      *** Comprehensive Scenery Disk Review ***

                   February 1, 1990

Introduction
=============





    Section 10 of the GAMERS Forum on Compuserve is a 
meeting place for many avid users of Flight Simulator
software, associated add-on programs, and utilities. In
addition to providing a popular sounding board for high time
"Computer Pilots", it serves as an information center where
new users can discuss program bugs, and quirks, or gain
information and usage tips from experienced users, or in
many cases directly from the programmers.

    Some of the most frequently asked questions concern the
fine set of Scenery Disks which are marketed by SubLOGIC
Corporation of Champaign Ill.

    "What are Scenery Disks?"
   
    "Where can I get Scenery Disks?"
   
     And of course, the most frequently asked question:
   
    "Which Scenery disks are the best ones to acquire?"

    Several active members of the GAMERS FORUM have pooled
time and experience to produce this review, a text file for
LIB10, aimed at those who are interested in expanding their
flight simulation horizons.

    The hours required to completely review all aspects of a
scenery disk would make the task formidable, and, that is
not the intention of this review.  Unknown or undocumented
areas of the scenery make exploring them as much fun as
exploring real world surroundings. In the reviews you will
learn sufficient detail about the disks to help select which
ones you might want to include in your software library.  Of
course the reviewers will be hard pressed to avoid sharing
at least a few favorite flights or scenery adventures.

    So read on.  The following comments come from folks who
have spent many hours soaring around the den on computerized
wings.








Contents
=========





1.  What is a Scenery Disk?

2.  Where can I get Scenery Disks?

3.  Which ones are the Best?

4.  Scenery Disk #1   Reviewed By Lon Curtis     74146,3552

5.  Scenery Disk #2   Reviewed By E.J. Peiker    71630,554

6.  Scenery Disk #3   Reviewed By Jim Ross       70235,143

7.  Scenery Disk #4   Reviewed By Don Simmons    72301,600

8.  Scenery Disk #5   Reviewed by Lon Curtis     74146,3552

9.  Scenery Disk #6   Reviewed By Jeff Horrocks  72247,1462

10. Scenery Disk #7   Reviewed By Jeff Bingham   76576,547

11. Scenery Disk #9   Reviewed By Rick Lee       71361,667

12. Scenery Disk #11  Reviewed By Jim Ross       70235,143

13. Japan Scenery     Reviewed By Tryg Inda      71370,1400

14. European Scenery  Reviewed By Don Simmons    72301,600

15. Hawaiian Scenery  Reviewed By E.J. Peiker    71630,554

16. Scenery Disks at a Glance.

17. In the Works.

    

    Note! In addition to the scenery disks listed above there is a
          disk devoted entirely to the San Francisco area. Recent
          versions of the Flight Simulator program include most of
          its content in the default scenery and for that reason
          the "San Francisco Star" scenery disk is not reviewed
          here.









1. What is a Scenery Disk?

    Scenery disks are an expansion of the flying
environment provided by flight simulation programs. In
order to make use of these scenery disks, you must also
have one of the following flight simulation programs:

    1. Microsoft Flight Simulator
    2. Flight Simulator II
    3. Jet
    4. Thunder Chopper
    5. Stealth Mission
    6. UFO
    7. Flight Simulator ATP (yet to be released)

    Several of the planned scenery disks have yet to be
released, however, most of the U.S.A. is available in
addition to Western Europe and Japan.

    The scenery disk data base(s) are based on actual
navigation charts used in the real aviation world. Although
each scenery disk comes with maps showing which facilities
are included in the database, the maps show very little
detail. Acquisition of the corresponding sectional chart
from a real world aviation supplier is recommended if you
wish to derive maximum enjoyment from your scenery disks.
With the proper charts in hand, you will find that each disk
contains sufficient scenery and radio navigation aids to fly
cross-country flights visually (VFR) or using instrument
navigation procedures (IFR).


2. Where can I get Scenery Disks?

    Scenery Disks are produced by SubLOGIC Corporation.
They are available from many software retailers, however you
may find that the "in stock" selection tends to be somewhat
limited in many cases. Another source of Scenery Disks is
Compuserve's Software Discounters of America. (GO SDA) They
stock all of the available scenery disks at reasonable
prices.  You can also order directly from SubLOGIC by mail
or by phone:

         SubLOGIC Corporation
         501 Kenyon Rd.
         Champaign, IL  61820

         1-800-637-9483










SD-1                       
Texas, Oklahoma & Southwestern Louisiana
Reviewed by Lon Curtis

    Scenery disk number one covers all of Texas except the
far western area, which is on SD-2. Most of Oklahoma and
much of southern Louisiana are also included. This is the
same area depicted on the Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Antonio,
Brownsville and Houston sectional charts. There are 45
airports from the DFW chart, 31 from the Houston chart, and
28 from the San Antonio and Brownsville charts.

    This is one of six original scenery disks. It does not
have fuel points, city detail or enhanced airport detail.
There are no ILSs, VASIs, etc. However, there are numerous
VORs and quite a few NDBs, some of which actually work.

    This part of the U.S. is relatively flat, so there are
no mountains on the SD. However, the area is crossed by a
substantial number of rivers, many of which have been dammed
to create lakes, and there are many lakes on the disk.
Louisiana and Texas, of course, have Gulf of Mexico
coastline, and this in rendered in quite accurate detail,
along with some of the barrier islands which are immediately
adjacent offshore. The Rio Grande River is also accurately
depicted, as are the Red River (between TX & OK), the
Colorado (near Austin), the Canadian (Texas Panhandle
eastward to Oklahoma), and a portion of the Mississippi
north of Baton Rouge. Most of the Interstate Highway system
is included.

    The most scenic portion of this SD is along the Texas
coast from Galveston southwestward to Corpus Christi and
then south to Brownsville. A very nice view can be had at
altitudes from 5,000 on up to the flight levels. A route
from Houston (HUB) to Palacios (PSX) to Corpus Christi (CRP)
to Brownsville (BRO) is ideal for seeing this area. South of
BRO, the scenery includes the northeast coast of Mexico,
including most of the Laguna Madre, a large bay.

