Stephen

Yes the GPS has sent me a little nutso as well. There are two modes on using the flightplan, you seem to have done everything right, but the FPL does not arm the flightplan? you go back to the first waypoint and press ENT (enter) to arm the flightplan, but the main reason it won't work is that you didn't select "GPS" under the CDI button, there is VLOCK for VOR/ILS or GPS to run under the flightplan, if flying on GPS you will need to go back to VLOCK to use a ILS approach (VOR1). Second mode is the o-> direct that will allow you go direct to a waypoint. so if you miss the turn then press the o-> direct button to activate that leg of the flightplan. SD

1) The SID/STAR's are just regular waypoints (or fixes) taken from a chart and inserted in like you do the main route... The A350 does not have a built in SID/STAR database 2) In that case the route has not been inserted correctly? 3) Ha yes a real annoying call, Look on the overhead panel under calls... There will be a lit button, that is the cabin steward asking a question, how to shut him up? then listen to what he is saying, usually it is the cabin is too cold or too hot, fix the problem and he won't bother you again. SD

News! - On Approach - Beechcraft Duke by DW Designs Coming soon is the stalwart of seventies the Beechcraft 60 Duke. This is a big Twin-engine fixed-wing aircraft with a retractable tricycle landing gear and a pressurized cabin. The two piston engines are turbocharged and this aircraft comes in two versions... The Original Lycoming TIO541-B4 engines that developed 380 hp And the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-21 Turbine version that created 550 hp The Duke is known for its tall shark like high fin, it is a very distinctive shape and now quite a rare aircraft. Not as popular as the King-Airs, due to its high drag and high ownership cost (which are quite low in X-Plane) most were written off if major engine or airframe work was required. Panel and cabin are highly detailed and the aircraft is well equipped with both a Garmin G530 and G430. Cabin is an arranged club seating with six seats altogether. To date only one white blank livery and three designs are available. No date has been set for release but as the aircraft is in final beta, you could note very soon or Mid-September. Stephen Dutton 4th September 2015 Copyright©2015: X-PlaneReviews

Yes it is a great aircraft... I love my 1900D!

Scenery Review : EGCC Manchester Airport by Aerosoft/Icarius Childhood dreams are hard to forget, emotional and still very vivid. "Ringway" is a significant name as the noted "big" airport and the "really big" aircraft flew out of there. School friends or "aeroplane freaks" would band together with myself to do a weekend or school holiday 'sortie" to the hallowed turf of the visitor enclosure (I don't know why they called it an enclosure as it was always open and freezing), but Ringway was the place to dream and mostly hear the sounds of pure aviation thrills (in other words really dirty pure 60's jet engines) it was to a 14 year old simply heaven... or close to it. The odd Boeing hush-kitted 727 may still grace Ringway's ramps, but the rest of the 50's and 60's machinery have now long gone, a Trident 3B G-AWZKl is however still on display in the viewing park to relive the glory days. but the Ringway of today is dominated by Airbuses and Boeings that are far more efficient and in far more numbers than in the yesteryear. The size of Ringway is now triple the apron space and the huge terminals cover the farmland that we would sometimes in knee high grass try to get to a better vantage point to get that photo of a departing Viscount or if really lucky a Boeing 707 heading away to Idlewild in the States. But for everything Ringway is in a way today still the Ringway we knew and loved, a lot of the basic infrastructure is still there if only now in a different disguise or function... the place is well, just bigger and better. Manchester Airport (IATA: MAN, ICAO: EGCC) started construction on 28 November 1935 and was opened partly in June 1937 and then completely on 25 June 1938. The name "Ringway" came from Ringway parish north of Wilmslow. It's north border was Yewtree Lane. During World War II it was the known base for RAF Ringway and was important in military aircraft production and in training parachutists. After World War II the base then reverted back into a civilian airport, and was gradually expanded to its present size. Historically, Manchester Airport has consistently been the 2nd busiest airport after London Heathrow for a number of decades following World War II. The airport is 7.5 NM (13.9 km; 8.6 mi) south of Manchester city centre. And from 1975 until 1986 it was called "Manchester International Airport". Now it is known again as just "Manchester Airport". Aerosoft and Icarius's brilliant EIDW - Dublin was in a way the revelation of last year in scenery (X-PlaneReviews review : Scenery Review : EIDW - Dublin by Aerosoft) and I made it a co-winner (with CZST - Stewart by beti-x) of the best scenery of 2014, and well deserving it was. Besides EIDW's great visual appeal it also had great usability and position, that is very important in our routes and simulation immersion. It worked and works really well in giving the pilot the full simulation experience. At the time EIDW - Dublin was released Icarius announced their next project as EGCC Manchester which is just a short hop over the Irish Sea to mainland northern England, so what a great pair to put together. But Aerosoft have also in the mean time also released in May 2015 their excellent EGLL - London Heathrow (X-PlaneReviews review : Scenery Review : EGLL London Heathrow by Aerosoft) so it has certainly been a golden banner 12 months for UK scenery in X-Plane. First Impressions It was only fitting to put the last airport by Icarius in EIDW - Dublin together with their latest in EGCC - Manchester and do a hop over the Irish Sea and get our first impression of Ringway 2015 style. Our ride is FlyJSim's Bombardier Q400, a perfect companion to do a short medium level commuter flight. EIDW still has that impressionable feeling, as it is still a great piece of visual awareness. I did the same route routinely three to four years ago between EIDW and EGCC and both points of departure and arrival were then very good if not the best scenery for X-Plane for the period in this part of the world. Looking at the older images of that time you can see the huge progress that has been made with X-Plane scenery to date. The Irish Sea hop is quite short, but the Welsh Mountains and Liverpool (EGGP) can create good visual references. A high flypast with EGCC on your right shows how well the airport is consumed into the X-Plane surrounding scenery, only the large apron areas stand out with the buildings, and even there the Manchester urban sprawl can disguise the northern boundary of the airport. If landing from the east into EGCC then runways 23L/23R can be tricky, In a medium sized airliner coming down it is quite straight forward, but with a lower flying commuter aircraft or GA you will find yourself hemmed in by the northern hills of the Peak District into a semi-circle bowl, so you have to follow the STAR or navigation with caution, get it wrong and you will find yourself easily rubbing your lower parts of aircraft with the highground. So there is a certain required slow speed and an awareness to get the approach right. Aerosoft supply a good set of STAR's and EGCC airport layouts with the scenery which can be studied (google earth helps as well), If flying at night or in poor visuals (i.e. fog) then don't go off your flightplan by a millimeter or fear the worse. It is worth adding in the "North England Landmarks" by sigoo as it includes the Jodrell Bank space telescope that is visible on the southern side of the airport and is a standout landmark on all approaches. The approach to 23R is excellent, as the airport is as noted well inserted into the surrounding default textures, but closer and at a lower altitude you can see how good it really is, the approach lighting is excellent as well. The runways 05L/23R and 05R/23L are offset and by a significant amount so it is not uncommon to see taxiing aircraft crossing 05R/23L at taxiway D midfield to get to the outer runway. Both runways are to the left/south on this approach and the airport infrastructure and buildings are on the right/north and the visual complexity and realism of the airport is simply first rate. (turn down your visual distance and have low light fog and it is simply sensational) I was very impressed with the runway and taxiway textures, there is some very good ground textures around now, but these are up there as they are very good, with patches of tarmac and worn areas, lineage and taxiway signage is also first rate. All the airport radars rotate (yeah) with animation and there is one on the left on departure from RWY23L onto taxiiway A which is a bit of a landmark when arriving and departing from the western part of the airport. On the left on taxiway A is the airport "Runway Visitor Park" which is a viewing area and museum, and then the huge hangars that is "Western Maintenance" the placed foliage is excellent so the visual appeal along this A route is excellent. The unique EGCC control tower stands next to Western Maintenance, and it stands out in design. The main older Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 dominate the view on this arrival and my parking stand 09 is on the right of the old original concourse of Terminal 1. I added in EGCC Ground Traffic XPD 1.0 by GMGK1 which was created for Emma Bentley's version of EGCC, but works fine here, it gives you a more buzzy airport and active vehicles. There is ground traffic included with the Icarius package and they are very good as well, but the two sets of animations double the fun. Gate 09 and the gate area is full of static vehicles and ramp equipment, ramp ground textures are excellent and the visual feast is very good. EGCC well caters for all types of operators, walk on commuters have plenty of bays around this older terminal one area and a few remote parking (east) stands as well, as we go through the terminals I will note the various areas. So overall the first impressions of EGCC-Manchester are overwhelmingly good. EGCC-Manchester EGCC - Manchester Airport (IATA: MAN, ICAO: EGCC) 05L/23R 3,048m (10,000ft) Concrete 05R/23L 3,050m (10,007ft) Concrete/grooved asphalt Elevation AMSL 257 ft / 78 m For the UK, Manchester EGCC is a large airport and covers a lot of area in this package. It is sitting on another crowded mesh tile (with Liverpool - EGGP), but somehow I always struggle for frame-rate at EGCC, maybe it is the terrain or just the heavy density urban textures of Manchester city itself. But considering the complexity and the huge amount of objects in this package it is not as bad as I feared. It is in the low numbers on my machine but not down in the red devil unrunable or unuseable zones. But I did find I could use this EGCC unlike other EGCC versions in the past, so in that case for the extensive detailing included in this package framerate is very good. One note is that the outlying underlaying (ortho) textures which are very good and high density, but they do block out a lot of the default autogen, the roads work (thank god) but there are many blanks areas were usually it is heavy density urban sprawl. There are three Terminal areas at Manchester, It is a good idea to look at the original layout of the airport as I saw them in the early 70's. The airport was then an old RAF airfield with a few large maintenance hangars dominating the airport, you had the two finger concourses connected to the single main terminal building and built in control tower. Noted is that Manchester was the first European Airport to have piers. Amazingly this original infrastructure is still part of today's layout, but the two piers have been separated into on the right left (west) Terminal 1 and on the (east) Terminal 3 with both newer extensions. A large new separate terminal area in Terminal 2 was built in the north-west. Terminal 1 Terminal 1 consists of two piers at 90º right angles, with the older (1962) concourse and the extension with a circular set of gates on the end. Terminal 1 is used by airlines with scheduled, charter operations and LCC's (Low Cost Carriers), flying to European and other worldwide destinations. It is the largest terminal at the airport. It was opened in 1962, by Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and it is a base for EasyJet, Jet2 and Thomas Cook. Some other airlines that use Terminal 1 include Brussels Airlines, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa, Swiss, TAP Portugal and Turkish Airlines. The terminal has 29 stands, of which 15 have air bridges, and is the largest of the three terminals. Gate 12 (on the end) was specially adapted to accommodate the Airbus A380 which is operated by Emirates on their route from Dubai to Manchester, making the airport a Category10 airport as it can handle the A380 and Code F aircraft. Terminal 1's current capacity is around 11 million passengers a year, compared with an annual capacity of 2.5 million passengers when it first opened. It is noted that in time Terminal 1 will be demolished to make way for improvements, but a £50 million redevelopment programme for Terminal 1 was completed only completed in 2009. The Terminal 1 design is first rate, with different textures and feel with both piers, roof sections have good detailing with piping and air-conditioning ducts. neat details like the older huts and storage areas nestled in the corners of the ramp areas give