9:12 PM
03-13 Torokina TOK 9:26 PM
03-13 Sabah AYSH 9:44 PM
03-13 Buka AYBK 9:56 PM
03-13 Nissan NIS 10:19 PM
03-13 Boang BOV 10:51 PM Short runway due to faulty water (sea polygon)
03-13 Silur SWR 11:14 PM No runway…
03-13 Tokua AYTK 11:34 PM Bad performance, frequent long stutters
03-13 Tol AYLM 11:55 PM
03-14 Open Bay OBY 12:08 AM Ulawun 5°03’04.4"S 151°19’51.6"E
03-14 Sule SULE 12:25 AM
03-14 Stockholm SMP 12:41 AM Right on the edge of the water
03-14 Kunaye AYKY 1:17 AM Beacon blocking end of runway
03-14 Simberi AYSE 1:35 AM
03-14 Kavieng AYKV 2:03 AM
03-14 Emirua ERU 2:29 AM
03-14 Eloaua Airstrip AYEU 2:37 AM
03-14 Momote AYMO 3:26 AM

Flight time 11:50 38 stops

Deaprture from Kologhona in the morning

Heading to Avu Avu

Sun spotted near Naho

Parasi Airport in Marapona

Waisis harbor on Maramasike Island

Mt Veve (5,801ft) extinct vulcano on Kolombangara island

Mount Veve is the island’s highest point

It looks like the top blew off some time in the past

Pretty place to visit

Nusatupe Airport at Gizo

Manggo Bay Choiseul island

Fauro island and Rohae island

Bouganville, still part of Papua New Guinea for now. Voted for independence in 2018.

Mount Takuan (7,385ft)

Part of the Takuan Group, a volcanic group located in the southern part of Bougainville Island

Mount Balbi (8,907ft) a holocene stratovolcano

Known as Tutue by local people, still active but no recorded eruptions

Nissan Island

Landing in Silur mission, New Ireland. I could not locate any airstrip.

Weitin river coming down the Hans Meyer Range

Hans Meyer Range on the other side, Kait river on the right

Tol Airport on New Britain

Open Bay Airport

Ulawun (7,657ft)

Ulawun is a basaltic and andesitic stratovolcano in West New Britain Province

Last errupted August 3rd, 2019

Locally known as the “father”

Flying out from Eloaua Airstrip

Eloaua island

Emananus island

Watching the sunset over the Bismarck Sea

FInal destination today, Momote

Momote airport, Manus island

More of Papua New Guinea tomorrow. Hopefully the game will hold together.

Leg 205, Momoto, Manus Island to Teptep, Papua New Guinea

DAY03_15.PLN (15.3 KB)

Still bad performance problems but with lower draw distance it survives the worst areas, slow but playable. Hopefully a fix will come soon. Luckily it didn’t take away from the awesomeness that’s Papua New Guinea. Amazing terrain to fly around in. Long marathon flight today, many stops, many challenging landings, lots of fun.

03-14 Momote AYMO 2:02 PM
03-14 Bali BAJ 3:14 PM Drone cam landing
03-14 Talasea AYVL 3:39 PM Drone cam landing
03-14 Hoskins AYHK 3:52 PM
03-14 Bili AYKE 4:13 PM Tricky landing
03-14 Uvol AYUZ 4:26 PM Runway cut off by low res water polygon
03-14 Asirim ASZ 4:40 PM Sim still falling behind, bad stuttering
03-14 Gasmata Island AYLJ 4:51 PM
03-14 Kiriwina AYKA 5:39 PM
03-14 Guasopa GPA 6:21 PM
03-14 Misima AYMS 6:49 PM
03-14 Panasesa Airstrip AYSC 7:11 PM
03-14 Sehulea SEH 7:35 PM
03-14 Esa’ala ESA 7:43 PM
03-14 Salamo SAO 7:49 PM
03-14 Vivigani VIV 8:05 PM
03-14 Cape Vogel CVL 8:18 PM
03-14 Raba Raba RBP 8:28 PM
03-14 Nowata NWT 8:33 PM
03-14 Param PPX 8:44 PM
03-14 Agaun AUP 8:51 PM
03-14 Boure AYPP 9:14 PM
03-14 Safia SFA 9:19 PM
03-14 Uroubi AYUE 9:26 PM Short runway
03-14 Namudi NDI 9:34 PM
03-14 Dorobisoro DOO 9:49 PM Short runway, high trees, sideslip landing
03-14 Jacksons AYPY Port Moresby Capital 10:10 PM Bad performance, heavy stuttering
03-14 Ononge ONB 10:44 PM 2 attempts, go around, short runway on a steep ridge
03-14 Woitape WTP Zero visibily, can’t spot the ground, skip
03-14 Kosipe KSP 10:58 PM
03-14 Sopu AYQO Zero visibility, tree tops only, skip
03-14 Kerau KRU 11:14 PM 2 attempts, touch 'n go, short runway
03-14 Guari AYGF 11:29 PM 2 attempts, go around, no landing downslope
03-14 Kakoro (Koroko) Airstrip KOR 11:44 PM
03-14 Tekadu AYTZ 11:51 PM
03-15 Wau AYWU 12:07 AM
03-15 Bulolo AYBU 12:14 AM
03-15 Nadzab AYNZ 12:41 AM
03-15 Baindoung BDZ 12:51 AM
03-15 Yawan AYYW 1:06 AM Go around to land uphill, very steep runway, weird ground effect
03-15 Sapmanga SMH 1:11 AM Steep runway
03-15 Bunguwat Airstrip AYUT 1:33 AM 5 attempts, weather moved in
03-15 Isan Airstrip AYIS 1:44 AM Steep runway
03-15 Tep Tep AYTP 1:52 AM Steep runway

Flight time 11:50 43 stops

Starting in the dark, DST moved me a timezone ahead. First stop at Ulnea Island

High exposure in drone cam to be able to spot the ground

Bali Airport on Ulnea island

Same at Talasea, dawn approaching

Lalivelo ahead

Hoskins airport, New Britain, enough light now to land with normal visuals

Sunrise at Kaiko

Bili Airport at Pokapuna

Kenminings

Coming in over the Amgen river

To land at Asirim Airport

Departure from Gasmata island

Kiriwina Island

Misima island

Panasesa island part of the Lousiade Archipelago

Beautiful place to go diving

Sehulea, Normanby Island

Ese’ala Airport. Fergusson island in the distance

Ilamu island, the little one below, part of the Barrier islands

Flying over Vivigani on Goodenough island

I guess naming it Goodenough is at least more original than placing new in front of an existing name…

Mt. Oiautukekea (8,320ft) aka Mount Vineuo, the highest peak in the D’Entrecasteaux Islands

Rabaraba, arriving at the main island of Papua New Guinea, New Guinea island

New Guinea is the second largest island in the world (after Greenland)

Nowata Airport

Flying up Mount Simpson (6,047ft)

