Stephen

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

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

NEWS! - Scenery Released : KPAO - Palo Alto Intl Airport by FSDesigns FSDesigns have released the Northern Californian airport of Palo Alto International Airport in collaboration with CieloSim. Palo Alto Airport is a general aviation airport in the city of Palo Alto in Santa Clara County, California, United States, near the southern end of San Francisco Bay on the western shore. Facilities at this busy towered airport include a staffed terminal and multiple repair shops with, Advantage Aviation (Cessna & Beechcraft Authorized Service Center), WVAS Inc. dba Aero Works (Diamond Authorized Service Center), Rossi Aircraft, and Peninsula Avionics. The airport is also home to a number of flying clubs (in order of establishment): Stanford Flying Club (est. 1930),[3] West Valley Flying Club (est. 1973), Sundance Flying Club (est. 2006), and Advantage Aviation Flying Club. The airport is located within one-half mile of U.S. Route 101. Note... If the airport has a customs office or is designated as a port of entry, it can accommodate international arrivals for private or charter flights, making it technically international or noted having as Customs and Border Protection Facilities, but in reality Palo Alto does not have International Airline services. Key Features 3D Vegetation Accurate up-to-date ground textures Realistic PBR textures Weather maps for 12 features Realistic hand-placed night lighting High resolution orthoimagery Highly optimized for FPS Added dirt, grime, and details So just how do you fly "quietly"? Palo Alto Airport has one approach to runway 31. The RNAV (GPS) approach to runway 31 has 460' MDA/1-mi visibility minimum for category A approaches. The VOR approach has been decommissioned. Images are courtesy of FS Designs... KPAO is priced at an extremely low price at US$8.99, and now available at the X-Plane.OrgStore. _____________________________________ Yes! - KPAO - Palo Alto Intl Airport by FS Designs is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KPAO - Palo Alto Intl Airport Price is US$8.99 Requirements X-Plane 12 Windows, Mac or Linux 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 200MB Current version: 1.0 (Dec 2nd 2024) ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 3rd December 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - Scenery Released : KJAN - Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport by Fly2High An interesting but great scenery choice is Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, in Jackson, Mississippi. This scenery is by Fly2High. Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport is a city-owned civil-military airport located in Jackson, Mississippi, United States,approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Downtown Jackson across the Pearl River. JAN is located in Rankin County between the suburbs of Flowood and Pearl, whereas the majority of the city of Jackson is located in Hinds County. It serves commercial, private, and military aviation. It is named after Medgar Evers, the assassinated Mississippi Field Secretary for the NAACP during much of the Civil rights movement, and is administered by the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority (JMAA), which also oversees aviation activity at Hawkins Field (HKS) in northwest Jackson. In March 2011, the Jackson–Evers International Airport was ranked the 8th-best airport in a worldwide consumer survey conducted by Airports Council International (ACI). It was the only airport in the United States to be ranked in the top ten. This is the second X-Plane 12 Simulator Fly2High release after the excellent KSAV - Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport Features handplaced night lighting hand placed cars 3D vegetation Weather effects using XP12s engine High quality PBR ground textures Interior modeled C17 models for military side Custom overlays for realistic grunge/dirt This is a very expansive scenery at a great discount price of only US$16.00, pick up a great investment now... Images are courtesy of Fly2High _______________________________ KSAV KJAN - Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport by Fly2High is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here: KJAN - Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport Price is only US$17.99 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 8GB + VRAM Recommended Download Size : 1.6GB Current version : 1.0 (Dec 2nd 2024) ___________________________ News! by Stephen Dutton 3rd December 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - Aircraft Updated : SR-71-TB v2 by vSkyLabs vSkyLabs have updated the SR-71 "Thunderbird" to version v2.0. The focus of this update is the inclusion of a flyable variant of the D-21 Mach 3 launchable drone. The Lockheed D-21 is an American supersonic reconnaissance drone. The D-21 was initially designed to be launched from the back of an M-21 carrier aircraft, a variant of the Lockheed A-12 aircraft. The drone had maximum speed in excess of Mach 3.3 (2,200 miles per hour; 3,600 kilometers per hour) at an operational altitude of 90,000 feet (27,000 meters). Development began in October 1962. Originally known by the Lockheed designation Q-12, the drone was intended for reconnaissance deep into enemy airspace. Flight Dynamics, Cockpit graphics and new Interaction elements like the built-in Avitab compatibility were also added in V2, plus two bat-visors. Version 2.0 (November 29th 2024) Launchable D-21 Mach-3 drone: VSKYLABS flyable variant of the D-21 Mach 3 launchable drone was implemented. D-21 (slightly) modified version of the authentic operation and launch panel was implemented in the front-seat (the back-seat is currently a WIP, as part of the project development road-map). Flight Dynamics: Interactive configuration setup for M-21/SR-71 configurations. To interchange configuration, load/unload the D-21 'weapon' in X-Plane 12 weapons menu. Graphics: Various cockpit textures improvements. Interaction: Built-in Avitab compatibility was added. Two bat-visors were added to the cockpit. VSKYLABS 'Cockpit-Builders Heaven' assignment layer: Allows assigning all aircraft switches, knobs, levers, and interactions in a designated, uncluttered section in the X-Plane 12 assignment screen. The SR-71 was designed for flight at over Mach 3 with a flight crew of two in tandem cockpits, with the pilot in the forward cockpit and the reconnaissance systems officer operating the surveillance systems and equipment from the rear cockpit, and directing navigation on the mission flight path. The SR-71 was designed to minimize its radar cross-section, an early attempt at stealth design. Finished aircraft were painted a dark blue, almost black, to increase the emission of internal heat and to act as camouflage against the night sky. The dark color led to the aircraft's nickname "Blackbird". This project is part of the VSKYLABS 'Test-Pilot' series, designed specifically for use with X-Plane 12 cutting edge Flight Model. Images are courtesy of vSkyLabs Design by VSKYLABS Support forum for the SR-71 TB ___________________________ The SR-71-TB V2 by VSkyLabs Flying Lab Project is NOW available! from the X-Plane.Org Store here : SR-71-TB Project by VSKYLABS Your Price: US$39.95 On Sale US$31.96 You Save:$7.99(20%) Requirements X-Plane 12 (not for XP11) Windows, Mac or Linux 8GB VRAM Minimum Download Size: 794 MB Current Version : 2.0 (November 29th 2024) ___________________________ NEWS! by Stephen Dutton' 2nd December 2024 Copyright©2023: 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 Rights Reserved

