Neuroflight Courchevel For FSX

Posted: Saturday, January 5, 2008 - 13:36
Neuroflight announced today that their Courchevel Airport scenery is now available for Flight Simulator X. Features include high resolution (LOD11)custom mesh for a real sloping runway, seasonal ground textures, Heliport with buildings, animated 3D objects and compatibility with Tile-Proxy. Details are available from Neuroflight

Airbus - Volume 2 from Wilco Publishing

Posted: Friday, January 4, 2008 - 7:05
Staff reviewer Angelique van Campen continues with the next release of Wilco Publishing's Airbus - Volume 2. "Due to the variety of the Wilco Publishing Airbus wide-bodies – A330-200, A330-300, A340-300, A340-600 and the A330 MRTT– it’s a little too much to write down all the characteristics of these types, so therefore I guide you to the official Airbus website."

"It’s always difficult when you, the reader, or I, the reviewer, wants to see what kind of 2D cockpit panel lay-out is created. Either we agree with a photorealistic panel image or we prefer to have a painted version, which looks very similar to the real A330/A340 panel. My first impression is that a lot of work was done in creating a good looking and realistic painted panel, which looks very similar to other Wilco products like the A320 Family, the 737PIC, Embraer ERJ 450, Legacy and the Cessna CitationX."

"Normally, a good looking 2D panel doesn’t guarantee an impressive looking VC. But in this case, I have to admit that the VC looks very good but more important, very realistic. The overall impression and thus conclusion of the offered Airbus Volume 2 “2D and VC cockpits” is very good. I like the way they have designed the 2D cockpit and the realistic/photographic VC look."

"I have the option to compare the Wilco model with the CLS (Commercial Level Simulations) A330-200/300 and A340-300 airplanes. Keeping that in mind, the overall look of both manufactured models are more or less the same. But when looking closely to certain details like rivets on any surface, panels, dirty stripes or spots, gear details, windows and many others, we do see differences in quality."

Angelique goes on to conduct a test flight in an A330-200. She describes the flight from start-up, through taxi, take-off, cruise, approach and landing, and back to the cold and dark state of the cockpit. "As far as my knowledge goes and what I’ve seen during this partly manual flight, I’m very satisfied with this product. In my opinion it reflects a good simulated Airbus A330 or A340." Summing up the complete series of aircraft in Wilco Publishing's Airbus - Volume 2, she says, "I can come to only one conclusion and that is that the Wilco Publishing Airbus Volume 2 is worth your money. I think with the help of the screenshots, you have got a good idea about this product. I hope with this review you now have a good impression about the pro’s and con’s of the product."

ISG Gauge Upgrade Released

Posted: Thursday, January 3, 2008 - 20:42
Ernie Alston of Integrated Simavionics Group 1 (ISG1) has announced that the add-on gauges for FS9, and FSX ver 1.4 upgrade have been released. This upgrade integrates a Honeywell/Boeing style Navigation Display, and Smiths style Flight Management Computer into the ISG1 gauge set. This update also provides fixes for some minor reported issues. All gauges can be selectively mixed and matched into the aircraft/panel of your choice. This is a free upgrade for previous ISG1 customers. ISG gauges are available at http://www.isgsim.com

SimTube Announces Video Contest

Posted: Wednesday, January 2, 2008 - 13:55
Video partner SimTube has announced their second video contest. Cason Farmer of SimTube writes, "SimTube has launched its second video contest! We have a very interesting theme that we think will bring out the Bushman in us all! The theme of the contest will be "Back Country". The video must center around back country flying, such as small mountain airfields in Alaska, small swampy strips in Louisiana, etc. The creator has artistic freedoms to create a video that will embrace this theme, however the content will be reviewed by SimTube staff." For more information and other details, visit the SimTube Contest Site.

Curtiss P-40 from Shockwave Productions

Posted: Tuesday, January 1, 2008 - 20:34
Staff reviewer Alan Bradbury kicks off the new year with an in-depth review of Shockwave's Curtiss P-40, from the Wings of Power II series. "Shockwave Productions specialize in producing add-on military aircraft for Microsoft’s Flight Simulator, although that’s certainly not all they do. You’ll find they make stuff for Combat Flight Simulator, so this developer certainly knows about combat aircraft add-ons."

"Shockwave chose to include two variants of the P-40 in their package, with two paint schemes for each one, however, these are actually more than simple repaints with no other changes. Care has been taken to ensure they have the correct cockpit equipment and other details specific to the aircraft portrayed. Other differences in the models include some stuff you might easily miss. The guns are textured differently on the non-US service variants, to reflect their different armament, and it’s more than just a quick and dirty repaint-fest in the set of aircraft you get."

