FsX

Moruya

Posted by Simmo W on August 26, 2012
Posted in: FsX, Scenery Reviews, Videos. 7 comments

Here’s a video of one of the beautiful coastal ‘resort’ towns that we’ve holidayed at in my younger years, in Southern New South Wales, Australia. I say ‘resort’ because in typical Aussie fashion, it’s very laid back and hardly a 5 star resort by official standards. But for fun, sun and safe enjoyment by the kids, as well as good holiday food and a magnificent rural backdrop, it’s 6 star in my book! It’s nice and close to Merimbula, my favourite childhood holiday spot, oh we spent so many years going there in our summer hols. We even went recently with friends, discovering that the Pambula Holiday Village had the biggest ‘kids’ jumping balloon/bladder in the world. Bladder? Have a few beers and try to hold THEM in after getting on this, with a stomach full of oysters. Yes that’s my son, a little younger though. Not a happy chappy?:

Some real life piccies, to compare to what you see in the video -

Is there anyone in this plane? Are the drones out already?

 

I think you’ll agree that the YMRA Airfield produced by my favourite chaps at Aussie X, especially “kman”, is very special, a work of art and frankly, of payware quality. Its blending with the Orbx AU Region is top notch. I found the whole spot quite emotional, bringing back fun memories  - of getting sunstroke and blisters after being in the water and sun for 3 hours too long. My fair ‘English Rose’-like skin just wasn’t built for it. But 10 year olds don’t care! You haven’t lived until you’re shivering uncontrollably at 9Pm on a hot night, from the after effects sunburn. Then drifting off to sleep with the lilting sensation of riding the waves. Such beautiful sim scenery brings back these memories, so powerful. Sometimes our computers are not just for seeing an ultra-perfect simulation of prop-wash or marvelling at the artistry in an aircraft’s altimeter.

The Ant’s Airplanes Drifter was one of the first addons I bought for FSX, it’s still one of the best available for the sim, such good detail and probably the best animated and crafted pilot/passenger combos around. Compulsory buy. I love that he’s modelled (I assume!) himself and his little paunch, such a realistic chap.

Music in the video is by Abbie Cardwell, I’ve featured her beautiful voice and her ‘band of leading men’ before, and will endeavour to do so when the music fits. I can’t see this song ‘Come Pick Me Up’, from her great album ‘The bare bones sessions’  in the web version of iTunes.

But it’s definitely viewable in an iOS app.

 

 

Active Sky 2012 for FSX

Posted by Simmo W on August 9, 2012
Posted in: Addons-Weather/Clouds, FsX, Videos. 7 comments

My, hear how the winds down in Melbourne are howling along, with sleets of rain. Kinda like the Warning Wind of sim-land. Bitter changes always around the corner, of unexpected intensity.

Ugh, enough of that, let’s get to the point – Despite my new re-re-discovery of the beauty of FSX, I was still pretty annoyed at the too-stable feeling of flight in some of the default planes. Yes, the A2A beasts are ‘alive’ and the PMDG 737 NGX has a very satisfying flight feel, but there was something ‘missing’. A little more ‘oomph’ needed in the winds, some variety, a little pucker factor to offset the safe feeling I get sitting in my giant armchair with its 4 cupholders and ‘personal massager’ here in my man-hole.

Fortunately I had REX from last year, so I was set, roight?

Nope. All combinations of weather settings didn’t work to my liking. Its weather engine is quite slow, so slow in fact that I sometimes wonder if it’s working at all. I really think they need to work not only on the speed of its update progress, but feedback to the user, to keep him or her confident that things really are changing behind the scenes.

Coincidentally, Active Sky 2012 went on sale recently, check it out here. So, as I say in the video, I ‘took one’ for you simmers out there and paid my approx $35 for yet another weather engine! For a sim I’m only just starting to look at! God my credit card is going to melt this month. You better donate once I rip myself off this sim and get around to adding that fat button to this site!

So the video above is my VERY BRIEF U.I. overview of this excellent addon. It demonstrates its speed of weather generation, a significant advantage over REX. I’m working on another video to show off some to the effects possible with AS2012, but for now I can say that the conclusion I make in the video definitely stays. I’ll be using AS2012 solely from now on, just keeping REX on the hard-drive in case they make some BIG improvements to the weather aspects.

