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If you are like most of us, your budget for worldwide travel can be slim to nonexistent. But with Flight Simulator 2000 you can travel around the world and see the sights from the unique vantage point of an aerial traveler. Better yet, you can play barnstormer, those unique gypsy pilots who flit from location to location at low altitude, often navigating by following roads and landmarks. While not as efficient as GPS, it allows you to see the unique character of the land over which you are flying.
Here are a couple of suggestions:
Disneyland
Anaheim, California
From John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Orange County, you will take off northward on runway 36. You will almost immediately cross over the I-405 Freeway, one of the main arteries of traffic in Southern California. Observe a moment of pity for those poor drivers who must navigate the morning and afternoon traffic on their way to work. Turn left to follow the freeway to the 55 Freeway, which runs north. Turn right to follow the road. As you fly to the north you can observe Saddleback Mountain to your right in the distance.
Look a little closer and you can see the MCAS (Marine Corp Air Station) Tustin and its massive dirigible hangars (N33 42.14, W117 49.48, for the barnstorming impaired). These hangars were used in the 1930's to house the U.S. Navy's huge lighter-than-air dirigible fleet. These massive airships or Zeppelins as the Germans called them, would dwarf a present day blimp. In most cases they were nearly 1000 feet long and driven by 6 to 8 engines. There were even a couple of airships (the Macon and the Akron) that were set up to act as airborne carriers with small complements of fighter aircraft on board.
Follow the 55 Freeway to the I-5 Freeway, the key traffic artery that runs from the Mexican border south of San Diego, all the way to Canada. Turn left and follow the road. You will see Anaheim Stadium (N33 47.50, W117 52.64), home of the California Angels baseball team and a little further on you will see the mountain of the Matterhorn and the famous Disney castle. Wave to Mickey!
Microsoft Headquarters
Redmond, Washington
Do you want to see where Flight Simulator 2000 was born? Select Seattle-Tacoma International Airport as your starting point. Slam your throttle forward and take wing. Ahead of you is the city of Seattle and the body of water to its left is Puget Sound. Seattle is a metropolis of 1.7 million people and a city whose character has been shaped by the land, the trees and water, and unique people.
Look to your right for Mt. Rainier (N46 51.16, W121 45.48) an active but thankfully dormant, volcano.
You will want to skirt the eastern (or right hand) shore of the lake. As you fly northward, look to the center of the lake for the two floating bridges. The first, the I-90 span to Mercer Island is the world's first floating bridge. The second, the 520 bridge, is 1.4 miles long and is the longest floating bridge in the world. On the eastern shoreline, see if you can spot the home of Microsoft's Bill Gates.
From this point, follow the 520 freeway east (to your right) and look for the buildings of the Microsoft Headquarters (N47 38.81, W122 07.11 ) to appear next to the freeway on the north (left) side. After you fly over the main campus, turn east and look for a circular formation of H-shaped buildings. This is the Microsoft RedWest Campus (N47 39.40, W122 08.67) and the birthplace of Flight Simulator 2000.
The World Tour 2000 Continues
Want more places to visit? Here is a partial list of coordinates for some of the world's landmarks. We bet you can find a lot more! Good luck and good flying!
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Place
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Latitude
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Longitude
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Arc de Triomphe
Paris, France
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N48 52.64
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E02 17.42
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Eiffel Tower
Paris, France
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N48 51.57
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E02 17.37
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Acropolis
Athens, Greece
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N37 58.83
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E23 42.79
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Leaning Tower
Pisa, Italy
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N43 43.99
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E10 24.0
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Coliseum
Rome, Italy
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N41 53.88
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E12 29.35
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St Peters & Vatican Plaza
Rome, Italy
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N41 54.52
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E12 27.26
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Teotihuacan Pyramid
Mexico City, Mexico
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N19 39.66
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W98 56.20
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Buckingham Palace
London, England
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N51 29.85
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W00 08.52
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US Capitol
Washington DC, USA
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N38 53.40
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W77 00.51
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Disney World
Orlando, Florida
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N28 24.92
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W81 36.51
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Astrodome
Houston, Texas
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N29 40.53
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W95 24.87
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Riverfront Stadium
Cincinnati, Ohio
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N39 05.83
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W84 30.42
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Independence Hall
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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N39 56.96
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W75 09.43
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Mt. Rushmore
Keystone, South Dakota
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N43 51.67
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W103 25.60
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Graceland
Memphis, Tennessee
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N35 03.23
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W90 00.80
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Salt Palace Complex
Salt Lake City, Utah
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N40 45.76
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W111 51.71
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Dallas Cowboys Stadium
Dallas, Texas
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N32 50.49
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W96 54.42
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Montreal Concorde Bridge
Montreal, Canada
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N45 30.11
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W73 32.63
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The Sphinx
Cairo, Egypt
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N29 58.32
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E31 08.14
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