North America & Europe Landclass Updated

Posted: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - 2:36
SceneryTech's North America Landclass has been updated to version 1.3. This update fixes a couple issues that emerged in the previous version involving downtown Chicago and Juneau, Alaska. SceneryTech's Europe Landclass has just undergone the same treatment. In addition to standard fixes to the landclass based on user feedback, the urban data has been upscaled to be on par with the very accurate data found in the North America Landclass product, ensuring that every town on the continent bigger than 1 square kilometer will be visible. The update is free for existing owners of the product. For more information, please visit the Scenery Tech website.

Scottish Charity FlightSim Event Follow-up

Posted: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - 2:30
"Thank you to everyone who supported the Scottish Charity Flightsim Event 2007 at the Holiday Inn Glasgow Airport . We have had incredible support from UK20000, Flight 1, Angle of Attack, Flightstore, FlightSimX, Classic Flight, FlyByWire, Vatsim UK. Fly UK, Ian Brookes, Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum and the West of Scotland Air Cadets and the many others who donated auction prizes. The generosity of those who attended and those who supported us from a far was nothing short of amazing and just saying thank you doesn't seem to fully express our gratitude.

With over £2000 raised from the show this year, ORBIS can will make a huge difference to the many mothers and children in Ethiopia who, as a result, will live free from the triple threat of pain, blindness and poverty that the eye disease trachoma brings. To put that into perspective you can fill eight Singapore Airlines A380's with mothers and children that's sight could be saved, from the money you raised by supporting this event.

The Second stage of our fundraising begins on the 4th November 2007 with the start of World Flight 2007 when nine teams from around the world that will be raising funds for their respective charities. ORBIS will be supported by our selves and team USA.

The flight simulator community's unconditional support has given us an incredible boost to achieving our target of raising £5000 for ORBIS in 2007, while also giving the team the drive to make World Flight 2007 our best year yet."

Aerosoft Announces Mega Airport London-Heathrow X

Posted: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - 1:39
Developed by the well-known Simwings-Team this package contains the Mega Airport London-Heathrow including the brand new Terminal 5. Discover a exquisitely true to original atmosphere! Simwings did have the BAA as an official partner for this project which makes it as realistic as can be with a foresight in to the future. Using up-to-date 3d files for many buildings according to BAA plans to include even the newest (and some in real life still under construction) layout and buildings. For omplete details visit the Aerosoft website.

Richard Harvey Scholarship Awarded

Posted: Monday, October 29, 2007 - 23:30
AVSIM is pleased to announce that Embry Riddle Aeronautical University has awarded the fourth Richard Harvey Scholarship for the fall semester. This year's recipient is Jonathan Ingerson of Palm Harbor, Florida, who is in attendance at the Daytona Beach campus of ERAU. Congratulations Jonathan! The Richard Harvey Scholarship is an annual award to a deserving student at either of the main ERAU campuses. The Scholarship was established by AVSIM in memory of Richard Harvey, the heart and soul behind the "FLY" series of flight simulators and who passed away in the spring of 2003. Thousands of flight simulation enthusiasts from around the world and corporate sponsors have contributed to the scholarship fund, and today it is a self-endowed scholarship that will run in perpetuity. Congratulations to Jonathan on his achievement, and our gratitude to the flight sim community for making this happen.

FanCon 2007 Floor Plan Released!

Posted: Monday, October 29, 2007 - 14:17
You know time is running out, now see what all the excitement is about! AVSIM is proud to release the floor plan for our upcoming 2007 FanCon! If you've been waiting till now, here is your final chance to see who is coming and come mingle with the flight simulation community at it's finest! Visit the AVSIM Library to download your copy of the floor plan and come see your favorite vendors at the show! But hurry, time is running out, and you only have till October 31 to sign up for the banquet and social! Download the Floor plan now!

FSX Zurich Scenery Released

Posted: Monday, October 29, 2007 - 1:34
VIRTUALI of Italy, one of the oldest companies in the flight sim business (founded in 1993 back with FS4.0) whose last works includes successful products like Cloud9 F4 Phantom, Amsterdam and Los Angeles sceneries for FS9, and the F/A-18 Virtual Cockpit and Gauges for the Microsoft Acceleration Pack, is happy to announce the introduction of a new brand name, to directly publish their products: FSDreamTeam.com

Their first release is an extremely high quality scenery for FSX and FS9 for the airport of Zurich Kloten. Developed using a "backward" strategy, first in FSX then ported to FS9, in order to allow the best possible performances, the scenery is available as a full Try-Before Buy and the same activation will automatically work both for FSX and FS9! This way, you don't have to decide which version to buy: you'll get both for the same price. For complete details visit the new FSDreamTeam website.

Register by the 31st for the Banquet and Social!

