The Ultimate Hong Kong Simulation Version 2.0 for FS2002
Now More realistic Than Ever Before

have two regrets in my professional flying career, about things I'd like to have done, and that I am unable to ever do. One of them is to fly as Captain on the Concorde; a wish that will go unfulfilled notwithstanding Concorde's recent return to service, and without regard to any future alliance between British Airways and my current employer. The other is to fly "the" approach into Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong , which is now also impossible. Kai Tak airport has passed into history and with it one of the most challenging approaches in all of civil aviation.

Everybody's Favorite Destination Just Got A Whole Lot Better

Hong Kong has been a favorite in Flight Simulator for as long as the scenery areas have included that part of the world. Over the years, a variety of scenery options have manifested themselves from Microsoft as well as from add-on developers, both freeware and commercial. The realism has improved a great deal as time went by, to the point that the hill with the large checkerboard markings was correctly rendered, allowing one to fly the IGS approach to runway 13. If the spectacular pictures of "one-inch-from-disaster" landings that are so popular on various aviation photography websites are any indication, this was probably the most difficult landing in the world. Or, in deference to my Navy carrier pilot friends, at least the most difficult landing regularly flown in airline widebodies on a regular basis.

Now Flight Soft has taken the Hong Kong area to a whole new level of scenic realism with The Ultimate Hong Kong Simulation "Video Realistic" scenery. The use of a term like "video realistic" implies a density and detail level of near photographic quality; and, at least in the area close in to Kai Tak airport, you probably won't be disappointed! This scenery is, quite simply, stunning. There is no other word to describe it!

Intense Detail

We have become accustomed to high density levels of buildings in a major city area in FS2002. These buildings have become more realistic over the years as textures of increasing quality have been applied to them. But you have to see this Hong Kong to believe it. These textures appear to be taken from photos of the actual buildings in question. You can see a different view in each individual window of the high rises on the shore. If you could fly the helicopter with a high degree of precision, you could probably engage in a little virtual voyeurism.  

Buildings Everywhere

Buildings abound in the area around the harbor and the airport, particularly along the final approach to runway 13. For the first time in my experience, I felt like I was really flying that famous approach, right over the rooftops of the houses. Every street is there, thanks to a very high-resolution underlay, apparently taken from an aerial photograph.

Cars and trucks are clearly visible on the streets. If you lived in Hong Kong , in the area covered by this texturing, you could find your house, although Flight Soft has probably put a building there with textures from a photo of your house. Maybe that's you waving in the window.  

If I had served in the Navy instead of the Air Force, I'd be looking for that little tattoo parlor my shipmates told me about. And speaking of things nautical, there is a Chinese junk in the harbor, beating to windward. All of the water is very realistically rendered - the best I've seen yet in FS2002. The boats have wakes so good they actually seem to be moving right along. And the clouds are outstanding. The 3D quality of the cumulus clouds, and the transparency of the fog and thin layers is beyond anything I've ever seen.

Nocturnal Magic

As good as all of this is, you haven't seen anything until you treat yourself to the night views. I am way over my superlatives limit for this missive, so I'll just say this - fly every one of the night flights that are included in the package, and don't forget to pick your jaw up off the floor when you are finished.  

As you might expect from Flight Soft, the package includes a whole plethora of flights and approaches, so you won't miss any of the details. And two really excellent airplanes are included, in Cathay Pacific livery, of course! The Boeing 777 and Boeing 747-400 absolutely will not disappoint you, either in appearance or performance. Flight Soft has consistently hit the mark with flight models, and they have done it again here. 

You will need outstanding performance realism to be able to complete the approach to runway 13. Ironically, this approach may have been a bit easier to fly in a real airplane than in FS2002 because of the better visibility you have in a real world airplane. I have my "top hat" buttons programmed as trim switches, as they are on a real airplane, so I have to go through some contortions to change views quickly. This is a problem on a circling approach such as the 13 approach. However, by using the lead-in lights to guide the turn, one can roll out just about right on centerline almost all the time; which, judging from the aforementioned spectacular photos, is probably about the average for the real world! To paraphrase Apocalypse Now: if you can fly this approach well in FS2002, you will never have to prove your courage in any other way.  

I'm sure that a major question on everyone's mind is frame rates. This is a big program, and it makes demands on processors and video cards that would have been felonious only a few years ago. But, installed as advertised on a PIII 900 MHz system, with 256 meg of ram and 64 meg of video ram, it runs well, even with everything maxed in the display settings. Frame rates are spectacular on just average machines.  FlightSoft�s new scenery design primer lets you experience the ultimate in detailed scenery without having to compromise your scenery density preferences.

I don't know what they have done with the real Kai Tak airport, but I imagine it is no longer even recognizable. So now this is your only chance to experience this unique airport as it once was. 

Tony Vallillo
Senior Captain of a major US airline

Flying Through Hong Kong on a New Dell 8250 Screamer

• Pentium 4 2.8 GHz CPU running Windows XP Pro
• 512MB RDRAM
• ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB 8X AGP with TV out and DVI
• 120GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA 100 Hard Drive
• 19" Dell UltraSharp flat panel display
• Audigy 2 sound card
• Harman/Kardon MK945 speaker system with subwoofer
• DVD and CD-RW drives
• For the test flights I used CH Products USB Yoke and Pro Pedals

A Great Place to Fly Amphibians

If ever there was a perfect place to try your water wing, this is it! My first your was in the stock FS2002 Cessna Caravan. Fun, but somehow not quite in the spirit of the moment. Hong Kong stirs the adventurer in us all and I needed the right aircraft to go with that. So, I fired up my Grumman Goose (Click here to download this great airplane from our file library) and took a leisurely tour of the byways and waterways of this fantastic place. 

The views of the high-rise buildings and signs from the water was simply breathtaking. The great water effects helped, too -- right down to the droplets splashed on the windscreen.

Here's What's New For Version 2.0, The Special Edition

The ULTIMATE HONG KONG SIMULATION SPECIAL EDITION VERSION 2.0 brings numerous enhancements and new features to your Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 experience  Besides over 900 additional buildings and landmarks such as the Tsing Ma Bridge and Kap Shui Mun Bridge -  this new version brings the highly anticipated default Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 ATC or Air Traffic Control to Kai Tak Airport and the entire Hong Kong region.   770 new landmark buildings have been added  including the entire southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula :