Scenery Reviews

x+sim+reviews + 6 September 2012

Posted by chip on September 6, 2012
Posted in: Liveries, News, Scenery Reviews, Xplane 10 talk. 2 comments

There’s a lot going on in the image above. First, that new Airfrance livery on the LeadingEDGE DC3, but then you might note the waterline along the beach below, and even the sky colors are different. Last of all, with a keen eye you’d note that the ramps at LFMN Nice are even more clogged with ramp traffic. Well, that’s because four new files were involved in making this image, indeed all the images in today’s issue, so let’s get going and take a look at the news, then some files.

First, a word or three about Hurricane Isaac…and X-Plane’s real weather settings.

Because if you’d like to see what happened to an EADT x737/8Ng when it went flying into Isaac – in X-Plane, watch this short clip from Kevin Grimm:

737_2

And finally, another image from Kevin Grimm showing some promising cumulonimbus formations rendered by XP when weather was set to random weather generator:

Despite trying many times, I just can’t manually set weather and get results like this, and not being able to create towering cumulonimbus clouds at all remains a huge disappointment with this weather engine. Still, that’s a good set of clouds, Kevin! Time to experiment again. It’s been an idea of mine to go tornado hunting in XP and see if I can find those towering monsters. Anyone else care to try? Send in your images if you do!

  • The Federal Aviation Administration is surveying owners and operators of general aviation aircraft, and blogger Scott Spangler encourages pilots and others to respond. “If we don’t care enough about general aviation to spend a few minutes filling out a survey, why should the FAA care any less than it does for the needs of GA?” he asks. Jetwhine.com
  • A report from JetNet shows a slight improvement in the number of used business aircraft for sale. From July 2011 to July 2012, 13.5% of business aircraft were for sale. The percentage marks a slight decline from the 13.7% of business aircraft for sale in July 2011. AVweb
  • Sikorsky Aircraft has signed on as a presenting sponsor of the Stuart Air Show in Florida for the second year in a row. “Sikorsky Aircraft prides itself on being the No. 1 helicopter company in the world, and the Stuart Air Show enables us to display our products and capabilities to the community along with assisting the airshow with presenting a first-class event,” said John Fischetti, general manager of the Development Flight Center at Sikorsky.TCPalm.com (Fort Pierce, Fla.)
  • Angel Flight pilot Michael Lawless volunteers to fly patients in need of medical care aboard his Beechcraft Bonanza A36. “It’s really rewarding. Meeting these people, they teach me things. It gives you a certain perspective,” said Lawless, 34. JerseyMan Magazine online (New Jersey)
  • Minn. pilot Dan Walker volunteers for Young Eagles events through the Experimental Aircraft Association to drum up interest in flying in the next generation. “We do fundraisers throughout the year, and our mission is to get kids involved in aviation,” Walker said. Walker estimates he has given more than 100 children free rides in general aviation aircraft through the program. Byron Review (Minn.)
  • The Living Legends of Alaskan Aviation project seeks to shine the spotlight on pilots in Alaska. Pilots in the state create a lifeline to more than 80% of settlements that are accessible only by air year-round. The pilots nominated and selected for the project will be honored at a banquet on Oct. 12. AlaskaDispatch.com

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There’s an informative forum post going about which MsFS scenery files convert well (and don’t) to XP here. This could become a very important place to discuss these issues, so don’t miss out of this is your thing.

(note: incorrect link updated now!)

+++++

John from UrbanMAXX is working on some ideas for the Grand Canyon and is asking for comments on the image you see just above. Well? Aside from”PULL UP, NOW!” coming to mind, I kinda like it. What about you? Large image, so click away.

+++++

A bunch of early gripes about the 777 surfaced in comments here and elsewhere concerning a “cartoonish” look to the 777. But there’s more to this story, really. The more time you spend in this file the more systems complexity becomes the big draw. It’s the immersive nature of the file that will win you over, assuming you give it a chance. Here’s a thought. Did these people complaining actually buy the file, or just look at some screens? Have they studied the manual? Tried to get involved with the systems? Believe you me…after a few hours in the 777 you won’t think it’s cartoonish anymore. Move beyond the “looks” issue and get into the FMS, work the problems presented, learn the systems, and I think the more you do the more you’ll grow fond of the file. Here’s a hint. If looks are THAT important to you, fly at night! This is a great night cockpit, with very good lighting…but y’all know me by now. I love flying at night, and that’s where I spent 90% of my time in the T7 beta. Another hint: this ACF works quite well at AeroSOFT’s BIKF with airport settings dialed up a bit, but other objects way down. Hang out there while learning your way around the ‘pit to enjoy better FPS.

+++++

Dan Klaue pointed out yesterday that the empty “innards” box I singled out on the glare shield of the new Alabeo Sukhoi Su26 is in fact a clip board that has been loaded down with popup activators, and you can see one of these below. This handy pop up features canopy controls and pilot’s visor up/down activator (among others), while another popup sets up some very nice camera angles. Sorry I missed these features, but I still think the “clipboard” looks kind of weird!

Regardless, the cockpit textures in this ACF are gorgeous, especially the tubular metal supports (very hard to get right in a 3D program and still have decent FPS). Even with all that Molly Ringwald pink, I love flying this ACF!

Because handling in v9 is fine, as mentioned, while v10 has hyper sensitive roll control and something is not quite right with the throttle controls. In v9 the ACF has no trouble accelerating easily to 300KIAS, while in v10 it’s difficult to get the aircraft past 150KIAS, and it barely climbs at all. Seems an easy fix, hope it is quickly. XP10.10b11 is supposed to offer a stable development platform for developers who have been slow to work in v10, so maybe it’s time to try?

Besides the Red Bull livery (seen top), there are two others included in a supplementary download. This red Honda version is a crisp, great looking affair:

While this blue CIAF version looks a screamer.

The Red Bull livery is really very, very well done.

If I left you with an impression I disliked this file, so sorry, but that’s just not the case. I enjoyed this one more than the Pitts in fact, and no, they don’t give us these files or pay us to say nice things about them! We buy ‘em, just like you do, and I’m glad I have this one, too! It’s a blast, just in v9 for now. Get it here.

+++++

KLM | AirFrance + LeadingEDGE DC3 + Leen de Jager

org: download link  x-pilot: download link

Leen has done his usual bang-up job here, but this time out you get two for one – so to speak! Portside is KLM, and to starboard you’ll find France… AirFrance, that is! The arrangement may lead to a little case of split personality disorder, but you get used to it, and both sides are equally well done.

