Whilst I was browsing the t’interweb with my ‘puter I came across the news that CLS had released their Piper PA-28R-200 Arrow II as freeware.  Not one to pass up a freebie I downloaded it and before long I found myself wanting it in UKD colours.  Well a few hours later a new aircraft was seen taxiing past UKD towers!  Download the base plane from CLS   www.commerciallevel.com/ and then add the UKD texture from the Fleet page. FSX and FS2004 compatible.

 Merry Christmas

10th December 2012

The Christmas edition of your in-flight magazine Directions is now ready to read. Packed with real life stories of heroism in the cockpit, software reviews, pics, videos, competition and Christmas jokes for you to groan at!

 A little activity

7th December 2012

As its been six weeks since the last update  I thought everyone one of you might want to know whats happening with UKDirect. ;)  In the background another pirep system is being trialled by a few members and is working well. It is an alternative to flying with FSA for those who have problems using it, but it isn’t intended to replace FSA, just provide an alternative.  Ruud 104 and Gary 232 have been setting up a Teamspeak chatroom and server for online flying, have a look on the forum for more information and/or contact them directly.  I am learning to create Flash applications and php webpages to expand and enhance the website and incorporate all the above planned stuff, additionally there are a couple of repaints in the works and the Christmas special edition of your in-flight magazine Directions will soon be ready to read - maybe this weekend! It is required reading on those long-hauls :)   I have added just a couple of Flash elements to the magazine and I’d be happy to hear UKDirectanaughts (sorry!) views on this, particularly if you can’t see things like pictures and/or dont have flash enabled.

Update

2nd November 2012

The next edition of your in-flight magazine Directions is now ready to  read. I’ve also done a little bit of tidying up and re-organising so if  links dont work try refreshing your browser (F5 key).

Update

30th October 2012

The Gallery page under ‘Crew Resources’ has been fixed and new pictures uploaded. Please send yours in!
Just to keep you all up to date with whats going on in the background - Progressing in the paintshed is a Freeware Dash 8 Q400, the model doesn’t have a paintkit so I’m also creating that for release too!
Also starting to take shape is the next edition of Directions, so keep an eye on the website soon.

Antiques roadshow

7th October 2012

Not really a new repaint but another ‘lost’ one submitted from the past this time by Gareth UKD117 and painted by Dean Barry UKD121. You will need the PSS Dash 8 Professional (still available at www.Justflight.com) to use it and is designed for use with FS2002 and FS2004 but not compatible with FSX. G-UKRA ‘Kirstie’ has been added to the Fleet pages, picture courtesy of Gareth, and is based at Southend.

If there is any interest and if there’s a suitable model I will repaint it for the freeware and FS2004/FSX users. The last few repaints have all been for payware aircraft but this isn’t a policy and I will be painting freeware planes in the future, I promise!

At last..

30th September 2012

It’s been a long time coming but finally it’s here, the PMDG MD-11F in UK World Cargo colours.
The repaint is available in the FSX folder but I’m sure it will work in FS2004. Our cargo manager Ruud, is constantly expanding the routes and there is a large network of flights available for this aircraft including trans-Atlantic flights and trips covering the Americas.

Rising from the ashes like a ...Unicorn?

27th September 2012

A past face from UKD’s murky history has rejoined the fold (welcome back Aaron) and was enquiring about some repaints made for FS2004. That set Ruud and myself searching the old hard-drives and it turned up quite a few suprises, some of which have been added to the fleet pages. Specifically they are repaints for the PMDG 737-800/900, Level-D 767-300 and Flight One’s ATR 72-500 for FSX/FS2004 and all in Unicorn livery. Gareth provided a screenshot (below) of the Level-D 767 when it was mounted on a tripod, presumably for maintenance reasons! :p
For those who don’t know (and why would you?) the Unicorn was painted on several UKD aircraft, for an anniversary if I recall correctly. It was/still is the airline callsign too. By the way the call goes out to all the budding photographers out there - the Fleet page needs a picture of the 737 as I don’t have FS2004 installed on this pc. All entries accepted!

Don’t feed them after midnight!

31st August 2012

I’m pleased to announce UKDirect has managed to do something conservationists have been trying for years without success - increasing the panda’s numbers! Gareth UKD117 has painted the PMDG Beech 1900D, and Ruud UKD104 has repainted the California Classic Lockheed Constellation - both files available on the Fleet page, as is the promised A340-600 for the Just Flight payware model.

