Stephen

Aircraft Review : Agusta Bell AB412 by X-Trident No helicopter is more renowned and as well known as the "Huey", It was and still is through licenses with Agusta (Italy) and Westland (UK) one of the most versatile helicopters ever built. But before you go and play really loud "Ride of the Valkyries" and scream "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" while half dressed with a cowboy hat on, this "Huey" is not that two bladed iconic aircraft the UH-1. The 412 is the later built advanced four blade main rotor twin-engine utility helicopter version that flew in the late 70's (August 1979). And this initial model was certified in January 1981. The version here is the Agusta (Now Agusta/Westland) AB412 and to note that the Westland version is the "Griffin" (HAR2). Over the last three decades just under 900 aircraft have been built. The 412 is in widespread use for a number of utility roles, including EMS, SAR (Search and Rescue), Police and Fire services and oil rig support, its twin engine configuration being an asset, particularly in the latter role in flying offshore. It is also well serviced in military service. Power is by 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T-3BE Twin-Pac turboshafts, 900 shp (671 kW) each. Performance - Maximum speed: 140 knots (161 mph, 259 km/h) - Cruise speed: 122 knots (140 mph, 226 km/h) - Range: 402 nmi (463 mi, 745 km) - Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6,096 m) - Rate of climb: 1,350 ft/min (6.86 m/s) - Power/mass: 0.2663 hp/lb (437 W/kg) The "Huey's" advantage was its box like fuselage with a tail and rotor section added on at the rear, this gave this utility aircraft a huge amount of flat space inside the cabin and created a very versatile and utility machine. But the very square fuselage shape also gave the aircraft another advantage with those two very large front windows in the cockpit that gave the pilot and copilot a great view forward and scan area. Today the "Huey" is so well known and so familiar it has taken on an almost mystical significance in aviation. For X-Plane users we have waited a long time for a really good version on this aircraft, one to savour and to satisfy a wanting to fly an aircraft of this caliber. So even before the aircraft was released it had a very large expectation pressed upon it and so the designers had a lot of or all of that expectation to live up to. Above that, helicopters in X-Plane already have a big reputation for quality and features. So does the AB412 live it up to that high expectation? Yes and more... The AB412 is not as highly featured as the AS350 B3+ and the recently released Bell 407 from Dreamfoil Creations, but in every department it delivers in spades. More so in the gut feeling department, you don't just like this aircraft, you love it and get seriously addicted to it... The AB412 is a relationship breaker so you have been warned. Close up the detailing is exceptional. Make sure you have the "draw per pixel lighting" ticked on your Rendering Options menu to see the perfect riveting and paneling detail of the outer skin. And you certianly won't be disappointed in any area. Glass including those distinctive green panels over the pilot and copilots heads are close to perfect, and fly into the sunlight and the front and side windows are realistically perfectly mottled and worn. Detailing is very good and down to even the wiring held on by tie-clips on the front struts and the twin-exhaust outlets set up high. Design Helicopters are however about real detailing in the smaller points of the aircraft, and the highlights here are the elements of the rotor designs. How helicopters fly is mostly by small movements at points you can't really see. So to have that perfect animation of the workings of a rotor design in going to show you more than just a load of pretty good 3d design element work. In this area the AB412 is exceptional. The biggest movement is with the collective, that gives the blades the bite (twist) they need into the air to lift the aircraft. Then there is is the pitch (up - down) and roll (left - right) movement of the (cyclic) finer push rods, that changes the angles of the blades to the rotor head. The whole design work and animation of the actions here is simply excellent and right down to the rotor notice on the main shaft assembly. The tail rotor assembly has the same intricate part work and movement. You don't just get the blades actual yaw movement, but also the linkages in there actions on how the blades actually do move. It is brilliant stuff to activate (via rudder pedals or joystick yaw movement). It is all very impressive. Menu The aircraft's Menu is in the X-Plane banner "plugin" menu. I like these plugin menu's because they don't tab up the screen and are very easy to use. The Menu is not very extensive but highly useable. First on the list is a slowing down of the rotor action (Rotor Demo Mode) so you can see how it works, Panel View 1 is for the overhead panel view, Joystick Safe Mode Some Macs have joystick issues and this is a safety (I haven't experienced anything?), GPU Toggle a GPU for external power to the aircraft, Remove Before Flight You get a full set of tags and tie-downs with the aircraft. A sub-menu also covers crew and extras which you can toggle them on or off, included is a Pilot, Co-Pilot, Three crew, Guns and Patient. In the guns option, when the door is closed the gun is set in the stored position. Open the door and you have an optional gunner and the gun is positioned ready for action. It is best used on the military version of the AB412 as you have other extras all over the aircraft like flares (on the rear tail), wire cutters and infrared camera or thermal imaging cameras. Overall I really loved the crew menu, It is great just to have what you need when you need it, The Pilot will always be shown with the power running, but the rest are switchable. This gave me the option to fly with two crew to the base then pick up the extra crew and then fly to the pickup zone (aircraft carrier or Rig) and then add on the patient. Then fly back to base and drop off the the crew and patient and then fly back to the home airport to stand down. So it is all very efficient and easy to do. The front doors open via the door handles inside in the cockpit 3d view, The rear are clever and are two-piece doors, Open the larger one and when it is finished moving you will get another manipulator to open the second smaller portion, same in reverse. The left and right larger doors can also be opened by pressing Shift/F1 or F2. The cabin is well fitted out with a bar/canvas type seating bench and that familiar diamond soundproofing matting that is a classic look on the "Huey". The internal detailing is excellent here. Cockpit We are so familiar with the classic huey cockpit that it is second nature to us. But here it is so real, we can now actually not only look at it in real detail, but also interact with it. The design is so perfect. A small note in that a few switches are still not usable, not a big deal in what is missing. But they will be activated as the aircraft proceeds with more updates in the future. Nothing really important though is missing. The cockpit is dominated by those two very large collectors, the pilot's collective is larger than the copilot's. Stop/Start switches are on there with landing and large external light switches. On my version the Search light didn't work. Hoist and RPM switches are not working either. The main feature however are the two large throttle grips for each engine that you can turn to add on power or reduce the torque (power), full twist is idle. Seriously great to use, but wait for the rotor percent % to get to the full 100% power before moving the collective. The instruments are beautifully recreated. Overall the panel looks very crowded with instruments but they soon become familiar. The Standard Six don't really stand out as there are only five in the altimeter, artificial horizon, Heading, Vertical Speed and Speed (knots) There is a ABS (radar) altimeter and a spare backup artificial horizon and clock (far right). Engine (rotor) power % to 100% and Torque for each engine are also in the central viewing zone. Slightly centre and stacked are the twin engine gauges with from the top... GAS Prod (Gas producer rotation speed) - ITT (turbine temperature) - Engine Oil (Temp and Pressure) - Fuel Pressure - Gearbox Oil (Temp and Pressure). Arranged next in the centre are from the top are - hydraulic Sys 1 and 2 (Temp and Pressure) - Fuel quantity (two tanks left & Right) - Electrics in Volts and AC-DC. Below is a battary of system alerts and warning lights. The copilots side is much simpler with the Standard Six instruments and a large weather radar (X-Plane version). All instruments are very easy to read and use, but you do need to be familiar with them all to get the best out of the aircraft. There is also a set of custom commands that you can set for keyboard or Joystick inputs for and they are listed in the manual. The box like Overhead Panel (OHP) is mainly Electrical switches (master and Gen), lighting switches and knobs and wipers, which are three speed. To the rear are the multi-rows of fuses. Airvents surroundi the box structure with a rotor brake on the right (on/off) with no animation? There are twin compasses (one for each pilot) on the top of the main windows crossbar. On the pedestal are the basic radios in Comm 1&2 - VOR 1&2 - ADF and IDENT (transponder). Fuel panel switches (main) with boost pumps and engine governors. Hoist power switches and the Autopilot, I will cover the Autopilot more in depth in flight. Lighting The Panel lighting is very good (bright), but not with a lot of depth, you can set the brightness via the turn knobs on the OHP, but it does not change the perception much, but just brighter or darker. Using the HDR does not give you much difference but only the more shading on the rear cabin lights and that is about it, So the HDR is not really a feature here and so you can save your frame-rate and leave it switched off. There are spot lights around the cockpit but I couldn't get them to work on the version I used. Flying the Huey! With all the electrics on and the fuel load set and ready to go. It was time to start the turbines, you switch on the NON-BUS to start each engine via the switch on the collective (fuel on) and start up whine begins, Once one engine is at idle then start the same sequence with engine no. 2. On this early version and no checklist I found the NON-BUS was in one position to start one engine and and other position to start the other. Once both engines are at a nice idle speed and warmed up, you can then twist up the double throttle grips and wait while the engines scream up to 100% power. The dials are simply excellent in the way they read out the settings. Slight slow pull of the collector and gradually you grip the air. Then you are off the ground and in control with the cyclic and rudder pedals of which don't need much movement or yaw against the tail (a little only is needed). The aircraft is really nice to handle even in this low hover position. More collective and a slide slightly to the right and your moving with a little left rudder to send you left and away from the pad. The aircraft is powerful and you feel the lift and the translational lift to forward flight and more speed is easy and progressive. If you are not smiling by now then you should be. The aircraft is simply amazing in the feeling department as you chop your way faster through the sky. The sounds are excellent with that great turbine whine filling your ears, adjust the pitch and there is this great "chop, chop, chop" sound that is so familiar. It gives you goosebumps and the AB412 just makes you smile so hard now your mouth hurts. In the air the aircraft looks simply brilliant as you slide it nicely into turns and find your new heading... Autopilot The first issue with the autopilot is seeing it? As huge head of the collective blocks it out from view from the pilots position. So you either have to move sideways or set a view point to access it. The AP is in three parts... The main activation switches on the pedestal and the individual item switches that are set on the panel. A third panel is the adjuster point with a display and knob. SAS is "off" and ATT is "on" in the first mode in that will take control of the aircraft but just hold the current heading, speed and height. On the panel you can lock in your height (500ft) by pressing the "ALT" button to "CAP"(capture). Change the altitude via the knob (700ft) and the ALT goes into "ARM" mode. then press VS (Vertical Speed) to pitch the aircraft to the new altitude, you can adjust the pitch (VS) again via the knob. (sometimes you may have reduce the collective or gain the collective to help the VS speed), your vertical speed will then show on the VS instrument. IAS on will allow you change speeds via the knob, you have to be very careful when you come out of the AP and certainly with the speed setting, It is best to regulate the speed by first turning it off here on the panel button than just turning the whole lot off via the ATT/SAS button on the pedestal. Get it wrong and the aircraft will quickly dive or climb to a position you will not recover from. So it is best to turn them off one by one on this set of buttons on the panel and really go in reverse to then turn off the ATT switch. The HDG (heading) is adjusted via the knob on the heading instrument when activated. and when your VOR (1&2) or NDB frequencies are set you can activate them via the radio switch panel below the heading instrument (the nav-aid direction pointers are on the outer ring of the heading indicator) You very quickly fall into the ease of the AP system and flying the aircraft, set a new turn and the aircraft will nicely turn to the new heading and resumes its powerful push forward, medium distances are a breeze as the aircraft covers the ground very quickly, you can easily see why the AB412 is so popular in the EMS/SAR roles. Night lighting externally is very good. There are small strobes on the aircraft and they flash well (bright) even in the daylight and look very realistic. Two (one top and one under the tail) red beacons and a landing light and EXTernal light. View inside and the aircraft looks great traveling in the low light conditions. Liveries There are 12 liveries and two plain white ones and still you would want more! There are so many different liveries out there, and all are very good. The mix is excellent but a few more military versions would be nice and there is (at this point) just one American one in the LA Fire Department. There are two white versions in the plain (default) and Custom with all the extras added. And there are various differences between them like ice landing pads and pontoons and various lighting settings. Mission My mission objective today is to fly out to a rig and collect a patient and then return back to Glasgow Prestwick (EGPK), situated off the West Coast of Scotland. The AB412 is very good when you come off the power and has the drag to reduce the speed to the point you want to go through the transition to the hover phase. Many helicopters struggle here and the speed can be hard to wash off, but the AB412 can be perfectly controlled right though these phases. Once on the deck the power was wound down to idle and as I was going to be here for a short while I powered the aircraft down completely. Once our patient was secured and the crew loaded it was time to power up again and head back. A slight hover to check the slight wind and then a turn away from the rig required light touches to the collective and turn of the cyclic and rudder pedals. Once back on the correct course back towards Prestwick, I reset the AP to 125knts and 500ft. The crew were very happy with the space in the rear but the patient quite obviously was not doing as well with all the moaning and groaning going on. The approach to Prestwick (EGPK) was slow at 60knts and I then reduced my height to 50ft above the runway as an approach. The helicopter pads are situated around the rear so you have fly past and then loop around parked aircraft to find the landing places. Again the trasition to the hover was immaculate, Helicopters by nature are hard to fly, but if they are well calibrated then your learning curve and feeling of the machine is going to be far easier, As I eased down towards the ground you have to watch the AB412 does not tend to slightly swing as if you get into a swinging match with the hover you will lose, so it is as easy as she goes. Half an hour later and the AB412 is shutdown and ready for the next flight in a few hours. Summary Aircraft are like relationships... Some people come with expectations and usually live up to them. Some you just don't like at all, not because there is anything wrong with them but you just don't match up well together "It is a just a personal thing", a few you are not sure of, but after a few weeks of getting to know them you then really like them... Then there are the ones you just simply totally go overboard over, totally obsessed with them and want to be around them every living minute.... That is the Agusta Bell 412! Does hedonistic behavior make you biased? Not if you are aware of their faults then I don't think so. The AB412 does have a few very minor issues like a few switches not working (or going the wrong way) and AP can behave a little oddly with my joysticks, In most cases it is perfectly fine and this is all just fine tuning anyway which will but sorted by the updates. The AB412 is not nestled to the brim with features, menus and extras and like, but what it does deliver in features are really well executed. My wish list? Well I would have liked rain and mist effects on the windows, Helicopters are the best when flying in poor wet conditions. It is noted with the developer so that might come in the future. On the rest AB412 delivers in every department and X-Trident have done a great aircraft with excellent detailing, and it is mostly noted in the gut-wrenching, loving every minute of flying this a really great aircraft and one as famous as the "Huey". It is brilliant, It delivers... And certainly one of my favorite aircraft in X-Plane... Certainly the number one at this moment. ___________________________________________________ Yes! the Agusta Bell AB412 from X-Trident is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Agusta Bell 412 (note: current release is not the release 1.0 version but a final beta 0.9, all users will be updated automatically when available) Price is US$35.95 Installation : Download is 276.mb which is unzipped to your X-Plane Helicopter folder at 326.30mb Support Thread : Bell 412 by X-Trident ___________________________________________________ Review by Stephen Dutton Copyright © 2014 : X-Plane Reviews 30th July 2014 Technical Requirements: Windows, MAC or Linux - X-Plane 10.25 or higher - 32 and 64 bit compatible. Joystick required 512Mb VRAM - 1GB VRAM Recommended Current version: 0.9 Updated store# 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 Mavericks 10.9.3 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.25 (final) Addons - Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle - Bose Soundlink WiFi Speaker Scenery - EGPK Glasgow Prestwick International Airport by GOLF 1 - free .org (EGPK Glasgow Prestwick International Airport 1.1) - Oilrigs - Khamsin (turn on Oilrigs and Aircraft Carrier in X-Plane Render settings)