    Southwestern Louisiana and the adjacent coastline are
also very interesting areas for visual flight, as is eastern
Oklahoma between Paris, TX and Tulsa, OK.

    This being one of the older SDs, some of the features
we've come to expect on later ones are sorely missed. For
instance, the runways at Dallas Ft. Worth (DFW)
International are canted toward one another, rather than
being truly parallel. Both DFW and Houston Intercontinental
(IAH) have major new runways since the SD was released. A
number of VORs have been moved since the SD was done, but
most of these are not critical. The most notable is at
Oklahoma City (known to aviators as "Oke City"), where the
VOR shown on this SD has been eliminated, and a new one
(called "Will Rogers) installed, in a substantially
different location. 


SD-1 continued.....
  
    Likewise, there have been some frequency changes on
current aeronautical charts from those used on this SD and
the user may want to annotate current charts with the old
frequencies.

    The eastern boundary of the SD occurs at Baton Rouge
(BTR) in the middle of the airfield(!). North of BTR,
Natchez,Mississippi appears on the disk. The western
boundary includes the Midland (TX) VOR and an NDB nearby,
but the Midland aiport is not available. The scenery ends
just west of Lubbock and Amarillo, where SD-2 begins. The
north side of the disk joins SD-6.

                   ********************


















    Suggestion! "Runway USA" is the second book in the Microsoft
                 Press "Flight Simulator Co-Pilot" Series. Let 
                 ace flight simulator pilot Charles Gullick lead
                 you on a guided tour of Scenery disks 1-6. An
                 appendix toward the end of the book is full of
                 hints and tips to help you become a competent
                 flight simulator pilot.   

















SD-2
The Desert Southwest and the Southern Rocky Mountains.
Reviewed by E.J. Peiker




    Scenery disk number two covers all of the state of New
Mexico, the vast majority of Arizona, and small parts of
West Texas and Southern California.  The Albuquerque and
Phoenix aviation sectional charts are covered.  This is one
of the six original scenery disks so it does not feature any
city detail, fuel pits, or ILS landing systems. It does
however provide numerous mountains and is a very good disk
to practice your high altitude flying skills as many of the
airports are above 5000 ft with several being above 6000 ft.
VOR's are plentiful to help in your navigation across the
desert.

    The best visual scenery on this disk is found in the Rio
Grande corridor of New Mexico.  A flight starting in El
Paso, TX and proceeding up to Las Vegas, NM  (not the
gambling place in Nevada) will take you on a tour of many of
the major highlights of this disk. Flying along the Rio
Grande northward out of El Paso, you will soon fly over the
city of Las Cruces and begin to see some of the most
southerly peaks in the Rocky Mountain range.  The first
mountain you will see is Sierra De Las Uvas.  You will then
see a small airstrip in the town of Truth or Consequences
(T or C for us New Mexicans) followed by the two largest
bodies of water in New Mexico - Caballo Reservour, and
Elephant Butte - make sure you wave to the water skiers on
"The Butte." Immediately to the west, you will see Animas
Peak. Proceeding northward flys you by South Baldy and over
the town of Soccoro, NM.  In the distance to the north you
will see the Manzano Mountains which signal preparations for
your approach into Albuquerque International Airport with
numerous runways to choose from.  Taking off out of ABQ on a
northeasterly heading, you will see the Sangre De Cristo
Mountains. Flying toward them you will fly over the city of
Santa Fe.  If you choose to cross the mountains, get plenty
of altitude because these guys reach over 13,000 ft at their
Summit.  This time wave to the skiers at Santa Fe, Sipapu,
Angel Fire, Taos, and Red River.  Now turn east and land in
Las Vegas just on the east slope of the Sangre's - this
airport's elevation is 6865, the highest I have found in any
of the scenery disks.

    Arizona's most attractive features on SD-2 are the large
lakes along the Colorado River including Lake Mojave, Lake
Havisu, and heading into California - the Salton Sea.
Unfortunately, Arizona's scenery does not include mountains
anywhere - they would have been nice in the Flagstaff area.
The Grand Canyon is not depicted as the scenery cuts off
just north of Flagstaff.  There is no scenery at all in West
Texas.

 
SD-2 continued........

    All of the major highways including I-25, I-40, I-10,
I-17, and I-8 are depicted in the scenery.

    As do other scenery disks, SD2 has several anomalies.
This disk will provide the biggest sudden altitude jumps of
any scenery disk on the market.  There are a couple of
places where the aircraft will jump by as much as 4000 ft.
This is due to the incredible elevation range covered in
this disk - from below sea level at the Salton Sea to over
13,000 ft north of Santa Fe.  The Albuquerque Alameda
airport is on the wrong side of the Rio Grande (In reality
it doesn't exist anymore). The choice of the Manzano
mountains over the Sandias which are due east of Albuquerque
in reality is puzzling. It would be great to have both
depicted forming the Tijeras canyon which pilots must fly
over going eastward out of ABQ - this is very challenging as
the winds aloft can exceed 200 knots in this area.


                     ********************

 





    88888888888 888888 888888  888888  888888 88888888888
       88888888 88     88  88  88  88  88  88 88888888
         888888 88     888888  888888  888888 888888
                88     88      88  88  88  88
                88888  88      88  88  88  88




          Information about the.......

          The Computer Pilots Association of America
          is available in LIB10. Download the file CPAANE.TXT,
          or drop them a line at......

          CPAA
          P.O.Box 25216
          Alexandria, Virginia
          22313










SD-3
San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas
Reviewed by Jim Ross





    The vast majority of the area covered in SD-3 is also to
be found on the default scenery, so only a few remarks need
to be made.

    The major difference for the San Francisco area is that
it extends a bit further to the north and south, but even
here there are no airports that are not on the default
scenery. And since SD-3 is one of the first generation of
disks, there is no city scenery -- you will look in vain for
buildings, bridges, and the like. And of course there is no
dynamic scenery, as on the default.

