Older news items are now archived here
October 05 2005
Player Location Map
| A live aircraft location map for the multiplayer server is now available. You can see where all pilots using the server are flying with their position displayed as a dot on a world map. Click on the dot and you will get info on the pilot, aircraft and location, and you can click on the map to zoom in (click again to zoom out). Click the image on the right to open the active map in a new window.
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May 14 2005
Starter, Throttle, Mixture and Avionics Upgrade
| A very kind aircraft engineer sent me a throttle and mixture control plus a starter/mag switch, all time-expired from a Cessna. I mounted a 10K linear pot to each control using an aluminium brackets (see here) and they work a treat. The starter/mag switch needed minimum modification to work with the central control unit. To complete the upgrade I have added another GF166 radio along with a GF46 (replacing the double height GF45) to the avionics stack.
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February 07 2005
172 Simulator - New Images
| Here's a few recent pictures of my 172 simulator. There's now a roof over the top cutting out the rest of the room which really adds to the effect. In the first and second pictures you can see the seat with the rear surround sound speakers fitted to the head rest. In the seat mounting below is a low frequency resonator that allows you to feel vibrations from the engine, and when taxiing, taking of or landing you actually feel the aircraft running over the ground - very effective!
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Pictures three and four show the panel close up, with most of the lower panel in picture three. The aircraft was cruising on autopilot at 3,500' near Brecon VOR when theses shots were taken.
Click on each thumbnail to view the fullsize image (2560x1920 jpg, 700KB to 900KB each).
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| I have also made a short video of the simulator and panel in action. Taken near Brecon town between 3,500' and 4000' it shows how smooth the operation of the gauges are (smoother than an FS panel!) and give a good impression of the panoramic views. Scenery is Visual Flight's VFR Photographic Scenery and VFR Terrain, two of the best scenery packages available and a must for all UK VFR pilots.
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You can stream the video (.wmv format, approx. 8MB) from this link, or if you prefer you can right-click on the link and select "Save target as..." to download it to you hard drive. Requires Windows Media Player to view.
If the link is dead it may be that I have exceeded my bandwidth allowance again!
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November 30 2004
RealAir Spitfire for FS2004
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It's finally here - the eagerly anticipated Spitfire MK XIV from those masters of FS aircraft,
RealAir Simulations. Along with a beautiful exterior model the aircraft ships with the clearest
virtual cockpit I have ever seen, plus the increadable flight model we have come to expect from
RealAir. This aircraft (and it's variants) will certainly not dissapoint even the most discerning
flight sim ebthusiast.
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Shipped with four variants - eliptical wing, clipped wing, contra-prop and ficticious
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3000hp racer - the RealAir Spitfire is a breeze to install, and the included control panel simplifies
setting up the various options, including "RealView", first seen with the Scout. The Spitfire
makes even greater use of this excellent utility which maximises viewpoint effects and even simulates
stall buffeting. This is a highly recommended aircraft package, and a full
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Shetland Flyer review will follow soon. Watch this space...
September 28 2004
New Multiplayer Season Commences
The 2004/2005 Shetland Flyer Multiplayer season commences on the 29 September with a sightseeing tour
of Mid and North Wales. Predominantly for light GA VFR aircraft, most Wednesday evenings through the
winter will see us taking to the virtual skies on sightseeing tours around the UK and beyond. Through
the season you will find interesting places to virtually visit, challenging weather conditions to test
your flying skills, treasure hunts and even the "Schneider Multiplayer Trophy".
This will be the first season with the new FS Host server, allowing both FS2002 and FS2004 users to
connect to the same session. Details of organised events are available over on the Multiplayer Pages with
route information, weather details and any specific scenery requirements.
If you've never tried FS multiplayer flying then why not join one of the SF sessions? You'll find
a friendly bunch who welcome new pilots no matter what flying experience you may have. If you can't
follow a flightplan then just follow one of us! Full details over on the Multiplayer Pages.
September 10 2004
OT: Kites!
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With the cracking weather up here this summer I've developed a passion for kite flying. Not your bog
standard kite, but big dual line deltas with 8' wingspans! My Flexifoil Fury (right), designed by
kite guru Carl Robertshaw, is 250cm from tip to tip, pulls like a cart horse and flies like a dream.
Happy to fly in winds from 5 to 20mph the Fury is both a precision and trick kite, combining graceful, precise
elegance with radical trick
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maneuvers. The Psycho (below) is a high-aspect ratio 6' kite with little inherant
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stability allowing the wildest of trick moves in winds up to 30mph or more. After mastering basic flying
I've been concentrating on freestyle moves such as axels, fades, lazy susan's, yo-yo's, tip stands and
coin tossing - wonderful terminology isn't it? Now the nights are starting to draw in my kite flying
will be confined to weekends, leaving the evenings for my neglected 172 sim!
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July 24 2004
New Multiplayer Server Goes Live!
The new Shetland Flyer Multiplayer Server has gone live. After a week of extensive testing the
server is now up and running, hosting sessions for both FS2002 and FS2004. Comms are provided via
the same server using Roger Wilco.
Running on a dedicated Windows 2003 Server via a 2Mb DSL link, FS Multiplayer is hosted by the
excellent FSHost version 3, by Chocolate Software
enabling both FS2002 and FS2004 users to participate in the same session. Available 24x7 the server is free
for anyone to connect to, plus there will be the usual Shetland Flyer Multiplayer sessions, with the
new season starting in September. Check the server out on 80.229.167.231, and you can view the status
page at http://lerwick.plus.com. Enjoy!
April 20 2004
Visual Flight Release VFR Terrain Mesh
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Visual Flight has just created another milestone in scenery design
with the release of VFR TERRAIN for FS2002/FS2004. This highly detailed
terrain mesh covers England and Wales and includes accurate coastlines, shoreline and lakes,
plus "water" style lakes for VFR Scenery users.
Whether you use VFR or default
textures this terrain mesh is the most accurate that FS can
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display: actually under sampled from 5m resolution
data where most mesh is over sampled from 90m data or more. The result is
the most realistic terrain available, with highly accurate contours from
the smallest river beds, quarry escarpments and man-made mounds, to the tallest
mountains rendered down to minuscule detail. Truly a remarkable experience!
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Although this mesh is fully compatible with the default textures (and
looks amazing) it really comes into its own with the VFR photographic scenery textures.
As mentioned during beta testing, the effect is far greater than the sum
of the parts and has to be seen to be believed.
Head over to Visual Flight for more details and ordering
information - this is not just "another mesh" and I totally recommended it!
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February 01 2004
Video of Simulator
Update 20 April 2004: Due to bandwidth constraints imposed by one of my web hosts
(not the excellent Flyer ISP who host this site)
I have been forced to remove the videos of my simulator for the time being.
Once I have located another host who allows the bandwidth these videos consume
I will reinstate them, along with a couple of others I have made recently.
Apologies for this.
January 26 2004
Glare Shield
The lack of a glare shield on the 172 panel left the simulator looking a touch unfinished. I made one from hardboard
and foam. The hardboard was cut to shape and painted with silver Hammerite. The foam was sprayed black, again with
Hammerite. Once the hardboard was screwed to the panel I used double-sided tape to fit the foam. Very simple, but very
effective and looks good!
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