"The VC every bit as well done as the exterior modeling, and it pans nice and smoothly too with TrackIR. Pretty much every switch works, and although some of that is limited by the capabilities of FSX into being just for show, everything is in the right place and moves in exactly the right way, having the exactly correct movement and correct amount of throw. There’s no 2D cockpit on this thing, which I can’t say I’m sorry about, because the virtual cockpit is marvelous."

"Like the real thing, the P-40 is easy to handle on the ground, with – unlike most other ‘40s fighters - a comfortably wide track main gear. As a result, there’s none of that panic about scraping a wingtip that you get on WW2 fighters blessed with a narrow track landing gear when you give them some juice to turn around. I have to say that the flight model impressed me hugely, it feels very ‘right’ and yet it’s actually not that hard to keep it on the centerline of the runway while you roll along building flying speed. I can confirm that once the wheels are up the Shockwave P-40 is bang on the money as far as normal performance goes."

As mentioned, Alan goes into great detail into this aircraft's performance as he puts it thorugh its paces. He concludes his review of the P-40 with, "Shockwave has managed to bring us a true rendition of an aircraft that people most likely don’t realize was actually as good as this. It would have been easy for Shockwave to simply follow the crowd and produce a simulation of the P-40 that merely served to continue the myths of this aircraft’s poor showing, but that’s not for them, they’ve proved once again that accuracy is their hallmark. You’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t check it out for yourself."

IVAO releases Virtual Sky Magazine

Posted: Tuesday, January 1, 2008 - 14:36
IVAO released today their first issue of their official magazine, Virtual Sky. Dedicated to the online flight simulation community, it offers articles on virtual flying and controlling. You may download your free copy HERE.

FS Recorder for FSX Released

Posted: Monday, December 31, 2007 - 18:52
FS Recorder for FSX released Finally after six beta versions FS Recorder 1.3 for FSX is now available for download. There is also a minor update for the FS2004 version to v1.32 available. Furthermore, two commandline conversion tools are now available to convert flights recorded with FS Recorder into text files and vice versa. FS Recorder is a freeware add-on module available for FS2004 and FSX. It allows recording and playback of flights, similar to the instant replay and video recorder built into FS, but with a lot more features. The recorded flights can be played back either using the user's aircraft or as AI traffic, which allows you to fly formations with yourself. The FS2004 version additionally includes advanced view features to give you more freedom when watching your flight. Get your copy at the FS Recorder site.

Fly The Boeing 717-200 For FSX

Posted: Sunday, December 30, 2007 - 14:08
Fly The B717-200 X for FSX is now available for purchase. This all new version includes a set of 25 new missions and adventures to enhance your flying experience. Includes fifteen liveries, a printed users guide and a charts book in the boxed edition. Previous FS9 registered users can also upgrade to the new FSX version at a special price. For more information, including screenshots and a video clip, please visit FS2000.

Vancouver + For FSX from FSAddon

Posted: Sunday, December 30, 2007 - 1:14
Senior staff reviewer Jeff Shyluk stays locked in his hometown as he explores FSAddon's Vancouver+ for FSX. He adds a new element to this review with a personal interview with product developer Holger Sandman, as both Jeff and Holger were in attendance at this year's Conference and Exhibition in Seattle.

"FSAddon is a small third-party developer with some big ideas. Their latest creation is Vancouver+, a beautiful re-working of the city of Vancouver, Canada. This is a fully featured add-on that utilizes LOD11 custom mesh, landclass, photoreal textures and three-dimensional models. AI aircraft, boats, and land traffic are included as well. Vancouver+ extends far past the boundaries of Metro Vancouver, the main population center. Mountains, rivers, fields, and valleys are rendered in a rectangle 200 by 150 kilometers (124 x 93 miles), well past Vancouver's boundaries. High altitude lakes are carefully placed in this region, and they will even freeze over in the winter."