    The Los Angeles area on SD-3 is, however, much more
extensive than that on the default scenery, to the north,
east, and south. There are many more VOR's, and a
significant number of new airports, for example, San Luis
Obispo, Mojave, Santa Barbara (north); Palm Springs,
Twentynine Palms, and Thermal (east); and three more
airports near San Diego (south). On the other hand some
VOR's and airports which appear on the default are not to be
found on SD-3 (LAX VOR, Santa Catalina airport, etc.). As
usual, the only NDB's which work for IBM users are those
found on the default disk.

    Las Vegas is new -- it does not appear on default
scenery. Approximately the southern two-thirds of Nevada,
southwestern Utah, and northwestern Arizona are to be found
here. The major highways are I-15, from Las Vegas almost all
the way to Salt Lake City; US 95 from Austin, NV, to Las
Vegas; and US 6 from north of Ely to Tonopah. There are two
great bodies of water: Lake Mead (unfortunately nothing can
be seen of Boulder/Hoover dam; it would be at FS coordinates
15816N 7351E) and the Glen Canyon reservoir at the
Arizona-Utah border (you can land at Page). And for a real
challenge, try to find some of those short landing strips
out in the boonies: Eureka, Panaca, Loa ("Wayne
Wonderland"), Mt. Pleasant, and Manti. They'll be surprised
to see you. Again, don't count on the NDB's, if you're an
IBM user.





 






SD-4
North-Western United States
Reviewed by Don Simmons


    Scenery Disk number four is one of six early releases of
supplementary scenery for Flight Simulator. It covers
territory depicted on the SEATTLE, KLAMATH FALLS, and GREAT
FALLS aviation sectional charts. The six original scenery
disks, although not as sophisticated as some of the more
recent offerings, provide sufficient detail to navigate
accurately using surface references and its instrument
navigation facilities are first rate. Scenery disk #4 also
provides users with more than 100 of the black asphalt
variety of airport runways.

    Visual highlights include Interstate highways I-5, I-15,
I-84, I-90 and the Columbia River system. Navigation along
the Columbia River takes you from the Canadian border near
Trail British Columbia, past Portland Oregon to its mouth at
Astoria on the Pacific Coast. I-90 leads you from Billings
Montana to Spokane Washington and on to Seattle, while I-5
runs in a southerly direction from Bellingham Washington to
Red Bluff California. The Islands in Puget Sound and the
Strait of Georgia are accurate and properly shaped. Sadly
however Whidbey NAS on Whidbey Island and the private strip
on Orcas Island were omitted from the airport database.

    Like most of the early release scenery disks (1-6) this
one is a treat for instrument navigation, with a plethora of
VOR and ADF navigation facilities. While the VOR stations
all seem to work well, the ADF stations are unusable on the
IBM version.

    In order to justify the purchase of this scenery disk,
consider the fact that SD-4 links two areas of default
scenery which are provided with the Flight Simulator
program. For example you can fly the default scenery to some
point south of Seattle, switch to SD-4, fly to Red Bluff
California, then switch back to the default scenery for the
arrival into the San Francisco scenery area near Chico or
Maxwell. Don't switch back to the default scenery too soon
though or you will miss two of the best bits of scenery on
the disk. The best views of Crater Lake and Mt. Shasta are
however accessed on a flight from Lakeview to Klamath Falls.

    If you were going to obtain only one of the six first
generation scenery disks, I would recommend this one. But
then, I may be a bit prejudiced. I live just a few miles
from Bellingham Wa.

                   ********************

    TIP! A highway road atlas makes an excellent accessory
         for use with flight simulator scenery. Particularly
         the six original scenery disks.


SD-5
The Great Basin, Central Rockies and Great Plains
Reviewed by Lon Curtis
    


    Scenery Disk number five is another of the original six
disks and as such, lacks the fancy features of the "newer"
SDs. However, it contains a tremendous variety of scenery
and covers an area of the country known for its topographic
diversity. The disk covers an area from eastern Nevada and
southern Idaho to western South Dakota and Nebraska. The
southern boundary is in northern New Mexico, about on a line
from Taos to Farmington and then northwestward through
Utah.

    The aeronautical sectionals covered are the Denver, Salt
Lake City and Cheyenne charts. There are 23, 34 and 30
airports from each chart, respectively, on the disk.

    The major geographical features include the central
Rockies in Colorado, including Pikes Peak at Colorado
Springs; the Glen Canyon-Lake Powell complex in southeastern
Utah; Utah Lake near Provo; Great Salt Lake and the nearby
Wasatch Range in northern Utah; the Flaming Gorge area on
the Green River in southwestern Wyoming; and the Yellowstone
Lake area in Yellowstone Nat'l. Park in far northwest
Wyoming. Major streams depicted include the Snake River in
southern Idaho, the Bighorn River in north central Wyoming,
and the Platte River in eastern Wyoming to near
Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Some major lakes are also shown, as
are important highways.

    Perhaps the most scenic flight plan involving this disk
is to depart Salt Lake City northbound, climbing over the
Great Salt Lake, and then turn southbound and finally
southeast, after gaining enough altitude to cross the
Wasatch Range toward Grand Junction, CO. Continuing on this
routing to Meeker (115.2) and then Kremmling (113.8) and on
to Denver (117.0) takes one across just north of Aspen and
Vail.

    Some major altitude jumps are inherent in this SD
because of the significant variations in topography. A major
anomaly can be found at Jackson Hole, WY, where the
elevation is shown as 4,503msl. That's also the reading one
will get on the altimeter when landing there on this SD. The
real-world elevation is 6,444msl, making use of current
charts impossible. There's also no sign of the Grand Teton
Range, which makes Jackson Hole (in real-life) one of the
most beautiful in the U.S. The east-west runways at Denver
Stapleton Int'l. are also canted toward one another, rather
than parallel, as noted in SD-1 at DFW.

     



SD-5 continued.......



    This SD is a good addition to one's collection because,
in addition to the features noted above, it provides a
navgation base for longer range flights, and thus acts as a
connection between the central and eastern U.S. and the west
coast.


