Polypoke

Moving to Windows Live Spaces

2007-01-22T10:03:00.000-05:00

I've decided to move. I recently discovered Windows Live Spaces, a community portal run by Microsoft. So, please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds to: http://polypoke.spaces.live.com

I'll keep the blogger site up for archive purposes - I don't want to lose any of it, yet I don't want to move all of it over to Spaces.

Thanks!!

Owen

More blogging goodness...

2007-01-20T07:48:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Paul for the head's up... Mike Singer has now started blogging, and he's got a good start with his site. I also stumbled upon Hal's new blog site - Great to see you back, Hal!! Love the pictures you've posted! It seems that everyone is jumping ship from the technet blogs to the Windows Live Spaces, and I can see why. The Live Spaces seems to have a lot more features available.

Want to see where FSX was developed?

2007-01-19T21:19:00.000-05:00

Brett was kind enough to take a few pictures showing the building where ACES developers created FSX, among other things. Have a look...

Speed & Angels

2007-01-19T18:39:00.000-05:00

I found this interesting documentary that follows two Navy pilots, Meagan and Jay, on the road to becoming fighter pilots. It centers around the now retired F-14 Tomcat and looks to be a must-see for Tomcat fans. Below is a brief abstract of Speed & Angels:

In 2003, Director Peyton Wilson entered the world of U.S. Navy fighter pilots. Thanks to unprecedented access granted by the Navy, Peyton captured and created the most intimate film ever made on fighter pilots. Epic High Definition aerial footage and stunning cockpit photography provide a dramatic backdrop for the larger story of fighting for your dreams.

Inspired by the passion of two young Navy officers she encountered, Peyton followed Jay and Meagan as they chased their childhood dream of becoming naval aviators flying the F-14 Tomcat. Their two and a half year journey takes them through dogfights in the Nevada desert, night landings on aircraft carriers off the Atlantic coast, and eventually to the biggest challenge young officers face: wartime deployment to Iraq.

What begins as a story of realizing a childhood dream turns into a story of fighting for one's life and career as Jay and Meagan face the realities of war.

Based on the original concept of producer F.A. Chierici, Speed and Angels is directed by Peyton Wilson.

The DVD goes on sale January 30th for $19.99 USD. Be sure to check out the preview videos and photo gallery.

Better late than never...

2007-01-19T12:08:00.000-05:00

Thanks to both Jon and Nick for this, as I have been deep in the development trenches... Brett "Mavyryk" Schnepf has now began to blog a bit about things related to Flight Simulator ... and now Train Simulator. Brett also speaks of what he calls the "The Ronnie Van Zant School of Mynygmynt." You see, Brett is a huge Lynyrd Skynyrd fan. How he approaches his job, has been influenced in some way by a Skynyrd song... Thus, the RVZ School of Mynygmynt is born. Brett gives a taste of this radical thinking here...it's worth the read!

Glad to see you around, Brett!

Congratulations Bell 206 for 40 great years!

2007-01-13T17:27:00.000-05:00

Who knew when in 1967 that Bell Helicopter delivered its first two Bell 206A helicopters that the series would be around 40 years later, being produced as strong as ever? Bell Helicopter announces today its 40th anniversary of the Bell 206, a helicopter that is near and dear to my heart! Upward and onward Bell 206!

Is Flight Simulator useful to real world pilots?

2007-01-12T20:48:00.000-05:00

es! Microsoft has published a page devoted to explaining exactly how and why Flight Simulator (namely FSX) can be very useful for real-world pilots. Have a look here: Information for Real World Pilots. Bruce Williams, a former member of the development team that brings you Flight Simulator, now a full-time flying instructor, has written an article backing up the validity of Flight Simulator being used as a training aid. Bruce has even gone as far as writing a book on this topic.

The hardest thing I tend to encounter is someone who is a real-world pilot taking me seriously as a flight simulator developer. I've been in the flight simulation arena for quite a few years, and believe me - the technology in FSX may not be FAA-certifiyable for logging hours, but they're not far off the mark!

As Av-Gas prices continue to rise, I hope that many of you who are skeptical give another look at PC desktop simulation as a very economical way to enjoy aviation in another means. There are already thousands around the world who enjoy it - there's always room for many more!

New scenery tool from Abacus ... and it's FREE!

2007-01-12T17:43:00.000-05:00

Abacus has just released a clever utility for creating scenery using existing FSX library objects (and there are many to be discovered). It's called Scenery Shortcut, and it is being provided as a free download! I'm not much of a scenery person, but I can certainly see the value behind using this utility to populate areas in the sim that are a bit scarce.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the hot air balloon "flying" near my favorite flying locations, and with this utility, I could make that happen within minutes! The product page gives a great tutorial on exactly how to perform this, and also shows some working examples created by the program's creator, Peter Jacobson. Great work Peter & Abacus!

A day in the life

2007-01-10T17:59:00.000-05:00

A great video featuring the Bell 206 JetRanger III I made for FS 2004 showing a day in the life of the News 4 chopper!

Congratulations Clemson Tigers

2007-01-09T20:59:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to the Clemson Tigers basketball club on their 87-76 victory over N.C. State tonight, tieing their all-time best season start set in 1987-88. They still remain the only undefeated team in Division I. If they keep up their winning streak, March is going to be a fun month. Go Tigers!!

Virtual Thunderbirds "Smoke On"

2007-01-01T21:30:00.000-05:00

I just ran across one of the most professionally developed video productions of multiplayer flight simulation I have ever seen courtesy of the fine folks at the Virtual Thunderbirds. Here's the press release and download information:

The movie is called 'Smoke On'. It's a 50 minute demonstration of online formation flying by The Virtual Thunderbirds using a modded Lock On: Modern Air Combat flight simulator game.

The Virtual Thunderbirds began in the spring of 2004 with a group of flight simulator enthusiasts, and it has since evolved into what it is today. Many of the pilots selected for the demo team are real world aviators with thousands of hours of jet experience, both military and civilian and they range in ages from 23 to 52.

Kris “Lawndart” Langdell created this incredible video showcasing The Virtual Thunderbirds. Kris is also a member of the The Virtual Thunderbirds and in real life, he is a professional pilot, flying the Embraer 145 for Mesa Airlines.

The movie is 1.2 gigs in size. The movie contains essentially an entire High Show (about 38 manoeuvers) from multiple angles and cameras and additionally; start-ups, taxing, a long intro sequence and approx 8 minutes of extras after the flying portion of the show is over. Total time: 49 minutes and 54 seconds (in its current format).

Anyone who has enjoyed watching the real U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly will certainly get a kick out of this video. Fantastic work, Kris!

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-24T13:45:00.000-05:00

With 2006 fast coming to a close, I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope Santa brings what everyone is hopeful for! Thanks for a wonderful 2006, and we'll see you in 2007!

Eaglesoft Christmas Sale!

2006-12-11T16:19:00.000-05:00

Effective immediately, Eaglesoft Development group now has 30% discount coupons for all of our products through December 30th. So if you've been waiting for a good opportunity to purchase some cool add-on aircraft for Flight Simulator, here is your chance to do it at a great price!

FSX SDK SP1 now available!

2006-12-07T20:16:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the promised update for the SDK has been published to FSInsider. This update includes the eagerly anticipated Gmax export tools that were missing from the SDK on the shipped DVD. Hurray!!

-JOH

Suspended!

2006-12-07T12:25:00.000-05:00

How cool!! The airplane I got over the summer, has now been suspended over the staircase in our house! I won't go into the trouble it took to get it there (thanks Mary Lake, Will, and Ryan), but lets say that I've become more acquainted with my attic, and its peculiar arrangement of ceiling studs. Christy and Christy Lake are going to love seeing this!

-JOH

Can this thing go any faster?

2006-12-05T21:24:00.000-05:00

Hal Bryan has recently posted an article entitled "What's your frame rate? (Part II)" in the FSInsider.com article section. He hits on several areas relevant to improving the performance of FSX such as: defragging, closing non-essential programs, using the latest hardware drivers, and video card settings. He dives into the settings sliders, and how the sim is affected by each. He explains why having bloom and 2.x water effects on dramatically impacts performance. Finally, Hal describes some advanced editing for the FSX.cfg I've spoken about before that can improve things a bit. Excellent piece, Hal, keep them coming!

-JOH

Real world paint schemes for the FSX Columbia 400

2006-12-04T12:34:00.000-05:00

Several members of the Columbia pilot's organization, better known as Club Columbia, sent me images of their real aircraft, and I recreated them over the weekend. Here's a quick look (click the picture for a larger version)...

Skip pre-load of the default flight in FSX

2006-11-29T20:06:00.000-05:00

Thanks much to Adam for this helpful tid-bit of information. When you open FSX, it automatically begins to load the default flight in the background as it assumes that is what you are going to fly. I, like many other flight simmers, don't like to load the default flight every time I enter FSX. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I did fly the default flight! So, to turn this "feature" off, Adam gives us this code to use:

[Main] section of FSX.cfg:
DisablePreload=1

Those who don't know where to locate the FSX.cfg file, have a look here.

