simFlight.COM Flight Simulation News Source

German VSTOL Fighter For FS2004

francois — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:37:15 +0000

Did this fly at all !? In any case it WILL in Flight Simulator FS2004, thanks to LJL-Simulations in Germany. “…. The VJ-101 was an Experimental VTOL Aircraft. Single seated high-wing monoplane equipped with six engines. Two lift engines in the fuselage behind the cockpit and two each in swivelling engine pods on the wing ends for lift and regular flight. VTOL-flight attitude control by thrust modulation in contrast to attitude control by bleed air through control nozzles. The thrust modulation made the aircraft controlable in case of a single engine malfunction and avoid the loss of efficiency by using compressor bleed air. Interceptor design, experimental aircraft without armament……”. Get it at simMarket for a test flight.

Tags: experimental, LJL-Simulations, simMarket, VSTOL

P-51 Rudder Pedals

francois — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:29:55 +0000

If you happened to buy a P-51 recently (there are a few to be found on simMarket now) you’ll want these realistic rudder pedals to go with it of course. The manufacturer calls them “….. Very solid P-51 metal pedals. With gasdamper the brake pressure is very hard and realistic like in the real aircraft. Very precise control of rudder axis and brake axis. Easy plug and play via USB….”. So there you go, find them here at simMarket.

Tags: P-51, pedals, SimAviatik AG, simMarket

The YF 23 Advanced Tactical Fighter

francois — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:22:41 +0000

FSD has changed its sales strategy and is now selling through simMarket as well. The YF-23 designed by Chuck Jodry is now also for sale here. “…. It is designed for survivability, supersonic, stealth and ease of maintenance. Designed with all-aspect stealth as a high priority, Northrop introduced the novel feature of rear jet nozzle troughs lined with heat ablating tiles developed by Allison, which shielded the exhaust from infrared detection from below….”. Check out the product page on simMarket here.

Tags: FSD, simMarket, YF-23

Ground Environment X Europe Released

francois — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:52:30 +0000

Jeff Smith reports that Flight One Software “….. is proud to present the latest Ground Environment X version: Ground Environment X Europe for Microsoft Flight Simulator X.
Ground Environment X brings all-new ground textures to FSX, and it boasts an incredible 1 m/pixel texture resolution, using native 1024×1024 pixel images, and includes all seasons, meticulously designed night textures, and the latest techniques in autogen placement and alignment. All this while keeping maximum Flight Simulator performance in mind during development…..”.

“…. This product represents our new approach in texture design. The 1-meter texture resolution format delivers a hi-fidelity image without using excessive disk space or processor power. Our design allows a simulation pilot to enjoy clearly defined visuals from nearly the ground level up to higher altitudes.

The easy-to-use interface will provide for easy installing the new textures, and is designed with Flight1’s “keep-it-simple yet powerful” philosophy.

Ground Environment X Europe Features:
° Complete coverage of Europe which extends from the Arctic circle through southern Greece.
° Enhanced textures to assist in rendering clear visuals as low as 250-500ft in many places.
° 1m/pixel – 1024 x 1024 Textures – No excessive resolution to render or to fill hard drive.
° High volume autogen layout designed to work in tandem with autogen slider position.
° Structured texture layout to assist in covering most landclass products.
° All seasons including incredible snowy winters and mountain terrain.
° Special features/upgrades for Ultimate Terrain X Europe users.
° 2D enhancements produce simulated 3D depth in textures.
° Textures derived from licensed Arial and Satellite imagery.
° FSX tree render issue addressed in autogen annotation.
° Upgrade for USA-Canada users, no switching required.
° FSX road night lighting upgraded (Default and UTX).
° Realistic custom designed night textures.
° Highly detailed aerial views.
° Natural seasonal blending….”.

More info on the Flight1 web site.

Tags: Flight1, GEX, textures

Lotussim L-39 V1.3 now available

JayKae — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:58:56 +0000

This update corrects a few remaining minor issues, improves performance for all models, includes 5 models with Reality XP GNS430 GPS integration in the VC, and adds some new paint schemes and small features. To obtain this latest version please log into your account at the vendor you purchased the L-39 from, most likely simMarket. Simply re-download your installation package. You can use the original registration key number you were provided with at the time of purchase with the new installer. The installer you download may not appear any different at first but it has been confirmed updated at both vendors. The actual .exe file you receive in the zip will say V1.3 in the filename, and in the installation program window. The installer size is 204 MB and requires 650 MB disc space.

