Historic Jetliners Group New Release

Posted: Monday, November 26, 2007 - 15:54
The "Big Secret" is out. HJG's virtual aviation workshops have been opened to unveil their newest addition, the BAe 146 regional jetliner. Included are FS9 models of the BAe 146-300 and the BAe 146-300QT complete with an authentic and highly functional custom panel, high quality soundpack and 15 new textures featuring both passenger and freight versions. This and many more new downloads are now available for free, just CLICK and enjoy.

DillinghamX from Aerosoft

Posted: Saturday, November 24, 2007 - 22:51
Staff reviewer Angelique van Campen goes on a Hawaiian vacation to check out Aerosoft's Dillingham X. "Dillingham is located on the north shore of the island of Oahu near the unincorporated town of Waialua. It is primarily used as a recreation facility, a base for glider soaring, hang-gliding, parachuting and sky jumping."

"The photo scenery underlying Dillingham is sampled at 60cm/pixel. To get the most out of it, set your Texture Resolution in the sim to 60 cm. Setting your road traffic to 15% or so mimics the amount of traffic the road to Dillingham gets on an average day. The 3D objects in the scenery are activated in two stages of complexity. At "normal", you see the buildings, some cars, and a few humans. “Dense" shows the rest."

"Although it is a local glider airfield which, under certain conditions is also used by the US Air Force, it is full of details ranging from static airplanes, gliders, buildings, trees, bushes, lost history parts and so on. So how does DillinghamX look compared to the default FSX scenery? Amazing when looking at the default FSX pictures. I'd think seriously about adding this to MegaSceneryX Hawaii (if you have it). It makes it all complete!"

Angelique sums up her visit to DillinghamX with, "When comparing the default FSX Dillingham airfield with Aerosoft’s DillinghamX scenery, we can only conclude that it is a worthy product. Although it is a very small, simple airfield without any jetways, passenger busses and carts driving around etc, it looks very realistic, with lots of details, nice looking trees and bushes and perfect looking cars."

bf109E from Shockwave Productions

Posted: Saturday, November 24, 2007 - 20:41
Staff reviewer Alan Bradbury looks at a WWII classic in Shockwave Productions Messerschmitt bf109E. "Shockwave Productions specialize in producing add-on military aircraft for Flight Simulator, they have a reputation for obsessive accuracy that few other developers can rival."

"Upon installation in Flight Simulator, you get three very different bf109E models. First, a bf109E-3, sporting an early Luftwaffe splinter camouflage scheme in the markings of JG53’s technical officer, Erich Mix. Next, you’ll find an E-4 variant wearing typical 1940’s war paint and the markings of JG53’s second gruppe kommodore. Finally you get an E-4 tropical variant in early Luftwaffe desert camouflage typical of service in North Africa."

"As is the norm with Shockwave, pretty much every screw and rivet puts in an appearance on the textures, these being sharp, accurate in color, placement and, for the most part, demonstrating good historical research. It has to be said that the virtual cockpit is just about as accurate as one could possibly desire, demonstrating great research and intelligent modeling choices. The dials and switches all look very nice, they work smoothly and the controls move well too, with even the minimal lateral deflection of the control column being modeled."

"Running the engine up on the Shockwave version reveals that some great DB601 engine sounds have been modeled, these being nicely positioned levels-wise, with the audio shifting convincingly as you turn your head and look about. Upon initially opening up the throttle, the Shockwave bf109E wants to go to the right for a second, which kind of catches you out. However, as the power comes on, it begins to develop the familiar swing to the left common to most single-engine props. Of note, it is entirely possible to belly land the Shockwave bf109E intact, even with full damage and realism options selected in FS. It might seem a little odd to praise such a feature, but since pilots of the real thing sometimes had to do this, it is nice that you can try it too. Overall, the Shockwave bf109E flight model is pretty close in most respects."