    It is worth noting that the absence of city and airport
detail on the first six SDs means that slower machines (in
terms of processor speed) are not impaired and the frame
rate is adequate to handle the scenery without slowing the
display, contrary to some of the newer scenery disks.

                   ********************








































SD-6
Central US, The Heartland
Reviewed by Jeff Horrocks
  

    This is one of the original Scenery Disks. There's no
fuel pits, ATIS, ILS, or other frills along the lines of
Microsoft's FS4. What you get is lots of interesting places
to explore! This disk covers a big chunk of the center of
the US including the lower half of South Dakota, all of
Kansas, much of Iowa, lots of Missouri, eastern half of
Nebraska, and small portions of Minnesota, Oklahoma,
Arkasnas, Texas, and Colorado. Portions of ten states in
all. Aviation sectionals covered are Omaha, Wichita, and
Kansas City.  This disk joins SD-10 on the north, SD-9 on
it's eastern border, SD's one, two and eight on the southern
border, and SD-5 on the west.

    Visual navigation in this area is easy and fun because
there are plenty of visual clues. (For SD-s 1-6 subLOGIC
included charts drawn with a plotter which depict the usual
VOR's, NDB's, airports, rivers and lakes, but also highways
and city outlines. These charts have always been a favorite
of mine because they include these details left out of later
charts.) Main roadways depicted include interstates I-70,
I-80, I-90, I-29, I-35 and I-44.  These are supplemented by
other major non-interstate highways. Major and some minor
cities have grey colored urban areas, some of these are:
Pierre, Souix Falls, Mankato, Souix City, Fort Dodge,
Yankton, Des Moines, Omaha, Columbus, Grand Island, Lincoln,
Kansas City, Topeka, Springfield, Wichita, Dodge City,
Liberal, and Wagner. Space considerations stoped my list,
but you get the picture. There are numerous bodies of water.
 Most rivers are blue lines but the Missouri river near
Pierre is wide and wandering. You can explore lots of lakes
and reservoirs, some with odd shapes that offer potential
for fun water side landings. Especially nice in this regard
is the area surrounding Kansas City (eight airports within
50 miles of downtown). Nearly any approach to Kansas City
should offer a view of some type of twisting body of water.

    Each of the three sectionals offers over 40 airports,
there are nearly that many VOR stations on each chart too.
Non-IBM sim pilots will have access to many NDB's also. The
highest airport is Flagler in eastern Colorado (Wichita) at
4646 ft. The lowest one is 725 foot Coffeyville in
southeastern Kansas (Kansas City).

                   ********************

         Tip! Did you know that  you  can land your 
              Flight Simulator Aircraft on any body
              of water if you  first turn "off" the 
              crash detect function ?    During the 
              hours of  dusk and darkness you don't 
              even need to do that.               


SD-7
Washington, Charlotte, Jacksonville, and Miami
Reviewed by Jeff Bingham


    This scenery disk marked the transition into the "new
era" of Scenery Disks. It was released following the initial
six disks, and incorporated new features not seen
previously.  Some runway markings and definitions were
improved, structures and buildings became more detailed and
sophisticated, and greater attention was given to the
faithful representation of major geographical features, such
as rivers and shore lines. Railroads were included and ATIS
frequencies were added, along with fuel pits at several
airports. The disk is also accompanied by charts which more
closely resemble the NOAA sectionals they are to represent,
though in some ways not as detailed as earlier charts.

    SD-7 covers parts of southeastern Pennsylvania,
Delaware, the southern edge of New Jersey, most of Maryland,
Virginia east of the Shenandoah mountains, eastern North
Carolina, most of South Carolina, the southeastern corner of
Georgia, all of Florida east and south of Tallahassee,
including the Florida Keys, and the islands of the Bahamas.
With its proximity to the New York/Boston default scenery
area, SD-7 makes it possible to fly almost the entire east
coast, minus Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

    My favorite way to see this disk is to start outside it,
at New York's JFK airport. Prepare to take off from runway
22 Right. Set your NAV1 to 114.0, the frequency for the
DuPont VOR (DQO), at Wilmington, Delaware. Set the OBI to
244. Take off and maintain runway heading as you climb to
12000 ft. MSL in the Cessna or 20000 in the Lear. Within 3
minutes, the scenery will change and you will be in the SD-7
area. Your NAV1 will pick up the Dupont VOR and you can
intercept and track its 244 "TO" radial. Get straight and
level, maintain that heading and enjoy the sights. Very
quickly you'll begin to see the Delaware River, which forms
the border between New Jersey and Pennsylvania at this
point. After you cross over Wilmington, maintain the 244
heading. You'll soon pass directly over Philadelphia, (and
notice the electronic interference anomaly that is
experienced within 20 miles of Phillie). At 20000 feet, in
the Lear, you'll also start to see a spectacular view of the
upper reaches of the Chesapeake Bay, fed by the Susquehanna
River, which will grow more distinct as you approach
Baltimore. You'll be roughly following I-95 all along this
route, and you'll see I-70 branching off to the west. Start
descending as you approach Baltimore, and turn slightly
south, to a heading of around 225 or 230, to get you on a
course between the two roughly parallel roads leading
towards Washington--I-95 and the Baltimore-Washington
Parkway. You want to quickly get to an altitude of something
just below 2500, so you can get the full impact as
Washington, D.C. comes into view.


SD-7 continued.......

