2024-2025 Winter Sale

The last sale of the year has arrived! Time to complete your Flightbeam collection and gear up for MSFS 2024. We've got discounts as deep as 50% off, which is the absolute lowest discount of the year. Don't know what to get? We've got some great pairings for you with sweet but short flights:

https://shop.flightbeam.net/collections/on-sale KSFO ($14.99) - KDEN ($9.99)

850nm

KMSP ($11.99) - KDEN ($9.99)

680nm

KIAD ($11.99) - KSFO ($14.99)

2200nm

NZAA ($11.99) - NZWN ($11.99)

300nm

https://shop.flightbeam.net/collections/on-sale

The Flightbeam Winter Sale ends on January 2, 2025 at 10am PST. Be sure to take advantage now as there won't be another sale for a while. Happy Flying and thank you to all of our customers for your support!

BMW/AMSIM - A Statement

Dear Captains,

Since 2010, Flightbeam has consistently maintained a high level of professionalism in the scenery development industry, regardless of competition with other developers. Many of these developers can attest to this. Therefore, we address the recent drama involving BMW/AMSIM and the apparent hostility.

A few years ago, BMW/AMSIM emerged on the developer scene with several new releases. This development was generally viewed favorably, as it represented a welcome influx of new developers for both customers and the industry. Notably, a new version of KPHX, a scenery we had previously developed, was released by these developers. We did not perceive this as a threat and publicly congratulated them on their AVSIM forums.

Some months passed and we released KMSP. Strangely we also learned that the same devs were also working on KMSP.. again, we thought nothing of it.

This is when we noticed an odd character on AVSIM, who seemed to be regularly badmouthing our products on AVSIM. A user by the name of Peter113.

It was unusual for us, particularly considering the relatively low number of posts in the account. However, almost every post was related to Flightbeam and contained negative comments.

Around May 2024, the same developers released KSFO, approximately a month before we launched ours. The same user mentioned above made comparison images with BMW/AMSIM KSFO and our pre-release teaser screenshots on June 9, just weeks before our release.

At this point, it became evident that there might be a deliberate attempt to copy our roadmap. The atmosphere was toxic, which was unusual for us as a developers. I have always been a pacifist and open to friendly communications with other developers, regardless of their competition status.

We then discovered a potentially serious cause:

On September 22, 2020, we banned a user for piracy. This user had purchased KPDX from our store and subsequently shared it on a piracy website. We identified this user because we discovered KPDX being widely pirated, and all instances of pirated copies were identical, specifically linked to this user’s account. A “tag” generated and traceable only to their copy of the scenery.

The user’s address was Russian, and their name was Alexey Unishkov, the developer behind “BMW” - also known as Beautiful Models of the World. This revelation finally made sense.

We also discovered the same user had pirated LatinVFR's KMIA, which also resulted in a ban.

When a user is caught committing piracy, they are permanently banned from our entire network, including all Contrail products. Consequently, on September 22, 2020, a ban was imposed, and no further action was taken, as such incidents unfortunately occur more frequently than we would prefer.

The enigma surrounding the occurrence of this issue was gradually unraveling. The enigmatic toxic user of AVSIM, who exhibited increasingly toxic behavior in July and made numerous comparisons between both KSFO versions, was now revealed to be Alexey. Presently, the developers continue to replicate Flightbeam’s portfolio, with the latest addition being KIAD, despite the availability of numerous other airports in high demand that have yet to be implemented. Although I discovered this information in July 2024, we patiently awaited the developers’ decision to move on, hoping that the situation would dissipate. However, the situation has not diminished, and we are now confronted with an egregious display of unprofessionalism and toxicity.

We acknowledge the value of competition among developers, as it strengthens our market. A notable example is X-CODR’s recent release of KDEN, which features exceptional details.- Check it out - This developer has released a direct competing product with professionalism, simply aiming to sustain their business.

On the other hand, we reject toxic developers such as BMW/AMSIM, with their history of criminal behavior. This developer has engaged in an embarrassing display of unprofessionalism, creating fake user accounts to spread misinformation and even fabricating negative reviews on the MSFS Marketplace following the release of KSFO.

At Flightbeam, we have refocused our efforts on our core skill: quietly creating polished scenery for Flight Simulators. Consequently, we have discontinued publishing our roadmap due to the recent circumstances.

A massive thanks to our loyal customers, sticking to our brand. We look forward to some incredible work for MSFS 2024.

Happy Flying.

Mir

Update - It appears more developers have discovered BMW involved in piracy with their own products: https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/653537-new-kiad/?do=findComment&comment=5223545

KSFO v1.2 Now Available

Hello Captains!

Another significant upgrade has been released for KSFO, enhancing its performance and introducing new functionalities. This update includes additional advanced features, bug fixes, and expanded configuration choices, allowing users to customize SFO more effectively to suit their preferences.

Let's check out the latest enhancements in version 1.2 in more detail:

All-new, completely custom taxilights.

What is the significance of "custom"? It implies that we do not rely on any SDK feature to create the glow and appearance of these lights, unlike the majority of other airport add-ons. These lights are entirely custom-made, allowing us to tailor them precisely to our preferences. As a result, you will now have accurately colored green/yellow taxi lights with runway entry/exit taxiways, along with exceptional lighting details that cast a beam onto the asphalt/concrete. Each individual taxi light was meticulously positioned by hand. (For best results, we recommend TAA)

Runway entry after a hold short

ILS Glideslope Antennas We went back to SFO to get these right.. and they're now properly represented. The ILS glideslope antennas are noticeably present at touchdown points on the 28's and in other areas.

New Configuration Option for Gate Clutter

You now have the option to remove some clutter at gates, to give priority to GSE equipment used by GSX or the standard ones from MSFS. You can also completely remove clutter altogether. Note that this doesn't improve performance much since the airport is already extensively optimized for best performance on a wide variety of systems. (this option will not be available for those purchased in the MSFS Marketplace, as those installations are encrypted and impossible to modify. )

Too much?

No prob, just remove as needed!

Lighting Improvements

We've made some lighting improvements which improve visibility and lighting FX at gates or when closeby.

Geographic Position Markings

Now present in the sim are geographic position markings, which help with taxiing during low visibility. These match the real airport as well.

Many Other Improvements...

KSFO is our flagship product, and continues to be polished with new features added. Many smaller bugs and improvements were included in this update to make your sim experience that much better.

Flightbeam KSFO stands out as the sole KSFO scenery created by local developers who conduct frequent on-site surveys. Unlike some competitors that rely on outdated Google Maps imagery, our product showcases accurate and up-to-date details from actual visits. We have meticulously explored every terminal, traversed nearly every taxiway, and gathered a vast collection of airside imagery through thousands of images and scans.

KSFO Patch v1.2 is available now via Contrail, with the MSFS Marketplace version available soon.

Happy Flying!