General Interest

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.

The team at FlightSim.Com, would like to present a list of add-ons which we feel represent some of the best of 2018. These are our own personal picks, in consultation with our reviewers but we feel that while we may have missed other worthy add-ons all of these represent some of the best available for FSX, Prepar3D and X-Plane.

In the flight simulator world we can choose our weather, time of date, season and so on and take the exact flight we want. In the real world--things happen. Real world pilots of course do plenty of flight planning but events can occur that throw off the best plans, sometimes ending up with the plane landing somewhere other than intended. Airline captain Tony Vallillo shares several "diversionary tales" from his long career.

Stuart Outram writes to introduce you to The Millennium Aviation Company, or Mac Air VA, a virtual airline designed to meet the needs of any flight simulator pilot. Mac Air offers an open division where you can fly pretty much whatever you want, a historical division for those wishing to fly back in time and for those looking for the most authentic career path possible a professional division.

Flightsim pilots enjoy having accurate, and accurately depicted, weather while flying. But have you ever stopped to think what is involved within the flight simulator to make that happen? Thorsten Renk explains how weather is handled within FlightGear, covering both how it affects how your plane moves through the air but also how it affects how the world around you looks.

Following on from his earlier article introducing the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), Tony Vallillo offers this story of a real CAP mission. As anyone who follows the news is aware, Puerto Rico was hit hard by Hurricane Maria and CAP was called in to help. This involved getting a light plane to the island in order to conduct a variety of photo recon flights. Tony tells the story of how he and other CAP members accomplished this mission, one you can duplicate with your flight simulator. Part 2 continues the mission, with the plane and crew now on the island and ready to get to work.

Following on from his earlier article introducing the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), Tony Vallillo offers this story of a real CAP mission. As anyone who follows the news is aware, Puerto Rico was hit hard by Hurricane Maria and CAP was called in to help. This involved getting a light plane to the island in order to conduct a variety of photo recon flights. Tony tells the story of how he and other CAP members accomplished this mission, one you can duplicate with your flight simulator.

Allan Jones brings us a story that combines some real aviation history and some flight simulation. Learn about WWII pilot Joy Lofthouse and the Air Transport Auxiliary who delivered newly built military aircraft. Then take on the challenge of an FSX flight in WWII Great Britain, flying VFR only through limited "balloon lanes".

So, what do you do to stay in aviation after a career in the Air Force and with the airlines comes to an end? Tony Vallillo found his answer in the Civil Air Patrol, an auxiliary of the USAF that conducts search and rescue and other missions. It gives his flying a purpose beyond the hunt for the hundred dollar hamburger. In this first of two articles, Tony gives a bit of CAP history and introduces some search techniques -- which you can try yourself on your flight simulator.