New XP10 beta release

XsimReview : 7th Sept 2012 : 10.10 RC1… What no more betas! – Helicopter Paints

Posted by flightime56 on September 7, 2012
Posted in: Liveries, New XP10 beta release, OPINION. 1 comment

 

Ha!…. Its Friday and its beta day!… err no?

Release Candidate 1 (RC1) That means stable right.. That is good isn’t it?

Digging through the details it solves a few more bugs and issues.

Ben posted a post on the “starting” issue dont-get-me-started and here is the fix and here is the repair job.

As I found I couldn’t start a few aircraft – I am just glad it wasn’t me but the X-Plane thingymading… And you wonder why my hair is falling out.

The ATI Windows users have an alert to ponder on their driver bug.

A big one for me is the downloaded weather METAR data, most times you are flying along and have the perfect runway line-up after a very long sector and in comes an updated weather download…

…. Suddenly all hell breaks loose as you get severe turbulence and gusts of high magnitude….passengers are screaming and so are you!

I’ll have to keep you posted on this one, I need the weather to be on my side…. but if you hear a scream you will know it isn’t fixed…

This annoyance has been with us since January and was one of my items on my BO (Bloody Obvious) list….thank god for that fix.

Lighting has had a touch of the magic wand, and it is better.

Sorry I can’t turn up the sun… but it only works in the dark.

But they are certainly clearer and brighter from a distance.

I found my ATR is still only running one landing light?

The x737 lighting looks good… but

Still no taxilight?

Roads:

Dubai has the worst road system in complexity, but the update has sorted it out a little, trucks now go under and over and the bridges arch over the crossroads, with out the under-bridge pylons it looks slightly weird, but it is still far better.

From a distance it all works very well…

The main point is that 10.10 is now out of beta, those now coming over from the distant past will certainly notice the big (huge) jump forward from 10.05rc1.

It is not perfect but it is a major step in the right direction

 

The Details:

X-Plane 10.10 RC 1

ATI WINDOWS USERS: X-Plane 10.10 is affected by a driver bug (still present in catalyst 12-8 drivers) that can affect runway lights and HDR mode. To work around the problem, run from the DOS prompt like this:

X-Plane.exe --no_srgb

We are working with ATI and will come up with something more permanent before we finalize 10.10.

Aircraft Changes

  • Default Aircraft startup times drastically improved! Sometimes on piston engines, you may even need to crack the throttle to get the aircraft to start…just like real aircraft!

Starter:

  • The starter has been changed quite a bit; airplanes from v9 and 10.05 should now start as expected. See this post for details.

Bug Fixes

  • METARs with variable winds no longer create wind-shear/turbulence for low wind speed conditions
  • Slung Loads are no longer defaulted ON…this was preventing the B-52 from flying properly!
  • Mouse wheel scrolling now works in the Aircraft Livery panel
  • Weapons drawn correctly in Plane-Maker
  • Plane-Maker can import .inst instrument files.
  • Light billboard color-space fixed; the runway lights should be quite a bit more visible now.
  • Fixed misaligned roads.
  • Fixed road bridges crashing into each other.
  • Improved ramps going into road junctions slightly.
  • Fixed P-180 panel going black when P-180 is used as an AI plane or HDR is turned on and off.
  • Fixed missing landing light in 2-d cockpits and forward views.
  • Jets will hot-start if __N2__ is below indicated value in Plane-Maker. Plane-Maker used to use N1 for jets, which was difficult to work with.

_________________________________

None is too happy about the packaging of the liveries for the Boeing 777, It is expensive if you add them all up, I’m not saying it is not good value, but in reality I would use only 10 to 15 at the most and for that I would have to pay US$80, that does not work out to a $1 a livery but (at say 10) at $8 per livery…

I want the idea to succeed because good paints are hard to do and the guys should be paid for their talents and a US$1 is a great price, but the idea has got lost somewhere…

My choice is that you pick the minimum of 10 liveries and they are packaged together and you pay your 10 bucks, want more then choose another 10 liveries of your choice…

Moving on…

The S-92 from DMO is a beautiful thing, I’m calling it “The Beast” because it sure is a handful in the hover, I don’t spin the blades into the turf often, but I do say a lot of…. “Ahhhhh shit!”

X-Plane Hems_S-92 livery 1.0 – Damiano : HEMS_S-92 livery

A very bright paint, I needed my sunglasses on to fly this, and that was looking at it from the inside….

A note: It is for the SAR version!

Some nice line detail and the paint is sharp.

The underside is very well done, and looks great in a flyover…

With the lights out at night again it looks great with the beacon.

Red on red blades looks good as well.

All up it is a bit bright for me.. but a good paint.

S-92 SAR Sikorsky Camouflage livery – amerrir : S-92 SAR Sikorsky Camouflage

The biggest shock I had when looking at the DMO S-92 for the first time is that there was only one military version (for the Canadian Air Force – It is a default livery), very surprised at that as you would think they would used by most military forces around the world.

So this camouflage livery is a very wanted addition to the package.

Again it is SAR version file!

This is so well done, and is so so very hard to do to get the right parts to match up.

depth of colour here… perfection.

To the battlefield.

Over the scenery it almost blends in, I gather that is the idea.

So… If you have the S-92 then I doubt you would pass this by, just a very good paint…. for “The Beast”

 

 

X-Rotor’s AW-139 Military Prototype Liveries – I-CAER : X-Rotor’s AW-139 Military Prototype

If you have X-Rotors AW-139 then here is another military livery.

Not the best of files for this aircraft.

I doubt a military aircraft would reflect light like a lighthouse beacon, this is so shiny you get blinded sometimes.

The window surrounds are a bit heavy as well and make perfect targets for any sharpshooter on the ground… a rethink here I think is in order.

But the AW-139 does look good in grey.

So as we head into the weekend don’t forget those screenshots, and let us know how you feel not being a beta anymore…. Alpha RC1 here we are!

Flightime56

 

FT56©2012

 

x+sim+reviews + alert: xp10.10r1 is out

Posted by chip on September 7, 2012
Posted in: New XP10 beta release. 1 comment

FlightTime56 will have a more detailed look at this release candidate/update, but this release has implications for the R&P777 as this is the new default stable release, and 10.05r1 is now history.

A couple of items on the list are improved runway lighting and roads and bridges have been tweaked, so let’s take a look.

We’re making a circuit around Louis Armstrong International, frede’s latest located in New Orleans and a very nice file indeed…and with varying low sunlight/angles applied in the pattern and on final…

And here’s some complex roadwork, and yes, it looks quite improved.

FT56 will have more for you soon, but this looks like it might be a good one… Hasta later – C

XsimReviews : 10.10.beta11 Is out!… .10b is best forgotten

Posted by flightime56 on September 2, 2012
Posted in: New XP10 beta release, Xplane 10 talk. 21 comments

Another update in 10.10.b11, due to some file mix-up the b10 version is overlooked and we go straight on to b11.