Summing up the bf109E, Alan remarks, "The texturing is great, the virtual cockpit is great, the sound is great, the effects are great, and the flight model - despite some of my, admittedly, rivet-counting reservations - is also great. Oddly enough, with all that going on, the frame rates are great too, even with the graphics card whistles and bells on full throttle. If you want to know exactly what tasks have to be met in learning how to fly a powerful piston prop warplane, the Shockwave bf109E offers you that opportunity."

Imaginesim Releases KLGA for FSX

Posted: Saturday, November 24, 2007 - 14:09
Imaginesim has released their fourth airport for FSX – KLGA New York La Guardia. Customers who already own the FS2004 version get the FSX version free. As always, you can try before you buy. Head over to the Imaginesim hangar for more details.

AlphaSim Prowler Released

Posted: Friday, November 23, 2007 - 14:50
The AlphaSim EA-6B Prowler is out now. The unmistakable shape of the EA-6B has been reproduced in this AlphaSim package. The Prowler is depicted with 4 load outs and 6 stunning hi-res texture schemes, spanning three decades. The load outs include ECM pods, AGM-88 HARM missile and aux. fuel tanks. Just like the Intruder, the Prowler model includes a virtual cockpit.

FSX users get the best Prowler experience; v-c night lighting, full self-shadowing (v-c too with SP2), bump mapping and a fully detailed rear cockpit with working radar and moving map! The Intruder sound set provides the aural aspect, the 2D panel matches the v-c very closely for seamless switching. The detailing extends to the pilot figures with custom-painted helmets as well as separately animated front and rear canopies, each with their own steps. Custom fx for smoke, contrails and turbines round out this model package. For FSX and FS2004 only. For more information visit Alpha Sim.

Friendly Panels Releases Boeing 747 Pack

Posted: Friday, November 23, 2007 - 14:46
Friendly Panels has announced the release of their Boeing 747-400 PACK v4.0 FOR FS9 AND FSX. This pack includes: two 2D panels for B747-400, for FSX and FS9, all gauges visible in one screen (except for FMC, that requires a separate window) keeping an excellent readability, aircraft virtual cockpits adapted as far as possible, anti-aliasing vectorial MFD/PFD which includes autopilot annunciators, IAS trend indication, radio height and ground speed readout.

The panels also include vectorial MFD with multiple screen modes that displays indication of distance to reach altitude selected in autopilot, GPWS and Traffic Info (FSX version only) and much more! For more information, visit Friendly Panels.

North America Landclass v1.3 from Scenery Tech

Posted: Friday, November 23, 2007 - 3:58
Senior staff reviewer goes hog wild over Springfield in his review of Scenery Tech's North America Landclass v1.3. "SceneryTech is a new developer of scenery add-ons for FSX. Previously, SceneryTech published a landclass that covers Europe, so this new product hopes to build on that success."

"The SceneryTech North America Landclass is a data file for FSX that re-arranges the landclass, which is an information table that FSX uses to decide which land texture goes where, like a big jigsaw puzzle. It doesn't actually add any new textures to FSX, but it does arrange them in such a way as to look more logical and realistic from the air. It's simple to install, and integrates completely into FSX, so once it's there, you won't have to worry about it."

"The effect the SceneryTech North America Landclass has on FSX is dramatic. Farms, forests, cities, towns, ice fields, tundra, and even deserts look more realistic. Many small towns and even some cities that were omitted in FSX are now depicted properly by SceneryTech. In my opinion, this makes sim flight more enjoyable: the low-flying general aviation sim pilot has more places to visit, and the high-flying jet jockey can spot more urban and rural landmarks."

"SceneryTech uses a system called ISL (Improved Slope Landclass) to make mountainsides look more realistic. As well, SceneryTech controls "desertification", the process where FSX assumes that if a location is dry, it must be covered with sand. Arid regions now look more realistic than before."

In conclusion, Jeff says, "the SceneryTech North America Landclass is a high quality product. A lot of good work has gone into making this landclass easy to install and appealing to look at. It's rare that a scenery product will cover as large an area as a continent but not have problem areas. For the SceneryTech North America Landclass, I believe that the parts of it that I don't like are greatly outweighed by the things I do like. Overall, my feelings towards this product are very positive!"

