Black Box 4/BlackBox.cdr/gamefly/casmtn.arj/CLEARLAK.DOC

Text File | 1991-02-27 | 4KB | 73 lines

CLEAR LAKE, CALIFORNIA (NEW & IMPROVED!)

     About 70 miles north of San Francisco, on the southern edge of
the Mendocino National Forest, is Clear Lake, California.  Like many
lakes along the Pacific Coast, this one was created many million years
ago by a volcano and is all that remains of the crater.  In fact, the
lake today is warmed by a submarine hot spring.  Unfortunately, that
often leads to high algae levels, which make the lake anything but
clear.  Nonetheless, this is a beautiful resort area, and the algae
feed a bountiful fish population which produces record breaking prize
catches every year.

     CLEARLAK.SC1 depicts the Clear Lake area, surrounded by mountains
and ridges which closely approximate the actual terrain of the locale.
The lake, itself, has been "repainted", US 101 from Santa Rosa to
Willits drwn in, and a number of towns and real life airfields and
navaids added.  In addition, in an area north of the lake called High
Valley, a fantasy getaway area with a grass strip has been created.
Farther to the north and west, some of the smaller lakes in the area
(Lake Mendocino, Lake Pillsbury, East Park Reservoir and Indian Valley
Reservoir) have been added for your fly-in-fishing enjoyment.

     CESCLAKE.MOD sets you on the veranda of the Knocti Resort, on the
shore of the Southeast arm of the lake, looking at your Cessna 182
Floatplane tied up at the Knocti Marina.  Start the engine, let it
warm up and take a tour of the lake, or go north for some great fly-in-
fishing on your own in one of the smaller lakes.

     CA1Q5.MOD puts you on the grass at Gravelly Valley Field.  This is
a one-way gravel strip, according to the Airport/Facility Directory, so
plan your takeoff over the lake to the west.

     182HIVAL.MOD starts with you on the ramp of the fantasy airstrip
at High Valley.  Flying in and out of this valley can be challenging.
In real life this probably would be classified as a "one way"
airfield, meaning it should be approached from the east and departed
from to the east, regardless of wind.  In FSLand you can to make it in
or out in either direction, but landing from the west is a challenge.
Taking off to the west is easy if you don't stall and spin due to
losing your orientation.

     Remember, when flying in valleys you may not be able to see the
real horizon or pick up other visual clues to roll and pitch.  And, in
FS you do not have the audible or seat of the pants clues available to
a real world pilot.  Getting into unusual attitudes as a result of
contact flying in such areas can be a real hazard, and altitude can be
a factor, since the lake level is 1,326' MSL and mountain peaks are
nearly 7,000'.

     In addition to the High Valley strip (it has an NDB on 002),
Pearce Field at the town of Clear Lake, Lampson Field at Lakeport with
its NDB (217) and Ukiah Municipal with all its navaids have been
added.  Ukiah, which has published IAPs, has an ILS (109.1) to runway
15 with an NDB (371) at the outer marker.  By the way, the VOR on
112.3 is Mendocino (ENI), not Ukiah as identified on FS charts.
Much of the on-field detail for Ukiah Municipal and Lampson Field are
courtesy of Scott Miller, who took the time to help out with the latest
revision of this scenery.

     New fields added in this revision include Ells Field at Willits,
Gravelly Valley Field at Upper Lake on the north shore of Lake Pillsbury,
Indian Ranch south of the East Park Reservoir and the U.S. Forest Service
strip at Mill Creek just east of 6,700' Snow Mountain.  Local knowledge
or a good directory is essential for using these fields, but the scenery
is worth the exploration.

     Enjoy flying in this beautiful and unusual area.

P.S.  Check out the new scenery objects courtesy of Laemming Wheeler.

Ken Fugate
70012,476