It is a final of most of the bug quashing and for aircraft files including some more clean ups on the default aircraft, In this case the Baron, F22 and the P180.

Also noted is the HDR mode is also now noted as final.

Download size is about 76mb, full size the update is 208mb

Most of these latest updates are not really focused on the daily day to day Sim, but for getting a stable platform for the aircraft developers so they can make their changes and put out X-Plane10 versions of their products. (In other words make them happy)

Focus should now turn back to making X-Plane 64bit which is coming in beta 10.20, in another post Ben notes that the scenery (autogen) upgrade (The Next Augogen drop…) won’t now happen till the release of beta 10.20  (boooo Hisssss)…

But there is an interesting reason for the change, With the (hopefully large) amount of Autogen going in there, Laminar feel it will need the 64bit to work efficiently (certainly on older machines) – Ben Notes:

“The new autogen does take a little bit more memory.  Not tons more, but for a user on the red line with 32 bits, upgraded autogen might require memory that isn’t available.”

Which is a very plausible reason to make it work correctly from the outset than have a load of squabbles that your sim suddenly goes through the floor as it tries to process everything to early.

I don’t mind waiting for something better than something just to work, Yes I have noted that the scenery needs urgent attention, but I want it also right as a quick fix patch would do even more damage than what we have now. In other words we send the message out that the “Shitty Upgrade” has ruined our platform, bad news travels fast and soon X-Plane is seeing those threads of “I always knew that X-Plane was a shit idea” starts popping up.

So let us get it right.

A few first runs showed B11 to be quite tighter.

My “BINTER” ATR72-500 is my yardstick, It is an old Riviere file, light on frame-rate and great for small regional airports like here at Key West. (A very very worthwhile download KEYW Key West Inter)

Here HDR “on” is still what I call “Milky”, certainly feels better, but with some cloud it pulls my frame-rate down into the 20′s

HDR “off” and I get 50 frames+ and the aircraft looks better and shiny.

This aircraft being an old file has had some very strange issues over the last year, the wing tips floated, one engine worked and the other didn’t, lights suspended, no flap drop, cabin glass whited out and the very odd business of the internal 3d being the wrong size?

But It works quite well now with most items working and finally in their right places…. the scrolling 2d cockpit is a great addition as well.

All now is pretty complete, lighting is in the right places and the aircraft (Including the 3d) is all now correct…

Only two issues, I can’t shut down my engines?…. and the flaps don’t drop in notches but only in a continuous (keep my finger on the key) roll.

Otherwise she is good to go.

Shadows look better and more sharply defined… overall The American Eagle looks very good.

Why point this out?…  well it means that the adjustments are working and are correct, If an old file like this will work again then so will a few others.

Overall from the word go beta11 looked and felt just that little bit sharper and cleaner (shadows better?) than the view I had yesterday…

Here is the version notes:

x-Plane 10.10 Beta 11

It’s just like beta 10, but with the ‘extra aircraft’ folder properly included (this is where some of the old v9 aircraft and experimentals now live) and with code signing hopefully fixed.

X-Plane 10.10 Beta 10 (alas we knew you so briefly)

This build closes our known bugs with aircraft and HDR mode – if you have created a custom aircraft for v9, you may have to update a few things to work with HDR mode and 10.10. Docs on what needs updating (the list is short) soon.

  • Safe mode warning dialog box disabled for pro key customers.
  • Mac apps are now signed to play nicely with Gatekeeper on 10.8 Mountain Lion
  • There is now a command to toggle full-screen mode – bind it to a key or call it from a plugin.

P180 Updates

  • The P-180′s panel now works with global shadows, and the visors don’t block the clouds in HDR mode.
  • The P-180′s electrical system now puts a load on generators.

F22 Updates

  • New HUD elements added for attitude
  • Revised Airfoils
  • Heavily tweaked flight model
  • Turn and bank with more control and stability, even with full stick deflection
  • Nice manners on landing

Baron Updates

  • Fixed panel back shadow mode
  • Fixed prop lever in 3D cockpit so it doesn’t drop prop RPM down below governing range
  • Fixed clipping of global lights in cockpit.

Airplane SDK:

  • Cockpit spill lights in Plane-Maker show up in HDR mode too. Their lighting equation is changed – they always look the way they used to look in HDR mode.
  • Fixed some cases of airplane lights showing through the walls of the 3-d cockpit.
  • Fixed ATTR_diffuse_rgb and ATTR_emission_rgb in HDR mode.
  • Fixed glass objs on ACF when airplane is upside down and atmospheric scattering is on.
  • Airplane casts shadows even on glass objects in HDR mode.

Plugins:

  • Flight loop callback is not called when the QuickFlight dialog box is up before the first flight.
  • Post-FM callbacks are called when dialog boxes are up – this is consistent with pre-FM callbacks.

Bug Fixes:

  • Airplanes with separate in and out cockpit objs work with GLOBAL_cockpit_lit
  • Slightly improved ramps that would stick up in the middle of street-level road junctions.

 

Flightime56

XsimReviews : Update – 10.10b9 is out and about… let us go supersonic…

Posted by flightime56 on August 24, 2012
Posted in: New XP10 beta release. 9 comments

Yes folks time to again update and this time go supersonic!

The Details:

X-Plane 10.10 Beta 9

  • Supersonic engine thrust model improved to go from total pressure recovery to normal-shock recovery as you move towards the max inlet efficiency, and pass air subsonically to the compressor behind the inlet. This is still not a perfect inlet model since different inlets work in totally different ways, but this is the best superonic inlet model we have ever had, and the supersonic drag is now the best we have ever had as well. The supersonic drag model looks at each polygon of the acf model, finds its’ normal vector and area, and treats it as a plate with a compression or expansion fan, and should now do a perfect job of tracking every single poly in the airplane.The new supersonic model, like ALL of the dynamics in X-Plane, considers all of the various bodies that you have created for the airplane. That is: ALL of the fuselage, misc bodies, nacelles, etc, are considered to be exposed to the airflow. This means that if you have multiple bodies one inside the other, the aero effects will be DOUBLED compared to reality! Also, if you have one body hiding right behind another, or behind the fuselage, then the drag effects will be DOUBLED compared to reality! This is why with the latest beta, some planes are not going supersonic that should: We are now computing the drag more accurately on each body, and having multiple bodies one behind the other simply add up the drag based on the frontal area of EACH BODY! A very simple case of this is an F-104 Starfighter model that uses a fuselage for the FRONT of the plane, and a misc body for the BACK! In this case, the front of the misc body is acting like a big flat-plate exposed to the air.. surely enough to keep the plane subsonic! So, to design a plane properly, do NOT use misc bodies and fuselage and nacelles stacked inside each other, or behind each other in a row. This will simply erroneously add up drag! When designing a plan e for X-Plane, the rule is really very very simple: Each fuselage, misc body, and nacelle has the local air aciting on it. That’s it! So it is actually really simple. Now, there is ONE exception: Engine nacelles for jets. Engine nacelles for jets are assumed to NOT produce any drag. This is because the thrust for the engine that you enter in Plane-Maker is considered to already be based on installed thrust losses. So, if you want your ACF model to be accurate, then do not have hidden-away misc bodies with frontal area inside another body, and certainly do not have 2 bodies one behind the other to make a long body… the frontal area of the aft body will still be exposed to the air in X-Plane! If you want really detailed geometry (read: more than you can get out of a body in X-Plane, so you want to hook multiple bodies together) then it is time to build an OBJ for your airplane!
  • ForeFlight support! Grab ForeFlight version 4.7 and you can now use X-Plane as a “GPS” to practice your flying.
  • New commands: Spot lite on, off, and toggle… kind of sorely missing before!
  • Helo rotor rpm trim runs 0 to 1, so it is an interpolation between the lo and hi rotor rpm trim. This way, motion of the trim always DOES something, even if only a high OR lo rotor rpm trim is entered in Plane-Maker!
  • Automatic crash reporter no longer catches crashes that occur because of plugins. This is important so that plugin authors can get crash data from their users without us stealing it from them.
  • UI Buttons in all products have been improved to be…well…like every other button you’ve ever used outside of X-Plane. Actions happen on the up-click, not the down-click giving you a chance to change your mind while also giving you visual feedback of the press itself.