authenticity. The Terminal building itself is supremely well done and reflects the design of the period. Terminal 2 The terminal is a one long row of tall gates with the the main terminal building central. It is impressive and very well reproduced here, certainly realistic to look at and use. Terminal 2 was opened in 1993 and it is a base for Monarch, Thomson Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Some other airlines that use the terminal include Air Malta, Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, United Airlines and Cathay Pacific returned to the Terminal in December 2014 and operate a service to their hub at Hong Kong. Terminal 2 has 20 gates, of which 14 have air bridges. The design of the terminal makes it capable of extensive expansion; planning permission already exists for an extension providing additional gates, together with the construction of a satellite pier. Terminal 2's current capacity is around 8 million passengers a year, this will be extended to ultimately handle 25 million passengers a year. The arrival area and adjacent huge multistory carpark is very well reproduced and detailed with the highlight the multi-tiled glass roofing of T2. The central road area is a little too empty empty and the pipe style design on the carpark can fizzle around at a distance, but close up it is very good. At the eastern end of the terminal there is an adjacent Raddison Blu hotel, which is a very reproduction of the hotel. In front of Terminal 2 there is a very good central stand area called the "Western Apron" that has 14 hard stands. Terminal 3 The changes in the naming of Terminal 3 shows off its quirky history... “Terminal 1 – British Airways”, “Terminal 1A” and “Terminal 3 – British Airways and Domestic”. The right original pier was originally the British Airways terminal until it was merged into the new eastern section in June 1998. It is now the primary terminal for British Airways and their One World partners. It is also a base for the Flybe and Ryanair operations. Some other airlines that fly out of Terminal 3 include Air France, American Airlines, BMI Regional and KLM. The concourse is very much changed from the original pier but the old bits still poke through. The rest is curved or slabbed concrete with a large paneled glass areas. It is very hard to get this terminal to look right as the green glass can come out usually too bright and gaudy, but Icarius have done a very good job in getting the right transparency, so it looks perfect, the faded worn concrete is a visual delight as well, and very authentic. Far east of the T3 complex on taxiway G are three stands (58,57 and 56) that I use a lot, which are very handy to 23R or 23L. You can't go pass Terminal 3 without noticing the dominating old control tower on top of the building, it is still in use but only as now a ramp observation point and not runway or approach control center. Highly realistic it is a perfect reproduction of the real design, and the contrast between the old and newer facades is well done. A radar works above the tower. As with all the ramp areas they are full of baggage trolleys, aircraft stairs, containers and all sorts of airport equipment, so detailing is first rate. Behind Terminal 3 is a huge concrete carpark of the older style and more east to the airport boundaries are well laid out carparks with numerous 3d vehicles. The "Airport Hotel" pub is well represented with beer garden on the eastern boundary. The Station & Hotels The Station is the simplified name of the Manchester Airport railway station, opened in May 1993. It sits buried behind the T1/T3 Terminal complexes. The station is surrounded by hotels, built into the station is the 4M accommodation block (green), Voyager and the Bewley's (now called the "Clayton") and the Raddission Blu as noted, The Premier Inn is there on the western boundary (see Cargo below) but the Hilton and Crowne Plaza further east are missing? All the hotels and rail station are very well recreated and well reproduced, but carparks are a little empty and flat around these buildings, sadly the ortho textures take out the maze of OSM roads and traffic movement in the inner area that was so good with other EGCC sceneries. Cargo and Western Maintenance The cargo area is extensive and called the "World Freight Terminal", which is a bit grand for a collection of modern warehouse style buildings and a lot of old warehouses and ex-hangars set out behind. But as a cargo area it is very good, and the older warehouses are quite good if a little repeatable closeup in their textures. The Premier Inn is set out on the M56 motorway. The World Cargo Terminal was opened in 1986. There is 550,000 sq ft (51,000 m2) of warehouse and office space on site, including a chiller unit for frozen products and a border inspection post. There are three aircraft maintenance hangars, with five transit sheds, operated by British Airways Regional Cargo, Swissport Cargo, Menzies World Cargo, Plane Handling and Servisair. There are over 100 freight forwarding companies on site. There is a good fuel depot/ground equipment storage to the east of the World Freight Terminal, and then the huge impressive (blue) Thomas Cook maintenance hangar that dominates the EGCC scenery. The Thomas Cook hangar is sensationally well done, not just the exterior but the interior is as well detailed as well, the excellent lighting highlights the building even more, few aircraft ground support items set out inside would have been a good idea. Behind are two more large maintenance hangars for Air Livery an aircraft repainting company, and the older style Monarch Airlines maintenance hangar. Control Tower and Fire Station The new EGCC control tower was opened on 25 June 2013. And at 60m tall, it is the UK's second tallest control tower, after London Heathrow, and it replaced the old tower on top of Terminal 1. Well proportioned and a great reproduction the airport tower is well done, closeup detail is excellent with the internal elements easily visible. Glass transparency is very good as well. The Manchester Airport Fire Station is set out at the base of the tower complex, and that includes another mini-fire tower. Control tower view is first rate. The viewing point is set just above the revolving radar in a perfect position, with a clear view of the runways and most of the western area ramp areas. Very good for watching your approaches and departures. Runway Visitor Park and Periphery areas Behind the World Freight Terminal and Western Maintenance and fronting the western taxiway A is the "Runway Visitor Park" (formerly "Aviation Viewing Park" (AVP), It is in anorak circles quite famous but there are other more (closer and off limit areas that are better) for viewing 23R/05L action, but you can be amazed how close you can get to a lumbering A380 here. One of the best preserved Concorde G-BOAC is in a hangar here that opened 13th January 2009. The Viewing park celebrates all things British in aviation, a Trident 3b G-AWZK, RAF Nimrod (in the wrong colour, should be grey) and the last airliner to be built in the UK, BAE Systems Avro RJX G-IRJX. The park attracts 300,000 vistiors a year, so aviation is still a major tourist attraction is done right. Icarius have done the park really well with all the current attractions shown and the Concorde housing well designed and created. An excellent blast fenced area is available to the right of the park. The "Airport Hotel" pub is well represented with its beer garden on the eastern boundary. And there is an aircraft fire fighting simulation area on the eastern-southside. There is not a lot of General Aviation areas here, but you could use the Landmark Aviation building by the Fire Station as a refuel, private jet drop off area. Ground/Runway Textures Ground and runway textures are first rate, in being, cracked, worn and patched, center runway tire markings are good as well. No 3d grass here, like some Aerosoft airports, but the infields are well done and realistic. Night Lighting There is not a lot variation in the lighting. It is basically all one tone, carparks and all. but the light spread on the ramp and stand areas are good for working around the aircraft in the dark. The building/hotels are good, and the terminal glass lighting which is very hard to get right is very nice. The standout feature is the lighting on the old control tower which looks very 70's. Runway (approach is excellent) and night signage is very good, and well placed. Usability/Routes There is not a lot here for General Aviation or Private Jet services, but for anything else EGCC is a pretty comprehensive hub. Tours, Charter are big business around here as the package tour business to Spain, Greece and the Mediterranean took off around here in the early 70's, and Florida/Disney is a still big business. Domestic, LCC and European destinations are comprehensive as well, but long distance International services are becoming even more frequent as travelers are using Manchester to avoid the congested London Airports. It is not a big A380 port, but it is known as the "Hub of the North" and EGCC is becoming more important as it is convenient. The airport is the base for Thomas Cook, Flybe, Monarch Airlines, Jet2.com Routes 1 London-Heathrow - 876,597 1 Dubai - 799,630 2 Dublin - 755,594 3 Tenerife South - 743,069 4 Amsterdam - 728,198 5 Palma de Mallorca - 654,543 6 Alicante - 597,580 7 Málaga - 545,042 8 Paris-Charles de Gaulle - 506,018 9 Dalaman - 470,644 10 Orlando - 426,879 11 Abu Dhabi - 394,547 12 Faro - 394,500 13 Arrecife de Lanzarote - 388,189 14 Frankfurt - 375,183 15 Munich - 324,492 16 Sharm el-Sheikh - 308,158 17 Belfast-City - 297,467 18 Copenhagen - 294,885 19 Paphos - 289,243 20 Doha - 239,380 Cargo FedEx Express - Birmingham, Paris-Charles de Gaulle FedEx Express operated by Air Contractors - Glasgow-International, Liège, London-Stansted, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Shannon Lufthansa Cargo - Frankfurt Summary EGCC-Manchester Airport is a great companion airport to Icarius's EIDW-Dublin, and certainly another good addition to Aerosoft/Simwings London Heathrow, as they are together a great trisector of UK Airports of high quality scenery. Highly usable and in an outstanding position for flights to the USA and Europe, and even Asia in Singapore and Hong Kong is now in the mix. Domestic and Tour, LCC routes are bountiful and can keep you running routes for weeks servicing the holiday markets. If you want to use the A380, then you will have to remove the single static Emirates A380 as there is only one gate for this Code F aircraft. Price and quality is excellent for this investment, and you get a lot of high quality scenery for your money. The airport scenery itself is not really a frame-rate issue but the area is, so a medium to powerful computer is a bonus. The quality is outstanding in this scenery on all the terminals and buildings, only the slightly boring overall lighting and in areas flat ortho blanks are not really a minus on all the positives. Airport buildings and detail are excellent and the airport is a fine reproduction of Manchester Airport... In other words it is top notch scenery. Icarius have announced that KORD-Chicago is their next scenery, So their conquests have turned to the Americas and no doubt they will conquer over there next with quality scenery, if EGCC is anything to go by... I can't wait. _________________________________________________________ The EGCC Manchester Airport by Aerosoft/Icarius is available now from the New X-Plane.org Store : EGCC - Manchester Airport Price is US$22.00 Features include: Highly detailed rendition of Manchester Airport (EGCC) High resolution day and night scenery Animated car traffic around the airport Complete reconstruction of the airport's lighting equipment Animated airplane towing Animated radar Highly detailed manual (PDF) Compatible with X-Plane 10 HD Mesh Scenery V3 HD and Ultra HD textures X-Plane 10 HDR lightning Custom ground textures with about 5cm/px (only airport area) _____________________________________________________________________________________ Documents and Installation : Include Manual in English and German (12 Pages) and Aerodrome charts (above) Download: 743.90mb : Installed in two packages EGCC Manchester Airport - 1.98gb, EGCC Manchester Mesh - 29.9mb Aerosoft installer is used to place the scenery components in your "Custom Scenery" folder. You are required to in the scenery_packs.ini (texteditor) move the "SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/EGCC Manchester Mesh/" low down at the bottom of the list, if not the EGCC mesh will interfere with other scenery packages on the same mesh tile, or hide them. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Technical Requirements: X-Plane 10.30+. Any edition Windows, Windows, Mac, Linux - CPU 2.6 Ghz or faster - 4 GB RAM - 1Gb+ VRAM (recommended) Installation size: 1,9 GB - Download-size: 800 MB ______________________________________________________________________________ Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton 3rd September 2015 Copyright©2015: X-Plane Reviews Review System Specifications: Computer System: - 2.66 Ghz Intel Core i5 iMac 27” - 6 Gb 1067 Mhz DDR3 - ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb Software: - Mac OS Yosemite 10.10.4 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.36 (final) Addons: - Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle - Bose Soundlink WiFi Speaker Scenery EIDW-Dublin Airport by Aerosoft/Icarius US$29.95 available at the X-Plane.OrgStore Aircraft Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 - by FlyJSim US$29.95 available at the X-Plane.OrgStore

If any aircraft is debatable it is the SSG Boeing 748F. Many users love it and many don't, It is a very deep immersion aircraft with systems and FMC so you have to be prepared to invest a lot of time to get the best out of the aircraft, it is very good... but if you are a casual flyer then I would say no. It is frustrating to the user that cannot really understand its systems and heavy aircraft flying profiles, you need a pretty powerful computer as well to get the best out of it. If you have flown good heavy aircraft like the B777 from flightFactor you can then move on to the SSG B748F. SD

Yes go to the A330/settings menu and you can switch them back to the original manipulators... It will be noted in the update v1.2r2 review coming soon. SD

Aircraft Update : Airbus A330-243 v1.2r2 by JARDesign In April this year JARDesign unleashed on to X-Plane their greatest masterstroke yet in the Airbus A330-243. The accolades came and with justification as it is a simply brilliant aircraft, and another milestone in X-Plane development. But it did have one issue and this was a global issue that affected other SASL powered aircraft and was not just related to JARDesign in that there was a crash for Mac users in the sounds department. It was a tough nut to crack but a solution has finally been found and the plugin has been fixed. So the core of this update 1.2r2 is that the Airbus A330-243 is now cleared as Mac compatible and may we rejoice in that. I personally (Mac) never had an issue with the crashes, and I pushed the aircraft very hard in constant simulations over a period of three weeks to create the release review... Aircraft Review : Airbus A330-243 by JARDesign The aircraft was very complete on release, but a few bugs have been cleared in v1.2r2 (full Changelog below) but the highlights are you can now install custom sound files, AirFMC ready, external lights and strobes have been refined and 3d cockpit errors addressed. But there are a few other new bonuses in the release that are also worth highlighting... Last month JARDesign released a new plugin beta called "GroundService", a brilliant plugin that allows you to create service vehicles around your aircraft, It is immensely clever and here in the "GNDHandling" version included with the A330-243 you can see it not only in operation but how it will totally transform again our ramp areas. The menu allows you to - "Drive up All" and "Drive Away All" service vehicles in the list, "To Hide all" and a Control Panel that allows you to activate or hide individual vehicles. Press "Drive up All" and you unleash mayhem!... The Service vehicles all appear and then go about their business with gutso. And totally great fun it is. Open the Control Panel and you can see the list available, and it is extensive. Even better the system allows you to add vehicles as well. Three buttons do the work in Press + to activate a vehicle and Press - to drive it away and "Hide" will make the vehicle disappear. The top three buttons are the "All" activations. The highlight certainly are the pallet loaders, Pallets come on to the base, turn, then lift and then move the pallet inside the aircraft, then repeat. Brilliant, loved it, with a wide smile... only two small things is that they don't load many pallets, and there is no reverse to unload? but I am sure that will happen and a pallet truck with pallets to be loaded would be a great addition. Other loaders also go about their business and the excellent elevated service vehicles are also here. A few of these items were of course available with the release of the A330-243, but you didn't have the total control of them like you do here, and the sheer amount of activity you can create. If you select the Fuel Truck the load sheet is visible as well and you can load the fuel from the panel. One odd thing is that if you select the activity to finish the vehicle (or vehicles) will then line up direct behind the aircraft, so how can you pushback with a row of vehicles standing there? You can make them disappear, but why not line them up to the side and out of the way? The scope of this system is certainly amazing, just think of this with the x737, and hopefully JARDesign will install it with their A320neo as well. No offence to the other developers that have create good ground service vehicles, but this system should be either licensed or installed in all good payware and top quality freeware aircraft... it should be the standard throughout X-Plane. As you wrap up the loading the mayhem subsides as the vehicles are slowly removed from the aircraft. The A330-243 is still a beast to prepare for flight, the "Hot Start" goes a long way in helping you get the aircraft running, but watch those few switches that are left on in the wrong position (APU Bleed, Ignition switch and One Grd power button), but the FMC programming is still a long list of settings to get everything ready for flight. Route: EIDW-Dublin to BIKF-Keflavik I'm still not totally happy with the pushback feature, you can't see the buttons (direction) when starting the pushback and pressing any of the buttons twice or more makes the truck go faster, that is fine but you can catch the buttons while try to stop it instead. Dublin is busy as WorldTraffic 2.0 works its magic, so you wait ages for clearance. You have to be very much in control like I remember on the release aircraft on leaving the runway. The A330 will climb hard up unless you control the pitch and settle the vertical climb rate. It should be automatic on this being an Airbus, but you have to get your speed and pitch numbers almost correct unless you get an annoying Autopilot alert and disconnect. Get it right and the A330 will settle down nicely and you can activate the "OP" (Option Climb) to gain the cruise altitude you want. Modeling wise the aircraft is exceptional. The A330 looks excellent in any light, and the sounds are good as well. Engine design and detailing is very realistic and... No Mac crashes yet either. Cockpit is an exceptional place to be. You would be very hard pressed to fault the design and textures of this cockpit environment, in the right light the sheen of the paneling is about as real as it gets. Functionality of the switchgear and levers are at an also high level. Another new feature is a different knob manipulator. It is noted as "Push-Pull and Rotate" for a scroll mouse, but It didn't work for me because I only use a single click mouse. You can change the manipulator back to the older half-moon tool under the A330/Settings menu. Only thing is found the old half-moon are manipulators lower down and they sometimes contacted (activated) the lower buttons. Overhead Panel is again fully functional and so are the aircraft's systems. It is the small things of detailing that make it great... like the pull down adjustable shades and sliding side shades. Three class cabin is first rate, It is amazing the amount of detail and equipment on the aircraft and how good and refined it is on your framerate, so much is packaged into so little. BIKF-Keflavik I found the aircraft even more complete, or I am now just familiar with the aircraft. On release the review deadline can want you to post a good review, but these latest aircraft for X-Plane demand attention and the sheer complexity of the systems can take time to be really comfortable with the total flying experience. Airbuses do help in as they are cross-cockpit in design and systems, but it is more the subtle areas in weights and fuel planning for range that will take the time to get totally immersed in the aircraft and its complete simulation. The A330 "Autoland" is sensational, it will put this huge weighted aircraft down on a dime. And then the visual rumble feature comes in with a shock and a bounce... so very realistic. Thrust reverse is effective (open doors and thrust up) but you have to watch your brake heat (switch on the BRK FAN before landing) if you have a heavy passenger and cargo load and are close to the Max landing weight limits. Keflavik is becoming a busy airport lately, WorldTraffic 2.0 provided more movements than Dublin, and that created a lot of activity and realism. Once shutdown at the gate the fun stars again. This time I use more (self) control and use only the vehicles that are required, but still soon had the aircraft swarming with equipment. GPU is required attached for ground power to the aircraft. It is quite easy to configure the ground vehicles to what you want, and in this case Gate Gourmet catering and with a bit of creative spirit I created KEF buses to match the airport surroundings. In time it should be easy to have sets of vehicles for certain airports as well as aircraft and the basic system can support that. And there is selection of different Ground Service vehicle textures: JarDesign Ground Services Textures Gate Gourmet/Sky Chefs/Globe Ground/Lufthansa V 1.2 Turnaround time is one hour and I will be heading back to EIDW in Ireland... Liveries There is a huge selection of liveries for the aircraft, just go to the official JARDesign site: JARDesign Liveries Here are a few. Summary In reality this 1.2r2 small update to the JARDesign A330-243, only a few bugs and the Mac SASL compatibility is now confirmed and both could have easily been covered in a patch. But that does reinforce the fact on how good and bug free the release version actually was. In a small way the update release is overshadowed by another project that has yet again the power to change our simulations to the great by the excellent GroundServicing and GndHandling plugins. now your already long pre-flight procedures and data input on this aircraft is now even longer in servicing the aircraft in turnaround by manipulating your vehicles to come and go and do the work on the ground, in other words the complete simulation and there will be more to come when users start creating versions of their own to meet their needs and share the versions of ground traffic and vehicles to others. The token "Best aircraft in X-Plane" is a hard one because simulation users need and use different aircraft for different reasons and simulations, a top ten with no winner can cover the very best. But the "Heavy Aircraft" category is certainly the trophy area, Three vie for top honors with FlightFactor's brilliant Boeing 757 series just a nose ahead of its Boeing 777 Series. But this Airbus A330 from JARDesign is well within that company, as an Airbus it is top certainly and the most complete simulation in X-Plane on this level. If JARDesign's A320neo was upgraded to the level of the larger A330 then it would be a top four but at this point the aircraft feels slightly dated when related to the other more updated machines. But there is no doubt on the quality and deep immersion of simulation that the A330-243 from JARDesign delivers. Mac users can now fly with safety and the rest of us can enjoy their turnaround times with far more gutso and... well fun, in watching the aircraft being loaded/unloaded as part of the simulation. So the A330 is great, good, brilliant... everything you would want in a great Airbus and X-Plane has to proud of how far it has come to deliver such simulation on this level. _______________________________________________________ The Airbus A330-243 by JARDesign is now available from the New X-Plane.Org Store here : Airbus A330-243 - Price is US$60.95 Current Version 1.2r2 is Aug 27th and if you have already purchased the JARDesign A330-243 then go to your X-Plane.Org Store account and upgrade for free now! Features include: Superb 3D Model Detailed Virtual cockpit Detailed Exterior Ground equipment included: Tow tractor, fuel track, stairways, catering truck are included in pack and managed from menu. Systems Simulated: Air Conditioning, Pressurization APU , Auto Flight , Communications , Doors , Electrical , Equipment , Flight Controls , Oxygen Fuel , Hydraulic , Ice and Rain Protection , Indicating Recording Systems , Landing Gear , Lights Navigation , Pneumatic , Power Plant. Ground Handling plugin for A330 (only) included. (The "Deluxe" version of this plugin -payware, and not included in the A330 pack- works with any X-Plane airliner) FCU manipulators to use Mouse Left/Rght/Wheel for Push/Pull/Rotate operation Tested by real Airbus pilots Real Airbus pilots and technicians helped in the development and testing. New 3D-sound engine An easy way to customize soundest and build your own sound effects. Navigation Data The A330 comes with the NavDataPro dataset by Aerosoft. Now compatible with both Windows and Mac OS Developer site : JARDesign Group _____________________________________________________________________________________ Requirements Windows or Mac - 64bit Operating System (Linux not supported) X-Plane 10.35+, with HDR mode ON, CPU: 2,4Ghz Multi-core. Memory: 8 GB RAM. Video Card: 2Gb VRAM. high-precision joystick, rudder pedals, throttle controller (separate throttle controllers not support now). For best performance, you need a 3Gb Video Card. Current version: 1.2r2 (last updated August 27th 2015) _____________________________________________________________________________________ Full 1.2r2 Changelog: +AirFMC ready (please update your AirFMC plugin and AirFMC application) +Custom soundpack ready (you can install and use custom sound packs from another developers) +Glideslope engage softened +RNAV arrival Transition wrong reading and drawing fixed +Double/triple/multiply saying "Checklist ... completed" fixed +Doors auto open when ground staff come after landing + «TA only» indication add when takeoff +GPWS front panel button add +HYD SYS identification numbers fixed +FUEL PRED & Time checked and fixed +Strobe pattern after Place The Aircraft via The X-Planes Location Menu fixed +Table Checklist add +some External light improvements +ND Wind indication fixed according FCOM +Minor 3D cockpit errors fixed +Waypoint delete error in MCDU fixed Update by Stephen Dutton 28th August 2015 Copyright©2015: X-PlaneReviews Review System Specifications: Computer System: - 2.66 Ghz Intel Core i5 iMac 27” - 9 Gb 1067 Mhz DDR3 - ATI Radeon HD 6970M 2048 mb - Seagate 512gb SSD Software: - Mac OS Yosemite 10.10.1 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.35 (final) - Tested also in 10.40b10 (fine) Addons - Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle - Bose - Soundlink Mini - WorldTraffic 2.0 by Classic Jet Simulations (WorldTraffic 2.0) - X-Plane.OrgStore - US$24.95 Scenery - EIDW - Dublin International Airport by Aerosoft (Airport Dublin) X-Plane.OrgStore - US$29.99 - BIKF - Keflavik by Aerosoft / Icarius (Airport Keflavik) - X-Plane.OrgStore - US$19.20

