Bear's Cave The world of Flight Simulators short reviews by Steve "Bear" Cartwright Last week we saw the number of uploads drop off slightly from previous weeks, but I was able to find some real gems despite this. Check out this week's Top 5 Picks, as I'm sure there something there you will like! 25-Feb-2001 Alaskan Airport A by Frank Betts alaskaairporta.zip uploaded 18-Feb-2001 2,134Kb FS2000 I wouldn't classify this scenery package as another "Alaska Bush" scenery, as it's really more of a complete airport with the surrounding area also included in the package. Frank Betts, using Derek Leung's "Flight Simulator Scenery Creator", has developed this airport with the community of cabins and nearby village more in the tradition of a major airport, more like what you would find in the lower 48. Frank's airport includes, paved runway, concrete taxiways/ramps, large open hangers, control tower, and 3D cars in the parking lot. There are evergreen and seasonal trees surrounding all this, plus there are two nearby lakes with a large number of cabins dotting their shorelines. Approaching this airport will give you some truly beautiful scenic views with many snow covered mountains and high country meadows around; this is especially true if you have one of the mesh scenerys installed along with Lennart's Textures. Alaska Airport A has two runways (one paved and the other dirt), the paved runway is equipped with an ILS and the scenery package includes a VOR and NDB station also. Frank also states, in his readme file, that he will be glad to send you some FSTracks, by e-mail, if you request. This airport is of course fictional, but is still a nice addition to this mostly desolate part of Alaska/British Columbia. As with a lot of locations in Alaska or in British Columbia, getting there is half the fun (you can fly from Ketchikan, AK to Alaska Airport A by flying on a heading of 350º for a distance of 142nm), but if you wish to start out in Alaska Airport A, then you need to do a search in "Go To Airport" ("World" dropdown menu) under the Airport ID section. Enter in the airport ID of KAAA and this will take you to Alaska Airport A! Nothing to it! ...Bear! 25-Feb-2001 Welcome to Last Stop by Don Moser last_stop.zip uploaded 19-Feb-2001 1,802Kb FS2000 Don Moser (Alaska by Don) has given us all several outstanding "bush" sceneries for the State of Alaska and he continues with his latest Last Stop which is located roughly halfway between Nome and Crestwood (AK). As before, this is a 4 season scenery, but one of the first things you will notice is Don's latest Fir Tree macro... it's really really good! I grew up in the mountains of Oregon and I've got to say that Don's latest tree macro really makes me homesick! Last Stop includes a gun shop, bar, hotel, a doctor's office, veterinarian's office, plus a flight service center. There's a 3,000 foot gravel hard runway with a small curving lake (which freezes over in the winter months) nearby, for all the float and ski planes stopping here. Installation is as usual, very easy, and this location will also appear in the default MS2K maps and GPS. Don has provided all of us with some really outstanding bush sceneries to date, but I think that I'm of the belief that this in many ways is his best so far. I really like these trees...! Another gem from Alaska by Don! ...Bear! 25-Feb-2001 East Midlands Airport v2 by John Walker eastmids_v2.zip uploaded 18-Feb-2001 1,171Kb FS2000 This is John's second rendition of the East Midlands Airport (United Kingdom), but he's fixed some of the quirks he had with his first release, like the building crashes and missing textures, plus he's added the New DHL Cargo facility as well with this release. If you are running your sim on the Dense setting for scenery, then John has a set of static aircraft (most in British Airways livery) that will also appear. Like many other scenery designers, John too is keeping it simple; accurate, but simple none the less. This greatly adds to the immersion into the sim without sacrificing frame rates, a good choice in my opinion. Everything has been improved over the default with John's design, right down to including boarding stairs for the static aircraft. All the taxiways are marked and signed correctly, the ramp concrete is very realistic appearing; everything about John's work is very good and very realistic in appearance! This is another in a series of excellent scenery add-ons that John has done and I really enjoy his work, keep it up John and thank you! ...Bear! 25-Feb-2001 Teesside Airport v1.0 by Don Alexander egnv10.zip uploaded uploaded 20-Feb-2001 480Kb FS2000 Teesside International Airport is located roughly halfway between Newcastle and Leeds in the United Kingdom. Microsoft treated this airport with simply a generic runway and a couple of generic buildings, but Don Alexander has greatly improved on the default by adding the correct taxiways, the old RAF buildings, a more accurate terminal, the addition of other adjoining buildings, and improved night lighting. The majority of this was done by using generic textures from FS2K. Don explains in his readme file that he lacked suitable photographs for getting the building textures exactly correct, but all of the buildings, taxiways, and such are correctly placed. Don plans an update to add the corrected building textures; that is, once he's had the opportunity to visit Teesside International himself. Though I've stated before that I enjoy some of the truly outstanding airport sceneries that have become available recently, I still like the idea of keeping things simple too. Don has done a wonderful job on TIA and by keeping things simpler; frame rates don't become an issue. Teesside is a default location in FS2000, so getting there is obviously easy. Leeds is 39 nm away on a heading of 197º and Newcastle is only 33 nm with a heading of 351º (both headings given are if you're flying from Teesside). Check this scenery out, particularly if you fly in the United Kingdom! ...Bear! 25-Feb-2001 Colgan Air Raytheon/Beechcraft 1900D by Premier Aircraft Design b19cgn2k.zip uploaded 24-Feb-2001 206Kb FS2000 Beechcraft's answer to the Regional Commuter Twin-Turboprop class of aircraft is the 1900D, and Barry Blaisdell with Bob May (of Premier Aircraft Design) answer to an FS example of this aircraft is very good and worth a second look by all those that may be interested in this class of aircraft. Don't be fooled by the file size, this aircraft in all respects is very well done and very well executed as Barry Blasidell handled the aircraft design and FDE, with Bob May doing the excellent texturing work. This aircraft's file size is relatively small because Barry & Bob haven't included a panel or sounds, but make use of the default King Air panel and sounds. (the package includes an additional air, panel, and sound file if the user is using the Standard edition of FS2000). Barry's air file work feels to be an improved version of the default King Air file—far more stable on pitch/trim control though—and with the roll rate slowed more to the size an weight of this aircraft. Having read test reports on the real thing, I've noticed that one of the comments most often made (with the real Beech 1900D) is the requirement of the pilot to think ahead an to watch your approach speeds, as the 1900D is pretty tough to slow down and this FS aircraft has to be worked with in this area, to coax it down to your proper approach and landing speeds. It's Bob's night textures that really stand out, with lighted passenger windows and low red-lit cockpit, but it's the blue flame from the turbine exhausts that's most interesting. Over all this an interesting addition to my aircraft inventory and you might want to take a look at it also! ...Bear! Tell A Friend About these Reviews!   Standard Disclaimer These reviews above are a subjective assessment of the work of the authors. 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