Touring the hand crafted airports in real time in the CJ4. It’s the only bizjet in this edition. I can’t stand its range but it’s all I got until someone delivers my beloved Phenom 300.
Today I did KMCO-KJFK-CYTZ.
Next Route: CYYZ-CYKL-BGBW-BIKF-EIDL
Date: Aug 20
Departure Time: 8AM EST
See you in the skies.
I was 1NM mile from BIKF and my sim crashed. Turned out BIKF has a scenery issue so that leg got nullified. So I’ll be spending the weekend in Greenland (BGBW), which by the way is not in MSFS so I landed on a grass area next to an NDB beacon.
I had my multiplayer on Active so there wasn’t anyone around for all flights. But I guess that is to be expected around those parts. Nonetheless, it was a fun day of flying. Sunset was beautiful coming into BIKF.
So next flights are as follow:
Route: BGBW-BISF-EIDL-LFPG-LOWI
Date: Aug 24
Departure Time: 8AM EST
Hopefully we’ll make it into LOWI by sunset.
Made it to BISF. Very cloudy up in these parts today. By the way the airport is not completely rendered in MSFS although it is a valid airport. So you just see a dim view of where the runway is. I had to go around once before I realized this.
Only one shot. Hard to take shots on take off or landing as I am busy managing this bird.
Made it to EIDL. Once again I had to go around. I need to trust my instruments. I had a hard time picking out the airport in the landscape.
I had lunch right in front the airport on that table, then headed out to Paris.
EIDL to LFPG.
I parked all the way West away from the main terminals. I was surprised there was only 2 other planes when I got there.
LFPG-LOWI
I knew it was going to be a sunset approach and it certainly did not disappoint. Once again I have All Multiplayer selected and the volume of people at LOWI was sparse just 2 aircraft or so. Maybe people are resting after a full week of flying after the release. I expected more people like last week at the handcrafted airports.
Leaving Paris
Sunset going into LOWI. I was in the clouds for that red shot and was buried in my FMS, when I raised my eyes it was all red in the windshield, I was like Whoa!!
Spectacular views on final at night into Inssbruck
Very quiet airport at night. I got to walk around and take a tour.
Tomorrow I’ll be making stops at the following airports in that order. At least make it to the African continent.
| ICAO | Airport Name |
|---|---|
| LOWI | Innsbruck, Innsbruck, , Austria |
| LFLJ | Courchevel, Courchevel, , France |
| LXGB | Gibraltar AB, Gibraltar, , Gibraltar |
| LPMA | Madeira, Madeira, , Portugal |
| GMAD | Al-Massira, Agadir, , Morocco |
| DAUI | In Salah, In Salah, , Algeria |
LOWI-LFLJ
Not sure if this Jet is rated for landing at LFLJ but I tried. And really that is all it was a try.
LFLJ-LXGB
It was quite bumpy coming out of LFLJ. Finally though, I made it down to the Spanish coast.
Circling the rock for landing.
I actually circled twice as my first attempt was not perfect off to the left of runway the first time.
Nailed the subsequent approach. Finally made it. I feel like I conquered the rock.
LXGB-LPMA
Had some traffic activity when I got ready to leave Gibraltar.
A yacht and cruise ship were in town today. Nice! It is quite a picturesque departure.
Coming into the Madeira Islands.
After I landed I had some company traffic again.
Madeira Airport. Simple but nice. I believe the official name is after Cristiano Ronaldo.
I nailed this approach which turned out to be really challenging.
LPMA to GMAD
I think this will be it for today. Someone spawned right on the runway before i taxied on for departure. I waited and then they disappeared only to reappear after I made it to the threshold. Figures.
Leaving LPMA.
The African continent, Morocco to be exact. Amazing landscape.
Can you spot the airport in the distance?
ILS RWY 27 final.
Now for some good Moroccan cooking.
After seeing several handrcrafted airports today, my next handcrafted airport stop is Entebbe Intl, Uganda (HUEN). To get there from here (GMAD) though I will need to stop at several non-handcrafted airports tomorrow.
| ICAO | Airport Name | Distance | Bearing | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GMAD | Al-Massira, Agadir, , Morocco | |||
| DAUI | In Salah, In Salah, , Algeria | 653 | 103 | E |
| DRZA | Manu Dayak, Agades, , Niger | 688 | 153 | SE |
| FTTA | Sarh, Sarh, , Chad | 767 | 126 | SE |
| FZIC | Bangoka Intl, Kisangani, , Congo (DRC) | 666 | 141 | SE |
Likely I won’t make it to FZIC, but we’ll see. I might get up early and start sooner.
Got a late start today as the OA server was down. But that gave me some time to tinker with my settings to eeek out some more FPS. It worked getting a steady 30FPS up to 40FPS. Which is great for my 2yr old rig.
Here are some stunning photos of the landscape between Morocco and Algeria.
DAUI-DRZA
Another set of spectacular views between Algeria and Niger.
I had to go through that mess, which wasn’t as bad as it looks, to get down into Agades, Niger.
On the other side.
DRZA-FTTA
Got some more nice shots of the African landscape between Niger and Chad.
Made it in before sunset. Note FTTA is a dirt runway, wasn’t expecting that.
Hadn’t plan to go further south of HUEN into Africa but I had a VIP customer call and requested a flight from FZAA to FAPE. So I ventured way south into Africa. Obvously I didn’t make it to HUEN today and neither will I tomorrow but only half way there (FBFT). Tomorrow afternoon I plan to spend time with the 28 degree community event.
This was my first 1900NM flight (FZAA-FAPE) in the CJ4. Whoohoo!! There wasn’t any fuel in Port Elizabeth so I made perilous journey to FABE, another 100NM, and ran out of fuel on final. Just made it to the runway but glided a little too much and overran the runway.
Here are the shots from today:
Here are the pics between FABE and HDAM where I ended up after the required stop in HUEN.
HUEN was a nice airport. One of the runways is closed and used for a taxiway now.
Next airport is Lukla…whoohooo!! This will be interesting. But it is still a days journey away. So won’t get there until end of day tomorrow.
From HDAM I headed to OPKC and then on to VNKT. Some of the African landscape is just out of this world.
The reason for the stop in VNKT is to switch planes. This morning I am taking the Bonanza G36 over to Lukla and then come back to VNKT to move on with the trip. I learned my lesson trying to take the CJ4 into LFLJ.
Note the rwy 02 approach into VNKT is a very interesting one. You should try it out.
