I am flying an Outback though…
Ah yeah…it works great. x-IVAP - you can find all the information and files you need here:
http://x-flightserver.de/index.php
It is just a little plug-in that runs in the background…
Alrighty…I’m running out of time…so I’m gonna have to divert to Limon, CO (KLIM) and spend the afternoon until late tonight. I’m starting to see the mountains out there though! Oooph…winds 340 @ 39 there at Limon!
On the ground at Limon…good little segment, but can’t wait to shoot some of those Rocky Mountain challenging approaches!
Coming in south of Limon since the winds are blowing in the 30s straight down runway 34…
Turning the base leg…errr…right base…perhaps not straight out of the AIM…
I’m using the X-Prefab scenery to populate all the little non-custom airports. While not authentic, they do add some flavor to the little spots…
Alright - short hop from Limon, CO over to Eagle, CO. Another place with some fond memories as I tried my best to help get us killed on that LOC approach into EGE a couple decades ago as a brand new jet co-pilot. That approach was ugly.
As usual - you can follow along on Flight Tracker…
Colorado Springs out there to the south…
Denver International…
Coming across metro Denver…
Rocky Mountains National Park ahead…
Safely into Eagle - grabbing some fuel and headed 355 nm northwest up to 1U2 (Mud Lake, Idaho) - one of the Mudspike Air Cargo Air Hauler 2 bases…
Just south of Lukla, at 15,000 feet
“We forgot to ask his name! Could it have been … ?”
“Perhaps it was just some guy in a costume. We’ll see when we arrive.”
Last night after our arrival in Lukla, when it was full dark, we heard noises from the runway. “Who would be crazy enough to land in the middle of the night on the most difficult airstrip in the world without ILS, RNAV, DME, or any IFR approaches?”
We hurried outside, expecting to witness a crash site, ready to look for survivors.
We found some sort of deer. He was completely unharmed and unimpressed by the darkness, said he had the best landing light of them all: “My active IR sensor far exceeds even the capabilities of TFR equipment like the Strike Eagle’s: I don’t need any other IFR equipment to be present on-site.”
Security camera footage of the reindeer
It was very dark so we could not make out any details on the deer.
He had come to tell us that more packages had been recovered in Bhutan.
And that’s why we are now flying to Paro, Bhutan.
On the way there, we decided to take a de-tour. When flying from Nepal to Bhutan, the Sikkim region of India has to be crossed. In the northernmost part of this region is a beautiful mountain that goes by the name of Kangchengyao, which means “Bearded Peak”.
Ignition continuous, full throttle. And watch the lakes and glaciers below!
Enough sightseeing for today, what about our destination?
Bhutan is very isolated: it has always been independent and its culture and nature have been well preserved. The Bhutanese want to keep it that way and thus, tourism in Bhutan is restricted by the government. They have only opened up the country in 1974, and tourists are still only allowed to follow a select number of pre-planned tours and guides.
Approaching Paro, we started to descend into the valley
There’s the airport, just across the hill!
But then as the sun was setting behind the mountains, a haze suddenly rose up from the valley floor
By the time I had found the airport again, I was too high and too close, so I did a go-around.
Much better!
Down safely!
So a recap of my VFR LDA approach into Eagle (ah…it brought back memories). I decided to fly it “green needles” (using only the VOR and LDA for actual course guidance). Crossing Kremmling to fly the transition down to the LDA intercept. Definitely hugely important to get the correct altimeter setting on these approaches!
Picking up the transition, dropping to 13,800’. It is important to stay ahead of the step downs and have the altitude preselect preset to the next stepdown after capturing each intermediate altitude…
After flying the transition, joining the LDA. Back in the day when I helped screw it up…the pilot flying was going about 250 knots, we blew through everything and ended up ridiculously high, unconfigured, and just in a mess of a situation. Back then it was just a LOC, not an LDA…
The LDA (or step downs on the LOC) takes you down and it is pretty impressive to see how close you come to the high terrain surrounding the field…
Final flaps out in the full landing configuration…
Easy to see why the minimums for the approach are so high (nearly 1,800’ AGL) - because during the missed approach procedure you have to outclimb all the terrain around the field…
Looks like I have some elevation problems with the custom airport scenery and the mesh…
I grab some gas, then head for 1U2…
This trip so far has reminded me how badly I wish Air Hauler 2 would make the jump to X-Plane…
Looks awesome!
If I’d had that magazine, I could’ve had a much better ‘Intro to Bhutan’ text by just copying your introduction 
