Your complete guide to Greg Koontz’s Sky Country Lodge: Hooty’s tour and walkthrough, the activities, The Golden Drop and troubleshooting.
Welcome to SimVenture.
The Simulator Is the Canvas. Imagination Is the Limit.
Thank you for visiting Greg Koontz’s Sky Country Lodge. I’m Nicholas Raupp, and Hangar Studios 713 is my one-person studio. I built this experience as a solo developer, and I’m glad you’re here.
SimVenture is the name I give to the way I build. It is not an engine, a framework, an SDK or an add-on you need to install. It is simply my approach: taking the tools Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 already provides and asking what else they can do when they are used in imaginative and unconventional ways.
Everything you experience at the lodge is created with the simulator’s own native capabilities - scenery objects, animation, lighting, sound, visual effects, small modules that run inside the simulator and the EFB tablet - combined with imaginative design and a good deal of creative problem-solving. Nothing runs outside the simulator, and there is no separate program to start.
Install the two packages that come with the scenery and you have everything you need. See Getting started.
This manual explains the lodge’s tour, discoveries, unlocks, activities and controls, with complete instructions and troubleshooting guidance.
Make yourself at home.
Every place has a story. Make this one part of yours.
Copy both package folders from your download into your Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Community folder:
Both are required. This release is for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PC.
Your tablet at a glance.
One app for the tour, the activities and the challenge.
Everything at the lodge is controlled from HS713 SCL APP. Nothing starts by itself: activities run only when you choose them.
Home shows your progress and a button for each place you can go. Buttons appear as you earn them.
| Button | What it opens |
|---|---|
| Begin Tour / Continue Tour | Hooty’s tour at your current stop. |
| Map | The live property map. |
| Activities | Every activity, with its lock status and a Learn More link to this guide. |
| Find Hooty | The map, centered on Hooty’s perch (after the tour has started). |
| Doors & Workshops, Lighting & Decorations, Pond, Fireworks, Fire Wall & Raft Lights, The Golden Drop | Each activity page, once earned. |
| Help & Manual | This guide inside the tablet, plus the illustrated help. |
| Settings | Activity Access, tour switch and reset, and preferences. |
The Activities page lists every activity and how it is earned. After the tour is complete, Home offers Explore the Lodge (Activities), Revisit Tour and Read the Final Invitation. A one-time card on Home confirms that the tour is complete.
Activity pages have a BACK or HOME button at the top left. When you open an activity from the tour, Return to Tour takes you back to your stop.
Meet Hooty. Follow your curiosity.
A curious owl, 13 discoveries and a lodge full of stories.
Choose Begin Tour. The tour works on foot: if you are still in the aircraft, the tablet asks you to leave it in walking-avatar mode. Moving a drone or free camera does not move your walking character.
Read the clue. Show a hint reveals the stop’s hints one at a time. Find Hooty opens the map with his marker. Call makes him hoot back; when he is more than 40 m away the tablet tells you his distance and direction.
Most stops complete by themselves when you walk to within 8 to 14 m of Hooty’s perch. The first stop needs both Feed and Call; stop 12 needs the keypad code. Feed works within 12 m, once every 20 seconds, and not while he is flying.
When the discovery is confirmed, read the story and choose Continue Tour - Follow Hooty. He flies to the next stop, opening a hangar door first if his route needs one. When a stop earns an activity, a NEW DISCOVERY / ACTIVITY UNLOCKED card appears with Open Activity.
Progress saves automatically. The Hooty switch on the tour page (or Settings > Tour and Hooty ON) hides him; your progress is kept, and if he was flying he waits at his next perch. Switch it on, or reopen the app later, to carry on.
Use < Prev and Next > on the tour page to reread earlier discoveries (marked "revisiting"), then Return to Current Stop. After the tour, Home has Revisit Tour.
Settings > Progress > Reset tour progress, then tap again to confirm. This restarts the story only: activities you have earned stay unlocked and your Golden Drop records are kept.
If the app cannot read your on-foot position, an I’m here with Hooty button appears at arrival stops. Use it when you are standing with him.
Every stop, start to finish.
Spoilers ahead: this is the complete route.
The tour has 13 stops in a fixed order; each opens when you finish the one before. Stop names below match the tablet. On the tablet, "Hangar 2" is the building the Lighting page calls "Hangar 3".
North is at the top. Pins show where Hooty perches. Stops 8 and 10 share the perch outside Hangar 2.
WhereHooty’s welcome perch at the house.
DoUse Feed and Call (both are needed), then choose Continue.
EarnsThe tour begins.
