As many of you know, I like the realism of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Besides the excellent world-wide coverage of the sim, and the default planes, enthusiastic simmers have a lot of choices to improve the hobby, with freeware and payware planes and sceneries.
One of the usual producers, the OZx Team has just released OZx_AUS_v3.0, freeware for Microsoft Flight Simulator – FSX. It is a big download, in two parts, that covers the continent in 3Gb with over 5,000 files!
It has 20 new fields and heliports, 13 water landing ports and new VFR sceneries covering the Aussie landscape. This makes a total of over 300 sceneries plus oil rigs and farm silos. It provides wonderful flying opportunities, from the lush green landscapes of eastern Australia to the red outback, from farming areas in the west to the oil fields in the Indian Ocean.
As I do not know much of Australia (having never flown there), I decided to do a tour with a few hops a day, to get to know the terrain. This one started at Canberra (YSCB) going North, with Plan-G maps (beta) open on my second monitor. Very nice scenery, very well done. Plane is A2A's Piper Cub (payware), and excellent choice for model realism, if you like laid back, low and slow flying.
On to some screenshots:
1. Plan-G flight plan
2. NE of Canberra (YSCB) 
3. Farmland near Lake George, NSW 
4. Goorooyarroo Natural Reserve 
5. Over the Shoalhaven River canyon
6. Goulburn (YGLB) ahead 
(click on the images for larger size)
I like the realism of the plane, an excellent rendition of the venerable Piper J3 Cub, and OZx’s Australia scenery. The passenger is Heidi, and she talks and reacts to the kind of flying you do, so better be a good pilot.
I plan to continue flying hops around Oz and see what the land has to offer.
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