MiGMan’s Flight Sim Museum

MiGMan’s Flight Sim Museum

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002

The Crimea, FS2002 versus Flanker 2.0

Having spent some time flying Su-27 Flanker 2.0 recently I thought I'd see how Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 rendered the Crimean peninsula.
The first notable difference was that Microsoft only offer ONE airport - Simferopol. Su-27 Flanker 2.0 models about a dozen military airbases in quite some detail.
Secondly, the cultural artifacts are nonexistent, at least I couldn't find any bridges or buildings.

Terrain accuracy

The terrain is modelled about about the same standard in both sims, which is to say - pretty accurately! Not that I've been to the Crimea but the landscape is detailed enough for me to easily navigate by reference ot a real pilot's navigation chart.
Of course these comparisons aren't strictly fair since Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 attempts to model the whole world and Su-27 Flanker 2.0 only one theatre: the Crimean peninsula.
East of Khersones on the Southern tip of the Crimean Peninsula in Su-27 Flanker 2.0
East of Khersones on the Southern tip of the Crimean Peninsula in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002 MiG-29 from the Luftwaffe Collection (1999).
So there you are - the Microsoft offering is ready to go for combat fans - except there are no weapons allowed. Hmmm ... there is Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 3 due out in 2002 - but that won't model fighter radar. What the heck - why reinvent the wheel!

Crimea map in Su-27 Flanker 2.0

Crimea map in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002
Crimea in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002
Sevastopol in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002
Sevastopol in Su-27 Flanker 2.0
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