Tongass Fjords from FSAddon

Posted: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 - 3:08
Staff reviewer David Wilson-Okamura goes north to Alaska to review FSAddon's Tongass Fjords. "Set in the Alaskan wilderness, it is marked everywhere by natural grandeur, steep cliffs and long channels of water. Tongass Fjords is the third in a series of Sandmann sceneries published by FSAddon."

"The primary ingredients of Tongass Fjords," explains David, "are the detailed terrain mesh, custom landclass, waterclass, and ground textures, AI traffic of various kinds, realistic roads and shorelines, forestry cabins, enhanced airports and floatplane bases, and two detailed towns (Sitka and Petersburg). Sandmann has been making terrain mesh for several years now. The main virtue of the new mesh is it matches perfectly with the rest of the scenery. For land and waterclass, there are two ways of making it. One is to generate it from existing data (usually from someone’s government). Sandmann works from satellite photos instead and the result is more precision than you can get from data alone."

"To my knowledge, there is no real place called Tongass Fjords," says David, "There is a Tongass National Forest, though, and it is riddled with fjords, lakes, and rivers. These different water types are carefully distinguished in the waterclass. Glacial lakes are turquoise, and rivers are brown (because of silt). Even more striking, to my eye, is the way the shorelines have been carved out. Another thing that sets Sandmann’s sceneries apart is moving objects. Sandmann’s look alive. Other sceneries (though by no means all) have AI traffic, but Sandmann’s are the only ones I know of that feature floatplanes and helicopters."

"Finally, there are two airports, Sitka (PASI) and Petersburg (PAPG), that have been given the full beauty treatment, including ground vehicles and tire smudges on the tarmac. Nothing’s animated, but the level of detail is very high. Womack’s real triumph is Sitka harbor and the surrounding town. It’s not big, but it’s very densely populated with custom 3D objects: sailboats in the marinas, docks of several sorts, marine signals, breakwaters, a low bridge (which is not too low to fly a helicopter under), and various town buildings."

In summary of Tongass Fjords, David concludes with, "Not everyone can benefit from this degree of fit and finish. Like many of the products I’ve reviewed this summer, Tongass Fjords is squarely aimed at VFR pilots. If you only fly the big iron, don’t bother: it’ll be over before you know it. However, if what you like is low and slow, Tongass Fjords will not disappoint. There is no better VFR scenery, in this price range or any other."

SimWare Simulations Show 2006

Posted: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - 13:08
On the weekend of October 14-15 SimWare Simulations will demonstrate the latest developments from key players in the various aspects of computer simulation. This event will be held in the Belgian Aviation and Automobile Museums premises located in the center of Brussels Amongst the major ones players we can already list:

- 'Flight Simulator X' for which the European launch is taking place the day before (Friday 13th) and that will be presented on various configurations including a giant screen;

- Race driving simulation, with the use of a real Formula1 modified to accommodate simmers' needs;

- The secrets of Gliding will be revealed by experts from the CNVV association of Saint-Hubert with the use of their full scale training cockpit replica.

Many other types of simulation such as Ship simulation, Railroad, Helicopters and Diving will be covered as well. Entrance to the event is fully free and grants access to the Aviation museum along with a discount on the Automobile Museum entrance ticket.

Cargo Pilot from Just Flight

Posted: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - 9:25
Staff reviewer Joseph Ellwood opens his own air hauling company to review Just Flight's Cargo Pilot. "The beauty of products such as this is it brings an entirely new dimension into the sim. It allows the user to be creative, do something different other than fly, and more importantly, keep their flying skills in top shape."

So what is Cargo Pilot all about? "You start up with a set amount of funds, enough to buy yourself a small piston aircraft and a small airstrip to use as a base. Once you’ve done this, you can select different types of flights to do. Each flight is unique. Some may be short hops carrying a few goods while others could be much longer; for example, delivering mail. As your company grows, you expand both your fleet and bases."

"Once you’ve selected a flight, you’re presented with a flight plan and briefing. Flight Simulator is opened via Cargo Pilot, which will skip you through all the menus and will put you straight onto the tarmac for cockpit preparation. Once you’ve landed, shut down the aircraft and close the sim, then view your post flight briefing."