And yes, I love the AS2012 cloud textures, as much as, if not more than the REX ones. REX produces stunning, dramatic views out the window. AS2012 isn’t far behind, but as a few in the forums have mentioned, it actually looks more realistic to me, more subtle. And the fog and low cloud editing features – all I can say is ‘wow’. I can’t wait to share the video with you! That’ll be tomorrow, ahead of doing some more flight testing of X-Plane’s upcoming 777. Ah it’s a tough life…

As Chip has mentioned, I’ll be picking up the new PC on Saturday most likely. Specs are:

Intel i7 3770k 3.5 – much research shows that there’s not much point in getting the more expensive chips, games just don’t use their features.
Kingston 8G DDR3 1600Mhz HyperX – ditto, apparently getting 2100mhz super memory is only worth a tiny percentage gain.

Motherboard Asus P8 z77-v (only $135, a little more upmarket than the one offered to me originally)
Cooler Noctua NH-D14  - Seems well regarded in the forums for overclocking the fairly hot Ivy Bridge CPUs.
Gigabyte GeForce GTX670 OC 2GB – Came up very well in the recent Tom’s Hardware review of GPUs. Amazing low price for such a card!
Seagate 1TB SATA3
Coolermaster case (can’t remember the model, it’s an overclocking special, but nice price)

Power – Coolermaster GX750, headroom for the more powerful GPU.

Same OS, Win 7 Home Premium 64bit.

I’ll be transferring over my 2 existing 120gig SSDs and Asus Xonar soundcard, as well as the Bluray burner. Still using my trusty LG 27 inch monitor, no need to replace until the Nvidia 3D ones get MUCH cheaper, or the consumer version of OCULUS RIFT is released. Then we’ll all be in nerd-heaven.

Wow, that burner was a great buy, around $100. In one afternoon I was able to backup ALL our digital videos and pics, as well as 90gigs of music. Great peace of mind knowing that we have a second backup, in a reasonably secure, physical medium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where will the Orphans Go?

Posted by Simmo W on July 30, 2012
Posted in: FsX, Uncategorized, XP10 Clouds and Weather. 11 comments

2012-7-28_20-59-34-753ymml

As Chip alluded to in his earlier post, I’ve totally given up on MS Flight, having uninstalled it. What a kick in the guts it was for all the fans, many of us are rather upset and frankly, feeling conned by Microsoft. How many months has the thing been out? less than 10 mths? There’s already rumours that the online Flight servers (arguably one of the game’s big strengths, something all sims should strive for) may not be supported for long.

I paid MS $11 for their long delayed ‘deluxe’ Carbon Cub. I was so upset at their actions I never got around to installing it! That’s me, bitter till the end.

A great benefit of Flight was that it broadened my horizons, got me chatting online to even more people around the world. Don’t get me wrong, I love Xplane and its tight-knit community. Flight, being a substantially smaller community than the mega-huge entity that is the ‘Flight Simulator’ franchise, enabled me to contact another group of like minded hobbyists. Surprisingly, many Flight fans were also real life pilots. I’d say a very high proportion of the Flight market was comprised of people who’d flown before. Funny that. Kinda said something about its FM.

So right now, you Xplane Developers and hobbyists need to know that there seem to be hundreds of people online, esp at the Avsim Flight forum, voicing their frustrations and trying to work out where ‘to go to next’ (hence my cheeky Headline). I’ve read so many posts like this :

“I’m really upset, not sure what sim to go back to, I tried Xplane but X and X annoys me and I miss the eyecandy scenery, so I’ll go back to FSX/DCS/P3D/Donkey Kong”.

I have to say, I was frustrated reading the many comments that they wouldn’t try Xplane, or had tried but didn’t feel it was for them. Many still criticise the over-sensitive flight model (not my words) and the painfully slow improvement in scenery. Then the rollercoaster ride that is the beta cycle..

I’m a similar Guinea Pig/example. I love Xplane dearly, but I HAVE to have an alternative to give me breaks from its intensity. Let’s face it, it can be intense! All immense hobbies are. Look at all our posts here, the effort that goes into just overviewing new developments. I can spend weeks on one scenery test/project (cough…months.. cough!). Now xp 10 demands even more concentration and effort, to tweak its settings and get the right hardware to match. Reminds me of another flightsim of recent times!

The DCS P51 and A10 sims are great, but at this ‘early’ stage it’s quite limited in scenery and addons. Watch its progress, it’s a slow burner. If its scenery can expand, it’ll be a must-buy.

So now I am trying FSX again, seeing it in a new light. Maybe I’m lucky, as I happen to live in Melbourne, Oz, Orbx’s home base. As a result, I have ridiculously detailed airports, like YMML, YMEN, YMMB, YMAV and YLIL to do fun short hops around. I can recognise most major intersections, even petrol stations I’ve visited.

