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Carenado C337 over Vienna

More of a report from the trip than moody screenshots, but i hope you enjoy reading it along with some photos from the journey Background: I couldn't resist downloading the new alpilotx's HD Mesh Scenery of Japan (link). As i haven't flown my favourite airliner in a while, i thought it would be a good idea to take it on a short hop inside Japan. Having taken a look at SkyVector (link) i decided for Tajima (RJBT) - Miho (RJHO) route. Nice, short (~110 nm) hop along the coastline, with the mountains to the south. Departure: Thing get pretty fast in -200 if you hand fly the departure with mountains on almost every side of the SID (Standard Instrument Departure). That's why i didn't have time to get many screenshots, unfortunately... Passing 10000 feet & accelerating to climb speed of 285 kts - now on autopilot. Good time to take a look at the surrounding terrain and some nice looking cumulus. Cruise: Cruising comfortably at FL140. Not a typical altitude for jets, but we aren't going far this time. Tracking radial 279° outbound Miyazu VOR (YME 112.6 MHz) and that means we're on the V59 airway centerline ... more or less (no RNAV equipment!) Air New Zealand (IATA: NZ, ICAO: ANZ, Callsign: NEW ZEALAND), the national airline of New Zealand used to operate total of 24 737-200 starting from 1978 until 2001. Nav setting for the arrival and initial approach? Set. Approach briefing? Completed. Then it's time for... Descent: During descend we skim through a thin layer of stratocumulus, most likely. Turning inbound IAF (Initial Approach Fix) Yonago VOR (YVE 114.10 MHz), we're greeted by some spectacular landscape. Approach: It's really hard to concentrate on instruments with such spectacular scenery on the outside! Intercepting radial 056° outbound Yonago VOR that will allow us to descend 2000 feet, staying clear of terrain. Two Two Zero knots is the clean speed we opt for during intial approach. Maintaining desired speed on classic airliner like -200 (no autothrottle) takes a lot of attention! Landing: Overflying harbor of Sakaiminato city once again. Six miles final, flaps 15, gear down, three green. Here we are, crossing the threshold... Thanks for watching! P.S. Did anyone read it? ;] How do you like this kind of "screenshot stories"?

They said it couldn't be done! Today, beta testers received Skymaxx Pro 2.0b7, and with this release we've cracked the nut on rendering shadows from SkyMaxx's 3D clouds! Actually, I said it couldn't be done too. But, we came up with a new shadowing technique never before seen in X-Plane that allows us to draw shadows using the existing X-Plane SDK. Clouds will shadow anything below the clouds, including your own plane, and with little to no measurable framerate hit. Cloud shadows in SMP2 will also move as the wind blows the clouds in the scene. You might also notice the new high-resolution cloud option in SMP2 in this screenshot. SMP2 also includes a new lens flare feature, new towering cumulus clouds in stormy conditions, and many improvements to the lighting and visual quality of the clouds. We will probably be casting a wider net for beta testers soon, so please monitor this forum if you're interested in early access. Stay tuned for more information as we grow closer to a release.

Flown form RJBB (Kansai Intl) to RJTT (Tokyo Haneda Intl), with a great view on mount Fuji. Of course with the HD Mesh of AlpilotX.

The new Japan mesh is great. And with W2XP its even better 737 over Tokyo

I spend more on coffee in a week.... $25 is cheep. - CK.

We do the best we can with the information X-Plane gives us, which is just a single value indicating how "thunderstormy" it is around the plane. SkyMaxx Pro represents these types of conditions with a mixture of three different cloud types: - Cumulus congestus clouds, which make up most of the clouds in SkyMaxx Pro. - "Towering cumulus" clouds, which are basically really really big and tall cumulus congestus clouds, in the process of forming into cumulonimbus thunderheads. If storms are present, we throw in a few of these around the plane. These are new types of clouds In SkyMaxx Pro 2. - Cumulonimbus clouds - these are the anvil-shaped "thunderheads" that create lightning effects. We pepper a few around the plane, the number of them being determined by X-Plane's measure of local storminess. Cumulonimbus clouds existed in SkyMaxx Pro 1, but we made them bigger and better lit for SkyMaxx Pro 2.

Textured the seats today!

In case you missed it... go to the link below and check ASN X-Plane news review of our airport! Enjoy! http://asn-xp.aerosoft.com/?page_id=9871

We all have our opinions on how things are run both here and there, and I encourage folks to enjoy our hobby as best you possibly can knowing what you know as you form your own opinion. The org certainly serves a purpose, and we're happy to say that X-Pilot does as well. Luckily, you as a user have a choice on where you'd like to visit on a daily basis, be it here, there, or both (and for those of you reprimanded for any reason you at least have other places to visit - I'm in that boat too). Keeping in mind what does or doesn't bother you, please consider what would be "healthier" for you as a choice of where to spend your minutes or hours and make the best of your valuable hobby time. No doubt, we all love X-Plane, and that's a common theme between the org and X-Pilot. It's easy to get fired up over this stuff, but ultimately we should not loose sight of the fact that it's important to enjoy it and the great people in the community that do exist above all. I think, for the most part, people have said all they need to here in this thread and for that reason I'm going to close it in hopes that we can start other healthier and happier discussions about our hobby. Cheers to all!

So what? I do what ever I want.