Feels like Christmas

Because there are so many new things to play with. I'm building up a huge to-do list for flightsimming. I'm most excited now about the new Alaska scenery I mentioned in the last post, and I'm going to spend tonight (flying night!) exploring this region. I'm going to try to stay focused, and not hop from one thing to the next. Otherwise, I may get that bleary-eyed Christmas morning overloaded feeling.

To whet my appetited, this morning for my breakfast flight (screenshot is above) I took a quick spin around Atlin, in British Columbia. I flew there last year as part of my Alaska journey, but this a whole new experience because the Glacier Bay version 2 freeware scenery package has done major work with this area.

I'm pretty certain I had GB version 1 installed the last time, and in that version Atlin was untouched (correct me if I'm wrong). I remember the generic airport design, and nothing resembing a town. This time around, I find custom buildings, cars, GA traffic, lots of trees, and birds (!). It's amazing how much it helps to have cars around. We've been conditioned to overlook this, but if you think about it, most FS landscapes look as if aliens abducted all the ground transportation. Anyway, perhaps the best thing about this scenery the local town is there, including a road connecting the town to the airport. That level of detail makes it feel like a real place. I checked Google maps, and everything--town, airport, roads, docks--looks authentically located.

What exactly is Atlin? Its a small town in BC that I'd never heard of, but I flew there last year because it was a nice destination for a shortish flight from Skagway. I'm delighted that the GB team put so much effort into this town and airport, because it is a beautiful location to fly around. You can read about Atlin here.