Today's Headlines

Thursday's Library Files Finally Arrive
VFR Germany 2: North from Aerosoft
Carenado Releases C152II for FS2004
New Downloads available in Avsim Store
New Forums Coming Soon
Heavy Traffic At New Website
Just Flight Releases 757 Captain

The AVSIM Online News:

Thursday's Library Files Finally Arrive

Posted: Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 14:11
Thursdays files have arrived, a little late but that's what happens during busy scheduling times.

Flight Simulator X - Original Aircraft
KNIL Viking for FSX/Acceleration by Brian Farrington & Leyland Spurr
Default 737-800 Ansett New Zealand Kiwi League by Antony Dayal

Flight Simulator X - Aircraft Repaints, Textures and Modifications
Supermarine Spitffire Mk VIII "JF470" by Francis Jacquet
Valkenburg Naval Air Station EHVB by Joost de Wit

Flight Simulator X - AFCAD Files
KPDX by Dan Reynolds
Rotterdam-Zestienhoven Airport / EHRD by Joost de Wit
Teuge Airport EHTE V2.0 by Joost de Wit
Texel Airport EHTX V2.0 by Joost de Wit
Twenthe Airport EHTW by Joost de Wit
Seattle 2008 by Dakota Smith / Smith Graphics
KPHH - Swinnie Airport by Dakota Smith / Smith Graphics
KMYR - Myrtle Beach Intl Airport by Dakota Smith / Smith Graphics

Flight Simulator X - Helicopters
VH-60N VMX-1 by Bruce Martin / Alphasim
Bo 105 - LifeFlight - "N105DH" by Dirk Hüschelrath

Flight Simulator 2004 - Aircraft Repaints, Textures and Modifications
Skyservice Boeing 757-200 NC by Yvan ung, Simulated Cargo Conversion Bureau
British Airways Boeing 777-236ER Landor "G-YMML" by Yvan Ung, Simulated Cargo Conversion Bureau
Boeing 777-200LR PSS Air France by Brosson Thomas
Ostfriesische Lufttransport Gesellschaft OLT Saab 2000 by Andre Schaefers
Royal Airlines Boeing 767 by George Fisher
Emirates Airlines Boeing 777-21H/LR A6-EWF by Michele Galmozzi/PSS
Air Berlin Airbus A320 by Detlef Maier
Air India Boeing 747-400 Version 2 by Ryan Chadwick
Bücker 131B Jungmann, EC-FTZ by Leen "Flybike" de Jager
CorsairFly Airbus A330 Fleet F-HCAT and F-HBIL v3.0 by Thierry Massieux
ERA Helicopters AS350 'N725SG' by Niels Lepelaar
ERA Helicopters AS-355 'N355XL' by Niels Lepelaar
Era Helicopters A109 'N512LD' by Niels Lepelaar
EC130 Texture PH-ECJ by Niels Lepelaar
Finncomm ATR72-500 by Gerd Wulk
Air Canada Boeing 777-233/LR 'New Colour' C-FNND by Abdullah Rahman / Project Opensky
Skyservice Airbus A319/A320 by Yvan Ung, Michel Montreuil, Simulated Cargo Conversion Bureau
Bell206 Texture N206QF ERA Helicopters by N. Lepelaar
EC-135 L’Hélicoptère Par Hermès (Eurocopters 100 years anniversary colour scheme) by N. Lepelaar

Flight Simulator 2004 - AI Aircraft
Kadena AB KC-135R/T, 909th ARS by Mark Heimer
Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700w Tinker Bell Sticker (N912WN) by Juergen Baumbusch
Okay Airways Xian MA-60 by Juergen Baumbusch
Okay Airways Boeing 737-500 by Juergen Baumbusch
Austrian Airlines Boeing 737-700w by Juergen Baumbusch
Okay Airways AI Boeing 737-300 by Tang Chi-Ho
Volaris Airbus A320 by Eduardo Villanueva| Aircraft Repainting Team | EVAI
Volaris Airbus A319 "Vuelo Zero" by Eduardo Villanueva| Aircraft Repainting Team | EVAI
Volaris Airbus A319 "Gobierno del Estado de México" by Eduardo Villanueva| Aircraft Repainting Team | EVAI
Volaris Airbus A319 "Krispy Kreame" by Eduardo Villanueva| Aircraft Repainting Team | EVAI

