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Leg #56 SAWH - YSRN

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EHM-2097 Andrei:
This leg leads us out of North America, which we have been crossing for some 30 legs, into Central America. I flew it with the PC12 again and, while a jet could do the job, note that both origin and destination airports have short and – especially – narrow runways.

This leg can be flown in a very basic way, which is along the Pacific coast. However, inland mountains provide an interesting landscape that would be a pity to miss, so the hereby-suggested route leaves the coastline for a ride among local volcanoes.

Alternatively, one could fly the entire leg over the mountains, but the way is difficult to find before lake Atitlan. Thus, the suggested route is a compromise between sightseeing and ease of orientation.

After takeoff, climb to 12500ft and turn right to the south as soon as the terrain permits. On this course we first cross the range of mountains near the airport, then a wide valley with a long and thin lake, then another mountain range and eventually, when crossing these, the ocean appears in sight.

Once you get the ocean in sight, the best path is between the coastline and the nearby mountains, ideally at equal distance from the two. While doing so, note the town of Tapachula on the left, as well as the local airport (MMTP).

The next visible town is Coatepec; there is no airport here but there is a railroad. By now we have crossed the border into Guatemala.

Next town is Retalhulen, and the spot is easy to locate due to a large "Y"-shaped river flowing into the ocean nearby. Near the city is the airport (MGRT), but do not waste time looking for it – I did not see it either.

After Retalhulen, Atitlan Lake appears in sight to the left, in the mountains. It is time to leave the coastline for a more interesting landscape so fly to this lake. Once you reach the lake, turn right to the east between mountains – most of which being in fact volcanoes, and this is visible from their shape even with the FS default scenery.

A large city appears ahead, which is the capital city of Guatemala. The La Aurora airport (MGGT) appears in sight shortly, apparently inside the city.

Fly over the airport, and then to a lake visible further east. Before reaching this lake, another one appears still further so continue towards this one. By the time we reach this second lake (Guija Lake), we are over El Salvador.

Further east, a third (and even larger) lake appears: lake Suchitlan. Fly to this lake too, then note a large city to the southeast. This is the capital city of San Salvador, and it is our next waypoint. Next to the city is Ilopango airport (MSSS), while the newer airport of Cuscatlan (MSLP).

After San Salvador, fly east along the coastline. When you reach a delta-like segment of the shoreline, start descending because the destination airport is getting close now.

The large Fonseca bay appears ahead. The leg destination is a small cape right before entering the bay, visible from distance. Note that we approach the airport perpendicular on the runway, so the best approach is left base leg for runway 33.

EHM-2097 Andrei:
Although "technically" this is the second leg along Central America, it is the first time we're going to see both oceans. I flew it with the A318 but had some hard time landing.

The first part of this leg is to be flown along the coast. This is easy when using runway 15 but things get a little spicy with runway 33. In this case, while climbing, pay attention to Mount Conchagua and turn right around it.

As we cross Fonseca Bay, we also cross the border into Honduras. Continue eastwards along the coast, until a large inland lake appears in sight. This is Managua Lake; fly towards it.

As we get closer to and then above the lake, the city of Managua gets visible too on its southern shore, as well as the international airport (MNMG). We are now over Nicaragua.

Behind Managua Lake an even larger lake appears. Fly over this second lake, on a southeast course. Note an interesting feature, the island of Ometepe formed by two volcanoes: Conception and Madera.

Right of the lake, a mountain range starts to emerge from the lowlands. Fly towards these mountains and follow the range to the northeast. Lake Arenal appears in the mountains; make sure you fly along it for direction.

Once we get past the lake and the mountain behind this, a large city appears ahead. We are now in Costa Rica and this is the capital city of San Jose. As we get closer to the city, the two airports of Juan Santamaria (MROC) and Tobias Bolanos (MRPV). Although both are named "international", I am sure that you will notice some differences between these.

