Fly throughout the historic cities of Rome and Venice, soar above Mediterranean coastlines, and navigate sheer-faced peaks, all rendered in lifelike realism with World Update IX: Italy & Malta. The Microsoft Flight Simulator team has refined this area with the latest geospatial data available, including digital elevation modeling, aerial and satellite imagery, and triangulated irregular network (TIN) modeling of 20 cities, including Rome, Naples, Venice, and Milan.
Start exploring the coastal nooks of the Mediterranean and Atlantic, the heights of the Pyrenees, and legendary architecture of cities like Lisbon and Madrid with World Update VIII: Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar & Andorra. Fly over the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia to appreciate its architectural details, admire the innovation at the Aqueduct of Segovia and the richness of the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia.
Soar over the renowned Great Barrier Reef, visit the vast regions of Western Australia, and marvel at the natural beauty of Mount Wellington. From the dusty red outback to shimmering coastlines and sugar white sand beaches, explore the country’s most spectacular sights. A country known for being as diverse as it is beautiful, this great Southern land presents a bucket list of jaw-dropping natural formations and modern man-made wonders – now enhanced with exceptional graphic improvements.
This month, the virtual world of Microsoft Flight Simulator is getting its next major update by focusing on the marvelous regions of Austria, Germany & Switzerland. Renowned for its glorious mountain ranges, ubiquitous castles and stunning vistas, this region comes to life with World Update VI. Our latest World Update contains new aerial imagery, high-resolution elevation maps and several brand-new 3D cities in Germany, Basel in Switzerland, Graz and Vienna in Austria. The update drastically enhances the visuals of these three countries and the beautiful mountain-ranges of the Alps. The team has also hand-crafted over 100 well-known locations (points of interest, or POIs) and several airports including Lübeck, Stuttgart, Klagenfurt and St. Gallen. The update also includes new discovery flights, landing challenges and bush trips that take simmers across this beautiful region of our planet. World Update VI: Austria, Germany and Switzerland is available free to all Microsoft Flight Simulator users today. Be sure your simulator is up to date first, then visit the Marketplace to download the latest world update and immerse yourself in this magnificent and expansive corner of the world. The sky is calling!
The virtual world in Microsoft’s Flight Simulator is getting its latest major update, one with a focus on Europe’s Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Renowned for its natural splendor and architectural wonder, this region has been rendered in its most realistic fidelity yet in World Update V: Nordics. Simmers can take to the northern European sky and explore vast fjords, riveting urban vistas, domineering peaks, and centuries-old iconic castles from within the cockpit. World Update V: Nordics includes improvements in detail of broad swaths of landscapes, enhancements to regional architecture, improved data for 100 airports and 78 carefully selected points of interest.
In the heart of Western Europe, embrace the spirit of a bygone era intermingled with modern influences and attractions as you explore a plethora of sights on display — from seaside communities to urban centers, idyllic vineyards to epic mountain ranges and world-famous resort towns – all featuring stunning upgrades and visual enhancements. World Update IV: France, Belgium, Netherlands & Luxembourg brings improved digital elevation data and aerial imagery, high-resolution 3D photogrammetry for two of Europe’s most iconic cities, Paris and Amsterdam, and three new meticulously hand-crafted airports (Megève, Nice and Rotterdam), plus visual and logistical improvements to 100 additional airports throughout the area. Newly-added architectural elements infuse authenticity to countless procedurally-generated locations, while more than 100 famous landmarks and points of interest have received custom treatment, bringing impeccable levels of detail to the region’s most unforgettable sights – more castles and cathedrals, monuments and museums, palaces, bridges, lighthouses, dams, windmills and stadiums.
Take flight into a region rich with tradition, culture and heritage — not to mention a fair share of myth and legend. From seats of royalty to centers of finance, bustling metropolitan hubs to sprawling farmsteads and cliffside villages, the splendor of the United Kingdom and Ireland is on full display with dramatic upgrades and visual enhancements. World Update 3: United Kingdom & Ireland features high-resolution 3D photogrammetry for the renowned cities of Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, London and Oxford, five new meticulously hand-crafted airports (Barra, Liverpool, Land’s End, Manchester-Barton and Out Skerries), visual and logistical improvements to 85 more area airports, and improved digital elevation information across the U.K.
World Update II: USA features an improved digital elevation model with resolution up to one meter, new aerial textures that significantly improve the appearance in several states across the country, and four new hand-crafted airports (Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Friday Harbor, and New York Stewart). This update adds 50 new high-fidelity points of interest across the country to make your state-side journey stunning in every way.
A country rich with ancient tradition and bustling with future-facing innovation, Japan presents a stunning panorama of old and new, urban and remote, mountains, forests, cities and coastlines — now enhanced with remarkable graphical improvements that span the volcanic island chain. World Update I: Japan features a high-resolution digital elevation map across the entire country, high-resolution 3D photogrammetry for six prominent Japanese cities (Sendai, Takamatsu, Tokushima, Tokyo, Utsunomiya and Yokohama), and six exquisitely hand-crafted airports (Hachijojima, Kerama, Kushiro, Nagasaki, Shimojishima and Suwanosejima). We also added a new pagoda-style architecture, and hand-crafted nearly two dozen custom landmarks and points of interest to invite simmers to explore the area’s timeless World Heritage sites, towering neon skyscrapers, iconic bridges and sacred shrines.
