Stephen

Scenery Review : KLAX HD Los Angeles International v1.01 by ShortFinal Designs Another LAX? Well yes it is and do we actually need another LAX... well yes we do. This is the third release of ShortFinal Design's scenery after the first with Salt Lake City, then secondly the magnificent Albuquerque International Sunport. And it is no hidden fact that ShortFinal Design is the multi-talented Mister X6, but "say didn't MisterX6 release a freeware KLAX - Los Angeles International"? Well yes to that question as well, so why do the same airport twice, and then actually ask you to pay for it the second time around. That alone is a hard sell, free vs pay. Then we have the situation of an already very good LAX from Funnerflight "KLAX - Los Angeles International v2" which already has had a significant upgrade with v2. But this is Mister X6, and we all know he is a master at great scenery, so let us see what this KLAX delivers and then we will make some decisions and choices. KLAX Overview First impressions say that the ground textures are too light and don't fit into the X-Plane mesh correctly. But that is really not the case if you look at the Google Map images of LAX... (Google Maps) ... In fact it looks perfect, the only noticeable difference is the beach colour in that the scenery's lighter beach sand is in contrast to the darker X-Plane mesh, in fact the lighter scenery beach colour is the correct one. It also shows how good X-Plane mesh is today in replicating urban areas. A few notes. There are a few small urban areas blank in this scenery, even though I have my object slider set at maximum for the maximum density, so it will be very interesting to see what difference is with the new X-Plane v10.30 urban autogen and what it will do to fill in these loose blank areas. Second note is that L.A hasn't hasn't had a lot of addon city skylines, there was an FS Aerosoft L.A. addon that would convert over, and obviously a few VFR tools like SoCal, but otherwise the L.A. basin relies totally on the default autogen, and that is a good and bad thing as well. Good in that it does a great job replicating the L.A. Sprawl, but bad in that all that autogen that goes on for as far as the eye can see and is very heavy on any processor, in other words it uses up a lot of your framerate margin. So flying over L.A. at full graphic settings is never really possible, in fact I haven't flown around or used LAX that much in simulation because it is just too heavy and too marginal to do so unless my autogen object count is set quite low. A trick I have been using lately that sort of fixes the balance here and allows you to get that high object count back is to set your Texture Quality to "High". This trick I use now at any scenery that has this high urban sprawls, like New York, London and Moscow. Here the idea works again as the quality of scenery today can overcome the medium texture quality setting and still not look too blurry or softened out, and all the images noted here in this review reflect that "High" texture setting. A final note for the L.A. Area is the coming release of KRAL Riverside and LA Pack by RD Studios, as this addon package has some great L.A. Landmarks included that will fit in very well with this LAX scenery. LAX is a huge complex of an airport, it is the third busiest in the United States and the seventh in the world, LAX is a big and busy place. So for any developer then a scenery of this magnitude it is a big undertaking of a project, just to pull it off is a challenge in itself. So you may see a lot of the original elements out of the freeware version as that is to be expected, but otherwise this scenery is very different from the freeware version, more so is that you will need your "Runways Follow Gradients" X-Plane setting on to allow for some very clever ground modeling for like (above left) that denotes cutting of the surrounding terrain to allow highways to pass through or to allow roads to go below the airport's surface and to travel under runways, and we will see lots of examples of these areas later. KLAX - Los Angeles International (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX) 6L/24R - 8,926 (2,721m) Concrete 6R/24L - 10,285 (3,135m) Concrete 7L/25R - 12,091 (3,685m) Concrete 7R/25L - 11,095 (3,382m) Concrete Elevation AMSL128 ft / 39 m Overall the photo textures are excellent, certainly from above or in the air, the only areas that are not as detailed are mostly the photo road networks that are more pixelated close up and have a lower resolution, and yes it is noticeable and mainly in the roadway central terminal areas. You can divide the central areas into three zones, first in the eastern World Way entrance with the airport hotels, then the central terminal core and finally the western Maintenance, Fuel Depot and remote stands. Terminals All the Terminals are domestic except for the main new large terminal of which is for International. Central area is mostly consists of five large carparks that are attached to the outer terminals in a U layout. The Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) dominates the top of the U. And was only completed for $1.6 billion in September 2013, it is a huge complex in rivaling Heathrow's T5 building. Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) The Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) dominates the top of the U. And outwardly it looks the same as the freeware version, but in detail however it is totally different. Most of the changes are in the glass which is all totally new, now see through and glossy/reflective and changes the whole perspective of the building. The highly distinctive semi-sail roofs and the new clearer glass wall windows have been very well replicated here. Nine gates are configured for the A380 (F) with Gates 130 (A), 132, 134, 148,150, 152, 154, 156 and 159 which are all highly usable here for your A380. Ground clutter is exceptional as expected from Mister 6X, but here it goes above and beyond with custom bendy-buses in the LAX "Airfield" livery, and the buses like other animated vehicles do the transfers to the outer western stands. The TBIT interior is also modeled, but it is only basic and really for the outside point of view, but it is all still very well done. North Terminals 1, 2 and 3 Terminal 1 is mostly LCC and Southwest. Terminal 2 is interesting because it is an international terminal for Mexico, Canada, China, Hawaii, Italy and New Zealand and international Delta. Terminal 3 is Delta. Modeling is exceptional in detail and the correct character and feel of each of the different terminal designs, again ground clutter is excellent with assigned branded liveries to each terminal in i.e. Delta for Delta, Southwest for .... South Terminals 4, 5, 6, 7,8 and The Box Terminal 4 is American and American Eagle, Terminal 5 is American, JetBlue and Allegient, with Terminals 6 for Air Canada, Alaska Airlines and a few International Airlines like IcelandAir, Terminal 7 is for United and United Express and 8 is for United and Azul Airlines. Far east of the main terminals is a regional and stand area for Delta and American Eagle and this area is called "The Box". Like the north set of terminals the south set are just as detailed and very authentic with the same detailed clutter liveries, this is detail overload, but the ramps are easy to taxi into and use, just perfection. The Box and Eastern Stands This area called "The Box" are remote stands for American Eagle and Delta with Delta Maintenance behind, and all operations here are regional based walk-on operations. In a rare mis-step the covered walkways from the terminal are a scale too small, and don't match the scale of the marshaller or the aircraft? and they look odd. Far east are the United parking stands and B-1 Cargo parking. Central area, Control Tower and Theme Building The skyline of LAX is dominated by the very distinct Control Tower and the iconic "Theme Building" which is now closed except for the odd weekends thanks to 9/11. Both the Control Tower and the iconic Theme Building are significantly different and far more highly detailed than the freeware version, detailing is overwhelming up close with even the support cables to the building, and the glass is reflective. Note the lovely detail on the Theme Building exterior. All tower view approaches and runway thresholds can be nicely seen, but you do get a portion of the tower building in your lower view? All carparks and central area detail is again excellent and has moving animated traffic. It is not detailed, detailed but for a scenery of this scale extremely good but there is a lot of great 3d static vehicles to make the area very realistic. Note the lovely and excellent palm trees that give the scenery that perfect LA SoCal feel and look. World Way The entrance to LAX is via World Way which is a significant part of the LAX skyline and a major visual viewpoint. Mostly it is the brand Hotels that make up the entrance and all the important hotels are represented in the Sheraton Gateway, Crown Plaza, Los Angeles Marriott and L.A. Airport Hilton which are all here. The World Way road section is however quite low res and it shows, so this avenue is not detailed, detailed in my "high" texture setting, and a lot of the flat car images are burnt in. The iconic entrance to LAX with the LAX sign and the fifteen lighting pillars are faithfully reproduced, as is the complex freeway elevated roadway system around them. The old control tower is still there as part of the LAX entrance and it is now the "Clifton A. Moore" administration block, but again the building is well reproduced in detail. Western Maintenance, Fuel Depot and remote stands The western areas are focused on maintenance, the main fuel depot and the more far west remote stands called "West/Remote" Note the large area now cleared and with earthworks that are in motion (with animated earthmovers!)... this is the new midfield passenger terminal now under construction and that new terminal opens in 2019, the design of the midfield complex is very similar and set to match the Tom Bradley TBIT design. There are three major maintenance hangers for American, United and Qantas... Fuel Depot is large and there is a significant FedEx cargo and maintenance complex set next to the fuel tanks... ... Fire Station is buried mid-field and again the detail is phenomenal, with a huge amount of clutter that is excellent visually around the Fedex area and the LAX "Airfield" Bus maintenance depot. West/Remote Far west is the West/Remote area. Here west remote gates 201 to 219 allow for loading and unloading, parking, ... but many are nothing more than hard stands and overflow operations. Stand 212B is for aircraft as large as a A380. Detailing in context with the size of the airport is outstanding, as this is just the place to service your long haul aircraft before going back into service Cargo and South The southern LAX boundary is mostly cargo, airline and airport administration and services. Main Cargo zone is the "Imperial Cargo Complex" Tenants include Northwest Airlines Cargo now Delta, Cal Cargo, China Cargo, DHL, Lufthansa Cargo and ACA Shipping Corp. Detailing is as fine as branding all the companies based here, including Swissaport which is phenomenal... a small thing is that with scenery of this size many developers overlook this distinct branding, but it makes for great authenticity. The original Hangar One, commonly referred to as Hangar No. 1 that was built in 1929, is faithfully recreated here and the building which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. As Los Angeles Municipal Airport, it was purchased by the city in 1937 and during this period the hangar was used by Charles Lindbergh and the German LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin of which the airship was tied down near its doors during its stopover in Los Angeles. The main receiving cargo terminal for FedEx is another huge and well represented complex. Then Asian cargo represented by JAL Cargo (or Air Freight Building 6041!) Korean Air Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo. With then a zone representing Private Jet operators including Standard Aero and Landmark Aviation (above left) note that Landmark Aviation is now Signature Aviation and this change will be in the v1.1 update (see below)... and the large custom reception building, ramp and hangar for Atlantic Aviation (below). Note the excellent fine detailing of the Atlantic sign on side of the hangar, just incredible detail. By Atlantic Aviation is another LAX entrance sign that looks great with LAX in profile behind. More Cargo for Nippon Cargo Services and Qantas Freight, Qantas per se' doesn't have a cargo division, so this is all hold cargo... but a new Qantas Cargo domestic is now operational so international could be revived again? The Flight Path Museum & Learning Center is also represented but the restored DC3 'Spirit of Seventy Six" is missing? hopefully it will be placed in an upgrade... The main KLAX radar installation is really well presented and the radar is animated for realism... .... finally we have several catering companies with Gate Gourmet and Sky Chefs also represented. North LAX On the northern boundary it is mostly carparks in multi-story or just lots and lots of parking spaces and CarHire Company parking... and a few office blocks that have been created for visual fill in for the approaches to RWY's 24L/24R... ... but the highlight is the excellent IN-N-OUT Burger Store on Sepulveda Blvd and across from the best and most famous spotters viewpoint in the park opposite. I mean plane tail spotting and bad greasy fast food... it is like going to heaven and back again, for more burgers that is. Special features As noted the airport uses the "Runways Follow Gradients" X-Plane setting on for 3d ground features that allow the mesh to be used for above and below the flat ground. This is used for impressive modeling with road gradients and under runway tunnels. Taxiways AA - A - C all have runway overpass bridges and are all very authentic for taxiway use. Animations are well done here as well, but there isn't a huge amount of movement around LAX, some airports are just too buzzy and don't look realistic, but I think about the right amount of movement is correct here... and all the vehicles are correctly branded to create a perfect mix with realism. WT3: ShortFinal's LAX comes with provided and tuned WorldTraffic3 ground routes and AirportOperations sets by the master K-Man - Brian Navy (Bird Stryke Designs) . This is a drop in and instantly use scenerio, and straight away your LAX is buzzing and flying to the real ARFE timetables... WT3 is quite simply sensational at LAX, turn it off and the airport looks empty (below left) then when running the plugin and LAX is alive and buzzing (below right) The uber birds arrive as well, Qantas has two arrivals within 30 minutes of each other from SYD QF11 and MEL QF93 and a B747 QF15 from Brisbane (BNE) and they all arrive early in the morning and a BA A380 BA283 that arrives just after lunchtime. But overall I found the TBIT took a fair while to fill out and can look quite empty early in the day, but it can get busy at certain times. A note on running WT3 at LAX. Obviously there is a lot of movements here at LAX and if you run WT3 with your flightplan generator set to max settings it will simply overwhelm your computer and you will get a very hard hit on your framerate (even as high as 10fr!) So my settings is for 6333 flightplans and that works extremely well and comes with far lower framerate hit, and traffic is still perfectly buzzy. So yes WorldTraffic3 Is highly recommended here. lighting The KLAX lighting is a bit of a mixture... overall it is very good, even really well done. From the air LAX looks amazing, very realistic. Approach and taxiway lighting is excellent. The airport uses two types of lighting for both the landside and the airside and that feel is very effective. Multiple lighting sources and up to six light sources on the pylons create the ground ramp lighting with supplementary strip lighting on the terminal's structure and is outwardly very effective. But down on the ramps at night it is all a bit black and white, one side of the aircraft will be lit but the other side will be in darkness? so some terminal gates are great at night but most are not. Control Tower is a bit bright? and should the working operations windows should actually be in the dark? not crazy about that tower look at night but the Theme Building is beautiful and absolutely perfect. Note the lovely lit trees. The entrance lit poles are also perfect, they are animated to revolve the colour as the real lighting does... really well done. Hotels lighting is very good and so is with all the excellent lit brands on buildings and hangars, but World Way is quite dark street light wise... highlights are both the Atlantic Aviation and the brightly lit IN-N-OUT Burger franchise, that you can see it for miles... and miles. Final notes. V1.1 - This LAX is a huge expansive scenery and the input in here bordering on the insane, but still there are a few things missing (you could say "picky, picky") I found a lot of missing fences and some important ones around gates missing and lighting down the World Way. Landmark Aviation building needs to be changed to Signature Flight Support, Jetway canopies will be animated, and the added Four Points and Renaissance Hotel and hopefully as well the missing museum DC3. This v1.1 update is due soon, even this weekend for all of the above and more. v1.1 Update Only a week after the initial release, then already ShortFinal has updated the KLAX scenery to v1.1. These changes are to fine tune the scenery, but also to cover a few areas that were missed. Main change is the now inclusion of the Four Points Hotel and the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel. Important, well yes because they are highly visible on the 24R & 24L approach paths, the feeling was they were just not finished in time for the initial release, but here they are now. There is still the feeling that a few more details will eventually go into this same area, but it is now far more complete with the hotels installed. I found some areas around LAX was missing vital walls and fencing... a small thing, but extremely important in creating the completely correct look and feel and even from a security point of view it was not right. From my notes ShortFinal have corrected these areas, and done so very well. There was a vital wall/fence missing on the D-7 taxiway by Terminal 1 (Southwest), so if you arrived here then your view was not correct as you looked straight across to the carpark, but the inclusion of a wall makes it perfect and realistic. There was the same situation at the end of Terminal 8, and you could simply walk straight off the street on to the ramp by Gate 88, not now as it is all beautifully fenced in, and it is really well done as well and now totally realistic from the ramp or ground point of view. More fencing now corrected is along the rear of Taxiway F on the threshold of RWY's 25R and 25L. Again vital as when taxiing for takeoff on either runway, then the missing fencing just didn't look correct from the aircraft, now installed it is perfect, and again well done with a part wall and fence design and not just basic placed fencing.... great detail. The WallyPark Airport Parking Premier Garage (and no I didn't make that name up) was out of alignment (above right), but now correct in that the trains don't run part way through the carpark. If you look at the above original night images of World Way, why then it wasn't lit via street lighting. Now the complete approach to LAX area has now been correctly lit, the Four Points Hotel adds in more realism in lighting for the area as well. Summary The more you observe and search this ShortFinal - Mister 6X KLAX scenery then the more you will find.. and in time it even gets overwhelming in just how much work and with the overwhelming shear volume of the objects that are in parts and make up this whole complex scenery. Detailing is simply astounding and even down to the huge immense clutter and even the correctly branded buildings and vehicles, this scenery is over-the-top 101. So first let us put to rest the differences between the freeware version and this payware version... there isn't one, the freeware is a very basic but a good LAX and this version is simply everything, plus, plus. Not only in the pure insane object count but in the detail of the buildings and glass and signage that are completely different, yes some basic elements of the freeware are still in this version, but overall most areas have been highly more detailed and defined, and in many cases have also also been totally redone from scratch. So the differences here are simply night and day, black and white... you pay for this over the top extreme detail and quality. The scenery is full of features as well, with the provided WT3 routes and operations brings the scenery alive instantly, overpass 3d taxiway bridges, animations included custom made LAX buses and vehicles, every gate has working airbridges or marshal guidance, realistic fauna and LA style trees and all areas of the airport complex is covered, oh and even the IN-N-OUT burger bar... don't forget that! Negatives... well you would think first it would be the framerate, but it's not, and we will get to that in a minute. Mostly it is with the lighting as most of the lighting is very good, but in areas it needs more work to work more easily on the ramps at night, And I am not so sure of the Control Tower lighting, in being far too bright and lit in the wrong areas. World Way is now lit via the v1.1 update and that did a lot to fill in a few blank areas. LAX is not the most colourful of airports, so in pure summer daylight it can feel a little washed out colourwise, but most people say L.A. is like that anyway. And finally like at ShortFinal's KSLC some of the far boundary areas don't mesh cleanly with the X-Plane native mesh (leaves an empty gap). I don't personally like to put two projects head to head and say one is better than the other. Because usually one project has many things the other project lacks and vice-versa... and so it is between FunnerFlight's excellent KLAX v2 and this version from ShortFinal. In pure detail they are really head to head and so one is no better than the other, and in areas FunnerFlight's is a little better. But in many main crucial areas then this SFD version is far, far better. Number No1 is framerate. This scenery is half as light as FF KLAX, but with a double to extreme object count. So it is for its scale this is a hugely efficient running scenery and in the L.A. basin that is a godsend of almost biblical proportions and difference of being able to use the scenery effectively or not. And yes you still have to make compromises (texture setting) or use tricks, but you don't suffer for that either and even if you will still need a pretty powerful computer with a minimum of 4Gb of graphic card to do so, this scenery is very, very light on framerate for what it delivers. Number No2 is the shear detail that you get here, and besides the quality terminals and buildings it is in the little things like the custom branded LAX buses and the individual branding on everything from the airline, to their gates to their buildings... a small thing yes, but again it is realism 101. I note scenery as an investment, something to use over and over again and effectively, and investing in this LAX will give you one of the very best returns of your cash that you can do... it delivers and is now also feeling very complete with the v1.1 update, this scenery is simply excellent in every area and you will use it and love it to death for years.... totally highly recommended. ____________________________________________________________________ Yes! the KLAX - Los Angeles International v1.01 by ShortFinal Design is Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : KLAX - Los Angeles International HD Price is US$26.95 Note is you have already purchased the release version, then go to your X-Plane.OrgStore account and update now to v1.01 Features High Definition Airport Accurate models for all buildings with baked Ambient Occlusion Dynamic reflections on objects and ground textures Custom high resolution ground textures HDR night lighting, animated LAX Gateway Kinetic Light Pylons High resolution photo scenery (15cm/px) 311 parking positions with randomly placed static aircraft Custom Mesh by maps2xplane, realistic sloped runways and taxiway underpasses Fully Animated Airport Animated airport vehicles (GroundTraffic) Custom animated jetways and DGS at all gates (using the AutoGate plugin) Animated information boards on terminals World Traffic 3 routes already included, made by Brian "Cpt. K-man" Navy (Bird Stryke Designs) Installation : Download scenery file size is 678.70mb. "KLAX Los Angeles International HD" being inserted into your X-Plane "Custom Scenery" Folder in this order... KLAX - Los Angeles International HD (1.16gb) z_KLAX_HD_Mesh (27.1mb) Mesh is required to be installed Below all airports, but above over other local meshes (Ortho4XP) i.e. SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/ KLAX - Los Angeles International HD/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/Global Airports/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/ z_KLAX_HD_Mesh/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/ zzz_hd_global_scenery3/ WorldTraffic 3 Make sure you clear out any older versions or text of earlier KLAX WT3 files... then insert the provided WT3 items below. ClassicJetSimUtils\WorldTraffic\GroundRoutes\Arrival\KLAX ClassicJetSimUtils\WorldTraffic\GroundRoutes\Departure\KLAX ClassicJetSimUtils\WorldTraffic\ParkingDefs\KLAX Documents: KLAX - Manual (7 Pages) no charts Requirements : X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 4Gb+ VRAM Recommended Version reviewed v1.01 update ______________________________________________________________________ Updated Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton 12th July 2018 Copyright©2018 : X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.20 Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 : BetterPushBack - Free Scenery or Aircraft - None-

