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Flight Operations / EHM Featured Destination - Aberdeen, Scotland

« Last post by EHM-1465 Dominic on September 11, 2022, 08:17:44 pm »

This week, following the sad death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, I invite you to visit Aberdeen, Scotland, the nearest main airport to Her Majesty's estate at Balmoral, which is reported to be the place The Queen enjoyed visiting the most, and the place where her amazingly long reign came to an end this week.



Scotland is a one of the four countries that comprise the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of Great Britain, Scotland covers an area of 30,000 square miles, including 790 islands. It has a population of about 5.5 million people. Although an integral part of the UK, Scotland has had a devolved Parliament since 1999, which is situated in the capital Edinburgh.

Aberdeen is a city in north-east Scotland, with a population of roughly 200,000 people. It is about 400 miles north of London and just east of the Scottish Highlands. Since the discovery of North Sea oil in 1969, Aberdeen has been known as the offshore oil capital of Europe. As a consequence of this industry, Aberdeen Airport EGPD includes one of the busiest commercial heliports in the world, with approximately 37,000 helicopter movements per year. The airport has one fixed wing runway, which is 6407 feet long and three dedicated helicopter runways.



EuroHarmony offers a range of flights to Aberdeen in Classes 1 to 5, from five of our Hub airports, from Scotland's capital Edinburgh, and also as one leg of the Class 1 route visiting many of the Scottish Islands. Helicopter pilots may also want to practice their skills with onwards flights in our Agusta 109 or Bell 407 to the various oil rigs in the North Sea! There is a list of default FS2004 and FSX oil rig locations on THIS WEBPAGE.

More detailed add-on scenery of Aberdeen Dyce airport EGPD is available at the usual locations (see week one of this series) and add-on offshore installations for FS2004 & FSX are available from the Offshore Development Group: http://www.fs-odg.com/forum/index.php. For X-Plane users there is a file called "b_uk_oilfields_1_4.zip" at Flightsim.com.

So, as a tribute to Her Majesty The Queen, why not fly to Scotland this week?

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Flight Operations / EHM Featured Destination - Beirut, Lebanon

« Last post by EHM-1465 Dominic on September 05, 2022, 03:11:22 pm »

This week, I invite you to visit Beirut, in the Republic of Lebanon.

Lebanon is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lies to its west across the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon is home to roughly six million people and covers an area of 10,452 square kilometres (4,036 sq mi), making it the smallest country in continental Asia. The official language of the state is Arabic, while French is also formally recognized.

The earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back over 7000 years, predating recorded history. Modern-day Lebanon was home to the Phoenicians, a maritime culture that flourished for almost 3000 years. Lebanon was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century and remained under its rule for the next 400 years. The country has suffered from political instability and violence for much of the last 50 years, including a devastating civil war from 1975-1990. Despite the country's small size, Lebanese culture is renowned both in the Middle East and globally, primarily powered by its extensive diaspora. Lebanon is a founding member of the United Nations and is a member of the Arab League, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.

Lebanon's capital city is Beirut. As of 2014, Greater Beirut has a population of 2.4 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coast. Beirut has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years, and was one of Phoenicia's most prominent city states, making it one of the oldest cities in the world. The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the Amarna letters from the New Kingdom of Egypt, which date to the 14th century BC.

Before the Lebanese Civil War, Beirut was widely regarded as the "Paris of the Middle East", often cited as a financial and business hub where visitors could experience the Levantine Mediterranean culture. Beirut's diverse atmosphere and ancient history make it an important destination which is slowly rebuilding itself after continued turmoil.

Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport (OLBA) is the only operational commercial airport in Lebanon. It is located in the Southern Suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from the city centre, in a stunning coastal location. It is the hub for Lebanon's national carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA). It has three runways:- 03/21 at 12,467 ft; 16/34 at 11,138 ft; and 17/35 at 10,663 ft.

EHM offers several flight options to Beirut OLBA, including direct flights from Heathrow and Arlanda. We have also just opened a new Class 5 route from Zurich to Beirut and onwards to Seychelles International Airport (FSIA) in the Indian Ocean, and a Class 3 route from Athens to Beirut and then to Kuwait (OKBK).

So why not try somewhere new this week? And, if you do, please share your screenshots here on the Forum

73

Flight Operations / EHM Featured Destination - Quito, Ecuador

« Last post by EHM-1465 Dominic on August 28, 2022, 05:56:44 pm »

Welcome to a new feature on the EHM Forum, where we will explore an interesting city or region every week or so. These are randomly generated, and I hope they'll inspire you to visit places in the simulated world that you've never explored before.

Week 1: Quito, Ecuador


This week, I invite you to fly to Quito in Ecuador, South America.

The Republic of Ecuador lies between Colombia, Peru and the Pacific Ocean, in the north-western region of South America. Its territory also includes the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles west of the mainland in the Pacific.



It is a democratic presidential republic with Spanish as the official language. Our destination city this week is Quito, the capital city, which is only 25 miles south of the Equator. Quito is the most populous city in Ecuador with roughly 2.8 million inhabitants, and is situated on the eastern slopes of an active stratovolcano, called Pichincha. At an elevation of 9,350 feet, Quito is the second highest capital city in the world, after La Paz in Bolivia.

The main airport is Mariscal Sucre International Airport, with the current ICAO code of SEQM. In 2013, this new airport replaced the previous airport of the same name, which had the ICAO code of SEQU. The old airport was right in the middle of the city, among high-rise buildings, surrounded by mountains and was known as a really challenging approach for pilots.