    You'll first see the Beltway - I-495, which surrounds
the city. The Potomac River will come into view on the right
and the Anacostia River to the left, joining together just
south of the Capital Mall near Washington National Airport
(DCA).  When the downtown scenery loads, and after you catch
your breath, follow the black AMTRAK railway lines to the
point where they converge, at Union Station. You'll be near
the U.S. Capitol building, so swing on over around it and
turn west down the middle of the Mall. Go low and slow and
check out the eleven (!) buildings that are included in this
scenery spectacular! You'll see, in addition to the Capitol
building, the White House, the National Art Gallery, the
Dept of Health and Human Services, the Museum of Natural
History, the Museum of American History, the Washington
Monument, the Department of Agriculture, the Treasury
Department, the Old Executive Office Building, the Lincoln
Memorial, the Pentagon, and the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial,
on Roosevelt Island in the Potomac. In addition, you'll see
the Reflecting Pond between the Washington Monument and the
Lincoln Memorial, and the five major Potomac bridges
connecting Washington and Virginia--all of which are those
good solid kinds of bridges you can land on! DCA is nicely
depicted, as are Andrews Air Force Base to the East and
Washington's Dulles International Airport, to the West. All
told, this portion of SD-7 contains thirty-two airports,
with six ILS facilities, and some thirty-six VORs.

    After your quick aerial tour of Washington, I'd suggest
turning to the south and following the Potomac River out to
its union with the Chesapeake Bay and then following the Bay
on down to the Tidewater area, near Norfolk. Oceana Naval
Air Station is down near Virginia Beach, and is a fun place
to fly in to. Especially when the runways disappear when
you're on short final! Navy experimenting with Stealth
Airports, I guess!

    Heading on south down the coast, you come to the Outer
Banks of North Carolina. There, near the airport of Manteo,
is Kitty Hawk. You can make this a sort of pilgrimage to the
birthplace of modern aviation! Kitty Hawk isn't depicted as
such in the scenery, but if you want to feel like you've
"been there", the coordinates are roughly North 14958; East
20832; Altitude 19.

    The rest of North and South Carolina, in the Charlotte
Sectional area, are sprinkled with a collection of
thirty-seven airports and twenty-one navaids, including one
ILS at Charlotte. There also is a little surprise in store
along I-95, about 28nm north east of Fayeteville--a
grass-covered race track, identified on the NOAA sectional
as a "drag strip", which makes for some interesting landing
or touch and go opportunities. Railways and major highways
are well depicted throughout, and provide good visual ground
references for VFR flight. 


SD-7 continued


    The coast line is very faithfully depicted, and I enjoy
flying around the various nooks and crannies of the inlets,
islands, and interlocking rivers. The bottom edge of the
Charlotte area dips into Georgia, enough to depict Savannah,
Augusta, and Statesboro, and adjoins the next sectional
area, Jacksonville.

    Below Savannah, you enter the Jacksonville sectional
area. If you pick up I-95 again, and follow it along the
coast, you'll arrive at the city of Jacksonville, which has
several airfields in the immediate vicinity. There is just
one tall building depicted there, and numerous radio towers
in the vicinity. You can turn westward and go to the far
edge of the scenery area, where Tallahassee is located. This
area also has a large number of NDBs (18!), which
unfortunately are inoperative with the IBM versions. The
area doesn't extend as far as Pensacola, so you can't go
visit the Naval Aviators down in that training area. There
are thirty-three airfields in this area, with one ILS at
Jacksonville.

    Continuing on down the east coast, you arrive at one of
my other favorite flying locations--Kennedy Space Center.
Here, the scenery designers did a superb job of recreating
the huge Vehicle Assembly Building, where the booster
rockets are "stacked" and "mated" to the shuttle and main
fuel tank, before being rolled out to the launch pad. Launch
Pad 39A is also artfully depicted, and--best of all, an
outstanding replica of the shuttle is on the pad, awaiting
liftoff! The Shuttle Landing Facility is back over near the
VAB, and makes a great place to practice jet landings. It's
350 feet wide and 17000 feet long! To the south, beyond Pad
39A, are the old Mercury launch towers-- nine of them, lined
up along the beach. These are great for some low-altitude,
high performance acrobatic flight, as you zig-zag through
them one after the other! Nearby is the Skid Strip, used in
testing early cruise-type missiles, which were remotely
controlled into a "landing" on the strip. Since they had no
landing gear, they were just "skidded in" on their bellies
to a stop. Maybe the only place in the aviation world where
a wheels up landing was considered the norm!

    Now it's south to Miami, with a nice representation of
six buildings in the downtown area, and a number of inviting
airports in the vicinity. If you want to try some real
"cross country", you can head due east from Miami and find
yourself out in the Bahamas, where you can do some
island-hopping in grand style, navigating with the use of
four VORs and two NDBs, if the NDBs are functional in your
version. Or, from Miami, you can turn south and westerly and
follow U.S. Route 1 down through the Florida Keys to Key
West. 



SD-7 continued........

    There are three airport facilities in the Keys, so you
can land if you'd like to take a break...or try some beach
landings on some of the islands! If you need to refuel, you
can do so at the Naval Air Station at Key West.
   
     SD-7 is one of my favorite scenery disks, in terms of
the area and diversity of the scenery. I recommend it as a
MUST!  Both SD-9 and SD-11 share contiguous borders for some
part of SD-7, so the array of cross country flight
opportunities is incredible!


                   ********************





















    Tip! If you want to translate real world LAT/LONG
         coordinates to flight simulator  coordinates
         or the other way around, you will probably be
         interested in the file COORDS.ZIP located in
         LIB10 of the GAMERS FORUM. 

















SD-9
Chicago, St.Louis, Cincinnati.
Reviewed by Rick Lee

    The new trick that SubLOGIC introduced with SD-9 is VASI
lights. And a neat trick it is. VASI stands for Visual
Approach Slope Indicator. In the real world, many airport
runways have VASI lights next to the runway. They are
arranged in two rows close to the near end of the runway. If
the approaching plane is too high, both rows of lights are
white; if it is too low, both rows are red. The idea is to
keep the top row white and the bottom row red, and you are
then on the correct glideslope. This is a wonderful addition
to SubLOGIC's "world": The extra functioning lights also add
more realism to the look of the airports. Even in perfect
weather, I used to land at airports with ILS, just so I
could take advantage of the glideslope indicator. The VASI
system now does the same thing, only it's a strictly visual
system, so there are no radios to set.

    The areas covered by this disk are: the Chicago
sectional, including parts of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois,
and Indiana; the St. Louis sectional, which features parts
of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and
Tennessee; and the Cincinnati sectional, which incorporates
parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and
almost all of West Virginia.

