Hi Guys,I confess to being a dunderhead when it comes mesh and scenery design so I'm not sure if I have even posted this in the correct forum. I am looking for FSX quality Antarctic scenery and mesh, in particular Mt Erebus, Ross Is. By way of background, it has been 30 years since Air New Zealand lost a DC-10 on the side of Mt Erebus with the tragic loss of 257 lives. As a an RNZAF C130 aircrew member at the time I was involved with body recovery operations but the most significant memory I have of the accident occurred a year afterwards when I crewed a flight which followed the final path of the DC-10 for the benefit of our passengers. Those passengers were Justice Peter Mahon (head of the Commission of Inquiry into the accident), Sir Rochford Hughes (ex Chief of Air Staff and technical advisor to Justice Mahon) and Ron Chippendale (the NZ Air Accident Investigator). It was an absolutely perfect day with Mt Erebus (an active volcano) pluming against the blue sky. On the 28 November 1979 the weather was somewhat more dismal for the crew and passengers of flight TE 901 and 5 minutes or so before the accident the crew had conducted a full 360 degree racetrack pattern as they attempted to get their bearings. A year later the crew and passengers on my C-130 flight looked chillingly at Mt Erebus after conducting the same pattern before finally approaching the mountain on this crystal clear day. We flew over the 300 foot ice cliff (about which time the GPWS alert sounded on the ill fated DC-10) and carried on up the 13 degree slope of the mountain before turning away at the crash site. The Air New Zealand 'Koru" insignia on the vertical stabiliser was still visible and the rest of the wreckage, strewn over two crevasses and beyond was coloured grey from a light dusting of snow. The fallout from the accident went on for many years as arguments over who was to blame (the pilots or Air New Zealand) ensued. To a lesser extent, they still go on today. I saw somewhere on another forum on this site (the FSX forum I think but I could be wrong) some one being slammed for wanting to recreate an accident flight. They likened him to someone who tried to recreate flying a 767 into the twin towers after 9/11. Well I suppose to some there may be a morbid curiosty in imagining what it must have been like to be on the accident aircraft but I assure you all such curiosity has long since departed my mind if indeed it was ever there. Indeed, I rather wish imagination was all I had regarding the matter. There is however one enduring mystery that surrounds this flight. Why did Captain Jim Collins fly his aircraft below cloud and then crash into a mountain in VMC conditions? The answer is complex but centres around Collins believing (as he was briefed) that he was over flat ice (like all the previous flights) when in fact the co-ordinates for his flight had been changed the night before by airline operations staff to take his aircraft directly over Erebus; and the unusual conditions of whiteout. For a number of reasons I have not really wanted to 'go there' again but recent flight simulation activities coupled with 30th anniversary of the disaster has rekindled my technical interest in the event. I tried setting up similar weather condtions and flew the aircraft to the spot where Collins probably thought he was (some 27nm west of from Erebus). I then set it up at the spot just prior to where where Collins flew the racetrack pattern. There is erringly similar terrain off to the right and since Collins had never been there before it must have reinforced his belief that he was where he thought he was and not somewhere else. Even in FSX, though I am VMC at 2000 feet, I can't see the mountain only a few miles in front of me! Unfortunately what I can see is an FSX distortion. What should be a 300 foot ice cliff at the base of Mt Erebus turns out to be 4500 foot ice cliff!! I guess this is a mesh problem or is it a pin cushion effect described by some posters a few years ago when talking about the inability for FS2002 and FS9 to properly account for scenery below certain latitudes? Is there any good scenery for Ross Island?. My searching of these forums comes up with posts that are years old but one suggested DEM data (is that right?) was freely available on the Internet. I wondered whether anyone had used it. A search of the Avsim library didn't bring up much although it did include some FSX McMurdo scenery which added some features to the ice runway but didn't do anything for the Ross Is/Mt Erebus mesh.Please understand I am not trying to use FSX to prove or disprove anything with regard to this disaster. It is for my own personal understanding of the event, something I perhaps didn't want to do so many years ago. So, can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance.Kind RegardsTerry

I must agree with you, this is one great tragedy ! If I understand you well...then this just might be what you looking for :http://www.limesim.com/products/fsx/antarcticax/index.htmlBut,as you can see,we must wait for about 3-6 months, cuz release is planned for 2nd quarter, 2010... FSX is very bad when it comes to Antartica mesh and when you go enough south (or north) then the sim won't show you any terrain !?!

What will unfortunately not be included: Everything further down than 85

Hi Shnala. Sorry I didn't respond to your post earlier but I have been away on holiday and have only just got back. Thank you very much for that link to limesim.com and their product Antarctica X. I didn't know about this but I am really glad someone is doing something for this area of the world. This is exactly what I was looking for. I may have to wait a bit, but it looks like it will be worth the wait. Yeah, it was a cool movie. :( Once again, thanks Shnala.Terry