New version of Plan G

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
•Sample plans
•Sharable bookmarks
•Display KML/KMZ files
•New Quick Planner
•Route Copy to clipboard for VAs, VATSIM etc
•Water runways display
•Detachable tool windows for expander panels
•Actual times recorded (local or zulu) an be printed on PLOGs
•Spot elevations (with optional DEM installed)
•Move aircraft to here function
•Many more UI enhancements

To view more details and download the free flight planner go to Plan G flight planning software page.

I also made a review to the first version of Plan G a while ago. You can see it here.

Did you know snakes could fly?

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

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. Innsbruck, Austria (LOWI)


03. Lukla, Nepal (VNLK)



02. Tegucigalpa, Honduras (MHTG)



01. Kai Tak, Hong Kong (VHHH)

PMDG 737 NGX HUD demo

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 some cockpit screen shots of it in action.

Freeware Nemeth Design helicopters

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#pay01

A day in the life of air traffic around the world

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

A diffrent kind of flying

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

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 support it by default. The mod was originally developed for GTA game, but works very well in both FSX and FS9.

Good part at this mod is that it improves the visual quality of Flight Simulator X or FS2004 without a heavy toll on frame rates. I could argue that the effect is even better than the one obtained if you enable Bloom and DX10 mode in FSX, but, at least on my configuration the frame  rate remains the same when ENB series is enabled. Besides the visual impact you will also notice a interesting effect, if you look at the cockpit instruments and then raise your view to the sky, you will notice how the light dims out, similar as your eye iris will close to adapt to the increase amount of light. This adds a nice effect as the simulation would have actually been a movie, and the camera would have adjusted to light when moved from the dashboard to the windshield/sky.

The image at the top shows the difference between default FSX (right) and FSX with ENB Series enabled (left).

How to install ENB Series in either FSX or FS9

1. Download the mod from the official page below. I use version 0.075.
  http://enbdev.com/download_en.htm

2. After the zip file is downloaded, extract and copy the two files (d3d9.dll and enbseries.ini) in the FSX/FS9 main folder (same place where fsx.exe/fs9.exe is located).

3. You will need to replace the config in enbseries.ini with one that is best suited for the simulator (default one is provided for GTA). Open enbseries.ini with Notepad and replace the content with the configuration. I use the one provided on this forum:
http://www.simforums.com/forums/enb-bloom-mod-nicks-cOnfig-settings_topic32482.html

Save the file after is changed!

4. Start FSX and start a flight. To start/stop the mod press anytime SHIFT+F12;


To uninstall the mod just delete the two files you copied from your simulator installation directory.

Enjoy!


Known issues:
If the ENB Series does not work in FSX or 2004 or you see black squares, clouds, etc with the mod enables, check if you have two monitors connected to the computer. This mod does not support multi monitor setup on some configuration. Just disconnect the secondary monitor and restart the simulator  and it should work.


Use the mod at your own risk. I did not encountered any issues with it but you may never know!