9.11.2001

11 September 2020 - They say the world will never be the same after 2020 and they are correct.  Here in America the same can be said about September 11, 2001.  So much changed as a result and has remained that way.  It was nearly a generation ago but We Will Never Forget.

6 September 2020 - Mark (Tranquil) Beale has painted another Mirage F1 in a scheme worn by one of Draken International's fleet of Mirage F1M's.  This one is N571NM and retains the Tiger Meet scheme worn when the aircraft was operated by the Spanish Air Force.  Textures are included for use with the Nick Black/MAIW AI Mirage F1 in both FS9 and FSX.

30 August 2020 - FlyFreeStudio have been reworking their FSX releases to Prepar3D v4+ standards.  They have now updated their Rafale with a complete rebuild of the FSX version and have added a separate P3D version.  The new models include the C, M, and B versions with textures for France, Egypt, India, and Qatar.  The external loadouts have been reworked to add much more flexibility and the cockpit and avionics have received an overhaul as well.  The price is quite reasonable for what you get and there is a substantial discount on the FSX version for previous buyers.

25 August 2020 - Henk Schuitemaker has completed his rebuild of Kirk Olsson's Mirage F1 for Prepar3D v4.  The package includes new textures for the F1C, F1CG, F1CE, F1C-200, F1CR, F1CT and F1AZ.  This is a complete package with new textures, an external loadout configuration manager, completely rebuilt cockpit, and much more.  More info and images are here.

18 August 2020 - Microsoft re-enters the flighsim arena with their much anticipated Microsoft Flight Simulator product.  The world-wide release is today.  We'll have to see what Mirage related aircraft makes it into the game first.

16 August 2020 - A few weeks ago I alluded to something special coming.  It is almost here and I have worked with it enough by now to put together some images and description.  That special something is a complete rework by Henk Schuitemaker of the original FS2004 Mirage F1 package by Kirk Olsson to bring it to Prepar3D v4.5 (and V5) compatibility.  This is not just another revamp of the gauges.  Have a look in this preview page.

9 August 2020 - Mark (Tranquil) Beale has painted another Mirage F1 in the new "desert" camouflage scheme being applied to Draken International's newly acquired fleet of Mirage F1's.  This one is an F1M formerly operated by Spain.  The gray color camouflage pattern is simuilar to that applied to the F1B mentioned below.

26 July 2020 - Antonio Diaz and I have repainted one of his previous Mirage F1M textures to depict it's new role as N571NM with Draken International.  The aircraft has retained it's false canopy and the tiger stripes first worn at the 2006 NATO Tiger Meet.  The textures are formatted for use in FSX and Prepar3D using the FSX update by Philippe Wallaert for Kirk Olsson's Mirage F1.

18-19 July 2020 - If you are online this weekend (or anytime after the weekend) you can watch the RAF Virtual Tatoo on Youtube and Facebook.  On the Facebook feed, the opening day flights begin at the 20:55 mark with a virtual solo display by the Rafale C flown by The Jetesons.

14 July 2020 - Happy Bastille Day.  Mark (Tranquil) Beale has painted textures for a Rafale C of EC 2/30 Normandie-Niémen.  The special scheme celebrated the 75th Anniversary of the return of the Normandie-Niémen regiment to France in June 1945 with special recognition of Georges Henry.  Pilot Georges Henry (seven victories), scored the squadron's last victory on April 12, but was killed the same afternoon by a German shell.

3 July 2020 - I have been dealing with a computer that crashed while trying to upgrade my graphics card.  For some reason two drives (boot and main everything drives) decided to quit at the same time.  So while I deal with that there is no news although something exciting is in the works.  For those is the US, Happy Independence Day weekend althought it doesn't really feel like it this year.

21 June 2020 - Last week I mentioned that the folks at Royal French Navy Design were working on an update of the Etendard IVM and IVP.  Sylvain Parouty wrote to give me a status on the work so far.  "Michel (Panattoni) and BeeGee (Jean-Pierre Bourgeois) did a really great work on the flight model to allow it to have dynamic drag according to workload configuration that match very closely to the real life performances.  The textures are beautiful; Bertrand Barbé, who worked on some F-8 liveries, has redone a whole set of textures that gives a richer rendering.  The IVP is already well progressed, and it will be released some weeks after the IVM."

14 June 2020 - As most flightsim fighter aircraft enthusiasts know, Royal French Navy Design released a fantastic F-8E(FN) Crusader for FSX and Prepar3D a couple months ago.  Now that that has been finished Sylvain Parouty and the team are turning their attention to a rework of the Etendard IVM (and a rework of the IVP as well).  I've been lucky enough to fly a work-in-progress build in Prepar3D v4.5 and can say that it is just fantastic.  It should be released later this summer.

8 June 2020 - Mark (Tranquil) Beale has painted textures for the Atlas Aircraft Corporation (now Denel Aviation) Cheetah D n°861 "Bandit".  These special 2 Squadron markings were first applied for the SAAF Museum Airshow in 2003 and were retained to the present day.  "Bandit" is now among 12 ex-SAAF Cheetahs owned by Draken International.