News! - WorldTraffic 2.0 Released! Updated 24th August 2015 Since the release of WorldTraffic 2.0 last week there has been an update posted for v2.0.5 v2.0.5 now allows Mac users to use the plugin as well as Windows users and there is a bug fix included as well but still a few outstanding known issues. Notes: Fixes:(2.0.1) Fixes some weird taxiing behavior on takeoff and planes taking off in the wrong direction.(2.0.2) Old Braking Model is fixed.(2.0.2) Fixed logged error with invalid flight plan index filling up log file.(2.0.2) Log aircraft being loaded at startup - a couple of users are reporting that X-Plane is crashing at startup when loading a specific aircraft. If this happens, please send me a copy of the WorldTraffic.txt log file in the X-Plane/resources/plugins folder which logs the aircraft being loaded, and a copy of the aircraft that was being loaded at the time so I can send it to Laminar.(2.0.3) Fixed crashing problem on startup and with large number of flight plans in a single region folder.(2.0.3) Don't read SIDs/STARs if they're already loaded to speed up resynch time.(2.0.3) Randomize found stars before picking one so same approach is not always picked.(2.0.4) Code optimizations that should give a 25% frame rate increase at busy airports.(2.0.4) Fixed problem where route files in only one region folder would get loaded(2.0.5) Updated the code to run on the MacKnown Issues Sometimes you must resynch after starting X-Plane to get aircraft to start moving in the air.Random flight plan generator does not look yet at apt.dat files for custom scenery areas Approaches have not yet been parsed for Navigraph data. STARs work fine and approaches generally work except for airports where the approach path between the final STAR waypoint and the airport follows a complicated approach path like at Kai Tak. This is next on my list to add.This is the full details of the v2.0 release of WorldTraffic and it is a huge significant update of the this exceptional plugin for X-Plane. Details: Support for STAR approaches and SID departures using data provided from Navigraph specific to WorldTraffic.Support for custom approaches and departures for aircraft not using STARs or SIDS. This will work well for custom traffic patterns or define approaches and departures into airports in mountainous areas.ATC Radar window to watch aircraft come and go from an airport (see threads elsewhere in this forum for screenshots)Airport Operations file so you can easily define what runways are in use at an airport based on wind conditions and time of day. Runways can be configured to allows specific aircraft types and also approach types can be specified (eg RNAV, ILS CAT I, II, IIIa, IIIb, etc.) which are matched against the aircraft's nav equipment and ceiling and visibility to determine if an aircraft can land. X-Plane flows didn't work as they don't have enough information and the airport operations file is much easier to define so you don't have to define 1000 flows in WED.Numerous changes to flight plan, aircraft definition, and ground route file formats to support changes requested by users.Airport and runway information is now read from all the custom scenery folders too and not just the main X-Plane apt.dat file.Fuel burn is now calculated for AI aircraft. If you set the arrival and departure airports far apart, the AI planes will be taking off at a high takeoff weight and will accelerate slower, need a higher takeoff speed and will require a lot more runway than when flying only a short distance.Aircraft Callsign now can be defined in the flight plan. if you want to have custom flight numbers for your aircraft. These get displayed on the new radar display. If no callsign is entered, one is generated using the operator IATA name associated with the aircraft and using a random flight number between the flight number range also associated with the aircraft.Alternate Airport can now be defined in the flight plan. If an AI aircraft can't land at an airport because the ceiling or visibility are below minimums or because a runway is not available due to excessive crosswinds, the runway being to short, or the aircraft not being allowed at the airport as defined in the airport operations file, the aircraft will be sent to the alternate airport. This is to get around the problem of aircraft circling forever above the arrival airport if it can't land. Aircraft will land at the alternate airport regardless of conditions just to get them on the ground. If an alternate airport is not defined, aircraft will return to the departure airport if they can't land.Required runway length at MTOW can now be defined for specific aircraft. Most of the time a selected runway works ok but sometimes when an aircraft is at MTOW the selected departure runway might be too short. ATC enhancements to work with STAR approaches and SID departures so you can be vectored along these routes if your aircraft has a FMS. Aircraft ground model enhancements. Aircraft brake much more realistically now and generally take a lot more runway to slow down. Aircraft can also turn a bit faster now at low speeds. There are preferences to turn these features off if they break existing ground routes. I'll obsolete those preferences in a few months to give people enough time to fix the existing ground routes.A lot more little flight model changes including adding a little turbulence when aircraft are going slow on approach so they don't always look like they're flying on rails in calm weather. X-Plane turbulence and winds are already used by the flight model so if you set turbulence to a high value, the AI aircraft bounce around quite a bit. I also watched several videos of landing aircraft to adjust how fast the nose wheel drops during landing, and when the reversers and speedbrakes are deployed and retracted during landing so that looks nicer now. Climb angles have also been adjusted to be more realistic, especially after takeoff and a plane with a higher thrust:weight ratio will climb at a steeper angle. Fighters of course can still do vertical departures.Code optimizations to improve performance.Dataref additions (including durian's)There is a load of fixes and install information in WT 2.0 as well as noted : Install the update as follows:Move the win.xpl file to here: "X-Plane\resources\plugins\WorldTraffic\64" over the old file.Move the CustomAirportRoutingData folder to here: "X-Plane\ClassicJetSimUtils"Move the LOWI.xml and CYVR.xml files to here: "X-Plane\ClassicJetSimUtils\NavigraphData"Move LIVD_LOWI_Columbia.txt and LOWI_LIVD_Columbia.txt to here: "XPlane\ClassicJetSimUtils\WorldTraffic\RouteFiles\LOWI"Move 747.txt and 747_400_BASE.txt to here: "X-Plane\ClassicJetSimUtils\WorldTraffic\AircraftTypes". This shows how you can create aircraft definition files, using a common base file so in this case, the 747.txt file only has a few lines related to the operator and the 747_400_BASE file has all of the aircraft definition parameters not related to operator. You can download the updated 747 package from the World Traffic aircraft addons section here: http://forums.x-plan...&showfile=19827Fixes:(2.0.1) Fixes some weird taxiing behavior on takeoff and planes taking off in the wrong direction.(2.0.2) Old Braking Model is fixed.(2.0.2) Fixed logged error with invalid flight plan index filling up log file.(2.0.2) Log aircraft being loaded at startup - a couple of users are reporting that X-Plane is crashing at startup when loading a specific aircraft. If this happens, please send me a copy of the WorldTraffic.txt log file in the X-Plane/resources/plugins folder which logs the aircraft being loaded, and a copy of the aircraft that was being loaded at the time so I can send it to Laminar.(2.0.3) Fixed crashing problem on startup and with large number of flight plans in a single region folder.(2.0.3) Don't read SIDs/STARs if they're already loaded to speed up resynch time.(2.0.3) Randomize found stars before picking one so same approach is not always picked.(2.0.4) Code optimizations that should give a 25% frame rate increase at busy airports.(2.0.4) Fixed problem where route files in only one region folder would get loadedFeatures (2.0.1) (see updated manual online for more info):Custom approach and departure data should now go in the "CustomAirportRoutingData" folder. This should be kept completely separate from the Navigraph data so it can be shared among users.Added a new field START_FLY_TO_COMPLETION to flight plans. If this is set to 1, the route will be flown to completion and a STAR will only be searched for during the last leg of the route instead of at any time.Set the taxiway name to 0 in ground route files if you don't want to display it and want comments after.Route file changes:The LIVD to LOWI file was modified to use the Fly-to-Completion option so the aircraft doesn`t start looking for a custom arrival to LOWI until it has completed its route and is above the mountains.A custom departure was added for LOWI so that the plane will climb on the heading of the valley until reaching 10,000 feet before proceeding on course.NOTE! You have to change all, yes all of Bluebell's aircraft to work with WT 2.0, and Jesus my god there is a lot to download... As if you replace all the files listed you will have nearly 4200 aircraft of choice for WorldTraffic! They can be found here: http://forums.x-plan...ads&showcat=157 You can purchase this excellent plugin here: Yes! the updated WorldTraffic 2.0 plugin by Classic Jet Simulations is now available from the new X-Plane.Org Store here : WorldTraffic - Price is US$24.95 Stephen Dutton 22nd August 2015 Copyright©2015: X-PlaneReviews