Flight Simulator 2004 - AI Flight Plans
Central Connect Airlines Winter 2008/2009 by Patrick Meißner
Volaris - Winter 08-09 by Eduardo Villanueva | Aircraft Repainting Team

Flight Simulator 2004 - Flight Plans
SIDSTARS Cycle 0812 Collection by Dan Downs

Flight Simulator 2004 - Helicopters
EC135 Texture F-HERO by Niels Lepelaar

Flight Simulator 2004 - Scenery Design
Rwy12 RAF Hangars Correction by Ted Andrews

VFR Germany 2: North from Aerosoft

Posted: Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 1:54
Staff reviewer Allen Lavigne crosses the pond and explores Norther Germany with Aerosoft's VFR Germany 2: North. "This title includes highly innovative geo-referenced orthophotographic scenery tiles with precisely placed custom autogen and scenery for one quarter of the German territory, namely the Northern part."

Allen goes on to explain how this scenery titles interacts with default FSX scenery as well as several other Aerosoft releases, namely German Airports 2 and German Airfields 2. He also describes its interaction with Ultimate Terrain Europe.

He concludes with, "The VFR Germany series of scenery enhancements is by far the most remarkable and innovative scenery add-on I have yet reviewed from any vendor. I cannot fully express my satisfaction with what Aerosoft is doing. Always a step ahead of the crowd, they have managed to develop photo realistic aerial imagery with objects and autogen placed to near precision. In addition, the highly skilled renditions of many airfields and airports available from other Aerosoft products for the German territory flawlessly compliment this VFR Germany scenery and gratefully amplify my already orbital level of enjoyment."

Carenado Releases C152II for FS2004

Posted: Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 1:00
As previously announced, the decision was taken after many emails from customers demanding Carenado to make this aircraft compatible with FS2004. The product has superior textures and the 3D model has an excellent relationship between polygons and details, soft curves and excellent FPS allowing a smooth performance.

Features include: Four different paints with maximum details and realistic textures; Interactive virtual cockpit; Full moving parts: Ailerons, elevators, rudders, flaps, rolling wheels; Animated sections such as: doors, pilot's window, glove compartment, sun visor and fresh air control; FS2004 lights: Navigation lights, beacons, landing lights; Full dynamic effects (shines over the body and panel, nightlights); Dynamic shine and reflections; Transparent windows; 3D modeled pilot and cockpit area; Real Propeller.

For all the details and pictures visit the Carenado website.

New Downloads available in Avsim Store

Posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 19:01
ADVERTISEMENT:
The Avsim Store now carries downloadable products from Wilco Publishing. At this time available titles are Wilco B777, the newTower Simulator and the Cessna Citation X. Also, many FS9 title are available at a discounted price, check out the bargain bin section.
Visit the new Avsim Store today.

New Forums Coming Soon

Posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 12:24
Yes folks, you read right. AVSIM has voted unanimously to update the forum system on AVSIM. This will not be an "overnight" process. We will NOT lose any postings, but we do require one item from the readers.

For those that have ignored your settings over the years, we need you to check your email on file in your forum account. The reason is simple; when we convert to the new system in about 2 weeks time from tonight, you're password will be reset. This is the ONE item we cannot keep and it will change.

As such, we need a way to contact you with your new information. This will be done with a "fill in your email address and we'll email it to you" system. That being said, we need ALL of you to begin checking your email address on file for accuracy.

This is a simple process. Follow the Forums links. Once you are in the forums, click at the top on "User Menu." Inside this menu, on the left, click on "Edit Account Information." On this screen please verify your name and email address, make changes as needed, then click ok. For a screen shot of the User Menu Link, visit This Thread .

For now, that's it! We'll notify everyone on the front page of the "go-night" and the planned outage times. We hope the new system will have all the features in it that all of you have asked for over the years, not to mention get us in line for more exciting changes to come as 2009 rolls around.

