Aerosoft Titles now available in Avsim Store

Posted: Monday, July 27, 2009 - 19:26
We are adding more titles to our download section. Today we are proud to announce that we are adding the top titles from Aerosoft. This includes titles such as Manhattan X, F16 Fighting Falcon, DHC-2 Beaver X or DHC-2 Twin Otter. We will keep on adding new titles.
Check our 'New' Section to see what was recently added. You can also look at the bargain bin for great deals.

Support Avsim.com, visit the Avsim Store today

German Airports 3 - Bremen (FS9) Released

Posted: Sunday, July 26, 2009 - 20:36
The German Airports 3 series from Aerosoft was missing one important airport, Bremen. One of the oldest airports in Germany with a distinguished history and the German Airports team worked on it for a long time. Well here it is in all its glory for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. Welcome to Bremen Airport!

Continuing in the tradition of the German Airport Series, the airport Bremen is featured with its latest and up to date layouts, buildings, objects, runways, taxiways, lights, and navigation aids. Just like the real life airport. A high definition aerial photograph has been used for ground texturing making the airport and its surroundings seem absolutely realistic. Even with this whole range of objects, details and features, the frame rates remain high.

AVSIM File Library Back!

Posted: Sunday, July 26, 2009 - 19:44
After over two months of hard work by our volunteers, we are pleased to announce that the file library is back online and providing downloads for the community. We are going to keep the upload function off for a while in order to assess the stability of the system and work out any bugs that may remain. We believe we recovered over 95% of the library system, and you may find some things missing. Please post any comments or questions you may have in the File Library Forum. Thank you for your patience during this period.

ISG1 1.6 Upgrade Released

Posted: Sunday, July 26, 2009 - 16:57
Integrated Simavionics Group 1's upgrade integrates a Boeing 777 style Primary Flight Display, and A320 style Enhanced ADI, and brings the total number of display gauges in the package to 9, along with 2 FMS's. All ISG1 gauges can be selectively mixed and matched into the aircraft/panel of your choice. This update also provides fixes for some minor reported issues. This is a free upgrade for previous ISG1 customers.

Lisbon X from Aerosoft

Posted: Saturday, July 25, 2009 - 19:32
Staff reviewer Benjamin van Soldt visits Portugal to cover Aerosoft's Lisbon X. "The airport is a rather old one, existing pre-WW2 where it was used by both Allied and Axis planes. Lisbon’s Portela airport was largely left alone and it continued to increase the annually handled amount of cargo and passengers. In the meantime, it was engulfed by Lisbon itself, bringing officials to the final decision of building a new airport outside of Lisbon. The village of Alcochete was finally chosen in 2008 as the place this new airport would be built."

"After visiting every corner of the airport, the simple conclusion is that the detail is quite amazing; although I noticed how sometimes the tarmac textures are not always continued over all surfaces that require them. What probably stood out most in this patch of the airport is how well the buildings look. The tarmac texturing could have been laid out with more precision but these are only minor gripes. The amount of detail from the air is good, although some of the texturing on the roofs of these buildings are blurry, but the roofs will only be seen when you are flying. Overall, I am impressed with the detail I have seen."

"The lighting is extraordinarily good. I honestly have no idea how they pulled this off, but first of all, these are not the standard lights being used. It’s also not the Shockwave lights redux package you’re seeing: these are custom lights you get with Lisbon X, and it looks stunning. When far away, the lights stick together, forming a white, beautifully looking band of light and the closer you get, the more the lights appear as single entities."

"It’s when you arrive at Lisbon that you get to see the last of a wide range of features, the interactive parking lights that direct you exactly to your final gate position. This truly is a product with an Aerosoft amount of detail! If you have any interest in flying to Portugal and be a regular visitor, then this is the best you can get and an airport scenery every simmer would wish to have."

Three New VRinsight Modules Available

Posted: Saturday, July 25, 2009 - 0:47
Continuously expanding their products range, VRinsight and Wilco Publishing today announce the availability of three new modules cmpatible with Microsoft Flight Simulator X & 2004 filling gaps in flight simulation hardware.

