Content Virtual Sky January 2010

4 IVAO Press News 5 Mondial of Simulation All kinds of inportant IVAO news Review of the biggest simulation event held on just one page. Take a look in France. This event does not only through it to be posted about the conclude Flight Sim, but other Sims as most important changes! well.

7 FSWeekend 2009 8 Commercial 10 IVAO Exclusive Lelystad report Scenery review Interview with Frans Dennis Steinfort, Mallorca is one of Broekhuijsen, organizer of divisional coordinator the most the FSWeekend event. of this event, gives you wonderfull places a brief impression on on earth. Virtual Sky how the FSWeekend reviews the scenery has been. made by Aerosoft.

15 Commercial 17 Aviosim 20 Commercial Sce- Scenery review Short report about nery review Review of Aerosofts’ Aviosim, a club of en- Last review this issue about Innsbruck. thousiast based in the Aerosoft Nice Côte d’Azur Aviodrome, Lelystad. (LFMN).

22 FSLanparty 2009 Belgium 24 NL2000 review Kenny Moens, part of the organisation Last Christmas the NL2000 team team, gives a report about the biggest released a new version of their Lan-Party of the BeNeLux, FSLanparty Photo Realistic Scenery. On page Belgium. 24 a smal review has been given.

27 Freeware Zone 30 Buyers Guide Three pages with the most won- Once in a while you need a new PC, may- derfull freeware stuff to start the be because it’s broken, maybe you would new year with. like better performance, 5 pages about do´s and don´ts for a new one. Editorial

Marco Meerkerk IVAO Magazine Team Manager [email protected] Publisher: IVAO Virtual Sky International Virtual Aviation Organisation

January 2010 Editor team: Vybhava Srinivasan Marco Meerkerk DDear readers, Raymond van der Ploeg Wish you a very Happy New Year. Layout and Design: IVAO Magazine Team. 2009 has been an exciting year for IVAO and flight simulation in general. There have been some exciting products and also announce- Website: www.ivao.aero/publrelat/ ments of many new players. Our magazine has also grown immen- sely during the last 12 months and we have some exciting plans for General Mail: [email protected] 2010. Hopefully during the year we should see the birth of Divisional edition of IVAO Virtual Sky. Logo and cover Design: Robert Gottwald As usual this edition of Virtual Sky has some exciting reviews of new Marco Meerkerk add-ons and also story of some of the biggest real world flight simulation events around the world, where IVAO participated actively. Cover screenshots by: Wikipedia Sit back and enjoy this edition of Virtual Sky. Arne Ziemer

All the best and take care, Disclaimer: Any information, suggestions or illustrations published in Marco Meerkerk this magazine are exclusively for use Magazine Team Manager with computer flight simulation. Editor of Virtual Sky All views expressed in this magazine are the views of the respective authors. The publisher does not accept any responsibility for those views.

Copyright None of the information in this magazine may be reproduced in any form without prior permission from the publisher.

Page 3 Virtual sky - January 2010 - IVAO Software Development proudly annouce new version of IvAp IVAO Softdev is proud to present you with an all new version of their pilot client IVAP (v1.4.0) for FS9. This new version includes major changes which improve the realistic experience, enhanced realtime weather support like worldwide aloft winds, new traffic interpolation and peer-to-peer traffic engine for smooth multiplayer environment. For more information and download, please visit http://www.ivao.aero/softdev to get your free copy.

- IVAO Non-profit organisation open for applications Between January 1th and 15th the NPO is open for new applications. If you would like to be more involved into the IVAO Organisation, keep a sharp lookout on the forums. The criteria will be announced there soon.

- Request for Virtual Sky Editors Letters For the next year we would like to give the Virtual Sky some more input from our readers. Do you have questions regarding the magazine or any other (virtual) aviation related things, please mail your question(s) to [email protected] and [email protected]. Your questions will be answered in one of the next issue(s).

- Bert Grijmans Honorific Award Bert Grijmans, wel known as the Friendship Triple 5 (TFF555), has left us and started his last flight November 16th. Because of his contribution to IVAO BoG decided to award Bert posthumous with the Honorific Award, the highest award to be given. He will continue to live in our hearts.

Page 4 Virtual sky - January 2010 ike every year, the borough in Paris. It was moved are more than one hundred Mondial of Simu- in 1975 to Le Bourget airport and fifty aircrafts. We can lation was held in following the creation of the observe during the visit, L airport of Charles-De-Gaulle, various militaries aircrafts the November’s end at releasing of space in warehou- such as the Junkers J 9 the Museum of Air and ses. Today, the Museum of Air (which had been abando- Space at Le Bourget. and Space is the largest aviati- ned at a campaign airport “From virtual to reality” on museum in France and one in 1918), La Demoiselle is the motto of the fourth of the largest in the world. The (microlight built by Alberto Mondial of Simulation. various aircrafts are exposed Santos-Dumont in 1908) in different halls; the largest and formers commercials By Maxime Esnau hall is the "Grande Galerie". aircrafts like the Concorde The most of fragile aircrafts are and the Mercury. Nowadays, Le Bourget air- kept in a reserve, where there port is open to national and international traffic like the IFR non-scheduled commercial flights and private flight, some VFR flights with certain restrictions. The airport has more than fifty five thousand movements for only one hundred and thirty thousand passengers who pass there each year. The museum was inaugura- An overview inside the ted in 1921 on the proposal of Museum of Air and Space at Le Bourget Albert Caquot, in the fifteenth

Page 5 Virtual sky - January 2010 The Mondial of Simulation was happened during three days from 27th November to 29th November. Hundreds of visitors were there for this event which brings professionals, associations, passionate and students. presented as Aerosoft, Avionic Online, IVAO... This was also the opportunity to see new products for our simulators like Also other kind of simulators you can find on the ‘Mondial of Simulation’ news sceneries and news equipment. We had the opportunity to discover all kinds of simulators In the French division's stand, live evening when they fly or control. as simulators of boats, racing from Le Bourget, the airport of Also, divers Virtual Airlines are cars, emergency vehicles, trains Charles de Gaulle was fully staffed represented to advertising as and of course, flight simulators, and the adjacent FIRs mainly Nouvel Horizon, Britair Virtual, from a simple computer to a Bordeaux, Brest and Marseille. AIB Virtual… Finally, more than cockpit more realistic as pos- Persons on lines, was principally one hundred community's mem- sible. Renaud Emont’s cockpit French's staffs members and the bers from several divisions were exposed, was very realistic, regular controllers and some flights there.  and Renaud is a member of the demonstrations online. Several French division. He has been professional controllers and pilots In conclusion, three days are interviewed by France 3, in a welcomed visitors to present the been very enjoyable for all local transmission on the televi- functioning of IVAO. Some young, passionate. Visitors remind sion, live from Le Bourget and they had the opportunity to try a us that the simulation now during this interview, explaining simulator which belonged to one of affects all sectors. See you the proceedings of his flights, he our members. It was also a good next year for the fifth edition time because we had met persons spoke about the IVAO. which is already provided !! that we often listen during every

Page 6 Virtual sky - January 2010 Human cloning involves many social, moral, and ethical considerations. It may be useful to experi- ment with goat, pig, deer, rabbit, rat, cat, mule, and horse clones, but the scenario of human cloning chills my enthusiasm.