Competition! : X-Plane Reviews first anniversary competition and win either a Boeing 748i, 777 or 757! To celebrate X-Plane Reviews first year anniversary we are holding brilliant competition to win either a : FlightFactor/Vmax Boeing 777 Worldliner Professional FlightFactor/Vmax Boeing Aircraft:757 Professional SSG/Vmax Boeing Aircraft:747-8i Advanced Great prizes and well worth a few minutes of your time to enter: Well what we want to know is - "What is your favorite aircraft or add-on we have reviewed on X-Plane Reviews in the last twelve months and why?" Just write in the "comments" below what your thoughts are.... Conditions: Only one entry only, more than one will be deleted... so make it count. You must be a registered as a member with X-Plane Reviews to give a valid comment... "Guest" comments will be deleted. Keep the comment to around 350 words, monologues will be deleted. (unless very funny!) The best three will of course win one of the prizes in no order, Judges decisions are final. The winners comments will be posted as a separate post on the X-Plane Reviews site. Competition runs for 14 days till midnight 14th August 2014 (winners will be posted on the .Org) Have fun and lets us know on how really great the X-Plane Simulator really is. Stephen Dutton X-Plane Reviews Note! to sign up as a member then use the Account link : 1st August 2014 Copyright©2014:X-Plane Reviews

Happy Birthday! : X-Plane Reviews is One Year Old... Yes! X-Plane Reviews is now One Year old today and counting. This time just only a year ago we were sitting here facing a completely empty site. Nothing except the challenge ahead. And we have exceeded even our own expectations, but without X-Plane's constant evolution and expansion then we could not have reported and reviewed so much in such a short time. Without doubt the biggest surprise over the year was certainly the amount of releases and projects that have filled these posts. We expected busy times but also the many quiet times and they never seemed to come to pass, as releases are now almost year round and average about one every two weeks, with a very large project release about every three months. Above that is simply the high quality of these releases, many are simply extraordinary in quality and features and there are very, very few that don't come up to mark. So every review was pushed higher and higher as the months went by in every area in features and quality that really any purchase today is not going to fail your expectations or live up to your investment into the simulator. The amount of releases can also push your own boundaries in that there is so much to absorb and then learn as the ideas and features are sometimes quite complex, but still need to be dissected and then explained so everyone can understand and get the very best from the project. In most cases what you see on the site posts is only a quarter that we do behind the scenes to post the very best information to you. I don't do all this by myself and I have a big thanks to Adrian, Wycliffe and Joe for their invaluable contribution and mostly giving their valuable time to post on this review site over the past year. More people to thank is Nicolas Taureau from the X-Plane.OrgStore that gives us the support and quick updates to bring you the latest reviews almost as they are released. To Dan Klaue who can explain things that are simply unexplainable (To me anyway) and to the amazing developers that have created the amazing world we fly in and let us bring their efforts and skills to our reviews. So we start another year, and still there will be more and more great projects that will excite us and to be explored and reviewed. And X-Plane will continue to become one of the very best simulators ever released and we are living and enjoying the journey that will continue well into the future. Its been an amazing ride to date and it won't slow down anytime soon... and most of all is our thanks to you the users for joining us and giving us the great feedback that is required to run sites like these, this is your site more than anything and the best place to get the best reviews in X-Plane. And to celebrate our first anniversary X-Plane Reviews is going to run a Competition! Prizes are in no order of a: FlightFactor/Vmax Boeing 777 Worldliner Professional FlightFactor/Vmax Boeing Aircraft:757 Professional SSG/Vmax Boeing Aircraft:747-8i Advanced Details and conditions will be posted on the Competition post, So get in and have a chance to win one of the most significant aircraft that has been released in X-Plane over the last two years... Stephen Dutton 1st August 2014

You have to log your IP address (computer) into the X-Plane Menu - NET Connections/iPhone/iPad Page... and be on your Wi-Fi network. Then open your browser and put the IP address into your browser address bar. And it should work (you may get a warning "Allow Access", so you will have to "Okay" that) I made the page into a "Add To Home Screen" so it is there all the time on my desktop. If you want the full details on how to install they are in the "DOCS" with the B777 - "Remote - CDU - How To" SD

Aircraft Update : Boeing 748i Intercontinental Advanced v1.04 by Supercritical Simulations Group (SSG) Route : VHHH (Hong Kong) to WSSS (SIngapore) Supercritical Simulations Group (SSG) has updated the Boeing 748i Intercontinental Advanced to version 1.04. The big news though is that the sale price has been kept on as the new entry price for the aircraft, so you get a whole lot more for a whole lot less. The price is now set at US$45.00. So what do we have in the SP3 v1.04 update? Quite a lot with first the new cockpit textures that does give the aircraft a quality glow in the cockpit. My first reaction to the initial release aircraft was "I don't think I could spend hours and hours in here", were the textures that bad? Well no not that bad but certainly not good enough for an aircraft of that price range. Flying long, long hauls means spending a lot of time looking at things to keep the interest up, but overall it is more the feeling of how it felt sitting in there in a realistic environment, and in reality the B748i just didn't deliver... but it does now. The cockpit is now as good as any high end payware environments, it is frame rate friendly as well. As has the external textures that been given another once over to refine them even more. Systems have also had more refinements as well, a lot has done behind the scenes, but others include hydraulic system AUX pump behavior and indications, bleed/pressurization behavior at cold and dark startup, electronic checklist, custom autobrake and anti-skid system logic, Improved ADF display, Improved VNAV (A lot of work there), Improved fuel consumption calculations and a lot of work on the FMC by FJCC (Javier Corte). The FMC is now very good, but you will require a knowledge on how FMC's work to the very best out of it, there is always a bit of cleaning up to do to get the clean route you need, STARs are the worse. But once done it works very well, There is a trick on reloading a flightplan as well, and you will need to reset the SID /STAR at each end of the imported route. The biggest feeling that comes through with the B748i now is how well it does its job through the whole service route. The systems and procedures are uncannily smooth, from the moment you pull back on the yoke to set your pitch up, to the wheels touching the destinations runway. All aspects of the flight are overwhelmingly realistic, with lovely turns and manoeuvres right throughout the whole flight profile.. In short is a very nice rewarding aircraft to fly, certainly if you really like the "heavies". To see what the new v1,04 update feels like I flew the B748i from VHHH (Hong Kong) to WSSS (SIngapore), which is a short three hour hop for an aircraft like this, but it will still give you a feeling of what the aircraft is like in service. You can tow the aircraft around the ramps with the tow-truck (2 speeds - forward or pushback) and with that it is easy to manoeuvre this huge aircraft into the right bay, but watch stopping as the brakes don't work on the aircraft if the power is off... so it keeps on going. A GPU is also provided for external power, which is a very nice addition. Cargo doors open, but I don't like the open one and open all main passenger doors, so I keep them closed. These items are all controlled by the menu (Pad?) on the left of the pilot. It can also allow you to set up the weight and passenger loads and another menu is great for loading in the correct fuel loads, either from a manual setting or from the FMC. When loading a fuel truck is now positioned below the left wing. Note: you have to have the park brake on to use the fuel truck, I found that my keyboard setting for the park brake would let off the brake but not activate it? (not the custom SSG park_brake setting). You can either use the Fuel Truck with the brake on and the push-back truck with the brake off... but not together. Setting up the FMC is easier because it pops out by pressing the F8 key. But I found an issue in the past with that I could type into the FMC directly from my keyboard, but everything else including my screen was frozen? It was a problem when usually when reloading in a flightplan in that I then annoyingly lost control of the aircraft, but could only type into the FMC? I found that if you pressed the white button on the top of the (popout) FMC then the left pad would show "KEYS" to denote that you can then type in with the keyboard, press the same pad on the right side of the FMC and you get control back... problem solved. You are restricted to just the two airport ICAO ARR/DEST points on saving the flight-plan (VHHHWSSS). Which means if like me you can't designate say the runway or approach direction in the wording of the flight-plan if you have more than one plan for that route. As noted you have to add in the SID/STAR onto the installed route to finish it off, and the STARS can still be very messy and in need of cleaning up... This does take a little time out of setting up the aircraft. But once done and all the preferences for takeoff, cruise and landing are completed the FMC works very well. THE "PROG" (flight Progress) page on the FMC is excellent, with updates (fuel) and distances to the next waypoint and final destination. Startup of each engine on push-back will fill in the time for the long distance needed here on the push and the airport map on the MAP display is simply excellent for knowing (or learning) your route to the active runway (25R), to activate the airport layout just set the MAP distance to 5nm. Flaps are set to 10º and the excellent forward edge slats (rear flaps) are very well designed and animated to the that very efficient wing of the B748i. The aircraft needs a little shove of power to get all that weight moving and more power is required in any turns, but it is very easy to find the right taxi speed and considering the size of the aircraft it is easy to steer and place correctly on the taxiways, again the airport map display really helps. Power up and the aircraft tracks very nicely even with a little crosswind. At 185knts I rotate and the pitch is very clean at 30º. Many aircraft at this point tend to porpoise a little on the climb out, but the 748i is rock solid. I had the LNAV selected so at 400ft when I engage the autopilot the aircraft hits the track perfectly and then curves to the left away from VHHH, Hong Kong. My transition altitude is 7500ft ASL, so my climb is 2500fpm at 225knts. I found that taking it slow is the route with heavy, heavies like the Boeing 747 (A380) and the B748i is simply wonderful in the turns and the climb to the trans altitude. When there I cleaned the aircraft up and set the speed a little higher to 280knts and start the climb to 30,000ft at 1700fpm. You do need to do a lot of homework in setting these aircraft up for routes and weight settings. SSG provide you will full sets of tables and performance data in their "SSG 747-8 Advanced FCOM" manual and there is a "SSG 747-8 Advanced Quick Start Guide" and "SSG 748-i Normal Checklist" as well. There is a "SSGCUSTOMLIST" for setting your keyboard input directly to the plug-in. At FL300 I increased the speed to .82m and stepped up to my final altitude of FL350 over the next 400nm. You can see an excellent clock and timer on the menu display that also gives you an update on your fuel flow and gross weight. So how far have we come? Those images (above) were the original release images and the current aircraft cockpit (below) is certainly a far, far better place for flying in now. So much work has gone into this aircraft in the last six months and the credit goes to SSG in what has been overwhelmingly achieved. We have listed the liveries many times before in the updates and release reviews. So I will note the extra liveries now also available to the B748i. The Delta is superb and I like the British Airways (BA flies the B748F Cargo version), The Air Force One replacement looks great as well and there is the German Lufthansa World Cup (Winners) livery. The Cathay Pacific "Asia World City" livery I flew in this update is excellent as well, and SSG have released for all your oil rich top 1% in world monetary reserves a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) that you can play tennis in the sky on. Liveries supplied include : KLM, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Air China, Air Force One, Boeing Sunrise, Boeing Blue. Frame-rate now is very good considering the huge size of the aircraft in X-Plane, it will even on my machine run with the 10.30 clouds (tested here) and still have a bit of head room. Only issue is that this big people mover flies mostly from huge mega city to huge mega city, and that means One very large custom scenery to another very large custom scenery. So adding one very large aircraft to a very large custom scenery is always going to really test your graphic chip. Dropping the textures will help a little, but you can get away with it. In the air the aircraft looks simply amazing. As noted it will do lovely sweeping turns at waypoints and click off the NM with ease. Closer to Singapore the weather deteriorated as I came down to 7500ft ASL, you have a great target line to give you the exact point you want to be at a certain height on the MAP display. Note the excellent independent duel MAP displays for both Pilot and Co-Pilot, you can set one on the ILS - APP and the other still on the PLN (Flight-plan) display and a glance over will give you all the approach information you require. Rain started early and you have great water effects, but they come on at 250knts which is too high a speed. The aircraft is very good in low speeds, but you have to watch the drop in the speed zone between 20º flap and 25º flap position as the speed is to fall from well over 200knt to around 185knts and you have to cater for that, but even at that low speed the aircraft is as steady as a rock turn to the approach vector. On final's just before collecting the ILS you now have 30º flap and 175knt and reducing the speed down to a very handy 155knts when in the ILS. The aircraft was a very fast 180knts in the early days, but the adjustments now means that 155knt approach speed is acceptable. I collected the ILS at 1700ft, "Too Low", well I always like a low collection to keep the speed in check. On landing the reversers kick in well but the nose was very slow to come down on the tarmac... wind? or a breeze? directly ahead it might be, but it took too long for me. Again the airport layout of WSSS on the MAP display was excellent in finding the right gate to park the aircraft. Parked up and the power GPU attached I looked back at a successful fulfilling flight. Summary I evaluate my flying on how well I performed in every aspect of the flight, how I interact with the aircraft and how I handled it over the service. The issue is the situation that is it the aircraft that not quite perfect that makes you make slight mistakes. Or did you make those minor mistakes that add up to a poor flight. The evaluation is not just your performance but also the aircraft's or the designers/developer of the aircraft you are flying. In other words you are looking for the perfect simulation, that perfect integration of you and the aircraft together. To get that perfection or as close to the real world in performance you practise and evaluate at every step on what or where you fly. But the aircraft has to right as well for you to achieve both goals. You sit back as the aircraft winds down and evaluate your flight and you can have several answers, It was perfect, It was okay with a few minor mistakes or that was a "Complete disaster". In most cases it is the middle line that you achieve, but your aim is still "perfect", and most times you do achieve some sort of perfection or professionalism in what you are doing, and remember these are very complicated machines to operate correctly and to the numbers. Overall it comes down to "That was really, really good, I am very happy with that" (Performance)... So how does that relate to the SSG Boeing 748i? The aircraft is now extremely good and on par with the B777 and the B757 from FlightFactor and FlyJSim's twin 60's Boeings the B722/732. It flies extremely well, and does all the profiles right on the numbers, but more importantly it feels right, and it feels very good... Nothing is totally perfect, but then neither is the B777/757 as well.So if you like heavies then the SSG B748i certainly should be part of your fleet, It is nothing like the release version from before Christmas 2013. and it is now stocked with features. Better still the price is lower as well so your buck now goes both ways... Great value and a great deal. Yes it is and a great aircraft to master as well. Stephen Dutton Installation. Download is 191.40mb (expanding to 515.50mb on disk). just drop into your Aircraft folder and the activation (key) is required. Documents. http://xplanereviews.com/uploads/monthly_12_2013/post-2-0-57053200-1387759550.jpg Yes! the SSG Boeing 748i International Advanced is now Available from the X-Plane.OrgShop : Boeing 747-8 Inter Advanced The v1.4 update is free to all users that have already purchased the SSG - B748I Adv (check-in at your account at the X-Plane.OrgStore) Price is US$45.00 Developer Site : Supercritical Simulations Group (SSG) Support Forum : SSG Boeing 748i Advanced .org[ Update By Stephen Dutton 25 July 2014 ©copyright 2014 : Stephen Dutton Technical Requirements: Windows XP or Windows Vista or Windows 7 / 8 (32 or 64 bits) or MAC OS 10.7. Sorry not compatible with Linux X-Plane 10 fully updated. 32 or 64 bit. (X-Plane 9 not supported) 4GB RAM/512 MB VRAM (8GB RAM and 1GB VRAM Highly Recommended) Current version : 1.04 (Service Pack 3) - last updated July 17th 2014 SP3 - Version 1.04 update details : - All-new cockpit textures - Enhanced external textures and normals - Fixed EEC in cold and dark start mode - Electrical drive disconnect capability added - Improved hydraulic system AUX pump behavior and indications. - Fixed the bleed/pressurization behavior at cold and dark startup - Added advisory regarding the yaw dampers - Working electronic checklist - Enhanced custom autobrake and anti-skid system logic that works well with hardware pedals - Added “UP” indicator for flaps on the PFD speed tape - Added slip/skid indicator to PFD - Changed some light annunciator behavior. - Fixed the traffic interaction with SquawkBox and the ND - Improved ADF display on ND - Improved VNAV, especially on initial climb - Better ND track presentation - Improved fuel consumption calculations - FMC allows cruise level below 10,000 feet - A/T Switch doesn’t move down on touchdown during autolands - NOT ON INTERCEPT HDG logic improved - GPS/IRS(3) / or LOC/IRS(3) displayed on ND, as appropriate - External view in replay mode fixed - The word “DELETE” is erased when used on the FMC - FMC messages are deleted just by pressing the CLR key - Updated FCOM and Quick Start Guide manuals

