Aerosoft’s Cape CanaveralReviewed by Ludo Lambrechts
Space, it’s said to be the final frontier by many scientists, professors, or even regular civilians. From gravitation field intensity, to the speed of light there are many theories that have captivated people from all backgrounds and educations. The pursuit of space travel is led by the American based company of NASA. Today Kennedy Space Station located in Cape Canaveral, Florida is the Launch Operations Center for NASA. This beautiful natural island covers 219 square miles and continues to expand it’s possibilities, tourist experiences, and best of all it’s space discovery.
The island is very significant in Flight Simulator due to it’s importance in the exploration of outer space. The Vehicle Assembly Building, the Rocket Garden, and Launch Complex 39 are all visible from the air and would be very nice to be able to explore with Microsoft Games’ Flight Simulator 2004. Aerosoft’s add-on scenery, Cape Canaveral provides high-quality reproductions of these landmark buildings. You can fly over, between or even into these buildings with the exact detail and photographic materials used.
This add-on scenery however is more than just a couple of the buildings I’ve mentioned here. Yes they might be the most attractive feature of this add-on, but there is a lot more included. To be specific the biggest part of this add-on is the landclass mesh of Cape Canaveral. The add-on encloses quite a bit of land and uses photo material to enhance the feeling of realism in this add-on. The ground blends in well with the buildings, and works well with all of the airports included in this add-on.
Yes, I did say the airports included! In this add-on Aerosoft has changed not one, but three airports are changed in this add-on. The airports included are KCOI Merritt Island, KXMR Cape Canaveral AFS Skid Strip, and KTTS NASA Shuttle Landing Facility. There is not much to see at these airports in real life, but the team from Aerosoft still did a great job on making these airports look great. The ground textures are photorealistic, and everything you would find at this airfield has been included.
The Space Station grounds are as impressive on the ground as they are off the ground. There are many freeware vehicle add-ons for Microsoft Games Flight Simulator 2004, and taking one of these add-ons might be the best way to experience all the eye candies included in this wonderful package. You will see the space shuttles, cranes, launch pad, vehicles, and many more eye candies which make up a NASA space station. You will like to explore the whole land area to find new stuff yourself, and experience your findings with beautiful screenshots.
The scenery is one of the top performers out there. When dealing with photo material, the problem is never the frame rates but the loading times. The scenery and the photographs load quickly and efficiently for me, but I do not know if the same can be said for others.
This scenery isn’t alone in this package however. Included is a mini-version of the Aerosoft Super Cub Amphibian. This isn’t the full product, but includes one full model and almost all normal features. The exterior model is very nicely modelled and the single re-paint included is very nicely detailed. The panel is well rendered and includes an oil gauge as well. The aircraft is not the focus of this package, but is a very nice free addition to this amazing scenery. The frame rates are great, the sound is aliased to the default Piper Cub, and the flight dynamics feel good.
The scenery by itself would have gotten a great mark from me, but then Aerosoft threw in a simple copy of the Piper Super Cub. The software is easy to use and install as it takes you through the regular Aerosoft Online procedure. The scenery should work right off the bat, and you will be in the skies enjoying the views in no time. The scenery is very immersive and really displays how Cape Canaveral looks like. For their excellent work I award Aerosoft a 9.0 out of 10.
Reviewed by Ludo Lambrechts for Aerosoft
Aerosoft’s Cape Canaveral, My Review
[GK-customfield]FSX[customfield-GK] 
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[GK-customfield]FS9[customfield-GK] 
