[ MSFS2020 | VATSIM ] the WBSim C152 on our Mississippi "River Run" south of Memphis!

Tonight we resumed our "River Run" down the Mississippi in our WBSim C152, from Tunica (KUTA) just south of Memphis. With cloudless calm skies, we set off to our first stop just two miles away, Sharpe (30M). Before departing we discussed the difference between proper pattern departures and entries in the real world versus VATSIM -- realizing that these short hops between adjacent fields wouldn't really be common anyway.
We spotted a dark green strip next to a driveway, but a keen observer in the chat had spotted a better candidate for the airfield on the other side of the highway. We took another pass and indeed found a paved surface, and gave it a nice gentle kiss on touchdown. Next was Thompson-Robbins (KHEE), sixteen miles west, and we used a couple distinct loops of the river to set ourselves up on a left base to come in from the top of the the L-shaped airfield. The landing there went well, but the taxi-in carried us straight across the runway at the bottom end before we even realized it. We parked at the picnic pavilion and plotted our next move.
Eighteen miles southeast was Fletcher (KCKM), and we debated using the river or the interstate as a reference. We wound up using a combination of both, but spotted the 5,400-foot paved runway plenty far out. The aiming blocks seemed ridiculously far from the threshold, so we floated over a ton of runway but set it down gently on the blocks -- and decided the quickest way clear with landing traffic behind was an assertive 180 and short back-taxi.
Our first private airstrip of the evening, seventeen miles west, was Riddell (7AR7) -- and once again we judged our position based on some distinctive loops in the river plus a road and rail line coming past. We noted that it contained a 17/35 paved runway, and a 18/36 grass strip. It took a bit of searching but we did eventually spot the short paved strip (and then couldn't remember for the life of us whether that was "Runway One-Seven" or "Runway One-Eight"). Our fourth landing of the evening was another nice gentle touchdown, and we started feeling like we were on a roll.
Just a few miles southwest was our next stop, Griffin (24AR), marked "Griffin Ag" on the chart (for "Agricultural," we surmised). This one eluded us a little bit, but once we spotted it, it was fairly readily evident. We circled back for a right base to the southbound runway, and while we definitely floated down a significant chunk of pavement, we had plenty remaining with which to stop after our soft kiss of an arrival.
Back on the east side of the river was two additional successive private fields, the first of which was Shelby (93MS). This one took us a more intensive search and comparison with a number of other landmarks. A friend in the stream pointed out the tall tower charted just east of the field, and with that information we spotted it unquestionably. Simultaneously, the wind started kicking up as well, making us work a lot harder than we had so far this evening. Yet when we finally found it, we settled into another floaty but soft landing.
The penultimate stop was Christmas (MS03), so named because it's the last name of the field's owner, although we were still slightly disappointed not to find anything particularly festive about the location. It was just three miles further south, and we managed to find it immediately upon departure and engineer a quick jog and a base entry. The Christmas crosswind tried to carry us into the road, but we adjusted to stay aligned for our seventh smooth arrival of the evening.
We left the festive farm for Cleveland, Mississippi (KRNV) where we would make camp at our final stop for the evening -- and once again were able to fly a simple straight-out, straight-in. We had a brief CTAF-snafu and overcontrolled the pitch on our flare just a touch but still made a nice soft landing -- then found ourselves in a time vortex wherein our L-shaped final destination was basically identical to Thompson-Robbins from earlier in the stream!
As a final note, you might notice that at the very beginning of the livestream, our Furry Co-Pilot "Ella" had some difficulty getting comfortable -- and I gave a brief summary of her health struggles. This would ultimately become her final logbook entry. But I couldn't have asked for a better final chapter for her. I would later say this about it: "Our last flight together wound up being a perfect microcosm of our time together. It started with a moment of uncomfortableness, but quickly became pleasant. It was a beautiful time which mostly came quite easily. We shared it with cherished friends. We made a number of different stops in our journey. We laughed through most of it. It did get a little difficult toward the end, but we managed to make it work. All-in-all it was a pleasant ride and I was blessed to have shared it with her." Rest peacefully, my love. -- Watch live at / slantalphaadventures