Latest FS Hard/Software News (page 1)

This section presents to you news and releases from developers and publishers of Flight Simulation Hardware and Software. We offer a large variety of text information and pictures, product reviews, industry news and more.

06/10/08: If it looks ‘Right’ it flies ‘Right’: Alphasim’s Hawker Hunter now available from Flight1: “Hawker Hunter - The E-type Jaguar of fighter aircraft!”

The Hawker Hunter is a record breaker, cold war warrior and it’s now legal for a PPL to fly one! The Hunter is perhaps the most impossibly beautiful aircraft ever assembled. No, not assembled - but sculpted as though from a single block of aircraft grade aluminium. Designed by Sir Sidney Camm, an engineer whose designs span biplane to jump jet, the Hunter is a remarkable machine. The Rolls Royce Avon will propel you at Mach 0.94 at sea level, and let you climb at no less than 10,500ft/min to ‘touch the face of God’ at 51,000ft. Hunters were the chosen mount of the famous Black Arrows, their livery one of many in this simulation. Their 22-plane formation loop, set a record which stands to this day.

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19/09/08: Awyr Aviation Communication Ltd reports: Battle of Britain remembered - classic fighters brought to life in Flicht Simulator X

Over the years there has been endless debate about whether the Supermarine Spitfire or Messerschmitt Bf109 was the superior fighting aircraft. Now, thanks to Flight1 you can try your hand at flying both and decide for yourself. Coming from the pen of legendary aircraft designer R.J. Mitchell the Spitfire is one of the most recognisable aircraft of all time. The type has been brought to life for Flight Simulator X by award-winning developers RealAir and features 20 different models of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engined Mk IX and Griffon engined Mk XIV. Both the classic elliptical wing models and later modified ‘clipped wing’ (which gave a quicker roll rate at low level) types are included and there is even a contra-rotating propeller version of the Mk XIV. Also included in the package is an authentic rendition of RAF West Malling during World War Two, including a full suite of Artificial Intelligence Spitfires taxiing, taking off and landing. The scenery comes with period Blister Hangers, shelters, tower, runway and taxiways. The Spitfire package also has many effects including an engine failure mode, belly landing effects, grass-trails from the undercarriage, stall buffet sound and visual effects and over-stress effects.

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09/09/08: Just Flight announces: EMERGENCY DEMO! Test your flying skills under pressure with a free mission for Rescue Pilot!

Rescue Pilot – Mission Pack, the first in a series of exciting mission expansions from Just Flight, is taking the PC charts by storm. It has proved hugely popular with flight simmers who want to take their FSX experience to a new level and try out their flying skills in an emergency. If you want to see what all the excitement is about, Just Flight is about to provide a complete Rescue Pilot mission for you to try. The free mission will be released on Friday 12th September and will be available to download exclusively by subscribers to Just Flight’s monthly newsletter. You can sign up for the newsletter here - http://www.justflight.com/subscribe.asp

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07/09/08: AEROSOFT has released VFR London

Designed to enhance Microsoft Flight Simulator X, VFR London is a highly detailed 3D model of the city of London. Having been build using an aerial photographic template, it is an accurate and faithful representation of the London City area as it is today. If you want to bring that extra level of realism to your simulation experience, VFR London should, without doubt, be top of the list of FSX add-ons. This scenery will impress like no other before! Sitting on a new, ultra-high-resolution (60cm) layer of aerial photographic scenery, VFR London is comprised of over 30,000 building objects and 50,000 ‘fill objects’ (trees, cranes, boats etc) - including everything from monumental landmarks and skyscrapers to individual homes. Covering over 120km2, every object greater than 27m3 has been modelled to within 3m of its actual footprint, and individually hand textured to accurately reflect the real building by day, and by night.

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05/09/08: Discover the west of Germany in unseen detail with VFR Germany 1 - West (FSX only) by Aerosoft

Since the first version of FS, simpilots dreamed about having large areas covered with high detail aerial images and having all buildings placed in the correct location. Well now we can show you that we got very close to that. Using totally new technology combining several databases this scenery offers the best representation of the terrain possible in FSX. No matter of you fly as low as 1000ft or at FL35! This scenery series will impress you like no other before: The first part (West) brings you thousands of VFR objects and millions (yes, millions!) of exactly placed buildings placed on 95,000km² of aerial images!

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04/09/08: Flight 1 gives you the feeling of a real-world busy airport with Ultimate Traffic 2007

Ultimate Traffic provides Microsoft Flight Simulator X / FS2004 users the definitive answer to their AI Traffic needs. The project is a culmination of over a year of research and development, plus takes advantage of the latest AI technology in cooperation from our friends at Project AI. The goal of this project is to provide users with the most complete and realistic real-world airline movements worldwide and offer new levels in AI Traffic design. As you will see in the video, and the information included below in our feature list, Ultimate Traffic does not hold back and has “let loose” to provide Flight Simulator X / FS2004 users the “Ultimate” AI traffic add-on.

