Dress Up Your Fleet With FS Repaint V2

Posted: Friday, July 13, 2007 - 18:31
Not satisfied with the look of Microsoft's default aircraft paint schemes? Or perhaps you want to jazz up your fleet of classy business jets?

Abacus Publishing announced it has released FS Repaint V2, a utility for you to make small changes or paint a whole fleet of aircraft. Originally developed several years ago by the team of Jorge Santoro and Marco Paulo, they've revamped this popular utility to support the aircraft of Flight Simulator X. FS Repaint V2 is available for immediate download purchase and the CD-ROM version is slated for a July 17th release. Current owners of FS Repaint V1 can obtain information about updating to V2 by visiting the Abacus website. For complete information and to purchase your copy of FS Repaint V2, set your course to the FS Repaint V2 website.

HotSeat FlightSim Chassis Update

Posted: Friday, July 13, 2007 - 0:59
HotSeat Chassis, the company that brought you the award winning line of surround sound simulators, is pleased to announce the introduction of the HotSeat Heli Sim® to be seen at the 2007 EAA AirVenture, in Oshkosh, WI. Created from the enormous demand, this Helicopter simulator features the same rugged construction as all of the HotSeat Chassis products. Featuring a solid, powder coasted, steel tubular frame, with 6 speaker, 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, the HotSeat Heli Sim® is perfect for flight training and hovering in the convenience of your own home, FBO or school at a fraction of the real time cost.
In the Cockpit Experience™

HotSeat Chassis continues to make surround sound Flight Sim and Racing Simulators delivering the "In the Cockpit Experience™" and the "In the Racecar Experience™". You can learn more about each of their products by visiting them at the HotSeat webpage.

FS Earth V5.0 Now Available

Posted: Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 20:19
The folks at WidevieW have announced the release of Version 5.0 of FS Earth, which improves compatibility with the latest versions of Google Earth, and adds several new features. "FS Earth acts as an interface between Flight Simulator and Google Earth, allowing you to follow a flight in real time, over the satellite images generated by Google Earth," explained Luciano Napolitano.

For more information regarding FS Earth, or to get V5.0, visit the WideView website.

Netherlands 2000 Scenery v3.0 Now Available

Posted: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 - 17:30
In a press release today, it has been announced that the popular Netherlands 2000 scenery has been updated and is now available for download. This scenery is a 1 meter per pixel photo scenery which covers the whole of the Netherlands. For more infomation about this scenery package, visit the Netherlands 2000 website.

AVSIM FanCon 2007: Call For Presentations

Posted: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - 22:24
We are now soliciting presentations for the 2007 AVSIM Flight Simulation Fan Convention (FanCon), to take place in Bellevue, WA on November 9th - 11th. Our venue will be the Hilton Bellevue Hotel, around 10 miles north of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, or a short drive from downtown Seattle.

To read the full Call For Presentations, visit the thread in the AVSIM FanCon Forum.

We look forward to hearing from you, and scheduling a top-flight set of presentations for the FanCon!

Cachya Head Tracking Software v2.0 Released

Posted: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - 22:23
Head-tracking software, Cachya Version 2.0 released. Cachya is a 6-DOF head tracking product that works with most regular web-cameras. It supports the standard game control interface, maps its 6DOF tracking outputs to 6 axes of a virtual joystick. It can also simulate pointing device like a mouse. Users need to put on their hat a printed special sign that can be recognized by the software. Cachya can work with many 3D games that support mouse look or can use joystick axes (analog input) to control POV (view of point). There are many enhancements with this version, and more details can be found at the Cachya website.

Digital TripleHead2Go from Matrox

Posted: Sunday, July 8, 2007 - 21:55
Reviews editor Robert Whitwell goes wide with his new Digital TripleHead2Go from Matrox. "Matrox has upped the little black box from last year to keep in line with technology. They have released the Digital version of the TripleHead2Go (TH2G)."

"Inside the package is the newly configured "black box" as well as the required cables. A noticeable difference was the lack of a power cord. The digital version of the TH2G plugs into a USB slot vice into the wall. Also, the input into the TH2G has two options, a DVI connector or a VGA connector. Both VGA-to-VGA and DVI-to-DVI cables are included. All that's required to hook up this version of the TH2G is a video card that is DVI capable and 3 monitors with DVI inputs."