My first impressions upon going back, after about a year of abandoning it because of FPS frustrations? Well, the FPS is one thing! Flight was creamy smooth, often 40 and above. FSX is slower, but pleasingly I’m now regularly seeing very high 20s and capped at 30 (deliberately). But get this – the Nvidia drivers must be better, as I can get 18 FPS on TAKEOFF in the PMDG NGX 737, @ Melbourne! It very quickly shoots above 22 and then a gorgeous 28, an amazing flying experience. Heck, with the current Beta stage of Xplane, I can easily get down to 8-10 fps. How times have changed!

Speaking of changes, the Warning Wind as Chip calls it – A2A Simulations brought out an interesting little $15 addon for fsx, called Accu Feel, awhile back. It changes the ground handling and stall characteristics, as well as adding many new sound effects and visual cues, for ANY plane, esp the defaults. I think this is what’s making my return more pleasant. Any plane feels better, more alive than before. The more expensive addons aren’t worth using it for, e.g. the Aerosoft Katana, its FM and sounds are already impressive enough. I’m hoping A2A brings out another version, changing the airborne handling of aircraft much more.

The other major change is the obvious one, the long march of technology, particularly GPUs and CPUs. Finally our latest machines can run FSX at the level it was originally envisioned for. Crazy stuff, considering how long its been out for! Even with my one year old Nvidia 560, the lowest I’m seeing around very dense scenery in a good addon plane is 14 fps. Even then, it has a ‘smooth’ feel to it, where the flying/handling doesn’t seem terribly bad. But it’s as soon as I look slightly away from a dense area that things leap up. I can be right next to Melbourne airport, over hundreds of houses, and still see 25fps! What a new Core i5 chip would do, I shudder to think. Just Google i5 or i7 and fsx for recent results and you’ll see the great leap in smoothness.

Another change hit me, with big implications for Xplane. FSX Clouds. Lots of dark, threatening, ominous, multi-layered clouds. If you don’t believe me, look at the screen shots below. These are via REX Overdrive. What an incredible addon. I’ve maxed the cloud settings in FSX and you can see the results. REX also has an excellent weather engine. I could feel differing layers of turbulence as I changed flight levels. Challenging.

Compared to Xplane 10′s clouds, to me the REX ones are far superior. A more efficient approach, with more varied darkness levels, gives a more convincing look than the cloud puffs method. Ok, up very close the REX clouds can look a bit too Bill Boardy, but it’s hardly noticeable. From a mid distance, their 3d appearance is…lifelike. Im in heaven. On cloud nine, so to speak! Im sorry, but maybe Laminar need to get talking with REX again. If they’re on speaking terms that is! I bet they didn’t like the move to cloud puffs either.

By going back to billboard clouds, hopefully the fps issues at high detailed airports could be partly addressed. As I’ve said, I’m seeing BETTER performance in a Pmdg plane than a high end Xplane ‘equivalent’ , say the Crj 200. And remember, this is with my 3yr old i7 920. FSX eats CPUs for brekky, so the latest i5s would probably double my fps.

Then what happens if MS DOES announce a ‘Flight’ on Tubeliner steroids? Or Orbx/P3D bring out a hugely improved V2? Ha, sorry, I do see those 2 as one company. As good as! A formidable alliance.

Enough waffling. These are only my first impressions, I’ve plenty more fun analysis to do. As we’ve done before, I hope some of these points filter through and make xplane even better in the long run. Unfortunately right now, I see Xplane as the automotive equivalent of a solar car. It’s new, innovative and snazzy. Small and perky. But those damn Aussies, they keep pumping out Chevrolets that get more and more efficient every year. They invent new lighter doors. Then more oilfields open up and ppl don’t care about solar any more! Many people want that solar car, because ‘it’s right’ but in the end, the practicality doesn’t quite match their needs. It’s those pesky clouds again!

Im off to hide fron the Laminar Team….Again!

Simon

 

xp+10+reviews + 8 March 2012 + XP10.04rc1

Posted by chip on March 7, 2012
Posted in: FsX, MS Flight, News, Xplane 10 talk. 11 comments

Simon has picked up on an interesting thread at AvSIM titled “Back in the Fold“, and it was started by someone who was into MsFS for the long haul but who eventually tired of that platforms poor implementations and endless runarounds – and got into motorcycling as a result. This is a thoughtful piece about MsFlight and worth reading generally, and our guess is that the piece will speak to a lot of people in XP as well. Again, how does X-Plane as an emergent platform attract users like this? This may well end up being as important a question as framerates and scenery development, too.

And speaking of the AvSIM forums, there’s been an essay contest posted there with a thousand dollar cash prize. All you aspiring writers better hit this link and check it out!

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A very minor update out for XP today, and here’s what Ben Supnik has to say about this one:

“X-Plane 10.04r1 is out – this is a release candidate.  That means:

  • It’s not official yet.  You have to check “get betas” to see this one.
  • We think it’s really pretty much done.  If you haven’t tried the beta and have been going “I’ll wait until they’re closer to being finished with the beta run”, well, that time is now.”
Okay, got that? Well, here’s the feature revisions, such as they are!
  • Bug fix for ATC issuing altimeter on descent.
  • Fixed pilot-heading dataref to put sim in command-look mode.
  • Fixed parsing of OBJs with hard surfaces.

So, we’re not even through looking at beta 7 and we get Rc1! I’m getting dizzy!

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The guys at the SuperCritical Simulations Group (er, that’s SSG) have sent along the following WIP images of their next iteration of the 748F:

Looks like exterior detailing is really getting a makeover this time around too.

So. A freighter. Detailed loading facilities, anyone? Cargo pallets and loaders?

And it looks like nice texture changes are in the works this time out, too.

Looks like this will be a must have revision!

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Santiago Butnaru advises he is working on NOT one project, NOT even two projects, BUT THREE PROJECTS, and the last one is so over the top über-kewl-Top-Secret he won’t even tell ME what it is??? Wahhhh….(sounds of pounding fists, infantile screams)… He promises news soon, maybe as early as next week. Whoa, that felt good! You should try it…just ball up your fists and pound a table…

Now Chris…don’t ask. I don’t know!

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Apple announced the iPad 3 with retina display with a host of video and imaging enhancements today.

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FS2Crew for the FsX/NGx releases this Friday. This program is a complement to the PMDG 737/8NGx and is a full featured virtual First Officer program. Hopefully we’ll have more on this as the product gets into use. They also have an iPhone/iPod App checklister for NG series Boeings that will help out here in XP.

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SOLAR ACTIVITY: Big sunspot AR1429 has unleashed another major flare–an X5-class eruption on March 7th at 00:28 UT.  As a result of the blast, a radiation storm is underway and a CME will likely hit Earth’s magnetic field in a day or so. Geomagnetic storms are already in progress at high latitudes due to earlier eruptions from the active sunspot.  Last night, auroras were spotted over several northern-tier US states including Michigan and Wisconsin.  Checkhttp://spaceweather.com for updates and images.

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Some other news for you too:

  • Gulfstream Aerospace received provisional type certification for its G280 business jet Thursday from the Federal Aviation Administration. Gulfstream hopes it will receive full certification for the super-midsize aircraft in the second quarter. The Weekly of Business Aviation
  • Twenty-three percent of airline pilots say sleepiness has affected their job performance, according to a poll by the National Sleep Foundation. Fourteen percent of truck drivers reported sleepiness affected their driving. “The margin of error in these professions is extremely small. Transportation professionals need to manage sleep to perform at their best,” said David Cloud, CEO of the National Sleep Foundation. USA TODAY/Today In The Sky blog
  • The 2012 Duluth Airshow in Duluth, Minn., will feature international aircraft and pilots. The event, slated for Sept. 22 and 23, will take place at Duluth International Airport. “We kinda felt that we needed to try and bring in something that people seriously haven’t seen in Minnesota and a good way to do that is to try and work with the Canadian government and feature the Canadian Forces Snowbirds and then also augment that with the Russians in the MiG-17 and the MiG-21,” said Ryan Kern, organizer of the airshow.NorthlandsNewsCenter.com (Duluth, Minn.) 
  • Helicopter manufacturers are looking at India as a possible market for military helicopters. Sikorsky and Eurocopter have set up joint ventures with Indian companies. The Indian government recently awarded a $15 billion contract to French firm Dassault Rafale for warplanes. The Economic Times (India)
  • Boeing and China’s Comac aviation company have formed a partnership to study emissions reduction and energy conservation. “Through this collaboration agreement, Boeing and Comac will build our relationship and will further sustainable growth and fuel efficiency for China’s fast-growing aviation market,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh in a statement. American City Business Journals/Portland, Ore./Morning Call blog
  • Jacob Ballweg, 17, earned his private pilot’s license at Dodge County Airport in Wisconsin. “I took my father up that same day, and even taking him up, I couldn’t believe that I actually had my license,” he said. Ballweg plans to pursue a career in aviation as a transport pilot.Daily Citizen (Beaver Dam, Wis.) 
  • The Utah Valley University flight school offers students the opportunity to train with flight simulators. “I’ve spent time in simulators before, but not this nice,” said sophomore Doug Johnsen. “This is the most impressive flight simulator I’ve ever seen.” The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah)

And that’s about it so far. We’ll be back soon with more news and ‘views. Adios…C&S

 

New MS Flight Screenshots just posted

Posted by Simmo W on November 10, 2011
Posted in: FsX, future tech. 6 comments

Edit!!! I’ve just been told these are NOT new shots, just that this site has said they’re new. Should’ve checked against the original source, MS Flight. Apologies. Looking forward to some really impressive updates then.

Again, very sorry :-

 

Take a look here:

http://flyawaysimulation.com/news/4276/19-more-microsoft-flight-screenshots-released/\

So don’t accuse us of being biased!

Alas, yet more screenies of Hawaii though. Some nice pics, others remind me a little too much of fsx. Might get it for the xbox, when the xbox is even cheaper!

As I’ve seen on the Avsim forums, I could ask 14,000 questions of the developers (if I could contact them or see them reply on the forums), myriad of things like ‘will it use SLI’, or ‘how intelligent will the AI be’, or ‘what will the night lighting be, as I havent seen any’, but I won’t. Coz there is nil involvement of their secret developers in the forums. So when you see such great info coming out for xplane, with the team being so much more accessible/eager to inform, appreciate it.

Simon

The News…Heard ‘Round the Ramps…for 20 September 2011

Posted by chip on September 19, 2011
Posted in: FsX, Liveries, News, PREPAR3D, Scenery Reviews. Tagged: . 13 comments

A few new files round out the recent goings-on in XP-land, but the news so far this week is getting more than interesting…it’s getting downright overwhelming…or troubling…depending on your point of view.

First, a few of the less troubling odds and ends:

  • Windows 8? It’s coming. (well, maybe this is troubling news after all!)
  • Investigators continue to look into the cause of an accident during an airshow in Reno, Nev., that killed 10 people. Jimmy Leeward, a veteran pilot, died when his P-51 Mustang aircraft plunged into the crowd, but some onlookers praised the pilot’s actions. “The way I see it, if he did do something about this, he saved hundreds if not thousands of lives because he was able to veer that plane back toward the tarmac,” said spectator Johnny Norman. Google/Agence France-Presse
  • Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wis., sent a letter to the chairman and CEO of LightSquared after the company placed an ad in The Wall Street Journal. Plans for a LightSquared wireless network have been delayed because of interference issues with GPS used in aviation and other industries. “The U.S. Department of Transportation has stated the GPS interference could result in almost 800 aviation fatalities and cost over $100 billion,” wrote Petri, who serves as chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee. General Aviation News

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The long awaited 4Forces Cessna 152 update was released this weekend. Our reporter Perry Wagner will have a review for you soon.

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A drool-worthy image from the IXEG of their forthcoming 737 Classic:

Follow developments here. Big image, too. As usual, click to enlarge. I need to go get a towel for my keyboard now…

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Looking for some audio entertainment to while away a few hours? Want to listen in to live ATC transmissions to hone your skills? Well, try this link. No UK facilities online yet, but some other surprising airports are. Worth a look…er…a listen.

And now, hang on to your hat. Item 3 is interesting, while item 5 is, well, unsettling:

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3°) Airdailyx : Some designers opinions are laudatory on X-Plane 10. From what you know about X Plane 10,  do you consider there are still (too many) hindrances or limitations in its architecture and programming for Orbx to develop a large scenery like NA BLUE/GOLD?

John Venema : We’re watching X-Plane 10 for sure, but we have no plans to port to it at this stage. You have to understand that we have invested millions of dollars building our tech on the FSX architecture, so we will only port to a platform which has a large enough audience to make it worth our while. Besides, I think Austin makes far, far more money from his iOS sim toys these days, than anything he makes from XP PC.

5°) Airdailyx : With the slow agony of FS9/2004 and all the uncertainties around FLIGHT, do you think that FSX will now live – at last – its great apogee ?

John Venema : Flight is not what people are expecting, it won’t compete with FSX at all, it’s a completely different sim category. FSX is the serious sim platform for the hardcore and will be for at least 5-10 years, and certainly hardware is now capable of overcoming most of the shortfalls of the code. We are also very excited about Lockheed Martin’s PREPAR3D, which is built on FSX and has a bunch of ex-ACES guys fixing all the major bugs and making it work with today’s CPU/GPU hardware. We are waiting on some new pricing models to emerge and then it becomes a serious alternative platform for Orbx and its customers.

