Flight Simulator X Missions

4 New Missions, One Wicked Cool Aircraft!

Wilco Publishing has released its long-awaited version of the Bell-Agusta BA609 Tilt Rotor, along with four missions to test your skill in handling a vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft in Microsoft's Flight Simulator X.

The missions included with the add-on aircraft will truly test your skill as a pilot, requiring you to land on every type of surface that FSX has to offer a VTOL aircraft: buildings, raised helipads, moving ships and very tight LZs. And you'll have to do it in all kinds of weather conditions as the missions are offered in day, night and IFR versions. Landing an aircraft that flies like an airplane, but which can transition into a helicopter-like attitude opens up all kinds of new vistas. The experience is quite addicting.

The included missions take you to all parts of the world. In "High Roller Shuttle," you'll deliver a high-stakes gambler to his poker tournament at a casino sitting on the cliffs of Monaco.

In the mission called "Carrier Resupply," you must land the aircraft on a very small moving ship cruising into the Meditteranean Sea off the coast of Gibralter supplying an aircraft carrier steaming to assist victims of a volcano eruption.

In "Rig Evacuation" you'll have to land on a very tight raised helipad to evacuate its crew ahead of a hurricane entering the Gulf of Mexico.

In the mission called "Everest Extraction" you'll travel to Nepal and one of the world's shortest runways to attempt a mountaintop rescue that only an aircraft with the VSTOL capabilities and extended operating ceiling of the Tilt-Rotor could pull off.

Here's some video of this truly revolutionary aircraft in action.

You can get more information about the Wilco Tilt Rotor here.

Ohio Crop Dusting

Alan Starkey has produced a really fun little mission, requiring excellent flying skills.

As you can see from the screenshot above, this is a crop dusting mission. Set in the green fields of Ohio, your job in this mission is to get the crops dusted without doing any damage. Then, return to your home base for biscuits and gravy and a surprise ending.

You have a choice of aircraft to choose from, so you can get some low-level practice in a variety of Flight Simulator's small utility aircraft (you can even fly this mission in a helicopter) or download the freeware Air Tractor 401B (pictured) and use that aircraft in the mission for maximum realism.

The mission works in all versions of FSX as long as you have installed Service Pack 1. You can download the beta mission by clicking on this link: here.

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Sudden Decompression

Passengers on this Quantas Boeing 747 got quite a scare today when at 30,000 feet their aircraft suddenly decompressed as part of its structure gave way.

As you can see from the photo above, the plane landed safely and all passengers and crew survived the incident. This type of failure is fairly rare ... and any kind of decompression incident forcing passengers to don oxygen masks is even rarer.

Still, it can and does occur. Get the full story here.

Carrier Ops - The Real Deal - Part 2

Continuing in our theme of Carrier Operations, let's take a behind-the-scenes look at what really goes on belowdecks on an aircraft carrier.

Carrier Ops - The Real Deal

If you're thinking about doing any kind of a carrier mission, then you simply must watch this show, which aired this season on PBS - entitled simply enough: "Carrier."

The show covers an entire deployment of the carrier Nimitz. Although a lot of the scenes are belowdecks, there are tremendous flight sequences, and you get an in-depth look at what real flight operations are aboard a carrier.

Have a peek (caution ... these are sailors ... salty language alert! Also, if you are outside the US, click Read More for a link to a different video site that we believe will allow you to watch the film from anywhere in the world.):

I'll post other episodes as they become available.

Plane lands on highway

Forced landings are always a possibility, and inevitably, that wide strip of concrete below you is going to look pretty tempting.

Here's the video of a Cessna pilot who was forced to put down on a busy highway. Click the link to watch the pilot cleared for takeoff by authorities after his plane was repaired.

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Historic Island Airlines

Hop into the historic Grumman Goose and let's go island hopping! Designer Alan Starkey has released a new mission entitled "Historic Island Airlines."

This mission is a recreation for FSX of an Adventure that first appeared in Flight Simulator 2004, A Century of Flight.

Make a series of short field landings on the islands of Lake Erie, one of the five largest lakes in the United States that make up the Great Lakes.

Historic Island Airlines is a fun mission, with a few unexpected twists. The mission does not require Acceleration and can run in FSX Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2.

Released as freeware under a Creative Commons license, you can download this free add-on mission for FSX by clicking here.

The Boys from Brazil

Here's an excellent video that shows off Flight Simulator very well. (There are lots of addon sceneries used in this film ... check the credits.)

The video, produced, directed and edited by Brazilian simmer Leonardo Andrade, shows off both Flight Simulator and Brazil in a way that is quite infectious. Sit back, grab a margherita, relax and just watch as a true artist shows off his country.