Soaranden

Since Hurricane Irene may be heading for the Carolinas, and since I live in the Carolinas, my interest has definitely been peaked. One of the neat things that can be done with Flight Simulator X is to use it to connect to Jeppesen real-world weather data via the Internet. Upon connection, FSX automatically downloads weather data for your aircraft's present location (and for the time and date that you specify), and FSX automatically sets its weather to match the downloaded data. This morning, Hurricane Irene is off the north coast of the Dominican Republic, and its outer bands are hitting the

Very sharp screenshot, Soya! Congratulations!

Very impressive screenshots. You should consider entering the screenshot contests in the Prize Screenshot Contests forum. There's a contest and prize monthly.

I like your system specs, John. I hope you don't overstress the airframe. Dan

It's noon on the East Coast of the States. I just checked FlightSim.com, and I don't see the Goshawk there, yet. You can, however, download it from where I did. Dino has provided a download link at India India Alpha Foxtrot Echo. Any additional updates will appear there first, too. Dan

Wow! The aircraft in that first screenshot looks very Presidential!

Dino Cattaneo is releasing a great new T-45C Goshawk. His former model has been completely reworked. New liveries are included, and their appearance is impressive. The instrumentation is extensive, and just about all of the instruments and switches are functional. As of this date, look for version 2.01. FSX with Acceleration or FSX Gold are required. Note: The third screenshot below shows the affect of the strobes on the fuselage, wings, and cockpit.

I've released Bagram Air Force Base V3 Update 1 (bagram_ver_3_update_1.zip). It's available for free download at FlightSim.com. Portions of some of the taxiways at the real-world Bagram AFB have been widened with concrete. As seen in the screenshots below, my update adds the widened taxiways. The next-to-the-last image is a photo that shows some of the concrete that was added. The last image is a photo that shows what pilots had to deal with on the old, narrow taxiways. Dan

Those are some great screenshots, jankees!

A very well-done video! Dan

Congratulations, Dodgy-Alan...a dramatic screenshot, for sure. I really enjoyed it. What company makes that model, and what's the name of the product? Dan

Well, thanks for the compliments, Brian. I was a bit surprised, myself, at how realistic Paris can be made to look. That's why I shared the screenshots. I use FSX with Acceleration. I have no custom Paris scenery installed. There are two things I did to make things appear more photographic: 1. After flying to the site, I did a bit of slewing to put any unrealistic-appearing FSX ground textures out of frame. 2. I set visibility to "10 mi." I've found that setting visibility to 10 miles (or less, if there is precipitation) is the point at which things change from appearing a bit cartoonish to

My use of helicopters came about only after I realized they're a great way to inspect scenery at airports I develop, and after I realized Heli Traffic 2009 provided a means to show realistic AI helicopter traffic. I use just about every pilotable helicopter I have as AI. Dan

:lol: Okay, here's an armed Predator.

Abbottabad

I recently downloaded a new freeware Enstrom 280FX Shark helicopter from FlightSim.com. The download included several different liveries (including, incidentally, a couple of liveries with pontoons for water landings). The Enstrom is a native FSX model. I decided to take the Enstrom for a flight around Paris. The screenshots below show a couple of familiar landmarks ("borne limite"). Arc de Triomphe La Tour Eiffel

Great screenshot, Mike! Glad the crosswind wasn't strong! Dan

Thanks for the compliments, and thanks for providing the space for flight sim enthusiasts to show their screenshots. Dan

I put a cover on it!

I've released the freeware Kandahar Airfield (kandahar_ver_1.zip). It is available for download at FlightSim.com. As a surprise, I've also released a new freeware version of Bagram AFB (bagram_ver_3.zip) that is based on satellite imagery. Since Kandahar is by far the more extensive and detailed airport, I'll show mostly images of Kandahar here, and I'll add a comment to each image. The last two images, however, will show Bagram. Dan Welcome to Kandahar. This is Kandahar's main gate and the road leading to the airfield. This screenshot shows most of the airfield near sunset. This scree