"Matrox has expanded their list of campatible programs and have added some new features to the software. Monitor Bezel Management is a new to the Digital TH2G. With three monitors sitting side-by-side, you have two large "frame edges" separating your monitors. What the Bezel Management system does is hide some of the image behind these frames to give your image the appearance of being continuous."

"Once you've seen the TH2G in action, you'll probably say, "I've got to have one". I've seen other versions of multi-screen set-ups, especially for flight simming, but most of these required multiple monitors as well as multiple PC's. With the price of good monitors dropping on a monthly basis, picking up a digital TH2G for just over $300 is a good investment, in my opinion. You'll be able to see the Matrox TripleHead2Go in action again at the 2007 AVSIM Conference in Seattle."

TU-22 "Blinder" & CF-105 "Arrow" from AlphaSim

Posted: Sunday, July 8, 2007 - 18:50
Staff reviewer Trevor Clark takes us back to those daunting days of the Cold War with his presentation of AlphaSim's TU-22 "Blinder" and the CF-105 "Arrow". "The Tu-22 served as a supersonic bomber and ECM aircraft for many years. While the Avro Arrow is widely thought to be one of the finest projects sent to the scrap yard without a fair trial."

"I was quite surprised to discover the CF-105 Arrow as a rather basic looking model; not dissimilar to the AlphaSim models of two or three years ago. A little internet investigation told me the modeling team had in fact done a pretty good job; the real aircraft is indeed a simple and rather slab sided machine. The Tu-22 is a far more imposing creature! A dull metal color, it almost looks like it has been carved from a giant solid metal ingot. The intricate contouring of the fuselage has been done very well, giving the aircraft an almost ‘prehistoric predator’ stance."

"The inside of the Canadian aircraft is almost as simple as the outside! I am not sure whether this interior is anything like the original; the use of ‘stock’ period AlphaSim gauges gives it an authentic look, but I am assuming a lot of this cockpit is conjecture rather than fact. The TU-22 aircraft is far more complex inside. Infamous amongst Soviet pilots for its appallingly uncomfortable seats and difficult cockpit layout, I can now vouch for the truth of the latter at least! A quick look around the internet for internal cockpit shots confirmed the fact; the interior is as real as it looks."

"The CF-105 Arrow Mk2 had a reputation of being a real ‘pilot's aircraft’. The Arrow is a high performance, delta wing aircraft with no trailing wing flaps or conventional horizontal tail plane; this alone makes it difficult to model within the simulator restrictions detailed above. Add to this large (1950s vintage) engines with slow response times and poor cockpit visibility; you are looking at a lot of trouble, particularly when landing. Few TU-22 pilots were very complementary about the Blinder; the AlphaSim team has done a superb job into making this aircraft one of the trickiest FS machines I have ever flown! Because of the design of this aircraft, longitudinal stability was always an issue and I can vouch for that in this model too! For some reason, Tupolev neglected to fit any spoilers or air brakes to the Blinder, so controlling approach speeds, angles of attack and rates of descent can cause a great amount of stress; even without any emergencies or cross-winds."

Summing up these Cold War classics, Trevor concludes, "These aircraft may not be as fully detailed or functional as some high-end projects, but they do come with a very high ‘fun factor’! Obscure types like this will never be truly authentic; but within the restrictions of the simulation platforms, one can still get a flavor of flying these types of aircraft. They can even get a little addictive."

USA Extreme Landscapes V2 from Abacus

Posted: Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 20:19
Senior staff reviewer Jeff Shyluk takes us on a photoscenic journey over North America, with USA Extreme Landscapes V2 from Abacus. "This is a very large add-on for FSX, which does not promise the world, but it does try to give you a more lifelike North America."

"USA Extreme Landscapes V2 is a high-resolution terrain mesh for FSX that covers the United States, Mexico, and Canada in detail. This means that three-dimensional landforms such as mountains, hills, valleys, and canyons will all show up in your flight sim in greater detail than ever before. USA Extreme Landscapes is a re-packaging of the North American terrain mesh from FSGenesis. It can be purchased on DVD only, and in fact, comes as a set of three disks. When installed, USA Extreme Landscapes will take up 10 GB of hard drive space, but in terms of performance, it should not have a large negative effect on simulation frame rates. USA Extreme Landscapes installs easily on FSX, FSX+SP1, and FSX on Vista systems."