Behind the Screen : June 2018 We ended the last Behind the Screen edition in May 2018 with the coming FlightSimExpo 2018 in Las Vegas. And I covered the overview of the event here Laminar Research : FlightSimExpo 2018 X-Plane Roadmap. The Expo was everything we expected it to be and even more, and the more interesting background of the Expo was just as interesting as the announced upfront details and the following roadmap from Laminar Research. In the short version Laminar did a really great seminar, and in fact were the highlights of the Expo, but that was also the underlying theme of this Expo as was the changes with the overall simulation genre as a business. There was many highlights to the Expo. First being was that simulation although dwarfed by online and video gaming is not as many predicted dying a thousand slow deaths, but coming from the FlightSim World perspective it may seem that way. In fact simulation and as this Expo showed that simulation is quite healthy in new members and participation, but it is still is a small niche area that is simply not advertised enough as to how good simulation really is today... in other words not many people out there actually know that simulation actually exists and how good or how great it is. Secondly is the fact that simulation is going through a major seismic wholesale change, and this year in 2018 will be remembered as one of the most significant moments for the whole of the many simulation platforms, yes this theme has been current for a few "Behind the Screen" editions this year, but it is extremely important to understand why and how this situation is unfolding and then as quickly as it is. This was highlighted even more by the Expo in Las Vegas, yes all the big guns were there in PMDG, Aerosoft, Orbix, Quality Wings, Rex Simulations, Goflight and more. But there was a significant change in the air as well, as in the past FlightSim Simulation business totally and dominated the expos and seminars, but here the mood was very different. And the only company that had the biggest and over-riding presence at the Expo was X-Plane's Laminar Research, and not only on the stage, but in the event hall as well. Daniel Klaue (Thranda) summed it all up nicely in his comments of his visit to the Expo and he was certainly active in finding out of where everything was standing in this current simulation business. His notes that Lockheed Martin's P3D was or is never going to be a community driven sim is highly significant and that the platform's user base is sectioned into areas that in reality is not good if Lockheed Martin's funding (military) is suddenly reduced (Although a pro-Trump defence buildup will not see that in the immediate future), but so If Lockheed Martin decided that a small side simulation business is not worth throwing cash or resources at and again it mirrors the Microsoft decision of a decade ago, then the complete current FlightSim business model and even the user base around it is totally and completely over and in effect the Microsoft platform days are then well and truly over as well. And as Dan Klaue notes.. "if the funding for the development of the sim comes from a 51-billion dollar military industrial complex, interested in the sim primarily for its value in training military personnel, it seems pretty detached from the market forces that could make the sim a better sim for end-users and hobbyists. interested in the sim primarily for its value in training military personnel, it seems pretty detached from the market forces that could make the sim a better sim for end-users and hobbyists." Yes FlightSim may survive the loss of Dovetail Games and FSW, but it certainly won't survive the loss of P3D, and is the Lockheed Martin philosophy and business model one to invest in a five year or more business plan? Dan does note that Lockheed Martin don't even know what to do with P3D themselves, either keep it in the military theme or go public and compete head on with Laminar Research, but overall they are not a private commerce based business but a giant aerospace company. So you can easily see the working of the worry beads by even the most entrenched FlightSim developers and although their smiles and thumbs up said "Everythings OK" the reality is however very different. But Laminar Research and X-Plane is still a very different platform as well. Built by hobbist's and run by hobbist's it is very community driven and that is very good. But X-Plane is also still very different from the user and business likes and not's of the FlightSim community, so hence the real hesitation of the major FlightSim business to come and develop for X-Plane. This fact is highlighted very well or even very badly for X-Plane in the latest user data from Laminar Research.. "Usage Data as of June 2018". As 61% of all flights in the simulator are with still with and only includes the basic default X-Plane aircraft, and default and simple are the word to be noted here. Next down by a long way at 4.5% is the Boeing 738x Zibo mod aircraft which is again free and a development of the same aircraft as the default Laminar Research B738 version? So currently 65% of ALL fights in X-Plane are only with freeware aircraft, and just think about that. My real horror at those numbers was that the two new Airbus aircraft with the FlightFactor A320U and more so with ToLiSS's A319 were not even registered, they are noted as something like a percentage of 0.09%. Yes I will admit they are in a high price point, but the numbers are not good at all if you want to base your payware business model on X-Plane and certainly in the heavy aircraft genre that most of these FS developers have most of their investment. In fact it destroys any chance of any business model at all, and this point is very significant for the future of the X-Plane platform in the simulation business. If the hobbist twiddlers are wanting to keep out the monster FlightSim community out then they are certainly doing a very good job about it, but that sort of mentality is also very, very detrimental and even fatalistic for the future of X-Plane as a simulation platform and certainly as a payware business. This leads to two very different future scenerios for X-Plane and both are not good for the simulator. The first one is that the FlightSim developers group together and create a new simulator in their own image and business model or even buy out the Lockheed Martin platform. This is not hypothetical either as they already have once before as a group tried to buy the original Microsoft Flight Simulator licence, but Dovetail Games put in a higher offer... but that is not saying it will happen again as desperate times create desperate measures. The reflection on X-Plane in this case will be that it will go along on it's merry hobbist way, but there is a significant issue in that even X-Plane devoted current developers will slowly disappear as the returns for the amount of development time will widen and top quality products will gradually become scarce, and in fact innovation instead of going forward in the payware features will slowly disappear. In other word X-Plane will be PlaneMaker based again (Like the Magknight B787) with only a few developers willing to produce aircraft for a very small market as only freeware or a minute share of if any payware aircraft will dominate the simulator. And to be honest even I would abandon my beloved X-Plane if the high quality product stopped coming or decreased, as I hate to go backwards for a minority view of even for a few hobbists. Second scenerio is that the FlightSim developers change X-Plane into their own world view, a sort of migration issue in that in time the immigrants change the nature and soul of the simulation platform to suit their own conveniences and in that yes they would probably make it actually better, but it wouldn't be the X-Plane in the eyes and feel that we know it today. This is already happening in the way that Orbix is already creating their own hub and universe, as you can buy only from them and only them or you either don't get it or be given any choices, worse is the fact they are hoovering up all the best scenery X-Plane developers like no tomorrow with wishes, good tidings and mostly the chance to earn real money, but note that money all goes back only to Orbix and not into X-Plane, is that really the X-Plane way, certainly it is the FlightSim way... So if all these major FlightSim developers do decide to come and eventually run X-Plane as their new universe then the hobbist's will certainly very quickly be outnumbered by the immigrants because they are willing to open their wallets. But then the current miserly user base is very much to blame for their own loss and more so the high loss of a group of very highly talented developers that are only trying to make a living and at least get some sales for their hard work, in reality you just can't blame them going to a market to sell their great ideas and innovation and being rewarded for it, as certainly X-Plane users are all turning their noses up at the work because it is going to cost them a few hard dollars to invest into the X-Plane platform and even then at it's own or even their own survival. And you can also see why FlightSim Developers are not going to come to X-Plane either, why would you for such minuscule returns on your investments and resources and a user base totally disinterested in what you are provided for the simulator... why should you as it will always be free or will it. The excellent and even ground breaking aircraft released already this year with FlyJSim's excellent Boeing 732, FlightFactor's Aircraft A320 Ultimate and most notably the ToliSS319 deserve far, far more than a 0.3% or the noted 0.09% share of the X-Plane market and believe me when this sort of quality stops coming then you will only have yourselves to blame in not investing in the very best, not only in X-Plane but in simulation overall as a platform as well. And don't even get me started on payware scenery. The problem here though is that X-Plane is like buying an Apple Computer, as when you buy the simulator you get everything you need with it as well, from good (not great) default aircraft and basic but still very good autogen scenery, so why buy any addons. From my perspective you are then only doing yourself your own disservice. Yes I loved my original X-Plane, but if I run my current X-Plane version at a basic level then it does feel even quite basic and even then far removed from the environment that has been created around it with quality addons, yes it costs money to build this more comprehensive world, but to me it is an investment, and not just in paying out dollars to get the very best return from the simulator, but it does not have to cost an absolute fortune either, but an investment it still is and an investment that is certainly worth doing and also doing something far better in supporting not only the talented developers but the future and the quality of the simulator itself. PMDG Everyone at the FlightSim Expo where there waiting for a big announcement from their CEO of great importance Robert S. Randazzo. But I do admit he is a funny guy. Would PMDG go (back) into X-Plane... No nothing announced on that theme, "boo hiss". Next was the announcement of their next aircraft release in the Boeing B748.... "Is that all?" was the response when even a few years ago such an announcement would have been a big huge extravagant big deal, with great in-depth features delivered here that had me thinking "what if this B748 WAS in X-Plane and... wow), so is PMDG getting like Apple who over delivered for years and any new announcements are now noted as "lukewarm" at any events. But PMDG's big product announcement was for a Global Flight Operations addon which was quite clever even if it took PMDG ten years to actually build it... but again the response was "You have got to BE kidding me?" with a lot of "OMG's and the total disbelief that this product was the worst ever and "I mean just like just like.. EVER" Global Flight Operations is nothing in the way we haven't already seen, but it does bring all the simulation operations together, and the intergration of ACARS certainly adds into simulation another level of real aircraft/airline immersion, and the fact it is not restricted just to PMDG aircraft and open to any quality payware is another bonus, and consider the FF A320/Toliss319 being used, or the Rotate MD88 or the B757/767 twins. I think it also overall showed PMDG's biggest issue, as this Global Flight Operations would actually work very well strangely enough more in X-Plane because of the higher and more committed, intergrated and connected community base, it is actually more suited to US than their main current FlightSim market... so they are pitching it to the wrong user base. And that is a very interesting point in many ways, not only for X-Plane but for the FlightSim user base as well. Expo But the FlightSim Expo in many respects was the best yet and Laminar Research again really delivered and the particle effects were certainly the highlight of the event for X-Plane as was the ongoing and promise of the development of Vukcan (nee Metal) and the announcements of new the systems and avionics with GFC-700, KFC-250/Century and rate-based S-Tec 55, KAP-140 and the Piper Autocontrol brand autopilots, new oxygen systems, and anti-ice and de-ice systems and better autopilot systems by Phillipp Ringler, and with not too many sleeps either before beta v10.30 with all these goodies enclosed will hit our simulator, with my guess that will be around late August or early September 2018. A small apology in the fact the X-PlaneReviews site was a little slow in a few periods in June, I again came down with a small virus, so that made me a bit of say "unwell", but overall thankfully X-Plane releases were also a little slow... but as they say "life happens". So until the the next edition of "Behind the Screen' at the end of July, then 99.01% of users can look at the excellent ToLiSS319 on this month's header image and wonder out loud what they are really missing out on... but for a full 0.09% rest of us it is heaven in simulation. See you next month. Stephen Dutton 1st July 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews

News! - Next Aircraft from vFlyteAir - Comco-Ikarus C42 C VFlyteAir have announced their next aircraft release as the Comco-Ikarus C42 C. Not sure what that is? Well it is the the bestselling ultra- light aircraft in Germany and over 1450 aircraft have been built since 1996. As with all vFlyteAir aircraft the simulation version aircraft are based on real machines in this case two C42Cs (D-MYSF and D-MNLN) based at Flugschule Magdeburg (flying school Magdeburg, at EDBM airport in Germany). This is a very basic aircraft as the Ikarus C42 is a single-engined high-wing monoplane with side-by-side seats for two in a 1.22 m (48 in) wide cabin. The C42 is manufactured with either an 80 hp (60 kW) Rotax 912 engine or a 100 hp (75 kW) Rotax 912s engine. The Rotax engine has a low fuel consumption and relatively low noise. The engine drives the propeller, which has ground-adjustable pitch, through a gearbox with a 2.273:1 reduction ratio. The aircraft uses very different materials on the exterior: Wings are made both of fabric and plastic material, and they are semi-transparent. All FMOD sounds are from the original host aircraft for realism. Release was noted as "Summer 2018", so expect it to be available before Spring! No price or feature list was announced. Images are courtesy of vFlyteAir ________________________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 29th June 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews

There is a switch in the REP Settings menu? it is called "Enable hypoxia effect" a secondary hypoxia tickbox is on the X-Plane Menu "General" page under "Simulate blackout, redout and hyopxia effects".

The Carenado C172N current version is comparable with X-Plane11, but is not yet an upgraded X-Plane11 aircraft, your situation is that if you buy this aircraft and Carenado do the upgrade the C172N, then you will be out of pocket? as the new version will be at a full new price, your only choice would be to get it in sale? SD