Nepesi

Param Airport in Nepesi below

Agaun Station near Gisem

Crossing the Tavenei river

Mount Suckling in the distance

Mount Suckling or Goropi is the highest peak of the Goropu Mountains at 12,060ft

part of the Owen Stanley Range in south-eastern Papua New Guinea

Boure Airport

Moni River

Another tough climb at Sibia

Barely clearing the tree tops at Oidobu

Up high over Dorobisoro on the other side of the mountain range

Only to dive back down again to land at Dorobisoro Airstrip

Rounda 2 Hydro, the river missing on both Google and Bing maps

Jacksons International Airport at Port Moresby

Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea on the Coral Sea

Port Moresby Nature Park hosting many unique bird species

A peek inside Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery

Flying back into the mountains at Sigufe

Ononge Airport, took a second attempt, luckily easy to fly on to go around

There are hardly any roads through here, hence all the airstrips

Approaching Kosipe after skipping Woitape due to visibility

On to Supu, dodging the weather

Supu approach, hmm, no visibility here either near the ground

Kerau Approach

After a touch 'n go, stuck the second landing attempt at Kerau Airport

Gauri station at the bottom left

Took a second attempt again, landing down slope just keeps the plane going with the ground effect

On to Kakoro

Kakoro (Koroko) Airstrip

Hamata, Hidden Valley Mine

A gold and silver mining operation high in the mountains

Taking off from Bulolo, a paved runway, luxury

Bulolo on the edge of McAdam National Park

Mount Shungol (9,029ft) part of the Herzog Mountain Range

Quite an interesting landscape

Nadzab Airport serving Lae, the capital of Morobe Province andsecond-largest city in Papua New Guinea

Baindoung Airport

Nearly all the runways are sloped here and getting steeper

Sapmanga, had to go around to land on this very steep runway

The ground effect is weird, still veering me back up while not really slowing the plane down

Bungawat, the clouds were moving in fast while landing. I had to abort and power out.

Then followed many missed attempts to find the runway again.

Finally, down at Bungawat airport, should have just skipped it haha, dog with a bone.

Satisfying to finally get it down though, using little navmap to compare and adjust my approach until it was perfectly lined up with the short runway.

Isan Airstrip, who turned the difficulty up to 11

It cleared up on my second approach, another steep one, parking brake or roll back down

Last one Tep Tep Airport, clouds chasing me trying to hide this one as well

Just in time and very much time to quit

Airport hopping through Papua New Guinea is incredible. They are just a few minutes apart and never a boring landing. More fun tomorrow!

Leg 206, Teptep, Papua New Guinea to Rubol, Papua, Indonesia

DAY03_16.PLN (11.8 KB)

I didn’t cover as much ground as usual in this leg, in straight lines that is. Nearly every airstrip was a fun puzzle to figure out how to land with nearly no visibility. Average speed for this leg down to 76 knots due to all the loops and practice runs before sticking the landing in heavy rain and lightning. “Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Dark Of Night Shall Stay These Couriers From The Swift Completion Of Their Appointed Rounds.”

There are no approach patters to be found here (in this post). My method is purely experimental. Fly to the gps marker, keep the speed up while watching the 3D view for signs of any straight lines where the runway might be. Then when spotted (usually when right on top of it) a quick turn to align with the ‘runway’, fly out, make a sharp loop and start refining the approach until ready to commit to slowing down and setting her down. Skimming the tree tops until they fall away and the space opens up to land.

Fun puzzle and with a little help of little navmap, drawing my flight path so I can more easily duplicate and refine it, possible to land with near zero visibility. I had to draw the line for one destination though, completely hidden under water… No floats, and while landing on water would be survive able for the pilots, it would be game over for the plane. Plus the mail would get wet!

03-15 Tep Tep AYTP 5:10 PM
03-15 Bambui BCP 5:24 PM Very short ‘runway’
03-15 Nankina AYNA 5:33 PM
03-15 Saidor SDR 5:41 PM
03-15 Guhu Airstrip AYGH 6:03 PM
03-15 Bundi BNT 6:45 PM 5 attempts, clouds
03-15 Keglsugl KEG 7:02 PM Go around, land up slope
03-15 Ambuluwa Airstrip AYMI 7:15 PM
03-15 Kol KQL 7:29 PM 4 attempts, close call
03-15 Giramben Airstrip AYMU 7:50 PM 3 attempts
03-15 Mount Hagen AYMH 7:59 PM Virtual vision landing
03-15 Mendi AYMN 8:24 PM Virtual vision landing
Still got to eat, no auto pilot flights today, break time
03-15 Mendi AYMN 8:53 PM
03-15 Kar KAK 9:00 PM Bad Performance
03-15 Moro AYMR 9:12 PM
03-15 Kaibo Airstrip AYMM 9:15 PM Bad Stuttering
03-15 Komo AYXM 9:34 PM Super long runway
03-15 Koroba AYOW 9:47 PM
03-15 Pori Airstrip AYTX 9:54 PM
03-15 Kelabo Airstrip AYTV 10:01 PM Tall tree at end of runway
03-15 Suabi AYSA 10:20 PM Mount Karoma not visible
03-15 Tari AYUB 10:25 PM Bad Performance, stuttering low fps
03-15 Pangoa AYPC Under water skip
03-15 Lake Murray AYLL 10:55 PM
03-15 Kiunga AYKI 11:19 PM
03-15 Rumginae AYRG 11:30 PM
03-15 Tabubil AYTB 11:47 PM
03-16 Busilmin Airstrip AYIN 12:19 AM 5 practice runs
03-16 Mindiptana WAQE 12:34 AM 2 attempts, first touch 'n go, short runway
03-16 Oksibil WAJO 12:44 AM
03-16 Mindiptana WAQF 1:03 AM 4 attempts
03-16 Mindiptana WAQH 1:12 AM Only one straight ridge to land on, makes it easy
03-16 Mindiptana WAQG 1:21 AM 0.9nm 2 practice runs
03-16 Sumtamon Airstrip WAMK 1:27 AM Along the river
03-16 Ubrub WAZT 1:54 AM Up to 15K ft to get over the mountain, rain turning into wet snow

Flight time 8:15 32 stops

The day starts of promising, departure from Tep Tep Airport

Bambui airport approach, lined up after a couple runs at it

Beware very short runway, stopped just in time

Getting the machete out to turn this plane around

There are plenty breaks in the clouds as well, however the clouds like to hang out over the airports

Nankina Airport

And departure from Nankina, cloud magnet

Lush forests over Nampa

Near Maibu

Approaching Guhu Airstrip, guess where it’s hanging out

Maybe here

Nope, wrong ridge, I would need the Shock Ultra to land there

There it is, throttle down, ready to land

Just as the clouds cover it back up. My approach path edited in

Near Kesawai

The Ramu river

Over Tauya

Bundi airport, 5th and final approach

The look of disdain on my pilot’s face is priceless, more deliveries to make, get on with it!