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03/09/08: Another incredible project accomplished by Aerosoft: get the most out of your flight sim with German Airports 2 - Leipzig/Halle X (FSX + FS2004 Version)

Leipzig/Halle is the last airport covered in the German Airports 2 collection and as always this is state of the art scenery design. Continuing in the tradition of the German Airport Series, Leipzig/Halle is featured with its latest and up to date layouts, buildings, objects, runways, taxiways, lights, and navigation aids. Just like the real life airport. The GA Team have also included the Dynamic Airport Enhancement Services Lite Edition by Oliver Pabst as was the case in earlier releases such as Hanover and Frankfurt. A high definition aerial photograph has been used for ground texturing making the airport and its surroundings seem absolutely realistic. Numerous moving vehicles on the apron and the nearby `Autobahn´ create a lively atmosphere! Even with this whole range of objects, details and features, the framerates remains excellent.

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02/09/08: Wilco Publishing announces Tower Simulator: Experience the thrill of Air Traffic Control !

Tower Simulator puts you in the controller’s chair high atop a major or complex airport to choreograph the movements of incoming and outgoing air traffic. Tower Simulator takes you into a world of authority and responsibility in which the live of thousands of passengers depends on your ability to make split-second decisions. As a tower controller, you handle realistic aircraft take-offs and landings, as well as aircraft ground movements through breathtaking out-the-window and radar views. Runways, taxiways, aprons, flight paths, obstructions and airport structures are all under your control !

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01/09/08: For the most professional Flight Simulator Fans, brought to you by Aerosoft: Flight Operation Center: F.O.C (FSX+FS2004+FS2002)

Flight Operation Center is a highly sophisticated flight planning tool incorporating many professional features normally only seen in real world airline operations. Programmed by a team of dispatchers, pilots and FS enthusiasts, it presents a new world to those who take their PC flying serious and want to fly with documentation of the same accuracy as used by real world airline pilots. Flight Operation Center accommodates all types of aircraft from small propeller airplanes to the largest, ultra long range jet transport aircraft with exact accuracy, several different cruising modes, abnormal configurations and many other possibilities. Included aircraft types cover a wide spectrum of air transport planes such as the Boeing 747-400, 737, 767, 777, MD11, A320, A330, A340, MD83, Saab 340, Concorde to smaller airplanes like the Socata TB20. The comprehensive flight model editor allows adding any type of airplane to a degree of accuracy never seen before in PC Simulation. New aircraft created by FOC Power Users are available via downloadsFOC uses professional features like ETOPS, EROPS, STOPS operations, special cruise modes and North Atlantic Track support.

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22/08/08: SimMarket presents: NEXTMap® ProMesh™ United Kingdom Terrain Mesh for Microsoft® Flight Simulator X

The NEXTMap® ProMesh™ United Kingdom is a new high-quality 4.75m terrain mesh product for Microsoft Flight Simulator X, aimed at providing the best quality mesh to flight simmers. Imagine your dream to fly extremely low through canyons with walls so close that you have to fly knife edge in order to survive. magine flying at this same low level by the seat of your pants, the adrenaline pumping as you snake and wind your way through canyons and vistas you never thought possible in a simulator. Imagine your local landscape rendered at the highest possible resolution available for the terrain, looking every bit as true-to-life as it does through the window of a cockpit. The NEXTMap ProMesh terrain series is based on high-resolution NEXTMap 3D elevation data for the United States and Europe produced by Intermap Technologies™.

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21/08/08: Explore Europe and Russia in an extraordinary detail with Landclass for Europe (FSX Only) by Flight 1

SceneryTech is a Flight1.com E-Commerce Partner. SceneryTech’s Europe Landclass continues the enhancements begun by the previously released North America Landclass–depicting the world’s natural and urban environments with accurate, 1-kilometer precise data. See the Landclass Technology section of our site to find out how this accomplished. Our landclass products fix nearly every issue found in the default, from pervasive desertification of the landscape to missing towns and cities. Most importantly, it will ramp up the realism and make the FS world a more interesting place to fly. This product also features a revamped urban extents algorithm which is several times more accurate than our previously-used city data and hundreds of times more accurate than the default.

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19/08/08: Aerosoft has released the new German Airfields 2 - Nordlichter scenery pack for FSX only.

Not only does this scenery give you 15 new high detailed airports, it also will give you a large area to explore. From the major cities Kiel and Hamburg to the complete detailed coastline. From flying passengers to Helgoland to SAR mission from the major base at Kiel airport. Perfectly compatible to other Aerosoft sceneries (VFR Germany, German Airports). This is the number four of the ‘German Airfields’ series, created by the best designers. German Airfields cover the best known GA airfields and smaller regional airports.

