I have a Saitek X56.. that is throttle unit and yes I set the flaps, gear and airbrakes via the front switches (up/down) if it is a continuous flap than you just hold the switch down, or flick once (up/down) if it is slotted selection. SD

Hello, I have one more request. Could you program the control of the flaps so that they can be served by the Saitek multipanel? Best regards

I didn't know either?...  thanks for the tip, and video SD

News! - Plugin Release : Hi Fi Simulations releases ActiveSky XP     A quality stalwart brand in FlightSim Hi Fi Simulations have released their premier product ActiveSky for X-Plane11...  features include:   Active Air Effects: Replaces internal X-Plane turbulence and air effects, providing enhanced turbulence, drafts, thermals, terrain-based wind effects, surface friction, gusts, variability, wake turbulence, microbursts and more High-Performance Weather Depiction: Uses internal X-Plane 11.2x/11.3x cloud depiction for maximum performance and smoothness, with multiple weather depiction modes including theme cell “real weather” mode and global static mode – VR compatible and optimized! Active Sky Weather Engine: An evolved version of the Active Sky platform brings the core features that made Active Sky the leading weather engine for other platforms: Advanced weather synthesis and interpolation, high-resolution global winds aloft, realistic air and atmosphere effects, a comprehensive weather data network, integrated visual mapping and planning, and much, much more Voice Weather Delivery: Active Sky ATIS and Flightwatch are available at any time by listening on 122.00, 122.02 or 122.03 for closest station, actual/current interpolated conditions and destination weather reports, respectively Surface Crosswind Attenuation: Optional, for better ground handling in crosswind conditions while preserving headwind/tailwind component for performance accuracy Mobile Companion App: Use any device/browser to connect with Active Sky over your network and view and control the weather     There are a few notes to take in below before consideration of a purchase. Not a complete visual cloud rendering replacement   We have put our previous X-Plane visual cloud rendering replacement efforts on hold (until next year) due to performance considerations and changing API environment/tools that are not yet finalized We expect our visual cloud rendering replacement technology to debut in Q4 2019, subject to change based on many factors ASXP features high-performance cloud depiction with a focus on conditions accuracy, utilizing the X-Plane internal cloud rendering via a hybrid API approach, with two different modes available ASXP also features an optional high-performance photo-realistic cloud texture replacement with a simple texture installation wizard Windows 64-Bit (v7 or later) Only Mac, Linux and 32-bit X-Plane/Windows versions are not supported In a networked environment, the ASXP application/client may run on Windows 32-bit (7 or later), but X-Plane must be 64-bit on Windows 64-bit (7 or later) We hope to bring additional OS/platform support in the future X-Plane version 11.26 or later (64-bit for Windows) is required   Requirements: X-Plane v11.26 or later, 64-bit Windows Version (Mac and 32-bit Windows versions are not compatible) Windows 7 or later, 64-bit Version Active and stable internet connection (broadband recommended)* 500mb available hard drive space 1GHZ+ CPU 2GB+ RAM OpenGL 3.3 graphics device (nVidia GTX500 or or equivalent, or better) 1024×768 minimum available screen resolution to display all user interface features   I would note that the plugin uses the default X-Plane11 cloud system for now... and obviously Hi Fi are waiting for the full implementation of the Laminar Research Vulkan API changes before adding in the more custom visual cloud rendering replacement (3d clouds) for speed and efficiency of course.   Hi Fi note that the full product with visual cloud rendering will not be available till the end of 2019, and that any charges to upgrade to the visual cloud rendering is to quote...   "work to maintain and enhance our products, with several free updates planned.  The details of what would be included in such updates are yet to be determined."   ActiveSky XP  is now available from HiFi's website for 35.99 EUR.  (US$40.78)   Images and text are courtesy of Hi Fi Simulations ________________________________________   News by Stephen Dutton 12th December 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews    

don't fly this in XP11 without updating the .xpl plug-in file first. With the update, this heli has become my favourite, and i am angry no one told me there is an xpl-file to update.   here is a video and the download link:    

