Thursday, July 30, 2009

Carenado releases the Piper Seneca for FS2004. Speaking of the Carenado Seneca if you havent done so already make sure you head over to Carenados Updates page and make sure you have all the patches for the Seneca. This will help keep the aircraft from leaping off the ground. It is now a joy to fly! Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Happy hump day once again. I hope you all are having a great week! If not don't fret the weekend is right around the corner.

Guess what plane this is? Well Carenado wants you to guess what it is, it is one of Carenado's oldies that they redoing giving it a much needed face lift. No details when the released of the Archer will be ...oops I gave the aircraft's identity away but it will be fully FSX and DX10 supported.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Good morning all. I hope all is going well for all of you.

There is nothing really to blog about today as far as flight simulator goes. In real world aviation, today is the second day of the EAA Airventure at Oshkosh! You can listen to radio feed HERE. You can listen and watch on a live streaming video feed HERE.


Tentative Mass Arrival Schedule
Friday, July 24, 10 a.m. - Cessna 150/152
Saturday, July 25, 1 p.m. - Beech Bonanzas
Saturday, July 25, 2:30 p.m. - Cessnas
Saturday, July 25, 4 p.m. - Mooneys
Sunday, July 26, 11:30 a.m. - Piper Comanche
Sunday, July 26, 1:30 p.m. - Van's RVs
Monday, July 27, 3:30 p.m. - T-6, T-28, T-34, Nanchang Red Star

Monday, July 27, 2009

Some good news comes today after being down for over 2 months the Avsim File Library is back online! Congrats Avsim, I hope this doesnt happen again. The amount of support they have received is unparalleled. The following is from Avsims front page:

AVSIM File Library Back!

Posted: Sunday, July 26, 2009 - 19:44
After over two months of hard work by our volunteers, we are pleased to announce that the file library is back online and providing downloads for the community. We are going to keep the upload function off for a while in order to assess the stability of the system and work out any bugs that may remain. We believe we recovered over 95% of the library system, and you may find some things missing. Please post any comments or questions you may have in the File Library Forum. Thank you for your patience during this period.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Sim Outhouse is down due to switching over to a newer server. Im not sure on the details but looks like the website will be down for quite a while. Even working on the new site the owner claims that it has already been tried to be hacked numerous times. Please give your support! The following is quoted from the front page of Sim Outhouse:
Here Comes My 19'Th Nervous Breakdown

What Ever Could Go Wrong ...... Did

: : Progress Report : :

After days of F***UPS, software glitches, and equipment failures, the files are now being transferred. posted @ Sat 9:30 am Eastern

Due to high server loads caused by files being transferred, I am not going to work on the data base until all files have been uploaded to the new server. posted @ Sat 10:30 am Eastern

This is going slow, but its going. posted @ Sat 1:30 pm Eastern

Still uploading the data base from old drive in slave machine posted @ Sat 6 PM Eastern

Personal Comment:
I have read a few posts this morning on other websites, I would just like to say I am a little disappointed. Unless you have walked a mile in my shoes, you have not walked anywhere.
This job I do alone is very stressful, heck I have smoked a carton of cigarettes in just 2 days. I also have the stress of all of you on my shoulders as well as the glitches of this current job.
Being in charge of a big web server is very hard, there is knowledge required that isn't taught, nothing comes with instructions. The server lives 1500 miles away from me and my arms are stretched out. I cannot help if hardware goes out, I just have to create another plan and not give up. I can assure you I have all the data just getting it uploaded to the new server without errors is like going to the moon, not impossible because it has been done before. I cannot stop hackers from trying to break the law, heck the new server has already been attacked 3 times, once from England, once from Russia and once from Korea, My scripts caught them, here is their IP's 222.122.81.220 , 195.58.7.217 , & 83.138.134.208 . Write your country's law makers and tell them about it, don't bitch at me. I work for free and my feeling gets hurt when I spend so much of my life looking after your interests. The progress reports I give are to keep you informed and not to be used against me. If you think you can do a better job, STAND UP!

Ickie

Saturday, July 25, 2009

RAZBAM releases Convair F-102 Delta Dagger for FSX!