NEWS! - Chudoba releases LKTB - Brno-Turany Airport, Czech Republic This is another Eastern European airport from Chudoba Design... LKTB - Brno-Turany Airport in the Czech Republic. LKTB - Brno-Tuřany Airport is an international airport located in Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. It serves both passenger and cargo flights and is a key transportation hub in the South Moravian Region. The airport primarily caters to seasonal charter flights and low-cost carriers. As of 2024, Ryanair operates regular flights from Brno to destinations such as London Stansted and Milan Bergamo. The airport also experiences significant general aviation traffic and serves as a base for charter flights to various global destinations. Airlines like Neos, utilizing Boeing 787 aircraft, and Smartwings, operating Boeing 737s, are prominent in offering charter services from this airport. Features: Custom ground with hand-crafted PBR textures Custom terminal buildings High level of detail Buildings with PBR textures Accurate HDR lightning Custom HQ orthophoto Optimized for best performance X-Plane 12 Ready Notable is that in downloading Chudoba scenery, they use a third party system to Authorise and Download the scenery. When you purchase the scenery you are given a Authorisation key and then are directed to the Chudorba Design (Antileak) website. You paste in the authorisation code, then select the LKTB - Brno-Turany Airport scenery, then the site will check your credentials and verify your purchase... then to install you then press "Download" to do the installation of the product. Price for this excellent Czechoslovakian Scenery is currently an amazingly low US12.49! Images are courtesy of Chudoba Design _________________ Yes! - the LKTB - Brno-Turany Airport by Chudoba Design is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : LKTB - Brno-Turany Airport Price is US$12.49 You Save:$7.50(38%) Retail Price:$19.99 Requirements X-Plane 12 Only (not for XP11) Windows, Mac or Linux 8 GB VRAM Recommended Current Version : 1.0 (November 26th 2024) ___________________________ News! by Stephen Dutton 28th November 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - AOA Simulations updates both the F-22A Raptor and V-22 Osprey Coming only a few days after the X-Plane 12 updates for the T-7A Red Hawk and T-6A Texan II. Angle of Attack (AOA) have now updated the F-22A Raptor and V-22 Osprey to the same configuration standard. Meaning converting both aircraft to the latest SASL plugin version in v3.17.3. F-22A Raptor The F-22A Raptor is a fifth-generation fighter jet developed by Lockheed Martin, with contributions from Boeing for certain structural components and avionics integration. It is a key component of the U.S. Air Force’s fleet, known for its exceptional stealth capabilities, agility, and advanced avionics. The F22A is exclusively used by the U.S. Air Force, as export sales are restricted due to concerns over safeguarding its advanced technology. Version 2.1 (November 21st 2024) Updated SASL plugin to version 3.17.3 Fixed GPS D 'direct' function that X-Plane 12.1.2s new G1000 background processes broke. Adapted flight model for X-Plane 12.1.2 Converted left MFD engine N2 displays from digital to analog gauges. Features High quality 3D model for both X-Plane 12 (Fully optimized for XP12) and X-Plane 11 3 models: Air-to-Air, Air-to-Ground and EFT (External Fuel Tanks) Highly accurate 3D exterior model Every door and control surface animated All F-22 unique flight control actions accurately reproduced Every switch and control in the detailed 3D cockpit works Ground equipment 4K PBR textures Beautiful 4K liveries out of the box Smooth and VR-friendly cockpit control manipulators High quality sounds Professional FMOD sound package by SimAcoustics Audible high lift wing rumble and pilot anti G strain sounds when pulling G's Accurate doppler, distance attenuation and flyby effects Active Noise Canceling feature for pilot's helmet Flight model Extremely maneuverable Pitch vectoring engine nozzles Carefree handling to any AOA (Angle Of Attack) Super cruise to Mach 1.8+ without afterburner AOA Simulations “standard” features SASL plug in controls all cockpit displays and aircraft systems Ground, "virtual" and "AI" in-flight refueling capability without having to use drop down menus, load special situations or interrupt your current flight "Roll-to-see" dynamic pilot head camera plug-in "Target Track" plug-in locks pilot camera on AI planes for easy formation flying Functioning Auto GCAS (Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System) Approach Power Compensation autopilot auto-throttle mode All automatic aircraft systems can be disabled with cockpit switches Basic Helmet Mounted Target displays in addition to the F-22 Raptor HUD Other Audible engine start checklist Automated in-flight engine re-start checklist AviTab tablet compatibility 90+ pages flight manual X-PlaneReviews full F-22A Raptor review is here: Aircraft Update Review: AOA F-22 Raptor for X-Plane 12 ____________ V-22 Osprey The V-22 Osprey is a revolutionary tiltrotor aircraft that combines the capabilities of a helicopter and a fixed-wing airplane. It is designed to perform a variety of missions, such as troop transport, medevac, and special operations, with unparalleled speed and range compared to traditional rotary-wing aircraft. The V-22 can operate from aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, or improvised landing zones, the V-22 can carry up to 24 troops (seated) or 20,000 pounds of cargo internally. - New X-Plane 12 only model - MAC native ARM (Rosetta not required) - FMOD sound package - Latest SASL plugin version 3.17.3 Four Osprey models - US Marine Corp MV-22B - USAF SOCOM (Special Operations Command) CV-22B - US Navy CMV-22B COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) - Japan Self Defense Force MV-22J - Each version has its own unique internal (fuel) configuration and external distinguishing features The 3D Model - High quality 3D model with high-resolution, 4K PBR textures - One default US Marine Corp MV-22B livery - Additional liveries available on the X-Plane.org freeware download manager at: Aircraft Skins – Liveries > AOA Simulations > V-22 Osprey - Adjustable electroluminescent IR formation light, including rotor tip lights - Custom particle effects (APU, engine exhaust heat blur) Animations - Fully animated Blade Fold Wing Stow process can be controlled from in or outside the cockpit - Crew entry and ramp/cargo doors fully animated - 3D modeled rear cargo area/troop compartment - Extending/retracting Tilt Rotor Air Air Refueling probe - Emergency escape system blowout cockpit side windows - Extending/retracting under slung cargo hooks for lifting slung loads - Three optional slung loads: cargo crates, water trailer or a Tesla Cyber Truck Cockpit - Fully functional virtual cockpit with > 300 control manipulators. - 4 x semi independent Multi Function Displays with > 29 different page options - All left and right MFD soft key functions are display page dependent - Control Display Unit (CDU) with Engine Instrument Crew Alerting System (EICAS) - Extensive system status, caution and warning display on lower CDU EICAS screen - 5 page CDU System Status layer with sub menus - 11 pilot/copilot CDU sub system control menus that operate independently from each other - Pilot & copilot CDU keyboards; 63 duplicate active keys on each board - Military TACAN channel auto-tune capability - Custom, SASL Lua script based quick load GPS database with 70 preset airfields - Default G1000 integrated for easy flight plan creation and activation - Full VR compatibility - All cockpit displays are drawn by SASL plugin system LUA scripts - All aircraft system operating logic is performed by SASL plugin system LUA code The Flight model - Model developed referencing the 2019 1A-V22AB-NFM-000 - Unique “tilt rotor” flight model - Takeoff and land vertically as a “helicopter” with the engine/nacelles tilted up ~ 90 degrees - Tilt the engine/nacelles forward/down to transition through “tilt rotor” mode to become an “airplane” - To land, tilt the engine/nacelles up from zero to 90 degrees, becoming a helicopter again - Auto and Manual Nacelle Tilt protection modes - Auto and Manual Flap modes Plugins - AOA Simulations R2c (Roll to See) dynamic 3d cockpit pilot pov camera - Target Track, locks pilot pov camera on AI plane for EZ formation flying - In cockpit preflight ground refuel capability - Virtual inflight refueling - TAAR (Tiltrotor Air Air Refueling) from AI planes - Optional AI Flight Engineer to assist the basic pilot/copilot crew - Avi-Tab compatible - Xchecklist compatible Popup Options menu - Initiate complete auto engine start from inside or outside the cockpit - Manage Blade Fold Wing Stow process from MFD or popup menu - Access X-Plane Weight & Balance menu to add external sling loads - Select which version of the model you want to fly - Individually enable or disable plugins Both the TF-22A Raptor and V-22 Osprey-7A Red Hawk and the T-6A Texan ll can be updated via your account on the X-Plane.OrgStore. _______________________ The F-22A Raptor and V-22 Osprey by AOA Simulations are both now available from the X-Plane.Org Store: F-22A Raptor Priced at US$40.00 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 4 GB VRAM Video Card Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 413 MB Current version: 2.1 (November 21st 2024) V-22 Osprey Price at time of writing US$44.00 You Save:$11.00(20%) Retail Price US$55.00 Requirements: X-Plane 12 or 11 Windows , Mac (M1/M2 Supported), Linux 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 409 MB Current version: 2.3 (November 19th 2024) ___________________________ News! by Stephen Dutton 25th November 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - Scenery Updates : Aerosoft updates Vitoria-Foronda XP and Greater Moncton International XP to X-Plane 12 Over the last six months Aerosoft have been quietly updating their catalogue of Airport XP sceneries to X-Plane 12. Here are two more, with Vitoria-Foronda XP and Greater Moncton International XP, in now having been converted to the latest X-Plane standard. Airport Vitoria-Foronda XP Vitoria-Foronda Airport is located in the Basque Country of Spain, near the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz. It is an important regional airport and a key logistics hub, especially for cargo operations. LEVT is located approximately 8 km north of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of the Álava province. Primarily the airport serves cargo traffic, but also handles passenger flights (mostly LCC like Ryanair), and major cargo carriers such as DHL and UPS operate from the airport, making it one of Spain’s busiest hub cargo airports. Features: 750 square kilometers of 1 meter per pixel ortho-imagery, with dynamic snow when the temperature is below 0 degrees 30 cm per pixel orthoimagery inside the airport 5-10 cm per pixel hand-crafted orthoimagery in the car parkings PBR implementation (Buildings and ground textures) High-resolution building textures with baked in ambient occlusion (and PBR) Custom vegetation for the entire ortho 3D vegetation inside the airport itself Custom autogen for the villages of Estarrona, Gereña, and Antezana de Foronda Custom ground service vehicles (SAM AirportVehicles required) Custom static aircrafts matching the real traffic Animated Marshaller (SAM Plugin required) Seasonal textures (XP11: SAM Seasons, XP12: native XP12 seasons) Custom weather effects New in the XP12 version: Standalone, fully customized XP12 version Revised lighting Ground textures now including PBR reflections and normal maps Revised orthophoto, color optimized for XP12, including autumn/winter version and normal map Reworked vegetation placement (new volumetric grass) XP12 3D vegetation for forests, trees and bushes for seamless integration into the environment Weather effects for wet, snow and ice Full support for native XP12 seasons, with no other add-ons or plugins Reworked autogen and street placement (revised static aircrafts) ____________ Greater Moncton International XP Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport is a key airport serving southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. Situated near the city of Moncton and provides both passenger and cargo services. The airport is located in Dieppe, about 8 km east of downtown Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Created by Stairport Sceneries, the scenery features a highly detailed recreation of the airport with a custom colored orthophoto and seasonal textures. Custom taxiway signage, as well as custom approach and taxiway lights that provides the final touch. Features: Detailed recreation of the real Greater Moncton Airport 4K PBR textures for objects and ground Custom approach and taxi lights and signs Custom static aircrafts reflecting common real-world traffic Custom colored orthophoto including height effect Animated jetways (SAM plugin required) Animated service vehicles (SAM AirportVehicles required) Custom Follow Me vehicle (SAM FollowMe required) Seasonal textures (XP11: SAM Seasons, XP12: native XP12 seasons) Special winter animations like engine covers on static aircrafts and taxi light flag markers New in the XP12 version: Standalone, fully customized XP12 version Revised lighting Ground textures now including PBR reflections and normal maps Revised orthophoto, color optimized for XP12, including autumn/winter version and normal map Reworked vegetation placement (new volumetric grass) XP12 3D vegetation for forests, trees and bushes for seamless integration into the environment Weather effects for wet, snow and ice Full support for native XP12 seasons, with no other add-ons or plugins Reworked autogen and street placement (revised static aircrafts) Notable is that you have to use the "Aerosoft One" application to install either or both Aerosoft "Airport" XP12 sceneries... Installation of either airport for XP12 is done through the Aerosoft one installer: Aerosoft One Universal After you have installed Aerosoft One, click on ENTER PRODUCT KEY (under the Library Tab) Then enter the Serial Number provided in this order. This will give you the option to download the