Stay tuned!
John Binner, AVSIM
Managing Editor
jbinner@avsim.com

Heavy Traffic At New Website

Posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 1:01
The dedicated website for Traffic X, the latest version of the world's best selling AI aircraft traffic expansion for Flight Simulator, is cleared for takeoff! The DVD-ROM version of Traffic X is now available and to accompany the full release of download, boxed and upgrade versions, the dedicated Traffic X website has now gone live.

The site is designed to support the huge community of Traffic X fans. Visitors to the site will find a huge amount of information about Just Flight's best-selling AI traffic expansion and a steadily growing catalogue of user-generated content to enhance the program. Anyone who wishes to can create their own airport facility files or aircraft repaints and upload them to the Traffic X site to share with the rest of the Traffic X community.

Commenting on the new site, Just Flight's Richard Slater said: "We've had a dedicated site for each release in our Traffic series since the days of FS Traffic 2002. The beauty of the Traffic series is that its huge army of fans take a lot of time and effort to put together traffic files for their own airports or repaint the aircraft. If they want to share their files with the rest of the community they can upload them to a site specifically aimed at other users. We have similar sites for our Cargo Pilot, Airliner Pilot and Flying Club titles and they have all proved to be extremely popular."

Traffic X includes over 1,700 different aircraft variants based on more than 80 aircraft models. The planes are designed to the highest level of AI aircraft detail and painted in a dazzling variety of airline liveries from around the world. They can all be seen flying, landing, taxiing, parking and taking off at airports large and small. The aircraft featured range from small single-engine private aircraft like the C152 right up to the world's biggest airliner, the Airbus A380. The software also includes the highly advanced 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 XWB and a huge amount of other aviation traffic that falls between these extremes. There is a massive selection of commercial jet airliners, regional jets, regional turboprops, business aircraft, general aviation aircraft and helicopters and, for the first time in the Just Flight Traffic series, a whole host of multi-national military aircraft!

For more information and a VERY long list of features, visit the Just Flight website.

Just Flight Releases 757 Captain

Posted: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 0:55
Just Flight is pleased to announce the release of 757 Captain, the latest professional airliner expansion from the award-winning development team at Captain Sim. This title will be available in DVD-ROM format with a high quality printed manual.

The 757 is acknowledged throughout the world as the leader in short to medium-range operations. It is hugely popular with operators, crews and passengers and now a professional quality re-creation of this great airliner can be flown in Flight Simulator X or 2004.

This spectacular 757 expansion has been developed by the experts at Captain Sim and is a technical masterpiece. It comes in -200, -300 and freighter variants with an impressive selection of different airline liveries and different engine variants. If you want the finest 757 for your simulated fleet then look no further - this is the Captain's choice!

757 Captain features literally hundreds of animations including control surfaces, wheels, engines and doors plus unique interior features such as internal doors, windows and even TV screens with animated pictures! Choose the -200, -300 or Freighter variants with Rolls Royce or P&W engines and a wide selection of different liveries. High quality flight models and avionics include a custom designed Flight Management System, weather radar and much more. The Captain Sim trademark Aircraft Configuration Editor that lets you set up the 757 exactly as you want.

Carenado - Cessna 182Q for FSX Review

Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 22:41
Avsim Senior Staff Reviewer Bert Pieke has been taking a look at one of the latest incarnations from Carenado, the Cessna 182Q for FSX. Bert goes on to say:

"Carenado has a well deserved reputation for airplanes that capture the look of a particular era and I was keen to see if this latest product was up to the task. Also, Carenado stands out in my mind as an early adopter of the virtual cockpit which is getting more useful as the graphics capabilities of MSFS are improved from release to release. As a matter of fact, with my wide screen 22” flat screen monitor, panning around a well designed virtual cockpit gives me a better pilot environment than the old 2d cockpit with it’s fixed views and pop-up panels.The Carenado Cessna 182Q is a well crafted package. The Carenado crew have been doing this for a while, and their experience shows. The flying experience is very good and the visuals are really convincing. Andy Grove, past president of Intel, once said that the challenge ahead was no longer computing, but to re-create a life-like experience. By that measure, the Carenado 182Q is a winner."

