The Microsoft/Asobo dev team took to the Microsoft Flight Simulator forums earlier this week to announce the release of Famous Flyer 8 (the Cessna T207A Turbo Stationair rendition) as part of its “Famous Flyer” series and City Update V: European Cities I update for MSFS. The Cessna is their eighth such “Famous Flyer” release for the platform, while the latest City Update covers five cities across Europe.
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City Update V
European Cities I is the latest in a series of “City Update” update series that the MS/Asobo team has released since the launch of the simulator and, as the name suggests, covers five cities across Europe. Microsoft along with its partners at Bing Maps and Vexcel has produced these exemplary regions namely The Hague (Netherlands), Brussels (Belgium), Košice (Slovakia), Zagreb (Croatia), and Cádiz (Spain). Each city was developed to the highest visual fidelity using the latest satellite data and TIN (triangulated irregular network) surface modeling.
The Hague is the third most populous city in the Netherlands and is home to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. Various points of interest that have been modeled include The Peace Palace, Het Strijkijzer (The Flatiron), an architectural award-winning skyscraper, and The Hoftoren (Court Tower), a striking tower that stands as the third highest building in the city.
Brussels is the capital and the most populous city of Belgium. Its rich history dates back to the tenth century and is a vital center of national and international governance, finance, arts, and education. Points of interest include the Royal Theatre of La Monnaie, a famed opera house, the Church of Our Lady of Laeken, visually notable for its soaring towers, and the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart, one of the world’s largest and most recognizable churches.
Košice is the second largest city in the Central European country of Slovakia after the capital Bratislava. It is the governmental, cultural, educational, and economic center of Eastern Slovakia. Notable POIs include the Cathedral of Saint Elizabeth, Business Center Košice, and Urban Tower.
Zagreb is the capital and most populous city of the Central European country of Croatia, located just south of the Slovenian Border on the southern reaches of the small Medvenica range of mountains, which is a part of the Dinaric Alps. Some of the POIs in Zagreb include The Croatian National Theater, a beautifully ornate venue for opera, ballet, and theater, Ban Jelačić Square, the central hub of Zagreb, and The Cibona Tower, Croatia’s third-highest building.
Cádiz, located on the Atlantic coast of southwest Spain, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe. Set on a strip of land surrounded by water, Cádiz is renowned for its seaside backdrop and beautifully preserved structures. Some of the stunning architecture of the city that is modeled include Casa de Iberoamérica del Ayuntamiento de Cádiz, a former prison that is now a cultural venue, Cádiz Cathedral, a baroque cathedral known as “The Cathedral of The Americas”, and The ruins of the Roman Theatre of Cádiz, one of the largest structures built by the Roman Empire.
Famous Flyer 8
The Cessna T207A Turbo Stationair is “one of the aviation world’s most legendary light civil utility models” and the single-engined Turbo Stationair is one of the brightest stars in Cessna’s history. The T207A seats up to eight including the pilot(s) and earned its status of a legend due to its turbo-charged power and ability to deftly handle even the toughest unimproved airstrips.
The latest Famous Flyer 8 was meticulously crafted to provide an authentic experience and is available to simmers in three versions: standard, cargo/freighter, and a skydiving configuration. The standard version has ten liveries, the cargo has five liveries, while the skydiving version also has five liveries. The team has not given us release notes stating all the aircraft’s features. But inferring from the provided screenshots, the aircraft seems to contain high-quality texturing throughout the exterior and the 3D virtual cockpit.
Closing notes
City Update V: European Cities I is available to all users who own the game free of cost on the in-sim Marketplace provided your simulator is up-to-date. On the other hand, Famous Flyer 8: Cessna T207A is available to purchase on the Marketplace and retails for USD 14.99. The update and the aircraft are finally in our hands after a couple of delays by Microsoft. The team has also shared two stunning trailers to show off both releases. For other flight sim-related news, releases, announcements, and updates, do check out FSNews.