Aircraft Update : ToLiSS319 v1.1 by ToLiSS Earlier in 2018 X-Plane11 had two big releases and both were Airbus aircraft. The first was the Flightfactor A320-214 Ultimate, then only a few weeks later then released was this A319 from ToLiSS. For just one significant release of either aircraft for X-Plane11 would have been a big deal by itself considering the depth and quality of either aircraft, but two at the same was very overwhelming. To a point the A320 Ultimate was still a work in progress as it still is, but that is not to take away the significance of the quality of it's release. The ToLiSS319 was a quite different in many respects, but very similar in others and certainly in the depth of the systems provided, so overall both aircraft complimented each other, but in a lineball fight the ToLiSS was amazing simply because of the way it flew, it was certainly the more dynamic of the two aircraft, especially in the area of pure manual flight or in Airbus speak "Direct Law". And in the manual landing phase certainly one of the very best in airliners in X-Plane for control feedback and handling bar none. The developer did note that the total focus here on this aircraft was on the dynamics, and not the pretty stuff or areas that were more for the short attention span user or toybox twiddlers. You accepted that, but you still missed the smaller animated fun stuff like the popout work shelf and the like in the A320U the dropdown compass, in flicking lighting switches and other mindless fun to pass the hours in the air. Like the constantly changing A320U from Flightfactor the ToLiSS319 was also quickly updated. First was to fine tune the release version of bugs and various small changes in v1.02 and here is now the more significant v1.04 update that covers a far more wider area of changes and bug fixes. ToLiSS319 v1.04 One of the biggest complaints of the release aircraft were the sounds? To be fair the aircraft was in the sound department up against the excellent BSS - Blue Sky Star Simulations sounds on the JAR A320neo and since then a similar BSS sound package for the FF A320U that has been released as well. The original A319 sound package was of 80 different sounds, but they were not great, great if you know what I mean, the cruise aural sounds were like being in a washing machine and were badly repetitive and I didn't like them at all, and I sorta tolerated them. In this update there is a completely new sound package from Turbine Sound Studios for the CFM engine, and for the IAE 2524 engine sounds there is available an addon package also from TSS that is noted as priced at US$9.50 and requires a separate registration that is done via the TISCS (ToLiSS Interactive Simulation Control System). Sounds are now thankfully and nicely upgraded... Well you certainly hear and feel the difference from startup, as switches click, click and levers thunk, but it is the more subtle sounds are what are most important here, pull your throttles back to the idle indent or up to any of the A/THR modes and you get a nice reassuring click. Environmental and cockpit sounds are also much more distinct, although I do adjust the enviro sounds a down bit (half) as they feel better that way. Engine volume is still only really external with no internal adjustment, so the engines can a bit quiet on the flight deck. Start up the engine and the aural differences are very noticeable from both the cockpit and external, background systems switching is excellent, as are the different engine startup stages. both in the cockpit and cabin the sounds are now 180º dynamic and move along the cabin rear to forward and the sounds change and move as in reality, and yes the PTU (Power Transfer Unit) sounds are authentic, flap change movements are also first rate. The engine spool up behaviour from idle and there is now a more added distinction between ground/flight idle and approach idle, so those areas have had a lot of attention, this is also connected with the refining of the IAE engines shape profile, as there was a lot of complaints in that the IAE engines were not very well modeled well in their outline profile, so they have been completely redone, in sounds again the aural 180º engine sounds are now excellent in both engine versions. The IAE engines now look much more realistic, but the external vanes are still missing (but they are there on the internal side). The cockpit textures have had a complete overhaul (again), this is the third reincarnation of the cockpit feel from the original version. This change is debatable if it is a forward or backward step, certainly the feel is now more flat grey, and even slightly bland compared to the greyblue of the original version and most of the earlier wear and tear that made that cockpit authentic has been eliminated, the one bonus through is that the cockpit is now a far, far brighter place to be in, gone thankfully is that deep dark pit feel when setting up the aircraft. The better drop down lighting on the panel helps as well... ... but most of the individual lighting it is still not adjustable. You can lower lighting areas globally, but not individually and spot lighting like the side map lighting doesn't work, Dome lighting is still three way, but the worst is the OHP (OverHead Panel) that looks like it is switched off even when set at the full brightness setting. Night lighting is improved as well, but again not as adjustable individually as say the A320 Ultimate, but it is a very nice place to in at night with the highlighted center console and the OHP is simply gorgeous and like night and day from the daytime view. So why highlight this lighting? Well I am very particular about lighting adjustments, and focusing here on the approach phases of the flight. To be able to find that sweet lighting position is the difference between a good night landing simulation and a poor one and in this high price bracket you expect and indeed require the lighting to be perfect, it is very good in here with the A319 so don't get me wrong, but it is yet not perfect. The MCDU (Mulitpurpose Control & Display Unit) has had a few new features added (note the new better panel style to match the cockpit textures). TO performance calculator now considers the runway shift change entered, DEST and T/D / STEP altitude information has been added to the CRZ PERF page and PERF Approach page now allows entering DH and MDA independent (now one or the other) of the selected approach. A nice new trick is if you have been scrolling through the flightplan, is that a press of the F-PLN button will reset the flightplan to the current next waypoint. The TCAS mode is now also operational! and any conflicts (when set in the TA/RA switch mode) and will show Resolution Advisories on the ND (Navigation Display), important is that you need to set the TCAS system to ON and not to AUTO for the correct operation mode and use the XPNDR selection on the ground and TA/RA selection in the air. Fault Intervention Although announced initially on release, in this v1.1 update the ToLiSS319 now has system failures, or fault injection. These failures can be set up on the TISCS Panel. This feature is listed under the "Faults Scenerios" tab. You can have a total random setting that covers a wide range of 90 faults over twelve systems, or you can set your own with options including: NOW, AT TIME(set time in Seconds from now), AT IAS (Speed), AT ALT (set altitude) or RANDOM, and you can set as many failures as you like. My choice was a Left No.2 Pump failure at an altitude of 34000ft. Once I hit the selected altitude the Left No.2 Pump failed, and the warning went off, the results were shown on the ECAM display system in pure Airbus style and on the lower ECAM display (Fuel Page) as the pump was now disabled as I turned it off.... impressive. The ECAM can now also display logic of LDG and TO Memos like in real life. In Flight with the ToLiSS319 Routing with the A319 was EDDL (Dusseldorf) to EGCC (Manchester) and return EGCC back to EDDL. Mostly the outward bound service was to get to know all the new systems and feel the changes, so here we are on the return service back to Dusseldorf. There is a lot of pre-flight setup work to be done, routing, performance and radio frequencies. But the fuel and performance information supplied on the TISCS Panel is invaluable. A save of the "Position Situation" at this engine start point is just beyond words... It allows you to restart at this very point again... anytime, with all that hard work and inputted data already done and completed, so that all is now required is a pushback and engine start and you are on your way... I have cried in the ease of this feature. If the data is correctly inputted then the wealth of information at your disposal is breathtaking. "Takeoff info" and "Fuel Prediction" are all completed and ready for flight. The ToLiSS319 comes with its own pushback feature, but the BetterPushBack Truck is a more realistic experience, and is intergrated well into and with the aircraft. Hold and set the thrust to 50% and then let the brakes off, then when at a nice rolling speed then adjust the throttle to Flex(52) and your on the takeoff roll. The noises are far better with the news sounds, they are quite excellent as you power your way down the runway. Rotation is V2 + 10 or 161knts, climb can be set to auto (altitude push in) as set in the flightplan, and speed set to the same (speed push in) the lit dot says the system is in control. I personally do manual altitude, speed and vertical speed adjustments (more fun that way) but this aircraft can be flown in a pure Airbus mode as well... or maybe I just don't trust machines! This aircraft started off as part as the QPAC project and the main feature of that project was to replicate perfectly the Airbus laws in Alternate and Direct Law on the FBW (Fly-By-Wire) system, now with this v1.1 version all the laws are now active, they are quite comprehensive as well and also have the built in "Protections", the note here is that this A319, will fly exactly like the real aircraft, and you feel that with the aircraft in flight, and if you would push your luck or the aircraft's it will respond exactly like a real Airbus system should. What these grade aircraft are all about is authenticity, that is what you pay for in the detail and the comprehensive features, and boy do you get that depth of systems here. Routing data is very comprehensive (below right), as is the CLB (Climb - lower left) in the PERF (Performance) phase pages and all phases from TAKEOFF, CLB, CRZ, DES, APPR and GO AROUND are all covered in detail. Hidden under "Data" are loads of information screens: GPS Position (above right), Complete "Position" (below left) and all three IRS positions (below right). On the PROG (Progress) screens you get info on every phase of your flight, from Climb (below left) and Cruise (below right) and all phases are again covered. To fly the ToLiSS319 is a two way engagement, one is if you have the skill in experience then the depth of the aircraft and its systems will reward you, but secondly if you haven't the ultra experience then aircraft can still be flown in a more manual and semi-auto way, as this is one of the very best handling heavy aircraft in X-Plane. High in the cruise at m.80 and you now really enjoy the cockpit environment more, the sounds are far more realistic and yes even authentic, they now thankfully don't drive you batty, or give you a headache or worse both. A lot of bugs were covered in this v1.1 update, and in my two flights the aircraft is feeling very, very complete... smoooth and nothing now will creep out and put you off the simulation, this is now a very well prepared and overall comprehensive aircraft. Approach to Dusseldorf's RWY O5L is noted around 144 kts FULL flap, but I always give myself another 6 kts at around 150 kts which seems about more realistic, again the aircraft can be fully automatic and it is if you let the systems do all the work, then you just sit there and enjoy the ride with your hands poised above the throttles as you go through the G/S, LAND, then FLARE modes, or otherwise do all the flying and throttle work yourself as manual control flying in this A319 is absolutely amazing. Final Approach and it all feels so natural, X-Plane has come a long way now, and you feel and experience it here with aircraft and simulation of this caliber.... I adjust down to the lower 141 kts to give the aircraft a slight flare and at the "Retard, Retard" I pull back the throttles, and to note in that to hear the approach altitudes and final "retard" callouts you do need your speaker volume about at 80% up, or you won't hear anything? Select "REV", throttle up again and with the AUTO/BRK set to MED (Medium) the Airbus quickly rubs off the ground speed, again to note to have BRK FAN on as the brakes can quickly get quite hot. A quick flick of the brakes releases the AUTO/BRK mode as it should and you do the final braking manually, and once you go under the 40 kts speed then pull back the throttles and close the "REV" doors and your down at the correct taxi speed, the rest of the aircraft cleanup of airbrakes and flaps is all there is left to do. For my flying it is all about rhythm, almost sing-song in my actions, and each action has a place and a time, get it all right and it feels very, very good... the really lovely ToLiSS319 helps here a lot as well, because it does everything at the right moment in time, and it is that feel and reaction to flying the aircraft well that is the best and final result. Summary You know or sense something when you first look and then fly an aircraft, as it has it or it simply doesn't have that feel. That was the overwhelming feeling when I first flew this ToLiSS319, and no doubt back only six months ago when it was raw, really raw... but the basics were also simply amazing and you knew it was something really special, and a coming game-changer in many ways and that overwhelming first feel has not gone away. This v1.1 update fills in a lot of those raw qualities, as the earlier v1.02 update was just to fix the obvious items. Here the changes go further and fix the main core issues as in the hi-quality 180º Turbine Sound Studio's sounds, the cockpit textures, the lighting and the shape profile of the IAE engines, and then the update also covers a lot of bugs and earlier missing niche items. Then you have again new features, and you know when ToLiSS delivers new ideas they work and are quite exceptional. LIke all new features on this aircraft the system failure idea looks quite basic, but it is actually quite powerful, dynamic and is quite versatile to use... effective as well. The TCAS system also missing on the release version is also delivered here and the TCAS also comes with full resolution advisory notes in the ND, and again it is very good and realistic setup and both these new items really fill in the aircraft systems wise, which was very deep and authentic in the first place. Negatives, not many, the new cockpit textures are to a taste and much more grey than the original blue/grey, lighting is far better, but still needs some more individual functionality and there are still a few blank pages left to fill out on the ToLiSS Interactive Simulation Control System panel. My initial thoughts were "What would this A319 aircraft be like with the new coming X-Plane particle effects", it has to be something amazing, and you would just want to destroy an engine in flight just to see all the effects it will all have not only on the outside, but with all these systems in operation on the inside as well... but that is in the immediate future. This v1.1 release certainly brings the ToLiSS319 to a much more completed and more fully rounded aircraft, as you feel that in the flying and in the use of the systems, so this update here is highly significant to the aircraft, and for those sitting on the fence, then "boy, you don't know what you are missing here", as this aircraft is now becoming one of the best simulations in X-Plane, certainly not totally finished or even totally perfect yet, but it is still way, way up there as an experience... highly, highly recommended. ______________________________________________________________________ Yes! the ToLiSS319 (A319-122) v1.1 by ToLiSS is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : ToLiss A319 Price is US$69.00 IAE Sound Pack for Toliss A319 Price is US$9.95 TSS IAE Sound Pack is activated by inserting the key activation code in the "ADDON" tab on the ToLiSS Interactive Simulation Control System panel. Features Include: Highlights: FMGS with SID/STAR, Airways alternate flight plans, performance prediction, etc. Out of the box with TSS (Turbine Sound Studios) custom sounds for the CFM engine Realistic FBW with Alternate and Direct law reversions Fault injection interface with support for roughly 90 different failures and probability-based random failure injection Choice of CFM and IAE engine, and wingtip fences or sharklets. Choices affect aircraft performance and FMGS predictions. Detailed list of features: FMGS: Support of SID/STAR, including all leg types (Arc, course or heading to intercept, Radius to Fix, Holdings, etc.) Temporary and alternate flight plans Full VNAV guidance with TOC, TOD, Deceleration point, speed limits, fuel prediction, etc. Altitude and speed constraints as the real aircraft deals with them Ability to change the selected STAR while already in the STAR Support for go-arounds and diversions Step altitudes Airway support 2 independent MCDUs and autopilots Top-notch aircraft systems ToLiss uses the QPAC Fly-by-wire and autopilot module, augmented to support Alternate and Direct Law Unique feature: Control Surface hinge moment modelling allows the surfaces to float to the appropriate position after loss of all actuators on a surface. Fault injection interface allowing to inject custom selected failures, or randomly selected failure based on fault probabilities. Custom TCAS with resolution advisory function. Terrain on ND and Weather radar available (WX radar works with default X-plane weather engine) Brake temperature model based on the detailled physics of heat transfer between the individual brake components Hydraulics model in which the pressure is dependent on usage. This is most notable when dropping to RAT mode Detailed model of each ADIRU including alignment, small pressure sensor differences between the units, switching of sources for PFDs Custom air conditioning model supporting high altitude operations at airports like Cusco in Peru or La Paz in Bolivia without spurious warnings Flight warning system with ECAM actions supporting numerous system failure scenarios, e.g. engine failures, generator failures, hydraulic failures. Eye- and ear-candy Detailed 3D cockpit 3d exterior model with CFM and IAE engine Choice between classic wingtip fences or modern sharklets (controlled via livery names) Custom sounds from Turbine Sound Studios (TSS) included for the CFM engine. IAE engine soundpack available as addon for a small fee. Usability features Situation loading and saving. It is possible to save the flight at any point in time and resume it another day. This can also be used, e.g., to save the position just before approach and practice just the approach many times. Autosaving allows recovering where you left off, should the X-Plane session end unexpectedly. Jumping waypoint-to-waypoint through the cruise phase: Shorten your flight to focus on the more interesting parts as you like. Integrated takeoff performance calculator supporting the use of flex temperature. Requirements X-Plane 11 (or X-Plane 10) Windows (64bit) , Mac (OSX 10.11 and up) or Linux (tested on Ubuntu 14.10) 2Gb VRAM Minimum - 4Gb+ VRAM Recommended Version 1.1 (June 25th 2018) Installation Download of the ToLiSS319 is 488mb and it is installed in your Airliner Folder as a 1.30Gb folder. On start up you will have an activation screen presented to enter your Serial Number (Key), and then press the "Activate" bar to authorise the aircraft. I recommend to restart the aircraft from your desktop to realign all your plugins and load the aircraft cleanly. There is extensive full instructions on how to set up the aircraft to your X-Plane settings (commands) and addons (Joysticks/Throttles) and other 3rd Party items in the ToLiSS A319 V1.1_SimulationManual. Documents There are Three Manuals Included with the package. All are extensive and well laid out with great details Simulation manual : Describes installation, and setup of the model as well as usage of the “Interactive Simulation Control System”. Tutorial flight, which provides a step-by-step description of a complete flight from cold & dark to aircraft shut-down after landing. This is the best manual to learn flying the aircraft. Aircraft manual, which is primarily intended as a reference after the tutorial has been completed. It provides a reference for standard operating procedures, as well as a more in- depth look into the different systems of the aircraft. Extra Airbus system information is highly recommended and SMARTCOCKPIT is a great place to start. Version 1.1 (June 25th 2018) Sounds from TSS (Turbine Sound Studios) out of the box for the CFM engine. (IAE available as separate addon) Cockpit and External Texture rework, including PBR updates Introduction of FBW alternate and direct law Fault injection interface supporting about 90 different system faults New TCAS including Resolution Advisory Lots of other new stuff and bug fixes, check https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/topic/143538-toliss-319-official-announcement-thread/&do=findComment&comment=1440388 for details. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Review by Stephen Dutton 28th June 2018 Copyright©2018: X-PlaneReviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.20 Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9 effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 : BetterPushBack - Free Scenery or Aircraft - EDDF - Airport Frankfurt XP11 by Aerosoft (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$32.99 - EGCC - Manchester Airport by Aerosoft (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$22.00

We covered the aircraft as a review because it did become available as a full payware, so the version reviewed is the released 1.04 (XP11) version.

News! - Now Released! - XP11 Aircraft Upgrade for Carenado 690B Turbo Commander Carenado have released their X-Plane11 version of their lovely 690B Turbo Commander. This is a slightly different aircraft to their original release in the: Quick Flight Review : AeroCommander Shrike 500s by Carenado here. I do remember one thing, it was a very nice aircraft to fly, and be in. The aircraft comes with all the X-Plane11 updated features, and more. Special Features Version 1.0 Only for X-Plane 11 State-of-the-art configurable FPS-friendly logic system. Fully VR compatible Full PBR (Superb material shines and reflections) Features Specially designed engine dynamics for XP11. Flight physics optimized for XP11 standards. Ground handling adapted for XP11 ground physics. Physically Based Rendering materials and textures throughout. PBR materials authored with industry-standard software used by the film and gaming industries. X-Plane GNS530 (FPS friendly) Support for RealityXP's GTN750* (integrated into 3D cockpit, when available). Goodway Compatible. Realistic behavior compared to the real airplane. Realistic weight and balance. Tested by several pilots for maximum accuracy. From these release images the 690B Turbo Commander does look quite different from the earlier version, so it will be interesting to compare them. The recommended system requirements are: Windows XP - Vista - 7 -10 or MAC OS 10.10 (or higher) or Linux X-Plane 11 CPU: Intel Core i5 6600K at 3.5 ghz or faster. Memory: 16-24 GB RAM or more. Video Card: a DirectX 12-capable video card from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel with at least 4 GB VRAM (GeForce GTX 1070 or better or similar from AMD) 525MB available hard disk space Included in the package 5 HD liveries 1 HD blank texture 690B Normal and Emergency Procedures PDF 690B Performance tables PDF. 690B Quick reference table PDF 690B System Reference Guide PDF Recommended Settings XPLANE 11 PDF. The 690B Turbo Commander is a new release for X-Plane11 and is available here from Carenado: 690B TURBO COMMANDER Price is US$37.95 The aircraft should be released on the X-Plane.OrgStore soon. Images are courtesy of Carenado ________________________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 26th June 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews

Plugin Update : WebFMC Pro v1.04 by Green Arc Studios X-PlaneReviews loved the clever new application from Green Arc Studios in the WebFMC Pro plugin... review is here: Plugin Review : WebFMC Pro by Green Arc Studios The actual concept was not totally new, as FlightFactor have used the remote FMC set up in a browser window for a few years, but the concept was not universal as it was restricted to only FlightFactor aircraft. But there is no doubt on the versatility of the idea and the remote layout makes the inputting of flight data, performance and routing not only a little more easier, but also more realistic. First a quick recap on how it works. If your aircraft has a popout FMC (Flight Management Computer) then it can be reproduced with active buttons on a internet browser and used via your wifi network. Really any computer or device that can run an internet browser can be used, including say an iPad, mobile phone or a secondary computer to show the WebFMC Pro display, any phone or device does have the added feature of direct finger input or direct keyboard input, but as I found my iPhone was just a little too small for my finger input. Set up and use is very easy once you have installed the WebFMC Pro plugin in your X-Plane plugin's folder, you then just then type in the required browser address which is http://localhost:9090 or http://10.0.0.2:9090 where as "localhost" is your computer (the one running X-Plane), and if you are using a configured aircraft for WebFMC Pro it should instantly appear in the browser window. Currently there are five aircraft configured, with the B737-800 zibo mod and 737-900ER Ultimate that are also usable on the free version (or really a demo) available here: WebFMC 1.0.4 Plugin set up is the same, but the Pro version won't allow you to access the other aircraft's FMCs. ● 737-300 by IXEG ● A319 by ToLiss ● A320 by Jar Design ● 737-800 Zibo Mod ● 737-900ER Ultimate WebFMC Pro v1.04 Version v1.04 now adds in a few more aircraft to the Pro access list with the: A320-214 Ultimate by Flightfactor EADT x737 (x737FMC plugin is required) The addition of the Flightfactor A320 Ultimate FMC is a big feature of the v1.4. And certainly many users will note that the same feature will also come directly from FlightFactor in a future update. But that is missing the point, because if you are changing aircraft from say the ToLiSS319 to the FF A230 Ultimate then the change over is seemless with WebFMC instantly available from one FMC to the other. A new option now on the menu is... "Screen Only On Click". This new feature allows you to just have the screen section visible in the browser, it is aimed at home cockpit builders in to just show the active screens on the remote panels, it also takes up less space if you just want to monitor the FMC's data in flight or on a remote device. The FMC skins have also evolved, the dirty versions are now more realistic with actual real FMC panels being photographed and reproduced. FMC panels are now worn and damaged through wear and tear (arrowed) and look highly realistic. Summary A great plugin that with v1.04 has now evolved a lot more, not just with the expected new FMC's for the FlightFactor A320 Ultimate and EADT x737 (x737FMC plugin is required) but also new features with the screen only now available and has more realistic FMC panels. So that shows the developers are not going just in the one direction but improving the idea in others as well. Obviously this is a really great tool for any interaction with the provided FMC's, it not only provides a remote interaction with the aircraft from another computer or device, but easier input and speed in enhanced as well... Highly Recommended. _____________________________________ Yes! WebFMC Pro v1.04 by Green Arc Studios is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : WebFMC Pro Price is US$19.99 The v1.04 update is free to previous purchasers of the plugin, go to your X-Plane.OrgStore account for the new version. Quick and easy access to the FMC Get easy access to the FMC: quickly edit the flightplan, monitor flight progress, set up your approach and do all the typical work of the pilot without having to move around in the cockpit, even if the plane doesn’t support FMC as a popup natively - on the same PC, or different monitor, tablet or phone - in fact you can use multiple displays at the same time! Make pilot tasks easy and comfortable Enjoy external views during cruise while monitoring flight progress on separate screen or take a quick look at your phone to verify calculated landing speed with just a glimpse of an eye during busy time on approach. Make flying complex SIDs / STARs easy as you can focus on the important flight parameters while having overview of the constraints all the time. Take your mobile to the kitchen as you cook a dinner during a long haul and never miss T/D again! Convenient to use Use physical keyboards on PC with extra keys such as Prev/Next page mapped to keyboard keys for easy access. WebFMC scales dynamically to fit any display or window size and can look as native app on mobiles by using browser's "Add to home screen" feature. Aircraft support WebFMC Pro supports growing number of 3rd party aircraft starting with FlightFactor A320 Ultimate ToLiss 319 JarDesign 320 IXEG 737-300 EADT x737 (x737FMC required) Zibo Mod 737-800 737-900 Ultimate More to come! Requirements: Plugin The WebFMC plugin requires X-Plane 11 running on a 64-bit Windows 7 operating system or newer. The plugin doesn't require any extra CPU/memory on the system. Web Client The CDU can be displayed on any modern and up-to-date web browser with JavaScript support. We recommend the latest versions of Google Chrome on PC or Android and Safari on iOS but it worked fine on Firefox 60.0.2 as well No internet connection required, remote device needs to be on the same local network as X-Plane PC. Current version: 1.4 (June 24th 2014) ______________________________________________________________________ Plugin Update Review by Stephen Dutton 26th June 2018 Copyright©2018 : X-Plane Reviews  (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.20 Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro v1.07 US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9 effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 Scenery or Aircraft - Boeing 757 Pro Series- FlightFactor/VMAX (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$64.95 - ToLiSS319 (A319) by ToLiSS (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$69.00 - A320 Ultimate by FlightFactor (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$89.95 - Airbus A320neo by JarDesign (Xplane-.OrgStore) - US$59.95 - Boeing x737 by EADT (EADT x737 Project) - Free (x737FMC required and a purchase is required) - Boeing 737-800X X-Plane default aircraft with ZIBO MOD installed - Free - Boeing 737-900ER Ultimate Project - Free 

No no! it is only a one off purchase, it is the developer's choice to put it out as a beta, but on payware.

Due to the PC-12's XP11 release period, it just missed the VR cutoff, but I would be really surprised if Carenado don't quickly upgrade it to VR with a single patch update. There is no doubt it will be upgraded. SD

Aircraft Review : Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner by Magknight Aviation airline economics are a strange concoction of a lot of elements, but at significant points then a new era can emerge and it is usually at the change of a particular aircraft design. We all know the early impact of the DC-2/3 then the 4 and 6, and the Lockheed Constellation... but it was the introduction of the Boeing 707 (720) that really changed things, yes the Comet was the first all jet transport, but it's early pressurisation issues and limited seating, would mean it was certainly fast but not a big deal to airlines looking out for profit. But the Boeing 707 changed all that with its phenomenal speed, range and passenger capacity to change the world into our current global village. You couldn't go faster (Concorde did, but it was expensive) so you went larger with the Boeing 747 Series and again airline economics and passenger loads went through the roof. But today it is now all about efficiency and not about sheer volume. The Airbus A380 should have been the next significant step, but today's fuel costs and strangely the worry that airlines can't simply fill out its huge capacity and that and then for the first time aircraft have gotten smaller to go forward. The Boeing 777 with it's twin-engined capacity broke a lot of rules but the bottom line on the ledger sheet of most airlines flying the aircraft simply showed the way forward to the current new-age front line super economic machines, the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 - Dreamliner. To a point they will be the last of their kind, no aircraft in the future is going to redeliver the efficiency of 15% to 20% over the last generation of aircraft, the coming 797 also will be very good aircraft efficiency wise, but it will still in the same efficiency range change over the B737/A320 aircraft, the idea is a B767 size aircraft for a efficiency of a B737/A320. But currently it is the Dreamliner and the XWB A350 that will again change the aviation economic landscape. Boeing 787-9 by Magknight First of all let us clarify that this Boeing 787 is not related to the original Heinz Dziurowitz version of the B787 (that aircraft was the B748) but outwardly and inwardly they are very similar as both used only native basics of X-Plane (Planemaker) makes them very much in the same design. So this aircraft is not a "study" level simulation either, or even a basic systems aircraft, so it is in reality an advanced planemaker design, a second point to make is that it is a project still in progress, this is not a completed aircraft but one still in forward development. The aircraft started out as a donation style project, but it has now switched over to being a payware to reflect it's current design progress. Although the aircraft was created for X-Plane10, it is really a X-Plane11 based design, as most of the earlier X-Plane10 element's were thrown out and restarted, so you have 4K (4096x4096) textures and a far more better quality 3d design, with of course the XP11 PBR effects. The modeling is really very good, but the mapping is a bit heavy in parts as denoted by the heavy grooves, the B787 is a very smooooth jet, as it is plastic after all or a carbon-composite sort of plastic design, in being both very light but strong. Those signature wings are well done here, they are all new to this update and beautifully shaped as is the built in wing-flex that is now very smooth and realistic. The B787 wing has a very large flexible range for efficiency, from some views the long upward moving curves look fragile, but they are built that way. The huge General Electric GEnx-1B74/75 at 74,100 lbf (330 kN) engines are well done, and the B789 can also use the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000, but that option not available on this aircraft. In this updated version as well the fan blades on the GEnx-1B's are all new, and they look very nice as well in static and in flight. Although a lot of the marching ant's have been also fixed in this update, there are still a few here and there, and the engines cowlings are slightly transparent in showing the internal engine structure? Cockpit There is no cabin, opening doors or menus or any other advanced features, but the cockpit is very well detailed and well designed. The cockpit has been redesigned about two or three times, but the results have been well worth the effort, as it has a very authentic feel. Heinz's B787 cockpit was quite basic, certainly with the overhead panel, and that sorta didn't give me the immersion feel I really wanted with the aircraft, but that is not the case here as it is a very nice place to be. The overhead panel here is excellent in look and feel, but the switchgear can be a little heavy to turn or use. Instrument Panel The Boeing 787 series uses the latest in glass cockpit technology, so it can look a bit confusing at first if you are used to the older style aircraft instrument panel layouts. To a point the B787 instrument panel can be hard to replicate and not come across as cartoony, but Magknight has done a really great job here in the overall design. But in many areas it does show that the design is still a work in progress, a lot works, but a lot of the functionality doesn't and small items are missing like the analog clock hands (digital does) and elapsed time, however the tools you require to fly the aircraft are all here. Being a Planemaker design you don't get nice things like reflective instruments, that is okay as they don't look to bad because of their sheer size, there are four displays, two for each pilot called inboard and outboard that are divided into more separate screen zones, again the zones are locked in here so you can't switch them around like you can on a real B787. But the zones cover AUX, PFD (Primary Flight Display), Mini-Map (rose heading) on the Outboard - Navigation/Map (ND), EICAS (Engine Indication and Crew Alerting System) are all on the inboard display and this display also known as the MFD (Multi-Functional Display) Between all the display screens it is known as the (C) center panel zone that includes the Standby Flight Display, Landing Gear Controls and Autobrake Controls. The glareshield holds the Autopilot functions and it does on first sight look quite different from other Boeing aircraft autopilots. But on closer inspection the layout is still relatively the same with zones for Speed, Heading, Vertical Speed and Altitude, and at each end map/plan/range knobs and Baro settings. Center Console has the lower MFD which includes the FMC (Flight Management Computer) and the aircraft Status Display. The FMC uses the native Laminar Research FMC and the pop-up panel is available to use. But the custom keyboard does work as well if you want to input in a more realistic way. The status display can change to display five modes... STAT (Status) - Fuel - FCTL (Flight Controls) top HYD (hydraulics) and ELEC (Electrical) lower. You can't change the pages via the actual status buttons, but instead by a lower in panel button called "NEXT PG", and in a strange way they are also connected to the "Menu" button on the MAP/NAV menu? They feel like a very last minute installation, but they are all very good. All radio frequencies are done through the FMC RAD (Radio) page as the rear console is effectively blank, except the Transponder number which is input directly on the center console panel. Over Head Panel (OHP) is well done, and looks great, of course not many of the systems work unless they are X-Plane native associated, which will be interesting with newly coming X-Plane 11.30 features including icing, oxygen and autopilot functions. Switchgear as noted is slightly tough to turn (use), but you get used to it. Side EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) display/menu displays items but it is blank for use, and cockpit detailing is very good, no doubt here as a 3d modeller then Magknight is very good. The yokes can be easily hidden by pressing the "Y" key on your keyboard (X-Plane11 only) Lighting The overall lighting is limited to just main instrument adjustment and overhead dome lighting... one area I would have like adjustment was the instrument displays, as you can't brighten them, and I found them just a little too dark, this item should be high on the fix next list. But overall again this cockpit is nice pleasant place to in when flying long haul in both day and night services. Externally the aircraft looks very good, if a throwback to the earlier X-Plane9 style of lit cabin windows. The logo tail light is not connected to the liveries so it works when you want it too, so it looks good at night as well, all lights in Strobe, Nav and Beacons that are all standard X-Plane, but at least they have been adjusted. Sounds The aural aspect in the B787 is surprising. They are not yet FMOD, but they are very good for a set of basic flight sounds. I found them to be quite good right through the range with the cruise sounds very authentic, and found I can fly for a long time in this aural environment and still feel like it is the real cockpit, as the worst thing about flying long haul is poor or repetitively looping sound. It is a shame the FMOD changes were not made before release as these sounds would be good in that form and with the then added bonus of 180º dynamic sounds. Performance A standard long haul from EGLL (London) to KJFK (New York) was a good indicator of performance. The latest update has had corrections for fuel efficiency and engine power to allow for these longer flights. But my long haul experience shows the performance model needs a bit more work. I could do notes which I usually do but not here because in fact they wouldn't work? This may be the standard PlaneMaker modeling, but I was doing fuel notes back in X-Plane9... Climb gives you always the full 100% climb, which is not authentic once you reach a standard vertical climb configuration, you usually have a setting of around 85% to 90% EGT. Once here in cruise mode your B787 will sit on 98% EGT for pretty well for the full routing, which again is not realistic, because as the fuel weight goes down then the EGT parameters drop (or step down) accordingly or in English, the lighter the aircraft is then the less power is required to move it through the air. My book of notes will give you a fuel burn and weight changes that creates targets over nautical mileage (part of the fun of passing the hours away on long haul flights is in meeting fuel prediction targets), I will note this is certainly not a study grade aircraft, but I was doing this noting back in X-Plane9 with XPFP aircraft. So any adjustment or the use in speed it just doesn't feel currently very authentic. In a landing configuration the B787 looks the business.... ... as gear detail and animation is very good. The artificial stability is now corrected at lower speeds as is the flap maneuverability with earlier issue that has also been solved and the aircraft now follows easily the glideslope and acts quickly at lower speeds... but I found as is the ILS vertical glideslope indicator didn't work on three different approaches and so had to be ready as the aircraft did not catch in every time the ILS in a vertical mode? So a full hand landing was required every time, so these are basic bugs that really are required to be fixed before any release. Wingflex works well and looks authentic on landing, as are the reverser doors and the excellent sounds to do the slowing down business. Liveries There are seven liveries with a house Boeing 9, British Airways, Japan Airlines, LAN, United, Air China, American Airlines and a blank. A paintkit is also included, and already there are zillions of airline and custom liveries appearing on the X-Plane.Org Summary In many ways flying this Boeing 787 from Magknight sent me back to my early days of X-Plane flying, it was basic, but also a lot of fun. So the feel of the aircraft is certainly buried deep here in the X-Plane DNA. Overall the 3d design and construction is very, good... Magknight is a very good modeller and the aircraft is a nicely created aircraft and the cockpit is very well done and feels very authentic, but the systems are solidly based in the X-Plane PlaneMaker realm, so any default X-Plane aircraft would not be too far from the same truth here, so if this aircraft was part of the Laminar Research fleet then you really wouldn't know any difference. In areas the B787 feels a little underdeveloped, but this is still an ongoing project, so there is still a lot of i's to be dotted and t's to be crossed, but some of the basics are missing as well and that needs to be addressed quickly. But overall I really enjoyed flying this Boeing 787 and the sounds are also excellent for a basic package like this. The first thought is that if this B787 had been a joint team product, with the already quality of the modeling and the creation of a full plugin (SASL) system, it would have been a first rate aircraft, but the category it is actually placed in here is very different in systems and in the pricing so things are relative in that don't expect a full grade aircraft, because this B787 is a basic design for what you pay for. The choice here is one of investment and first thoughts are that the basics are extremely good to invest in, and in this price range. If the development continues at the same pace you should get an extremely good Dreamliner and quite soon and even at a low cost factor. In my mind it is an aircraft to follow and enjoy, it is not totally perfect, but it has the potential to be very, very good... and like I said overall I really loved flying it. And this B789 Dreamliner will certainly be having a lot of use in my flying as well because until now X-Plane has been missing a really good B787 machine and like in the real world it is the future of aviation, and it is also the machine to have only for the economic bottom line of every airline that currently flies the Dreamliner as it will also change the world as those other milestone aircraft before it. ______________________________________________________________________ Yes! the Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner by Magknight is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : B787-9 Price is US$24.95 Features: New engine fanblades. New wing with updated wingflex and various control surfaces details and wingtip improvement. Corrected "marching ants" and mapping issues. Lower L1 door position for active jetways, autogate, etc. New paintkit Interior model Improved MFD with Fuel, Hydraulics, Control surfaces and Electric synoptic indications. Hydraulic switch now available. HPA indication in PFD (not switchable for the moment) Systems Corrections in fuel efficiency and engine power to allow longer flights. Groundspeed, TAS and wind vector corrected in the ND. Transponder Ident now available. Transponder digits can now be changed up and down. Airspeed in PFD now hides at mach speeds instead of showing '0'. Flaps maneuverability issue solved. The aircraft now follows easily the glideslope and acts quickly at lower speeds. Artificial stability now corrected at lower speeds. (Better handling) Tail light now available. Tail will light up with the logo button in the cockpit. There is no need for special night texture for each livery. The external night texture is the same for all. Yoke hides now pressing 'Y' on the keyboard. (Only XP11) Vertical speed display now hides in VNAV. A checklist is available. Additional livery packs American Airlines, British Airways, Japan Airlines, LAN Airlines, United Airlines, Air China livery Requirements: X-Plane 11 or X-Plane 10 Windows, Mac or Linux 2Gb VRAM Minimum - 4Gb + VRAM recommended Current version : 1.04 (XP11) 1.03 (XP10) Installation : Download is 107mb which is unzipped and is inserted in your Heavy Aircraft folder as a 168mb folder Liveries are downloaded and inserted into your B787 root folder separately as a 34.4mb Folder. Documentation : None ______________________________________________________________________ Review by Stephen Dutton 22th June 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews  (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.25 Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro v1.07 US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9 effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 : BetterPushBack - Free Scenery or Aircraft - KJFK - New York Airports Vol 1 by Drewiecki Design (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$24.00

I doubt a Steam Gauge version would ever be available, but I always say, "never say never".