If you already own a Carenado product, then you will be more than familiar with lengths they go to to ensure their models are as accurate as possible. Have a read of Berts Cessna 182Q for FSX and make up your own mind!

Flight Pyrenees Atlantiques Released

Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 14:54
France VFR is proud to announce you its latest release in the FLIGHT Series: the Flight Pyrenees Atlantiques BasePack and AutogenPack. It consists in the 2nd pane of the French Pyrenees mountains representing the Western part of it through 19 000 sq. kms. This Basepack and AutogenPack completes and finalises the FLIGHT Series with all other BasePacks and Autogens having been released over the last 2 years.

The scenery spreads from the Atlantic Coast through the well known urban areas of Biarritz, St Jean de Luz, Pau and Tarbes, Lourdes as well as the Mountain Pics (Pic du Midi de Bigorre and Ossau. Most lakes and rivers are cut out and have been faithfully represented and reworked with bodies of landable water. Most important airfields/airports (10 altogether) are retreated and repositioned (Charts and Flight Documentation involved).

The Basepack is available for FS2004 and a free patch for FSX is at your disposal on France VFR's web-site (Support/page). For AutogenPack, there is no need of patch for FSX.

Air Traffic Controller 3 Released

Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 14:46
AeroStudios is excited to announce that the air traffic simulation 'I Am An Air Traffic Controller 3 - Tokyo Bigwing' is coming to America. Direct from Japan, this extraordinary tower simulation is the ultimate in the air traffic experience. The user can handle clearance delivery, ground control, tower control and app/dep control, all in a single application! The interface is an absolute masterpiece of programming design. You can play the entire game without typing a single keystroke! This is the first release of a series based upon the Tokyo International Airport and conforms to ICAO standards. Visit the ATC Simulator website and reserve your copy today.

Tuesdays Library Additions

Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 7:38
As we start to work our way through another week, why not take the time to try something new from Tuesdays files, or those already in the AVSIM Library.

Flight Simulator X - Aircraft Repaints, Textures and Modifications
Black BEA Boeing 737-600 by colin lowe/project open sky
P-40N VH-KTI by Jan Kees Blom
P-40L USAAF 325th FG "Lady MacDeath" by Jan Kees Blom
Default Dehaviland DHC-2 Beaver Vancouver Island Air by Matthew Devenish
B-24 USAAF 380th BG "Rangy Lil" by Jan Kees Blom

Flight Simulator X - AFCAD Files
KGMU - Greenville Downtown Airport by Dakota Smith / Smith Graphics
KUDG - Darlington Co Jetport Airport by Dakota Smith / Smith Graphics
KBNL - Barnwell Co Airport by Dakota Smith / Smith Graphics
CYTR - CFB Trenton, Ontario, Canada by David Bate Jr.

Flight Simulator X - Helicopters
UK Police EC135 Strathclyde by Chuck Bosn

Flight Simulator X - Scenery
EGLW Scenery by Craig Tomkins
KISP - Long Island MacArthur Airport - Islip, NY by Jim Cook

Flight Simulator 2004 - Aircraft Repaints, Textures and Modifications
North American Airlines Boeing 767-300ER by Umberto Ghislanzoni / Level-D
BMI Baby New colors 'Geordie Baby' Boeing 737-300 (G-TOYI) by Kevin Leow
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747-400 by Ryan Chadwick
Cessna c208B Sansa New Colors by Luis Jimenez
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 737-7K2/WL "Goldcrest" by Martijn Koster
F-86E Blue Diamonds - Philippines Air Force by SECTIONF8 / Arslan Türegün
MD500E Photoreal texture G-JIVE by N. Lepelaar
FedEx new colors Boeing 747-200F GE by Tom Jackson
Air Arabia Airbus A320-200 'A6-ABB' by Filipe Fonseca
Orient Thai Boeing 747-100SR/SUD by Joe Shimmel / POSKY
US Airways Boeing 737-400 New Colors by Joe Shimmel and Vistaliners
Virgin Boeing 747-287B by Simon Carrison
Volaris Airbus A319 "Vuelo Zero" logojet by Eduardo Villanueva| Aircraft Repainting Team | Project Airbus
Aero Union Lockheed P-3A Aerostar Tanker 21 by Austin Gastineau

