Download the AM21 flights here.

Air Mail Flight 21, AM-21, was a real flight. Famed author and pilot extraordinaire Ernie Gann flew it and it played an important role in his very popular book, Fate is the Hunter. That classic places you with him in the cockpit of the DC-2 and DC-3 in the heyday of those aircraft. It is highly-recommended reading for DC-3 enthusiasts.

Chris Whisler, DCA-1462, went to great lengths to accurately recreate AM-21. He has gone well past simply providing navigation information, though. He has provided a complete documentation package to properly fly that route using the Radio Range, including the appropriate Radio Range Approach Plates and PLN files. Timetable information is there with departure and arrival times for those who wish to fully duplicate Ernie Gann's flight.

 

• Note: Radio Range 4.0, file rr40.zip, is required to fly AM-21. That file is available on FlightSim.com and AVSIM.
• Be aware that rr40.zip includes a complete DC-3 aircraft and three panels. Those three panels allow you to choose how faithfully you wish to mimic the panels of the 1940s and 1950s.
• File rr40.zip functions properly only with fs9, hence AM-21 is not suitable for FSX.

In the days of the DC-3 it was the copilot's responsibility to calculate the flight information, i.e., Wind Correction Angles, Ground Speeds, Estimated Times of Arrival, etc. If the weather was VFR, then that information plus taking note of various landmarks (Pilotage) was sufficient for the pilot to accurately fly from Point A to Point B.

When the weather was marginal or went sour, though, then the Radio Range provided the guidance needed to safely and accurately navigate the intended route.

Thanks again to Chris Whisler for an exceptional recreation of Ernie Gann's flight AM-21. Thanks also to the entire Radio Range Team for their superb simulation of that navigation facility. Those team members are named in the readme file within rr40.zip.

You will find AM-21 a joy to fly in the manner of the 1940s and 1950s.