WOW!!!  I think I know what aircraft (other than CowanSim's 'Airwolf' B222) that I'll be flying once I get my flight simulator set up and get to 'flying'!  That's absolutely gorgeous!!!!  (Of course, I love anything to do with the SR-71, anyway!)

Thank you for this Behind The Screen to which I am always looking forward to! Your observations are honest. And your insights are always enlightening.   I don't agree with landclass as the saviour, though. Even with more texture variety and some measures to prevent repeating patterns. Areas with little to no variation in landclass data (pampa like Patagonia, deserts, ...) will stay lame and dull. Yet with ortho they have wonderful colours and you can see many features. I don't know a single Youtuber or streamer not using ortho scenery. Improved landclass will help to improve the default sim but I can only see it as a stop gap measure, not the ultimate goal. I've seen SFD, and it is better (and I would expect better OSM- and building footprint data to be included) and it might be a good solution for the default sim, but ortho is easily even better than that. In fact we have most things in place for really good scenery representation. It should receive a little more acknowledgement and support by Laminar in my opinion.   I really don't see the baked-in artefacts in ortho imagery as a real problem. Terrain shadows often help in "selling" the terrain better (even if they are not coinciding with the current sun position). Shadows under houses are not a real problem in my opinion. Cars on roads: for smaller roads we use overlays anyways and on highways (xroads) I don't see it a s a problem. The only disturbing bake-in is clouds, but this is solved for many areas of the world. If we don't continue to sleep on the topic we might be able to use AI to get rid of bake-ins anyways.   What Laminar could do without too much effort is improve overlay resolution for vector stuff. And coastline resolution. And use higher resolution digital terrain models (elevation). Make it an option so the current lowres is still there for potato PCs. And communicate more real technical insights about where they are heading with nextgen scenery. What they really mean by "streamable" would be interesting and if it serves the AutoOrtho use case. Maybe even ask the community about it.

Aircraft Review - V-22 Osprey Tiltrotor XP12   Is it a helicopter or an aircraft? that is usually the first question asked about the V-22 Osprey. It's formal title is "Tiltrotor", so you would say helicopter with those massive three blades per side, but the machine can also convert to a forward flying aerodynamic winged aircraft, and then flies in that same configuration as a normal aircraft. It doesn't fly like a helicopter either with no collective to bite the air or cyclic...  it is a strange machine.   The failure of Operation Eagle Claw in 1980 during the Iran hostage crisis underscored that there were military roles for which neither conventional helicopters nor fixed-wing transport aircraft were well-suited. The United States Department of Defense (DoD) initiated a program to develop an innovative transport aircraft with long-range, high-speed, and vertical-takeoff capabilities, and the Joint-service Vertical take-off/landing Experimental (JVX) program officially began in 1981. A partnership between Bell Helicopter and Boeing Helicopters was awarded a development contract in 1983 for the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft.   The story starts with the Bell XV-3 (Bell 200), an American tiltrotor aircraft developed by Bell Helicopter for a joint research program between the United States Air Force and the United States Army in order to explore convertiplane technologies in the middle 1950's. The XV-3 featured an engine mounted in the fuselage with driveshafts transferring power outwards to two-bladed rotor assemblies mounted on the wingtips. But flutter and that the driveshafts was carrying power from the fuselage out to the wingtip rotors, along with the gearbox and tilting mechanisms at the wingtips, they found that the concept had substantial loads placed upon them and were very heavy, as they were transferring large amounts of power and torque long distances for an aircraft power transmission system.   Another XV-15 experimental aircraft introduced a major design concept advance. instead of engines in the fuselage, the XV-15 moved the engines out to the rotating wingtip pods, directly coupled to the rotors. The normal path for power was now directly from the engine into a speed-reduction gearbox and into the rotor/propeller without any long shafts being involved. There was still a driveshaft along the wings for emergency use to transfer power to the opposite rotor in case of engine failure, but that shaft did not normally carry any power loads, allowing the overall system to be lighter.   The success of the XV-15 created the concept of an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft. The V-22 is operated by the United States and Japan, and is not only a new aircraft design, but a new type of aircraft that entered service in the 2000s.   The first of six prototypes first flew on 19 March 1989 in the helicopter mode and on 14 September 1989 in a fixed-wing mode. The third and fourth prototypes successfully completed the first sea trials on USS Wasp in December 1990. The V-22 however has had a mixed safety record, marked by several high-profile accidents, especially in its early years of testing and deployment. While the aircraft has since become an integral part of military operations, its development and operational use have been frequently marred by crashes that has raised always questions about its safety and design.  This X-Plane 12 version of the V-22 Osprey is from Angle of Attack (AoA) Simulations, mostly AoA aircraft are military designs like the F-22A Raptor and F-35B Lightning ll and T-7A Red Hawk. The original V-22 Osprey for X-Plane 11 was released March 2018. Honestly X-PlaneReviews never reviewed the AOA XP11 version of the V-22. We looked at it at the time and followed it's development, but it was a very quirky aircraft with a few quibbles that needed more development (okay a lot more), these aspects now have been all done, and this is the X-Plane 12 release of the Osprey, it's an aircraft now presented in a far more completed mature form. It certainly looks the part. If anything else the V-22 Osprey is a very dramatic looking aircraft, feels odd, with those huge rotors suspended in the air, and not at all like most helicopters (okay maybe a Chinook). Its a transport machine, so more in the C-130 Hercules vein, with a couple engines lopped off, and the inner engines turned skywards. Modeling and design by AoA is very good, certainly not in the ultra X-Trident category of their high standard of finesse quality department, but the V-22 still looks very well done even impressive in X-Plane 12. Fuselage is very modern military, with nice normal raised rivets to show the construction. Panels are mostly drawn on here, but it's still well done. A lot of the developer's attention has gone towards those two Rolls-Royce AE 1107C-Liberty turboshaft engines, specially designed for the Osprey, and their complex nacelles. Blades are 38 feet (11.58 meters) long per rotor, they are are a carbon fiber and epoxy resin composite blade, built for strength, durability, and weight reduction. Detail of the exposed areas of the pod and wing are really very well done, with all the inner tilt hydraulics and mechanism are well detailed. The wing is also really well detailed with ribbing and laminar flow aerodynamics. Cockpit glass is a bit thin, the (light) reflections are there, but not pronounced, and there are no scratches or rainbow glass effects. The undercarriage is a bit basic, just the piston and extension guide, no plumbing or hydraulics to be seen. There are animations on the V-22, manually they are accessed by ↕︎ arrows...  