airport. Note the different X-Plane 11 and X-Plane 12 installations. Both Vitoria-Foronda XP and Greater Moncton International XP can now be updated via your account on the X-Plane.OrgStore. _______________________ Vitoria-Foronda XP and Greater Moncton International XP by Aerosoft are both now available from the X-Plane.Org Store: Vitoria-Foronda XP Priced at US$24.99 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 8 GB VRAM or higher is recommended Installation done via Aerosoft One Current version : 1.0 XP12 (November 21st 2024) Greater Moncton International XP Price at time of writing US$17.99 Requirements: X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac and Linux 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Installation done via Aerosoft One Current version: 1.0 XP12 (November 21st 2024) ___________________________ News! by Stephen Dutton 22nd November 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - AOA Simulations updates both the T-7A Red Hawk and T-6A Texan II AOA (Angle of Attack) Simulations have done a simultaneous update for both the T-7A Red Hawk and T-6A Texan ll. These are not big updates per se, and mostly released to convert both aircraft to the latest SASL plugin version to v3.17.3. T-7 Red Hawk The Boeing/Saab T-7 Red Hawk, originally known as the Boeing T-X, is an American/Swedish advanced jet trainer developed by Boeing Defense, Space & Security in partnership with Saab Group. It was selected on 27 September 2018 by the United States Air Force (USAF) as the winner of the T-X program to replace the Northrop T-38 Talon. There is no version number for the T-7A, it is just noted as "19th November 2024" release. Changelog includes; Updated SASL plugin to version 3.17.3 Fixed GPS D' direct' function that X-Plane 12.new G1000 background processes broke. Adapted flight model for X-Plane 12.1.2 Low speed handling improvements. Autopilot airpseed, altitude and vertical speed “step” improvements. Improved APC (Approach Power Compensation) lua code. Added “revision mode” to backup and primary cockpit displays when the HUD is switched OFF. Added Hot Brake status displays now that X-Plane 12.1.2 has functioning brake temp data refs. X-PlaneReviews full T-7A review is here: Aircraft Review : T-7A Red Hawk X-Plane 12 by Angle of Attack _____________ T-6A Texan ll The T-6A Texan II is a single-engine, two-seat primary trainer aircraft designed for military pilot training. Manufactured by Beechcraft Defense Company, a subsidiary of Textron Aviation, the T-6A is widely used by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and several allied nations for undergraduate pilot training programs. The T-6A is based on the Swiss Pilatus PC-9 but modified for U.S. military requirements, including avionics and ejection systems. Version 2.3 XP12 (November 19th 2024) - Updated SASL plugin to version 3.17.3 - Fixed GPS D function that X-Plane 12.1.2 new G1000 background processes broke. - Adapted flight model for X-Plane 12.1.2 - Fixed SASL plugin/LUA script fuel gauge bug. Fuel quantity gauge; left needle reading from right fuel tank quantity. Notable also is an earlierT-6A v2.2 Update on the 3rd October 2024 - GPS fix - Custom PT6A engine right exhaust heat blur. X-Plane by default only has 1 exhaust heat blur per engine whereas the PT6A engine has two exhaust stacks, so we had to add the second exhaust blur as a custom particle effect. - We updated the two default liveries with exhaust stains on the right side of the aircraft nose and above the right wings as seen on real T-6As. The rest of the liveries will be updated and one at a time and posted on the freeware download manager when they are ready. X-PlaneReviews full T-6A review is here: Aircraft Review: AOASimulations-T6A Texan II X-Plane 12 Both the T-7A Red Hawk and the T-6A Texan ll can be updated via your account on the X-Plane.OrgStore. _______________________ The T-7A Red Hawk XP12 and T-6A Texan ll by AOA Simulations are both now available from the X-Plane.Org Store: T-7A Red Hawk XP12 Priced at US$36.00 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 (both versions included) 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 419 MB Current version: XP12 2.0 (November 19th 2024) Advanced Features SASL 3.16.1 based plug-in system “Roll to See” dynamic pilot POV camera option (non-VR mode) points pilot camera based on pitch, roll and G forces "Target Track" points, locks and follows AI planes with pilot camera Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System Fly from forward or aft cockpits as student or instructor "Virtual" ground and In-Flight Refueling capability Track-IR and VR compatible AviTab tablet integration (Download AviTab plugin separately) Cockpit based on preliminary assessment of prototype T-X screen shots Head Up Display Up Front 32 points touch screen control and display panel Large format glass panel with embedded G1000 color moving map Multiple sub panel page options Dedicated engine data display T-6A Texan II Price at time of writing US$40.00 Requirements: X-Plane 12 or 11 Windows , Mac (M1/M2 Supported), Linux 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 409 MB Current version: 2.3 (November 19th 2024) 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. ___________________________ News! by Stephen Dutton 20th November 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - Scenery Released : Fly2High releases KSAV - Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport is a commercial and military-use airport in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Savannah/Hilton Head International provides travelers with access to Savannah, Georgia, and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, as well as neighboring areas including Bluffton and Beaufort, South Carolina and the Golden Isles region of Coastal Georgia. Savannah/Hilton Head International is located seven nautical miles 8 miles (13 km) northwest of the Savannah Historic District. The airport's passenger terminal is directly accessible to Interstate 95 between Savannah and the suburban city of Pooler. Its previous names include Savannah International Airport, Travis Field and Chatham Field. Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, and a subsidiary of General Dynamics is also based here at Savannah/Hilton. Fly2High are a Vietnamese based development house, that has been primarily a FlightSimulator developer. Savannah/Hilton Head is their first foray into the X-Plane Simulator. They have had great success in the FS market for high quality sceneries, so this will be an interesting look at the shift to a new Simulation platform. Features Include 3d vegetation Realistic grunge/dirt/wear and tear Realistic ground textures Handplaced night lighting XP 12/11 version both included Handplaced vegetation around the vicinity of the airport Tower/terminal interior modeled modeled graves on runway Handplaced cars Much more! This is a very expansive scenery at a great discount price of only US$16.00, pick up a great investment now... Images are courtesy of Fly2High _______________________________ KSAV - Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport by Fly2High is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here: KSAV - Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport Price is only US$16.99 You