Hello, thank you for the succesful aircraft. I would have one request: could you create a place in the instrument board for Reality XP GNS? It's more real than anywhere in the air. best regards

Scenery Review : NWWW La Tontouta Noumea - New Caledonia by Cami de Bellis   Positioned just above New Zealand and 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia in the South Pacific ocean is the French outpost of New Caledonia. New Caledonia became an overseas territory in 1946 and by 1953, French citizenship had been granted to all New Caledonians, regardless of ethnicity. A recent independence vote resolved to keep the hundreds of French bureaucrats from Paris in place and that basically keeps the island afloat with French Euros, and so the population 278,500 simply went back to their normal french lives in a paradise certainly far removed from the French Capital. And what a life it is... don't for instance arrive in Noumea (the capital) on a Sunday, because in reality nothing happens, the only action is at the odd bar or cafe where the madame will smoke her Gitanes with passion while sipping from a weak wine, and giving you the evil eye of being a customer. I know because I have been there, twice.... and twice only on a Sunday.   But you don't come to New Caledonia for the shopping either (as there isn't any, or any bus services as well) but certainly come for the outstanding natural beauty of the islands with a French accent... find the right area and you would break down at the sheer immense beauty of the planet earth we exist on, as New Caledonia is in reality Tahiti-lite without the huge expense required to stay there.   This is Cami de Bellis's second payware scenery after her "VQPR - Paro International Airport" late last year. It was a very good first introduction into payware for de Bellis, but a difficult first choice to do as well. Cami is highly known for her extensive detailing and the sheer object placement in numbers. Which is very good in freeware, but it can also overwhelm a scenery of simply too much placement...  but they were all freewares, and payware is a very different game altogether in finding a balance and more importantly authenticity.   NWWW La Tontouta Noumea La Tontouta International Airport is the main international airport in New Caledonia. The airport is in the municipality of Païta, approximately 52 km (32 mi) northwest of Nouméa. La Tontouta International Airport serves international flights, while Noumea Magenta Airport, located 38 km south-east within the city of Nouméa, serves the domestic flights. The airport is regularly served by four airlines, including Aircalin which is based at the airport.   Tontouta International Airport Aéroport de Nouméa - La Tontouta IATA: NOU - ICAO: NWWW     11/29 - 3,250m (10,663ft) Asphalt Elevation AMSL 52 ft/16m       Note: First up on the review is a note. Make sure you have or download v1.1 and if you have downloaded the original release then to go and redownload the new version. The update fixes a bad mesh join line (below right) directly in front of RWY 11, and now it looks far better. The mesh join elevation hole is still there, but now not as noticeable as with the original mesh line. This issue is a Laminar mesh issue and cannot be resolved by the developer.     La Tontouta is a split airport with the commercial area on the central northeast that includes an extended terminal and a Aircalin maintenance Hangar...       ...  and across the 11/29 RWY is a military zone that was originally built as a WW2 (small) US Airforce Base, now named Nouméa Air Base "BAN Tontouta".       La Tontouta Terminal NWWW airport's terminal extension was completed in 2012. The completed project resulted in a significant increase in the terminal's size and included a new arrivals area, a larger check-in area and the installation of two jet(air)bridges. The terminal now has five stands capable of handling commercial jet aircraft, two of which are served by the new airbridges and three of which utilise stairs to access the aircraft. In addition, the airport has several more stands designed to handle smaller prop-regional sized aircraft.   Sensationally modeled, this one of the best terminals I have seen in a while. The La Tontouta terminal is very detailed with a huge amount of intricate detail, and it looks extremely realistic...     ....  the highlight is the terminal's latice work. It is to reflect the same design as the sails of the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, that was designed by the famous Italian architect Renzo Piano on the narrow Tinu Peninsula that celebrates the vernacular Kanak culture, the indigenous culture of New Caledonia. It was obviously most important to get the latice work and style correct, and the result here is excellent. The remarkable Cultural Centre is well worth a visit.   In the extension they added in two airbridges, and they are both well defined here, they are active as well (marginal plugin required), but your parking position has to be perfect to get them to activate because of the long angle.     Building detail and clutter is excellent, both on the roof of the terminal and in the receiving trolley bay and baggage area.     Landside is exceptional as well, with a well laid out carpark, and huge clutter detail (This is after all Cami de Bellis!)     The large Aircalin maintenance Hangar is very prominent and well recreated with fine weathered detail. Two static Aircalin aircraft fill out the scene.     Service yards, freight buildings and administration areas are plentiful and thoughtfully crafted and cluttered, with great detail.     Several new buildings are all glass, and really well modeled, but the over reflective effects are from most angles set too high and need or require a more less saturated natural look and feel.     The Control Tower is set up on a hill to the east is excellent with great quality detail. Tower view is set and both approaches are easy to see, but at certain angles you get railings that intrude into the view.     Northwest of the Terminal is the Fire Station that is very well detailed and runway facing building.   Tontouta the village is well represented with authentic buildings, but not with an over population of housing, but there is still enough in here to give the area that right fill and appearance feel. The housing detail is very good, but in areas the fencing goes a little wayward here and there, and also missing is the fencing around many areas of the boundaries of the runway.     All vehicles are French to add into the authenticity and many are animated, I love the little Peugeot 307 police car that rotates around the aprons, with the Cofely branded animated food truck.   The airports Pacific history is well represented with the disused Douglas abandoned on the airfield.     Nouméa Air Base As airbases go "BAN Tontouta" isn't very large, it is just really a collection of hangars and barracks... but it is well done and well detailed.     Authentic is the word that comes to mind.   Textures Runway, taxiway and apron textures are first rate, with excellent detail and worn in treaded tyre wear detailing. Linage and signage is also top notch and highly realistic. There are some 3d grass (and plants) inserted, but not in a large area ground coverage way.     There is however a lot of hard different ground elements that are not blended in to each other or are cut sharply to match? It gives the scenery an oldish earlier X-Plane scenery feel that we have now moved on from, you do sort of ignore it, but this is payware and you have seen and expect better.     Lighting Lighting of NWWW is overall excellent...     All approach lighting (RAIL on RWY11) is well defined and nice to use. Taxiway lighting and lit navigation signage is also all well done. The latice is well lit... but is it a bit too bright or blue oversaturated? The real latice structure is as highly lit so the effect is debatable, but my gut says just a little less oversaturation would just tone it down enough to make it realistic.     The airbridges are debatable as well, because the real ones are clear at night, where as here they are shades of green.   The Terminal itself looks excellent and has a nice feel with image window/glass night textures.     Ramp lighting is excellent, with great coverage and different lighting tones. Landside and housing lighting is again top notch, with plenty of fill and down lighting.     BAN Tontouta's flightline is again well done, as is the internal military hangar lighting that looks very authentic externally.     Summary La Tontouta International Airport is French New Caledonia's main airport. There is another called Noumea Magenta Airport that is located 38 km south-east within the city of Noumea, but that airport serves only domestic flights.   Overall this NWWW - La Tontouta from Cami De Bellis is an excellent scenery, with great modeling and as expected also great, but thankfully not this time filled with overwhelming clutter, the balance here is lovely. Detail and especially the terminal is expertly done, with the iconic Kanak culture latice frame that is central to the look of the airport, with the texturing and quality building look that is excellent. Lighting is overwhelmingly good, except for the oversaturated latice frame.   There are a few notes...  The newer (Glass) buildings are over-reflective in their effects, different ground visual elements are also a bit too cutout and not blended in with sharp lines defining the shapes and some of the fencing is either, not where it should be or not there at all mostly surrounding the runway boundaries, and the airbridge colours at night and even in the daytime are also debatable. But mostly this is all a nice to fix than essential.   This NWWW certainly the best work yet from Cami and she is certainly getting into her stride in completing quality payware scenery. The most important thing here is that she has captured the Frenchness/South Pacific feel of New Caledonia as well as the reproduction of the Island's main airport, and that is hard to do, but also very essential in conveying the essence of the area and place. So a big yes as an addition to your South Pacific Airport collection, and certainly a great destination for any flying in this Oceania part of the world, Highly Recommended...  but just don't fly to Noumea on a Sunday.   ______________________________________________________________________     Yes! NWWW La Tontouta Noumea - New Caledonia by Cami de Bellis is Available now from the X-Plane.Org Store here :   NWWW La Tontouta Noumea - New Caledonia   Price Is US$22.40   Features Highly accurate scenery for NWWW with all buildings modeled  Animated airport vehicles (GroundTraffic) Autogate by marginal Mesh of airport corrected exclusively for this scenery, created by Matthias Seewald/Maps2Xplane and expressly authorized by Austin Meyer Photoscenery for the entire Airport area    Detailed airport objects and vehicles Custom textured taxiways, runways and apron Custom surroundings buildings  Custom airport lights  High resolution ground textures / Custom runway textures  High resolution building textures – all in 2K and 4K  Excellent night effects  World Traffic 3 compatible Manual included    WT3: Ground routes are set in the scenery and will generate a set of routes. They do however focus on more to the GA aspect than AFRE routes. There is a set of custom routes provided by ysfsim: Ground routes for NWWW La Tontouta Noumea but they don't create much action with the AFRE selected.   Requirements X-Plane 11  Windows, Mac or Linux 4Gb VRAM Minimum. 8Gb+ VRAM Recommended CDB-Library v.2.4 is required Version and Review copy is v1.1 (Dec 9th 2018)   Installation Download scenery file size is 397mb. With the full installation installed in your custom scenery folder as:   NWWW_Noumea_La Tontouta N. CALEDONIA (1.12gb) yxz_CDB_Mesh (95mb)   Total scenery Install is : 1.13gb   The developers note you need to adjust the X-Plane "scenery_packs.INI" so the loading order is correct...  and that the ysx_CBD Mesh is below the Airport files.   The updated CDB-Library v.2.4 Library is Required for this scenery   Documents La tontouta_manual.pdf ______________________________________________________________________   Review by Stephen Dutton 10th December 2018 Copyright©2018 : X-Plane Reviews   (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)   Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD  Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.26 (tested in X-Plane 11.30b6) Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : JARDesign Ground Handling Deluxe plugin :  US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 : BetterPushBack - Free Scenery or Aircraft - Boeing 737-800 - default X-Plane by Laminar Research (Free)    

Scenery Preview: GCRR Lanzarote, Canary Islands by MK Studios   FlightSim developers discovering X-Plane has been one of the stories of the 2018 year in scenery. We call them conversions, it is taking the original FS/P3D scenery, stripping them out and then rebuilding them from the ground up to the X-Plane laws and layouts, and then you add in the X-Plane11 dynamic features as the icing on the cake, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The main reason it doesn't is that the original scenery used as the host is usually already out of date, so the conversion is behind the 8 ball already, but with many conversions were as the host is already a quality and successful scenery the conversion to X-Plane and can and even be an enhancement of the original.   MK-STUDIOS was founded back in 2008 is a Polish based studio, so they are already an established scenery developer in FS land, and this is their first foray into X-Plane with this GCRR - Lanzarote scenery. The conversion is courtesy of Emma Bentley and Ashley Jones of Windsock Conversions, and Emma who is a well known established X-Plane member. GCRR - Lanzarote (also known as Arrecife Airport), is the airport serving the island of Lanzarote and is located as part of the Canary Island chain . The airport is located in San Bartolomé, Las Palmas, 5km (3.1mi) southwest of the town of Arrecife.   GCRR - Lanzarote
Lanzarote Airport