A good place to mention those sky colors, too. Note the very subtle (and I might add, very realistic) early morning sky in the image of the DC3 over the water (above) and with the Carenado Seneca (just below).

This is the new SkyCOLOR X file by OSM developer Tom Knudsen, and we most highly recommend this file. The colors rendered are very subtle, and lend a very nice feel to XP10.

SkyCOLOR X + Tom Knudsen

org: download link  x-pilot: download link

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revised: KHZR False River Louisiana + frede

download link

It looks like frede has centralized his downloads at his own site, and that’s good news. Frankly, some of the off-putting comments at the Org were simply painful to read. I tend too often to look at the world through a very cynical prism, one formed I’m afraid by Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, where the world is divided between those who possess artistic/engineering genius and those who don’t. In this fictional world the talentless spend their lives tearing down the work of genius, and the talented learn to move on. A good book if haven’t read it, and not as politically charged as her later works.

Oh yes, frede’s KHZR is revised! Another must have file updated! A good day!

That CocaCola livery on the Carenado Seneca is a kick in the pants too, ain’t it? Give it a try!

+++++

Addon for AeroSOFT LFMN Nice 2.0 + letibo

download link

More static aircraft and taxiway signage marks this revised package. This is a v10 only affair that adds tons of ground elements to the default AeroSOFT LFMN Nice | Cote de Azur.

We highly recommended this before. It’s simply better now.

+++++

And normal maps have been added to Matija Škerjanec’s Cassutt Racer, a WIP file we’ll be covering in more detail on release.

That’s all for now, and Hasta later – C

x+sim+reviews + 4 September 2012

Posted by chip on September 4, 2012
Posted in: Scenery Reviews, XP10 Clouds and Weather. 11 comments

Had a few folks ask about the clouds in yesterdays main image of the Cassutt Racer; here’s a reminder:

Questions ranged from “are these default clouds or an add-on package?” to “what were your settings?” Well, yes, these are indeed XP10.10b11′s default clouds, and what you’re looking at is three layers of “cirrus” clouds, and here’s what settings look like for a sea level airport:

And here’s a sunrise at EGMD (and see below for a quick review of bosun’s latest airport file):

Setting the OAT (temp) to a lower value (here at 39F) seems to help generate more colors when the sun is at lower angles, but I think a lot of other factors might come into play to get these. Setting cloud detail in the main rendering window has a great deal of impact too. Here the number is 59, and that seems to work out well generally. If you increase the lowest level cirrus layer to a higher value the entire effects seems to fall apart, so get the lowest layer at the altitude of your airport, and add the other two layers at +2k increments.

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Note at the top of the page a slightly revised layout, and a few items may be of direct interest to you today. We’ll be posting our own screenshots in this section, sometimes of WIP images of files that we may be working on (either scenery or a beta ACF), AND we’ll be posting reader’s screenshots. Send submissions to our rocket mail email address, and try to limit images to your very best work or something that you really need to share with all of us. We will be choosing only the best images, so please don’t send a deluge of files! There are some nice Chicago images from P3D already in the FsX category, and more images of frede’s latest KMSY in the X-Plane section, as well as Kevin Grimm’s latest work, at AeroSOFT’s Toulouse.

Now let’s look at some files.

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KMSY | Louis Armstrong/Crescent City International Airport | New Orleans, Louisiana + frede

download link

Another outstanding airport in frede’s growing collection of southern airports, and his largest commercial airport yet. KMSY | Louis Armstrong is an international airport as well, another first in his series. Here’s the imagery from Google Earth:

Here’s the list of carriers and destinations served, and concourse listings:

Air Canada Express Jazz Air Toronto-Pearson D
AirTran Airways Southwest Airlines Atlanta, Orlando [begins March 9 2013] B
American Airlines Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami C
American Eagle Chicago-O’Hare C
Delta Air Lines Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Memphis, New York-LaGuardia, Salt Lake City 
Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul		 D
Delta Connection  Chautauqua Airlines Memphis D
Delta Connection Comair Cincinnati [ends September 29, 2012] D
Delta Connection  Compass Airlines Minneapolis/St. Paul D
Delta Connection ExpressJet Memphis D
Delta Connection  Pinnacle Airlines Cincinnati [begins September 30, 2012], Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK D
Delta Connection SkyWest Airlines Salt Lake City D
Frontier Airlines Seasonal: Denver C
Frontier Airlines Republic Airlines Kansas City [ends October 26, 2012] C
JetBlue Airways Boston, New York-JFK C
Southwest Airlines Baltimore, Birmingham (AL), Chicago-Midway, Dallas-Love, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Houston-Hobby, Kansas City [begins November 4, 2012], Key West [begins March 9, 2013], Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, Newark [begins March 9, 2013], Orlando, Phoenix, St. Louis, Tampa 
Seasonal: Milwaukee [begins January 6, 2013]		 B
Spirit Airlines Dallas/Ft.Worth [begins January 24, 2013][26] C
United Airlines Chicago-O’Hare, Denver, Houston-Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, Washington-Dulles C, D
United Express Colgan Air Houston-Intercontinental C, D
United Express ExpressJet Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark C, D
United Express GoJet Airlines Chicago-O’Hare, Denver, Newark, Washington-Dulles C
United Express Shuttle America Chicago-O’Hare, Newark, Washington-Dulles C
United Express SkyWest Airlines Chicago-O’Hare, Denver, Washington-Dulles C
US Airways Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington-National B
US Airways Express Republic Airlines Charlotte, Washington-National B

And here are the images, starting with Interstate Highway 10 images, and the causeway to Baton Rouge, a prominent VFR landmark:

XP10 does a fantastic job of getting this roadway down in the swamp. Yes, swamp. The entire highway is built on pilings to keep it out of the water – for miles and miles! (below) Approaching the airport:

Some of the main areas/hangar complexes (below):

And a few closeups of the main terminal area (below):

All in all, most of the airport seems modeled in this v1.0 release. There may be more tweaking of this file but it already represents a wonderful effort, and is a must have file. A lot of optimization seems to have been done here as well. The file weighed in at less than 400Mb with HDR rendering (basic level) active, and with objects and airport detail maxed out. Most highly recommended.

Note: you can see more images in the X-Plane Screenshots section found in the header at the top of the page.