Save:$3.00(15%) Regular price is US19.99 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 8GB + VRAM Recommended Download Size : 2.4 GB Current version : 1.0 (Nov 19th 2024) ___________________________ News! by Stephen Dutton 20th November 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - Laminar Research releases X-Plane 12.1.3 beta Laminar Research have released a new version of X-Plane in v12.1.3 in Beta form. The focus of this update is on the ATC (Airtraffic Control) with a load of ATC fixes and the important SID/STAR routing. A great change is the Separate Sound devices for aircraft AUDIO and ATC audio, as it now allows you to have aircraft sounds on the desk speakers, and also the ATC on your headphones! Loads of Weather improvements (NEXRAD recalibration, METAR/GRIB rework, altitude jump fix) and new small scenery addition in KJRB Downtown Manhattan Heliport. The inclusion now of a X-Plane Identity (which a new login system for X-Plane and a stepping stone to the XP Store), some A330 Autopilot improvements and UI (User Interface) changes ATC System Improved support for VFR flying, including flight following and controller hand-over Support for SIDs and STARs in IFR flights Sounds Assign different output devices for sounds and radio Custom Airports Downtown Manhattan Heliport (KJRB) Weather Altitude and pressure changes will no longer happen quickly and violently (XPD-15826) Creation of cloud voxels in real-weather mode no longer tries to sample outside the available data Creation of cloud voxels no longer incorrectly blends different clouds together by taking the maximum value from both METAR winds with altitudes midway between standard wind altitude levels are no longer off-heading and reduced velocity Fix data-out for “ISA temperature”, Surface, FL140 and FL340 were actually showing 0 ft, 1772 ft and 3243 ft MSL GRIB data was being discarded near METAR data locations METAR data will no longer have any effect on the tropopause Fade out METAR temperature curve to maximum METAR reporting altitude to avoid altering upper atmosphere temperatures Make coverage noise pattern change sensitive to the weather seed Reset weather lat / lon and random seed when moving the aircraft in static-weather mode, static weather cloud patterns should change if you move the aircraft to a new part of the world CAVOK / SKC etc. in METAR reports will clear cloud as expected Fix cloud discontinuity crossing the dateline Improved NEXRAD rendering to be more accurate and display less red / magenta areas (XPD-16042) Processing real weather in areas with many METAR should use less CPU time New option “Maps show weather details as METAR” in settings to show weather conditions as METAR on the map Better parsing of METAR data, especially of “no data” groups in automated METAR Add explicit no-cloud layer below the lowest METAR cloud layer. Try to sanitise base/tops after blending individual cloud types in overdraw mode Change handling of zero-thickness GRIB clouds – fixes vertically smeared cirrus. ATIS not longer reports clouds after the first overcast layer or after 10.000 ft ATIS of an airport will include the transition level when appropriate Support AWOS at helipad/seaplane only airports Fixes and Enhancements General VRAM optimisations for non DDS textures Updated the default navigation data to AIRAC 2306. Many thanks to our friends at Navigraph for providing us with the data. Fixed stutters in the simulation when showing UI elements such as the menu bar (XPD-16018) Performance improvements when loading .acf files Wrong DME distance is displayed if the VORDME has been selected on the map and a new scenery tile has been loaded X-Plane 11 lights are restored to their previous brightness during the day. These lights may be used on scenery, third-party objects and vehicles, not just X-Plane 11 aircraft Floating VR windows retain their positions when they’re re-opened, and move relative to the pilot’s seat when changing aircraft Theses fixes gave me a load of scenery errors? (VRAM optimisations for non DDS textures), and the default navigation data has been updated, to June 2023. ATC Add bindable command for toggling taxi guidance arrows Improved the performance in finding ATIS and controllers near the user’s aircraft Puerto Rico and Alaska belong to the United States airspace in X-Plane Changed for Canada the region to ICAO phrases and inHg pressure unit settings Improved the implementation around RVR, issued when needed and on request when a runway is assigned Hold sequencing has been improved Implemented a smoother ground to tower handoff when approaching the active runway Transition altitudes are no longer rounded to the nearest 500 ft, as some regions use meters Taxi routes will look at other aircraft’s planned routes to try and avoid sending aircraft both ways on the same taxiway, were any other route is possible In case some pilots get off course during a flight, we improved the off course detection and ATC will contact them with a friendly reminder Use explicit reminder the first time an altitude warning is issued followed by an ‘expedite’ thereafter Weather related vs. normal overnight airport closures will be handled differently now ATC will consider all runways in a flow when aircraft specific requirements could not be met and not just the appropriate arrival / departure runways Improved generation of runway flows for airports with only parallel runways and no flows defined Always include a long runway in generated flows if it looks like it’s needed ATC will tell you the expect approach or expect runway Allow request for a different parking spot when one is already allocated ATC system is aware of the aircraft purpose when assigning a parking position Added a new ATC request to shutdown the engines Localised phrases for radio check Localised greetings for non-US controllers Waypoint names are spoken wherever possible Give the altitude for the initial segment when requesting a landing from a regional controller Disable ATC auto tune for COM1 as soon as the user changes the frequency manually The dataref "sim/atc/atis_enabled" to mute ATIS can be used per frame again (XPD-15850) A three-letter airline identifier set as part of a livery is now considered when ATC assigns a parking spot Don’t allow a radio check to an AWOS station Allow immediate ‘Cross runway…’ call after handoff to tower if possible Allow radio check anywhere and not just on ground before contacting ATC Add ‘Have Information’ if the pilot has listened to the full ATIS message Transition Altitude and Transition Levels are properly supported now. We also support airport and controller specific transitions. It is possible to report a failed transponder. ATC will afterwards request regular position reports. Previously, it was possible to request a diversion during cruise only. Now it is possible to even request if during approach and landing, but only the diversion to a nearby airport. It is possible to request an alternative runway for arrival and departure (XPD-14062) Improved ATC instructions when landing on Aircraft carriers (XPD-14189) Improved ATC instructions when doing a go-around Improved calculation of ATC transmission strength depending on your location ATIS and radio calls are changed for airports which are closed due only to time restrictions in a flow – i.e. a typical small airport which is only staffed during business hours. When out-of-hours, there will be no response by radio and ATIS, if it exists, will be replaced with AWOS which will include a phrase saying which controller to contact to clear a flight plan. Normal comms still happen during open hours, even if the airport is closed due to other restrictions. ATIS letter change broadcasts should happen in FAA regions only Autogenerated runway flows will now include a long runway in all flows, where a particular flow only has a short or soft-surface runway where a longer runway exists. AI Aircraft Allow GA, rotary, gliders and VTOL AI to use grass / gravel / dirt and lakebed runways Added much more variation of the initial altitudes Added a minimum turnaround time at airports AI aircraft will set the transponder if needed AI Aircraft use now the correct speed for wind corrections AI Aircraft use the correct external lights logic (beacon, strobe lights, …) AI will switch on anti-ice in icing conditions AI aircraft will descend on the glide-slope between calling ‘established’ and getting landing clearance AI will make turns autonomously even if ATC is talking, on procedure segments which require no verbal instructions Improved trans-polar flights Holding aircraft can block departing aircraft if a teardrop turn is used after backtrack. Previously 180 degree turns were done to the side of the main path, but if a hold-short was close to the end of the runway it would be possible for waiting aircraft to be close enough to the turning aircraft that it was unable to complete the turn. Now the turn will be generated after checking for a hard surface on each side of the runway, where a turning area or access point exists, and will fall back on a symmetrical teardrop where needed. AI Aircraft were not consistently being refuelled before departing an airport and may not have received enough fuel. AI will now periodically switch fuel tanks while the engines are running to keep balance. They will also switch tanks when fuel gets low or runs out in a particular tank. AI Aircraft will initiate go-around if they have not heard from tower in time. Tower will initiate go-around earlier if it becomes clear that two arriving aircraft will conflict instead of waiting for the last minute. It will also initiate go-around for approaching aircraft which get too close. In both cases the aircraft redirected will be the furthest aircraft instead of the last to reach the runway. Several issues with detecting backtracking aircraft both on arrival and departure have been fixed. AI Aircraft are now aware of icing conditions and will enable anti-ice features when needed X-Plane Identity Added option to create an account and link your current license to it The account is shown on the top right of your "Main Menu" page Flight Configuration New option to filter ramps suitable for the currently selected aircraft in the airport view and display additional ramp information New option to filter airports suitable for the currently selected aircraft Map Display active runways for airports Display parking ramps and taxiway lines on the map when you zoom in to an airport Added checkbox on map to disable taxiway lines when zoomed very close New option “Maps show weather details as METAR” in settings to show weather conditions as METAR on the map Display IDs for ILS, GPS and GLS approaches to better distinguish them when multiple approaches of the same type and the same runway are available Active runways are now shown in green (grey are non-active), embedded Taxi-routes can now also be toggled ON/OFF Parking ramp selections now have stand data in, name, type, purpose, size class and equipment. Aircraft Added the new command sim/flight_controls/speed_brakes_arm_toggle to arm/disarm the speed brakes The font of the new HUD will not scale anymore regardless of the selected font size in the General Settings Cirrus Vision SF50 Fixed the fuel capacity and the display of it on the G1000 (XPD-15955) Cessna Citation X Using full reverse thrust will no longer trigger a takeoff warning (XPD-15680) The performance calculation of the FMS will no longer use hardcoded values for the number of passengers, available flap settings, etc. All those values are taken from the acf file or the performance data instead to allow the integration of the FMS in other planes. Added a new dataref called "sim/cockpit2/engine/indicators/N1_fadec_arc" for the FADEC N1 target Plane Maker Plane Maker no longer crashes with an out of VRAM error when loading aircraft with large texture files (XPD-16061) Added a scrollbar in the object list if needed (XPD-16105) Local Web API It is now possible to unsubscribe from multiple datarefs or by using the keyword “all” (XPD-16067) SDK XPLMPlayPCMOnBus API should now always call the sound-complete callback on the main thread (XPD-15907) Linux Because of some dependency issues we had to drop support for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Please consider updating to a newer release of Ubuntu if you are still on version 20.04 LTS. It ships with quite a few outdated libraries. In order to run X-Plane 12.1.3 make sure you have "libwebkit2gtk-4.1.0" installed. Zink has been disabled for Linux users for the time being. You can still enforce Zink by running X-Plane with the command line parameter "--zink". We expect to get Zink support back during the beta phase. You can update to X-Plane v12.1.3 now via the built in X-Plane Installer application, just select "Update X-Plane" and make sure the "beta" selection box is ticked. I'm not expecting v12.1.3 to be a long beta, running only a few weeks before going RC (Release Candidate), then the next step release of v12.2.0. Will it be released before Christmas or After in 2025? pick your choice, my bet is before Christmas. ___________________________ NEWS! by Stephen Dutton 19th November 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - Aircraft Updated : F-19 Stealth Fighter v1.4 by vSkyLabs vSkyLabs have updated the F-19 Stealth Fighter to version v1.4. In 1986, as speculation about Lockheed’s Northrop built what it called the YF-17 technology demonstrator to compete with General Dynamics’ YF-16 in the lightweight fighter program. When the F-16 won, the U.S. Navy hired Northrop to base the Navy’s next fighter on the -17, with the result designated F-18. Testors (model kits) assumed that in order to deflect radar waves, the the next F-19 would be sleek and streamlined and would somewhat resemble Lockheed’s other-worldly SR-71. This VSKYLABS 'Test-Pilot' F-19 Stealth Fighter Project is an Educational/Research based development effort that "brings to life" and realizes the hypothetical 1980's Testor's F-19 concept in the most advanced flight simulation environment up to date in X-Plane 12 by Laminar Research. The simulated VSKYLABS F-19 it is not an 'arcade' aircraft...nor a 'generic jet fighter' that only looks like the F-19 externally, it comes with extensive, professional real-world experience and knowledge of jet-fighters design, systems, performance, handling and operation were involved in the making of the VSKYLABS F-19. The result uncovers a scientific, graceful, powerful aircraft that holds a few weaknesses as well... just like any other *real* jet fighter, what makes flying a true-to-life and