Me262 & F-104 from Flight Replica & AlphaSim

Posted: Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 3:32
Staff reviewer Alan Bradbury does a double review of two renown Luftwaffe aircraft presented by Flight Replica & AlphaSim - the Me262 and the F-104 Starfighter. While the F-104 was also flown by various allied Air Forces, it is the German link that brought about this combined review. Be prepared for a read, as this review is "in-depth".

"In every sense of the word, the Messerschmitt 262 is a classic. Enigmatic, occasionally troublesome, and incredibly advanced. It was the first operational combat jet fighter, the culmination of years of research, and a brutally handsome bird too. In addition to the basic Me262A-1a Schwalbe (Swallow) fighter variant, plus a variation equipped with drop-tanks, we find the Me262A-2a Sturmvogel (Stormbird) fighter-bomber version, with bomb pylons and racks for spin-stabilized under-wing rockets. Additionally, there is the Me262A-1a/U3 reconnaissance model, with its characteristic bulged nose fairing for the twin downward-looking cameras."

"On the whole textures and mapping is good, however, there are one or two very minor placement issues along the left rear of the fuselage. Both the FSX and FS9 versions of the FR Me262 eschew the 2D cockpit, so apart from an additional radio panel - available via the menu or a shortcut - which incidentally, is modern in appearance, you’re in the virtual cockpit only with this bird. And that’s a good thing, because the virtual cockpit on this aircraft is really great."

"Once the engines are running, the documentation for the FR Me262 cautions us to adopt the correct procedures with regard to RPM settings, similar to the real thing. Nevertheless, apart from at take-off, and on landing approach, once you pass the 250 knots mark, the Me262 suddenly seems to come to life. When this happens, you begin to realize why German pilots ignored official names like Swallow and Stormbird - they called this thing the Turbo. The FR Me262 is easy to fly from a piloting point of view; the real thing was too."

"So now it’s time to look at the simulated version of a controversial and exciting aircraft, brought to us in the form of AlphaSim’s F104 Starfighter. Upon installation, you’ll find five F-104s in your FSX hangar, two Luftwaffe G models, two Marineflieger G variants, plus an Italian Air Force S model."

"Texturing on the AlphaSim F-104s is very crisp, with well researched stenciling and insignias all in the correct locations, and very clear they are too. In common with most (not all) aircraft from AlphaSim, the Starfighter’s implementation of working cockpit features is somewhat limited. You won’t find many of the switches functioning, or even moving in a dummy fashion for that matter, but what you will find is a virtual cockpit which is nevertheless nothing short of a visual treat."

"Centerpiece of the F-104 office is the radar screen. If you prefer 2D cockpits, you’ll be happy to learn that, like most AlphaSim products, the F-104 Starfighter has one, and it’s pretty good too. Along with the main panel, you also get several pop-up 2D sub-panels for the radar, radios and various sub systems."

"Applying the brakes and winding up the throttle for an engine test reveals that the jet turbine sounds are hugely impressive, there is even a hint of the real F-104’s characteristic howl from the inlet air vanes switching position. I was pleased to note that the AlphaSim aircraft does emulate the real F-104’s capabilities in the turning regime very closely."

Concluding this double review of the Me262 and F-104, Alan comments, "the Flight Replica Me262 is certainly one of the better models around, and the virtual cockpit, even with its limited functionality, is a real winner. So there’s definitely many more plusses than minuses in the looks department. The AlphaSim F-104 Starfighter is a ‘must have’ add-on in my opinion. I think you’d be robbing yourself of a very exciting experience if you passed this one up."

Extreme Southwest Greenland Released

Posted: Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 1:15
Everybody who flies in Greenland knows how inaccurate the default scenery is. This is a new terrain mesh scenery which covers West Greenland - from Lat N 65 to N 62. Like Extreme West Greenland, this is the one of the most detailed Greenland terrain mesh releases of this scenery. This package covers more than 60.000 sq. km. area. Download this scenery for free at FlightSim Greenland.

