Leg #56 SAWH - YSRN

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

I have started the world tour a few weeks ago.

As I am writing this I have flown 7 legs, and already feel like I have a lot of ideas, route and sightseeing suggestions, to share. This is my reason to start writing this series – partly to help others fly the tour, partly to explain what one misses by not flying it (and therefore tempting some undecided pilots).

OK, my other reason is to get some extra motivation in order to actually complete the tour

Warning 1: This is by no means THE way to fly the world tour, just one way among many others. Though I intend to set my "rules" and "modus operandi" (see below) and stick to these for as long as possible, feel free to follow my advices for one leg while totally ignoring these for the next one.

Just fly the way you like as long as it goes within the tour rules.

Warning 2: People flying the tour may expect - and get - various types of excitement from this endeavor. For me, the interest stays in VFR orientation and sightseeing (more than challenging landings, for instance).

While reading this, if you feel we don't share the same kind of interest in the tour, then this series is probably not for you.

Warning 3: At this time I will start writing about my "current" leg flown, but I intend to come back and "document" the first tour legs too. Just have a little patience…

VFR tactics
While flying this tour I try to fly 100% VFR, which is: no navaids, no peek at the GPS, and, most important, no looking at the internal FS map to check the actual aircraft position. For some legs this is easy, for others it will get tougher, but it could (should?) be feasible, I already did it one year ago while reenacting the 1924 London – Melbourne race route.

This method requires good maps, and while lots of printed maps exist, I warmly recommend GoogleEarth. Basically, it's possible to choose landmarks on GoogleEarth and actually follow these as waypoints in FS, even with the default terrain mesh (and it only gets better in regions one has finer terrain mesh for).

As a general tactics, these landmarks should be big terrain features. Shorelines are generally good, isolated mountains are too; rivers are trickier because FS does not differentiate very well large rivers from smaller ones. There may be exceptions but, as a general rule, railroads are closer to reality than roads.

And of course, the best landmarks one can find in FS are airports, especially those with particular layouts.

If you like this approach, I recommend avoiding too nasty weather because in thick fog or clouds it gets too easy to miss important landmarks and get lost. "Clear skies" is a little unrealistic but "Fair weather" looks like a… fair choice (take my word for it, this gives just enough clouds to make visual orientation a challenge without making it impossible).

Aircraft
Throughout this tour, I intend to use two types: the Fokker 70 for legs ending on runways with at least PAPI lights, and the Beechcraft 1900D for the more challenging landings.
This matches my present landing skills, so be sure to choose the aircraft according to your own skills - not mine.

To make things easier, some legs are within the range of a Cessna 172; to make these tougher, I have seen some people even used the Boeing 747.

(to be continued soon)

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This is the most northerly leg of the tour. Because of this, the first thing to consider is the flight date. If it's summer, no problem, but if you fly it in the winter like I did, take time to consider the very short daylight time and plan your flight to arrive within this interval.

Navigation to Broughton Island is relatively easy (even in polar half-darkness) but landing there is another thing. The runway is very short and the island has mostly rough terrain. Darkness (even partial) adds a lot to the landing difficulty, so ensure you have all the daylight you can get on arrival.

The route I suggest is a straight flight from BGSF across Davis Strait to Baffin Island, followed by visual shoreline orientation to Broughton Island.

The most suitable (magnetic) bearing for the first part is 310, which leads approximately to Cape Dyer. This is not only the shortest crossing of the Davis Strait, but the cape itself is easy to recognize. Note the wide fjord just south of the cape; with the three islands (a larger one and two smaller ones) at its end, this feature is easy to spot from above.

Once you have Cape Dyer positively identified, follow the coast to the northeast. Durban Island, Padloping Island and even the smaller islands are easy to recognize. Broughton Island itself is easy to spot from the distance (by the way, according to Wikipedia the place is no longer named like that, the official name since 1999 is Qikiktarjuaq).

Now that the island is in sight, it's time to plan the approach. No matter the runway direction you plan to use, approach is partially "blind" because the runway is on the remote side of the island, behind a steep mountainside.

In my first landing attempt I crashed with the Fokker after an "almost good" (but a little too long) landing; failing to brake completely before the eastern runway end, the aircraft rolled into rough terrain and felt down a steep slope.

After my second – and successful, with the Beech this time – landing attempt, also in a westerly direction, I noticed that terrain is smoother east of the runway than west of it. Thus I strongly suggest the approach from the west, which gives a better chance of safe landing even in case you roll past the runway end (of course, it still depends on the speed you have while doing so…)

This is when daylight comes handy, because darkness makes very difficult to assess terrain elevation and roughness around the runway.

(to be continued soon)

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

From CYVM mostly shrouded in darkness at this time of the year, this leg leads straight south – towards daylight. Starting at dawn gives a good timing to arrive in daylight (which already lasts longer at CYKG).

However, don't just head south because this leg gives the opportunity to explore a very impressive looking region of the Baffin Island. In fact, it looks so impressive in FS (default scenery) that I can only guess how impressive it should be in real life!

For the first part of this leg, my suggested route is along the Weasel River until Pangnirtung airfield (CYXP). To benefit from the landscape, make sure you fly below 5000 ft (that is, as much below as you can and want).

From CYVM, follow the strait between Broughton Island and the mainland to the south. After passing over a few smaller islands, you get to a kind of fjord "crossroad"; follow the fjord that starts southwards then bends eastwards.

The fjord is continued with the Weasel River, within a very deep valley. On both side of this valley mountains are very impressive. The most well known are Mount Asgard and Mount Thor, the latter being famous for having the highest vertical drop on earth. In fact, most of its western side is overhanging at 105 degrees average, but this is a feature that cannot be rendered in FS (or so I suspect).

After passing Mount Thor, there is a saddle with a steep slope on its southern side. Follow this slope and shortly another fjord is in side. Be sure you locate CYXP on its left bank.

After CYXP the terrain changes dramatically (flat with LOTS of small and larger lakes) and features are much heavier to recognize, so it's a good idea to climb higher in order to see the "big picture".

There is no 100% sure VFR route over this terrain; as a direction, try to leave Imigen Island and Drum Islands on your right, then keep that heading until you spot a large triangular lake (could not get its name) then the southern shore of the Baffin Island.

Once you get to the shore, terrain features become easier to recognize. Follow the shore to the southeast to the Big Island (a well deserved name, it's easy to spot). Once there, cross the Hudson Strait to the southwest.

The southern side of Hudson Strait is also easy to follow. Aim for the Wivanhoe and Wales island group, follow the fjord behind these and CYKG will appear in sight on its eastern bank.

The runway is not much longer than at CYVM (and it's made of gravel as well), but it's situated in high and flat terrain so the approach is way easier to handle. Welcome to mainland Canada!

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

This leg is about following the shoreline while "cutting corners" to shorten the path.

From CYKG, if departing on runway 33 just follow the runway heading, otherwise make a 180 turn after takeoff. Though this is not really dangerous with a decent climb rate, pay attention to the high terrain across the fjord just west of the airport.  