Near Moikinangi

Heading for Mount Wilhelm (14,793ft) part of the Bismarck range

View from one of the lakes near the top of Mount Wilhelm

No name, Google only has low res sat data here. Bing has aerial data yet full of clouds, hence no shot of the mountain itself (big mess)

Kegsugl Airport

View from Mount Wilhelm, crossing the range again to the west this time

Ambaluwa Airstrip, it’s a rain forest, got to expect rain

Kol airport, close call but stuck it at the 4th attempt

Over Jiwaka province

Giramben Approach

Another shot of Mount Wilhelm, it’s there, honest

Third approach at Giramben Airstrip

Flying over Mount Hagen, the third largest city in Papua New Guinea

Busy city where all the different cultures come together

Wanaga visible for a few seconds

Mendi in there somewhere

Bigger airport with the runway in the G1000, makes landing easy

After a break flying on past Magura

Moro Airport

Mining operations among the colorful tribes

A sign of 2020 and 2021, more and more face masks appearing on pictures

Following the Tagari river

Looks like a great place for a canoe ride

An RDR2 like game in Papua New Guinea could be awesome

Komo International Airport, the runway stretches on for miles, the Antanov has landed here

Approach to Koroba

Where are you Koroba Airport

Down in the rain

Pori Airstrip, quick landing before the clouds cover you up

I had to skip this one, Pongoa Airport, in the middle of lake Murray

Lake Murray

It has another airport, Lake Murray Airport

Kiunga Airport, the rain is ramping up

A break in the clouds to see Ok Tedi Mine, the run off from the mine

A gold mining operation near Tabubil

Busilmin airstrip, landing after 5 exploration runs

I had to be very sure about this one, dead end, no room to power back out

My ‘process’ coming in from the south, won’t appear in any approach charts!

(Little loop at the end to gain height to get over the next mountain range)

Oksibil Airport

From tiny airstrips to huge runways

Mindiptana WAQF, 4th approach to stick the landing

Taking off is no problem with that angle

Approaching Mindiptana WAQH (no unique names here, just codes)

There was only one ridge in the view finer, makes it easy

Another pretty steep one, I wonder who lives there

Flying out from Mindiptana WAQG, 0.9nm from WAQH

Sumtamon Airstrip

4 stops close together in the valley (coming from the East, leaving to the North)

Final stop for the day, after climbing to 15K feet to cross the mountains again

Urub Airport, one little house to stay the night

Better get some big wedges under those wheels. Don’t walk to the back or it might tip over!

More fun tomorrow, Papua, Indonesia then on to the Philippines.

1 Like

Leg 207, Rubol, Papua to Kokoroba, West Papua, Indonesia

DAY03_17.PLN (11.5 KB)

An even slower leg than yesterday’s, 450nm after 7 hours of intense flying. More challenge airstrips and even less visibility. 80% of the leg had no visibility, 100% fun though.

03-16 Ubrub WAZT 5:26 PM
03-16 Ubrub WAVI 5:34 PM
03-16 Nipsan WAWT 5:52 PM 4 attempts, needs a turn to land
03-16 Wurigelebur WAYT 6:05 PM not really a runway, flat enough anyway
03-16 Pangema / hasan WAWV 6:13 PM 2 approaches, break in the clouds
03-16 Prongkoli Airstrip WAXA 6:27 PM 4 attempts, hard touchdown
03-16 Soba Airstrip 6:46 PM 5 attempts, little room to manoever, 6Kft hard to taxi uphill
03-16 Wurigelebur WAYM 6:58 PM
03-16 Wurigelebur WAYQ 7:19 PM 7 attempts, nasty weather, 7Kft too high to land with full flaps
03-16 Wurigelebur WAXR 7:38 PM 6 attempts, very steep
I need a break and dinner at a more reasonable time :slight_smile: No autopilot possible here at all
03-16 Wurigelebur WAXR 8:12 PM
03-16 Karubaga WANU 8:29 PM 3 attemps, close call, near zero visibility
03-16 Yigi Airstrip WALD 8:43 PM 3 approaches, virtual vision landing mostly
03-16 Karubaga WANN 8:51 PM Trees at end of ‘runway’
03 16 Kqrubaga WANP 9:01 PM Short runway
03-16 Karubaga WANQ 9:13 PM Hard landing, some visibility would be nice!
03-16 Karubaga WANV 9:25 PM Very short runway
03-16 Alama Airstrip WALF 9:34 PM
03-16 Beoga WACZ 10:04 PM Sim falling apart after departure
Terrible performance, stuttering, restart
03-16 Beoga WACZ 10:15 PM Grasberg open pit 4°03’27.0"S 137°06’45.3"E
03-16 Bilogai WACY 10:43 PM
03-16 Bilogai WACX 10:52 PM Bad stuttering and no visibility…
03-16 Bugalaga Airstrip * WX53 11:28 PM 5fps, stuttering, no visibility, trees at end of runway, terrain bug? What’s next
Stuttering only getting worse, restart
03-16 Bugalaga Airstrip * WX53 11:39 PM Starts you on top of kamikaze hill, drive down slowly
03-16 Komopa WAKM 11:45 PM Finally out of the clouds!
03-16 Enarotali WABT 11:53 AM
03-16 Eaopoto Airstrip WAEN 11:58 AM Half in the lake
03-17 Waghete WAXP 12:04 AM
03-17 Moanemani WANJ 12:10 AM Mostly virtual vision landing
03-17 Bomoani Airstrip WABM 12:18 AM
03-17 Magoda Airstrip WABV 12:23 AM
03-17 Timepa Airstrip WACF 12:28 AM
03-17 Bomomani WACV 12:41 AM
03-17 Wasior WAUW 1:18 AM
03-17 Gusimawa Aistrip WABH 1:38 AM Trees at end of runway

Flight time 7:16 31 stops

Departure from Rubol, rain, lightning, little visibility

Same as yesterday, scout, trial runs, then stick the landing, Ubrub Airport WAVI/

At least stopping is no issue these angles

Now and then there is a small break in the clouds, here over Yahukimo regency

It doesn’t last, search for the next airport, landed at Nipsan Airport

Back up another break over Wahe

Just emerging from the clouds, this one is visible!

Now I need to make a quick loop before the clouds have a chance to catch up

I made it in time, Pangema-Hasan Airport

Over Potenpilik

Looking for Wurigelebur

Beatiful location, Wurigebelur Airport WAYM

Ready to go find the next one

The clouds are moving in, looks like the break is over

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later, Wurigelebur WAXR, too steep

Got to keep the throttle open after stopping. Easy to get out of anyway, open throttle to lift the tail up, release brakes, roll back a bit while turning one way until the propeller can pull the plane forward and turn the other way. It’s actually a much easier way to turn around!

Yigi Airstrip, practically zero visibility now

Spotted Karubaga Airport, quick loop before the visibility gets worse again

Still good, looks like a short one though

Pretty short, Karubaga WANV

Reverse turn to get out, easy with these slopes, no push back needed

My flight path through Karubaga, Tolikara Regency

Looking for Alama Airstrip

Just enough visibility to swoop straight in

Easy landing, but I forgot to set my flaps to take off configuration oops

Another advantage of these steep slopes, the extra drag from full flaps doesn’t matter on take off

The rain is getting worse again on the way to Beoga

A little gap over Noemun

Another big gap over Beoga, looks like a good landing spot

Approaching the runway, stay back clouds

Good thing I paused to take a picture, forgot the landing gear Doh!

I didn’t forget it on take off, back out before the clouds move in

The next destination was Grasberg Copper and Gold Mine. Unfortunately it was so hidden in the clouds that the drone couldn’t even pick up more than some vague shapes a couple meters from the walls. I took a drone picture this morning in clear conditions, on the left here

Huge open pit mine, but totally invisible on my flight yesterday

Passing Bilogai, so awesome to fly out of the clouds into scenes like this

It didn’t last long though, Bugulaga airstrip is next

Scouting it out with the drone first, no visibility, first time here as well

After a couple runs to determine the layout of the runway, first practice run

I need to hit this one perfect, not like the standard airstrips out here where there is plenty room to make last second minor corrections.

