A380 for X-Plane

Posted: Friday, July 2, 2010 - 3:45
Senior staff reviewer Angelique van Campen looks at the A380 for X-Plane. "This model of the A380 comes with a highly detailed and animated exterior 3-D model. The panel has almost 1.700 objects, and roughly 1.600 working hours went into it, although some systems from the A340 could be used."

"The shape and the sizes of the individual airplane parts like the fuselage, tail, wing, landing gear are of the correct size. Flaps/slat extension/retraction goes unbelievable smooth, which is the same for the GEAR extension/retraction. Because of the size, the cockpit or I should say the aircraft, is fitted with external camera's, helping the pilots while taxiing on the airport. This is not new or unusual, since it was already introduced with the A340-500/600. Anyway, following this camera guidance system works very well."

"Peter told me that the panel instruments and flight models are as realistic as they can be, within the limits of X-Plane. Peter Hager can offer A380 customers special plugins like this for the A380 model. Plugins that will become available in the near and far future, are for example first a mini plugin that automates the throttle configuration. A more complex plugin is under development. We (Peters Aircraft) already have the codes for a custom A/THR, AP and full Fly-by-Wire plugin."

After taking the A380 for a test flight, Angelique comments, "I still can’t read some of the panels or displays. It’s so tiny that guessing is the result. I’ve also the idea that the FMA (Flight Mode Annunciator) on top of the PFD is not completely conforming to reality. It was a good flight keeping in mind the X-Plane limitations."

"My overall impression is that this X-Plane A380 model should be a part of your collection. I’m aware that there will never be a Virtual Cockpit included. Peter has explained why he doesn’t want that or why he’s not spending the time creating one. That’s something you and I have to respect. The offered detailed manual is a pleasure to read. All what you want to know about the A380 is there."

Airbus A380 Available For Download

Posted: Thursday, July 1, 2010 - 22:29
After over 2 years of development time and several hundreds of hours of work by all involved, the Airbus A380 from Project Airbus has set it loose to be enjoyed by the community. It's their wish that she lives up to expectations and provides you, the end user, with countless hours of enjoyment. The model is made entirely in Gmax and was compiled using the FS2004 SDK. Official paints were packaged as standalone aircraft containers, and contain only the wing-view models.

The virtual cabin models will be released shortly as a separate download, while the paint kit will only be released after all the official liveries are up. Both RR and EA engines have been modeled. The final features list is as follows: - dynamic wingflex with input from several new parameters including ground spoilers, fuel load, and angle of attack - control surface droop when the engines are off - independent parallel bogies when on the ground - custom tire rotation code - animated pack vents - idle-reverser animation - ground spoilers - smoothed gear and flap animations - customized nosewheel steering animation - accurate aileron LAF simulation - custom coded engine fan start-up and shutdown animations - windmilling engine fans (including fan inertia) - transparent fan blades at high RPM - improved antenna hiding method - animated window wipers - dynamic probe sensors - hard coded "double strobes".

Aerosoft Releases Andras Field /Andras Airpark

Posted: Thursday, July 1, 2010 - 21:54
Andras Field is a fictional airport based in Southern Bavaria (so very close to the heart of Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland etc) at the foot of the alps. It is very much a multipurpose airport as it can handle medium airliners, helicopters, gliders and even large seaplanes.

The design uses a lot of new ideas, for example motion-capture to do some of the complex animations and even after many hours of use there are always new things to explore, for example the first fight (not flight) in FSX. Andras Airpark is an option for people who really like this project and would like their own house and hangar in FSX. Sounds a bit complex and in a way it is. But just check out the screenshots and then read the forums a bit and you'll soon know all you need to know. Aerosoft is also looking for people to manage the whole project as they intend it to be fully customer driven. It's a special project but it seems to be great fun and a lot of potential customers already participated on the forums.

Aerosoft Releases US Cities X: Niagara Falls/Buffalo

Posted: Thursday, July 1, 2010 - 21:42
Aerosoft calls it "the current highlight of the US Cities X series because US Cities X : Niagara Falls/Buffalo has it all, loads of small, medium and large airports got new ground textures, has five high detail heliports and covers the cities of Niagara Falls and Buffalo." You will also find major attractions like Marine Park (you can actually HEAR the Sky Screamer and see the orcas jump). And of course the falls themselves, with some very impressive new effects and animations. The screenshots certainly show an entertaining scenery!

Nord Pas de Calais For FS2004 & FSX

Posted: Thursday, July 1, 2010 - 20:32
France VFR is happy to announce its latest photo scenery release within the collection of Regional VFR: NORD PAS DE CALAIS VFR regional for both FS2004 and FSX.

