Thread by @prchovanec

1. The rainclouds have shifted north, leaving some nice flying weather over southern Spain today - both in real life, and in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

2. Looking like a promising day in Seville, Spain for the next leg of my journey, to Cordoba.

3. Taking off from Seville, in the late afternoon.

4. Turning back east towards Cordoba.

5. Cruising at 2500 feet past the town of Carmona, in the Andalucia region of Spain. Known as Carmo in Roman times, it has about 29,000 inhabitants and is a center for trade in wine, olive oil, grain, and cattle.

6. Seville and Cordoba are linked by the broad valley of the Guadalquivir River.

7. The sun settles lower in the sky, as I fly past the town of Palma del Rio, population 21,000. Wikipedia says "some of the orange groves [here] contain trees over 200 years old."

8. This area was once the heartland of medieval Islamic Iberia. The name of the Guadalquivir River comes from the Arabic al-wadi I-kabir, which means "the great river". Before that, the Romans called it the Baetis.

9. Andalusia comes from the Arabic al-Andalus, which is believed to refer to the kingdom the Vandals, a Germanic tribe, established in southern Spain after the fall of the Roman Empire, before they moved on into North Africa.

10. Flying over the small airport just west of Cordoba. The yellow x's are supposed to mean the runway is out of service - do not land. But in the sim, at least, the airport appears to be in service, so I'm going to pretend I didn't see that.

11. The setting sun glimmering off the Guadalquivir River, as I descend towards Cordoba.

12. Flying over the main sights of Cordoba, Spain. From left to right: the Alcazar (royal palace) and its gardens, the bishop's palace and medieval hospital, the great cathedral-mosque, and the old Roman bridge.

13. Cordoba is located on the north bank of a bend in the Guadalquivir River. In Roman times, it was the capital of the province of Hispania Baetica (named after the river), and the hometown of the orator Seneca the Elder, the philosopher Seneca the Younger, and the poet Lucan.

14. Later, Cordoba became the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate after it was ousted from power in Damascus by the Abbasids in 750 AD.

15. The Caliphate of Cordoba ruled over a large part of Iberia through much of the early Middle Ages, and its capital was a major center of learning, until it was destroyed by Muslim rivals from North Africa in the 11th Century.

16. The gem of Cordoba was its Great Mosque, later converted to the city's Christian Cathedral, below.

17. The mosque-cathedral of Cordoba's interior is famed for its large prayer hall with 856 columns supporting row after row of candy-striped arches.

18. One last turn over the mosque-cathedral and the episcopal palace before turning towards the airport.

19. With the sun beginning to set over Cordoba, it's time to land for the evening.

20. Cordoba's small airport is located just southwest of the city.

21. Coming in for a landing at Cordoba, Spain, facing the setting sun.

22. Landing and taxiing to refuel at Cordoba's small airport, at sunset.

23. Time to head back south, to Malaga. For a change of pace, I'm going to fly this leg of the journey at night.

24. First, though, I'm going enjoy this close-up screenshot of the cockpit, with the screens glowing inside.

25. Taking off, with the lights of Cordoba behind me.

26. Flying over the center of Cordoba at night.

27. Climbing after a brief buzz over Corboda.

28. I could navigate by having the GPS set my course, but I'm going to visually follow the lights of the highway south instead. It should take me straight to Malaga, and also give me a sense of my altitude above ground level, in the dark.

29. My strobe and navigation lights alert other planes not only to my presence, but also my direction of travel. Red light means I'm heading left, green I'm moving right, white I'm flying away, and both green (left) and red (right) means I'm flying straight at them.

30. The flight from Cordoba to Malaga takes about an hour, in a Cessna 172 at a cruising speed of 118 knots (136 mph). Driving on the highway takes about 2 hours, assuming no slowdowns or delays.

31. Just before Malaga, the highway I'm following goes through some mountains. According to the chart, the highest elevation anywhere nearby is 7200 feet. So I'm going to climb to 8500, just to be safe.

32. Those must be the lights of Malaga up ahead, and the outlines of the mountains against them. I'm well above them.

33. Out my side window, I can see the highway that branches off to the east to Granada, and the dim glow of that city's lights in the distance. I'll be heading back this way again, come daylight.

34. As I approach those low mountains, just north of Malaga, I get buffeted by some sudden strong gusts of wind, up to 20-22 knots, from all different directions. Makes for a bit of a bumpy ride.

35. There also appears to be some low-lying clouds over part of Malaga, which I'm going to need to avoid as I descend. I've spotted the airport, right ahead.

36. Turning over Malaga, to get down to my approach altitude while staying clear of clouds.

37. Malaga has two runaways, at slightly different angles. I need to make sure I approach and land at the right one.

38. Looks like there's a thin layer of fog or haze over the airport, but not enough to obscure the lights.

39. Stay on target ...

40. Welcome to Malaga. We'll get a better view of it come daybreak.

41. Interesting to note that, in real life, Malaga is now showing IFR (instrument flight rules only), probably due to those low clouds/fog I encountered on landing, perhaps developing further.