Stephen

RJAA Narita is very good, but yes there is a very bad (you could call it a anti-MSFS) feeling in that we can do the same thing but for free. That is bad for the business, you need quality in the simulator and no matter how good the Global Airport tools are, they are still not a complete reproduction of the airport...  this is damaging the simulator on many levels.

Free Aircraft Release! : Concorde by Dr Gary Hunter
 

 
Growing up in the sixties was a time of huge speed advances. The predictions were of New York in 3 hours and Singapore in 7 hours via Bahrain, and then we went far faster again...  to the moon.
 
Looking back now it all feels like we lost have something, yes we can afford to travel the world on a few thousand dollars...  but the excitement and the sheer feeling of the momentum of advances in technology has now been reduced to smart phones.
 
The real tragedy was that the machines that gave us our biggest breakthroughs were then never advanced forward, there was no Concorde Mk2 or Space Shuttle Mk2. And so there came no advancements on their ideas and weaknesses, like the noise and sound barrier on Concorde and the better insulation tiles for the Shuttle. Instead they were all consigned to museums and with that a negative backward feeling now exists. You know it can be better, as we lived through that now past era of huge ideas and advancement that actually came true and real.
 
But you can still relive a little of what one machine of that era was, in the Concorde. Dr Gary Hunter created a Concorde for X-Plane9®, so yes this aircraft is old now even by X-Plane standards. It didn't fly very well either lately because of the advances of the simulator, so an update to v10.50 was carried out and the aircraft has been gratefully passed over to the X-Plane.Org to be released...  yes that is right this Concorde is for free!
 


 
And no matter which way you look at it this aircraft is still one of the very best looking machines ever built, The modeling is slightly old, but not enough not to make it feel totally outdated.
 


 
The panel is from an era of X-Plane seasons past, and the instruments are quite blurry. But it is totally functional and does have a 3d Virtual Cockpit.
 

 
There is also a great engineers station, and you need to watch those fuel gauges, they gulp down fuel like no tomorrow, but hey you are also covering the ground at a one mile every two and three quarter seconds!
 

 
Full cabin as well with the all important speed Mach numbers and altitude.
 

 
You are seriously moving at m2.2, you can feel the speed even over the smooth Atlantic Ocean, watching my moving map on my iPad, the aircraft is moving as you are watching it even at a high distance, the Nm counter is clicking over click, click, click fast as well...  this is no sub-sonic slow ride to China or as in this ride... to New York.
 
Distances of descent to any airport will need a bigger or longer distance with this machine as it is a long way down from 50,000ft or even 60,000ft if you are game.
 

 
Liveries included: Blank or Eurowhite, BA Union, BA Landor, BA Flag, AF, AF Retro, Prototype and Singapore.
 




 

 

 
New York and "Look Mum, no Flaps!" drop the nose and the speed to 195knts and you get that over familiar hawk look...
 

 

 
The aircraft is surprisingly easy to fly on approach, but watch for a high nose in the air after landing.
 

 
Concorde is back in New York!
 
______________________________________________________________________
 
There is a big thanks to the work of Dr Gary Hunter in creating this X-Plane Concorde, and now passing it over to Nicolas of the X-Plane.Org for you to download...  for FREE!, yes just go to the link below (sign in first) and download this Concorde and go....     Supersonic!
 

 
Yes! the My Planes (Dr Gary Hunter) Concorde is available for download here:
 
CONCORDE
Price is Free!
Features:
Accurate dimensions 2D and basic 3D Cockpit Object-based model, Very detailed model 8 liveries Cockpits have been totally redesigned. Go to the virtual cockpit and move to the center laterally (right arrow key) then translate backward through the aircraft (shift-pagedown key) to see the virtual cabin interior. All cabin windows are in 3D, and the cabin interior is modeled (seats etc). These differences are most obvious when using LIT textures as you can see inside the cabin more easily. Try circling the plane when flying in low level lighting conditions (sunset for example). Updated and tidied up the 3D virtual cockpit a little. The horizon is 3D now but its hard to notice so I may drop it in future versions. All fuselage doors are operable using keys 8 fuel tanks Full 3D Model Regular Concorde and Concorde 'B' included
The model B was to have been the definitive airline version of Concorde, produced from airframe number 17 onwards. As production stopped at airframe number 16, the model B never actually took to the air, though much of the design work and improvements were retrofitted to existing Concordes. The most noticeable difference would have been the big wing of the model B, non-afterburning (more powerful) engines and a much greater range. This version also features an airbus style “glass” cockpit.  
______________________________________________________________________
 
Overview by Stephen Dutton
6th October 2016
Copyright©2016: X-Plane Reviews
 

   

News! - Announcement : Boeing 787-9 coming from FlightFactor
 
FlightFactor announced last month that a completely new aircraft to add into the line up of a B777, B767/B757 twins, A350 and the Airbus A320 Ultimate is coming from the development house.
 
This aircraft is the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and details are noted that the B787 will reach new heights in complexity, usability and have a variety of features. We are also taking our 3D and texturing to the next level with ever more detail in and out of the cockpit.
 
The first cockpit renders have been produced...
 

 
It is the first all new aircraft from FlightFactor since the A320 Ultimate, but FlightFactor note the B787 will be closer to the B757/B767 in design than use the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) than on the same A320U aircraft...  either way there will be a lot of expectations and a quality delivery expected on this aircraft as the CEF development was a long and testing one, but also the coming B787 at a study grade level will be a big shot in the arm for X-Plane with the MSFS onslaught.
 
FlightFactor also noted "v2 plans for other models are simultaneously on the way, we just don't want to reveal it all at once! " that will be the v2 Boeing 777 and the v2 A350. I would expect the v2 B777 even before the end of 2020, but not the v2 A350 as the v1 just went with a serious upgrade with version Advanced v1.6 just being released, so that aircraft will certainly be a mid or late next year release, but an upgraded Boeing 777 (the current version is now seriously old) will keep the punters more than happy until the Dreamliner arrives.
 
Overall FlightFactor has noted that with this aircraft it wants to take simulation to the next level....  exciting times.
 
Images courtesy of FlightFactor
______________________________________________________________________
  News by Stephen Dutton
15th September 2020
Copyright©2020: X-Plane Reviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)


 

Behind the Screen : Year in Review 2020
 
Even coming into the year 2020, you knew it was going to be confronting, and certainly the year did not let anyone down in that regard. But from a simulation aspect it was the introduction of the Microsoft Simulator in a completely different form and this time from game developers Asobo Studio's that was the major significant impact of the year, released on time August 18, 2020 it certainly got everyone's attention. You can argue about the new simulator's ramifications for years, but one thing was for sure was that the MSFS release was certainly not the exaggerated death-knell for X-Plane and the Laminar Research simulator, in quite a contrast it brought a lot of perspective into our coveted world, and a genuine needed perspective, of course those FlighSim devotees didn't see it that way, until they were faced with reality and then they were confronted with far more than the X-Plane context.
 
In an odd interpretation, the X-Plane simulator had an extremely good year, not it's very best as the COVID 19 and MSFS effects certainly affected the simulator, but it was still highly productive and had some major advancements, so it wasn't all that bad in the current circumstances.
 
Laminar Research
For Laminar Research it was a particularly quiet year, more so without the exposure of the San Diego Simulation Expo which was Covid cancelled, at least that thankfully allowed Laminar not to be constantly bombarded about the coming MSFS and the "What are you going to do about MSFS" questions", in fact Laminar in Austin Meyer only appeared once in a podcast in June, in only noting a few ideas, but was still very relaxed about the mega new flightsim sitting on his doorstep. No Q&A chat from Laminar later in the year was also unusual, but expected after the messy drunken videocast of 2019 and of course the still rampant Virus in the States, the expected X-Plane12 announcement on America's Thanksgiving (almost a given event in the past), was also non-grata either. One other item to note was that Laminar also created a forum to post ideas of what you wanted in a forthcoming X-Plane release, this was an especially interesting development, because Laminar in the past rarely ever asked it's devotes what the time of the day it was, never mind what they "Actually" wanted in the X-Plane simulator...  the forum could be seen in two ways, short of ideas (I doubt that), or just to confirm that what they were doing in development was this time what the hoards actually wanted.
 
2020 was really just about one Laminar Research X-Plane release, v11.50 or the Vulkan/Metal API update. It was a long, lengthy, and up and down release, that even in it's final incarnation in mid-September was still not a complete final solution, mostly because the Vulkan/Metal internal changes still require more development, including multi-core and multi-threading processing. But it is in it's new elements now installed of what now is left of the olde world X-Plane that will bring in the true change in the future for the simulator of the power in the Vulkan/Metal API. But there was the significant new v11.50 benefits, smoother running, higher object count, better shaders and the option to run the long forgotten reflection feature were all great steps forward, but the development process did take a very long time and at the end was even then four months overdue, this affecting the future of X-Plane in also deferring X-Plane12's longer time in development.
 
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
We have to address the impact of the return of "Flight Simulator" in it's new 2020 incarnation on X-Plane or overall in simulation as a whole. The problem was the huge hype surrounding the release, but earlier reports even under a strict NDA or Non-Disclosure Agreement it was noted as incomplete and was also dialed in firmly into a deadline release date.
 
From X-PlaneReviews and note the "X-Plane" in our title is the fact that any response to the MSFS release would come across as in a "our simulator is far better than your simulator" context, or just plain resentments. One thing I am proud of is that I have never been a black or white person, but could always see the grey in the middle or that everything has two sides of every story. I was lucky I also had a few days off when the MSFS release actually happened August 18, 2020, and spent time to understand the ramifications, and I came back to do a though research and analysis of the changes, the result was I think one of the very best descriptions of current simulation and it's future in that X-PlaneReviews have ever done, I am immensely proud of that article "X-Plane and the future in the new world order" and believe the analysis is certainly correct, certainly even now looking back five months hence. But overall the results also shocked me in what could happen in the future of simulation in the context of the MSFS release. There will always be multiple platforms in simulation, but the current four will be quickly reduced to two in MSFS and X-Plane, more so was the surprise that how similar unlike before the main current popular platforms now are actually almost a mirror in design and features, more important is that product for either can be easily ported to either simulator unlike the wide gulf there was before in the FSX/P3D to X-Plane chasm, in fact most of the large (scenery) product that has already been ported to MSFS is already mostly the X-Plane versions.
 
The truth when finally seen was that currently MSFS is really only a game, and I called it "Hollow", not out of spite but out of fact. MSFS is immensely pretty visually, but hollow in the fact that as a simulation you have in reality no aircraft of any depth of which you can currently fly in, so if you want to fly a really quality aircraft with a huge depth of systems on multiple operating systems then X-Plane currently is the only platform to do so. Yes in depth simulation will come to MSFS, but I currently see years of development before it can reach the intimate detail of X-Plane and if ever in aerodynamics and it's in-built system depth, this aspect simply can't be done overnight, as so it has been developed in X-Plane over decades. Another point is simply the quality of X-Plane developers, most on the MSFS release put their hands up and swore on oath that they had no desire to swap platforms. For the current MSFS developers they are sitting in a waiting game, some note it could take twelve months (PMDG) before releasing product worthy to fly, Aerosoft have been reduced to show images of empty content aircraft to keep the punters interested, it will be a long twelve months.
 
For X-Plane we are in our own waiting game. That is for the release of X-Plane12, and no matter which way you want to position the release, it will always be Laminar Research's response to Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2020. Does it matter for it to be viewed in that context, certainly it does, if for the platform's survival, not that the simulator would die overnight, but would certainly start a long slow decline...  strong words, maybe, so for once Laminar cannot be their usual laid-back selves, it is in a very different context this time than within the FSX/P3D era, but the details are also quite clear on what has to be delivered in X-Plane12 to compete with MSFS, surely they in Laminar couldn't mess this one up?
 
Aircraft
Overall it was a quieter year for the release in aircraft for X-Plane in 2020. v11.50 (Vulkan/Metal kept most updates or releases in limbo, so what was supposed to be released never happened in the usual Q3/Q4 quarters. The big developers were also overall very quiet anyway with FlightFactor, Rotate, FlyJSIm even SSG was quiet except for a few updates to their now exceptional Boeing 748 v2.0, the first was really the updated release of the aircraft in early January, the second update later in the year added in the exceptional cargo version, and the final act of a full passenger cabin has now also been shown. ToLiSS was really the only new release with X-Craft's ERJ Family that were the only notable releases in aircraft in the whole of 2020.
The ToLiSS A321 built up on the reputation of the excellent earlier A319, before Christmas 2020 we got an early Christmas present of an NEO engine upgrade for the same aircraft. For X-Craft's the ERJ 135/140 series Family was a huge step up in quality than their earlier E-Jet 170 and 190 LR aircraft, but still had the default instruments and custom FMC, but you got a lot of variants for your money.
 
FlightFactor did update their Airbus A350, but not to a full and complete expected v2.0, but it did finally have an excellent working MCDU, and some nice updates, not perfect but certainly far better, as noted the v2 of the A350 and expected total redesign of the Boeing 777 series never materialised, but FlightFactor did announce a coming Boeing 787 Dreamliner with the works. Again the promised MD-11 from Rotate was not released either, and information was scant, ditto FlyJSim and their coming Q4XP (Dash Q400).
 
iniBuilds Released a A300-600R(F) with now both a passenger and cargo versions, "Expensive" it needed a mortgage to buy, it is indeed however very good, but X-PlaneReviews will never know as any review version(s) was simply "verboten" and what we can't analyse, then we can't recommend or include in our yearly lists, sadly....   
 
Both Magknight and Colimata continued their long development time lines with the Boeing 787-9 and Concorde, both had a load of significant updates throughout the year and can be both safely said to becoming (finally) quality simulations, but the MagKnight B789 is still weighed down by it's basics in instruments and FMC, both a requirement at this level, the Concorde is forever on my list for a decent review, but I felt it just was not developed enough to warrant one, but with the latest update to finally fill in the engineers station, may finally get it past the post. IXEG did also do some very nice updates to the venerable Boeing 733 Classic, and was more visible throughout the year, still an amazing simulation, and that pretty well summed up airliners in 2020.
 
General Aviation
The biggest influence on the General Aviation market was the separation between Thranda (Dan Klaue) and Carenado in the middle of 2019, but the changes didn't come into effect until the start of 2020. Problem is Thranda is Carenado in X-Plane and the effects were all to see once that aspect was removed, and you felt the reverberations all throughout of 2020, there was only a few updates and G1000 conversions (SR22 GTSX Turbo) and for the few aircraft that was released they felt buggy and feeling old fashioned, the brand is not the scaling premier development house it once was, could Carenado withdraw from X-Plane? that is now not an impossible thought, but what about all those updates, 38+ at the last count. But the reality is Carenado feels old and tired and maybe Thranda got tired of fighting into wanting to make the brand more modern and relevant...  I can see only MSFS calling.
 
With the Carenado shackles released Thranda went full throttle on finally working on their own aircraft, with just only JustFlight as a partner. The results were the two masterpieces of the year in the Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter with an added in extra "Adventure Pack" released later, second was another paragon in the DHC-2 Beaver, and it was easily the best release of the year in quality and features. In the same theme of bush aircraft VflyteAir took over the development of the departing MilViz aircraft of the DHC-3T Turbo Otter, otherwise VflyteAir was also in 2020 unusually quiet after the bonanza of 2019.
 
JustFlight only added in one GA in the year and even then it was another PA-28, this time in an Archer TX/LX with another G1000 avionic conversion. Aerobask did two releases, and again both were, yes you guessed it, both G1000 avionics, one was a prop in the Lancair Legacy RG and the other in a jet with the Epic Victory, again the high quality shone with amazing detail, but the big expected release of the year still didn't happen with their still coming Dassault Aviation Falcon 8X.
 
The AirFoilLab's Kingair 350i had a few and even one major updates in the year, but it is an aircraft that is hard to warm to, even with it's huge feature list, the new plugin is still quite not getting the X-Plane feel right and the flying performance feels lackluster and even arcade in feel. Digital Replica's VAN's RV-10 was the only real GA revelation of the year, a small but high quality machine that was nice to chuck about the sky, Nimbus brought us (finally) a BN-2 Islander, first the aircraft on release was far too underdeveloped, but constant updates did get the aircraft back on track, but still not perfect by the end of the year. The inclusion of the "Shortest scheduled flight" scenery from Westary to Papa Westary was certainly a bonus feature, and TorqueSim also released a BN-2 not reviewed here.
 
Military
Like helicopters military aircraft are not high volume releases, but we had a few interesting ones this year, highlight just had to be JustFlight's complex and totally overwhelming Avro Vulcan B Mk.2, K.2 and MRR, and the warbird Lockheed P-38L Lightning from Flying Iron Simulation's was also very well done, the T-7A Red Hawk v1.1 by AOA Simulation's was an really interesting aircraft, and nice to fly as well. In the classic category the DC-3/C47 from VSkyLabs Flying Lab Project went to v3.0 with finally a cargo cabin, but it was a strange mix of modern and old, and a loss of that DC3 vintage feel that oddly changed the focus of the aircraft away from why you wanted it to be in the first place, i.e. a vintage classic airliner...
 
Helicopters
The vertical flight machines were kept to just three in 2020 and the two from VSkyLabs, were both lightweight machines in the Dynali H3 and Robinson R44. The only decent aircraft was the excellent SA 341B and SA 342J Gazelle by JRXDesign. We were finding the helicopters becoming quite outdated through the year, with mostly in being of Dreamfoil MIA, but at the end of the year he did update the Bell 407 to Vulkan standard, X-Trident were also very quiet, but their Chinook CH-47F is looking finished and in beta testing, certainly now ready for an early 2021 release.
 
In decent freeware, the the Zibo B748 was quite quiet considering the barrage of updates in the past few years, the Ultimate Boeing 737-900 and other variants went discontinued, but was picked up by LevelUp 737, and promised (the word here is "promised") five variants in the  -900, -900ER, -600, -700 and -800 (which is the zibo) version. The default Laminar Boeing 747-400 got picked up for the same Zibo treatment by "Sparky", and is now adding in some custom features on top of the basic vanilla B744, but it is early days yet.
 
Like most, aircraft activity was pretty low in 2020, but there are a few gems in there.
 
Scenery
Overall scenery in X-Plane passed a threshold this year, and not in the huge number now of built in Global Airports (14,451 at last count). Finally we could fly from one quality scenery to another and not step out of that quality realm, in quality scenery it is has been a great few years... that said it was annoying that MSFS scenery developers released so much content for the new simulator in the last few months, the same content created for X-Plane would have certainly helped in making the simulator more attractive to new fliers, and certainly the city packs that we desperately needed, maybe a cross flow with X-Plane12 may eventually change that.
 
I had a huge list of required scenery for X-Plane as long as twelve years ago, but these last few years is that many in the list that was finally being ticked off. We kicked off the year with a nice update from SFD with their excellent KSLC-Salt Lake City and SFD also updated his KLAX later in August (an EDDM update is noted as coming in the New Year), KATL-Atlanta (nimbus) and KDEN-Denver by X-Codr Designs both had a very good updates, and EBBR Brussels by JustSim also got a sensational upgrade. LFSB - EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg also by JustSim was completely mindblowing with their night textures.
 
In February we kicked with with probably the biggest scenery project in X-Plane, maybe the biggest ever for the simulator, Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini released five, yes l to V Dolomite sceneries that all interconnected (except the Benta Dolomites, but that was still situated close by), the scale is simply enormous, and it is a very significant area to explore. Not content with that they still had time to again visit South America and the Torres del Paine National Park, but also released the excellent K2-Karakorum scenery...  my god it was all so much mountainous area to cover in one year.
 
Seychelles XP by Maps2XPlane was another wide area scenery, that captured in the Indian Ocean feel (but not quite as good as their Faroe Islands winner last year), in the same area we had three African airports HKJK - Nairobi Airport by FSDG, FALE - Durban XP by FSDG and another African airport in the northwest in Casablanca XP by FSDG, and all three are worthy destinations, and also welcome was VNKT - Kathmandu Tribhuvan Intl Airport by Cami De Bellis which was another exotic scenery released.
 
I was extremely excited for the release of EKCH-Copenhagen XP by FlyTampa, and it certainly didn't disappoint, the dynamics were absolutely jaw-dropping in it's metal and glass detail, then the added on Copenhagen vista and THAT bridge was also excellent. FlyTampa also released KLAS - LasVegas later in the year and again in doing a great sceneraio of the bright lights of that Nevada city....  but FlyTampa noted that for now that was that for their X-Plane sceneries as their focus was now all on MSFS,  I cried...  a lot on that announcement.
 
Also was the (very heavy) CYVR - Vancouver International Airport by GloballArt, brilliantly done, but hard on your frame rate as GloballArt sceneries are, and there was a nice KTPA Tampa International Airport by VerticalSim, another airport that filled out a big hole in Florida.
 
Then came a real feature rich scenery with even a working airshow from Rising Dawn Studio's in KRAL-Riverside Municipal, it took years to compile and detail, it was a really great scenery, that was only let down by X-Plane's very poor surrounding default textures (why are the LA basin textures so bad?), but I still love using it, if only for the flying birds. LXGB - Gibraltar International Airport by Skyline Simulations was well done but let down by the average mountain side textures (I was in the middle of doing brilliant Dainese and Bellini sceneries as a comparison) but the rest of Gibraltar was in detail very good including the extreme short landing challenges.
 
Two sceneries by Gaya Simulations are noteable but not reviewed on this site, EGPH Edinburgh Airport, and LOWW Vienna International Airport are not cheap, but are excellent sceneries.
 
Two sceneries in CZST Stewart and CYBD Bella Coola created originally by Beti-x were acquired by the X-Plane.Org, CZST-Stewart was updated to current standards and both are still highly realistic and not at all dated, still both are very worthy additions to any scenery folder.
 
There was a significant drop in scenery releases after the MSFS release for a few months, then in November there was a load of really great scenery flowing again...  YPPH Perth International by renamed Axonos, was simply sensational and ticked off a huge hole in my network, then came another with EFHK - Helsinki Vantaa International by JustSim, another huge hole filled, and then recently a surprise superb scenery of EGGP Liverpool John Lennon Airport by DigitalDesign, a very good quality effort that deserves attention...
 
A side note for a freeware release from MisterX6/SFD, with a payware quality was RJCH Hakodate Airport for nothing, everyone downloaded it.
 
With a large amount of scenery holes filled in, I certainly felt that noted difference within the simulator, I was now living in a completely object based quality world within a quality scenery to fly between, there will always be another hole to fill...  that is a given, but I was very content with my lot this year, a point is you don't have to have a low-res simulator full of Global airports, as when even for a slight investment you can live in another more higher detailed and realistic world. In the scenery aspect then 2021 will be interesting in if the more bigger development houses abandon X-Plane (remember we are not profitable to them) or we double up the same scenery with MSFS.
 
Plugins
I will state upfront that I am not a huge plugin connoisseur, so I only run what I call essential plugins in my simulator, running the new VRAM profiler (Menu/Developer) can give you the horrors of how much these little monstrous tools can gobble up your framerate and overall efficiency, I took to taking out as many of these laggards as possible. If your favorite plugin is not included in this list, then there are a huge amount of choices, some very clever, but most a replica of each other. Most will note FlywithLua as indispensable, but I found it just intruded into the aircraft systems too much (crashes), but then again that is part of what FlywithLua is for, messing around where it shouldn't be, so FWL is not represented here. A side note of a wrist slap in that "please leave the shaders alone" They are not to be messed with, then complain your simulator doesn't work anymore.
 
The most interesting and most expensive was JustFlight's release of Traffic Global in 2020, a traffic (aircraft) simulation filler. It is very good, but buggy at release and twice the price of the outstanding favorite WorldTraffic 3. But Global Traffic did have two huge advantages over WT3, for one it didn't need a refresh every time you started up the simulator, and two it's framerate footprint was or is extremely low, and in laying out traffic in airports without set layouts it is excellent, but I do hate the steep takeoff and landing angles and the very fast taxiing speeds, in reality WT3 is far better overall (and far cheaper) but not as the better background tool, stutters are still a major problem, and so is the slow setup is another, but framerate has been refined.
JustFlight also released AirHauler2 for X-Plane, but time constraints didn't allow me to test it out or review the application because of it's complexity, I'll try again in a quieter time.
 
XPRealistic Pro v2.0 by rk Apps for Realism effects (shakes and sounds) was back, but this time in new code and not using the FlywithLua as a host. I had to abandon this plugin because of it's association with FWL, but thankfully it is back and very welcome, as it does add in a very dynamic effect to your flying. Another essential tool is the WebFMC Pro, a remote FMC that uses browsers for input, plugin was updated twice in the year in adding in more aircraft and even the default Laminar FMC, dual FMCs are also now available.
 
A clever plugin very similar to the WebFMC system was SkyScout, a web based EFIS - PFD/MFD/EICAS by XPlane Aviator, it was very clever and a very interesting tool, certainly for training, but I found the release version a little too complex and buggy, but interesting.
 
SimBrief is of course still a valuable tool as is the Navigraph subscription, but I had a lot of issues with the Simlink app after Vulkan was released, stutters and disconnection is now very common, it needs an update.
 
BetterPushBack had a few updates, as did AviTab, SAM added to Seasons, with WorldJetways (brings Global Airports to life), Global Trees, Airport Vehicles (payware) and Follow Me car (Payware) and everything is now controlled via the SAM2 Suite, an invaluable tool that is a requirement if you use payware airports. ApSoft Airplane Toolbox was updated to calculate either the Takeoff or Landing Performance of many aircraft, as is SimToolkitPro that brings a lot of different aspects of flying under one single tool, there is a basic freeware and Pro version, but the April 2020 update was huge in new features. XPUIPC the equivalent to FSUIPC for FSX/P3D, is for creating internal datarefs has also had a few updates and only really for the nerds.
 
xEnviro was basically sidelined all year, first with a poor heavy application in v1.13, that I returned (again) to the only viable version in 1.07, but once I had to run Vulkan, even in beta form then xEnviro became persona non grata. Very late after again another personal event and eleven tedious months of development the application came out in v1.14 form, but still only for OpenGL, and then the announcement was "Vulkan! next", seriously, I felt like just going "awwh what, so why bother"...  A brilliant concept ruined continuously by bad management and no updating, expensive and not reliable, then Dark Space is just simply becoming a lot of empty space.
 
The odd plugin of the year was librain(rain) by skiselkov. Vulkan rendered it non-viable, but was it fixed? or what has happened to this valuable tool...  an odd business.
 
In hardware, Thrustmaster TCA Officer Pack Airbus Edition brought a credible Airbus feel without the price to your desktop, for what you get it is good value, but Covid19 made stock scarce.
 
To sum up 2020 it was most aircraft delayed by an API release with only a few notable releases, then Covid19. With scenery in releases it was huge early in the year then collapsed after MSFS release, then recovered again at the end of the year, MSFS went global mid-year and then just whimpered along.
_________________________
 
2020 marked the anniversary of X-PlaneReviews 7th year in producing content for the X-Plane simulator, and it was another year even a third larger in content than the year before and X-PlaneReviews passed the 1800 milestone of published reviews and 300 posts coming in this last year alone, and that shows the sheer amount of quality add-ons that was again added to the simulator. In September we did a site refresh and added in some animated banners, you have to find the balance between not ruining a clean interface with creating a more modern look and feel, and I think we achieved that aspect.
 
Again this review site cannot function without all the great and exciting work by the tireless developers that give us all this exciting and incredible product to fly and use, as they and X-Plane has come a long way and created leaps in quality in the last few years, and to a point I was very proud of the work they produced, it is world class if not the very best in simulation product, and they are all top notch and very clever. To the X-Plane.OrgStore who supports this site with review products, service and updates, a really big thanks, this site just would just not function without that outstanding support. To our reviewers this year in Casa and from Jude, they have both added in a different dimension to the site, and we are always looking for reviewers to show off their skills and devotion to the X-Plane simulation platform.
 
In a tropical storm you get a lot of turbulence from the howling winds of force, then suddenly in the central eye it gets super quiet and you can even see the stars in the calm sky, but you know that soon those huge forces of the the outer swirl will return with their destructive force. To a point that it is like that right now in X-Plane, we have had a huge disruptive year in 2020, and not only in simulation but all over the world, the fallout from all that energy will be as bad as the actual event itself. For simulation it is the Microsoft Flight Simulator that has been the biggest disrupter of all, but sitting here in the middle of the eye, then 2021 will bring back those destructive forces of change, so enjoy it while you can.
 
In 2021 Laminar Research will present their response to MSFS in the form of X-Plane12, when is a release coming is very good question? as we have already passed one thanksgiving announcement milestone, Easter, maybe, or even at the FlightSimExpo 2021 currently scheduled for early June, that event is my guess currently, unless cancelled (again)...   but we should have a beta version running earlier. To a point the June Expo is going to be an interesting event not-withstanding, Asobo will certainly want to dominate the show, so Laminar has to be expected to have something to counter the onslaught.
 
More short term then the start of 2021 should be very exciting in Q1 and Q2. There are a load of aircraft currently reaching their beta states and almost ready for release. The biggest events will be from JustFlight with two products, A Vickers VC10 and a very exciting Bae 146, Dassault Aviation Falcon 8X, Chinook CH-47F, FlyJSim Q4XP (Dash Q400) and even at a long bet the Rotate MD11, all quality aircraft and most overdue for release.
_________________________
 
We will finish off with X-PlaneReviews famous best of the year awards…   So I will now list my Best of the Year 2020🏅
(note the awards are given to only products I have seen and tested and I can only vouch for)
 
Best Aircraft : Airbus A321 NEO by ToLiSS 🏅
Certainly the best flying Airbus in X-Plane and now in NEO form, and all from a master Airbus systems craftsman.
Honorable Mention : INIDesigns A300-600R(F), debatable if it was the best of the year, but we will give it a mention of the quality of a first release.
 
Best General Aviation Aircraft : Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter by Thranda Design 🏅
Simply a huge feature set, and clever tools in creating your own instrument layouts and liveries, extra "Adventure Pack" brought Floats and Skydivers!
Honorable Mentions : Both Aerobask's Lancair Legacy RG and Epic Victory in both have huge detail quality and instrument features
Overall a really dismal year for such an competitive category, but TorqueSim did also produce a nice SR22 and SR20
 
Best Classic Aircraft : DHC-2 Beaver - DGS Series v1.1 by Thranda Design 🏅
Actually a no brainer, probably the best overall aircraft released in X-Plane in 2020, again it comes with the same clever tools in creating your own instrument layouts and liveries, and a float option thrown in as well...  awesome machine!
Honorable Mention : Lockheed P-38L Lightning by Flying Iron Simulations, Flying Iron do these warbirds very well, and this was another stunner.
 
Best Business Aircraft : Vacant Award
Zero, nothing in particular, the Carenado Cessna 208 Grand Caravan EX XP11 was executive by nature, but a bit to lackluster for an award.
 
Best Military : Avro Vulcan B Mk.2, K.2 and MRR by JustFlight 🏅
Easy choice, but complex and hard to fly...  but highly rewarding
 
Best Helicopter : SA 341B and SA 342J Gazelle by JRXDesign 🏅
There was the only one notable releases for Helicopters in 2020 and that was the SA 341B and SA 342J Gazelle by JRXDesign, as the only releases other were from vSkyLabs, and both were very light (and on features) helicopters. No review was done at the time of the Gazelle because it required an update (coming in August), but I did fly the machine(s) and so it can be nominated here.
 
Best Landscape Scenery : Dolomite Series l to V by Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini mountain group 🏅
Just a huge landscape of a significant Italian Mountain area, you can explore the valleys for months and not cover it all
Honorable Mention : K2-Karakorum scenery, again by Dainese and Bellini, another extraordinary area to explore
 
Best Airport Scenery : EKCH-Copenhagen XP by FlyTampa 🏅
We award on the technical as well as the overall vista, and the metal and glass detail in FlyTampa's EKCH is extraordinary, and of course THAT bridge, and all done very well here
Honorable Mention : KLAS-LasVegas was also very good, with the Las Vegas vista lighting up the desert
Special Mentions : For all the ballyhoo, there was still some outstanding new entrants in scenery, Axonos...  YPPH Perth International was a brilliant debut scenery, and FSDG widened out the world with some great exotic airports
Worst of the year : KOAK-Oakland International by Departure Designs, was just plain awful, a bit too much ambition and no talent.
 
Best Plugin(s) : Stairport's SAM2 🏅
Clever ideas and great tools, the whole concept was this year now gathered together under one application.
Special Mention(s) : Traffic Global, XPRealistic, WebFMC Pro and Navigraph Charts
All noted applications were highly used throughout the year and in Navigraph Charts/SimBrief both are simply invaluable tools for route creation.
 
Person(s) of the Year : Ben Supnic, Chris Serio and Tyler Young 🏅
We do forget what brings the simulator to our computers, worse this year was the shear complexity of porting the new API's to X-Plane, it was a long and drawn out project, and fraught with considerable obstacles. So you didn't hear much of any of them in 2020, but quietly the coders at Laminar are changing the face of the simulator into a new era product, now they are faced with the monumental challenge of creating X-Plane12.
 
Best Moment of the year 2020 : First run of Vulkan, sliders went up and so did the framerate...  winner, winner chicken dinner
 
Worst Moment of the Year 2020 : FlyTampa telling me they are not going to do any more scenery for X-Plane for the foreseeable future

Biggest distractions of 2020 : ... Covid19, oh and the still never ending constant updating!
 
Personal Favorites of 2020 : Updated IXEG B737 Classic (my favorite aircraft overall this year), ToLiSS A321 NEO (Brilliant), FlightFactor Airbus Ultimate (Yes it is now the ultimate simulation), SSG B748F (SSG finally got there), Bonanza F33A (Even better in XP11)...  notable was the X-Trident AB412 Helio, it was a godsend this year for all the mountain scenery reviews : Routes...   Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Barcelona, Roma, Helsinki, Munich, Malta, Perth, Atlanta and Denver
 
That is X-PlaneReviews for 2020, and we will be back after a very much needed recovery and the review site returns again early into the New Year on the 6th January 2021.
 
So Merry Christmas, a Happy (virus free) New Year 2021
 
Stephen Dutton
22nd December 2020
Copyright:X-PlaneReviews 2020
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)  

 

News! - Announcement : Boeing 787-9 coming from FlightFactor
 
FlightFactor announced last month that a completely new aircraft to add into the line up of a B777, B767/B757 twins, A350 and the Airbus A320 Ultimate is coming from the development house.
 
This aircraft is the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and details are noted that the B787 will reach new heights in complexity, usability and have a variety of features. We are also taking our 3D and texturing to the next level with ever more detail in and out of the cockpit.
 
The first cockpit renders have been produced...
 

 
It is the first all new aircraft from FlightFactor since the A320 Ultimate, but FlightFactor note the B787 will be closer to the B757/B767 in design than use the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) than on the same A320U aircraft...  either way there will be a lot of expectations and a quality delivery expected on this aircraft as the CEF development was a long and testing one, but also the coming B787 at a study grade level will be a big shot in the arm for X-Plane with the MSFS onslaught.
 
FlightFactor also noted "v2 plans for other models are simultaneously on the way, we just don't want to reveal it all at once! " that will be the v2 Boeing 777 and the v2 A350. I would expect the v2 B777 even before the end of 2020, but not the v2 A350 as the v1 just went with a serious upgrade with version Advanced v1.6 just being released, so that aircraft will certainly be a mid or late next year release, but an upgraded Boeing 777 (the current version is now seriously old) will keep the punters more than happy until the Dreamliner arrives.
 
Overall FlightFactor has noted that with this aircraft it wants to take simulation to the next level....  exciting times.
 
Images courtesy of FlightFactor
______________________________________________________________________
  News by Stephen Dutton
15th September 2020
Copyright©2020: X-Plane Reviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)


 

News! - Announcement : Boeing 787-9 coming from FlightFactor
 
FlightFactor announced last month that a completely new aircraft to add into the line up of a B777, B767/B757 twins, A350 and the Airbus A320 Ultimate is coming from the development house.
 
This aircraft is the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and details are noted that the B787 will reach new heights in complexity, usability and have a variety of features. We are also taking our 3D and texturing to the next level with ever more detail in and out of the cockpit.
 
The first cockpit renders have been produced...
 

 
It is the first all new aircraft from FlightFactor since the A320 Ultimate, but FlightFactor note the B787 will be closer to the B757/B767 in design than use the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) than on the same A320U aircraft...  either way there will be a lot of expectations and a quality delivery expected on this aircraft as the CEF development was a long and testing one, but also the coming B787 at a study grade level will be a big shot in the arm for X-Plane with the MSFS onslaught.
 
FlightFactor also noted "v2 plans for other models are simultaneously on the way, we just don't want to reveal it all at once! " that will be the v2 Boeing 777 and the v2 A350. I would expect the v2 B777 even before the end of 2020, but not the v2 A350 as the v1 just went with a serious upgrade with version Advanced v1.6 just being released, so that aircraft will certainly be a mid or late next year release, but an upgraded Boeing 777 (the current version is now seriously old) will keep the punters more than happy until the Dreamliner arrives.
 
Overall FlightFactor has noted that with this aircraft it wants to take simulation to the next level....  exciting times.
 
Images courtesy of FlightFactor
______________________________________________________________________
  News by Stephen Dutton
15th September 2020
Copyright©2020: X-Plane Reviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)


 

Considering all the ho ha, MSFS has gone extremely quiet recently...  the obvious is obviously, why buy airports that you can't use? Yes the GA's are usable, but why would you spend money on a mega airport that is empty, to fly to another empty mega airport? Yes the Dev Houses are pumping them out, but to who... I did notice a few new MSFS users poking around in X-Plane, why because they can use it. In early 2021, I think the penny will drop for the Dev Houses...   That MSAFS will not be the gold mine they expected, if that aspect has not already dropped...  but blind faith.

News! - Announcement : Boeing 787-9 coming from FlightFactor
 
FlightFactor announced last month that a completely new aircraft to add into the line up of a B777, B767/B757 twins, A350 and the Airbus A320 Ultimate is coming from the development house.
 
This aircraft is the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and details are noted that the B787 will reach new heights in complexity, usability and have a variety of features. We are also taking our 3D and texturing to the next level with ever more detail in and out of the cockpit.
 
The first cockpit renders have been produced...
 

 
It is the first all new aircraft from FlightFactor since the A320 Ultimate, but FlightFactor note the B787 will be closer to the B757/B767 in design than use the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) than on the same A320U aircraft...  either way there will be a lot of expectations and a quality delivery expected on this aircraft as the CEF development was a long and testing one, but also the coming B787 at a study grade level will be a big shot in the arm for X-Plane with the MSFS onslaught.
 
FlightFactor also noted "v2 plans for other models are simultaneously on the way, we just don't want to reveal it all at once! " that will be the v2 Boeing 777 and the v2 A350. I would expect the v2 B777 even before the end of 2020, but not the v2 A350 as the v1 just went with a serious upgrade with version Advanced v1.6 just being released, so that aircraft will certainly be a mid or late next year release, but an upgraded Boeing 777 (the current version is now seriously old) will keep the punters more than happy until the Dreamliner arrives.
 
Overall FlightFactor has noted that with this aircraft it wants to take simulation to the next level....  exciting times.
 
Images courtesy of FlightFactor
______________________________________________________________________
  News by Stephen Dutton
15th September 2020
Copyright©2020: X-Plane Reviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)


 

What X-Plane users need to remember is that the release of Vulkan v11.50 is only half the transition, the other elements like the mesh/textures, weather will now be needed to be modernised for more gains and better efficiency, plus bringing the cores on line as MSFS already does, now the main code is in place Laminar can revolutionise the whole package.

News! - Announcement : Boeing 787-9 coming from FlightFactor
 
FlightFactor announced last month that a completely new aircraft to add into the line up of a B777, B767/B757 twins, A350 and the Airbus A320 Ultimate is coming from the development house.
 
This aircraft is the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and details are noted that the B787 will reach new heights in complexity, usability and have a variety of features. We are also taking our 3D and texturing to the next level with ever more detail in and out of the cockpit.
 
The first cockpit renders have been produced...
 

 
It is the first all new aircraft from FlightFactor since the A320 Ultimate, but FlightFactor note the B787 will be closer to the B757/B767 in design than use the Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) than on the same A320U aircraft...  either way there will be a lot of expectations and a quality delivery expected on this aircraft as the CEF development was a long and testing one, but also the coming B787 at a study grade level will be a big shot in the arm for X-Plane with the MSFS onslaught.
 
FlightFactor also noted "v2 plans for other models are simultaneously on the way, we just don't want to reveal it all at once! " that will be the v2 Boeing 777 and the v2 A350. I would expect the v2 B777 even before the end of 2020, but not the v2 A350 as the v1 just went with a serious upgrade with version Advanced v1.6 just being released, so that aircraft will certainly be a mid or late next year release, but an upgraded Boeing 777 (the current version is now seriously old) will keep the punters more than happy until the Dreamliner arrives.
 
Overall FlightFactor has noted that with this aircraft it wants to take simulation to the next level....  exciting times.
 
Images courtesy of FlightFactor
______________________________________________________________________
  News by Stephen Dutton
15th September 2020
Copyright©2020: X-Plane Reviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)


 

I am disappointed that so many users don't get the issue that although the A321 looks the same as the A319 and yes they use a lot of the same components, the actual work and time required to put each together is about the same (it is not what you see modeling wise that counts here), NO there is not going to be a discount and NO why should the developer after all his hard work do so anyway, this is just X-Plane being very mean again and not supporting the simulator or their developers. The aircraft is worth it's full value!

I checked my version and the SID/STARs work fine and I have updated recently up to AIRAC cycle 2008...  the SSG B748i does have an odd navdata arrangement, it overall uses the X-Plane navdata, but there is an on board the aircraft version as well version noted as cycle 1707, there is an installer in the NavData installers folder....   I think you can update this by downloading it from Navigraph

I never saw any H Pads? and there were non noted either, so I don't think so, most H Pads are situated on the fringe of KLAS

Aircraft Update : Airbus A350-900 XWB Advanced v1.6 by FlightFactor/SteptoSky
 
Since the earliest days you mostly saw FlightFactor Aero as a Boeing developer, there was the Boeing 777, then the Boeing 757 and then the Boeing 767... then out of the blue came an Airbus in the Airbus A350-900 XWB. But right from the first version of this aircraft it never felt... well very Airbus? Where as all the Boeings felt and flew like Boeings. Since the A350 FlightFactor went on to do another Airbus in the A320 Ultimate, which DOES feel like an Airbus and is still the best Airbus in X-Plane.
 
But the FlightFactor A350XWB was a really odd aircraft from the start? Excellent on the external, the A350 always looked very nice in X-Plane. The clever six display layout with X input system is also really clever and is well done (early versions were however extremely buggy) and the airbus system depth is very good. So overall it should have been perfect for me as I like to fly Airbuses more than Boeings...  but I never ever really fell in love with FlightFactor's A350XWB?
 
Which is really odd because Long-Haul is still my favorite form of flying and also the A350 XWB is the latest of the New-Gen aircraft and X-Plane is very short of Long-Haul airlines and certainly of the New-Gen class. The FlightFactor A350 should of very easily ticked off every box for me, but in all honestly it left me cold and I rarely flew the aircraft, even the last time departing Barcelona I even stopped mid-flight (I very rarely abandon flights) because I was really not liking it at all?
 
Why? well that is a good question...  the first one in the most obvious. The FF A350 didn't have SID/STARs and the FMS was in reality the default FMS undercover. And this missing aspect really was the biggest complaint, but to be fair the A350XWB FMS (Flight Management Systems) is quite complicated and very different in input from either a Boeing and even another Airbus as only the bigger A380 has the same input and navigation system. Poor Sounds didn't help either and they were really awful, and the cockpit textures were weird in a non-Airbus way, and the aircraft always felt buggy, it never seemed to come together as a whole or as a linear simulation, it was an aircraft you simply couldn't love.
 
The news of a v2.0 of the FlightFactor A350 was very welcome, but it became confusing in the light that the next update in v1.6.0 would be next and also include the infamous missing SID/STAR intergration, my guessing (wrongly) would that the SID/STAR intergration would only happen with the full new version of v2.0 (In selling the new version of the aircraft)...  The surprise is that the SID/STAR is in this update v1.6.0 version, so that will be a free update, the better news is that the FMS  is now really, really good...  far better than I expected and to the point even brilliant.
 

 
Nothing wrong with the way the A350 XWB looks, but this is still the v1.0 aircraft and in a few areas the v1.0 has a few niggles, the wings do have flex, but in a weird stiff flexy way, so the wing flex still looks old and outdated, and the cabin is still also old and very dated as well.
 

 
A worthwhile download is the new Lufthansa A350 livery by fscabral as the cabin textures have been redone and the results seriously lift the cabin from the really drab to the really nice...  and yes this cabin layout should be the default.
 


 
Note in that the cabin lighting is controlled from the EFB (OIS/AIRPLANE/CABIN settings), lighting and sound settings settings are currently off at default.
 
Ground support still has those cold war Russian vehicles, and you shake your head why as all the FlightFactor Boeings now have the updated western styled vehicles. But thankfully where it counts in the air the A350 XWB still looks very nice.
 
Airbus 350 XWB v1.6
We will come to the big event in a moment, but first unlike other areas of the A350 the cockpit has had a very nice spruce up of the textures.  The original cockpit textures were a darker Airbus blue with some wear around the edges, but somehow it didn't feel right in context as the A350 is the most modern of the Airbus fleet? These textures are now in a far lighter blue/grey Airbussy feel and are far better to the current state of a A350 XWB.
 

 
The panels are still very left side pilot focused, with the right position more fixed with no display cycle active, the far right display is also fixed to a users guide page. The range and baro adjustments however do work, so it is not impossible to fly from the right seat as you can flip the FMS screen to the right middle display setting, but with no access to the menu sections unless again you move the menu selection to the middle screen.
 

 
Glareshield textures are lovely, modern and very nice. Gone are the wheat coloured seats to be replaced by a very not corporate look of "stars"? A very unusual choice, but they do look better than the wheat seats with far more cloth and ripple detail..
 

 
FMS - Flight Management System
The most important and the most welcome aspect of this v1.6 update is the intergration of SID/STARS into the FMS navigation, not only is SID/STAR routing now available, but it is also in how well the system has actually been done here is the biggest factor.
 
Pilot left station is very good with most items and displays active and interactive. FlightFactor recreated the X pointer system for use on A350 displays and although very buggy in the early days (the X pointer would stray badly out of the display limits) it is now a very robust system that works well.
 

 
There are two drop down menus tight together top left of the MFD (Multi-Functional Display). Top one selects your FMS route (Sorry there is still only one FMS1 route available) and below to start a new route then select INIT from the lower menu.
 

 
If you are used to the usual FMS via a left or right button input key, then you will have to adjust to this different pointer system. There are a few rules to know... one is that everything is via an input and menu selection, so you select the box with the X pointer (arrowed below left)...
 

 
...  put the X pointer over the box you want to input into and you get a green dash line and a flashing cursor, the display then also becomes "KEYBOARD FOCUSED" for direct key input...  Type in your data, in this case Nairobi Airport "HKJK", but most IMPORTANT is to re-click to lock the data in!  This is usually placed over the very first letter in the box with the pointer, if the "Keyboard Focus" line goes out and the input text sets a little to the right...   then it is correctly inputted (locked in).
 

 
Add in your INIT details...  Flight Number, From (HKJK) to (EGLL) Alternative (EGCC) and Cruise FL (Flight Level) and Cruise (CRZ) Temp ºC.
 

 
DEP and ARR locations set it is now time to do the flightplan, you access the flightplan via the "ACTIVE" menu and select F-PLN.
 
Now comes the new SID (Standard Instrument Departures) selection...  Press the departure airport (HKJK) and up comes a menu, select on the menu "DEPARTURE".
 

 
Drop down menus give selection for RWY (Runway), SID and TRANS....
 

 
...  in my case it is RWY 24, SID "IBRA3D" and TRANS "KAMAS", all selections are then shown in the above Selected Departure box.
 
Go back to the F-PLN and the SID departure route (waypoints) are now completed.
 

 
Next waypoint (WPT) or AIRWAY is inserted in a similar way. 
 
Just select the last waypoint and select via thew menu either "INSERT NEXT WPT" or "AIRWAYS".
 


 
For to "Insert Next Wpt" you select the selection box and insert the waypoint name (TUFTE) and make sure you click to insert, and you don't use the AIRWAY selection to add in the next WPT. For Airways then select AIRWAYS and add in the AIRWAY and the TO selections and like all FMS systems you can add in as many airways as you require.
 

 
In every flightplan you get "DISCONTINUITY" breaks...  to remove you just select the Discontinuity selection and then select "DELETE" from the menu.
 

 
STAR (Standard Terminal ARrival) is the same procedure as the SID selection, select the arrival airport, then ARRIVAL from the menu and then use the menus to fill in the arrival data...
 


 
... the drop down menus select RWY, APPR (Approach), VIA, STAR (shown) and TRANS. All selections are shown in the upper box like with the SID selections.
 
All changes and selections are only TEMPY or Temporary in yellow and insert via INSERT TEMPY, or backstep by ERASE TEMPY... 
 

 
....   and at any time while constructing the route you can make it active (Green) to see your progress on the PFD... The final full Flightplan is shown with diversions of which you can scroll up or down.... brilliant!
 
It takes a little while to adjust to this pointer system, but it is quite easy to do once you are used to it. Overall the FMS is very versatile in creating route flightplans and I found it very refined and not buggy at all, which is very good thing with long route insertion flightplans like from Nairobi to London.
 
Other FMS details are important as well...   OIS (Onboard Information System ) Aircraft AIRPLANE/PASSENGERS gives you the A350 weights, and the AIRPLANE/PERF CALCULATOR gives you TO Performance and vSpeeds.
 

 
...  and the calculated data is then transferred to the PERF (performance) page and the very important FUEL & LOAD page in the FMS...
 

 
You can save your flightplan via the INIT page under "RTE SAVE", but the interesting aspect is that you have three choices of save, 1. the FULL complete flightplan, 2. SID or 3. STAR, so this makes it a very versatile system...
 

 
....  the route is confusingly saved in your standard X-Plane FMS folder but not in the alphabetical order, but under a (*) moniker at the very bottom, which means a lot of scrolling. Quicker access is to use the "Filter" box lower right which reduces the flightplans to the chosen ICAO label. 
 
Wind pages have been added and it noted is that Alterative Flightplans are also now available, but I couldn't find a second flightplan?
 

 
All in all it is a very extensive and detailed upgrade to the FMS in the A350XWB, I absolutely love it, yes there is more you want like a second FMS for the First Officer, but overall it is a fantastic working system... not perfect but far better than we had before.
_______________________
 
There are no notes that the sounds have had attention in v1.6, but they certainly sound far better to me? Cockpit hum and wind noise is very good for a long haul flight and the exterior sounds far better as well, more distant in the background now is that really annoying "tring, ring" from the engines, it is still there but now highly subdued...  thank god, the annoying Purser to Captain "Dings" are still as bad as ever, finding the issue is made hard by the language spoken in a gobble... usually it is the cabin that is TOO hot or TOO cold "but mister if the damn engines are switched off I can't heat or cool the cabin can I?... so go away", or the cabin lights are down, but it is really, really annoying...   If any aircraft requires a specialist addon sound pack it is the A350 XWB.
 
Contrails and and particles have now been added as well, the APU hums and breathes out exhaust air, and in the air the aircraft looks great.
 

 
Another new menu page on the OIS is the "JOYSTICK ACTIONS" menu and noted to make the aircraft compatible with the new Thrustmaster TCA Airbus Throttle Quadrant. The new hardware offering from Thrustmaster, part of its new TCA Range is due to release in late September this year.
This covers your joystick "Deadband" area (centre), throttle detent location and "MCT Detent" (Maximum Continuous Thrust) location.
 
All the settings of course are for fine tuning your hardware joystick and throttle systems, but one selection is quite important... "REV ON SAME AXIS" will set your throttles with a "Beta' reverse detent. fine in some cases but horrible with my Saitek X56 Rhino setup as it set the idle position to reverse thrust, you can turn the action OFF here (arrowed below left).
 

 
Radios are now 8.33 (as X-Plane11 went to this earlier). The 8.33 kHz channel spacing adds two additional channels for every 25 kHz channel. This is to overcome the frequency congestion in the medium to long term by providing more channels.
 

 
Navigation ILS, VOR and ADF frequencies are under the "NAV" button, but you still have the default FMS at the rear of the pedestal and it's radio channels if you want a easier way to access any of the frequency settings or route information.
_______________________
 
Summary
Although noted as a "Advanced" version of the Airbus A350XWB, the Flightfactor version never really hit the mark in delivering a totally realistic simulation, and so in that aspect I was never yearned for the aircraft and rarely flew it, which is a shame because we need really good long haul and next generation aircraft in the X-Plane simulator.
 
But now with this new v1.6 version of the A350XWB we have a game changer. The missing SID/STAR intergration that was missing is now part of this extensive Flight Management System. A difficult system to replicate because of it's unusual pointer and menu based input applications. But this intergration has been a huge success here in creating a master simulation of this unique Airbus FMS. Most FMS areas are now covered, but you will never ever cover everything as it is simply too complex, but the aircraft in reality should lose it's "Advanced" moniker and be now named a "Professional" aircraft because of the depth of the systems here...  the only area missing is the right hand seat interaction to the OIS (Onboard Information System).
 
A few areas have also been cleaned up including the cockpit textures which are more Airbus grey and lighter in tone and new seat (star) coverings. Over the updates the A350XWB has had a lot of behind the scenes work done and not actually noted officially, but you certainly feel in this version a far more co-ordinated and less buggy aircraft to fly, the FMS especially is really well coded and quite bug free in being versatile for corrections and data changes, a far cry from the original interface and flying conditions.
 
So now it works, in almost every area and if not absolutely perfect the A350XWB starts to live up to it's quality standing as a very good if now excellent simulation. Over many hard flights (most Long Haul) it is an excellent aircraft to enjoy, the v1.6 update maybe on reflection small, but the aircraft has become something else than just a pretty aircraft to look at, it now a very realistic flying simulation as well.
 
Once the outcast, the Airbus A350-900XWB can now be seen in the same context as the other aircraft from FlightFactor. A brilliant update that in the long wait users deserved...  Not perfect but a free update with these enhancements will bring a lot of smiles to a lot of users faces, if you don't have the A350XWB from FlightFactor, but love long distance flying, maybe it is now time to take the plunge and enjoy this amazing aircraft.
_____________________________________________
 


The Airbus A350-900 XWB Advanced v1.6 from FlightFactor is Available from the  X-Plane.Org Store:
 
Airbus A350 XWB Advanced
Price is currently US$ 64.95
 
Livery packs at US$10 for ten liveries are available here: A350 Liveries Include: North America, Oceania, Africa & Middle East, Asia, Atlantic, Europe 1, Europe 2 and Pacific.
 
If you already have purchased the A350 XWB from FlightFactor then go to your account at the X-PlaneStore and update to v1.6
 
Requirements:
X-Plane 11 Windows - Mac - Linux - 64bit Operating System Required 4Gb+ VRAM Minimum, 8Gb+ VRAM Minimum.     Release Review : Aircraft Review : Airbus A350 XWB Advanced by FlightFactor Support forum : FlightFactor A350 XWB _____________________________________________________________________________________
 
Update and Tutorial by Stephen Dutton 18th July 2020 Copyright©2020: X-PlaneReviews
 

Aircraft Update : Airbus A350-900 XWB Advanced v1.6 by FlightFactor/SteptoSky
 
Since the earliest days you mostly saw FlightFactor Aero as a Boeing developer, there was the Boeing 777, then the Boeing 757 and then the Boeing 767... then out of the blue came an Airbus in the Airbus A350-900 XWB. But right from the first version of this aircraft it never felt... well very Airbus? Where as all the Boeings felt and flew like Boeings. Since the A350 FlightFactor went on to do another Airbus in the A320 Ultimate, which DOES feel like an Airbus and is still the best Airbus in X-Plane.
 
But the FlightFactor A350XWB was a really odd aircraft from the start? Excellent on the external, the A350 always looked very nice in X-Plane. The clever six display layout with X input system is also really clever and is well done (early versions were however extremely buggy) and the airbus system depth is very good. So overall it should have been perfect for me as I like to fly Airbuses more than Boeings...  but I never ever really fell in love with FlightFactor's A350XWB?
 
Which is really odd because Long-Haul is still my favorite form of flying and also the A350 XWB is the latest of the New-Gen aircraft and X-Plane is very short of Long-Haul airlines and certainly of the New-Gen class. The FlightFactor A350 should of very easily ticked off every box for me, but in all honestly it left me cold and I rarely flew the aircraft, even the last time departing Barcelona I even stopped mid-flight (I very rarely abandon flights) because I was really not liking it at all?
 
Why? well that is a good question...  the first one in the most obvious. The FF A350 didn't have SID/STARs and the FMS was in reality the default FMS undercover. And this missing aspect really was the biggest complaint, but to be fair the A350XWB FMS (Flight Management Systems) is quite complicated and very different in input from either a Boeing and even another Airbus as only the bigger A380 has the same input and navigation system. Poor Sounds didn't help either and they were really awful, and the cockpit textures were weird in a non-Airbus way, and the aircraft always felt buggy, it never seemed to come together as a whole or as a linear simulation, it was an aircraft you simply couldn't love.
 
The news of a v2.0 of the FlightFactor A350 was very welcome, but it became confusing in the light that the next update in v1.6.0 would be next and also include the infamous missing SID/STAR intergration, my guessing (wrongly) would that the SID/STAR intergration would only happen with the full new version of v2.0 (In selling the new version of the aircraft)...  The surprise is that the SID/STAR is in this update v1.6.0 version, so that will be a free update, the better news is that the FMS  is now really, really good...  far better than I expected and to the point even brilliant.
 

 
Nothing wrong with the way the A350 XWB looks, but this is still the v1.0 aircraft and in a few areas the v1.0 has a few niggles, the wings do have flex, but in a weird stiff flexy way, so the wing flex still looks old and outdated, and the cabin is still also old and very dated as well.
 

 
A worthwhile download is the new Lufthansa A350 livery by fscabral as the cabin textures have been redone and the results seriously lift the cabin from the really drab to the really nice...  and yes this cabin layout should be the default.
 


 
Note in that the cabin lighting is controlled from the EFB (OIS/AIRPLANE/CABIN settings), lighting and sound settings settings are currently off at default.
 
Ground support still has those cold war Russian vehicles, and you shake your head why as all the FlightFactor Boeings now have the updated western styled vehicles. But thankfully where it counts in the air the A350 XWB still looks very nice.
 
Airbus 350 XWB v1.6
We will come to the big event in a moment, but first unlike other areas of the A350 the cockpit has had a very nice spruce up of the textures.  The original cockpit textures were a darker Airbus blue with some wear around the edges, but somehow it didn't feel right in context as the A350 is the most modern of the Airbus fleet? These textures are now in a far lighter blue/grey Airbussy feel and are far better to the current state of a A350 XWB.
 

 
The panels are still very left side pilot focused, with the right position more fixed with no display cycle active, the far right display is also fixed to a users guide page. The range and baro adjustments however do work, so it is not impossible to fly from the right seat as you can flip the FMS screen to the right middle display setting, but with no access to the menu sections unless again you move the menu selection to the middle screen.
 

 
Glareshield textures are lovely, modern and very nice. Gone are the wheat coloured seats to be replaced by a very not corporate look of "stars"? A very unusual choice, but they do look better than the wheat seats with far more cloth and ripple detail..
 

 
FMS - Flight Management System
The most important and the most welcome aspect of this v1.6 update is the intergration of SID/STARS into the FMS navigation, not only is SID/STAR routing now available, but it is also in how well the system has actually been done here is the biggest factor.
 
Pilot left station is very good with most items and displays active and interactive. FlightFactor recreated the X pointer system for use on A350 displays and although very buggy in the early days (the X pointer would stray badly out of the display limits) it is now a very robust system that works well.
 

 
There are two drop down menus tight together top left of the MFD (Multi-Functional Display). Top one selects your FMS route (Sorry there is still only one FMS1 route available) and below to start a new route then select INIT from the lower menu.
 

 
If you are used to the usual FMS via a left or right button input key, then you will have to adjust to this different pointer system. There are a few rules to know... one is that everything is via an input and menu selection, so you select the box with the X pointer (arrowed below left)...
 

 
...  put the X pointer over the box you want to input into and you get a green dash line and a flashing cursor, the display then also becomes "KEYBOARD FOCUSED" for direct key input...  Type in your data, in this case Nairobi Airport "HKJK", but most IMPORTANT is to re-click to lock the data in!  This is usually placed over the very first letter in the box with the pointer, if the "Keyboard Focus" line goes out and the input text sets a little to the right...   then it is correctly inputted (locked in).
 

 
Add in your INIT details...  Flight Number, From (HKJK) to (EGLL) Alternative (EGCC) and Cruise FL (Flight Level) and Cruise (CRZ) Temp ºC.
 

 
DEP and ARR locations set it is now time to do the flightplan, you access the flightplan via the "ACTIVE" menu and select F-PLN.
 
Now comes the new SID (Standard Instrument Departures) selection...  Press the departure airport (HKJK) and up comes a menu, select on the menu "DEPARTURE".
 

 
Drop down menus give selection for RWY (Runway), SID and TRANS....
 

 
...  in my case it is RWY 24, SID "IBRA3D" and TRANS "KAMAS", all selections are then shown in the above Selected Departure box.
 
Go back to the F-PLN and the SID departure route (waypoints) are now completed.
 

 
Next waypoint (WPT) or AIRWAY is inserted in a similar way. 
 
Just select the last waypoint and select via thew menu either "INSERT NEXT WPT" or "AIRWAYS".
 


 
For to "Insert Next Wpt" you select the selection box and insert the waypoint name (TUFTE) and make sure you click to insert, and you don't use the AIRWAY selection to add in the next WPT. For Airways then select AIRWAYS and add in the AIRWAY and the TO selections and like all FMS systems you can add in as many airways as you require.
 

 
In every flightplan you get "DISCONTINUITY" breaks...  to remove you just select the Discontinuity selection and then select "DELETE" from the menu.
 

 
STAR (Standard Terminal ARrival) is the same procedure as the SID selection, select the arrival airport, then ARRIVAL from the menu and then use the menus to fill in the arrival data...
 


 
... the drop down menus select RWY, APPR (Approach), VIA, STAR (shown) and TRANS. All selections are shown in the upper box like with the SID selections.
 
All changes and selections are only TEMPY or Temporary in yellow and insert via INSERT TEMPY, or backstep by ERASE TEMPY... 
 

 
....   and at any time while constructing the route you can make it active (Green) to see your progress on the PFD... The final full Flightplan is shown with diversions of which you can scroll up or down.... brilliant!
 
It takes a little while to adjust to this pointer system, but it is quite easy to do once you are used to it. Overall the FMS is very versatile in creating route flightplans and I found it very refined and not buggy at all, which is very good thing with long route insertion flightplans like from Nairobi to London.
 
Other FMS details are important as well...   OIS (Onboard Information System ) Aircraft AIRPLANE/PASSENGERS gives you the A350 weights, and the AIRPLANE/PERF CALCULATOR gives you TO Performance and vSpeeds.
 

 
...  and the calculated data is then transferred to the PERF (performance) page and the very important FUEL & LOAD page in the FMS...
 

 
You can save your flightplan via the INIT page under "RTE SAVE", but the interesting aspect is that you have three choices of save, 1. the FULL complete flightplan, 2. SID or 3. STAR, so this makes it a very versatile system...
 

 
....  the route is confusingly saved in your standard X-Plane FMS folder but not in the alphabetical order, but under a (*) moniker at the very bottom, which means a lot of scrolling. Quicker access is to use the "Filter" box lower right which reduces the flightplans to the chosen ICAO label. 
 
Wind pages have been added and it noted is that Alterative Flightplans are also now available, but I couldn't find a second flightplan?
 

 
All in all it is a very extensive and detailed upgrade to the FMS in the A350XWB, I absolutely love it, yes there is more you want like a second FMS for the First Officer, but overall it is a fantastic working system... not perfect but far better than we had before.
_______________________
 
There are no notes that the sounds have had attention in v1.6, but they certainly sound far better to me? Cockpit hum and wind noise is very good for a long haul flight and the exterior sounds far better as well, more distant in the background now is that really annoying "tring, ring" from the engines, it is still there but now highly subdued...  thank god, the annoying Purser to Captain "Dings" are still as bad as ever, finding the issue is made hard by the language spoken in a gobble... usually it is the cabin that is TOO hot or TOO cold "but mister if the damn engines are switched off I can't heat or cool the cabin can I?... so go away", or the cabin lights are down, but it is really, really annoying...   If any aircraft requires a specialist addon sound pack it is the A350 XWB.
 
Contrails and and particles have now been added as well, the APU hums and breathes out exhaust air, and in the air the aircraft looks great.
 

 
Another new menu page on the OIS is the "JOYSTICK ACTIONS" menu and noted to make the aircraft compatible with the new Thrustmaster TCA Airbus Throttle Quadrant. The new hardware offering from Thrustmaster, part of its new TCA Range is due to release in late September this year.
This covers your joystick "Deadband" area (centre), throttle detent location and "MCT Detent" (Maximum Continuous Thrust) location.
 
All the settings of course are for fine tuning your hardware joystick and throttle systems, but one selection is quite important... "REV ON SAME AXIS" will set your throttles with a "Beta' reverse detent. fine in some cases but horrible with my Saitek X56 Rhino setup as it set the idle position to reverse thrust, you can turn the action OFF here (arrowed below left).
 

 
Radios are now 8.33 (as X-Plane11 went to this earlier). The 8.33 kHz channel spacing adds two additional channels for every 25 kHz channel. This is to overcome the frequency congestion in the medium to long term by providing more channels.
 

 
Navigation ILS, VOR and ADF frequencies are under the "NAV" button, but you still have the default FMS at the rear of the pedestal and it's radio channels if you want a easier way to access any of the frequency settings or route information.
_______________________
 
Summary
Although noted as a "Advanced" version of the Airbus A350XWB, the Flightfactor version never really hit the mark in delivering a totally realistic simulation, and so in that aspect I was never yearned for the aircraft and rarely flew it, which is a shame because we need really good long haul and next generation aircraft in the X-Plane simulator.
 
But now with this new v1.6 version of the A350XWB we have a game changer. The missing SID/STAR intergration that was missing is now part of this extensive Flight Management System. A difficult system to replicate because of it's unusual pointer and menu based input applications. But this intergration has been a huge success here in creating a master simulation of this unique Airbus FMS. Most FMS areas are now covered, but you will never ever cover everything as it is simply too complex, but the aircraft in reality should lose it's "Advanced" moniker and be now named a "Professional" aircraft because of the depth of the systems here...  the only area missing is the right hand seat interaction to the OIS (Onboard Information System).
 
A few areas have also been cleaned up including the cockpit textures which are more Airbus grey and lighter in tone and new seat (star) coverings. Over the updates the A350XWB has had a lot of behind the scenes work done and not actually noted officially, but you certainly feel in this version a far more co-ordinated and less buggy aircraft to fly, the FMS especially is really well coded and quite bug free in being versatile for corrections and data changes, a far cry from the original interface and flying conditions.
 
So now it works, in almost every area and if not absolutely perfect the A350XWB starts to live up to it's quality standing as a very good if now excellent simulation. Over many hard flights (most Long Haul) it is an excellent aircraft to enjoy, the v1.6 update maybe on reflection small, but the aircraft has become something else than just a pretty aircraft to look at, it now a very realistic flying simulation as well.
 
Once the outcast, the Airbus A350-900XWB can now be seen in the same context as the other aircraft from FlightFactor. A brilliant update that in the long wait users deserved...  Not perfect but a free update with these enhancements will bring a lot of smiles to a lot of users faces, if you don't have the A350XWB from FlightFactor, but love long distance flying, maybe it is now time to take the plunge and enjoy this amazing aircraft.
_____________________________________________
 


The Airbus A350-900 XWB Advanced v1.6 from FlightFactor is Available from the  X-Plane.Org Store:
 
Airbus A350 XWB Advanced
Price is currently US$ 64.95
 
Livery packs at US$10 for ten liveries are available here: A350 Liveries Include: North America, Oceania, Africa & Middle East, Asia, Atlantic, Europe 1, Europe 2 and Pacific.
 
If you already have purchased the A350 XWB from FlightFactor then go to your account at the X-PlaneStore and update to v1.6
 
Requirements:
X-Plane 11 Windows - Mac - Linux - 64bit Operating System Required 4Gb+ VRAM Minimum, 8Gb+ VRAM Minimum.     Release Review : Aircraft Review : Airbus A350 XWB Advanced by FlightFactor Support forum : FlightFactor A350 XWB _____________________________________________________________________________________
 
Update and Tutorial by Stephen Dutton 18th July 2020 Copyright©2020: X-PlaneReviews
 

Aircraft Update : Airbus A350-900 XWB Advanced v1.6 by FlightFactor/SteptoSky
 
Since the earliest days you mostly saw FlightFactor Aero as a Boeing developer, there was the Boeing 777, then the Boeing 757 and then the Boeing 767... then out of the blue came an Airbus in the Airbus A350-900 XWB. But right from the first version of this aircraft it never felt... well very Airbus? Where as all the Boeings felt and flew like Boeings. Since the A350 FlightFactor went on to do another Airbus in the A320 Ultimate, which DOES feel like an Airbus and is still the best Airbus in X-Plane.
 
But the FlightFactor A350XWB was a really odd aircraft from the start? Excellent on the external, the A350 always looked very nice in X-Plane. The clever six display layout with X input system is also really clever and is well done (early versions were however extremely buggy) and the airbus system depth is very good. So overall it should have been perfect for me as I like to fly Airbuses more than Boeings...  but I never ever really fell in love with FlightFactor's A350XWB?
 
Which is really odd because Long-Haul is still my favorite form of flying and also the A350 XWB is the latest of the New-Gen aircraft and X-Plane is very short of Long-Haul airlines and certainly of the New-Gen class. The FlightFactor A350 should of very easily ticked off every box for me, but in all honestly it left me cold and I rarely flew the aircraft, even the last time departing Barcelona I even stopped mid-flight (I very rarely abandon flights) because I was really not liking it at all?
 
Why? well that is a good question...  the first one in the most obvious. The FF A350 didn't have SID/STARs and the FMS was in reality the default FMS undercover. And this missing aspect really was the biggest complaint, but to be fair the A350XWB FMS (Flight Management Systems) is quite complicated and very different in input from either a Boeing and even another Airbus as only the bigger A380 has the same input and navigation system. Poor Sounds didn't help either and they were really awful, and the cockpit textures were weird in a non-Airbus way, and the aircraft always felt buggy, it never seemed to come together as a whole or as a linear simulation, it was an aircraft you simply couldn't love.
 
The news of a v2.0 of the FlightFactor A350 was very welcome, but it became confusing in the light that the next update in v1.6.0 would be next and also include the infamous missing SID/STAR intergration, my guessing (wrongly) would that the SID/STAR intergration would only happen with the full new version of v2.0 (In selling the new version of the aircraft)...  The surprise is that the SID/STAR is in this update v1.6.0 version, so that will be a free update, the better news is that the FMS  is now really, really good...  far better than I expected and to the point even brilliant.
 

 
Nothing wrong with the way the A350 XWB looks, but this is still the v1.0 aircraft and in a few areas the v1.0 has a few niggles, the wings do have flex, but in a weird stiff flexy way, so the wing flex still looks old and outdated, and the cabin is still also old and very dated as well.
 

 
A worthwhile download is the new Lufthansa A350 livery by fscabral as the cabin textures have been redone and the results seriously lift the cabin from the really drab to the really nice...  and yes this cabin layout should be the default.
 


 
Note in that the cabin lighting is controlled from the EFB (OIS/AIRPLANE/CABIN settings), lighting and sound settings settings are currently off at default.
 
Ground support still has those cold war Russian vehicles, and you shake your head why as all the FlightFactor Boeings now have the updated western styled vehicles. But thankfully where it counts in the air the A350 XWB still looks very nice.
 
Airbus 350 XWB v1.6
We will come to the big event in a moment, but first unlike other areas of the A350 the cockpit has had a very nice spruce up of the textures.  The original cockpit textures were a darker Airbus blue with some wear around the edges, but somehow it didn't feel right in context as the A350 is the most modern of the Airbus fleet? These textures are now in a far lighter blue/grey Airbussy feel and are far better to the current state of a A350 XWB.
 

 
The panels are still very left side pilot focused, with the right position more fixed with no display cycle active, the far right display is also fixed to a users guide page. The range and baro adjustments however do work, so it is not impossible to fly from the right seat as you can flip the FMS screen to the right middle display setting, but with no access to the menu sections unless again you move the menu selection to the middle screen.
 

 
Glareshield textures are lovely, modern and very nice. Gone are the wheat coloured seats to be replaced by a very not corporate look of "stars"? A very unusual choice, but they do look better than the wheat seats with far more cloth and ripple detail..
 

 
FMS - Flight Management System
The most important and the most welcome aspect of this v1.6 update is the intergration of SID/STARS into the FMS navigation, not only is SID/STAR routing now available, but it is also in how well the system has actually been done here is the biggest factor.
 
Pilot left station is very good with most items and displays active and interactive. FlightFactor recreated the X pointer system for use on A350 displays and although very buggy in the early days (the X pointer would stray badly out of the display limits) it is now a very robust system that works well.
 

 
There are two drop down menus tight together top left of the MFD (Multi-Functional Display). Top one selects your FMS route (Sorry there is still only one FMS1 route available) and below to start a new route then select INIT from the lower menu.
 

 
If you are used to the usual FMS via a left or right button input key, then you will have to adjust to this different pointer system. There are a few rules to know... one is that everything is via an input and menu selection, so you select the box with the X pointer (arrowed below left)...
 

 
...  put the X pointer over the box you want to input into and you get a green dash line and a flashing cursor, the display then also becomes "KEYBOARD FOCUSED" for direct key input...  Type in your data, in this case Nairobi Airport "HKJK", but most IMPORTANT is to re-click to lock the data in!  This is usually placed over the very first letter in the box with the pointer, if the "Keyboard Focus" line goes out and the input text sets a little to the right...   then it is correctly inputted (locked in).
 

 
Add in your INIT details...  Flight Number, From (HKJK) to (EGLL) Alternative (EGCC) and Cruise FL (Flight Level) and Cruise (CRZ) Temp ºC.
 

 
DEP and ARR locations set it is now time to do the flightplan, you access the flightplan via the "ACTIVE" menu and select F-PLN.
 
Now comes the new SID (Standard Instrument Departures) selection...  Press the departure airport (HKJK) and up comes a menu, select on the menu "DEPARTURE".
 

 
Drop down menus give selection for RWY (Runway), SID and TRANS....
 

 
...  in my case it is RWY 24, SID "IBRA3D" and TRANS "KAMAS", all selections are then shown in the above Selected Departure box.
 
Go back to the F-PLN and the SID departure route (waypoints) are now completed.
 

 
Next waypoint (WPT) or AIRWAY is inserted in a similar way. 
 
Just select the last waypoint and select via thew menu either "INSERT NEXT WPT" or "AIRWAYS".
 


 
For to "Insert Next Wpt" you select the selection box and insert the waypoint name (TUFTE) and make sure you click to insert, and you don't use the AIRWAY selection to add in the next WPT. For Airways then select AIRWAYS and add in the AIRWAY and the TO selections and like all FMS systems you can add in as many airways as you require.
 

 
In every flightplan you get "DISCONTINUITY" breaks...  to remove you just select the Discontinuity selection and then select "DELETE" from the menu.
 

 
STAR (Standard Terminal ARrival) is the same procedure as the SID selection, select the arrival airport, then ARRIVAL from the menu and then use the menus to fill in the arrival data...
 


 
... the drop down menus select RWY, APPR (Approach), VIA, STAR (shown) and TRANS. All selections are shown in the upper box like with the SID selections.
 
All changes and selections are only TEMPY or Temporary in yellow and insert via INSERT TEMPY, or backstep by ERASE TEMPY... 
 

 
....   and at any time while constructing the route you can make it active (Green) to see your progress on the PFD... The final full Flightplan is shown with diversions of which you can scroll up or down.... brilliant!
 
It takes a little while to adjust to this pointer system, but it is quite easy to do once you are used to it. Overall the FMS is very versatile in creating route flightplans and I found it very refined and not buggy at all, which is very good thing with long route insertion flightplans like from Nairobi to London.
 
Other FMS details are important as well...   OIS (Onboard Information System ) Aircraft AIRPLANE/PASSENGERS gives you the A350 weights, and the AIRPLANE/PERF CALCULATOR gives you TO Performance and vSpeeds.
 

 
...  and the calculated data is then transferred to the PERF (performance) page and the very important FUEL & LOAD page in the FMS...
 

 
You can save your flightplan via the INIT page under "RTE SAVE", but the interesting aspect is that you have three choices of save, 1. the FULL complete flightplan, 2. SID or 3. STAR, so this makes it a very versatile system...
 

 
....  the route is confusingly saved in your standard X-Plane FMS folder but not in the alphabetical order, but under a (*) moniker at the very bottom, which means a lot of scrolling. Quicker access is to use the "Filter" box lower right which reduces the flightplans to the chosen ICAO label. 
 
Wind pages have been added and it noted is that Alterative Flightplans are also now available, but I couldn't find a second flightplan?
 

 
All in all it is a very extensive and detailed upgrade to the FMS in the A350XWB, I absolutely love it, yes there is more you want like a second FMS for the First Officer, but overall it is a fantastic working system... not perfect but far better than we had before.
_______________________
 
There are no notes that the sounds have had attention in v1.6, but they certainly sound far better to me? Cockpit hum and wind noise is very good for a long haul flight and the exterior sounds far better as well, more distant in the background now is that really annoying "tring, ring" from the engines, it is still there but now highly subdued...  thank god, the annoying Purser to Captain "Dings" are still as bad as ever, finding the issue is made hard by the language spoken in a gobble... usually it is the cabin that is TOO hot or TOO cold "but mister if the damn engines are switched off I can't heat or cool the cabin can I?... so go away", or the cabin lights are down, but it is really, really annoying...   If any aircraft requires a specialist addon sound pack it is the A350 XWB.
 
Contrails and and particles have now been added as well, the APU hums and breathes out exhaust air, and in the air the aircraft looks great.
 

 
Another new menu page on the OIS is the "JOYSTICK ACTIONS" menu and noted to make the aircraft compatible with the new Thrustmaster TCA Airbus Throttle Quadrant. The new hardware offering from Thrustmaster, part of its new TCA Range is due to release in late September this year.
This covers your joystick "Deadband" area (centre), throttle detent location and "MCT Detent" (Maximum Continuous Thrust) location.
 
All the settings of course are for fine tuning your hardware joystick and throttle systems, but one selection is quite important... "REV ON SAME AXIS" will set your throttles with a "Beta' reverse detent. fine in some cases but horrible with my Saitek X56 Rhino setup as it set the idle position to reverse thrust, you can turn the action OFF here (arrowed below left).
 

 
Radios are now 8.33 (as X-Plane11 went to this earlier). The 8.33 kHz channel spacing adds two additional channels for every 25 kHz channel. This is to overcome the frequency congestion in the medium to long term by providing more channels.
 

 
Navigation ILS, VOR and ADF frequencies are under the "NAV" button, but you still have the default FMS at the rear of the pedestal and it's radio channels if you want a easier way to access any of the frequency settings or route information.
_______________________
 
Summary
Although noted as a "Advanced" version of the Airbus A350XWB, the Flightfactor version never really hit the mark in delivering a totally realistic simulation, and so in that aspect I was never yearned for the aircraft and rarely flew it, which is a shame because we need really good long haul and next generation aircraft in the X-Plane simulator.
 
But now with this new v1.6 version of the A350XWB we have a game changer. The missing SID/STAR intergration that was missing is now part of this extensive Flight Management System. A difficult system to replicate because of it's unusual pointer and menu based input applications. But this intergration has been a huge success here in creating a master simulation of this unique Airbus FMS. Most FMS areas are now covered, but you will never ever cover everything as it is simply too complex, but the aircraft in reality should lose it's "Advanced" moniker and be now named a "Professional" aircraft because of the depth of the systems here...  the only area missing is the right hand seat interaction to the OIS (Onboard Information System).
 
A few areas have also been cleaned up including the cockpit textures which are more Airbus grey and lighter in tone and new seat (star) coverings. Over the updates the A350XWB has had a lot of behind the scenes work done and not actually noted officially, but you certainly feel in this version a far more co-ordinated and less buggy aircraft to fly, the FMS especially is really well coded and quite bug free in being versatile for corrections and data changes, a far cry from the original interface and flying conditions.
 
So now it works, in almost every area and if not absolutely perfect the A350XWB starts to live up to it's quality standing as a very good if now excellent simulation. Over many hard flights (most Long Haul) it is an excellent aircraft to enjoy, the v1.6 update maybe on reflection small, but the aircraft has become something else than just a pretty aircraft to look at, it now a very realistic flying simulation as well.
 
Once the outcast, the Airbus A350-900XWB can now be seen in the same context as the other aircraft from FlightFactor. A brilliant update that in the long wait users deserved...  Not perfect but a free update with these enhancements will bring a lot of smiles to a lot of users faces, if you don't have the A350XWB from FlightFactor, but love long distance flying, maybe it is now time to take the plunge and enjoy this amazing aircraft.
_____________________________________________
 


The Airbus A350-900 XWB Advanced v1.6 from FlightFactor is Available from the  X-Plane.Org Store:
 
Airbus A350 XWB Advanced
Price is currently US$ 64.95
 
Livery packs at US$10 for ten liveries are available here: A350 Liveries Include: North America, Oceania, Africa & Middle East, Asia, Atlantic, Europe 1, Europe 2 and Pacific.
 
If you already have purchased the A350 XWB from FlightFactor then go to your account at the X-PlaneStore and update to v1.6
 
Requirements:
X-Plane 11 Windows - Mac - Linux - 64bit Operating System Required 4Gb+ VRAM Minimum, 8Gb+ VRAM Minimum.     Release Review : Aircraft Review : Airbus A350 XWB Advanced by FlightFactor Support forum : FlightFactor A350 XWB _____________________________________________________________________________________
 
Update and Tutorial by Stephen Dutton 18th July 2020 Copyright©2020: X-PlaneReviews
 

4K graphic cards are really minimum now, but a 8K GTX 1070 is fine (I use an 8K, but would love a 12K), 8gb of RAM is again too low, you would need at least 16gb (I use 32gb) but 16gb is fine, it is cheap now anyway. If you are porting an external GPU, then make sure your busses can handle the speeds, no good on adding on all that power if the boards can't process it? With these numbers you can pretty well run anything with a large margin but the SSG B748 🙂

Let us get this absolutely straight!...   all my reviews are not so called "Official", they are unbiased but are aimed at two major directives, One that I present my position in the position of the purchaser not the store or the developer...  Two comments are directed at the developer in fixing and refining products to meet the price and quality expectation of the purchase. I certainly don't think I was bias on the SAAB 340, in fact there are many areas I criticised the aircraft in what was not up to standard... menus, throttle speeds etc, but in the main aspect this was an excellent product that I fly regularly and I do revisit my initial thoughts on what I liked and didn't like...  I personally think your assessment is wrong, and being a Carenado customer you should know what to expect, I have been personally disappointed by current Carenado products as they are feeling more and more older, but also having more issues that is not living up to the Carenado standard, that said the F27 and SAAB 340 is not part of those aircraft, as value they are some of the best Carenado have produced...  Stephen Dutton, X-PlaneReviews

Behind the Screen : Laminar Research... X-Plane 4Ever!
The Coronavirus killed a lot of normal events that post out your X-Plane year. In this case was the Expo Simulation FlightSim event that was set to be in Las Vegas in June 12-14 2020. With the event cancelled you also lost the exposure of the main yearly Laminar Research demonstration but worse was their forward announcements on the future or the roadmap of the X-Plane Simulator. The timing couldn’t be worse as the simulation community is now also getting closer to the FS2020 simulator release from Microsoft, due around the third quarter of 2020.
Would the Expo have brought on a FS2020 vs Laminar Research first shot of conflict in on how each of these currently dominant simulators will be ongoing in the future of the best simulator experience, a lot of users have already made their minds up in that camp, but have they? But certainly at the Expo, would have then Laminar Research had to face up to the inevitable questions on how their roadmap going forward was compared to the coming FS2020 onslaught…  we will probably now not know because the event was cancelled.
But a podcast just recorded recently had X-Plane’s founder Austin Meyers finally put in the hot seat on those very future of the simulator questions and the answers were not as you would have expected, which is typical Austin Meyers.
Overall, his comments on which direction and the expected confrontation with FS2020 are actually not very dissimilar to my own feelings which come as a relief and my thoughts were closer than even than I actually expected. But the results are extremely interesting and finally some sense from Laminar since their silly drunkgate debacle back in December late last year.
Overall Meyers was quite upbeat about the future of X-Plane and didn’t feel the threat of the coming Microsoft product, that to a point is to be expected. But there was some extremely interesting comments on the where and in what direction X-Plane is now going to go, obviously nothing noted here is to be seen as gospel as Austin Meyers noted that everything is still “on the table” and not locked down yet, which is understandable considering the ultra-long Vulkan/metal beta program that is still in motion.
But the main points put forward were still solid…  There will be no photorealistic scenery mesh? An interesting one in that the new FS2020 system is built upon that very basis, Austin Meyers doesn’t like photo scenery and personally I can second that after reviewing a thousand or so airport and city sceneries and their horrible burnt in buildings, offset buildings and vehicles.
So, the current detailed mesh system will be retained but totally updated from it’s initial X-Plane10 format with better autogen. It is a very big risk to do this direction, but also an interesting one, and a bunch of new Eastern-European scenery artists have been brought on board to achieve this high goal, which is something I have campaigned for simply years in that Laminar needed a much more larger art department as one or two artists even if they are talented artists are simply not going to cover that much detail in a year or even a decade.
To be honest the whole mesh system was highly constrained by the processing power, but more so via OpenGL, the API was great thirty years ago, but that is a point as the it was based on a application of THIRTY years ago and the newer Vulkan/Metal API changes that game completely, and so will the systems and the detail of the mesh can be significantly more detailed with far more modern and powerful force of better processing behind it.
So once the current Vulkan/Metal conversion is installed then Laminar can then move in the directions it was restrained by before. The prospect of the new direction of staying with the current mesh is certainly an interesting one to deliver than a more photo-realistic rendition of the world, and a hard one to pull off than just using Landsat photographs, but Laminar has surprised us a lot of times in the past in this aspect as well.
I have even with our current mesh in place with good foliage coverage, great weather interaction and great lighting effects that this photo-realistic look and feel can already be achieved, some images coming out of X-Plane currently are already breathtakingly good, so it is not overall an impossible goal. The tough angle is the reproduction of the actual man/woman-made context in 3d cities and infrastructure, this is an advantage that Microsoft has via their Bing mapping, but I am still going to say it will be more restricted than mapping the whole actual globe and restricted to certain high-visible zones. How Laminar covers that 3d mapping equation will make or break the idea between the simulators and just creating far more Global Icons is just not going to cut that immersion realism factor.
Multi-player online flight is coming soon to X-Plane-mobile (now in beta testing), but also it is a big target feature for the desktop version as well, yes we do sort of have a multi-player experience, but not in a fully connected and detailed one with a high mass appeal online presence in that everyone is totally connected together, seeing each other and interacting with each other. It is an interesting dynamic area to be explored, but personally I don't want a thousand other X-Plane users flashing around my nice approach path, but I also know that a lot of users love the interaction of others in their world and yes I would be likely to even give it a try...  for a while.
Austin Meyers also noted large changes to the weather, as he wants a more dynamic moving weather and a more realistic representation in what Meyer notes as “location and time”, in changing or challenging dynamics between your departure point and your arrival destination, my point would be the same aim as exciting dynamic weather changes are also important to that factor in feel and for the visual look of the simulator...  we always want and need better weather.
Although not actually set in stone yet is the subscription factor for the X-Plane simulator, personally this is going to be a change we will have to “subscribe” to..  as in the pun. X-Plane will go to subscription for several reasons, one the cost of $US80 to buy X-Plane and yes there are more free demo users out there than more than they will actually admit, as the cost factor against say a US$5 a monthly subscription to FS2020. But mostly it is the bigger factor for Laminar in the fact that the ongoing income is restricted to the same one off payment (although a large one initially) which is then spread out over four or five years of ongoing development, as a monthly subscription then changes that aspect in that it delivers income consistantly for Laminar and with that it was noted we may see the disappearance of the current X-Plane versions to say a subscription version of “X-Plane-Global” or as Meyers noted “X-Plane-Forever” in a subscription model.
The reveals here do not cover all aspects of the future of X-Plane as a simulator as for like for still where still is our ATC system? But it does sort of give you a sort of a few glimpses of the direction X-Plane will take in the shadow of the coming release of FS2020.
As Austin Meyers noted is that X-Plane as a simulator goes to the core of what the real dedicated users actually want in a simulator, in true flying dynamics and the availability to test your own theories of any aircraft you personally want to create, even established aircraft manufacturers also use the simulator to test out aerodynamic theories and that is still basically the core of what X-Plane is and still does well. Meyers does not even with it’s newer dynamics in seeing FS2020 in becoming an experimental application like X-Plane is, as ultimately FS2020 is and always will be a game based simulator more than a pure one.
Yes FS2020 will move a lot of users to it’s platform, but how many will come back to X-Plane and the more deeper and fundamental basis for realism in flight, more so is the factor of doing actual personal changes to the simulator as a whole, the tinkerer will soon bore of the constricted game world of FS2020, and that is what Austin Meyer bases his beliefs on and to a point his business...   but it is also what I feel also deep down. However X-Plane as a simulator still has to develop and match any competition in features and more importantly in the realism experience…  in that area it still up to Laminar Research to deliver and expand their product to and match the expectations of users demands.... but now soon it will be on a monthly basis more than a multi-yearly basis.
Stephen Dutton
24th June 2020
Copyright©2020 X-Plane Reviews
 

 

Aircraft Review : Britten Norman Islander BN-2 by Nimbus Studios
 
As a young boy around 10 years old with a fascination with aviation in the mid-sixties, there quite often in Flight International and the newcomer Aircraft Illustrated the glowing reports of a British built (ready to take on the world!) nine passenger utility aircraft called the Britten Norman Islander or BN-2, it was a twin-prop STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) aircraft that had built in simplicity to take the rugged day to day operations of remote fields or servicing coastal islands.
 
My particular interest is that the early aircraft were constructed by Fairey Marine, obscure to most, but the most beautiful and fastest cruisers ever built were the Fairleys on the Isle of Wright in Southern England...  and so the BN-2 became etched into my childhood of the most desirable of boats and aircraft.
 
It was actually a shock that I found out that coming into X-Plane that my beloved BN-2 was not readily available and except for a few cardboard freeware versions, and the aircraft has not had a lot of presence in the simulator, as even ten years later was there not any BN-2 available to fly, then suddenly in typical X-Plane fashion you get two of them together, one is by TorqueSim and the second one is by Nimbus Studios. Nimbus was originally a scenery developer, but lately has also produced the odd aircraft and even an exceptional helicopter in the UH-1 "Huey". So I was very much in wanting to experiencing the BN-2 of my childhood for the first time.
 

 
The Britten Norman was never developed to be an attractive aircraft, it is a practical machine to serve a particular role, but I always like the low-slung cabin hung on to a very simple high-wing cantilever monoplane wing, with the two Lycoming O-540-E4C5 6-cylinder air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engines of 260 hp (190 kW) each slung below. Overall the BN-2 is a boxy shape of practicality.
 

 
Overall the Nimbus design is very good, even excellent...  but there are a couple of quirks.
 
The mapping is excellent in showing the aircraft's construction, with all the panels and rivets being perfect. Fuselage shape and modeling is very good...
 

 
....  but the wing construction detail is really, really good, and you have those lovely tapered wingtips, note the well done navigation light and flap test handle.
 
Lycoming engine housings are also very nicely done with visible air-cooled cylinders and nice inlets out front and exhaust heat panels behind. Note the yellow spinner, unusual but nice on this livery. Nice Hartzell twin-blade propellers are however not adjustable for pitch or feather and sit rather flat.
 

 
Main twin gear assemblies have that aerodynamic shroud and all are excellent in detail and realism, the Goodyear rubber is excellent.
 

 
Single front strut nosewheel is also well done with nice linkages and chrome/cast strut, but the internal area is not boxed in? so you can see through to the sky externally, internally in flight and this is a highly noticeable oversee...  ditto the lower engine air-intakes that have a bad internal join?
 


 
Glass is very nice as are all the windows and surroundings (again note the excellent rivet work). If you look there are a few nice dents and crease marks of wear and tear in the fuselage and on the wing leading edge to give that aircraft frame a nice touch of authenticity.
 
Elevator and tail are very simple aerodynamic profiles, but they are well done here...
 

 
...   wingtip landing lights are debatable in that Nimbus has tried to recreate a perspex aging, it does work, but doesn't either if you know what I mean.
 
Internal
The Islander has an unusual seating layout. It consists of four bench seats for eight passengers or nine is you count the right front seat. Access to the two front bench (and pilot) seats are via a door on the right fuselage and another door rear and the middle two rows are via a door right fuselage. Note the headlining that bends over/under? the main wingbox.
 

 
Each seat has a nice set of headphones (hint the close and loud engines) and the seating is very well done, if a little cramped. Seat detail has very nice detail with creases, stitching and realistic seatback pockets...
 


 
...   pilot's and front passenger seats are the same style but individual. Not very happy though with the huge gaping holes under the instrument panel? again there are missing cover elements, but seeing through to the sky in a huge gap internally is a no, no.
 
Cockpit
The instrument panel is quite basic in design and layout.
 

 
Instrument panel background is blue, I found most BN-2 panels were black... but the blue shade here adds in a little colour. Rudder pedals on the floor are nicely reproduced, but were not originally animated to the yaw, but fixed in the v1.05 update. Roof front panel has magneto switches, starter, fuel pumps/fuel shutoff knobs and fuel gauges (35 Gal each tank). Ammeter and a very large rudder trim knob.
 

 
Yokes are Britten Norman branded (the left yoke usually has a clock in the centre?), but they can both be hidden (but only both together). All electrical switch gear is lower panel, and circuit breakers are right lower panel (static, non-operable). Pilot's headset is usable in that if you click the headset it will disappear and lower the sound volume.
 

 
Standard Six main instruments are mostly in position with the Artificial Horizon top centre with the Airspeed (Knots) left and Altimeter right. The Turn Indicator is set out far left with the ADF/VOR magnetic pointer next. Centre is Horizontal Situation Indicator and right is the Vertical Speed Indicator, below centre is the OMNI Bearing Selector (OBS). There is a backup Artificial Horizon far left lower and Gyro Suction (Vacuum) indicator bottom.
 
Pilot left centre is top a set of eight warning annunciator panel lights (testable) and with Bright or Dim settings. Below is a clock. There is also a very basic Century 2000 2-Axis Autopilot panel. There are twin group sets of gauges to cover both engines left/right... with from top to bottom RPM, Manifold Pressure, Fuel Pressure (PSI), Oil Temp/Pressure, CHT (Cylinder Head Temperature) and EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) and bottom Carburettor Temperatures.
 

 
Avionics are quite simple with top a KMA 24 radio panel, then a large (XP default) GNS 530 which of course pops out. Bendex/King KR 67 ADF tuner, then bottom a Bendix/King KR 71 transponder. Far right are two Bendix/King KX 165 tuners that cover (top) COMM 1/NAV 1 (lower) COMM 2/NAV 2.
 
Centre pedestal is nicely done, with Twin-throttles, Twin-RPM levers and Twin Mixture levers...  the RPM levers are actually the PROP levers for feathering? Not to be confused with the PROPHEAT levers front console. TAILTRIM (pitch) wheel is on the right which makes it hard to use.
 

 
Flap lever is a flip motion switch with three positions in UP - T.O. - DOWN. and like the Parking Brake lever left both don't work via XP commands? and only by manual action only (really annoying).
 
Internal Lighting
Instrument lighting is excellent as is all of the internal lighting. There is a main instrument lighting knob lower panel and all the instruments are bright and clear, but the avionics are on a separate bus, so they have their own switch (arrowed). There is lit footwell lighting that is on all the time, but it looks very nice.
 

 
There are two swivel lights set into the roof, they are animated but of limited movement...
 

 
The swivel lights do a great job of lighting up the roof instruments and the even the main instrument panel but are not very good for say map reading...  this is not too big an issue as the over the door lighting is excellent and does that map reading job better. All cabin lighting is exceptional with eight switchable side lighting panels...
 

 
...  only blight on the copybook is that the "Passenger Notices" doesn't work? it could be the "EXIT" sign? Overall the BN-2 has one of the most inviting cabins for a fair while.
 

 
Menus
There is a set of menu tabs left lower screen, they are quite small, but cannot be made transparent. The five tabs cover; Maintenance, Controls Position, Performance/Speeds, Weight and Balance and finally Doors and Accessories.
 
Maintenance
The maintenance menu covers all items that can wear or be consumed on the BN-2, this includes; Alternator, Filters, Oil, Engine condition, Tire Condition and Brake Pads... all out of 100% perfect. You can choose if required to turn off the "Always like new" tickbox (arrowed) off if you want these active conditions working or not or that the items condition then deteriorate, to fix then just press the item box to go back to 100%. The point of the menu is the way the item when degraded interferes with your aircraft's condition more that just showing a wear or use item. It gives the aircraft over time a more tired or worn realism.
 

 
Controls Position
This is a visual control guide that is shown lower right screen, it covers the Yoke and Throttle positions.
 

 
Performance/Speeds
Two menu items that cover the Performance and Speed charts for your information. Charts can be resized for use.
 

 
Weight and Balance
There is an excellent "Weight and Balance" menu. Options include Fuel, Cargo and Passenger weights and all changes are shown on a CoG (Centre of Gravity) graph and also a CG location slider. Total Weight (Gross Weight) and Total Fuel loads are also noted, with also the choice of Lbs or Kgs.
 

 
Notable are the weights of the passengers and you can click on each passenger to make their weight count but they then also to appear in the aircraft, you can also show the pilot and passengers visible from the internal or external views. Pilot and Passenger modeling is not too bad, but they are all unanimated.
 

 
Doors and Accessories
Final menu option is the "Doors and Accessories" menu. You can open all the staggered doors and small rear cargo hatch.
 

 
Static elements are good, because you can set them as you want to...  Chocks, Engine Inlet covers, Pitot Cover and rear Tail Lock.
 

 
There is an external power source via a switch on the main instrument panel, but no external power cart (source), which I think is a an omission.
 
Overall the menus and static elements are top rate and very well done but mostly very versatile in how you use them.
 
Flying the BN-2 Islander
I flew the BN-2 Islander from EGPB - Sumburgh Airport (Shetland Islands) to EKVG - Vágar Airport (Faroe Islands) to give the aircraft a feel through, now it is time to fly back...
 

 
Two things became very apparent on the flight out...  First was a lot of the switchgear and levers don't work with the X-Plane Keyboard and Joystick commands...  Not a big problem in most cases, but here there are placed in very hard positions for simulator actions. Take all the lighting switchgear lower panel, impossible to use so low down while flying manually, ditto the parking brake, flap handle and other important switches and controls.
 

 
Second aspect was far more worrying...  the flaps set at UP are still 2º in the down position? This was felt in various ways all through the outbound flight.
First in the case of drag which related to the higher cruise speed of the aircraft through the air, because the wing is simply not clean...  second was that the Islander has a pronounced nose down attitude when flying at it's cruise speed, again caused via the flap drag/position...  the whole affair is a real scratch your head moment in that how could a developer even get such a situation that wrong...  I hoped the situation would have been cleared up in the update (v1.05) but it was not (the nose now sits pitch higher?), the switchgear I can live with, but the flap setting I can't, so that will affect the review in any performance case?
 
Lower engine sounds are excellent, start up and lower idle thrumming is highly enjoyable, but the visual aspect of the rotating props look a bit old fashioned and even cheap...  mainly because the props are actually flat and not cutting into the air.
 

 
Landing lighting is a bit weak as well, you would not want to rely on the illumination on landing in poor or dark weather.
 

 
With the Twin Lycoming O-540-E4C5 engines idling away, you notice a lovely shake, mostly via the windscreen and the vibrating shades...
 


 
I actually thought it was the effects of the XPRealistic Pro plugin which was reviewed just before this BN-2 review, but it wasn't and actually you need to turn the XPR effects off as they over shake the effects. More so is the shaking effect on the rear fuselage and tailplane, as more throttle thrust applied will create more tailplane and rudder movement...  it is huge effect, brilliant and very clever, I love it.
 
A last quick check and it is time to leave the awesome scenery of Vágar and the surrounding Faroe Islands...
 

 
Taxiing can be done at a fast pace, because you have the space here to do so, but those lower note throbbing sounds of the engines are excellent.
 

 
Power up and Whoa!...  there is a huge difference in performance between my fully loaded aircraft coming out, to this three passenger lighter aircraft going back as the BN-2 just powers off the line, were as it was very sluggish back at Sumburgh Airport, so you have to prepare yourself for that.
 

 
The BN-2 is not a high performing sports aircraft and it shows that... 860 ft/min (4.37 m/s) at sea level is the maximum climb to a service ceiling of 11,300 ft (3,400 m) is not going to win any Red Bull air-race awards.
 

 
I am tracking out of Vágar's Rwy 30 north just to see the sights!
 


 
The visual northern Vágar (Island) coastline show is staggering... is this only a simulation?
 

 
The Century 2000 2-Axis Autopilot is as noted earlier is quite basic, it will hold your heading and altitude, but that is about it. To climb or descend it just adjusts your trim UP or DN (Down), simple yes very.
 

 


 
You can't climb more than 600 fpm max, if not you lose speed, this is at a light weight, but heavy you will climb at under or lower than 500 fpm and crawl your way up slowly to even a low 4,000ft altitude. So a weight loading is critical on how you want to use the BN-2.
 

 

 
At speed you get a sort of eeeehhhh sound from the engines more than a brrrrh sound, it is okay but considering the engine distance factor (close) you actually expected a different sound at cruise, you feel the drag, and the speed is constrained to under 120 knts. Cruise speed is around 139 kn (160 mph; 257 km/h) at 7,000 ft (2,134 m) (75% power), I am 6,000ft at 90% power and running at that 120 knts? Max speed is 148 kn (170 mph, 274 km/h)... Range is 755 nmi (869 mi, 1,398 km) at 130 kn (150 mph; 241 km/h) at 12,000 ft (3,658 m), but a ferry range is a doable 1,216 nmi (1,399 mi, 2,252 km) at 130 kn (150 mph; 241 km/h).
 

 
Cruising along I really like it up here, the shaking is very authentic and realistic, with the vibrations of the aircraft's frame and the shaking movement of the shades...
 

 
....   is the tail vibration movement just a gimmick, no it is not, I really love it.
 

 
Of course the BN-2 is famous for flying the Islander services Loganair's Westray to Papa Westray flight, which is the shortest scheduled flight in the world at 1.7 mi (2.7 km); the scheduled flight time including taxiing is just two minutes. Both the Westray Airports are promised as part of this BN-2 package, when released I will add in those scenery additions when they become available.
 
Out of the murk comes the Shetland Isles, the approach into EGPB's Rwy 09 is quite difficult as to the runway's position, also high winds flow around the headland and pushes you around, today however I can live with a 5 knt crosswind.
 

 
The trick to getting into Rwy 09 is to get well prepared before you start the approach, get the speed and height down ready instead of "too late, last minute" but in the BN-2 I found in that quite hard to do, the first flap position is under the white band, but even set at 80 knts at first flap I was actually  losing height?
 

 
I dare not go over the flap limit, but I was grabbing at the sky, pitch high trying to keep the altitude, but also in not stalling the Islander? it was all very uncomfortable.
 
More flap to FULL-DOWN, but still I needed a lot of power to keep me airborne and STILL sitting on just under 80 knts to keep the aircraft in the air?
 

 
My gut says I should be around 60 knts - 65 knts, but I am not?  This is a STOL aircraft right? and all I feel is a sinking feeling at a high power setting.
 

 
I get the speed down to 60 knts via a nose up pitch, but at this phase of the landing I should be down into the 50 knts zone..  official notes are 50 knts (58 mph; 93 km/h) flaps up and 40 knts (46 mph; 74 km/h)...   flaps down says that at full flap setting at 60 knts feels and is too fast, and I am still losing height?
 

 
With contact with the runway the BN-2 screws or twists....  the park brake is on? my fault? not sure, but the park brake placement and no Joystick connection it was impossible to see or react to the wrong setting while focusing on a fast sinking aircraft.
 

 
In any aircraft you need confidence that the changes you make and feel are reflected in the aircraft, if that does not happen then you can't fly the machine well. I flew the BN-2 very well, that is why I am actually sitting on Sumburgh's 09 runway, but my skill factor overrode the capabilities of the Islander...   in other words I had to overfly and not fly the aircraft realistically... that is not to say the BN-2 is really bad as it isn't and very far from that context, but it still needs some more development to get the performance closer to the aircraft. But that flap setting of 2º out certainly does not help in overall context either.
A final performance note is that I landed in Vágar Airport in version v1.0 and the aircraft felt pretty good under flap, this second landing in Sumburgh is under v1.05 and there is note in the update the "Maximum flaps speed too low"? So what went wrong?
 

 
Liveries
There are eight liveries with the BN-2 and all are excellent...  They range from Winair (default), Air America, Belgium Coast Guard, British Airways Express, Highland Park, OLT, A brilliant RAW version in bare metal and the Scottish Ambulance Service in the vivid yellow scheme flown here in the review.
 
 
 
Summary
The Britten Norman Islander BN-2 is a UK produced aircraft from the mid-60's and still in production today. A brilliant nine seater + pilot aircraft it is renowned for it's superb STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) characteristics. It is a basic utility aircraft and a welcome new addition to the X-Plane simulator.
 
Nimbus Studios started out in designing scenery but has recently moved into aircraft, and this BN-2 is their third aircraft after a Aero Commander 500S and the sensational Bell UH-1 Iroquois "Huey" last year.
 
X-Plane users have waited a long time for a decent BN-2 and yes this Islander from Nimbus is well worth the wait. Modeling is excellent and so is the high-resolution detailing, internally it is all very good as well with some of the best cabin lighting for a while. Sounds are very good as well, but a bit plain at cruise. Excellent effects gives very realistic vibrations and the tailplane and rudder assembly shakes very realistically as well, All menus provided are excellent with very good Weight and Balance settings, Doors and Static elements, highly detailed wear and tear maintenance menu and in all areas the detail are all very, very good. But the BN-2 still overall feels a little under developed.
 
Since starting the review with release version v1.0, there has already been a significant update with v1.05 and this update cleared up a lot of areas that needed attention in the release version like the non-animated rudder pedals...  but there are still issues? Bad (sky) gaps in the front wheel well and under the instrument panel are highly noticeable? Propellers are bland in motion with flat spinners and don't have pitch or feather animations. Most switchgear and levers are not X-Plane command mapped so your joystick or keyboard inputs don't work? Landng lights are just pathetic and the flap is set at 2º at full UP position resulting in odd performance with speed and aircraft performance, landing speeds under flap just don't feel right either.
 
So a childhood dream to fly the iconic British aircraft of the sixties, overall the results are I love the aircraft as it is very good in most areas and even excellent in many areas, but still needs more refining to be a totally fully quality aircraft, but with the past record of Nimbus that will come quickly. However it does come back to the situation of releasing too early than ready. Maybe the TorqueSim release caused an off balance in waiting. Overall the Nimbus BN-2 is very good, in a few updates it will be perfect....  recommended.
_______________________________
 
Yes! the Britten Norman Islander BN-2 by Nimbus Studios is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here : 
 
BN-2 Islander
 
Price is US$34.95
 
Features:
Highly detailed 3D model 4K textures Full PBR Textures for quality refection 3D Custom Sound System Animated switches Rattling and vibrations Accurate handling and flight characteristics Accurate performance based on performance charts Realistic night lightning with custom lights and textures VR ready (includes yoke manipulator) Ice buildup visual effect 8 liveries and more to come Nice Comprehensive Menus Windows for managing maintenance, weight and balance, doors and accessories, controls position and performance charts. Maintenance module: - If you want a more realistic experience you can choose if you want the aircraft to require maintenance with time and usage, depending on how you fly and engine exceedance the mechanical components will degrade and performance will be affected. Weight and balance: - A graphic interface gives you the chance to modify the cargo, passengers, fuel and CG Doors and accessories: - Open and close doors, add or remove wheel chocks, engine and pitot covers or controls lock. Performance: - This window will also allow you to see some performance charts. Controls position indicator: - A small window on the right bottom corner will show the position of your controls.  
Requirements
X-Plane 11
Windows, Mac or Linux 4GB VRAM Minimim - 8GB VRAM Recommended Download Size: 1 GB Current and Review Version : 1.05 (June 16th 2020)   Installation and documents: Download is 1gb and the aircraft is deposited in the "General Aviation" X-Plane folder at 1.10gb
Installation key is required on start up and is supplied with the purchased download file.
 
Documents supplied are:
Manual.pdf _____________________________________
 
Aircraft Review by Stephen Dutton 
18th June 2020
Copyright©2020 : X-Plane Reviews 
  
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this preview are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)
 
Review System Specifications: 
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 1TB SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.41 and X-Plane 11.50b10 (fine in the beta, but the Librain effects don't work?)
Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: None
Scenery or Aircraft
- Faroe Islands XP by Maps2XPlane (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$45.99

 

Yes you can believe that, but it shows that updates and changes are the lifeblood of any aircraft, for everything the A320neo is still quite flyable so a lot of credit to JARDesign, hopefully the other two can be given a new life and a future.

Scenery Review : Belluno-Southern Dolomites by Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini   
 
This is the third of five sceneries that will cover the Dolomite Mountain Ranges in the eastern north of Italy. This new area covers the Belluno- Piave River Valley and Val Agordina areas, that are positioned directly south and west of the Drei Zinnen National Park, and then the Cortina - Cadore region. Here are the three regions...
 

 
Each region backs on to the other with the Drei Zinnen (red) top east, then Cortina - Cadore (yellow) and now this new Belluno (Purple) zone, so in areas there is an overlap of one over the other, obviously you need them all in the three packages to get the whole set of overlapping views seen here in this review.
 
Belluno
Belluno is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is located about 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of Venice, Belluno is the capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomites region. With its roughly 36,000 inhabitants, it is the largest populated area of Valbelluna. It is one of the 15 municipalities of the Dolomiti Bellunesi National Park.
 


 
These very extensive Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini sceneries are not super detailed in a perfect reproduction of a township, the main focus is usually on the landscapes and the highly detailed mountains, but in this particular Belluno package the main focus is on the township of Belluno and the general area around it and the Piave River Valley and Val Agordina areas.
 

 
All the objects in Dainese and Bellini sceneries are custom made, but are mostly generic, however there are a few items like the The Duomo (Cathedral, 16th century), with the 18th-century bell tower designed by Filippo Juvarra that are custom for this scenery as is the Belluno Railway Station.
 

 
So there is a very Italian feel to the whole thing, and from a flying perspective the whole scenario does work very well.
 
Perched high over Belluno is Schiara (2,565m) - (Italian: Monte Schiara) and the most visible of the southern Dolimites and reproduced here in great detail and is part of the National Park of the Belluno Dolomites.
 

 
Far west of Belluno and the only other peak visible from the Piave River Valley is the Piz di Sagron (2486m) and close to the famous Cereda Pass.
 

 
LIBD: There is only one airfield (Grass) in the Belluno scenery and that is Belluno Airport, the airport is also known as Arturo Dell'Oro Airport.
 


 
There is a genuine Italiano feel to the airport, if you could call it that, as in reality it is just a collection of motley old hangers. But the signage and detail is very good. There is one grass runway 05/23 - 812m (2664ft) Grass at an altitude of 1,240 ft / 378 m ASML.
 
HLIBD: To the east is a H Pad in front of a huge storage/maintenance hangar...
 


 
Belluno - Pieve di Cadore
There are several routes out of Belluno, the first one we will look at is too the northeast to Pieve di Cadore, Pieve di Cadore is part of the Cortina - Cadore scenery so of course a lot of the views shown here include that package.
 

 
Also I have jumped ship to the X-Trident Bell - 512 from the Bell 407, as the 407's sound doesn't work here in v11.50 (DreamEngine).
 
We are still in the Piave River (also known as Fiume Sacro alla Patria or the "Sacred River of the Homeland"), but now becoming a deep valley going northeast...
 



 
Once above the valley floor you can see the volume and huge range of the custom objects throughout this scenery package...  there are altogether 14,000 buildings positioned manually and reconstructed as in real, Churches, public buildings, soccer stadiums, hospital and even cemeteries over an area of 1200 sq. Km. The Piave River is very well represented along the valley floor, the detail is far better than earlier more basic valley floors which I didn't think were realistic enough for such high-grade scenery, but this is now really good and an excellent step forward.
 

 
Looking ahead you can easily see the deeper Dolomite mountain chains with Drei Zinnen now poking up, but as you go in deeper and the valley closes in around you they disappear again.
 

 
All the river side villages and comunes are represented including... Pian di Vedoia, Soverzene, Fortogna, Desedan and Provagna....  as you reach Longarone, look right as if you blink you will miss it....   the infamous Vajont Dam.
 

 
The Vajont Dam was completed in 1959 in the valley of the Vajont River under Monte Toc. On 9 October 1963, during initial filling, a landslide caused a megatsunami in the lake in which 50 million cubic metres of water overtopped the dam in a wave of 250 metres (820 ft), leading to the complete destruction of several villages and towns below, and in the disaster created 1,917 deaths. The flooding in the Piave valley from the huge wave destroyed the villages of Longarone, Pirago, Rivalta, Villanova and Faè and turned the land below the dam into a flat plain of mud. the Vajont Dam is now disused. Note the village of Casso up to right of the dam, Casso has been reproduced in the scenery for the pretty village it is.
 
The Zoldana Valley off west from Longarone is also represented in detail...
 
Past Castellavazzo the Piave valley around Termine di Cadore and Ospitale di Cadore then the route narrows considerably, and you start to swing the chopper around though the tighter valley sides, and it is fun flying if you can hack it as the width of the valley gets narrower and more bendy after twisty bend.
 

 
Snaky, snaky as you twist through the valleys, then around Rivalgo it gets really tight as the Sass de Mezzodì (2036m) towers above you ...
 

 

 
... finally around Perarolo di Cadore it opens out and around one final bend there is Y junction with the Monte Zucco directly ahead...
 

 
...   look left in a glance and there is Pieve di Cadore with the towering Monte Antelao (3263m) behind, this is a short cut valley to Pieve di Cadore, but I am going right, it is tighter (in fact extremely tight) but it brings you out on the reservoir by Corte Longo and Domegge...
 


 
....  follow the reservoir forward and it takes you up the Auronzo Valley (Drei Zinnen) and here you are now in Cortina - Cadore territory as Pieve di Cadore is left up on the hill. Note from Pieve di Cadore is now looking south it is a different perspective because the view has now been filled in and notably the Piz di Sagron, other major points from the Cadore Valley like Monte Civetta and Monte Pelmo are also very different with the adjoining Belluno package now in position.
 
Belluno - Alleghe
The main thrust into the Belluno mountain areas is via the La Valle Agordina, but there are two routes in, the main one of which we will follow through the La Valle Agordina and another route that still joins up at Agordo, the second entrance is via lago del Mis a short way east.
 

 
Both entrances are framed by the Schiara and Piz di Sagron that we have already noted. Depature is again from Belluno Airport and we head west over the township of Bellluno itself...
 

 
...  then you turn sharp north. The entrance into the La Valle Agordina is quite hard to see, a hint is that it is the valley without the water.
 

 
It gets tight very quickly in the La Valle Agordina and you are very soon twisting and snaking between the steep walls...
 

 
Not far into the valley and to your right up high is a side view of the Schiara, but your eyes need to be forward if you don't want to fly into the valley walls...
 

 
...  a last turn and up and high to the left is the Pala Group of the Dolomites located near the village of Agordo which is represented on the valley floor. Note to your very far left as you come into the wide Agordo valley is another view of Piz di Sagron.
 

 
Pala group and is known locally as Il Pizzòn, meaning Great Peak, And included in the ranges are some significant peaks including: Vezzana, (3,192m), Cimon della Pala, (3,184m), Cima dei Bureloni, (3,130m), Cima di Focobon, (3,054m) and the Pala di San Martino, (2,982) and Monte Agnèr (2,872m). The range also includes a large plateau (altopiano delle Pale), spanning for some 50 km² between 2,500 and 2,800 m and is an empty rocky extent.
 

 
There are a few valleys to explore right around the Pala Group, but we will do that later. Directly opposite and to the east of Agordo is the San Sebastiano chain that includes San Sebastiano (2488m), Monte Tamer (2547m) and Moschesin - Moschesin Castle (2499m)...
 

 
...  behind Monte Tamer further east is again Monte Antelao in the Cortina - Cadore package.
 
Notably in Agordo is another of the significant amount of Football (Soccer) fields, and the original headquaters (now in Milan) of the Luxottica Group S.p.A. which is represented here.  The Luxottica Group is an Italian eyewear conglomerate and the world's largest company in the eyewear industry with brands including Ray-Ban, Persol, and Oakley.
 

 
Leaving north from Agordo there is a choice of valleys to pick from? The one to the west takes you past the base of Monte Agnèr...   but fly on north and...
 

 
.... up again to your right is Monte Civetta (3,220m) which is a prominent and major mountain range of the Dolomites and the north-west face can be viewed from the Taibon Agordino valley, and is classed as one of the symbols of the Dolomites. But first up high to your left is Lastìa del Framónt
 

 
This is not the best view of Monte Civetta as that is from our destination at Alleghe, So it is more tunnel valleys and complex route choices north...
 

 
...  until you reach Alleghe, which is situated by a picturesque lake. Note the brilliant X-Plane v11.50 reflections on the lake! There is a H Pad here HEALL at Alleghe...
 

 
...  and the backdrop of the sheer north-west face of Monte Civetta while landing is astounding.
 

 
Certainly one of the highlights of the Belluno package, you can only see the excellent detail in the Civetta range with the Moiazza area as the group of summits just South and East of the Civetta peak. Note in the background Monte Pelmo and again Monte Antelao in the Cortina - Cadore package, and you can see like at Pieve di Cadore the reverse view from the Cadore Valley the significance of the filling out of the view from both angles.
 
Alleghe - Marmolada - Agordo
This is a wide loop around Marmolada and the Pala Group which both represent the north and western boundaries of the Belluno scenery. Notable is that the western side of this area dips deep off the package, but I expect another of the last two of these Dolomite sceneries to cover this area of Bolzano,
 

 
Departing north out of Alleghe there is an obstruction of a high set of power lines that are stretched right across the valley, so you have to gain altitude very, very quickly if not to fly through them, in fact there are loads of powerlines criss-crossing the valleys all through this scenery....
 

 
...   a lot of altitude is required anyway, as you can't stay low in the valley of where we are going to next. Not far north of Alleghe there is cross of valleys, we are going to go west along the Val Pettorina, which is a very tight left turn...
 

 
...  turn right however into the Fiorentina Valley and it takes you right up to the base of Monte Pelmo (Cortina-Cadore), the valley in objects however has now been filled in and makes Pelmo now more accessable than from the east... the view of Monte Pelmo is very good as you can get far closer to the mountain... the village of Selva di Cadore is also well represented.
 

 
All the villages along the Val Pettorina are represented, and the detail is very good, they include; Saviner di Laste, Rocca Pietore, Sottoguda-Palue and Malga Ciapela. But although the view is nice, you have a serious need to climb higher all along the Val Pettorina from 3,500ft to 6,500ft.
 

 
Almost at the end of the Val Pettorina you have to take another hard turn left, but looming large in your windscreen is the magnificent Marmolada!
 

 
Marmolada (3,343m) (Queen of the Dolomites) consists of a ridge running west to east and the highest peak in the Dolomites. Towards the south it breaks suddenly into sheer cliffs, forming a rock face several kilometres long. On the north side there is a comparatively flat glacier, and the only large glacier in the Dolomites (the Marmolada Glacier, Ghiacciaio della Marmolada). the ridge is composed of several summits, decreasing in altitude from west to east: Punta Penia (3,343m), Punta Rocca (3,309m), Punta Ombretta (3,230m)etres (10,600 ft), Monte Serauta (3,069m) and Pizzo Serauta (3,035m).
 

 
The cross and memorial is represented at the summit as is the  aerial tramway goes to the top of Punta Rocca. Views are sensational even by X-Plane standards as the Cortina and even the Drei Zinnen sceneries are all clearly visible, including the Fanes group and Fanes Plateau.
 

 
The Lago di Fedaia is located at the foot of the Marmolada Glacier.
 

 
You can of course fly around the full base of Marmolada, but in reality this is where the boundary of the scenery ends (until the next package)...
 

 
You can still loop around the valleys as they are interesting and great for flying low(ish)...
 

 
....  you can at Moena turn into the Passo di S. Pellegrino that will take still around the full circle base of Marmolada, but it also takes you directly back to Alleghe via the Val di Fassa. However I continued down to Predazzo and then a hard left and back into the Belluno scenery down the Val Paneveggio...  the Pala Group now comes back into view but from the western aspect. Lago di Paneveggio is spectacular with the X-Plane v11.50 reflections (really loving the Vulkan reflection feature in this scenery?)
 

 
But past the Lago there is really no easy pass or valley to slip though, so my choice was to get up close to the Pala Group and go up and over (it is the left turn here) to the Primiero valley ...
 

 
...  from this angle the highest peak in the group, Cima della Vezzana is extremely impressive.
 

 
A huge amount of work has gone into recreating these iconic Dolomite peaks, is as noted that the DEM data that is used and it is then further corrected with 3D graphics programs. Subsequently the textures were then applied in 4K resolution which are obtained from high definition photos. The positioning on the modified mesh is very accurate and respecting the dimensions and the main morphological characteristics of the terrain. And as the Dolomites are mountains with unique characteristics as they come with their large vertical and smooth walls.
 

 
Heading south and on the western side of the Belluno package down the Primiero valley and next into view comes San Martino di Castrozza which is a major Dolomite ski resort... there is a H Pad located here: HSMC
 

 
...  but it is time now to head back to Agordo, so bit further along the Primiero valley left turn at Fiera di Primiero puts you back in the La Valle Agordina.
 

 
On the left you get another and more closer and significant visual aspect of Piz di Sagron from the Valle Agordina as the range is set to the south and close to the Piave River Valley.
 


 
Further down the valley going west a familiar view opens up with San Sebastiano - Monte Tamer mountain groups as you arrive back at Agordo...
 

 
Agordo has a H Pad HEAG by the Vigili del Fuoco (Fire Station), it is a tricky landing over a fence, but still doable.
 
Lighting
Overall lighting is not the main aspect of these sceneries...  there is lighting of course, but it is mainly just housing (window) and the odd street lamps to create an alpine village feel, but in this package there quite a bit of it, so every major valley is lit...  With Belluno being the largest township of any Dainese and Bellini sceneries there is of course far more here, and it looks quite authentic at night and works very nicely in recreating the valley effect, odd buildings or the main significant custom scenery objects and the many football (Soccer) fields are also well lit in the scenery.
 

_________________________________
 
There is one airport and 11 H pads in the scenery, which is significantly more here than most other provided landing areas in Dainese and Bellini sceneries, provided are:
 
LIDB - Airport - 46.1632024 012.2453913 – BELLUNO CITY HLIBD - HELIPAD - BELLUNO AIRPORT HELHB - HELIPAD – 46.13908690 012.2001516 –BELLUNO HOSPITAL HELLG - HELIPAD - 46.2721585 012.3034299 – LONGARONE HSMC - HELIPAD - 46.2631061 011.7960794 – S.MARTINO CASTROZZA HEPR - HELIPAD - 46.1694772 011.8224303 – VVF PRIMIERO HEAG - HELIPAD - 46.2789449 012.0309167- AGORDO HEALL – HELIPAD - 46.4119874 012.0159586 – ALLEGHE HEFL – HELIPAD - 46.3561542 011.8715286 – FALCADE HEAR – HELIPAD - 46.4957027 011.8718972 – ARABBA HERV – HELIPAD - 46.4159242 012.1566844 – Ref.VENEZIA HECFM – HELIPAD - 46.4369182 012.1221237 Ref.FIUME  
LIDB - Airport – BELLUNO CITY
Set to the east of Belluno township is LIDB Airport.
 

 
Unusually a real replication of an airport as most Dainese and Bellini airports are mostly fictional. Single grass runway 05/23 - 812m (2664ft) is complimented by some authentic designed hangars and mostly default objects.
 
HLIBD - H Airport - BELLUNO AIRPORT
Set on the eastern end of the Bellnuo Airport in front of a large service hanger
 

 
HELHB - H BELLUNO HOSPITAL
Great Medi helipad outside the Belluno Hospital, easily found and nice approaches.
 

 
HELLG - H LONGARONE
Placed next to the fancy Football Stadium and Sports Centre in Longarone, the approach is singular and difficult because of the trees and house.
 

 
HSMC - H S.MARTINO CASTROZZA
The most western H Pad in the shadow of Cima della Vezzana at San Martino di Castrozza in the Primiero valley. Approaches are very clean.
 

 
HEPR - H VVF PRIMIERO
This remote H Pad is in Primiero, which is directly in front of Pale di San Martino (Pala Group - Between Fiera di Primiero and Agordo). Approach is singlular down the valley but worth it.
 

 
HEAG - H AGORDO
H Pad is by the Vigili del Fuoco in Agordo, with a tricky fence and approach.
 

 
HEALL – H ALLEGHE
Right on the north edge of the lake, it is an extremely spectacular approach in from over the lake.
 

 
HEFL – H FALCADE
Deep central in the Val di Fassa between the ranges of Marmolada and Pala Group is Falcade, Trees and buildings on the approach from the west, but wide and open from the east.
 

 
HEAR – H ARABBA
At the northern foot of Marmolada, Arabba (Marmolada ski resort) it is the most furthest north position of the Belluno scenery, hard to find as it is in a lost valley called Cordevole valley. It is however a good place to go north or east into the Cortina - Cadrone areas. Slight incline but good approaches to the H Pad.
 

 
HERV – H Ref.VENEZIA
On the foothills of Monte Pelmo (southeast) this is a refuge H Pad. The H Pad is set out on an extreme slope, so it is extremely difficult to land or takeoff from.

 
HECFM – H Ref.FIUME
This Refuge is also on the foothills up the Fiorentina Valley of Monte Pelmo (northwest), this is another refuge H Pad.
 

 
Note: if either HERV or HECFM Refuges don't appear, then remove the (D3H)_Exclusions folder? The folder is for x-europe or ortho4xp use.
 
 
Most of all the refuges in the Belluno areas are represented, including: Coldai, Tissi, VII ° Alpini, Carestiato, Scarpa, City of Fiume, Venice Ref and more.
_________________________________
 
Summary
This is the third of five sceneries from Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini that cover the Dolomite Mountain Ranges in the eastern north of Italy. This new area covers the Belluno Valley and Val Agordina areas, that are positioned directly south and west of the Drei Zinnen National Park, and then the Cortina - Cadore region.
 
Areas recreated in this scenery package include: Belluno city , Longarone + Vajont dam, all the many valleys including: Agordina, Fiorentina, Zoldana, Cordevole, Piave, Prmiero
 
All the numerous mountains and glaciers are all very highly created mesh from DEM data 3D graphics programs, and the Hi-Res textures are all in 4K resolution. The focus mountains are simply excellent in their 3D reproductions and the highlights are Pale di San martino (Pala Group), Schiara, Marmolada, Civetta, Moiazza, San Sebastiano (Tamer), Sass Set, Sagron.
 
These excellent representations of iconic mountain areas of the world are for exploration, sightseeing or just plain exploring...  and you could throw in a bit of geography as well. All are highly detailed of the areas they represent and the mountain ranges are of course the stars and the focal point.
 
With this Belluno extension you do have a question that arises in that does it stand alone as a scenery by itself? That is big question to now answer unlike the former Drie Zinnen/Cortana Packages.  Personally I can't see this package fully working effectively without the Cortina-Cadore extension as part of the same landscape, as the two Cortina/Belluno do heavily intertwine together at many points and boundaries, and the visual aspects from both sides of each scenery are duly both affected, together there quite outstanding in many viewpoints, and also now showing the truly huge landscape of the Dolomite area that is now visible.
 
Hugely popular and yes I love these amazing and hugely detailed and now extensive sceneries that can change your perspective of an iconic area and allow them to come to life in your simulation world...   Highly recommended, so three down and only two more Dolomites to go!
______________________________________________________________________
 

 
Yes! Dolomites 3D Belluno-Southern Dolomites by Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :
 
Dolomites 3D - Belluno - Southern Dolomites
 
Price Is US$24.95
 
Customer who already own Dolomites 3D- Drei Zinnen Park or Cortina can get this new scenery for $5 off. Please go to the original invoice for coupon code
 
Features
1200 sq. Km of scenic Mountain Scenery Belluno Airport LIDB - Extremely detailed over 10 Heliports in strategic sites. Belluno city , Longarone + Vajont dam, many valleys: Agordina, Fiorentina, Zoldana, Cordevole, Piave, Prmiero ...  Over 20,000 buildings positioned, with many buildings rebuilt. 10  3D models: Pale di San martino, Marmolada, Civetta, Moiazza, San Sebastiano (Tamer), Sass Set, Sagron ... All the vegetation mapped Inserted hundreds of polygons / textures to reproduce the photo-realistic terrain Reproduced the main skilift-plants, in particular the Marmolada with 3 sections. Reproduced all the main refuges in the area: Coldai, Tissi, VII ° Alpini, Carestiato, Scarpa,Città di iume, Venice Ref. ...  
 
WT3/Traffic Global: Your joking of course! no, you are on your own here
 
Requirements
X-Plane 11 
Windows, Mac or Linux 4GB VRAM Minimum - 8GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 600-950 Mb Release and Review version 1.0 (15th May 2020)   Installation Download scenery file size is download 635.20mb and with the full installation installed in your custom scenery folder as there are Nine install folders in the order below in the .INI File (included and the listing below also includes the Drei Zinnen/Cortina packs):    SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1A_DOLOMITI_3D_Part1/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1B_AIRPORT_LIVD/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1C_CableWay_Dolomitti1/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1D_PUSTERIA_Comelico/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1E_MISURINA/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1F_AURONZO/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1G_Exclusions/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2A_DOLOMITI_3d_Part2/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2B_AIPORT_LIDI/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2C_CableWay_Dolomiti2/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2D_CORTINA/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2E_CADORE/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2F_CRODALAGO/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2G_Exclusions/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3A_DOLOMITI_3D_Part3/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3B_CableWay_Dolomiti3/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3C_AGORDO_ALLEGHE/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3D_BELLUNO_Piave/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3E_VAL_CORDEVOLE/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3F_VALLE_PRIMIERO/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3G_Zoldana_Fiorentina/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3H_Exclusions/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/Dolomiti2_lib/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/Dolomiti_SIRX_VEGETAZIONE/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/MESH_DOLOMITI1/  
Total scenery installation (Belluno) : 2.05gb
 
connector scenery (D2G_Exclusions- Highlighted) is IMPORTANT in its position in the scenery order .ini to make sure there is a perfect transition between the two packages.
 
Documents
One manual with notes
______________________________________________________________________
  
Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton
17th May 2020
Copyright©2020 : X-Plane Reviews 
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)
 
Review System Specifications:
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.41 and tested in v11.50b6 and b9
Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini 
Plugins: None
Scenery or Aircraft
- Bell 412 XP11 by X-Trident (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$35.95
 

 

Aircraft Update : Dash 8 Q400 Legacy by FlyJSim
 
It is not very often in reviewing that you actually have the chance to say goodbye to an aircraft, it is a bit like the retirement of the final flight of a design that has been the backbone of an airlines for years, and it is now happening with regularity with the retirements of aging MD-80 Series and Boeing 747-400 fleets.
 
To note this De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q Series is not being totally withdrawn by FlyJSim, as it will still be available to buy for X-Plane11 users and noted under the new "Legacy" moniker (from the XP11 label) to differentiate the version from the coming newer v2 Q4XP. So price wise you are going to get a good deal (currently around US$30) but to note as we shall see here it the aircraft is originally dated from 2012 and it is a full 10 Years since the commencement of the project and yes it has been well developed to keep up with the changes in that time of the surrounding simulator versions.
 

 
The Dashy has weathered the years well... and in this new v2.19 Legacy version has now PBR or Physically Based Rendering textures as well. So the exterior textures now have a more believable glossiness and metalness effect and the Dash 8 shows it all off here very well.
 

 
The hull and tail is now more highly reflective and note the particle effects that power out from the exhausts. Close up and the detail is still very good, with new NML's (normals) showing off the design. Those six-blade R408 propeller system propellers on the Bombardier Q400 incorporates an advanced swept blade design and optimized ARA-D/A airfoil and are still exceptionally well done here.
 

 
Glass has been redone, but with no reflections, so it looks good, but could have been better.
 

 
Menus have been updated to reflect the new Legacy name, both external and internal Weight & Balance menus are still here.
 

 
The external is now quite simple, but the W & B menu is still one of the best out there (note the Summer and Winter weight setting).
 

 
Q400's are extremely weight sensitive (most flights will require you to move seats for weight corrections in real life)... and that is highlighted here if you get the loading balance wrong...  25% of MAC is the best setting. But I will note the nosewheel now also sinks slightly into the ground... odd.
 

 
The Dashy was always a tricky aircraft to fly and many users couldn't quite master it's quirky nature. For me I always found it not to bad, but it could be slightly frustrating the use and fly... just those small things that annoy you. The largest and still not fixed here is the throttle to mixture levers that are complicated to use.... so shut the Q400 down and it is hell to restart, if nigh impossible.  Never fixed if the mixture levers are set to Fuel (cut) Off then you can't reset the throttle levers to idle, they need to click in again to restart, and in most cases only a full engine running restart will get the aircraft started? another issue is again the throttles and the built in beta (reverse) selection. Sometimes it works in beta mode, and sometimes it doesn't? (I use an external twin throttle Saitek system and the settings just don't like the unit) So throttle idle is somewhere, or where you sometimes have to guess...  thrust reverse is like Quantum Mechanics, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
 

 
Personally over the years these areas it has drove me batshit, but when it works the Dashy is a great aircraft.
 
Cockpit detail is still extraordinary even after all these years, pure FlyJSim work of art, although a few of the switchgear items are now showing their age.
 

 
New PBR reflections have lifted the cockpit to new heights, it can be gorgeous in here in the right lighting conditions, and yes the detail is almost ten years old, but it still feels as good as new.
 
Main instrument PFD and MAP/NAV displays have been made brighter and sharper, and you notice the significant difference.
 

 
The cabin however with no updates since the original release and really shows the original age, and it is not pretty back there.
 

 
So for me it is the last flight of this original Q400 from LPPR - Porto to LEBL - Barcelona...
 

 
... in flight she feels as good as ever, the update has brought on some new dynamics with the newer current 11.35 flight model and with that comes some increased drag and better handling, and yes the aircraft does feel really nice (if balanced correctly).
 
You will work hard at the controls in the Dashy, and it requires very fine throttle control to fly this of all X-Plane machines a very manual hands-on aircraft...
 

 
.... speed and balance is everything, but get your balance right and the aircraft is extremely rewarding, but get it wrong and that nose can be so light.
 
\
 
So you have to use your skills to the max and you will then get your high-five reward.
 

 
My last landing in the Q400 Legacy? maybe, certainly for now, but it doesn't have to be your last ride in an X-Plane classic.
 

 
It will be extremely interesting on the differences between the not so old and the new compare when the Q4XP arrives, and there is currently no arrival date yet for that aircraft...  until then savior the legacy.
 
 
Summary
This is currently the last update v2.19 and a change of name to the "Legacy" for the Classic FlyJSim Q400 until the Q4XP version 2 arrives. The update brings in a lot of the latest X-Plane11.35 features to the aircraft, including better performance and a new flight model, PBR effects (glossy and reflective) and glass tweaks.
 
The quirks including a difficult throttle/mixture and unreliable beta (reverse-thrust) are still as maddening to use as ever as is the engine start up from shutdown, and still also a very tricky aircraft to fly but ultimately very rewarding this Q400 is a long time in service aircraft and certainly deserves classic status from the simulator.
 
Like with most and even the greatest of aircraft designs there comes a time the aircraft has to make way for the new. And so it is here for the FlyJSim Dash 8 Q400. For those that don't want to spend a huge amount of dollars, but want a quality and tried and true aircraft then this "Legacy" version will keep you very happy and test those skill levels on a the manual of manual flying by the fingertips aircraft, so there is great value to be had here. For me it will be interesting on how the newer Q4XP measures up to an original classic machine.
 
________________________________________________________
 

 
Yes! the Dash 8 Q400 Legacy by FlyJSim is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

Dash 8 Q400 Legacy
 
Price is US$30.00
 
Note make sure you have v2.19 when downloading, All previous purchasers can now update via your X-Plane.OrgStore Account
 
Features
*NEW* PBR Enabled Exterior Accurate Flight Characteristics  Created from over 60 hours of flight tests with information from real world data and backed by actual Q400 pilots. Detailed Exterior Model Created from extensive research of hundreds of images and references. Everything from the airfoils used on the wings to actual tire sizes modeled with detail in mind. Includes a full set of high resolution textures including normal maps, specular maps, and night lighting. Highly Accurate 3D Cockpit Fly happy knowing what you are looking at really is to scale. 3D cockpit modeled from detailed Q400 data. Textures created from thousands of images taken of the interior. Detailed Interior & Exterior Night Light Be able to see the plane at night along with strobe and beacon lights that light up the fuselage. Cockpit lighting as well allows you to still see everything and enjoy flying in the dark. Custom Sounds Hear what the real Q400 sounds like. We have recorded real world Q400 sounds, including cockpit call-outs. The sounds alone add so much to the experience. Plugin enhanced:  We use plugins to add more systems and features that would otherwise be impossible to be implemented if left to use the default X-Plane logic. Load & Balance Manager: A first in X-Plane, the Load & Balance Manager is a pop up screen which allows you to change the load-out and balance in real time. Pick from thousands of combinations of seating arrangement, cargo hold weights, and fuel amounts. See the Center of Gravity change as you load the aircraft differently and burn fuel in flight. Many Liveries available:   
V2.19 Changlog
FlyJSim Dash 8 Q400 changelog v2.19.rtf
______________________________________________________________________
 
Update by Stephen Dutton
8th August 2019
Copyright©2019 : X-Plane Reviews
  
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)
 

 

Scenery Review : KFLL - Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International by Departure Designs
 
In my early X-PlaneReviews there one route that I used a lot and was from KLAL Kinder/Lakeland to KFLL - Fort Lauderdale. As I was flying in a general aviation aircraft then KFLL made more sense than the mega KMIA - Miami International which in reality is a bit of a light aircraft's nightmare with so much heavy traffic, in that KFLL is not lightweight in heavy traffic either as it hosts a lot of regional and even international traffic, but it is also far more general aviation friendly and accessible. So I used to enjoy immensely my little trips across Florida to visit Fort Lauderdale and the airport appeared in many a review... only issue was the scenery five or so years ago was absolute crap, and so as better scenery destinations became available then KFLL slowly but surely disappeared from my most visited list and so it was gone but not forgotten.
 
So the chance to update to a far more modern and realistic version of KFLL - Fort Lauderdale International by Departure Designs brought forward a lot of memories, but would it be the same KFLL that I once loved and enjoyed.. there was only one way to find out, fly there.
 
Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood
International Airport
IATA: FLL - ICAO: KFLL - FAA LID: FLL

10L/28R - 9,000ft (2,743m) Asphalt
10R/28L - 8,000ft (2,438m) Concrete
Elevation AMSL 65 ft / 20 m
 

 
In many ways the layout of KFLL is not much different than KMIA from the air, KMIA is of course much bigger and has that cross runway of 12/30, KFLL also had the same crosswind runway (13/31) but it was decommissioned on May 6, 2013. So from a distance in the air you could actually get them mixed up as the U shaped west facing terminal layout is very similar as well. Intergration into the Florida landscape overall is excellent, but there some question marks on the joins of the Federal Hwy (1) to the default scenery that passes the east side of the airport...
 

 
...  fitting in to say Orbx's TrueEarth US Florida might be more perfect as I think it was designed in this aspect, but in default it looks a little messy.
 

 
What stands Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood Airport out to be different and the main reason of it's existence is Port Lauderdale, which is the biggest cruise ship terminal in the world. A significant dogleg to the EFLL scenery is the Port Lauderdale aspect and it is done well...
 

 
...  overall the port is basic, with a huge fuel depot set out behind...  but you do get two nice cruise ships in the harbour with "Serenade of the Seas" and Carnival's "Carnival Elation", the two ships are nice but one more or even two would have hidden the basic wharf they are moored at, quality is Lo-Res as well, but on approach or departure the ships look in keeping of the scenery. The rest of Port Lauderdale is modeled, but it feels half completed in detail, and no ships in the port either only add in to the emptiness.
 

 
The huge three massive central carparks dominate the scenery, along with the four terminals and the seven concourses that are set out around the U shaped parameter...
 

 
Terminal 1, "The New Terminal" - (Yellow)
Commonly referred to as "The New Terminal," The terminal opened in stages between 2001 and 2003, then another extension was added between late 2015 and was completed in June 2017. The noted Yellow Terminal has three concourses (A, B, & C) and 23 gates. Concourse A opened on July 5, 2017 and has 7 gates (A1-A7), Concourse B has 7 gates (B2, B4-B9), and Concourse C has 9 gates (C1-C9). Concourse A mainly serves Southwest.
 
Glass is a major divider of  developers in scenery as many get glass right, but a lot don't.... even the good ones. Terminal one is a huge span of a terminal that has a basic internal fit-out. Modeling is good, but not outstanding, however all the airbridges are SAM - Scenery Animation Manager active...
 

  

 
The terminal building itself is not too bad, but the newer Concourse A Terminal has a highly reflective glass. From a lot of perspectives it looks okay, but the high reflection causes weird artifacts and creates an un-natural look and feel of the concourse? Internally in the terminal it looks like there is no glass in the building either? so it is all a bit weird...  the real terminal glass is actually dark green. Externally the terminal thankfully looks fine.
 


 
 Terminal 2  - Delta - (Red)
The Red Terminal has one concourse (D) and 9 gates and Delta Air Lines operates a Sky Club here, and one of six clubrooms in the state of Florida and this terminal is used by both Delta and Air Canada.
 
The smallest terminal at FLL, Terminal 2 has a cavernous roof and again an all glass facade, the internal aspect is highly viewable, but has the same no glass look internally, so it doesn't look realistic.
 



 
Terminal 3: - Main Terminal - (Purple)
The Purple Terminal has two concourses (E & F) and 20 gates.This terminal is used by American Airlines, Azul, Emirates, JetBlue, Norwegian, and some Spirit Airlines flights.
 
Terminal 3 works better because it doesn't try as hard to be realistic... no large glass areas and better green glass here make a large difference, the tired concrete facade looks good as well.
 


 
Terminal 4: International Terminal - (Green)
The Green Terminal has one concourse (G) and 14 gates (G1-G14) and one arrivals area for bussing operations. Concourse H was closed in December 2017 and has since been demolished. The former Concourse H was reconfigured and redesigned by the architectural firms of PGAL/Zyscovich joint venture with the newer three-story facility that was then renamed Concourse G. This terminal is used by Air Transat, Avianca, British Airways, Caribbean Airlines, Frontier, IBC, SkyBahamas, Spirit, and TAME which are all mostly International carriers.
 
Terminal 4 is right and bang up to date in design with the old Concourse H nowhere to be seen. surprisingly the green glass is perfect here? and the terminal looks far better and the most modern design at FLL. Odd though is the clutter so well done and heavy at the other terminals is missing here?
 

 
Landside is a bit boring and empty of detail with a lot of burnt in vehicles....    and the traffic does flow around the terminal is overall weak.
 

 
There is a few animated traffic vehicles that go all around (I mean totally around the airport parameter?) and clutter except for Ter 4 is very good, but not FLL branded.
 
Mid-Field
Again like KMIA the control tower is far west mid-field, surrounding the tower are large (Private Jet) hangar parking (west) and various associated personal jet busnesses including: SheltAir, Bombardier (Learjet) and Signature...
 

 
....  the control tower is presentable but not overly detailed, a few 3d cars placed over the burnt in ground objects (hiding) would have certainly helped, the radar on the tower is not animated either (boo) and the tower view is set right, but too low and obstructed?
 
The far east "Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum" is present, but only as a building, I doubt the developer were aware of the Museum's significance to the area? It was NAS Fort Lauderdale that was the home base for Flight-19 the five TBM Avengers that disappeared in December 1945, leading in part to the notoriety of the "Bermuda Triangle"
 

 
North Boundary
Again very similar to KMIA is the north boundary of LFF with Cargo, and various aviation businesses and a catering company from left to right.
 

 
Far north is the UPS depot with an abandoned static B727...  followed by the main cargo with FedEx dominating the apron, and very well done the FedEx freight terminal is...
 



 
Next door is called the "New Area" or a rebuilt area and National Jet is the main tenant, the building up close has some odd graphic glass, it is debatable if it works as there are no palm trees anywhere near the windows they are reflecting?...
 


 
....  then next are three storage hangars.
 
One of the biggest tenants on this north side is Spirit Airlines, incorporated in the same building is the Flightline Drug Testing facility and IBC Airways...
 

 
.... Embraer have a regional service facility that is well done, then at the far east end is a few more private jet hangars and finally a SkyChiefs catering faclity far east.
 

 
Interesting aspect is that at the end of each runway at KFLL is a EMAS
 

 
EMAS, of which stands for Engineered Materials Arresting Systems, which is crushable concrete and it is packed into blocks about 3 feet thick and 4 feet wide.
The blocks are layered in such that the farther a plane plows over the end of a runway, the more EMAS counter resistance it encounters. The affect is akin to driving a car into deep, soft sand and arresting the momentum of the aircraft.
 
Ground Textures
I find that most American airports have average ground textures, mostly in trying to replicate the concrete block approach of the way the US build's it's airports...   But at KFLL and even from my first landing I realised the ground textures were really good here and very realistic.
 

 
Shoulders are highly realistic and linage wear and tear is also very good. The complex different surfaces are also very well represented and you feel as a whole the field is very authentic...
 
There is a highway (1) and runway 28L threshold crossover interchange, overall the crossover is done very well, but badly in other ways as under the overpass the roads disconnect and vehicles travel badly, the burnt in car images don't help either?....
 

 
....  but the elevations of the complex area is done really well with the mixture between the concrete and grass done extremely well. Grass is very good, but very tall were placed, but in other areas were there should be grass like with the inner field there isn't any grass? but the nature of the textures do however hide that...  so overall the field aspect is excellent.
 

 
Lighting
Overall the lighting is below average?  it also feels half-completed on release....  approach lighting is okay, but the biggest missing factor is....
 

 
....  there is no taxiway lighting or centre runway guidance anywhere? it is just a blackhole from the point you land to the gate.
 

 
Central terminal area is also bleak, the gates are lit, but not by much, but with no landside or road lighting at all, it makes the whole area quite dark and foreboding.
 


 
Not really it is not good enough really for a scenery in this payware category?
 
Those poor terminal glass textures don't come across well in the dark either?  They mostly come out in shades of grey....
 


 
.... the clear aspect of Terminal 1 is still debatable, many will like the open internal view, but it overall doesn't look very real? Ditto the same at Terminal 2.
 
Terminal 3 is passable, but the ramp lighting has so little illumination throw and you will work down there mostly in the dark.
 

 
Again it is the new Terminal 4 that looks the best here, it is passable but not brilliant in a "blow you away" effect.
 

 
North boundary lighting is quite honest awful...  as all the buildings are set in this yellow hue? I don't think there is worst FedEx building in the United States that looks like this at night, a shame as in the daylight this FedEx building looks great?
 

 
....   the worst is the large windows of National Jet? it is just as horrible as you could expect them to be at a close range. This sort of photo lighting design went out with the worst of FlightSim years ago.
 
The cruise ships look quite nice at their moorings, but the rest of both ports are in complete darkness, so you don't have much to look at on a night arrival or departure? There a some nicely lit billboards however, and they look quite good, but overall the lighting does not live up to the scale of the scenery.
 

 
WT3/Traffic Global. WT3 ground routes come with the scenery, but the "KFLL-Parking Def" file is missing? This translates to yes a fully working FLL, but the arrivals don't work cleanly and the wrong aircraft are parked at the wrong gates and in the cargo areas? maybe a simple generation might do a better job than the provided files?
Traffic Global works fine, but expect aircraft to mixed up at the terminal gates and not in line with their branding, and the same in other parking areas, like with an Emirates B777 at the FedEx cargo base, but the actual brand mix is very good with Spirit and JetBlue dominating.
 
Postscript
As I hinted at the head of this review I had a pretty if very basic office at KFLL for years, but this scenery wiped away the area I once staked out as my own...  well I'm back and to note these items are NOT in the scenery package, but were placed there by myself courtesy of OpenScenery X.
 
I commandeered or rather stalked out a stretch of grass outside the National Jet facility and set down my Porta-Office, with some seating, fuel and waste bins... so all set to go, and now open for business at KFLL, credit cards and PayPal accepted.
 

_________________________________
 
Summary
KFLL - Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport is the second largest airport in Florida and in the mix as one of the most busiest in the USA.
This scenery is by Departure Designs and quite difficult to surmise in context. It is one of those really frustrating sceneries you come across that has everything in there and required to be absolutely brilliant, but here it falls short. Overall KFLL looks and feels very good, but it is in the details and under development that really let it down.
 
Modeling is very good, but the glass except for Terminal 3 and 4 is not very good at all, see though terminals may be to a lot of people look exciting and realistic, but I differ here... to me they just look empty and bland without any tinting, worst is that the reflective glass in that it just reflects everything and looks quite odd with strange weird artifacts at many viewing angles.
 
The field and ground textures are very good, very realistic and so is the Fed Hwy (1) and RWY 28L crossover, but the join is not very authentic, but the elevation elements around it are well done. The external Port Lauderdale is well done but feels half-completed, and a few more cruise liners or even some cargo ships would have been nice. SAM - Scenery Animation Manager is supported and welcome.
 
Lighting is below average...  even weird in areas, but no centre-line runway lighting or the required green taxiway lighting is simply a major failure, and makes the scenery look dark at night, ditto is the missing landside road lightng that creates a blackhole in the centre terminal area, so in many areas the KFLL feels very under developed and it certainly does not live up to the expectations of what can easily be achieved here.
 
Like in many areas in both aircraft and sceneries it is the polish, that final 10% of that 100% that creates the magic, and don't get me wrong in many areas I really love this Fort Lauderdale scenery as it fits in well with the south Florida aspect and as a great companion to the mega KMIA next door. If you want a good KFLL then certainly this scenery can certainly fill out that role, but it just needs a bit more finesse to be really good or even brilliant.
_____________________________________
 

 
Yes! KFLL - Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International by Departure Designs is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

KFLL - Fort Lauderdale International
 
Price is US$23.99
 
Features: Heavily optimized Airport PBR Textures throughout Airport Rain Textures SAM Jetways Accurate Elevated Runway Highly detailed Custom Animated SAM Jetways Custom WT3 support Custom Night Lighting  color graded Satellite Imagery  High Resolution 4K Textures Terminal layout circa Q2 2020 Compatible with all Florida sceneries Ortho4XP Compatible  
WT3:  WorldTraffic GroundRoutes are provided and overall the airport generation functions perfectly but the package comes with no Parking Defs?
 
Requirements:
Windows, Mac or Linux 4GB VRAM Minimim - 8GB+ VRAM Recommended Current and Review version: 1.0 (May 2nd 2020)
Download size: 2 GB   Installation Download scenery file size is 1.85gb:   Fort Lauderdale  
Annoyingly there is a folder within a folder here? So you will need to remove...
 
Dep_KFLL  
...     and then place THIS file in the X-Plane Custom Scenery folder, if not the scenery won't work?
 
Total scenery installation is quite big : 3.90gb
 
SAM Plugin - Scenery Animation Manager - Suite 1.0 is required for this scenery
 
Documents
One extensive manual in English with notes (1 page) but no charts
 
FLL Manual.pdf _____________________________________________________________________
 
Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton
8th May 2020
Copyright©2020 : X-Plane Reviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)
 
Review System Specifications: 
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 1TB SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane  11.41 - tested v11.50.b6 (fine)
Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: Traffic Global (Just Flight) US$52.99
Scenery or Aircraft
- Default Boeing 737-800 by Laminar Reserch
 

 

Scenery Review : Casablanca XP by Aerosoft/FSDG
 
You feel like going somewhere and doing something exotic! But you are also wanting to fly a route for not very long, in fact you don't want to break your two hour flying rule either? You have also flown most European connections and even ventured as far north as Iceland, but you are wanting now something a bit different, even a challenge...  so what about North Africa (South Africa is too far). With all these parameters then what about Casablanca, as it is a very exotic and quite a popular destination and only a two to three hour flight from most southern European ports...  in reality it is a done deal.
 
I have been to GMMN - Casablanca - Mohammed V International Airport a few times before, and then used a quite average freeware version, But  have always loved GMMN if for it's north western coastal African position, not too far from Europe but more importantly it is also an airbridge to South America as a refueling stop. So when developer FSDG or FlightSim Development Group released CMN - Casablanca I just wanted to go back there and finally to a decent full quality X-Plane Casablanca scenery.
 
Casablanca is situated on the very top the northwest coast of Africa, and is a mere two hours from anywhere in Southern Europe. I flew from LEBL - Barcelona which is exactly 2h flying time (okay 2h - 1m give or take a minute), Frankfurt is 3h - 21m which is a bit outside the two hour rule but still doable.
 

 
The distance from Casablanca (Port) to the Mohammed V International Airport is about 25km directly south, or about 30min driving time.
 

 
I will note in these views I am using the SFD (ShortFinal) local autogen to give the area a local flavour...
 

 
Mohammed V International Airport
مطار محمد الخامس الدولي
ⴰⵣⴰⴳⵯⵣ ⴰⴳⵔⵖⵍⴰⵏ ⵎⵓⵃⵎⵎⴷ ⵡⵙ5
Aéroport international Mohammed V
IATA: CMN - ICAO: GMMN

17L/35R - 3,720m (12,205ft) Asphalt
17R/35L - 3,720m (12,205ft) Asphalt
Elevation AMSL 656 ft / 200 m
 
Both runways 17L/35R and 17R/35L are exceptionally long at both over 12,000ft in length, they are in a parallel western layout together with all the airport infrastructure situated all to the eastern side of the field.
 

 
The main apron is one huge continuous apron set into zones of parking in B-C main inner Terminals, E outer remote, J Middle outer Remote, D Cargo inner remote.
 

 
There is a separate area to the east far south that you could note as General Aviation with parking G (inner) and F (outer) and far south is another remote...  remote stand parking.
 

 
Terminals
Both terminals one and two are fused together via an S shaped design, Terminal One is north and more modern and Terminal Two is south.
 

 


 
Terminal One: There are four main airbridge stations, but in an odd arrangement of three gates per bay. The use here is for either a narrow body or a wide body aircraft, but it does make it complicated into finding your right parking line and airbridge. In most cases two narrow-bodies will fit into each bay.
 

 
SAM - Scenery Animation Manager plugin is available with both Marshaller (Terminal One) and VDGS guidance (Terminal Two)...
 

 
....  but SAM does have it's quirks at CMN? Again selection of the right gate (airbridge) to the type of aircraft is important. The MD88 is a low to the ground aircraft, so on one gate with the airbridge connected the airbridge was then set at a steep angle to the low door?  Another (image above) on the far right line (or third) didn't connect to the airbridge? but the position would have been perfect to connect to the low MD88 door position?  The correct position was actually the first line into each bay for the MD88... your choice to the aircraft?   SAM airbridges are again very good with Attijariwafa Bank branding. Clutter is good, but not too much in overwhelming way, so a pass here...  but only a few are custom branded and most clutter visible comes from the Laminar collection.
 

 
Terminal modeling is okay...  ish. Overall it is not bad as a design, but you are missing any real or realistic detail, glass is reflective but still looks bland.
 

 
Biggest issue is that the photo ground ortho-photo textures as they are all very low-res and flat. So this makes all the modeling looked like it is all placed on to the top of the flat surface, of which of course it is?
 


 
Carparks are the same, a flat washed out photo base with objects placed on top, that there is a lot of objects on the surface to at least fill out the scenery, trees are horrible...  cardboard and flat looking they don't relate well to the light at all, again at least there is a lot of well placed fauna to cover over each others flaws.
 

 
 And yet in an overview the scenery does actually work, the trick is just don't look for the close intimate detail and at the different areas too closely.
 

 
Control Tower
The control tower is mid-field and set back behind trees...  again close up the glass is boring and flat, so the tower comes out the same way... but it is detailed well.
 

 
Tower view (T) is however set perfectly with great views of all approaches.
 
Cargo
The cargo hub is huge and well represented at Mohammed V...  Royal Air Maroc Cargo, operating as RAM Cargo has a huge base here. Swift-air Cargo, DHL and UPS are also represented.
 


 
Airport operators including EADS and Regional Air Maroc are both shown with custom buildings and with hangars to the south....
 

 
....  to the north is is the large Royal Air Maroc's base and it comes with twin maintenance facilities.
 

 
One twin maintenance hangar is set on the main apron north, but behind is another large apron with another large maintenance area, there are some nicely placed static aircraft including a RAM Boeing 747 that is done very well. Note the army surplus holding yards for vehicles.
 
Area Infrastructure
To a point the feature that saves this scenery is the large placed infrastructure landside behind the airport. The infrastructure comes with tenant buildings, warehouses, factories and general buildings to make up a pretty good visual aspect of the airport. Note the nice fuel depot.
 

 
...  a lot of the buildings are very basic and repeated, but a lot are also custom made to fit into the area, and on the whole it works very well.
 
Far south General Aviation area is good, but a few static aircraft may have lifted the area a little...
 

 
Surfaces
Runaway and taxiway surfaces are good, not brilliant, but good, the detail is there and I like the tyre markings.... all markings and signage is excellent (although there was a taxiway in the scenery not on the Navigraph chart?) however the surfaces and markings are all a bit too new with no wear or tear, but overall it is not too bad. All surfaces are PBR (Physically Based Rendered) and have nice reflection details, wet and damp conditions are very good (does it actually rain in Morocco?), but there is no 3d field grass or flowers in creating a very flat airfield.
 

 
Lighting
I was genuinely surprised by the lighting at GMMN, as it is very good. Mainly it is because there are two hues in bright apron lighting airside and a copper lighting landside, but it is visually very effective.
 

 
Approach (RAIL) and taxiway navigation lighting and signage is excellent, so you won't get lost here. All apron areas are well lit, but it is the landside...
 


 
....  that stands out, mainly because I think the lighting hides the poor Lo-Res photo textures, but it does all look very realistic and pleasing to the eyes.
 


 
Also helpfully is fact that the street lighting is done well into the landside areas and goes out a fair way from the terminals. Again very effective from the air when departing or arriving at GMN.
 

 
Terminal glass is better at night as well, as there are lit images on the glass, not even close to good, but still better than the daytime blandness, the landside images though look like a car showroom?
 


 
Summary
GMMN - Casablanca - Mohammed V International Airport is the main port into Morocco and a great destination that is available within the two to three hours flying time from central or southern Europe. FlightSim Development Group (FSDG) have released a good payware airport with Aerosoft for X-Plane to cover this very exotic destination.
 
Overall the airport is very good, with a lot of features and great detail going landside, but the word that keeps coming up here is "Workmanlike", good but so close to being excellent.
 
The scenery is let down by the usual Aerosoft practise to use very Low-Resolution textures for the scenery's base, very zig-zag blocky, washed out and no detail, the lo-res textures create a flat (boring) surface that shows up the placed above object elements, it could have been so much better with more detail, poor cardboard looking trees also don't help in the visual impact. Glass is flat (meaning bland) but better with images at night that don't help either, but still this Casablanca scenery does not give up without a fight to be good, because the (If complicated gate arrangements) SAM - Scenery Animation Manager plugin tool is excellent, and well done here.
 
Overall I actually do like this GMMN - Casablanca, and yes I will use it and probably on a regular basis, because in the areas I want it does actually create a worthwhile Mohammed V International Airport. It works like a lot of Aerosoft sceneries do, you want them to be better and they can easily be in that aspect, but you use them anyway because they work for you well in another aspect...  workmanlike, but still so close to being a very high-quality scenery.
_____________________________________
 

 
Yes! Casablanca XP by Aerosoft/FSDG is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

FSDG - Casablanca XP
 
Price is US$25.95
 
Features:     Accurate rendition of Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport, Morocco (GMMN)     Includes new ground layout     Superb quality and performance     Animated jetways and marshallers (with SAM plugin)     Animated ground traffic     Routes and positions for AI traffic and static aircraft included     Manual included  
WT3:  WorldTraffic GroundRoutes are not provided and a generation is required, and overall the airport generation functions perfectly.
 
Requirements:
X-Plane 11 Windows or Mac (not compatible with Linux) 4Gb VRAM Minimum - 8Gb+ VRAM Recommended
Current and Review version: 1.0 (April 9th 2020) Download Size: 1.3 GB   Installation Download scenery file size is with the full installation installed in your custom scenery folder with a (Windows Installer) Mac is zip   FSDG-Casablanca_XP  
Total scenery installation is 1.3Gb
 
SAM Plugin - Scenery Animation Manager - Suite 1.0 is required for this scenery
 
Documents
One extensive manual in English with notes (6 pages) but no charts
 
Manual_FSDG-Casablanca_XP.pdf _____________________________________________________________________
 
Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton
29th April 2020
Copyright©2020 : X-Plane Reviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)