the front right door opens, first in an observer top door open position, the secondly the lower drop down walk up stairs. Also the main rear ramp, again two positions, half (for dropping loads), and also a full down ramp. There is also separate pop-out menu found on the X-Plane banner/Plugins Menu called "Options". (Support tab is the AoA email address) All the external door animations are on the graphic top, plus engine/pitot covers and tags (very nice), refueling probe, and under belly load hooks. Also on the pop-out menu is the selection of the four different variants, and each version has its own unique internal (fuel) configuration and external distinguishing elements. US Marine Corp MV-22B (default) USAF SOCOM (Special Operations Command) CV-22B US Navy CMV-22B COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) Japan Self Defense Force MV-22J   Inside the V-22 it is quite cavernous at 20ft long, 5 feet wide and 6 ft high, and has a workable 430 cubic feet. The V-22 internal cargo area detail is impressive from AoA, really well done, there is also the option to add in four Marines from the menu, two forward right and two rear left...  however another option for a full load of Marines would have been nice though. The internal door to the cockpit can also be opened with the top or lower sections moved separately. Into the cockpit...   the instrument layout is very jet fighter military, with four Multi-Functional Displays (MFD) and one large Control Display Unit (CDU) center.     There are some really nice Marine pilots, and they will swap seat positions depending on which seat you use, if you don't want one or both, then just click their helmets, and they will disappear, and the helmet(s) are hung on the side of the OHP (Overhead Panel)     There is the third crew member in the Flight Engineer in the rear center seat, selected via the Menu, all crew members are very realistic and relatable to their roles.     Although this a menu driven aircraft, overall there is mostly also automated processes to relieve the pilots of high workloads, so both the upper OHP and lower center console are both quite sparse in their layouts and are easy to use. hint the wipers are noted as W/W on the console keyboards.     On power up, the backup instruments are activated first, then the primary instruments via the OHP "Avionics" switch.     Each MFD display has 22 soft keys. The five across the top are “T” keys. The two at the bottom are Caution/Advisory and Acknowledge keys. The remaining 14; seven on the left (L1-7) and seven on the right (R1-7) are all page dependent.   "T" keys include HVR (Hover Trim Key) or VSD (Vertical Situation Display) and Rotor Position Indicator (RPI) are to the left , NAV, FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared), STAT (Status) and SYST (System)     Blue-sky Attitude Direction Indicator (ADI) on the upper half of the display and a 170 degree HSI style compass card is shown on the lower half. The Blue-sky can be turned off, mostly with the VID (Camera) Function. TACAN, Nav2 VOR/ILS or GPS are selectable on the NAV     HVR shows you your vertical position to the ground (In the hover mode).     NAV will also show the standard X-Plane map, but you can also use the pop-out the G1000 MAP panel and it's tools besides the HSI.     VSD (Vertical Situation Display), is a version of the PFD without the compass card. FLIR is a camera (view) that does not have any flight information on it.     STAT shows you the various system status in; FUEL, FCS (Flight Control System), ENG (Engine), ICE and ELEC (Electrical)     SYST (System) has engine parameters and a full menu of options.     There is also a built in PREFLIGHT "Checklist" and Flightplan Planner.     As with most military aircraft there a load of various menus and options, far too many to list here, however AoA do provide two very good comprehensive manuals in a detailed User Guide and 68 page Cockpit Display Guide.   The Control Display Unit’s (CDU) primary display mode is the Engine Instrument Crew Alerting System page, with dedicated Copilot and Pilot keyboards which are located below the CDU. Above are the backup Instruments that generalise the V-22s systems and PFD (Primary Flight Display). Traffic Collision Advisory System display and the CDU menus can be swapped LtoR for both pilots.     The glareshield holds the  Flight Control System (FCS) Autopilot, and the NAC (Nacelle) control from AUTO to MAN modes, both glareshield ends has the Remote (Radio) Frequency Indicators (RFI) that display Com1 radio Active and Standby frequencies. The SEL key will flip the active and standby frequencies around each other.     Maintenance Mode One great feature is the folding of the Rotors and Wing for Carrier operations. To use the feature however is a bit of a trick to get access to the "BLADE FOLD/WING STOW selections on the pop-out Menu. The way to switch it on however requires a specific set of settings...   Flaps have to be up (stowed), Power and APU has to be on for the hydraulics to do the operation...  Then you go to the SYST and the MAINT MODE (R-7). The AUTO NAC (FCS) has to be set in MAN Mode and finally selecting BFWS or "Blade Fold and Wing Stow system" (R-4)...  then wallah, the BFWS popup Menu should now be active.     First operation is to FEATHER / UNFEATHER the blades...     ...  Then FOLD / UNFOLD the Blades, then you TILT / UNTILT the Nacelles to the forward position...     ...   Finally you can then rotate the wing assembly to the STOW / UNSTOW position.     Yes it is a great feature and done really well here by AoA, in it being very authentic to the real BFWS system.   On the OHP the Radio Panel is available in flight, but the panel itself is inert, in Engine shutdown mode or the Rotor Brake on, it coverts into systems situation panel, noting which systems are active.     AviTab is available on the Menu...  (Note: Plugin is required and the latest v0.7.1 version). It is positioned only on the right side of the cockpit, as in the V-22 the Primary Pilot is in the right hand seat, like with a Helicopter pilot, not like a fixed-wing left seat position.     Both side windows can be opened (Animated) via hot-spots.     Internal Lighting I hope you like GREEN? as it is very green in here, as everything is bathed in the Military night mode colour. Looks brilliant though.     