"The scenery includes two popular regional airports in detail, plus literally dozens more are spruced up as well. The two airports that get the full treatment are CYPK (Pitt Meadows) and CYNJ (Langley). CYVR, the Vancouver International Airport, is left untouched by Vancouver+, though. Heliports, floatplane bases, and unlisted airstrips are sprinkled throughout the region, and are there for you to discover. "

"There are hundreds of fine-tuned details in Vancouver+ that makes this add-on especially attractive for sim pilots who like to explore rugged terrain in FSX. If you like big-city transport hubs, small regional airstrips, a glacial lake at the base of a mountain, or a private airstrip with a log cabin as your base of operations, you will find all this and more in Vancouver+"

"The Vancouver+ add-on is virtually bug-free, and it runs well on Windows XP, Vista, and in FSX SP1 or SP2. This version of Vancouver+ is for FSX only, and not FS9. It is compatible with other scenery packages, including the freeware Victoria+. If Vancouver+ has a downside, it's that it takes up a large amount of hard drive space, and using it will probably cost you a small amount of frame rate."

"I highly recommend Vancouver+ for FSX to sim aviators, especially anybody fond of exploration in flight. I have spent hours upon hours over this virtual countryside, and there's an incredible wealth of things to see and do in Vancouver+. Beyond being gorgeous, a lot of effort has been made to make this add-on immersive and thought provoking. Following the links in the manual and the suggested pre-saved flights will give any avid user many more hours of discovery and adventure: you can check out the history, culture, and geography of Vancouver on-line, and then you can see for yourself what it looks like in Vancouver+. This is a very high-quality add-on that might just spoil you for flying anywhere else in the virtual world."

DreamScenery Indianapolis X Released

Posted: Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 12:41
DreamScenery has released the FSX version of KIND , building upon the 2005/6 products to include increased resolution and adding the complete range of large buildings and local landmarks in photoreal textures. Dreamscenery Indianapolis X is highly customizable, control how the scenery looks, match the capabilities of your system and get a better performance. Using the display options application allows you to set up which details and features are to be rendered as well as the number of them and quality. Choose between having the airport parking lots with parked cars , if the depicted Airport Garage Building will be the textured one or the 3D one with its interiors also rendered. For full details visit the Dreamscenery Website

Latest Aerosoft Releases

Posted: Friday, December 28, 2007 - 18:43
Lukla X - Mount Everest - How about a product that we guarantee will frustrate you? Lukla certainly will do so as you attempt to land there. In fact we have not seen ANY pilot who was able to make the first landing there without serious problems and/or crashes. The runway is located at nine thousand feet, is seriously sloped and ends in a solid stone wall. Yet it is an important airport for the many tourists and climbers who want to climb Mount Everest. The scenery includes Lukla with all its houses, a few other places you can land (we would not call them airfields) and Mount Everest. It features textures down to centimeter size, full FSX design including scenery sounds, bumpmaps etc. Be ready to be frustrated but the moment you master this landing you know you are a better pilot.

Piper Cheyenne X - Digital Aviation delivered the Cheyenne for FSX this week and while the aircraft was a major hit in FS2004, the FSX version looks a lot better and adds a fully functional weather radar. Of course all the
FS2004 functions made the transition to FSX.

Airport Enhancement Services 1.93 - Version 1.93 adds new airports but above anything else, you can now have your aircraft de-iced. This new option works on all airports that are covered by AES. It looks incredible and completes the service fleet that AES will add to FS2004.

Screenshotworld.com Arriving Soon

Posted: Friday, December 28, 2007 - 15:50
screenshotworld.com will be arriving 1st January 2008, Chris W. Balmer says “screenshotworld.com will be a forum-based site for ‘as-is’, edited, and composite artwork from any flight simulator. The site will provide tutorials for those who wish to learn new skills - or even improve their existing skills - regardless of software being used.” Chris goes onto say “The site will open with a competition sponsored by Captain Sim, whereby the winner can select any product from the Captain Sim product line-up.” Make your way over to Screenshot World for more information.

LaGuardia (KLGA) from ImagineSim

Posted: Thursday, December 27, 2007 - 22:30
New staff reviewer Etienne Martin submits his first review, ImagineSim's LaGuardia (KLGA), which has been updated for FSX. "At 680 acres, LaGuardia is the smallest of the three airports serving the New York City metropolitan area. Its two 7,000’ runways, 4 terminals and 72 gates serve among others Delta Airlines, American Airlines, Frontier, JetBlue, US Airways and Air Canada."

"The marine terminal, the main terminal with its four concourses, the US Airways and Delta terminals are depicted faithfully. Located on a strip of land between the Grand Central Parkway and the East River, the airport is void of much greenery. It favors the utility of concrete, heavy fencing, blast shields and 40s-era hangars mixed in with modern terminal buildings. The ground textures are particularly well done, especially up close. The ground shows the appropriate wear and tear expected for a well traveled airport."

