Stephen

NEWS! - Aircraft Update : He-162 Project v3.0 - VSKYLABS 'Test-Pilot' Series Released in July 2020. This is another project aircraft from vSkyLabs, called the He-162 Project. Now Updated to v3.0 and is also X-Plane 12 compliant. The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger (German, "People's Fighter") was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. Developed under the Emergency Fighter Program, it was designed and built quickly and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and also prioritised for other aircraft. Volksjäger was the Reich Air Ministry's official name for the government design program competition won by the He 162 design. Other names given to the plane include Salamander, which was the codename of its wing-construction program, and Spatz ("Sparrow"), which was the name given to the plane by the Heinkel aviation firm. The aircraft was notable for its small size; although almost the same length as a Bf 109, its wing was much shorter at 7.2 metres (24 ft) vs. 9.9 metres (32 ft) for the 109. Most distinctive was its top-mounted engine, which combined with the aircraft's ground-hugging landing gear allowed the engine to be easily accessed for maintenance. The vSkylab philosophy is that you are purchasing an ongoing project, so any aircraft you purchase is not fully completed or is completed to 100%, that is the deal you sign up for to get access to the aircraft and all the development is free and ongoing throughout the X-Plane 12 version. These projects are under constant development: the development road-map is including flight model refinements, enhanced systems depth, additional liveries and other improvements. Project's Main Features: VSKYLABS 'Test-Pilot' project Highly defined flight dynamics model of the He-162 First Generation Jet-Fighter Comprehensive damage simulation Built around the powerful, native X-Plane's 'Experimental Flight Model' environment. Highly detailed model of the Heinkel He-162 aircraft. Comprehensive manual - 50 pages booklet Systems simulation: All core systems of the He-162 are modeled Fully functional VR (Virtual Reality) Ready Multi-Layer FMOD sound pack Auto-Updates and Support Highly responsive VSKYLABS support forums XP12 - v3.0 (22nd February 2023) Flight model deep validation to fall in line with the latest XP12 flight model updates (phase #1/2). Variable-area Nozzle performance enhancements (thrust, temperatures, speeds, altitudes). Landing gears physics overhauled. Weight and balance tune-up due latest XP12 aerodynamics updates. PBR rework for interior/exterior (to fall in line with the new XP12 rendering and lighting updates). Fix to 'aircraft is being initiated with nose-up attitude'. Engine RPM tuneup for ground idle. New 3-d modeling of the Revi-16B sight and internal 'projected' mechanism. New 3-d modeling of canopy air-vents. 3-d modeling fixes and improvements, including textures, for throttle quadrant, and cockpit panel. Fix for active gyro sounds in cold and dark, without electrical power. Notable was that the Skunkcraft's updater was added in November 2022 This aircraft is also available for X-Plane 11 (obviously with out the dynamics and effects of X-Plane 12) Images are courtesy of vSkyLabs... The He-162 Project v3.0 by vSkyLabs is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore _____________________________________ Yes! - the He-162 v3.0 Project by vSkyLabs is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : He-162 Project Price is US$25.00 (Currently on sale for only US12.50!) Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Current version: 3.0 (February 22nd 2023) ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 24th January 2023 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! Updated - New Environmental tool VisualXP Ultimate by SimAdditions This NEWS! item has been updated to cover the new options of package pricing versions, as set out below. Personally I'm not attracted to applications or certainly the Lua app, that have interaction with the basic default X-Plane engine, don't get me started on the hundreds of different shader versions that we had to toil through as everyone had their own perspective on how X-Plane should look... I had hoped with the release of X-Plane 12 and it's new complete environmental engine, those days would be in the past, obviously not. I'm not completely honest here. I used throughout the X-Plane 11 run, the Dark Skies xEnviro, oddly not for it's clouds, but for the interface that allowed you to tune X-Plane's look and feel. Odd is the fact that you can change the look of X-Plane via you Graphics Card (mine is Nvidia), but that only changes your monitor look and feel, and not actually the Simulator's. But with xEnviro you could actually do this management aspect and that is what is important here. Struggling with dark images coming out of X-Plane 12, I found I couldn't adjust them internally, so I missed that xEnviro interface, being honest I don't miss the huge xEnviro sucking down of my framerate either. I had hoped that X-Plane 12 would have put all that in the past? But it didn't, and I struggled with the lighting in X-Plane 12, notable is the fact that X-Plane 12 is still in reality a working beta, but I did miss the interaction I had with xEnviro.... which brings us to this new environmental tool from SimAdditions. VisualXP is a tool that will enhance your X-Plane Atmosphere, Clouds, Water, and Scenery(Lights and Shadow) visually. The Atmosphere feature will enhance the Sun lighting, Ambient lighting, Scattering color temperature, Sky colors, Fog density, Aerosol, Visibility range, Horizon scattering, and Zenith scattering. The Clouds feature can control the cloud formations, clouds visibility range, clouds brightness, clouds density, thickness, cloudiness, and clouds details, all of these will work together to give better clouds forms. The Water feature can control the water wave foams, sun gloss, water wave strength, and scaling. there are sliders to control these functions as well. The Lights feature can simulate real-life fog at night where there are multiple lights that illuminate the fog. We also can Enable one of the great features of X-Plane "the Fog Spotlights" which add realistic spotlights for all objects in X-Plane. we can control the light spots' strength on the ground as well, we have sliders to control the size and the strength of the lights as well as spots lights. A main feature in Lights is "the Fog Spotlights" which add realistic spotlights for all objects in X-Plane. we can control the light spots' strength on the ground as well, we have sliders to control the size and the strength of the lights as well as spots lights. The Weather feature can deliver Live Weather, Weather Search, and Weather Briefings. The Briefing Tab will give you all the weather information including clouds altitudes pressure, all aloft for winds directions, winds speed, temperature, dewpoint, winds share, and turbulence, also the status of the water waves. Notable is tha VisualXP is for Windows Only at this point, again like xEnviro. There are three Variations of VisualXP, which are called "Plugin Levels" these plugins level are "Ultimate, Premium, and Basic". The Ultimate version will include all features of VisualXP, while the other levels have some limitations. The Premium level has the mentioned features except for the "Scenery" Tab (Lights functions and sliders) and the "Weather Briefing" tab which is included in the Weather Master Tab. The Basic level will have an Atmosphere, and Clouds Only. These three variations to give the user the ability to choose the one that fits he/her needs. VisualXP Interface Packages consist of: VisualXP Basic Priced at US$9.99 The basic version only includes: Atmosphere and clouds VisualXP Ultimate Priced at US$25.97 The Full package including Atmosphere and clouds; Water; Scenery; Weather - Live Weather; Weather - Weather Search; Weather - Weather Briefing A considered Simulator tool, and an effective one... Images are Courtesy of SimAdditions VisualXP Support is here SimAdditions Support __________________ Yes!... VisualXP by SimAdditions is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : VisualXP Basic Priced at US$9.99 VisualXP Ultimate Price is US$25.97 Requirements X-Plane 12 Windows Only - Not Compatible with Mac or Linux at this time Things Things To Be Considered Before Buying If you are using DataRefTool or DataRefEditor, you need to disable them before using ViualXP, VisualXP will stop working instantly once one of these plugins is detected as Enabled. and it will inform you with a message in the user interface to disable these plugins. Do not use any other plugin, scripts, or mods that controls one of VisualXP features as that will make conflict and will make bad visuals. The performance will be different from one plugin level to another because of the features that each one has, the higher level will have more performance effects, but no worries with the plugin sliders you can lower the settings to fit your device capacity. The plugin can't work in offline mode, a connection to the internet must be available for the license system and downloading weather. We cannot offer any demos at the moment. The plugin has been developed using the windows 10 platform and will be for windows only at this time, sorry for Mac and Linux users, we will support these platforms in the future. The functions of the plugin can be increased or decreased depending on the X-Plane 12 version and the ability that Laminar Research offers. ___________________________ News! by Stephen Dutton 22nd February 2023 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! - X-Hangar updates the DHC4 C-7a Caribou to X-Plane 12 It's an odd looking critter of an aircraft, but one with amazing short field performance and clever STOL (ShortLanding and Takeoff) abilities. My connection with the aircraft was with the large numbers at my closest Australian RAAF Amberley airbase, so they were very frequent and active around our local skies, sadly the DHC-4 are now all retired, but there are still a few left around to look at, at airshows and in museums. The de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou (designated by the United States military as the CV-2 and later C-7 Caribou) is a Canadian-designed and produced specialized cargo aircraft with short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. The Caribou was first flown in 1958 and although mainly retired from military operations, is still in use in small numbers as a rugged "bush" aircraft. The de Havilland Canada company's third STOL design was a big step up in size compared to its earlier DHC Beaver and DHC Otter, and was the first DHC design powered by two engines. The Caribou, however, was similar in concept in that it was designed as a rugged STOL utility aircraft. The Caribou was primarily a military tactical transport that in commercial service found itself a small niche in cargo hauling. The United States Army ordered 173 in 1959 and took delivery in 1961 under the designation AC-1, which was changed to CV-2 Caribou in 1962. X-Hangar are converting their aircraft quickly to X-Plane 12, not a week goes by without another aircraft released. Here is the next aircraft released in the DHC4 C-7a Caribou. Features here Include: 3 flyable models: radar pod, no radar pod, and bare metal Rain effect on windscreen and windows Garmin 430 with pop up panel Opening engine cowls Opening cargo doors Opening passenger doors Sliding radio tray Detailed 3d engine and props Many custom 3d gauges Many liveries included Pilot figures including pilot, co-pilot, and loadmaster Custom sounds Animated controls Many detail parts Checklist included .pdf manual included that tells you how to fly and use the instrument panels Night LIT textures included Real pilot tested Link to download a 450+ page beautiful, crisp, and clear real world pilot's manual Version XP12 - February 20th 2023 new update features: v11 rain limited to win vulcan only (plugin limitation) new passengers that load with payload weight new seats for passengers new car for cariboub (loads with added payload weight. need near max weight to display) the cargo bay now has a mixture of passengers and cargo intended to enhance the FSE experience v12 rain effects v12 better taxi and landing lights v12 new payload system New X-Hangar support forum Images courtesy of X-Hangar ________________ Yes! the DHC4 C-7a Caribou by X-Hangar is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : DHC4 C-7a Caribou Price is US$22.95 Requirements X-Plane 11 fully updated Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum Download Size: 472 Mb Version XP12 - Feb 20th 2023 ________________ News by Stephen Dutton 21st February 2023 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 Right Reserved.

