PLEASE NOTE. This package requires attention as a result of SU16 and MSFS 2024 aerial imagery updates. But I have decided to update and republish the airfields individually, not only to remove the need for me to fix the entire package in one go, but also to allow users of this platform to search for individual airfield ICAO codes and names, as well as place them on the World Explorer map. In the meantime, I do not recommend you download and use this package for MSFS 2020 (post-SU16) nor MSFS 2024. I will link updated/re-published individual airfields below:

YDVR Docker River
YWLU Wiluna
YKNT Kintore
YWBR Warburton
YYND Yuendumu
YNRR Nyirripi
YARN Areyonga

Four wheels scare the cockatoos 
From Kintore, east to Yuendumu 
The Western Desert lives and breathes 
In fourty-five degrees…

So goes a rather famous song by an Australian rock band. The Western Desert, surprisingly perhaps, isn’t a geographical region, but rather a cultural one, describing the extent of a common language and identity. However, it’s geographic extent is huge, covering almost a third of the Australian landmass; from the Nullarbor in the south to the Kimberley in the north; from the beaches south of Broome on the Indian Ocean to the Simpson Desert at the NT/Queensland border. “Desert” clearly implies a sparsely populated, remote and perilous environment. You have to have your wits about you, living here, and the Australian Aboriginal people who do have lived and survived here for nigh on 40,000 years.

Getting around can be a bit of a challenge though. The “roads” linking the communities, with exotic names such as “Gunbarrel Highway” and “Canning Stock Route”, are often little more than dust-blown, corrugated dirt tracks (and mud holes when it rains). Not surprisingly then, many essential services are provided by air, including emergency medical care by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).

Most communities had rough-and-tumble bush strips for decades, but many of the airfields at larger “towns” have over recent years been upgraded, with sealed runways, lights and IFR approaches.

So, to coincide with NADOC Week 2022, I present you a handful of iconic Western Desert locations (or at least the enhanced airports of them):

• YKNT Kintore (Walungurru) in the Northern Territory
• YDVR Docker River (Kaltukatjara) in the Northern Territory
• YWBR Warburton in Western Australia
• YWLU Wiluna in Western Australia
• YYND Yuendumu in the Northern Territory

Note:
YWLU and YWBR have published RNAV and NDB approaches, which are absent in default MSFS. I have included these with the sceneries, however, for some reason the NDB approaches aren’t properly depicted on the World Map. They do draw (and fly) properly though in the nav systems (tested with G1000, G3X and PMS GTN750).

Update 0.2.0

The following additional airfields have been included:

• YARN Areyonga NT
• YBSR Blackstone Range (Papulankutja) WA
• YGLS Giles (Warakurna) WA
• YHAA Haasts Bluff (Ikuntji) NT
• YHMB Hermannsburg (Ntaria) NT
• YJAM Jameson (Mantamaru) WA
• YJIG Jiggalong Mission (Jigalong) WA
• YJUK Tjukurla WA
• YLBG Mount Liebig (Amunturangu) NT
• YNRR Nyrripi NT
• YPAY Papunya NT
• YPTJ Patjarr WA
• YTJI Tjirrkarli WA
• YWAX Wanarn WA
• YWNL Wingellina (Irrunytju) WA

Installation

The download contains 22 separate folders, one for each aiport, plus the following:

sltcreations-traffic-Western-Desert                     GA AI Traffic for the region
sltcreations-AU-Flags                                         Library of Australian Flags*

Copy the one you want to your Community folder as desired. If you are installing an updated version please ensure you delete/overwrite the old versions.

* Created using the Windy Things library with thanks to trfsto. I have included this library with other sceneries. Please ensure that you have only one copy in your Community folder.

As always, many sincere thanks to the creators of scenery object libraries, without which my creations would be a bit of a bore. You’ll have to add these to your Community folder to see them in my sceneries: (Make sure you have the latest versions, particularly colinj’s object library!)

Dependencies are listed below, but you should also consider the following for a few additional static aircraft:

Collection d'avions pour FS2020
https://www.jpfil.com/quebec-fs2020/scenes/Collection-avions.zip
Credit:    Jean-Pierre Fillion, Quebec
    quebec-fs2020.org
    jpfil.com

 And last but not least, don't forget my Australian Salt Lakes Fix. All the airports in this pack are amidst dry/salt lakes. You'll get water-filled lakes without this mod.