USA East Forest Scenery 8.1.0 Released

Posted: Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 1:11
After a long wait, alpilotX have released their forest scenery for the eastern part of the United States (approximately up to 96N). Alber Laubi - their visual artist - has created a large set of new tree textures, and after that designed the assignment of those trees to all the forests (called forest definitions in X-Plane - from which there were 129 for the eastern part alone - for 14 different ecoregions).

The scenery itself is based on data from the MRLC Consortium, who released their new landcover dataset called NLCD 2001 earlier this year. It consists of very high resolution raster landcover information for the continental USA. This scenery release now "leaves out" all the features of the Global Scenery more accurately and respects not only roads, railroads, airports but also all the building objects (so no more trees growing through buildings). The download, a lot of screenshots, documentation and an FAQ (which they highly recommend to newcomers) can be found on alpilotX's homepage.

Just Flight Releases 777 Professional

Posted: Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 1:00
Just Flight is pleased to announce the release of 777 Professional developed by PSS is now available by download.

The 200LR, 200LRF Freighter and 300ER variants, are included along with 26 airline liveries from around the world. Some features include:

Animated undercarriage, including ‘gear droop’, flaps, elevators, rudder, spoilers, ailerons, flexing wings, APU Inlet RAM air turbine, cargo and cabin doors as well as Detailed engines with rotating 3D fans and operating thrust reversers

Fully detailed virtual cockpit includes high resolution vector drawn gauges, animated control yokes, animated rudder pedals, animated throttle levers and reflective glass on gauge faces.

To get your download or DVD you're cleared direct to Just Flight.

The Definitive FSX Benchmark?

Posted: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - 20:06
Gary Dunne, otherwise known as RESET MCP ALT, has recently posted a phenomenal piece of work regarding FSX and Benchmarking in the AVSIM forums. Gary opens his study of FSX performance under various configurations by stating; "After running over 40 benchmark runs over the last few days on both Vista 64 and XP Pro with FSX RTM, SP1, SP2 DX9 and SP2 DX10, not to mention a dash of overclocking, wide screen, TH2G selective CPU core use and different FSX settings, I have finally cobbled together the results as shown below...". Gary's work is detailed and revealing. Though it may not be THE final and definitive work, it certainly gives all FSX owners significant meat to mull over. You can read Gary's thread and comments from others here.

Two Important Surveys Running

Posted: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - 12:42
We want to remind everyone that we have two important surveys currently running that we would like you to take. The first of these is our survey on where you think we should hold FANCON 2008 for our U.S. event next year. Your input will help us determine the location of the 2008 event. Have your say! Take the FANCON 2008 today! The second important survey we are taking is that of whether or not you subscribe to any print magazines related to flight simulation. Do you subscribe to one or more? Do you not subscribe? Let us know so that we can better serve you! You can take both surveys by entering our Survey System here.

Sky Blue Radio Competition

Posted: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - 18:09
It is competition time at Sky Blue Radio with an exclusive prize courtesy of Flight 1 software.

Ahead of the release of the new Cockpit Chatter software which promises to transform your virtual flightdeck. This revolutionary piece of software will allow you access to almost every area of the virtual flightdeck using your computer's microphone. A virtual copilot that listens to your natural speech, and carries out the action that you specify. The copilot will also respond verbally to you confirming the action that you just presented to him/her.

The new software features an easy to use software interface, command customization, copilot read back customization, multiple phrases for any command, multiple randomly selected read backs for any command, interface testing of new commands or read backs, script printing, hundreds of voice commands for FSX, selectable microphone switch for use in FSX, modify or create voice checklists for any aircraft, pre-built voice checklists for all default FSX aircraft, ability to share checklists for any aircraft, speaker independent speech recognition technology, natural speech phraseology for commands, commands that actually operate the system, not just press a virtual key for you.

The guys at Flight 1 approached Sky Blue Radio with the idea of, "What would be the first thing you would say to your virtual co-pilot?" Share with us you most creative and funniest opening dialogue with your virtual co-pilot and be in with a chance of winning a copy of Cockpit Chatter. Send your entries to cockpitchatter@skyblueradio.com

The competition ends on November 30th and the winner will be announced on December 2nd 2007. Visit the Sky Blue Radio website for terms and conditions and more details of the competition.