Aircraft Update Review : Gulfstream 550 v1.10 by AKD Studio Since it's release back 28th October 2022 there has been 10 (including this one) updates to the AKD Studio Gulfstream 550, obviously four months and with 10 updates in that time period, it shows the huge amount of the development that has changed on the aircraft in those few months, a lot obviously, and the changelogs are long. I'm not going to note all the fixes here in this update review, but only the ones that are significant. I really liked the aircraft on it's release, but the G550 did however feel a little bit under developed, it is a new developer to the X-Plane platform as well in AKD Studio's so there is a lot to learn and refine, but the above changelogs shows the improvements are going in there and very quickly... Release review; Aircraft Review : Gulfstream 550 by AKD Studio After four months both the Gulfstream 550 and X-Plane 12 feel far better than they did back in October... as together they have both matured nicely. Externally there have been small changes, however not still on the front windscreen surround, as they are still missing the screws? but the side windows now show the glass reflections, and not a hollow hole, so the fuselage as a whole feels far better (the cabin windows here on the G550 are really big). Cabin window blinds/shades were added in v1.04, very nice. Biggest change in v1.10, is the addition of a cargo hold area, this is on a revised menu "Ground Handling" page noting now an opening rear door, set below the Main Door operation. Access can also be through the rear bathroom (new door) to the very well done cargo bay, I like the wire protected lights, a nice touch... you can also open and close the cargo hatch manually from the inside. More new features in v1.10 include both an AC and DC GPU's (Ground Power Units), and they are both well done, both available on the Ground Handling page. The "Fuel" or loading page has been upgraded as well. You can set your fuel load by the + or -, but also by scrolling on the REQ TOTAL to add in or off load fuel... When pressing SET you get now a well modeled tanker outside. You can also set the cargo weight (both Kgs and Lbs are available), and finally your Passenger load of up to 16 Passengers, weights are adjusted to the loading parameters. Pressing BOARDING, will activate a Tesla Car (It takes ages to turn up) and proceeds to deliver passengers and luggage to the aircraft... when done it goes away, to unload passengers you press the selection "Take Passengers to Terminal". If you had read the release review, we have seen this Tesla before, but at the totally wrong scale. It is now the right scale, but in reality it is all still a bit odd isn't it... I mean how would you get 16 passengers into a 5 seater Tesla? A Mercedes Bus would have been a better idea, the Tesla doesn't feel finished either? The Fuel truck has an annoying foible as well, it appears simply out of nowhere, then suddenly disappears again when the aircraft is refueled, so there is no animation to the jet or in leaving? Static Elements can now also be selected to appear on startup. Other external notes include... wheels now actually touch the ground! In v1.04 the internal lighting had an overhaul. There are sixteen individual sets of lights around the huge cabin, these can be all switched on or off manually at each light, or on the selections of the CABIN LIGHTS Menu page... Thankfully you can "Turn on all Lights", and do the same to turn them all off again... And very nice it all is in the cabin... there is a secondary lighting page that covers three areas, rear Bathroom and each side downwash lights... This gives you a more softer cabin feel, and lights up separately the bathroom. It does also help lighting up the galley area which was extremely dark before, and sort of the entrance, which I complained about in the release review. Oddly the Red on to the Green off selections are the opposite of the cabin lighting commands? Lighting is better, but it still doesn't quite all work? as separate galley and baggage area lighting is what is really required here, and you still some entrance lighting missing... the stairs have the inbuilt lighting elements shown, but it doesn't work... as light bleed into the cockpit with no door is a problem? External lighting was upgraded in v1.05. It is very good, if the main landing lights a bit over bright? There are Navigation, Strobe, Beacon (belly), Ice/Wing and wheelwell lights.. the tail light is too dull to be effective. Cockpit lighting is good, and it comes with a lot of adjustments, with glareshield dropdown lighting, yoke, overhead and side panel lighting. The only thing I didn't like, was that I couldn't dial out the footwell lighting... this made bright reflections upwards on to the instrument displays, so an all dark cockpit was not possible. While we are still in the cabin, the window frames are still quite average and they come with nasty gaping holes and badly fitted cabin (glass) windows. Yes while flying you do have to look through these badly made windows and I'm not in liking the view!... however the "Time to Destination" has been added to the Cabin Display. Don't get me wrong here, the lighting is now very good, but still needs more refinement to be effective, or totally realistic. Instruments The HUD (Head Up Display) now works... just touch it to drop it down. You have to adjust it, as the form and lettering is too thick and that is done via the knob above, it works, but it's not the best available, it also still feels like a WIP. "Banana" indicator is now working on the PFD. On the MAP/MFD you now have the Terrain Radar working as well. It is the DrGluck (Plugin v1.30+) tool and the plugin is required. The Terrain shows the Independent terrain display on both the left and right displays, and it also gives you a working Vertical Situation Display. I always had issues with the METAR report on the menu. Add in your ICAO code and the system would freeze, or CTD. Now it works, but not by pressing the PRINT METAR? but by doing a keystroke RETURN, still very odd? But at least you now don't freeze the Sim. Support for 8.33 kHz radios is now also available. Flying v1.10 Gulfstream 550 For updating the Skunkcraft's Updater now works with the aircraft, thankfully with so many updates it is a very useful tool. In v1.07 in December, a Manual was also delivered (by Ivan Luciani), seriously you had to wait two months for a Manual, and you wonder why reviewing is hard without developer notes. Look closely and you will find now there are pilots flying the aircraft, they are the default Laminar Pilots, but still a great addition. In v1.05, there was a lot of performance changes (a change over to SASL v3.15 was also completed) by AKD. I found the release aircraft not to bad to fly actually... but in the takeoff roll and climbout, it was even far better in this later version. Changes include engine performance, flight model and better airfoils. And the new wingflex is also very noticeable, mainly because it wasn't done before? It is worth noting that the engine performance and flight models, are tuned to each different X-Plane version, X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11. Obviously the X-Plane 12 dynamics are better, as felt here. Added or refined is the rain effects (V1.03) on both forward windscreen and side cabin windows The AKD G550, is a quite complicated aircraft to fly, there is a lot of detail to cover in here with the Symmetry Flight Deck, and the specific glareshield "Display Controller" system. But it is well worth the effort to do so. I will admit I'm not crazy about the manuals? There is a lot of them in sixteen categories, but they are done in a drawing layout? Interesting in one way as the detail is very good... but odd in another. Specifications are; Range 6,750 nmi (7,770 mi, 12,500 km) range, with a High Speed Cruise: M0.85 at 41,000 ft (12,497 m) or the standard Long Range Cruise: M0.80 at 41,000 ft (12,497 m), and you can cover the ground with a Service ceiling: 51,000 ft (16,000 m) Flying 41,000ft at m.80 is the dream of living with the Gods, but you can easily do that with this Gulfstream, it is a great simulation with high numbers. Fixes on the the instrument panels are high; NavSource on Display Controller, squawk page in FMS3 radio panel, better RNP indicator on DU1/DU4 and fixed AoA indicator DU1/DU4, Stall warning system logic, Altitude mismatch on ALT tape and Autopilot FLCH mode. Note a confusing thing is using the Autopilot. Noteable is that the G550 does not have an Autopilot, hence the trickery here... To activate the Autopilot, which is set below the Speed selector... you press one of the screws on the left of the panel, hard to find if you don't know where it is, otherwise you get a yellow caution alert. At Mach 80, faster if you want to, you travel and arrive at your destination quickly, here I'm back at EVRA Riga, Latvia. You just like looking at the Gulfstream, because it is a very nice aircraft to look at... I still can't work out how to ARM the Airbrakes for landing, press the button, positioned rear the centre console, but it doesn't ARM? Nice 6º nose up flare, shows nice control in the flare, and you lower the power to sweetly touch the runway... nice and easy. Sounds haven't had much attention in the updates, but the reverse thrust is loud and powerful... Flaps are MASSIVE, and lower to the full 39º... The full landing configuration is shown on the PFD, and I really still can't get over how much I like this visual FLT arrangement, brake pressure is shown as well. The Gulfstream 550, puts the world at your feet, it is an intercontinental flying machine, and in v1.10 it better than ever, not totally perfect, but a great simulation. Summary In world of the elite, then the word of Gulfstream is the biggest token you can play in this upper exclusive club. The Gulfstream G600/G700/G800 Series was built upon the last series of G500/G550 Series and that series evolved out of the Gulfstream V as the GV-SP. First an almost disclaimer on the review and the aircraft. The Gulfstream G550 is a first time project by AKD Studios and obviously they have to pick an extremely complex aircraft to start with, add the release right in the middle of a new X-Plane 12 Beta run, and you can expect a lot of bugs and weird things with the aircraft. It's not like that at all in context, in fact it flies very well. But it is very hard to do development on shifting sands. This update review covers the extensive update list from the release aircraft (v1.0), to the current version v1.10. The update list here is extremely long, but the main features are a new Cargo/Baggage area, with animated door, internal detail is very good. New Fuel Tanker, Two GPU AC/DC units and a smaller (scale) Tesla car, with a lot of touchups and details externally. Cabin lighting has been totally redone, but still needs some fine tuning and stair lighting, but far better than the original set up. HUD HeadUp Display now works, as does the inclusion of DrGluck's Plugin v1.30+ that has Independent terrain display on the left and right displays, and a working Vertical Situation Display. Pilots have been added as has WingFlex, and a lot, a real lot of changes to the engine performance, flight model and custom performance for both X-Plane 12 and X-Plane 11. I still have a few quibbles, poor window surrounds, lighting still not right, default FMS, pop in/pop out Tanker and other quirks, but you have to understand to a point this aircraft (and by the extensive list of updates) is really still a work in progress, it has in reality come a very long way since it's release late October 2022, obviously released too early, but the developer has made some highly significant progress on the aircraft. Personally I absolutely love the Gulfstream G550. X-Plane has wanted a really excellent transoceanic Private Jet for decades and here it is, it is also available in X-Plane 11 and more importantly in X-Plane 12 in the same value package of just over US$30. For your money you get a lot of aircraft with it's Gulfstream related systems. ________________________________ The Gulfstream 550 v1.10 by AKD Studio is NOW available here at the X-Plane.OrgStore GLF550 - Ultimate Business Jet by AKD Studio Price is US$31.95 This aircraft is now both X-Plane12 and X-Plane 11 supported Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 1.1 GB Current version : 1.10 (February 7th 2023) Download for the Gulfstream 550 by AKD Studio is 1.03GB And the final install in X-Plane Aircraft folder with the above loaded liveries is; 2.53gb. Authorisation is required. The AviTab plugin is also required to use this aircraft, and it is deposited in your X-Plane Plugins folder. Simbrief proflie is; https://www.simbrief.com/system/dispatch.php?sharefleet=256234_1658264083720 Documents AKD GLF550 Introduction.pdf FMS_Manual.pdf GLF550 Normal Checklist.pdf GLF550_air_conditioning_system.pdf GLF550_auxiliary_power_unit_(apu)_system.pdf GLF550_electrical_system.pdf GLF550_fire_protection_system.pdf GLF550_flight_control_system.pdf GLF550_fuel_system.pdf GLF550_hydraulic_system.pdf GLF550_ice_and_rain_protection_system.pdf GLF550_landing_gear_and_brakes_system.pdf GLF550_oxygen_system.pdf GLF550_pneumatic_system.pdf GLF550_powerplant_system.pdf GLF550_pressurization_system.pdf Changelog Changelog v1.10.txt Designed by AKD Studios Support forum for the Gulfstream G550 _____________________ Aircraft Review by Stephen Dutton 18th February 2023 Copyright©2023: X-Plane Reviews Review System Specifications:  Windows - 12th Gen IS1700 Core i7 12700K 12 Core 3.60 GHz CPU - 64bit -32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - PNY GeForce RTX 3080 10GB XLR8 - Samsung 970 EVO+ 2TB SSD Software: - Windows 11 Pro - X-Plane 12.01r3 (This is a beta review). Plugins: JustFlight-Traffic (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$52.99 : Global SFD plugin US$30.00 : RK Apps XPRealistic v2 - US$34.99 Scenery or Aircraft - ELLX - Luxembourg Findel Airport v2.1 by JustSim (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$19.95 - EVRA - Riga International Airport v2 by JustSim (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$18.50 (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 Release : Everest Park - Nepal 3D XP12 by Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini The Italian climbers are back... and this time they have updated their excellent Everest Park - Nepal scenery to X-Plane 12. Called Everest Park - Nepal 3D XP12, and the scenery covers that most famous and highest region of the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. Mt Everest at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) is of course situated here, but the scenery covers also all the other famous surrounding peaks; Lhotse (8516), Makalu (8463), Nuptse (7861), Pumori (7161), Ama Dablam (6812), Taboche (6543) and Baruntse (7129). Other highlights include the "Most Dangerous Airport in the WORLD" and that is big announcement, but that is what VNLK - Lukla is, and a huge challenge for any X-Plane flyer of distinction with it's steeply committed runway, VNSB - Syangboche, Namche Baza, Tengboche and the famous "Everest Base Camp" are all in here as well if you want to follow the footsteps of some of the greatest climbers that ever climbed. The Everest scenery encompasses an area of about 8000 square kilometers in Himalayan range along with other eight-thousanders on the border between China and Nepal. The area also includes a large area of Nepal south of Himalayan range with several reconstructed villages in; Lukla, Namche Bazar, Tengboche, Dingboche, Gorak Shep, Yeti Mountain and to the SOUTH Phaplu, Basanta Nazar, Rumjatar and Lamidanda. Five new airports and more Helipads have also been included, highlighted by; VNLK (LUKLA) Sloped Asphalt Runway, VNSB (SYANBOCHE) Runway in beaten earth, VNPL (PHAPLU) Short asphalt runway (new), VNRT (RUMJATAR) Asphalt Runway (new), VNLD (LAMIDANDA) Asphalt Runway (new) and VNKL (KANGEL DANDA) Short Runway in beaten earth (new). Helipads include; HELK Lukla Helipad - HENB Namche-Bazar Helipad - HETB TengBoche Helipad HPRH Pheriche Helipad - HCNR Pyramid CNR Helipad - HEBC BaseCamp Everest HBNF BaseCamp Everest North Face - HYET Yeti Mountain Helipad - All airports also have an Helipad Ultra-High Definition Scenery Pack The main mountains of the area have been rebuilt with 3D models. DEM data was used and further corrected with 3D graphics programs. Summer and Winter Textures (XP12) Manual included The original Everest Park Scenery review is here; Scenery Review : Everest Park 3D by Frank Dainese & Fabio Bellini It is important to note that... owners of Everest XP11 can get this new X-Plane 12 version for 40% off. Please use the coupon code found in your original Everest XP11 invoice. Highly Recommended! Images are courtesy of Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini Designed by Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini. Support forum for Everest 3D XP12 __________________ Yes!... Everest Park - Nepal 3D XP12 by Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Everest Park - Nepal 3D XP12 Price is US$30.90 Requirements X-Plane 12 (not compatible with X-Plane 11) Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM - 8 GB+ VRAM Highly Recommended Customers who own of of this previous Everest mountain package can get this new Scenery for 40% off. Please find your coupon code in the original invoice. Eligible packages: Everest Park 3D for XP11 ___________________________ News! by Stephen Dutton 18th February 2023 Copyright©2022: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) All Rights Reserved

NEWS! - SimBrief updated by Navigraph The absolute horror of it... they changed Simbrief!, it's almost a religion. Back on April 1st 2021 (note the April Fools Day reference), Navigraph acquired the free SimBrief virtual dispatch system. Created in 2013 by "Derek", this extraordinary free tool will create a full virtual flight planning service. It features detailed fuel calculations for over 120 aircraft types, an extensive route database, real-world weather forecasts, current NOTAMs and ETOPS planning. It also allows you to also download a generated flightplan to install the created route. For myself it is the data to program the aircraft's route (via waypoint) plus the correct SID and STAR procedures, and fuel, passenger and cargo loading calculations. It is a simply invaluable tool to any simulation user. Notable was Navigraph's change to their own Navigraph Charts 8 application only last November 2022. It was a significant change to the design and layout to charts, but months in it is a certainly a revolution in the way we access data information and airport charts. I absolutely love the design, and the application is well worth the subscription. So now Navigraph have overhauled SimBrief as well... when I heard that I was really not sure about the idea at all... Besides the fresh new clean look (very similar to Charts 8), and the changes include; Improved Interface Personal flying statistics Dark mode and large text options A larger and more convenient interactive flight map Built-in airframes for popular third-party add-ons Improved alternate airport filters and options Easier sorting through saved flights and saved airframes A new and improved user guide ATC Flight Plan Start dashboard is very different with noted "Latest Flightplan", Your last flightplans over 30 days, Aircraft Types (30 Days) and your Navigraph Subscription, current AIRAC Cycle. Yes the long form flightplan layout has now gone, with the Map/Route separated in to a new larger window panel, again it is all very Charts 8 in feel. Dark mode is sensational, I'm also (very) happy the MAP has been moved out of the long form, and out of the way... I had a problem with my Apple Mouse scrolling the zoom badly every time I went over it, it was a real distraction in repeatably zooming it back into context. New is the ATC Flightplan (I never saw this before?) and is printable (copy and paste), and the long form Briefing is still there, but not as widely set... Departure and Arrival Airport information is more detailed, which is also handy. Certainly the weather conditions, as also available in Charts 8. Certainly there is a new format now to navigate. As with Charts 8, you will soon workout the new layout, if hunting for the same information in a different context. But the flow here and navigation looks far more better... only grip is that you can't adjust the "30 Day" period use to a longer period? A brilliant tool made now even better by Navigraph, also a good deal is that the tool is free and can be used in a Browser, on a PC, Mac, IOS and Android... can be found here; SimBrief Dispatch System What is not to like! ________________ News by Stephen Dutton 17th February 2023 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 Right Reserved.

NEWS! - X-Hangar releases Learjet Model 36 X-Hanger have released a version of the Model 36 Learjet, one of the most famous private jets ever built. The Learjet Model 35 and Model 36 are a series of American multi-role business jets and military transport aircraft manufactured by Learjet. The aircraft are powered by two Garrett TFE731-2 turbofan engines. Its cabin can be arranged for six to eight passengers. The longer-range Model 36 has a shortened passenger area to provide more space in the aft fuselage for fuel tanks. The engines are mounted in nacelles on the sides of the aft fuselage. The wings are equipped with single-slotted flaps. The wingtip fuel tanks distinguish the design from other aircraft having similar functions. Features Include: Avitab display for both v11 and v12. This is powered by a plugin that you can download if you do not already have. Instruction in the .pdf manual. 3d Pilot Figures. The co-pilot will hide with the preflight menu. The pilot is only seen in external view. Easy to read instruments GPU and flight options menu including, engine covers, chocks, remove before flight flags, etc 5 passengers load with payload weight. Hidden when activated with a menu. Many international liveries included Blank livery to make your own Stripes and weathering layers to help paint your livery Use the Autopilot with the FMC (GPS1) or Garmin 530 (GPS2). Rain effects for both v11 and v12. v11 is limited to Windows Vulcan. This is a plugin limitation. Animated Reverse Thrust Animated Spoilers Animated ground emergency chute User manual in .pdf format Checklist in .txt format to use in the sim v11 and v12 use stock FMC Garmin 530 with a pop-up panel or press buttons Updated landing and taxi lights for v12 Updated payload system for v12 Updated gear system for v12 Works with FSE out of the box New X-Hangar support forum Images courtesy of X-Hangar ________________ Yes! the Learjet Model 36 by X-Hangar is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Learjet Model 36 Price is US$22.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum. 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Current version : 12 (Feb 15th 2023) ________________ News by Stephen Dutton 16th February 2023 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 Right Reserved.

NEWS! - Aircraft Update : Cessna 206 updated to v1.2: Full v11 and v12 compatibility by Thranda Design With X-Plane 12 going final in December 2022. Now developers are working hard to make their aircraft X-Plane 12 compliant. Here is the Thranda U206G update to version v1.2, for both X-Plane 12 and X-Plane 11. Notable is that on a restart you have to pick which X-Plane version you want to use, once selected, you can't go back, unless you reload the aircraft. Developers notes include; XP12 updates we´ve been waiting for have been implemented (such as: support for wheel fairing and cargo pod drag, night lighting compatibility, and being able to gradually apply dirt/scratches layer), we now finally have an update to the C206 to provide full compatibility with XP12. V1.2 February 13, 2023 -Full XP12 compatibility. -Added new glass texture -Fixed pop-up window for instrument 53 -Fixed position of circuit breakers -Night Lighting improvements for XP12 -Corrected wrong text in panel -Added DefrostWindshield module to hook up defroster knob to windshield de-icing -AP Sounds button restoration -Fixed FMO related errors in log -Fixed some internal sounds -Fixed up dirt and scratches layers to work in XP12. -Added the ability to swap pilot/copilot figures. -Updated lights for XP12. -Updated SASL3 -Addressed some spelling errors on the engine instruments -Went through tool tips on click spots, and added where they were missing. X-PlaneReviews Update v1.1 review is here; Aircraft Update : Cessna U206G Stationair DGS series v1.1 by Thranda Design The Thranda Design U206G update is now available at the X-Plane.OrgStore. Just go to your account and get the free update... or use the featured Skunkcraft's Updater. Images are courtesy of Thranda Design Support forum for the U206 Stationair by Thranda _______________________________ Yes! the Cessna U206G Stationair DGS series v1.2 by Thranda Design is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here: Cessna U206G Stationair DGS series Price is US$39.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum. 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 2 GB Current version 1.2 (February 13th 2023) ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 16th February 2023 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! - Aircraft Release : Cessna T337G by Skytouch Duh! You get one Skymaster in X-Plane, then a few weeks later you get another one? This version is the G, after version H when the 337 then became a pressurised aircraft, and you also get the split airstair entry door and turbocharging. The T stands for TURBO! Cessna T337G Pressurised Skymaster is a pressurised variant of a most popular "push-pull" configuration airplane in the world, the... Cessna 337. Both tractor and pusher engines of this plane produce inline thrust which is very safe and comfortable for the pilot. Almost 3000 of all Cessnas 337 were built. The pressurised cabin allows the aircraft to easily climb up to 20000ft without the need of using oxygen masks. Features Fully 3D modeled Both interior and exterior have been modeled. We put all effort to create realistic 3D models! Sounds like a real T337G! Using a modern library we created realistic sounds, most of them are real sounds from a real aircraft. Interactive menu and monitors We created useful interactive menus and monitors for you, to make your experience easy and exciting. All features High Resolution, 4K and 2K textures. Fully modeled exterior. Interior and cockpit panels are 3D. Inclusion of normal maps, PBR (Physically based rendering) textures. Flight Model based on real data. Supports Avitab plugin Interactive, smoothly animated cockpit. Typical Cessna’s gear retraction animation and sound from a real airplane. Wing icing visualization. Both G430 and G530 are installed. Inlet covers, Chocks. Custom, handy menus: checklists, weight data, settings, volume controls, chocks and covers. Working pressurization and interior heating system. Ever heard of Skytouch? me neither... so they must be new developers to the X-Plane platform, notable this is a 2.5GB download, large, VERY LARGE download for an aircraft. This is because you have separate aircraft folders for both X-Plane 12 and X-Plane 11. Images are courtesy of Skytouch __________________________ Yes! Cessna T337G by Skytouch is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Cessna T337G Pressurised Price Is US$29.95 Requirements: X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 (both versions included in sperate zip files) Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Version 1. February 14th 2023 ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 15th February 2023 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! - E175 & E195 v2.5 by X-Crafts are now FREE! Everyone's ears always pick up on the word "Free", certainly more when it is a quality Payware aircraft, and from a well recognised developer X-Crafts. Well X-Craft's have released their v2.5 well regarded E175 and E195 aircraft free to X-Plane, a great development, but it comes with some restrictions (of course). First the aircraft are for X-Plane 11 only, secondly they won't receive any future updates either... so that counts out X-Plane 12. The two aircraft come with dozens of liveries, YouTube videos, and resources, we are hoping that everyone will enjoy these E-Jets while waiting for the new X-Crafts E-Jets Family to be released soon. You can follow the development updates here. "Soon" is the word... X-Crafts are working on a completely new product line. These will be brand new add-ons, entirely redesigned and recreated from the ground up using cutting-edge software and techniques. So these older versions have now been passed on to the community. The new add-ons will feature new highly detailed and accurate models of the interior and exterior, authentic FMS, enhanced systems - at or above the ERJ Family level, all across the board. We are working with real E-JETS pilots to help us fly to a higher level of authenticity than we have reached before. The E-JETS Family will include all variants of the E-JETS: E170 | E175 | E190 | E195 | Lineage 1000 Notable is that announced by X-Crafts, is that all existing customers of the previous E175 v2.5 and E195 v2.5 will get a discount for the new products. There is a video here (In X-Plane 11, not X-Plane 12). Don't ask for a release date of the X-Plane 12 E-Jet versions as I don't know, but a guess would say before Easter. You can get the earlier E170 and E190 v2.5 here: E-Jets Combo by X-Crafts | E175 & E195 v2.5 2.5.0 Last X-PlaneReviews update is here: Aircraft Update : E-175/E-195 v2.4 by X-Crafts ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 13th February 2023 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! - Scenery Release : KSAN International Airport, KNZY Naval Air Station North Island and Naval Base San Diego by FunnerFlight San Diego was always a tricky scenery scenery to do, do one aspect in KSAN "Lindbergh Field", and in the other areas in San Diego downtown and the huge Naval Base here would feel wanting... several developers have had a go at it, but ultimately any San Diego scenery could never live up the ultimate promise. Scenery developer FunnerFlight or Jeff Mueller of LAX and PHNL fame has however is giving the challenge of San Diego a go in recreating the impossible, in all three aspects of KSAN International Airport, KNZY NAS North Island and Naval Base San Diego that make up the full area. And at a sub-US$20 price, you get value as well. Notable is that the download consists of two files, KSAN (263 Mb) and KNZY (626 Mb), and both are loaded into your X-Plane "Custom Scenery Folder". Also notable is that that the scenery can be heavy on your system requirements, both a minimum 8Gb Graphic Card and 16Gb of RAM are both the requirements for this scenery. San Diego International Airport, formerly known as Lindbergh Field, is an international airport three miles (4.8 km) northwest of Downtown San Diego, California, United States. KSAN is the busiest single-runway airport in the world. The airport's landing approach is well known for its close proximity to the skyscrapers of Downtown San Diego, and can sometimes prove difficult to pilots for the relatively short usable landing area, steep descent angle over the crest of Bankers Hill, and shifting wind currents just before landing. San Diego International operates in controlled airspace served by the Southern California TRACON, which is some of the busiest airspace in the world. KSAN has 2 terminals, with a total of 48 gates. Each terminal has 2 concourses. Coast Guard Air Station San Diego is near the southeast corner of the airport. The installation originally supported seaplane operations, with seaplane ramps into San Diego Bay, as well as land-based aircraft and helicopter operations using the airport's runway. Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) is located at the north end of Coronado Island in San Diego Bay and is the home port of several aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. The installation also hosts nearly all of the Pacific Fleet's helicopter squadrons, several fixed-wing squadrons, multiple Naval Air Reserve activities and is home to both the Fleet Readiness Center Southwest and the headquarters for Commander, Naval Air Forces. It is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy, the 57,000-acre (230 km2) Naval Base Coronado. Naval Base San Diego is the second largest surface ship base of the US Navy. It is the principal homeport of the Pacific Fleet, consisting of over 50 ships. This triple scenery package contains: KSAN and KNZY (Naval Air Station North Island) airports Naval Base San Diego Over 12,000 objects 9 Amphibious Assault Ships 4 Cruisers 9 Destroyers 7 Littoral Combat Ships Aircraft = F-18 fighters, MQ-8C Fire Scout, MH-60 Seahawk, and CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters; VTOL aircraft: F-35's, Harriers, and V-22 Osprey... and a few others. Ship building yards and cranes Major Hotels Coronado Bridge 50 sq mi of Ortho photography (Thanks to USGS). Many animations of ships, aircraft, submarines, and other less known things that go bump in the night! Options include Ortho or Laminar runways and animated traffic and shipping. __________________________ Yes! San Diego KSAN & KNZY Naval Station by FunnerFlight is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KSAN International Airport, KNZY Naval Air Station North Island and Naval Base San Diego Price Is US$19.95 Requirements: X-Plane 12 only Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum. 8 GB+ VRAM recommended Download size: 275 MB (KSAN) + 660 MB (KNZY) Current version: 1.0 (February 11th 2023) ___________________________ News! by Stephen Dutton 13th February 2023 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

I'm currently i'm not to thrilled with the X-Plane 12 nightlighting, certainly where bad/dark cockpits are concerned, I don't think any developer is going to touch this aspect until it has been resolved by Laminar Research...

NEWS! - Bell 412 now fully X-Plane 12 compatible by X-Trident When X-Plane 12 went to beta (Sept 2022), X-Trident put out a patch to allow you to fly the Bell 512 in the new Simulator version. It was just a patch mind you, not an X-Plane 12 compatible aircraft. Here is v5.0. And with this version release you now get full compatibility with X-Plane 12 (now final, but that is actually debatable?). In others words, one of the very best helicopters for the X-Plane Simulator is now X-Plane 12 updated and compliant. The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter of the Huey family manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212, with the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor. The v5.0 update covers the full compatibility with X-Plane 12, with the added rain (Librain) and wipers effects. A new feature is the added weight sliders for every transportable item (pilots, crew, cargo). Feature list is excellent; Full compatibility with X-Plane 12 (and X-Plane 11) Rain and wipers effects (XP12) Weight sliders for every transportable item (pilots, crew, cargo) Highly detailed 3d model and 3d cockpit. Most switches operable Detailed rotor kinematic modeling Detailed lights Close to real fuel, hydraulic and electrical systems; start-up sequence follows the real checklist almost line by line Custom failures Working custom auxiliary tank and water drop system Working dolly pad for precision landing Custom warning panel Custom governor Custom artificial stability Custom 4 channels autopilot with over 10 modes Flight model approved and tweaked by real pilots Hyper detailed rotor with all its levers moving ud and down, Custom GPU Custom Remove Before Flight with dangling flags (with FOD) ADF with bank error Working doors with changing sound volume effect Many liveries plus a paint kit; smart configuration of optional objects attached to each livery Plugin for Windows, Mac and Linux - detailed custom menu Includes a licensed version of Dreamfoil's Geforce plugin Working NIGHTSUN Spotlight Working FLIR Camera Custom Winch and SAR operations X-PlaneReviews update v3.0 review is here; Aircraft Update : Agusta Bell AB412 v3.0 by X-Trident The X-Trident Bell 412 v 5.0 update is now available at the X-Plane.OrgStore. Just go to your account and get the free update... __________________________ Yes! Bell 412 XP12 v5.0 by X-Trident is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Bell 412 XP12 Price Is US$35.99 Requirements: X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Mac, Windows, Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8GB+ VRAM Recommended Current version: 5.0 (February 10th 2022) ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 11th February 2023 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! - Developer Update : MLAeroDG updates to X-Plane12 With the conversion to a new X-Plane Simulator version, in this case X-Plane 12. It can in most circumstances create a bit of a confusion. Like in life, developers can come and go, a lot just die. So many old school developers can also leave you hanging. If an aircraft has been not updated or upgraded to a current simulator version, then what if for the next one in the revolution? So you pray and hope that they will keep your beloved machine flying for at least another term. In MLADG's case or ML Aero Design Group... he has been quiet for a few years with no updates or changes to his aircraft, of which are mostly WW2 era aircraft. But no... he's back and (thankfully) updated four of his aircraft to X-Plane 12, so somewhere out there, there is still a god. In order here are the aircraft updated to X-Plane 12 (and the X-Plane 11 version is also included in each package), they are: Messerschmitt Me 109 Bf Package includes: detailed Model of the Messerschmitt Me-109 G-2 new Me-109 G-10 variant included fully implemented virtual cockpit with almost every switch functional detailed outside model custom night lighting Tropical version of the plane included 3 liveries (including a paint kit) 4k textures for the outside model The model reproduces the Bf 109 G2 version: V12 DB605 engine with 1455 hp service ceiling 11600 m 685 km/h at 7400 m VFR equipped The Messerschmidtt Bf 109 was the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 airframes produced from 1936 up to April 1945. It was one of the first truly modern fighters of the era, including such features as all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. It was powered by a liquid-cooled, inverted-V12 aero engine. The Bf 109 first saw operational service during the Spanish Civil War and was still in service at the dawn of the jet age at the end of World War II, during which time it was the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. Messerschmitt Me 262 Features: Based on real documentation SASL based features and failures Fully functional 3D cockpit Paint kit included for repaints Fully animated model Realistic instrumentation based on real counterparts In flight refuel possible JATO can be used for short fields Metrical instrumentation VFR plane with limited radio navigation equipment Gun sight available This package includes several models Me-26-A1a Me-262-A2 Bonus Plane #1: Me-263 Komet Bonus Plane #2: DFS Habicht Sailplane ! Release Review available: Aircraft Review : Messerschmitt 262 A-1a Schwalbe (Swallow) by MLADG The Messerschmitt 262 Schwalbe was the world's first operational jet fighter aircraft. Approximately 1400 models have been built, mostly for the German air force. MiG-15 General features: Detailed 3D interactive cockpit - detailed outside model Instrumentation based on real counterparts In flight refuel possible JATO can be used for short fields Civil version features: Western instrumentation (altitude in feet, speed in knots) Equipped with western avionics: VOR/DME Removed military equipment English labels available Military version features: Metrical instrumentation Gun sight available Can be loaded with drop tanks, bombs, guns Designed by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich (MiG). First flight in 1947. Designed as one of the first fighter planes with swept wings and a jet engine. Ca. 18000 planes have been built and have been used mainly in countries of the Warsaw Pact. Some MiG-15 are still flying today. Aero L-29 Delfín XP12 Custom, interactive 3D cockpit front and rear cockpit available and usable for flying animated controls, flaps and gear custom instrumentation and cockpit layout based on real documentation IFR equipment: VOR, DME, NDB basic weapons model 7 liveries included, inspired by real L-29s flying in the past and today Instruments/ Procedures manual included 4 versions are included: racing version used in Reno with 3750 lbs thrust single seater "Akrobat" version "Akrobat" version with 3750 lbs thrust Militarized version New Bonus Aircraft LET L-13 Blanik Glider now included as a bonus plane The Aero L-29 Defin is a military trainer aircraft. It was manufactured by Aero Vodochody. It made its first flight in 1959 and was produced from 1963 to 1974. Ca. 3500 aircraft were built. The aircraft was used mainly in the air forces of the Warsaw Pact. Today the plane is still used by civilian operators for fun, show and race purposes. All four MLAeroDG aircraft can now be updated for free to X-Plane 12 at the X-Plane.OrgStore, so now yes, your WW2 favorites will keep on flying on for a bit longer yet. And a big thanks must go out to MLADG in doing the update. Images are courtesy of MLADG ________________ Yes! MLAeroDG Aircraft are NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Messerschmitt Me 109 Bf Price is US$19.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, MAC or Linux Support: Support forum for the Me109 Current version: 2301 (February 7th 2023) Messerschmitt Me 262 Price is US$19.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, MAC or Linux Support: Support forum for the Me262 Current version: 2301 (Feb 7th 2023) MiG-15 Price is US$19.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, MAC or Linux Support: Support forum for the MiG-15 Current version: 2301 (February 7th 2023) Aero L-29 Delfín XP12 Price is US$19.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, MAC or Linux Support: Support forum for the L-29 Current version: 2301 (February 7th 2023) ________________ News by Stephen Dutton 10th February 2023 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 Right Reserved.

As noted in the review... Centred ready to fly, and you have to set the T/O Trim (wheel), but more importantly set the "TURN" trim on the rear console, if not centred the AP (Autopilot) will not activate in flight.

Scenery Update Review : Faroe Islands XP to X-Plane 12 by Aerosoft The interest usually is that when an update comes along and the update list is small, in this case just two lines? Then you would probably overlook, or not even bother with a download, certainly when it is big download of 1.3Gb. That is what on the face the Faroe Islands XP by Maps2Xplane (Matthias Seewald) looks like with this update to v2.2. But the notes are very deceiving in the detail. It actually looks like a correction, but again it is not, this is the excellent Faroe Islands upgrade to X-Plane12, not much in actual changes, but X-Plane 12 itself changes everything with this scenery... totally. Reviewers are supposed to be Impartial, unbiased, but with this scenery I will state front and forward, it is one of my most favorite sceneries in X-Plane. There are other various reasons for all that gushing here, but put simply it is a brilliant scenery. Oddly Faroe is nothing more than a collection of islands, or 18 islands about 540 square miles (1,400 km2) in size. Sited almost directly between Norway and Iceland, and 200 miles (320 km) north-northwest off the coast of Scotland, in the area known as the North Atlantic. The biggest feature here is the high resolution HD terrain mesh that is extremely detailed, and it covers the whole whole archipelago. We will look at that detail soon. Second biggest feature is actually the one you lose with the update, well lose is the wrong word, more changed... In X-Plane 11 we didn't have a feature called "Season's". So there was the clever setting that switched the textures to either a Summer (very green) or a Winter (very white) season. It was a huge attraction to pilot's (certainly in low visibility, slippery winter conditions) to try out your skills in getting into or out of the very hidden EKVG - Vágar Airport, Faroe's main Airport. With Faroe Islands XP v2.2, the Scenario is totally changed as the X-Plane 12 engine of seasons takes over from the more manual version. Add in a very new and different weather and lighting engine, and goes from already very good, to "Jesus, that's just brilliant". Yes this Update review is just going to be a lot of pretty images, but what images they are... also it shows you the immense potential of the X-Plane 12 engine on a very good detailed high resolution HD terrain mesh. So here are the three areas of seasons, Summer, Spring and Winter. Summer.. Then add in the X-Plane 12's new water engine... Wow! Then April (Spring), and half cast snow scenery... Finally Winter... Over the seasons it changes the feel from a lush summer to a very stark winter... Yes... I am ga ga over this, because it is all so very good. Just to note this is Vágar in January, then the island is only in daylight from sunrise at 9.41am to sunset at 3.26pm, that is barely six hours of daylight, and it is mostly just dull, but get a bit of sunlight... FAE EKVG - Vágar Airport No updates or changes to the Faroes main airport, not that it really needed anything changed, (better night terminal window textures would have been nice though). As the original modeling was excellent, and the detail here is first rate. The Terminal (old and new) and the iconic Atlantic Airways yellow maintenance hangar all stand out in quality and realism. Again X-Plane 12 adds in better water (wet) effects, and that runway 12/30 1,799m (5,902ft) is extremely icy and slippery in most conditions, again courtesy of X-Plane 12 effects, the runway is sloped and that aspect is well represented here... Faroe captial of Tórshavn is also well represented, but as noted in the past, more iconic larger buildings like the missing red building "Tinganes" is STILL not represented here, which is the historic location of the Faroese landsstýri (government), and it is an important focal part of Tórshavn. The name means "Parliament Jetty" or "Parliament Point". Come on guys! The prominent Skansin lighthouse however has been added. Floating around waters are many animated shipping, freighters, fishing boats and ferries, very good they are too, and a bit of an aerial game in finding them all... There are Faroe settlements, villages and townships that are dotted totally throughout the scenery on all islands with connecting active traffic. Besides the main airport at Vágar there are also eight helipads that are spread out all over the islands as in most cases it is only by air that is the main way (or the only way) to navigate the islands, all have this great infrastructure or buildings built around the pads and as they are not just plonked directly in there as most scenery developers usually do... the Heliport at Tórshavn is the standout. Top developer Albert Ràfols is the main contributor of the airport Vágar and all the helipads. Official notes of this Update v2.2 Version 2.2 (Feb 3rd 2023) Added XP12 support (i.e. compatibility-patch for XP 12.01r3) Hot fixes i.a. broken animations (caused CTD) and vegetation Note the "Aerosoft One" Application is now used to install or update Aerosoft Scenery. Live the dream and watch this real life approach to Vágar Airport's Rwy 30. How different from the X-Plane 12 approach, not as much as you would think it would be. I have also added in some arrival shots of the same EKVG Rwy 30 approach, thankfully a good day, weather wise, but more rare than the usual blizzard conditions... spectacular it is, but difficult to do right. Two X-PlaneReviews covers the original release of the scenery Faroe Islands XP January 2019, and an expansive update .v2.0 April 2019. _____________________ Summary Faroe Islands XP is landmark scenery in the vein of Frank Dainese & Fabio Bellini by Maps2X-Plane, distributed under the Aerosoft banner. Released in early 2019, Faroe Islands XP was the joint winner of the best landscape scenery of the year. And well deserved was that accolade as well. Situated between Norway and Iceland, and 200 miles (320 km) north-northwest off the coast of Scotland, in the area known as the North Atlantic. These are a collection of islands, or 18 islands about 540 square miles (1,400 km2) in size. This v2.2 update in actual details is very small, in reality just two lines in; added XP12 support and some hot fixes, but that is missing the point here. As in just supporting the scenery to be used in X-Plane 12, it transforms the scenery significantly. In all areas; Lighting, Seasons weather and water effects... the results are beyond spectacular! Good news is that the entrance price to the scenery has been reduced by US$10 to US$35.99, still expensive for a scenery, but the results are more than worth the investment. Personally I fly here a few times a month, usually from Copenhagen or Edinburgh, but also from Oslo and Keflavik in Iceland. Over the long X-Plane12 period, then it makes it great value, and the contrasting different seasons just make Vágar an attractive destination year round. Top of my list in X-Plane scenery and now spectacularly available for X-Plane 12, what is not to love... Absolutely recommended. _____________________ Yes! Faroe Islands XP X-Plane 12 by Aerosoft - Maps2XPlane is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Faroe Islands XP Price Is US$35.99 Features: Compatible with both X-Plane 12 and X-Plane 11 Realistic recreation of the complete Faroe Islands with an area of about 1.400 km² High resolution terrain mesh with various texture sets for a seasonal representation Customized local terrain details, e.g. realistically sloped runway at the Vágar Airport Detailed rendition of the Vágar Airport and the eight helipads spread over the archipelago Faroese themed autogen, navigation obstacles and dynamic traffic on the islands Hundreds of custom objects with PBR materials, 3D vegetation, night lighting Requirements: X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4Gb VRAM Minimum Download size: 1.3Gb Current version: 2.2 (Feb 3rd 2023) Installation Notable is that you now have to use the "Aerosoft One" application to install (update) the scenery... Important: If you ordered Faroe Islands XP before it was on Aerosoft One and do not have a serial number, please contact [email protected] to get a serial number Installation of Faroe Islands XP is done through Aerosoft one installer: Aerosoft One Universal After you have installed Aerosoft One, click on ENTER PRODUCT KEY (under the Library Tab) enter the Serial Number provided in this order. This will give you the option to download the airport. Installed order is; Faroes4XPlane - Terrain Faroes4XPlane - Addition Faroes4XPlane - Airport Faroes4XPlane - Overlay  Total scenery Install is : 2.67gb Documents Manual_Faroe_Islands_XP11_de-en_web (In German and English) _____________________ Review System Specifications Windows - 12th Gen IS1700 Core i7 12700K 12 Core 3.60 GHz CPU - 64bit -32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - PNY GeForce RTX 3080 10GB XLR8 - Samsung 970 EVO+ 2TB SSD Software: - Windows 11 Pro - X-Plane 12.01r3 (This is a beta review). Plugins: Traffic Global - JustFlight-Traffic (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$52.99 : Global SFD plugin US$30.00 : RK Apps XPRealistic v2 - US$34.99 Aircraft or Scenery - A319 - Airbus A319 XP12 by Toliss (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$89.99 _____________________ Review by Stephen Dutton 8th February 2023 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.