The southern coast of Hudson Strait has distinct features (especially fjords) that are easy to recognize for orientation.
Near one of these fjord is the Salluit airport (CYZG), easy to spot too.

From Salluit you may continue along the shoreline, but I suggest a handy shortcut. Follow the general fjord direction and, soon enough, the Hudson Bay shores will appear in sight.

These shores, however, are not so good for orientation as most features are difficult to match with the map. With one notable exception, the Smith Island that extends from the coast almost perpendicular to it. Thus, be sure to reach the Hudson Bay shore north oh Smith Islands, follow these southwards until you spot the island and you will now your position for sure.

If 100% sure is still not enough, on the shore near the island you can spot the Akulivik airport (CYKO).

Further south of Smith Island, orientation becomes difficult again so it is hard to predict where the destination airport is. However, if you fly low enough (below any clouds, that is) and reasonably close to the shoreline, you will have the airport in sight soon enough.

The approach itself is easier (then in the previous legs) because of two bonuses: a slightly longer runway and PAPI lights if you can use runway 19.

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

This legs starts – again – along the shoreline of Hudson Bay, but later things become a little spicy with some island hopping in order to teach CYSK without too much of a detour.

I don't recommend flying this leg at too high altitude (except if you get "clear sky" weather) because some of the islands to spot are really tiny. Also, the distance to fly is rather short (around 250 nm along the suggested route).

From CYPX, follow the shoreline to the southwest, until it bends dramatically to the southeast. I recommend flying parallel to the shoreline before reaching this bend, because it's the best bearing to keep afterwards. (OK, if you missed it, I can reveal this optimum bearing, it's 235).

At this point, when heading deeply into Hudson Bay I was a little nervous because at first there was absolutely no feature ahead to aim at, just water and more water.

Eventually, some tiny islands become visible in the vicinity, it's the Marcopeet Islands. The exact number of islands that appear in FS does not match the maps on GoogleEarth but I suggest looking for one distinct feature that is recognizable in both places, that is two twin islands close to each other. When you have these in sight, just be sure to fly towards them or close enough.

While flying over these twin islands, the next landmark should already be in sight further south: the Sleeper Islands. However, don't expect to recognize any island shape et this time, you must get much closer to be able to do so.

After reaching Sleeper Islands, the islands to fly over are much closer to each other so there is no risk of missing the destination. However, I suggest a particular end to this leg route, which has proved very handy for the visual approach into CYSK.

The southern (and smaller) Sleeper Islands form a line that extends southwards. Follow this line until you get the next group of islands in sight.

Locate and follow the Laddie Island (a long and narrow island clearly visible, "heading" slightly to the left). When reaching the southern end of Laddie Island, you should have in sight a very distinctive feature of this archipelago, a "circle" of islands just north of the destination airport (more precisely, the airport is located on the island that makes the southern part of this circle).

If the wind direction allows it, just fly over this circle clockwise and this will align you all right for finals.

The runway is short again, but this is no surprise in these remote islands…

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

Time to use the Fokker again. Not because it's actually wise to take off with a jet on the short gravel runway at CYSK, but it should not be left to rust.

Although this leg follows again the shores of Hudson Bay and – especially - James Bay, these shores provide little features for orientation so the most important is to spot and properly identify the large rivers that flow into James Bay. Most rivers are not easy to spot in FS, but this time it's different because the ones we need form long estuaries that are really easy to spot.

You may have noticed the specific (to say the least) shape of the archipelago where CYSK is located. After take-off, the best course is southwards along the long "ribs" of these islands. Hint: the faster you climb, the sooner you can get the big picture of the archipelago to set the right direction.

As soon as you reach the southern tip of the archipelago, the mainland should be visible ahead. The target to aim at is the cape between Hudson Bay and James Bay. To help, just in front of this cape is the Long Island (which appears to be even longer as you fly perpendicular to it).

Once the mainland well in sight, follow the eastern shore of James Bay paying attention to river estuaries, which are the landmarks to follow in this part of the flight.

The first river to look for is La Grande River (yes, I am aware this sounds outrageous in both English and French). For a positive identification, Chisasibi airport (CSU2) is located on the southern bank of the river and parallel to it.

Next is Wemindji airport (CYNC), difficult to look for because it is not associated to any terrain feature, but if you fly close enough to the shoreline you should spot it all right.

The second estuary belongs to Eastmain River, with the airport (CZEM) equally on its southern bank but perpendicular to it.

Further south, James Bay is continued with an inlet formed by James River and its tributaries. No need do fly around this inlet, just cross it as its remote bank should be clearly visible.

After reaching the western shore of this inlet, it is time to start descending (especially if you fly above the clouds as I did). The idea is to emerge below any clouds early enough to get a good sight of the airport.

There is a noticeable change in the terrain here: for the first time since Greenland, FS displays some patches of human settlements (except for airports of course).

River estuaries are important again, but caution: the first one you cross, at the south end of James Bay, is NOT the one we are looking for (I spent some time around myself looking for the airport twat is not there).

The airport is located along the northern bank of Moose River (that is the first large river, with an estuary, you cross on the western shore of James Bay). This rough direction allows from a straight in approach from the bay, but if you need some extra margin (for errors, that is) it is better to use the reciprocal runway from the south. Some trees at the northern end of the runway (though not very close to it) make the difference…

And, most important, the runway has PAPI lights; easy one (unless you try it with the 747, of course).

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

I am back after a scheduled break due to the Lisbon-Dakar event. After the sand of Sahara, back to the snow of Canada!

This leg is an easy one to fly as far as orientation is concerned; it is mostly about flying along the southern shore of the Hudson Bay. The shore itself is clearly in sight as you take off, so finding it is easy.

Expect an uneventful flight out of James Bay. There are a few airports en-route, like Ft. Albany (CYFA), Kashechewan (CZKE) and Attawapiskat (CYAT), which would come handy for solving orientation problems – if there was any.

The only orientation trap is that the destination airport of Peawanuck is not quite close to the shore, so overflying the shore is the sure recipe for missing the airport.
Instead, once out of James Bay into Hudson Bay (the shoreline bend is clearly visible), you should look for the Winisk River. This is easy because it's simply the first wide river you cross flowing into Hudson Bay.

Once you spot the river, follow it upstream. At first it does not look likely to reach any settlement, but after a while the airport will appear in sight. Note the runway position, perpendicular to the river (thus to your approach direction) and expect a base turn as approach route.

The runway itself is gravel, 3500ft. Not very easy but not too difficult too, a lot of clear terrain on both runway ends due to the river proximity.

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

Since the tour reached mainland Canada, most of the navigation was kind of "follow the shoreline". From now on, be prepared for something VERY different. For the next four legs, the route is to be found over a maze of flatland and lakes, which can be very treacherous as waypoint features.

This has some consequences on both the (suggested) route itself and the way to follow it.

First, in order to take what advantage we can from terrain features, the route is WAY longer than the straight line between the departure and destination airports. So be sure to take plenty of fuel (though refueling en-route is technically possible). It is also useful to have a fuel reserve for the unpleasant situation of getting lost and having to backtrack to the last known correct waypoint.

