Since releasing the new ortho yesterday, I’ve uploaded about 200GB of data. If you’re able to help seed the torrents, then that will help increase the download speed for others. It’s a pretty big ask to hold on to 200GB of zip files, and you’d want to have an uncapped internet connection.

I treated myself to a new aircraft to celebrate: the Maule M7. It’s really very impressive the way this little plane performs and provides some really interesting capability in short takeoff/landing.

It has a few interesting quirks. The plane cruises at negative flaps. It comes with standard tires, bush tires and floats, which I can use to test out the new water turbidity.

So far I’ve tested it around Nelson and the West Coast and found that the angle of attack indicator is great to ensure you’re on speed for landing. It’s also the first tail dragger I’ve flown in X-Plane, so I found that ground loops are very possible. All in all, it looks great.

En route from Nelson to Takaka:

A dawn flight down the West Coast:

Flying VFR is a chance to get a new perspective of the terrain. The sim has just been updated and now features a dynamic camera that moves based on physics. If you change direction, the camera will react as your head would. This is noticeable when you touch down and see a shudder effect. Turbulence works in a similar way, which is very nice.

I’ve used HeadShake and XPRealistic, so this is a good addition to add this natively, something new users will appreciate.

If you’ve not experienced it, give it a go.

Categories: Flight Simulation