French Alps Scenery from France VFR

Posted: Sunday, October 8, 2006 - 0:17
France VFR is proud to announce our new French Alps scenery. This base pack covers the whole French Alps in addition to our previous Alps Sur product. The scenery is provided with a high resolution mesh and a 18000 km2 photoreal coverage, very accurate. A full English documentation is provided with all France VFR base packs. Many screens are available on the France VFR website, and on the site's forum.

This scenery, like other France VFR base packs, will be updated soon with a free patch for all FS9 version customers. For all the information, check out the website.

Screenshot Tribute to FS9 - Part 1

Posted: Saturday, October 7, 2006 - 21:35
Steve "Bear" Cartwright continues the legacy at AVSIM, "Ever since the release of FS2000, it has been a tradition here at AVSIM, to post a Screenshot Tribute to the outgoing version of Flight Simulator, once the impending release of the next version has been announced, which Microsoft has done with the expected release of Flight Simulator FSX in late 2006."

"Unlike the past postings of our Screenshot Tribute to Flight Simulator, where our screenshots depicted the improvements in Flight Simulator, this time I’m going to focus more on the dozens and dozens of authors that have contributed to our hobby and whenever possible, the author of the aircraft or scenery depicted in the screenshot will be noted. I would also like to add, that despite what you may assume, the majority of quality aircraft are indeed still freeware, though I’m certainly not going to restrict my screenshots to freeware only. This version of my Screenshot Tribute seems to be particularly appropriate, considering the revised attitude of the Microsoft Flight Simulator team and their very public support of the 3rd party designers, which it appears that FSX will be far more user friendly toward those wishing to provide an add-on."

Cloud9 Releases Phantom Update

Posted: Friday, October 6, 2006 - 17:17
Cloud9 has released the Phantom Service Pack 2. This update includes some changes based on users' feedback and a couple of bug fixes. Also improved were the general cockpit code to reduce the impact on the frame rate. The complete list of changed/improved items is included in the “readme” file provided with the update. Service Pack 2 must be used with the Phantom 1.01 version only. The new full 1.02 version of the product already includes the SP2. Also released is the Livery Pack 2. This new free package adds 10 new different paint schemes and configurations. The new livery pack can be installed only after the installation of the Livery Pack 1. For more information, visit Cloud9.

B25 by Fightertown Design Group 2

Posted: Friday, October 6, 2006 - 2:47
Sr reviewer Brian Fletcher continues his warbird series from Fightertown Design Group 2 with their rendition of the B-25 Mitchell. "In many ways the FDG2 B-25 is similar to the B-17 package. Both of them are modeled to provide excellent frame rates, they both have their fair share of positive and negative aspects, and they are both priced to attract simmers who don’t want to cough up a lot of money."

Looking around the aircraft as well as inside, "The FDG2 B-25 only comes with the “J” model, including two liveries; “Show Me”, and a representative of the 445th Bomber Squadron of the 321st Bomber Group. All of the gunner’s positions are modeled onto this aircraft, but only the pilot, co-pilot, and navigator are present. The interior modeling in the B-25 is what I would call acceptable. There are certain aspects of the VC that are detailed quite well, while other areas could use a little work. The VC is very functional in the sense that the vast majority of the switches are useable. You can fly this aircraft from the VC from startup to shutdown without having to switch to the 2D panel."

About its handling characteristics, Brian comments, "Having my flight controls configured near perfectly for every other aircraft in my collection, I found the FDG2 B-25 pitch to be overly sensitive. Unlike the B-17, which I commented as …”taking ten minutes to complete a two minute turn”, the B-25 can cut a sharp bank, and maneuver very well."

In summation, Brian makes it clear about this offering of the B-25, "This product is by no means what I would consider “premium”, it is not a top-of-the-line model, and it does not compare to other quality versions of this aircraft like found in the Maam-Sim B-25 Briefing Time package. However, it is a good quality package that makes an excellent alternative if you would like to add a good B-25 to your hangar without coughing up a lot of money. I am, for the most part, very pleased with FDG2’s rendition of the B-25J, especially when I take the price into account."

