Flight Simulator and Virtual Aviation Blog

Microsoft Flight Gameplay video and release date announced

2012-01-04T09:51:00.000-08:00

Microsoft posted a short gameplay video from the upcoming Microsoft Flight and also released new details about the game and the launch date. You can find more details on the official site. A more detailed description of the upcoming game can be found on IGN.

Update Reality XP GNS430/530 WAAS navigation database/AIRAC

2011-12-20T00:15:00.000-08:00

If you own the wonderful Reality XP GNS430/530 WAAS here is a quick tutorial on how to update the navigation database that comes to the product (from 2007) to a newer one (newst I could find was from 10 2009). Create a backup copy of the following files in your GNS400W-500W Trainer installation folder (e.g. C:\Program Files\Garmin\GNS400W-500W Trainer) basemap.bin terrain.odb

Microsoft Flight insight into the audio philosphy

2011-12-17T04:42:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Flight development team released a short article giving some insight into their philosophy for the games's audio system. You can read the full article on the Microsoft Flight website and hear some sample sounds!

Back in time

2011-12-06T04:16:00.001-08:00

An episode of Computer Chronicles TV show from the early 90's presenting a few of the top computer flight simulators of the time. Included are demonstrations of Falcon AT 1.11, F-15 Strike Eagle II, Jet Fighter 1.5, A-10 Tank Killer 1.2, subLOGIC's Flight Simulator ATP 1.0, and Microsoft's Flight Simulator 4.0

Microsoft Flight Beta program accepting applications

2011-12-04T00:53:00.001-08:00

Microsoft announced the kickoff of the Beta program for the upcoming Microsoft Flight in January and they are currently accepting applications to participate in the program. To apply you will have to sign up and register on the Microsoft Connect site. I have to say this is a very good news, because it means the actual release is not that far away!

My cheap Cessna Mustang home cockpit project

2011-12-01T10:44:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I had a crazy idea. After barely getting through almost two months of house renovation (moved recently in a new apartment) I thought I might make good use of my time by starting something that I have in mind since quite some time ago. Well more or less building my first home cockpit for flight sim. Living in something that can be sometimes called a 3rd world country, with

Motion flight simulator in your livingroom

2011-11-27T08:31:00.001-08:00

A Spanish company is selling a very interesting product, a motion flight simulator small enough to fit a living room. The OVO 4 Home Flight Simulator cockpit is modelled to resemble a light GA aircraft, but looks very well built and fun to use. Unfortunately the price tag doesn't really make it very accessible to the lower budget flight simmers around. Nice gadget to have.

X-Plane 10 preview

2011-11-25T07:47:00.001-08:00

My first contact with the world of flight simulators was one of the first demo versions of the X-Plane that I found on a CD received togheter with a popular gaming magazine. I remember I first installed that demo during the Easter and even though I was allowed to fly only 5 or 6 minutes, I got hooked and spent the entire Easter holiday learning as much as I could about the different airplanes

X-Plane 10 Demo

2011-11-24T06:13:00.001-08:00

Laminar research just released the demo for their newest flight simulator version, X-Plane 10. Head out to x-plane.com to download the newly released demo. I hope to also come back with a preview post in the next days after I play a bit with the demo version.

Succesfull belly landing of a Boeing 767

2011-11-02T00:48:00.000-07:00

A polish LOT Boeing 767 performed a successful gear up landing after experiencing landing gear problems when it was trying to land at Warsaw airport. Video below shows the great skill of the flight crew which made sure all passengers escaped with no injury.

New screenshots from Microsoft Flight

2011-10-14T05:50:00.000-07:00

Development team behind Microsoft Flight released a new batch of screenshots from the upcoming flight simulator. Also they have released a few details about the way missions will work in Microsoft flight. The post can be found in the news section of the official site and the screenshots in the Screens area.