It represents the extreme North region of France of 15 000 km² with a Mesh of very high resolution (LOD13). The scenery is covered by very high quality (2.40 m/pixel) aerial photo scenery that has been reworked for an optimal visual rendition. Specific autogen and extremely detailed 3D objects are provided and optimized for a smooth flight. All water-bodies are landable and navigable and transparency is rendered within the entire coast line. The scenery includes 22 airports, airfields and ULM platforms with semi-detailed buildings, a great variety of VFR landmarks (wind-mills, power plants, electric pylons) that have been entirely treated in order to provide a good cohesion between objects and photo textures. Precise geo-referenced texture positioning is carried out throughout the scenery to ensure a maximal compatibility with existing and future scenery add-ons for this region (ex. LFQQ- Lille Airport scenery already in their Regional Airport collection).

Concorde X SP2 Released

Posted: Thursday, July 1, 2010 - 20:29
Flight Sim Labs announces the release of its Second Service Pack update for the Concorde-X aircraft simulation product. Featuring an all-new Performance Calculator utility, Service Pack 2 also features several improvements and fixes for issues found after our first Service pack was released.

You can download this Service Pack 2 update from their Forum Downloads section, under the category titled 'Service Packs'. This Service Pack 2 update is all inclusive - you can apply it directly after installing v1.0 of the Concorde-X, Service Pack 1 is not required.

NOTE 1: You will need to be a registered member to be able to download. Registration takes only a minute and allows them to keep track of their membership and better plan for the future!
NOTE 2: If you have already downloaded the Service Pack 2 installer, you will need to download again, uninstall the product, then reinstall Service Pack 2 to allow the updated files to be installed on your computer.

Cessna® 162 SkyCatcher® Released

Posted: Thursday, July 1, 2010 - 19:40
The Cessna 162 SkyCatcher is the first Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) to come from Cessna and is presented by Abacus for FS9 and FSX. In designing the new 162, one of the goals was to produce a very affordable aircraft for flyers. With an aluminum frame and fiberglass cowling, it has upward swinging door, fixed tricycle landing gear and control stick to replace the yoke. The engine is a Continental O-200D delivers 100hp of power to a two- blade propeller. And finally, the main avionics are the Garmin G300. Abacus has included detailed manuals to help you learn to use new navigation suite.

Wildcat & Martlet For FSX

Posted: Thursday, July 1, 2010 - 15:17
This all-new Wildcat and Martlet package has been developed by Aeroplane Heaven and features ten variants of four different aircraft, the F4F-3 and F4F-4 Wildcats and the MkI and MkIV British Martlets.
The exterior models, cockpits and flight dynamics all benefit from very close attention to detail and exhaustive testing. Unique animations abound and the Wildcat’s characteristic undercarriage operation is accurately modelled. The aircraft are all fully compatible with FSX Acceleration and can be catapulted and trapped on the carriers.
For full details, screenshots and a promotional video check out the Just Flight Product page.

NA BLUE Pacific Northwest Update

Posted: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - 14:56
Orbx has announced the release of an update to their NA BLUE Pacific Northwest package, update PNW.002 adds hundreds of new improvements and features including revisions to over 30 airports, fixes missing shorelines, trenches, autogen, flattens, water bodies, and other anomalies, adds military vehicles and personnel at Fort Lewis Military Reserve (South of KTCM), adds Mt Hood Timberline Lodge and ski areas and Mt Saint Helens visitors centers to name but a few. The patch also includes autogen optimization for several urban and forest classes to improve performance and adds vegetation coverage on photoreal Mt Hood, Image Lake, and Lyman Lakes. The Update is now available for immediate free download.

DBS Airport GPS Releases another Update

Posted: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 16:48
DBS Studio has released DBS Airport GPS update 1.6.0. This latest release includes improved processing of BGL scenery files, Automatic updation of panel while aircraft is loaded by simulator removing the need to install GPS to panel.cfg for every aircraft. Further, there have been many more improvements from the previous updates

For more information visit DBS Studio website.

British Aerospace BAe ATP from Enigma Simulations

Posted: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 16:23
Enigma Simulations has announced the release of British Aerospace BAe ATP! This is their first large aircraft project release. This package includes 6 models of the passenger version of the ATP, realistic flight dynamics, a custom soundset, and textures! The Model also includes all of the usual features and animations. Flight dynamics were programmed based on real-world performance data.

For more information Enigma Simulations website.

Latin VFR Release Trinidad TTPP For FS9 & FSX

Posted: Monday, June 28, 2010 - 16:19
Latin VFR have released Piarco International, Trinidad and Tobago's main airport located on the island of Trinidad near the town of Piarco . This airport provides service to a number of major airlines from the United States, Canada, Central America, South America and Europe, and is the hub of Caribbean airlines.

The package includes TTPP airport completely modeled with significant attention to detail, dozens of custom apron objects, containers, vehicles and photo scenery with hundreds of placed autogen elements comprise the surroundings. Terrain Mesh for the two Islands of Trinidad and Tobago and Revised land class for the entire Port of Spain area are furnished as well as the respective AFCAD for FS2004 and AFX file for FS making it fully AI traffic compatible.