Aircraft

  • Fixed Vacuum pressure and Oil Pressure gauges in the default C-172
  • Fixed SR-71 flight model

Shadows

  • This build should fix the bug where the shadows would jitter and shake wildly with HDR enabled; the shadows should now be about the same with HDR on or off. (Global melt your GPU looks better with HDR on.) Some airplanes that previously did not shadow properly are now fixed. I am still working on shadow tuning.

Bug Fixes

  • Joystick Dialog now consolidates axis display so more device axis are visible. Important for people with many devices.
  • Joystick calibration ranges from 10.05R1 are now blown away to prevent corrupt axis on an update. NOTE: This will require EVERYONE to recalibrate their devices on updating.
  • Fixed broken “alt” button on Windows
  • Fixed buttons on some home-cockpit devices such as the MJoy16-C1
  • You can now save a situation and then load it again without exiting X-Plane to re-scan the file list.
  • Landing lights and all other lights should go across to the external visuals now.
  • Much less turbulence in light to moderate precip… but same trubulence in major (red) precip
  • QuickFlight startup does put you on the ramp now, if set up as such in Operations and Warnings window.
  • Weather goes to ALL the external visuals now, not just a random ONE of them! ;-P
  • Right Click/Zoom no longer control the sim from IOS station.
  • Fixed bug in planemaker causing resource copying to create invalid files on Windows.
  • Fixed dlerror __stack_chk_fail_local on Linux machines. Ideally, plugin authors should be compiling with -fno-stack-protector but in the meantime, this will let them run again.
  • Roads shouldn’t cut into buildings at low view angles.
  • Fixed crash when starting up with IOS enabled and quick flight showing on startup.
  • Fixed cursor being hidden in joystick calibration wizard.
  • Fixed cut-off object names in Plane-Maker main screen.
  • Fixed prioritization up/down buttons in plane-maker misc objects screen.
  • Added error checking for airplanes whose use of panel texture is inconsistent. You can’t mix and match ATTR_cockpit and ATTR_cockpit_region!!!!
  • Plugins are now exempt from breakpad; if a plugin crashes, the normal OS crashes happen so that the user can send a report to the plugin author, rather than the crash going into our database.
  • Fixed camera instrument to not turn green during the day with panel regions.

Well I tried the Sr-71 only a few weeks ago and it crashed the simulator, so the fix is welcome there.

Shadow shaking in HDR is annoying as well, “have you tried to tie that Helicopter down”… hell it was just a “Hang on” moment there, and so damn annoying!

But the focus here is on the Supersonic model, So we will give it an afterburner run and let you know the results..

Flightime56

FT56©2012

Alert: XP10.10beta 7 is out!

Posted by chip on August 12, 2012
Posted in: New XP10 beta release, Xplane 10 talk. 10 comments

Time to run those installers. Here’s the change log:

X-Plane 10.10 Beta 7

Ben says: I screwed up – Plane-Maker crashes on startup on Windows 100% of the time. Beta 8 will be out shortly to fix this. Enjoy beta 7 if you are on Mac or just need to fly…Windows plane authors should hold off…

  • Quick-Look now supports our new 2D panel scrolling
  • Quick-Flight is now under the file menu
  • Major revisions to the Baron and King Air (images below)
  • Global scenery terrain regions tuned.
  • Added “TEXTURE_CONTROL_NOWRAP” to correspond to TEXTURE_CONTROL. This is needed to make orthophoto pol files with decals.

Aircraft:

  • 10.10 beta 6 attempted to mark older cockpit objects as ‘glass’. This seemed like a clever way to make HDR work but actually breaks more aircraft than it helps. This change has been removed for beta 7. As a result, the CRJ and other aircraft that use the panel texture as a window will not show clouds correctly in HDR mode. These aircraft will need an update to work with HDR enabled, but will work correctly with HDR disabled. X-Plane cannot guess-and-auto-update these aircraft for HDR.
  • The cockpit now contains most of the same options in Plane-Maker as the attached objects.
  • Invalid use of ATTR_cockpit is now detected and logged.

Bug Fixes:

  • Fixed crash on Windows with facades with empty meshes. This fixes the crash using the “Classic 3″ airport facade.
  • Added support for some out-of-spec PFC Yokes
  • Fixes to solve some strange button behavior on various joysticks (ie. Cyborg Evo)
  • Fixed bus_load_amps dataref to read proper value
  • Landing lights accurately reflect their load on electrical busses now.
  • G430,G1000 and Avidyne instruments now work with panel regions.
  • Fixed some cases where water fog looks funny – there are still some bugs with water and fog.
  • Fixed black line when shadows on “Melt your GPU” with NV cards.
  • Fixed missing cockpit objects in Chinook and other older-style planes.
  • Fixed missing transponder on P32R and other panels that mix translucency and panels.
  • Fixed intermittent drawing of airports in sectional map.
  • Fixed plugin glue code: XPLMNavAid can find stand-alone DMEs.
  • Fixed incorrect culling of trees when forest exclusion zones go outside a DSF boundary.
  • Moved power tower wires to a later drawing group to avoid artifacts.
  • Fixed world being very dark for the first few frames in HDR mode.

Other tweaks:

  • if you ask to start on the ramp under operations and warnings, then the quick-flight screen honors that
  • real-weather should grab dew-point to display in ATIS reports, which is kind of nice.
  • supersonic model for bodies over-hauled a bit… should be more realistic now (the supersonic model for the wings should remain un-changed)

Let us know how it goes for you. This is a small download, BTW…took just a few minutes. Hasta later – C

UPDATE: 11 Aug 2012:

X-Plane 10.10 Beta 8

This is a recut of beta 7 that fixes Plane-Make crashing on startup on Windows.

