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A new addition to the successful donationware HD Mesh Scenery v3 series has been release. This time, covering the rest of the American continent: Central AmericaSouth AmericaAll usual "parameters" of the already existing HD Mesh Scenery v3 apply to this scenery too. Special topics to be noted: This new region was primarily made possible by teh ESA CCI Landcover datathe South/Central America extension is based on latest (end of October 2015) OSM data4 already existing HD Mesh Scenery v3 ZIP files (+20-080, +20-090, +20-100, +20-110) have been updated as they overlap with this new region, and thus most of the non US DSFs are re-created based on the new data (US tiles are included unchanged in these ZIP files). You can clearly see that this files are replacing older ones, as they have a V301 instead of V3 in their name.You can download the files via the map here: http://www.alpilotx.net/downloads/x-plane-10-hd-mesh-scenery-v3/Comparison screenshots (before / after) can be found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/101666907909842492197/HDMeshSceneryV3SouthAmerica?authuser=0&feat=directlinkSome examples: Visualizing deforestation!

The last couple of days have been bug chasing for route editing features, mostly as it applies to VNAV calculations. The ability to edit the route in almost any circumstance is very important to simulating real operations. For example, the kinds of things we test are like so....give these a try on other products 1.) Enter a SID only, fly it on LNAV.....then enter an approach while in flight, EXEC....change your mind and enter a new destination airport while flying...select a new approach.....EXEC...begin flying that approach, shortcut to some point further down the approach for grins, EXEC.....enter a SID from the airport you are on approach to..... while on that approach (wipes out the previous route), EXEC... (plane should go into 'climb' phase and begin climbing)...and fly that successfully. 2.) Enter too high a cruise altitude for a short flight (KLAX > KTOA)....the FMS give you a "UNABLE CRZ ALT" warning and then calculates the intersection of the climb/descent "peak" and will change from climb to descend mode automatically as you pass this virtual intersection. OR you can begin to lower the cruise altitude on the CDU and as you do, you can watch the T/C and T/D symbols get closer and closer until you can visually see that you can make the cruise altitude. 3.) Fly a route on LNAV past a DISCO......lnav cuts out...AP needs to revert to hdg and pitch modes....then fly past the point on the other side of the DISCO...it (and the disco boxes) should automatically sequence off the CDU and you should be able to re-engage LNAV and continue on. 4.) Bunch of other crazy tests... Jan is the toughest beta tester I have ever seen...the stuff he does to try and break the FMS is ridiculous. If he can't manipulate it almost exactly as he does in real-life...he cracks the whip! Folks want to learn what its like to operate the real thing.....that means it has to be like the real thing. You know how stable and flexible the real thing has to be? That being said, there are several FMS features yet that we will not ship with V1.0 simply due to lack of time. Most all of these features though are 'fringe features' and certainly do not detract from typical operation most users will utilize. Putting those features in post 1.0 will be as much a matter of team pride as anything as most of the features will rarely get used. Still, we can't help but keep at it. As for right this moment, we're just finishing up a 'flight plan loader"...that will eventually be able to load and save routes. If you want to get a head start on your favorite routes, the format is rather self-explanatory. (format subject to VERY slight changes) Gear up! -tkyler

I don't know. I am putting in 12 hours a day, do not have another job in sight...this is it until this thing is out! If its not December, it will be as fast as possible on the other side of the new year.....I'm not slowing down and I can not tell you at this time that it will NOT be December as we are on a very productive pace. We'll know more in a few weeks. If 5 more days past 2015 are required to add much needed stabililty, then we'll take the 5 days rather than ship a product with a known bug. We're close, moving fast and we'll let folks know in a few weeks where we are. -tkyler

Hope they are nearing completion soon. It looks fantastic.

Well not being more pessimistic but I have a slight feeling that this will be rolling into 2016 myself. They had mentioned more 'frequent' updates as they approached release. We are still averaging a good update every month or two. I suspect that if we were close to release they would be releasing updates every week. Just my .02.

Oh look what I found...!