FS Aircraft Preview   Mirage F1 (v2)   by Kirk Olsson   (Previewed July 2004)

It was two years ago that Kirk Olsson released his second Mirage F1 designed for FS2002.  I presented a preview at that time that was so well received that I had to pay for bandwidth overusage.  As a result I changed my website host company and obtained the "Mirage4FS" Domain name.  So unknown to Kirk, his Mirage F1 has been very influential in the history of this website (not to mention the F1 is my favorite Mirage version).   I'm also happy to say that I have been able to send back a little of that influence by bending Kirk's ear with suggestions from time to time that have not gone unheard.  Thank you Kirk.

Kirk wrote this past week, "Just wanted to let you know that I've finished the Gmax conversion of the F1."  Kirk has hinted in the past that he was working on converting his Mirage F1 into Gmax and even sent a few screen shots from time to time.  But this last update shows progress that must be shared.

Here's a partial list of improvements:  • Dynamic shine  • Smoother animation  • Added animated canopy  • Added more animation to pilot  • Added animated exhaust     nozzle  • New afterburner effect  • Reworked some parts of     model  • Guns are now 3D  • Reworked textures  • New Jet sounds  • New flight model

Kirk and I have discussed the flight characteristics of the FS2002 version with a former Mirage F1 ("tifin") pilot of the Armée de l'Air (12 years, 2000+ hours).  "I did my best to add some of the flight characteristics Bruno suggested.  The plane isn't as much of a rocket as before, but in some area's is more agile.  I also have the plane set up to use FS2004's payload manager.  So now you can add weight and fuel to the models with Tanks and Weapons."

"The above stuff is cool, but the main improvement is the VR cockpit." - Kirk Olsson

Kirk emailed me with an update on the progress and included some new screenshots, "I've been working on the F1 making some changes.  I've redone all the textures to make them more photoreal and added a few new ones.  In addition I've also added some new parked scenery.  Nothing major just wheel blocks and protective tags for different parts of the aircraft.  And I've added some new exterior models of the CT and AZ as well as various other model tweaks.  With everything packaged this beast is around 33MB."  (9 September 2005) Click images for a larger view.

Also have a look at these in-game videos:

FRENCH ARMY - mirage f1 Fsx [FSX] Mirage-F1 Memory mirage f1 fsx 0001 Mirage F1 Fs2004 Mirage F1 low and dirty Mirage F-1 French Air Force

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