March 08 Newsletter

[ardypilot]

Hi again all,

It's been a little while since the last newsletter was sent out, and in that short time there has been a lot of newsworthy happenings to report on.

Firstly, I apologise for not including this in February edition, but during January, Charl released a new update to his highly acclaimed GNZLAP Great New Zealand Light AI project. It adds a further 30 HTAI Cessna's painted by Steve Jenks, and requires GNZLAP 5.0 to be previously. Download it for free from AVSIM under the filename gnzlap_pack_5.2.zip then grab the quick C172 fix from here.

Our NZFF T-Shirts were ordered and sent to print during February and now are being worn by happy members all over the country. Thanks to those who supported the community and purchased the gear- look out of us at upcoming airshows! (particularly Ohakea and Wanaka occurring later this month) Also, if you would like to join the cause, you can download, print and handout NZFF flyers anywhere you wish from here "“note that you will need Microsoft publisher to be able to open the file.

Now onto the competitions- voting is currently underway for the Vincent Aviation themed and sponsored February Screenshot competition, with the winner receiving an amazing $750 prize including return flights to Wanaka and entry into the Warbirds Over Wanaka 2008 airshow. Please pick your favourite entry from the list of thumbnails here as soon as possible, voting will close on Sunday the 9th in the late afternoon.

I'm also thrilled to announce that Aerosoft are sponsoring our March screenshot competition which is themed around the late and great Sir Edmund Hilary and his mountaineering achievements. For those members who don't know (and I'm sure that's not very few of you), Sir Ed was the first man in the world to conquer the world's highest peak, Mount Everest and became a national hero to New Zealand. He also constructed the famous Lukla airport in the Nepalese Himalayas, which is due to have it's name changed to Tenzing-Hillary airport to honour his recent death in January. Enter your own shot here and be in to win Aerosoft's amazing rendition of the airport, complete with sloping runway for both FS2004 and FSX.

And finally, as an Easter bonus, we have set up a virtual Easter Egg Hunt around NZ in flight simulator, where you can download a scenery file containing hidden eggs and have to find them during your sim flights. Once you find all 11 locations and email in your references to these, you will win a $10 discount voucher for Red Baron Entertainments fantastic NZ 20m mesh and topo package, more information here.

That wraps it up for now, be sure to check through the forums for heaps more exciting news that can't be covered in this short bulletin. Also, if you have any news you would like to see reported in upcoming newsletters, send it to me in an email to trolly@nzff.org and I'll do my best to get it published to the 700+ members we have signed up.

Cheers,
Trolly and the NZFF Admin team