FlightGear Newsletter October 2009

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Revision as of 18:39, 14 October 2009 by Stuart (talk | contribs) (→‎Useful links: Add links to airbum)
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Welcome to the fourth edition of the FlightGear Newsletter.

This is currently the skeleton newsletter for the next edition. Please feel free to contribute!

We're still looking for a permanent (or even a temporary) newsletter editor, so if you'd like to get involved, have a look on the Forums.

What's new in CVS

In the hangar

737-900ER in Devel

XSaint is currently developing a Boeing 737-900ER, a variant of the B737NG. Currently in general testing, the plane is estimated to be released between this November and next Ferbruary.

Scenery Corner

A living community

FS Weekend

The FS Weekend is the largest flight simulator event in the world. Each year it takes place at the first or second weekend of November, this years event is held at 7 and 8 November. The event is held in the Aviodrome musuem, located at Lelystad Airport, the Netherlands. Since 2006 FlightGear has been represented each year, by a small team of enthusiastics, and this year will be no exception. If you like to join the team or if you happen to be around, write an email to the mailinglist.

ADC Contests enters the FG Community?

This year, alphaMedia proposed an extension of the prestegious ADC Contests into the developing community of FlightGear. The ADC is a contest to create the best 3D aircraft models in the general internet, with almost 600 models included in the two years it has been held. Starting as a simple contest in SketchUp, the ADC has become the second largest regular-basis modeling contest on Google and become the parent project of Skynet Virtual. AM is currently negotiating the extension with the developers of the new Boeing 737 creators. More information can be found below:

Addons

Airport Diagram Generator

Ever wondered how pilots know what exit to take on the runway, how to get from the gate to the runway and how the tower can tell them what route to follow? Well, they use maps, like you and I use in daily life when we need to find an adress. Instead of streetnames, the run- and taxiways have numbers and a letter of the alphabet (eg. 28L, S1).

The Airport Diagram Generator is a Java application capable of generating airport diagrams using FlightGear data only. These diagrams are GNU GPL and can be used for all kinds of purposes whether you are ATCing or flying. The diagrams contain a schematic layout of the airport (taxiways and runways), (ILS) frequencies, navaids and so on.

Useful links

Budd Davisson is a long time aviation journalist in the USA. His website includes a huge archive of pilot reports from lots of different aircraft, many of which are modeled in FG. It's a great resource for those wanting to get an impression of what flying the real aircraft is like, and also often contains useful information on how to actually fly them.

And finally....