Then, I flew myself while checking continually the terrain on Google Earth. Although in the route description I try to be as specific as possible, items like "a forked lake" or "a river perpendicular to your heading" are far easier to understand if you check them before on a map (it could be Google Earth too, or, if you are VERY patient, even the FS in-game map).

One last thing to say, my route description is based on the default FS9 terrain and scenery.

And now, let's fly the tour!

Encouraged by PAPI lights at the destination, I flew this leg with the Fokker. Landing was indeed not a problem but take-off was difficult on the 3500ft runway at Peawanuk, so think twice before selecting the 747!

Peawanuk is located near the Winisk River; the first part of the leg just follows the river upstream (southwards). While doing so, be sure to climb high (I suggest over FL100 at least), because the higher you cruise the further you can spot water bodies.

Follow the river up to the point it disappears (that is, FS no longer recognizes it as a "large river"). Note a round lake, larger than the surrounding ones, on your right as you head south along the river; this lake is the point to return to if you miss the next waypoint.

Further south, you enter in a region with lots of smaller lakes. Note however that while most of these lakes are narrow and north-south oriented, these are aligned in a row with east-west orientation. As soon as you recognize this pattern, follow it westwards. While doing so, you may notice below the airport of Kasabonika (CYAQ - an useful bonus, not an essential waypoint though).

Further west, a larger lake appears ahead. (As you certainly knew or noticed by now, FS renders remote small water bodies as a single large one, so be sure you get close enough to a lake before recognizing it as "large").

The large lake ahead is Big Trout Lake. For failsafe identification, fly along its northern bank while looking for two airports: Angling Lake (CKB6 - slightly northeast of Big Trout Lake), then – and especially – Big Trout Lake airport (CYTL), situated on an island within the lake itself.

From Big Trout Lake, continue westwards, again over numerous smaller lakes. Through these lakes, at some point the thin but continuous line of a river (flowing roughly from southwest to the northeast) will appear in sight. Continue towards this river; with a little luck, you will reach it close to Bearskin Lake airport (CNE3 - on the western bank), but don't waste fuel looking for it, as it's not an essential waypoint.
 
Instead, follow the river upstream (southwest). While doing so, note a large lake on the right; when abeam this lake, the airport of Muskrat Dam (CZMD) should be in sight near the western bank of the river.

Further upstream, the river widens and becomes the Sandy Lake. Follow the northern shore of the lake up to the airport of the same name (CZSJ).

Northwest of the airport, a series of smaller lakes form a river; in some places, it really looks more like a river than a lake. Follow that river northwest.

At some point, the river bends to the east. Do not follow the river but continue northwest. At first, there are no landmarks to note, only sparse small lakes, but after a while a (really) large lake appears in sight ahead, it is the Island Lake – this leg's destination.

To find the airport, as you approach the lake, note a spot where a series of narrow parallel islands almost "bridge" the lake. The farthest island of this "bridge" is the one with the airport.

A nasty surprise while approaching the island (and descending, by this time), is that unlike its neighbors this island is not gently flat near the water, but the airport is suspended over high cliffs. This is not a major problem, however this made me a little nervous on finals so I preferred to be a little high over the runway than punch the Fokker's nose into that cliff.

Here we are at Island Lake airport. Not the time to cheer though, because the next leg is just as challenging for orientation!

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

Do you read "#13 for luck"? Nice try, in fact it is the trickiest leg for orientation (so far). Err… what I mean is that I "managed" to get lost by the end of this leg, and escaped the shame of FS map peeking only with lots of patience - and fuel.

Aircraft is easy to pick, as the destination runway is short and narrow (yes, that kind of dirty brown line drawn on the snow). Besides, it is necessary to look down a lot to spot and keep landmarks in sight, so the Concorde is kind of out of the question. (To put it more bluntly, I strongly suggest the B1900 or similar).

One may notice that the map (that is, GoogleEarth again) shows a road passing close to our departure airport. Well, don't look for it from above; you will not see any of it. Instead, most of this leg orientation is based – again – on recognizing and following significant bodies of water.

One problem is that the terrain is a maze of (mostly) long and thin lakes, which are easy to follow "along" but provide little help to navigate "across". To take benefit from the "along" direction, as much as possible, this leg route is far from a straight line so DO NOT estimate fuel by measuring the grand circle distance to cover. Lots more will be required.

So… after takeoff head north. As soon as the northern shores of the Island Lake are left behind, a series of communicating lakes should appear, forming a line running in a southwest – northeast direction. Head towards these lakes and follow the "line" to the northwest.

Between two of these lakes, where water is reduced to a narrow river, is the Gods Lake Narrows airport (CYGO). Follow the western shores of the next lake in the "line", up to a bay running to the northwest. From that bay, follow this northwestern course.

This flight path leads over a first long and narrow lake (check you fly perpendicular to it), and then a longer one with an airport near it. This one is Knee Lake (CJT3).

Fly along Knee Lake to the southwest, then west (as it bends). After reaching the lake western extremity, fly northwest and soon Oxford House airport (CYOH) should appear in sight between another big lake and a smaller one. Positive identification of this spot is easy (no other airports for many tenths of miles around) but very important, because the next part of the leg lacks "safe" landmarks so any error here will surely be amplified afterwards.

As you fly over Oxford House, two parallel (long and narrow - again) lakes should be visible to the northwest. Aim for their western extremities and keep this heading after passing the two lakes too.

Further ahead, a large river should appear in sight and, along it and most important, a power line (on its eastern bank). From the distance the power line may look much like a road, but from close distance (and reasonable altitude) the electricity poles are quite visible.

The next waypoint is a spot along this river where the power line is very close. Because of the long time flown without a safe waypoint, you may reach the river north OR south of this point; take the time to look for it, the next airport waypoint is still far ahead!

From this point, looking to the northwest, a long (east to west) and narrow lake is clearly visible.  Follow this lake westwards, keeping an eye to its northern shore. Near the far (western) end of the lake, the Thicket Portage airport (CZLQ) will appear in sight. This is the first (and thus most welcome) safely recognizable waypoint since Oxford House. And this leg is still far from over!

Before reaching the airport, a railroad running southwest to northeast becomes visible. Follow this road to the northeast (even it looks like a going back eastwards) and be sure not to miss a junction, from which another railroad heads northwest. Follow this railroad – and take a breath, this is the easiest part of this leg.

After a while, more signs of human activity appear, that is several power lines. Eventually the railroad leads into Thompson, most important waypoint. Not only the airport (CYTH) is easier recognizable (by having two runways), but also the city itself is visible in the scenery. This is in fact the first settlement on this route since we left Hudson Bay. (It is useful to note that depending on the season, the city is more or less visible because in the distance the texture looks very much like snowy tundra, but it' s there and worth looking for it).

There is one more step to this leg, but another difficult one. From Thompson airport, follow a railroad (plus a power line) to the west. It may look like just another piece of cake but after a while, both the railroad and the power line head southwest. DO NOT follow these; instead keep a westerly course.