F-102 Delta Dagger $29.95



Designated Model 8-90, the first of four YF-102As (53-1787/1790) was rolled out at San Diego just 117 days after redesign had started. It was trucked out to Edwards AFB and took off on its maiden flight on December 20, 1954. On the next day, Mach 1 was easily exceeded, fully confirming the predictions of the area rule. It soon reached a top speed of Mach 1.2 in level flight. In addition, the aircraft could still keep on climbing after reaching 51,600 feet.

The first delivery to an operational Air Defense Command (ADC) unit (the 327th Fighter Interceptor Squadron based at George AFB in California) took place on May 1, 1956, three years later than originally expected. The 327th FIS was activated on August 18, 1955, initially equipped with F-86Ds.

The popular name Delta Dagger for the F-102A was chosen in 1957. Between 1952 and 1957, five production contracts were awarded for a total of 875 F-102As.

By the end of 1958, 26 ADC squadrons were flying F-102As, and the F-102A had replaced the North American F-86D Sabre as the most numerous interceptor with the ADC. F-102As in service numbered 627, or about half of the total number of interceptors operated by the Air Defense Command. At the height of its service, 32 ADC units flew the F-102A. The last of 873 F-102As produced (serial number 57-909) was delivered in September of 1958.

During the early 1960s, the F-102A was gradually replaced in the ADC by the McDonnell F-101B Voodoo and the Convair F-106 Delta Dart. By mid-1961, the number of F-102As in service with the ADC was down to 221. However, by the end of 1969, with the exception of a squadron maintained in Iceland, all ADC F-102As had been transferred to the Air National Guard. The F-102As stationed in the Pacific had been withdrawn in December of 1969

The only F-102As still in service with the USAF at the beginning of 1970 were all stationed overseas. At that time, the USAF still retained a few F-102A squadrons in Germany and the Netherlands. In the early 1970s, European-based F-102As were replaced by F-4 Phantoms. By the end of June 1973, the number of active F-102As had been reduced to ten.

The last ADC unit to operate the F-102A, the 57th FIS based at Keflavik in Iceland finally traded in its F-102As for McDonnell F-4C Phantoms in mid-1973.

RAZBAM Convair F-102 Delta Dagger for FSX:

2 Different models:

External tanks+ 6 AIM-4 Falcon missiles
Clean configuration + 6 AIM-4 Falcon missiles

2 Different models with our "weapon code" (fire missiles, change the aircraft visually and also affects the flight model)

External tanks+ 6 AIM-4 Falcon missiles
Clean configuration + 6 AIM-4 Falcon missiles

8 saved flights with aircraft "loaded" for action.These flights are saved in a RAZBAM folder, please paste them at your saved flights folder (Flight Simulator X files)

Extremely detailed virtual cockpit, includes all switches clickable, for a very busy flight
Paint Kit
Flight manual .pdf

Schemes included:

US Air Force 327th FIS, George AFB, 1958

US Air Force 16th FIS, Naha AB, 1959

US Air Force 32nd FIS, Soesterberg AB,The Netherlands,1961

US Air Force 57th FIS, Keflavik, Iceland, 1963

US Air Force 509th FIS, Udorn RTAFB,Thailand, 1968

US Air Force/ANG, 61188, 11FIS 147 FIG, Kely AFB, TX, 1972

US Air Force 146th TFS, 112th TFG, PA ANG, 1975

US Air Force 196th TFS, 163rd FIG, CA ANG, 1977

Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (Turkish Air Force),182 Filo, 1970

Polemikí Aeroporía(Hellenic Air Force),114 Pterix, Tanagra AB,1972

Friday, July 24, 2009

Happy Friday all!!! I hope you all had a good week and have an even better weekend!

Man it has been pretty dead in Flight Sim this past week has it not? Hopefully someone is in the shadows whipping up a nice quality aircraft to deliver to the populous. Wishful thinking you ask? Well maybe but I do know that RealFlight Simulations is in the process of putting together a SBD Dauntless and a F8F Bearcat for us. Details of both are pretty slim at the moment but for those of you who have flown their F6F Hellcat know that these people mean business when it comes to accuracy and realism. If you love Naval Aviation and love old warbirds then may I suggest RealFlight Simulations to you. Their F6F is quoted by one customer to be "close to knocking the RealAir Spitfire off the shelf." I dont know about you but those are fighting words because we all know the RealAir Spitfire is just plain freaking awesome and continues to be one of my personal favorites. Theres nothing like flying a tight formation in the Spitfire at treetop level over Germany with some of your closest friends. Some of my best times in flight sim revolve around that aircraft! Personally I would put the Hellcat right up there with the Spitfire but it wouldnt knock it off the shelf, I would just scoot the box over to make room for the new addition. =) I cant wait to see the SBD Dauntless and F8F Bearcat released! Have an awesome weekend!