Flight Simulator 2004 - AI Aircraft
Citilink Indonesia Boeing 737-300 by Juergen Baumbusch
Hapag Lloyd Cruises Boeing 737-800w by Juergen Baumbusch
World of AI Moldavian Airlines Complete AI Package v2 by World of AI
World of AI Farnair Switzerland Complete AI Package by World of AI
World of AI Elmagal Aviation Services Complete AI Package by World of AI
World of AI Air Victory Georgia Complete AI Package by World of AI
United Airlines Boeing 737-300 AI Package by Maik Voigt, George R. Widener
United Airlines Boeing 737-500 AI Package by Maik Voigt, George R. Widener

Flight Simulator 2004 - AI Flight Plans
Qatar Amiri Flight by Peter Bos
Royal Jordanian Airlines Wi08-09 by Marty Lochmiller

Flight Simulator 2004 - Flight Plans
Lao Airlines ATR 72-200 by Gerd Wulk

Flight Simulator 2004 - Scenery Design
Rwy12 files for RAF Control Towers by Ted Andrews
Rwy12 RAF Hangars Correction by Ted Andrews
RAF Control Towers by Ted Andrews

Flight Simulator 2004 - Miscellaneous Files
AES Config file for Tupolev 154M by Alexander Kautz
AES Config File Boeing 707 by Alexander Kautz

RealAir Simulations SF260 for FSX

Posted: Monday, November 17, 2008 - 18:38
Back in 2005, Avsim reviewed the then current version of RealAir’s SF-260. Even with FS2004’s limitations, the SF-260 was able to receive the coveted Avsim Gold Medal for Excellence, with a 5 Star review score.

Avsim Reviewer Mark Kolo has revisted the reworked model for FSX and makes the following comments: "Since then, the entire aircraft has been remade from the ground up, mainly updates to take advantage of FSX’s enhanced features. Rather than completely reviewing the SF-260 again, I will focus on what has been updated and on my impression of the SF-260 for FSX."

So what has changed? Read Mark's impresstions on the latest verstion of the RealAir Simulations SF260 (FSX).

Switzerland Pro X from Aerosoft

Posted: Sunday, November 16, 2008 - 21:01
Senior staff reviewer David Wilson-Okamura Takes us on a scenic tour of Aerosoft's Switzerland Professional X as developed by FlyLogic Switzerland. "The product comes on five DVDs. and two versions are included, one for FS2004 and FSX."

"The basis of this package is a series of real-world aerial photographs that has been color corrected and then broken up into scenery tiles. This product (both the FS2004 and the FSX versions) seems to be different. I don’t know whether it’s due to better processing or better source photographs, but to my eye the colors in Switzerland Pro X look very well balanced."

"Switzerland Pro X takes a different approach to night lighting. Instead of creating a separate sheet of night textures for the whole landscape, it illuminates the daytime textures with little points of light, which represent street lamps. The package’s winter textures are more successful. The original photos have been reprocessed in a way that convincingly simulates winter conditions, including snow. Combine this with winter autogen, and the effect is very satisfying."

"Switzerland Pro X also includes 784 three-dimensional structures which it calls “landmarks.” A better name for these might be “hand-placed objects.” More than a third of them (283) are small buildings in the Old Town section of Bern. Two thirds of the remaining objects (324) are industrial structures, especially holding tanks, which clustered in seven different plants. The next largest group consists of ships and docks at Biel and Genf (70), followed by broadcast towers (52) and wind turbines (35), including a farm of eight turbines at Mont Croison. Rounding out the total are an assortment of churches, castles, high-rises in Zurich, the covered bridge in Lucerne, at least one soccer stadium, and five nuclear reactors (which emit steam from their cooling towers."

