# FGFS Places to Fly

FGFS has some of the most accurate and realistic terrain of any PC simulator. Here are some intersting places where you can do virtual sight seeing.

If you are starting with "fgrun" the FlightGear launcher, you can enter the airport id and select the runway on the appropriate screen in the startup wizard.

If you are starting from the command line you can use the options: "--airport=ABCD" and "--runway=12L" options.

If you know if any other interesting places or routes to fly, please let me know and I can add them to this list.

Title and Download | Apt. ID | Description
--- | --- | ---
Southern Tip of Chile | SCGZ, SAWH, & SAWO | Gary Carvell: Here is a suggestion for the FlightGear Places to Fly page. I don't have any particular routes, just fly around and enjoy the gorgeous scenery. These three airports are in the same region of the very southern tip of Argentina. This area is a scenic wonderland - a maze of islands, mountains, and ocean channels. Hours of entertainment. SCGZ - Puerto Williams Guardiamarina Zanartu Airport, Chile Located on the north coast of Isla Navarino facing the Beagle Channel. At 55 deg S. longitude, Puerto Williams is considered the southernmost town in the world. SAWH - Ushuaia Islas Malvinas Airport SAWO - Ushuaia Est Aeronaval Airport Ushuaia, on the south coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, on the the Beagle Channel. I personally like to fly this area in the Catalina, it's a great sightseeing plane with the advantage that you can take off and land just about anywhere.
Round Valley Airport w130n30.tgz | O09 | Covalis, CA. The airport is at the West edge of a 7 mile across valley. The predominant wind is a cross wind. Take-offs to the west (if they use the full runway length) often have to fly between 2 small hills and over another valley while gaining altitude. Most pilots take off to the west. It is a paved runway and quite long. It was designated as an emergency recovery field during the Cold War and was used twice that I know of by military aircraft that could not take off again from the field.
Hell's Canyon w120n40.tgz | 25U | Hell's Canyon, Imnaha, OR. This airport is located just west of "Hell's Canyon National Park" which has the Snake River running through it. Supposedly it's a 5500 foot drop from the top of the canyon to the river. The airport is located on the brink of this canyon. See the remarks on the airport page (click on the airport id) ... DOWNDRAFTS, SHEER DROP IN TERRAIN, LIVESTOCK, etc. Don't go here on your first solo x-country. :-)
Crater Lake National Park Tour w130n40.tgz | 64S | Prospect, OR. Take off and fly at a heading of about 40 degrees until you cross the first distinct ridge in front of you. (several minutes of flight in the navion ... just climb as fast as you can, it will be a close squeek to get over :-) Once you clear the ridge and can see beyond it, turn right and fly a heading of about 70 degrees. You should see two shallow peaks off in the distance. Head right between these -- they are the two sides of the crater. As you get closer the shape of the crater will come into view. There's a lake there in real life, hopefully it will be there in flight gear too before long.
Grand Canyon Tour w120n30.tgz | GCN, 1Z1, 1G4, AZ38, | These airports are in the vicinity of the Grand Canyon. From KGCN head north. From 1Z1 head south. From 1G4 head north (I think.) From AZ38 head north.
Ranger Creek Airport w130n40.tgz | 6WA8 | Greenwater, WA. This airport is wedged into the bottom of a steep canyon. You definitely need to be on your toes to get in and out of here. I'd hate to think about what the wind would do to you in real life.
Mount Rainier Tour w130n40.tgz | WA20 | Eatonville, WA. Start out at Swanson Airport in Eatonville, WA. Take off and fly a heading of about 90 degrees. You will need to fly for 5-10 minutes before the mountain comes into view. Be patient if you don't see it right away, it will dwarf everything in it's vicinity.
Death Valley Tour w120n30.tgz | L06 | Furnace Creek, CA. This starts you right in the middle of Death Valley which runs north & south. If you head south about 15 miles you'll hit the lowest point in the USA, 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level.
Utah w120n30.tgz | 1L7 | Escalante Muni Airport, Escalante, UT. This airport is east and a bit north of Bryce Canyon National park. If you head mostly south and a bit east you'll eventually hit the Grand Canyon. It is sandwiched between the Dixie National forest to the north and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to the south. There should be interesting stuff to see no matter which direction you head.
Lake County Airport (CO) w110n30.tgz | KLXV | Lake County Airport, Leadville, CO. This airport is at an elevation of 9927 making it a bit of a challenge to get into and out of with a standard C172. Make sure you lean out your engine before taking off and read up on density altitude before you try this one in real life.
Friedman Memorial Airport (Idaho) w120n40.tgz | KSUN | Friedman Memorial Airport, Hailey, Idaho. This airport is nestled in a valley surrounded by significant terrain. It's one that shows up quite often in accident investigations.
Israel to Jordan over the Dead Sea (There are no borders in the virtual reality!) e030n30.tar.gz | LLBS to OJAI, 70nm | Dead Sea is the lowest water elevation on the Earth. Take off from the Beer-Sheva Teyman airport and head East-North-East. About half way there, after the southern Hebron mountains ridge, there'll be a sharp drop-off down to the Dead Sea --- the lowest exposed point on the Earth. It's really fun to descend and explore the beautiful coastline. In the real life, you wouldn't like to fly low over this water there of your own will --- while you don't need a life vest in the Dead Sea, the water is pretty caustic there for one's eyes. Once you're done marvelling the sights, continue on to the Queen Alia airport.

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