+++++

EGMD | Lydd / London Ashford Airport + Bosun

download link

Bosun’s latest is a great addition for cross channel GA hops, and perhaps even a few RJ-type flights. Here’s the overhead imagery:

The following carriers operate from EGMD:

Bin Air Stuttgart
LyddAir Le Touquet

Bin Air operates Swearingen Metro freighters out of Munich, and LyddAir operates Barons/Super King Airs/ Navahos to LFAT + Le Touquet – Côte d’Opale, as well as charters and freight.

The file appears to be a WIP, but is already quite well on, and very nicely done.

We’ll have more as things develop. Hasta later – C

x+sim+reviews + 3 September 2012

Posted by chip on September 4, 2012
Posted in: Aircraft First Look, iPad Navigation software, Liveries, Scenery Reviews, Xplane 10 talk. 17 comments

I don’t know what it is exactly about the sky – and clouds! – that moves us so, but there’s hardly a day goes by that I don’t stop and stare at an interesting cloud formation, and every now and then I’ll go online and look for images of dynamic, threatening clouds. Who doesn’t remember as a little kid staring up at the deep blue sky and watching summertime cumulus clouds drifting overhead…maybe wondering where they were headed or getting caught up with the sudden shapes that sometimes appeared in them. “There! There! that one! It looks just like Mrs Dunsworth!” (my 4th grade teacher, by the by). Then there were those times when dad and I went up in the Bonanza and darted around and in-between clouds (this was the 1950s, so no, we weren’t breaking the rules…well, maybe we were bending them a little!). It’s something to be flying along on a hot summer day at low altitude too, when the cabin of a GA single over Texas can get incredibly warm, and then to fly into a big, puffy summer Q. It’s incredibly white inside, but instantly quite cold as chilled water vapor streams into the cabin through the little vent invariably pointed right into a eyeball – then poof! – out into the sun again, and back into that warm summer sun. We used to fly down to the Texas Hill Country to our farm, and the only way to cool off was to dip into a cloud from time to time. You’d putter along until the sweat got to be too much, then find a cloud – and poof!

Anyway, I love clouds, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a more interesting monster than this one, which I ran across last night. Apologies for the quality, as it’s just three iPhone images tacked together in Photoshop, but I thought it worth sharing.

Lots of energy in this one, too. It was a wild night, and today isn’t much better. The earthworms are having a blast, however.

+++++

McPhat Studios posted these new images of the CoolSky DC-9 [WIP only, for FsX] , and these are excellent looking images. We’ll have more soon, but please note that I’m not the only lunatic out here making dark images!

(insert long flatulent sound)

So there!

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And here’s a gorgeous iPad/iPod based HSI to run in (of course) FsX (only), and it’s part of a similarly styled series of NAV/COMM/AP heads to run beside FsX on multiple iPads. You can change heading on this unit of course, and there’s an OBS knob, as well as ADF and DME functionality too. We were hopeful that devs would make instruments like this one for XP when these mobile devices first came out, but it’s yet to happen. Oh well, time waits for no one, but if you look on the downloads page you’ll note the dev states he’s making a universal MacOS version that will (insert drum roll here please) be compatible with X-Plane! Yeah! Awesome! I bought the thing just because! $3.99 at the App store, too.

Now let’s look at a few new files.

London 2012 “Olympic” livery + Carenado F33A +

download link

What a nice effort, and a fitting collectable for this summer’s games. Highly recommended.

+++++

PanAm + X-Plane Freeware Project Boeing 717-200 + gfxdesign

download link

The launch of a new series of PanAm liveries begins with the Boeing 717, nee MD 85, and this ACF has a rather simple 2D photo textured panel that is nevertheless quite nicely done:

Recommended livery at this point as there are no LIT textures, but we’ll keep an eye on this series. Fun stuff, and you’ll find a link for the ACF at the DM link. Note, the ACF we’ll need to be saved in Planemaker 9.70 before use in XP10.

+++++

UAL + 757-200 RR WL [xpfwp acf] + rjmf22

download link

Here’s a nice new United Airlines for the X-Plane Freeware Project’s perennial favorite, the 757-200. If you have trouble getting the 757-200 to work in XP10, open a copy in Planemaker v9.70 and save it, then put this modified  copy in to 10 and see if that doesn’t fix the problem. rjmf’s livery is well executed and worth having.

Remlap’s 767 paints might be of interest to you as well. You’ll find them here, and here.

+++++

revised: KBTR | Baton Rouge + frede

download link

frede’s KBTR + Baton Rouge, Louisiana has been revised. Additions include military vehicles, flags, and some taxiway improvements. Still a must have file, and seen here with SSG’s beta EMB170.

+++++

OSM | NA + Wyoming + Tom Knudsen

download link

I’m not too sure why an OSM file for Wyoming was needed. After all, the biggest cities out there are prairie dog towns, and Wyoming is just one of those places, if you know what I mean. You know…where men are men and sheep a scared. Civilization is a relative term out there. There’s Jackson Hole, then…not much else. Oddly enough, it’s also one of the most beautiful states in the lower 48, and is home to Yellowstone National Park and one of the most peacefully idyllic villages on earth: Hulett, Wyoming. There’s also an airport in Hulett (w43), and while it’s one of those towns where deer roam the streets (elk too) it’s also the closest town to Devil’s Tower, Wyoming.

The Tower is in a couple of the images above, and in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and it’s truly a magical spot and as this is one of the most spectacular physical landmarks in the Americas I was hoping this file might add something to it.

It doesn’t.

OSM continues to leave me totally in the dark. These files eat framerates for breakfast, lunch and dinner but often give very little in return. I’ll keep looking them over, but I mean really. Wyoming? All them scared sheep and all?

+++++

revised: LPPT + Lisbon, Portugal + Petethalight

download link

This revision brings XP10 compatibility, notably lighting. Worth a download, but this one still has more detail off airport than on. Great bridges, especially.

From the same dev., LEVT + Vitorio is located in Basque Country, NE Spain, and is primarily a freight/cargo facility, but you’ll find it near several of XPFr’s Spanish airports, and worth including in your scenery folder. The terminal and ramps are a little bare, but that Carenado DHL cargo Caravan has a new place to play!

Here’s the locale:

+++++

Cassutt Racer + Matija Škerjanec

WIP file, preview images only

Seen flying over our own KMPI + Mammoth Yosemite, xx’s new Cassutt Racer is a kick in the pants, and fun enough to heat up any Saturday afternoon. Still a WIP, this little hot rod promises more than a little excitement, and perhaps as soon as this Fall. Right now there are the usual v9 jitters (the aircraft  just can’t keep still even when standing still!) but the motion cancels out as soon as throttle is applied. Also, the pilot’s head sticks up through the canopy right now (gotta mess up that hair in a hurry!), but all in all, for a 2D cockpit barnstormer this is a fun ride.

