well my world trip is progressing and I just made the hop from tasmania to new zealand.. I was just wondering if any of you new zealand flightsimulator pilots know of any nice spots to visit while im putting around there...

Explore the South Island, Ben. My favourite flight in FS is Queenstown > Milford Sound with the right mesh loaded and something suitable for the trip. An Islander, Twin Otter or a nice GA aircraft would do well. Perhaps a B1900D or a DC-3 too. Challenging arrival ... here's a screenie of what you get when you get there, though:http://dcascreenshots.com/discus/messages/...html?1085572368You will have just flown low up the fjord behind you to make your approach, having descended from 9,500' over the mountain ranges.Mark "Dark Moment" Beaumonthttp://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

A more relaxed journey, and virtually as scenic is to fly NZNS - NZWN (nelson to Wellington). This is a route flown by Saab 340`s, ATR 72`s and Jetstreams ITRW. Takes about 1/2 an houtGet the lovely new Wellington Scenery in the library today and give it a go!CheersLungs

New Zealand offers a vast range of scenery and challenges. I fly FS in NZ almost exclusively. The biggest problem is getting here - it's a looong flight over water from anywhere! (On the occasions I fly to other places I recommend the Eaglesoft CitationX to transit the Pacific).The thing with NZ is that to make it worth your while you'll need a lot of addons as the default M$ scenery is rubbish. Fortunately there's plenty availanble. I'd suggest spending a day or two setting up "your New Zealand" before you arrive here. Start by searching this site & flightsim.com for addon airports & cityscapes. The NZ 150 mesh/landclass is a must have.Worthwhile NZ addon sites:http://www.geographx.co.nz/ (NZ150 mesh & landclass)http://www.massey.ac.nz/%7Eavweb/papers/fl...esign/index.htm (a heap of addon scenery)http://nzpaintshop.aviahost.com/downloads.php (afcads & addon scenery)http://www.nzscenery.co.nz/ (free photorealistic scenery of Christchurch - big files!)http://www.windowlight.co.nz/ (general info on Kiwi payware & freeware scenery projects)Also Project ai has free ai traffic for Air new Zealand, Qantas, Virgin Blue, freedomair etc to enhance your experience.Generally the starting point for travellers arriving in NZ is NZAA, Auckland International. I'd recommed a trip South, short hops to Wellington taking in Lake Taupo & Mt.Reuhapehu & Taranaki, then cross the strait to nelson & work your way down the Island. It get's spectacular on the west coast of the SI.Happy landingsLonelyplanetXO

Hey LungsDidn't know the Wellington scenery existed! A Wellington boy would love that.I'm running FS9 with Ultimate Traffic. Can I still download/use succesfully? I'm not PC-savvy enough to fix big problems if they occur due to installing incompatible downloads.CheersTim

Me again. Help!I downloaded the 10mb NZFS150 file (.bgl) as discussed, and I get that *&^%$ message that says I can't open it, the computer needs to know how it was created? Or words to that effect....Wadda I do? I search the net, but don't understand what I'm to do next. Is there an idiot-proof way of doing this?Thanks in advanceTim

Howdy Tim,Where did you d/l the NZ150 mesh from? Try the Massey Aviation site rather than GeographX; might just be a file that was corrupted during d/l.

Howdy,Like LonelyPlanet says. :-)South Island can offer some really demanding VFR flying. "Charter" yourself one of Bill Lyon's great Tiger Moths and try a flight from NZNV (Invercargill) around the coast to NZMF (Milford Sound) then up the West Coast to NZHK (Hokitika) using Real Weather. Bush flyin' at it's best. :-)

thank you guys I will do that before i do anything I will set up new zealand :) great that avsim allows me to bookmark topics :)

Howdy Mark,Most excellent screenshot. Thanks for sharing.Just recently, have been reading about Amphibian Airways and West Coast Air who flew the Sounds (as far south as Jackson's Bay) in the early 1930s-60s. Was over the Coast a month or so ago; unfortunately impending bad weather meant the Haast would be closed, so we only got as far as Franz Joesph (and Fox) Glaciers. Couldn't get over the number of flightseeing charters that buzzed the Franz during the tramp up.

Hi TimYeah, its just been released by the Godzone team. Another cracker from them, though its a little punishing for my aging system when near the airport.You should be OK with UT. I`m running it here also and the Wellington install contains an afcad2 file which should do the business.PS shame about the AB`s - sounded like the Boks were on form..CheersLungs

Hmmm, Amphibian airways? How about this freeware skin for Bill Lyons Goose. The screenie is off the coast of Christchurch. It's available at flightsim.com. Yeah, I know Sea Bee Air didn't go that far South but it's fun to fly locally anyways :)

Howdy,Yep, that SeaBee repaint is somethin' else. Understand there is a Widgeon in the making; so I'm already sharpening up the virtual paintbrush to do me an Amphibious Airways scheme. :-lol

Cheers Lungs.I'll d/l it and give it a go. I sussed out the other issue of .bgl files; instead of trying to open them etc I just tsf'd them to the scenery files and it works a treat. Said I wasn't too good at this sort of stuff....AB's got thumped, no two ways about it. Still, must be hard playing there.

/shameless plugKane (Grover) and I are working on a full tour of New Zealand - you can check it out here:http://www.gpforums.co.nz/showthread.php?s=&threadid=207989We've only just made it to the North Island, it's been worked on as time permits. There'll be a complete release "when it's done".Cheers,Mike.