AI Monthly
February 2013
AI MONTHLY KEEPING YOU UP TO DATE WITH EVERYTHING AI Edition 2
February 2013
EXCLUSIVE FAIB ANNOUNCES AIRBUS A32X MODEL The next family of aircraft by FAIB (Erez Werber) are already taking shape. A FSX native Airbus A320 family will be coming your way soon. Erez initially revealed the first screenshots to the beta tem on 20 January. It was clear however that he had been working on the model for some time before that, as the fuselage and wings were already modelled. Just one day later, the IAE engines and domes appeared on the A321!
We can’t bring you a specific release date, as some issues may arise in beta testing which may take time to fix. There may also be bugs in the paintkit which will need to be ironed out before the model is released to the public. Erez has estimated a possible release to beta for some time during March. The list for paints has already been compiled and is slowly being filled with painters. A full question and answer session with Erez, can be read on page 8
Erez is working hard on producing the first of the paintkits. Again, he has started the A321, making the job easier to complete as it is always easier to scale down rather than up.
FAIB A231 CFM engines
FAIB A321 IAE engines
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AI Monthly
February 2013
REPAINTERS’ SECTION
Reports by Robert Williams
Philippe Tabatchnik’s New Website Philippe has launched his new website, http://flyingcarpet75.com/, with many new paints that until the new site, had not been publically released. With an impressive layout, and rumours of new talent being hosted on the website, this could be one of the new “one-stop” sites for everything from paints to plans. There are forums running in the background for problems found on the website or with any of the paints, and Philippe’s much loved painting tutorial has been reloaded for painters around the world.
kaese2002.de An FAIB packed month from Maik! More United paints followed on from last month to complete the 737 fleet. A Turkish Airlines Star Alliance 738, Swirijaya Air 738’s followed and the release of Air India Express which was released just after AI Monthly was being finalised for release.
Endeavour AI Endeavour AI’s forum went offline earlier this month with no immediate indication when it will be back online. Releases are still available on Avsim; Biman Bangladesh 738 & A310, GOL 737, Tassili 738, Etihad Cargo 722F, MEA fleet, Iran Aseman A340, American 767 and 777. American Eagle CRJ700, Kulula 737, TACA & Avianca Star Alliance A332.
Impulse AI Stephen released the Ethiopian Cargo MD-11 and Etihad Cargo A322F. Aside from these two, he has been working hard updating the Austrian Airlines fleet package. He has painted every type in the fleet, just in time for a brief holiday!
The rest of the American fleet followed on from both George and Maik. Updating the iconic metallic paints, along with those aircraft wearing the controversial new paint scheme.
Picture: Emirates A380 wearing “Expo 2020” sticker – Federico Permutti
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AI Monthly
February 2013
Jürgen Baumbusch
Individual Painters
Jürgen continues to release B747-8F paints on his enhanced paintkit. This month Atlas Air, Panalpina, Air Bridge Cargo and Polar Air Cargo were all released for this beast!
Mariano Bonaccorso – South African Airways Cargo
Moving over to the 747-8’s main competitor, the Airbus A380 in Thai livery has also been painted. Other paints include; Garuda Indonesia heavies, California Pacific EMB-170, Transmile 722 updates, Iberia A333, LAN Cargo 772, SF Airlines 752F, Yangtze Express 744BCF & A332, Martinair “Safari Connection” 744BCF, MNG Cargo A332, Air Burkina CRJ200, Biman Bangladesh A310, Tassili Airlines 738, AMC Airlines 738, Donghai Airlines 733F and Air New Zealand “All Blacks” 773ER. Coming soon: Travel Service
United Traffic Team
Johan Clausen – Novair A321 fleet (working on Windroe and SAS). Paul Craig- KLM 767 fleet Symon Long – Winair DHC-6 Federico Permutti – Emirates “Expo 2020” A380 and J-Air EMB-170 Doug Roth – Brazilian Police Cessna 210 & Private Czech registered C208 Caravan. Gideon Williams – American Eagle/Skywest CRJ200 Robert Williams – Sunwing & Canjet 738’s. Qantas’ latest 738 logojet is also in the works
No releases
flyingcarpet75 Robert Williams has joined the team, and his future paints will be hosted here from now on. The new site was launched and features hundreds of repaints. The newest release include: Jet Airways 737’s, Aeroflot 773ER, IFly A333, Air Antilles Express and Orbest Orizonia (which is about to cease operations). Coming soon: Blu-Express/Blue Panorama, IOS Skybus, Sunwing, Surinam Airways and Aeropelican Air Services.
