Let's Spin This Thing Back Up!

All right, so I know the blog has been in the virtual equivalent of mothball storage in the desert for a while.  I just had too many RL things going on over the last several months to keep up with it.  However, there have been a number of exciting developments in the flight sim world recently, so let's pull this thing out of storage and see if she still flies!  :-)

Happy 2013 Everyone!

Wow, has it been this long since I updated this blog?  Very sorry about that.  Been busy with work, kids, life, etc.  I keep planning to pop back over here for a quick update, and something else seems to get in the way first.  Hope everyone is having an awesome start to the new year so far.

So what's new in the flight sim world?

• I picked up several new add-ons this fall: the QualityWings BAe146/AvroRJ, the Coolsky DC-9, the Captain Sim 737 Captain, and the Captain Sim 777 Captain.  I'll post mini-reviews in time, but here is a quick summary: I like the Avro, I love the DC-9, the CS 737 needs some work, and the CS 777 is still a work-in-progress, although it is actually in a decently flyable state.
• PMDG head honcho Robert Randazzo gave the fans a nice status update on the state of various projects over at PMDG.  They are trucking right along on the 777, and it is being modeled in amazing detail.  It will be to the 777 what the NGX is to the 737 NG series.  PMDG is starting to shift some developer resources onto other projects, which is a good sign that they are starting to enter the homestretch.  Beta may begin very soon.  Other projects (such as the DC-6B) have been essentially back-burnered so that resources could be prioritized for 777 development, but we may see more activity on those fronts again soon.  Robert says the next service pack for the NGX (including the next expansion plane) is essentially ready, but they have been sitting on it for a while so that they could roll some changes arising from 777 development into the NGX as well.  I think this has the potential to be a huge year for PMDG, once the 777 is out the door.  Wouldn't be surprised if we will be adding the 777 to our virtual hangars by this summer, although there are no guarantees...PMDG will roll it out only when it's ready.  Apparently the 747X 2.0 is going to be really sweet, too.  Another interesting nugget: PMDG is still working on porting one of their projects to X-Plane.  If they do that, I may finally have to consider giving X-Plane a serious look.
• Coolsky is readying a SP1 update for their DC-9, containing mostly bugfixes.  Let me say it again: this plane is awesome.  If you are looking for a great classic jetliner to tool around in, and you don't want to endure all the headaches of trying to fix Captain Sim's broken flight models (with their 727 and 737 in particular), then this is the plane for you.  Get thee over to Flight1 and purchase the DC-9 post-haste.
• Aerosoft has released the Airbus X Extended.  Scuttlebutt on AVSIM suggests that this is a better Airbus than the old Wilco Airbus series, although it lacks the depth of a full PMDG-style simulation.  As for me, I am still holding out for the FlightSimLabs Airbus A320 series, which is promised to be a full PMDG-style treatment of the Airbus.  Rumor has it that the FSL 'bus is in the paint shop now - maybe we will get to fly her in 2013 as well?  That would be an absolute treat!
• And not to be outdone, the Majestic Software guys have been methodically working away at their Dash-8 Q400 for FSX.  They have even released a cool trailer video, and it is looking really nice.  There are even some rumors out there that we may see this one as early as Q1 2013 - stay tuned!
• Elsewhere, Aerosoft/DA is still plugging away at their CRJ.  I'm still really looking forward to this one, but development has been rather inconsistent, so it's hard to say when it will hit the streets.  Maybe 2013 will be the year for the CRJ after all!
• And unfortunately, no news on the Level-D 757.  (Or, as Chevy Chase once said, "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.")

I took the PMDG 747X (current version) out for a long spin from KSEA to RCTP last week, and it actually worked flawlessly.  I completed the flight in just over 12 hours.  I guess having FSUIPC installed to override FSX's wacky weather model (especially for winds) makes a big difference here after all.

Still tooling around in the PMDG NGX a lot, too.  It is my go-to plane for most short-haul flights, as it is so well done.  I really, really like it a lot, and it's been out for two years now.

I'm also toying with the idea of getting a SSD drive for my main FSX rig sometime in 2013, and migrating FSX over to that.  I have heard others say that the performance of FSX is in another league when run off a SSD drive.  Can't complain too much about my current setup, but I think I would like to give it a shot.

What are you guys flying these days?  What are you most looking forward to in 2013?

Still Here...

I made some upgrades to my main FSX rig this summer, and things did not go exactly according to plan.  It took me a while to get everything sorted out, but I am pretty happy with the result now.  I finally got around to upgrading the OS from Windows Vista to Windows 7, and although the difference isn't terribly dramatic, flying in Win 7 generally seems a bit smoother to me.  I also upgraded from 4 GB to 20 GB of memory, by adding two 8 GB memory sticks to the existing two 2 GB sticks.  In my view, I think this has made the greatest impact on FSX performance for me now.  I realize FSX is a 32-bit application, but with all the external add-ons and such running on my system alongside FSX, it barely slows down anymore.

QualityWings recently released their Ultimate 146 Collection for FSX, and I picked it up last week.  It's not perfect, but I have enjoyed tooling around in it here and there so far.  I will post a mini-review soon.

In other news, I visited the Museum of Flight in Seattle again this past weekend - one of my all-time favorite museums, up there with the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.  Definitely a must-see for any airplane geek in the Seattle area.

Elsewhere, Coolsky looks like they are getting achingly close to pushing their DC-9 out the door.  I am really excited about this one - it looks beautiful, and will be a fun plane to learn.

PMDG head honcho Robert Randazzo relocated from Nevada to Virginia over the summer, and took PMDG's operations with him.  Some previews of the 777 trickled out about a month ago, and things are looking good.  Sure would love to fly this one soon, although my gut tells me not to expect anything until 2013.  That's OK, though, as the NGX has sealed itself firmly in position now as my all-time favorite FSX airliner ever.  I'm sure the 777 will eventually displace or share that distinction when it is released, but the NGX will tide me over nicely until then.

Speaking of the 777, the Captain Sim guys have also been busily working away on their 777 Captain product.  It is already out as a work-in-progress, but still lacking a lot of functionality.  I will be interested to see how it stacks up when it is fully released.  Which reminds me, I need to go check out their 737 Captain ("Baby Boeing") series sometime soon...after seeing a 737-200 cockpit up close and personal inside the Museum of Flight, I definitely want to try it out.

The FlightSimLabs guys also apparently continue to make progress on their Airbus A320 series as well.  I am really excited about this one, too!  This one seems to offer the most promise of delivering a PMDG-level simulation of the Airbus series...which admittedly, is a tough bird to model in a simulation like FSX.

I don't know that I have seen as many new product announcements from the usual suspects this year - I know a lot of this has to do with the maturing of FSX (and FS9) as a simulation platform.  High-quality examples of most popular aircraft now (or will in the near future) exist for FSX.  There are still plenty of exciting projects coming down the pipe - PMDG is apparently working on a Dash-8, DC-6, and a rewrite of the 747-400, in addition to ongoing work with the NGX expansions and the 777.  I would still love to see a high-quality CRJ - the Digital Aviation one seems to have stalled for a while, although work apparently is slowly proceeding.  There are still lots of classic airliners out there yet to be fully modelled in FSX, such as the L-1011.  X-Plane also seems to be gathering some interest from popular FSX developers, although it is too soon to tell yet whether it will fully emerge as a viable successor to FSX, which is now going on six years old.  All in all, it remains an interesting time to be involved in this little hobby of ours...

Captain Sim Releases 777 Captain To CIP Phase 2

Looks like Captain Sim is the first one out of the gate in the 777 add-on race this year.  They just released the 777 Captain (featuring full VC) to the Customer Involvement Program, Stage 2 (experimental).  This means there are likely still some issues with the product, but it is basically flyable.

It will be interesting to see what the initial impressions of this product are...my instinct tells me that they hurried this one out to beat PMDG out of the gate, but I really hope I am wrong on this.  Cost for now is €39.99, or about US $50.

(Well, I will say this much about the ongoing Euro economic crisis...at least it's making the exchange rates with the USD a bit more favorable for us here in the U.S. these days.)

Update: my initial hunch appears to be correct.  Some of the initial reviews over at AVSIM indicate that they pretty much rushed this one out the door to the CIP program.  I would advise letting this one bake a little longer before giving it a go...

Memorial Day

And I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to honor the brave men and women who have fallen in the line of duty to protect our freedoms here in the U.S. on this Memorial Day.  Thanks to them all for their service - without heroes like these, I would not have the privilege of being able to enjoy simple hobbies like flight simulation.

Captain Sim Previews 777 VC

Well, isn't this interesting?  Captain Sim has unveiled a little video of the upcoming Virtual Cockpit addition to their 777 Captain.  It looks quite nice - complete with a simulated Electronic Flight Bag.  As best as I can tell, it will be up to the user to populate it with charts, though.  Will be interesting to see how this one turns out.  Gotta give them credit, as they have done a nice job up to now.

QualityWings BAe-146 Released (Phase 1)

QualityWings has released the initial phase of their BAe-146 series today!  This release spans the newer AvroRJ series, and is for FS9 only for now.  The FSX version is in the works, and then they will work on the older BAe-146 series of the planes next.

Unfortunately I do not fly FS9, so no mini-review from me until the FSX version is out...

QualityWings is using the Flight1 eCommerce wrapper for this product, although this product does not show up at the Flight1 website at the moment..

Those of you FS9 flyers, I'm anxious to hear what you think about this product.  I've been looking forward to it for a long time.

Edit: initial impressions over at AVSIM are rather positive.  C'mon QualityWings, hurry up with the FSX version now!  :-)