Feature: River Cruises - The Nile Part 3
Published on 05-18-2009 09:00 AM
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<title></title>
<style type="text/css">
div.c1 {text-align: center}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="c1">
<h1>River Cruises - The Nile Part 3</h1>
<h3>By Derek Swanson (18 May 2009)</h3>
</div>
<h3>Luxor to The Mediterranean Sea</h3>
<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he Nile is 4,132 miles long and
has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile. The
previous two flights covered the route from Luxor to Khartoum and
the course of the Blue and White Niles from Khartoum to their
respective sources in Ethiopia and Uganda. This flight completes
the series, following the Nile north from Luxor to its delta at the
Mediterranean Sea. The distance covered in this flight is much less
than the previous two, being only around 430 nautical miles.</p>
<p>Since the default FS2004 scenery in this area is rather bland, I
strongly recommend the installation of two freeware files -
<a href="/vbfs/fslib.php?do=search&fname=upregyp2.zip">
Egypt scenery</a>, and <a href=
"/vbfs/fslib.php?do=search&match=egypt+mesh+fs2004">
Egypt mesh</a>. I also used <a href=
"http://www.fspilotshop.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=102&products_id=1999"
target="_blank">FScene Europe</a>, and an FS2002 river width
enhancement <a href=
"/vbfs/fslib.php?do=search&fname=newriver.zip">
NEWRIVER.ZIP</a>.</p>
<div class="c1"><a href=
"/images/features/river2/image001.jpg"><img src=
"/images/features/river2/t/image001.jpg" width="250" height="200"
border="0" alt=""></a> <a href=
"/images/features/river4/image003.jpg"><img src=
"/images/features/river4/t/image003.jpg" width="250" height="200"
border="0" alt=""></a> <a href=
"/images/features/river4/image005.jpg"><img src=
"/images/features/river4/t/image005.jpg" width="250" height="200"
border="0" alt=""></a></div>
<p>Luxor airport (HELX) sits in a wide green plain flanked on
either side by mountains and desert. As you leave Luxor to the
north, FS2004 has a defect that shows a gap in the river's flow. A
little further on there is a bridge which offers a challenge to fly
under. The river here deviates from its northerly direction via
semi-circular curve, similar to what we have seen several times in
the previous flights.</p>
<p>After you pass two non-flyable bridges you encounter an
unexpected "lump" of high ground to the east. Although it includes
a few small valleys, it's not as entertaining as would first
appear. The very flat terrain with few trees and other high objects
is however good for fast low level flight across the populated
areas.</p>
<p>The river narrows slightly nearing the town Asyut and has
several Islands linked by bridges to the river banks. Asyut
International airport (HEAT) is 13 nm west of the river valley and
is rather sparse, but is visited by FS2004 AI airliners.</p>
<p>En route to our next stop - Beni Suef (HEBF), large populated
areas become much more common than in our previous flights and the
land class shows a significant amount of farmland around the towns.
About half way to Beni Suef we pass the dual runway airport of El
Minya (HEOQ). This an FS2004 "special" - two long parallel runways
set within the middle of a populated area with no taxiways, apron
or airport buildings! Flying on at a medium altitude you can see
Red Sea in the distance to the west, sitting between the Suez Canal
in the north and the Gulf of Aqaba in the south</p>
<div class="c1"><a href=
"/images/features/river4/image007.jpg"><img src=
"/images/features/river4/t/image007.jpg" width="250" height="200"
border="0" alt=""></a> <a href=
"/images/features/river4/image009.jpg"><img src=
"/images/features/river4/t/image009.jpg" width="250" height="200"
border="0" alt=""></a> <a href=
"/images/features/river4/image011.jpg"><img src=
"/images/features/river4/t/image011.jpg" width="250" height="200"
border="0" alt=""></a></div>
<p>The FS2004 airport at Beni Suef is even more bizarre than that
at El Minya - two totally disconnected runways (nice & long
though) with only a tower. To the north west of Beni Suef there is
the unusual sight of three lakes, the largest being about 20 nm in
length.</p>
<div class="c1"><a href=
"/images/features/river4/image013.jpg"><img src=
"/images/features/river4/t/image013.jpg" width="350" height="200"
border="0" alt=""></a> <a href=
"/images/features/river4/image015.jpg"><img src=
"/images/features/river4/t/image015.jpg" width="350" height="200"
border="0" alt=""></a></div>
<p>Continuing north, just west of Hulwan (HEOF) you will see some
sets of pyramids to the east, but these are not the Pyramids by the
Sphinx, which are further north. Unless you're in a helicopter or a
plane with a very robust undercarriage, there's nowhere to land
here, but you can do a slow fly-past to view the sights.</p>
<p>After the pyramids the large metropolis of greater Cairo looms
on the horizon and this view is starkly different to the rural
landscape seen so far. FS2004 lists a large number of airports in
this area, many of which seem to be small strips. The most
interesting airports are Cairo International (HECA) and Cairo
Almaza (HEAZ) which are only 3 nm apart. Almaza is a military base
with a single runway whereas the International has three runways in
the shape of a letter "H" with the terminal buildings between the
left and right 05 runways. FS2004 portrays the International as
being on a raised platform with Almaza at a lower level.</p>
<p>Since FS2004 has the Sphinx with its associated pyramids, this
is a sight we should not miss. The nearest airport is Embaba
(HEEM), on the west bank of the Nile and you can change here for a
helicopter or other suitable vehicle to get you the 6.5 nm across
town to Giza. Being a fan of WWII film Ice Cold in Alex, I chose an
<a href=
"/vbfs/fslib.php?do=search&match=austin+k2">
Austin K2</a> ambulance. Head 220 degrees from Embaba and you will
see a trio of two large pyramids and one small one. The Sphinx is
in front of the pyramids.</p>
<div class="c1"><a href=
"/images/features/river4/image017.jpg"><img src=
"/images/features/river4/t/image017.jpg" width="350" height="200"
border="0" alt=""></a> <a href=
"/images/features/river4/image019.jpg"><img src=
"/images/features/river4/t/image019.jpg" width="350" height="200"
border="0" alt=""></a></div>
<p>Having landed on runway 05L at Cairo International (HECA),
taxiing to the allocated gate took me 2 miles across the airport to
the other side of the terminal and near runway 05R! This did
however mean a much shorter trip to runway 34 for departure.</p>
<p>Leaving Cairo to the north the river splits into a massive,
crazed delta with three large lakes near the sea and streams
feeding into the Suez Canal via the "Bitter Lakes". FS2004 really
only depicts the river proper travelling north west through flat
farmland to a rather uninteresting outlet into the Mediterranean
Sea.</p>
<a href="/images/features/river4/image021.jpg"><img src=
"/images/features/river4/t/image021.jpg" align="right" width="350"
height="200" border="0" alt=""></a>
<p>To finish your flight with a landing you have few options;
backtrack to Al Rahmaniyah (HEOP); return to Cairo; turn left to
Alexandria International (HEAX) or my choice - turn right to Port
Said (HEPS), which offers a harbor with a number of ships on which
to practice low level attacks.</p>
<p>This completes our Nile odyssey but if you've enjoyed these
three "cruises" on the Nile then look out for some other airborne
"river cruises" to follow.</p>
<p>Happy Flying.</p>
<p class="signature">Derek Swanson<br>
<a href=
"mailto:derek.swanson10@virgin.net">
derek.swanson10@virgin.net</a><br>
<br>
<a href="/vbfs/content.php?1916">Read The Nile - Part 1</a><br>
<a href="/vbfs/content.php?12249">Read The Nile - Part 2</a></p>
</body>
</html>
Tag Cloud
