Hey thanks for pointing that one out, I've been busy these months and haven't popped in on the site to see what's up. I don't remember ever seeing this feature, so it's probably an upgrade introduced by our host.
The Historic Jetliner Group recently announced they have a bunch of surprises in store for the FS community this year. A short while ago, the first one of those surprises was revealed to be their freshly-released BAe 146/Avro RJ package, a fantastic and unexpected surprise indeed. And it seems like 2017 is really gonna be (actually, it already is) a terrific year for those keen on classic jetliners, specifically on HJG's simulations, as the group has just revealed (although not yet released) another major surprise...they're working on a 737 simulation.
Personally, I've always found it curious that during all these years, the Boeing 737 (100/200 series) hasn't found its way into the hangar of the Historic Jetliner Group. Now, that is set to change, as HJG has just announced that for the past 16 months, Erick Cantu (yes, the legend himself) has been busy building a brand new 737 3D model, specifically to be used as part of HJG's upcoming 737 simulation. So not only is HJG cooking a 737-200 simulation, but it'll also feature a brand new, never before available (or existent) 3D model, as opposed to using an existing "ancient" model built several years ago, as is the case with other simulations. And more than that, the model is being built by Erick Cantu, a truly legendary developer in the field of FS 3D models, thanks to the outstanding quality of his work.
Considering HJG's history of producing/hosting a wide variety of classic jetliners of a varied, but generally good or very good quality/realism/accuracy, I'm guessing it's safe to assume their upcoming 737 is gonna be an exquisite simulation. Just how exquisite, it remains to be seen. Personally, I have a great curiosity, which I can't wait to satisfy upon the release of this new simulation - namely, how will this new HJG 737 compare (in terms of realism and all that) with the state of the art TinMouse 737, which I own, and which is actually one of my very favorite aircraft from my entire hangar. That will be one tough simulation to dethrone...
Click on the picture to go to the official announcement.
The Historic Jetliners Group, in cooperation with other independent developers, released a BAe 146 simulation for FS9 and FSX about 10 years ago. This was supposed to be a complete package from the very beginning, from 2007, meaning it was supposed to include all the versions of the BAe 146 (100, 200 and 300) as well as all the versions of the newer Avro RJ airliners (70, 85 and 100). But due to various reasons, during all these 10 years, only the BAe 146-300 (with minor variation) has been available, the completion and release of the rest of the package has been, unfortunately, impossible...until now. After 10 years of delay and waiting, during which many simmers who, once upon a time, had anxiously waited for the completion of this package, most certainly lost their hope, HJG's BAe 146/Avro RJ package has finally been completed and is available for download from their website. And this is big news for 2 reasons:
1) Now, 5 more versions of this airframe are available from an originally planned total of 6 (roughly), only 1 having been available till now, so it's a huge expansion, almost as if the whole package has just been released now; 2) This BAe 146/Avro RJ package is very realistic indeed, with a plethora of systems being expertly crafted and implemented. It's not exactly suitable for simmers looking for stress-free flying.
Apart from its QualityWings payware counterpart (I suppose), this is definitely the most realistic and complete BAe 146/Avro RJ simulation you can possibly get.
The official HJG announcement, as well as any extra information HJG has provided/may provide regarding these simulations can be found here. Download page here (you must be familiar with the way HJG aircraft are installed, check the forums or ask for help in there if you need to).
A bit late reporting on it, I know - A promising new simulation of an interesting 1970s short-haul jetliner - the Fokker VFW 614 - has been released for X-Plane 10, by Peters Aircraft. The VFW 614 was not commercially successful, but it was a technological masterpiece at its time, featured new technologies (for those days), some of which are found even in today's Airbus airliners, and had wonderful flight characteristics. By far, its most prominent trait was the position of its engines, which were mounted on top of the wings as the plane was originally intended for third world countries, with poor infrastructure, hence the risk of ingesting foreign objects from the ground into the engines was greatly reduced.
This particular simulation is touted as being a very high fidelity one, based on intense studying of many authentic documents of this plane, the VFW 614 that is being preserved at the Aeronauticum Museum in Nordholz, Germany, as well as testimonies of people who were involved in the construction and operation of this jetliner. If you ask me, it is definitely a wonderful experience to have the opportunity to realistically sim-fly an in-depth simulation of a very rare, exotic and interesting (operational and systems-wise) airplane of the past from time to time, it gives you a glimpse into the "guts" of those other metal birds that existed out there, of which very few were built and of which very few people even heard (compared to the "celebrities of the sky"), but were at least as "tasty" as the more popular ones. It gives you an idea about aircraft configurations, systems and technologies, other than those of the very popular old planes, but ones which were contemporary with the latter. It looks like this is just one such simulation. Now if only I were an X-Plane user... See more (and maybe purchase) by following this very link right here. Also, see it in action in the video below.
JustFlight is currently working on their HS 748 propliner and 787 Dreamliner simulations for FSX and P3D. They've just released a couple of videos of the work that's been done so far, and boooy, it sure looks fantastic already! The 787's gonna be a new member of their famous F-Lite product range, aka simulations that are not too complex/in depth, are easy to fly, yet realistic enough to offer a very pleasant and convincing experience, similar to the CLS products. Take a look:
Innsbruck airport in Tyrol, Austria, is without a doubt among the most breathtakingly scenic major airports in the world, and over the years, the FS community has seen a number of Innsbruck sceneries released for various simulator platforms, all of them stunning (even the freeware ones). But this time, things get really serious, as ORBX is currently working on a brand new Innsbruck scenery of its own...so...well...I've already mentioned ORBX and Innsbruck, that pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the way the final product is gonna look like. Note that the scenery will require either FTX GLOBAL BASE or OPENLC EUROPE in order to work.
Milton and his team have done it again, another exquisite digital replica of a classic bird emerges from their factory, this time, it's none other than the Grumman Mallard. The team has been working on it for some time, they even released an unfinished, work-in-progress version for FSX a while ago (here). And as usual, it's available for FS9, FSX and P3D. Looks so very darn good, and addictive, I'm gonna grab it and take it for a spin, I suggest you do the same, go get it --> LINK.
The old Tegel airport in Berlin was supposed to be replaced by the larger, ultra-modern, and overall superior airport of Berlin Brandenburg a rather long time ago (in 2010), but for many reasons, mainly due to corruption and poor planning, (no, Germany is not immune to that either ) Berlin Brandenburg airport still hasn't opened as of 2016 and won't open anytime soon, so the old Tegel airport is still going strong and will continue to do so for quite some time to come.
That means there's every reason for this veteran airport to be upgraded in FS, as new scenery modeling techniques become available. Aerosoft has just delivered on that, by releasing their brand new, much improved version of Tegel airport for FSX and P3D. I wonder if Tegel will live long enough to see the need for yet another upgraded version representing it in FS, sometime in the future. It all depends on the Berlin Brandenburg airport... Click on the image below.
I don't remember to have ever heard of JustSim before, but judging from the screenshots and the following video, this team seems to be doing a good job. From their ovens comes a freshly baked, beautiful Spanish destination, for FSX and P3D, Girona - Costa Brava. Check it out HERE.
Freshly cooked from Just Flight, comes a nice little simulation of a modified version of the interwar F3F-1 fighter bomber from Grumman, dubbed the GulfHawk II, for FSX and P3D. Accurate flight dynamics, authentic animated VC, choice of electric or cartridge starts, just to name a few features...sounds good LINK
Big deal, big event. The first 727 jet to take to the skies, which has been under restoration for the last 25 years, will fly again, for the last time. It'll depart the Museum of Flight's Restoration Center and Reserve Collection at Paine Field, Everett, Washington, bound for the Museum, at Boeing Field. Read the whole story here.
Aeroplane Heaven (through Just Flight) have released their brand new de Havilland DH.104 simulation for FSX and P3D. It includes both the Dove (short haul airliner) and Devon (military version) variants. In addition to the high level of realism, it appears there's plenty of diversity too, many variations (eg. in terms of instrumentation) of each model being simulated. Generous doses of realism and diversity stuffed into the same simulation can't be a bad thing Cool stuff indeed! Click on the image to go to its page on JF.
Simple, straightforward, promising. Forget RAM air turbines, ditching, finding an airstrip to land your stricken plane, sometimes, you just gotta fight fatal accidents the hard way.
The default timezone of the website is set to GMT, and if you live in parts of the world with different time zones (CET for instance), you will be shown erroneous dates and times across the website. For instance, the date and time on which you, or somebody else wrote a forum post, uploaded a screenshot or added a comment will be displayed erroneously (the wrong date and time) in places such as the forum threads or the activity feed on the main page.
To have the correct date and time displayed across the site, you need to set the timezone of your area, this is a very straight forward process, as follows (if needed, click on the pictures to see them in full resolution):
Hover the cursor over your username found on the top bar, and a drop down menu will pop up, now click on "Options".
On the "Settings" panel you've been presented with, click on "Forum Settings"
On the first of the 2 panels that have showed up, there is an option labeled "Zeitzone", the German word for "Timezone", click on its corresponding button to open the drop down menu and from that list, select the city that has the same timezone as your location. Next, click on the button labeled "Save settings" of this panel.
Now you should have correct values of date and time displayed across the site.
I'm rather ashamed to post this in the news section as I'm almost a month late reporting on this, but hey, considering how detached from the FS world I've been lately, I'm surprised I stumbled upon this thing so quickly after all...so what is this thing?
First things first; a year ago, I wrote down my thoughts here on the then brand new Soft Clouds textures for FSX and P3D from REX, and in putting my 2 cents in, I was actually more than generous with that product...in that I awarded it plenty of "black dots". At best, I just didn't see any major improvement (if any) brought by that addon in the FSX and P3D worlds. My whole "mini-review" was based on screenshots made by others, as I didn't (and don't) own neither FSX nor P3D, I also stated that even if I did own FSX or P3D, I wouldn't go for purchasing Soft Clouds to check them out myself, as I just wasn't impressed at all by what I saw in the screenshots.
But guess what?
Last December, days before Christmas, REX released an FS9 version of Soft Clouds... I'm always glad when I see new addons being developed for my beloved immortal sim, but given its failure to impress me last year, Soft Clouds shouldn't be the addon that gives my hand the virus...you know...that virus that makes your hand wanna reach for the credit card and pimp your FS. But still...for whatever reason, now that there's an FS9 version of Soft Cloudies, I'm tempted to try 'em out. They say it improves the fog effects among others...I wonder if there are things you cannot really see in screenshots, but only in the sim...hmmm, I'll think about it...but if I do get them, I promise to review them! See them here and here.
Wow, that looks like serious fun, (the screenies speak for themselves) but all a die-hard FS9er like me can do is sit and drool Danke sehr for the headsup, mein Freund!
The amazing folks at HJG had been planning a major update of their Boeing 727 fleet of simulations for more than a year now (I mentioned it in this article a year ago). Personally, I've been anxiously waiting for this upgrade ever since, constantly checking back on their website.
Well, on the 28th of this month, they finally started to release their improved 727s, and the reason I say "started" is because this is only the first of a total of 3 stages in which their 727 update is to be released, the other 2 stages being scheduled for release at a later date. This first stage of updates brings us new 727-200 3D models which greatly expands the already diversified 727-200 flightline offered by HJG, in other words, many more versions of the 727-200 are now available (such as winglet-equipped models). These new models are accompanied by new flight dynamics and new/updated panels to match them. New and updated panels are also available for 727-100. Updated 727-100 models are to be released in the next stages of the update.
For more info and the official announcement, hit this link.
Milton Shupe and his team are known for the multitude of high quality freeware aircraft they've developed over many years, mostly classic/small aircraft - fighters, liners and utility planes. Personally, until now, I haven't been fully aware of just how actively Milton's team is still developing. There are many recent (no more than 2 years old) simulations released by the group of which I wasn't aware. And best of all, they stubbornly refuse to let down the FS9 folks.
But the latest iron bird to roll off this group's production line (released on the 5th of September) is one whose absence on the FS stage has been clearly felt among the fans of classic irons - the Lockheed Lodestar, a passenger airplane of the WWII era. Milton and co' Lodestar package includes both civilian and military versions of this wonderful aircraft, all in the usual superb detail and fidelity that Milton and his team are known for. It comes complete with virtual cockpit and cabin, custom sounds and gauges. And yes, it is available for both FS2004 and FSX. Being a rather endowed simulation, it requires patience in actually getting the grips on how to properly fly this thing, you'd really miss a lot if you were to just hop in, max the throttle and pull the stick, as I was to find out when I took it for a spin. Both versions (FS9 and FSX) are available here on FlightSim.com (if the link doesn't work, search FlightSim.com' file library, via File Library > Advanced Search, for "milton shupe lodestar" and check the "Complete aircraft with model, panel, sound" box to filter the unwanted results).
Now, a few snaps from my maiden flight with the Lodestar, in FS9:
Am loving the virtual cockpit...
...as well as the cabin
Been doing this for many years, and I still appreciate a good wingview in FS
He, thank you Mr Gate, matter fact, I was busy keeping an eye on earthlings getting too close to our outer solar system headquarters, with their New Horizons thingie
Hold on tight, get ready to be blown away by the wave of amazement...'cuz I'm about to present to you my newly acquired JOYSTICK, to use with my FS. I can already feel your envy
So far, my use of joystick for flight simming has been limited, I've mainly relied on Mouse As Yoke, but I feel like the time has come for me too to start using the stick on a regular basis, and since my old joystick was dying, I got a new one, the 1 n only... Genius MaxFighter F-23U, very basic as you can see, very cheap too, but it's all I need. I completely forgot how awesome it feels like to simfly...with the joystick... You know, there is this special feeling when you're capable of finding great joy in things most other people in your field of interest used to find the same amount of joy eons ago Same goes (in my case) for various addons, and the simulator itself (FS9). Got my new stick just in time for the end of my FS hibernation...
It seems my FS hibernation only lasted a little over a month, the urge to get back into the cockpit is just too great but I did need this short break, now FS feels so much more pleasurable. For starters, I take it slowly, I just did a couple tests with the good ol' Fokker F27, which I intend to fly next. Did my best to fire it up as realistically as possible from cold and dead, and perform the climb out, just as realistic. I guess I did pretty good, considering I've hibernated for over a month
I've backdated my FS (mainly AI traffic) and from now on until...some point in the future, I intend to go RETRO and only fly in the 80s, this is something I've been wanting to do for about a year or so. Long time since I last flew the oldies....I even got myself a new joystick (get ready to be amazed ) to use from now on. Till I'm truly back in the air, here's a few insights into my short test flight with the Friendship; cold and dead...I mean cold and dark startup followed by departure from Debrecen, Hugary:
About to wake up the Darts
All well
I'm already engulfed by that rewarding feeling one experiences upon getting everything right on a complex simulation (such as this wonderful freeware F27 by Fraser McKay)
Hehe, yeah I know, the urge to get back into the virtual cockpit is already intense but I'll still ignore it for a while, the FS experience being so much more delightful after a period of...abstinence It's almost as if I'm new to FS and I experience that "primordial" joy of "the first contact" all over again, but at the same time being armed with all the knowledge and experience gathered over the years.