Jet Airways “Disney” 737-800w – Philippe Tabatchnik
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AI Monthly
February 2013
FLIGHTPLANNING SECTION
Reports by Joshua Dean
Alpha India Group An impressive month of flightplan releases for AIG. With five rounds having been released during the shortest month of the year, the team have been very busy behinds the scenes. First was a special release on 2 February (round 6), consisting of the LAN group (special thanks to Steve Lewis for these): ABSA Cargo, Florida West, LAN Airlines, LAN Argentina, LAN Colombia, LAN Ecuador, LAN Peru, LAN Cargo, LANCO and MAS Carga. On the 9 February, round 7 was released. Flightplans included in this release are: AirAsia, AirAsia Japan, AirAsia Philippines, AirAsia X, Cathay Pacific, Cathay Pacific Cargo, Dragonair, Firefly, Indonesia AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, MAS Wings, Qantas, Qantas JetConnect, QantasLink, Thai AirAsia, Thair Airways, Thai Cargo and Thai Smile. Round 8 appeared on 17 February consisting of: Aerolineas Argentinas, Air Arabia, Air Arabia Egypt, Air Armenia, Air Baltic, Austral Lineas Aereas, Caribbean Airlines, Chongqing Airlines, Donghai Airlines, Global Supply Systems (BA World Cargo), Mandala Airlines, Miami Air International, Novair, Ryanair, Shun Feng Airlines, Sun Air of Scandinavia, Tibet Airlines, Trigana Air Service, and VietJet Air. Round 9 was pushed out two days later on 19 February. This round comprised: Aegean, Amapola Air, Atlas Air, Boliviana, Citilink, Conviasa, Eva Air Cargo, Garuda, Janet, Malmo Aviation, North American, Omni Air International, TAP Portugal and World Airways.
Finally, Round 10 was released on 24 February, and was dubbed “The Middle East Run”. Plenty of Middle Eastern airlines were included, alongside a variety of other airlines from around the world: Air China, Air China Cargo, Airlink, Emirates, Emirates SkyCargo, Etihad Airways, Etihad Cargo, Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways, MEA Middle East Airlines, Okay Air, Okay Air Cargo, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Qatar Airways Cargo, South African Airways, South African Airways Cargo and South African Express.
United Traffic Team No releases
RATS RATS released a few plans this month: Center-South Airlines, Skol, Rusjet (V2), Krasavia, Atran, Izhavia, Kostroma Airenterprise, Severstal and Chikotavia
Individual Planners Jeroen Eekhof – Nile Air, Nesma Airlines, Cairo Aviation, AMC Airlines, Almasria Universal Airlines, Air Cairo, myCargo Airlines, and Tassili Airlines Vangelis Evangelakopoulos – Novo Air (Bangladesh) Christian Hegewald - Air Creebec, North Cariboo, Perimeter and Shell Canada.
Klemen Kaltnekar – Solinair, Icar Air, Monarch, Jat Airways, Montenegro Airlines, Miniliner, Air Vallee, and Croatia Airlines. 4
AI Monthly
February 2013
SCREENSHOT OF THE MONTH Would you like to feature in the next edition of AI Monthly? Send your screenshots to us and we will debate which we think is the best. Seasonal and topical screenshots are a good idea, but a random amazing screenshot may win us over! There is of course one rule… IT MUST BE AI! Send your screenshots to aimonthly@hotmail.co.uk
This month’s winner is Oliver Richter! He entered this Transaero Boeing 747-400 on very short finals to RWY 09 at Phuket, Thailand. He is using Jirayu Tanabodee’s scenery which is available here.
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AI Monthly
February 2013
Military Section As this is the very first issue in which the Military Section has featured in, we are presenting a very special article on MAIW, written kindly for us by John Burtenshaw. We hope you enjoy our new section, and continue to do so in future editions.
