QualityWings Ultimate 757 Collection

Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 - 14:06
QualityWings Simulations is pleased to announce the release of "The Ultimate 757 Collection. This package features (15) 757 models, 2D/3D cockpits, realistic soundset, 120+ liveries available immediately for download, FMC and Mid level systems programming. Visit the QualityWings Simulations webpage for more information about this release.

Colton & Northern and Class 60 from Just Trains

Posted: Sunday, December 6, 2009 - 21:26
Senior staff reviewer and resident TrainSim enthusiast Gene Davis looks at 2 new releases from Just Trains, the Colton & Northern route and the Class 60 locomotive.

"The Colton route is based on a route that that may have run between the cities of Westin and Colton in North America some years back. Now, the interesting part of this route is that if you read the designers page and how he came up with this route. No one, including Richard, can really attest to this route’s actual existence. Except for a firsthand account and some stories, this route is pretty elusive even in this modern age."

"Climbing into the train on the Colton in Rail Works is quite the adventure because there is a lot to see and do. This package includes over 20 different scenarios and includes over 30 different types of industry to be serviced by your train and includes just about every facet of the train industry. The Just Trains package also includes Rural Landscapes and Scale Roads packs that must be obtained if you buy through the author’s site. Graphically the Colton is simply beautiful as it includes costume designed buildings and scenery objects throughout the entire route that are not default to Rail Works. At one point you will be in the heart of the town and as you make your way out of town the scenery will quickly change to a more rural theme and then eventually you make your way to the coal mine in the surrounding hills."

"The Class 60 brings the diesel locomotive to life in Rail Works. You will find a custom sound set that sounds good both inside and out of the cab as well as many different liveries and scenarios that cover most of the default European routes. Employed mainly as a freight hauler, the 60 is still in use today and continues its level of service throughout the world."

"As you climb into the cab you will find that it matches its real world counterpart almost to a tee! But that is not all, because all of the gauges function, most of the switches work and some of the dials turn making the 60 totally interactive from the engineers perspective. The levers and switches move in conjunction with the input from the Rail Driver unit so you still are able to observe the control animations from within the cab."

"The Colton and Northern is a phenomenal piece of work and if you are into programs like Rail Works, this is definitely a must have for everyone! The Class 60 locomotive is worth having and adds nicely to an already well rounded product."

Instructor Station v1.50 Released

Posted: Sunday, December 6, 2009 - 14:57
Version 1.50 of INSTRUCTOR STATION is now available with the following new features: Repositions the aircraft relative to FS runways, a Tracker Window showing artificial horizon, heading, winds and many more variables graphically to enhance Instructor awareness.

Real-Time tracking of flight in 3D via Google Earth KML files and with improved failures adding new possiblities, as well as triggering failures when going above or below certain speeds or altitudes. INSTRUCTOR STATION is meant to assist Flight Simulation Enthusiasts and Home Cockpit Builders using both Flight Simulator 2004 and FSX.

Lelystad X from Aerosoft

Posted: Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 19:35
Senior staff reviewer Angelique van Campen heads down the raod from her house to visit Aerosoft's version of Lelystad X. "Lelystad Airport (IATA: LEY,ICAO: EHLE) is an airport 3.5 NM (6.5 km; 4.0 mi) south, southeast of Lelystad, Netherlands. It is the biggest general aviation airport in The Netherlands and is also home to a large aviation museum, the Aviodrome. The museum's former KLM Boeing 747-200, which they have on display, is a prominent feature on the airport."

"Aerosoft's version shows the huge difference between the default FSX scenery and airport area according to Microsoft. As with many other small airfield/airports, EHLE is hardly known for how it really looks and therefore the default airport looks horrible, but that’s no exception compared with other worldwide unknown airfields. However, the moment you install Lelystad X from Aerosoft, you’re Dutch lifestyle will change and you’re impressed with what’s possible these days in FSX."

"Lelystad Airport is not very big and offers one paved runway and a smaller grass version, while most of the buildings, hangars, taxi-ways, cars, and other objects etc. are located east of the paved runway, yet there are still lots of things to create and to take care for and thus a lot of work. This scenery covers the complete airport area, the Aviodrome museum area and the immediate surroundings. The small grass strip for the Ultra Lights is also included as well as the three car circuits located nearby."

