Dead Sea Israel, Update

Posted: Thursday, May 1, 2008 - 18:36
A new version of the free FSX Dead-Sea Israel photo-real scenery is available. at In this new version the water texture at the northern part of the sea has been changed to be FSX water instead of static image. In-game video of the new version is available there by visiting Here.

Airport Design Editor Update To V1.25

Posted: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - 12:49
ScruffyDuck Software and the ADE Development Team are delighted to announce a substantial update to Airport Design Editor. This brings either version 1.20 or 1.22 to version 1.25. In addition to a number of bug fixes and other enhancements version 1.25 provides several new functions including partial automation of the Cross Wind Runway technique pioneered by Jim Vile; Sloping Terrain Polygons that allow sloped flattens to be created; Change Airport Altitude that generates the required pre-load-bgl file and also updates all the necessary elements at the airport automatically; A 'wizard' to make designing taxi signs much easier; an enhanced tool tips feature for taxi-signs and library objects that show a visual of the sign or object(where available). The updater is available in the AVSIM Library or via the online updater at Airport Design Editor.

Yak-40 AI Model For FSX

Posted: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 - 3:10
DBS Studio and Simlandmarks proudly present an FSX version of the Yak-40 AI model which original FS9 version was released in 2005 as freeware.

For more information and how you can purchase the FSX Yak-40 AI model go to DBS Studio.

Scotflight Announces The RAF Collection

Posted: Monday, April 28, 2008 - 15:24
Announcing the latest scenery product from Scotflight, the RAF COLLECTION features highly detailed scenery for the three currently active RAF Stations in Scotland, namely RAF Kinloss, RAF Leuchars and RAF Lossiemouth.

Together with the scenery Scotflight already has made available for Scotland through existing products for FS2004 and FSX, this new package further enhances your flying experience in a land of mountains, lochs, islands and rugged coastline. The airfields contain a large number of customized buildings, static aircraft and vehicles, and nearby landmarks are also included.

The product download includes separate custom installers for FS2004 and FSX. The scenery is fully compatible with MS Flight Simulator and earlier Scotflight releases. The FSX version is also compatible with UTX Europe. Current users of Scotflight's Highlands and Islands scenery for FSX are advised that they will need to install an updated version ( version 1.2a ) which they can now download for free (with their current registration key) from the Scotflight product site.

Full details of the features and a gallery of screenshots are available at Scotflight

DreamFleet & Reality XP release Piper Dakota for FSX

Posted: Saturday, April 26, 2008 - 22:52
DreamFleet and Reality XP announce the release of the Piper Dakota for FSX, based on N8086N owned by DreamFleet's founder Lou Betti the DreamFleet Dakota is the first-ever FSX aircraft to feature a complete set of Reality XP's new "Gauge XTreme" smooth running Flight Line T and Flight Line N gauges in both the 2D panels and Virtual Cockpit. In addition to their high fidelity operation, these gauges also feature completely dimmable gauge backlighting. and Reality XP's Garmin GNS430, GMA340 Audio Panel, and GTX327 Transponder. The Dakota is DreamFleet's first aircraft to feature a choice of 3, different 2D panel resolutions for different monitor sizes selectable from within the cockpit, other features include a highly detailed Virtual Cockpit, removable landing gear fairings, two engine sound sets ,a choice of pilot gender , propeller models and ten included liveries. For complete details visit the Dreamfleet Website

Join the World of SimWords!

Posted: Saturday, April 26, 2008 - 22:48

Click for Larger View

Simply stated, SIMWORDS work! They work for both advertisers and affiliates! With over 151 million views and over $7,500 earned by affiliates, the AVSIM SimWord system is the most successful (and to our knowledge, the ONLY) collaborative advertising system in the Flight Simulation hobby. Advertisers benefit from exposure to numerous sites in our hobby, and affiliates benefit by having an income that helps pay for their site and bandwidth. Best of all, advertisers have complete control over their monthly advertising expense, when ads run, and even on what days and time. The AVSIM SimWord system provides for targeted advertising and comes at a very low cost. If you are an advertiser who would like to have advertising across dozens of simulation related sites, or a web site that would like to defray you costs, have a look at the SimWord system and sign up today!

Walk and Follow for FSX

Posted: Saturday, April 26, 2008 - 4:00
Senior staff reviewer Jeff Shyluk traverses his way through DBS Studios' Walk and Follow for FSX. He is accompanied on this trip by staff reviewer Angelique van Campen who reviewed the FS9 version.

"Walk and Follow from the Russian developers DBS Studios is a small utility with a big impact on FSX. It will give you a camera view that you can move around anywhere in the FSX (Service Pack 2) world."

