Lappeenranta Airport is a small airport in Southwestern Finland with one runway (06/24). Currently only RyanAir uses it for regular flights to Bergamo (near Milan, Italy), Girona (near Barcelona, Spain) and Weeze (near Düsseldorf, Germany).
Cessna 172p is my aircraft of choice for the trip around the world. The criterion was, that the aircraft have to have high enough range, but still be small enough, to land on short runways. It should be a civil aircraft, have complete modelling in FGFS and look nice too. My options were Linceau and Cub, but both of them had lesser range, that can be a problem, when crossing oceans, even if Cessna range may set limitations to the trip too… In my opinion, Cub is the most beautiful aircraft available for FlightGear, but as it doesn’t have electricity, night flying and radio navigation are not possible.
So, I entered cockpit of Cessna, started the engine and took off. That wasn’t difficult. When flying, I studied, how to use the autopilot, to keep heading and altitude.
Cessna 172p departing from Lappeenranta Airport
My goal was to land on an airport in the northern Estonia, but when it seems, that my auto pilot skills are still bit limited, because the plane ended up to eastern Estonia.
Approaching to Ventspils Airport
Well, it was easy to find a new alternative airport with ourairports.com website. I chose Ventspils International Airport (EVVA) near the coast. My first landing succeeded surprisingly well, even if the runway was too short for my skills.
Almost, almost…
Ventspils is a city on the western coast of Latvia and one of Europe’s busiest ports. It is a city that honours the past, thinks of the future, and never stops working! Ventspils is the Latvian flower capital and is adorned with flowers from spring till autumn. Even the City Festival on the first weekend of August is a time when florists from the Baltic States cover Promenade of Ostas iela with carpets of flowers.
Ventspils, Wikivoyage
Flightgear Trips 