Aircraft Review - Viperjet by Aerobask When it appears you think "why didn't anyone else do that"? And there is a point to that question. A two seater personal Jet aircraft is not your average General Aviation aircraft is it, as most aircraft in this category are for military (training) and in fact all personal tandem seaters except for a few odd aircraft from Burt Rutan like the VariEze which was a forerunner of the Viperjet because this Viper aircraft was also originally created with a pusher propeller 350 hp (261 kW) Continental TSIOL-550 powerplant then known as the Viperfan. Basically the ViperJet is a kit aircraft, homebuilt. The kit costs US$182,000 and you are going to spend another US$300,000 to $500,000 get it airborne, that is if you can find a General Electric J85 jet engine lying around. This J85 version is the MkII as the MkI didn't really fly very well with the underpowered Turbomeca Marboré installed. The original Viperjet prototype flew late in October 1999 at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2000.The MKII prototype flew on 12 June 2005 and you can upgrade your Mk1 to the MkII. The LXR version here uses the P&W JT15D-1A (2200 lbs thrust). This is a thoroughly composite material aircraft for lightweight and strength. And you have to admit the Viperjet is a very striking aircraft for the sort money it costs as you would usually pay about 10 million apiece for something of this nature in built for the military (notwithstanding the military hardware and the outrageous development costs). The Viperjet has all the Aerobask traits, composite aircraft (tick), modern glass instruments (tick), lightweight (tick) and not usually mainstream aviation (tick). But aerobask do these aircraft very well, and they are a lot of fun to fly as well. In saying that the Viperjet is quite different in that "fun" category in the flying aspect. so it makes the aircraft not really fit in anywhere and maybe it is that definition in why Viper Aircraft have sold only a handful of aircraft. Performance: Rate of climb (aerobatic weight) 7500fpm / Rate of climb (gross weight) 5000fpm - Mmo (FL250) 0.72 / VNE (Sea Level) 375 KIAS - Maximum speed cruise (FL280) 400 KTAS - Economy cruise speed (FL280) 350 KTAS - Approach speed 120-130 KIAS / Landing Speed 95-105 KIAS - Landing speed Range economy cruise (with Tip Tanks) 1450 nm. The Viperjet is a striking aircraft, like a slightly smaller smoother version of the Hawk Trainer without the canted rear tailplanes. being composite you don't have the minute detailing of panels and screws, but were they are required they are well done for instrument or wing access and the wing tanks are very well detailed and realistic. The left and right wing sections can clearly be seen as separate construction items and the curves and shape design is excellent. Internally it is very well crafted, no bulky ejector seats in here but leather couches and carpet... not very military in look or feel. Underneath that huge opening canopy, is the two seat formation layout. The front pilot's position has full instrumentation and the rear is for basic instrumentation flying and aircraft control and a handy handgrip to hang on. But at least you can fly the aircraft from the rear position. In the front the panel/glareshelid is quite high and restricts the viewpoint forward, in the rear it is far better and the view is simply excellent. Aerobask has taken a little liberty in the instrumentation and flat displays, but every Viperjet built is different and so there is really no standard in this area, so that is to our advantage than non-compliance. Below on the center panel are four round backup instruments in Artificial horizon, Altitude, Speed and HSI (Heading indicator) and the main fuel switch is set below. Joysticks front and rear are beautiful and realistic, and the rudder pedals are basic lightweight metal. This aircraft you would think being powered by a jetengine would be complex... but it is not, and in fact quite the opposite in being actually very basic. Left panel holds mostly all your main aircraft switches and controls. GPU (Ground Power Unit), Main battery and Avionic power switches, Igniter (to start the engine), Combined Starter & Generator switch (very clever), Boost pump, L&R Fuel Tanks transfer pump, Main fuel Throttle/cutoff and Airbrake levers. An important dial (unless you want to die) is the Pressurization Dial that shows you your cabin pressure. Your outside static elements can be switched on and off here as well that includes wheel chocks and pitot covers. Right Panel is mostly covered in circuit breakers (breakers for gear, avionics and engine are operational). But there are three important pressurization switches and cockpit heating switches. Canopy seal is three actions in pressure, safety lock and the actual canopy release lever. Power on and avionics switched on and the panel starts to come to life. It takes a few moments to start up the avionics but when completed you have nice set of instrumentation. Left to right is first your Falcon AOA (Angle of Attack) Kit with a simple three position flap switch below. Then your main Electronics International MVP-50T EIS engine display that covers most of your engines operational parameters. Below is a Garmin SL 30 VOR (VOR1 & VOR2) Radio and the standard Garmin 240 Radio set below that. Central is the huge Garmin GDU 370 PFD, with built in Artificial horizon, Speed and Altitude tapes, Rate of turn and pitch indicators, and an excellent HSI (Heading indicator) with built in NDB and VOR indicators. You have the excellent X-Plane default GNS 530 built in with popout screen, but the list of buttons on the right of the GDU 370 PFD mostly just duplicate the GNS 530 buttons in operation. The MEGGiTT autopilot is powerful but simple as well and a great addition if you are flying over a distance combined with the GNS 530. Final set is the Garmin GTX 330 Transponder, which is a very nice unit. Undercarriage gear switch is to the side with three green lights showing extended. There are a row of annunciators across the top of the panel (and airbrake extended annunciators) and the main light switches below the GDU 370 PFD for Land, Taxi, Nav, Strobe and beacon. The menus are quite simple in one button for one action and to adjust anything on the MFD you turn the knob top right and the buttons cover HDG (heading), CRS (Course), CDI selection (Nav1/Nav2/GPS) BARO and ALT. On the MVP-50T EIS on the menu you have a Fuel Management Data page that covers Fuel Level Data, Fuel Flow Data, Fuel Tank including dumping the Tip Tanks. GPS data is also shown. You can fill the fuel tanks but only when the aircraft is cold and dark. On the GDU 370 PFD the menu will give you the option of having the WRX weather screen on or off. The rear left switch and lever panel is a duplication of the front pilots panel. The instruments set in an upper console panel are a nice three screen set for Artificial horizon/Pitch/Rate of Turn, central Speed and Altitude tapes and right a basic HSI (Heading indicator). The GTX 330 Transponder and SL 30 VOR units are set out below. Flaps and undercarriage switches are set out left and right like on the front panel. Below on the bulkhead is the MVP-50T EIS and default GNS 530 units. All basic units but you could easily fly as well in the rear as in the front seat as you have everything except the Garmin 240 Radio. Flying the Viperjet You have an external GPU to provide power and a starter for the aircraft and that is activated by a switch on the left console. Central Fuel switch to on, boost pump switch to on, and igniter switch to on... You must take throttle out of the fuel cutoff gate and then just hit the "Start" button and the engine whine will start up behind you, engine startup is fully automatic. "Start" switch to "Gen" is a failsafe clever way to make sure the generator is switched on. Once the engine parameters have steadied down you can switch off the boost pump and igniter switches and close down the external GPU. It is noted that you never exceed maximum EGT (exhaust gas temperature, 710 °C) for more than 5 minutes, to avoid engine failure and that is simulated in this aircraft. Closing the huge canopy is a push of the red lever, once down then pressurize the cockpit with the "canopy seal switch" then switch the engine bleed switch to on to redirect the bleed air to the pressurization system, If correct it will show the pressure on the Pressurization Dial. In the front is is slightly claustrophobic and the view a little tight with the high panel. The undercarriage from a distance is basic and a little spindly but close up wheel detailing is excellent, with all the nuts, bolts and brake components well done. Small details like the push-pull rod that controls the rear tailplanes is well done, and so are the minute flaps and huge main wing ailerons. There are a set of default views set out to the numeric keypad, but I have my own set of default views, so I over-rode them. Lining up the center line and throttle up and the aircraft leaps off the brakes. It is skittish as the speed builds so you have to work to keep the aircraft straight. The Viperjet feels all the bumps and lumps on the taxiways and runway, so you have to be wary of any big ones throwing you off course. Around 85knots and rotate and then your flying nicely and the shuddering stops. The Viperjet will climb well, but this is no MD Eagle F15D, In fact it runs out of puff early and at this weight I found only 10º pitch up was the maximum I could achieve without losing power. You have to keep rechecking the artificial horizon when leveled out as you tend to look slightly down the nose and through the gap in the front and that makes you fly slightly nose up, it is perspective thing. But once level the aircraft will very quickly go to its cruise speed and here about 260knts. As an aircraft to fly manually it is totally easy and brilliant, but I couldn't find the trim knobs or tabs? Instinctively you just want to throw the aircraft around. You can do aerobatics in this aircraft and it would be interesting to see a pro fly this aircraft around, but it is great on the stick and you know you want too... but "hey, lets barrelroll" and yes it is as much fun as it looks, but also harder than it looks in getting the aircraft to come out of the roll cleanly. You keep an eye on that cabin pressure gauge as it keeps you comfortable. Inside the rear the view (10.36 for the review, is now a crap view without the extended scenery in 10.40) but it still gives you the feeling of space and glorious openness inside the aircraft, the window reflections were always a aerobask trademark, and they are very good here as well. The overwhelming feeling while cruising along at 20,000ft is that the real Viperjet must be simply an amazing aircraft to fly and be in, and to own one must be incredible... why, why, is there not hundreds of Viperjets flying around? The MEGGiTT autopilot is a great tool for flying high and fast point to point over a distance, 1,400nm range is not to be sneezed at for such a small aircraft. The panel displays are very good, clear and precise you can target a runway by VOR and NDB points and set to line up the runway by your CRS (course) direction and follow your markers. On approach (I tried both APP and manual) and the aircraft is easy to place and control, the flaps are small but effective and you can sit at 120knts and down to 95knts on landing. The Viperjet is easy to place and it is also easy to mark your point of landing... and make it perfect. Airbrakes are like tabs under the inner wing area and are effective to a point. Your landing speed is critical, but if you have a choice between a long runway and a short one then pick the longer one. As I found out on my first adjustment circuit in that I did stop, but... just. Speed does not run off quickly and the jet is light, and on top of that the bumps and notches in the runway that can have you working the rudder hard to keep it in line, like what happened on the takeoff run. Liveries There are six liveries, White/Red (noted as Red), Silver/Black (noted as black), Checkerboard, Gold/Black (noted as yellow), Silver/Blue and Orange. All are excellent and most are real Viperjet liveries. Lighting The Viperjet's lighting is fine but quite basic. The cockpit is a nice place to be at night. But you only have two adjustments in Instruments and overhead, strangely the backup instruments are lit by the overhead lights and not the instrument adjustment? In the rear it is just as good and it looks professional in quality. External lighting is okay, but the taxi lights shine through the wingpods from the side, tail-light is a bit blobby and is too big. lighting spread is okay but not very wide for taxiing. Summary Overall this is an amazing aircraft, a jet and a small powerful one at that. So who would not want one in their hangar, certainly I would and flying it would be an amazing experience. We can only get a glimpse of that dream here and actually get a chance to fly an aircraft that can be as close as you want to be with out joining an airforce, certainly this aircraft has some potential in being a cheap jet trainer? Aerobask has again pulled out and delivered a different aircraft experience, and one you can fly and even do some basic aerobatics in jet style. Design and great instrumentation means the Viperjet can be a fun all over sky afternoon or a distance flight point to point. The overall theme is the aircraft is very easy and basic to use and fly, yes you still have great gizmos and wonderful instrumentation, but the important bits and radio units means it can be professional flyer aircraft as well, so it is really a good all round trainer and great for VOR to VOR and NDB trials. If you want to learn to fly a faster GA, then this is your aircraft. Set up and flying is easy, nice to fly and you can cruise at 30,000ft and feel on top of the world. Great aircraft and another great design from Aerobask. _____________________ Fully featured and including: The Viperjet by Aerobask is available from the New X-Plane.Org Store here : Viperjet LXR And is priced at only US$21.95 _____________________ Fully featured and including: High quality 3D model with high resolution textures (4K), ambient occlusion, specular and normal mapping Flight model defined according to the specifications of the LXR version. Fun to fly. Fully functional virtual 3D cockpit. Functional rear cockpit (instructor). Panoramic windshield with reflections Integrated systems: Start sequence, pressurization, engine failure, radar weather, setup page Many custom sounds: rolling, gear, flaps, canopy, vocal alert, callout, ... Enhanced sound engine using SASL scripts ____________________ Installation : Download file size is 369.30mb to your X-Plane - GA Aircraft Folder. Installed file size is 435.90mb Notes: None Documents : You get a lot of documents including a good Manual including a basic checklist, Your liveries, Recommended settings and a very good set of real Viperjet documents and MVP50 instruction sheet. Requirements : Windows, MAC or Linux - X-Plane 10.36 or higher - 32 and 64 bit compatible. (X-Plane 9 not supported) - 1.5 GB VRAM Video Card Recommended Current version: 1.0 (Last updated August 20th 2015) Developer Support Site : (Aerobask- Harransor Support .Org) ____________________ Review by Stephen Dutton 21st August 2015 Copyright©2015: X-Plane Reviews Review System Specifications: Computer System: - 2.66 Ghz Intel Core i5 iMac 27”- 9 Gb 1067 Mhz DDR3 - ATI Radeon HD 6970M 2048 mb- Seagate 512gb SSD Software: - Mac OS Yosemite 10.10.1 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.35 (final) Addons - Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Scenery or Aircraft - KLAL - Lakeland Linder Regional Airport 2.01 by Drankum (X-Plane.Org) - Free

Aircraft Update : Boeing 732 TwinJet by FlyJSim FlyJSim have done an update noted as Version 1.1508.1036 on the Boeing 732 TwinJet, and it is a very good and extensive one. FlyJSim's approach to aircraft is highly detailed and functional... you could even say complex. But I would prefer to say they have extensively developed systems and they are certainly some of the most immersion types of simulation you can fly in X-Plane. The focus is also on older aircraft in the Boeing 727 Series and this Boeing 737-200 TwinJet and the bombardier Dash Q400. The link between the aircraft is they are all very manual to fly in dials and throttle control and modern automation is rarely used and that makes the aircraft also extremely interesting and challenging to fly. The aircraft has had a lot of adjustments (Full Changelog below) but it is more than just a fix up of smaller details as new items have been added or original ideas have been updated. The menu system located on the lower left of your screen is excellent, as noted the aircraft is complex but FlyJSIm have been thoughtful in the way you can quickly set up the aircraft for flight and have a lot of data you require at your fingertips to not only get airborne quite quickly but to be able to fly at the performance boundaries in an visual way, the system is excellent in that case Menus are noted as - WnB (Weights and Balances) - V/Card - OP (Options) and INS (CIVA GPS optional). WnB (Weights and Balances) It is extremely easy to set up the weight, aircraft load in passenger and cargo and fuel load. All the information is there and easy to read or noted, and your center-of-gravity is also easily balanced and noted. In the update you can now disable the Weight and Balance system from changing X-Planes values for payload and CG. This was a request from FS-Economy users. V/Card I really love the V/Card visual menu on both the FlyJSim B732 and B727 Series aircraft, it is totally brilliant. When you set your aircraft weights and balances via the WnB menu it translates directly to the V/Card to give you your V speed references, your weights are also noted and updated on the V/Card to the current weight and fuel as you fly so you know exactly what the aircraft is in weight and can note that for takeoff and landing. The speed bugs automatically set to the vRef's required as well to make that perfect takeoff in speed and your landing speed is noted on the Landing tab. Another brilliant feature is that if you press the green zone on the trim setting indicator it will automatically set the trim to the weights and balance for takeoff. These few setting helpers can get you perfectly set up in a very short time, but also have the aircraft correct and ready for flight. There have been a few changes to the V/Card in the update including an added trim setting to the takeoff Vcard, the EPR setting on Vcard for takeoff now changes, which is used usually for hot and high takeoffs. When the Vcard is open to takeoff, the EPR bug on the engine display is updated for you if takeoff flaps are not set in the Vcard, it will now actually sync to your takeoff flaps when passing 80 kts during your takeoff roll to ensure you get the proper bugs and callouts for the V1/rotate. OP (Options) On the OP-Options Menu you can now disable Copilot Callouts if they get annoying and the HF wire from the fuselage to the tail can be hidden. Both the external APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) and start up (Engines) Air Cart can be accessed by the menu, but no physical units are shown outside which are now usually available for aircraft of this quality? INS (CIVA GPS optional) For the FlyJSim Boeing 727 Series and this Boeing 732 aircraft the Delco Carousel IV-A Inertial Navigation System, nicknamed "CIVA" can be purchased as an addon: CIVA Navigation System for $US10.00. it is basic navigation system that can give automatic navigation of up to 9 waypoints. (you can load X-Plane .fms plans) but it is quite a difficult beast to use, but also very authentic for navigation systems of the 60's and early 70's eras. It was installed in classic airliners like the Boeing 707 and 727, the Lockheed Tristar, the Douglas DC-10 and the Boeing 747-100 to -300 and a special variant, the Carousel IV-AC was also installed in the Concorde and used to cross the North Atlantic at supersonic speeds. But like I noted it is a bit of a bully to use, and personally I wasn't greatly supportive of the feature as it was just to time-consuming to program. (every Lat/Lon had to programmed in) That was then and this is now as there has been since a great plugin released to ease all the pain and make the navigation system more user friendly and far more easier to program. This is called the CIVA Helper plugin 1.10 by Yoyoz and it is a great piece if kit (You will need Sandy Barbour's Python interface installed) Another bonus also is that the xCIVA is now in this update actually installed on the lower part of the panel of the aircraft if you own the feature. The popup is still there if you need it, but somehow the 3d version is far better to use, and it looks sensational. (For the B727 Series pleeeese!) You can input a set of waypoints (fixes) or just cut and paste a route from a route planner and make up a flightplan in seconds, then just push the fix directly into the xCIVA, the great thing about this plugin is that you can select only the waypoints you want to make up the maximum of the nine allowed, you don't need the airport as your first fix but POS in "Position" to tell the xCIVA the current coordinate position of the aircraft. Zero numbers are not also allowed as the xCIVA will not accept them. Another bonus is that you can create a double flightplan with inputting the first nine into the system and then having nine or more ready to input as you fly along to compensate around the nine fix input barrier (like they did in the old days). You can also do a sort of Direct-To by jumping to a certain waypoint or diversion fix. So the helper plugin makes the xCIVA an everyday usable system so it is a well worth download and the new panel location really helps as well. Pushback The built in pushback feature has had a few changes as well. You select the pushback now by pushing the "GndCall" button on the overhead panel. And it appears as a popup menu. You now have two choices in Manual pushback, or Automatic pushback. Manual will allow you to steer the aircraft with your joystick or rudder pedals and the Auto mode pushback allows you to set the distance, tail turn and turn degree. You can also display a ghost of the aircraft as an estimate of the pushed back position on the ground. KOAK - Oakland Intl to KPDX - Portland Intl I flew the updated Boeing 732 from Oakland, San Francisco to Portland to have a look at MisterX's new scenery, I had the aircraft very heavy but only half-full of fuel for the relatively short hop to Oregon. I will be totally honest and admit I never was completely in love with the B737-200 from FlyJSIm, mainly because it was so overshadowed by the bigger more dramatic Boeing 727, of which I love more than I can explain. But with this update the aircraft and myself have had a more closer if more intimate relationship with each other. I feel I didn't use the aircraft in the right context enough to get the best return from it, but now we seemed to have reached an understanding of each other and will move on to the next level of getting to know each other more closely and intimately. I felt more at home and enjoyed the aircraft immensely this time. So was this the update or has X-Plane matured more to meet the combined goals of the aircraft and myself or just the xCIVA now working better that created a more better atmosphere. There is no doubt in the depth of the aircraft's systems and more have been added in a new Instrument Comparator system, the GPWS system, has new system sounds and functionality and the Compass/NAV/Vert Gryo switching system is also new. I also liked the new Trip/Date recorder system, which you can change to whatever you like, just hit the button and it saves it for you. I am still wishing on the B732 like with the Boeing 727 Series that the rear cabin would be completed and installed, and the doors would open (Other close users note the missing items to me as well), And although the cockpit is without doubt certainly one of the very best in X-Plane, It still feels a little empty back there. But as a pilots aircraft it is astounding in design and in performance, it uses the excellent Dreamfoil - DreamEngine & Turbine Sound Studio sounds. The B732 rumbles and it roars in that 1960's unhushkitted noise as those JT8D-15A engines pore out the power and dark smoke that bellows from that more less environmental period. New sounds have been added in here as well as all the switches, knobs, buttons all now have 3d positioned sounds, recorded from actual 737 panels and the click and tick just as they should. You can hear APU now as well in the background. I love the wizzing around Trim wheels on these aircraft and the sounds have now been realistically heightend, spoiler arm deploy sound for landing and spoiler deploy low rumble are also significant aural changes that sound great. You can adjust the external and internal sound volumes by the menu to enjoy the audio to the maximum. The basic Sperry 77 Autopilot is quite different from today's fully automated cockpits but excellent to use, so it gives you a totally different dimension to flying a heavy aircraft, Radio's are really good for flying VOR radials and NDB's which you heavily rely upon. The red line on the MAP display has been removed. I accept that it is not a realistic point on the aircraft, but its removal means you don't know if the xCIVA is running the right waypoints or if it is set correctly at all or even working... so do you need that red line back? This is the -200adv version of the 737 family and you can see the larger Boeing barrel size (six across seating with a single aisle) on the shorter fuselage length. But there is no doubt it is a nice looking aircraft and a pure Boeing. Nice details are the retracted undercarriage (FlyJSim always did amazing undercarriages) and the long tube almost rocket looking engine pods, a different era. The yaw damper was too sensitive in turbulence and has been adjusted so you can now keep it on. And you will noticed that the on the HDG and CRS display they now show values greater than 360 degrees. Cabin lighting now shows externally at night and park brake light, trim light, marker lights, Fire lights and some radio lights now work correctly. You get one blank white livery (there is a paintkit available) and five airline colours in WestJet (very modern) Aer Lingus, Air France. Aloha (old) and KLM. But you are not short of liveries and restricted to just these five, as there is 132 available on the X-Plane.Org site! It is a lot and all are very good, like this superbly nice DeltaExpress livery in this upgrade review. Portland Intl was now on approach and I was seriously impressed with MisterX's work, the scenery is simply excellent. The FlyJSIm Boeing 732 is certainly a very challenging aircraft to fly in X-Plane, it demands to fly it well a knowledge of its deep systems that are crafted to perfection and the aircraft requires time to really get the best performance on all levels out of it. You get those angled offset clamshell reverser doors which are very dramatic and the airbrakes are armed as noted on the panel, the before noted V/Card approach and landing speeds are excellent and the often neglected autobrake system has been better tuned now with proper deceleration rates and the aircraft feels better in that speed reduction phase. The door alignment has been done (I did it earlier anyway) so the airbridges (jetways) now connect correctly, but not here at Portland as they don't go lower but only sideways. Smart CoPilot features have been added to cater for that addon in the 3D CIVA is now synced and master controlled, and the files have been updated to this new version. And of course the most important item to be fixed is the PAX chime now bings when turned off as well, Thank god that has been done. Summary This update Version 1.1508.1036 is more than just an aircraft bug fix and clean up, there are a load of small but good new features in there, but the most significant thing is the aircraft really feels more complete and satisfying. You really can't put your finger on it, but like most upgrades when they come you realise that those items either didn't work or were missing, but there is still more going on here this time. Like I noted earlier, I never really felt totally comfortable in the aircraft and I could not put my finger on it, but certainly the B727 Series overshadowed it. Now I find the B732 TwinJet a lot more to my liking and I flew the aircraft more consistently, so maybe there was something more in there I was aware of but couldn't actually touch that has been ironed out. No ground vehicles or equipment like APU's and AirCart or pushback truck makes the aircraft look a little lonely now out there on the ramp, and no opening doors (so well done on FlyJSim's Dash Q400) makes it boring sitting at the gate, and you expect that now at this price range and features. But overwhelmingly is the sheer dynamics of the aircraft and THAT cockpit, that is with the FJS B727 an amazing design and certainly both are the best in X-Plane for 60's era heavy jet flying. They are both amazing places to be in, use and very different in the context that one (B727) is a three crew aircraft and this B732 is a more advanced two crew machine. So a very good update from FlyJSim to a now excellent period aircraft, for flying a early period classic jet Boeing airliner, you can't invest in any aircraft better than this and go back to fly in a period of a glorious jet age that will always be a classic period of aviation. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Yes! the Boeing 732 TwinJet from FlyJSim update is now available from the new X-Plane.Org Store here : Boeing 732 TwinJet - Price is US$47.00 Current Version 1.1508.1036 is Aug 15 and if you have already purchased the 732 TwinJet then go to your X-Plane.Org Store account and upgrade now! Features include: FlyJSim quality, including attention to detail and flight dynamics Realistic Sound engine provided by DreamEngine & Turbine Sound Studio sounds Detailed exterior Accurate replica of the 737-200adv Detailed textures Detailed animations - Wing flex Detailed lighting Superb Cockpit Interior Detailed 3D cockpit High resolution textures on panels Detailed cockpit lighting - Intuitive cockpit manipulation Systems Simulated Many custom systems have been coded to replicate the behavior of the real aircraft: Air system - Anti-Ice Autopilot(SP77) Com/Nav radios Electrical - Fire protection Hydraulics Fuel Warning systems Weather radar Other features: Realistic flight model Weight & Balance Manager Detailed manuals 6 liveries included - Designed by FlyJSim (Jack Skieczius and Joe Vermeulen) Developer Site: FlyJSim Dev Support : FlyJSim Support _____________________________________________________________________________________ Requirements X-Plane 10.30+ (any edition) - MAC, Windows, Linux - 1Gb+ dedicated VRAM Video Card - 10.20 or higher - 32 and 64 bit compatible. X-Plane 9 is not supported - Recommended: 1+ GB of VRAM, and 8+ GB of system memory Current version: Version 1.1508.1036 (Last updated August 17th 2015) _____________________________________________________________________________________ Full Changelog: Bugs fixed: Fixed bug in APU bleed pressure staying around even if APU was turned off. PAX chimes now sound when turned off as well. Fixed Engine start sounds playing when no bleed pressure to start engines. Fixed BUSS typo. Fixed typos in options menu. Fixed issue where the Flight Director knob would not turn to approach mode. Fixed the stick shaker sound not playing with the system test. Fixed issue were aircraft would turn the wrong way when capturing the ILS. Spoilers now retract if throttle moved up for takeoff while in ground. Fixed issue with yaw damper being too sensitive in turbulence. You can now keep it on. Fixed door position for autogate. Fixed Gen drive temp issue where they were only shown if generator was attached to the bus. Added breakaway thrust so the plane will no longer roll forward with idle thrust at the gate or after pushback. Fixed APU fuel consumption, APU now takes fuel from the left tank. Fixed issue with APU sound playing when no fuel in left tank Fixed HDG and CRS displays from showing values greater than 360. Fixed some LIT texture bugs on the copilot side. Added text for the aft console FLOOR and PANEL lights. Map FMS red line removed from the weather radar. Fixed fuel valve closed lights. Now show as dim. Fixed Vertical gyros to be wound down on cold and dark properly Redid the autobrake system. Now should work properly, with proper deceleration rates. New Sounds Switches, knobs, buttons, etc, all now have 3d positioned sounds, recorded from actual 737 panels. Added APU sounds. Added Trim wheel sound, Added spoiler arm deploy sound for landing Added spoiler deploy low rumble New Systems added Added Instrument Comparator system Added GPWS system, with new system sounds and functionality Added Compass/NAV/Vert Gryo switching system Added Trip/Date recorder system. You can change these to whatever you like, hit button and it saves. Added Compass system panels. Changed graphics on cockpit voice recorder panel, including the test needle animation Added 3d CIVA panel for those who have CIVA installed on this aircraft. Added voice recorder test functionality(needle moves) New options - Added Option to disable Copilot Callouts Added option to disable the Weight and Balance system from changing X-Planes values for payload and CG. This is a fix for FS-Economy users. Added option to remove HF wire. Vcard changes Added trim setting to the takeoff Vcard EPR setting on Vcard for takeoff now changes, usually for hot and height takeoffs. When the Vcard is open to takeoff, the EPR bug on the engine display is updated for you. If takeoff flaps are not set in the Vcard, they will sync to your takeoff flaps when passing 80 kts during your takeoff roll to ensure you get the proper bugs and callout for V1/rotate New Pushback system Added Pushback popup system, activated by hitting the Gnd Call button on the center overhead. Gives option for Manual pushback, or automatic pushback. Auto Pushback allows you to set distance, tail turn, turn degree. Can display a ghost of the aircraft as an estimate of the pushed position. Cockpit light changes Added light glow to several annunciator lights in the cockpit, including the park brake light, trim light, marker lights, Fire lights and some radio lights. Exterior lighting Added cabin lighting to exterior Smart Copilot Smart Copilot files updated to reflect system changes. With 3D CIVA, now synced. Master controlled. Update by Stephen Dutton 17th August 2015 Copyright©2015: X-PlaneReviews

Updated 22nd August 2015 FlightFactor has cleared the A350XWB for all platforms as the SASL issue on the Mac has now be fixed, Ramzzess notes: "We are glad to announce that A350 Advanced for mac users has been fixed and should be considered a fully supported version. First of all we would like to that all the people who bought the MAC version in beta and helped with testing. Thank you for you trust, support and patience. For those more technically minded, here is a small explanation. Our planes run on a system called SASL which allows us to script code in a language called lua and run it in the sim. In order to run lua efficiently we do this inside a virtual machine called luaJit which is a 3rd party system. When we saw the gremlin code we started investigating our plugins, our scripts then SASL itself and when our way up to more global things. As it turned out, it was luaJit itself which had an issue with memory which led to completely random crashes without a good trace. We only understood that the bug must be there, or even higher up in XP itself, a few weeks ago. Apparently, the luaJit provider already found this bug and fixed it two months ago. All is well that ends well. Update to v1.2 on the store and enjoy the product." X-PlaneReviews Review here: Aircraft Review : Airbus A350 XWB Advanced by FlightFactor X-Plane.OrgStore here: Airbus A350 XWB Advanced _______________________________________________________ News! - FlightFactor releases patch for A350XWB MAC version Ramzzess from FlightFactor has released a patch 1.1.4 for the Airbus A350XWB that is a fix for the MAC crashes that have cause issues with the aircraft... Link is for patch 1.1.4 is here: http://forums.x-plan...showtopic=88287 Download and insert the "SASL folder" in the plugin folder and replace the "Custom Avionics" folder in the aircraft. Feedback is important because FlightFactor want to know that this nasty has been quashed (hopefully for good) support thread is below. FlightFactor: A350XWB Support Thread Stephen Dutton 17th August 2015 Copyright©2015: X-PlaneReviews

News! - Jetstream 32 by Javier Rollon updated - Now in X-Plane.OrgStore The Bae Jetstream 32 has had an update v1.0 as noted as a "Global Update". Javier Rollon has been busy lately and the aircraft was feeling a little tired around the edges since its release. Into the breech steps MaxWaldorf to do a great update for this excellent aircraft. The update v1.0 is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore: BAE Jetstream 32 Original purchasers can update the Jetstream 32 for free, just go to your X-Plane.OrgStore account and download. The Jetstream 32 is US$34.95 Full X-PlaneReviews review of the Bae Jetstream is here: Aircraft Review : Bae Jetstream 32 by Javier Rollón Morán Here is the Changelog Changelog v1.0 (16/08/2015) -- X-Plane 10 x64 only Textures / 3D: Reworked the Night lights textures in the cockpitChanged the lights behavior in acf fileChanged the enrich fuel switch to white (as specified in POH)Changed / Added switched for systems (including new GNS430)Corrected the Right Landing Light / Taxi labels on overheadRPM % small needles now show 10% per 360° and not 1% per 360°AH and Backup AH roll indicators now move the right wayControl Locker does not remove joy axis anymoreSystems: Reworked completely the electrical system (bus are now normally loaded and not to 200 amps which is unrealistic...)Panel Main and Panel non-ess are now triggering the lights in the cockpitLights on sides of RPM gauges are now showing ignition status (continuous or test) -- WIll not light up during a normal start cycle (as per POH)Beta is now active only on the ground with throttle idle and reverse modes (pitch 0° and lower)Oil Cowl flaps logic reworkedTTL computer now working as expected by POH - no failures over FL140 if active (not mentioned in POH)Manual Reverse should be working as expectedNew GNS430 integrationAir Model: Reworked the prop pitch as per POHChanged the trims for better handlingRoll (torque) effect in flight is removedSmall engine tweaks to match POHCorrected engine type and valuesExtra Goodies:Smartcopilot updated fileX-Camera dedicated fileNew 3D quick views Requirements: X-Plane 10.30+. 64bit - Windows, Mac or Linux - 64bit OS - 8Gb RAM - 512Mb VRAM Video Card (I recommend 1gb of VRAM) Last updated August 15th 2015 (MAxWaldorf Global Update)Stephen Dutton 17th August 2015 Copyright©2015: X-PlaneReviews

As far as I know no, but I do know that Butnaru is updating his sceneries so KFLL may be one of them, but as KFLL is one of his very latest releases it is not going to be at the top of the update list... SD

News! - Laminar Research releases X-Plane Control Pad Out of the blue Laminar Research have released an X-Plane Control Pad to change your X-Plane menu settings while still running the simulator! Details from Austin Meyer... I have recently found the X-Plane interface to be slow, cumbersome, and distracting. And, no matter how good I ever make the X-Plane interface, we STILL have to STOP the simulation to change the weather, time of day, selected aircraft or location, etc. This is quite simply because we have to bring up a window that stops all the action to change anything in X-Plane! And, once we have invoked the new window, we have to creep around a bunch of tiny boxes with the mouse to see what we want to change! Annoying. But what if we could blow right past all that and have a lightning-fast touch-screen interface to set up X-Plane WHILE IT IS STILL RUNNING? I envisioned something like the interface in Minority Report, where we could rapidly touch, grab, and zoom about to get to whatever we want, instantly, while the action we are controlling is never slowed down at all. And the way to do this is obviously with an iPad or iPhone that runs WHILE X-Plane is running, so anyone (either you or an instructor!) that likes can adjust all manner of weather, weight and balance, failures, etc, all WHILE X-Plane is running, WITHOUT stopping or even slowing down the flight! And just to add the last level of craziness, I added a little AI instructor that lives inside the App that can set weight and balance and weather and failures for you, so you have a little AI instructor demonically failing systems and setting weather in flight, all without your knowledge, to maximize the challenge in flight in X-Plane… all WITHOUT slowing or pausing the flight to fiddle with various settings in X-Plane itself, since this is all done on your iPad or iPhone, which is connected to your copy of X-Plane for Mac, Windows, or Linux by WIFI. So, I am thrilled with "X-Plane Control Pad”, because it is simply so lightning-fast, light-weight, user-friendly, and still capable.. all much quicker and easier than the current X-Plane interface, which is always bound to stop the action whenever you want to consider changing anything. Anyway, give it a try and let me know how it goes… this actually lets you set up X-Plane like a multi-million dollar flight training sim, where they use touch-screen interfaces to control each element of the simulation while the the flight simulator itself never stops! Multi-million dollar power for $19.99 on an iPad or iPhone: That is one of the amazing things about this wave of technology! The App is available on the iTunes Store now for iPhone and iPad itunes Details iPhone/iPad Images and text courtesy of Laminar Research Stephen Dutton 16th August 2015 Copyright©2015: X-PlaneReviews

I can't help you with this because I don't fly online in VATSIM, sorry... put the above notice in the X-Plane.Org threads Boeing 777 Support.

News! - Laminar Research releases beta 8 Beta 8 is out to replace the average Beta 7. I was simulating along and soon it was apparent that the beta(7) was not good, not good at all in a bit of a mess. So it was canned and the work continued in 10.36 (All reviews are still done in 10.36 stable, but testing is also done in the beta) Out with the old and in with the better... notes are. Fixes for Beta 8 Fixed DRM for Windows users that were asked for their product key repeatedly. File a bug if this is not fixed for you.Fixed scenery clipping at 300,000 feet.QPAC A320 now resets correctly.Fixed EHLE tower frequency in default apt.dat.AI controls small planes better.Extended DSFs now load at sim start up.Demo region now uses extended DSFs.Livery options are back in Plane Maker.Re-scan button added when choosing a plane.Text-to-speech ATIS works with all frequencies.Windows text-to-speech ATIS uses US-English regardless of system language.Panel instruments are back to correct locations.Using METAR weather works again.Better warning messages when using old situations files.Aurora borealis option only displays between 45 & 60 degrees north.Black line removed in air refueling scenarios.Using arrow keys in local map scrolls as in planet map.Flight Factor CDU/autopilot works again.Run the installer and have the beta checkbox ticked to update to 10.40b6 (Steam users cannot update betas). X-Plane Developers Blog : http://developer.x-plane.com/ Stephen Dutton X-Plane Reviews : 14th August 2015

The fuel cutoff switches are behind the throttles... SD

Well I don't think I put my foot in it.... I noted the JARDesign uses the Thales and Smiths Aerospace "Topflight" FMS" which it does and to use the FMS you have to use the official Airbus Thales and Smiths manual. So I would say that is a pretty close to the actual systems. No FMS is going to reproduce absolutely the full FMS system, we may get there in a few years, but what we have now and certainly on JARDesigns A330/A320 is damn pretty good. The hybrid versions on the RW Designs A330 and Peter's Series of Airbuses are more a compromise but can be like in Peter's case very fine tuned in the performance area as Peter Hager is obsessive about the performance of his aircraft, were as JARDesign performances are just a little off, so it is one to the other... but I show both in detail of what you have in features and what you don't, but I agree a comparison of all current FMS would be a good idea... SD

Changed thanks... I got rapt over knuckles for calling OP-CLB, Optimum-Climb by Torsten and he is correct but optimum seems to note the way it works better than Open which is quite ambiguous, But I'm not going to argue with Airbus. SD

There was a Flight Tutorial with the Original Release version (not the v2 version) and I have loaded that here. It has a basic Checklist inside. Flight Tutorial.pdf As The v2 Aircraft is more correct in the A330 procedures then also use the: Smart Cockpit Series SD

