If you are starting with "fgrun" the FlightGear launcher, you can
enter the airport id and select the runway on the appropriate screen
in the startup wizard.
If you are starting from the command line you can use the options:
"--airport=ABCD" and "--runway=12L" options.
If you know if any other interesting places or routes to fly, please
let me know and I can add them to this list.
Title and
Download
| Apt. ID
| Description
|
Round Valley Airport
w130n30.tgz
| O09
| Covalis, CA. The airport is at the West edge of a 7 mile across
valley. The predominant wind is a cross wind. Take-offs to the west
(if they use the full runway length) often have to fly between 2 small hills and
over another valley while gaining altitude. Most pilots take off to
the west. It is a paved runway and quite long. It was designated as
an emergency recovery field during the Cold War and was used twice
that I know of by military aircraft that could not take off again from
the field.
|
Hell's Canyon
w120n40.tgz
| 25U
| Hell's Canyon, Imnaha, OR. This airport is located just west of
"Hell's Canyon National Park" which has the Snake River running
through it. Supposedly it's a 5500 foot drop from the top of the
canyon to the river. The airport is located on the brink of this
canyon.
See the remarks on the airport page (click on the airport id)
... DOWNDRAFTS, SHEER DROP IN TERRAIN, LIVESTOCK, etc. Don't go here
on your first solo x-country. :-)
|
Crater Lake National Park Tour
w130n40.tgz
| 64S
| Prospect, OR.
Take off and fly at a heading of about 40 degrees until you cross the
first distinct ridge in front of you. (several minutes of flight in
the navion ... just climb as fast as you can, it will be a close
squeek to get over :-)
Once you clear the ridge and can see beyond it, turn right and fly a
heading of about 70 degrees. You should see two shallow peaks off in
the distance. Head right between these -- they are the two sides of
the crater. As you get closer the shape of the crater will come into
view. There's a lake there in real life, hopefully it will be there
in flight gear too before long.
|
Grand Canyon Tour
w120n30.tgz
| GCN,
1Z1,
1G4,
AZ38,
| These airports are in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon. From
KGCN head north. From 1Z1 head south. From 1G4 head north (I think.)
From AZ38 head north.
|
Ranger Creek Airport
w130n40.tgz
| 6WA8
| Greenwater, WA. This airport is wedged into the bottom of a steep canyon.
You definitely need to be on your toes to get in and out of here. I'd hate
to think about what the wind would do to you in real life.
|
Mount Rainier Tour
w130n40.tgz
| WA20
| Eatonville, WA. Start out at Swanson Airport in Eatonville, WA. Take
off and fly a heading of about 90 degrees. You will need to fly for 5-10
minutes before the mountain comes into view. Be patient if you don't see
it right away, it will dwarf everything in it's vicinity.
|
Death Valley Tour
w120n30.tgz
| L06
| Furnace Creek, CA. This starts you right in the middle of Death Valley
which runs north & south. If you head south about 15 miles you'll hit the
lowest point in the USA, 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level.
|
Utah
w120n30.tgz
| 1L7
| Escalante Muni Airport, Escalante, UT. This airport is east and a
bit north of Bryce Canyon National park. If you head mostly south and
a bit east you'll eventually hit the Grand Canyon. It is sandwiched
between the Dixie National forest to the north and the Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument to the south. There should be
interesting stuff to see no matter which direction you head.
|
Lake County Airport (CO)
w110n30.tgz
| KLXV
| Lake County Airport, Leadville, CO. This airport is at an
elevation of 9927 making it a bit of a challenge to get into and out
of with a standard C172. Make sure you lean out your engine before
taking off and read up on density altitude before you try this one in
real life.
|
Friedman Memorial Airport (Idaho)
w120n40.tgz
| KSUN
| Friedman Memorial Airport, Hailey, Idaho. This airport is nestled
in a valley surrounded by significant terrain. It's one that shows up
quite often in accident investigations.
|
Israel to Jordan over the Dead Sea (There are no borders in the virtual reality!)
e030n30.tar.gz
| LLBS
to
OJAI, 70nm
| Dead Sea is the lowest water elevation on the Earth. Take
off from the Beer-Sheva Teyman airport and head East-North-East.
About half way there, after the southern Hebron mountains ridge,
there'll be a sharp drop-off down to the Dead Sea --- the lowest
exposed point on the Earth.
It's really fun to descend and explore the beautiful coastline.
In the real life, you wouldn't like to fly low over this water
there of your own will --- while you don't need a life vest in the Dead
Sea, the water is pretty caustic there for one's eyes. Once you're done
marvelling the sights, continue on to the Queen Alia airport.
|
