For all of you who own the vFlyteAir Twin Comanche X-Plane 11 aircraft. Received the following news from Walker Guthrie, lead developer from vFlyteAir.

According to Walker “We have a newer version of the Twin Comanche now that addresses a lot of bugs, and also makes new improvements. We have partnered with Alan Shafto of AeroSimGaming for improvements to the airfoils and some corrections to the flight model’s performance and accuracy.”

The list of bug fixes, improvements and new additions is quite impressive. Check out the version 1.2 items:

• Engine sounds improved with more realistic Piper sounds
• New airfoils and flight model improvements provided by Alan Shafto of AeroSim Gaming
• New digital DME receiver added to top of radio stac
• Now uses X-Plane’s built-in support for 3D propeller disc effects
• Alternator and Radio Altimeter switches now OFF at startup “cold and dark”. They are ON if the aircraft is loaded in flight or engine running.
• Hide Yokes command now uses default X-Plane dataref so that the X-Plane Hide Yokes menu option works correctly
• Prop wash sound now only audible from exterior views, and only when viewpoint is behind the aircraft
• Added cowl flaps drag – be sure to close the cowl flaps to achieve maximum cruise speeds
• Added new avionics cooling fan sound
• FIXED: Engines would not start correctly if user turned off “Custom Engine Start” option
• FIXED: Increased engine starter RPM ratio in PlaneMaker to allow in-flight engine restart with feathered props
• FIXED: On-screen menus were out of proportion on multi-monitor setups
• FIXED: Oil Pressure readings were too high
• FIXED: Fuel Flow indicator was too low – changed calculations for weight of fuel using correct specific gravity values for AVGAS. Now agrees with X-Plane data output for fuel flow gals/hr
• FIXED: Props were feathering too quickly – changed prop pitch rate to 22 degrees per second
• FIXED: Airplane taxis too fast
• FIXED: Props frozen during replay – now using X-Plane 3D prop disc instead of plugin-controlled – props are now animated during replay
• FIXED: Our Weight & Balance Total Weight now matches the X-Plane total weight shown in the X-Plane Weight and Balance menu
• FIXED: Left side main tank fuel pump was turning OFF when switching from right side main tank to right side auxiliary tank
• FIXED: Cargo Weight slider on Weight & Balance menu was dis-proportionate to the width of the slider area
• FIXED: Removed prop wash sounds from interior views – prop wash sounds now only heard from behind the aircraft in exterior views
• FIXED: Autopilot elevator trim effort indicator now correctly shows the difference between trim wheel selected pitch and current aircraft pitch (many thanks to Kuikueg from X-Plane.org forum provided this fix)
• FIXED: NAV tail lamp was shining omni-directional. Changed to shining only aft-ward.
• FIXED: Landing gear tires too low on pavement
• FIXED: Engine gauges for CHT were off scale
• FIXED: CHT/EGT gauges were slightly off scale

More information can be found at the dedicated vFlyteAir web page or at X-Plane.Org.

We’re pleased to inform you about the following Navigraph news.

Charts iPad Limited Beta
Charts for iPad is now ready for beta testing. We can’t do an open beta due to Apple’s restrictions. Instead we are doing a limited beta for 1,500 participants (first come, first served!). Interested? Sign up at https://goo.gl/forms/dzeRQeeQB8WEbVPQ2

Just like in the Android, Desktop and Cloud versions in the new Charts suite, the iPad version has the following new features:

• Jeppesen Charts
• Day and Night mode
• Moving Maps on enroute charts, approach charts, and airport diagrams
• Flights accepting route strings
• Pinboard for flexible organization of airport charts
• Dynamic, interactive and fully searchable enroute charts
• Decentralization of server structure for good responsiveness around the globe

Please report feedback and any bugs to our support forum via this link: http://www.navigraph.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=98

Please note that you need an active Charts or Ultimate subscription to access the full functionality of the app. Subscriptions can be bought here. It is recommended that you await beta test invitation before purchasing subscription if your intention is only to take part in the beta test. However, the subscription is of course also valid for all our existing software currently not in beta.

Aerosoft released on July 20th a new AIRAC Cycle 1708 for their NavDataPro.

For operationally significant changes in information, the cycle known as the AIRAC (Aeronautical Information Regulation And Control) cycle is used: revisions are produced every 56 days (double AIRAC cycle) or every 28 days (single AIRAC cycle).

NavDataPro users are now able to download and install the datasets for X-Plane. NavDataPro is our new update service for navigational data used by various simulators. With this service flight sim pilots will always get up-to-date navdata for flight planning and in flight use.

More information can be found at the dedicated Aerosoft web page.

Zone Photo …. who isn’t aware of this French site that offers already for a while ZL16 (Zoom Level) photo-real tiles from Europe, but some time ago they added to US state Florida to it. Very handy when you own all the airports from Freddy DE Pues. Not sure of they will create more US states, but for the moment this is already a good shot.

Downloading is easier then before. In the past you needed a Java applet which could cause some issues, that’s at least the experience I had with Mac OS. A while ago Zone Photo started an experimental project. According to Zone Photo “Because of end of applets support by browsers, the applet must be replaced. It made possible to download with a very good reliability to the holders of low bandwidth or too unstable connection, but also to limit the nuisances due to the unscrupulous users. On an experimental basis, you have access to a direct HTTP download without limitation. If the operation of the server remains correct, it will be possible to extend it. Otherwise, downloads will be temporarily disabled until safety restrictions will be put in place, for a time currently unknown.”

Curious what Zone Photo has to offer? Check it out at their dedicated Charts page.

Worth to bring the following information to your attention. Perhaps you’ve seen the NZ news, perhaps not and for those who haven’t seen it, let’s go for it.

Org user “wichid” published on his Lyndiman’s Blog the Lyndiman’s New Zealand Ortho Photography Set Beta 2 for the NZ Northern Island. Although it’s beta, it’s still worth to check it out. According to Lyndiman “This package is an ortho-photography scenery package for X-Plane. It will replace ground textures with images derived from aerial photographs that should make the simulator much more immersive. For more information and images please visit my site here. Please note this is an initial release of the North Island only!”

Attention:
For those who did download already Beta 1, you will need to download the beta 1 patch torrent to fix the missing images. Otherwise, download beta 2 torrent file, which is a standalone fixed package!

This package features:

• High quality Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) aerial photos processed at zoom level 17 (a good balance of quality vs size)
• From my testing this scenery has no visible impact on FPS (check image gallery for FPS)
• Intensive photo editing of thousands of files to balance colour, replace patches, for a seamless experience
• Photo editing to remove some building rooftops near airport approaches, for improved immersion
• A much easier installation experience compared with processing your own scenery and editing it yourself!

More information can be found at his dedicated blog.