[ MSFS2020 | VATSIM ] "River Run" proceeds south from 0M8-KHEZ in the WBSim 152!

Even though our June streaming schedule is abbreviated due to our travel plans later this month, I felt it was important to keep our "River Run" series moving -- and thus we loaded into the WBSim C152 with friend Freckles in tow, starting at Byerley (0M8)! A storm front had just moved through the area, leaving us with significant turbulence -- which, fortunately, would gradually dissipate as the evening progressed.
We struck off first for Lookout Point (82LS), a 2,480-foot turf field oriented north/south, and talked about the difference between "safe" pattern entries at non-towered fields and how that sometimes doesn't apply as much (a) at a private airstrip and (b) on VATSIM. The wind gusts were still pretty severe at this point, and we battled the plane down to the ground among harshly shifting crosswinds. While we felt we needed to check the gear struts for crimps from the side-loading, we survived, and leg one was in the books.
Next was Vicksburg-Tallulah (KTVR) which offered a mile-long paved strip which, once again, we entered a long straight-in for. The windsock was still doing a little twitching, but most of the issues here were over-controlling pitch. With the elevated landing speed we were using for the unstable air, it caused us to skim and skip a little. But again, the overreaching fact was that we were down.
Our third stop was Hannah Plantation (60LA), just barely east and oriented east/west -- so we were able to enter a proper downwind, though executing it was easier than saying it. It was adjacent to some large oddly-shaped buildings which in reality are probably just polygonal crop fields -- but the strip was wide enough to make a safe arrival regardless, and the wind had started to cooperate some.
Next was Vicksburg (KVKS), on the Mississippi side, and another big paved facility. Here, we tried to make a more proper pattern entry from a midfield crossover and direct join to the downwind -- but overshot the crossing slightly because we had trouble spotting the field. However, once in the pattern, things went more smoothly, including the touchdown.
The next stop was supposed to have been BHLLC (MS45) -- listed as 3,400 feet turf oriented southwest/northeast. However, once in the area, we noted a bunch of different strips around which were all more east/west or northwest/southeast. We chose one which looked like it had a little connecting driveway which might have been the southwest/northeast runway -- and as it turns out, landed at a field that wasn't fully rendered as an airport in the sim. We later saw the actual BHLLC strip, but, it was certainly not oriented in the direction that the facility directory purported. We noted that private airstrip owners do often reconfigure their runways as they see fit, and they don't always feel obligated to update the FAA, since they (the owners) are the only ones supposed to be operating there anyway.
Delta Dusters (LS83) was our next stop, and although it is also private, it was much easier to discern given its status as a paved 2,700-foot strip. It wasn't much wider than a driveway, but the wind finally started to forgive us and we set the plane gently onto the asphalt.
Next down the line was a pair of adjacent fields -- Tensas Parish (L33) and Tensas Flying Service (LA53). When I crafted the itinerary months ago, LA53 hasn't made it on -- meaning it was probably not on the sectional at that time. That often means that it's not in the sim's scenery, either, so I've been reluctant to add new fields along our path as we've made our way through the series. However, the digital seam in the sectional made it easy to confuse ourselves as to which was our actual destination. In the end, we settled on visiting the public field (L33) first, which we made a nice smooth arrival at -- then attempting to find the private one. The rectangular gravel-looking area we originally set up for was not actually the runway, so we did an extra circuit to arrive at the second Tensas stop. The pattern was pretty sloppy, as was our touchdown -- but the extra stop was in the logbook regardless.
Our final private strip of the evening was Myrtle Grove (68LS), with both a 2,500-foot 18/36 and a 1,300-foot 13/31 listed. With the wind coming from the south we elected for 18, but didn't initially spot the field until we were overtop of it. A left circuit helped us get aligned for the southbound runway, and it was a good thing we didn't choose 13/31 because the sim was rendering automotive traffic going back and forth along it! But we made it down in between cars, nice and gently, then struck off for Natchez-Adams County (KHEZ) to end the evening. For the second time tonight we decided to enter the downwind from a midfield crossing, and we closed the night being marshalled in by Freckles' twin! -- Watch live at / slantalphaadventures