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18/08/08: Aerosoft brings out their brand new scenery addon for FSX: German Airfields : NordBayern

Take off in your small aircraft and explore the Northern Bavarian landscape. The 14 VFR airfields are highly detailed and located in a beautiful landscape. Fly and enjoy! You can also approach one of the two regional airports (Hof/Plauen and Bayreuth) which offer instrument approaches in case the weather turns for the worst. The product created by the developers of the well known VFR Airfields series brings real life experience into your simulator.

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13/08/08: The ultimate Biplane experience on FSX and FS2004 with the Havilland Tiger Moth from Just Flight

The de Havilland Tiger Moth is the classic embodiment of the biplane trainer. With its distinctive dual wing and tail dragger layout, thousands of pilots learned to fly on this trainer before and during WW2. Many Tiger Moths are still in use today for recreational flying, although if you want to you can still learn to fly in one! The crew over at Aeroplane Heaven now bring this beauty to Flight Simulator for you to relive the days of classic flying. Highly detailed, the models are exacting in accuracy and have been researched with the kind assistance of the de Havilland Moth Club, the official body that represents and safeguards the Moth range of aircraft. The Canadian version has been authenticated by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, thus ensuring that the aircraft are authentic and realistic.

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13/08/08: Just Flight now presents the addon for the real virtual cargo pilots: Cargo Pilot (FS 2004/FSX)

Can you handle this? Cargo Pilot takes you through the life of a hard-pressed Cargo Pilot flying your way through a career starting at small desolate strips with single-engined aircraft and moving up to international operations with massive jets! Cargo Pilot gives you a structured career in the world of Air Cargo, from flying chickens in and out of Jungle strips to moving racing cars around the World in the 747 Freighter… but, Big Brother is watching you! You will need to fly and operate in a safe and on-time fashion to ensure that you progress onwards and upwards - failure to do so and a life of being stuck in the jungle awaits you! Run your own air freight company. Open bases around the world to increase the range of your operations. Buy new, bigger aircraft to fly more cargo on longer routes. Beginning as a small start-up in a disused Cargo Container as office you can soon become an international player in the business - and even your office will improve during the course of the simulation. Use your own aircraft! Fly any aircraft that you have installed in Flight Simulator - if you can afford them, that is!

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12/08/08: Cloud 9 presents: Orlando International Airport

Orlando International Airport (MCO) is a major gateway to sunny Florida: over 80,000 passengers use this award-winning airport every day. Whether you are travelling for business or pleasure, Orlando International Airport is easily accessible from all major Florida cities, business centres, attractions, and world-famous beaches, being just 6.5 miles (10.5 kilometres) southeast of Orlando. Orlando International Airport is Florida’s busiest airport, serving over 80 airlines and around 30 million domestic passengers each year, with scheduled services to 69 US and 27 international destinations. Orlando International Airport has a single main terminal building, connected by people mover to four airside terminals.

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12/08/08: Just Flight presents the Airbus Collection: Airbus Collection is part of Just Flight’s new F-Lite range

A fantastic collection of Airbus aircraft that forms part of Just Flight’s F-Lite range of beautifully modelled airliners, aimed at the virtual pilot who wants to get airborne as quickly as possible. High in quality but easy to operate, the Airbus Collection includes the incredible A300-600ST Beluga, the A300-600R and the A310. The software features detailed exterior models, 2D and virtual cockpits and unique effects. There are plenty of liveries and virtual pilots can even use the paint kit to paint their own liveries using a suitable graphics program. The F-Lite range has been designed to provide aircraft that are not only extremely high in detail and visually impressive but also less demanding to fly than complex procedural simulators. If you just need to go Flying you just need to go F-Lite!

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12/08/08: New at simMarket: FranceVFR - FlightPyrenees Orientales Collection FSX + FS2004

The FlightPyrenees Orientales BasePack covers the Eastern part of French Pyrenees (about 16 000 km sqr.) with photorealistic textures. ach of the default airport plateforms on the scenery have been reworked in order to closely fit the phototexture with precisely aligned taxiways, buildings, and objects, greatly enhancing these from the standard Flight Simulator 2004 fare. Therefore, the virtual pilot can experience both VFR and IFR flights within a very large zone with a degree of realism never attained before in this region. Our main goal in developing this new concept of scenery add-ons is to recreate a realistic flying experience from a pilot’s point of view. The “Flight” series has a modular approach perfectly fitting together the photorealistic coverage and the optimization of the elements of decor such as detailed airports. The BasePack is an optimized photoscenery package where all the default scenery elements have been retreated.

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11/08/08: New at simMarket: FranceVRF - FlightMediterranee Collection for FSX and FS2004: The FlightMediterranee BasePack covers the Southern part of France from Marseille to Perpignan (about 20 000 km sqr.) with photorealistic textures.

