Welcome to the Heart of Idaho!
The mountain country has to be seen to be believed. As one who grew up exploring
this part of the US I had the fortunate opportunity to do things that most just dream about. Who wouldn't want to
swim in hot-spring fed lakes, or pools? Idaho has more hot springs than any other state. Have you ever climbed up
to a pass at 10,000 feet? And then looked down at those who chose not to climb 1500 feet below, looked left at your
brother, and then looked over the pass at the mountain basin that begged to be explored. I did these things 58 years
ago. You can do it tomorrow if you want to.
This FSX adventure will take you to many places I have visited. It will also take you to places that I have not yet
visited. Some of the strips are difficult to get into. That is typical of mountain flying. Some are reasonable.
Your flying skills will be tested as you figure out the best approach.
The simulation consists of 19 airports in Central Idaho. Twelve existing strips have had improvements consisting of
strip surface improvements to allow all-season activity, and some eye candy. Seven new air facilities have been
added to the area.
You arrive by jet at KSMJ. The Sawtooth Mountains Jetport sits just west of Stanley Idaho. It has regular service
from Hailey (KSUN), Boise (KBOI), and Idaho Falls (KIDA). If your arrival is at Gate A1 you will be welcomed by an
Idaho bush pilot on the port side of the aircraft.
At KSMJ you can choose how and where you will travel next. You will see that the airport is rather busy. Aircraft
are arriving and departing regularly for interesting places that most folks don't visit. You have a choice. If
you like float plane flying take your favorite fixed wing aircraft and fly down to Alturus Lake Resort. Land on the
strip, and then select your favorite float plane (mine is the Twin Otter) and start either from the dock or
the lake runway.
I have added VORs (and a DME) to the locations to help you find them. Here are the stats.
Existing Airports (improved)
--------Runway------------ ----VOR----
ICAO Airport Name Lat(N) Long(W) Elev(ft) Rway Length(ft) Surface Freq ID
0U0 Landmark USFS 44.6423 115.5333 6662 16/34 4000 gravel 109.00 0U0
0U1 Warm Springs Creek 44.1422 115.3143 4831 02/20 2915 gravel 108.80 0U1
1U9 Pine 43.4623 115.3092 4232 16/34 2300 gravel 108.90 1U9
2U7 Stanley 44.2085 114.9345 6403 17/35 4300 gravel 108.50 2U7
2U8 Thomas Creek 44.7263 115.0035 4400 03/21 2100 gravel 109.05 2U8
52U Weatherby 43.8248 115.3318 4494 03/21 2200 gravel 108.70 52U
55H Atlanta 43.8135 115.1350 5500 16/34 2650 gravel 108.75 55H
S81 Indian Creek USFS 44.7613 115.1073 4701 04/22 4650 gravel 108.95 S81
U45 Graham USFS 43.9522 115.2723 5692 18/36 2900 gravel 108.55 U45
U63 Bruce Meadows 44.4155 115.3168 6370 05/23 5000 gravel 108.85 U63
U72 Upper Loon Creek USFS 44.5915 114.8232 5500 04/22 2500 gravel 108.60 U72
U87 Smiley Creek 43.9123 114.7973 7159 14/32 4900 gravel 108.65 U87
New Airports
2ID0 Poverty Flats Ski Area 44.3103 114.3590 9446 12/30 4000 oil-treated 108.20 2ID0
2ID1 Boulder Basin 44.1422 114.5053 9406 08/26 1500 oil-treated 108.25 2ID1
2ID3 Grand Jean Hot Springs 44.1537 115.1600 5095 15/33 4000 oil-treated 108.30 2ID3
2ID6 Easley Hot Springs 43.7707 114.5278 6572 10/28 3500 oil-treated 108.35 2ID6
2ID8 Redfish Lake Float Base 44.1430 114.9214 6548 01/19 10000 water 108.40 2ID8
2ID9 Alturus Lake Resort 43.9200 114.8613 7021 05/23 5000 oil-treated 108.45 2ID9
04/22 9000 water
KSMJ Sawtooth Mountains Jetport 44.3502 115.1240 6655 15/33 7500 asphalt 111.10 SMJ
15 ILS 111.15 ISMJ
Airports that are used for AI Traffic
KBOI Boise
KIDA Idaho Falls
KLLJ Challis
KMYL McCall
KSMN Salmon
KSUN Hailey
KTWF Twin Falls
U70 Cascade
Items of Interest
0U0 - a Forest Service Strip located east of Warm Lake. Follow Forest Service Road 579 south to Deadwood Reservoir
0U1 - on Highway 21 east of Lowman, just before the road to Grand Jean splits off as 21 heads north up to the Stanley Basin
1U9 - on the northern part of Anderson Ranch reservoir on the Boise River
2U7 - just above Stanley where Bill Harrah spent a lot of money creating Mountain Village
2U8 - on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, take the footbridge over the river to where the river rafts are kept, stay at the
Middle Fork Lodge
52U - another Forest Service Strip on the road to Atlanta (part of the mining history of Idaho)
55H - Atlanta where some miners did well, some didn't
S81 - another Forest Service Strip on the River of No Return (Salmon River)
U45 - accessible by jeep trail, Forest Service strip, silver mine petered out early on
U63 - long strip, not sure of the history
U72 - Forest Service strip, tough to get into
U87 - famous for the Lodge and the wooden bear, great food and nice people
2ID0 - most times you fly into a strip and then take a ski-lift up to ski down, here you fly in to the top of the hill, ski down
and then take the lift up to leave
2ID1 - my footprints are all over this high mountain valley (and up a to a peak just west of Boulder) there is a DME to help
you vector to the final, a tough one
2ID3 - swam in the pool 60 years ago, beautiful place
2ID6 - four generations of my family have enjoyed this paticular part of Idaho, best place to start if you are going to try
and get into Boulder Basin
2ID8 - have fun at the lodge, take the boat ride to the west end of the lake, look up into the valley above, I hiked it,
if you like float plane challenges take off for Sawtooth Lake (N44.173076, W115.06455), there are two ways in and two
ways out,
2ID9 - caught fish at the west end of the lake a very long time ago
KSMJ - if you start from gate A1 Dave will wave as you push back. he is a float plane pilot and would love to ferry you over to
Redfish Lake or Alturus Lake. Runway 15 has an ILS [111.15] that can be quite a ride down to minimums.
I hope you enjoy visiting these places. Most have a very special place in my heart. If you are curious about what attracts people
to mountain country visit Idaho.
I hope you like this scenery. Please let me know if there are glitches or bugs. I designed it for FSX as-installed. If you are
using Orbx's Central Rocky Mountain scenery you will see it the way I do in my flight deck.
Thanks to Jim Dhaenens for the ASR9 radar at KSMJ!
You can contact me at hd7450na@gmail.com for bug reports, suggestions, and help.
Enjoy!
Brett Delana
28 Jan 2019