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Making a Simulated Norway Getaway

Sometimes simulator trips can be just as surprising as real-life and this Microsoft Flight Simulator journey to Norway was no exception.

Predawn arrival into Norway’s Kristiansund Airport (ENKB) became so spectacular I just had to showcase it. [Courtesy: Peter James]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The author describes an immersive virtual exploration of Norway in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 during winter, highlighting the region's stunning beauty and challenging conditions.
  • A key element of the experience is manually programming weather scenarios to achieve enhanced realism, visual appeal (e.g., fine-tuning visibility), and specific flight challenges beyond what real-time weather offers.
  • The article showcases diverse aircraft, including the Boeing 787-9, Citation Longitude, and a ski-equipped Cessna 172, along with add-ons like ATC Chatter and FSRealistic, to heighten immersion and realism in virtual flights.
  • The author emphasizes the flexibility of tweaking in-sim settings, such as weather and time, during a flight to optimize for desired visual effects (like prolonging the "golden hour") and dynamic flying conditions.
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Often I will set out to formulate a piece within Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (MFS2020) or X-Plane 12 only to completely redo it as I go. Part of the fun in showcasing these sims is that I am often surprised and shocked at something that steals the show or at least deviates from my theme at hand. This is another example. I recently flew in real time from the U.S. over to Europe to explore. Norway is a place I had not been to in MFS2020, and I have never gone in real life either.

To get a taste of winter, I decided to manually input weather. There are several reasons to make your own weather scenarios:

Peter James

Peter is an experienced Part 135 business jet pilot with a passion for simulators and how they blend with the real world. Learning to fly at age 12, he supplemented his passion and career goals with the early versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator. With the growing realism of all PC simulators today, he frequently uses them for extra proficiency, and loves to show other pilots how great they are.

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