Europa Ice Scenery's From PRE-Flight

Posted: Monday, June 28, 2010 - 8:22
PRE-Flight RC Simulator has announced the release of Europa Ice Scenery for free download.

The Europa Ice Scenery simulates the distant frigid moon of Jupiter. Take off and land in an icy reflective pool between Europa's mountains while enjoying the awesome view of the nearby parent planet.

For free download visit PRE-Flight Website

DBS Studio Profile Radar And Terrain Map Update

Posted: Friday, June 25, 2010 - 19:20
DBS Studio has released update 1.4 for DBS Profile Radar for FS2004 and FSX . Update 1.4 includes a new gauge skin and automatic installation to any aircraft without editing panel.cfg. Update 1.0.2 for Terrain Map features atomatic implementation to compatibility with Profile Radar and the next updates for DBS Studio products.

Carenado C185F SKYWAGON BUSH FS2004

Posted: Friday, June 25, 2010 - 15:16
Carenado have released their C185F Skywagon Bush plane for FS9, with Four different models: Amphibian, Float (with and without window door), Ski (with and without window door) and Tundra.
The model comes with a control window for eye candy (Cargo Pod, Wheel chokes, boxes & packages, Pitot cover, Sights prop and Tiedown ropes), and another for the Skywagon Owner Manual Supplement with performance charts and normal & emergency procedures.
The HQ digital stereo sounds (44100 HZ) are recorded from the original aircraft, other features include an interactive virtual cockpit and full moving parts, ailerons, elevators, rudders, flaps, rolling wheels and trim tab, doors, windows, sun visor, air vents, copilot seat, vibrating antenna, cowl flaps, pilot, engine and exhaust pipe.

Super Traffic Board With Ultimate Traffic 2 Compatibility

Posted: Friday, June 25, 2010 - 15:03
Flying-W Simulation and Flight One Software have formed a special distribution partnership for Super Traffic Board. Super Traffic Board is a product used for displaying flight information just like you may see at any airport. STB also goes far beyond this with new and exciting ways of interacting with your AI traffic.

The latest version of Super Traffic Board offers extensive features that makes it compatible with Ultimate Traffic 2 in the following ways:
- UT2 supplies scheduling information to STB directly, enabling it to show the departure and arrival times and airports for all UT2 flights.
- STB uses UT2's database of flight numbers and IATA codes without the need for manual configuration found with other AI packages.
- Full support is included for UT2 aircraft configuration (departure flaps settings and real world aircraft names) and airline logos.
- UT2 aircraft that terminate on arrival (have no further schedules to fly) and those that do not depart on schedule are deleted by STB after a suitable period to release the parking space for other aircraft.
- Compatible with many other popular AI traffic products.
For more information, visit the Flight1.com Super Traffic Board product page .

FriendlyPanels King Air 350 FSX

Posted: Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 14:54
FriendlyPanels have released their new Beechcraft King Air 350 Collins Style Aircraft Pack for FSX with two versions, COLLINS PRO LINE 21 STYLE and COLLINS FPI-900.
Available with four liveries - two 2D panels, normal and landing views and fully functional nav equipment there is much to appeal to the IFR pilot, drop by the FriendlyPanels homepage for further information.

Vertical Studios Addon Missions For Flight Simulator X

Posted: Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 14:33
Vertical Studios announces the launch of their first series of Add-on Missions for Flight Simulator X, Mountain Flying in Switzerland.
Designed by an FAA certified pilot using actual flight paths, Mountain Flying in Switzerland includes detailed aeronautical charts of each departure, route, and arrival as well as real world voice actors to provide the most realistic flight experience available in FSX.
The Add-on Missions also include complete FSX Nav Logs, Flight plans and GPS with programmed waypoints. The entire round trip takes over 2 hours to complete, but the missions are built as 3 separate parts, part 1 of 3 is free with each part lasting between 30 and 45 minutes. Experience all the beautiful scenery, including incredible views of the snow covered Alps and Lake Geneva.

Avatar's Samson Helicopter from PRE-Flight

Posted: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - 16:18
PRE-Flight RC Simulator has announced the release of Avatar Samson Helicopter for free download. This is a super scale PRE-Flight model of the Samson Helicopter used in James Cameron's blockbuster "Avatar".

The Samson has fully functioning dual rotors which tilt and change speed in response to control inputs - perfect for pursuing those wily Navi. The Samson features a realistic turbine whine and rotor blade sound. Small amounts of pure Unobtanium is also used in the high-performance, zero-friction bearings of this agile aircraft and also for a levitating effect which increases its load-carrying capacity and range.

For free download visit PRE-Flight Website

New Downloads available at Avsim Store

Posted: Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - 16:15
Lighning Strike and FSFlyingSchool2010

Lightning Strike is the latest scenery by Team SDB. It is the RAF Binbrook air base modeled with AI F6 Lightnings.
FS Flying School 2010 is the latest release of the popular flying school software enhanced with new features

Visit the Avsim Store today