Later that same day… one of the new desert textures. This over the Sahara, about 1000 miles south of Carthage.

XsimReviews : 10.10b5 and all that Jazz

Posted by flightime56 on August 1, 2012
Posted in: 3D, New XP10 beta release, Xplane 10 talk. 11 comments

So another update in 10.10b5 and which way do we go? – Well forward of course.

10.10b3 was a bit of a dog, 10.10b4 was a step in the right direction – but 10.10b5 is certainly really quite to very good.

I feel at the very top end I have lost just a little of my framerate performance, not that much and finally you certainly don’t feel you are on a cliff anymore and that you are going to crash “out of memory” at any minute, and I would say it it is smooooth, really smooth.

But here is the good feeling

I have enlarged my numbers so you can see the frame rate 28.14 – In the Dash, and in the clouds?…. getta out of here!

(my computer specs are noted at the bottom of the post)

And like I mentioned it was all very smooth.

I am still having an issue with using the HDR “on” as well, simply brilliant at night – but I am still not convinced in the daytime.

HDR “off” is quite good

The gamma with HDR “on” is still very noticably far brighter and the aircraft is far more (very) jaggy around all areas, to which I would say it feels like a drop (stop down) in texture render settings – here it is set to “High”

I will note is this really cheating?…by going down a step in render texture settings to make it perform better with HDR “on” to match the HDR “off” frame rates… hummm, I wonder.

Close up with HDR “off” the detail is simply first-rate and this is in just in the standard “High” setting.

This is all with a speed busting 80 frames as well, the detail of the leading edge is simply perfect.

Yes I am running Mountain Lion so I will take that into the equation, but I feel that 10.10b5 is still a step forward.

The line between HDR “on” and “off” in some (many) areas is now very small so in many cases you can leave it switched on

A nice sunset image shows the great light and the reflection of colours on the x737′s wing, this image is with HDR “off” and with the “visibility” (weather) setting about half way, it all works so very nicely thank you.

Traffic and trains seems to be far smoother as well to which I will relate to the HDR tweaks, this is in Kansas (Setting) .

But the train signaling still needs a little work…

_______________________________

“Quicklook” QL

The new feature in 10.105b is “Quicklook” QL for setting your views in a 3d cockpit.

And very good it is as well.

Press your usual “3d cockpit” (or 3d_cockpit_cmnd_look) view and then set your new view via your usual keys by Rotating left, right, up, and
down or Zoom in and out – then when you have the view you want just press “CONTROL” and a number on your keyboard (or Keypad) from 1 to 10.

Then go back and then press the same number and you are zoomed straight to that view.

It was great to set the view exactly where you want it, and then to come straight back to the same view on a single push of a button.

To get this view usually means a lot of scrolling around the Q400 cockpit.

The Overhead light switches were very hard to get to as well.

The great feature about all this is you are in control, you set the place you want and not what someone else thinks you want – and still then you can always scroll and adjust to right or left if you need to.

And if you like that view better then just save it (CONTROL-number) – simple as that.

Then you can get creative!

I always love the passenger view.

Settings are for that Aircraft and you have to start from scratch with any new file.

Drawbacks, I found a few.

If you have a key assigned to a number (key) then the assigned key over-rides the “view” save.

You can assign any key by using the keys “setup” in the “Buttons: Basic tab of the
Joystick & Equipment” menu window – which gives you more freedom of setting it up where you want them.

I questioned the differences between quick_look_0 and quick_look_0_mem.

And Chris (Serio) noted this :

“The “_mems” are the assignment keys. So they should almost always be the same as the quick_look keys but with a modifier. So by default 0-9 for quick_look and CONTROL+0-9 for _mems.”

______________________

Remember there are two versions of view, you could say one is “inside” which is the 3d (Cockpit) and “Outside” which is the general views.

You toggle between them by using the 3d Cockpit view, once inside the 3d view you can move around inside the aircraft setting your different views, If you move outside the aircraft to take the same 3d views of the say the front of the Q400 or the x737 then that view will also be stored.

But I found that on some aircraft (Challenger 300) that you can’t move outside the boundaries of the 3d cockpit?, inside was fine…but there was no way I could move outside and probably related to the update in 10.05rc of “(ATTR_solid_wall now works again.) ”

On the Q400 I had no issues, so it will depend on what file you are using if you can move outside with every aircraft?

If you save a view with the general view it will save the view but in the “moving spot” position.

So if you turn then the camera will stay in the same place but it will note the new angle of the view.

Unlike the 3d views which go straight back to the same visual viewpoint.

All views are stored in a _prefs.txt in your aircraft folder and it looks like this.

I
10 version
_iql_view_type_1 v_3dc
_iql_pe_x_1 1.916732
_iql_pe_y_1 1.510194
_iql_pe_z_1 -10.113927
_iql_look_os_psi_1 141.532944
_iql_look_os_the_1 -1.333754
_iql_zoom_rat_1 1.000000
_iql_circ_psi_1 64.263763
_iql_circ_the_1 48.490284
_iql_circ_dis_1 31.117260

If you need to move it then just copy and paste the _pref.txt file to the new aircraft folder like in the instances of an update, say with the x737 and that way you don’t have to input them all again from scratch

Overall the new “Quicklook” feature is excellent, I love it, It is very easy to use and highly adjustable to use on the fly, but I will have to totally rearrange my key setup to make the best use of it.

______________________

 Also noted in 10.10b5 is the changes to the manipulator that you use to twist knobs and tune equipment around the 3d cockpit. (mostly the Autopilot)

It is now a new pixel-based manipulator lets you define drags that work horizontally or vertically, with scaling. This manipulator is now intended to make knobs draggable.

This Item was brought to the table at Laminar by Javier Rollon. And mainly because the default B747-600 was so impossible to adjust in any direction, I find most working ideas in these manipulators work fine – but some are very distracting if your workload is high (say on landing).

The developer will have to update their products to take advantage of the feature so it won’t be noticeable until a few updates hit the shelves.

_______________________________

I need to run a few very long simulations to really test the update, but my feeling is that we are getting close to dropping out of the beta stage soon, 10.10b5 is certainly very sturdy and smooth.

To note a feature that is coming soon in 10.10b6 is the “flashlight” that was noted yesterday by Tom Kyler.

Which proves the genius of X-Plane, come up with an idea and it is quickly a new feature – It will be great for those cold, dark mornings….brrr.