From San Jose, follow the valley eastwards to a small lake, then towards the Atlantic as this appears in sight.
Once near the coast, in order to pinpoint your position, look for a small (short but wide) cape, where the town of Puerto Limone and the local airport (MRLM) are located. From Puerto Limone follow the coast to the east.

As we fly over a narrow cape, some islands appear ahead, the closest one being the destination of this leg. More precisely, the runway is located at the eastern tip of the island, perpendicular to our bearing. Thus, do not fly immediately towards the island.

For a left base runway 08, fly over the airport of Cap Manuel Nino (MPCH), and then aim for the base turn. Personally I tried to do a VOR approach in order to get a more precise approach with the Airbus, but somehow misread the distance so my approach was purely visual (and therefore a little overshot).

EHM-2097 Andrei:
This is a short hop along Panama, which could be even shorter on a straight line between the origin and destination, but once we are in the area it would be a pity not to "visit" the channel.

I flew this leg with the A318, which was a little heavy for takeoff at Bocas del Toro. Witnesses have stated that no jet uses this airport in real life, so a turboprop would be more realistic.

After departure, climb to 13500ft and follow the northern coast. At cruise altitude both oceans are visible at first, then the isthmus becomes wider and the Pacific gets out of sight behind the mountains.

Further east, the terrain becomes flatter and the Gatun Lake appears ahead. As we approach the lake, the northern end of the channel becomes visible. Descend to 4500ft to enjoy the view.

The Atlantic locks are not rendered in the default scenery (unlike the Pacific locks, which is really weird), however the spot where the locks should be is easy to recognize (among other "hints", the water is sloped).

East of the Atlantic locks, is the city of Colon, with the local airport (MPEJ). Turn right and follow the channel. Waypoints and route indications are no longer necessary, as the channel is straightforward to follow.

The Pacific locks appear in sight as well as Panama City to the east and the leg destination airport to the west.

EHM-2097 Andrei:
With this leg, we complete the trip along Central America and reach deep into the mountains of Columbia. I flew this leg with the A318, and almost any aircraft would fit as well, the limitation being the length of the runway at destination (while approach itself is not difficult, due to the PAPI lights).

After takeoff fly east across the channel, and then over the airports of Marcos Gelabert (MPMG) and Tocumen (MPTO).

Further east, the isthmus that was relatively flat in the channel area becomes rougher again, with mountains along it.

We soon reach a large bay, with a river flowing into it from the southeast. Follow that river, and then continue in the same direction, to cross the Panama isthmus again. We soon reach another large bay, Uraba, on the northern coast this time. About this spot we also cross the border into Columbia.

Note a small comb-shaped cape, near the spot where Atrato River flows into the bay. Fly over this cape, and then straight east across the bay. Note a small short cape with an airport on top of it: this is Turbo (SKTU).

Upon reaching the mainland, continue to the east. A lake appears soon, with some hills behind. Fly towards this lake. As we get closer, it appears that the hills behind the lake are the northern end of a much longer and higher mountain range.

Over the lake, turn right to the southwest. Soon a large river appears ahead. Fly towards this river, then south along it. Next to the river bend is the airport of Caucasia (SKCU).
Follow the valley as it goes into the mountains. The valley becomes narrower and turns right, and then left again.

Further south, the valleys gets wide again but remains deep, with high mountains on both sides. We are now in the Cauca valley, which we will be following during this leg and the next one.

A large city appears in sight to the left, in the next valley and the surrounding hills: this is Medellin.

After Medellin the valley splits in two. Follow the left-hand valley, not the right-hand one that is flatter. From this point, there is also a railroad along the valley.

Descend to 8500ft as we get close to the leg destination, while paying attention to the mountains on the sides of the valley as we are now flying lower than these.

On the left a town appears; it is Manzales and it also has an airport, not visible though (probably we are flying too low to see it). After Manzales the valley becomes even wider, descend to 6500ft. This is necessary as the leg destination is now close and the airport is located at "only" 4500ft.

