My flight went from Seletar Airport in Singapore to Subic Bay in the Philippines.
Seletar has an interesting background: originally opened in 1929 as a British military airfield, later home to the Royal Air Force. Today it serves as Singapore’s hub for business and regional aviation – a fitting departure point for the Citation.
The logged flight time was 4 hours 17 minutes, cruising at FL420. Weather in Singapore was harmless enough – some clouds, nothing serious. But I miscalculated a bit and ended up arriving after dark. The approach was pitch black, the cloud base around 400 ft, horizontal visibility roughly 3 miles – far from comfortable.
The destination, Subic Bay, also carries plenty of history. For decades it was one of the largest U.S. military bases in the Pacific, with a huge naval harbor and an airfield. After the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and the U.S. withdrawal, the base was transformed into a civilian airport. The terrain, however, still demands respect: the runway lies right at the coast, but only a short distance inland the hills rise steeply.
And that became the challenge. MSFS ATC vectored me in such a way that I was simply too high and had far too little track miles left to make it work. No hesitation – I went straight back out over the bay, giving myself plenty of room for another try. On the second attempt I managed to get her down, hand-flown, and with a healthy dose of respect for the surrounding terrain.