VIDEOFLYREC Releases New Training Videos

Posted: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - 16:40
VIDEOFLYREC® is pleased to announce that its latest release, International Airports Approaches, is available for purchase. VideoFlyRec, through an commercial agreement with Navigraph, supplier of high quality and up to date aeronautical charts for flight simulation, now uses these charts in the production of its tutorial videos. Land at most important airports in the world as professional pilots do With VideoFlyRec International Airports Approaches you will learn how to perform precision and non precision approaches into large airports over the world, in different types of aircraft. Practice a landing at Pristina with an engine failure in a King Air. Perform a NDB DME approach at Pulkovo airport in Saint Petersburg, or execute a missed approach at New York in a blizzard aboard a Boeing 737. All of this is explained in full detail, step by step. In the explanations we will use high resolution and quality charts published by Navigraph. Don’t miss out on this new Videoflyrec product and order now your International Airports Approaches DVD.

On our website you may find images of the upcoming video along with a teaser video clip. VIDEOFLYREC® is company dedicated to the production of flight simulation training videos and currently has four video productions available for purchase.

Head over to VIDEOFLYREC® for more information.

Operation: Valkyrie from Lionheart Creations Ltd.

Posted: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - 2:37
Senior staff reviewer David Wilson-Okamura delves into the word of espionage with Flight Sim with Lionheart Creations' Operation: Valkyrie. "It begins with a young German pilot learning to fly gliders. Soon, he is inducted into the Luftwaffe and learns to fly powered aircraft, first a single-engine trainer and later a six-engine transport. In the process, he becomes involved with a high-level conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler. This is where fiction merges with history: there was a conspiracy in real life, and its code name was Operation Valkyrie."

"There are three fully flyable aircraft in the Valkyrie package: the Schneider “Grunau Baby II” glider, the Bücker Bü-181 “Bestmann,” and the Messerschmitt Me-323 “Gigant.” Each of the aircraft is represented in several configurations and liveries. In addition to the three aircraft, Valkyrie also comes with a ground vehicle and a submarine."

"Ortis has a background in automobile design, so the external models are very convincing. Care has been taken to make the cockpits authentic as well. Also available through pop-ups are the radios, an autopilot, and a version of the default GPS. There is a lot of detail here, and Ortis has gone to great lengths searching for cockpit photos and dressing the interiors with authentic props."

"In addition to the five vehicles, Operation: Valkyrie also comes with nine war-time airfields and one submarine base. There are no moving jetways, but there is moving ground traffic at some of the airports. Signage is authentic, and there are various types and sizes of airplane hangar."

"There are 65 missions in the package. There are several missions for practicing gliders, later you learn to pilot the Gigant.
Once your training is over, there are more missions in Africa and southern Italy. Eventually, you make contact with the conspirators and fly missions on their behalf."

Concluding Op:Valkyrie, David says, "The missions, if you fly them all, will keep you busy for at least a month, and when they’re done you will still have eleven vintage airports, three very different aircraft, one ground vehicle, one submarine, and one submarine pen."

Freeware - Victoria+ for FSX

Posted: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - 1:01
From the developers that brought you Vancouver+, this editor's hometown of Victoria BC is now available in the AVSIM library entitled Victoria+ for FSX. Expanding on the success of the FS9 version, the product includes Victoria, Canada and an expanded coverage area to north of Duncan, and the entire US San Juan Islands. CYYJ is featured (Grovestine version), and included are dozens of listed, sloped-runway, helicopter and floatplane facilities. Mesh, landclass, hydrology, roads, traffic, rails included as well as cruise ship, floatplane (DHC-2/Beaver) and boat AI.

Ground Environment X, US And Canada!

Posted: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - 0:56
Flight One Software, in partnership with Anthony Vos, has released Ground Environment X USA-Canada for FSX. Ground Environment X brings all-new ground textures to FSX using aerial and satellite imagery to bring you highly realistic ground environments for FSX. Some of the features include: