.) Complete rewrite of the activation system.
.) Fixed a bug in the FS2004 engine that caused weather stations once set not to be reset, even though they fall outside the weather set radius.
.) Fixed a bug in the FS2004 engine that caused some cloud layers to not appear in the simulator.
.) Fixed a bug in the FS2004 engine that caused some weather stations to be not set at all.
.) Some reworks in the FS2004 engine to prevent the 2D panel from flickering during weather updates.
.) Fixed a bug in the flight planner, that lead to wrong wind direction and speed calculations for certain waypoints.
.) The auto start feature has a new option "none" (versus FS version), which will download the weather but not initiate an automatic weather transfer.

IMPORTANT: All evaluation points used for the previously released version were resetted; everyone can now re-evaluate the current build to test the new features!

IMPORTANT FOR CUSTOMERS: All users will have to re-register their product with the serial key they got with their purchase. We are pretty sure, that this will be the last time this is necessary. However, we were forced to change our activation system due to some hacker attacks on our weather and activation servers. We apologize for the inconvenience caused! 

Update via the auto-update feature of FSGRW or - if you don't have it already - download here:
http://www.fly2pilots.com/cms/Ui/Pages/Products/MainPage.aspx?id=253b8b5c-0a91-4935-8d01-b3c70aee6034

Like other Carenado offerings, the TBM 850 is packed with the usual features list.

Special Features include:

• Carenado G1000 (PFD and MFD) with GCU 475 Control Unit.
• AFCS GMC 710 autopilot.
• NEW 3D knobs technology.
• Flight Plan creation option directly from the MFD.
• Windows lighting scratches effect.
• Volumetric side view prop effect.
• Dynamic propeller shines effect.
• Cold and Dark start option.

Price is US$39.95 on the Carenado web site.

Cheers

Andrew

Order the Viscount Legends of Flight from Just Flight before 10am on Tuesday and pay only £10 by using the discount code WEEKEND at the checkout. This applies to the download version only

http://www.justflight.com/product/viscount-legends-of-flight-download

We reviewed this add-on last year and Keiran gave it a healthy 8.5/10 - http://www.mutleyshangar.com/reviews/km/viscount/viscount.htm

The MCA Designs NA Airstrips volume 1 package for North America has been released!

The price is $19.99 AUD (or $6.66 per strip!)

Volume 1 includes three different and challenging airstrips for you to put your pilot skills to the test, as well as to use as a launching platform for some great sight-seeing flights in the Pacific Northwest.

Included Airstrips:

1. 98TE Hilltop (43 Deg 19’ 19.14’’N 123 Deg 10’ 35.75’’W)
2. 95OR Flournoy Valley (43 Deg 12’ 23.41’’N 123 Deg 31’ 53.26’’W)
3. 8OR3 Riverview Ranch (42 Deg 56’ 03.92’’N 123 Deg 07’ 21.68’’W)

Scenery Features Common To All Airstrips:

• Realistic buildings and objects created using gMax with textures based on real aerial images.
• Custom modelled 3D trees, grass and bushes filling the airfields and surrounding areas.
• Large photoreal scenery areas are included around all the airstrips using licensed high-resolution 30cm/pixel source imagery. This imagery is custom-blended to fit well with the Orbx PNW textures outside of the photoreal coverage areas.
• Thousands of hand-placed trees and houses have been added to give the airstrips and surrounding areas depth and realism, contributing to a more immersive flight.
• Color-matched for four seasons to match perfectly with Orbx Pacific Northwest season textures. It also color-matches reasonable well with default scenery too!
• Added audible bird sounds around airstrips for added audio immersion. Listen out for these when you cut your engine!
• Amazing Performance - We designed this scenery package with frame rates in mind. You will find this scenery performs well on even low-spec systems with minimal frame rate impact. You will be able to enjoy a good amount of scenery detail with this package without it grinding to a frame-rate halt!
• Package includes professionally produced user-guide in PDF format
• If using this scenery with default FSX, the package includes and installs a custom 10m terrain mesh for enhanced realism.
• Compatible install options for FSX default scenery, FSX with FTX PNW region pack, and Lockheed Martin Prepar3D default scenery.

Note: This scenery package is primarily designed for use with Orbx FTX Pacific Northwest region scenery (sold separately), but will also work well with default FSX scenery and default P3D scenery. While FTX PNW region scenery is recommended, it is not essential to run this package. The scenery you purchase here will include options for both default FSX and FTX PNW scenery installations.

Purchase the package for $19.99 AUD at PCAviator Australia!

http://www.pcaviator.com.au/store/product.php?productid=555144&cat=0&page=0&featured=Y

OR at PCAviator USA!

http://www.pcaviator.com/store/product.php?productid=19792

Happy flights!

MCA Designs team

Given that each new FTX Global announcement raises more questions and in particular about third party landclass and mesh products, I thought it may be time to draw some diagrams of the architecture behind FTX Global and explain it that way.

 

The first illustration is a (somewhat simplified) top to bottom data path for most scenery and airports. Notice that the default FSX texture pool takes up about 5.6GB on the hard drive. Also notice that Orbx FTX Regions and Airports are sellf-contained capsules which do not dip into the FSX architecture too much because most of the files like textures, mesh, landclass, objects and more, are inside our Orbx scenery folders. However because of the archaic and awful design of FSX there are some global control files which are shared by all scenery vendors and which cause the most compatibility issues in general.

 

 

Now let's look at what we replace with FTX Global. Firstly the complete set of FSX textures are replaced and added to, growing to 6.8GB. This means that the net increase after an installation of FTX Global is about 1.2GB, smaller than many of our airports.

 

We then replace the base world landclass file to fix the really bad Microsoft warts like all those desert areas around Sau Paulo for instance. Finally we make necessary changes to important control files for autogen and terrain. Of course we're going to ensure maximum compatibility with other vendors but as a precaution we'll back everything up for you so you can switch FTXG on/off.

 

 

So from these diagrams you can see how other landclass products will now dip into the Orbx-ised pool of control files, base landclass and textures to give them an Orbx appearance. This is what you can see with our preview screenshots using third party addons like UTX, TLSC, openVFR and more. Since we've replaced the FSX textures they automatically begin to draw from the new pool of content. There's little to nothing you need to do to get this upgrade; just install global and go fly.

 

 

Now the final piece of the puzzle is openLC. That is our "uber landclass" product which will provide unique and distinct textures, autogen with custom landlcass derived from many data sources including OSM, and split across 7 continents or regions to give each area a distinct feel.  In this way FTX Global will begin to really shine because we're then making maximum use of our vast library of texture assets. openLC is competitively priced because it does not do what our full FTX regions do, nor what other terrain enhancement products do. It just gives you the best landclass we believe is possible given today's data sources.

 

Think of it as us tweaking FSX to make it a better sim. We still allow everyone else's products to work with our stuff but for someone new to FSX or P3D they could probably just install Global and openLC as a very convincing starting point to go and explore the world, then begin to add other Orbx regions, airport, other vendors' mesh, landclass, airports and layer stuff on top as they expand their content.

 

I hope this helps answer a bunch of questions which have been raised these past weeks.

reaction and more here http://www.orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/58990-ftx-global-architecture-explained/

The world's most advanced multi-role combat aircraft!

Download on sale now!

£24.99 / €30.95 / $37.99

(Boxed edition released 30 May - available to pre-order)

Just Flight’s new Eurofighter for Flight Simulator X captures perfectly the power and exceptional flight capabilities of this technologically advanced multi-role combat aircraft.

This Eurofighter collection includes the single-seat variant in twelve liveries from the air forces of five countries and the highly detailed model comes complete with six ordnance load-outs and accurate external animations. The fully functional virtual cockpit features an impressive Head-Up Display and accurate multi-function displays with a variety of pages for navigation, aircraft systems monitoring, interactive checklists and more.

Accurate MFDs provide a functional forward-looking infrared radar (FLIR) screen, interactive clickable checklists and pages for monitoring engines, hydraulics, fuel systems, HSI/HUD navigation information, autopilot and more

Accurate flight dynamics and a custom sound set from Turbine Sound Studios

Fully animated elevators and flaperons, working engine nozzle vanes and realistic afterburner/reheat effects

Six accurate weapon load-outs, selectable from the MFD

Retractable refuelling probe and animated braking parachute and tail hook

See the Just Flight website for screenshots and full details!

Aerosoft have released a video of SkiathosX.

They say the scenery should be released tomorrow.

Meanwhile enjoy the vid'.

For me, this is going to be a must have, because I have been there and it's a stunning island and the runway is a white knuckle ride when you land.

Cheers