Our friends over at the FSX forum would probably shake their heads in disbelief if they read this - BUT - I am almost overwhelmed with all the new products, freeware and payware, that have come out for FS9 this year. There have been a number of products that I've thought "Yes, I'll get that soon" and then another one comes along and before you know it, you can't remember what you were thinking you "had to have" a few weeks ago. (Hey, at my age I have trouble remembering what I had for lunch today!)

 

So, here's a suggestion - a discussion thread on what we think are the "must have" addons that have been released so far in 2012... (The time frame doesn't have to be rigid - it might be something from 2011 as well - after all, who can remember when some of it was actually released?)

 

I'll start it off with:

Payware aircraft - iFly 737NG with new Features Pack enhancements

Payware scenery - Aerosoft PANC Anchorage.....

Freeware scenery - LH Simulations LHDC Debrecen

 

What do you all think?

Ian

OK

Brand new - Instant Object Studio - just got it, very impressed and support second to none.

Couple that with Instant Scenery and AFX all compatible with each other then go and make ad hoc scenery to your own taste.

 

JohnT

Mi-8 for AI from Sergey Bunevich (SBAI) - with 5 € almost freeware and the first Heli so far (as I know) performing vertical takeoff and landing.

 

With the UTT traffic packs, I placed hundreds of them in my virtual Russia and Ukraine.

 

There's only one problem left: I havent found out so far how to make my own proper working helipads for this model...

I am almost overwhelmed with all the new products, freeware and payware, that have come out for FS9 this year. There have been a number of products that I've thought "Yes, I'll get that soon" and then another one comes along and before you know it, you can't remember what you were thinking you "had to have" a few weeks ago. (Hey, at my age I have trouble remembering what I had for lunch today!)

 

 

 

Agree sir. Beyond anyone's expectation. While more and more fs9-friendly releases coming, I am still aiming for the BAe Qwings, which you forgot to mention among this year's overwhelming releases.

 

 

Have a nice weekend

Quality Wings Bae-146 series (without a doubt the best airliner we may see this year)...

:drinks: to FS9. I tried FSX today and quickly went back to FS9 after encountering the "bouncy aircraft" and "graphics stuttering" on my i7 3.40ghz :LMAO:

 

I know there's tweaks for fsx but i am so hooked right now with my stable fs9 setup, i can multitask many apps in win7 and fs9 stays stable with no crashes.

I fully expected the QW BAe 146 to be on the list! The only reason I didn't mention it is because it's still on my "must have" list. I'm probably going to purchase it over the weekend.... I probably would have caved and got it sooner but the iFly737 Feature Pack has really had me hooked on trying all the new features and so I've been able to resist the temptation - so far... (Plus Rafal keeps forcing me to buy new sceneries about every week!) :Just Kidding:

 

Though I haven't purchased any new utilities so far this year, it's probably worth mentioning the very significant upgrade to AES that Oliver released a few months back. I am still blown away with it - the details and smoothness are amazing. And the Instant Object Studio looks fascinating and so it's nice to hear a confirmation for that one. I have AFX and Instant Scenery so that looks like it's going to be high on my "must have" list for the summer

 

Any others???

 

Mi-8 for AI from Sergey Bunevich (SBAI) - with 5 € almost freeware and the first Heli so far (as I know) performing vertical takeoff and landing.

 

With the UTT traffic packs, I placed hundreds of them in my virtual Russia and Ukraine.

 

There's only one problem left: I havent found out so far how to make my own proper working helipads for this model...

I strongly recommend HeliTraffic 2009 from Flight 1. It is inexpensive and gives you outstanding AI helo traffic. You can use it with any helo you choose (or even VTOL aircraft) and can place landing spots anywhere you want with a couple of mouse clicks...

 

:drinks: to FS9. I tried FSX today and quickly went back to FS9 after encountering the "bouncy aircraft" and "graphics stuttering" on my i7 3.40ghz :LMAO:

 

I know there's tweaks for fsx but i am so hooked right now with my stable fs9 setup, i can multitask many apps in win7 and fs9 stays stable with no crashes.

Every now and then I see a product that is released only for FSX and I get tempted to give it another try - and then I read a post like yours and I know that it's not an option for me. If your system doesn't run it well mine sure as heck won't... Thanks for the reminder that FS9 is still the champion!

I fully expected the QW BAe 146 to be on the list! The only reason I didn't mention it is because it's still on my "must have" list. I'm probably going to purchase it over the weekend.... I probably would have caved and got it sooner but the iFly737 Feature Pack has really had me hooked on trying all the new features and so I've been able to resist the temptation - so far... (Plus Rafal keeps forcing me to buy new sceneries about every week!) :Just Kidding:

 

I think I've had the opposite effect. I've been so hooked on the QW 146 that I've had little time for the iFly Feature Pack and all that would in-tale (repaints and FS2crew reinstalls). It would take away too much time from my 146 flying (the bird is that good)...

I strongly recommend HeliTraffic 2009 from Flight 1. It is inexpensive and gives you outstanding AI helo traffic. You can use it with any helo you choose (or even VTOL aircraft) and can place landing spots anywhere you want with a couple of mouse clicks...

 

Thanks for this recommendation. It seems that I went the freeware way I little bit too long without looking left and right, until I got to this forum. So I bought Aerosoft Vilnius X - it's for FS2004, too - I would have posted it but it's from 2011... :Nerd:

Too much has been released this year and this old bloke is struggling to keep up both financially and mentally.

 

Sceneries:

Vancouver

San Francisco

Los Angeles

Miami

East Midlands

Krakow

Polish Airports V 3

Santiago

Lima/Cuzco

Guayaqui

La Pazl/Sucre

Montevideo

Caracas

LLasha

Paro

thats the cream of the crop I wouldn't be without. Many others acquired and yet to be acquired shortly.

 

Utilities

FS Instant Approach

FsRaas 1.1

Multi Crew Experience -substantial updates this year have turned this into a stunner

 

Aircraft

VirtualCol's Jetstream 32 ... not bad at all.

 

Most improved award goes to LatinVFR. Not only are they prolific, their quality has gone ahead in leaps and bounds ... seriously knocking on the door of the big five.

Too much has been released this year and this old bloke is struggling to keep up both financially and mentally.

 

Sceneries:

Vancouver

San Francisco

Los Angeles

Miami

East Midlands

Krakow

Polish Airports V 3

Santiago

Lima/Cuzco

Guayaqui

La Pazl/Sucre

Montevideo

Caracas

LLasha

Paro

thats the cream of the crop I wouldn't be without. Many others acquired and yet to be acquired shortly.

 

Utilities

FS Instant Approach

FsRaas 1.1

Multi Crew Experience -substantial updates this year have turned this into a stunner

 

Aircraft

VirtualCol's Jetstream 32 ... not bad at all.

 

Most improved award goes to LatinVFR. Not only are they prolific, their quality has gone ahead in leaps and bounds ... seriously knocking on the door of the big five.

Thanks - a great list. I'm curious about FS Instant Approach. When it came out it didn't really strike me as something I would be interested in. Now you've got me curious. What is it you particularly like about it?

...What is it you particularly like about it?

Everyone will have their own reasons for liking this, mine is the fact that the Nav radios are pre-tuned for you!

So go land the plane, Captain...

Hi Ian.

 

More important that YOU make up your own mind:-

Google FS Inventions and download the demo (limited to just 2 airports but you'll get the idea.)

 

This one man band dev issues frequent updates, some suggested by users, and offers prompt support.

What more can a fella ask for?

 

Happy approaching

I think I've had the opposite effect. I've been so hooked on the QW 146 that I've had little time for the iFly Feature Pack and all that would in-tale (repaints and FS2crew reinstalls). It would take away too much time from my 146 flying (the bird is that good)...

 

Me too! Having previously been a huge fan of the iFly 737 (and still am), I find myself flying the QW 146 almost exclusively recently, it is that good. All the more surprising as it was an aircraft that I never really liked very much in the real world but I now cannot drag myself away from it! I think it will go down as one of the all-time great FS9 airliner addons.

 

Bill

Too much has been released this year and this old bloke is struggling to keep up both financially and mentally.

 

Sceneries:

Vancouver

San Francisco

Los Angeles

Miami

East Midlands

Krakow

Polish Airports V 3

Santiago

Lima/Cuzco

Guayaqui

La Pazl/Sucre

Montevideo

Caracas

LLasha

Paro

thats the cream of the crop I wouldn't be without. Many others acquired and yet to be acquired shortly.

 

Utilities

FS Instant Approach

FsRaas 1.1

Multi Crew Experience -substantial updates this year have turned this into a stunner

 

Aircraft

VirtualCol's Jetstream 32 ... not bad at all.

 

Most improved award goes to LatinVFR. Not only are they prolific, their quality has gone ahead in leaps and bounds ... seriously knocking on the door of the big five.

 

Most improved award goes to LatinVFR. Not only are they prolific, their quality has gone ahead in leaps and bounds ... seriously knocking on the door of the big five.

 

I agree, Latin VFR are steadily improving the quality of their scenery (I have just added their Montivideo scenery which is very good) as well as costing me a fortune with their frequent releases!

 

I just wondered who would you classify as being in the big five? Certainly I would include Fly Tampa, Aerosoft, FSDT and UK Extreme but I struggle to decide on the 5th member of that group with Eiresim, France VFR and Drzewiecki Design all being in contention IMO. I was quite surprised when I looked at the various producers whose scenery I have installed in FS9 and found at least 31 different developers!

 

Aerosoft A_A BGD Blueprint Boris Ferero

DFS Domaero Dreecs Drzwecieki Design Eiresim

FSAddon Flight Zone Fly Tampa FS Dream Team FS Quality

France VFR Greek Airports Project Godzone Imagine Sim Latin VFR

Onet Valley Oriental Sim Overland Japan RAS Samsoft

Simbreeze Skysoft Sky High Sim Simcheck Taxi To Gate

Thai Creation Tropical Sim Virtual Col Real NZ

 

 

Overland Japan also have produced some great quality airports and although they are now quite old, at the time of their release were almost state of the art. Thai Creation are producing some really good work and like Latin VFR are almost but not quite in the big five. Tropical Sim have improved their quality but still lag somehat behind Latin VFR. Imagine Sim are also steadily improving but somehow their sceneries do not quite achieve the sense of immersion in realism that the top quality producers manage. Blueprint also lag behind Imagine Sim in achieving that realistic feeling. Increasingly more developers are adding autogen around the perimeter of airports and in the surrounding area which also adds to the sense of realism by avoiding the sensation of an otherwise great airport standing isolated in an almost otherwise bare landscape. Anyway, this subject could be a topic in itself but it is great that we have such a huge choice of generally good to excellent scenery now for FS9 - an almost unbelievable thought just a few years ago!

 

Bill