Three Real Flights

By Nick J. Ross (15 April 2003)

In this product we are given interactive audio from three recorded flights, replicating exactly the transmissions on each flight. All this comes on one rather basic disc and to install you are required to browse to the required setup program, either for FS2002, or FS2000. Installation is fairly rapid, and the program disappears somewhere into the depths of the hard drive. This is not something you can easily locate, or find on the start menu, and therefore it seems to be embedded somewhere in Flight Simulator. The important thing is that it is there, however, and it can be accessed through the relevant adventures section of the program. Total program size is around 235 mb.

I personally trialled this software in FS2002, but the operations manuals included on the disk (in .pdf format) explain how they may be used in FS2000. Funnily enough, there are 3 Flights to choose from and full and detailed documentation is provided for each (I would, as the manual suggests, read these thoroughly). These flights are; Flight 106, London Gatwick to Vienna; A Piper Cherokee Flight from Hobby Airport, Houston to San Antonio and finally Flight 9973 from London Stansted to Malaga. Each flight, as the documentation explains, was actually flown, and the exact conditions and transmissions of the flights are included within the remit of Flight Simulator's limits.

A notable aspect of this product is its somewhat outdated nature. From the installation to the actual flights, one gets the impression that 3 Real Flights is a little behind the times; indeed, development of the product dates back to FS98 and (Flight 106 was being designed for '98) and possibly before! (the press release mentions- "a significant add-on product to Microsoft's Flight Simulator(tm), first introduced in the 1980's). We see this in the manual, a mix between modern documentation and a logo which looks like it was taken from a game in Sega's heyday. In flight, all instructions come through the classic green ticker along the top of the screen; again a throwback to FS98.

Such things give it an outdated image. Similarly there are other limitations in the product. For example, all flights are flown with FlightSim default aircraft and you cannot change these without delving into the depths of code. Therein lays one problem where your Piper Cherokee Flight is instead flown in a Cessna. Similarly you are alone in the skies as all other traffic is disabled on the adventures. Some dynamic scenery comes with Flight 106, but I am yet to spot it.

Interactive ATC is met through tuning your radios to the appropriate frequency, specified by the ominous green ticker and to be found in the documentation for each flight. Documents are comprehensive, and are taken from the actual documents used. The scope for careful flight planning is therefore large.

By tuning you are passed over to the next controller and your pilot automatically responds with high quality real-world audio. The quality is good overall and hearing some of the 22 hours of recordings for the first time really did bring a smile to my face. It is certainly a leap in terms of ATC--you get real world transmissions, that real-world feel and also the confusion over what on earth the controller has just told you to do.

However, there are some keys you can hit which tell you what you should be doing at that stage. Sadly these keys vary with each flight. Hitting the appropriate key will also tell you your rating thus far; yes, decode the transmissions properly and obey instructions to the letter and you may be given a positive rating. This, I thought was a nice idea, and it allows you to participate in a competition on the Real ATC website; "Top pilot awards will go to the highest total ratings for all three flights. Up-to-date contest details are available on www.realatc.com/contest.htm

I like the idea of real ATC and I believe it has potential. I also agree with Zimmermann, the creator of this product and other fine works (Turboprop SGA sound for MS FS4.0(tm); Las Vegas scenery) that real flight recordings could make Flight Simulator far more immersive. However after so many stages of development and many years, I remain unconvinced by this product. Arguably, its affordability gives it a 'shareware' type image and it could have been made more 'user friendly'. There is no visual interface to make this product interactive, and it is certainly in some respects, more of a challenge than it needs to be.

In terms of flying I like it though; I like the experience of hearing real transmissions. The flying is also a challenge, and while I would consider myself a good pilot, I'm yet to get a rating I can be anywhere near proud of. I can however see the cracks of repetitiveness appearing and I'm not sure I would fly the flights many times over. I stress however that the idea behind this product was a good one; it is the execution that could be greatly improved. I do urge you to purchase this product; it adds a new dimension to desktop flying, but also one can set personal benchmarks and try and meet them. Certainly this is a new flight experience, though perhaps not as exciting as we might have anticipated; still it deserves to adorn any avid flight-simmer's shelf as a break from the norm and more of a benchmark add-on that we have grown to expect from Zimmermann in the past.

Nick J. Ross
nick@skytecaerospace.com

3 Real Flights is currently available at $15.95 from www.realatc.com