AU Green, Blue, Gold & Red by Orbx

Posted: Saturday, June 13, 2009 - 1:51
Senior staff reviewer Angelique van Campen goes down under to bring you the first of a 2 part review of Australian scenery from Orbx - AU Green, Blue, Red and Gold. "This review covers all the FTX AU scenery products and with that, I'll try to give you an overview of what FTX products do with your default Australia scenery," says Angelique. "Altogether to give you a well balanced and open view of the FTX Australia products, know as the GREEN (Tropical North), the RED (Central Outback), the GOLD (Subtropical East) and BLUE (Temperature South)."

Angelique flys VFR from west to east, and then north to south, finally ending up in Tasmania. She'll also take you on an IFR journey to compare the differences you will experience with the scenery from a higher flight plan.

She summarizes Orbx - AU Green, Blue, Red and Gold with, "this add-on series of sceneries, which covers the whole of the Australian continent, are of an awesome quality. The FTX support forum is very helpful and they also answered my e-mails straight away. I had a lot of fun reviewing these titles, although it was a lot of work and there is still a lot FTX scenery to discover."

Angelique, you're work's not over...we're all waiting for Part II.

Special Edition At-6D

Posted: Friday, June 12, 2009 - 20:54
SkyUnlimited has released a special edition At-6D Texan at the WASP Museums online store. This new product is in a hard case and has a professionally labeled disc. All profit goes directly to the benefit of the W.A.S.P. Museum . In addition, a few copies signed by actual WASP pilots are also available. To learn more drop in for a visit to the SkyUnlimited Hanger for a look at the video and story of its production.

Sydney Professional X from Commercial Level Simulations

Posted: Friday, June 12, 2009 - 1:32
Staff reviewer Arjun Murthy takes a look at a city in his home country, namely Commercial Level Simulations' Sydney Professional X. "Sydney’s Charles Kingsford Smith International Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. Being one of the major inbound airports for traffic into Australia, it experiences mostly heavy traffic from all edges of the world."

"The texture of the ground in the terminal has been changed from the default settings. The main change has been the colour. It uses different colours in different areas. There are a few add-ons of aprons. The apron south of Taxiway Juliet has been added. This is there in the charts in real life but not in the Default scenery. The landclass textures of the ground at Sydney have been drastically improved in this version."

"The autogen in the scenery has most of the default autogen plus some more. There are lots of added special extras such as the new multi-storey car park, McDonalds, 2 petrol stations and a Krispy Kreme store, an extra bridge for cars and numerous passenger jetways. More interesting effects at night include the runway approach lighting. They are beautifully set out on Rwy 16. They seem to have a realistic amount of elevation from the ground and have a nice shine on those lights. This doesn’t forget the PAPI included on all the runways, unlike the default."

"Sydney Professional X is an excellent scenery for a person with a computer having high specifications. It gives the desired realism, has extra add-ons with so much detail as to have shops (McDonalds, Krispy Kreme) included. They even claim to have trees in the same position as in real life. CLS seem to have put in a lot of work to enhance all aspects of this scenery and it can be seen."

New PhotoReal Scenery

Posted: Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 1:13
PhotoReal Scenery sim-savvy.com has made their first photoreal scenery release for FSX. The American West Central Section includes the states of Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Northern Arizona and New Mexico. This is a coverage area of 360,000 sq mi. It is sold on a USB hard drive because it is 46GB worth of scenery data. The next release will be the Northwest Section of Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Aerosoft Updates

Posted: Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 1:07
AES 2.01 - Right after you've landed and departed on the runway, a follow me van will be waiting for you that brings you to the gate or parking of your chaoice. It adapts its speed to your taxi speed and even blinks its turn signals to alert you to a turn! As you get close to the gate you will see a 3D marshaller with detailed animation (far better than any being part of scenery products!) that guides you to your location and even signs you to cut your enigine(s). Then he plugs in his headphone and tells you the blocks are in location. At the same moment the jetway starts moving towards your aircraft and will perfectly align to the door on your aircraft (any aircraft!). If the gate has dual jetways, both will work. Even the rubber seal that keeps out the rain is animated.

