Suggested add-ons:
- https://flightsim.to/file/5848/arches-national-park
- https://flightsim.to/file/1774/arches-national-park-utah-devils-s-garden-area
(Thank you Jeppeson2001 and Richard Goldstein for the great work on these!)
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Suggested airplane, weather, departure time, and autopilot settings:
- C152 (hand flying) or C172 (auto-pilot)
- Clear Skies (optional hint of snow, if you'd like)
- 5:30pm local time (this is the best lighting for a general flight, although sunrise and sunset are pretty at different parts of the flight)
- NAV mode, climb to 6000 ft, then ALT mode
(Note: You may want to start farther back on the runway, it's a short takeoff at high altitude!)
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Hello!
I host a live stream and fly-in (Twitch / Discord) every week where we explore the National Parks together!
Before the stream, I research the park and help improve the park's Wikipedia pages. I also make a flight plan to showcase the park highlights and in case others want to fly along with me.
In the zip file you'll find:
- The .pln file with named waypoints (load this from the World Map screen of MSFS 2020)
- A second, identical _VFRMapFriendly.pln file, with waypoint names of less than 6 characters for use with MSFS's VFR map
- Relevant park map(s)
- A screenshot of where this flight plan goes relative to the park map
- MBTiles file(s) in case you have Foreflight or another app which supports these (this is how I overlay the flight plan and the park map when I fly around)
- ForeFlight .fpl file which matches the .pln in case you prefer ForeFlight (consider using a tool like Flight-Events as a GPS/AHRS device)
All the best,
Jules
P.s. I highly recommend pulling up Wikipedia or Bushtalk Radio while you explore.
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Updates:
v1.7 - Includes a VFR map compatible .pln file, for use with MSFS's VFR map
v1.6.1 - Fixes departure runway to 36
---- Original release was v1.6
v1.6 - Upgraded MapTiler to remove MBTiles watermark
v1.5 - Tested to confirm autopilot usability, and includes suggested autopilot settings
v1.4 - Includes suggested plane, weather, and liftoff time
v1.3 - Includes ForeFlight .fpl file (matches the .pln file)
v1.2 - Includes full-sized park map for easy reference
v1.1 - Waypoints in .pln are named
v1.0 - .pln, screenshot, and MBTiles
JulesAltis 
Big thank you for all your National Park flight plans. I collect them all and fly them often. I couldn't help but notice that the regular posts had stopped some months ago. Please tell me they will begin again! A loyal fan.
2 years ago
Thanks for the shoutout! I'm actually mid-job change at the moment -- starting my training to become a full-time CFI :D So not sure yet when I'll start them up again, but they definitely will be back!
In the meantime, I've been doing flights around the globe which you may enjoy. They're more varied, but I try to keep them just as scenic and interesting. E.g. last week we did a flight along the Australian coast: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/grand-pacific-drive-australia-world-update-vii-sydney-shellharbor-8-official-modeled-pois-17-btr-pois/494672/3
2 years ago
JulesAltis
ChicknManAir
Really enjoyed the flight! Curious how you got you scenery to look so nice? I run everything in ultra settings at 4k resolution and my scenery doesn't look that good. I ran your Flight twice today, once with Bing maps and again using the Google replacement textures but still my scenery didn't look half as good as your images. When I fly over the Delicate Arch it looks like it was transplanted from Roblox. FFS I have an RX600XT with a Ryzen 5950x. Only a RTX3090 would do better.
2 years ago
Nothing fancy on my end, just installing the add-ons linked above and running with ultra graphics. I have a RTX 2080 TI, if that helps?
2 years ago
JulesAltis
CoPilot
Thank you from France !
3 years ago
You're welcome!
3 years ago
JulesAltis
rockshox
How do I get the flight plan up in game?
3 years ago
You should be able to load it from the World Map menu. To actually see it in game, the easiest way is the VFR world map. (Just make sure you use the VFR Map friendly .pln file.)
Let me know if you run into any issues, happy to try and help troubleshoot!
3 years ago
JulesAltis
NotHarry
Hi Jules,
thank you for this wonderful flight plan. However, I did not get the takeoff with my Cessna 172. Instead, I got my powerful ZLIN & Gravel Savage Carbon out of the hangar and got off the runway in Hubbard with ease. I downloaded the two recommended scenery add-ons from Jeppeson2001 and Richard Goldstein and the flight is even more impressive. Thanks again Jules, I had a lot of fun on my trip over Arches National Park!
Peter
3 years ago
Glad you liked it!
3 years ago
JulesAltis
PJB311
Thank you!
3 years ago
You're welcome! Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see improved for future flight plans! 😊
3 years ago
JulesAltis
gjl_creative