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31/03/2007 New blogger in FS community: Bob Hayes Good friend and fellow Eaglesoft Development Group 3-D artist Bob Hayes has joined the bandwagon and started a new spaces live page. He already has a pretty good start of things on its first day of inception, including some pictures of him taken with Barrington Irving. Make sure to bookmark or add his RSS feed to your favorite reader. :) 30/03/2007 FSX SP1 Beta As reported earlier this week, the promised SP1 performance patch for FSX has been released to beta testers, myself included. Though they are still working on a few things that did not make this pass, it shows great promise for being the breath of fresh air for FSX everyone has been asking for. I cannot go into details until I am released from NDA, but I am seeing a drastic improvement in performance - the ultimate goal for the service pack. Stay tuned for more info when I am able to talk about it.TrackIR Update
29/03/2007 FS FBO There is a new (or relatively new) community site focusing on flight simulation called FS-FBO managed by FSGenesis developer Justin Tyme. Justin is using PHPizabi's social networking platform, which seems to be gaining in popularity worldwide.
Since FS-FBO opened its doors in early March, there has been a steady increase in FS enthusiasts around the world signing up. If you have not joined, I would encourage you to do so - it is 100% free. Features include a photo gallery, mini-blogs, forums, and member profiles. 27/03/2007 The latest buzz...23/03/2007 Blog excerpts on FSInsider What an honor! The FS team has posted excerpts of my MVP visit and more pics blog posts on the FSInsider website. Thanks much for the kind words gents! I was delighted to read that Z, Hal, and Kevin were involved with the Aviation Learning Center curriculum committees. It looks like it is a first class program, and I'm sure the kids who have experienced it are thankful for your involvement!N2545K in Flight Simulator X22/03/2007 More pictures from the MVP Summit20/03/2007 Columbia 400 flight over the Pacific NW19/03/2007 Feed now on feedburner
Those of you who prefer to subscribe to my site via RSS feed, please update your readers to point towards my new feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/polypoke They have some pretty interesting tools that give me a little more flexibilty versus the raw feed coming from spaces. Thanks much! ACES Studio tour
MVP Summit Opening videoOut of the 250+ photos submitted for this video, mine was one of the 80 or so that made the cut! Look for me about 17 seconds in... 09/03/2007 Av8rdan goes flying Kenmore style
I frequently read Av8rdan's blog for some really great topics on the subject of aviation. I happened to pull his blog up this evening, and I was greeted by a familiar sight: a Kenmore Air de Havilland Otter. Dan recently had the opportunity to ride along on a scenic flight from Lake Union to San Juan Island and gives his account of the trip. Excellent read, Dan! Polypoke has been mirrored!
As Nick has mentioned, I've had this blog mirrored over at MSMVPs.org to much of Nick's pleasure (he's been trying to get me over there for a while). It is actually pretty neat in that it uses this site's RSS feed, so it's on autopilot. Very cool! Maybe this will result in more readership - who knows! Thanks to Susan for the help! 07/03/2007 Aircraft Spotlight: Columbia 400 As work on the Eaglesoft Columbia 400 conversion for FSX draws close to an end, I thought that this was a good chance to have a closer look at this aircraft and highlight what makes it one of the best aircraft in current production.History The Columbia 400 is the third deriviative from Lance Neibauer’s highly successful Lancair Legacy ES kitplane, following the 300 and 350. It is an all composite airframe with fixed gear, seats up to 4 passengers, and sports some of the most advanced avionics found in general aviation. Unique to Columbia is the choice of either Avidyne Entegra or GARMIN G1000 EFIS systems. The current Eaglesoft offering includes the Avidyne Entegra suite, with dual GARMIN 430 GPSs and S-TEC 55X autopilot, and we hope to be able to provide a G1000 version in the future. The aircraft is all-electric with no vacuum system. Because of this, there are two independent electrical systems driven by two different batteries that can be cross-tied in the event either of the two failed. Redundancy is the name of the game here. Performance The Columbia 400 is regarded as the fastest single-engine piston aircraft in production today, with a capability of 235 knots at FL250. This is thanks in part to the twin turbocharged Continental TSIO 350 6-cylinder engine exuding 310 horses at take-off power (2600 RPM & 35.5 in. Hg). With its beefier engine, the 400 required larger engine nacelles compared to the nacelles for the 300 and 350. Other noticable differences include a different elevator design and a ventral fin under the tail, all designed to influence the spin (or anti-spin) characteristics at such high maximum altitudes. Interior appointments Whether armed with the Avidyne Entegra or GARMIN G1000 suite of avionics, this bird takes technology to the  next step when it comes to flying in the 21st century. The roomy panel allows easy reach for each screen or knob, thanks to the use of a side stick for aileron and elevator control