When you depart, the jetway is moved back (you even hear the warning siren) and the ground crew will hook up the push back truck. Of course they will inform you of progress and tell you what to do. The push back is fully automated and AES even knows exactly where to put the aircraft. The push back truck looks great and even has engine sound. During the push back you are told that you can start engines (but only when the area is clear). At the end of the push back the ground crew will signal you all is clear. Fully realistic!

Mega Airport Lisbon X - Visit the Mega Airport Lisbon the main airport of Portugals capital. Michael Kopatz and Peter Werlitz recreated the airport up to the smallest detail incl. all buildings and installations, docking systems and all the features you expected from a modern scenery development in FSX and FS2004.

Lisbon Airport is the main international gateway to Portugal and a major European hub. It is one of the largest airports in Southern Europe. The airport has two main runways, capable of accommodating large-size aircraft such as the Boeing 747. Before the existence of the actual Lisbon Airport, Lisbon was served by an aerodrome called "Campo Internacional de Aterragem" located in Alverca. At the end of the 50´s Cabo Ruivo was closed and all the air operations were transferred to Portela. In 2007, the airport handled 13 392 059 passengers and 82 879 tonnes of cargo and it is the main base-hub of the national Portuguese airline TAP-Air Portugal.

The Airport ground texture is based on a high detailed areal image. All buildings, lighting systems, navigation beacons and of course the layout of taxiways and runways have been recreated to perfection. Static aircraft can be de-activated to make room for the AI traffic. Runway 03/21 in Lisbon has two special Rapid Exit Taxiways, RET's. These taxiways (HN and HS) allow the aircraft to leave the runway at high speed.

Logitech Introduces Force-Feedback FlightSim Controller

Posted: Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 0:49
To provide flight simulation enthusiasts with a relaistic experience, Logitech has unveiled its Flight System G940. The design and controls of the Flight System G940 were inspired by military and commercial planes and helicopters.

"There's nothing ordinary about a G-series gamin peripheral, and the G940 is no different", said Ruben Mookerjee, Logitech's director of product marketing for gaming. "Whether you fly an A380, and F/A-18 or a Comanche helicopter, when you want to feel the wind in your winds, control engines together or independantly or master tricky maneuvers, the G940 behaves and feels like the real thing, from take off to landing."

For an immersive experience, the three-component Logitech Flight Sysytem G940 features a force feedback joystick, dual throttle and rudder pedals. And, with more than 250 programmable button options integrated into a fullt featured HOTAS design, you're able to access critical aircraft systems without taking your hands off the controls.

Project Opensky Releases P-8A Poseidon

Posted: Thursday, June 11, 2009 - 0:22
Project Opensky released the Second Millitaly variants of 737NG P-8A Poseidon. The P-8A Poseidon is based on Boeing 737-800 and for replacing the P-3C. The first flight was April 27, 2009. Please have fun flying their newest model.

WidevieW 3.1

Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 22:46
WidevieW . 3.1 is now available, WidevieW can be used to create virtual cockpits with panoramic scenery views through multiple monitor support on networked PCs. There is no limit on how many PCs can be linked together, and each of them can be configured to show scenery, maps or Spot Plane & Tower view. View angles and zoom factors can be easily customized, to get perfectly matching images between the monitors. head over to WidevieW to see its capacities.

GMap for X-Plane

Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 22:41
FSWidgets has released GMap for X-Plane, a free moving map system that connects to Google Maps, displays X-Plane FMS flight plans and loads aeronautical charts. The FSX editions have been very popular and we hope the X-Plane community will also have fun with this navigation aid. This freeware release is a stand-alone application for Windows XP/Vista systems and can be downloaded at FS Widgets .