The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail campaign was part of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 in what was then the Australian Territory of Papua. It was primarily a land battle, between the Japanese South Seas Detachment under Major General Tomitarō Horii and Australian and Papuan land forces under command of New Guinea Force. The Japanese objective was to seize Port Moresby by an overland advance from the north coast, following the Kokoda Track over the mountains of the Owen Stanley Range, as part of a strategy to isolate Australia from the United States.
http://exploringtheearth.com/2020/09/02/20-geological-wonders-of-the-world/ ----- The world is full of wonders you can explore from the virtual skies of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Many of them are human creations, but some of the most spectacular and culturally and scientifically significant sites are geological in nature, and they are the subject of this Collection. I found a great list of 20 geological wonders by geologist Stephanie Sykora, which includes excellent descriptions and geological background. So I decided to base this collection on her list, omitting a couple of cave sites not visible from the air, and expanding her catch-all "mountain ranges" to individual entries. Most of these sites look great in the sim, but a few are not represented very well. Maybe future updates will improve these. 1. Cueva de los Cristales “cave of giant crystals” (Chihuahua, Mexico, NOT INCLUDED) 2. Uluru (Northern Territory, Australia) 3. Giant’s Causeway (Northern Ireland, U.K.) 4. Grand Canyon (Arizona, U.S.A) 5. Kilauea volcano (Hawaiʻi, U.S.A) 6. Mid-Atlantic Rift (Iceland) – accessible in Thingvellir NP 7. Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, U.S.A) 8. Shilin Stone Forest (Yunnan, China) – listed as “Stone Forest” 9. Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) made of young volcanic rocks 10. Yosemite Valley (California, U.S.A.) 11. Meteor Crater (Arizona, U.S.A.) “made by a meteor that hit the earth ~ 49,000 year ago.” 12. Eye of the Sahara (Mauritania) also called the Richat Structure, 45 km across 13. Kawah Ijen “blue volcano” (East Java, Indonesia) lava burns blue in atmosphere 14. Burgess Shale (British Columbia, Canada) – in the Canadian Rockies 15. Postojna Caves (Slovenia, NOT INCLUDED) 16. Jurassic Coast (England, U.K.) 17. Gran Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia) Largest salt flat in the world 18. El Zacatón sinkhole (Tamaulipas, Mexico) deepest on Earth 19. The Alps (Europe) 20. The Himalayas (Asia) 21. The Andes (South America) 22. The Rocky Mountains (North America)
The Golden Ring of Russia unites old Russian cities of five Oblasts – usually excluding Moscow – as a well-known theme-route. The grouping is centered northeast of the capital. These ancient towns were heavily formative to the centrality of the Russian Orthodox Church in society. They preserve the memory of key events in medieval and Imperial Russian history. The towns have been called "open-air museums" and feature unique monuments of Russian architecture of the 12th–18th centuries, including kremlins, monasteries, cathedrals, and churches. These towns are among the most picturesque in Russia and prominently feature Russia's onion domes.
A collection of lighthouses from the northern coast of Maine following the coastline south to the southern tip of Florida. Many of these lighthouses are no longer in use and are now registered on the list of Historic Landmarks. This collection pairs nicely with ProfSC's US East Coast Bush Trip, which I flew while finding many of these lighthouses. I highly recommend picking up the bush trip avbailable at: https://flightsim.to/file/11573/us-east-coast-bush-trip-maine-florida
The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243-kilometer (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932 and dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I, the road is the world's largest war memorial. Winding through varying terrain along the coast and providing access to several prominent landmarks, including the Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations, the road is an important tourist attraction in the region.
*** INSTALLATION OF FREE ADD-ON MODELS FOR 3 OF THESE SITES IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED *** There were certainly more than seven "wonders" in ancient times, but one particular set has been remembered as "the" seven wonders of the ancient world. They were the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus, the Temple of Artemis, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Of these, only the Great Pyramid remains standing today. In modern times, there are undoubtedly thousands of human creations old and new that are wondrous, but there is something about that number seven. Many lists have been made, but here is one that originated in a 2000 campaign by a Swiss foundation (https://www.britannica.com/list/new-seven-wonders-of-the-world). More than 100 million people voted and some were disappointed when certain "obvious" choices didn't make it. But here is the final list: (1) Great Wall of China*, (2) Chichén Itzá in Mexico, (3) Petra* in Jordan, (4) Machu Pichu* in Peru, (5) the statue Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, (6) the Colosseum in Rome, and (7) the Taj Mahal in India. Four of these are well represented by default in Microsoft Flight Simulator, but three* are not. Fortunately there are good addons available for these with links below. Since the "ancient wonder" Great Pyramid still stands in Egypt and is well modeled in MSFS, it is added as an honorary eighth wonder. Get flying and visit all eight! You might need to refuel a couple of times. https://flightsim.to/file/18761/the-great-wall-of-china-mutianyu-section https://flightsim.to/file/18332/the-ancient-city-of-petra-jordan-one-of-the-7-wonders-of-the-world https://flightsim.to/file/14281/machu-picchu
A collection of the best historical places to see in Alsace including castles, churches, world war monuments and much more. Having been early and always densely populated, Alsace is famous for its high number of picturesque villages, churches and castles and for the various beauties of its three main towns, in spite of severe destructions suffered throughout five centuries of wars between France and Germany. I recommend to use this mod: "https://flightsim.to/file/6403/81-castles-ans-pois-in-french-alsace" which will increase the quality of the castles in the region.
