History
I was rather sceptical at first when I saw the missions based
element of FSX, and wondered ‘are Microsoft making FSX too much
like a game?’. Over time this has proved not to be the case and
developers have really upped their game with add-on mission
packs. The first few which hit the market were not what we would
expect from a payware product, but over time we are now able to
buy add-on packs safe in the knowledge that they will work as
advertised.
Next off the production line is a series of 3 missions from a
new company called Vertical Studios. The team has been around
since 2007 and have released several popular freeware missions
which are available to download from AVSIM. They have used these
missions to refine their skills prior to releasing their first
payware missions.
About the missions
As the title suggests, the missions are based in the Swiss Alps.
There are 3 missions in total – the first of which is freeware –
and each mission follows on from where the last one finished.
The missions are titled:
1. Col de Coux. You will leave Geneva and fly over the Col De Coux Mountain pass before landing at Sion airport in a canyon
2. Sanetsch Pass. You will need to climb to 9,500 feet to clear the Sanetsch Pass before landing on the short runway of Saanen
3. Col de Jaman. Depart from Saanen and climb over the Col de Jaman mountain pass, fly along Lake Geneva and land back where you started at Geneva Airport
Each mission comes with detailed aeronautical charts of your departure, route and arrival. An FSX Nav Log and flight plan programmed into the GPS, and real world voice actors to guide you.
You pay for the missions via PayPal through the Vertical
Studios' website, after which you are given a link to download
the mission. Installation is straight forward as long as you
follow the included instructions. I would have liked to have
seen an automated installer to remove the chance of human error,
but the readme was sufficient for the installation.
The missions are all created based on a real world flight
undertaken by the Vertical Studios team back in 2009. They used
FSX to practice the flight and prepare them for what the real
flight would be like. This is what led to the idea of creating
Mountain Flying in Switzerland.
Flying the missions
Rather than explain each
mission in detail and spoil them for you, I’ll discuss all 3 in
general.
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Whilst the missions are not challenging with regard to flying them as there are no failures to worry about, you will need to forget using the autopilot and fly hands on and using your eyes to make sure you don’t hit a mountain. I loved the change from heavy airliners with FMCs to flying in a simple GA aircraft and ‘flying’ it.
Conclusion
Whilst the flights are simple and easy enough to complete, the
fantastic scenery and professionally created missions make this
a great add-on for anyone who loves the FSX mission engine.
It was a welcome return to real flying for me and I loved
the missions and will fly them several more times. You will need
to listen to the instructor and refer to the GPS for guidance as
the normal green arrows are not present to show you where to go
– not a bad thing as flying direct will result in a crash. The
first mission is free to download from the website, and the
subsequent missions are only $1.99 each (around £1.50), plus you
get a bonus reward at the end which is very nice.
Verdict
Taking all the
above into consideration I will award this mission add-on a
Mutley’s Hangar Score of 9/10.
Points were lost for the lack of an automated installer and the
lack of failures modelled. It would have been a challenge to
land with an engine out. But that’s just me being picky.
An excellent add-on and I look forward to more from Vertical
Studios. Try the free mission if you don’t believe me!
/Rob Scott
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System Requirements
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