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Thanks Anthony, I'm glad you liked the review. Michael certainly had fun with the 747 🙂 Cheers Dominic

Aircraft Update : Airbus A321-231 V1.3.1 by ToLiSS The release of the Airbus A340-600 from ToLiSS was very significant aircraft for the developer. Most of the essential aspects including the modeling was brought in house by ToLiSS on the A346. And with those changes also came a more in-contact or hands on approach to more of the aircraft. This has created a breakthrough of more elements and systems being available and installed in the aircraft, plus the point that more external X-Plane features have since been released. The Airbus A321 added on the NEO or the "New Engine Option", in the more modern new-generation engines developments like with a larger by-pass ratio (around 10-11:1. ) and Geared Turbofan (GTF) technology engines in exactly one year ago. So here is update V1.3.1 including an update to the NEO addon package. Changes from build 1373 (V1.3) to build 1463 (V1.3.1) Minor new features: - Electrical system now allows both batteries to feed the same bus simultaneously - Electrical system now supports Battery charging test by switching them off and on. - Added cargo heating simulation - Added fuel temperature simulation - Added IDG temperature simulation - Rework of the SD COND, FUEL, and ELEC pages for better representational accuracy - Added overflow management for the SD status page - ISCS sliders now allow editing the values with keyboard for better precision - Cargo fire extinguishing test is now operational - Fault injections can now trigger on increasing or on decreasing values of altitude and air speed - Added approach procedure on status page in case of alternate or direct mode reversion - Added Backup Nav tuning to RMPs 1 and 2 - FCU lighting knobs below the FCU are now functional. - New external lighting - Addition of the smart thrust lever idle lock - Simplified CHOCKS option to allow switching off the park brake - Improved manual engine start procedure - Added NavAid Deselection capability to MCDU - A321 NEO now features appropriate NEO-specific pitch rotation and derotation laws Bug fixes: - DC BAT indication on SD ELEC Page becomes invalid, if both Batteries are selected off - Generator is now cut off, as soon as the ENG fire push button is pressed, even if the engine is still running on the fuel in the line - Fuel system crossfeed works correctly now, feeding equally from both tanks even when all pumps are on. - When preselecting a heading on ground, the FCU heading window will initialize with the current heading - Reduced IRS drift values by half for more realistic values - Engine Fire lights now work on battery power to faciliate procedure completion on ground - Corrected behaviour of FADEC ground power switches, they are now momentary switches that will power the FADEC for 5 minutes when depressed once. - Made behaviour of CLR button XPDR panel more realisitc - When selecting flaps 1 for landing, the Status page will now be called (As it should) if status is not normal - When status paged called automatically, the STS key now lights up and can be used to remove the status page - When Using Auto Brake to full stop, pressing pedals won't disengage it like is the case in real life - Now properly converting fuel amounts from kgs to lbs on PERF pages when imperial units selected - Miscellaneous FMGS fixes - Fixed FBW roll angle limits - Improved AP turn direction depending on FCU heading rotation knob - Corrected altnernate law reversion and AP loss logics for elevator loss cases - Fixed erroneous ECAM fault messages for center tank pumps - Fixed ECAM action logics for dual pack faults - Fixed Air conditioning sound loop in XP10 - VR manipulator improvements - Removed CTR TK FEEDING Memo from ECAM (exists only on aircraft with 5 wing tank fuel system config) - On FLS approaches, the message "DISCONNECT AP FOR LDG" disappears now on GA initiation - The SEC PERF page of the A321 NEO now correctly shows BARO and RADIO instead of the old MDA/DH - Improvements to the list of inop systems for electrical bus failures - Manual engine start now uses both igniter channels - MCDU Prog Page shows flight number again - If landing without retarding the thrust levers, firewalling the levers correctly changes A/THR modes - Added missing wind field on Data/IRS page The A321 aircraft feature changes almost mirror the A319-112, so many of the images shown and notes below are the same as we reported in the A319 update v1.6.3 The integrated standby instrument system (ISIS) is now scalable via scrolling, it doesn't make it bigger, but does make it far more smaller. The SD (Systems Display) has had the COND, FUEL, and ELEC pages for better representational accuracy and also added is overflow management for the SD status page. On the ELEC, the electrical system now allows both batteries to feed the same bus simultaneously and you can do battery charging test by just switching them off and on. Switch off both batteries and then turn them back on to see the test and the voltage irregularities. On an Airbus aircraft the IDG(Integrated Drive Generator) is an aircraft power generation device which houses a Continuously Variable Transmission(CVT) to generate 400Hz constant frequency power regardless of the engine speed. That generation temperature (one per engine) is now simulated on the ELEC page. Fuel temperatures are also now simulated (on