Behind the Screen : November 2022   When Laminar Research declared that X-Plane 12 will go final and will be out of beta by Christmas 2022, I almost choked on my coffee. "No way".   There just seems still too much work to be done, too many areas and details to be crossed off the whiteboard list. And then to go and present the new Simulator version to the finicky hoards and masses in a few weeks. It all felt like a bit of a stretch to me all round.   Testing Beta 14 was however a huge step forward towards the goal of a release, but there are still some big issues to be addressed, mostly the square clouds and ridiculous winds that never seem to change day to day, I'm not going to mention VR. Laminar say a fix to both is coming very soon, VR probably not until 2023. That fix will be an important one in making the final release actually believable. Stutters? I didn't get that one, what are your settings, being too greedy as usual...   Laminar Research are quite confident they can achieve the Christmas target, my personal feelings say more to the middle-late Q1 before the Simulator is a more totally refined and stable Simulator.   So what to expect in the New Year? Well quite a lot actually. Laminar have released a list of areas they will be working on, including; 3d Rain shafts which is very, very nice, 3d volumetric low level fog of which I really expected to be in the release version, but it is coming. God rays are planned. This is an area in being the one thing I was a bit down about in losing, by moving my simulator environmental needs from xEnviro in X-Plane 11 to the default weather in X-Plane 12, as I badly miss those rays (It makes images pretty!) and lens flares. And that they are now coming cheers me up no end (A Christmas Present!). Laminar has also announced that the weather engine will also be open to 3rd parties but there will be limit on what they can and cannot access, which is another interesting aspect, fine, even great as long as we don't get loads and loads of similar shader apps again.   Notable is that there is better wind and turbulence improvements coming. This one is a no brainer, it is stupid to have aircraft reacting badly to abnormal weather conditions, and it is the one area that is severely currently restricting my flying. I mean winds and turbulence of 97 knts? you would break up and fall out of the sky if you encountered that in real life, I flew once at 12,000ft in 63 knt winds, I won't say my swear words at the controls, as my GA (and me) was being thrown all around the sky. Yes I'm not saying 63 kt turbulence at 12,000ft has not been encountered in the real world, but not every day since September? I went to manual settings to land.   Laminar admitted that getting data for the NOAA GLIB files from the Laminar Research central server has not been going to plan, but again are working on a fix, it works but not as efficiently or as well as promised (actually I don't see it changing much day to day), but a fix is as promised in really (hopefully) coming soon. Overall in this Beta I have been flying on the "Manually" set weather, I just can't rely on the "Real World", settings, a shame as I want to try out the real world Winter Wonderland that I expect to be brilliant (I've seen shades of what can be presented by messing around with the settings), but you shouldn't have to do that manually.   Before X-Plane 12 came out. Ben Supnic (Laminar) noted as a comment that they would look into better satellite imagery even against Austin's wishes, even in streaming it à la MSFS. But Supnic noted at the time it was not a top priority. Again Laminar has recently again noted they are actively looking at satellite imagery so it looks like it is back on the table or whiteboard.   Now having used X-Plane 12 for a few months I have a few comments on that. Over most countries of flying in general X-Plane is very good in replicating the real world (Night lighting aside). However when in the departure, landing or VFR phases it is certainly not as detailed to be called authentic, as texture tiles in areas are just not good enough to reproduce a complex planet. Streaming is not good either, no matter how powerful your internet connection is you are always going to get lag, worse for me as I can change location quite often while doing reviews. So waiting ages between loads for scenery to load would be a backward step.   However I do feel that finding quality satellite imagery as a base, but still keeping X-Plane a closed system is still a great step forwards in fixing the realism ground texture problem. The trick is still making it look very good, while still keeping efficiency in the Simulator. Can we have the best of both worlds, well I think so, but don't expect anything soon, but in a year or even maybe two. Many say X-Plane 13, but I very much doubt X-Plane as a Simulator could last that long in say waiting 4-5 years in this competitive (MSFS) commercial world to fix the problem.   Austin Meyer has also been making a lot of noise about Networking X-Plane, and is even actively looking for staff to create the dream. Really when using On-Line ATC you are now already networked, but I suppose he wants to connect us all, and together...  which creates a bit of a problem?   "Have you seen other users fly". By personality I'm a very procedural pilot, all very by the book. I do actually like the idea of other pilots doing their work around you, but then comes the cowboys, the F4 jockeys who just feel that the airspace is their airspace and not yours, or the wandering GA pilot, who is not sure which runway to pick to land...   It's all a personality thing and I'm not saying who is right or wrong in the way they want to fly.... but I don't really want to do it all together ATC aside. What I have learnt is that many users are Gamers in flying and not Simulation users, obviously our styles are going to clash, probably in mid-air.   Another item on the table is that Laminar are actively investigating is OpenXR (Not to be confused with OpenGL) by The Khronos Group, a member-driven consortium of over 150 industry-leading companies. OpenXR is a newer VR standard for Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). And already OpenXR API is standard on Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) and HoloLens 2 headsets. Most will be adopting it as native support, and even previous APIs like OculusSDK and SteamVR are also moving to it as an open standard. MSFS is already native to OpenXR, so expect X-Plane 12 to be native or it to be in development once X-Plane 12 is in it's basic form completed. Bottom line it will make a lot of VR users very happy, more importantly it will create a standard across the board. If you want a job then Laminar Research are hiring, but oddly only a few of the new positions are actually related to the Simulator development, mostly the jobs are in marketing, customer support and website support...  get your CVs out now, Laminar Research is going Global.   This conversation has been visited quite regularly in BtheS. Austin has made noises he wants to bring in more gamers (obviously for the money) into the X-Plane Simulator. I have noted quite often in the time required to set up an airliner for a flight, even a short bounce of say under an hour. Earlier you set up and could fly under ten minutes, but now the quickest you could set up a flight from cold is around twenty minutes, as its a lot of work if you do all the correct procedures. Its even over 30 min if you want to set up the MD-11 and B742 for a flight. I don't mind it, as it is totally realistic simulation to it's core, and you now have a lot of great tools now to help with the set up. At one point, programming in a route of say 25 waypoints across the globe was tedious, but extremely satisfying in that you were mirroring one of them (professional Pilots). That is what Simulation is all about, I seriously love it, why I do it.   