During the week of March 9th thru the 15th, another couple hundred new files were uploaded into the AVSIM library (which is rapidly approaching 30,000 separate files by the way)—the vast majority being repaints of aircraft for FS2002, which seems to be the normal run of things. There was at least one scenery file by P. Nigel Grant that was fairly popular, which was a total makeover of the Vancouver International Airport in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; vancouver.zip.
On the FS aircraft side of the scale, there were at least two very popular downloads, the first being a very beautiful Aero Commander Twin by the AC Design Group, which is available in either a VC or no-VC included versions (for the VC version go here ac520vc.zip or for the non-VC model, ac520v1.zip; and if you're interested in reading my full review on the VC included version take a look here. The other rather popular aircraft was from Richard Baker, DBA FiftyThreeDegreesAircraft or FTD and this is a rather nice Boeing 757-200 in new United colors, ft757-200_united_airlines.zip.
Despite the excellent the prior mentioned FS aircraft and scenery files, I did notice the following 3 aircraft files and a scenery file that seemed to have failed to tally up very many downloads, so I suggest you take a second look at them here with me.
March 9 – March 15 (Click on any of these file names for their Library descriptions and to download.)
Surprisingly having barely over 800 downloads is another outstanding design from Steven Grant, Fred Choate, Aaron Swindle, and Horst Weingärtner of the de Havilland Beaver DHC-2 in a straight float version. Developed using FSDSv2 featuring 32 bit reflective textures and that dynamic shine or shimmer effect, these are all (comes in 3 paint schemes) really outstanding bush aircraft.
Each of the three aircraft included in this package have a custom Beaver panel and custom sounds, though as before, they still lack a dynamic virtual panel-cockpit. Despite this one minor point, they're still great aircraft to have on your hard drive. ...Bear!
Aeritalia G-222 Though I personally am not familiar with the Aeritalia G-222, it apparently is the Italian Air Force replacement for the Fairchild C-119 flying boxcar. Generally referred to as a tactical transport aircraft, the G-222 exhibits excellent STOL capabilities, particularly as compared to the C-119 it replaces.
Mario's FS version includes fully animated components (including opening doors), reflective textures, custom panel, and some really terrific custom sounds, plus the added special effect feature of an airborne assault team that parachutes out when you open the side doors while in-flight (above 8,000 foot elevation).
Even though Mario's freeware file did manage to get just over 1,200 downloads, that's still low enough to make me think that a number of you may have missed it. ...Bear!
AH-1T SuperCobra Interestingly enough, it seems that the number of helicopters that have become available for FS2002 have numbered far fewer than for previous versions of Flight Simulator, but those that have become available specifically for FS2002 have all been quite good. The latest from Rigoberto Sanchez is no less than what I've seen over the last year and-a-half and as with many of the military style helos, this one is very easy to take-off, fly, and land.
Painted in a camouflage dark green and light gray, the AH-1T or "SuperCobra" is currently used by the US Marines and versions of this attack helicopter have been used extensively in Afganistan and Iraq. This FS version has a 2D custom panel, dynamic 3D virtual panel, reflective like textures, and custom sounds. If you like helicopters and especially military types, then check out the latest from Rigoberto Sanchez. ...Bear!
Taieri Basin, Dunedin, NZ Photo-Scenery Uploaded into the AVSIM library as sort of a demo version of the scenery available from a CD based FS2002 magazine called "Godzone Virtual Flight", Robin Corn has given us a very interesting photo-realistic patch of ground covering 13x17 kilometers of the Taieri Basin, in New Zealand.
Using custom photo textures with the default autogen layered on top, makes for some really interesting VFR flight capabilities for a small part of NZ. I really like the looks this scenery projects and it's great for flying small helos or ultra-lights over. On the CD the file scenery coverage is typically 30 x 40 kilometers (or larger), but to keep the download file smaller this demo version covers a much smaller area. You just might want to take a look at what Robin has here as it would be great to have this type of scenery coverage for the entire world. ...Bear!
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