"High prices generate high expectations. Switzerland Professional X is expensive, by almost any standard. What sets this product apart is the accumulation of features, each of which is either expensive to license or labor-intensive to create: aerial photographs, plus snow in winter, plus night lighting, plus autogen, plus custom lakes and rivers, plus customized structures; but no one else covers Switzerland in this much detail."

Round the World Race - Join Team AVSIM!

Posted: Sunday, November 16, 2008 - 17:40
In a few short months the annual Round the World Race will commence. Team AVSIM is looking for new members; pilots and observers. Have you sat back and watched this annual event come and go, wondering what all the excitement was about? Now is the perfect time to find out! Join the winningest team in the history of the RTW - join Team AVSIM. You can join and participate in the lead up activities to the RTW, by participating in our RTW forum. Meet the members of this great team, and become one yourself, today!

Flight Sim Survey

Posted: Sunday, November 16, 2008 - 2:20
SimFly.EU is conducting a very short Flight Simulation survey which you can complete by visiting their Survey website. Everyone who participates will be entered into a free prize draw to win products from First Class Simulations, Flight1 Software, and Captain Sim, as well as recieving Virtual Airline Bonus's. "The survey will only take a few moments of your time to complete, and all data will remain confidential, except where you are the winner of software and SimFly.EU we will need to pass your information on to the vendor for delivery of hardware/software."

Texans and Harvards Volume 1 For FSX

Posted: Sunday, November 16, 2008 - 2:09
SkyUnlimited Productions announces the release of Legacy of the Sky: Texans and Harvards Volume 1 For Flight Simulator X. The T-6 Texans, and their Harvard counterparts, are perhaps some of the most important and crucial aircraft in the Allied Victory of WWII. They were the cornerstones of allied training aircraft, thus earning them the nickname "The Pilot Maker." SkyUnlimited has created these Texans and Harvards in true FSX fashion, with self-shadows, custom gauges, specular, bump, and reflection maps. In addition, all switches, levers, and buttons have been animated and labeled. Flight information and procedures are included in the checklist, and they have done their best to make this a true "Pilot Maker" experience. For more information visit the SkyUnlimited Productions website.

Screenshot Toolbox from TweakFS

Posted: Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 19:55
Staff reviewer Jon Murchison gets creative within his reviews by using TweakFS' Screenshot Toolbox. "As a reviewer, part of the process of working with flightsim add-ons naturally involves taking screenshots. I can quite literally take 100-200 screenshots per review. The task of then sorting through them, selecting the best ones and resizing them all, can be a big part of the process that can take days in itself, so anything that can help free up time and simplify this process has got to be good. TweakFS have thought about this and come up with a new utility that works in both FSX and FS2004."

"TweakFS’s Screenshot Toolkit is promoted as a utility that will bring out the artist in you. I was presented with a user interface which is made up of 8 tabs along the top. Unsurprisingly, each of these tabs allows you to accomplish different tasks within the software, including changing various settings and looking at your screenshots, to setting up various text or logo overlays."

Jon goes into detailed breakdown of what each of these 8 tabs contain and how each function within TweakFS's Screenshot Toolbox performs. "Overall, and particularly as someone who takes a lot of screenshots in FSX, I found Screenshot Toolkit to be useful and certainly something I will use in the future. The ability to overlay a website, forum brand or even your own name on images automatically when screenshots are taken, saves plenty of time. The ability to email and upload images directly from the software is a great idea and is very useful. The fact you can download a 30 day trial is a real plus and will let you know if the features it offers are what you are looking for."

Flight One Releases AirTrafficFX

Posted: Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 17:41
Flight One Software, in partnership with Mudpond Development, has released AirTrafficFX for Microsoft FSX. AirTrafficFX is a powerful, yet simple-to-use air traffic generator for FSX. AirTrafficFX allows the user to add parked aircraft, local air traffic, enroute air traffic, and FSX ATC IFR air traffic to your favorite airports. Formations can be added to local traffic, enroute traffic, and even your own flight. AirTrafficFX operates in real-time, no airline schedule management is required, and any installed fixed-wing aircraft can be used for air traffic generation.

