Stephen

Freeware Release : Boeing 737-900ER Ultimate beta 0.2.0
 
After all the hype you are just simply over it all and glad this Boeing 737-900ER has been finally eleased if only in a beta form. This is not the place or time for a review because simply most areas of the aircraft are still blanked off and noted as a WIP (Work In Progress) and believe me there is still a lot of WIP going on.
 
This aircraft is based on the native X-Plane default Boeing 737-800, with the incorporated famous Zibo Mods. and in the points of the Zibo modifications the aircraft is very, very good.
 


 
My first opinion is to note the B739U is as an ongoing project more than a released completed aircraft, and there are a lot of great ideas and features in here, but it is a long way from any completion, unless the developer is hiding a lot of the other work that is still WIP.
 
Features released include:
Led lights full 3d interior custom cockpit textures  chart and checklist viewer integraded zibo support  
But "Some of the tablet features have been disabled to because of their noted W.I.P nature. " which really means still most items are still blank...  this release is more a framerate refinement than an aircraft beta, but my framerates were in the 50's, so no problems there.
 
There is a nice iPad style menu...  but only three menu options in Ground Handling, Door Operations and Cabin Lighting currently work, Checklists and Charts also work but you will have to add in your own documents.
 

 
Cabin is nice and well done, but more Low-Res than Hi-Res, and the cabin lighting is well...  interesting?
 

 
Yes the B739U is a beta, but also freeware... 
 
You can get the Boeing 737-900ER Ultimate beta 0.2.0 here: https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/43965-boeing-737-900er-ultimate-beta/
 
Other developer links are here :

ZIBO B738-800 modified
 
________________________________________
 
Stephen Dutton
11th April 2018
Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews
 

 

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
 

   

Yes I'm with you all the way on this, I am really, really disappointed there is no internal cargo option...  😢

Aircraft Review : 727 Series Pro V3 by FlyJSim
 
The release of FlyJSim's Boeing 737 TwinJet v3 Pro earlier this year was a landmark moment for X-Plane11. This outstanding aircraft was really the very first large scale aircraft to really use all the full features and elements of the X-Plane11 simulator. You would note that there was already aircraft in X-Plane to take note and use the XP11 features, but the FlyJSim B732 TwinJet was really the first to do so from the ground up and not be converted across to or from one simulator version to another, and that difference was very apparent.
 
The original aircraft here for X-Plane is not actually new, as FlyJSim released their initial Boeing 727 Series just days before Christmas back in 2012, that is now nearly eight years ago. So it was for it's time a very advanced and certainly in it's modeling it was a very high quality aircraft. In the mean time to date the aircraft has had numerous upgrades, including collecting the status of being a "Study" style aircraft and in that the B727 was then designated as a "Professional" or "Pro" Series in the v2 upgrade. The last upgrade was just to allow you to fly the B727 Series in X-Plane11 was just last in March 2017, it was fine, sort of... but in reality it was just a few performance tweaks to make the aircraft behave correctly with the very different X-Plane11 dynamics. I flew the aircraft a lot, but you felt it was not quite, quite there, then the B732 TwinJet X-Plane11 comparison then made the point that the Tri-Jet was now feeling it's age a little. So to here is now the full (and it flies only in the) X-plane11 upgrade that is designated as v3 (Version 3).
 
First of all let us get one major point across early. This Boeing 727 Pro v3 Series does not have a cabin installed like the B737 TwinJet did...  that item was noted very early on by FlyJSim and they have re-enforced the position that no cabin is forthcoming, well not in the anytime near or distant future. I personally found that item a bit of a head scratcher, because the Boeing 727 has the same barrel size (Fuselage) as the already completed B737? So a conversion, in details like the internal barrel, panels, doors, galley and seating are all in all exactly the same and just needed to be a little bit longer to fit the longer fuselage of the B727 compared to the B737? But I do acknowledge that it would have taken time to do all three versions to cover the full series here which includes the original B727-100 (short fuselage), B727-200 (most popular) and the B727-200 F (Freighter). As all are different and all would require three different internal layouts... and that is a lot of work.
 
Boeing 727 Series v3 Pro
From the very start there was these three versions of the Tri-Jet  in the B727-100, B727-200 and the B727-200 F, and in the v3 Pro Series all those same three aircraft variants are still part of this v3 package, but are now not sold as separate aircraft.
 
B727-100 Airliner short version
 

 
The 727 followed the 707 quad-jet airliner of with the same upper fuselage cross-section. The 727's fuselage has an outer diameter of 148 inches (3.8 m). This allows six-abreast seating (three per side) and a single aisle when 18 inches (46 cm) wide coach-class seats are installed. And could carry 149 passengers in one-class or 131 passengers in two-classes.
 
B727-200 Adv Airliner Long version
 

 
The stretched version of the 727-100 became the 727-200, which is 20 feet (6.1m) longer than the −100. A ten-foot (3-meter) fuselage section ("plug") was added in front of the wings and another ten-foot fuselage section was added behind them. The wing span and height remain the same on both the −100 and −200 (108 feet (33 m) and 34 feet (10m), respectively). The original 727-200 had the same max gross weight as the 727-100. The MTW became 184,800 lb (83,800 kg) but the range was decreased to 1,700 nmi (3,100 km).
 
At that short range the aircraft then evolved quickly as a series of higher gross weights and more powerful engines was introduced along with other improvements, and then from line number 881 727-200s where then dubbed −200 Advanced (Adv). The aircraft gross weight eventually increased from 169,000 to 209,500 pounds (76,700 to 95,000 kg) for the latest versions. The range increased slightly to 1,900 nmi (3,500 km) (Standard) but if you loaded the aircraft carefully you could get 2,600 nmi (4,800 km) (Optional) range with 189 passengers (one-class) and 145 passengers (two-class) with a higher Cargo capacity which was the same for the standard -200 version. Ceiling was increased to 42,000 ft (13,000 m). The first 727-200 flew on July 27, 1967 and received FAA certification on November 30, 1967. The first delivery was made on December 14, 1967 to Northeast Airlines. A total of 310 727-200s were delivered before giving way to the 727-200Adv in 1972.
 
B727-200F Freighter
 

 
A freighter version of the 727-200 Advanced became available in 1981 was designated the Series -200F Advanced and was powered by the Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17A engines. The F (Freighter) version featured a strengthened fuselage structure, with an 11 ft 2 inch by 7 ft 2 inch forward main deck freight door and a windowless cabin. This was the last production variant of the 727 to be developed by Boeing and 15 aircraft were built, and all for Federal Express. The last 727 aircraft to be completed by Boeing was the Series 200F Advanced for Federal Express in 1984. In all the total Boeing 727's built was 1,832.
 
Although only fifteen Freighters were actually built. Many Series -200Adv passenger versions were converted to -200F's. The 727 is one of the noisiest commercial jetliners in service and was categorized as Stage 2 by the U.S. Noise Control Act of 1972, which mandated the gradual introduction of quieter Stage 3 aircraft. Current regulations require that a 727 in commercial service must be retrofitted with a hush kit to reduce engine noise to Stage 3 levels. All current flying -200F's are stage 3 except for some flying in parts of Africa.
 
Other versions of the B727 were C's for convertible - passenger/cargo version. The C had an additional freight door and strengthened floor and floor beams, with three alternate fits:
 
    94 mixed-class passengers
    52 mixed-class passengers and four cargo pallets (22,700 lb, 10,297 kg)
    Eight cargo pallets (38,000 lb, 17,237 kg)
 
Detail
Even the earlier converted X-Plane10/11 727 version looked great in X-Plane11, but that version still used the original textures and older lighting dynamics. The new 727 v3 textures and developed X-Plane11 dynamics are a world away from the older versions, for one the scale is far bigger at 4096x4096, and printed out together in their real size they would cover the wall like with a large Beastie Boy poster. So certainly with that large a scale you are going to get really excellent detail and quality, but they also going to tax out your graphic power as well. I found I had to drop my texture resolution a notch to "High" to accommodate them, but the scale is so large that you lose nothing in the quality of the detail (you might lose slight detail with your airport scenery or A.I. traffic), but these big scale textures are the normal now.
 

 

 
As with the earlier FJS B732 TwinJet the quality is now just astounding, jaw dropping...   as metal (in aluminium) is perfect with highly realistic reflections and are bringing in a realism that you could have only dreamed of when this aircraft was originally released, don't get me wrong the FJS B727 was always good in this area, but now it is levels again higher. Certainly the X-Plane11 dynamics do a lot of the work, but the right grading of metalness also now brings out the shear realism.
 

 
Boeing standard rivets are perfect and would pass the inspection. Engine inlets and external details of the T8D-15A engines are excellent.
 

 
Exhaust outlets are highly realistic and detailed, and inner Cam-Shell thrust reversers work as required, and it is superb detailing. The series comes with different engines for different variants as with the JT8D-9 for the 727-100, JT8D-15 for the 727-200 and the JT8D-17 for the 727-200F.
 

 
Cockpit glass is excellent with that rainbow effect that shows off the depth and strength of the glass. Side cabin glass is fake, and it is noticeable compared to the excellent B732 TwinJet cabin windows, as you lose all those reflections, the depth and the inner cabin detail.
 

 
Wing detail is better with the higher grade textures, but overall all the detail here is all carried over from the original version.
 

 
The animations of the complex systems are still one of the best in X-Plane, as the Boeing 727 flap system it is very complicated to allow the aircraft to land at very low speeds (130knts!). There are leading-edge devices (Krueger, or hinged, flaps on the inner wing and the extendable leading edge slats out to the wingtip) and trailing-edge lift enhancement equipment (triple-slotted, aft-moving flaps) are in a 0º, 2º, 5º, 15º, 20º, 25º, 30º and 40º selections, but the 40º is rarely used. They also create a lot of if a huge amount of drag.
 
Landing gear is also carried over, but it was excellent in the first place, again the higher graded textures bring out more of the detailing, and in flight the animations of retraction and extraction are again first rate. It is surprising on how low actually the Boeing 727 sits close to the ground.
 
8
 
FlyJSim was always one of the best modelers in X-Plane, and the aircraft has lost none of that experience and quality in the upgrade, in fact everything is and feels more highly evolved, and in most areas have been touched upon and the quality has been enhanced.
 
Menus
The menu arrangement is upgraded to the same layout and system as on the Boeing 737 v3 TwinJet...  the only difference is the missing "Doors" panel. FlyJSim pioneered originally some of the best menu ideas in X-Plane like with their Vcard, Weights & Balance menus. This layout is now the new standard throughout all of FJS aircraft and replaces the older layout.
 
There are five panels accessed by the pop-up tabs on the left side of your screen. The five panels consist of  : Vcard, Weights & Balance, Options, Maintenance System and Pilot notes (Checklist)
 

 
Vcard and Weights & Balance
The Vcard works in association with the Weights & Balance manager and so we will look at them together.
 

 
The Vcard is your Vspeeds for takeoff and landing. These selections are reflected in the way you load the aircraft via the Weights & Balance panel. The Weights & Balance is powerful but a very easy way to set up the aircraft with fuel, passengers and cargo and it notes the aircraft CoG (centre of Gravity) of MAC (Mean Aerodynamic Chord). Most functions given are to load the aircraft in three options with F - Full. E - Empty and R - Random, of course you can add or subtract passengers and cargo via the blue containers or set the exact fuel required. The Red items denotes aircraft over weight or warnings.
The aim is of course to create the best balance on the aircraft to make it fly easier, the wrong settings on this aircraft can make it a very big handful of trouble.
 
Options
The options panel allows you to select certain general options for the aircraft.
 
On the panel you can :
Select the aircraft's time to be local or zulu...  the note system (arrowed) on the bottom of your screen will also tell you the various operations and tips for using the aircraft  

 
Have the Co-Pilot call out vSpeed's for you or not. Yokes (below) can be visible or not.   

 
Weights can be in Pounds or Kilograms Weights & Balance, Enabled or Disabled - This will disconnect the Weights & Balance system for the use of FSE compatibility Cockpit Windows can be Dirty or Clean (can be seen later in the review)  TCAS VSI  
A new feature in the v3 is the TCAS VSI (Vertical Speed Instrument). This instrument is a dual digital instrument that combines the TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) display and the Vertical Speed Instrument. This option allows you to have the new instrument or switch back to the older original VSI. The TCAS has full integration into the VSI including full TA/RA.
 

 
There is the option to turn on the Ground Power Cart and Engine Start cart. The power can be selected on the upper Engineer's Panel and is registered power on, on the DC Dials...
 

 
...   but there are no physical carts sitting outside the aircraft, which is disappointing considering the overall detail and quality of the aircraft? To get around the missing items I use the JARDesign Ground Handling Deluxe (GHD) plugin (US$14.95) that will provide the power cart and other aircraft service vehicles as shown above.
 
Field of View, Exterior and Interior Sounds can all be adjusted.
 
You can have three settings of options for the FMC (Flight Management Computer) and first is the clear empty blank panel...
 

 
Second option is the for the Delco Carousel IV-A Inertial Navigation System. Nicknamed "CIVA", CIVA Navigation System which is purchased as an add-on for $US10.00 and it is a basic navigation system that can give automatic navigation of up to 9 waypoints. (you can load X-Plane .fms plans) and it can also be used in the FlyJSim B737 as well as any other other aircraft of that 60's/70's era.
It is well worth the additional cost. (note the CIVA plugin is loaded into the "Aircraft's" Plugin folder and not the X-Plane/Resources/Plugin folder...  and you need to load it separately into each aircraft variant). NOTE. To use the CIVA in X-Plane11.20 or higher you will need to use the recently updated version v1.31, any earlier X-Plane version or X-Plane10 will still require the v1.20.
 

 
Third option is the native X-Plane FMC. The X-FMC option has been dropped, which I think is disappointing as the X-FMC is far more powerful than the native basic version as was in the earlier v2 Boeing 727 which I find a little bland and not as versatile. At least you get the pop-out feature.
 
Maintenance System 
The aircraft comes with a built in Maintenance System that covers the Airframe, both engines and the APU. If you have used the FJS Maintenance System before you will know it is quite unforgiving and all repairs can only be done on the ground, but it is highly realistic. But if you can't handle the surprises then turn the system off.
 

 
Pilot Notes
This is in reference a checklist...  or setup helper in both ways to get through the myriad of switches and systems. Easy to use and scalable...   You can also create your own notes and then add them into the book...   it comes with a max of 32 pages, which is very helpful and professional.
 

 
Cockpit Overview
It is hard to imagine that this cockpit design is now six years or more old. So brilliant it was in the first place. But that is only really half the story, as yet over the years the cockpit has also changed quite significantly with more and more active systems being added in and more design items have also been included, as the original OverHead Panel (OHP) if you remember was actually quite blanked out and very empty compared to the comprehensive OHP version in this Boeing 727.
 


 
One of the very best cockpits in X-Plane? as that point is always debatable, but certainly in a clockwork environment then the answer here is yes. As noted the aircraft went to a "Study" level in v2, but I felt compared to other study level aircraft this B727 just finely and slightly missed the mark, but here and now in this v3 then does this B727 now come up certainly to that required level of Pro skill. And so the question is to be put forth in the point "is the FJS B727 now a full Professional aircraft" The title notes that "Pro" moniker of course, but sometimes that title can be shall we say exaggerated a little bit to create sales.
 
But not here, the one thing that really strikes you with this v3 B727 like the with the companion FJS B732 TwinJet is the true completeness of the aircraft, a single whole in feel, as systems wise this B727 was always a complicated aircraft, as it should be to reflect the 60's era design. But "Study" is now the point in question, remember you are doing the flying in this aircraft for three people?, The Pilot, First Officer and the Flight Engineer on the rear right panel, and that is a lot of workload, and a lot of systems to understand, so yes now the "Study" aspect is heightened certainly more to the fore than ever.
 
The cockpit could be called "simple - complicated" in that the era required a simple design but it looks complicated to the untrained eye.
 


 
All these flight panels are completely active, every switch, knob and dial all work and are connected to the realistic systems to fly the aircraft. Only a few panels on the rear bulkhead are active, like the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) panel and the fuel transfer panel, the rest are just perfectly matched images.
 

 
Setting the texture quality to the lower setting of "high" does make the images a little if slightly blurry, but not enough to make them a visible annoyance.
 
Detail is beyond glorious, and now with the X-Plane11 dynamic PBR effects to highlight more the pure 60's feel and environment.
 


 
You pay for quality and that uber detail....  well certainly you get your money's worth here, and more. Just the best of the best.
 
Cockpit Lighting
Cockpit lighting was improved in v2. And it was extremely good before, but is even more outstandingly brilliant now. You have that great collection of eleven dials and switches (four more dials and a dome switch are on the engineers station). Left and right flying instrument and centre engine instrument panels are all fully adjustable as is the OHP and the central throttle quadrant.
 
There is the choice of red or white cockpit illumination. This feature was on the v2, but just as a hidden colour, now in v3 you have the actual lighting domes on the ceiling for both the red and white illumination, the difference they make is excellent in lighting and also as a visual representation.
 

 
Add in two fully animated reading spotlights and your life in the dark does not get any better than this. Another v3 new lighting feature is the amazing fluorescent lighting, there is one light over the main instrument panel (below right)...
 

 
...  and the other fluorescent light is over the Engineers Station, turn either on and they flicker realistically and noisily as they  illuminate, just brilliant and perfection.
 

 
You can change (or play?) around with the huge range of various lighting conditions that can satisfy even the most dissenting pilot for low lighting judgement conditions, but remember to fly the aircraft as you can become seriously distracted with all this extensive lighting knob tuning.
  
Main Panel & Instruments
The 727 cockpit is very different in that it is all gauges and dials (known as a "Clockwork Cockpit). There are no glass screens or menu driven tabs in here. There is also a third person to help you handle out with the aircraft systems as well with the Flight Engineer (FE) who is situated sitting rotated 90º behind the First Officer. His panel is bigger than the main panel and in today's modern aircraft as then most of his systems have been transferred over to the Overhead Panel (OHP).
 

 
The instruments are all the basics that are required for flying. The Standard Six - Artificial Horizon (sometimes known as the attitude indicator) with built in turn indicator, Heading, Compass, Vertical Speed (both versions), Altimeter and Speed (in knots and Mach speed, added to the SS is the back up instruments of Artificial Horizon, Altitude, Radio Altitude, Clock and (outside) air-temperature, the DME 2 - NAV 2 (distance - in Miles) are also situated lower down.
The First Officer's set of instruments is very similar except they have a TAS (True AirSpeed) dial and DME 1 - NAV 1 (distance - in Miles). The landing gear lever is also on the right side of the panel.  The Flap indicators are here as well for Outbound and Inbound flaps (0º, 2º, 5º, 15º, 20º, 25º, 30º and 40º settings) dials. Lower down are the dials for Pneumatic Brake Pressure and hydraulic Brake Pressure.
 

 
The center of the panel is dominated by the sets of three engine dials covering "Pressure Ratio (RPM), N1, EXH (Exhaust) Temp, N2 (RPM) and Fuel flow to each engine. To the left is the there items of the Altitude select panel, Total Air Pressure and upper and lower rudder trim pointers.
 
The detailing of these dials is breathtaking and simply eye-widening in operation and in fact the whole panel is exquisite in detail and great design from FlyJSim. I doubt you will never get a better 60's cockpit like this. Step out of a General Aviation aircraft and into this B727 and you would feel more at home than a current line pilot would in the way you interact with the instruments.
 

 
The three red fire handles are on the top of the glare shield that twist and fire for each engine and the fire system can be tested. Left is the Flight Director (FD).
The full flight director system is worked together with the authentic Sperry SP-150 Block V autopilot that is situated in the middle of the throttle pedestal. The autopilot system is quite basic, and it does not pop-up either, so you have to set a point of view that where you can see the autopilot and the vertical speed Instrument at the same time, it is slightly awkward but you do get used to it. For a large airliner it is quite rudimentary. In fact your GA has probably a far more powerful AP than the Boeing 727. The AP may be rudimentary, but it is still highly effective in its simplicity.
 

 
Radio Panel is also very authentic to the period. The frequency is set and then you just flip a switch over to activate the frequency that you require in all settings from COMM, VOR 1 and 2 and NDB (ADF or Automatic Direction Finder here). Below the radio are the large Rudder and Aileron "Trim" knobs.
 
New to v3 is a fully operating WRX weather radar. which has accurate cloud reflectivity, full simulation of energy dissipation and signal attenuation and simulation or radar returns and terrain interference. You can also tune the gain and tilt to scan through the cloud layers appropriately for your position in fight.
 

 
The differences with the Overhead Panel are highlighted here with the original (left) and the v3 (right). One thing to note is that the aircraft's manipulators are new and clever. They come in two forms in half-moon for each side movement and a circle to drag (and turn) in the centre, and the ease that you can adjust knobs and switchgear is excellent and fast. There is a full Anti-Ice panel and Window heat, engine start and full external and internal lighting switchgear that are all now active on the OHP.
 

 
One feature has however been deleted from the last version and now the same as the FJS B732 TwinJet is the is the pushback truck. FJS recommends now to use the BetterPushBack Truck as the alternative. The aircraft has been tuned so the BetterPushback works perfectly with the B727, and the same feature is also available in that if you press on the OHP the "Ground Call Button" on the OHP the BetterPushBack truck will answer your call.... great.
 
Flight Engineer's station is quite simply perfection...
 

 
...   and it is quite complicated to use as all the major systems in : Electrical, Pressurization, Air-Conditioning, Oxygen, Air-Bleed, Heating, Fuel system, Hydraulics are all active in use and operation, yes you need to study the systems in depth to understand them all and the provided manual is a good place to start in explaining the systems, but in not confounding you in too much jargon...  it is called a "study" aircraft for a reason.
 
Flying the Tri-Jet v3
The flight today is from EDDL (Düsseldorf) to ESSA (Stockholm - Arlanda). I set my passenger and cargo loads to a ZFW of 126030lbs and a fuel load of 25710lbs for a total of 151740lbs GW, and I selected the native X-Plane FMC and I used the standard .fms file but adjusted the Departure (RWY 05R-Meve3T) and Arrival (RWY 01L - NiLU1J) routes to match the SimBrief routing.
 

 
The rear stairs do work (sort of) but the view inside is quite weird with no internals? use the (shift) F1 key to raise or lower the stairs.
 
You can start the aircraft with the provided GPU and Engine Start cart, but I started up the APU on board to make my departure quicker. It takes about a minute to power up and settle.
The checklist is quite comprehensive and there is a lot of items to check off and test. The passengers are boarded and we are ready to start the engines. So first it is...  Window Heat "on" (OHP) and Beacons "on" (OHP).
 

 
On the FE Panel right down low you turn on the hydraulics and then the eight boost fuel pump switches on the fuel panel. High right is the Air-Conditioning panel, but right now we are only concerned with the "APU Bleed" switches (magenta arrows) to start the engines. So the Air-Con (A/C) packs (green arrows) must be off and with the bleed switches open and then the PSI will show on the dial. As noted you know the APU is pushing power to the aircraft by the AC (centre) dials (It will show the same power output on the APU panel as well).
 
The three engine start switches are on the very top position on the OHP and are covered by black covers, flip each one open and the inner switch can go into two settings "Flight" and "Ground". Here we are starting on the ground so you would use "Ground" selection as the other setting is for restarting the engine in the air (Flight).
 

 
Clicking the switch down on number 3 engine (Start sequence is 3, 2 (center) and 1) and the dial will start to move in the n2 gauge, when it reaches 17-20% you introduce the fuel by flipping up the "flow/cutoff valve" up.
 

 
From here on the engine will power up to full idle and you can now start the other engines in sequence. The start up sequence still has that "oh wow" factor even after all this time, watching the dials turn and work, then settle down is highly realistic.
When done you can switch on the electrical power from all the three engines and close down the APU (before flight). In it is now not requiring the "Bleed" function, then you can set your Air-Con A/C packs to provide bleed to the aircraft's pressure and cooling systems. Easy to do? yes after a few run throughs it does actually get easier. In knowing what dial or switch does what easily helps you find your way around. The trick is understanding the bleed and A/C packs and that the required pressure is correct in starting the engines.
 
The sound of a Boeing 727 in idle is that loud whining squealing noise that was so familiar only a few years ago. The FlyJSim sounds are extremely good...  Noisy, but good. And they get better.
 
But I have a AC generator failure on Engine no.3...  damn? It shows if I turn the switch to Gen 3 and the low power is shown on the no 3 Bus Tie. So I now have two choices, fly with the fault (yes you can) or fix it now by shutting down almost every thing including the GPU and doing the required maintenance. I choose the latter, fix it now and so you don't have to worry about a broken generator all the way to Sweden.
 

 
All restarted and we are finally ready to go....    As I am sitting on a remote stand, and so I don't need the BetterPushBack option. The B727 needs a bit of thrust to get moving but once it does, then you can pull the thrust back a bit...
 

 
At the RWY 05R hold point there a few items to checklist... Flaps at 5º, Getting the right flap setting is crucial between lift and drag...  There is a hidden active area (arrowed) in the green area to set your current takeoff trim, this is one action you must not miss...  unless you want to end up a crash statistic.
 

 
Use the Vcard to your Vspeeds (bugs) for takeoff, i also usually note them down and add 10+  to the v2 rotate. Power up and keep the power around 90% rpm, no need to go to absolute full throttle, and if you do you will regret it. Takeoff roll start is slow, but you build speed very quickly and you need some forward yoke to keep the nosewheel on the ground until the rotate point.
 

 

 

 
Rotate at v2 is here around 150knts. The B727 may look dramatic, but in reality you have to fly it with skill. On rotate you keep the pitch at around only 5º-8º until the aircraft actually drags itself into the air and then has some space under the wheels before then gaining pitch to a more 15º or 2000fpm. You have a rear skid under the rear in case you mess it up, but that would be a sign of a poor pilot if you scratched it?...  The aircraft handles very smoothly under the climb and you can hold the pitch perfectly. The aircraft does have pitch hold system if you require it.
 

 

 
The aircraft is very hands on, you are working very hard in there and you have to be very disciplined in your actions, and procedures.
 

 
Aircraft handling is very, very good. FlyJSim were always the masters of getting a lot of feel into their aircraft...  but now there is the added dimension of the X-Plane11 dynamics and performance. Compared to the v2 the B727 it does feel different, depending on your overall weight. So your focus is on really flying the aircraft via throttle control and with the balance of the controls, and to be honest your whole focus at this stage of the flight is just on doing all that, and even a simple thing like turning off the wing lighting and the passenger signs are usually left far later than you would usually do... Flap retraction for 5º is 189 knts, 2º 190 knts and all in just below 200 knts.
You have to maintain your vigilance and focus on your "Press (pressure) Ratio". Go above the marker at 19 and nasty things can start to happen. The B727 does not have any engine management systems, so you (the pilots) are responsible in keeping the engines within their operating limits. push those JT8D engines too far and they will burn out...  or you will be pulling fire handles.
 

 
You work with "aims". I set up to aim for a certain speed and altitude and more importantly aim for a certain position...   or waypoint. Once there you can activate the Sperry Autopilot to take over a lot of the workload, but have to know or set every thing up in advance to make sure you know in what direction you have to go (with the course needle), where you need to be when you get there. So following a set of headings to the flight-plan markers will help...
 

 
...  as you simply you don't have any helpers in here, as there is no Navigation/Map display? the WRX says map, but it is only for the weather aspect, so you have absolutely no idea of where you are unless you plan it out before hand...  a bigger trick is locking into your FMS flightplan, because you can't see it or even know where it actually is? the earlier X-FMC option had a built in route map pop-up, but you now don't have that feature available in here.
 
Most departure SID's usually have a VOR point as their exit from the controlled airspace zone. Here in my case it is MEVEL, on track to the OSNABRUCK (114.30 OSN) VOR dial, so I set my VOR pointer to lock into and fly that radial that will take me to OSN via MEVEL, once close to MEVEL I do a "Direct-To" to lock in the flightplan and activate the waypoint as my next position on the flightplan...  as you can guess you have to work all this out before departure, so the procedure goes as smoothly as you can execute it, so you will need your charts, heading numbers and distances to make it all work, or you can cheat and use the built in X-Plane local map, but you don't do that... do you?
 

 
These 60's jets are fast, really fast...  the B727 will cruise easily at m8.5 or if you want to even at m8.6, so you have to keep a sharp eye on the speed and adjust the throttles to keep the aircraft from going over it's limiter (warning), as at the same time to adjust the throttles for the lighter fuel load as you cover the ground speed rather quickly. There is not of a lot of automation in the B727 cockpit, so you have to take the notes and do the adjustments. range in the -200 adv is quite limited at 1,900 nmi (3,500 km), both the -100 and the Freighter have far more range at 2,250 nmi (4,170 km). Of course there is also the differences again with the different versions of the JT8D engines installed in each variant with each individual performance tuned to that type of engine.
 
Now and again you can look out of the windows at that incredible view.
 

 
There is the option to clean the aircraft's windows, but the "clean" option is that the window surrounds are darker than with the "dirty" option?
 

 
The exceptional original wide range of sounds are still here, but the DreamEngine that has been on the aircraft since 2012 has been removed for the now standard native FMOD engine... like I noted, nothing really has been lost and in fact I found a more sonic change in moving around the cockpit (more realism) and the full 180º range around the external aircraft as well, and even down to the detail of the buzz of the fluorescent lights, and the APU is quite loud.
 
Arlanda
The trickiest part is getting the B727 down into the lower speed zones, the different markings on the Speed dial do show you where you can use which flap setting and when. But getting the aircraft down under the initial 200knt zone without putting your nose high is a bit of a skill, worse is that the initial 2º are just the forward edge flaps and not the nose leveling rear, so you need to get your speed down to the 15º flap to have that flap speed control, and it is not as easy as it looks. I have got to know the aircraft very well over the years, but the X-Plane11 dynamics have created a whole new ball game in the way the aircraft flies and you are having to relearn a lot of the differences between the new and the old, like I have already mentioned in that the FJS aircraft are very finely tuned, and this newer XP11 version now lift's your game again into that higher skill range.
 

 
The Sperry Autopilot is very accurately modeled including the manual glideslope with intercept mode and altitude capture, which is available here with mode interlocks. Again even in auto mode or with your manual flying the pure thrust throttle control is highlighted on your approach slope...  you can see why older pilot's enjoy the purity of this era's aircraft, as your flying skills are highlighted.
 

 
One bonus is that your approach speed can be quite low, almost GA speeds. This was to help with landing at remote airstrips that isn't done with aircraft this size anymore. So 140knts and 25º flap can be used on arrival, and this gives you a great steady platform to get your landing correct. But the thrust is high compared to the speed to overcome the huge flap drag.
 

 

 
Final approach and 130 knts with 30º flap is about perfect, and it is a total feel thing... speed, thrust and handling, as it should be.
 
The aircraft does have both Autobraking and Flare, but you don't really need either, as for one your approach speed is quite low and you sorta automatically use your throttle and lower the speed once you are over the threshold and create your own perfect flair as the speed rubs off.
 

 
Like all rear-engined aircraft (MD-88) you need to watch the nosewheel doesn't get too high, it needs a firm hand to keep it under control and also keep tracking the aircraft directly. If you watch any videos of aircraft flying and landing like this you usually see some pretty violent yoke movements at these points to keep the aircraft steady.
 

 
Even though the engines are a fair way back from the cockpit...  the huge roar of the reverse-thrust is still highly noticeable, and it is brilliant if seen and heard externally...  a note is that these era aircraft Autopilot and Flight Director don't disengage on landing, you have to switch them both off manually.
 

 
Cleaning up the aircraft and taxiing to bay 38 is a doodle after all that, you certainly get a serious workout with these older aircraft. The B727 is fully VR (Virtual Reality) compatible for the very best immersive experience.
 
External Lighting
All external lighting is excellent. There are four landing lights, but the outer lights are covered by the forward leading-edge flaps if the flaps are retracted, front wheel strut taxi (moves), runway turnoff, wing/ice, navigation, strobe and beacons are all covered as is the logo light on the tail.
 

 
All lighting reflects on the ground including the strobes.
 
Liveries
All the original liveries are available, but that huge B727 collection that you built up over the years is now useless, as the paintkit has been changed to accommodate the larger scale files and quality. The painkit is already available for use, and so it won't be long before they will start reappearing again... FlyJSim have also created a site for these liveries to be hosted and can be downloaded here...  FlyJSim Liveries  the Painkit (1.04GB) is on the same page.
 
Provided liveries are:
727-100
American (N1996), United (N7001U), Eastern Airlines (N8102N)
 

 
727-200
Alaska Airlines (N294AS), FlyJSim v3 House Colours (N727FJ), Lufthansa (D-AFBI), Pan Am (N4737), PSA (N533PS)
 


 
727-200F
DHL (N741DH), FedEx (N466FE),Kelowna Flightcraft (C-GWKF)
 

 
Summary
To a point this review is preaching to the converted as this Boeing 727 Series from FlyJSim has been around since late 2012. Some of the basics are still here of that initial aircraft, but in reality this is a very different aircraft from that earlier aircraft in almost every way. Earlier updates mostly focused on systems including Electrical, Pressurization, Air-Conditioning, Oxygen, Air-Bleed, Heating, Fuel system, Hydraulics, Anti-Ice, and then the layout for both the FD-108 flight director that is fully independent from the Sperry SP-150 autopilot to bring it into the full "Study" paradigm. Even taken into account of the era of the aircraft it is at it's heart still very highly technical, if old school flying machine.
 
This v3 upgrade is more than simply making the B727 X-Plane11 compatible, as it has been totally revised in many areas, the details covered here are huge if only intimate in changes, it may not look so from the surface, but you know the difference when you fly it. Dynamically in texture quality and performance it is levels above the previous version and this is certainly in every way THE X-Plane11 version and delivers the overwhelming features that X-Plane11 has to offer, but that is also noticeable on your computer in the effect it has on your graphic power, a step up in all the sheer detail available here, this also means another step down in the way you have to absorb it. New v3 features include the custom weather radar modeling that simulates realistic cloud reflectivity, radar scanning, energy attenuation, and interference. and the full TCAS integration into a VSI instrument, including full TA/RA.
 
A few changes from the v2 with the removed X-FMC, which was better than the native FMC, and the older livery collection does not now work and the menu system is improved.
 
The release of FlyJSim's Boeing 737 TwinJet set the bar very, very high, to the point it could be even be one of the very best aircraft ever created for X-Plane. The Boeing 727 is overall a far more dramatic aircraft than the B737, and so the B727 Series should be even better again, but as the B737 was a totally complete airliner, then the B727 doesn't have it's cabin and rear internal features, including opening doors. But to compensate for that you do get in almost every area better and bigger systems and the best cockpit in X-Plane, but also the three different variants of the same aircraft.
 
FlyJSim is an exceptional developer, now not one but two of their aircraft with the release of the Boeing 727's v3 after the earlier Boeing 737 v3 TwinJet as they both sit at the top of the list or pile in their sheer dynamics and quality, both give you an extraordinary experience, but also come with the requirement that you have to study and fly them like a Pro or with the professional approach they both require, but at least you know you are getting your money's worth back with all that work you have to put in, and know in the knowledge that you have mastered and is flying the very best of the best old school airliners...  Highly Recommended
 
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
 
The 727 Series Pro V3 by FlyJSim is NOW available! from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

727 Series Professional V3
 
Your Price: $59.95   Currently the package is now for all three variants, the aircraft are now not sold separately.   The v3 upgrade is however not free but it is an pay upgrade and the deal is for those who bought the complete earlier 727 Series package can get this new aircraft package at 50% off the purchase price - Find your coupon code in your original 727 order.   Optional : The plugin for the CIVA Navigation System addon that costs US$10 is here: CIVA Navigation System   Features Study Level Systems and Dynamics
Designed with input and testing by former 727-200 pilots and mechanics.
 
FD-108 flight director that is fully independent from the autopilot.  All modes accurately modeled and with accurate mode interlocks and animation.
SP-150 autopilot accurately modeled including MAN G/S intercept mode and altitude capture. Accurate mode interlocks and animation.
Altitude alert system acquisition and deviation modes and flaps 30/40 cutout modeled.
Autobrake system modeled to match real world data
Fully custom weather radar modeling.  We now simulate realistic cloud reflectivity, radar scanning, energy attenuation, and interference.
Full TCAS integration into a VSI instrument, including full TA/RA. Compatible with the Pilotedge network.
Accurate simulation of  an APU, ground power, generator paralleling and sync lights system.
Every annunciator light is push to test.  Bulbs burn out, so be sure to spot the burnt out bulbs during preflight!
Independent and functional navigation and communication systems, including separate nav radios, adf radios, VHF radios and more.
Bleed systems and performance physically modeled, and respond to temperature, altitude, wear, and humidity.
Pressurization and environmental cabin control systems faithfully modeled. Get the packs on before loading passengers on a hot day, and watch the cabin temp cool as the sun sets. Auto, Standby, AC and DC manual modes all faithfully modeled. Aft cabin zone heating system is modeled.  Duct overheats and pack trips and resets are modeled.
FMC and CIVA units realistically coupled to pilot HSI for improved situational awareness
Fully custom hydraulic systems and electrical busses
Instrument Comparator
GPWS including test functionality
Warning systems
Fire protection systems   
Weather radar  
 
Extraordinary Exterior
Incredible textures.  Revamped textures show every rivet, crease, dent and oil stain on the exterior of our aircraft. Watch as light realistically reflects and reacts with every corner of this aircraft
Detailed animations.  All exterior control surfaces animated accurately to real world behavior and smoothly driven even in replay using our enhanced custom replay system. Accurately animated control surfaces, landing gear, flap deflections, and wing flex all help immerse you when piloting the aircraft.
Detailed lighting.  Lighting is based off real 727 data. Landing, taxi, taxi turnoff, strobe, beacon, navigation lights, wing and even logo lights have been faithfully modeled using the real angles and dimensions from real 727 documentation. 
 
 
Sound
They called it the whisperjet… but the sounds are anything but quiet. Continuing from the success of the 732 Twinjet, FlyJSim has developed an accurate and immersive FMOD sound pack, which provides a fully 3D positional experience.  Experience the realistic screech of a 727 JT8D engine at full power. You will hear every engine, switch, and greased trim wheel. Definitely an experience you will want to keep the headphones on for!
 
Comprehensive Menu System
Redesigned and unobtrusive menu that dynamically appears only when moused over    
Weight and Balance Manager provides detailed loading of passengers, cargo and fuel to accurately and dynamically shift the aircraft’s center of gravity (CG)  
V-card popup provides dynamic V-speeds for landing and takeoff including improved flap schedule calculations for user selected takeoff and landing flap config   
Additional customizable options menu to configure the plane and navigation systems
Checklist and notes provided in sime with a 32-page fully customizable window that includes checklists and an overview of the aircraft. Have something you need to reference in the flight? Add it into the notes page!
Our menu system is now 4K ready and can be easily scaled and moved to best suit your screen resolution
 
X-Plane VR compatible
For anyone who is as excited as we are for the technology, the FlyJSim 727 Series Professional is now fully compatible with X-Plane’s VR system. Now with custom and interactive manipulators, teleport hotspots and magnetic surfaces.
 
 
 
Requirements:
X-Plane 11.20+
Windows, Mac or Linux 4Gb+ VRAM Video card Current review version: 3.0 (August 10th 2018)   Installation :   Download file size is 1.4gb and is inserted into your X-Plane - Aircraft Folder. All Installed file sizes are 2.31gb
 
727_Series_Pro_V3_-200Adv_C2 (847.40mb) 727_Series_Pro_V3_-100_C2 (931mb) 727_Series_Pro_V3_-200F_C2 (708.20mb)  
Documents :  Four documents that cover almost everything you will need to fly the Boeing 727 Pro. The procedures manual is really well done.
 
1. FJS 727 Series Manual.pdf 2. FJS 727 Series Procedures.pdf 3. FJS 727 Series Manoeuvres.pdf 4. FJS 727 Series Systems.pdf  
FJS - 727 Series - Support forum
FJS - 727 Series - Developer Site
 
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
Review by Stephen Dutton  10th August 2018 Copyright©2018: X-PlaneReviews   (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)   Review System Specifications:
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.25
Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro v1.07 US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9  effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 : BetterPushBack - Free
Scenery or Aircraft
-EDDL- Airport Dusseldorf by Aerosoft (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$27.53 -ESSA- Stockholm Arlanda by tdg (X-Plane.org) - free
 

 

Yes I'm with you all the way on this, I am really, really disappointed there is no internal cargo option...  😢

Scenery Preview : PAKT - Ketchikan International Alaska by NorthernSkyStudio
 
If your brief was to create an International airport with limited space and on the side of a steep hill, then certainly PAKT - Ketchikan International Airport, Alaska would be the result. Unique as well with this position is as the airport is located on Gravina Island, just west of Ketchikan itself on the other side of the Tongass Narrows, and passengers must take a seven-minute ferry ride across the water to get to the airport from the town.
 
Around the World War II era until the early 1970s, longer range land plane air service to Ketchikan including flights to Seattle were operated via an old military airfield located approximately 20 air miles to the south on Annette Island. Aircraft operated into the Annette Island Airport (ANN) for flights in the local southeast Alaska area included the Grumman Goose and Catalina PBY with these amphibian aircraft being utilized to link the airport with the Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base.
 
The current airport PAKT was opened on August 4, 1973 and was dedicated on the following day. The airport opening was the culmination of an effort by local residents, a 1965 study by the Alaska State Division of Aviation, another study in 1967 choosing the current site on Gravina Island, and land clearing in 1969. One of the first airlines to serve the new airport was Alaska Airlines which inaugurated the first jet service from Seattle to Ketchikan International Airport on August 4, 1973 with a Boeing 720 jetliner. Alaska Air primarily operated Boeing 727-100, 727-200 and 737-200 jetliners (including 737 passenger/cargo Combi aircraft) into the airport before switching to later model Boeing 737 jets. (edited wikipedia).
 
NorthernSkyStudio
The first release in scenery for X-Plane by NorthernSkyStudio, was in Hawaii with their Molokai and Kalaupapa airport package. This was a well done package, but quite a small release that would be a great addition to anyone that need's a very good Hawaiian scenery. So here is their next release with the very complex PAKT - Ketchikan International in southern Alaska.
 
My main connection with PAKT - Ketchikan is that is a superb supply airport for CZST Stewart, and the excellent Beti-x scenery that is positioned close by there. So I have over the years toodled back and too to Stewart in mostly Bush, 208 Caravan and the odd GA aircraft from Ketchikan. But that is not using this scenery to anything but it's full potential. The airport is of course positioned central on the famous "Inside Passage" that consists of thousands of islands that are stretched right up the upper west North American continent from Seattle to Glacier Bay, and it is noted as one as THE very best flying areas in the world, for bush pilot and regional flying services.
 
Ketchiken is also on the famous "Milk Run”. The Milk Run are routes that are run daily by Alaska Airlines and Flight 65, starts in Seattle and stops in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg and Juneau before flying on and landing in Anchorage. The opposite route flight, Flight 66, starts in Anchorage and stops in Cordova, Yakutat and Juneau before flying on to Seattle. There used to be B737 Combi aircraft flying on the route, but the last run was completed last year, and the combi's have now all been replaced by three dedicated 737-700 freighters.
 
Ketchikan International Airport
    IATA: KTN - ICAO: PAKT - FAA LID: KTN
 
11/29 - 7,500ft (2,286m) Asphalt
Elevation AMSL 92 ft / 28 m
 

 

 
The airport does have a very unique layout with the main runway of which is located about 30 feet (9.1 m) higher than the apron further on up the hillside, and is connected between the two areas by two sloping taxiways in Taxiway A - RWY 29 and Taxiway B - Rwy 11 for departures.
 

 

 
From an X-Plane modeling point of view this multi-elevation layout is extremely hard to get right as you can't rely on the initial mesh layouts, so everything has to be modeled to fit. Get it right, like here at this PAKT and it makes for one of the best arrival experiences in X-Plane.
 

 
To fit aircraft parking areas on a hillside, it requires different parking zones and there are two (another zone looks like a parking area on TWY A but it is large turning or holding area.). The lower, lower zone (above) accessed by TWY C is for all General Aviation parking and it is quite a large area. The upper apron in front of the terminal is the main commercial zone.
 

 
If International in the broad sense is the general idea, then PAKT is not in the same capability as say like KDEN - Denver or KLAX - Los Angeles. To put that into context it is to say international here is going from the USA into Canada, not to Japan or Europe. So in that context you have one (yes only one) airbridge and only one large stand or two large (B737/A320) parking slots.
 
The (small) international terminal and it's very striking offset control tower is excellent, really well done with even the local carving set out around the building for authenticity, all the areas around the terminal are also very authentic and highly realistic...
 

 
....   including the ferry connection ramp system landside, which is highly detailed. The Ferry itself "Ken Eichner -2" is also animated and docks on both sides of the Tongass Narrows waterway. On the airport side it perfectly fits into the wharf. Only comment is that the single airbridge is static and not animated, which is a shame as that would have been a big feature for the scenery.
 

 
Next to the main apron is a commercial apron for local services, in i.e. charter, sightseeing flights, and island hopping. On the apron are four large hangars of which the first "Aero Services" of who is the cargo handler for the airport. All four hangars have been faithfully reconstructed and are simply excellent.
 

 
Note the excellent grass and foliage, that is done all around here very well. Ground clutter is again excellent, with correctly branded and shaped custom cargo pallets (called cargo Igloos!), ramp aircraft boarding stands and branded baggage trolleys. Static aircraft are also provided with 208 Caravans and Lear Jets and are all also correctly locally branded.
 

 
Detail is also really well done. With all the correct fencing and airport aids (including the ILS System).
 


 
Seaplane base is also highly detailed, beautifully done. There is also a tunnel under the runway, a small thing but again great detail.
 

 
Textures and surfaces are good, but feel a little light in colour and especially with the runway and taxiway A, which both needed to be both slightly darker, and note the excellent steel drainage grids. The odd looking light green colour surrounding the runway and taxiway areas is actually correct, and not a faded poor texture as it must be a coloured concrete mix (I checked).
 
Port of Ketchikan
Where as the airport island scenery is excellent, the port area on the other side of the narrows is a mixed bag. The area looks fine from the airport view point, but I feel the issue here is the underlay ortho textures in being far too light (washed out) in colour. The textures are flat around the wharf edges and level with the water and that creates a non-realistic feel?
 

 
Worse there are a few important buildings missing that in their distinctive style and roof colour looked poor in being flat, and are as well front and centre visually... overall there is that "okay we will stop there, why bother doing any more" sort of feeling. And missing is all the shipping at both here at the port zone and in downtown Ketchikan (cruise shipping) as well and because they would be noticed from the airport on arrival or departure it makes it all look again rather more empty than it needs to be ...
 

 
...  there is a huge slipway building, but I can't find the same on any maps? but it looks visually very good. The sailboats don't work either?
 

 
They are all a bit bright and samey... I'm not expecting every one to be different, but a few changed styles would have made it that all the more realistic.
 
Lighting
The lighting overall at PAKT is excellent...  Approach lighting is fine.
 


 
The signage though looks totally out of scale...
 

 
...  the sign looks as big as a Cessna 152? The colour brightness reflection is far to strong as well and not realistic. A shame because the terminal building and ramp lighting is absolutely first rate.
 

 
So many developers get night lighting textures so wrong? but here they are perfect and highly realistic. Detail lighting including the excellent down lights are very well done...
 


 
Ketchikan Port side is more simplistic, but fine and still includes nice lighting window textures, so the lighting is very good all over the scenery.
 
WT3: WorldTraffic GroundRoutes are provided with the scenery, and over all they work very well including the hard situation of a taxi and turnaround on the end of RWY 29. But don't expect a lot of traffic here at PAKT as it is pretty quiet operations wise.
 
Preview Notes
I was actually pretty surprised by this PAKT - Ketchikan International Alaska by NorthernSkyStudio as it is really very good, even excellent. Quality and detail is very through and there is a lot in this scenery to consider it's worth. And plus Ketchikan as in it's position is a pretty important airport for not only recreating the "Milk Run", but for a base to cover and explore this excellent "Inside Passage" area, as it is a bush pilot, and regional service supreme flying area.
There is a lot of excellent work in here, and to say that NorthernSkyStudio is a developer to watch in delivering quality scenery, but there is the odd fumble in here that needs to be watched, but overall from them this is an excellent release.
 
Positives: Great modeling with a very difficult X-Plane terrain (mesh) to recreate. All airport scenery is absolutely top notch, and night lighting is first rate, detail is excellent with the terminal and ferry ramp and ground clutter is branded and well recreated in detail.
Negatives: Ketchikan Port feels like a bit of a left over from the main airport scenery, and feels a little half finished, no shipping is a big visual emptiness that shouldn't be? Signage is out of scale to the airport, looks odd at night and the single airbridge is only static.
 
____________________________________________________________________
 

 
Yes!...  PAKT - Ketchikan International Alaska by NorthernSkyStudio is Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :
 
PAKT - Ketchikan International Alaska
 
Price is US$25.00
 
Requirements :
X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 2Gb VRAM Minimum - 4Gb+ VRAM Recommended Current Review version : 1.0 (August 6th 2018) Download Size: 1gb : Install Size 2.29gb   Installation is the airport folder must be set above the "terrain" mesh in the .INI order   PAKT_Northern_Sky_Studio (2.25gb)
PAKT_Terrain_Northern_Sky_Studio (35.80mb)
 
There is optional 2K textures if you run a lower powered computer, but to be honest they are not really needed as there is really nothing around PAKT to overuse your processors, running 4K textures my framerate was well within the 40's to 50's
  Extras and Documents: Manual in txt   PAKT Installation manual ______________________________________________________________________
 
Preview by Stephen Dutton
13th August 2018
Copyright©2018 : 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 - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.25r2
Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 : BetterPushBack - Free
Scenery or Aircraft
- Boeing 737-800 - Default X-plane by Laminar Research  
 

Scenery Preview : PAKT - Ketchikan International Alaska by NorthernSkyStudio
 
If your brief was to create an International airport with limited space and on the side of a steep hill, then certainly PAKT - Ketchikan International Airport, Alaska would be the result. Unique as well with this position is as the airport is located on Gravina Island, just west of Ketchikan itself on the other side of the Tongass Narrows, and passengers must take a seven-minute ferry ride across the water to get to the airport from the town.
 
Around the World War II era until the early 1970s, longer range land plane air service to Ketchikan including flights to Seattle were operated via an old military airfield located approximately 20 air miles to the south on Annette Island. Aircraft operated into the Annette Island Airport (ANN) for flights in the local southeast Alaska area included the Grumman Goose and Catalina PBY with these amphibian aircraft being utilized to link the airport with the Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base.
 
The current airport PAKT was opened on August 4, 1973 and was dedicated on the following day. The airport opening was the culmination of an effort by local residents, a 1965 study by the Alaska State Division of Aviation, another study in 1967 choosing the current site on Gravina Island, and land clearing in 1969. One of the first airlines to serve the new airport was Alaska Airlines which inaugurated the first jet service from Seattle to Ketchikan International Airport on August 4, 1973 with a Boeing 720 jetliner. Alaska Air primarily operated Boeing 727-100, 727-200 and 737-200 jetliners (including 737 passenger/cargo Combi aircraft) into the airport before switching to later model Boeing 737 jets. (edited wikipedia).
 
NorthernSkyStudio
The first release in scenery for X-Plane by NorthernSkyStudio, was in Hawaii with their Molokai and Kalaupapa airport package. This was a well done package, but quite a small release that would be a great addition to anyone that need's a very good Hawaiian scenery. So here is their next release with the very complex PAKT - Ketchikan International in southern Alaska.
 
My main connection with PAKT - Ketchikan is that is a superb supply airport for CZST Stewart, and the excellent Beti-x scenery that is positioned close by there. So I have over the years toodled back and too to Stewart in mostly Bush, 208 Caravan and the odd GA aircraft from Ketchikan. But that is not using this scenery to anything but it's full potential. The airport is of course positioned central on the famous "Inside Passage" that consists of thousands of islands that are stretched right up the upper west North American continent from Seattle to Glacier Bay, and it is noted as one as THE very best flying areas in the world, for bush pilot and regional flying services.
 
Ketchiken is also on the famous "Milk Run”. The Milk Run are routes that are run daily by Alaska Airlines and Flight 65, starts in Seattle and stops in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg and Juneau before flying on and landing in Anchorage. The opposite route flight, Flight 66, starts in Anchorage and stops in Cordova, Yakutat and Juneau before flying on to Seattle. There used to be B737 Combi aircraft flying on the route, but the last run was completed last year, and the combi's have now all been replaced by three dedicated 737-700 freighters.
 
Ketchikan International Airport
    IATA: KTN - ICAO: PAKT - FAA LID: KTN
 
11/29 - 7,500ft (2,286m) Asphalt
Elevation AMSL 92 ft / 28 m
 

 

 
The airport does have a very unique layout with the main runway of which is located about 30 feet (9.1 m) higher than the apron further on up the hillside, and is connected between the two areas by two sloping taxiways in Taxiway A - RWY 29 and Taxiway B - Rwy 11 for departures.
 

 

 
From an X-Plane modeling point of view this multi-elevation layout is extremely hard to get right as you can't rely on the initial mesh layouts, so everything has to be modeled to fit. Get it right, like here at this PAKT and it makes for one of the best arrival experiences in X-Plane.
 

 
To fit aircraft parking areas on a hillside, it requires different parking zones and there are two (another zone looks like a parking area on TWY A but it is large turning or holding area.). The lower, lower zone (above) accessed by TWY C is for all General Aviation parking and it is quite a large area. The upper apron in front of the terminal is the main commercial zone.
 

 
If International in the broad sense is the general idea, then PAKT is not in the same capability as say like KDEN - Denver or KLAX - Los Angeles. To put that into context it is to say international here is going from the USA into Canada, not to Japan or Europe. So in that context you have one (yes only one) airbridge and only one large stand or two large (B737/A320) parking slots.
 
The (small) international terminal and it's very striking offset control tower is excellent, really well done with even the local carving set out around the building for authenticity, all the areas around the terminal are also very authentic and highly realistic...
 

 
....   including the ferry connection ramp system landside, which is highly detailed. The Ferry itself "Ken Eichner -2" is also animated and docks on both sides of the Tongass Narrows waterway. On the airport side it perfectly fits into the wharf. Only comment is that the single airbridge is static and not animated, which is a shame as that would have been a big feature for the scenery.
 

 
Next to the main apron is a commercial apron for local services, in i.e. charter, sightseeing flights, and island hopping. On the apron are four large hangars of which the first "Aero Services" of who is the cargo handler for the airport. All four hangars have been faithfully reconstructed and are simply excellent.
 

 
Note the excellent grass and foliage, that is done all around here very well. Ground clutter is again excellent, with correctly branded and shaped custom cargo pallets (called cargo Igloos!), ramp aircraft boarding stands and branded baggage trolleys. Static aircraft are also provided with 208 Caravans and Lear Jets and are all also correctly locally branded.
 

 
Detail is also really well done. With all the correct fencing and airport aids (including the ILS System).
 


 
Seaplane base is also highly detailed, beautifully done. There is also a tunnel under the runway, a small thing but again great detail.
 

 
Textures and surfaces are good, but feel a little light in colour and especially with the runway and taxiway A, which both needed to be both slightly darker, and note the excellent steel drainage grids. The odd looking light green colour surrounding the runway and taxiway areas is actually correct, and not a faded poor texture as it must be a coloured concrete mix (I checked).
 
Port of Ketchikan
Where as the airport island scenery is excellent, the port area on the other side of the narrows is a mixed bag. The area looks fine from the airport view point, but I feel the issue here is the underlay ortho textures in being far too light (washed out) in colour. The textures are flat around the wharf edges and level with the water and that creates a non-realistic feel?
 

 
Worse there are a few important buildings missing that in their distinctive style and roof colour looked poor in being flat, and are as well front and centre visually... overall there is that "okay we will stop there, why bother doing any more" sort of feeling. And missing is all the shipping at both here at the port zone and in downtown Ketchikan (cruise shipping) as well and because they would be noticed from the airport on arrival or departure it makes it all look again rather more empty than it needs to be ...
 

 
...  there is a huge slipway building, but I can't find the same on any maps? but it looks visually very good. The sailboats don't work either?
 

 
They are all a bit bright and samey... I'm not expecting every one to be different, but a few changed styles would have made it that all the more realistic.
 
Lighting
The lighting overall at PAKT is excellent...  Approach lighting is fine.
 


 
The signage though looks totally out of scale...
 

 
...  the sign looks as big as a Cessna 152? The colour brightness reflection is far to strong as well and not realistic. A shame because the terminal building and ramp lighting is absolutely first rate.
 

 
So many developers get night lighting textures so wrong? but here they are perfect and highly realistic. Detail lighting including the excellent down lights are very well done...
 


 
Ketchikan Port side is more simplistic, but fine and still includes nice lighting window textures, so the lighting is very good all over the scenery.
 
WT3: WorldTraffic GroundRoutes are provided with the scenery, and over all they work very well including the hard situation of a taxi and turnaround on the end of RWY 29. But don't expect a lot of traffic here at PAKT as it is pretty quiet operations wise.
 
Preview Notes
I was actually pretty surprised by this PAKT - Ketchikan International Alaska by NorthernSkyStudio as it is really very good, even excellent. Quality and detail is very through and there is a lot in this scenery to consider it's worth. And plus Ketchikan as in it's position is a pretty important airport for not only recreating the "Milk Run", but for a base to cover and explore this excellent "Inside Passage" area, as it is a bush pilot, and regional service supreme flying area.
There is a lot of excellent work in here, and to say that NorthernSkyStudio is a developer to watch in delivering quality scenery, but there is the odd fumble in here that needs to be watched, but overall from them this is an excellent release.
 
Positives: Great modeling with a very difficult X-Plane terrain (mesh) to recreate. All airport scenery is absolutely top notch, and night lighting is first rate, detail is excellent with the terminal and ferry ramp and ground clutter is branded and well recreated in detail.
Negatives: Ketchikan Port feels like a bit of a left over from the main airport scenery, and feels a little half finished, no shipping is a big visual emptiness that shouldn't be? Signage is out of scale to the airport, looks odd at night and the single airbridge is only static.
 
____________________________________________________________________
 

 
Yes!...  PAKT - Ketchikan International Alaska by NorthernSkyStudio is Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :
 
PAKT - Ketchikan International Alaska
 
Price is US$25.00
 
Requirements :
X-Plane 11 Windows, Mac or Linux 2Gb VRAM Minimum - 4Gb+ VRAM Recommended Current Review version : 1.0 (August 6th 2018) Download Size: 1gb : Install Size 2.29gb   Installation is the airport folder must be set above the "terrain" mesh in the .INI order   PAKT_Northern_Sky_Studio (2.25gb)
PAKT_Terrain_Northern_Sky_Studio (35.80mb)
 
There is optional 2K textures if you run a lower powered computer, but to be honest they are not really needed as there is really nothing around PAKT to overuse your processors, running 4K textures my framerate was well within the 40's to 50's
  Extras and Documents: Manual in txt   PAKT Installation manual ______________________________________________________________________
 
Preview by Stephen Dutton
13th August 2018
Copyright©2018 : 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 - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.25r2
Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 : BetterPushBack - Free
Scenery or Aircraft
- Boeing 737-800 - Default X-plane by Laminar Research  
 

News! - Next Aircraft from vFlyteAir - Comco-Ikarus C42 C
 
VFlyteAir have announced their next aircraft release as the Comco-Ikarus C42 C. Not sure what that is? Well it is the the bestselling ultra-
light aircraft in Germany and over 1450 aircraft have been built since 1996.
 
As with all vFlyteAir aircraft the simulation version aircraft are based on real machines in this case two C42Cs (D-MYSF and D-MNLN) based at Flugschule Magdeburg (flying school Magdeburg, at EDBM airport in Germany).
 


 
This is a very basic aircraft as the Ikarus C42 is a single-engined high-wing monoplane with side-by-side seats for two in a 1.22 m (48 in) wide cabin. The C42 is manufactured with either an 80 hp (60 kW) Rotax 912 engine or a 100 hp (75 kW) Rotax 912s engine. The Rotax engine has a low fuel consumption and relatively low noise. The engine drives the propeller, which has ground-adjustable pitch, through a gearbox with a 2.273:1 reduction ratio.
 


 
The aircraft uses very different materials on the exterior: Wings are made both of fabric and plastic material, and they are semi-transparent. All FMOD sounds are from the original host aircraft for realism.
 

 
Release was noted as "Summer 2018", so expect it to be available before Spring! No price or feature list was announced.
 

 
Images are courtesy of vFlyteAir
 
________________________________________
 
News by Stephen Dutton
29th June 2018
Copyright©2018: X-Plane Reviews
 

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

Aircraft update : Embraer ERJ 195LR v1.3 by X-Crafts
 
This is the second update to the ERJ 195LR to v1.3 with the earlier v1.2 () that was done in late Nov 2014. So first here is the update list.
 
v1.3 update changelog
 
- New SASL integrated plug-in - New GPU with cutom sound (Brakes must be set for the GPU to work!) - This plane is now X-FMC, UFMC compatible - New Pop-up menu for controlling the doors, ground objects and GPU - New MUCH more realistic wingflex - Static objects now disappear immediately after releasing the brakes - No more pushback with static objects  - When loading the plane APU, landing and taxi lights are off now - Push HDG knob to sync heading - EFIS DME added to PFD - Wind indicator added to MFD - Snap sound caused by looping of the engine sound removed - APU sound is not so loud anymore  - TOGA added to the throttle lever - Minus added to V/S dial - Plane now loads with APU, landing and taxi lights off - Cockpit objects is dim LIT - Strobe light intensity increased - Nav lights intensity increased - New OBS indicator - Transition speed between slow and fast nosewheel steering changed to 25kts - Flight director cues added to PFD - Seatbelt and no smoking sound working again in 3D cokcpit - Anti-Ice synoptic is working - Electric synoptic page showing the GPU now - GPU annunciator added to overhead panel   There is a lot of updates in v1.3 and all of them are very good. So I flew the ERJ 195LR on my usual VA (Virgin Australia) Queensland coast route from YBBN (Brisbane) to Townsville (YBTL) to feel out the new changes.     Biggest change here is the addition of a side window tab menu for opening doors and adding static elements. There is also a great GPU (Ground Power Unit) that can now be placed on the same menu.     It shows the connection on the "electrics" MFD menu, but it is not lit when not used nor can be switched off on the overhead panel?  But the GPU sounds very good when running.   When you load the aircraft now the aircraft's lights in the landing and taxi lights are off, as is the internal APU. But move the aircraft to the gate and you are back where you started?  This may work for you or against you.     The FMC is the standard X-Plane basic with a fancy screen. It pops up via pressing the pop up menu on the left of the panel or by pressing the face of the 3d version.     The 3d cockpit FMS can't be interacted with either so it is blank to use...  However now you can now use X-FMC or UFMC to get around using a decent FMC on the aircraft. A welcome addition there.     There is no doubt about the modeling here as the X-Craft ERJ195LR looks great in any light, expertly modelled it looks impressive in any light or viewpoint.  You have to watch your speeding when taxiing as the front wheels now will adjust at 25knt for fast or slow movement. I found that fine but found when taxiing you had to power up and then power down the throttle all the time to keep a consistent speed. However it does sound great at the different power levels when you do this.     Powerup down the runway and you tightly keep the aircraft centered, once climbing and turning away from the runway you will need a (very) steady hand and very smooth transitions to keep the correct turn radius and vertical speed. Make no doubt the aircraft is very good when hand flying and with pure airmanship...  but it doesn't like anything in the slightest in quick changes or to note it is very sensitive out of its defined tight parameters. let the joystick/yoke in the slightest a given movement and the vertical speed will drop significantly and so will the speed sometimes. Click on the Autopitot (AP) and it comes on in bad "thunk" and no A/P actions (heading, altitude or speed) are yet selected, and the transition from manual to AP settings has to be very smooth to not get any -/+ in the vertical speed.     Wingflex has been updated and is very good now and the whole aircraft has now a new SASL plug-in for better functionality.     Nice touches include HDG knob will now sync to the heading, and flight director cues are in the PRD. The wind indicator has been added as well.     Internal lighting has been tweaked and looks great. I found just the right combination of lighting settings to get the best view outside and the right amount of non-panel glare and still have good functionality behind the controls and a clear view out of the aircraft.     One thing I found even more annoying this flight was the "altitude" ALT manipulator!  It drove me to distraction...  in just wanting to change different altitudes.     You have scroll it literally all over the screen to get the altitude to your new setting, and I have a 27" screen! So going from 7500ft transition altitude to cruise altitude at FL320 and you can take ages and ages scrolling around your monitor screen, doing only 2000ft changes at one loooong scroll? Changing height from 9000ft to 5500ft at my insertion point was crazy in that to get the aircraft to lose altitude I had to start by scrolling a few thousand feet and then go setting the V/S to start the loss of altitude...  then go back to the scrolling to finally set the correct altitude to meet my next altitude fix in time, this was for only 3500ft in altitude change? The Speed manipulator works fine in a half-moon -/+ without moving anywhere but just needing in keeping your finger down on the mouse button, to easy? The heading uses the same manipulator as the altitude, fine to a point as you don't have to move the heading to far, but it is a bit too loose and you always find yourself over correcting the heading?  In a busy cockpit the ALT selection it is just simply a pain...   Approach to Runway 01 at Townsville (YBTL) is a bit of a challenge. In the day it is as hard as it needs to be because you have to thread the aircraft between two mountain ranges (In an Australian way it is called "Going in by the backdoor!") You have almost a long curve in a RNAV approach around both the huge Mt Elliot and the smaller Mt Stuart on your right side to get down to the Townsville basin and then head back out to the coast for the airport...  on your left however is another range that includes Frederick Peak and you are going to do this approach at dusk.
  All the lighting has been improved on the 1.3 version and it shows. Every lighting component looks pretty well perfect from the Nav, Beacon and excellent double lit Strobe lighting.
  Landing and taxi lighting has also been improved and it is all far better than the small dot lighting that usually comes with most X-Plane aircraft these days. The aircraft is however very speed sensitive...   If you don't get your speed exactly right the aircraft will give you a - minus deflection of altitude or a + positive change of altitude. This is very critical at flap (speed) changes, you need to know your numbers (speed) perfectly and hit them just right and at the right time. Hit the money and you get that perfect transition from altitude to the runway. Get it wrong and you will mess it right up and the aircraft will be pitching up and down like a horse bowing its head wanting a good feed. maybe the aircraft is just a little too sensitive for these changes? because as noted in the climb in a manual takeoff, you have to be a little bit too perfect with no room for error?     Final approach and you can enjoy the moment of control at touch down. I found that I could not "arm" the spoilers? but frantically clicked them up manually on touchdown, the reversers work well with a click to open the doors and full throttle to slow the aircraft. Touchdown speed was a low 143knts at a "full" Flap.   A note in that version 1.3 will not be available for X-Plane9 users and there will be no future updates for that platform from now on either. The X-Crafts ERJ 195LR 1.2 for X-Plane9 is still available from the X-Plane.orgStore on demand.   Summary Before this update the ERJ 195LR was a great aircraft. Version 1.3 does add in more features and many new refinements. So yes this is a significant upgrade. But there are a few items that need a bit more refining and as the aircraft gets better and higher in quality they stand out more than before. Overall the aircraft's handling is very good. But a little too sensitive, and get it wrong and you will easily lose 1000ft or so in altitude and then a quick positive pitch up to correct it? It can do this same behaviour in tight turns as well.   This flight showed up the ALT manipulator as a problem for me (In a former flight I was scrolling so hard I was setting off buttons all over the cockpit and popping out panels!) and the FMC needs a bit more work, and if you could even make the 3d cockpit version more accessible, it would still be far better even if you can't have the real thing.   But the positives are really good, great lighting, excellent sounds, great features, great new menu, far more functionality and you still have have access to all those great liveries. So this Embraer does just get better and better. I really love the aircraft and it is one of the best in this category of this type and overall it is brilliant value as well.   Yes! the Embraer ERJ 195 LR by X-Crafts is now available from the NEW! X-Plane.Org Store here : Embraer ERJ-195LR
 
Price is US$19.95
 
Installation : Download is 395.30 mb which is unzipped to your X-Plane in your regional Jet folder (if you have one or "Heavy Aircraft") at 839.10mb with the extra liveries loaded.
If you have already purchased the ERJ 195LR from X-Crafts then go to your X-Plane.orgStore account and sign in to upgrade to v1.3.
 
Support Thread : ERJ-195 by X-Crafts

 
Requirements:
Windows, MAC or Linux.  X-Plane 10.30 or higher - 32 and 64 bit compatible.  X-Plane 9.70 or higher 4Gb RAM - 1Gb VRAM Current version: 1.3 (last updated February 20th 2015). For X-Plane 9, the version is 1.2 and will no longer be updated.
Update Review by Stephen Dutton
 
Copyright © 2015 : X-Plane Reviews
 

Aircraft Update : ToLiSS A319 v 1.0.2
 
After the initial direct after release update in v1.0.1, this second update in v1.0.2 is now also available. The earlier v1.0.1 release was the expected tidying up of bugs and to cover a few things that were missed in the release version, but the added feature to key command to open up the ISCS (Interactive Simulation Control System) window was a nice touch and the fix to control the native sound volumes between switching into the A319 and then switching out to another aircraft was also most welcome as well.
 


 
In version v1.0.2 there is now even a few new features creeping in. First off you can now set the regular brake pressure (default is 50%). So the point is here is you like the FlightFactor A320 Ultimate brake feel which is set very (very) low, which at first I really hated it, but then got very used to the feel very quickly...   you can now have that same sort of feel on the ToLiSS A319. A note is that the brake feel adjustment on the ISCS can only be done once the aircraft is running on the Settings/Actions page in the Preferences section.
 

 
In the release version the ISCS menu was large and was also fixed solid in the centre of your screen. Now you can move it around the screen via the title bar which helps a lot, but the menu is still quite large and still the menu has no scaling, but the option to move the ISCS while setting up the MCDUs (FMS) is very welcome indeed.
 

 
The axis of the aircraft to the airbridge has been adjusted and the aircraft will start with the airbridge now ready and attached...
 

 
...  but the alignment is still not quite right as the airbridge still sits a little too high compared to the height of the door (arrowed)?
 
The flap lever now notches with flap position selection, small detail but it makes it more realistic.
 
  
 
ILS has had attention with the fixed behaviour of the LS button (I don't remember anything wrong with it before?), and the issue of ILS turning by 180 degrees half-way through the runway has also been fixed.
 

 
Other bugs addressed in this update includes the important mapping between pedestal  pitch trim indicator wheel and actual pitch trim position which was off by 0.2deg in some areas and the issue with toggling the descent profile.
The AP (AutoPilot) now disconnects on pedal deflection as it did on sidestick deflection earlier and the time out on the Master Caution/Warning for AP and ATHR instinctive disconnect has been adjusted. There has also been a fix for FCU behaviour when you manually switching between SPD and Mach mode as sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't and the XP11 specific brake behaviour has had attention as well, but all XP11 behaviours are all very transient at the moment in X-Plane so expect another adjustment with another X-Plane version later in the year.
 

 
Summary
The ToLiSS319 is coming along very nicely thank you with this already second update since release. A few new features are being implimented with the
ISCS (Interactive Simulation Control System) window now keyable and movable around the screen. The regular brake adjustment is an interesting one, it allows you to set the A319 like the A320 Ultimate braking action and this feature could spread out more to other high grade airliners. And a lot of the bugs and other issues have also had a lot of attention.
 
More and more quality liveries are also coming available for the A319 like this excellent quality Cobalt Air (above) by ComSimPilot (his Aegean Airlines is very good as well) and these more higher quality liveries are making the A319 bus even better again.
 
The ToLISS319 is an instant classic and its high sales since its release in X-Plane shows it is already a very popular aircraft, and rightly so as this is one of the best handling airbuses in X-Plane. And with these constant and clever updates coming along at a mighty click and speed then this aircraft is well worth your investment. Highly recommended!
 
X-PlaneReviews full release review on the ToLiSS A319 is available here: Aircraft Review : ToLiSS319 (A319-122) by ToLiSS
 
______________________________________________________________________
 

 
Yes! the ToLiSS319 (A319-122) by ToLiSS is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

ToLiss A319
 
Price is US$69.00
 
Features Include:
Detailed FMGS: Support of SID/STAR, including all leg types (Arc, course or heading to intercept, Radius to Fix, Holdings, etc.) Temporary and alternate flight plans Full VNAV guidance with TOC, TOD, Deceleration point, speed limits, fuel prediction, etc. Altitude and speed constraints as the real aircraft deals with them Ability to change the selected STAR while already in the STAR Support for go-arounds and diversions Step altitudes Airway support 2 independent MCDUs and autopilots Top-notch aircraft systems: ToLiss uses the QPAC Fly-by-wire and autopilot module Brake temperature model based on the detailled physics of heat transfer between the individual brake components Hydraulics model in which the pressure is dependent on usage. This is most notable when dropping to RAT mode Detailled model of each ADIRU including alignment, small pressure sensor differences between the units, switching of sources for PFDs Custom air conditioning model supporting high altitude operations at airports like Cusco in Peru or La Paz in Bolivia without spurious warnings Flight warning system with ECAM actions supporting numerous system failure scenarios, e.g. engine failures, generator failures, hydraulic failures. Eye- and ear-candy: Detailled 3D cockpit 3d exterior model with CFM and IAE engine Choice between classic wingtip fences or modern sharklets (controlled via livery names) Custom sounds for all systems, engine sounds, APU etc. based about 80 custom samples   Useability features: Situation loading and saving. It is possible to save the flight at any point in time and resume it another day. This can also be used, e.g., to save the position just before approach and practice just the approach many times. Autosaving allows recovering where you left off, should the X-Plane session end unexpectedly. Jumping waypoint-to-waypoint through the cruise phase: Shorten your flight to focus on the more interesting parts as you like.  
Requirements X-Plane 11 (or X-Plane 10) Windows (64bit) , Mac (OSX 10.11 and up) or Linux (tested on Ubuntu 14.10) 2Gb VRAM Minimum - 4Gb+ VRAM Recommended Installation Download of the ToLiSS319 is 729mb and it is installed in your Airliner Folder as a 1.19Gb folder.   If you have already purchased the ToLiSS A319 from the X-Plane.OrgStore then just go to your account and download the new v1.0.2 version. The ToLiSS319 also comes with the X-Updater application that can also update the aircraft without doing the complete download, and that App is found in your main root ToLiSS319 aircraft folder.   ______________________________________________________________________
 
Update Review by Stephen Dutton 29th March 2018 Copyright©2018: X-PlaneReviews   (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)   Review System Specifications:
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.10
Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9  effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95
 
______________________________________________________________________
 
Changelog covers both versions v1.0.1 and v1.0.2
 
v1.0.1 Features:
- Modified runway acceptance criteria from 1500m length to 1200m length to accomodate SBRJ - Added a command to open ISCS window: toliss_airbus/iscs_open - Popups can now be scaled to sizes greater than 500x500 pixels, if the horizontal screen resolution is > 1920px. Bug fixes: - Added filters on flap/slat lever and speed brake lever to prevent spikes from joystick axes to affect the configuration - Correct joystick axis decoding bug - Wrongly displayed speed trend on scaled popup PFD fixed. - Fixed the "missing SID transitions" bug. Issue occurred whenever there were more TRANS than SIDs. - Sound volumes reset properly when changing airplanes or quitting xplane. - Some FMGS bug fixes, e.g. lack of procedures after flight plan load. v1.0.2 Features:
- Allows transparent runways (custom scenery), ice/snow runways (arctic/antarctic operations), or dry lakebed (KEDW) as valid runways - Modified frequency management to allow use of ATC2Pilot (Note: RMP1 must be set to VHF1 and RMP2 must be set to VHF2) - Modified regular brake force such that it can be adjusted via the ISCS now. - Aircraft is now autogate compatible and starts with the jet bridge attached when in the right location with engines off. - ISCS is now moveable by dragging in the title bar of the ISCS Bug fixes:
- Made the flap lever snap into detents. - Reduced mouse handler lag on some computers - Fixed activation issue for some users - Fixed issue with FMGS crashing when importing FMS files that include active and alternate flight plan. - Fixed a crash that occurred when loading a situation file with temporary flight plans active. - Removed differential braking from nose tiller. - Fixed behaviour of the LS button - Fixed the issue of ILS turning by 180 degrees half-way through the runway. - Speed constraints are now considered in GA legs - Fixed behaviour of the ALT knob when switching between 100ft and 1000ft steps. (No retaining the 100ft value) - Fixed mapping between pedestal pitch trim indicator wheel and actual pitch trim position (was off by 0.2deg in some areas) - Fixed an issue with toggling descent profile - AP now disconnects on pedal deflection also (did on sidestick deflection previously) - Fixed FCU behaviour when manually switching between SPD and Mach mode - XP11 specific brake behaviour fix.  

 

Aircraft Update : Boeing 757 Professional v2.1.13 by FlightFactor/VMax
 
X-Plane is a movement, always morphing, changing and always moving forward. We wouldn't want that aspect any other way, as it means that the simulator grows, becomes better and more involving. In fact if you sit back and think it though the changes in and around the X-Plane simulator over the last, say... three years have been phenomenal, and it feels sometimes even an eon ago, but you have to even go a long way further back to November 2013 for time the Boeing 757 from FlightFactor/VMax first emerged, yes five years ago, that feels now like the Jurassic period in X-Plane terms, okay if only stone/bronze age.
 
In sales terms it is one of the biggest sellers of payware aircraft in X-Plane and it lead the simulator for the very best of in depth quality and you would even note the aircraft as the first "Study" aircraft as well with its in depth systems and flying capabilities, but that is still a big five years ago since it's first release...
 
So you think that with all the extreme changes in the X-Plane simulator the aircraft or the design would now be hopelessly out of date, but in reality the aircraft is very far from that point, as there has not only been a lot of updates through the years including the major version two release in 2016. Added also into the this Boeing 757 package is the "Extended" option of not only the original -200 version but also the added choice of a - 300 version and a -200SF Freighter and the option of two engine choices of the RR RB211-535E4 and the Pratt & Whitney PW2037.
 
The introduction of X-Plane11 was very significant for FlightFactor's B757/B767 series aircraft. On the one hand the PBR (Physically Based Rendering) effects gave them a new lease of life in a dynamic sense, bringing them alive, and giving them more realism. But the X-Plane11 more detailed flight and engine dynamics didn't translate as good, patches came to keep the B757/B767 birds flying, but with their complex system algorithms it was not an easy fix, especially more so as Laminar Research changed their refinements as often as their minds. And so the updates keep coming, but that is good thing and not a negative, refinement is written all over this aircraft and here we cover not one but two updates as they are only a few months apart with v2.1.11 and v2.1.13
 
Boeing 757 Professional v2.1.13
 
The updates cover again mostly system fixes, but as the v2.1.10 update was the most significant one that addressed most of the X-Plane11 refinements, I still found that aircraft still quite buggy in the way it flew. The X-Plane11 versions of the "Extended" options with the -300 and 200SF were now also X-Plane11 rated was a huge addition and bonus to the B757 Series. Here I am going to concentrate on the basic aircraft the B757-200.
 

 

 
With a few nips and tucks over the years the B757 still looks as good as the day it was released. But the dynamic lighting really brings the aircraft to life, like with the B767 the optional blended winglets from Aviation Partners Incorporated that look very good on this aircraft, but also extended its service life.
 

 
The tall 757 stance when standing on its gear is as famous as its long tube body gave the aircraft some interesting nicknames like... Stick Insect, AtariFerrari, Slippery Snake, Flying Pencil and Long Tall Sally.
 

 
But the B757 is a very but highly successful but niche aircraft and that has made it very hard to replace in the commercial world and that is why so many are still flying in what is essentially an early 80's aircraft. The new Airbus A321 LR neo is now a possible replacement, but Boeing are wanting their new design in the B797 to cover the B757 requirements as well.
 
The B757-300 version is as spectacular.
 


 
The aircraft shown here has the optional Roll Royce RB211-535E4 engines.
 
You can check your current FF B757 version by the version number on the top right of the pop-up iPad menu system.
 

 
Update 2.1.12 was not a large amount of changes and mostly small issue fixes, the sound volume was jumping to zero and the engines behaved a bit strange on an engine change. The boarding door co-ordinates were wrong but fixed for the -300 version, but the -200 version was missed but it is now done in v2.1.13...
 

 
Who doesn't love BetterPushBack...  The BetterPushBack Truck is now adjusted to work well with the FF B757, as before it had rocking issues?
 

 
The B757 does already come with a really good pushback truck that is controlled by your joystick, but who could do without that "Have a great Day!" from the betterpushback driver.
 
Freighter SF version is also very good, and there is a GHD (Ground Handling) .set available for the aircraft (for the -200 and -300 versions as well). Note there is a bug if you use the GHD in that it conflicts with the FF A757 GPU and power to the aircraft, to get around the issue you have to use the APU.
 

 
Boeing 757 cockpit still delivers in quality and detail...
 

 
But the B757 and the B767 have a tendency to switch between light and dark lighting conditions, sometimes perfect, but then you get a snap and the cockpit (or panel) feels darker and then it snaps back to normal again, it doesn't help in that the cockpit is also quite a dark design. There has been few tries by FlightFactor to rein in this lighting condition in changes in both 2.0.25 and 2.1.10 but the PBR just highlights it more.
 

 
Over the years there has been a lot of work done on the B757/B767 FMS. It is highly detailed and was for years one of the best in flight management systems and like noted almost "Study" deep in what you can set up and input into the aircraft's systems.
 

 
The arrival this year of FlightFactor's A320 Ultimate and the ToLiSS319 has raised the bar in this flight management area, but this system is still one of the best to use and programme, all areas are covered with SID/STAR DEP and ARR, fix and airway inputs, ECON (Economy) CLB, CRZ and DES settings, DIR-INTC (Direct-To) and the PROG (Progress) has two pages of information with Wind and Fuel info on page 2. The aircraft's weather and terrain radar is also still one of the best in X-Plane.
 
Notable is the option of having both white and red instruments. There is a choice between mixed (white and red) or full in that certain digital instruments are red on the main instrument panel and on the OHP (OverHead Panel). The red looks very nice at night.
 

 
In v2.1.13 few cockpit mis-spellings have also been rectified and corrected, with the ELC and EEC buttons now on (useable) if the fuel pumps (switches) are off.
 
The original X-Plane11 throttle hunting issue has been mostly tuned out (the B767 was the worst), the throttles still intermittently moves and reduce power, then increases the power again for no absolute reason, but it is not even close as the constant (annoying) movement you had before...  climbing to altitude was the worse.
 

 
Cabin Fitout
You can see the changes to the FlightFactor B757 over the years by the different cabins installed in the aircraft... Starting with the 2013 version. This original version had a very Russian feel to the design, even down to the odd "Gazprom" logos?
 

 
Thankfully another cabin change came with the v2 upgrade...  and the cabin went more modern and an early 2000's in design.
 

 
But very quickly (twelve months) we already have another latest B757 cabin version that is now bang up to date...  with a very smart looking business class...
 

 
....   and an even better designed main economy class.
 

 
It is now all very modern in the back cabin as the economy seats are exceptional in design and they come with these lovely seating textures. Even the crew stations are very different from the past FlightFactor layouts (finally the cheap bottles of wine have gone) and all also are very modern and efficient looking. Same goes for the cabin wall panels, they are now separate styled panels with those nasty openings (gaps) from around the window frames are now also gone. Cabin lighting (adjustable) was good before, but now excellent with great down lighting.
 

 
Look back to the original earlier cabins and you can see the total transformation of the same aircraft, the -300 version also has had the same changes done to the cabin layouts, and how long is it before the Boeing 767 get the same fitout makeover as well?
 
The above cabin changes are far more significant than they appear, as they are very unFlightFactor in design and appearance, this is most likely the new direction of internal design, including cockpit textures from the developers and a move away from the original more Slavic feel to a more western approach, my guess is that in time all the FlightFactor fleet in the B777, B767 and even their A350 will adopt these more western layouts and all to the better and the proof is right here in this cabin, and it is amazing how changes like this can bring an older design to a much more up to date feel and experience.
 
Virtual Reality
FlightFactor has also noted that the Boeing 757 will soon be available for VR (Virtual Reality), and FF note "We have developed our unique cockpit interaction in VR just like we did with the 3d cockpit, and if I may say so, it is very intuitive."
 
That announcement sounds exciting, but my comment would be what would VR be like in using the current B757 cockpit textures, as they are quite dark in design and the noted points in that (both) cockpits of the B757/B767 have that tendency to switch under X-Plane11 from light to dark lighting conditions?  My gut feeling is that with a VR headset on then it would highlight that aspect, and to the dark, more than the light?
 

 
Summary
The motto of this review tale is that the reality is the FlightFactor/Vmax Boeing 757 Series is now five years old. But the truth is that with constant and clever updates, it could have been released only late last year. I am not going to hide the fact that in a very few areas it does show its original age, but there is no doubt that in it's current form that the aircraft will certainly stay there at the top of the list as one of the best simulations in X-Plane and that is with the newer Airbuses also now available.
 
The trip down memory lane of the three different cabin layouts describes the whole situation very clearly, as the earlier cabin version was to say the least quite average (but good for the time), as the curent latest cabin layout is now quite sensational and like the real aircraft will keep it in service well past its used by date.
 
If you opt for the recommended extended version with not only the -200 version, but with the very long -300 and that nice freighter version as well, then you are getting overall a very nice aircraft package and as the B757 has been around for a fair then all the niceties like the GHD (Ground Handling) and BetterPushBack plugins all work very well as well.
 
In flying, then most of the X-Plane11 issues have been dealt with or refined, but updates are also constant to cover any other changes that Laminar Research might throw our way. I will admit the B757 requires a bit of skill and dedication to fly really well, you have to go to the aircraft, and not that the aircraft comes to you, but when both skills and flying ability merge then it is very good and deep simulation of this aircraft.... certainly highly recommended.
 
______________________________________________________________________
 

 
Yes! the Boeing 757-200ER Professional & Extended versions by VMAX and FlightFactor Aero is NOW! Available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :
 
Boeing 757-200ER v2 Professional
 
Price is US$64.95
 
Boeing 757-200ER v2 Professional Extended
 
Price is US$84.95
 
Boeing 757-200ER v2 Professional Extended Upgrade
 
Price is US$64.95 + US$20
You must already have purchased and own the current Boeing 757-200 v2 version for any updates to the aircraft
 
Requirements
X-Plane 11.05 or latter (also X-Plane 10 compatible) Windows 7+, Mac OS 10.10+ or Linux 14.04+ LTS or compatible. running in 64bit mode 1Gb VRAM Video Card Minimum. 2Gb+ VRAM Recommended. 3Gb+ VRAM Preferred. Current Version : 2.1.13 Free auto-updates for the entire XP11 lifecycle  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
Update Review by Stephen Dutton 18th April 2018 Copyright©2018: X-PlaneReviews   (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)   Review System Specifications:
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.20
Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro v1.09 US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9  effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95 : BetterPushBack - Free : : JARDesign Ground Handling Deluxe plugin
Scenery or Aircraft
- KABQ - Albuquerque International Sunport by ShortFinal Design (X-Plane.OrgStore) US$19.95 (review of KABQ is here : Scenery Review : KABQ - Albuquerque International Sunport by ShortFinal Design
 
Changelog:
2.1.13
- boarding door fix
- exhaust gas colour fix
- fixed a small bug with cargo version weight
- fixed the 753 beacon
- fixed a bug with disappearing ELC and EEC buttons on fuel pump off
- trimmer mouse wheel control fix
- power back is now possible again
- made the start sound quieter - to match the engine idle
- EGT limiter on high OAT GA fixed
- fixed x-plane hanging when you use the fix page during your fpl has DISCOs
- corrected brakes for xp11.10
- improved flch ap mode logic and reengaging at logic
- made some things for better integration with the VoiceCommander profiles by sloboda.
2.1.11
- fixed the issue with volume jumping to zero
- fixed an issue with engine controller behaving incorrectly after an engine change
- fixed an issue with BetterPushback rocking back and forth
- fixed an issue with inversed stab animation
- fixed the 300 door location (extended only)
- add 300 and cargo to the livery packs
- fixed misspelling in the cockpit
- added higher realism level requirement for hung start
 

 

Plugin Review : WebFMC Pro by Green Arc Studios
 
One of the great features on FlightFactor aircraft is the ability to use the aircraft's FMC (Flight Management Computer) on an external screen via a web browser. In my case with my iPad, in that shows up the FMC panel on the iPad display and you could then easily input in all the performance and navigation data.
 

 
This is available for the FlightFactor Boeing 757/767/777 and the A320U. It is an exceptional system and one that I use all the time and it looks good when flying as well as a visual readout of the FMC in flight. So why isn't this visual tool available for the other X-Plane aircraft? Well it wasn't until now.
 
WebFMC by Green Arc Studios
Green Arc Studios has taken the same idea and set up a plugin so it can be used on other X-Plane aircraft and it comes currently in two versions. The first version is a free plugin that you can use with the Zibo Boeing 737-800 Mod and the associated 737-900ER Ultimate. That version is available here on the X-Plane.Org:
 
WebFMC 1.0.2
 
The second version is WebFMC Pro and this plugin is a payware version and currently works with a selection of aircraft including the:
 
●  737-300 by IXEG
●  A319 by ToLiss
●  A320 by Jar Design
●  737-800 Zibo Mod
●  737-900ER Ultimate
 
Certainly the list will quickly grow and as the JarDesign A320 is on the list then the JarDesign A330 shouldn't be far behind and many others should be also available soon. Noted and as this list can change at any notice, then here are the aircraft planned for future updates and they include: EADT x737, X-Crafts E-Jets, SSG E-Jets, SSG 748, JD330, FF A320 Ultimate and A350, FF Boeing 757, 767, 777, JRollon CRJ-200, Rotate MD-80 and hopefully their coming DC11 (we’re are touch with Rotate on this one).
 
Installing WebFMC
It is easy to install, just download the plugin and unzip it into the X-Plane Resources/Plugin's folder. A note on those who think that the free version will work with the other aircraft is just wishful thinking...  the Pro version looks the same but it is completely different internally.
 

 
For the Pro version to work you also have to install a authorisation key (arrow right) in the WebFMC folder that is provided when you purchase the plugin, this activation is noted when you first startup the plugin in the web browser.
 
Select and load the aircraft you are flying and select a browser on your choice of another computer or device (iPad, Tablet). The browser recommended is Chrome, but I found WebFMC still worked fine on Safari and Firefox via your WiFi.
 
The hard part is setting up and sending the data to the device and its browser. The required browser address is http://localhost:9090 or http://10.0.0.2:9090 where as "localhost" is your computer (the one running X-Plane). This is found on the Network menu on the middle left of your screen under This Machine's IP Addresses (arrowed). There are several other options to connect up WebFMC say via a network that are covered extensively in the manual. Computer firewalls can also be an issue, but If set up correctly then the WebFMC should instantly appear in the browser window.
 

 
The presentation on the iPad is excellent, although it does depend on the quality of the original FMC layout and fonts, but otherwise what you get in the aircraft is what is shown on the device. It is a great idea to save the address page as a "Home Screen Button" (above right) for an easy startup, and that setting works instantly. So any portable device in say a Samsung Tablet or Windows Surface that can run a browser is ideal.
 

 
On my Mac the WebFMC looks great as well
 

 
The obvious question then is why do I need a floating window FMC on my computer when I already have the pop-up FMC in X-Plane? There are several reasons. One is you don't clutter up your X-Plane cockpit space with the popup FMC but you will still have access to it and that makes it very useful on monitoring the aircraft's progress, Second is that you get direct keyboard access that will speed up the data entry enormously, like here (below right) with transferring navigation data from SimBrief, all arrow keys and and Page Up/Down keys to CDU arrows and PrevPage/NextPage keys do work on your keyboard to save you input time.
I always found that on a lot of aircraft I have had to put my screen angle oddly to see both the navigation display (set on PLAN) and with the FMC panel in sight together, so here it can be more adjusted visually directly on the Navigation display to check the route data as the FMC is now on another screen. The FMC can also be scaled as per using the browser, but the size of the panel here (below left) is as small as you can go.
 

 
WebFMC works on the iPhone (Safari), but I found on the iPhone 7 - 375 x 559 px (mine below) it is a very, very tight squeeze and the keys can be really too small to use with your fingers but I was able to actually programme with it, otherwise you would need a pointer or something to input the data. It also tends to flip easily around the screen if you get it wrong and also zooms in close to an area in trying to help you by making it larger, so you are always resetting it back to the correct size. The iPhone Plus 414 x 628 px size screen or larger maybe far better, but mostly I wouldn't usually use my iPhone 7 as the input tool.
 

 
Currently there are three different types of panels to be seen, ToLiSS319 (left), Zibo B738 Mod (centre) and IXEG B733 (right)...
 
            
 
But any new aircraft added and the panel will instantly change to represent the same panel style as in the aircraft. These panel facias are all dirty, but there is the option to have a clean look as well.
 
Menu
The menu can be shown by pressing the upper right area on the facia...
 
       
 
There are six menu options that covers:
 
Automatically checks for updates Shows the latest update automatically on loading Button sounds Yes/No Dirty or Clean LCD Screen Dirty or Clean Buttons  
Two panel screens note the current state of the plugin. One is when there is no connection to X-plane (below left), and the second is when you are changing the aircraft, reloading elements or that X-Plane is live but not in a running state (below right).
 
       
 
FlightFactor
One question you might ask about is why include FlightFactor aircraft when they already have the same FMC web linked set up? And that question is very good one. If you have an up to date device or iPad then the current B757/767/777 and A320U do work, but my iPad is an older series 3, and I can't update my browser apps or even load the chrome browser on to the device? Currently the B757/767/777 application does still work, but the newer A320 Ultimate doesn't (neither does the EFB) and my guess is that the B757/767/777 app version will change to the same in the future as well. So if I want access to the A320 Ultimate FMC then WebFMC would certainly be my current and only choice if it was available. Another point on in why not just go and update your old iPad, then that point is certainly in the future and I will do so (or will have to), but in my thinking is that a lot of the cockpit builders will probably use these older tablets or old IPad-Mini's in their home built cockpit setups on a cost basis, and for that setup then WebFMC would be the only plugin to use to get around the same older and out of date browser situation.
 

 
Summary
The problem with most of your essential tools is that you didn't think you needed it or would use it until you actually had it. I use the FlightFactor feature like this a lot for inputting in the Performance and Navigational Data, you just need it, but this plugin has far more versatility than the the Flightfactor FMC and that version was very good.
 
But having the FMC and being able to interact with it on another screen or even more than one for cockpit builders is a big bonus for simulation flyers. Time spent now inputting aircraft data can be very time consuming, and prodding buttons can be a slow process even if realistic, so the addition of a keyboard input then certainly speeds up the process, the visual aspect of having the progress page running while you are flying is also a great feature, I sometimes take my iPad somewhere else in the house if I have to leave my desk-bound set up and I can then still monitor the progress from afar (i.e. get back to the aircraft for when it is time to descend from altitude).
 
Yes any web based network can be tricky to set up? but all the bases have been covered here, from networks to firewalls which are all noted in the manual. WebFMC is very light and very responsive to inputs and the system has no drag or wait time from screen to screen and that is even on my old iPad 3 which is a slow device.
 
Ultimately WebFMC depends on how many FMC panels are incorporated into the plugin, certainly the more there is then the more versatile the plugin will be, but there is a definite feature advantage for any developer to advertise that their aircraft as "WebFMC" ready and make use of the tool for their product, it also helps in programming for difficult setups like with Rotate's MD88, so WebFMC would be a definite advantage in situations like that and working with older style browsers, plus there is the quick switch from aircraft to aircraft and it's custom FMC panel if you change aircraft in X-Plane, and from that aspect i works and works very cleanly as well.
 
So WebFMC, overall works and it is an excellent tool, try the free version, but the WebFMC Pro is really required if you have most of the major payware aircraft and above all else it will save you a lot of time when inputting data and is giving you more time to fly, and that alone can't be a bad thing...  Highly Recommended.
 
_____________________________________
 

 
Yes! WebFMC Pro by Green Arc Studios is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

WebFMC Pro
 
Price is US$19.99
 
Features:
Quick and easy access to the FMC Get easy access to the FMC: quickly edit the flightplan, monitor flight progress, set up your approach and do all the typical work of the pilot without having to move around in the cockpit, even if the plane doesn’t support FMC as a popup natively - on the same PC, or different monitor, tablet or phone - in fact you can use multiple displays at the same time!   Make pilot tasks easy and comfortable Enjoy external views during cruise while monitoring flight progress on separate screen or take a quick look at your phone to verify calculated landing speed with just a glimpse of an eye during busy time on approach. Make flying complex SIDs / STARs easy as you can focus on the important flight parameters while having overview of the constraints all the time. Take your mobile to the kitchen as you cook a dinner during a long haul and never miss T/D again!   Convenient to use Use physical keyboards on PC and Mac with extra keys such as Prev/Next page mapped to keyboard keys for easy access. WebFMC scales dynamically to fit any display or window size and can look as native app on mobiles by using browser's "Add to home screen" feature.   Aircraft support WebFMC Pro supports growing number of 3rd party aircraft starting with  ToLiss 319 JarDesign 320 IXEG 737-300 Zibo Mod 737-800 737-900 Ultimate Immersion Mimics real CDU with optional wear and smudge effects for better immersion. Uses CDU textures and keyboard layouts specific to the aircraft type in use - so it looks completely different in Boeings, Airbuses etc.   Simple installation Just drop WebFMC into X-Plane plugins folder. No need to install any software on the devices, no hassle - all you need is a web browser.   Requirements: Plugin The WebFMC plugin requires X-Plane 11 running on a 64-bit Windows 7 operating system or newer. The plugin doesn't require any extra CPU/memory on the system.   Web Client The CDU can be displayed on any modern and up-to-date web browser with JavaScript support.
We recommend the latest versions of Google Chrome on PC or Android and Safari on iOS.    No internet connection required, remote device needs to be on the same local network as X-Plane PC.  Documentaion: Manual... (17 pages)   WebFMC manual.pdf ______________________________________________________________________
 
Plugin Review by Stephen Dutton
19th May 2018
Copyright©2018 : X-Plane Reviews
  
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)
 
Review System Specifications:
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.20
Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro v1.07 US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9  effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95
Scenery or Aircraft
- Boeing 757 Pro Series- FlightFactor/VMAX (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$64.95 - ToLiSS319 (A319) by ToLiSS (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$69.00 - Airbus A320neo by JarDesign (Xplane-.OrgStore) - US$59.95 - Boeing 737-800X  X-Plane default aircraft with ZIBO MOD installed - Free - Boeing 737-900ER Ultimate Project - Free  
 

Scenery Review : LCLK - Laranca International, Cypress by JustSim
 
One of the great things about X-Plane is exploring, you can go to places that was never on your radar and then find something interesting there. The experience is highlighted more if you have good scenery to depict or simulate the real destination on arrival and that is why really good scenery is always great to invest in. I have noted that my X-Plane experiences are to create a network of going from one realistic airport to another realistic airport and any new scenery that I can add to that network and to be used within that network is valuable to me. Of course creating tight networks can also means not venturing or going outside your boundaries which in reality means flying mostly within the continental USA, the Australian Triangle and of course Europe. 
 
But in the last few years a few quality sceneries have pushed out those boundaries so to speak. One was to UUEE - Moscow Sheremetyevo by Drzewiecki Design with the addon Moscow City also by DD and another was to UBBB Baku Heydar Aliyev Airport & City in Azerbaijan also by Drzewiecki Design, and both are very interesting destinations.
 
Cypress in reality wasn't really as a destination on my radar. But I found a really great A318 video on the Cobalt Air route between Zurich and Laranca (shown below) and I was smitten. So when JustSim released LCLK - Laranca International Cypress scenery I instantly wanted LCA to be part of my network, and what a great choice of airport that was.
 
Cypress as a country is caught in a divided situation with the invasion by Turkey on 20th July 1974, This forced the closure of Nicosia International Airport and Larnaca Airport was then hastily developed towards the end of 1974 and subsequently as a military installation. The site on which it was built (near the Larnaca Salt Lake) had been previously used as an airfield in the 1930s but this was a new facility by British forces. Larnaca International opened on 8th February 1975, with only limited infrastructure facilities and a prefabricated set of buildings comprising of separate halls for departures and arrivals.
 
The status of Cyprus as a major tourist destination means that air traffic has steadily risen to over 5 million passengers a year. This is double the capacity the airport as when it was first designed for. For this reason, a tender was put out in 1998 to develop the airport further and increase its capacity with a new terminal which was built some 500–700 m (1,600–2,300 ft) west of the old terminal with new aprons and jetways. Already completed elements of the expansion included a new control tower, fire station, runway extension, and additional administrative offices which are still there.
 
Larnaca Airport is situated on the south coast of Cypress,  4km (2.5 mi) southwest of Larnaca and 49.4km south of Nicosia.
 
JustSim
I personally I like JustSim sceneries. They are not the most extreme in detailing and every single item is covered sort of scenery. But you do get a highly detailed scenery at a great value cost factor and they do use the X-Plane features to their best advantages. So the point is you can cover the required airports and destinations and that allows you to have more quality scenery for less.
 
LCLK - Larnaca International Overview
You can immediately see that there are extensive ortho-photographic images used in this scenery and the area used is quite large and not just confined to the airport's boundaries. The joins to the native X-Plane textures are well hidden as well and all in all it blends in together quite well. The only significant visual point is the sea colour cutoff that is quite abrupt and shows you the boundary of the orthos, a smoother transition would have helped here. The orthos are also little flat and not high, high resolution, but they work fine in context.
 


 
JustSim are always very good at creating custom local buildings and then melting them directly into the native autogen and in that creating a seemless transition from the custom to the native areas. This is very evident here at Larnaca and very well done. You do have to run your object settings at the full mode, but in reality it doesn't matter as the autogen count is low here and your framerate is not overly affected. Yes the autogen housing is German but it still works fine.
 

 
Larnaca International Airport
Διεθνής Aερολιμένας Λάρνακας
Larnaka Uluslararası Havaalanı
 
 (IATA: LCA, ICAO: LCLK)
04/22  2,994m  (9,823ft)  Asphalt
Elevation AMSL   3 m / 7 ft
 


 
LCLK comes with a single 04/22 Runway and the airport's facilities are situated all on the northwest side of the runway, central-northeast is the older terminal and far northeast is the cargo area...  the newer terminal complex is situated to the far southwest.
 

 
Terminal
The central terminal area is excellent, the building construction is very well done and highly detailed, realism is the key here and it works very well. From the ground point of view it is very, very good with nice brush and grass to fill in the blank areas, It feels a bit like Aerosoft's KEF - Keflavik around areas of the terminal zone.
 


 
Glass is excellent with reflections, but it is the extreme detailing in static items that are a standout, with everything from bollards, cones to safety barriers and a huge amount of ground service equipment makes any arrival a realistic event. The airport has dynamic animated ground vehicles as well to add into the environment.
 


 
There is also the Visual Docking Guidance System (VDGS) that works with the stands around the terminal...  but the guidance boards didn't work very well, I don't know if they are not set up correctly or just not working, so you have to guess and align the aircraft yourself to get the airbridge to connect.
 

 
Another slight oddity is the carpark/rental parking area in front of the Terminal is empty? It makes it look like the scenery is unfinished, which is very odd considering so much effort has gone into the rest of the scenery with excellent 3d vehicles.
 

 
There is a nice stand area southwest but adjacent to the main terminal area. This area covers stands 11-18 with stands 11, 12 and 13 having a B option.
Around the main terminal are stands 21 to 48A but they are not in sequential order, so consult your charts.
 
Surfaces and taxiways
Surfaces are first rate, great textures and reflections as is the runway textures and taxiway markings. JustSim notes that the surfaces are set up to use the new xEnviro 1.08 rain (wet) feature which is not yet released, so I will be looking forward to trying that feature out.
 


 
Northeast of the terminal area is the airport administration building and baggage trolley/catering storage area, this area is very active with baggage trucks going about their busy business... well done.
 

 
Control Tower
More central northeast is the original control tower and adjoining well detailed fire station... which both are modeled with a sort of 70's RAF feel, which it is as LCLK was originally a UK military base.
 


 
Tower view is perfect with each 04/22 approach clear and with no visual obstructions.
 
Between the central area and the far northwest cargo area is the Limassol salt lake and water feature...  a nice touch is (to scale) is a flock of Pink Flamingos which are famous here in Cypress for their migration over the Mediterranean to Africa and return.
 

 
The lake has been very well created with a depth of colour that gives you of a sort of 3d water effect.
 
Old Larnaca Terminal area
The original 1974 Larnaca terminal is still there, although now it only used as a VIP reception and private jet arrival area.
 

 
It seems such a waste for such a iconic building to be empty, a so would it be a good terminal for LCC's? (Low Cost Carriers). The old airport infrastructure is also well represented, with warehouses and offices and storage areas to the rear, the detail is just as good here as in the other areas and that significantly fills out the scenery.
 

 
Between the Control Tower zone and the older terminal area is some nice GA parking stands with static aircraft. Below is the full old airport terminal areas.
 

 
LCLK Cargo
Far, far northeast is the LCLK Cargo and maintenance area. The cargo area is quite large as most Island based airports are because of the logistical requirements of the area.
 

 
Cargo freighters are represented with DHL the biggest operator. The large Bird Aviation Hangar dominates the far, far northeast of the airport.
 

 
Stands 1 then Stands 61 to 94 covers this Apron 2 area with stand 92 designated a "Engine Run" (test) stand. Rear of Apron 2 is an GA parking area with stands G1 to G21, stands 65 and 66 are also noted as situated here.
 
Lighting
My dusk approach to LCLK - Larnaca was quite rousing. It looked really good from the air and that gave me a very good first impression of the scenery.
 


 
Approach lighting to RWY 22 was visually very good and realistic...
 

 
...  note the nice light reflections off the taxiways and Aprons.
 

 
Overall lighting at LCLK is quite good with all areas covered and a lot of the ramp and aprons with spot lighting... Taxiway lighting and guidance lighting is very good, but not visible until close up (on the ground).
 

 
Terminal lighting is very good and you have nice lit glass, but you also feel something is missing? Again that front of terminal carpark is in darkness and close into the terminal which is the inner vehicle roadway is very dark and it makes the whole terminal area feel slightly isolated and overall darker (far lower right) when it shouldn't be?
 


 
Ramp lighting is not too bad and workable, but overall you feel it could have been better. Nice advertising sign in the unilluminated carpark stands out.
 

 
Cargo area is just some (six) spot lighting, and feels a little underwhelming here also.
 

 
Rear Cargo zone is quite good with some nice downlighting, and the old Terminal building is well lit up nicely, but a few outside overhead spot lighting would have lightened the view a bit more, instead it is another darkish area.
 
Services
Cobalt Air, Cypress Airways and Aegean Airlines are based at LCLK. And currently holds domestic, regional and international passenger and cargo services by over 30 airlines and notably that Gulf Air used to provide a non-stop service to New York/JFK twice a week. Most services are seasonal but Aeroflot services both St Petersburg and Moscow as RPT services.
 
WT3
WorldTraffic3 notes. WT3 works here but not very well. Two generations (or retry) of ground routes created a sort of hotch-potch of activity. Too many aircraft disappear at the end of the runway and some even track all the way down the runway to turnaround to takeoff? which is odd as they don't have to. A few gates work around the terminal but most of the stands stay empty and certainly it is an empty non-active space down in the cargo area.
I checked the JustSim ATC routes and they look fine, but do they have that minute detail that makes the flows work correctly? LCLK will need an outside helping hand to see its full WT3 potential.
 
Summary
Overall this is a very solid scenery from JustSim. If you have purchased their excellent scenery in the past then you won't be disappointed here either.
 
LCLK make for an excellent destination and a great addition to your European network, yes flights from central Europe are three hours away, but Italy is only half that distance and so that makes Rome or Sicily great stepping off points.
 
Basically the scenery design is solid and very well done, detail is excellent as is the use of X-Plane11 features in reflections and animations. The blending it to the surrounding native scenery is also well done except for the cut off water edges...  But there are a few areas you feel that is unfinished, like the front terminal carpark and some lighting in the inner terminal areas and more lighting on the aprons and the non-working VDGS displays.
 
These JustSim sceneries are great scenery fillers at a value price, but Larnaca adds in a more interesting destination as well. I believe you will more than likely find this airport a very interesting routing and enjoy the scenery, so it delivers on many counts including great value, so LCLK - Larnaca certainly comes recommended.
 
______________________________________________________________________
 

 
Yes! the LCLK - Laranca International, Cypress by JustSim is Available now from the X-Plane.Org Store here :

LCLK - Laranca International, Cypress
 
Price Is US$19.90
 
Features: Detailed airport objects and vehicles Custom textured taxiways, runways and apron Custom surroundings  Custom airport lights Compatible with X-Plane 11 features Animated ground vehicles (X-Plane 11 only) Shading and occlusion (texture baking) effects on terminal and other airport buildings High resolution ground textures / Custom runway textures High resolution building textures Excellent night effects Realistic reflections on glass World Traffic compatible X-Life traffic compatible Optimized for excellent performance Animated Jetways (plugin by Marginal)   New exclusive feature:     Rain effects on ground     Effect will be controlled by xEnviro v1.08 (and higher) plugin.  
  Cobalt LCA to ZUR is available as well : Cobalt Air Airbus A319 | Cockpit Flight Zurich-Larnaca | Cockpit View from Takeoff to Landing!   Requirements
X-Plane 11+
Windows, Mac, Linux
2Gb VRAM Video Card Minimum, 4Gb+ VRAM Video Card Recommended
Current Version : 1.0 (Feb 22 2018)   Installation Download scenery file size is 602.00mb. With the full installation installed in your custom scenery folder as 1.34gb.   Documents There are no manuals or charts incuded with this scenery.   ______________________________________________________________________
 
Review by Stephen Dutton
7th March 2018
Copyright©2018 : X-Plane Reviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)
 
Review System Specifications:
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.10
Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9  effects US$19.95 : WorldTraffic 3.0 Plugin - US$29.95
Scenery or Aircraft
- ToLiSS319 (A319) by ToLiSS (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$69.00
 

 

That is the tradeoff. The orthos have to be lower-res or you will get a graphic card buster (see TNCM), and as the X-Plane native roads which are more exact to the correct co-ords then the traffic is out as well, in a few years with more processing power and even bigger or say 20GB Graphic Cards we may finally get total nirvana, but we are getting there .

Bit of a headscratcher is this one... I saw the comments on users saying they have appalling framerates, but I never had that? It is heavy on framerate, but really only the same as the usual comparative to say the FF B757/B767, and I have had a few hours on it now. I run xEnviro and WT3 alongside, but a reason might be in the texture settings... I only use "High" and not maximum and my objects down a click, you really lose nothing visually but gain in framerates, X-Plane weather is another factor.
 
To prove my point here are three screenshots...
 
The first is Aerosoft's EDDF with WT3 and Xenviro running and setting up the A320U...  I get 26frames (box in corner enlarged) ? EDDF is pretty heavy and complex scenery
 

 
Second is on approach to ENGM Oslo, again Aerosoft scenery but with some pretty heavy weather around me, I get 28 frames....
 

 
At altitude (say FL340) with no scenery it is around 32-35 frames to a top of 40 frames...  the numbers don't lie.
 

 
So are the users being too greedy in what they want? I think so, I never found the aircraft in a marginal framerate position, so nothing worse or nothing better than the rest with the same complexity...  SD
 
 

Scenery Review : VQPR - Paro International Airport by Cami De Bellis
 
Could you live in the "happiest Place on Earth", and no it isn't Disneyland either? It is actually Bhutan, and yes it does have officially the happiest population on earth as noted daily by Bhutan's "Happiness Indicator" in Bhutan's capital Thimphu.
The Kingdom of Bhutan (འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་ Druk Gyal Khap) is a landlocked country in South Asia and is located in the Eastern Himalayas, and is the place to go to if you want to convert to Buddhism or seek out the truth and become Batman. The Kingdom, also restricts tourism, as only a select number of tourists per year are allowed to visit the Kingdom and then they are tightly, highly regulated and controlled. Entrance to the Kingdom is also restricted by there only being one major international airport at Paro which is 54 km from the capital of Thimphu. And with so few tourists, being totally landlocked from commercial interests including most of the modern infrastructure, stress and bad western television, you can see why they are so happy out there.
 
The Bhutan's also love to have fun with anyone who insists of actually going there, because the only way into and out of Bhutan is via Paro and it is one of the most dangerous landings and takeoffs in the aviation world, and yes VQPR did make it to number 6 of the "most extreme airports of the world" and number 1 was to Antarctica and landing on sea ice.
 
Cami De Bellis
To anyone that has been around X-Plane for a number of years then our dear Cami is well known to most of us since 2008. This nice lady has turned out ton's of wonderful scenery over the years in the mostly the Caribbean Islands and the South Pacific. Her work is usually highly populated with people and objects, but this is Cami's first payware scenery in the VQPR - Paro International Airport in Bhutan.
 
Paro International Airport
སྤ་རོ་གནམ་ཐང༌།
IATA: PBH - ICAO: VQPR
 

 
 
15/33 - 1,964m (6,445ft) Asphalt
Elevation AMSL 2,235 m / 7,332 ft
 
Paro International Airport
There are two major (If you call them a major carriers) in Druk Air and Bhutan Airways (2 A319-100's) based at Paro. Druk Air has been the Bhutan airline for longer since 1981 and started with a Dornier 228 and then switched to a BAe 146 which as you know are both STOL aircraft. But Druk Air now has three A319-100's and one ATR-500 and in 2012 over 181.000 pasengers passed through airport. The very early flights were also constricted by the exact time of landing, the number of passengers on board and even the direction the aircraft was parked on the airport apron being predetermined by the high lama of Paro Dzong, which means he was also the airport's operations manager in another capacity.
 
Your first thought was going to be the "oh easy, I've landed on an aircraft carrier with a Boeing 747 and so I can do that Paro place". But to be a professional pilot of getting passengers in and out of Paro (Not to be confused with Faro Airport) is a tricky business. The above chart shows you what you have to contend with, plus the valleys are well known for their strange winds effects, in fact the winds can vary considerably at various points along the actual runway not considering also on the actual approach paths. There is no ILS here either and nav aids are restricted to just two in a VOR (PARO - 108-40 PRO) and a NDB (410 PR).
 
This is all hand flying folks, no RNAV or computerised help is available either. "Your on your own" and if the weather is its usual changeable self (mostly to the bad) then you have to deal with that as well. Night flying here is strictly not available. In real flying you need a special certificate to be able to land at Paro. Airbus A320's and Boeing A737's can land here but rarely do so because of that required ticket. More importantly is that aircraft of that size would have to very aware of weight and load factors as we shall see, so the A319 is the best aircraft between size and weight here to get the job done.
 
South Approach
So I am going to try the south approach to RWY 33, the rules are very strict, almost carrier like in what to do in an aborted run, you really just climb hard and get yourself quickly out of there.
 
The first part of the approach made me nervous as there was a lot of cloud around with mountain tops breaking through the tops. My equipment is the default Boeing 737-800, a bit big, but easy to handle.
 

 
Your aim is the PRO "PARO" VOR and note it is listed at 11,483ft, Paro Airport is at an altitude of 7,332 ft so there is a difference of 4000ft, but you have to fly over PRO, so you are going to have to still descend a lot more than 4000ft in a very short distance.
 

 
Thankfully the cloud cover cleared as I approached the VOR. Speed is absolutely critical as you go over PRO, your lowering flaps and wanting to go as slow as you can as you head down deep into the Esuna Valley and your aim is 165kts.
 

 
You turn right then left as you swing down the valley and expecting Paro to be in front of you, but it is not, as the airport it is still hidden by Bongde at 8000ft, however you can descend from 11,000ft to 8500ft to take most out of the altitude for landing, however makes sure you don't go too low as Bongde is still there in between you and the airport.
 

 
Gear down at this point as you approach Bongde for the drag, and as you go around Bongde the top of your speed needs to by around 145kts (stall is 130kts depending on your weight). Then like on a roller-coaster as you go over, or slightly around and down to the left and then swing to the right to finally see RWY 33 still way down below you in the valley....  time to descend, steeply.
 

 
It is a crucial point here as your speed will increase quickly as you fall and you need to keep it no more than 163kts to control the landing...
 

 
Even if you get it right, you will still feel you are high and too fast, but RWY 15/33 does give you a fair bit of landing space to get it right and is longer than it actually looks, like I said, total speed control is the key...   my final landing speed was 135knts.
 

 
You could call it the "Space Shuttle" approach because that is what it feels like.
 
You don't really have much time for sightseeing with this approach as your total focus is not over running the 6,445ft runway, which is more like 3500ft by the time you grab the tarmac...  the go around if required is pure carrier operations in full throttle and a full steep climb out.
 

 
There is a small left shoulder to turn around at the end of RWY 33, but it is still a tight turn for the B738, but doable.
 

 
First views around you and the area is full of realistic Bhutan housing and Pagodas and located up into the far distance is the Dzong or to give the building it's formal name the "Rinpung Dzong".
 

 
There are hundreds of custom Bhutan buildings in this scenery that completely fills out this part of the valley, these certainly give you the feel that you are in a very different part of the world as is the largely wooden based architecture. Bhutanese ramp workers greet you in the local costumes, which makes a big difference from the Hi-Vis jackets of norm.
 

 
You will need to have your "Texture Quality" slider at "maximum" as the textures are not high quality and at anything less than the Max setting will give you a slightly blurry look on any of the buildings. At max it is fine and you can set the max, texture quality setting and get away with it in that position because autogen here is almost non-existent and the texture count here is very low as well.
 

 
As approaches go, you feel like you should get your astronaut medal for landing the shuttle from space, the approach is exciting and requires skill, the visual aspects are great as well, so overall a challenging and complex arrival at a high altitude Himalayan airfield.
 
VQPR - Paro
 

 

 
Overall VQPR fits in well to the area. There are joins between the custom scenery and the default textures, but you have to go looking for them, and the basic default textures are a mixed set here anyway that really doesn't help the layout as they are also a very low resolution, so in context the work of intergrating the custom othro textures is well done.
 

 
The runway textures are good, but not sensational. In the real images of VQPR the runways and taxiways are more dirty, harder rubbered in used and tired, with more worn patches and patchy oily areas...
 

 
There is 3d grass as well, but the feature is only used in a few places. Obviously the Bhutanese like to get their lawnmowers out to keep it all spick and span for the selected guests, but 3d grass along the runway and far more other areas would have been nice and more realistic. Where it is placed it looks very good.
 

 
There is also a lot of placed trees. A lot of the trees are those cross-form types that don't work very well with some sun angles (I think they look fake personally) but some trees are really quite beautiful in colour as we shall see.
 

 
Terminals
Paro Airport is an exquisite place for architecture. In our constant sameness of airport terminals in this day and age, then Paro is a place to be treasured.
 

 
Externally and Internally then Paro can only be Bhutanese in its design and feel, it is a beautiful place full of beautiful things. Going through immigration here is a pleasure not the usual painful challenge of today, no wonder the Bhutanese are so happy there.
 
The scenery's reproductions of the two terminals are very good, yes two terminals! The original 1999 terminal (below left) was joined by the newer slightly larger terminal that opened Mar 18, 2016 (Below right). The new terminal is for arrivals only. 
 


 
So this scenery is up to date and the buildings are highly detailed, but the textures are extremely low-res close up and don't reveal too much of their detailing, from a distance it is fine, but it feels texture wise slightly dated in this age of quality 4K textures.
 

 
There is a huge amount of detail included with this scenery, and all very local and not just generic in context as you would expect from most designers. But then again Cami is not your usual designer and here she is in her element in giving you the feel of this very different culture. All people are 3d and a great mix of Bhutanese and Western cultures and the ramps and landside areas are busy, busy places.
 

 
Very rarely do airport administration buildings look like they do at Paro, they are beautiful and part handcarved wood. But then again Control Towers don't look like this anywhere else either? The Fire Station is part of the control tower as well.
 


 
Note the beautiful cherry blossom trees and the flags are animated and flap nicely in the wind. Detailing here is very well done and well conceived and highly realistic (or manicured). Note the highly realistic street lamps, and their lovely detail.
 

 
Landside is very completed of objects and detail, you can feel the slight modernisation around the airport as the Bhutanese are coming more and more into the modern world. There are animated vehicles, but not many and the nice touch is that again they are locally branded and not generic. One is a fuel truck and also a baggage cart.
 

 
North of the terminals and ramp areas is a maintenance area with a large shared hanger for both Bhutan Airlines and Druk Air...
 

 

 
...  and a secondary hangar for general aviation or aviation workshop.
 

 
Tower View
Both approaches are excellent with the tower view. But the charts note that the control tower can't see you until you are on short-finals...
 

 
...     You do however get a great overview of the ramps.
 
Bhutan landscape
The Bhutanese love their ornamental gates called "traditional entrance gates" and there is a wide variety produced here in the scenery, including the more modern traffic version.
 


 
The exotic Bhutanese housing is very well represented, the buildings are very like everything else in Bhutan in being ornamental and also quite basic in design, it comes across like a sort of alpine Indian (Asia) feeling. The buildings are mostly placed along the river Paro Chhu that flows right through the valley and past the airport.
 


 
The highlight of Paro is the Buddhist fortress featuring several shrines & chapels, plus wall paintings and the grand architecture of the "Rinpung Dzong".
 

 
The monastery is situated northeast of the airport and can easily be seen from the ramps. The Kyichu Lhakhang, another important Himalayan Buddhist temple that is situated just north of Paro also on the Paro Chhu but is not represented in this scenery.
 
Lighting
The lighting at VQPR is excellent. Even if that flying at night here is not undertaken. You can see why with those tall dark monoliths each side of the valley and the airport, that are there and just waiting deathly as your ultimate calling card.
 

 
However the runway lighting is really good and effective if you can get in and out of VQPR before the curfew.
 

 
Ramps are very well lit and with the right if perfect light tone. Building lighting is excellent as well, but the standout is the four cross and two globe street lighting...
 

 
...  that is used to maximum effect on the landside areas of the terminals.
 


 
Maintenance hangar gets neon lighting in contrast to the rich lighting everywhere else, which is a nice touch. Paro itself is village like with no street lighting and just window illumination that works well.
 

 
All signage is well lit and prominent, and gives you a very authentic feel to the scenery.
 

 
Departure from VQPR
Getting out of VQPR - Paro is as breathtaking as getting in...
 

 
...   weight is critical to get the maximum performance out of those engines. You are already 7333ft high in altitude and thinner air, so those engine don't perform as well as they do at sea level. Hold the brakes and build up the thrust and then let the aircraft go. You climb, and you climb hard at full thrust.
 

 
You are at 20º pitch and and still the mountains feel too close and riding only on pure upward thrust alone. You feel that thrust pushing you ever upwards, its a hell of a ride, Titan booster style.
 

 
Finally you start to see space...  oh sorry, but still 18,000ft is required as per the charts going straight up to clear the range...
 

 
...   you don't want on that climb for the power to fall off, and so make sure the aircraft can produce it via the weights, finally clear air and a normal climbing pitch of 2500 feet per minute, and there is absolutely nothing normal about getting in and out of Paro, Bhutan.
 
Services
Only Bhutan airlines do most of the services in and out of Paro, and that is because it is restricted....  routes are mostly to Thailand and India, but Indonesia is in there as well, which is a fair distance from the Kingdom.
 
Bhutan Airlines : Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Delhi, Jakar (suspended), Kathmandu, Kolkata, Trashigang (suspended) - Seasonal: Gaya Buddha AirCharter: Kathmandu Druk Air : Bagdogra, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Delhi, Dhaka, Gelephu, Guwahati, Jakar, Kathmandu, Kolkata Seasonal: Batam, Denpasar, Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta, Johor Bahru, Medan, Mumbai, Penang, Singapore, Trashigang (suspended)  

 
Summary
From a pilot's point of view then VQPR - Paro is one of the biggest challenges in aviation. Both approach and departure requires a lot of discipline and skill in getting a medium-sized jet into and out of the airport, so it is exciting and challenging at the same time, but the trick is to do it professionally and not in a gamer sort of attitude.
 
It is a tricky scenery to create. There is a lot of elevation changes and the basic X-Plane textures are not of the Hi-Resolution type you get say in Europe or America as there is a lot of very different texture styles trying or fighting to recreate a Himalayan landscape, which are fine for flying over at altitude, but close up are a bit of a mixed up set of sets. Then you are trying to match in your custom ortho textures into this complex patchwork of textures. In this area Cami has done a great job, but a wider set of ortho textures would have made the job easier and gave you a more proportional and smoother landscape over a bigger distance, Beti-X did that at Bella Coola for a better effect. Then there is the small issue that some textures gave offny winter line patterns behind the airport that is not there when the scenery is removed?
 
There are no built in ground routes? So there is no access to WorldTraffic3, X-Life or the default static aircraft. No pushback or service vehicles are available either...  a big omission for any payware scenery?
 
Overall Bhutan buildings and terminals are really well done and wholly represents the airport in its current fashion, textures are low grade though and it shows up close and even at maximum texture render settings, so it feels to be slight older scenery than it actually is, the textures look a a decade out of date by current X-Plane standards. Runway and taxiway textures needed more grit and dirt, as this runway gets some hard landings and it shows in the real world images, but overall at a distance the buildings work and feel fine as they are very colourful and cheerful, just like Bhutan.
 
As expected with Cami, detailing and sheer object numbers are in placement is excellent with both ramp equipment and 3d people and all areas both airside and landside are covered, the valley is full cultural Bhutan buildings and their also the lovely traditional entrance gates.
 
Overall this is very good scenery, and the bonus of those approach and departure challenges gives you great value for your investment, certainly more other connecting airports in India and Kathmandu in Nepal, would give you more access to the scenery on a route basis, but even as a standalone it is very good scenery to use in X-Plane...   so great work by Cami De Bellis, well done and this scenery is a great entrance to the "land of the Thunder Dragon".
 
______________________________________________________________________
 

 
Yes! the VQPR - Paro International Airport by Cami De Bellis is Available now from the X-Plane.Org Store here :
 
VQPR - Paro Intl Airport, Bhutan
 
Your Price is US$19.95   Features Exact reproduction 3D of the airport buildings, houses, hangars, Dzong, Pagodas and others  Detailed textures and custom objects Reproduction of staff and local people 3D Hand placed 3D trees  Volumetric grass Complete reconstruction of the airport's lighting equipment Detailed ground markings Custom night lighting  Many Animations in and around airport Very detailed 3D Models covering the whole airport Ground Traffic by Marginal   Requirements
X-Plane 11 or X-Plane 10.50+
Windows, Mac or Linux 2Gb VRAM Minimum. 4Gb+ VRAM Recommended  
Installation :  Download scenery file size is 59.60mb. With the full installation installed at 198.60mb in your custom scenery folder.   The CDB-Library v.2.4 is required.
 
Documents
Readme.txt
 
But no Charts supplied. These charts are the best I could find for VQPR -Paro: VQPR_CHARTS
 
WT3 : No ground routes was created for the scenery, so WT3 does not work here?
 
______________________________________________________________________
 
Review by Stephen Dutton
13th December 2017
Copyright©2017: X-Plane Reviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)
 
Review System Specifications:
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.10
Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9  effects US$19.95
Scenery or Aircraft
- Boeing 737-800 Default by Laminar Research (Free with X-Plane11)
 

 

Behind the Screen : September 2017
 
You get great months and then you get those really hard draggy months and guess which category September 17 fell into, yes the second one. Part of the issues is that there is a lot of betas flowing around and September became the update and rerelease month par excellence. The two biggies came out with xEnviro finally coming out with their v1.07 and finally is the word here. And then there was WorldTraffic3 in release as well. Secondary was that a lot of airports scenery (mostly Aerosoft) was also updated to X-Plane11 and so much was updated X-PlaneReviews found it all a bit overwhelming, but as they say when it rains it...
 
All these plugin releases also created a bit of a issue on the system side that has severely slowed the site down over the last few weeks. Plugin conflict is one of the worst things to fix, and far worse when you can't see the actual cause?
 
I actually don't have a lot of plugins running, but three I think are essential in using X-Plane11. One is xEnviro, Two is WorldTraffic3 and last but not least is XPRealistic the excellent motion and effect plugin...  I just can't run X-Plane11 with any of those excellent addons running alongside me in there. But here is the sudden issue in that none of the plugins above suddenly like each other, even if they have all been very good friends all year. Every time I run two or more of the plugins together now I lose my mouse pointer and screen input, menu bar works fine, but not in my main screen, and this issue has caused havoc for weeks now?
 
Your point of view is that why bother and just do the reviews? That is all and good, but that will give you less of the full experience and and very visually with xEnviro and WT3, but underlying is the fact that you need to find the cause and because if it happens to me then it is not going to be before too long before you start being mouseless as well.
 
You expect plugin issues while there is a beta program running and I was running a few side by side, but not with releases? So it is all very confusing.
 
WorldTraffic3
I have been a big part of the development of WorldTraffic3 from the start. But don't get me wrong this is all Greg Hofer's work and not mine, I can only help or encourage where possible and add in ideas on how to make it all work as best as possible.
 
First to note is that the plugin is totally and absolutely horribly complex, that it works at all is simply up to Mr Hofer's genius, but it does work and extremely well, but there are a few comments that have to be laid out to understand that the release of WorldTraffic3 does not mean it is a completed project and that point is actually very far from reality.
 
Mr Hofer can only do so much in making the plugin as efficient and durable as possible, but overwhelmingly WT3 does totally rely on outside layouts being correct and set to being totally effective. If you have any issues with WT3 then look inward at X-Plane11 far more than the actual plugin itself, yes there will be bug fixes and more refinements to come and quickly, but 90% of WT3's issues are not residing in the actual plugin itself but in the X-Plane11 framework that it now uses.
 
Even though the tools to create a really good ATC and ground route structure at airports with WED (WorldEDitor) has been available for awhile, and even if the released airports and mostly with the default Global Airports that reside in your custom scenery folder it doesn't mean that these ATC structures are all created equal.
 
In fact of the many I checked, they were all really quite average with most missing parking position lines and traffic flow lines that are not completed or simply missing. And then WT3 has to interpret this poor layouts and try to make your airports look busy and exciting. When you have a correctly set up ground route structure and I use Aerosoft's ENGM - Oslo scenery as a benchmark, then WT3 is simply astounding in it's operations, but in most cases the layout even if it says on the packaging that the scenery is ATC- Traffic flow is WED compatible is that they usually are not, and this is the biggest hurdle that WT3 and to a point X-Plane itself has to climb over, and not just for WT3 either as these ground routes are becoming more and more important to the effectiveness and general everyday use of the simulator. Then there is the factor of many sceneries and mostly freeware that don't have any ground route layouts at all, and yes I am poking an stick at tdg here as although he makes simply excellent scenery and does astounding work, this one little oversight will cause for most of his work to be totally unusable in the WT3 universe and I am quite angry about that because to insert ground routes for someone as talented as he is at WED is just simply astounding as well.
 
So the point is for WT3 to be a major and important part of your X-Plane experience is that a very significant focus will have to go on and be made on the WED ground route layouts...   then and only then will WT3 deliver the incredible return on the investment you require, in other words don't blame WT3 but fix the fundamental basic issues of WED first and make the whole system work together.
 
I have also noticed that some users are generating auto ground routes and posting them up on the X-Plane.Org. This is really a waste of time and actually a big diversion in the fact these ground routes can for one be very easily generated within WT3 quickly and easily anyway, but worse are they actually "Corrected" or refined ground routes with the sorted correct parking assignments completed and in most cases the answer is no.
Again you want fully well defined or completed ground routes and not just quick and nasty setups that users will take for the real thing and only they make your airport sceneries totally functional with the WT3 plugin, this is an IMPORTANT point to understand, in that the layouts required by WT3 need to be the best we can distribute and fully setup for instant use and be secure in that they will deliver the required standard that we require to make X-Plane the excellent simulator it is. Over the last few months in checking most sceneries we do fall very short or if anywhere near the mark to make WT3 effective at this point.
 
But what I love about X-Plane is that as a collective clever set of tinkerers and changers we do have the skills and talent to fix this ATC WED layouts for the better and quickly, and then distribute the changes for everyone else to benefit from, that is the promise of not only X-Plane as a simulator but for WT3 as well.
 
From this point forward this WT3 icon will tell you in a review of the WT3 layouts and notable points on what does or doesn't work, or if that scenery even does not have the required layouts to generate ground routes. To a point I found most good payware scenery released recently are doing very effective ground routes or at least acknowledge that well set up WED ground routes are now as big a major feature or is a major feature on selling their product.
 
I would like to thank everyone who participated in our fourth anniversary competition in August, of course X-PlaneReviews would like to pick many winners but we have to settle for just five, it was very hard in the end but the final choices were the worthy winners.
 
See you all next month
 
Stephen Dutton
1st October 2017
Copyright©2017: X-Plane Reviews
 

 

Aircraft Review : C208B Grand Caravan HD Series XP11 by Carenado
 
The single Turbo-Prop Cessna 208B Grand Caravan was one of the earliest X-Plane aircraft releases back then in mid-year 2012, that is five years ago now to date.
The first Carenado releases were really average to good, basically test pieces for X-Plane. Both the Mooney and the PA 32 Satatoga felt old before their release, but then in May we got some release images of the Caravan and then in June 2012 the aircraft was released in X-Plane. Finally X-Plane users got the glimpse and a taste of why in Flight Sim Land of all the reverence and praise that was lavished on Carenado. It was back then and to a point still now a great aircraft, but we also saw Carenado for what they really were and more importantly they were also taking X-Plane as a simulation platform seriously. That gamble paid off massively for Carenado as they now dominate most General Aviation releases in X-Plane, although I will admit a few other developers like vFlyteAir and Aerobask are now pushing them harder in quality in what was once only a Carenado domain.
 
There is no doubt that the C208B Caravan has been a huge seller if not their best seller year in and year out for Carenado, and it is not hard to see why. It is an amazing aircraft but versatile as well. The aircraft is basically a workhorse, a short hop regional gap filler for two pilots and eleven passengers, or a single pilot and twelve passengers, and it's speciality is island hopping.
Carenado also then broadened the C208B's already great attraction by an add-on and an extra in the form of a cargo version called the "Super CargoMaster", so now not only could you move your passengers point to point, but also cargo was now also the go. The great suddenly became the brilliant.
 
I am not going to hide the fact that in the last five years I have done a huge amount of flying of both the passenger and cargo versions in this brilliant aircraft, the hours spent in the C208B's left seat are simply to large to count, but it must be a lot. So of the many aircraft I have spent flying in X-Plane then the Caravan must be at the top of my list and it is in my all time list as it came in at number 3. But I will admit with the transition to X-Plane11 the old bird was starting to feel a little worn around the edges, and that is despite a few nice upgrades (v2/v3) in the X-Plane10 run. 
 
So here is the X-Plane11 upgrade. And now this C208B aircraft is now X-Plane11 compatible. You will have repurchase the aircraft in full as well, but the cost covers all updates throughout the X-Plane11 run or about four to five years and Carenado have noted that there will be some great new features coming to the Caravan but not until the other listed aircraft have been upgraded as well, and don't forget that there is still the G1000 Executive version still waiting in the wings.
 
C208B Grand Caravan HD Series XP11
This is both a light overall review and an upgrade review in one, because the original X-PlaneReviews Caravan review is now quite old from 2013 and so I think it requires an update and refresh on the aircraft.
 
The first most significant detail is that the original add-on "Super CargoMaster" package is now part of the overall package. In other words you don't have to purchase a separate package and merge it with the main Carenado C208B Grand Caravan purchase to get both versions, and you can also change to both versions from within the one aircraft and not have two separate aircraft to switch between or reload.
 

 
The standard three Carenado left lower screen tab menus are still here with C for the Views, Field of View and Sound adjustment which the same as usual for Carenado.
 

 
D covers "Doors" in the Pilots and Co-Pilots door(s) (with a great swing down ladder) and a double (upper and swing lower) main Cargo door and on the passenger version a passenger door on the right rear side of the aircraft. The Caravan comes with a detachable lower cargo pod with opening doors, but the selection of opening the pod doors is a separate selection on the cargo, however the pod doors can then only be opened with the right side passenger door on the passenger version which is slightly odd. You can also switch to each the passenger or the cargo version here on this menu tab as well, via the lower left tickbox. (if you change the livery to either a passenger or a cargo version the type will also change automatically).
Livery selection can also be done from this menu in selecting left or right to go through the options, personally I use the XP11 menu as it was quicker.
 

 
O covers the "Options" on the lower third tab. First selection is the optional cargo pod and the then the static elements of Chocks, Tow Tractor, Pivot Cover, Engine and Prop covers. Lower selection allows you to have tinted or clear windows.
 
This options menu also allows you on the passenger version to select the rear seating arrangements with either single seating for eight or single/double seating for eleven. I usually use the eleven seater.
 

 
The option menu on the cargo version is the same except that there is no seating but cargo options.
 
“Load Configuration 1” is with the parcels loaded and that adds “1607” Pounds to the aircraft’s weight.
“Load Configuration 2” is with the parcels removed and no penalty of weight.
 

 
The cargo area is very well presented with the webbing hanging with the space empty and everything tied down tightly with the load on board and when not used the hand aircraft puller is strapped to the rear bulkhead, there is a nice touch to the cockpit rear with a net over the the entrance to keep the cargo in place.
 

 
External Detail
I usually fly with the pod off, my flying in the Caravan is mostly passenger sightseeing or point to point airport connection services.
 


 
The Caravan style is between a pure utility aircraft, but still has a miniature airliner feel as well with all those side windows (seven). For the job it is about perfect and in the real world it is extremely popular and would be a very hard aircraft to replace and most operators usually don't but with another Caravan. Since its first flight on December 9, 1982 and into service in 1983 there has now over 2,500 Caravans built and flying at a cost of US$1.95 million each (2017 costing).
 
External detailing is phenomenal. Every rivet is counted for, all latches, hinges and handles are perfect, (ice) lighting surrounds, lovely flap tracks, vents, animated static wicks and antennas. Glass is superb with great reflections and a very slight convex look.  In reality the earlier detailing on the Caravan is not much different here, but it has been totally enhanced with X-Plane11 features and of course with PBR or Physical Based Rendering (material shines and reflections) and the textures are all 4K and have been reprocessed for the best quality to FPS (framerate) optimization.
 

 
So the most noticeable factor from the earlier Caravans to this version is the sheer gloss on the aircraft and the highlighting of the aircraft's construction.
 
This is mostly highly noticeable with the wing construction and detailing, it is beautiful work, almost perfection. But in certain lighting conditions you get a frazzled feel, it can be a little over shiny for the eye, a slightly more wear and tear feel would be more authentic, but don't get me wrong this is the best of the best in detailing.
 

 
The spinner is now chrome, real chome. Carenado always did do great chrome fittings but the extra shinyness now adds to the effect (X-Plane11 metalness effects). This shinyness is highlighted by the lovely curves of the lower fuselage and the air cooling vents. The Caravan has a powerful Pratt & Whitney PT6A-114A engine connected to that lovely crafted Hartzell 3-Blade Metal, Constant Speed - full feathering propeller...   great stuff.
 

 
Note that huge if slightly ugly right sided exhaust, but it does give off a great whine sound. The aircraft undercarriage support is also superb, there is a lot of animated flexibility and dynamic loading/unloading of the gear that adds amazing authenticity to the simulation. Minor detailing on the internal construction of all the wheels and braking systems are pinch perfect.
 
Open the doors and the extreme detailing is even more evident. Looking into the cockpit you are immediately reminded on why the Caravan was such a big deal back when Carenado first released the Caravan. It was a modern cockpit (mid-80's compared to the other far older Mooney and the PA 32 Satatoga cockpits).
 

 
Internal Detail
That light on dark panel was and still is amazing as is the whole of the Caravan's cockpit. The panel is now even more dynamic with the X-Plane11 dynamic lighting effects, more realism and even more of a great place to be. All instrument and glass is reflective, instruments are all of the highest quality
 


 
Checking around the panel there hasn't been much changed or added except that those tree style manipulators have been replaced by the standard half-moon style manipulators, this is for another reason as well as for just easier manipulation as they are required for the coming VR interaction.
 
Those lovely hide away yokes do also have a working elevator trim, which is very usable. And above your head is still the standard tank switches and oxygen switch and dial readout.
 
Your workplace seating still looks very comfortable and the quality is mindblowing, again the dynamic lighting brings something new to this already very familiar cockpit.
 

 
Instrument Panel
 

 
In reality this is not a really over complicated instrument panel and I think that is the overall sweetness on flying and using the Caravan.
 
The row of engine status dials on the top row are (left to right) Torque, RPM Prop, ITT (Interstage Turbine Temperature), Gas Generator RPM, Oil Pressure PSI & Oil ºc Temperatures, Fuel Flow and both L&R fuel tank gauges dominates the panel, the lovely set of excellent annunciators that can be set for day and night visual brightness or test mode.
 

 
Full Standard Six instruments for the flying pilot and the co-pilot with the Airspeed Indicator, Artificial Horizon and the Attitude Indicator on the top row and the ADF dial, Heading Dial/HSI and Vertical Speed Indicators set out directly below. Pilot has added Turn/Slip indicator below and Radar altitude (x100) meter. Left of SS is a VOR OBS pointer and Bendix King VOR data panel below. Far left is Prop Anti-Ice dial, Clock, and Engine Suction dial and approach marker lights.
A nice working feature is the Voltage dial that has four switchable selections with Gen (Generator), Alt (Alternator), BATT (Battery) and Volt
 

 
lower left is the external lighting switches and lower panel is six switches that covers the aircraft's Anti-Ice protection. There are also four rotary knobs for the instrument lighting which is in-direct and not back lighting, also here is the bottom brake pull and the Inertial Separator T handle that blocks debris coming into the main engine inlet. Air-conditioning and cabin heat switches and knobs are lower panel as well.
 
There is a stand alone electrical and fuse raised box structure to the pilot's left...
 

 
...    switches cover top - External Bus (GPU), Main Battery, Generator and fuel boost. Lower panel - Standby Power, Ignition, Engine Starter, Avionics Standby, Avionics Bus Tie and Avionics 1&2 OFF/ON.
 
By today's standards the avionic package here is quite basic for a working aircraft. Top is a Bendix King KMA 24 radio set, with below a default X-Plane GNS 430 (COMM 1 and NAV1) settings. Mid-panel is a Bendix King KX 165 COMM 2 and NAV 2 (VOR) radio and a Bendix King RDR 2000 weather radar with the X-Plane radar overlaid below.  
 

 
Right stack has top a Garmin GTX 320 transponder then below a Bendix King KR87 ADF radio with finally the Bendix King KFC 150 autopilot. The autopilot has a indication panel and altitude adjustment, vertical speed adjust panel on the pilot's side top right.
 
Throttle Pedestal
Mid lower panel is a nice throttle pedestal. Left to right there is a power lever to be used only in emergencies, then a single main "Throttle" lever with a "beta" reverse gate. The "Prop" lever is for MAX and MIN RPM and gated lower is the feather adjustment. Then there is the "Condition" lever again gated with High and Low idle and the lower gate is the shutoff. Far right is the "Flap" setting in Up - 10º (150knts) - 20º Full (125 knts). 
 


 
Left pedestal is the elevator trim wheel and front panel is the aileron trim knob and rudder trim wheel. There is the main fuel shutoff pull knob as well.
 
Flying the C208B Grand Caravan
I have done this YMLT (Launceston) to YMHB (Hobart) route about twenty times so I know it backwards, with a few heading notes I don't even have to put into the GNS430 a flightplan. It is my usual passenger transfer with a little bit of sightseeing thrown in to the deal.
 

 
I tank up per tank of 765lbs or 1531lbs total with a full weight of 7840lbs, a fair bit of fuel, but then I wanted to return to YMLT directly without refueling at Hobart. A glance around and all the seven passengers are in and the baggage is loaded. I have asked (nicely) for Carenado to put their excellent animated pilot and co-pilot as passengers for years, but still we have to pretend that there people in the rear.
 
Starting up of the Caravan is still one of the great aircraft engine starts in X-Plane. You don't get FMOD sounds here (yet), but Carenado's 3D 180º controlled sounds are just as good if not better for all the different sound ranges and bass depth.
 

 
Put the ignition switch on and set the starter...  you get nothing for a short while and then that familiar faint whine grows from somewhere deep in the front of the aircraft, still the whine grows louder until finally the propeller starts to turn in to action. The start sequence is full automation, hit the switch and just wait. Even after years of flying the Caravan I still question if the External (GPU) actually works? I have pressed the switch (arrowed) but there seems to be no action and the battery has a habit of quickly discharging, so my guess is no.
 

 
Once the engine temps are good I pull the condition lever back to idle and a RPM of around 650RPM. The original Caravan was a little bit faster in the idle, but it looks the new X-Plane11 performance settings have settled it down a little, for taxiing you don't have to fight it as much as you did in the past with far too much power. In fact the 208B feels quite perfect now.
 
Power up and the whine builds, but so does also the deeper turbo grind, so familiar but still neckline hair raising fantastic, this is the Caravan we totally love.
 

 
As noted the 208B is far easier to taxi without fighting the too powerful thrust now in the condition low idle setting, a big nice change...  but don't forget to put the condition lever into the "High Idle" position before takeoff...  or you won't, well takeoff.
 

 
The asymmetric thrust will still pull you really hard to the left with all that very powerful 675shp Pratt & Whitney pushing you forward. So you have to be aware right from the point you let the brakes go to give only a little thrust until you can lock the nose-wheel in straight and then give it full power after a certain speed and usually around 45knts. It works but still with a little deft right rudder. The C208B will however still try to wander and you are working hard with the yoke and the rudder to keep it sweet on the centreline I’m also very heavy here ( 7840lbs) so that slightly helps, but the speed climbs quickly to a rotate at around 95knts. Climbing out and into a turn to the due southwest (210º) I settle in at a 1000fpm (feet Per Minute) climb as 1,234 ft/min (6.27 m/s) is the maximum. But even with this weight the Caravan takes the tight turn and climb all in it's stride.
 

 
As I am so familiar with the Caravan I know its limits, I know how far to push the aircraft before it will fail me, and the 208B has a fair bit of slack in that area, it is a very sturdy aircraft, sweet to fly and manoeuvre but you need a firm straight hand on the yoke and rudder. One thing I do notice more on this XP11 version is the green window tint is quite strong in the glass reflections, it is highly noticeable if not slightly distracting.
 

 
There is the short straight route to YMHB, or the scenic route which is going straight southeast out from Launceston and hitting the coast around the spectacular Freycinet National Park and the famous Wineglass Beach, clients don't mind the extra cost or time as the Tasmanian east coast views are worth the detour.
 
But first you have to climb high to clear the Ben Lomond National Park, and so I set the altitude to 7500 AMSL. My passengers were also not getting a lot of views for their cash either as the cloud cover was pretty extensive...
 

 
The Caravan has a Cruise speed of around 197 mph (171 kn; 317 km/h) and a Range of 1,240 mi (1,078 nmi; 1,996 km) with max fuel and reserves. Your ceiling is an amazing 25,000ft as you have oxygen on board, but I have never really flown over 15,000ft.
 
The Bendix King KFC 150 autopilot is a treat to use, quite simple but effective.
 

 
Vertical speed can be a simple up or down, or you can set the separate digital display in the rate of climb and then ARM the altitude you want to hold. I found that you can't have the manual trim set (via your joystick or in my case x56 throttle twist knobs) as it interferes with the aircraft's trim systems, so I had to disconnect the x56 controls.
 
As I neared the east coast I could descend down through the thick cloud to see if the views would be better and more effective.
 

 
But I would still have to be careful as there is still a fair bit if land elevation around the Wineglass Bay area, in other words it is hilly. Note the blue ignition on warning light? I have lived with this one for years, in the fact that if you start the Caravan with the engine running then the ignition light stays off, but start the 208B from cold it stays on even if the ignition switch is now off, it is more annoying than you think.
 
Coming out of the lower 4000ft cloud base I got a real "whoa" moment. It wasn't dangerous in a sense of the word, but it still needed a hard turn south so it wouldn't become an issue, my altitude was set at 3500ft for the sightseeing.
 

 
My passengers only got a quick glimpse of Wineglass Bay, the weather is nothing I can control, and thankfully the further south I flew the brighter the weather became.
You get a great view out of the Caravan's cabin windows, that is why these aircraft are great in the sightseeing role, but in some lighting conditions the the glass reflections can be very strong.
 

 
In the new strong light you can see the excellent X-Plane11 PBR lighting effects and how beautiful they are on the Caravan, it certainly is glossy and the light is fantastic (I popped the pod back on for the full dynamic effect) but I will admit to debating (with myself) if the Caravan is too glossy in this form, sometimes it feels like there is to much gloss and other times it is just right, so I am in neither camp.
 


 
I have spent countless hours over the years looking over this view out of the Caravan, I still totally love it and you still admire how great an aircraft it is.
 

 
The Caravan is one of Carenado's greatest successful aircraft even after all these years, that actually comes with no great surprise, and now in X-Plane11 form it certainly goes up a notch again.
 

 
Time is getting on and the light is starting to fade. I usually go further south and around the peninsula and give the patrons a view of the Port Arthur Convict site as part of the deal, but today I am taking a short cut over Blackman Bay and directly to Dunalley Bay which leads into Frederick Henry Bay.
 

 
The views are still spectacular, and once over the passage I see YMBH's lights far to the west of Frederick Henry Bay .
 

 
I drop the altitude another 1500ft to 2000ft and start the approach phase as the light faded more...
 

 
The Caravan's amazing instrument panel in-direct lighting (the main Standard Six dials are also backlit) is still spectacular, it is adjustable as well. Overhead lighting is provided by a single roof mounted light that gives the cockpit area and the panel a more workable light, the adjustments knobs though even with the new manipulators can still be hard work, you have to grab and pull hard to make the knobs turn, there is also plenty of spaces for extra lighting switches on the lighting panel.
 


 
But the lighting overall is disappointing. Carenado pioneered great lighting effects that allows spot lighting to be adjustable, fade in and out and manoeuvrable in aircraft cabins. But here it is just plain dark back there, and the external Ice/Wing light doesn't work either?
 

 
Externally you have taxi and landing lights on both outer front wing edges, and the standard beacon and great strobe effects.
 
It may or may not be correct per the performance of the C208B but I always put the condition lever to the "low Idle" position before landing, yes you lose a slight bit of performance...  but rather that than the huge fight to control the speed after landing with the thrust level too high to stop you cleanly and without wavering all over the runway and then losing direction in trying to bring "that damn lever back" to control the aircraft, I find I still have enough power and more control with it set even in the "low idle" position.
 

 
I am learning that the performance of aircraft in X-Plane11 is quite different than before in X-Plane10. Certainly in the final landing phase. In the Caravan that sense is heightened. 
 

 
The area in question is throttle management, the ratio of speed to power. The stall point of the Caravan is 70knts, but let the airspeed drop below 100knts here on approach and you suddenly lose height, this is becoming a common theme if you have been reading other reviews since X-Plane11's release. The control is there and luckily the flap limits are quite high on the Caravan with 150knts for 10º and full (20º) at 125kts, so you drop 10º then adjust your speed then later the full 20º to 75knts on final approach.
 

 
But by controlling the throttle (which you do a lot) can gain you either more height with more power or with less throttle to lose height, pure aircraft control. Certainly this effect was there before in older X-Plane versions, but the effect in X-Plane11 is certainly more finer and more noticeable now in the feel factor. I find it quite exciting and I feel I am having more control over the aircraft in flight, a fine tuning area but a very important one and the Caravan really brings that effect out more than other aircraft I have flown lately in the past. In other words you are flying far more by you throttle inputs as much as your hand and feet input.
 

 
Get it right and you will boast about your landing for days, but it does take a fair bit of practise to be perfect.
 

 
One highly noticeable change in the XP11 version is the "beta" or reverse thrust position that gives you full reverse thrust after landing. It still works as usual by the gauge (arrowed) on the Prop dial, but you don't get that "roar" of sound you used to have? It is now more of a whimper? (I checked both high and low idle positions).
 

 
Passengers note the trip as "exciting" and "amazing" but I have flown the route in better conditions, but there is overall a more intimate feel with this X-Plane11 version than I can remember in the past with the older X-Plane versions of the Caravan, and that is a really great thing.
 
Liveries
The sets of liveries for both the Passenger and Cargo versions are the same as in the past, and any older liveries that you have collected don't work either. 
Included is for the Passenger version the: standard blank, Camo (camouflage), Exec 1, Exec 2 and that excellent GoTropical.
 



 
There are three Super CargoMaster liveries with the: Civil, FedEx and DHL. You get the Civil Cargo livery with the package and the two other liveries in the FedEx and DHL can be downloaded here.: Carenado FreeLiveries
 


 
Summary
This Cessna 208B Grand Caravan and optional Super CargoMaster has been one of the most successful Carenado aircraft in X-Plane to date, and it is really not hard to see why. I have loved the Caravan and more than most aircraft in X-Plane over the last four years because it is so versatile and just really a great aircraft to fly.
 
The release of the Caravan in X-Plane11 bring certainly all the great features of the new platform including PBR (Physical Based Rendering) and the performance enhancements that are really noticeable in the pilots seat. The added feature of both the passenger and super cargomaster versions together in one package also adds hugely into the appeal. A lot of work has gone into the quality of the detailing for X-Plane11 and quality is what Careando are known for.
 
But in another point of view, if you know the Caravan really well you won't really notice anything new or different in new features, from the pilot's seat you have the same position as you always have had but just only now in X-Plane11 with its excellent features, that is a positive but also a slight negative.
The lighting feels old, because internally it is compared to most later Carenado releases and the no Ice/wing light is highly noticeable, no new liveries over four years is not going to be fun either and since now the older custom ones now don't work either. (I lost fifteen liveries, gulp)
 
Carenado have noted though that FMOD audio, full VR support, SASL 3.0 upgrade, re-vamped pop-up windows and more are coming along in the update path, so my advice is to enjoy now and that more changes and features will come along as part of the overall package.
 
This is as noted a new purchase of the aircraft in full as well, but the cost does cover all updates throughout the X-Plane11 run or for about four to five years and any new features that Carenado have promised to add in to the overall package and I think that is overall a very good deal.
 
So here is one of the greats, and the Grand Caravan now comes in X-Plane11 clothes and performance. If you have read this full review, then you would know how important this aircraft is to my X-Plane flying, now in X-Plane11 the flying can now go on (and on) and I know I will absolutely love every moment of it, as a validation of a great aircraft this Grand Caravan is then one of the very best and you simply can't go any higher than that... 
 
_____________________________________________________________________________________     The C208B Grand Caravan HD Series XP11 by Carenado is NOW available!  at the X-Plane.OrgStore

208 Grand Caravan HD Series
 
Price is US$34.95
 
Notes:
For WINDOWS users: Please ensure that you have all the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables downloaded and installed (click here)
Features: Specially designed engine dynamics for XP11.
Flight physics designed for XP11 standards.
Ground handling adapted for XP11 ground physics.
Physically Based Rendering materials and textures.
PBR materials authored with industry-standard software used by the film and gaming industries.
X-Plane GNS430 (FPS friendly)
Ice and rain effects
VR compatible click spots.
Goodway Compatible.
Realistic behavior compared to the real airplane. Realistic weight and balance. Tested by several pilots for maximum accuracy.
Dynamic loading/unloading of 3D parts and plugin logic for FPS optimization.
 
Requirements:
Windows XP - Vista - 7 -10 or MAC OS 10.10 (or higher) or Linux
X-Plane 11
CPU: Intel Core i5 6600K at 3.5 ghz or faster.
Memory: 16-24 GB RAM or more.
Video Card: a DirectX 12-capable video card from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel with at least 4 GB VRAM (GeForce GTX 1070 or better or similar from AMD)
570MB available hard disk space
 
Installation and documents:
Download for the C208B Grand Caravan HD Series is 498.40mg and the unzipped 589.20mb file is deposited in the "General Aviation" X-Plane folder with this aircraft version X-Plane11 only.

Documents
C208B GC Normal and Emergency Procedures PDF
C208B SC Normal and Emergency Procedures PDF
C208B GC Reference document PDF
C208B SC Reference document PDF
KFC150 Autopilot PDF
Recommended Settings XP11 PDF
 
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
Review by Stephen Dutton 16th August 2017 Copyright©2017: X-PlaneReviews   (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)   Review System Specifications:
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - GeForce GTX 980/SSE2 - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.02
Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro US$69.90 : XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9  effects US$19.95
Scenery or Aircraft
- YMLT - Launceston, Australia 1.2.0 by CDG (X-Plane.Org) - Free
- YMHB - Hobart International Airport & YCBG Cambridge Aerodrome 1.0 by tdg (X-Plane.Org) - Free
- AustraliaPro 2.03 Beta by Chris K (X-Plane.Org) - Free (recommended for any Australian flying!)
 

 
 

X-PlaneReviews : 4th Anniversary Competition!
 
X-PlaneReviews : 4th Anniversary Competition! Winners!
Thanks for everyone who entered our 4th Anniversary Competition and the winners are!
 
Tinmug - Finalist  DC3 FlyGal - Finalist  MD88 Grant543 - Finalist A330 Pilotofnothing - Finalist PA28 vFlyteAir Sukhoi Baron - Finalist - B737  
Winners will be contacted by the X-Plane.OrgStore over the next few days (Don't email the store till they contact you).
Thanks Again...
 
X-PlaneReviews is four years old, but who is counting?  age is in the mind not the body right. But with all the seriousness around us we should celebrate a significant milestone and so we shall, by feeling great and giving lots of free stuff away. 
 

 
So thanks to the generosity of developers and the X-Plane.OrgStore we have a lot of very nice aircraft for you to win.
 
Five Winners can choose one aircraft from:
 
FlightFactor/VMax Boeing 777
FlightFactor/VMax Boeing 767
FlightFactor/VMax Boeing 757
FlightFactor  Airbus A350
FlyJSim Boeing 727
 
All aircraft are on offer in the competition and only for the month of August 2017 and CLOSES midnight 31st August 2017
 
So how do you win the prizes!
 
We want to know what you think is the best aircraft in X-Plane, but the aircraft must have been in a review that has been released by X-PlaneReviews.
 
So you have to refer to the review in X-PlaneReviews...   a link is worth more brownie points...   Example:
 
------
 
Aircraft Review - DC-3/C47 by VSkyLabs Flying Lab Project
Then give us 150 words on why you think it is the best aircraft in X-Plane and why it is worth the purchase.
 
-------
 
Conditions for entry
Just insert your entry on only this page below to enter and sorry only one entry per user is allowed so make it count. No X-PlaneReview review connection will mean your entry is invalid for the competition.
 
The competition is only open to joined members of this X-PlaneReviews site, so you have to log in to enter.
 
X-PlaneReviews have the rights to republish the winners on this and other sites. Winners will be picked on detail and originality of their answers, and winners prizes are final and the prizes are supported with updates, but not upgrades. Winners are drawn 1st September 2017.
 
Do your best and enjoy, I am looking forward to seeing what your views are on X-Plane products.
 
Stephen Dutton
5th August 2017
 

 

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
 

   

Yes like a cloud of dust ELANPORT is gone! poof!
 
A real waste as his work was top notch, but he just disappeared off the face of the earth...  SD

Yeah, I don't like the Elanport registration Either...  not realistic.

Behind the Screen : July 2017
 
This edition of "Behind The Screen" brings X-PlaneReviews to its 4th Anniversary or four years into the world of X-Plane simulation and all its glories.
1st August 2013 was the start date and here we still are in 2017. I am surprised more than you would be actually. My usual personality was that I would totally devour any fascination with something within months, then move my attention quickly on to something else and then devour that, so I expected my then X-Plane fad to pass within a few months, soon bored and then wanting even more simulation from another source and that is how I have lived my life. But no here I still am and that from my perspective that is eternally fascinating.
 
The so called fad started earlier, back in 2011. A Mac Mini and X-Plane9, then my trusty iMac of which still all the X-PlaneReviews work is still outputted from, but a move to Windows was required to run X-Plane in a serious requirement for the site. Before X-PlaneReviews I wrote for XSimReviews, a crazy place with Simon and Chip but a great introduction to the X-Plane community, then a short spell with ASN (Aerosoft Sim News) but then the option to run my own site was a call from the ether and thus X-PlaneReviews was created 1st August 2013.
 
So then why am I still doing X-Plane. Why still the total fascination with a simulation program for aircraft? My first reasons was to fly, or fly correctly. Being slightly deaf since childhood an actual career in aviation was never going to happen, but I love aviation in all its forms. The odd thing was that I was pointed to X-Plane because it was the best simulator for a Mac, I tried early Microsoft simulators and Fly! but I have been always a Steve Jobs believer (even through the weird times) and so X-Plane it had to be. In some ways I saw the Steve Jobs vs the monolith Microsoft as part of the X-Plane to Flight Simulator or the creative vs monopoly and I still think that is still relative, but like Apple then X-Plane is getting the traction with the best product.
 
But it still comes back to the point of why am I still totally fascinated with X-Plane. There are a load of reasons, but basically the simulator is still totally endlessly interesting, very creative and very diverse. You don't have to be totally in love with aviation to be part of it (though that does help) but it does attract very creative people willing to donate their time. Many move up higher to not only contributing to X-Plane but making their living from it. Let us get this straight that no one will ever be made rich from X-Plane except for maybe Laminar Research, but that is missing the whole point on why it actually works.
 
There is always a lot of comment out in the world that life is better when you have stuff, bigger house, better car and a load of cash in the bank, it helps of course but in reality it is a very empty existence, our world today is built in to create status and yet in reality do we really admire tossers that in reality contribute nothing but only take for their own vanity and undeserved accolades for being in reality only shallow human beings, and for some reason these tossers actually think they are better than you and me for reasons only known to their selfish selves.
 
X-Plane is actually the opposite of that, and thankfully the simulator does show that a.. human beings can actually get along with each other, b..  that there are no racial or continental barriers and that we live in a brilliant unthought of online electronic world were we are all connected together by one endeavour to do something that we all can participate in together with a common goal in to learn, be creative and to contribute. X-Plane is the internet dream come true in reality, a modern day society and an entity to itself. There is no doubt more and even bigger online societies than X-Plane, but it is its ideals and goals that give it a status we should all be proud of. More importantly is the fact the simulator is fulfilling, by giving you receive, X-Plane gives you something you can't buy...  happiness.
 
X-PlaneReviews and in fact my reasoning for being part of X-Plane is to be part of the living organism and give to build a better place for people to enjoy a community. The aim of the site is to promote peoples creativity, guide and to showcase what X-Plane has to offer the world.
 
My place is not to put myself on a pedestal and say this or that is good or not. Obviously as the standards in the simulator are getting now to a very high level, certainly as X-Plane11 takes the level now quite high in quality and demands. My position is to highlight the great work being done out there and what we can experience on our screens in real time flying. Photorealistic vision is now commonplace and not just in your dreams, as noted the standards are now extremely high, and to a point a high barrier for any new budding developer that wants to enter the market.
 
This is now far removed from the time I started in X-Plane, the basics in reality has not changed, but everything else has. My contribution with this site is to showcase X-Plane to the world and spread the gospel, but also to be source of information to enhance your simulation experience. To a point a lot of it is very complicated and needs to be explained in layman's terms but it is in the hints and the way I use X-Plane that others can get the very best out of the simulator as well. The site has always promoted talent and creativity, and although I would like to cover almost everything released for X-Plane but that is simply not possible. So I see the site as a sort of filter to what is very good to brilliant, or items that do have potential in X-Plane in the future, or simply what is very good does always rise to the top. This does result in most times that reviews are more to the positive than the negative, that is because I mostly only filter out the areas that are in the average or to not waste your time on.
 
Opinions and criticism is an interesting area, we are a review site, but the points are that we are reviewing the items for two audiences, one the paying purchasers and two the creators and developers of the product for X-Plane. For the first you want an overall view of the product you are paying for and is it worth your hard earned cash.
The important element to our reviews which I have stated numerous times is what I call the "value" aspect of what you purchase. Anything bought has no value unless you use it, and often. Scenery is the most notable because it is out there somewhere unless you actually fly there, if you never fly there then it is waste of money and to those who do hoard huge collections of scenery freeware or not, then it still has no value unless you use it and the same with aircraft in the fact if you don't fly it it has been a waste of cash. So purchase or download only what you will actually use, and build up clever networks that take full advantage of the X-Plane experience, I know because I was the worst hoarder ever...  I mean ever!
 
Reviews of developers products is a harder game. No one and certainly not me wants to criticise someone's great work and worse have them have the loss of sales at the release, this is their reward time after all. But the aim is to be fair to both parties.
The buyers deserve something good for their cash and in my mind at least a certain level of quality and features for the purchase price, the problem is as noted is that the level is going up and up and is now quite high.
 
But let us be frank that some of developers are asking more than their actual product is worth for the return on their investment, a bigger problem lately is that to many developers are now releasing product before they are ready for the market and then get really annoyed when you point that actual fact out, the "I'll release it and fix it up later" is better left to Apple and other online business than X-Plane. Certainly I understand that everything in X-Plane is always under development and nothing is in reality is ever finished, but the prospect of cash coming in can in most cases totally override the point of reason in that the product usually only needed a more short points of time to clean up the and fine tune the product and it is usually only a few months extra work for bigger sales. They just don't see that a reputation is hard earned and is just as easily lost by assuming that the punters will simply buy what they put in front of them and are aghast in the fact that reviewers will note that their product is not actually ready for sale. But come to their next release and the punters are certainly are going to be wary even if the product is far better. Reputation is consistency and quality, get the equation right and you will do well, the best and successful developers are the ones that take care of the tiny details as much as as the broad canvas.
 
Some developers do get your admiration as well. They release, but work quickly and efficiently to deliver a fully rounded product in a short period of time and quickly do sort out the areas of bugs and details.
 
So criticism is a fine line between noting the issues and not deriding the product, an issue is an issue to be faced and fixed, If you don't note it then a thousand voices on the forums will tell you anyway and there is the point to be made. X-PlaneReviews does note that, It is not a personal vendetta on any developer or product, but the simple fact there are areas to be addressed on the product and its purchase price, and that X-PlaneReviews is still here after four years and for many more it is testament to that. Credibility is hard won in the age of "fake news" but in reality I think it is needed now more than ever to give users the best information and the best ideas that X-Plane has to offer, but overall the past four years the development has been astounding and more this year than any of my past time in X-Plane have I had with no exaggeration more jawdropping experiences from the return from the simulator.
 
X-PlaneReviews Site
The X-PlaneReviews site has evolved as well. On the surface the layout has not changed that much in many ways, but it has in lots of others. We are bound by the IPB board systems layouts, but that is to our advantages and not the negatives. Yes we have twiddled with various ideas and layouts, but the one we use is there for a reason. The main objective is that the site is available to everyone and everywhere.
 
Yes we could have loads of fancy huge graphics (I am a graphic designer) and loads of buzzy animation, but the site is built around speed to download, and to be perfectly available on every platform from desktop to smartphones to tablets and any other portable device we use. There is no use in have big expensive graphics if you can't scale them on to the various different devices, and what looks nice on a desktop, is mostly horrible on an iPhone or iPad, so simple layouts do have a job to do and we have worked very hard not only in the look of the site but in the way the reviews are actually laid out on all the platforms.
 
Changes on the IPB have helped in site over the years as well, but the biggest has been the ability to size the images in the site. This aspect gives you the flexibility to highlight areas in the review, but in most cases just to show off the great images you can now achieve in X-Plane, which are almost photographic quality in X-Plane11. 
 
One area that is a minor note is that every now and again the IPB will do an in house update. These updates over the last few years have created a few visual issues in the way the layouts are set out in the reviews. They scrunch up was they lose their spacing and a few graphics in logos have disappeared?  The reviews can be edited back to their correct form and we endeavour to cover them all, but we did do them and then the IPB reupdated and sent them all back to zero again, so yes a few reviews are not laid out correctly, but we are getting through them and reediting (again) them back to their correct form. Problem is there are over a thousand reviews now, so it takes time to fix them all up.
 
X-Plane Simulator
Overall it is the sheer change the X-Plane simulator has created within the years that have been part of the experience. When I started most simulation punters were noting the end of the desktop simulation and that the golden years were now behind it. The naysayers went on and on that the shrinking hoards were going to other areas to get their thrills. Personally I think that is a load of tosh. In fact X-Plane when I joined had only 183.000 registered users, currently officially there are 464,709 registered users and yes a certain amount of the registrations are not regular users, but the numbers are still rising, still joining and X-Plane will certainly pass half a million users by the years end. That is not simulation in retreat.
 
You feel it in reviewing as well. When I started reviewing you had maybe a major payware release twice a year, maybe three. Now it is mostly bi-monthly with groups of major releases before the Christmas and Easter holidays. Mostly there was a feature release of say a scenery or plugin twice a month, now it is mostly three a week, we used to have slow periods and heavy periods, now you are busy every week, every day. 
Most weeks we try to post two to three reviews, so take a few days off or have a holiday (ha!) and you quickly fall behind.
 
Workload
There is certainly an enormous amount of information to process, a huge amount to learn and layout for you to read. And the sheer depth of the simulation now in X-Plane was simply unthinkable when I started.
Setting up scenery and certainly aircraft does take time. Most high-end aircraft take around twenty minutes even before you start the engines, just like the real thing and if your computer is having an off day and won't co-operate even if you yell at it, then it gets all a little of "hows your father".
 
A few tricks can save time. I try to vary the reviews as much as I can to not bore you to death with the same scenery and viewpoints. But solid routes can and does help in comparison between the different versions of the same aircraft and it does a sort of continuity in the same theme. But a lot of the time is wasted in programming out FMS (Flight Management System) navigation systems. I have created cheat sheets that covers all SID/STAR and waypoints with required the frequencies for certain routes. The main area that you lose time is finding correctly working waypoints and SID and STAR routes, certainly you can download routes from the internet, but these are tried and tested inputs that will deliver the complete gate to gate required route without any complications across a variety of aircraft. It works, but mostly in the fact that when I input the route in it will not give me an error to be found in a non-existent fix or a STAR that is not correct with the runway (A lot of STAR's will turn you in too close to the runway or send you miles away to an odd entry fix, just try LIRF if you want to have some fun).
 
But the wonderlust does still happen, that draw that should have faded years ago is still there, not flying and you get ichy, even addictive, you just want more and X-Plane is the drug that just keeps on giving...  I just hope I don't end up in Rehab!
 
July 2017
I nearly did end up in care in July. After a heavy six months my eyesight finally gave up early in the month after another bad cold in late May that I never really got over. Blurred vision, bad headaches and a drop in eyesight meant I needed new glasses. But it was still a week with the old ones till they arrived. Then the last week of July I got another cold that floored me again and this is the third this year...  I am so over colds.
 
It was a busy month as well with plenty of releases, with some really great scenery including LAXv2, Salvador Bahia and ENBR-Bergen Norway. The X-Plane11 compatibility aircraft roll-out continued as well with aircraft from Carenado with their B1900D, B200 and PA-34 Seneca V. Rotate updated their amazing MD88 Pro to v1.31 and SSG updated their E-170 and B748 and Wilson's Aircraft DC-8 got the compatibility make over as well.
 
I really liked the work in progress DC-3 by VSKYLABs, Great to fly, but slightly hindered by average textures, I think it is a great DC-3 for X-Plane and one aircraft to watch and at that price a real steal if there ever was one, it was an aircraft you just couldn't forget or want to move on from.
 
So there was a few reviews I didn't get around to in July because of the colds and don't mention a summer holiday will help. I live in Australia and it is winter here (like in Games of Thrones) and not in the hot throws of summer, so hopefully August will be a time to catchup.
 
I am still in throes with XPRealistic Pro's, amazing effects and did a landing at SBSV Salvador in the default B737 that I replay to death just to experience it over and over again, well worth the money.
I am still a huge fan of xEnviro, but the developers are wearing a lot of users patience really thin in July almost to the point of breaking point. Their instance to wait for the next update in 1.07 is fine, but it is eight months since the last update? The real issue is their insistence of the plugin being directly connected to their server to work, fine, but again if the server goes off line which it has done three times in July then you get a bad CTD (Crash To Desktop) on either starting up XP or in mid-flight. I myself lost a full days work because the sever was off line for a full day, then the work had to be totally redone to match when the server came back on-line, xEnviro has its moments with frame-rate crashes in X-Plane11 as well, that also needs an update...    And here is crux of the problem.
The xEnviro team is doing itself no service and other developers should to take note on how to NOT create a good reputation and the subsequent loss of future sales by not doing a simple service update. The problem is worse by the fact xEnviro have boxed themselves into a corner in the fact that the big update coming is now months overdue as problems arose, and those problems are compounded that the big update is too far along now to fix even the basic areas that need addressing.
 
The lesson to all developers here is keep it simple and have regular updates. Just an earlier simple update to bring the plugin up to X-Plane11 compatible and unlink the plugin from the server if it is down, would have saved them (and us) a lot of torment. Users would have been more than happy to wait a longer period for the bigger featured update as their current "updated" version still runs nicely along, instead xEnviro gets a lot of very bad press every time it does a donkey and a lot of flack... and to be honest it is mess of their own creation...  that is the lesson to be learn't, but will they learn it? 
 
So July 2017 was a chaotic month, but with X-PlaneReviews starting into it's fifth year we will move on and to something bigger and better. The site is as always reliant of other people to function. First thanks goes out to all the developers that give out such outstanding work, they all have created this amazing intimate world with their creativity. I spend a lot of time with many of them, and although they wonder why I am there suddenly 100% then disappear only to reappear again later and it is that because there are so many projects ongoing, and I try to follow all of them, but time is limited. Overall I try to see for the benefits of X-Plane on how the work is going forward.
 
Laminar Research is always a foundation we constantly complain about, but in reality they have really delivered in the last few years. It is a far more professional business today than when I entered X-Plane. Give them a round of applause I think they have deserved it.
 
The X-Plane.Org and the X-Plane.OrgStore is the centre of our X-Plane universe, take both out of the equation and would X-Plane be were it is today, would this site even exist? I would doubt it. A lot of users note it is a monolith, but I see it as a steady hand in allowing the simulator to thrive as passionate people give a lot of their free time to help and give service to so many others, both Laminar Research and the X-Plane.Org are two binary stars orbiting each other that keeps the balance and the X-Plane engine running, surviving, so it is important we support both.
 
I have no problem in saying X-PlaneReviews supports the X-Plane.OrgStore because they do supply a lot of the releases for reviews, it allows us to cover a far larger area than most review sites, but my real reason for supporting the X-Plane.OrgStore is because it supports X-Plane in the best way it can in service, and developers trust it and the users do as well, in other words it is a sound foundation you can rely on and that is a rare thing in this day and age.
 
But overall it is the users, you that make X-Plane work...   see you all next month.
 
Stephen Dutton
1st August 2017
Copyright©2017: X-Plane Reviews
 

 

News! - Aircraft Release - PA-44 Seminole by Alabeo
 
Continuing the run of Native American aircraft names after Navajo, Chieftain and now here comes the PA-44 Piper Seminole from Alabeo for X-Plane. The Seminole is a twin-engined development of the a development of the Piper Cherokee single-engined aircraft and is primarily used for multi-engined flight training.
 

 


 
The aircraft has been in production since the Seminole was built in 1979-82, in 1989-90, and again since 1995 to the present. The Seminole resembles the competitive Beechcraft Duchess because of its high-T tail configuration.
 
The Seminole is designed with the old world dials and gauges, but a very nice equipment stack gives you the best of both worlds.
 


 
High quality Alabeo/Carenado design insures great flying and in comfort.
 


 
Features Include:
Custom sounds
Full Xplane 10.5 and X-Plane 11 compatible
Volumetric side view prop effect
High quality 3D model and textures.
Blank texture for creating your own designs.
Accurately reproduced flight characteristics
64-bit
FPS-optimized model.
 


 
Included in the package is:
5 hd liveries
1 Blank texture
Normal Procedures PDF
Emergency Procedures PDF
Performance tables PDF
PA44 Autopilot PDF
Quick Reference PDF
Recommended Settings PDF
 

 
 
Technical Requirements required are:
Windows XP -7-8 (or higher) or MAC OS 10.8 (or higher) or Linux
Fully XP11 Compatible or X-Plane 10.5x
i5 (or equivalent) 2.5 GHz - 8GB RAM - 2GB Video card
435MB available hard disk space
 

 
The PA-44 Seminole is available right now from Carenado for both X-Plane10 and X-Plane11...
 
______________________________________________________________________
 

 
The PA-44 Seminole by Alabeo is NOW available! here :
 
PA44 Seminole
 
Price is US$32.95
 
Images & Text are courtesy of Carenado©
Developer site : Carenado.com
______________________________________________________________________
 
Stephen Dutton
5th May 2017
Copyright©X-Plane Reviews: X-PlaneReviews