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Friday, December 31, 2010

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Cayo Coco MUCC test

The prolific teams of taxi2gate and Intersims have just released Jardines del Rey airport in north of Cuba a couple of days ago. Screenshots don't show that but MUCC has a very long runway of 9842 feets. Heavy liners can land there without a problem. The scenery itself is just made of a few buildings. The main terminal is well depicted (especially the front side) with some photorealistic textures on windows figuring passengers. Okay its not the state of the art but the place is beautiful, with flowers and trees everywhere (at full autogen). I did not see any AFD file for Ai traffic but My traffic put 2 regional aircrafts on the parking.

The airport is a good start for a lot of destinations ; Montego and Kingston, Nassau, Caymans, Miami and Tampa and others cuban airports. The weak point : it is surrounded by a lot of fences which tend to flicker and sparkle, especially where they are side by side. It might be my settings but developers (who will possibly read this post) are totally free to comment and explain this effect.

Quality 7/10 FPS 9/10 Interest 8/10 Package 7/10













Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Tampa rebooted hot test

Watch out. Tampa Rebooted is likely to show us a new standard. Traffic, bridges, tunnels everywhere. Fly Tampa overtakes here Fs Dreamteam last production (KDFW). Maybe just for a couple of weeks until KLAX release. But the work is impressive. Quality is in the amount of buildings, roads, parkings but also in small details : light signs on jetways, flags, etc.
The scenery covers the airport of Tampa Intl and its surroundings until 3 km.
I give a 9/10 for interest as Tampa airport was not very often described in FS univers (i barely remember 1 or 2 sceneries).
Two minor problems noted though : once in the scenery at the airport, it takes 2-3 seconds to load everything.
There is also a slight "flickering effect" on airport ground as the aircraft leaves the area. It can be my settings or a minor conflict with Ultimate terrain USA.

Overall quality 9;5/10 Interest 9/10 FPS 9/10
Overall package 8/10
Short video test below


















Sunday, December 26, 2010

About AirdailyX














Here are the last set of pictures from my Geneva trip. From the blogger stats, i can just guess that new visitors came in, intrigued by last pictures. Airdailyx is not Airliners.net. I do not have a heavy images database. Airdailyx has one purpose : to give news on flight sim market. The thing is everybody is working on their projects (and i assume, taking some rest before new year). Despite Barcelona X, Stuttgart and Tampa surprises, i think it is gonna be quiet until then.
These pictures are free of right.

1) Swiss air Airbus landing in Geneva.
2) Swiss and french alps (Mont-Blanc in center, swept by heavy winds).
3) Airbus Air France A-380 taking off from Paris De Gaulle.































Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Drzewiecki design hits again

Polish development team Drzewiecki design just announced Vol.2 for FS 2004. They are releasing the new product on december 24th. A FSX version will be released in march/april. The volume 2 include EPSC, EPZG and EPLL.


Friday, December 17, 2010

US Cities coming back !

We thought the serie was over with New Orleans. It's not. LimeSim studios works on a US Cities Las Vegas, an extended version, including Boulder city, several airports (Nellis AFB, Henderson etc..). A total of 3 930 buildings are expected, including on the strip. The famous restricted Area 51 will also be reproduced. Us cities, as usual, comes with extended road traffic and sounds. According the screenshots disclosed on Aerosoft preview forum, the project seems well advanced. There are still questions about third parts softwares compatibilities but the scenery will be working with the remarkable FS Dreamteam KLAS (i said compatible, not framerates-high-performing).
Release date : shortly, maybe for december 31.

NB : night lights textures of buildings will be implemened this time (it's Vegas !) but this will come a bit later in a free update.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Why Aerosoft is changing its model ?

Last year, the german designer Aerosoft had a portfolio of about 20 FS9/FSX projects mainly focused on sceneries. Twelve months later, there are more aircrafts projects (seven) than sceneries (six or less). Here is the fact : Aerosoft is changing its model.
The first reason is that the designer might need to secure its activity in the new Microsoft "FLIGHT" environment. According to persistant rumors, FLIGHT will not be sold as a stand-alone but as a licence granted to access the network service providing the environment and maybe sceneries, aircrafts etc. As other competitors, Aerosoft must be recognized as a top-level company with blockbusters products. This is why the company has invested in some heavy projects like Airbus X. There is another reason to develop aircrafts. Margins perspectives are certainly better on these products than on sceneries, more subject to piracy. A good aircraft is sold 40 to 60 dollars and at that price, this worth developing an anti-thief protection. Last but not least, Aerosoft is eager to design its own flight simulator. In order to do so, he needs to master aircrafts design.

This article is a B2B essay. Its only purpose is to give some clues to understand the flight sim market.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Montego bay under a microscope

Don't be misguided by the title. Latin Vfr's Montego Bay scenery is a pretty large area in a 20 x 10 km square, from the Montego bay itself to the Rose hall resort along the coastline 15 km east of the airport. This time, the designer added a lot of resorts hotels along the hills, giving a pleasant place to land (in a larger airport than Norman Manley).
Considering the work done, the price is decent. Considering quality, i would say that next time, Latin VFR might try to raise its standards. Just to point out my idea, i put a picture to be compared with the real one. I would say that some time, textures color choices seem unfortunate but one possibility is that developers did not get all photo materials, except for this one. Anyway a lot of us were waiting for this MKJS airport. It is winter, enough of icelands (hmm..) and let's go look for the sun.
Overall quality 7,5 FPS 7,5 Interest 9 Package 9,5









Color of these bricks don't match with real ones.










Left : very nice details of grounds
Right : a lof of resorts added everywhere.

! These pictures are not the best (see Latin VFR forum) but these ones are there to point out relevant details.

Get a building and a runway for 18 bucks

What is the commun point between Leida, Cayo Coco and Weeze airports, recently launched by Tropical Sim, Taxi2gate and Aerosoft ? These sceneries just contain a main building, one runway and a bunch of trees and cars to coat the package. The price ? 18 bucks (15 euros) and a maximum of profitability as these products are often developed on the run. Of course, in most cases, you will not get any charts.
Junior Puente from Intersims studios openly talked about its scenery Cayo Coco because he was wondering if its product had to be droped as a freeware. Considering small companies need to growth, it is okay, i rather like to pay for the work, let's say at least 10 or 12 euros. But misters ! At 18 bucks, this is a very lucrative business. Just to compare these products value with Dallas KDFW (FS Dreamteam) sold at around 30 bucks...

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Pacific Islands Simulation announces VFR Appalachia

I told you about Pacific Islands Simulation (PIS) a couple of weeks ago. It was to give some news about their Eastern West Virginia airport (KMRB). Well, it appears the team got a hole new idea in the interval. They are going to launch a VFR Appalachia, including KMRB of course, plus at least (updated today 12/13) five more airports in the vicinity. Unfortunately, i cannot insert any of their screenshots as they locked and protected them like gold or somethin'.
The thing is they work nice and i might compare their work with Drzewiecki design team. Graphics are all polished and neat. The only difference comes from their immovable routine consisting of adding horses and cowboys everywhere. So let's say they are the cow boys of the international Flight sim market. hip hip ! (and by the way, I would like a release date this time).

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Zoom on Polish airports vol.1


Screenshots were not lying. The three polish airports compiled by Drzewiecki designers almost reach perfection. All textures plates on buildings are made of high resolution, grounds, grass and runways rendition is neat and spotless. The airports, international class (Katowice, Gdansk and Jasionka RzesZow) are all completed by large photo-based textured areas and specific autogen. I was astonished by seasonal textures. At Katowice, one can literaly think that the snow invaded the runway but was sweeped away.

We, foreigners, do not know these places but they have been well chosen for limitless flights possibilities. Gdansk can be our departure point to Sweden, Germany and baltic countries. Katowice is not too far from Czech republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The real Jasionka airport has summer connections to Turkey.

The file has its weight (about .97 gigabit) but the installation is perfect and the framerate is very smooth. One regret : there is no charts nor explanations on approachs patterns.

Overall quality : 9/10 FPS: 9/10 Interest : 7,5/10 Overall package : 7/10






Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Orbx CrowdFlow technology... passengers get alive

Last sunday, australian company Orbx disclosed its new animated passengers system. This will become a standard complement in a couple of weeks, in all ORBx airports sceneries. They just need to work on some discipline (lol, watch the video). Anyway, until then, Airport enhancement system (Aerosoft AES) is going to need to work hard to reach this new standard level. This CrowdFlow is astonishing and might offer new opportunities in FS world : people waiting to board, passengers descending from cabin, complex animations of airport services staff. For the very first time, people around airports does not loook like "playmobils" anymore.

http://orbxsystems.com/forums/index.php?topic=29692.0

Second video this morning : http://www.fullterrain.com/ Astonishing !

Monday, December 6, 2010

Surprise...from Montego Bay !












Scoop from Latin VFR... Montego Bay Sangster MKJS to be released shortly.
I really like Latin VFR. Maybe they could not restrain themself from making noise over Tropical Sim (who just released LEBB). Anyway, it is a nice surprise. More screenshots on their forum.

Flightbeam's KSFO for FSX

Flightbeam has almost finish and is near to release its San Francisco airport. The product is a payware and will be delivered from their website. A FS9 version is already planned. Development team made all efforts to maintain framerates at a good level and checked compatibility with third-party applications.


Friday, December 3, 2010

Bilbao : our test

Tropical Sim has patiently work six months on this project. On my opinion, they know that some of their older sceneries were - quality speaking - a bit questionable. So, they take the time to master new functions. A first surprise comes from the extensive photoreal ground texture all around the airport, in the manner of Latin VFR. The naked Bilbao (defaut scenery) is nice with its bay and surroundings montains but there, with the addition, it is marvelous. Compared with some sceneries, as Cancun, the buildings are much more worked with an effort on textures, every where. Finaly, the complex architecture of the terminal itself is expressing designers fresh ingenuity.

The airport is a challenge. Its main runway is about 2600 meters long, a 500 meters more longer than Toncontin Tegucigalpa for instance.

Overall quality : 8/10 FPS : 6/10 Interest : 9/10 Overall package : 7/10
A nice quality product. The scenery gives poor FPS performance on low end machines but Tropical Sim has established a list of removable .BGL files (you can give up a lot of trucks here and there). Overall packages : score 7 because of the price.
















How to take best habits from competitors...
















Tropical Sim really took care of the buildings

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

A gloomy wednesday

As Flightbeam is polishing its San Francisco KSFO, he shows interest in a San Diego airport project. KSAN is actually done by Cielosim for FS9 until today. Anyway, Flightbeam will start a poll to estimate simmers requests. Fly Tampa has confirmed he will doing a Montreal CYUL after its Athen LGAV. (-> updated december 2, Cielosim confirm a FSX version too).
Another scoop (is it ?), Wilcopub launchs its E-Jets V2 with new Embraer models 175 and 195. A lot of people are found of the E-jets, me too. Their FMC is really amazing but Wilcopub and Ariane Design, these guys are too smart. From one aircraft engine, they sell dozen of versions. It is 95 % of the same aircraft and rest assure, it is 100 % the same price. Oh, by the way, some of us are still waiting for A-380 and Boeing 777 service packs. There are also questions about Wilco corrupting dll.xlm files. (had the case myself installing PMDG 747 after the excellent PIC B-737).

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Last minute !

Tropical sim just released today its Bilbao LEBB for FS9. And a FSX version will follow soon. Enjoy. This designer has improved its sceneries quality and spanish airport Bilbao is a 6 months work.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Incoming airports for Poland

The Drzewiecki design group has confirmed working on a Polish airports vol. 2. scenery package. It will continue to include regional airports ; Szczecin Goleniow (EPSC), Lodz Wladyslaw (EPLL) and Zielona Gora (EPZG). It is a very nice new considering the quality of their Volume 1 (take a look at the ground textures and buildings).
A lot of us regret that they are not working on a major international polish airport. Of course, i think of Warszawa Okecie and Krakow. Maybe in a third volume.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

France VFR Alsace ready for release

France VFR decided two years ago to dispatch new generation photosatellites sceneries of France. Areas are splitted in administration official regions. Britain was released first, followed by Nord-Pas-de-Calais (the northest region of France, south of Belgium). Now, the designer is releasing Alsace, that will support its home-made airports Strasbourg LFST and Bale-Mulhouse (LFSB). Alsace region has a 4,75m (LOD13) mesh, a specific autogen and 16 airports/airfields have been polished to fit with the scenery. I tested this new generation photorealistic sceneries and like them as there are no blurries at all. (should be released on Simmarket in a couple of hours). FSX and FS9. If you are not familiar with France regions, you might wait for the incoming Rhone-Alpes VFR (a must have with Alps and Mont-Blanc).

www.francevfr.com/

Monday, November 22, 2010

A Boeing 777 ?

Hush-hush. Following new developments AND (certainly) decision from Quality Wings to launch a Boeing 787, Intersim Studios might launch a totally new project in the following days: a Boeing triple seven. Intersim Studios, conducted by Junior Puente, was the first to announce a B-787, preceeding Quality wings announcement.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Incoming sceneries

Many sceneries release dates are planned or postponned for/to early January 2011 : are in this case, Lima SPIM from Latin VFR (a pretty heavy work), Luton from Eiresim and Antartica by Aerosoft.
On the other hand, Tropical Sim promised Bilbao spanish airport LEBB could be finished in early november. It should be released in a couple of days. FS Dreamteam might also surprise us by releasing Los Angeles KLAX for Christmas or new year. It is a huge airport but they work nice and fast.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Orbx FTX Pacific North west released

FTX just released its PNW scenery. The region covered can be watch on Google Earth with a .kmz file, downloadable from FTX website. The scenery covers parts of Oregon from Roseburg to Chilko lake in British Columbia (Canada). Watching their video trailer, i am wondering what are framerates performance, as they are stressing on bush flying and small airplanes. I am also concerned about UTX Ultimate terrain. Of course, UTX is fully compatible (they say "seamlessly" compatible) but Orbx scenery add up a lot of textures and autogen. If so, why keeping on with UTX ?

Monday, November 15, 2010

iFly news

The chinese team iFly confirmed they are working on a FSX version of their Boeing 737ng. The drawing board stage may have already been passed but they still need to finish the FS9 service pack.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

A focus on the BN2-Islander

Why would you not fly on a STOL aircraft ?

A lot of airfields are difficult to land at because aircrafts are just not appropriate (St-Barth, Saba, Dutch harbor...). In FS world, there are not so many Short take-off and land (STOL) capability aircrafts. The Britten-Normandy BN2 islander, designed by Virtavia, is one of them and can take-off on a rough 300 meters strip. 750 units are still in service around the world, 50 years after its development.

Virtavia worked pretty hard to give the aircraft its rustic nice-looking. At approximately 60-70 knots, ready for take-off, the BN2 is shaking hard, producing realistic sounds of the vibrating cabin. The aircraft is equiped with a Bendix King GPS (KLN 90) and all mandatories navigation systems. Service ceiling 13 000 fts, cruise speed 154 mph. One small detail : landing gear does not retract.

Interest : 8,5/10 Overall quality : 7,5/10 FPS : 6,5/10













Thursday, November 11, 2010

B-737-100 project launched

Captain Sim just announced start of production of its Boeing 737-100 and extension 737-200.
Mason

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Presenting... a new version of Ottawa CYOW

I, weeks ago, i told you about a freeware of ontarian airport Ottawa, capital city of Canada. Well, Aero Files editor, who designed Billund for both FSX9/X, is working on a payware version this time and just disclosed some screenshots. Besides this, others designers are thinking about doing a top quality scenery of Montreal CYUL ; Fly Tampa and SunSkyJet are lined up.
Mason

http://img835.imageshack.us/i/modelconverterx20101023.jpg/

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Airbus X 1.22 update

Aerosoft has just released update 1.22 for its Airbus X. This file (55 Mb) fixes the RAD/NAV input settings and a minor landing light error. As a bonus, two new liveries are given ; Swiss (A-320 plus A-321) and Edelweiss A-320. Previously, update 1.21 was a major step to fix the flight model of the autoland. To improve aircraft's flyability, some people also found a way to disconnect the fly-by-wire, by setting off the SEC 1 of the flight control system, top left of the overhead.
Mason

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

FS sceneries market exploding : our study

Scenery designing is booming. Here is published a short study about FS sceneries. Analysing Simmarket web site and official releases dates, 32 european sceneries were launched in 2009, not taking into account small stuff of less than 12 euros or special packages. This year - which is still not over - a total of 47 european sceneries have been released. This proves that the market is not saturated. For south america, 6 sceneries were done last year and we can expect 10 sceneries this year. We are clearly expecting a boom, especially in north america, carribean, central, south america, eastern europe and Asia. Aircrafts production certainly does not follow this trend but.. but...  is surely growing : 6 liners have been built last year and 10 will be in 2010.
Mason

IVAO first steps and tips

I am talking about IVAO which seems to be the greatest FS network today ahead of Vatsim in term of volume. If i am wrong about that, do not hesitate to comment. Anyway, Vatsim is a huge network too and have its fans. I am flying for maybe 18 years on FS and a couple of years ago, rumors about a flight sim network slowly emerged. Was i ready for this network ? Comments were harsh about the seriousness of IVAO. Finally, a friend pushed me to register and one year later, i am still addicted to "the network".

What do you need ;
1) Of course, some minimum skills are required ; knowing how to take off, how to follow a path fom waypoint to waypoint, changing altitude with the best rate of climb/descent and of course ability to land and capture ILS : usually by capturing locator and then glideslope. This is easy if you are very found of flight simulation.

2) Second step : you are going to need hours to understand IVAP because it will be your interface with controlers and pilots. You will also learn to use Teamspeak 2. These programs are very well explained on IVAO official web sites (for instance, in France, it is http://www.ivao.fr/)

 3) Okay. First flight. Wow. You should not start at New york JFK nor big platforms. Choose a small airport first. You will be disappointed because you will not hear any controler (although...) but there are pilots here and there, and step by step.. a controler maybe call you. A good thing is too listen them on Teamspeak first (you have the right to enter a channel on observatory mode). 4) It takes time to be accustomed to the rules. You have to undersand how grounds, towers, approaches and controles are organized. There are also departures and deliveries etc.

3 advices : * One common mistake is to forget setting the transponder ON as you are lining up on the runway. Controlers don't like that because they cannot see your current status.

Don't forget. * Seriously, do not start IVAO on London Heathrow, you have no idea what you will be confronted with. Is is just a question of discipline and these mains platforms require a high level of discipline : you must find quickly frequencies, know perfectly your SID/STAR, read a chart etc. * LEARN to fulfil a flight plan and use good plans generators (vroute or even free access routefinder. Flight Commander is very good but tricky for a beginner as it cannot suggest the optimal SID/STARS according to winds configuration.

One example : in many countries, your cruise level MUST be impair if you are going to the east but in Spain or France, it is a question of north/south direction and not east/west. Try it, you will not regret it. A controler can see your position on taxiways any time. Choose your departing gate, fulfil your flight plan, switch frequency and call him :
" Bordeaux Merignac tower good day, delta eleven with you information Zulu, request clearance to Stuttgart.
Tower ; " Delta eleven, good day, clear to Stuttgart. SAU6A departure, initial climb 140, squawk 1234.  YOU : "SAU6A departure, initial climb 140 and squawk 1234, delta eleven". 
Merignac tower : "read back is correct, push and start approved, call back to taxi." 
YOU "call you back for taxi, Delta eleven" 
And the adventure begin!

Level : beginner.

First months on IVAO (or Vatsim). Let's presume you took a look at Ivap and Teamspeak, and you made your first flight on IVAO. Now we want to plan a serious flight between Palma and Frankfurt (LEPA to EDDF), two busy airports on IVAO. Lucky you, it is full staff tonight, all along the flight. This is how you should prepare your flight ;

1) Get a good flight plan from these planners : routefinder, vroute, flightplanpro, flight commander etc. (if you want to be a pro {in Europe}, ensure your flight plan is fully compatible with the Central flow management unit CFMU references. You might also go on flightaware website and pick a real flight plan.

2) Find your maps. You need ground movements for the two airports, standard departure SID, standard arrival STAR and the final approach & landing file card which gives you the altitude of glide interception, ILS freq, RVR and decision height for the say the least. You may look for official websites or networks ressources (IVAO, VATSIM etc).

3) Take a look at the real weather forecasts and then, check IVAO METARS, TAFS etc.. The METAR gives you a photograph of the expected weather at your destination. The TAF is interesting as it gives you a trend.

4) Make load and fuel calculations (with Topcat or Vroute for example) and prepare your flight ; flight plan loading, configuration, and save it.

 5) Start IVAO (or Vatsim).


3 advices :

* The climb stage usually consists of following your flight plan. So you just need to know about your next waypoints and check your parameters (speed, climb rate, top of climb position etc). If there is an approach controler, get ready when he requires to take short cut (for instance, "Speed bird 7, climb flight level 140, route/direct Bebix").

* Last part of your flight, the approach phase is merely a track guidance, so just be prepared to make quick moves on your MCP to follow controler commands. Do not forget to adjust your heading to take account of the wind.

* For your first flights on IVAO (or Vatsim), prefer your best aircraft (with accurate FMC and airac). By doing so, you will not be surprised by an unfamiliar approach. Be prepared and always expect a controler along your flight plan. This is common knowledge : most accurate aircrafts/FMC today are : Level D 767, Pmdg 747, 737NG, iFly.

Airbus X on IVAO ?

A lot of people have requested from Aerosoft a better FMC and SID/STARS implementations. Its totally legitimate as most of us are flying all kind of flight plans. But despite an uncomfortable FMC, the Airbus X is flyable under IVAO (and certainly under Vatsim network).
The only serious problem could appear if a controler request a hold pattern. The function is not available yet but even so, a pilot can perform a hold everywhere with its onboard chronometer and its MCP, adjusting headings.
Compared with Ariane Design or mid-core aircrafts, the Airbus X has a perfect trump : its airac is based on Cheyenne/Fokker/Mustang/Super 80 pro. from navigraph. This database has 99 % of real world waypoints, including RNAVs. Second, Vors and NDB can also be entered in the FMC in order to program a SID or a STAR (but usually IVAO controlers will suggest a track guidance on approach (usually, but not always)). You can enter VOR1 and course 1, VOR 2 and course 2 and NDB/ADF.

To fly the Airbus X on IVAO, we just need charts. In this environment, you are supposed to be using charts. So you just have to look for the best websites displaying airports charts. Vatsim websites are usefull resources.
In Europe, Vatsim Spain (vatspa.net) and Switzerland are nicely done. IVAO Germany is a quite a nice source as well. In France, administration is doing this job (until now). Just look for http://sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/ So, look at your airport. Look for SID chart(s).
If the departures only show intersections with 5 digits, it is usually a piece of cake. Enter these points in Airbus X FMC. If the waypoints are strange with navaids references, arcs and distances, you will need to enter the relevant navaids in your NAV/RAD page (its usually a VOR or a NDB/ADF). Write on paper the radial reference and the distance (nm) and go thru it on "manual". On Take-off, set your ND (navigational display right of the PDF) on VOR and check for the radial (an arrow) crossing the right value. Of course, there are an easier way to do that. FlightSim commander utility can record a flight plan you have defined with SID and STAR but you will have to do it manually. I am writting this item here for beginners and am trying to give new perspectives.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

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Saturday, October 23, 2010

Shame on Ariane Design

Ariane Design launched its Boeing 737 in november 2008. Technically the aircraft reach hard core simmers best standards. First of all, the FMC is very detailed with fully operational FIX and PROG buttons. Second, the overhead is fully fonctionnal.
BUT, two years later, we are still waiting in vain for an airac or the so long promised (payware) Navdata. Shame on Ariane Design, shame on its heavy identification procedure, shame on its low quality ND. Shame on its communication policy (no forum, no real news...).
Mason

Friday, October 15, 2010

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Thursday, October 14, 2010

Thank you John de Young !

Who knows Ottawa ? Located in the province of Ontario across three rivers, this capital city has a very nice airport - Macdonald Cartier, with two runways. Obviously, it is connected to major canadian and quebecan airports ; Toronto, Halifax, Winnipeg, Calgary and of course, Quebec, Montreal etc.
Heading to the north, there are flights to Iqaluit or St John's. To the south, it is linked to N-Y, Philadelphia...
Note that Ottawa is also offering flight to Europe, London et Frankfurt.

Why i am writing about that ? Because John de Young designed months ago a very good airport with 3D max, incorporating custom lights (nice night lightings !), animated jetways and detailed surroundings (parking lots, road traffic etc.).

This scenery is free and downloadable on flightsim.com (on last check). CYOW is either available for FSX and FS 2004 and you can make nice FREE flights between Ottawa and Philadelphia (check our link about SunSkyJet).
Mason


CYOW main terminal

Friday, October 8, 2010

Last generation aircrafts : Are they smooth ?

I have just tested three of the latest aircrafts for FSX to compare their FPS performance.

I put the aircrafts in front of the runway 28 of La PAZ, loading Latin VFR scenery.
It's 12 hour, no weather, no traffic manager, i am not on any network.
The all purpose is to check the frame per seconds score from the virtual cockpit. Rules are simple.

Quality wings Americal airlines + winglets gives.........: 20 - 22 FPS
Airbus X Aerosoft US Airways gives........................: 25,5 - 30,6
Ariane Design (American Airlines + winglets) gives....: 24,5 - 26,5
For comparison, old PMDG 747, PW Oasis gives.....: 19,5 - 24,5

That's it !
Obviously, Airbus X and Ariane designs scores are good but Airbus X is (still) not a hard core aircraft and Ariane Design's cockpit's textures are of lesser quality. These scores are pretty good for me, considering that our eyes cannot assimilate much more frames. But the test took placed in front of a runway, in a middle of nowhere. At gate, in the airport, these FPS droped to 8 - 14 (on my computer).
This is not good enough to enjoy the flight. Who's fault ? Scenery designer or aircraft developer ?
Mason



La Paz SLLP, Latin VFR.

Test conditions were exactly the same for all aircrafts and I relaunched FSX each time.
In FSX, I put Fps on illimited, no shadows on aircrafts but full scenery details.

My computer : Quadcore Q8200 2,33Ghz, 8 gigabits ram, Nvidia GTS250, monitor HPw2207h.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

About US


A brief history of ADX and our modus operandi...

Hello fellow flight simulation enthusiast! We are very glad you have discovered us. And chances are, if you are reading this, you are quite curious about who we are and what our purpose is with AirDailyX.

AirDailyX was founded by Dominique Mason in October of 2010. 
It was started as sort of a side hobby. Something fellow flight simulation fans could visit and use as a tracking resource for upcoming flight simulation development projects. But what has always made ADX stand apart from all other FS news sites and blogs, is it's affinity to add character, opinion, and absolute honestly to the information published. In that first month, word about ADX spread slowly which saw 243 total page views.

A little over a year later in February of 2012, D'Andre Newman joined Dominique in the adventure and a few months afterward, ADX reached its first milestone by reaching 500,000 page views. 
Word spread so quickly, that by October of 2011, over 1 million visits had been achieved. Another year later, AirDailyX saw 3 new partners come and go. Darryl Sheppard, Tino Scottle, and Mark Hrycenko. The efforts by Mark left a huge impression with the advent of the highly popular: ADX "FirstLook" series.

Dominique announced and subsequently retired from AirDailyX in August of 2013 after nearly 3 years of service to the flight simulation community.

With D'Andre left at the helm and currently at nearly 4 and a half million visits, AirDailyX is now the world's fastest growing flight simulation based online resource.

So what makes us so different? Why do thousands continue to visit us every day?

Well, for starters, unlike a lot of other sites that post fresh news every few days, we are active every day so our fellow flight simulation fans can spend less time searching and more time flying.

We also offer more than just the daily dose of news. We offer very in-depth product reviews that add personality and honesty. If a product is worth your money, we will say so. If it's not, we will not only say so, but we will give you the reasons why so you can make an informed decision about how to spend your money.

We include a very comprehensive detailed list that we call "The Billboard" that tracks all the developments currently in production with projected release dates.

Our "ADX FirstLook" series is likely our most challenging aspect of the blog. This requires us to publish a mini review within hours after a product is released. So far so good!

From time to time we also launch contests! Many of our readers have won the products of their choice and so can you! So look out for those!

We also include our own dedicated line of comics based on the humorous reality of the  flight simulation industry. Something you will not find anywhere else.

Our latest addition is our live broadcasts via our Twitch channel called ADXLive! [HD] where we give you a firsthand approach of your favorite FS products, live developer interviews, and more!
Another thing that sets us apart is what we are willing to tolerate. Free speech. As long as our readers are polite and do not launch negative attacks towards the development community, we allow them to be heard and say what they want to say. We allow YOU to be heard. Many of our readers and developers  respect us in this regard. We have gained loyalty from many of our readers that have been banned for their honest thoughts on other FS resource sites. At ADX, we don't ban readers. Besides, we can't and we would not want to. AirDailyX is for the people, by the people. Just be nice :)
The development community also trusts us and are fans of ADX, and we have built very close relationships with many of them. It is for this reason, you will find more product development exclusives on ADX than on any other site. Period.

Our goal is to try as hard as possible to be the one and only one-stop-shop for all your FS information needs. We are getting there, but we still have a long road ahead of us. But one thing you can always count on every day, AirDailyX has you covered.

But your help is always needed too! Become a part of the adventure by alerting us on any news or new development projects you happen to find out there! We always credit our readers who offer their assistance.

We are not AirWeeklyX, AirMonthlyX, AirQuareterlyX... We are AirDailyX. this means: Updates. Daily!
As the saying goes, either flying is in your blood or it is not. For me that is simply an understatement. I have been flight simming for about 10 years and have worked in the Aviation/Airline industry for over 12 years. I've worked for NZ, VS, QF, EK, and even flew for MAXjet for a while for those of you who have heard of them.

Like you, flying is my passion. It is also expensive and extremely time consuming. Thus, my investments have gone into the ability to fly in the comfort of my home. Technology has come a very long way and it's quite amazing how advanced modern day simulation software and systems have come.

If im not flying, spending time with my family, traveling, or at work, you will find me somewhere along Pacific Coast Highway on my Cannondale Synapse Carbon 5 road bike with my cycling club Velo Allegero.

This is my promise to the readers and fans of AirDaily X: Enthusiasm, professionalism, honestly, integrity, and fairness. Those who know me also know that I am well known as a super FS9 guy. The truth is I run P3D just as much as FS9. And both have their pros and cons. The bottom line is we all love flight simulation and to that end my purpose here is to leave no corner of the flight simulation world overlooked.

It is my hope that along with you all, we can take AirDailyX to the next level. Now with over 15,000 hits daily, you all have proven to help me do it. Thank you!

Cheers!

-D'Andre Newman

Saturday, September 11, 2010

I WILL REMEMBER


To the citizens and firemen of N-Y, 
the victims of the four aircrafts and Pentagon servants.


Monday, January 11, 2010

ADX FirstLook and MiniReviews

Find all our ADX FirstLook and Mini Review articles here!




ADX FirstLook: WingCreation Narita!


ADX FirstLook: Richer Grenada!


ADX FirstLook: Taxi2Gate Mexico City!


ADX FirstLook: Orbx Bozeman!


ADX FirstLook: Orbx Queenstown!


ADX FirstLook: Aerosoft Varanasi!


ADX FirstLook: Orbx Juneau!


ADX FirstLook: Orbx Southampton!


ADX FirstLook: MilViz Stuka!

ADX FirstLook: Orbx FTX NIR


ADX FirstLook: Twotter Extended Floates!

ADX FirstLook: Drzewiecki NYC V2!

ADX FirstLook: EPRZ Rzeszów Jasionka!

ADX FirstLook: Drzewiecki Lotniczy Gdańsk!

ADX FirstLook: MilViz 737 Classic!

ADX FirstLook: Twotter Extended Tundra!

ADX FirstLook: New Plymouth Airport!

ADX FirstLook: Orbx FTXGlobal!

ADX FirstLook: FranceVFR Lognes Emrainville!

ADX FirstLook: JetStream Marseilles!


ADX FirstLook: Aerosoft RC-3 Seabee!


ADX FirstLook: Sibwings AN2!


ADX FirstLook: Aerosoft Twotter Extended!

ADX FirstLook: LatinVFR MIA!

ADX FirstLook: Carenado CT206H!

ADX FirstLook: Vidan Tunø!

ADX FirstLook: Orbx Tipella!

ADX FirstLook: FTX Scotland!

ADX FirstLook: FlightBeam Dulles!


ADX FirstLook: Kastellorizo X!

ADX FirstLook: Vidan Sonderborg X!

ADX FirstLook: MSK Gilgit!

ADX FirstLook: Carenado TBM850!

ADX FirstLook: FSAddon Sling!

ADX FirstLook: Taxi2Gate George Charles!