We’ll keep you posted on release dates and download locations, but so far this is a very promising new file.

Hopefully a 3D cockpit will make it into the final version, but if not…it’s still a tight handling ACF, and quite fun to fly.

We’ll have more on this bird soon, and it promises to be a fun little aerobatic scooter.

+++++

Look for word on the T7 soon.

Hasta later – C

x+sim+reviews + 31 August 2012

Posted by chip on August 31, 2012
Posted in: Kevin Grimm, Liveries, Scenery Reviews, XP10 scenery development, Xplane 10 talk. 39 comments

Every time we post Kevin Grimm’s images it seems that almost the entire X-Plane universe goes into a collective ecstatic fit and wonders just when he’s going to release his files to a waiting, and often adoring group of fans. Heavens…maybe next he’ll walk on water!

Sorry, but it doesn’t work out that way.

What you see in Kevin’s images represents a lot of extremely creative hard work (not to mention his often astonishing artistic capabilities), AND the use of off the shelf components (mainly FsX scenery file elements) to create what you see. Worse yet, the man works for a living (as opposed to fiddling around with X-Plane all day like , er, yours truly) and he makes these airports, ahem, for his own enjoyment. That said, Kevin simply cannot distribute his creations because he would be distributing copyrighted FsX material, and he’s a professional artist. Got it?

That said, here’s his reaction to your reaction to yesterday’s image: “I see a lot of nice comments about my screen shot of St. Maarten and I would love to take full credit for all of the elements that you see in the St. Maarten TNCM scenery screen shot I sent you yesterday, but it’s a combination of many elements from multiple scenery packages and of course, some of my own handiwork. Since I don’t own all of the elements that I used, I can never release it to the public.  The buildings were created by Fly Tampa. Their scenery packages are incredible. Unfortunately, only a few will convert well to X-Plane. I would strongly suggest that anyone who likes what they see in my screen shot go online and buy the St. Maarten package from Fly Tampa and convert it to an X-Plane scenery package (using FS2XPlane); they would see close to what my screen shot looks like. The “overlay editor” is also a great way to add realistic details to an airport. It’s so simple to use, I’m not sure why others aren’t using it to enhance their favorite scenery packages?”

Cameron’s needling aside, that’s a good question. I’m sure more than a lot of the answer has to do with awareness, more still probably comes from not knowing where to go to get help, or even documentation to study, yet these issues are handily overcome with Google and a little patience. If you’re in need of a little inspiration, here are four more images from around the area, once again by Kevin Grimm:

Look at the tide line on the sandy beach, the gently falling underwater contour, the lighting on the patios!

And here’s a kick in the pants. Karingka’s KBOS (summer and winter) is a Fly Tampa conversion too, and try as we might, neither he nor any of us here at Chaos manor have been able to talk FlyTampa into entering the X-Plane market. We can buy their grand looking FsX files and convert them ourselves, but that’s about it and pardon my French, but that’s just silly on their part. Why ignore a market for your product? Anyway, enough of that. Kevin takes the self-conversion route, and the results are self evident. The conversion process may not be painless, but no pain, no gain. The set of images above ought to convince you that XP10 can handle some really impressive scenery chores if you feed the SIM a steady diet of good files. Sadly, these files are just not coming online fast enough, and with just frede and a few others regularly contributing worthwhile files it’s going to take about three hundred years to fill out Texas.

A lot of comment yesterday seems to echo sentiment around here that Laminar is walking the razor’s edge right now, and more than a few people are voicing concerns that X-Plane is running out of time. Part of this is frustration, anger with all the perceived setbacks while breaking trail along the Beta highway. There’s growing sentiment that -64 bit is the promised land, and for a lot of these people (myself included) who’ve invested heavily in hardware to run XP10 – only to find that their new hardware is being underutilized by the program – that anger is well founded. Yet even so a lot of that frustration falls back to a single point: Laminar failed to appreciate that in order to fill out a plausible world they’d need a better game plan than what’s being used. The whole Rancho Cucamonga Estates housing look and feel may be the most lamentable aspect of this strategy, but the snail’s pace of new scenery development is turning out to be a real killer. And God only knows what happens if 64-bit turns out to be a dud. Trouble in River City, anyone? The herd will stampede getting outta here.

Worst of all, guess what will be the direct beneficiary of all this nonsense?

FsX. We’re hearing from a lot of people that they’re tired of all the betas, the continued lack of good scenery files, and worst of all, no clear roadmap out of this mess. And they’re either going back to FsX, trying P3D, or just moving on to other pursuits. And these are long term XP users we’re talking about here. You want an illustration of why this is so, perhaps?

Well, guess what? We knew this was going to happen if Laminar didn’t take on more crew and start addressing these scenery concerns head on. We wrote about it a year ago, and they slammed us. Yet still the clouds in XP are an issue, terrain is an issue, buildings are an issue…and new payware scenery files are coming on in a trickle.

But what could Laminar have done differently?

Well, here’s a simple idea. Break the world down into geographic regions, and code them…like western Europe as Region 1, central Europe region 2, etc., then make regional specific housing and industrial/commercial buildings for each global region, and when XP loads scenery for that specific region appropriate architecture is deployed. No Rancho Cucamonga Estates in Phuket, and we’d find chalets dotting the hillsides above Zurich instead of Generican suburban sprawl. How long would it take the folks at Laminar to work this out and deploy these new assets? How much complaining and griping and people walking away in frustration would be avoided if they did?

We’ll see an entirely new terrain program being released this weekend to address just one perceived part of this problem, a whole new program other than UrbanMAXX, yet this obviously isn’t the first such program to address scenery concerns, and I doubt it will be the last. Sadly, this type of programming should have been completely unnecessary. As many have pointed out, going down the OSM highway was a choice fraught with risk. It’s proving a very risky choice indeed, as for many people the scenery and sky they operate in is as important as the aircraft they fly. Let’s hope this observation isn’t lost in the stacks of code flowing through South Carolina.

Oh, did you notice that T7 up there? Yeah? Well, let’s go look at some files.

+++++

BIRK 10 + REYKJAVIK ICELAND  +  Tom Curtis & Colin Klotzbach

download link

The airport you see above began life in XP9 years ago, but as so often happens with these things life overtook events and the file languished. It’s been resurrected by Tom Curtis, the Dean of X-Plane scenery creation and to whom so much is owed by so many, and he finished it up. So, we owe him big time for completing this file, not simply because it’s a fine piece of work but because he stepped into the breach when he saw the need and pulled a lot of hard work out of the rubbish heap and put it back into play. As always Tom, thanks for all you do for the community.