Put a full cold up sequence under a Gamers eye and they would freeze over...  they want instant gratification, oddly to get the ultimate gratification out of Simulation is doing the full experience from cold to shutdown, but as noted it takes time, too much time sometimes.   Is there a middle ground? There is actually. The excellent save system on ToliSS Aircraft has to be the best overall tool in our toolbox. As the system is so complete when resetting up an aircraft, on the ground or in flight, it really does open up your world to instant gratification when you don't have a lot of time to do the complete main course.   Many times I have wanted to fly, but was restricted by time or work. Pull up a ToLiSS and I can be ready and waiting to depart in a minute... ditto wanting to practise a landing, or even a takeoff, and with all the correct settings is just at a touch of a menu selection.   Yes the X-Plane Simulator comes with a save system, but to be honest it is very if extremely poor in resetting up your flight at the point you saved it. You will never ever get it back the way you left the aircraft state, but you can do that with the excellent ToLiSS system...    I don't don't know if this could be done, but could we swap ToLiSS saves for instant setups between us. That would allow non-experienced users (hint Gamers) to access the detailed setups of the Pro-Users, obviously for instant gratification. I don't mean for users (Gamers) not to be being able to just forever glide along on the backs of the Pro's, but to see and learn on how they do it, it is a consistent learning curve to get it all right. But many a time my reverse engineering of (mostly FMC's) has opened the "Ah ha" door to learning on how it all works. They are bloody complicated (Flight Management), they need a lot of study to get right. But it is how you get from there (dumb) to being here (guru).   I don't know that if the basic X-Plane save and situation tool can be improved. The roadblock is the aircraft plugin architecture, and a few developers do actually include good save systems, but they never make it as a priority feature as ToLiSS does.   But the ToLiSS system proves without doubt how extremely versatile it makes your Simulation experience when it works so perfectly, developers need to take note, this for me would make and break a sale, as it is the number one feature I would want in an (every) aircraft, because it translates to you flying that aircraft more, because you can.   There will be as usual no Behind the Screen December 2022 issue, but our full yearly round up of the year review is to be published on 16th December 2022, so watch out for that.   Stephen Dutton 1st December 2022 Copyright©2022 X-Plane Reviews    

Aircraft Review: AOASimulations-T6A Texan II   Introduction Now, I'm not sure about you, but does the X-Plane world feel like it’s in a bit of a twilight zone or no man’s land at the moment? The ground-breaking advancements achieved with X-Plane 11, are essentially at the end of their commercial run, and the eagerly awaited X-Plane 12, still has some way to go until it is in its final release state. For us armchair pilots this can be a little frustrating in our 365, 24/7 on-the-go world, where patience isn’t a commodity you see a lot of these days, so I can only imagine the dilemma this gives commercial developers. Do you wait until all the i’s are dotted and t’s crossed in X-Plane 12, or do you continue creating and releasing in X-Plane 11, knowing the platform has been superseded by its younger brother?  Well, the good news is that the folks over at AOA Simulations have decided not to wait to bring us their ‘Texan’, the T-6ATexan II. This aircraft has recently been released for X-Plane 11, with a commitment of a free upgrade to X-Plane 12 for existing users when the simulator is in its final state of release. In real life, the Texan is described as a single-engine turboprop aircraft and has been around since the late 1990s. It has been used as a training aircraft by several military organisations around the globe and more than 850 have been built to date. From what I have read, it is still very much the mainstay of the United States Air force and Navy when it comes to pilot training.     It has a low wing cantilever design with the majestic Pratt & Whitney PT6A-68 1100 hp engine, tandem seating arrangement with elector seats to allow the flight instructor and trainee to live every moment together, all topped off with a hefty four-blade constant speed, variable pitch prop. The Texan also has a retractable tricycle landing gear assembly, with many of the features being based on the original development aircraft, the Pilatus PC-9. However, don’t be fooled, because the Texan is indeed a very different aircraft in many ways. To explain this in greater detail, the AOA Simulations folks have included a very nice reference document in the manuals section of their package that describes the Texan’s development journey. This is well worth a read to see just how much it has changed from the original Hawker Beechcraft development PC-9. I personally always like additional features like this because in my opinion they bring a greater level of depth to the user experience and allow a more immersive environment when you know a bit about the aircraft, its history and how it came into being.     Documentation I will be honest and say that military jets and combat aircraft are not an area I typically venture into very often, so when I had the opportunity to try out what looked a bit like a fighter jet with a prop on its nose, I was intrigued to find out more. My GA side was screaming, “Oh yes please!”   The package in review comes in a 360MB download with the aircraft itself and a couple of liveries, as well as a few added extras in terms of documents. In the Manuals folder, you will find an alternative abbreviated checklist (X-Checklist plugin is required) to the one provided by default, a paper kneeboard checklist you can print, emergency procedures, a training flight tutorial with charts (KNGP to KRND), pictorial overviews of flight instruments, and if you are a MAC user, there is an explanation of a workaround if you experience issues when you first load the model.   There is also a highly detailed 38-page User Guide to take you through every inch of the aircraft and that is a must-read if you really want to get the most out of the Texan. The developer has also included some contact details and links of where to request help if you get stuck. Sadly, I can’t offer any comment on how successful the MAC workaround is, as I use a PC, however it looks like the developer has put some serious thought into the issue which is good to see.     The Aircraft The developers quote that their Texan has been in development since early 2020 and clearly a huge amount of work has gone into the aircraft. You get a real sense of the details and the hours of work by just reading the manual alone, so I believe it is fair to say that the Texan really does come fully loaded.      I loved the fact that both the front and rear cockpits are fully functional, thus providing a unique flying experience from each seat, and it was nice to be able to have the choice. The internal details in both cockpits are well presented and bristle with features. The texturing is of high resolution and high quality, and I found reading the various dials and panels to be of no issue, even in VR, when using my Rift S. The developers even quote that the Texan has been optimised to maximise performance in VR, and I would have to admit, that when using my system, I had no issues and enjoyed a very smooth experience.     