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Hi Cameron, Yes, it has been a long time coming, but life doesn't always go as planned and you have to keep in mind that I do all this beside a busy full time day job, family, baby and other constraints. So I am happy to have reached this stage so far, even by changing directions from time to time. It is my first aircraft and I guess this is natural, if you learn along the way. You are right, I built my own C++ framework for development, as I usually prefer to code in this language and it was working fine. However, I didn't like the pain to compile for three different platforms. I even bought a Mac Mini, just to be able to compile my code for the Mac, but I didn't like the idea to also install Linux as well, even I like to provide the Beaver to Linux users. So like I said, it was painful and the code turn around times, when I did a single code change became annoying. I know there are workarounds like having two folders of the same aircraft, where you just swap .xpl files etc., but also this was annoying. Another developer suggested SASL to me and gave me a short intro and after trying it, I was hooked. I could implement my code within minutes and now I can re-load my plugin on the fly, without stopping a running simulation. This allows rapid development, prototyping and testing. I know that SASL has its limitations with respect to OpenGL, but since I am not into developing airliners or heavy avionics cockpits, there is absolutely no need for me. SASL also makes it very easy for me to implement GUIs and I just love it that way. Code encryption, if required, is a piece of cake and I can do it myself and the support for all three platforms is important for me as well, because I don't want to close the door for anybody, even Linux users might be a minority. So no stumbling blocks. It was more a question of ease of use, a more rapid and streamlined development process, which is just fitting my specific needs and my own customer support. I still prefer C++ over Lua, but I can easily live with it.

Just to give you a better feeling of what the views look like, I compiled a few shots. Internal Views External Views

Time for FedEx Time

I only use real weather and I'm never able to see the cirrus, with or without Skymaxxpro. Only with NOAA plugin I was able for the first time to see those clouds in my X plane, and I'm wondering if there is any chance that SMP could force a cirrus layer at an altitude selectable from the UI? I'm not making stuff up, there was a weather program that I used with MSFS back in those days that had this option and was very cool. Just asking...

Gentlemen, Since the Saab update is around the corner, I made one more video "before" Believe it or not, I am having a ball with LES Saab 340 A, can not wait for update so I can take more videos with the outside views. Some of the external views are achieved by "cheating", moving from the inside of the 3D cockpit using arrows, not keys for preselected views. I am afraid that this plane will become my favorite one, it is a bit old but still in service ... just like me. Cheers, AJ

First congrats on a very well made aircraft, really enjoy this bird. But I think I found a small but glaring error It's the shape of the glare shield and the error is 'in your face' practically all the time And besides being a constant reminder being what it is and where it is, it's actually also a bit obstructive because it blocks the view forward a bit. I hope some vertices get's shuffled around a bit in the near future. Other than that, great addon Pictures says more than a few words, so here are some pics that hopefully shows what I mean As one can see, in RL the top of the glare shield is angled more directly towards the window sills while in the sim, it is extruded almost horizontally before it angles down toward the windows. You should be able to see almost the whole window frame from a pilot's perspective, try that in the sim without moving your head up and to the forefront of the overhead panel. A few more pics 'over the counter' just to show how it look's. Sorry I didn't have any better pictures for you, but I hope you can take care of this glaring bug on my glare shield. If it happens I'll gladly rate this aircraft a 10 out of 10 Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to share a mid week screenshot. It shows the view control of the Beaver, which is now in place and properly working. I implemented an IFR view. Just in case the sky is falling down and you really need to focus on your flight instruments. You can select this view by using the View Control or to get there fast, you just have to click on the tail number plate. By clicking on it again, you go back to the default pilot view. This view is also handy if you just want to practice you IFR flying skills.

Yes , I managed to learn something last years I am painting aircraft-models for flightsim for many years now. To be frank ,I did not expect to find much I did not already know. Until some wheeks ago , when I started to make a repaint (Thai Royal Air Force) for the ATR 72-500 ( Aerosoft/McPhatstudios ) Not really a big deal , a white airplane with an emblem and a blue and gold cheatline. The "white" happened to be the problem. I tried,tried once again I really was going mad. Even a complete pure white texture turned out to produce a greyish kinda thing. I realised that had to come from the OBJ files. An OBJ file can be opened with a text-editor so I did. Ok I knew, a command line reading ATTR_shiny_rat 1.00 gives us a plane with a bit of gloss, ATTR_shiny_rat 10.00 gives us even more. We can fill in the value we like. There are many different ATTR commands. Among them is a special one , ATTR_diffuse_RGB 0.00 (or other values) This is the command which drove me mad. In the OBJ file for the front section of the fuselage I found this line , ATTR_diffuse_rgb 0.820 0.820 0.820 That was the explanation of the problem ATTR_diffuse_rgb 1.00 1.00 1.00 means 100% of the color/bightness ( pure white is 255.255.255) ATTR_diffuse_rgb 0.820 0.820 0.820 means less than 100% 0.820 is 18% less than 1.00 As 255.255.255 is white at 100% brightness and 18% of 255 is 46 , the command ATTR_diffuse_rgb 0.820 0.820 0.820 reduces the brightness of the texture (all colors) with approx 46% Thats all , I opened all OBJ files related to the fuselageparts and changed all ATTR_diffuse_rgb 0.820 0.820 0.820 values into ATTR_diffuse_rgb 1.00 1.00 1.00 I could also simply have inactivated all ATTR_diffuse_rgb commands by placing a # in front of them , # ATTR_diffuse_rgb 0.820 0.820 0.820 An ATTR_diffuse_rgb 1.00 1.00 1.00 does not change a thing so we can forget about it. Now I was able to have my bird in sparkling colors. Ohh and yesssss, the default liveries , brand new and good looking too. No need to say back-up all files first , however, its very unlikely you`ll ever want them back. See the result , the front of the fuse displays the colors exactly the way they are on the texture, the rest of the fuse the suffer the ATTR command. ( 3d modelers should not fiddle with color-values and leave that to the texture-artists ) Second screen shows the files involved, they are in the main objects folder. Its only some minutes of work.( the # will do nicely) just search for ATTR_diffuse_rgb 0.820. Look at this all I wrote above as a general explanation of what this command is about, I you are content with the ATR the way it is , do not do a thing. My bird however will aways be a grey one for you then. Enjoy, Leen de Jager

My CT210 and Aspen got married too ... See "Aspen Instructions.txt" if you are interested. Aspen Instruction.txt

Absolutely, 100%...there is a DEFINITE chance you'll get this before christmas. Kidding aside, files have been submitted. Shouldn't be long. The installer is quite complex.

Douglas DC 3 (Virtual Hangar) Saab 340 A (LES) North American B 25 Michell (Khamsin) Sikorsky S 61 Sea King (Virtavia)