WhereInside Hangar 1, on the big red rolling toolbox at the back. The main door opens as Hooty flies in.
DoWalk to within 8 m of Hooty.
EarnsHangar 1 door controls (Doors & Workshops).
Stops 3 to 9.
WhereA perch in the garden bed in front of the south porch of the house.
DoWalk to within 8 m of Hooty.
EarnsLighting & Decorations: the warm-white C9 string lights appear around the lodge.
WhereThe west end of the porch, beside Mr. TPHI, the handyman gnome.
DoWalk to within 10 m of Hooty.
EarnsThe next stop.
WhereOn the pier that runs out into Lake 1, west of the house.
DoWalk to within 10 m of Hooty. Stand still a while: the fish gather by the pier, and trout jump.
EarnsPond (pond fish and water switch).
WhereThe wooden kayak shelter on the second pond, north-west of the pier (about 600 m on foot). Mrs. TPHI is paddling to Gurty the gator.
DoWalk to within 14 m of Hooty. Hooty’s flight here takes about three minutes.
EarnsThe next stop.
WhereOn the south shore of Lake 1, runway side, facing the tire out in the lake.
DoWalk to within 12 m of Hooty.
EarnsFireworks, Fire Wall & Raft Lights (fireworks show, Fire Wall and raft light show).
WhereBack east, on the perch by Hangar 2’s door (east of Hangar 1). Look up at the lighting.
DoWalk to within 10 m of Hooty.
EarnsThe next stop.
WhereInside Hangar 2 (the door opens for Hooty): he perches on a stand beside the Club Car, near the kit aircraft and RC projects.
DoWalk to within 8 m of Hooty.
EarnsHangar 2 door controls.
Stops 10 to 13.
WhereThe perch outside Hangar 2’s door again.
DoWalk to within 10 m of Hooty.
EarnsHalloween and Christmas decorations on the Lighting & Decorations page.
WhereThe cart shelter south-west of Hangar 2, beside the TL Hangar. Hooty sits in the driver’s seat of the loader tractor.
DoWalk to within 10 m of Hooty.
EarnsThe next stop.
WhereThe keypad beside the TL Hangar side door.
DoChoose Open the keypad, enter 0713 and press ENT. At night, a light above the door reveals worn fingerprints on keys 0, 7, 1 and 3.
EarnsTL side door controls. The door opens.
WhereInside the TL Hangar, through the open side door.
DoWalk to within 12 m of Hooty.
EarnsThe Golden Drop, the Final Invitation and tour completion.
The tablet shows Read the Final Invitation and Go to Home. The Final Invitation tells the story of the Turbine Legend hangar and shows facts about the real Turbine Legend aircraft. Below the story, Play The Golden Drop takes you straight to the after-tour challenge. Its other buttons are Explore Freely, Revisit Discoveries and Activities. Everything you earned stays unlocked, even if you reset the tour later.
With Unlock All Activities, the TL side door can be opened from Doors & Workshops, but that does not solve stop 12. Enter the code on the keypad page to complete it.
Find your bearings.
Lake 1, the runway and the lodge buildings are your landmarks.
North is at the top. Image: the tablet app’s own simulator map of the property. Numbered pins are tour stops; the lodge stops are on the close-up.
Activities, doors and the pond.
Everything you have earned, in one place.
The Activities page lists Lighting & Decorations, Fireworks, Fire Wall & Raft Lights, The Golden Drop, the Pond and the Hangar doors. A locked activity says which discovery earns it.
Prefer to try everything now? Settings > Activity Access > Unlock All Activities, then Unlock Activities (Keep Discovering cancels). This opens every activity, scored Golden Drop rounds included. It does not mark the tour complete and does not switch anything on. To undo it, choose Return to tour-based access and tap again to confirm: everything you earned stays unlocked, and activities you have not earned close and stop if they are running.
Each hangar door gets an Open and Close control when its stop is complete:
| Door | Earned at |
|---|---|
| Hangar 1 | Stop 2 |
| Hangar 2 | Stop 9 |
| TL side door | Stop 12 (the keypad) |
The same rows appear on the Activities page. While Hooty is flying through a door, it stays open until he lands. Door positions are not saved; the doors are closed when a flight loads.
Earned at stop 5. Pond fish and water shows or hides the pond’s fish and water effects. Fish splash sound switches the splash the trout make when they jump; it becomes available once you have reached the pier. Both choices are remembered.
Lighting & Decorations
Make the lodge feel like your kind of evening.