Aeropuerto de Lanzarote IATA: ACE - ICAO: GCRR   03/21- 2,400m (7,874ft) Asphalt Elevation AMSL14 m / 47 ft   First to note is the large size of the scenery, altogether (four files) and it is a whooping 7.54gb of mostly photographic terrain that covers the whole island of Lanzarote.       The runway 03/21 looks newly laid, as does the taxiways and aprons. The real 03/21 is more darker grey than the darker brown here but it is a darker texture than most runway surfaces, but it looks and feels nice close up...     ...  textures are nice and so are concreted areas and the markings are nicely worn in as well. Note the excellent RAIL approach lighting on RWY03 Approach and the only runway at GCRR with an ILS (IRR - 109.10) installation. Many pilots note it as a difficult approach, but it looks like an easy over-water approach to me, my guess they are confusing GCRR with Fuerteventura airport on another nearby Las Palmas island.     The aprons are well done and with good navigation signage, so it feels nice on the ground. Lanzarote is a very white airport in a moroccan sort of way...     ...  so the only way to break out of that 3d blank modeling feel is to have some clever texture detail. There is some here but not enough raw detail to overcome the modeling aspect, so it feels of what it is and that is an FS/P3D scenery.     Control tower is well done, but you don't get to feel that depth of realism. Glass is not see-through, but looks good and brings a lot of life to the buildings. Tower view is set and gives excellent coverage of both 03/21 approaches (below).     Landside car/coach arrival and carparks ground textures are a bit of a mess...  over-saturated, low resolution they look totally disconnected from the terminal and surrounding photoscenery, and it doesn't even try to matchup, twice?      The original passenger terminal (1946-1970) which is now Aeronautical Museum, is well presented. The newer (above) terminal was opened on 3 March 1970 and international and domestic flights began using the airport on that date.     Clutter is very good and correctly branded, not too much and not too little, gives the airport the right coverage. There are no animated vehicles (traffic) and the airbridges are solid.     Custom buildings There are provided custom personally placed 3d buildings to cover Arrecife  and the surrounding Lanzarote area...     ....  custom building design is quite generic, basic and only a few different styles. But there is an issue that the objects have a very poor LOD (Level Of Detail) distance at X-Plane's Field of view setting 73º. And even on final approach to the runway the mesh can be flat one second and start filling out (popping up) of 3d objects the next....  but closer to the ground level and the flat bland ortho textures do tend to flatten everything out?     From an altitude point of view the islands features are however very good photographic wise.     You get the same LOD issue at the airport itself, noted here by the airbridges that pop-up even when you taxiing in on the taxiways and aprons. So all round the LOD's are quite poor.     GCRR Lighting The scenery lighting is actually quite good.     03/21 approach lighting is good, but the off runway taxiways don't have any green taxi navigation lights? The Main taxiway R (sections 12345) does have the green navigation lights, but they are rather dim and hard to see from the cockpit.   Ramp lighting is excellent and highly workable, with the old original terminal (Aero Museum) and north cargo area the best.     Landside lighting (different tone) almost hides the over-saturated textures, almost... but it all looks good.     The night replica glass is very good, certainly on the welcoming original terminal, that almost glows. Tower glass is lit, but doesn't need to be or needed just a little lighting to make it realistic.   Preview Notes: Any new to X-Plane user from the FlightSim world would probably feel right at home here. It is a classic early FlightSim scenery crossed over to X-Plane complete with over-saturated textures as well. Modeling is very basic and a throwback to the good olde days of early FSX design. You do get the full island photographic scenery, which could be seen as a bonus (if you like that sort of thing) or a backward step as it flattens out the landscape at ground level. LOD (Level Of Detail) for custom scenery and airport objects is poor in a few areas (objects pop up). All custom buildings are quite generic with no local landmarks, if you don't count the revolving pylon generators. Ground runway textures are very good (if a little too brown and not dark grey) with great signage, and have X-Plane dynamic runway features to represent different weather conditions in say the rain, but you won't get to use the feature a lot as Lanzarote only has seven days of rain a year. Dynamic night lighting is very good, with nice glass lighting features.   Features noted are: High quality rendition of Lanzarote airport and ALL island, Accurate and detailed airport infrastructure based on real sizes and dimensions High resolution ground textures, Photo real terrain coverage of all island Hundred thousands of custom placed autogen buildings all around the island 3D night lightning, Very realistic airport night lighting, based on real pilot’s point of view Optimized to take advantages of X-Plane features.   