Aircraft Review : Sikorsky UH60 / S70A Black Hawk by BFDG (Brazilian Flightsim Development Group) If the UH-1 Iroquois or Huey dominated the 60's and 70's then the UH60 Black Hawk has dominated the 80's, 90's and 2000's and certainly every Hollywood action movie since. The Black Hawk was the successor to the iconic UH-1 in that the UH-60A entered service with the U.S. Army in 1979 to become the U.S. Army's main tactical transport helicopter. The Black Hawks have served in combat during conflicts in Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and other major conflict areas in the Middle East. The UH-60 features a four-bladed main and tail rotors, and is powered by two General Electric T700 turboshaft engines. The main rotor is fully articulated and has elastomeric bearings in the rotor head. The tail rotor is canted and features a rigid crossbeam. The helicopter has a long, low profile shape to meet the Army's requirement for transporting aboard a C-130 Hercules with some disassembly. It can carry 11 troops with equipment, lift 2,600 pounds (1,200 kg) of cargo internally or 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg) of cargo (for UH-60L/M) externally by a sling. The Brazilian Flightsim Development Group (BFDG) has been around since 2009 and they have produced a few freeware aircraft in the AEROTEC A122B/T23 and in development is the Embraer 312 / T-27 Tucano. The UH-60 Black Hawk is BFDG's first payware aircraft. Aircraft Versions There are six versions of the UH60 in the package and all are separate aircraft in separate folders. This make for a large download of 979.30mb of which the add-ons to the versions are quite small. They are listed in the versions of with or without the radardome. Clean version Two Tanks Four Tanks On the ramp First thing to note is that the aircraft is not sitting directly on the ground? And it is not in the hovering mode either. The UH-60 looks odd and feels odd in this view in that when you touch down, you are still sitting well above the ground. The shadow does not match the aircraft either? Helicopters in X-Plane have lately carved a niche of very high quality and features. In this area developers are on the top of their game and with every release you will find it very hard to find if they could keep rising to more higher and better heights, but they do. Into this scenario is the fact that any new developer is most certainly faced with an extremely high set level of quality and flight characteristics to compete with. X-Plane is turning pro (professional), certainly in the payware sector and you have to deliver an aircraft that is expected to be at a certain level of quality. That said, any new developer has to also start somewhere, the pros have had a long development life of aircraft and learning and are expected to be at that level. First born aircraft are always going to be a bit rough and ready and certainly in the high standard of payware. And that brings us to the UH-60 Black Hawk. The basics are correct to a standard, but looking at the 3d modelling on the UH-60 it is a bit heavy and clunky, there is no finesse in the design here. and you can see it in the curves and the object shapes, some areas are fine like with the main panel, but many areas are just average and clunky with longer lines on the curves than there needs to be. Textures are poor in quality or even more in application, the heavy modeling soaks up your graphic memory like a heavy water tank, If you have 1gb in or more in graphic memory you should be fine, but it struggles everywhere else as the minimum comes in around 616mb which is way to high. Adjusting the texture res right up helps a little, but not by much, the inside textures are still quite basic and poor. The aircraft is dark? and hard to get light into, and the textures and liveries don't shine in quality on the surfaces, but the aircraft shines like a beacon. Switching on the "draw per pixel lighting" does not show any bump map highlights, which means there are no ridges or lines to reflect the light, and so the body of the aircraft is completely flat (smooth). The front undercarriage is well modeled, the rear single wheel a bit spindly and moves with the yaw movements. Aircraft power off will provide wheel chocks and engine, aerial/pitot covers (red) and external tags. There are no menus, so features are opened and closed by buttons that are oddly placed, The pilot's door opens via a button on the joystick, but the side doors are opened via a required setting of a key or joystick command that usually opens the Flight_Controls /open_canopy (toggle), there is also no views feature. You can open the forward rear doors to allow the gunners to protrude out (gunship mode) via a flick switch "Master ARM" on the centre pedestal. But like on the real UH-60 you can't have any slung tanks loaded as the gunners will fire straight into them. (In this case the gun nozzles will sit inside the inner tanks). Inside the 3d work of the seating and internal fittings is quite good. So the fit out is great, but detailing like rear door handles (that usually activate the door animations) are missing. The actual rotor assembly is well crafted but limited in design. Movement in the collective is animated but in only in an up and down movement? The collective should twist the blades to change the blade pitch to give lift. The changing movement of the blades produces here a sag (when the collective is down) or an uprising of the blade when the collective is full, presumable to give that up swept blade effect when flying. When rotating the blades don't look very natural in motion as they seem to be out of sync. The whole main rotor assembly won't adjust as well for the pitch or side movement and the rear four blade propeller is fixed?... with no yaw animation. Inside the cold cockpit the panel is quite good and realistic. Depending on the resolution setting, the instruments are very good to average. Many of the switches work, but many don't and many of the knobs don't rotate when you move them with the manipulators and look quite artificial on the overhead panel, and some manipulators only work in the )+ and not the -(. On the pedestal are the Fire extinguishers, Drop tank control, Master arm (gun mode), Chaffs and Flares, Autopilot VNAV engage, NOE flight mode, FLCH flight level change mode and engage buttons and indicators, COMM 1, COMM 2 and NAV 1, NAV 2 radio, flight director, XPDR (transponder) ident and code switches, Fuel boost/primers and FMS (Flight management system). The search lights and landing light switches are on the collective. On the cyclic are three buttons for opening the pilots door, Hoist and crew member or Helicopter Rope Suspension Technique (HRST) and far right a slung load. Overhead panel has Navigation/Beacon/Strobe lights, backup pumps hydraulic pumps, APU start button, Avionics switch, Battery switch Generator switches No.1 and 2, Fuel levers and Engine RPM, Fire extinguishers, Windshield wipers (2 speeds), Cockpit/Instrument lights, Pitot heat (annoyingly always in the off position) Ignition buttons, Inverters, Windshield heat and Engine de-ice. Engine controls are straight on or off, and have no idle position. This is annoying as well because if you like me do always do a landing too collect your crew or cargo then you just lower the power to idle while the work is happening around the aircraft, certainly if you are transferring on board ship or on the ramp, then you power up and fly away. I powered down the UH-60 and it just wound right down to a stop, and then the aircraft had to be totally restarted? Flying the UH-60 Black Hawk Just leaving the ground you know something is not quite right about the flight model? Push the cyclic forward and the the attack position of the pitch down does not happen as the aircraft goes flat?, Helicopters work by the lift of the collective and changing the pitch of the rotors in the direction you want to go (forward, back or sideways), here to get more forward speed in if you put the tail down? The Black Hawk does have that huge whale tail stabiliser and its job is to keep the aircraft in a level attitude in flight. But you can't right off the basic helicopter flight characteristics to that aerodynamic aid. Leaving the hover and forward flight and the tail will flip to the left without adjusting the yaw? This effect will come back when coming off the power (say in a descent) and then you will get a series of shudders to the left from the tail. In the hover it can resume its slight tail shudder that shows the flight characteristics are not tuned. So all through the flight modes you are aware of the drag modeling is simply not correct. After the Auto-Rotation in the hover mode the aircraft is not to bad and you can land it quite easily. I would note it as an Arcade Game type of flying than real simulation flight, and many users would enjoy that type of flying. So landing of taking off from the carrier is quite easy, but staying on the deck is slightly harder in the fact that with the collective full down the aircraft wants to tip forward nose first (no idle remember) so the only way to keep the tail down is to keep the cyclic full back? The main instrument panel is quite basic, with the Standard Six instruments for both the Pilot and Co-Pilot and the rest a nice sets of vertical parameter LED's, One set for each pilot is for the RPM and TRQ (Touque) but the engine & rotor gauges aren't actually properly calibrated and are the incorrect settings, and the digital torque does not match the readouts. The centre batch is for Fuel - XMSN - Engine oil (X2) - TGT Temp - Ng Speed. There is a comprehensive warning panel with an annoying "Lo Rotor" warning that can't seem to be solved and the warning whining sound means you have to either turn your sounds off or suffer it. lower centre is a standard Garmin GNS430 gps (not the 10.30 version) that is stretched vertically to fit the panel. Sadly you couldn't use many of the buttons or indicators because the text was out of shape or simply non-readable. The autopilot is basic and works well with the aircraft at a slight tilt to the right, but you have to set the SAS2 and FPS before using the LNAV or VNAV modes. If flying in the rain then the wipers (2 speeds) are not connected to the glass and the blades will sweep over each side of the glass. Liveries There are four liveries with the aircraft : Forca Aerea Brasileira (default) - Pantera - US Army - US Army (Black) (there is a paint kit provided) Livery quality is poor and you will need a high resolution setting to get any life out of them. Features You can use the underfloor hoist to carry a cargo load and the side hoist/winch to allow the (HRST) team or a single crew member to be lowered to a ship or landing position. The line below is quite straight so if you turn the aircraft at an angle the bugger on the bottom end will move in line with the aircraft. But as features they are both fun in the right context with like I did here in transferring crew and cargo to the Perry Class frigate from the USS Nimitz. Night Lighting The red lighting in the cabin looked and felt really good, and overall the lighting was not to bad, The Strobe (red & white) felt a little too large, but the Nav lighting was fine. You can adjust some lighting on the OHP (two out of four) and that cast a nice red glow on the panel, and the Standard Six instruments felt a little dull... but I could not get the OHP to light better either. There is a spot light and landing light under the front fuselage and are excellent for landing or close ground following flying. Summary Many of the basics with the UH-60 Black Hawk are well done, but a good portion needs more far development to realise the aircraft's full potential and even in some areas a total rethink. I would rather it be out here though and seeing the aircraft get the attention (and fixes) required than sitting in development hell for years or simply disappearing off our radar. No doubt the UH-60 is a great aircraft and we in X-Plane want this aircraft in our simulator. Like I noted is in that helicopters are at a high level in quality now in X-Plane and the step to level is very high, that does not mean that the UH-60 could not be sorted, In the short term the flight model needs a complete overhaul and the textures need to be more efficient and have better quality with also big reducing the overall size of the files (graphic use is far too high or inefficient for the size of the file). In the long run it requires a menu system and a better way of adapting the features with a one model + extras than the current each model for each version approach that adds to a huge download file. Yes the UH-60 looks like a Black Hawk and yes it is a great aircraft, and if you approached it as a arcade game to fly around in doing missions then you would get a lot of fun out of the aircraft, but for the serious helicopter pilot you would find it wanting. Yes! the UH60 / S70A Black Hawk by BFDG is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Sikorsky UH60 Black Hawk Price is US$24.95 Support Thread : BFDG Sikorski UH60L/S70A Black Hawk Installation: Download is a hefty 979.30meg to an expanded 2.08gb! that is positioned in your X-Plane "helicopter" aircraft folder. (each version is separate and each version will require (X-Plane) view settings to be applied to each aircraft. Documentation: Pilot Operational Handbook - Manual is 25 pages. _________________________________________________________________ Review by Stephen Dutton Copyright © 2014 : X-Plane Reviews 19th July 2014 Technical Requirements: Windows, MAC or Linux - X-Plane 10.25 or higher - 32 and 64 bit compatible. Joystick required 1GB VRAM Recommended 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 Mavericks 10.9.3 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.25 (final) Addons - Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle - Bose (mini Sound link) Scenery - EGOV - Valley : rcmarple .org