As they say around here “have a good one”

Flightime56

_______________________________

Computer System:

- 2.66 Ghz Intel Core i5 iMac 27”

- 6 Gb 1067 Mhz DDR3

- ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb

Software:

- Mac OS Mountain Lion 10.8

- X-Plane 10 Global

- ExtremeSceneryMAXX

 

Flightime56©2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALERT: XP10.10 beta 5 released

Posted by chip on July 31, 2012
Posted in: New XP10 beta release. 14 comments

New beta release just out, and one circuit in the newly revised Catalina around Munda completed. Read below from posts concerning the revisions to views, but they’re significant, and feels very different. The weather dialogue seems a bit simplified, very “beta” in this release:

Cloudscapes still very lackluster.

Here’re the release notes from Laminar:

X-Plane 10.10 Beta 5

  • We now support devices with an insane number of buttons and axis like the Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog (That thing is an insane beast).
  • Improved consistency in views. Right click and scroll are now used everywhere for camera movement and zoom respectively.
  • Implemented Quick-Look view commands to allow users to save predefined views on a per-aircraft basis. (see below)
  • OBJ File Format Extensions – docs coming soon!
    • ATTR_no_shadow disables shadows for just one part of an OBJ; polygon-offset (ATTR_poly_os) geometry now works this way too.
    • A new pixel-based manipulator lets you define drags that work horizontally or vertically, with scaling. This manipulator is intended to make draggable knobs.
    • GLOBAL_cockpit_lit object attribute declares that ATTR_cockpit will use real 3-d lighting. This provides a better migration path for old airplanes that depend on translucency.

Bug Fixes:

  • Fixed broken hot-spots on Altimeters
  • Fixed broken adjustment on attitude indicator
  • Fixed 3/4 deflection on Joystick Axis page on some devices (Saitek Flight Stick, Epic USB, etc.)
  • Fixed “sticking” hat-switches that would sometimes not turn off once pressed.
  • Fixed Joysticks with missing buttons/axis on Windows such as the Logitech G940 or G25
  • Bump maps now work in .ter files again.
  • The HDR pipeline has been severely thrashed in an attempt to improve the look of translucent scenery. While there are still translucency artifacts in HDR mode (and all airplanes should use the “glass” option in plane-Maker for windshields and canopies) translucency should be better than it was before.
  • Fixed ugly blue glowing water at night.
  • Added back 3-d cockpit toggle command to match v9.
  • Airplane is converted to metric before plugins are run.

The Views – Updates to a very important system

Once Ben is done fighting his war on HDR arthropods, Beta 5 will make its way out to the masses. In it, you’ll find some very cool updates to the view system that we think will make sim-life much easier, more intuitive and more useful.

The first change is the removal of the “mouse look” in 3D mode. This was the mode where the mouse controlled your camera orientation just by moving the cursor aroundwithout clicking. We had some feedback on the feature and agreed that it’s really not a very useful mode. The mouse is needed to click on various things in the 3D cockpit and to have your head bobbing around while you’re trying to do that was just annoying.

To look around in 3D mode, you can still of course right click and then move the mouse to adjust the camera angle. You can also use your scroll wheel to zoom in and out of things. This has been in the sim throughout the 10.x run and will remain the primary means of controlling head movement (unless you use your keyboard or Track IR of course). Since many people find the right-click/scroll gestures to be intuitive and useful, I’ve gone in and made things more consistent. Now, no matter what view you’re in, if head movement or zoom is possible, it’s done with right click and scroll. It used to require a LEFT click and scrolling was not an option. This should immediately help people who had trouble with the left clicks activating their mouse-flying box.

The final change is a pretty important one. We’ve added a system called “Quick-Look” (QL from this point on). Technically, you already have QL but I didn’t want to point it out to everyone until I had time to make some improvements to the system which I’ve done for Beta 5. QL allows you to get a view just the way you love it…and then save it to a hot key/cmnd that you can recall at any time later to go right back to the same spot.

For example, suppose you’re flying the default King Air and you find yourself frequently positioning your head, tilting down and zooming in on the throttle quadrant to see how you have the aircraft configured. This can take some time to setup and if you do it often, it can really get tedious. Let’s assign it to a QL then! Get the view the way you like it, and assign it to QL1. Now, no matter what you do to your views, when you press QL1, your head position, orientation and zoom goes right back to your memorized view of the throttle quadrant. It’s not just for 3D cockpit mode either. It works in all aircraft-relative views so 3D Cockpit, Ridealong, Chase, Circle, Forward with Hud etc. The reason for that limitation, is that these views are saved a little differently than other things in the sim. These are aircraft specific preferences. This is necessary so that your views for the Cessna 172 stay with the aircraft and don’t interfere with views for the King Air etc.

Currently, you get 10 QL views per aircraft and they’re saved/recalled anytime you switch aircraft. The QL keys are number-pad 0-9 by default. So for example, to recall QL3, just press the 3 on your number pad. To save a view to QL3, just get the view the way you like it, then press CONTROL + Num-pad 3. CONTROL is the default modifier key to do memorization. Like most of the commands in X-Plane, these are customizable so you can wire them up to any button combinations that you want. Also, you can use your joystick buttons as well to recall saved views.

A word of caution…some of you may have already discovered the QL system in earlier betas. That version is a fairly limited prototype (it only works in cockpit mode) so please do not report any view bugs prior to testing Beta 5. Lastly, your aircraft QL view preferences are going to get trashed with Beta 5 so please don’t spend hours tirelessly getting your views perfect for dozens of aircraft.

+++++

So, we’ll be working through the list and seeing how this one goes, but initial impressions are this one appears stable so far and is a major update.

Hasta later – C

Xsimreviews : 10.10b3 now out…

Posted by flightime56 on July 18, 2012
Posted in: New XP10 beta release. 7 comments

Another day and another update, again this is mostly joystick focused, the details :

X-Plane 10.10 Beta 3

Bug Fixes:

  • Fixed washed out cockpits on older airplanes like the CL415. Blog post coming soon explaining what this was, why authors might want to update their planes, and what’s coming in the future for cockpits.
  • Fixed erratic joystick behavior on windows that prevented proper calibration
  • Fixed linux joystick problem preventing the detection of rudder pedals/trim wheels etc (NOTE: If it still doesn’t find your device, you’ll need to UDEV your /dev/input/event* device to give X-Plane permission).
  • Fixed roads shooting into the sky at LSZA. (There are a lot of the roads on this planet and we can’t check them all by hand, so if you find yet more roads shooting into the sky, please file a bug!!)
  • Sim won’t go into ‘safe mode’ after an auto-update.
  • Aircraft carrier wake doesn’t show through carrier.
  • Fixed crash at night with C130 and other planes with no 3-d cockpit.
  • Fixed heat blur to not show up in first class cabin of 747 and other interiors.

On the last one “Fixed heat blur to not show up in first class cabin of 747 and other interiors.” … well if you pay extra in First class you used to get Heated Seats!