Cool way to fly

2011-09-18T09:18:00.001-07:00

Cool jetpack water action...and a nice song! Too bad my summer has ended :(

VoxATC - Replacement for FSX default ATC with voice control

2011-08-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

When talking about aviation, one of the key persons besides the pilot, that helps ensure a safe flight, is the air traffic controller. Therefore having a realistic ATC is important for an overall realistic simulated experience. Unfortunately many flight simmers are not really happy about the ATC that comes built in Flight Simulator X, especially when flying state of the art planes with FMC

How to completly uninstall and reinstall FSX

2011-08-09T01:48:00.000-07:00

If you are installing add-on on a daily basis to your FSX, you probably got in the situation of ending up with a non working sim or one that crashes to desktop (ctd) in the middle of a flight due to broken or incompatible software. This just happened to me and if I don't manage to fix it, then I most probably have to uninstall and reinstall the sim. Unfortunately this is not as easy as it may

Ifly 737 NG FSX weather radar

2011-08-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

Many of the latest FSX airplanes are lacking a weather radar. I know because of the way FSX weather is programed it is difficult to make a realistic weather radar, still my own view is that it will still be good to have one no matter how accurate it is, just to add to the overall realism of the simulation. If you are missing a weather radar in your Ifly 737 NG for FSX and you own WX500

PMDG 737 NGX has been released

2011-08-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

One of the most anticipated FSX aircraft has been finally released and looks stunningly! More details

New teaser video from Microsoft Flight!

2011-08-02T23:52:00.000-07:00

A new Webisode was posted on Micrsoft Flight Official site. This time we can also see an interior scene from the virtual cockpit of an Microsoft Flight aircraft. We can note the dynamic shadows similar with the ones in the FSX DX10 cockpits. Also the lighting in the video looks to be similar to HDR. View this video as a WMV document.write("<\/script>");

5 ground textures for scenery creation

2011-08-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

A collection of 5 high resolution ground textures useful for flight simulator scenery creation. They and many more are provided for free by 4 Free Textures. You can download each texture in full resolution on each of the pages bellow using the download button. Concrete wall texture Cement with cracks texture Gravel Grass Wood floor

Easy place library scenery objects in FSX

2011-08-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

While trying to create some search and rescue scenery for Flight Simulator X, I came across this great tool for placing library scenery objects in FSX. The free open source program is called Whisplacer and allows you to place library objects in FSX using a live preview mode (the program connects to FSX, reads the plane position and places the object visually in the sim). After user is happy with

250.000 $ for the first human powered helicopter flight

2011-05-12T01:10:00.000-07:00

The Sikorsky Prize is a $250,000 reward established in 1980 by the American Helicopter Society to the first controlled flight of a human powered helicopter. It was named in honor of Igor Sikorsky. The prize has not yet been won, although multiple attempts have been made, therfore people around the world can still have the chance to be mentioned in the history of aviation. In summary, the

G.A.P. Mega Corfu X released

2011-05-03T03:22:00.000-07:00

Greek Airports Project has released a very complete scenery for Kerkyra (Corfu) area, a busy European holiday destination. The scenery, which is based on over 2000 high res pictures of the area, models a large part of the island, the city, harbor, castles, as well as the Kapodistrias airport of Corfu (LGKR). It also features the floating sea base & helipad at at Agios Georgios bay. More

Infinite Flight - new mobile flight simulator

2011-05-02T03:16:00.000-07:00

A new mobile phone flight simulator, produced by Flying Development Studios, has been released for Windows Phone 7 devices. It features very nice graphics, 15 airports in San Francisco Bay area, multiple day/time and weather presets, a Cessna C172SP trainer aircraft and many more features. More details can be found on the official site.

New helicopter game in progress - Take on Helicopters

2011-04-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

Bohemia Interactive, the creators of the military simulator Arma series, announced they are working on a helicopter game based on the Arma II engine. The launch is planned for Q4, 2011. Take On Helicopters will feature two beautifully rich and expansive environments, based upon real-world North American and South Asian terrain-data, cutting-edge technology, helicopters modelled in stunning

Get flightsim screenshots on your desktop

2011-04-14T01:05:00.000-07:00

mySIMSHOTS.NET launched a free Windows sidebar/desktop gadget showing the latest screenshots uploaded on the site in a slideshow directly on your desktop. This will allow you to stay up to date with the latest additions without the need of checking the site every day. The gadget is avaialble for Windows Vista and 7 operating systems. Detailed instruction on how to download and install can be

IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover has been released

2011-04-03T02:24:00.000-07:00

The latest title in the IL-2 Sturmovik series has been released. It features over a dozen flyable aircraft (fighters and bombers), 13 AI aircraft, realistic damage modelling, a new 3D engine, a single player campaign and a customizable multiplayer mode for up to 128 players in the same battle.

