iGMap/iGMap HD from FSWidgets

Posted: Saturday, February 19, 2011 - 18:27
Staff reviewer Aidan Sandri utilizes modern technology to look at FSWidgets' iGMap/iGMap HD. "iGMap is a moving map for your iPhone or iPad for use with Microsoft Flight Sim 9 or X, or X-Plane 9. It is a navigation aid for any flight whether it be VFR or IFR."

"There are other products similar to this and from reading about them and using them, this product goes far beyond what the others offer. I can say without reservation that iGMap is a must have for any simmer who uses FS9, FSX or X-Plane with an iOS Device."

Attention Visually Impaired Pilots

Posted: Saturday, February 19, 2011 - 16:48
ItsYourPlane announces the addition of yet another feature designed specifically for Blind and Visually Impaired simmers, who can now auto-land on a visual approach (with the help of Co-Pilot Michelle or Mike).

Until now, Blind and Visually Impaired (BVI) pilots have had to land their aircraft on runways equipped with an ILS (Instrument Landing System). However, difficulties arise when ATC sometimes instructs pilots to land on runways that are not so equipped, and they are told to make a Visual Approach. Obviously, this has been an impossible manoeuvre for BVI pilots.

Not any longer! As of the release of the latest version of IYP, Co-Pilots Michelle or Mike are sitting next to their BVI captain, who can now auto-land on a visual approach on ANY runway. Naturally, sighted pilots can also use this new IYP facility.

BVI pilots, please go directly to the Word version of the IYP Flight Deck Doc refer to Page 40 for usage details.
Sighted pilots can read a pdf version and refer to Page 40 of the IYP Flight Deck Doc for usage details. Please Note: This feature is NOT available in the free IYP version.

Guess & Win from Wilco Publishing

Posted: Friday, February 18, 2011 - 17:29
Wilco Publishing reveals its next project through a ‘Guess & Win!’ contest,allowing everyone to win the new Wilco title.Description and clues now available at contest page

New FSGenesis Terrain Mesh Products

Posted: Friday, February 18, 2011 - 15:24
FSGenesis has released several more new international terrain mesh products derived from the 30m ASTER GDEM dataset. Two more freeware countries of this new product line, Cyprus and Slovakia, are available for immediate downloaded from the FSGenesis store without charge. Several additional products, including Oman, Yemen, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, The Balkans, Hungary, and Poland are now available for purchase and immediate download, for both FS2004 and FSX. These products are compiled at 19m horizontal resolution (LOD11) with a vertical resolution of .5m.

Another Mile Stone in AVSIM's History is Coming!

Posted: Friday, February 18, 2011 - 0:00
You have probably received more than a fair share of email from the AVSIM library system informing you that in order to access the new library system, you must have an account in the AVSIM Forum System. Why? Because we are about to launch the largest and most encompassing change in AVSIM within the last 13 years. On March 5th, AVSIM will flip the switch and we will launch our new website and library. The forum will remain the same. With this new site, you will have more user features than we can count. We think you are going to be impressed with the first release of the library (and we hope you will help us improve it with your suggestions), and it's tie-in with the forum system. Major uploads will have support topics automatically created in the forum system, as just one example of the features that the new library and web site will bring to the community. Standby! March the 5th is coming fast.

Mega Airport Munich from Aerosoft

Posted: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - 18:57
Staff reviewer Roger Curtiss looks at Aerosoft's Mega Airport Munich. "The airport is comprised of two main terminals with 43 conventional gates and an additional 60 apron positions at Terminal 1 for aircraft parking and loading."

"This is a beautiful airport treatment. It seems as if no detail has been left out and every time I visit this virtual EDDM I find something new. The FSX version is especially intriguing as one can use the freeware “aircraft” BOB to roam about the airport grounds. There is considerable activity at the airport in terms of vehicular traffic as baggage carts, service trucks, security vehicles and busses make their appointed rounds."

"The attention to detail is maintained with abundant signage throughout the airport. From location signs on the roadways to taxiway markings, the area is robust with directional guidance. There are numerous locations where embedded red lights in the surface are present to instruct you to stop so as not to encroach on the right of way of aircraft on intersecting taxiways or on an active runway. The lights obediently extinguish when the area is clear to proceed."

"Aerosoft has outdone themselves to bring Mega Airport Munich to life."

PositionGames Release A New App

Posted: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - 15:15
FSXPad app transforms your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch into three cockpit instruments, an altimeter, speed indicator and compass for FS 9, FSX & XPlane.
FEATURES:PC Client provided free , monitor your planes instruments on the go, Not limited to home network only, Easy setup, no entering of ip address required , More instruments are planned.
Visit the PositionGames Product Page for a look at this and their other Mobile Apps.