"Overall impression …. Great! Probably many others and I were waiting for this. Aerosoft created a great airport with lots of details. Almost every building is simulated – since I haven’t counted them all – the presence of the great Aviodrome with an overall ground texture quality of 50cm/per pixel, but as said before for the runway and taxiways it’s 7 cm/per pixel. I’m very satisfied and for me, Aerosoft's Lelystad X will be one of my favorite airports in my daily growing FSX airport collection."

Imaginesim Hong Kong International

Posted: Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 18:38
Following on from their FS2004 release last month Imaginesim has released VHHH HONG KONG International (Chek Lap Kok) for FSX. VHHH was opened in 1998 to replace the infamous Kai Tak and the entire airport area is built on an enormous artificial platform created by levelling two islands and reclaiming huge areas of the seabed.

This scenery add-on features custom made ground textures and runways, terminal, cargo and hangar buildings rendered to 5cm per pixel scale, an interactive docking system to park you right on your mark, taxiways with highly realistic concrete textures, full airport taxiway and runway signage, custom 3D approach lighting and full ILS navigation. Also included are hundreds of airport vehicles and ground personnel, aircraft can be found parked at custom textured parking positions, all hangars, cargo and airport auxiliary buildings are modeled.

For a look at Imaginesim's VHHH HONG KONG visit their Homepage.

Avsim Store has great selection of download products

Posted: Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 18:34
The Avsim Store has a great selection of instant download products.

From Carenado, you can get the latest PA-
28 Archer II, the Mooney 20-J , the C172N Skyhawk and others.
From Wilco we have the Boeing 777and the CRJ Regional Jet.
From Aerosoft, we have recently added My Traffic 2010. It is he latest version of the popular and successful My Traffic series. My Traffic 2010 generates more than 800,000 flight a day, worldwide.
From Team SBD, we have just added UK Cold War Airfields and RAF Scampton, on top of US Airfields 1 and 2. For those who want to extand their Flight
Sim experience, we carry FSFlying school as well as FS2Crew products.

Visit the Avsim store today.

LatinVFR MKJP Kingston Jamaica

Posted: Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 18:28
LatinVFR MKJP Kingston Scenery for FS2004 & FSX, with it's proximity to the nation’s capital MKJP is of significant importance for business travel to and from Jamaica and for the movement of air cargo. Ease of access to all areas in the country, through a modern road and highway system, allows visitors to connect to internationally acclaimed resort areas, as well as to idyllic locations ‘off the beaten track’.

Package highlights: The most accurate and impressive rendition of Kingston’s, Norman Manley ever released, Airport buildings and terminals completely rendered as well as airport surroundings, Animated wildlife including birds, dolphins and more (FSX only), New 3D grass techniques to bring the airport environment to life, Hundreds of hand placed auto-generated scenery for all of the photo-scenery area and Tinson Pen aerodrome (MKTP) customized, and correctly placed.

Further details of the included enhancements can be found at the LatinVFR MKJP Kingston Scenery Product page .

Cirrus Vision SF50 For FSX

Posted: Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 14:37
FlightSim Developers International have released their Vision SJ50 Personal Jet for FSX , Cirrus designed this aircraft for its high end customers looking to take the next step in their evolution as pilots while maintaining features familiar to the Cirrus client base, ease of use primary among them with a style that’s all its own.
Features such as a custom designed glass cockpit , including 2d popup panel with automated systems for cabin pressurization and engine management as well as a fully clickable VC with sliding seats and all the amenities its roomy cabin offers , this aircraft delivers speed with style, visit the FlightSim Developers International website for a look at this new release.

Carenado Opens Support Forum on AVSIM

Posted: Saturday, December 5, 2009 - 2:31
AVSIM is pleased to announce that the aircraft add-on producer Carenado has selected AVSIM to be the home for their new support forum. Joining the hobby favorites PMDG, HiFi Simulations, Radar Contact, MAAM Sims, FS2Crew and others, Carenado joins us in providing support for its growing customer base on the most popular forums in the hobby. Please join us in welcoming Carenado to the AVSIM community here.

