Where is the most challenging place to fly in FS9?

R

Richard Westcott

Charter Member 2011
I am in the process of re-installing FS9, I do it every now and then as sort of spring clean!

I go through phases of different types of flying and places to fly, I have flown military types a lot and now I am more into bush flying. I have flown in Alaska for a long time and also Washington and Canada but now I need a change.

So whare is the most challenging (or next most challenging) place to fly, preferably in the USA or Europe.

Any suggestions?

All the best
 
I would recommend you two areas of the globe:
- first, Switzerland. Get the Swiss landclass ebch3tot.zip, and get a good mesh for the Alps (see the three links here: http://c30s.alpes.gratisim.fr/ ) Switzerland is filled with airfields here and there, and the landscapes are cool and also challenging depending on the aircraft.

- then, the Himalaya region. I believe Holger Sandmann provided a nice set of Meshes for that region, including some optionnal photoreal parts for the Mt.Everest. This region can be pretty challening, but you'll have to find some addon airfields for the region. There are some, but I don't remember the names anymore :/ Check here anyway: http://walhalla.mine.nu/fs2004.php#nepal
(Note: if the links are dead on avsim, try to search on flightsim.com)
 
If you just want real difficulty and not necessarily a "real" place there are a number of sadistic
sceneries a friend developed in anomalies in FS2004 that are available over at Hovercontrol. Search Scenery FS9 for Doug Kibbey and look for

Mountain_Hideout, Secret_Base ,EaglesNestNorth, Roraima, RoraimaPk2, and Secret_Lair

remember, you asked for it :icon_twi:

 
When I am in the mood for some serious white-knuckle flying, I head to Idaho and the USFS strips there. Surrounded by mountains, these strips require planes that have pretty good short/rough filed abilities, PLUS the ability to climb like a squirrel being chased by a pack of rabid Chihuahuas. With a good mesh, like the freeware FSGenesis US mesh over on Flightsim.com, the scenery is amazing....mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes. Enough to make a man want to put on a pair of hip waders, grab a hand made bamboo fly rod and go trout fishing.

The Andes Mountain chain can be a very challenging and rewarding flight. Start up at the northern tip of South American and plot a course that will take you to the southern tip along the mountain chain. High altitude take offs call for a plane with plenty of high altitude ability, or long long runways and light loads. Try this area in a vintage piston plane, such as the FSDB Lockheed L-10A, DC-3 or Ford Tri-Motor. Nothing like a Tri-Motor doing a take off run at 10 thousand feet to test your nerves.

OBIO
 
Where is the most challenging place to fly in FS9?"...

I think either in real world or our Sim world,any major airport in heavy weather on any Fri PM,in IFR conditions!!....excuting a CAT 111b,into O'Hare, or JFK, has got to be the ultimate chalange....Geographically???..any Mountain range worldover...the Ultimate???...Carrier Landings!!.with a CUB landing in Cross winds at the top of yer list!!!....... Other wise its any time you leave the ground ...."Where is the most challenging place to fly in FS9?"... Answer may be that its where you are at that moment!!...Vin!!

