Introduction

Welcome to Threshold’s weekly news recap for today the 8th of April, 2018. We aim for this weekly piece to be a collection of all the news that has occurred in the last week that we didn’t get to! The Threshold Weekly News Recap is released every Sunday.

In case you missed it:

XSquawkBox version 2 is in the works, the 737 Ultimate moves into public beta stage, xEnviro 1.08 is released, RD Studios preview customizable hangars, and VSkyLabs formally announce the Rutan Long-EZ.

JustFlight TB-10 Tobago & TB20 Trinidad

Developer JustFlight has dropped yet more preview screenshots of the upcoming pair, the Trinidad & Tobago. In a post on Facebook, JustFlight confirmed that the TB-10 & 20 are not far from release.

JustFlight later confirmed the release order of all their current X-Plane projects;

The current timeline is the TB10/TB20, Hawk T1 and then the C152

AFM M20TN Acclaim released

Advanced Flight Modelling have released version 2.2.0 of their M20 collection. V2.2.0 brings along the addition of a brand new aircraft, the M20TN Acclaim Type S.

The announcement was made on the AFM Facebook page yesterday. The changelog includes;

• Added M20TN Acclaim Type S (Turbocharged)
• Includes 7 Default Liveries! (Ovation Liveries will not work on the Acclaim)
• Customized G1000 for Acclaim
• Enhanced Oxygen System
• Revised Nose on M20R Ovation II and III
• Enhanced Performance on G1000 displays
• Oxygen System and Hypoxia Simulation

See the post on the AFM Facebook page.

FlightJobs; First look

Now for something different in the Weekly Recap; a first look - which is somewhere between a news article and a review.

Rudolf from FlightJobs came to us this week with his new creation - a virtual economy to rival the likes of FSEconomy. FlightJobs shows you the pilot’s point of view - you choose the routes, you choose which airline to fly with, or if you are brave enough, start your own airline!

Naturally, I was intrigued. So here is our Threshold First Look at FlightJobs.

To join FlightJobs, you need to sign up at their website (here). After creating an account, the website prompts you to download a connector plugin for X-Plane. Once that is done, you can book a flight via the booking tab, then you can get down to the real business - flying the plane!

So I load up into X-Plane, my route being from my hometown of NZWN Wellington to tourist trap NZQN Queenstown. After dispatching on SimBrief, I boot up the connector plugin and sign in. After loading up the new 737-900ER Ultimate with 4450kg of fuel - we are ready to go!

In this regard, the connector plugin is really very simple and easy to use. Simply sign in, verify the flight details and you’re away laughing!

We departed NZWN and turned south, a 350nm hop in front of us. The flight was very smooth, with no wind and amazing visibility, giving myself and 200 passengers a magical view of the Southern Alps. 

45 minutes later, we find ourselves on short-final into runway 05 at Queenstown. After quite a firm (-363) touchdown, we pull up to the gate and, to my surprise, FlightJobs automatically prompts us to save our flight as soon as I set the parking brake. I like that!

After I complete the flight and receive my $220, I have a few choices. I can start my own airline for $40 and fly wherever I like, or join another airline if I have sufficient score.

In conclusion - I like FlightJobs. It is very intuitive and simple to use - I will definitely be a returning pilot! I see it as FSEconomy for the airline pilot, as you don’t need to save up to buy an expensive heavy metal aircraft. I would recommend FlightJobs and I eagerly await further progress from Rudolf and the team.

Attitude Simulations Put-In-Bay

The Gateway to the Great Lakes series by Attitude Simulations has seen some great progress lately. This week, developer Steaven Mckenzie has dropped some new W.I.P. screenshots of the Put-In-Bay package;

"Been working non-stop, what's new, figured I would pop in and show off just a tiny bit of what l I have been working on for the Put In Bay package. The Island package is coming along quickly and we should be nearing completion around the end of May If not sooner. After that it is all DTW baby!"

3W2 will be the second entry in the Great Lakes series, after Custer KTTF was released last year.  

Aviotek OMDB

Capping off a rather slow news week is Aviotek Simulations, with more WIP renders of Terminal 3 at OMDB. Here is the post;

"Sunday fun day"

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Happy flying - and have a wonderful day!