NOVEMBER 2006 VOLUME 10 - ISSUE 11 - This is the full magazine in digital form!
Ten Minutes with the FSX Development Team
Prior to our mega 20-page review scheduled in the December issue, this month we offer an exclusive interview with an FSX development team member where we ask all the inside questions you won’t normally find discussed in a general product review. Gain a unique insight into the ethos and practices of the development team. Plus we have included a few select FSX screenshots for your viewing enjoyment!
Pilot Operations at Towered Airfields
There are a few major differences between pilot operations at non-towered airfields (see the article by that name in the September issue) and those at towered fields. That has to do with airspace classification and communication. Find out exactly what is required of the pilot to operate at towered airfields this month.
Heavy Lifting: Adventures in Virtual Freight Flying
It is 1:00am at Shivaji International Airport (VABB) in Mumbai. A few miles away, in the center of India’s commercial capital, the clubs, discotheques, and bars are probably booming. Here at the airport, however, there is an entirely different kind of night life…
The Virtual Airline Option – VA Reviews II
Roger Curtiss takes a close up look at more online virtual airline groups. Part of the enjoyment of flying with a virtual airline is in finding one that best suits your flying needs.
Odds and Ends Enrich Flight Simming
Did you know that among the hundreds of aircraft available from flight-sim websites are boats, cars, trucks, trains and a wide variety of other objects for our flight-simming environments?
Cockpit Building Series
In our continuing series on cockpit building, Matthew Edwards takes a look at building a realistic gear handle system with detents.
Time to Upgrade?
One of the downsides of our hobby is that computers must be upgraded if you want to continue to run the latest flight sims (or many other new games or applications). Let’s take a look at upgrades tips you can use for building your next flight sim computer, perhaps in preparation to run the new Flight Simulator X?
Flying the Memories – “The Last Mission”
World War II had been raging in Europe for three years and eight months by May of 1943. The United States had been in the war for only for one year and five months. The goal of the Allies was to defeat Nazi Germany first then Japan and Italy.
Scanning Charts for Moving Map Utilities
David Wilson-Okamura shows you how to add your own charts to popular moving map display software available to flight sim enthusiasts. This will allow you to fly around with the backup of quality scanned charts so you never get lost again.
From the EDITOR..
Welcome to the November issue. By the time you read this, I dare say many of you will have your hot little hands on a copy of the newest simulator version from Microsoft – Flight Simulator X – and are busy exploring your new virtual worlds. There is a lot to see and do in the new release, and many new features to explore. Look out for our full review next issue with Doug Horton, who has been busy with the new sim exploring it in intricate detail. This month we have an interview with the FSX development team as a lead up to our full review, so be sure to check out the inside information on FSX on page 10 of this issue.
We would also like to know your thoughts on the new simulator version. Get your opinions, likes and dislikes down and shoot me an email at inbox@computerpilot.com and tell us what you think of the new software. We will of course be running full tutorials on some of the newer features of the simulator over the next 12 months and beyond, so be on the lookout for those.
Also in this issue, we are running two articles which were originally planned to go into the September issue; Scanning Charts for Moving Map Displays by David Wilson-Okamura, and Building a Realistic Gear Handle by Matthew Edwards. Unfortunately, both of these articles had to be delayed due to space constraints in the September issue, but they are printed in full in this month’s publication. Check them out! They are both great writeups with useful information.
Well, that’s enough for me. I’d write more but I have to get back to flying the new Flight Simulator X! Until next month…
Enjoy the November issue of Computer Pilot Magazine – The World’s Favorite monthly flight simulation resource!
