Naval aviators are considered to be some of the most skilled pilots around, given the challenging conditions in which they operate. Simulated naval flight operations are challenging too. In this article Ray Hill discusses naval flight, what is currently possible with X-Plane 11, and some wishes for how this area of aviation could be improved.

Some of the best and most popular add-ons for flight simulator are those that change the overall look of the sim world you fly in. Airport Layout Enhancement Solution (ALES) from Pyreegue Dev. Co. does that for X-Plane by replacing default textures with high quality PBR texture including runways, signs, taxiway lines, pavement and helipads. Reviewer Bruno Esperanca enjoyed the effect on older and default airports.

Aerosoft has released a number of versions of Barcelona over the years. The Mega Airport Barcelona Professional, produced for Prepar3D by Sim-Wings, is the best one yet. Reviewer Alex Dickinson found flying into this Catalan city a great experience, whether night or day. He found performance to be fantastic and enjoyed the many details.

Ray Hill has provided us with a number of tutorials on creating 3D aircraft models and today he expands that series with an article on making airplane canopies. Using ViaCAD this actually takes only a few steps and is probably easier than you might imagine.

OBD Software has created two very immersive combat flight simulator experiences, Wings Over Flanders Fields covering WWI and Wings Over The Reich covering WWII. We got a chance to interview Mark Rogers and Mark Andrews, the two people behind these sims, and learn about their motivations, what makes their sims stand out from the rest and their plans for future enhancements.

vFlyteAir offers a nice range of light aircraft for X-Plane pilots. In this review Stuart McGregor examines their Ikarus C42C, a plane that is relative simple but is actually packed with features, and with two variants included is like getting two planes for the price of one. He found the model to be of high quality and enjoyed the unusual features such as the parachute recovery system.

Virtualcol makes some of the most popular flight simulator planes by choosing to offer airplanes with friendly frame rates at a low cost. In this interview Jose J. Gonzalez tells the story of Virtualcol, from its founding in 2003 making scenery, to the changes in ownership and change to aircraft creation. Learn more in our interview about this popular group and the airplanes they make for us.

The Where In The World series challenge from Ron Blehm continues. Last month's "cold and dark" location proved quite challenging. This month should be easier, with the location in question being a large major airport. Are your geography skills up to the challenge?

Like many flight simulator pilots, Shawn Weigelt enjoys flying over his home territory and had long awaited some truly great scenery of Washington State in the US. Orbx has answered the called for X-Plane 11 with TrueEarth US Washington. It's a huge package, perhaps larger than some can even run, but it turns out to be worth the wait and a pleasure to fly.

Sometimes it's nice to look at a somewhat older product and see how it compares with the latest. Patrick Putlend does that by looking at Airport Anchorage for X-Plane from Aerosoft. He finds that while it shows its age in some areas, it's still a scenery he'd recommend that realistically creates an unusual and scenic location worth flying into.