Queenstown
Note: All charts for Queenstown (NZQN) are available from the VATNZ Website.
Become familiar with the approaches
None of the approaches at Queenstown are "straight-in". If you're flying into NZQN during the event, it's vital that you have some familiarity with the approaches. All charts for Queenstown are available at the VATNZ Website.
Check out the Queenstown Flight video tutorials
Southern man and flight instructor, Leon Gibbs, has produced a series of tutorial videos to help take some of the mystery out of Queenstown flight. More will be added as the event approaches. Check them out in the Videos section.
No over-size aircraft!
The approach to Queenstown requires tight maneuvering and excellent speed control. Real-world the largest airliners that fly into Queenstown are B737s and A320s. Every year thousands of virtual lives are lost as online pilots attempt to land larger aircraft: almost all of them fail, and it's strongly recommended that you leave the heavies for Christchurch.
There is no ILS here: expect to be visual by the time you land.
Queenstown has recently introduced RNAV procedures but currently these are only supported online in the PMDG 737 (which is FS9 only). Typically the RNAV arrivals are only flown in bad weather. For all other aircraft, and at other times, you can expect to receive clearance for one of the VOR arrivals. These direct you towards Slope Hill, a promontory a few miles northeast of the airport. Once you have the airport in sight, you conduct a visual approach to touchdown.