WT3: No WorldTraffic GroundRoutes are provided, and the ground routes are not built into the scenery either, hence the lonely B738 on the ramps. MK Studio's note the ground routes are coming soon.   Positives: Very FSX, if you like FSX scenery in X-Plane, full island photographic coverage and extensive custom buildings and nice lighting and good branded clutter. Negatives: Very FSX in a X-Plane world, so it feels a little dated in design and textures, LOD is poor and custom buildings are very generic with no customised Lanzarote landmarks. Landside textures are over-saturated and poor resolution. Not many X-Plane11 dynamic features including autogates and animated traffic.   ____________________________________________________________________     Yes!...  GCRR Lanzarote, Canary Islands by MK Studios is Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :   GCRR Lanzarote, Canary Islands   Price is US$19.99   Requirements : X-Plane 11.26+ Windows, Mac or Linux 4Gb VRAM Minimum - 8Gb+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 5Gb and installed is 7.54gb Warning: The download size is indeed 5Gb. If you do not have a fast, stable internet connection, please do not buy.   MKStudiosLanzarote1Airport MKStudiosLanzarote2Overlay MKStudiosLanzarote3Ortho1 MKStudiosLanzarote4Ortho2   Extras and Documents: - Manual ______________________________________________________________________   Preview by Stephen Dutton 8th December 2018 Copyright©2018 : X-Plane Reviews   (Disclaimer. All images and text in this preview 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)   Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD  Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.26 Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 : BetterPushBack - Free Scenery or Aircraft - Boeing 737-800 - default X-Plane by Laminar Research (Free)    

Yes it is THAT time of the year again. Carenado's "I must have that before Christmas" sale is now on and you can get up to 50% off most lovely Careando aircraft.   Some nice biggies are available here (and for X-Plane11 as well) including the Beech 1900D, King Airs B200 and C90B and the XP11 Caravan.   All deals are available till December 16th, so update your hangar now, and have a "very Happy (Carenado) Christmas"...   All the deals are here on the X-Plane.OrgStore.   ________________________________________   News by Stephen Dutton 7th December 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews    

News! - Coming! -  C172SP SkyHawk HD XP11 from Carenado   Carenado have been publishing images of their next XP11 release which is the Cessna C172SP. This is not a totally new release from Carenado as their was the X-Plane10 version of the C172SP SkyHawk ll     There are a few significant differences between the earlier XP10 version and this release. One this C172Sp XP11 is a single variant with no wheel/float/ski option (it was the N version), but it does come with the full G1000 (X-Plane default) avionics suite package.     All Carenado XP11 aircraft comes with these features*:   Features Optimized for X-Plane 11 State-of-the-art configurable FPS-friendly logic system Largely VR compatible  Full PBR (Superb material shines and reflections Specially designed engine dynamics for X-Plane11 Flight physics optimized for X-plane standards Ground handling adapted for X-Plane 11 ground physics Physically Based Rendering materials and textures throughout PBR materials authored with industry-standard software used by the film and gaming industries X-Plane GNS530 (FPS friendly) Support for RealityXP's GTN750* (integrated into 3D cockpit, when available)   *features noted are not official to this aircraft, but generic to all HD XP11 branded Carenado releases     No release date or specifications are noted yet, but mid-next week would be a good guide. Price, my guess is around the mid-30's USD$. But already X-Plane already has a few good C172SP's available, with the Laminar (default version), Airfoillabs and the Alabeo C172RG Cutlass, so it better be good or above average to compete.     Images and text are courtesy of Carenado ________________________________________   News by Stephen Dutton 6th December 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews    

Great read, Stephen. As a relative newcomer (since mid-2016) I really appreciate the evolution to payware that has taken place. It is a just reward (and I hope profitable) for those who paid their dues in the early days, giving so much to the XP community, in which we all have a role to play. Mine may not be to create content, but to happily help support those who do as the products just keep getting better and better.