Installation:

Note that V1.3 is a complete installation, not a patch. Please uninstall your previous version of the L-39 entirely before installing the new one. If you have repaints installed please make sure to back them up and their aircraft.cfg entries. After installing v1.3 you can copy and paste those entries back into the new aircraft.cfg files. Please do not replace the aircraft.cfg files with ones you had previously, items have changed in the new versions.

Below are the changes and improvements since version 1.2…

Corrections:

- Slovak AF roundels repositioned on wings of Biele Albatrosy model (pylons were stuck over them by mistake)

- Fixed a looping problem in the engine sound at full thrust

- Fixed a small bug in the AI traffic sounds; engines were not audible from other L-39s at idle in multiplayer when positioned behind them

- Minor specular map fixes

- Default GPS range buttons were backwards from Garmin standard

Improvements / Additions:

- Rain effects completely redone on all models to improve performance. They are now more speed sensitive and more adaptive to changing light conditions, and consume far less system resources. They generally look a lot more realistic, being more subtle in some cases and more noticeable in others. Rebuilding them resulted in a performance improvement of approximately 10% in the VC.

- Canopy scratch effects slightly altered to improve performance.

- LODs (levels of detail) added to all external models, increasing the distance L-39s can be seen in multiplayer from 1.2 to approx 3.6 NM.

- Increased resolution of external model landing light bulbs geometry.

- Minor external model performance improvements.

- Clarity of default GPS night illumination improved

- Reality XP GNS 430 integrated into the VC on 5 new models:

Czech AF dual cockpit
N39ED dual cockpit
C-GOZA dual cockpit LR
Pipsqueak
Vjazma Rus dual cockpit w/ IFR hood

Note: These models do not replace any of the originals, they are additional variants. Also you must already own the Reality XP GPS to use them, it is not included! These extra models will work without it, you’ll just have a blank GPS display in the VC. They are indicated by a blue “RXP” logo in the aircraft selection screen icons. Also note that the RXP models do work in shared cockpit (provided both parties have the GNS430 installed) but the GPS is not designed for this, so it will not synchronize between systems in this mode. If you own or plan to purchase the RXP GNS430 please do not use the RXP setup tool to apply the GPS to the new models, they already set up and ready to go and doing this may damage their panel configurations.

Please also note that WAAS approaches are not enabled, the GPS will not drive the HSI. The original default FSX gps is still available in these models as a 2D popup.

- Landing gear warning sound added. This will activate if you deploy full flaps with the landing gear retracted. Raising flaps to half or lowering the gear will silence it. No more belly landings… unless they’re intentional of course.

- Texture fallback paths simplified and paints duplicated where neccessary. They were becoming a real problem with multiple versions accessing the same paints. The install will now be a bit larger, around 650mb after extraction, but easier to deal with in the long term.

- Three new paint schemes/models added:

Former East German Air Force #187 (clean w/IFR hood) and #156 (long range)
Czech Air Force CLV (Pardubice) clean
Czech Air Force Namest Sqdrn w/rocket pods & IFR hood

- Manual updated to reflect changes.

If you do not own the Reality XP GNS430 and are interested in purchasing it to use with the new models, information can be found here:

http://www.reality-x…s430/index.html

Tags: Albatros, FSX, L39, Lotus

Airac Cycle 0912 Available

francois — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:56:13 +0000

Navigraph reports that “….. Cycle 0912 is now available in the FMS Data section of the Navigraph website. News for this cycle is that we now support the AirSimmer A320 addon! Each cycle costs 20 credits, independent on the number of addons/downloads you make during that cycle. We also offer an annual cycle package (13 cycles) for 200 credits – a 23% discount compared to purchasing each cycle individually….”.

No tags for this post.

Review: AS Beaver X Mission Pack

Miguel — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:32:09 +0000

Hello fellow sim-pilots! Today’s review brings me back to familiar territory. A review of an add-on, where once again the story makers try to make FSX fresh, new, and challenging.

This review is about another Aerosoft Online product, this one called: Aerosoft Beaver X Mission Pack. This mission pack also requires the FS2004 & FSX SP2/Acceleration compatible Aerosoft Beaver X (Sold separately). I am not reviewing the plane model, but I will say it truly is a joy to fly and a great addition to any FSX collection. (I guess I did review it a little bit after all LOL).This mission pack has 12 missions that will have you doing rescue duty, cargo shifting, tourist duty, firefighting duty, and even helping out Homeland Security, all this while you traverse the mountains and weather spanning Alaska and Western Canada.

