British Airports Vol. 1-4

Published by Just Flight
Developed by Gary Summons UK2000
Platform: PC CD-ROM
Price £19.99 per volume
Requires: MS Flight Sim 2002
Released: Out Now

Real flight simulator enthusiasts demand the greatest detail from their simulation software. Out of the box Microsoft Flight Simulator looks good to the casual observer but to the enthusiast it is merely a blank canvas just waiting for those detailed touches to be added. Of course extra aircraft are always welcome but what really adds to the experience are the detailed airports that are available. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 includes all the airports in name only. If you look at Luton Airport for instance you’ll find that it’s just a generic effort. If you want authenticity you’re going to have to acquire it.

When it comes to adding extra airports you have one of three choices. You can create your own, download some of the free ones off the Internet or you can pay for some of the quality creations. If like me you couldn’t design your own to save your life and you’re not prepared to sift through the mediocre efforts on the Internet then there is really only one option. Just Flight have just released four volumes of British Airports for Microsoft Simulator 2002 and they are very impressive. Let’s take a look at what airports have been included.

British Airports – South East England (Vol.1)
Benson AB, Biggin Hill, Blackbushe, Booker, Canterbury, Chalgrove, Denham, Elstree, Fairoaks, Farnborough, Gatwick, Goodwood, Headcorn, Heathrow, Lasham, London City, Lydd, Manston, Northolt AB, North Weald, Odiham AB, Redhill, Rochester, Shoreham, Southend, Stapleford, Thruxton and White Waltham.

British Airports – Eastern England (Vol.2)
Audley End, Andrewsfield, Beccles, Bourn, Cambridge, Chatteris, Clacton, Coltishall AB, Cromer, Crowfield, Crowland, Duxford, Earls Colne, Elmsett, Fenland, Fowlmere, Great Massingham, Henlow AB, Lakenheath AB, Little Snoring, Ludham, Luton, Marham AB, Midlenhall AB, Norwich, Old Buckenham, Old Warden, Panshanger, Seething, Shipdham, Stansted, Swanton Morley AB and Wattisham (Army).

British Airport – South & South-West England (Vol. 3)
Alderney, Bernbridge, Bodmin, Boscombe Down (MOD), Bournemouth, Bristol, Chivenor, Compton-Abbas, Culdrose (Navy), Davidstow Moor, Dunkeswell, Eaglescott, Exeter, Fitton, Guernsey, Henstridge, Jersey, Lee on Solent, Lyneham AB, Middle Wallop (Army) Netheravon (Army), Old Sarum, Perranporth, Plymouth, Sandown, St. Just, St Mary’s, St. Mawgan AB, Southampton Intl, Truro, Upavon (Army) Yeovilton (Navy) and Yeovil/Westland.

British Airports – Central England (Vol.4)
Birmingham, Brize Norton AB, Bruntingthorpe, Connington, Cottesmore AB, Coventry, Cranfield, Deenthorpe, East Midlands, Enstone, Fairford, Finmere, Halton AB, Hinton, Kemble, Kidlington, Leicester, Langar, Little Gransden, Little Staughton, Nottingham, Oaksey Park, Saltby, Shotteswell, Sibson, Sywell, Thame, Turweston, Wellesbourne Mountford, Wittering AB and a bonus inclusion of Manchester Airport.

Installation was very easy. You just select install from the autorun menu (there is a Just Flight promo movie that isn’t subtitled but you can quit this) and then run Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002. On loading Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 it automatically detected that new scenery was available and installed it without a problem. To use either airport you create a flight and select ‘Search Add-on scenery’ to see all the airports you have installed. It’s that easy.

Each volume is chock full of airports and it is very easy to see that each of the volumes are well worth their price tag. Now I’m not going to tell fibs and claim that each one of these airports have been accurately modelled because I simply haven’t been to all these airports. What I can say though is that the ones I have seen look great. The attention to detail is superb and the inclusion of static and AI aircraft at the airports help to avoid the empty world feeling that you so often have with Microsoft Flight Simulator. Even the military airbases have their appropriate aircraft and they look great. There are some major and minor airports that have been included but no matter how small the airport, the attention to detail is just the same. There are even grass runways where appropriate. At Thruxton you can even see the racetrack.

If you are serious about flight simulations and want to seriously beef up the detail of British airports in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 then these volumes are a necessity. For just under £20 each you’ll have a brilliant amount of highly detailed airports. It’s software such as this which gives MS Flight Sim it’s legendary status. This is top stuff from Gary Summons and Just Flight.

Overall Game Rating: 9.4/10 This is a super collection of British Airports and a must have for MS Flight Simulator enthusiasts. Each volume is superb value for money.

Deaf Gamers comment: Exactly the same as Microsoft Flight Simulator in terms of suitability for deaf gamers.

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