Stephen

Aircraft Review : VAN's RV-10 by Digital Replica
 
The American based Van's Aircraft RV-10 is a four-seat, single-engine, low-wing homebuilt aircraft that is sold in kit form by Van's Aircraft. It is the first four-seat airplane in the popular RV series. The RV-10 first flew on 29 May 2003, and the first kit parts were delivered to a customer in September 2003.
As of October 2019, 933 RV-10s have been completed and flown so this is an immensely popular aircraft in this category. The total price of the standard-build kit is around US$46,090, which did not include an engine or any avionics. A "quick-build" option is also available at  $59,530 of a fully equipped aircraft.
 
Digital Replica released their Twin Cessna 310L last year for X-Plane11, so here is their second release in this Van's RV-10 kit aircraft, and what a surprise the aircraft is....  as of first glance it looked all of a bit ordinary.
 

 
The tail shape gives you the first impression of a Mooney, in fact the RV-10 looks like a modern day Mooney if the company had survived (still debatable) and had gone into a more lighter aircraft category. Dig deep and the RV-10 has a lot of great detail as the modeling and panel detail is first rate, the pre-drilled rivet holes construction method is really well done and very authentic to the eye....
 

 
....   fuselage and wing shapes are exceptional and really well modeled, with extreme convex and concave shapes are all almost perfect, highlights are under engine air inlet (landing light) and perfect engine inlets, NACA ducts are also well done on the fuselage. Glass is extremely good as well with great shaping and reflections, only note is that the glass is a bit too newish in feel with no wear, tear or marks, or altogether a bit too thin and clear.
 

 
Both doors swing open upwards, but the rear locker baggage door doesn't open?
 

 
Internal cabin is really well trimmed, not up to the extreme Aerobask standards, but not far off that degree... 
 

 
Vinyl and cloth inserts on the seating is all really well done, the rear seats look a little square, but remember this is a home built aircraft, seatbelts are all 3d four point harnesses. Roof metal panel shaping and detailing is simply outstanding and highly realistic. Note the highly detailed headphones work if you touch them in lowering the internal noise.
 
Fully working joystick includes CWS (Control wheel steering), AP DISC (Autopilot disconnect), GA (go Around), Trim and PPT (push to talk) buttons (via keyboard inputs)...  under panel and the rudder pedals are well designed and fully functional.
 

 
Instrument Panels
The section heading says Panels plural, not Panel. So we need to look at the extensive Menu to see why.
 
The menu selection is four choices lower bottom left of your screen for: Aircraft Configuration, Load Chart, Checklist and Updater.
 

 
Aircraft Configuration
You have a smorgasbord of options for the setup of the aircraft. First are two options for the panel are in "Analog" or "Garmin 1000"
 
Analog gives you all dials in King KFC150 Autopilot Flight Control System with two KX155 NAV/COM and the engine management are all analog gauges.
 

 
Garmin 1000 is the standard Laminar Research G1000 avionics panel with built in engine management readouts
 
Next is the choice of :King KFC150 Autopilot Flight Control System with two KX155 NAV/COM and a EDM engine monitor system, or....
 

...    a King KFC150 Autopilot Flight Control System with the two GNS430 & GNS530 GPS and EDM engine control....  or G5 PFD and G5 HSI with GFC600 Autopilot, GNS430 & GNS530 and EDM engine control...
 

 
...  or swap the EDM monitor system for the analog gauges? or in any combination. Also the choice of Push/Pull - Throttle/Prop/Mixture to Quadrant levers.
 

 
Note the Garmin GMA 340 radio below with a matching transponder...  you have to admit it is all very impressive for choice.
 
Other panel highlights are the EDS IP system (lower left) which consists of an intelligent peripheral setup on which each of the four oxygen outlet stations has a micro-controller that constantly monitors respiratory aspects of each occupants with N - Night and D-Day modes
 

 
The EDM - Digital Engine Management is a unit that monitors the engine conditions. Buttons are used to select the Lean Find mode which is used to find the exhaust gas temperature lean of peak, cycle between parameters and adjusting the brightness (more below).

All contact (fuse) breakers work and shows system depth. The EDM pops-out for ease of use as does the G5 PFD and G5 HSI instruments for the cockpit builders... 
 

 
....     the two GNS430 & GNS530 GPS units and PFD and NAV/MAP G1000 displays also pop-out as Laminar default panels.
 
You can also choose to have either one of two styles of panel facias.There is the Carbon or the White options, I really liked the "white" option more than the darker Carbon feel, but both are good. You have to swap the textures over for each selection in the "Objects" folder, so you can't just swap as you feel  like it, so it is either one style or the other.
 

 
Menu options
Other menu options give you the choices of propellers with: 3 Blade Composite, 3 Blade Aluminum and 2 Blade Aluminum.
 

 
Two engine choices are also available with either a Lycoming IO-540 Fuel Injected 260hp (194 kW) or the Lycoming O-540 Caburettor 235hp  (175 kW) powerplants, the Lycoming engines are modeled under the cowling, but I couldn't find a way to remove the cowling.
 
Librain Rain Effects can also be used or switched off, and they are very good internally...  on the exterior however the effects can move around the fuselage, but you can ignore that aspect.
 

 
Checklist
There is a three page checklist, that is quite basic, but fine. I however found it hard to adjust if the window is positioned slightly off screen, but get control of the window and the checklist window can be scaled quite small for handy non-obstructed use.
 

 
Load Chart
The "Load Chart" is a Weight&Balance menu that allows you to place four occupants (Pilot + 3 Passengers) in different body weights that are changed randomly of Green around  (60 kgs), Dark Green (70 Kgs), Brown (80 Kgs) and Red (90 Kgs), Fuel (left/Right) Max 30 Gal per tank and Baggage Max 60 Kgs....   Settings can be in Distance CM/In, Weight Kg/Lb and Fuel in Lt/GAL...  Full Limits, Gross Weight, Payload and Fuel Weight are shown plus the aircraft's CofG (Centre of Gravity) position and all out of limits are shown in red. Oxygen quantity FME (Flexible Modelling Environment) is also adjusted on the Load Chart.
 


 
Updater
There is a built in "Updater" which is very good. It will tell you is you have a good internet connection, then you hit the red (Required) options to update, after you have completed all the updates then just re-load the aircraft.
 
There are no static elements or aircraft covers.
 
Flying the RV-10
Start up and the Lycoming IO-540 (Injection) sounds really good, so sounds are great from the off. Taxiing is another matter again. The RV-10 in reality has a castor loose front wheel, so you have to taxi the RV-10 like a taildragger, but with the castor at the front and not the back, in other words it is very hard to turn? You can set the left and right wheel brakes (if you have a set of toe rudders) to snap turn the aircraft in the direction you want to go, but for the rest of us it can be a bit tricky until you sort it all out via throttle inputs and big rudder swings...  you get there but it needs a fair bit of practice...
 

 
....  I managed to work it out and finally arrive at the runway, but the option to lock the front wheel to the rudder would be nice if maybe not authentic, but easier for those who don't have rudder pedals, note the hard over rudder to keep the aircraft going straight ahead.
 

 
Because you are going in a straight line down the runway and then taking off and once with the air flowing now over the flying surfaces the aircraft is then finally giving you your directional control...   so RV-10 is quite nice to power down the runway and take to the air, but you instantly feel that sensitivity of this aircraft's very light weight to power ratio, stick and rudder movements have to be fine and controlled and almost glider like in response, you'll love it of course because it feels like a real kit-made living and breathing aircraft in the lightweight class.
 

 
But the Van's is so very sensitive to any trim adjustments (hard to do) and to any of your hand/feet inputs, yes it is a lovely manual aircraft to fly, but be very lithe in the air. Banking is to be taken sensibly as even any sharp stick movements can get you into serious trouble...
 

 
Not just under manual control do you feel the prompt banking angle changes as for even when under Autopilot changes of direction, you still get that same sudden horizontal shift...
 

 
....  but that is all in that amateur feel, and you just simply love it, because it all feels all so realistic....  in other words the RV-10 is brilliant. The 260hp version gives you a Max speed of 208 mph at sea level (332 km/h, 179 kt) and a cruise speed of 201 mph (323 km/h, 175 kt), in other words for a small aircraft of this size it is very fast, but that does depend on the weight factor of passenger and baggage as the aircraft does feel the effects any heavy weight put upon it, and that is recorded heavily in the cruise speeds, vertical speeds and the overall range which is usually around 1,000 miles at Cruise power set at 55% at 8,000 ft (1,600 km). Climb rate is 1,450 ft/min (7.4 m/s), and the Ceiling (Oxygen remember) is an excellent 20,000ft.
 

 
Authentic Garmin GFC 600 is a high-performance, attitude-based, Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS) and it is very good, and is well coupled with the G5 PFD and G5 HSI displays. They are both small and quite dense with detail (certainly the G5 PFD) but it is really well done.
 
Press the centre of the tuning knob and you get access to the PDF Menu, turn the knob to scroll the items. (note while in this mode you can't adjust the heading or other flight controls via the G5)
 

 
...  there is a Setting (Configuration) Menu that is accessed in a similar way. Turn off the G5 unit and again press the knob to bring up the menu (best to do on the ground before flight) then again scroll via turning the knob. Attitude, Airspeed Configuration and Units are all accessed via the menu.
 

 
Full details of the menus are listed in the manual. GFC 600  Autopilot is very good and highly detailed, but be aware that turning off the AP, as it also turns of the FD (Flight Director) and YD (Yaw Damp), and the use of an X-Plane key input to disconnect (can be custom set) as the servos don't switch off that way?
 

 
The KFC 150 Autopilot does not pop-out, but it is a very effective unit in this configuration of a two-axis autopilot and flight director system partnered with a KI256 Flight Command Indicator and a KI525A Pictorial Navigation Indicator.
 

 
EDM - Digital Engine Management has loads of functionality, and access to Fuel Flow data you can switch (Step) to. Used (GAL), REM (Remain), MPG (Miles Per Gal), ENDUR (Endurance HH:MM) are all switchable, and rotate in the viewer or the EGT outputs of the engine (See EGT/FF below)
 


 
There is a Fine Lean mode that is used for finding the EGT peaks and when to the lean the engine for maximum efficiency and range. Notes are "the information area will start to show the EGT temperature of the highest EGT cylinder. Then start to lean the mixture about 10°/second without pausing. At this point a white box will start to flash on the hottest cylinder. When the flashing box cylinder peaks, you will see LEANEST for two seconds and the column of that cylinder will start to flash"
 
Final right button is the EGT/FF: which will set the unit into the Automatic scan mode to ALL (showing all parameters), FUEL (showing fuel related parameters) and TEMP (showing engine temperature related parameters).
 
Lighting
Cockpit and panel lighting is excellent, Backlit instrument dials are quite bright, so you don't need the full adjustment. Better are the two each side lighting pods (arrowed) that are fully animated for adjustment...  the modern colour light is excellent, the only small downside is that the lighting intensity is the same for both lights, adjust one and you adjust the other, then separate adjustments here would have been absolutely perfect.
 


 
You can easily get the right feel for night flying, and the change to a lit analog dial panel is just as brilliant.
 
Overhead cabin lighting is also excellent (love the glowing switches) with one forward cabin and one light on the rear cabin
 

 
External lighting is very good, and not over bright. The Taxi/Landing light is very small, but the Navigation, Beacon and Strobes are all very good.
 


 
The RV-10 is of course very nervous in wind, or weight (more weight helps, but dims performance), adjust to those factors and this is a real pilot's aircraft.
 

 
Flap adjustment is continuous and not stepped between UP - 1/4 - 1/2 - 3/4 - Full, but in reality the settings are guide more than a setting. If you get the speed down into the 80 knt range there is no flap lift, and they are very effective (drag and lift) under throttle control.
 

 
Approach speeds are around 80 knts (Full Flap) and your inputs have to be small as the wings have a tendency to wobble in certain conditions and wind direction, so a bit of focus is always required... but you feel the thrill of the control of the aircraft under you as you are flying like a pro and loving every minute of it.
 
Final approach speed is around 72 knts with a nice flair around 68 knts...
 

 
....  it is very important you get the softest touchdown you can achieve because the strut gear is fixed and quite hard with not much give, so a far too steep a drop and the landing can be jarring. Stall speed is set at 63 mph (101 km/h, 55 kt).
 

 
The RV-10 is just a sweet aircraft all round.
 
Liveries
The liveries and Panel options (Carbon/White) are downloaded separately from the aircraft here: Digital Replica RV10 Liveries v1.13
 
Currently there are one white and five liveries, the Green N102DR is default with the aircraft. A few have no registration numbers and feel slightly incomplete? but the "First Flight is well done in it's shiny metal and composite panel construction.
 



____________________________
 
Summary
I love to be genuinely surprised and certainly this Van's RV-10 is a huge surprise in the sheer range of configurations and personal choice you have with the aircraft, it is like pulling a rabbit out of a hat and then finding another one in there and then another, the choices are also really clever and extremely wide for all tastes, and all are also bound together into one aircraft that is a home built configuration build dream.
 
System avionics cover really any tastes from the G1000 glass panel (Laminar) to Garmin GFC 600/G5, to the KFC 150 Autopilot with a KI256/KI525A instruments and either GNS 430/450 or KX155. More includes the choices of standard engine analog readout dials to a modern EDM - Digital Engine Management system, working Oxygen system, different injected or carburettor engine types, three types of propellers and even push/pull or quadrant controls...   phew!
 
The choices are huge, and then add that into a great kit-build light aircraft flight feel and it is a very interesting and great aircraft to fly, great lighting effects, rain effects and great all round modeling. Systems are very good with working fuses/circuit breakers, system menus (semi in areas, but still well done), great sounds and wind effects.
 
I will note a few gripes, but we have to keep them in context to the what you do get here. The cockpit glass is a bit too clear and not overall realistic, a bit of thickness or wear&tear would make it feel more perfect (some users note the heavy reflections, but they didn't intrude too much to me). Separating the side pod lighting adjustment would make the effect perfect and the option to connect the front steering to the tail (for those without rudder pedals) would be a nice to have...  the internal pilot is a bit bland, but the missing other 3d passengers would be a nice addition as you load the aircraft with weight and finally currently there is no VR (Virtual Reality) and this is an aircraft just wanting or even demading VR interaction ... all just niggles, but if updated would make the design absolutely 100% perfect.
 
Value is excellent as well... US$40, no, US$35...  no again but priced actually under US$30 at US$28.95 makes the RV-10 the bargain of 2020 or to date even of the decade.
 
Surprised by this Van's RV-10, I was and yes it is a very interesting aircraft to use and to fly... it almost wants me to go and order a kit from Van's and start building the real aircraft itself. So overall brilliant and the RV-10 comes highly recommended.
____________________________
 

 
The VAN's RV-10 by Digital Replica is NOW available! from the X-Plane.Org Store here :
 
Van's RV-10
 
Priced at US$28.95
 
Features Different Cockpit configuration from steam gauges to glass cockpit: G5 PFD and HSI with GFC600 Digital Autopilot with GNS430 and GNS430 ESP (Electronic Stability and Protection System) LVL (Return to level) Mode Auto trim Different speed and altitude units options CWS (Control wheel steering) mode GA (Go Around) mode. AP disconnect button    Flight Director Yaw Damper Pitch and Roll hold mode Heading Mode NAV Mode with Radio-navigation or GPS inputs Approach Mode Back Course Mode Indicated Airspeed Reference Mode Altitude Hold Mode Working Battery behavior for the G5 HSI and PFD KC150 Autopilot with KI256 Flight Command unit, KI525A HSI and KX155 COM/NAV Radios Flight Director Auto trim Altitude Hold mode Attitude pith and roll hold mode Heading mode NAV Mode Approach mode Back Course mode Digital engine management unit EDM or analog gauges Engine monitor display Range/Endurance/Burned Fuel/Miles per Gallon/Etc. Lean Find Mode Throttle quadrant or push-pull engine command options EDS Digital Controlled oxygen System Four distribution stations Night/Normal mode Delayed mode Class-A/Fast Mask mode Different display and setting configurations Working Circuit Breakers panel Angle of attack indicator with voice warning Different engine and propeller configurations: Lycoming IO540 Fuel Injected 260HP engine Lycoming O540 235HP Carbureted Engine 3 Blade Composite Propeller 3 Blade Aluminum Propeller 2 Blade Aluminum Propeller Each of the option with their own performance and fuel consumption characteristics Outstanding 3D model High 4K PBR textures Librain rain effect by skiselkov 5 liveries and one white canvas livery for custom creations 3D cockpit light for the interior and the exterior Custom instruments and surface vibrations Particles Effects Three dimensional Sound Fmod sound engine All Custom Sounds Sound level and frequencies are modified by headset removal or doors configurations. Custom Menus and Popups Aircraft Configuration Load Chart with CG envelope, fuel and passengers configurations Checklist GFC600 Autopilot Popup EDM Popup Updater Popup Built-in Updater   Requirements
X-Plane 11 (Fully updated) Windows or Mac ( Linux will be available soon) 4Gb VRAM Minimum - 8Gb VRAM Recommended Download Size: 215Mb Current and Review version: 1.15 (February 5th 2020)   Installation and documents:
Download for the Van's RV-10 is 215.10mb and the unzipped file deposited in the aircraft "General Aviation" X-Plane folder at 543mb.
No liveries and panel options are in the packaged download, but can be downloaded here: Digital Replica RV10 Liveries v1.13
 
Documentation:
There is one comprehensive manual provided. With full system details and both IO and O Lycoming engine performance charts.
 
Digital Replica RV10 Manual.pdf _______________________________  
Review by Stephen Dutton
7th February 2020
Copyright©2020: X-Plane Reviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)   Review System Specifications:
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 1Tbgb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.41
Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini
Plugins: Environment Engine by xEnviro v1.13 US$69.90
Scenery or Aircraft
- KHAF - Half Moon Bay by Rising Dawn Studios (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$19.00
 

 

Aircraft Review : Beechcraft Bonanza F33A XP11 by Carenado
 
What makes up the criteria of your best aircraft to fly in X-Plane, or your favorite? This is not the best aircraft in X-Plane for overall features or details, but the best aircraft for you. For many user fliers it could be in a relation to a real aircraft, either in the one you own, owned or are now learning on, that particular aspect is important. But what about the rest of us...  For me it is Carenado's Bonanza F33A and we go back a long, long...  time. The aircraft originally was one of the first released for X-Plane by Carenado, and the fourth if I think right and that was right back in January 2012, or just over six years ago....  it was also really the first of really high-quality releases from Carenado that was certainly far ahead of its time back then and even better than that period's X-Plane10 quality.
 
My own actual investment in the F33A was a bit odd. I bought it as a birthday present for myself, flew it twice then basically stored it for just over two years? Even looking back now I just can't work that out why? but I think that my basic flying skill's were not up to the same level of the aircraft...  so what changed?
 
Carenado did an update on my mothballed F33A and I found now how it all handled very nicely, but more importantly I also suddenly found it was the very best aircraft in X-Plane to do some serious practice on, that is the very basic flying training in circuits, touch and go's, banking techniques, speed control...  then I found myself using the F33A for more advance training with VOR navigation and extensive GA flight-planning and route navigation. In every aspect the F33A was the perfect aircraft to cover all these important flying skills, and ever since year after year the F33A has been my aircraft of choice for all of these practise and training skill work. It also is used as a benchmark to X-Plane itself, because I know the F33A so very well, so if X-Plane is out or not configured correctly then it will show on this aircraft. So the point is would that make this review biased because already this Bonanza is an aircraft that I think that everyone should have in that hangar, and that is a fair point...   I accept that now there are certainly far better aircraft in X-Plane than this F33A because basically even if advanced for its time then this design by Carenado is still six years old. A note here in that the livery "BlueHawk Flight Training" which I have flown the F33A under for years is not an official Carenado livery...   but however it is one of the best looking for the aircraft, it also needs a few adjustments if you want to use the livery with this XP11 version, but it is well worth the effort.
 
Carenado Beechcraft Bonanza F33A XP11
Over the years since it's original release Carenado have kept the aircraft up to date with constant updates, and that was even into X-Plane11, but that was mostly just to conform to X-Plane11's basic performance changes and for the introduction of PBR (Physical Based Rendering), and overall the bonanza flew fine in that configuration. But in time the F33A needed to completely upgraded to X-Plane11 and to take advantage of the new simulation version and add in the more modern elements we expect now in X-Plane, and here it is in the Bonanza F33A XP11.
 

 
Outwardly you are surprised enough that when sitting in the F33A XP11 version for the first time in that it looks and feels almost exactly the same? In a way that is very good thing if you are like I am in being very familiar with the aircraft, and you don't want things you really like then being messed around with or changed.
 
But there are a lot of differences and details to take in. All the aircraft for XP11 are now 4K (4096 x 4096) texture quality with the (PBR) Physically Based Rendering materials and textures that are redone throughout and this is all done with (gaming) industry-standard software for the best highest quality to the best efficiency (framerate to me and you) ratio. A note that the F33A has a lot of custom 2K freeware liveries available on the XP.Org. They do actually still work quite well, but as noted you need a file name change and a few adjustments in say photoshop to make them compatible, obviously the quality is not at the official level, but if you do have a favorite livery for the F33A you can at least save it and use it.
 

 
N927CF is an official livery to see the quality and detail now in this XP11 version. You were always aware of how very good it was originally, but it needed for X-Plane to catch up to Carenado and not the other way around. Certainly X-Plane11 does that here, but the changes also reflect the fine tuning of those super realistic material shines and reflections. Now there is a lot of chrome on the aircraft, like with the beautiful spinner and foot supports.
 
Wing lighting assemblies are absolutely perfect, and highly realistic. Note the nice small wing fences.
 

 
The advancement of computer power over the years also now allows us to take advantage now of higher quality texture settings and anti-aliasing, The quality of the undercarriage is phenomenal, ultra realistic and fully animated. To note the advanced movements of the animation has been refined here to XP11 standard's and to a point they are better than that, as movements in taxiing and wheel travel shock are almost now perfect, you thought it was always reacted like that until you went back and flew the F33A from only a few years ago, but no we have come a long since then, a very long way.
 

 
Glass is also better, more refined with great reflections and here comes in two versions of clear and the tinted green (far better).
 

 
External detail is complete with HF and RF aerials and great detailing with control surface manipulators, lightning wicks are all animated for airflow realism. Aircraft construction riveting is very good, but does show that this is still a few years ago since it was created, nice waves and shapes in the metal paneling gives realism.
 

 
Cabin
Looking into the cabin and it is very well detailed, beautifully created. The F33A was the aircraft that I was in when I first saw the X-Plane11 PBR light and dark shadow feature, It was a total "wow" moment then, and it still is very dramatic now with the cream facia panel and the black instrumentation.
 

 
Internally the cabin is very tight, the F33A is a very small intimate aircraft in reality. Seats are beautifully crafted.
 

 
The interior has been re-textured, it is now a woven cloth grey, with a distinctive pattern. It certainly modernises the cabin and it feels fresher...
 

 
...  but I did also really like the old blue interior, certainly it looks like the more older style Bonanza, but it still works for me.
 

 
I goes better with the BlueHawk livery as well, so I adjusted it to be used on the same livery, again photoshop was required, but you don't lose any quality in the transition. I think it is nice to have both versions between different liveries so it is certainly worth doing.
 
Panel is sensational, highly realistic and I should know as I have spent countless hours behind it.
 
The aircraft comes with dual-arm yoke bar, this setup was pre-1984, with the change to the standard in the panel twin yokes setup that is post-1984. The bar hides by pressing the bar in the centre by the panel. It does obstruct a lot of the lower switchgear, lighting adjustment rotary and vertical trim wheel, but I found I could work around it with the bar in place with familiarity. Pilot's yoke has built in working electric trim, autopilot disconnect and XPDR IDENT functionality. A digital clock is also built into the front of the yoke for convenience.
 

 
Panel glass reflections are all very new and highly realistic, but in some conditions they can now go a bit grey with the seat mirroring the reflection, a tone down of the reflections is noted from Carenado.
 
Menu
The menu hasn't changed from the earlier version... still the same three panels to cover the standard Carenado A, C and O menu staples.
 
A is the Bendix/King KFC 150 autopilot pop-up. C is ten "Views" with "Field of View" and two sound adjustments. O is for "Options" including opening Co-Pilot (passenger) door and a Baggage door left rear.  Static elements provided are very basic with only, wheel chocks and engine inlet/flag, wing pipit cover and there is also window and Instrument reflections and the choice of changing the liveries without going to the main X-Plane menu.
 


 
The twin pilots are new and replace the younger cooler guy in the shades, but they are very well created, far more realistic and are both highly animated, they also disappear when you activate the static elements.
 
Not on the main menus. but it is now available for use is a "Weight & Balance" menu courtesy of Thranda. It is activated by setting up an X-Plane key input via the Thranda key settings.
 

 
The W&B menu is basic, but still covers all that you need in set up and you can now adjust the four passengers weights and baggage via a animated C.G (centre of Gravity) graph, Fuel can also be set and the results are set out in lbs and inches are all listed below.
 
Flying the F33A Bonanza
The F33A can be a very recalcitrant aircraft to start from cold, but once the 285 hp Continental IO-520-B engine fires it soon settles down. I always run the Continental for a few minutes to warm it all up, once the gauges are showing normal temps and pressures, then you can go. This aspect is very well done by Carenado as the gauges just don't just go straight right up to their operating points but they all take their individual routes to get there showing realism. My X-56 Rhino throttle setup works well here as I use the second throttle as the mixture lever, this gives my more control over the richness of the fuel, and only 2/3rds mixture is required for taxi and ground movements.
 

 
You can feel how long a way we have come now over the years, earlier this Bonanza was a bit of a handful on the ground, but now it is just a soft pussycat more than a rampant tiger, and you have more if sublime control of your speed and direction movements, that is of course the X-Plane11's level of more diversity in this area, certainly the F33A is still a bit of a handful on taking off and landing, but that is a common problem with X-Plane's ground effects at the moment than more than the actual aircraft, but skill can overcome the worst of Laminar's theatrics.
 

 
All sounds in Carenado aircraft when upgrading to X-Plane11 are now FMOD, and the Bonanza gets the same treatment. The sounds have been increased substantially right thoughout the whole range, this is highlighted at the idle point, if you adjust the mixture even minutely the sounds are really, really good in conveying on what the engine is feeling, with power, climb and the cruise sounds of the aircraft of which are all excellent.
 
I only give the F33A about half-throttle gradually until the aircraft builds up speed, once the speed is constant and you are tracking true against the left pulling asymmetrical thrust, then go straightup  to full throttle, no flap uses more runway, but I get more speed of which I like. 100knts is the right point to pull back on the yoke bar, and the F33A will nicely clear the runway...
 


 
...  rate of climb to 600fpm is best to climb out and also build up more speed. The Bonanza has a unique gear sound, in a pneumatic "peeeeooow" sound, which I love and the detailed gear retraction or extension is excellent. I keep the power up and level out at 1500ft.
 

 

 
Performance is very good for this type of aircraft. Top Speed: 182 kts with a Cruise Speed of around 172 kt and the Stall Speed (dirty) is around 51 kts. Range is an excellent 717 nm. Official Rate Of Climb is 1167 fpm and the Ceiling is noted at 17858 ft.
 

 
Once the aircraft is trimmed and set at a nice cruise pace I climb again to 7500ft, Mostly I climb high easily at 800fpm, but with the W&B manager I added in a lot of weight of 3250pounds (3401 is max) so 700fpm is my base climb rate today, I drop that again at 6000ft to 300fpm to keep the momentum of the speed.
 
Instrument Panel
By all accounts the F33A instrument panel is not complicated, but the instruments that are here are set out to be extremely useful. Standard Six instruments are centred in the line of sight of the flying pilot with the Airspeed Indicator, Artificial Horizon and the Attitude Indicator on the top row and the Garmin OBS VOR pointer (VOR2), Heading Dial and Vertical Speed Indicators set out directly below. The Turn Coordinator is far left of the six pack with a radar altimeter directly below, lower left instrument panel I will come back to in a moment.
 

 
Centre panel is dominated by two large dials that cover engine manifold pressure (inHg) and fuel flow (gallons per hour) and the second dial is the RPM gauge with built in hour meter. Both the gauge and the dial are highly animated to reflect the engine's performance, needles twitch and flicker to throttle or fuel flow changes that makes them highly realistic. Below is the left and right fuel gauges that are separated by a cluster of four gauges that cover Cylinder Head Temperature (CHT), Oil Temperature top and Ampreres and Oil Pressure below. Lower left is an Insight digital read out for EGT - CHT and lower right is an Instrument Air gauge (Inch-Mer). A small note here on the Instant EGT - CHT digital readout, in flight it looks like it is not working, but it is. To see any activity, then just lean the fuel mixture and the display will come alive.
 
The avionic instrument stack is very good with a Bendix/King KR 24 radio set, X-Plane Garmin GNS 430 GPS, Bendix/king KX 165 COMM (Comm2)/NAV (VOR2) unit, Two Bendix/King KR 87 ADF units and a Garmin GTX 320 Transponder...  the Bendix/King KFC 150 autopilot is far left of the instrument panel. You can also use the GTN750 payware add-on by RealityXP in this Bonanza.
 
On the co-pilot's far right instrument panel is one flying instrument in an altimeter, and a Garmin OBS VOR indicator (VOR1). Two smaller gauges cover EGT and Prop Amp. A note on the altimeter, You have to remember to adjust both altimeters in their mb/in.hg settings, this far right second backup altimeter setting is hard to see in being so small, but it always needs to be adjusted when required, or (obviously) the altimeters will show different altitudes. Lower right panel is the circuit breaker panel (non-working).
 
The set up of the Bendix/King KFC 150 autopilot is excellent in the Bonanza. Handy to the lower left and remember there is the pop-up feature as well (press Tab A), which is both movable and scalable. Note for the AP to work you have to press the FD (Flight-Director) button before engaging the AP button.
 

 
Easy to use the KFC 150 actions are noted on the upper panel in line of your eyesight, and there is the built in V/S - ALT mode to set your altitude and rate of climb (or descent) and they all work perfectly together to ease your workload. Next to the V/S-Alt mode selector is a BendixKing VOR N1/N2 distance, speed and estimated TOA (Time Of Arrival) display.
 

 
Next to the KFC 150 is a fuel flow display that (switchable) covers GAL REM (Remain) GAL USED, GAL to Destination, GAL Reserve and Endurance (HRS:MIN) to use this instrument correctly you have to have be running flightplan in the GNS 430, but if not you still get fuel remaining and that sort of fuel flow info.
 

 
VOR Pointer/Course Dials
To understand why this little Bonanza is a very good training tool for early fliers is to understand the use of two instruments, and their setup here in the F33A.
 
I have always been a bit vocal in reviews if the VOR/DME instrument is not a pointer tool and it is usually the older basic VOR/DME heading instrument...  in the F33A it is a pointer instrument, but better still it is positioned directly besides the heading/course instrument.
 
Here I am approaching KRSW - SouthWest Florida International (arrowed) and the VOR pointer is set to the airports VOR (Lee County RSW 111.80). Yes I know that the RSW VOR/DME is slightly to the north of the airport, but it will still show how to use the pointers effectively.
 

 
I have set the "Course" pointer to the RWY06 heading as my guide, but I will for the moment still fly southwest to clear the airport before going into the south circuit to land from the west. Set my heading to the course direction (24º) to go into the circuit and that will put the F33A parallel to KRSW and RW06/24.
 

 

 
The VOR pointer will show your relative position to the airport and your distance from the VOR/DME and to the airport for the correct turn point (unless you are under ATC instructions), Then a 90º turn on the course to (33º) turn in ready to find the runway centre line.
 

 
Again the VOR pointer is crucial on the right time to turn to the runway heading, if you rely on the ILS alignment on the course pointer, you will know that it usually activates just a little too late to get the final right 90º turn to the runway, the VOR then gives you just that little more time to get the turn rate correct. I also use the same procedure in a big jet, the VOR pointer will give you the runway alignment if set against the runway course setting a far longer way out distance from the airport than the ILS alignment does, so you can have more time to set up your approach in line with the runway...  if you are correct then both the VOR and Course pointers should be aligned parallel on the final turn as they are here (below right), the runway 06 should then be in the correct position for your approach.
 

 
You can see by using both pointers on how this F33A is simply great for practise flying, in circuits and for VOR point to point routes, and when you don't have this set up in other types of aircraft you really miss those pointers and the workload get a lot harder. Two points then is that yes it is just as easy to look out of the window and visually gauge your turn, that is natural, but in many conditions you just can't do that, and yes here at KRSW the VOR is slightly off the airport but it still works in context.
 

 

 
Landing
Overall the F33A is a lovely handing aircraft, just watch the trim is -0 when taking off and landing, it will be out at this point if have used the AP. The trim wheel is right there in front of you a little to the right (pilot) or on the yoke. I am finding this earlier XP11 version a little fast on approach? But I usually get the speed down to around 100knts when coming into the final approach phase.
 
If you leave the taxi light switched on it will shut off when the gear is raised and then relight when you lower the gear for landing, it is great to watch in operation.
 

 
External lighting is pretty basic, with the landing and taxi light in the nose and a huge red beacon on the roof. Navigation and strobe lights are updated for XP11 and are excellent. Gear down and you do lose a lot of speed in the drag if you don't counter for it.
 
Flaps are 3 positions Up - 15º - 30º, 150knts is vFE but I am usually well under 100knts before I will move them down a notch. ditto to 30º flap as I will go down to 80knts before going to that position, I found you need a lot of throttle to counter the 30º flap not so less for even the 15º setting.
 
I admit I am a little bit high here, but those trees at the end of RWY06 have a habit of catching me out in the dark.
 

 
80knts approach speed is down to just under 70knts for contact, stall is 51knts so I feel the approach speed needed is a currently a little too high from Carenado, around 60knts, should be more closer to the mark.
 

 
A lot of hours in the F33A means I can put it down pretty anywhere I want to, it is not a hard aircraft to land, but you will need to feel the aircraft and get the speeds right, overall Carenado have done a class act on delivering X-Plane11 performance to this version, it feels far more alive and more intimate than the earlier versions, and yes it is totally better all round.
 

 
For the limited lighting available you do get a good view in the dark to moving around on the ground from both the taxi and landing light.
 

 
Internal Lighting
Instrument panel lighting is basic, but very good. Most instrument lighting is indirect, and I remember it being actually a little bit brighter? You can only adjust the indirect lighting and the some of the backlight/avionic lighting individually... overall it is great for night flying.
 

 
Overhead lighting is two lights forward with one large light directly above and a small one in the exit passenger door...
 

 
...   in the rear are two spots and all roof lighting is controlled by the three buttons on the roof.
 
Liveries
There is one blank and four liveries with the package, all are high-quality and 4K, the highlight is the nice Lufthansa Nevada Training aircraft.
 


 
Summary
Six years is a long time for any aircraft in X-Plane, but we are dealing with Carenado here and the aircraft was never ever going to the one to be left on the shelf, in fact the constant updates and now this huge D-Check of a strip to the bones and rebuild of the F33A Bonanza means one of the brightest stars of Carenado's fleet is certainly going to keep on flying well into the X-Plane11 version for many, many years to come. It is a new version for X-Plane11 in its new clothes, but the Bonanza feels new and it is now certainly also quite different from its earlier versions without losing its original charm.
 
Optimisation is high here as a lot of areas have been covered from newer materials and textures throughout, to performance and the more realistic behavior with flight physics optimized for XP11 standards and better comparison to the real airplane, better realistic weight and balance with now a even a W&B menu set up panel. The aircraft is now fully VR (Virtual Reality) compatible and has better and even more refined PBR (Superb material shines and reflections). FMOD sound is completely new and far more right across the whole range with newer added sounds that are more detailed and intimate, in other words the Continental IO-520-B engine sounds brilliant.
 
The Bonanza F33A is one of Carenado's biggest success aircraft in X-Plane and in reality it is not hard to see why, it is priced very well for what you get as well, in that you get really a $35 deal for only $26.95 for the same quality and features as the common Carenado higher price. Yes in a few areas the F33A is still the same earlier aircraft, but it is now part of its charm more than anything else.
 
This is my favorite personal aircraft in X-Plane, could that be a bias? but no in reality the aircraft that I reviewed has just only re-enforced of why it was so good in the first place, more so now with this excellent extensive upgrade. I just simply love flying this machine, it is also the best for any type of practise and for developing my (online) flying skills and to a point I can push them to the limit in this aircraft as I know the aircraft so well...  The hard part of this review, is that I now have to move on from the F33A and can't keep on flying it around Florida anymore...  "Okay just once more and then I will move on.. I Promise, I will honest...  yes only once, I really, really promise...  ". Highly addictive and highly recommended.
 
______________________________________________________________________
 

 
Yes! the Beechcraft Bonanza F33A XP11 by Carenado is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :
 
Bonanza F33A XP11
 
Price is US$26.95
 
This XP11 is a new version of the F33A Bonanza, so a new purchase price is required, however updates are free to the aircraft for the full run of the X-Plane11 version.
 
Special Features Version 1.1 Optimized for  X-Plane 11 State-of-the-art configurable FPS-friendly logic system. Fully VR compatible Full PBR (Superb material shines and reflections) Features Specially designed engine dynamics for XP11 Flight physics optimized for XP11 standards Ground handling adapted for XP11 ground physics Physically Based Rendering materials and textures throughout PBR materials authored with industry-standard software used by the film and gaming industries X-Plane GNS430 (FPS friendly) Support for RealityXP's GTN750* (integrated into 3D cockpit, when available). Goodway Compatible. Realistic behavior compared to the real airplane. Realistic weight and balance. Tested by several pilots for maximum accuracy. *RealityXP GTN 750 is sold separately   Included in the package 5 HD liveries + 1 HD blank texture F33 Normal and Emergency Procedures PDF F33 Performance tables PDF - F33 Quick reference table PDF Autopilot KFC150 Manual PDF Recommended Settings X-PLANE 11 PDF  
______________________________________________________________________
 
Requirements :
X-Plane 11
Windows, Mac or Linux
4GB+ VRAM - 350MB available hard disk space
Version 1.1 (last updated May 18 2018)
 
______________________________________________________________________
 
Installation : Download is 281mb which is unzipped and is inserted in your General Aviation folder as a 478.40mb flie.  Key authorisation is required.
 
The review "BlueHawk Training" Livery is here: BlueHawk Carenado Bonanza F33 v2 Livery 1.0
But the livery does require some changes to work in XP11, but it does come in both 2K and 4K versions. Changes are not hard, but watch for the chrome spinner and that it is showing, make sure that the all the textures changed are not transparent, or you will get see through wings!
 
Documentation : includes
 
Bonanza F33 Normal _ Emergency Procedures - Performance tables.pdf Carenado Copyright.pdf Credits.pdf F33 Bonanza reference.pdf General Information.pdf KFC150 Autopilot.pdf Recommended settings XP11.pdf ______________________________________________________________________
 
Plugin Review by Stephen Dutton
23rd 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
- KFMY - Page Field - Fort Myers, Florida 1.0 by timbenedict3 (X-Plane.Org) - Free
- KRSW - Southwest Florida International Airport by Aerosoft  (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$24.95
- KDAB - Daytona Beach by Aerosoft / Stairport Sceneries (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$28.99
 
 

 

Aircraft Review : Epic E1000 - G1000 Edition by Aerobask
 
Like a lot of developers, then Aerobask have had to rethink their range of aircraft to migrate to the dynamics of X-Plane11. In the past between the X-Plane versions the changes were large, but in most cases an update or two would cover the conversion and the overall aspect of the design would in someways not really change. But for the migration to X-Plane11 and certainly to X-Plane11.30 then that earlier transfer does not really work..  the differences are just too different and are most aspects of the design, from the modeling, the performance and the PBR effects and also the now minimum requirement of 4K textures and all...  and plus on top of all these new elements it is that all have to be far more efficient and computer friendly. This has to a point made the aircraft migration of any developer's past range of aircraft a slow and tedious process and like with the new dynamics of 11.30 as you sort of go suddenly again back to the bottom of the ladder with all these newer updated dynamics.
So it is all to the good of course as the product is usually far more dynamic and sensational, but the process means that even now in the two or so years since the release of X-Plane11, then it is that most developers are still ticking of their past aircraft, and spending time more so doing this than in creating new aircraft.
 
But the above process can be used to your advantage as well. As no matter at the time in that even if you have created your best work, there was always something better you could have done, but then couldn't change because it required usually a new design from scratch. So in reality although these aircraft are the same original designs as the pre-X-Plane10, they are also completely new...  and from the ground up.
 
And so it is with Aerobask's Epic E1000 which was released originally just under four years ago (E1000 Review), and at the time the aircraft was the state of the XP10 art. This new version is the state of the XP11 art.
 

 
It was back then so brilliantly created, but the four years in simulation development now shows us how much has really changed within that period, and as a yardstick the differences between the simulations.
 

 
So this new Epic E1000 from Aerobask is even if it looks the same it is in reality a completely new aircraft from the original, no updates, no adjustments...  but a completely brand new design, and so you know that feel straight away as it is all very new and different.
 

 
The Aerobask developers themselves would admit they alone have come a long way in four years, always very good, always very innovative... you now usually buy on the Aerobask name alone without even looking at the details... and for any developer that is a very high reverence to achieve, but Aerobask do also deliver, again and again to achieve that prominence.
 
And the new E1000 certainly also delivers on that promise. Modeling is now perfection, no bumps or 3d odd angles and that is a certain smoothness of design that captures the difficulty of creating a featureless composite aircraft. It took years to perfect it, and here it all is now in it's glory.
 
Certainly the PBR effects go a very long way in creating the feel and reflections that bring that sleek almost dolphin shaped design to life, and no matter what the visual angle it always looks glorious.
 
Glass and chrome are also now hyper realistic and not faked liked in the past, metal variations of materials are also beautifully represented.
 

 
X-Plane users have come to expect a lot, and you are even "spoilt" for this short of hyper realism... but the developers deliver it, so why not absorb it and revel in the greatness of it all.
 
The trailing link undercarriage looks standard from a distance, but the detail is evident when close up.
 

 
Cabin Detail
"Careful" and not to trip over the latch on the door while boarding...  Internally in the cabin it is an odd layout, just in the rear a four club seating but with a huge space between the seats and then again a space between the passenger and pilot seats in the front... you automatically say "You could easily fit another row in here".
 

 
Renowned for their cabin fit-outs and materials, then Aerobask don't disappoint in here with the E1000 either. Detailing is excellent, with modern materials and that feel of executively. The attention to detail in here can be overwhelming.
 

 
The cockpit is almost the same layout, but it is in reality a very different look and feel from the original. The modeling detail is that so much smoother and the materials are light years in difference. You have to also really admire that paneling curvature and molding, and even the trim changes colour to the external livery...
 

 
It is a very modern cockpit and far removed from the older Beechcrafts and Pipers.... this is all slicks and curves.
 

 
There are also some significant differences between the two aircraft... the old and this new version. The biggest change is on the stub console.
 

 
The original version was dominated by the aircraft's menu panel and above the MEGGiTT autopilot and Garmin GMA350 radio unit...
 

 
....  now there is a "Remote Control Key Pad" for access to the G1000 avionics suite, which is very similar to what you use on the Cirrus aircraft. The MEGGiTT autopilot is also gone and replaced by a annunciator panel, but the Garmin GMA350 radio unit installation is still the same.This GMA 350 is really the only external avionics unit now in the aircraft. Note the extremely different design and feel of the yokes.
 
Laminar Research G1000
As there was no decent G1000 glass system around four years ago. The various developers came up with a wide range of ideas to create in most cases a hybrid avionics system to replicate the Garmin suite. Aerobask tried in someways the hardest to create a functional and realistic system.
 
Aerobask created a Garmin G900 Primary Flight display (PFD) for each pilot, and the center display (MFD) as a modified X-Plane GNS530 unit. And note these G900's were only an accurate representation of a real G900 even then. It worked, but the MFD was a bit of stretch in more ways than one. But at the time it was actually very good.
 

 
Since that time Laminar Research have created as default a full G1000 avionics suite, and so the "G1000" moniker on the this aircraft reflects the install of that default system on the E1000. But a bonus here is not only is this G1000 more authentic, more powerful... but also adapted for use with the Remote Control Key Pad and also includes the GFC700 autopilot.
 
One thing also becomes very apparent is the install of the three displays. The centre MFD is more pronounced and set more forward than the two PFD displays set either side...   and yes it was the same set up on the earlier version (I checked). But here it is far more noticeable if even with a more visually perspective. The earlier version came across as just three displays in a line.
 

 
It is outstandingly done, as you feel the installation of the displays are very realistic, and it is highly noticeable in flight.
 
Primary Fight Display
The Laminar G1000 is now quite extensive, but there are a few differences between this one and the older version, some good and some removed. The display can be opened in a window via pressing the small aircraft symbol in the centre of the heading rose.
 

 
The main PFD has the the split horizon which is here to the darker even dreary brown and blue of the default look... of which I don't really care for, the older version was the far nicer gradient version, and this bland default background display can be adjusted as Carenado did on their Cessna 172SP G1000.
 
Secondly is the optional Engine Information System (EIS) is only available on this version in the PFD in the Emergency mode (see below).
 

 
The G1000's PFD main flight instruments that are all correct with the artificial horizon, speed and altitude tapes, bank roll scale and roll pointer and HSI (horizontal situation indicator), course and heading pointer which are all in one. The FD (Flight Director) elements are also shown. Other features include "Inset" map, alerts, REF/TIMER, NRST, XPDR, both VOR 1 and 2 pointers, DME and Wind (3 options) ... top banner includes Radio NAV (left) and COM (right) Autopilot info (centre). A feature is that you can adjust the radio frequencies directly with a mouse scroll wheel while holding the cursor over the frequency you want to adjust. Another pop-out adjuster panel can also be used on like the "Altitude" (press arrowed) and Baro pressure.... press the green band to insert the number.
 
Multi Functional Display
The centre MFD is quite different from the hybrid forebear. The pop-out selector is also quite hard to find as it is not the PFD centre aircraft symbol, but a hard to find touch spot hidden in the top banner under the GS (arrowed below left).
 

 
The side panel Engine Information System (EIS) Engine readout covers TRQ (Torque), NP (low-pressure rotor RPM), ITT (Inter Turbine Temperature), NG (N1 for Turbines). If these readouts look different it is because they are. This is a custom set of engine performance readouts created by Aerobask to be more authentic to the E1000 avionics readouts. If you want the default, then can have that via the menu (below right).
 

 
Lower EIS shows Fuel Flow GPH (Gal per hour), Oil Pressure and Temperature, Electrical Bus AMPS and Volts, Fuel quantity (GAL) is for both tanks (145.5 Gal per tank) in a scale. 
More engine readouts can be accessed via the "System" button. Fuel readouts are top with Fuel Flow GPH, Fuel Flow PPH (lbs per Hour), Fuel Pressure (PSI) and quantity left and right tanks (lbs) - Fuel Totalizer shows lbs Remaining and lbs Used. Totalizer amount can be increased, decreased or reset
 

 
Lower is the Electrical Gen A (amps)and ALT A (amps) and Bus 1 Volts and Bus 2 Volts. On both EIS displays are also the Aileron position marker, Rudder position marker, Elevator position marker and Flap position UP-10º-40º 
 
Pressing the RED button upper right on the pilot's PFD will change the displays around for emergency flying and bringing the EIS onto the PFD and moving the PFD to the centre in then replacing the MFD (got that?)
 

 
Flightplanning
The really big advantage is using the "Remote Control Key Pad" to create route planning via the "FPL" key (arrowed). Input is easy via the keyboard even in VR (Virtual Reality)
 

 
My route is from EGKK (Gatwick) to ELLX (Luxembourg) and you can easily assemble the routing data, however I chose to create the route in SimBrief and then import it directly into the planner. The bonus is that you have the options of adding in easily via the "PROC" button any Departure or Arrival routes (SID/STAR) or a certain approach that you would like. The bonus is that the added on Dep or Arr segments don't mesh up your central route planning either and it all fits in seemlessly together. You can set the display to either "Narrow" or "Wide" orientations.
 

 
The days of data planning and input frustration are well and truly over.
 
Lower Panel
On the left side shoulder panel is the main switchgear. The E1000 aircraft has a unique way of switching on the various systems...  the three rows of buttons are set out to be used at the various points of getting the aircraft ready for flight and in switch order.
Top row is the "Pre-Start" Second row is the "Pre-Taxi" and the lower row is the "Systems". The layout although arranged by the same rows of buttons as the earlier E1000, but the sequence of activation of the items are actually arranged differently, so you will need to relearn the buttons sequence.
 
Pre-Start includes - Batteries (Batt 1 & Batt 2), Avionics Master, Fuel Pumps (Left & Right) and Starter Gen selections
Pre-Taxi Includes - Igniter, Start, Stby Alt, Fuel Autoselect and Pusher
Systems Includes - Auto Pilot, Trim, Press Air,  Emerg Press, Dump Valve and Emerg Oxygen
 


 On the right is the "LIGHTS" panel the lighting panel. Items include Ice (wing light) Land and Taxi lights, Strobe and Navigation lights and a Beacon (a new light).
Another lower button panel is your "ICE" buttons for De-Ice Boots, Propeller Heat, Window Heat, Inertial Separator, and the Pitot Heat (Pitot Stall HT).
 
Bottom panel are the circuit breakers and they are all active, pull a breaker and the item stops working. Right side shoulder panel are the cabins Air Cond and Cabin Oxygen controls and more active circuit breakers. Both yokes can be hidden, but only together and not independently.
 
Left side of the Remote Control Key Pad is the gear lever and on the other the flap selector switch. Pedestal is in two layers (beautifully moulded) with the top section holding the Throttle, Propeller (feather) and Condition levers (Throttle has power "Max/Idle" settings and a "Beta" reverse thrust setting).
 

 
There are four buttons above with "warnings" on them, so you don't touch them, the manual says that you NEVER touch them. Lower section has the lovely crafted Fuel Switch for OFF- LEFT- RIGHT (Tanks).
 
On the floor there is a Manual Gear Extraction feature... and it works. Again amazing detailing and functionality.
 

 
MD302 SAM
The MD 302 Standby Attitude Module (SAM®) made by Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics and the unit is placed left of the PFD.
 

 
This is a set of backup instruments, but in reality an avionics suite by itself. Upper panel is an artificial horizon, turn rate and compass heading... lower panel is the Speed and Altitude (Baro centre). The single knob does all the adjusting and selection.
 
Turn the knob to adjust (arrowed) the Baro (note the Baro on the SAM is not connected to the G1000, so you have to adjust the pressure manually here as well). Press the knob and turn to adjust the MD302 brightness. Hold the knob down for a full menu of adjustable settings.
 

 
Above the MD302 SAM is the instrument and forward spot cockpit lighting knobs.
 
Menus
There are four ways to access the E1000 menu. One is from the pull down plugin menu, Two is from the 'a" tab lower left of your screen, Three is the Epic Logo centre panel and Four is via the iPad in the side storage bin. The menu is laid out in the new Laminar XP11 pop-up style and there are four tab selections with : Ground, Options, Sounds and About.
 

 
Ground : Is both a menu and a basic Weights and Fuel setup in one. Fuel sliders top will set the amount of fuel required in both kgs and Gal and show the fuel weight...  A side note here on refueling the E1000. You have to be really careful to balance out the fuel on the E1000, both on the ground and in flight.
 
If you don't then you will get this, yes this is an extreme example, but it also shows how sensitive this aircraft is to the loading of the fuel and weights. Well done though.
 

 
You can select passengers (pilot is free but he still counts in the aircraft weight). With a Co-Pilot, R&L Passengers, R&L Children, baggage is None, 60kg and 120 kgs...  and all weights of loaded Fuel and passengers are shown in detail with full all up weight and Maximum weight allowed. There is no CoG scale or graph. All passengers are shown and the bags are shown on a luggage trolley, but they are not visible internally and only externally, which is a shame as the modeling of the people is very good.
 
Static elements include: Chocks, Engine inlet/outlet covers, pitot covers, towbar and loads of flags... but they are all or nothing. So it makes closing up the aircraft a bit awkward with say the towbar attached or if you just want the chocks after a flight? The Ground Power Unit (GPU) is now a more heavy duty design than on the earlier E1000, it is very nice... but also extremely noisy if the door is open. Button will open the single door or via the internal handle.
 

 
Options : Are mostly for selections of the G1000 and custom features, like the change of the custom to default G1000 engine display, but a few are still experimental. You can choose to keep the pop-ups inside the screen (VR) and switch on/off the instrument and window reflections. Top of the menu is the reliability of the electrical system via the circuit breakers, or you can reset them all in one push of the button.
 

 
Sounds : The sound panel is just a carbon copy of the X-Plane11 sounds panel and if you adjust it here, then you adjust it there and vice-versa, with just two added buttons with the "Enable Sounds" and "Enable Speech" selections.
 
About : The final selection is a credit page on who created the aircraft.
 
VR iPad AviTab
One of the great features is the iPad and it located in the side storage bin. Obviously created for VR interaction, it is highly useful for the 2d generation as well as It works with the Avitab (Aviators Tablet) plugin. It works quite well in a basic form with mostly for access to stored pdf files and note taking, but internet access would be a nice feature. My use here was with the Navigraph Chart access that is now available (make sure you have AviTab v0.3.14).
 

 
You login and create access to your Navigraph account, it is all seemless and works extremely well...
 

 
You can bring up all your charts and airport information to have it all by your fingertips. My only wish is for the tablet to be in both landscape and Portrait modes because most charts are in the portrait orientation.
 

 
But it is highly usable as you can (in 2d mode) move the tablet out of view (it goes smaller) or keep it in eyesight when taxiing or flying.
 

 
As noted the aircraft's menu can be accessed on the tablet as well.
 

 
Flying the Epic E1000-G1000
Starting the 1200 HP Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67A engine is a simple as following the keys in order... Pre Start row done, fuel on, mixture lever to idle... then follow the Pre-Taxi row of buttons until you get to START...  easy peasy.
 

 
Marvel at the propeller as it moves ready from it's feathered position to half way, then that familiar PT6A whine comes in from the forward engine compartment, it does take a fair while to start, run and then settle into that smooth turbine idle speed and sound. The E1000 does come with all the latest fine-tuning from Laminar of this turbine engine, which has been a focus project for most of X-Plane11. This includes the newer 11.30 performance details with separate 2-stage free power turbine and 1-stage gas generator turbine internals now also available on this engine in X-Plane11 (output is now divided between both stages, were as before the output was only one stage). Of course it sounds incredible, looks incredible as the powerful exhaust flows out past and down the side of the aircraft, and courtesy of the particle effects.
 

 
You wait and let the output numbers settle down, then you are good to go.
 

 
With the Throttle at idle and the COND at idle, I still needed to put the PROP position half-feather to keep a decent taxi speed, if not the E1000 will run quickly away from you. Flaps have to be set at the takeoff position...
 

 
...  view out of the cockpit is excellent as there are no obstacle or blind spots in your view point, but the reflections are quite strong.
 

 
On the original E1000 had the stick like undercarriage that took some getting used to, that version was harder in give (hence the solid stick feel) than the far better set up here as the undercarriage has certainly more give, but it is still tricky until you get used to it... as you still sit still tall and narrow on the wheels. So forward movement needs to build very slowly until really the aerodynamic forces give you more control, then you can give the throttle more power and also still have directional control, and powerful is that PT6A on an aircraft of this size, so use it wisely.
 


 
Rotate is around 85 knts and the aircraft will climb out easily under full power, 2000fpm is also easy but if you want to really go for it then the official climb rate is around 4,000 ft/min...  "wow". This aircraft climbs and goes up like hell even with a fair weight aboard, so you have to be in control of the machine and not the other way around.
 

 
So instead of being cocky and flying the E1000 like fighter pilot, then try to fly it as a professional and stay well within the boundaries, and there is a reason for this. I have my X-56 joystick quite well set up and refined, so like the spindly undercarriage the aircraft in the air feels the same, a little nervous, any strong wrist action will make the aircraft do sharp movements... so you have to keep everything really very intimate, slow and precise. As it is like an aircraft balanced on top a sharp stick, and it will move to any position very sharply. Like bank and you go down wing very quickly, so you tune into it but do it slowly, but you need focus and use slow movements to guide the E1000 in an easy and thoughtful way. Yes so that is very strong aspect of the flying in the E1000... focus.
 

 
Just pressing AP (Autopilot) and the NAV on the G1000 MFD left panel won't activate the Autopilot? There is still another button on the "Systems" menu before it will activate... ditto the PRESS AIR that seals the aircraft for the high altitude flying.
 

 
The environmental cabin controls are on the right side, and yes they really work via the 11.30 Oxygen feature.
 
The G1000 flightplan is very comprehensive and the Laminar G1000 Manual is well worth the download and study. But if you are using the VNV function and importing a flightplan (SimBrief) then make sure ALL the waypoint altitudes are correct and filled in, instead you could get almost a straight up and then straight down climb and descent, you need to control the flightplan profile correctly. Here I am checking and adjusting my descent into ELLX and then seeing the changes in action.
 

 
The Epic is a turbine propeller alternative to a small four seater private jet, so the numbers have to stack up to compete with the same performance, with cost being the major factor. Maximum speed is 325 kn (374 mph; 602 km/h) Max cruise which seriously fast for a prop aircraft and Cruise speed in Eco mode is 265 kn (305 mph; 491 km/h). Range: is 1,385–1,650 nmi (1,594–1,899 mi; 2,565–3,056 km) at either max cruise - eco cruise with a Fuel Burn of 300 kn (560 km/h), FL340: 40–60 US gal (150–230 l)/per hour and the Service ceiling of 34,000 ft (10,000 m) can be well within the reach of jet transport. Impressive.
 

 
The window reflections can be quite heavy in certain lighting conditions, but overall they are very realistic.
 

 
Lighting
The lighting is very good to brilliant but limited in the ways you can adjust it. Those big G1000 displays put out a lot of candle power, but you need them bright to read the screens. All in the G1000 displays and switch instrument lighting can be adjusted, but only globally and say focused just on the pilot's side. Cabin is all LED lighting and two forward lights cover the cockpit...
 

 

 
...  the cabin overhead LED's are amazing and are all adjustable, but only directly. And floor strips of LED lighting is in front of pairs of seats and the door entrance when open.
 

 
External lighting is good but the standard layout... Two wing edge LED landing lights and a single nose wheel taxi light. There is a left wing Ice light, belly rear beacon and the navigation and strobe lighting.
 

 
For all it's high speeds the E1000 is very good at low speeds...  you can set the flap to 10º and set your speed at a low 148 knts, which is great for aligning up to a runway and the aircraft is rock solid (180 knts is the 10º max).
 

 

 
Want to go even slower and you can, 130 knts is the limit for 40º flap (down) and you can then reduce your approach speed to an amazing 100 knts  - 97 knts... not even a Cessna 172 can go that slow? Can it?
 

 

 
You can keep this position and speed and control the descent via the throttle and the adjustment of the pitch, it is all very hands on but very controllable.
 

 
Your aim is to just let the E1000 sink slowly... those stick legs can be quite stiff if you try to go in to fast or down too quickly, yes there is more give in the trailing edge gear, but you mustn't try your luck too much. You don't need a lot of flare either, just let it down via the speed throttle control.
 

 
85 knts is the touchdown speed and the stall speed is a low 61 knts.
 

 
There is a built in BETA reverse, and the best way to access it is to use a key input "Toggle Beta Prop" from the X-Plane menu. It works, but I haven't used it enough to see how really effective it is. Using the brakes is your last option, and if you have runway space then use it to run off the excess speed and keep control. Overall I was very impressed with the low speed approach, it gives you time to adjust and fly the aircraft with time on your side.
 
With most aircraft in this category (mostly price wise here) in that these are very finely tuned aircraft need time and practice to get the very best out of them, certainly brilliant for flying, but they require certain skills and professionalism to extract the full potential from their dynamics.
 

 
Liveries
A wide selection of twelve liveries gives you plenty of choice and use, but mostly based in Europe and USA... they are all high quality and 4K refined with the Metal skin COBALT and the magic N333AK the highlights, N410LT is the default. There is a White (for painters) and Lo-res liveries that are also available through Aerobask website.
 



 
Summary
It is an Aerobask aircraft... many will purchase on the name alone. That is for a quality aircraft, huge features, brilliant ideas, massive internal detail and materials. So does the E1000 - G1000 Edition live up to all that high acclaim... of course it does.
 
This the second version of the Epic 1000 from from Aerobask, but discount the similarities right there, because this is a complete ground up redesign of the aircraft, and for not only X-Plane11 but for X-Plane11.30 as well... it is all in here, and it shows in every dynamic of its PT6A turbine performance and also real world latest certification prototype performance and in it's complete dynamics of the perfect use of PBR in glass, reflections the sheer quality and depth of its design. X-Plane11.30 boots-based wings and stabilizer de-icing system and working oxygen system (11.30 again) and functional breakers are also part of the in-depth systems.
 
Features are clever and well thought out, including the various tools required for Virtual Reality use and even the use of AviTab. Menus are clean and well thought out, but the static elements are all grouped together with limited flexibility.
 
The title says G1000, and that is the main feature of the E1000... the Laminar Research G1000 avionics suite and tools. And very good it is if you are willing to study the manual in depth to get the very best out of the avionics suite. There are no compromises now unlike with the earlier G900 based system, it is good and works well in here. Only point is the dark and bland default PFD Artificial Horizon screens, not a fan, and they spoil the customised side of the aircraft and a surprise they were installed here, and I have seen a better AH on the Laminar G1000. The other avionic features includes the MD302 backup instruments and GFC700 autopilot...  nice.

Flying dynamics are good to excellent, but the aircraft requires skill to get the really best return out of the aircraft, then the E1000 will return the favor back in full. Sounds are also fully dynamic with full FMOD spatial surround sound.
 
A comprehensive review details a very comprehensive aircraft... that is nothing new for Aerobask, they deliver... they deliver brilliantly - Highly Recommended.
 
_______________________________
 

 
The Epic E1000 - G1000 Edition by Aerobask is NOW available! from the X-Plane.Org Store here :
 
Epic E1000 G1000 Edition
 
Priced at US$34.95
 
Features :
Aerobask quality 3D model Completely reworked and re-scaled exterior and interior model New 4K PBR textures 11 stunning liveries out of the box Color-matching interior based on livery White (for painters) and Lo-res liveries available through Aerobask website Smooth and VR-friendly manipulators Professional Flight model New flight model by X-Aerodynamics Tested by actual owner Gianfranco Somma of Somma Aviation Matches latest certification prototype performance High quality sounds full FMOD environment by Daniela Rodriguez Careri samples from real PT-6 engine in-game volume control without pausing the sim Enhanced Laminar G1000 Integrates new XP11.30 GFC700 autopilot Custom MFD PT-6 engine parameters (on PFD in reversion mode) Optional mouse, scrollwheel and dialpad support for easy data input Optional keyboard support for dialpad and flight plan input Custom detachable popups with fixed ratio and all optional features above Note: some of the optional features may need VR-mouse at the moment Deep system emulation Realistic engine startup procedure Implements new XP11.30 boots-based wings and stabilizer de-icing system Implements new XP11.30 oxygen system for emergencies Functional breakers, with configurable reliability Fully simulated MD302 Standby Attitude Module Special effects Rain and windshield icing using librain plugin from Saso Kiselkov Dynamic reflections custom heat blur effect on both sides custom engine twin-contrails Other Avitab tablet, with integrated options panel Detachable and VR-friendly 2D options panel Preferences, fuel and payload saved between flights  
Requirements
X-Plane 11.30+ Windows, MAC or Linux - 64 bit Operating System 4Gb VRAM Minimum - 8Gb+ VRAM Video Card Recommended  Current version and Review Version : 3.22 (Feb 12th 2019)   Installation and documents:
Download for the Epic E1000 - G1000 Edition is 446.70 Mb and the unzipped file is deposited in the aircraft "General Aviation" X-Plane folder at 521.40 mb.
Avitab (Aviators Tablet) requires the download of the plugin and for the Navigraph charts you need a Navigraph account.
 
Documentation:
Huge amount of documentation, with full manual, (including training flight), Laminar G1000 manual, Performance, checklist and guidelines included. Documents for MD302 and AviTab are also included. A real world document (Get to) "Know your PT6A" is also part of the package.
 
Avitab integration.pdf E1000_2019_manual.pdf Epic E1000 G1000 Edition Checklist Normal.pdf Install Recommended settings.pdf Performance Guidelines Epic E1000 G1000 Edition.pdf Quick-Doc MD302.pdf Know_your_PT6A.pdf  
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Aircraft review by Stephen Dutton
16th February 2019
Copyright©2019 : 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 11.31 (v11.30 is required for this aircraft)
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 : Avitab (Aviators Tablet) - Free
Scenery or Aircraft
- EGKK - London Gatwick Airport v2 by Pilot+Plus (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$21.00
- ELLX - Luxembourg Findel Airport XP11 by JustSim (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$19.80    
 

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

Free Aircraft Release! : Concorde by Dr Gary Hunter
 

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


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


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

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

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

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

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




 

 

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

 

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

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

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

   

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

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


 

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

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

 

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

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


 

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

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


 

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

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

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


 

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

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

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


 

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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


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

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

 


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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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


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


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

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



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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 
Note: if either HERV or HECFM Refuges don't appear, then remove the (D3H)_Exclusions folder? The folder is for x-europe or ortho4xp use.
 
 
Most of all the refuges in the Belluno areas are represented, including: Coldai, Tissi, VII ° Alpini, Carestiato, Scarpa, City of Fiume, Venice Ref and more.
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Summary
This is the third of five sceneries from Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini that cover the Dolomite Mountain Ranges in the eastern north of Italy. This new area covers the Belluno Valley and Val Agordina areas, that are positioned directly south and west of the Drei Zinnen National Park, and then the Cortina - Cadore region.
 
Areas recreated in this scenery package include: Belluno city , Longarone + Vajont dam, all the many valleys including: Agordina, Fiorentina, Zoldana, Cordevole, Piave, Prmiero
 
All the numerous mountains and glaciers are all very highly created mesh from DEM data 3D graphics programs, and the Hi-Res textures are all in 4K resolution. The focus mountains are simply excellent in their 3D reproductions and the highlights are Pale di San martino (Pala Group), Schiara, Marmolada, Civetta, Moiazza, San Sebastiano (Tamer), Sass Set, Sagron.
 
These excellent representations of iconic mountain areas of the world are for exploration, sightseeing or just plain exploring...  and you could throw in a bit of geography as well. All are highly detailed of the areas they represent and the mountain ranges are of course the stars and the focal point.
 
With this Belluno extension you do have a question that arises in that does it stand alone as a scenery by itself? That is big question to now answer unlike the former Drie Zinnen/Cortana Packages.  Personally I can't see this package fully working effectively without the Cortina-Cadore extension as part of the same landscape, as the two Cortina/Belluno do heavily intertwine together at many points and boundaries, and the visual aspects from both sides of each scenery are duly both affected, together there quite outstanding in many viewpoints, and also now showing the truly huge landscape of the Dolomite area that is now visible.
 
Hugely popular and yes I love these amazing and hugely detailed and now extensive sceneries that can change your perspective of an iconic area and allow them to come to life in your simulation world...   Highly recommended, so three down and only two more Dolomites to go!
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Yes! Dolomites 3D Belluno-Southern Dolomites by Frank Dainese and Fabio Bellini is NOW available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :
 
Dolomites 3D - Belluno - Southern Dolomites
 
Price Is US$24.95
 
Customer who already own Dolomites 3D- Drei Zinnen Park or Cortina can get this new scenery for $5 off. Please go to the original invoice for coupon code
 
Features
1200 sq. Km of scenic Mountain Scenery Belluno Airport LIDB - Extremely detailed over 10 Heliports in strategic sites. Belluno city , Longarone + Vajont dam, many valleys: Agordina, Fiorentina, Zoldana, Cordevole, Piave, Prmiero ...  Over 20,000 buildings positioned, with many buildings rebuilt. 10  3D models: Pale di San martino, Marmolada, Civetta, Moiazza, San Sebastiano (Tamer), Sass Set, Sagron ... All the vegetation mapped Inserted hundreds of polygons / textures to reproduce the photo-realistic terrain Reproduced the main skilift-plants, in particular the Marmolada with 3 sections. Reproduced all the main refuges in the area: Coldai, Tissi, VII ° Alpini, Carestiato, Scarpa,Città di iume, Venice Ref. ...  
 
WT3/Traffic Global: Your joking of course! no, you are on your own here
 
Requirements
X-Plane 11 
Windows, Mac or Linux 4GB VRAM Minimum - 8GB+ VRAM Recommended Download Size: 600-950 Mb Release and Review version 1.0 (15th May 2020)   Installation Download scenery file size is download 635.20mb and with the full installation installed in your custom scenery folder as there are Nine install folders in the order below in the .INI File (included and the listing below also includes the Drei Zinnen/Cortina packs):    SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1A_DOLOMITI_3D_Part1/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1B_AIRPORT_LIVD/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1C_CableWay_Dolomitti1/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1D_PUSTERIA_Comelico/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1E_MISURINA/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1F_AURONZO/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D1G_Exclusions/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2A_DOLOMITI_3d_Part2/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2B_AIPORT_LIDI/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2C_CableWay_Dolomiti2/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2D_CORTINA/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2E_CADORE/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2F_CRODALAGO/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D2G_Exclusions/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3A_DOLOMITI_3D_Part3/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3B_CableWay_Dolomiti3/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3C_AGORDO_ALLEGHE/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3D_BELLUNO_Piave/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3E_VAL_CORDEVOLE/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3F_VALLE_PRIMIERO/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3G_Zoldana_Fiorentina/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/D3H_Exclusions/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/Dolomiti2_lib/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/Dolomiti_SIRX_VEGETAZIONE/ SCENERY_PACK Custom Scenery/MESH_DOLOMITI1/  
Total scenery installation (Belluno) : 2.05gb
 
connector scenery (D2G_Exclusions- Highlighted) is IMPORTANT in its position in the scenery order .ini to make sure there is a perfect transition between the two packages.
 
Documents
One manual with notes
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Scenery Review by Stephen Dutton
17th May 2020
Copyright©2020 : X-Plane Reviews 
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)
 
Review System Specifications:
Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 32 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8Gb - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 
Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.41 and tested in v11.50b6 and b9
Addons: Saitek x52 Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini 
Plugins: None
Scenery or Aircraft
- Bell 412 XP11 by X-Trident (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$35.95