Classics Hangar Fw 190 A, Late Variants

Posted: Friday, December 4, 2009 - 21:00
Classics Hangar release the Fw 190 A late variants, included in this Flight Simulator X add-on package are renditions of the later production variants of the WW II Luftwaffe’s second major fighter aircraft, the Focke Wulf Fw 190 A. Depicted are the standard variants Fw 190 A-5 to A-9, some of these in different configurations, as well as renditions of the Fw 190 A-7/R2 and the heavily armoured Fw 190 A-8 “Sturmjäger” sub-variants, the latter commonly known as “Rammjäger”.

Each variant has a unique 3d virtual cockpit with fully operable and working 3d instrumentation, re-creating German period micro mechanics in a depth never before seen in a Flight Simulation. The flight physics for each aircraft are captured uniquely, making full use of Flight Simulator's advanced 6DoF aerodynamic equations, including accurately modelled coupled Moments of Inertia calculations, giving the virtual pilot a distinct sensation of flying in the air.

Visit the Classics Hangar for a look at this release.

SimFlyer Series-X UPDATE 3.101a

Posted: Friday, December 4, 2009 - 15:49
SimFlyer has released the latest critical update for their popular GNS-SX Garmin 430/530 Avionics Suite. Update 3.101a prepares the GNS-SX line of gauges for the next full version release, the update is free and can be found on the SimFlyer homepage.

FS-eXcel Version 1.3 Released

Posted: Friday, December 4, 2009 - 15:42
FS-eXcel for FS2004 - VERSION 1.3 RELEASED! Developed by FS-eXceleration Software, FS-eXcel is a visual eXcelerator package for FS2004 that greatly enhances the look of the sim with no adverse frame-rate effects whatsoever. Release 1.3 includes all new custom high-definition sky, cloud, ground, vegetation, airport and autogen textures make FS2004 spring to life. Check it out at the FS-eXcel Website.

FSFlying School 2010

Posted: Friday, December 4, 2009 - 15:38
FSInventions announces the expansion of their product line with a new version of their Award Winning FSFlyingSchool add-on for FSX and FS2004 with a host of new features. Several incremental improvements have been made :adjustments to the ease or the difficulty of satisfying your instructor and he optionally comments on the position, type and activity of both air and ground traffic and issues
warnings if aircraft are getting too close.

Instructor optionally advises when the next waypoint in a flight plan is approaching and reports its ID and type and advises the turn which must be made when it is reached, instructor optionally advises which radio to tune for the next NAVAID (Navigation Aid) in the flight plan
(VOR or NDB) and reports the ID and type of the NAVAID, how to use its signal, and the course which can be tracked with it.

To find out more about all the features , watch movies, download demo, etc, visit the FSFlyingSchool 2010 Website.

A Seasonal Advertising Special

Posted: Friday, December 4, 2009 - 5:29
AVSIM is offering a promotional special to help get the word out about your seasonal releases or sales. Now you can post a one-time special corner ad that will run now until 24 Dec for only $75. The ad is to be a maximum size of 140 pixels wide by 100 pixels high, with a maximum file size of 15 Kbytes.

Please address your requests (with artwork) to advertising@avsim.com with Promotional Ad as the subject.

L-4 Grasshopper from Flight Replicas

Posted: Friday, December 4, 2009 - 1:30
Staff reviewer Alan Bradbury checks out the military floatplane version of the Piper Cub. "The Piper J-3 Cub is known to most aviation fans, and certainly familiar to fans of Microsoft’s Flight Simulator, it being one of the default aircraft that comes with FSX. Inevitably, the Piper Cub found itself in the US Army with a military role."

"The Cub, or L-4 Grasshopper if you prefer, is much the same in either water or land-borne guise as far as flight characteristics go, and when inside the thing there really is very little difference at all. Unlike the land-based Cub variants, the floatplane ones can catch you out a bit. I am pleased to report all of this is correctly emulated on the Flight Replicas L-4 Grasshopper. Once up in the air, you’ll find it handles as a Cub/L-4 should, although a point worth noting here is that when flown solo, a Cub should be piloted from the rear seat, unfortunately upon starting your flight you get plonked in the front."