the SD ELEC page). Cargo Heating temperatures are also now simulated (on the SD COND page). And the Cargo fire extinguishing test (button) is now also operational. On the "ToLiSS Interactive Simulation Control System" TISCS pop-up Menu panel. You can now insert the numbered data directly into the slider selections. Certainly a big fan of this aspect as I like to insert the correct Fuel Load to the EXACT block amount required for the flight, I find that sliders are just a little too wishy washy. When the STBY NAV button is selected it enables remotely tuning the respected navaid and desired course. Each RMP (Radio Management Panel) tunes to it's respective navaid. Tuning and ILS on either RMP tunes both ILS receivers if both RMPs have their NAV button pressed. Now in v1.6.3 the two under glareshield knobs work. These adjusts the FCU (Flight Control Unit) lighting. The right knob adjusts the brightness on the display, the second left knob adjusts the main instrument back lighting. The downlights are still adjusted via the FLOOD LT knob (Captain's Side) and improved here. In the A321 it has the secondary down lighting knob adjusters which are usually situated both under the glareshield of which provide illumination for the pull-out work-shelves, that are available now in the A346, but with a hope they will also become available also on the A321 (and the A319). The A321's external lighting has had some nice tweaking. Turn on your main landing lights and get now two beams striking boldly forward into the distance, brilliant in cloud. The Navigation lights,Tail and Wing lighting is all far tighter and better, but the strobes are still a bit too blobby for me, exactly again like the A319. On approach the forward lighting is certainly more efficient with very nice effective wing and tail lighting. I really like the cockpit atmosphere for the night landings, almost perfect now... ... and on the ground the Taxi lights are certainly better, as is the efficient Runway Turnoff lighting. So overall a great improvement. Not that there is more work to do, as there are still dead overhead lighting in the cockpit, and the cabin lighting is certainly still far too brightly lit... but it is a nice forward improvement. It is already Christmas in Vienna, with lots of pretty snow. ____________________ Summary ToLiSS has updated the Airbus A321-231 NEO to v1.3.1 The updates include both the Basic A321 package and the addon year old NEO option. Mostly this update was to bring to the A321 some of the features that were presented on the newer A340-600, that was released back in October 2021 and the A319 which was updated last week. There is nothing really outstanding here, but still includes those small intricate system details that create a whole experience, the main feature is the far better tweaking of the cockpit and external lighting, the RMP STBY NAV intergration and TISCS Menu panel direct numbered data input. Over the last few years this very popular version of the Airbus A321 Series has become extremely popular in X-Plane, and it is not hard to see why as it is a brilliant airliners to fly in both CEO (Current Engine Option) and the NEO (New Engine Option). And not only for it's complex systems but even in manual flight it is dream handling aircraft, and certainly a must have if you love short-haul airliners. This v1.3.1 update just adds even more of those intricate features on to the cake, like a lot of airlines at this development stage the ToLiSS versions are moving into a more mature context, certainly more features can still be added (and probably will be)... but it is already extremely good aircraft, and certainly and will always be a firm fan favorite... Highly Recommended ________________________ Yes! the ToLiSS321 (A321-231) v1.3.1 by ToLiSS is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Airbus A321 by ToLiSS Price is US$79.00 A321 NEO ADD-ON to the ToLiss Airbus A321 Price is US$29.95 Note make sure you have v1.3.1 and both CEO and NEO Packages when downloading, All previous purchasers can now update via your X-Plane.OrgStore Account Officially licensed Airbus product Highlights Detailed FMGS with SIDs/STARs/Airways, performance prediction, temporary, alternate and secondary flight plans, fix info, etc. Choice of CFM or IAE engine, affecting aircraft performance and fuel burn Choice of sharklets or classic wing tip fences. (Affects aircraft drag.) Very accurate FBW implementation, including reversion to alternate and direct law Detailed systems including fault injection for currently about 90 failures. (Electric, hydraulic, flight controls, engine, etc.) Officially licensed by Airbus Commercial “Turbine Sound Studios” sounds for CFM and IAE engines included. Detailed FMGS: Support of SID/STAR, including all leg types (Arc, course or heading to intercept, Radius to Fix, Holdings, etc.) Temporary and alternate flight plans Secondary flight plan Full VNAV guidance with TOC, TOD, Deceleration point, speed limits, fuel prediction, etc. Altitude and speed constraints as the real aircraft deals with them Ability to change the selected STAR while already in the STAR Support for go-arounds and diversions Step altitudes Airway support Fix Info page Latitude/Longitude crossings 2 independent MCDUs and autopilots Drag, thrust and fuel consumption models adapt to selected engine type and wing tip device Choice between new FMGS with temporary flight plan even during preflight phase or old FMGS with direct