X-Plane, an alternative to Flight Simulator

With Labor Day weekend upon us, the 2009-2010 school year starts shortly.  I have been working on lots of content to catch you all up on the latest releases for flight simulator.   These include the Convair CV-240, Lockheed L-188 Electra, an exploratory view of X-Plane and a few flight reports to inspire you all.

Cheers!

Time for another poll.  In the last poll, you were asked to vote for the type of aircraft that you flew most often in flight simulator and the winner was commercial airliners.  I purposely kept the aircraft types general, not only to keep it simple, but because I wanted to drill down later.  Now it is time to drill down.  Without further ado please vote for the type of commercial airliner that you fly most often:

Cheers!

Unfortunately, hackers brought Avsim to its knees and the damage is too great to restore the site. This includes the file library, email, store, and site. Do not expect the site to be back up for a while. There is more information available from Project Opensky. http://www.projectopensky.com/

update – there is a temporary forum available for users to stay up to date on their recovery status: http://linux.myalbemarle.org/forums/index.php

Following on the heels of their last update, Historic Jetliners Group (HJG) released updated 727-100 models and a variety of 727-200 models and paints, include the 727-200 RE Super 27. Check their website to download these superb models. HJG website

Jumping on the social media bandwagon, I am now a happy user of Twitter.  Anyone interested in following me or seeing what I have to can head on over to my “home” page at the link below.  I tweet things relating to social media market, triathlons, working out, daily activities as well as flight simulator releases.

A Reality of My Own on Twitter

ACES Studio laid off via FSInsider > Remarks

While layoffs are never easy to hear about, the layoff of the ACES studio, responsible for Flight Simulator, has taken us all by surprise.  Clearly this decision illustrates how Microsoft evolves with changing times. Economic slow downs force many companies to take a long hard look at resources, future opportunities and current product lines.  While Flight Simulator is a very successful Microsoft product, the resources required to keep it running must have been too great and without the revenue to back it up, leading to a redistribution of resources to other revenue generating projects.  The company I work for took this same action and it also took many of us by surprise.

I am saddened by this and feel bad for the third party developers that rely on Flight Simulator to grow their products.  However, I do not think the end of Flight Simulator is upon us. Developers will continue to develop new aircraft and other add-ons while consumers will continue to fly the friend virtual skies. Once the economy comes back around in five to ten years, Microsoft, I hope, will be redefining the virtual skies.  In the meantime, please buy some payware add-ons and keep the developers happy for just a bit longer.

Cheers!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful day with family and friends.

For those of us lucky enough to not be working this week, Historic Jetliners Group (HJG) has given us an early present to indulge ourselves with and fill the time.  Released is one of my favorite aircraft of all time, the Boeing 727-100 in passenger, combi, and freighter variations in both early and late versions.  In addition to the base packs and countless liveries, there are optional sounds and panels.

727 Prototype leaving BFI

More to come after I download and install a few of these babies.  For now, head over to HJG’s forum and check out the details. <link> – Some additional information. There is an aircraft.cfg for FSX, but it is unclear if the panel will work.  The sounds are pretty good and the panel is good, but more fs2002 quality.  Overall, I am looking forward to spending more time with this creation.

727 Prototype climbing out over Puget Sound

In addition, HJG added new and liveries for their other models, including the BAe 146 and Boeing 707.

edit 10/22 – added 2 screenshots

Al Wheeler released the fourth revision to his California Central Coast scenery for FSX, featuring detailed airports such as Santa Barbara (KSBA), Paso Robles (KPRB), and others.

If you already installed the original scenery package and the previous three revisions, you can obtain the fourth revision from Avsim.

If this is the first time you are installing this scenery, Al released a complete version, including the four revisions, saving you the trouble of installing four updates on top of the original. The complete version is available >> avsim > (cccfsxc.zip)

Cheers!

Brett Henderson recently released his Saab 340, featuring a fully modeled passenger interior. More information available from Flight Simulations and Designs website.
http://www.simviation.com/fsnd/Downloads.htm