1 June 2020 - Antonio Diaz has painted a new set of textures for the Super-Étendard Modernisé by Roman Lucas and the FSX update by Philippe Wallaert.  Starting with previously painted textures of SEM n°44 by Michel Merle, Antonia has painted the scheme that is being worn by the five "new" SEM recently delivered from retired French Aéronavale stocks to the Argentine Navy.

24 May 2020 - Here is the fifth and final 11 Flotille 100th Anniversary scheme for the Rafale M painted by Bertrand Barbé.  This particular one was featured in the video mentioned below on 22 March landing on the French Aéronavale Carrier "Charles de Gaulle" (R 91).  This one is Rafale M n°35.  Like the previous four, this set of textures is for use with the original Rafale M by Roland Laborie.

16 May 2020 - Mark (Tranquil) Beale has painted individual textures for the four aircraft types operated by Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC).  The included aircraft are the Hawker Hunter (13 aircraft), L-39 Albatros (4 aircraft), IAI Kfir C.2 (5 aircraft), and their newly acquired Mirage F1B/CR/CT (4 aircraft).  Also included are flight plans by Jim Rodger for their various bases of operations.

10 May 2020 - Kalyan Mukherjee has painted a set of textures for a Rafale EH as will soon be operated by the Indian Air Force.  The textures are for use with the Rafale M by Bruno "Thor's Hammer" Merellé and specify that the v2.2 patch has been installed (the patch corrected some texture mapping errors in v2.1).

3 May 2020 - Here is another 100th Anniversary scheme on a Rafale M of 11 Flotille by Bertrand Barbé  This one is Rafale M n°37 stationed at BAN Landivisiau (LFRJ).

25 April 2020 - Mark (Tranquil) Beale has painted a second Mirage F1 in the new "desert" camouflage scheme applied to some of Draken International's newly acquired fleet of Mirage F1's.  This one is an F1B formerly operated by France.  The camouflage pattern is simuilar to that applied to the F1M mentioned below but with a new color palette.

18 April 2020 - Five special schemes were applied to Rafale M assigned to 11 Flotille to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the unit.  Bertrand Barbé has painted another of the special schemes.  This one is Rafale M n°11.

8 April 2020 - Bertrand Barbé has painted another of the special schemes worn by the Rafale M assigned to 11 Flotille to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the unit.  This one is Rafale M n°10.

1 April 2020 - No April Fools joke this year because no made up prank could match the unbelievable crap happening in the world right now.  Stay safe everyone!

30 March 2020 - Bertrand Barbé has painted a set of textures for one of five special schemes worn by Rafale M assigned to 11 Flotille to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the unit.  The aircraft is n°32 stationed at BAN Landivisiau (LFRJ) and on board the French Aéronavale Carrier " Charles de Gaulle" (R 91).

22 March 2020 - More Mirage related things are coming but I thought I would first share a link to a video I received this morning featuring the Rafale from Flotille 11F.  Serge Luzin, developer of vLSO sent the link.  Thank you Serge.

13 March 2020 - Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I hope everyone is taking care of themselves (and keeping away from others when not necessary) during this Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

Mark (Tranquil) Beale has painted a Mirage F1M in the new "desert" camouflage scheme applied to one of Draken International's newly acquired fleet of Mirage F1's from Spain and France for use as adversary aircraft.

11 February 2020 - Olivier Anstett painted textures for a Mirage 2000C in Special 75th Anniversary markings of EC 1/3 'Navarre' at BA 133 Nancy-Ochey (LFSO).  The textures are for use with the FSX/P3D M2KC by Metal2Mesh.

5 February 2020 - Hopefully things will speed up soon.  In the meantime, I never thought I'd see the day of Mirage F1's doing touch and goes at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.  Might be time for a trip to Las Vegas?  Have a look at this former Spanish Air Force F1M now owned by Draken International, Inc.  The F1M fleet was decommissioned in February 2013 and stored at Albacete Air Base until Draken's purchase in September 2017.

25 January 2019 - Roland Laborie has released a second "New Generation French Fighter" for Prepar3D v4 under the product name "FF-RAF-M_P3D4".  This new version of the "Marine" is highly detailed throughout and includes five high resolution liveries and a full suite of external fuel tanks and air-to-air/air-to-ground weapons.  This is a new model with a new mapping for textures.  Repaints for the original FSX model are not compatible with this new model.

18 January 2020 - It's been a slow month for Mirage flightsim news so far.  But there are several interesting things in progress that I've been told about.  In the meantime, Jens-Ole Kjølberg sent a link to a YouTube video of Fuerza Aérea Colombiana Kfir fighters. The video is a promotional for several magazine articles so follow the links in the video notes below.

5 January 2020 - Philippe Wallaert has updated another FS2004 vintage Mirage subject for use in FSX and Prepar3D v3 (32-bit).  This time it is the Mirage IIIE by Patrice Grange.  This complete package includes new gauges where needed and has standard and widescreen panel options.

1 January 2020 - Best Wishes and Happy New Year to All!