1. CDU II Panel - With a large integrated display, the CDU II panel features a realistically shaped and fully functional Control Display Unit for your Flight Management Computer (FMC). DU II Panel is compatible with most commercial add-on aircraft available such as Level-D, PMDG, Wilco, PSS,... ased on customers' feedback, CDU I remains available at a new lower price.
2. µ-JetPit (Micro JetPit)- The JetPit is a portable instrument panel for jet aircraft. It features a ND, PFD, EFIS and MCP as well as real knobs. All the instruments, buttons and knobs are synchronized with default Flight Simulator jet aircraft and most aircraft add-ons.
3. µ-ProPit (Micro ProPit)- The µ-ProPit is a portable instrument panel for propeller aircraft. All the gauges, buttons and knobs are synchronized with default Flight Simulator propeller aircraft and most aircraft add-ons.

FSBreak Talks Scenery with Bill Womack

Posted: Saturday, July 25, 2009 - 0:44
The latest installment of the popular FSBreak podcast turns to flight sim scenery. Designer Bill Womack, author of Aerosoft's "Hawaii Dillingham X", "100 Dollar Burger: Plum Island", and co-author of "Tongass Fjords X" is the featured gues. He talks with Eric and Mark about the challenges of the current sim marketplace, the joys and frustrations of building scenery, and gives a sneak preview of upcoming projects. Tune in to FSBreak to hear the interview.

FS2Crew "Voice Commander" 737 Contest

Posted: Saturday, July 25, 2009 - 0:42
FS2Crew, a developer of flight crew simulations, is getting ready to release its most revolutionary, ground-breaking product ever: FS2Crew 2010: Default 737 Voice Commander Edition. This is a radical step-forward for FS2Crew that truly raises the bar not only in the flight crew simulation genre, but also in the Voice Command genre as well.

To help raise awareness for the new product, FS2Crew is holding a contest. There are 10 free copies of the new Voice Commander product to be given away on August 7th, 2009. To enter, all you have to do is correctly answer 5 skill-testing multiple choice questions. Please taxi to FS2Crew to enter the contest.

FSFlyingSchool2009 Reviewed

Posted: Friday, July 24, 2009 - 1:30
Senior staff reviewer Jeff Shyluk goes back to school, flight school that is as he revisits a product he previously reviewed except this time it's the 2009 version of FSFlyingSchool. "FSFlyingSchool is an interactive simulated flight instructor who monitors your actions in Flight Simulator and accumulates notes on your technique into a comprehensive logbook. Jeff Preston, the team leader for the FSFS project is tireless when it comes to making revisions and additions to the product. He listened to what customers had to say about FSFS, and now he is proud to present a new release of the product. I will revisit FSFS and find out what is new in this latest version."

"I should be clear and point out that there are actually quite a few increments involved, depending on the version of FSFS you are looking at. The same basic premise and operation of FSFS remains intact, but a number of improvements allows for smoother, more streamlined operation of the product, as well as a higher lever of interactivity with the instructor. Checklist items like lights and engine management are now crucial for a successful flight."

"The new version has an enhanced logbook that keeps track of all of your flight statistics. You can consult your flight records for an in-depth analysis of your pilot habits, use the log to track your flying time for a virtual airline, or seek out a definitive cause for an aircraft crash."

"FSFS2009 is easy to install and easy to use. The focus is on maintaining basic airmanship skills, so there are no in-depth lessons like you would find at a flying school, nor are there accommodations for extreme aircraft like fighter jets or stunt planes. However, you may use almost any engine-powered fixed-wing general aviation or passenger/cargo aircraft that you have on hand, including third-party add-ons. FSFS2009 does require that you have at least the freeware version of Peter Dowson's FSUIPC installed for FSX."

"Overall, FSFlyingSchool2009 is a product I like, much as I do the original FSFS. Now that I have seen both, I can say I prefer the new version. It doesn't break anything, it just improves on what has gone before."

Orbx Releases FTX: AU YCNK Cessnock Airport

Posted: Thursday, July 23, 2009 - 1:25
YCNK Cessnock Airport is situated right in the heart of the picturesque NSW Hunter Valley (about one hour's flight north of Sydney), home to much acclaimed wineries and a thriving olive industry. A short flight from both YPEC Aeropelican and YWVA Warnervale, this airport is the final in Orbx's NSW Central Coast series. Covering nearly 80 square kilometres in 60cm/pixel photoreal, and the airport in 15cm/pixel photoreal scenery.

Complete your Central Coast airport collection with this simply stunning scenery which gives you a whole valley to explore and lots of famous little touches which Orbx is famous for.

FSX CF-188 Demo Team Positions

Posted: Thursday, July 23, 2009 - 1:15
Matt "Guns" Webber announces, "We are a Canadian demo team that uses the F-18 Hornet whose paint job changes every year, based on a real Canadian Forces demo plane. We are getting into training, but we have some open spots that need to be filled. Here are the positions: -AP/Narr. (CF-188_#7) -Right Wing (CF-188_#3) -Sparky 2 -Flight Surgeon -Film Crew. This is our Summer practice schedule: Sunday to Thursday: 7:00pm to 9:00pm Friday 7:00pm to 10:00pm Saturday 7:00pm to 10pm. Visit our website for more information or questions."

YPEC - YMVA - YMAV from Orbx

Posted: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - 2:31
Senior staff reviewer Angelique van Campen completes her tour of Australia with the 2nd part of her Orbx/FTX tour. "This time I'll take you on a cross country flight through AUGOLD and AUBLUE Australia, while discovering the FTX airports AeroPelican (YPEC), Warnervale (YWVA) and Avalon (YMAV)."

"Ok, each individually reviewed airport costs you no more than US$28.63 (€21.69) and is worth every penny. You could, and I strongly suggest to, add to this FTX AUGOLD and/or AUBLUE. Each of the FTX scenery products will be US$35.80 (€27.12) but for that you get the entire scenery area and for AUBLUE, the airports YWVA and YMAV are located in this part, which gives you the overall FTX sensation. One really important item; when you own one of the colored FTX packages - AUGOLD | AUBLUE | AURED| AUGREEN - don't forget to download and install the road fix. When you forget this, the cars and trucks are crossing through the airport registration building at AeroPelican. FSX settings and the final performance of your FSX depends on lots of other things but it's very helpful using the suggested settings including AI boats, GA aircraft and cars."

Angelique goes into great detail as she treks her way across the country and intimately describes each stop along the way. This is a fairly long review but well worth the read, as Australia is an exciting and diverse continent to fly in and across and Orbx has presented it well.

Multi Crew Experience V1.6 Released

Posted: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - 0:55
The FS++ team is pleased to announce the release of V1.6 of their award winning add-on to both FSX and FS2004 called Multi Crew Experience. MCE is a speech based add-on that allows the flight sim enthusiast to fly those heavies in a more realistic way. Issue commands to co-pilot, go through the checklist, etc. It is also a serious alternative to VoxATC for interaction with the FS built-in ATC system. A fully working, time limited demo, is available for download.

Virtual Oshkosh 2009

Posted: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 - 0:52
iFlyOnline announces their premier FSX Multiplayer event of the year - July 24 - August 3. For details visit: Virtual Oshkosh 2009. Each day beginning at 19:00 Zulu, the event will feature a mass fly-in to KOSH using the RIPON-FISK arrival with full air traffic control. Then, an airshow that includes some of the finest acts in the FSX Community. Confirmed so far: Thunderbirds, Blue Eagles, Black Falcons, CF-188 Hornet Demo Team, and more! Don't miss the action! iFlyOnline.com is an FSX Multiplayer community for aviation entusiasts featuring a high bandwidth direct connect FSX server, Forums, TeamSpeak server, ATC School, and more.

FScene Goes Multi-lingual

Posted: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 - 0:26
As of to-day most international visitors to the FScene website will find information, Questions&Answers as well as installation instructions in their own language. These files are available in 10 languages, in both HTML and PDF format.

New Releases at the Avsim Store

Posted: Monday, July 20, 2009 - 16:36
The Piper PA34 Seneca II from Carenado is now available for download. The Seneca II is a great twin for FSX. The Avsim store now has a wide selection of Carenado planes available for download.
As we keep adding more products to the store, check our 'New' Section to see what was recently added. You can also look at the bargain bin for great deals.

Support Avsim.com, visit the Avsim Store today

New Space Shuttle Mission 2007™ - STS 125

Posted: Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 21:44
Exciting Simulations has released today a new free Mission Pack for the Space Shuttle Mission 2007 simulator - the STS-125 mission. This is the most recently completed NASA Space Shuttle Mission and the last to visit the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Carried out by Atlantis on May 11, 2009, STS-125 was a complex mission which tested the skill and patience of the Shuttle crew.

In the best SSM2007 tradition, the budding astronauts will experience first-hand the liftoff, On-Orbit ops including rendezvous and capture of the HST, EVA in Zero-G, RMS operations, Deorbit, Reentry and manually Landing the Shuttle at Edwards AFB.