This is an excellent file, a total must have addition, and for a number of reasons. Aside from being so well done, the airport is very close to BIKF + Keflavik (that glorious AeroSOFT add-on) and so will open up new opportunities to use that facility (think helicopter, GA, Cargo…you get the idea?).

Here’s the lay of the land to get you oriented:

Above, you can see the relationship between the two airports, with BIRK highlighted to the right and BIKF off to the left. The distance between the two is a mere 30 or so miles (50Km). Below, the overhead in XP10:

You can see an extensive ortho surrounding the airport, and more importantly, that there are lot’s of additional buildings added to this scenery, and outside the airport proper – making this a much more immersive and realistic file.

Next, a little background from wikipedia: Reykjavík Airport is the chiefly domestic airport serving Reykjavík, Iceland, two kilometres from the city centre. Possessing rather short runways, it normally only serves flights within Iceland and to Greenland and the Faroe Islands, and small international charters, ferry flights over the Atlantic and private flights. When weather conditions are not good enough in Keflavík Airport for landings, aircraft like the Boeing 757-200 and smaller divert to Reykjavik Airport. Most international flights use Keflavík International Airport, 50 km out of town, which can handle practically all aircraft. Reykjavík Airport is the main hub of Air Iceland and Eagle Air. Of the three runways, currently two are active all year round – the shortest runway, 06/24, is usually used only in winter. Takeoffs from 24 and landings on 24 and 06 are allowed, but takeoffs from 06 are forbidden because of safety and noise. Reykjavík Airport is owned and operated by the state enterprise Isavia.

Now let’s take a look around, but first, the settings used:

First observation concerns performance. Tom Curtis is an expert at optimizing large airports for smooth FPS and this expertise shows at BIRK – in spades. Note that with HDR set to ON the total scenery load was less than 400Mb, and this with objects dialed way up there. This of course allows for the addition of a lot of AI aircraft, and boy-oh-boy does this file come alive with four aircraft on the ground!

Over summer months the next two images are about as dark as you’ll see it that far north…

…and with so much water around it’s fun to keep water reflections turned up…here at “complete”.

Clouds were set with three layers of cirrus, at 2k, 4k, and 6k AGL.

And a low angled sun brings these layers of thin cloud alive.

As alluded to above, there are gobs of detail all over the airport grounds, but also all around the airport. You’ll find custom buildings galore, and many are important local landmarks.

And so look around and take it all in, and with three AI ACF and the x737 on the ramps:

This is as good a file as we’ve seen in a while, and a total must have file for the weekend. Lots of high latitude flying in store for you, wot?

+++++

Private Livery + Challenger 300 + safelight

download link

Not too many liveries come along for this ACF, and those that do tend to fall into one of two camps: garish or classy.

Safelight’s “Private Livery” definitely falls into the classy category, don’t you think? Understated elegance, almost muted but cleanly masculine. Hell, sounds like an aftershave promo!

Well, it’s not. Just high praise for an excellent, must have livery for an excellent, must have ACF.

Oh, that airport? That’s KPSP + Palm Springs, California, and it’s actually an ancient file by XP’s standards, yet it still looks grand in XP10. Get it at the link and enjoy!

That’s all for now. Lot’s to do to get ready for…things… Hasta later – C

XsimReview : Review UrbanMAXX Extreme V2 3D

Posted by flightime56 on August 30, 2012
Posted in: Developer Updates, Ortho-photo scenery, Scenery Reviews. 5 comments

When on opening X-Plane10 (beta) for the first time all those months ago now. The shock of the new was apparent.

It was green, and even more green, I called it “Austin’s billiard table” because you could roll a ball down it and really not hit anything. Turn up the objects and you got some “Southern Californian” housing and a backyard pool.

The version was in its infancy and we all expected things to improve. They did but not by as much as we expected. 9 months on and we have a few taller buildings and a library full of airport objects but not much else.

The X-Plane community as usual stepped up and into the breach to create some add-on’s to at least help the situation move at least forward. The best of these was John Spahn’s Urban Maxx.

 

It works like a visual card trick and by putting graphics under the default OSM (OpenStreetMap) scenery, underlays have been around since the dawn of simulators but instead of this being a photographic representation of the ground under the OSM, UrbanMaxx just tries to blend in and follow the OSM data to fill in the blanks.

Low down it works very well, but go above 15,000ft and you get these sort of sharp triangles of grey.

These grey patches have now been smoothed out far more with Version 2, but not eliminated.

For me UrbanMaxx is a tool, not an add-on or a piece of scenery, but a requirement to make the simulator at least work in the visual department. If you don’t have UrbanMaxx then visually at this point your X-Plane scenery will look awful.

 

Running X-Plane10 with objects set at “Too Many” should look like this… Which in effect is not that much different from when X-Plane10 was released.

This is basically the OSM pattern recreated on the X-Plane platform, It may represent the correct mapping of the OpenStreetMap but visually it is not very appealing.

John has just released UrbanMaxx Extreme V2 (Version 2) 3D and installing the add-on changes the visual view to this.

The object setting is the same but the viewpoint is very different.

It is hard to believe you are looking at the same picture, go in closer and you see the patterns at work.

The default OSM is in there if you look hard enough, but the spaces between the roads are now well filled in.

Continue Reading

x+sim+reviews + 30 August 2012

Posted by chip on August 29, 2012
Posted in: Liveries, News, Scenery Reviews, Xplane 10 talk. 16 comments

I know you’re getting tired of all the red and green skies, but I keep tinkering with all the permutations in SkyMAXX Extreme and keep coming back to these tones. While rare, these hues do present occasionally, but they’re fleeting and last only moments. The red tones are noticeable after volcanic eruptions too, or downwind from forest fires, and I suppose the more apocalyptic among us will find Biblical undertones in them. Kind of the sky you might expect to find the four horsemen riding across. The green? Often noted around huge thunderstorms, or after watching Linda Blair in the Exorcist.

Anyway, I’ll stop using them soon and hope they’re not too offensive!