So, ya got that? PREPAR3D? LockheedMartin and FsX developers pairing to make a SIM that Orbx is gearing up for? A “new” SIM with a hyper accurate flight model – developed by LockheedMartin – and that uses existing FsX add-ons? How many ways can you spell Trouble for the X-Plane universe… Well, PREPAR3D certainly ought to shoot to the top of your list of interesting new topics to discuss and research.

UPDATE: we have images from within the new SIM up here.

We will be covering this in more detail at the X-SIM+Reviews blog, so join us there if you want to follow the news on this “interesting” new development. Another thing to consider: Laminar’s reputation among FsX devs still doesn’t exactly sound encouraged or positive, and  as a 10 dollar a month fee is all that’s required right now for non-commercial devs to start tinkering with PREPAR3D, so from where I sit the timely release of XP10 would appear more vitally important than ever. Sure, this “product” is in it’s infancy, but the one thing XP10 can’t concede right now is momentum  – and already a few forums are going ballistic with this info. Yet even so, Laminar has generated some serious energy with their Christmas announcement; now they have to capitalize on that force – and follow through.

Well, why don’t you look at some files while the rest of us go for some antacids! Chaos Manor is getting, well, kinda chaotic…if you know what I mean.

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Georgian Airways was established and commenced operations in September 1994 as Airzena; the carrier started with business and charter flights, and scheduled service added in 1997 with Boeing 737/5s. Airzena merged with Air Georgia in November 1999 to form Airzena Georgian Airlines and adopted the current title on 1 October 2004. Airzena Georgian Airways owns Boeing 737-500 and recently added CRJ-200 and CRJ-100 jets.

Mkiii’s paint for JRollon’s CRJ200 is crisply executed, the LIT textures perfect; this handsome livery is a standout effort, highly recommended, and one of the best available for this ACF.

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Canadian Airlines International Ltd. was a Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001, when it was acquired by Air Canada. The airline was Canada’s second largest airline, second only to Air Canada, and carried almost 12 million passengers to over 160 destinations in 17 countries on five continents in 1996 (it’s best). Canadian Airlines served 105 destinations in Canada, more than any other domestic carrier, and primarily operated Boeing equipment on higher capacity routes, but also had A320 in inventory at the time of acquisition.

audiotracker’s Canadian paint for the QPAC320 is simply perfect. The “goose” logo is carried out with precision, and text and other detail is sharp and well-placed. This is a “dirty” paint, too, so if you want a clean version you’ll need to find a good car wash.

LIT textures are textbook for this ACF, as you would expect from this artist. Highly recommended, and see here leaving Santiago’s “new” KLGA.

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There was also a very nice looking DHL paint for the XPFWP 757/200 released Monday, you can access the download via the Org’s link  here. This is a very nice looking effort and well worth mentioning, but it’s a multi-step installation involving Planemaker and (potentially) text editors but I doubt I’ll have time for all that any time soon. The night cockpit lighting tweak is detailed as well. Nice images at the link. If so inclined, give it a go!

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Lockheed’s Skunk Works produced some of the most notable aircraft of the Cold War, but the über-secretive division was reportedly actually formed in 1938 when hostilities with Germany appeared inevitable. The P38 Lightning grew from these early efforts, and recent histories of the mysterious organization makes for fascinating reading. Also note: the “skunk” image above is LockheedMartin’s trademarked image, and you can see below that the logo is still in use, as the division remains very active:

Headquartered in Palmdale, California (below) near Edwards Air Force Base, The Skunk Works is currently occupied with the F35 project, and with two UAVs also in production their status as one of the premier weapons engineering works in the world remains more than intact.

Notable “Skunk” milestones besides the P38 include the F104 Starfighter, the U2, the F117 and F22 fighters, as well as the aircraft developed for Project Oxcart.

Say what?

There are, or were, three main variants of the Skunk Work’s basic Oxcart design: the original A-12 single seat recon model, the YF12A dual seat interceptor, and the final dual seat SR-71 recon bird. These three aircraft grew from the CIA’s original design brief, which eventually became Project Oxcart.

Released early Monday, The Privateer’s YF12 ACF is built on the default SR71 which has been included with X-Plane for some time, as was an earlier effort by Vonrik. Both models have their strengths and weaknesses, but The Privateer’s latest has one interesting addition: the inclusion of three AIM-47 Falcon AAMs.

Unfortunately no corresponding work has been done on a fire control radar, and as XP really isn’t set up for combat anyway you have to conclude the effort would be a waste of time at this point… Yet Khamsin and Arno have sort of blazed a new trail, haven’t they.