As Ben notes…

“What possessed us to send Chris off into HID land on a quest for new IO code?  The new IO code is meant to support a number of features, a few in 10.10 but most coming in a future build:

  • Hot swapping (here now).
  • Correct hat switch operations (here now).
  • Preferences bound to more than one stick without resetting (here now).
  • Automatic configuration (coming in the future).
  • Better descriptions of the hardware in the UI (coming in the future).
  • Ability to easily open source the Linux IO code (coming in the future).

The new code sets up a unified interface to the hardware, with the hope of sharing configuration info and being able to open source the low level IO code.

The long term goal is to make it really easy to work with X-Plane joysticks: plug it in, go through the absolute minimum configuration just once, and you’re flying.”

_______________________________

So a little pain now to get a lot more functionality later, well that makes a little sense to me.

On the Joysticks, I have never had a problem (Mac OS), First I waited till the 9 pages of pain were read on the forums and thought “well better not do that then!”

On installing 10.10b1 I unplugged my “Thrustmaster” and then started X-Plane, when ready I inserted my USB and reset my Joystick and Throttle combo and it worked like a charm, the bonus is now I can change from throttle (for “The things with wings”) to collective (for things were the “wings move in a circle” without resetting every part of my throttle settings of which was getting seriously annoying.

Only major issue I had been the resetting all my keyboard and throttle settings back to where I like them, I didn’t know how many there was to do – nearly every key in one form or the other.

On the cockpit panel reflections mine was interesting as well…This is the panel of The Dash Q400.

open this picture up and notice the Control Column reflections on the flight displays, this I think is the aim of the idea, not perfect yet but clever…but now gone again on 10.10b3

And glance at my frame rate in the data box – 39.63 fr, with a major Virtual Cockpit in there, I was lucky to get 8 – 18 frames out of the Dash 3d VC this time last week – Happy, Yes Sir.

But and here is the BIG but…I keep running out of memory and that…..

Is a crash!

I can use the Dash Q400 at heavy sceneries like KLAX and my London Heathrow and with my VC cockpit and all but It is still very buggy, the differences between HDR “ON” and “OFF” are weird, In that the frame rate numbers are not that much different? odd to say the least but with HDR “ON” I get a much lighter (gamma) setting than HDR “OFF” and the HDR “ON” looks like it is a render (or two) setting lower…

A look at the (Brisbane) river here and the mountains and how Jaggy it all is with very poor resolution.

So has there been a trade-off?

But there is some great changes here with the lighting and HDR “ON”,

Coming in at dawn the lighting is positively beautiful.

Look at the luminous Clouds through the x737 C Windows.

First Dawn

Aircraft light reflections are first-rate.

Look down at the Mountain Ranges and the sweet lighting.

At every phase it is simply lovely stuff.

Only problem is every phase comes in with a thud and not a slow transition from one element to another.

And finally Brisbane, here the gamma is a little to high on the engines and wings.

And all this with great frame rate.

On my BO (Bloody Obvious) list at least three things have at least been given attention.

> Steering_wheel Toggle.

Which is the one that at the end of the runway that you toggle to keep the front wheels straight and releases the rudder, now works fine “yeah”

Engine Heat blur now is correct, but now and again I get a black shadow a little way back from the engines that looks odd.

Sticking to the right livery after you change a render setting, this is an almost goal, by moving them over to the set up UI, but change the livery and you go back to start?…so a fix?

Not really.

 

A few more on my BO list that are still in there like:

FMS plans still don’t advance at each waypoint?

HDR lighting shows through the floor (now only in HDR “OFF” and “ON” is fine.

Taxi light ground reflections doesn’t work separately from the Landing Lighting? you can have one or the other…(which strangely enough they did work correctly in the original Beta?)

_________________________________

Overall I am saying that 10.10b3 is still very buggy and that is with my constant “Out of Memory” errors, but there is certainly a lot I really like in here for when it is sorted, If the frame rate can be steadied at where I think it can be set…then we will have a huge improvement there and HDR will finally be able to be left ticked on all the time, and that is a very positive outcome…but it may take a while yet to get there.

 

But 10.10b3 is not the fix upgrade

We will have to be patient a (fair) while longer yet.

FT56

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

xp+10+reviews + 18 July 2012

Posted by chip on July 18, 2012
Posted in: New XP10 beta release, News, Scenery Reviews. 5 comments

Kind of neglecting normal duties these days and spending a lot of time pulling out old files and testing them in XP10.10b2, and I’m happy to report that I’m finding only a few minor issues so far, while a few livery issues have appeared intermittently. There’s already a post showing the tweaks coming up in v10.10b3 too. First let’s take a look at some gnews!

  • Hawker Beechcraft is one of several companies based in Wichita, Kan., to form partnerships with Chinese firms. Recently, Hawker announced an agreement with Superior Aviation Beijing. Cessna announced agreements with Aviation Industry Corp. of China in March, while Cirrus was purchased by China Aviation Industry General Aircraft last year. San Francisco Chronicle/The Associated Press
  • Flight restrictions for the Olympic Games in London have been put in place, including a no-fly zone for general aviation over London. Other areas of southeast England have established procedures such as mandatory flight plans and active control for general aviation pilots through Aug. 15. The games run July 27 through Aug. 12. AVweb
  • Tallahassee Regional Airport in Florida plans to hold a forum Thursday about the airport’s attempt to gain status as an international port of entry. “What we are trying to do is engage the general aviation community, primarily aircraft owners and pilots,” said Sunil Harman, the airport’s director of aviation. The airport is asking pilots to send letters detailing the number of international trips they make each year. Tallahassee Democrat (Fla.)
  • EADS plans to model its Airbus factory in Mobile, Ala., after an American Eurocopter plant in Columbus, Miss. Both Airbus and American Eurocopter are subsidiaries of EADS, a European aerospace company. “I can tell you that we are working diligently and very close with the Mobile team, with the Airbus team,” Fred Gerard, the senior director of lightweight utility helicopter production at the Columbus plant. AL.com (Alabama)
  • Sporty’s Pilot Shop plans to expand its presence at next week’s EAA AirVenture 2012 to a 1,200-square-foot display. “Whether you’re learning to fly or looking for the latest iPad accessory, Sporty’s tent is the place to be at Oshkosh,” says Sporty’s Vice President John Zimmerman. Sporty’s also plans to hold several forums during the conference. General Aviation News
  • Rabia Futehally became one of India’s first female pilots in the 1960s. Last month, she was honored by the International Forest of Friendship in Atchison, Kan., for her contributions to civil aviation in India. Atchison is the birthplace of Amelia Earhart. The Times of India

We had some reports yesterday of misbehaving liveries on Peter’s A380, as well as with Carenado files, so I opened a few of these – and this is what I found.

Well…nothing. As in nothing seemed out of place with my 380s. Air France opened just fine. So did Lufthansa and Qantas, and I assume all the rest will too. One note, but which should be almost totally irrelevant: there is a v10 patch available at Peter’s site that’s aimed at a few engine misbehaviors (works in v9 files, too). I have this onboard my files, but is not having this update enough to cause a livery glitch? With the 380 I doubt it. Each “livery” is a single ACF, so how could it be?