A few very interesting livery files out today, as well as a few new and revised scenery files, and we’ll jump on those after the news:

  •  Blogger Jamie Beckett uses baseball to illustrate the teamwork required to promote general aviation. “Whether you’re the star player, an alternate, or the guy who sweeps out the clubhouse, you’ve got a part to play in the next GA success your airport experiences,” he writes. General Aviation News/Politics for Pilots blog
  • Ford Motor should return to its aviation roots and buy aircraft manufacturer Hawker Beechcraft, writes blogger Chad Trautvetter. “A total of 199 Ford Tri Motors were built between 1926 and 1933,” he writes. “Ford could once again revolutionize aircraft manufacturing. Using its vast expertise in manufacturing workflows, automation and management, Ford could bring Hawker Beechcraft’s manufacturing plants into the 21st century,” he writes. AIN Online
  • “The Aviators,” a documentary television show about general aviation and other types of aviation, will begin its third season next month on PBS. “Many months and 36 segments later I’m more excited about ‘The Aviators’ than I’ve ever been,” producer Anthony Nalli said. “This season picks up where the last left off and continues to break new ground.” AVweb
  • The 41st annual National Stearman Fly-In will be held starting on Labor Day at Galesburg Municipal Airport in Illinois. More than 100 Stearmans are expected to fly in for the event. The biplanes served as trainer aircraft during World War II. The Register-Mail (Galesburg, Ill.)
  • Pilot Jerry LeMieux has founded a university offering degrees for pilots of unmanned aerial vehicles. Unmanned Vehicle University, which offers courses online, received its international accreditation last month. “We are trying to develop the future leaders of this industry. When you graduate from this school, you will have a job,” he said. The Washington Times
  • General aviation in the U.S. is an “economic powerhouse” that offers countries a model as they nurture their emerging aviation sectors, said Craig Spence, secretary general of the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA), in a speech in Shenyang, China. AOPA Online

And of course, and as promised, a few more T7 images, at BIKF with a very wide angle of view, and at KSEA:

Large images, so click away. You might check out the landing gears after you get your copy! Amazing detail, and we’ll have closeups in our first look.

Oh yes, Leen’s American/Sleeper is now posted at the Org. This file has the best bare metal skin we’ve seen.

Now let’s look at some files:

revised: KNEW + New Orleans Lakefront  +  frede

download link

Sorry once again, as I’ve got nothing but über dark images for you today of frede’s KNEW + New Orleans Lakefront, and as this latest revision is almost all about lighting I hope you understand. Fussing about with settings I came up with the image above using “complete” water reflections and base HDR, not 4x or post process, then I got the camera angle as low as possible and started back up. A few degrees up-angle and the lights exploded like this, and it’s really amazing to zoom in and out and look at how the spectrum of light changes with angle of view. Not to mention I think it’s a really fun image! Mardi Gras, anyone? The image isn’t much good for anything other than the effects, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

So, the airport. More buildings, including a parking garage, and all lighted now. Getting kind of cool, isn’t it?

The word from the man is that he’s going to keep this one kind of on the light side as there will soon be two more airports in the area. I call that a hint, don’t you?

Anyway, even with such a small canvas to work on, frede has managed to work his depth-magic once again. Look over the ramps and you’ll see what I mean.

With two more airports in the area FPS will become a major issue with HDR rendering on, at least until we have more hardware options. Still, these are great airports, and useful as long as HDR isn’t a mandatory consideration.

+++++

revised + ENTC Tromsø + NorwegianPilot

download link

One of our favorite locations for Q-flights, ENTC Tromsø is located in far northern Norway, and while the terminal is not 100% true to the original – it’s a nice stand-in. Recommended.

+++++

Sobelair + x737 + Belga12345

download link

Wonderful looking livery. A must have for OPS between Belgium and far-flung charter destinations..

+++++

revised SAS + QPAC A320 + banner

download link

The LIT tail issues have been resolved in this release, but more importantly the center windshield post has been removed via a modified cockpit object that you can optionally install. A must have file now.

+++++

AirAsia + A330/300RR + NZ2

download link

NZ2 continues to release great new A333 liveries, and this is no exception. A must have file, but no LIT tail?

+++++

Lufthansa + Carenado C152II and C208B + Momix

download link

There are three files in this download, one for the Carenado Caravan and two for the Carenado C152II, and both for, of all things, Lufthansa! The 208 might find use around local airfields in Germany (and LOWI!), the 152s in Arizona or perhaps Frankfurt? Doesn’t matter, really, as each is well done, and dig those Star Alliance logos!

Also included in the same download, this classy LH WHITE C152II file, seen under a real worm worrying thunderstorm at Chaos Manor, aka KMPI Mammoth Yosemite.

All three are of course fictional, yet all three are fun and useful additions. Nice work, and thanks!

We’ll see y’all again soon. Hasta later – C

x+sim+reviews + 29 August 2012

Posted by chip on August 28, 2012
Posted in: Liveries, News, Scenery Reviews. 28 comments

Well? You wanna ‘nuther 777 image? Of course you do…assuming you don’t want to blast some bikini clad gals off the beach at TNCM. So, wave that magic wand and…

Presto! How about two very large images?

You will of course have noted the airport diagram on the left side of the cockpit image? These aren’t fakes. You can load your choice in the file, or use the ones already loaded. Again, cockpit lighting is well done and helps create a great working front office at night. Hope you’ve printed up that manual!

More images tomorrow???

Well, if you insist.

+++++

So, want some news to tide you over ’til then? Here it be:

  •  U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein has rejected a proposal by Hawker Beechcraft to give top executives up to $5.3 million in bonuses. Hawker Beechcraft filed for bankruptcy in May, and argued that the bonuses would help the “talented and capable group” of its managers help the company emerge from bankruptcy. USA TODAY/The Associated Press
  • Flight instructor Matt Quillen, a co-founder of Streamline Aviation in Austin Texas, said, “Anyone can learn to fly. I don’t like it when people try to mystify it or make it seem harder than it is. With the proper training, anyone can do it.” CultureMap (Austin, Texas)
  • Two high school students in Riverside, Calif., have earned their private pilot license before their driver’s license. Jonathan Deming and Tyler Howell, who are students at the Flabob Airport Preparatory Academy, took flying lessons at a discounted rate of $15 per hour. The school is located on the grounds of the Flabob Airport. General Aviation News
  • With a theme harkening to the golden age of Hollywood, A Night for Flight offers an elegant evening of fine food, entertainment, and a chance for donors to preserve the future of general aviation in the last country on the globe with a vibrant GA community. The Oct. 11 gala hosted by the AOPA Foundation during AOPA Aviation Summit in Palm Springs, Calif., also will feature a chance to bid on a flight and lunch with Hollywood legend Harrison Ford — most certainly not the typical $100 hamburger. AOPA Online

I smell fresh paint! Uh-oh…looks like elanport has been at it again…

Corsair + XP10′s default 744  + elanport

download link

A few real birds for comparisons sake, just ’cause.

elanport gets high marks for keeping a sharp eye under the belt-line windows (note the sharp line), and for brilliant execution overall. Notable elements include perfect logos and text, an absolutely filthy exterior, and astonishing LIT elements on the tail. He’s included multiple parts here too, so look closely at a nicely flared light AND a circular highlight from the light source itself, which may well be a first.