NEWS! - Scenery Upgrade : Faroe Islands XP to X-Plane 12 by Aerosoft The Faroe Islands XP scenery released in 2019 by Maps2XPlane (distributed under the Aerosoft banner) was a pronounced scenery that changed the quality of landscape scenery significantly in the X-Plane Simulator. It won X-PlaneReviews "Best Landscape Scenery" 2019 as well. The scenery is unique in many ways. There is 1.400 km² of hi-quality HD terrain that covers the entire set of islands that makes up the Faroe Chain, and back then (X-Plane11) you could also change the seasons from the stark white of winter to the bright green of summer, besides the impressionable Vágar airfield, there are also eight helipads that are spread out all over the islands. Positioned almost directly between Norway and Iceland, and 200 miles (320 km) north-northwest off the coast of Scotland are the Faroe Islands. This archipelago area of 18 islands is about 540 square miles (1,400 km2) with a general population of 50,322 and is part of the 1814 Treaty of Kiel that granted Denmark control over the islands, along with the two other Norwegian island possessions of Greenland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands have been a self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948. I reviewed the scenery twice, the release review in 2019; Scenery Review : Faroe Islands XP by Aerosoft - Maps2XPlane, then the extensive update Faroe Islands XP v2.0. That was followed again by a smaller update a month later, a touch-up release if you want to v2.1. Let me be clear, I love this scenery immensely. It is in the same visual scenic vista vein scenery, more of like the high-qualty detailed mountain scenery recreated by Frank Dainese & Fabio Bellini. But both Vágar airfield approaches, certainly in the winter season, are some of the most difficult and challenging as you can find... I have flown frequently both from Denmark and Scotland, and all the services to Vágar are my most favorite of simulations, and throw in some great island hopping as well. Here with this update v2.2, you get added XP12 support (i.e. compatibility-patch for XP 12.01r3 and Hot fixes i.a. broken animations (caused CTD) and vegetation. Not a lot new in detail, but bringing in the X-Plane 12 elements are a big deal for this scenery. Version 2.2 (Feb 3rd 2023) Added XP12 support (i.e. compatibility-patch for XP 12.01r3) Hot fixes i.a. broken animations (caused CTD) and vegetation Note, images here are still X-Plane11, I will replace them when I get access to the scenery. Notable is that you now have to use the "Aerosoft One" application to install (update) the scenery... Important: If you ordered Faroe Islands XP before it was on Aerosoft One and do not have a serial number, please contact [email protected] to get a serial number Installation of Faroe Islands XP is done through Aerosoft one installer: Aerosoft One Universal After you have installed Aerosoft One, click on ENTER PRODUCT KEY (under the Library Tab) enter the Serial Number provided in this order. This will give you the option to download the airport. A brilliant investment that rewards you whenever you fly to the north of Scotland, well worth the challenge. And the Faroe Islands XP12 scenery now has also a lower entrance price of only US35.99 __________________________ Yes! Faroe Islands XP v2.2 by Aerosoft - Maps2XPlane is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Faroe Islands XP Price Is US$35.99 Features: Compatible with both X-Plane 12 and X-Plane 11 Realistic recreation of the complete Faroe Islands with an area of about 1.400 km² High resolution terrain mesh with various texture sets for a seasonal representation Customized local terrain details, e.g. realistically sloped runway at the Vágar Airport Detailed rendition of the Vágar Airport and the eight helipads spread over the archipelago Faroese themed autogen, navigation obstacles and dynamic traffic on the islands Hundreds of custom objects with PBR materials, 3D vegetation, night lighting Requirements: X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4Gb VRAM Minimum Download size: 1.3Gb Current version: 2.2 (Feb 3rd 2023) ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 6th February 2023 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! - Scenery Update : SBGR- São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport by Globallart Last year 2022, São Paulo as a region has had a lot of X-Plane attention. Not only are there the two releases of the major airports in SBSP - Congonhas Airport and the main gateway of SBGR - Guarulhos International Airport. But also there is a great collaboration City scenery between Globallart and Paulo Ricardo to create a MEGA scenery package of São Paulo, extensive as a full package it all is, the review is here; Scenery Review : São Paulo Mega Scenery This update is for SBGR - Guarulhos International Airport v1.2. It is not noted as X-Plane 12 in the details, but it can be used in the requirements, so I'm going to note it here as an X-Plane 12 scenery. (So expect Congonhas to follow). An extensive v1.2 update list it is as well... Version 1.2 (February 2nd 2023) 10-28 Runways Markings update 10-28 Taxiway Signs update 10-28 Taxiway Markings update New Runway Texture New Grass Texture Includes 9 missing Taxiway Signs DC-8 Beta Cargo near Apron 10 Apron 10 Lights and new objects Includes missing fences New American Airlines Hangar with interior. New Localizer antennas BASP NA-T6 & Xavante display Airplanes Andrew Parish also did a SBGR scenery review last year; Scenery Review SBGR- São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport Scenery Features üAccurate replica São Paulo International Airport, Guarulhos, updated 2022. üPrecise modeling, based on original references, plans and other studies. üFully customized pavement, with ambient occlusion included in textures. üCustom Jetways compatible with SAM plugins. üAuto Gate Marginal Compatible Custom Jetways. üStandard VGDS system. · Controlled by Dataref Marginal Plugins. · Controlled by Dataref SAM Plugins üStatic objects, vehicles and aircraft are present in the scene. üAvenues and streets with custom and standard vehicle traffic. · Controlled by the Marginal Ground Traffic Plugin üHDR lighting with custom night textures. üCustom textures with ambient occlusion. üX-Plane standard animated traffic service. üStandard Approach Light Systems (ALS). üIncluded taxi routes for aircraft, “taxi route". üCompatible taxi routes configured for World Traffic (WT3) and other plugins. üRamp Start set for airlines. üTerminal 2 and 3 with rendered interior. üCompatible with Mega São Paulo – Paulo Ricardo. üCompatible with SBSP Congonhas Globall Art. If you have already purchased SBGR - Guarulhos International Airport for X-Plane 11, the free update is now on your X-Plane.OrgStore account, download is 0.98 GB Mega São Paulo by Paulo Ricardo is highly recommended with this Guarulhos Airport scenery. Images are courtesy of GloballArt. __________________ Yes!... SBGR- São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport v1.2 by GloballArt is now Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : SBGR- São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport Price is US$24.95 Requirements X-Plane 11 - X-Plane 12 Windows. Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum. 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 1 GB Current version: 1.2 (February 2nd 2023) ___________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 6th February 2023 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

Nice reply thanks. Personally I lived in that bubble, pretty well over the last four years, I even thought I could have gotten away with it for XP12. But the problems starts once you update or upgrade one component, then you get a cascade of items in wanting to be upgraded, it is like a falling of the cards, same last year with my iMac, it was a 2009 series computer that ran all software from that period perfectly, but with the subscription model, they force you to upgrade the software. The photoshop software worked, or still does work fine, but Adobe canned it. So the machine is now redundant... I will say this, on the other side with faster computers and the up to date software, and that mega power card, it is a nice (if expensive) place to be S

The Dreamfoil S300C is not an X-Plane 12 aircraft, but only designed for X-Plane 11? and it hasn't yet been upgraded? I can't understand either how the helicopter can actually work, and yet X-Plane 12 does not? X-Plane is not actually my software either, but created by Laminar Research? A lot of odd questions here... and not a lot of clear information.

Behind the Screen : January 2023 This monthly review of "Behind the Screen" was created to communicate what was going on in the X-Plane world. To give you the user information on the state of the simulator, that we use in a day to day capacity. What we process, in not only X-Plane products, but in the way we use the Simulator, can be explained here in giving information for other users to absorb. Since my early days of using X-Plane I have had the uncanny knack of seeing or having events happen to me before it happens to anyone else. That is good, but head bashing as well, as I have had to work through the problems in fixing it, hopefully in passing on that vital information, so you the user don't have to go through the same torment. Behind the Screen is also here to mirror the health of the X-Plane Simulator as well, a sort of grounding on the current reality. In the forums, many can be a bit self-absorbed, but most of the X-Plane community thankfully believe in the old world style of helping others to get around the difficult problems of running an extremely complicated Simulator program. Pray they are there, and thank them for their generosity So the old adage "You can never tell what is going on beneath the surface. Even the most regally calm swan is paddling furiously below the water", can and be also certainly adhered to X-Plane Simulation. Hence again Behind the Screen. I was determined to have a good break over the Christmas/New Year period, resting (meaning no computer work), just the annual equipment cleaning (keyboards and dust) and filing away all of the last years completed content... clean ready computers all done, and also ready for the exciting new 2023 year ahead, I was fresh as well after the rest, all ready to go... it lasted three days. The one thing X-Plane is very good at, I have found over the years, is it that it has the uncanny knack of finding your weak spots, then throwing them directly or blowing them up into your face. More confusion is created when I have easily used X-Plane 12 (beta) from it's introduction back in September 2022. Yes I had to adjust the graphic settings, but otherwise I was able to use the newer version Simulator overall perfectly fine. Then things started going seriously wrong when I started an early in the year 2023 review. After the initial confusion, it came down to three areas. Crashing or the freezing of the simulator caused by the continuous Vulcan device loss errors, weird things happening to aircraft when flying, like the liveries would change every few minutes, the undercarriage had a mind of it's own, dropping then coming back up, ATC alerts popping up consistently, flaps changing position, and finally airbrakes deciding to also activate also on their own. Finally the screen was going dark and the saturation was going off the scale. Absolute madness... just ONE of these areas alone are hard to decipher, but three or four at the same time was simply overwhelming... Biggest argument here is why? perfect before Christmas, then a total horror show after it, I hadn't done anything, or changed anything between the two events... the only one I had done was to update X-Plane to v12.01r1... nah really? I will bring up that v12.01r1 update, did it start a chain of events that sent me bonkers? it is a big question... Laminar put out all the version changes in their X-Plane 12.00 Release Notes... but what of the areas of changes you don't see, mostly in the core X-Plane.app. I am not going to blame Laminar Research or X-Plane, as it may even be just circumstances that things happen, but one thing is for sure. One area had certainly changed to create a cascade of other issues. My work and time went down the toilet as well. The problems are a result actually of Hardware issues? HARDWARE? Thanks to user "Tom", I worked out that my Saitek Hardware was underpowered, the USB was not pulling enough power from the computer, the result is an area called "Ghosting", were the (in this case the switches on my Saitek throttle) decided to activate the set switches by themselves, or ghosting themselves. Honestly I had never heard of "Ghosting" before even though it is quite common with Saitek addons. So you learn something, even after over a decade in Simulation. One down three to go... Still I had the "Vulcan device loss errors", and they were becoming evidently worse, to the point the Simulator was crashing now consistently. I pared the simulator back to a fresh clean X-Plane 12 application install. No plugins, Only default Scenery, Only default aircraft... the result was still loads of Vulcan device errors, but not as consistent. A investigation of the forums said it was my Graphic Card a GTX 1080 8Gb that was not powerful enough to cope with the API, odd as it coped very well for four months last year, I don't or didn't over stress my Graphic Card either, but it was showing signs it was burning out (BTW, X-Plane burnt out my last Graphic Card as well in my Mac), hence all the Vulkan loss errors. I was now looking at a new (expensive) Graphic Card. Hard to get at this time in Australia (Summer Holidays) and in very short in stock availability. I could throw 2K or AUS$1700 at one, but I don't have 2K to buy one, remember I have already spent 3K last year upgrading my Board and Processors... for a game, sorry simulation X-Plane is an expensive business. I found a card, a RTX 3080 10GB even on sale (if for only $50), but still far more than the 1K that I wanted to pay... remember when you could buy graphic cards for $600 and they felt expensive, today you can double that, or even treble that. Good news it was local so I got it the next day... Yes it is a powerful RTX 3080 card (for it's price). But powering it is like hooking up Hoover Dam to Las Vegas, two heavy cables are required, some cards now need three. Lucky last year I also upgraded to a 1000w Corsair Power Supply, so I already had enough power to power this internal nuclear reactor... It works. You can do anything with computers, but if you are into Simulation, then Graphic Card power is always the way to go. You can get very intoxicated by it all, jumping from below 30 frames to over 60 frames in an instant, nothing abruptly happens either, no CTD (Crash to Desktop), no flickers, no waiting, and absolutely no Vulkan device errors! It just all works... and smoothly. Huge headroom, and the space to absorb the things that can drive you mad, do I recommend selling items of furniture or your car to get a magic graphic card, sadly yes if you are serious about Simulation. But now with my system is now finally completed or 100% overhauled, it is seriously frightening on how much power you really do just need to run X-Plane 12 efficiently. Seriously those who think they can get away with the basic specifications set out by Laminar Research are not going to make it, I wasn't even close to the absolute basic requirements, as I got burnt out, other users have simply got no chance. I know, because I tried to beat the odds, and failed. So if you are in it for the long haul with X-Plane 12, you have to have the gear to run it as well. That brings up another question? Does a simple simulator program expect or demand too much investment to just to run correctly, remember X-Plane 9, I ran that on a Mac-Mini at the time, and it flew very well, now I need Colossus and the power of the Hoover Dam just to get a decent framerate? In other words, X-Plane 12 found my weaknesses, exploited them, and brought me crashing down. Did the hidden changes in v12.01r1 push my systems boundaries beyond what they are capable of? That is big question... Yes X-Plane 12 or as currently noted as officially released, it is however in reality still deep into a beta, and things are still changing, even under the hood... you are starting to wish it would be all be over and sooner than later. I have been through beta's like this before, but never have they burnt out my computer? I still have an issue, my Monitor looks perfect with the set Nvidia settings, (even with the default settings), but the images coming out of X-Plane 12 (screenshots) are anything but, dark and with very heavy shadows (yes I do have Ambient Occlusion set to zero), at night you can't see anything? Graphic Card or X-Plane 12, take your pick, as they say in Houston "Work the problem". _______________ I mentioned in my end of the year review 2022 and roundup, that this year 2023 would be one of the most interesting and important years in the history of X-Plane. Basically it is a sink or swim year (the above situation does not help). But I did expect a load of upgrades that came to pass with X-Plane 12 going official, they came or are still coming and they are all very good, but it is the add on scenery aspect that is the most worrying. In the first month I was very uplifted by the release of a lot of cross platform scenery (MSFS and X-Plane12), basically the same scenery released for both platforms, and both of the same high quality. Thankfully not the glut over at MSFS and the few trinkets for X-Plane. Supporting both platform simultaneously is good business for both sides, the Simulators and the developer houses. In fact delivering more scenery products for X-Plane 12 will of course drive more business in users wanting to fill out their landscapes with decent product. Better was shown with Orbx and their Brisbane City pack release and YBBN Brisbane International Airport packages (I give a small preview of both in the Thranda 337F Review). My argument (for years) was always to produce City packages or City Icons, with the connected Airports. Then let the X-Plane autogen do the rest. The Orbx dual package shows how well this aspect works for X-Plane and why I push for as many City Packages (and for you to buy them) to fill out the X-Plane world as possible and make it far more realistic. A lot will note that X-Plane still needs a far better photo based underlay, to which I totally agree, but flat photos are not the answer either for total realism. Even though Austin Meyer as an aversion to photo textures, I still think X-Plane will still get a hybrid system during the X-Plane 12 run to counter the MSFS style of Simulation... good city scenery also proves it can work for X-Plane and it is also well worth the users investment, as the Orbx combo shows... that aspect alone makes it a brilliant, even relived start to the 2023 Simulation year, just hope the same quality and products are continued to be released as the year progresses. It will be an area I will comment on frequently, because it is vital to expanding landscape of the X-Plane 12 Simulator and it's future. See you all next month (barring another computer meltdown) Stephen Dutton 3rd February 2023 Copyright©2023 X-Plane Reviews

