Sim Savvy Photoreal America

Posted: Monday, March 14, 2011 - 20:38
Sim Savvy's Photoreal America contains 3 million square miles of photoreal scenery covering the entire Continental United States on a one terabyte USB external hard drive included in the purchase price (a $100 value), the scenery loads directly from this supplied hard drive . Unlike the default vector based scenery that comes with FSX, "Photoreal America" allows you to see the real view below. The scenery is generated from USDA NAIP 1 meter aerials that are taken every two years on a rotating basis. Student pilots can use FSX with Photoreal America as a training aid to practice between lessons. Veteran pilots can use FSX with Photoreal America as a flight planning tool. Imagine practicing a takeoff or landing at an unfamiliar airport you are scheduled to fly to. With Photoreal America you can see the real landmarks and runways below. Additionally, upgrades are FREE. When newer aerials become available they will be added to the product, Alaska and Hawaii will be added as well when future aerials become available.

Finally, a new product and website have been started to serve the European Community. Details and a sample scenery file of the Netherlands can be found at the companion site .

FSX Missions - Air Berlin A321

Posted: Monday, March 14, 2011 - 14:44
Perfect Flight releases FSX Missions - Air Berlin A321 for FSX. A collections of multi-crew airline missions to add more realistic flight experience in a populate aeronautical world ambience. Flights replicates real sheduled Air Berlin routes from/to Hanover, Erfurt, Palma Mallorca, Dresden, Leipzig, Nuremberg, Catania, Alicante, Hamburg, Zurich, Berlin and Madeira Funchal. Product includes 15 new and realistic with unique features and Step by step Check Lists Procedures; Airbus A321 Air Berlin in very high resolution textures cpmpatible with DirectX 10; Charts for all Airports and a tutorial to learn how to fly the Airbus A321.

AVSIM Seeking Reviewers

Posted: Sunday, March 13, 2011 - 1:15
The reviews department has openings for volunteer reviewers who have an extensive flight sim background who can write unbiased, technical and exploratory reviews. The subject matter covers aircraft, scenery, utilities and hardware.

We will supply you with the review material, you submit the review within 3 weeks so you must be dedicated to the task. We ask that you commit to at least 6 reviews per year, however your potential is limitless.

Please take a look at the review style and format as presented in the current reviews posted on the Front Page and you will know what we are looking for. Submit a sample review of something in your library/hangar to the Reviews Editor. Reviews take time to compose, edit and rewrite so this should not be an overnight submission. Questions may be forwarded to the Reviews Editor.

Japanese Earthquake Relief In The Information Age

Posted: Saturday, March 12, 2011 - 22:17
The Internet and its ability to connect the globe in real time has transformed the way Governments and Relief Organizations have provided information to victims, families and to a wider resource network than had ever been possible before the proliferation of the mobile phone and computer.
The organizers of relief assistance resulting from Japan’s Earthquake and Tsunami made use of the Internet to reunite families , and reassure relatives . The International Red Cross has established a network for people to make $10 donations by cell phone using text REDCROSS to 90999 or by credit card and PayPal with an Internet Donation Link .
The Social Networking Site Twitter has played a central role is providing up to the moment information coordinating the search for missing persons . All the major Relief Organizations have provided ways to assist “ by wire “ from where you live to those who really need it when they really need it , Google is your gateway to discover more about the continuing disaster and how you can help.

Guatemala from Latin VFR

Posted: Saturday, March 12, 2011 - 19:19
Staff reviewer Arjun Murthy flies to Latin American to visit LatinVFR's Guatemala. "La Aurora International Airport is located in Guatemala in Latin America. Recently, there has been an upgrade to the Passenger terminals and the airport now accommodates passenger aircraft, the Military and General Aviation. This scenery created by Latin VFR shows all aspects of the airport and makes a worthwhile destination to any flight simulation enthusiast wanting to fly somewhere that’s realistic."

"The buildings in the scenery are greatly realistic with regards to location, shape and number. The number of General Aviation buildings in La Aurora Intl. is simply immense. There are countless hangars on either side of the main runway stretching for almost the full distance."

"The “ground” in general throughout the whole scenery area is the best part of the scenery, in my opinion. The mesh is very life like, the grass textures and some parts of the city seem to be directly from a satellite picture; the taxiways look fantastic, the grass in the area is 3D and the ground details on the tarmac with all the line markings and surface details is of a high quality."

"The Night Scenery in this product is also fantastic. The highlights are the runway lights on the ends and the terminals. These look very welcoming and the lights are actually on 3D pins. The taxiways lights also show up very clearly while taxiing."