Posted: Monday, October 29, 2007 - 1:27
Special Notice!!! Stay tuned later today for a map of the Conference floor! This is your chance to see who will be there and where! Don't miss out! Time is running out! If you want to attend either the Friday night Social or the Saturday night Awards Banquet at the AVSIM FANCON in Seattle, you must register online by no later than midnight, October 31st. That is 2 days away! After that date, all openings for the Social and Banquet will be closed! You will not be able to gain access to these events after the 31st; you will not be able to gain access at the door! So, make your reservations now, and join us for two of the most popular events at the FANCON! Meet your fellow flight sim enthusiasts from around the world, put faces to names, and partake in great food, drink and company! Register today! You can still attend the Exhibition and Paper Sessions by registering at the door! Join hundreds of your fellow enthusiasts in this year's largest flight sim event!

Combat Jets Are Approaching Your PC

Posted: Sunday, October 28, 2007 - 0:19
Three of Just Flight's combat jet classics are now available to purchase by download direct to your PC. Harrier Jump Jet, FS Falcon and RAF Tornado are ready to streak across the Internet to your PC.

FS Falcon 2004 - Fly the F-16 in a fantastic selection of liveries - 65 for FS2004, 29 for FS2002 and three bonus liveries for CFS3 aircraft. A wide variety of the World's air forces are represented and you'll even find the celebrated Tiger Meet liveries. Compatibility: FS2002/FS2004/CFS3

RAF Tornado (FS2002/FS2004/CFS3/FSX) - The Tornado expansion for FS2004/FS2002/CFS3 is a true classic and the aircraft has now been fully updated for Flight Simulator X. The FS2004/2002 versions also includes in-flight refuelling and airfield scenery of RAF Marham, RAF Lossiemouth and the Luftwaffe base at Norvenich.

Harrier Jump Jet - This is the total VSTOL experience, with 17 Harrier variants; it includes a total of 23 aircraft, stunningly realistic Falklands scenery and 20 combat missions. Compatibility: FS2000/FS2002/CFS2

Aerosoft Releases “Seahawk & Jayhawk X”

Posted: Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 20:47
Currently in download version only (box to follow soon), Aerosoft has released the completely redesigned version of the Seahawk. Combining two previous award winning helicopter add-ons, the new version includes all the features that make FSX aircraft look so much better, as well as some additional systems like a control that lets the Winch Operator control the helicopter, and six ships that can be placed using Google Earth. Of course, the complex and highly realistic Stability Augmentation System and Automated Flight Control Systems are fully functional as they were before. Get all the details at the Aerosoft Product webpage.

Trinidad and Tobago Collection Build 2.0

Posted: Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 20:34
Lionheart Creations Ltd. are pleased to announce the latest release of their Trinidad and Tobago Collection Build 2.0 which now features a dual installer for both flight simulators FSX and FS2004. The FS9 models are now fully functional in FSX. Some of the new features include: improved airfiles tuning for more realistic performance at slower speeds, enhanced graphics in the Virtual Cockpit, a new female pilot who is optional as both a passenger and/or actual pilot, increasing the package selections by three-fold, (3 models of passenger layouts for each texture pack, for 'both' aircraft). This is a free update for existing LHC Trinidad and Tobago customers. Simply redownload your package. Go to the Lionheart Creations webpage for more information.

FLT and FLN Analogue Gauges For FSX

Posted: Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 19:32
Reality XP is announcing the release of their Flight Line T and Flight Line N analogue gauges for FSX. "With today's announcement of latest FSX product, we are officially ushering in a new era in true next-generation simulation" said Jean-Luc Dupiot "The award winning FLT and FLN gauges feature powerful technologies and capabilities that have never been brought together in our products before”.

The FLT and FLN for FSX features an entirely new graphic engine for Flight Simulator with ultra high-res images in 32 bits next-gen graphics and the latest generation of high speed vector drawing True Display XP. Completely rewritten from scratch with the new Reality XP Gauge XTreme technology, developed for the Airliner XP Airbus, it offers sharper, better, life-like visuals which are simply not possible to achieve with the default Flight Simulator SDK!

Existing customers will enjoy the included compatibility mode which permits running the new gauges and their next-gen graphics with FS9. These products are also compatible with both Win XP and Vista. Complete details can be found at the Reality XP website.

FriendlyPanels Boeing 737-400/800 Pack v4.0

Posted: Saturday, October 27, 2007 - 17:11
FriendlyPanels Boeing 737-400/800 Pack for FS9 and FSX contains two 2D panels for B737-400 and B737-800. All gauges visible in one screen (except for FMC, that requires a separate windows) keeping an excellent readabilty. Aircraft Virtual Cockpits adapted as far as possible. Antialiasing vectorial EADI/PFD which includes Autopilot annunciators, IAS trend indication, radio height and ground speed readout. Vectorial EHSI/MFD with multiple screen modes. Displays indication of distance to reach altitude selected in autopilot. GPWS and Traffic Info (FSX version only). Lateral and vertical navigation implemented via FMC. An FMC that can manage flight plans created with Microsoft Flight Simulator FS9 or FSX, or any add-on which can export flight plans in the FS format. Friendly Panles have eliminated the complex way in what you have to plan your flight in current commercial FMCs implemented in some of the commercial airliners existing for Microsoft Flight Simulator but keeping the feeling of a real FMC-CDU