The Space Shuttle Mission 2007™ is available for online purchase in downloadable format at the SSM2007 official website. The latest Demo can also be downloaded freely at the same website.

2 Sceneries from SimGiants

Posted: Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 21:35
Staff reviewer Etienne Martin visits 2 locales from Sim Giants, the Canary Islands and Milan Malpensa. "The Canary Gold for FSX product contains three airports: El Hierro – GCHI – is near the town of Valverde on the westernmost island of Hierro in the archipelago. Tenerife North – GCXO – is one of two main airports on the central island of Tenerife near Santa Cruz de Tenerife. To complete the Canary Gold package, we also tour Fuerteventura – GCFV – near Puerto del Rosario on the eastern island of Fuerteventura. Then, we move to Europe and northern Italy where we visit one of the three major airports near Milan - Malpensa International airport – LIMC."

"I found the overall quality to be good and balanced between detail and performance. What also immediately caught my eye were the ground textures, in particular the numerous ground markings and variety of ground textures that really make the scenery standout. The signage is excellent, so is the associated night lighting for taxiways and runways. For example, some hold short markers are associated with alternating red/yellow flashers, a nice touch."

"There is a good effort in blending the add-on scenery with the default scenery. SimGiants uses background textures based on satellite photo scenery and manages to blend quite well with its FSX scenery surroundings. SimGiants supports all seasonal changes for Milan Malpensa, again blending well with the surroundings."

"SimGiants adds a few interesting details, such as construction vehicles, coffee tables with umbrellas, glass lined gangways leading to the terminals that are amazingly transparent. Parked cars and other static objects can be found scattered about the airport although all are static. Some of the construction workers are animated, and there are some static figures around terminal entrances."

"I found performance to be quite good compared to some other scenery add-ons that take a heavy toll on the visual frame rates. I am very pleased with the overall renditions of the airports in the packages. I can only ask for many more airports to get the SimGiants treatment."

Ultimate Traffic 2 Demo

Posted: Saturday, July 18, 2009 - 21:55
Flight One Software has released a free demo of Ultimate Traffic 2 for FSX. This demo will give you a taste of what Ultimate Traffic 2 is all about. The demo includes the airports of Ft. Lauderdale (KFLL) in the USA, and Stuttgart (EDDS) in Germany.

With this demo, you will be able to see how Ultimate Traffic 2 can add to FSX the most realistic airport and enroute traffic based on real world airline flight schedules. UT2 implements all new technology that allows for AI aircraft to follow flight plans on the way to their destinations, allowing your skies to depict the most realistic traffic patterns possible.

Air Hauler from Just Flight

Posted: Saturday, July 18, 2009 - 1:27
Avsim reviewer Proflig8tor goes into the cargo business for himself as he checks out Just Flight's Air Hauler. "Have you ever thought, “it would be neat to be financially rewarded for doing a good job in Flight Simulator, to have something more than another 0.8 in the logbook to show for your work?” If so, running your own cargo operation in AirHauler might be just what you are looking for."

"The set up and creation of your Company is straightforward with the ability to customize your Flight Sim version, Company name and your Chief Pilot. You then select the difficulty level from amongst Easy, Hard, or Career Mode. Career mode is the most challenging scenario. You can even choose to use real world weather and oil prices. Then you must choose a base to begin operations."

"Air Hauler is very much a real time affair which relies on a link between it and your Flight Simulator using FSUIPC. The link is very stable and works very well, sometimes too well. AirHauler is a product that enhances Flight Simulator by making your Sim flying more meaningful. If you like point to point flying in airliners and enjoy real world weather and operations, you will have a ball in AirHauler. You will want to pick aircraft for use in AirHauler that are both easy to fly, and fly well without intense monitoring. The Beechcraft Baron, B200 and Cessna Caravan work well."

"Overall the program is remarkably stable given the potential for problems running an add-on program plus third party aircraft with add-on panels within Flight Simulator. I’ve not experienced a single frozen screen or crash to desktop while using AirHauler. AirHauler’s developer built the sim that he wanted to play. It is a very well done effort that has resonated amongst many Flight Simulator users and which gives real promise to the continued growth of the genre. The program is easy and fun to use."

"I consider it a must try at its reasonable price, particularly if you ever harbored any thoughts of being a freight dawg pilot. Air Hauler is on its way to becoming a classic in the Flight Sim community."