It’s been a little while since I did some bushplane flying and I wanted to do something a little different with this next series of flights so today’s Flight Journal covers some different ground. First, I wanted to offer a mini-review of some great scenery options and second I wanted to find some low cost opportunities to save you some pennies. With that in mind… here’s a compilation of journeys that I did that you can fly too!

The setup

The airplane for this journey ended up being the DHC-2 Beaver by Blackbird Simulations. This 40th Anniversary Edition aircraft is, for a default airplane, quite a stunning experience. Great sounds, great visuals, controls and needles that vibrate and shake with the engine, an oil cap that wiggles unless you tighten it… its an aircraft that feels viscerally alive. Perfect for our journey too!

The next key item here is location and for that I made the easy choice of Alaska. And it turns out that Emerald Scenery Designs offers a mix of relatively simple freeware bush strips scattered around Alaska together with a smaller number of more premium releases. On this journey I will visit a few of each and denote which were payware and which were free.

Unlike a lot of my flying, this was done with a custom date, time and weather. I wanted summery conditions for this series so you could see the scenery in its full glory.

The short hop: Talkeetna to Snowflake Lake

After all of that preamble about Emerald Scenery Design, my starting point is not one of their products but rather Northern Sky Studio who did PATK Talkeetna Airport which I have featured once or twice before and bought from Orbx. This, I felt, was a good jumping off point as its a more significant airport in the region and where quite a few different types of aerial operators fly out of. Emerald Scenery have previously offered their own Talkeetna but have taken it down after experiencing trouble with Sim Update 13.

The detailing at this airport is generally good with lots of parked aircraft, Talkeetna written on the apron, and lots of custom buildings and airport details. I do wish that it had more spawn locations as it only has a few and the airport could clearly support more.

Taxiing out for the first hop, I worked my way over to Runway 01 and immediately powered the Beaver up for a takeoff. It likes to fight you a bit when you do this but proper rudder technique keeps the nose on the straight and before long we were lifting off.

This first flight was just 5 nautical miles or 9 kilometres to our destination which was just fine because my flight time available that first night was short. Just minutes after takeoff I was looking around at the landing site of Snowflake lake which is an unregistered landing strip.

Emerald have created Snowflake Lake with custom cabins near the airstrip and a lot of custom vegetation. I didn’t spot them but among the custom scenery included are butterflies, ponds (in rain storms) and mushrooms. Landing was a challenge with tall trees on every side and only just enough room to stop a Beaver. I almost aborted but was able to bleed enough speed to make it work. Phew!

Snowflake Lake to Stampede

Locking in for an almost hour long flight, the journey up from Snowflake Lake to Stampede was a long one but thanks to stunning scenery, some great looking skies and the morning sun being at just the right angle I was treated to some truly stunning and magical views.

Powering up at Snowflake Lake, the ambience of this airport is immediately apparent. Emerald Scenery Designs work here continued to impress on this flight with ambient noises including bird calls sounding in the background with the doors open. When you look closely at some of the plants you can even see butterflies skimming the tops of them. Its really quite remarkable!

Before too long I was powered up and ready to go. The strip is short so it was a full power situation and a bit of nail biter as I cleared the tree tops and climbed out from the airport.

For the next 45 minutes I spent taking in some of the incredible scenes that Microsoft Flight Simulator and the Alaskan terrain was able to offer. River valleys, hill tops, distant and near mountain peaks of the Denali State Park were incredible to see and take in.

It wasn’t all spent with my jaw on the floor either as the mountains posed some significant navigational hazards. Knowing full well that the mountains can rise up faster than your aircraft can sometimes climb, I started the Beaver climbing for 7,000 feet as we cut through one of the melting glacier’s routes down the mountain chain.

Though winds were light, turbulence and updrafts off some of the mountain peaks battered the Beaver around from time to time requiring plenty of non-autopilot manual control to keep things from going sideways.

After all of that, we emerged into flatter terrain and into some golden sunlight. Beneath me, our destination of Stampede emerged beneath. I brought it in for a smooth landing on the rough strip and parked the Beaver next to the out building and the tent. What a journey!

Stampede to Kantishna Airport

For my next flight I flew a short hop, about 15 minutes, between Stampede and Kantishna. Here was another opportunity to admire the stark beauty of the area with different lighting and weather conditions.

The flight over was mostly scenic although there are areas up in this part of Alaska where satellite imagery does not appear to be available and so some relatively ugly textures make their way into the mix. Other areas are spectacular.

While Stampede is very much out in the middle of nowhere, Kantishna by contrast sports a number of lodges all of which are part of the scenery download.

The only real challenge is landing it on the strip where you have a narrow opportunity to bring it in with reasonably steep hills on either side of the strip. And, like most of these, there’s not a ton of clearance on either side. Landing went well and I parked it and then admired the scenery.

Kantishna Airport to Fort Crosby

It was time to head back down south and explore some more scenery options. My destination was Fort Crosby and the only Emerald Scenery designs payware on this particular journey. But to get there I had to travel south through Denali National Park and Preserve and past Denali itself, its 20,000 feet peak being the tallest in North America.