Each of the default airport plateforms on the scenery have been reworked in order to closely fit the phototexture with precisely aligned taxiways, buildings, and objects, greatly enhancing these from the standard Flight Simulator 2004 fare. Therefore, the virtual pilot can experience both VFR and IFR flights within a very large zone with a degree of realism never attained before in this region. Our main goal in developing this new concept of scenery add-ons is to recreate a realistic flying experience from a pilot’s point of view. The “Flight” series has a modular approach perfectly fitting together the photorealistic coverage and the optimization of the elements of decor such as detailed airports. The BasePack is an optimized photoscenery package where all the default scenery elements have been retreated.

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11/08/08: Cloud 9 presents Amsterdam scenery: Amsterdam Schiphol is one of the most important airports in Europe and many airline passengers have been there in transit to reach their destinations

On September 19th 1916 landed the first aircraft on what, one day, would become Europe’s best airport. 4 years later, on May 17th, 1920, KLM launched the first scheduled service to London, using part of the military airfield which was later bought by the city of Amsterdam in order to serve passengers arriving for the 1928 Olympics. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol became one of Europe’s first airports to have surfaced runways. During the Second World War the airport was completely destroyed and the reconstruction started immediately after the war under Jan Dellaert. In 1946 the airport was designated the national airport and in 1949 the new airport plans were approved. To underline its national character and spread costs, it was established a company with the State, Amsterdam and Rotterdam holding 76%, 22% and 2% of the shares respectively. The new Schiphol was opened by Queen Juliana in 1967. The seventies and eighties saw an expanded terminal, new piers and a new cargo area.

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11/08/08: Austria Professional X, presented by Aerosoft

This is the complete and especially for FSX created landscape scenery of Austria. It includes a highly detailed mesh terrain of the Austrian Alps combined with all important landmarks and 4 detailed city sceneries! Enjoy the wonderful mountains and landscapes of Austria! This unique Add-On includes the whole of Austria with all its mountains, valleys and typical landmarks. The Austria scenery covers 175.000 km² with the larger rivers, lakes, roads, cities, villages and landmarks. An extremely detailed elevation model and the new made ground textures make the mountains and the Austrian Alps seem as real as never before in Microsoft Flight Simulator X.

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10/08/08: Aerosoft presents the Katana DA-20 X for FSX and FS2004

This add-on features the famous single engine, two-seater GA aircraft, the Katana DA-20. Here, the PC-Pilot is given the opportunity to enjoy a realistic simulation of this aircraft including true flight dynamics and aircraft sounds. FS2004 version included. The famous two-seater aircraft for Flight Simulator! The Diamond DA20 Katana is a light, 2-seat aircraft, although intended for flight training, it is a great airplane for sightseeing. The Katana features are safety, easy handling, performance, it is quiet and good value at a reasonable price. The software simulates the DA20-80 with a Rotax 912 F3 engine, and the DA20-100 powered by the Rotax 912 S3. We directed our attention to realism, but also to the atmosphere of this special airplane. So get into the pilots seat, fly it, feel it, and experience features you have never seen before!

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09/08/08: German Airfields 9 - Northern Bavaria (only FSX)

Take off in your small aircraft and explore the Northern Bavarian landscape. The 14 VFR airfields are highly detailed and located in a beautiful landscape. Fly and enjoy! You can also approach one of the two regional airports (Hof/Plauen and Bayreuth) which offer instrument approaches in case the weather turns for the worst. The product created by the developers of the well known VFR Airfields series brings real life experience into your simulator.

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09/08/08: Just Flight’s new Airbus A340-500/600

Part of Just Flight’s new F-Lite range, this A340 package has been specially designed by the experts at Commercial Level Simulations to be very high in quality and yet easy to operate. Fed up with ultra-complex FMCs? Confused by over-serious systems? Or are you new to modern airliner operations? If the answer to any of these is YES, then the F-Lite range is for you! A high-quality model design is coupled to very high-quality textures, animations and super flight model characteristics - and all at an affordable price. You can admire your aircraft, then jump in and fly the world’s long-distance routes without having to go to college to learn how to do it.

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08/08/08: Just Flight: Flying Club X

Just Flight’s award-winning General Aviation expansion has now been fully updated for Flight Simulator X and comes with new content and features. The four most popular light aircraft in the world - and also the all-new Schweizer 300CBi helicopter - make this the club to join! This is the definitive GA collection in one pack. Flying Club X features the PA28-161 Warrior, PA38-112 Tomahawk, C152, the twin-engined PA34-200T Seneca II and the Schweizer S300CBi helicopter. All the aircraft have authentic and realistic avionics suites and an additional set of colour schemes as well as the default specimens. All aircraft come with a variety of international registrations making this a truly multinational way to fly.

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