The good folks at RealSimGear were kind enough to send me one of their GNS 430 units for testing in the home cockpit. I already have the 530
, which is fantastic, but as I use a 430 in the real world I was eager to have a similar unit in the basement sim. I likely won’t get the unit installed for another week or so, but here’s the unboxing. Like the 530, the quality is excellent, and I’m excited to use it.
Captain ShaneGo–one of my best mates and the man who helped me construct the sim over a weekend almost three years ago–was in town this past weekend and climbed into the cockpit for a quick virtual hop. A Citation jet pilot in real life
, I was impressed with his willingness to simulate work on a day off. We had a great time, right up to and including the point where I crushed the tires. “You did seem to flare a bit high,” he said after I’d turned off the stream …
I was very happy to see in my inbox yesterday an email from ORBX announcing that their TrueEarth Great Britain South package is on the way and planned for release later this month. Since ORBX announced that they would be developing for X-Plane I’ve been eagerly awaiting their products as
, even with the wonders of orthoscenery for X-Plane, ORBX scenery really is top notch and I enjoyed it when flying P3D very much. The official announcement is here, with plenty of screen captures. I’ve also posted a few caps and the promotional video below. I really do feel that ORBX development for X-Plane is a fantastic thing for our community.
Two weeks ago I was able to get up for a cross-country flight to Crystal River with my CFI just to keep the rust off. A good buddy of mine was in town, so with my CFI in the right seat as Pilot In Command we took him along for the ride. We had a great flight — beautiful weather, advisories from Tampa Departure, C-17s going by on their way to MacDill AFB
, and a near-miss with a bald eagle at 3,500 feet. My buddy managed to capture the landing back at KSPG, which I post below. One night flight to go and then it’s checkride time. I’m getting excited!
One of the excellent scenery designers in the X-Plane world is GPB. He has a number of freeware airports available on the .ORG, and they’re all worth getting. He also, though, produces a larger set of payware airports for X-Plane, which he sells as a one-time subscription service. Last I checked it was $75US for the entire set, which includes these fields (along with frequent updates and new fields from time to time):
His work is excellent, and at a few bucks a field, the package is a bargain (and, at least to me, essential if you fly on PilotEdge). GPB500 doesn’t have a website, but you may contact him at gpb500-x at yahoo dot com and he’ll give you instructions for payment and get you on the distribution list. If you’re interested in the quality of the work, see some screen shots of his KBUR Burbank below. It’s excellent.
![rV_whbXA[1]](http://www.ontheglideslope.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/rV_whbXA1.jpeg)
![S-imqvow[1]](http://www.ontheglideslope.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/S-imqvow1.jpeg)
![DaPJ84NQ[1]](http://www.ontheglideslope.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/DaPJ84NQ1.jpeg)
![tTHFq8KQ[1]](http://www.ontheglideslope.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tTHFq8KQ1.jpeg)
![H1JNTmEQ[1]](http://www.ontheglideslope.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/H1JNTmEQ1.jpeg)
PilotEdge fliers have a soft spot in their hearts for L52 Oceano, which is were PilotEdge suggests you make your first flight on the network. I still fly the KSBP / L52 / KSBP milk run quite often — it almost always has traffic, Oceano is a cool little field, and it’s great to hear people new to the network feeling their way on the radios.
So I was excited today to learn that Orbx, who has only recently begun bringing their impressive scenery design skills to X-Plane
, has released L52 — and better yet, it’s free. You may get it here, as I plan to do later tonight or tomorrow.
I’m flying to Jackson Hole soon in the real world (as a passenger) and thought it would be fun to do some pattern work, sightseeing, etc. there today on PilotEdge. If you are a member of the PilotEdge network, join me on the KJAC ramp a few minutes before 11 AM ET / 3 PM Zulu and we will brief on 123.45. Then we’ll start moving about when PilotEdge goes live at 11. Or just watch the stream and join in the comments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiKa_bbdVDM