You can adjust the CKPT DOME main lighting as well as the SECONDARY lighting, on the Secondary switch their are two more options for NVG NORMAL, and DAY/NIGHT. Primary Lighting (Three knobs) will adjust the instrument panel and each pilot side lighting. The essential backup CDU goes white instead of green, and this is particularly well done.     External Lighting There are two Landing lights built into the nose, also Navigation lights (known here as "Position") each nacelle and white rear. Two Beacon lights are set under fuselage and left upper tail light.     There are two sets of "Formation" lights, also call SLIME lights, used to help identify friendly aircraft, particularly during formation flying or carrier operations at night, usually made of phosphorescent or electroluminescent materials, which emit a soft greenish-yellow glow. The main body strips are on the nacelles, upper wing and tail, but there is also the exciting option of also the separate selection of "Prop Tips" Slime lights, which looks amazing in flight with those massive rotors.     Flying the V-22 Osprey Starting the Osprey is quite easy, as most of the start procedures are automated. Power (Battery) on and APU started, then set to RUN/ENGAGE to provide system power...   to start the engines, then you just move the Fuel Levers to CRANK, Then START/LEFT ENGINE then finally FLY....  simple!   Both rotors will turn together as they are cross-frame connected, but only the left engine is actually running...     There is a second start option for an "AUTO START". This is on the pop-up Menu (top) and the aircraft has to be in the Cold/Dark state to activate the feature. Press the button "AUTO START ENGINES" and start the sequence that will go though the full start up procedures, showing you the checklist phases by text boxes lower screen. It is fully automated including the view movements.     Once the "AUTO START sequence is finished, you go out of the mode via switching the "Timer" back to time (ACK) on any MFD as noted on the last text message.     The last Pop-Up menu option is the "WEIGHT & BALANCE", this brings up the standard X-Plane "Weight & Balance" Menu to set up your aircraft preferences.     To control the angle of the nacelles, you need to set keyboard command key or a throttle hardware switch to tilt the nacelles DOWN and back UP again. (see X-Plane in sim Settings drop down menu, Joystick or Keyboard tab, locate and assign “vector or sweep forward” and “vector or sweep aft”), I used the F11 and F12 keys. There is a manual nacelle adjuster wheel, it is on the TCL or "Throttle Control Lever", but it is a little tricky to use looking forward while flying.     The Nacelle Tilt Angle Indicator (NTAI) angle display is set upper left on the PFD...  90º is straight up, 97º is backwards, and on the ground you are restricted to the (red) boundary of 60º because of those huge rotors.     So is flying the V-22 Osprey the same as taking off in a Helicopter, well no, as for one there is no collective, just a throttle lever (TCL) to create the downward thrust. It is a heavy machine as well, here set at 21260 kg at Takeoff. So the V-22 does not react like a light Helicopter, or a drone for that matter, but it is closer to takeoff like a (very heavy) drone, more than a Heli. Flaps are totally automated, and move to the correct position for that phase of the flight, so there is no need to mess with the flap lever.   TCL up (slowly) 90º nacelle position and the V-22 rises off the ground...  any joystick inputs forward, backwards, left or right, even very small movements will take you in that direction, this HOVER mode.     Press the rudder pedal down left or right and the Osprey will rotate in that direction, so low flight manoeuvres are quite easy, Helicopterish without that massive tailrotor pressure thrust.   You can move forwards just by moving the stick slightly forward, but remember to keep the power on so the V-22 doesn't lose height as you start to gain speed, it's not going to be fast in this mode, so you move the nacelles now forward to 60º...     You require more TCL, but your also moving forwards into a transition phase very quickly, and already moving at a speed of 100 kts+     The Osprey is extremely nice to fly, being heavy, it feels solid unlike a shaking Helicopter...    There is another if quicker way to get airborne. “Jumps” are short rolling takeoffs with the nacelles rotated down just forward of the vertical. With the nacelles at 85, 80 or 75 degrees these takeoffs are called “Jump 85”, “Jump 80” or “Jump 75”. The aircraft rolls forward only a few tens of feet before getting airborne.   In practise you let the park brake off and increase the TCL power...     As you increase the power, you move forward only a short distance before literally "Jumping" bouncing quickly into the air, this could easily be done on a carrier, no problems...  and your now flying.     The technique to accelerate the aircraft into forward flight is to “bump” the nacelles forward and down using the “thumb wheel” on the inside of the TCL. (or keyboard command), as expected the ground limitation boundary is now gone in the air.   The transition to forward flight is to configure the aircraft to the wings without losing height, so you move the nacelles slowly forward, but you have to be careful, as when past 30º, the nacelles will quickly rotate to 0º. You need to quickly give a little backstick and add in more power, if not the V-22 will lose height or dip very quickly, but once transitioned, you can reduce the TCL a little and you are now at around 240 kts forward speed.     Notice the nose dip? you soon recover from it, the trick is to do transition more slowly and explore this change of flight parameters.     But boy, the Osprey really accelerates forward once configured. The V-22 has a maximum speed 316 knots (363 mph or 584 km/h) in Airplane mode, and a Cruise Speed of 241 knots (277 mph or 446 km/h) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m). Typically your speed is in the 110-120 knots range in the hover or transition phase.   Combat Radius is around 390 nautical miles (450 miles or 720 km) with internal fuel and a standard payload. And the Ferry Range is 2,100 nautical miles (2,400 miles or 3,889 km) with auxiliary fuel tanks. Service Ceiling is 25,000 ft (7,620 m) with a standard load.     And you cover ground very quickly, very different from a Helicopter.     And you are very aware of those massive blades only feet away from the cockpit.     Autopilot is very simple to use. Select the Heading (HDG), and Altitude and just press the activation button below your selection, to go climb or descend, deactivate the ALT (Altitude) and adjust the V/S (Vertical Speed), it will reset the ALT when it achieves the set new altitude.     One thing I did find in the HDG and set ALT. that the V-22 tended to slightly roll left and right? a slight touch of the joystick to counter the movement usually centered it, but it would get slightly annoying if going a distance. Another factor is that in airplane mode the V-22 doesn't turn very well, on the AP or manually, even with a fair bit of rudder to push the nose around, yes you can do a crazy 45º turn, but it still takes a fair circle to achieve the full turn manoeuvre, so you have to forward plan out any tight (wide) turns to accommodate the Osprey.     