Flight Sim Labs Concorde Preview

This one has been known about for a while, but rumor has it that this may be getting close to launch in the not-too-distant future. An outfit called Flight Sim Labs has been hard at work on a Concorde for FSX, and they have posted some rather impressive screenshots over the last few months. Just recently, they posted a tasty preview video.

Hoo boy! I'm looking forward to doing the supersonic thing in FSX someday soon.

Wilco Announces the Piaggio P180 Avanti II

Wilco Publishing has announced the upcoming release of their Piaggio P180 Avanti II in March! This plane was the subject of their recent "guess the next Wilco plane" contest. I got this one right, although I haven't heard if my guess was a winning entry in their drawing. (Knowing my luck, probably not...)

As an extra special bonus, you get a free Ferrari! Well, one you can drive around in Flight Simulator, anyway. (Details, details...) :-)

The FSX and FS9 versions are separate, although you can purchase them together in a bundle at a discount over buying them individually. Price is listed at €27.95 for either one for European customers (includes VAT), or €23 for non-European customers. That works out to about US $31.

If you want both FS9 and FSX versions in a bundle, you can pick them both up for €39.95 for European customers (includes VAT), or €33 (about US $45) for non-Euro customers. Seems like a very reasonable deal. I'm looking forward to giving this one a shot -- it's high on my list of future acquisitions.

Note that this plane was NOT developed by feelThere! for Wilco.

Captain Sim Demos

Forgot to mention it before -- if you are still on the fence about Captain Sim's products, they have recently released a couple of demos that you can try out. Pop on over to their page, and you can get free trial versions of both the 767 Captain and the 727 Captain to take for a spin.

PMDG New Customer Support Portal (Plus a Surprise!)

PMDG has announced a new customer support portal. Gone is the old email-based support system. Now you can go online and enter a trouble ticket for any issues you have with PMDG aircraft.

While digging around there, someone found this little gem:

As of now, we also have two products in development that we have not shared with you. Both will be unveiled when the time is right.

This in addition to the 737NGX, the Dash-8, and the 777!

Hmmmm, wonder what else they're cooking up over there?

There is a running gag over in their form that they are working on a Westland Woodpigeon. As far as I know, this is not true, but it makes for some fun discussions.

Captain Sim 727 v2.4 Update Available

Captain Sim has released a v2.4 update for their 727 Captain add-on. The big news is that they are bundling their Weather Radar with this one, too, now, as they have previously done with their 757 and 767 products.

Full list of fixes is here.

I am a bit disappointed with this update for a couple of reasons:

• They did not fix the pitch control issue in the autopilot for non-FSX Acceleration users. Captain Sim has promised an updated fix in the knowledge base for v2.4 soon. I wish they would just fix the installer to detect whether Acceleration is installed, and copy in the correct file.
• I wish they would do something about the autopilot 'overshooting' the radial when you are navigating using VOR radials. The current effect is something like a damped sine wave. I usually engage heading hold when lining up with a radial until it gets close enough to grab the radial.

SimCheck Airbus A300 Released

SimCheck Software has released their Airbus A300! Check it out here.

Initial reviews over at AVSIM have been generally favorable. Price is fairly reasonable, at €37.99, or around US $50. I may give this one a go next...

Boeing to Flight Test 747-8 Today (Hopefully)

Hot on the heels of the December debut of the 787, Boeing is rolling out the 747-8 for its maiden test flight today at Paine Field in Everett, WA. You can track its progress over at Flightaware, if you like.

As mentioned here recently, PMDG has recently unveiled a 747-8 expansion model for their 747-400X add-on.

feelThere Considering E-Jets v2

According to this post, feelThere! is mulling over the possibility of doing an E-Jets v2 product. One enhancement might be the addition of the stretched E-175 and E-195 models.

Will be interesting to see what feelThere! has in store in the days ahead. I am really enjoying both their E-Jets and their ERJ v2 add-ons.

PMDG's Capt. Randazzo Running for Lt. Governor in Nevada

I normally stay out of politics on this blog, but I couldn't pass this one up: Capt. Robert Randazzo, head honcho over at PMDG, is running for Lt. Governor in the State of Nevada this year! Check out his campaign site, if you like.

Seems like he would be a pretty cool guy to help right the ship in Nevada. Best of luck to him!

Flight1 Mustang Screenshot Contest

It seems Flight1 is getting in on the contest action these days, too! Owners of the Flight1 Mustang can win a slew of cool prizes from Flight1 by submitting a cool screenshot of the Mustang in action. Details are here.

Prizes:

First Place Winner will receive a new CH Products Flight Sim Yoke USB and a choice of a Flight1 Software CD Title (SRP $185.90).

Second Place will get their choice of two Flight1 CD titles (SRP $109.90)

Third Place will receive their choice of one Flight1 CD title (SRP $54.95).

Sounds like fun! The Mustang is a cool little plane to tool around in. I've had this one for a while -- should probably do a mini-review on it sometime.

Good luck...