THE PROFICIENT PILOT
by Barry Schiff
May issue, 2005

Approaching the west coast of Ireland, our flight engineer gives us the latest Paris weather: “Ceiling’s still zero, Skipper; visibility’s holding 300 feet.”
We learn about the need to shoot a Category IIIb ILS approach at Paris after a night Atlantic crossing. The rising sun bursts into the cockpit, an intrusive wake‑up call, and we begin to prepare for the challenge. A Cat IIIb approach in a Lockheed L-1011, however, is a no‑brainer. I could teach any pilot to do it (as long as nothing goes wrong).
After descending into the Paris area and being vectored toward the localizer, we select the autoland mode and engage the second autopilot. If one of the two should fail, a missed approach is mandatory even though the remaining autopilot could complete the approach and landing safely.
The first officer calls out, “Localizer alive,” and the big Lockheed rolls gently onto final. A minute later, he calls, “Glideslope alive.” We extend the flaps to 22 degrees and lower 10 wheels from their wells.
The glideslope needle centers, and we extend the flaps fully. The nose of the TriStar dips slightly, and the autopilots establish an initial sink rate of 680 fpm to approximately parallel the glideslope. Seconds later, they make the corrections needed to intercept and track the glideslope. The wings slice into the undercast, and the autothrottles maintain 138 knots.
Signals from both ILS receivers are constantly fed into a vote‑and‑veto box. If a suspect signal is received, the computers reject it and allow the approach to continue using the other, more reliable signals.
The outer marker flashes blue dashes, and I call, “Outer marker.” The flight engineer is monitoring instruments on both sides of the panel and calls, “Flags checked.”
The radio altimeters show us descending through 1,500 feet agl. This signals the autopilots to roll in some nose‑up trim to prepare for the possibility of a missed approach. The autopilots also take control of the rudder and now can automatically prevent yaw created by the failure of an underwing engine during the remainder of the approach (without pedal‑pushing help from a pilot, thank you).
The tower clears us to land and reports that the ceiling is still zero and the runway visual range is holding steady at 300 feet.
At 500 feet agl, the co-pilot calls out, “One hundred and thirty‑eight knots, sink seven.”
My left hand holds the yoke loosely; my index finger rests lightly against the go‑around switch in case a problem develops.
My right hand is on the throttles, and I feel them making slight and occasional thrust changes. I also feel my pulse picking up a bit.
The autopilots have been crabbing the airplane to remain on the localizer, but at 150 feet they dip a wing to compensate for the crosswind and add top rudder to align the Lockheed with the runway. Although the autopilots can land with a 44‑knot direct crosswind, CAT IIIb landings are limited to 10 knots.
The middle marker spews a short stream of dots and dashes, the radio altimeters say that we are descending through 100 feet, and the ILS needles remain centered, yet there is no sense of being so close to the ground, no approach lights reflecting through the dimensionless world of gray. I shift slightly in my seat trying not to let my crew notice. It’s crunch time.
For most airplanes on a CAT IIIb approach, pilots use a 50‑foot decision height (DH), and a missed approach is required if the touchdown-zone lights are not seen when the landing gear is 50 feet above the runway.
The L‑1011 benefits from an exemption. We do not have to see anything outside the aircraft before touchdown. And we don’t. This eliminates needing a DH. We instead use an alert height of 50 feet, the height above which a missed approach must be made if a required ground or airborne component fails. The approach and landing may be continued if such a failure occurs below 50 feet.
Small amber lights on the radio altimeters signal that the main landing gear wheels are descending through 50 feet, and the autopilots shift to the flare mode. The throttles move aft, and the attitude indicator confirms that flaring has begun. At 10 feet, the autothrottle system retards the thrust levers fully and nonchalantly trips itself off. The computers program the flare for a 2‑fps sink rate at touchdown. We still cannot see anything through the milky mist. The radio altimeter shows 10 feet, 5 feet. We can almost feel the main landing gear reaching, stretching for the ground.
The mains touch with a mild thump, the ground spoilers deploy, and still we see nothing. The autopilots lower the nose at a programmed rate, and then just as the nosewheel is about to touch, we make out a short stream of centerline lights disappearing beneath the nose. I pray that no vehicle has strayed onto the runway. We would have no warning of the impending collision.
The autopilots shift to the rollout mode and steer the nosewheel to track the localizer.
I engage the thrust reversers. They seem more effective at making noise than slowing us. At 80 knots I come out of reverse, apply normal braking, disconnect the autopilots, and steer toward the ghostly image of a high‑speed taxiway.
Now the tough part, trying to find the gate without bumping into something on the way....,.and find the Showers fer sure!!
 
Thanks Guy's you have all given me a lot to think about, now it is Northern Italy to do some flying around the Alps.

Thanks again

All the best
 
I think IFR in the sim is way too easy no matter the conditions. Since you do not have the most dangerous effect of them all....your natural senses to fool you. At least in our home based Simulators. Sure you can throw in all sorts of weather and wind effects but it is not the same as in the real airplane.
The AP in the Simulated 737 will latch on to the beams of the ILS system at any airport in the world and track it down while you sit back and sip a cup of coffee or a cold one. You need system failures to make that interesting.
You can of course do what you could not do legally in the real world...fly that ILS approach that Barry describes by hand and see if you can make it safely on the ground. That is a bit more of a challenge then.

Weather and more importantly wind however can make any airport interesting....just come to my home base at L67 during a Santa Ana episode....and you'll know what I mean.

I think the geographic challenges are much more entertaining. And by their nature are much more different from each other. An ILS is an ILS once you are inbound to the FAF.... with very minor differences. But terrain and runway configurations are widely different and the same 3000ft strip in the plains of Kansas is a real challenge in the rugged high terrain of Idaho or Colorado.

The Swiss and Italian Alps are certainly a great area to fly in. And one that I would love to check out in the real thing one of those days. But I think it will be a while before I can spare the $$$s to fly the Saratoga from California to Italy and back with the 100LL prices of today.

Stefan
 
A helo in the bathroom.

:)

Sry, meant a vintage Biplane in the Alaskan mountains, or same in the Nepal area.
 
Grab something with a little speed and a lot of maneuverability, then head over to KGCN. You'll find a road that leads north. Follow that to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, then drop in and hang a left. Keep dropping until you see the river, then follow that all the way to lake mead. Stay as low as you can without clipping a canyon wall. Mustangs and Lightnings are ideal for this run.

BTW, with default traffic at 100%, there's usually a Ford Trimotor sitting on the ramp at KGCN.
 
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