The "VID" Video or “Synthetic Vision” is excellent, with a great visual of the landscape outside, you can easily fly by the instruments or in a head down mode with the amount of detail shown here.     Other AoA features include "Roll to See" where in the mode, the view is rolled to the angle of the aircraft.     The second is "Target Track", were as the plug-in code takes command of the pilot point of view camera in order to point the camera at a selected AI plane and follow it, keeping it in view at all times while it is in your aircraft’s forward hemisphere.   Other features include Air-to Air Refuelling, 2D or 3D cockpit modes, one is a locked view, the other free. And the V-22 supports the default X-Plane slung load system. You just choose a slung load object and weight in the weight and balance menu. Navigate to the payloads folder and select one of the available OBJ files.     Now is the transition phase in reverse...  The Osprey loves it's speed, so you have to pull the TCL quite a way back before you lose speed. Tricky is that the NTAI does not show until you go under 220 kts, then you still have rub off speed before it will allow you rotate the nacelles at around 198 kts.     A slight nose up atitude will slightly rub off the speed, but when you reach 50º up angle then the speed passes away a lot quicker.     So you are now losing height and losing speed...  75º is a very nice approach speed of around 55 knts, but be aware of like in a Helicopter there is that very ineffective "Transitional Lift" zone, so you have to be very, very aware of your thrust, as the point of aerodynamic lift is replaced by thrust lift, yes you can sink, and quite quickly, but the slight annoyance is as you move the nacelles to 80º the upward thrust comes in with a bang, the trick is finding a perfect transitional balance (thrust) between the two phases.     But that 80º position is a sweet spot, the nacelles are far enough forward to keep you moving in the approach...  a creeping forward momentum.     ... any moment you go to the straight up (90º) the Tiltrotor stops in it's tracks...   I tried the MFD HVR feature...  but to a point it didn't work as I expected? one was the VID was still a forward view, I expected it to be pointing downwards to show you underneath the Osprey, second, although you had a movement counter 1.2.3 - -1. -2. -3 if you went backwards or forwards, the crosshairs didn't move as much as it did on the AW-109... so it's not much help in that repect.     Time to go down, unlike a Helicopter the V-22 is quite easy to hold in the hover, just gentle stick movements will correct your position...     ...   one great bonus you have, is that if the nacelles are put to 97º the Osprey will fly in reverse, or act like an airbrake on approach, there is an option on the menu pop-up to "Brake with Stick", or pull back on the stick to change the nacelle angle, I never used this, because I became quite adept to adjusting the nacelle angles, to either go slightly forwards or backwards with a still stick.     These adjustable powerplants give you an amazing amount of control, and it is far easier than your Helicopter control, if done in a different way. So low hovers and a quiet touch landing is very easily done, no twitching or fighting the tail yaw like with a Helicopter.     The V-22 Osprey is an amazing machine, but challenging to fly? no not really like in a Helicopter sense, but unique to itself is the best statement you could make...  overall I love it immensely.     There are no liveries with the package, but there are few you can download...  CV-22B SOCOM and VMX-22 "Metallic", and the latest is the CMV-22B "Titans" livery, which is very nice.   ________________ Summary Is it a helicopter or an aircraft is usually the first question asked about the V-22 Osprey. It's formal title is "Tiltrotor", so you would say helicopter with those massive three blades per side, but the machine can also convert to a forward flying aerodynamic winged aircraft, and then flies in that same forward configuration as a normal aircraft. So a bit of both.   The success of the XV-15 created the concept of an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft   This X-Plane 12 only version of the V-22 Osprey is from Angle of Attack (AoA) Simulations, mostly AoA aircraft are military designs like the F-22A Raptor and F-35B Lightning ll and T-7A Red Hawk. The original V-22 Osprey for X-Plane 11 was released March 2018.   The original AoA for X-Plane 11 felt a little under developed, but that was a long time ago (in X-Plane sense) and here it has been completely reworked and upgraded to X-Plane 12, basically it is a different aircraft in now being very matured and far more wholesome.   It needs to be because the V-22 role requires really good handing and dynamics to experience the "Tiltrotor" actions, thankfully that aspect is very well delivered here, it is a very unique flying experience and comes with excellent simulator pilot intergration.   Modeling, design and detail is really good, certainly in the cargo and highly detailed cockpit, and looks far better in X-Plane 12 than XP11, and not for the obvious reasons, it just feels overall far more complete and refined. Great animations for doors external and internal, pilots including Flight Engineer and Marines in the rear, carry hooks (yes you can sling loads), refueling probe, a clever realistic Blade Fold/Wing Stow animation, and Autostart feature, standard (XP) Weight and Balance menu. Standard AoA features like Roll to See and Target Track are also included, there are also four menu selectable V-22 variants. Lighting and Sounds are also top notch.   The V-22 Osprey Tiltrotor is unique, and the Angle of Attack X-Plane 12 version gives an excellent immersion into this incredible aircraft. The V-22 is unique to fly as well, and more accessible than a Helicopter, so you can fly vertical flight, and fast horizontal flight, so the Osprey combines the two skills.   The V-22 becomes very, very addictive, mainly because it's flight envelope is so wide, takeoff vertically, "Jump" into the air, and still do carrier operations, the Osprey has it all, I loved it, addictive...  Highly Recommended! ______________________     The  V-22 Osprey XP12 by AOA Simulations is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store:   V-22 Osprey XP12 Priced at US$55.00 Currently US$44.00 You Save:$11.00(20%)   Requirements X-Plane 12 (not for XP11) Windows , Mac (M1/M2 Supported), Linux 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 495 MB Current version: 1.03 (December 3rd 2024)     This aircraft is noted as a new version, to date there are no upgrade deals from the X-Plane 11 version, but that may change. ________________   Installation and documents:  download for the V-22 Osprey is 446Mb and the aircraft is deposited in the "Military" X-Plane folder.   