Sightseeing the Alps in a C172
This tour will guide you to many of the most famous mountains, valleys, glaciers, snowfields, winter and summer vacation areas, etc. in the European Alps. In addition
there are several hints to visit nearby areas of interest. On the tour you will visit Switzerland, Italy and France.
Simulating a C172 in 12.000 feet close to high mountain-peaks present some new challenges! e.g. watch out for “blue sky turbulences”, especially near rims and peaks.
And do not forget to readjust your Gyro Compass after heavy turbulences, because my course directions are given as indicated magnetic bearings.
The following description is based on FlightGear (with ATLAS) but works also for the MS-FSX. If you try it on both you will discover the superior scenery/terrain-detailsof the FlightGear!
You need scenery e000n40. See an ATLAS overview of the flight by clicking on
Part-1 from Buochs to Visp, this one takes about 50 Min. in airand Part-2 from Visp to Geneve, this one takes about 60 Min. in air
I suggest to set the visibility to 30 miles (if your system allows). Other parameters you may see in my Startup-cmd-file and weather settings..
Synonyms inside German names:
German/Swiss

English

..see

lake

..pass, ..luecke..horn, ..spitz..gletscher, ..firn

passage, rim
peakglacier, snowfield..talvalley..stadt, ..dorf

city, village

Category
Water
Mountains

Marked like:Name
Name(meter-feet)

Name
Villages

Name

Markings in the following flight description:
 marks flight-instructions and the general course. I suggest an altitude of 12,000 feet.
• marks additional sightseeing informations
ref: marks an interesting link into the Internet. Additionally you may find almost any of the named mountains, villages, etc. in the Internet (e.g. wikipedia.org)
dev: marks an interesting/possible deviation from the proposed tour
Text with yellow background marks changing VOR settings and/or a quick indication of the actual position, like e.g. “MOT 27.5 NM”. The later defines the indicateddistance in miles form the VOR MOT (frequencies are given in the 2nd column of the table). In these cases the VOR-radial is of no importance (assuming you are in thedescribed valley on the defined course!).
By the way: I am not involved in the tourism business – I am just a German Fan of beautiful landscapes (and Flight-Simulators).
If you do have problems, proposals, questions, comments, etc. → please contact me: j-emmerich@online.de

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Buochs

N46°58’15(country =Switzerland)

VORs:
KLO 114.85
FRI 110.85

E08°23’24

 ~80°• If you are bored looking on water, watch the parade of mountains on the right and left.

dev: Just NW across the lake is Luzern. Further north you find Zuerich, VOR KLO 114.85
ref: http://www.airportbuochs.ch/index.php?lang=english (or German)
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Lucerne (or ..//ge.wiki..)
N46°59’11 – E08°34’10

Brunnen(Kanton “Uri”,
probably the most
known Swiss Kanton(in crosswordpuzzles)) ~170°

KLO 114.85 176° from 27.9 NM
FRI 110.85 078° from 57.0 NM

N46°46’19

E08°40’07

N46°41’44

E08°36’21

KLO 114.85 176° from 45.8 NM
FRI 110.85 095° from 57.5 NM

Sightseeing the Alps in a C172

 Follow the bending of the lake to the right (now called Urnersee) towards
Amsteg via Altdorf etc.
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_of_Uri• At the inside corner of this bend you see Seelisberg with the mountain-meadow “Ruetli”, thelegendary place of the “Ruetlischwur”. That is comparable to the declaration of independence inthe USA (1776) – but already in 1291! The source of many stories all over Europe and all the
pride of the Swiss people (besides banking)!!!
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruetlischwur• Straight ahead, at the end of the valley is Mt.Bristen(3072-10079)• you are now following the E35 towards Italy . That is the Europe-Highway 35, from Amsterdam
in the Netherlands (North-See) via Germany and Switzerland all the way to Rom (Italy,
Mediterranean See). There you expect lots of vacation traveling!
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_route_E35• from KLO 34.0 NM you see far to the left the Sandalppass between the very dominant peaks of
Schaerhorn(3.295-10,810) and Toedi(3614-11857)• from KLO 37.8 NM: If you are above 7000 you can watch the peak of Mt. Titlis(3238-10326)
wandering across a nice valley, guarded by the Great- and Small- Spannort.
• half left in the distance there appears the peak of Mt. Oberalpstock(3328-10919)
ref: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberalpstock• directly left of Amsteg is the Mt. Windgaellen(3188-10459)

 ~225° continue to Wassen, keeping the Mt. Briston(3072-10079) on your left
• straight aheadp you see already the Rohnegletscher (the spring of the Rhone-river) with Mt.