Wilco Airbus series gets a weather radar and many more updates

2011-04-02T02:20:00.000-07:00

Wilco Publishing and feelThere.com have announced a long-awaited upgrade for their Airbus collection : Airbus Series Evolution, transforming this product in today's most advanced, most realistic and most complete Airbus simulation for Microsoft Flight Simulator (X or 2004). Two of the most notable updates in this package are the higly advanced weather radar which is fully integrated in the

Boeing's new 747-800 Intercontinental

2011-02-14T04:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Feb 13th, Boeing premiered it's new airplane, the 747-800 Intercontinental. The event was also transmitted trough a webcast of which recording is still available on the official site. The aircraft integrates a state of the art cockpit instruments from the 787 as well as the GEnx engines, being able to carry more passengers or cargo than previous versions, with lower noise and carbon

Free flight duration aeromodeling

2011-02-12T03:23:00.000-08:00

Float Documentary Trailer from Phil Kibbe on Vimeo. I came around this video trailer about segment of model aviation known as free flight and was very interested about the topic so I decided to share some details about it. Free flight is the original form of the aeromodeling hobby in which the aircraft have no need for any form of external control, like radio remote controller. The

Online ATC simulator game

2011-02-09T03:47:00.000-08:00

ATC-SIM is a very realistic online ATC simulator, with and interface which resemble a real ATC screen, that can help you get rid of boredom. It also has a scoring system implemented to see where you rank between the fellow controllers, and various airports you can control on. The only downside I found is the fact that you need to learn all those text commands to control the aircraft, but if you

Weapon for FSX

2011-02-07T00:46:00.000-08:00

Captain Sim launched a product that will turn your Flight Simulator X in a combat flight simulator. The ad don allows you to add weapons to any aircraft in the game, alongside other functionality like Radar and HUD. You can see more details about the product on the official page, or watch the presentation videos.

GE Flight Simulator - a flight simulator in your browser using Google Earth

2011-02-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

I came around this website where you can play with a flight simulator based on Google Earth plugin, in your browser, and take off from everywhere in the world flying over the sattelite imagery. It can be even played multiplayer as you can see all the other players that connect trough the app. Very nice application to have fun from once in a while, and you can even use a joystick. Will be good to

Updates and brand new screenshots from Microsoft Flight!

2011-02-02T11:33:00.000-08:00

The development team behind upcoming Microsoft Flight title has released some brand new screenshots, as well as a news update communicating the fact that the game will contain an offline mode next to the online experience. Read more details and enjoy the screenshots directly on the official site!

X-Plane 9 Mobile available for Android

2011-02-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

In case you did not find out already, X-Plane 9 Mobile is now also available for Android OS. The X-Plane 9 app includes the following aircraft: Cessna 172 Columbia 400 Piper Malibu Cirrus Vision Piaggio Avanti Beechcraft King Air Eclipse 500 and the following regions: Innsbruck, Austria Hawaii Boswell Bay, Alaska Southern California San Francisco, California Desert Sky, California You can see

New info about the PMDG 737NGX - working terrain radar

2011-01-31T09:52:00.000-08:00

PMDG released a couple of new screenshots on their forum with one of the most awaited aircrafts of all times, their 737NGX. The images show mostly the exterior of the aircraft, but there is a cockpit screenshot that gives a important detail, the aircraft will be equiped with a terrain radar that shows the info on the ND. You can enjoy the images and the news here.