Full Installation is 645MBb   AviTab Plugin is required for this aircraft (latest v0.7.1 version)   Documents supplied are: 1-V-22 User Guide.pdf (41 Pages) 2-V-22 Cockpit Display Reference.pdf (68 Pages) 3-Enter GPS Waypoint.pdf 4-Osprey Start Checklist.pdf V-22 1.0 notes.pdf V-22 copyright.txt     Documentation consists of a User guide (41 Pages), and the excellent Cockpit Reference guide (61 Pages), also provided is a Checklist (pdf) and Notes   Designed by  Fabrice Kauffmann and David Austin of AOA Simulations Support forum for the T-7A _____________________   Update Review by Stephen Dutton 6th December 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews   Review System Specifications:  Windows  - 12th Gen IS1700 Core i7 12700K 12 Core 3.60 GHz CPU - 64bit -32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - PNY GeForce RTX 3080 10GB XLR8 - Samsung 970 EVO+ 2TB SSD. Bose Quietcomfort Headphones Software:   - Windows 11 Pro - X-Plane 12.1.2 Plugins: Traffic Global - JustFlight-Traffic (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$52.99 : Global SFD plugin US$30.00 Scenery or Aircraft - KTCM - McChord AFB  - Seattle - Boeing Country 10.5 by Tom Curtis (Sorry not now available)   (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved  

Aircraft Review: Stinson 108 Package XP12 by Ted Cook By Colin Parker Introduction Ted Cook has released his latest model, the Stinson 108-3, for X-Plane 12. Building on the X-Plane 11 version, this new release introduces custom airfoils, an updated FMOD sound package, improved weight and balance configuration, and the exciting new water features of X-Plane 12. The add-on includes three distinct models:  Basic VFR model: perfect for straightforward visual flying. IFR model: a VFR model with added blind flying instruments and a basic radio/nav package. Seaplane: for exploring X-Plane’s impressive water physics. The Stinson Aircraft Company, founded in 1920 by stunt pilot Eddie Stinson, was responsible for a small but successful range of general aviation aircraft. The company later became part of Consolidated (famous for the Catalina flying boat) before being sold to Piper. The Stinson 108 first took flight in 1946, and around 5,000 were built. It was a fabric-and-steel high-wing monoplane powered by a 6-cylinder Franklin engine. The aircraft came in two key configurations: Voyager: featuring 4 cloth-covered seats and a 350lb luggage capacity (rear seats removable). This is reflected in the Basic VFR model. Station Wagon: a more powerful version with vinyl-covered seats, wood trim, and a 600lb luggage capacity (rear seats removable). This trim is used in the IFR and Seaplane models. The 108-3 was the final production version and was even sold by Piper as the "Piper Stinson" after they acquired the company. This add-on recreates the charm and character of this iconic aircraft, bringing it to life in X-Plane 12. Installation and Documentation After purchasing the Stinson 108-3, you’ll receive a zip file for download. Once downloaded, simply extract the Stinson 108 folder into your X-Plane 12 "Aircraft" directory. The zip file is 274MB and unpacks to 362MB when fully extracted. Included in the package is a clear and concise Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) for each variant. Found in the documentation folder, the handbook provides just the right amount of information for simulator enthusiasts to get the most out of all three aircraft models. It’s an excellent companion to the add-on and well worth a read. One small warning though, don't do what I did and start printing the POH for the second model before checking. They’re all identical!   External Walk-Around The package includes three liveries: maroon, blue, and a plain white option for those who enjoy creating their own custom designs.     Visually, the models may not have the same depth of texture or photo realism as some higher-end add-ons, but they still manage to look the part when parked up. As with other Stinsons, the 108-3 sits at a steeper angle compared to its Piper and Cessna counterparts. This reduces forward visibility while taxiing, making ground handling a bit of a challenge.     The cockpit doors can be opened and closed from the inside using the door handles, while the luggage compartment door requires a function key. A nice additional touch is the animated windows, which can also be opened and closed.     Interior Visually, the cockpit doesn’t quite match the depth of detail or photo realism we’ve come to expect in X-Plane 12 add-ons. However, it’s still a fully functional 3D cockpit that accurately represents the real aircraft.     The Stinson 108-3 features two fuel tanks, one in each wing. On the control panel, you’ll find two switches: one determines which tank the fuel gauge reads, while the other selects which tank feeds the engine. Mix these up at your peril!     The VFR version has a very basic instrument panel, there’s no turn-and-slip indicator or artificial horizon. These “modern” features are included in the IFR model and, at the time, were cutting-edge for instrument flying. Just like in the real aircraft, the turn-and-slip coordinator has its own electrical circuit and needs to be switched on before use.     The IFR Radio and Navigation unit is a vintage 50 KHz system, which unfortunately isn’t compatible with the modern 8.33 KHz radio network used by X-Plane’s Air Traffic Control or VATSim.     Ground Handling Wheeled Version – as mentioned earlier, the high nose angle on the ground makes taxiing a real challenge. Forward visibility is poor, so zigzagging is very much the name of the game.     The Stinson 108-3 is equipped with a highly responsive steerable tailwheel, and differential braking allows for impressively tight turns. However, things can get tricky when it’s windy. Paying attention to wind direction and setting the control surfaces correctly is essential, otherwise, you might find yourself going around in circles, just like I did!     Sea Plane Version – Laminar Research has done an excellent job modelling the swell on seas and lakes in X-Plane 12. When the sea state is heavy, the Stinson bobs about on the water in a highly realistic manner, perhaps even a bit too realistic! The aircraft isn’t designed for rough seas, and during my testing, consistently high waves led to a few unexpected crashes. To avoid being thrown onto the beach (or worse), it’s worth checking the wave height before starting a new flight. When it comes to taxiing, the sea rudders perform well, just don’t forget to retract them before take-off. Unlike modern seaplanes, the Stinson doesn’t have a retractable undercarriage, so water landings and take-offs are your only option.     Flying the 108-3 Like most taildraggers, taking off in the Stinson 108-3 requires a bit of practice. The high nose angle makes the start of the run tricky. I found it helpful to use the compass to ensure I was heading in the right direction and kept an eye on the edge of the runway to stay straight until the airspeed came alive. That said, once the tail lifts, take-off is relatively straightforward, and the aircraft leaves the ground with ease.     