In theory, what follows could like simple: to the west, there is a series of lakes along a river running south to north. Our destination is situated on the eastern shore of one of these lakes. In fact, these lakes have a very faintly delimitation from the dry land, it is a landscape similar to the one we flew over since two legs, but somehow reverted: more water than land. This makes it very risky to head towards a water body seen in the distance.

After leaving the railroad, the key is to recognize (or is it guess?) when you have reached these lakes, then follow these to the north while keeping a good eye to the eastern side (it is a "side" more than a shore) of this water maze.
While trying to do so I got lost and had to make huge detours, looking for the destination airport in the wrong places. In fact, I almost ran out of fuel and was preparing to return to Thompson for refueling when I finally got it right.

Should you have the same problem, the key is to keep some landmarks in sight in order to be able to return (to Thompson) instead of running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere.

However, you will have a huge advantage on me, which I am about to give away now… there is one terrain feature that is hard to miss and leads all right to destination. The map shows a road or railroad running straight into the South Indian Lake airport. Well, in the FS9 scenery it' s not quite like that but the road EXISTS! It runs on the western side of the lakes we try to follow, but at some point it splits in two and its eastern branch crosses the river by a CLEARLY VISIBLE BRIDGE.

Make sure you spot this bridge, there is no other one over great distances from here. It is true that the road leads nowhere after crossing the river, but it gives the approximate direction of the destination airport. In fact, this should appear in sight, north of the bridge, shortly after you fly over this one.

(When I eventually found the airport, I realized that I have seen the bridge very early in my attempts and at some point I should have had the airport in sight, but did not look in the right direction because I failed to match the bridge to the map properly).

Well, at this point you are almost done. Only one more "formality" left, to put the aircraft down onto the short and narrow runway. It' s feasible all right, but personally after a flight so eventful due to orientation difficulties, I felt like I deserved an ILS! Some other leg probably…

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

Not a lot of variety in this leg, the landscape is quite the same as the last two legs: flatlands and lakes. Destination airport at Wollaston Lake has a gravel runway so the B1900 remains a good choice to fly this leg.

For orientation, note (by looking on the map) that the South Indian Lake has, on its southern side, two “arms”. The eastern one is the one we followed to arrive here. The western one is the one to follow for this leg.

After taking off, fly towards the southwestern corner of the lake. It is not easy to tell where this lake ends and the next one start, but in this case between the two lakes is the Leaf Rapids airport (CYLR). Near the airport, note and follow a road to the north.

another, smaller, “arm” of the South Indian Lake then turns to the west. Just follow it and eventually it leads to Lynn Lake (CYYL). This is a two-runway airport and there is a visible settlement too, with a crossroad and also a railroad running from the south.

After Lynn Lake, follow the road that heads northwest. While doing so make sure you cut corners while the road itself has to turn around several lakes. Eventually the road leads to a large lake, where it ends abruptly. In reality, there is a settlement here, Kinoosao, which is not rendered in the FS9 scenery.

From Kinoosao you should follow the administrative border between Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but unfortunately they forgot to carve it into the landscape. So fly over the large lake instead, to the north.

As you get close to the lake northern shores, Brochet airport (CYBT) appears in sight close to the lake northeastern end. Make sure you identify this airport, because the next part of the leg is based again on less precise route directions.

Fly west, look for the “next big lake” but wait until this lake becomes clearly visible, otherwise it is easy to mistake it. This is Wollaston Lake, and the destination airport is situated on its southeastern shore.

Caution, there are many more airstrips nearby so do not just rush into the first runway you see! That s about all but expect more of the same landscape for the next leg!

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

Although this leg begins over the same "flatlands plus lakes" landscape as the last three did, its second half lets develop good hope that this may finally be over.

The destination airport too is rather friendly: a concrete runway with PAPI lights. Thus approach could be conducted with a jet, but takeoff from a short gravel runway is another thing. Personally I choose to make this the maiden voyage for the brand new EuroBusiness PC-12.

When airborne, cross the Wollaston Lake to the west and look for the airports on its western side (Collins Bay – KYKC and Hidden Bay – CKL4). There is also a road visible on the western shore of the lake but this is of no interest for our route.

Instead, locate (again) the "next big lake" west of Wollaston Lake and aim for its northern tip. Before reaching this Lake the Points North Landing airport (CYNL, a.k.a. "Points Nowhere" for the connoisseurs).
 
The map shows a nice road going our way but there is none to be seen in the scenery, so after Point North here we are looking for lakes again. The next one to spot is further to the west, a large, roughly round lake with less (if any) islands inside, unlike most of the lakes we crossed in the last legs.

Fly to the northern tip of this lake, then head straight north.

After a while, further north, another large lake appears, having two distinct "parts": a southern one, long and narrow (again!) and a northern one, which is much wider. As soon as you have these features identified, head to the middle of the lake (that is, where the two "parts" join).

This is Black Lake. Caution, the map shows a large Island close to the middle of the lake, but do not look for this feature, as it does not exist in the scenery. Instead, look for a river flowing from this lake to the northwest.

Follow this river and shortly you will see the Stony Rapids airport (CYSF). If you did so, congratulations: although there are still many miles to fly in this leg, at this point all orientation problems are over.

Follow the river (which, by the way, is named "Fond du Lac") further west. The large Athabasca Lake appears ahead (that is, downstream). Just before reaching the lake, the Fond du Lac airport (CZFD) appears.

There are more airports on the lakeshores but these help little for orientation. One way or the other, the destination is situated near the far corner of the lake so I suggest flying right over the lake to cut corners.

As you get close to the western tip of Lake Athabasca, note an island that is approximately cross-shaped. This is the best point to start the descent and approach, because Fort Chipewyan airport (CYPY) will appear shortly after on the north shore of the lake. Turn right to join a long base leg and put the aircraft down.

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

Yellowknife airport awaits us with a nice concrete runway and ILS, it is time to bring on the jets! Although I promised to use the Fokker 70 exclusively for this kind of legs, this time I tried the new Challenger 850.

This leg is easy to navigate; there are only two pitfalls to avoid.

The first difficulty lies just northwest of the airport. The Slave River, which drains the Athabasca Lake, receives a tributary – the Athabasca River. Coming from CYPY, it is important to read this terrain feature correctly and follow Slave River to the north, not Athabasca River to the south.

This pitfall is easy to avoid, by just taking enough altitude by the time you reach this point in order to have a good sight of the surroundings. If necessary, climb in a loop after takeoff in order to do so.

Further north, following the river downstream is piece of cake. Halfway to Great Slave Lake, there is the Fort Smith airport (CYSM). This is good to break the flight monotony but not actually necessary as a waypoint.

When the (Great Slave) lake appears in sight, aim for the point where the river flows into it. Southeast of this point lies Fort Resolution (CYFR), which you should clearly see as you fly by.

Here is the second and last possibility to miss the way during this leg. Note that the lake has three arms, to the west, east and north. Prom the point where the Slave River flows into the lake, you should get "into" the northern arm of the lake, but close to its eastern shore.

Depending on the weather settings, this may be impossible to plan before actually reaching the lake. In this case, just be on the lookout for the far shores, as soon as you see these you should guess where the northern arm of the lake is.