When you first step into either cockpit, it is a bit daunting if you’re not used to military-style aircraft, however, the automated tutorial-level Checklist provided is very useful when navigating around the various systems. In my tests, I probably only scratched the surface of the instrument capabilities of the Texan, and you literally could spend hours and hours just working through your flows and testing out every feature, switch, lever, knob, button, panel, and fuse. As far as I could tell, everything shown works or is at least animated. If you are used to flying fast jets, I am sure the layout will come very naturally to you, however, I must admit it did take me a little time to work my way around.  By the way…the ejection seat does work, so be careful with that handle!!!     The unobstructed view that the glass canopy offers, is truly excellent, particularly in VR, and you really get a sense of just how compact and well-fitted everything is around you. The feeling of being in the cockpit was something I really enjoyed, and as I mentioned previously, just moving a few feet back to sit in the rear seat, adds a totally different dimension to the experience. The Texan comes with specially created FMOD sounds and the cockpit interaction sounds were nicely done, from the very subtle fuse click actions to the more distinct canopy locking mechanism.     From the X-Plane main menu bar, you can access the dust lock removal option, as when in cold and dark, there are several covers protecting sensitive parts of the aircraft. Even these covers are well modelled, as they sway gently in the wind, a very nice touch and great attention to detail. From the outside when the canopy is open in cold and dark, there are no pilots visible, however, they both appear when closing the cockpit and removing the dust covers. The characteristic turbine whine as the engine starts up is very nice, and you really do have the sense of that mighty Pratt and Whitney engine roaring into life right beside or in front of you. As you move around the exterior of the aircraft, the engine tone changes as you would expect, and this is particularly noticeable when you throttle forward and set the Texan into action. The sense of power from the 1100hp engine and prop thrashing through the air as you accelerate down the runway is something you must experience to really appreciate it.     The exterior details of the Texan are superb in my opinion and incorporate very high-quality textures, such as the hydraulic lines in the landing gear, through to the multitude of rivets across the shiny aircraft skin. During prefight, it is worth just taking a few minutes to walk around the aircraft and take in the quality of the modelling, and this is particularly impressive if you can do this in VR. You can literally walk up to the various parts and take a good look, reach out and almost touch the surfaces. The developers really have done a wonderful job both inside and out, and in my opinion, the Texan is one of the best in terms of overall appearance, although I do still think it is a little bit of an oddball with the fighter-style canopy, dual seating arrangement, and that big old prop at the front. It does take a little bit of getting used to at first.      Now, if you’re anything like me, when you get a new toy, the first thing you want to do is to try it out, so the thought of working through a full set of start-up procedures may not be top of your list. The good news is that very early on, the developers thought of us “impatient types”, and kindly provided a very nice simple 11-step process on page 5 of the User Guide to get up and flying, and this is very helpful. Now don’t get me wrong, at times there is a real sense of satisfaction about going through every step of your flow and eventually seeing the ground disappear below, however, at times I just want to start up and off I go. I like the fact that in the Texan you can do both and I did, although I must admit that just firing up and heading down the runway was my preference. This is perhaps a suitable time to mention that I am using a VKBSIM joystick and pedal set as my control inputs, and I found these to work very well both on the ground and in the air. As there are no toe-brakes with these pedals, I did use a small script to give me brakes and this worked well, although there is a stick forward option that you can use within the aircraft if you prefer. I had no complaints about the handling of the Texan, although care with the throttle is highly advised both when taxiing and when taking off. There is a mighty amount of power at your fingertips, so my advice is to use it wisely. As they say, ‘with great power comes great responsibility…’ and never a truer word was said in the Texan’s case. Remember this thing can do more than 300 knots when flat out!!     The glass canopy really does give an amazing view, particularly in VR, however, if you are using flat screens the developers have included a couple of highly novel add-on features to enhance your views in the cockpit. The manual goes into quite some detail to explain what you can expect; however, the best way is just to try them out. These are actioned via buttons on the glare shield and using dedicated buttons on your controller, and the ‘Roll to See’ feature allows you to pan around while taxiing, as well as some interesting effects when doing aerobatics. The Target Track feature allows you to lock on to AI aircraft if you are flying in formation (a key skill by all accounts) and if you are familiar with other aircraft from AOA Simulations, you are likely to be at home with this feature already. As I do most of my flying in VR, these features are disabled so I didn’t spend a huge amount of time testing them out, however from what I did see, this is quite unique and adds another and different layer of immersion to the Texan.      One final system feature I would like to highlight is the Flight Assistance system which allows various assistance features to be turned on and off. The button is a bit fiddly to find (highlighted in the manual on page 11) however there are eleven different features such as AOA indexer and brake cues, airspeed indication of gear and flap speed bands, wind direction and speed, through to braking using the control stick and many more. The basic idea is to make life as easy as possible for any newbie pilot or as realistic as possible by switching this off for those who would like more of a challenge. When you are new to an aircraft, this sort of thing really does help, as there is nothing worse than getting frustrated and giving up before you have even started.   As I mentioned earlier, the Texan is fully loaded with so many great details and features, and although this type of aircraft is not necessarily my “go-to” happy place in the sky, the more I flew it the more I came to appreciate just how good an offering this is from AOA Simulations, both in terms of the basic aircraft but also just how enjoyable the overall flying experience can be. If you also like lots of technical details, procedures and everything that goes with that side of things, then again, I believe the Texan has something to offer you.      Final Thoughts The T-6A Texan II from AOA Simulations, under normal circumstances, is an aircraft I wouldn’t typically be flying, however, I am glad I had the opportunity, as it’s always good to try something new. When you factor in the excellent internal and external textures, the 3D modelling, the control and integration of features, the sounds, and of course the flying experience, I think it’s fair to say that the AOA team really has put out an excellent product. Although it is currently only available for X-Plane 11, I am sure as X-Plane 12 creeps ever nearer to having a final release version, all the new features in the sim in combination with the Texan’s feature set, will be something quite special. A real synergistic masterpiece… So, should you splash out $40 on the Texan? Well as always that is down to you, your budget and what you are looking for. However, I truly believe that the Texan is well worth thinking about, especially if you have considered the fast jet challenge but have not been sure where to start.  