AirTrafficFX features a Real-time Radar Display that shows location of User/AI aircraft, airport runways, helipads, taxiway parking spots, and even aircraft-type with altitude and airspeed information. The program can place static parked aircraft, and FSX ATC AI controlled aircraft at your local airport. Aircraft can fly patterns around local airports or follow existing flight plans. Formations of up to six aircraft can also be created to follow the user's aircraft.

JFK Int'l Airport from FSDreamTeam

Posted: Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 2:00
Staff reviewe Colin McFadden visits JFK International Airport as presented by FSDreamTeam. "To celebrate JFK’s 50th Anniversary in 1998, the Port Authority gave the airport a new slogan, which resembled JFK Airport in every way: “JFK: Where America Greets the World.”"

"The buildings, without doubt, are the most beautiful aspect of this scenery package. When I first received the product, I roamed around JFK for about an hour, getting familiar with the airport and inspecting its quality. The FS9 version is AES compatible, and as stated in the documentation, FSX uses the default docking system. However, two of the most exciting features in this scenery are the ParkMe and YouControl functions."

"ParkMe is extremely simple to use and only requires you to select your desired gate form the ParkMe menu. Once the gate is selected, the gate will become “active” and the A-VGDS will activate. YouControl allows for the doors of various maintenance hangers to be opened by selecting the hanger in the YouControl menu."

"Overall, I’m really enjoying FSDreamTeam's JFK International Airport. It’s a great add-on though, with a lot of neat features as well as quality buildings that’ll keep you drooling! The obvious weakness is the ground textures, but if you can get over that shortcoming, than it’s 100% worth it. My favorite aspect of the scenery is the ParkMe and YouControl which go a long way in the realism department. I think FSDT did a great job and deserve a pat on the back."

Free PRE-Flight F-104 Starfighter

Posted: Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 1:08
Announcing the F-104 Starfighter by PRE-Flight RC Simulator. Called the "missle with a man in it", the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was one of the more extreme jet fighter designs which adopted a minimalist architechture- fitting the smallest possible airframe around one of the most powerful engines available in the 1950's. The result was a plane that was more starship than jet fighter. To lessen drag the wings were made so thin that its leading edge was sharp enough to warrant protectors as they posed a hazard to the ground crew. The aileron hydraulic cylinders had to be only one inch thick to fit in the wings. The fuselage was carefully designed to cut drag and result in excellent climb rate, speed, and acceleration. This super scale PRE-Flight model of the Starfighter has operating landing gear and afterburning jet. To download this and other models and to download the PRE-Flight Demo, visit PRE-Flight RC Flight Simulator webpage.

San Jose Valley For FS9

Posted: Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 0:47
This package from Latin VFR portrays the region of the central valley of Costa Rica with photorealistic textures, custom autogen, custom landclass, etc. which has been crafted to accurately and realistically portraying this wonderful region of this Central American country. The main goal of this package is to recreate an experience for pilots who seek to explore and continuously fly out of this enchanting region of Costa Rica. The great differences between the default scenery are considerable and would allow you to acquire the level of realism of flying around this area of Costa Rica.

Features include:
- Textures made from high quality real imagery, reworked for excellent rendition in Flight Simulator.
- Ground photorealistic textures for Night and Day covering hundreds of square kilometers.
- Custom mesh for the region with LOD11, accurately portraying the mountains and volcanoes.

Another Mike Ray Article

Posted: Friday, November 14, 2008 - 2:21
FSVisions is providing simmers with another free article written by Mike Ray. This month the article they are publishing is about the MAP function of FS. Mike is explaining how it works, and why he likes this feature so much.

Virtual Festival of Aerobatics 2008

Posted: Friday, November 14, 2008 - 2:13
In December, the "Virtual Festival of Aerobatics 2008" (based on the lockon flight simulator) will celebrate their 4th anniversary. One weekend long, virtual aerobatic teams and solo pilots from all over the world gather online to demonstrate their aerobatic sequences. All shows will be video streamed on the net and more than 10,000 spectators will be able to watch. For more information, please visit the Virtual Festival of Aerobatics 2008 website.