A big plus for this program is the variety. When I was doing my research I was pleasantly surprised as I read how diverse the missions were.

Another big plus, beautiful graphics without taxing frame rate. This program is very pleasing to the eye, but don’t let the beautiful mountains and very lifelike streams etc. distract you, there is some serious weather that will have you off course and wondering where you are (if you chose to turn off the Compass and arrow that is, which is available for those who enjoy using those tools).

The voice overs are excellent, very high quality and at times even somewhat humorous.

This was one of the first programs where I had to have a specific plane bought separately, and although a separate investment, the Aerosoft Beaver is worth it and then some. I have been doing several mountain based missions lately because that seems to be the trend right now. There are also many Bush Pilot flying clubs and other Bush Pilot experiences available online, take a minute to search and you will be surprised at what you can find. Having this plane available will pay off if you enjoy being a Bush Pilot even a little bit.

The missions themselves have variety within them flying both VFR and IFR sometimes both in the same mission, and landings on water, ice, snow, and of course a runway every now and then LOL. So when I mentioned how the programmers try to make FSX fresh, new, and challenging, once again Aerosoft Online has hit the Bullseye. This add-on has just the right amount of variety, challenge, quality, and imagination that makes it another one of their high quality add-ons. I have reflown the missions for more than one reason, and messing with weather, and other variables found this to have quite a bit of replay value as well.

I usually try to save this area for negative comments, but I really don’t have any. Some may thing that having to purchase the specific plane as well is a negative, but the Beaver is such an excellent plane to fly, and the graphics for it are simply awesome, that I feel it is a must have anyhow. But I guess if there was a negative comment about this program that would be it.

Those of you who know me and have read my previous reviews understand I don’t like using 1 to 10 scales or a 5 star rating scale, I pretty much just stick to: this is worth the money, this is well worth the money, or simply go out and get it. This program falls into the “it belongs in everyone’s collection” category, so I will keep this review short and sweet and wrap it up the usual way. J

Okay…once again I will stop talking about this product and give you the breakdown so you can get over to the web site and see for yourself what a great program this really is.

At a glance: Fantastic value for the cost. With 12 missions, all quite different in many ways it breaks down, without vat, to roughly 1 Euro per mission. That is a bargain for pretty much any professional add-on, and this one is above average quality to start with.
Installation: EXE. For both the mission pack and the plane. No problems with installation.
Documentation: Above average. I enjoyed the history and some of the extra’s they added to mission briefings etc. (As usual I am a spoiler-phobic, so I don’t want to give away the fun of discovering things for yourself, but the documentation is worth the read.
Textures and presentation: Above average, very good graphics, no hit to frame rate that I could notice and as usual I turned on every bell and whistle available.
Extras: Works well with several add-ons, including FS Force, Multi-Crew Experience, X-graphics, (not in any screen shots by the way, what you see is what you get), and FS Passenger without any noticeable change in frame rate at all. (All mentioned add-ons are sold separately and found for sale at www.simmarket.com)

Doug Zabizewski
zmanff

P.S. I welcome opposing views, suggestions, comments, recommendations, etc. In that light I would like to make myself available at the following web site, which also happens to be a good news source, and has a pretty interesting forum. I will do my best to respond to any and all comments. Also please keep in mind, I am not paid to review any products. These opinions are mine and mine alone.

At a Glance:

Installer: EXE – Easy installation for both missions and plane.
Documentation: DOC – Above average. Dare I say entertaining and informative.
Modelling: FSX Format – Excellent for both missions and plane.
Texturing: BMP – Above average.
Extras: None.
Download Size: 70 Mb (like I always say…great things come in small packages J).
Price: EUR 14.95without VAT EUR 12.56
Link: http://secure.simmarket.com/aerosoft-online-beaver-x-mission-pack.phtml, the link for the necessary plane is found at the same location, just click and it will take you directly to the plane required.
Test System: Intel Core2Duo E2220 @ 2.40 GHz-2.40 GHz, 4Gb RAM, Nvidea Geforce G100, Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 (DX9), Saitek EVO force feedback joystick.

Tags: Aerosoft, Beaver X Mission Pack, Douglas Zabizewsky

P-38 From Flightsim Developers

francois — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:08:44 +0000

Yet another P-38 has seen the light and is now available on simMarket for your buying/flying pleasure. The Flightsim Developers’ double-tailed P-38 Lightning can be found here. “….. The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was one of the most successful fighters in the Pacific during WWII. Designed in 1937 – 1939 in answer to an Army Air Corps requirement for pursuit aircraft in twin-engine configuration to achieve a specific speed/weight ratio with a given amount of armaments…..”.