The destination airport is situated next to a bay in the eastern shore of the northern arm. In order to comply with the 100% visual navigation, it would be nice to spot and identify the airport first, and only then tune any radio navigation aids, including the ILS receiver.

I must admit that I "cheated inadvertently", because the ILS frequency happened to be the same I had used earlier that day, so I just saw the needles doing their job before tuning anything.

One interesting aspect to note is that, by each leg flown, by this point we have traveled back north. We are here at the same latitude as CYKG, that is the first stop on mainland Canada. Thus the daylight may have become an issue again, especially in the winter.

However, this is about to change. Starting with the next leg, we will be again flying south, never to return at this latitude.

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

Bored of flying over flat land? Good news! With this leg, the terrain is about to change. Dramatically. Here begins a two-leg crossing of the Canadian Rockies, all the way to Alaska.

Nice concrete and PSPI equipped runways at both ends of the leg make it ideal for a jet. However, if you like (like I do) to fly low into the mountains, a propeller aircraft is more realistic. Personally I used the brand new Eurobusiness PC12.

Remember that Yellowknife is located next to the northern arm of the Great Slave Lake. After takeoff, the first objective is to get out this northern arm, then follow the lake to the end of the lake, where the Mackenzie River flows westwards.

From here, following the Mackenzie River is quite straightforward. The first visible landmark is Ft. Providence airport (CYJP), close to the lake. At this point a false river arm splits to the left, but only to join the main river downstream. You may follow any of the two.

The flight along the river should continue uneventfully. On the left bank there is a small airport at Jean Marie River (CET9).

The next important waypoint to locate is Ft. Simpson, where the Mackenzie receives Liard River as a tributary. Liard River is visible from the distance. At closer distance, you should be able to spot the two airports in the area: Fort Simpson Island (CET4) to the west, along Mackenzie River, and Fort Simpson (CYFS) to the south, along the Liard River.

From here, our route follows Liard River to the south (upstream). In the beginning, this is simple and straightforward. Besides, as we advance southwards, the mountains become visible to the west. The river gets closer and closer to these.

At some point, as we get really close to the mountains, the river receives a tributary flowing straight out from the mountains. There is also an airport here, Nahannie Butte (CBD6). It is important to identify this point in order to avoid following that tributary, instead you must follow Liard River further south.

Orientation becomes a little easier as a road appears on the eastern bank of the rivers and follows it too. Flying over the river and the road, we get soon to Ft Liard airport (CYJF). Note that further south, the River has a very large bend (and receives another tributary, from the south, quite in the middle of it). Depending on the height you are flying, it may be possible to spot on your right the next bend of the river and use the "shortcut" directly to it.

From this point on, we fly over the mountains (or into the mountains, depending on the height). After a while, a road appears on the southern bank and follows the river upstream. This road is important in order to find the "main" valley, v\because there are less road intersections than secondary valleys.

A road bridge marks the spot where the city of Liard is located, but this does not appear in FS. Neither does the airport shown on the map, but the bridge by itself makes for a good landmark.

Follow the river and road upstream (there is a power line too, going in the good direction). A couple of river bends can be cut if you fly high enough to see the river in the distance, but keep in mind you should get where the road goes.

The leg destination, Watson Lake airport, is located slightly north of the main river, next to a lake (which is, of course, Watson Lake). Be sure to look for these on your right, especially because at this point the valley becomes larger and flatter.

The approach itself is not a demanding one; the proximity of the lake provides plenty of room to maneuver at low height.

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

What goes up should get back down. After climbing into the Rockies from the east, now it's time to get down on the other side - that is Alaska. However, this only happens after some more climbing.

Normally the departure and destination airports are not very demanding ones, but personally I experience a heavy terrain and scenery anomaly at PAOH: the terrain is not flattened enough for the airport so the runway is half floating a few feet above the land surface, half sunk into the nearby hill. This makes the landing so challenging that I decided to "cheat" by flying the Cessna 172 for this leg.

After takeoff, fly towards the main river (southwest) to find the road and power line we followed in the preceding leg. A bridge located where the road crosses the river eases this task. After some time, the road unfortunately disappears but the power line is good enough to follow along the river.

Another power line crosses "ours", but further west these follow the same direction and eventually join. Where the power lines join, there are also three lakes, forming an almost straight line, perpendicular to the river, on our right. The spot is important because here the power line leaves the main valley, and so do we. There is also a red-and-white antenna marking this spot.

As the valley gets narrower, the power line climbs on the nearby hills rather than follow it. Whether the more advisable tactics is to follow the power line or the valley itself depends on your height and (intended) speed. The best is to keep both of them in sight as you fly.

The valley gets wider again as we climb to the mountain saddle. At this point, the Pine Lake airport (CFY5) as well as the lake itself should be visible on your right.

After the saddle, the power line descends on the other side into another valley. Again, it is possible to follow the power line or the valley. Both lead southwest, then west. At some point, the valley heads south and the power line northwest. This is an important waypoint and, again, it is marked with a red-and-white antenna.

From this point, the most straightforward option is to follow the river to the south, and then west as it flows into Teslin Lake.

A second option implies a 50-mile detour, but provides 100% safe terrain recognition. Personally I had to choose the latter option as I experienced more heavy scenery problems: I "lost" all rivers while larger water bodies only display as huge squares (I think it would look like poor graphics even in FS98 or such).
T
his problem made Teslin Lake to look in FS very differently from the map. Due to the same problem, none of my further indication will refer to water bodies or shoreline shapes (because in my case all were just "square").

The detour follows the power line until the airport of Teslin (CYZW) gets in sight. From that point, it is possible to follow the lake southwards, even if it is poorly displayed in FS. At some point, which I could not identify due to the lack of actual rivers displayed, the detour meets the shorter route referred to earlier as "option one".

At this point, orientation gets tricky. The objective is to climb south of the lake, and then descend in a valley to the right following a river that eventually flows into the ocean.

One way to do this is follow the right shore of the lake and valley, looking at the peaks further right for the first valley that goes down instead of up towards these.

Another way is to follow the lake direction past its end (be it properly displayed or not), paying attention to another valley approximately half left of the lake one. As the two valleys split, there is a prominent peak in-between. Follow the lake valley up to this peak, and then turn right; shortly after, a saddle and the valley descending to the other side will be clearly in sight.

Any valley descending to the west is good to follow, as these valleys end up more or less at the same spot. Fly low into the valley to have fun, or higher for a better orientation.

Note that within this intricate labyrinth of valleys and high peaks, it is easy to mistake "up" and "down" directions and follow a wrong valley upstream instead of downstream.

Well, in fact it happened to me. This is not a dramatic event provided you notice it early enough to have room for a quick climb and U turn. In fact, after turning back, just do the same, which is follow the valley downstream, chances are you will not miss the correct valley again at the same spot. At least, I did not.

As the valley gets closer to the ocean, it also gets wider. Note that the exact spot where the river flows into the ocean is not easy to spot from a distance, because the islands further west have roughly the same aspect as the mainland. As you get there, however, it is impossible to miss it.