Aircraft Review : Cessna 337F Skymaster by Thranda Design Thoughout the history of aviation there have been many different concepts... fuselage shapes, wing designs, power sources. But in the one area of multiple engines, there is the Twin Engine mounted wing configuration, or commonly known as "Twins". Several twins however use a very different concept, one was the wartime Do 335, another and another was far more famous aircraft the Cessna 337 Skymaster. The concept is called push-pull configuration in that has a combination of forward-mounted tractor (pull) propeller, and backward-mounted (pusher) propeller. In the Cessna 377's case it was two Continental IO-360-C air-cooled flat-six piston engines, 210 hp (160 kW) each, producing a combined 420hp, plus the unique "Twin-Boom" tail arrangement to accommodate the rear (pusher) engine/propeller. Basically the 337 was a standard Cessna forward fuselage, but with a totally different concept at the rear. The first Skymaster, Model 336 Skymaster, had fixed landing gear and initially flew on February 28, 1961. It went into production in May 1963 with 195 being produced through mid-1964. In February 1965, Cessna introduced the Model 337 Super Skymaster. The new model was larger, and had more powerful engines, retractable landing gear, and a dorsal air scoop for the rear engine. (The "Super" prefix was subsequently dropped from the name.) In 1966, the turbocharged T337 was introduced, and in 1973, the pressurised P337G entered production. Cessna built altogether 2993 Skymasters of all variants, including 513 military O-2 versions. Thranda Design are on a roll. Last year in 2022 they released two Cessna's, Cessna 208 Grand Caravan, then later a Cessna U206G Stationair. Now another Cessna joins the fleet in a Cessna 337F, the push/puller icon. This C337 is not the first 337 in X-Plane, that distinction goes to Carenado's Cessna C337H Skymaster v2 HD Series, back in 2013, an iconic and much loved aircraft (by me anyway)... I loved the thing, and you can see on how good it was even a decade ago in the review above. Thranda Design also had a lot of input into that aircraft, as they also managed back then the Carenado fleet for the X-Plane Simulator, so they already know the aircraft intimately. No matter how many aircraft you review, you are still amazed at the quality and detail you get today in simulation. Once you flew models (or modeled aircraft), but today they are realistically miniature aircraft in almost every perfect detail. Every panel, appendage, rivet, screw and the overall shaping is perfect, or perfection, inlets show a mock Continental IO-360-C, but the engine is not accessible (Unlike the U206G). Glass is perfect, a green tint (more visible internally) with wear speckles embedded, it looks and feels nicely authentic. The twin VHF roof mounted aerials are distinctive on the C337, as is the large cooling inlet for the buried rear engine. Note the top oil filler cap, nice detail. The support strut for the tail booms is interesting. It is plastic or early form of glass-fibre to save weight, behind the strut in the boom structure is a sump tank. Flaps are divided on to each side of the boom, so in essence there are four sections. Detail again is excellent, note the boom fairings around the flaps detail... there are three flap degrees. There is the beautiful cambered detailing of the wing tips, that defines the chord. And you have the choice between "Icing Boots", or a blank leading edge. The rear twin booms, with the large central horizontal stabiliser is huge, with built in elevator and trim tab. Each boom has each internal left and right rudder cables and the right hand boom carries the trim cable, the left boom the elevator cable... ... tailstrikes are common, rare that any C337 has no tail damage, both the upper and lower assemblies here are excellent detail. You can't just swap around a Continental IO-360-C engine either... the rear has a very different load bearing (push) to the front's (Pull) bearing (again made tougher to absorb the higher loads). Note the rear engine cooling flaps (open). The landing gear is basic in a complicated way.... the wheel assemblies quite basic, hub and arms, but complicated in that they have to fold up into the fuselage, the nose gear rotates sideways on retraction, the rear spindly legs also have to contort to fit in the rear bays. A lot of owners take the rear gear doors off, as maintenance wise they are a pain (an option here?). Early 337 models used a manual hydraulic floor pump to raise and lower the gear from 65 to 73, then it was converted to two ECSs in the model, each with a 5.5-volt BEC. The front BEC powers a receiver in the fuselage (behind the front engine ) that operates the retracts, doors, nose wheel steering, right aileron and right elevator. The second receiver is in the wing and is powered from the rear ESC. The wing receiver operates the left aileron, left elevator half, both rudders and both flaps. As noted the gear in detail is very well done by Thranda, all assemblies and tyres are first rate, even good enough to spend time and admire the work. Because of the type of undercarriage on this aircraft, there won't be any of the usual Thranda addon features like; Tundra Tyres, Ice-Skis and Float/Amphibian versions. There are a few 337 float conversions out there, but they are very rare. If you want to call it the "Arse End" or "Rear Belly" of the aircraft, the lower rear fuselage is really well detailed with great well designed vortex generators, to create a smoother rear (breakaway) airflow from the aircraft with the powered propeller above. From on-wards with the 337G Super Skymaster version, there was a split airstair entry door, like on the Carenado 337H, great for leaving the upper window open in flight. Here though on the "F" model with Thranda, it is the earlier single entry door, the only other opening door is the smaller cubby door for baggage rear lower right side. Interior Only a single door entry to a six-seater aircraft, so it is tight in there with this seating configuration. Usually you would only use the seats, and so where do you put the baggage? usually on your lap, so the six-seater configuration doesn't work. In a real 337 your on top of each other, so it's small, really small. Note the excellent seating, the lower base and legs are really well designed... nice to look at as well. Unlike most Cessna's, the rear of the cabin doesn't taper away, so it is really inside a tall box. The rear engine which is set just behind the rear bulkhead is close to the rearmost passengers, it is known to be noisy as well. Cabin is tailored in a mixture of creams and browns, again reflecting it's pre-70's age... the headlining has a zip to the rear, again nicely done, with the front high set Fuel tank opposite selectors, for the front and rear engines. Cockpit Forward and the instrument panel is dominated by the huge pedestal, with six levers (THROTTLE, PROP and MIXTURE) for the two engines... ... front side windows are huge and past the front line of the wing leading edge... and reason why most C377's are used for observation, e.g. the Cessna O-2 Skymaster (nicknamed "Oscar Deuce"), fire and maritime observation patrols. Front side window (sometimes known as the paperwork window) opens as does the ash tray (it was the 70's). The Pilot's window is fixed, but the door window can be opened. There are two choices of yokes, "Slim" or "Beefy", the beefy version is the same large centred yoke from the Thranda U206G, but it works in here. Looking at the instrument panel, there is one glaring omission between the Carenado 337H and this version... that lovely green buttoned Autopilot panel... disappointed, as it was a huge feature on the earlier aircraft. Otherwise they are very much alike. As this aircraft has the "Dynamic Panel" system from Thranda, there are no set instrument arrangements, as we shall see that aspect later. Two areas on the instrument panel are standard... the excellent twin engine gauges with Manifold Pressure and RPM. A Fuel Flow (FF) and EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature). The highlight on this side is the engine dials that show (top row) fuel gauges (two tanks, 46 GAL each), OIL pressure. (lower row) CYL head temp, and OIL temperatures. Other dials cover SUCTION, Air Temperature and Volts (amperes). Left lower panel has the VOLTS/BATtery (alternators), IGNITION/STARTERS , Instrument lighting (Flood/Post), Cowl Flaps (Front/Rear) and main electrical switchgear; MASTER, AUX PUMPS, ANTI-ICE, AVIONICS, (External) Lighting. The (hydraulic) gear selector is by the excellent large and handy (pitch) trim wheel. Park brake is a simple push/pull knob lower. The six lever; THROTTLE, PROP and MIXTURE pedestal is large and excellent, with a yaw (Rudder) trim wheel set below. Lower is a ADF Receiver panel. Left side panel is a fully active "Circuit Breaker" (Fuses) panel. In the opening glove box are the happy faces of the "Thranda Team". Menu Thranda's Menus are very feature rich and highly detailed. There is a popout TAB under the arrow lower left, that can be (mouse) scrolled to hide it, that is if you don't like these sort of items crowding your screen (I don't). The Menu system includes the "Dynamic Generation Series" or DGS, a Thranda speciality feature that takes full advantage of X-Plane's flexibility for in-sim, real-time modifications. As noted the "Menu" Tab (arrow) is far left middle of your screen, this will activate the Pop-Out Menu... The Menu has seven menu tabs in; GENERAL, LIVERY, WEIGHT/BAL, CAMERA, AUDIO/SLEW, PANEL and MISC (Miscellaneous) Menu - General The menu "General" sections covers quite a lot of options, the layout is highly detailed and very comprehensive. General menu selections cover; Electric Tug, Window and Instrument Panel Reflections on/off, Startup Running on/off, GPU on/off, Cargo Pod on/off, Chocks and Brakes. Three selections placed right cover group items, but any one item can be also accessed via "Click Spots" and can be individually selected or hidden via the aircraft graphic. "ALL COVERS" will select engine inlet/outlet covers and pitot cover, "ALL TIE-DOWNS" for rear fuselage and wing tie-downs and "ALL DOORS" for both the cockpit door and rear cabin doors. All EXT - External Lights can be switched on and off as can the ALL INT - Internal lights. The "Electric Tug" that can be used to move the aircraft around on the ground via your joystick (left,right-forward,backwards). Static Items include Ground Power Unit, Engine Inlet covers, Pitot covers and Tie-Downs Cargo pod is nicely detailed and comes with a single opening door, you can also add in the amount of baggage according to weight. The excellent "Checklist", can also be found on this tab. Which is the same as the Thranda U206G system... in the red, or the checked green choices you used on the other Thranda aircraft, and not the single white text on the Caravan. On some pages it notes performance and flying tips. You can have checklist pop-up or in a window mode and thankfully you can move it, and scale it even from the very small to the very large size. The two lower arrows give navigation around the checklist pages. The action detail and hints in the lists are simply excellent and the checklist is fully detailed from Pre-Flight to Shutdown. And to reset, it is done at the end by switching all the green completed checklist back to red. Menu - Liveries Second Menu option is "Liveries", there are two options here with the first being "PAINTED LIVERIES". There are altogether 8 liveries or two blank (or DynamicLiveryResources/ZZTemplate) and six designs, and all are of extremely high quality and creative flare with the package. Thranda house is default. Dynamic Liveries Not happy with any of those designs, then why not create your own livery! With their earlier releases of their Caravan and U206G. Then Thranda introduced a clever feature of a way to design your own livery. This is done by switching from PAINTED LIVERIES to DYNAMIC LIVERIES (Arrowed). Two liveries are "Dynamic" in resources (White)... another New feature is the (Quick) selection of Dirt (Ext) Externally, Scratches and Dirt (Int) Internally. Via three percentage selections you can adjust the amount of Dirt, Scratches and Dirt Int on the aircraft (0%-255%) and apply it instantly.So you can have either a pristine or a very grubby aircraft with just a twirl of the numbers. This can be applied to any of the liveries. You have a menu to select on the right that can colour a certain part of the aircraft, like the Roof, Wing, Tail or Wing tips. Select which one you want and then adjust the RGB colours for that certain area, it looks hard but you can easily design a very nice livery in about twenty minutes... the selections of Dirt (Ext), Scratches and Dirt (Int). Metal(ness) and surface Rough(ness) can also be added or adjusted as seen earlier... When done you can "SAVE" or ADD the livery and then "APPLY" it to the aircraft. The conversion takes a few minutes, but the results are excellent and in your own design... There are already 30 preselected selections in their various designs, all which are very good, and like noted you can add in your own version to the list. New to the Dynamic Livery application is ERA options in "Modern' or "Classic". Of course taste is optional... Here I changed the aircraft registration to an Australian Rego (VH-337), because I didn't like the Australian default aircraft... cool. Menu - Weight/Bal The C337F also has a great Weight and Balance menu. Lbs and Kgs which can be selected and changed via the toggle Lbs/Kgs (arrowed). Fuel can be added, and the amounts are then shown and are also adjustable as well in the menu (above). Pilot, passengers and cargo can all be set for individual weights and all selected via a scrollwheel... and then all of the CofG (Centre of Gravity) parameters are shown on a graph. Go too far or too heavy and the CofG goes red (arrowed). When done you can Save the Configuration and then later re-load it, or press Load to add in the set weights. Overall it would be nice to have set of loading formats of different configurations, it is slow work setting them individually. Once you go over a certain weight, you will then get two pilot's in the front seats, but no rear passengers. Pilots (Female/Male) are switchable. Note if you turn the aircraft power off, the pilots will again disappear. More cabin options allows you to hide each of the four rear seats, via the small x tickboxes, if the weights for each seat is still set in place (or adjusted) then the area is replace by baggage. This makes for a very versatile cabin. The Cargo Pod can be added or removed on the MISC Tab. This then adds in the Cargo Pod weight options on the right. But obviously there is a compromise? If you want a full passenger and baggage load, then you can't have full fuel tanks, as the excess weight takes you over the weight and the CofG limits. For six (light) passengers (with maybe a bag thrown in) then can you have your full tanks and the range and not go into the red. You can also really pile a lot into the rear cabin two sections, and all the baggage is of very high quality. Menu - Camera There is a camera feature under the menu "Camera" selection. The left side of the panel is the "Walkaround" views, just pick the dot viewpoint you want to see to rotate around the aircraft. To the right is the default views can be selected via a menu, or press the keypad to select the view with most of these internal viewpoints. The FoV or Field of View is adjustable via a slider. Menu - Audio/Slew Sound can be adjusted via the sound menu. There are seven slider selections with: Master, Aircraft External, Aircraft Internal, CoPilot, Radios, Environmental and User Interface. One other sound setting is on the Flap panel... As noted, on the right and left of the panel you get the audio simulation of an active noise canceling headset, which is seen as wearing a headset. Sound quality is beyond excellent as it is a built in audio mixer, so you can individually control the audio channels in real-time and you can adjust the volumes while hearing them play. Slew mode allows you to manually move the aircraft around in a disconnected X-Plane space. It functions by temporarily overriding the various aerodynamic and physical forces on the X-Plane settings, it is to allow the user to reposition the plane as desired. This feature is however highly touchy and it is mostly used with the floats option (not really coming to the 337), but for use on the Caravan, Thranda Beaver and PC-6). Menu - PANEL The sixth "PANEL" Tab option allows you to adjust or change the instruments and dials. Scroll the "Panel Preset" number (arrowed) to see the extra six preset layouts (seven choices in all). Sometimes to restart you have to click to "Apply the Settings" for the GPS units. Panel features include; Bendix King KFC-225, and the noted Aspen EFD 1000, KR 87 ADF Radio, Garmin GMA 340, Garmin GTX325 Mode C Transponder, BendixKing IN-182A Weather Radar, S-Tec Fifty Five X Autopilot and the usual GNS 430/530 PS/Nav/Comm units. A EDM 780 Digital EGT (shown lower) is also available. And there is a special 3d bezels for the insertion of RealityXp GTN 750/430 units if you own those two addons (arrowed above). Here is featured the EDM 780 EGT display, a replacement for the twin EGT gauges, the instrument pops-out as well. The Aspen EFD 1000 is a self-contained multifunction digital display that is divided into a Primary Flight Display (PFD) in the top half, and an Electric Horizontal Situation Indicator (EHSI) in the lower half. As EDF 1000 systems go it is not as highly featured with the GPSS, MAP, 360 and Menu functions all not simulated... all the lower NAV1/NAV2/GPS selections are however available, as is the TPS (Tapes) see/hide option with the MIN (Minimums) selectable as well. and the PFD can be reversed with the EHSI. The EFD 1000 here can be used with the S-TEC Fifty Five X Autopilot. Customising the panel to your own personal layout is just as easy. Just select the "3D EDIT PANEL MODE" (arrowed) that gives you access to all of the 53 individual instruments and avionic units... There are some great options including Aspen EFD 1000, S-TEC 55x Autopilot, Angle of Attack gauge and so on... For those that find instruments are not to their liking in say, "I wish I could move that altitude meter just a bit more to the left", then here you can simply adjust that instrument, or even swap the instruments around the panel to your liking. You can even adjust the brightness of the instrument. Optional is to select the type of GPS unit you want GNS 530/430 via the "INSTRUMENT" selection. When done you can "ADD" (or Duplicate) a new "Preset", and then "SAVE" that new layout Preset (Preset /6). So basically you can start off with a completely blank instrument panel and then create your own unique or personal instrument layout if you have the time and patience... and you can have up to or save 14 different instrument layouts. It is however very important to restart X-Plane to lock in the new instrumentation layout before flying. Currently the optional "Panel Background" choice (colour) is not available on the 337F, like it was on some other Thranda DGS systems. Menu - MISC The Misc (Miscellaneous) page has four panels that cover Yoke Type (Chunky or Slim) ,De-Ice (wing) Boots, Cargo Pod (Normal or Cargo), Pilots (Option 1 Female, Option Two Male) and DynaFeel. "DynaFeel" on the right is a system that dynamically adjusts the rate at which the controls deflect. It is based on airspeed and how much the control is deflected. This means the controls will feel light and responsive at low speeds and with small deflections, but will get progressively heavier as the airspeed increases. _____________________ Flying the Cessna 337F Skymaster The 377F is an odd aircraft because of it's push/pull configuration. The front is standard, the rear installation is everything but. In the cockpit it is bit like wearing a very heavy backpack, you know it's there but you can't see it. And that heavily enclosed rear installation causes problems as well.... mostly the heating. So the aircraft is expensive to run, maintenance costs are notably high and so are the insurance premiums. This puts of a lot off buyers, which is a shame as the unique configuration is a very good flying machine. You have to start the front engine first, to push cooling air into the upper vent to keep the rear engine cool... ... even when you have started the rear IO-360-C air-cooled flat-six piston engine, you have to move forward quickly. More air is required by movement via the twin open cowls on the rear, the nose engine has the same cowls under the aircraft, but it also has the forward nose inlet. Sit there for a period of time and it could get very expensive... quickly. And yet you need the "Temps" to come up before moving, my trick is once the needles are showing rear temps, then go... the taxi to the runway will do the rest. And this highlights the biggest point in flying the C337, your eyes are never (ever) far from those Temp gauges, you can't see or feel that rear engine, so the gauges are your eyes and ears to what is happening back there. Sounds when running are obviously different. Although both IO-360-C engines are the same, however they sound very different because of their different locations and installations. So you get Individual sounds for the front and back engines, with different sonic characteristics. Combine that with 3D 360º audio effects, including "blade slapping" sound when view is perpendicular to prop, and you can even hear the turbulent air feeding into the rear prop. Also the "beats' are all there with the precise beat frequency for each section, to minimise "muddy" transition sounds, in other words the running "ticker, ticker", sounds at idle, the same as any Continental piston engine, but sonically coming at you from both ways... it's all very good. It is up to you if you want to taxi on one engine, or both... personally you don't need the rear engine to taxi, as the front IO-360-C has more than enough power... ... with no stress yet on the rear engine it helps in keeping it a bit cool(er). I use a Yaw setting on my Joystick to steer, but rudder inputs, in mostly the right rudder will fine tune the taxi line, even slight turns like this with the rudder input are easily available... on the ground the 337 is excellent, nice power inputs, that slack off when you reduce the power, so all it's lovely on the ground. Cockpit in detail in X-Plane 12 is realistic as it gets, Simulation 2023... the silhouette is the iconic C337. Because of the unique engine arrangement and rear fuselage configuration, the rear engine creates instant aerodynamic flow over the huge horizontal stabiliser and elevator, so the pitch feel is there from the word go... so you have to be aware in the way you use the pitch earlier than usual. On the real 337, the pitch trim is motorised automatically to compensate for the extra elevator pressure loadings, and will work (trim) from the moment you leave the runway. The rear propeller is highly exposed as well... thrown up rocks from the rear wheels can cause grief (in other words expensive repairs), and you have to leave the runway cleanly, or not a too pitched up, in not catching the ground sort of skill... obviously you can't see it at all. But the unique push/pull engine configuration also works for you in not creating any (depending on the power outputs) yaw, as the inline counter-rotating propellers give no directional thrust pull, so there is no asymmetrical thrust or yaw to the power output of the propeller, basically you go straight down the runway with no corrections or slight rudder corrections... and fast you do go! I usually bring the front (puller) up to 90% power, tracking right I then bring up the rear (pusher) to match it... ... remember the rear engine operates in the disturbed air from the forward engine, which may reduce its efficiency to 85% of the forward engine. Basically the 337 is a small aircraft with two engines on it, so it GOES... well "like shit!". At 100knts you break with the ground, slight pull back with the yoke, and once clear then a 10% pitch to climbout... you have ton's of power behind you, so the 337 will climb-out very easily... Rate of climb is 1,200 ft/min (6.1 m/s), but you can do a 1,000 fpm comfortably... now for the big theatrical production! First the gear doors open, then the nosewheel will twist sideways to fit into the front wheel-well... ... from the rear the fine limbed gear has to then contortion to fit in what is basically four rear bays. The animation work here is difficult and very complex, but Thranda have done an excellent job, in getting it perfectly correct. Then you have a nice clean aircraft. Note... the gear lever will go up, then return to the centre position once the hydraulics have finished the procedure. Once cleaned up, the one thing you realise very quickly, is that the 337F is one amazing aircraft to fly. Maybe it is huge wing arrangement, and twin boom tail, but it is steady as a rock and smooooth, easily trimmed, and can then bank to your will... ohhh it's "so good". You can bank to the extreme, say 80º/90º (See Redbull video), and the 337 will take it all in it's stride, but note the loss of height, if you are doing these sort of very angled manoeuvres. The numbers... Maximum speed: 199 mph (173 kn, 320 km/h) at sea level : Cruise speed: 144 mph (125 knots, 232 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,050 m) (econ cruise) : Range: 965 mi (839 nmi, 1,553 km) : Service ceiling: 19,500 ft (5,945 m) A lot of operators use internal tanks on the 337 for on-station flying (fishing, fire, maritime patrols etc) so the range is expandable. Lighting Internal lighting is quite basic, but effective. There are only four adjustment knobs; POST (those little lights on the instruments), FLOOD, EL PANEL and ENG RADIO. Between them you get a full lit panel with red highlights... ... a Black&White panel, or a Red panel Last adjustment is for the lower left instrument panel. In the rear you have four spot lights that you can adjust the beams, the roof Fuel Switches are also lit up... but missing is a forward flood cockpit light, and you seriously notice the absence? Externally it is pretty basic as well, Landing/Taxi lights in the wings, navigation and strobe lights on the wingtips, a right tail beacon and white navigation lights on the twin tails. There is also a nice left side Ice-light on the wing. Notable is cooling as already noted. Once airborne you can close the cooling vents forward and rear, this nicely cleans up the aircraft. But there a need to keep all eyes on all the temperature gauges. It becomes a bit of a game on how long (or how far) you can go with the vents closed, once the needles are touching the red zones, you are out of there... switches are lower pilot panel right. Cruising you can easily see the 337F's main outstanding elements, as a stable observational platform. You can understand why the US Army grabbed a load of 337s for this purpose. I wouldn't use the aircraft so much in carrying fare paying passengers, it's too cramped and even too noisy to put into commercial service, but for two (Pilots) and a load of gear, it is perfect. A quick look at the Orbx Brisbane City pack... Brisbane is 70 kms north of here and my local state capital. It comes back to my original argument, create the inner city and the autogen will do the rest, it works fabulously well here, as does the complimenting Orbx YBBN Brisbane international... YBBN Runway 01L is all brand new, just completed only a year or so back... time to check it out. Two things are very apparent on the approach, first the 337F's lift is impressive, those wide wings and horizontal stabiliser (with added thrust on it, mind you) keeps you very steady, almost static in the air, which means manoeuvres can be easily controlled. So the old adage applies here, the Skymaster is a very "Sweet" aircraft to fly. Second is that once you reduce the speed on approach, even at 120 kts, off goes the gear alarm? it feels far to early, not even in the flap white zone, so you have to drop the gear early to just "shut it up". I think the alarm is there and early (still a bit too early though), because it takes the gear a very (very) long time to unfurl and lock down, it feels ages from when you drop the lever to when the green light comes on... notably I opened the cooling vents before landing, and instantly all the temp gauges drop. Flaps are 4 phase 3 degree movements; UP - 1/2 - 2/3 - FULL, get the speed right and there is simply no ballooning, just slight drop of speed, even down to the FULL setting, the Skymaster will stay calm and collected with no fighting of the aircraft... critical on approach. Over the threshold and your in the 70 knts range, perfectly stable... ... 60 knts in the flare. The flare has to be perfect, as you are very aware of that rear propeller hanging down. Slight 5º-6º degrees to keep the nosewheel slightly higher than the rears, then let it down. When the rears touch you bring down the nose carefully, the slow landing speed and excellent lift really helps here to get it right. Then back to taxiing with the rudder pedals. It's a long taxi from YBBN runway 01L/19R to the GA area, and i'm watching those temp gauges like a hawk... but I get there. BNE needs to create a shorter taxi route to 01L/19R from the GA Area, which the area is actually close to? I finally get there... notable with the engines now shutdown is the active variable-pitch on the propellers (PROP levers) in being feathered, it is all very well done here by Thranda, authentic, realism... take your pick but still great. Although a very different configuration from the usual, the 337F is actually a very nice aircraft for a pilot, you never oddly fight it, it is SO stable (that word again), a dream in all the aspects of manoeuvres in the air, trims nice, just "Bloody" feels nice as well. All round this a great aircraft, different in most aspects, but that is also it's attraction for a really special simulation. ___________________ Summary The Cessna 337 is a very unique aircraft in the history of aviation. It is only one of the few created and built in the Push/Pull configuration, or a forward PULL engine and a rear PUSH engine, to accommodate the rear push engine it has a two boom and twin tail arrangement, with a standard Cessna fuselage and forward engine layout. Yes it's totally unique, but it works. Last year in 2022, Thranda Designs released the Cessna 208 Grand Caravan and the U206G Stationair, those aircraft in the series are now joined by the Cessna 337F, after Thranda's earlier more rugged utility aircraft Series. This aircraft is powered by two Continental IO-360-C air-cooled flat-six piston engines, 210 hp (160 kW) each, producing a combined 420hp. Thranda Design are one of the best developers in X-Plane, their history and quality is legendary. So that quality build and detailing is always going to be significant from the start, and so it here... exceptional. In every area and detail, modeling, fine details, glass and the interior materials. Menus are also excellent with menu tabs in; GENERAL, LIVERY, WEIGHT/BAL, CAMERA, AUDIO/SLEW, PANEL and MISC (Miscellaneous), that covers all the options and including sound, weights and balances also including graphs, walk-around and camera options and general static elements including GPU, chocks, pitot covers, two pilots (Male/Female) and tie-downs. Sounds are excellent with High fidelity, multi-track sounds with smooth, finely tuned transitions, amazing atmospheric effects, different sonic characteristics (with the engine arrangement) and 3D audio effects, including the "blade slapping" sounds and the aerodynamic interaction effects between front and rear prop. Internal sounds are however a bit too low compared to the external. Thranda always comes with a high range of clever and unique features to give the user a lot of personal options. Known as the "Dynamic Generation Series" or DGS, this is a Thranda speciality feature that takes full advantage of X-Plane's flexibility for in-sim, real-time modifications. Here you can change the actual livery to your own designs, but build the instrument panel to your own liking as well, including options of the Aspen EFD 1000 glass instrument and a special 3d bezel for the insert of a RealityXp GTN 750 and GNS 430 units if you own those add ons. Comments include, Tricky to start, Tricky to keep cool, and the unusual undercarriage bans a lot extra features in Tundra Tyres, Ice-Skis and Float/Amphibian variants. Lighting is good, but there is no overhead cockpit flood light, four rear spots are also small, in making it a dull night cabin, instrument pane is however good, but you feel you need more adjustments. Missing also is that valued green buttoned Autopilot panel that was on the Carenado. Notable that the 337 is a unique aircraft to fly. The in-line engine arrangement gives you almost no asymmetrical thrust, but this also a powerful, but brilliantly handing aircraft that has not only a very stable platform feel in the air, but also on departure and approach procedures, you can see why the US Army bought loads of O-2 Skymasters for observation patrols. So it's a Thranda and that is a sale done right there. At a below US$40.00 price it is also exceptional value for what you get, including free updates for the run of the X-Plane 12 version and all that exceptional quality. A total winner in every department... and positively recommended. _______________________________ Yes! the Cessna 337F Skymaster DGS series by Thranda Design is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here: Cessna 337F Skymaster DGS series Price is US$39.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum. 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 1.4 GB Current version 1.0.3* (February 1st 2023) *Updates via the Skunkcrafts Updater Special features: FULLY configurable 3D instrument panel. Fully VR Compatible Interchangeable yoke styles Over 50 instruments to choose from! (Including Aspen EFD 1000, and support for RealityXP 650 and GTN750) Move any instrument to any location on the panel, or even between pilot and copilot's panel! Comes with 4 panel presets, but can easily be expanded by moving instruments around, using a simple and intuitive interface. Lighting is fully 3D, and dynamically move along with the instruments, as you configure the panel. Ability to assign a lighting index to individual instruments, to allow different lighting knobs to be assigned on a per-instrument basis. Save your own presets, and even share them with the community! Almost every instrument can be popped up or popped out as a 2D floating window! They can be placed on other monitors as well. Instruments can be moved in 3D directly, on a 2D pop-up preview window, or by numerical entry for precise placement. GNS430 and 530 can be swapped out, but a restart of the plane is required, as 430s and 530s are mutually exclusive in terms of compatibility in X-Plane Dynamic livery editor (like in the Kodiak, the Beaver, the Wilga, the Caravan, the C206, and the Pilatus PC-6) Full PBR control! Create stunning metallic liveries, or matte, sand-blasted look in mere seconds! Additional control over dirt/scratches, adjustable in real-time to dial in the exact desired amount of wear and tear. Create "virtual" liveries, based on two basic common design layouts (Modern and Classic), and assign any colour to any available paint segment. Quickly create preview of livery in real-time, using intuitive controls. Previews include visualization of metallic materials and dirt overlays. Apply selected livery in real-time, right in the sim, without the need to even touch a 3rd party image editor! Option to change the tail number in real-time, or disable it altogether. (Enter a "space" instead of a callsign number to create a blank tail number.) Easily and quickly create dozens of paint schemes in-sim! Also includes 9 traditionally painted liveries, all visible in a convenient pre-selection preview window. Ability to swap pilot/co-pilot figures Uses SkunkCrafts Updater. Option to participate in Beta program, via checkbox in SkunkCrafts Updater. Excellent hi-res PBR realistic materials, featuring true-to-life plate deformation and to-the-rivet precision. Fully modelled Continental IO-320-F front engine. Windshield ice and rain effects Individual functional circuit breakers. Feature-rich elegant fly-out menu with the following features: Electric tug, with in-panel controls to move forward/backward at the desired speed, and steer proportionally Control over chocks, individual tie-downs, covers, internal lights, external lights, etc. Option to enable/disable Cargo Pod, with realistically simulated weight, momentum, rotational inertia, and drag characteristics. Option to start up running (all systems ready), or cold-and-dark, for realistic startup procedures, directly from this fly-out menu. Control landing lights, strobes, beacon, and nav lights via fly-out menu Detailed weight and balance manager with visual chart, individual passenger seat weight control, Lbs/KG unit toggle, CG control, external tank control, and the option to save and load configuration. Show or hide individual seats, to create a hybrid passenger/cargo version. When seats are hidden, cargo fills the space when weight is added via the fly-out menu. Multiple camera snap points, above and beyond what's available by default in X-Plane, so you can perform your walk around checks. Adjust your camera's Field of View without having to go to an X-plane menu, allowing for real-time adjustments. Audio mixer: individually control audio channels in real-time, so you can adjust volumes while hearing them play. Slew control: move your plane around the world, temporarily bypassing flight physics. Includes ground mode and air mode. Dynamic panel control page, with a separate view for the entire panel layout preview, or a per-instrument view, allowing for fine-tuning of instrument position, as well as copy-paste function to quickly replace instruments. Option to swap pilot and co-pilot Option to select different yoke styles DynaFeel panel: Dial in precisely how you wish for the controls to react as a function of speed. Optional de-ice system Flight dynamics and systems: Detailed and accurate flight dynamics and weight and balance with the help of multiple real-world active Stationair pilots. This not only gives this aircraft the proper "feel", but also accurate takeoff, climb, cruise, and landing performance. The C337 is a well-behaved twin airplane, where the engines are in line, with props spinning in opposite directions, cancelling out torque on the airframe A single engine failure doesn't radically affect flight behaviour, as the engines are in line, and don't produce a net yaw force on the plane, as other twins do. Tie-downs and chocks actually keep the plane from moving, even in high winds. DynaFeel: controls that simulate how strongly the control surfaces are affected by oncoming air, and how much strength would be needed to overcome these forces. Advanced FMOD-based sound system: High fidelity, multi-track sounds with smooth, finely tuned transitions (actually having calculated the precise beat frequency for each section, to minimize "muddy" transition sounds), and amazing atmospheric effects. Individual volume control over different aspects of the sound experience, adjustable in real-time (while listening to the sounds) Individual sounds for front and back engine, with different sonic characteristics, as a result of their placement. Different sounds for front of plane than for back of plane Panning around the plane in exterior view yields awesome 3D audio effects, including "blade slapping" sound when view is perpendicular to prop Far away sounds include aerodynamic interaction effects between front and rear prop. At a distance, you hear overtones caused by turbulent air feeding into the rear prop. Individual buttons and switches in the cockpit each have their own unique sound. Engine has typical cool-down ticking sound, based on engine temperature. Sounds actually give you clues as to what's happening under the hood. Outside wind intensity is affected by slip and AoA. (The more the surface area of the fuselage is hit by oncoming wind, the louder the sounds Doors and windows opening, let outside sounds in Installation and documents: download for the Thranda_C337F. is 1.34Gb and the aircraft is deposited in the "General Aviation" X-Plane folder. Full Installation is 1.71Gb Documents supplied are: C337F Manual.pdf C337F Performance Charts Changelog Thranda Graphics Settings XP11 Thranda Joystick Settings X-Plane G430 Manual X-Plane G530 Manual There is a huge amount of Documentation provided here, not only for the Thranda C337F, but including performance charts, reference guides, but also X-Plane/hardware settings and custom and default avionics. All updates are via built-in Skunkcrafts Updater Support forum for the C337 Skymaster by Thranda _____________________ Review System Specifications Windows - 12th Gen IS1700 Core i7 12700K 12 Core 3.60 GHz CPU - 64bit -32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - PNY GeForce RTX 3080 10GB XLR8 - Samsung 970 EVO+ 2TB SSD Software: - Windows 11 Pro - X-Plane 12.01r3 (This is a beta review). Plugins: Traffic Global - JustFlight-Traffic (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$52.99 : Global SFD plugin US$30.00 : RK Apps XPRealistic v2 - US$34.99 __________________________________ Review by Stephen Dutton 2nd February 2023 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.