Once again, this is a spectacular effort, and once again you NEED to subscribe to elanport’s site in order to get the latest “subscription only” liveries he’s releasing each Friday. When you look at his post for this download at a certain Virgin effort, we think you’ll be convinced that this is too good an offer to pass up.

Subscribe here (c’mon Dude, it’s free!): http://eportaviation.com

+++++

Finnair A330/300RR  +  NZ2

download link

Here’s a clean, first class effort for an AirCanada A333RR, one that’s sure to find use between N America and either Europe, the US/Central America, or Asia, and this is a recommended file with well done elements on hand for these routes. It’s for the XPP/Samen ACF.

+++++

N9012F + Cessna 208 Caravan  + ryancz

download link

Zoom in and look at the worn elements on this paint and tell me you don’t want it!

Yeah, I know. It’s a guy thing.

Kudos, ryan! Way too cool! A must have for our Carenado 208!

+++++

Construction Zone Ahead

KVPS + EGLIN AFB v1.1  +  fredeware

download link

I’m going to focus on the southern parts of this mammoth scenery file today, and try to address a few concerns some have expressed concerning low-FPS while using this file. First let’s set the context and look at the Google imagery below, and taking note of: 1] the large area of base housing; 2] the huge number of hangars; 3] and finally, the number of parking places for several different types of aircraft, from transports to fighters to ground attack aircraft. Go ahead and enlarge the image, then let’s move along:

Keep in mind this is just one half of the base’s facilities too, and you’ll begin to get an idea of how large a facility this really is. Add to this southern area a commercial aviation terminal on the north end of the airport, along with two other complex scenery elements (the F22 ramps and the B1/B2 hangar), and you can begin to see that X-Plane has it’s work cut out for it when loading this package!

Ah, just for good measure, a few charts…just in case:

Most freeware developers would be content to toss in a few hangars and maybe a handful of static aircraft and call it a day. Not frede. He’s going after ultimate realism and it shows everywhere you look, but primarily in a broadly inclusive set of building placements that leaves nothing out. Next, you can add dozens of appropriate static ACF to ramps and unused runways, and then you light the ever lovin’ daylights out of ‘em.

All of them.

We’ve talked about “depth” before when looking at frede’s earlier works, and how he goes about constructing a 3D space on what is essentially a 2D canvas (your monitor), and I doubt you’ll find a more fitting example of this use of disparate elements to create depth than you will here at Eglin. The L-shaped layout of this area helps of course, and places a nice “vanishing point” on the canvas, and from there it’s a matter of adding various elements that reinforce this sense of perspective. Crucial to this process is placing about two million light towers on the ramps, and at night and with HDR active frede’s ramps are now the class of X-Plane.

And you’re damn right these are going to eat into FPS! You never get something for nothing. Never!

Take a look, and click to enlarge:

Just to help keep things in perspective once again, a view of the northern elements in this file, including a few new ones, is seen below. Just consider that the northern elements alone are bigger than most airport files you find in a freeware file and then the reason some are having FPS issues becomes clear.

The image just above, with the C130 lifting off from RWY 19, looks almost comical to me. Oh, no, there’s nothing wrong with the scenery, but look at the aircraft, then the runway. The C130 looks like a radio controlled toy, doesn’t it? Now look at the airport diagram above and find the dimensions of the runway – and you’ll suddenly understand why! This is prime C5A Galaxy real estate!

Anyway, we’ll look at a few of the northern elements of this fantastic scenery next time, but let’s wrap up this discussion about complexity and FPS.

First, if you’re having trouble with very low FPS make sure that HDR rendering is OFF, then restart XP if necessary. Try a simple ACF like the C130 instead of the new C-17 III and see if that helps. Cut back on objects next, or basic resolution, until you get to a comfortable FPS level. The images in this post were made with res at HIGH, objects, airport detail, trees and roads at MAX levels, traffic at none, shadows at default static, clouds in the 70s and water reflections at lowest setting, and yet HDR was ON. Without HDR the scenery load was under 300Mb, while with HDR it topped out over 700Mb, and FPS were in the low-20s and into the high teens at times. With these settings and with HDR active I can comfortably run the x737 and the C130 , but the new C17 is problematic. Any ACF with complex, plug-in driven systems is going to create issues with these ultra-realistic scenery files. That’s the price we’re having to pay for a 32-bit processing environment, but you know what?

I’m will to pay the price now in terms of lower performance so that if and when a true 64-bit operating environment comes along we’ll have some ultra cool scenery files that are really going to come alive. If devs make a bunch of dumbed-down low-FPS files now, how many are going to want to go back and re-do them six months or a year from now.

A real problem here will be if you’re trying to run these kinds of files on an older or less powerful computer. You CAN cut back objects and still run these files, but complex ACF will probably tank your system.

That said, the FPS issue noted at night would seem to be a result of the very heavy load imposed by the enormous use of light towers in this file, regardless whether HDR is active or not. XP still is drawing those light sources, and there are multiple lights on each tower.

Oh. Make sure you have no OSM “Florida” file in your CS folder. If one is in there, say adios to it if you want to use this file. Any questions? Fire away and we’ll see what we can find out.

+++++

So, more tomorrow, and hasta later – C

x+sim+reviews + 28 August 2012

Posted by chip on August 27, 2012
Posted in: Liveries, News, Scenery Reviews, Xplane 10 talk. 19 comments

Ah yes. The Warning Wind. A big one just ahead, too.

Well, it’s no surprise really. Unofficial word of an imminent release of Ramzzess and Philipp Münzel’s 777-200LR has been circulating for days, but speculation about a hard and fast release date remains rampant.

