I’m back in control of the AzurPoly C-160 Transall transport aircraft for Microsoft Flight Simulator flying a fictional storm relief mission in the Caribbean. On this flight I take the Transall down to Basseterre on the island of St. Kits to drop off some supplies and then fly back to St. Martin and the famous Princess Juliana International Airport. Let’s fly!

Part one: Stormy departure

The Caribbean is an oft sought after travel destination for tourists, however, its also an area dominated by the tropical waters and the convective power that they offer. Warm, sunny beaches sometimes give way to storms both the disorganized tropical waves and the more organized tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes.

On this mission I decided to fly a fictional relief mission loaded with cargo and then returning back with a utility vehicle in need of repair. That’s the narrative around this short hop down and back again.

Flying out of Princess Juliana International Airport (TNCM), famous for the short distance between the beach and landing aircraft, I departed straight into a line of thunderstorms. Flashes of lightning around me and some turbulence as well as low visibility made for an interesting and entertaining departure.

Cruise was spent almost entirely in the clouds with the Transall breaking out of the worst of it about 10 minutes after departure. The aircraft arrived over the destination with high overcast and broken lower clouds slightly obscuring the runway until I was closer. It made for quite the strong visual and gave a sense of depth to the whole scene. Three and a half years since the release of MSFS and I’m still wowed by what the live weather can do!

Flying a circular pattern down to Basseterre, the capital and largest city of Saint Kitts, I brought the C-160 in for a relatively smooth landing at Robert L. Bradshaw Airport (TKPK). Time to offload the cargo with storm recovery professionals and their supplies.

Part two: Clearing return

The sun began to come out as I offloaded the cargo and took on an armored vehicle (lets pretend its a broken down aid truck). The Transall is capable of handling small armored vehicles and large trucks in its cargo bay though I did have to trim some fuel weight to keep us under MTOW.

Takeoff was achieved albeit slowly and with a small amount of pucker factor as the C-160 struggled to gain lift with the heavy cargo. Still, we made it and were treated to a beautiful view of the south side of Saint Kitts.

Then it was a short hop back to a clearing Saint Martin and smooth landing back at Princess Juliana International Airport (TNCM). The whole thing took me about 50 minutes back and forth with a little time for offloading cargo. A fun short hop in the C-160 by AzurPoly. Review is coming soon!