If it’s good enough for real-world pilots, then it certainly works for me!    __________________________________     The T-6A Texan II by AOA Simulations is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here:   T-6A Texan II Price at time of writing US$40.00   Features:   This model was developed using the official USAF 1T-6A-1 Flight Manual and SNFO (Student Naval Flight Officer) P-880 Aircraft Systems explanatory guide.   Two default liveries, USAF and U.S. Navy TAW-5.   17 additional liveries will be available on the X-Plane.org freeware download manager.   This is the T-6A model with federated (many small units combined into one system) glass display panels.   The project has been in development since February 23, 2020 and is our most detailed model to date.   The Model High quality 3D model with high-resolution, 4K PBR textures. Fully functional virtual front and rear 3D cockpits with more than 380 control manipulators. Everything works, fly from either cockpit. Both pilot and instructor models visible in cockpit views. Optimized to save FPS in VR. Ground equipment The Flight model Fully aerobatic, high performance dynamic flight model tested and approved by several former T-6A pilots. Single “Power Lever” control of engine and propeller enables "jet like" simplicity. Unique T-6 Trim Aid Device (TAD) is accurately modeled. This compensates for most engine torque effect with automatic rudder trim.  Sounds Professional FMOD sound package by SimAccoustics Documentation Detailed 38 page User Guide and detailed avionics illustrated guide sheets available HERE ON OUR SUPPORT PAGE prior to purchase. Several checklists options to choose from including detailed checklist powered by Xchecklist freeware plug-in. Tutorial checklist and example Training Flight to get you up to speed with the aircraft.  More details All panel displays are accurately modeled and powered by SASL plugin / lua code Complete electrical systems model. Every circuit breaker on both the battery and generator bus panels is functional. Individual systems can be isolated, failed and restored via its cockpit circuit breaker. Optional "AOA Extras" for student pilots or those who want to know a little more about what's going on with while the fly.  Save load feature allows you to save some options once and they are the same on your next flight in the model. Default Laminar G1000 available to use with a custom database in the panel mounted GPS unit. Future developments  This model is for X-Plane 11 only. It is not compatible with X-Plane 12. When X-Plane 12 is stable then a new version will be released as a free upgrade for existing users.   Requirements: X-Plane 11   This model is for X-Plane 11 only. It is not compatible with X-Plane 12. When X-Plane 12 is stable then a new version will be released as a free upgrade for existing users. 4 GB VRAM Video Card Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 360 MB Current version: v1.0 (November 1st 2022)     Review System Specifications: Windows 10 64 Bit CPU Intel i9-9900k 64GB RAM Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti Oculus Rift S   Aircraft Review by Stuart McGregor 30th November 2022 Copyright©2022: 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)       

Hello Stephen,   I would like to express how greatful I am for these reviews! Thanks a lot!   Just to clarify some things for readers. Antileak is a platform developed by us, and is mainly used for easier file managament (one upload for us - update for every vendor) and for security, as we watermark some files (glad we did this, as we were able to catch many naughty customers). We are still improving it, and some bug caused, that instead of product it downloaded the library first.  However in the email, we've been able to sort it our, pretty quickly.   In terms of tower, terminals, I didn't know we have issues like this and we will definitely fix that! In terms of landsite, that was a biggest suprise for me, as I see completely something else, and we will DEFINITELY do something with it, as it can't be like this  All other comments are taken (groundpoly, lightning), and we might take a look at it as well!   Thanks for a great review and we are looking forward to serve you again, soon!   Filip - Chudoba Design

Keep their fingers to the fire - bought this and found it not bad.  The  cockpit looks a bit off - the panel just doesn't look real but then so few of them really do. 

NEWS! - Aircraft Updated : Diamond DA40NG v1.2.0 by SimSolutions     SimSolutions have updated the Diamond DA40NG to v1.2.0. This update is focused on the conversion of the aircraft to X-Plan 12.   The usual X-Plane 12 compatibility points are all covered here. Performance, Effects (Ice-snow, windshield rain) and the textures have all been implemented. Plus new borders around the pop-out instruments, and switches that previously had no manipulators and animations, now have manipulators and animations, such as the cabin heat, trim, and AP disconnect switches. There has been a fair few changes and fixes as well.   Version  1.2.0 (November 26th 2022) ## New Features * Added X-Plane 12 support: new rain effects, fixed light strengths & minor internal stuff * Added display reversion (the button is disabled in X-Plane 11, but will still trigger in a display failure) * Added an optional border around the display pop-outs with the appropriate dials & buttons (WIP) * Added persistence: The aircraft will now restore its state (including location, altitude & speed) if initially loaded within 5nm of its last save. * Added a proper settings window * Some switches that previously had no manipulators and animations now have manipulators and animations, such as the cabin heat, trim, and AP disconnect switches. ## Minor Changes * Added IVAO Altitude support for radio transmit & receive flags * Modified the gear suspension & steering * Internal graphics wrapper was overhauled; should render text a lot more competently now * Overhauled internal code managing the G1000 modifications ## Fixes * Fixed flap lights * Fixed the automatic engine start command not working * Fixed cockpit view in X-Plane 11 * Attempt to fix wonky engine load controller   Images here are X-Plane 11         Highlights include "Custom" FMOD Sounds by FTSim+ and AviTab integration (AviTab Plugin required), and also now available for all three OS Windows, Mac  and Linux platforms.   Images are courtesy of SimSolutions ________________________________________     The Diamond DA40NG by SimSolutions is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore!... Here:   Diamond DA40NG Price is US$24.99 (But currently under a sale price US$14.99)   Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac  and Linux ((tested on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS) 4 GB+ VRAM Download Size: 340 MB Current version: 1.2.0 (November 26th 2022) ________________   NEWS! by Stephen Dutton 28th November 2022 Copyright©2021: 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) All Right Reserved.    

Recently purchased the Aeroprakt A22–LS, in part due to your thorough review, and am very much enjoying this unique aircraft and its systems. Like many of Huss’s aircraft, there’s a certain forthrightness to the design and liveliness to the flight model, and the A22 is delightfully easy to trim for level flight.    Thank you for steering me toward this very fun to fly back-country airplane. It is certainly no typical Piper or Cessna.   By the way, you really should check out the Avitab tablet plug-in, either as directly implemented in the cockpit as it’s done here in the Aeroprakt, but also as a standalone command-able pop up window. It’s very versatile and presents a lot of useful information at your fingertips.