First Magknight don't do the usual update/upgrade cycles. It is a continuous build, but when they feel like it, it goes into a upgrade. Confused, well we all are. So they don't follow the norm. In other words when they feel like charging (that should be an Upgrade), they do.

NEWS! - Aircraft Upgrade : Piper Aerostar 700P by X-Hangar Ted R. Smith was an aviation legend, this is the same person of whom also designed the famous Aero Commander, and bought the first small business jet aircraft to market, which was the Jet Commander which evolved into the Astra Jet.... Then there was his Aerostar/Sequoia the fastest Twin-Engined general aviation aircraft ever built... just the right aircraft for drug running, right. So another legend but in the infamous collection of bad people pretending to be really a good person to get rich is Barry Seal, who was a sort of Robin Hood in reverse, Seal was a pilot for the commercial airline TWA, and was contacted by a CIA case officer and asks Seal to fly clandestine reconnaissance missions for the CIA over Central America using a small plane with cameras installed. But the deal becomes a two sided affair with Seal running drugs into the United States one way for the cartels, and then also smuggling and trading guns back to the cartel in the other direction for the CIA. So for operations like that you need a pretty good aircraft that was the fastest you get you hands on and could fly very high (or very low) when required... depending on who was actually shooting at you. This real life caper was recreated in a film called "American Made" with a certain Tom (Top Gun) Cruise as Barry Seal, but the real star of the film is certainly the Aerostar 600, which was the perfect tool for the dodgy business of doing clandestine CIA missions in moving drugs and running guns. During the time of production, the Aerostar held the speed record for fastest twin piston General Aviation aircraft, capable of cruise speeds from 220 kt (408 km/h) for the earliest 600 models to 261 kt (483 km/h) for the later 700 models. Light construction, low drag and high powered engines also contribute to fast climb rates. So here an upgrade of the Aerostar 700P aircraft by X-Hangar to X-Plane 12, and yes the X-Plane 11 version is also provided in the same package. New Features Include update fixes and upgrades: ALL new 3d instruments and radios. prior version had 2d instruments New passengers and pilot that load with payload weight ALL new international liveries New texturing New cargo objects in the back of the airplane New Avitab screen V11 specific updates: rain plugin added for win vulcan only (plugin limitation) v12 specific updates: rain effects on the glass adjusted landing gear adjusted payload adjusted lights X-Plane Features Include: 3d instrumentation and radios Garmin 530 with pop up window or use buttons Garmin 430 with pop up window or use buttons Weather radar Stec Autopilot Pilot Figure Passengers that load with payload weight Opening/closing passenger door with a mouse click Yoke hide with Y key or click of the mouse Visors that move with the mouse to adjust Many custom international liveries Blank livery to make your own Weathering layers that include panel lines for your own livery Stripes you can click and paste to your own livery Rain effects for v11 win vulcan only (plugin limitation) Rain effects for v12 User manual in .pdf format to get introduced to the airplane Avitab display FSE (flight sim economy) file New X-Hangar support forum Images courtesy of X-Hangar ________________ Yes! the Piper Aerostar 700P by X-Hangar is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Piper Aerostar 700P Price is US$19.95 Requirements X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8GB+ VRAM Recommended Current version: 1112 - January 30th 2023 ________________ News by Stephen Dutton 31st January 2023 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 Right Reserved.

NEWS! - 337F Skymaster by Thranda Design released! Thranda Design has released the Cessa 337F Skymaster on January 27th 2023, which is today American EST time. Certainly one of my favorite aircraft, the push, puller Cessna 337F Skymaster is one of the greatest General Aviation aircraft. After the 208 Caravan, then the excellent U206G Stationair, here is another Cessna classic from Thranda Design, or a Carenado classic. Once the bastion of General Aviation aircraft in Simulation, then what has happened with the famous developer, missing now from X-Plane for a number of years. And how far will Thranda Design go in replacing classic aircraft with the same. The Cessna Skymaster is an American twin-engine civil utility aircraft built in a push-pull configuration. Its engines are mounted in the nose and rear of its pod-style fuselage. Twin booms extend aft of the wings to the vertical stabilizers, with the rear engine between them. The horizontal stabilizer is aft of the pusher propeller, mounted between and connecting the two booms. The combined tractor and pusher engines produce centerline thrust and a unique sound. The Cessna O-2 Skymaster is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster. The aircraft includes all the features of the Dynamic Generation Series. Special features: FULLY configurable 3D instrument panel. Interchangeable yoke styles Over 50 instruments to choose from! (Including Aspen EFD 1000, and support for RealityXP 650 and GTN750) Move any instrument to any location on the panel, or even between pilot and copilot's panel! Comes with 4 panel presets, but can easily be expanded by moving instruments around, using a simple and intuitive interface. Lighting is fully 3D, and dynamically move along with the instruments, as you configure the panel. Ability to assign a lighting index to individual instruments, to allow different lighting knobs to be assigned on a per-instrument basis. Save your own presets, and even share them with the community! Almost every instrument can be popped up or popped out as a 2D floating window! They can be placed on other monitors as well. Instruments can be moved in 3D directly, on a 2D pop-up preview window, or by numerical entry for precise placement. GNS430 and 530 can be swapped out, but a restart of the plane is required, as 430s and 530s are mutually exclusive in terms of compatibility in X-Plane Dynamic livery editor (like in the Kodiak, the Beaver, the Wilga, the Caravan, the C206, and the Pilatus PC-6) Full PBR control! Create stunning metallic liveries, or matte, sand-blasted look in mere seconds! Additional control over dirt/scratches, adjustable in real-time to dial in the exact desired amount of wear and tear. Create "virtual" liveries, based on two basic common design layouts (Modern and Classic), and assign any colour to any available paint segment. Quickly create preview of livery in real-time, using intuitive controls. Previews include visualization of metallic materials and dirt overlays. Apply selected livery in real-time, right in the sim, without the need to even touch a 3rd party image editor! Option to change the tail number in real-time, or disable it altogether. (Enter a "space" instead of a callsign number to create a blank tail number.) Easily and quickly create dozens of paint schemes in-sim! Also includes 9 traditionally painted liveries, all visible in a convenient pre-selection preview window. Ability to swap pilot/co-pilot figures Uses SkunkCrafts Updater. Option to participate in Beta program, via checkbox in SkunkCrafts Updater. Excellent hi-res PBR realistic materials, featuring true-to-life plate deformation and to-the-rivet precision. Fully modelled Continental IO-320-F front engine. Windshield ice and rain effects Individual functional circuit breakers Feature-rich elegant fly-out menu with the following features: Electric tug, with in-panel controls to move forward/backward at the desired speed, and steer proportionally Control over chocks, individual tie-downs, covers, internal lights, external lights, etc. Option to enable/disable Cargo Pod, with realistically simulated weight, momentum, rotational inertia, and drag characteristics. Option to start up running (all systems ready), or cold-and-dark, for realistic startup procedures, directly from this fly-out menu. Control landing lights, strobes, beacon, and nav lights via fly-out menu Detailed weight and balance manager with visual chart, individual passenger seat weight control, Lbs/KG unit toggle, CG control, external tank control, and the option to save and load configuration. Show or hide individual seats, to create a hybrid passenger/cargo version. When seats are hidden, cargo fills the space when weight is added via the fly-out menu. Multiple camera snap points, above and beyond what's available by default in X-Plane, so you can perform your walk around checks. Adjust your camera's Field of View without having to go to an X-plane menu, allowing for real-time adjustments. Audio mixer: individually control audio channels in real-time, so you can adjust volumes while hearing them play. Slew control: move your plane around the world, temporarily bypassing flight physics. Includes ground mode and air mode. Dynamic panel control page, with a separate view for the entire panel layout preview, or a per-instrument view, allowing for fine-tuning of instrument position, as well as copy-paste function to quickly replace instruments. Option to swap pilot and co-pilot Option to select different yoke styles DynaFeel panel: Dial in precisely how you wish for the controls to react as a function of speed. Optional de-ice system Flight dynamics and systems: Detailed and accurate flight dynamics and weight and balance with the help of multiple real-world active Stationair pilots. This not only gives this aircraft the proper "feel", but also accurate takeoff, climb, cruise, and landing performance. The C337 is a well-behaved twin airplane, where the engines are in line, with props spinning in opposite directions, cancelling out torque on the airframe A single engine failure doesn't radically affect flight behaviour, as the engines are in line, and don't produce a net yaw force on the plane, as other twins do. Tie-downs and chocks actually keep the plane from moving, even in high winds. DynaFeel: controls that simulate how strongly the control surfaces are affected by oncoming air, and how much strength would be needed to overcome these forces. Advanced FMOD-based sound system: High fidelity, multi-track sounds with smooth, finely tuned transitions (actually having calculated the precise beat frequency for each section, to minimize "muddy" transition sounds), and amazing atmospheric effects. Individual volume control over different aspects of the sound experience, adjustable in real-time (while listening to the sounds) Individual sounds for front and back engine, with different sonic characteristics, as a result of their placement. Different sounds for front of plane than for back of plane Panning around the plane in exterior view yields awesome 3D audio effects, including "blade slapping" sound when view is perpendicular to prop Far away sounds include aerodynamic interaction effects between front and rear prop. At a distance, you hear overtones caused by turbulent air feeding into the rear prop. Individual buttons and switches in the cockpit each have their own unique sound. Engine has typical cool-down ticking sound, based on engine temperature. Sounds actually give you clues as to what's happening under the hood. Outside wind intensity is affected by slip and AoA. (The more the surface area of the fuselage is hit by oncoming wind, the louder the sounds Doors and windows opening, let outside sounds in The Cessna C337 Skymaster DGS series is priced at US$39.95... Requirements are: X-Plane 12 or X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4 GB VRAM Minimum. 8 GB+ VRAM Recommended Images are courtesy of Thranda Design Support forum for the C337 Skymaster by Thranda ________________ The Cessna C337F DGS series by Thranda Design is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore!... Here: Cessna C337 DGS series Price is US$39.95 ___________________ NEWS! by Stephen Dutton 27th January 2023 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 Right Reserved.