Wrapping up the Cargo Pilot review, Joe states, "The beauty of this product is it gives the simmer something "outside the box" to tinker with. I’m sure this product will not disappoint any freight dog out there."

Friendly Panels Announce New Cessnas

Posted: Monday, October 9, 2006 - 18:43
FriendlyPanels announces the release of their new add-on: Cessna Caravan 675 Executive Version Aircraft Pack for FS2004. The package comprises of two Cessnas, the Caravan 675 and the Amphibain version. Each has the garmin gps units, six liveries and all the usual animation you would expect. There will be a free update when it is made compatible with FSX. For more information about this release, visit the Friendly Panels Website.

FS Earth For FSX Now Available

Posted: Sunday, October 8, 2006 - 20:00
In a press release today, Luciano Napolitano announced that FS Earth for FSX is now available. FS Earth allows you to interface between FSX and Google Earth. This allows you to track your flight over satellite images generated by Google Earth. Luciano also announced a pre-release of his ever popular software WideView. To find out more about these two software releases, visit the Wideview Website.

Indianapolis Int'l Airport by Dreamscenery

Posted: Sunday, October 8, 2006 - 1:02
Sr Reviewer Brian Fletcher takes us on a tour of the Indianapolis International Airport from Dreamscenery. "The Indianapolis International Airport, owned by the city of Indianapolis, is the largest airport in the state of Indiana."

"There are so many interesting features in and around this version of the Indianapolis Intl. Airport, everything on the chart is included with this scenery package. The runway on the left side of the chart is the 11,196 ft long concrete rwy 5L-23R, ILS ID IIND / IUZK. To the right is runway 5R-23L, which is a little shorter at 9,997 ft, also with a concrete surface, ILS ID IOQV / IFVJ."

"The FedEx hub is located on the east side of the airport and contains a series of connected buildings surrounded by static and dynamic vehicles, crates, forklifts, semi trailers, stair trucks, and more. The parking ramp is located on the west size of the ramp and is capable of accommodating up to 30 of the largest aircraft you’ve got. On the other side of the airfield you will find 5 of the animated hangars, the two maintenance gates, and a variety of miscellaneous structures. The main terminals are located on the north side of the airport. The terminal area consists of the jetways, ground servicing equipment, both dynamic and static vehicles, and a selection of hangars and other buildings."

"There are four areas of the airport that contain animations; the main terminal consisting of gates A1-D7, the FedEx hub at ramp 2-5, the maintenance facility building, located at gates 1 and 2, and all 11 hangars, which are scattered throughout the airport. The main terminal has accommodations for small, medium, and large aircraft where the jetways will conform to your aircraft, but you will need to know which gates suit which aircraft."

"So let me sum up my thoughts about this package," says Brian, "If you are going to wipe your hard drive clean of FS9 when FS-X is released, then you might want to wait and see how the new Indianapolis Intl. Airport looks before taking this plunge. Also, if you cannot afford to lose a few frame rates, then I would suggest passing on this one. But if you really want to turn Indy into a realistic and dynamic rendition of the real deal in FS9, then I would definitely take a flight over to the Dreamscenery website for a closer look."

CLS Business Jet Re-Released

Posted: Sunday, October 8, 2006 - 0:19
Commercial Level Simulations has just re-released the CLS Business Jet! Due problems with videocards, the product was unavailable for some time, but CLS is confident that the problems are solved. Also CLS wants to state that we always want to provide excellent support, and if you encounter problems we will do our best to help you out. The CLS Business Jet is available again at the new website of CLS. The website has been redesigned and improved to include more payment options, features and support options. Check out Commercial Level Simulations.

French Alps Scenery from France VFR

Posted: Sunday, October 8, 2006 - 0:17
France VFR is proud to announce our new French Alps scenery. This base pack covers the whole French Alps in addition to our previous Alps Sur product. The scenery is provided with a high resolution mesh and a 18000 km2 photoreal coverage, very accurate. A full English documentation is provided with all France VFR base packs. Many screens are available on the France VFR website, and on the site's forum.

This scenery, like other France VFR base packs, will be updated soon with a free patch for all FS9 version customers. For all the information, check out the website.

