Christopher Low

That instructor is being very modest. He wouldn't have had any idea if the student was going to recover in time, so his quick decision probably saved the guy's life

One thing that annoys me about some of the Just Flight turboprop planes is the clearly audible point at which the engine sound file "loops back on itself". This really should be seamless. It is extremely obvious in that Fokker 27 YouTube video, and it was exactly the same with the Vickers Viscount. I really hate stuff like that, and it seems like the issue has not been resolved with the Rolls Royce Dart engine sounds.

Fantastic video, Jeroen. Really atmospheric

Very sad news. Another small part of my life ripped away

You lucky sod, Nigel! By the way, everyone at the hotel that day was given a solar viewer to observe the eclipse. These are strips of darkened material about six inches long by two inches wide, and I still have two of them. They will be very useful three weeks from now

You never saw the Sun's corona in 1999 from the Midlands, Martin. That is only visible during a total solar eclipse. Even a 99% partial isn't good enough. Although I didn't get to see the totally eclipsed Sun, it was a very special experience to be immersed in the Moon's umbral shadow. The sky above me was dark, but it was light all around the horizon. Totality lasted 1m11s from my location close to the Devon/Cornwall border (The Moorland Links Hotel just north of Plymouth). The light is indeed very strange when the Sun gets to around two thirds eclipsed. The colour seems to slowly drain f

Thanks for the clarification, Martin. I have studied total and annular solar eclipses for many years (particularly those visible from the UK), including simulating the central eclipse tracks on my PC. They are fascinating wonders of nature, and I long to see the "eye of God" (as one astronomer described it). I missed out in 1999, but I intend to correct that if I can in 2017.

More good news.....the P3D version of the Turbine Duke v2 has now been released!

That's because the 1999 August 11 solar eclipse was total over Cornwall and Devon. The difference between a total solar eclipse and a 91 per cent partial eclipse (which is what this one will be in my home town of Ulverston, Cumbria) is like the difference between night and day. Whilst the dimming will be appreciable with this eclipse, it will be nothing compared to a total eclipse. I was fortunate to be in the path of the Moon's shadow during the August 1999 eclipse (on the border between Cornwall and Devon), and the darkness during totality was spectacular! Unfortunately, I did not see the to

I purchased the Piper Cheyenne from FSD many years ago. I can't remember which version of FS it was for, but it must have been well over a decade ago because I remember it had a "VFR panel" option like Flight Unlimited 3 (and I was using the latter much more than any version of FS at the time). However, I wasn't all that impressed with the flight dynamics (compared to the lovely planes in Flight Unlimited 3), so I asked them about it. The response I got was basically "if you don't like it, then purchase elsewhere". I never forgot that response, and I have not purchased anything else from F

Is that the view you get from the standard VC pilot's position? I think you are using some other software, as your viewpoint appears to be moving around a bit. The visibility from the cockpit is excellent in that video.

There are some truly stunning airport packages being developed these days.

64bit OS is not the same as 64bit P3D, Donny. Most of us run 32bit software quite happily with 64bit operating systems, but running 32bit addons directly in a 64bit version of P3D is a different ballgame altogether.

I am sorely tempted by some of the beautiful airport packages from around the world, Geoff. In fact, I quite often do nothing more than taxi, take off, circuit, land and taxi back to the terminal at all of my large detailed UK airports, so I could theoretically do the same elsewhere in the world!

I don't have any Fly Tampa airports (because I only fly around the UK and Ireland), but they make some really impressive looking airport packages.

I certainly hope that is the case, Kevin. It's just that I have seen so many posts from programmers that seem to suggest that it wouldn't be all that easy!

The part that I find most curious in the release comments about version 2.5 concerns the "changes to the file and folder structure in preparation for a 64bit version". That suggests that the two versions are going to be "linked" in some way. Does this mean that LM are going to try and make the 64bit version backwards compatible with 32bit addons?

I would have updated immediately if there had been a patch option, but I understand why that was not possible this time. Maybe my comment sounded a bit more negative than I intended, but I prefer to stick with what I have for the moment. Version 2.4 is working fine for me, and I don't want to go through the hassle of a full installation again unless there is sufficient motivation to do so. That day will surely come, but it is not this day

I have downloaded v2.5, but I may not install it at all unless someone can convince me that it is worth the effort of a full reinstall.

To be fair, I don't think that PMDG are trying to shaft anyone with this. It's just that they have more complex licensing issues to address than most addon developers. I assume that the P3D version of the 737NGX will also be released with a one month "discount to FSX price" phase before it returns to the standard P3D price. The only annoying aspect for me is that I will also have to shell out again for the 600/700 addon package, even though these are actually the only two versions that I want.

It is certainly disappointing if PMDG do not offer a further discount to "upgrade" a user's existing license from FSX to P3D. Unfortunately, something tells me that this isn't going to happen.

That price is $89.99 until March 7, whereby it goes up to (what is presumably) the standard retail price of $134.99. I assume that they will do something similar with the P3D version of the 737NGX when it is released, although it would be nice if I could swap my FSX license for a P3D one for an even greater discount!

That large Goodrich building was added after I noticed the image of it on Google Earth during beta testing. It is actually just outside the photo base image that Gary had purchased (and visible in the Horizon GenX photoscenery), but its size and proximity to the runway convinced me that it needed to be included!

Based on that video, it looks like it was the left engine that failed. When the video is paused (just as the left wing makes contact with the side of the flyover) you can see that there appears to be "less rotational motion" in the left propellor.......unless that is an effect of the video itself. I am astonished that so many of the passengers and crew appear to have survived.

Stuart, Volumes 4/5/6/7/8 appear to occupy roughly 162GB of hard disk space on my PC.