simFlight.COM Flight Simulation News Source

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!

Flightsim Developers, formerly known as FSD-International, have released their YF-23 fighter for FSX. From their product page “….. The YF-23 was designed for survivability, supersonic, stealth, and ease of maintenance. Designed with all-aspect stealth as a high priority, Northrop introduced the novel feature of rear jet nozzle troughs lined with heat ablating tiles developed by Allison, which shielded the exhaust from infrared detection from below.

The most notable feature of the YF-23 was the trapezoidal wing configuration. The trapezoidal design allows for a thin wing with low drag at high speeds, while maintaining high strength and stiffness. The YF-23 is both faster and stealthier than any other jet fighter…..”.
Available for purchase only from their own website here.

Here’s an interesting project (AND website) for those of you who believe the world needs to get greener FAST but who also are avid aviation enthusiasts. I know looking at the sky in our beloved Alps hideout that aviation is NOT doing well in that area, clouding the clear skies rapidly with gases and vapour trails, poluting our planet more than we’d want. This Swiss project is one of many to try and do something about it: meet the Solar Impulse Project!

France Touristique has released his second volume now, titled “Pays de la Loire”. It will “….. enable you to supplement the five departments which compose this area of France. The product includes photorealistic scenery (IGN source) with standard FSX to 2.50 m of resolution,  an area of about 18390 km2. Mesh IGN high-resolutions.  Night textures for the entire area and a complete management of the water mask and blend masks….”.

Also included are very detailed airfields of Island of Yeu “Le Grand Phare”, Les Sables d’Olonne, Heliport of “Fromentine” and “Port Joinville” (island of Yeu) exploited by “OYA Helicopters”. In addition a private aerodrome of “Fromentine” and the Aerodrome of “La Flèche”.

Available at simMarket now.

Justin Tyme’s FSGenesis, the world’s premier supplier of add-on mesh for Flight Simulator, is in dire straits judging for a renewed cry for help from him. Justin has been supplying the FS communities with his products for over 10 years now, and is feeling the recent crunch in sales, as are many other small-time entrepreneurs in this industry.

This is of course not ONLY because of the global financial woes, but also related to a trend many have been seeing over the past 18 months with dwindling add-on sales due to a certain saturation in the market, a split between FS9 and FSX users, a steadily rising price level of add-ons and maybe a move to other simualtions and games in general.

If you feel you want to help Justin and keep him working on his add-ons, you can find his shop here.

In a new DVD from Just Planes you can see how Euro Atlantic Airways, based at Lisbon Airport, operates worldwide charter flights as well as services for many other airlines. “…… STP Airways is the new airline of Sao Tome and Principe, an Island off the coast of Africa. In this program you will fly in the cockpit of the Boeing 757 roundtrip from Lisbon to Sao Tome as you cross Africa and land on the tiny island off the coast of Gabon.

On the Boeing 767-300 you will follow one of the many sub-services Euro Atlantic operates for airlines all over the world, in this case Jetairfly of Belgium and 4 flights between Brussels and Tenerife…..’.

Available from simMarket now.

Mike Cyul over at the SOH forums has posted a few screenshots of his upcoming new Super Cub for FSX. This little aicraft mus be one of the most porrtrayed models for the sim, short of the Cessna’s, and is a great plane for the bush pilots and other VFR lovers. Check out his work in progress here…..