As you reach the ocean, follow the shoreline to the northwest until you get to Juneau. Both the town and the airport (PAJN) are clearly visible. Most chances are that you followed the Taku River down to the ocean, in which case Juneau is really close so be sure to have a good look to your right as you follow the shoreline.

From Juneau, proceed west to cross the Scull Island (roughly north-south oriented), then the southeastern tip of the following island. From here, turn left to cross the isolated Sister Islands and eventually head for the northern tip of the following island (as you look forward).

Head for the hill near this cape and the destination airport will be soon in sight. If you do not have any scenery trouble, proceed with the approach as you wish.

If, like me, you have this kind of problems, then only runway 5 is usable. With the airport in sight, join a downwind leg (left hand or right hand pattern, as you wish) and turn after the PAPI lights get red. Keep in mind that these lights are slightly above the ground surface; so be sure to descend a little below the suggested glide slope. And also pay attention to these trees next to the runway.

With these scenery problems, it is definitely the most difficult landing up to now. As one touches down, the runway gets no longer visible so it's difficult to check whether one is correctly aligned or not. I expected to see the "crash" message any time, which fortunately did not happen.

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

I have to confess… I got lazy on this one, no more detailed route description. By the other hand, after many legs of subtle navigation while crossing all of Canada, this leg is almost too easy. Any route would just follow a path among easily recognizable islands.

In fact, for me most problems in this leg were due to scenery dysfunctions. I needed several attempts before successfully taking of "my half of runway at Hoonah". At least, I think it was successful as the runway was not visible from cockpit height.

And while airborne, I still had my (lack of) shoreline problem for about half of this leg. I suppose this one is caused by some add-on scenery I did not properly (un) install, because I already flew in this area some time ago and the terrain was OK.

If you have no scenery problem at PAKT, a jet is just fine for this leg. I had to use the PC12 again because anything faster had no chance to take off.

My route was east of Chichagof and Baranof islands, across Kuiu Island, then east of Prince of Wales Island. The only catch is to properly identify the slot between Gravina Island and the mainland, where Ketchikan is located, and descend accordingly (especially if you choose to fly high).

Well, this is easy but it won't last. In the following legs we have to cross the Rockies back so expect more difficult mountain legs.

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

After a short sighting of the ocean, beginning with this leg it's back into the mainland and, especially, it's back into the Rockies again.

As it was Eurobusiness season when I flew it, and because there are long paved runways at both ends of the leg, I was tempted to fly it with the new A318 "Baby Bus". Now, the problem is that an A318 crawling along the bends of a canyon would be ridiculously unrealistic!

Thus I planned this leg as a "high VFR", more precisely flown at 12500ft (not FL125, remember it's America here!). There are advantages and disadvantages to such a high altitude. On the "plus" side, the visual range increases dramatically (but this advantage is reduced over very rugged terrain). On the "minus" side, small details are more difficult to spot (for instance, it's easy to mistake a railroad for a road and vice versa).

After departure, head south along the coast. Note on your right two large islands, Annette and Duke. Further south, there are no more islands close to the coastline, until the Dundas Islands.

As you pass near Dundas Islands, look closely at the coast, for Digby Island, where the Prince Rupert airport (CYPR) is located. The town is visible too, nearby on the mainland.

After Prince Rupert, follow the firs fjord to the east; in fact it is the lower course of the Skeena River. Follow the main valley and be sure to ignore the large tributary coming from the south.

Further upstream, the river has some bends in a narrow portion, then the valley becomes wider and the Terrace airport (CYXT) appears a little south of the river. The airport itself is easily recognizable, having three runways in a triangle shape.

This was the easy part of the leg. After Terrace, follow Skeena River upstream as it bends to the northeast. After a new bends, the valley heads east and the Woodcock airport (CBQ8) is visible on its northern bank.

After a straight portion oriented to the east, the valley bends again to the north, around a mountain ridge located right ahead and having a north to south orientation. It's time to leave the river and fly straight across this ridge.

As you clear that ridge, a long and thin lake appears right ahead in the distance. Fly towards it; it is Babine Lake, the longest natural lake in British Columbia. Follow the lake to the southeast.

Near its southern end, Babine Lake is bent to the east. Further east, lake Stuart is visible, almost parallel with Babine Lake but shorter and larger. Fly towards Stuart Lake, and then aim for its southeastern corner.

The river that drains the lake is clearly visible in the beginning. Another landmark nearby is Fort Saint James (CYJM). Follow the river, which is easy in the beginning, but becomes tricky further south, when the river is no longer displayed as a "water body" in FS9. Use the terrain to guess where the "main" valley is as the river flows to the east.

After a while, a large river flowing north to south appears in sight. When it does, fly towards it.

Prince George is located along this river. Depending on the exact spot where you reached the river, you may need to fly a little distance along it in order to locate the destination airport. Hint: the river has a large bend to the east just north of Prince George, so should you have this bend in sight, the airport is certainly further south.

The approach itself is easy, not much high ground nearby (for most runways).

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

After the "high VFR" strategy used for the previous leg, I felt like I needed some "low VFR" again. No more jets, just the old trustful PC12 flying at 5500ft. I suspect that 4500ft could be enough too – free for you to try. Frankly, when planning a turboprop I was a little worried too by the approach at CYCG…

Also, this leg is very simple to navigate, but be aware that while most of it looks very much like the map, one portion looks like just anything else! I will detail this point at the right moment.

Remember the Fraser River valley bend to the east I mentioned in the preceding leg? Now it's "cut or follow" this bend, depending on how hurried you are. Then, follow the Fraser River southeast. Note that within the "bend", the river receives a tributary from the northeast; do not mistake it for the main stream.

Following the river is easy, there are no obvious landmarks but the valley is mostly straight and clearly visible ahead. There is a road going along the western bank and a railroad along the eastern bank. In this portion of the leg, the river bend themselves match very closely the shapes of their map counterparts.

There are also a few landmarks worth spotting. First, between the towns of Bend and Dome Creek, the railway crosses the river on a clearly visible bridge.

Further south is the town and airport of McBride (CAV4). Not only is any airport good for orientation, but also, if you have it displayed like I had, you will appreciate its position: on the bottom of a shallow hole situated under the bank of the river (it really looks like the river is just about to pour in and fill everything with water).

South of McBride, the river bends are smaller thus difficult to match on the map, but fortunately one does not need to. Eventually, the river visibly continues through what appears to be a secondary valley east of the "main" one we are following.

As you approach this final bend, Valemount airport (CAH4) appears in sight, and this is our next waypoint. HOWEVER, as you pass near the river bend, be sure to look east: from this angle, and even with default scenery, Mt Robson looks really huge (highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, by the way).

After Valemount, the valley seems to split (in fact, here is the mountain saddle). The road and railroad follow the right valley, while the end of a lake is visible along the left one. This is the reservoir Kinbasket Lake, a long and thin body of water; follow it south. We are now flying over the huge network of reservoir lakes along Columbia River and its tributaries.