RealFlight F6F Hellcat



RealFlight SBD Dauntless




A REAL F8F Bearcat =)

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Happy hump day everyone, the weekend is just around the corner.

Right now as I type this I am listening to FSBreak Podcast and they are interviewing scenery guru Bill Womack. Pretty interesting stuff, you can listen to it as well. LISTEN HERE!

There really isnt much in the flightsim world to blog about but there is a few things I would like to talk about.

Most of you who know me, know that I like to have a clean computer so I reinstall my operating system just about every other week. In the future I would like to be able to run my computer without having to reinstall all the time. My problem is downloading and installing stuff for flight sim and then not using the item I downloaded. I just reinstalled my OS 2 days ago with the intent to at least go a month or two without downloading a bunch of crap lol. We shall see how that goes. =)

Here is what I have installed and things I have done:

*Installed Windows 7 RC 7100
*Installed all Windows updates
*Installed IObit: IObit Security 360™, Advanced SystemCare™ Free, Game Booster™
*Installed O&O Defrag 11 Professional Edition free 30 day trial.
*Installed Avira Anti-Virus
*Installed FSX Gold

Then I went to Simviation Forums and followed Nick Needhams instructions:XP/Windows Setup, System Optimizing and Drivers and also Clean FSX, Acceleration, SP1 & SP2 Install! It is important you follow these instructions to the T. Dont Skip anything.
Right now I am on a complete/name defrag using the O&O Defrag. Its a little tedious I admit but its worth it I think.I hope to be back in the air by this weekend!
I hope this can help you are someone you know who is having issues. I also found on simviation a reduced autogen pack that takes some of the textures and autogen and reduces the texture size which in turn will increase you frames. I got about a 10fps boost, results may very for others so be forwarned. And as always when your messing with textures always make a backup first.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Good Monday morning all, grab a cup of joe sit down and read my blog =D

Well Dino Cattaneo has been hard at work in his little hangar fixing up his F-14D and working on his first payware project an F-35. Today he brings us a new version of his F-14D, v.0.99 which you can find HERE. The following come from Dino's blog which I erg you to bookmark and read:

I know that I should better be working on the F-35A (probably my first payware release) but still...here is another Tomcat update. As there are still few bugs, and as it is still missing proper checklists and manuals, I've labeled it 0.99 - but honestly I do not see any major change from my side anytime soon.

In this release I've tried to integrate some repaints, as there are some excellent ones out there...but they were somewhat different in style and did not mix as I hoped...so they were left out.

Other than that, major changes are in the visual department (with several fixes new engines and burner effects that I am sure someone will not like....), the dynamics (with a far less overpowered engine... as drawinback it is extremely difficulty to exceed Mach 1.6 now - should be 1.8 for the real F-14D) and a custom sound package courtesy of Aaron Swindle.
Previous version deleted. File has also been sent to Flightsim.com. List of changes as follows:

VERSION 0.99

- Fixed glitch in radar radome opening

- Afterburner effects redone (modeled 3d)

- Engine nozzle redone

- Tweaked engine dynamics (less powerful)

- Tweaked gears/flaps/spoilers aerodynamic coefficients

- Adjusted arrestor hook contact point (courtesy of James F. Chams)

- Added custom sounds courtesy of Aaron Swindle (I've pasted some stock F-18 sounds for full Acceleration compatibility)

- Changed canopy texture to allow crew names for repainters

- Fixed minor glitch in fuselage geometry


*Click Picture to Enlarge

Sunday, July 19, 2009

I hope everybody is having a wonderful weekend.
I found in addition to the F-16D IRIS Simulations is in the process of making, they are also in the begining stages of making a DA-40 and are working on an F-35! Here are just a few pictures:

Diamond DA-40


Lockheed Martin F-35




Friday, July 17, 2009

I keep forgetting to add this to my blog and I apologize to "Jimi" for taking so long to post this. Our friends over at FSX Blue Angels is having one heck of a competition:

For all you artist out there, here's your chance! We are hosting a painting/artwork competition where we ask you to submit pictures of your best-looking F/A-18 Hornet textures (skins). The winner will receive a BRAND NEW TRACK IR FOR FREE!!! Here are the rules:

THE RULES...
1. MUST BE A REGISTERED FORUM MEMBER TO PARTICIPATE.
2. ONLY ONE SUBMISSION PER MEMBER.
3. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO CHANGE YOUR ENTRY ONCE SUBMITTED.
4. ONLY TEXTURES MADE FOR THE FSX ACCELERATION F/A-18 HORNET WILL BE ACCEPTED.
5. BOTH EXISTING & FICTIONAL PAINT SCHEMES ARE ALLOWED. (Although creativity is encouraged!)
6. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE OF YOUR OWN WORK. (No stealing other's work)

HOW TO PLAY...
Simply reply to this post with three pictures (JPEG or GIF please) of your competition paint scheme. (See example post below)
Pictures can been taken from any angle or viewpoint to best showcase your artwork.

DATES TO REMEMBER...
-The Entry Deadline is AUGUST 15, 2009.
-Voting will take place from AUGUST 16, 2009 to AUGUST 21, 2009.
-Winner will be announced AUGUST 22, 2009.

OTHER NOTES...
-The winner will be asked to submit winning texture which will be made available for public download from our website for 30 days.
-The winner will be decided by popular vote from the forum members.

Q&A
Q: Can screenshots be altered?
A: You are allowed to change/alter your screenshots until the entry deadline (August 15th)

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Well today is the 16th the staff over at ALPHASIM should be back from there well deserved vacations and ready to get back to work bringing us some quality aircraft for our sims.

Anyone looking to buy aircraft from Eaglesoft Development Group they are still having a Summer Savings Sell 10% off any FS9/FSX aircraft until July 31! Make sure you take advantage of this sell.



Speaking of Eaglesoft they are busy on 3 projects. A Diamond DA42 TwinStar for FS2004 or FSX, a Cessna Citation XLS for FS2004 or FSX, and there biggest jet yet the Dornier 328 Jet for FS2004 or FSX







My great friend over at Flight Sim Hangout, Dave is in the middle of moving to Dallas taking on a job with Bell Helicopters so the website and FSX server will be unmonitored for the unforseen future. I will do what I can on my end to keep things in check while Dave makes his transition. See you soon Dave!! =)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Premier Aircraft Design has just released the DHC6-400 with glass cockpit.







-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just Flight Flying Club Duchess and SP - A demo (59.1Mb) of the Flying Club Duchess is now available for you to try. A Service Pack (13.4Mb) for the Duchess is also available, and should be installed by both FSX and FS2004 users.The SP makes several updates to the aircraft, mainly to the cockpit instruments.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Yesterday Eric McClintock and Mark Stewart over at FSBreak interview Mathijs Kok from Aerosoft. Very interesting content in this interview, when you get a chance stop by FSBreak. They talk about Aerosoft as a company, the new Aerosoft Simulator, and talk a little about Piracy in the FS community.



Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Dino still hard at work =)

Good Morning all! I hope your Monday went by uneventful.

Looks like Dino Cattaneo is still trying to improve his F-14D Tomcat. Main concerns for Dino looks to be the canopy and the afterburner effects. The following is from Dinos blog and please make sure to visit his blog for up to the date news on his work.:



"As the weather has been very nice here in Italy, I have not dedicated much time to FSX lately so most of the projects I am doing have been suffering some delays.
The tail section of the F-35 is done...and I have to confess am pretty happy with it, but the main work I am doing in these days is trying to imporve the Tomcat.