"As a bonus, Eaglesoft’s fine Liberty Aerospace XL2 touring aircraft is included in the USA Extreme Landscapes package for free. You may use this modern and engaging little prop-driven plane to follow Abacus’ excellent flight plans, which cover some of America’s most beautiful scenery."

"FSX significantly boosts the visual resolution of the terrain mesh from the default levels of FS2004. USA Extreme Landscapes increases the resolution of the terrain mesh for FSX up to 9.6 meters for the United States. Is the boost in resolution enough to justify paying out for this add-on? That’s a bit hard to say. If you are not satisfied with the level of terrain mesh detail in FSX, and want to see more contours in the land, and you primarily fly over North America, then you might want to try this product. USA Extreme Landscapes is about as good as I would expect to see from a newer terrain mesh for FSX."

New Releases From Aerosoft

Posted: Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 2:51
FSX MISSION PACK - FLIGHT TALES 1

Missions are new to FSX and from day one Aerosoft has been fascinated by the potential they offer. The ones that come with FSX are nice and the few that fly around on the Internet are interesting, but Aerosoft knew there was a lot more possible. So for several months Thorsten Reichert and Aerosoft worked on a few missions to see what's possible. And yes, they were right, missions can be far more entertaining than what has been seen before. Mission Pack: Flight Tales 1 is tjeir first commercial mission product. On their product page you can find a free demo mission showing the style and detail of the missions included.

AES 1.80

Six additional airports (and a few tweaks) for AES have been released today: Maastricht/Aachen, Casablanca, Geneva, Brussels, Charlotte/Douglas and Newark. Visit their product page for details.

BUDAPEST IN A BOX

As far as Aerosoft knows, this is the biggest airport done for FSX to date. Mega Airport Budapest has just been released in boxed format.If you still like FS2004 you'll be happy to hear the FS2004 version is still included on the cd and that this version even has 5 additional airports and a highly detailed Budapest city.

Super 80 for FSX Released

Posted: Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 2:12
Flight One Software, in partnership with CoolSky, have officially released the FSX version of Ultimate Airliners - The Super 80. This upgrade is more than a simple port over from FS9. For the model and textures, it is a complete rebuild utilizing the latest export tools and FSX materials. This Super 80 has all the features that a native FSX aircraft should have. The Virtual Cockpit also has the very latest FSX materials applied throughout, and was re-built and re-textured. The instrument systems have also been improved, with numerous fixes and adjustments to make this product even more realistic. This update is also free for all FS2004 version customers of both the download and CD ROM version.

Ultimate Airliners - The Super 80 brings back the classic modes of flying in the era where glass was just starting to appear. This rendition is based on the original Super 80, circa 1979. So with the combination of classic analog and early electronic navigation, you have a product that requires a lot of attention, but also rewards proper cockpit management. And if this does seem complicated, the Integrated Cockpit Training System will help guide you through many of the steps required in order to have a successful and accurate flight.

For more information, please visit the Flight 1 Website.

Pilot's Assistant V1.6.7 Released

Posted: Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 2:07
Users of this freeware toolset are informed that a new version is available from the Avsim library. The main change is an update to the magnetic variation (declination) table using the latest IGRF10 model. This table is used in lat, long and great circle calculations. For further details, and to download the toolset, visit the Pilot's Assistant Webpage.

Free ATC From TweakFS

Posted: Friday, July 6, 2007 - 23:23
TweakFS has released a series of free ATC-guided flights for FSX that feature real ATC, in some cases recorded directly from the cockpit. The flights vary in required skill level from challenging foul-weather IFR to relatively easy radar-vectored ILS approaches. Each of these ATC modules come with a pre-flight briefing designed especially for use with TweakFlight for FSX, but can also be launched as a stand-alone flight via the optionally installed Desktop icon.

For more information, fly direct to the TweakFS website.

AVSIM Forum Membership 40,000 Strong

Posted: Friday, July 6, 2007 - 23:18
The AVSIM staff is proud to announce today that our forum membership set another milestone as we surpassed the 40,000 mark.

The AVSIM forum is the largest in the flight sim community with 85 different forum conferences from hardware support to swap meets, including eleven forums with an international flavor. Plain and simple, if the topic is of flight simulation, train simulation, or even radio controlled airplanes, you'll find someone discussing it at AVSIM Online!

Are you ready to join in the discussion or maybe looking for advice? You can get started here. It's fun and it's free!

