FlightSim Software

Exiting Simulations has released a demo of their Space Shuttle Mission 2007 stand-alone simulator.

Now you can try your hands at the easiest of all Space Shuttle missions: STS-1. This was the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle program, and now you can fly it as part of a fully functional DEMO of the award-winning Space Shuttle Mission 2007 - the most accurate and complete Space Shuttle simulator available today for the PC platform.

The full version of the simulator adds 12 new missions of variable difficulty, from satellites and Hubble deployment and repair, to ISS assembly, maintenance, upgrade and supply missions, space walks and much more.

More free realistic missions are added all the time, the latest one being the still-classified STS-27.

Space Shuttle Mission 2007 natively supports Matrox TripleHead2Go triple display system and TrackIR Pro for a fully immersive, awe-inspiring space exploration experience.

The full Space Shuttle Mission 2007^TM and the free demo are exclusively available online in downloadable format at the SSM2007 official website: www.space-shuttle-mission.com.

One of the most anticipated flight simulator releases - Wilco’s Tower Simulator - is now available for purchase via download.

Tower Simulator puts you in the controller’s chair high atop a major or complex airport to choreograph the movements of incoming and outgoing air traffic.

Tower Simulator takes you into a world of authority and responsibility in which the lives of thousands of passengers depend on your ability to make split-second decisions.

As a tower controller, you handle realistic aircraft take-offs and landings, as well as aircraft ground movements through breathtaking out-the-window and radar views.

Runways, taxiways, aprons, flight paths, obstructions and airport structures are all under your control!

Highlights

• Ground and Tower simulation
• Photorealistic renditions of several worldwide airports
• Multiple views, including out-the-window tower view, Air and Ground Radars
• Realistic aircraft take-off, landing and moving along airport grounds
• For beginners and experts, from free simulation to Career mode
• Digitized pilots communications
• Actively overlooked and supervised by licensed professionals
• Based on actual FAA and European regulations
• Advanced modern graphics and simulation technology
• User configurable traffic rate, time of day, weather, etc.

Tower Simulator meets the two most important training criteria for a high-fidelity ATC tower training environment:

• Highly realistic scenario generation
• Adjustable time of day, weather and seasonal conditions.

Tower Simulator is a stand alone program which does not require any other simulator to work.

Handle living airports

• 60+ airplanes models from general aviation up to the most recent airliner (including Airbus A380, cargo movement aircraft,…)
• 300+ airlines flying according to their actual timetables
• Advanced aircraft behaviors based on manufacturers’ flying characteristics and official aeronautical procedures
• Ground traffic to reflect daily activity level with service vehicles moving according to the traffic: pushback, fuel truck, luggage trucks,… before, during and after the aircraft arrival
• Multiple events to evaluate your ability to make split-second appropriate decision
• Gate assignments for airlines in order to match living world used gates
• Live road traffic in the airports vicinity
• Aircraft lights based on real circumstances.

Simulation suited to beginners and experts

• Adjustable complexity level
• Assigned path can be made visible on the ground
• Floating and resizable windows: air radar, ground radar, arrival & departure printable strips
• Reward calculated according to airport difficulty, number of aircraft handled, user’s level
• Score and salary depending on statistics, rewards, earnings, career, mistakes,…
• Implemented regulations based on FAA and European guidelines
• User-friendly interface
• Complete in-depth manual with detailed official procedures description and airport charts
• Multilingual installation : English, French, German, Spanish.

Customize Tower Simulator with controller’s name and picture, time schedule, callsign, airlines, gate assignments, repaintable airplanes…

Challenge yourself in a living environment

• Airports ranked by handling difficulty level, from the island airport to the world’s busiest airport
• User ruled airport lighting for runways, taxiways, parking areas
• Multiple views: tower, radar and ‘binocular’ to easily locate and control further aircraft, vehicles,…
• Male/female digitized pilots voices with various accents
• Dynamic sound experience featuring Doppler effects
• Realistic environment with beautiful sunset, sunrise, moonlight,…
• Challenging and adjustable conditions: rain, snow, thunderstorms, fog, and time of the day
• Realistic clouds movements

Tower Simulator from Wilco was announced a little while back (see my earlier post) and I think this is going to be a big hit. I’ve always enjoyed earlier ATC sims, but none of them had the feature set that this one has.
You can now pre-order Tower Simulator from the FlightSim Pilot Shop for $74.95.

Tower Simulator features a ground and tower simulation with breathtaking out-the-window and radar views. Powered by a new 3D technology along with a complex and highly realistic Artificial Intelligence, Tower Simulator is the only simulation of its kind.

Highlights:

• Ground and Tower simulation
• Multiple views, including out-the-window tower view, Air and Ground Radars
• Photorealistic renditions of several worldwide airports
• Realistic aircraft take-off, landing and moving along airport grounds
• For beginners and experts, from free simulation to Career mode
• Actively overlooked and supervised by licensed professionals
• Based on actual FAA and European regulations

Exciting Simulations has announced their next free add-on for Space Shuttle Mission 2007 - The Still-Classified DoD Mission STS-27.

Spooks at Exciting Simulations reveal that the next free Space Shuttle Mission 2007 add-on is the still-classified DoD Space Shuttle mission STS-27.

STS-27 began on December 2, 1988 with the launch of Atlantis, and was concluded on December 6, 1988 after a little more than 4 days in orbit, making it one of the shortest Space Shuttle missions.

During launch, the Space Shuttle Atlantis was hit by the cone of the right SRB’s which resulted in serious, but not fatal damage to the thermal tiles. The extent of the damage was discovered only after a successful landing and it was considered a miracle that the damage missed a few critical locations that would have ended the mission in a disaster similar to the STS-107.

The mission purpose and payload are still classified but it is speculated that the purpose was to deploy an extremely sophisticated spy sat with extreme surveillance capabilities, impressive even by today’s standards. The Lacrosse 1 satellite was the first “dark” DoD sat and orbited Earth at an inclination of 57 deg, apogee/perigee of 426.28/408.26km respectively and with an orbital period of 93.4 minutes. Lacrosse 1 was deorbited around 1997 and replaced with more advanced versions launched from Vandenberg AFB and Cape Canaveral on Titan IV platforms.

The sat was deployed manually using the RMS in a procedure similar to the Hubble launch, a fact that earned Mission Specialist Astronaut Mike Mullane (who operated the RMS) and the crew, the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement.

In the best SSM2007 tradition, the STS-27 free add-on will allow budding Virtual Astronauts to experience the launch, on-orbit activities including the deployment of the Lacrosse 1 spy sat, and return to Earth by manually landing the Atlantis at the Edwards AFB.

The Space Shuttle Mission 2007^TM is available online in downloadable format at the SSM2007 official website

Okay, it’s radio controlled flight, but it still looks like fun

MiniCopter Adventure Flight is a radio controlled aircraft simulator for the Nintendo Wii, due to be released any time now.

Features

• Customisable controls - use the Wii remote tilt or pointer controls, or play with a classic controller
• Mission-based gameplay - engage in 42 missions in 7 different environments, like a child’s bedroom, hospital room and more
• Customise your RC helicopter - outfit your helicopter with a variety of body kits and parts that can alter the performance of your heli and improve your scores in mission mode
• Two-player split-screen mode - battle against a friend in a race for the rings to see who’s the best helicopter pilot
• Become an ace pilot - hone your flying skills to receive the highest amount of points possible in every stage. Only the best will receive gold stars all-round