Second trial run, looking good, I know what to aim for now on the 3D vision monitor

Successful touchdown, err minus one wheel. I didn’t anticipate the hump to be this steep!

I didn’t have enough speed left to make it to the top, the heck is this

I’ll take this as a win, 5fps (bad performance bug popped up again), stuttering, no visibility, trees at end of runway, arrived in one piece. The Bonanza is secretly a taildragger!

It took a while to figure out what direction the runway was in exactly and what to aim for on the 3D terrain viewer. From a distance the runway looks like a place to avoid, only when very close does it update and change into smooth terrain. Fun puzzle.

The real thing, that hump is real, maybe not as steep though

It made turning around easy, throttle up, tail lifts up, release brakes, roll backwards and turn, plane automatically reverses direction when the pull from the propeller overcomes gravity.

Ready for take off, that weird hump behind me

Beware of the tall trees at the end of the runway, I had to veer right a bit to avoid them

I went back here this morning to check it out in clear skies, very fun airstrip. Fly out, turn, land, repeat. You need to keep the speed up to 35 knots when hitting the hump, then full throttle to get to the top. On take off, go slow to the top of the hump, then full throttle when the plane tips down and you get just enough speed for a steep climb out to clear the trees (which shouldn’t be there) This one is even more fun than Lukla! Beautiful place to take off as well.

Onwards, the weather cleared up at Danau Tage. If I remember correctly Danau means lake

Taking off from Eaopoto Airstrip

Approaching Moanemani, it was a nice break from the clouds

Over Abgoigi / Digimani

Ideduwa, the weather is improving over all, much faster this way

Bomamani Airport, came in a bit fast, excited about the view

Pegai, Ideduwa

Teluk (Bay) Cendrawasih

Pegunungan (Mountains) Wondiwoi (7,385ft), hidden

As a local guide said Google “The highest peaks are often shrouded in clouds”

Wasior, Teluk Wondama Regency

Final stop today at Gusimawa Aistrip on an inlet coming from the South side, Arafura Sea. Terrain quality kinda ends here as I’m finding out right now while flying over West Papua. Papua New Guinea had some issues is well but is amazing over all. Great place to fly!

1 Like

Leg 208, Kokoroba, West Papua, Indonesia via Palau to Baganga, Davao Oriental, Philippines

DAY03_18.PLN (6.4 KB)

Far less exciting leg than the previous two, a welcome change back to auto pilot. I had some stuff to catch up to and long ocean flights are perfect for that. It’s a shame though that as many other paradise destinations, Palau is a disappointing mess in the MSFS.

03-17 Gusimawa Aistrip WABH 7:00 PM
03-17 Babo WASO 7:16 PM
03-17 Stenkol WAUB 7:26 PM
03-17 Merday WANF 7:39 PM Bad performance
03-17 Anggi WAXO 7:56 PM 3 attempts, local thunderstorm
03-17 Iray Airstrip WAWM 8:00 PM Virtual vision landing, blinding lightning
03-17 Rendani WAUU 8:15 PM
03-17 Kebar WAUK 8:41 PM Mostly virtual vision landing, rain again
03-17 Suswa Airstrip WAAF 9:05 PM
03-17 Sorong Mainland WA1A 9:29 PM
03-17 Jefman WASS 9:34 PM
03-17 Marinda WASN 9:49 PM Performance bug again along the way
03-17 Kabere WANE 10:02 PM 458nm next slight headwind
03-18 Angaur Airstrip ANG 12:36 AM
03-18 Peleliu C23 12:40 AM
03-18 Babelthuap/Koror PTRO 12:54 AM 475nm next 21 knot tailwind
03-18 Baganga RPBN 3:18 AM Terrible stuttering on arrival

Flight time 8:18 16 stops

Departure from Gusimawa Airstrip

Merday Airport

Terrain quality is pretty poor, the trees do a good job hiding the low res terrain

Of course the clouds were still hiding the airports, Anggi Airport on Danau Anggi Giji

Iray Airstrip

It cleared up not much later, here over Lismaungu

Chasing the rainbow over Waramui

A bridge I will never manage to fly under, still chasing the rainbow near Bawey

All clear at Marinda Aiport (Bandar Udara Marinda Raja Ampat) on Waigeo island

2.5 hours later, nothing but clear ocean in between, Angaur Island, Palau

Peluliu Island

Fierce battleground during WW2, many relics and memorials can be found here

Koror, the largest city in Palau, home to about half of the country’s population (of 20K)

The capital moved to Ngerulmud in 2006, not much there though (population 271)

Palau the way it’s supposed to look like

MSFS currently has all the coast lines as vertical walls with patched up terrain everywhere due to clouds on the aerial footage. That one picture out the left window is about as good as it gets.

Koror Belau Museum, traditional long house with stories as decorations

Reminds me of Journey’s story panels

Atpison Museum displaying traditional weapons and more recent ones left from the war

Palau is famous for many of it’s amazing locations, one of them jellyfish lake

More of Palau’s natural beauty

The biggest challenge for Palau is how to manage tourism

On to the Philippines, landfall at Baganga, Davao Oriental

Final stop for today, it was another 2.5 hour flight to here

Tomorrow, exploring the Philippines.

Just looking through all of these now and its an amazing journey. Keep it coming. I fly the Beechcraft and its awesome to see what you are doing with it. Will someday manage to do portions of your tour hopefully. Cheers and Thanks for sharing.

1 Like

Thanks, it’s a great plane to fly. Or maybe it just feels that way since I know it better than my car by now. After all these hours and landings, pushing it to its limits comes natural. I don’t even think twice about approaches, stall warning going off while entering the runway at a 90 degree angle. Don’t ever let me get in the real thing, I’ll crash straight on take off :joy:

Leg 209, Baganga, Davao Oriental to San Vicente, Palawan, Philippines

DAY03_19.PLN (12.8 KB)

The Philippines is an amazing country, and as with many paradise locations, terrain quality in FS2020 leaves a lot to be desired. Too many clouds always hiding some of the terrain. It’s still a lot of fun to fly over all the inlets, straits, mountain ranges and land at the small airports scattered around. All while browsing all the beautiful pictures online from the places I’m flying over.

03-18 Baganga RPBN 5:34 PM
03-18 Andili RPAN 5:49 PM Bad stuttering
03-18 Tibagon RPTN 6:00 PM
03-18 Bangoy Intl RPMD 6:09 PM
03-18 Tamayong RPTM 6:18 PM
03-18 Guihing Proper RPGU 6:32 PM
03-18 Buayan RPMB 6:47 PM
03-18 General Santos RPMR 6:52 PM Bad performance
03-18 Kalamansig RPKL 7:19 PM
03-18 Lebak Rural LWA 7:25 PM
03-18 Seahawk LZ RP16 8:08 PM Trees at end of runway
03-18 Zamboanga Intl RPMZ 8:17 PM
03-18 Siocon National RPNO 8:42 PM 404 runway not found
03-18 Ipil RPMV 8:57 PM Bad performance
03-18 Liloy RPMX 9:08 PM
03-18 Ozamis RPMO 9:36 PM
03-18 Findlay Millar Lumber Company Airstrip RPKO 9:40 PM Tree at end of runwau, lumber company…
03-18 Iligan RPMI 9:51 PM
03-18 Cagayan De Oro RPML 10:03 PM
03-18 Butuan RPME 10:27 PM
03-18 Santa Ana RPSG 10:36 PM Narrow runway
03-18 Siargao Natl RPNS 10:56 PM
03-18 Nonoc RP13 11:06 PM
03-18 Surigao RPMS 11:12 PM
03-18 Maasin RPSM 11:29 PM
03-18 Hilongos RPVH 11:34 PM
03-18 San Francisco RPSS 11:45 PM mostly missing bad textures
03-18 Lapu Lapu/Mactan Cebu Intl PRVM 11:55 PM
03-19 Refugio Airstrip RPHA 12:09 AM
03-19 San Carlos City [under construction] RPHC 12:12 AM Indeed under construction
03-19 Bacolod RPVB 12:25 AM
03-19 Sebaste RPSE 12:33 AM
03-19 Iloilo International RPVI 12:46 AM Bad performance, slow down, stuttering
03-19 Antique RPVS 12:59 AM
03-19 Cuyo RPLO 1:18 AM
03-19 San Vicente RPSV 1:57 AM

Flight time 8:32 35 stops

Departure from Baganga Airport

In the air just in time to see the sun come up

Heading to Andili first

Langgawisan, pink fluffy clouds

Flying over the Marangig Falls

Andili Aiport, it’s a bit darker inside the fluffly clouds

Tibagon

With the airport along the Davao gulf

Bangoy International Airport in Davao City

Mount Apo (9,692ft) highest mountain peak and volcano (dormant) in the Philippines

Over Sibulan

Approaching Digos City

Parker Volcano aka Mount Parker, locally known as Mélébingóy (5,985ft)

A potentially active stratovolcano on Mindanao island

Hinalaan

Basilan Island between the Sulu Sea and Moro Gulf

Santo Nino (Culabog) on Zamboanga del Norte

Siocon Nation Airport. I couldn’t see any runway so landed in a field next to the coordinates

Pitawe on the Sulu Sea

Bucana, pretty representative of what the islands mostly look like in FS2020

Iligan Airport, runway pretty far from the gps location, but this one is at least easy to spot

It must be said, Philippines has beautiful waterfalls everywhere

Butuan City on the Agusan river flowing into the Butuan bay

Here you can find Magellan’s anchorage

It is believed Magellan made first contact here in 1521 and of course claimed the Philippines for Spain, hence they were named after King Phillip II of Spain.

Hinatuan Island

Nonoc Airport on Doot Island

Pretty place to land

Swooping in to Maasin Airport

Next to amazing waterfalls, the Philippines also has beautiful caves, pretty much on each island

Above, Timubo Cave, Paraiso Cave and Bukilat Cave on San Francisco Island

Refugio Airstrip

Bacolod on the northwest coast of Negros Island

Inampulugan

Nice island

Flying over Sibalom Natural Park

To my final stop today at San Vicente Airport

Performance was down under 5 fps again, good time to call it a day in a beautiful location

More of the Philippines tomorrow, to Manilla

1 Like

Leg 210, San Vicente, Palawan to Fuga Airstrip, Fuga Island, Philippines

DAY03_20.PLN (15.4 KB)

Kinda looks like the UK got flooded! Northern half of the Philippines today including the capital, Manilla. Better texture quality in this direction, and a lot, a whole lot of airports.

03-19 San Vicente RPSV 5:12 PM Still dark
03-19 Limanancong RPLM 5:27 PM Drone cam landing
03-19 El Nido RPEL 5:36 PM Virtual vision landing
03-19 Culion CUJ 5:53 PM Drone cam landing
03-19 Busuanga XCN 6:03 PM
03-19 San Jose RPUH 6:24 PM
03-19 Wasig RPLG 6:36 PM Faded runway
03-19 Romblon RPVU 6:53 PM
03-19 Azagra Airstrip RPSF 7:08 PM Traffic on runway, stay on the water side
03-19 Masbate RPVJ 7:32 PM
03-19 Calbayog RPVC 7:55 PM
03-19 Catarman RPVF 8:09 PM
03-19 Bacon Natl RPLZ 8:29 PM
03-19 Legazpi RPLP 8:40 PM
03-19 Naga RPUN 9:05 PM
03-19 Apuao Grande Island Airstrip RPNC 9:21 PM No runway, field
03-19 Daet RPUD 9:26 PM
03-19 Paracale Airstrip RPPR 9:33 PM Short runway
03-19 Jomalig RPLJ 9:49 PM
03-19 Balesin Island RPBL 10:01 PM
03-19 Alabat RPLY 10:08 PM
03-19 Pagbilao Grande Island RP12 10:21 PM Hydropole close to runway
03-19 Fernando AB RPUL 10:40 PM
03-19 Barradas Airstrip RPST 10:47 PM Clear narrow strip of grass between forest and houses
03-19 Ninoy Aquino Intl RPLL 11:03 PM Manilla Capital
03-19 Sangley AB RPLS 11:11 PM
03-19 Corregidor RPLX 11:22 PM
03-19 Subic Bay Intl RPLB 11:35 PM
03-19 Basa AB RPUF 11:44 PM
03-19 Clark Intl RPLC 11:50 PM
03-19 Santa Rosa Airstrip RPSO 11:56 PM
03-19 Alto Airfield RPNB 11:58 PM
03-20 Paniqui Airstrip RPPN 12:06 AM
03-20 Nampicuan Airstrip RPNP 12:08 AM
03-20 Binalonan RPBI 12:16 AM
03-20 Baguio RPUB 12:25 AM Mostly virtual vision landing, bad performance after take off
03-20 Bagabag RPUZ 12:43 AM
03-20 Mrmp RP14 12:52 AM
03-20 Cauayan RPUY 12:59 AM
03-20 Tuguegarao RPUT 1:15 AM
03-20 Dibagat Airstrip RPKA 1:39 AM 3 attempts, very short runway
03-20 Laoag Intl RPLI 1:56 AM
03-20 Jose Parades Airbase Airstrip RPPS 2:02 AM
03-20 Fuga Airstrip RPNA 2:19 AM

Flight time 9:07 43 stops

Departing from San Vincente ahead of dawn

Limancong Airport, still pretty much black without the exposure boost from the drone cam

Culton Approach, dawn approaching as well

Sunrise at Decalachao

Flying out over the Sulu Sea at Buenavista

San Jose on Dinagat Island

Following an unnamed river in Budburan

Pretty forests in Budburan

Romblon Airport on Tablas Island

Nice place to touch down

I like these small airports much more than the big ones

Dual use runway at Azagra Airstrip, stick to the water edge, 2-way traffic on the other side!