Earned at stop 3. Open Lighting & Decorations from Home or Activities.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| All decorative lights | Switches every decorative string together. |
| Hangar 1 TL Hangar Hangar 3 | Each hangar’s decorative string, separately. Hangar 3 here is the building the tour and doors call Hangar 2. |
| House & Garage Golf Cart Pavilion | The warm-white C9 strings on the house and the golf cart pavilion (cartport). |
The warm-white C9 strings stay steadily lit, day and night, while switched on. They appear around the lodge from stop 3. Your decorative-light choices are saved.
The scenery’s permanent lighting, such as the hangar floodlights, works on its own at night. The decoration switches do not turn it off.
Earned at stop 10. Both collections start hidden.
Seasonal reveals are not saved: both collections are hidden again the next time you start the app. Showing or hiding them never affects your tour progress.
Light up the lake.
A ready-made fireworks show, viewed from your favorite spot.
Earned at stop 7. Open Fireworks, Fire Wall & Raft Lights; the show is in the Fireworks show section.
The show is staged over the tire on Lake 1, the lake beside the runway. Watch from the runway side or the pier. Dusk or night gives the best contrast: change the time in the simulator’s weather and time settings.
Start the show runs the full program: every firework type in every color and size, the One Minute of Pure Boom finale, the HS713 logo and a ring of fire. It lasts 5 minutes 45 seconds, and the status line shows its progress.
Stop ends it early. Otherwise it ends by itself.
The sound carries about 250 meters, so stay within that distance to hear it. If you can see the show but not hear it, check the simulator’s sound levels.
This manual covers the Sky Country Lodge scenery app. The separate HS713 Pyrotechnics App has its own manual.
A light show on the lake.
Four moving searchlights, a seven-minute program and an optional light that follows you.
The raft light show unlocks with Fireworks, Fire Wall & Raft Lights (stop 7) and sits on the same page, in the Raft light show section. Raft Light Show and Aircraft Tracker start OFF each time you load a flight. Your Reduced Flashes preference is remembered.
| Switch | What it does |
|---|---|
| Raft Light Show | The master switch. The four corner searchlights on the raft perform a seven-minute show of sweeps, crossing beams, circles and color changes, then repeat until you switch it off. Each time it comes on, the show starts again from the beginning. |
| Aircraft Tracker | Needs the show ON. The center light follows your aircraft while you fly within about 3 km; on foot it points straight up over the tire. It never lights on its own. |
| Reduced Flashes | Removes the brief bright accents from this show. The movement and colors stay the same. It does not change other effects in the scenery. |
In daylight the page shows Light show enabled - waiting for dusk. and the beams stay closed. When dusk begins, the show starts from the beginning; when daylight returns, it stops and waits again.
The raft lights and the tracker are local to your simulator. Other players do not see your show.
The beams are glowing light shafts designed to be seen from a distance at night. They do not light up the ground or your aircraft like a real searchlight, and how far away they stay visible depends on your graphics settings.
A pass worth watching.
Fire it from the tablet, or let your low pass light it up.
Earned at stop 7, on the Fireworks, Fire Wall & Raft Lights page. The wall has 47 fire stations, 25 m apart, along the tree (south) side of the runway.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Fire the wall | One sweep from the runway end nearer to you, about 0.5 s per station. Each station burns for about 10 seconds, then the wall burns out. |
| Stop | Ends the flames that are burning now. It does not switch off flyby mode. |
| Flyby wall (automatic) ON | The wall waits for a qualifying low pass in your aircraft, then lights up behind you. It is ON by default and your choice is saved. |
| Flyby wall (automatic) OFF | No automatic runs. |
A run starts when all of these are true:
Each station fires about 1 second after you pass it. The run ends past the far end, if you turn around, if you move more than 300 m from the centerline, after 120 seconds, or when you switch flyby mode off. A station that is still burning cannot fire again until it has finished.
These trigger limits describe the simulator effect; they do not guarantee terrain or obstacle clearance.
Five bags. One golden opportunity.
Precision flying meets a floating tire.
Finish the tour (or use Unlock All Activities) to play. Open The Golden Drop and drop golden bean bags through the opening of the tire floating on its raft in Lake 1. Airplanes and helicopters can both play.
Five attempts per round. Each hit earns one point. Five hits in five attempts is a Perfect Score.
Choose START ROUND, then take off. A bag is ready while you are airborne within about 3 km of the lodge; if it is not, the page tells you what is missing.
The bag leaves 1.5 m to the left of, 2 m below and 0.5 m behind your aircraft, and keeps your aircraft’s movement, including sideways, climbing or descending motion. Air drag and wind act on it as it falls, and it tumbles.