"LGA for FSX does not use the animated jetways found in FSX. The scenery only has a handful of selected gates that have FS9 style animated jetways triggered only when you enter a special frequency in the nav radio with your aircraft at the door. Each gate either has a parking system or the “2D” ground crew, or both. Each responds appropriately to the aircraft position as it nears the gate and helps guide the pilot to the proper parking position."

"While slower than the default scenery, I didn’t notice a significant drop in performance. I did notice significantly higher levels of traffic, both airport and airline in the FSX version compared to similar traffic levels selected in the FS9 version. As with other large airports, this add-on can lead to very slow frame rates if the AI traffic is high."

Concluding his tour around LaGuardia, Etienne remarks, "Imagine Sim provides a faithful rendition of the LaGuardia airport and a significant improvement over the default scenery. The level of detail is pleasing without a major hit to performance, although at the cost of simplified building textures and low outlying detail outside of the airport flight area. The tarmac itself is nicely done with detailed markings, with static and moving objects."

Seahawk X & Jayhawk X from Aerosoft

Posted: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 - 22:25
Senior staff reviewer David Wilson-Okamura departs for sea as he test flies Aerosoft's Seahawk X and Jayhawk X. "The Sikorsky Seahawk, a version of the U.S. Army’s Blackhawk helicopter, has been used by the U.S. Navy for reconnaissance, antisubmarine warfare, search and rescue, communications relay, and transport since the early 1980s. A Coast Guard version, which performs similar tasks, is called the Jayhawk."

"There’s a lot of detail here, both in the 3D modeling and in the skinning. The package comes with fourteen liveries, including one for the U.S. Coast Guard, one for the Japanese Navy, one for the Spanish Navy, one for the Greek Navy, two for the Australian Navy, and eight for the U.S. Navy. The Seahawk and Jayhawk can both be parked on ships, so to save valuable deck space, they can both fold up to about half their normal footprint."

"There are other good-looking helicopters for FSX: for example, the Agusta Westland EH-101 that comes with Acceleration. To my knowledge, though, there is no other helicopter product that even comes close to this one in the department of cockpit systems and avionics. How often is it that more realistic is actually easier to fly? Not often, but apparently this is one of those times."

"On the pedestal, there are two control display units (CDUs), which are similar in appearance to the FMS in a jetliner. The two units are independent, so you can display a different page of data on each one. The main instrument panel is dominated by two large LCDs, with some analogue gauges for backup. The Seahawk and Jayhawk are both heavy machines, which tends to dampen their movement and make them less skittish than, say, the default Robinson."

Concluding his naval aviator tour, David says, "Personally, I’m satisfied: while it’s challenging to fly the Seahawk/Jayhawk, you can start having fun with them right away. If you have tried helicopters before, and given up because they were too hard, this one is less hard. Once you get the hang of it, there is a real feeling of accomplishment, and you can land on other platforms (such as building rooftops) with more confidence, because you’ve already mastered the more difficult skill of landing on a ship."

VOZ Scenery For FSX Released

Posted: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 - 4:27
VOZ Scenery X is the all new scenery project from the crew at Vista Australis; and it has been designed solely for FSX. Over a year in the making, VSX features breathtaking scenery enhancements for everyone that enjoys flying in Australia. Covering all of Australia and the outlying Islands, there is something for everyone. For more information and to download, please visit Vista Australis at their website.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All!

Posted: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 - 3:11
To all our AVSIM readers, friends and family, please accept our best wishes for the holidays. May your new year be prosperous and safe! Please give your spouse or significant other a hug and tell them how much you appreciate the understanding they give as you fly the world.

SimCharts V4 from Jeppesen

Posted: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 - 0:03
Senior staff reviewer Zane Gard flies his sim like he would in the real world while using Jeppesen SimCharts V4, "Jeppesen is a name long known in aviation circles. Ever since the early 1930’s when Elroy Borge Jeppesen started making his own charts for his personal use, every pilot that saw them wanted to use them. Jeppesen and Microsoft have had a relationship since FS2000, with Jeppesen supplying the data used for placing navigation data and airport information as well as displaying this information in MSFS’s GPS."

This review is very graphic intensive as showing what the charts do in association with a flight is the best way of demonstrating how to use these aids. Zane explains, "I’m going to take you along on three types of approaches which will cover using SimCharts for reality type flying in real IFR weather with winds and low visibility. We’ll do a GPS non-precision approach, a VFR non-precision approach and finally a full ILS all flown by hand, not with the autopilot, and tracked on the SimCharts."