MILTARY AI WORKS – PAST PRESENT & FUTURE Military AI Works, MAIW , started in August of 2006 when a group of like-minded Flight Simulator enthusiasts set out to fill a large gap that existed in the AI world. By 2006 the AI segment of the Microsoft Flight Simulator series had been growing steadily for several years, users could add their favourite, reallife airlines as AI traffic inside of FS9 and brought a whole new level of realism to our sim. However one group of users was still not satisfied with the status quo which up to that point had focused solely on civilian aviation and had virtually ignored the world of military flying. These users increasingly found themselves venting their frustrations over the lack of military style AI traffic at the old FSGateway.com site. With like-minded individuals beginning to pool their collective knowledge about the AI traffic system and engine, slowly but surely, new models, new techniques and entirely new ideas started to emerge from a small core group of users. By that point, several larger military AI-style packages had been released as freeware, though most were forced to use older FS2002 models or even flyable aircraft models as their AI stand-ins. While this proved to be an intermediate solution, the results were poor graphical performance on most computers as the numbers of military style models dedicated specifically for AI use remained small. The FSGateway site had provided a common place for military AI enthusiasts to meet, however it also focused on other areas related to the Flight Simulator series. By August 2006 several individuals expressed an interest in forming a completely new group with its own dedicated website that would be strictly dedicated to the advancement of military style AI aircraft and packages. With enough interest in this new project, one member agreed to purchase a user domain and with that, Military AI Works was born.
From the very beginning, MAIW has been run by a collection of enthusiasts from around the world which continues to this day. The hardest part was getting someone to actually take charge, another facet that remains to this day! Fortunately everyone who considers themselves as part of the team takes the team concept to heart and contributes whatever skills they can offer, whenever they have the time to offer them. MAIW has always prided itself on not pressuring its contributors to produce anything that they don't want to produce and to not push contributors with deadlines. The overriding theme that still exists today is that “it's done when it's done”. That philosophy has served MAIW very well and this summer, we will celebrate our seventh year as a dedicated freeware AI group. That makes us one of the longest-lasting AI groups in the history of this little segment of the Flight Simulator world. During that time we created the first AI helicopters that fly as close to the real thing as the FS2004 AI engine will allow plus detailed scenery of airbases and flightplans. We always kept to the forefront of our minds the need not to impinge on the security or operations of any military force we model, which is why we always use publicly accessible information and fictional flight plans. Recently we have created a brand new C-135 series (featuring the KC and RC versions), and the CASA 295, which has been overlooked until now. There are also new helicopters in the pipeline plus a few surprises. It is at this time a special thanks needs to go to Michael MacIntyre, without his FDE skills our models would be sitting on the tarmac and Mike Pearson for his incredible output of models. So if you fancy adding “heavy metal” to your FS World head on over to http://www.militaryaiworks.com and join in the fun. 6
AI Monthly
February 2013
Now for something really exciting. As we encourage contributors to design their own aircraft, scenery and packages, we realised that there was a demand for retro aircraft, so on our website, retro AI now has its own dedicated area. John Young has created
some really amazing models including the Vulcan, Victor, Canberra, Hawker Hunter, F-111(all variants) and his latest, the Buccaneer. Some of his work is below
Modelling Section
Reports by Robert Williams
UTT CRJ-1000 Making Progress The much anticipated CRJ-1000 model for AI traffic is edging ever closer.
released quicker as there are fewer variations that need painting before release.
The Bombardier CRJ-1000, the largest version of the CRJ series, has been flying since 2008, and yet we still await an AI interpretation of this model. Despite being airborne for several years, the CRJ1000 still only has three operators, Air Nostrum, Brit Air, and Garuda Indonesia.
The paintkit is currently being developed by Jürgen Baumbusch. It is making good progress, although several weeks ago progress was halted whilst the developer of the model ironed out a few irregularities. Hopefully the wait won’t be much longer!
Although your AI skies won’t be crawling with this model when it is released, it does mean it should be
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AI Monthly
February 2013
TALKING TO MR. EREZ WERBER Erez is very proud to announce his next project – the Airbus A32X family! When will the model and paintkit be entering beta testing? Hopefully within 2-3 weeks How long does a model usually take from first stages of development to its release? I usually finish with the actual modelling rather quickly within say a week or two. This model will usually be the biggest variant in the family, if I am modelling a family of aircraft such as the 737 or A32X. After the initial modelling is done, the much longer and harder stage begins - creating the paintkit. This usually takes between 3 to 5 weeks depending on my mood and the availability of reference material. After the paintkit for the largest variant is ready, I start modelling the rest of the family and its paintkit’s which takes another week. Then I finish the LOD's of all of the models for optimum performance in FS. The last stage is converting the models from FSX to FS9 which takes about 2 days. It’s then off to beta testing, which can take between a month and 3 months. Overall it takes about half a year to deliver a model. Will the neo variations be modelled now or when they enter service? Like most repainters I don’t like to work with CGI pictures of future aircraft or paint schemes. This is the reason why the Neo's will be released at a later date, once there is enough real reference material most likely sometime after they enter service
There are currently only sharklets on the A320 and A321, will you be including them on the A318 and A319 too? I think you can guess this one. Look at the 737-600 or 737-400 and you will see that I like to plan ahead for any eventuality. Why did you choose the A32X as your next project? From the start FAIB has always been about performance in FSX. Flying into any major hub in Europe, I could clearly see which aircraft predominantly featured on all aprons – A32X . Once I established this, choosing the next project became easy. The next project after the A32X might not be so easy to decide…. Can you describe the feeling when you see one of your paints on one of your models inside your simulator? It’s a great sense of satisfaction, which is what drives me forward! From my experience on the 737 NG beta team, I know myself and some other of the painters spent an awful lot of time painting and not so much time testing the models performance in the sim. Will you be encouraging us to more in-sim testing this time around? That is really up to the Beta tester. I have a goal of 5000 polygons and less than 60 draw calls for every model I make. With these numbers in mind and the fact I don’t have an influence on the internal workings of FSX (through code), I’d say testing the performance of the models is of less importance. During beta I would rather have input regarding the visual appearance of the model, correct contact 8
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February 2013
points, correct light locations and off course checking that the paint kit is up to spec and correct. You worked as a developer on the Project Fokker; do you prefer User Intelligence (UI) aircraft or Artificial Intelligence Aircraft (AI)? A brief reason if possible. Currently I prefer AI aircraft because of their much reduced complexity, no need for sounds or a panel. I also enjoy the modelling more because I have a budget of polygons and it makes it more interesting. The final question I have on behalf of every AI enthusiast is; when is the scheduled release date? I hope to release the models sometime during April 2013
END OF QUESTIONS I’d personally like to thank Erez for taking some time out from developing the Airbus A32X and talking to AI Monthly. All the preview images you have seen here today will be posted in high quality on the FAIB forums in the coming days.
Hopefully you have enjoyed AI Monthly’s first interview or Q&A session if you prefer. We will try to bring you more of these in the future!
@ AIRBUS A32X 9
AI Monthly
February 2013
From the authors… THANKYOU FOR READING AI MONTHLY The authors of this newsletter are;
Robert Williams - AI Painter, formerly a member of realbigtree.com, who moved on to releasing his work independently on Avsim. He is an active member of AIG Dispatch (as a beta tester) and has worked with FAIB on pre-release painting for the FAIB 737 Next Generation model. His work is now hosted at flyingcarpet75.com Joshua Dean – AI Flightplanner, currently an active member of AIG Dispatch, previously he released his work independently on Avsim and AIG forums. He was also a brief member of realbigtree.com beta testing team and is still an active member of UK2000 Scenery beta testing team. Rob Corp – Rob is a very active flightplanner for AIG Dispatch. He also has experience in journalism, which he uses to try and catch typos in the newsletter you have been reading.
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SCREENSHOT OF THE MONTH Please send your screenshots to the email address at the bottom of this page. Please try to get your screenshots to us by the beginning of the last week each month. Thank You to everybody that enters!
PLEASE NOTE We try to cover the entire flightsim AI traffic scene as fairly as possible. Some areas (such as painting) are much more active than others. While we try and include as much news as we can, it is always possible we may miss new developments – so please feel free to send us your latest developments to the email address below. However, the writers reserve the right to select items from correspondence for inclusion in the newsletter. If you have any comments or complaints about anything you read in AI Monthly, please send us an email.
aimonthly@hotmail.co.uk
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