Screenshot Tribute to FS9 - Part 1

Posted: Saturday, October 7, 2006 - 21:35
Steve "Bear" Cartwright continues the legacy at AVSIM, "Ever since the release of FS2000, it has been a tradition here at AVSIM, to post a Screenshot Tribute to the outgoing version of Flight Simulator, once the impending release of the next version has been announced, which Microsoft has done with the expected release of Flight Simulator FSX in late 2006."

"Unlike the past postings of our Screenshot Tribute to Flight Simulator, where our screenshots depicted the improvements in Flight Simulator, this time I’m going to focus more on the dozens and dozens of authors that have contributed to our hobby and whenever possible, the author of the aircraft or scenery depicted in the screenshot will be noted. I would also like to add, that despite what you may assume, the majority of quality aircraft are indeed still freeware, though I’m certainly not going to restrict my screenshots to freeware only. This version of my Screenshot Tribute seems to be particularly appropriate, considering the revised attitude of the Microsoft Flight Simulator team and their very public support of the 3rd party designers, which it appears that FSX will be far more user friendly toward those wishing to provide an add-on."

Cloud9 Releases Phantom Update

Posted: Friday, October 6, 2006 - 17:17
Cloud9 has released the Phantom Service Pack 2. This update includes some changes based on users' feedback and a couple of bug fixes. Also improved were the general cockpit code to reduce the impact on the frame rate. The complete list of changed/improved items is included in the “readme” file provided with the update. Service Pack 2 must be used with the Phantom 1.01 version only. The new full 1.02 version of the product already includes the SP2. Also released is the Livery Pack 2. This new free package adds 10 new different paint schemes and configurations. The new livery pack can be installed only after the installation of the Livery Pack 1. For more information, visit Cloud9.

B25 by Fightertown Design Group 2

Posted: Friday, October 6, 2006 - 2:47
Sr reviewer Brian Fletcher continues his warbird series from Fightertown Design Group 2 with their rendition of the B-25 Mitchell. "In many ways the FDG2 B-25 is similar to the B-17 package. Both of them are modeled to provide excellent frame rates, they both have their fair share of positive and negative aspects, and they are both priced to attract simmers who don’t want to cough up a lot of money."

Looking around the aircraft as well as inside, "The FDG2 B-25 only comes with the “J” model, including two liveries; “Show Me”, and a representative of the 445th Bomber Squadron of the 321st Bomber Group. All of the gunner’s positions are modeled onto this aircraft, but only the pilot, co-pilot, and navigator are present. The interior modeling in the B-25 is what I would call acceptable. There are certain aspects of the VC that are detailed quite well, while other areas could use a little work. The VC is very functional in the sense that the vast majority of the switches are useable. You can fly this aircraft from the VC from startup to shutdown without having to switch to the 2D panel."

About its handling characteristics, Brian comments, "Having my flight controls configured near perfectly for every other aircraft in my collection, I found the FDG2 B-25 pitch to be overly sensitive. Unlike the B-17, which I commented as …”taking ten minutes to complete a two minute turn”, the B-25 can cut a sharp bank, and maneuver very well."

In summation, Brian makes it clear about this offering of the B-25, "This product is by no means what I would consider “premium”, it is not a top-of-the-line model, and it does not compare to other quality versions of this aircraft like found in the Maam-Sim B-25 Briefing Time package. However, it is a good quality package that makes an excellent alternative if you would like to add a good B-25 to your hangar without coughing up a lot of money. I am, for the most part, very pleased with FDG2’s rendition of the B-25J, especially when I take the price into account."

Captain Keith Releases Louisiana Wetlands Vol. 2

Posted: Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 13:11
Come on and "Pass a Good Time" with Captain Keith's Louisiana Wetlands Scenery for FS2004. This all-new volume includes two highly detailed airfields located in southeast Louisiana. The first of these FS Airfields is based on Pass Manchac Airfield, once a beautiful lakeside airfield but it no longer exist due to many years of coastal erosion, neglect and hurricanes. The second - Slidell Airport which is still in operation today - was created using satellite imagery, airport maps and personal photos to achieve a high level of detail and realism. Watch the video trailer or get more information at the Louisiana Wetland Series webpage.