FS Approaches VOL 3

Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 22:36
FS Approaches Vol 3 Expansion Pack for Flight Simulator X and Flight Simulator 2004, is an excellent way to familiarize yourself with all the proper approach methods, including DME ARC approaches, and vector to finals. Expansion Pack includes: 19 Missions , Adventures ,GPS Approach Tutorial, Charts & Maps, Interactive Flight Briefing. You can use Expansion Pack alone or in conjunction with FS Approaches Vol. 3 Worldwide Airports. So, if you already have Vol 3 Worldwide Airports installed on your PC the Expansion Pack will automatically install new files into the existing folder. the full details are available from the
FS Approaches Website .

Latin VFR San Andres & Providencia

Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 22:20
San Andres & Providencia Scenery for FS9 from Latin VFR. The main airport in this package serves the cities of San Andrés and San Luis as well as the nearby island of Providencia, Airports fully built with GMAX for ultimate performance Photo realistic images for the islands for both night and day. High detail textures for the runway, tarmac and taxiways. Custom AFCAD for AI traffic Marshaller at arrival stand. Take a look at the Latin VFR Homepage to see the complete feature set .

Icarusgold Dragon Rapide

Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 22:03
The Dragon Rapide was a British short-haul passenger airliner of the 1930s. Designed by the de Havilland company in late 1933 as a faster and more comfortable successor to the DH.84 Dragon, it was in effect a twin-engine, scaled-down version of the four-engine DH.86 Express. It shared many common features with the larger aircraft including its tapered wings, streamlined fairings and the Gipsy Six engine, but it demonstrated none of the operational vices of the larger aircraft and went on to become perhaps the most successful British-built commercial passenger aircraft of the 1930s. Compatible with FSX / FSX-SP1-SP2/ FSX-Acceleration . for a look at this aircraft visit the Icarusgold Hanger.

FS2Crew Pro Pack Released

Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 21:57
FS2Crew, a developer of flight crew simulations, is pleased to announce that the Heavy Hitters Professional Pack is now available. Heavy Hitters is a compilation product that bundles the following versions of FS2Crew in one download: * PMDG MD-11 (FSX and FS9) * Wilco feelThere Airbus Special Edition (FSX and FS9) * PMDG 747 (FSX) * Level-D 767 (FSX) * Flight1 ATR (FSX) * Default 747 (FSX) * Default 172 (FSX) Special bonus product included: FSCheckride (FSX and FS9) Note that Heavy Hitters does *NOT* include the 3rd party host aircraft. Heavy Hitters is available as a download or on DVD. Please visit their Website for complete details.

Scotflight Update

Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 21:49
Scotflight is pleased to present V2.0. Detailed scenery for over 50 airfields across Scotland. These are a mixture of enhanced default airfields and new airfields, not covered in the default FSX. Popular GA airfields such as Perth, Fife & Cumbernauld feature in the latest additions together with former RAF Stations such as East Fortune, West Freugh and Machrihanish. You will also find detailed scenery for Glasgow City Centre Heliport & surrounds and you could take a flight from there to Scotland's only motor racing circuit at Knockhill. The product also features a full replacement coastline for Scotland plus hundreds of redrawn lochs. You will find areas with detailed roads and moving traffic on major roads and on major bridges such as the Skye Bridge, Erskine Bridge, Kessock Bridge etc. There are castles, Mansion Houses, Canals and enhanced ferry ports. The featured areas also benefit from improved Landclass scenery. For our existing Vol.1 Highlands & Islands customers an upgrade package is available which will seamlessly install into their existing setup and give them the full benefits of Vol.2. Existing customers should note that version 1.2 of Vol.1 is required and holders of versions previous to this should contact Scotflight through our website for a free update to version 1.2. for full details on this fine product visit the Scotflight homepage.

Classic Liners Vol 1 from Aerosim

Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 2:44
New staff reviewer Benjamin van Soldt takes a look at the Boeing series as presented in Aerosim's Classic Liners Vol 1. "The Vol.1 package contains the following aircraft: Boeing 727-100 and -200, 737-200ADV, Boeing 747-100, -200B, -200C, -200F and -300. The scenery included is one of the old Osaka International Airport. The adventure included is a tutorial that lets you fly the Osaka approach."

