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Welcome on board your first Directions of 2016, hello to our newest pilots, please make yourself comfortable.

This issue heralds the latest addition to the fleet - a PMDG 737-800 repaint and we’ll take a brief review of whats going on in the real world of aviation plus a look at some very useful scenery for your sims and best of all it's free!

Dove Tail Games are getting closer to releasing Flight School. Flight School is not a full simulator but more of a training aid aimed at introducing new people to flight simulators. It should look good as Orbx have been involved in the base scenery but as yet there are few details on what airports or planes will be included (2 planes apparently). No doubt within weeks after it's release there will be more payware or ‘downloadable content’ (DLC) available than you can shake a joystick at which will probably be of more interest to us as an insight into their view on the future of flight sim. Flight School will be available via the wallet-opening Steam website. Visit http://www.dtgflightschool.com/ for more details.

A page has been created under the News menu in memory of Simon Pal where members can leave messages. I’d also like to thank John UKD103 for all his help over the years with new recruits and UKD Taxi, but for now he is taking a well earned break and Mike UKD189 will be filling his shoes.

As always you'll find the regular features are here - best screenshot, real-world aviation news, fleet updates, competition and humour (hopefully).
Newshound aka Mark UKD171

“You can do anything, but not everything.”
 David Allen

 

UKD B738-800NGX

PMDG Boeing 737-800NGX G-UKEI Flying Dutchman



Do you have a screen shot you are proud of? Please send it in and share it with us.
To enter in the next e-magazine send your entries to Newshound: mark[at]planecrazy.me.uk 

Don't worry about editing pictures, sending them as a full size bmp is best and I’ll edit them for Directions

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Boeing 737-800NGX

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PMDG Boeing 737-800NGX G-UKEI Flying Dutchman

Departing UK2000’s London Gatwick Extreme (EGKK) [Prepar3dv3, MyTraffic 6, ASN,REX]

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Due to work I have been feeling out of touch with events and as I was trying to catch up with the ins and outs of the wonderful world of aviation I thought a quick round-up would be of interest to UKDirect members. So here is Newshounds 2015 round-up (plus the first quarter of 2016!):

Boeing

Boeing will be 100 years old this year! In 2015 they delivered a record total of 762 commercial aircraft: 44 were 787 Dreamliners assembled in North Charleston. The remaining 718 aircraft delivered were all built in Boeing’s Puget Sound-area factories. The Renton workforce delivered a total 495 single-aisle 737s, 10 more than last year and another record. The Everett workforce built 91 Dreamliners, plus 98 large widebody 777 jets, 16 mid-size widebody 767 jets and 18 747s.
Boeing won six more orders than planes delivered taking their backlog of aircraft orders to 5,795 and received their largest single order ever for the 767 from FedEx.
The 100th 747-8 freighter was delivered last year but production will be cut from 1.3 to 0.5 aircraft per month due to the slow-down in the cargo market.
Five new customers received their first Dreamliners: KLM, Royal Air Maroc, Scoot, American Airlines and Vietnam Airlines while Boeing's South Carolina factory completed it's 100th Dreamliner, delivered to American Airlines. The latest Dreamliner, the 787-10 has completed its design phase.
The 737 MAX successfully completed it's maiden flight on January 29th 2016 reaching a maximum 25,000ft and 250kts. Deliveries are expected late 2017.
The 777X specification was finalised and moved into the design and development phase however analysts are predicting production of the current model 777 to be cut due to poor sales figures.
And finally Air France said farewell to it's last 747’s on January 14th 2016 with a special tour around France and over the Alps which proved so popular they put on two aircraft.

Airbus

Airbus delivered 635 aircraft in 2015, a new company record comprising of 491 A320 family aircraft, 103 A330s, 27 A380s, and 14 A350 XWBs to 85 customers including 10 new ones. They also have a dubious record of the most backlog aircraft orders at 6,787!
Airbus also introduced 3 new variants into their range - the long-range A321LR, the lower-weight A330 Regional and the ultra-long-range A350-900ULR.
The largest member of the A350 family the A350-1000 started production in March and test flights should start before the years end.
The first A320neo was delivered to Lufthansa on January 20 2016 with it's first scheduled flight completed on the 25th. The A320neo secured more than 2000 orders in its first 2 years making it the fastest selling commercial airliner ever.
The prototype A321neo completed it's first test flight on 9th February and deliveries are expected before the end of this year whilst the A330neo made significant progress with assembly due to start later this year and deliveries beginning late 2017.
Airbus is expanding it's wing facility at Filton, Bristol. It will open in 2017 at a cost of £36m to develop wings, landing gear and fuel systems.

The rest

Air Canada announced an order for up to 75 Bombardier C Series aircraft. The aircraft should enter service later in 2016 but only have orders for 243 so far leaving Canadian manufacturer Bombardier with a financial headache as development costs have been around $2bn over budget!
Mitsubishi Aircraft resumed test flying of their MRJ regional jet after delays to improve the airframe, deliveries are expected to start next year.
Rolls-Royce have shipped their 100th XWB engine to the Airbus A350 final assembly plant in Toulouse.
CityJet of Ireland received their first Sukhoi Superjet 100 in March, the first of 3 to be delivered this year and then another 12 at 1 per month until the end of 2017. The aircraft is soon expected to complete its steep approach certification allowing the type to operate out of London City airport.
Brazilian manufacturer Embraer delivered 221 aircraft in 2015, their highest for 5 years. It comprised of 2 E170, 82 E175, 8 E190, 9 E195, 82 Phenom 100 and 300s, 38 Legacy 450/500/650s and 2 Lineage 1000s.
French-Italian plane maker ATR received orders for 157 aircraft: 11 ATR 42-600s, 65 ATR 72-600s and options for 81 more. 2015 was a record breaking year with a $2bn turnover. Deliveries also reached a record 88 and includes 12 new customers. ATR’s are operated by over 200 airlines worldwide.
In January 2016 after UN sanctions were lifted Iran ordered 20 ATR 72-600s with options for another 20.
January 21 2016 marked the 40th anniversary of Concorde’s first commercial flight.

 

Summary

The general consensus is the airline industry is catching its breath now after a manic 10 years of purchasing, pausing to see how the market unfolds. The main players all have massive backlogs to keep production busy for years to come even if all new orders fell off.
IATA is also predicting a drop in passenger numbers in the future but it's nothing to get too worried about; they have revised their forecast down by 400,000 to 7 billion in 2034! Thats still more than double todays passenger numbers, so in summary I reckon we need to get some more pilots, yey!
 

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2015 - The safest year ever!

According to ASN data 2015 was the safest year in aviation history despite several high-profile incidents. There were 16 fatal accidents resulting in 560 deaths making it the safest year by number of accidents and the 5th ‘best’ by number of fatalities. The single worst incident was the Airbus A321 crash in the Sinai desert last October although there are claims this was not an accident but a terrorist attack.
 

ASN ACCIDENT DIGEST   http://aviation-safety.net/index.php

I’ve colour-coded the news below - GREEN text is a non-fatal incident or accident of interest,
                                                               RED has fatalities so now you can skip those if you want.


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16 FEB 2016    Cessna R172M Skyhawk (Reims)   Private   G-BEZR   C/n: F17201395  First flight: ?

The aircraft experienced a runway excursion and subsequent nose-over upon landing at Bembridge Airport (BBP/EGHJ), Bembridge, Isle of Wight. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the three occupants received minor injuries. Isle of Wight NHS said one ambulance attended but, although the occupants were in shock, they did not require hospital treatment. Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue said there were three casualties but described them as "walking wounded". A spokeswoman said there was no fuel spillage. Crews made the aircraft safe and left it in the hands of the airport.
Bembridge Airport is an unlicensed airfield managed by the Vectis Gliding Club, meaning it is not open to commercial or training flights and visiting pilots require prior permission to land there.

iow_plane

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21 FEB 2016  Airbus A320-233 Small Planet Airlines    SP-HAI   C/n: 1007  First flight: ?

Small Planet Airlines flight S5 3260 from Paderborn (Germany) to Birmingham (United Kingdom), operated by Airbus A320 (registration SP-HAI) ran off the taxiway after landing in Birmingham Airport and stopped on the grass. All 98 passengers safely disembarked the aircraft and no injuries for passengers and the crew.
The aircraft had landed on runway 33 and was taxiing to the apron at the time of the incident.

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02 MAR 2016  Boeing A75N1(PT17) Stearman  Palm Springs Air Museum Inc   N63555   C/n: 75-8014  First flight: 1940?

Following a loss of engine power, the aircraft impacted airport terrain shortly after takeoff from Palm Springs International Airport (KPSP), Palm Springs, California. The biplane sustained substantial damage and one of the two occupants onboard was seriously injured. One occupant onboard the airplane received minor injuries.

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

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11 MAR 2016  Boeing 737-866 (WL)   Egyptair   SU-GDZ   C/n: 40759  First flight: ?

Egyptair flight MS779 suffered a bird strike while on approach to London-Heathrow Airport, U.K. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 operated on a flight from Cairo when a bird impacted the nose radome of the aircraft, causing a large hole.
A normal landing was made on runway 09L. The aircraft was flown back to Cairo as flight MS1780 the next day.

birdstrike

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12 MAR 2016  Boeing 747-428   Air Atlanta Icelandic   TF-AAK   C/n: 32868/1325  First flight: ?

IRON MAIDEN's branded private tour plane was badly damaged in a runway accident at a Chile airport Saturday morning (March 12).

The band, which is in the middle of the South American leg of its world tour, revealed that none of its members and equipment were on board at the time, and later said it was in the process of making contingency plans to get to their show in Cordoba, Argentina, with band, crew and equipment intact.

The incident occurred when Ed Force One was tethered to a tow truck at Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport just outside Santiago, to be taken for refueling prior to flying over the Andes to Cordoba. On moving, the steering pin that is part of the mechanism that connects the ground tug to the aircraft seemingly fell out. As a result, the aircraft had no steering and collided with the ground tug, badly damaging the undercarriage, two of the plane's engines and injuring two ground tug operators, both of whom have been taken to hospital.
The Boeing 747 jumbo is named Ed Force One after the band's mascot, Eddie, who has appeared on all of their album covers, and graces the plane's tail.

Read more at http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/iron-maidens-plane-badly-damaged-in-collision-at-santiago-airport/#7VFh5wpmrmlUQMoc.99

edforceoneair2016_638

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19 MAR 2016  Boeing 737-8KN (WL)  flydubai   A6-FDN   C/n: 40241/3517  First flight: 2010-12-21 (5 years 3 months)

A Boeing 737-800 aircraft, operated by flydubai as Flight FZ981 from Dubai, impacted airport terrain during a second approach attempt in bad weather to Rostov-On-Don Airport in Southern Russia. The airplane was destroyed and the 55 passengers and 7 crew fatally injured.
Flight 981 departed Dubai at 18:37 hours UTC on March 18. At 22:43 UTC (01:43 local time) the aircraft aborted the approach to runway 22 at Rostov Airport and began circling the area until it entered a holding pattern at 23:25 UTC.
The flight left the holding pattern at 00:28 UTC (03:28 LT) and descended towards Rostov for another attempted approach to runway 22. The aircraft crashed on airport terrain during this attempt. ADS-B data recorded by Flightradar24 show the aircraft descending to an altitude of 1550 feet when it began to climb again at 3 NM (5,6 km) short of the runway. It reached about 3975 feet until the airplane entered a steep descent before impacting airport terrain.

Timeline of events (times in UTC):
17:45 FZ981 scheduled time of departure
18:22 FZ981 pushed back from Stand E18 at Dubai Airport
18:37 FZ981 commences takeoff from runway 30R at Dubai Airport
19:14 FZ981 reaches cruising altitude of FL360
22:16 FZ981 commences descent from FL360
22:20 FZ981 scheduled time of arrival
22:23 S71159 (an Airbus A319 from Moscow-Domodedovo) lands after it's first approach to runway 22
22:28 U62758 (an Airbus A320 from Khudzhand) lands after it's first approach to runway 22
22:39 FZ981 commences final approach to runway 22 at Rostov Airport
22:42 FZ981 aborts first approach at 1725 ft, 6.7 km short of the runway
22:49 FZ981 reaches 8000 feet and heads towards the northeast of the airport
22:54 SU1166 (a Sukhoi Superjet 100-95B from Moscow-Sheremetyevo) aborts the first approach to runway 22
23:07 SU1166 aborts the second approach to runway 22
23:17 SU1166 aborts the third approach to runway 22
23:20 SU1166 diverts towards Krasnodar
23:20 FZ982 scheduled time of return flight back to Dubai
23:27 FZ981 enters holding pattern at 15000 feet to the southeast of the airport
00:28 FZ981 leaves the holding pattern and descends for a second approach
00:36 FZ981 intercepts the runway 22 localizer at 10 NM from the runway
00:40 FZ981 aborts second approach at 1550 ft, 5.6 km short of the runway
00:41 FZ981 impacts airport terrain after a steep descent from 3975 feet

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29 MAR 2016  Airbus A320-232   EgyptAir   SU-GCB   C/n: 32079  First flight: 2003-07-08 (12 years 9 months)

EgyptAir flight 181, a domestic flight from Alexandria to Cairo, was hijacked by a male passenger. The aircraft, an Airbus A320, departed Alexandria-Borg El Arab Airport (HBE) about 06:30 (04:30 UTC). The aircraft was descending towards Cairo International Airport when it was hijacked. The aircraft turned to the left and headed north. An uneventful landing was carried out on runway 04 at Larnaca Airport, Cyprus, at 07:45 hours (05:45 UTC). After landing the aircraft taxied to Apron 2, where it parked at the engine run area.
The hijacker, claiming to have an explosive belt, released all occupants except for the pilot, co-pilot, three cabin crew members and three passengers.
The hijacker was arrested about 14:45 hours local time (11:45 UTC).

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Time to get that grey matter working!. Email answers to mark “at” planecrazy.me.uk or use the message facility on FS Airlines.  Answers will be posted in the next Directions but if you email me your guesses I will reply straight away (in confidence - so no need to worry about embarrassment).

    1>  What does the term "trimming" most commonly mean in aviation?
     

    a)        Filing chips from the propeller
    b)        Use of a tab or wheel to equalise control input/pressure so that no input will maintain current flight status
    c)        Removal/folding of the wings to fit aircraft in hangar
    d)        It is a type of spin


    2>  In aviation,what does CAVOK stand for?

    a)    Chartered Air Vehicle Passed OK
    b)    Cessna Aviation Vehicle of Oklahoma
    c)    Common Air VHF Omnirange Kaleidoscope
    d)    Ceiling and Visibility OK


    3>  Where on the aircraft would you find the green navigation light?

    a)     Left Wingtip
    b)     Centre,above cockpit
    c)     Tail
    d)     Right Wingtip


     

Answers to last Directions quiz:

  1. How can you verify a radio beacon using the radios ?
    c)       Its unique morse code
  2. Which frequency range is used by COM1 in (commercial) aviation ?
    a) or b) I’d accept either as it’s frequencies from 118 - 136.975MHz, oops.
  3. With how many degrees would you normally intercept an ILS approach?
    c)     30 degrees

FreeMesh X Global 1.0 - Release Announcement

Posted 02 May 2015 - I’m a late joiner but I have been very busy :)

Hello folks!
 
Today marks the release of FreeMeshX Global for FSX, FSX:SE, and P3D by Nine-Two Productions. FreeMeshX is a global terrain mesh replacement for the stock terrain mesh and features LOD10 (38-m) coverage for almost the entire world. LOD10 is equal to the same terrain level of detail used for the USA in the stock scenery. The rest of the world varies from LOD6 to LOD9. FreeMeshX was created to bring the rest of the world up to the LOD10 standard as much as possible, although some regions of the world in the higher latitudes are still limited to LOD9 (76-m).
 
The motivation for this project started from the lack of a comprehensive global terrain mesh replacement that did not involve forking over hard earned cash. FS Global 2010 is a great project, but it costs well over 50 USD and uses mainly older SRTM2 90-m downscaled to 78-m resolution. FSGenesis has a 20 USD global terrain mesh, but like FS Global 2010, it uses mainly older SRTM2 90-m data downscaled to LOD9.
 
Towards the end of 2014, NASA began to release newer, upgraded terrain data for regions outside of the USA that was higher in resolution and also void-filled. This SRTM 3.0 data is identical to the quality of the USA SRTM data that is available at 1-arcsecond resolution (30-m). Unlike proprietary terrain data, such as NextMap, SRTM data has always been open and free, so nothing prohibited us to start downloading the data and compiling it for FS use.
 
FreeMeshX features LOD10 (38-m resolution) coverage for:

    North America (LOD10 Canada is released in this mesh - default USA is already LOD10, so USA is not included for the base release. A LOD11 USA mesh is in the works)
    South and Central America
    Europe
    Asia
    Africa
    Australia and Oceania

A few regions are limited to LOD9 (78-m resolution):

    Antarctica
    Greenland
    Russian territories north of 60 N latitude

FreeMeshX was compiled using over 400 GB of raw terrain data. The final size of the product is 42 GB, making it one of the largest freeware projects ever for FS. It wouldn't be in everyone's best interests to download all 42 GB at once, so we are releasing the product the product into continental regions for a total of 7 downloads total. Each continent contains a number of 10 deg x 10 deg titles, mosaiced from 1 deg x 1 deg tiles into a 2.5 GB file, and then compressed into a BGL file. Defragmentation is highly recommended for mechanical hard drives to ensure smooth and quick loading.
 
Largest improvements:
Biggest improvements are found in regions that contain mainly LOD6 and LOD7 meshes. Mainly remote regions of Africa, South America, Antarctica, and Asia. Europe sees some improvement, but it's LOD9 mesh is just a one level upgrade to LOD10. Some improvements will be found in the accuracy of the mesh and level of detail in mountain ranges, such as Suilven in Scotland pictured below.
 
Images:
Preview photo album: http://imgur.com/a/XJtBU#0

More details including the links and patches from here: http://www.avsim.com/topic/467933-freemesh-x-global-10-release-announcement/

If your having any trouble downloading this or unsure what to do then please message me on FSA or the forum for help.

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The Flying Years - Aviation History - Full Documentary [57:11]

On a bleak December day in 1903, among the dunes at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina, a fragile bi-plane took off in a strong buffeting wind and flew for just 12 seconds, skimming 120 feet across the sands. At the controls a man called Orvill Wright. Man's first controlled powered flight. Only sixty years later the world's first supersonic jetliner thundered into the air at Toulouse in France. This programme tells the extraordinary story of flying history from Kitty Hawk to Concorde, from brave pioneers staggering into the air in their string bag machines, to the age of global mass air travel. It's a hell of a story.
 

PMDG 737NGX Full Flight Tutorial (Prepar3D, ASN, PFPX, REX, ORBX, FS2Crew)

I'll take you through a full flight from planning, pushback, startup takeoff and landing in the PMDG 737NGX for Prepar3D.
 

[SIMCAST] March 2016 | Episode 3

Approaching Quito | Bucharest | ORBX Stockholm by Matt Davies
 

ORBX TAPINI - TRIP TO FANE, Part 1

Time to leave Woitape and head to Fane, a notorious grass strip perched atop a treacherous mountain ridgeline. But first, how do we even get out of here? By Froogle
 

Dovetail Games Flight School - Unleash the Pilot

Since the beginning of time, we have looked to the skies and dreamt of flying. In less than a century, we have transformed that dream beyond anything our ancestors could have possibly imagined, and now you can be a part of it.
 

Mini-Plane
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Yorkshire Airlines

This is what Yorkshire Airlines would be like. If it's outside Yorkshire it's not worth bloody visiting.
Hillarious.

 

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 | 2016-1