WidevieW 2.2 for FSX

Posted: Friday, November 14, 2008 - 2:11
WidevieW can be used to create simulator cockpits with panoramic scenery views using multiple monitors on networked computers. This new release has support for dynamic view re-orientation throughout the network, using the server's joystick hat switch or five user's defined fire buttons. It has also the new "IntelliSmooth" option, lettings the clients to perform at their best, even when connected to very slow servers. For full details, please visit the official WidevieW webpage.

Memorial Fly-In

Posted: Thursday, November 13, 2008 - 15:24
The Virtual Denver ARTCC on the VATSIM Network will be honoring one of its pilots this Saturday. ZDV is hosting the Shelly Johnson Memorial event, in honor of VATSIM pilot Shelly Johnson. The Colorado Springs resident was killed in an accident by a drunk driver, and leaves behind two children and a husband. The ZDV airspace will be fully staffed(KDEN,KCOS, KASE) on November 15th, from 2100z-0500z. ZDV encourages pilots to donate to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

ZDV is accepting donations to benefit Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Donations can be made by clicking here and choosing the Memorial Donation option. MADD, VATSIM, and ZDV appreciates everyone's outpouring of support in remembering one of our own. Additional details and information is available at the ZDV Website.

Avsim Store GoFlight Rudder Pedals Special

Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - 20:58
ADVERTISEMENT: The Avsim Store has a few GoFlight Pedals left in stock. These Airliner-style pedals were originally $399.00 and have been discontinued by GoFlight due to the high cost of manufacturing metal pedals. Hurry it, these are a great deal.
Visit the new Avsim Store today.

Flight Deck Productions Now Open

Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - 5:15
Larry Foltron announces, "On the heels of the succesful Learn the Mad Dog training package, we are very pleased to announce our transition to Flight Deck Productions. This change opens the door for future training projects, helping FS pilots quickly and easily learn their way around today's complex airliners. Please visit us and register for a free store account and read more details about this transition."

New FlightSim Greenland Releases

Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - 5:11
FlightSim Greenland has released three scenery's, as the new site is now released. BGUK Upernavik - the whole island have been re-meshed. And the airport have been elevated to the right elevation. The airport terminal has been added. BGMQ Maniitsoq - the airport and city areas has been mre-meshed with 25 meter resolution. The airport have been moved to a more accurate position, and the airport terminal have been added. BGSS Sisimiut - version 3 have been released. This includes a much larger area in 25 meter resolution. Read more about these releases at FlightSim Greenland.

Aerosoft's Newest Releases

Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - 2:52
Mega Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle is a fully featured, total rebuild of the previous versions. It is built on very recent high definition areal images and includes the new Air France terminal and the A380 hangars. The FS2004 version is now available and customers of the older France 2 or Charles de Gaulle will get a low cost upgrade! The FSX version will be available in a few weeks and will be made available without cost for customers of this version. For more information visit the Mega Airport Webpage.

Madeira X, It’s a big download (1,2 Gb) but when it is installed you are ready to explore the most stunning scenery in FSX. Madeira X has very high detailed mesh covered with the 50 centimeter area images. The two main airports are also rather special, especially Funchal that is partly built on a man made platform over the Atlantic Ocean. For more information, visit the Madeira webpage.

Flight Keeper is one of those products that is not easy to explain because it does so much. From complete flight tracking with superb ways of visualizing your recorded flight to the ability to show winds at any altitude, it’s a treasure trove of modules you will love. Already a big hit with VA pilots, version 3.0 adds FSX compatibility amongst many other new features. It’s a try before you buy product. If you own a recent copy of FSFK you will get this either as a free or low cost update. For more information, visit the Flight Keeper Page.

Aerosoft writes, "A lot of our customers fly the US airports but never go south towards Mexico because there is no good coverage of Mexican airports. Together with Flymex, Aerosoft is now making flights towards the central part of Mexico possible with Mexico Central X!" For more information, visit the Mexico Central Page.