Scenery Review: Global Forests v2 for XP12 by Geo-Reality Designs   By Nick Garlick   Introduction      The team over at X-Plane.org headquarters, knowing that I have a sweet tooth for eye candy, asked if I would share my thoughts and opinions on a new global tree product for X-Plane 12. Being the willing type…how could I possibly say no?    The product in question is Global Forests V2.0 from Geo-Reality Designs. GFv2.0 draws on the same ethos as their original product for X Plane 11, in that it provides a unique combination of tree-type variation with density and height all derived from real-world data. Only this time around, it’s set in the new world of X-Plane 12, and as such, takes full advantage of the sim’s ability to create seasons.    Now, unlike the original X-Plane 11 product, this updated version covers all the previous three regions, those being, Europe, North America, plus Asia and Oceania, in one sole product. This is a major plus over the original product, especially when you consider the entire world can be purchased for just $15. However, with X-Plane 12 already populated with 3D trees, you’re probably thinking, why "wood" I need a third-party tree add-on?"  Good question! Please allow me to "X–Plane"…  There’s no question that the new treescapes with X-Plane 12 represent a vast overhaul over the default treescapes we previously observed in X-Plane 10 and 11. Stretching from the pines of Norway and Canada to the palm trees of the tropics, to the silver birches and ancient oaks of old England, the X-Plane world has been greatly improved.       However, for all their improvement in X-Plane 12, I found the trees to be a little splintered in places, and as such, they have left me wanting just that little bit more, or in some cases, just a little bit less as we shall see.     Geo-Reality Designs were very quick out of the chocks with this package, which, is for X-Plane 12 only (it will not work with X-Plane 11). For that, you will need to purchase their original Global Forest packs. Now, I am not going to re-blurb the detail from the press release or the product pages, as you will have no doubt seen and read that a hundred times over. However, what I do have are some screenshots and a few words so you can see for yourselves how it all fits together in X-Plane 12.      Product Download  The GFv2 package requires a minimum of 4GB of VRAM, though ideally, I would recommend 8GB or above as the norm. GFv2 is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. Once purchased from the X-Plane.org store, you will find on your account page the product links for each of the respective volumes.        You will then need to download each of the following zip files -  Global Forests v2_vol1 Europe.zip @ 4.3GB in size Global Forests v2_vol2 NorthAmerica.zip @10.4GB in size  Global Forests v2_vol3 Asia_Oceania.zip @ 18.5GB in size   Having successfully downloaded each volume, you will then need to use the relevant license key for each respective volume.    Once extracted and installed, GFv2 will plant around thirty acres, sorry, use…30GB of your hard drive space. Installation Once installed, for Global Forest V2 to display correctly in X-Plane 12, you must ensure that the Global Forests V2 entry is placed within the correct area of your Scenery_Packs.ini file. In other words, it must be located above any scenery mesh, ortho photo tiles or overlays, but it must be below any airports. Ensuring GFv2 is placed correctly within your Scenery_Packs.ini file, will guarantee that it is prioritized over any other vegetation data, except foliage from addon airport sceneries.      First Impressions      As we all know, pictures can speak a thousand words, so I will let these do most of the talking for me. When composing the comparison screenshots, I adopted the following method. They were all taken at the same time of day, this being noon on the 15th of November with manually set weather. The following set of comparison screenshots illustrates how the woodland scene is changed with the addition of the GFv2 product. One of the improvements offered is that it will place trees in a far more believable fashion. For example, there aren’t that many trees around Leeds Bradford airport, so GFv2 trims back the default foliage to a level which is more prototypical to the area     GFv2 also replicates and makes use of the new seasons feature found in X-Plane 12, as can be seen in the following set of screenshots. From top left to bottom right: summer, autumn, late autumn and winter.      A Hybrid in the Mix  Another feature of GFv2 is that it can be used to work alongside orthophotos. I do not have any dedicated orthophoto tiles (ortho for XP etc), however, what I do have is Orbx True Earth GB. Having tried GFv2 in a default install of X Plane 12, I decided to try GFV2 in an install which featured Orbx True Earth GB, and this is where I found the product to really enhanced my X Plane world.       Thinking that it would replace all the trees leaving sparse areas, I was quite surprised by the result, as GFv2 did not replace the default trees, it actually added to them. It filled out the sparse gaps within the default tree placement and I found it complimented those found within Orbx True Earth.     However, it should be noted that the default trees within True Earth will not change with the seasons.     The following two screenshots illustrate how the trees fit in with True Earth GB    Framerates It’s important to remember that framerates are subjective as we all have our bespoke rigs and setups. For reference, I have a PC that I feel is now quite old (specs mentioned at the end of the article), but it can still hold its own. Provided I can maintain between 30 and 50 fps, I find X Plane will deliver a stable and enjoyable experience. Overall, I found that GFv2 did not cause any significant impact on framerates, and the very few areas where it did, were so negligible to the extent that they are not worth mentioning. Here is what I observed on my system (framerate top left of second picture).    Technical Support  During the initial stages of the download and setup, I required some support from the developers. The issues I had were not the fault of the developers but of other quarters outside their direct control. I found the level of technical support from Geo - Reality Designs to be excellent, with the support being delivered professionally, courteously, and very swiftly. Areas for Improvement  The original Global Forest product for X-Plane 11 featured a setup file to allow for the automatic installation of the product into X-Plane, but unfortunately, this wasn’t included in the X-Plane 12 version. Hopefully, one will be included in a future update, as it would prove advantageous, especially for those unfamiliar with how the file structure works within X-Plane.      It has also been reported that in some areas, there was a distinct lack of tree coverage, with parts of New Zealand being cited as an example. However, upon checking Milford Sound (one of my favourite locations), I found the results to be quite well-represented. The first two images show Milford Sound in a default install of X Plane 12, whilst the bottom two show the same location with GFv2 installed.     As can be clearly seen, the tree coverage is not quite as prolific as the default install, and as such, I feel that the install with GFv2 delivers a slightly better rendition and represents a more plausible scenario.   The team at Geo - Reality are aware of certain issues, predominantly the lack of representative tree coverage in some small areas, and as such, are hard at work rectifying these shortcomings. They are also improving their product in response to feedback from their customer base. All going well, the team hope to release an update to the product by Christmas this year or possibly earlier.  Conclusion  A phrase which comes to mind when thinking about GFv2 is "When you change a little you can change a lot", and in most places, this product achieves its goal. A good example are these two comparison screenshots of Hamar Stafsburg Airport (ENHA). Default foliage is on the left and GFv2 is on the right.      Summing up, Global Forests V2 is not perfect, but what I found, was that it delivered a delicate blend of trees and treescapes that enhanced the global woodlands and forest environments within X-Plane 12. By boosting the plausibility of the X-Plane world, it enables you to unwind and discover a true forest of delight, and as mentioned earlier, this was especially true when using GFv2 in conjunction with your own ortho imagery.    At the time of writing, GFv2 is available for purchase from the Org store for only $15, which makes it excellent value! If you would like to try before you buy, Geo - Reality Designs also provides a "Demo" version. However, it’s important to note that the installation does require a licenced version of X-Plane 12 as it will not work in the demo version.    You can get access to the demo here.   Well, that about wraps it up, so please let me know your thoughts. Until next time, it's Tally-ho, pip-pip!   _______________________________     Global Forests v2 for X-Plane 12 is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here:   Global Forests v2 for X-Plane 12 Priced at US$15.00   Features: Accurate representation of the Global forest footprint in XPlane12, according to global data More than 400 .for files, with unique combination of tree type, variation, density, and height, based on real-world data Tree type and classifications according to global data Tree height information has been analysed from global maps and infused into Global Forests Seamless integration with Ortho4XP, or any other package that includes satellite images Seamless integration with default X-Plane12 terrain   Requirements X-Plane 12 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 30 GB   Review by Nick Garlick 24th Nov 2022 Copyright©2022: X-Plane Reviews   Review System Specifications:  Windows 10, Intel 4790K liquid-cooled, overclock to 5GHz, 32GB DDR3 1600MHz RAM, Nvidia GTX 1070ti, Titanium HD Audio Card.   (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  

My beef is that these developers are seriously talented, but are cutting corners? If you buy a product (like anything nowadays) you expect a certain quality for your money and not in six months time, it is not a good reflection on the Simulator either, "Once bitten, twice shy", that is why I want the release standards set higher. Yes I expect bugs, and sometimes a lot of them after release, but half done lighting and shonky windows, is just not good enough in today's market.