Mike Shore Photography

2006-11-28T17:15:00.000-05:00

I recently made the acquaintance of Mike Shore, a professional photographer from Austin, Texas. Mike's specialties are climbing/outdoor, landscapes, medical and aviation. Just have a look at his gallery to see some examples of the incredible shots he has taken over the past year. His Red Bull Air Race images will take your breath!

Rotorwash Christmas Giveaway!

2006-11-18T17:08:00.000-05:00

Rotorwash e-magazine has just announced a Christmas Giveaway for one lucky simmer. In order to be eligle, you must have already registered or register by the 17th of December. Registration is free. Over $250 in gifts will be awarded:

Flight Simulator X Deluxe (courtesy of Microsoft)
Traffic 2005 (courtesy of Just Flight)
Active Sky 6.5 (courtesy of HiFi Simulations)
Sikorsky S-76 (courtesy of Nemeth Designs)
Ultimate Night Environment 2007 (courtesy of Zinertek)
Ground Environment Pro (courtesy of Flight1)
1-Year Subscription of PC Pilot (courtesy of PC Pilot)

TrackIR + FSX = Awesome!

2006-11-16T21:45:00.000-05:00

I spoke of the dramatic immersion effect that TrackIR^TM 4 gave FS 2004 in December of last year. You haven't seen anything yet until you give TrackIR^TM a go in FSX! It's unbelievable! It works seamlessly with the new camera system - gone is my need for the top-hat on my joystick! I said this last year, and I'll say it again - this has to be the single best hardware add-on for FS. I continue to see people rave about it on the public forums, and you can't go wrong with testimonials. If you're looking for something as a stocking stuffer for your favorite simmer, this would be it!

More animations completed on Columbia 400

2006-11-15T17:48:00.000-05:00

I've completed a new assortment of animations on the Columbia 400, and I decided to take a short flight in Asheville, NC to try them out in FSX. Click each for a larger shot.

Precise Flight speed brakes deployed to prevent shock cooling while in the descent.

KAVL is in sight.

Flaps full & red over white - looking good.

Switch to ground and taxi to the ramp. Nosewheel animation looks great.

Parked next to a beautiful Beechcraft Baron. Success!

Start a saved flight in FSX via desktop icon!

2006-11-10T19:16:00.000-05:00

From a public newsgroup contributor Peter Greenstein, we now have a way of opening a saved flight via an icon saved to the desktop, or anywhere you choose. Here's Peter's post:

Unless I'm wrong, the last time this was possible was FS98.

FSX has restored the ability to load a saved flight via an icon on the desktop.

In a subfolder of My Documents are my "Saved Flights." I can double-click on one of these, tell Win XP to associate this file with FSX. Then FSX will start, and then load the file, returning me to a flight in progress. In FS2004 all this accomplished was loading the default flight.

This is great, considering how long everything now takes on my system. Double-click on a desktop shortcut, walk away, go to the bathroom, get a cup of coffee, return to the cockpit!

Very good information, Peter, and thanks for sharing with the public!

MS Flight Simulator as a training aid

2006-11-09T21:39:00.000-05:00

Former PM for the ACES flight simulator team Bruce Williams has a new book due out mid-December entitled Microsoft® Flight Simulator as a Training Aid: A Guide for Pilots, Instructors, and Virtual Aviators published by ASA. It has a foreward written by aviation author Rod Machado. The book also includes a bonus CD-ROM that includes over 150 VFR and IFR practice flights that will work in both FS 2004 and FSX.

Here's a small snippet of the details found on the ASA product page:

Applicable to both Flight Simulator 2004 and Version X, this new book merges the “virtual world” of flight simulation with “real life” flight training. It is the only book of its kind because it provides specific advice and tools for pilots, flight instructors, and students who want to use the world's most popular PC-based flight simulation as an effective, easy-to-use training aid.

This sure looks to be a "must-have" for anyone wanting to maximize their enjoyment of the virtual skies.

New screens of the Columbia 400 in FSX

2006-11-08T14:13:00.000-05:00

Here is what I have been working on the past couple of weeks. She's shaping up very nicely! Click each picture for a larger version.

FSX from the Cab

2006-11-07T19:09:00.000-05:00

Mike Singer, experience architect for FSX, has just written an interesting article describing how the team put the multi-player experience of FSX to the test by inviting several real air traffic controllers from KSEA (SeaTac) and KPAE (Payne Field). I'll let the article speak for itself, but I believe that ther are three new FSX fans out there. Great article, Mike!

Cirrus SR-22 for FSX!

2006-11-03T12:18:00.000-05:00

Here's a shot from this morning's flight of the SR-22 in FSX just released today. She sure is a joy to fly in FSX!

Eaglesoft Development Group incorporates digital signing!

2006-11-03T09:28:00.000-05:00

After weeks of research, Eaglesoft Development Group is pleased to announce with the release of the Cirrus SR22 for FSX that digitally signed gauges have arrived! When the aircraft is loaded for the first time in FSX, this window will appear:

Select the more options tab.

Tick the "Always run software from 'Eaglesoft Development Group'" and then...

Click on Run. You will never have to approve any other gauges from Eaglesoft Development Group. How cool is that? I'd like to commend Ron and Bill for implementation of this!

A fresh face from ACES speaks...

2006-11-02T21:40:00.000-05:00

A relatively new member of the ACES studios has made a post in the AVSIM FSX forums that explains things a bit from the graphics side of ACES development. Phil Taylor, who is Senior PM for Graphics and Terrain, gives a very detailed explaination (in fact, a lot of it is lingo that is above my understanding - and I'm a dev!) of what should be reasonable expectations for today and what to expect for tomorrow when DX10 appears.

If you are interested in reading about their plans forward, give it a go. It might not all make sense, but at least it lets us, the FS enthusiasts, know that they are taking note of the discussions as of late in the forums. He mentions that constructive criticisms are most effective in gaining favorable response, and that the "bashing" should be toned down. It's about time one of 'em said "enough is enough."

[EDIT] I found this post by yet another ACES dev Sebby regarding modifying shaders for FSX - some good info here as well!

Crow anyone?

2006-10-31T20:00:00.000-05:00

ACES dev Adrian Woods just posted a rebuttal of some of the comments he has received recently regarding FSX performance. It is an excellent post with a lot of thoughtful perspective that is well worth a read. ACES is listening...

On a side note, it appears that Mike Gilbert, a.k.a. tdragger, is bowing out of the FSX public eye and moving on to his new responsibilities. His blog is now closed to comments. Best of luck, Mike!

"Official" support site for FSX

2006-10-27T21:19:00.000-04:00

Tdragger was kind enough to point us to the official MS technical support site for FSX. You'll have to register a Live log-in if you do not already have one before being able to access it. There is a lot of good information that should be updated on a regular basis, as more and more feedback is registered through support.

Comprehensive FSX Tweaks blog article

2006-10-25T21:09:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of Matt Fox, he has compiled an un-official tweak guide for FSX. He covers everything from slider suggestions, AutoGen mods, FSX.cfg edits, texture replacements, and has a section started for moving vehicle tweaks (though none have been found -- yet). He warns that these tweaks are to be done at the users risk, but I understand that many have been very effective at improving performance.

FSX podcast today on ANN Internet Radio!

2006-10-23T21:52:00.000-04:00

I ran across this podcast today featuring Brett Schnepf, Hal Bryan, and Mike Singer from ACES published by Aero-News.Net Internet Radio. Check it out!

Autumn is here!

2006-10-22T20:17:00.000-04:00

The other day before going to church, I snapped a few pictures of Christy and Christy Lake on our porch. Do you like Christy Lake's rocking horse dress? It's perfect for the autumn season!

Eaglesoft Beechjet 400A & Hawker 400XP Complete!

2006-10-21T13:47:00.000-04:00

After many months of revisions to just about all facets of the project, I'm very glad to see the project completed and available for purchase. I was responsible for revising the exterior and VC with numerous improvements including, but not limited to:

* Remapped fuselage across two 1024x1024 bitmaps for improved resolution
* Added authentic representations of vents on rear of fuselage
* More accurate clamshell design
* Revised and added accurate representations of antennae
* Added a cargo bay with luggage
* Reworked cabin seats to look more accurate (with moving headrests)
* Fully positionable window visors
* Revised VC gauges, adding depth where appropriate

I'm thankful to the team at Eaglesoft for working so well together to get the job done!

What's your framerate, part 2

2006-10-18T21:05:00.000-04:00

My colleague Bill Leaming, with the assistance of Burkhard Renk, has put together a great tutorial on how to actually measure video card memory demand that FSX is exhibiting in real-time. If tuning FSX to run reasonably well is a challenge, I recommend using this advice to help tailor your experience.

iblueyonder has a new home

2006-10-18T18:51:00.000-04:00

I just got a quick note from Bill Womack, author of iblueyonder, that he's orphaned blogspot for wordpress. Bill, the new site looks nice. Is that Mt. Hood off your wing?

Flight Simulator X commercial

2006-10-17T20:37:00.000-04:00

I haven't had a chance to catch this on cable, so I was pleased to run across it at Youtube. I sure hope that Baron pilot has his seat belts tightly fastened!

What's all of this about framerates anyway?

2006-10-16T18:56:00.000-04:00

The single most discussed topic regarding performance of Flight Simulator has to be FPS (Frames per Second) or framerates. Exactly how this all works has been a bit of a controversial topic, especially with the new version because it is so resource hungry. Well, ACES is to the rescue with their first featured article.

There's much more to what makes up framerate performance that the number itself. Something that most do not realize - framerate performance should be measured only when the sim is in a paused state. To determine how a setting change has affected FPS, it is best to pick a single location at around 1000 feet AGL. The area between KSEA and KBFI has been a good benchmark area for me. Panning around the aircraft while in pause gives a good representation of the performance you should expect.

In the article, ACES explain that it is not only the framerate itself that makes FS fluid, but also avoiding what they call volatility, or, better known to the on-line community, the dreaded "stutters." I found a tip by an ACES dev on the AVSIM forums that gives us a way to improve volatility that is worth repeating here:

If you're getting stutters/"pops" during turns or when pan your view around, try adding this to your fsx.cfg (located in yourprofile\Application Data\Microsoft\FSX):

[BufferPools]
PoolSize=5000000

The default pool size is 1 million but sometimes (If a lot of things are drawing like autogen) that isn't enough. Increasing it to 5 or even 10 million trades off some of your video memory against having to re-allocate these things all the time.

-Brian @ Aces

Of course exactly what size the PoolSize should be increased should be tailored to one's specific PC, and experimented with. If you take away too much from the video card's buffer, then other areas of the simulation will suffer.

They explain how FSX analyzes your PC upon installation and determines the best settings for optimum performance. Certainly users are free to experiment, but the state that is first implemented should be the benchmark. ACES also emphasize the importance of striking a balance to gain a satisfactory sim experience. If the simulation experience is not to your satisfaction, experimentation is the answer. I also suggest creating setting profiles based on the type of flying you will be doing. For example, if you are planning to do an IFR flight, it may be beneficial to turn off all of the AutoGen, since your attention would be centered inside the cockpit. We have Mike Gilbert a.k.a. tdragger to thank for that added config saving feature.

Pumpkin Festival in Pumpkintown, SC

2006-10-14T21:07:00.000-04:00

Christy had a brainstorm this morning, and decided that we all should go and visit a pumpkin patch. I looked on the internet to find some local pumpkin patches in the upstate, and found one in Easley. So off we go in the car and head towards there mid-morning. We arrived in Easley around lunch time, so we grabbed a bite to eat. As we arrive to the farm, it becomes apparent that there is nothing there, so we turn around and call the number listed. It turns out that the farm in fact had no pumpkins this year. According to the woman who answered the phone, she hadn't produced pumpkins in 3 years!! Sounds like that website needs a bit of a revision.

I know the area fairly well, so I suggested we head up toward Pumpkintown (yes, there really is a place called Pumpkintown). Christy and I kept seeing signs about a Pumpkin Festival that was happening today, but didn't know exactly where it was. Well, the closer we got to Pumpkintown, cars were lined up for miles, and then we saw huge numbers of cars parked all over the place. It was becoming quite obvious that the festival was in Pumpkintown. As we slowly approached the festival grounds, we saw tents, horse-drawn carriages, and lots of people (there must have been thousands there).

Where have we been - under a rock? Christy and I had never heard of the Pumpkin Festival, but it was obvious that many other had. We had a great time walking around and seeing what all the vendors had to offer. The food sure smelled great! Christy Lake enjoyed herself, helping us pick out a pumpkin to take home (I mean, c'mon, you can't leave the pumpkin festival without a pumpkin!). So next year, if you happened to be in the upstate of South Carolina mid-October, be sure to attend the Pumpkin Festival! We'll sure try and be there in 2007!

Flight Simulator X featured on CNN

2006-10-13T20:29:00.000-04:00

On CNN.com tonight, I was having a look at the Tech column to see what is going on in the world of technology, and I was pleasantly surprised to see this small review of Flight Simulator X there. This is the first I recall the Flight Simulator franchise ever getting any notice from a large news organization, even more so since the news media wrongly accused the Flight Simulator franchise being used to train terrorists back in the days of 9/11. I'm glad to see that perception has been extinguished with this unbiased look at FSX.

The new and improved FSInsider.com online!

2006-10-12T21:43:00.000-04:00

I'm proud to report that the promised new-and-improved FSInsider website has been published and is available! Be sure to check out the message from the ACES team and see who the featured FSInsider is (I couldn't have picked a better person myself!). They have also put up a page specifically for MS FS MVPs - thanks guys! Wow - I am exploring it as I type here, and I just cannot begin to touch everything they have done to improve the site. The best advice I can give is to check it out for yourself!

Follow the 500th Columbia

2006-10-11T13:56:00.000-04:00

Spawning from Lancair, Columbia Aircraft Corporation in Bend, Oregon has a long history of making composite GA aircraft that is continually recognized for excellence. To celebrate their 500^th production aircraft off the production line, Columbia has created a web portal to follow it along the production process. It is quite interesting to see how composite aircraft are created in an assembly line - I invite you to have a look.

Paul to the rescue!

2006-10-11T05:47:00.000-04:00

Paul Lange has taken the initiative to give us even more control over AutoGen. Take a look at his latest post! Thanks much, Paul!!

FSX a bit sluggish for you?

2006-10-10T15:18:00.000-04:00

FSX has been out in several places around the world already, and the forums are buzzing with FSX related discussions anywhere from extreme praise to extreme disappointment. I remember this sort of views back when FS 2004 and FS 2002 went public. I often sit back and watch, letting the dust settle a bit (and it will), but I thought that I would voice some of my own thoughts here while the air is thick...

I'm of the opinion that the technological advances we are presented with in FSX are much like the advances made if we were to have gone from FS98 straight to FS 2004 -- that much has changed. So, essentially we are faced with a platform that puts an incredible load on the CPU and GPU, simply because of the sheer volume of 1's and 0's being processed many, many times a second. We have gone from a program previously using 4 ~800MB to two DVDs totalling 8 GIG of data!! FSX is simply way ahead of its time with regards to hardware, as it has been in the past, but with such a huge leap in data content, that jump in demand on the PC has grown exponentially.

So, what do we do as a community? We dig deep and find areas that can be optimized to help our PCs of today run FSX at acceptable levels. One of the great things I enjoy about the FS community is the diverse number of sleuths who investigate all nooks and crannys to find tiny performance gains. Combine these gains, and noticable performance improvements are bound to be found.

Over at AVSIM, these sleuths have already been doing a good job, and have been posting their findings. I recommend following this thread in the coming weeks. I'm sure there will be many more performance tweaks to surface...

In two years, I'll revisit this and see how the perception has changed... It will.

Okay, so what exactly is an MVP?

2006-10-02T11:31:00.000-04:00

Now that I've gotten the award, several people have been asking me exactly what makes someone an MVP. To be quite honest, I wanted a bit of a more concrete answer myself, so I did some hunting. I stumbled upon this article "What Is an MVP, Anyway?" written by Jonathan Goodyear, and found some very good answers there. I'll quote a few paragraphs here to highlight his findings:

"...As an experiment, I asked numerous other MVPs, Microsoft employees, and other influential people in the industry their definition of a Microsoft MVP. The range of answers I got was pretty broad. I heard everything from “MVPs are super talented developers” (Microsoft employees are pre-programmed to use the word super in every other sentence) to “MVPs are developers who contribute to newsgroups a lot.”

While either of the previous statements may or may not be a quality of a particular MVP, it does not define what an MVP is. I didn’t have to look much further than the official Microsoft MVP Web site to track down the “party line” on their MVP definition (http://mvp.support.microsoft.com). It defines an MVP as:

'...recognized, credible, and accessible individuals with expertise in one or more Microsoft products who actively participate in online and offline communities to share their knowledge and expertise with other Microsoft customers.'"

Jonathan goes on to explain how the online community has transformed its definition recently...

"...I went directly to the source and spoke with Sean O’Driscoll, Senior Director of the Customer Service and Support Community and the MVP Program. Sean started off by saying that the MVP program is an “award and recognition program.” While a certain amount of technical skill is usually needed to accomplish the tenets of MVP membership, the MVP program is in no way a measuring stick of the technical merits of its members. Myth debunked.

When I asked Sean for details regarding how to become an MVP, he gave me some historical context. He said that the program was started more than 10 years ago as a “thank you program for outstanding contributions to the community.” At the time, “community” meant newsgroups. In my opinion, that narrow definition made the ambitious term MVP a bit of a misnomer. About three years ago, Microsoft decided that they should let their customers define what “community” is. As a result, several other community contribution avenues were added to the MVP selection criteria. Some of these are forum postings, books, articles, blogs, and speaking at and/or leading user groups and other community events.

I guess that's how I've managed to do it, because I admit that I am not very active in public newsgroups, but I am very active in forum posting, attending community events, and using my blog as a portal of communication regarding Flight Simulator.

I made MVP!!

2006-10-01T17:52:00.000-04:00

I was delighted to find in my email inbox this message from Microsoft...

Dear Owen Hewitt,

Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2007 Microsoft^® MVP Award!

The Microsoft MVP Award is our way of saying thank you and to honor and support the significant contributions you make to communities worldwide. As a recipient of Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional award, you join an elite group of technical community leaders from around the world who foster the free and objective exchange of knowledge by actively sharing your real world expertise with users and Microsoft. Microsoft salutes all MVPs for promoting the spirit of community and enhancing people’s lives and the industry’s success everyday. To learn more about the MVP Program, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/mvp.

Your extraordinary efforts in Windows - PC Games technical communities during the past year are greatly appreciated.

I would like to publicly thank Hal for the nomination of this award, I am deeply humbled by this!

[EDIT]: I would like to also congratulate Joel DeYoung, Norman Blackburn, and Dudley Henriques who made it in for 2007 as well!

Rotorwash E-Zine

2006-09-26T19:35:00.000-04:00

A good friend of mine from Portugal, Sergio Costa, has just published a new e-zine for the helicopter lovers in the flight simulation community called Rotorwash. It is free with a simple registration.

The first issue covers a lot of ground for the first go. Highlights include: Alan Devins giving a look at constructing his Bell 222 in Gmax, Jean-François Leblanc describing the CH-149 project, Sergio interviewing Jordan Moore, Hovercontrol.com's founder, and a review of the Nemeth Designs Mi-17.

Traditionally, I'm a fixed-wing guy, but some of you are aware of the Bell 206B JetRanger III I created as a freeware package a year and a half ago. It continues to be one of the most repainted heli's over at Hovercontrol. The default 206B had not been overhauled in a while, so I decided to take that project on myself. The FSX version has been completely revised, and looks quite stunning!!

I encourage you to have a look at the new e-zine, it is very well done!

FSDeveloper.com goes live!

2006-09-25T18:50:00.000-04:00

Fellow FS developers Arno Gerretsen and Nick Whittome have officially opened the doors to FSdeveloper.com, a new community website designed to discuss and offer help to those interested in enhancing their flight sim experience. I have agreed to moderate there, so I encourage you to frequent there if FS development interests you - I'm sure there will be plenty of great "tricks of the trade" shared there.

FSdeveloper spawned out of the site that Arno originated back in 2003, SceneryDesign.org. It is nice to see that he has expanded it to include all facets of FS, including the new and exciting missions and SimConnect API. My area of expertise lies specifically with modeling and I'll be most active in that area, but I will certainly keep up with what's going on elsewhere there.

The "Blurries" explained...

2006-09-22T18:55:00.000-04:00

I was very glad to see a post today by Adam Szofran entitled "Comments about the blurries from an ACES developer". Adam goes on to explain it in three "buckets" of reasons: Inadequate CPU resources for the terrain texture loader, exhaustion of video memory, and/or poor filtering settings.

I won't steal Adam's thunder, so I recommend giving his post a read. It has some insightful information and better yet, some explanation of how these (okay, most of these) have been addressed within FSX. There is a bit of a frame rate "cost" to their optimizations, but I would guess they would be a welcome trade-off. Nothing would be better than not seeing anymore "I've got blurries" posts, but I'm sure there will be those out there who will stretch the limitations of their PCs into forcing the blurries to appear - call it your computer yelling "Uncle, Uncle!!" :-)

October 17th is the day for FSX!

2006-09-18T16:54:00.000-04:00

I found this press release at AVSIM today, and I thought that I would mirror it.

Directly from the Microsoft Offices, the official shelf date is October 17, 2006 for FSX. Microsoft writes, "The newest addition to the 25-year “Flight Simulator” franchise will fly to retailers on Oct. 17. Gamers of all ages, types and skill levels will experience firsthand what it’s like to be an aviator traveling the globe in one of the dozens of aircraft available."
Announced at the AVSIM convention on Saturday night, FSX went "Gold" earlier this month. Product has been sent to retailers and the official shelf date is set at October 17th. Several different languages will be available as well as 2 different versions; Standard and Deluxe. The Deluxe edition adds the SDK as well as some other enhancements. For more information, visit the Microsoft FSX Site.

Make sure to reserve a copy at your favorite software retailer today!

iFly - ground breaking new Aero Club

2006-09-12T19:18:00.000-04:00

How cool is this? For the equivalent cost of owning and operating a older, antequated aircraft, you can have access to one of the most advanced single engine piston aircraft in existence, the Columbia 350. Erik R. Lindbergh, who I had the pleasure of meeting when I was at the AOPA fly-in June of this year, has co-founded this innovative new company. Too bad that for the time being, it is located only at a handful of airports in southern California. I hope that it becomes really successful, and spreads across the country.

Each Columbia 350 in their fleet will utilize the GARMIN G1000 with READY Pad^tm, an exclusive user interface device for Columbia aircraft. We at Eaglesoft do have plans for incorporating the Mindstar Aviation G1000 into the Columbia. No date set though...

Eaglesoft Columbia 400 in FSX

2006-09-08T18:00:00.000-04:00

Well, she's not animated yet, but I've managed to get the finely crafted model done by Bob Hayes of the Columbia 400 into FSX as an FSX model. I'm glad to say that shadows are working, and the bloom effect looks really nice as well. Judge for yourself below (click images for larger versions).

Great post - thanks Sebby!

2006-09-08T17:47:00.000-04:00

Sebby posted a sample forum entry from Greg German, a long time Flight Simmer and former member of PSS, on settings and sliders. I recommend giving it a good read, because Greg hit the nail on the head!

[EDIT] I now see that Paul Lange has picked up on Greg's forum thread as well - and why. It appears to have caught the attention of Shawn Firminger, the ACES Studio Manager. That's saying a lot!

Look what I got!!

2006-08-20T14:33:00.000-04:00

Look at what Christy Lake is sitting in (click the picture for full-size shot)! It's an Airflow Collectibles Red Baron! Christy and her mother, Mary Lake, were on their way to a wedding shower in Honea Path, when they saw the airplane on the side of the road at a vendor who normally has, according to Mary Lake, "...old junky refrigerators." Well, Mary Lake just had to have it, for me of course - but it surely cost here every dollar she had on her!! I know I'll never be able to live that down! It needs a bit of a polish and wax job, but that will not be any trouble. It sure is a great find, especially for around these parts! I think we're going to try and figure out how to suspend it from the ceiling in our stairwell - wouldn't that be a great conversation piece!

Brand-New FSX Flash page

2006-08-09T21:56:00.000-04:00

Microsoft has just published a new Flash website that is well worth checking out! Oh, and be sure to download the free demo!

2006-08-07T19:23:00.000-04:00

Mike Gilbert, formerly a PM on Flight Simulator X, has revealed a comprehensive list of aircraft to be flyable in FSX that I'm pleased to repeat here, complete with picture links:

Airbus A321
Aircreation 582SL ultralight
Beech Baron 58
Beech KingAir 350
Bell 206 Jet Ranger III
Boeing 737-800
Boeing 747-400
Bombardier CRJ-700
Cessna 172
Cessna 208
Dehavilland DHC2 Beaver
DG Flugzeugbau DG-808S
Douglas DC-3
Extra 300S
Bombardier Lear 45
Maule M7
Mooney Bravo
Piper J-3
Robinson R22

And in the deluxe version:
Beech Baron w/Garmin G1000
Cessna 172 w/Garmin G1000
Grumman Goose
Maule M7-235 on skis
Mooney Bravo w/Garmin G1000

Christy Lake's new activity

2006-08-03T12:21:00.000-04:00

Yep, she's not happy unless she's climbing up on something now. She'll be walking in no time!

Oshkosh post-trip report

2006-08-01T20:00:00.000-04:00

Well, I am back and finally into my normal routine after making the trek to and from Oshkosh. It was an awesome experience!

I arrived mid-morning Thursday at Appleton, where I was picked up by another volunteer for the show, Justin Lamb. It's about a 30-minute drive to Oshkosh from Appleton, so we were there in no time. I could tell that we were getting close when planes starting appearing in all directions.

Upon getting all checked into the hotel (which was *right* on the west end of runway 9/27), we headed over to the booth. It was very crowded, and I jumped right into the act of helping people out and answering questions. There's no telling just how many folks stopped by, but they came in droves!

That night, we all enjoyed a great dinner in Appleton at Vince Lombardi's Steakhouse in the company of many great folks including but not limited to: Fr. Bill Leaming, Ron Hamilton, Bob & Tom, Jim Campbell from Aero-News.net, and the booth team. If you're in Appleton for any length of time, this is a great place to dine!

The next several days were pretty much a blur consisting of helping people with machines that locked up (due to the intense heat), answering questions, watching airplanes take off and land atop the Hilton's sky deck, riding around in golf carts (which is the ultimate way to experience Oshkosh), and dodging intense thunderstorms.

Hat's off to the Microsoft team for really making this a first-class trip! It's certainly something I will not forget! Thanks guys!

A few pictures from the trip courtesy of Ron (click for larger shots):

Most common pose for me at the booth, ready to hit that darn "s" key!

Ron Hamilton and I.

Ron, myself, and Howard Bloom.

Standing next to Barrington Irving's Columbia 400.

Brian Adams of Eclipse Aviation and I.

Tomorrow, I'll be there...will you?

2006-07-26T10:41:00.000-04:00

Three days into AirVenture, and already I've missed a lot! On Monday, Cessna announced their entry into the LSA arena with a proof of concept aircraft to test the feasibility of that section of the market. They also surprised the crowd with a flying demonstration of the Next Generation Piston they intend to produce. I'm very impressed with the sleek lines of this new aircraft, as it appears that composite construction will play a key role in its development.

Tuesday, Honda announced their intentions to mass produce the HondaJet. I can't wait to have a look at this plane. I know that they have been testing this aircraft in Greensboro, NC at their Honda Americas R&D facility. Honda has produced a cool video showing it off too.

Who knows what else will be announced at Oshkosh!

See you at Oshkosh!

2006-07-18T15:30:00.000-04:00

It is with great pleasure that I announce my attendance at EAA's Airventure 2006, all courtesy of the fine folks at Microsoft's ACES Studios! You see, I have been "deputized" as a junior FS evangelist by Hal, and will be lending a hand at the FSX booth at Hangar B Thursday through Sunday, July 27th-30th. I have been penciled in to be at the booth each afternoon from 1-5pm.

There will be a handful of other junior FS evangelists there giving the ACES team a hand in spreading the good word at Oshkosh. They range from ACES alumni, ACES team friends, and current 3rd party developers. Let me introduce you to:

Jon Bach - Jon is Corporate Intellect Manager and Senior Test Consultant for Quardev Laboratories, a Seattle test lab specializing in rapid, exploratory testing. In his ten-year career, he has led projects for many corporations, including Microsoft, where he was a test manager on Systems Management Server 2.0 and feature lead on FS 2004.

Roy McMillion - Roy is an ACES alumnus, once on the test team for FS 98 through FS 2004. You can check out his "about" page to learn more about him. Roy works with Jon at Quardev Laboratories and does aviation photography in the Puget Sound area as a semi-professional hobby.

Glenn Norman & Michelle Goodeve - Glenn & Michelle are a colorful couple from Canada who are friends of Hal. Glenn is an astronomer, writer, and pilot, who is rarely seen without his actor/writer/pilot parter Michelle.

Katy Pluta - Katy is a Microsoft FS MVP (and has been for as long as I can remember) and is on the Project Magenta team. Katy is often found in the flightsim usenet newsgroups, giving a helping hand to those in a bind, and is also known to frequent the Simflight forums as well.

Justin Lamb - Justin is a good friend of mine that I've known for several years, thanks to Flight Simulator. Justin has done many repaints, namely for aircraft produced by Kirk Olsson.

Of course the booth will also be manned by official ACES team members, but they were unable to pull a full compliment away from Redmond, hence their calling in the reserves.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Q & A with Hal "FS Evangelist" Bryan

2006-07-17T11:50:00.000-04:00

I just ran across this Q & A session with the new "FS Community Evangelist," Hal Bryan. Here's a pretty good snippet:

Shawn: How big is the team working on Flight Simulator X? How long has the game been in development?

Hal: I’d say the average height is around 1.72 metres . . . and, the team ranges in number from about 40 at its core to upwards of 60 for the last several months to year of development, not to mention our thousands of extraordinarily dedicated external Beta testers.

This is just a small dose of the humor that exudes from Hal and his way with words. Those of you who are going to be fortunate enough to attend EAA's Airventure at KOSH next week, be sure to look out for this guy. You might even see this guy. :)

Eaglesoft a hit at FSX press conference!

2006-07-17T02:03:00.000-04:00

According to Paul Lange, the mission guy at ACES, the press conference that was held in Redmond for showcasing FSX (see the AVSIM and Simflight reports) went very well. You can read his thoughts in this blog entry, but I've highlighed one section:

Following the missions piece we covered multi-player, then thrid party support and community and ended with open play. In the third party support segment we installed several FS2004 aircraft to show that backward compatibility will be supported and also showed some aircraft from Eaglesoft that are already FSX exclusively updated. It seems some of the press coverage has cited we will be including some third party aircraft in the box, so maybe showing these aircraft installed in the play test lab gave that impression. If we are shipping third party aircraft in FSX it's news to me (I don't know everything though, so maybe I'm in for a surprize tomorrow).

When I first read the reports of MS including 3rd party aircraft within their boxed package, #1, I was suprised by that news, and #2, I had no idea that they were referring to the Eaglesoft aircraft that was shown during the conference. I'm pretty confident in stating that this was a misinterpretation - or Ron has some 'splainin' to do (in my best Ricky Ricardo voice). Anyway, the aircraft must have made an impression upon everyone - excellent!

[EDIT]According to Paul's last comment, Eaglesoft was the only 3rd party developer who was able to produce FSX compatible aircraft for the press conference!

Myrtle Beach pictures of Christy Lake

2006-07-13T07:10:00.000-04:00

OpenDNS

2006-07-10T20:14:00.000-04:00

I was browsing one of my favorite news sites today, and found an interesting article regarding a new DNS provider called OpenDNS. Looks pretty interesting to me, and it appears to be catching on according to their stats page, and it's only be publicly "live" today! I'm the worlds worst when it comes to typing in wrong url addresses, being sent to screwy look-alike sites that are laden with pop-ups. These guys actually catch such typos, and fix them before sending you to the wrong site. That is what I call service - oh, and by the way, it's 100% free.

Blowing the dust off...

2006-07-06T18:23:00.000-04:00

Man - I'm getting about as bad at keeping up with this blog as some *other* people I know, but I won't go naming any names. I'm sure their reasons are as good or better than mine. Speaking of, what exactly have I been up to lately? Well, a lot actually. Read on...

The week of June 12th thru the 15th, Christy, Christy Lake, and I enjoyed a getaway vacation at Myrtle Beach and also visited my folks in nearby Florence. Christy Lake loved the beach! It appears that this will have to become an annual trip for us - at least to some beach destination. It had been several years since I had been to Myrtle Beach, and a lot of the area had changed dramatically. For once, it didn't appear as though MB had become Ohio - meaning, I saw a lot less of Ohio tags on vehicles than I did when I was back in high school and college. I guess the high price of gasoline has really changed where people vacation. Still yet, there were many out-of-staters there - MB has been a tourist destination for many for a long time, and will be for many years to come. It still amazes me that so many would find it to be such a sought after destination, being only 1 hour's drive from where I grew up (Florence).

Boy it was very hot and humid - we had Alberto to thank for that. Alberto moved thru the area on Tuesday, and dumped its fair share of precipitation upon us. At least it was nice and sunny a day or two while we were beach-side. The visit to Florence later in the week was nice, as my brother had vacation that week as well. We all got to spend some quality time together, including watching my nephew Cameron play his last t-ball game of the season.

The rest of June was business as usual for me - I have been very busy with real work and work associated with Eaglesoft. There has been some really interesting developments with regards to Eaglesoft over the last few weeks as well, most notably being the partnership with Mindstar Aviation for an authentic representation of the GARMIN G1000 avionics package. It will certainly be the pinacle of GA aircraft avionics for the foreseeable future.

News surrounding FSX has been a bit on the dry side lately, but I have a feeling that this spell will soon be replenished with more tid-bits of goodness to wet the palate of the most eager anticipator of ACES studios' latest production. Some have been dissapointed with the lack of new info to come out of exhibits such as the Canadian Aviation Expo and IFC Denver. Speaking of IFC Denver, a great review of it can be viewed over at SimHQ. Many say that MS just hasn't come out with any other good news or let users experience anything other than a few missions at these recent events - very similar to the user experience at E3 back in May. Well, these recent avation and sim related events happened to occur in the particular "window" of development for FSX. I expect to see much more at EAA Oshkosh (more on this later).

This weekend, we are hosting what is known on my wife's mother's side of the family as "Thanksgiving in July." It's essentially where everyone gets together and enjoys a nice meal and conversation, but without the Turkey and dressing. Usually it's hamburgers and hot dogs - but I think this year everyone is being asked to bring a "salad" of some sort, because according to Mary Lake "...it's too damn hot to cook." Works for me, as I would be that "cook" if we were doing hamburgers and hotdogs, so salads it will be! It appears that the weather is going to be great with lower humidity levels - guess I need to get the grass cut between now and then, ugh!

Well, that's just about all I can muster for right now. I'll do my best to post more often than I have lately. I also will post images of Christy Lake as soon as I get them uploaded too - I've had several people give me a hard time for not doing this - I'm sorry!

Until next time...

Eaglesoft!

2006-06-09T10:06:00.000-04:00

For those of you who don't frequent sites such as AVSIM or Simflight, I'd like to publish the press release Ron Hamilton sent out:

"Eaglesoft Development Group is pleased to announce that Owen Hewitt has joined the Eaglesoft Development Group Team. Well known for quality aircraft models produced for Project Open Sky, FSD, and Dreamfleet, Owen brings a wealth of experience and skill to Team Eaglesoft. Owen will begin work immediately on revising our Beechjet 400A/Hawker 400XP package with an eye to the future and FSX!"

Thanks for that, Ron!

AOPA Fly-In - how fun!

2006-06-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough to get to tag along with Roy and his instructor, Jeff Simpson, this past Saturday flying up to the AOPA Fly-In at KFDK in Frederick, MD. Roy was seen as some sort of celebrity, as we were told by many that this was the first time an award aircraft has made the trip back to Frederick during the Fly-In. Roy even got a mention on their Fly-In highlights page!

I got to meet Erik Lindberg, the new spokesman for the AOPA Project Pilot program. I also met Tom Horne, editor for AOPA Pilot magazine, who is also responsible for the restoration of the Cherokee Six they are giving away this year. The highlight was Rod Machado and his hangar talk. According to Roy, the trip was worth seeing him alone!

It took about 3 hrs to get up there, and about 2.75 hrs. getting back. I even got a chance to check out the in-flight entertainment by watching a DVD for a bit on the way back. Speaking of that, be sure to check out where AOPA has put a screen in the Six. Thanks for an awesome trip, Roy!

Are you with me Steve?

2006-06-01T19:21:00.000-04:00

Funny video of this guy getting some high-G medicine. Watch how he tries to keep chewing his gum!

Memorial Day Weekend on the Lake!

2006-05-28T15:06:00.000-04:00

It's hot!! Unseasonably hot!! What better way to spend a hot day than on the lake? That's what we all did Saturday. Christy Lake wore her new bikini for the first time, and she loved it!! Here's a picture of Grandy and her. There must have been 100 boats and jetskis around while we were crusing on the pontoon. Some people have said that Lake Greenwood is peaceful and calm - I tell them to visit on a major holiday weekend, and then that tune will change! All in good fun!

Leo's video of Vista Australis Heli Tour

2006-05-26T20:41:00.000-04:00

New blogger, Leo Andrade, the man behind Navigator Videos and this video has posted another great video showcasing the scenery of Vista Australis and the Bell Jet Ranger III I created last year. Simply Awesome!!

I highly recommend viewing the rest of his videos listed on his blog as well!

Watch "this" space

2006-05-26T05:45:00.000-04:00

No, I don't mean to watch this space, as in my blog (of course, you are more than welcome to keep an eye on me) - I'm talking about here. You see, there has been some pretty significant movement over at the studio that makes Flight Simulator, and FSInsider is going to become a portal for some great community interaction. Hal Bryan has tipped us off on what he calls a "(com)promising transition." Great stuff, Hal.

I'd like to extend a welcome to Brett Schnepf - we're glad you're here as Community Development Manager! Welcome Z (a.k.a. Mike Zyskowski) as Program Manager for Developer Relations - very glad to see that title! :-) And finally, great to see your new title Hal, Flight Simulator Community Evangelist. Now, I was a bit puzzled by that title, so I looked up "Evangelist" on Wikipedia (that site is great, btw) and immediately realized that what he really means is "technical evangelist." So, I guess that means we should all really be watching this space pretty close as well (for those that want some comic relief, that is).

Whoops!!

2006-05-25T20:25:00.000-04:00

Just Flight pulls Traffic 2005!

Simflight reports that Just Flight has pulled Traffic 2005 due to some copyright infringements. The press release goes into the exact details, but the gist of the whole situation stems from JF's use of hobbyist contributions in the product, which some have been found to be originated from two free AI enhancement groups, AI Aardvark and ProjectAI.

Opening up a payware product to contribution from within the hobby can certainly become a sticky situation - such as this one - for the very reason this has become an issue. Working in the hobby for a long time, I've seen copyright infringement of textures pop up from time to time. There are some very smart developers out there, so its best to make all original artwork - everyone's style is a "fingerprint" of their work. Misrepresentation of one's work just causes a lot of problems, so take heed...don't do it.

Cool video featuring Brasil in MS FS

2006-05-22T19:17:00.000-04:00

This video was brought to my attention in a public forum I frequent. I really enjoyed the creative cinematography techniques used. I hope you do too!

Official FSX preview video now available

2006-05-12T14:34:00.000-04:00

Get it here now! I don't want to spoil it for anyone before watching it, so I'll save my specific comments for another day. I will say that the more that is made public, the more excited I get. Tdragger has made a new post that is worth reading with regards to E3 and FSX - go and have a look!

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me!

2006-05-11T17:28:00.000-04:00

Yes - I turn 32 today. Yippee - one year closer to retirement - I'm about halfway there, according to the government (well, technically, I won't be there until I'm 32 and a half). So far, so good - I got some gift certificates to my favorite electronics megastore, Best Buy. Too bad there isn't one located in Greenwood - I have to drive to either Anderson, Greenville, Spartanburg, or Columbia for one. Sounds like a good excuse to me to get out of town for an afternoon. :-)

Today also marks the first exposure of new screens of FSX from E3 courtesy of the boys at SimHQ. I hope they post more later today, as they promise. So far, I like what I see. Graphically, it will be a night-and-day difference from any previous version. Gamespot has also published a new 30-second video showing some real-time in game footage. Impressive!

[EDIT] I ran across this quick video capture of the helicopter flying over an oil rig. Check out that awesome reflection of the rig in the water! Thanks to rjetster for this capture!

New Animation System for FSX

2006-04-27T20:25:00.000-04:00

I am getting very excited about the new capabilities that are going to be available to 3rd party developers, such as myself, with FSX. Sebastien St. Laurent (a.k.a. Sebby) has been gracious enough to start a series of blog posts reflecting some explanations of exactly what is being changed and why. Ultimately, why they have changed the animation structure is to give much more flexibility to those that design "outside the box" from those that the team uses for default aircraft animations.

Sebby has written 3 articles so far, and I have some comments regarding each:

(Flight Simulator 10 Animations 101) - Part 1 - Overview and New Features

I'm glad that Sebby took the time to give a "30,000 ft. view" of the animation system, where we are now, and where we will be. The current stock animation code, otherwise known as tick18, is exactly what Sebby suggests - it's either driven by the sim or ambient condition. Therefore its use has been quite limited. It was either a part of the model (.mdl) or it wasn't. The new system is completely reworked, with built-in flexibility from the start, and animations are not tied to the 3-D model.

Another thing to be eliminated is animation based solely on part naming. For example (Sebby used this example as well), the tires of an aircraft are named c_tire, l_tire, and r_tire (center, left, and right). As long as the axis for the tire is correctly set, the tire will show appropriate "animation" of spinning as the aircraft rolls across the ground (and proper diameter is set in the aircraft.cfg). I honestly have liked this approach thus far, because I am not having to create the animation keyframes within the 3-D program for each of these parts. I just make it, name it, set the axis correctly, and export - it works! But I understand that this "canned" approach has made a lot of custom parameters impossible.

(Flight Simulator 10 Animations 101) - Part 2 - Animation Basics, tools and ModelDef.XML

Sebby basically gives an outline to the .xml file that will be used by the compiler tool to define animations for a particular part based on the conditions set forth within the XML code. As he states, this is much like the makemdl.parts.xml used now in accordance with makemdl.exe. I have to admit that when I first began using makemdl.parts.xml, I was intimidated by the code. I'm a visual guy - that's why I design aircraft in a real-time, 3-D environment. Any type of coding has often left me scratching my head. But thanks to much support of the community, I have learned a lot about how to make code do things I want to accomplish in the sim. Really powerful stuff - and it's about to get even more powerful!

(Flight Simulator 10 Animations 101) Part 3 - controlling Model Part Visibility

Sebby goes into more detail of the visibility section of the ModelDef.xml - again explaining how powerful and complex you can make the details of part visibility. His example of the prop animation is a great one, as I have often wanted to change at what RPM the props on an aircraft went from the solid to blurred state - and perhaps had a bit of overlap to them too. This should now be possible.

Another exciting development that has come out of all of this recoding of the animation system is a whole new means of attaching effect files to the aircraft. No longer are effect files "stationary" versus the aircraft's reference datum - as they are now through coordinates in the aircraft.cfg. Now they will be dynamic, or at least, capable of being dynamic. So for those who like to put flexing wings on their aircraft - the navigation and strobe lights no longer have to be hard coded into the model for them to remain in the correct position, no matter how much flex is being experienced. I'm sure the heavy iron die-hards are excited about this!

FSX: Questions About The Export Process

In addition to the 3 articles, Sebby wrote this blog entry based on some of the feedback he received from the readers of the articles. He goes into an explanation of why they are moving away from the BGL file format to one that is more capable with the technology of today's graphics engines. The BGL format is one that is dynamic in nature, thus requiring a lot of processor power to function. The new file format is mostly static, using outside control ( like the ModelDef.xml file) to control how the object behaves within the sim. I'm particularly excited to see that makemdl.exe is being replaced with a new exporter - it's about time! Another positive note - the format of the makemdl.parts.xml structure will be similar enough that conversion of custom parts won't be so much a headache - I bet Fr. Bill will be happy to hear that!

When Sebby posts more articles in the future, you can bet to read a bit of commentary here about them!

Blast from the past

2006-04-27T09:48:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, Christy, Christy Lake, and I visited my parents in Florence, SC. My mom had been going thru a lot of old photographs, and gave me a few. To preserve them, I made digital scans to be stored on CD-ROM. I thought that I would share a few of that collection...

Here I am at the youthful age of 6 months, sitting next to my mom's brother, Todd. I guess this is where I began my love for music! I can still be found with a pair of headphones on while doing work when I don't want to disturb anyone else in the house.

Flash forward a few years, and here Todd and I are riding his mini-bike in the backyard of my grandparents house in Mauldin, SC. That yard now has an in-ground pool and garage - no room for a minibike anymore!

Here is a picture taken a few years later, with my brother Avery being pulled behind me in my most favorite toy from those days - my three-wheeler. You can see that Avery is perfectly content sitting in an ordinary box on the Radio Flyer wagon.

April pictures of Christy Lake

2006-04-27T09:24:00.000-04:00

Christy Lake turns 3 months old today - yeah! I've been taking pictures thru all of April, and I have selected a few to show. She's growing everyday - the last doctor's visit she measured 24 inches, and put her in the 87th percentile. If she stays on that path, she'll be around 5'7" when she's fully grown - isn't it great what they can predict these days?? Anyway, I hope you enjoy these pictures!!

Rest in peace Scott...

2006-04-20T18:06:00.000-04:00

The aviation community mourns the loss of Scott Crossfield, the man who was the first to achieve Mach 2 and was the lead test pilot for the famous X-15. He was flying home Wednesday from Alabama to Virginia in his Cessna 210A N6579X when he encountered trouble northwest of Atlanta, GA. Eyewitnesses claim that they heard the engine shut off in flight and several thunderstorms were in the area at the time. The plane was found in a heavily wooded area, so finding a suitable emergency landing spot must have been out of the question. His luck at avoiding death had run it's course...

Scott was known for his death-defying moments during his test pilot years. The one that I remember most was where the #3 X-15 rocket motor malfunctioned and blew up as he was in the cockpit during a ground test. My sincere condolences to the family.

Interesting local Jetport news : FAA news site

2006-04-17T19:35:00.000-04:00

While browsing the local television station's site for the current weather radar signature, I happened to glance at the front page, and saw an interesting story regarding the ATC radar at KGSP, the closest jetport to me. I also found an article at the local newspaper's site as well. It seems that the trees are causing blind spots in the radar screen, causing aircraft to suddenly disappear and then reappear on the screen. According to the WSPA story, there was a close call with a near mid-air collision recently due to the problem. Doing a search, I haven't seen any other problems at other airfields in recent history due to trees blocking the radar.

It's kind of interesting to note that the chairman of the board at GSP is none other than Roger Milliken, the former CEO of Milliken & Company, the company I am employed. He's a huge supporter of the environment, and has an extrordinary love for anything relating to plant life. In fact, he has a staff horticulturist that looks after all plant life on his 70 or so manufacturing locations. That being said, I'm sure Roger is cringing a bit knowing that they are cutting down trees that he (probably) had planted many years ago.

While doing my searches for relavent information regarding airport radar, I found a pretty interesting site that summarizes all FAA-related news that is current. Since the FAA is pretty much where it's at for all things aviation (at least here in the states), it seems to be a good place to find out what's going on. Check it out.

Oracle Challenger destroyed!

2006-04-04T19:35:00.000-04:00

Sean D. Tucker is one of the premier aerobatic demonstration pilots in the country - at least for now, he'll have to find another aircraft to perform those aerobatic displays. Today, Sean had to bail the Oracle Challenger while performing a practice flight in Louisiana near Shreveport this morning. I first read about this on Aero-News.Net this morning soon after it occurred. A local television station posted this report showing the extent of the damage to the Challenger.

The Oracle Challenger is especially memorable to me, as it was a particular paint scheme I painted for my friend Mikko's FS 2002 version of the Challenger. I hope Sean is able to get another aircraft constructed that was as cool as the Challenger.

Abandoned airfields, right in my backyard

2006-04-03T21:05:00.000-04:00

I live in Greenwood, South Carolina - a nice town with a great lake (on which I happen to live). It has a great airfield too, with some of the nicest local pilots I've ever met.

I was browsing some sites and happened to find a very interesting site listing abandoned and little-known airfileds across the U.S. Of course, I navigated to South Carolina and found that Greenwood had not one, but two former airfields. Much of the data about these former fields was gathered by a current pilot out of GRD named Bo Bowman. From what I understand, there is a hangar at GRD that existed at the 2nd Greenwood airfield and was moved to it's new home at GRD. I was glad to have found images of the former airfields, and what exists in their locations now (ordinary streets and homes). Nothing wrong getting a little history lesson every so often!

Adam's GDC Presentation now at FSInsider

2006-03-30T20:44:00.000-05:00

It took a couple of days, but Adam has managed to get his presentation from this year's GDC posted as an article on the FSInsider website. Some of this tech talk is above my head - I'm not a scenery guy by any means - but it is very interesting how all of this is done to create a highly convincing virtual world.

If you have not had a chance to watch the video, I invite you to have a look at it. Most impressive to me is the very noticeable curvature of the earth toward the end of the video. Realistically, the aircraft that will be able to really attain any altitudes to really be able to notice this are the SR-71 and U-2 spyplanes. Perhaps SpaceShipOne would be a good candidate, though I'm not sure what the flight characteristics will be at such high altitudes, as this hasn't been modeled in MS FS before.

Thanks for your efforts in getting this posted permanently on the site, Adam!

Looking for some structure in your FS experience?

2006-03-28T21:09:00.000-05:00

Often people find it a challenge finding some structure and purpose to flying in Flight Simulator. Thankfully, the developers of MS FS are addressing this with "missions" in the fourth-coming FSX. Those of you who just can't wait for the holiday release of FSX, I invite you to explore the huge world of VA's. What is a VA you ask? VA is short for Virtual Airline. Here's a short blurb describing a VA I found on Wikipedia:

A virtual airline is an Internet organization dedicated to the hobby of flight simulating.
Virtual airlines are non-profit organizations, although most attempt to replicate real airlines in terms of organizational structure. The most common organizational structure often includes one or more of the following positions: CEO, COO, President, Vice-President, Customer Relationship director, Operations director, and virtual pilots.
While a wide variety of virtual airlines are fictional in name and operation, other virtual airlines take the name of a real world airline (with approval from the actual corporate entity to which they virtually represent). Some airlines have been known to discourage those using their name (or other copyright material) and have even threatened legal action. Others (such as United Airlines) have encouraged them; in fact, United has a virtual division, complete with real world airmiles and a United.com subdomain. Additionally, there are virtual airline conglomerates that run several more or less independent virtual airlines under a common brand, site design, or name.
"Pilots" who "work" for these "companies" must have a flight simulator and other computer equipment in order to perform. Usually, the airline's website keeps a record of the hours "flown" by each "pilot".

AirNet has a fairly exhaustive list of VA's available to join. Many are tailored for heavy iron flying, but there are a few that are unique. For example, Virtual Executive Jet Aviation is geared for those who prefer to fly business class aircraft. Their fleet is composed of a variety of aircraft from LearJet, Raytheon, Gulfstream, and Cessna. There is even a Virtual Pilots Association available.

Ever wanted to try multiplayer while communicating with real tower operators? VATSIM is the place for you. You'll want to be sure and pick up Squawkbox (it's free) if this sounds like fun.

As a developer, I don't get the opportunity to fly exhaustively enough to really benefit from joining a VA - that doesn't mean that I have not wanted to. It's a decision I make: either create new and exciting enhancements for FS or fly for hours on end. I can't have my cake and eat it to, so for the enjoyment of (hopefully) many, I choose the creation path.

ACES at GDC - Adam's presentation online!

2006-03-26T20:30:00.000-05:00

Earlier I wrote that two ACES studio members would be presenting at GDC. Well, now that GDC has come and gone, Adam Szofran's Powerpoint Presentation of his talk is available for download. He's also posted a very cool video showing what going from the ground to an infinite altitude will look like in FSX. Very exciting!!

EDIT: Due to high bandwidth limitations, Adam's ISP shut his file links down. But there is good news as he reports that they should be placed on the FSInsider website within the next couple of days.

Bill Dance outtakes

2006-03-20T18:57:00.000-05:00

Bill Dance has always been a significant player in the world of B.A.S.S. fishing, and has had a long career as a television angler always seen proudly wearing his Tennessee orange "T" hat. I ran across this great video clip of some outtakes from his show, and thought that I would share it. You thought that the "...squeezed his hamburger!" video was funny - you haven't seen anything yet!

Having fun in the swing!

2006-03-19T08:33:00.000-05:00

Christy Lake was feeling rather playful after breakfast yesterday, so we thought that she would like to play in her swing. She was making all sorts of cute faces, so I just had to grab my camera for the photo-op. Here is my favorite from the lot! Time to go to church...

March Madness is upon us

2006-03-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

That favorite time of the year for college basketball fans is upon us, finally. It seems that this year's "March Madness" is a bit late, I mean it's March 16^th for crying out loud. At work, we've got a friendly pool going with the brackets. It's always interesting to see who picked who to win each round. So far, I'm not doing so great. I was certain that Oklahoma would have beaten UW-Milwaukee, but that's another part of the excitement - the upsets! Well, we all have until April 3^rd to find out the fate of the championship. May the best team win!

An Airbus A380 built in 7 minutes!

2006-03-15T19:07:00.000-05:00

Watch this amazing 7 minute time lapse video showing the complex logistical achievements of Airbus in constructing the new A380.

I am uncertain of the time frame that actually takes place, but the ballet of workers that coordinate and place this monster together sure make it look easy!!

Just look at the torque wrenches being used to attach those Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines! I'm particularly impressed with those large main gear mechanisms. The doors are quite complex - a great challenge for anyone wishing to recreate them within an environment such as Flight Simulator.

I'm not too much into heavy iron, but I just find this aircraft to be simply amazing in design and aeronautical achievement. This aircraft is something that was illustrated as a hypothetical "cruise liner of the sky" in Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines that I often read in my younger years. I never really thought would become a reality. I guess that's what I get for thinking.

ACES presentations at GDC

2006-03-15T18:23:00.000-05:00

I was browsing the Game Developers Conference sessions for familiar names from the ACES camp, and low and behold, I found two! The conference will be March 20-24 in San Jose, California.

Adam Szofran will be speaking about "Global Terrain Technology for Flight Simulation"

This talk presents some of the terrain engine technology developed by Microsoft Game Studios. Of particular interest are techniques for handling the large amount of geospatial data required to represent the Earth from the surface up to orbital altitudes. Also discussed are fiber- and thread-based technologies for composing surface textures on the fly at run-time using a variety of geospatial data. The last part of the presentation focuses on how to triangulate a global, multiresolution terrain mesh requiring double-precision coordinates when the rendering hardware only supports single-precision coordinates.

Graphics guru, Adrian Woods, will be speaking about "The Make Art Button: Batches, Actions, and Scripts"

Do something once, it's creative. Do something twice, it's repetitive. Do something three times, you can probably automate it.

This session gives artists tools they can use to help minimize repetitive tasks and maximize creativity and iteration. Using the dreaded DOS prompt, Photoshop actions and droplets, and MaxScript, the speaker shows how technical ability can actually unleash creativity. For example, you can use MaxScript to enable in-game visuals never seen before. You can use Photoshop actions to speed up production time. And you can use the DOS prompt. Spend less time getting carpal tunnel syndrome, and more time creating beautiful artwork.

Since this year's GDC is in California and I am in South Carolina, I will not get the opportunity to attend. I really would be interested in seeing Adrian's session, as it is geared exactly toward what I do as a third party content creator. A lot of the work I do is quite repetitive in nature, and having tools that streamline tedious tasks is exactly what I've been looking for!

I hope that these guys post transcripts, or perhaps powerpoint presentations of their sessions after the conference. Adrian has his own blog - seems like a great place to post it *hint, hint*. :-)

Bob Hoover's amazing aerobatics

2006-03-08T20:36:00.000-05:00

Thanks Mike for linking me to this incredible video showing footage of R.A. Bob Hoover in a BBC documentary describing and showing how he performs incredible aerobatics first with engines off in his North American Rockwell Shrike Commander 500S, and then he performs a loop while pouring a glass of tea...without spilling a drop!! I sure wish I were able to have seen this first hand!

Advanced Garmin 480 feature

2006-03-08T20:02:00.000-05:00

I was browsing a few aviation related blogs that I enjoy reading from time to time, and I ran across this interesting article describing the hold function of the Garmin 480. I find it quite interesting to note the Garmin 480 is the "...only panel mounted GPS with WAAS that is IFR certified under TSO C146 for use as primary navigation." John goes on to describe this as being able to navigate along airways, such as a VOR, even if the waypoint is out of service. Interestingly enough, the Garmin 430/530 and G1000 are certified under TSO C129 for IFR flight, meaning that they cannot be used as primary navigation if any navigational aid is out of service.

He has several nice screens showing what a hold looks like, and how if the aircraft is so equipped, can be flown with the autopilot. This is quite interesting, as I have done several practice holds with Roy in his Twin Comanche, and he just so happens to have the Garmin 480 in his plane.

He squeezed his hamburger...?

2006-02-23T20:02:00.000-05:00

This is one of the funniest "internet videos" I have seen in a very long time. If you're looking for a reason to laugh out loud - this is certainly it!!

Christy Lake's first Valentine's Day

2006-02-15T11:46:00.000-05:00

Christy Lake had a great Valentine's Day! She received all sorts of cards from family members (in fact, she got more mail yesterday than Christy and I LOL!). Isn't she cute in her sweetheart outfit!

Flight of the Hopper - unique 'round the world adventure

2006-02-09T18:24:00.000-05:00

A great friend of mine sent me the URL to this quite unique website detailing an around-the-world trip in a virtual Pilatus PC-12. You see, the object of this trip around the globe is to sample some of the world's best beer. It's all in good fun, and to be taken lightheartedly. They appear to be spending quite some time in the European theatre - must be some number of quality brews there. I wonder when they will reach the west coast of the U.S.? I hope that they stop in Seattle, WA - the Red Hook Brewery is a great stop! I guess I'll just have to keep posted...

It's been a great week!

2006-02-05T15:48:00.000-05:00

Well, after taking time off for the birth of Christy Lake, I'm headed back to work tomorrow. It has been great being able to be around and help Christy out as we get acquainted with the little one in the house. She has really been great all week. She gets anywhere from 3 to 4 hours of sleep at a time, generally more so at night - which is a blessing. The only times she is really fussy is when she's: getting her diaper changed, taking a bath (well, at least getting a rag-bath), getting hungry, or getting her clothes changed. Two of the three I believe it's because she doesn't like to be cold - neither do I - so I don't blame her for being a bit upset at all! Usually her fits don't last very long - she's very quiet 95% of the time. Here she is taking a nap in her bassinet. Doesn't she look adorable!!

More pictures

2006-02-01T18:28:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures that my father took when my side of the family visited. Click each picture to see full size.

Dad and Christy Lake!

My mom and nephew, Cameron, admiring Christy Lake - wishing they could take her home!

My mom's parents, Mama Dot and Papa - the great grandparents!

1st Doctor vist!

2006-01-31T19:06:00.000-05:00

Today was Christy Lake's first trip to the Pediatrician to make sure she is doing well since leaving the hospital. She's been given a clean bill of health and is still around 8 pounds, the same as she was on Sunday. The Dr. said that she probably lost a bit more right after leaving the hospital, and is gaining weight, so nothing to worry about.

As we got home, grandma was waiting with a camera to take our picture in front of the house. It was so nice outside, we strolled our little angel around the block one time. Now it's time to get some rest. :-)

We're home!

2006-01-30T08:31:00.000-05:00

We're finally home! We were released from the hospital around noon yesterday, and were greeted by this sign on our garage door - how nice was that?

Everyone is in great health! Christy Lake only lost 6 ounces before leaving the hospital, so it should not take any time at all for her to regain that weight and grow, and grow, and grow! Christy has been recovering well herself - she's been on her feet some, but keeping her feet off the floor for the most part. What about Dad? Well, I'm getting used to getting up every 3 hours or so to help Christy feed - I wouldn't miss it for the world!

This morning, we let Christy Lake try out her new swing - it put her to sleep in no time! Look at all of that dark hair and she has a wonderful complexion. She sleeps well between feedings, and is very well mannered when she is awake. More pictures to come soon!