Masbate City on Masbate Island

Nice place to take off

Landing at Caterman Airport. And I wonder why passengers never tip me :smiley:

Biri Island on the San Bernardino Strait in the Philippine Sea

Part of an island group of the north-west coast of Samar Island

Magasang and Biri rock formations on Biri Island

Taking off from Bacon National Airport, Bulusan Volcano on the horizon

Legazpi at the foot of Mayon Volcano, and next to Albay Gulf

Mayon Volcano also known as Mount Mayon (8,081ft)

Active stratovolcano, renowned for its “perfect cone”

Definitely one of the best looking in game

Wide angle top view

Will need to visit again once smoke and particle effects are implemented

For now, here’s a timelapse of its last eruption in 2018

Naga Airport, fire truck is waiting for me

Apuo Grande Island, airstrip is the field I guess

Daet

Balesin Island in Lamon Bay, which Google thinks is Balaong river

Alabat Airport, at least no trees at the end of the runway

Kanluran Malicboy

Mount Banahaw (7,119ft) active volcano on Luzon

Fernando Airbase

Manila, the capital of the Philippines on Manila Bay

Pasig river winding through the city, connecting Laguna Lake with Manila Bay

Ninoy Aquino International Airport

From left to right, Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, San Agustin Church and Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Fort Santiago on the left, another remnant from Spanish colonial times

Dr José Rizal (1861-1896) National Monument on the right, an executed Filipino nationalist, national hero

A peak in the National Museum of the Philippines

Along Rizal park with many other museums and monuments

Manila also made for a great episode of Don’t drive here

Corregidor

Basa Airbase, heading into some bad weather

Something I haven’t seen in a long time, a highway! Tarlac - Pangasinan - La Union Expressway

Camangaan, leaving the farm fields behind, heading back into the mountains

Mount Pigingan (4,357ft)

Popular hiking destination

Binga Lake

Agno River near Mount Pulag
https://i.imgur.com/NKIpADE.png

Over Poblacion, just getting glimpses of the terrain here
https://i.imgur.com/4LmB1nl.png

Latbang
https://i.imgur.com/7nKDFig.png

The well named MRMP airport, stands for Magat River Multipurpose Project
https://i.imgur.com/GlJOkeQ.png

Mount Sicapoo (7,746ft) or rather cloud Sicapoo today
https://i.imgur.com/Gs1I6Wv.png

Looking for Diogabat Airstrip
https://i.imgur.com/aUBFeU3.png

Difficult one, low between the hills with a very short strip to land on, I stopped right at the far edge
https://i.imgur.com/BDGgB5K.png

Taking off from Agaga - Jose Parades Airbase Airstrip
https://i.imgur.com/qqt4mAK.png

Flying over Dumalneg
https://i.imgur.com/CE3Cnrr.png

Last stop today at Fugal Island, half hidden in the clouds
https://i.imgur.com/gabDwwN.png

Looks like a decent place to spend the night, not sure what those ruins are from though
https://i.imgur.com/3xo5eKt.png
Fuga Church ruins is all I can find on them, I’ll pick the beach location for the night

Tomorrow to Taiwan

Leg 211, Fuga Island, Philippines via Taiwan to Miyako-jima, Japan

DAY03_21.PLN (10.7 KB)

A lovely tour of Taiwan with a very inappropriate landing at the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, then on to Japan. A bit shorter leg than on a usual Saturday as my next destination (Iwo Jima) would have been in the dark by the time I could get there. I guess I didn’t need to start in the dark (was trying to make it in time for the long flight to Iwo Jima, but had too much fun in Taiwan)

03-20 Fuga Airstrip RPNA 4:12 PM Virtual vision take off, nothing but black
03-20 Lanyu RCLY 5:19 PM Runway lights! Tricky 16 knot crosswind
03-20 Lyudao RCGI 5:35 PM Virtual vision landing
03-20 Chihhong RCQS 5:43 PM Runway lights, still dark
03-20 Fengnin RCFN 5:48 PM
03-20 Taimali RCTA 5:55 PM
03-20 Hengchun RCKW 6:10 PM
03-20 Kaohsiung Intl RCKH 6:26 PM
03-20 Tsoying Z28T 6:31 PM
03-20 Kangshan RCAY 6:36 PM
03-20 Tainan Aero RCNN 6:42 PM
03-20 Qimei RCCM 7:01 PM
03-20 Wang-An RCWA 7:06 PM
03-20 P’Eng Hu Z28W 7:11 PM
03-20 Magong AB RCQC 7:13 PM
03-20 Chiayi Aero RCKU 7:30 PM
03-20 Hualian RCHA 8:01 PM 3 attemps, very short ‘runway’
03-20 Hualian RCHU 8:05 PM
03-20 Hualien RCYU 8:11 PM
03-20 Hsinchu Aero RCPO 8:43 PM
03-20 Lungtang RCDI 8:50 PM
03-20 Taoyuan RCGM 8:56 PM
03-20 Chiang Kai Shek Intl RCTP 8:58 PM Mind the speed bump
03-20 Sungshan RCSS 9:07 PM Chiang Kai-Sheck Memorial Grand Hotel National Palace Museum
03-20 Yonaguni ROYN 10:17 PM 24 knot head/cross wind
03-20 Hateruma RORH 10:39 PM
03-20 New Ishigaki ROIG 10:55 PM
03-20 Tarama RORT 11:10 PM
03-20 Shimojishima RORS * 11:21 PM
03-20 Miyako ROMY 11:29 PM 872nm next

Flight time 7:17 29 stops

Take off in complete darkness, heading to Lanyu

Lyudao Airport on Green Island, looks more purple to me

Taitung city, south east coast of Taiwan

Dawn over Nevin Village (內文村)

Mutan reservoir

Sun spotted over Checheng

Checheng Fu’an Palace and Sichongxi Hot Springs Park

Flying along the south-west coast of Taiwan

Tainan city

Anping Old Street in the middle and Chihkan Tower on the right

Chikhan Tower is a former military fort built in the 17th century by Dutch colonists. This reveals another gap in my education. Dutch history classes never mentioned that the Dutch East India company got all the way to Taiwan. Of course not mentioning the slavery part is far worse.

I noticed this peculiar shape down below, first thought it was a glitch

It’s the Southern Branch of the National Palace Museum, awesome building

Of course I could not resist a peek inside

Searching for Hualian RCHA along Hualien Creek (花蓮溪)

Found it but it’s very short and bumpy

3rd time is the charm, good thing no obstructions to power back out and try again

Hualian RCHA tons of room to land here

Hualian Airport RCYU odd configuration, long taxi way

Near Fu Shicun, pretty bad textures in the mountains, trying to find a decent spot

Mount Slyvia (12,749ft)

Taoyuan Yuehua Hotel & Golf Club at Lungtang Military Airport

Chiang Kai Shek Intl, mind the speed bump in the runway

I landed before the bump and carefully drove up there, little height bug

New Taipe along the Tamsui River

Luzhou District

Sungshan Aiport in Taipe, the capital of Taiwan

Heading back out to explore the city, Grand hotel Taipe near the airport

Taipe 101 scyscraper (1,666ft) and Lungshan Temple (1700s Buddhist and Taoist temple)

National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Opened 1980 in memory of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1985)

My gears are grinding, that looks a lot like a runway!