Taking off from Kantishna Airport with some serious winds, I headed southwards in a tight loop around but not without already having a bit of a close call with the nearby hill as turbulence off the peaks kicked the Beaver around a bit. Then it was time to pick up some altitude and head southwards.

Ahead of me, Denali and the associated mountain range around it rose up imposingly. I could go around but time was somewhat limited and I wanted to get to my destination as quickly as possible. So through the mountains it was!

The foothills proved little challenge but the rising peaks ahead were much more of a problem. With tops around 8,000 feet I had to coax the Beaver to higher altitudes. The engine briefly sputtered as I backed off on the mixture, with the engine resuming smooth power delivery again. Clawing for a bit more altitude I managed to find my way through and into the open air on the other side. A tense few minutes hoping that I had built up enough altitude to get through… you can’t outclimb a mountain. Not in this airplane anyways!

What lay out before me was a beautiful area. While some sections to the north have clearly been lacking in satellite imagery, Denali park area on the south side is generally well covered and beautiful looking.

The stunning scenery continued as I made my way south. I passed over one bush strip and went looking for Fort Crosby. Cut into the trees, I finally found the gravel strip and brought it in for an absolutely terrible landing. But I was down and at my destination!

Fort Crosby to Rangeview

Before getting into the next flight, I wanted to talk a bit about Fort Crosby. It’s a payware scenery that Emerald Scenery Designs offers for $9.99 USD. This airport features plenty of custom details including plants, insects, a custom soundset, bears that walk around the area, and lots of little details. It also has a hangar with a door that opens and closes, a clock that moves, and overhead florescent lights that buzz. It’s a very cool place and it will be featuring into future flights I’m sure!

Taking off from Fort Crosby it was time to head south to my next destination. The journey along the way was short but no less stunning than the other flights I’ve done. Eventually I was able to find the next landing zone.

Rangeview is a lengthy cut in the trees making for a relatively easy and scenic landing zone. My Beaver came to a stop between two lakes on either side which just added to the ambience.

Rangeview to Davidston Strip

The next flight was another short hop of just several miles leaving Rangeview and heading down to a place called Davidston Strip. This was a pretty interesting place to try and land. Emphasis on try!

I eventually located the strip after flying past it when I realized what a challenge this would be. Davidson Strip is located on the side of Amber Lake. There’s a couple of buildings, a house, and a very short strip that can handle short takeoff and landing aircraft. I tried a couple of times to land here without success and then eventually managed to mostly land it…. before going off into the water.

Drying off the Beaver and trying again, I also checked out the scenery nearby which includes a bunch of houses or lodges and docks.

I tried three times to land here without success. Not sure if its something the Beaver can land at or if I need to adjust my technique. I’ll be back here for sure!

Davidson Strip to Montana Creek

From a very short lakeside airstrip to something much lengthier by comparison. This last flight was again a pretty easy one flying over the endless trees, admiring the mountain ranges in multiple different directions, the lakes, and occasional roads dot the area.

There was a diversion, however, as I headed south to check out a rather tall landmark and point of interest sticking up out of the trees. This turned out to be the “Dr. Seuss House” as its known. It’s owned by a local attorney who apparently planned to put a telescope on the top as well as broadcast a free radio station from it too.

After that diversion, I headed for the Montana Creek airstrip.

This next airstrip is a lengthy cut in the trees near highway 3 and a number of light industrial sites, campgrounds and other recreational areas from the looks of it. Some of that is modeled by the scenery addition and the strip itself is lengthy and easy to land at compared to some of the other locations I had arrived at previously.

Final thoughts

I loved doing this journey! After several weeks of alternating between some IL-2 flying (review upcoming), the Gazelle and lots of airliners, flying something simple and away from the more ridgid procedures was just pure fun. Even the longer haul segments presented challenges of terrain and weather and it all gave me a chance to spend more time in the DHC-2. A plane I have a deep interest and appreciation for. And this rendition of it really makes it feel alive. Being “free” as part of the base MSFS install makes this an easy choice for anyone wanting to do some back country flying. If you haven’t flown it yet, you should!

This flight journal was also my take on doing a kind of scenery review. I sought out to find good scenery in this area and Emerald Scenery Designs have created some real gems here.

I love the care and attention put into both their freeware and paid strips. These are locations that don’t have expansive taxiways or busy terminals but these scenery packs and more intimate and more focused on the surrounding ambience. A tent and a hut with some supplies scattered around tells its own story. So does the custom plants, the animated animals and insects, and the soundscapes too. You feel like you’re there and its so good!

The more premium payware location that I checked out, Fort Crosby, is even more more detailed thanks to the hangar with moving door and exquisitely modeled interior. Better yet, it fits the overall aesthetic that seamlessly integrates their slightly fancier paid airports with the free ones that helps make this journey feel like an integrated whole.

Go check their website out and download their free or payware scenery. It’s worth a look and a very fun journey to go on hopping between airstrip and airstrip. Each one will challenge your flying in different ways!