The city of Matecana appears, and then the airport gets visible too, but do not fly straight towards it because the heading is inadequate for a straight-in aproach. Instead, note the airport of Santa Ana (SKGO) ahead (it is easy to spot as it is displayed in FS on top of a high platform).
 
Once over Santa Ana, turn left towards the city and start descending, this leads on a good course for straight-in approach on runway 07. Note that approach for runway 25 is tougher due to the high sloped ground east of the airport.

EHM-2097 Andrei:
This leg provides a first taste of what flying in the Andes means, and I must confess it is different from anything I knew. Although it is possible to fly this route well above the terrain features, I hereby suggest flying levels that get closer to these, for a more intense experience.

I flew this leg with my brand new Flight1 ATR 72, which was nice for most of the time but kind of tricky when landing; at that time I wished I had a lighter and slower aircraft. This being said, it is up to every one's skills and technically even jets could do the job.

If anyone remembers, the leg origin at Matecana is located high on the eastern side of the wide Cauca valley. The first part of the route follows the valley, so we need to get back into it first. This is easy task if departing on runway 25, but if runway 07 is in use pay attention to the high ground ahead, in fact it is the natural slope of the mountainside. In this case climb (ASAP) to 6500ft and turn right to the west once you reach this altitude.

Over Cauca valley, we fly again past Santa Ana airport (SKGO). Due to FS rendering and data, the airport seems to be raised on a high platform. Take note to this feature, because this applies to ALL airports within this valley, which therefore become easier to spot from distance.

While following the valley upstream, keep the river and the railroad in sight. Also, in case of doubt, it is better to follow the right-hand (western) mountainside, which is straighter and less fragmented than the left-hand one (where several secondary valleys exist).

The next (raised) airport is Zarzal (SK0C), followed shortly by Tulua (SKUL).

The valley is very wide so one feels there is plenty of space to fly along it. However, one should not forget that mountains on both sides are very high above. Not far from this spot, a plane bound for Cali airport crashed after having navigation problems, which led them across the eastern mountainside and unable to climb fast enough to clear it.

After Tulua, the next feature to look for is Calima Lake on the western side of the valley. A little later, two more airports appear in sight. The leftmost one is La Primavera (SKCL), the rightmost one is inside a large city – which is Cali (SKGB).

At Cali, follow the river and railroad to the south, again close to the western side of the valley.

The next segment of the valley is still clearly contoured at the altitude we fly but the valley bottom becomes rougher, with the river itself doing a series of sharp bends. This is no problem as we are still above these terrain features.

Further south, the valley bottom turns into a large plateau and the valley edges become less visible, which make orientation more difficult. Try to locate these edges, as little visible as they are, and follow the centerline of the plateau – to the south again. You should see the Popayan airport (SKPP) on the left, but this is not a major waypoint to look for.

Later, it becomes obvious that we are approaching the southern edge of this plateau, without seeing what lies behind – yet. As we reach this edge, the Patia River valley appears in sight, to the southwest and far below.

While it is possible to continue at 6500ft, for a better terrain experience I suggest slowly descending to 3500ft. The main valley is easy to spot but as we fly downstream, any secondary valley is just as good as these all converge lower.

Further south, the valley becomes narrower and later turns west, then northwest and out of the mountains. Locate the southernmost point of the river and head to the plateau that leads from this point to the south. Be sure to start climbing (11500ft is safe, but barely so) because this time we are going upstream – and fast. Two converging rivers flow south along this plateau, be sure to follow the leftmost one.

The valley turns into a plateau, with many villages generally located on the higher spots, then turns southwest. Soon two airports appear in sight (no more raised platforms this time).

The leftmost one is Tulcan (SETU) in Ecuador, while the rightmost one is San Luis, this leg destination. The easiest approach is following a right hand pattern for runway 07 starting with the downwind leg as the airport appears in sight.

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