Du virtuel au réel

30.12.20

FarWest 2019 Microsoft Flight Simulator Bush Trip mission

This MSFS Bush Trip offers you all the legs of real VFR flights we flew in May 2019 onboard a Cessna 172. It's a loop in California, Nevada and Arizona: from San Diego to Los Angeles, Monterey, Mojave, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Marble Canyon, Sedona, Big Bear, Oceano and some others. Try to fly it as much as we did in VFR by following VFR charts but most of all enjoy the sightseeing.

The file is available for free at FlightSim.to: https://flightsim.to/file/5502/farwest-2019-bush-trip

Change log : version 1.0 public

What is a Microsoft Flight Simulator Bush Trip?

MSFS Bush Trips are long VFR flights focused on sightseeing. It's ready-to-use: you are lined-up and just have to follow the nav log. MSFS Bush(1) Trips are simple multiple legs trips proposed to fly in sequence. Each leg start with a description of your route + destination airport and landmarks to overfly. In this FW19 Bush Trip, waypoints are a mix of Point of Interest (Hollywood Sign, Grand Canyon, LAX...) and radio navigation aids (VOR).

What is Farwest'19?

"Farwest" is a generic name of real flight trips organized by friends. Started in 2008, we usually depart from San Diego and fly VFR during 1 or 2 weeks, everywhere up to Canada and more. They were something like 15 Farwest so far. Most of the time, we enjoy flying in California, Nevada and Arizona. The "Farwest'19" (a.k.a FW19) took place in April-May 2019 with one Cessna 172 and a Piper PA28: four french friends private pilots just wanted to have fun in unbelievable landscapes.

Where this FW19 Bush Trip will fly me ?

San Diego Montgomery field to Bakersfield via LAX
Bakersfield to Monterey
Monterey to Mojave
Mojave to Las Vegas, NV via Edwards AFB
Las Vegas to Page, AZ via the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon (VFR corridor)
Page to Monument Valley
Monument Valley to Marble Canyon
Marble Canyon to Sedona
Sedona to Twentynine Palms
Twentynine Palms to Big Bear
Big Bear to San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo to Oceano
Oceano to Kern Valley
Kern Valley to Zamperini/Torrance via Hollywood Sign and Los Angeles international
Torrance to Catalina Avalon
Catalina to San Diego via Miramar MCAS

How long will it be?

Flight length: 2000 nm
Flight Duration: +17 hours (estimated)
Number of legs: 16
Shortest / Longest leg: 20 min / 1h45min

How to install ?

Unzip the file into your Community folder. If you don't know where is your community folder, please follow these instructions: https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/content.php?21235-Finding-The-MSFS-2020-Community-Folder Once installed go to Activities, Bush Trips and select Farwest'19 in the list.

Is it 100% what you flew real in 2019?

Yes! Only 2 airports weren't in our FW19 but they were in several previous Farwest: Catalina KAVX and McCarran KLAS (during FW19, we landed at Henderson (KHND). I though it brings more fun to add these regular FarWest destinations. Some routes like the overhead of Edwards AFB weren't possible in 2019 but we succeed to get this clearance in previous Farwest. The real plane is a steam gauges Cessna 172 registered N4975F. Beside these, it's 100% what we were lucky to fly. Enjoy as much as we enjoyed.

Tip&Tricks: Auto-pilot and refuel

You can use the C172 autopilot and let electronic follow the route for you. It's a good way to enjoy the landscape and look outside instead of watching the PFD/MFD ;)

I suggest you bind a key to "Repair and Refuel" to avoid running out of Avgas ;)

Limitations

No altitude are set in the nav log due to Little Nav Map Flight Plan capabilities. There's no way to set altitude for each legs but some indications are available in each legs.
There is no ATC available. It's a limitation of the Bush Trip MSFS concept.
As soon as you stop your plane, the legs stop and... congratulations! In MSFS you can stop on the runway or just after vacated. It's up to you. But then you have finished the leg. In real world, another journey starts: find a parking slot for the plane and most of the time find the way to the FBO and fuel
This bush trip package use the Cessna 172 G1000 to be compatible with all MSFS version from standard to Premium Deluxe. See the below FAQ to change your plane.
The magenta line is not display on the G1000 MFD even if the full route is loaded. Because it would be too much helpful

Do you recommend any extra MSFS scenery?