High definition video of a flight over France

2011-01-30T01:44:00.000-08:00

A nice and well done video of two aircrafts flying over spectacular places in France with very good image quality. Enjoy :)

More details about Micorosft Flight released by the development team

2010-12-22T05:26:00.000-08:00

The development team working at the Microsoft Flight title posted beginning of this month some news, as an answer to the numerous questions they received from the public. It provides some details about what to expect from the game, with accent on the question on how it will be compared to FSX and what will be the overall experience they are working to achieve. You can read the full release on

How virtual search and rescue could someday help save lifes

2010-12-21T08:38:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite type of flying in flight simulators was conducting search and rescue missions as part of some virtual SAR organizations. I enjoyed doing search patters over sea or looking for objectives in the mountains for hours and hours in all type of weather. As the technology progresses, maybe someday flight simulators will be used as tools to help authorities in search and rescue

Apache: Air Assault - New helicopter combat game

2010-12-01T06:23:00.000-08:00

On November 19th, 2010 a nice new helicopter combat simulation game has been relased. It features the Apache AH64 helicopter and lets you take it on a 16 mission campaign in various landscapes along side multiplayer game. From the screenshots and videos I can tell the scenery is one of the most complex I have yet seen in a simulation, with dense vegetation and lighting effects. Regarding the

New version of Plan G

2010-11-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

A new version of the very good Plan G flight planner based on Google Maps has been released. New features in version 2.0: •New Airport viewer •New Approach viewer •Add approach to flight plan •Display Victor Airways •Weather reports without FS connection •Relative wind display •New enhanced native ".PLG" file format with support for cross-references, passing altitudes, notes, approaches etc •

Did you know snakes could fly?

2010-11-25T23:49:00.000-08:00

Me neither.... But it looks like some species are capable of short gliding flights from tree to tree, as the video below proves it. Pay close attention at the way the snake moves and flattens it body to maintain a profile trough air.

Top 10 extreme and interesting approaches to airports

2010-11-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

I decided to make my personal top 10 when it comes to the most exciting and interesting aproaches to airports around the world. You can see a real life video of each as I manage to find them on Youtube. 10. Madeira Funchal, Portugal (LPMA) 09. Isafjordu, Iceland (BIIS) 08. London City, UK 07. Courchevel, France (LFLJ) 06. Sion, Switzerland (LSGS) 05. Kerkira, Greece (LGKR) 04.

PMDG 737 NGX HUD demo

2010-11-23T00:11:00.000-08:00

PMDG seems to be getting closer and closer of releasing a great 737 NG for FSX. Proof is the latest video showing a demonstration of the revolutionary HUD (heads up display) that will be built in the 737NGX, working in the actual cockpit of the aircraft. Besides the video their support forums give also a nice description of the features of functionality of the upcoming HUD system, supported by

Freeware Nemeth Design helicopters

2010-11-19T05:25:00.000-08:00

Nemeth Design is offering a couple of their wonderful helicopters for free. Unfortunately they are only FS9 models, but if you are still using the sim and like helicopters it's a good opportunity to try them. I have flown the Sikorsky S76 and the EC120B and they are truly wonderful. To see the free helicopters you will need to go their official site: http://www.nemethdesigns.com/freeware.html#

A day in the life of air traffic around the world

2010-11-18T04:25:00.000-08:00

A very nice video representation of the flights around the world during an entire day:

A diffrent kind of flying

2010-11-15T10:08:00.000-08:00

First Person Speedflying - View more free videos Speed-flying in the mountains, or also known as Ski gliding.

ENB Series Flight Simulator X or 9 - How to install and obtain cool HDR lighting tutorial

2010-11-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

If your computer is not powerful enough to run FSX in DX10 mode with Bloom enabled, or you are bored of the default lighting in fs9, you can easily add a very cool mod either in either FSX or FS9 which adds HDR lighting and dynamic shadows to the simulator. The mod is called ENB Series and it is based on a modified version of the DX9 dll which forces HDR and many effects in games which do not

The coolest helicopter I have ever seen

2010-10-11T00:08:00.000-07:00

Sikorsky X2 flying at 250 kt during a test flight. Both beautiful and fast.

