[Updated] Arrows Across America: fly the US Air Mail routes 1926 - 1934

Man this is a cool project! I always appreciate seeing simmers use the tools at our disposal to resurrect history… you guys have done good work here!

I’ve tried just enough of CAM 5 to be really impressed ;). I hope to get through the rest of it next week.

If work is continuing on ILFs and maybe other routes, I can probably offer some help. I’m useless at creating 3d models, but competent at the grunt work of placing other people’s models using the SDK haha. I’ve got a few bush sceneries up on .to.

Anyway, just thought I’d throw that out there if you’re still working on it. Either way, thanks again for a cool project!

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Thanks. We are still working on it, and looking to expand the routes and network.
We are working on one ILF at the moment, but we need some more modeling to be done, and experience some glitches in some models, of the custom lights and the custom windsock.
And now it’s holidsy time, so not so much MSFS scenery building time.
But we will certainly keep your proposal in mind, because we can do with some help when we want to expand.
So how did you like the rest of the route?

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Looks like I won’t get back to the sim before this weekend, but I’m looking forward to it.

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Thank you! This is quite cool, read about them last year and found the story fascinating! Would have not thought to add this to the sim, great idea and execution!

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Thank you for the feedback! It has been fascinating putting it all together and we hope to have more for everyone soon.

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After a summer break we are working on a major update to the Arrows Across America airmail project. The next release will include:

  • improved models and lighting
  • three Intermediate Landing Fields (ILFs) on the CAM5 route from Salt Lake City to Pasco
  • the complete CAM32 route from Portland to Spokane, via Pasco, including three more iLFs

CAM32 runs through the Colombia River Gorge, east of Portland. The lighting on that twenty-five mille stretch of the route was designed to enable the airmail pilots to fly under the fog that frequently blankets the top of the gorge, at an altitude of less than 250’ AGL

We hope that ongoing improvements to weather and turbulence will create additional challenges for you in flying that part of CAM32!

In the meantime, some work in progress images

CAM5 Locomotive Springs ILF
CAM5 Locomotive Springs ILF, Utah


CAM5 Mary’s Cafe, next to Strevell ILF, Idaho

CAM5 Windsock demo


CAM32 Colombia River Gorge beacon


CAM32 Beacon Rock, Colombia River Gorge


CAM32 route map

We currently expect our third release to include CAM18 from Portland to Seattle, completing Varney Air Lines’ airmail routes. This will enable you to fly the mail for over thousand miles from Salt Lake City through the Pacific North West, navigating solely by arrow and beacon.

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those pics are “gorge”-eous! :slight_smile:

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Woo, looking forward to this update! :smiley:

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Thanks both, too kind. Whilst you are waiting, I have dug up the old Varney Air Lines logo - feel free to adopt as your profile pic if you’d like!

Varney Airlines

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The current version conflicts with PuffinFlight’s brilliant We Love VFR - Region 2 mod because some modern day scoundrels put whopping big antennas and other masts in some of the locations where the venerable old beacon towers used to be, so you’d get a few overlapping models. But the new version in development fixes this via the magic of exclusion polygons so you’ll be able to safely run We Love VFR along with the Arrows Across America mod without any conflicts (hopefully!).

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And as background reading for budding airmail pilots, we can recommend this concise guide to the rules for using the airmail’s Intermediate Landing Fields: Intermediate Landing Field Rules. May 20, 1930 by United States. Bureau of Air Commerce - Books on Google Play

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Intermediate Landing Field update; we are now aiming for the following nine for the next release. All are located and laid out according to the information contained in the 1931 and 1934 Dept of Commerce Airway Bulletins.

CAM5 Salt Lake City to Pasco
Promontory Point, UT

Locomotive Springs, UT

Strevell, ID

Idahome, ID

King Hill, ID

CAM32 Portland to Spokane
Rufus, OR

Umatilla, OR

Sprague, WA

Cheney WA

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Update on the Update
Having made good progress we are now hoping to include additional content to v2 in the form of a tenth Intermediate Landing Field (Meacham, OR) and the northern most section of CAM8, from Portland to Seattle.

This means that you will be able to fly 900 miles by arrow and beacon all the way from Salt Lake City to Seattle, using CAM5 (yellow), turning left at Pasco onto CAM32 (blue) and then right at Portland onto CAM8 (green).

Route map 1931 crumpled cropped w CAM8 highlights

@RobCap1966 will be at the FS Weekend flightsim event in Lelystad, The Netherlands, this weekend demo’ing some of the new content (offline mode permitting!) - if you are there say hello!

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This is amazing work!

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If you would lke to find out more about the pilots who flew the air mail, the Air Mail Pioneers website has a great collection of photos and stories. The content is focused on the period 1918 to 1927 when the US Air Mail Service was operated by the US Post Office, before its transfer to the Contract Air Mail system, but it underlines both the glamour and the danger of flying the mail.

It is also helping us to piece together some of the background for our project. For example, Airways Extension Superintendent S. S. Boggs, who we know surveyed the routes and landing fields for CAM32, seems to have been the same Stanhope S Boggs who had previously flown the air mail and on one occasion crash landed in a San Francisco street following an engine failure.

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Saw it today on fsweekend in Lelystad. Very nice work. i will try it out next week or so.
Thanks

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Excellent thanks, look forward to hearing what you think.

Thanks, glad you like it.

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