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It has not been long since the last Directions but there have been some significant developments in that period, not least of which is the news coming from Microsoft regarding it’s predictably named Flight Simulator 2020. There will be more on MSFS20 below (remember you saw that here first!)
A special welcome is extended to our latest recruits, particularly Danial (congratulations on completing your first handful of flights) and I’d like to thank Charley Zulu for another repaint - at least this time we can upload this repaint (we're still waiting for permission from Historic Jetliners for some of the others!).

In other software news there have been a few updates regarding Prepared too - an update to version 4.5 followed by two quick Hot Fix releases which have also required many other add-on developers to release patches to ensure continued compatibility.
FS2Crew released their UCGX software (with another patch today) in direct competition with FSDT’s GSX which in turn has had a raft of new updates and product features of its own.
The limitations of Gary Summons one-man-band, UK2000 has started to show - many years of little change in the Flight Sim world allowed Gary time to create his fantastic airports with only incremental updates required from FS2004 upto P3D. However in order to cover X-Plane he felt he had to drop FS9 and with increasing technology within the sim’s (64-bit, Dynamic Lighting and PBR) more time than ever before is required just to ‘stand-still’. Evidently many UK airports are seen as ripe to be covered by other development teams and what started as a trickle has turned into a sunami: Orbx have recently covered Leeds-Bradford and London City with plans for Alderney and Edinburgh (out now) and JennaSoft have re-created London Gatwick Airport’ This leaves me with mixed feelings as better-looking airports is obviously what we want but I also want to stand by UK2000 for being there when no-one else was. Looking further afield: if MSFS20’s teaser-trailers are anything to go by then a lot of scenery developers are going to be looking for other work, which may explain why Orbx seem to be drifting towards favouring X-Plane.

In the videos near the end of the newsletter I included one which I highly recommend you find 45 minutes to watch by Nickolas Means. Ultimately it is a staff conference by a professional speaker to develop co-operation within teams but the chosen subject is Cockpit Resource Management and he talks in detail about one particular aviation catastrophe and why some people walked away from it when previously the expected outcome would have been much worse. Co-incidentally he quotes a normal landing rate in a DC-10 as 200-300 ft/min which makes me feel a lot better about some of my attempts recorded in FSA!

I found another video intended to conquer the fear of flying by explaining what happens on the approach and landing phase and included it here. I expect the old hands will know the majority of what is happening already but it did fill in a couple of gaps in my knowledge and hopefully it may have some new information for you too.
Newshound aka Mark UKD171

Today we crossed Nebraska in 7 minutes. I think that's the best way to cross Nebraska.
SR-71 pilot's logbook
 

UKDirect Boeing 717
Departing Innsbruck (ICAO: LOWI) in Austria

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

 The Beechcraft King Air 350 painted by Charley Zulu in UKDirect colours. The model is the default King Air included in FSX, FSX:SE and P3D, seen here in P3Dv4. They are freely available for download from the Fleet page.

Boeing

Qantas grounds Boeing 737 NG due to 'cracking'.
The carrier said several airlines were inspecting their 737 NG fleets after Boeing revealed an area near the wing may be prone to cracking. News agency AFP reported up to 50 planes globally had been grounded due to the issue. Qantas said: "Even when a crack is present, it does not immediately compromise the safety of the aircraft.
"We would never operate an aircraft unless it was completely safe to do so."

Boeing said cracks had been found in the "pickle fork" - a section of the plane which helps attach the wing. Last month, US regulators ordered checks of all 737 NG planes which had undertaken more than 30,000 flights. Qantas said none of its 737 NG fleet had been flown more than 30,000 times. It added the plane with a crack had made fewer than 27,000 journeys.
Qantas said it would inspect 33 planes in its fleet for the same issue. It did not respond to a report that a crack had been found in a second plane.
US carrier Southwest Airlines recently discovered a crack in one of its 737 NG planes.

In the wake of the damaging publicity Boeing received over it’s 737-MAX crashes it was refreshing and commendable of them take a positive step in reporting the potential problem.