I've playing with a "modeled" afterburner effect, that is the burner is not an .fx file (2d sprites and particoles) but 3d geomtery with special materials proprieties. Results are nice...in still pictures only. As the geometry is static, the overall effects does not give the proper sense of speed....on the other hand, you may hand draw the differnet textures for zone 1-5 so thaat the diffenece is visible.
Pictures above show how the latest build looks like. As some users may not like this approach, I will probably release also an optional .mdl with no burners at all.
The new build will also bring some changes in flight dynamics.
FOR REPAINTERS:
As announced previously the new build will bring a change in the canopy texture. Now the area on which the crew names are usually painted will not be anymore "mirrored" on both sides.
Updated texture can be found here for your reference:
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/9625/f14canopyt.png
As result, some existing repaints may need a small adjustment - sorry for the inconvenience guys...but I really could not stand mirrored crew names on some otherwise stunning repaints :-)

The update will be released (hopefully) during the next weekend."

I found this little plane from Premaircraft the other day and just though I would roll it by you guys. Its not bad for freeware.



Sunday, July 12, 2009

I hope you all are having a great weekend. My weekend has been eventful with another install of my operating system. Actually I installed Windows 7, all 7 is is a much needed service pack of Vista, I cant believe they are actually trying to sell this instead of being a patch. Anywho........

Today I wanted to talk about some utilities I use on my computer to keep it in tip top shape (when my computer wants to cooperate with me). First piece of software is called Advanced System Care.

Trusted by 35 Million Users to Care for Their PCs
Advanced SystemCare Free (formerly Advanced WindowsCare Personal) has a one-click approach to help protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC. With over 35 MILLION downloads since 2006, this fantastic, award-winning, free PC repair software is a "must-have" tool for your computer. 100% safe with no adware, spyware, or viruses; a PC maintenance program that’s incredibly easy to use.
Why waste money on expensive "registry cleaners" to fix your PC when Advanced SystemCare Free will repair, tune, and maintain it for you – for free!



The second piece of software comes from the same company that brings us Advanced System Care and it is called Game Booster. I would recommend this little gem to anybody who uses flight simulator or any game for that matter. Designed to help optimize your PC for smoother, more responsive game play in the latest PC games with the touch of a button, Game Booster helps achieve the performance edge previously only available to highly technical enthusiasts. It works by temporarily shutting down background processes, cleaning RAM, and intensifying processor performance. That means you can keep all the features of Microsoft® Windows Vista® and XP® ready for when you need them, but turn them off when you are ready to get down to serious business – gaming. Game Booster makes it simpler to enjoy the latest games and take your experience to a new level. All systems go!



The third piece of software I use is called CCleaner. CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :)



I use an Anti Malware called Ad-Aware. And Anti Spyware called Spybot Search and Destroy. I hope some of these programs help you out.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Happy Friday once again. I hope your week went well.

Do not forget our friends at FlightSim Hangout is hosting a flight tonight, which will probably roll over into the weekend due to the length of the trip. We will be following Route 66 from the skys. Chicago IL. to Los Angeles CA. I know most of us are taking props. I may take the Carenado Cessna 152.



***ALPHASIM claims there will be no customer support by e-mail for the next few days due to staff vacation. New store account activation will still occur, although a longer than usual wait may be experienced,possibly up to 24 hrs. Normal service will be resumed on 16th July at about 6am GMT.



***Upgrade your flight simulation experience for Microsoft Flight Simulator X with the Saitek Pro Flight Radio Panel.
* A set of switches and LED displays for use in controlling various aspects of flight simulation
Includes:
o COM1/COM2/NAV1/NAV2 function
o DME/ADF/XPDR functions
* Works with Microsoft Flight Simulator X and 2004
* LED displays work fully in real time with Flight Simulator X and 2004, removing the need to bring the radio stack up on screen
* Standby switch - set your standby frequencies and then set to active at the touch of a button
* Twin concentric adjustment dials adjust frequency units incrementally for quicker selection of your required frequency
* Mounts onto the Pro Flight Yoke System (sold separately) or into your own home cockpit setup
* Multiple Radio Panels will allow simultaneous display of the various radio stack functions
* Compatible: Windows XP/XP64 and Vista
Connectivity: USB 1.1/2.0
Works with: Windows XP, XP64 and Vista (all versions)





