High mountain flying & landings

RegentFalke4131 · October 15, 2021, 9:41am

NEPAL: world record for highest landing by a fixed-wing aircraft

by a Pilatus PC-6 at 18,865 feet (5,750 m) in Nepal:

Tried to re-enact it with the excellent Milviz Turbo-Porter.
NEP_Porter_High_Record.PLN (2.5 KB)

As its not clear which Dhaulagiri glacier it was, I landed on four spots around whose altitude matched: see them 4 WPs in the PLN.

Record was done with the old Radial-Porter (aplty named “Yeti”) which could be cranked up to 31000 ft - which brought it way over Everest.

With the Turbo for me it was the end at 26000ft, South Col, Camp IV:

Nepal and Porter go hand in glove!

RegentFalke4131 · October 22, 2021, 7:23am

SWITZERLAND: Jurassic Park

The Jura Mountains are a beautiful subalpine mountain range between France and Switzerland.

The new swiss DEM does a good job on its limestone ridges.

CH_Jura.PLN (4.4 KB)

Start near Lake Geneva on LFHN Vouvray.
Spiral up to the Crete Goutte la Neige Ski Stations (5640ft) and continue NNW along the ridge. In good weather you see Mont Blanc in the haze on your right. Touching Lake de Joux (famous for ski-landings in winter) we reach Mont d’Or and continue to the Creux du Van natural amphitheatre and Chasseral lookout (unfortunalety its huge antenna complex is missing in vanilla) to reach via LSZJ grass-strip LSPO

RegentFalke4131 · October 29, 2021, 8:57am

SWITZERLAND: Geiger Counts - Bernese Oberland

Hermann Geiger was a swiss pioneer of mountain rescue and glacier landings with a Ski-Piper Cub - way before the age of helicopters (see wikipedia) :
Lore has it that he could land on a towel-sized, sloped patch of snow…

We follow in his footsteps - in the wild Bernese Oberland.
Take the Ski_XCub from LSMM, better to go thru this phantastic addon first:_

Two PLNs to cover the region.
WPs show peak names, those with GL indicate adjacent “Glacier Landing Spots”. You have to zoom in on the VFR-map to avoid missing them (e.g. the Finsteraarhorn has 2 GLs).

CH_geiger_BOL_north.PLN (3.8 KB)

You can’t land in the infamous Eiger North face (pic1) but remember that in the 1930 biplanes flew just meters from the rocks to locate climbers in distress.

CH_geiger_BOL_south.PLN (4.4 KB)

And you will spot hundreds GLs of your choosing all over the place, so enjoy …

RegentFalke4131 · November 5, 2021, 8:31am

AUSTRIA - along the Eastern Alps

the Austrian Army wants to test glacier and snow landings with their Ski PC-6 Porters (or take the civil ski-C172) near prominent peaks of the country.

WP Peak names are labelled, WP12 is Oetzi-the-Iceman’s find site, zip low to check if the obelisk erected there is modelled.

Start in the morning on LOSM - the highest airfield in Austria and aim your nose west (with the sun in the back). We touch Italy sometimes and make a quick swiss detour before landing on asphalt @ LOIH.
AUSTRIA_watershed.PLN (5.0 KB)

Hint: when gliding in MSFS will have matured finally, this will be a terrific sailplane ride (in reverse riding the prevailing western winds?).

Doering5517 · November 6, 2021, 8:15pm

Excellent homework my friend!

SuperSonicDodo · November 9, 2021, 2:30pm

Dude, what a cool scenario! Love your ideas and creativity, and detective work to find all these cool places! I wish I wasn’t at work and could fly this scenario right away.

RegentFalke4131 · November 17, 2021, 6:30pm

ALASKA: eavesdropping in the panhandle

Alternative History, Summer 1942:
after Imperial Japan landed on the Aleut Islands, strange radio signals are picked up in the USA from the Alaska coastal mountain ranges. It looks like the new residents have established there high-altitude weather stations - and climber camps to remote-control the new Fu-Go-drifters.
Fly a multi-day SigInt-mission from Seattle to Kenai to triangulate the transmitters.