The lake is easy to follow until we get close to the dam. As the lake becomes wider, pay attention to the three arms ahead. Follow the right arm, which leads to the dam (not visible in FS9) and further downstream Columbia River.

About the spot where Columbia River flows into Revelstoke Lake, and all the way along this lake, the scenery does not look like the map at all. Fortunately, during this leg the map recognition is not "business critical". Just don't panic and follow the river-or-lake to the south.

Note that one technical reason for this terrain feature mismatch is linked to roads, railroads and bridges. Whenever a railroad or road crosses a water body, FS9 displays a bridge over the crossing. This is reasonable enough for railroads, but roads often use ferries instead of bridges. As such is the case in many spots along Columbia River, this explains a large number of bridges that appear in FS9 while there is none in reality.

Eventually, Revelstoke airport (CYRV) will appear in sight on the eastern bank. (Well, in my case the airport appeared rather "carved" into the water). South of Revelstoke, as Columbia River flows into the Arrow Lakes, the terrain becomes to look like the map again.

 The Nakusp airport (CAQ5), located along the lake eastern bank, is one of the very few usable landmarks.

South of Nakusp, after a few sharp bends, the river has a long bent to the east. As we follow it east, a tributary is visible from the northeast, and just south of it is the destination airport.

The approach at Castlegar is tricky. In all cases, runway 33 looks more manageable than 15, but there are several options.

The most straightforward option is to align with the runway in the distance and follow the PAPI lights all the way down. However, be warned that I did not test this! There are high hills just south of the airport and I am not sure that a standard 3 degrees glide slope is safe above these. A steeper approach (not using the PAPI) could do the trick, but I don't know how steep it has to be.

Another option is to use the standard (IFR-designed) procedure. There is a localizer one can follow from the north. It is not intended for runway 15, instead it looks more like a localizer to use for a circle to land on runway 33. However, on good weather the localizer is not of much help without a glide slope so I did not find this approach very attractive. I suspect that proper approach charts would shed all necessary light on how to use this localizer, but I did not have those charts.

Eventually, the option I took was to fly south over the next river bend, then descend towards the river and follow it to the north, at low altitude, until the runway appears in sight. This approach makes good use of the PAPI, but there is a catch: due to the hills south of the airport, the approach path cannot be aligned with the runway, a turn into (very) shorts finals is necessary to hit the runway properly.

One more thing… We reached Canada for the first time 15 legs ago, and here at Castlegar we only have some 20 miles of Canada left before leaving it for good. Some achievement, isn't it?

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

This leg can be flown at low altitude as a nice mountain ride… and this is exactly what I suggest. I flew it with the PC12 – again. I started at 4500ft, but had to climb later to 6500ft (after Missoula).

Important logistics note: while Google Earth has a worldwide coverage which makes it suitable as map for this tour, while crossing the US I recommend using the online VFR charts available at www.skyvector.com.

The first puzzle is getting airborne at Castlegar. One option is runway 33 and gain altitude FAST, otherwise you will not be able to clear the "step" of the river (and don't ask me why there is one in the first place).

The other option, which I took myself, is to take off from runway 15, which is towards the big hill south of the airport, but turn right when airborne in order to follow the river valley downstream.

Be sure you spot Trail airport (CAD4) on the eastern bank of the river, because after it comes the most difficult point of this leg. We must leave Columbia River and follow its tributary, the Pend Oreille River, BUT this one does not look at all like a major river as it flows into Columbia River.

To identify this river among many others, note that it is the first valley to the east after Trail, and that there are roads along both banks of this river. I missed it at first and had to come back, the 180 degrees turn being not so obvious if one is flying too low.

If you picked the right valley, you will it bend to the right then a wider portion of the Pend Oreille River should appear in sight. Note that in the real world, this portion of the river is dammed at several points, and in FS the dams are rendered as bridges, this is why there are really many of these.

As we follow the river upstream, several airports can be seen:

• Ione (S23);
• River Bend (9WA3), located indeed in a river bend;
• Priest River (1S6), as the valley is getting wider and turns northeast.

A few more turns ahead, the Pend Oreille Lake appears in sight. Follow its northern shore, over the airport of Sandpoint (KSZT) then aim for the large river (Clark Fork) that flows into the lake from the east. Near the end of the lake, there are several small airfields almost packed into each other: Delta Shores (ID78), Riverlake (ID75) and Tuka (ID32).

Further upstream, the river gets narrower, in FS it is rendered as a simple river with a few lakes along it. The valley is still easy to follow as it goes almost in a straight-line southeast. There are also railway, roads and power lines along it.

Several airfields are located within the valley: Frampton (MT97), Craik (29MT) and Pinehurst (OMT7). Further upstream, a paved runway airport appears in site, it's Thompson Falls (KTHM). After Thompson Falls, the valley gets narrow, then wide again as we fly over the Plains airport (S34, easy to identify as it has two runways).

Note the mountain peak southeast of Plains. The Clark Fork River, the one we are flying over, does not follow what appear to be the main valley but flows in a tight "S" around this peak.  There is a road and railroad junction too, however the railroad is safer to follow along the "S" as the road is connected with some secondary roads too in this area.

For the "S" itself, turn right along the valley (having the railroad), and then be prepared to turn left as soon as the railway does. After completing the "S", we reach what looks like another valley (parallel to the one we left). Technically speaking, though, we are still in the Clark Fork valley, which continues to the east. From this point on, the road turns into a highway.

Follow the valley southeast. There is an airfield at Mineral County (9S4), and little else to see (other than the very nice landscape) until reaching Missoula. Look for the airport (KMSO), because it helps continuing this leg.

Terrain around Missoula is rather flat compared to the valley we have flown along, so finding the "exit" may be a little tricky. One hint is to fly over the airport, roughly along runway 11, then maintain this heading until reaching higher ground again. This should lead you close enough to identify the right valley (it's Clark Fork again, by the way), which has railroad and a highway along.

The entrance to the valley is very narrow, but a few turns later it gets wider. There are airfields to spot at Rock Creek (0MT0) and Drummond (KDRU). At Drummond there is a secondary valley coming from the south, with road, railroad and power line, be sure you do not follow this one. In fact, if you get too close to the airport, you are probably already in the wrong valley.

The next junction is equally important to spot. At some point, the valley becomes flatter and bends to the south, towards Deer Lodge (38S) ALONG with the highway and railroad. From this point, find and follow a secondary valley to the east, having a road and a railroad.

Start climbing now because at this valley ends with 6000+ feet passes. The valley is not always clearly visible, so be sure you follow the railway (no junctions, no doubts).

After reaching the Wood airfield (1MT3), there are two options to get out of this valley: along the road (which just turned into a highway) over Macdonald Pass, or along the railroad over Mullan Pass. I suggest the latter, as this pass is 400ft lower.

As soon as you reach the pass, start descending because the destination airport is really close (you should have it in sight soon) and some 2500ft below. If you manage to loose altitude fast enough, you may do a direct approach; otherwise plan your sightseeing (and height loosing) circuit accordingly.