"In Walk Mode, the camera moves relative to the ground. You can "fly" the camera anywhere on Earth. This is great for looking at scenery, taking screenshots of landmarks, and aircraft-spotting at your favourite airport. In Follow Mode, the camera moves relative to your aircraft. You can freely move the camera within the Virtual Cockpit, or you can even move the camera outside the aircraft for exotic views. In Follow Mode, the camera goes where your aircraft goes, which can help you take some really nice action screenshots from exciting angles."

"The Walk and Follow camera is controlled largely by using the keypad. If you have a laptop without a keypad, I think you are out of luck, as I do not know how to re-map the key controls, or even if this is possible. Technical functions are accessed through a menu system. Partly because the developers are using English as their second language, and partly because the internal programming of the FSX camera system is very complex, some of the menu items are difficult to understand."

"As long as you are happy with the basics of camera movement, Walk and Follow is easy and fun to use. Once you delve into the technical parts of Walk and Follow, though, expect a difficult learning curve. Many of the functions seem to rely on trial-and-error methods to get good settings.All of your new camera views can be saved. As it is, I find it quite a bit easier and more intuitive to save Walk views than Follow views. This is because the Walk mode uses a logical and organized system for storing your custom views in file folders. The Follow mode on the other hand, is harder to understand, as it relies on pre-existing FSX camera views to get started, and can only save new views over the default views (although it's fast and easy to restore your default FSX views as FSX is running, simply by disabling Walk and Follow). "

"The documentation for Walk and Follow is unfortunately very weak, just covering items on how to get the program activated and running. None of the more complex features are explained, and there are no tool-tips in the program to help either. Finally, if you are a TrackIR user, you may find disappointment in Walk and Follow as it will shut off any TrackIR functionality in FSX. I hope this gets fixed in a future patch!"

Jeff and Angelique sum up DBS Studios' Walk and Follow for FSX with, "I think that the price for Walk and Follow may be too high for what I got. Although the basic features work great and are a lot of fun to use, the technical features have poor documentation, and there is no support for TrackIR. Still, Walk and Follow costs less than many third-party aircraft, so as long as money is no object and you don't mind using trial and error to figure out the system, this application should help you get that magic screenshot you've been looking for."

Just Flight Releases Denham Airfield Video

Posted: Saturday, April 26, 2008 - 0:49
A video is now available for Just Flight's Real Scenery - Denham. Well worth a look, check out the attention to detail! If you'd rather watch a streamed version then you could visit the video section on the Just Flight website.

Following their success with the VFR Real Scenery series, their development team has been hard at work putting together this highly accurate model of Denham for Flight Simulator X. Designed using the latest high resolution aerial images and on-site research, the scenery includes all the distinctive buildings - from the Biggles restaurant, to the Air Cadets hut, the Denham of today is instantly recognisable. Among the many unique features of this scenery is snow on the ground during December and January - a first for FSX add-on airports! As well as the authentically-modelled buildings, custom night textures and high resolution mesh, Denham boasts static and AI aircraft, people and objects - there are even animated tractors in the nearby fields and flocks of birds. Denham is designed to blend seamlessly with the default FSX landscape or Just Flight's VFR Real Scenery.

Available to download exclusively from Just Flight, Real Scenery - Denham Airfield just might be that must-have for flight simulator enthusiasts who need a touch of realism in their airfields. Software requirements: Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Service Pack 2 and Acceleration compatible) - Windows Vista or XP.

FS-eXcel V1.1 Released

Posted: Friday, April 25, 2008 - 2:18
FS-eXceleration Software is happy to announce that FS-eXcel has been re-released as version 1 revision 1. "Some internal development issues caused product sales to be placed on hold but with these issues now all sorted out we can release the software for purchase once again" says Jerome Myers, project manager for FS-eXceleration Software.

Enjoy the most realistic flight experience ever with FS-eXcel for FS2004. FS-eXcel is a visual eXcelerator package for FS2004 that greatly enhances the look of the sim with no adverse frame-rate effects whatsoever. With FS-eXcel you will experience ultra-realistic sky, ground and water for FS2004. This package provides a “visual make-over” for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. For more info and screenshots please visit the FSeXcel website.

FScene Patch Released

Posted: Thursday, April 24, 2008 - 14:30
Ruud Faber at FScene.com has released a patch forFScene4X Australia/New-Zealanded. Ruud said in his press release that some textures of the FScene4X pack for this part of the world had to be improved. As of now all users can download the free patch from the FScene website . Also those who recently bought the TotalPack as download or in the new CD-box are requested to install the patch. Users of FScene for Flight Simulator 2004/FS9 should not install this patch.

Avsim Visits Embry Riddle SimCamp

Posted: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - 16:33
By: Martin Arant - Avsim Simulation Technologies

While on a recent trip to Arizona I had the pleasure of visiting Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) at their beautiful Prescott, Arizona Campus. The ERAU Prescott Campus is planning on holding the first ever “Flight Sim Summer Camp” scheduled for June 2008 so I was anxious to tour the facilities, as Avsim will be participating in the event.

