Blue Alchemy
Experience the magic of flight
ProFlightSimulator vs. FlightGear
Jan 16th
AKA FlightSimPro, ProFlightSimulator, FlightSimPro, Earth Flight Sim, FlightProSim, Real Flight Simulator
It seems there is a new player in the market of flight simulators. Lets install and check it out. Hmm it looks very familiar. Oh my, could it be, yes it is, ladies and gentleman we have a commercial package of the OpenSource simulator Flight Gear! Here is what the folks at FlightGear have to say about it. (http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/FlightProSim)
I’m going to go into my opinion about this but really it boils down to this; ProFlightSimulator is a branch COPY of FlightGear. ProFlightSimulator has little NO in innovation over FlightGear. Any way save your self a signficant amount of money and try flight gear first. Available from http://www.flightgear.org/
Interesting marketing tactics and fairly obfuscated disclosures make this a very interesting situation. The reality is, the “producers” of the ProFlightSimuator package are really doing nothing wrong. They have downloaded a branch of the flight gear product, packaged it up with a large variety of freely available add-ons and aircraft, and basically called it their own. They have one very obfuscated page that lists a series of items why they are not flight gear buried quite deeply on their site, and this is also regurgitated through out several disposable blog sites. But to More >
Microsoft Announces Flight!
Aug 23rd
Twenty-eight years after the debut of “Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0,” Microsoft Game Studios also announced the internal development of “Microsoft Flight,” a new Windows exclusive. “Microsoft Flight” will bring a new perspective to the long-standing genre, welcoming everyone, including long-time fans, to experience the magic of flight.
A teaser of the future of Flight on the Windows-based PC is available at http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight.
Will this actually be a flight simulator, or simply a scripted game with limited in-world experience?
OV-10 Bronco
Oct 19th
OV-10 Bronco
The article in Wikipedia is beautiful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OV-10_Bronco
FSX Model: OV-10 For FSX
Piper PA 28 Cherokee
Oct 18th
Piper PA28 Cherokee
The initial PA-28-150 and PA-28-160 Cherokees were introduced in 1961 as replacements for Piper’s PA-22 TriPacer and Colt.
Unlike the PA-22 series the new PA-28 was a low wing design with metal construction. The prototype Cherokee was powered by a 120kW (160hp) engine, and flew for the first time on January 14 1960. Production aircraft were powered by either 110kW (150hp) or 120kW (160hp) engines and were delivered from early 1961. From 1962 a 135kW (180hp) version was added to the lineup. The 127kW (235hp) flat six Lycoming O-540 powered Cherokee 235 was introduced in 1963, while the two seat trainer optimised Colt replacement PA-28-140 entered the marketplace in 1964.
With these models the basic PA-28 lineup was in place (the retractable PA-28R and larger PA-32 are described separately). Subsequent variants include the Cherokee B and Cherokee C, the 180D, 235C, 140 Flite Liner two seat trainer PA-28-140, -180F, -235E, PA-28-180 Cherokee Challenger and PA-28-235 Cherokee Charger, the PA-28-180 Cherokee Archer and PA-28-235 Cherokee Pathfinder, PA-28-151 Cherokee Warrior which introduced the new tapered wing that would become a feature of subsequent PA-28s, PA-28-181 Cherokee Archer II and PA-28-236 Dakota (the Cherokee prefix was later dropped for the Archer II and More >
Nevada County (KGOO) AirFest 2009!
Jul 8th
KGOO AirFest 2009 Attractions
Friday July 10, Hangar Party and Dinner 5:30p to 7:30p Dance 7:30p to 10:30p at Alpine Aviation and Sierra mountain Aviation hangars.
Saturday July 11 8:00a-4:00p
Beechcraft Model 18
Jul 7th
Beech D-18s
The Beechcraft Model 18, or “Twin Beech”, as it was better known, is a 6-11 place,[2] twin-engine, low-wing, conventional-gear aircraft that was manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. This model saw military service during and after World War II in a number of versions including the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) C-45 Expeditor, AT-7 Navigator, AT-11 Kansan; and for the United States Navy (USN), UC-45J Navigator and the SNB-1 Kansan. An estimated aggregate total time in service for the aircraft is in excess of 20,000,000 hours.[citation needed]
The Beech 18 is the most modified U.S.-certified aircraft design, with over 200 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) on record for the aircraft.
The aircraft’s uses have included aerial spraying, sterile bug release, fish seeding, dry ice cloud seeding, aerial firefighting, airborne mail pick up and drop, ambulance service, numerous movie productions, skydiving, freight, gun- and drug-smuggling, engine test bed, skywriting and banner towing. A number of Model 18s were operated as passenger aircraft; the Model 18 was the first aircraft flown by Philippine Airlines, Asia’s first and oldest airline. Many are now in private hands as prized collectibles. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Model_18)
FSX Aircraft here: BeechD18-FSX
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Rockwell Aero Commander (AC-500S)
Jul 7th
Bob Hoover's 500s at Half Moon Bay
The Rockwell Aero Commander (AC-500S) is a versatile and stable high-winged twin piston-engine aircraft that is suitable for a variety of missions. Standard configuration allows for mission equipment and two pilots. However, with the scientific packages removed, seating for five additional passengers may be installed. NOAA’s two aero commanders are utilized primarily as aerial survey platforms for visual verification of aeronautical charts, high-resolution aerial photography, and snow water equivalent and soil moisture content measurements. Additionally, the aircraft has been used in biological investigations, such as algal bloom measurements and sea turtle population assessments, and post-hurricane and severe flood damage assessment photography.
Source: http://www.aoc.noaa.gov/aircraft_rockwell.htm
FSX Model: Aero Commander 500s