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

This is another leg that provides nice views of the Rocky Mountains. I was tempted to plan it by seeking the most spectacular valleys (or even canyons) to fly through. This is a nice flying challenge, however I found out that while following a narrow valley and trying to manage properly its bends and turns, it is just TOO easy to miss terrain clues and landmarks and finally get lost.

Thus the proposed route is a compromise between flying really close to mountains and using clear landmarks.

I flew this leg with the PC12 and I find it a good choice. Start with an initial climb to 7500ft and head east. As soon as you are high enough, the Canyon Ferry Lake (along Missouri River) should appear in sight. Follow the lake to its southern end, where the Townsend airport (5M7) is located.

After Townsend, follow Missouri river (along with a road and a railroad too) further south. Near Three Forks (9S5) we reach a highway running east to west.

Follow this highway to the west, away from the Missouri River along one of its tributaries (Jefferson River). The river crosses a narrow pass (at this point the highway meets the railroad again). After this pass, as you get to the Jefco Skypark airfield (MT41) turn south to follow the valley (plus a road and a railroad).

The landscape looks like the valley leads out of the mountains, but in reality it's quite the opposite, at this point we are following the valley upstream. Shortly after we reach Twin Bridges airport (7S1).

At Twin Bridges the road and railroad turn east to follow a secondary valley. Follow the main valley to Dillon airport (KDLN). A little south of Dillon, we reach a railroad running from the northwest to the southwest. Follow this railroad to the southwest, and soon it becomes visible it heads towards a lake (Clark Canyon Reservoir).

As we reach the lake, the road we have been following (along the railroad) turns into a highway. After the lake, keep following the highway and railroad south along Red Rock River. After Dell airport (4U9), the highway and railroad leave the valley to follow first a southern secondary valley, then head straight south to Monida Pass.

Be careful as you cross Monida Pass, the (theoretical) maximum altitude in the pass is only a few hundreds of feet below our cruise altitude, so be sure to avoid high ground in this area. Note also that the above-mentioned "highway" turns into a simple road in some areas, then again into a highway.

After Monida Pass the landscape changes completely, instead of mountains and green valleys everything is now flat and desert.

Follow the highway and railroad south, as these run first near Dubois airport (U41), then some lakes (the larger one being named Mud Lake, don't ask why). Eventually the city and airport of Idaho Falls (KIDA) appear in sight. There are several airports in the area: the main one has two runways and is located roughly within the city.

Before reaching the airport, turn east trying to spot a thin and long lake within a canyon. When you spot it, fly towards it but do not enter the canyon, instead the valley to follow is the next one (to the north). Follow this valley (Snake River), along with a road.

Fly over the small airfield of Huskey (ID72) then the Palisades Reservoir. As you cross the lake, look for the Alpine airport (46U) near its southern end. Note a small lake arm just south of the airport. After the airport, the valley that ends in this lake arm is the one to follow. Caution: as you fly over the lake, the NEXT valley seems a better choice while the GOOD one is barely visible so be sure you climb along the FIRST valley that has a road along it and ends near the airport.

The valley is narrow and following it relatively close to its bottom is a rather intense experience, but orientation is easy. Just follow the valley while looking north for an opening.

As soon as you spot this opening and lower (and flatter) ground beneath, go for it (you may forget about the road). From this point, finding the destination airport (a little further north) is easy.

Two options exist for the approach. You may fly a downwind leg to the north, then use the ILS or make it straight in from the south. In the latter case, note there is a terrain bulge along the runway centerline, so be prepared to fly around it instead of a long and straight finals leg.

[EHM-2097 Andrei]

When planning this leg I did a terrible mistake. I checked the destination airport, saw it had a grass runway (which I am not a great fan of) and decided to "play safe" and fly the leg with the Cessna 172. Little did I know that there is a paved runway too (though, for obscure reasons, FS "prefers" the grass one). This mistake would not have been so bad on any other leg, but this one implies flying high, really high for this aircraft.

So... don't do as I did; feel free to choose your favorite turboprop (or jet?) and, especially, be sure to look for the paved runway at the destination.

After takeoff, climb to 8500ft, turn south and follow the road nearby the airport. There are two hills and the road climbs on the left one; if you are not high enough at this point, just fly between the hills while keeping the road in sight.

Continue southwards past Melody Ranch airfield (WY31), then the valley gets narrow and the road splits. The road to the right leads back to Palisades Reservoir ("visited" within the previous leg), so be sure to follow the left road.

At first the valley looks like a narrow canyon, then it becomes wider and flatter. There are several streams crisscrossing the valley, so be sure to follow the road as you fly towards the valley end.

The exit from the valley is a saddle at roughly 8000ft, so be sure to avoid high ground in this area. After the saddle, continue south along the road.

There is an important road junction, not to be missed. From the road we follow, there is another one that splits and runs east, close to the mountains on the left side of the valley (there are some lakes in the area too). It is possible to follow that road too, but this is NOT the route I describe hereby. Instead, follow the route to the south, over the Big Piney – Marbleton airport (KBPI), visible soon after the road junction.

Further south, the road closes to the mountains on the right side of the valley (note an a red and white antenna on top of a hill next to the road), and then continues towards Fontenelle Reservoir. As we get close to the lake, the landscape has completely changed – into pure desert.

From the southern end of the lake, follow the river that drains it (Green River). There are roads too, but several of them, so the river is just easier to follow. At some point we cross a secondary railway, close to its terminus. Shortly after, we reach a highway and a railroad running west to east.

Follow the highway to the east, over the towns of Green River, then Rock Springs. Note a segment of narrow valley between the two. Rock Springs airport (KRKS) is located east of the town, on a hill.

After Rock Springs, follow the same highway on a long desert crossing with little or no landmarks at all.

Eventually the highway reaches Rawlins town and airport (KRWL). Along the highway and immediately after Rawlins, note a lake on the left, another one on the right followed by a red and white antenna. Near the antenna, a power line crosses north to south and there is a road to the south too.

Follow the road and power line to the south. Soon these are joined by a railroad as we go upstream the North Platte River. The valley itself is flat and its direction is not obvious so be sure to follow the road. While doing so we reach soon Shively airport (KSAA).

South of Shively, the landscape and vegetation change from desert to mountains; the valley is still wide and flat so it is safest to follow the road and railroad. Soon after, though there is a "Y" shaped crossroad. The power line ends. The railroad too leaves the valley and climbs to the southwest. Thus from this point, it is better to follow the river itself, be sure you follow one LEFT of the railroad.

If you picked the right stream, A-A Ranch airport should soon appear in sight. South of the airport, the valley is easier to follow. The road goes in the right direction too, but it crosses high ground which can be a problem if you are still cruising at 8500ft. In fact, you may do so as there are no unavoidable obstructions at this altitude, but it leaves too little maneuvering height for the approach (the destination airport being located over 8100ft) so it may be a good idea to climb a little higher here.

After a narrow segment where the road breaks left from the stream, the valley becomes wider again and the road crosses the stream again. From this point, either follow the road until you have the airport in sight or proceed along the stream left of the road to make it a long base leg, and then turn on finals when you get the runway in sight.