Stephen Dutton, don't feel bad. In my opinion there is a market war between MSFS and X-Plane for one and then there is the wannabe's in aviation, bla bla bla that are trying to make a buck out of a hobble/entertainment. You're making a great job, don't loose your honesty or you give up to the people who make fun of others for entertainment called bullying. Keep The Work!

Scenery Review : LROP - Bucharest Otopeni International Airport by Chudoba Designs   LROP Bucharest Airport is an interesting scenery for me. It was the start of the exploration of the eastern European countries in X-Plane. I had already moved on past my United Kingdom hubs, and wanted to fly to more and different destinations. This aspect was helped by the release of scenery by DAI-Media, I think gone now. But DAI-Media who was Romanian who had created some great sceneries back in the day. Two highlights were LEVC - Valencia Manises and of course LROP-Bucharest. For both I hubbed out of Austrian X-Plane Design Group's (AXDG) LOWW-WIEN, still available but now dated (this was eight years ago). But I flew to LROP quite a lot in that period, until the developer stopped delivering updates and I had problems intergrating Traffic into the scenery. Here is an update review that reflected that period.   So I got quite excited when Chudoba Designs released an X-Plane 12 version of LROP, or to give the airport it's full title of;   Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport. I'm going back to Romania.   Install Downloading the LROP scenery is a bit fickle. When you purchase the scenery you are given a Authorisation key and then are directed to the Chudorba Design website. You paste in the authorisation code, then select the LROP-Bucharest scenery, and then press "Download".   But this is when it goes all a bit strange? The Download will download in sequence both the required Chodoba Library files (1.5Gb), then follows this automatically with the LROP Scenery download (714.70Mb). Only it didn't? as I only got the Library download everytime.   I admit Chodoba Design were a great help and the problem was traced to a permission. But confusion is easy in that there are two download buttons and one says "Download" and the other "Library Only", so you expect the Download to be for the scenery and the other the selection for just the library...  it's confusing?     Why can't they just put the required files up on the X-Plane.OrgStore and then you download them, possibly too easy to do it that way.   LROP - Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport by Chodoba Design First views is that LROP is very nicely intergrated into the surrounding X-Plane default textures, but the join markings are a bit stiff and noticeable from height, that said it is nicely done.     Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport Aeroportul Internațional Henri Coandă București   IATA: OTP - ICAO: LROP   08R/26L - 3,500m (11,484ft) - Concrete 08L/26R - 3,500m (11,484ft) - Concrete Elevation AMSL314 ft / 96 m   Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport is Romania's busiest international airport, located in Otopeni, 16.5 km (10.3 mi) north of Bucharest's city centre. It is currently one of the two airports serving Bucharest, the capital of Romania. The other is Aurel Vlaicu Airport, which no longer serves scheduled passenger traffic.   During World War II, the airport in Otopeni was used as an airbase by the German Air Force. Until 1965, it was a major airfield for the Romanian Air Force, with Băneasa Airport serving as Bucharest's commercial airport. In 1965, with the growth of air traffic, the Otopeni airbase was converted to a commercial airport. The runway was modernized and extended to 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) from the previous 1,200 metres (3,900 ft), making it one of the longest in Europe at that time.   A new passenger terminal (designed by Cezar Lăzărescu) with a capacity of 1,200,000 passengers per year, was opened on 13 April 1970, for both domestic and international flights. An improvement program added a second runway in 1986, expanding capacity to 35 aircraft movements per hour. The second phase (labeled Phase II/IIe) of the plan led to the construction of a terminal dedicated to domestic flights and of a multi-story car park (2003), the complete overhaul of the control tower (between 2005 and 2007) as well as the transformation of the old terminal building in a dedicated arrivals hall (in 2000). During the same phase, two high-speed taxiways (Victor and Whiskey) were constructed. Phase II was completed in 2007.     Main terminals and infrastructure at OTP is all combined far into the west of the airport, that means departures from 26R or 26L demands a long taxi journey to the takeoff points, 26L also has a turnaround zone at the end, so you will need to taxi up the runway, and is a fair way as well from the entrance at taxiway D. But you are allowed a fast taxi speed here as well to cover the distance.   Terminals The very distinctive concrete arch 70's terminal is well represented, I don't think it is as well modeled or as detailed as the DAI-Media LROP? but it is very good. As you know, I love old detailed terminals were you can see the past in a modern day setting. And that aspect is certainly evident here. Note the large ramp lighting arrays which are a nice detail.     The airport's facilities consist of only a single terminal with three main facilities (colloquially referred to as "Terminals"): the Departures Hall/Terminal, the Arrivals Hall/Terminal, and the Finger Terminal (the airside concourse). A walkway with shops connects the departures and arrivals buildings. The airside concourse is organized in two (domestic and international) passengers flows. The entire terminal has 104 check-in desks, 38 gates (of which 14 are equipped with jetways), and a total floor area of 86,000 square metres (930,000 sq ft).     The art facade TAROM (Transporturi Aeriene Române, Romanian Air Transport) Terminal is well done and highly visible here, an important one to get right, but actually the landside detail is wrong, the lower section of the art Terminal is a fully detailed arrival area and not the full slab of windows.     The OTP Control Tower is layered and an odd iconic, but looks good here as set above the middle terminal zone. Notable is that the X-Plane "Tower View" is not set, but your positioned somewhere down on stand 102?     "The Finger" (concourse) The airside concourse extension, designed by Studio Capelli Architettura & Associati, measures 17,000 square metres (200,000 sq ft), the concourse was inaugurated on 29 March 2011.   The main feature of the scenery in the "Finger" is excellent, nice design work and very good transparent glass. It is a hard building in shape and detail to get it right, but this has been done well.      