Makes you wonder what a talented programmer and Gizmo could come up with, doesn’t it? What would you call this, I wonder? The Mig 25 for lunch bunch?

Anyway…puttering around in X-Plane over Southern California at Mach 1.5 is just plain fun: there’s simply no other way to look at the experience. You’d never have been able to do anything like this in “reality” under any conditions short of DEFCON 1, so while the thought of cruising over a hypothetical San Fernando Valley is amusing, and leaving a sonic boom rolling along in your wake big enough to knock Valley Girls out of their virtual VW convertibles is sort of gratifying in a warped kind of way, in the end it’s the immersive feeling of speed that will likely appeal to you, and I’m guessing you’ll want to try your hand in this ACF more than once.

You can try high Mach numbers at medium to high altitude, but you’d best not try it at sea level as the dense air can bring on a rapid onset of turbulence generated flutter. That’s bad at 1500KIAS. Still, Mach 1.2 was doable just over the Nimitz flight deck…perhaps 300AGL…low enough to peel the paint off the flight deck anyway.

Take-off is a leisurely affair, as you might imagine. While a Porsche 911 might beat the real aircraft in 0-60 mph times, it’s the 60-200 that becomes a little, well, breathtaking in this ACF. I was too busy hanging on for dear life to note V1, but it was somewhere between 180 and 200KIAS. Altimeter and Rate of Climb are vertical tape readouts, which is good in this case as there’s just no way a conventional circular dial could spin fast enough to keep up with this thing’s blistering acceleration in a climb.

Landing the YF12 is simplicity itself…as long as you land on Edwards AFB’s dry lake bed runway complex. Finding a patch of dirt long enough and dry enough isn’t usually a real problem, just keep your speed above 210 KIAS and cross your fingers that the tires don’t blow on touchdown!

Oh, that yellow thingamabobbit next to the standby compass on the upper left panel is the landing chute. A word or two of advice: USE IT!

Ah! A few images of Vonrik’s earlier YF12 ACF now:

I don’t know about you, but I like the steel/ceramic look of this ACF.

Oh…and another few words about Edwards AFB… There’s a decent enough file here for the air base, but the dry lake bed is rendered like this by XP:

Which, oddly enough, offers no real resemblance at all to the real thing:

But it just so happens that a texture file to fix all this nonsense was released this past weekend (and – cough, cough – by The Privateer… Now, imagine that!). This is what you’ll find after you follow the rather simple but detailed installation instructions carefully:

This landscape will prove handy for the YF12A, the Space Shuttle, and all sorts of interesting black products that emerge from a quiet corner of Palmdale otherwise known as Skunk Hollow.

So…The Privateer released a nice new texture set to go with his nice, freshly revised Oxcart. Both are highly recommended. So, for that matter, is Vonrik’s ACF.

And?

Give all this stuff a try…you’re bound to get a smile or three for your trouble.

And that’s all she wrote for now, so…

The News…Heard ‘Round the Ramps…for 12 September 2011

Posted by chip on September 12, 2011
Posted in: FsX, Liveries, News. 4 comments

Man-o-man-alive…audiotracker is on fire again and turning out some great paint! So too, for that matter, is Willeshka. We’ve got lots of new liveries to look at as a result of their hard work, and a scenery revision to mention, so let’s dig into some interesting news and then get on with it.

But let’s make a quick stop along the way, because…

…our reporter Perry Wagner has made a quick look around TFFJ, as well as TNCM and Saba, as part of his First Look at FlyTampa’s “St Maarten’s Complete” package for FsX, and the post is up at X+SIM+Reviews. If you’ve enjoyed looking at these scenery files in XP you’ll want to drop by and check out their cousins in FsX, as there’s definitely something about them worth checking out!

