Heading North! Bert Groner reviews Oslo-Gardermoen (ENGM) for MSFS 2024. We compare the new Orbx version by Finn Hansen with the legendary Aerosoft version by Jo Erlend Sund, exploring the rich history and technical depth of Norway’s primary hub.
Head south! Bert Groner reviews the new Key West Airport by MK Studios. From the unique “Conch Republic” history to the incredible landside detail and glazed jetways, find out why this scenery earned the FS Reviews Gold Medal.
Discover the new West Palm Beach (KPBI) for MSFS 2020 and 2024 by Verticalsim. In our review, Bert Groner explores the high-quality textures, unique “Rumper” ARFF vehicles, and the airport’s integration into the Florida coastline. A must-have for South Florida fans!
Designed for civil aviation, the Orion 32 Airline Pedals bring a true Airbus feel to the home cockpit. While the robust construction and precise mechanics were directly adopted from the proven fighter jet variant ( Orion Metal Flight ), the geometry has been specifically adapted to the requirements of modern commercial aircraft.
Rowsfire has been in existence since 2018 and, like so many success stories, was born out of personal necessity: the founder searched in vain for high-quality but affordable hardware for his own A320 home cockpit project. The company is based in Hong Kong, but is led by a Briton and relies on a team distributed all over the world.
Explore Napoleon’s island in MSFS with France VFR’s Corsica Airports Pack. A detailed review of Ajaccio, Bastia, Calvi, and Figari sceneries for 2020 and 2024
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview Renowned Turkish developer SCENERYTR DESIGN has brought their famous rendition of IstanbulSabiha Gökçen International Airport (LTFJ) to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 with a fully
It is remarkable how a piece of hardware that took years to reach the mass market can prove itself absolutely indispensable in the blink of an eye! To put it simply: the immersion during flight preparation and system management elevates the simulation to a completely new level. For true Airbus enthusiasts, this panel is the missing piece of the puzzle.
On January 8, 2026, MK Studios (MKS) released Rome Fiumicino v2 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024, a decade after their Aerosoft-commissioned Mega Airport Rome featured in FS MAGAZIN 1/2016 (“Simulatus Populusque Romanum”). The first edition supported FSX, FSX:SE, and Prepar3D v1–v3, later extended to P3D v4 (v1.04). Time to head for the Eternal City.
The competition in the affordable flight simulation hardware market is fierce. More and more manufacturers are entering this segment, producing in China and flooding the global market with their products. For the customer, this means one thing above all: a massive selection!
Thanks to the YouTuber “A330Driver” there is a nice video review / explanation of this magnifique airplane. Experience one of the most advanced and realistic airliner simulations ever created.Fly the Maddog
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview Barelli Addons returns with another major European hub—this time bringing Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (LHBP) into MSFS 2024 with a completely rebuilt, high-detail
The Hahn Airport in the Hunsrück region, often simply called “the Hahn,” was first released as “Frankfurt-Hahn X” for Aerosoft back in 2012. This was the work of Peter Werlitz, Martin Schmiescheck, and Oliver Pabst for FS X. In 2013, Aerosoft released “German Regional Airports” featuring Hahn for FS X, as well as “Airport Frankfurt-Hahn” for X-Plane 10 and 11. RFSceneryBuilding (RFSB) launched their version for Prepar3D (P3D) v5 in 2020 and for MSFS 2020 in mid-2023. In October 2025, M’M Simulations (MMS) released their own design for MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024.
In mid-2024, M’M Simulations (MMS) released their rendition of Vilnius International Airport for MSFS 2020, later updating it for MSFS 2024. The add-on garnered praise from the community. Now, Lisium, known for their expertise in the region, has taken the initiative to create an even more refined version for both “sensational” simulators. Lisium rose to scene fame after their detailed Riga Airport release in January 2025. Let’s take a closer look at their Vilnius creation…
In November 2014, Fly Tampa (FT) released a first rendition of Copenhagen Airport for FSX and P3D v3. In April 2020, the version for Prepar3D (P3D) v4 and 5 followed, and in May 2020, the variant for X-Plane 11 appeared. In November of the same year, an edition for MSFS 2020 was released.
In the world of simulation, where the goal is to faithfully reproduce real experiences — whether it’s aircraft cockpits, racing wheels, or professional driving systems — it’s easy to forget
Even in MSFS 2024, bridges still mostly look anything but appealing. This is mainly due to the fact that satellite radar images can only depict bridges from above. This technique creates unsightly and often unrealistic bridge structures from a side perspective, which are unattractive to sim pilots, especially at low altitudes. A good example of this is the Interstate Bridge over the Columbia River north of Portland, which is flown over during the approach to Portland International Airport (KPDX, superbly implemented by iBlueYonder and FlightBeam Studios).
With EA Sports FC 26, Electronic Arts takes a bold step toward redefining digital football, leaving behind the legacy of the FIFA brand and embracing a philosophy that blends spectacle
Australia continues to draw the attention of designers—apart from Drzewiecki Design and Fly Tampa, it’s mostly local labels like AUScene making waves. In the second week of September, AUScene released Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport for MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024. Let’s take off and see what’s waiting there…
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview RFSB (Russian Federation Scenery Building) has released their rendition of Tulsa InternationalAirport (KTUL) for P3D after their MSFS release a few months ago, bringing
The Unknown Renamed: Salerno Costa d’Amalfi by FSDG
On September 12, 2025, FSDG published the Salerno airport for MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024. Let’s take a trip together to Italy, to the beautiful region of Campania.
Black Square’s Turbine Duke brings you one of the most technically advanced aircraft simulations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, with over 130 possible failures including new turbine engine failures, 12 hot-swappable
Propair Flight (propairflight.com) from Hungary has a knack for heading to the U.S. and recreating smaller airfields for flight simulation. After St. George in Utah (see the special “Off the US Mainlines”), the team turned to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport—better known to simmers by its ICAO, KBJC—for MSFS 2020 and 2024. More recently, they also released Goose Bay in Canada.
Impulse Simulations released the Port Lincoln Airport in the Australian state of South Australia as a detailed scenery for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024 on August 8, 2025. Time to take a look at the original and its virtual implementation.
It seems like there simply aren’t enough airports left that deserve to be brought into flight simulation. Why else would Drzewiecki Design choose to recreate the still-under-construction Western Sydney International Airport for MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024? The answer is as simple as it is straightforward: because DD could do it (with the help of local supporters). The result is a nearly finished virtual airport just waiting for its real-world opening, which is scheduled for late 2026.
This scenery by developer Wauchula Studios, is a nice and simple project that has everything the simulator pilot needs to operate into this tropical destination. Airside is well served and
Airport Overview The Malaysian Flight Simulator Group (MFSG) has released a highly detailed and realistic version of Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR/HTDA) for flight simulation platforms including Prepar3D v3–v5, FSX,
The airport of Adelaide has now established a permanent place in the flight simulator community. AUScene first presented the airport back in 2013 for FSX and Prepar3D (P3D) v2, and today compatibility extends to P3D v5. In 2021, the first MSFS 2020 scenery was released by Impulse Simulations, and in July 2025, MK Studios (MKS) finally released its long-awaited add-on for MSFS 2020 & 2024. The developer studio MKS has gained experience with 44 airports worldwide – including destinations in Europe, Japan, the USA, and recently Australia.
Fortunately for us virtual pilots, there are small, exquisite flight destinations like the airport of the Greek island of Samos, known for its somewhat perilous visual approaches. It is no surprise that this small airfield has been recreated four times to date: first in July 2016 by 29Palms for FSX, FSX:SE, and Prepar3D (P3D) v3. This add-on is currently also compatible with P3D v4 and v5. In December 2020, Terrainy Studio followed up with a version for MSFS 2020 and in January, Skyline Simulations created one for X-Plane 11. At the end of June 2025, MM Simulations (www.mmsimulations.com) released their rendition for MSFS 2020 and 2024, which will be discussed below.
The latest creation from FSLabs, the A321Neo, has mostly been welcomed with joy by the community. However, since Fenix Simulations is also planning to release a Neo series at some undetermined point in the future, there’s always a bit of uncertainty with the question: “What should I buy?” While a direct comparison isn’t possible yet, today I want to put the FSLabs aircraft under the microscope. Since, in my view, plenty of reviews of the add-on have already appeared, I want to tackle today’s article again in the form of a personal flight report.
Hamburg has a long tradition, not only in real life but also in flight simulation. The airfield https://www.hamburg-airport.de with the IATA and ICAO codes HAM and EDDH was opened in January 1911, then as a 45-hectare mooring area for airships. Meanwhile, the airport has expanded to 570 hectares and cannot be extended any further due to the adjacent buildings.
The only international airport of Luxembourg is one of the most frequently implemented in the history of flight simulation: Christoph Rieger brought the airport (together with the visual flight airfields
With its pleasant, warm, and admittedly humid climate, abundant nature, and waterways, Florida, the “Sunshine State,” is a magnet for tourists and a beloved retirement destination for Americans and Germans alike. Join me as we journey to the southwest of the state, to Fort Myers and the Southwest Florida
Older virtual pilots will remember the sentence that repeatedly annoyed the then airport builders from the German Airport Team (GAP), Thomas Hirsch and Peter Hiermeier (†), a good twenty years
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview The Malaysian Flight Simulator Group (MFSG) has unveiled a meticulously crafted rendition of Almaty International Airport (UAAA) for Prepar3D v3–v5, FSX, and FS2004. Serving
Introducing the AeroSachs Tecnam P2002 Sierra for Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS), the newest addition developed in close collaboration with real-life pilots and proud owners of the model. Designed for the
Flight simulation has seen incredible advancements in realism over the years, and add-ons like “POWERLINES AND SOLAR FARMS MSFS” by MamuDesign and “MSFS Global Power Lines” by Orbx significantly contribute to this progres
Bill Womack has been known in the scene since the release of the famous “Tongass Fjords” at Francois “Navman” Dumas’ defunct label “FSAddon” at the latest. Back then, he made it with Holger Sandmann for FS 2004 and FS X. In 2015, Bill founded his label iBlueYonder. He lived in Portland for a long time, so he is a true “Portlander”…
The article is a recommendation for flight simulation enthusiasts, highlighting scenery add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS2020 and potentially MSFS2024) developed by Kiwiflightsim, a relatively new label from New Zealand.
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview FSDG, renowned European Developer have just released an updated and much-awaited renditionof Monastir Airport International Airport in Tunisia. This airport has been missing from
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview The well-known Asian Developer by the name of BDOaviation who is very known to develop sceneries in the Asian part of the world for
Some designers might appear to the “average simulator” user as (positively meant) “crazy” given the realism, high display quality, and richness of detail in their sceneries. That there’s an escalation
This review, written by Bert Groner, discusses David Rosenfeld’s release of the Milano Malpensa International Airport for MSFS 2020. This is Rosenfeld’s third rendition of the airport, following versions for
About 1 or 2 months ago, this beautifull scenery gets on the flightsim market. A scenery from the Geiranger Fjord in Norway. Now for MSFS2020 and 2024. Available via simMarket.
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview The well-known Asian Developer by the name of Thai Creations who is very known to developsceneries for the Asian part of the world for
Since WinWing announced its series of MIP Series Airline Panels, the community has been eagerly anticipating their release. The especially attractive price point makes it possible for many of us
From the ‘Malaysian Flight Simulator Group” in short ‘MFSG” there is a nice scenery on simMarket. The airport “Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport” (WMSA) aka before “Subang International Airport/Kuala Lumpur
A perfect scenery for in MSFS2024. This scenery takes full advantage of the new features and enhancements of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. From the developer “Perfectsoft Studio” a airport in
In development by Just Flight. They are proud to present the LJ45 Professional – a long awaited incarnation of a classic Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft is now in development from
The Piper J3C-65, an aviation icon, is renowned for its distinctive high-wing, taildragger design and exceptional low-speed performance. And thanks to the team of Classic Aircraft Simulations we can now
For the Dutch (sim)pilots this must be a known picture. The old trusty Cessna 172 “PH-AVB” in front of the Flying Club hangar at Teuge Airport. A small green field.
Explore this scenery. A Tropical Adventure from the scenery designer “CLi4D Designs”. Located in the northernmost tip of the Philippines. This area is situated on the border of Province of Cagayan
Already available via simMarket, the SPAD S.XIII biplane fighter aircraft. It’s a digital replica of the World War I Collection. The S.XIII proved to be one of the most capable
Review by: Rick Desjardins Biarritz Pays Basque Airport, ICAO; LFBZ, which also goes by the names Biarritz Airport or Biarritz-Parme Airport is located near the city of Biarritz which is
The team at X-Plained has taken an in-depth look at the ToLiss A330-900, the latest wide-body Airbus aircraft designed for X-Plane 12. Known for their focus on high-quality systems simulation
The Winwing FCU and EFIS units are high-quality replicas of Airbus cockpit elements in a 1:1 scale, specifically manufactured for home flight simulation and home cockpits. They offer realistic tactile
Welcome to Ohrid Airport (LWOH). North Macedonia’s charming, scenic airport set against the stunning backdrop of Lake Ohrid and mountainous landscapes. Meticulously recreated for Microsoft Flight Simulator, this airport brings you
From the developer “Barelli MSFS Addon” this airport: Addis Ababa Bole Intl. Airport (HAAB) for in MSFS. It’s a international airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In the Bole district, 6
This scenery from Atelic reproducing Madeira Airport LPMA in MSFS is one of a kind, beautiful rendered and take a look inside the terminal. Capt. Frank has made a very
From the team of FlybyWire: “We are proud to announce that the long-awaited A380X will be officially released on October 31, 2024. This marks a significant milestone in our journey,
A small scenery from the developer ‘MFSG’. The Wakkanai Airport (RJCW). It’s a airport located 10 km east southeast of Wakkanai, Hokkaido, Japan. Wakkanai is the northern most airport in
A new player on the scenery market for MSFS2020. The developer “Atelic”. And this first project is Madeira Airport (LPMA). A.k.a. Cristiano Ronaldo Madeira International Airport (IATA: FNC, ICAO: LPMA).
From the developer “Aircraft Studio Design” a camouflage texture / livery for your standard X-Cub Aircraft. Nicely priced at simMarket. Prepare to take-off the skies in style with our brand new
Review by: Rick Desjardins Münster Osnabrück Airport, ICAO: EDDG is a small international airport located near Greven 25 km north of Münster and 35 km south of Osnabrück in the northern
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview Prominent American Developer SXAD after a long break and wait throughout the past year or so has made a fall surprise release for P3D.
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview WFSS , one of Asia’s top scenery developers have recently released their updated rendition scenery in mainland China with their rendition of Shanghai Hongqiao
A hands-on YouTube review via Sporty’s Pilot Shop from the Honeycomb Charlie Rudder Pedals.Get ready to complete your ultimate flight sim setup! Whether you’re piloting a Cessna 172 or an
Review by: Rick Desjardins Calais–Dunkerque Airport, ICAO: LFAC is a small airport serving the city of Calais and the commune of Dunkerque. Geographically it is located in the Hauts-de-France region
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview The long-awaited scenery for Male (VRMM) is now available for P3D – Finally! After a couple ofyears and many real-life developments related to the
Review by: Rick Desjardins San Francisco International Airport, ICAO: KSFO, is the primary international airport serving the San Francisco Bay area in the U.S. state of California. It is the
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview Renowned Chinese developer FSCGAA Scenery has by surprise released their first airport sceneryrendition located in the North American region specifically in the Caribbean islands.
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview Horizon Sim’s, a P3D indie developer has recently released their latest rendition of Providence’sT.F. Green International Airport (KPVD) for P3Dv4/v5. situated in Rhode Island
With FS2Crew series, you can live the ultimate professional flight crew simulation with their new release at SIMMARKET of Microsoft ATR Edition for MSFS, designed in close coordination with renowned
Review by: Rick Desjardins Halifax Robert L. Stanfield International Airport, ICAO: CYHZ, is located in the rural community of Goffs, Nova Scotia just north of the province’s capitol of Halifax
Review by: Rick Desjardins Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport, ICAO: LFBD is an international airport located just west of the city of Bordeaux in south west France. The airport can trace its origins
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview The long-awaited scenery from FSDG – Sylt is now released for P3D, located on the archipelago ofSylt in Northern Germany and particularly near the
Review by: Rick Desjardins Figari–Sud Corse Airport or Figari South Corsica Airport, ICAO: LFKF is an airport 3 km northwest of Figari, on the southern end of the island of Corsica
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview: HCMM Mogadishu Airport, crafted by FSCGAA Scenery, beckons virtual aviators to exploreSomalia’s capital city through the immersive world of flight simulation. Situated on the
Review by Rick Desjardins Brussels Airport, ICAO: EBBR is an international airport located approximately 8 miles northeast of Brussels in Belgium. In 2019 more than 26 million passengers passed through
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview HHAS Asmara International Airport, developed by Africa Design for P3Dv5, offers a unique experience in the flight simulation world. Nestled in the heart of
Review by: Rick Desjardins Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, ICAO: LFMN is an international airport located near the city of Nice in the Alpes-Maritimes department in south-west France on the Mediterranean
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview Cologne-Bonn Developed by Aerosoft back in 2020 and updated for P3Dv5 in 2022 is probably inmy personal opinion, Aerosoft’s best quality P3D scenery on
The ROG Raikiri PC and Xbox Controller is a gaming peripheral that is designed to provide an enhanced gaming experience for PC and Xbox gamers. Developed by ASUS, a renowned
Review by: Rick Desjardins For personal reasons this is one airport I was looking forward to reviewing. Having grown up in Ottawa and with my father having served several tours
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview: SierraSim’s Harrisburg (KMDT) is a must-have for flight enthusiasts eager to explore thecaptivating destination of Harrisburg in the Continental US state of Pennsylvania. This
As mentioned before World Update 16 – The Caribbean – just released a few days ago. Here a nice short look at this scenery from simFlightPro. Also you can fly
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview Asian Airport have recently released a 2024 surprise update to their Seoul Gimpo (RKSS) for P3D.Located in the far east nation of South Korea,
Review by: Rick Desjardins Introduction This scenery contains both a recreation of Santos Dumant Airport as well as an overall improvement of the city of Rio de Janeiro and surrounding
Some new screenshots from a scenery Airport project of JustSim. Can you guess the Airport from the screenshots. At least there is a French Flag. They expect it to be
The Octavi IFR-1 is a flight simulator instrument panel designed to enhance the realism and immersion of flight simulation experiences. As an avid flight simulation enthusiast, I recently had the
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview SierraSim’s Nassau (MYNN) is a must-have for flight enthusiasts eager to explore the captivating destination of Nassau in the Caribbean. This detailed rendition of
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview Cloud9’s Podgorica is a must-have for flight enthusiasts looking to explore the beautifulmountainous destination of Podgorica in Eastern Europe. This detailed rendition of LYPGInternational
Review by Rick Desjardins Introduction This latest release from FlyTampa for MSFS is of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, ICAO: EHAM. This is the main international airport of the Netherlands and is
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview Tropicalsim’s Antigua is a must-have for flight enthusiasts looking to explore the beautiful islandof Antigua in the Caribbean. This highly detailed rendition of VC
A review of the Ariebaba Freeware North American OV-10A Bronco by a former USAF Bronco Pilot. Include operational procedures and systems info plus anecdotal experiences while flying the Bronco in
Forza Motorsport is an exhilarating racing simulator that offers an immersive and realistic experience for car enthusiasts and gamers alike. Developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Studios,
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview WFSS , one of Asia’s top scenery developers have recently released a new scenery in mainland China with their rendition of Guangzhou Baiyun International
One of the many reviews from the TDS GTNXi 650/750 software for in MSFS. It’s paid software, more information about it here. And even active on Discord. And you could
Review by Rick Desjardins Introduction Gibraltar International Airport, ICAO: LXGB is the civilian airport that serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. There is a single runway 09/27@5,827ft. The airport
CLI4D Designs has released the long awaited Bora Bora scenery for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Now, one of the most stunning places on earth will also shine on the simulator. The
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview JustSim have released a native update rendition of Girona – Costa Brava International Airport inNation of Spain located near the Eastern coast of Catalonia
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview JustSim have released a much-awaited rendition of Oslo Gardermoen International Airport inNation of Norway located near the al Southern cost of Norway. Made available
Introduction MD-82 The MD-82 (DC-9-82) is a mid size, medium range jet liner with two rear mounted engines and a T tail configuration. The first aircraft was delivered to Republic
Looks like a great hardware product for us flightsimmers. Especially who loves to fly VFR in a Cessna 172. With this piece of hardware and a extra monitor you build
Review by Rick Desjardins This review is of Drzewiecki Design’s updated release of Newark Liberty International Airport, ICAO: KEWR. The airport straddles the boundaries of Newark in Essex County and
Review by Rick Desjardins Introduction I remember reviewing this same product in FSX and loved it back then. It made such a positive difference so I was anxious to see
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview FSX3D have released a much-awaited rendition of Figari Sud Corse Airport International Airport in Island of Corse located near the Southern cost of France
Review by Rick Desjardins Introduction The British Aerospace 146, aka BAE 146, is a short haul regional airliner that was produced in the United Kingdom from 1983 till 2001. An
Review by Rick Desjardins Introduction Gustaf III Airport, ICAO: TFFJ, also commonly known as Saint Barthélemy Airport, is a public use airport located in the village of St. Jean on
Review by Rick Desjardins Introduction Lester B. Pearson Airport, ICAO: CYYZ is the largest and busiest airport in Canada and is located in Mississauga, Ontario approximately 22 km northwest of
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview Renowned American Developer SXAD after much wait throughout 2022 have made a New Year’sEve release for their long-awaited rendition of El Paso Airport International
Review by Nadeem Z Airport Overview RFSB (or Russian Federation Scenery Building) have released a much-awaited rendition of BrusselsSouth–Charleroi Airport International Airport in Belgium. This airport has been missing from
By Fabio Merlo. Today we’re talking about hardware that literally changed the way I fly : The Puma X Pro Flight Training. Thanks to the kind collaboration of PFT ,
By Nadeem Z Airport Overview PREALSOFT, renowned North African Developer have just released a much-awaited rendition ofTunis Carthage Airport International Airport in Tunisia. This airport has been missing from oursimulators
Introduction In 2019, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Germany and as an aviation enthusiast, departing from the Hamburg airport was a memorable experience for numerous reasons. This being
Just under a year ago, the newcomer Fenix Simulations announced an Airbus of such quality that we Flight-Simmers had mouth wide open. Because the scene has a lot of experience
It has been a while since I first bumped into FSimStudios. A stroll down memory lane, when Flight Simulator X was still a thing, and with Steve’s DX10 fixer and
It is probably safe to assume many of you aviation geeks know about the Missionary Bush Pilot Youtube channel. Those unfamiliar with it may want to pay a visit right
With FSRealistic, rkApps has presented a (partial) transfer of the XPRealistic add-on popular with Xplaners, reminding FSXers of AccuFeel, distributed by A2A at the time. The promise is a more
Cessna or Piper … it’s like Apple or Windows … BMW or Daimler … or is it six of one and half a dozen of the other? We Simmers can
Originally, the Ju52 was to be launched with the World Update VI as the first in the new “Local Legends” series, but the release was then postponed for a fortnight.
The first system-deep jet in the new Microsoft Flight Simulator has landed, pretty much exactly 7 months after the platform’s release. We had the opportunity to test a very late
Foreword Oh, how lucky we are by having these passionate and daring talents around, artists who unearth long-forgotten marvels from often completely ignored corners of the world for us to
Boarding call It is time to put down the magazines, finish off the morning coffee because your flight to Camilo Daza International Airport (SKCC) is now ready for boarding! Sit
New review video published by Captain Richard Aviation : the Advanced Series F-4E Phantom II by MilViz. The product page describes its custom flight performance, the advanced modelling systems. Watch
How are the damage and maintenance features of the Tiger Moth Pro ? Capt Richard Aviation filmed his flights and comment this advanced simulation of the 1930’s era.
Many simmers enjoy SODE animated jetways and docking systems in P3D/FSX. The authors 12BPilot recently released SODE VDGS Pack with more units made available. How does it look, how does
Watch Captain Richard Aviation’s review of the DHC-3T Turbo Otter, available for P3D FSX, or X-Plane. Is it a turboprop modelled by MilViz deserves room in your virtual collection ?
The Thrustmaster F/A-18C Grip has been a long time coming. Last summer, it finally became available as an add-on for the popular Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog. Let’s take a look.
In partnership with simMarket to provide the aircraft, the youtuber Luna’s World edited this Review video to introduce the 390 Premier 1A in X-Plane 11 by Carenado. Along his complete
Ever since its release in 2010, the Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog has been the go-to high-end joystick/HOTAS for consumers. Numerous reviews have been written about it. But I wasn’t going to
Elite Simulation Solutions appears to be a company focused on actual flight training devices. They sell both hardware, software and complete solutions. That being said, some of their products are
After a long development, the QualityWings Ultimate 787 Collection has been available for a while now. The 64-bit version for Prepar3D v4 has been since the end of May. That’s
In June 2016, PMDG released the Douglas DC-6 Cloudmaster for X-Plane, their first foray into that platform. Early in the summer of 2017, the same classic airplane was released for
When Precision Manual Development Group (PMDG for short) announce a new product, you can rest assured it will be very highly anticipated by the flightsim community. If said product is
July 2016 saw the release of the latest in a long line of Active Sky products. Active Sky 2016. Concurrently, Hifi Tech released an accompanying product: Active Sky Cloud Art.
After 6 years of development, Flight Sim Labs finally released on of the most anticipated add-ons of late. Their rendition of the Airbus A320 short to midrange airliner. Let’s take
With Mega Airport version 2, Aerosoft and the German Airports Team revisit Germany’s largest airport. Let’s take a look and see how this remake turned out!
As a Belgian myself, I’m glad to reviewing my second Belgian airport this year. This time, BDOaviation’s Liège Airport, released at the end of April this year. Let’s take a
Many people reading this will be long time flight simmers who knows the ins and outs of their simulators and their favourite aircraft. If you’re in this group, you’re not
After doing 4 general aviation trainers/touring aircraft, A2A Simulations is back with a WWII era model, namely the North American T-6 Texan. Let’s see how A2A tackled this old trainer.
At the end of March, Aerosoft released their latest and northern most offering for Norway: Alta X. Considering previous releases from the same developers in this region, expectations are high.
In November 2015, Majestic Software released their Dash 8 Q400 Pro Edition, an extension to their highly acclaimed Q400 Pilot’s Edition. In this review, I’ll be taking a look at
Voie Bleu – Charleroi X EBCI Brussels South (yes, a mouthful indeed) has been available for FSX for several years. The last couple of months though, it has been updated
If there are scenery developers that hardly need an introduction, FlyTampa is certainly on the list. In this review, I’ll be taking a look at their newest offering: Corfu.
Late last year, Milviz released the T-38A Talon Advanced, a follow-up to their 2011 T-38A Jet Trainer. The main new features in the Advanced version are a custom flight dynamics
In my previous review, I looked at the new Lockheed Martin Prepar3D version 3. However, I purposely limited myself to looking at the sim without any third party add-ons. It’s
Last September, Lockheed Martin a bit unexpectedly released version 3 of Prepar3D. Some people heralded it as being the next best thing to sliced bread, others saw it as a
For the last couple of years, anybody interested in military aviation in FSX hasn’t been able to get around Vertical Reality Simulations’ F/A-18E Superbug for its attention to detail, or
The KCFS Seabee isn’t a new release. It’s actually quite an old one. So why review it now? Well, frankly, because I only just got it. There’s also the fact that
For years now, since the release of Flight Simulator X, the mantra of the flight sim world is “as real as it gets.” I know I have heard it everywhere
Different people get excited by different announcements in our hobby. Seeing Aerosoft working on a Tomcat certainly got my heart racing. The product in question has been available for quite
The latest release by FlyTampa is Copenhagen Airport, IACO: EKCH. The airport also known as Kastrup, is located in Kastrup, Denmark which is a suburb of Copenhagen. It is the
Perpignan–Rivesaltes Airport, ICAO: LFMP is a small regional airport located approximately 5kms north of Perpignan, close to the Spanish border in southwestern France. A very picturesque area, it is on
Boeing didn’t stop improving and expanding on the 777 family after they finished the original 777-200. In the same way, PMDG didn’t just forget about their 777-200LR/F when they initially
When A2A Simulations first announced that they were doing an Accu-Sim C172, many within their community were actually quite upset. After all, with the exception of the B377 that started
Complex aircraft like the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 are flown with a two person cockpit crew. In FSX and P3D we don’t have that luxury and are required to take
One of the things that parents with young children learn very quickly is rhyming story books. Lots of them. Whether it’s a scarf for a giraffe, a cat in a
Waiting for Service Pack 1 for the PMDG 777-200LR/F took longer than anyone, including PMDG themselves, expected. But now that it’s finally there, and I’ve had a chance to test
George Bush Intercontinental Airport, ICAO: KIAH, is an international airport located in Houston, Texas about 23 miles north of Downtown Houston. It serves the Greater Houston metropolitan area, which is
The Boeing 737 series aircraft is a short to medium-range twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner that also happens to be the best-selling jet airliner in the history of aviation. Milviz has
Anyone who has ever been in the market for a new joystick, knows there’s an amazing range of products out there. From cheap and simple €20 pieces, to professional looking
Berlin Brandenburg Airport, ICAO: EDDB, is an international airport under construction. It is located adjacent to the current Berlin Schönefeld Airport which is in Schönefeld, Germany approximately 18 kilometres south
Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport or Pointe-à-Pitre Le Raizet Airport, ICAO: TFFR) is an airport serving Pointe-à-Pitre on the island of Grande-Terre in Guadeloupe. The airport serves as the main hub for
Dublin Airport, ICAO: EIDW, is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. Its Irish name is: Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath. The airport is located approximately 6 miles north of the city
Most aviation fans, young or old, when hearing the name Messerschmitt, think of one thing: sleek grey and green shapes with yellow noses, swooping low over the Southern English countryside
Hardware is the key, if you want to reach the higher levels of simulation. But it’s not the device itself, that makes things look and feel different. It’s also the
Istanbul Atatürk Airport, ICAO: LTBA is the main international airport serving Istanbul, Turkey and also the busiest airport in Turkey by total number of passengers. It was originally opened in
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow, ICAO: EGLL, is a major international airport serving London, England. The airport can trace its roots back to when it originally opened as a small
Thessaloniki International Airport, ICAO: LGTS, which is officially known as Macedonia International Airport is located about 15 km SE of the city center of Thessaloniki, Greece. The airport originally opened
Brazil is a very beautiful part of the world and with this recently released scenery addon they’ve given the cities of Sao Paulo and Ribeirão Preto and their surrounding
Nord-Pas de Calais is the next release in the series of VFR v2 sceneries from FranceVFR. A simple way to describe them is to say that they are a VFR
Taxi2Gate have with this latest release for FSX, added another large and impressive airport, Orlando International Airport, to their stable of products. Orlando International Airport, ICAO: KMCO, is located six
There are, and have been for a while, a large number of weather generation and injection packages available for Microsoft’s flight simulator series. Pretty much every one promises the most
Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport, ICAO: LHBP, serves the Hungarian capital city of Budapest and is the largest of the country’s five international airports. The airport was originally known as
We’ve had several highly anticipated releases the last 2 months. The A2A Simulations Cessna C172 Trainer, and Aerosoft/Flightsimsoft PFPX come to mind. But the highly anticipated release I’ll be talking
This is a review of Tropicalsim’s FSX version of Galeão International Airport. The city of Rio de Janeiro has two major airports; Santos Dumont Airport, ICAO: SBRJ, located on the
This is the second Caribbean airport released by Taxi2Gate this year and it comes just two months after their recent release of Georges F.L. Charles airport. This time they’ve taken
George F. L. Charles Airport, ICAO: TLPC is the smaller of the two airports on the island of Saint Lucia which is a sovereign country in the eastern Caribbean Sea.
Skiathos X is the second Greek Island scenery project developed by 29Palms Scenery Design and published by Aerosoft. The 29Palms – Aerosoft collaboration resulted in some great scenery products before,
Charlotte Douglas International Airport, ICAO: KCLT was opened in 1935 and is a joint civil-military public international airport located in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. When it was originally opened it
According to the developers, Deutschland X is intended to provide the best rendering of Germany ever done for FSX. For the purposes of this product, Germany was divided into four
I have said this on numerous occasions, that FSX is a wonderful vehicle to explore the world and experience places we might never have a chance to visit otherwise and
With this small French aircraft, Aerosoft and Joachim Schweigler released another fine GA aircraft upon the flightsim community. Let’s take a look!
Warsaw is the capital city of Poland and it is also the largest city in Poland. This city including the metropolitan area has approximately 2.7 million inhabitants and is located
Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield, ICAO: EGCN, is an international airport located approximately 3.5 miles southeast of Doncaster in the United Kingdom. The airport’s history can be traced back to
San Diego International Airport, ICAO: KSAN, is a public airport located approximately 3 mi from downtown San Diego in California. The airport also goes by the name of Lindbergh
Although this review is of an add-on technically for FS9 and/or X, it should really be listed for “Microsoft FS9 or X, plus iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch and a
Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport or Montréal–Trudeau, ICAO: CYUL, is a Canadian airport located on the Island of Montreal approximately 20 kms from Montreal’s downtown core. The airport was formerly
Saarbruecken Airport, ICAO: EDDR; is located near the city of Saarbruecken in South-west Germany near the border with France. The airport came into service in 1928 and continued to host
As a vPilot who wants to fly using real world data finding charts has always been a challenge. Dauntless’s SimPlates Ultra offers a solution with a program that has tens
This is the second review that I have written to be in a much more personal, “first person” style. The aim of this style is to show you guys, the
Toussaint Louverture International Airport, ICAO: MTPP; located in Tabarre, near the city of Port-au-Prince in Haiti. This international airport is currently the busiest in Haiti. Originally opened in the 40s
M. R. Štefánik Airport also known as Bratislava Airport or Bratislava-Ivanka Airport; ICAO: LZIB, is the main international airport of Slovakia and is named after general Milan Rastislav Štefánik. Geographically
FranceVFR have just re-released their Alsace VFR scenery as V2. The scenery depicts the north-eastern corner of France known as the Alsace region. The coverage area is approximately 10,000 sq
In 2016 the Olympics will be held in Rio De Janeiro. I bet there will be allot of virtual pilots in that area over the next few years so it’s
This scenery covers the Dubai International Airport and most of the city of Dubai. Dubai International Airport, ICAO: OMDB; is the main airport serving Dubai. Located near the city of
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, ICAO: KATL, aka Atlanta Airport, Hartsfield Airport or Hartsfield–Jackson is located just outside of Atlanta, Georgia in the United States. It has had the distinction of
A couple of weeks ago, Aerosoft released a new scenery product which will be the subject of this review. Olbia X is centered around the city of Olbia on the
Mykonos Island National Airport, ICAO: LGMK, is located about four kilometers from the town of Mykonos on the island of Mykonos, Greece. For anyone not familiar with the island, it
Sydney, Australia, is a place well known for the Opera House. However, it’s airport is well known amongst pilots for scenic approaches and being one of the busiest airports in
Helsinki Airport also known as Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, ICAO: EFHK; is the main international airport for Finland and is run by state owned Finavia. It is located in Vantaa, Finland which
Bermuda is a British overseas territory. Made up of a group of 181 low lying islands, it’s located in the North Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of the United
Edinburgh Airport, ICAO: EGPH, is located in the City of Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2011 it was the busiest airport in Scotland handling just over 9.4 million passengers and the sixth
Carenado, a well known developer of good looking general aviation type add-ons recently introduced their newest product for FSX and Prepar3D: The Cessna T182T Skylane with Garmin 1000 Glass Cockpit.
Heraklion International Airport, “Nikos Kazantzakis”, ICAO: LGIR, is the primary airport on the island of Crete, Greece. It is a shared civilian/military and is also the country’s second busiest airport
Fairbanks International Airport, ICAO: PAFA, is a state owned public use airport located a few kilometers southwest of the city of Fairbanks in the state of Alaska in the United
Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport, ICAO: HESH, which was formerly known as Ophira International Airport, is an international airport located in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. It is the second busiest airport in
If you’re into modern airliners, especially those with a lot of ‘glass’ displays, you’ve probably spent some time thinking about how typing in the CDU (Boeing) or MCDU (Airbus) should
Yekaterinburg Airport aka: Koltsovo Airport, ICAO: USSS, is located 16kms southeast of Yekaterinburg, Russia. It was opened in 1928 and like so many other airports it was originally a
Bari Airport, ICAO: LIBD, also known as Palese Airport, is located near the heel of Italy on the picturesque southeast Adriatic coast about 8 kms from the city of Bari.
Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, ICAO: LFBO, is located just south of the city of Blagnac and about 4 miles west of the city of Toulouse in the southwest of France in the
This is a rather unorthodox review. Normally when I write a scenery review, I take the Trike Ultralight, takeoff, do some low passes, take screenshots, then stop the flight. I
This group has been busy over the past couple of years releasing some high quality Polish airports for FS2004 and FSX. Miami City 2012 X is their first venture into
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (aka Tomahawk in the UK and Russia) is an aircraft that stayed in production for the entire duration of the Second World War. And yet, it’s
12 miles west of the city of Cardiff in the village of Rhoose, Wales is where you will find Cardiff International Airport. It is the only airport in Wales that
“How about some tea with scones and jam? Well that sounds jolly, old fellow!” I dare say that everybody will have recognized this stereotype. It’s of course an upper class
Simón Bolívar International Airport of Maiquetia, ICAO: SVMI is an international airport located in Maiquetia, Venezuela which is about 13kms from Caracas. It is the busiest international airport in the
Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) is one of the 27 administrative regions in France and was formed very recently coming into existence in 1984 when Normandy was split into Lower and Upper
Our reader Ray Hughes has kindly taken the time to review AR MOD’s new Interface Design utility: This is a small and clean interface enhancement add-on for existing users of
The North American (later Rockwell) T-2 Buckeye is one of those aircraft whose beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Definitely a child of its time and role,
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, ICAO: EDFH is located in the western area of central Germany next to the town of Hahn and approximately 120 km from the city of Frankfurt. During the
There has been lots of talk about this latest installment by Microsoft in the “flight simulator” genre with lots of back and forth on whether or not this should be
Boris Forero has updated his FS9 scenery for Quito, Ecuador, to FSX standards and named it Quito X. The FS9 version was good so join me in checking out the
Active Sky 2012 is the latest iteration in a long line of weather add-ons by Hifi Technologies. Except This time, they did more than just tackle the weather. In this
John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice, ICAO: EPKK, is an international airport located in the south of Poland in the village of Balice which is near the city of Krakow.
Just off of the coast of Tunisia is the island of Djerba. At 514 sq kms the island is the largest island of North Africa and goes by the nickname
Late last year Aerosoft released a nice little scenery addon; Corfu X. This scenery is a detailed recreation of the airport of Corfu plus the entire island of Corfu. The
I’m digging up not the newest piece of hardware here, NaturalPoints TrackIR 5. What got me interested is that owners of TrackIR hardware often seem to be divided between lovers
The A2A Simulations “Wings of Power 3” Curtiss P-40 with Accu-Sim continues to bring in the plaudits from users and press alike – this time winning an award from UK-published
Naming big cities in Asia isn’t hard. Cities like Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo and Hong Kong instantly spring to mind. But, these probably aren’t even the first cities you will be mentioning, for there is an even more famous city: Shanghai. Shanghai is one of those cities that everybody knows. Maybe it’s because of the name, which sounds, at least to Europeans, like a typically Chinese name, even more so then Beijing. Perhaps it’s because of the landmarks and its rich history. Whatever it is, the city is huge and famous, and so is its airport.
East Midlands Airport, EGNX, is situated between the cities of Derby, Leicester and Nottingham in central England. The site was originally a Royal Air Force station used during the Second
The Panama canal made trips between the two biggest oceans much shorter and opened up new trading partners for companies in the eastern parts of North and South America and
José Martí International Airport, ICAO: MUHA sometimes referred to by its former name Rancho-Boyeros Airport is located about 15 kms southwest of the city of Havana, Cuba. The airport
Aerosoft have recently released an update to their German Airports 2 scenery calling it German Airports 2 2012 X. I did not have the original release so I can’t comment
Miami International airport, ICAO: KMIA, is located 13 miles northwest of the city of Miami and is the primary airport serving south Florida. The airport originally opened in 1928 and
Over at our German language sister site simFlight.de, Stefan Benzinger has posted a review of the Swiss flight simulator aeroflyFS, which we have mentioned a couple of times recently in
It appears the flightsim community is on a 737-fever! PMDG hit a high mark with their 737 NGX this summer, as did iFly a couple of months earlier with their
Originally released back in 2008 Aerosoft recently re-released their Madeira X scenery incorporating a number of scenery enhancements. To quote from the Aerosoft New Releases and Updates Forum here is
In the first part of this review, we went over aircraft selection, as well as flight planning, preflight, startup and taxi, finally culmination in the takeoff. In this second part
In this review, I’ll be taking you on a flight with PMDG’s 737 NGX. By doing this, I can show you how the NGX actually works in FSX, instead of
UK2000 have recently released a very detailed addon of the London City airport for both FS2004 and FSX; my review is of the FSX product. The London City airport (ICAO:
While the PMDG NGX basepack only delivered the 737-800 and 737-900, the first expansion pack was released shortly after PMDG updated the NGX to SP1. This first service pack brings
While we’re waiting for a detailed 777 simulation for FSX, Captain Sim went ahead and released their exterior only model in advance to the full 777 Captain product. Let’s take
Manuel Márquez de León International Airport (ICAO: MMLP) is an international airport located at La Paz, Mexico. La Paz is the capitol city of the Mexican state of Baja California
The absence of a serious Sea King for FSX left a gaping hole in my flightsim experience. There are some freeware versions available, but none of them really suited my
London Luton Airport, ICAO: EGGW is an international airport located approximately 56 kms north of Central London. The airport can trace its roots back to 1938 when an airport was
For this review, I took a look at Orbx’s newest Australian release. Melbourne’s Essendon Airport. If you have any other Orbx products, or even just read some reviews, you know
The best known, and most used, piece of hardware for flight simulator is the joystick. However, for basic aircraft control there are also yokes available. Saitek recently released a series
FS Captain offers so much to the simmer. If you don’t belong to a VA but would like the feel of working for an airline or if you work for
In this review I will be looking at two products from Aerosoft; Iceland X and Keflavik X. Iceland also known as the Republic of Iceland is an island country with
For a very long time, years even, the PMDG 737 NGX has been the most anticipated product for flightsim. PMDG finally released the NGX to the public early August,
Australia is the region that made ORBX famous within the flightsim community, and rightly so: their scenery products are among the best there are. Although they’re also working ‘in’ North
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, ICAO: PANC is located in Anchorage Alaska. The airport is quite large and occupies 4,500 acres; it has two passenger terminals one domestic one international
Europe has always been the place to be for FS enthusiasts. Just about any country has at least one airport modeled for it, but most have multiple, especially in Western
Newcastle International Airport (ICAO: EGNT) is located in Great Britain in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne which can be found approximately half way up the east coast by the North Sea. The airport has a single passenger terminal and a single asphalt runway; 07/25 @ 7,641ft long. It was rated as the 11th busiest airport in the UK handling just slightly more than 4.3 million passengers in 2010. It is currently a hub for the following carriers; Flybe, Easyjet, Jet2 and Eastern.
As far as aircraft go, it doesn’t get much more iconic than the good old Boeing 707. Captain Sim released their ‘707 Captain’ earlier this year, finally brining a detailed version of this icon of aviation to FSX. Let’s take it for a flight, and see what it’s made of!
Precision Manuals Development Group (PMDG) has followed suit and recently released their interpretation of the Boeing 737 NG. This was a release that the community has spent a long time waiting for – after all, the airliner was initially announced for 2010. “Good things take time“, as they say – but has a “good thing” indeed come of this? Our reviewers Oskar Wagner, Dr. Stefan Benzinger und Holger Kistermann have taken a closer look at the Boeing 737-800 / -900. To read their verdict, click “read more”…
By the way: This is the second part of our three-part 737 NG review special. We have already reviewed the product from iFly. After this review, we will write a comparison between PMDG and iFly. Stay tuned!
In our time and age, aircraft like McDonnell Douglas 80 (MD-80), a.k.a. Super80, Maddog or DC-9-80 series, are slowly disappearing. Newer, more fuel-efficient and more automated aircraft are coming onto
We take a long flight by aircraft. Yes, people, we have left the US. We are heading to Singapore, one of those cities that probably everybody knows. It is known
Athens International Airport also known as Elefthérios Venizélos, ICAO: LGAV began its operations in 2001 after five years of construction. It was built to replace the older airport at Hellenikon
The world of simMarket, (which in case you didn’t know is the web shop that actually funds simFlight, so it’s kind of important to us), is dominated by add-ons for
The Cessna 210 originates back to 1957 when it was first introduced. It was basically the four seater Cessna 182B but with retracteable landing gear, a swept tail and a
For a long time, the Katana 4X was the most anticipated product in the Aerosoft previews forum. It has been available for a couple of months now, and I’ve been
In the final volume of this series from UK2000, I’ll take you on a tour of the Volume 3 set. This scenery add-on for FSX covers the central region of
The Danish island of Bornholm is located in the Baltic Sea 37 kms south of Sweden and 140 kms east of Denmark. The main industries on this island are fishing, arts
In the previous LatinVFR review I wrote, we flew into Honduras’ Tegucigalpa intl. Airport. Enveloped by hills and mountains, the approach into that place is exciting to say the least.
Aerosoft have just released their latest Mega Airport for FSX. Titled Zurich 2012 it is a detailed recreation of Switzerland’s largest international airport. The airport is located north of the large metropolitan city of Zurich which is on the north eastern tip of Lake Zurich.
The airport has gone through a number of major changes in the past decade. With the demise of Swissair in 2002 the airport saw a substantial drop in traffic. The airline has since been resurrected by Lufthansa which took it over and renamed it Swiss International Air Lines. Since then the level of traffic has been steadily increasing.
If you’re an intermediate to advanced simmer you probably have paper charts lying about or have to flip between FS and Acrobat to view charts. SkyHighSim has created a simple
Fancy flying around the UK’s large and small airports? We’re going to check out UK2000’s VFR Airfields Volume 2. It’s a collection of 80 airfields, big and small, for the
This review is based on the latest 1.1 update from Aerosoft to their Nice X Cote d’Azur airport scenery that was originally a while back. I never had version 1 installed on my PC prior to doing this review so I cannot make any comparisons or comments to the earlier version of Nice X.
Aerosoft is known to offer us virtual pilots a peculiar add-on once in a while. The Hoffman H36 Dimona is the continuation of this tradition. Being a motor glider, it
Aviation Multimedia Studio’s first scenery for FS2004 brings us to Cancun, Mexico. If you like flying to resort areas or around the Gulf of Mexico this scenery add-on is a must for your collection.
When we think of Cancun we think of sun and beaches but there’s more to Cancun than meets the eye. Cancun is home to the second largest barrier reef in the world which makes it an ideal place for scuba diving and sport fishing. The golf courses in Cancun are very scenic and there’s the nightlife that goes with every resort area. Cancun is a short drive to some very scenic hiking trails for viewing the Mayan r
When I say “Dangerous approach”, what airport do you think of? I personally think of Kai Tak, in Hong Kong. That must be one of the most well known approaches in the world. It’s not hard to understand why, either. A fully loaded Boeing 747, turning at a slow speed, flying very low over the city, to align itself with the runway at the last moment is for many an unforgettable sight. Search it on YouTube if you don’t know what I’m talking about. However, in all this, there is a sad thing: Kai Tak was closed several years ago, replaced by the new Hong Kong intl. airport. So did we lose one of most fun approaches? Probably, yes, but that doesn’t mean there is a replacement. As a matter of fact, there is an airport with an approach that is very similar to Kai Tak’s approach, but for that we have to go to the other side of the world. Namely, to Tegucigalpa, a city in Honduras. The airport of that town, being ToncontÃn intl. airport (MHTG), is one of those airports that must be a thrill flying into. You approach the runway at an angle, and at the last moment you have to turn to align with the runway, much like at Kai Tak. What Kai Tak doesn’t have, however, is a hill, right at the start of the runway, forcing you to fly extremely low, brushing your extended landing gear against bushes and small trees. It is this airport and this approach that LatinVFR recreated in the scenery that I will review here.
A bit of general info on the airport. It is located on the outskirts of Birmingham, England about 10 kms east southeast of the city’s center. The airport was originally opened in 1939 and was known by the name “Elmdon Airport” because it was located in the village of Elmdon. With the outbreak of the Second World War the airport was taken over by the Air Ministry. It was during this time that two hard surface runways were constructed; 06/24 and 15/33. After the war it was returned to civilian use but remained under Government control until 1960 when it was once again taken over by the City of Birmingham, in 1987 ownership was once again transferred, this time to Birmingham International Airport plc. In 1984 a new terminal was opened on the east side next to the Birmingham International railway station giving it a capacity of 3 million passengers, the facilities were further expanded in 1994 with the opening of the “Eurohub” terminal doubling its passenger handling capacity. Runway 06/24 was closed in 2007 leaving the airport with a single runway 15/33 which is 8,527 ft long. As the seventh busiest airport in the UK it saw approximately 8.5 million passengers go through its facilities in 2010. There are plans in the works to further expand both the airport’s facilities and runway.
As real aircraft aren’t flown with sticks only, many serious simmers will, at one point or another, consider acquiring a set of rudder pedals. The range of available pedals is
You know that town? That town with a name that makes you think of Texas? Indians? Cowboys? Yes, I’m talking about Buffalo, the town close to one of the most spectacular natural sights in the USA: Niagara Falls. It’s this town that I’m going to look at in this second instalment of “Ultimate City Xâ€. I will once again combine addons to get the most out of them and that way try to recreate Buffalo as best as I can so that the approach to KBUF’s runway 5 will never be the same again.
Las Américas International Airport, MDSD, is the second busiest airport in the Dominican Republic with approximately 3.4 million passengers using the facilities in 2010. Opened in 1959, it was originally the official airport of Santo Domingo. The airport was renamed in 2002 to “Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas- José Francisco Peña Gómez (AIJFPG)” but is most commonly referred to as “Las Américas International Airport”. The airport has a single runway 17/35 that is 11,002 ft long making it the largest in the country and one of the largest in the Caribbean. The runway is capable of supporting the new Airbus A380.
You can certainly say the Saitek X-52, and the ‘Pro’ version in particular, is one of those very few legendary joysticks (or flight systems, if you prefer that term). Thousands of simmers have one, and that in itself is quite a reference. I’ve had one for over a year now, and it’s about time I tell you what I think about it.
Have you ever felt like going someplace else? I did. Several months ago, I decided to take a gapyear from university, do some work and traveling, and start my master
Cushman Meadows is the latest addition to Orbx’s series of great scenery products. But this time, they took a different direction than what we’re used to. Instead of picking a real life airport, and modeling it into the craziest details and gorgeous features, this time, Bill Womack let his imagination run wild, and designed his personal dream-airstrip. So, after Aerosoft’s Andras Field last year, Orbx now brings us the second high-end, fictional scenery add-on for FSX.
This is the second multi airport release from this group and like the first they have modelled in great detail three Polish airports; Łódź Władysław Reymont Airport (EPLL), Szczecin-Goleniów Airport
Those of you that started using flight simulator before FS2004 came along, are no strangers to virtual Chicago. Indeed, until FS2004, the default flight started at Meigs airfield, just off the shore of the city of Chicago – “the windy cityâ€. I still remember increasing the throttle on that little default Cessna, taking off and looking at the “detailed†buildings that were the Chicago skyline. This is FS98 I’m talking about. Now, after over 10 years, I return to Chicago.
Feelthere have quite a few titles on the market and have been around the flight sim scene for a number of years now. Tower 2011 is part of their air
Orbx FTX have been developing superior ‘scenery’ for FSX for some time with the wonderful FTX Australia series and are now producing enhanced air ports for that continent. The latest addition to my library is the superlative Cairns which is a major tourist resort city in Far North Queensland, Australia. As I have noted on previous occasions is that with all the ORBX FTX scenery if you are not careful you can spend more time on the ground than in the air as there is so much to see. Make no mistake, Cairns is another phenomenal detailed add-on that makes for great flying in FSX. in addition, it fits seamlessly with Orbx’ FTX – Australia AU GREEN, as you would expect it to. It is a great place to navigate, and it is ideal for VFR flying, and the Great Barrier reef and the rainforest hinterland beckons on every flight. To see everything in great detail I used the A2A Cub, the default Bell, Carenado Baron B58, and the ubiquitous ‘ORBX BOB’ as my exploration vehicles. I’ll say this yet again, every time you open this scenery, you will discover something new. I also used the latest freeware scenery for Murray Island, Queensland situated in the Torres Strait, north of Cairns.
Chicago Midway International airport, KMDW, is the second largest passenger airport in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Located in the southwest side of the city the airport was originally opened in 1923 as Chicago Airpark with a single runway and was used primarily for airmail services. In 1926 the city of Chicago leased the land for commercial purposes and in 1927 renamed the airport to Chicago Municipal Airport. In 1949 it was renamed Chicago Midway Airport after the Battle of Midway from World War II.
CARENADO – B58 BARON — The Noble or Rouge Review. Quick Summary: This is the third FSX twin from the Carenado virtual air stables and like its predecessors it was
Helicopters in Microsoft Flight Simulator. It has always been a thing of controversy. The first helicopter to appear in Microsoft Flight Simulator was the Bell 206 JetRanger, in FS98. Even
AEROSOFT ONLINE – US CITIES X – CLEVELAND — The ‘Rock ‘N Roll’ or ‘Sixth City‘ Review Quick Summary: Aerosoft are well known for their quality add-on software for FSX
Los Cabos, Mexico, is one of those tourist spots that you don’t think about when travelling to Mexico. However, it’s sister city of Cabo San Lucas is probably more familiar
Development of this aircraft began in 1969 with the first deliveries made in 1971. The main feature of the 340 was it’s pressurized fuselage. At the time it was the only six seat four passenger twin available from a major manufacturer with the exception of the Beechcraft Duke. Production on the aircraft ended in 1984 with a total of 1351 units built in the 13 year production period.
Replacing the previous Wings of Power 2 version, the Wings of Power 3 Spitfire is the latest product available from A2A Simulations and was released together with the Accusim expansion
IcarusGold has released a WWII Fighter ie the ‘GRUMMAN DUCK, designed specifically for FSX, SP1, SP2, Acceleration or Gold. This is basically a single engined amphibious bi-plane or flying boat that was also capable of landing on conventional airfields with its main retractable gear and tail skid/wheel. ICARUSGOLD have given us 7 Models, the Grumman JF2-4-5=6, (19 historically accurate re-paints) and these may differ by the type of engine, size of float, weapons configuration, etc. This is a very good collection of a now defunct war bird, and sadly, there are very few left that still fly. But wait there’s more!! You also get an extra 4 WWII (unnamed) airfields which include >50 new FSX objects and they look very nice.
Since FSX was released in October 2006, users of it have been in a constant battle to try and tame it so that it would give a reasonable performance on
Gatwick airport, EGKK, is located approximately 46 kms south of the city of London in the United Kingdom. Originally opened in the 1920’s it served as an aerodrome up until 1933 when it was approved for commercial flights. They were eventually halted in 1936 after two fatal accidents called into question the airport’s safety. Between 1936 and 1958 it was used as a civilian airfield and as an RAF base during the Second World War.
REAL EARTH X – DOLOMITI X — Alpago, Comelico + Tremiti & Pianosa Islands – The Borgian or Limestone Review. Quick Summary: Real Earth X has produced three very nice
Review Orbx FTX Melbourne V2 Overview: The Orbx FTX YMML Melbourne V2 airport scenery for FSX is a complete remake of Orbx’s popular first version of Melbourne for FSX, which
Stuttgart, EDDS, is an international airport located 13kms south of the city of Stuttgart which is the capitol city of the state of Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany. The airport has a single 10,974ft runway 07/25 and four terminals with a capacity of 12 million passengers. In 2009 just under 9 million passengers used the airport, well under it’s current capacity.
The Logitech Extreme 3D Pro was my first decent joystick. I’ve owned a very cheap, and not very good joystick before that, but it was my 3D Pro that paved the way for me to go into serious flightsimming. The Extreme 3D Pro is a simple but sturdy USB-joystick that requires no extra connections. It has all the necessary stuff: 4 control axis (stick fore-aft and left-right, a stick twist for the rudder, and a throttle lever), 11 buttons (1 trigger, 5 extra buttons on the stick, and 6 on the base) and a 8-way hat switch on top of the stick. It’s not a new product, I bought mine more than 6 years ago, but in my opinion, it deserves a review here nevertheless. The fact that’s it’s still available for purchase proves the fact that it’s a decent piece of hardware.
Pacific North West and Pacific Fjords – The Strait or Norwegian Inlet Review. Quick Summary: Orbx FTX following on from the success of producing a high quality scenery products for
Being one of only a few aircraft that served for its original operator for over 50 years, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a true icon of military aviation.
The Captain Sim B-52 Driver is part of Captain Sim’s so called ‘Fun Line’ which features (quoting from the CS Website): CS visual quality, essential systems programming, shorter production time, low price and is easy to use (end of quote). Let’s see how fun it acutally is!
Weeze airport also known as Niederrhein airport is located about 3 kms southwest of the small municipality of Weeze in the Lower Rhine, Niederrhein region of Germany.
Originally known as RAF airbase Laarbruch it was the home to a variety of RAF Squadrons up until it’s closure in 1999. In 2003 it reopened as a civilian airport under the name of Weeze Airport with a single runway 09/27 @ 8005ft long. Today it is mainly used by low cost carriers such as Ryan Air. In 2008 just over 1.5 million passengers used the facilitie
Barcelona Airport, LEBL, also known as El Prat Airport is located 10 kms southwest of the city of Barcelona Spain on the beautiful Mediterranean. The airport has three runways 07L/25R @ 3,352 m, 07R/25L @ 2,660 m and 02/20 @ 2,540 m. The second largest airport in Spain behind Madrid-Barajas Airport it serves mainly domestic routes and is a major hub for Spanair. In 2009 it served an estimated 27 million passengers.
Quick Summary: In the past Pacific Island Simulations have given us some excellent scenery in the remote Pacific Ocean and now after producing the stunning Ingalls Field have now developed
Iberia, Spain’s largest airline and the fourth largest in Europe, was founded in 1927. Their current fleet is made up of Airbus aircraft which consists of the A319, A320, A321,
This is a fantastic SUV-like aircraft from Orbx! With a low power to weight ratio this is one very fast (and safe) economical cross-country touring aircraft, described aptly by someone as the ‘Formula 1 of GA aircraft’. We might well have a successor to the fabulous Piper Meridian in ‘mini’ form! Orbx are more readily known for their very fine scenery and airport add-ons for FSX, but by applying the same principles, (ie using a dedicated talented team, hard work, and accepting nothing short of perfection) as they do to the FTX series they have produced yet another quality product. The plane is top notch in that it has incredible aesthetically pleasing detail, realistic flight dynamics, cabin, instruments and systems functionality plus a bonus of realistic sounds. It took the team two years to develop the plane and the resulting models clearly show that it was time well spent! Come on in and joust with the ‘Lancair’ developed by Lance Neibauer!
Tampa International airport, KTPA, is located just west of Tampa, Florida. The airport has three runways; 10/28@6,999ft, 19L/1R@8,300ft and 19R/1L@11,002ft. The airport has a centrally located main terminal with 4 satellite (airside) terminals around the outside that are connected via an elevated APM, automated people mover system. Tampa was the first airport to employ this type of configuration. With over 16 million passengers using the facility in 2009 it was the 26th busiest airport in North America as far as passenger traffic goes.
Quick Summary: UK2000 are renowned for their Xtreme series of airports for FSX and Gatwick Extreme v3 is no exception. It is extremely well detailed, accurately modelled and fits in
The latest regional scenery release from FranceVFR is Alsace VFR for both FSX and FS2004. This review is of the FSX version.
Occupying the north-eastern most corner of France this scenery covers approximately 10,000 sq kms and includes some beautiful landscapes. Of the 26 regions it is the fourth smallest and has a population of just over 1.8 million inhabitants.
Look west, and tell me what you see? I tell you what I see. I see airports everywhere. A map, filled with pushpins all over Europe, even the US. Now look east. What do you see? You’ll agree with me that you see mostly desert and mountains. Even the desert and mountains you see don’t look very spectacular. The reason is simple: The Middle East and Asia are rather forgotten in Flight Simulator. Many of the big airports got an addon for them, like Singapore, Hong Kong (old and new) and Tokyo. Speaking of Tokyo, Japan is the only country in Asia to have been very well covered thanks to the efforts of Overland. Let’s take a few steps back, though, back to the Middle East. While most of the Middle East is, literally, desert, the real Middle East still has some life in it. In FS, the Middle East is about as welcome a destination as a big pit of broken glass. Why? Because there is hardly any scenery for it. Is there scenery for Jordan? Syria? No. No scenery that is of truly high quality, anyway. There is quite a lot of scenery for Israel, but that’s about it. We have one scenery for Iraq (Baghdad), and that’s where most of the effort ends… until now.
Lately, we’ve seen an influx of aircraft that are not detailed but are designed for the novice or non-serious virtual pilot. AFS has produced the A330 and A340 for us
Quick Summary:  Orcas Island Airport scenery pack: Orbx have been developing superior ‘scenery’ for FSX for some time with the wonderful FTX Australia series. The latest addition to my library
For anyone looking to fly to a major destination in the Caribbean Imagine Simulation have modelled Nassau’s, MYNN, Lynden Pindling International Airport. Â Formerly known as Nassau International Airport it is
Quick Summary: This is a stunning aircraft from Vertigo Studios! I have waited sometime to review one of their war birds and finally it fitted in with my schedule. VS
I am a fan of older airplanes. I think they are more fun to fly. That’s also why I find it a pity that few developers have decided to develop older, or “classic†jetliners. I am now thinking of planes like the Boeing 707, 727, 737-100/200, but also the DC-8 and DC-10. Sure, Some of the planes I have mentioned have been developed, and some even in stunning detail (the Dreamfleet 727 comes to mind). Most of the classic jetliners have never even seen the light in FS, however. Some have seen the light but with a systems simulation that is not what some people (me) would like to see. One of those is the DC-10.
The DC-10 is an interesting plane. It is one of the last tri-jets, for their operating costs became more than what airlines would have liked to spend, plus, there was a viable solution: the twin jet! Yes, the A300 set an example for how the new generation of airplanes would be like, and there was no room anymore for tri-jets. Well, there is one exception: The MD-11.
The MD-11 is a plane that has a long history. It started with the DC-10, which then get a complete overhaul to make it a more modern and capable aircraft in these modern time, and thus it was transformed into the MD-11. Finally, some DC-10 aircraft received a MD-11 cockpit and where aptly named “MD-10â€. Sadly, there are few models available of the MD-11 (with full VC, that is). Sky Simulations has done one and, of course: PMDG. It is the PMDG MD-11 I will be looking at in this review. Will they have managed to make another winner? We’ll soon see!
The Fly Sim Server version of a 1966 (Old School) Cessna 182 K is unique it sounds and looks like it is just about to fall apart or once airborne make contact with the ground multo-rapido! It looks old and battered, but flies very well and it has its own sounds which were made for this plane. I have never experienced the sound effects we have here and will discuss these later in the review, suffice to say that they help with the simming experience.
Aerosoft’s Munich X is a very detailed depiction of the Franz Josef Strauss airport in Munich Germany. The airport has been thoroughly and meticulously recreated using high resolution photo real
Scenery-wise, Europeans have a very easy life. For just about every country at least the biggest, international airport is covered with high quality scenery, and if you live in Western Europe, you are blessed with dozens of sceneries for airports, big and small. FranceVFR has done a good job modeling many French airports. UK2000 has covered many UK airports. The Netherlands is blessed with the great NL2000 freeware scenery that covers the entire country with high quality satellite imagery. Germans also have a reason to be pleased due to the efforts of Aerosoft.
We all know Aerosoft. They have done many great sceneries and are one such company that will never be forgotten. However, recently, they have started extending their reach to faraway destinations, such as Cuzco in Peru, Dutch Harbor in Alaska and the Maldives. Recently, Aerosoft has also started on a trip to Turkey, with Antalya for FSX and FS2004. This is the focus of this review. Please note that I review the FS2004 only!
Newport has tempted us with some photo scenery for Pittsburgh. Let’s take a look at their offering so you can determine if it’s worthy of your collection.
When you think of places to fly in FS you probably think of places in Europe, Canada, or the USA. These are the areas covered by freeware and payware scenery
I will look at what does a model of a marine vessel have to do within the world of FSX flight simulation and flying. Adding a boat into my hanger full of planes was very new and its probably very unusual these days, but then again most real hangers have other things than just a plane in in them. I decided to purchase the scenery Tropical Sim St Thomas 2010 TIST and the Catamaran from Delta Sim Studios on Sim Market because it reminded me so much of the excursion I took last April of 2010 while visiting St Thomas on a cruise ship. Having visited twice in the past 4 years everything still looks the same in real world and simulation world. Looking at scenery from a different angle instead of 30000 feet I ask, why not look at it from sea level.
Paris Orly airport, LFPO, originally opened in 1932 and was known as Villeneuve Orly Airport. It straddles the communes of Orly and Villeneuve-le-Roi which are located approximately 8 miles south
There’s a new developer on the scene named Scansim. They have released their first airport scenery which covers EKCH, Copenhagen, Denmark. Let’s see if this new developer is competitive with
The developers at FranceVFR are slowly recreating France one region at a time with their regional scenery releases. Following on the heels of Bretagne VFR for FSX is the second in the series; Nord-Pas de Calais for FSX. Read on to discover what I thought about this recent release.
The most northerly of the 22 regions that make up the country of France, Nord-Pas de Calais shares a border with Belgium to the east and a coastline with the English Channel along the north. It’s population is concentrated mostly in urban areas and is the fourth most densely populated region in France. The administrative center of the region is in the city of Lille.
Buffalo Niagara Falls International airport, KBUF, is actually located in the town of Cheektowaga, Erie County, New York Sate, USA and is named after the Buffalo Niagara Falls Metropolitan area. It is the third busiest airport in New York State and serves the Buffalo area as well as the region of Southern Ontario, Canada. It was built in 1926 making it one of the oldest airports in the United States. Over the decades it has been expanded numerous times and this scenery depicts the results of the final expansion and completion of the newest terminal with it’s 26 gates. In 2006 both runways were lengthened making runway 5/23 8827 feet long and 14/32 7161 feet long. In 2006 more then 5 million passengers passed through it’s gates, a number not expected to be reached by 2020.
78 airports for $50 (37 Euros)!!! That’s 64 cents or 0.47 Euros each! OK, what’s the catch? Can this be real? Do I have to sign-up for three years to
Another in the series of holiday destination airports being released by Aerosoft. This one is of Kos Island International Airport, LGKO, also known as “Hippocrates”. The airport is located on
Being from Canada this was a destination that I probably would not have considered flying to only because it is not an airport that I was familiar with. Thanks to the folks at Aerosoft and this great rendition of Faro I will now count this as one airport that will see me on a regular basis as I continue to explore and fly around the region. I highly recommend this airport for anyone who is looking for a new destination. It is easy on the frame rates while giving you plenty to see from any angle.
Blueprint Simulations has done an airport of which I am very familiar, Toronto International, formally known as Lester B. Pearson International, CYYZ. I live in Toronto so I thought I’d
I recently reviewed the Germany Base Pack and since then Dirk Stuck has issued the UK & Ireland Base Pack together with an Ireland & UK extension pack the latter
Addictive Simulations have released a Pitts Special S1 which is a light aerobatic biplane designed for FSX and FS2004. This is a biplane single seater, tail dragger racer. This is a stunner of a reasonably fast manoeuvrable aerobatic and even acrobatic racer. It is a very nice model, very crisp lines and some nice animation touches. It is great to fly and coupled with Just Flight’s Airshow Pilot it certainly gave me hours of fun and excitement during the review. I want to park one of these next to my car and take-off down the street – imagine the looks on the neighbour’s faces. I only reviewed the FSX version.
In this second part I will take the plane for a short hop across Germany and show you how that went. Rest assured – I did many more flights than only the one I’m telling you about.
Lately, Argentina is known has been known for it’s soccer team and now unemployed coach. Argentina is also known for it’s aviation history built on it’s military strength. Some of
The airport known as Strasbourg, LFST is located in the Alsace region of France just outside of the small city of Entzheim and approximately 10 kms southwest of Strasbourg. It has a single runway 05/23 that is approximately 2400 meters long. In 2009 it saw just over 1 million passengers use it’s facilities.
This is a very nice piece of software that replaces all of the ground vehicles in FSX and replaces them with new 3-D models. At present the vehicles only work in airports in Germany, Sweden, Norway and Denmark and are partly animated (FSX SDK allowing). They are also visible at nigh complete with flashing lights, etc. The new vehicles include, fire trucks; shuttle busses, luggage loaders, tractors, fuel trucks, stair trucks and push back vehicles. Other vehicles and other FSX areas will be added in the future. This is a gem of an add-on for FSX and it enhances the simming experience.
FSADDON have released another WWII Fighter ie the GLOSTER GLADIATOR, designed specifically for FSX. This is a biplane (the last built for the RAF) but was quickly superseded by the superior monoplane designs, eg Spitfire and Hurricane. FSADDON have given us 3 variants, the Mk 1, the Mk II with a more powerful engine and the latter also powered another variant called the SEA Gladiator, which was used on various aircraft carriers in WWII. This is a nice collection of a now defunct war bird that not only looked good and was also very easy to fly.
What better way to broaden your horizons than to fly to new destinations. Polish Airports Vol 1 gives you just that type of opportunity if you’re one of those pilots that like to stick to familiar territory. With this offering from Drzewiecki Design you get three airports; Katowice Pyrowice (EPKT), Rzeszów Jasionka (EPRZ) and GdaÅ„sk Rebiechowo (EPGD).
This is the VirtualCol version of the Cessna T303 Crusader twin airplane. It is reasonably well modelled with clean lines and you get 3 repaints in the package (plus a repaint package). In general the instrumentation is reasonably good, nice and clear and functional, as are the default Baron sounds (internal and external), and it flies extremely well.
LatinVFR have been around doing scenery for awhile now and their products have been of superior quality. Their latest is Santiago, Chile, SCEL. Will they keep up their reputation? Read on to find out.
Leonardo SH has given us their latest version of the Maddog… the MD-82 of the MD-80 series of airliners. Rather than take you through the various qualities of the aircraft, I’ll take you through a flight in FS9 so you can tell whether this aircraft is for you or not (FSX version available, too, read on…).
Burkhard Renk has been producing My Traffic versions for several years, now culminating in this latest 5.3 version which is another milestone forward in producing a FSX world full of AI aircraft that you as a pilot have to interact with. This FSX version has utilised all of the FSX programming possibilities giving a new sense of realism and practicality. Anyone that has read my reviews know that I have had issues with AI traffic when I have reviewed airports and scenery and this program now populates all of my FSX airports with large numbers of planes that move, stop, go, taxi, and fly. This is a great add-on for the Sim even for someone like me that only flies GA planes from small rural airfields.
The Boeing 767 was the first wide body twinjet produced by Boeing. Designed in tandem with the 757 they both share design features and the same flight deck. The 767 is capable of carrying up to 375 passengers with a range of 6,590 nautical depending on the variant and the seating configuration. It is also the first wide body Boeing jet to enter service with a two person crew eliminating the need for a flight engineer. Commonly used on medium to long haul routes it has become the most popular airliner on the transatlantic runs between the United States and Europe. The first variant the 767-200 came into service in 1982 followed by the 200ER, 300, 300ER, 300F freighter and finally the 400 series in 1997. To date their have been just over 1000 aircraft ordered.
Mark Hurst has completed another excellent video review of the recently released UIVER Douglas DC2 for FSX. After a brief history of the DC2, Mark focuses on taxiing and crosswind
VRS have created a superb tactical multi-role fighter aircraft for FSX, building on their FS2004 model and in their word, supercharged the FS9 version with updated graphics. Â It certainly shows,
VFR-Short Fields X is a newcomer to scenery development in FSX. They make smaller airports of Canada that are located in areas not well known to the general FS community.
Our hobby, flightsimming, is constantly expanding. Developers throw at us; a new aircraft here, an airport there, and every one of them, better than the last one you thought was the best. The awe can sometimes become a little tedious, as it can seem to be just more of the same. A new high in detail, in graphics, or in sound, but still just a plane, or an airport. Even excellence can become average if you are exposed to it too often.
And then, out of the blue, suddenly, without any warning, comes a little gizmo that just seem to blow all those “seen this, done that†feelings out of the water. Something different, something – that looks like it was just the thing the Flightsimulator world was missing – and it didn’t even know it.
Every now and then a product comes out that takes you by surprise. By surprise I mean that on the surface it looks interesting and you’re not sure if it’s
Dutch Harbor is located right next to the airport of Unalaska which is on Amaknak Island in the Aleutians off the coast of Alaska. The port of Dutch Harbor is
Fly Tampa have been producing add-on airports for Flight simulator over a number of years. They now have over a dozen titles covering FS2002, FS2004 and FSX, with about 6
FSPS Flight Simulator Manager (FSM) is more of an analyzer than a manager and I suspect 95% of the users will find it to be the same. It is an
Rotterdam The Hague airport formerly known as Zestienhoven, EHRD, is located 5.6Kms northwest of the city of Rotterdam. The original airport for the city of Rotterdam had been destroyed just
Recently DBS Studio has released its another add-on for MS Flight Simulator – FOLLOW ME SERVICE FOR FSX. Everyone, who has ever been at an airport, must have seen that
This review is on a product that’s six years old. Huh?! No, we are not that far behind at simFlight in our reviews. Over the last year I’ve seen many
Before I begin let me just state that this addon requires that Bretagne VFR for FSX by FranceVFR be installed prior to installing this package. Please also read my review
FS Dreamscapes have been producing mesh for FSX for some time now. I purchased Utah and then California and Florida way back in the mists of time and as Dean
After having reviewed this FS2004 version of this scenery package I was excited to fly the FSX version. For those of you who may not be familiar with this area
Mallorca (Majorca) is Spain’s largest island. Together with the islands of Formentera, Ibiza and Minorca it makes up the autonomous community of the Balearic islands. The city of Palma which
Aerosoft are well known for their quality add-on software for FSX including major airports throughout the world. In FSX Monastir (DTMB) is a very sterile place with very few features, but install Aerosoft Monastir X and watch the transformation into something that is full of accurate detail.
Paul Frimston learned to glide whilst working at Bidford Gliding Centre in the 1990s, over the last few weeks he’s been learning to fly the Aerosoft Discus Glider X in
Every time when flightsimulation hits a new level I am hooked. Some people are excited when the new big ‘heavymetal-thousandswitches airliner’ is released or a new mega hub gets real.
Menorca or Minorca is located in the Mediterranean Sea. It’s name is derived from the Latin Insula Minor, later becoming Minorica which translated means minor island. At just under 700
A few weeks ago I reviewed Congonhas (SBSP) from TropicalSim. During my writing they released Guaruhlos (SBGR). So, I will take you on a similar view of SBGR and then
Slovenia; officially known as the Republic of Slovenia covers an area of approximately 20,000 sq kms and has a population of just over 2 million. Relatively speaking it is a
The IRIS Diamond Star DA40 XLS is a reasonable model of this new style type of GA plane ie made from composite materials with radical design features. It looks good and flies very well and it has its own sounds which are unique to this plane. In general terms the instruments are good, being specially developed for the Iris DA40 they are clear and functional with a few minor niggles. The DA40 has a range of over 700nm so it is quite useful for those 4 to 5 hour flights and at a cruise of around 150KIAS, it’s no slouch. Being equipped with a “glass cockpit†ie the G100 it can be flown for both VFR and IFR flight. In terms of performance, size and design you would have to compare the DA40 to the Cirrus SR20, the Columbia C400 (much faster) with the choice coming down to personal preference and how fast that you want to get there. The Interior looks a little flat, I would have expected more detail in the seating but there are 2 interior colours available (as in the real deal). As I have noted on several previous occasions, it does not have facilities for loading, maintenance or repair during use, and that would have made it a much better plane in my opinion. This is the first GA plane developed by IRIS FSS and it shows great promise for the future. In the words of Flying Officer KITE: “Jolly good show†(courtesy of the BBC).
So, LatinVFR developed an airport that only has two daily flights serving a population of 265,000 and wants us to spend 16 Euros (FS9 and FSX versions included). It may well be the best 16 Euros you’ve ever spent. Not because it’s an eye popping evolutionary scenery package but because, like me, you will find yourself doing circuits over and over again trying to get both the take-off and landing right. I hope you have better luck than I did. I confess the departures were unsuccessful and I ended up into the mountain at the far end of runway 5 every time. I dare say the best aircraft to use at this airport is a helicopter, but that would be cheating.
This review is on a product that’s been out since early 2008 and now that we are getting our PC’s to a point where it can handle FSX it’s worth looking at again. First, it comes with good versions for FS9 and FSX. Second, this is an impressive airport to fly in and out of in real life and in Flight Simulator 9/X.
In FSX there are several “neglected†scenery areas where the geography is a little sparse, the Atolls of Tuvalu is one of these areas and the developers of PNG/Raw Grit have redressed that with this remarkable piece of software. It covers most of the Atolls of Tuvalu, and includes airfields, seaplane docks and helipads. This is bush flying at its best with white sand beaches, crashing waves, abundant tropical trees, local vegetation, tons of custom objects, lots of background noise, animated animals and birds and AI ships aplenty. Tuvalu is approximately 2500nm NE of Australia or approx 2000nm SW of Hawaii and the nearest country that has flights into Tuvalu is Fiji, so let us hope that PIS will model this next. Although most of the airfields are at sea level it is still a great place to navigate, and it is ideal for VFR flying. Every time you open this scenery you will discover something new.
What airports are the nicest to fly into? The really big ones? Where you see planes taking off, landing, taxiing, being serviced at the gate? Or perhaps smaller airports. The ones which are cozy, where various types of GA aircraft are standing on the ramp, waiting for their owner to fly them to some remote island. Maybe you like whatever airport, as long as they are in some special location? Think Kai Tak, in Hong Kong. If anything, the approach to that airport is (or has always been, since it’s now closed) one of the most exhilarating approaches one can fly.
Landclass scenery upgrades the realism of the areas you fly in by showing ground textures that represent the real life location and shape of various vegetation and city regions. It
[slideshow id=25] Boston V3 FSX Screenshots Rick Desjardins reviews this latest primetime FlyTampa title: “General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport, KBOS, is located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. First opened in
This is quite a good set of powerboats (aka as speed boats) and it brings something different to FSX, in that you can now explore the scenery at sea level, and you can “fly†without ever leaving the ground (or water). The boats are well modelled; they look very nice in the Sim and have little effect on performance. The sounds are good, typical of a powerboat of this genre. Although there are 3 models and 10 variants the cockpit instruments do not vary very much, but thet are comprehensive for a power boat. They seem to have unique instruments as well as using the default GPS and GA radio stack. The instructions on how to configure and pilot the boats are comprehensive and need to be followed to ensure success. For something totally different you can’t go beyond these boats.
On the whole, there are two places in the flight simming world that are all but forgotten: Europe and the Caribbean. Aerosoft has made loads of sceneries for Europe, and
This is a built-in GPS for planes, just like the one you have in your car. If you are like me you can never understand the instructions from ATC on
Staff  reviewer Benjamin van Soldt digged into Feelthere’s ERJ-145 this time…. and we believe he liked it! This review contains a Question/Answer session that helps with the most common problems
This review is a contribution by simFlight Italia, original written by Fabio Merlo and translated into English by Ugo Merlini. In this review we’ll talk about CockpitSonic, about its products
For those of you not familiar with Embraer the name is derived from Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica. It was created in 1969 by the Ministry of Aeronautics in Brazil. Starting
Imagine Sim are renowned for their quality add-on airports and KSJC is no exception. It is extremely well detailed, accurately modelled and fits in exceedingly well with the default FSX
FSADDON have done it again, they have produced a very nice model of the WWII Special Operations Westland Lysander III. It wasn’t called the “The Flying Carrot” for nothing, that’s
Mark Hurst is back with another detailed video review, this time of the Aerosoft PBY Catalina. Focusing on aircraft procedures and engine management, Mark presents an informative review which is
Nemeth designs are well known for their excellent helicopter simulations in both FS9 and FSX. The As 332 L2 Super Puma is no exception it is a very good representation
There are well over 35+ airfields and/or airports in the Newfoundland Labrador region of Canada. About 20 of those are on Newfoundland and these two packages model 6 airfields/airports (3
Benjamin van Soldt writes: “There are tiny airport, small airports, medium airports, and big airports. I have done about 4 scenery reviews now: Aerosoft’s Berlin Tegel, Lisbon, Stockholm Arlanda and
Our regular review on Sunday from Peter Hayes hailing from down under: “ This is the WSS version of the Piper PA-44 Seminole twin airplane. It is well modelled with nice
Rick Desjardins flew where the sun is always shining and reports: “Anybody who has been around the MS Flightsimulator franchise is certainly familiar with the sceneries from FlyTampa. If you
I have several Carenado GA planes in my virtual hangar and the Saratoga makes it number 8. Carenado makes good solid basic GA planes and the Saratoga is no exception. There has been some criticism in the forums about the “sameness†of the gauges in the Carenado planes and the fact that they do not have advanced features, e.g., wearing out/damaged engines, maintenance, etc, such as in the A2A J3 Cub. However, I take a pragmatic view, when reviewing 3rd party aircraft, and write the review based on the fact that this might be the only Carenado plane that I have purchased and judged solely on its merits.
The Saratoga handles very well, the sounds are very good, but the manuals are perfunctory to say the least. It is a good, if not outstanding GA plane, and it has quite appealing visual effects. On the whole, I found it to be a reasonable GA plane, but with lots of room for improvement in several areas.
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is a twin engine jet originally designed in the early 1960s. It came about out of a need to have an airliner that could handle short
Peter Hayes starts without any further ado: What can I say? This is the definitive piece of scenery for FSX. It changes the default sterile FSX area into something that
Hello fellow sim-pilots! Today’s review brings me back to familiar territory. A review of an add-on, where once again the story makers try to make FSX fresh, new, and challenging.
This review is about another Aerosoft Online product, this one called: Aerosoft Beaver X Mission Pack. This mission pack also requires the FS2004 & FSX SP2/Acceleration compatible Aerosoft Beaver X (Sold separately). I am not reviewing the plane model, but I will say it truly is a joy to fly and a great addition to any FSX collection. (I guess I did review it a little bit after all LOL).
This is a very good collection you get essentially 28 planes, extremely well modelled, good VC cockpits and variable flight characteristics between the models. The Cub is a single engine; high-wing, tail dragger, 2-seater GA aircraft and this collection will definitely complement the A2A – J3 cub in my virtual hangar. It also comes as an amphibian, a float plane and a ski plane. I used as a backdrop for the review the excellent Tongass X scenery by Holger Sandmann et al. The PA-18 Super Cub was introduced in 1949, continuing in production up to 1983, followed by a short break, with production resuming 1988 up to 1994. The military version was designated L-21 and about 1700 of this latter variant were built.
Doug Zabizewski has been busy with issues way deeper then your usual scenery or aircraft, he has occupied himself with the inner works of FSX, the fine art so to
Wanting to try something different for my next review I took on a recent offering from Cera Simaircraft; their Bell 412EP for FSX SP2 v1.4 helicopter. The BELL 412EP (Enhanced
Peter Hayes weekly review today tells us all about this Golden Age Simulations product: ” Golden Age has credibly achieved an accurate representation of this open cockpit “tail-dragger” biplane. The
Hello fellow sim-pilots! Today’s review is another first for me. It is an add-on, but not the usual mission based or even scenery based add-on. This one is called the
Staff reviewer Rick Desjardins is back with another FranceVFR product review: ” One of the great things about Flight Simulator is that with the right scenery package you can explore
Hello fellow sim-pilots! This week I am writing about another mission based program called Sandspit Missions. This add-on is made by RDJ simulations. It’s a small program, and to be
Peter Hayes, our staff reviewer located in Australia starts this review with his usual quick summary: ” This is a nice rendering of the Wittman Tailwinds —W8/W10 (aka “The Flying
Rick Desjardins flew to France to review FranceVFR’s scenery of  Strasbourg Entzheim LFST for FS2004: “ My next review takes me to the Alsace region of France to the small regional
Doug Zabizewski is back with another colorful review, this time he goes on a safari into the wilderness of Africa by ways of Aerosoft’s African Airstrip Adventures and it seems
The boys at screenshotartist.co.uk are known for their extensive reviews on various FS products, until now they were standard read-along text reviews… but now they have started something new: video reviews. The first one
The man with the difficult to pronounce last name, staff reviewer Douglas Zabizewski  has became an FSX missionary to bring you our review for three different commercial mission pack products:
Our staff reviewer from down under Peter Hayes takes an in-depth look at A2A Simulations latest creation, their Piper Cub rendition, which he calls ‘the definitive J-3 Cub’. This is his
Ian Pearson and Nick Churchill have taken a good look at the newly published L-39 Albatros trainer jet. by Lotus Simulations Although the aircraft is very recent, it already took
Staff reviewer Rick Desjardins is back with yet another review, this time he looked at a new product from a new developer: Â Wonderful Scenery Enhancer 2009 (yes, that is ‘Supression’
Staff reviewer Douglas Zabizewski reviews Aerosoft’s US Cities X – New Orleans a place where he was last as a member of the rescue teams involved in the Katrina hurricane catastrophe: “Hello
Peter Hayes glided away in the Aerosoft Discus Glider X v1.00 and sums up his review with: “The Aerosoft Discus Gliders are excellent, great flight characteristics with little impact on
Rick Desjardins is a another young promising review staff writer at simFlight and for his first write up he looked at Aerosoft’s San Francisco scenery, ther first in their US
Douglas Zabizewski is a new review writer for simFlight and the object of his very first review is a scenery developer by an also new developer named Daniel Louvet. Daniel has
We are looking for product review writers and the deal is that you get to keep the product, we get to publish your review…  You need not be Shakespeare, it is more important that
Hilbert Hagedoorn has tested yet another graphics card for us. He writes “…. Think of the most extreme GeForce GTX 275 you can think off. Custom PCB, custom cooling, additional
Hilbert Hagedoorn sent us one of his graphics cards reviews again. “…. BFG have worked their magic again and teamed up with the guys and gals from CoolLIT systems, a
Hot on the heels of the recent Birmingham review comes Screenshotartist.co.uk’s latest, this time covering the First Class Simulations box set of the Vickers Wellington World War II bomber, by
Screenshotartist.co.uk are pleased to announce the publication of our latest FSX product review, this time covering the UK2000 scenery of Birmingham International Airport (EGBB/BHX) in the United Kingdom. Featuring photographic
As you might have noticed from recent news releases, Aerosoft’s Airport Enhancement Services (AES for short), reviewed by me here not long after its initial release, has been undergoing a growth
I think calling this add-on “Croatian Airports” is a little bit of a misnomer by the author. Why? Because although the centrepiece of the scenery is undoubtedly the airports of
The warm weather is coming, or at least that’s what forecasters are promising, so this is a good time to start thinking about cooling our flightsim PC’s. Guru3D “…… tested
What with all the Quad Core processors, SLI installations of dual grahics cards, 1 Tb hard disks and the likes, our PC’s need more and more power to run –
Guru3D has looked at yet another graphics card. Hilbert Hagedoorn writes “….. Here we have another bang for buck product, a product that I like very much. As what ATI
FS(X) runs mostly on processor power and thus new processors are always interesting for the flight simulator crowd. Guru3D has a look at AMD’s Phenom CPU’s. “……AMD released two processors
Ian Pearson takes a quick look at this First Class Simulations / Abacus title:Â MILITARY HELICOPTERS 2. This review is accompanied by screenshots of the product, please see the gallery at
Guru3D’s Hilbert hagedoorn reports “…… a couple of weeks ago NVIDIA made some small modification to it’s mid-range line-up, in specific their GeForce 9800 GTX+ product. These design changes are
The well-known Guru of 3D is not the only source for graphics card (and other PC items) reviews. PC Stats also publishes these regularly. This time they had a look
Ian Pearson has reviewed the Captain Sim Hercules C-130 for us. “…… From the heat of African deserts to the icepack of Antarctica and the rain forests of South America,
Guru3D has looked at two of the latest graphics cards, the competitors from ATI and NVidia, being the ATI HD4890 and the NVidia Geforce GTX275. “….. the Radeon HD 4890
Guru3D looked at the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 285. “…… A product that is clocked at reference speeds and comes with a very average bundle. With this reference based product in
Guru3D.com reviewed one of TwinTech’s GeForce GTS 250 graphics cards. Hilbert Hagedoorn writes “……. The TwinTech GeForce GTS 250 XT OC is packed with 1GB of memory, pre-overclocked and comes
Guru3D has added some new articles to their site. No, not grpahics cards tests this time, but rather a report on a home-built PC, including some ingenious water cooling. And
simFlight Networks forum member “Skinny Puppy” has been occupying himself with the Vertical Reality Simulations (VRS) Superbug these past few weeks and has found it such a challenging and interesting
Wilbur and Orville had an easy job of weather forecasting – a glimpse over the field and they could see all they needed to know. A few years later, Bleriot
If you went to an aircraft designer and said “Build me an all round plane that is good for learning to fly in, gives you a good look at the
Screenshotartist.co.uk are pleased to be able to present their latest review, of the A2A Simulations Boeing 377 Stratocruiser with Accu-Sim add-on. If you haven’t met this model, and the technology
Who doesn’t know what a Piper Cub is? Come on, hands up? No one? Good. Now who can honestly say what an “L4” is? To be honest, I had to
Wondering what to do with the “crinkling” Christmas presents? Well if there is some loose change left over, you might like to try this interesting texture modification addon by Alexey
Chris Palmer (of Angle of Attack) and Nick Churchill (the ‘Screenshot Artist‘) are among the many fans of FSAddon’s Plum Island airport by Bill Womack. So much so that they
I had to look at my calendar and check the date first. But then – the author of this freeware Glider is known for his “short” Gliders. Does David Rowberry
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s a Bell-Agusta BA609 Tiltrotor. Seen only at air shows and other “Public relations” events over the past few years, the
Digital Aviation recently released their Fokker 100 regional jet-liner into the sim-world and our colleagues over on the simFlight German network reviewed this plane in some detail. Just for us,
A new old aerobatic biplane has hit the streets folks, and your favourite neighbourhood Eagleskinner has taken it upon himself to give this Little plane the once over – and
A new old feature has just been given a second lease of life on the simFlight front page. If you scroll down and watch the right hand side of the
Screenshotartist.co.uk would like to present their latest review, covering the Captain Sim Boeing 757 package for FSX. Featuring more screenshots by Nick Churchill, the review can be found by clicking
Dudley Henriques, well-known for his many reviews, previews and other involvements in the flightsim world, has been helping the Sabre crew with insight and expertise during their development. Dudley ALSO
The F-16 is one of the most known jet fighters in the world. It’s agile, fast and very reliable. Many airforces around the world are equipt with this wonderful flying
We are publishing a series of reviews originally written for and published in PC Pilots Ireland Club quarterly ‘PC Pilot’ magazine. We thank their president and friend Terry McGee as
We are publishing a series of reviews originally written for and published in PC Pilots Ireland Club quarterly ‘PC Pilot’ magazine. We thank their president and friend Terry McGee as
Nick Churchill and Ian Pearson reviewed the RealAir Spitfire for FSX recently. Nick is renown for his wonderful screenshots and Ian is an avid simmer since many years. You can
Alcander Ioanidis has written a review of the Aerosoft Twotter recently and we’re sharing his words with you here. The Twotter (DeHavilland Twin Otter) is designed for FSX and available
Ian Pearson downloaded the new airport enhancement package AES from Aerosoft last month and gave it a good look-over. It is a good tool for those simmer who love to dwell
