Well, hard to believe, but its been two weeks already since my last posting of my "Top Picks," but here we are again! The last couple of weeks have seen near record setting days on new files uploaded into the AVSIM library! There have been as many as 50+ files uploaded on a single day, Wow! If you haven't checked out AVSIM's new library, please do, because it's a joy to use and it's very easy to find that stuffed away file you've been looking for, now that the search function works so well! Well, here's my picks for the last two weeks, plus a new feature called "Spot-Light" picks!
There's been a real shortage of scenery uploads for much of North America, particularly for the major airports in Canada, as freeware that is. Nigel Grant has rendered a simple add-on (including FSTraffic tracks and FSTraffic convertible aircraft) for the Vancouver International Airport located in beautiful British Columbia, Canada!
Nigel has included in his file upload (as an add-on to the default airport from FS2K) most of the gates, both the new and old towers, a radar dome, ships over in the bay, and even the Marriott Hotel (located on the airport grounds). Overall, a pretty terrific little add-on package and the airport becomes quite busy – like it is in real life – when you install the FSTraffic tracks and FSTraffic aircraft he has supplied. (For the aircraft conversions you need to have installed version 2.01 of FSTraffic)
Overall, not a complicated airport scenery design, but it does bring the Vancouver International a far step above the default level and makes this airport a far more interesting destination now as compared to what Microsoft supplied! If flying in the Great Northwest is your area of call, then Nigel's package is a worthy addition to your scenery file! ...Bear!
13-June-2001 Bob Bernstein has given us Bowerton Airport, Elma, Harvey Field, and Monroe, all in Washington State and like Richard Goldstein (Flying M Ranch), Bob uses photorealistic textures and he's getting better with each airport he releases!
Pierce County - Thun Field is located just a bit southwest of Mt Rainier and affords some very scenic views, not only in real-life, but in FS2K as well (especially if you have mesh installed along with the latest in ground textures). Bob has really outdone himself with his not only having rendered all of the buildings, static aircraft (even a B-17), perimeter trees, the airport restaurant, hangers, and such, but he's even gone as far as to include the local K-Mart store just off the airport grounds.
Bob has, to date, always uses photorealistic ground textures and along with using photorealistic textures for all the buildings this combination tends to add to the realism, or more correctly, the level of immersion factor. I very much like Bob's work and I do hope this scenery add-on is only his 5th in a long line of future sceneries as well!
If flying into small airfields with your favorite GA aircraft is something you like to do, then Bob Burnstein's latest is a must have scenery add-on! ...Bear!
13-June-2001 Recently Chuck Dome has been uploading several aircraft, mostly aircraft in the business jet category, and I decided to pick this particular aircraft repaint upload (the first version of this aircraft was uploaded into AVSIM's library before I was providing these bi-weekly mini-reviews) because it's one of the first depicting the Lockheed-Martin Jet Star! We've had Lears, Dassaults, and more Cessna jets than you can shake a stick at, but this is the only (decent) version of the Lockheed Jetstar I've found for FS2K!
Chuck's panel is one of his own design and though it probably bears little if any resemblance to the real thing, it is highly functional and very useable with excellent forward viewing.
As for Jean-Jacques Parel's choice of colors and even though it is somewhat unusual, it is very distinctive. After a bit the colors do sort of grow on you.
This aircraft is an easy flyer; it's easy on frame rates, yet holds no unusual surprises either, so I made it one of my picks this week, mostly because I've always liked the Lockheed JetStars! ...Bear!
13-June-2001 The Dehavilland "Chipmunk" has been around for some time now and I most remember the Aerobatic Chipmunk flown by the late Art Scholl, but the fellows at Visual Design (with Dennis Seeley handling the flight dynamics and Graham P. Oxtoby putting together a very accurate panel) have put developed these 4 versions of the Chipmunk in British and Canadian military colors.
The original Chipmunk was/is a very simple aircraft, not exactly high powered, nor is particularly very quick on the controls, but it's a great little trainer and these FS2K versions are visual delight! Besides the very accurate appearing panel, these aircraft also sport a virtual cockpit, along with two pilots, a bubble canopy on the Canadian version, and even the complete checklists!
Installing these aircraft is handled by way of an automatic installer, included with each aircraft, and frankly I particularly liked the way this auto-installer works!
For all you beginning FS pilots looking for a easy flying and stable taildragger to practice with, any of these 4 would be an excellent choice. ...Bear!
13-June-2001 Paul Baines has given use some really terrific scenery downloads (his Manchester-Barton airport scenery is one of my personal favorites) in the past and his latest, the Aberdeen Airport in Scotland is no exception to his expertise at airport scenery design.
Paul's latest includes static aircraft and ground equipment, a complete heliport area, and very well applied night-lighting. Paul has a way of designing his sceneries so that from your cockpit they carry a very strong sense of reality, yet are normally quite simple in their designs so they have little if any effect on frame rates. Quite often, with many airport designs, the airports that are the most impressive in individual detail also effect frame rates very dramatically, but Paul's sceneries generally remain detailed, but do so without sacrificing your system's performance.
Also, as usually is the case with Paul's sceneries, no exclude files or flatten switches are needed to implement his rendition of the Aberdeen Airport! If you're collecting airport sceneries for the United Kingdom, then Paul Baines latest, the Aberdeen Airport, is a scenery you should take a look at! ...Bear!
13-June-2001 In what is little different than my normal "mini-review", is what I'm going to be calling a "spot-light" pick. Now this isn't really a review as such, but it is a way to point out a particular upload that may be worthy of our notice. In this first example of my spot-light, I've chosen an excellent appearing aircraft for FLY or FLY2K, an aircraft design that is at the top of my personal list for classic aircraft!
Back on the 6th of May, Roberto Vigetti uploaded his version of the Classic Beechcraft D17 or the infamous Staggerwing, as it was better known. Then on the 4th of June, Leon "pancreas" Medado uploaded is custom sound package for this FLY aircraft. Now, I personally haven't flown this aircraft in FLY, but I did post a message in the FLY forum (here at AVSIM) requesting all those that have downloaded it to please email me with their own impressions, plus I've exchanged several emails with the original designer, Roberto Vigetti. I received a total of 7 emails from individuals that have flown this aircraft in FLY or FLY2K and all respondents were either very positive or they simply raved about how well this aircraft flew.
In my exchanges with Roberto, I learned that he designed this aircraft & panel from a real Staggerwing owned by Paul McConnell and Roberto said that he attempted to follow true to his real world model! Based on the screenshots that Roberto sent me and the very positive comments I've received from those have downloaded it, I would suggest that if you're using FLY or FLY2K, you may wish to take a serious look at this wonderful appearing aircraft. ...Bear!
13-June-2001 As with the Beechcraft "Staggerwing" by Roberto Vigetti, this is another aircraft that I have relied on my receiving responses to a posting in the FLY! Forum. I received a total of 13 separate Emails about this aircraft and they all, let me repeat that, they ALL raved about this aircraft, from the appearance of its panel, the general appearance of this aircraft, and most specifically about this aircraft's flight handling! It seems that Rob Young strikes again!
I picked this aircraft for one of my "Spot Light" picks, due to the superb screenshots I've noted in the Screenshot Forum—this is simply one of the very best appearing aircraft I've ever seen and based on the emails I received, it seems that it flies even better than it looks! Which would be a tall order! ...Bear!
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