Stage 14: Cold Bay to Unalaska

MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR BRIEFING ONLY · NOT FOR REAL-WORLD FLIGHT PLANNING OR NAVIGATION

Stage 14 • Alaska • Aleutian Arc

PACD (Cold Bay) to PADU (Unalaska)

Pavlof, Shishaldin, Akutan and Makushin above the North Pacific

Route Distance242.7 NM

Est. Time (150 kt)01h 37m

Suggested Sim Altitude10,500–12,500 ft

Visual Waypoints4

Departure: PACD (Cold Bay)

Elevation: 137 ft MSL
Runway: Hard surface, longest 10,208 ft · approx hdg 158°T
Fuel: Avgas / Jet fuel
Comms: No radio frequency listed in supplied MSFS airport data
MSFS mag var: 9.1°E

Arrival: PADU (Unalaska)

Elevation: 4 ft MSL
Runway: Hard surface, longest 4,129 ft · approx hdg 316°T
Fuel: Avgas / Jet fuel
Comms: AWOS 125.8
MSFS mag var: 7.4°E

Volcanology Brief

Shishaldin

Tectonic setting: Aleutian volcanic arc formed by Pacific Plate subduction beneath the North American Plate.

Why it matters: Shishaldin is a remarkably symmetrical cone rising from Unimak Island and makes an unmistakable VFR landmark.

Visual Route Map, Magnetic Tracks & Radio References

MSFS Radio Navigation References

Departure VOR

CDB · VOR/DME

COLD BAY

112.60 MHz · 4.0 NM from reference point

Arrival VOR

DUT · VOR/DME

DUTCH HARBOR

113.90 MHz · 0.4 NM from reference point

Navigation & Waypoint Breakdown

Ident	Type	Track (°M)	Nav / Frequency	Leg Dist	Cum. ETE	Landmarks & Sim Flying Notes
PACD	Departure	—	CDB VOR/DME 112.60 MHz	0.0 NM	00:00	Depart Cold Bay; establish the visual route only when simulator weather and terrain are suitable.
PAVLO	Volcano / VP	057°	Visual volcano	31.1 NM	00h 12m	Close to Cold Bay; watch winds and cloud around the cone.
SHISH	Volcano / VP	233°	Visual volcano	81.6 NM	00h 45m	Classic ice-clad cone on Unimak Island.
AKUTN	Volcano / VP	235°	Visual volcano	79.7 NM	01h 17m	Active cone on Akutan Island.
MAKUS	Volcano / VP	238°	Visual volcano	36.5 NM	01h 32m	Dominates the final approach area to Unalaska.
PADU	Arrival	079°	DUT DME 113.90 MHz	13.7 NM	01h 37m	Land at Unalaska.

Volcano & Terrain Tips — Simulator

Ash / plume awareness: Treat any visible volcanic plume as a no-go visual area in the simulator and route around it.
Terrain: The altitude band is a sightseeing suggestion, not a clearance guarantee. Use the simulator's terrain/weather information and stay laterally clear of high summits.
Weather: Mountain cloud, rotor and poor visibility can hide landmarks quickly. If the route stops being visually comfortable in MSFS, divert around the high terrain.

Data Note

Airport existence, coordinates, elevation, magnetic variation, runway length, fuel flags and airport radio frequencies are derived from the supplied MSFS 2024 scenery-library CSV; radio-navigation references use the supplied VOR, NDB and ILS datasets.

VOR, NDB and ILS references are selected from the supplied MSFS 2024 navigation-library CSVs. Only nearby aids useful for orientation are shown, so the volcanic sightseeing route remains visually readable.

Digital Asset Pack

EFB / Route Reference

PACD PAVLO SHISH AKUTN MAKUS PADU

Garmin TDS GTNXi-style Reference

FPN/RI:PACD:PAVLO:SHISH:AKUTN:MAKUS:PADU

Volcano identifiers are custom visual waypoints from this briefing.

MSFS .pln Skeleton

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<SimBase.Document>
  <FlightPlan.FlightPlan>
    <Title>Ring of Fire Stage 14 PACD to PADU</Title>
    <FPType>VFR</FPType>
    <RouteType>Direct</RouteType>
    <CruisingAlt>10500</CruisingAlt>
    <DepartureID>PACD</DepartureID>
    <DestinationID>PADU</DestinationID>
        <ATCWaypoint id="PACD">
            <ATCWaypointType>Airport</ATCWaypointType>
            <WorldPosition>N55° 12' 21.30",W162° 43' 34.53",+000136.73</WorldPosition>
        </ATCWaypoint>
        <ATCWaypoint id="PAVLO">
            <ATCWaypointType>User</ATCWaypointType>
            <WorldPosition>N55° 25' 01.20",W161° 53' 38.40",+008261.00</WorldPosition>
        </ATCWaypoint>
        <ATCWaypoint id="SHISH">
            <ATCWaypointType>User</ATCWaypointType>
            <WorldPosition>N54° 45' 21.60",W163° 58' 12.00",+009373.00</WorldPosition>
        </ATCWaypoint>
        <ATCWaypoint id="AKUTN">
            <ATCWaypointType>User</ATCWaypointType>
            <WorldPosition>N54° 08' 02.40",W165° 59' 09.60",+004275.00</WorldPosition>
        </ATCWaypoint>
        <ATCWaypoint id="MAKUS">
            <ATCWaypointType>User</ATCWaypointType>
            <WorldPosition>N53° 53' 13.20",W166° 55' 55.20",+006680.00</WorldPosition>
        </ATCWaypoint>
        <ATCWaypoint id="PADU">
            <ATCWaypointType>Airport</ATCWaypointType>
            <WorldPosition>N53° 53' 56.20",W166° 32' 42.10",+000004.25</WorldPosition>
        </ATCWaypoint>
  </FlightPlan.FlightPlan>
</SimBase.Document>

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