Plains of San Augustin, New Mexico - United States.
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Plains of San Augustin, New Mexico - United States. |
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The VLA or "Jansky Array" is another real-world side project I've been wanting to do for a long time. I've tinkered with it off and on for about a year. Since I also did White Sands which is not too far east, a flight from Railroad Valley to White Sands takes you right over the VLA! Like Pine Gap, in FSX it serves no purpose other than a landmark, but there is a helipad startup location in the middle of it. The helipad ident is NM99. In real life though, it's quite an interesting place. It's operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The VLA consists of 27 independent dishes, each with a diameter of 82 feet and weight of over 200 tons. Each antenna is found along the three arms of a track shaped in a Y configuration measuring 13 miles long.
Using the rail tracks that follow each of these arms
the antennas can be physically relocated to a number of prepared
positions. At one point, the arms intersect with U.S. Route 60 which
passes right through the middle of the array. I have been there myself
in person and they offer a self-guided tour through the whole place. I
recommend it if you're into astronomy/cosmology and don't mind a Also updated is the closest airport to the VLA, Magdalena, NM - N29. It's a small dirt strip a few miles to the east, between Socorro and the VLA. It serves as a nice staging area for flights to the VLA.
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 Early morning shot of the Jansky Array taken by the webmaster. - July 2010
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