fascinating experience, especially when exploring the flight envelope and its performance characteristics. PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS VSKYLABS 'Cockpit-Builders Heaven Layer': Allows assigning all aircraft switches, knobs, levers, and interactions in a designated, uncluttered section in the X-Plane 12 assignment screen. Advanced concept aircraft simulation, including detailed, fully functional 3-d cockpit environment with realistic, working systems. Extensive, professional real-world experience and knowledge of jet-fighters design, systems, performance, handling and operation were involved in the making of the VSKYLABS F-19. Designed for X-Plane 12 cutting edge flight model environment and presents superb flight dynamics with presumably authentic performance and flight handling characteristics for the hypothetical F-19 aircraft. Developed for VR: Development was tailored specifically for VR, and optimized for 2D usage. Engineered and designed as a genuine, default X-Plane 12 aircraft. The VSKYLABS projects are practically show-casing X-Plane, as they are stretching X-Plane default features, systems and flight model to its limits without any dependencies on complementary plugins or software...delivering a very robust simulation model, having maximum compatibility with the ever evolving X-Plane flight simulator. Comprehensive FMOD sounds for 'As Real As It Gets' experience! Perfect challenge for beginner and expert pilots: Provides a very wide flight envelope with comfortable control from ~140 knots to Mach 1.1. Autoupdater based on the Skunkcrafts autoupdater - all updates are being pushed smoothly without the need to re-download the entire base package (base package will be updated every once in a while to minimize the gap). This v1.4 is a Major Update Release. Flight Dynamics - Flight model 'Block 1.4' update: Design improvements for aircraft canard system and empty CG, to include movable canards for increasing pitch management and precision in the low-mid AOA range. This improves takeoff and landing handling in the pitch axis. Thrust vectoring simulation method has changed, now simulating more accurately the limited-thrust vectoring behavior of the elevator, which is most effective in the elevator-up position, and highly reduced in the elevator-down position (the thrust is positioned above the elevator surface, which results in decreased elevator-down thrust vectoring effect). This is now being simulated more accurately, improving aircraft handling in the pitch axis especially during low-speed/high power setting. VSKYLABS Cockpit-Builders Heaven was implemented, allowing the assignments of all aircraft switches, knobs, levers, and interactions in a designated, uncluttered section in the X-Plane 12 assignment screen. To use it for key/button assignments, simply type the name of the aircraft in the search bar and select your assignment. Systems - Update to Fire Detection and Extinguisher system: When arming the extinguisher system for the selected engine, the fire-warning light will be lit (in addition to the 'Ready/Disch'), indicating that the given engine is 'armed'. There is now option to disarm the extinguisher for the selected engine by depressing the 'Fire' warning light. VSKYLABS F-19 Stealth Fighter Specifications: Country of Origin: USA. Type: Single-seat shipboard and shore-based strike stealth aircraft. Power Plant: Two 11,000 lb st dry and 17,700 lbs st afterburner General Electric F404-GE-100A turbofans. Dimensions: Span, 31 ft 5.4 in; length, 62 ft 3 in; height, 12 ft, 10 in. Performance: (F404-GE-100A) Max speed 750 mph, or Mach 0.99 at sea level ; 655 mph, or Mach 0.99 at 38,000 feet; Max speed Mach 1.2; Service ceiling, 53,000 ft; ferry range (with full internal fuel load, cruise at 28,000 ft, Mach 0.85), 1400 miles. Combat radius (air-to-ground low altitude mission), 550 miles (non-afterburner). Weights: Operational empty, 24,000 lbs; Maximum internal fuel, 14,000 lbs; Max takeoff, 41,300 lbs. Armament: Three internal weapon bays designed specifically to carry two AIM-9X Sidewinder AAMs and a single AGM-158A JASSM low observable standoff air-launched cruise missile. Overall weapon bays carry-weight, 190 lbs*2 + 2150 lbs (max 2600 lbs.). Design by VSKYLABS © 2022 Support forum for the F-19 by VSKYLABS Images are courtesy of vSkyLabs... The F-19 Stealth Fighter Project v1.4 by vSkyLabs is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore, or update via the Skunkcrafts Updater. ___________________________ Yes! - F-19 Stealth Fighter by vSkyLabs is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : VSKYLABS F-19 Stealth Fighter Current Price is US$26.36 You Save $6.59(20%) Retail Price is US$32.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 - Not compatible with X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Current version: 1.4 (November 15th 2024) ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 18th November 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - New Airport Released : LFNC - Mont-Dauphin Saint-Crépin, France by FSX3D This is another Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region airport in France by FSX3D... Mont-Dauphin Saint-Crépin Airport (LFNC) is a small general aviation airport located in the Hautes-Alpes department, southeastern France. Nestled in a picturesque valley near the town of Saint-Crépin, the airport primarily serves private aviation, gliders, and light aircraft enthusiasts. Its location in the Alps makes it popular among pilots seeking a scenic flying experience. Elevated 905 meters (2,969 feet) above sea level, it provides stunning views of the surrounding Alpine terrain. The airport is surrounded by the dramatic peaks of the Alps, requiring skilled approaches and departures. Pilots must consider elevation, weather, and the possibility of downdrafts in the region. Features: Ultra detailed car parks, taxiways and track PBR on all objects Ambient occlusion (Objects and ground) Wet track effects Dynamic lighting Compatibility Ortho4XP Compatibility AutoOrtho HD photorealistic ground South-Est Z17 (Ortho4XP 1.40) Autogen (Houses,Lights,Cars) Again another cheap nifty French scenery, which are all great value, and now there are quite a few of these sceneries from FSX3D to collect, if you are flying around France. Images are courtesy of FSX3D _______________________________ LFNC - Mont-Dauphin Saint-Crépin, France by FSX3D is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here: LFNC - Mont-Dauphin Saint-Crépin, France Price is US$12.99 Requirements X-Plane 12 (not for XP11) Windows, Mac or Linux 8 GB VRAM Minimum Download Size: 485 MB Current version : 1.0 (Nov 14th 2024) ___________________________ News! by Stephen Dutton 18th November 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - X-Hangar updates de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo v12.1.1 The DHC-5 Buffalo is a twin-engine, short takeoff and landing (STOL) tactical transport aircraft designed by De Havilland Canada in the 1960s. It was developed as an advanced version of the DHC-4 Caribou with upgraded engines and increased capabilities, primarily for military use. The aircraft has extraordinary STOL performance and is able to take off in distances much shorter than even most light aircraft can manage. This is an update to v12.1.1. from X-Hangar. The focus here are the new normal textures for the exterior (X-Plane 12), and new XP12 dynamic exterior lights, and you should now see them working both day and night. The autopilot power switch now works, you can now also yoke steer with the mouse and finally there was some flight dynamic tweaking. Changelog v1.1 Fixed the autopilot power switch. the AP should now function when clicking on the switch. New normals for the exterior Steerable yoke with the mouse New exterior lights for v12. you should now see them working both day and night Minor flight tweaking for v12.1.1 Dominic Smith's excellent DHC-Buffalo X-PlaneReviews review is here: Aircraft Review: de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo by X-Hangar _______________________ The de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo by X-Hangar is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here: de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo Priced at US$22.