[Official] Community Fly-In Friday: Antarctica

[SeedyL3205]

We will be hosting an Official Fly-in alongside a group of community members (you!) on Twitch. This is an open event, free to all who would like to fly along with us and available to pilots of all skill levels. The goal is to have a great time, explore new locations of the world, and make new friends. This event is open to pilots on both sim versions (MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024) and both the PC and Xbox platforms.

Hosted by @SeedyL3205, @Pieter2427, and @AlyKatz
When: Friday, November 28 @ 1900Z for two hours.
2025-11-28T19:00:00Z
Where: The Official Twitch Channel of MSFS

There will also be a Discord event channel open for those who want to voice chat with other members of the community.

Please see below for details on the upcoming Fly-In Event:

FLIGHT DETAILS

November 28-29 is the anniversary of American aviator Robert Byrd leading an expedition to achieve the first flight over the South Pole. In total, Byrd’s expedition lasted nearly 19 hours for the round-trip flight.

To commemorate this aviation milestone, our Community Fly-In Friday group flight this week will see us depart from McMurdo Station (NZFX), near the Ross Ice Shelf where Byrd’s expedition originated, and fly as far as we can towards the geographic South Pole within our two hour livestream time. Using aircraft on skis, we will then make a landing on the Antarctic ice.

Important note: NZFX is a bespoke airport. It is available by default in MSFS 2024, but MSFS (2020) pilots are required to install the FREE World Update XIII: Oceania and Antarctica from the in-sim Marketplace to use this airfield.

MSFS (2020) and MSFS 2024 Pilots on PC can download the .pln file here:
2025-11-28 Antarctica.PLN (1.7 KB)

MSFS 2024 Pilots on both PC and Xbox can import the flight plan from the new Flight Planner tool at this link.

You can find instructions on how to load a flight plan from the Flight Planner website to your in-sim EFB on your PC or Xbox console on our forums here.

We will be starting at NZFX. Please load your aircraft 10 minutes prior to take off and taxi over to the runway in preparation for departure.

AIRCRAFT

Recommended aircraft: Cessna 172, CubCrafters XCub, De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, or any aircraft of your choice equipped with skis or other landing gear appropriate for snow/ice operations.

MULTIPLAYER SETTINGS

Please adhere to the following settings so you can see everyone / be seen by everyone.

Variable	Setting
Server	SE Asia
Multiplayer	All Players
Live traffic	As preferred
Weather	Few Clouds
Time of Day	Daytime

COMMUNICATION

To communicate with others, a voice channel on the "Official Microsoft Flight Simulator Discord” at https://discord.gg/msfs will be available to join.

LET’S FLY

This is meant to be a fun and informal flight. Everybody is welcome, no matter your platform, sim version, or level of experience.

[TheHunDude]

I think @HeXtHeLeGeNd318 will have no problem making the round-trip in the two hour time frame.

[MiniRoadsterS]

There seems to be a problem with the flight plan on this flight. It will not go into the EFB when loading from the PC.

[ToneyMold427]

Does recommended mean required? If I wanted to fly a c17 would that be a thing

[Chladic88]

Just trying planes which have skis. And DHC6 with the skis is not able to gain more than 20-25kts, while without them, it takes off really easily.

[CPTDankSilver]

FLT pln doesnt work, says error

[JimOxide]

It is messed up in Navigraph too.

[Pieter2427]

Yeah, coordinates and navigation is a bit peculiar around these latitudes.

[JimOxide]

Fly what u like mate. Its just a guide for cruise speed really

[CriminalPilot]

A lot of the white stuff out there. Unfortunately I have an HDR monitor so the converted non-HDR screenshots found it difficult to adjust to all the bright white. Hopefully these came out OK!
Haven’t learend all the ins-and-outs of this Helico-pteros yet but it’s a pleasure to fly!

[IceManDBB]

There was actually more landscape than I expected. And live weather had some nice light and shadow play.

model matching could at least used a chopper

[linusle189]

Had a great flight

[CriminalPilot]

model matching could at least used a chopper

Twin engine Saab? Close enough!

[Chladic88]

Also adding some photos from me
Only bad thing was, i had terrible lags, when everybody took off.

[Orbitbold]

[TheHunDude]

I expected the scenery to be a little bit dull this time but I was proven wrong, the landscape looked great with live weather. I like it when it is cloudy and the light and shadow patches change constantly on the ground. Choosing the Tri-Motor for this flight was purely a coincidence from my part, I like that plane and did not know that a Tri-Motor was part of the original Byrd expedition. Also the landing was tricky, I only realized I was going to land when I looked right from the cockpit and realized I can see the right wing’s shadow.

The 2020 flock before take-off:

Leaving the mountainous area behind, everything’s white as far as the eye can see.

[Skaine7673]

[Skaine7673]

[UnwiredEddie]

Had to bail out early due to life happening but I got a couple of decent pics.