Update, 15.04.2022:

Version 1.0 of this bush trip is available on flightsim.to: https://flightsim.to/file/30948/andalusia-bush-trip

A bush trip through the Spanish region of Andalusia for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Note

This bush trip is an alpha version. Only the first ten legs are implemented (around half of the trip). I would be happy for any kind of feedback, so please feel free to use the issues page. Aside from technical issues, I am very interested in feedback on the difficulty level, length and quality of the legs.

Install

1. Grab the latest release and unzip to a directory of your choice.
2. Move the marccreal-bushtrip-andalusia folder into the Community folder of your MSFS installation. This folder can be located in different places:
   • Steam (standard): C:\Users\[YOUR USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages\Community
   • Microsoft Store (standard): C:\Users\[YOUR USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_[RANDOMLETTERS]\LocalCache\Packages\Community
   • Boxed (standard): C:\Users\[YOUR USERNAME]\AppData\Local\MSFSPackages\Community
   • Custom folder (for packages downloaded by the ingame installer): [YOUR CUSTOM INSTALL FOLDER]\Community

Play

Simply start the game and go to the bush trip menu. The new trip should appear there and you can play it exactly in the same way as the bush trips initially provided with the game.

How to jump to the destination

You might need to do that for troubleshooting (see Known issues below). Go to Options->General->Developers, switch "Developer Mode" to "On". Ingame, in the menu at the top of the screen go to Windows->Teleport Window. Type in the ICAO Code of the destination airport and click "Go to ICAO".

Known issues

General

Unfortunately, there are several bugs in the bush trip system of the main game which also effect this custom made bush trip:

• "Leg completed" message does not appear although you landed at the correct airport.
  • This bug appeard after one of the recent patches for MSFS. A bush trip that was started with the previous version could be continued but the completion of the leg was not detected correctly.
  • Workaround: Restart from the first leg (afaik just restating the previous leg does not help) and with the help of the developer menu jump to the destinations of the legs until you reach the point where you want to continue.
  • It might be necessary to delete the saves first. Just delete the corresponding folder that can be found at ...\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator\MISSIONS\ACTIVITIES\[BUSHTRIPNAME]_SAVE
• Distance and ETE displayed in the window, that pops up after one leg has been finished and the next one is ready to start, are incorrect. They only correspond to the values for the first subleg.

Specific

• Continue if you had a previous version installed: You might need to restart from the beginning to get the settings right (if this does not help, delete the savegames, see above). Use the developer menu to jump to the destinations to get to the desired leg (see above).

Change aircraft

There are currently two release versions provided that use the DA40 NG (G1000) and the DA 40 TDI (steam gauges), respectively. If you want to fly another plane, you can either change the aircraft in flight via developer mode (note that the times in the navlog will not adapt to the new plane) or you can change the FLT-file ..\Community\marccreal-bushtrip-andalusia\Missions\marccreal\BushTrips\andalusia\ANDALUSIA.FLT with a text editor. Find the section [Sim.0] and change the line Sim=DA40-NG Asobo to the desired aircraft. To find out, what name to put in there, go to the world map, create a simple flight with the desired plane and save the flightplan. You can then find the name in the created FLT file. You have to restart the sim in order to make changes in the FLT file take effect.

Further notes (mainly for devs)

Landing Trigger

• You have to add a <SimMission.AirportCalculator InstanceId="{[UID_of_leg]}"> block for every leg you create in the XML file. The InstanceId has to be the same UID as defined in the corresponding leg with <AirportLandingTriggerEnd UniqueRefId="{UID_of_leg}" />. Of course, all legs shall have different UIDs.
• UIDs can be generated here: https://www.guidgenerator.com/
• Do not forget to change the <AirportIdent> Block in the AirporCalculator-Block to the corresponding destination airport ICAO

Route and waypoints in VFR-map

• Route: the bug was probably a wrong number under "CountWP" in "[GPS_Engine]" (though I changed other stuff in the FLT file, so I'm not 100% sure).
• Waypoints: Interestingly, the waypoints are taken from the PLN file. But they have to have unique names. Btw this is also the reason why in the Asobo-bushtrips only the first waypoint appears in the VFR map (they all have the name "POI" in the PLN file!).

No/empty navlog and no VFR map when continuing the bush trip

• in FLT file unter [Options] set Save=True

FLT-File

• Description of file format (from P3D, but format is the same): http://www.prepar3d.com/SDKv2/LearningCenter/getting_started/mission_creation/flight_files.html

Loading image

• How to get a nice loading picture (with satellite image and the whole track) as in the original Asobo bush trips:
  • Use Google Earth Pro
  • Save your PLN Flightplan as GPX (I used LittleNavMaps)
  • Convert GPX to Googles KML format: https://gpx2kml.com/
  • Load KML in Google Earth, display the track, configure line width, color, etc. Adjust camera angle and use screenshot function of Google Earth.
  • Note: Mind the licence especially when you want to do something commercial https://www.google.com/intl/de/permissions/geoguidelines/