Multi-crew Experience: PMDG MD-11 Updated

Posted: Saturday, March 12, 2011 - 18:20
The folks at Multi-crew Experience are pleased to inform the flight simulation community that Multi Crew Experience, voice control add-on to FSX & FS9 has been updated to include total voice control for PMDG MD-11.

MCE tries to provide the complete multi crew experience, from captain co-pilot voice interaction, checklist reading, to ATC communication via speech recognition. Because in real life checklists get interrupted, ATC needs to be replied to, nothing is scripted. Everything is event driven. You call the shots at any time and things get done. The virtual co-pilot is smart enough not to trigger things by accident.

An often misunderstood thing about MCE is that it is mainly for default aircraft. In fact many complex aircraft add-ons have been specifically programmed and integrated into the main package, including PMDG 747X, Level-D 767, Ariane 737, iFly B737, PMDG B737, just to name a few.

The above could have easily made it as separate voice control products. What's more, MCE are constantly improving the package to make it work with as many aircraft as possible, making it the ultimate voice control add-on out there. A fully working time limited Demo is available, and no registration is required for the download.

Coming Soon: X-Plane 10

Posted: Saturday, March 12, 2011 - 18:12
Over the past years as desktop flight simulator progressed from low-resolution crude graphics to realistic 3-D cockpits and scenery, the X-Plane franchise has always been at the forefront in bringing to it's customers the most realistic flight simulation possible, with flight modeling so accurate that has been adopted by numerous professional-level simulation facilities. Now X-Plane is poised to make the biggest leap ever with the all-new X-Plane version 10. This totally redesigned product features "plausible world" scenery, realistic weather generation and clouds, and newly designed aircraft.

Stay tuned for more detailed information and release dates for X-Plane 10. In the meantime the first video trailer is available for viewing.

FS2Crew Release V 1.2 Of The iFly 737NG

Posted: Saturday, March 12, 2011 - 12:49
FS2Crew has just released Version 1.2 of its iFly 737NG Edition. Version 1.2 is a free and major update from FS2Crew that adds many new features to its latest 737 crew simulation. Some of the new features include: Circuits/ Touch and Go's Cold Weather Procedures along with simulated De-icing at either the gate or a remote location High Altitude Airport operations Enhanced GPU/External Air handling during Gate departure and Gate Arrival phases. The iFly 737NG Edition of FS2Crew is the most advanced crew simulation FS2Crew has created to-date. All FS2Crew iFly 737NG users will need to login to their FS2Crew account and re-download the main setup file to upgrade to V1.2.

KMCI Kansas City V2 From ImagineSim

Posted: Saturday, March 12, 2011 - 12:43
ImagineSim Releases KMCI V2 for FSX, It features re-designed and more realistic runway and approach lighting, an improved AFCAD/AI aircraft system, a host of bug fixes related to graphics card variations, and a code clean-up resulting in increased frames-per-second performance. KMCI V2 is free for existing imaginesim KMCI FSX customers. Full details along with screenshots and a demo version are available from ImagineSim's Hompage.

Electronic Flight Bag Updated

Posted: Friday, March 11, 2011 - 13:20
AivlaSoft GmbH is pleased to announce an update to their award-winning utility Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) for Microsoft FSX, EFB version 1.3.0 enhances existing charting and route planning and adds the following new features:
- support for online flying on VATSIM and IVAO™ networks
– visible AI / Multiplayer / Online traffic
– new Navigraph data, including Transition Altitude / Transition Level values.

HD Environment Redux by SceneryPRO

Posted: Friday, March 11, 2011 - 5:51
SceneryPRO Software has just released HD Environment Redux for Microsoft® Flight Simulator® 2004. This is the latest release for 2011 and incorporates many new photo-real textures taken in HD at various altitudes during real flight. This release builds on the realism of the previous versions and adds a level of realism that you must see to believe. The environment (sky, clouds and water) is directly affected by the time of day, season and weather conditions. This HD version is not available as an upgrade.

It's Your Plane MAAM DC-3/C-47 For FS9

Posted: Friday, March 11, 2011 - 5:47
ItsYourPlane First Officer, Michelle, has finished her intensive training and is now ready to fly the MAAM DC-3 and C-47 aircraft. The legendary IYP Co-Pilot, along with her sidekick Mike, has been anxiously waiting to fly these beauties, and she and Mike are eager to climb into the cockpit beside you and take off into the wide blue yonder.

The MAAM DC-3 and C-47 for FS9, developed by the MAAM-SIM team of the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum, have been interfaced with IYP and both versions are parked along side the other 70 fully supported aircraft in the IYP FS9 hanger. The interface is currently a 'passenger' version of these planes; 'cargo' and 'troop carrier' versions are under development.

No need to wait for the weather to change, after all simmers can choose their preferred weather, so put on your Captain's cap, pick your Co-Pilot, and take these birds up for a spin.