DROP (ATTEMPT 1 OF 5) or your SPRAY ON button (see Controller setup). The page shows RELEASING... WAITING FOR THE BAG, then BAG FALLING / PLEASE WAIT. One bag falls at a time; extra presses do nothing and never use an attempt. If the bag does not leave within 3 seconds, the page shows NOT RELEASED - NO ATTEMPT USED and TRY AGAIN.
After attempts 1-4, choose NEXT DROP to clear the result before releasing another bag. After attempt 5 the round ends at once: the page shows ROUND COMPLETE (or Perfect Score - 5 / 5). Choose DROP / ROUND DETAILS to review the round, or PLAY AGAIN for a new one.
Every drop tells a story.
A miss gives you information. A hit adds a little gold.
MISS
HIT +1
PERFECT: 5 OF 5After each drop, artwork celebrates the result: Better luck next drop and how far you missed by (about 3 seconds), HIT +1 with your hit count (at least 5 seconds), and Perfect Score - 5 / 5 in place of the fifth hit. A short summary then stays on the page above NEXT DROP until you clear it. DROP / ROUND DETAILS opens the full measurements.
A hit is determined at tire height using the challenge’s scoring boundary: the center of the bag must pass downward through the tire opening, a measured circle 1.46 m (4.8 ft) in radius. Passing over the tire wall, or landing on the rim, raft or water, is not a hit. Only the first downward pass counts. Final landing position is a separate measurement.
| Result detail | How to read it |
|---|---|
| Miss distance | How far outside the scoring circle the bag passed at tire height. If it never got there (released below the tire top, or landed first), the distance is measured where it landed. A hit shows its distance from the center. |
| Short / long, left / right | Relative to your direction of travel at release. If you were almost stationary (a hover), compass directions are used instead. |
| Height and speed | Release height above ground and altitude are separate values; read the label. Speed, flight time and descent rate describe the drop. N/A means the value was not available. |
| Wind | Sampled at your aircraft at release, shown as the direction it comes from. |
Your round, your records.
Everything else on The Golden Drop page.
FOLLOW CAMERA (ON by default): half a second after release, the view follows the bag about 25 m behind and 6 m above it, then returns to your aircraft 3 seconds after it lands, or at once with RETURN TO AIRCRAFT. RESTART ROUND and END ROUND ask you to tap twice and are unavailable while a bag is falling. An ended round is not counted.
Start in calm weather. In a helicopter, a steady hover can make release position easier to judge. In forward flight, allow for the bag’s continued movement and wind drift.
If a falling bag cannot be measured (it is lost out of range, the drop is cancelled, the flight reloads, or it does not land within 180 seconds), the round closes as Round not counted with the reason. Start a new round to play again.
PERSONAL BEST, your Perfect Score count and recent rounds are saved on this device and profile. They are not an online leaderboard. Choose UNITS: FEET / KNOTS or UNITS: METRES / M/S for the measurements.
One button. One golden drop.
Release each bag with a controller button, then use the tablet to continue after the result.
Open the simulator’s Controls settings for the controller and aircraft you will use. Clear any assigned-only filter if it hides unassigned commands.
Assign a spare button to SPRAY ON and save. Use this exact command, not TOGGLE SPRAY, SPRAY OFF, SPRAY SET, brakes or the parking brake.
On The Golden Drop page, SPRAY ON SHORTCUT must be ON. It is ON by default.
Your button uses the same release and scoring as DROP: one bag, and no extra attempts. A held button does not repeat; a press refused because the bag is not ready does nothing later.
After attempts 1-4, choose NEXT DROP on the tablet before pressing your button again. After attempt 5 the round ends; review it or choose PLAY AGAIN on the tablet.
During an active scored round, while airborne, with the last result cleared, a bag ready and attempts left. The on-screen DROP button always works too.
SPRAY ON may also operate an aircraft’s own spray equipment. If it does, turn off SPRAY ON SHORTCUT and use the on-screen DROP button, or choose an aircraft without that conflict. Mapping SPRAY ON to a different physical button does not prevent the aircraft from receiving the same command.
Button assignments belong to the simulator’s control profiles; the app does not change or detect them. Check your profile after changing aircraft.
Your tablet. Your way.
Keep the interface readable and the experience comfortable.
Help (Help & Manual), Activity Access, Pond (Fish splash sound, once you have reached the pier), Hooty’s tour (Tour and Hooty ON), Progress (Reset tour progress).