The internal areas can be seen, but they are sadly for external viewing only, as there is only a minimal amount of internal detail done with blank passengers. The view internally looking external is very good over the ramps and field, so it is shame the areas here are not detailed to cater for that aspect.     Connection between the old and new terminals is well done, as is the ramp detail and feel. Clutter is very good, but not TAROM or local Romanian branded, which is a shame. There is a lot of active ground traffic that is just about right, it is X-Plane 12 default, but the airport does feel very dynamic in all areas.   SAM is used on all gates, but oddly on stands 107 to 109, the airbridges go to the wrong aircraft on the wrong stand and break the bridges into three sections? Airbridge detail however is very good and all the bridges are glass and not solid.     Landside...  hummm "Hide your eyes, its not at all pretty"....   Landside in front of the Terminals is quite dire, the worst I have seen for years, and then some? Note the differences from an airport photo.     This sort of work takes me back to X-Plane 10, basically there is nothing there, except for a disjointed rail station and the marooned TAROM offices? Worse is the fact there is not a lot of infrastructure here, and so it should have been an easy area to fill out in detail, even an orthophoto would have helped, anything please!.     High points or marks for the scenery is ruined by the non-effort, worse is the area is highly viewable from both 08L and 08R approaches....  its bad, just plain bad for a custom X-Plane 12 scenery, and I am not at all impressed.   One Cargo facility is set besides the main apron, but there are no aircraft stands set around this cargo facility as used by AS World Cargo, so it looks like it is for hold cargo only.     Infrastructure Central to Bucharest Henri Coandă is the infrastructure spine area.   Forward is the Uplift Airport Services SRL building, with the (blue) Menzies Aviation set behind...     The TAROM maintenance hanger is quite impressive and well done, and has two static TAROM branded 737s set outside.     Far east there are two more Cargo facilities, the main one (south) for TAROM Cargo with parking stands (201 to 205) opposite over Taxiway C     And a DHL Cargo area off Taxiway P (Apron 3), that is also used for Private Jets and GA arrivals with the GA Terminal set behind...     ....  last major building is the Elitte World Transport headquarters and the field Fire Station is set here as well.   North Field is the Fuel Depot, South Field are the military hardstands   Textures Overall the textures are average. There are signs that they actually could be very good with good concrete choices, but no effort to create a more realistic feel and depth to the textures is obvious. Linage is odd, worn in areas, hard solid and not realistic in others. So it all comes across as slightly unrealistic.     Worse is all the extremely hard line runway edges, totally unbelievable and false, seriously this is again X-Plane 10 stuff (even X-Plane 9) and Chudoba is not a first time developer, so why here in making such a classic visual mistake. Some verges are quite good, with very nice 3d flowers (only around the edges) filling the in-field.     This LROP is X-Plane 12 scenery, so you have the excellent built-in weather effects. Water pools nicely, but the verges are separated from the Runway textures, so again you get that hard line between a wet and totally dry areas, not very convincing or even realistic.     Ramps and aprons look pretty good, but "Oh Lord", those over laid hard taxiway (runway) textures don't match the apron wet areas. OTP is however highly usable in winter conditions, but you feel it could have been better.     Lighting Overall like the textures the lighting at LROP is adequate, but not very awe-inspiring. Approach lighting is X-Plane 12 ICAO coded and feels very good.     Main apron areas are nicely lit, and the old "Henri Coanda" terminal is nicely lit. The "Finger" Terminal looks very nice, but the naked interior is highly visible, and that makes the building look and feel deserted at night... hummm.     I expected those huge panel light arrays to be realistic as well, they feel rather dullish than bright, DAi-Media, even all those years ago made them far better.   Disappointing again is Landside. There is no lighting on the Terminal frontages (DAI-Media LROP had a nice blue tinge), so there is no terminal feel or activity in the area, it's just dull or dark?     In the central infrastructure spine, there is only minimal (mostly down-spot) lighting, and in most areas no lighting at all on any of the buildings. However the TAROM Maintenance build looks nice, better if it is wet on the ground.     Navigation signage is poor, very poor and the worst I have seen for a fair while (or is it not finished?). There are only a few pointer signs, worse there is no Taxiway signage at all at crucial intersections, ever worse again on major intersections (Taxiway D-Runway 08R-26L) there are no hold lights, in fact there is nothing out here in the dark at all. There are the odd hold lights, but not at the important runway entrance points, very dismal.   ______________ Summary LROP - Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport is the main port into Romania and servicing the capitol city of Bucharest. Not the first X-Plane custom scenery for LROP as that accolade went to a DAI-Media release back in 2013.   Before we get into the summary of the scenery. It is important to note the price of Chudoba's version...  it is a low if great value US$16.99.   This price has to kept in mind with what value you get here and with the scenery's weaknesses. Your not going to get a $25.00+ airport for $16.99 and that perspective needs to kept in mind, however I would rather pay the $25+ and get a better scenery, quality counts to me.   Overall this a good LROP-Bucharest, modeling is good and in areas very good, and the detail (in most areas) is again very well done. SAM intergation is also included (but a few of the gates are wayward). The scenery is also X-Plane 12 compatible with wet/ice/snow effects and lighting.   A few areas here I feel are not completed. Landside in front of the terminals is quite diabolical, worse it is very visible on the western approaches, I don't want to go back to a X-Plane 9 look in a X-Plane 12 scenery, lighting on this same area and buildings is also quite if completely poor. Many runway textures are overlaid with hard line edges (worse in snowy conditions) and in context textures are average. "Finger" terminal is not completed inside and naked at night, and navigation lighting (important) is also extremely poor. Lighting is fine in the central area, but non-existent to poor in most areas. Tower View is not set either...  