As there were few airfields at the time, take an amphibian (Goose as substitute for a Catalina), refuel on Navy seaplane bases on the way, while dropping Ranger Scouts on remote lakes.
In good weather its one of the most scenic flights on the planet - todays peacetime equivalent is a leisure flight with the C172 or any other (upcoming, Twin Otter…) floater, so take your pick.
US_Alaska_pan_1.PLN (4.0 KB)
US_Alaska_pan_2.PLN (3.1 KB)
US_Alaska_pan_3.PLN (2.8 KB)

RegentFalke4131 · December 6, 2021, 3:29pm

SWITZERLAND: The Geiger Count II
1959: The famous swiss ice-pilot Hermann Geiger is hired by the Pilatus factory to test the factory-fresh Ski-Porter prototype’s STOL&snow-capabilities on glaciers in the east of CH:
CH_geiger_east.PLN (3.5 KB)

Each WP is an ice-field near the respective summit (labelled).

RegentFalke4131 · December 20, 2021, 7:27am

WYOMING: Wind River Mountains

Summer 1943: the Rockies are a training area for bomber crews.
Beautiful area, sad story:
A B-17 and a B-24 are reported missing, you are part of a SAR mission.
US_wyo_lost_B_24.PLN (3.4 KB)

Fly low along the peaks and lakes - after you locate the B-24 wreck (WP labelled), radio the coords, land on the meadow nearby and look for survivors.

HQ wants you to restart, continue to the Shoshone- and Teton-Ridges, in order to find the lost B-17 as well

The reality behind:

IRL the B-17 was found years later @ 44.377386, -107.154182 - now called Bomber Mountain, see Bing Map.

RegentFalke4131 · January 2, 2022, 1:01pm

SWITZERLAND Valais Mountains

Summer 1938 - the Swiss are testing the Ju-52 with skis around their highest peaks.
You are to land on each WP, relax when looking at sim crevasses - you can do it, glaciers were much more snow-covered 84 years ago.

Tests at the time were so successfull that the plane was used with the white cross until 1981(!).

Two PLNs, the second ends in Locarno - I remember as a kid the JUs there zipping low over our campsite in the delta and dropping parachutists, oh man that Triple-BMW-sound…
CH_wallis_1.PLN (4.4 KB)
CH_wallis_2.PLN (5.1 KB)

(And yes, in the sim you can start with skis on tarmac - and for those without the JU - the trip is even easier with them smaller ski-planes…)

FlyingDreams814 · January 10, 2022, 8:40pm

What a fantastic resource! Thanks for all the suggestions. I just completed the around the world flight of Zara Rutherford and what a flight of discovery! Many surprises like the entire Arab Peninsula, Egypt, Iran, India all worth going back. But now I’m up for high mountain flying and especially eager to try skis, water operations and tricky mountain strips.

RegentFalke4131 · January 11, 2022, 1:36pm

Anniversary Edition

its been 12 month since the start of the topic and I want to thank all that have been a part of it.

Below come PLNs that had been missing in those early days - as the world-map was blurred, the PLN-tool a mess and no 3rd-party help like e.g. the Grand Tour Flight Planner around.

I have revised those Jan/Feb flights - more scenery & drama, no unrealistic landings above 19000ft.
Usually a WP is a peak/bush/village/snow/glacier/lake -landing spot.
Or you just zip along the route with a fast jet and enjoy the show:

2021 was a great MSFS year - new STOL& ski-planes and a mountain DEM that has improved in many areas (even silently, kudos to Asobo).

To be continued in 2022, see you in the thin air!
RF

RegentFalke4131 · January 11, 2022, 2:17pm

NEPAL Everest Region (see Jan 12):
Lukla-Syangboche: to villages & lodges, skis required
NEP_khumbu_1.PLN (4.0 KB)

NEPAL Everest Region:
Syangboche - Lukla: to some Base Camps and an FSX-Easter Egg (Aerosoft Twin Otter coming in one week…), skis required
NEP_khumbu_2.PLN (3.3 KB)

USA-ALASKA (Jan 13)
Mt. McKinley and surroundings: to Denali Base Camp, hi-alt peak rescues, skis required
US_Alaska_Denali.PLN (3.9 KB)

INDIA-SIKKIM
Indian Himalayas, Sikkim Province: to Kangchenjunga (3rd highest peak WW, two base camp supply stops there) and on to hi-alt Army border posts, Darjeeling town for some tea. Skis required
INDIA_sikkim.PLN (3.2 KB)

INDIA - UTTARKHAND (from Jan 14):
Indian Himalkayas, Uttarkhand Province: some of the most beautiful peaks on earth plus the incredible Valley of Flowers (see pic, Bihan payware). Skis required
INDIA_uttarkh.PLN (3.6 KB)

PAKISTAN - KARAKORAM (Jan 19).
to Nanga Parbat (two stops) and a bunch of more 8000+m peaks @ Concordia Place, glacier landings
PAKI_karakoram.PLN (4.0 KB)

MALAYA, Borneo (Jan 30)
Mt. Kinabalu: tough tropical landings, upslope
MALAY_kina.PLN (2.5 KB)

CHILE (Feb 04):
supply run to the highest mine(s) in the world. Land on roads & salt pans
CHIL_mines.PLN (3.7 KB)

PERU (Feb 09):
bring a team of prospectors to Altiplano lakes and mines.
Amphibian or float (PC-6) - or take the Ju-52 which was actually used there (with her, guess you will decline some lake landings).
Long distance flight, refuel from barrels brought up by Llama train…
PERU_lakes_mines.PLN (6.8 KB)

NEW ZEALAND (Feb 13)
Glacier landings in the Misty Mountains of Middle Earth, new DEM, skis required
NZ_mt_cook.PLN (2.6 KB)

USSR (Feb 17)
Drop flags and paras in the Pamir & Tien Shan massifs
USSR_pamir.PLN (2.4 KB)
USSR_tien_shan.PLN (3.2 KB)

UGANDA (Feb 19 & 24):
tough landings on/in vulkanoes, start in the Congo
UGAN_volcanoes.PLN (2.7 KB)

enjoy them all!

RegentFalke4131 · January 15, 2022, 10:47am

GERMANY - SW: Jurassic Park II

The Jura ridge stretches from France into Bavaria, for this flight its adviced to download two great sets of regional castles:

GER - BW #3 - Swabian Jura North » Microsoft Flight Simulator
GER - BW #5 - Swabian Jura South (Donau Valley) » Microsoft Flight Simulator

We start on EDNN, called the Swabian Aircraft Carrier for a reason (and the location of my first RL flight ever…):
Sim & Wikipedia pics, isn’t it striking how close they are (Black Forest on horizon):

Continuing along the escarpment NE and turning eventually back SW along the young Danube river valley to EDSA.

The area is popular with sailplanes, using famous historic glider strips along the way (Hahnweide, Klippeneck etc.)
D_Jura_1.PLN (6.2 KB)

RegentFalke4131 · February 4, 2022, 10:46am

PATAGONIA: Surfing the big wave

A german dentist holds many world records for free distance gliding (2000-3000km). He is using the lee waves of the southern Andes at this time of the year, zipping along at 180mph max, up to 30.000ft, 15hours in the air:

Here comes a 1500km flight to his base in El Calafate with the freeware Discus.
ARGNT_patag_glider.PLN (3.5 KB)

Its semi-fictional as I have no indication that his atmospheric conditions are yet modelled in the sim. So decided to move it a bit further west to pass some of the many visual highlights of Patagonia.

I have no sailplane experience, so needed some teleporting up. Played with life weather (Feb 2nd: clouds and drafts seemed pretty realistic) and the “Soaring” themes.
life weather - between Pampa & Andes @ 28000ft, heading south:

life weather - into a danger zone:

Any input from glider & weather devs/experts is appreciated.

RegentFalke4131 · February 19, 2022, 2:01pm

PERU - Inca Gold

after they were phased out as passenger aircraft the Fokker F VII and its US-equivalent, the Ford Trimotor soldiered on for decades as bushplanes.
A tantalizing report from 1935:

Here you fly with the Fokker VII from the Pacific coast to SPPP (thats the uppermentioned strip today (!), gold mining scars still visible…) and with some nuggets and a refil on to Cuzco (now that airport has changed!).
PERU_inca_gold.PLN (3.8 KB)

Climb slowly but steadily along the Ocona canyon (Pics). Its though: you have to go over 16.000ft passes, well over the nominal ceiling height of the F VII - on which Orbx has done a great FM job IMHO.

Up in the altiplano there is no room for manoevers or turns, stick is sluggish, stall near - you have to navigate the valleys with extreme care.
Start with an empty plane (and minimum fuel), a cold day and favourable winds.

If you want to make your life easier - go for the Ju-52.