More details about Microsoft Flight released

2010-09-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

If you want to find out more details about the upcoming Flight game from Microsoft, check out the official page where some new info has been posted, which I would say gives important information’s about how this game will be. Besides a new video episode, which is short and focus mostly one the story background, a new FAQ sections has been posted, which contains most of the important info. It

iFly Jets - The 737NG for FS2004

2010-08-27T04:01:00.000-07:00

One of the most sophisticated 737NG built for FS2004 is here and can be purchased from Flight1. The iFly Jets 737NG features a lot of of the systems available in the real aircraft along with ground support and pushback options. For those who would like to see a complete list of features iFly has also made public the aircraft's operation manual one their support forums. The product can be

Microsoft anounces Flight! Will it be also a simulator?

2010-08-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

At Gamescom 2010 Microsoft anounced they are working on Flight, a new game inspired by its old flight simulator series, which is in development since the beginning of the year. As there are no details other that the official anouncement and a short trailer video we are all wondering if this is going to be only a flight game or a true simulator. Microsoft has launched also a page dedicated to

Top10 Low Pass Fly By's

2010-08-05T03:47:00.000-07:00

Compilation of very skilled military pilots performing low pass fly by's. Source

Free VFR planning tool with maps covering entire world - Plan-G

2010-08-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

I found very difficult in the past to find good VFR maps for my FSX flights, or a good planning tool with worldwide coverage. When I was flying in the US I usually used Skyvector, but as most of my flights are in Europe, and couldn't afford the price of proper VFR maps for all the countries I needed, I was mostly relying on the FSX flight planner to track my course. Short time ago I came across

New toys from Saitek

2010-07-26T06:26:00.000-07:00

Saitek has launched a couple of new toys to make our flightsim experience more enjoyable. First of them is the Pro Flight Backlit Information Panel, which will provide pilots with and annunciation style informational panel during flights, showing up stuff as warnings, failures and information about aircraft systems. Second is a brand new Throttle, pitch and mixture system similar to the ones

Fix FSX out of memory (oom) errors

2010-06-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

I recently installed some addons that were using high definition textures in Flight Simulator X and I was getting constant oom errors. The symptoms of FSX running out of memory were autogen spikes from the ground till the sky, blue or untextured polygons on the ground, gauges that kept freezing and very bad framerate. After these signs started to appear it was impossible to continue to play.

PMDG 737 NGX first screenshots

2010-06-08T03:19:00.000-07:00

First images with interior details from the long awaited PMDG Boeing 737 NGX for FSX have been released by the PMDG staff in this thread on the Avsim forums. They look amazing! According to PMDG we should expect this bird to be released sometimes during this year (2010). You may also see some of the images on this forum.

Tom Clancy's HAWX

2010-06-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

For the dogfighting fans and those who like aerial combat games I will try to present a few features of this nice combat flying game from Ubisoft, which is available for multiple platforms including PC and XBOX 360. From the start I would like to say the game does not want to be a flight simulator but more like an arcade or action game so do not expect to have all knobs and switches working in

My Geforce 9800GT is here

2010-05-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

As I anounced in the last post, I have purchased a new videocard, a Geforce 9800GT 1GB, to replace my old video card, a 9400GT. Wow, what a big diffrence! It's the first time I can play FSX fluidly with full clouds on 1920x1080px resolution at around 25fps. Still I am not able to enable bloom without going back to 10-15fps, but who cares :) I spent a day searching for a power source to handle

CPU or video card update for higher framerate in FSX

2010-05-26T05:01:00.000-07:00

Since the first time I put my had on a joystick and played Microsoft Flight Simulator X, performance (especially framerate) was one of my biggest problems. I like eye candy so I'm always pushing my computer configuration to the limit, after all it needs to be as real as it can. Having this in mind I decided to scrap my old Geforce 9400 GT and buy a new video card. I found this cool article on

New flight simulator screenshot website launched - www.mySIMSHOTS.NET

2010-05-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

Flight simulators fans are invited to submit the best images from their virtual flights on www.mySIMSHOTS.NET website. mySIMSHOTS.NET wants to be a portal for the flight simulators enthusiasts to share images from their virtual flights. Beside the upload image feature the site offers the possibility to create albums, comment on images, browse the database or use the powerful search engine to

AIRAC cycle1005 available at Navigraph

2010-05-06T23:43:00.000-07:00

If you want to update the navigation database of your favorite addons, AIRAC cycle 1005 is now available in the FMS Data section of the Navigraph website.