***Upgrade your flight simulation experience for Microsoft Flight Simulator X with the Saitek Pro Flight Radio Panel.
* A set of switches and LED displays for use in controlling various aspects of flight simulation
Includes:
o COM1/COM2/NAV1/NAV2 function
o DME/ADF/XPDR functions
* Works with Microsoft Flight Simulator X and 2004
* LED displays work fully in real time with Flight Simulator X and 2004, removing the need to bring the radio stack up on screen
* Standby switch - set your standby frequencies and then set to active at the touch of a button
* Twin concentric adjustment dials adjust frequency units incrementally for quicker selection of your required frequency
* Mounts onto the Pro Flight Yoke System (sold separately) or into your own home cockpit setup
* Multiple Radio Panels will allow simultaneous display of the various radio stack functions
* Compatible: Windows XP/XP64 and Vista
Connectivity: USB 1.1/2.0
Works with: Windows XP, XP64 and Vista (all versions)





***Striking Software Announces Screen Shot Contest



Striking Software in conjunction with CH Products is very pleased to announce the one-year anniversary of the release of FS Water Configurator Mega-Contest! The winner can pick a free CH controller as his or her prize! Learn more about this fantastic opportunity here.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Happy Hump day all, hang in there the weekend is just right around the corner.

Join me and my friends at FlightSim Hangout this Friday @ 6pm Pacific Standard Time as we take a trip back in time and follow the imfamous Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles for more information please visit FlightSim Hangout.



I have some news from Dino Cattaneos Blog regarding some lingering questions about his F-14D. The following is from Dinos blog:

Grumman F-14D Tomcat
While I think the 0.95 was a relatively good release, I am still working on it. The planned changes are as follows:
- Change to the canopy texture so that left and right sides are separate (at least in the lower area): this is to allow repainters to write the crew names onto the canopy without having the right side "mirrored". NOTE: this will impact actual repaints
- Fix the animation glitch when opening the radome
- Improve the flight model (reduce the overpower condition at medium speeds)
- Integrate a couple of repaints (namely VF-101 by BananaBob and VF-31 by Yago9)

FAQs:

Q:Can I host the Tomcat on my website? Can I repack it (with an installer/repaints/missions/whatever)?
A:The current release (v0.95) has still some (minor) issues...so I'd like to keep control on the release by limiting the download sources, if possible. The next release will be probably good enough to be uploaded to other sites.
Please do not repack the Tomcat - it will make it impossible to keep track of the versions as it happened on my Fs2004 Tomcat which was extensively reworked and repackaged by several individuals (often without my authorization)... I guess it is the price of the popularity :-)

Q: Is a repaint kit available?
A: No. The simple reason is I never did it one from myself - I use the "photoreal" approach, so textures are made from actual photos....

Q:Is the flight model overpowered?
A: Yes. Not as much as some users believe IMHO, but the flight model should show roughly a 10% more power than the real one. I've increased the thrust so that it is possible to reach and exceed the maximum allowable speed for the given configuration (Mach 1.8 above 10000ft) as requested by some early users. In general, I think the engine behaviour at very slow and very high speeds is acceptable... but in other flight conditions it is definitely too powerful.
Some users have complained about the "spool time" (the time needed for the engine to react to a throttle change). Jet engines are known to have a slow reaction...but things have evolved from the early jet era... In doubt, I've kept the default Hornet value.

Q:What is the correct approach speed?
A:It depends on the fuel quantity: if you launch with the tanks fully loaded and then immediately try to land, you are too heavy (and in the real world you might severely damage the a/c trying to land) so you need to dump fuel before landing. With proper weight, the flight model should allow an approach speed of 125 to 130 Knots (close to the real one).

Q:Is there a manual? Or at least a checklist?
A:I never had time to write them. Writing a check list that is both as close as possible to the real one and still works with FSX model takes more time than you expect. I am not sure I will have the time to do it anytime soon...

Q:What is your next project?
Definitely the F-35 Lighting II. It is very likely to be payware. It is shaping up really nicely, and I've just completed the tails and the engine - will post some pics as soon as it makes some sense.
I am taking the "HD" approach, that the main textures will be 4096x4096 and the smaller ones will be 1024x1024. The main subject is the AA-1 bird (the CTOL system development prototype). Possibly the BF-1 (STOVL development bird) will be modeled too, but given the FSX restriction in the STOVL dynamics it is a second priority.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Good morning all I hope you enjoyed your weekend. For many of us it was an extended weekend and I know many of you got an extra day or two to get some extra flight time in, I know I did for sure. Me, Dave, and Jason flew some hops from Snohomish Wa. to Eureka Ca.

I found a new website that was created on the 4th that is on a mission to update
airports throughout Microsoft Flight Simulator
FS Airport Updates (FSAU) is a new Airport Updating Community for Microsoft Flight Simulator. You can request and download Airport Updates wherever you want. FSAU makes your airports more realistic and up-to-date than the default versions. They are small files, but can change alot to your airports, and are very frame rate friendly*. So come along and see our web site, and experience the realism. Tell us what you think of our files by rating and comment.

* On Capable Systems

FSAU
http://fs-airportupdates.webs.com




Another website that I found redoing airports but only for California State airports is called Clear Sky Simulations




The Newly released FSX Aeroworks ARX-5X Coyote - Version 2 The ARX-5X (Concept 5) is a single-seat unlimited category aerobatic aircraft built around the 495c.i. 600hp Trace-Orenda OE600 V-8 aircraft engine and designed specifically for freestyle airshow type aerobatics. Version 2 has a totally new airfile and flight dynamics and the plane can easily handle compulsory competition manoeuvre's as well as more advanced gyroscopic manoeuvre's such as lomcovaks and tumbles. The ARX-5X cruises around 200kts, with a never-exceed speed of 240kts. This FSX native model contains animations, reflections, environment mapping, spec mapping and a full dynamic virtual cockpit. Although it is not a real aircraft it does have several real-world components such as the Chelton Flight Systems EAU (engine airdata unit) display, and a Hartzell "scimitar" swept blade propeller. This release is not a quick & dirty update simply "ported" into FSX, it is a full FSX rebuild by the original authors, compiled with XtoMDL and conforming the FSX SDK using dds textures and new modelling techniques for the best overall end-user performance. Includes 2 configs, 7 models, and 20 schemes with a custom smoke system and night time pyrotechnic effects.
When I downloaded the aircraft I was expecting it to behave like the Extra 300 but to my surprise it was really stable and would probably do great in formation. The smoke and pyrotechics effects are just awesome as well. I think it is a pretty good aircraft. I flew it both in calm and in windy conditions and it was a little hard to keep stable in windy conditions so I recommend flying this bird in calm winds. You can at download the Aeroworks ARX-5X Coyote HERE.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy Independance Day!!!



Happy Independances Day everyone. Let us take a moment to reflect and remember those who made it possible for us to enjoy are freedoms. Also thank anyone you know who serves or who have served for our country may it be law enforcement or in the Armed Forces. People say that there is nothing they could do to repay us for our service. Well a hand shake or hug and a heart felt thank you is priceless in my book. ......a pay raise is always good too =) hahaha. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and stay safe.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Good Friday morning everybody. I had a good flight last night with my bro Todd in FSX. Todd was finally able to figure out how to transfer his repaints of the Carenado T-34B from FS2004 to FSX so we was able to take up the LIMA LIMA Flight Team paints and flew them 295nm from Oklahoma City to Kansas City. Our flight plan was as followed:

Tinker AFB Airport-KTIK
Clarence E Page Municipal Airport-KRCE
Bartlesville Municipal Airport-KBVO
Allen County Airport-K88
Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport-KMKC

I was able to get some good formation wing time in so thank you Todd, it was an awesome flight.

Here are a few pics of the repaints that were converted to FSX.




Thursday, July 2, 2009

Thursday July 2nd 2009

Well happy Thursday all, its a Friday for some of us since Saterday is Independance Day. My wifes got a 4 day weekend so Im happy =)

Have you heard any news from RAZBAM lately? Well I have! They have been working hard updating there website and Forum. They have also been working on the F-102 a claim it is near completion here are a few pics:









Set includes firing missiles model (for missions) complete clickable cockpit (even those switches intended for combat use)custom gauge set, custom sound set that will tremble your desk(in 3d) made by IRIS AudiworX and a paint kit. Price to be announced (but you know us..), detailed flight model by our in-house and former USMC pilot, no learjet handling here!
Model is going into BETA stage as i type this.

Razbam is also working on close concert with TopGun Simulations, on a brand new special F-18.