Captain Keith Releases Louisiana Wetlands Vol. 2

Posted: Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 13:11
Come on and "Pass a Good Time" with Captain Keith's Louisiana Wetlands Scenery for FS2004. This all-new volume includes two highly detailed airfields located in southeast Louisiana. The first of these FS Airfields is based on Pass Manchac Airfield, once a beautiful lakeside airfield but it no longer exist due to many years of coastal erosion, neglect and hurricanes. The second - Slidell Airport which is still in operation today - was created using satellite imagery, airport maps and personal photos to achieve a high level of detail and realism. Watch the video trailer or get more information at the Louisiana Wetland Series webpage.

Key2LAN Universal For FSX Available

Posted: Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 21:27
Key2LAN sends keyboard-based commands from a master PC to a slave, where a user's defined mouse or keyboard action can be simulated. This is very useful to control gauges, instruments and other add-ons working remotely on networked PCs. This utility is excellent for cockpit builders who want to program custom buttons and switches. Please visit Key2LAN for additional details.

WW II Fighters by Shockwave Productions

Posted: Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 3:15
Senior reviewer Gene Davis takes us back some 60 years and looks at another offering of World War II aircraft from Shockwave Productions. "WW II Fighters is probably one of the most reasonable titles out on the market right now that offers highly detailed and complex models for aircraft of this type."

"Once the product is installed, you will find 5 new aircraft in your hanger for you to choose from. They are the P-51, Zero, P-47. Spitfire and the ME109. Each aircraft is masterfully created and surprisingly frame rate friendly. It is truly amazing that any one developer would release 5 different aircraft of this caliber in one inexpensive package."

About flying these aircraft, Gene comments, "Flying each of the aircraft is a challenge. I found that each plane has its own little quirks and it takes some getting used to! You can’t just point your plane down the runway and expect to takeoff. It is also important to follow proper in-flight procedures as far as managing your engine's power and watching your instruments carefully, otherwise you might just find yourself in the drink as the engines can overheat or freeze up if you are not careful."

"The WW2 Fighters package is meant to be flown from the virtual cockpit and no other. The level of quality and detail that is incorporated into each of these aircraft is simply amazing. The sounds in this add-on are some of the best I have ever heard for WW2 aircraft and capture each of the aircraft really well as each sound package has been created from the actual sounds of each aircraft."

Gene sums up his review of WW II Fighters with this statement, "If you have an interest in vintage aircraft or a desire to try something a little less conventional than that of modern aviation, this product has it all."

New Just Flight Website Goes Live

Posted: Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 20:13
Just Flight is pleased to announce that after many months of hard work the new websites for Just Flight and Just Trains are now live.

To celebrate the completion of this massive project Just Flight is running a whole host of special offers on its flight and train products throughout October. Visitors to the new sites can make savings on boxed and download products and gain valuable Just Rewards points to save even more money.

Many of the original features still remain but amongst others now added there is an RSS News feed, Streaming videos, and an updated Support Section (no registration required).

The new site has been designed by the award-winning team at Fink Creative and is as pleasing on the eye as the special offers are on the pocket!

Visit Just Flight or Just Trains for a visual feast!

Louisiana Wetlands By Captain Keith

Posted: Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 3:07
With all of the payware products that we have been reviewing lately, I've asked our review staff to start looking at freeware products as well. Sr staff reviewer Alexis Esguerra has kicked off this request with a look at a scenery package from Captain Keith (available from AVSIM's download library) entitled Louisiana Wetlands. Bayou flying at its finest.

"The focus of Louisiana Wetlands is Lake Maurepas Airpark and T-Bob Field (I couldn’t have begun to make that last one up), two fields that supposedly existed once upon a time, but fell into disuse, were abandoned, and were eventually swallowed up into oblivion by the elements. The two airfields were developed through the personal memories of the Captain."

"Lake Maurepas Airpark is the larger and (relatively speaking) more modern of the two. Sitting at the northern edge of the lake for which it is named, it has a 1,850 ft dirt runway oriented due east and west, and is big enough to sport a dedicated ramp area for planes to park. T-Bob Field is decidedly smaller and more basic; 1,200 ft of mud running north and south atop Lake Pontchartrain, and plenty of places to park your plane as long as you don’t need a designated parking spot (in a nutshell, any clear space will do)."