Learn to fly

2010-04-29T02:05:00.000-07:00

Even if you only fly flight simulators the best way to do it is like real pilots do. I have discovered this nice set of training videos made available for free on the Angle of attack blog under the name Aviator 90. They are a series of 45 videos (from which 43 have been published so far) which would teach you how to fly like a pro. They are very similar to the DVD courses that pilots preparing

X-Plane 9 Mobile for iPhone review

2010-02-26T06:40:00.000-08:00

How would it be to be able to have a flight simulator in your pocket every day? Dream no more! The team at Laminar Research managed to move simulation to your pocket with the release of the X-Plane app for iPhone, which is a miniature copy of the very realistic simulator that is available on the desktop computers, guaranteed to keep you busy and entertained during breaks or while getting bored

Next edition of IVAO Cannonball Race

2010-02-22T03:42:00.000-08:00

Next edition of IVAO Cannonball Race will take place on 27/02/2010 and will be held by IVAO HU Division. More details....

Extreme aproach in Iceland - real

2010-02-21T10:58:00.000-08:00

Found this cool approach on Youtube: and the charts. The approach is made at Isafjordu (BIIS) airport in Iceland with a Fokker F50.

IRIS PRO SERIES - DIAMOND STAR XLS

2010-02-20T00:52:00.000-08:00

I am a big fan of the Garmin G1000 so I am very happy to see a new aircraft with the units installed in its Virtual Cockpit. I'ts the Diamond Star XLS by IRIS Flight simulation software. The 3d exterior model looks ok and the virtual cockpit event better. The product is available for purchase on simMarket and more info can be found on the official website.

Mega Airport Amsterdam for FS9 released

2010-02-19T00:48:00.000-08:00

The new scenery for one of Europe's largest airports is available on Aerosoft online shop. Features: * All buildings and airport institutions * Dynamic and animated objects * High resolution day- and night textures * Photorealistic textures on buildings, vehicles, etc. * Docking systems * Fully compatible to the standard AI traffic and traffic add-ons such as MyTrafficX

Mega Airport Amsterdam Schiphol preview

2010-02-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

Some screenshots with the Mega Airport Amsterdam Schiphol scenery still in development have been posted on the simflight.de forums. Looks very interesting but I think it is still missing some details. Looking forward to see the final product when it is completed.

Video with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner cockpit

2010-02-15T15:35:00.000-08:00

A video tour of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner's interior including cockpit at the Boeing production plant in Everett, Wash.

CLS 767 Flight Tutorial

2010-02-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

A flight tutorial for the CLS Boeing 767 has been released and can be downloade from CLS website.

Navigraph Airac Cycle 1002 released

2010-02-13T15:29:00.000-08:00

Navigraph Airac Cycle 1002 has been released. More info can be found on Navigraph website.

Outerra graphics engine

2010-02-09T05:22:00.000-08:00

Nice graphics engine for rendering the planet, currently in development. I would love to have such tree density in a flight simulator. More details here.

Free airport and airline databases

2010-02-08T01:35:00.000-08:00

I was working on a website project and was in need for a free open source database with airports and airlines. Here are a couple I could find: Openflights Provides two different csv databases, one with airports and the other with airlines. Airport database contains close to 6000 entries covering most of the big airports around the world. Airline database is quite big as well (over 9000 entries)

Greatest lies in aviation (funny)

2010-01-31T01:20:00.000-08:00

1. I’m from the FAA and I’m here to help you. 2. Me? I’ve never busted minimums. 3. We will be on time, maybe even early. 4. Pardon me, ma’am, I seem to have lost my jet keys. 5 .I have no interest in flying for the airlines. 6. I fixed it right the first time, it must have failed for other reasons. 7. All that turbulence spoiled my landing. 8. I’m a member of the mile high club. 9. I

Latin VFR Sao Paulo (SBGR) scenery

2010-01-30T00:47:00.000-08:00

Latin VFR released the Sao Paulo scenery for FSX and FS2004. It also includes 400 km of photo scenery and mesh for Sao Paulo region. More informations