KLO 114.85 172° from 41.4 NM
FRI 110.85 089° from 59.9 NM

Wassen(in MS-FSX: LSMU=LSZC)

 follow the Vierwaldstaettersee (= “Lake Lucerne”) to the right start normal climbing to 12000 feet. VOR FRI will start indicating above 3500.

(Kanton“Nidwalden”)

Amsteg

START at Buochs (LSMU-07R) towards Riggi-Scheideck(1662-5453)

Galenstock(3583-11755), etc.
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhone ~195°

 Andermatt via Goeschenen-Pass(2318-7605)
dev: Over Wassen you could turn to 290° following the valley Meiental via the
Sustenpass(2224-7297) towards Brienzersee etc. (See similar at Furkapass)dev: Andermatt is in the 2nd valley after Wassen! The 1st one heads directly across the
Rohnegletscher. you could try that by turning to 260° at KLO 47.5 NM, but be sure to be well
above 10.000 feet! We then meet again over the Grimselsee.

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N46°38’34

Andermatt

E08°36’02

 ~256°• Just about 3 miles east of Andermatt is Rossbodenstock with the spring of the Rhein.

KLO 114.85 178° from 49.6 NM
FRI 110.85 099° from 57.4 NM

 Furkapass(2431-7975)
 keep the Rhonegletscher (quell of the Rhone-river) on the righ.

Furkapass

N46°34’20

the Rhonegletscher.
ref: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhonegletscher (sorry – under “..//de.wiki..” there are much nicer
photos and descriptions! Of course you may switch to English!)dev: Over Andermatt you could turn into the valley of the (very young) Rhein at about 70°. You
then would get via the Oberalppass(2044-6706) to Chur, Lichtenstein, and finally to the
Bodensee in Germany.
dev: About 3 NM after Andermatt you could turn left, continuing to follow the E35 towards theSt.Gotthard-Pass(2108-6916) towards Ariola and Lake Magiore and Milano in Itally
ref: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furkapass (sorry: on ..//en.. there are less text and pictures!)(Kanton “Wallis”)

MOT 115.85 246° to40.8 NM
FRI 110.85 103° from 51.0 NM

From above lake
Grimselsee(Kanton “Bern”)

N46°33’52

E08°24'38

E08°19’02

MOT 115.85 244° to37.0 NM
FRI 110.85 106° from 47.0 NM• half way the very dominant Finsteraarhorn(4274-14022) will appear (see picture), just left of ~270° ~275°

 lake Grimselsee thru Grimselpass(2165-7103)
dev: If you are not above a very minimum of 9500 feet at this point you better do not go throughthe Grimselpass to the lake, but follow the Rhone-valley at the left of the Mountains left of thelake (at ~235°). We then meet you again in Visp, see further down. (Compare ATLAS 1)
dev: Over the Grimselpass you could take the valley of the Aare (at ~325°). You then reach the
Brienersee and Thunersee and the cities of Meiringen, Brienz, Interlaken, Spiez, Thun, andfinally Bern.
• The Furkapass marks the east/west watershed in Europe (e.g Rhone → west, Rhein → east)
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhone• The Grimselpass is one of the earliest south/north paths through the Alps used by human beings
dev: If you are in a hurry, you could instead of following the 7 items below follow the
Oberaargletscher (the valley at the left side (see pink “dev.” arrow in picture)) leading directly
to the passage just left of the Finsteraarhorn – after that you cross the Jungfraufirn and headstraight towards the valley to the Loetschenluecke. (See next table-item).
 Visiting the Virgin and her Monk (compare picture on the left)
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungfrau

1. follow the Unteraargletscher on 275° just between Hinder Stock(3307-10845) right and Scheuchzerhorn(3452-11325) left
2. at MOT ~33.0 NM follow the Finsteraargletscher to the left on 245°, straight
towards the dominant Finsteraarhorn(4274-14022). Follow the higher glacierdirectly beneath the Finsteraarhorn to the right
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finsteraarhorn(Mouse-Click to size up)

Sightseeing the Alps in a C172

3. then steer ~290°, alongside the Fiescherhoerner
4. at ~MOT radial 237 follow the glacier Fieschergletscher at ~280° towards therim between Moench (monk) (4099-13448) left and Eiger(3970-13025) right.
stay close to the Eiger. (The rim is 11800 feet – so you might wish to be a little
above 12000 feet!!)2009-01-30

page 3 / 12• If you have time above the rim, look straight ahead: In 4 NM there is Wangen with the

Lauberhorn (2472-8110), you may know it from the FIS Worldcup Skiracings.
dev: You also could go outside around the Eiger - but that's boring!

