Horizon Simulation and Visual Flight Team Up With The USA’s Leading Aerial Photo Supplier, AirPhotoUSA, to Put North America Into Home Flight Simulators

Horizon Simulation Ltd is proud to announce the release of VFR Photographic Scenery USA. Volume 1 - San Francisco & Sacramento is the first in this exciting new series of real photographic sceneries of the USA that will simply take your breath away.

Have you ever wanted to soar high above your home in your own private aircraft, exploring and experiencing views normally reserved only for the wealthy and the feathered? For users of Microsoft's multi-million selling Flight Simulator, this dream has become a virtual reality.

Working with the incredible archive of aerial photography supplied by AirPhotoUSA, the USA's foremost supplier, Horizon Simulation has again joined forces with Visual Flight, the UK's leading Flight Simulator visuals specialist, to create stunning photographic sceneries of the USA for use with Microsoft Flight Simulator.

"Every home, street, town, river, forest, and mountain (and much more besides) is depicted in stunning, true colour, photographic detail!"

VFR Photographic Scenery USA is created by mapping highly detailed plan view photographs of the ground onto a terrain mesh in a format that the flight simulator can display.

Horizon Simulation's Managing Director, Paul Chaney commented, "Using the best aerial photography available, VFR Photographic Scenery USA provides Microsoft Flight Simmers with the most detailed and realistic views possible - quite literally the same views that the survey aircraft pilots would have seen out of their cockpit windows.

We are delighted to be working with AirPhotoUSA and are very excited about the future products this relationship will bring to consumer simulation. Such imagery is normally only available to the most wealthy of professional simulation users in defence and civilian training schools. The low cost and high training potential of these products has even got heads turning in the professional world - many of our simulation customers in defence have begun to adopt this technology to aid basic flight training."

"Practice VFR Navigation, fly reconnaissance before taking to the skies, or simply enjoy the spectacular views whilst sight-seeing all over North America!"

Providing real views of the world from the cockpit of a PC simulator will mean that private pilots can practice Visual Flight Rules (VFR) navigation techniques, whereby identifiable features on the ground, such as roads and railway lines, are referenced to a chart of the area - literally map reading from the air. The clarity of the aerial photography provides scenery so good that even the smallest features on an aeronautical chart are shown clearly in the scenery. At night, point light sources, positioned using real road maps of the scenery area depict roadways and urbanised areas, allowing practice of VFR skills even at night.

For those wishing to fly reconnaissance before they take to the skies, VFR Photographic Scenery USA also allows pilots to become familiar with the local geography along route from the comfort of their own home. Such a resource may be used by pilots to gain insight into locations prone to turbulence as winds pass over mountains and through valleys.

The technology for generating this product was developed to create the original VFR Photographic Sceneries of England & Wales. Released in November 2003, the series was immediately heralded "... a quantum leap in scenery development.", and has since become the most popular flight simulation add-on ever sold in the UK. The software is currently used throughout the world by air forces, world leading defence contractors, and tens of thousands of private pilots. To borrow Microsoft Flight Simulator's tag line, this is "As Real As It Gets".

VFR Photographic Scenery: Vol. 1 - San Francisco & Sacramento includes a DVD containing 47,300 km2 of aerial photographic scenery, centred on the San Francisco Bay Area. A 30m, highly accurate terrain mesh upgrade is also to be included to give greater detail on cross-country flights, and to enhance the pilot's perception of distance in the virtual world.

"Practice your skills landing float planes in your local creek, or out in the wilderness on mountain lakes"

Cutting out hundreds of lakes and rivers by hand throughout the scenery area, the developers have also designated waterways interactive, meaning that they now shimmer with moving, reflective water surfaces and even allow you to land float aircraft. To finish the product, more than 437 three-dimensional objects, such as the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, have been moved to fit with the scenery.

Volume 1 - San Francisco & Sacramento is available now at a retail price of $34.95 in the USA, and may be purchased direct from Horizon Simulation, and other flight simulation suppliers throughout the world.

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Please contact Paul Chaney (+44(0)207 385 3400/paul.chaney@horizonsimulation.com) with editorial/advertising/reader/dealer enquiries.

About Horizon Simulation Ltd

Horizon Simulation is a specialised visual simulation company. Horizon works with leading data providers, software developers, and visual database modellers to provide accurate, detailed, and realistic virtual worlds for use in training and gaming simulation.

Horizon provides solutions for both desktop (consumer/home user) and professional simulation users:

Desktop (Consumer) Simulation:

Horizon is dedicated to developing highly detailed and accurate scenery upgrades for the world's most advanced consumer simulations.

In working with exceptionally skilled development partners and the leading international data suppliers, we strive to create innovative and immersive scenery products for users and territories throughout the world.

Professional Simulation:

Horizon has strong relationships with international data suppliers and is dedicated to sourcing the highest quality data for uses in visual simulation.

Horizon provides professional database modellers with an industry tailored approach to the delivery of both elevation data and high-resolution aerial photography/satellite imagery for territories worldwide.

For further information about consumer and professional data products and services, please visit www.horizonsimulation.com

About Visual Flight

Visual Flight is a developer and publisher of add-on scenery for Microsoft Flight Simulator - best known for developing the award-winning VFR Photographic Sceneries of England & Wales, and for publishing add-ons such as Scotflight Scenery and Visual Flight London.

For more information about Visual Flight, please visit www.visualflight.net.

AirPhotoUSA, LLC

AirPhotoUSA, headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., is advancing the wide spread application of aerial imagery with innovation and technology in pre-packaged, value priced, visual information solutions. AirPhotoUSA customers represent a range of industries including Real Estate, Retail, Engineering and Environmental Consultants, Government Agencies, Utilities, Location Based Services, Visual Simulation, and GIS Professionals. AirPhotoUSA, through its relationship with premier technology developers also offers its customers comprehensive Web-enabled solutions including on-line mapping, Internet / ASP delivery and 3-D web streaming applications.

AirPhotoUSA is a principle resource for aerial imagery and maintains one of the largest and most accessible digital image archives available for US imagery. www.airphotousa.com.