I would like to state my position: no to commercialized human cloning, we have made enough mistakes, and I am personally not ready for such trials of my humanity. That’s why on the FS Weekend I chose to be part of ‘The Team’. Just to try another way to work together and bringing success to an event as big as this one.

This weekend we had the opportunity to do things the other way. As we progressed off course I personally found out organizing an event such as this isn’t as easy as we think. Herewith my com- pliments to our predecessors.

Friday started early, too early for me personally, but as we made some promises I was not going to let this event fail. While working on the project, many of us enhanced our leadership skills. Especially getting all the staff and members available to participate the weekend was a hell of a job. Therefore we thank you all for long hours spent together, for devotion to our team work, for your generosity in sharing your skills with new and younger members. It was a great plea- sure to work with you.

Saturday and Sunday were amazing. Lots of traffic, lot’s of visitors in the Aviodrome. It ended up to complete our main goal; letting the public experience a little bit of IVAO in the spirit “As Real As It Gets”. Completing this goal is due to the efforts and labour of all present on the stand.

We have started out a new path, this year with an internet connection to show live our wonderful, exciting and social community. I am already curious about next year’s event and the progress we can make after this big and mementos weekend.

I enjoyed it and I know a lot have enjoyed it. Also mistakes were made but in my opinion this is a good thing. Otherwise we would not have learned anything.

And remember human cloning is perverse, abnormal, unhealthy and unnecessary. It is an unjustifiable waste of human and material resources. I am happy that cloning efforts have statistically high failure rates. The more fai- lures, the less attractive the idea may be to those who want to be Nobel Prize winners. As for me, human cloning is similar to nuclear weapons, dangerous in the hands of potential terrorist clones. Human cloning is a controversial issue that is becoming one of the hot debatable subjects. 

Next Flightsimulator weekend Lelystad is the 6th and 7th of November 2010!

Virtual sky - January 2010 Page 7 Virtual sky - January 2010 Spain is the fourth largest European country after Russia, Ukraine and France. Loca- ted in West Europe, Spain occupies the greater part of the Iberian Peninsula, which it shares with Portugal. Outside the peninsula, the country also includes two archipe- lagos: the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands and some islands and islets north of Morocco. The Balearic Islands are divided into five islands: Majorca, Ibiza, Menorca, Formentera and Cabrera. Aerosoft decided to represent the island of Majorca with photorealistic ground images.

Mallorca has an area of approximately 3600km², The French pilot Lucien Mamet starts the history the island has over 800 000 inhabitants. Palma de of Majorcan aviation. The first airplane takes to Mallorca, the main town of the island has the pri- the skies of Majorca in 1910. Aboard the “Ven- vilege of having a Mediterranean climate with hot dome”, Salvador Hedilla flies between Barcelona summers and mild winters. In addition, two airports and Palma for the first time. He takes two hours to are present on the island, the international airport travel 120 miles. In 1935, the air operator LAPE of “Palma-Son San Juan” (LEPA) and the airport (Líneas Aéreas Postales Espanolas) starts its of “Son Bonet” (LESB). Due to the popularity and activity between Palma, Valencia and Madrid with development of tourism on this island, the airport flights in a triple-engined Fokker VII. The following of Palma de Mallorca is one of the most important year, it is the Spanish civil War; the airport is used of Spain. There is still forty years, the airport “Son for military operations. Lufthansa begins flying Bonet” was the official airport, since it is closed to from Stuttgart-Zaragoza-Palma in association with scheduled flights and charters. the airport of “Son Bonet”. On June 15th 1939, Iberia, the famous Spanish airline, officially opens the Barcelona-Palma flight path. “Son Bonet” esta- blishes itself as the main airport of the island. On July 18th of 1960, all air traffic flies into “Palma- Son San Joan”. In 1981 the one hundred millionth passengers is counted and the traffic continues to grow, it becomes necessary to enlarge and improve the airport much further. A few years later, a new tower, a new control center arrives, in bonus a second runway opens. In subsequent years, two new terminals will open. Today the terminal B is destroyed to make room for new apron.

Outstanding mesh and textures in the vicinity of Mallorca. Page 8 Virtual sky - January 2010 Aerosoft has represented the entire island with A detailed AFCAD and AFX files for AI traffic are realistic ground textures and a new terrain model included, make it a lively and highly realistic airport (Mesh Terrain) with a definition of 5m/pixel. Tex- to fly to Palma. Outside of airports, coastlines and tures nights are also very successful, test when elevations of ground have been reproduced in or- you approach the nightfall. The two airports are der to come closer to reality. Next to the harbor of modelled, all buildings are represented. At the Palma, you will see the Cathedral of Palma, which airport “Son Bonet”, sheds are very realistic, we is akin to the truth. Away from the main town, you can also see the aerotec (pilots school), the fire can overfly, Portals Nous, it is here that there are station, gas station and a perfect representation of the most beautiful yachts who moored. Ten kilo- the surrounding buildings the airport. At the airport meters away, flying over the Puerto de Andratx, of “Palma-Son San Juan”, you will see the freight you could take some photos of a fishing harbor. At buildings, the fire station and buildings of major the harbor entrance, you will meet the magnificent Spanish companies, such as Iberia, Spanair, Air villas of several millions euros. Going up north, Europa ... On the tarmac, you will see to pass follow the coast to reach Sóller and then take a service vehicles such as cars, trucks or bu- heading to Palma along the railway, flying over the ses that carry passengers who join the plane. valley.  These vehicles will stop to let you pass when you head out towards the runway. Many objects are represented, many containers made by Iberia, traffic signs for the safety of employ- ees ...

A couple of screenshots are ginving a good expression on how the scenery looks. It’s really a masterpieces of work Aerosoft delivered. A pro for the users which are running FS with an average PC, it has a slight impact on your performance!