it's a big list?   For the price this Chudoba LROP is a great if a very good destination filler, but I would rather pay more to get a better developed scenery for my routes into Romania. The basics are all here present for this to be that quality scenery, I hope it will be, but for now it will still stay and be on my network to fly into, so overall it is very good value at that low price. _______________________________     The LROP - Bucharest Otopeni International Airport by  Chudoba Design is NOW available! from the X-Plane.Org Store   LROP - Bucharest Otopeni International Airport Priced at US$16.99   Features: PBR Textures Custom buildings with PBR textures -ccurate custom PBR ground-poly (supporting weather from X-Plane 12) -Custom 3D vegetation Scenery Animation Manager integration Well Optimized for best performance Custom buildings and objects Custom jetways Accurate night lightning Compatible with X-Plane 11 & X-Plane 12 Compatible with SAM vehicles / SAM follow-me   Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB VRAM Recommended Current Version : 1.0 (November 11th 2022)   Installation and documents: LROP is downloaded from the Chudoba Design site of 714.70Mb a download. The Chuboba "Library" is also required for download at 1.5GB. Authorsation Key is required to download the scenery.   ChudobaDesign_LROP ChudobaDesign_Library   2.29Gb full install in your Custom Scenery folder.   SAM3 Plugin - Scenery Animation Manager - Suite 3.0 is required for this scenery,   Documents There is a 1 page "Instruction" page for installation and requirements and links to the Chudoba Design site; here link: https://antileak.it/key?c=deaba33308 BucharestOtopeniAirport.pdf ___________________________   Review by Stephen Dutton 24th November 2022 Copyright©2022: 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) All Right Reserved    Review System Specifications:  Computer System: Windows  - IS1700 Core i7 12700K 12 Core 3.60 GHz CPU / 64bit -32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 1TB SSD  Software:   - Windows 11 - X-Plane v12.00b14 (note this review was done in the beta revision period) Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick, Throttle & Rudder Pedals : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini Plugins: Traffic Global - JustFlight-Traffic (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$52.99 : Global SFD plugin US$30.00 Scenery or Aircraft - None-    

NEWS! - Aircraft Updated : Gulfstream 550 v1.03 by AKD Studio     The GulfStream G550, a global executive jet of some renown. Was released for both the X-Plane 11 and X-Plane 12 simulator platforms on 1st October 2022 by AKD Studios. In the comprehensive review I really liked the aircraft, but it had a too many bugs and in reality it was not finished on release.   The X-Plane Reviews GulfStream G550 review is here; Aircraft Review : Gulfstream 550 by AKD Studio   I will be honest, I don't at all like the current disinclination by developers to release an aircraft that with just a few more weeks of development could be top notch. But the idea is to put out the product then get the response and "we will fix that later". It is cutting out the former beta phase of development, and going straight to the masses to find the obvious faults. A lot of purchasers will take this on the chin, but as noted I don't like the strategy, it creates a messy situation for all and for a product that has great promise be damaged early by the wrong assumptions that the product and hence the developer is poor at developing the aircraft, notable is that with a ton of bugs then the reviews can be quite detrimental to the sales, but developers continue to do it.   This was the case with the G550 from AKD Studios, a really great aircraft let down by a load of bugs and areas not and quite clearly not finished. This v1.03 update and the earlier v1.02 update (31st Oct 22) shows how much just a few more weeks in development with the aircraft it could have been released in a more quality form. Yes X-Plane and it's aircraft is always an ongoing development. But there is the line between not being finished and fixes not foreseen, when you are asking for money, then you expect at least a little better quality for it.   The update list is long between the two updates....   Version 1.03 (November 18th 2022) New features: -Added Automatic landing elevation(XP11/XP12) -Added Pilots 3D model(XP11/XP12) -Added ENG Vibration indicator (XP11/XP12) -Added Inegration with Terrain radar + Vertical Situation Display(Terrain radar Update soon)(XP11/XP12) -Added support for 8.33 kHz radios(XP11/XP12)   Bugs fixes: -Improved textures(XP11/XP12) -Improved VS line on DU1/DU4(XP11/XP12) -Improved throttle 3D Model(XP11/XP12) -Improved EFB Clickspots(XP11/XP12) -Improved engines start-up time(XP11/XP12) -Fixed ILS/RNAV Intercepting(XP12) -Fixed Autopilot logic(XP11/XP12) -Fixed APU and Engine bleed air switches(XP11/XP12) -Fixed incorrect CRS on DU1(XP12/XP11) -Fixed Rain Effect(XP12) -Fixed FMA indicators on DU1/DU4(XP11/XP12) -FIxed Minor bugs(XP12/XP11) Version 1.02 (November 4th 2022) New features: -Added 2D “pop-up” and “pop-out” panels(XP11/XP12) -Added time at destination to Cabin Display(XP11/XP12)   Bugs fixes: -Removed custom LNAV logic(after XP12 beta 10 LNAV works fine)(XP12) -Improved ILS Intercepting(thanks:jetspeed)(XP11) -Improved Cockpit textures are somewhat blurry(thanks:jetspeed)(XP11/XP12) -Improved engines start-up time(XP11/XP12) -Fixed WPT List(DU1,DU2,DU3,DU4)(XP11/XP12) -Fixed main Landing gear panel(XP11/XP12) -Fixed external Lights position(XP11/XP12) -Fixed Minor bug fixes(XP12,XP11)   New features include, 3D Pilots (that look suspiciously like the Laminar default pilots?), ENG VIbration outputs and Terrain Radar (Dr Gluck)...  but more is coming here. Support for 8.33 Khz radios and Auto Landing Elevations adds in the new.       But a few important areas have still not been addressed, like the METAR tool freezing the aircraft, and those poor window surrounds and there are still no cabin blinds? so there is still a fair way to go.     But the G550 from AKD Studios is still overall a very nice aircraft and comes recommended. ________________________________     The Gulfstream 550 by AKD Studio is NOW available here at the X-Plane.OrgStore   GLF550 - Ultimate Business Jet by AKD Studio Price is US$31.95   This aircraft is X-Plane12 supported, but to note it is in Beta form.   Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 - both versions included -Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 1 GB Current version : 1.03 (November 18th 2022) _________________________________   NEWS! by Stephen Dutton 21st November 2022 Copyright©2022 : 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)