Aerosoft’s Bush Hawk Released!

There’s a new bush plane in town, and if your idea of a runway is a gravel bar on a river, you’re going to love this one. Thorsten Reichert, the developer behind Aerosoft’s “Flight Tales” mission package, has really outdone himself with this plane. He labored obessively over the details, from the knobs and switches up front to the crates of fish stinking up the back.

The Bush Hawk comes with a wide variety of liveries, split between real-world paint jobs and some fictional additions, and all flowing from the talented brush of Chris Brisland, a well-known FS painter. Fueled by his own perfectionism, Chris created multiple variants of the interior, from factory-fresh to heavily abused, including goodies like an alternative engine-turned dash, and a carbon fiber version as well. This is a plane you’ll want to spend some time walking around before you hop in.

It’s not just a good-looker, either. The Bush Hawk is made to haul, and it does it well. A sedate flyer, this isn’t a mount for a thrill-seeker. With its wide cargo doors, it’s designed to carry a maximum load of passengers or cargo deep into the bush. Thorsten included some ingenious features, some of which you’ll just have to find out about for yourself (hint: don’t forget to turn on the de-icing before you head into cold, wet weather).

If you’re a bush flying fanatic, check out the Bush Hawk’s product page. I think you’ll like what you see.

Only a few hours left to vote for Plum Island!

The SimFlight Awards voting wraps up at midnight tonight, GMT. That’s 4pm for you American West-Coasters! If you haven’t voted yet, please take a moment to put a few check marks by your favorite add-ons this year. And hey, if you happen across the Scenery: Airport category and you feel moved to tick “FSAddon Plum Island”, that would be okay with me.

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote. The winners will be announced at a special dinner on October 25. Fingers crossed!

Papa needs a trophy

They say it’s an honor just to be nominated. If so, then I’m truly honored, for Plum Island has been nominated for a SimFlight award this year!

Here’s a little confession: Since I was a little Bill, I’ve lusted after my very own gleaming golden statue. Maybe it was exposure to the Oscars at too young an age. Because I didn’t play sports in school, never joined the debate team, and was never the kid who went three years without missing a day, somehow I made it to 44 without once picking up a statuette of any sort (unless you count that bowling trophy I bought at a yard sale).

Here’s my plea to you: if you have Plum Island, if you enjoyed the screenshots of the project I posted here, even if you just like the way Plum Island sounds, go visit SimFlight and cast your vote today. I’m about on screen 6 of the voting process, under Scenery: Airport. If you don’t have add-ons in the other categories, you can always vote “Not voting in this category”, but do me a solid and put your check mark next to FSAddon Plum Island in the airport scenery section.

How often do you have the power to make a childhood dream come true?