Aircraft Release : C195 Businessliner by Alabeo Alabeo has released the Cessna 195 that was manufactured by Cessna between 1947 and 1954.The 195 was the first Cessna airplane to be completely constructed of aluminum and features a cantilever wing, similar to the pre-war Cessna 165 from which it is derived. The wing planform differs from later Cessna light aircraft in that it has a straight taper from root chord to tip chord and no dihedral. he 190/195 fuselages are large in comparison to other Cessna models because the 42" diameter radial engine had to be accommodated upfront. There are two rows of seats: two individual seats in the first row, with a comfortable space between them and up to three passengers can be accommodated on a bench seat in the second row. The C195 is powered by a Jacobs R-755-A2 engine of 300 hp (225 kW) and the engine was first certified on 12 June 1947 The aircraft come with a full feature list that includes: - HD Textures - Superb material shines and reflections. - Volumetric side view prop effect - Dynamic propeller shines effect. - High quality 3D model and textures. - Blank texture for creating your own designs. - Accurately flight characteristics - With/without fairings option Quality is as expected from Alabeo the aircraft is absolutely excellent. Included is: 4 hd liveries 1 Blank texture Normal Procedures PDF Performance tables PDF Quick Reference PDF NOTE: This aircraft is only for X-Plane 10.21 (or higher) Technical Requirements: Windows XP or Windows Vista or Windows 7 (32 or 64 bits) or MAC OS 10.6 (or higher) or Linux X-Plane 10.21 (or higher) Pentium 2 GHz - 4GB RAM/512 MB VRAM 104MB available hard disk space Price is noted as US$22.95 For more information then go to Alabeo : C195 Businessliner Stephen Dutton 16th July 2014 Copyright©2014: X-Plane Reviews All images supplied courtesy of Alabeo©

Well both "custom Instrument" changes require you to know how to change the instrument in PlaneMaker and in the code, with values and dataref's, I didn't go down that path for a review because it is not relevant for the review. Check with .orgStore support to get a link to dmax3d.

Well your looking in the wrong place? The default flies are in the Challenger 300 main objects folder... They are are "text_1.png" for the fuselage and "text_2.png" for the wings and tail. Just swap them over with the same as the C-GJCV versions (make sure you keep the default ones) There is the "text_1_LIT.png" and ""text_2_LIT.png" files to replace as well... SD

Well I would like to take the credit, but FlyJSim did the all the magnificent work! It is a great aircraft and I sure you will enjoy it. SD

Aircraft Review : Grumman HU-16D Albatross by HydroZ and Khamsin The Grumman HU-16D Albatross was a military development of the Grumman G-73 Mallard that was primarily used as a search and rescue and combat search and rescue aircraft by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard. Originally designated as the SA-16 for the USAF and the JR2F-1 and UF-1 for the USN and USCG, it was redesignated as the HU-16 in 1962. The aircraft is a large twin–radial engine amphibious flying boat, and with its deep-V hull cross-section and substantial longer length hull enabled it to land in the open sea. The Albatross was designed for optimal 4-foot (1.2 m) seas, and could even land in more severe conditions (with assisted jet-takeoff). The USAF version the SA-16 was used extensively in Korea for combat rescue, where it gained a reputation as a rugged and seaworthy craft. Later, the redesignated HU-16B (long-wing variant) Albatross was used by the U.S. Air Force's Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service and saw extensive combat service during the Vietnam War. In addition a small number of Air National Guard air commando groups were equipped with HU-16s for covert infiltration and extraction of special forces from 1956 to 1971. It was also employed as an operational support aircraft worldwide and for "skunk runs" from the former NAS Agana, Guam during the Vietnam War. First flight of the Albatross was on the 24th October 1947, and the aircraft was manufactured between 1949–1961and the number built was 466 aircraft. Performance : Maximum speed: 205 knots (236 mph, 380 km/h) : Cruise speed: 108 knots (124 mph, 200 km/h) : Stall speed: 64 knots (74 mph, 119 km/h) : Range: 2,478 nmi (2,850 mi, 4,589 km) : Service ceiling: 21,500 ft (6,550 m) : Rate of climb: 1,450 ft/min (7.4 m/s) HydroZ and Khamsin As developers both HydroZ and Khamsin are both well known to X-Plane with their respective aircraft in the Pottier P130UL "Bleu Citron", Consolidated PBY-5A from HydroZ and the B-25 Mitchell, Chipmunk, Munda (WW2) airfield, T-28 "Trojan" and various Laminar Research projects like the Oil Rigs and USS NImitz/Perry Class ships from Khamsin. Both are hugely talented and here on the Albatross they combine their strengths to create this classic flying boat. The modelling of the HU-16 is excellent as expected from both developers, really great detail on an aircraft which is quite stubby in profile. You need the selection of the "draw pixel per lighting" checkbox "on" to see the great riveting and structural (hull and wing) detailing of which on the hull is excellent. However the "draw pixel... " gave me quite a hit in framerate while switched on with my 512mb graphic card, dropping the "texture resolution" down to "Normal" did offset most of the hit cost. So you have to be aware of your graphic boundary (In my case 512mb) as if the aircraft goes over it drops the framerate quite hard. The actual loading of the aircraft is only 212mb, so you do have a fair space to play with, keep it within the boundary and the aircraft is however very good in and around the framerate (61fr) and even HDR can be used easily as well. The highlight of the HU-16D is the landing gear, brilliant animation as it unfurls out of the sides of the aircraft and this is certainly a full sets of complicated landing gear to create and animate. It is clever and fun to activate and the struts and links are a marvel. There is not a lot of dirtying down close up, but it is very well done. The front wheel in real life is a castoring wheel, but it does not quite come off in X-Plane, you can try to turn via the engines or in real life by the brakes (Left or Right) and that is why it does not work very well, the update will go back to standard X-Plane (yaw) turning system (note this has been done in v1.1. As a second note Laminar Research has updated the castoring function for v10.30). The strangest thing was I couldn't find any doors or hatches to get in or out of the Albatross?... There is a couple of panels above the pilots and hatches up on the rear of the fuselage and a panel in the rear roof, but none can be seen from the inside or are removable? The role of the Albatross To understand this aircraft and its functions and to get the best out of flying the machine, is to understand its role. The primary mission is to fly way and far out to sea to find downed airmen or lost boats. And then when you get to the area you then need to stay on station for a period of time. The range is huge at just under 2,500nm but the flying speed is only about 150knts -140knts flat out. At that speed and that huge range you are going to be gone for a very long time. But if the area is quite close it does mean you can stay on station out there at a very low speed for a considerable amount of time if you need to search out a large sea area. The aircraft is also brilliant for island hopping and tourist areas. The cockpit, instruments and the flying controls are also placed and used for this same role requirement. The cockpit is WW2 late war-post war designed and kitted out. Khamsin's interior design (His B25-Mitchell was excellent) is always one of his major strengths and he does not disappoint here. It is a great design of tubular seating and metal paneling detailed cockpit. The main panel is perfectly recreated with all the correct gauges and dials and sets of switches for about everything you will need to fly a long distance flying boat. The standard six set of instruments are set out on separate metal panels for both the Pilot and Co-Pilot, Instrument detailing is extraordinary in quality, deep and olde world realistic. The centre instrument panel is again breath-taking in design, beautiful work. They include: Two Clocks (one in real time and one timer) - Carb temp (left and right) - Manifold pressure - Tachometer - Wheels and flaps Position indicator - Outside Air Temp - ADF pointer - VOR 1/VOR 2 pointers - Radio altimeter - Cylinder head temperatures - Fuel Qty - Rudder and Aileron Trim Tabs Position Indicator. Centre in a separate black panel are mostly pressure instruments of - Oil temp left and right - Oil pressure left and right - Fuel pressure left - Fuel pressure right. Above and positioned the on top of the glareshield is a standard compass. On a lower shelf on the pilots side is another set of gauges for the Hydraulic Main System Pressure Gauge - Hydraulic Sub-system Pressure Gauge and the De-Icing Wing and Tail Suction Gauge and Wing and Tail De-icer Pressure Gauge. The electrical panel is set centre on the shelf with Generator (left and right) and Battery Gauges. then on the right (centre) side is the Voltmeter and Voltage Selector switch. The shelf on the Co-Pilots side is the rows of fuses. Sticking out from the shelf is the pedestal console... Here you have the Radio sets of Garmin 340 Audio Selector - Bendix King KX155 COM1-NAV1- Bendix King KX155 COM2-NAV2 - Bendix King KR87 ADF - Bendix King KT76A XPDR (Transponder) - Bendix King KN62A DME. Aircraft lighting switches inside and out plus the instrument lighting knobs, and a TAB controller, which is an electronic trim TAB control. I wish the HU-16 had just the standard trim wheels, I found the switch version a bit awkward to use to find the correct trim, worse you would need to reset it back to neutral before landing. On the very rear of the pedestal is the autopilot. There is no doubt this system is used in the context of allowing the pilot to not have to worry about to many actions while flying the aircraft in a search scenerio. It does really only one thing, fly the aircraft at a set height and in the pointed direction. A switch will activate the autopilot, but it does not do anything until you press the "Big red" button... Set your aircraft up straight and level in the require altitude and on the correct bearing and then hit in the red button. The aircraft will then hold the altitude and heading for as long as there is fuel in the tanks! simple really, to change heading or altitude just pull out the red button and do the required changes and when set just hit the button in again to lock the changes in. Easy, well yes it is and you soon get into the rhythm of the aircraft flying in this direction, then popping out the button to do a change of heading and popping it back in again and then aircraft does the rest in keeping the new heading automatically. It makes it easy when searching in strokes at a set height and only require simple changes of direction. There is also a "Left Bank Trim Knob" that will turn the aircraft 180º to go back down a course. All these tools are made for long stretches of over water flight and then to keep you on station while searching below, the basis is to keep the workload as low as possible on the pilot while in both these modes. Some basic details are well done as well. Look down at the floor and you can see the position of the front undercarriage wheels through a circular hole (It shows a metal flag when the gear is down), old fashioned but it works. (Note the excellent detailng on the tubular seats) Up right on the roof is the "Overhead Control Panel" which is full of levers. First is the red "Emergency Control Panel" or Fire panel which can dowse an engine if required (more so on these sort of aircraft). There are two large "Fuel Tank Selector Controls" or handles that switch to select the various tanks around the comprehensive fuel system. There are six tanks with two large ones with bladders in the wings 340 Gallons (2040lbs) per wing, One tank in each of the outboard floats 209 Gallons (1254lbs) in the right float and 212 Gallons (1272lbs) in the left and tanks in the two drop tanks which hold 304 Gallons (1824lbs) per drop tank. The main tanks replenish from the auxiliary tanks in a transfer system. In a failure you can go directly to which tank you require fuel from. If not required you can drop the drop tanks. There are two Fuel Booster Pump Switches each side of the fuel tank selector handles with the Ignition Switches between them (fuel and electrical, ignition? that worries me) The ignition switch unit is a two engine type, incorporating a master ignition switch plus an individual ignition switch for each engine. The master switch is marked PULL OFF. The master switch must be in the on (pushed in) position for the individual engine switches to operate. Each engine switch has four positions which control the four circuit conditions available. The positions are : BOTH, L, R and OFF. The Flaps Control lever is on the right side of the OH panel. The flaps are in four settings in Up - 1/4 - 1/2 - 2/4 and Down. Propeller RPM Switches and Lights Two RPM control switches are for changing engine speeds by altering the propeller governor settings., These toggle switches (one for each engine) have three positions. The INCREASE and DECREASE positions are momentary, or spring loaded in the OFF position. Standard Mixture Control levers (two, one for each engine) and engine shut-off. Throttles have built in reverse pitch and no safe guards, so be careful in flight not to activate the reverse. I found activating the reverse pitch on landing sent me off the runway to the right? but this (hopefully has been rectified in the v1.1 update), To turn on the water you use the throttles for each engine in the direction you want to go, It is tricky to do, but it can be done. There is a "Gust Lock Control" to lock all the primary control surfaces to neutral, i thought my joystick had lost connection with X-Plane when nothing moved, but I had the gust lock on (silly me). Final lever is on the OH is the Supercharger Control Handle. The Supercharger can give you a shove to gain altitude above 12,000ft as the lower range might not give you enough power to do so. As with all items on an aircraft of this vintage you have to be gentle with the Supercharger or it might blow a gasket. Hydraulics and systems (and sub-systems) are perfectly recreated and pressurised to 3000psi and there is a back up hand pump between the pilot's seat to get pressure into the system for the emergency operation of the landing gear, wing flaps, and emergency and parking brakes. De-iceing systems are also very well represented with both wing and tail de-icing systems, and windshield defrosting and defogging. High up behind the pilots on the roof is the rudder boost controls (not to used on Takeoff, landing and single engine flight) and FWD and AFT flares. The two yokes are a classical work of art. You can almost feel that cold round metal in your hands and the great Grumman badge in the centre. They can be hidden in the menus. The menus are located under the white aircraft icon on the top left of your screen and are quite comprehensive. There are nine sections in: Easy Settings - Co-Pilot Settings - Sound Settings - Pilot's Seat Settings - Aircraft Health - Co-Pilot Command - Weight and Balance (manager) - Checklist - Views. Most menu items are mostly standard items with a few features worth mentioning. "Co-Pilot Notifications" are tag notices by the menu icon that say things like "I manage the engines, captain", It is your preference to keep them on if they annoy you, but sometimes relating to the engine performance they can be very helpful. Aircraft Health is showing you the condition of the aircraft, the engine heath (L&R) will start around only 60% and either go down if you abuse them or go up to 100% if you look after them (or coax the best out of them). Co-Pilot Commands are a run through of the checklists and the Co-Pilot will do what the checklists state, great for starting up the aircraft or shutting it down, and the actual separate visual checklists are excellent with a clever "Emergency Checklist" section. The Weight and Balance section is great for knowing where you fuel loads are and the amount of cargo (weight) you want to have on the aircraft. In many ways it is like the version from FlyJSim but not as comprehensive. As noted Khamsin does excellent internal cabins or rear cockpit spaces, and the Albatross is of no exception. The aircraft is very well fitted out with emergency equipment and stretchers. Four crew are placed in the forward cabin and are very realistic. Because of the watertight doors the cabin has a real nautical feel about it, it is a real shame there were no hatches that opened. Liveries There are four liveries - U.S. Coast Guard (default) - BUNDESMARINE - NAVY : 262 - USAF : N226GR. All are excellent and with great texture resolution (note the Xplane9® textures are only 2K were as the Xplane10® are 4K. Lighting Cockpit lighting is simple but versatile and effective. The actual instrument lighting is excellent as the banks of dials glow magnificently in the dark, You have a separate red light over the pilots station and one over the Co-Pilots, and a single cockpit light overhead that gives you a great but not overwhelming light on the instruments. Using the four adjustments you can created many different feelings in the cockpit of which all are very good. In the rear cabin it is also well lit but with just one switch on or off, but again it on how you use the lighting in if you want the cockpit dark and the rear section bright or the other way around... it all works. Exterior lighting is minimal but good. There are two drop down landing lights in the wings, Nav and strobe lights and a red beacon set low before the tail. At night the cabin and cockpit glows and looks very realistic in flight, the early morning light highlights the excellent reflections on the windows. Flying the Flying boat For all its bulk the HU-16D Albatross is quite a nice aircraft to fly. It is a STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) so any flap will get the wheels off the runway in quite a short distance, Full throttle you do have a lot of power and you can climb easily at around 1200fpm, but cautiously (5 min max). The Grumman is an old aircraft and those decades old engines have to be lovingly coaxed and willed to perform. Push them hard at full throttle and they will burn out really, really quickly and you are out of business before you have even started. Gauge your throttle at only 1/4 of its travel and even 1/2 throttle is going way over the limit and you will stay in the safety zone. Your Co-Pilot will let you know if you leave on the "Notifications" in that the best speed for "Max" speed and the best speed for "Cruise" at around 150knts, and if you keep to that you will be fine. You're eyes are on the "manifold pressure" on those two nine cylinder Wright R1820-76A/B/C/D engines as you can't have a "high" manifold pressure or either a "low" pressure either, but only that sweet spot in the middle at 35%. Going higher (but not faster) then you will need the Superchargers to pull you up there (you get there eventually), The only time you can get more speed is of course in a dive, but even then you are lucky to push that needle up to far (unless you are twirling down out of the sky!) Flying around on station the aircraft surprisingly light to fly. Just a forefinger and thumb is required to keep the aircraft doing what you want it to do. So once you set yourself up in cruise you will find yourself enjoying the flying. The aircraft does fly slightly pitch down, I tried the TAB system to try to trim the aircraft better, but it didn't like that and just climbed slightly, so I just let her be. Sounds (especially in the cruise) are excellent, They don't drone too much but give you a comforting background to your flying in the cockpit. The stutter and fire at startup and power ranges are all excellent, so you can't really fault any of the sounds. Landing and taking off from the water is very good, The low 70knt full flap speed will be very close to the stall speed, but you can get that just right without losing height before touching the water. Taking off is a skill to be learned, It is your choice to use a small flap drop, but in this case I don't... The problem from taking off from water is the drag to speed range, any flap will take off any speed that you will need to get airbourne, So I go for a very long ride and build up the speed with zero flaps, once the ground effect kicks in and the aircraft will rise a little out of the wetstuff the drag will start to disappear and then you can find a decent vertical speed and away you go off the water. Some aircraft require flap to start and then once they start to lift out of the water you pull the flap up for the speed, but here in the HU-16D I didn't try those tricks. Landings will require a little skill. You need as much a low speed as you can get, and under full flap at 70kts you are again managing the speed to stall zone. Your approach needs to quite flat as well as the issue is the travel on the main gear is quite high. Get the descent too fast or too steep and those wheels will be so compressed then go straight into a rebound that will send you flying again. Even a slightly wrong landing will send you bouncing around like you are sitting on a skyhopper. The trick is a slow and very flat approach and a touch of getting the rear wheels softly down on to the tarmac. As the speed is very slow then a short braking zone is all that is required, as noted on this earlier version a reverse of pitch will just sent you to the right and off the runway (fixed in the v1.1 update). Summary Aircraft like the HU-16D Albatross are interesting to fly and master. This version comes with a lot of (old fashioned) systems and flying skills. But it is a great aircraft to fly and it can be flown on missions that are very different in range and profiles. Go island hopping or looking for that island way out in the Southern Atlantic or Pacific Oceans it is a very versatile aircraft. Flying is for the long distance and the on station mission aspect and the aircraft and controls are designed for that operational capabilities, great autopilot - pilot interaction. The aircraft is very well created by both HydroZ and Khamsin. That cockpit and beautiful panel work is excellent in design and as a reproduction of such an iconic aircraft. Water operations are excellent and the systems depth in realistic engines failures - engines mixture settings - fuel management, including drop tanks - Realistic systems behavior - Hydraulic systems - Cold weather and De-icing are all covered. And it is available for both Xplane9® and Xplane10®. Only short cut is the none operating doors or hatches. So as an investment it is great value, great quality design and the Albatross great aircraft to fly and is highly realistic in operation. Yes a certain winner from HydroZ and Khamsin. Installation and documents: Download is 162.10meg and the aircraft is deposited in the "Seaplane" X-Plane folder at 212.30 meg. Details on how to convert the aircraft to Xplane9® are included. Make sure the aircraft is the updated v1.1 version. There are six documents covering the aircraft: five that cover the Radio operations and one manual The Grumman HU-16D Albatross is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Price is US$29.95 - Grumman HU-16D Albatross Developers Site: HydroZ.net and Khamsin.org Dev Support : Grumman HU-16D Support Review By Stephen Dutton 12th July 2014 Copyright©2014 : X-Plane Reviews Technical Requirements: Windows , MAC OS 10.6 (or higher, no PPC) or Linux X-Plane 9.70 and X-Plane 10.25 or higher - 32 and 64 bit compatible 4GB RAM/1GB VRAM - 250MB available hard disk space Version 1.1 (last updated July10th 2014) 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 Mavericks 10.9.3 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.25 (final) - Hi rez planet textures from ISDG - Hi-Res Runway textures by Jack Skieczius Addons - Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle - bose Soundlink -Mini portable speaker Scenery - CYYJ, Victoria International by Royaloak - free (X-Plane .org)