    The first thing I noticed about SD#9 after opening the
package was the density of the airports and navaids. There
are 158 airfields with 15 ILS systems (instrument landing);
17 airports have VASI systems (most of which have it on
several runways); 17 airports have ATIS systems (automatic
terminal information system); and, of course, you have the
usual package of VORs and NDBs (two different types of basic
navigational radios), all on 3 sectionals. One odd thing is
that all of the ILSs and VASI systems are on the St. Louis
and Chicago sectionals. None are on the Cincinnati
sectional. By the way, the major Cincinnati airports are on
the St. Louis sectional (I don't know why!). One of the few
bugs I found was that both of the major fields in Cincinnati
are missing the VASI systems listed in the docs. I checked
the Atari ST version of the disk and they were _not_ missing
on that version.

    The next thing I noticed after booting up and taking off
from Chicago's Meigs Field was that the Chicago area didn't
look quite as good as the default Chicago. I was sincerely
disappointed that the streetlights seen at dusk and night
were missing from the new disk. This was one of my favorite
features of the Version 3.0 default scenery, and I'd hoped I
would see more of those streetlights in other cities. It
seemed like a cheap way to achieve some super-realism. Other
Chicago area features were quite improved, such as Midway
Airport, which is now fully up to standards as a detailed
airport.


SD-9 continued.......


    The cities that rated scenery details such as buildings
and landmarks are: Chicago, Indianapolis, Champaign,
St.Louis, and Cincinnati. Regarding scenery details,
there's nothing much on SD#9 that has (as yet) elicited
"oohs" and "aahs" from me. St. Louis has the Gateway Arch --
which, of course, is great for flying under -- and it is
modeled quite nicely, too.

    All in all, SD#9 is a great addition to the FS3 world.
With the release of this disk, we now have one very large,
contiguous area of the newer-style scenery covering most of
the Midwest and East Coast. Those of us who fly jets need
the room.


                   ********************















    Note! To keep abreast of what's happening in the world
          of flight simulation, pick up a copy of PC-Pilot.
          Published monthly, PC-Pilot is full of interesting
          and informative articles about computer aviation.
 
                            PC-Pilot
              " The Voice of Computer Simulation"

                    Subscription Department
                   2170 Broadway, Suite 2165
                      New York, NY 10024













SD-11
Detroit and Lake Huron
Reviewed by Jim Ross

    Scenery Disk number eleven is one of the "new
generation," and therefore has detail for cities and
airports, and some interesting new features: two sailplanes
and a hot-air balloon!  For much of the area the ground has
an interesting pattern of greens and yellows, fairly unique
in FS scenery.

    The territory covered comprises most of eastern
Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula; the western half of
Pennsylvania and northwest New York; southern Ontario;
southwestern Quebec; the northern panhandle of West
Virginia; and the north half of Ohio.  There are a great
many VOR's, at least in the USA -- you'll have to do some
dead reckoning in Canada.

    The most interesting city details are in Detroit (the
Renaissance Center, the Ambassador bridge, and Tiger
Stadium) and Pittsburgh (the numerous bridges in the "Three
Rivers" city). The Toronto Tower is impressive, as well as
the Presque Isle State Park in Erie. And you can fly under
the bridge across the Straits of Mackinac (between lakes
Superior and Huron); furthermore there is an impressive
string of flashing marine beacons on the shores of Huron
(particularly near Gore Bay and Wiarton), and some more on
the southern shore of Lake Erie.

    But perhaps the most spectacular feature of SD-11 is
Niagara Falls (FS coordinates 17889.15N 19335.98E). Fly up
the river (from Lake Ontario); if you stay close to the
water you will be well below ground level -- pass under two
bridges, and up and over the falls!

    Other interesting trips are around the shores of the
Great Lakes, and island hopping in Huron. Or follow any of
the numerous rivers, stopping for coffee at nearby airports.

    There is one airport which, although on the scenery, is
not found on the accompanying chart: Sebewaing, MI (see the
Airport Directory for FS coordinates). Its symbol on the
Detroit chart should be at the lower right corner of box
identifying the Saginaw VOR.

    Two other airports are not in any FS documentation: (1)
Windsor, ONT (FS coordinates 17431N, 18137E, alt. 2046) --
symbol on the Detroit chart should be just below the first
"O" in DETROIT METRO WAYNE CO.; and (2) Toronto Pearson
International.  Here the airport on the Detroit chart
identified as "Toronto Island" is really Toronto
International; its proper coordinates are 18113N 19204E. The
airport symbol for Toronto Island should be on the shore
just southeast of Downsview, overshadowed by the Toronto
Tower.


SD-11 continued.....


    There are several "anomalies," as we call them, on
SD-11. The most baffling is the area around Johnstown, PA --
if you fly in from Pittsburgh, you can expect some very
strange things to happen to the scenery!

    Of course this area is the link between east and west;
SD-11 hooks up to Washington on the southeast (part of SD-7)
and to Chicago and Cincinnati on the west and south (SD-9).
And it will adjoin the soon-to-be published SD-12, with New
York on the east. So if you want to fly across country, get
this one!


                   ********************















    Suggestion! Charles Gulick in his latest book will act
                as your guide as you explore scenery disks
                7,11, and Europe. "A Flight Simulator Odyssey"
                is published by COMPUTE! Books, and may be 
                found in the computer section of many fine book
                stores. Ask for it. 





















SD-13
Japan (Tokyo & Osaka Area)
Reviewed by Tryg Inda


    Scenery disk Japan provides users with 14 airports in an
area stretching from Osaka to Hyakuri (Northwest of Tokyo).
Seven of these airports provide refueling facilities, and
seven have Instrument Landing Systems (ILS). Narita Int'l,
in fact, has an ILS approach to both ends of runway 16/34.
Approach plates are included for the approaches, and give
information such as frequency, minimum weather requirement,
and headings. The charts may take a bit of getting used to,
since altitudes are given in feet and visibility in meters. 
Many of the airports have solid three dimensional control
towers. A major difference between this and other SDs is
that the runways are paved with white concrete and are
marked with medium blue lines.