My MacPro is running OS 10.7.4 BTW, and the 380′s panel has never looked better than in 10.10b2. Period.

Speaking of… There are a few interesting articles concerning the forthcoming Mac OS 10.8 (aka Mountain Lion) that leads me to believe there are going to be some major graphics engine improvements in the OS, and the Nvidia 680 series GPU may be natively supported as well. Also, I saw some warnings today that the upgrade may, repeat may be quite difficult if running OS10.5 or earlier, and on some Macs more than 3-4 years old, depending on model. Boot disk backups are in order before this upgrade, too. Just food for thought.

Note: Apple stores worldwide are working all night on the 24th-25th to get ready for the 10.8 launch.

Seen here at BIKF, the 380 didn’t cause any low memory warnings at all. Next, I tried the XPFWProject’s 757-200 in Iceland, as well. No major issues, and the plug-in appears to function nominally.

One new visual effect noted. The turbulent engine exhaust gases now appear to be a simple lightening effect, and the shimmering hot gas effect is absent.

However, one issue surfaced on the 752: the night panel is simply very dark now, and as most of the panel/instrument lighting controls were never fully implemented there’s no easy fix short of a trip into PlaneMaker. We keep hoping that “someone” will resurrect this file, but that appears to be an increasingly forlorn hope, and that’s a real shame. This ACF remains high on most people’s list of all-time favorites, but XP10 may be the end of the line for this one. The Freeware Project’s file is simply getting old, and it needs work. Please!? Somebody?! This ACF is simply too good to die of neglect.

The Carenado Caravan’s night panel continues to enthrall most all who use it, and in v10.10b2 this front office comes alive – especially at night!

But XP10 has some rendering power hidden way up it’s sleeve, too. Click to enlarge the image below, then find the aircraft passing overhead. Oh, that’s frede’s KHZR v1 imaged here.

Below, puttering along about 400 AGL over the bayous between KHZR and Baton Rouge. Enlarge and look at the trees as you’ll not see much in these smaller images. Awesome rendering power on display here.

And below, on final into frede’s KBTR…two first class files shown off to good effect.

And here are some images with the latest KHZR v1.2 showing more of that awesome rendering power built into v10. Color gradations in those skies are grand, aren’t they, but look at the sunlight on those buildings!

But what about the alleged issues with Carenado liveries? Well…

So, could we duplicate the issues? Or is this another maddening case of Gremlins?

Well, as you can see above I had apparent good success with the Carenados. Not a few minutes later I reopened 10.10b2 and no liveries worked, on any file…Carenado, Peter’s A321 or the A380! Nothing worked! Even the Q400 was fouled up now. Me? I think the new livery selection/installation process is mucked up… It’s like whenever you change a livery now the entire ACF reloads, and in the process whatever livery you (re)selected gets dumped and the default livery reloads – hence white paint over and over.

One other troubling issue reported…generator and battery charging non-functioning in many Carenados. This happened with the Carenado Mooney M20J on first release, so this issue isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds, and could be a Carenado issue, or perhaps not. Those experiencing the issue may need to file bug reports with both or either Laminar and Carenado – especially if this remains unresolved in 10.10b3.

Now let’s look at some new (and revised) files!

+++++

Sorry, I just can’t resist this file, and the C208 looks great here, too. And you know what? I can’t wait to see what frede comes up with next, but for now his revised yet again KHZR + False River Regional suits me to a T! Filling out the coastal airports around here makes sense as that will give rotorheads access to the Gulf and all those oil rigs, but New Orleans desperately needs it’s area airports filled in too. Tough choice, and like I say, I can’t wait!

You know, about all this scene (below) needs is bugs circling the lights to become completely cinematic! Maybe a couple of kids leaning against the fence, Coke in hand, looking on dreamily as that Cessna climbs into the night sky…

The last of the evening’s twilight hitting the aircraft just says it all, at least to me. XP10 has arrived, and the results are just gorgeous. Don’t miss getting this file onboard!

+++++

Fletcherj’s KTLH + Tallahassee Regional ought to find a place into your XP10 install ASAP, too. Nicely detailed and modeled from personal experience, this file has that special feel about it too. It’s a major RJ OPS opportunity too, as the airport services the capital of Florida. Here are the airlines and destinations served, and from which concourse.

American Eagle Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami A
Delta Air Lines Atlanta B
Delta Connection operated by ExpressJet Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale B
United Express operated by Silver Airways Fort Lauderdale, Tampa A
US Airways Express operated by PSA Airlines Charlotte, Washington-National A

Fidelity to what’s on the ground appears excellent. Let’s call this another “must have” file…great for RJ OPS throughout the American south.

+++++

Ntr09′s KCSV + Crossville, Tennessee will make a nice addition to local and regional GA OPS for those wanting to look around the Great Smokey Mountains and the sights around Kentucky and the mountains of western North Carolina, including Mountain Air! Nicely made of Lego-bricks, this v10 only file could use an exclusion zone around the main buildings to get rid of those houses, but all told this is a recommended file.

+++++

Last up today, Ntr09′s 2A1 Jamestown Municipal is not at all far from KCSV, so the tie-in is obvious, and useful. Another very small GA field, this will be of interest to local flyers.

And here are the airports we’ve covered today, all in the American “Deep South”. Convenient, neh?

Well, that’s about it for now. Stay tuned…big things brewing, and not all Pear Cider. Hasta later – Chip

 

xp+10+reviews + 16 July 2012

Posted by chip on July 16, 2012
Posted in: Addons-Weather/Clouds, Liveries, New XP10 beta release, News, Scenery Reviews, XP10 Clouds and Weather, Xplane 10 talk. 27 comments

A few very interesting developments late this weekend. First, XP10.10b2 released late Sunday, and in my book it’s a winner.

Framerates have been reported to be a bit lower, true, but HDR was restored on my Mac and there were no issues with hardware. The 744 was joy to handle “hands-on” on a circuit around SeaTac, and the latest weather dialogue has been even more streamlined.

Flight model of the big Boeing was ponderously manageable in the pattern, and the overall feel was subtly different than the last time I flew the file. My settings or Laminar’s work??? I do not know, but the experience was very impressive to me, very lifelike.

 

And I was able to stop holding my breath: with HDR restored and res at very high (and objects maxed out) there was not one low memory warning. Frames remained fluid, and only dropped into the 20s a few times.

I decided to load up some recent files…the Q400, the A321 and all the Carenado files…and see if any issues arose. Well, none so far, and panel lighting in the Caravan was simply breathtaking. The livery dialogue is gone now, replaced by a much more intuitive setup. Pick an ACF and the available liveries show up. Talk about one stop shopping!

And speaking of, here’s the C208 at AeroSOFT’s Keflavik.

Lighting and dynamic reflections in this file are peerless, and the feeling of “being there” was astonishing.

Peter’s A321 reappeared, as well. In 10.10b1 the fuselage was a solid milky white. Not so in b2. Outstanding color gradations in the clouds, too, and the feeling of movement when entering and exiting clouds was great.

AeroSOFT’s Keflavik looks grand as well, with color, shadows and subtle detail all showing up well.

All in all, I missed out on a weekend’s exploring in the new release, but WOW! I’m impressed with the menu changes alone. I can’t wait to get down in the weeds and go chasing all those MsDonald’s restaurants!

+++++

Next on the weekend Hit Parade, JARDesign’s A318 looks to be a real welcome addition to our tubeliner collection, too. The BabyBus is by far the most interesting of the 320 family, at least to my way of thinking. It’s a high performance variant if there ever was one, with tremendous wing area and thrust to weight ratios, and this model ought to make high altitude OPS a piece of cake. To further wet your appetite, the JARDesigns Team has produced this little “Cold and Dark” video, and you’ll want to pay close attention to this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWcb8NSSSL4&feature=youtu.be

Once again, this is a freeware release, and coming soon. Lots of other treats in store, however, but first…some gnews:

  • Business-aircraft flying in the U.S. dropped 1.3% in June from the same month in 2011, according to aviation services company Argus. For the eighth month in a row, Part 91 light and midsize jets showed the best year-over-year increases, rising 1.5% and 1.9%, respectively, this feature says. AIN Online
  • Kelley Dinneen was raised in the cockpit by her father, a flight instructor, so it was natural for her to work as assistant airport manager in Mansfield, Mass. Dinneen has helped create a welcoming atmosphere at Mansfield Municipal Airport, which is used by people including leisure fliers and star athletes. Despite its success, the dwindling number of pilots and lack of interest from young people are threatening the airport’s prosperity, and Dinneen is doing all she can to attract the next generation of fliers, this feature says. Wicked Local/Whitman, Mass.
  • ICON Aircraft has announced that its new A5 Light Sport Aircraft will use the Rotax 912 iS engine, citing its 38% to 70% better fuel efficiency than comparable engines. “Not only does the engine improve fuel efficiency compared to the carbureted Rotax 912 ULS engine, but it’s simpler to operate, which places fewer demands on the pilot,” said Matthew Gionta, vice president of engineering for ICON. “The elimination of the choke and carburetor heat means the pilot has less to worry about and can focus more on flying and having fun.” General Aviation News
  • Men and women who work regular 9-to-5 jobs are taking to the skies as part of the Civil Air Patrol, which helps the U.S. government monitor potentially dangerous situations such as tsunamis off the California coast after the Japanese earthquake in March 2011. “We’re essentially a quasimilitary organization under the supervision of the U.S. Air Force, and we operate various missions including search and rescue and counterdrug flights, among other things,” says member Anthony Schlotthauer. “We’re all volunteers, and we’re all dedicated to doing this work.” Ventura County Star (Calif.) 
  • The AOPA Flight Training Center will appear for the first time in the AOPA Tent at AirVenture. Bring with you a future pilot who is dreaming of flying. Prospective pilots can try their hand at becoming an aviator by taking the controls of a Redbird Flight Simulations FMX full-motion flight simulator. AOPA Online.

Sometimes the best things in life are, well, old. Case in point? Our next file!

While certainly not one of the newer files available for X-Plane, Frank’nFly’s EDDN + Nürnberg – and his complementary Nürnberg VFR city file – have long been considered one of the very best airport/city combo files in X-Plane, and we’ve agreed with that assessment since the first time we used the files.

His EDDN has everything you want in a good airport file: detailed buildings, lots of clutter on the ramps and around the other facilities, all lending a fair amount of visual chaos, and there are static ACF galore!

What sets this effort apart, however, is the inclusion of the nearby City of Nürnberg, and with several large, and important, VFR landmarks included this file has defined “realistic” in XP for years. Yet there’s something of even more importance when considering this collection: there is a dedicated scenery library file that adds region specific architecture to the cityscape. When acting in concert, the files are hard to beat – even in XP10!

Because there’s some really good news today! The collection has been updated to work in XP10! Too, there are a few tweaks to existing areas around the airport, lending a more realistic feel to forests and areas immediately around the airport. The overall effect in XP10 is excellent, and just consider… these files all remain freeware!

There are a number of revised files needed to get all this into XP9 or 10, so let’s go over the list:

The end results are well worth the effort, as you’ll see, and as you’ll find while looking over the list below, this is a major international airport, too. You’ll have need of the CRJ200, the Q400, the AvroLiners as well as Airbus/Boeing class airliners for flights to the Med. There are no longer direct flights to the US. Lamentable, as this historic city is simply gorgeous.

Air Berlin Berlin-Tegel, Catania, Djerba, Düsseldorf, Enfidha, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Hamburg, Hurghada, Lanzarote, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, London-Gatwick, Marsa Alam, Palma de Mallorca, Rome-Fiumicino, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tenerife-South, Vienna
Antalya, Brindisi, Chania, Constanta, Corfu, Dortmund, Dresden, Hannover, Heraklion, Ibiza, Kalamata, Kavala, Lamezia Terme, Larnaca, Leipzig/Halle, Luxor, Malta, Mykonos, Olbia, Paderborn/Lippstadt, Paphos, Ponta Delgada, Preveza,Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Split, Thessaloniki, Tivat, Volos, Zakynthos
Air France Régional Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Air VIA Burgas, Varna
Astra Airlines Thessaloniki
Belle Air Pristina
Bulgarian Air Charter Burgas, Varna
Germania Thessaloniki, Antalya, Lourdes/Tarbes
KLM Cityhopper Amsterdam
Lufthansa Frankfurt
Lufthansa Augsburg Airways Munich
Lufthansa Eurowings Berlin-Tegel, Düsseldorf, Hamburg
Lufthansa Lufthansa CityLine Frankfurt
Meridiana Fly Brindisi, Catania, Lamezia/Terme, Olbia, Rimini, Rome-Fiumicino
Pegasus Airlines Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen
Sky Airlines Antalya
Sun Express Antalya, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Izmir 
Swiss International Air Lines Swiss European Air Lines Zürich
TUIfly Antalya, Enfidha, Fuerteventura, Heraklion, Hurghada, Kos, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes, Tenerife-South
Turkish Airlines Istanbul-Atatürk
Vueling Barcelona

Digging through some files at the Org recently, I ran across Vexor’s SAS paint for Ramzzess’s brilliant Sukhoi SuperJet, and though fictional it’s well worth having.

Well, we’re gonna take a few hours off for some shut-eye. We’ll be looking over new features in 10.10b2 over the next few days – and adding scenery files as well as ACF – and we’ll report on what develops. Thanks for coming along with us today, and we’ll see you next time. Hasta later – C