When you load the CT206H it should look like this... Which is quite low... You can set the correct height by using the © Camera menu and the "Pilot View". Try the © view and see if that changes your view?

The AVIONICs switch is just a power on/off for all the avionics? There is no on/off for the GNS350 as a separate switch, it either comes on or not with all the rest of the avionics? If the GNS350 does not function when all the rest is working then my guess it is an installation issue? I note how to do that in the review. SD

Around the traps : What is on our radar X-Plane can feel like a relentless monster sometimes, you can at times just barely breath as one thing after another just keeps coming out. There used to be the quieter times of slow development and spaced releases that you could get a breather or two to reflect on the past or take a view of the future. As like all beasts X-Plane can seem to be standing still, but when you look back only over the last six months then Christmas 2013 feels like a lifetime away and the changes since then are profound, go back a year earlier and X-Plane in as much (certainly in the scenery department) has certainly changed in a significant way. For releases X-Plane used to have two big windows that revolve around holidays, One is the northern summer in that after a few weeks at the beach they huddle around their computer screens because they want to finish off that scenery or project sitting on their hard drives, and so in the late August and early September will bring a lot of finished work to our simulator before most head back to the office and few more months of the hard grind. The Christmas holidays create a double whammy in that most heavy payware developers will want their aircraft or add-on under your X-Plane Christmas tree to fly on Boxing day and in the free work period just straight after, so the releases will start coming in around late November right up to Christmas Eve. After Christmas it is another "finish the project" period and you will get a lot of finished scenery coming in January. Easter is an interesting one because people either blow caution to the wind and go away somewhere and blow everything bit of cash because they just want freedom from routine or otherwise they will simply hunker down to save the cash and worry about the world. But the periods between these two windows are now becoming just as busy as payware and scenery designers are not restricted to career work hours, as for many now X-Plane is their work. Still most can have a secondary job to pay the weekly bills and keep the wolf from the door. The great news is that as X-Plane add-ons have lifted high in quality, then so has the purchase price. Most top end add-ons now are in the $50 and higher dollar/euro bracket up from the $20-$25 bracket means it can be a way to survive the economic costs of just living, so the more we buy these top end add-ons will certainly mean that the developers can have more time creating them (It moves from being a hobby to a full time occupation) and working full time will also means shorter development times and more product coming into a store near you. All this is great news for our simulator, because it is growing faster and better all the time. One of the biggest hindrance within the simulator is that X-Plane was looked on as a sort of hobby, a man shed for simulation (It certainly was when I joined up) but like everything else it has to go either forward or simply die because it won't attract new blood that brings in the new ideas and innovation. PMDG Simulations Over the last year or so PMDG Simulations which is a major FSX/P3D stalwart has toyed with the idea of creating a product for X-Plane (a test the waters, sort of thing), Mr PMDG in Mr Robert Randazzo has always noted that he wanted to be in X-Plane and has had a lot of discussions with Laminar Research in which direction the simulator is going. The problem is that Laminar Research can be a bit slow in going in that direction (They always do get actually there and you usually get a far better simulator when they do) but for a commerce business like PMDG or other big FSX/P3D businesses it is very hard to that fit into their business model. However working with Laminar Research is also a great interaction as well in the fact that you want a certain element that does not exist, then Laminar Research can and usually does oblige and usually very quickly, Ask Microsoft for the same help and your email will go to a large empty building with a "For Lease" sign on it. But with everything it comes down to numbers or bank accounts. And here X-Plane is in the cart or the horse situation. X-Plane is growing, but the amount of return for an investment is still low compared to playing it safe like staying in FSX/P3D. But that creates the other situation in that other users won't use X-Plane because they don't want to lose their expensive add-ons that they love because PMDG are not in X-Plane for them to fly their investments in. Many a comment is "I really love to try X-Plane but I would lose my PMDG B737NGX" is a big issue and it works the other way round, would you want to lose your FlightFactor B777/B757 or Peters Aircraft A380 to move on to another simulator? The answer for me is no and so it works both ways. But adapting to another code can not only increase your business but also your overall share of the simulation business. in this case we are talking about Carenado. No one company has influenced X-Plane more than Carenado, in not only creating a higher price point for its aircraft and finally broke that $20 price ceiling. But also bringing into the simulator a very high quality of product that is still being chased and overwhelmingly admired. In the GA category in X-Plane then Carenado simply now own it lock stock and barrel. And their products are better in X-Plane than in the other sim areas because of X-Plane's better dynamics and lighting features. So if you are a learner pilot or trainer then what would be your simulator of choice in the GA market with an aircraft model that suits your flying skills... X-Plane and Carenado would certainly be at top of your list and the gap between the FSX release and X-Plane release of the same model of aircraft is getting more and more closer. So finally PMDG decided to jump off the fence and announced an announcement in Mid-June that they were finally coming into X-Plane and the details were to be announced in Mid-August, and that there will be not one but two X-Plane projects (to still just test the waters!). Many users are noting that PMDG in the simulator is a significant change for X-Plane. As in Carenado's prophecy they where right, but PMDG will be going into an area that is already very competitive in X-Plane and that is in the big heavy aircraft category, but it is also the area of the biggest rewards as users are now already used to investing in the $50-$100 American dollar range, and PMDG's products are not cheap as they sit more towards the $100 mark than the $50 mark on the scale, and when you are investing that sort of cash in an add-on investment then it had better deliver. Success or failure however in X-Plane is really based on how well you can transition from one platform to the other. Carenado uses one of the best and a genius in the transition and geniuses are not thick on the ground, most can be counted on two hands. Most transitions between FS and X-Plane that have used a good developer however have been very successful like with Virtavia & Dawson Designs with their excellent Seaking and C-17 transitions, so it can be done. Throwing money at the issue is not the answer because a good X-Plane developer may be good and fresh and thinks they are ready to work in that higher level that top payware demands, until they realise that in that level their skills have still a long way to go in the ever fast moving developing development cycle. Pressure can come from above and all that money has been spent and the product is stinking at the store, another leading developer has found that just rolling out products that are years old in FSX and worse are not adjusted to the demands of X-Plane will not find instant returns coming into the bank and their future X-Plane release sheet is now blank. But certainly PMDG will be smarter than that and will deliver quality aircraft that will be tuned ready for the X-Plane simulator. There is a lot of speculation as just what PMDG will (test) out in X-Plane. Most users will want their excellent B737NGX and no doubt it would be a huge seller and a defining moment in X-Plane if it was released on the platform. Not only for X-Plane users, but as if it was available in the simulator it would bring many "sitting on the fence" FS users to the X-Plane platform. However that is also the whole point. The B737NGX is just too big a step for a first release as it would be more of a commitment than a test. It may be the second release noted in the announcement, but certainly not the first release. I also think that PMDG are going to be smart and release an aircraft on two platforms at once to gauge the response and that will also mean the aircraft would have been developed up from scratch for X-Plane and not just a conversion of old stock... and that aircraft will be the "Douglas DC-6B Cloudmaster". No I don't have inside information on any releases, but this is my choice of the release because it makes great business sense. It will be a new product, It will be in a better cost point between $50-$75 US dollars, It has the attraction of an iconic status and as a thundering four engined fire breathing piston-engine airliner that you would certainly want it in your hangar. Helicopters For vertical flight aircraft X-Plane has some of the very best available. In quality we lead the pack not only in just the shear equipment they deliver but also in the variants and ways you can set the aircraft up. Very rarely do you have a poor helicopter released in payware, the standard is always simply overwhelming and if you are not interested in vertical flight then you are really missing out on a major dimension of simulation that is available in X-Plane. I myself was also cautious when approaching these spindly unwieldy machines. But I persevered (Okay I swore a lot and crashed even more) and now I would say I was reasonably competent, but I still practise at least once a week if not flying them in a review. But this year has been a banner year, last year was also good with the a simply brilliant machine from Dreamfoil Creations and Nemeth Designs and the by Virtavia & Dawson Designs in December, The update to the earlier this year brought the DMO Flight Design into the realms of greatness and of course there is the again from Dreamfoil Creations that was jaw-droppingly good. A note still to the older by ND Art & Technology that still causes users hearts to swoon in flight and operation. Many now have trainer-wheels with an arcade game approach to learning how to fly them, but still practise makes perfect. But at least you can start somewhere with these aids and get into the club... you will be glad you did. Two new aircraft are due soon that will make you finally want to take that vertical flight plunge... Bell 412 First up is the Bell 412, it is a Huey, but not a Huey in the sense of the double-blade Vietnam War, Peace and 60's and all that, but the more modern twin-engined four-bladed version that plucks idiots off mountains and sinking boats. The B412 is a serious bit of kit, and sounds like no other with a great chop-chop suey noise when changing the angle of attack. It is coming soon. Sikorsky UH-60L / S70A Blackhawk/SH-60 SeaHawk It is amazing that X-Plane does not have the Blackhawk/Seahawk in the simulator. It is one of the most iconic choppers of the last 50 years. Well wait no more as the Brazilian Flightsim Development Group is going to make your dreams come true. Multi-role versions and the Naval Seahawk version to practise those carrier landings is going to keep you happy for a very long time. VHHH - Chep Lok, Hong Kong Another item that caught my eye and made my heart go a bit faster was a scenery/airport from Aerobridge Studios. VHHH or Chep Lok airport in Hong Kong is a huge gateway to the East, and finally a payware developer is willing to do an airport out of the USA/European circle. Most users love their long hauls and myself included, but there is nothing out there when you get there in a real big quality scenery. The Far East is just that.. Too far out. This airport in Hong Kong should hopefully change that way thinking and allow us to start and end a long haul at a decent gate. Quality is astoundingly good, as is the tiny detailing in closeup. The very last image shows you how very far along in development VHHH is. And how quickly Aerobridge have recovered from losing the whole VHHH project to a hard drive meltdown. I hope that VHHH will change the course of the far east being off our radar in terms of really great scenery, because there is a gold mine in great Asian airports waiting to be created and discovered. No release date is yet noted from Aerobridge Studios. So is simulation slowly dying? Many development houses are saying that investment is slowly disappearing, as that is in the FS realm as the lack of FS development is now starting to kick in. products have very long development periods and a short shelf life and most developers have to look years ahead to plan for now. X-Plane may be a far smaller pond, but that may be also our saving grace as X-Plane can adapt and change (as we have done over the last few years) to accommodate these huge changes. Our developers are now as good as anything else on the market and in some cases far better, and they still have a lot of product gaps to fill. Deep down many people love flying and even more the huge challenge of flying an aircraft that is never ever possible in real life. The world today provides so many more distractions, but there are still more than ever more enthusiasts piling in with pride their work for many other X-Plane users to share, like I said at the start of this post, X-Plane is busy, busy... busier than ever and with so much coming in the future it is an exciting place to be. Stephen Dutton 8th July 2014 Copyright©2014 : X-Plane Reviews DC6B_Classic images are courtesy of PMDG Sikorsky UH-60L / S70A Blackhawk/SH-60 SeaHawk images are courtesy of Brazilian Flightsim Development Group VHHH-Chep Lok images are courtesy of Aerobridge Studios

Checked the steering and the update here works just perfectly!

I don't have that issue.... loads fine for me?

I noted in the review the aircraft kept the aircraft always at 2500RPM limit and it didn't feel right, so there is something missing... I'll note it to Careando. I'll check out the flaps?

First the quote... "Would the CT206H be as good without the GNS350 option? Yes of course... but it is far, far better with it.", Well if Laminar Research had not released the 10.30 update with the GNS350 option then would the aircraft be just as good? well it is, but with the GNS350 option being available it takes the aircraft to another level again. Second, there are two reasons here, one is that aircraft can produce asymmetrical thurst because propellers only turn in one direction and the thrust can be directed not in a direct force to the rear but to slightly to one side as to the shape of the propeller, of which you have to correct for with yaw (known as the P factor). Single engine aircraft are the worse for this because there is no second engine revolving in the opposite way to counteract the forces. Some twins with both the engines revolving the same direction can be worse with yaw (even worse if the engine speeds are not synced together). Second reason is that Laminar Research found there was a slight difference in the numbers on the air flow between the right and left wings that make aircraft fly slightly off line, again that was corrected by more yaw. (I think it was -3, but don't quote me on that). This has been corrected for v10.30.

Yes the Malibu was the first only non-XP9 aircraft.

Jiggy There is an issue with the nosewheel turning in 10.30B, Careando is aware of the problem, it should be fixed in the coming update. It is simply impossible to turn right? It wasn't noted in the review as the update was due before the aircraft went up on the store?

Aircraft Review : CT206H Turbo Stationair HD Series by Carenado Route : EIDW (Dublin) - EICK (Cork) - EINN (Shannon) The Cessna Model 206 is a high wing, six-seat light aircraft that was introduced as a 1964 model and was built until 1986 as Cessna halted production of its single-engined product line. It was then re-introduced in 1998 and the current version still remains in production in 2014. The aircraft is also known as the "The sport-utility vehicle of the air" as it has a lot of rear space and clam-shell rear doors and is genenally flown for aerial photography, skydiving and other utility purposes. These clam-shell doors are also why in some markets the aircraft can only be registered as a 5 seater as this is due to concerns about passenger egress through the rear clam-shell door with the flaps extended. The “H” model is generally similar to the previous 1964 original U206 configuration, with a pilot entry door and a rear double clamshell door for access to the middle and back seats. The "H" is marketed under the name "Stationair" or "Stationwagon" of the air. The turbocharged version (this aircraft from Carenado) the T206H is powered by a Lycoming TSIO-540-AJ1A engine of 310 hp (230 kW) with a gross weight of 3,600 lb (1,633 kg) and turning a McCauley Constant Speed, 3 Blade Metal Propeller. Performance : Maximum speed: 174 mph (151 knots, 280 km/h) at sea level : Cruise speed: 163 mph (142 knots, 263 km/h) at 6,200 ft (1,890 m) : Stall speed: 63 mph (54 knots, 100 km/h) : Range: 840 mi (730 nmi, 1,352 km) : Service ceiling: 15,700 ft (4,785 m) : Rate of climb: 988 ft/min (5.0 m/s) Our flight today is from Dublin to Shannon in Ireland via Cork. And our aircraft is the CT206H Stationair from Carenado. This is Carenado's first light-single engined aircraft released for X-Plane in a while, as they have been lately concentrating on mostly big twins. Even if the aircraft has been around from the early sixties it is by and large quite modern in this Turbo form. Approaching the aircraft it however a typical Cessna through and through. Detailing is as expected from Carenado absolutely exceptional. Any steps forward in quality are always more harder to distinguished once you get to certain point, as your eyes fool you, but it is in the finer smaller detailing that the gains can be seen. The CT206H is very complete, solid and beautifully detailed. Get in close and the design and perfectionism stands out,. standouts are the ridged trailing edges of the high wings, exceptional panel fit and the riveting along the panels. It is noted that the setting "draw per pixel lighting" can really highlight this wonderful detailing, but it does come with a frame-rate cost because of the Hi-Def textures, so yes you can enjoy the craftmanship if you have enough headroom to do so, but if you don't it can help to turn the "per pixels" off to gain headroom. Still the highlights will keep on coming in the various aerials, great top of the wing fuel tank caps and that lovely McCauley 3-Blade Propeller. Options Carendo provides an (0) Options menu on the lower left of your screen. with Transparent Windshield (front), Instrument Reflections, Static Elements, Fairings (wheels), Pilot Door, Baggage Doors 1 and 2 (clam-shell). These are all excellent for setting up the aircraft on the ground, I couldn't make up my mind if I liked the wheel fairings on or off, In the end I decided to keep them off. The second menu available is the © or "View" menu that is positioned just above the options menu. This is the standard Carenado views with PoV (Point of view). To GNS or not to GNS! This aircraft is the first aircraft from Carenado that is not available for X-Plane9®, Only X-Plane10® from this release forward. It will significantly speed up the release periods between aircraft as now a lot of the time just to cater for X-Plane9 and a dwindling market is seen as a sign of the times for that X-Plane version. Another feature that comes with the Stationair is that it is also compatible with the 10.30 release of the updated GARMIN GNS GPS equipment. A look inside the cockpit gave me a shock! Not the new but two of the older GNS430 versions? I was disappointed... gutted, and whatever. A note to Carenado and the reply brought me back to my dream world. The GNS350 is available and located in your aircraft folder in a zip. file. (acf for 10.30 beta (GPS530).zip). unzip and you will have a second acf file. But you don't get to choose which aircraft file you want to from when loading up X-Plane. It is either one or the other version. In every case the acf flie has to be noted as "Car_CT206H.acf". So your option if you want both aircraft is to duplicate the Stationair and make one for the GNS530 and another one for the two older GNS430's. In reality there is really no question of which version you will use... The 10.30 GARMIN GNS530 is simply gorgeous and far more functional than the older version. That noted it will mean I will have to fly in the 10.30 beta to have access to the feature. I did check the CT206H in the standard 10.25 final and it actually performs better in 10.30b on my computer (I found 10.30 is far more efficient than 10.25F, of which for me was mostly a dog with low dragging frame-rates). The route is quite simple to Cork, because there are not really many fixes to choose from. The route is OP (NDB) - KLV (VOR) -DIMUS - WTD (Waterford - VOR) - EICK (Cork). It does however keep you on the coast for most of the route, which is what I wanted to do. Leaving Dublin With the electrics on, the fuel tanks just below full and the GNS530 programmed with the route it was time to turn the starter switch. With a throb and then a louder throb, the now puffing propeller pulsed into life. Sounds are excellent, but it is far noisier in the cabin than on the outside, opening the side window(s) gets you a no louder noise from the outside than like you do on the older Carenado aircraft. I have a bose (Soundlink -Mini) portable speaker that runs off the Mac by WiFi, and it sounds brilliant when idling (and on the power), so all sounds are in 3d and are multi-directional and are sensational. Brake off and a little throttle and we are moving. You have find the sweet spot which is very small to maintain the momentum when taxiing, too low and the propeller idles and a little to high and you are gripping the air with too much force and you are then on the brakes. But otherwise you can set the right speed. I set the flaps at one step down. You don't need any flap for takeoff if you don't want to, but a little flap will get you airborne quite quickly once the speed is over the 85knts. The weather is quite overcast with low drizzly cloud at 5000ft, but the wind is quite light at 6knts. power up to 2500rpm, there is a restriction on the power at 2500rpm, as you need all of the power but it doesn't show more than the red line. And then come off the throttle a fair way and it still sits well into the red line zone? Heading down the centre line you don't get that menacing pull that can weave you all over the runway that you can get from powerful singles, so it is easy to keep your tracking straight. Once in the rotate the aircraft climbs away quite easily, but the high glareshield makes it hard for you to see forward, you need to look left and down to keep your track right. The Stationair will easily power up at 800fpm (feet per minute), the aircraft is not struggling at all. I click on the GPS at 500ft to follow the flightplan and activate it via the excellent KFC225 Autopilot (NAV). For a small unit, as an autopilot the KFC225 is very powerful and all you really need. You can set your V/S (Vertical Speed) but it is a little messy switching between the altitude and V/S modes. But it does work well and with an ALT when the set height is achieved (6000ft), after my first turn at "OP" I decided to reduce my height back down to 4,500ft to get out of the cloud cover, and that felt right with the speed set at just under 140kts... There is good documentation supplied on how the KFC225 works but I found that setting the altitude directly is a little hit and miss, I wanted 4,500ft, but I will get 4,510ft? The beautiful overhead lit panel gives the aircraft a very modern look. You have to be very subtle with the adjustment, because it can be quite too bright or too harsh as a few of these images show. But get it right and it looks sublime. Instrument wise the aircraft is very sparse. Just dials on the left pilots side and nothing on the right. The standard six (Artificial Horizon, Altimeter, Airspeed, Heading/Compass, Bank turn and Vertical speed) dominate and are added by RPM and Temperature (TIT/CHT), Oil Temperature (Temp and Pressure), VAC pressure and AMPS, Manifold Press and Fuel Flow and two OBS - Omni Bearing Selectors (VOR) with course selector. There is Fuel gauge for left and right tanks and a great clock that reads... Zulu, elapsed time, date and outside temp, 12 hour and 24 hour clocks. The centre equipment stack has also besides the GNS530 (or the two GNS430's) and the KFC225 a Bendix/King KX 165 TSO Comm 2 and VOR 2 (NAV2) radio (bottom OBS dial) , GARMIN GTX 327 Transponder (and clock), Bendix/King KR 87 TSO NDB/ADF unit and the standard COM/NAV select unit. Having the GNS530 certainly gives the aircraft a better equipment package, but everything here works very well. In fact because you are not overwhelmed with a panel of dials it helps in the way the aircraft is quite restful to fly and navigate. Switched on or off the panel reflections are simply amazingly good, so very realistic. Under the main panel left are the starter key switch and main toggles switches and in the centre is the trim wheels (Elevator/Rudder) and engine cowling flap lever. Right down near the floor is the fuel tank switch, left - right or OFF. Dead centre of the panel are the usual three push/pull knobs of - Throttle - PROP RPM - Lean MIx and finally to the right the flap lever with 0º 10º 20º and 30º settings. Internally the aircraft is very nicely appointed, great side and roof detailing and beautiful seat covers abound, with those slashing seatbelts that fasten to the roof, no table in here like most aircraft and behind the main rear seats the last two seats look for children only (or small adults). I would have liked the idea of a small cargo version to carry parcels or what not or for carrying parachutists, That would have been a great fun version. Smaller details abound in the perfect sunvisor's (great transparency) and manual in a lower pocket. Liveries Over the last year Carenado have listed their liveries as just - White (default), Blue, Green, Grey, Maroon and stripes and that is what you get here. They are extremely good liveries, but just all American and nothing really adventurous. I was now down close to the South and most Eastern tip of Ireland and sailing along towards DIMUS fix which is just slightly of the coast by Rosslare Harbour. It is noisy in here, loud but enjoyable. Carenado note to put your joystick/yoke settings at 25% across the board and I would second that as any higher than 25% and the aircraft is slightly twitchy. As the weather cleared up nicely I climbed back up to 6000ft and my speed remained at 138kts. I was loving the GNS530 and the data it displays to my destination including my heading and time of arrival. A map display showed my track and direction. Detailing on the fixed tri-cycle undercarriage is simply excellent and they are well sprung in the right flex on the main rear gear and the with right amount of absorption and bounce in the nosewheel on landing (or taking off). The engine vents can be closed (as noted) but watch that temp gauge. Once past the turn at DIMUS I focused on WTR - Waterford and how I would approach Cork Airport, I had a choice, fly to south and land on RWY 35 or from the North over Cork to RWY 17. The GNS530 would only give me the airport as a fix, but as I got closer to EICK I found there was another fix directly inland and in line back to RWY 17 at NEGEL. The GNS530 can give you a lot of information about the airport and close Nav-Aids, but I found the GNS530 was not as complete as the GNS430 in airport information and other smaller detailing. It will come to the same standard as the 10.30 beta is finalised. Using the DIR (Direct) mode on the GNS530 put me on a direct course with the fix, and then when close to NEGEL I did another DIR direct back to EICK and RWY 35, this worked better than putting the new waypoint in to the flightplan, because NEGEL is just a little to far West past the direct line to the angle of the runway. So I press the DIR just at the point I wanted to with out going all the way out to the fix. When I was first in the Stationair I wondered why there was two sets of OBS (Omni Bearing Selector) dials?, Yes they would be good for setting two VOR points, but in most cases one is enough to go VOR to VOR. Getting close to EICK you realise that the upper OBS is used on the NAV1 frequencies and also as a lock and display of the ILS bars, the lower second OBS dial is for the standard NAV2 VOR navigation. I was slightly still off angle to the runway but the horizontal bar put me on the centreline where a click of the APP button on the A/P locked me directly in. Flap was set at 20º and the speed at 90kts, Stall speed is at 54kts and it is very easy to be close to that at 30º. Soon the horizontal bar was coming down to the cross and I was in the ILS. I don't usually use the ILS for GA aircraft as the approach is too steep, I get down to about 1000ft above the airport elevation and set a slightly less approach pitch to keep the speed in check. The low grey cloud and wet runway had reappeared as I touched down on RWY 35, But there was no wavering around and I stopped nice and straight. A small taxi to the Flying Club was were I was to lose an hour or so. The weather had worsened while I was on the ground in that two hours. You don't have a lot of external lighting and only two with a taxi and landing light in the far edge of the left wing. But with both on they did give you good coverage of the way ahead, and that was good as the taxiway was a bit narrow. Once on RWY 17 it was now raining and I was having second thoughts on if this was a good idea with rain, low light and low dark clouds. Once clear of the runway I set the GNS 530 DIR (direct) to EINN, as It didn't really need a full flightplan for such a short hop. But once I had climbed to 6000ft I found it was all quite serene... and beautiful. X-Plane turned on a show I haven't seen in quite a while, but certainly the b10.30 update contributed to the view as the with the heavier ominous clouds there was the wispy softness that floated by, you can see and feel the difference in grading of the translucent areas that combined with the light, then produced an amazing effect of naturalness and colour. Internal Lighting With the HDR on the internal lighting is very good. You can turn the panel lighting down and turn up the two spot lights above the pilots head and the lighting can be just as good to fly by. In the rear you have two more spots in the roof, but there looked like four spots on each side of cabin, but I couldn't find any buttons... or they could have been just airvents? From the outside the cabin is quite bright when lit up. Nav, strobe and one beacon up high on the tail completes the set. To my right the view gets busy with snaking roads and traffic with housing lighting now down below, I drop down to 2,500ft and join the circuit parallel to RWY 09/24 and track North East until I was 17nm past to a final 180º track back to RWY 24 at 1200ft. My fears of very low clouds and zero or no visibility were unfounded as the night became quite clear and crisp and RWY 24 was perfectly aligned. The lighting was very and good enough to easily gauge the height of the runway to have a nice touch landing. EINN Shannon's glory days are well in its past, but the airport is still seriously busy. Taxiing amongst the larger aircraft can be daunting, but we found our parking area quite easily in the dark, and I was able to finally turn the CT206H in for the night. Summary Would the CT206H be as good without the GNS530 option? Yes of course... but it is far, far better with it. So the GNS530 version is really the only way to go unless you are wanting the aircraft just for training or for it to exactly like your own aircraft. As usual Carenado have produced another gem. And still there are many notices around the aircraft that they are still moving the quality forward like with the exceptional reflections. Liveries are becoming a little boring and really too few for this price range? and a few features that was on earlier Carenado aircraft have disappeared, like the Carenado key fob, Bags and outside sounds when opening windows. The aircraft is a milestone for X-Plane in many ways, from the loss of the X-Plane9® version to the introduction of the b10.30 features. It is the way forward for Carenado to keep these excellent machines coming into the simulator. The weight and balance of the CT206H are real world, and it has been tested by real world pilots and it shows. There is a full set of CT206H Performance tables included and to get the best out of the aircraft it is best to study and use them. But in design and detail of an excellent General Aviation aircraft the Stationair is faultless, It is very nice to fly as well, but with the 10.30 GNS530 option it is also great aircraft to do any sort of navigational journey and have you planning flights every time you want to step onboard. Certainly another winner from Carenado _____________________________________________________________________________________ The Carenado CT206H Turbo Stationair is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : Price is US$29.95 - Carenado CT206H Turbo Stationair Installation and documents: Download is 290.20meg and the aircraft is deposited in the "General Aviation" X-Plane folder at 347.20 meg. Note - you will need to expand the (acf for 10.30 beta (GPS530).zip) and replace the "Car_CT206H.acf" file to have access for the GNS 530 and you have to run the aircraft at this point in the 1.30beta to access the feature. There are seven documents covering the aircraft: Developer Site: Carenado Dev Support : Carenado Support _____________________________________________________________________________________ Review By Stephen Dutton 28th June 2014 Copyright©2014 : X-Plane Reviews Technical Requirements: Windows , MAC OS 10.6 (or higher) or Linux X-Plane 10.2 or higher - 64 bit compatible - X-Plane 10.30+ for GNS 530 4GB RAM/1GB VRAM - 250MB available hard disk space Current version: Version 1.0 (last updated July 1st 2014) 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 Mavericks 10.9.2 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.25 (final) and for this review beta10.30b5 - Hi rez planet textures from ISDG - Hi-Res Runway textures by Jack Skieczius Addons - Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle - bose Soundlink -Mini portable speaker Scenery - EIDW - Dublin International Airport by Cormac (X-Plane Irish Hub) - EICK - Cork Airport by Cormac (X-Plane Irish Hub) - EINN - Shannon Airport Pro by Renair (.org scenery)