Situated in the midst of natural wonders, Embry-Riddle's Prescott, Arizona campus covers 539 acres of high-altitude western terrain. The flight training center is at nearby Prescott Love Field Municipal Airport. The campus has excellent programs in flight, engineering, space physics, global security and intelligence studies, computer science, aviation business administration, meteorology, and a graduate program in safety science. The Robertson Aviation Safety Center features an accident investigation lab and the Robertson Flight Simulation Center, houses six Frasca flight-training-devices. Nearby destinations include Phoenix, about 80 miles southeast; Las Vegas, 260 miles northwest; and Los Angeles, 375 miles west. The Grand Canyon, considered one of the most impressive natural splendors in the world is only 95 miles away.

I was met by Ray Bédard, a professor at ERAU, and the architect of the FS-SCORE system used at the ERAU-sponsored landing competition at the 2007 Avsim Conference in Seattle. It was at the Avsim Conference that Ray and his wife and business manager Laurie started exploring the possibility of putting together a flight simulation camp for dedicated flight simulation enthusiasts. The idea was to bring attendees together in a fun and relaxing setting to enjoy spending a week flying the Embry Riddle simulators and taking part in some great simulation scenarios... like a search and rescue exercise using both their networked simulators and the Robertson Air Investigation Site.


The main attraction of my visit was of course, the flight simulators... and Embry Riddle has lots of them. My first exposure to the importance of simulation in the student training environment occurred when I went into a room adjacent to one of the main lecture rooms and saw over 30 students sitting in front of PCs running nothing less than Microsoft Flight Simulator. The instructor was describing QNH and how it is given in millibars in Europe and inches of mercury in the USA. This brought back memories (and not all pleasant) of my own recent preparations for my commercial written test. This looked like a much more interesting and fun way to learn... sitting in front of your individual simulator while receiving instruction. Ray explained that these 30+ PCs are networked into the ERAU air traffic control system located in another building. This allows students to learn ATC procedures and interface directly online with other students flying on the simulators. As a matter of fact, Embry-Riddle is now training actual controllers from the Prescott FAA tower using their virtual air traffic control system. In addition to the PC simulators ERAU also utilizes Frasca cockpit simulators with wide-view visuals. These are fully functional cockpits with working avionics, including the most up-to-date moving map GPS systems. The cockpit simulators I saw represented the Piper Seminole or the Cessna 172. The pièce de résistance however, had to be the full-scale Airbus 320 simulator. This cockpit simulator was actually donated by Airbus to Embry Riddle, so it’s no different that the simulators used by the airlines for Level D training. This simulator is only used for student cockpit orientation, so it is not certified, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less realistic to fly... with its 3-channel visual display and working cockpit systems. A recently posted Avsim video on youtube will take you on a brief visit to the Frasca and Airbus simulators. The youtube link is: Embry Riddle Video. There is also a virtual tour of the flightline located on the ERAU website at: Flightline Tour.

The ERAU Flight Sim Camp is planned for June 16 to June 21 at the ERAU Campus in Prescott, Arizona. Avsim will be participating in the camp by working with the flight simulation community to secure sponsorship for awards and prizes, as well as providing flight scenarios for the ERAU simulators during the camp. Details and signup information on the camp are available from the Embry Riddle Flight Sim Camp section of their website at: ERAU SimCamp

Twin Otter X - A Different Kind Of "Review"

Posted: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - 3:27
Staff reviewer Mark Kolo recently went on a family vaction to the Caribbean. This inspired him to write a "review" about Aerosoft's Twin Otter X and flying in and out of FlyTampa's St Maarten. This ficticious account utilizes these 2 pieces of software along with others, to show what can be done within the simming world as it applies to the real world. We hope you enjoy this different approach to expressing the abilities of simulation software. Mark presents his version of "Island Hopping."

XPax from HiFi Simulations

Posted: Sunday, April 20, 2008 - 18:30
Staff reviewer Juan Llobera looks at a new way of loading your commercial airliner with passengers with HiFi Simulations' XPax. "This is a new product and is the first one of a series of low-cost dual-sim compatible “pocket add-ons” (something like a Lite series) that basically aims to provide a multimedia passenger experience."

"XPax enable you to:
- Provides a multimedia passenger carriage experience
- It lets you control (manually or automatically) the connection of Jetways (if you have a scenery add on that lets you do that) as well as doors.
- It provides Real-time monitoring of passengers health and approval rating
- Provides a scoring and ranking system based on the flights performance
- Provides a set of 12 audio recordings (containing female and male voices in various accents)
- Provides a report about your flight
- Provides a real time dynamic aircraft weight control based on the passenger load."