editing of the active plan during preflight phase. Top-notch aircraft systems: ToLiss uses the QPAC Fly-by-wire and autopilot module with numerous improvements Flight control system with hinge moment modelling giving realistic float angles for surfaces that are lost due to system faults Custom TCAS with Traffic and Resolution Advisory based on real aircraft logic Brake temperature model based on the detailled physics of heat transfer between the individual brake components Hydraulics model in which the pressure is dependent on usage. This is most notable when dropping to RAT mode or with and engine wind milling Detailled model of each ADIRU including alignment, small pressure sensor differences between the units, switching of sources for PFDs Custom air conditioning model supporting high altitude operations at airports like Cusco in Peru or La Paz in Bolivia without spurious warnings Flight warning system with ECAM actions supporting numerous system failure scenarios, e.g. engine failures, generator failures, hydraulic failures Fault injection system allowing to trigger system faults either at a specific point in flight or randomly during a flight phase Eye- and ear-candy: Detailed 3D cockpit with high quality texturing 3d exterior model with CFM and IAE engine Choice between classic wingtip fences or modern sharklets (controlled via livery names) Each aircraft comes with licensed high definition sounds from Turbine Sound Studios, the market leader for aircraft sounds in the FSX/P3D world Rain effects thanks to the librain library provided to the x-plane community by Saso Kiselkov Custom particle effects for engine heat trail, landing gear smoke on touch-down etc. Standby compass that can be stowed, cockpit door that opens, fully modeled cabin, etc. Usability features: Situation loading and saving. It is possible to save the flight at any point in time and resume it another day. This can also be used, e.g., to save the position just before approach and practice just the approach many times Autosaving allows recovering where you left off, should the Xplane session end unexpectedly Jumping waypoint-to-waypoint through the cruise phase: Shorten your flight to focus on the more interesting parts as you like 4 different startup configuration from Cold and Dark to engines running and ready to go In-screen popup displays or use of x-plane windows for popups NEO Highlights: 2 additional engine types for the ToLiss A321 The 3 subvariants of the A321 NEO family: the NEO, the LR and the XLR 3 new exit configurations aligned with the Airbus Cabin Flex concept for the A321 family. New engine types CFM LEAP-1A33 and PW1130G-JM Accurate aircraft climb performance as function of engine selection Appropriate fuel burn as function of engine selection System adaptation to reflect new engine functionalities, such as PW engine cooling cycles Detailled 3d model for each engine model Specific TSS sound sets for each engine type A321 NEO subvariants Configurable to A321 NEO, LR and XLR Fuel system adapted to the individual configurations Specific weight envelopes for each subvariant System specific changes per subvariant, e.g. single slotted flaps for the A321 XLR with improved aircraft drag Airbus Cabin Flex exit configurations Choice of three additional exit configurations Maximum number of passengers changes in accordance with the selected exit configurations Doors system and DOOR page indications adapt to exit configuration Separate 3d models for each exit configuration Requirements X-Plane 11 Windows , Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 680 MB Version 1.3.1 (December 8th 2021) _________________________ Update Review by Stephen Dutton 9th December 2021 Copyright©2020 : 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)

Update Review : JARDesign A320neo Version 1.5 JARDesign have updated the A320neo to version 1.5 from the interm beta1.5 that I covered on the 7th August 2013. Although noted as just an tuning upgrade there is significantly far more in this release that warrants a look over to see what has also been released. First there is a common theme coming out of these upgrade releases and that is that JARDesign are intending to keep you on the ground as long as possible before letting you fly anywhere. Most of the items added are all features that getting ready for flight is becoming a ritual and not just a set this or that and then start your engines and taxi out. The aircraft GPS alignment to which I have honed down to 12 minutes, Has now been lengthened by three extra features. Fuel Truck Load Panel FollowMe Car Fuel Truck (released in update 1.2) In my haste to get airbourne I noted in the 1.5b notes that I took off from Brisbane (YBBN) to go south to Sydney (YSSY) and promptly ran out of fuel over Northern NSW. (menu : Fuel) The Fuel panel allows you to select your fuel (preselected) requirements and then allowing the fuel truck to (refuel) your tanks in its own time is great reality simulation, watching the fuel numbers go up in the cockpit while your are programming the FMS (or FMGS in Airbus speak) shows how good this simulation is getting. Any fuel load left in your tanks after your last simulation will be still there on the startup of the new one. Load Panel The Load Panel (menu : Load) has now been added over the Fuel Panel. This allows you to set the aircraft load of Passengers and Freight. Passengers are listed as (F) First Class and (A) the rest of cattle class, and Cargo (CRGF) front and (CRGA) rear. The menu will tell you your Payload Weight in (Tons) and shows you your CG% (Centre of Gravity) and your THS ((Trimmable Horizontal Stabilizer) which has to be set manually. The panel allows you to quickly set your load factors, but does not have the adjustable CG settings that (FlyJSim’s) aircraft use. FollowMe Car (Option) You have now the option of purchasing the option of a “FollowMe Car” (Ver 1.3 and over) Cost US$2.99 - FollowMe Car for A320neo First of all there is already a FollowMe Car folder in the Custom Avionics folder of the A320neo, It won’t work unless you replace it with the purchased version and then the FM (in the menu) will then be activated. Secondly you must have two items available to use the function. 1) The Airport must have the ATC routes set out correctly. 2) you must set your FMGS (route) into the FMS system (in other words you must set the Departure and Arrival - Airports and runways into FMS before they show up on the FollowMe Car Menu) First the popup menu screen will show your Departure and Arrival Airports. Then when you select the airport it will give you a selection of taxiways. You select you first taxiway and then your second selection and then each taxiway you want to select until you reach your hold point on the runway. It is all very clever but with a couple of issues. One if you make a mistake you have to start again using the (CLR) button... your route is built up on the bottom of the screen and it would be great just to go back one entry to fix the wrong selection than straight back to the start to input in the points all over again. Secondly if the airport is big (I used KDFW Dallas Fort Worth) it can be extremely hard to find the right taxiways and the right route. too many options and too many the same taxiway points means starting over and over again to get the right route you want. When all the taxi points are inserted (in the right order) then press RUN to activate. This will bring up the main menu. And it will note your: Distance to FM Car in feet FM Car speed FM Cars position (Taxiway) Show path Markers Change the FM car’s speed (knts) in either to DEC (slow) or INC (increase speed) Showing path markers gives you the route the FM car will use. It’s a great feature but wouldn’t they be better to help you lay out the route?... here it is too late. To see a line of markers from one taxiway point to the next would be ideal in choosing your route and direction around the airport. FM Car will appear when you pressed the RUN button and it will come and set itself in up your windshield and wait there till you start to move forward The FM Car speed adjustment is a great feature (I use 15knts which is ideal) and once you start your forward movement the FM Car will move along before you... Setting the 15knts means the car will stay at 15Knts even if you go faster, in doing that it allows you to set your correct pace and speed as to not run it over... I loved this in that you have to pace the aircraft to the FM car and it will just not stay at the same speed as the aircraft but the distance between the two objects do contract and expand as you move - clever yes! When the route is completed the FM Car will move out of you way and park up behind you... The takeoff bit and flying the aircraft is your job. It works very well. And when you arrive at your destination if you have set up the route, the FM Car is waiting for you. A bit of practise would make this FM Car work really well. But I would like a better quicker way of laying out complex routes. (there is a video by JARDesign on how to install the FM Car and use the system - the video is at the bottom of this update) You start to see the workload coming into focus here (And don’t get me wrong this is great simulation). You have to set up the GPS alignment, put in the fuel, set the aircraft load program, input the route into the FMGS and preferences and now if you have the FM Car set up the route at your departure and destination airports - so how long does that all take? A long time and especially if you have a long route to program into the FMGS, you can’t save routes remember? So every time you start a flight you have to have the route listed and ready to input into the system. Why can’t you save routine routes?... Terrain on ND This newly added function allows you to use the TERR ON ND button the main panel (one for each the Pilot and Co-Pilot) The button has three modes: Normal (off), display camera view and display terrain. All items are shown on your ND (Navigation Display). The first selection is really the X-Plane MAP on the screen, but how handy is this as it can show you your position at the airport. Great for finding taxiways and then to find your terminals and gates and you can easily align the aircraft correctly. Up in the air and you can see your position relative to the ground on the map. Slide into to a turn and the map goes into an angle position again relative to the ground and if you don’t go “woah!” with that you then owe me a dollar. The “display terrain” selection will put the ND into blocky squares to show the terrain under the aircraft. On the ground the screen is full of large squares. In the air you have to find some terrain to see the system at work. I don’t recommend flying at 280knts and at 10,000ft, straight into a set of mountains in a fully loaded A320. But you get the idea. Does it work? - not really no, as the squares are to big and I was brushing the snow off the tops of peaks and they only went into two colours of green. far smaller squares would give you a better pattern, but overall another clever feature. So how does all this feel like? Once refueled, loaded, and everything programmed into the FMGS I flew the standard sector between Brisbane (YBBN) to Cairns (YBCS) of which I have done countless times. Using the pushback I have taught myself to leave the park brake alone, turn to the “off” position can confuse the pushback truck, It will release and lock the brakes for you on the movement backwards and after finishing the pushback. Just that old habits die hard. Taxi was great with no issues in holding my correct taxi speed. You would be surprised on how many other aircraft it is hard to do just this. Roll and takeoff was none eventful, but again I had to adjust to setting the V/S (Vertical Speed) before the system allows you to select “speed” on the throttle and engaging the A/T (Auto Thrust). Familiarity is a great learner, and especially here. It is a complex system that has been made easy to operate. but you have to be aware of how complex this aircraft is to operate. Get it right and the rewards are overwhelming. The 1.5b fixed that 3º nose down issue and here in the final 1.5 update it is great and you can now also change the pitch in flight. watch the speed though as I pushed m.83 it sent the A/P into alarm, stay at m.82 and that speed will keep it happy and contented. Arrival at Cairns was through three waypoints (fixes) UPOLO, SUNNY and CODIE. It is a tricky approach and I wanted to be closer on the turn but the FMGS would not accept the fix BCSNI for some reason, and I felt that CODIE was to far north. The problem with RWY 15 approach is that if you get the turn wrong there is a row of mountains that can ruin any simulation. I rarely get this approach quite right, as an adjustment to the runway angle is always needed. This time I was impressed as the A320 turned a very nice wide arc from the SUNNY fix to the CS15 approach fix (using CODIE as an alignment fix) and lined me up perfectly with RWY 15. I was tempted to use the OVERFLY key at this point in the route to create the same sort of course, but it wasn’t required. A noted irritant is the fact that you can’t use the mouse to set things on the pedestal, The flaps, the trim wheels or the airbrakes are not adjustable with the mouser, and only the park brake is accessible? So you can’t set the flaps (I have to use my joystick buttons via the key menu) and worse arm the airbrakes of which there is no key mode (and only the "all airbakes up") and so the automatic deployment is not available. On the ground the easy menu system turns the aircraft into a credible parked visual experience. Doors open, ground power in attendance... Catering truck in position. I loved it all. As the night was falling I noticed that the tail lighting lit only on the right side with HDR off?... To check I turned the HDR on and the lighting was now correct. The cockpit lighting in HDR was incredibly good, but destroyed your frame-rate sadly, In fact all through this simulation the frame-rate had felt far better than in past flying on the JARDesign A320, and even at the point of sitting in the 3d cockpit tuning the aircraft for flight, of which in the past sometimes would put my frame-rate below that crucial 19fr and less and give me the shudders... here it did feel far better all though the flight and at each end with the heavier airport sceneries in context. One final note on that if you like to replay your landings. Just make sure you close all your doors and stowaway any vehicles before hitting the replay selection... ... If not you will have all the doors open in flight and your catering truck is still loading the aircraft while on finals! I like in-flight catering but this is going to far. The A320neo from JARDesign is certainly one of the great experiences in X-Plane. It does require a lot of attention and routine to get the very best out of the aircraft... but incredibly rewarding this aircraft is. With the A380 Airbus from Peter’s Aircraft and VMAX’s Boeing 777, the Airbus A320neo is one of the best aircraft you can invest in. And the 1.5 upgrade is another decent upgrade that sets out some really great features and fixes a few issues that needed attention, It is challenging this A320neo and it is complex, but you will love it for years. __________________________________________ Stephen Dutton 13th September 2013 copyright©X-PlaneReviews 2013 You can get the 1.5 update here : A320neo update 1.5 The JAR Design A320neo is available from the X-Plane .org Store: For US$39.00 - Airbus A320 Neo Developer site: JARDesign A320neo Version 1.5 list of changes: +Tuned flightmodel. +Change pitch when flying at high speed and altitude. +Add ability to show Terrain On ND. The TerrOnND button now has three modes – normal, displaying terrain, displaying camera view. +Add Load panel at left Ground menu. Now you can select how much pax and how much tons of cargo you have load. IMPORTANT – for Takeoff you need set THS manually, as calculated at panel. Review System Specifications: Computer System: - 2.66 Ghz Intel Core i5 iMac 27” - 6 Gb 1067 Mhz DDR3 - ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb Software: - Mac OS MountainLion 10.8.2 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.22 (final) - ExtremeSceneryMAXX Addons - Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle