The announcement by Carenado that they were doing a C172SP Skyhawk for X-Plane left reviewer Shawn Weigelt wondering if the flight simulator world really needed another 172. Well, maybe so when it's "amazing" as Shawn concluded this one is. Read the review to learn why he liked it so much.

X-Plane scenery designer David Flamm specializes in a very scenic part of the world: Alaska. Being a native he knows the area well and often visits the places he creates scenery for. He's also a real world pilot and gets to explore large parts of the state as part of his mission. Check out his scenery and learn more in our interview.

You've likely read his reviews here, and now Michael Hayward takes you along on his first real world flight in a light aircraft. He flies in a Flight Designs CTSW microlight out of Elstree Aerodrome near London to the Imperial War Museum Duxford and back. Along with the article and photos he shares several videos of both the flight and his impressions comparing flight simulator to the real thing.

In this review, Stuart McGregor actually looks at two products for X-Plane from Orbx. First is TrueEarth Great Britain South with enhances a large portion of the southern UK. Next is Southampton Airport, which is treated with the usual Orbx high level of detail. Stuart found this combination to be an excellent addition to X-Plane 11.

HiFi Simulation Technologies has been working for over twenty years to improve the realism of weather in our flight simulators. Recently for the first time they have brought their technology to X-Plane with the release of Active Sky XP. Reviewer Sean McLeod gives it a try with X-Plane 11, and finds it to be a highly polished product providing features above and beyond the default X-Plane weather controls.

The Where In The World series challenge from Ron Blehm continues into 2019 as readers have stepped up with a bunch of new destinations. Last month's location was the home of nearly a dozen shipyards and most people figured out where that was. This month's challenge is to an interesting cultural center. Can you figure out where?

Flying an early jetliner is a different experience from flying modern aircraft, and for those FSX or Prepar3D pilots who would like a taste, reviewer Michael Hayward recommends the Douglas DC-8 available from Aerosoft. He found that the model faithfully recreates the experience of flying a vintage jet and that flying it was an "absolute joy".

A2A Simulations are of course well known for their outstanding general aviation aircraft, and their Accu-Sim V35B Bonanza is no exception. Available for both FSX and Prepar3D, our reviewer Ray Andersen enjoyed flying it in P3D so much that we've given it our first Award of Excellence for 2019. Ray goes into great detail on just why this plane should be added to your hangar.

The PA31 Navajo twin nicely expands the Carenado line of GA aircraft for X-Plane 11. We're lucky to have Sean McLeod available to review it, as he has extensive experience flying the Navajo early in his professional career. He found the plane to be beautifully rendered and accurately brought back many happy memories of flying the real thing.

After posting our "Best Of 2018" article featuring our reviewers' favorite payware, the comments we got were "what about freeware" and "don't forget FS2004". So, thanks to Robin Meyerowitz who stepped up and put together his list of favorite FS2004 freeware for 2018. Maybe not exactly a "best of" but it represents a great collection of FS2004 add-ons in a variety of categories.