On The Glideslope

This AVSIM post points to this REX Facebook page that posts to this manual for the long-awaited Sky Force 3D weather and environment engine from REX Simulations, all of which suggests that its release is just around the corner. I was a big fan of REX when I used P3D, and reading through the manual I believe this is going to make me jealous of FSX / Prepar3D weather for some time. Of course, REX has hinted that Sky Force would come for X-Plane as well, and I very much hope it will, one day.

That looks good, yes? If you like that, watch this.

Here’s something interesting: a DIY GN530 kit, from SimWareKits. I watched a few videos Russ Barlow (of Air Manager) shot of this unit while it was under development, and now for $229 plus about another $100 of your own purchases (LCD screen, shipping the design file to a 3D printer, etc.) and a little elbow grease, you can have one in your own home cockpit.

The videos suggest it’s a very lifelike and capable piece of gear. I have someone building a GN430 for me right now or I’d likely pick one up. While I’ve been able to get along OK having my Desktop Aviator rotary encoders tied to the 530 screen on the external touchscreen, having the real-world mechanics would be ideal.

I noted in my last video that I wished the Reality XP GTN 750 would show PilotEdge traffic. According to this post at the PE forums it will – one just has to set the X-Plane AI traffic setting to some number that is one greater than the number of targets you wish to see (e.g., set it to 11 to see 10 targets). I’ll have to try this when I’m next in the sim and see if this is still the case …

I purchased a few USB-powered fans when the hurricane blew through here a few months ago, and I have had one clipped to the back of my cockpit to help keep me cool when things warm up in the sim room. The clip always got in the way when I tried to move around to the right side of the cabin and access the PC, so this morning I figured I would take on a small project and mount it to the ceiling. I explored the idea of having the fans blow through the air vents at the front of the cabin, but it just wasn’t practical. I think my other solution turned out quite nice.