Bristol to Exeter from Just Trains

Posted: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - 1:48
Resident staff train enthusiast Gene Davis looks at Just Trains new route for Railworks/Railworks 2 "Bristol to Exeter". "The route itself features over 85 miles of track that run between Bristol Temple Meads to Exeter St. Thomas in the United Kingdom as well as 14 realistically modeled stations in between those cities, along with the loop at Weston-Super-Mare.

"The add-on doesn’t stop there as it also features an extensive list of custom designed buildings and landmarks throughout the entirety of the route. In total there are over 30 different buildings and landmarks that have been beautifully designed to coincide with that of their real world counterparts littered throughout the surrounding scenery."

"After having spent a great deal of time with the Bristol to Exeter route one can’t help but fall in love with it and with its attention to detail you can’t help but realize how much work must have gone into this add-on in its overall design. In my opinion this is probably one of the best routes Just Trains have done yet and the fact that it was designed for Rail Works 2 makes it all the better!"

Flight1 Releases The DC-2 Boxed Edition

Posted: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - 0:42
Travel back to the age of elegance and take the controls of the legendary DC-2. There are only 2 DC-2's left flying today, and with unprecedented access to one of them the developers have been able to put together an unforgettable simulation of this stunning aircraft, capturing not only all the subtleties of the DC2 but also the magic of 1930's aviation.

You can choose to fly from the two highly detailed Virtual Cockpits with 1950s avionics or a modern Garmin equipped panel, with three external models and forty exterior liveries including of course KLM PH-AJU Uiver (NC39165) from the Aviodrome Museum, Lelystad.

The DC-2 boxed edition is available from Flight1. A full image gallery containing some beautiful screenshots of this stunning aircraft in action is also available.

MD-80 Komplettpaket Deutsch

Posted: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - 0:29
CLS has released a new, complete package for the MD80 Jetliner in German. The package includes the base MD81/82 JetLiner product, the livery expansion package and the MD87 expansion package. This means you get 38 liveries of the best MD80 series for FSX. Also included is their livery manager which allows you to easily install several additional liveries with the ease of a button click. Last but not least it also includes our extensive manual, with flight tutorial, all in German.

CityScape Portland Free From Orbx

Posted: Monday, February 14, 2011 - 14:11
Orbx's Autogen Annotation Guru Tim Harris has crafted this sensational version of downtown Portland, Oregon. CityScape Portland includes dozens of landmark buildings and bridges modeled in 3D, as well as pristine photoreal imagery! Drop by the CityScape Portland Homepage for full details and recommendations for setup.

Douglas DC-3 from Just Flight

Posted: Sunday, February 13, 2011 - 21:22
Staff reviewer Aidan Sandri looks at a piece of flying history with Just Flight's Douglas DC-3. "The DC-3 is a fixed-wing aircraft that changed the way air travel worked in the 1930s and 1940s - during the Great Depression and World War II. Due to the lasting impact it had on airline transportation, many regard the DC-3 as the most significant aircraft and icon man has made to date."

"The Virtual Cockpit (otherwise known as the front office) for the DC-3/C-47 represents parts of what you would expect to find in an actual DC-3 or C-47. What I do like about the DC-3/C-47 cockpit is that what is modeled in 3D and looks superb - from the throttles to the switches on the overhead panel - they look great. If you were not impressed with the virtual cockpit, then you are in for a real treat with the exterior model of the DC-3/C-47. Everything is accurate."

"Doing a full flight procedure is not difficult in this aircraft. Start-up smoke is included on the engines, but having a basic knowledge of the aircraft is all I really needed to operate this aircraft."

"So did the JustFlight DC-3 meet my expectations? Yes and no. I was hoping for a more detailed interior cockpit, as that is where I spend most of my time. If you spend your time looking at the exterior, or in the cabin then you will be excited to know that that part of the product is amazing, and very nice looking."

FS9/FSX KLAX Los Angeles Released

Posted: Sunday, February 13, 2011 - 17:30
BluePrint Simulations is pleased to announce the release of their KLAX, Los Angeles International Airport scenery, available in two versions, one for FS2004 and another for FSX sold separately.
The release incorporates the most recent airfield changes including runway 7R/25L accurately positioned in its new location and the addition of various new taxiways. They also offer a glimpse into the future by adding a preliminary version the new international concourse currently under construction.

Terrain Map from DBS Studio

Posted: Saturday, February 12, 2011 - 17:56
Staff reviewer Arjun Murthy stays out of the "cumulo granite" by using DBSim Studios' Terrain Map. "One of the fun aspects of Flight Simulation is flying to locations that are a challenge. This will definitely happen when there’s low visibility or mountains in the area. If you’re crazy enough to have both, then DB Sim’s Terrain Map comes as a great tool to help you live (virtually of course). It shows the terrain data relative to your position or as a whole and is highly accurate to show where you are now in relation to the terrain."