Scenery Review : EGTR London Elstree Aerodrome by Pilot Plus The name Elstree in north London is synonymous with film making (Not to be confused with Ealing (Studios) in west London), because since 1914, most of the British major film and television production has been created here. Actually there is only one studio in Elstree that was originally the larger site, but neighbouring Borehamwood is now grown into the larger major studio complex. Think Star Wars, Indiana Jones, 2001:A Space Odyssey, James Bond (Never Say Never Again) and your starting to get close to the scale of these minor productions that were created here, but "Elstree" is still the name of the industry based here, just ask any actor. Pilot Plus has very quickly established a quality source of excellent scenery for X-Plane. Their first release in EGHI - Southampton and the second release of EGGD - Bristol reinforced the level of design and execution in quality with every release... In other words it is very good. This new scenery for Elstree Aerodrome in north London is of a smaller scale than the first two releases and more of a study of place than a destination to create hub and route traffic. The airport is actually quite busy in terms of movements in the GA sphere but the bulk of activity is built up of flying schools and training. In fact there are Elstree a large number of operators here including: Elstree Helicopters, Air Academy, Flying Pig Helicopters (great name if you are a Pink Floyd fan), Chiltern Aviation, Flyers Flying School, Fly Elstree, Flight Training London, Lion Flying Group, MAK Aviation Flight School, Stars Fly, Heli-UK/Helicopter Services and no doubt the close position to the Film/ Television facilities will bring in more movements. Aircraft Sales and Servicing, Maintenance are also very active at Elstree including: Air Interiors, Enigma Heating & Mechanical Services, Hadron Electrical, Harold Ripel Avionics, Kinetic Avionics, London Elstree Aviation and Mistral Aviation. A historic note (I am a Formula One fan) is that on 29 November 1975, British Formula One champion and team owner Graham Hill was killed when his Piper PA-23 he was piloting crashed on approach to the airfield in foggy conditions at night, about 3 nm east of the runway. The other five occupants of the aircraft, Tony Brise and 4 others in the Embassy Hill team, were also killed. In reality Hill was a dumb fool in flying in that weather and was told so... a waste. First Impressions To see EGTR - Elstree and get my bearings on it's position it was best to fly in, and a no better starting place was Pilot Plus's EGHI - Southampton on the English south central coast. It is not a long flight from the coast to north London at around 35minutes, but I got a telling off by the Air Traffic controllers for flying at 5,000ft across the approach paths to London Heathrow RWY09R and RWY09L. And then finding Elstree Aerodrome was a bit of a hunt and scan effort. The Aerodrome is very well merged into the X-Plane default scenery and you can't tell where the boundaries are which I really like, and Pilot Plus is very good at doing this. As a visual marker is best to find the Heilfield Park Reservoir that is directly behind the airfield, The smaller Alderham Reservoir is located just behind Helifield Park and the angle between them gives you the best bearing on the 08/26 angled runway (651m - 2,136ft). Another visual clue is the main M1 London Motorway that crosses going north/south across the west of the RWY08 Threshold. On the circuit flypast you can see a motley set of Hangars, from a dominating very large old WW2 Bellman hangar and a few more post WW2 maintenance hangars and workshops. The area is also dotted with many farms and buildings that cover the whole full area of the scenery. One of the trademarks of Pilot Plus's scenery is the use of trees and here at Elstree you are not disappointed. All the trees are manually placed and that gives you a densely packed wood that surrounds the sports playing fields and Elstree Golf Course. In fact all the hedgerows and tree lined lanes are all represented which gives you that English country feel to the whole are, in fact the area covered is quite large, but you don't know where the boundary actually is. Once at a 8nm distance I flew the CT206H in a full 180º turn back towards EGTR and homed in on the runway, or sort of tried to. The start of the runway is hidden on the RWY26 approach path by the woodland area, so a bearing is hard from a distance at a lower approach altitude. So landing from the east is challenging and will test your skills. You could try a steeper approach path than this, but that means more speed and a heavy pitch upwards once past the trees to get the wheels down. My aim was to just to brush the trees and then drop down to the runway and it worked fine, but even then you still land slightly long down the runway. In passing over the approach will give you great views of the Aldenham Park Golf Course and playing fields with a set of school buildings going under you. Like a lot of trees then grass or wildflowers are in abundance as well and, and the area is overgrown and it is like a full bloom English summer. Turn off RWY26 to the right on to the taxiway and you come to a deadend! The rest of the taxiway is gone or has been overgrown but is noted as taxiway C on the supplied chart, you can taxi down a rough grass track that has been worn away or turnaround and go back down the main asphalt runway to the entrance taxiway more east. There is another connection taxiway B to RWY08 at the other end but it is narrow even for a small GA or small jet, but thankfully solid. Taxi on to the main apron in front of the small manned tower and in looking around the place is a bit of a dump. There maybe a few operators running out of here but they don't contribute much to the upkeep of the airport, its old, worn, tired and there is junk everywhere. The airport is not very well maintained, but does feel like this sort of neglected airfield that dots the UK landscape. So the realism is very close to home. There is an animated Volvo that drives around from one part of the Aerodrome to the other, so be careful it doesn't drive into you. Elstree Aerodrome Overview London Elstree Aerodrome IATA: none – ICAO: EGTR 08/26 651m (2,136ft) Asphalt Elevation AMSL 332 ft / 101 m The scenery is far larger than is noticeable at first glance as you think the aerodrome and its buildings are the main items only as part of the area. When in fact it is dotted with many farms, buildings and lots of objects that cover out a large area. The trees are again the focal point as what they hide in different areas, but divide up the landscape as well. At a distance the trees are very good, but close up you need your render settings on extreme or a high setting. Here I am on "very high" and they are still quite blurry close up, but overall they are very good. The underlying textures are very well maximised and matched into the surrounding X-Plane default scenery. You can't see the boundaries but there are areas that show they are there like the road and lanes are washed out and a few areas have flat buildings, One area to the south is quite noticeable but Pilot Plus notes it will be filled in with 3d buildings. Runway and taxiway textures are very good, if old and and areas have grass growing in the cracks. good detailing is the add on concrete turn at the end of RWY08. Ramps (if you could call it a ramp) and solid areas are mostly under maintenance, or going to be fixed... or just surrounded by cones to avoid the holes. Aerodrome Buildings The huge old WW2 Bellman hangar of G-Air Aviation dominates the scenery. In weathered and rusting metal the hangar is totally realistic. In front are the Ikaron Restaurant cafe,Pooleys Flight Equipment/ Flight Training London, and the Flyer Training office. A great visual feature is the puffing smoke coming out of the Ikaron cafe, but I doubt I would take the wife there on a romantic night out. Right thoughout this scenery the smaller item placement is really well done as the only things missing it seems are the throw away garbage cups on the ground, but the detailing is really well done and realistic. West is a set of low-rise buildings that house more of the Flight School offices like Flying Pig and Flight Training. There is also the Elstree project with Ma-Na's Yoga that is based here, which is an individual or group activity with breath awareness, stretching and relaxed preparation before flight, sounds like just what we need and more Karma in the air. East is the main aircraft Sales, Servicing and Maintenance hangars area, more like a builders yard than an aerodrome it is full of discarded items and like a typical English junkyard. The old blue buildings stand out and look perfectly worn and detailed, the rest with their rusting iron work and the roofs are great in detail. The larger one is run by VVB Aviation Services and the second by Helicopter Services Ltd. Third building looks like the Enigma Heating & Mechanical Services building and yard. From the ground stand point of view you are in the place and the environment. That is the ultimate goal of scenery is in you believe you in the actual presence of the place, and I would say that has been achieved here. Fencing and signage is first rate and so is the object placement. Refueling station is very good, if you can park your aircraft close enough to fill it up... London Aviation's demountable offices are very good. More East are buildings around the Aldenham Park Golf Course and the complex of buildings that makes up the Haberdasher's Aske's School for Boys. Control Tower The aerodrome control tower is not the most high-tech building you can name, in fact it looks quite like a temporary tower put there and they haven't bothered to build a proper one or fix this one up. The tower view is slight off to the left and slightly too high, but the view of the runway and taxiways are excellent. Nightlighting Pilot Plus has always had a good grasp on how to do good lighting, and EGTR is again very good. You have to understand that there really is not much to work with here as unlike a busy international airport, but clever work can create a very good scenario out of nothing. The runway lighting is very poor not that scenery is at fault but the actual runway lighting is average (no wonder poor Graham Hill couldn't find it in the fog) not much approach lighting and only two white flashing lights to signal the start of the runway itself is not great from a distance... and don't forget those trees in the dark! The laneways and roads are well lit, but because they are so well done it does tend to show up the bright areas on the scenery itself and the low wattage around it, so it tends to stand out from a distance and define the boundaries of the scenery itself. In the central area the lighting is first rate, with excellent drop down lighting on buildings and signage. There is enough lighting here to make it useble but not too much to overwhelm it, public areas are well lit and are excellent. FrameRate A few notes on frameRate here at EGTR - Elstree. As scenery the airport itself is not actually too bad, but it situated on one of the most dense tile meshes in X-Plane. Throw in Aerosoft's huge EGLL - Heathrow just over the way (2.47gb!), The now very good EGLC - London City by forbesie2k and Gatwick, London Buildings and enough autogen to fill your screen and you can see why your computer will start to cough and splutter. Worse is the angle from the runway towards the airport buildings at it puts you directly in line with the major autogen masses. So then add on top of all this a Carenado aircraft and your not getting much space above the teens or early twenties unless you have a powerhouse machine and the minimum requirements demand a heavy graphics card (1GB) and 4gb of RAM. I was still able to use Elstree but I was limited by the headroom minimums that were low to marginal. You can of course wind down a lot of the autogen and pull the weather in to gain framerate and I had to do that here as well. ________________ Summary EGTR - London Elstree Aerodrome is a lot more of a smaller scale than the first two airports in EGHI - Southampton and EGGD - Bristol for Pilot Plus. It is a different vibe here as well, in being very old and slightly neglected in that exWW2 period sort of way. You are restricted to GA aircraft and helicopters is is still highly usable for GA flight and refueling in the London area, I doubt I would bring my gleaming Jet here, but superstar actors demand a close to work arrival and more a departure after the lines are read, so it would be a land and go sort of mission. In detail and quality EGTR is very good, even excellent. The underlaying textures can intrude and be a little washed out in areas but overall and certainly in the merging of the surrounding default mesh scenery it is perfect. Trees close up are blurry, in Southampton or Bristol it wasn't as noticeable as here as you are more closed in by the foliage, excellent overgrown grass and spring flowers as well fill out the visual drama. Signage and night lighting is first rate and so is all the detailing in fences,farms, houses (if a few American style ones) and spread out over a larger area than you can see, 3d cars are plentiful and a few are well animated, but they can be blurry at a low resolution setting. Buildings and textures are first rate and really well designed in quality, positioning and so are the objects and layout of... discarded items. You will want a brush and a truck to want to go and clean the place up little for the next visiting American superstar actor (Sorry no dogs, Johnny Depp) as it does not represent really the best face of what the UK has to offer when visiting here. And in that it really sums it up in authenticity... it is very good. ________________ The EGTR London Elstree Aerodrome by Pilot Plus is available now from the X-Plane.org Store: EGTR - London Elstree Price is US$22.95 Features include: Faithful Replica with HD detailed buildings High Resolution ground imagery of area Custom Night Lighting Animations, POI's & Ground Traffic Volumetric Grass Pre-rendered 'worn' atmosphere ________________ Documents and Installation: Include Manual (12 Pages) and Aerodrome chart (above) Download: 81.80mb : Installed 259.80mb If you wish to add the 3D static aircraft and people you can download the free extension from the x-plane.org download manager. http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=28156 OpenSceneryX is required. ________________ Technical Requirements: X-Plane 10 - Windows, Mac or Linux - Multi-core processor @ 2.6 Ghz or faster, 4GB Ram - 3D video card with at least 1GB VRAM Current version: 2.0 (last updated August 8th 2015) ________________ Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton 14th August 2015 Copyright©2015: X-Plane Reviews Review System Specifications: Computer System: - 2.66 Ghz Intel Core i5 iMac 27” - 6 Gb 1067 Mhz DDR3 - ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb Software: - Mac OS Yosemite 10.10.4 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.36 (final) Addons: - Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle - Bose Soundlink WiFi Speaker Aircraft CT206H - Stationair HD Series by Carenado US$29.95 available at the X-Plane.OrgStore

News! - EGCC-Manchester is now available at the X-Plane.OrgStore Aerosoft/Icarus Development Team's EGCC - Manchester is now available from the X-Plane.OrgStore for download only... ... and is priced at : US$22.00 Here: EGCC - Manchester Available in Windows, Mac and Linux versions. Noted is... "During development it was of great importance to make use of all new X-Plane Features, e.g.: HDR-lights, Object Instancing and many more. The Airport is modeled with high accuracy and has been provided with a combination of ultra high Definition (UHD) Textures and High Definition (HD) Textures." Go check out the largest airport in the UK outside of Greater London. Features: Highly detailed rendition of Manchester Airport (EGCC)High resolution day and night sceneryAnimated car traffic around the airportComplete reconstruction of the airport's lighting equipmentAnimated airplane towingAnimated radarHighly detailed manual (PDF)Compatible with X-Plane 10 HD Mesh Scenery V3HD and Ultra HD texturesX-Plane 10 HDR lightningCustom ground textures with about 5cm/px (only airport area) Images courtesy of Aerosoft®/Icarus Development Team Stephen Dutton 11th August 2015 Copyright©2015: X-PlaneReviews

Run the installer and untick the beta box? and it will return you to version 10.35 stable, 10.40b7 is a total dog, horrible! It is best to have two X-Plane versions, one for the beta and one stable while betas are running in case this happens... SD

Aircraft Update : Bell AB412 1.4 by X-Trident X-Trident have added another great feature to their excellent Bell AB412. This update only contains one change but its a beauty!. Version 1.3 released in June added a lot of SAR tools in a FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared Camera) Nightlight system and movable searchlight... full v1.3 details are here : Aircraft Update : Bell AB 412 v1.3 by X-Trident Added now in v1.4 is an excellent hoist system with all the trimmings. Added is a new menu option in "SAR Control panel" under the X-Plane Menus in plugins. First note is that the winch system is not on every aircraft livery and even then only on certain SAR versions. You can tell what the active winch is like by noticing the yellow hook hanging from the winch. If you want to add the winch to a livery or version that is not active then you can, like I did here to the Australian "Customs" version. Go to the livery that you want to use and you will see the "config.dat" file, open it with a word editor and change "winch" to "agusta_winch" save, and there you have it... The detailing of the winch is very good, everything is modeled including the attached power cabling. To operate the winch is via the SAR Control panel, first row operates the winch up and down or stop. Second and third rows operate the doors left and right, which is great because you don't have to now keep pulling down the menus or crawl back over seats just to open and close the doors internally or externally. Next two rows on the menu are for the "Operator" or winchman and your "Patient". In Operator "on" will show the Operator on the hoist and "off" will remove him. Same really with the Patient in "off" not there, "In Transit" on the lifting cage, "On Board" in the aircraft and finally "On ground" Here on the right side of the menu popup you can set the coordinates of where the patient is lying on the ground, it is quite clever in that you can place him either by inputting the direct coordinates or pressing the "Get" button which notes the current position of the aircraft. So if I "Get" and then set the "On Ground" he (or She) will appear at that set of coordinates, or in other words directly below the aircraft... In operation it all works very and is very realistic... The only really tricky part is flying and hovering with one hand and controlling the menu buttons with the other. Inside "view" gives you this great shot of the pair arriving at the door. Once the patient is on board and the winchman is safely stored, it is then a direct ride to the hospital or nearest airport. So the SAR winch is a great addition to the aircraft, and so add in some really bad weather and a few large dangerous mountains and then go for it... Yes! the Agusta Bell AB412 from X-Trident is now available from the new X-Plane.Org Store here : Agusta Bell 412 - Price is US$35.95 Current version is v1.4 and if you have already purchased the X-trident Bell AB412 then go to your X-Plane.Org Store account and upgrade now! Features: Pre-release versions tested by actual customers since August 2014 Highly detailed 3d model and 3d cockpit. Most switches operable Detailed rotor kinematic modeling Detailed lights Close to real fuel, hydraulic and electrical systems; start-up sequence follows the real checklist almost line by line Custom failures Working custom auxiliary tank and water drop system Working dolly pad for precision landing Custom warning panel Custom governor Custom artificial stability Custom 4 channels autopilot with over 10 modes Flight model approved and tweaked by real pilots Hyper detailed rotor with all its levers moving ud and down, Custom GPU Custom Remove Before Flight with dangling flags (with FOD) ADF with bank error Working doors with changing sound volume effect Many liveries plus a paint kit; smart configuration of optional objects attached to each livery Plugin for Windows, Mac and Linux (32 and 64 bit) – detailed custom menu Tested with FS Economy, Smart Copilot and Saitek panels Includes a licensed version of Dreamfoil's Geforce plugin Garmin 530 GPS V1.3 New Features: Working NIGHTSUN Spotlight Working FLIR Camera V1.4 New Features: Custom Winch and SAR operations _____________________________________________________________________________________ Requirements X-Plane 10.30+ (any edition) - Mac, Windows, Linux - 1Gb+ dedicated VRAM Video Card Current version: 1.4 (Last updated August 7th 2015) Update by Stephen Dutton 10th August 2015 Copyright©2015: X-PlaneReviews