    Like the airports, the bulk of the scenery is located on
the island of Honshu, however, most of the larger Japanese
Islands are shown, and viewing the mountains on Hokkaido is
well worth the time required to make the flight. The Map is
of the newer type like those included with SD-7, SD-9, SD-11
etc., and shows clearly the large number of VORs and NDBs
which are available. A curious feature is that all airport
names are also given in Japanese characters. On the reverse
side of the main map is a detailed enlargement of the area
surrounding Tokyo Bay.

    Among the many details on this scenery disk is Mt Fuji,
the highest of Japans 200 volcanoes, well detailed, and snow
capped. Surrounding Mt Fuji are several other impressive
mountains. The Shin Kansen bullet train railway network is
also depicted. This scenery is relatively bug free. One
strange experience, however, (on Amiga and Apple anyway) is
to depart Komatsu (18042N, 31572E) on runway 06. Fly out
over the peninsula and turn about 45 degrees left. You are
going to the Soviet Union (or trying). Soon you should see
mountains near Vladivostock. Be sure to use the jet because
it is about 500 miles to the Soviet Union. There is only a
very thin strip of Soviet scenery, because this is the edge
of the SD. As you get closer, almost close enough for the
Russians to justify shooting you down, the mountains vanish.
Top secret military stuff perhaps.

    For another scenic flight depart runway 34 at Narita and
fly directly to Moriya VOR (114.0). The track from Moriya to
Yokosuka (116.2) will take you very close to downtown Tokyo.
Some of the scenery highlights in the Tokyo area include
the Tokyo Tower, The Palace grounds, several buildings, and
the canal system. Once you reach Yokosuka, turn right and
follow the coastline  to Hamamatsu, then cut across Ise Wan,
south of Nagoya and on into Osaka. I suggest you land on
runway 32L (the long one).


SD-14
European Scenery Disk ("Western European Tour")
Reviewed by Don Simmons

    The "Western European Tour" scenery disk was released in
conjunction with a contest which challenged users to locate
and land in Moscow's "Red Square". Moscow's location is
still not provided in the documentation, but you should be
able to find it and land there with the hints that are
provided. Scenarios from the history of aviation can also be
flown with a little imagination and scenery disk 14. Dawn
patrols reminiscent of the 1914-18 conflict, Louis
Bleriot's early cross channel flights, or test fly
"Concorde" in the airspace surrounding Paris, it's all
possible.

    This scenery disk, a personal favorite, falls into a
second generation of scenery software. The disks in this
category provide additional detail such as taxiways,
hangars, and ILS approaches to some airports. Scenery in, or
near major cities also shows an extra degree of refinement.
Buildings, bridges, parks, and other well known landmarks
can be easily identified. The SD-14 cities that have this
refined scenery treatment are Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich,
Nurnberg, Paris and London.

    The areas covered by the Western European scenery disk
are Southern Great Britain, Northern France, and Southern
West Germany. Notable on this disk are the numerous radio
navigation facilities and surface features in adjacent
countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark,
which permit users to easily fly from one detailed area to
another.

    Like all of the currently available scenery disks, this
one has its anomalies. For example the surface of the North
Sea and the Irish Sea are set in excess of six hundred feet,
and the English Channel disappears completely shortly after
take-off from runway 32 at Le Touquet France. Other bugs
include the fireflys that buzz around London and Paris in
the hours of dusk or darkness. (The documentation suggests
that these are simulated city lights.)

    The anomalies are more than compensated for by pleasant
undocumented surprises, and documented attractions like the
Stonehenge site and the chalk figures in southern England. I
highly recommend this scenery disk. It's a keeper.

                   ********************

         Note! Laemming  Wheeler's  file, BIGLES.ZIP is
               available in LIB10 of  the GAMERS FORUM.
               Once  installed, it  will  allow you  to
               make a novel approach to a  very strange
               airport in France. I won't give away the
               secret, but, recommend that you give  it
               a try.

SD-HAW
Hawaiian Odyssey Scenery Disk
Reviewed by E.J. Peiker

    The Hawaiian Island Scenery disk covers all of the major
Hawaiian Islands as well as a couple of undocumented minor
islads. In addition to the Hawaiian Islands scenery, some
fantasy scenery is also provided as well as a treasure hunt
game.

    Since the Hawaiian Odyssey (SD-HAW henceforth) is
SubLOGIC's latest, it has all of the navigational aids of
the newer generation of disks as well as some superb
scenery.  Visual Approach Slope Indicators (VASI) are
provided at the major airports as well as ILS landing
facilities, detailed fuel pits, and very detailed airports.
Hangers have been redesigned to look like real buildings in
place of the black boxes used in older disks.

    Hawaii (The Orchid Isle):  The big island features Mauna
Kea, Mauna Loa and Kilauea.  The latter two have active
volcanoes depicted in a very bright red.  You can fly into
these cauldera's to activate experimental scenery - more on
that later.  General Lyman Field in Hilo and the Kailua Kona
Airport are featured airports.

    Maui (The Valley Isle):  Maui features Mt Haleakala to
the east and the West Maui Mountains to the West.  A
sailplane can be found soaring on the north side of the West
Maui Mountains.  The airport at Kahului is very well
rendered and is a full service facility. Perhaps the biggest
disappointment on the Hawaii disk is the lack of the
Kaanapali skyline.

    Oahu (The Gathering Place):  Oahu features some of this
disks finest scenery.  Pearl Harbor is well rendered
including the USS Arizona Memorial.  Taxi your plane into
the memorial by turning crash detect off and you can
actually see out the windoes.  There are many buildings in
the downtown Honolulu area and Diamond Head is to the east
of the city.  It is fun to try to land your aircraft in
Diamond Head's crater. The Koolau Mountains are rendered
well on Oahu.

    Kauai (The Garden Isle):  Kauai features a detailed
airport at Lihue as well as Mt. Waialeale - the wettest spot
on Earth!

    Lanai (The Pineapple Isle):  There is no scenery except
for the Lanai City Airport but then again, when you fly over
Lanai, you don't see much except for fields so this is
appropriate.

    Molokai (The Friendly Isle):  Molokaii features the
airport at Kalaupapa (the 18th century Lepper Colony) and
the Molokai airport.


SD-HAW continued....

Kahoolawe (The Isle of Death):  Kahoolawe is a US Navy
bombing range and therefore has no airports.

    Niihau (The Forbidden Isle):  This island is home to the
few remaining full blood Hawaiian's.  Travel there is by
boat only but you can fly over it on this disk.

    Two additional islands are depicted in SD-HAW although
they are undocumented.  These are the islands of Lehua which
is a very small island just north of Niihau and the other is
Kaula which is southwest of Niihau.

    One additional highlight is the inclusion of a 16th
century Barkentine Ship sailing between Kauai and Niihau.

    An treasure hunt game is built into SD-HAW.  You can
activate arrows that lead you through all of the islands and
flys you directly into an abyss where you can find a
treasure!

    SD-HAW also includes some experimental scenery.  This
scenery is activated by flying into the Mauna Loa cauldera.
You can enter several portals which takes you to some
otherworldly places.  These places include Pyramids, a giant
piano (try landing on the keyboard), a giant kitchen (land
on the kitchen counter and look for a surprise), Chicago
tilted on its side, several airports built in the sky
including a large aircraft carrier in the sky, an area with
trees and the Fortress Pyramid.  The Fortress Pyramid is
essentially an airport built inside a giant pyramid.  You
can fly in through a Window or in through a large opening in
the top.

    Whether you already have a collection of scenery disks
or you are just starting one, the Hawaii disk is a must!





















The North American Scenery Disks at a Glance....
================================================




                   -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -9- -11-
FEATURES
ILS Approaches      N   N   N   N   N   N   Y   Y    Y
ADF                 Y   Y   Y   Y   Y   Y   Y   Y    N
VOR                 Y   Y   Y   Y   Y   Y   Y   Y    Y
VASI                N   N   N   N   N   N   N   Y    N
ATIS                N   N   N   N   N   N   Y   Y    Y
Fuel Pits           N   N   N   N   N   N   Y   Y    Y
Sailplanes          N   N   N   N   N   N   N   N    Y
A/C Carrier         N   N   N   N   N   N   N   N    N
Balloons            N   N   N   N   N   N   N   N    Y
Mountains           N   Y   N   Y   Y   N   N   Y    Y
City Detail         N   N   N   N   N   N   Y   Y    Y
Airport Detail      N   N   N   N   N   N   Y   Y    Y
Control Towers      N   N   N   N   N   N   N   Y    Y



    Note! ADF de-activated on IBM scenery disks 1-6.





COMPUTER COMPATIBILITY

                   -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -9- -11-
IBM                 *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *    *
Amiga                                       *   *    *
Atari ST                                    *   *    *
Macintosh                                   *   *    *
Apple II            *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *    *
C64/128             *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *    *



















Off Shore Scenery Disks at a Glance....
=======================================










                       -Japan- -Europe- -Hawaii-
FEATURES
ILS Approaches            Y        Y       Y
ADF                       Y        N       Y
VOR                       Y        Y       Y
VASI                      N        N       Y
ATIS                      N        N       N
Fuel Pits                 Y        Y       Y
Sailplanes                N        N       Y
A/C Carrier               N        N       Y*
Balloons                  N        N       N
Mountains                 Y        Y       Y
City Detail               Y        Y       Y
Airport Detail            Y        Y       Y
Control Towers            Y        N       Y

  * Aircraft carrier found in experimental scenery only.

     Note! ADF de-activated on IBM Japan scenery disk.


COMPUTER COMPATIBILITY

                       -Japan- -Europe- -Hawaii-
IBM                       *        *       *
Amiga                     *        *
Atari ST                  *        *
Macintosh                 *        *
Apple II                  *        *
C64/128                   *        *
















In the Works
============

    We hope that the comments expressed in this text file
have broadened your knowledge concerning the supplementary
scenery available for use with Flight Simulator. Of course
more disks will be available soon and they will be more
sophisticated than the ones described here. There are a
number of new "Simulator" programs in the design stages at
this very moment. Simulator programs that will make the
current variety look like antiques.

    SubLOGIC is currently working on SD-12, and we are all
hoping to see its release before the end of 1990. It will
cover the New York, Boston, Montreal, Halifax area. If you
have suggestions for something to appear on this or any
future disk, aerial photos, charts, and postcards
illustrating your suggestions are welcomed by SubLOGIC.

    Another SubLOGIC project is "ATP", which will boast a
database containing all major airports in the continental
United States. (excluding Alaska)

    
    One currently available SubLOGIC product is the Instant
Facilities Locator, which when installed along with Flight
Simulator, can transport you to the airport or navigational
aid (VOR or NDB) of your choice. After choosing an airport,
you will choose the runway you want, and miraculously be
transported there. If a navaid is chosen, the frequency will
also be tuned on your communications radio #2. Information
is available for the default scenery and all currently
published scenery disks. Upgrades are expected to be
released as required.

    BAO and Microsoft are talking in terms of annual updates
to the "Flight Simulator" program, that will captivate and
keep us glued to our desktop flightdecks for years to come.

    LIB10 of Compuserves GAMERS FORUM is loaded with DEMOS,
FIXES, WALKTHROUGHS, UTILITIES, and TEXT ADVENTURES, all
available for your added pleasure. Feel free to download as
many as you like.

    PC flight simulation is maturing rapidly.  Stretching
beyond being a "game" and rapidly becoming a bonafide hobby.
Those of us that frequent the GAMERS FORUM are enthusiastic
about the future of flight simulation and hope that scenery
disks will add to YOUR enjoyment of the hobby.



    HAPPY LANDINGS! From the gang in Section 10, GAMERS


