The Stinson settles nicely into a stable cruise. It’s equipped with elevator and rudder trim, which help maintain smooth flight. However, it lacks a direction indicator, so you’ll need to rely on the compass to hold your heading.     To minimise the risk of stalling, Stinson added partial leading-edge slats to both wings, and these are faithfully included in the flight model. As a result, stalls are gentle and low-key. When approaching a stall, the aircraft gradually settles into a 500-fpm descent, and the ailerons remain responsive throughout. For those who really want to push the limits, you can induce a proper stall by diving and pulling up sharply, though you’d need to give yourself a proper fright to make it happen! In the real aircraft, there’s a mechanical safety feature that prevents full elevator travel unless the flaps are deployed. This isn’t modelled in X-Plane 12, but it’s a notable detail from the original design.   Thanks to its inherent stability, leading-edge slats, and highly effective flaps, landing is a straightforward process, even with a gentle crosswind.     I’ll admit, I have next to no experience flying from water in X-Plane. Despite that, the Stinson was forgiving enough for me to manage some respectable take-offs and landings.     Night Lighting The cockpit is well-lit at night, with lighting that can be adjusted using a dimmer switch. However, the external lights seem overly bright to me. I’m currently running the 12.1.3 beta, and Laminar has been working on addressing the brightness of X-Plane 11-configured lights. It’s possible this issue will resolve itself once the full release of 12.1.3 is available.     Sound The Stinson comes with an updated FMOD sound package that works well. The Franklin 6A4 150-B3 engine sounds authentic, with no looping to spoil the experience. You’ll also hear detailed effects like switches and levers, the movement of control surfaces, and the satisfying sounds of windows and doors opening and closing.   Performance I didn’t notice any impact on frame rate with this add-on, performance remained smooth throughout, with no degradation experienced.     Conclusion My first impression was that this add-on lacked the visual depth of some others on the market. However, it has definitely grown on me. While it might not have the slickest appearance, the fact that you get three aircraft in the pack makes it great value, and all of them fly just as the original Stinson Pilot Operating Handbook suggests they should. One of my favourite features is the effect of the slats during slow flight, it’s a joy to experience. The attention to detail in the cockpit controls and gauges is also a highlight. Adding the elevator travel inhibitor tied to the flaps would be the icing on the cake. If, like me, you enjoy low-and-slow flying, tackling grass strips, and embracing the charm of 1940s and 1950s grassroots aviation, then this add-on might be just what you’re looking for. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed spending the past couple of weeks exploring far-flung corners of the world with this delightful model.   ___________________     The Stinson 108 Package XP12 by Ted Cook is available from the Org store here:   Stinson 108 Package XP12 Priced at US$20.00   Features: Three aircraft included: IFR, VFR and Float. Completely overhauled for XP12 from the previous version. Custom airfoils. New and updated Fmod sounds. Floatplane completely overhauled to take advantage of new XP12 water features. Includes POH with checklist New XP12 load stations for each seat, cargo, and fuel Requirements: X-Plane 12 - not for XP11 Windows, Mac, or Linux 8GB +VRAM Video Card Current Version: XP12 3.0 (October 31st, 2024) Customers who own the Stinson 108 XP11 can get the new XP12 version for 25% off. A discount will automatically be applied at checkout. Reviewers System: Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core Processor 3.80 GHz Memory: 32.0 GB Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060   Aircraft Review by Colin Parker 6th December 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews     (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copying of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)   

Releasing NGS scenery in stages makes sense, but perhaps for another reason than its availability. Part of the issue for a flight simulation is providing ‘Global’ scenery. Just how much of that Global scenery (subtracting of course the oceans) is actually ever used? My guess 5-10% of the earth’s surface if that. Then adjust for those remote territories that people only fly over at 38,000 feet so the detail is overkill. Perhaps the answer is have Xplane track where people fly and then use that data to build scenery detail levels. Of course there will always be exceptions cases, but they would continue to have the existing level of detail. There have to be huge areas in the Far North (Canada, Russia), Antartica, Africa, Australia (sorry Stephen), Central Asia and South America that no simmer, at least for VFR has ever visited. Having access to the whole world, like MSFS has, is a nifty trick, but wasteful. Data, and perhaps AI might have you understand what scenery you really need.

Excellent Steven, I agree with your points, and improving the default scenery is now the most important thing I want to see. I have noticed it looking much better at altitude than before, so I have noticed the progress you talk about. For me, using Orbx UK XP12 version, or auto ortho with X-world were a revelation, though the load times for the Orbx are quite long. I generally test my mods at RAF Lossiemouth, but the default scenery around there is truly awful. MSFS though initially took my breath away, at certain altitudes, like you said, about 1,000 to 2,000ft doesn't look that good to me, it certainly isn't a perfect solution. Thanks for informing us that there may be light at the end of the tunnel for Xplane scenery. Al

I'm from SoCal AND purchased this scenery (from the .org store) the day of release because I believe XP scenery developers should be rewarded for releasing "general aviation" airports (besides as Stephen pointed out "It's only 9 bucks?")   Was kinda curious what other scenery the developer had developed,... so did some googling and found out KMTH was on sale for $2.99 (w/ a promised up grade to XP12 features   https://flightsimdesigns.com/products/kmth-x-plane   PS if the developer reads this,... whatabout doing a version of KBVU - Boulder City Municipal Airport (similar to an ORBX version for Prepar3D v4)   https://orbxdirect.com/product/61b   ...as I see things this GA airport /w lots of helipads would pair nicely with the default XP12 KLAS (especially if the Hoover Dam and Memorial Bridge land marks were included in the scenery package)        

To each his own I guess. I used to live in the bay area and I am happy that one of the many airports in the area has been released. I like it, I think it's well done, and am happy with my purchase with the low price asked for it. Small unknown airports are still interesting to us that do a lot of flying in the area, keep them coming!