Help & Manual holds this guide’s chapters and three illustrated guides: How the Tour Works, How to Play and How It Works. Move through a guide with < BACK, NEXT > and the page dots; DONE returns to where you were. Help never starts or resets anything. The app works in landscape, portrait and resized windows; in a short window, use the scroll bar on the right.
| Item | Saved between flights? | After Reset tour progress |
|---|---|---|
| Tour progress | Yes | Starts again |
| Earned activities and door controls | Yes | Kept |
| Unlock All Activities | Yes | Kept |
| Decorative-light choices | Yes | Kept |
| Seasonal reveals | No: hidden when the app starts | Unchanged |
| Flyby wall switch | Yes | Kept |
| Raft Light Show, Aircraft Tracker | No: OFF at every flight load | Unchanged |
| Reduced Flashes | Yes | Kept |
| Pond fish and water, Fish splash sound | Yes | Kept |
| Hangar door positions | No: closed at every flight load | Unchanged |
| Golden Drop records, units, follow camera, SPRAY ON shortcut | Yes | Kept |
A little help when you need it.
Quick answers to the common questions.
They are listed on Activities; a locked one says which stop earns it. The Golden Drop is earned by finishing the tour. To open everything now, use Settings > Activity Access > Unlock All Activities.
Check that Tour and Hooty is ON, go to the current stop on foot and move within 12 m to Feed. Wait for him to land if he is flying; Feed also has a 20-second pause between treats.
Walk right up to his perch: arrival needs your walking character within 8 to 14 m. A drone or free camera does not count.
Dragging stops follow mode. Press Center.
ON means ready, not burning. Fly a low pass that meets the conditions in Fire Wall, in the aircraft. Fire the wall works any time.
Stop ends the flames burning now. Switch Flyby wall OFF to prevent automatic runs.
Read the status line on The Golden Drop page; it says exactly what is missing. Usually: start a round, take off, stay within about 3 km of the lodge, wait a few seconds, and clear the last result with NEXT DROP. If the app reports that scoring is unavailable, capture the exact message and contact me through the support channel below.
The bag is tracked within about 3 km. A round interrupted this way closes as not counted; return near the lodge and start a new round.
Best and recent rounds are saved locally; they are not an online leaderboard.
They run from dusk to dawn only, and switch off at every flight load. Switch Raft Light Show on again.
These sounds come from the scenery in the world, so they fade with distance. Check the simulator’s sound levels and, for the fish, Fish splash sound.
Contact me through the channel where you received your copy. Include a screenshot, the activity name, your app version and the exact status message. For a drop problem, capture the failed state before restarting.
The app version is shown at the bottom of Home.
Keep this page handy.
| I want to... | Go here / do this |
|---|---|
| Begin exploring | HS713 SCL APP > Begin Tour. Leave the aircraft on foot and follow the clue. |
| Find my guide | Tour page or Home > Find Hooty. Use Show a hint if needed. |
| Return to my position | Map > Center. |
| Unlock everything now | Settings > Activity Access > Unlock All Activities. |
| Change the mood | Lighting & Decorations (stop 3; seasonal at stop 10). |
| Watch fireworks | Fireworks, Fire Wall & Raft Lights > Start the show. Runs 5:45. |
| Watch the raft lights | Fireworks, Fire Wall & Raft Lights > Raft light show. Switch Raft Light Show ON and visit after dusk. |
| Fire Wall | Fireworks, Fire Wall & Raft Lights > Fire the wall. To stop automatic runs: Flyby wall (automatic) OFF, then Stop. |
| Play The Golden Drop | Finish the tour, open The Golden Drop, START ROUND, take off, then DROP. |
| Drop with a controller | Assign SPRAY ON in the simulator, keep SPRAY ON SHORTCUT ON, then press once per attempt. |
| Try another bag | After attempts 1-4, choose Next Drop. After attempt 5, the round ends: review it or choose PLAY AGAIN. Five hits in one round is a Perfect Score. |
| Open the TL side door | Stop 12: keypad code 0713. |
Greg Koontz’s Sky Country Lodge (AL60) - Visitor’s Manual
Manual edition: 23 October 2026. Describes scenery package 1.0.0 and tablet app 1.0.0 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PC.
Created by Nicholas Raupp, Hangar Studios 713.
The HTML edition works offline and contains the same guidance and illustrations as the printable PDF.
This manual covers the Sky Country Lodge scenery app. The separate HS713 Pyrotechnics App has its own manual. This is flight-simulator entertainment, not an aviation chart, real-world operating manual or pyrotechnics instruction.
Sky Country Lodge / Hangar Studios 713. Microsoft Flight Simulator is a Microsoft product. Fonts: Inter, Gelasio (SIL OFL 1.1).