Boeing's China Problem

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Boeing vs. Airbus: Why Aviation’s Biggest Rivalry Is in Flux

As Airbus is set to overtake Boeing to become the world’s largest plane maker by deliveries, WSJ (Wall Street Journal) explains how two jetliners—the 737 MAX and the A320neo—ended up at the center of the biggest rivalry in the aviation world.
 

Airbus

Regulator Transport Canada issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (AD) to limit certain engine power settings on Airbus A220 aircraft following three recent failures.

Three inflight shutdowns occurred within three months time: July 25, 2019, September 16, 2019, and October 15, 2019. In all cases, the aircraft involved was a Swiss International Air Lines Airbus A220-300 (formerly named Bombardier CSeries 300) with Pratt & Whitney PW1524G-3 engines. These inflight shutdowns were due to failure of the low-pressure compressor (LPC) stage 1 rotor, which resulted in the rotor disk releasing from the LPC case and damaging the engine.

Investigations are ongoing to determine the root cause., but preliminary investigation results indicate high altitude climbs at higher thrust settings for engines with certain thrust ratings may be a contributor. This condition, if not corrected, could lead to an uncontained failure of the engine and damage to the aeroplane.
Transport Canada issued the AD on October 26, introducing a new Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM) limitation and normal procedure to limit the engine N1 setting to 94% while above 29000 feet. This AD is considered an interim action and further AD action may follow.

BREAKING NEWS: (24th Oct) IndiGo flight 6E563, an Airbus A320neo, suffered an engine stall (PW1127G) after departure from Kolkata. The aircraft returned for a safe landing 37 minutes after takeoff.

(25th Oct) IndiGo flight 6E375, an Airbus A320neo, suffered an engine stall (PW1127G) after departure from Mumbai. The aircraft returned for a safe landing about 50 minutes after takeoff.

(30th Oct) IndiGo Airbus A320-271N flight 6E862  suffered high engine vibration while climbing through 10,000 feet. The crew reduced thrust of this engine to idle and to reduce vibration. Ground inspection on landing revealed that engine no.1's third stage low pressure turbine had been damaged.

 

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Qantas completes test of longest non-stop passenger flight

Australian carrier Qantas has completed a test of the longest non-stop commercial passenger flight as part of research on how the journey could affect pilots, crew and passengers. The Boeing 787-9 with 49 people on board took 19 hours and 16 minutes to fly from New York to Sydney, a 16,200-km (10,066-mile) route.
Qantas plan to test a non-stop flight from London to Sydney In November and expects to decide on whether to start the routes by the end of 2019. If it goes ahead with them, the services would start operating in 2022 or 2023.
No commercial aircraft yet has the range to fly such an ultra-long haul route with a full passenger and cargo load. To give the plane sufficient fuel range to avoid re-fueling, the Qantas flight took off with maximum fuel, restricted passenger numbers, baggage load and no cargo.

Passengers set their watches to Sydney time after boarding and were kept awake until night fell in eastern Australia to reduce their jetlag. Six hours later, they were served a high-carbohydrate meal and the lights were dimmed to encourage them to sleep. On-board tests included monitoring pilot brain waves, melatonin levels and alertness as well as exercise classes for passengers and analysis of the impact of crossing so many time zones on people's bodies.

"This is a really significant first for aviation. Hopefully, it's a preview of a regular service that will speed up how people travel from one side of the globe to the other," said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce.

 

Flying the Made in China Jet - COMAC ARJ21-700! [14:24]

A special flight on the Chinese made ARJ21-700 on Chengdu Airlines from Chengdu to Linfen and back. Check out the interior of the Chinese made ARJ21. Watch the takeoff and landing performance of ARJ21. Enjoy commentary from the crew and myself about the ARJ21.

Join me for an incredible sight-seeing trip to Hukou waterfall in China, which flows quickly and forcefully into the Yellow river. I take an internal flight within China from Chengdu Shuangliu international airport, which is the major international airport that serves Chengdu, the capital of the Chinese province Sichuan, to Linfen Qiaoli airport in Shanxi aboard the first ever aeroplane made in China, the ARJ21.

I use Chengdu airlines but there are another two airlines which make use of the ARJ21 aeroplane – Urumqi Air and the Mongolian Genghis Khan airlines.

The placing of the engine right at the rear of the aeroplane makes our seat at the back very noisy and one of the major disadvantages of flying on the ARJ21 is the general noisiness and din overall; even sitting at the front, it’s hard to ignore the sound of the heavily labouring engine! It’s also frustrating that the ARJ21-700 has to fly so low as this makes the aeroplane vulnerable to the weather. As I hear in my interview with the captain, the ARJ21 is not able to fly in heavy rain!

This aeroplane is not certified by either the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) or the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), however, the larger, more able C919 jet is beginning to gain popularity in China, as the captain tells me, and this can only be a good thing, since the C919 is able to carry many more passengers (the ARJ21 is limited to only 90 passengers, which is a problem in a country with more than a billion people in it!) and also more cargo.

The ARJ21 jet was commissioned by the Chinese government in 2002 and the first aeroplane entered service in 2015 with Chengdu airlines. It is a twin engine, regional get which is made by the Chinese company Comac. ARJ itself stands for: Advanced Regional Jet.

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12 OCT 2019  Boeing 777-3M2ER  TAAG Angola Airlines   Reg: D2-TEH  c/n 40806  

A TAAG Boeing 777-3M2ER detached from the tug at Porto Airport, Portugal, and rolled down the apron. The right wing knocked over a mast and the aircraft came to rest across an airport road.

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18 OCT 2019   Douglas DC-3C    Atlantic Air Cargo   N437GB   C/n: 19999  First flight:  1944
Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2       Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)

The aircraft ditched to the waters of the Atlantic Ocean while on approach to Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS/MYNN), Nassau, Bahamas. The airplane submerged, having sustained yet to be determined damage, and the two pilots onboard were not injured during the incident.
 

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18 OCT 2019   Saab 2000   PenAir - Peninsula Airways  N686PA    C/n: 017    First flight: 1995-04-09 (24 years 7 months)
Total: Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 42       Aircraft fate: substantially damaged

A Saab 2000, registered N686PA, was substantially damaged when it experienced a runway excursion after landing on runway 13 at Unalaska Airport, Alaska.
The aircraft departed Anchorage, Alaska, USA at 15:15 hours local time, bound for Unalaska. The first approach to the airport was aborted and a second approach was performed. The aircraft touched down on runway 13 about 17:40 hours local time but failed to come to a stop on the runway. It overran the end of the runway, crossed a road and came to rest on a rocky surface at the edge of the water of Dutch Harbor. Propeller blades of the no.1 engine broke off, puncturing the fuselage. Two people were critically injured. One passenger died of injuries the next day.

Flightsim News

New Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 - Insider Update October 24

QW Updates 787 Package v1.2

Greetings 787 Drivers!
On the 2nd Anniversary of the release of the Ultimate 787 Collection, we are pleased to announce that Service Pack 2 (Version 1.2.0) of our Ultimate 787 Collection is now available! This Service Pack is highlighted by the long awaited induction of the Boeing 787-10 into the Ultimate 787 fleet, which completes the Dreamliner lineup.
While I’m sure many of you are excited to jump into the Dash 10, we are even more excited about the stability improvements in this Service Pack - most notably with the Weather Radar system. The system has been redesigned from the ground up. This is one of the reasons that it took longer than anticipated to get this Service Pack out to you. For those of you who have participated in our error logging system (BugSplat), we cannot thank you enough for allowing those reports to be sent to us. They have been an invaluable troubleshooting tool.
Now, about the newest member of the Ultimate 787 Lineup...The Dash 10!

JennaSoft London Gatwick Airport (EGKK)

The airport has been in development for some time and is the most up-to-date version of the airport released for FSX/P3D.

Gatwick Airport sits south of London and is one of the world’s busiest single-runway airports with 55 departures/arrivals every hour. The airport hosts a variety of airlines including British Airways, Norwegian, Ryanair and TUI. easyJet is the airport’s biggest airline with 60 aircraft based there during the summer months.
At the time of writing UKDirect has 12 aircraft stationed there with a choice of 141 destinations!

