simFlight.COM Flight Simulation News Source

Associated Press reports that “…..A French investigator says Air France Flight 447 did not break up in flight but plunged vertically into the Atlantic Ocean. Alain Bouillard, leading the investigation into the June 1 crash for the French accident investigation agency BEA, also says life vests found among the wreckage of the plane were not inflated.

All 228 people aboard the plane were killed when it plunged into the ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Bouillard said at a news conference outside Paris on Thursday that the search for the plane’s black boxes has been extended by 10 days and will continue through July 10……”.  More news here.

Francois Dumas of FSAddon.com Publishing reports that “….. we are launching a new brand name in the flightsim industry: Accent’Sim. Under this name we will publish products that do not entirely fit  the FSAddon ‘look and feel’, but are still worthy of releasing to the FS market. We will help the developers of these other products to market their creations and support them from within the FSAddon websites and forums. Accent’Sim will replace the ‘FScene Design Network’ brand that we set up a year ago.

The first of such products will be released this weekend actually, and it is Northern Microlights by Neil Birch. A series of nice little farm fields in northern England, for FSX. Stay tuned for more !…..”.

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Carenado reports they have released their “…… first twin engine aircraft ever; the classic PA-34 200T SENECA II for FSX. This aircraft is full FSX and DX10 compatible with high resolution textures (and very friendly FPS). It was developed with all FSX features plus two new features: volumetric normal mapping and Original HQ digital stereo sounds (44100 HZ) recorded from the original aircraft……”.

The Seneca will be available on simMarket soon of course.
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Tyler Newport has released yet another of his groundtexture areas. “….. Photo Real Destin/Fort Walton, FL is a ground texture replacement package that overlays the default terrain with high quality, satellite image textures. This scenery encompasses a very large area of some of America’s most beautiful beaches. Destin and Fort Walton Beach, Florida, are home to the sugar-like sand and pristine turquoise waters. This scenery not only replaces ground textures, it has a beautiful water mask that displays photo real water and the sand beneath it…..”.

Available at the simMarket on-line shop as usual.

Phil over at Alphasim reports the release of a french Dauphin helicopter. “……  AlphaSim’s package includes both the earlier N1 version as well as the modified N2, each in VIP transport and MedEvac guises. One thing the Dauphin is known for is the variety of colorful paint schemes which were applied to its sleek lines, our model set does not disappoint here, there are no less than eight colorful texture sets (including a fictional US Coast Guard one), with matching interior colors….”. Read Full Story »

I read a comment not long ago from a reader who was asking for a DC-9 under FSX….. wel, his wish will come through! It so happens I heard that there will be one on simMarket soon, made by a company operating under the name Sky Simulations, or SkySim for short. You can already take a peek of what’s coming on his website and please keep an eye on the news and on simMarket!

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Here’s something taken from a blog I found….. the blog of James Wiebe from Wichita to be exact. “…. Wichita, Kansas-based aviation enthusiast and entrepreneur James Wiebe and his wife, Kathy, have acquired the production rights to a previously designed aircraft, the Kitfox Lite, and formed a new business entity, Belite Aircraft, to market it. The airplane will incorporate stronger, lighter carbon fiber components that will allow it to easily meet Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 103 weight requirements.

The Wiebes, who previously developed and marketed digital forensic computer storage devices as the founders of Wichita-based enterprise, WiebeTech LLC, acquired the tooling, existing parts and manufacturing rights to the aircraft in March of 2009. As a condition of the transaction, they agreed to re-brand the airplane to prevent any confusion with the larger, two-place light sport Kitfox that shares many of the same design features but is owned by another company. Kitfox has recorded more than 4,500 kit sales since its introduction 25 years ago…..”.

Exciting to see new aircraft compaies being born, follow it here!

Jean-Luc Dupiot, owner of RealityXP in Canada, sent us the following press release: “…… Reality XP is announcing the release of the GNS WAAS Unlimited Expansion Pack for the Award Winning 430XP WAAS and 530XP WAAS for FSX and FS9.
Unlimited views, unlimited possibilities: With the capability to run dual 430 WAAS or dual 530 WAAS, in addition to mixed 430 and 530 configuration, GNS WAAS Unlimited offers unlimited possibilities: navigate with one GNS and review your flight plans with the other one, get two different views around you at the same time, like Navigation and Terrain, or Navigation and Traffic…..”.

More info here.

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Wow! Some months we do get ‘em. If we thought last month’s contest was a tough one to judge, this months was not much easier. Forum member Liltrey did manage to get a clear lead in both the public and the judges votes, but second place has never been more hotly contested. Both JDHaenens and Vingador Turbina had picture that could hardly have been more opposite. But “There can only be one” and so second place goes to JDHaenens and his very compelling moonlit shot of a carrier deck just coming to life.
Current and past contest winners can be seen here, in the prizewinners’ gallery.

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Yet another FS web site apparently got hacked last night. The bad thing is that the hackers may have retrieved passwords from users who were so careless to try and log in into the non-regular screen presented to them !! So if you are one of those, and use that password elsewhere too, you’d better CHANGE IT NOW! Might be a bad idea to change it anyway…. Read the owner’s link about the issue here.

FranceVFR reoirts that their Clermont Ferrand Airport Scenery now also is available in an FSX version. “…..The scenery models the Airport of Clermont Ferrand using photo-real high definition textures of the ground, with night textures added to the entire covered area. The scenery covers over 35 km² and adds to the airport an extended photo-realistic area including custom Autogen as well as semi photo-real tarmacs and taxiway (new!).

The scenery is optimized to obtain the best possible framerate and quality/performance. You can use it as a standalone product or in addition to the Auvergne scenery (VFRPack, released later this year) without any modification. Due to its particular concept, the scenery is entirely compatible with any mesh of your choice….”.

Available at simMarket of course.

Bill Ortis’ planes (Lionheart Creations) are getting better and better. His latest release is that of the Wittman Tailwind, a homebuilt aircraft from the 50’s and a joy to fly both in FS2004 and FSX. “….. The world famous 2 seater speedster of the American Homebuilt sector, the 200 MPH, wooden winged Tailwind designed by famous air racer Steven Wittman. This world famous plane, originally designed in the 1950’s, graces the skies internationally with radical high speed performance, extremely inexpensive contruction, and provide regular people with a fun, enjoyable way of flying. This comes with both the W8 and W10 series model variants.
Comes with both full versions for FS2004 and FSX. FSX features all new FSX format textures systems….”.

Available here in the simMarket shop. And the introductory price of  of only Euro 12,05 (Euro 14,34 for EU customers) is valid for ONE WEEK! Read Full Story »

An interesting video on YouTube showing a DC-10 simulator in the Swedish Vasteras Aviation Museum in Vasteras with a flight from Hong Kong Kai Tak. Very impressive!

Mathijs Kok from Aerosoft reports that they are”….. delighted and proud to announce that they will be the exclusive European distributor for Rise Of Flight. Aerosoft will also release this product for the Middle Eastern and Central Europe markets.

Rise Of Flight is the latest in a long line of PC Flight Simulators featuring the air combat over the Western Front during the First World War. Together with the Battle of Britain this era is known as the pinnacle of aerial combat. The best pilots from both sides met in the sky with equally matched machines and without the conditions favoring either party. Pilot skill determined the outcome. Flight Simulator fans always appreciated the simplicity of the aircraft and weapons of this period allowing the pilot to focus on the dog fight and not on the systems. …”.

More info on the developer’s site here.
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It’s that time of the year again that aviation lovers’ hearts start pounding faster. Oshkosh is nearing and opening its doors on July 27th ! EAA Air Venture is the world’s largest air ‘meet’ in the world, set up as a fly-in for experimental aircraft builders, but grown out to be much more. This year will even see the mighty Airbus 380 there ! If you have a chance to visit, don’t skip it !! Read all about it here!