Corsaire31 419 Posted May 18, 2017 Report Share Posted May 18, 2017 (edited) Hi all ! After I had to drop out of the second part of my Australia tour last winter due to lack of time, I'm back in the air... With the return of beautiful days, I decided I would this summer explore in depth the coast of PNW and the Tongass Fjords where I installed most of Return to Misty Moorings stuff over the years. To take my time looking at things and to land on small lakes and rivers, I chose to do it in an Ultra Light with floats from where I can really enjoy the scenery ( I've also sometimes done parts of it on the water with my Malibu fast boat...) So here we go for a tour of log cabins by the lakes, river camps, remote places, bear observatories, and of course stops at every "Brad's Bait and BBQ" on the way... I will be starting from Bella Coola Marina and try to see as much as possible up north to as far as I can go until October, weather permitting - as usual always flying real time and real weather - ( Sitka, Haines ... maybe Yakutat and the Copper River ? ) We will see ... Scenery : FSX Gold - Orbx PNW / PFJ / SAK - UTX Canada Alaska - FS Addon Tongass Fjords - Return to Misty Moorings freeware - Flight Environment X 2.0 Airplane : Ant's Drifter Floats Plane and Boat Traffic : Ultimate Traffic 2 - Orbx PNW GA traffic - Henrik Nielsen's AI Boat Traffic - RTMM shipping Weather : Pilot's FS Global Real Weather Edited May 18, 2017 by Corsaire31 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted May 18, 2017 Report Share Posted May 18, 2017 Grabs best seat and big bucket of pop corn! Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,283 Posted May 18, 2017 Report Share Posted May 18, 2017 Good choice Loic. I find myself enjoying Tongass Fjords more than PFW sometimes, they did such a fantastic job on it and adding any of the Misty scenery makes it that much better. I wish RTMM would have been able to talk more of their authors into creating larger compilations of their sceneries packages for easier downloading but there is also something to be said for researching each one thoroughly before flying it. Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted May 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2017 (edited) Day 1 : Bella Coola to Owikeno Lake - Part 1 Weather report 13:54 local time : Wind 6 knots from 290° - Temperature 14° C - Pressure 1020 hPa / 30.12 in - Clouds few 3000 ft broken 5000 ft - Visibility 24 km Outside Bella Coola marina, facing the west wind and ready to take off : While the Rotax is warming up in my back at 2500 rpm, a quick look at the office ( water temp, speed, compass, altimeter, exhaust temp, radio, tachometer, GPS ) After a westward take off , I turn around towards the Bella Coola valley, meeting a first cruise ship : A last goodbye to friends at the Bella Coola airfield : And here we go into the wild... Arriving at the northern entry of the channel leading to the lake ( we can see a small dirt strip ) : The waterfalls going up the channel ( good idea to have a small plane ! ) : The channel opens on the northern part of the lake : And I fly by the northern Owikeno lake dirt strip : Part 2 later... Edited May 19, 2017 by Corsaire31 Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,283 Posted May 18, 2017 Report Share Posted May 18, 2017 Gorgeous scenery and great choice of ride. (so far....) Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted May 19, 2017 Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 Very pretty so far. Nom nom nom, crunch crunch crunch....sluuuuuuuuurp. Oh, sorry, how rude of me...want some popcorn anyone? 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted May 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 (edited) Day 1 : Bella Coola to Okiweno Lake - Part 2 As we get to the eastern part of Owikeno Lake, I fly over the Machmell village, at the mouth of the river with the same name. You can see the eastern ferry terminal and the small dirt strip. Heading west, in front of us the Owikeno Lake in all its majesty. On the northern side of the lake, near the Ashlulm Creek mouth, the smoke of the first Brad's B+B of the trip : I had made a stop there two years ago when I had a boat tour of the lake : On the way we come across the path of the ferry making the link between the two ends of the lake : Nearing the western end, we fly by the Casino and catch a glimpse of the western dirt strip : Then it's the western ferry terminal, the fishermen's village and the second Brad's B+B : Now I just have to let it glide down to the seaplane dock at Rivers Inlet CAU8, at the western entrance of Lake Owikeno : We made it safe to our destination, will spend the weekend looking around : Catch you later, have a nice weekend everyone ! Edited May 19, 2017 by Corsaire31 Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted May 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 As a bonus, a short video of the real thing : Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,487 Posted May 19, 2017 Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 Just superb Loic, what a great place to sightsee! Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted May 19, 2017 Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 (edited) And a perfect slowgofloater to see it all from. Edited May 19, 2017 by Captain Coffee Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted May 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2017 Did some gambling at the Casino over the week end in the evening and took some time during the day for a boat trip to some nice locations around the lake... 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted May 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 (edited) Bella Coola : Changing my ride On the way back to Bella Coola with the Drifter ( same way as flying in ) I had time to think a while... The Drifter is really nice and I love it, but it's really slow ( 60/65 knts cruise speed ) and moreover at this time of the year the open cokpit makes it a bit chilly to fly in this region ! So I decided to change my ride for now ... On the Bella Coola airfield, a brand new Tecnam P92 Eaglet is waiting for me. Bonus : + 40 knts in cruise speed, still reasonably cheap to fly with its 100 HP Rotax engine ( 4 to 4.5 Gal/h following engine revs ), flying in a warm closed cockpit and on top all the modern comfort ( multifunction GPS, autopilot, electronic navigation - VOR ans ILS - ) Besides that it is easy to make it a seaplane ( " Seasky " kit ) making it adaptable in these places. Without loosing a minute, off we go for a short test flight around Bella Coola. The plane is easy to fly and use ( automatic mixture, fixed prop pitch ), only the prop torque requires some right foot ( if activated in the setup ) and I will test the 9 steps wing flaps for a take off with 15° flaps and a landing around 50 knts with 35° flaps. Much satisfied with this test flight, I decide to keep it for now. * For info : Ant's Airplanes Eaglet V2 FSX/P3D - Just been upgraded to v2.0 and price lowered ( 13.80 Euros for me at Simmarket ). You get for each model ( US registration, italian, aussie, new zealand and blank ) a standard version, an EFIS cockpit version, a seaplane version and specific versions to integrate either the GTN 650 or the GTN 750. I also appreciated a "shift-3" full on-screen documentation with various chapters - setup, interactive normal and emergency procedures, performance tables or detailed operation of all onboard systems without having to use any "out of sim" documents. Edited May 22, 2017 by Corsaire31 1 Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Bit late to this, damn internet.....some great shots in your earlier post...now I don't care much for VR but that flight in that really slow low craft would be ideal for VR.... great read and fantastic scenery..... 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted May 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Thks Wain ! I don't care about VR either, no place left on my desk for the paper bags... 1 Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,283 Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Nice shots and really nice looking aircraft, seems awful cheap for all that gauge work and modeling. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted May 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 (edited) Stage 2 - Bella Coola to Bella Bella - Part 1 After our trip to Owikeno Lake in the south, we will now fly north towards the Dean River and the logging camp on the Kimsquit River. In the second part we will fly down to the Kwatna River ( Orbx logging camp and RTMM coal mine ) then we will end at Denny Island and the Bella Bella ( CYJQ ) airfield. We take off around 12:30 after lunch from Bella Coola, with a nice weather : No wind - Temp 20°C - Clouds scattered 15.000 ft broken 26.000 ft - Pressure 1025 hPa / 30.27 inch As I will have to use small dirt strips, I had the wheel fairings removed. With this beautiful weather, the cruise ships are on their way : Another turn left and we get there ... Soon we fly over the Dean River where you find a medical center, a Brad's B+B by the waterfront, a dirt strip (PF32) and a helipad. For the boating fans, the river is fully equipped with red and green buoys and you can make a 40 nm river run up to Sigutlat Lake village with some rapids to cross. As we fly further north towards the Kimsquit River, we can already spot the dirtstrip ahead as we fly over a first log train and its pusher. On final approach to the logging camp. After a short tour and sharing a mug of coffee with local people, it's time to get ready to fly away ! ( You don't see it well on the pics, but the strip is not flat with a big hump in the middle...) More coming ... Edited May 23, 2017 by Corsaire31 1 Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 nice, great looking area, can't beat getting to know some people with a nice steamy mug of coffee..... Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 1 hour ago, wain said: nice, great looking area, can't beat getting to know some people with a nice steamy mug of coffee..... Must remember to go to a sauna sometime and take a smiley selfie...a nice steamy mug of Coffee. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 14 minutes ago, Captain Coffee said: Must remember to go to a sauna sometime and take a smiley selfie...a nice steamy mug of Coffee. hah, great humour Matt love it...... Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted May 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2017 (edited) Stage 2 - Bella Coola to Bella Bella - Part 2 Soon after taking off from Kimsquit River, we fly again by Dean River : After the cruise ships, I also find freighters boat traffic in the fjords : Soon I spot the river inlet entrance leading to the Kwatna mine : As I spot the dirt strip at the end of the river inlet, I can see the surrounding cliffs will make the approach a bit tricky : From inside the cockpit, we can clearly see I must approach over the river and make a S turn just before touchdown on the short strip : And I'm lucky there is no wind ! After a short tour of the place ( and another coffee... ) it's time to take off and fly to my final destination : More to come ... Info : the scenery shows a logging camp on the river which comes originally from Orbx PFJ and has been enhanced by RTMM, adding a coal mine with animated features. Edited May 24, 2017 by Corsaire31 2 Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted May 24, 2017 Report Share Posted May 24, 2017 another nice leg safely executed, getting some fine weather to.... Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted June 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 (edited) Stage 2 - Bella Coola to Bella Bella - Part 3 Taking off from Kwatna just above the tree tops, we fly over the trucks loading logs by the river : Some more boat traffic as we fly up the main fjord towards Denny Island : I'm about to get into a left hand downwind leg to Denny Island CYJQ : Because of a Cessna making circuits around CYJQ, I have to hold a few minutes near Shearwater on the left and Whiskey Cove (in front) : While he end his touch and go, I slip in the final leg and taxi to the parking. The Cessna lands a few minutes later and rejoins its parking place. It's crowded here today ! Weather forecast doesn't look so good for the next day, we'll see how it goes... A quick look at Denny Island and the Shearwater Marina : Edited June 4, 2017 by Corsaire31 Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted June 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 (edited) No flying - Kimsquit River Run Part 1 As forecasted the next day weather was awful for flying. Rain, low clouds and bad visibility... Rather than staying in the hotel room, I jump into a Malibu 32' for a water tour around the Kimsquit River.. There are buoys on the Kimsquit River over 10 nm : Going up the river at 15/20 knots, finding our way through several river arms, we can sometimes spot some wildlife : The river run ends at Victory Valley ( PF 30 ) where you can also come by air on nice days ( dirt strip and helipad ) Life there is organized around fishing : And of course I'll have a fresh grilled fish at the local Brad's B+B before leaving : .../... Edited June 4, 2017 by Corsaire31 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted June 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 (edited) No flying - Kimsquit River Run Part 2 After a coffee and a short siesta, I float down the river to the fjord : Once on the fjord, we can unleash the 450 horses and cruising at 45/50 knots we easily overtake the log pushers : You can spot from far away the scuttled ship near Dean River : In front of the rent-a-boat outfit, our taxi plane is waiting for better weather in the afternoon to fly us back to Denny Island. As we wait for the clouds ceiling to lift up, we head for a warm place ... The Dean River is famous among fly fishermen for its steelhead and chinook salmons ! Edited June 4, 2017 by Corsaire31 1 Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,487 Posted June 4, 2017 Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 Brilliant, I've not seen an avatar looking that good before! Sorry Loic for the lack of replies but I have been working on admin for while but you get a from me! Link to post Share on other sites
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