African Airstrip Adventures - Free Demo:

Content:

• 2 typical African airstrips (Makoninu and Makuni Farm)
• Custom scenery/terrain around Lake Naivasha (Kenya)
• High resolution LOD11 mesh
• Custom landclass and landclass textures
• Free flights for easy airstrip identification

Africa is unlike everything else you know when it comes to flying. There are very few big airports but countless small airstrips, most of them featuring rough, bumpy runways which are hard to spot and even harder to land on. You have to know them very well and you have to know their exact location to safely land there. Most airstrips are either used for tourist flights or transportation of all sorts (agricultural goods, cargo,...). This free addon contains two small airstrips in the vicinity of Lake Naivasha in Kenya. "Makoninu" is a small private airstrip whereas "Makuni Farm" is an agricultural airfield mainly used for transportation of crops and fruits. Both feature sloped and bumpy runways which can only be used in one direction: downhill on takeoff, uphill for landings.

Use the two free flights and the KML files (Google Earth needed) to find the location and covered area of this free addon.

KMZ files:
African Airstrip Adventures - Free Area: Click here
Makoninu: Click here
Makuni Farm: Click here

Download demo (35 MB)

With this addon you can finally experience all the wildlife you expect to find in Africa. Although this is a Flight Simulator X addon, it is not meant to reproduce Kenya as it is. Lots of names and places are fictional, even if based on real places and objects. We wanted to fill the gap between the simulation and the gaming aspect of FSX. So while the flying is highly realistic your environment is created to suit the mission career mode and not in the first place to be realistic. It will never be unrealistic however!

When Microsoft announced that FSX would include a realistic living world, we were all eager to go for safaris in Africa or follow birds on their way across the planet. Soon enough we found that - apart from eagles soaring in thermals - there are no animals to be found outside certain missions. With the African Airstrip Adventures we correct this absence. This addon covers an area of approximately 40,000 square kilometers around Mt Kenya, the country's highest peak. More than 20 airstrips, custom scenery and landclass, landmarks, lodges, vehicles and of course thousands of birds and mammals are bringing FSX to life - more than everything you've experienced before.

But that is not enough. For the very first time in FSX, you can now start a career as a pilot in a fictional charter airline, the small 'African Safari Charter'. Take on several different jobs, organize your schedule, choose the best aircraft for your assignment, maintain your aircraft, transport passengers and cargo, go on safaris - and of course master the challenging airstrips, which will afford all of your flying skills. The career mode is not simply a mission, it's an unlimited adventure, with job offers popping up randomly. You can combine jobs, having to keep track of the aircraft's load limitations and your time schedule. If you manage all of that you can climb the reputation ladder, collect rewards and have hours and hours of fun as an 'African Safari Charter' pilot.

Map (click to enlarge):

View aerial coverage >> Download KML-file <<

Google Earth is required for viewing this file. Download it for free here:
http://earth.google.com/

Features:

• 40,000 square kilometers coverage surrounding Mount Kenya
• More than 20 airstrips, many other landmarks like bush lodges
• Thousands of animals (several animated)
• Innovative Mission Career mode
• Automatic dispatcher (you are an African Safari Charter pilot!) that assigns flights
• Earn money and awards and increase your reputation standard!
• If you own the Aerosoft Twin Otter or Bush Hawk XP there will be new liveries installed!

Please note that this is a product that is hard on framerates because of the thousands of individually placed objects. Due to the way FSX handles these objects there is just no way to optimize the scenery more than has been done. Running this scenery on the highest scenery levels could only impossible on the fastest systems. The scenery however makes full use of the density settings so when your system is not top notch you can scale down complexity and still see amazing scenery. The System requirements should be taken very serious.

Additional information:
Download-Version (FSX only) : Version 1.00, Manual (English) as a .pdf-File

Awards/Reviews:

Avsim GOLD Star Award, Avsim.com 2009

3 out of 4 planes, FlightSimulatorXWorld.com

Conclusion by Avsim.com:
"I could go on at great length about African Airstrip Adventures, but it really doesn’t need me to do that. That’s because as a concept it is not complex, but that simplicity really belies just how enjoyable it is. What you get here is a reason to indulge in plenty of genuine seat of the pants flying over wonderful varied terrain, with excellent animated wildlife all over the place that is smart enough to be in believable locations, coupled with great airstrip scenery which offers really challenging landings. You get to use a good variety of aircraft, there is tricky decision making to keep you in the good books, you have the ability to make money to chart how well you are doing, which keeps things interesting and at a brisk tempo. There are numerous badges to collect for your pilot logbook, plus of course free reign to fly it how you like in an open-ended way. To come back to the cinematic analogies, if the kind of free-wheeling pilot role you see Mel Gibson and Robert Downey junior taking on in Air America appeals to you, then you will probably find African Airfield Adventures similarly appealing. Air America might not have won any Oscars, but African Airstrip Adventures is certainly worthy of one. It’s a simple concept, but the simplest ideas are usually the best. And put in a similarly simple fashion; it’s great fun."

Click here to read the complete review

Conclusion by FlightSimulatorXWorld.com:
"In summary, African Airstrip Adventures is a fair value for your money. I like the excellent open ended career mission with quality voice acting from the dispatcher and the other pilots. The scenery around Mount Kenya is nice with several included airstrips. Unfortunately, for a product that advertises thousands of animals, they sure are hard to spot. This may be realistic but takes away from the fun of the product. Also this program requires a fast computer for smooth flight. I was able to achieve smooth flight but had to turn down the scenery sliders in order accomplish this. BT: So what's the bottom line? Aerosoft is to be congratulated for another spectacular program that will challenge you."

Click here to read the complete review

Conclusion by FlightSim.com:
"Aerosoft's African Adventure scenery is ideal for flight simmers who want something different — something other than busy sophisticated airports and large urban areas. It's just right for visual flying and old-fashioned navigating. It's also great for visiting a part of the world and experiencing an environment that's different from what many of us in the world's developed areas are accustomed to. It taps into a sense of history as we visit areas where famous European adventurers treked a century ago. And its job assignments offer simulation pilots a convenient structure for their adventures."

Click here to read the complete review

System requirements:
Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Acceleration or SP2)
Windows XP, Windows 7 (fully updated), Windows VISTA
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 CPU minimum (Core 2 Quad advised)
2 GB RAM
DX9 Graphics Card with 512 MB (product is DX10 mode compatible)
Download-Size: 330 MB
Installations-Size: 470 MB

Additional Downloads :
.pdf-Manual (English) : >> Click here <<

- High resolution A4 color chart

How to purchase and install Download-Versions?:

• Buying is simple, just add it to your cart (press the green buy button) and do all the handling of payment (Credit Card and PayPal accepted) . Keep in mind that if you are located outside the EEC you do not pay VAT
• On the screen where you see that the payment has been done you will find a download link, download AND SAVE this file to a secure location
• While you are doing this, an email is being send to you with the serial code
• You can always find your code in the shop under Your Account - Your Order Details - Downloads
• During the installation you will be asked to enter your shop login name (email) and for this serial code