Scenery developer Ken Hall, in partnership with Orbx, has released the next entry in his acclaimed bush flying series: PNG Highland Bush Strips Pack 6 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. Building on previous releases in the region, the scenery spans Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) rugged mountains and scenic rivers, and offers challenging terrain that will test even the most seasoned bush pilots.
Often called one of aviation’s “last frontiers,” Papua New Guinea presents some of the most unforgiving terrain and unpredictable weather on the planet. PNG Highland Bush Strips Pack 6 recreates these challenges with seven airstrips from the Eastern Highlands area of Papua New Guinea. The scenery pack starts in the PNG Highlands at the high-difficulty category bush strips at Maramuni (AYRM) and Paiela (AYPB), before continuing west and descending into scenic river valleys, with high-risk riverside approaches that force pilots to follow twisting riverbeds before committing to a last-second turn onto final. The areas surrounding the airstrips are dotted with realistic touches including custom, handcrafted canoes, indigenous huts, bridges, and other relics based on images collected in the area.
According to the scenery’s devloper, Ken Hall, “PNG has been described as ‘The Most Dangerous Place to be a Pilot’… In an attempt to pay tribute to these brave pilots and to demonstrate what can happen when things go wrong, I’ve created some scenes showing what happens when you encounter the highly dangerous and volatile conditions that these pilots faced on a daily basis.”
Orbx’s PNG Highland Bush Strips Pack 6 is available from Orbx for $18.99 AUD (excluding taxes).
Features:
- 7 Detailed PNG Airstrips: Custom locations including Maramuni, Paiela, Sumwari, Yatoam, Sisamin, Duranmin, and Feramin
- Crash & Tribute Scenes: 15+ damaged aircraft models illustrating the dangers of PNG bush flying
- Custom Regional Assets: Handcrafted canoes, 25 indigenous hut styles, river bridges, and abandoned truck relics
- Terrain & Approach Fixes: 200+ polygons correcting river paths, terrain elevations, and valley approaches
- Optimized Detail: 200+ hand-placed PBR models with Level-of-Detail (LOD) optimization for smooth performance
Included Airstrips:
- AYRM Maramuni Airport -5.13000, 143.48290, Runways: 04-22, Alt: 5,055 ft, Runway length: 1,655 ft
- AYPB Paiela Airport -5.3725, 142.9761, Runways: 19-01, Alt: 6,183 ft, Runway length: 1,680 ft
- AYQW Sumwari Airstrip -4.7508, 142.3686, Runways: 25-07, Alt: 452 ft, Runway length: 1,846 ft
- AYYD Yatoam Airstrip -5.0949, 142.3846, Runways: 10-28, Alt: 2,000 ft, Runway length: 1,965 ft
- AYXS Sisamin Airstrip -5.1363, 142.2840, Runways: 13-31, Alt: 1,622 ft, Runway length: 1,791 ft
- AYDM Duranmin Airstrip -4.9731, 141.9089, Runways: 06-24, Alt: 2,859 ft, Runway length: 1,707 ft
- AYFE Feramin Airport -5.2080, 141.6988, Runways: 30-12, Alt: 4,628 ft, Runway length: 2,008 ft