Only that pesky gate is in the way

Dropping down over the gate, plus ground effect, probably can’t stop in time

So I snuck in from the side over the trees, success with room to spare

Pretty place

Leaving the same way I got in, no trace left behind

I wonder where that portal goes… (It’s an empty room, rendering glitch)

On to the National Palace Museum

Featuring one of the largest collections of Chinese art & artifacts in the world

So large they build a second one to the South

Heading to Japan next, first land sighted, Nakanougan island

Hateruma island

Landing at Hateruma Airport

Hateruma is Japan’s Southernmost point

Flying past Kohama island next

Taketomi island with Ishigaki behind

Okinawa Prefectural Yaeyama Hospital build on the old Ishigaki airport

New Ishigaki Airport

Ishigaki island looks very good in the sim

Hirakuboza Lighthouse at the tip of the island (right side)

Miyako Shimojishima Airport on Irabu island

One of the fully modeled airports in game

I’m sure they appreciated that

I flew on to the island right next to Irabu, Miyako which has it’s own Miyako Airport

Looks like a duplicate from Miyako Shimojishima Airport

More of japan tomorrow, first a long flight to Iwo Jima. I already send the plane out this morning to time the arrival at sunrise. It worked after tweaking the mixture and rpm just right. There is no airport there in the sim, I’ll improvise.

Leg 212, Miyako-jima to Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan

DAY03_22.PLN (7.2 KB)

A long detour to Iwo Jima, thanks to good fuel economy, leaving early, auto pilot did all the work while I was enjoying the good weather outside. The plane broke down on the way back, the islands were mysteriously absent in detail as well (fully featured on Bing). Luckily after getting back to ‘regular’ Japan everything went very smooth. Fun trip.

03-20 Miyako ROMY 10:34 AM 872nm next 8 knot tailwind FL75
18.66% mixture 2432 rpm 50F IAS 136 TAS 153 GS 161 ETA 4:05 PM 8 knot tailwind
17.50% mixture 2432 rpm 50F IAS 129 TAS 145 GS 155 ETA 4:14 PM 10 knot tailwind
16.33% mixture 2432 rpm 50F IAS 118 TAS 133 GS 144 ETA 4:36 PM 10 knot tailwind
16.33% mixture 2156 rpm 50F IAS 112 TAS 127 GS 141 ETA 4:42 PM 14 knot tailwind
16.00% mixture 2157 rpm 51F IAS 108 TAS 122 GS 137 ETA 4:47 PM 15 knot tailwind
16.00% mixture 2157 rpm 48F IAS 110 TAS 124 GS 140 ETA 4:51 PM 16 knot tailwind 26.6 nmpg
Descent to 2,000 ft throttle 82% FLC 110 -350 fpm
Touchdown 5:00 PM, 37.86 gallons used, 23.0 nmpg, 6h26 travel time, 135.5 knots average
03-21 Iwo Jima Airport 24°47’03.6"N 141°19’23.6"E 5:00 PM Sunrise 4:27 PM 546nm next
16 knot headwind now of course, 4,000 ft 6 knot headwind, GS 177
Cockpit animations broken, trying to switch fuel tank, selected fuel cut off, argh
Got it in time, the lever still points to the wrong tank but fuel is being taking from the correct tank
Lever still broken, tank near empty, won’t switch. Not responding to input, game broken
Luckily I was at 6,000 ft to avoid clouds, but still had to use the fuel menu to move fuel over, too many bugs.
The Lever is stuck somewhere in between after moving a little but (All levers and switches are stuck, cockpit is broken)
03-21 Kitadaito Airport 25°56’39.8"N 131°19’35.8"E 8:11 PM
72.49 gallons used, 7.5 nmpg (flat out mostly at 4,000 ft), 3h11 flight time, 171.5 knots avg
Restart to fix the plane, pilots gone, all animations gone, hover board plane
03-21 Kitadaito Airport 25°56’39.8"N 131°19’35.8"E 8:21 PM
03-21 Minamidaito Airport 25°50’47.2"N 131°15’48.6"E 8:25 PM Nothing here either, some cars on basic roads
03-21 Naha ROAH 9:10 PM
03-21 Kerama ROKR * 9:54 PM
03-21 Kumejima ROKJ 10:10 PM
03-21 Ie Shima Aux AB RODE 10:30 PM
03-21 Iejima RORE 10:33 PM
03-21 Kadena AB RODN 10:48 PM 14 knot crosswind
03-21 Yoron RORY 11:09 PM
03-21 Okierabu RJKB 11:19 PM
03-21 Tokunoshima RJKN 11:28 PM
03-21 Amami RJKA 11:51 PM
03-21 Kikai Aero RJKI 11:58 PM 17 knot crosswind
03-22 Suwanosejima Airport RJX8 * 12:26 AM
03-22 Yakushima RJFC 1:04 AM
03-22 Tanegashima RJFG 1:19 AM
03-22 Satsuma Lojima ZZZZ 1:44 AM
03-22 Kanoya RJFY 2:01 AM

Flight time 15:25 19 stops

10:34 AM my time, 11:34 PM in Miyako, time to go

First flight is to Iwo Jima, 872nm, sunrise 4:27 PM (5:27 AM locally)

Bit of moon light not too dark on departure

Climbing to 7,500 ft cruising altitude

Now the trick is to get the ETA at about 4:45 PM (my time) to have light on arrival

Every time I checked the wind had gathered strength, increasing my ground speed. Eventually I settle on 16% mixture, 2157 rpm, IAS 108 with ground speed 137 due to 15 knot tailwind. I switched to the full tank and left it on its own, ETA 4:47 PM

Checking in at about 4:30 pm, the sun should be up any moment now

There it is as well as Iwo Jima

ETA went up slightly despite my speed having increased, I guess there was some turbulence along the way. Only a few minutes ETA now 4:51 PM, time to start the descent

Throttle back to 82%, FLC 110, gave a nice 350 fpm glide

First a fly over of the island, Mount Suribachi at the end here

Checking out the airport, or lack there of. (It’s not listed in game and very low res on Bing)

Touchdown at 5pm, safely on the ‘runway’ or where it is supposed to be

37.86 gallons used, avg 23.0 nmpg, 6h26 travel time, 135.5 knots average ground speed

The actual airport

Iwo Jima, known in Japan as Iō Tō, was the site of a 5 week long major battle between the US and Japan in Februari and March 1945

The US occupied the island until 1968 when it was returned to Japan. To this day the island has not been resettled, only military personnel live there.

Islanders’ Memorial Peace Cemetery Park and Tranquility Hill on the far right

After topping the fuel back up (in the fuel menu, no airport here) on to Kitadaito. This time at full power, see how fast she can get there. Now I have to dodge the 16 knot headwind at 7,500ft, flying at 4,000ft, sometimes a bit higher to stay above the clouds out of any turbulence.

A couple close calls along the way trying to switch fuel tanks. The game has forgotten how to animate the plane, levels, switches were all stuck. Trying to change tanks it somehow ended up on fuel shut off (level still showing the same tank) and down it went. A lot of clicking later and finally it took fuel from the other tank.

An almost fatal incident when having to switch tanks again, same thing, lever not working, went into shut off again or sucking the remaining bit out of near empty tank. It would not use the tank with 19 gallons left. I was gliding down from 6,000ft, at 2,000ft I used the fuel menu to manually edit the fuel into the other tank. Sim breaks down, use sim tools to fix it I guess.