Zane wraps up this detailed journey through Jeppesen SimCharts V4 with, "I personally like this product and found it very easy to use. Is it for everybody? I don’t think so. The argument will rise that you can download all the NOS charts for free and print them out using them on a kneeboard or stuck up next to the computer monitor. That won’t give you Jeppesen charts and it won’t give you a tracking line to follow or view later. So if you are flying online and the area you are flying in is using a newer set of procedures, you’ll probably get all uncomfortable as the controller wannabe on the other end scolds you for not being properly prepared."

Free Holiday Present From FScene

Posted: Monday, December 24, 2007 - 15:17
To-day FScene.com released a very interesting mission for FSX. Actually it's a Fun Mission for the 2007 Holidays. It plays in early Winter.

Ruud Faber describes it as follows: "Urgent mission from a Navy Airport; The weather is bad; All flights have been cancelled; You (experienced pilot) just arrived from London at Navy Airport de Kooy - Netherlands for a special mission."

The co-pilot briefs you on the purpose of this special flight. He's a Dutch airforce captain you know for years already. This airport has been officially closed some years ago. It's only available for special Navy flights. There's no ATC from the tower. A Marine talks you in and out via his cellphone. There's not much to rely on this afternoon. The mission is not easy to play, but flying it over and over you'll grow to become a great Cessna Pilot. Don't give up too soon! You can download it for free at the FScene website.

VFR Germany 1: West from Aerosoft

Posted: Sunday, December 23, 2007 - 19:28
Senior staff reviewer travels back to Europe to fly Aerosoft's VFR Germany 1: West. "Last summer I reviewed the last three titles in the Scenery Germany series for FS2004, I only wish they worked in FSX. So now I'll look at the first FSX installment of the base layer, VFR Germany 1: West."

"The bread and butter of this package is photographic ground textures, taken from airplanes. With FSX, the resolution can go up to 30 centimeters per pixel. With FS2004, photographic ground textures looked blocky up close. With this product, the coverage area looks much, much better than you’ve ever seen in Flight Simulator."

"As for blurries, they are no better and no worse than any other photographic scenery product I have ever seen, owned, or reviewed. If you fly too fast, the textures will blur; it’s a limitation of Flight Simulator. If you like flying the Cessna 172, this won’t be a problem. If you primarily fly jets, this product is probably going to be frustrating, and so will every other product that uses photographic ground textures."

"Photoscenery is not new for Flight Simulator, although with FSX we are seeing more and more detail. Ideally, you want a 3D house object to be placed on top of a 2D house, a 3D tree on top of a 2D tree, and so on. With VFR Germany, you get this effect for the entire coverage area. This is a big deal. I know that, with FSX, a lot of people have given up on autogen because turning it off improves frame rates."

Concluding his latest European tour, David concludes that with VFR Germany 1: West, "you can keep looking at it, for hours even, and notice new things. You can fly for days, even weeks, and not exhaust everything there is to see."

Great Australian Air Rally

Posted: Sunday, December 23, 2007 - 13:03
The folks at Deer Valley Flying Club have invited all the readers here at AVSIM to the Great Australian Air Rally in February of 2008. Dave Mulder in the press release says,"Yes this is the very same rally that was created and organized by Bluegrass Airlines since 2001. With the permission of Bluegrass, Deer Valley Flying Club is happy to bring this tradition to all of you in the sim community. For those who have flown before, we welcome you back. For those who have missed it in the past, we encourage you to participate. We hope to make this years event the biggest and best ever.

Individual prizes, fun, adventure, and friends await. There will be VA, Club, and Team prizes also, so sign up the whole club or fly for yourself. This is a world class and worldwide simming event. Don't miss it!! Please feel free to visit www.flydeervalley.com/gaar for more information on rules, planes, and procedures. We even have a movie or two up at the site to get you in the spirit GAAR 2008.

This year's rally has a special twist for allu in the form of mission planning for FSX and FS9. The Great Australian Air Rally will be 17 legs (4 or 5 each week) in the land of the Roo during the entire month of February. It will use FSX Mission programming for the pilots who want to use FSX and will provide ABL scripted Missions for those who want to use FS9. You will be tested in each of the 7 planes that will be used. This adventure can be flown off line or on line at any server you choose. We will provide the planes, weather, and the adventure. Registration will open at www.flydeervalley.com/gaar on January 1, 2008."

If the old pistons engines make your heart pound and a competitive adventure is what you desire, then make sure to get your registration in early. They look forward to seeing all of you in February of 2008.