Behind the Screen : November 2024   To most Simulator users it is the flying dynamics and the reproduction of iconic aircraft that is their general focus. To relive, train or learn on how to fly a broad spectrum of aviation's greatest developments. From airliners past and present, General Aviation aircraft, Military, Helicopters and even the weird and wonderful contraptions that can fly through the air. But the environment that you fly in is important as well, and yes "I'm Talking about scenery again".   "Oh god I really wish this guy would move on from this", I can hear the groans from here, the foreheads banging on the desktops.   But it is important as X-Plane is in a critical stage of it's development, it is the biggest issue right now, and an important one to get right. There are other areas that need development in X-Plane, certainly Multi-player functionality and Multi-Threading are major priorities, but even Laminar Research are focusing very heavily on what they call "New Generation Scenery", and over the last few months, trickles of what NGS is now coming out.   And it is an interesting debate, and one that could make X-Plane a prime simulator. There is no doubt that the environment is the Microsoft Flight Simulator's 2020, and now 2024 is a main focus, you can't really call it a flying simulator, it just has planes and helicopters in it, but this is a gaming platform, full of experiences...  even now a career if you want one. That is fine, but the biggest attraction and one of which Microsoft promotes is this significant aspect of the environment...  and this is where it does get interesting.   If you want X-Plane to grow as a Simulator, then you have to embrace the fact that the environment around your aircraft is a major attraction to people who want to use a Simulator. But this aspect always has been X-Plane's biggest imperfection. Since the start of my Simulation involvement, the default scenery has been, well mostly....  crap.   I'm not talking about some of the excellent add-on scenery produced for the X-Plane Simulator, I'm talking about the basics here, and why X-Plane does not have a bigger audience, and some, if most will say, "Well we like it that way", fine, but that way will mean the decrease of investment, not only by user participation, but by the essential developers moving on to better conditions. I'm not going to go all depressed on you again, because actually X-Plane in development has had a very successful year, but the simulator has also lost a lot of talented talent that we couldn't afford to lose, worse it's not attracting talent either, whether you like it or not X-Plane has reached a milestone, that could flip it simply one way or the other. From one perspective it looks absolutely fine if you keep to the basics and use default Global Airports, and yes things at this point are far better than it was 12 months ago. But that crucial line is now more in important than ever, if X-Plane does not grow, and quite significantly over the next few years it will become only a marginal player in Simulation.   And we have to be realistic, in that the default Global scenery has always been a hindrance, limiting the expansion of the simulator. The change from X-Plane 9 to X-Plane 10 was a significant step forward, but except for the new excellent trees in X-Plane 12 there has been no progress for over a decade, were as every other component of the Simulator has had significant upgrades, all the way throughout X-Plane 11 and to XP12. Basically we still have the same two tier autogen and tile mapping, and although the mountainous frameworks are very good, at a ground level the basic low-res ground textures are basically the same as they have been for years. Add in the poor insertion of custom scenery, and those horrible wide green spaces between the default and custom elements on the mesh, and I still cringe every time I land at Tampa, Florida, with those wide green spaces were buildings should be, so I never ever really liked it for realism.   Worse is if you are flying over empty spaces, say the American Kansas west, plains or worse African Sahara, or in my case over Australia, the repetitive patterns (landclass) were all there to see, for hours on end, and those Saharan landscapes are horrible and actually won't fit into any custom scenery, yes there are always options, but this default aspect is not at all good.   I did a demonstration flight in a helicopter hardware simulator with a particularly large audience, it all looked totally brilliant until I landed on those washed out lo-res chunks of textures, I was actually embarrassed of the scene, this was supposed to be a professional simulator, here broadcasting to a crowd that were interested in buying pro hardware, but I could see the reality of X-Plane's weaknesses, and maybe at that moment it has been my overwhelming focus of being on a sort of crusade to fix the "Scenery Problem".   Ben Supnik joined Laminar Research to do the very original scenery for X-Plane 6 with the introduction of DSF (Direct Scenery Format) in XP8, and which also introduced global terrain data. Then Supnik created what you could call the 2nd Gen Scenery for X-Plane 10, this version introduced two other clever elements in using both Autogen to place buildings to the modeling of global terrain data and the OpenStreetMap (OSM) data to provide immersive and realistic landscapes. Remember this was 2011, and at that time is was an extremely big step forward. But OSM had limitations, as you were restricted to it's coverage, so in areas like Africa, South America, and certainly in non-western zones like China, suddenly the lights went out and all the buildings disappeared. Yes Laminar added in more autogen, taller buildings and small industrial areas, but overall it stayed very limited for over a decade, with only a few icons added in extra. alpilotx did do a more Hi-Res version of the original XP10 texture tiles, but he left X-Plane in 2016, since then there has been nothing.   These two areas are currently expanded in X-Plane by replacing the default autogen by using 3d buildings like in SimHeaven's X-World series, again the limitation is that it relies on the same OSM data as the default scenery. Secondly is the addon to use photorealistic terrain using satellite imagery, known as "Ortho" and the Ortho4XP tool. Believers standby these two tools to replace what X-Plane does not provide, but they do take a huge amount of your processing power and storage, overall they are not a perfect solution to the worldwide scenery issues.   Now Supnik is faced with his biggest challenge yet, to recreate the scenery system for a modern Simulator, and that aspect is harder than what you think. It's the "World" and not just the small play area that is recreated in Games of say around 30nm. In that small game area, it is quite easy to recreate sensational scenery for the characters, but when you have the massive expansive world to recreate, then this huge scale has so many different aspects to recreate. Okay I may be over hard on X-Plane scenery for what it currently does, as to a point it does recreate the world quite well, but a decade on the game has now shifted (no pun intended).   