Then I arrived to this, Kitadaito

It’s in full sharp detail on Bing maps, edited in in the top right.

No clue why it looks so bare in the game. Maybe Bing was updated after FS2020 took a copy and Asobo didn’t bother updating this part in World Update 1.

Oh well, another landing in the grass, except my flaps and gear aren’t animating either. Thus simply hoping the gear has extended (confirmation lights also not working) and touch down, sort of

The pilots are gone as well, hrmpf

I restarted the game, which fixed the plane (island still nothing) and landed on an empty field of grass on Minamidaito. Enough of this nonsense, back to Japan proper.

Kudaka Island

Nanjo, Okinawa

Kerama Airport Approach

This is your captain speaking, we’re experiencing some slight turbulence on short final

Nicely modeled rocks around here

The actual approach to Kerama Airport

Cute little airport

I have been trying to get rid of Japanese knotweed from our garden for years, hopefully we don’t get this Japanese grass growing inside our house next!

Time to move on, very nice airport

Kumejima Airport

The rest of Kume Island

Onna

Haneji Dam near Onaka

Tukonoshima

Yoroshima Island

Agina

Suwanoseji Airport Approach

This airport gives me strong Far Cry 3 vibes

Departure just as spectacular as landing

Suwanoseji Island

That volcano probably has a name, not on Google maps

It shows up as Mt Mitake on Bing, except that’s actually near Tokyo, maps…

Yakushima Island, tall mountain hiding in those clouds

Tanegashima Space Center

At the southeastern tip of the island

Old Tanegashima Airport

Too small I guess, not repurposed

The new one is indeed bigger

Taking a peek above (half) the clouds on the way to Lojima

Satsuma Lojima Airport

Final stop today at Kanoya Airport

It’s just starting to rain, good time to call it a day

More of Japan tomorrow, then a big intermission to North and South Korea.

Leg 213, Kanoya, Kagoshima, Japan to Sancheon, South Korea

DAY03_23.PLN (8.6 KB)

This leg should be called “fun with bridges”. I didn’t cover all that much distance with my average speed down to 92 knots, too much fun zooming around the spectacular landmark bridges.

03-22 Kanoya RJFY 5:30 PM
03-22 Kagoshima RJFK 5:41 PM
03-22 Miyazaki RJFM 5:55 PM
03-22 Nyutabaru Aero RJFN 6:03 PM
03-22 Kumamoto RJFT 6:31 PM Kokonoe Yume Otsurihashi 33°10’28"N, 131°13’38"E
03-22 Oita RJFO 7:06 PM
03-22 Tsuiki Aero RJFZ 7:20 PM
03-22 Kitakyushu RJFR 7:26 PM
03-22 Ozuki Aero RJOZ 7:31 PM
03-22 Kanmon Bridge 33°57’43"N, 130°57’31"E 7:50 PM Fun to land on
03-22 Ashiya Aero RJFA 7:59 PM
03-22 Fukuoka RJFF 8:11 PM
03-22 Metabaru RJDM 8:20 PM
Bad performance, main thread dying, reloading plane did not fix it, restart
03-22 Metabaru RJDM 8:32 PM Chikugo River Lift Bridge 33°12’53"N, 130°21’44"E
03-22 Saga RJFS 9:05 PM
03-22 Omura RJDU 9:17 PM RJFU Bridge 32°54’54"N, 129°55’43"E
03-22 Nagasaki RJFU* 9:35 PM
03-22 Amakusa RJDA 9:50 PM Hashima Island 32°37’38"N, 129°44’18"E
Bad performance over open water, main thread spiking, turning draw on terrain off and back on fixed it or coincidence
03-22 Fukue RJFE 10:20 PM
03-22 Kamigoto RJDK 10:33 PM
03-22 Ojika RJDO 10:42 PM Ikitsuki Bridge 33°21’10"N, 129°26’20"E
Bad performance while approaching the bridge, main thread spiking to 160 ms per frame, manipulators spiking as well
Dev mode, terrain etc no difference, pausing under the bridge fixed it… (btw cars are driving on the water)
Problem area is just west of the bridge, clear line where bad stuttering starts
03-22 Iki RJDB 11:29 PM
03-22 Tsushima RJDT 11:48 PM Busan Tower 35°6’4"N, 129°1’56"E
03-23 Gimhae Intl RKPK 12:24 AM 2 fps on landing, cleared up further down the runway
03-23 Sacheon RKPS 12:45 AM bad performance again, messy terrain, 30GB RAM in use

Flight time 7:15 23 stops

Departure from Kanoya just after sunrise

Sakurajima (3,665ft) formerly an island, connected to the Osumi peninsula in the 1914 eruption

Kagoshima Airport near Kirishima

Kirishima Kinkowan National Park

Over Hokita

Watari river

Dokawa Dam in the Hitari river

Stepping through street view on these islands looks very familiar to Ghibli movies

All those lovely narrow streets hugging the mountains and skinny cars to match

Kumamoto Airport

Takaono

Kokonoe Yume Otsurihasi, 568-foot-high pedestrian suspension bridge

You can fit any plane under there, a fly by

Kitakyushu Airport, build on a man made island which seems more common in Japan

Kanmon Bridge connecting Kyushu island with Honshu island (Japan’s main island)

Flying over the Hayatomonoseto Strait to check out the underside of the bridge

Upping the challenge

Wide enough to land as well. They know me around here, traffic kept to the other side, clear runway

Wee, awesome bridge. Take off on the Kitakyushu side, Shimonoseki to the North behind me

Fukuoka, huge city

Kyushu Electric Power Minamihata Power Station

Chikugo River lift bridge

Difficult shot. The Bonanza can fly at an 80 degree bank, maintaining 110 knots IAS, full rudder to maintain altitude. The hard part is to get the circle to align with the gap in the bridge.

Got to check out the bridge from underneath

Omaru Airport with Nagasaki Airport behind on another artificial island

Very nicely modeled airport

And bridge!

Easier in first person view since the trailing camera can’t make sense of flying upside down

My passengers wanted out, so I dropped them off at arrivals

Fun landing, it would have been easier from the other direction, not having to fly under the walkways. But easier to take off in this direction. Good thing here is no cross wind! I did land again on the actual runway to make it ‘count’ (not that the logbook works all that well)

Amakusa Airport

Hashima Island, an abandoned offshore mining facility, also known as Gunkanjima or Battleship Island

Kamigoto Airport

Ikitsuki Bridge connecting Ikitsuki island with Hirado island

Beautiful bridge over the Tatsunoseto Strait

It took a lot of tries to get this right

This bridge makes me want to play Half-Life 2’s bridge level again, Highway 17

One more shot from the cockpit

They must be warning traffic to stay away when I get near

Shimayama Island

On to South Korea (rest of Japan later) Busan Tower in Jung-gu district, Busan

I wondered how close I could get, close enough to admire the reflection

Namhang Bridge in the distance

Not quite close enough for take out, or drop it on the wing, bank left to collect

Gimhae International Airport serving the Busan area since 1976

Final stop today at Sacheon Airport

Ooh nice bridge in Sacheon, when is Korea getting landmarks :star_struck:

Tomorrow exploring South Korea and heading to North Korea.