FSDreamTeam Releases GSX Update 2.7.1

FSDreamTeam’s GSX has been updated to Version 2.7.1. This update is free to existing GSX customers for both Prepar3D v4.4+ and FSX.

This new version of GSX offers an update to the QuickPushback feature that was added with version 2.7. When configuring QuickPushback a real time preview of the actual path is now shown. Once the final location of the pushback is set, the smoothest pushback path is indicated by green dots. A path of red dots indicate a bad path that cannot be solved correctly. The QuickPushback location is also saved so the same pushback can be preformed again for a quicker turnaround and an added level of immersion.

Version 2.7.1 can be obtained by running the FSDreamTeam Live Update program or by downloading the GSX installer again..

Orbx EGPH Edinburgh Airport

In-House team GayaSimulations has faithfully recreated the busy airport using the latest techniques and features to give you the most realistic experience possible. Using HD PBR textures to provide an unprecedented level of detail throughout - in particular on the airport apron. Explore the fully modelled fire stations, hotels and office buildings that surround the airport, or watch as the airport comes to life with animated traffic throughout.

Throughout the scenery, enjoy impressive 3D custom modelling of the main terminal areas and beyond. Smaller details such as ground service equipment scatter the airport apron, which brings the airport to life in conjunction with Orbx PeopleFlow. Edinburgh’s iconic Air Traffic Control tower sits tall and mighty behind the main terminal building and has been recreated using highly detailed modelling and texturing. As the sun sets, be sure to see the ATC tower lit up with its powerful purple tones.

Designed to blend in with EU Scotland, enjoy approaching the airport from any direction to enjoy approaches that lead you right over the cultural city.
 

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Self-Loading Cargo

SLC is a in-flight, real-time simulation of passengers & cabin crew for X-Plane, P3D, FSX and FS2004.

Version 1.5 will include a "living cabin" view so you can see exactly what it is your passengers are doing in the back, and how they're interacting with the cabin crew. You can see the simulation running in real-time and watch passengers board, navigate their way around the aircraft to their seats / toilets etc, and watch the cabin crew "do the rounds" while they serve drinks and food.

The cabin view will also allow you to interact directly with the passengers on an individual basis (if you wish) allowing you to directly influence the simulation when things go wrong with medical issues, distruptions etc.

The cabin is "built" using text-based configuration files that allow you to specify the seating plan, seat numbers, aisle positions etc and is completely dynamic in that passengers will automatically calculate a "best case route" around the aircraft to get from one place to another when they need to change position. It supports any configuration of seats, classifications of seat (business/economy etc), aisle layout and even multiple decks (like in a 747 or A380).

All in all, it helps to show off the fact that Self-Loading Cargo is a true simulation of what is happening on your particular aircraft, and why services take time to affect every passenger instead of immediately gratifying everyone - you can see that it takes crew a while to work their way around the cabin, and why if a service ends prematurely, those who haven't been served yet bring the satisfaction rating down.

https://slc.lanilogic.com/
 

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Ultimate Ground Crew X: The FSElite First Look [3.51]

UK2000 Scenery Bristol 2019 HD (EGGD)

UK2000 Scenery has shared a few new images for their upcoming Bristol 2019 HD airport. The airport is an all-new version based off of the new techniques UK2000 Scenery has been building to create the next wave of airport products. The new images primarily show off the new library objects included in the release.

The new previews focus heavily on some of the new objects which will be scattered around the airport. This includes Swissport Airstairs, tugs, mini tugs and also the Houchin GPU, along with BP Fuel Bowser, the Cobra 2 Fire Engine and also the Cobus 2000 Airport Bus. Further to those images, a range of ground texture examples were shared that showcases the new environmental effects.
The airport will “soon be released” according to the developer on Facebook. Stay with FSElite to stay updated with any new information. Just like previous releases, it is expected that Bristol 2019 HD will come to P3Dv4, FSX and X-Plane 11.

LATEST SOFTWARE UPDATES

Another great find from Graham - What do you so witrh a retired engine cowling? Make a barbecue of course!