To conclude, this splendid scenery, available for FS2004 and FSX, deserves a place in your library for your simulator as other sceneries of Aerosoft. Allow plenty of even four gigabytes for FSX and only one and half gigabyte for FS2004. Available in downloadformat from the Aerosoft website. Windows XP / Vista. SingleCore 3.0 Ghz Processor (or In short: Duo2Core 2.4 Ghz), 512 MB RAM, 3D graphics card with 256 MB, Download-Size: 260 MB, Installation-Size: 1.5 GB. Developer: Aerosoft * * Pros: Website: http://www.aerosoft.com * - A heavenly scenery Price: € 25.95 / $ 37,22 USD * - A complete island with a good resolution System requirements: * * Cons: FSX: Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Acceleration or SP2), - ... Windows XP / Vista. 3.0 Ghz Processor (Duo2Core Intel * Score: 9,5/10 advised), 2 GB RAM, 3D graphics card with at least 256 MB. Download-Size: 3.8 GB, Installation-Size: 4 GB. Reviewed by Maxime Esnau FS2004: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 (Version 9.1), (IVAO Staff)

Page 9 Virtual sky - January 2010 By Raymond van der Ploeg “The FS- weekend is the most unique event in the world”

Frans Broekhuijsen is one of the driving forces behind the FSweekend held every year in the Aviodrome in Holland. Frans lives in Amsterdam, and when he is tired of flying behind his computer he takes his computer with him to his club called: Flight Simulator Club Midden Nederland. Every year the FS- weekend is always a huge success, we were wondering who the person behind this massive organisation is. Time for another exclusive interview Raymond: The FSWeekend why. The FSweekend is made some years ago many groups exists now for 10 years, how did by flight simmers and for flight and commercial companies let you become involved with the simmers; that’s the great suc- us know that they were unable organization of this event? cess. Because of this success to come twice within one year there is every edition a very due to time or other opportuni- Frans: The last 25 years that I’ve good atmosphere by the flight ties. Because of that we were become active with flight simula- simmers and visitors. Another in a position that we would tor I have made many contacts thing is that the FSweekend is end up with two smaller FS- with several FlightSim clubs and a non-profit event, and there weekend editions. Also many other flight simmers in Holland. are many ways of flightsim- visitors didn’t see any reason When the Aviodrome was about ming to see. So for everyone to join two times, too much to move from Schiphol to Lely- there must be something inte- reasons to stick with just one stad they needed a new orga- resting to find in our hobby´s big edition every year around nizer for the FSweekend. Some that could be home cockpit November were many clubs flightsim groups did some thin- building, online networks, and company’s can attend. king and chosen me as organiser flightsim groups etc. Raymond: If we look in the Raymond: Each year the FS- Raymond: Until 2003, there history we see a growth in Weekend is visited by more than were two annual editions of commercial companies at the 2000 visitors, why do you think the FSWeekend, since 2003 FSWeekend. How important this event is so successful? we have an annual edition. are those companies to add Do you think this was a wise something into the FSweek- Frans: The FSweekend concept choice? end. is indeed very successful, and I can give you also one reason Frans: Yes that’s correct, Frans: The last few years you

Page 10 Virtual sky - January 2010 can see enormous grow and on the network is very posi- development in flightsimulation “In the eve- tive; looking at the network hardware and it looks like that itself I don’t see any big flight simmers are willing to buy ning hours of errors anymore. Often I fly and use this hardware that can together online with some be just a little joystick to a com- September friends, mostly we will plete homebuilt cockpit. Also check if there’s any active the self build section of cock- and October ATC somewhere. If it is we pits or parts attracts every year will fly in that same area. many exhibitors and visitors to it seems al- the FSweekend. The combina- Raymond: The most visitors tion of software and hardware most like an do have a great day to visit on the FSweekend makes it the the FSweekend but how flight simmers more attractive to fulltime job” long does it take to organize see what’s on the market. the FSWeekend? Raymond: Are you not afraid that these companies will take Raymond: At the FSWeekend Frans: After organizing six the precedence, and we will you see many participants with editions of the FSweekend see less hobby groups (online Microsoft Flight simulator, fol- there’s a certain routine in networks, virtual airlines) in the lowing the closure of the ACE organizing, also the coope- upcoming years? studios, there is uncertainty regar- ration with the Aviodrome is ding very good. Frans: Absolute not! All groups, flight simulation. Does this affect About the time it takes, I can networks or other FlightSim the future of the FSWeekend? tell you the following; usually clubs that can give info or want And what do you self think of this in June I the first information to show demos are more than new situation? to the exhibitors and flight welcome. All commercial activi- groups. After that all the ap- ties are just Frans: I think without a doubt that plications will follow together a supplement , but the FlightSim the most flight simmers will con- with lots of questions. Half community is the primary group tinue to fly the upcoming years September I’m begin with on the FSweekend. with Microsoft Flight simulators the overall summary of all On the last edition we had (FS2004 and FSX). Also software clubs and companies. Also around 20 commercial compa- developers, such as IVAO’s part- to give any exhibitor a nice nies and 40 flightsim groups or ner Aerosoft, are still developing place in the Aviodrome is relating clubs. But to remember software for FS2004 and FSX. a big puzzle itself. In the the FSweekend is not a big Also the development of X-Plane evening hours of September lanparty and we don’t want it to is still continuing, and perhaps the and October it seems almost become such a party. freeware flight simulator of Free- like a fulltime job. gear has potential. I’m 100 per- Raymond: Since the beginning, cent convinced that in the future the FSWeekend is held in the there will also be enough virtual Aviodrome in Lelystad, the Ne- worlds of which flightsimming will therlands (formerly Aviodrome be a part. in Amsterdam). How important is the Aviodrome to the FS- Raymond: What about when Weekend organization. you are not organizing for the FSweekend? You are also IVAO Frans: Because the Aviodrome pilot, what are your own expe- facilitate the FSweekend, the riences with flying on the IVAO clubs don’t have any further network? cost in room hire, power supply, chairs etc. Also the area Frans: Well the last time I didn’t between the planes is very have enough time to be on the unique. IVAO network. But my experience Page 11 Virtual sky - January 2010 “The FS- weekend is far away the biggest flightsim event in the world”