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  • Listen up, because word is filtering out that MsFlight development has been HALTED. If this is true, if this is in fact happening and not just blogosphere bloatware, what could this mean for XP? And FsX? Well, a few thoughts here: One huge gripe we hear about FsX is the cost of add-ons, and how this investment really adds up over time. And we hear how that’s driven many people away from the product. So, if some poor Joe has a few bucks invested in FsX he’s got little to lose and may come to XP without a second’s hesitation, but he’ll probably have little to spend on a move to XP too. Richie Rich, on the other hand, might not be bothered about switching to XP because he’s got money to burn, but how many really rich simmers are there? The dedicated hobbyist – what most of us here might be called – not rich but not poor either, is going to look at his options carefully before deciding to jump ship to another SIM. If he in effect loses his investment in add-ons by coming to XP, won’t he be really interested in something that let’s him hold on to his goods? And that’s where products like A2A’s Piper Cub come in: FsX developers are integrating new core physics models into FsX…so what happens if you could get FsX with a flight model nearly as good as X-Plane’s…what happens to the development picture then? Do framerates drop to near zero without a huge, new mega-PC? Will people want to switch and loose their investment if a new way of improving FsX’s physics proves feasible? Can FsX developers really catch up to Austin’s 17 year head start? And one final thought here: one way to spur development within X-Plane would be for FsX developers who come to X-Plane to cut current users some monetary slack…i.e., if someone owned Product X’s KJFK for FsX, give them a break if they buy the same product for X-Plane. Maybe tough to implement, but that’ll keep people from hacking copies with Fs2Xp, and preserve the integrity of the product environment. Some really careful thought needs to go into this part of the XP10 product integration scheme, because there are some golden business opportunities here, and some real opportunities to capture market share! One thing you can count on however: developers making new flight models for FsX are going to be riding high if the MsFlight announcement is FACT. I know that’s a big IF, but ALL Laminar has to do now is exploit their head start…and the market is all right there for the taking. FsX developers take note: this date might be an important one. The early bird gets the worm, and suddenly Carenado and Aerosoft are looking very smart indeed.

And with that, let’s look at some brilliant new paint:

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audiotracker is on a roll…again…and this a great thing to watch unfold. Not to mention fun, because his work really showcases just what XP can deliver when in capable hands. He seems to go through long spells without making much at all, then – blammo – he’s off to the races. Here’s hoping this burst lasts a long time, because there are only a precious few painters in XP with his skill!

First up? Virgin America for the QPAC A320, and we have both clean and dirty versions this time out. The image above is the “dirty Virgin” paint, and only the one immediately below is of the clean paint.

Once again, his LITs and text-work are clean as can be, but late on Sunday he released something truly different and completely unexpected. Take a look at the windows (and you may need to click to enlarge) in the image below:

Yes, Virgin America’s purple cabin lighting comes through now with this mod, and I have to think that as simple as this is, the work reflects a new area of interest for painters. It won’t improve your flying, but what the hey! It sure looks great.

audiotracker followed this up with a Thai Airlines for the QPAC in both clean and dirty versions, and look over the candy-stripe lines on the fuselage, aft, and how the lines meet cleanly at the seam. Real artistry, gorgeous work, and seen with EPORT’s glossy texture scheme.

And look at all the text detailing added around the doors and lower fuselage/engine cowling. Spectacular effect, and another reason why his paints are just so fine.

audiotracker followed up once more with this British Caledonian paint for the QPAC, and this classic is offered in both clean and dirty variants as well:

And as if all this wasn’t enough of a weekend’s work, as seen below he added this PNG fix to make the LIT windows on the QPAC look better defined at night. You simply need to replace one file in the main objects folder to get this mod up and running. Very worthwhile improvement, too, and similar to the purple LIT windows seen above in the Virgin effort, but with this mod ALL your QPAC liveries will be improved.

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Willeshka too has been hard at work, and came out with three top-notch new paints for Samen’s A34/6 on Sunday, starting with this United Parcel Service version that just looks great – in any light.

The LIT textures offer a real improvement, with better landing light LITs now in place, and the tail on this effort is crisp night and day.

Next up, a KOREAN AIR variant for the A34/6, again, by Willeshka:

Very subtle work here, very good range of shading. Excellent, among his best yet.

And Willeshka wrapped up the weekend with this Cathay Pacific ONEWORLD:

Once again, subtle work, very nice and clean with crisp text and a good effort on the tail art.

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A 9|11 Commemorative livery for the EADT x737/8NG by ‘AndrooC’ rounds out the paint this issue.

Of course any effort like this one is full of symbolic undertones, whether conscious or unconscious, and this effort has more than a few on hand. The tail, for instance. An eagle, wrapped in the patriotic flag but constrained by a circle, almost protectively amidst a field of shattered glass. The flag, “Old Glory”, but fading as it trails aft…to what? The past? The future?

Ah well, as Freud said, sometimes a tunnel is just a tunnel. Nice, thoughtful and thought-provoking work.

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‘xflusi’s’ LJLJ comes in for some extensive ortho-texture treatment and as you can see in the image below the scale of the mod is getting really vast! This will be fun in a GA single when you can linger above the area.

The ramps are being worked on too. Still! This is turning into a great addition!

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We’ll let you know if we hear more about developments concerning MsFlight, and that’s all for early Monday…y’all take care, and…