Key2LAN Universal For FSX Available

Posted: Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 21:27
Key2LAN sends keyboard-based commands from a master PC to a slave, where a user's defined mouse or keyboard action can be simulated. This is very useful to control gauges, instruments and other add-ons working remotely on networked PCs. This utility is excellent for cockpit builders who want to program custom buttons and switches. Please visit Key2LAN for additional details.

WW II Fighters by Shockwave Productions

Posted: Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 3:15
Senior reviewer Gene Davis takes us back some 60 years and looks at another offering of World War II aircraft from Shockwave Productions. "WW II Fighters is probably one of the most reasonable titles out on the market right now that offers highly detailed and complex models for aircraft of this type."

"Once the product is installed, you will find 5 new aircraft in your hanger for you to choose from. They are the P-51, Zero, P-47. Spitfire and the ME109. Each aircraft is masterfully created and surprisingly frame rate friendly. It is truly amazing that any one developer would release 5 different aircraft of this caliber in one inexpensive package."

About flying these aircraft, Gene comments, "Flying each of the aircraft is a challenge. I found that each plane has its own little quirks and it takes some getting used to! You can’t just point your plane down the runway and expect to takeoff. It is also important to follow proper in-flight procedures as far as managing your engine's power and watching your instruments carefully, otherwise you might just find yourself in the drink as the engines can overheat or freeze up if you are not careful."

"The WW2 Fighters package is meant to be flown from the virtual cockpit and no other. The level of quality and detail that is incorporated into each of these aircraft is simply amazing. The sounds in this add-on are some of the best I have ever heard for WW2 aircraft and capture each of the aircraft really well as each sound package has been created from the actual sounds of each aircraft."

Gene sums up his review of WW II Fighters with this statement, "If you have an interest in vintage aircraft or a desire to try something a little less conventional than that of modern aviation, this product has it all."

New Just Flight Website Goes Live

Posted: Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 20:13
Just Flight is pleased to announce that after many months of hard work the new websites for Just Flight and Just Trains are now live.

To celebrate the completion of this massive project Just Flight is running a whole host of special offers on its flight and train products throughout October. Visitors to the new sites can make savings on boxed and download products and gain valuable Just Rewards points to save even more money.

Many of the original features still remain but amongst others now added there is an RSS News feed, Streaming videos, and an updated Support Section (no registration required).

The new site has been designed by the award-winning team at Fink Creative and is as pleasing on the eye as the special offers are on the pocket!

Visit Just Flight or Just Trains for a visual feast!

Louisiana Wetlands By Captain Keith

Posted: Tuesday, October 3, 2006 - 3:07
With all of the payware products that we have been reviewing lately, I've asked our review staff to start looking at freeware products as well. Sr staff reviewer Alexis Esguerra has kicked off this request with a look at a scenery package from Captain Keith (available from AVSIM's download library) entitled Louisiana Wetlands. Bayou flying at its finest.

"The focus of Louisiana Wetlands is Lake Maurepas Airpark and T-Bob Field (I couldn’t have begun to make that last one up), two fields that supposedly existed once upon a time, but fell into disuse, were abandoned, and were eventually swallowed up into oblivion by the elements. The two airfields were developed through the personal memories of the Captain."

"Lake Maurepas Airpark is the larger and (relatively speaking) more modern of the two. Sitting at the northern edge of the lake for which it is named, it has a 1,850 ft dirt runway oriented due east and west, and is big enough to sport a dedicated ramp area for planes to park. T-Bob Field is decidedly smaller and more basic; 1,200 ft of mud running north and south atop Lake Pontchartrain, and plenty of places to park your plane as long as you don’t need a designated parking spot (in a nutshell, any clear space will do)."

There are a few surprises in this piece of freeware, "When I associate the word ‘freeware’ with ‘scenery’, I don’t expect much in terms of added bonus features. As I neared the strip, something caught by eye; tiny little specks hovering in front of me, maybe a half a mile out and right in my flightpath. A flock of birds, and rather sizable ones at that, hovering right off my nose all happy and chipper, and not getting out of the way anytime soon! This breath of new life into the simulation has been long coming, and I was very happy to have finally experienced it."