Although lauded, Microsoft's approach to scenery has it's limitations as well. For landclass it is very good, shapeshifting the world in all it's elements, but it has one massive deficiency, it is when you get close to the ground. The major issue is ground distortion, plus any buildings, but mostly bridges that have space below that are sheared in physically into the ground. If you are flying at a 1,000ft it is not a very realistic scenario, and this is an important aspect of VFR flying, yes the correct buildings are there, but basically they are all generated shapes.   X-Plane's approach in this case for VFR is actually better, but not expanded out to cover major detailed areas. So how do you fix this. The Ortho believers think their approach is the best, but Ortho is not great either, as in many areas the buildings are only burnt in, leaving flat photographic images. But at the same 1,000ft point of view the Ortho works best, as it looks photographically realistic, the problem here though is when you get close to the ground, because the flat photo plate and the island looking 3d buildings, again doesn't look realistic.   Like myself Ben Supnik does not like Ortho, his argument like mine is the burn effects, trees, buildings will always have shadows, cars are burnt into the roads and so on, so with the daily time scale of moving light it doesn't work. His work is to try to find a compromise between the Ortho detail, but with not the absolute photo effects errors, so like with our current ground textures it is the best compromise in realism.   So what new scenery aspects are coming? well better ground textures means new "Terrain Rendering". Laminar wants to cram in more and more stuff on a tile, make it more dense with data. So overall it looks like what Laminar are working on is a completely new and different approach in creating better ground detail, as at the moment the current DSF is not scalable, but NGS or also known as "Direct Scene Snapshot" (DSS) is highly scalable, also highly streamable, plus has better and faster loading properties.   But DSS will at first only be an alternative to DSF, as if it replaced DSF, it would render most of the current Custom Scenery library obsolete. One other feature of DSS is that it will allow for Ortho images to be streamed directly into the Simulator if users still want to use that point of view, The interesting aspect of this "Tile Streaming", is the "streaming" is currently a reference in how the data gets into the sim engine. But will that "Streaming" be local (in the computer), or externally like Microsoft does?   Well a bit of both. X-Plane Mobile is actually already a streaming Simulator, so X-Plane desktop is probably going to go the same way with cloud streaming (Amazon's AWS), but with the cache to download the areas that you want to fly in off-line. Instead of downloading the current large DSF tiles with data, the streaming DSS files will be far smaller, but broken up into immediate high data quality visuals, but lower res (data) for far distance visuals.   The trick is that Laminar are trying to do is have the best of both worlds, the photo aspect of Orthos, but without the problems of the format (flat and burn ins), so the idea is with these smaller DSS tiles is that they will also be non-repeating, or have no Landclass category, meaning that a single image will be in the future just not repeated over and over to represent the area (my pet hate), but to represent the photo aspects without the photograph, so you will get the best of both worlds, great ground detailing, without the shadows and minute that affects Ortho images, plus the tiles will perfectly reflect the area they represent. Is this the mythical solution?   The biggest challenge however is filling the world in. X-Plane will still use the autogen model, but probably expanded. The biggest success over the decade was SFD's (ShortFinal Designs) excellent SFD Global, that took the current duel (USA/European) autogen modeling and added in more regions to it around the world, so yes you can currently see Middle-eastern housing in Dubai, and Japanese housing in Japan, and Australia housing in Australia.    Justin Kissling (mister-x, SFD) was already working on an expanded v2 of SFD Global, but has since been recruited by Laminar Research, this certainly means that SFD Global v2 will now be the default in X-Plane, plus in a far more expanded form, but what of those towns and cities?   This is still the biggest challenge facing X-Plane as a realistic VFR Simulator. I always like the autogen spread, with central custom city objects as a great way of doing this in a realistic scenario. In payware efforts were cities have been reproduced; New York, Washington, Seattle, London, Paris, even the excellent Orbx Brisbane and Detroit are excellent examples, the idea works well, the trick is to expand it worldwide to cover most if not if all major population centers. The problem is with custom city scenery is that it is very time-consuming to recreate, building by unique building, and annoyingly these city packages don't repay well for the developer's time consuming task. This is an area that could be redefined, could the new tools of A.I. build our custom cities for us? takeaway the overwhelming task of creating custom scenery... ten years ago this aspect was not possible, but it now may be realistic.   Ben Supnik notes that the new NGS scenery will be released is stages, and not completely all at once, so access will be available sooner than later, then the development will stretch out over time like with the Vulkan/Metal roadmap, so this a long term project more than the next X-Plane version journey, but certainly the NGS is coming more sooner than later, hopefully in 2025.   If done right, the above NGS development has the potential to revolutionise X-Plane as a Prime Simulator, it's an interesting take in that it is using all the best elements, and is discarding the negative ones, it will also make the Simulator even more efficient, but also in delivering an excess of a more visual detailing and a realistic environment for us to fly in. If you understand the concept, you will find it very exciting on what it can achieve... it is a vision of the future of realism in Simulation.   As usual there will be no December "Behind the Screen" 2024 issue, but our full yearly round up of the year 2024 review is to be published on 13th December 2024, so watch out for that.   Stephen Dutton 4th December 2024 Copyright©2023 X-Plane Reviews    

It's only 9 bucks? look at all the nondescript releases in MSFS, at least KPAO is an interesting major General Aviation airport for the SF area.

It’s nice and all but I’m afraid developers are going to have to do better then a small unknown GA airport to get me flying more xplane. Xplane is my favorite but we need something eye opening than. It’s too bad this has been the trend with scenery lately. Not to mention ORBX flat out lying about supporting xplane.