Well, dust off those credit cards, and look for a release alert here later this week. We think you’ll find the wait has been worth it, and as an aside, the quality of the liveries is uniformly excellent, the panel’s lighting options are too. The learning curve is steeper than most, yet it’s possible to drive this monster around for a touch and go without spending too much time in the books. In the image below, the greenish cast comes from SkyMAXX Extreme, and I included this image to highlight both files. SkyMAXX simply turns XP’s often drab skyscapes into something quite magical, and XP10 carries these hues right into the T7′s cockpit. Some of the results are breathtaking, others merely excellent, and these alterations transform the experience of X-Plane. It’s fair to say that using the T7 is going to transform your perceptions of X-Plane, too.

Beta testing the T7 has been a privilege of course, and one we won’t soon forget. Our sincerest thanks to Ramzzess and Philipp.

Oh… Look for a few more images tomorrow.

+++++

frede seems to have had a few busy nights of late. First he drops his latest – KVPS + Eglin Air Force Base – into the DM on Saturday, and on Sunday we get KNEW + New Orleans Lakefront showing up in there as well. When it rains, it pours, wot? Well, let’s take a quick look around.

This looks to be an early v1 effort, more a beta in some respects, but one that holds a fair amount of promise, too – and of course we’ll keep you advised as this facility fills out. The airport has long been a favorite, one my dad and I flew in and out of regularly. The old art-deco terminal building has been restored post-Katrina too, so perhaps this airport will see better days ahead.

The airport is called “Lakefront” for a reason, of course. Most of the facility is built on landfill and juts out more than a mile into Lake Pontchartrain. The famed French Quarter is about four miles south, and oh my goodness could I use a few dozen Oysters Bienville from Brennan’s or Galatoire’s. Maybe a pear cider, too.

New Orleans is of course God’s gift to people with serious eating disorders. It is impossible to visit for a few days and not gain two hundred and twenty three pounds, and should you splurge and head over to The Court of the Two Sisters for a few dozen brandy-milk punches and Turtle Soup before heading home, you can look forward to having to lose about three hundred pounds, plus or minus a few. I usually gain ten pounds just walking down Royal or Bourbon and breathing in the aromas. Heaven ain’t in it with the Quarter.

Which, I suppose, makes visiting the Big Easy in X-Plane all the more fun. Or less. More or less.

Anyway, great flights exist to frede’s other airports in Louisiana, and of course flights in GA aircraft to Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina all make good sense too. Nobody in their right mind would fly to Dallas, though. Take it from me.

So, with objects dialed up, the City of New Orleans takes her place on this stage, too…

That said, for a medium sized GA airport KNEW won’t disappoint, but throw in the added attractions of New Orleans and you have a real winner on your hands. Too bad we can’t get the Quarter and a few other local landmarks into an OSM package! There are, I seem to recall, even a few big sports stadia in the area too, but why not all those restaurants! And 3D Smellerama?

Oh well, how about a few more images from around the airport???

So once again, excellent work all ’round and frede seems to be on another roll. Let’s get out of his way and see what he comes up with next!

+++++

Marginal’s SEATRAFFIC plugin – a nifty little file that animates sea traffic in XP – has just been revised. The plugin now adds reflections and wakes to ships, and a few display options have been added as well. Recommended add-on for all coastal users!

+++++

Dominic Smith advises that a new Windows only flight-planner is available. Here’s the link, though I have not tried it (obviously, Mac users get a little steamed about these sorts of things): http://www.tasoftware.co.uk/planG.htm

+++++

default XP10 747/400 liveries   +   cooleroonimike

link: Air Canada

link: Delta AL

link Korean AL

These three files have been out a while, but were not packaged well for download and there are a few goofs here and there, but the dev appears to be addressing issues and has at last made a nice download available, so hear goes. Both the Korean and the Delta have tail art that needs work (leading edge too wide and top of structure is painted, see below), and of course the Air Canada is now fictional. The broad silver stripe just under the main line of windows is a bear on this ACF as there are all kinds of bulges and bumps that a real paint shop can mask. It takes real work in XP to get these lines right, and maybe a revision will see the work done.

+++++

City Airline (Sweden) + ERJ140 (johny23 conversion)   +   BANNER

download link 

Nice effort here, and the johny23 ACF isn’t too bad, either. Both are worth a try if you won’t purchase Dan Klaue’s much better payware file.

+++++

Finnair A330-200GE + XPP Samen + NZ2

download link

Really nice execution here, and on a very good ACF. Useful for OPS all over Europe, and the carrier has an extensive route structure to Asia, as well as serving KJFK + New York City.

+++++

A final note. In the comments to our Moruya post this weekend there was what I’d consider an abysmally mean-spirited swipe at Simon, and while it’s meanness was enough to send Simon away in a funk, it turned my stomach. So, Lyn the Trucker, or whoever you are, Thanks. It’s always nice to have such timely reminders why psychiatry remains a valuable, if underrated profession. Hopefully you live in a country with socialized medicine, and low cost medications. There’ll be no excuses then, will there?

And that’s about all I’ve got on my mind at the moment. Hasta later. Chip

x+sim+reviews + 27 August 2012

Posted by chip on August 26, 2012
Posted in: Liveries, Scenery Reviews. 3 comments

A short post today…just a livery and one scenery to go over for now, but both are important releases.

First up, Leen de Jager’s latest for the LeadingEDGE DC-3, and this is a humdinger.

It’s unlikely you’ll run into many such perfectly executed liveries in X-Plane, and of such significant aircraft too.It’s hard to understate the impact this aircraft had on the development of transcontinental airline travel, and for context just recall that in the United States at the time almost all interstate travel was accomplished by long distance railroads. A few early air carriers, America Airlines among them, used the early Douglas airliners to move in on this market, and in the process changed the world as it was.

Leen de Jager’s artistry brings this aircraft alive once again. The bare metal skin is as perfectly created as any you’ll find in any platform. Don’t miss this gorgeous creation.

+++++

Up next…frede’s latest.

Eglin Air Force Base is a sprawling facility in the Florida panhandle east of Pensacola, and a civil aviation/commercial terminal has been added to the military facility recently. We’ll cover this one extensively over the next few days, but for now just take a look at some introductory images:

Above, the commercial terminal at KVPS + Northwest Florida Regional. Below, the view towards the terminal from the active.

Above, the F22 ramps. Below, B1 & B2 ramps and hangar facility.

Above, a radar station on Fort Walton Beach, near Hurlburt Field. Below, overhead with full HDR rendering, and a few Spartan images.

And a few images to close out the post with the new C17 Globemaster III:

So, we have our latest fredeWARE, and it’s another grand effort. And again, we’ll have more in-depth coverage of this facility early in the week. We just wanted to get this one on your radar for now, and we’ll see you then. Hasta later – C

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.