Raymond: This year the flight Bigger is not always better, we FSweekend: groups will demonstrate ‘100 prefer quality. years of motor engine flying’. Every year around No From earlier editions, I cannot vember the theme in the Raymond: As final question, what recall those themes. Is it the do you want to say to the visitors Aviodrome is flightsimula- intention to that were in tor flying. These two days do this also in future editions? doubt about visiting the 2009 edi- are also know as the FS- tion and to persuade them to visit weekend. In the past editions of Frans: in 2010 ? During this weekend you the FSweekend we already can see several demon- tried to give every edition a dif- strations and seminars by Frans: I wanted to say to visitors ferent theme. In earlier editions that the FSweekend is the most flightsimgroups. it looked like that clubs thought unique event in the it was a big lanparty; but the world that’s made by flight sim- For many years the FS- clubs are not here for themsel- mers for flight simmers. Also for weekend is visited by ves, but for all those visitors. well know people with flight simu- thousands of visitors from lator experience but also for those all over the world. They not only can visit the FSweek- Raymond: How do you see the who are not into our world. If there FSWeekend over 10 years? Are are any questions regarding the end but also the Aviodrome you still one of the organizers? FSWeekend, please ask us or the itself. Will it grow even larger than it is clubs and companies. See you all today? in 2010!  You even can do a flight by one of the flightsimgroups with help of a ‘virtual’ pilot. Frans: Ai this moment I’m still having fun with organizing, and Regards, as long that the FlightSim com- For more information you munity is satisfied with my work Frans Broekhuijsen can visit the websites be- I will continue this. The FS- low: weekend is far away the biggest FlightSim event in the world; it www.fsweekend.com won’t be bigger than it is today. www.aviodrome.com

Page 12 Virtual sky - January 2010 Page 13 Virtual sky - January 2010 Page 14 Virtual sky - January 2010 Innsbruck is the capital city of the federal state of Tyrol in western Austria. It is located in the Inn Valley at the junction with the Wipptal (Sill River), which provides access to the Brenner Pass, some 30 kilometers (19 mi) south of Innsbruck. Located in the broad valley between high mountains, the Nordkette (Hafelekar, 2,334 meters (7,657 ft)) in the north, Patscherkofel (2,246 meters (7,369 ft)) and Serles (2,718 meters (8,917 ft)) in the south, it is an internationally renowned winter sports centre, and hos- ted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics. It is to host the 1st Winter Youth Olympics in 2012. The word bruck comes from the German word Brücke meaning “bridge” which leads to “the bridge over the Inn”. In 2007, Innsbruck had a population of 117,916. Tourism is the most important source of income for the city authority, largely because of Innsbruck’s beautiful town centre with its historic buildings, the friendly ambience and the extensive sport facilities both in winter and in summer. Source: Wikipedia

Page 15 Virtual sky - January 2010 Innsbruck Kranebitten Airport (ICAO-Code computer such as mine and contains many LOWI, IATA-Code INN) is the largest air- details, which makes it very enjoyable. port in Tyrol, western Austria. It is located Another great advantage are the detailed about 2.5 miles from the centre of Innsbruck, surroundings of the airport with buildings, which is connected with a bus line that runs railways, stadiums and roads, as well as the every 15 minutes, and serves regional flights highly detailed ground textures, which make around the alps as well as seasonal flights the airport very realistic. When you approach to other destinations. Especially Russian runway 26, you will be able to enjoy a de- and British carriers are well known to bring tailed part of the city, nice runway lightning their heavy aircrafts to Innsbruck during and a nice done airport. The only thing that winter months in order to bring their pas- could have been better is that not the whole senger to the Alps for skiing. Companies like city is detailed. Only some parts around the Thomsonfly or Thomas Cook Airlines serve airport are highly detailed. The transition of Innsbruck B757 and the Russian carriers so- the scenery with the default scenery could metimes fly with the IL96 to the airport with therefore be better. To conclude, this sce- the famous approach through the valley in nery is a must for pilots loving challenging the middle of the alpine mountainous terrain. approaches in the middle of the Alps. It can The airport has a single, 6562ft long runway be purchased on the Aerosoft website for (08/26) and is at 1906ft AMSL. In 2008 the 23.95€ and is for fs2004 only. The installa- airport handled 969,474 passengers, which tion is very easy which makes it possible to was an increase of 12.8% compared to enjoy “Approaching Innsbruck” shortly after 2007. installation. 

“Approaching Innsbruck” is another great product from Aerosoft. The scenery is very frame friendly, also on a rather low-end

- Sufficient documentation, such as manual and charts In short: - Easy to install - Cost/performance ratio is high * Developer: Aerosoft * Cons: * Website: http://www.aerosoft.com - Not the whole city of Innsbruck is included, only parts of it * Price: € 23,95 / $ 34.33 USD - Transition could be better between the default and Innsbruck scenery * System requirements: - Available for FS2004 only Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 (Version 9.1), Windows XP / Vista. * Score: 8/10 Pentium 2,6 GHz or faster, 1 GB RAM (2 GB advised), 3D graphics card with at least 256 MB (512 MB advised). Download-Size: 180 MB,installations-Size: 560 MB. * Pros: - High quality ground textures - Framerate friendly Reviewed by Florens Macario - Many details (IVAO Staff)

Page 16 Virtual sky - January 2010 Whenever you fly as a Pilot on IVAO in the direction of the Netherlands, there is a real possibility that you will be heard live in the Aviodrome in Lelystad, Netherlands. Visitors to the Aviodrome can in a real life simulation enjoy the hobby that we all share. As Aviosim is becoming an often heard item in IVAO, it is now time to introduce Aviosim to you properly...

Aviosim started its collaboration with IVAO a short time ago. The Netherlands Division has already read all about this collaboration on its national Forum. During FS Weekend, a larger number of IVAO members came along to visit and have a look inside our NLR Flight Simulator.

Unfortunately, too many people do not understand what Aviosim actually is, and how it began. Aviosim is a 100% daughter of the NL-2000 Scenery Design Team (www.nl-2000.com) so well known for its “freeware” scenery of The Netherlands. Some time ago, Visitor Byron the NLR simulator Visser : was located in the NLR in Amsterdam where they used “Controlling a simple maquette at the SARP and a camera to was a great generate a screen in the Flight Si- new experi- mulator. When ence, they discovered It looks very NL-2000 (that was realistic then a reasonably limited project) together with they asked us if IVAC” we could possible be of help to them. They would shortly be receiving some photographs from Discovery Channel and they wanted to make the best possible use of them.

The NL-2000 team, direct by one of its Gurus: Guido van Wijngaarden, took on the project and finally managed to make their new scenery so realistic and compatible with the NLR Simula- tor that it realistically looked as if they were actually taking of from Schiphol Airport. NL-2000 has done similar projects for the Netherlands Association of Air Traffic Controllers who is very happy to use our 3D objects at Schiphol in their Tower Simulator. All these projects brought the NL-2000 team opportunities to visit and experience the Schiphol Tower, Amsterdam ACC/ APP, and the several flight simulators of KLM and the NLR. But the best present, and thank you, of all was given to us by the NLR several years ago.

Virtual sky - January 2010 Page 17 Virtual sky - January 2010 The NLR Simulator was due for a change and the old one had to go. The big question was how quickly could we, and NL-2000, take over the old simulator, and where could we place it… after a bit of searching around, we landed at the Aviodrome in Lelystad. After much negotiation with the Aviodrome; it was agreed that the NLR Simulator is, and would remain, the property and management of the NL-2000 Team. Our technical members went right to (hard) work, and with the manuals at hand, and much more additional hardware, they brought the Simulator to life again.

When NL-2000 Team became so busy with the new version 3, now version 4 (FSX version) it became very clear to all that the team of volunteers must be restructured in order to keep the Simulator operational. Under the leadership of Ron van Houten, Tom Souren and Damiën van der Aart, the domain “Aviosim.org” is registered and the volunteer team is expanded. Presently, we have 10 enthusiastic full time volunteers who come regularly, and a number who can not be present so often, but are no less enthusiastic.

Aviosim.org Visitor has had a Maarten de large amount Ridder: of experience “My visits to with different Aviosim were networks, and great ! we chose to The com- “go with” IVAO. bination of AERO because controlling it is large, well- structured net- and flying in a work with many real simulator facilities. Avio- makes a visit sim also offers more then IVAO members worth.” the opportunity to “experience” a day with us. Many of you have already done this and have come along for a second and third time, to experience ATC from behind the SARPII Scope. The SARPII Radar Unit ope- rates with two monitors and large round back projections screen such as were used earlier by the LVNL for Approach and Center. Just as the NLR Simulator is, so is the SARPII well outdated, and therefore, replaced by the LVNL. When it was gifted to the Aviodrome, the Aviosim Team immediately took possession of it in order to improve the exhibition and make it more interesting to watch. The “flights” of the Simulator could now be seen, and followed, on the virtual radar by the visitors to the Aviodrome

At this moment of writing, our collaboration is being further extended to working with a large builder of cockpits in the form of sponsoring and the enhancement of the light Simu- lator cockpit with the latest FMC’s, MCDU, NAV/COM, panels, etc. Further at the end of November, the Aviodrome received more equipment from the LNVNL and this hardware will also be included in the present Aviosim project.

Page 18 Virtual sky - January 2010 There are also many other plans for the future on the drawing board, such as the realisation of a 360º Tower Simulator. This will allow the visitors to have a realistic outlook over Schiphol Airport where, not the real life traffic, but the virtual traffic of our on-line pilots will be visible to them, with the voices of our virtual ATC-ers being heard.

As you have seen from the above, there is still a lost of work to be done here. We can not accomplish this all alone, and we are therefore looking for more volunteers to assist in making these plans come true. So we need you if you have a couple of free hours every month and would interested in helping.

- Have you a working knowledge of software and hardware - Would you like to fly or assist in the Simulator - Would you like to control from behind the SARPII Screen?

Then visit the Aviosim website and sign up to come along once and see what we are doing; who knows, maybe you will also want to join our team. 

On behalf of Aviosim,

Damien van der Aart Aviosim Project Leader www.aviosim.org

Page 19 Virtual sky - January 2010 The airport of Nice Côte d’Azur is the third largest in France, behind the airports of Roissy Charles-De-Gaulle and Orly. Built partially on the Mediterranean Sea, the airport welcomes every years over ten million of passengers. Nice is located at the southeast corner of France. Located between sea and mountains, Nice is the economic capital of the Cote d’Azur, the city boasts important assets like the tourism, the commerce and the administration who hold an important place in economic activity in the city.

The Nice airport found its roots with a pioneer, parking additional aircrafts (twenty six Captain Ferber. In 1901, he invented a glider with additional positions have been created) and which he will climb to about fifty meters. In April limit nuisance to local residents. The new track 1910, one hundred thousand opened the 7 of April in 1999, measuring two spectators gather for the first air show, the thousand seven hundred and thirty airport was still the large fields. It is only in 1928, a meters long and forty five meters wide. transport company began the transport of mails between Nice and Marseille. In 1944, a runway is created in hard, one thousand three hundred and fifty meters are so available. In 1945, Air France launched its first line between Nice and Paris, this flight is operated by a Jun- kers 52. After this success, this company opened several lines such as Nice - Algiers and Nice - Rome. A temporary terminal will be commissioned in 1949, this expansion will generate additional comfort the arrival of other companies like KLM, Above: Terminal 1 at LFMN. Nice view at Swissair or British Airways. In 1976, the capacity the field and further from the tower. of the terminal is increased to four millions Below: Terminal 2. Amazing details! passengers, and only in 1983 that this threshold is exceeded. In the same year, the southern runway will be available. The airport is therefore now consists of two parallel runways. In 1996, the first low-cost line is set up to London Lutton destination. Then the work of moving the north runway farther south began in 1997. The aim was twofold: to save space in order to build

Page 20 Virtual sky - January 2010 Nowadays, the airport represents around three Since early September, the scenery of Nice Côte hundred seventy hectares with two terminals. It d’Azur X is available at Aerosoft website. With its has eighteen telescopic gangways more than fifty new design, the scenery is only available for FSX. gates. Thirteen millions passengers pass every All ground textures are now realistic (1m/pxl). All year on the airport, which represents twenty-six airport buildings are represented, as well as sur- landings and thirty take-offs per hour. And at the rounding objects. The terminal 1, from airside, has fret terminal, over thirty thousand tonnes of cargo 6 jetways, as with Terminal 2 these are not ani- pass each year on the airport. mated. From close up underneath the walkways you can see the gate numbers on the building and The airport can be regarded as one approach the some fine detail in all the walkways. The terminal most difficult in the world, there are three main ap- 2 is a futuristic looking hub with darkened glass. If proaches for flights to the destination of the airport. you are in slew mode, you will be able to see and The first approach, used 40% of the time, is called appreciate the inside of this terminal that has been Riviera procedure available RWY 04R/04L. It was added. Other buildings near the airport have been created to avoid the Cap d’Antibes. The procedure modelled such as “La Caisse d’Epargne, a major consist to make a circling to land with prescribed French bank but you can also see the “Novotel”, a track, it is available when weather permits visibility large hotel and several major business parks. Na- is greater than ten kilometers and a ceiling above vigation aids realistic are present for you to easily 3000ft. locate around the airport (ILS, VOR-DME or NDB). The second procedure called Saleya used less fre- All nights effects are excellent for buildings of the quently is under the same principle as the Riviera city or on the airport. All lighting for runways and approach but RWY 22L/22R. It also requires good taxiways are also realistic. Moreover, all the traffic weather conditions or visibility of eight kilometers signs at the airport are there to help you reach the and a ceiling 1500ft. runway or your gate. In addition, high-speed taxi- The third approach is used when the weather does ways are modelled, allowing planes to leave the not allow for a visual approach, is an ILS appro- runway at speeds above normal. Many vehicles ach. are placed on the airport like Air France buses that will allow your passengers to move to the terminal but also many service vehicles. Also to the South installation, we can find the helicopter area called “Aire Mike” that is also the largest area in Europe for facilities dedicated to civil helicopters. 

In conclusion, the scenery is a very good quality and exceptional like all other products offered by Aerosoft. It asks just the same, some resources to computer, but as usual, the scenery deserves its place in your FS library. Available only for FSX, download version only. * Pros: In short: - A wonderful scenery - A perfect companion for Monaco X scenery * Developer: Aerosoft - Excellent frame rates * Website: http://www.aerosoft.com * Cons: * Price: € 17.95 / $ 26,08 USD - FS2004 is separately sold, not for free. * System requirements: * Score: 9/10 Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Acceleration or SP2), Windows XP(SP2), Windows Vista. Pentium 2 GHz (Duo2Core Intel or equivalent advised). 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended), 256 MB graphic card (512 MB recommended). Download-Size: 200 MB Reviewed by Maxime Esnau Installation-Size: 390 MB. (IVAO Staff)

Virtual sky - January 2010 Page 21 Virtual sky - January 2010 In September a lot of people from Belgium and neigh- bouring countries were looking forward to October 3, the day of the annual FS Lan Party of the Belgian division. An event which is already organised for the 8th time and can call itself the ances- tor of similar events in France and other coun-tries.

On Friday, a lot of people of the organisation team, some international guests and members of the Belgian division joined up to have dinner near Everberg. After some beers and a very good meal, we went to the venue to start the preparation of the event: tables, electricity, network and much more. Like they say: ‘a lot of hands make light work’, it certainly applied to us, I could barely follow giving people the orders of what to do

Pilots are concetrating behind their cockpits while flying somewhere in South African airpace.

However... Saturday didn’t start so good: the organisation team was advised to be there at 7:30. Due some unforeseen event I only woke up at 7:30 and still had to drive to Everberg. The consequence? People were waiting for the subscriptions. Luckily with the help of Jacques and Bart Embrechts we quickly noted everyone’s name and completed the registrations in a short period.

The region which was selected this year was South Africa. The main difference from other years was that started the day with a fly-out instead of assigning everyone to another airport. It seemed that a lot of the participants really enjoyed the fly-out. After the fly-out, Murphy stroke... we started experiencing some massive electricity problems. Luckily the cause was not our system was not correctly setup, but rather a loose wire in the central electricity plug provided by the venue. As a consequence we had a power outage of about one and a half hour. Several people asked us in the end if we could repeat that next year, because they never had so much chats at other editions. Luckily we won’t do that again next year, at least we hope, the owner of the venue already assured us that the electricity problem is now properly repaired.

Page 22 Virtual sky - January 2010 Due obvious reasons these problems meant that we had to cancel the IFR challenge this year, similarly we had to start the fly-in a bit sooner, but in the end most people really enjoyed it.

After the closing BBQ, time had come to clean up the place. Again the organisation team was pretty amazed with the number of participants which helped out with cleanup up the place. In an amazingly short period everything was cleaned! We would love to thank all these participants who helped out during the final cleanup.

I personally cannot wait for the 9th edition in 2010, in which we will take comments given by the participants of this year into account.  By Kenny Moens FS Lan Party organisation team

There we also many controllers this year. Looking over the shoulder of controller Richard Stegeman

All screens on black; a massive power interuption caused by a loose wire. Good reason for chatting around

A well known member to every years FSlanparty. Pilot John Meinen as “springbok164” Photos by Raymond van der Ploeg

Page 23 Virtual sky - January 2010 Page 24 Virtual sky - January 2010 For a few months now I am volunteer at Aviosim. Aviosim is a club of people who run the static NLR simulator and the SARP II ATC station in the Avio- drome in Lelystad, the Netherlands. As my volunteership progressed I also got in contact with the people behind Aviosim namely the NL2000 team. This team is known as the creators of the NL2000 scenery.

The team consists of scenery and aircraft designers resi- dent in the Netherlands. Most of them are amateurs and a few are also professional designers. At First, all individual members were designing independently, but got together by Thomas Diederich in 1998 to make up this design team. Because there was no single scenery package for the Netherlands available for Microsoft Flight Simulator 98 and 2000, the team decided to design its own scenery of the Netherlands as a complete freeware package and to make the scenery widely available to all.

Although there were sceneries available for FS Europe, they didn’t match the quality them as a team liked to see. There was also some great Dutch scenery available for FS5 like the beautiful Rotterdam Scenery, or the great rendition of Amsterdam Schiphol and although this has been an inspiration to achieve this scenery, it’s by now rather outdated in respect of the current state of scenery design for FS2000. Currently version 3 is widely available and shows the magic of this team in providing a gorgeous scenery of the whole Netherlands.

Version 3 however is only compatible with Flight Si- mulator 2004 and not supported on FSX. The team is working hard on version 4 to make the scenery also compatible on this version. With compiling and working on version 4 the base photo’s for the scenery were updated. With quality of newer technology the photorealistic scenery is just amazing. Prior to the release of version 4 (Which is not ready yet) the team also made a new “version 3 Special Edition” package, consisting of the old version 3 but with the new photorealistic layer. As member of Aviosim, I got the chance to participate is a short testing period of this new scenery.

“The freeware version 3 of the scenery looks like Fly Tampa quality, I’m impressed!”, NL2000 user.

After downloading 22GB of torrent, which took a while because the testing team is limited, I am very happy to take this look into the Special Edition. Installing takes a bit, consuming more than 29GB of your hard disk space. This is much, but I must say, it is worth it! The old version 3 consisted of 5 DVD’s, the new Special Edition is counting 6 DVD’s.

Page 25 Virtual sky - January 2010 The scenery surprises me, swiping me of my feet. The de- Review: NL2000 tails of the Netherlands so sharp I can count the vehicles * Developer: NL2000 development team on the highways, even telling if a vehicle is a truck or car. * Website: http://www.nl-2000.com The shadows casted are amazing. The biggest surprise * Price: Freeware however are the framerates. With everything to the maxi- * System requirements: mum and locked on 26 fps my systems just doesn’t care 2.0 GHz processor, 1024MB memory, 128 about rendering the images! It puts it al the way to 25.9 MB graphics card (DirectX 9), 35GB free fps. Only at Amsterdam hard drive space. Works on Windows XP, Schiphol my fps drops back to 19 fps, even this is not bad Vista and Windows 7 32- and 64-bit, with as we see a lot of AI traffic on the airport. .NET frame works 1.1 installed. FS2004 ONLY! After visiting a lot of airports my respect for the NL2000 * Pros: - Textures are from superb quality; team rises from good to outstanding. These guys - Perfect scenery for VFR flying operations. deliver an outstanding job which is done purely as hobby * Cons: and made public as freeware.  - 22 GB’s is an gigantic amount for a scenery; - Installation duration lasts up to ±3 hours. * Score: 8/10

For more information about this outstanding scenery visit the website of the NL2000 website. The current version is for Flight Simulator 2004 only, FSX version will be released soon!

The IVAO Desktop Calendar!

Every month IVAO members can submit a screenshot to the Desktop Calendar system. One submission that fits the months theme is picked as the ‘screenshot of the month’ and will be eligible for the title of ‘the best screenshot of the year. Maybe your screenshot will be used for the Virtual Sky cover as well! Upcomming for 2010 is a new sort of contest, keep a sharp look out on the forum!

More Information: http://ivao.aero/publrelat/

Page 26 Virtual sky - January 2010 Every issue in this section we will hunt down the hottest downloads available in the flight simulation community. We also take this opportunityto salute these freeware developers, who devote their time and efforts in creating some awesome add-ons, available to us for FREE.

Vybhava Srinivasan

Autogen Trees FS2004 environment Filenames: fs9tree2.zip Authors: Scott Armstrong Source: http://www.avsim.com

High-quality and completely photoreal autogen tree textures for Flight Simulator 2004. Full seasonal sets have also been included

Enhanced Waves FSX environment Filenames: waves_266979.zip Authors: David Cotton Source: http://www.avsim.com

Enhanced Waves Scenery for the FSX. The waves are more realistic.

Page 27 Virtual sky - January 2010 FSX Explore Environment X FSX environment Filenames: eex_part1.zip to eex_part7.zip Authors: Jubert Adrien Source: http://www.flightsim.com

This is a update for FSX which contains textures for runway, taxiways, wave animations and the sky. There are 7 parts which needs to be down- loaded.

Nepal Deluxe FSX scenery Filenames: nepaldel-1.zip Authors: Gera Godoy Canova Source: http://www.flightsim.com

Nepal is the land of Himalayas and present a challengening flight over the huge mountains. This scenery has new afcad files for all airports in Nepal and also includes the missing airports in FSX and some addition lakes, rivers and objects not found on standard FSX.

Norway Airports FS2004 scenery Filenames: norap08.zip Authors: Kjell Arild Bersaas and Arne Sundsbo Source: http://www.flightsim.com

This scenery package contains 55 airports in Norwayand is also updated upto December 2009. Enjoy the lovey Norway with this freeware scenery

Page 28 Virtual sky - January 2010 NL2000 v3.0 Special Edition FS2004 scenery Filenames: http://www.nl-2000.com/files/NL2000V3se_in- staller.torrent Authors: NL2000 Team Source: http://www.nl-2000.com

Since this scenery has an enormous filesize, this is only downloadable through the P2P torrent protocol. This special edition gives you more shar- per textures as ever before. For more information see page 24/26 of this Virtual Sky issue.

Concorde FS2004 and FSX aircraft Sorry! Filenames: concall.zip Authors: Libardo Guzman No preview Source: http://www.surclaro.com available... The entire concorde collection. Includes models, textures, Passenger views.

Tinmouse Boeing 737 FS2004 aircraft Filenames: tinmouse_ii_v1_25.zip Authors: Richard Probst, Bob Scott, Terry Gaff, Gustavo Rodrigues, Christoffer Petersen Source: http://www.avsim.com

V1.25 of the TinMouse II Boeing 737-200, complete archive. No files from previous versions needed. Fully-functional overhead panel and most aircraft systems simulated in detail, custom flight dynamics, and a complete soundset. The panel directly integrates the freeware CIVA Delco INS unit (not required, available separately), Ernie Alston’s ISG FMS gauges and SquawkBox. Optional integration for the Kittyhawk/FFX models, and optional configuration included for the RealityXP WX-500 radar (available separately). Requires FSSound (included) and registered version of FSUIPC, v3.70 or later. Visit the TinMouse forum here on AVSIM for more information on new version features and support.

If you have download tips for the ‘Freeware zone’, feel free to contact the Magazine Team staff anytime or report your find on the IVAO forums.

Page 29 Virtual sky - January 2010 Flight Simulation is getting more popular every day. You wouldn’t expect it since it has quiet a dusty image, but more and more people find their interests in this fantastic hobby. I’ve been working as a salesman in a computer hardware store for over 2,5 years now. In this function I advise people on how to fit the perfect hardware together to get the most wonderful and powerful machines. In the past years I did build a lot of PC’s for a lot of different people and prices, with a lot of tech- nologies we had in the past 2,5 years. In this article I would like to give people which are planning to buy a new PC on short notice a push in the right direction. Let me be clear, I’m writing this article based on the hardware and technology which is available today (I’m speaking of December 17th). By the time you read this article other and better hardware will probably be available, and other components will have better performance. This article in only a guideline. By the way: “Welcome to my world ;-)!”. Casing Buying a PC it not like buying a bag of sugar, don’t expect to have a complete PC for € 500 / $ 717 USD. Starting with the casing. Be aware of the fact that the hardware these days are getting hot, especially when playing games. A casing also depends on the individuals taste; yeah FlightSim enthusiasts have a small female part as well... Only advise I can give here, don’t go for a silent casing, this means (most of the times) that there is no cooling involved. Get a casing which is supplied with good ventilation and coolers. Ok, it will be a lot noisier but your hardware will like it. A good casing with sufficient coolers will cost around €80 / $114,61 USD (power supply not included).

Page 30 Virtual sky - January 2010 Power Supply Buying a power supply must be well considered choice, you have to think about future expansions you might do, for example an extra Graphics Card to let it run in SLI (for NVidia cards) or CrossFire (for ATI cards). A power supply is not something you would change every time you add something to your machine. It’s hard to sum what consumption every component is using, since every CPU (even in the same range) and other hardware is having different consumptions. I tried to sum up the average consumptions, as hereunder based on today’s hardware:

CPU 130 Watt Main board 35 Watt Graphics Card 250 Watt I/O devices 25 Watt per device Fans and case lights 5-6 Watt per device

Alright, as we know this now, a simple add sum is made. As you could see a standard PC with 1 Hard drive and 1 DVD-ROM and let’s say 3 fans, will use about 480 Watts with intensive use. Don’t skimp on the power supply, but buy a good one like CoolerMaster, Zalmann or Ther- maltake. Last thing... Don’t expect your energy bill will run up like an F-16 with full afterburner, the power will only be used when it’s really necessary, like in game. A good 750 to 800 watt power supply will break your bank account for about €100 / $143,27 USD.

CPU (processor) This component is maybe the most difficult one, because the rest of your new PC depends on this. You have two choices in this, Intel or AMD. Most people choose for Intel, I hear you asking ‘Why’? Every time I get such cus- tomer I ask it why they make this choice, and every time a smile on my face follows the one million dollar question and no clear answer will follow. Most of the times it’s a feeling you have with such a product like experiences with it in the past. It might be something like Boeing Flyers vs. Airbus pilots... AMD delivers value for money, you will get what you pay for. Intel on the other hand works better with Flight Simulator most of the times. If you would like to go for the ultimate FlightSim computer I would like to advise you to take a look at Intel’s new range of i7 processors. For a budget PC you will have two choices, the i7-920 or the i7-860.

Page 31 Virtual sky - January 2010 Latest benchmarks showed me that the i7-860 works better with games, the reason is the so called ‘Turbo Boost’ technology which boosts you dynamic clock on the i7-860 even more than it does on the 920, meaning that the dynamic clock is more effective on this CPU. The i7-860 is a so called Quad-Core CPU which delivers you a standard clock of 4 times 2800 Mhz. The 860 will cost you around €240 / $343.84 USD (stock cooler included).

Main board The main board... It’s the most important part of your PC, but the range in main boards is too way too wide. A main board which has practically all features which a more expensive one has as well is the MSI P55-GD65. The main board has everything a flight simmer could wish for. Dual Gigabit LAN, perfect ALC889 sound chip and even the chance to over clock your PC without any hitch. The main board is provided with 8 internal SATA ports which give you the chance to provide your PC with, for example, 1 DVD drive and 7 (!) hard disk drives. Next to all these cool features the board is prepared for 2 Graphics Card in both SLI and Crossfire setups (which the P55 chipset supports). Another important thing is the amount of external USB ports, 8 in total! This main board is available in stores for about €135 / $ 193,50 USD.

Memory Depending on the Operating System you use, or planning to use, we have a dozen of choices here. If you would like to stay this the ‘good old fashion’ 32-bit version of Windows 4 GB’s is more than enough. The maximum physical usable memory is 3,2 GB’s, I hear you thinking: ‘Why not 3 GB’s then’? Well, there are some reasons for that. The P55 chipset, as well as the MSI main board supports dual channel memory, in short this means that two memory dims are working together like it’s one (with other words: ‘More speed’). For dual channel setups it has to be 2 identical dims, since your couldn’t split 3 GB’s into 2 round numbers, the choice for this is quiet easy.

Page 32 Virtual sky - January 2010 If you would like to take your PC to the next level and would like to try 64-bit Windows, you generally have the freedom to use up to 192GB’s of memory (Yep, one- hundred-ninety-two GB’s!). For Flight Simulator there is only one rule, the more memory the better, 4 GB’s is enough, 8 would be even better! The maximum capacity is 16GB’s. Not every brand will work on every main board. If you are planning to buy another one then the MSI, I would like to advise you to do some very serious research or take a look at the Quality Vendor list on the main boards manufacturers website. On the MSI all brand are working, OCZ, Kingston, GeiL (German brand), you name it. Please have a good look at the memory speed the main board supports, never buy memory which has a higher clock then the board supports, it sim- ply won’t work or, in the most great situation will be down clocked. OCZ 4GB’s Platinum memory on a clock of 1866 Mhz will work like a charm! These two pieces of gold looking components are available for around €118 / $169,13 USD.

Hard drive / SSD A very cool technology which saw its daylight the past year is the SSD, (fully pronounced as Solid State Disk). This piece of technology will replace the good old hard drive in the near future. A SSD is much faster with loading and writing stuff, since it hasn’t got any rotating parts. You could compare an SSD with Flash Memory like you use in your digital photo camera. For FlightSim this has some serious advantages, for example: Faster loading times of FS itself and FS textures. The big dis- advantage is that is way to expensive for the common human being. A SSD with a serious storage capacity (tal- king about 64GB’s) will cost you around €180 / $258,21 USB. In comparison; a good old fashion hard drive with 1 TB capacity is available for €90 / $129,11 USD. Spea- king of hard drives there are some differences as well. The most stable hard drive brand is Western Digital, Caviar Green series does not only use less power but it’s data transfer rate is even faster than common hard drives. It’s your choice, clear statement huh ;-) ? If you ask for my opinion, go for the hard drive. The SSD’s currently on the market will have some issues, especially with Windows 7. Time will tell if these issues will be solved...

Page 33 Virtual sky - January 2010 Graphics Card Beside the CPU you have two choices here as well, namely ATI or NVidia. Same story as with the CPU’s, ATI provides you value for money, but NVidia chips will work better with Flight Simulator. The past years I personally had both NVidia and ATI cards, and I have to say the performance of the ATI’s were amazing, only minor thing was that ATI does not seem to provide good Anti Aliasing (smoothing of edges) while Nvidia does. The problem with ATI has something to do with the Drivers, which works alternately good and bad with Flight Si- mulator. NVidia does always provide drivers which are working good with Flight Simulator and any other game. The Anti-Aliasing issue is something you wouldn’t like to deal with if you buy a new PC. An new PC must show everything to its limits, the eye would like something as well. Some of you will think; ‘I have an ATI card now, and everything works fine!’, well simple answer to this: ‘You are probably lucky ;-)!’. If you would like to choose for ATI the 5770 is a great card to buy at this particular moment, the MSRP is around €160 / $229.75. ATI’s competitor Nvidia will provide you the GTX275 which again has less issues, but has a higher price €210 / $301,55 USD.

DVD-Drive The DVD-ROM or DVD-burner drive is device which is the less important for our setup. You could choose every brand for this, good quality is Samsung or LG for example. Price around €20 / $28,69 USD.

Conclusion To conclude, buying a new PC these days will be a big investment, but with the current System Requirements FS9 and FSX will ask, it’s an investment for the upcoming 4 to 5 years. A PC (casing with components only, no keyboard, mouse or any other peripherals) will cost you around €800 to €850 / $1.148,77 to $1.220,56 USD. It’s a lot of money, and maybe too much for under the Christmas tree, but it’s really worth it.

I hope I gave you a brief impression on what’s on the market and where to look at. If you have any further questions regarding this, feel free to contact me. 

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