5. over the rim (~MOT 26.1) turn sharp left to 220°, then around the Moench to~135°, passing through the Jungfraujoch(3475-11401, watch your altitude)• keeping the Jungfrau (virgin) on our right(4158-13642).

6. Follow the Jungfraufirn until intercepting Radial MOT 240°.
• This is a famous area for summer-skiing.
• Passing Fiescherhoerner and Gruenhorn, now on the left.

7. turn right between Gletscherhorn(3983-13068) left and Dreieckhorn(3811-12503) right.
• Follow the Radial MOT 240°, i.e. the “Aletschfirn” towards the Lötschenluecke into the

Lötschental• Just behind yourself you may see again the dominant Finsteraarhorn.
• Directly at the left of the Loetschenluecke is the Aletschhorn(4195-13743)

Loetschenluecke

N46°28’27

E07°57’47(Kanton “Wallis”)

MOT 115.85 240° to21.4 NM
FRI 110.85 120° from 38.6 NMp

 ~245°

 VispFollow the Langgletscher into the valley Loetschental.
On the way you may look for the following mountains:
VOR MOTOn the left

On the rightfrom ... NM~21.4

Aletschhorn (4195-13743)

Grosshorn (3762-12343)~20.0

Schinhorn (3797-12457)

Breithorn (3782-12408)~17.6

Nesthorn (3824-12546)

Birghorn (3243-10640)~16.0

Bietschorn (3934-12907)

Sackhorn (3212-10538)~14.5

Wilerhorn (3307-10850)

Hockenhorn (3293-10804)~13.8

Hohgleifa (3279-10758)

Rinderhorn (3454-11332)

 At MOT 12.4 NM turn to 180°
Dev: If at this point you turn to 310° instead, you reach the famous FIS world-cup skiing area of
Adelboden after about 10 NM.

 intercept radial MOT 94° from towards the east.
dev: Before Visp you may take a break at SION (VOR SIO 112.15 (just a little behind VOR MOT), LSGS at 1578 feet, Rwy 8L-26R, Twr. 118,275) (see picture Part 2)
dev: If you descent early enough, you could also take a coffee just before Visp at Turtmann (LSTA, 2051 feet, Rwy 09-27, VOR-MOT from 90° at 13 NM). Then starting in LSTA
• and continuing to Zermatt may become interesting, because you probably have to circle over Zermatt in order to climb to 12000 feet prior to heading for the rim!!
• or dev: You could follow the valley to Brig (MOT 20.0 NM at 90°) and turn to ~150°, following the E62 (European Highway, ref: http://wapedia.mobi/en/European_route_E62 )via the Simplonpass(2005-6578), passing the Lagginhorn(4010-13156) to Italy and the Lago Maggiore with Ascona, Locarno, etc. You then could follow latitude 46°
eastward heading for Lago di Como via Lago di Lugano. Finally you could land in Lugano (LSZA, 912 feet, Rwy 01-19, Twr. 119.7, VOR LUG 111.50) – or other famous
cities. But caution: Finding your (simulated) way across the Simplonpass is a little tricky! You need a good chart and always know exactly where you are!!

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N46°17’31

Visp

E07°52’09

MOT 115.85 94° from 14.9 NM
FRI 110.85 126° from 39.6 NM

 ~190° ~225°
 ~195°

 Zermatt
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zermatt and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matterhorn

Follow Vispertal and Mattertal
On the way you may look for mountains at about radial 330° from FRI:VOR FRI
On the left
On the rightfrom ... NM(Mouse-Click to size up)
The “Guards” alongside the
Swiss – Italian border at
Zermatt
N46°00’13 E07°42’53
MOT 115.85 155° from 20.7 NM
FRI 110.85 155° from 50.8 NM

Zermatt~46.0

Festihorn(3090-10138)

Faerichhorn(3290-10794)~47.5

Barrhorn(3610-11844)

Breithorn(3178-10427)~48.5

Brunegghorn(3838-12592)

Nadelhorn(4327-14197)~49.0

Weisshorn(4505-14780)

Dom (Cathedral)(4545-14911)~49.5

Zinalrothorn(4221-13848)

Alphubel(4208-13806)~50.8

Ober Gabelhorn(4063-13330)

Rimpfischhorn(4199-13776)

Depending on your altitude the famous Matterhorn(4478-14692) will be visible
sooner or later and guide you to Zermatt. (Compare picture on left)

 ~270° ~240° To the Rim:
 At MOT 20.7 turn right to 270°.
 Then at MOT 160° turn to heading 230°.
Of course you may take a more direct way to the rim – but do not underestimate theside drifts by wind etc.! Between high mountain-peaks the air might behave
different than expected! (Even in a Simulator (as good as FGFS)).
 Follow the Glacier Zmuttgletscher just right of the Matterhorn - all the way
to the rim between Dent d'Herens(4171-13684) left and Tét
Blanch(3724-12218) right.
Watch your height! Should be 12000 feet minimum!

(Mouse-Click to size up)

Above the rim
after Zermatt(now following theborderSwitzerland/Itally)

N45°58’20

E07°35’34

MOT 115.85 170° from 20.9 NM
FRI 110.85 162° from 50.7 NM

Sightseeing the Alps in a C172

 ~265°

 Head towards the center between the 2 very dominant Mt.'s in the half right
distance, on the left Mont Blanc(4808-15771) and on the right Gt. Combin(4314-14154).
Watch out for:• on the right: M.Collon(3838-12592)• on the left: La Singla(3714-12185) and Gd. Tète de By(3588-11772)
We now pretty much follow the Swiss/Itallien border towards France – so keep your Passports
handy!

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Just after the rim
between right
Gd.Combine
and left
Gd.Tète de By

N45°54’08

E07°14'12

 ~255°

MOT 115.85 203° from 27.0 NM
FRI 110.85 180° from 52.6 NM

 Towards Mont Blanc(4808-15771), the highest mountain in the Alps and 2nd
highest in Europe! Higher is only the Elbrus(5642-18510) in the Russian Caucasus.
 Intercept MOT 218° From and follow it into the valley towards south.
dev: From this rim you also could turn to 310° into the valley of the Drance, to eventually hit the
Rohne-valley with Martigny, St.Maurice, and finally Montreux at the Genever See.

In the valley eastof Mont Blanc

Rim between
Dome du Miage
andMont Blanc

N45°46'38

E06°52’58

 ~310°

MOT 115.85 218° from 41.3 NM
GVA 115.75 310° to42.5 NM

N45°49’24

E06°48’51

ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc
dev: You could follow the valley, cross the St. Bernadino Pass to Aosta, Italy, Milano, etc.
dev: 22 Miles south from here is Val d'Isér, another famous FIS Worldcup Skiing area.

 ~325°

MOT 115.85 224° from 41.2 NM
GVA 115.75 312° to38.5 NM

Geneve is again
in Switzerland Cut between les Dents Blanches(2752m) right and les Avoudrues(2666-8747).
 Start descend, not below 6500.
 Intercept Radial GVA 302° to Geneve (at ~24 NM)• Have a look backward to the Mont Blanc: It looks even more impressive from this side.!

(entering “France”)

On radial VOR
GVA 302°

 to the rim between on the left Dome du Miage(3671-12044)
and on the right Mont Blanc(4808-15771)

dev: You could make a steep descend to land in LFHZ ( Mt.Blanc, 1755 feet, Rw. 35-17, no Toweretc.). But I like to land in Cointrin like all the political and banking big-shots. May be even dosome ILS-training at LSGG.
N46°02’43

E06°48’50

GVA 115.75 302°

 Radial302°

 Follow the Radial to Geneva Airport International Cointrin

LSGG at 1411 feet

 After passing Mt.les Molè(1869-6132) (GVA 15.8 NM) you may descend to2500. Do not misinterpret the LFLI (Annemasse) with LSGG. Cointrin is on theother side of the lake!

ILS/DME 05L = 110.90
ILS/DME 23R = 109.90

ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneve
ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Cointrin_International_Airport for general Infosand http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?id=SZ35465&sch=LSGG for details.

ATIS = 124.75
Tower = 118.70

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Sightseeing tour on ATLAS Part 1: Buochs to Visp

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Sightseeing tour on ATLAS Part 2: Visp to Geneve

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Sightseeing tour: Visiting the Virgin

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Sightseeing tour: Italian border-guards at Zermatt

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Sightseeing tour: The Matterhorn Pass throughSightseeing the Alps in a C172

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My FGFS-Start-File(I use UBUNTU)

The Weather Conditions during my Flights (= Standard settings)#!/bin/bash
fgfs--aircraft=c172p \--prop:/sim/sound/voices/enabled=true \--airport=LSMU \--runway=07R \--com1=119.625 \--com2=118.7 \--nav1=178:114.85 \--nav2=078:110.85 \--dme=nav2 \--heading=80 \--nmea=socket,out,0.5,,5500,udp \--enable-sound \--httpd=5400 \--log-level=info \--enable-fullscreen \--fog-disable \--disable-real-weather-fetch \--visibility-miles=30 \--start-date-sys=2009:01:01:10:00:00 \--callsign=JE111 \Compare: FlightGear Menu → Weather → Weather Conditions

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