After a long, quiet flight, the first land I spotted was Daitō-jima far to the left, then – suddenly – Iwo Jima appeared on the horizon, shaped almost like a lamb chop against the deep blue ocean.
From the air, all three former Japanese airfields can still be seen: Motoyama 1, 2 and 3. I descended VFR, cancelled ATC (they had me too high), turned along the east side of the island, and made a 180-degree sweep to lose altitude – then lined up over Mt. Suribachi for final approach.
The current airfield, Iwo Jima Air Base (RJOI), lies on the site of Motoyama 1. It still looks clearly military in the sim, which matches reality: it is used today by the US Air Force, even though the island itself remains Japanese territory.
Eighty years have passed since the battle. The view of Mt. Suribachi, where the famous flag-raising took place, still carries a strange weight. That single photograph became the model for the US Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Clint Eastwood later told both sides of that story – first in Flags of Our Fathers and then, even more profoundly, in Letters from Iwo Jima, the Japanese perspective.
For me, this flight was not just a route across the Pacific, but a quiet tribute to all who fought and died there – on both sides.