IVAO Virtual Sky magazine for Jan 2010 available

2010-01-29T00:06:00.000-08:00

You can get the January 2010 edition of IVAO's official magazine for free from IVAO PR department page. Some highlights from number 7 of the magazine: Review of Aerosoft's Innsbruck NL2000 Photorealisitc scenery review FSLanparty 2009 Belgium Mallorca scenery review Buyer's guide for a new PC News and interviews from IVAO Aerosoft Nice Côte d’Azur scenery review

Guess Wilco's next aircraft and win a free license

2010-01-28T02:12:00.000-08:00

Wilco is offering 10 free licenses of its next product which will be released in February, if you can guess what aircraft it will be after the screenshots posted on the contest page. For details about the contest visit Wilco Publishing website.

How to obtain registration code for Gmax

2010-01-20T06:14:00.000-08:00

For those of you interested in Gmax scenery design for Microsoft Flight Simulator here is a short guide on how to obtain the free registration code needed for Gmax to work. 1) Go to: http://www.turbosquid.com/registergmax/ 2) Fill the form to create an account. 3) Check your email for the registration key. Please note it may take some hours untill it is sent, or it might be blocked by the spam

Aviation jokes

2010-01-19T00:55:00.000-08:00

A collection of aviation jokes to lighten your day: A Pan Am 727 waiting for start clearance in Munich overheard the following: Lufthansa (in German): "Ground, what is our start clearance time?" Ground (in English): "If you want an answer you must speak in English." Lufthansa (in English): "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?" Unknown voice from

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System

2010-01-18T04:07:00.000-08:00

Nice joystick from Saitek, perfect for the combat flight simulator enthusiasts and not only. Some of the features: New Force Sensing stick technology with no moving parts, which takes input very similar to how the real stick does; Dual throtle control; Metal construction for durability; 608 total possible commands; 3 8-way hats and numoerous buttons; Image taken from Saitek website.

Free aviation charts

2010-01-16T01:47:00.000-08:00

If you need aeronautical navigation charts for use with flight simulator, here are a couple of places you can get some for free: Skyvector.com VFR charts for entire US, easy to use interface, flight planner. FScharts.com IFR charts for 22000 airports world wide, easy to use search function. FSNordic links Links to charts from various parts of the world Eurocontrol Real world up to date

Free aviation photos

2010-01-15T01:28:00.000-08:00

A couple of free high resolution aviation photos to use in your projects. They can be used for both free or commercial purposes. Free aviation photos (collection is being updated constantly)

Free flight simulators

2010-01-13T01:14:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of some free flight simulator software available: Flightgear Available for multiple OS (windows, mac, linux), with multiple aircrafts and scenery for entire world. Good graphics. Quite realistic. Aces High Fighter simulation game. Online and offline modes. Community.

Convert knots to miles per hour

2010-01-12T00:59:00.000-08:00

A simple rule to convert Knots to Miles per Hour and the other way around is to multiply speed in knots to 1.15 to obtain the speed in miles per hour: mph=knots*1.15 From this: Knots=mph/1.15

FSX Eurocopter Super Puma AS332L2 by Dirk Fassbender Review

2010-01-01T06:29:00.000-08:00

I will start this review saying that this is probably the best freeware helicopter made so far for Flight Simulator X. During the last couple of days I flew the Eurocopter Super Puma AS332L2 by Dirk Fassbender that has been recently launched for FSX Acceleration on Christmas Eve 2009. The helicopter is available for free download at Avsim and Hovercontrol. It works only in Acceleration and not

FS9 / FSX possible issues while installing on Vista and Windows 7

2009-12-30T01:35:00.000-08:00

Due to the big number of changes that the two operating system have implemented, especially in term of security and system folder structure here are a couple of tips to solve some of the issues you may encounter while installing Microsoft Flight Simulator on Windows Vista or 7. fsx.cfg and fs9.cfg file location on Vista: C:\users\(name)\Appdata\roaming\microsoft\fsx C:\users\(name)\Appdata\