Tags: Flightsim Developers, P-38, simMarket

Luxembourg In A Box

francois — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:14:57 +0000

Aerosoft has released their ‘Luxembourg’ box. As they say “…. This package includes the three airports of Luxembourg in great detail and the complete country with all relevant landmarks and sightseeing objects. It has detailed mesh and aerial imagery covering the terrain. All buildings on and around the airport of ELLX are photorealistic…”. Available at simMarket now.

Tags: Aerosoft, Luxembourg, simMarket

Bargain Repaints For the Kodiak

francois — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:56:35 +0000

If you visit the Sim Outhouse forums once in awhile, you will have heard of ‘Banana Bob’. He does repaints. No, let me rephrase that. He does fabulous repaints! If you happen to have the Kodiak by Lionheart Creations, then you can get some of those repaints at a real bargain price. How does US$ 2 strike you for a deal!? Download them here ! Oh, and if you don’t have the Querst Kodiak yet, you are missing out on more than just some repaints! Get it at simMarket!

Tags: Banana Bob, Lionheart, Quest Kodiak, repaints, simMarket

Aerosoft Opens Office States-side

francois — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:27:58 +0000

Mathijs Kok of Aerosoft Germany reports that “…… Aerosoft has opened a subsidiary in the US! Effective immediately, the office will process all American boxed orders, which means faster and lower-cost shipping for our customers. It will also drive new sales efforts and open up new retail channels for our products. This is not only a gain for our loyal direct customers, but also a step to ensure a good and even more intensive relationship with our US and Canadian dealers and stores. Wolfgang Burchhardt will be heading the office. For further details and to contact our US office….”.
Aerosoft USA, Inc.
200 Stoney Lea Road
Dedham, MA 02026
USA
Phone: 781 – 636 0366
Mail: usa@aerosoft.com

“….. Please note (and this is important) that Aerosoft USA does not do any support for our download products. The forums and the standard support email (support@aerosoft.com) remain the best ways to reach us regarding those issues….”.

Tags: Aerosoft USA

FSBreak Podcast

francois — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:27:35 +0000

Eric McClintock of FSBreak writes us that “…… This week we did an interview on the FSBreak podcast that your readers might find useful. We had a 90 minute interview with John Venema (CEO) and Holger Sandmann (Regions Lead) from Orbx and Bill Womack (the latter both of FSAddon’s Tongass Fjords fame. Ed.) about their hit “Full Terrain X” product line and addon airports for the series. We asked them how they make it, the challenges of it, and we dive head first into their newest project they are working on called “FTX NA Blue”, which covers the Pacific Northwest region. There are even a few new things never seen before that were announced on the show regarding the NA Blue series. You can hear the episode here“….”.

Tags: FSAddon, fsBreak, Orbx, podcast

767 AWACS From Captain Sim

francois — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:15:34 +0000

In a continuation of their range of Boeing 767 versions, Captain Sim has now released an AWACS version of the aircraft. More information can be found on their own website (specs, pictures, price). Click here.

Tags: 767, AWACS, Captain Sim

Piper Saratoga Now At simMarket

francois — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:49:42 +0000

As of today you can buy Carenado’s Piper Saratoga from your trusted FS retailer, simMarket.com. We already reported on the launch of this Carenado development, which is made to fly on FSX and fits the rest of their GA fleet perfectly. Get it here now at simMarket!

Tags: Carenado, Piper, Saratoga, simMarket

Use Your PDA For FS

francois — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:54:54 +0000

Here’s an interesting alternate use for your PDA or other Windows CE5.0 device.. add touch screen capabilities to Flight Simlator. “… FS Touchscreen can be installed on any WinCe 5.0 / WinCe 6.0 Device, the Device can be a GPS SatNav / PDA /PIND/Phone etc. Once the device has a touch screen and a screen resolution of 480 x 272 or greater. Works perfectly on a 5.0” Touch screen. Turn your existing GPS system into a Touch Screen Cockpit.
Works with all FSX aircraft in free flight / missions & online multiplayer.
Built-in Minimum call-outs and other sounds all sounds will be from your wince device., All aircraft controls in a single touch screen with over 100 functions. Aircraft control / Engine control / GPS control /Autopilot control / Radio control / and much more. Two way synchronisation, all controls will set automatically when you start a flight…..”.

Available at simMarket. PDA not included!

Tags: PDA, simMarket, Simtouch, touch screen, WIN CE

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