B737NG Proline Pedestal Panel Available

Posted: Friday, July 6, 2007 - 2:57
CIM Flight Decks launches Boeing 737NG ProLine Pedestal Panel. CIM Flight Decks, the Dutch company engaged to supply the Flight Simulator hobbyist with affordable flight deck panels, is presenting with some pride its newest ProLine product. The 737NG ProLine pedestal panel, used to control radio traffic, is now available in the CIM Flight Decks Web shop. The 737NG ProLine pedestal panel, brought on the market before as BasicLine product, is now available for the virtual pilot in an even higher quality, extra sanded and coated with high-grade flat paint, giving a realistic and scratch proof result. The ProLine panels have rounded corners and are slightly thicker than the BasicLine. With this Boeing 737NG ProLine panel, CIM Flight Decks is giving you the opportunity to complete your cockpit even further. Like the BasicLine products, the ProLine panels can of course easily be integrated and installed in the (self-built) CIM Flight Decks cockpit. Complete details with pictures can be found at the CIM Flight Decks web shop.

Citation X from Wilco/Feelthere

Posted: Thursday, July 5, 2007 - 6:41
New staff reviewer Kevin Boydston looks at a 2nd release of the Cessna Citation X by Wilco/Feelthere. "The Feelthere team decided to revisit the Citation X, and introduce their in-depth system simulations into this one of a kind Bizjet."

"All the systems in the panel are modeled within the VC, including Flight Information displays throughout the cabin. Displays are very smooth and easy to read, the night lighting is also very good. All the MFD functions are modeled correctly."

"Two models are offered in the menu. One is the entire simulation with no cutbacks, and the second is a ‘no candy’ model offering better performance for lower end systems. The model looks fantastic, animations are smooth and the model is detailed and proportioned correctly. The aircraft is just fantastic in the air. It’s very easy to control, and offers a realistic experience."

Summing up Wilco/Feelthere's Citation X, Kevin says, "All around, this is an excellent simulation of the Citation X, with enjoyable flight dynamics and a jet-setting appearance, coupled with in-depth system simulations, weather radar, and wonderful sounds."

Eaglesoft FSX Citation SR1 Available

Posted: Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - 22:03
In a press release sent to us today, Eaglesoft have announced the release of FSX Citation II 1.5 Service Release 1.

The press release goes on to say: "This Service Release has been "rolled into" the current download and fixes all known issues and adds a new custom livery. Current owners may simply redownload and reinstall using the Reinstall Button on the Flight One wrapper to obtain this Service Release. As an added value, Eaglesoft includes the new Pulse Lighting System as well."

To find out more about this latest update, please visit the Eaglesoft website.

European Landclass Scenery Released For FSX

Posted: Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - 17:12
SceneryTech in partnership with Flight One Software have announced the release of Europe Landclass product.

This is the second in their landclass series following the previously released North America Landclass. SceneryTech’s landclass products, besides simply improving the realism over the default landclass, reduce the pervasive use of desert textures as found in the default and substantially increases the number of towns and cities. This product also features a revamped urban extents algorithm which is several times more accurate than their previously-used city data and hundreds of times more accurate than the default. More information can be found at the SceneryTech website.

Pilot Seat from Contact Sales

Posted: Monday, July 2, 2007 - 21:51
Reviews Editor Robert Whitwell gets comfy behind his desk as he reviews a new Pilot Seat by Contact-Sales. "This multi-functional seat allows you to fly, race or just use it as an everyday workseat"

"Contact-Sales’ quote of “easy to assemble” holds true once you know where everything goes. Within 30 minutes I had my new toy assembled. I now had a very comfortable Pilots Seat to fly from. I attached all of my CH Products flight hardware to the platforms with the Velcro that came with the seat. As I cozied the seat up to my computer desk, I made some final adjustments on the height of the yoke and its distance from the seat, as well as the height of the throttle platform. I was now ready to climb aboard and start flying."

While all the assembly details and the features are listed in the Pilot Seat review, Robert comments on the versatility of this piece of hardware, "this Corbeau Racing Seat is very comfortable. If I drop the yoke column down and move it forward, combined with removing the side “wings”, I can move right up to my computer desk and do other PC tasks. No real need to switch back and forth between my office chair and this one. Besides, this is a bucket seat, great for long hauls in front of the PC. If you should chose to use your office chair when not simming, this unit is easily transportable out of the way. I simply unplug my flight controls from my USB hub and place the Pilot Seat away from my desk and roll my office chair back in."