lfred Poor
is one of the more prolific writers involved with flight simulation.
He already has several books to his credit and has written columns
for magazines such as Computer Shopper and
Full Throttle.Alfred Poor's Cross Country is subtitled "30 VFR Flights for MicroSoft Flight Simulator 5.1". It's also guaranteed to work with Flight Simulator for Windows 95. These flights actually started as a column in Full Throttle which has proved quite popular. This book includes the flights from the first 15 magazine columns plus 15 all new flights. Half of the flights require only the default scenery while the other half use such popular commercial scenery packages as Hawaii, Japan, Las Vegas, New York and the Caribbean.
Each flight is fully planned out. Flights are not just trips between
two arbitrary points either, each flight has a goal in mind that's
fully described as part of the accompanying text. Most flights are
short so they are ideal if you only have an hour or so to sit down
and fly. Since they are all VFR (visual flight) trips even beginner
flight sim users should be able to successfully complete any of
them.
ne really nice
aspect of the trips is how real world aviation knowledge is
slipped into each one. You'll find yourself learning about aviation
without realizing it if you pay attention to the trip descriptions.
Just the fact that each trip is planned to meet all FAA legal
requirements is a big part of it.But even more you'll learn about FAA airspace limits and how to fly realistically around them. You'll learn navigation techniques. You'll even pick up little tips like the meaning of runway markings. It's a lot more fun learning about flying while flying than picking up the FAA's rule book!
For those who want to increase their realism even more there are several extra chapters at the end. These describe such things as pre-flight checklists and other piloting techniques. Also covered are ways to make your computer simulator more realistic, from simple no-cost techniques right through expensive add-on hardware.
ltimately, the test
of the book is how well the described flights work out. They are
fully planned with the level of detail that is usually only taken
by student pilots. But do they work as planned?
 |
|
point for my Cross Country flight. |
The flight plans worked just as they should, with proper headings and leg times. Plans took into account the limitations of flight sim scenery to ensure that the trip could be completed visually.
Now, flight sims claim to realistically recreate the real world. Being a real pilot too, I thought I'd test this by flying the same two trips for real. The book does warn against doing this, but I used up to date aviation charts and other references before doing the trip in addition to the book's flight plans so it was perfectly safe.
 |
 |
|
Block Island soon comes into view. |
the Southbridge, MA airport comes into view. |
The real world rarely cooperates as nicely as computer simulators do. The day I flew the winds were strong from the west, significantly affecting ground speeds. Nevertheless, both flights went completely as described in the flight plans and with leg times only a few minutes different than expected. Alfred Poor describes these flights "As real as I can make it" and I can confirm that this is true.
ne of the biggest
problems with FS5 and FSFW95 is knowing what to do when you sit down
for a flying session. Since it doesn't have missions and goals preset
for you (like, for example, combat sims do) you always need to come
up with a mission. Alfred Poor's Cross Country is an excellent
answer to this problem. Every time you use one of the published
flights you'll have an interesting trip with a reason for flying and
additionally pick up some aviation knowledge. What could be better?
Author Alfred Poor has a section within C|Net's Web site called
Alfred Poor's Aerodrome.
Alfred Poor's Cross Country is published by:
Desktop Wings, Inc.
PO Box 422
Dublin PA 18917
Phone: 800-848-6198 or 215-453-1405
Web:
http://design-web.com/DesktopWings
FAX: 215-453-0286
Review by Nels Anderson
nels@flightsim.com