The old approach into SEQU

Here is a fantastic YouTube video demonstrating the old SEQU approach, courtesy of PilotsEye.TV: - https://youtu.be/2gnSWCfPF3k

SEQU had been operating there since 1960 but its location meant it could not expand any further to accommodate larger aircraft, so the new airport was built 11 miles east of the old one, to provide safer & more modern facilities to the city. The old airport was closed and has now been turned into an urban park, although some local aviation still takes place there.

The new airport SEQM is 11 miles east of the city, and is at a lower altitude of 7,874 ft, making it slightly less challenging for the aircraft landing and taking off there. There are however mountain ranges to the west and east of the airfield, so IFR approach plates are essential in poor weather – these are easily accessible from a Google search for “SEQM charts”.

SEQM is not a default airport in FS2004, FSX or X-Plane but it is available by default in MSFS2020. Add-on sceneries for FS2004 & FSX are available for SEQM at https://www.freewarescenery.com/ or for X-Plane at https://forums.x-plane.org/. The old airport SEQU is an airport available by default in all sims plus there are add-on scenery files available to enhance the old airport at the same download locations if you want to try your hand at the really challenging historic approach shown on the YouTube video!

Our flight database only currently recognises the old ICAO code of SEQU (as this was the ICAO code in FS2004), but the Flight Logger will accept any flight to SEQM as landing at the correct airport even though your flight is planned to land at SEQU on the dispatch page, as they are close enough to each other. So you can fly to either of these airports, depending on how daring you feel at the time!

EHM has a number of flights available to SEQU in the timetable, some direct from Europe, but also a brand new Class 5 route we have just opened from KATL to SEQU (SEQM) and then on to La Paz, Bolivia SLLP (the highest city in the world) and then to Buenos Aires, Argentina SAEZ.

So, why not type SEQU into your Dispatch page and assign yourself a flight to adventure?


Ecuador flag and location map from Wikipedia; Approach photo into SEQU courtesy of http://www.thejabberwocky.net/viewtopic.php?t=1318

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Screenshot Discussion / Re: What was your first flight like?

« Last post by EHM-1465 Dominic on August 26, 2022, 06:14:19 pm »

I'm really glad that worked for you Bruce - I still love FS9 with all the great quality add-ons that have been produced for it over the last 19 years

Enjoy the views once you get your sim fully updated - I'd love to see some screenshots here once you're in the sky again!

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Screenshot Discussion / Re: What was your first flight like?

« Last post by EHM-2131 Bruce on August 26, 2022, 05:42:26 pm »

Hi Dominic, thanks for the link pointed me in the right direction , and now have fs2004 working on w10, now have the task of migrating  all my add ons across , fs2004 runs a lot cooler than fsx  on my rig and get better frame rates with most of the sliders to the right will look better outside the plane when l get the downloads on , thanks again for the link  best regards Bruce EHM-2131

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Chit Chat / Re: How was your weekend?

« Last post by EHM-1465 Dominic on August 24, 2022, 05:30:08 pm »

You're right Trevor - the summery weather has got most of us out of the house a lot lately

But autumn will start fairly soon and then there will be lots more time to get flying!

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Chit Chat / Re: How was your weekend?

« Last post by EHM-1829 Trevor on August 24, 2022, 09:30:17 am »

 
     
          Hi Folks, I see wee still have our holiday heads on. The weather will change soon enough but then we will have the Sim to occupy our time.

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Screenshot Discussion / Re: What was your first flight like?

« Last post by EHM-1465 Dominic on August 17, 2022, 12:30:24 am »

@ E-J - Wow! You were simming in the days of FS95? That's cool I didn't start real simmming until FS2002, although I did have Psion Flight Simulator on my ZX Spectrum back in the mid-80's, but that wasn't anything but a simple game as I recall. I love the B1900D too - such a lovely plane to fly.

@ David - great route - the Zurich to Sion route and back is so enjoyable, good choice!

Anyone else want to share their start at EHM?

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Screenshot Discussion / Re: What was your first flight like?

« Last post by EHM-2589 David on August 16, 2022, 01:06:59 pm »

This was the first one for me:

13/06/2010   Beechcraft 1900D   LSGS Sion   ->   LSZH Zürich   90 nm
Duration: 0h 55m Departed: 22:20 Arrived: 22:54 Passengers: 19 Cargo: 0 lbs
ProPilot: Yes PP Score: 0 Network: Other Cruise Alt: 15000ft Cruise Spd: 189 IAS
Comments:<Aircraft used: v4EHM-B1900>

Cheers!

80

Screenshot Discussion / Re: What was your first flight like?

« Last post by EHM-2387 Eric-Jan on August 14, 2022, 07:48:11 pm »

I don't specifically remember my first flight, but my first flights (multiple) all were with the sim version that came before MSFS98. A wireframe "scenery" of the Chicago area, always taking off from Meigs field and crashing into the high rise buildings off to the left. With my knowledge today, I know why that happened and what to do to prevent that, but at the time I was just pressing buttons to see what reaction I would get out of the default C172.
By the time FS98 came out, I had a basic grasp of what the concept of flying was all about, and then things really "took off", so to say.
I even had a copy of FS98 installed at work so I could practice during lunch time (and slightly beyond  ).
I joined EHM on 12/12/2008 with a flight from EHAM to EHGG in the Sukhoi 80. I flew that plane for quite some flights, because I got used to it rather quickly.
My favourite plane ever in the fleet is probably the Beechcraft 1900D, especially in the Croisière Noire livery. Easy to handle, good range and speed, versatile, even usable on unpaved strips... awesome!