Freeware Release : Robin DR401 CDI 155 by Aerobask Developers start their careers all wide-eyed and excited, the sheer complexity and the demands of creating a quality product are usually far away into the future, this is the "I am going to do this!" period. In some ways without that initial unconstrained if naive enthusiasm, very little if anything would be created. most projects die off quickly as the enthusiasm suddenly dies as quickly as it was created, but many do continue, and then a few are seen through to the completion of the idea, but not completely, as all early efforts are usually still full of compromises. Then there is the reaction to the product and the critics like me and the market that assesses your work. There are usually two reactions. The first is the "reactional" developer that see's very little wrong with their genius and what they have created, and any assessment of any critical feedback can usually end and usually does end in an outraged outburst, then any secondary work is usually full of the same mistakes and the average quality of the first release and you can see critics like me usually giving it all a wide berth and rather than looking at it. The second developer traits are the most interesting ones, first of all their project is not that totally over-ambitious, and even a little rough around the edges, but the core of the idea is usually well done. The difference that any critical assessments (if provided by the right sources) are then taken on board, and fixes of bugs and details usually follow. We are detailing inexperience here not skills, but nothing is forgotten and usually the next project sees a huge improvement on the first and so the quality climbs with each release and then combined with clever ideas and features they find their way into that golden air of that their name alone can create anticipation and instant sales with any release and that is hard when the simulator like X-Plane is a constantly moving target. Which brings us to this little Robin aircraft by Aerobask, or Harranssor as Stephane Buon was known back then at the aircraft's original release. It was at the time a compact and very well done French four-seater aircraft, but it was only really a niche in time as the next project with the DA-42 was quickly put into focus as the next step up the developer career ladder. Now Aerobask certainly don't need any introduction today in X-Plane, as their outstanding aircraft in mostly very modern composite general aviation aircraft or very light jet releases are some of the very best quality releases in the simulator; always a leader in many areas of excellent materials, quality avionics and innovation, you will usually buy any Aerobask on release and know that you won't be disappointed. But the little original Robin hasn't been discarded or forgotten. Here Aerobask have given the aircraft the full upgrade treatment, and released the aircraft as a "thank you" and free release to all their loyal customers and in a smart ploy showing the punters that have never flown or purchased an Aerobask aircraft the sort of quality and design work that Aerobask do... but I think there is some thing more going on here. It is also showing how far to not only us, but also to the developers themselves on how far they have since come from that very first Robin release, in reality this is the aircraft that created the passion to do something extraordinary in a simulator called X-Plane. Although to be seen as not too an old aircraft design, the roots of the company goes back a fair way to Centre-Est Aéronautique which was formed by Pierre Robin and Jean Délémontez, the principal designer of the Jodel aircraft series, in October 1957, when it it began manufacturing aircraft at Darois, near Dijon, France. The Robin DR300 series were developments of the earlier DR.221 Dauphin and DR.250 Capitaine with a tricycle landing gear. The first variant was the DR340 Major, a tricycle landing gear version of the DR250 Capitaine which first flew on 27 February 1968, followed on 21 March 1968 by the DR315 Petit Prince, a tricycle landing gear version of the DR221 Dauphin. The DR315 was later replaced by the DR300. In 1972 an improved version, the DR400 was introduced with a forward-sliding canopy. and this DR401 version has the Glass cockpit, larger cockpit, electric trim and flaps, a range of engine options and also variants for "long range" and "aerotow". The DR400 aircraft has also the 'cranked wing' configuration, in which the dihedral angle of the outer wing is much greater than the inboard, which is a configuration which they share with earlier Jodel aircraft. The powerplant is an unusual Continental 2·0S 155 hp turbocharged diesel engine, driving a MTV/6/a/190/169 1·87m constant speed 3 blade Propeller, and as being diesel the engine it is free of the dangers of carburettor icing and vapour lock, and is safe from thermal shock on low power settings. The aircraft also uses AvGas or Jet A-1 fuel or even normal automotive diesel for a fuel capacity of 109 litres Jet A-1 (159 litres with supplementary tank) and a max range of 944 nm (with the long-range tank). Detail Free it may be, but the quality is the same as all Aerobask releases. All textures are full high definition textures (4K), and the full HDR (maximum) setting is recommended to get the best out of them. Glass was also a Aerobask speciality, they had the first really reflective glass effects in X-Plane (DA-42), but I doubt back then that glass formed shapes like the convex bubble style canopy design here was still a far off dream, but it really shows then on how far X-Plane and 3d modeling tools have come in the meantime. The glass here on the Robin is quite exceptional in shape, reflection, texture and design. Aircraft detailing is excellent, but I will note that overall the Robin is quite a simple aircraft, with fixed-strut landing gear and added on trim flaps. On the ground the detail on rudder and wing moveable flying surfaces via cables are highly detailed. There are no pop-out tab/panels or menu options. But there are a couple of ideas get around a few of the usual menu options. Turn the power off and the aircraft gets static elements in cones, vane covers and chocks. Open the large canopy and the little left hand rear side baggage door opens as well... Opening the canopy is via the handle on the roof, everything is beautifully constructed, even down to the chrome locking bar for the canopy. Exquisite exceptional interiors are the total domain of Aerobask, they are always the leaders and the best in X-Plane, even better than Carenado. Here in the Robin it is no exception, stunning detailed work... ... with a high quality instrument panel with reflections, and note the fun aspect on the pop-out mobile phone (and no it doesn't work), to the overwhelming interior design... ... that comes with three different coloured designs in the default Blue, Yellow and Red that change with the corresponding liveries. Although the aircraft is minutely small, there is a big open feel in flight, as the canopy and the large windows give the aircraft an open airiness. Rear seat is a bench, with a large baggage area behind. Note the lovely headphones on the passenger seat. Instrument panel is again up there with Aerobask's best, detailing is superb, but it is a very simple panel arrangement as well. Dominating the panel is the Laminar Research G1000 GPS system, the twin-panel arrangement pops out as well. In the Robin you can see the quality of the work of Laminar and again it is a far and long throw from the original Robin from when it was first released, again you see how advanced X-Plane is today in simulation when detailed instrumentation like this is default to the simulator. With most of the panel details including engine performance and readouts, they are all included within the G1000 system. So the panel is quite basic with most other instruments visible are here as backup systems and not primary. Far left is a backup Artificial Horizon and tape Altitude displays, far right are the circuit breakers. Under the glareshield left to right are a nice set of Annunciators with a test switch (left), centre is the three flap position indicator (UP-T/O-LAND), next to the centre compass is an electric trim switch and indicator, ELT and G1000 lighting knobs for external lighting and pitot heat switches. Electrics switches are lower panel left... with Battery, Alternator switch, Master Engine Switch, FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine (or electronics) Control) Switch and the main Avionics power switch. START/STOP switch has a PreHeating display light (it is a diesel) and back up dials for Fuel quantity, Volts and OAT indicators. There is a Auxiliary Fuel Transfer switch (button?) and on the centre console there are top the two switches for the Landing and Taxi lights and one for the Fuel Pump, the flap switch is far right. The console has that very nice throttle, Fuel tank switch and Hobbs hour meter, the parking brake is small knob. Note the missing Mixture lever and Propeller lever. Each side of the instrument panel are adjusters for the external sounds. Flying the Robin Everything associated with a standard General Aviation engine goes out of the window here. It is almost like an electric plane. Switch on the main battery power and then the Master Engine Switch, you will get a glow plug warning light.... once it goes out then turn the start switch... easy. The engine churns like a diesel, the rattles like a diesel, then powers up, nothing else to do. To shut the engine down then just turn off the Master Engine Switch. A nice touch is that the glare shield cowling vibrates to the engine revs, very realistic. Set the flaps to T/O and push up the throttle... speed will gather quite quickly and rotate in a slight pitch up is around just over 73knts. The 155hp diesel engine has a lot of torque, pulls you hard and rate of climb is 740 fpm (at MTOW 1100 kg), but you feel you can do far better than that, but don't. Flaps have to be up by 92 knts, but you click them up as soon as possible to increase the speeds. The sounds are of extremely high quality, FMOD and 180º with soundscapes, so you feel this aircraft in a touch and aural combination... just brilliant. The aircraft is super sweet in the air, really anyone should or can fly this excellent little aircraft. The Robin is also VR (Virtual Reality) ready, so you can fly inside that lovely canopy right now as well. Lighting Lighting is basic, but highly effective. The instrument panel has adjustments for the LR G1000 screens and the standby instruments, third adjustment is for the single cabin roof light. Adjusting the roof light can bring the cabin to full brightness, or just enough to find the controls and switchgear... excellent. External is very good as well with halogen strobes, beacon, navigation and single landing and taxi lights. Max Cruise speed for the 401 Robin is 138 kts with VNE set at 146 kts, but the best cruise speed is around 128 knts (85%) with a range of 944 nm (with the long-range tank) and the aircraft has a ceiling of 4715 m (15,470 ft). You could call the aircraft delicate, as it responds to change of control inputs very well, decreasing the speed by pitching the nose slightly for approach is very effective, and you can easily get down to the lower speed for a flap drop at around 75 knts, second flap in the landing position is around 63 knts. You can hold the speed around the 60 knt mark right down to the start of the runway then reduce to around 52 knts on landing, flair and throttle control will balance you until you feel the hard stuff, stall speed is 49 knts but you never feel that falling effect, the wing must be very efficient. Power off and you easily slow down to a taxi speed. The Robin is a very easy aircraft to fly, as "sweet" again is the word that comes to mind. Liveries A great range of eight European liveries, quality is very high, there is a blank as well, and a load of liveries are already coming up on the X-Plane.Org. Summary Most freeware aircraft comes in from dedicated X-Plane users, and some can be really, really good... but it is rare for a Payware developer to release an aircraft on Freeware, then deliver an almost same quality aircraft as their payware aircraft, the result is an excellent deal for you. There are areas that have been reduced to what you usually get with the full product, like menu's, higher features, instrumentation and advanced ideas. But the full basics are delivered here as well. With the absolute full quality and design that is the same and with that trademark exquisite Aerobask interior, top level FMOD sounds and perfect flying performance. Certainly a great and simple quality aircraft to learn to fly on. No doubt this is personal project for Aerobask, and the sharing of the experience can only create even a more devoted following of fliers for Aerobask than they had before, but overall the aircraft is a statement, in not only Aerobask's own journey and the incredible heights of being a developer that they have achieved since the original Robin 401 was released, but also as a heady reminder on how far the X-Plane simulator has come in the same time frame... either way we all win, don't we. ___________________________________________________ The Robin DR401 CDI 155 by Aerobask is available on the X-Plane.Org Community site: Aerobask Robin DR401 CDI 155 1.12 Price is : Free Features: Accurate flight model by X-Aerodynamics. FMOD High Quality sounds by Daniela RC. Integrated Laminar Garmin G1000 PFD and MFD. Functional 3D cockpit, with VR ready manipulators. 3D model with high resolution PBR textures. Simulated FADEC test and Pre Heating. Windshield reflections. Optimized to save FPS. 8 stunning liveries + a white paint. ______________________________________________________________________ Requirements : X-Plane 11.20+ Windows/Mac/Linux 4GB+ VRAM Recommended If you like this aircraft, then don't forget you can get all the other Aerobask releases at the X-Plane.OrgStore : X-Plane.OrgStore/Aerobask More developer information : Aerobask ______________________________________________________________________ Installation : Download is 465.20mb which is unzipped and is inserted in your General Aviation folder as a 484.90mb flie. Key authorisation is not required. Documentation : includes DR401 Checklist Normal operation.pdf DR401 Flight Manual.pdf DR401_Checklist_Emergency_ops.pdf ______________________________________________________________________  Review by Stephen Dutton 20th June 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.25 Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro v1.07 US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9 effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 Scenery or Aircraft - KLAL - Lakeland Linder Regional Airport 1.0 by Nicolas (Airport by NAPS) - (X-Plane.Org) - Free

Aircraft Update : Eclipse 550NG v1.1.10 by Aerobask This is a blink and you will miss it sort of update for the Aerobask Eclipse 550NG. This VLJ has had a few touch up's since it's release, and here is another one in v1.1.10 that covers just two areas. One are that the sounds have been converted to the FMOD sound system, and second the aircraft is now fully VR (Virtual Reality) compatible with new and revisited manipulators. Both initially the Aerosbask Pipistel Panthera and the Eclipse 550NG were crossed over from X-Plane10, then the Panthera got the full X-Plane11 treatment with the v3 release and then the Eclipse followed only weeks later. Full review is here: Aircraft Review : Eclipse 550NG by Aerobask Note the two cabin styles in light (lower) and dark (higher) which are selected by the change of livery. Aerobask aircraft are certainly the best of the best right now in quality and features and it is always nice to revisit any of their aircraft, and to update to v1.1.10 then just go to your X-Plane.OrgStore account and redownload the Eclipse 550NG. _____________________________________________________________________________________  The Eclipse 550NG by Aerobask is also available! from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Eclipse 550NG  Your Price: $39.95 Requirements X-Plane 11 + Windows, Mac or Linux - Running in 64bit Mode 2Gb VRAM Minimum. 3GB+ VRAM Recommended on X-Plane 11 X-Plane 11: this aircraft requires GNS430 data from X-Plane 10, Navigraph or Aerosoft to be installed into Custom data folder. Current version: 1.1.10 (Last updated June 14th 2018) Changelog: Version 1.1.10 (June 14 th 2018) Highlights: FMOD sound system by Daniela Rodríguez Careri VR compatibility, new and revisited manipulators ________________________________________ Update revision by Stephen Dutton 18th June 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews

That is the point of the X-planeReviews site, make the details accessible and understood in context, thanks ?

Laminar Research : FlightSimExpo 2018 X-Plane Roadmap The FlightSimExpo 2018 in Las Vegas was mostly as I predicted in my "May - Behind The Screen" edition. In that Laminar Research focused down more on fewer items than the huge agenda of the earlier announcements with the release of X-Plane11, fewer yes but more deeper and actually more significant to your everyday simulation flying. Basically the event came down to five items... More Autogen, Newer better Physics, Oxygen/Ice Systems/Autopilot for PlaneMaker, New Particle Systems and Vulkan... and with the biggest missing item on the agenda that was the ATC. None of the announcements came as a real surprise, except for the new Autopilot systems from Phillipp Ringler. Global Airports and Autogen Laminar Research always spruik highly their "Global Airport" count at any event and with X-Plane v11.25 they hit the 7310 3D number marker, with another 645 new airports coming in the next update (v11.25 - Now Available for download), it certainly makes X-Plane a far more viable world in which to fly. But laminar are not stopping there, with the consistent flow of the large amount of tools and clutter (objects in scenery) still rolling off the presses. Earlier in the year (XP v11.10) the new terminal tools to create and design better terminals and airbridges was also a great new realistic addition to the tool makers library and they should now start appearing in X-Plane scenery. Coming in v11.30 is more autogen covering US industrial urban areas, like factories, warehouses, service stations and just general industrial clutter, and with the new fencing and gates are certainly welcome to the library for better ground visual realism, and if you blinked and then you would have missed it, as there is also new and different types of taxiway linage, shapes, colours and textures that has already been released in the v11.25b1 update. Last year also Laminar Research also introduced "Landmarks" or city icons like the Eye, the Gherkin, Tower Bridge, and Westminster Palace in London, and the Opera House and Harbour bridge in Sydney. More items are going to be added to Las Vegas, Chicago (v11.25), and New York and Washington DC (v11.30). Personally this is all very nice, but the addition of the European autogen last year, was one of the most significant visual changes to the simulator, so again regions have been seen to have been put on the backburner, and sadly no payware developer has taken up the offer of making regional autogen either, which feels like a very missed opportunity for making great addons, the point is that distinctive regional autogen like Middle-Eastern, Asian or Oceania or even UK or Italian or Greek visual vistas are still not coming to your simulator in the near future again either? Physics Austin Meyer is not only the founder of X-Plane, but he is also responsible for the aircraft physics and flight dynamics. The aim of course is to reproduce as closely as possible the aerodynamics of not only the aerodynamic surfaces, but real engine performance as well. X-Plane of course was created with the effects of laminar flow on the aircraft, or the way aircraft actually fly and then accurately reproduce those physical dynamics in the simulator. Currently in X-Plane the aircraft fly very well dynamically in the air, and engine performance was highly revised early in X-Plane11, but when the same dynamics are brought close to the ground, it really doesn't work as well, hence a lot of hand-wringing and wailing about the flare and takeoff/rollout phases of the simulator. In a way Meyer's has gone back to basics to get a better Reynolds number (fluid flow past a body in this case an aircraft) and in finding the correct or a more accurate friction drag of the airframe, and this calculation will be now be available for developers in the coming PlaneMaker v11.30, and with also better prop wash and air flow properties to make your aircraft more realistic. This is a refinement of the basic X-Plane dynamics, but it's main purpose and focus is in the ground-effect dynamics, or the way an aircraft reacts close to the ground, then add in the side-force dynamics with angles of attack (the pitch of the aircraft to the moving airstream). This is a new set of forces on the aircraft (notably on the fuselage) that move 25% to 50% along the body of the aircraft, as these areas of forces will be adaptable again in PlaneMaker v11.30 and you can if you want to in opt in or out if you want the new physics (fuselage calculations) details on your project (if you don't want use the new physics you then don't have to). These new physics are also included in X-plane's Airfoil maker in that it will then calculate the best coefficient of drag for you, and of course the already noted new prop wash model and the new downwash effects.... and hopefully this will lead to a better aerodynamic model, not only in he air, but to also create a better and far more realistic simulation closer or when moving fast along on the ground (hint - for taildraggers as well) Systems and Avionics Since Phillipp Ringler joined Laminar Reseach his main focus has been on updating X-Plane's navigation avionics and most notably the GNS 430/530 pair, G1000 and the native X-Plane FMS. Certainly Phillipp's unique talent has certainly enhanced the the basic avionics of the simulator. With most of the navigation areas now completed his attention has moved on to other avionics, but now also for aircraft systems (mostly this was in the past Austin Meyer's area of expertise). Coming soon are more realistic oxygen systems, and anti-ice and de-ice systems with four different propeller failure modes of fine pitch, anti-feathering springs and full feather position as not all aircraft when the engine fails does the propeller go straight to full feather mode and auto-feather. Better systems to replicate the unfeathering of the propeller realistically with pumps and negative torque sensing, and also fuel-topping and overspeed governors also being available. Surprisingly enough, autopilots in X-Plane have been quite basic and mostly built into the airliner, for general Aviation aircraft it was an even more basically crude generic system, so if you wanted a brand autopilot, you had to usually purchase a payware aircraft like Carenado to get one. But from v11.30 X-Plane will now provide (via PlaneMaker) brand autopilots to install in your GA aircraft. These include the position based units GFC-700, KFC-250/Century and rate-based S-Tec 55, KAP-140 and the Piper Autocontrol. The autopilots come as single or dual axis and with or without altitude select and also with or without electric trim functions. Airliner autopilot systems also have had attention to make them far more realistic and these systems will mostly be replicated on the X-Plane native Boeing 737-800/747-400 aircraft. Auto-throttle can now use both N1/EPR modes, Control Wheel Steering (CWS) (yoke movements to adjust pitch, mostly on older aircraft), Master FD (Flight Director) or source selection, duel AND triple channel preconditions and checks (computers compare two or three channels of data and select the best option), flare and roll out guidance and a three axis DAS/Data Acquisition Systems. Vulkan and Metal The biggest cries out on the forums are usually "where is Vulcan" or "I want Vulcan in X-Plane" and out of the pram goes the rattle..... "aaaaarrre, waaaah!" and on it goes. If you have been in X-Plane for a few years or more, then you would know that is not the way of Ben Supnic. Were as most developers would find the easiest if quick route, then Ben usually does the opposite, but for a reason. The differences are that Supnic looks at the really big picture and not for a quick short time fix, notable was his call to go over to 64bit from 32bit a few years ago, which was really the nuclear option of coding. But the benefits of that decision has been that X-Plane was suddenly a leader and is still far ahead than any other simulator in speed and processing power... and so it seems to be the same with Vulkan and Metal which are new API's (Application programming interface) in replacing the older ancient OpenGL API. Vulkan is mostly related to Windows and Metal is to Apple. A note is that 32bit will still run in X-Plane11, but will be discontinued for X-Plane12. Vulkan (and Metal) are far more modern efficient ways to interface with modern computer processors and control processor functions, and specifically the areas of intense 3D graphic and multi-threadding processing... so Vulkan is ideal for X-Plane, Video games and simulators. Like most video games, X-Plane would benefit from multi-threadding, but in reality it is still a single thread process. Laminar decided on ten points to completely rebuild the X-Plane rendering engine from the ground up with Vulkan to get the very best efficiency and speed out of the API, and at this point they are about half the way through the list, so Vulkan is not coming anytime soon and then maybe as a beta before the end of the year. To prove Vulkan works and delivers the team have already converted X-Plane's Airfoil maker to run in Vulkan... and in the old OpenGL API then Airfoil Maker used over 18,000 driver calls, but the change to Vulkan then the API uses just 5,700 or 70% less calls to do the same processing, that is a significant difference in speed and processing power. But there is also a required reality check in using Vulkan, in what the API can deliver and what it can't deliver for your X-Plane experience. Basically Vulkan will only do the same rendering as you do now but simply faster and with more efficiency (hopefully smoother), but only again on a modern machine, if your computer's old it will still be old with Vulkan running, as it is still not yet multi-core either, but it can be in the future and that adds into the point that Vulkan will be a modern refinement to X-Plane and so there is a lot of room to expand and grow with the API. OpenGL will still work with 2D/2D Panels, and will still be available for the rest of the life of X-Plane11, but X-Plane12 will not have OpenGL, so you will need to update to the newer API if you want to continue past X-Plane11, however why wouldn't you want to use it anyway? Any addons that are currently written in OpenGL, would need to be rewitten in Vulkan as you can only use either one API in Vulcan or the other API in OpenGL and not together. Particle Effects This feature has been in development at Laminar for a loooong time, years in fact... "Particle Effects" for X-Plane was always noted as "Coming Soon", but never arrived. But now it is nearly there or here and to be included in v11.30. As with anything developed by Laminar the wait is usually worth it, and the new particle effect generator is certainly been well worth the long wait, as it is excellent. Particle effects do things like spray water under the wheels, condensation, wing tip vortices, fire, smoke and heat haze, but in the demonstrations shown here the effects go far further than that, for one there is more than one effect going on at the same time, in this case a fire, but also included is the heat haze from the fire! This is very well done and the effect of the different adjustable heat hazes from the aircraft engines is extremely realistic, gone finally are the bad engine effects we have had to put up with for years with the thick black trailing smoke flailing behind your aircraft. More clever is that adjustments to the effects can be made on the fly, or as the simulation is in motion, as the new particle editor setup is with key frames that can be adjusted and the layout panel is very similar to the current system used by the FMOD sound system. The effects are also extremely flexible in editing when you use these key-frame tables, and data-refs can be input into those tables, and you can use as many data-refs as you want to, which means that plugins can directly control those particle effects via scripting of the particle system. So in other words the particle effect engine is highly dynamic, highly flexible and and you can have as many effects as you want. Particle emitters can also be attached to objects, and that is demonstrated in the fire video as not only is the wing engulfed in flames, but the ground catches fire as well and the light of the fire is also reflected on the ground!... no doubt that developers are going to have a field day with this one, there are going to be certain a lot of really excellent particle features that will simply blow your mind, or your aircraft up. Summary I noted in the early part of the year that of what I wanted in X-Plane for the future, and it wasn't more fancy features, and it certainly wasn't more long slog betas with complex ideas being bugged out... personally I wanted the basics upgraded or fixed, the ones sitting over there in that "too hard" basket that are just too easy to ignore for all the fun stuff. To a point I got my wish here from Laminar Research, as the points addressed here in this roadmap were not in that huge "wow" factor of cheering from the masses. But they do cover some of our really important aspects of what makes X-Plane a great simulator, I personally think the huge changes that migrated through X-Plane10 and X-Plane11 are now really over, but the aspects to focus on now are just as important and now even more so.... I think you could call it the maturing of the simulator. With VR (Virtual Reality) now not taking up the main resources at Laminar Research then Vulkan/Metal and the promise of a much more stable, more modern and far faster simulator has now replaced VR development in that context, Laminar note a beta by the end of the year, but they are not promising really anything in case they hit major problematic backstepping issues, personally I think they are more further ahead than that and already done most if not all of the main heavy lifting already with Vulkan, but the problem with these things as it is not in the actual building, but it is in the refining and testing stages that brings out the issues and then the time-frame then quickly goes out of the window, so if no really nasty issue(s) comes up then I would certainly expect Vulkan/Metal in beta before the end of the year. With other aspects of systems in X-Plane now moved over to Phillipp Ringler, now Austin Meyer's can concentrate on his main forte, in aircraft dynamics. This aspect showed well at the Expo with Phillipp already delivering oxygen, ice-anti-ice enhanced systems and propeller governor changes and in far faster period than Austin would do over several years. It also allows Austin to focus on fixing the dreaded ground effects, but his work and changes will certainly deliver far more than that in the overall flying realism and build or now even expand on his founding simulation aerodynamic models, we won't know until we use them, but it will certainly make for some interesting flying. Phillipp Ringler's older portfolio of Avionics is still also very active as well with the release here of branded (GA) autopilots now added to PlaneMaker, this now puts authentic autopilot systems being available to everyone and not just the payware developers, although they are also the biggest beneficiaries of the new avionics features, and heavy autopilot systems also got a lot more clever functionality. The "wow" factor was still present at the Expo with Laminar with there long promised Particle Effects engine, certainly it was well worth the wait, as it is extensive, flexible, dynamic and will make a seriously big impact visually on X-Plane, the only worry is in for some developers not to overuse the effects, in most cases simple clever effects are far better than "way too much", but I think it will be the latter that will be more evident than the initial. So overall it was a very good six month roadmap for X-Plane, missing is of course was any notes on the ATC, of which Laminar developer Tyler Young was not at the Expo (at some "stupid" wedding in Jamaica), if that made any difference we will never know, but I am sure that Ben Supnic would have listed anything if it was actually on the table. Next stop for Laminar is beta 11.30 late US Summer, and it should be a beauty, because almost all the core items and features announced at the Expo will be released in that version. A full video of the presentation is available below... but not the Q&A. ________________________________________ Analysis by Stephen Dutton 12th June 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews

My guess is yes... with the release of FJS B732 v3 he did a 50% discount if you were quick (one week I think it was), so I certainly think that offer will be replicated with the B727 v3. SD

News! - New Version Coming : Boeing 727 Series Pro v3 by FlyJSim Jack Skieczius from FlyJSIm has released details of the next upgrade to their Boeing 727 Series to v3.0. The aircraft will get the full X-Plane11 treatment like the earlier this year upgrade to the FJS sensational Boeing 732 TwinJet, but the v3.0 B727 upgrade will NOT however have the same exceptional cabin fitout? no the doors in v3 will stay firmly closed. The focus here on this upgrade is on the systems, menus, X-Plane11 dynamics and PBR features and a even better FMOD Sound (it was pretty good already). Those excellent metallic textures however will be part of the upgrade, as highlighted here on the Retro American version. All three variants will also be covered with the Boeing 727-100, Boeing 727-200 and the Freighter versions. The B727 had one of the best clockwork cockpits in X-Plane, so expect it to be upgraded to and even more realistic level with new textures, and to be more functional as well. The full released update changelog is as noted: Flight model upgraded to be X-Plane 11 compatible for all three variants of the 727 series. Interior and exterior PBR texture upgrades. Updated cockpit manipulators and additional mouse wheel support. Updated support for the X-Plane 11 native FMC. Updated menus, similar to the FJS 732 Twinjet Pro. Upgraded maintenance system. Upgraded pressurization system. New enhanced replay system, similar to the FJS 732 Twinjet. Highly immersive FMOD sounds The Boeing 727 Series v3.0 Release is expected around the end of June. Images and text are courtesy of FlyJSim ________________________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 11th June 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews

Aircraft Update : Boeing 748i/8F Adv v1.9.1 By Supercritical Simulations Group I am going to be honest about with the SSG Boeing 747-800i in both the Passenger and Freighter versions, in that we never really fell in love with each other. Which is a bit strange because the Boeing 747 Series is the aircraft that got me into simulation in the first place. Don't get me wrong I liked the aircraft and I liked it a lot, but the early versions were quite buggy and it had a hard impact on my frame rate (my Mac was just not powerful enough). Odder still is the fact that the 8F or Freighter version as part of this package is one of the very best freighters in X-Plane, so to not fly the aircraft and not fly it in it's excellent freighter variant is even more surprising again. But I do think the SSG B748 overall had a difficult birth in X-Plane. For one it quite a complex aircraft, there is a lot going on in the cockpit when setting the aircraft up for departure, and in the flight itself, and then it has a lot of very clever but again complex features... so I feel it sort of trip's itself up, and I think even looking back at the time that even SSG would admit the B748i was a very ambitious project, maybe it was all a bit too ambitious? Now the aircraft is now over four years old, and that is a lot of development and experience time gone by, more so is the switch to X-Plane11 from X-Plane10, for some reason the aircraft is more at home in it's X-Plane11 environment than it ever was in X-Plane10, but mostly I think it is the computer power that has also caught up and passed the demands that the aircraft and it's modeling required, you could back then get away with small flights to certain destinations that were not over heavily taxiing on your computer power, but now the aircraft is finally fitting into it's main role as a long hauler, of which it is it's main aviation requirements. The SSG 748i Advanced comes in two versions, the Passenger Intercontinental version, and the 8F Freighter version. And they can be purchased separately or as a combined package (recommended) Although the aircraft does come with some great ground features like a really nice fuel truck and GPU (Ground Power Unit), however it really comes into it's own with the JarDesign Ground Handling Deluxe plugin. For the freighter version the GHD plugin is essential. X-Plane11 Unlike a lot of aircraft in the X-Plane simulator the SSG B748i package didn't go through the upgrade process, in other words any original X-Plane10 version can be upgraded to the X-Plane11 standard free of charge, and with no repurchase cost involved, so that really helps with the original purchase investment. To see where the aircraft now stands in its new current version I first flew the Passenger version from ESSA (Arlanda) to EDDL (Dusseldorf) and then returned back to ESSA in the 8F Freighter version. First thing that is striking is the new Lufthansa livery on the aircraft, and the added X-Plane11 PBR effects have certainly lifted the quality of the aircraft to new heights... it now looks simply amazing. There are no branded freight company liveries with the freighter, but only the Boeing 8 promotion livery. but there are loads of brand liveries available (but just make sure they are the updated versions). I found this brilliant Lufthansa Cargo - Aktion Deutschland Hilft (D-ALCC). As you can see and feel, the aircraft HAS certainly come a long way in four years... as it just looks stunning. Those huge General Electric GEnx--2B67B engines rated at 66,500 lbf (296 kN) have been very well and beautifully modeled here (the Dreamliner uses the higher rated 76,100 lbf (339 kN) version of the same engine... ... the unique wingtip has also come into form in with the PBR reflections. Update v1.9.1 I am covering both updates in v1.9 and v1.9.1 here as the earlier v1.9 was only a small change in details. Mostly the changes here are related to bugs, mostly small ones, but bugs nevertheless. Autoland never really worked really well, I found this out on a RWY 09R landing at Heathrow and promptly demolished the fencing and lighting at the other end... as such neither did the autobraking system work that well either. Both systems have had attention with the autoland in v1.9 and the autobraking in v1.9.1, with the autoland it was a tailwind error and rollout behaviour, and with the autobraking it was the logic. Both systems now work far better and feel far more natural, but I did still find the autobraking didn't switch out when I touched the brakes to regain control at the end of the rollout? But overall it is miles better than before and there has been a small fix in the speed limit with flaps on the PFD and also changes to the MCP SPD dial. The autopilot now also can't be activated on the ground as per Boeing restrictions. In performance the changes are even more pronounced as the performance has now been tuned for better X-Plane11 fuel consumption and flight model dynamics, especially the engines so that now they are now far better and very close to that of the real aircraft based on performance tables. This was certainly reflected in the way the aircraft flew on the takeoff roll, climb and cruise parameters, again the B748 felt far better, the flight to EDDL was with a light 25% load (33.5kgs) and then a heavy 90% load (120.50kgs) factor on the return, fuel loading each way was the same 24467 kg as per SimBrief... fuel loading was inputted on the Pad/Menu on the pilot's left and right sides via the excellent fuel truck... ... only odd thing is I couldn't rehide the fuel truck? until I started pushback, even switching or turning off the Pad/Menu didn't do the trick either? There was a bug also in that if you tried to load the fuel in lbs, the fuel loading didn't work, it does fuel correctly now in v1.9.1. The differences in performance with the different weights was very pronounced, very realistic, as was the approach and landing performance, the only thing I will note was that I wasn't sure of the flap degree performance and if it was perfect, perfect, the speeds felt fine, but the flap performance related to the speed felt a fraction off, maybe I just need more hours on the aircraft? The TOGA (TakeOff-Go Around) disconnect now also works as it should. FJCC- FMC The earlier versions of Javier Cortes FJCC - FMC were quite beastly, and they worked a bit like Quantum Mechanics in that you really didn't know the final outcome until you had actually finished all the inputting of the route data. But the latest versions (also in the SSG E170/E195) of v1.91 May 14, 2018 are now quite good and thankfully far more flexible. Yes the FMC does still tend to hesitate on a key input (mostly in Airways), and sometimes when inputting routes of the route on the screen it is nothing like the route you are actually inputting, it does now actually input and work very well, some route editing is still required, but now nothing more or less than any other high grade FMC, unlike as before when you spent as much time editing the route as setting up the entire aircraft for flight. There is a new navigation data installer (for Windows and Mac only) to facilitate first time installation of navigation data into the proper folders. A secondary requirement of this is for updating the nav data cycles from Navigraph or Aerosoft - NavDataPro, if the data folder arrangement is not correct the data won't load correctly, and it can only be done manually. And fix was also done to allow some STARs (Standard Terminal ARrival) choices to be selected, and same for some DME waypoint selection. The FMC will popup for ease of use (F8 Win/Linux - fn/F8 Mac) It notes to use "Shift - F8" but mine just works on just pressing F8? And WebFMC is noted to be adding this B748 FMC panel to the plugin soon. Cockpit and Lighting The cockpit textures had an overhaul at the change over to X-Plane11 in v1.6, so the cockpit looks far better now than the bland original heavy dark textures of the earlier SSG B748. It is still a darkish place in here, but the quality does now really show, and the X-Plane11 PBR is a huge help as well. You can if you wish give the cockpit a more worn in appeal by using fscabral's worn textures, but this 748 is a relatively new aircraft, so a very worn look and older 747-400 feel is not really the look or right feel either. The cockpit lighting has had attention in v1.9.1, and it does look really nice at night, but it is still not adjustable enough. The missing items are the two overhead map lights for each pilot, they still don't work and would be a nice spot light filler, so you notice that. The main over head lighting is odd as well with the storm dark/light switch or the adjustable dome light, but in reality they both do the same thing only one is adjustable... but the setup on the real B748 is the same. External lighting now has the strobes and beacon lights that reflect on the ground... ... but the navigation lights still don't ground reflect? External lighting is excellent, the highlights here are the "wing" - ice lights Liveries There are four liveries with the Passenger version... Lufthansa New (2017), BBJ, Orange Sunrise House and Boeing Blue. Only one livery with the Freighter, the house Boeing 747-8. As noted there is a huge choice of liveries available on the X-Plane.Org for both versions of this B748, so what you want should be on there. The Boeing 747 is one of the very great aircraft in aviation, it changed the world in almost every way with it's size and speed, but today VLA's (Very Large Aircraft) are going out of favor for efficient twins and only two in the Airbus A380 and this B748 are left to carry the flame alive, but they still have a place, as the world's population continues to grow then the VLA's and their huge lifting capacity will be the only machines to do the heavy lifting, and then there is cargo... One thing that was very noticeable was the sheer size of this aircraft, it is a BIG machine, big in the air and huge on the ground. Summary Ambition vs experience, small steps before large ones. This Boeing 748 Series was Supercritical Simulations Group banner project, but was it simply too much before it's time... I feel that yes it was initially a too large a step to take as this aircraft is hugely complex, not only in size but in it's systems as well. X-Plane10 was not really kind to it either, but with time work and the newer X-Plane11 dynamics and better computer power have turned the aircraft into something now a far more mature if now even a great simulation of the Boeing 748, it's not completely there yet as there are still a very few minor bugs, but now it is nothing that lets you to really start to get immersed in to what is one of the greatest of Long Haulers of all time, and currently X-Plane is very dearth of really good long haul aircraft and certainly none in this class of quality and dynamics. So this update v1.9.1 is another notch upwards, it is also now overall excellent, solid and thoroughly enjoyable, so for me I will be putting a lot more mileage under this aircraft, as a few long hauls now beckon and even to tantalise the spirit, Paris to Barcelona... "bah", more like Paris to Tokyo... "yeah". ______________________________________________________________________ Yes! the Boeing 748i/8F Adv v1.9.1 By Supercritical Simulations Group is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Boeing 747-8 Series (Both Passenger and Freighter) : Price is US$65.00 Boeing 747-8 Inter Advanced (Passenger Version) Price is US$55.00 Boeing 747-8 Freighter (Cargo Version) Price is US$55.00 Features: Officially licensed by the Boeing Corporation. Completely rebuilt from scratch, building on SSG's experience with its popular freeware 747-8 releases. Accurate 3D external model based on 2D and 3D drawings supplied by Boeing, complete with animations and hi-res textures Aircraft meets most of the real aircraft's performance data for consumption, AOA, speeds, flight dynamics, etc. in consultation with real world 747 pilots. Manufacturer's performance data embedded as tables in the fully functional FMC. Realistic 3D cockpit with high resolution, in all render settings. Realistic displays (PFD, ND, EICAS, and MFD with system synoptics) Many systems are implemented with realistic logic, such as electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, engine fire extinguishing, fuel (with dumping capability), wing and engine anti-ice (including automatic mode), communications, and TCAS. Electronic checklist system that can automatically detect certain aircraft configuration changes Complete autopilot functioning in modes similar to the real aircraft External lights and strobes operate realistically. Display management similar to that in the real aircraft (information can be switched between displays). First Officer's ND display is independent from the Captain's, and ND has a pop-up option EICAS messages based on the real aircraft's with lists for multiple pages and recall capability. Autobrakes with anti-skid system that works in all conditions and includes a realistic rejected takeoff mode. Realistic wing flex and other animations. Window rain effects and animated wipers (viewable from the cockpit). Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) with payload management, fueling and pushback menus. Ground vehicles include a tow truck, fuel truck, and GPU 3D sounds with Dream Engine plugin. TSS (Turbine Sound Studio) real recorded sounds. Custom built-in FMC and Navigation FMC made by FJCC especially for the 747-8i with more than 100 interactions with the flight model, including SIDs, STARs, transitions, approaches, flare and rollout modes. FMC is compatible with AeroSoft's NavDataPro and Navigraph navigation databases. Option to use either a 2D pop-up (resizable) FMC or one within the 3D cockpit. Custom radio communication and audio consoles with digital keypad optimized for on-line virtual ATC operations. FMC performance information based on real aircraft data, including calculated V-speeds. FMC includes capability for autotuning navaid frequencies. Vertical Situation Display (VSD) on the ND (a first for X-Plane) Airport diagrams displayed on the ND (a first for X-Plane) Terrain display mode on the ND, which is a part of the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) on the real aircraft. Compatible with the AirFMC app to permit the use of an iPad as an external FMC Ability to switch the displays between magnetic and true heading presentations. Comprehensive Flight Crew Operation Manual (FCOM) and a Quick Start Guide. Requirements: X-Plane 11+ Windows 7,8,10; MAC OS 10.7+; Linux. 2Gb MB VRAM Minimum- 4GB+ VRAM Highly Recommended Current version : 1.9.1 - last updated June 5th 2018 Framerate is pretty good, and a refined version is part of the v1.9.1 package, but I would recommend a power machine as standard. JarDesign Ground Handling Deluxe plugin is highly recommended with this aircraft. Installation : Download is 750mb which is unzipped and is inserted in your Heavy Aircraft folder as: SSG B748-Inter - 708.60mb file B748-8F Freighter - 627.20mb file Key authorisation is required. Documentation : includes B748-ChangeLog.txt SSG 747-8 FCOM.pdf SSG 747-8 Quick start Guide.pdf SSGCUSTOMLIST.TXT ______________________________________________________________________ Plugin Review by Stephen Dutton 9th June 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews  (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.20 Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro v1.07 US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9 effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 : BetterPushBack - Free Scenery or Aircraft - EDDL - Airport Dusseldorf by Aerosoft (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$27.53 - ESSA - Stockholm Arlanda by tdg (X-Plane.Org) - Free (A big thanks to ysfsim for making the ESSA WT3 ground routes)

Yes you reset the order, but by default. The TNCM - 3 is the mesh and in the load order it needs to be below the airport (TNCM -2) as noted above, otherwise the mesh wipes out the scenery. The best way is to set the order in the .INI file in your custom scenery folder... SD

Airport Review : EGKA - Shoreham - Brighton City Airport by NKdesign NKdesign are a new developer house and here is their first scenery release for X-Plane11... EGKA Shoreham, and now the airport is also known as Brighton City Airport. The airport was founded in 1910, and it is the second oldest airport in the UK and one of the oldest original purpose-built commercial airports in the world. The original aerodrome officially became an airport when it was opened on the 13th June 1936 under the name 'Brighton Hove and Worthing Joint Municipal Airport' for the adjacent English southern coast towns of Brighton, Hove and Worthing. A new terminal building was built in the same 1936 year and it was designed by Stavers Tiltman in the famous Art Deco style of the period.This historic terminal building is still in use today and it was designated a heritage Grade II listed building in 1984. The airport is currently used by mostly privately owned light aircraft (GA), flying schools, and for light aircraft and helicopter maintenance and sales. A number of operators provide flying lessons, sight-seeing and pleasure flights. On 2 May 2014, Brighton City Airport Ltd (BCAL) took overall ownership of the airport and its operations, which at the time was still named Shoreham Airport, Once the takeover was completed, the airport was officially renamed as Brighton City (Shoreham) Airport. The objectivity is to promote regular passenger services, with Air Alderney which has plans to operate flights to and from Alderney in the Channel Islands. But to date the services have not commenced. Brighton City (Shoreham) Airport IATA: ESH - ICAO: EGKA 02/20 - 1,036m (3,399ft) Asphalt 07/25 - 877m (2,877ft) Grass 13/31 - 408m (1,339ft) Grass 02/20 - 700m (2,297ft) Grass Elevation AMSL 7 ft / 2 m Airport Overview Set out in the idyllic southern English countryside, the surrounding area could be called hilly, or in the English term "Downs" which are rounded and grass-covered hills of chalk. So it is all very pretty, but hard for flying if you are approaching in bound from the north. The airport runway layout is quite different, in there is only being one hard surface runway 02/20 and its associated hard surface taxiways, but intermixed on the field are also three grass runways 07/25, 13/31 and a parallel grass runway 02/20. So if you are using one of the grass runways you would have to be very familiar with the layout and the runway orientation because they are quite hard to define, and are noted only by on grass (faded) white signage (the arrows help) but the 07 Grass approach also crosses over the the harder tarmac (asphalt) of the 02 threashold, so you have to make sure you pass over the solid threshold before landing on the grass. The field layout is extremely well done here by NKdesigns, and you can almost smell the freshly cut southern down's grass. Tricky is the RWY 20 approach, and the departure has to be carefully flown as well because of high ground (hills) directly ahead of the runway. The trick is to follow the River Adur between the hills (on departure as well)... ... then when the field is in sight then do a nice right bank into the 20º heading, however you are still faced with a group of trees still separating you from the runway, so your height has to be right in the fact you need to be high enough to see the angle of the runway (over the trees) but low enough not to be too high once you are on final approach... it is more tricky than it looks, because of your speed, and my guess that in say a C152 or C172 with their lower speed in that would help you out here, but anything bigger and faster it then makes your approach slightly too fast. 70kts dirty is required here to keep my stall at bay, but once over the trees, it feels like a big drop to the runway, and you get an increase of speed to get down to the field, so a huge flare is then required to rub off the extra accumulated speed. I have done this approach a few times now and refined it every time.... ... but it is certainly challenging, and rewarding. I think the largest aircraft you could use here is the Beechcraft 1900D, but the reverse prop thrust will certainly be required, and any STOL like the Twin Otter would be simply easy. Shoreham Airport If the art deco terminal was not present here, then you would be pushed to call EGKA an airport, then more of an aviation business park would be closer to the description of the types of tenants that are based here. But the prominently centrally positioned iconic terminal changes all that perspective. The distinctive terminal is well modeled, but it feels more modern in the age than one from nearly 90 years ago, I have seen a lot of these buildings and there is a certain feel to them, its good, so don't get me wrong on the design here, but it is not deco... deco, I think the issue is with the windows, they are not pre-war (2) enough and the real window frames are also set further back into the structure creating a ship like layered deck above deck feel. The Hummingbird Restaurant and Cafe is well presented out front and so is the First and Second WW memorial with the B-26 Propeller. The five UK Union Jack flags are however very dark? and solid, so don't they look at all very authentic. The Shoreham visitors centre is there (basically it is a shop for souvenirs) and it is correct, but missing is the elevated walkway and railings in front of the door entrance... The UK Customs building is however excellent, with the well marked apron parking zones to park on and then to get your entry clearance. The railings however are well done here. The pre-war Municipal Hangars that were also heritage listed Grade II in July 2007, are on the west side of the terminal building, well rusted and authentic they add a reality feel to the the scenery. There is a built in feature in that if you turn on/off your aircraft's power, the hangar doors will open/close, but more at a flick than an opening animation. The large array of businesses at Shoreham are well represented... these include, The Sussex Flying Club and South Coast Flying Club, HeliFly, AB2 Aero, HIT Training, PerryAir, TransAir and EasternAtlantic Helicopters, a big tenant here (with the most modern building, below left) is the Northbrook MET - Shoreham Airport Campus (University) for engineering and The largest operator is Flying Time Aviation, that provides Integrated Commercial Pilot training, with a fleet of Diamond Aircraft DA40s and DA42s. Although all the businesses are well represented they all don't however have any signage? so it all comes across as a little bland, the detail, detail you now expect is not here, so you get the buildings and the vehicles, but not that outright realism that you now take for granted on airports of this scale. The West Coastway Railway Line runs adjacent to the airport (there used to be an airport station but it was closed in 1940), The animated train is really well modeled and adds significantly to the scenery, but it has a habit of coming off the rails further down the line? The old guardhouse and hangar on the north side of the airfield is represented and this area is well done. Behind is the "A27 Shoreham Bypass" and it has been recreated very well here with animated traffic and detail, however it doesn't join up well with the X-Plane mesh?, worse is that this view is also directly on the RWY20 approach so any realism effect is lost? Carparking and anyone who knows anything about motoring and motor racing would know the name Ricardo! They are a global engineering niche manufacture that specialises in innovative engineering. And here there is a small industrial estate represented with Ricardo as a tenant. ... however the industrial estate also looks unfinished and has no detailing. The "Old Shoreham Toll Bridge" is represented, but it looks a little stranded... The River Adur however is a bit of a head scratcher, as when under the rail bridge the River is changed into a custom object, it works close up, but it doesn't in context with the native X-Plane water? I see the idea, but I don't think it actually works as colouristically it is just too different? Lighting The night lighting is pretty basic. I will note that EGKA is not a night active airport, and god help you trying to land on RWY20 at night. Runways 02/20 is however well lit as are the boundaries of the taxiways, but that is it, the only landside lighting is the street lighting behind the buildings, and there is no building lighting at all, which is a missed opportunity. Airport Code There is also some odd business with the airport code set in the apt.dat. The code in X-Plane is noted as "NK_EGKAShoreham" You should never alter the X-Plane designated code, because the simulator won't be able to search to find the airport or link to the scenery, secondly I had a few loading crashes because X-Plane couldn't work out what the hell it all means? Summary We will take a few liberties here with NKdesign's EGKA - Shoreham/Brighton City Airport. This is a first release scenery from the developer and in that context it is very, very good and there is a lot of talent going on here in the scenery. But there are a few areas that you do notice the inexperience as well. Thankfully it is not in the bigger areas that are the issue here, but the intergration into the X-Plane mesh is not very good, the problem with airports like EGKA is that they have a very large autogen field directly all around them, so the merging of the custom mesh to the native mesh requires skill, so here roads don't merge, and so there is that flat gap between the custom and the native areas, and I am really not sure of that River Adur colouring. The modeling overall is very good, but the missing finer detail in signage, dirt, and and general debris leaves it all a bit plainer than it should be, the skill is certainly there like with the rusted pre-war hangars, but it is not evenly distributed thoughout the scenery, and in some areas it feels slightly not finished either. The scale doesn't help here as scenery of size is now expected to be very highly-detailed and refined work, and you can ask more money for that detail as well. The Iconic 1936 terminal is very good, without being brilliant, and it however needed that brilliance to make it work, and no night lighting on the building (or any building or hangars) is a missed opportunity. The field itself is excellent, the intergration of the hard and grass runways and it all looks and feels realistic as does the 3d grass, and for overall the visual viewpoints while using the airport they are excellent, as this is a very nice area of the UK to fly around, and you also have the close proximity of continental France on your doorstep. Overall the basics are very good here at Shoreham, and the scenery is very good value at only US$15, so from that perspective it is very good scenery and if you love excellent small and historical iconic coastal airports then this scenery is certainly well worth adding to your collection. _____________________________________ Yes! EGKA - Shoreham - Brighton City Airport by NKdesign is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : EGKA - Shoreham - Brighton City Airport Price is US$15.00 Features: Beautiful high resolution volumetric grass Functioning hangar doors Each object individually hand placed, all with pre-rendered ambient occlusion High resolution ground textures with specular and bump maps Stunning high density vegetation Faithful replica of the classic Art Deco terminal Requirements: X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 2Gb VRAM Minimum, 4Gb VRAM recommended Download Size: 1.2Gb Current version: 1.0 Installation Download scenery file size is 1.14gb. With the full installation installed package is 1.18gb in your custom scenery folder. Documents One manual with four pages (pdf). No Charts ______________________________________________________________________ Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton 7th June 2018 Copyright©2018 : X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.20 Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro v1.09 US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9 effects US$19.95 Scenery or Aircraft - F33A Beechcraft Bonanza XP11 by Carenado (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$26.95 - X-PlaneReviews review is here: Aircraft Review : Beechcraft Bonanza F33A XP11 by Carenado

