Mxp Arrivals 1 And 2

By Nick J. Ross (4 October 2004)

By default, these are flown in default aircraft (Boeing 737-400) but it is possible to change the aircraft you fly once airborne. Approaches are flown by different carriers, and so call signs and voices change accordingly.

Each flight available provides full information on the approaches, including IFR charts and detailed instructions to guide you to your destination.

From an organisation which prides itself on being comprised of professional pilots, there is a lot to expect; maybe. I am however always wary of this; no doubt there is extra insight into realism, but some of the pilots I have met have not been entirely imaginative on the computer side, shy of filling in load sheets on the Airbus A319 laptop and sneaking some solitaire and pinball into the working day.

However the product is quite impressive. Upon choosing a flight you are thrown into the aircraft, typically around FL200 some distance away from the destination airport. The flight plans are pre-loaded into the GPS and so keeping the GPS on guides the aircraft to the airport without too much interference from you.

The user mostly has to concentrate on maintaining altitudes and speeds. All this is done in an environment which is both scenic (approaches over mountains are my favorite!) and which sounds realistic. Over two hours of ATC chat is featured in each pack, recorded from actual flights.

For building up a realistic environment for flying through, this product does it very well. There are some drawbacks however. For example there are no repercussions if you do not follow instructions. The audio simply continues; in Three Real Flights, points were knocked-off whenever the pilot did not comply correctly. However this product should be thought of more as an experience rather than a learning exercise as such. There are other areas where you feel that as the pilot you feel somewhat out-of-the-loop. For example when asked to change frequency this will be done automatically. Perhaps a good simulation of a co-pilot, but some level of user input would be nice.

Overall, this is a another good product for building up a realistic working environment for the virtual pilot to fly through. Think of this mostly in an entertainment sense, with the ATC effects making quite an easy flight down into Milan slightly more interesting. Options for flights are fairly broad too, but I can't help feel more integration in other products would make an add-on like this even more worthwhile. For example flights that start in one place and progress into, say, Milan where they integrate with real ATC.

Things in this arena of real ATC seem to be progressing well, and I imagine it is only a matter of time. Besides, Microsoft's default controllers are gradually becoming tiresome and whether they will survive another release or two is a question open to opinion.

Details:

See http://www.mgsim.com for purchases and other details. MGSim also offers a downloadable demo for those still not quite sure if they want to purchase.

Nick J. Ross
skytecuk@hotmail.com

Mxp Arrivals is available from http://www.mgsim.com