RegentFalke4131 · March 18, 2022, 5:26pm

ANDES: the Postman always checks twice

Jean Mermoz was called the “Father of Air Mail” while flying in Africa. When stationed in Buenos Aires in the late 1920ies he established a short-cut-aeropostale-route over the Andes to Santiago de Chile.
Mermoz, glory and mysterious death of one of the aviation legends - Teller Report

Using planes that could barely reach the altitude of the Cordillera divide he survived several incredible crashes:
March 2, 1929 – Mermoz in difficulty in the Andes Mountains – Mountain pilot (pilote-de-montagne.com)

Jean Mermoz’s accident in the Andes (argentina-excepcion.com)

Maps were sketchy at best so he was checking out barely known passes on many recon flights. Here come a number of PLNs based on his feats.

ARGNT_Mermoz_1.PLN (3.7 KB)
Mendoza - Santiago (southern passage) , via Passo Piuquenes 13500ft

ARGNT_Mermoz_2.PLN (2.7 KB)
Return flight (north), via transandino railway and Passo Cumbre (12.600ft), close to Aconcagua.
Route was mastered already in 1921 by aviatrix Adrienne Bolland, ‘The Goddess of the Andes’:

ARGNT_Mermoz_3.PLN (5.2 KB)
way up north: Copiapo - San Miquel Tucuman. Attention: long stretch @ 15.700ft - so be gentle with that stick. Colorful desert - follow the dirt road.

I use the payware WACO - with its service ceiling of just 14.800ft it mimics his early Latecoeres and it has illuminated instruments - needed, because later he delivered the mail by night, tres uncroyable!

Looking for a passage:

Full Moon over Aconcagua:

RegentFalke4131 · March 31, 2022, 4:06pm

SPAIN: Jacob’s Ladder

there are many pilgrim routes for the famous Way of St.James Camino de Santiago - Wikipedia - we establish a new one: the Angels Way i.e. with our low flying Ultralight.
SPAN_camino.PLN (8.1 KB)

As all hikers, start south of the Pyrenees, via the Mallos de Riglos rock formation, the Bardenas Reales (a spanish Monument Valley, wiki pic, explore!), the Pamplona bull fighting arena until Bilbao.

Over rolling hills (plus UL strips) we reach the Cantabrian Mountains and the “Picos del Europa” 8700ft:

Follow the divide westward until you can circle our spiritual destination: the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. From there a quick detour to the ocean brings us to the end of the world - Cabo Finisterre and a smooth landing @ LEMZ. Now you can glue a symbolic Shell of Saint James to your plane.
This is the green Spain of WU8!

RegentFalke4131 · April 13, 2022, 7:23am

BOHEMIAN Rhapsody

Jan Kaspar is an aviation pioneer long forgotten: in the 1910s he used a Bleriot XI for first flights in his homeland which was part of the Habsburg Empire at the time.

You can currently buy the Bleriot in the Marketplace for the price of one local Plzen (Pilsner) beer - and IRL even try a replica:

This PLN is a fictional flight he might have tried after learning about the crossing of the Alps and Pyrenees with the XI:
a west-east traverse of the Tatra Mountains (peaks 8700 ft, passes 6000ft).
Bleriot_tatra.PLN (3.3 KB)

Can you make it up to altitude and survive being tossed around by gusts and lee-waves in that paper plane ?
The Wing24 manual recommends “brandy to calm the nerves”…

RegentFalke4131 · April 24, 2022, 7:52pm

SINAI - Dawn Patrol

June 5th 1967, sunrise over the desert: Something big is in the works
SINAI_fouga.PLN (9.3 KB)

Your Israeli Fouga Magister is ready for a recon flight deep into Egyptian territory - that is right in front of you. Fly over airfields, harbours, along roads and have the camera rolling.

Always use wadis, dunes and valleys as cover (cockpit EFB helps) and never exceed 100-200ft AGL to keep the element of surprise - otherwise you will be toast.
Pop up only over Mt. Catherine (8700ft) and Mt. Sinai (7500ft) to check if the peaks are still free of radar installations.

Its one of the most rugged terrain on earth, surprisingly good DEM gives an adrenaline rush, unfortunately the reef watermarks are largely missing.

For you piston buffs out there: the IAF did the same with P-51 Mustang in Oct. 1956 (even cutting Sinai telephone wires with the wings) - so decide…