Well, it's been another two weeks and the file uploads are coming in fast and in large numbers, making my job just that must harder each other week! And now we've (I've) got Train Simulator to consider as well and yes I did pick one file for Train Simulator this week! Anyway, you may want to check out what I discovered over the last couple of weeks and there are some really outstanding files to consider!
Well, another designer and/or design team have thrown their hat into the Boeing Jet design ring and that is Yeodesigns! There have already been some excellent examples of the 767-300 & 400 series versions of the 767 (one very excellent payware package from Wilco and a large selection of freeware liveries from Project Opensky), but David Segovia has shown some real originality in his design of the -200 series as well. From the highly detailed landing gear, tilting boogies, 3d gear bays, to the very well applied aircraft textures (a very similar appearance to the Feel Real textures), this is one version of the Boeing 767 you should take a serious look at!
In flying these aircraft I found no surprises and they each fly quite well, plus David has even gone ahead and designed a pretty decent panel as well. Not an extraordinary panel mind you, but a very workable one none the less! ...Bear!
24-June-2001 Don Moser has once again given us some additional bush sceneries and as before, he has included some new and quite interesting additions. This series includes 7 separate private resorts, each within a half-hour's flight of each of his fictional Alaskan Winds System airport hubs ( Nome, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Valdez, Juneau, Ketchican, and Kodiak, Alaska). Each of these bush scenery resorts are designed as get-aways for the employees of Alaskan Winds and each sports a 1,500' hard-surface runway and a adequate lake for those of you flying a float-plane.
As I mentioned, Don is always full of surprises and this time he has included some dynamic macros that are the first I recall ever having seen (an American flag waving in the breeze, plus a windsock doing the same). Each of these sceneries are "4" seasons locations, and they all will show up on your FS2000 map display and on your GPS as well. Installation is simple and straight-forward, no flatten switches or exclude files are needed—plus I have RealScene world mesh installed and there seems to be no interference there either! As always, I'm very pleased with Don's latest efforts—and if you're one that tends to lean toward bush flying in Alaska, then I'm sure you're already familiar with Don's excellent work! ...Bear!
25-June-2001 One of the more popular places for flying is of course the Hawaiian Island chain in the Central Pacific Ocean, but up until now there has been a shortage of scenery (airport) add-ons for the Hawaiian Islands in FS2000 (freeware). Steve Reyling has come along an provided us with an excellent little scenery package for the Municipal Airport at Lihue on the island of Kauai (the Garden Island). Steve's package includes static aircraft, palm trees on the beach-side, improved buildings, a helo-pad, and he has even corrected the glideslope angles for the default ILS.
By keeping everything fairly simple, yet realistic, this scenery has little or no effect on frame rates either. This is a nice little airport scenery package that should not be over-looked! ...Bear!
26-June-2001 I don't recall having seen any of Fabien Prevost's prior scenery work, if there is any; and if this is Fabien's first attempt at designing scenery for FS2000, then there's a new name that we all should remember, Fabien Prevost! This scenery is quite extraordinary in that it's so detailed and extensive, yet the file size doesn't reflect the amount of detail it includes! In addition this scenery has little or no effect on your frame rates either!
Cambrai-Epinoy AB is a French military base ( Northern France ) and is home to the EC 1/12 and the 2/12 and is non-fictional. This scenery add-on has everything, static aircraft (Mirage 2000Cs), static vehicles all around, buildings, an extensive maze of roadways, hangers, perimeter trees, and even a soccer field! I even found it difficult to get a screenshot from far enough away to get it all in!
I've been noticing that lately we're starting to get very detailed and accurate sceneries that have a minimum of effect of frame-rates, even with systems of lesser performance. This is nice to see and I for one really appreciate the amount of work that Fabien most likely put into this excellent scenery upload! Thanks Fabien! ...Bear!
26-June-2001 Ironically enough, I nearly passed over this really terrific aircraft/panel package and boy am I glad to have taken a second look at it! These fellows (David, Marco, Steve, and Marcel) have really put together a beautiful package for the Pilatus PC-12 with this their version 6.0! After only spending a couple of hours flying this really wonderful little aircraft, I've come to the conclusion that it is more than deserving of my "Bear Approved" stamp, if for the panel and flight dynamics alone!
From a visual (external) viewpoint, this example of the PC-12 is pretty good, not extraordinary, but quite good none the less! The real outstanding areas of this upload are the panel and the extraordinary flight dynamics (flight dynamics that take advantage of an actual turboprop model in FS2000 Pro), hmm..., no wonder, Steve Small did the FDE (kinda like peas & carrots). Due to a shortage of time since I re-discovered this aircraft, I've only been able to quickly scan through the excellent documents on the panel operation and I am now only coming up to speed with it, plus I have less than a couple of hours of flight time with this v6.0 PC-12, but I can assure you I will be spending some time with it this weekend!
Excellent work fellows! ...Bear!
26-June-2001 Steven Grant has uploaded some very excellent DeHavilland Otters in the past (almost always a complete package too) and now he has switched his outstanding FS aircraft design ability to the Maule M-7 Super Rocket STOL aircraft! It's no secret that my preferred form of aviation is "Bush" flying in North America and this is the first example of the Maule M-7 STOL that I've seen – ever – and Steven has held true to his abilities and once again produced an outstanding aircraft! Full moving parts, excellent exterior textures, and a highly accurate panel as well! Steven has used the default Cessna 182S sounds, but that's probably okay for this particular aircraft.
If you're looking for a STOL aircraft, with a 5-place configuration, that also has an excellent cruise speed over a SuperCub, then take as serious look at Steven Grant's latest! ...Bear!
26-June-2001 Within a couple of weeks of Microsoft introducing their latest simulator, Jak Fearon at How in the World, Inc. had made available the first really outstanding "freeware" enhancement for MSTrain Simulator, an enhancement called Sky! Conductor! A few days later Jak uploaded an additional add-on pak (Pak #1), allowing an additional rain sky (called "Ink Blots") and also allowing you to restore the default TS skys!
Sky!Conductor is truly outstanding, giving you a choice of 11 different skys (6 for clear weather, 2 for rain, and 3 for snow conditions). The 11 skys available with the original package are; Breeze, Wispy, Sunset, Cotton, Heavy, Fog Banks, Light Rain, Heavy Rain, Lazy Flakes (snow), Jack Frost (snow), and Blizzard (snow)! With the addition of Sky!Pack #1, this adds 1 additional rain sky, plus restores your default skys! A truly outstanding set of files and a must have for all you Train Simmers out there! ...Bear!
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