The Mystery of Morón

[Nels_Anderson]

Area 51 is probably the most famous "secret" location. But in MSFS 2020 it's just another airport, KXTA. Get in your Janet 737 in Las Vegas and take a quick flight north and you're there.

 

So, if Area 51 is included in the sim, what could be so secret as to be blanked out?

 

Here's the answer: Morón

 

That would be Morón Air Base (LEMO) located in Spain near Seville. Try looking it up, LEMO is not in the MSFS 2020 airport database.

 

Look for it on the map and you'll see this:

 

 

Though if you zoom out a bit you'll see an airport really is there:

 

 

Try flying there and you'll see the road network that matches that shown on Google Maps, but the roads are surrounding by weird vegetation that looks out of place:

 

 

 

The base doesn't seem all that secret. There's a long Wikipedia article about it:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morón_Air_Base

 

Google maps shows it in the usual detail, but it is blanked on in Bing maps.

 

Anyone found any similar secret locations? Tell use about them below!

[loki]

1 hour ago, Nels_Anderson said:

The base doesn't seem all that secret. There's a long Wikipedia article about it:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morón_Air_Base

 

Google maps shows it in the usual detail, but it is blanked on in Bing maps.

 

Anyone found any similar secret locations? Tell use about them below!

A number of countries require that their military bases be blurred out on Google Maps and similar applications, so these aren't secret in the same vein as Area 51. The French naval base in Brest is another one I came across recently.

[ScottishMike]

Moron (LEMO) in FS9:

 

 

 

[Nels_Anderson]

Interesting, so it was OK to include it in FS2004, but not in MSFS 2020.

 

I do see that Brest is covered too, but that's a navy base and not an airport so not as obvious.

 

I was also recently at Rota and going back I now see that part of it is covered, but not the airport portion.

[loki]

I suspect the difference is that FS2004 both flew under the radar and is not 100% accurate compared to the real airport. Google Maps launched in 2005 (there were commercial services available a few years prior, but those were often expensive) and would have started attracting the attention of governments after that which, unlike the sim, does offer accurate views of military bases and other locations. Nothing the likes of government agencies with direct access to spy satellites wouldn't already have access to, but would be new for terrorist groups and others that may try to cause trouble. As MSFS2020 draws heavily on satellite imagery from Bing Maps and elsewhere, it would be more directly affected.

 

Blurring the imagery is a good way to attract attention though.

 

https://fas.org/publication/widespread-blurring-of-satellite-images-reveals-secret-facilities/

 

On the other hand, with the wide availability of drones these days, I'm not sure blurring the photos really does much. Or one can look for imagery from a company or country that doesn't go along with the requests.

[ScottishMike]

There is an airfield in England, but I canno't tell you about it as I would be in breach of the Official Secrets Act....

[Nels_Anderson]

That publication article is certainly interesting, talking about the unexpected effects of doing this.

 

I can understand the reasoning, though whether it actually does any good is questionable.

 

Guess I'll have to give up flying into Moron AB, but a nice trip to Area 51 is still possible at least

[PhrogPhlyer]

1 hour ago, Nels_Anderson said:

I'll have to give up flying into Moron AB, but a nice trip to Area 51 is still possible at least

Since I don't have 2020 I cant check myself, but, I wonder if  flights in South Korea will show Osan Air Base and other military fields in the greater Seoul area. Much of this is shown as solid trees in Google Earth due to possibly being used by North Korea for targeting and military strength considerations.

[loki]

1 hour ago, Nels_Anderson said:

Guess I'll have to give up flying into Moron AB

Someone made an add-on for the airbase if you want to keep flying there.

 

https://flightsim.to/file/18620/lemo-airport-morn-de-la-frontera

[Nels_Anderson]

1 hour ago, PhrogPhlyer said:

Since I don't have 2020 I cant check myself, but, I wonder if  flights in South Korea will show Osan Air Base and other military fields in the greater Seoul area. Much of this is shown as solid trees in Google Earth due to possibly being used by North Korea for targeting and military strength considerations.

 

Nope, nothing blocked around Osan AB. Here's the planner view:

 

 

I took a quick flight and it's not particularly interesting scenery, but it's there:

 

 

 

 

[Nels_Anderson]

1 hour ago, loki said:

Someone made an add-on for the airbase if you want to keep flying there.

 

 

Ah the wonders of freeware... it's pretty basic scenery but at least it let me log a landing at LEMO:

 

 

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

2 hours ago, Nels_Anderson said:

nothing blocked around Osan AB

That's interesting. I just checked Google Earth again, and this is the first time it's not been blocked there in a couple decades.

Flying north from Osan, through the Seoul corridor and then more north to near the DMZ, in real flying it gets very austere and very militaristic (road blocks, military equipment, concrete barriers across the rivers, etc. Plus you can fly by the mountain that is seen in the opening credits of the MASH TV series. That scene with the helo flying in it is actually in Korea.

[chicagorandy]

I thought the helicopter opening scene and the series exteriors were filmed in Malibu Creek State Park in California?

[PhrogPhlyer]

10 minutes ago, chicagorandy said:

helicopter opening scene

I'll take a hit on this one. When I got my first area familiarization flight in Korea, the Army pilot with us  (Marine CH-46) flew us past the original 4077th location and told me that the opening shot was filmed there. Another Army pulling a Marine's leg apparently.

Thanks

[Buck Turgidson]

On 7/20/2023 at 3:49 AM, Nels_Anderson said:

Anyone found any similar secret locations? Tell use about them below!

Mount Angel above  Monaco.  Actually in France  Prince of Monaco has a villa there along with some French defense installation.  Far too good to be seen by the likes of mere commoners!

[Nels_Anderson]

That's one I would never have expected. Looks like it's actually "Mount Agel" though. It's definitely blurred in both Google and Bing maps.

 

I'm actually headed towards Monaco....I've been traveling the coast of Europe and ended in Malaga, Spain yesterday and am headed east so should be able to check this out in MSFS 2020 in a few days...

[tiger1962]

Take care Nels, the further East you go in the Med, the more political this is going to get... The Greek authorities have arrested British planespotters for taking photos at their airbases before now. I wouldn't expect to find anything but tourism industry airports in this region.

[Nels_Anderson]

7 hours ago, tiger1962 said:

Take care Nels, the further East you go in the Med, the more political this is going to get... The Greek authorities have arrested British planespotters for taking photos at their airbases before now. I wouldn't expect to find anything but tourism industry airports in this region.

 

Well then maybe when I get to that area I'll skip Greece and explore somewhere else...