Mile High, Idaho

Here's a chance to experience Idaho's well-known Mile High airstrip in the way it was originally used, before the lower half of the runway became too eroded and overgrown. Land at the bottom of the slope, near the old East Barn, then power uphill to the top. Or, if you prefer, restrict yourself to the upper half and land on the steep upslope, as is now necessary in real life.

• N 45.148954698, W 115.000498741
• Code: U3399 (abbreviated from the real code, US-3399).
• Elevation: 5988 feet
• Runway 01/19: 1179 feet x 30 feet dirt/grass, gradient 12.1 % (refer to runway profile diagram).

This is the third and final airstrip that was constructed at the Mile High Ranch in the late 1940s (the preceding two airstrips are available from myself here (flightsim.to), which I'm in the process of completely updating to v.2). I didn't originally include this third airstrip because it's possible to land on the default terrain in the simulator. On closer inspection, however, I noticed that the line I'd used was directionally slightly inaccurate, plus I wanted the option of having the full 1100 feet of the original airstrip available and with improved vegetation (i.e. hand placed and more diverse).

I've added fictional 'Idaho style' threshold corner markings to the landing runway (runway 19) since getting down low to use the full runway length requires accurate alignment to clear some tall pines on short final and also to avoid the assorted vegetation along the narrow runway itself. A go around from down here would be undesirable, so we need all the help we can get 😉. As in real life, however, there are no markings at the departure end (runway 01), so care should be taken to verify alignment before applying power: look for a suitable reference point in the distance, confirmed by the most prominent tyre marks in the dirt.

Optimised for use with Bijan's Seasons Enhanced 2024, which gives you extra bushes and restores some of the grass at the top of the strip.

An excellent free MSFS 2020 version of Mile High also exists by Creative Mesh, but the vegetation doesn't work properly in MSFS 2024.

The old horse-drawn plough object is taken from The Deadly 3 by the late Mark "Milo" Taylor, a highly recommended collection of three challenging nearby airstrips. You'll only see the plough if you own this add-on. It's used without permission, so I will remove it if I receive any objections.

Further information:

• Bound for the Backcountry by Richard H. Holm Jr.
• Shortfield.com
• Idaho Aviation Association
• Mountain Flying by Sparky Imeson
• Mile High Outfitters. This is the tent camp under the approach to runway 19. There can be no trophy hunting of any of my animals; see how many you can find.

Simulator annoyances:

• I don't think I've got the terrain in the vicinity of the runway precisely correct. The default terrain isn't as high in resolution as in some other areas of the simulator, but I think what I've done is adequate. The plant species aren't entirely accurate either, but I've done the best I can with what's available in object libraries.
• Only one of the runway starts works as intended. A long-standing bug. Thankfully, it's usually the end with the highest elevation that works.
• The simulator draws the visible ground level at slightly inconsistent heights (both on separate flights, and at diferent times on the same flight), therefore some scenery objects can appear just above or below ground level.
• When starting from parking positions on non-level ground, the character sometimes appears almost underground. If this happens, enter then exit the aircraft, and the character should then be correctly placed for your exterior inspection.
• I've attempted to remove all the airport services from these airports (or at least the majority of them); thank you to Grey Skies Simulations. You may also want to lower the number of static aircraft and characters etc. under Settings > General > Graphics > Advanced Settings.

Donations: If you enjoy my work and wish to donate, send some money to your local animal charity or go volunteer. If you do, send me a note or a picture about it. 🙂