PC Pilot Magazine, May - June 2003 Issue

NEWS - Some early details of the forthcoming Duch FS show in September, and two new scenery packages that should liven up Scotland and London. PSS do their bit to get a Vulcan back in the air again, and Perfect Flight bring out some free adventures and the BA instalment in their ongoing series. News on updates to Weather Maker and from the Red Arrows freeware team, a new flight simulator at the Tangmere aviation museum, and a new airliner sound package from the developer of FS Addon Manager.

REVIEWS - We’re amazed by the awesome quality of the Briefing Time B-25 Mitchell, and get serious in Captain Simulations Legendary 727. A pair of Pipers – the Meridian and Dakota – prove that light aircraft don’t need to be basic, and we fly two legendary jets, the Vulcan and Tornado. There’s some brand-new freeware gems in the shape of a Concorde and the revolutionary B-307 Stratoliner, and we touch down on some new UK and Irish airfields. FSHotSEat has us sharpening up our cockpit skills, and it’s back to basics in three microlight packages.

PREVIEWS - A look at what we can expect to see in this summer’s big release – Microsoft’s Flight Simulator A Century of Flight. A brand new sim that will consign all our current add-ons to the attic, or a refined and updated FS2002 with a clutch of new planes and a historical twist? We were lucky enough to get a sneak preview in Seattle.

HARDWARE - A couple of ways to expand your virtual flight visuals – it’s high time those single monitors had some company, and it’s really not at all complicated once you get past the jargon.

FEATURES - We take a lesson in thermal theory and see what’s available for the glider pilot in FS2002. A reluctant reviewer has his copy of FS2002 removed and replaced with X-Plane – and is duly impressed. There’s also a look behind the scenes of a TV documentary looking at how today’s RAF cope with the famous Dam Busters missions using a Lancaster sim and the very same FS software we run on our PCs.

TUTORIAL - In this issue we lighten our workload and let the GPS take the strain. It’s back to the US this time for a flight from the oldest continually operating airport in the world, College Park, Maryland, to Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.