There are a few surprises in this piece of freeware, "When I associate the word ‘freeware’ with ‘scenery’, I don’t expect much in terms of added bonus features. As I neared the strip, something caught by eye; tiny little specks hovering in front of me, maybe a half a mile out and right in my flightpath. A flock of birds, and rather sizable ones at that, hovering right off my nose all happy and chipper, and not getting out of the way anytime soon! This breath of new life into the simulation has been long coming, and I was very happy to have finally experienced it."

"The rest of the Wetlands experience comes from actually flying from and into these fields. Eye-candy is nice and all, but if you have been spending all of your flying time in and around the major airports (hmmm… like me), then you’re in for quite a treat," notes Alexis, "For bush-flying types out there in the MSFS community, Louisiana Wetlands Vol 1 would make an excellent addition to your scenery library, and for all others is a great entry into that rather peculiar yet fun world."

Navigraph Releases AIRAC 0610

Posted: Monday, October 2, 2006 - 21:28
Navigraph is proud to announce, in cooperation with Richard Stefan of NAVData-Service, availability of FMS Data. The AIRAC cycle 0610 (October 2006) is available for download from the Navigraph website. Several addons are supported. The FMS Data is supported now by source data from European Aeronautical Group (EAG). In addition to this Navigraph is pleased to inform its current users that the update interval on approach charts has been changed to an even shorter 3 month revision interval. The updated charts will automatically appear in the nDAC software client and are available within minutes after their release. For any clarification or additional material, please visit Navigraph.

Mountain Empire Airport Updated

Posted: Sunday, October 1, 2006 - 19:35
Jon Raines has sent us an annoucement stating that his recently uploaded Mountain Empire Airports scenery was uploaded without the AFCAD. Realizing the error, Jon is in the process of updating the file which will be available for download as soon as possible. The original file is listed in todays file library here on Avsim.

North America Mesh By FSGenesis Released

Posted: Sunday, October 1, 2006 - 19:31
In a press release today, Justin Tyme of FS Genesis fame has announced North America Terrain Mesh for FSX!. Taking advantage of the new, improved, more efficient FSX terrain engine designed by Microsoft's Adam Szofran, FSGenesis North America Terrain Mesh for FSX will take your terrain detail to new, unimagined heights. Featuring an incredible 9.6m resolution for the United States mainland and Hawaii, 19.1m resolution for Canada, and 38.2m for Mexico, FSGenesis North America Terrain Mesh has been compiled from the latest, best available 10m USGSÂ NED, 23m CDED, and 30m INEGI source data, ensuring the utmost in detail and accuracy. Even if you don't have the FSX beta 3 right now, but expect to buy FSX as soon as it hits the shelves, now is a good time to start downloading, since server demand is likely to be very high later on. The earlier you buy, the less you will pay, so take advantage of this special pre-FSX-release "in-production" pricing now to not only save, but avoid the rush later. For more pop over to the FsGenesis Website.

FlightScenery Releases FlightZone 02: Portland

Posted: Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 11:57
Along with four highly detailed photorealistic airports (KPDX, KHIO, KVUO, KTTD) and broad photoscenery coverage, this product includes a high resolution 18m. mesh, reworked coastlines and a custom landclass/waterclass.

FlightZone 02: Portland is an integrated approach, recreating a complete flying environment in which both GA and commercial pilots can enjoy flying. The scenery is built in concentric areas, each one adjusted to a level of detail that is in relation with the flying experience. All this with FlightScenery's "framerate friendly" approach. A FSX upgrade will be free of charge for FS2004 version owners.

Features:

Airports included (fully detailed):

KPDX Portland Intl., OR
KVUO Pearson field, WA KHIO Portland-Hillsboro, OR
KTTD Troutdale, OR

And more than 20 reworked strips around KPDX (corrected elevation, flatten, etc.) Downtown Portland's main buildings remodeled, including two helipads (on top of US Bancorp Tower and World Trade Center buildings).

Photoscenery included: Approx. 1,500 sq.km, from Battle Ground (WA) to Milwaukie (OR) and from Hillsboro (OR) to Troutdale (OR). All four seasons ( two versions of winter, normal and harsh winter ) and night, full autogen.

Animations: Road traffic around the main airports, animated marshallers and wing walkers at KPDX, animated wig-wags. Coastlines/Streams/Roads/Railroads: Reworked in a 10,000 sq.km area around KPDX. The same also goes for the landclass and waterclass.

Mesh: 100Mb ultra hires 18 meter mesh with multi-resolution.

Fully compatible with any 'road', mesh, LWM/VTP and landclass third-party products, provided they are accurately positioned. For more information please visit the FlightScenery homepage.

Pre-order FS-X From The Avsim Store

Posted: Friday, September 29, 2006 - 19:17
ADVERTISEMENT:
Flight Simulator FS-X Deluxe Edition is now on approach to the Avsim Store. We expect that the product will be released and ready for distribution in mid October. By ordering from the Avsim Store you will not only get the most anticipated version of flight simulator ever... but will also be helping to support Avsim.

Pre-order your copy today from Avsim Store

RGFlight Photo Scenery, Salzburg

Posted: Friday, September 29, 2006 - 15:52
RGFlight announces their Photo Scenery Salzburg Part1, v2 is now available. A high quality photo scenery with 4 seasons, nightlights and Airport. The Salzburg Airport includes newly designend apron and runway textures for a "look" like FSX. The photo scenery is FSX ready. Aerial views with an orginal resolution of about 10 inches were used. Scenery uses natural color of the optimized photo textures. A free patch for the Salzburg airport is in preparation. Download Versions are available now with a boxed version comming around 9th of october. For more information visit RGFlight.

SimuDesign Releases Lyon St. Exupery Airport

Posted: Friday, September 29, 2006 - 15:45
SimuDesign has released its SDScene Lyon scenery for FS2004. Lyon St Exupéry airport is a regional airport located in the south east of France. The scenery features: accurate modelization of buildings with several LODs levels lots of 3D objects; static and animated, realistic night lighting, photorealistic landclass, automated lighting system (lights are switched on when the visibility decrease), 3D animated marshallers which interact with your plane to park it frequency controlled animations and jetways, and an automated install wizard. You can see screenshots and get more information regarding this scenery on SimuDesign's website.

AI TimeTable Released by geniX

Posted: Friday, September 29, 2006 - 12:28
geniX has announced the release of its new AI TimeTable 1.99. Ai TimeTable is an add-on for MS-FS 2002/2004 that brings to your desktop a typical airport TimeTable. With a minimum effort, it is possible to configure the time table with airline logo and, for registered users, also have the ability to see RealTime information on flight schedules!! For more information on this product, visit the geniX Website.

SEA Developement Annoucne Checklist Manager

Posted: Friday, September 29, 2006 - 12:24
In a news article sent to us today, SEA Development announce the CheckList Manager FsP. If you fly with complex add-on aircrafts like Level-D 767-300R, PMDG 737/747, Lago Mad Dog MD80 or the Flight1 ATR72-500 you probably you need CheckList Manager! CheckList Manager FsP will give you the appropriate checklist at the right moment, give you the right suggestions to get the best from your flight. To find out more about this product, visit the SEA Development Website.

Aerosoft Announces Online Shop Merge

Posted: Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 18:15
In a news article today, Aerosoft Online has announced that it will be merging all of its online sales. Aerosoft Online has been selling the Aerosoft products in download format for 2 years. But now the online sales have been fully merged with the main www.aerosoft.com site and there is only one product page per product. To celebrate the closure of the old shop they have decided to dicount many of their product this coming weekend. To find out more about this news story, and grab yourself an Aerosoft product at a knock down price, visit the Aerosoft Forum for details.

Photoreal Canberra Released

Posted: Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 0:19
This scenery provides photo realistic ground textures and customised autogen scenery for a 32 km x 40 km area of Canberra, Australia’s National Capital, as well as updated 3D models of many of the local landmarks. The scenery represents a culmination of 10 years of development of Patrick Fogarty's Canberra scenery since the original version released for FS 5.1 in 1996. The textures, at 5 meter resolution together with the customised Autogen tiles generate the maximum realism available under FS2004 and provide a true VFR experience. The scenery is fully coordinated with VOZ and will be included in the next version of VOZ as well. The scenery has been tested on and is fully functional in FSX. For more information visit the website and if you want to download the scenery direct just click on the picture you find on the frontpage of the site.