FMC-CDU features: Follow a flight plan. Flight direct to a FLP waypoint (by passing the ones wanted) and continue from there. Choose any waypoint in Microsoft database to flight direct to without a flight plan loaded. Select an Arrival procedure for destination airport. Follow lateral and vertical navigation desired, speeds and altitudes. Automatic calculation of vertical navigation (airspeeds and altitudes). Display information concerning airports and navaids and information concerning fuel and winds. Pass VOR, ADF and COM frequencies from navaids or airports to aircraft radios. Visit the Friendly Panels website for details

Accelerate Your Aviation Career

Posted: Friday, October 26, 2007 - 22:07
Earlier this week, Microsoft released their first Flight Simulation add-on pack in quite some time. Microsoft writes, "Developed by ACES Studio, "Flight Simulator X: Acceleration" adds a wealth of new content and features, allowing gamers to race against each other in amazing, highly-detailed locations around the world. Aviators are able to test their skills and heroism in many new missions while enjoying three exciting new aircraft and the ability to share rewards, photos and videos with friends and the broader flight simulator community." For the full story, visit FS Insider.

AVSIM, Microsoft and Embry Riddle Prescott are proud to announce a special fly-off competition at this year's FanCon 2007! Embry-Riddle, using Microsoft's Acceleration add on and custom software developed by Raynald Bédard of ERAU, will award the top pilots a share of $25,000 in scholarship money!

Don't miss this special chance to not only get your hands on the newley released "Flight Simulator X: Acceleration" add-on but a chance to win $25,000 in scholarship money! There is still time left, but don't miss the conference! Register today!

Scottish Charity Flight Sim Show

Posted: Friday, October 26, 2007 - 17:43
The Scottish Charity Flight Sim Show in Support of ORBIS and the Flying Eye Hospital is now just days away. Gary Summons of UK2000 will have his latest release Edinburgh Extreme available at the show with 25% of the sale price going direct to ORBIS. Flight 1 will have all there new releases available with 50% of all sales going direct to ORBIS.

Chris Palmer of Angle of Attach will be previewing his soon to be released 747-400 Queen of the Skies training DVD. For the fighter pilots Ian Brookes will have his amazing converted Delfin L29 2 seat Cockpit nose at the event. With Vatsim, Classic Flight, Flightstore Pilot Supplies, FlightSimX and many more there is something for everyone. There will be an auction with flight sim hardware, software, and loads of other goodies available to bid on.

A second auction will go live during World Flight 2007 so if you can’t make the event you will still be able to take part. Watch The Airbus A300F Simulator for further information.

A380 Makes First Commercial Flight

Posted: Friday, October 26, 2007 - 15:00
One lucky Simmer and community member got to see the first A380 commercial flight first hand! Arnie Lee from Abacus writes, "Today I flew into Sydney. My 14 hour flight from Los Angeles arrived at Kingsford Smith Airport at 6:00 in the morning local time. Coincidentally, the first commercial flight of the Airbus A380 was to land less than 12 hours after my arrival."

Arnie was lucky enough to not only make it back in time, but to snap some great shots! Visit his first hand account on the Abacus site.

Navigraph Offers Annual Subscription

Posted: Friday, October 26, 2007 - 2:01
Navigraph customers will now be able to purchase annual subscriptions to the FMS Data it provides. According to Navigraph, the additional subscription option was added to better provide service to those customers who update their FMS Data monthly. Customers may still purchase the data on a month-to-month basis.

On a side note, Cycle 0711 is now available in the FMS Data section, and again supports the Wilco/Feelthere Airbus Series products.

For further details, fly direct to the Navigraph website.

JustFlight Releases Spitfire FSX

Posted: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 22:48
JustFlight announced today that their Spitfire package previously for FS2004 is now available for download with full compatibility for FSX. The package contains over 40 aircraft in 14 different variants and is licensed by the Royal Air Force. For additional information and purchasing please visit their website here.

Public Flight Simulator Demonstration

Posted: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 21:28
Flight Simulation New Brunswick (FSNB) in co-operation with Future Shop of Cananda will be conducting their third annual public demonstration of flight simulation. Working in close co-operation with VatCan and many international virtual airlines, they are able to bring the public a better appreciation of flight simulation as a hobby and introduce those in attendance to the exciting world of virtual flight. Last years events drew over 600 in attendance.
Scheduled events are for October 27th in Saint John NB., and November 10th in Moncton NB. All events are held at the respective Future Shop locations and start at 0930 LT and run until 1400 LT.

Commercial Level Simulations Update Announced

Posted: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 11:25
Commercial Level Simulations is pleased to announce the release of Service Pack 01 for their Airbus A330/A340 product. This update and addtional information may be found here

NL2000 Releases Service Pack !

Posted: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 20:42
The NL2000 Scenery design team has released Service Pack 1 for NL2000 Version 3.0. This is a small ZIP file that can be downloaded from the AVSIM File Library. Using user feedback, the update includes improved AFCADs, ILS for RWY 18R, corrections to taxi signs at Schiphol (EHAM), improved approach lights at Eelde (EHGG) and many more. Visit the AVSIM File Library for this and more available from the NL2000 Scenery design team.