Everything OshKOSH

Wow, it's already that time of year - OshKOSH Airventure is here, the preeminent airshow of the year, in the U.S. at least. Sponsored by EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association), this is definitely one of the major events of the year, with previews of all the latest GA stuff, airshows, warbird fly-bys and more. Flight Simulator is in attendance in a few ways.

On Sunday, the day before the show started, www.fs-mp.com, a great site sponsoring reliable multiplayer connections with ATC and weekly events, sponsored a multiplayer fly-in complete with procedures and ATC and everything, even some downloadable scenery for the fly-in to Oshkosh. The event was packed and everyone had a great time. In fact, even the ACES crew was in attendance (as just regular people, (which they are)) and Mike Singer wrote a great blog post about it in the multiplayer section of fsinsider.com.

And of course the ACES team will be in attendance at the real event (see Hal Bryan's comments) showing off a preview of their new "Acceleration" addon (I liked the old name "Adrenaline" better, oh well). They'll be showing the F/A-18, a few of the new Red Bull race tracks, and some other components, but you'll have to wait till the Reno Air Races to see a preview of the new P-51D racer and the EH-101 helicopter components.

I've never been able to attend OshKOSH myself, but I've been to it's little brother Sun'N'Fun in Lakeland, Florida, and these events are definately a must see. Even if you have to do it from afar. Check it out!

Shared Cockpit in Multiplayer

I'd like to start a list of addon planes, freeware and payware which work well in shared cockpit mode in multiplayer. I would appreciate any help users can give me. What I'd like are a list of planes you've tried in multiplayer shared cockpit mode that work. Even planes that partially work, in other words, where some gauges update appropriately in both cockpits, but others don't. In those planes which partially work, a list of the gauges that don't work would be appreciated. If the plane doesn't have a camera for the seats, this is not an indication that the plane doesn't work. At a later date, I'll write a tutorial on how to add a camera for each seat in the plane. I'm only interested in planes which nearly all of the systems can be controlled effectively and in concert from both cockpits while in shared cockpit mode.

I see this as an aid for people who would like to fly in multiplayer shared cockpit mode, and are wondering which planes they can use effectively.

You can either send your reports by email, or post them on the Multplayer forum on my site. When I get a few planes I'll post the list at Flyingscool.com.

Please include the name and type of airplane, the author, any special panels installed and the author of the panel, where you obtained the plane and the name of the file. Finally, include a list of gauges which don't work. A detailed format is given at the top of the thread regarding the list in the Multiplayer forum.

Thanks!

Flight Simulator X SP1 Released!

The new update for FSX has just been released - 208 MB download - Go Get it!

Go to Phil Taylor's blog http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/default.aspx for links to the update, plus lots of information regarding fixes and other information added in the update.

SP1 here next week (>5/13)!

According to Phil Taylor, current program manager for FS, the SP1 FSX update should be released next week. There will be one file/language, and the filesize of the download will be about 210 MB. The same patch is valid for both the Standard and Deluxe versions of FSX. I'll keep ya posted here.

For those still waiting for their Flying'sCool! class disks, I'm getting pretty close to having a release available, plus hopefully I'll finally start posting a newsletter and updating the web page again.

Keep on flyin'!

New FSX update coming!

Have you purchased FSX, but found its performance to be a little less than what you expected? A new update is due shortly (mid-May?) to address exactly this, and fix some other bugs as well. Phil Taylor of the ACES team at Microsoft is stating that you will see probably a 20% increase in performance depending on your system, and that this is a conservative estimate.

One thing to note is that the update will require a basically fresh install, in other words, an install where you have not modified any of the base files like textures and so on. It's ok to have added airplanes or scenery to the addon scenery directory, but make sure before you try to run the update that the base files are original.

Keep an eye here and I'll keep you posted as to its release date and any tips and tricks in how to install it.

Wondering what you need to get into Flight Simulation?

After doing each demonstration, I've had a lot of people ask what they needed to get into flight simulation. While I have described a lot of it at various locations around the website, I've created a more concise web page here showing the various software and components with links to where to purchase them from. Let me know if you have any questions.

What you need to get into Flight Simulation

Air Show Listings

Several people have asked how to find out about air shows in the area.

Here are a couple of links that I use:
http://www.iflyamerica.org/airshow_search.asp

Atlantic Flyer Monthly - The March issue has a listing of over 350 Air Shows

The next one is usually pretty good, but it has not yet been updated for 2007
landings.com events page

Also, every year starting in May and running till November, the Owl's Head Transportation Museum hosts events about every other weekend with live airshows of a variety of aircraft from WWI aircraft and earlier to modern jets and automobiles.

Going Flying Again

Well, it's been awhile, but it was great to get back up.

I was supposed to be helping at the Young Eagle's show today by entertaining the kids waiting for flights with flight simulator time. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, the event had been cancelled due to very bumpy weather earlier in the morning and the knowledge cloud cover was coming in.

But by the time I got there, even though it was overcast at about 3500 ft, the air seemed to be rather smooth. So Jim Ellis suggested perhaps he should go up for a quick flight to see what it was like, and he asked if I'd like to join him. Of course I jumped at the chance! So up we went, and, it was a tad bumpy, but really quite smooth, plenty smooth enough to take anybody up in. Jim even offered to let me fly nearly half the flight in his very nice 1966 Piper Cherokee.

And we did end up getting one family asking for a ride, soon after we touched down, so the day was not a loss at all as far as the Young Eagle's were concerned.

Thanks Jim!!

Flying'sCool! visits Grafton Middle School!

Yesterday I visited the Middle School in Grafton, MA with Flying'sCool! for their Science Career Day. It was a loonnnggg day giving three 90 minute presentations, one for everyone in each grade, but it was a ton of fun! I was very happy to see how well behaved ALL the kids were, especially given the fact that they had to attend so many different presentations. It was a real pleasure presenting for everyone there.

Everyone got to learn about some of the concepts that pilots need to know to fly, and a bunch of kids got to demonstrate some of those concepts using Microsoft Flight Simulator X in front of all their classmates, from learning how to take off and land, navigate from one point to another, to learning about why planes fly (and what might make them stop flying, too).

I want to thank all the kids for making it such a great experience, doing such a good job, and showing so much interest, and especially all the teachers and everyone else who worked with me at the school that made the event such a success.

I had a bunch of requests for where to purchase the hardware and software used in the presentations, and I'll be putting together a page with all that information shortly. You can already find links to it at my site, but I want to put together a more concise version, which I'll post a link here for when it's ready.

Welcome to Flying'sCool!

Hi! Welcome to my Flying'sCool! blog! My mission through Flying'sCool! is to find innovative ways to show people what flying and being a pilot is all about, in the hopes that many will find some enjoyment in it, and maybe even be convinced to visit your local airport to take some lessons. And I'll be using this blog to support that endeavor, and I suppose just generally blab about those things aviation. Don't forget to check out my supporting website at www.flyingscool.com. Thanks for stopping by!