X-Plane Gateway
the x-plane links portal
X-PlaneGateway Site Update
The XPGW has been dormant for a few months due to family, personal, and career obligations that
absolutely had to come first. Things are beginning to settle back down to a normal pace, and the two people who run this site can now begin to focus more on the fun aspects of X-Plane! Let me just say... it's great to be back in the saddle again!
We've have made a few changes to the site this week, and you'll definately see more coming as we get ramped back up. The biggest change we've made on our return is in the Community Area. We now have a complete working Forum for you to discuss X-Plane with others in the vast, and ever growing X-Plane community. Enjoy the Forums, I'm certain that they're will be changes in the future, because we'll be listening to your suggestions as we go, and grow. Register, login, and contribute often!
X-Plane v9.40 Released
After one of the most extensive beta periods in quite some time, 
X-Plane v9.40 has been released by Austin. If you have been sitting on the side wating for the beta period to end, the time for download and purchase has arrived. Here at the Gateway, it's unanimous, this is probably the best version since 7.63. Framerates are excellent, the Global Scenery and Water enhancements, are just spectacular. You can read about all of the features here.
You will need the Updated Installer for this release, and you can see the entire list of fixes / features improvements and download the release candidate here.
Cirrus Jet Liveries - Over 25 Available!
Walter Blenny has released over 25 liveries for the default airplane in X-Plane9, Cirrus - TheJet. I don't think there has been anyone in the X-Plane community that has ever provided so many liveries for the default airplane in the history of the sim. The quality of the repaints is truly outstanding and installation is a snap. The packages also come with additional objects, such as flap tracks, antenna's etc. that truly make the paints stand out heads and tails above others. The choices range from Airline Express, Military, Government, Personal Transport etc."
A spinning turbine created by mid7night is included in the objects add on folder as well. This just shows what a great community we have, and we owe these guys a big - Thank You - for all of the hard work!
You have to login at the .Org first, then you can download the entire set of liveries here.
FJCC - UFMC Project
Javier Cortes reports that his Universal FMC for X-Plane is nearing the release stage. The LATERAL NAVIGATION is fully a custom autopilot included with the FMC. The FLARE and ROLLOUT are also custom autopilot included with the FMC. Javier provides a short explanation of how the FMC works with the autopilot:
"FLARE is to get smooth landing, changing the pitch to decrease the vertical Speed in the touchdown.
ROLLOUT is to get the right runway heading during the touchdown and runway running. This is a very great help in high crosswinds landings. The THROTTLE is fully controlled by the FMC if you select so in the config file.The rest of the autopilot functions are from X-plane, smartly managed by the UFMC".
-Vertical Speeds are automatically calculated and now are variable with the altitude also, as the real ones.
-Complete SID and STAR and can be updated to newer AIRACS
-Speed is automatically reduced to the Speed transition at the transition altitude (usually 250 knots and 10.000 feet, but you can change it in the UFMC VNAV PAGES).
You can see the current published Features List on his website.
VATSIM and MITRE Join Forces
The Board of Governors are very pleased to announce that VATSIM and MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) have joined together to conduct aviation systems research using the VATSIM network as a test environment for proof of concept and hypothesis testing of new ATC solutions.
In the near future VATSIM members will be asked to participate in CAASD designed events in an effort to evaluate new concepts in ATC operations. This program is the direct result of the exacting standards required to fly and control on VATSIM and is a direct tribute to your tireless efforts to simulate as real as it gets.
Congratulations to all those members out there that have made the reputation VATSIM has built over the years as the serious simulation platform. Your hard work has been recognized.
Avroliner Project Site Update
Andreas Benjamin has updated his Avroliner Project website. Currently featuring aircraft for v7 and v8, a recent posting on his site mentions that work for planes compatible with v9 is already underway.
The new site is clean, professional and extremely easy to navigate. Flying the Avro series has always been a pleasure, as Andreas always provides top shelf panels and liveries, for every release.
A huge favorite mine is the Avro RJ-100 Quiet Trader. I frequently fly regional FedEx and UPS routes with that particular aircraft. The plane certainly lives up to it's reputation as a quiet, powerful, easy to fly platform into midsize and small airfields. Downloads are free, however registration is required. Put away the heavy metal, and service those "fly-over" cities and towns with this great collection of aircraft!
Peregrine Creates PlaneMaker Wiki
Peregrine a long time X-Plane aircraft builder and contributor has created an X-Plane PlaneMaker wiki as a resource for the plane builders in the community. He points out "there never has seemed to be a really thorough manual on X-Plane and PlaneMaker, and more importantly, there always seem to be little hidden tricks and details, that aren't documented anywhere, that one only learns through trial-and-error, or talking to just the right person here at the Org".
Such a true statement. Forum threads are often hard to follow, especially as they get pushed down the line by the latest posting. Sometimes searching a subject will return so many choices that it's daunting to pick through the treads for the info you are look for. We here at X-Plane Gateway applaud this effort, and hope the community will support the PlaneMaker Wiki. It's long overdue!
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OverlayEditor Adds Support For v9
Jonathan Harris has added support for version 9 in his latest release of OverlayEditor. Now at v2.0, OverlayEditor has become the de facto tool for those who wish to edit their airports in X-Plane 8 and 9. Many of our older users remember WorldEditor which is no longer available in X-Plane.
Jonathan also offers another favorite tool on his site, FS2XPLANE. This tool allows those who own a copy of scenery used in other flight simulators to convert it for use in X-Plane. There are a number of links that are beginning to pop in the X-Plane community that have custom scenery files that have been converted, with permission of the original authors. We will post those links in our scenery section on a regular basis.
Jonathan has great tutorials on his site, and leads the discussion on his tools here.
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Featured Project: DH-106 Comet
Guy Montagu-Pollock has announced that he is in the advanced stages of development on the De Havilland DH-106 Comet. DE HAVILLAND was an extraordinary company. What made it special was the modest, dedicated leadership of its founder, Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, and his board. They treated everyone generously, regardless of position, and encouraged communication at all levels.
Where many companies welded their order books to the military, de Havilland had their own view about the future of commercial aviation. They made their own decisions, and didn't’t wait for the government to tell them what to do. From the outset, they championed recreational flying, business use, and light transports – all the Moths and Dragons – earning a reputation for elegant, light-weight, aerodynamic designs with higher performance than mere engine output suggested. This would prepare the ground for the record breaking DH-88 Comet, and the legendary Mosquito.
On his website, Guy states "Considerable effort has gone into aerodynamics: the original aerofoils were identified, and plots of lift and drag were calculated for the appropriate Reynolds numbers.
Initially, the data was translated directly into the necessary ACF files. Later, the curves were re-drawn as accurately as possible using “Airfoil Maker”, because it proved easier to make adjustments. These adjustments were very small, and were made with reference to engineers and pilots accounts of the effects of changes to the leading edge of the wing during the real aircraft’s test and development process."
You can follow the discussion on the continuing development of the Comet, while we all anxiously await it's arrival.
X-PLANE BUG REPORTER : Please report any bugs you find in X-Plane. Send Bug Report Now.
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