"The rest of the Wetlands experience comes from actually flying from and into these fields. Eye-candy is nice and all, but if you have been spending all of your flying time in and around the major airports (hmmm… like me), then you’re in for quite a treat," notes Alexis, "For bush-flying types out there in the MSFS community, Louisiana Wetlands Vol 1 would make an excellent addition to your scenery library, and for all others is a great entry into that rather peculiar yet fun world."

Navigraph Releases AIRAC 0610

Posted: Monday, October 2, 2006 - 21:28
Navigraph is proud to announce, in cooperation with Richard Stefan of NAVData-Service, availability of FMS Data. The AIRAC cycle 0610 (October 2006) is available for download from the Navigraph website. Several addons are supported. The FMS Data is supported now by source data from European Aeronautical Group (EAG). In addition to this Navigraph is pleased to inform its current users that the update interval on approach charts has been changed to an even shorter 3 month revision interval. The updated charts will automatically appear in the nDAC software client and are available within minutes after their release. For any clarification or additional material, please visit Navigraph.

Mountain Empire Airport Updated

Posted: Sunday, October 1, 2006 - 19:35
Jon Raines has sent us an annoucement stating that his recently uploaded Mountain Empire Airports scenery was uploaded without the AFCAD. Realizing the error, Jon is in the process of updating the file which will be available for download as soon as possible. The original file is listed in todays file library here on Avsim.

North America Mesh By FSGenesis Released

Posted: Sunday, October 1, 2006 - 19:31
In a press release today, Justin Tyme of FS Genesis fame has announced North America Terrain Mesh for FSX!. Taking advantage of the new, improved, more efficient FSX terrain engine designed by Microsoft's Adam Szofran, FSGenesis North America Terrain Mesh for FSX will take your terrain detail to new, unimagined heights. Featuring an incredible 9.6m resolution for the United States mainland and Hawaii, 19.1m resolution for Canada, and 38.2m for Mexico, FSGenesis North America Terrain Mesh has been compiled from the latest, best available 10m USGSÂ NED, 23m CDED, and 30m INEGI source data, ensuring the utmost in detail and accuracy. Even if you don't have the FSX beta 3 right now, but expect to buy FSX as soon as it hits the shelves, now is a good time to start downloading, since server demand is likely to be very high later on. The earlier you buy, the less you will pay, so take advantage of this special pre-FSX-release "in-production" pricing now to not only save, but avoid the rush later. For more pop over to the FsGenesis Website.

FlightScenery Releases FlightZone 02: Portland

Posted: Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 11:57
Along with four highly detailed photorealistic airports (KPDX, KHIO, KVUO, KTTD) and broad photoscenery coverage, this product includes a high resolution 18m. mesh, reworked coastlines and a custom landclass/waterclass.

FlightZone 02: Portland is an integrated approach, recreating a complete flying environment in which both GA and commercial pilots can enjoy flying. The scenery is built in concentric areas, each one adjusted to a level of detail that is in relation with the flying experience. All this with FlightScenery's "framerate friendly" approach. A FSX upgrade will be free of charge for FS2004 version owners.

Features:

Airports included (fully detailed):

KPDX Portland Intl., OR
KVUO Pearson field, WA KHIO Portland-Hillsboro, OR
KTTD Troutdale, OR

And more than 20 reworked strips around KPDX (corrected elevation, flatten, etc.) Downtown Portland's main buildings remodeled, including two helipads (on top of US Bancorp Tower and World Trade Center buildings).

Photoscenery included: Approx. 1,500 sq.km, from Battle Ground (WA) to Milwaukie (OR) and from Hillsboro (OR) to Troutdale (OR). All four seasons ( two versions of winter, normal and harsh winter ) and night, full autogen.

Animations: Road traffic around the main airports, animated marshallers and wing walkers at KPDX, animated wig-wags. Coastlines/Streams/Roads/Railroads: Reworked in a 10,000 sq.km area around KPDX. The same also goes for the landclass and waterclass.

Mesh: 100Mb ultra hires 18 meter mesh with multi-resolution.

Fully compatible with any 'road', mesh, LWM/VTP and landclass third-party products, provided they are accurately positioned. For more information please visit the FlightScenery homepage.