Scenery Review - Updated : UUWW - Moscow Vnukovo v1.2 by JustSim As X-Plane sceneries go, then Moscow is currently one of the best areas to fly into. That is because Moscow got the full city treatment by Drzewiecki Design with their very extensive Moscow City XP scenery. To a point Moscow went from the very bottom of a wasteland of any desirable destination to the very top with this excellent cityscape and it looked incredible then in X-Plane10, but it is even now more amazing in X-Plane11, Fly into the area at dawn or dusk and be prepared to be overwhelmed... it is that good. The first scenery for Moscow was also a Drzewiecki Design scenery for UUEE Sheremetyevo Airport XP back in 2015. In reality it was a brilliant island of a scenery in the middle of absolutely nowhere, but with the release of DD's Moscow City XP that changed the landscape (excuse the pun) as UUEE Sheremetyevo was merged into the Moscow City scenery to create one large cityscape. With Moscow City XP you also did get a lite version of all the other major airports around the Moscow environments, one was UUWW in Moscow Vnukovo, and even for a lite version it was pretty good. Now here is another UUWW - Vnukovo from JustSim and not Drzewiecki Design, but it has been created with the Moscow City XP scenery in mind, and it does fit in into that specific scenery as well (installation details are important as noted below), so can a completely different scenery style developer fit their scenery into another major layout, so that point alone is interesting here as it has major consequences in building up larger scale X-Plane scenery vistas. This review is created with both the Drzewiecki Design Moscow City XP and their UUEE Sheremetyevo scenery as part of the process and to get the full picture of all the sceneries working together... JustSim If one thing over the last few years in X-Plane that has made me slightly annoyed is the overall reception towards scenery. For years X-Plane was devoid of any decent scenery at all, we had a few nice developers and a lot of FlightSim scenery converted over to X-Plane, but mostly it was crap, not at all authentic and you had to use a lot of your imagination to sorta vision the place you departed or arrived at, so we complained and moaned about that aspect for years. Certainly in the last few years the scenery that has been delivered is finally a more realistic depiction of the real area. Many users note they are only in the simulator to fly aircraft, and good for them... and "yay hooo". But many users (myself included) also want the full block to block simulation experience as well, in that the airport I fly out of is then as good as the airport or destination I arrive at, personally only in the last year or so has that X-Plane experience finally been fully realised. The trick is to pick the right scenery and not waste your money on average scenery, and certainly Aerosoft (when they do deliver a quality scenery) is usually one to use as is GloballArt, and ShortFinal is another. But a team of developers that are really delivering in this area for X-Plane is JustSim. I admit JustSim's scenery is created to a price, but you get a lot of scenery for that price and certainly no other developers have used the X-Plane11 features more in their work than JustSim. Their work is slowly building the backbone of a great simulation, EDDF - Dusseldorf I used constantly in the last year, along with LFMN - Nice. LCLK - Laranca is now another regular and their LOWI - Innsbruck and ELLX - Luxembourg Findel are always worth a visit, and I have almost lived at their LEBL _ Barcelona for the last twelve months. So are you starting to get the point... The really annoying thing is X-Plane users are not buying this quality work even at these exceptional prices, or are just then waiting for the cheap sale option? So while you are processing through this review, then just keep one other thought in your mind... If you don't support them or only give them just your tit-bits of cash then this sort of quality work will stop coming to X-Plane, we will then get zero of this sort of quality scenery in the future and not much more other great scenery from any other developer either as well... v1.02 I noted in the original review that JustSim were doing an update to the release version, so here in this updated review the changes are now noted with the newer v1.2 version and the update points are shown. UUWW - Moscow Vnukovo All the major airports servicing Moscow are all in a ring around the outskirts of the city. UUEE - Sheremetyevo is to the far north, and UUEE - Vnukovo at 17mi is far to the south-west from central Moscow. (Google Maps) Vnukovo International Airport Международный аэропорт Внуково Mezhdunarodnyĭ aėroport Vnukovo IATA: VKO - ICAO: UUWW - LID: ВНК 06/24 - 3,060m (10,039ft) Concrete 01/19 - 3,060m (10,039ft) Concrete Elevation AMSL 209 m/686 ft First point to make on UUWW - Vnukovo is that the JustSim version replaces the DD lite version of the same airport, so your scenery loading has to be in the correct order or you will not see the JustSim version. As the Drzewiecki Design UUWW had their own modeling around the airport then also so does the JustSim UUWW. So this does make it hard in working out which scenery is which as JustSim are also very well known on filling out their off airport boundaries as well as the internal airport areas. The combined results are however extraordinary as it all becomes one large expanse of scenery and not just a patch work of one here and another set out in there. So that brings us now to another question on if you are running or loading all the three Moscow elements, then how good will it all run together, and this is no matter on how good each area is in their separate refinements. First on that is the JustSim UUWW is very good on its own and is very refined scenery framerate wise. But when combined together then no matter how powerful your computer is then there is still a going to be a compromise... I am however seeing a pattern with these extensive city sceneries and Moscow as is Drzewiecki Design's New York City scenery that was the same in context, and here you again have the same solution to the same issue. On arriving in Moscow and the loading of all this extensive scenery I started to get the framerate stutters. In most cases you usually reduce your objects (count) to relieve the processors, but that like with NYC didn't fix the stutters... The issue again is texture quality, and I found that at the Maximum setting (not the no compression setting) I was overloading my graphic card at 10,300mb were as my graphic card could only process 8K (7680mb) and hence the stutters. So I needed to go a notch down in Texture Quality to High, and that fixed my stutter issues, but did I lose too much in quality... overall no, but the textures are a little if now slightly blurry. All the images here are at the high texture setting so what you see here is what you get. I don't doubt that in a few years and another round of computer speed upgrades then you will be able to easily go back up a marker in the texture quality setting, but currently this is your current choice, if you only have a 4K Graphic Card you will just slide though, but you will still have however to make a few more compromises to get it under that 4K marker. The overall view of Vnukovo is that everything is simply perfect in the intergation in both the sceneries and then into X-Plane itself, it is all natural and totally absolutely realistic. My approach visuals tell the complete story... Arrival is via RWY01 from ESSA - Arlanda, Stockholm Notably the Moscow City XP scenery is mixed in with the X-Plane native autogen. The full Moscow city skyline is significant on the eastern horizon. One thing I look for in city sceneries is that I can't actually see the airport? If it really stands out then it is not doing its job in being realistic, here at a distance your only guide into RWY01 is the RAIL lighting far off into the distance. Closer in and Vnukovo finally takes on it's unique shape, this vista is a far, far cry from the crappy approach to Moscow of even a few years ago, then there was virtually no airports (or what there was, then just stuck out badly in a flat landscape) and there was not even much in the way back then of any waypoints either? The Kiev Highway M3 dominates the approach to the runway and the RAIL approach lighting is situated as part of the road, all approach lighting is excellent and detailed as is the main runway and taxiway lighting. There has to be the awareness that both major runways here in 06/24 and 01/19 as they crossover each other, and that both 01 and 06 are both shallow in a low X, and so that if the wind is coming in your direction then both runways are usually highly active. At the runway crossover point the runway textures are excellent in their wear, tear and the different types of complex surfaces, you are highly impressed. The grass is very welcome, realistic and dense as well. The full visual of the combined main terminal and the large cargo terminal greets you on arrival... and it is very impressive, and even that statement is an understatement of the impact the airport makes on you. ... all ground textures are reflective, and are beautifully created, they have the new built in wet surface capabilities as well in either if X-Plane uses that feature or if you use the xEnviro "wet" version (not yet functional). All ground markings, navigation and lineage is excellent. The aprons are simply huge and can be complex, so here so a ground chart is helpful in finding the right line around the terminal, as there is both an inner and outer taxiway line to follow. The aircraft bays are visually full of airport equipment and aircraft service gear, but they don't hinder you either when entering the bay or using any ground services. I particularly liked the Russian airbridge advertising and the extra large gate numbers that were very helpful in finding your correct bay. Animated traffic is heavy, but not overwhelming or too fast... Terminal glass is exceptional and reflective. Internal design of the terminal is also well done, but only in parts, as the main interior is still blank, but it works very well in the overall balance. V1.02: In the update the airbridges are now active! There isn't the mounted auto DGS system, but the ramp marshaller is now here to guide you in. The airbridge does work very well, but you have to pick the right gate for your aircraft. Even on taxi approach gate 22 looked like a single boarding airbridge, when it was actually a double, and once in the bay the A319 then felt a bit tight.... Some gates like 23 are a triple gate. Justsim have left Gate 30 not working as it is too tight, even a medium sized B737/A320 would be too big in this bay. Airbridge design even with the animation is just perfection. WorldTraffic and ATC ground routes are all completed, but more so JustSim supplies the corrected WT3 Grounds done and ready (in a folder) for install directly into the WT3 folders. So there is no need to generate your ground routes... more so the ground routes and all the WT3 actions are already tested and run absolutely perfectly from the moment you start up the airport, five stars and a big show of hands of applause from me for that. Brilliant. My arrival overall was simply one of the best I have experienced for a long time, and it was very highly realistic... Terminals There are Three Passenger Terminals at Vnukovo and one Cargo Terminal. Terminal A is the largest and futuristic the most modern dominates and the new design was opened December 2010. Modeling and the design is extraordinary in being both a clever combination of see through glass and images that creates a wonderful effect, and all the glass is reflective. Certainly up close the differences at this texture setting is certainly slightly noticeable, but your not going to complain at all about it one little bit... Terminal A night lighting is in the oh! .... level of amazing... stunning and the ramps are excellent to work on in the night turnarounds. Terminal A has airbridge stands 8 to 31A - Stands 38 to 66 are all remote stands spread out on all sides of the Terminal A complex. Terminal B Terminal B is the old Vnukovo original terminal that has been modernised. It consists now of both Terminal B and the Terminal D joined together although as noted then Ter D as domestic and Ter B as International.... in reality this terminal is the domestic arm of the airport. A concourse protrudes out of the front of the old Terminal that has six airbridges, 1 to 6 and there is a single stand in 7 in front of the old Terminal D. V1.02: here at Terminal B the airbridges are now also animated... very highly realistic and in the same tone as the original airbridges. Design is again excellent of the concourse that was competed in 2004 with the redevelopment of Terminal B. Night lighting here is again excellent, and beautiful. There is the DoubleTree Hilton hotel and carparking behind Terminal B... and a nice forecourt leading into Terminal A. But the hotel is dark at night with no lit textures, which is disappointing and I thought that in the v.1.2 update that Justsim would have corrected that, but no the Hilton is still dark? Mail and Cargo Terminal To the west of Terminal A is the huge Cargo terminal building. More a huge administration building the cargo hub is impressive, the forecourt is full of equipment and ready cargo. Stands 22 to 35A is a great cargo parking area. Back out from the Cargo Terminal there are various support buildings and parking areas for vehicles, it is all well done, but you would notice the compromise. The under laying ground textures are not photographic and there isn't a lot of detail in there, it works in an efficiency point of view, but not in a detailed photo aspect. These areas are all landside and there is no comprise on the airside, but it is noticeable if you like the full detail and walk-around realism. Russian apartment housing extends a fair way back from the Terminals, they are basic, but fine in context. Cargo Terminal lighting is again very, very good, and looks nice from the landside, but the well lit for working on the ramps at night on the airside is... first rate. Eastern Boundary The entrance to Vnukovo has a Tu104 Russian Jet on display. There are two main aprons over on the east side. One called Vnukovo 2 is a double building VIP reception center, with one (guess who) for the President... there is a waiting IL-96 sitting ready on the ramp. It is a perfect area to arrive by personal private jet, although you may not get the full uniform reception, the airport's miniature palace is however well done. There is a support and administration building for the same ramp that is very well presented.... Far north-east is apron Vnukovo 5 with stands 501 to 510 and a maintenance hangar. There is also a very good HS1 Helicopter landing zone. Western Boundary Most of the engineering and maintenance areas for Vnukovo is situated on the western side and along runway 01/19. There is a huge amount of infrastructure here in mostly huge hangars and maintenance workshops. The Vnukovo Gas Power Station also dominates the area. On the threshold of RWY19 is the UUWW airport's main fuel depot, and some warehousing. Then an apron area which I will guess as military. There are a lot of these sort of aprons that are not officially listed but mostly front large maintenance hangars, some could be for airlines, or for just general maintenance companies. Here all the buildings and hangars have been very well reproduced to reflect the area and there are quite a few if a lot custom created buildings located in this complex area. Using taxiway M which is alongside RWY06/24 you will pass most of this long and extensive area if arriving or departing from RWY06 Centre west is Vnukovo 3 the only officially noted stands on this western side and that area is split into four aprons. Apron 1 has a Small (LCC- Low Cost Carrier?) Terminal and the darker front apron with stands 32 to 34. The lighter larger apron is the inner Apron 2 with stands 1 to 11 and the outer Apron 3 with stands 12 to 31. Adjoining is the larger Apron 4 with stands 35 right through to 78, stands 90 to 98 front the large line of maintenance hangars far west. Lighting on Vnukovo 3 is like the rest of the airport in being sensational, nicely lit aprons and some lovely hangar lighting. Control Tower and Fire Station The Control Tower Is buried alongside RWY06/24, it is very modern, distinctive tower and it is well modeled and very nicely reproduced here. V1.02: Tower view was out in the release version, but now corrected and very good in the update, all the runways are now well covered... ... here is my approach (upper right) to RWY01. Fire Station is bright blue, and is close to the Control Tower but it is situated just across from the RWY hot spot of the crossing of both the active runways. The airport's navigation aids and radar towers are all very well represented and detailed, small stuff but it makes up part of a great vista when moving around the taxiways and using the runways... There are several off airport receiving freight/cargo depots and JustSim have created a lot of very good and realistic hi-rise buildings to fill out the landscape, overall the whole area is complex and highly realistic. Summary This scenery in the review is made up of three separate components, of which this UUWW - Vnukovo Airport is only one, the others are Drzewiecki Design's Moscow City XP and Drzewiecki Design's earlier UUEE Sheremetyevo scenery. Obviously you don't need all three to enjoy this excellent UUWW - Vnukovo by JustSim, but the three combined together is certainly the best option, if tight for cash then at least opt for the Moscow City XP component as JustSim has made a considerable effort to make sure that both sceneries work not only visually but also efficiently together. This opens up the prospect of more than one scenery developer contributing to an area in to then creating a single whole. Here is works brilliantly, but in other city areas some different styles of developers have clashed and the results of that has had been the very opposite impact than what you have here in Moscow. If using the full three Moscow sceneries then a compromise in texture quality is required, "High" is fine and workable, but the Maximum setting will certainly overload your Graphic Card. Design wise then JustSim have been extraordinary here at UUWW in the Terminals design and lighting, the airport layouts with excellent textures and dense grass. X-Plane11 features have also been used to the absolute full, and in v1.2 the airbridges have been also animated with active ramp marshallers. The provided WT3 ground routes and airport text gets your airport up and running instantly and perfectly. Visually it is excellent, but the noted landside ground textures not very detailed, detailed and in parts the roadways are not visible or join up correctly either, if you want ultimate photo ground detail then you won't find it here, okay from the air but grainy at ground level, but that is the compromise for efficiency and in the main areas you will not usually notice this or use them. In only a very few areas do you feel that JustSim missed something like the Hilton hotel lit textures Overall UUWW - Vnukovo Airport by JustSim is just simply amazing scenery for this cost factor, it is an extremely high quality scenery for a fair price, full of X-Plane11 active features and Vnukovo will give you years of enjoyment in that anytime you fly to Moscow, then you will have an excellent destination waiting ready for you... impressed, yes... very highly recommended. _____________________________________ Yes! UUWW - Moscow Vnukovo by JustSim is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : UUWW - Moscow Vnukovo Price is US$20.90 Highly recommended with this scenery is Drzewiecki Design: Moscow City XP - XPR Review Moscow City XP Drzewiecki Design: Sheremetyevo Airport XP - XPR Review Sheremetyevo Airport XP Features: Detailed airport objects and vehicles Custom textured taxiways, runways and apron Custom surroundings Custom airport lights Compatible with X-Plane 11 features Shading and occlusion (texture baking) effects on terminal and other airport buildings High resolution ground textures / Custom runway textures High resolution building textures Excellent night effects Realistic reflections on glass Animated Airport World Traffic compatible Animated ground vehicles (X-Plane 11 only) Animated Jetways (plugin by Marginal) X-Life traffic compatible Optimized for excellent performance New exclusive feature: Rain effects on ground. Effect will be controlled by xEnviro v1.08 (and higher) plugin. Requirements: X-Plane 11+ Windows, Mac, Linux 2Gb VRAM Video Card Minimum, 4Gb+ VRAM Video Card Recommended If running also Moscow City XP then a 6gb or 8gb Graphic Video Card is highly recommended Current Version : 1.2 (1st June 2018) Installation Download scenery file size is 875mb. With the full installation installed package is 1.90gb in your custom scenery folder. If using the above Moscow City XP/Sheremetyevo XP scenery then there is a priority order to be created to avoid conflict: - 1_UUWW_JustSim_v1.0 - DD UUEE Moscow Sheremetyevo XP - DD Z Moscow City XP - DD Z Moscow City XP Layer 2 ... - ZZZ DD UUEE Moscow Sheremetyevo XP Terrain - ZZZ DD Z Moscow City XP Terrain Note the 1_ on the UUWW_JustSim folder, make sure you keep this intact, it is complicated, but worthwhile to list in the .INI. Documents Description and Installation txt provided, also included is completed WorldTraffic 3 ground routes and airport data. ______________________________________________________________________ Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton 12th May 2018 Copyright©2018 : X-Plane Reviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.20 Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro v1.09 US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9 effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 Scenery or Aircraft - ToLiSS319 (A319) by ToLiSS (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$69.00

News! - Updated to XP11 : Alabeo C207 Skywagon XP11 After the re-emergence of Alabeo with their M20R Ovation in March, here is their second release with the C207 Skywagon XP11. If you read the review of the Ovation I was quite shocked on how good it really was, it was a cracker of an aircraft. The C207 Skywagon was originally a Carenado release, so this Alabeo is noted as a "Licensed by Alabeo" from Carenado, which is just another way of saying that what was a Carenado design that is now under the Alabeo banner and this release is an an update to X-Plane11 of that original X-Plane10 Alabeo conversion. If I remember the review correctly, then the C207 is noted as the "Wagon" or "Estate" in UK parlance, which is a stretched saloon. The Cessna series 205, 206, and 207, are also known variously as the Super Skywagon, Skywagon, Stationair, and Super Skylane are all of aircraft with larger spaces in the cabin. A very 70's/80's design, you could call the Skywagon... traditional. Features Version 1.0 Custom sounds (FMOD) Full Xplane 11 compatible RealityXP GTN750 compatible. GoodWay Compatible Superb material shines and reflections (full PBR). High quality 3D model and textures. Blank texture for creating your own designs Accurately reproduced flight characteristics 64-bit End-user configurability (via Manifest.json file) FPS-optimized model Technical Requirements Windows XP -7-8 (or higher) or MAC OS 10.8 (or higher) or Linux X-Plane 11 i5 (or equivalent) 2.5 GHz – 8GB RAM – 2GB Video card 345MB available hard disk space INTERNET CONNECTION is required for installing this product. Original X-PlaneReviews, X-Plane10 C207 Skywagon review is here: Aircraft Review : Cessna 207 Skywagon by Alabeo Note: this is a completely new upgrade to X-Plane11, so a full price is required, but the aircraft is valid for free updates throughout the X-Plane11 version run. Available Now here at Alabeo: C207 SKYWAGON XPLANE 11 Price is US$29.95 Images and text are courtesy of Alabeo ________________________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 4th June 2018 Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews

That is a XP10 version in a conversion to XP11? Not the official Carenado C152 XP11, and it is not that it is the easier aircraft to fly but what is the most realistic to fly... so in a way you answer your own question.