Situated in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000 km from the South American continent, these 19 islands and the surrounding marine reserve have been called a unique ‘living museum and showcase of evolution’. Located at the confluence of three ocean currents, the Galápagos are a ‘melting pot’ of marine species. Ongoing seismic and volcanic activity reflects the processes that formed the islands. These processes, together with the extreme isolation of the islands, led to the development of unusual animal life – such as the land iguana, the giant tortoise and the many types of finch – that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection following his visit in 1835.
Whether it's in battle or natural disaster, ships have been sinking for as long as humanity has been traveling through water. These POIs are a collection of some of the most famous shipwrecks throughout history.
Follow the path of Hannibal Barca as he waged his campaign against the Roman Republic in the Second Punic War. Start in ancient Carthage and see the path he forged through the Pyreneese and Alps mountains before ravaging the Italian penninsula. Then follow him as he was recalled back to Carthage.
Follow the path of Hannibal Barca as he waged his campaign against the Roman Republic in the Second Punic War. Start in ancient Carthage and see the path he forged through the Pyreneese and Alps mountains before ravaging the Italian penninsula. Then follow him as he was recalled back to Carthage.
Follow the path of Hannibal Barca as he waged his campaign against the Roman Republic in the Second Punic War. Start in ancient Carthage and see the path he forged through the Pyreneese and Alps mountains before dominating the Italian penninsula. Then follow him as he was recalled back to Carthage for a final last stand.
*** INSTALLATION OF FREE ADD-ON MODELS OF THESE OBSERVATORIES IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED *** Telescopes have been helping people to observe and understand the universe since Galileo first used a small telescope to discover the four largest moons of Jupiter in 1610. Since that time, as astronomical knowledge has grown and as optical and mechanical technologies have improved, telescopes have gotten ever bigger and more sophisticated. To reduce the light-distorting effects of the atmosphere, large optical telescopes are normally constructed on high mountains, and many of these installations are complex and large enough to appear as buildings in Microsoft Flight Simulator, and and to be identified as points of interest in Bushtalk Radio. A few ambitious add-on makers have created more detailed and realistic models of major observatories, including a few radio telescopes. We recommend that you install some or all of these beautiful add-ons linked below to better explore the instruments that help us explore the universe. There may be others available too (a few observatories are included as standard in MSFS). Some locations may hold multiple observatory add-ons, such as Mauna Kea in Hawaii which is also the site of the in-work Thirty Meter Telescope for which an add-on by droide already exists. Use the the add-on locator feature (blue icon) for each observatory POI to identify nearby add-ons. Highly detailed models of many observatories have been created as add-ons by "droide:" https://flightsim.to/profile/droide/uploads Huge radio telescope array in New Mexico: https://flightsim.to/file/4659/vla-very-large-array-radiotelescope Another huge array in northern Chile: https://flightsim.to/download/alma-atacama-large-millimeter-array-radiotelescope/4439
Exposure to radiation is a part of everyday life. Just going outside exposes you to low levels of ionizing radiation from the sun, and you can't even eat some foods without 'exposure' to radiation (albeit in tiny quantities). But you should probably thank your lucky stars that you don't live anywhere near any of these most radioactive places on the planet.
Whether they're the size of a molehill or a mountain, meteorite impacts are one of the most destructive forces in the solar system. Here on Earth, flying space debris triggered mass extinctions, but the same deadly asteroids might also have delivered the seeds of life soon after Earth was born. The effects of asteroid impacts linger for billions of years.
While salt is commonplace today, it used to be hard to come by and considered a delicacy, as well as a mark of wealth. Before the Industrial Revolution, salt mining was incredibly dangerous and was done largely by hand. Rapid dehydration in miners from constant contact with salt and the “salt dust” that was breathed in made life expectancy short. As such, this was the work of slaves and prisoners. The difficulty of mining made salt a rare symbol of wealth on a table. Now, however, salt is a kitchen staple. Because of the efficiency of mining, salt is much more commonplace and affordable.
More than ever, islands — and the resources beneath them — are the focus of geopolitical tensions between nations around the world. The biggest disputes range from the Arctic to Croatia to north of Samoa, and some of the competing claims were made centuries ago.