Flight Of Passage - An Epic Tour Of Memoirs

Flight Of Passage - An Epic Tour Of Memoirs Teaser Image

Not exactly related to Iceland, but sometimes we move across the ponds for special tours.

It’s been almost 30 years since I first read the book „Flight Of Passage“ by Rinker Buck. In it, the author describes a journey he went on with his elder brother Kernahan. The two teenage boys decided to rebuild an old Piper Cub and fly it from New Jersey to California – from coast to coast, during the summer of 1966. The journey took them six days. And then they flew back again. The Buck Boys were at that point in time the youngest pair of pilots to successfully finish a cross country flight like this, and they became – at least for a brief moment – real national celebrities.

I urge all aviation fans (and anyone else who enjoys great adventure stories) to buy this book. It’s a fun and timeless read, including some family drama, weird characters, action, suspense and – above all – a youthful optimism the world is currently desperately lacking.

I also urge you to not buy the book at one of the large online retailers. Instead, please walk into a book store in your neighborhood and order it from them. If you don’t have any book store near you, look one up in the phone book and order it from them. They’ll be glad to oblige.

Retracing the trip in modern sims

In order to recreate the boy’s flight in modern sims I assembled a flight plan which tries to replicate their route as accurately as possible. Sometimes the descriptions in the book are vague and it was impossible to precisely re-plot every mile they flew. In such cases I simply took a guess or did what I’d have done in their stead – try to follow roads or any other kind of landmark.

I dedicate this tour to the memory of Sergio Di Fusco, a pilot and editor for flight sim magazines who passed away in 2018. As far as I know he was the first to recreate the Buck’s adventure in FS and published flight plans for FS2000. The route I chose for the tour is partly based on his findings from more than 20 years ago.

Making this epic adventure accessible in modern flight sims is something I wanted to do for over a decade, but never found the time, until now. I know of at least one other great endeavor in this regard, which is available here from Pontiac51 -> good stuff, thumbs way up. If you want to use a great livery for the Cub, I'd suggest this one, also from Pontiac51.

This tour here is my version, and I hope you’ll enjoy!

Additional remarks:

  • Basically you’re allowed to use any plane you like on this tour. But since the Piper Cub is available both on XP and MSFS I encourage you to use it. Otherwise you won't experience they same thrill (and horror) trying to bully the poor, underpowered Cub over the Guadeloupe Pass.
  • The tour replicates as best as possible the legs the boys flew. I have added a flight plan for you to download (see below) which contains these legs and additional waypoints.
  • The Times They Are A-Changin’: Some of the airports which existed in the 1960s are gone, others have outgrown their original size significantly or have been renamed.
    Also, I have inserted additional stopovers, because some of the original legs are very long and many of us can't just sit at the simulator 3 hours non-stop, especially in aircraft like the Cub which don't have autopilot :-)
    So there are historical inaccuracies which cannot be avoided.
  • The Bucks did not have a radio, transponder or any other fancy modern electronics, just charts, wristwatches, a compass and their eyes. I have attached a document which describes the landmarks, roads etc. the boys wrote about in their book. You can try to use these descriptions to fly by IFR ("I Follow Roads") or just use the flight plan along with GPS – whatever you like.
  • Since you (probably) don't have a brother sitting in front or behind of you to bother you with endless chatter, the monotonous droning of the engine becomes boring after a while. I love to listen to music while driving or flying, so I made a playlist from songs which were played around '66; not all songs belong to this decade, but for me their spirit matches perfectly the theme of the undertaking. If you think I missed a great song, hit me up on the IFA Discord Server.
    This is the playlist on Spotify.

Download Flight Plans & Route Descriptions

Available After completion of the charter/tour you will automatically receive an award.

Tour legs

Please note: You can bid for more than one leg at a time, e.g. if you plan on flying several in a row. But to avoid database bloat, we'll cancel bids that were not flown within 48 hours. You'll have to add bids again.

  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 1 / Route: KMMU to N47 / Distance: 65.89 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 2 / Route: N47 to N94 / Distance: 69.14 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 3 / Route: N94 to 2G9 / Distance: 85.1 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 4 / Route: 2G9 to KAFJ / Distance: 58.92 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 5 / Route: KAFJ to KZZV / Distance: 74.61 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 6 / Route: KZZV to KUYF / Distance: 72.35 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 7 / Route: KUYF to KRID / Distance: 64.59 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 8 / Route: KRID to KEYE / Distance: 67.19 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 9 / Route: KEYE to KAJG / Distance: 99.31 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 10 / Route: KAJG to KPAH / Distance: 105.37 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 11 / Route: KPAH to KHKA / Distance: 84.52 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 12 / Route: KHKA to M36 / Distance: 91.68 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 13 / Route: M36 to KADF / Distance: 104.71 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 14 / Route: KADF to KHHW / Distance: 123.34 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 15 / Route: KHHW to KDUA / Distance: 42.85 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 16 / Route: KDUA to KLUD / Distance: 72.35 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 17 / Route: KLUD to T23 / Distance: 90.89 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 18 / Route: T23 to KSWW / Distance: 62.63 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 19 / Route: KSWW to KBPG / Distance: 55.72 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 20 / Route: KBPG to KINK / Distance: 89.46 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 21 / Route: KINK to KCNM / Distance: 63.65 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 22 / Route: KCNM to 2E5 / Distance: 52.76 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 23 / Route: 2E5 to KDNA / Distance: 77.22 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 24 / Route: KDNA to KDMN / Distance: 56.69 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 25 / Route: KDMN to KLSB / Distance: 49.52 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 26 / Route: KLSB to E95 / Distance: 87.11 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 27 / Route: E95 to E60 / Distance: 79.01 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 28 / Route: E60 to E63 / Distance: 55.64 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 29 / Route: E63 to 54AZ / Distance: 102.97 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 30 / Route: 54AZ to KIPL / Distance: 48.25 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 31 / Route: KIPL to KSDM / Distance: 72.59 nm
  • Flight No. 2007, Leg 32 / Route: KSDM to KOKB / Distance: 43.12 nm