"Flying around in the Flight Replicas L-4 Grasshopper is a pleasant and sedate affair, and it emulates the real thing well by offering the same panoramic visibility of the real thing which made it so useful as an army spotter aircraft. But worth noting here is that this is not an aircraft for those in a hurry, since it is by no means fast."

"This is an FSX add-on which does what it says on the tin. Like the real L-4 Grasshopper, it is not fancy, but eminently good at what it was designed to do. For those who have the Flight Replicas L-4 in land-based form, this completes the set as it were, and for those who don’t have the land based one but would like a nice inexpensive aircraft to nip around some lakes for a bit of VFR water-based bush flying, it is a good choice.

FSCaptain Released

Posted: Thursday, December 3, 2009 - 18:12
FSCaptain , a new approach to simulating a professional career in Flight Simulator with special emphasis on realism and flexibility. FSCaptain works equally well in both FS2004 and FSX, and supports scheduled and charter flights carrying either passengers or cargo.

The program is highly configurable. A free version is available for evaluation that is fully functional except limited to takeoffs from three selected airports. Far more than just a log, FSCaptain provides a realistic flight environment in which to fly while it tracks your performance; measuring passenger satisfaction, professional competence, on-time performance and adherence to company policy.

AstraSim Summer Sim 2010 Show

Posted: Thursday, December 3, 2009 - 15:10
Once again the Royal Air Force Museum at Cosford in Shropshire are opening their doors to all simmers over the Summer Bank Holiday during the weekend of Saturday 28th August and Sunday 29th August. Summer Sim 2010 are very pleased that the museum have again given their support to such an important event for the flight simulation community, visit the Summer Sim 2010 webpage for details about this event.

FS9 Real Environment Xtreme Released

Posted: Thursday, December 3, 2009 - 14:50
Real Environment Xtreme for Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2004 took almost three years in development and refinement for the FSX/FS9 versions of REX, carefully cataloging and photographing real life cloud structure, sky scenes, water scenes and airport environments, Real Environment Xtreme brings a full array of tools to the sim pilot.

With a Flight Planner, a Weather Engine and a Weather Avoidance Tool, Real Environment Xtreme gives the sim pilot all they need to make that important bush, recreational, general aviation, or even commercial carrier flight(s).

This environment add-on not only enhances visual realism, but matches that realism to the underlying weather simulation, creating a whole new world in flight simulation for the FS9 platform, for complete details visit Real Environment Xtreme .

The New EFB Now Available

Posted: Thursday, December 3, 2009 - 1:49
Electronic Flight Bag replaces the unhandy paper flight-bag by a process-oriented software application. You no longer need to search for charts on the internet because all the charts are calculated and rendered on demand, based on several data sources like FSX data and Navigraph data.

Even if you are not a subscriber to the Navigraph service, one complete AIRAC cycle will be shipped together with the installation package. The charts are provided in a chronological sequence, following the process of flying along a flight profile which covers the phases Taxi, Takeoff, Departure (SID), Enroute, Arrival (STAR), Approach and Taxi to the gate of the destination airport.

A highly professional and easy-to-use application EFB provides all the necessary aeronautical charts and other relevant information 'right at your fingertips' in digital format. Aeronautical Charts, Route Information, Flightlog, Airport Information, Checklists, Documents Library and NOTAMs.

Visit the Electronic Flight Bag Homepage for complete details and to check out their fully functional 30-day time limited software.

IYP Releases SuperATC

Posted: Thursday, December 3, 2009 - 1:29
Robert Cezar, developer of It's Your Plane, has released a new SuperATC edition that permits you to "speak" to Radar Contact. The programme works with virtually all aircraft. SuperATC permits you to speak with the Microsoft Flight Sim Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) using "real world" communication protocols. The SuperATC system listens to what you say, parses the phraseology, then automatically makes the appropriate Microsoft ATC menu selections for you.

For more information visit Super ATC Homepage.