2020 Holiday Updates and Free!

[AADX]

Merry Christmas 2020

While this year has been trouble, something good is always appreciated.

All updates are free.

The quantity of work put into PIPERS should have been a new product release but what felt most right was to go forward with the generosity we would like to see in the world. PIPERS is up to 24 directly useable aircraft. It started as 10, then 12, then 15. Now with three avionics types for many of the models, and with platemaker crashing using the import function, each of the planes with multiple avionics panel setups are each their own aircraft now. Sure is a ton of aircraft to keep settings set and adjusted in.

Pipers has the most quantity and basis of updates. Then ALL aircraft have been flown, adjusted, and updated similarly. Flap Cd, flap Cm, in some cases flap Cl. Engine throttle idle ratio. Autopilot behavior options to be consistent with as x-plane describes, "modern", "old fashioned", and in the case of where the X-Plane G1000 is used, the autopilot type GFC700. The autopilot system STEC55, seems to not work right, namely being it doesn't capture on approach mode. So while I had gone through and updated all STEC panel AP aircraft to STEC system, after finding that approach doesn't capture I switched them all back to "modern" functionality and then they work as expected. Flap Cl, Cd, and Cm settings, seems in this generation of X-Plane the pitching moment is either more pronounced or simply calculated a bit differently. I think this is both in conventional and experimental flight model. What that meant is that every single aircraft has been flown on numerous instrument approaches so that the flap deployment is done at proper speed to then observe the pitch, vvi rate, speed change/drag. and as there is no published data for those, I adjusted those based on my own observation and what feels most right.

Some models that didn't have G1000 panels previously, now do. the modern pipers (warrior, archer, arrow, Saratoga, Seneca, seminole) all have analog, avidyne, and Garmin. only a couple models needed some performance adjustments as they were flying those test flights too fast at too low MP (arrow 1).

First ever release of the PIPER AEROSTAR. My friend T.Anderson owns and I've flown with him in his PA-60-600 Aerostar. This model is built in my standard method so it is premium flight model. It's flown tested to match the handling, performance and behavior of his Aerostar. The panel layout is also the same. While I lived in South Carolina for a year and worked with a then friend at his Avionics repair station, we upgraded Tuck's Aerostar to Garmin and Avidyne (mfd) in the radio rack. Anyway, this has 2D panel and is a great flying aircraft and a throwback to how legit original x-plane airplanes look and work. ACF bodied, painted acf body aircraft, 2D panel (albeit with some custom panel content, instruments, base panel, shadow and lighting overlays)

Cirrus SR2X. panel layouts made more consistent. removed some extraneous panel content that I simply think nobody uses or cares about. generally cleaned up the panel layouts, reorganized the G430/G530 setup in the Avidyne layout. Fairly significant adjustment to flap Cd/Cl/Cm to really get those dialed in, looking good and feeling good. As said about Pipers, in the Cirrus the autopilot system is made consistent and tested for reliability.

LFX & LJX. my forever favorites, updated similarly as described above.

and Everything in the FREE Downloads section. Believe it or not, everything in there similarly updated, tested, tuned and upgraded.

One aircraft that has been asked to be brought up to v11, and I would just die if it were left behind and x-plane no longer even read it, is the STARSHIP. It's a functionality update. the FMC/FMS/GPS system of v11 is not compatible with the legacy gps/fms of v10 and earlier. It wouldn't even save it with those items on it's panel. But the Starship does not have an airliner type FMC, nor does it have a modern Garmin 530. But it needed to have one of them in order to be saved in v11. So I put one 530 in place of the legacy GPS. removed the FMC. and applied several other file updates. The Starship shows how fragile the x-plane content is over x-plane updates. as x-plane things break because file content format changes or file handling changes.

I have TWO aircraft that will be posted in FREE category later today, tonight or tomorrow.
Beechcraft Sierra C24R and Beechcraft Raytheon King Air 200 G1000

I have two G1000 King Air 200/350 at work at FlightSafety Wichita which I'm intimately familiar with now. The KA200 I will be posting is tuned to match the FSI Level D simulator. Keep an eye out for that tonight.

Anyway....

Merry Christmas everyone!

Enjoy