VOLUME 12 ISSUE 12

DECEMBER 2008
USA $7.95
CANADA $9.95
AUSTRALIA $9.85 (INC. GST)
A PC AVIATOR PUBLICATION

DOGFIGHT!
F-4 Phantom vs MiG-17
FLIGHT EXPERIENCE
The Ultimate Simulator Session
THE AMAZING AMAZON
Tour the Mysterious River

CREATING FSX WEATHER LAYERS

The “How-To” Guide

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 Your Flight Simulator Scenery World Is Now

Y FOR MIC ROSOFT

T OSC E N ER
IAL P HO
A L A ER
R -R E
HYPE

MAKE HAWAII YOUR NEXT HOLIDAY DESTINATION NEAR PALM SPRINGS. MT SAN JACINTO RENDERED IN
AND SOAR ABOVE THE ISLAND OF OAHU. “DOWN-TO-THE ROCK” DETAIL.

S
ay goodbye to boring default scenery • Hyper-realistic scenery at 1.19 meters per • Faster Framerates! Yes, your Flight Simulator,
forever! MegaSceneryX transforms your pixel recreated from 1 and 2 feet per pixel with hyper-realistic MegaScenery, will
Microsoft Flight Simulator X Scenery World aerial photos. It’s the real world teleported run smoother and faster than the default
from artificial… to REAL! MegaSceneryX is into Flight Simulator Scenery. 1.19 meters artificial scenery.
created from high resolution aerial photos. What meters per pixel means that you can even
you get is not just a recreation of the real world see the rooftop on your own house and sand • Developed specifically for Microsoft Flight
but instead the actual real world ported into traps on golf courses. Fly VFR like you’ve Simulator X
Microsoft Flight Simulator X for simulated flight never flown it before on a PC simulator.
over a world that’s so real you’ll be amazed! • Printed full color aeronautical charts,
• Day and Night Scenery. Soar and explore the bound printed instrument charts and a
MegaSceneryX lets you experience all the real world - during the day and at night! sizeable manual
landmarks and features of the area covered and
enables you to fly real VFR – Day and Night. • Hi-resolution DEM (mesh). While MegaScenery • A total value packed, realism transforming
is so realistic that you don’t need hi-res mesh scenery product For Microsoft Flight
Here’s what you get when you’re flying - our recent releases incorporate hi-res mesh at Simulator X that you wouldn’t think was
MegaSceneryX…. 10 meters per pixel. possible for such a low price!

COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION AT WWW.MEGASCENERY.COM

4 CPM. V12I12
© 2007 PC Aviator Inc. Aerosoft Australia Pty Ltd. Aerial photography for these products is © AirphotoUSA

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 MEGASCENERY MAIL ORDER FORM
“Hyper-Real”! BILL TO...

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Please Check ( ) Each Title You Wish To Purchase

MEGASCENERY TITLES
OR X
FLIGHT SIMULAT
MEGASCENERYX SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - $39.95 DVD Media
MEGASCENERYX DALLAS/FORT WORTH - $29.95 DVD Media
MEGASCENERYX PHOENIX - $29.95 DVD Media
MEGASCENERYX HAWAII - $14.95 CD Media
MEGASCENERYX LAS VEGAS - $14.95 DVD Media

MEGASCENERY X CALCULATING SHIPPING CHARGES: For shipping please add $3.95

TITLES AVAILABLE for first title and 50 cents for each additional title.
e.g. 3 titles add $4.95 for shipping. Shipping is by Priority Mail.

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check or money order please make them payable to PC Aviator Inc

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18,000 square miles of SoCal including Los Angeles and San Diego and
surrounding area. Includes Color Los Angeles and San Diego Visual Terminal
Charts and 230 Instrument Charts.
$39.95 DVD Media. SENDING YOUR ORDER: If you are ordering by mail,
please mail to... PC Aviator Inc. 839 Surfside Drive,
MEGASCENERYX DALLAS/FORT WORTH Surfside Beach, SC, 29575.
8,000 square miles of Dallas/Fort Worth & Surrounding Area. Includes Dallas/
Fort Worth Visual Terminal Charts and 110 Instrument Charts. TO ORDER BY PHONE:
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CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-664-0033
MEGASCENERYX PHOENIX between 9am and 5pm Mon – Fri. Outside North
7,000 square miles of Phoenix Arizona and Surrounding Area. Includes America CALL +1-843-232-1160
Phoenix Visual Terminal Charts and 100 Instrument Charts.
$29.95 DVD Media. TO ORDER BY FAX: Please fax to: 843-232-1166

MEGASCENERYX HAWAII TO ORDER ONLINE: WWW.MEGASCENERY.COM

The Hawaiian island of Oahu, spectacularly recreated.
$14.95 CD Media.

MEGASCENERYX LAS VEGAS

Las Vegas and Surrounding Area.
$14.95 DVD Media.

FS2004 TITLES ARE STILL AVAILABLE.

PLEASE VISIT WWW.MEGASCENERY.COM FOR DETAILS 5

cpm1212.indd 5 11/19/2008 10:25:30 PM

 NEW RELEASE PRODUCTS
The latest flight simulator products in stock!
Flight Operations X: Sound Environment X
British Airways Improves FSX Sound By Adding True
Stereo Sound!
Over 300 Missions Available!
Sound Environment X adds more realistic
Flight Operation X (FOX) is a new series of engine and surrounding sounds in your
Missions designed to be used exclusively flight simulation experience by changing and
with Microsoft Flight Simulator X. improving all default FSX and Acceleration
pack sounds.
Sit in your favorite aircraft and enjoy the realistic
flight ambience, recreated by exclusive British Flight Manager, an By default, sounds in FSX are registered by Microsoft at 22,050 kHz
improved software interface which has been part of many of Perfect using one channel. Sound Environment X converts all sounds using
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effect for all sound available in FSX and FSX Acceleration Pack.
There are 303 pre-saved flights that you can edit and compile into a
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you to make your choice of Flight, determine Weather conditions, precipitation, thunder, airport ambience, and winds. Many sounds have
Season, Departure Date and Time. Also, you will have Navigation been totally reworked, especially engine sounds for planes used by
Charts and Maps available during the flight. The FOX British Airways the Artificial Intelligence to generate traffic in FS airports and skies.
fleet includes: Boeing 737-800, Boeing 777-200, Boeing 747-400, Ground vehicles, Turboprops, small, medium and large Jets have
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CH Products Eclipse B-24 Liberator

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 NEW RELEASEThePRODUCTS
latest flight simulator titles in stock!
C-130 Hercules X Hawker Hunter
Back And Ready For FSX Action! The E-Type Jaguar Of Flight Aircraft
C-130 Hercules has returned from The AlphaSim Hawker Hunter simulation is
an extensive re-fit in the Captain Sim compatible with FS2004, with the FSX version
workshops and is ready for operations in including subtle reflectivity, bump mapping,
Flight Simulator X! self-shadowing and bloom and even signs of
weathering. The static realization includes the
C-130 Hercules is the result of over 6,000 hours cockpit ladder engine covers and pitot tags.
of meticulous development and is undoubtedly The speedbrake is restricted to operate only
the most sophisticated re-creation of a military with wheels up, just as in the real Hunter.
aircraft to grace the simulated skies. Staggering graphics and a superb
array of detailed animations are mated to an accurate flight model that The simulation covers 7 unique variants and 8 texture sets including
has been tested by Hercules crews. It has now been in for a major refit the Black Arrows and the famous Swiss air force examples where the
at the Captain Sim development studio and returns fully reworked for pilots were often part-time and the runways empty motorways!
Flight Simulator X with Acceleration, SP2, DX10 Preview and Vista Looking into the cockpit the auto-animated avatar even has correct
compatibility. insignia on his arm patches.

This package includes E, H J and Gunship variants in 28 authentic Once started the high quality sound rendition of the Rolls Royce Avon
liveries. C-130 Hercules also includes a huge printed manual and is is unmistakable. Starting produces exhaust smoke which settles to the
fully licensed by Lockheed Martin and the Royal Air Force. Check out turbine glow. This is a unique and highly-realistic flight simulator aircraft
the screenshots on our website... Simply stunning! add-on package that no virtual pilot should be without!

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C130X *SUB PRICE: US$42.70 // AUD$71.20 HAWKH *SUB PRICE: US$33.20 // AUD$56.95

De Havilland Mosquito Active Sky X

The “Wooden Wonder” Now Yours To Fly High-Fidelity Weather Simulation
In FSX And FS2004! Add-On For Flight Simulator X
Just Flight now brings this mean but beautiful Elegance, simplicity, realism, flexibility
machine to Flight Simulator X and Flight and intuitiveness. All were equally-
Simulator 2004 with 19 aircraft for you to get a important critical design requirements as HiFi began
taste of high-speed flight! development over two years ago.

The top quality models are accompanied by The new user interface design just scratches the surface. HiFi designed
many high-fidelity animations and superb textures covering a range of the entire weather synthesis and processing system to work smarter
aircraft, along with a superb sound set of the distinctive Rolls-Royce and faster. Multi-threading and intelligent data synchronization was a
Merlin engines. must. This required a brand new weather server system and totally new
client data access technologies. What it means to users is increased
Mosquito includes examples of most of the more widely known variants coverage, quicker downloads and processing, and cool new features
and serves as an excellent guide to this remarkable aircraft. like the ability to access and playback historical weather data while
remaining online!
Each model is faithfully reproduced and contains amazingly detailed,
animated features. The cockpits are equipped with the latest ‘smooth’ HiFi brought the latest development technologies, a new approach to
gauges for realism and just about every switch, button and control lever user interface design, and a robust architecture together in order to
operates with the mouse – even the crew doors open with the lever! create the weather add-on you’ve always dreamed of!

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*Denotes special price for current Computer Pilot Magazine subscribers and reflects a 5% discount off the regular retail price.
 BEST SELLERS...
The best selling flight simulation products now available...
FS Global 2008 X-Plane 9 (PC)
Hi-Resolution Terrain Mesh For The Entire Fly Anything! Ultimate Realism,
Earth For Microsoft Flight Simulator X Ultimate Versatility...
FS Global 2008 is a brand new product. It uses X-Plane is the most comprehensive and powerful
the NEWEST SRTM data (released by NASA flight simulator available for the personal
in late 2006!) plus additional data from various computer. X-Plane simulates anything that flies:
sources. Resolution in some parts has been from single-engine fixed wing props to multi-
improved to 19m (!). Yes, this is 4 times better engine jets; gliders to dirigibles; helicopters to
than FS Global 2005 and up to 63 times better spacecraft to VTOLs such as the V-22 Osprey and AV8-B Harrier.
than FS itself! And yes, even than FSX! Default SRTM coverage in FSX
is VERY small compared to the whole world! X-Plane has the most realistic flight model available for personal
computers. It comes with subsonic and supersonic flight dynamics,
FS Global 2008 comes in two versions in one box, which makes simulating aircraft from the Bell 206 Jet-Ranger helicopter and Cessna
it 6 DVDs. One version is for FS 2004 and one for FSX. Microsoft has 172 light plane to the supersonic SR-71 and Mach-3 XB-70 Valkyrie.
considerably improved scenery management and interaction of scenery
types within FSX. The new scenery concepts provide a more detailed X-Plane comes with 29 aircraft spanning the aviation industry (and
and realistic far-distance view, textures adapt better to the mesh, the history), and several hundred more are freely downloadable from the
FSX default scenery is more precise and causes less (optical) conflicts internet. X-Plane includes Plane-Maker which allows you to create your
and last but not least FSX offers more functionality for a seamless own airplanes to use in the sim, and World-Maker which lets you create
integration of mesh and vector scenery. your own scenery.

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The Modern Airliner Learn the Mad Dog -

Collection: E-jets Series Training Package
The Most Serious Boeing And Airbus Learn To Fly The MD-80 With This DVD
Competitor! Training Package!
The Embraer 170/190 range of airliners are Many flight simulator enthusiasts have
an entirely new family of aircraft, with state- experienced frustration as they struggled to
of-the-art avionics, fly-by-wire technology, learn how to handle the very detailed payware
superior cabin comfort and extraordinary and versions of these great commercial aircraft.
uncompromising performance. This new training DVD will end that frustration and have you flying
the virtual Mad Dog quickly and realistically.
• Highly detailed Embraer 170/190 with Lineage 1000 as BONUS
• Fly up to 120 passengers with a range of over 2,400 Nm
• New generation flight deck Based on input and experience provided by a pool of actual Mad
• Detailed interiors with superb details Dog pilots from airlines around the world, Learn The Mad Dog comes
• Ultra realistic dual FMS astoundingly close to the actual ground school training professional
• Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC). pilots attend. Complete with professionally voiced instruction and
accompanied by video and detailed illustrations, this 3.5 hour
The Pilot in Command label is Wilco’s assurance of realism, quality presentation streamlines your training in order to teach you everything
and attention to detail! you need to know to comfortably fly this aircraft.

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 BEST SELLERS...
The best selling flight simulation products now available...
Microsoft Flight Microsoft Flight
Simulator X: Simulator X For Pilots:
Deluxe Edition Real World Training
Latest Generation Flight Simulator Master The Skills Of Flight With This
With Added Deluxe Edition Bonuses! “Real World” Training Guide
“Flight Simulator X” is the culmination of nearly Aspiring pilots will learn the skills of flight, how to master Flight
25 years of the landmark “Flight Simulator” franchise and the most Simulator, and how to utilize the software as a learning tool towards
significant addition to date. “Flight Simulator X” presents players with a their pilot’s licenses. Those who already have their real-world wings
wide array of new aircraft to fly in a beautifully rich and believable world will benefit from guidance on how Flight Simulator X can be used as a
which contains greater detail than past entries in the franchise. Players continuing learning tool, how to simulate real-world emergencies, and
will be able to experience what it is like to be a pilot and have real how to use it for training towards advanced certifications.
distractions, to shade their eyes from the glare of reflective paint and
the glint from glass and chrome. And those who favor simulation to real-world flying will find tips for
making their sim experience as real as possible.
Players will enjoy the opportunity to fly their dream aircraft, from
classic seaplanes like the de Havilland Beaver and Grumman Goose to These 725 pages are packed with detailed information on using Flight
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Lane-Cummings and Jeff Van West.

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PMDG 747-400 X Angle of Attack: PMDG

Simply The Best Jumbo Package Yet! 747 Training DVD
This add-on package is widely regarded as the
The Ultimate 747 Training Resource!
best jumbo add-on currently available, and
Are you a professional simmer? Are you on top
is the ultimate challenge in captaining a classic
of your game in Flight Simulator? If not, look no
heavy jet airplane!
further than Angle of Attack!

The completely new models of the PMDG 747- The PMDG 747-400 is one of the most
400 X Queen of the Skies have been exclusively amazing aircraft ever made for flight simulator.
designed for FSX implementing new features such as specular lighting This is why we have chosen to train YOU in this aircraft. We teach
and bump mapping amongst others. you all you need to know to go from point A to point B.

In order to provide the sophistication, technical details and challenge Your PMDG 747-400 Training by Angle of Attack ships in a
of commercial airline flying to the enthusiast, the PMDG 747-400 professionally printed, packaged and freshly sealed DVD case.
X Queen of the Skies meets exacting standards for quality and Media is presented on 3 x Dual Layer DVD disc technology, giving you
completeness. From the photo-real cockpit to systems programmed stunning image clarity for over 6 hours. Also included is a high quality
after engineering schematics, no effort has been spared during the Angle of Attack Checklist for your many future flights, and an installer
extensive development process. This has been verified by a dedicated on the DVD which holds follow-along flights, charts, and other free
beta test team, comprised of aviation professionals, airline pilots and content! To finish this DVD, we take you on a Full Flight from Preflight
Flight Simulator experts. in San Francisco, USA through Shutdown in Frankfurt, Germany!

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 POPULAR AVIATION DVDs!
Quality aviation DVDs that “Take You There!”
Just Planes DVD - Just Planes DVD -
Air Slovakia 757-200 Cirrus Airlines E170
Featured Flights to Italy, India And Israel Featuring The Embraer 170
Almost 4 Hours Of Video Content! Cirrus Airlines was established in February
Air Slovakia, based in Bratislava and created in 1995 and entered into a partnership with
1993, operates a fleet of 737 and 757 aircraft Lufthansa in February 2000. Over the years
on scheduled and charter flights to destinations the airline has expanded its fleet significantly
in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. and added scheduled domestic service in Germany. Since 2002 Cirrus
Airlines has expanded all over Europe including service to Belgium,
On this program we join the 757 on a roundtrip flight to Italy, then Macedonia, Switzerland and the UK.
India and ending with Israel.
See and hear the pilots at work from the aircraft walkaround to the This program features our first trip on board of an Embraer 170 and
various briefings and cockpit presentations. includes detailed presentations by the crew such as an external
walkaround, on board procedures, checklists, startup and a detailed
As usual there is always interesting scenery to see on the World Air cockpit presentations. The flights are from Cologne to Olbia, located in
Routes flights and we visit Amritsar for the first time in the series and Tel Sardinia, and back to Munich.
Aviv for the first time on DVD.

Running Time: 223 Minutes Running Time: 120 Minutes

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Just Planes DVD - Just Planes DVD -

Rust’s / K2 Aviation Air Atlanta Icelandic
Cessna 206 - DHC-2 Beaver - DHC-3 Otter 747-400
Rusts began operations in 1963 and has Luxemborg - Singapore -
continuously grown its fleet. Today Rusts and Malaysia - Azerbaijan
K2 Aviation are based at Lake Hood and
Talkeetna, Alaska. The 2 airlines operate
passenger and cargo flights around the region as well as a number Air Atlanta Icelandic is the largest ACMI service provider in the world
of sightseeing services. operating a wide fleet of A300s and B747s for airlines across the globe.
In this DVD we bring you the B747-400 operating on behalf of Cargolux
After a company presentation by Todd Rust and a pilot presentation routing from Luxembourg to Asia.
of an aircraft cockpit and outside walkaround we are off for flights to
several of the Lakes in the area. During the flights you will be continuously informed by our 4 sets of
crews. Pilots talk in detail about the operation of the 747-400 including
We also go on a Mt McKinley viewing tour and a Prince William Sound a walkaround, flight preparations, cockpit preparations, departure &
viewing tour and end with another first in the series as we make a arrival briefings, cockpit presentations and much much more!
glacier landing! first ever landing.

Running Time: 184 Minutes Running Time: 186 Minutes

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 UTILITIES & PERIPHERALS
Get the most from the sim experience with these quality products
Saitek Pro Flight Saitek Pro Flight
Switch Panel Yoke System
A Selection Of Realistic Switches Flight Yoke And Quadrant Combo
To Mimic Cockpit Controls For At A Great Price!
Flight Simulation!
The Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System is
The switch panel offers numerous switches and controls as follows: highly engineered to meet the exacting
needs of the true flight simulation enthusiast. Stainless steel shaft,
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BOTH/ALL, and START. quadrant ensure a smooth, accurate and totally realistic flying
• Engine cowl open/close switch. experience.
• Master BATT and ALT switches.
• ON/OFF switches for AVIONICS MASTER, FUEL PUMP, Unique, 2-position desk clamp keeps your yoke and quadrant securely
DE-ICE and PITOT HEAT functions. fixed no matter how extreme the flying conditions. Use the integrated
• ON/OFF light switches for PANEL, BEACON, NAV, STROBE, USB Hub to easily connect other parts of the Saitek Pro Flight
TAXI and LANDING lights. range of products. Saitek’s powerful Saitek Smart Technology (SST)
• Gear UP/DOWN lever with associated LED lights for landing programming software allows gamers to configure their controls to suit
gear strut status. their preferred gaming style, and to save the configurations as personal
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Works with Microsoft Flight Simulator X.

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CH FighterStick USB CH Products Pro

The Fighterstick Has Everything You
Need To Succeed In Your Favorite
Pedals USB
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Setup And Master Those
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The Fighterstick USB is compatible with Windows 98/Me/XP/Vista and also pivot on the toes for differential toe brakes (just like a real
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 PC AVIATOR’SInstant
DOWNLOAD STORE
access to quality flight sim downloads!
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PC Aviator’s Download Now Open And Serving Flight Simmers DownUnder!

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USA - WWW.PCAVIATOR.COM/DLSTORE AUSTRALIA - WWW.PCAVIATOR.COM.AU/DLSTORE

F-16 Fighting Falcon Scenery Madeira X

Awesome Fighter Jet Add-On For FSX! The African Island Of Madeira In
Stunning Photo-Real Detail
The basic fighter for most NATO countries for
several decades, this aircraft deserved a place
Discover the splendor of Madeira with Aerosoft’s
in FSX. For the last year Aerosoft has been
latest high-end scenery project, Madeira X.
working on a high detail model of this aircraft
Areal images of 50cm per pixel placed on a 9.5
and now you will see the Fighting Falcon fly into
meter mesh form the background for two highly
the virtual world of FSX.
detailed and demanding airports - Funchal and
Porto Santo. All the functions of FSX come to life
The Aerosoft version includes the most used versions in the highest
in this brand new product.
possible detail. With close to half a million vertices it most likely is the
most detailed aircraft ever designed for FSX. Where other internally
Both Madeira and Santo Porto islands are included in this project and
developed aircraft try to merge all existing models into one ‘universal’
next to the two detailed airports the complete islands are ideal for VFR
model, the F-16 was designed with pure realism in mind, down to the
flights, particular in small and slow aircraft but the Funchal airport is the
smallest detail each of the 21 models is as the real aircraft patrols the
highlight of this scenery without a doubt. Because there is so little flat
skies. In FSX the F-16 is a joy to fly, with the controllability of a light
land on the island the airport has a runway that extends over the ocean
aircraft and capable of altitudes of 50.000 feet and speeds exceeding
on a raised platform. Approaching Runway 05 you follow a set of ‘lead-
Mach1. It is extremely agile yet easy to control (it will fly where you
in’ landing lights over a curved path that allow you land on the runway
point the nose) it allows you to explore the environment of FSX like
without crashing into the mountains. Under bad weather it’s not an easy
never before. Updated every decade the real F-16 remains the basic
task at all. A fantastic flying challenge with a great visual backdrop!
fighter for nations worldwide.

SKU: COMPATIBILITY: FSX SKU: COMPATIBILITY: FSX

DL-ASF16 FILESIZE: 668 Mb DL-ASMAD FILESIZE: 1.2 Gb
*Denotes special price for current Computer Pilot Magazine subscribers and reflects a 5% discount off the regular retail price.
 PC AVIATOR’SInstant
DOWNLOAD STORE
access to quality flight sim downloads!
E-Jets Embraer Cessna 152 II (FSX)
Virtual v2.0 The World’s Most Widely Used
Trainer - Now For FSX
Embraer 170, 175, 190, 195
For new virtual pilots or those real world
Virtualcol is proud to present the first high pilots who are using simulators to assist
quality work of airplanes for FS2004 and FSX from our designers. their training, this aircraft is for you! The Cessna 152 II from Carenado
is an excellent functional recreation of the popular real model.
E-Jets Virtual is a commitment to excellence and quality, offering users
a single package that includes the most popular models made by the FSX features: external dynamic shadows, internal dynamic shadows
Brazilian company EMBRAER, the 170, 175, 190 and 195 and the new on VC, normal mapping, specular mapping and bloom lights – Polygon
LINEAGE 1000. It includes detailed external models and also offers a optimized model - Four different paints with maximum details and
virtual passenger cabin, an excellent virtual cockpit, it even includes the realistic textures - Includes: Interactive virtual cockpit - Full moving
textures of 11 airlines using the popular jets. parts: Ailerons, elevators, rudders, flaps, rolling wheels – Animated
sections such as: doors, pilot’s window, ashtray, copilot seat, glove
Plus: compartment, sun visor, fresh air control and vibrating antenna - Light:
• 53 repaints of the all airlines around of the world. Navigation lights, beacons, landing lights - Transparent windows - 3D
• Animation of ground service activating the Wingfold command in modeled pilot and cockpit area - Real Propeller - Realistic light effects
your FS2004 or FSX. on gauges - Nightlight effects on panel – Realistic performance based
• For FSX users, all models are compatibles with jetways and on documents and experimented pilot observations...and our own
cargo service. experience on real flight and MFS, and much more!

SKU: COMPATIBILITY: FSX SKU: COMPATIBILITY: FSX

DL-EJET2 FILESIZE: 150 Mb DL-CA152X FILESIZE: 34 Mb

Photo Real Miami X VFR London X

Fly VFR Around Miami Photoreal Flight Around Downtown London
Tyler Newport has continued his photo Designed to enhance Microsoft Flight Simulator
real series with Miami, Florida. Miami X, VFR London is a highly detailed 3D model
is a global city in Southeastern Florida of the city of London. Having been build using an
lined with beautiful beaches along aerial photographic template, it is an
the clear blue Atlantic Ocean. accurate and faithful representation of the
London City area as it is today.
This is a photo realistic add on for
Flight Simulator X covers more If you want to bring that extra level of realism to your simulation
than 2,000 square miles of photo experience, VFR London should, without doubt, be top of the list of
real ground textures of Miami and FSX add-ons. This scenery will impress like no other before!
it’s suburban area. VFR, or IFR,
either way is perfect for flying in Sitting on a new, ultra-high-resolution (60cm) layer of aerial
this beautiful scenery. photographic scenery, VFR London is comprised of over 30,000
building objects and 50,000 ‘fill objects’ (trees, cranes, boats etc)
You can fly over the Western Miami - including everything from monumental landmarks and skyscrapers
swamps, or Miami’s beautiful Eastern to individual homes. Covering over 120km2, every object greater than
coast. This is a very frame-rate 27m3 has been modelled to within 3m of its actual footprint,
friendly addition to Flight Simulator X. and individually hand textured to accurately reflect the real building
by day, and by night.

SKU: COMPATIBILITY: FSX SKU: COMPATIBILITY: FSX

DL-NPMIA FILESIZE: 550 Mb DL-ASVFRLONX FILESIZE: 1.0 Gb
*Denotes special price for current Computer Pilot Magazine subscribers and reflects a 5% discount off the regular retail price.
 C
From the EDITOR

Welcome to the December issue.

Your feedback is still flooding in from the October issue’s list of magazine-related questions
I posted in this column. Basic response trends haven’t changed a whole lot but the general
consensus appears to be that the majority of you are looking for more “How-To” type
articles, structured flight challenges (similar to our Round Robins columns), more product
reviews and more computer hardware and technology updates related to flight simulation.
As a result, you can expect to see more of this type of content appearing from the February
issue onwards, although you will notice more of these types of articles in this month’s and
next month’s issues as well.

Please do keep the responses coming in, if you haven’t already sent them in of course, and I
thank you for your input. It is good to hear back from readers in this way and to affirm that
we are at least very close to being on-track with your needs and requests.

We probably haven’t featured such a wide variety of articles in a single issue in some time.
Chuck Bodeen offers a great “How To” on creating FSX weather layers and Bill Smith had
the pleasure of jumping aboard a full-scale Boeing 737 simulator recently and Mike Ray has
something for the combat sim fans. John Achor takes you back to the early days of flight
Publisher: Robert Ferraro
navigation with a look at the Adcock Radio Range System, and John Lattanzio reviews the Editor: Dean Bielanowski
new SimKits TRC500 hardware unit. But don’t stop there. A whole world of flight simulation
is waiting for you this month. Please step aboard and enjoy the ride! Layout & Design: Tony Liatos
Contributors In This Issue: Dean Bielanowski, Peter
Dodds, Chuck Bodeen, Gene Davis, Tom Kurtz, Roger
Curtiss, Bill Smith, David Wilson-Okamura, Mike Ray,
John Lattanzio, Doug Horton, John Achor, Rick Bryan.
Subscription Managers: Australia: Adrian Lazzarotto
Dean Bielanowski
USA: Mark Jakubowski
Editor
Editorial Submissions: Please address editorial matter
to The Editor at [email protected] or to the office
closest to you listed at the bottom of this page.
Advertising Inquiries: PC Aviator Inc.
Phone: 843-232-1160. Email: [email protected]
Website: www.computerpilot.com
General E-Mail: [email protected]

Supplement
your reading in Computer Pilot Magazine
US Distribution: Ingram Periodicals, International
Periodical Distributors, Media Solutions
by visiting the Computer Pilot web site at www.computerpilot.com Printed By: The RL Bryan Company (USA).

As well as features for first time visitors, the web site is Disclaimer: Any information, advice, maps, charts, tables
and other information published in this magazine is exclusively
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for use with PC flight simulations. The publisher does not
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For subscribers information conveyed or implied in this publication.
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Computer Pilot is an international magazine, proudly
Computer Pilot Volume 12 Issue 12, December 2008 (ISSN 1324-7336) is published monthly by published in Australia. Printed in the United States
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cpm1212.indd 6 11/20/2008 12:35:01 AM

C 8 NEWS AND NEW RELEASES
All the latest news and new releases since our last issue.

REVIEWS
22
26
30
34
44
Learn the Mad Dog Training DVD
SimKits TRC500 Unit
Wilco Airbus A380 Version 2
Aerosoft’s London VFR X
HiFi Sim’s X Pax

12 THE AMAZING AMAZON

Take an aerial tour over the most famous river in the world, the fabled
Amazon! Tom Kurtz guides you along this almost infinitely diverse and long
body of water in South America.

42 FLIGHT SIM PSYCHOLOGY – WHY WE DO THIS?

Internet newsgroups are filled with posts by frustrated flight simmers seeking
solutions to sim problems… A lot of money is spent on hardware, software,
charts, manuals, and other supportive products and services. Why do we put
ourselves through such ordeals and sacrifice so much for something that’s
supposedly recreational?

47 OLD TED BLUNDERS INTO THE WORLD OF FS

– PART III
“Sitting in the creaking leather seat of my old Dakota, looking out over Mitiga
Airport, I suddenly remembered that Tripoli was one of the ports of call on
the old “Kangaroo Route” from London to Sydney, Australia.” Old Ted’s FS
Adventures continue!

53 THE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE, EXPERIENCE!

“Honestly; you would not believe some of the things that I have to endure in
the line of duty. Everyone knows that my middle name is “Autopilot” and yet
I just hand-flew a replica Boeing 737 cockpit simulator from Sydney (YSSY) to
Australia’s Capital City airport, Canberra (YSCB).”

cpm1212.indd 7
56 FLYING TO OSHKOSH 2008
Sometimes, in our hobby, reality and imagination become rather entwined.
This is a true story of a simulated flight, carried out in real time, but feel free to
allow your imagination to believe it was real.

64 HOW TO: MANUALLY SETTING UP FSX WEATHER

LAYERS
FSX offers several distinct ways to set up weather situations. There are
automated methods which are easy to use, but for the ultimate realism, you
can’t beat manually setting up weather layers to produce realistic and hairy
flying conditions. We show you how!

70 NAVIGATING BY EAR: USING THE ADCOCK RADIO

RANGE SYSTEM
Today, with needles pointing to navigation aids and crossbars that tell us we are
on final and on the glide slope, not to mention GPS, it’s hard to remember days
when the only navigation tools were the Mark-I eyeball and your ears.

76 DOGFIGHT: F-4 PHANTOM VS MIG-17

Mike Ray is back with another special article, this time covering a virtual
dogflight between the F-4 and the MiG-17. Learn about each aircraft’s
strengths and weaknesses in the airborne battlefield.

REGULAR FEATURES:
38 PULLOUT POSTER
“The Mighty A-380”

50 FREEWARE FRENZY
More cool freeware reviewed.

81 SUBSCRIBE & WIN!

Cool prizes up for grabs…

11/20/2008 12:35:09 AM
 8 NEWS & NEW FLIGHT SIM RELEASES
BluePrint Simulations Release First Canadian Scenery
THE SCENERY DESIGNERS over at of detail and accuracy that you have come to • Custom-made, optimized textures for all
BluePrint Simulations have been very active expect from BluePrint Simulations. With its Gmax generated buildings. In the FSX
recently in releasing new scenery for popular new and modern facilities, CYUL was near version, reflective effects were used in the
airports in the USA. Now the group is the top of our prioritized list of projects from textures of all major buildings.
expanding their reach with their latest offering the very beginning. We believe that we have • Custom-made, high-resolution photo-real
landing on Canadian soil. captured the look and feel of this important ground textures in and around the airport
airport. We invite you to enjoy this scenery, depicting seasonal changes.
“BluePrint Simulations is proud to present our especially during winter when rain and snow • Accurate runway and taxiway layouts,
first Canadian scenery, CYUL Montreal - Pierre become ingredients for what are sure to be including detailed markings and signs.
Elliott Trudeau International Airport. CYUL exciting flying adventures. • Custom-made, basic AI mapping file including
is the primary international airport in Quebec realistic gate and parking spot assignments.
and the second busiest in Canada. With non- Scenery Features:
stop flights to every continent except Australia, • Custom-made, optimized Gmax models of The CYUL scenery is available in both FS9
it will surely remain a key component of the most buildings within the airport grounds and FSX versions (US$15) and will run
Northern hemisphere aviation network. including the main terminal and four piers, under Windows XP or Vista. Look for the
the Bombardier and Air Canada complexes CYUL scenery at your favorite sim retailer’s
Our rendition of CYUL includes all the the and other cargo and general aviation download store. BluePrint’s website can be
major airport structures with the usual level facilities. found at www.blueprintsimulations.com

The Fighting Falcon Soars FSX Skies

AEROSOFT’S F-16 FALCON package for detail. With close to half a million vertices
FS2004 was nothing short of superb, and the it likely is the most detailed aircraft ever
good news to come from Aerosoft Germany designed for FSX. The realism of this
this month is that the F-16 Fighting Falcon product is so great that parts of the product
package has just been released for Flight are sold to professional users and is used
Simulator X. in the first stages of training of pilots in 3
countries. Where other internally developed
“The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a mult-irole aircraft try to merge all existing models
jet fighter built by General Dynamics for into one ‘universal’ model, the F-16 was
the US Air Force. The light-weight fighter designed with pure realism in mind. Down
became the ubiquitous fighter as it was to the smallest detail each of the 21 models
exported to 25 nations with a record breaking is as “real” as the actual aircraft that patrol
production of over 4400 aircraft. Updated the skies. In FSX the F-16 is a joy to fly, with
every decade it remains the basic fighter the controllability of a light aircraft and the
for nations worldwide. Apart from being capability of altitudes reaching 50,000 feet
a very serious fighter it remains about the and speeds exceeding Mach 1. It is extremely
most enjoyable aircraft to fly with the superb agile yet easy to control (it will fly where
maneuverability and power that allows you point the nose). It allows you to explore
vertical climbs. Visibility is unparalleled in the environment of FSX like never before.
the frameless bubble canopy. This enjoyment
remains fully intact in FSX. The F-16 Fighting Falcon package is
available in both boxed and download
The Aerosoft version includes the most versions from your favorite sim retailer. It
utilized versions in the highest possible retails for around €29.95.

cpm1212.indd 8 11/20/2008 12:35:20 AM

 NEWS & NEW FLIGHT SIM RELEASES 9

Saitek’s Pro Flight Headset

WE’VE HAD yokes, pedals and joysticks cushions fit snugly over the ears, providing
to enjoy and increase the realism of our excellent passive noise cancelling and
simulators for years, but never have we had ensuring you’re completely immersed in
a headset designed exclusively for flight your flight simulation.
simulation. Saitek has stepped up to the
plate and met the challenge with the new Pro Fitted to a fully adjustable metal boom arm,
Flight Headset, the latest item in their line of the microphone features a mute switch to cut
emerging flight simulation focused hardware. transmission, ensuring Air Traffic Control
only hears what you want.
“Heighten the realism of your flight
simulation experience with the Saitek Pro Connectivity: 3.5mm audio connectors.
Flight Headset. Constructed using high grade Works with: All PCs with a soundcard with
materials and closely modeled on professional 3.5mm connectors for audio.
pilot headsets, the Pro Flight Headset looks,
feels and sounds just like the real thing. This headset should prove popular for flight
simmers around the world as there is now
The cushioned headband guarantees a standard simulation headset available
comfort over long haul flights by preventing on the market. It retails for US$99.95 and
the ‘hotspot’ on the top of the head is available now from leading simulator
experienced with other headphones; the ear retailers. Grab one today!

cpm1212.indd 9 11/20/2008 12:35:22 AM

 10 NEWS & NEW FLIGHT SIM RELEASES

x737 Project Delivers New X-Plane Aircraft

X-PLANE 9 users can take delivery of a embedding of Javier Cortes’ Universal FMC now an update available to v3.0.1 which
brand new, high quality 737 aircraft add- add-on are the most important renewals in corrects the following bugs:
on thanks to the folks over at the x737 this free release.”
Project. The latest Version 3 package can • The control surfaces are kept in zero
be downloaded for FREE and looks a real To download your favorite Boeing 737NG position during replay (temporary fix).
treat. Here is what the developers had to say for X-Plane v9.21 or higher, head on over to • The F/D switches do not disappear when
regarding their latest release: the team’s website at http://www.eadt.eu power is off.
Installation is simple - a help document is
“We are glad to present the latest release of included in the download. X-Plane 8 users So if you are an X-plane fan and do not yet
our Boeing 737-800 aircraft for X-Plane 9, can also download a 737 model for their have this free add-on, fly on over to the x737
we call it x737 version 3. Tons of new stuff simulator too from the same site. Project website and start downloading. The
and perfect compatibility to X-Plane 9, new For those who might already have the x737 -BBJ version is also available, along with
visual wing models and an unparalleled Project version 3 B737, note that there is many different liveries too!

Microsoft Trickles Windows 7 Information

MICROSOFT® Windows® Vista may We’re paying particular attention to the Finally, we’re working hard to ensure that
soon be a distant memory as its successor, things they’re telling us are important to Windows 7 will run on any PC and work
Windows 7, starts to find itself creeping them and will make their PCs work the way with any program that works today with
into the media spotlight. Not a lot is known they want them to—things like enhanced Windows Vista, so upgrading from Windows
about Windows 7 as yet, well not from the reliability, responsiveness, and faster boot Vista will be easy.”
official Microsoft marketing department and shut-down. We’re also trying to make
anyway, but we do know that Beta versions their everyday tasks easier, like connecting If you want to find out more or join the
are being distributed to Beta team members and syncing devices, browsing the web, and blogs of the development team behind it,
for initial testing. Windows 7 is not due for managing a home network. head on over to http://www.microsoft.com/
official release until late 2009, but Microsoft windows/windows-7/ for the full scoop. Of
is already talking up its features, albeit rather Of course, we’re also working on new course there are also third party websites
vaguely. This is what they have to say on capabilities, so people will be able to do covering the latest Windows 7 development,
their official Windows 7 website: things with Windows 7 that were difficult (or and these offer much more technical
perhaps impossible) to do with PCs before. information so be sure to search online for
So what is Windows 7? those too.
“It’s the next version of Windows for PCs,
and it’s the result of working hand-in-hand
with our partners and with people who
use Windows in the real world every day.

cpm1212.indd 10 11/20/2008 12:35:23 AM

 NEWS & NEW FLIGHT SIM RELEASES 11

Flight Ops With British Airways

PERFECT FLIGHT’S latest sim add-on • British Airways Fleet • British Flight Manager - The Flight
offering allows FSX pilots to fly with British - Boeing 737-800 Manager allows you to edit time, season
Airways, virtually of course. - Boeing 777-200 and weather themes (real weather included)
- Boeing 747-400 before running a Mission in FSX. Missions
Flight Operation X (FOX) is a new series - Airbus A321 include AI/ATC interaction, speed
of Missions designed to be used exclusively - Bombardier CRJ-700 restriction, complete cabin announcements,
with Microsoft Flight Simulator X. FOX - Also included in the package is the checklists, speed calls, GPWS, radar
- British Airways is the first title of this Perfect Flight Lockheed L-1011 500 altimeter and much more.
new product line that lets you fly using Tristar in old British livery!
the British fleet. Seat-on in your favorite • 303 Missions: You have 303 pre-saved flight Flight Operations X: British Airways is
aircraft and enjoy the realistic flight’s ready to be compiled using our exclusive available in both boxed and download versions
ambience, recreated by exclusive British British Flight Manager. You can now choose and retails for around 24 Euros. Check your
Flight Manager, an improved software your flight and select it from one of 128 favorite sim retailer for availability.
interface which has been part of many of airports managed by the Flight Manager.
Perfect Flight’s products in the past.

There are 303 pre-saved flights that you

can edit and compile into a single mission
to use in Flight Simulator X. The Flight
Manager allow you to make your choice of
flight, determine weather conditions, season,
departure date and time. Also, you will have
navigation charts and maps available during
the flight.

FOX - British Airways includes:

cpm1212.indd 11 11/20/2008 12:35:25 AM

 The Amazing Amazon
BY TOM KURTZ
4

W
hen you hear about the Amazon River
you are certain to get mental pictures of
a wide mysterious muddy river full of
piranha, anaconda snakes, alligators, river dolphins,
and hundreds of birds, poison dart frogs, and many
other unusual wildlife; some not yet discovered. Brazil
is considered to have the greatest biodiversity (a five
dollar word meaning different kinds of wildlife) of any
country in the world. The anaconda can grow to over
thirty feet long. Early explorers claim to have found 50-
100 foot long anacondas. I have included a few pictures
of some of these residents of the Amazon River.

MAP OF THE AMAZON RIVER

The Amazon River dolphin is also known at the “Boto” by the

natives. It is the largest of river dolphins. These animals are very
much like the Manatees found in the St.John’s River of Florida. The
natives have a famous legend about the Boto. They say it can turn into
a human and come ashore and take a wife from one of the tribes and
then return to the water. Any offspring from the marriage have ability
THE AMAZON RIVER AT DAWN to transform into a Boto.

12 CPM. V12I12

cpm1212.indd 12 11/20/2008 12:35:26 AM

 AMAZON RIVER DOLPHIN

TOCO TOUCAN
The river is home to the voracious piranha fish. Don’t stick your
hand in the water if you are traveling by canoe... you may lose a
finger or two if these fish are around.
The indigenous (another five dollar word meaning natives of the
Amazon rainforest) use the toxic excretions (that is poisons) from
this frog to poison their darts and arrows. There are several different
species of this frog. When I was in the central highlands of Vietnam
with the Montanyard tribesmen I learned they used poison darts and
arrows too. I don’t know what they used for poison, but I am glad
they were on our side. The tribesmen gave me one of their crossbows
and a quiver full of poison arrows. That crossbow was the only war
souvenir I brought home.

PIRANHA

YELLOW BANDED POISON DART FROG

The Caiman alligator is really a species of the crocodile. The river

is full of them. We will be flying float planes and landing on the
river… so be careful.

YELLOW ANACONDA

This bird should be familiar to you because it is found not only in

the Amazon rainforests, but on some of our breakfast cereal boxes. CAIMAN

13

cpm1212.indd 13 11/20/2008 12:35:27 AM

 The Amazon River rainforest and delta make up 60% of the Leg 1:
country of Brazil. The “Rio Amazonas”, what the Brazilians call the Belem De Sao Francisco (SNFR) to Paulo Afonso (SBUF)
river, is the second largest river in the world, approximately 2,614.6 Cruise altitude between FL180 and Fl250
miles long, second only to the Nile. The Amazon River accounts for SNFR direct to SBUF (56.2nm). T/O and TRK 155
one-fifth of the world’s river flow and has the largest drainage basin
in the world 2,720,000 square miles. The mouth of the river is 40 SNFR - DCT - SBUF
miles wide. The estuary of the river is 210 miles wide; this is why
it is sometimes called The River Sea. No bridges cross the Amazon Leg 2:
anywhere along its length, mostly because it flows through tropical Paulo Afonso (SBUF) to Abare (SDLI); three fixes (waypoints) 143.9
rainforests where there are few roads and fewer cities. nm. SBUF- SID - GEBIT - T/O and TRK 177 41nm
GEBIT to SDLI TRK 340 102 nm
The Amazon River begins at its source, fed by waters from
the Lake Lauricocha and the glaciers of the Nevado de Yarupa at SBUF - SID - GEBIT - DCT - SDLI
Apacheta cliff in a place called Nevado Mismi, Arequipa, Peru;
altitude FL160. Leg 3:
Abare (SDLI) to Macapa (SBMQ); five fixes and 926.7nm.
T/O and TRK 301 to NEFRO follow route UZ20 dial in VOR TRS
112.3 and set CRS for Radial 350. You will be on route UZ7. At TRS
dial in VOR BEL 117.3 set CRS for Radial 320. You will be on route
G449 to INDOB. From INDOB fly direct to SBMQ.

SDLI DCT NEFRO UZ2O TRS UZ7 BEL G449 INDOB DCT SBMQ

Leg 4:
Macapa (SBMQ) to Monte Alegre (SNMA); four fixes 242.0 nm.
T/O and TRK 305 to MDD then TRK 256 route W15 to GRUTA. At
GRUTA TRK 252 to SNMA then TRK 92 into Monte Alegre.

SBMQ - SID - MDD - W15 - GRUTA - DCT - SNMA

Leg 5:
Monte Alegre (SNMA) to Santarem (SBSN); three Three fixes 50.7 nm.
SNMA T/O and TRK 272 to GRUTA then TRK 249 to SBSN - Santarem.

SNMA - GRUTA- SBSN

Leg 6:
Santarem (SBSN) to Manaus/ Eduardo Gomes Airport (SBEG); seven
AMAZON RIVER POINT OF ORIGIN IN PERU
fixes 317.9 nm.
SBSN T/O and TRK 279 to TEPIM you will then fly route UW33,
TRK 277 to DOLTI, LUTVI, MALPU, then TRK 276 to UDILO then
One of the main group of tributaries are the Ucayali, Purus,
TRK 275 to SBEG Eduardo Gomes Airport.
Madeira, and Tapajos. Tocantins enter the river on the right at Iquitos,
Peru. The Maranon, Japura, and Rio Negro enter on the left in Brazil SBSN - SID - TEPIM - UW33 - UDILO - DCT - SBEG
from the cities on Manaus and Belem.
Leg 7:
OK, now that we have had the biology and geography lessons, let’s do Manaus/Eduardo Gomes Airport (SBEG) to Fonte Boa (SWOB); six
some flying. We will begin our VFR flight up the Amazon River from fixes 408.7 nm.
the mouth at Belem, Brazil - airport Belem de Sao Francisco (SNFR) to SBEG T/O and TRK 278 to LUSUK fly route A566. Dial in TFE
the source at Iquitos, Peru - airport Coronel Fap Franciscsp (SPQT). VOR 112.9 set CRS for Radial 277 to BUMBA then TRK 270 fly
route UL216 to ESMEK then TRK 011 to SWOB Fonte Boa.
Below are flight plans for yourconvenience. Use them if you like or
write your own. You may fly any aircraft you want. SBEG - SID - LUSUK - A566 - TFE - UA566 - BUMBA - UL216 -
ESMEK - DCT - SWOB
Flight Plan Table
Tracks are magnetic, distances are in nautical miles. All altitudes Leg 8:
are between FL180 and FL250, or whatever you want to fly. We will Fonte Boa (SWOB) to Iquitos/ Coronel FAP Franciscsp Airport Peru;
fly a total 2614.6nm from the mouth of the Amazon to its source in seven fixes 468.5 nm.
the Andes mountains of Peru. We will stop at eight airports. Sure SWOB T/O and TRK 232 to PRIMA fly route UA566 to KENOK
it’s a long trip, but the Amazon is the second longest river in the then TRK 268 to BUTAB. Dial in LET VOR 117.5 set CRS for
world. I decided to fly this VFR excursion in FSX. I wanted to fly Radial 266 fly route A566 to KALOR then TRK 282 to SPQT. Then
the Cessna Caravan C-208 Amphibian. FSX does not come with the TRK 281 to IQUITOS/ CORONEL FAP FRANCISCSP AIRPORT.
C-208 Amphibian so I found one at www.simviation.com (then go
to SEARCH FSX Props) compatible with FSX. It flies beautifully. If SWOB - DCT - PRIMA - UA566 - KENOK - A566 - KALOR -
you aren’t an Express Member (I am) the downloads will be slow. DCT - SPQT

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 My old friends Gene, a photographer, and Andy, an old military pilot
with whom I flew with in Vietnam, met at the airport in Brasilia and
caught a flight in a CRJ Bombardier regional jet to Belem.

CRJ BOMBARDIER AT BRASILIA AIRPORT LANDED AT BELEM

Belem is 60 miles up the river from where the Amazon empties

We hadn’t seen each other since we left Madagascar over a month into the Atlantic Ocean. It is the port of call not only for commercial
ago. Gene took an assignment from Natural World Magazine to do a shipping, but also cruise ships and those that use the port as an
photo essay of the Amazon River. He asked if Andy and I would go entrance to Amazonia. Many river boats depart from Belem to go up
along. Since Andy and I are world adventurers we said yes, so here river with goods for sale.
we are on the way to the mouth of the Amazon River at Belem. We
will rent a float plane and plan the flight up river. I want to fly an A shuttle bus met the plane and we piled in for a ride to the
amphibian if we can find one. terminal. On the way I spotted the plane I would like to fly on this
excursion, a Cessna Caravan C-208 amphibian.

CRJ BOMBARDIER 2D PANEL

C-208 AMPHIBIAN, JUST WHAT I WAS HOPING TO FIND.

The CRJ was really plush and it was nice to sit back and let
somebody else do the flying. It only seemed like five minutes when The C-208 was parked at the refueling station. No doubt it was a
Andy grabbed my shoulder and shook me awake, “We’re here. Take a rental and all ready for a trip. We went into the rental agency and Gene
look out the window,” he said. rented the plane in the name of Natural World Magazine. Andy and I
showed our pilot credentials and filed a VFR flight plan. After lunch we
helped Gene load all his photography equipment and we were off.

OVER BELEM, BRAZIL CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF AT BELEM

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 DEPARTING BELEM

HEADING UP RIVER TO ABARE

ABARE stands for Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resources

Economics. This a facility provided by the Australian government to
assist the local farming industry and look out for their interests. The
Aussies built the airport.

Not far from ABARE Gene spotted some Caiman sunning

themselves on the shore. He wanted a few pictures so we landed.

OVER THE MOUTH OF THE AMAZON RIVER

Our first stop is Paulo Afonso (SBUF). It is a short hop 56.2 nm.
Paulo Afonso is in the northeastern state of Bahia. The city has an
important hydroelectric plant. Paulo Afonso is the transportation and
commercial center for the agricultural hinterlands.

GOING IN FOR THE FIRST LANDING ON THE AMAZON RIVER

LANDED AT PAULO AFONSO

Gene had to check in with the Brazilian Wildlife Department

(BWD) to get permission to tour the Amazon River. The BWD
also wanted a copy of our fight plan and then went to the plane and
checked out our survival gear. Fortunately the rental agency had
already equipped the plane with everything we would need to survive
if we went down in the Amazon rainforest. I didn’t even want to think
about that possibility!

We took off and turned up river toward our next stop ABARE
(SDLI). It would be 143.9 nm and give us a good chance to look at
this part of the river. If Gene sees anything he wants to photo we will
land on the water and taxi to the shore. TAXIING TO THE SHORE

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 STOPPED ON THE SHORE SUNRISE AT MACAPA, BRAZIL

Andy and Gene went ashore to photo the Caimans. I elected to

stay with the (SDLI). It was a tough job, but I was happy to make the
sacrifice! Hey, you may think I was afraid of those Caiman, but you
are wrong... I could eat one for lunch!

Andy and Gene got the photos and made it back to the plane OK.
We took off for ABARE and some lunch. I hope they serve roasted
Caiman tail. I really did eat alligator tail once. It’s not bad… tastes
like chicken.

ENTERING THE TRAFFIC PATTERN AT MACAPA (SBMQ)

LANDED AT ABARE (SDLI)

We had lunch, only chicken salad sandwiches... the restaurant

didn’t have any Caiman tail. With plane refueled we took off for the
next stop, Macapa. This would be our longest leg of the trip - 926.7
nm. The magazine especially wanted photos of Macapa. Andy took
over as PIC (Pilot-In-Command). We figured that flying at FL200 at
130 KIAS would give us the best fuel economy with the weight we
were carrying. We were close to the Max Gross weight of 8035 lbs. LANDED AT MACAPA (SBMQ)

Macapa, Brazil is the capital of Amapa State and a mining center.

Copper, iron, gold, and other metals are mined in Macapa. We would We stayed two days and then continued up the river to Monte
spend about two days at Macapa so that Gene could get a full story on Alegre (SNMA). This leg was 242 nm. We left early enough to arrive
the mines. before dark. Some of these airports are not much more than “Bush
Airstrips”. I did a lot of bush flying in Alaska, but I don’t like these
The flight took all night and we arrived in Macapa at dawn. jungle strips.

17

cpm1212.indd 17 11/20/2008 12:35:31 AM

 LANDED AT MONTE ALEGRE (SNMA)

Monte Alegre is famous for some of the oldest cave paintings in the
PARKING AT GATE 4 SANTAREM AIRPORT
Americas. Some of the paintings are thought to be more than 12,000
years old. They were discovered by the American archeologist Ana
Roosevelt. Ms. Roosevelt told about discovering the cave paintings
It didn’t take Gene long to get his photos. While he was working
in one of her six books, Amazonian Indians from Pre-History to
we serviced the plane and got ready for the next hop to Manaus,
the Present. She is currently a Professor of Anthropology at the
Brazil. We would be landing at the Eduardo Gomes Intl. Airport in
University of Illinois, Chicago.
Manaus (SBEG). This flight would take us 317.9 nm north into the
Gene got some great pictures of the cave paintings. Andy and I
Amazonian rainforest country.
learned a little bit of anthropology and art history (very little).
Manaus is the largest city on the Rio Negro River a major tributary
of the Amazon River. Manaus is Brazil’s electronic manufacturing
Our next destination was a short hop up river to Santarem (SBSN),
center producing DVD players, computer monitors, computers, and
only 50.7 nm. Gene’s magazine wanted some pictures of the Tapajos
associated equipment.
River where it enters the Amazon at Santarem. The river is named
after the Tapajos Indians that were living here when explorers from
Portugal discovered them. Natural World Magazine also wanted
pictures of the Tapajos Indian chiefdom area. Santarem is named
after the city in Portugal where the explorers lived.

OVER THE CITY OF MANAUS, BRAZIL

There is a smaller airport near the city - the Pelada Airport

OVER THE CITY OF SANTAREM
(SBMN). We flew over it, but decided to land at Eduardo Gomes Intl.
Airport, Manaus, Brazil (SBEG).

ON DOWNWIND LEG AT SANTAREM AIRPORT PELADA AIRPORT

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 LANDED AT EDUARDO GOMES INTL. AIRPORT, MANAUS, BRAZIL FARM AT FONTE BOA, BRAZIL

We went into town with Gene while he took photos of the

electronics factories and the workers. We tried some of the local
cuisine (I have no idea what we ate and I didn’t dare ask, but it tasted
like fish). The plane was serviced and ready to go when we got back
to the airport. Our next stop would be Fonte Boa (SWOB) about
408.7 miles farther up the river. Fonte Boa is a coffee growing center.

ON DOWNWIND LEG AT FONTE BOA

DEPARTING MANAUS (SBEG) EDUARDO GOMES INTL. AIRPORT

LANDED AT FONTE BOA AIRPORT (SWOB)

Gene went into town and spent the rest of the day touring the coffee
plantations with a guide. He got plenty of photos for an essay on the
coffee business. Andy and I toured the town and the local bars and
restaurants. We stayed overnight in Fonte Boa and got some rest. The
next hop was going to be 468.5 nm to Iquitos, Peru at the headwaters
of the Amazon River. The C-208 has a service ceiling of FL200 so we
shouldn’t have any problem with the 16,000 feet of mountains in the
area. I made sure we had a supply of oxygen before take-off.

We took off and headed up river for 468.5 nm. Our destination was
THE TOWN OF FONTE BOA BRAZIL the Col. Francisco Secada Vignetta Airport (SPQT) in Iquitos, Peru.

19

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 Iquitos, Peru our last stop. Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian
rainforest. It is the capital of the Loreta Region and of the Maynas
Province. It is considered the most populous city (population
370,962) in the world that cannot be reached by road.

We toured the city with Gene while he took pictures. I got the idea
that it could be fun to land on the headwaters of the Amazon River
when we departed the next day, then take-off over the city from the
water; sort of a touch-and-go on water. Andy agreed, only if I piloted
the plane… he didn’t want to violate some Peruvian law and end up
in jail. I assured him that the U.S. Embassy in Lima probably could
get him out of jail. If not I would send him a carton of American
cigarettes, now and then. Andy didn’t think that was funny. I flew the
plane when we departed the next morning.
APPROACHING IQUITOS, PERU

LANDING ON THE HEADWATERS OF THE AMAZON AT IQUITOS, PERU (SPQT)

NORTH SIDE OF IQUITOS, PERU

LANDED AT IQUITOS, PERU

WATER TAKE-OFF OVER IQUITOS, PERU

We made our way back to Brasilia and got a flight back home to
the good old USA. We may get together for another adventure soon.
I’d like to do some bush flying in the Congo and help out with the
humanitarian effort going on there. I hear they fly the DeHavlliand
Dash 8 and the C-208 Cessna Caravan aircraft into some really
dangerous airfields. Sounds like my kind of fun.

Many thanks to Wikipedia and Britannic for the use of the facts,
figures, and geography.

Happy landing,
PARKING AT COL. FRANCISCO SECADA VIGNETTA AIRPORT IQUITOS, PERU Tom Kurtz 4

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 21

cpm1212.indd 21 11/20/2008 12:35:38 AM

 4

“Learn the Mad Dog”

Training Package Review
BY TOM KURTZ

A
t last I got a chance to write a product review.
WOW! Now I thought I’ll get a chance to put pilot how to fly the MD-80. The DVD lessons are narrated by two
professional voice artists; Ms. Gayle Conroy and Mr. Pete Presnal.
the McDonnell-Douglas MD-80 “Mad Dog”
These artists have wonderful voices and do a great job. However, I do
through its paces and enjoy a simulation and get paid have several problems with the package.
for doing it. I couldn’t wait for the package to arrive.
First off, you are not told what flight simulation the training
I eagerly opened the package and pulled out the contents. There package was intended to teach. The ad says it for teaching you how
was a picture of a lovely girl saying “Welcome aboard, Captain.” to fly the very detailed payware versions of the MD-80. Sure it
There was also a shot of the MD-80 in flight. Below the MD-80 says “MD-80”, but whose MD-80? What developer? I thought that
picture in large lettering was “Mad Dog 2006 Training Package”. maybe the aircraft simulation would be identified as the lessons were
I was a little surprised... 2006? I thought I was going to review expounded. No such luck. So I began looking through past issues
something new! Then I remember seeing this product in the CP of CP to find a good payware MD-80 simulation. In the June 2006
magazine for October. Yep, there it was for US$32.00 ( or US$30.40 issue I found the Ultimate Airliners: Super 80 by Flight 1. I bought
for subscribers). Ok, maybe it is a new product developed in 2006 and it on-line ($39.95) and installed the simulation. I was pleased to
just getting to market now? Oh, well, I’ll give it a try, maybe it will find the highly detailed cockpit panels that matched the “Mad Dog”
be fun anyway. NOT! DVD. Now maybe I could get some place with this review. I now
had a plane to fly. By the way the Super 80 came with its own tutorial
I slipped the DVD into my computer and waited for my auto- illustrated on screen with pointers and everything (it is very good), a
install screen to appear. Nothing happened. I waited a little longer... 29-page User Manual, and a 291-page Pilot’s Operating handbook. So
still nothing happened! I am not a computer “Geek” so I really didn’t far I have only printed the User Manual. The Super 80 is a dream to
know what to do next, but I had to try something. So I went to My fly. Well back to the training DVD.
Computer found the DVD and double clicked on it. I found that the
DVD was not a flight simulation, but only a video to teach a computer Here are the lessons covered:

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 REVIEW

The narration began and a mouse pointer appeared and began moving
over the panel as the narrator explained the function of each button and
meter. Which brings me to my second criticism: The program is limited,
interactively. Your mouse pointer appears and you can move it over the
panel being explained, but you cannot click on anything and activate
it. The only thing you can do is PAUSE the video, reverse it, or fast
forward. There are problems here too. The narrators move along rapidly
and you must concentrate and quickly absorb what is being said. Some
people might be able to do that, but not me. I wanted to go back a few
seconds and listen again to what was just said and I discovered another
problem. Clicking on the reverse arrow stops the video and takes you
all the way back to the beginning of the Chapter! All I wanted was to go
back just a few seconds... sorry... no can do!

So after taking the Super 80 for a spin, I decided to jump ahead and
go to the flight portion of the DVD. I hoped maybe there it will become
fully interactive and I will get to fly the bird used in the DVD. Yeah,
SUBJECTS TAUGHT right! No way Jose! Somebody else flies the MD-80, you get to watch,
and one of the narrators tells you what is happening as you watch the
mouse pointer move over the panels clicking and pulling buttons.
So I started with Chapter 1 which covers the following:
I have another criticism: The pictures of the instrument panels in
the DVD are not clear. They are like a poorly rendered 3D cockpit
throughout the video. Here’s an example:

MD-80 PANELS EXPLAINED IN CHAPTER 1 OF THE DVD

MD-80 OVERHEAD PANEL MAD DOG DVD

As each section of system contained on the panel is explained it is
boxed in yellow to draw your attention. For example: Compare that with the MD-80 Overhead Panel in the Super
80 simulation.

TRANSPONDER USE EXPLAINED OVERHEAD PANEL FLIGHT 1 SIMULATION

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cpm1212.indd 23 11/20/2008 12:35:40 AM

 So I started from the beginning and watched the entire video, about
3.5 hours long. The narrations were read clearly, but moved at a mind
numbing pace, so I jotted down notes in my own shorthand. All the
aircraft’s systems were explained in detail, really in more detail than a
desktop pilot needs.

The electrical system was explained in detail with excellent

diagrams, I enjoyed this part because I have a degree in
Communications-Electronics, but the average guy flying a simulation
doesn’t really need to know all about how the AC (Alternating
Current) buses are routed in the airplane or what happens if one of the
generators fail.

At this point I decided to fly the Flight 1 Super 80 MD-80 using the
knowledge I gained from the Mad Dog training video. Starting from
a “Cold Dark Cockpit” I went through the manual start-up procedure
from memory and the notes I had jotted down while watching the
CAPTAIN’S PANEL MAD DOG DVD DVD. I went through the pre-flight checklist and filed an IFR Flight
Plan from Detroit Metro (KDTW) to Newark New Jersey (KEWR). I
taxied to the active runway and got take-off clearance.
Here’s a few more cockpit pictures from the Flight 1 Simulation
that are not shown in the Mad Dog DVD.

CLEARED FOR TAKE-OFF AT DETROIT METRO (KDTW)

MD-80 COCKPIT NIGHT LIGHTS FLIGHT 1 SIMULATION

OVER NE DETROIT

The Super 80 comes with a Co-pilot who reads off the V speeds,
tells you when to rotate, minds the landing gear, FMS, and flaps.
Once we are at cruise altitude I am giving him control while I take a
nap until we reach Newark.

I have a suggestion for getting the best use out of the Mad Dog
2006 Training Package. If you have two monitors play the training
DVD on one and fly your MD-80 simulation on the other. You
can learn a lot from the training video, but you may have to run it
several times.

The Learn The Mad Dog training package is available in boxed

DVD format from all good flight sim retailers and retails for
MD-80 COCKPIT FLIGHT 1 SIMULATION around US$32. 4

24 CPM. V12I12

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 REVIEW

25

cpm1212.indd 25 11/20/2008 12:35:46 AM

 SimKits TRC500 GPS Unit Review

4
BY DR JOHN LATTANZIO

W
ell, this one has me sitting on the fence! You set the unit up as per the non-existent instructions! That’s right,
I am used to reviewing different things. there are no real instructions with the unit. Well, I have prepared some
Some people like complex planes and that were written with the Aussie reseller, Mike Speekman, from
some like simple ones. Different strokes for different Melbourne Flight Simulators sitting next to me. He guided me and we
folks. In writing a review I try to keep in mind that wrote down the steps so you should have no trouble setting up the two
screens. It was not difficult. I had not used two monitors before and it
someone else may have very different views and was really easy. So if I can do it, so can you. You can download these
expectations of the thing I am reviewing. But this one instructions from the Computer Pilot website if you need them (in the
has me almost beat… “Interactive” menu > Download Library).

The TRC500 is not so difficult to review, as such. It’s a separate Of course, as a consequence of all this you need to run FSX in
unit that simulates the GPS in FSX (see Figures 1 and 2). It’s a nice windowed mode. You will find people very adamant that windowed
solid piece of hardware. There are a couple of strange things – no mode is slower than full screen mode. There are also some who
power button but a hole for you to stick one in yourself, for example. have empirically found the opposite. Computing is an experimental
Curious. But the unit is nice and very professional. It would certainly science, so I make no comment except that you need windowed mode
be a perfect addition for someone building a cockpit. to use two monitors.

Anyway, that is the essence. It’s a separate GPS unit. Well, it’s Very quickly we were up flying. The setup instructions cover how
really a small screen in a box that has the buttons of the GPS unit. But to do the fiddly bits. Curiously, FSX thought it would assign various
it obviously means that you can be flying with the GPS visible all the functions to the TRC’s buttons. So unless you want the NRST button
time and you can fiddle with real knobs and dials. And that all adds to to lower your flaps, you want to remove the default assignments and
the realism, as we know. add the correct ones! That is trivial but don’t forget to do it.

26 CPM. V12I12

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 REVIEW

FIG 1. THE TRC500 IS A SMALL MONITOR WITH GPS BUTTONS

FIG 4. NOTE THE GPS WINDOW VISIBLE TO THE LEFT…

Depending on where you place the small monitor, you might have
some of the required instrument real-estate missing from the small
monitor because you need to be able to grab the window from the
main monitor. For example, with the TRC sitting to the right of the
main monitor I needed to leave enough of the undocked window free
to grab it at the extreme left. So there was a little bit of the instrument
data missing from the TRC window (Figures 5 and 6). I hope that
makes sense!

FIG 2. IT SIMULATES THE FSX GARMIN GPS500 PERFECTLY!

The unit is really just a separate screen of 640x480 pixels. So call

up your GPS and undock the window. Now move the window so
that it appears off the main monitor but in the region where the small
monitor exists (See the instruction article). For example, you may
place the little monitor to the right of the main monitor. So you need
to move your GPS window off the screen to the left. You also need to
adjust the size of the window since the window contains the buttons.
You do not want to see the buttons on the TRC500 as it has real
buttons (see Figure 3). So you have to stretch and adjust the window
until the instrument part fills the TRC monitor and the buttons fall off
it. But you also need to be able to move the window so you need to be
able to grab a bit of the TRC window from the main window. So there
is a bit of the small window visible in the big window (eg Figure 4). FIG 5. WITH THE GPS WINDOW TO THE RIGHT YOU LOSE SOME INFO
FROM THE LEFT OF THE SCREEN

FIG 3. SOME RESIZING IS NEEDED AS YOU DO NOT WANT THE BUTTONS

TO SHOW ON THE MONITOR! FIG 6. A BIT UNDER HALF A CHARACTER IS LOST. IT’S NOT MUCH REALLY

27

cpm1212.indd 27 11/20/2008 12:35:50 AM

 I found this to be the most frustrating part of the device. I finally OK. So once it’s set up how is it? In a word, great! See Figures 8
decided that the small monitor was better off “virtually” under the and 9. It’s so nice to have the GPS visible all the time without taking
main monitor, so I did not lose and instrument data from the TRC up valuable screen space. And pressing buttons is much nicer than
screen (compare Figure 2 with Figure 5). There may well be a way clicking them with a mouse! The buttons have a good solid feel to
of sending a specific 640x480 pixels from somewhere in the virtual them, as does the page and group knob. It’s a very nice unit. I had a
screen landscape to the second monitor. If there is that would solve friend of mine play with it for a while - he is getting his PPL so I had
this minor problem which always leaves a bit of the window visible the plane take off from his training field and let him fly around and
on the main monitor (eg Figure 7 for the TRC window under the he simply loved the GPS and kept saying “This is just what its like!”
main window). That would be ideal. I do not know how to do that but (see Figure 10).
maybe someone else does?

FIG 7. YOU LOSE NO CHARACTERS IF YOU PUT THE GPS WINDOW

BELOW THE MAIN WINDOW. BUT THE WINDOW STILL APPEARS ON THE
MAIN MONITOR
FIG 10. “HEY, THIS IS JUST LIKE A REAL PLANE!”

So I very quickly got used to using the TRC500. Flying with the
backup of a GPS is addictive. It may encourage bad habits, like
relying on it to tell you where you are rather than using traditional
navaids. But it’s the way of the future. And I loved using it! At the
time of writing this, I have just a couple of days left before Mike
Speekman comes back to get the unit. So I should be flying rather
than writing! I want to maximize my time using the unit. It is lots of
fun. See Figures 11-13.

FIG 8. ALL SET UP, AND READY TO GO!

FIG 9. ON APPROACH TO CAIRNS INTERNATIONAL FIG 11. NICE UNIT, CLEAR IMAGES

28 CPM. V12I12

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 REVIEW

FIG 12. IT’S HANDY TO HAVE THE GPS VISIBLE ALL THE TIME

I found that I needed to prop the unit up a bit to get it off the desk
or I would be looking down at the desk and up at the monitor (see
Figure 14). There is no doubt that it is designed to be part of cockpit
mockup and it would be fantastic there! If you are building one of
these, then I urge you to have a look at the TRC500. It should fit in
perfectly.
FIG 13. I COULD GET USED TO THIS!
So what was I talking about at the start when I said I was confused
by this unit? Simply the following: it sells for about $3000. I first
thought that was a typo and it should be $300. I would pay $300 for
it. But it’s not $300. It’s $3000. Well its probably a little cheaper on
exchange rate now considering global market falls etc. But, why a
small monitor that simulates a GPS should cost an order of magnitude
more than a real GPS is totally beyond me. It might be cheaper to get
a real GPS and somehow send it your position from FSX. But I guess
you need the aeronautical database to be included.

So there is my dilemma. Is the unit good? Without doubt! Is it fun?

Certainly! Does it do its job as advertised? Yes! Is it ideal for a home
cockpit? Absolutely! Would I buy one? Never in a million years.
Not at that price. But I am not building a cockpit, maybe you are.
Different strokes for different folks.

As always, the decision is a personal one. The unit is excellent and

does what it says and does it well. But it’s very expensive. Well, that
is my job done. Good luck with your decision!

FIG 14. THE FLIGHT DECK IS GETTING CLUTTERED. MAYBE I NEED A The Simkits TRC-500 unit can be found online at www.simkits.com
COCKPIT! or www.melbourneflightsimulators.com.au 4

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 4
A380 Version 2 Review
BY GENE DAVIS
Installation is simple, as with any Wilco add-on; simply insert
the disc, type in the registration code and go. During the installation
process you will have the option of installing both versions of the

E
very time I see footage of the A380 in flight I A380 or just one of them. It is important to note that the FS9 version
still wonder how something so big can fly, but is still the basic version of the A380, but it does include some
we have all seen it and you have to admit that improvements over the original version 1 A380 so I do recommend
it really is a thing of beauty! Airbus has delivered one installing both if you still use FS9.
of the largest jetliners in history. Although it has not The A380 also includes an Airbus adventure that chronicles the 60-
met its delivery schedules, it still offers a look of what minute maiden flight of the A380 when it flew from Toulouse Blagnac
Airbus is capable of producing… to Spain. The adventure offers multiple difficulty levels offering
something for the casual simmer and for the more experienced
I am going to go out on a limb and say that almost everyone in the simmer. During the flight you will receive instructions from ground
Flight Simulation community has probably tried or even just looked engineers to perform certain actions in flight tests with the aircraft all
at the Wilco Airbus A380 version 1 just out of curiosity. Although this while cruising over the Pyrenees and the Atlantic Ocean. The mission
add-on was simplistic in design it offered a glimpse of things to come. includes voices and subtitles in English, French and German.
Now, since the real A380 is now flying, Wilco Publishing has released
a second version of their A380 and this time around they promise a The manual is a welcome addition to this plane as you will need
more accurate flight model and a more complex cockpit environment to understand the new functions of the FMC and discover what has
for FSX. changed and what hasn’t from the original version. Included in the
manual are detailed layouts and diagrams of the cockpit giving you
What’s in the Box? easy reference to where everything is located.
The A380 is available by download or on disc. Included in the
boxed version is a 45-page printed manual along with two different Once the program is installed you will find a load and configuration
registration codes. One code is for FSX and the other is for FS9 manager installed on your hard drive. From there you will be able to
– both versions being included in the package. adjust the aircraft’s load-out and difficulty levels.

30 CPM. V12I12

cpm1212.indd 30 11/20/2008 12:36:09 AM

 REVIEW
The A380 V2
Version 1 was good, but Version 2 is incredible! The model itself
has been modified to match that of its real world counterpart. Even
though Version 1 was close it only offered a speculative glimpse of the
A380 because much of what was the A380 hadn’t been revealed yet.
With Version 2 you are seeing it as it looks in real life. Its size, beauty
and dare I say size again are well captured in the FSX version and the
modifications to the FS9 version are more than welcome.

The list of features is impressive and the model includes all of the
traditional moving parts we have come to expect from an add-on like this.
Most noticeable was the flexing wings in FSX. Other features include
FSX viewpoints, reflective textures, dynamic shine, realistic night
lighting, hydraulic suspension, and a true fly-by-wire feel. BA A380 PARKED AT GRANT COUNTY INTL.

The add-on ships with 11 different liveries from 10 different

international airlines; the eleventh is the Airbus House colors. Wilco
didn’t stop at the 11 liveries either. You can go to “McPhat’s Liveries”
and download 4 additional ones. I have come to really like “McPhat’s”
liveries as they are incredibly realistic and the ones for the A380 are
simply gorgeous!

As you pan around the external view of the A380 you do get a good
sense of its size, something I could not really find with the Version 1
model. Going from the outside to the inside is also a virtual treat. Not
only do you have a fully-functional virtual cockpit but you also get
first class, economy class and sleeper cabin modeling. This is great if
you have a lot of time to walk around the aircraft, but this extra feature
comes at a price, and that price is frame rates. I wish the designers had
made a switch to disable the passenger cabins portion of this add-on
because if I could get rid of them my FPS would jump significantly. NEED A NAP!

In The Office
The biggest difference between Versions 1 and 2 of the A380
from Wilco has to be with the cockpit and its functionality. The new
A380 operating under FSX features a complex flight management
computer that is significantly better than the Version 1 offering. The
FMC allows the user to program a flight from takeoff to landing
and then flies the plane with those settings running. The other nice
feature is that all of the FMC parameters are “save-able” from
within FSX, thus allowing the user to save a flight and go back to it
later on.

The FMC or FMS offers the basic features of a flight computer

as well as more advanced systems and it incorporates the use of
SIDS and STARS for more accurate flight planning and departure/
approach procedures.

The functional main panel of the A380 is broken down into A PLACE WHERE EVERYONE KNOWS YOUR NAME!
the primary flight display, the navigation display, engine/warning
display, and the system display, each of which has switchable pages
and multiple configurations. The screens are designed using vector
graphics displays thus allowing the user to detach each screen and
move it or resize it. The displays are also optimized for use in FSX
allowing for best performance in flight.

The Virtual Cockpit is fully workable and an entire flight can

be accomplished from this view mode. Shift keys are assigned to
each display so that you can bring it up on the fly when in virtual
mode rather than having to zoom in on the panel itself. If you are
using something like the TrackIR 4 Professional head tracking device
you will find that being able to move your eye point from within
the cockpit is beneficial as it allows you to actually “lean” into the
instrument and see it better.

FIRST CLASS 31

cpm1212.indd 31 11/20/2008 12:36:10 AM

 REFLECTIVE TEXTURES THE A380!

INCREDIBLE DETAIL! WHERE ALL THE MAGIC HAPPENS

SINGAPORE AIRLINES LUFTHANSA

32 CPM. V12I12
THE A380 AT DUSK THE OFFICE!

cpm1212.indd 32 11/20/2008 12:36:15 AM

 REVIEW

Systems like fly-by-wire, a fully-featured FADEC system, a the controls as I just didn’t trust the autopilot again and I made the
working IRS system, and an autopilot that features all of the true approach myself.
functions of an Airbus jet are available to the pilot. The systems list
is impressive and really does make this a must-have add-on for any Touching down and taxiing to the gate was uneventful and
armchair bus pilot. my passengers did enjoy their flight. There were some minor
glitches it seems but perhaps these may have been user input error
The Audio with regards to the FMC, or the FMC simply not having enough
I liked the sound in the original for FS9, but I was never able to information inserted to do its job correctly?
make the A380 Version 1 work in FSX so I never did see or hear
the plane in the later simulator. The sound for the Version 2 A380 is Performance
impressive and offers some of the best 3-Dimensional sound I have The one thing that I found to be a negative was frame rates.
heard yet. I guess the biggest thing for me was; what will the plane Now, I run an E6600 computer with 3Gb of ram, a Zotac 9800 GT
do on takeoff? While taking off in the A380 I switched to the external video card and the best I can get out of the A380 are frame rates
view in FSX and the sound was almost overwhelming. It definitely that range around 9-12 in places like Grant County International in
captures the sound of this magnificent plane. Moses Lake Washington. If I want to go somewhere like Seattle,
Washington, forget it.
Internally the sound is very good as well. Sitting in the cockpit you
will hear the faint rumble of the engines as well as the functioning The frame rate problems are due to the extra cabin features
systems in the cockpit. You will also hear crew voices and as I stated earlier on. If only there was as way to turn them off,
navigational alerts. Couple this with a program like XPax and you or perhaps Wilco should have included an additional optional
have a full-featured airline simulation that sounds like the real thing. model without these, as is the case with other add-ons. Is this a
deal breaker for me? No, absolutely not! If I can swing 12 frames
Test Flying the A380 per second out of an aircraft of this size I am happy, but when
Aside from flying the adventure I did want to take the A380 on I compare it to the frame rates I get with the Super 80 Pro from
one of my own flights and I decided to fly some wealthy investors, Flight 1, 25-29 FPS, I have to wonder. Would I still want the
via XPax, from Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake A380, Yes, definitely!
Washington to Vancouver BC.

The first thing I did was set up my flight in FSX using the flight It’s a matter of taste!
planner and then loaded it into my FMC. All legs of my flight were If you like flying tube liners and ferrying passengers on long haul
set, fuel was loaded and my passengers climbed on board. flights in FSX then the A380 v2 will be right up your alley. If you
are more into General Aviation flying then the A380 probably won’t
As far as the fly-by-wire functions of the A380 V2 they seem to be spark your curiosity. For me, I think it was just a matter of having to
somewhat solid, though the aircraft needed quite a bit of input from have it. I don’t go on long flights, but I do enjoy just taking her up
me on takeoff and during flight. Once in the air I climbed to 34,500 for a spin. I think I found that I enjoyed the adventure the most with
feet and continued on with my test flight. this add-on as you really don’t know what is going to happen and I
tend to like surprises!
As we neared Vancouver the A380 made the correct altitude
changes and I was ready to begin my descent to the airport. As I For US$49.95 this is a pretty reasonable airliner add-on and if
readied the plane for landing, I noticed that after I was on approach you are at all curious or interested in the A380 I think this one beats
the plane didn’t seem to make its descent to the runway. I decided to just about any other A380 model currently out on the market. It’s
initiate a go-around because I was quickly running out of time to lose fully featured and offers some really nice eye candy, so even if you
enough altitude to land. just want to park it on the runway and look it at you can!

After the go-around I was again lined up with the runway, right The Wilco A380 Version 2 package is available from all good
behind a Cessna doing a touch and go! I decided to go manual on flight sim retailers. 4

33

cpm1212.indd 33 11/20/2008 12:36:22 AM

 London VFR X Review 4
BY ROGER CURTISS

• Ultra-high resolution (60cm) layer of aerial photographic scenery

Y
ears of flight simulation development
• 30,000+ building objects
accompanied by advances in computer • 50,000 fill objects (trees, cranes, boats, etc)
processing and rendering capabilities have led • Landmarks, skyscrapers and even individual homes
to the creation of VFR London X, a title produced by • 120 sq. kilometers of area coverage
Horizon Simulations Ltd and marketed by Aerosoft. • Every object within the area larger than 27 meters cubed (roughly
100”x100”x100” for those not metrically-inclined) is modeled
The title pretty much describes what is on offer- a within 3 meters of its actual location and individually hand-
visual representation of London for FSX. textured for both day and night depiction
• Glass reflections where appropriate
Jet jockeys need not bother with this one- it is designed for low • Compatible with VFR England and Wales-South Vol. 1 scenery
and slow operators as the view is to be savored. The manual carries package
this non-attributed quote; • Will include a very detailed London City airport (EGLC) when
released as a boxed set with a free upgrade for the download
“FSX London is the largest and most detailed model of its kind version customers.
ever created for a real-time desktop flight simulator. It is the result
of two years hard work from some of the world’s leading 3D graphic
artists and software developers. FSX London pushes boundaries The PDF manual was a separate download comprising 3Mb of its
that were only a very short time ago thought to be impregnable. own and is comprised of 43 pages. This manual is very important as it
But through innovative and pioneering adaptation to the current explains many aspects of the complex scenery package and failure to
technology the Horizon team has set a new standard that all other adhere to its recommendations is a sure recipe for disappointment.
FSX add-on sceneries can be judged for some time to come.”
Once it was on my computer the installation was easy and much
The product is available as a download now but a boxed version faster than I expected although the developers do suggest a full
should be an option about the time this article appears. VFR London defragment of the hard drive prior to installation. The scenery can be
X will need to occupy 1Gb of hard drive space. For that commitment custom installed to accommodate individual computer limitations as far
of space what you get is a very impressive list: as processing speed and hard drive space.

34 CPM. V12I12

cpm1212.indd 34 11/20/2008 12:36:24 AM

 REVIEW
The default installation is the 2.4m/pixel photo scenery. This is the
best choice for those with minimal HD space. The 1.2m choice offers
more detailed scenery but of course, at the price of requiring more HD
space. The top of the line is the 60cm install that provides the most
detail and will occupy a full 1.5GB of space in order to display it. The
different variants build on one another so the 2.4m is the minimum base
install and the 1.2m install is also required if the 60cm fully detailed
version is desired. The night scenery has its own textures for all objects
and is rendered in 2.4m in order to minimize the impact on disk space,
which is a logical tradeoff considering that less actual object detail
beyond lighting is visible in the dark.

Aerosoft stipulates minimum and recommended system requirements

in order to successfully use this scenery package: A22 WINDOW VIEWING IS UNIMPEDED EVEN WHEN INVERTED

MINIMUM RECOMMENDED

Operating System Windows XP SP2/Vista Windows XP SP2

Processor Speed 1.5GHz 2.0+ Ghz
RAM 512MB 2GB
Memory 1.5GB 1.5GB
Graphics Card 128MB 512+MB
Graphics Controller DirectX 9.0c DirectX 9.0c
Software FSX SP1 FSX SP2

As far as the graphics card, one with Direct 3D rendering

performance, particularly one based on ATI or nVidia chipsets is
recommended. Also highly recommended is to have at least a dual
core processor.
APPROACH LIGHTS TO EGLC AT THE 11 O'CLOCK POSITION
Simulator Settings
Preparing a high performance airplane for flight requires adherence
to a detailed sequence in order to get things right and optimize
the responsiveness of the aircraft. This high performance scenery
requires no less attention to detail in order to allow, well… attention
to detail.

The manual states that with the state of the art it is not presently
possible to max out all of the settings sliders in FSX and achieve
optimum performance. Therefore, specific settings are provided for
the Graphics/Global/Aircraft/Cockpit/Scenery/Weather and Traffic
tabs of the Display settings. It amounts to a checklist of slider
settings that will create the best combination to maximize the close
in viewing utilized in London VFR X. Some of the settings, such
as Scenery Complexity to Very Sparse and Special Effects Detail to
Low seem counter-intuitive but certainly do not diminish from the
rendering. FSX DEFAULT SCENERY VIEW OF THE MILLENIUM DOME...
RATHER BLAND!
This scenery is meant to be studied while viewing so great is the
detail present. A helicopter is perfect for the low and slow operation
to achieve that end but my mastery of rotorcraft flight is less than
perfect and I did not want to be fighting the viewing platform.
Apparently I am not alone in that regard for a freeware aircraft is
offered for download from the Horizon Simulations website. This is
the Aeroprakt A22 Foxbat; a light single engine high-wing airplane
by Rick Piper. The A22 is practically all windows with a tubular
frame holding it all together and allows for great viewing from all
sides. The aircraft is also capable of cruising at very slow airspeeds
(50-80 knots) and this makes it an excellent platform for VFR flight
as it can be flown with minimal reference inside the cockpit allowing
for full attention to the scenery. Another advantage to having this or
any other aircraft capable of slow flight is that the lower aircraft speed
reduces system demands for rapid updates of the scenery rendering

35
EACH POINT ON THIS MAP REPRESENTS AN OBJECT
CREATED FOR THE SCENERY

cpm1212.indd 35 11/20/2008 12:36:24 AM

 IT IS FAIRLY OBVIOUS WHERE LONDON X
FLIGHT WITH SLIDERS AT DEFAULT LEVELS- LOOKS AMAZING!
MEETS THE DEFAULT SCENERY

LONDON AT NOON LONDON BRIDGE IN 24M. NOT TOO BAD ACTUALLY

LONDON CITY AIRPORT APPROACH LONDON-THERE IS A LOT TO SEE HERE.

36 CPM. V12I12
OBLIGITORY IMAGE OF THE LONDON EYE ON APPROACH TO LONDON CITY AIRPORT

cpm1212.indd 36 11/20/2008 12:36:27 AM

 and allows more system resources to be devoted to showing what
is presented in greater detail… which is kind of the purpose of VFR
scenery in the first place.

And what about that scenery? The default FSX scenery of London
is sufficient to let you know that there is a city there but apparently
the designers did not want to have all those pesky buildings get in the
way of access to London City airport or distract the pilots of airplanes
headed to/from Heathrow. But with London VFR X one discovers an
entire city to be explored. Instead of just a few skyscrapers in Central
London there is a vibrant city comprised of seemingly endless
SIMPLY IMPRESSIVE buildings in all variety of shapes, configurations and sizes as well as
the Thames River winding its way around the city with its attendant
bridges and ship traffic. Prominent landmarks are to be found as well;
Big Ben, the Millennium Dome and the London Eye are all depicted
in great detail.

For those who desire eye candy the entire store is presented and
from the cockpit the eye keeps moving in order to try and take it all
in. For that reason and the inherent demands that changes in view
selection can place on system performance it is recommended that
the preferred view be the outside spot which offers the greatest depth
of view field.

As an experiment, I flew the A22 Foxbat first leaving the scenery

sliders at my own regular settings but utilizing the 60cm mode of
London VFR X. I found that my frame rates were in the area of 3.0
to 4.3 depending on how much scenery needed to be shown and
while this was not a problem for sightseeing it did make it difficult
THE VIEWS ARE NON-STOP
to fly an approach due to lack of smoothness. I then set the display
sliders at the preferred settings and observed a quite noticeable
improvement of 5.3 frames/sec at the lowest level which made a
big difference when flying an approach.

Conclusion
There actually is little question as to whether I would
recommend this product for purchase. To start with, it is priced at
US$35.17 from www.aerosoft.com which is a bargain for what
is in essence a work of art. Yes, at 1Gb it is a big package but it
also is a fine example of what to expect from scenery add-ons
to come. Computer processing power available to the home PC
provides the platform to allow the detailed rendering of scenery
objects that London VFR X generates and it is practically a
certainty that this level of coverage will soon be the norm.
Therefore, think of this offering as a glimpse of the immediate
future of flight simulation scenery.
WEST LONDON-HEATHROW AIRPORT IS JUST VISIBLE ABOVE
THE V NOTCH IN THE WINDSCREEN
The package does cover a somewhat limited area
geographically but London is a major metropolitan area, a
world capital, and is home to enough architectural landmarks to
make it an eye candy wonderland.
The scenery also blends seamlessly with Aerosoft’s
Generation X series covering England and Wales. Also
remember that the ‘X’ in the scenery title does not stand for
‘experimental’, it signifies that this is an FSX-only product.

So, if you fly in FSX and want to take its already impressive
graphics to the next level and have the processor horsepower
necessary to run London VFR X this is an excellent choice. The
download version is available direct from Aerosoft or through
other flight sim retailer’s download stores. Check your favorite
download store retailer for availability. The boxed version should
also be available widely when released. 4

37
WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS I WOULD SAY

cpm1212.indd 37 11/20/2008 12:36:33 AM

 38 CPM. V12I12

cpm1212.indd 38 11/20/2008 12:36:37 AM

 REVIEW

“The Mighty A380”

Photograph by Rick Bryan

39

cpm1212.indd 39 11/20/2008 12:36:41 AM

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cpm1212.indd 41 11/20/2008 12:37:21 AM

 Why We
Do This How much “fun” is flight simming?

BY BILL STACK
The programs are manufactured by video-
gaming companies, they use video-game

T
he first night I owned a technology, they’re sold by video-game
retailers, and they reside in folders on our
flight simulation program
computers called “games.”
(a very long time ago), I
couldn’t land the aircraft, so I Why and how video gaming is fun is a
aborted, flew around, tried again, subject of psychological research. Some
aborted, flew around, tried again, studies show that a sense of freedom
and independence is important, as are
and on and on for literally hours. interactions with other people.
Long after midnight, my droopy
eyeballs fell out of their sockets, “Players reported feeling best when the
rolled across my desk, and fell games produced positive experiences and
challenges that connected to what they
onto the floor. Going to work the
know in the real world,” says Richard
next morning was like having a M. Ryan, a motivational psychologist at
hangover. the University of Rochester in Rochester,
New York. (Psyshorg.com)
Internet newsgroups are filled with
posts by frustrated flight simmers seeking Another benefit of video games is that
solutions to problems, such as the following: they allow us to release interpersonal
“When I start FS9 I get this error ‘D3D9. tensions in harmless ways. (psychology.
DLL error.’ I usually re-boot the computer suite101.com)
and then FS9 starts most of the time. Would
anybody know what this error would be?” This benefit is definitely true of combat
flight simmers and non-combat simmers
Some industrious flight simmers spend who generally engage in destructive
hours creating thousands of aircraft, simulations. Shooting down other aircraft,
sceneries, panels, and manuals. A lot of blowing up targets, and watching fiery
money is spent on hardware, software, explosions definitely release tensions.
charts, manuals, and other supportive
products and services. Which brings up a paradox about home
flight simulation: Although some combat
Why do we put ourselves through such flight simmers play with (or against) other
ordeals and sacrifice so much for something people, home flight simulation is primarily
that’s supposedly recreational? done alone.

Research on video games shows what we But when we look at home flight
already presume: Video gaming is fun. simulation with these psychologies in
mind, we see many aspects that fit the
And before anybody’s hackles can go studies.
up for my calling home flight simulation a
video game, let’s face reality: Home flight Flight simmers indisputably find a sense
simulation is indeed a video (or computer) of freedom when they can exit the real
game regardless of how seriously world for a while and “fly” various aircraft
anybody takes their interest in the of their choice near their homes, across their
activity or how they use the simulator. continents, or around the globe.

42 CPM. V12I12

cpm1212.indd 42 11/20/2008 12:37:28 AM

 BILL STACK

Some flight simmers find I write books and articles about flight every day, but they don’t socialize much with
extraordinary freedom when they can simming because I love writing in the first family, friends, neighbors, classmates, or
fly an aircraft in every conceivable place and I enjoy sharing my knowledge others in their lives according to these reports.
manner like children with toys. and viewpoints with other people. I
Aerobatics exemplifies controlled also write books and articles about my Psychologists see addiction in several
free flight, while reckless maneuvers profession (writing, business management, ways ranging from excessive psychological
exemplify unrestrained freedom. and professional auditing). satisfactions to a means of escaping reality and
creating different persona through their video-
My eight-year-old grandson has loved To maintain my simulation skills and gaming experiences. Immersing in a fantasy
flying my simulator for about five years knowledge, I try to simulate flight for at world makes players feel better (or less bad)
now. He’s graduated from seeing them least an hour a day. I surf some internet about themselves. (webmd.com)
crash (“that’s gotta hurt,” he would say) flight sim sites every now and then, but I
to keeping them from crashing. I gave cannot afford to spend the amount of time The number of hours spent on activities
my 12-year-old grandson one of my old on these activities that others do – I work a related to home flight simulation but not actually
computers with an old flight-simulation full-time job and have family obligations, simulating flight is noteworthy. Just think of
game, and he loves it. He doesn’t care after all. all the time some flight simmers spend making
about the latest technology, realistic aircraft, panels, sceneries, sounds, and other
sceneries, or whatever else is available on While there’s absolutely a feeling simulation “add-ons,” as well as the amount of
the current flight simulator versions. As a of accomplishment by video-game time spent uploading and downloading such
result of his interest in flight simulation, developers, there’s also some amount of creations. The time spent surfing the internet for
he’s also taken up radio-controlled flying artistry to video gaming. Some sceneries downloadable and for-sale add-ons in the first
and envisions himself flying helicopters as and aircraft are remarkably well done, even place is also considerable.
an adult. though they are replications rather than
creations. Some sceneries and aircraft are And the amount of time some flight
But any sense of freedom seems absent definitely creations rather than replications, simmers spend reading and posting
for those simmers who want to simulate which I have examined in prior articles. on internet forums and newsgroups is
flight the way real-world pilots fly real similarly remarkable. This phenomenon
aircraft, as I do. Some book reviewers have And there’s the business of flight definitely fits the notion of gamers
disparagingly called me and other who simming – products, books, magazines, socializing with other gamers. I have
share my interest “geeks.” Such remarks web sites, advertising, and on and on. A lot always wondered how much (or how
reveal an unfortunate unawareness of flight of people, including me, earn their livings little) time the more frequent newsgroup
simulation’s diversity – that many people or contribute to their livings by producing and forum participants spend simulating
can enjoy the same hobby differently. and selling products and services related flight compared to online networking.
to home flight simulation. This group starts
For me, there are several motivators with Microsoft, of course, which produces These very serious attitudes and
for flight simming, which is the only the most popular home flight simulation viewpoints of home flight simulation
video game that stimulates me. All the game in the world. would help explain why its being
rest bore me to madness. I love flying called a video game would be such a
to different places and seeing different Is flight simming addictive like other sore point. They take flight simming
terrain, cities, and structures. There’s video games? Video-game addiction is so seriously that calling it a “game”
something exciting about simulating discussed in depth on web sites and in belittles their interest.
flight at huge airports and something psychological publications. While some
intriguing about landing at small remote discussions claim that no formal medical Have I ever told you about the flight
airstrips. I also love simulating flight as studies have been done about video- simmer who went to a doctor about
real flight is supposed to be. Although I game addiction, some psychological web curled-up fingers? The doctor said:
admit to having flown under suspension sites feature explanations from medical “First, I’ll have to remove this joystick!”
bridges, between city skyscrapers, and experts. A lot of anecdotal evidence and
up mountain sides, I never enjoyed any unsubstantiated opinions and conclusions Notes about my columns are
of that rambunctiousness as much as I are repeated among web sites with few if welcomed. Please e-mail your
enjoy following the rules and procedures. any source references. Flight simming isn’t comments or questions to the magazine
Following aviation rules and procedures specifically mentioned, but it might be editor at [email protected].
makes us feel like part of an elite group, addictive for a few users.
while willfully disregarding rules releases
us from the daily rigors of life. Some discussions of video-game
addiction assert that it’s more prevalent
How does my interest in realism among men than women. No reasons for Bill Stack is an expert flight simmer, a
differ from the widespread obsession such conclusions are given, and I’ll refrain management consultant and a professional
writer, speaker and trainer based in Knoxville,
with realism regarding sceneries, from speculating publicly.
Tennessee, USA. He has authored several
aircraft, panels, sounds, and other books and numerous articles about flight
simulation characteristics? Everybody Other discussions mention children simming. His books are available from quality
is awed by more and more realism of who spend so much time on video games flight sim suppliers such as PC Aviator at
this type, but I’m called a “geek” for that almost all “normal” living activities www.pcaviator.com, and he can be
my type of realism! are subordinated. They do eat and sleep contacted at [email protected] 4

43

cpm1212.indd 43 11/20/2008 12:37:29 AM

 XPAX Review
BY GENE DAVIS
4

T
he one thing that is often missing in Flight
Simulator when flying our virtual planes from
The manual is recommended reading, at least it was for me,
point A to point B is passengers, and that is because I really didn’t know what I was doing when I first started and
something that has been absent from FSX since its I was missing quite a bit and not making full use of XPAX.
release. During the life of FS9 we saw add-ons like
FS Passengers, Cargo Pilot and Airliner Pilot but we What XPAX Does!
XPAX essentially adds virtual passengers to any airplane within
have yet to see them for FSX. I have been waiting your FSX hangar that can handle a passenger load. Whether it’s a load
patiently for something that would fill this void and I of 3 or 100, XPAX is totally customizable for whatever plane you
believe I have found it! want to fly. The program itself tracks every stage of flight from pre-
boarding to the de-planing of passengers and gives the virtual pilot a
One day while surfing the web I just happened to see a snippet detailed report of an entire flight from the passenger’s perspective.
about HiFi Simulation’s newest product called “XPAX”, a full-blown
passenger experience for FSX and FS9 that would literally change the The audible experience is where XPAX shines as you will not only
way we fly the virtual skies. hear your passengers, pilots, stewardesses etc, but you will hear the
boarding calls from within the cockpit that are usually heard only
Would this little program do what FS Passengers did for FS9? Let’s in the airport terminal before the flight. The one thing missing is the
find out… angry and drunk passengers carrying on like little two year olds!

How to Obtain XPAX The user interface offers detailed information on such things as
XPAX can be obtained via download or on disc, purchased from passenger manifests, loads and customizable aircraft layouts, and it
the HiFi Simulations website or PCAviator.com for US$26.99. The also includes multimedia presentations of passengers waiting and the
program installs easily using a generated key that is created at the boarding, in-flight, landing and deplaning sequences for any flight
time of purchase for the download version, or supplied with the disc you use XPAX with. The multimedia is kind of an extra bonus. You
version. Included with the installer is a manual in PDF format that won’t see much of it unless you are running in windowed mode with
will help explain many of the functions of XPAX and how to modify Flight Simulator or running XPAX from a second computer, but it is
the program for whatever aircraft you wish to fly. fun to watch.

44 CPM. V12I12

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 REVIEW

XPAX will also all allow you to incorporate your own customized
sound files that will be played during flight, boarding or deplaning.
This is where you can add your own touch to the package, or at least
incorporate audio in your native accent for extra realism.

First Time Out

The first time out I failed to do one thing that is important in
understanding this add-on and how it works and that was reading the
manual! First time around I decided that I would load up XPAX and
take a small Cessna on a short trip out of Anchorage for a scenic tour.
What I ended up with was rather funny. As I waited for XPAX to load
my plane I noticed that the load process was taking too much time.
Before I knew it I had 100 people crammed into my little Cessna and
my plane was pitching backwards on its tail while sitting at the gate! XPAX!

What did I do wrong? Well, even though XPAX detects the

aircraft you are flying you still need to configure the cabin layout
and the default cabin layout is for a 100-passenger airliner, so you
need to change it and that can be done easily through the menu
system in XPAX.

Okay, so my first real flight with XPAX was in the Twin Otter
from Aerosoft and I decided to fly from Bora Bora to the small
island of Maupiti. This would be a very short flight, but it would be
a good test for XPAX. The first thing I needed to do was configure
XPAX for the Otter and that is done through the seating diagram
section within the program. Changing the seating layout to 20 seats;
7 rows of 2 on the right and 6 rows of 1 on the left of the plane
would give me a relatively accurate layout of the Otter for XPAX.
The seating diagram does change and reflects the new adjustments
so you can see exactly how it will be laid out and where each NICE DAY FOR A FLIGHT!
passenger will be seated.

When you start the flight it is important to start Flight Simulator

parked at a gate at whatever airport you want to fly out of. In my
case I started at the gate parked at NTAA with my engines off.
XPAX immediately came up in a text box at the top of my screen
informing me that XPAX was active and that I needed to open
the cabin doors on the plane to start the boarding process. After
opening the cabin door XPAX immediately alerts you by playing a
boarding message for your virtual passengers; you know, the ones
from within the airport.

As I sat there going through my checklists I could hear the

sounds of people boarding the plane and what really amazed me
was that the airplane reacted to the extra weight of the passengers
as they boarded. With only 18 passengers on board the boarding
time for Twin Otter doesn’t take long so within a few minutes we
were ready to fire up the engines and taxi. PASSENGERS PERSPECTIVE

As I put the plane in motion I was immediately greeted with

more cabin announcements and a safety briefing. This goes on
until you are about ready for takeoff. During the flight I was
able to monitor my passenger approval rating and continue to
listen to the in-flight announcements including the ones made by
the Captain.

Overall, I found that because I was in a smaller plane and didn’t

really take a super long flight I probably did miss out on a few
in-flight announcements during the flight. After landing and going
through the deplaning phase of the flight I wanted to see how the
passengers would react to a bumpy ride so after dropping off my
passengers at Maupiti I picked up my next set of victims, hmm, sorry,
passengers!

45
ARRIVAL

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 I decided to make this takeoff a rough one. As I ascended into the sky I
pitched the nose high and yawed the plane to the left. Almost immediately
my approval rating dropped and I could hear the audible screams of my
passengers and this is the same any time you attempt to over-stress the
airplane - they just don’t like it!

An XPAX Adventure with the A2A Boeing 377

Stratocruiser
I was anxious to get up in the sky with the A2A Simulation’s Boeing 377
and XPAX, so it was little surprise that I did most of my testing with the 377.
I decided to take a load of passengers from Tahiti Intl to Maupiti using radio
navigation. I loaded 50 passengers with 8 in first class and the rest in coach.

Setting up XPAX for the 377 was relatively easy and I set the max
THE FLIGHT REPORT passenger load to roughly 60. Once I was happy with the seating layout I
was ready to move forward with my flight and load the plane.

This time around I found it to be more like a large airline operation; the
announcements and the activities generated from XPAX better matched
my situation in FSX. The one thing that impressed me was the difference
in loading a 20 seat aircraft versus a larger plane as there is just so much
more going on and the process does take quite a bit longer. You can skip to
each section via the XPAX program, but I wanted to see how long it would
actually take and you know what? It took almost a half hour! It’s really
kind of cool to hear people walking onto the plane, the coughing and
talking just adds a lot to the feeling of being there. I was also surprised
when I saw the plane react to the extra weight as each person boarded,
this being visible from within the virtual cockpit.

The flight was monitored completely by XPAX and when flight

situations would change so would the mood of my passengers. As I
AIRCRAFT DETECTION IN XPAX neared Maupiti I was getting lined up for the runway when I realized
I hadn’t been paying attention to my airspeed. While in the middle of
a turn for the runway and at about 3500 feet the plane started to stall
and almost immediately my passengers responded to this predicament.
Pushing the throttles full forward I was able to right the aircraft and
bring it in for a very hard landing. The end result with XPAX was
that my approval rating dropped to nearly nothing and the passengers
weren’t very happy with the hard landing. I think I walked away with
about a 35 for an approval rating.

Don’t Let The “X” Fool You!

If I was looking at XPAX based on name alone I would probably
assume one thing, and that one thing is that XPAX is for FSX. Wrong,
XPAX will work with FS9! The only thing you need to make sure
you have is FSUIPC for FS9 as XPAX’s features rely on it for its
functionality. I didn’t have a lot of time to spend with it in FS9, but I
was able to get it up and running and use it with the PMDG 747. The
program ran the same as it did for FSX and was a welcome addition
THE PASSENGER MANIFEST to my FS9 installation.

It is important that you make sure you have the latest version of
FSUIPC for FS9 otherwise you will have problems. I hadn’t updated
my FSUIPC for some time and I initially found that the version I had
did not work with XPAX. A quick trip to the FSUIPC site – www.
schiratti.com/dowson.html - corrected this small issue.

You May Now Deplane

XPAX is a unique program as it does something for FSX that no one
has done yet and I have to say that I really did enjoy my time with it.
Using XPAX gives the virtual pilot a sense of responsibility when flying
with passengers onboard because you can actually associate names
with each and every passenger. They will grade you on a flight and let
you know when you don’t do it right, and like it is in the real world,
passengers have little patience when it comes to waiting! 4

46
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 4

Old Ted Blunders into the WorldChapter

of FS3
SIM FICTION BY BILL SMITH

Dear John,

S
itting in the creaking leather seat of my old At last, I had a breakthrough during this evening’s Airbus session
Dakota, looking out over Mitiga Airport, I with Sarah. As you know, ever since she (and Reg) taught me how to
suddenly remembered that Tripoli was one enter data into the Flight Management and Guidance Computer, I
of the ports of call on the old “Kangaroo Route” have had no real difficulty operating the A320 in “managed mode”. As
I’ve said before, the plane practically flies itself. Tuning the navigation
from London to Sydney, Australia. I reckoned that radios into the Instrument Landing System is easy once you know
by Christmas I should be able to fly all the way how, and if you can capture the localizer before engaging “approach”
to Sydney. Clearly, my DC-3 would have to make mode then, with two autopilots operating in tandem, the Airbus will
a lot more stops than the post-war Qantas Super execute a perfect “autoland”. That’s assuming that I’ve remembered
to set everything else up correctly of course. (There are so many things
Constellations, but that suited me just fine. More
to remember and everything happens so bloody fast in a jet).
stops would mean less pressure on my bladder and
more airports meant more opportunities to hone my But if there’s too much of a crosswind then an automatic landing is
landing skills. I started to daydream about the type considered too risky and I have to disengage the autopilot during the
of hat I might buy when I made it to Cairo, but my final approach and land it myself. It’s the same thing of course if there
is no ILS at my destination, and quite often it’s the shorter runways at
reverie was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the remote locations that have no ILS facility. It’s a deadly combination
alarm clock ringing inside the cockpit. It was time to that almost always results in a missed approach, or, if we are running
go and see Sarah again! over time, Sarah takes control and performs the landing.

47

cpm1212.indd 47 11/20/2008 12:37:37 AM

 Anyway, today she helped me set up for an approach into TNCM ‘Sarah’, I answered truthfully. Shaken by what had nearly been a
where the runway is a good length, but there is no ILS. After nasty accident I then blurted out, ‘I think about her all the time’.
disengaging the autopilot and autothrottles (and turning off the
annoying alarm) she gently touched my right hand. She persuaded Ted opened his eyes and turned to look at me from the passenger seat.
me to leave the throttle in the “CL” detent and concentrate on
holding the pitch steady while focusing on the approach lights. It ‘You know what Ted?’ he said, opening the door, ‘I think I’ll walk
was amazing! I managed to fly the Airbus all the way down to the home from here’.
runway threshold at a constant speed and attitude until I was ready
to close the throttles for touchdown! With reverse thrust and firm The next morning young Reg had already left for work by the time
braking, I managed to pull up and turn off at the last runway exit. I got out of bed. I could not believe that I had let it slip that I have a
Sarah was so thrilled that she leaned across and kissed me on the “thing” for Sarah. Until now, it had never occurred to me that perhaps
cheek. Feeling suddenly and inexplicably short of breath, I don’t Reg did too? But why not, after all, he spent a lot more time with her
remember much of what happened after that. than I did.

But anyway, starting tomorrow, I’m going to head off from I tried not to think about that as I made a flask of hot tea in
Tripoli and follow the old Kangaroo route across the Middle east preparation for my flight to Cairo. I had to put aside all thoughts
and Asia to come and “pay you a visit” in Sydney. I should be of the previous evening and get my mind into “the flight sim
there before Christmas. I’ll keep you posted on my progress. zone”. Of course I did not expect to make it all the way to Cairo
from Tripoli in one day. As I carried my thermos from the kitchen
Cheers, to the conservatory I figured that I would fill up the tanks of
the DC-3 and fly a VFR a route across the north coast of Libya
Dad. and find a place to land somewhere around the Gulf of Sidra. I
climbed into the cockpit simulator and after mapping out a flight
I realized that the frequency of the email exchanges between John plan, I fired up the radial engines.
and I had increased dramatically as I, just like him, immersed myself
deeper and deeper into the fascinating world of flight simulation. At As I taxied out to the active runway I thought that the worst that
last I understood why John had become so addicted to what many could happen that day was that Reg might tell Sarah she had a secret
of my contemporaries would regard as a “stupid computer game”. It admirer. But I was wrong, because something much worse than that
is not a game! It’s a way of life for me now, just as it is for John and was about to happen just after takeoff. As I eased the DC-3 gently into
Sarah and young Reg. the air and retracted the landing gear, my senses were immediately
assaulted by the sound of breaking glass. Then all hell broke loose…
I was very careful not to tell John every detail of the previous
evening’s events. The truth is that after my first successful “hand- Hours later, surrounded by a deathly silence and the smell of
flown” landing of the Airbus, my mind was racing as I drove Reg disinfectant I felt quite disorientated.
home from the Jet Simulation Centre, and I can only surmise that
I wasn’t really concentrating on the road as much as I should have ‘So Ted, you say you were in a plane crash?”
been. I remember that I was thinking…
I could hear the disembodied voice of the doctor just beyond the light
‘What if I applied some of the skills that are required to land the of the tiny torch that he was shining directly into my pupils.
Airbus to the way I fly my old DC-3? Perhaps I could maintain a
more constant approach profile if I didn’t fiddle with the throttles ‘No, not a crash, it was a bird strike’,
all the time? Maybe then I could eliminate the first big “bounce”
as I hit the runway?’ I decided that I would diligently apply my ‘So the plane you were flying was hit by a bird?’ the doctor responded
new skills when I departed Tripoli the next morning on the first with a sardonic tone that I was beginning to find exasperating. If I
leg of my “virtual” trans-continental trip to Sydney. And then I could have seen any more of him than just his silhouette, I might have
thought, that as our shared interest in flight simulation seemed reached out and strangled him. He continued to question me, as I lay
to be drawing John and I closer together, maybe I should plan flat on my back in his surgery.
a real trip to visit him in Australia later in the year? We could
swap flight simulation stories! Then I started to wonder if I ‘And where did you say this happened?’
should mention my plan to Sarah? Was there any chance that she
would like to accompany me on a trip to Sydney? We would have ‘At home; in my conservatory.’
separate rooms of course! It’s not that kind of a friendship…yet.
But then again, you never know how things might… He flicked off the tiny light and through blinking eyes I could see the
look of incredulity on his face. I sat up and tried to explain.
‘STOP!’ yelled Reg.
‘Look, it wasn’t a plane, it was a flight simulator’.
I slammed on the brakes and skidded to a halt just inches from the
back of an enormous lorry that was parked on the road ahead with its ‘Ah yes,’ he said, nodding his head. ‘My 12 year old son has that
hazard lights flashing. particular computer game at home….and how old are you Ted?’

‘Hell Ted, what are you thinking about?’ asked Reg, who was holding ‘I’m 63… and it’s much more than a game for me. It’s a very
his head in his hands with his eyes squeezed shut. engrossing… hobby’.

48 CPM. V12I12

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 ‘Hmmm… I wasn’t aware they could simulate bird strikes on a
computer, Ted. It all sounds a bit dangerous’.

‘No, Doctor James, it was a real bird! It was thrashing around

inside the cockpit and there was blood and feathers everywhere.’

For a moment, Dr James looked stunned and then with an

exaggerated calmness said;

‘A real bird eh? What makes you think that Ted?’

I stuck out my tongue and then, to prove to him that I hadn’t gone
completely mad, used my right thumb and forefinger to pick a
feather from my taste buds and showed it to him. ‘Now do you
believe me?’

‘He frowned and said ‘Ah! That would explain the bird droppings
in your toupee.’

As patiently as I could, I told him about the cockpit simulator

I have set up at home, inside the glass-walled conservatory.
I explained how just after takeoff from Tripoli, a bird
had dived into my garden and hit one of my conservatory
windows with sufficient force to fracture the glass. In its
dying moments, the bird had flapped around inside my
cockpit causing absolute mayhem.

‘At first all I was aware of was a lot of shouting and some of it was
in Spanish’.

The good doctor looked at me quizzically, and before he could

interject with a sarcastic suggestion that the dying bird was
perhaps yelling at me in a foreign language, I explained to him
that unbeknownst to me, my house cleaner had let herself in
only minutes before and had rushed into the conservatory to
see what all the commotion was about. In broken English she
was yelling at me to get out of the cockpit and allow her to
drive me to see a doctor.

I had waved her away as I was desperately trying to concentrate

on regaining control of the DC-3 so that I could land back at the
airport and assess the damage to my home built flight simulator.
But it was a hell of a distraction to have Carmelita all the while
dabbing at a cut over my right eye with a cleaning rag and yelling

‘Anciano estúpido!’

As soon as I had landed and taxied back to the terminal I

climbed out of my seat, over the broken glass and was so
stunned to see the blood on the front of my shirt that I felt my
knees buckle under me. Carmelita bundled me into the back
of her cleaning van and rushed me to the nearest medical
center. Upon arrival, as I disentangled myself from her mops
and buckets to step onto the footpath, she ran in ahead of me,
yelling in broken English something about a “plane crash”.
Moments later, I limped into the reception area with a bucket
stuck to my left foot. The receptionist looked as though she was
trying not to laugh. After sheepishly supplying her with my
name and address, she handed me a number (33) and told me
to wait.

To be continued… 4

49

cpm1212.indd 49 11/20/2008 12:37:38 AM

 FREEWAREFRENZY
Top Downloads at a Price that is Hard To Beat!
FREEWARE EXPLORERS THIS ISSUE: DAVID WILSON-OKAMURA

B y popular demand, Freeware Frenzy has returned to Computer Pilot magazine!

Every 2nd issue, we will track down the best freeware downloads available for a wide
variety of civilian and combat simulators. Every add-on mentioned in this column
can be yours for FREE (Internet connection required) thanks to the great community of
freeware developers devoting their time to creating awesome simulation masterpieces.
We salute you!

Western Kansas Airfields - FSX Scenery

Author: Steve Ziegler Filenames: wks-sz-1.zip, wks-sz-2.zip, wks-sz-3.zip, wks-sz-4.zip, wks-sz-5.zip, wks-sz-6.zip, wks-sz-7.zip
Filesizes: all under 100 kb Available from: avsim.com, flightsim.com

The American Midwest has many things going for it: great people, great universities, and great farmland. That being said, it is flat. Except for
Chicago, I never used to fly there in the sim. But that is beginning to change. Last fall, when Computer Pilot author Tom Kurtz wrote a number
of articles about Michigan, I toured the Great Lakes State. More recently, I’ve been doing short hops in Western Kansas. Kansas is flat, too, and
the default scenery is not what you would call “detailed.” Over the space of about six weeks, however, Steve Ziegler has recreated more than a
hundred small airfields from the Wichita sectional chart and made them available
for free. Each of the seven downloads is extremely small, because it uses standard
objects that are already part of FSX. This might sound dull but, in fact, the default
library is quite extensive: if you’re not a scenery designer yourself, it’s unlikely
that you will ever see all of the objects in it just by flying. Thanks to Ziegler, all
of the airfields now have accurate aprons and taxiways. Most also have some
combination of parked cars, parked airplanes (including, where appropriate, army
helicopters), storage hangars of various kinds, outbuildings, fuel pumps, raw
materials, an armored personnel carrier, control towers, light poles, dirt mounds,
grain elevators, and other surprises, including animated birds. Another advantage
of using default objects is performance: all of these airfields have excellent
framerates. Ziegler has been working on this project since 2005; about ten of the
more interesting airfields were originally created for FS2004, and you can still WESTERN KANSAS AIRFIELDS
find them by searching for “kansas” and the author’s name.

Alf’s UK Airfields - FSX Scenery

Author: Alf Denham Filenames: search for author’s name to find all current files
Filesizes: 800 kb to 12 mb Available from: avsim.com, flightsim.com

This project is similar to “Western Kansas Airfields” in that it relies primarily—not exclusively—on default scenery objects. It differs in
covering a wider area, a country instead of a state, with more varied topography. The series is still ongoing, and seems to be getting more
ambitious. It began in March 2008, and as of this writing (in mid-September)
there are now eleven volumes, most with just three or four airfields. Again, I’m
impressed by the variety, not just of objects but of airfield types. At the small
end, there are hilltop fields that cater to gliders and club fields for weekend
flyers. At the big end, there are municipal airports for scheduled flights on
commercial airlines. The latest volume includes Sheffield City Airport (EGSY),
which has photographic ground textures, lots of buildings, parked aircraft and
support vehicles, and even some animated human beings. Framerates are lower
here, because there is so much detail, but this was the only field where I noticed
a drop. In addition to the scenery, each package comes with airport charts; these
show taxiway layouts on the ground as well traffic patterns in the air, and can
be used to make your visits there more realistic. What we need now is a master
chart that shows where all of the airfields are located; using Google Earth and ALF’S UK AIRFIELDS
Google Maps, I’ve started one here: http://tinyurl.com/6ndscv.
50 CPM. V12I12

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 X-PLANE
OZx - FSX Scenery
Authors: Mark Lee, Wolter van der Spoel, Jay Kae, and others Filename: OZx_AUS_v1.0.zip
Filesize: 668 mb Available from: aussiex.org

Some time ago, we featured Vista Australis: a massive freeware project that included
roads, coastlines, landclass, airfields, and custom ground textures for all of Australia.
VOz, as it’s known for short, is still being updated (it’s up to version 1.6 now), but
it only works in FS2004. For FSX, there is now a payware product, Orbx FTX, that
covers the terrain of Australia in four parts; we’ll say more about this in a moment.
Meanwhile, an independent team is developing the country’s smaller airfields and
releasing them as freeware. Originally called FTX Freeware, this project is now OZx
(pronounced “aussie-x”). Like “Western Kansas Airfields” and “Alf’s UK Airfields,”
OZx specializes in small fields and high framerates. The biggest difference is that
most, if not all, of the fields use photographic ground textures. Also, most of them
don’t appear on your GPS. This makes finding them rather more difficult; and when
you do spot the field, there will sometimes be obstacles. It’s all fun, but it does keep
you on your toes. Currently (with version 1.0), there are about 130 airfields in the
whole package; I’ve visited about a dozen so far, and each one has been different.
An update is in the works, and promises to include even more fields; preview OZX
screenshots are already online at the support forum.

FTX Freeware - FSX Scenery

Authors: John “Koorby” Venema, Holger Sandmann, Mal Walker, John Ross, Rob Byrne, Rob Neiuwenhoven, Graham Eccleston, Martin
Henare, Heiko Glatthorn, and others.
Filenames: various Filesizes: 19 mb to 243 mb Available from: fullterrain.com

A few months ago, FTX spun off OZx as an independent project. But FTX is
still publishing freeware on its own website. These packages are intended to
complement and draw attention to FTX’s payware products, but there’s no obligation
to buy, and all of the packages can be used independently. As of this writing, FTX’s
freeware offerings fall into five categories. First is terrain mesh for all of Australia.
Second is remodeled cockpits and repaints for a handful of payware planes. Third is
detailed scenery for selected regional airports. Four of these have already published:
Port Macquarie (YPMQ) in New South Wales, Launceston (YMLT) in Tasmania ,
Lilydale (YLIL) in Victoria , and Redcliffe (YRED) in Queensland. At least three
more airports are in the works. The fourth category of freeware is AI traffic, using
real world schedules and liveries. Finally, there is a complete makeover of Tasmania.
This includes accurate coastlines, region-specific ground textures, detailed roads,
moving traffic, and 3D night lighting. If you’re just getting your feet wet, this last
package will get you started in one go, with one detailed airport (Launceston) and FTX FREEWARE
custom terrain for the whole island (about 26,000 square miles).

Nugget and Newbie Guides - IL-2, Pacific Fighters

Author: Bearcat, Skycat, and Jay Hall
Available from: forums.ubi.com

Since it was introduced seven years ago, IL-2 Sturmovik has grown into a vast system of maps, airplanes, missions, and campaigns. For the
newcomer, this can be daunting, and the documentation that comes with the game is far from complete. That is where these two guides come in.
Both are written by veterans, and give practical instructions for new pilots. The focus
of both guides is not on tactics so much as mechanics: how to set up the program for
your hardware, how to navigate using the map and waypoint compass, and how to
get online so that you can interact with other pilots. “A Nugget’s Guide to Getting
Off the Ground,” by Bearcat and Skycat, is actually a forum post on the official IL-
2 web site (forums.ubi.com). It goes on for five pages and has lots of screenshots.
You’ll find it in the “IL2 Maddox General Discussion” folder, pinned near the top.
“Newbie’s Guide to IL2 Online Dogfighting,” by Jay Hall, has a narrower focus.
First, what software does a new pilot need to go online? (Except for the game itself,
all of the software is free.) Then, once set up, which games should they join? Finally,
what is the best way to improve your skill? Hall’s guide is in the form of a PDF,
but its location is liable to move; the fastest way to find it (and one that will still be
valid a year from now) is to Google the full title. Both of these guides give concrete
advice, including recommendations for choosing a plane. To some, this advice will
seem overly prescriptive, but that is what most beginners need: “Do this, don’t do
that, and the result will be such-and-such.” In the end, there is only one way to enjoy
this game, which is to practice. But some forms of practice are more rewarding than NUGGET AND NEWBIES GUIDES
others; these guides can help find them.
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 Boeing/BAe T-45C Goshawk - FSX Aircraft
Author: Dino Cattaneo Filename: t45cfsxb.zip Filesize: 11 mb Available from: avsim.com, flightsim.com

This is one of the more polished pieces of freeware that we’ve seen
so far for FSX. Manufactured by British Aerospace and modified for
carrier operations, the Goshawk is a military trainer. In the real world,
it’s obvious why trainers exist: so that inexperienced pilots don’t kill
themselves (and their flight instructors) the first time out. But in the
simulator, where there’s no danger of dying, why wouldn’t everyone
skip straight to a full-powered fighter, like the F/A-18 Hornet? The
answer will be clear to anyone who’s tried the Hornet missions in
Acceleration: carrier landings take a long time to master; and even
if you’re not dead, most of that time is frustrating. This is why the
Goshawk is so appealing. It’s still fun to fly, but it’s much easier to
land on a carrier. Also, the model is a sharp looker, both as viewed
from outside and in the virtual cockpit. Crewmen are animated. Detail
is high, and so are framerates; this is a payware-class model. You do
need to own Acceleration, because several of the Goshawk’s gauges
are borrowed from the Acceleration Hornet. But if you’ve tried carrier
BAE GOSHAWK
ops before and didn’t get anywhere, try again with the Goshawk.

NAS Meridian (KNMM) - FSX Scenery

Authors: John Stinstrom and Jim Dhaenens Filename: fsx_knmm.zip Filesize: 6 mb Available from: avsim.com

One of the places you can see Goshawks in the real world is the naval
air station (NAS) at Meridian, Mississippi. This is where, among
other things, would-be naval aviators practice touching down in a
space the size of a carrier deck. Thanks to John Stinstrom and Jim
Dhaenens, you can practice the same way. The download isn’t big,
but it gives the correct layout for the airport, adds some buildings,
lays down some photographic ground textures, and marks each of
the runways to show the dimensions of a carrier deck. Touch down
outside, and you won’t die. Touch down inside, and you might be
ready for real carriers.
And when you are ready... If you have Acceleration installed, all of the
default carriers have working catapults and arrestor cables. But where
do you find the carriers? In February’s Frenzy we described a little
program called “AI Carriers 2” (aicarriers2r2.zip) by Lamont Clark.
With this program you can create an instant carrier group anywhere in
the world, land on it, refuel, and launch again via catapult. I tested it
with the Goshawk, and they work together seamlessly. NAS MERIDIAN

EDTQ Pattonville - FS2004 Scenery

Authors: Andreas Beisswenger, Sascha Matouschek, Michael Wünsch Filename: edtq_fs9_v1.3.rar
Filesize: 47 mb Available from: climbspeed.de

This issue’s Frenzy has focused on freeware for FSX, but new
and inventive freeware for FS2004 is still being produced. This
new airfield scenery is an example. Until the end of the Cold War,
Pattonville provided housing for U.S. Army families who were
stationed in Germany. Named after General George Patton, the town
has a small airfield, which is still operated by a local flying club.
Using photographic ground textures this scenery recreates the airfield
with colors and foliage appropriate to each season of the year. The
town of Pattonville, with its giant apartment buildings, has been
modeled as well, and if you look carefully there is even a drive-in
movie theater. The package comes with an airport diagram and a chart
showing the traffic pattern. The German-language manual is eighteen
pages long and predicts that versions for X-Plane and FSX will be
available shortly. I installed the scenery in FSX and, except for some EDTQ PATTONVILLE
transparency problems, it seems to be almost ready.

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 4

The “Flight Experience” Experience!

BY BILL SMITH
The Flight Experience office at Q1 in Surfers Paradise (on
Australia’s east coast) opened for business in April 2008, and is

H
the newest in an ever-expanding franchise network* of replica 737
onestly; you would not believe some of the cockpit simulators, a business which has its genesis in New Zealand.
things that I have to endure in the line of The shop front is located on the ground floor of Q1 retail center, in the
duty. Everyone knows that my middle name heart of one of Australia’s busiest tourist precincts. Walking through
the front doors was a little like entering a small airport lounge. The
is “Autopilot” and yet I just hand-flew a replica first thing I noticed was my name listed up on a departures board and
Boeing 737 cockpit simulator from Sydney (YSSY) to beyond that I caught a tantalizing glimpse of an open door into the
Australia’s Capital City airport, Canberra (YSCB). fuselage of a Boeing 737. I was welcomed with the title of “Captain
That I managed to do so without breaking anything is Smith”, and handed a boarding card with my flight details. I could tell
straight away that this was “the real deal” as they say. Any hardcore
a testament to the proficiency of my instructor, Ross; flight-sim enthusiast stepping in there might think they had died and
who guided me through the whole flight and managed gone to heaven.
to keep me out of trouble.
But the interesting thing about this business is that has been set up
The guys at Flight Experience Q1 on Australia’s Gold Coast even for the entertainment of the general public, rather than just FS geeks
printed out a “Certificate of Achievement” for me as proof of the like you and me. Their instructors will cater for anyone, whether
successful completion of my mission. or not they have any knowledge of aircraft operations. So for me,
in place of the mandatory 15 minute flight briefing for all novice
Now of course I know that in my role as flight-sim scribe I should flyers, I had an extended meeting with the business manager Robby
always take care to dispassionately impart only factual information to Solomon and one of the simulator instructors, self-confessed flight
CP magazine subscribers but I just cannot contain my enthusiasm for sim fanatic Ross Farquharson. The meeting was conducted inside
everything that I have just seen, and heard and touched. Let me tell the simulator cockpit, with the APU running and all the instrument
you, that 45 minute flight was a blast! panels lit up. (I wish that all meeting rooms were as nice as this one.)

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 Robby, the manager, boasted that the business is open to the public
from 9.00am, seven days a week and that they are at their busiest
during weekends. I put it to him and to Ross that promoting such a
highly technical piece of equipment to the general public as “just a bit
of fun” (with no experience necessary) must be quite a difficult trick
to pull off successfully. After all, as anyone who has been operating
Microsoft’s Flight Simulator for a long while understands; the more
you learn about how an airliner works, the more you get out of your
flight sim experience. So when someone comes into their office holding
their Flight Experience Q1 gift certificate, they may not necessarily
know anything at all about aircraft or flight simulation. In which case
when the instructor tells them to ‘set the flaps for takeoff’, they may
not even know what flaps are for. So it’s a fair question to ask ‘How
do the instructors balance telling the customer everything they need to
know without overwhelming them with technical information that they
simply cannot absorb in such a short space of time?’

ROSS WELCOMES YOU ABOARD THE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE SIMULATOR

The cockpit environment is a far cry from the “keyboard and mouse
click” setup that most of us have at home and I promise you, it is
almost impossible to resist reaching out and touching everything that
moves. The detail is incredible! Even the pilots’ seats slide sideways
and forwards into the driving position just like the real thing.

Ross is one of three flight instructors who are on staff at the Q1

Gold Coast operation. He explained that the program that runs the
simulator is Microsoft’s FS9 with the addition of software that adds
all the ultra-realistic functions such as a programmable FMC.
In addition they run a traffic program that adds real-world liveries to
the aircraft that move around the airports. Power for the simulator
operation comes via a stack of eight computers and there are three
overhead projectors to provide the outside view, beyond the cockpit
windows. It is interesting to note that instead of the standard Air YOU WOULD HAVE A SMILE ON YOUR FACE LIKE THIS IF YOU COULD DO
Traffic Control that’s included in FS9, they have incorporated a set THIS AS A JOB EVERY DAY!
of pre-scripted ATC messages that are specifically tailored to each
flight. This ATC system was developed by Pacific Simulations and In answer to that, Robby explained that the flight experience at
adds another touch of realism to the whole experience. It is also worth Q1is all about giving each customer ‘as much control as he can
noting that this is a fixed-base cockpit simulator which is one of the handle’. The instructor uses the fifteen minute pre-flight briefing to
reasons that the cost to the consumer is a fraction of the hourly rate of establish just how much each customer knows and then explains
a typical full-motion simulator. the operation of the flight controls and answers any queries that the
customer may have. In case you were wondering, crash detection is
always switched off, so that hard landings and collisions with other
aircraft are forgiven. As Ross said, ‘we are looking to give them a
flight experience, not a crash experience.’

Checklists are used for each phase of the flight and the aircraft is
always flown by hand, although the operation of the autopilot can be
demonstrated if required. The guys at Flight Experience Q1 can call up
approach charts from the internet for any destination that the customer
asks for. Flight sim fanatics can be well and truly catered for and you
can take it from me that the tactile feedback from all the controls and
switches takes your FS experience to a completely new level of realism.

Although I was familiar with most of the displays and controls around
me, it was quite different to the usual situation of having everything
focussed before me on one single computer screen. Pushing forward on
the throttles with one hand and hauling back on the yoke to rotate while
simultaneously scanning the array of instruments is a very satisfying
experience indeed. My instructor Ross sat in the first officer’s seat and
operated the gear and flaps at my instruction. He also handled radio
ROBBY SOLOMON, MANAGER, AT THE CHECK-IN COUNTER communications and gave me flying tips as necessary during the flight.

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 If there was one thing that I thought could have been better, it was
the outside view projected onto three separate screens. I had somehow
imagined that they would have utilized a single large curved screen
for increased realism. But the truth is that when flying the simulator,
one is kept so busy that there is not a great deal of attention paid to
the outside view. As you might expect, the pilot’s main focus is on
the Primary Flight Display and the Navigation Display. At some point
during our flight, we were joined in the cockpit by Perbender Hayer,
the most senior simulator instructor at Gold Coast Flight Experience
in Q1. He sat behind us in the jump seat and monitored our progress
but at first I was too busy even to notice his presence. Once we
reached cruise altitude I began to relax, so I was able to listen to some
of the conversation between Perbender and Ross and just enjoy the
experience of being in the company of people who are possibly even
more obsessed by flight sim than I am. (And to be with people who
know more than you do is the best way to refine your skills.)

Our configuration for the approach into Canberra was perhaps

a little hurried due to the distraction of the exchange of some light
hearted banter with my cockpit crew members. But the final approach
and touchdown on to Runway 35 was successful and as I stated
previously nothing got broken. I even have a DVD of the whole flight
to keep! If it sounds like it was a lot of fun, then that’s because it was!

Now anyone reading this magazine in their home in the USA or

Europe, may be asking themselves, ‘Do I really want to endure a
long haul flight to the east coast of Australia just to fly a 737 cockpit
simulator?’ And my answer to that is ‘Yes of course you do.’ Bring
the family and enjoy the beautiful beaches and Warner Brothers’

PERBENDER HAYER – FLIGHT EXPERIENCE Q1’S MOST SENIOR

SIMULATOR INSTRUCTOR

Movie World while you are there. But most of all, come for the flight
simulator experience.

For more details of the Flight Experience Q1 cockpit simulator

check out their website - http://www.flightexperience.com.au/

Go ahead and book your holiday flight to the Gold Coast today.
You know you want to…

*Footnote: There are also Flight Experience offices in Sydney

and Melbourne. 4

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 Visiting Virtual Oshkosh 2008 4

BY PETER DODDS

S
ometimes, in our hobby, reality and
imagination become rather entwined. This is in small (and therefore slow) aircraft. “Well, they do it real world”
our adventurous member reminded us. “They go to Oshkosh
a true story of a simulated flight, carried out from Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Australia – you name
in real time, but feel free to allow your imagination the country and someone from there has flown a light aircraft to
to believe it was real. Oshkosh.” I guess we had to then.

Most light aviation enthusiasts, real or virtual will know the name JULY 18TH
Oshkosh, the biggest annual assembly of aircraft in one place in We would fly the whole trip online, picking up ATC where we
peacetime. What is especially remarkable is that the majority of the could from the VATSIM network. We decided to fly as we were able
1500 or so aircraft are built by amateurs, which is why it is run by the with real world commitments, possibly together, in small groups or
Experimental Aircraft Association. What is also amazing… I could even alone on occasion, meeting up enroute where we could.
go on, but I suggest you go to their web site - www.airventure.org
- and read all about it. Tim and I were the first to set off, departing Carlisle (EGNC) on
the first leg to Wick (EGPC). It was IMC all the way, so we took
In our FS Flying Club, used to pootling (is that an international the opportunity to fly the IFR DME Arc procedure for Runway 26 at
word?) around the U.K. we sat back a bit when one of our members Wick, with uncertain success, except that we did manage to land on
suggested flying to “virtual Oshkosh”. It reminded me of the old the right runway. Our Club has members across the world, and one of
Irish joke “If I wanted to go there, I wouldn’t start from here”. It our Canadian members, Al, arrived and took off from Carlisle as Tim
meant crossing the Atlantic, flying halfway across North America and I were getting close to Wick.

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 We went for the Localizer-DME approach to Runway 31, and
through the clouds we had glimpses of small islands, sheer cliffs,
boats, and little villages. We were supposed to maintain 4000ft until
9.5DME on the localizer, but one of us didn’t read that bit, and on
emerging from cloud, with the runway straight ahead, found a large
mountain also straight ahead and not a hundred feet below his wheels.
Basil joined us at Vagar after a late start from Carlisle, and Al
came in again, last due to the time zone difference. The Club uses
Teamspeak to chat informally on our trips and while waiting for Al
we talked about everything and anything - politics, management
strategy, social customs, and Club events past and present. Al
touched down at 0115Z (2:15 a.m. local time) - the second of many
very late nights.

CLIMBING OUT OF WICK WITH TIM JUST VISIBLE BEHIND

JULY 19TH
Off over the north Atlantic tonight to the tiny Faroe Islands. At
250 nm, this was the shortest of the four sea crossings. Again it was
Tim and I who set off first and Al set off 5 hours later. The weather
was mostly IMC all the way, but by holding an accurate heading and
tuning in the Akraberg NDB, we arrived ready to fly the procedure
into Vagar (EKVG).

THE POPULATION OF THE FAROES ROSE BY 5% WHEN WE ARRIVED

JULY 20TH
Now it was on to Iceland - Vagar to Reykjavik (BIRK), a mere
416 nm over the North Atlantic at 140 knots. Because of real
world commitments, we each flew this leg alone. However, we all
experienced heavy rain and a strong crosswind on takeoff from Vagar.
I suppose if the prevailing wind is from the south west, unhindered
from crossing any land all the way from the equator, and the only bit
of flat land in the entire island is oriented north east, then a howling
crosswind is what you have to live with.
AL INBOUND TO VAGAR IN THE BARON

INTERESTING APPROACH TO VAGAR HOWLING CROSSWIND; DRENCHING RAIN

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 Fortunately FS doesn’t model curl off the hills, or we could have
had some serious trouble, but even so, in the Mooney Tim was flying,
it didn’t leave much mental energy for looking at the rather spectacular
scenery. In the Twin Otter, it didn’t trouble me, nor Basil in his DC3,
but Al had a bit of a tussle in the Baron. On this leg, dead reckoning
was king (GPS was banned as part of the “rules” of the trip), and the
plan was that a heading of 290° would get us there, with the hope that
the ING VOR would be picked up about half way across.

THE SUN DIDN’T SET ON HIS RETURN TO REYKJAVIK

JULY 22ND
Today we set off from Reykjavik to Narsarsuaq (BGBW) in
Greenland, the legendary stopover for all light aircraft ferry flights
from the USA to Europe. We were in rain again leaving Reykjavik
– great! A right turn took us out over the Keflavik VOR, which we
then tracked for the next 180 miles or so across the ocean before
losing the signal.

ICELAND - A WELCOME SIGHT

We climbed above the weather, but were slowed by a brisk

headwind all the way. Iceland finally came into view, still a long way
off in good visibility, and we were able to track the ING VOR for the
last hour, which was comforting.

JULY 21ST
We gave ourselves a day off at this point, and Ross caught us
up at last, making five of us now. Tim decided to visit Isafjodur APPROACHING GREENLAND WITH ICEBERGS BELOW
(BIIS) in the north west of the island, which like Courchevel in
France, is one of the world’s more “interesting” airports.
http://www.caa.is/media/PDF/AD_2_BIIS.pdf During a rare clear view below, we saw icebergs (in FSX) as we
approached the Greenland coast. The ice shelf reaches well over
9000ft hereabouts but we were cruising at FL120 so were well clear.
Tim was trying to wrest some semblance of the book performance
out of his Mooney, which although it allegedly had a ram air system
which functioned as a supercharger, it wouldn’t stay engaged, so he
kept losing speed. Distracted by this, plus flying on a high throttle
setting, he ran out of fuel 8 miles short of Narsarsuaq. Although
descending to land, he was fortunately still at a respectable altitude.
Forget the NDB approach to 07 – “the approved runway for landing”;
he was committed to a straight in glide approach to 25. He made it.

TIM TRIES THE ISAFJODUR APPROACH

The airfield is nestled into the side of a cliff, at the top of a narrow
fjord. There is a displaced localizer in the next fjord, at about 90
degrees to the runway. You then turn up the fjord, practically scraping
the right hand wall, and make a 180 degree descending turn to land.
Fun! ENGINE STOPPED, TIM ROLLS TO A STOP AT NARSARSUAQ

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 Meanwhile, Matt had just set off from Wick in his Piper PA24
Single Comanche. Ross and Harry arrived in the early hours,
followed by me. Matt had encountered fog at Vagar and again at
Reykjavik. “That’s the problem with islands”, he said.

Goose Bay is near the town of Happy Valley, at the far end of
the very large (by UK standards) Lake Melville. So just when we
thought the water had ended, there was more of it! Al attempted the
DME Arc approach to 08, which he described as “wobbly”. It was
good to see we were all of the same standard when it came to DME
Arcs. Al found a link on how to fly them - http://www.flightsim.
com/cgi/kds?$=main/howto/vordme.htm
We weren’t doing them that way!

I MADE A CONSTANT ASPECT APPROACH INTO NARSARSUAQ

Al and Harry, who had now joined us, had a more controlled
arrival, fortunately. I arrived after a 4hr 50 minute flight from
Reykjavik, flown in FS daylight, but actually mostly in the early
hours of the Wednesday morning. I elected for the visual approach
up the fjord, mainly because I had done it before (See Computer Pilot
February 2005). At Reykjavik, I had carefully loaded enough fuel to
be exactly at maximum weight but I had nothing left for a go around, JUST WHEN WE THOUGHT WE’D SEEN THE LAST OF WATER, THERE’S
MORE – LAKE MELVILLE
so it was a one shot game into Narsarsuaq.

JULY 23RD
Today’s leg was a little shorter than yesterdays, a mere 670 nm to
Goose Bay (CYYR), and Tim was heard muttering over his calculator
making sure of his endurance, this time. No such worries in the Twin
Otter, although I did feel guilty about taking such a safe machine
on this adventure. We had to leave Basil behind here with a spot of
engine trouble, leaving him with a “hope the DC3 parts aren’t too
expensive to air freight out here.”

AL ON FINAL FOR 09 GOOSE BAY

THE PASSENGER’S VIEW OF THE INSIDE OF A CLOUD

The plan was to fly a heading of 230° and pick up the YYR VOR
at Goose Bay after coasting in to Labrador. Tim arrived first after a 5
hour flight, and about 20 minutes later, Al arrived. This was despite
setting off nearly two hours after Tim, who reckoned he really had the
world’s slowest Mooney! LABRADOR, LAND OF PINES AND POWER LINES

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 There was another chance to try DME Arcs at Sept Îles, the
standard of which was about the same as previously. Al reported later
that as he aligned with the ILS the DME stopped transmitting and the
ILS too died. With no visual on the airport until he was on short final,
it was the NDB which guided him in. I too found that the DME was
out of action when I arrived at Sept Îles, so I decided to divert to my
alternate, Baie Comeau, about 100 miles further south.

At Baie Comeau I had DME, so another wobbly DME Arc put

me on the ILS. It was an approach of faith, the runway lights only
becoming visible at about 3 miles from touchdown.

NOTHING TO SEE FOR HOURS…

THE RUNWAY AT BAIE COMEAU BECOMES VISIBLE JUST 3 MILES OUT

Al informed us that he was visiting the real Niagara Falls in a few

days, so we decided that we would do that too, when we got that far.
…SO I LET THE PLANE FLY ITSELF FOR A WHILE
JULY 25TH
Sept- Îles to Quebec Jean Lesage (CYQB) was to be a spectacular
JULY 24TH run down the St Lawrence River, but there was more rain and low
From Goose Bay to Sept- Îles (CYZV) is a mere 286 nm straight cloud, and there was little to see which was very disappointing,
across pine forest. Yesterday was all blue; today is all green as we although there were patches of blue occasionally, just to taunt! Tim
cross Labrador to the St Lawrence river. Having rendezvoused in had a bit of luck, with the weather clearing enough for him to see
Goose Bay we managed to stay more or less together on this leg. the spectacular Pont de l’Île d’Orléans à Québec. It’s a nice looking
The weather started out O.K. but it wasn’t long before we had a solid suspension bridge, real world. In FS, it’s a slab. Sigh!
undercast and the green turned to grey.

ONE OF OUR INFAMOUS DME ARCS – AL’S APPROACH TO SEPT ÎLES TIM DEPARTED SEPT ÎLES STRAIGHT INTO IMC

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 Centre on VATSIM. They must have been a bit surprised to see a
line of British registered aircraft with a Canadian registration in the
middle! He managed to work through the differences in phraseology
and procedure without difficulty, fortunately. He was given
“Maintain VFR at all times” (that’s a laugh) and got a squawk code so
guessed he was receiving the “flight following” service which is used
in North America, and is similar to the British “Radar Information
Service”. Then he ran into a belt of thunderstorms. We really have
had no luck with weather at all!

I GOT UP EARLY TO SEE THE SUNRISE. NO CHANCE!

JULY IS THUNDERSTORM MONTH ROUND TORONTO

Meanwhile we had found an Oshkosh scenery package and arrival

instructions on AVSIM http://www.fs-mp.com/oshkosh/ for an FSX
Gamespy fly-in on July 26th. Although we would be on VATSIM,
LE PONT DE L’ÎLE D’ORLÉANS À QUÉBEC – and weren’t going to get there until after that, the scenery and route
DANS FS CE N’EST PAS ÉLÉGANTE!
information proved invaluable.

At Jean Lesage, I met up with Harry and Tim, and we posed

JULY 28TH
Today Tim and Matt departed Toronto to visit Niagara. The route
for the obligatory group photo. Al was planning a stop-over in
took them south over Lake Ontario to St Catherines (CYSN) with a
Quebec to help them celebrate their 400 year anniversary.
diversion to circle the falls and take pictures. They got good weather
http://www.quebec400.gc.ca/bienvenue-welcome-eng.cfm
for pictures of the falls, whilst Al, lucky man, was looking at them for
real, and emailed us some stunning photographs.
Instrument approaches were again expected into Quebec, but the
DME here was also out of operation. Eventually there was some
downwards visibility, (we could actually see boats on the river below,
and so we all managed a normal visual approach.

We called another 24 hour break, so that Matt and Harry could

catch up and Al could get over his Quebec celebrations hangover.

JULY 27TH
We continued down the St Lawrence to Toronto Buttonville
(CYKZ) in mixed weather. The route took us north of Montreal and
Ottawa, before turning southwards towards Lake Superior.

I decided to take off from Quebec before dawn, (Eastern Time

Zone) in order to see the sunrise. Due to the cloud, though, it wasn’t
as pretty as it should have been. I began to wonder if I would actually
get to see much of Canada – it had been pretty invisible up to now.

After a bright start Tim and Al ran into solid IMC near Montreal.
Ottawa merely had poor visibility, but it cleared enough to allow
visual approaches into Buttonville. Matt was able to talk to Toronto TIM TAKES A TOUR OVER NIAGARA

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 Threading our way between the Great Lakes, we crossed from Canada
into the USA at Port Huron. One of the highlights of this leg was
receiving live ATC “flight following” from Cleveland Center and then
from Chicago Center. If the controllers were surprised to have a convoy
of limeys in their airspace, they didn’t give it away in their voices.

Unused to U.S. procedures, Matt filed Flight Level 105, forgetting

that in the States, flight levels only start from 18,000 feet. Also,
receiving “Altimeter two niner niner two” had to be translated into
“QNH 1013. He said “I always feel for newbies launching out
with their first call to ATC, and I felt the same butterflies last night.
However, after the initial call to Cleveland Center and tuning in to
the different phraseology, talking to Chicago further down the line
was easier.

We all managed to meet up at the huge Grand Rapids Gerald R.

AND MATT DOES TOO
Ford airport, which seemed to be almost as big as London Heathrow,
and we once again took the obligatory team picture.
JULY 29TH
Al flew to Buttonville to catch us up after his few days away at JULY 30TH
Niagara. I flew two legs today, first to Niagara but the weather was The final leg! There were six of us once more, Harry having caught
poor and although I got some nice views of the falls I didn’t take any up, and now joined by Chris, from Wadsworth, Ohio. We followed
pictures, then later to Grand Rapids, Michigan USA (KGRR) with the procedures used in the real world, which are designed to safely get
the rest of the gang. Harry and Al flew to Grand Rapids direct from 1500 or more light aircraft on the ground in a couple of days.
Buttonville. An American member of the Club, Chris, had been in The initial fix was Ripon, south of Oshkosh. From there we had to
touch and would join us at Grand Rapids, flying in from his home follow the railroad tracks to Fisk, then position for a base leg join.
airport of Wadsworth Municipal (3G3) in Ohio. However, we found that two briefing documents disagreed. So while
all the singles joined right base for 27 from Fisk, the others were
surprised to see me, being a twin, join left base for Runway 36, as per
my briefing. Such is the enormous size of American airports, there
was no risk of collision, Runway 27 being almost a mile beyond the
end of 36.

AL VISITED THE REAL NIAGARA DURING OUR TRIP

WE LINED UP FOR A MUG SHOT AT GRAND RAPIDS SERVINFO VIEW - CROSSING LAKE MICHIGAN

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 WE MADE IT, GUYS!

We all lined up for a photo call to celebrate our arrival after 25

flying hours over 2 weeks, often in the early hours of the morning,
TIM JUST 30 SECONDS FROM THE END OF THE TRIP and almost 4000 miles from England. It felt as real as it gets. 4

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 4

How To: Creating Custom FSX Weather

BY CHUCK BODEEN

B
y far the easiest thing to do in flying is to get
up there in clear, calm air on a nice sunny instructors. Van West is the editor of the real world magazine “IFR”
day. But when I took my flying lessons, the and Lane-Cummings is a technical communications professional. My
first thing that caught my attention was that those task in this article is to give you all you really need to know about the
days don’t happen often. There is always some form subject in a nut shell – that is, in fewer words. What I have to say will
be closely related to the FSX weather instructions but from my own
of weather that fouls things up. One day I did twelve point of view as a user.
takeoffs and landings in an hour. Because of varying
wind conditions (as well as my inexperience) every
landing was different.
FSX offers several distinct ways to set up weather situations. There
is (1) a short method called Weather Themes, (2) a simple and an
advanced way to create your own conditions, and (3) two choices
for using local data that can be downloaded from the real-world.
Any time you go up in a real plane you are going to get the weather
that happens to be there at the time. The Weather Themes and the
real-world weather approximate that condition. User-defined weather
allows you to put the atmosphere in any state you so desire which is
certainly not a choice you have in an actual airplane.

The help files in FSX contain all you need to know, but you
must read through almost 9,000 words. The book “Microsoft Flight
Simulator X for Pilots” by Jeff Van West and Kevin Lane-Cummings
ON THE FSX OPENING SCREEN CLICK ON BUTTON “A” TO CHANGE
devotes an entire chapter specifically to FSX weather as well as THE DISPLAY SETTINGS. CLICK ON “B” IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE
details scattered throughout the book. Both of these men are flight WEATHER

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 Display Settings
Before you start flying you will see a link to “SETTINGS” on the
left side of the opening page of FSX. The page that comes up is for
“Display Settings” and has to do with the resolution of the rendering
rather than the type of weather even though there are pictures of
different weather conditions. Feel free to adjust any of the resolutions
to optimize the display performance on your particular computer. On
my own machine I found that the Weather setting made little or no
difference by itself. However, the frame rate slowed noticeably when
I moved all sliders from “minimal” or to “ultra”.

LEARJET OVER SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA WITH A “FAIR WEATHER” SETTING

WITH CLOUDS AT 6000 AND 32,000 FEET

WEATHER DISPLAY RESOLUTION IS SET ON THE SETTINGS PAGE BUT

THIS DOES NOT CHANGE THE WEATHER

CUB OVER MELBOURNE AIRPORT IN “FAIR WEATHER”

Weather Themes
While you are flying, if you select CURRENT WEATHER
The stormy themes with rain showed more on the cockpit views
/ CHANGE on the FREE FLIGHT page or click on “World /
than from the outside. “Winter Wonderland” has the ground covered
Weather…” you will go to the WEATHER screen. There are ten
with the white stuff while “Heavy Snows” has the snow falling nicely
different choices that range from Clear Skies to Major Thunderstorm
on clear ground. By changing the season to Winter, you can get snow
and each one is described in detail in the accompanying HELP file.
on that ground – except in places like Egypt.
For instance, the description of the Fair Weather theme states that it
will have scattered cumulus. What I actually found was a thin cloud
layer at about 6,000 feet and some high cirrus around 32,000 feet. I
flew the Learjet through both layers to check their altitudes. When I
changed planes to the Piper Cub, there was no perceptible turbulence
using either the Minimal or Fair Weather themes.

THIS SCREEN DISPLAYS A LIST OF “THEMES” AS WELL AS PROVIDING SNOW IS A DYNAMIC ASPECT OF FSX. IT’S A BLIZZARD WHEN YOU ARE
LINKS TO REAL-WORLD AND USER-DEFINED WEATHER FLYING, BUT JUST A LOT OF FLAKES WHEN YOU PAUSE THE SIM

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 THE BASIC CUSTOM WEATHER SCREEN LETS YOU SELECT GENERAL
THE “STORMY WEATHER” THEME HAD CLOUDS AT ABOUT 8000 FEET. LEVELS OF CLOUDS, PRECIPITATION, VISIBILITY, AND WIND SPEED
THE RAIN DID NOT SHOW UP VERY WELL ON THE SCREENSHOT, SO I AND DIRECTION. CLICK ON “ADVANCED WEATHER’ FOR MORE
ENHANCED IT DETAILED CONTROL

Here you can set clouds from “clear” to “overcast”, precipitation

from “none” to “very high”, visibility from “1/16th mile” to
“unlimited”, and wind speed from “none” to “36 knots” in any
desired direction. Be aware that with this simple technique you have
no control over what’s going on at any particular altitude – you just
have to let FSX decide.

Custom Weather - Advanced

CAPTURING THIS BOLT OF LIGHTNING IN A “MAJOR THUNDERSTOM”

THEME TOOK A BIT OF LUCK WITH MY FINGER ON THE PRINT SCREEN KEY

CUSTOM CLOUDS

MAULE WITH SKIS TOUCHING DOWN IN A “WINTER WONDERLAND”

THEME SETTING – YOU CAN SEE THE SNOW BLOWING

Custom Weather – Basic

If you want a little more control over the weather than what you
find using weather themes, try the basic weather screen. CUSTOM WIND

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 You can obtain exactly the weather conditions you want by using
the “Advanced Weather” option. There are four screens to set up
clouds, wind, visibility, and temperature at different levels or bands
of altitude. Except for the clouds, FSX interpolates between the levels
you establish so that the result is smooth with no abrupt changes. As
far as I have been able to determine, there is no limit to the number of
levels or bands.

On the Clouds tab on the Advanced Weather screen the different

bands can be defined with the number dials or by dragging the top and
bottom of the belt. Then the characteristics of the weather in the band
are selected. Cloud type can be none, cirrus, stratus, or thunderstorm.
Cloud coverage ranges in 1/8 steps from 1/8 (few) to 8/8 (overcast).
Clear air is the space between the bands you define. Turbulence and
possibility of icing in each band are selected independently from none
to severe. The Type of precipitation can be none, rain, or snow. “Base
CUSTOM VISIBILITY
altitude” determines the altitude at which the precipitation stops
falling to the ground. Default is 1499 feet below mean sea level. This
is supposedly at the Dead Sea, but other sources give numbers around
Visibility is set in bands, similar to, but independent of those for the
1370. At any rate, you can use this to halt the fall of rain or snow at
clouds. Setting the visibility is like having control over the amount of
whatever the local ground elevation turns out to be. Frequently, here
haze or dust in the air.
in Nevada where I live we see rain that starts falling from clouds that
evaporates before it gets to the warmer ground. Precipitation “Rate”
Real Weather
can be set from “very low” to “very high”.
How does real weather get into your computer? While there are
several sources on the Internet, FSX uses “Meteorological Terminal
At the top of the screen, the weather defined can be assigned to
Air Reports” or METARs and winds aloft data from Jeppesen, Inc.
all weather stations, to a specific station, or to all the stations not
METARs are described in a sidebar on page 69. With FSX you get
specifically set yet by you.
the benefit of the Jeppesen information for the entire world. As a
private individual, you cannot download those data files without
The Wind tab permits you to set wind speed, direction, turbulence,
purchasing Jeppesen’s Flight Star flight planning software into
and shear strength at specific altitudes. FSX interpolates between
which access to the data is built. Of course, Jeppesen gathers data
these levels. In addition to speed, you can also select the level of
from such places as the National Weather Service and the World
random gusts.
Meteorological Organization.

When you invoke real weather you have the choice of a one-time
download that stays fixed or a refreshed version of the weather every
15 minutes. Most weather stations update their information only once
per hour, but each station has its own time within the sixty minutes of
the clock hour.

Winds Aloft
If you have selected “Download winds aloft data with real-world
weather”, then you can go to the advanced version of custom weather
to see the results at different altitudes.

CUSTOM TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE

Temperature, dew point, and sea level pressure are set at

particular levels in a manner resembling that used for the wind.
If, at constant pressure, the air could be cooled to the point where
moisture would condense, that temperature is called the dew
point. Dew point is measured with special instruments or with a
“wet bulb” thermometer. If the dew point is below freezing, it is
sometimes called the frost point. The frequently reported relative
humidity is related to the dew point in a rather complicated way, but
the closer the dew point is to the temperature, the higher the relative
WHEN YOU ARE FLYING CLICK ON “OPTIONS/SETTINGS/DISPLAY” AND
humidity. If the dew point remains constant but the temperature SELECT THE “WEATHER” TAB. THEN CHECK THE BOX INDICATED ABOVE
rises, the relative humidity goes down. TO GET WINDS AND TEMPARATURES ALOFT IN REAL WEATHER

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 When you use this option, layers of wind and temperature are Thus, in the sample for Las Vegas, 3609+01 means the wind at 6000
displayed on the Advanced Weather screens if you remember to select feet is from close to 360 degrees at 9 knots and the temperature is +1
the specific weather station. degree Centigrade. Above 24000 feet the temperatures are default
below zero, so 246344 means that at 39000 feet the wind is from
close to 240 degrees at 63 knots and the temperature is -44 C.

THE SOLID LINES ARE FSX REAL WEATHER ALOFT AT LAS VEGAS,
CHECK THE “SPECIFIC WEATHER STATION” BUTTON IF YOU WANT TO SEE NEVADA. THE DASHED LINES ARE FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER
THE WINDS AND TEMPERATURES ALOFT THAT HAVE BEEN DOWNLOADED SERVICE FORECAST FOR THE NEXT SEVEN HOURS. THE REALL WEATHER
FROM THE JEPPESEN SERVER. THE ALTITUDES SHOWN ARE VERY CLOSE TO HELPED ME TO DECODE THE FORECAST
THE ONES USED BY ALL INTERNATIONAL WEATHER SERVICES

Testing the System

YOU CAN’T READ THE SMALL PRINT, BUT THE FORECAST FOR WINDS
AND TEMPERATURES ALOFT FOR LAS VEGAS, NEVADA WHERE I LIVE IS
AMONG THOSE LINES ON THE RIGHT WHICH POP UP WHEN YOU CLICK
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION ON THE MAP

1. NOT TOO BAD UP HERE OVER THE WEATHER

2. THE OVERCAST TOP IS AT 5000 FEET,
BUT SOME OF THOSE HILLS ARE AT 5800
3. OOPS! THERE’S THE RUNWAY WHICH IS AT 4417 FEET.
HERE’S A CLOSE UP OF THE LAS VEGAS FORECAST BETTER TRY AGAIN
4. WATCH OUT FOR THE TERRAIN ON FINAL
5. LOOKS LIKE I MIGHT MAKE IT
6. THE CROSS WIND BLEW ME A LITTLE TO THE LEFT, BUT THOSE
At http://aviationweather.gov/products/nws/winds/ you can NUMBERS SURE LOOK GOOD!
download the winds aloft forecast for any station in the United States.
By decoding the numbers I was able to make a rough check on the
reliability of the FSX weather aloft. The data are at a standard set The October 2008 issue of Computer Pilot contained a review of
of nine altitudes up to 39,000 feet. The first two digits are the wind FourFlights.com, a free site where you can find suggested trips that
direction rounded to 10 degrees. The next two digits are the speed in involve four different types of real weather ranging from VFR to LIFR
knots. The last two digits are the temperature in degrees Centigrade. (Low Instrument Flight Rules). I decided to try LIFR to get the worst

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 possible weather. If you use FourFlights, be fairly quick about it. I took
too long setting things up and flying on my first try and by the time I
reached the destination the weather had cleared up!

My second attempt took be to Reno, Nevada (KRNO) which was

experiencing the passage of a cold front and low visibility. I set FSX
to use real weather and then I used advanced custom settings to nearly
duplicate the conditions. On the surface the wind was at 15o at 12
knots gusting to 16 knots. There was an overcast toped at 5000 msl
with heavy snow and visibility of ½ mile. Temperature was 32 o F
and the dew point was 27 o F. Altimeter was 29.92.

After using IFR navigation to get to the vicinity of KRNO

the problem was finding the field and getting down through the
snowstorm. I overshot the runways on the first try, but then I was
able to go back south and make a final approach. Lucky for me there
wasn’t any other traffic at that time.

Changing Season
If, on the FSX opening screen, you make no choices for weather you
will be flying in the “Fair Weather” theme at any place on the globe. If
you change season you will notice that grass that is green in summer
will be brown in winter and that snow on mountains in winter will be
reduced in summer. If you go to extreme latitudes you may find snow
on the ground even in summer. The only way you can affect conditions
in the sky is to use one of the weather options I have described.

Try some real weather flying near where you live some time when
the weather is not perfect. You’ll be surprised how accurately the
conditions are simulated in FSX.

METARS
METAR stands for “Meteorological Terminal Air Report” and
one of these consists of a periodic coded report of the weather
conditions at a specific airport. Here is an example and its
interpretation. FSX DECODES THE METAR FOR YOU WHEN YOU
DOWNLOAD REAL WEATHER

KSEA 030053Z 16005KT 10SM SCT053 BKN060 BKN120

BKN200 19/13 A2979 METARs are generated by meteorologists stationed at airports or
This translates as Seattle-Tacoma International other weather stations and some are generated by automated means in
03 October (current month) 0053 Hours Zulu which case AUTO is part of the METAR.
Wind from 160 degrees (south) at 5 kts (no gusting)
Visibility 10 statue miles At http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/metar.shtml you can find
Clouds Scattered at 5300 feet, Broken at 6000, Broken at 12000, the raw METAR for any airport. Another good source is http://www.
Broken at 20000. allmetsat.com . Select your language and proceed to the next page
Temperature 19C, Dew point 13C where you will find METARs under the Weather heading. At this site
Atmospheric pressure 29.79 inches mercury. you see the raw METAR as well as the interpretation. 4

When your computer downloads the METAR, FSX deciphers it

for you. The interpretation printed on the map that comes up may not
agree entirely with the METAR, but the cloud layers exhibited while
you are flying are very well represented.

The World Meteorological Organization, a special agency of the

United Nations, is responsible for the co-operative efforts of stations
around the world to provide current and forecast weather information.
You can get a complete definition of METAR codes at http://www.
met.tamu.edu/class/metar/quick-metar.html. The United States and
Canada use a few different units in their METARs that are different
from the rest of the world. These involve wind speeds, visibility
ALLMETSAT.COM INTERPRETS THE CURRENT METAR AND GIVES A
distances, and atmospheric pressure. Temperatures are always in FORECAST AS WELL. THE UNITS OF THE OBSERVATION CAN BE CHANGED
Centigrade – which makes freezing conditions very obvious. Some TO ALMOST ANYTHING YOU LIKE

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 4

NAVIGATING BY EAR: USING THE ADCOCK RADIO RANGE SYSTEM

BY JOHN ACHOR
instrument approaches before Automatic Direction Finding (ADF)
equipment was available. I remember them as Radio Range
stations, but in recent years found the name Adcock attached.

T
An Adcock antenna is capable of directional transmissions for
oday, with needles pointing to navigation low frequency beacons. I’ve searched the internet, and although
aids and crossbars that tell us we are on the name is ubiquitous, Adcock’s identity remains a mystery to
final and on the glide slope, not to mention me. I assume he was the person who developed this method of
transmitting radio waves.
GPS, it’s hard to remember days when the only
navigation tools were the Mark-I eyeball and your ANATOMY OF THE RADIO RANGE STATION
ears. Knowing the landscape and following rivers, The beacons broadcast four legs, radiating from the center aimed
roads and railroad tracks was an early means of approximately NE, SE, SW and NW. In the V’s, or quadrants
getting from Point A to Point B. Dead Reckoning, the between the legs, one of two letters, an “A” or “N” in Morse code,
is transmitted. Follow along in Figure 1 — dit, dah (dot, dash) forms
art of flying a heading, at a specified speed for a given an “A,” while dah, dit (dash, dot) represents the “N.” Where the
period of time, became a positive step toward staying signals meld, along the legs or beams, the “A” and “N” codes are
alive. Well, it wasn’t really an art, but it beat the superimposed and the dot, dash, dash, dot becomes a solid tone.
heck out of pure guesses. Those were great for their
Rules of the road: The Adcock Radio Range broadcasts these two
time, but bad weather made employing them nearly
different signals — don’t ask me how, that’s the magic only Electrical
impossible. Engineers understand. The “N” quadrants are oriented North and
South (true north/south, not magnetic) leaving the East and West
The next step was the installation of low frequency 200 to 450 quadrants for the “A.” When you’re on-course it’s referred to as being
kHz beacons, which provided a means of navigating and rudimentary “on the beam” or “riding the beam.”

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 Here is our first assumption — we are south of the beacon. In our
example, I said we are eastbound. If the south assumption is correct
— we are at one of the [2] positions. First let’s look at the opposite
setup; if I think I am north of the station I will turn south. As soon as
I turn, I’ll reduce the signal’s volume until that “N” is barely audible.
If I do that while south of the station, from either of the [2] positions,
I will lose the signal quickly. That would prove the turn to the south
was an error.

Since I believe I’m south of the station, I turn north, and set the
volume to minimum. The signal grows in strength — I made the
correct guess, eh, make that an — assumption. I am at either point
“A” or “B.” I’ve solved the first ambiguity, but am still faced with a
dilemma. I don’t know whether I’ll intercept the southwest (SW) leg
or the southeast (SE) leg.

I continue inbound and the “N” signal turns to a solid tone

indicating I’m crossing one of the legs. But which one? These
possible locations are indicated by the letters “C” and “D.” The next
FIGURE 1 - TYPICAL RADIO RANGE LAYOUT assumption I make is that I crossed the SE leg of the range, so I make
a right turn.

There still were no needles pointing to the station, so pilots relied If the leg I crossed was the SW one, and I make a right turn, I’ll
on their ears to know where they were. Flying from one station to cross back over that leg immediately. In that case, turn inbound
another was relatively simple, following a leg of one station until toward the station on a heading of 045 degrees. Instead, I find myself
intercepting a leg of the next range station. But let’s say you are out in a solid “A” quadrant. My last assumption was correct and “E” is
in the boondocks and someone — like a sadistic flight instructor my position. I make a 180 degree right turn and wait for the solid tone
— tells you to tune to a frequency, locate yourself and fly to the radio of the SE leg. Why not left? If I’m close to the station, I may re-cross
range station. You have to make a series of assumptions, take actions that leg too close to the beacon and miss the station passage signal. Or
and decide whether they were correct or not. Here is our orientation worse, I cross a leg north of the beacon and become lost in a maze of
problem, and we’re heading east. changing signals. Reaching the solid tone, turn inbound on a heading
of 315 degrees.
YOU MAY NOT BE LOST — JUST NOT SURE
WHERE YOU ARE FINALLY WE CAN FIND THE RUNWAY
You tune the proper frequency and hear an “N” (dah, dit). I’ve
indicated our potential positions (Figure 2) by the number one
inside brackets [1] for those possibilities north of the station, and the
southern positions are marked by the number two [2]. I’ll define the
letters in a moment, but they relate to possibilities as we solve the
orientation on the radio range.

FIGURE 3 - RANGE INSTRUMENT APPROACH

In Figure 3, I’ve depicted a potential instrument approach to an

airfield (the solid black rectangle) located on the NE leg of the range.
These comments continue from the end of our orientation solution.
I proceed inbound on that SE leg (315 degrees) and wait for station
passage, which is indicated by a rapid drop in signal strength. Over
the station, I enter the cone of silence (shades of secret agent Maxwell
Smart in the TV series “Get Smart”). See Figure 4 for a depiction of
FIGURE 2 - RANGE ORIENTATION PROBLEM the cone.

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 FLYING THE RANGE TODAY
I can find references to Adcock antennas in use today, but I wasn’t
able to locate any real life radio ranges in operation now. Lacking real
range stations, the next best thing is climbing into a flight sim airplane
and looking for the nearest range station. There may be others out
there, however I’ll tell you about the program available from the
virtual airline (VA), DC-3 Airways (www.dc3airways.com). Best part
FIGURE 4 - CONE OF SILENCE of this offering — planes, panels, routes and scenery — the entire
package is free. One note; this is an FS2004 (FS9) only program.

Again, the engineers designed the radio antennas so they did not
broadcast vertically. The higher your altitude, the wider the cone will
be. In later installations of range beacons, a “Z” marker was included.
The Z-Marker Beacon signal is broadcast straight up and has a
different tone than the solid signal of a leg. I don’t remember what it
sounded like. Maybe some other old-timers can jog my memory.

If you are slightly off course you will get a rapid signal change
from A to N or vice-versa. You may also notice an on-the-beam
tone between an A and N signal. Since you are close to the
station, these changes occur rapidly and may be difficult to detect.
Keep your ears open.

I turn left, track outbound on the SW leg and execute a right

procedure turn. I pick up the leg inbound (045 degrees) and wait for
station passage again. Passing over the beacon, I start the stopwatch,
descend to minimum altitude and fly out the published time from the
station to the field — check the sample approach plate below. With
luck you’ll see the runway before the time is up; if not, execute a
missed approach.

FIGURE 6 - WESTERN U.S. ROUTE STRUCTURE

FIGURE 7 - RANGE ROUTE LISTINGS

You’re welcome to join this VA, but that is not a pre-requisite for
downloading the Radio Range package. On the top menu bar, click
FLEET, then select RADIO RANGE from the drop down. The links
lead you to AVSIM.COM — there is no cost, but you must register
for access. Sign up, log in and you’re at the proper download page.
FIGURE 5 - FRESNO RANGE LEGS
I played a very small role in the development of this program. Many
kudos go to my online friends Allan Greene, Dave Bitzer, Alex
Nicolson and Norman Hancock for developing the program.
If you think this is an imprecise method of navigating and finding
an airport in bad weather, you’re right. I doubt that anyone busted a These four were the driving forces and they recognize another
hundred foot ceiling with minimum visibility on a radio range. Most dozen or so others who contributed a great deal of time and effort.
likely, they were good for five hundred to one thousand feet ceilings
– with reasonable visibility and few terrain obstructions. Download the ZIP file and pay attention to the “ReadMe_
Version4.0.txt” file. The package covers the contents, which includes:
I’ve used a simple range layout in our example that uses DC-3 aircraft; three distinct instrument panels (1940 model, 1945
cardinal points of the compass where it’s easy to compute 45, 90, model and a more modern version); range routes covering all of the
and 180 degree turns. In real life, it was usually tougher. Figure 5 United States, Canada, and Alaska (Figure 6); complete route listings
shows an example of the actual radio range that existed at Fresno, (Figure 7); dozens of instrument approaches (Figure 8); and the
California, USA. scenery that adds all the range stations.

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 Let’s jump into the cockpit I like the best. It’s not for purists, but I
do enjoy the comforts of this one from master panel designer, Norman
Hancock (Norm is the current president of the DC-3 Airways).

FIGURE 10 - DC-3 PANEL WITH RANGE INSTRUMENTS

FIGURE 11 - RANGE INSTRUMENTS UP CLOSE

FIGURE 8 - RANGE INSTRUMENT APPROACH

Figure 11 is a close up of the range gauges. On the left is the Range/
Voice/Both switch box, the Volume Control knob and a stopwatch.
Note just below the stop watch is an ADF instrument. Leaving that on
would be cheating, so hit SHIFT + 6 and the instrument is replaced
with a blank as if the gauge was removed. No cheating now! To the
right is the signal strength meter and a beacon light.

Now I’m airborne and from about 600 feet (AGL) you can see
the scenery that creates a range site in the lower right of the pilot’s
windscreen (circled in red).

FIGURE 9 - SEATTLE RADIO RANGE STATION

FIGURE 12 - RADIO RANGE SCENERY FROM THE COCKPIT

Panels include all or some of these extras: a sextant, a drift meter, and
an E-6B flight computer. These are operating pop-ups complete with
manuals. Much of the range documentation is also accessible from the Figure 13 gives you an up close and personal screen shot of the
Knee-Pad (F10). Figure 9 is an FSNavigator screen shot that displays a range scenery as I approach the Seattle station. The five towers are
low frequency station northeast of Seattle (SA, 260.0, see the red arrow). highlighted with red arrows.

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 FIGURE 15 - RDF LOOP ANTENNA

In Figure 16, you can see the loop antenna housing mounted on top
of the fuselage just aft to the canopy on this FS2004 AT-6G Texan.

FIGURE 13 - FIVE TOWERS OF THE RANGE STATION AT 12 O’CLOCK The parts of the panel shown in Figure 17 are: at the bottom, a
signal strength meter; and across the top from the left: the heading of
the loop antenna (not the plane), the control used to slew the antenna,
PUT IT ALL TOGETHER a knob to switch between the wire and loop antennas, and the switch
If you were able to orient yourself, track to the station, complete a to select the radio to be used.
procedure turn and descend to the minimum altitude, you should be
close to the runway. Figure 14 was produced by Charlie Wood, DC-
3 Airways founder and member number 001, as he finished a range
flight and approached Cross City, Florida (USA). Runway lights are
barely visible in the center of the windscreen. Another successful low
visibility approach.

FIGURE 16 - LOOP ANTENNA HOUSING

FIGURE 14 - LOW VISIBILITY, RUNWAY IN SIGHT

FIGURE 17 - RDF PANEL IN 1940 DC-3 PANEL

TAKE THE CHALLENGE

If you decide to check out the package from DC-3 Airways, you’ll
THE NEXT STEP find much more in the way of detail, documentation and explanation
The next step in the technology was RDF, Radio Direction than I was able to include here.
Finding. This allowed you to point an antenna at the beacon to
determine a direction to the station. Figure 15 (image from a 1966 Navigating by ear is a challenge. Trying to hand fly the plane will
FAA manual in my library) shows the mechanics of orienting the make the job of staying on the beam of a radio range station that
loop antenna toward the station. The Loop was mounted either on much harder. I suggest you use at least the altitude hold feature of the
top or below the fuselage and inside a teardrop antenna cover. Keep autopilot. If you think you are up to it, go for it — it can be a lot of fun.
in mind that while you can point the antenna toward the signal, you
still have to solve the ambiguity of whether the station is ahead Author’s note: The opening image is from the 1966 FAA
or behind you. There is an RDF panel, developed by Ken Austin Manual I mentioned earlier. The original caption was “Navaids
included in the DC-3 Airways package. If you want to fly this one, during 1930’s” and shows several radio range stations along the
select the 1940 panel configuration. California, USA coast in the Oakland to Los Angeles area. 4

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 Subject: More Hardware Reviews!

Dear Computer Pilot,

I LOVE your magazine. It is so informative and helpful! I first Started flight

ane” R PILOT
simming back with Flight Sim 95. Every afternoon at 3:00pm I would take
off from Sydney and fly to Melbourne but I could never find the airport
Coch r
“Peter COMPUTE ON!
so I just landed smack bang in the middle of the city. Then FS2002 and
the GPS, ATC, AI traffic and the wonderful 747-400 came along. I must
have spent at least 3000 hours flying the default aircraft around the world
2 M O NTH EXTENSI
1 /
WINS BSCRIPTION
before discovering the Internet and Virtual Airlines, let alone other third
party add-ons!

I am now an extremely happy 3000+ hour Senior Captain with The Flying SU
Tiger’s Group flying PMDG, Level-D add-on aircraft etc.
[Hi Peter, thanks for your email. Computer Pilot has a long history of
Now to the real reason I am writing to you… I was wondering if you reviewing hardware related to flight simulators. I would encourage you
had considered doing more hardware add-on reviews? There are many to check out our website at www.computerpilot.com and use the Article
hardware pieces out there, old and new; e.g. Engravity CDU, GoFlight Search box (left column on main page) to search for reviews of specific
gear, Logitech, CH Products, Saitek stuff, PC hardware etc. hardware items in back issues. Of course, we will continue to seek out and
review the latest hardware technology for flight simulation and feature
I’m terribly sorry if you have already done these or were planning them those products in the magazine. There are numerous new PC hardware
but I have only been subscribed for 6 issues and am planning on renewing items and flight controllers due for release shortly, and we will certainly
my subscription to 12 months! cover those when they become available. In this very issue we have
coverage of the latest SimKits flight sim hardware! Stay tuned for more,
Thanks for the great magazine guys! and check the database for back issues! Oh, and before I forget, don’t
worry about renewing your subscription… as letter of the month in this
Peter Cochrane issue, we will extend your subscription for another year free of charge!
Senior Captain, Qantas Virtual Enjoy… – Ed]

Subject: FSUIPC Problem

Hi all,

No matter how hard I try I can’t get FSX’s default ATC to work like this. A student became lost during a solo cross-country flight. While
Have a good laugh, attempting to locate the aircraft on radar, ATC asked, “What was your
last known position?”
Actual exchanges between pilots and control towers..... Student: “When I was number one for takeoff.”

Tower: “Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o’clock, 6 miles!” A Pan Am 727 flight, waiting for start clearance in Munich, overheard the
Delta 351: “Give us another hint! We have digital watches!” following:
Lufthansa (in German): “Ground, what is our start clearance time?”
Tower: “TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees.” Ground (in English): “If you want an answer you must speak in English.”
TWA 2341: “Center, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make Lufthansa (in English): “I am a German, flying a German airplane, in
up here?” Germany. Why must I speak English?”
Tower: “Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?” Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent):
“Because you lost the bloody war!”
O’Hare Approach Control to a 747: “United 329 heavy, your traffic is a
Fokker, one o’clock, three miles, Eastbound.” Nathan Ford
United 329: “Approach, I’ve always wanted to say this… I’ve got the little QLD, Australia
Fokker in sight.”
[Nathan, thanks for the laughs! – Ed]

Write To Computer Pilot INBOX

If you have something you want to share with fellow flight simulator enthusiasts, then Computer Pilot INBOX is the place to be heard. Each issue, we’ll choose the best
letter as the letter of the month and reward that reader with a prize!
The easiest and quickest way to submit your letters is by e-mail to: [email protected]

75

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 COMING UP ...
...in the January 2009 Issue
FlightSim Manager Version 2.8.0
FS2002/FS2004 Utility
Filename: fsm280.zip
Author: Rana Hossain
Available From: www.ranainside.com or www.flightsim.com

WIN!
FlightSim Manager is a tool that provides many housekeeping features
for your flight simulator installations. It will work with both FS2002 and
FS2004. The feature set in this software provides important tools for both
new and experienced flight simulator pilots. For those new to the hobby,
this utility can help you to add new aircraft and scenery files to your
simulation, without the need to manually edit configuration files. More
experienced pilots may wish to take advantage of the interface to per-
form tweaks to some of the basic WIN flight simulator parameters. In addition
A SUBSCRIPTION
to these features, the programtoprovides several diagnostic
Computer Pilot Magazine tools to check
the status of yourHave installed aircraft
something and
to say scenery
about files,simulation
the flight and makehobby?
repairs The flight
if necessary. These are only
simulation a few of the
community, many
or just available
a rant features
or rave about in this
anything simulation
utility. FlightSim Manager is the winnerorofaviation a FlightSim.com
related? Developer’s
Ultralight Concepts Award - check it out and you’ll see why!
Send your letters of 400 words or less to [email protected]
It didn’t make this issue, but it will definitely make the next… Just you, for your chance to win a free 12 month (12 issue) subscription – or
a small engine, and a sail. Yep it’s ultralight flying and it can be some extension if you already subscribe – to Computer Pilot. Each month, we
Stearman Kaydet
of the most challenging flying you will ever do when the conditions will choose the best letters with the best angle/take on a flight simula-
FS2002/FS2004
are set for disaster. But learning to control these small flying wings will Aircraft/Panel/Scenery
tion topic and publish them in our Inbox column.
help you tackle any weather or flight situation.
Commercial Applications of X-Plane Filenames: davstea1.zip (FS2002), stear04.zip Have Your (FS2004)
Say!
Authors: David Eckert, Mark Smith, Dennis Seeley, Louis Sinclair
Flight Simulation is not just a “game”. Flight Sims are being used widely Many articles appearing in Computer Pilot magazine are a direct result
Available From: www.flightsim.com
in the real world for a wide variety of purposes, even beyond basic of your emails and feedback. If you have a topic you would like us to
flight training. The X-Plane simulator is indeed leading the way in this cover, or just have some general constructive magazine feedback, let us
The next time you feel like flying low and slow with reference to the bare
real world application field. Next month Chuck Bodeen explores some know and we will do our best to address your request/feedback. Send
minimum of flight instruments, I highly recommend you consider David
interesting real world applications of this detailed simulator software. your comments, article ideas or suggestions to...
Eckert’s Stearman Kaydet. I am showing the Kaydet in Army Air Corp
Learning from Accidents colors, and there are five other liveries [email protected]
included in the FS2004 version.
When tragedy strikes, not everything is a loss. We learn muchThe from military trainer versions include little in the way of avionics - true to
the era, while theWhile
the ensuing investigations that help further flight safety. Jonathon we may
civilian not be
version able tomodern
includes personally answer
radios andthem all, we
a GPS. Thedo read
Stern looks at a real world flight incident and then recreates it in Flight
Stearman for FS2004everyisemail and take
packaged your
with feedback
Mark Smith’sonboard for for
scenery planning
Eagleof future
Simulator, teaching us how to overcome or avoid the problems issues. It’sKansas.
that(7KS9) in Bentley,
Field your way to make
The an impact
old hangars andongrass
the content
strip fiand direction of
t the
caused the crash in the first place. Stearman nicely. Flight dynamics for the Kaydet the magazine!
are by Dennis Seeley.
The History of Air Racing Since I’ve never flown a real Stearman, I can’t say if the dynamics are
like the real aircraft or not - but I can tell you the airplane is well-man-
With Flight Simulator X incorporating an innovative air racing module,
nered and a lot of fun to fly, even with a yoke. Flown with a joystick, I’m
we thought it prudent to take a look back into the history of airborne
sure you could perform some of the same maneuvers taught to aspiring
racing. The sport is quickly growing in popularity but it has some
imaginative and adventurous roots that span many decades. WWII pilots. There is a FS2002 version available as well - it comes with a
single livery and does not include the scenery for Eagle Field. David and
The Art of Instrument Flying – The TCAShis team have created a very high quality freeware package - if you’re
Traffic collision avoidance is becoming a major consideration inlooking
virtual for an airplane to fly just for the joy of flying, please consider the
online flying as the virtual skies grow busier with air traffic. Knowing
Stearman.
how to read and use your TCAS instrument properly will ensure safe
aircraft operation online and offline.
How-To: Set Up a Realistic Virtual AirlinePremier Aircraft Design TB10 Tobago
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A lot of Virtual Airlines come and go, but the most realistic ones SAVE 5% OFF YOUR SIM
seem to also be the most popular. Francois Dumas offers you tips and
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tb10gdbg.zip (A/C), tb10_g-e.zip (Gauges/Effects), tb10_snd.
zip (Sounds)
Reviews Authors: Premier As a valued
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Landing January 2009

Subscribe online now at www.computerpilot.com to have your
www.pcaviator.com
Hawker-Siddeley
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Trident 2 and 3 CPM. V12I12
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 ROUND ROBIN ADVENTURE

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