John UKD182 has been busy creating something a little different by fine tuning sound files using a software package to create a new callsign for other members to enjoy. All UK Direct models use the default callsign “Midland” simply because it’s the most English sounding of the choices available, but now thanks to John you can have Air Traffic Control (ATC) talk to you as “UK Deltic” and a special AI package is available using this callsign. All the files are on the Fleet page under the AI tab and can be used in any Microsoft sim from FS2002 or later. I found the Edit Voice software has several other useful features which can be used on their own such as speeding up the ATC controllers which is very handy in heavy traffic areas.
I am aware that UKD’s traditional callsign has always been “Unicorn” but that isn’t available and “UK Deltic” does at least catch your attention better than Midland!

Is It Summer Yet?

18th August 2012

Well, I said the next Directions would be out for the Summer but after waiting a few months for the summer to arrive I thought I’d better post it now!
Apart from defending the seas, still unpacking from moving house and doing DIY on it to keep Her Who Must Be Obeyed happy, and watching the Olympics, I had a computer failure to deal with. Anyway I’m happy to report that normal service is starting to resume and your inflight magazine is ready to read :)

Additionally the Panda’s have been working away to produce two repaints (UKDirect and World Cargo) of the Lockheed Super Constellation to provide you with something a little different to fly. Give it a go, it is a rewarding experience and Ruud has created a route network for it including a round-the-world trip. Finally a UKDirect livery for the Just Flight A340-600 will be uploaded soon. I haven’t forgotten the MD-11 below but being acutely aware of the inactivity on the website due to the hassle I mentioned earlier it turned out quicker to produce the above, my apologies to those waiting - I will crack on with it soon.

Easy as 321

29th April 2012

The panda’s are continuing to cover the whole Airbus family as the paint shed doors opened to reveal their latest masterpiece. The Project Airbus A321-231. G-UKEE “Thames Flyer” receiving the attention this time. This is actually their second go at painting the plane - the first paint scheme for G-UKSO “Stansted  Floater” was rejected as they had given it a brown fuselage!

Released on the Fleet pages in FS2004 and FSX varieties, both using 32-bit textures and default panels and sounds plus a virtual cockpit in the FSX version. I would recommend replacing the sounds with some available on flightsim.com and avsim.com

More For Less

29th April 2012

It looks like the all-expenses-paid trips I’ve been taking are paying off! UKDirect has negotiated a 20% discount on all UK2000 Extreme sceneries. The list of airports covered includes London - City, Gatwick, Heathrow & Stansted, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and East Midlands with almost as many again planned for release this year. Visit UK2000.com for more details.

Gary Summons is the designer/developer behind UK2000 and incidentally was the creator of UKDirect so it is doubly pleasing to recommend taking advantage of this offer. I contacted Gary because I believe he makes the best UK scenery bar none and I would say to anyone who regularly flies in the UK that this range of scenery is essential and simply the best available. Aerosoft make some great sceneries too (which I heartily recommend) but UK2000 is the scenery for UK users, I only wish this offer was available when I purchased mine! :o)

I will create a Members-only area on the forum or website with the discount codes available, in the meantime please email/PM/message/carrier pigeon me for it.

FS2Crew Discounts

28th April 2012

UKDirect is proud to announce it has joined the FS2Crew VA Partnership scheme to offer any virtual pilot who flies for UKDirect a 30% discount on all their products. You just need to enter the code on their website at the time of checkout so if you think you may want something from them now or in the future just drop me an email and I’ll send it to you. Their website url http://www.fs2crew.com/


“What is FS2Crew?

FS2Crew develops expansion packs for your favorite 3rd party and default Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft, such as the PMDG 747 or Level-D 767. The aim of the FS2Crew series is to let users simulate multi-crew flying in a SOP driven airline environment. We achieve this end by embedding a virtual flight, cabin and ground crew into the host aircraft who behave in much the same way as they would in the real-world. Because no two aircraft are the same, each version of FS2Crew is built from scratch on an ad-hoc basis and customized to work within the context of the host aircraft. FS2Crew works with current airline pilots and we model company procedures used by specific airlines. Essentially what you get in each version of FS2Crew is a very realistic approximation of what you would see and experience as the Captain of whatever airline we modeled with respect to flight, cabin, ground and company interaction. The interaction between the Captain and FO, PF and PNF, can be quite intricate, and FS2Crew goes to great lengths to model that interaction in detail. ”

On the forum is a topic where any other discounts will be posted.

Bite the Bullet -in Board

10th April 2012

Just a quick heads up to let you know a new forum is going to replace the old one. It is up and running and on the same page for now, all you need to do to post is register on the new forum which takes only a minute but this one will allow you to add avatar’s and signatures if you wish and is more reliable all round. I will copy some of the things over from the old to the new and if you wish to re-post your old messages that would be cool! :)