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 8 GB VRAM Minimum Download Size: 311 Mb Last updated November 14th 2024 Features For both X-Plane 12 and 11 3D cockpit VR cockpit Rain and wipers Opening windows Opening doors Opening ramp Yoke hides with keyboard key or press of a button on the panel Steerable yoke in both 3d and VR Pilot figures Passenger figures Static models Chocks and remove before flight flags Menu to hide co-pilot and other options Two different loads: Passenger or Cargo Cargo or passenger load displays according to load (more with more weight and less with less weight) Many international liveries Layers for painting your own livery Garmin 540 GPS with pop out or press buttons Autopilot Century 41 Checklist in .txt format to use in the Sim User manual in .pdf format to help fly in X-Plane FSE file included to fly Flight Sim Economy ____________ NEWS! by Stephen Dutton 18th November 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - Toliss updates the Airbus A320 NEO to v1.1 Soon after a new ToLiss release, in this case the excellent Airbus A330 NEO. Then a lot of the features in that new release then filter down to the previously released aircraft. This is the v1.1 update for the A320 NEO. There are a lot of new features in this update, covering; Hydraulic improvement package, MCDU improvement package, ECAM improvement package, FMGS (Flight Management and Guidance System) improvement package, New failure modes and a Visual improvement package. The full v1.1 changelog list is below... You can use the Skunkcraft updater to update the ToLiss Airbus A30 NEO, quickly and easily to v1.1. New features: Hydraulic improvement package: . Added simulation of trapped hydraulic fluid in asymmetric actuators such as landing gear or spoiler actuators. . Fixed the PTU overheat when ENG1 is failed. MCDU improvement package: . CLR command is now indented in scratchpad as in real life . DIR TO page prefills the RADIAL IN on the DIR TO page as required ECAM improvement package: . Overspeed warning now triggers based on actual flap/slat position and not lever position (PFD barber pole is still lever position driven as in real life.) . Removed duplication of system titles if the same system shows multiple subsequent rows of ECAM messages. . Weight display logic for SD: Prior to engine start, the dashes are now cyan. Weights now only show after engine start, like in real life. . Status page improvement: Approach procedures for hydraulic faults . Rework of the ECAM messages for electrical bus failures to represent a newer FWC standard FMGS improvement package: . Added possibility to use Airport ICAO codes as waypoints . Bug fixes for the path computation leading to an overall much stabler path computation in complex procedures. . Empty flight plan shows as PPOS / Discon rather than just "End of flpn" and can be built up from there. . VIA selection is now automatic, if there is exactly one VIA that matches the selected FINAL and STAR. . Constraints of first waypoint in STAR are not dropped anymore. New failure modes: . Slow and rapid decompression . THS jam. . Cargo smoke, including latched closure of the isolation valves . Added high lift failures, including loss of SFCC channels and slats/flaps lock . Windshears with correct REAC W/S detection and indication. Visual improvement package: . Added AoA Vanes to fuselage model . Fixed the tiller textures . Animated the flap lever guard . Correct the eye reference ball colors and location . Fixed text overlaps on the overhead panel - Added new Circuit breakers (for high lift, air conditioning packs, ...) bringing the total to 240 - Added pitch influence to the RADALT value, so that the RADALT decreases when you pitch up (like IRL) - Added limitation with filtering to the maximum number of waypoints shown on ND when WPT overlay selected. - Quick starts for engine and APU are now available on the Joystick/Actions tab. - Mapped flight number to x-plane dataref "sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/flight_id" for third party plugin interfacing. - Improved Master Warning flashing frequency. - Terrain on ND drawing around the airport is now inhibited for areas of same elevation as the airport. Bug fixes: - Fixed issue with the interaction between the CLR button and the status page - Fixed issue with status page overflow. - The emergency generator now consumes hydraulic fluid. - The magnetic variation model now updates for the current year. - Fixed FMA alignment of armed modes and issue with empty boxes - Extended the permissible value range for FCU speed window to 399kts and Mach 0.99 like in real life - Extended the permissible value range for FCU altitude window to 49000ft like in real life - ISI startup correction: QNH is also visible during ISI startup; moved QNH to right location. - Removed CHG CODE field for other phases than PREFLIGHT or DONE. - Improved string termination on MCDU string datarefs. - Fixed an issue with SID route in alternate plan on first alternate plan programming. - Fixed an issue with waypoints preceded by a discon where the outgoing leg is of the CI/CD/CR/CA or VI/VR/VD type. - Fixed FMA indication for managed descent on profile with significantly too slow speed. - Fixed behaviour of the FCU HDG managed dot when a managed mode (NAV, LOC, APPR) is armed. - Fixed shape of the ADF2 needle on the ND. - Removed GS indication on ND, when the associated ADIRU is OFF or invalid. - Made the deceleration when descending through the SPD LIM altitude smoother. - Fixed issue with the beta target leading to excessive rudder deflection and spoiler extension on the wrong side. - Lots of other bug fixes (too many to list here) The full X-PlaneReviews release review is here: Aircraft Review : Airbus A320-271N NEO by ToLiSS _____________________ Yes! the Airbus A320 NEO v1.1 by ToLiSS is NOW currently available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Airbus A320 NEO Price is US$89.99 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows , Mac (including M1/M2/M3) )or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Not for commercial use. For any commercial use enquiries, please contact [email protected] Download Size: 792 MB Version 1.1 (November 13th 2024) NEWS! by Stephen Dutton 18th November 2024 Copyright©2024: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved