FSX Aircraft ToolBox Version 1.1

Posted: Saturday, April 25, 2009 - 1:17
TweakFS has released a new edition of the their FSX Aircraft ToolBox, a tool that allows developers and FS users alike to make non-destructive changes to the FSX aircraft fleet, back up/restore entire aircraft folders, enable/disable aircraft groups and automate the creation of high-quality thumbnails used in the FSX aircraft selection dialog. This new version adds full Vista UAC compatibility, additional custom search features and a bug fix. Version 1.1 is a free update for existing registered users and is available from the TweakFS website.

FSCheckride Available For FREE

Posted: Saturday, April 25, 2009 - 1:16
FSCheckride, a FS9/FSX addon is now available for FREE courtesy of FS2Crew. FS2Crew owns the rights to FSCheckride, and FS2Crew has decided to give it out as a free gift to the flight sim community as a token of its appreciation for all the support they have received over the years. FSCheckride was reviewed by Avsim and received the coveted Avsim Gold medal award.

To obtain your free copy of FSCheckride, please create an account on the FS2Crew website if you do not already have an account. Next, add FSCheckride to your cart and proceed through the Checkout. The product is totally free, so you will not need to enter any credit card info.

Cessna 182 Skylane II RG from Carenado

Posted: Friday, April 24, 2009 - 2:20
Senior contributing reviewer Alexis Esguerra looks at the FSX version of Carenado's Cessna 182 Skylane RG II. "I heard somewhere that Carenado has some of the best looking GA add-ons for Flight Simulator. And in regards to the Skylane RG, I can state from my experience with this plane, that the boast is pretty well-deserved."

"In the scrutinizing of the external model of this RG182, it is a practical clone; it really appears as if the developers didn’t miss a single thing. Every item that I looked for was found and looked just right, rendered in properly scale and textures that are exquisitely real. Propeller, visible engine components, the fasteners on the cowl… I could go on and on, but I think I made my point clear. This is one excellently-rendered external model. Inside, it doesn’t stop."

"The sound set for the Skylane RG deserves praise as well. The representation of the O-540 powerplant is plenty convincing, with no discernable audible looping of the sound files."

"Carenado's Cessna 182 Skylane RG II holds very true to it’s inspiration in terms of visual and audible details, and the flight model is supremely spot on. For anyone out there wanting to look a little closer into the retractable and/or complex world of aviation, I’d recommend Carenado’s Skylane RG without hesitation."

FS Altitude Western USA Released

Posted: Friday, April 24, 2009 - 0:56
The France VFR team is proud to announce you its second pane of FS Altitude representing more than 5 Millions km² from the entire Western coast of USA down the Mexican border (major party of Mexico included) getting to the Middle states of the USA. The scenery has been entirely realised with low resolution photo-realistic textures (14.25 m/pixel) that is perfect for replacing the default textures of FSX for IFR flights from 6 000 m (20 000 feet) altitude, rendering a realistic and reliable image of the given geographical zone or continent. As FS Altitude only displays when reaching a certain level of height, below this level all previously installed add-ons remain visible. IFR flight with FS Altitude provides you complete immersion due to the widespread view and the low resolution texture. For further information and screen-shots, please check the updated website.

US Cities X - Indianapolis

Posted: Thursday, April 23, 2009 - 1:03
US Cities X, from Aerosoft, is a series of city scenery for FSX that will cover US cities. Based on an extensive aerial image it will have all the major buildings and landmarks plus all the heliports and small airports that are inside the covered areas. It is clearly intended to fill the gap between the default scenery and very high dense city scenery such as Manhattan X, London VFR or Venice X. Because the file size is rather large due to the ground image it only includes one season (in most cases this is not a real issue) and no night textures. The VFR flights over these cities is mostly a day time affair anyway. The first in the range is Indianapolis, Indiana.

Flight1 Updates Citation Mustang

Posted: Thursday, April 23, 2009 - 0:55
Flight1 is excited to announce version 1.02 of the Citation Mustang. This version now includes the Navigraph navigation database, and includes SIDS and STARS. This update has been released in conjunction with our official Sun 'n Fun press release on the Mustang.

The Citation Mustang is a breakthrough combination of power, speed and true jet affordability. Certified to be flown by a single pilot, the Mustang features state of the art engines delivering speeds of up to 340kts as well as the latest in large-format glass-cockpit flight displays, easing pilot workload, all while passengers relax in one of the largest cabins in its class. Flight One Software and Cessna Aircraft Company have joined forces to bring you this authentic simulation of the Citation Mustang, exclusively for Microsoft Flight Simulator X.

F4U Corsair for Microsoft Flight Simulator X

Posted: Thursday, April 23, 2009 - 0:31
The Aircraft Factory is a brand new product line managed by A2A Simulations and has released its first aircraft, the F4U Corsair for Microsoft Flight Simulator X, it includes three models, the F4U-1A, F4U-1C, and the F4U-1D. The product line delivers solid products at a great price with the F4U listed as including full feature support with FSX Service Pack 2 or Acceleration, 3D instrumentation for smooth response, wing tanks remove both fuel and weight when released, under-wing rockets can be added or removed with a single click, A2A / Shockwave 3D lights supported. Full details available from the A2A Website.

Add-on Converter X from FlightSimTools

Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 2:00
Staff reviewer Peter Clemenko III takes a look at a utility to convert your older textures to work with DX-10. "When Microsoft released SP2, one key flaw was that you had to use a specific texture type to have your add-ons working in DX10 mode. Add-on Converter X’s primary focus is to allow you to fly those aircraft in FSX SP2 in DX 10 mode. Without them in that format they would just show up as white textures in the add-ons, which is the default non-skinned texture of a model."

"I should note that this only converts the textures, but that’s acceptable as converting gauges to my knowledge has to be done by hand due to coding stuff. I noticed that it automatically converted the scenery and aircraft, and it fully worked in DX10 mode. It doesn’t convert at night, dawn, or dusk in the virtual cockpit, which is something that I find to be, well, unacceptable."

"Overall, this is a very good idea for a tool. The problem is that Add-on Converter X doesn’t work as advertised, in my opinion. I do give FlightSimTools credit for releasing 2 patches since the initial release, and they have focused on some of the annoying bugs, but not the worst one. This product has a lot of potential, but it needs a major fix.

GoFlight black modules on sale - save 20%

Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 14:09
The Avsim store is having a big sale on selected black GoFlight modules. Recently, GoFlight did transition to a grey color on all its modules. Some black modules are still available and are now on sale. The modules available are the GoFlight P8 (8 pushbuttons and indicators), GoFlight T8 (8 Toggle switches and indicators), the GoFlight Throttle quadrant TQ6 and the GoFlight mini Rack. You can get these brand new modules at 20% off the regular price. Hurry up, quantities are very limited.
Visit the Avsim store today.

The AVSIM 2009 FANCON

Posted: Monday, April 20, 2009 - 15:17
Enduring Commitment is what Fancon 2009 is all about , to Flight Simulation and the people involved in making the field the vibrant community it is. During difficult times showing support is imperative to building confidence in the continued success of our hobby, with Microsoft’s intentions for its new platform as yet unclear, Avsim’s members are keeping a weather eye on events and other platforms looking for some direction to become the clear choice. The choice was always clearly simulation itself , whatever the platform used the camaraderie and hardware remain the same as well as the desire to share in the growth of the industry as a whole , your commitment to the future can be demonstrated in a visible manner by registering for Fancon 2009 in overwhelming numbers, making this conference a voice to be heard clearly and distinctly in the offices and boardrooms of all companies involved in the industry, show your commitment and register for Fancon 2009 today .

Las Vegas McCarran International Airport

Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2009 - 17:08
FSDreamTeam is pleased to announce the release of Las Vegas McCarran International Airport. Available for FSX and FS9, with a license valid for use in both simulators. Umberto says, "This is probably our best scenery to date, with great texture clarity and good performances too, that blends nicely with the surrounding city scenery."

As with previous sceneries, the FSX version comes with the new FSDreamTeam scripting engine, with realistic SafeGate docking system available for the ParkMe function, and YouControl features to control several scenery animations. The scenery is available in Trial version, and can be freely downloaded from the FsDreamTeam website.

PA28RT 201 Arrow IV for FS2004

Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2009 - 17:02
Carenado announces the FS2004 version of the PA28RT 201 Arrow IV. Three different paint scheemes are included plus a blank texture. The details and realistic textures includes: Interactive virtual cockpit; Full moving parts: Ailerons, elevators, rudders, flaps, rolling wheels and trim tab; Animated sections such as: doors, copilot seat, cabin air and sun visors; lights: Navigation lights, beacons, landing lights; Full dynamic effects (shines over the body and panel, nightlights); and a 3D modeled pilot and cockpit area.

Other details include: pitot tubes, antennas, chocks, baggage area; Realistic textures and original paint design; Custom VC panel and gauges with realistic light effects on gauges; Nightlight effects on panel; Separate switches for instruments lights and dome light; a full checklist and reference text about the Procedures with realistic performances that have a similar behavior compared to the real airplane. For complete details visit the Carenado website.

Cessna Citation Sovereign Panel

Posted: Saturday, April 18, 2009 - 1:04
SimScape announces the release of the Cessna Citation Sovereign Panel for the great freeware aircraft developed by Aryus Works. This panel uses the "Full Flight Gauges" technology developed by SimScape to provide high quality vector gauges for the modern glass cockpits. More information can be found on the SimScape website.

Sim-Giants Scenery -Now available at the Avsim store

Posted: Friday, April 17, 2009 - 16:51
Sim-Giants specializes in the creation of highly detailed airports and scenery for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Their latest release is Milan-Malpensa (Italy). The airport has been designed using real-life images, includes day and night textures, and numerous objects. Milan-Malpensa is a must-have for MSFS X.
Sim-Giants is also the developer of fun-to-fly exotic airports, such as Canary Islands Gold, Tenerife , El Hiero and Fuertventura
New: The Airbus A400 and the CRJ Jet are available at the store
Visit the Avsim store today.

Multi Crew Experience from F++ Simulations

Posted: Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 3:25
Staff reviewer Alan Bradbury passes off some of the routine cockpit duties to his co-pilot with Multi Crew Experience from F++ Simulations. "Voice-control computer applications are great when they work. Trouble is, they have a long history of not doing that very well at all. Thus it was with no small degree of hope that I installed Multi Crew Experience onto my hard drive; it being the latest stab at this tricky proposition. This time by it's developer FS++ Simulations."

"Needless to say, you’ll need some sort of microphone with full duplex sound capabilities (i.e. the ability to record and play sounds at the same time) and a good quality noise-canceling headset with a boom mike is obviously going to be a plus point for performance. Here’s the clever part though; instead of getting you to read ‘Mary had a little lamb’, or something equally irrelevant in order to calibrate your microphone and teach the software to recognize your voice, you read out a tutorial for the product. While you read, your mike calibrates. So you actually kill two birds with one stone when setting things up."

"I imagine that, like me, you’ve probably assumed the name Multi Crew Experience refers to the product attempting to emulate having multiple crew members on board your virtual aircraft that you can talk to. And you’re right, that’s certainly part of it.Multi Crew Experience can do a vast number of things, and I do mean vast. (See review for a detailed list). As impressive as being able to chat to your co-pilot and give him commands is, you’ll find it is by no means Multi Crew Experience’s only party trick, more like an overture to a huge repertoire."

"One of the best and most useful features is that you can control and respond to the default FS air traffic control via voice with Multi Crew Experience, but perhaps more importantly, there is the option to allow the co-pilot to handle ATC communications if you get too busy. This feature in particular, is especially useful if you are not great on correct nomenclature and phraseology for talking to ATC, because Multi Crew Experience can effectively teach you how to do all that."

This extensive, detailed review goes into all (well almost all) of the features of Multi Crew Experience. Alan says, "only a fool would deny that Multi Crew Experience clearly owes a lot to the trail which products such as Vox ATC and FSHotseat have blazed before it, and, of course, the pioneering work which Microsoft have done as far as voice recognition goes. But inasmuch as those have illuminated the way forward, Multi Crew Experience has picked up the torch and run with it. If you go to the FS++ Simulations website to try the demo of this product, don’t go there out of idle curiosity. Because you will want to buy it once you’ve tried it, that I can promise you. Recommended? Damn straight it is."

Heli Traffic 2009 Now Supports FS2004

Posted: Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 1:30
Flight1 is pleased to announce the first update for their Heli Traffic 2009 product. The new version supports both FS2004 and FSX. It also includes several bug fixes and improvements. Heli Traffic 2009 is a Flight Simulator module that adds realistic AI helicopter traffic.

Alderney For FSX

Posted: Thursday, April 16, 2009 - 1:28
Alderney, by Earth Simulations, is quite possibly the highest specification photographic scenery created for a flight simulator. Including for the first time photographic terrain textures in FIVE ultra realistic seasonal variations all in hi-definition 30cm per pixel for unsurpassed clarity of detail. Highly detailed Nightlighting is also included.

Hand crafted 5m (min) terrain mesh accurately depicts the slightest change in elevation, Not only all that but Alderney comes with complete coverage of Earth Simulations own "Advanced Autogen". Offering a dense, variety filled landscape for you to explore up close. Tons of animated objects bring Alderney to life as you explore your simulated world closer than you ever dared before. Earth Simulations "Advanced Autogen" system is seasonal aware which means object types and locations change appropriatly with the season you are flying in, making it a long time before you discover everything the scenery has to offer. Moreover, Earth Simulations has crafted some extremely hi-detailed 3D scenes for you to enjoy. Alderney represents a truly ground breaking Flight Simulation product.

Perfect Flight Mission

Posted: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - 14:19
Now available from Perfect Flight is Flight Service: San Josè to San Diego mission add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator X. In this first mission of the new "Flight Service" series, you will experience a real gate-to-gate flight from San Josè Mineta Intl to San Diego Intl, covered by United Express on a Bombardier CRJ-700. The mission has been created to give you more realistic flight experience recreating a real word ambience with complete Ai/ATC interaction, speed restriction, cabin announcements, check lists (pre-start, taxi, before t/o, after t/o, descend, landing, parking). For more info visit Perfect Flight .

FSElemental For FS2004

Posted: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - 14:09
FS Elemental is an extraordinary and complete environment enhancement dedicated to Flight Simulator 2004. With simply one click, you can now revive your current Microsoft flight simulator environment! Experience heavenly skyscapes, waterscapes, cloudscapes, airport environments and effects. This extraordinary and complete environment enhancement is designed specifically for Flight Simulator 2004 and allows you to revive your current environment with just one click.

All textures were developed to work synergistically WITH each other, with the implementation of newer technology and techniques. Sky colors change with the seasons accordingly and cloud formations are beautifully rendered with stunning lifelike realism. The sun actually appears brighter the more it's focused upon. At dawn and dusk, land masses and cloudscapes are blanketed by beautiful matching colors and the bottom of cloud formations appear darker as the sky darkens, and lightens accordingly in brighter atmospheric conditions.

AirTrafficFX V3.0 Released

Posted: Monday, April 13, 2009 - 21:33
Jerry Beckwith has updated the popular air traffic generator, AirTrafficFX to version 3.0. The latest version includes updated tools to include runway information from add-on scenery packages. The update is FREE to existing users.

AirTrafficFX is a powerful, yet simple-to-use air traffic generator for FSX. AirTrafficFX allows the user to add parked aircraft, local air traffic, enroute air traffic, and FSX ATC IFR air traffic. Formations can be added to local traffic, enroutetraffic, and even your own flight. AirTrafficFX operates in real-time, no airline schedule management is required, and any installed fixed-wing aircraft can be used for air traffic generation.