"The terrain map is quite similar to a GPS except that the output information is different tones of color to represent the variation of the elevation of terrain. With this program you can predict the location of Terrain past the nearby peaks, identify the width of a valley to make a turn, plan your path to an airport and if you know the area well enough, also use it as a little GPS type system to track the progress to your destination based on the formation of the valleys."

"Terrain Map is one of the simplest yet most detailed programs I have used in my years of Flight Simulation. It is so easy to use and it is very effective if used properly and for the right purposes."

PHOTO Regional - Paris HD Released

Posted: Saturday, February 12, 2011 - 16:50
France VFR is happy to announce the release of Regional PHOTO Paris HD, this being the very first scenery of a new collection of photo-scenery in high resolution within the French territories and overseas departments.

The PHOTO Regional product range provides a high resolution photoreal and terrain mesh coverage for each French region and islands. This photoreal texture coverage replaces the standard Microsoft Flight Simulator X® default scenery with a real landscape. You can then add local sceneries into this photoreal texture that provides you a greater level of realism.

A high resolution photoreal scenery is provided for the 4 Parisian departments (12 000 km²) with 0.85 to 1m/pixel resolution ground textures obtained from aerial photography of IGN. High resolution real 19 meter (LOD11) optimized custom mesh is included and all lakes and rivers have been entirely cut out and represented faithfully. Extremely precise geo-referenced texture positioning is carried out in order to ensure a maximal compatibility with scenery add-ons for this region.

Flight1 Ground Environment X North America 1.095

Posted: Saturday, February 12, 2011 - 7:18
Flight One Software has released an upgrade for Ground Environment X North America. This upgrade is free to all purchasers of Ground Environment X North America for FSX, and recommendeds that all its GEX North America customers upgrade.

Here are some of the features in the 1.095 upgrade:

- Includes GEX NA patch v1.092.
- New airport pads for wet and dry locations.
- Minor additions/changes in autogen to rural areas.
- New textures for Ultimate Terrain X (UTX) rail yards, interchanges, and UTX grass skirting.
- Color enhanced the default FSX road textures for those who do not use UTX.
- Added interface control to manually enable or disable the GEX/FSX autogen tree performance fix.
- Added GEX tree tile performance fix for users who fly other countries such as New Zealand and South America.

To get this upgrade, please press the Updates button in your GEX North America interface.

For more information on Ground Environment X North America, please visit Flight1.

Tower! 2011 From Wilco & FeelThere

Posted: Friday, February 11, 2011 - 16:04
Wilco Publishing and feelThere.com have Released Tower! 2011 , their new title is a complete simulation to experience
the real-life duties of a tower controller.

Highlights : 3 Photorealistic airports, Full voice control, Most FAA commands simulated, Full editor included, Realistic ground traffic, Single or multi-player version, Immersive sound experience.
Tower! 2011 is part of the Air Traffic Controller Suite, including the forthcoming TRACON! 2011 and ATCC! 2011.

FSDreamTeam Introduces User Controlled Deactivation

Posted: Friday, February 11, 2011 - 1:35
In an effort to make their activation method as user friendly as possible, FSDreamTeam has added a new feature: User controlled Deactivation

With this option, you'll be able to remove an existing activation for a computer, without having to contact them. Very useful in case you are planning to upgrade your system with major hardware components, reinstall Windows from scratch, or buy an entirely new PC.

Oslo-Gardermoen X from Aerosoft

Posted: Thursday, February 10, 2011 - 1:07
Staff reviewer Rick Desjardins heads to Norway to land at Aerosoft's Oslo-Gardermoen airport. "Oslo-Gardermoen, ENGM airport is located 35 km north-northeast of Oslo and serves Norway as its major international airport as well as a hub for Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle. The airport has two runways; 01R/19R and 01L/19L both 3600 meters long."

"The developers did a good job at recreating the airport and it falls into a category of being somewhere in the middle if you were to use a scale going from sparse to extremely detailed. This scenery is easy on the frame rates and is not what I consider to be a resource hog."

"The airport includes animated vehicle traffic on the roadways and airport aprons to add to the hustle and bustle you'd expect to find at an airport as busy as this one. The amount and variety was especially good in the apron areas where you can see a good mix of baggage carts, buses and mobile stairs."

"Night time lighting was excellent I thought. The apron areas and runway lighting were all very good. The lighting level was realistic and the approach and runway lighting was visible from a distance but not overpowering."

"This part of the world is very beautiful and picturesque and Oslo X gives you a reason to pick this area as your next destination."

VRinsight and SimWare Simulations V1000 Pit

Posted: Wednesday, February 9, 2011 - 12:54
The VR Insight V1000 Pit is a modern General Aviation aircraft glass avionic suite for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Features: Primary Flight Display and Multi-Function Display based on the Garmin G1000 new generation flight deck, Large integrated 20.1” TFT LCD displaying PFD, MFD and stand-by gauge or scenery, All buttons and dual rotary knobs are close to the real G1000 unit.