Hello there!
X-Plane 11.26 was released last month with some minor fixes. The team is working hard to get as many features and fixes as possible into X-Plane 11.30 so it can get into beta testing. As we go through the beta period we'll go into more depth on some of the most exciting features on the X-Plane blog, and we'll do a monthly round up here so you don't miss anything.
Gateway Website Updates

Thanks to X-Plane's summer intern William Torus, the Airport Scenery Gateway received a lot of extra attention over the last few months.

A new user control panel is accessible from the top menu when logged in. From this page you can manage your account, from changing your email or password, permanently deleting the account, or updating email preferences.

He also implemented one of our most requested features: an airport checkout system. This system lets artists checkout up to three airports at a time to work on. The goal of this system is to prevent artists from duplicating work. Checkouts last thirty days and can be extended within three days of their return date for five more days (from the extension request time). A list of your current checkouts can be found in the user control panel.
The Gateway also has a new comment notification system. You can now receive emails when someone posts a comment about your specific scenery pack or a comment about an airport where your scenery is the recommended version. All artists have been opted into this service by default, but you can opt out using the user control panel.
For users requesting new airports without an ICAO code, the Gateway will now generate a code automatically for you. There have also been several bug fixes and improvements to the bug reporting system.
Upcoming Events

Flight Sim 2018 is fast approaching on 6 October, 2018 at the RAF Museum in Cosford, England. X-Plane 11 VR will be showcased at our booth, located next to our distributor Aerosoft. Laminar is also making a presentation at the event, discussing the latest developments in X-Plane and in the X-Plane community.
Tips & Tricks

This month's tutorial walks through how to set up a short FMS flight plan. The video was recorded on X-Plane 10 Mobile, but you can follow the same steps in X-Plane on your home computer as well.

Featured Add Ons

Payware

Developed by X-Plane specialist Tony Wroblewski, Orbx's Manchester City Airport and Heliport is a busy and popular airfield located five miles away from Manchester City Center in the North of England. This add-on has been created in painstaking detail for X-Plane 11 with the utmost attention to detail and accuracy based on hundreds of photos and several on-site visits to the airport. The airfield is depicted as it was in late 2017 and includes a large area of photoreal imagery and our new autogen technology being developed for X-Plane.


Freeware

Last month we showed you the popular Zibo mod for the default 737. If you now have that as part of your collection, you may also want the WebFMC plugin to go with it. This free version has a limited number of aircraft it is compatible with, and the Zibo-modified 737 is one of them. This add on makes it possible to access the CDU of select airplanes via any modern web browser running on virtually any device (phone, tablet, smart TV, etc) in your local network.

Gateway News

Scott Stoeckle has created nearly 300 Gateway submissions under the username "sstoeckle." We asked him about his passion for scenery development in a mini-interview.
What motivates you to develop X-Plane scenery?
Love of airplanes and flying for as long as I can remember. Having been an Air Traffic Controller/Traffic Management Specialist/Air Traffic Procedures Specialist for 33 years, a pilot since 1981, and just a general love for aviation, "accuracy of appearance" is the reason. Aviation is very procedural oriented and the necessity that airports appear as correct (i.e. signage, markings, traffic flows, etc. is paramount to me in airport scenery). World-wide aviation is very standardized (English is required for all air traffic control operations, ICAO and the FAA publish documents that depict how airport signs, marking, etc are required to appear. It is a fact that Flight Standards people go to airports, get on their hands and knees to measure the width of taxi-lines to ensure compliance with written procedures.
Read the full interview

Happy flying!
-- The X-Plane Team