ATCsimulator2 Demo Updated

Posted: Friday, March 11, 2011 - 5:46
A few changes have been implemented into the demo download of ATCsimulator2. Since the introduction of Windows VISTA and Windows 7, and all the security measures implemented in the O/S's, this has been problematic for applications developed under the Windows XP platform. But, some changes have been made to the install to better accomodate those nuances for a smoother install of not only the ATCsimulator2 demo, but the full product editions as well.

To see the install improvement for yourself and to experience air traffic control, you can download the ATCsimulator2 demo. This demo comes with 4 major terminal approach control areas and will run for 15 days during the trial period.

Aerosoft Releases US Cities X: Cleveland

Posted: Thursday, March 10, 2011 - 14:52
For pilots, Cleveland is among the most fascinating cities in the US. Unlike Chicago it still has a lakefront airport that is close to downtown and during the approach you get a superb view of this great city.

As with most other US Cities, Aerosoft has added some more bonus content like Perry's Nuclear Power Plant to the east (a perfect waypoint for flights from the Niagara/Buffalo area) plus a complete island hopping scenery of the US Lake Erie Islands.

For more information visit the product page for this FSX add-on.

A "Bull Session" On FS InFocus"

Posted: Thursday, March 10, 2011 - 14:45
Holy smokes, they are back! Chip Barber and Shane "Archammer" Schmidt make a return visit to FS InFocus on Saturday, March 12th at 1900 Zulu. If you missed their December appearance you won't want to miss this one. Hilarity and frivolity will take place as Archammer and Chip join JT in a "Bull Session". Listen in and ask questions of these guys on flight simulation where you are guaranteed to get an opinion and insight.

As always they will be taking question via the quick coms and email. No set agenda, just straight talk about all things flight simulation. Join the "Bull Session" on FS InFocus, Saturday, March 12th at 1900 Zulu.

FSinFocus is a monthly talk show on Sky Blue Radio hosted by Jeff "JT" Turner. Sky Blue Radio broadcasts 24/7 around the world. Listeners may also tune in via their com 2 radios on 123.45 with their Wee Tune Beastie application available for download on their website.

OZx Releases North Plains Freeware 1OR4

Posted: Thursday, March 10, 2011 - 14:37
North Plains 1OR4 is a gliding club strip west of Portland. The field operates on weekends under the supervision of the local gliding club and is exclusive to gliders and their tow planes, powered aircraft may land at the field but only with permission. The field operates two parallel runways separated by traffic cones; take-offs are typically done on the north runway out to the east and landings are done on the south runway to the west In the event of the wind shifting directions, the field is reversed and all aircraft movements are done over the power lines and trees that border the west end of the runway. There is a thermal to the west of the field at the highway split and this is the house thermal typically used to start flights.

This scenery is designed to be used with FTX NA Blue PNW and you must have OZx NA 1.01 and the OZx Libraries.

IL-2 Cliffs of Dover Pre-Order

Posted: Thursday, March 10, 2011 - 13:11
IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover is the latest stand-alone World War II flight sim title from 1C: Maddox Games, creators of the legendary IL-2 Sturmovik series. Cliffs of Dover takes place in 1940 during the pivotal aerial battle for the skies over Britain between the British RAF, the German Luftwaffe and the Italian air force.

This new sim features over a dozen flyable aircraft (fighters and bombers), 13 AI aircraft, incredible damage modelling, a new 3D engine, and interactive training. Also included are an exciting single player campaign and customisable multiplayer modes which allow for up to 128 pilots to join in huge ongoing battles.
IL-2 Cliffs of Dover is available for PRE-ORDER from Just Flight with release expected March 31.

Tower!2011 Service Pack 1

Posted: Thursday, March 10, 2011 - 13:02
Wilco Publishing and feelThere have released Tower!2011 Service Pack 1. Based on customers feedback, the development team has actively worked to improve the latest version of Tower! 2011. Service Pack 1 is now available to all existing and new customers at the Wilco Publishing Homepage.

CLS Opens New Media Library

Posted: Wednesday, March 9, 2011 - 14:40
Featuring hundreds of videos and pictures of the CLS product portfolio, they now present their media library. The CLS media library gives visitors the opportunity to look at many different videos and screenshots made by CLS and their customers. It also allows users to upload their content to share with all the other users. They welcome everyone to their new library, and invite all CLS users to start uploading videos and pictures.

Updates From Captain Sim

Posted: Wednesday, March 9, 2011 - 14:36
Capt Sim announces 3 expansion packs for their 707 Captain; the 707-300C, the VC-137 and the E-3 AWACS. The 707 Captain base pack, now upgraded to V1.3, is required.