input. The armrest allows great comfort in taking the stick, and becomes second nature to even the most skeptical of pilots. The center arm rest is home to the elegantly crafted fuel selector switch, easily accessed by either front seat occupant. The seats are plush and comfortable, lined with the finest leather to grace the skies.Endurance The Columbia 400 is often referred to as the "personal airliner" when you speak to other 400 owners. Members of Club Columbia are very proud of the fact that you can easily fly 900 nautical miles non-stop, and that is with a 45-minute reserve! Useful load is approximately 1,100 lbs. and has maximum fuel capacity of 106 gallons, of which 98 are usable. Cargo is easily accessed via a door on the port side of the aircraft, and has capacity to store 120 lbs. The air up there Getting this bird in the air does not take very long at all. On take-off roll, you begin to pitch the aircraft up around 65 kts, and can easily obtain 1300 ft./min. climb rate at 110 kts. You can reach cruising altitude in mere moments after leaving the asphalt, exuding a smile on anyone who has flown in anything else. When it is time to set her down back onto terra firma, use of the Precise Control speed brakes helps the descent without having to pull the power back too much. Pattern entry is around 120 kts. where you continue to decelerate to allow first notch of flaps around 100 kts. On base and short final, engage full flaps and touch down around 80 kts. The aircraft will settle parallel to the ground, where you would slightly pitch up right before touch-down to avoid jarring that nosewheel too firmly. All-Around performer Everything about the Columbia 400 gives an essence of first-class performance, comfort, and safety. The sleek aerodynamic lines from the mind of Lance Neibauer shows his knowledge of what it takes to fly in style. The aviation community is certainly grateful for his passion for flight, and designing some of the best aircraft built today! The Columbia 400 is sure an all-around performer both in the sim and in real-world flying. Be sure to check out some of the screen captures in my photo album. 06/03/2007 Eagelsoft CJ1 coming soon for FSX! Good news! The Eaglesoft Development Group Cessna CJ1 business jet for FSX has entered beta testing, and should be gracing the virtual skies on your desktop soon!Features will include:
02/03/2007 ACES developer: Kevin Burgess As many flight simmers know, ACES studios is comprised of many talented developers. Kevin Burgess just so happens to be one of those developers. I was lucky enough to be introduced to Kevin two years ago, and we've become great friends ever since.  Are you interested in knowing a sample of the objects Kevin created for FS? He has taken time to illustrate this on his website, kevinburgess.com. For FlightSim, he separated his work into 5 categories: Environments, 3D Scenes, aircraft, buildings, and characters. The highlight is the 3D scenes, where his use of mouseovers to demonstrate how the 2D panel for the Beaver, Lear, Maule (pictured at right), & DG808 sailplane is quite impressive and very effective. Do you ever wonder why Combat Flight Simulator 4 was cancelled? So do I. Kevin shows some examples of models build by both himself and an outsourced vendor that were destined for CFS4, but now sit in a virtual assembly building, collecting dust. The B-17F is especially nice. Perhaps one day these could be resurrected in some future enhancement package (hint, hint). Kevin is not only great at 3D, but is accomplished at doing 2D texture work, as he gives examples of aircraft, building, and character textures. Though he'll tell you his passion is for working with aircraft, his talents are not limited to work for FlightSim. His samples of oil, clay, and pencil are stunning examples of his more traditional art personality. Kevin is currently working on TrainSim and the Flight Simulator X: Adrenaline package and I'm sure his work will not disappoint! Announcing FSX: Adrenaline!
Breaking News straight from ACES:The ACES team has been busy working away on the next two updates for “Flight Simulator X,” Service Pack 1 and the DirectX 10 update, but we also wanted to give you a first look at something even bigger that’s coming soon. This fall, we’re releasing our first expansion pack in years: “Flight Simulator X: Adrenaline”! This latest addition to the award-winning “Flight Simulator” franchise will introduce new features, including multiplayer air racing, new missions, and all-new aircraft, including the legendary P-51 Mustang. Building on the rich visuals and amazing realism of our platform, ”Flight Simulator X: Adrenaline” will take advantage of Windows Vista and DirectX 10 to deliver breathtaking graphics and dynamic environments for an even more immersive experience. It’s due to hit store shelves in time for the holiday season. In the meantime, Service Pack 1 for “Flight Simulator X” is tentatively scheduled for an April release and will include a targeted set of performance and content enhancements to address the most common customer requests. In addition, work continues on the DirectX 10 visual update for “Flight Simulator X”, which will be available as a free download around the launch of “Flight Simulator X: Adrenaline”. Keep an eye on FSInsider for more details! |
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