Juan's review of XPax concludes, "XPax is a pretty good add on. It gives you the chance of populating those empty seats on your virtual flights. It gives us another option when it comes to Virtual Passengers."

IVAO Virtual Sky - 2nd Edition

Posted: Sunday, April 20, 2008 - 16:52
IVAO have now included an improved section on training and they hope you will all find it useful. Also, in this issue they have an exclusive article from the famous author Captain Mike Ray. You can download your copy of the IVAO - Virtual Sky, then sit back and enjoy this latest edition.

AU Blue - South Australia from Orbx

Posted: Sunday, April 20, 2008 - 0:26
Staff reviewer Chris Balmer flies "down under" and looks at Orbx Simulations System's AU Blue - South Australia. "Orbx is building on the advanced scenery and texture techniques pioneered with the Vista Australis (VOZ) project first launched in December 2005."

"The scenery has the following description provided by the developers: “ Full Terrain Experience introduces a radical new modular design with a level of visual fidelity unprecedented in Microsoft Flight Simulator since its introduction over twenty years ago. For the first time ever it is a pleasure to fly low and slow and take in the depth of features that our ground terrain textures provide.”"

"Keep down low and the scenery comes to life without destroying your simming session and reducing it to a PowerPoint presentation in terms of frame rates. Flying low and slow will really allow you to see the improvements over the default FSX textures, and the added levels of detail that have been put into this scenery. The roads, houses, and general buildings have all been blended into the scenery extremely well. Climb up to a few thousand feet, and you will start to see the “photographic” elements of the scenery. The vistas can be breathtaking in Australia, and they are here for you to see with some lovely detail."

"This is what scenery add-ons should be all about!" comments Chris about AU Blue - South Australia. "The area of coverage is pretty vast, and is only 1 of 4 elements of the Australian continent. Having all 4 would be simply awesome! This will be a popular add-on for many people from all over the world."

USA Forests for X-Plane 8/9 Released

Posted: Saturday, April 19, 2008 - 17:12
The long wait is over, AlPilotX has released the forests for the entire USA! Now you can fly from the Adirondack regions to the Everglades swamps, from the Chihuahuan semi desert to the Sierran Redwood (and Sequoia) forests up to the Cascades Wilderness. All covered by our very detailed and very versatile forests which replace the much more coarse ones from the original V9 Global Scenery (and add forests to X-Plane 8, which doesn't have any of them by default).

To give you rough numbers, here are the words from Albert Laubi who did all the texture and forest definition work (i.e. the artwork): "... This custom made plant cover of the USA now consists of 38 given ecoregions with 351 individually designed forest definitions and 5735 assignments out of 193 different trees and shrubs :-). Combined with stunningly exact forest outlines, this extraordinary scenery gives the USA a very plausible look and to you the joy of a superbe view from the cockpit..." So it will definitely bring your X-Plane flying experience in the USA to a new level (especially in the western mountains)!

New screen shots are available to help you get an impression of what the new scenery will do for you! Here are the download links for X-Plane 9 and X-Plane 8.

Another Captain Mike Ray Article

Posted: Saturday, April 19, 2008 - 1:27
FSVisions has published another an article written by Captain Mike Ray. In this article Capt. Ray once again takes you to a "Cold and Dark" cockpit. The article is free to download at the FSVisions website.

Madrid Barajas 2008 For FS2004

Posted: Saturday, April 19, 2008 - 1:12
SimWings is well known for the high quality airport scenery and Madrid Barajas 2008 is certainly no exception. Highly detailed and including the most recent new developments (new terminal plus runway) it is designed on top of high detail aerial images. Of course our Airport Enhancement Services already covers it. The FSX version will be available in a few weeks as a free download for customers of the FS2004 version.

North America Terrain Mesh for FSX Version 2 - USA

Posted: Saturday, April 19, 2008 - 1:07
FSGenesis today announced the completion and availability of the United States portion of their North America Terrain Mesh for FSX Version 2. V2 represents a significant enhancement from V1, not only addressing the plateaus at thousands of public-use airports, but increasing the vertical resolution from 1m to .25m. North America US V2 is available via download with both manually-installed zip format, or auto-installers, totaling more than 4 Gb. A 4-DVD media version is also available as an option, which will begin shipping on Monday, April 21. Those buying North America Terrain for FSX will also automatically recieve Canada/Mexico when V2 coverage for those areas is completed within the next month.

German Quick Start Guide for FSFlyingSchool

Posted: Saturday, April 19, 2008 - 1:05
FSInventions announces the release of the first foreign language media for its FSFlyingSchool add-on for FSX and FS2004. The new "German Language Quick Start Guide" is free to all. It's in handy PDF format, with loads of details and tips packed into its 9 pages. Includes table of contents. Just click on the 'German Quick Start' link on the main FSFlyingSchool web site.