Howard 500 Around the Southern Alps

[FlyingKiwi]

This was just a short sightseeing flight from Queenstown to Wanaka in the South Island of NZ. Enjoy! :)

On the ground at Queenstown. This is a major skiing centre, but being summer there isn't any snow to be seen on the Remarkables. (the mountains in the background)
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/859...nstown10an.jpg
The largest aircraft using this airport in real life are Air New Zealand 737-300's and Qantas 737-800's. Some of the peaks near to the airfield are getting up towards 10,000ft elevation which leads to some pretty spectacular approaches! :D
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/286...nstown28gs.jpg
This runway always seems very small from a 737 cockpit, but it's not such a problem for the Howard.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/467...nstown34gq.jpg
Off we go!
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/160...nstown48ms.jpg
As you can see, there isn't much room for error at Queenstown!
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/479...nstown53jv.jpg
Although NZ has a "green" image, most of the Southern Alps are actually this brown colour, although by default Microsoft made the whole country brown. Landclass addon to the rescue. :)
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/126...nstown68wj.jpg
A little haze over the hills, nothing alarming, although you always have to watch the weather in NZ thanks to being a narrow, long country the weather can change very quickly.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/326...nstown71cc.jpg
Plenty of beautiful lakes around here.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/135...nstown82zl.jpg
The temperature here varies between below freezing in winter to the high 30's and occasionally 40C in summer; today it's about 27C, nice and pleasant.
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/9...twanaka6li.jpg
Isn't that a beautiful wing? :)
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/9...stown106nu.jpg
Descending towards Wanaka.
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/5...stown118je.jpg
There's the airfield, but we're landing in the opposite direction (runway 29) today.
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/1...nrunway29o.jpg
Wanaka is NZ's newest commercial airport with Air New Zealand operating a couple of daily services with their B1900's.
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/8...stown130tq.jpg
Turning onto final. Wanaka is also home to the bi-annual Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow which usually attracts over 150,000 people. I went in 2004, some of you may remember the photos, and I'm heading back again this year in April. Can't wait! (and I've got a much better camera now :))
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/4...stown146ix.jpg
Touchdown.
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/3...stown153bj.jpg
Backtracking; there's only enough room for about 20 aircraft on the actual apron (in real life, in FS you can only fit about 5), but there can be as many as 250 aircraft here during the airshow, ranging from C-130's through Spitfires, Learjets and all the way down to Cessna 152's. It really is an aviation enthusiasts paradise.
http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/5...stown165qt.jpg
This is also home to the Alpine Fighter Collection, who have restored many extremely rare aircraft such as a Yak-9, Bf-109, 8 Polikarpov I-16's and I-153's and the world's only Lavochkin La-9; not to mention a number of slightly more common warbirds like Spitfires, P-40's and Vampire jets.
http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/7...stown177yy.jpg

Hope you enjoyed this flight, and hopefully I'll have a whole lot of real photos to upload in the outer marker forum in a few months time.
Comments welcome! :)

[DK8290]

Nice shots ...love those mountains in the top one. Are you using an addon mesh and some of the water shapes look like they couldn't be default. I've practically ignored New Zealand even though I know it has some varied terrain (thanks to LOTR movies haha)

[yv35p]

GREAT post Leo! I enjoyed the ride and info Yeah i remember your "Warbirds over Wanaka" shots, were stunning..cant wait for the new ones buddy...Also, that Queenstown airport is truly something..Reminds me of some Venezuelan airfields like SVFM located in downtown Caracas (closed now for all civilian traffic)..Thanks for sharing amigo, have a nice day :-)

Best Regards,

[SimFreak]

Very nice set of screenies and description!

[LFPG_pilot]

Excellent shots Leo!! what a nice scenery. i love the livrery too!
bests
Francois

[xdm]

Amazing shots. New Zealand must be a beautiful country. I think I will have to fly there from time to time...

[Peer]

Not with a chopper Grzegorz, please!!!! LOL
Man, this is awesome Leo!! :9 Love the plane, love the scenery, love the airfield. I also remember the real shots of the warplanes, so it's a paradise for many reasons.
Edit: did you find the NZ repaint for the Howard??

[meine]

Lovely shots Leo! :9 Great mountains and scenery...

[xdm]

>Not with a chopper Grzegorz, please!!!!< LOL :+
Thanks Jan you're beliving in my flying skills :+

[FlyingKiwi]

Thanks guys! :)

David - I have a 15m mesh and enhanced topography addon, which are payware. I got them from a local website, but I think they're available internationally from Sim Market. You can however get a freeware 150m mesh on this site, which really makes a huge difference to default terrain, and also the landclass file which I am using is freeware and also available on this site.

Jan - Is that the Fieldair one, where can I find it?