Aircraft Review : Blackshape Prime v1.3 by dmax3d The BlackShape Prime is a revolutionary ultralight aircraft developed by the italian BlackShape company of Monopoli, Italy, and features a full carbon-fibre frame which makes for an extremely strong and low weight aircraft. The Prime is an evolutionary design that began life as an all-wood ultra-light aircraft designed by Guiseppe Vidor of Italy. Then airplane became the Millennium Master, produced by Millennium Aircraft of Italy in 2007, and was first shown in its current form at an Aero show held in Friedrichshafen in 2009. The aircraft is made from pre-preg carbon fibre. And its 7.94 m (26.0 ft) span wing has an area of 9.96 m2 (107.2 sq ft) and double slotted flaps. The standard engine available is the 100 hp (75 kW) Rotax 912ULS four-stroke powerplant, driving a two bladed constant speed propeller, which gives it a maximum level speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) and a cruise speed of 275 km/h (171 mph). The Prime is classed as an "Ultralight". In the United States it is classed as an "Light Sport Aircraft", But you have to have a special license (rated) in the U.S. because the aircraft has a three leg retractable undercarriage. dmax3d dmax is well known to anyone who has purchased X-Plane because his Cirrus Jet, Stinson L5 Sentinel, Cessna 172 SP and Columbia 400 are part of the X-Plane10 default series that comes with the simulator. He is also well known for several aircraft including the Tecnam P92 and P2002 aircraftand great version of the Typhoon Eurofighter (free here). As modelling goes the Prime is excellent. It is hard to reproduce carbon-fibre or plastic looking aircraft because it can come off a little false (or just plasticky), The Prime does not look like that, it very well modelled. However the textures are not great in their resolution, so they can even when you are set at a high texture resolution come still across when close as a little jaggy and buzzy. A shame as the 3D work underneath is excellent. This is highlighted by the woven carbon-fibre matting on the cockpit tub which is excellent and of a high quality even if the weave is a little large. The same could be said for the entire interior which is very well executed in detail and design, highlights are the excellent control stick and well created seats for two. The rear seat is empty unless you increase the weight to over 265 lb. from the X-Plane "Aircraft/Weight and Fuel menu" and then a female passenger appears. Another highlight is the excellent bubble canopy. It looks very realistic and has a feel of quality about it. You open and close it with the 3d handle or the “canopy_toggle” function. The aircraft does have a very nice shape about it. and is quietly different from the normal style of ultra-light machine. From the rear the Prime reminds me of a BAE Hawk that the Red Arrows display team fly, the Prime is no jet of course but the tail shape and rear elevators do have the same ring to them leading on to the bubble canopy. The wings are also a lovely efficient shape that are beautifully modeled here. The edge wing lighting is well done in quality as well. The three stage flaps are 0° (neutral) - 10° (take off) 20° and full flap 30°. There is an extra -10° (negative "aps or up) stage as well that is used when at speed in flight to keep the nose level... This flap function is not on the real aircraft. Add together an extremely light airframe and a powerful engine for its class and the aircraft is going to perform well. there is a electronic propeller control. Which is a small toggle switch on the controller that can be used to manually adjust the propeller pitch instead of a mixture lever, which I set at 6000rpm. And with the quick on the power you will find that the takeoff rolls are extremely short at around 180 m to 200m to the point of takeoff and landing rolls are about the same distance. The Prime will climb easily at around 1500fpm with the gear down then accelerate to around 2000fpm with the gear retracted. I found the best band still at 1500fpm to still give you plenty of power in reserve. Cruising speed is around 200 Km/h (110kts) with top speed around 305 kmh (183 kts) but you will never go there. You feel tight and enclosed in the aircraft and with the passenger on board behind you it feels like you are sitting in a glider arrangement. The large display is very well designed by dmax. You have to be careful in that it is easy to concentrate more on the screen than on the horizon (It is so large), so you are soon fiddling around and flicking the aircraft around as it is so nimble, you will then find it is quite touchy in your hands, slowing down and finding the smoothness is something you will need to concentrate on to fly the aircraft well. Besides the main display there are the two beautiful Altimeter and Speed dials. Like most modern displays the buttons are located below the screen. The main one is the "pages" selector that has the selections of the - main flight display - engine conditions - Map. The MAP displays will show the usual - Approach - VOR - MAP- NAV and flightplan pages. with zoom located on the right hand side. Like all menu driven displays it will take a little time to navigate effectively around them all. But this system is more simplistic than most. All radio settings (Comm 1/VOR1/Transponder) are via the display. Liveries Liveries by and large are quite sparse?... The white one can be a basis for a livery, but there is a paintkit supplied. The Blue livery is the default and there is the "Millennium" livery that looks half completed? Features Their are two features that are interesting. First the escape parachute! If your engine conks out on the Prime then you will not die a thousand deaths... As you have an escape parachute! Pull off the safety tag off and then pull out the red handle and you will be pulled violently upwards by a large parachute. It is then a very serenely slow ride and float down until you hit the ground with a backbreaking thud! After a short stay in hospital you can then resume your flying career. Secondly are the wet, cold and frost features. Rain and ice effects on glass are becoming the normal in X-Plane. The effects here are one of the best I have seen yet. The rain drops are very clever in fitting around that lovely bubble canopy, go colder and you get mist and fog in there as well. When airborne the drops are moved on by the wind but the effects are still there, so it becomes very realistic. Note the excellent glow of the panel display screen on your forward view, again very realistic. Version 1.3 The changes in this new version are minimal but essential. New EFIS with multifunction buttons Autopilot fully integrated Fixed some issues with the mechanical altimeter Fixed magnetos switches: now work as expected Carb heat knob now is working Every one wondered why the carb heat didn't work when it is a standard feature in X-Plane, now that is now fixed. The autopilot is now more refined, but I still found it hard in the aspects of V/S vertical speed changes. get it wrong and the aircraft will zoom up to the next set altitude while you hang on, going down is very hard, and makes it hard work in the approach mode when wanting to lose altitude for a landing position. The aircraft is extremely light, So in the POH (supplied) you need an approach speed of 150Km/h (80 kts) before dropping the gear down and a maximum speed of 120 Km/h before you drop the flaps a notch. You will get a lot of drag, not only from the gear in the airstream, but the flaps kick in a fair amount as well. Adding in power a lot helps, but then you have the situation of a very light airframe pulling against a lot of drag. Add in some spice with some light winds (or worse bad crosswinds) and then you have a handful on the stick. Your approach speed is about 100 Km/h (54 kts) so you don't come come up on to the runway at a slow speed, but you slowly sort of gradually sort of get there... eventually. Once over the threshold it will nicely sit down and do a short roll to a stop, but are you sweating there a little? The lightweight is what makes the Prime fun. You have to fly this aircraft in the lower speeds with skill, but it also has the power when clean to go quite fast. Lighting You have two knobs to set the lighting. One for lighting the panel (Instruments) and one for lighting the cockpit. Between the two adjustments you can find the best conditions that suits you. Outside there is only one landing light and the standard Nav/strobe lights. _______________________________________________________ Summary An interesting aircraft that is a very light-weight design, but still extremely fast (for its class). Makes the Prime a great aircraft for buzzing around and enjoying a machine that is not only very modern in design but can at points be a challenge to master under very low speeds. Its is a fun machine is the best way to sum it up. Textures are average and the liveries feel like an afterthought, but the design and details were it counts are excellent and overall the aircraft is very good. At just under US$16 it is very good value as well. Installation : Blackshape Prime 1.3 is a download of 44mb and is expanded into your X-Plane Aircraft folder at 55.1mb. Some downloads have the issue of the EFIS and partial panel that only fills the entire 1920x1080 screen with no outside view in 2d? If you get this you can re-download or fix it yourself by opening the acf in PlaneMaker and go to: standard menu -> viewpoint window -> view tab and then check the "show cockpit obj in: 2-d forward panel views". Docs : 1 POH (70 Pages) and 1 QuickOperationHandbook (13 Pages) The Blackshape Prime v1.3 is now available from the X-Plane.Org Store. Blackshape Prime v1.3 Price is currently US$15.95 Technical Requirements: Windows Vista or Windows 7 (32 or 64 bits) or MAC OS 10.6(or higher) or Linux X-Plane 10.20 (or higher) - 32 and 64 bit compatible Cuurent version: 1.3 (last updated June 15th 2014) Developer Site: dmax3D _______________________________________________________ Review By Stephen Dutton 21st June 2014 Copyright©2014: 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 Mavericks 10.9.2 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.22 (final) Addons - Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle

Aircraft Release : CT206H Stationair by Carenado Carenado have released the next aircraft in their Cessna series which is the CT206H Stationair. Note this release is the first aircraft that comes with the new default GARMIN GNS530 if you are using the new 10.30 beta (You can also add the GNS430 into the B200 Kingair if you want to). Another step is that the aircraft is also only available for X-Plane10 and from v21 or higher. That point taken means that any new Carenado's from now on will be only V10 and 64bit compatible... Which means that no more XP9 aircraft will be available to that X-Plane Version. Now for some nice pictures! Special Features Only for X-Plane 10.21 or higher. X-Plane 64 bits compatible. Hide/unhide fairings option Volumetric side view prop effect Default GNS530 when using X-Plane 10.30 (Beta) or higher. Life should not be this good... but it is! The larger GNS530 is sublimely good with that larger screen. Features: HD quality textures 3D gauges Original HQ digital stereo sounds recorded directly from the real aircraft Cold and Dark or ready to taxi options for start the simulation. Customizable panel for controlling windows transparency, instrument reflections and static elements such as wheel chocks and sights props. Realistic behavior compared to the real airplane. Real weight and balance. Tested by real pilots. Realistic night lights effects on panel and cockpit. The interior is luxurious. And up to the usual Carenado standard. Included in the package: 5 HD liveries. 1 HD Blank livery 2 models (1 and 2 pilots on board) CT206H Emergency Checklist PDF CT206H Normal Procedures PDF CT206H Performance Tables PDF CT206H Reference PDF KFC225 Autopilot PDF Recommended Settings PDF Technical Requirements: Windows XP - Vista - 7 (32 or 64 bits) or MAC OS 10.6 (or higher) or Linux X-Plane10.21 (or higher) 2.5 GHz processor - 4GB RAM - 1GB VRAM 335MB available hard disk space Price of the CT206H Stationair is US$29.95 Developer site : Carenado Stephen Dutton 20th June 2014 Copyright©2014 : X-Plane Reviews All images are courtesy of Carenado©

Scenery Review : LRTR - Timișoara "Traian Vuia" International, Romania by DAI-Media Route : LIPZ - Venice Tessera Marco Polo (venezia) to LRTR - Timișoara Another release from DAI-Media in their collection of Romanian airports is LRTR at Timișoara (IATA: TSR, ICAO: LRTR) . Traian Vuia International is the third largest Romanian airport in terms of air traffic, and the main air transportation hub for the western part of Romania. Timișoara's first airport (Timișoara Communal Airport) was built a few kilometers away from the current airport's position, in the village of Moșnița Veche. The first airplane landed there on 17 July 1935. And the airport was then rebuilt in its current position in the 1960s and then became known as Giarmata Airport. The domestic flights terminal was opened in 1964 and In 1980, it received International Airport status with flights to Frankfurt, New York, Chicago. On February 6th 2003, the airport found its spiritual identity in the person of the world aeronautics pioneer - Traian Vuia and the airport was then named after the pioneer who was born in Banat. Then on May 19th the transit terminal was also inaugurated and the airport become an air hub, linking important cities in Romania with cities in Italy and Germany. Traian Vuia International has ILS CAT-IIIa status. Giarmata Airport was home to the Romanian Air Force RoAF 93rd Air Base, founded in 1953. The 93rd Air Base was disbanded in August 2004 with the MiG-21 Lancers and IAR-330 moving to Câmpia Turzii for reassignment to 71st Air Base. The air base also operated the MiG-23 Flogger, which was retired in early 2002. Over 30 MiG-23s are in storage at Timișoara Airport. Today the military section of the airport is an annex of the 71st Air Base and operates the 714th Transport Helicopter Squadron, with the IAR 330 in service. First Impressions of LRTR - Traian Vuia Hungarian Wizz Air dominates "Traian Vuia" as an operating base and as headquarters for Carpatair. So it was only fitting to use their Airbus A320 to fly into LRTR... You don't have much choice on aircraft with Wizz Air as they only fly one type of equipment and they are all A320-232's with another 37 on order, an order for 26 A321-200's will expand the fleet out into the future. 11/29 3,500m (11,483ft) Asphalt - Elev 348ft Departure was from LIPZ runway 22L and then a reverse course East towards Slovenia and crossing the coast just south of Trieste. From there it was directly to Zagreb, flightlevel was FL320. There are not very many fixes or Nav-Aids surrounding LRTR, certainly no runway approach line of fixes to guide you in. There is an ILS (Cat-III) on runway 29 (109.30mhz), but there are notes in the manual to add in RWY11. The odd thing the ILS for RWY11 was in there anyway? So flying in with a programmable FMGS was going to be a little tricky, but I found an excellent STAR arrival in MAVIT (1A) and the problem was solved. MAVIT (1A) points you directly at the airport before starting a left hand circuit at GOVOX back to RWY29. At the point at the right turn at GOVOX I found the airport hard to position from the air, It was just not there? A couple of notes is required in that 1) you need the "Runways Follow Terrain Contours" switched on with LRTR, unless you will get the plateau effect with the runway situated high on top of a flat plateau. (I call it the "Lost World" look)... and 2) I had to fine adjust the alignment of the Runway 29 to the scenery in X-Plane's edit mode on the Local Map. After completing the required 90º two turns I was on a direct approach to RWY29, and at 2200ft (I make very low approaches, with included Apt Elev 348ft), LRTR was still a darker smudge on the horizon than a full airport of buildings and distinct objects. You will find that most of the terminal buildings are obscured by trees and the Military Zone facing the west approach means they don't stand out. Over the threshold and the runway is now very distinct and well detailed. One of the specialities of DAI-Media is their excellent ground textures, and Timișoara does not disappoint. The use of textures and photo underlay is excellent in creating a perfect realism from the air and from the ground, and all areas are blended perfectly into the surrounding X-Plane default textures. No big large square flat ugly photo plates here. Once on the runway the grass is well laid out and the surrounding trees and bushes complete the whole immersion effect. Runway and taxiway textures are also first rate with excellent taxiway signage and detailing. I found the ramp lineage excellent in quality but slightly confusing in how to park the aircraft? It looked like a nose in parking, but the static aircraft where situated nose out?, so i did a uturn and parked in the line up. The ramp was excellent, with good static aircraft a ramp detailing in vehicles and equipment, nothing was overloaded and it all felt realistic, only the static aircraft textures were slightly more softer and more poorer in lower texture settings. Sitting in the cockpit and resetting the aircraft ready for the next service to LIRF (Rome) it looked very realistic out of the windows, but there is no ground traffic animation. LRTR - "Traian Vuia" International The earlier views are deceiving because there is a quite a complex and detailed scenery layout when you get in closer. Everything is very well laid out and perfectly formed from the runway to the concrete taxiways. The ramp area is very large with plenty of space and as noted very well marked out with excellent linage. There are no blank areas or areas that have been just thinly designed, the whole scenery is very well detailed and full of objects and buildings. Terminal Area The central terminal area is dominated by two terminals and both very modern in design, Terminal one has the well crafted Control Tower built above it. Annoyingly the "Tower" view is down low on the ramp?... a minor oversight. The metallic blinds on the terminals do flash noisily as you move around, but that is caused by the fine detail. But you simply can't fault the detailing in the area. Everything is close to perfection and with so much detailing that every angle is covered, from the carparking to the static cars to small signs, the excellent fencing and lighting towers and the perfect road and carparking linage. Perfectly formed also is the green areas with trees and bushes which complete the full picture. The ramp side of the terminals are much darker in appearance and are harder to get as much light into as on the sunny southern side. Airport signage is outstanding, really well done and nothing in detail was spared. Cargo warehouse is small but very well done. Outside of the central area there is a mixture of modern office and administration buildings with some old Romanian buildings that give the area an eastern European look. The texture quality however is a slight mixture up close, with some perfect and some textures slightly poor in resolution. The airport however is away from any major complex default scenery (Timișoara is well to the south-west of the airport) that can hurt your framerate. So that means you can run your texture settings quite high, you don't need to be extreme but any settings in the middle of the range will give you the difference in texture quality. Overall you just can't fault the detailing here. On the western boundary it becomes a little more spacious, with fewer smaller buildings and one large military hangar. The taxiway work is again excellent in design and lineage. Note the excellent fencing. To the east of the main terminal area are the old military sites. From above they are hard to make out (as they should be), but at ground level the old hangars and stored Mig warplanes are well sited and very well done. The groundmanship of the foliage is really excellent. Note... the old fuel storage tanks behind the hangars. Middle between the main ramp and the military sites is are maintenance hangars for Carpatair. There is an older brick hangar and a newer larger steel and glass hangar. The detailing is again excellent and all hangars come with a special feature. Between certain hours of the day or night, the doors will open and close. The times of operation are noted in the manual. Night-Lighting Night-lighting with HDR on is also a highlight. There are great contrasts in the lighting between the working areas like on the ramps and the other public areas. The lighting is highly detailed and very well laid out. The softer arrival side lighting to the terminals is very good with well lit and with highly realistic signage, all roads are lit and lighting throws are very good. The terminals are well lit and with very subtle inside scenes and the internal detail is more noticeable in the darkened control tower. Away from the terminal areas the lighting and good spot lighting is up the same standard. Night Departure With the LRTR - LIRF service loaded and the departure time close it was time to get clearance to leave. With the excellent ramp lighting you are not stuttering around in the dark. Lines with taxiway signage and lighting is perfect in finding your way around the airport and easily finding the runway. There is a feature that shows you the red stop lights at the entrance to the runway. When you have ATC clearance the red lights will go out allowing you to pass... Clever. Runway lighting is the best in the class, as all lighting is perfectly realised. As this is a CAT-III there is an approach lighting system (ALS) with sequenced flashing - RAIL lights as well. Which will be good with fog bound landings. Operators and Routes Passenger Fly Romania operated by Ten Airways : Bucharest, Verona Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine : Munich TAROM : Bucharest Wizz Air : Barcelona, Beauvais, Bergamo, Bologna, Dortmund, London-Luton, Madrid, Rome-Ciampino, Treviso, Valencia. As noted WIZZ Air dominate the schedules, but charter airlines are quite frequent during the summer. Aegean Airlines - Seasonal charter: Heraklion Air Bucharest - Seasonal charter: Antalya, Rhodes (begins 17 June 2014) Freebird Airlines - Seasonal charter: Antalya (begins 12 June 2014) Tunisair - Seasonal charter: Tunis Tarom - Seasonal charter: Skiathos Cargo ABC Air Hungary : Budapest Farnair Hungary : Budapest, Vienna, Zagreb TAROM Cargo : Bucharest-Henri Coandă UPS Airlines operated by Farnair Switzerland : Cologne/Bonn, Sofia Like LRSB Sibiu you can get quite a lot of work flying regularly between Italy and Germany, and combining LRSB and LRTR with these destinations it is very interesting point to point flying. Summary At first glance there seems to be not a lot at LRTR - Traian Vuia, but that is very deceiving really. This is first rate scenery and perfectly done. From landing to departure you are well within this scenery and it is a great destination. Combined with other DAI-Media sceneries of LRSB Sibiu and LROP (Otopeni), Bucharest you can build up a very nice little regional airport network. Great small features in the opening and closing of hangar doors and end of runway stop lighting are clever and interesting... some ground vehicle animation would be nice though and the tower view position is annoying. Lighting all round is exceptional. DAI-Media's sceneries are mostly medium to large airports and their is one I use almost all the time and are all of a high quality. Ground textures are always of a very high standard and so is the integration into the surrounding X-Plane countryside... Here again LRTR is of no exception with the same quality and cost that you have come to expect from this excellent scenery designer house. So from DAI-Media here is another great airport in LRTR - Traian Vuia which is also very good solid extremely well detailed scenery that is great to go to at anytime as a destination. Yes! the LRTR - Traian Vuia is now Available from DAI-Media : LRTR - Traian Vuia Price is Euro 17.00 € (US$23.00 - current conversion 17th June 14) Installation : Download is 165.70mb that is unzipped into your "Custom Scenery" folder (178.70mb) with a 3 page "read me" manual. Charts are noted but you have to join (and pay) to acquire them. Requirements: - Software platform: X-Plane 10.25 - Specification: Same like X-Plane 10.25, runways follow contours - IVAO / VATSIM, compatible. Review by Stephen Dutton 17th June 2014 ©copyright X-Plane Reviews 2014 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 Mavericks 10.9 - X-Plane 10 Global ver 10.25 (final) Addons - Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle Aircraft - JARDesign Airbus-A320neo - X-Plane.OrgStore $59.95 Scenery - ISD Project - LIPZ Venice Tessera 2010. Geppetto

Aircraft Announcement : Cessna CT206H by Carenado Carenado has announced their next release for X-Plane in the CT206H which is also known as the Stationair. This is a extremely popular general aviation aircraft. it was named the “Stationair”, which a contraction of “Station Wagon of the Air”, which is a good description of the aircraft's intended role. The panel and the interior is up to the usual very high standards of quality we have come to expect from Carenado. Carenado usually announce their new aircraft about a week or so from release... Developer site : Carenado Stephen Dutton 13th June 2014 Copyright©2014 : X-Plane Reviews All images are courtesy of Carenado©