After my chilly Steens trip i decided to see what that part of Oregon looks like in X-Plane, so I loaded up my Piper Super Cub and headed southwest from Ashland Muni. After about one and a half hours i arrived over Roaring Springs Ranch and turned north toward Frenchglen. Once approximately over Frenchglen, i turned east and put in a 500 ft/min climb as the wedge of Steens Mountain began to rise below me. Once up to the ridge the scenery is remarkably accurate.
X-Plane is a real-time simulator… so my Cub is now sitting where i left it at Roaring Springs Airstrip. Unless i cheat and alter my starting airport the next time i start up the sim, i’ll be starting out from Roaring Springs. The sim is also real-weather, too, and the cub is a VFR aircraft. With winter coming on getting back to Ashland might be a bit tricky.