The mission can be played with a stock MSFS, but you can improve your experience with these add-ons:

FSPM VFR Map by scelt to have a more detailed map in flight : click here.
Catalina KAVX freeware by JosueMejia: click here.
Big Bear (L35) freeware by JosueMejia: click here.
Downtown Los Angeles freeware enhanced with an improved Hollywood sign by Senecadriver: click here.
Monterey (KMRY) freeware by Captainvtol: click here.
FlyTampa Las Vegas (payware): click here.
My own San Diego Gibbs Exec Montgomery Field (KMYF) fix : click here.

FAQ

Where is my Community folder?

Microsoft Store: C:\Users\[Your Name]\AppData\Local\Packages\ Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages\
Steam: C:\Users\[Your User Name]\AppData\Local\Packages\
Custom: where you select to install MSFS during the installation process. For example, mine is on H:\FS2020

How can I restart a leg? Delete your saved flight located here : C:\Users\<your Name>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\MISSIONS
How can I change the weather/time when starting a new leg ? The only way is to modify manually saved files during your progress:

Shut down MSFS
Open the 2 files FARWEST2019-MISSION_SAVE.FLT and FARWEST2019-MISSION_SAVE_0001.FLT from your Activities folder. + If you have the AUTOSAVE folder, also open the file FARWEST2019-MISSION_AUTOSAVE.FLT
In all your open .flt files, change the Weather section to only include these two items

[Weather]

UseLiveWeather=True

WeatherCanBeLive=True

Can I use another plane? Follow (at your own risks) instruction in the MSFS official forum. Keep in mind that it requires edition a .FTL file and after changing it you have to start the bush trip from the beginning. Maybe in a futur version I'll propose the classic C172 available in MSFS with the N4975F Replica texture from Marc "Flying V" Hardouin.

Do you have a Skyvector Flight Plan available? A simplified version (without all the POI's) is available here.

Grand Canyon VFR chart: in leg#5 (Vegas to Page) and leg#8 (Marble to Sedona) where can I find the Grand Canyon VFR chart with the SFRA and corridor's routes (for e.g. Fossil corridor) ? Go to Skyvector and select the Grand Canyon VFR.

Tools used to create this MSFS bush trip:

Little Nav Map (LNM) available here.
Bush Trip Injector by BuffyGC available at flightsim.to.
Skyvector, Foreflight and Airnav.com

A big thanks to all creators who share their hard work for free.

(1) In the real world, "bush flying" is about remote locations where there aren’t proper runways to land on.

26.12.20

From Vegas to Page, AZ via the Grand Canyon with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

The plan today is to reproduce a flight I make whenever I have to join Las Vegas to Page (AZ), then mostly to fly to Monument Valley but this is another story. I took the C172 analog with the N4975F texture replica of a Plus One Flyer club plane based at San Diego. Las Vegas scenery is from Flytampa. All the rest is stock from MSFS. As usual I connected my Foreflight tablet app to my sim. Looking at the sunset time at Page, my destination, I choose accordingly my departure time. My plan is to reach the lake Powell with hot colors.

The route is simple KLAS BLD Hoover Dam then the Fossil Corridor to go through the free flights zone of Grand Canyon SFRA

As a backup I enter the “route” in the GNS530 (mod "pms50-gns530")

Image may contain: people playing sport, sky, cloud and outdoor

Today, runways 8 are in use. I started from Signature FBO but I turned on the other/wrong right and headed to the 19’s by mistake MSFS is a great training tool!

The awesome rendition of Las Vegas strip by Flytampa

Finally, I make a 180 and headed to the correct direction… Let's go the other way

Holding short 8L

Foreflight receives XmapSy 3.1 trafic data and displays it on the ground chart

Is that enough for my tiny C172?

Initial climb, looking at tubeliner's terminal

Awesome rendition of McCarran

Leaving Las Vegas

11'500 ft is the minimum altitude for the VFR corridor into the Grand Canyon SFRA and Foreflight advises me to climb as much as possible to benefit from tailwinds. But for now, I'm vector into the Bravo