Freeware FSX AS332L2 - Eurocopter Super Puma lauched

2009-12-29T23:14:00.000-08:00

I have just downloaded and flew one of the newest and most promising freeware helicopter for Microsoft Flight Simulator X Acceleration. It is the AS332L2 Super Puma model by Dirk Fassbender available at hovercontrol.com and Avsim. The feature list looks amazing for a freeware product: working autopilot, internal cargo, FSX acceleration external cargo possible, FSX acceleration hoisting possible

FlightProSim - New flight simulator on the market

2009-12-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

I noticed today in one of the adds appearing on this site a link to this new flight simulator software. It promises accurate world scenery, 20000 of the world's airports and over 100 diffrent planes. According to the producers, the scenery is based on real military mapping. Some of the aircraft's available: Antonov An-225 Rockwell B-1B Lancer Northrop B-2 Spirit Cessna 182

First space hotel to open in 2012

2009-11-03T07:50:00.000-08:00

A European company based in Spain announced that they are working on a project to have the first space hotel on Earth's orbit by the end of 2012. It will probably will not come very cheap, but for those who aford this might be the adventure of a lifetime. More details about Galactic Suite can be found here. Photo by http://4freephotos.com

FS2004 and Nvidia anti aliasing issues - how to fix

2009-09-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

If you get issues with FS2004 and antialiasing (split / duplicate image, no anti aliasing, black screen in screenshots) here is a fast way to fix it.You will need to download and install Nhancer from http://www.nhancer.com/Find MS Flight Simulator 2004 profile and press Duplicate to create a copy. The default one cannot be usually modified. Disable/delete the old one if needed.Make sure fs9.exe

One of the best aviation aviation photographers

2009-09-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

Very nice images: http://shaunlunt.typepad.com/shootings/

New products from Aerosoft

2009-09-07T04:00:00.001-07:00

A couple of goodies just released by Aerosoft:Discus Glider for FSX - A very detailed glider.Nice Côte d'Azur X - Scenery for this important tourist destination on French Riviera.

PMDG releases BAe Jetstream 4100 for FSX

2009-09-07T03:08:00.000-07:00

I was writing some time ago about a secret project from PMDG. looks like it's finally revealed. PMDG just announced the release of a new aircraft, and the model they developed is Jetstream 41 turboprop regional airliner, manufactured byBAE Systems.Some of the features of this aircraft:External objects can be shown/hidden using the Ramp Manager. External objects, when activated via the Ramp

How to program Reverse Thrust on Saitek throttle

2009-09-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

For the owners of the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke, here is how to simply set reverse thrust to activate on one of the axis.With the yoke connected to the computer and flight simulator started you go to control settings and scroll down in the control list to Throttle Decrease Quickly. You will see that it currently has assigned F2 (key you are using to enter into reverse thrust from keyboard). Double

Extreme landing of a search and rescue helicopter

2009-09-01T02:13:00.001-07:00

This is what I call a tight landing. Very impressive location to land a helicopter on.Read the full article for more info.

Flying dog

2009-09-01T02:09:00.001-07:00

Poor dog....

Good aviation movies

2009-08-31T01:25:00.000-07:00

A list with some of my favorite aviation movies, or movies taht contain scenes involving airplanes:Sky FightersTop GunUnited 93Air Force OneCon AirThe TerminalAnnapolisThe aviator

Openflights - A flight database

2009-08-30T01:54:00.000-07:00

A nice database with flights:http://openflights.org/

Airline manager - Facebook aplication for pilots

2009-08-29T04:41:00.000-07:00

I came across this nice Facebook game which sounds very promising:http://apps.facebook.com/airline_manager

Baby croc causes panic in an airliner

2009-08-28T02:46:00.000-07:00

Seems like a movie script, but it happened for real:Read more from source

Safest place to place a tall building

2009-08-27T01:20:00.000-07:00

Exactly under the glide slope of the active runway of a busy airport, 100 meters from the threshold.Seems someone did it for real: http://www.airliners.net/photo/0493224/L/I remember a funny real story about some investors built a group of houses exactly on the runway center line of a capital's second airport. When people came to mount the new ILS installation for that end of the runway they