Though the real aircraft has had a substantial overhaul, there is still quite a bit of hours on the Twin Comanche's engines. Unfortunately, the engines are set to zero by default in the FSX version. Want to change that? Here's how...

First, you need to make sure you are able to see hidden folders. That's pretty easy to do. Simply go to My Computer, select Tools, then Folder Options.... Next select the View tab, and look for a radio button that says "Show hidden files and folders" and select it. Now press the Apply button and you're all set.

Okay, so you can see all folders on your computer. Now navigate to the following path: "C:\Documents and Settings\{your logon here}\Application Data\Microsoft\FSX\SimObjects\Eaglesoft Twin Comanche 1.5". The {your logon here} is usually the name you use to sign on to Windows.

The only file you'll find there is the state.cfg file which defines the engine times for each engine. Here's the values that I'm using which are pretty close to what Roy's got on the real N204WT:

[engine.0]
accumulated_time=427.1
[engine.1]
accumulated_time=429.6

Engine.0 represents the left engine, and engine.1 is the right engine.

Have fun!

While doing some sleuthing on some HTML code, I managed to figure out how to get line spacing working. It's actually CSS code that I didn't realize worked on Spaces (until I tried it). I used Time Magazine for a template. I've converted a few of my most recent blog entries and I'll be sure to utilize this from here on out.

Next month, I'm headed to Seattle for my second MVP Summit. I am excited about this year's format versus last year. The time I spent with ACES team members last year was quite limited due to how the whole event was organized. All Games for Windows MVPs were grouped together, which didn't quite work IMHO. Those who are more in to MMOG's and casual type games are not too interested in Simulation, and vice versa. This year, the Game for Windows MVPs who are specialized ACES Studio's products are being split off from the main G4W group, getting 2 full days with Hal and the ACES team! Like last year, I'll be sure to document the visit to the new studios at Willows complete with pictures - at least those that I'll be able to share publicly.

Hopefully as a result of this trip, I'll consider myself not only a Flight Sim MVP, but an all-encompasing ACES MVP. I intend to get very familiar with what's going on with Train Sim 2 and ESP while I am there. Who'll be there?  Brian Gefrich will be in attendance. Brian and are going to be roomates. New this year, MS offered an extra night's stay on their dime and $100 to spend in the MS Company Store for sharing rooms with other attendees. This will be the first time I've met Brian face-to-face and I'm looking forward to getting to know him better. That wild and crazy 'nakedMVP' Nick Whittome will also be there and I'll get to meet him for the first time in person as well. To ACES and fellow MVPs, I'll see you in a few weeks!

Often when I encounter new users to the MS FS franchise, I am asked how I know so many of the key combinations or keyboard shortcuts. The answer I give is practice and consistency from our friends at MS. Fortunately, many of the core key commands have been the same throughout the many versions, with a few new combinations added with each new version to take advantage of new features. FSX has greatly increased that number, so I can see how overwhelming these key combinations can be to the novice. I thought that it would be a good idea to post some of my personal most utilized keyboard commands as a foundation to build. Once you become more familiar with these basic commands, I recommend pulling up the complete list of keyboard commands in the kneeboard during an active flight (SHIFT+F10) and start learning some more advanced commands. In a future post, I'll point out the newest commands FSX has brought to us. Have fun!

In my piracy post, I made mention of the Flight 1 wrapper in an inappropriate manner which to some was conveyed in a negative light. That was not my original intent and therefore I have removed all reference to it. I hope Steve Halpern and the rest of the Flight1 team accept my sincere apology. The point I was trying to convey was that it really doesn't matter what vehicle is used for e-commerce distribution - there are going to be pirates out there who will figure out a way to share illegally the content, and I stress the word content.

While a good portion of the TS Art Team is currently gathering research info in Europe, the folks back home have been steady with updates on the TSInsider website. You can meet the production team (though I know of at least 1 person they have overlooked). Check out a cool W-I-P video of the Horseshoe Curve Route (be sure to read the disclaimers). They also show a new European route - BLS Lötschbergbahn and some great renders of the rolling stock for that area. Be sure to bookmark TSInsider and check it often for more updates!

EAA has produced a very professional 17 minute video capturing some moments from EAA Airventure in recent years. Harrison Ford narrates the piece entitled Oshkosh: The Spirit of Aviation and explores what makes Oshkosh the Mecca for aviators and aviation enthusiasts alike year after year. Like many mention in the video, AirVenture is something that every aviation enthusiast should experience at least once in his/her life. You will find no greater collection of people sharing a common love for aviation than there. I've been fortunate enough to have attended 4 times (2001, 2003, 2006, & 2007), and I cannot put into words the awe I have experienced each of those years. 

Have I mentioned lately how much I love FlightAware? Probably not, but I cannot think of a single "real aviation" site that makes my heart race more than FlightAware. One of the forum members at Eaglesoft's support forum posted this today and I just had to mirror it here...

This is the flight path of N750CX, a Citation X interesting enough being one that has the new eliptical winglets. Would this have been as impressive if flightaware did not exist? I think not!

Fellow FS MVP Arno Gerretsen has just released an essential new development tool for optimizing models for FSX - Drawcallmonitor! Check out his blog entry about it and you can obtain the program here. Good on ya, Mate!

It is funny thing how the internet works. I was browsing my statistics page the other day, and saw where someone had linked to my blog via a website that I had not heard of (at that moment) called blogged.com. Intrigued, I chose to follow the link and low-and-behold, there is a page with my blog listed! There are hundreds of thousands of blogs listed there in all sorts of categories. How mine #1) got listed on blogged.com and #2) ended up in the graphics section is beyond me. I guess I really don't fit in any single category very well and I do tend to have more graphical in-game renders on my posts than most, so I can't really argue too much.

In the left pane, I've got a "I've been blogged" icon that you can follow - there you can write a brief review of my blog. I've currently got a 7.6 rating by the editor - not where I'd like it to be, but I'll take it. What'll you say ... will you throw me a bone?

The sequel to FSAutoStart is finally here - AlacrityPC! Developed by Ken Salter for Win XP/Vista 32- & 64-bit, this utility shuts down any non-critical program while running a resource hungry application, such as our beloved FSX. When the user is done with the application, all of the switched off programs resume! Check out this AVSIM thread for more...

[EDIT] - After a few hours of tweaking this utility on my system, I'm seeing a tremendous improvement in performance of FSX. Be sure to keep the profile below "Realtime," as that will seriously affect sounds (as I found out very quickly).  Thanks FSInsider visitors for stopping by! I invite you to check out my main page for more FS and TS related topics. All support issues for AlacrityPC should be directed here: http://support.alacritypc.com. Thanks!

For as long as I've been a developer for the Microsoft Flight Simulator franchise, I've often had a hard time getting people within the aviation community to take me seriously as someone who does what I do. The mere fact that the program installs on one's HDD in the Microsoft Games folder puts a strike against the notion of anyone really taking MS FS as a serious platform for simulating flight. Luckily, there are many people who have overlooked that and have utilized the FS platform as a sound tool to advance one's aviation proficiency. Bruce Williams has written a very successful book covering just that - Microsoft Flight Simulator as a Training Aid: A Guide for Pilots, Instructors, and Virtual Aviators.

Recently, there has been a whole new arena of games to emerge onto the market - Serious games. The most notable in my mind would be the very popular Nintendo DS game Brain Age. It has some entertainment value, yet has a benefit of exercising one's mind. There are now sites designed specifically around serious games like Serious Games Source and Seriousgames.org. Just recently was held the 2nd annual Serious Games Summit as a part of GDC in San Francisco. At that summit, Shawn Firminger, ACES studio manager, gave a presentation on Microsoft's new venture into serious games with ESP. He even boldly stated that the MS FS franchise has been a 25-year beta test for ESP. Pretty strong words!

I've considered the MS FS platform a serious game for many years. It's about time that Microsoft finally agreed with me and rebranded the package in this way. It only makes sense to try and attract organizations that want an effective aviation simulation-based technology using the core MS FS engine as the backbone. I mean ... 24,000+ airports, the entire world modeled, etc. It makes complete sense.

Interested in developing solutions for ESP? The core program and SDK are included in all MSDN subscriptions. There are some great resources available on the ESP website, including a great white paper on the ESP SDK. With Train Sim 2 on the horizon, I would expect that ESP would branch off into that direction well into the future. The skies (and tracks) are the limit!

Ron requested this unique Canadian scheme and I'm glad he did. It is definately one of my favorites, especially with that way cool Citation horseshoe on the tail.

This is a standard paint scheme flown by XOJET.

Below are a few screens I captured while testing this bird in FSX running DX10 with Vista Ultimate 32-bit. The bloom effects are quite stunning! 

To avert any confusion, yes these images are Alpha builds of the aircraft. There is still much to be finished on the project, namely with regards to the re-write of the avionics. Bobby is also hard at work on revamping the Virtual Cockpit to bring it up-to-date. He's forwarded a few screens of his progress internally to the team and I'm very impressed! As soon as I get my hands on it to begin the necessary steps to get it going in FSX, I'll be sure to post progress shots on that front.