Benjamin breaks down each section of the review into the 727, 737 and 747. "I flew the Tinmouse 2 737-200ADV, Ready For Pushback (RFP) 747-200, the Dreamfleet 727 and Captain Sim 727 offerings, so I’ll be using them as my reference." He then goes on to describe the various aircraft's exterior, interior and panel configurations.

"I have been enjoying myself immensely with Aerosim's Classic Liners Vol 1, and I’ve had many very nice flights. Out of the box, this is a beginner’s package. With simplified systems, a simplified though relatively accurate flight model, it is ideal for beginners. The planes of this package have a great potential, because there is something very nice about simple FS aircraft: they are extremely easy to manipulate. Overall, everything about this package can be termed “decent”. So if you are into classic Boeings and would like a VC, this package is your only option."

Caranedo and FSFlyingSchool Now in Avsim Store

Posted: Tuesday, June 9, 2009 - 19:52
The Avsim store has just added 2 new product lines: Carenado and FSFlyingSchool.

Carenado planes. The famous GA aircraft from Carenado are available via download. We now have 20+ Carenado planes in our store including the Mooney 20J 201 and the brand new Cessna 172N Skyhawk float and C172N ski.
Flying School 2009 is a revolutionary tool that will teach you to fly like a pro. Flying School 2009 works with FS9 and FSX. It's available immediately as a download.

Visit the Avsim Store today

The AVSIM FANCON 2009

Posted: Sunday, June 7, 2009 - 16:55
The AVSIM FANCON 2009
Dayton, Ohio September 4th, 5th and 6th

The AVSIM FANCON 2009 Planning Committee is in the home stretch organizing the details and participants to this year's event. It's time for our Vendors and Visitors to reserve their places as the deadlines for commitments are fast approaching and a firm idea of the companies represented and the number of guests we can expect are needed for planning. Reserve Today !

AVSIM Reopens FS Wiki!

Posted: Saturday, June 6, 2009 - 20:20
Today AVSIM brought online its new Flight Simulation Wiki. For those of you that had contributed to the previous Wiki, you will be disappointed to know that it was wiped out; not during the hack of May 12th, but as a result of a database fumble by the hosting service that provided our Wiki at the time. We are happy to report that we are now hosting our own Wiki on the avsim.net domain, and it is the most recent release of the MediaWiki system. We would ask that all of our former contributors and editors please pay a visit and help us populate the Wiki with all the community knowledge that we can. You can find the new Wiki at wiki.avsim.net. We look forward to seeing you there!

Captain Sim Upgrades

Posted: Saturday, June 6, 2009 - 17:52
The 727 Captain (Pro Pack, -200 and Freighter) version 2.2 for FSX is available and includes new features, fixes and enhancements. For the complete list, visit the 727 Captain website.

Train Add-ons Galore

Posted: Friday, June 5, 2009 - 21:36
Senior contributing reviewer Gene Davis expands on his experiences with Rail Simulator with a look at 4 Rail Simulator add-ons from Just Trains.

Rascal & Cottonwood is a fictional representation of a coal carrying branch line in North America and runs about 20 miles through the town of Tri-City, onto the Cottonwood Foundry and to the actual coal mine itself. Cargo Wagon IWB and Flat IGA Plus Pack have been designed specifically for use in Rail Simulator.

The IWB and the Flat IGA are two incredibly detailed rail cars that come packed with real world liveries and full sets of scenarios for each car.

RS Plus Pack Combo - Pack 1 gives the Rail Sim user a sound makeover for the HST125, VP185, HST 125 MTU, and the Class 47. Along with the sound upgrade, you also get nine new scenarios that exist in the Oxford to Paddington route. First time out in the Class 47 was a whole new experience for me as the sound added a much more authentic aural feel to the entire engine! This carries over to the other engines as well and I have to say that it really brings the Rail Experience to life in Rail Simulator.

It is products like these sold by Just Trains that make rail simming much more enjoyable and these four products alone have given me more hours of enjoyment with Rail Simulator and I recommend them to anyone that is interested in this mode of simulation!